#(and i already stayed up way too late last night drawing the dang thing)

[magentakat]

Day 13: Night

So I saw this prompt and this image would not leave my head. My two DCA OCs Charon and Pluto gazing at the moon. <3

Pose reference I used is from here! Got a more canonical Sun and Moon recolor below the cut as well. :3

[nikibogwater]

Two Worlds, One Family--a Mermaid AU oneshot

I don't know, y'all, it's ten after one and I can't think of any other titles so just accept the cheesey Phil Collins reference and go with it--

A few weeks ago, my dear FMA Buddy Willow requested a fic set in my Merman!Douxie AU (you can see the rough character designs for that here). Well, today, I desperately needed a break from working on the RotT fic, but I also still felt like writing, so I sat down and cranked this one out in basically one sitting.

It uh, sort of got away from me, I'll admit lol.

We've got sappy Siren!Zoe x Merman!Douxie, Underwater Found Family, Archie having to be the Adult of the group, and also an honest-to-goodness argument between our favorite Magical Siblings, which is something I've sort of always wanted to tackle, but I was never able to find a good way to do it while sticking to current canon. Here, they're both younger and have been in a pod together for several hundred years, allowing the stress of their situation to build up and--Y'know what, I'll just let you guys read the dang thing now.

~~~~~

The black waves rolled beneath an inky, starless sky. A freezing wind cut through the air like a knife. Salty foam sprayed up from where the water lapped against Zoe’s perch. It was a thoroughly miserable night to be away from her nest.

But still, she waited.

She shivered and folded her wings around herself tightly. Twenty-seven years, one-hundred and eighty-three days. That was how long it had been since she’d last seen him. He had said in his last message that he would be here tonight. And so, no matter how fiercely the wind beat against her, no matter how badly the freezing spray stung as it hit her, she refused to move. Douxie’s life was already haunted by uncertainties and betrayals. She would rather die than contribute to such things.

Finally, she heard him. His call was masked beneath the sound of the sea, but she could feel it reverberating through her like a roll of thunder--the steady, fast-paced, yet gentle clicks of a merman searching for his mate.

Her wings snapped open, and though the rush of cold air that met her was unpleasant, she didn’t flinch. Electric blue eyes stared fixedly at the water below her for a moment. And then she finally saw it--the silvery sheen of moonlight hitting dark blue scales.

Zoe didn’t even wait for him to make it all the way to the surface before she dove in.

Douxie tumbled back in the water as she slammed into him, and for a few joyous moments, his world was made up entirely of swirling bubbles, warm feathers, and the feeling of Zoe in his arms. He had just enough sense to bring both of them back up to the surface before her lips were on his. Her wings closed around him tightly, and he could feel the tingle of her electric magic in the water around him, but she was just as careful as ever. She’d never shocked him, not in all the years they’d known each other.

“Sorry I’m late,” he breathed, once she’d pulled back for air. She shook her head, nose brushing against his.

“Doesn’t matter,” she said gruffly. Her voice was choked with tears, but he knew better than to point that out. “I’m just glad you’re here.”

“I never would have guessed,” he chuckled, trailing a few kisses down her cheek as she huffed and half-heartedly swatted his shoulder. There were a few moments of silence as they simply held each other, broken only by the sound of the waves and a few soft, contented clicks from Douxie. Zoe had asked him centuries ago why he always clicked when he was happy. He’d seemed genuinely surprised to hear that she didn’t do the same. Merperson biology was a very strange thing indeed. Finally, Zoe picked her head up from his shoulder and looked him in the eye.

“Nari and Archie?”

“Safe,” he answered. “They wanted to see you, but I didn’t want to risk bringing Nari up to the surface, and Archie agreed to stay with her. We had a close call with the Order a few weeks ago off the coast of Ireland--they never actually saw her, and I don’t think they know she’s been hiding in the ocean but...” He shook his head, sighing wearily. “...They can’t know where she is. Not ever. I just couldn’t let her come with me tonight.”

“I understand,” Zoe said, brushing his wet bangs out of his eyes.

“How is the flock?” Douxie asked.

“...Surviving,” she replied after a moment’s hesitation. “...We lost Ariadne to a navy ship two years ago. They shot her right out of the air....took her body on board and we couldn’t get her back. We don’t know what they did with her corpse.” She felt him shudder at the news. He pulled her back in and kissed her temple.

“I’m sorry,” he breathed, and she knew he meant it, knew he felt her pain as keenly as if it was his own. He always was a little too empathetic for his own good. Still, she couldn’t bring herself to tell him that, so she simply clutched him tight and let him stroke her hair, as the waves gently rocked the both of them.

“The world’s getting more and more dangerous for people like us,” she murmured into his shoulder. “And the ironic thing is now it’s all because of mortals. As if angry demigods and warmongering trolls weren’t enough on their own.”

“Killahead tipped the balance in their favor. But I’d hoped they would use that as an opportunity to make peace with magic. Not try to exterminate it for good...”

“You’ve always put too much faith in humans, Douxie,” Zoe sighed.

“Perhaps,” he admitted, hand still carding idly through her feathery locks. “...Merlin was a human too, though.” Zoe snorted at that.

“If that crotchety old windbag was the best humanity has to offer, then it’s no wonder things turned out like this.”

“He saved my life, Zoe,” Douxie argued softly, pulling back to look her in the eye. “I would never have met you if it weren’t for him.”

“I still say he was a far ways off from being a ‘good man,’” she retorted. “...But I understand your loyalty to him.” Douxie felt her right wing shift around him--the same one he had bandaged and tended all those centuries ago. “...Enough of that. I have more important news for you. There’s talk of a secret community of magical creatures like us forming in the New World--a settlement off the western coast. The trolls found a new Hearthstone there, and they’re building a sanctuary. The water there is supposed to be charged with all kinds of magic, and I’ve even heard rumors about merpeople living there. The flock has decided to migrate there, at least temporarily. I would advise you to do the same. Nari would be happier in warmer waters, and there’s a chance you could join a larger pod there. You haven’t seen one of your own species in centuries, right? And we...” she faltered, realizing that she was letting her eagerness get the better of her now. “...we could be together again. No more of these long separations.”

“...It almost sounds too good to be true,” Douxie breathed.

“Maybe it is,” Zoe chuckled mirthlessly. “But we won’t know unless we check it out for ourselves. I’m leaving with the flock in the morning.”

“I’ll....consider it,” Douxie relented. “If it was just me and Arch, I’d be on my way there tonight, no hesitation. But now that I have Nari to protect--”

“I get it,” Zoe cut him off quickly. “I just....thought I’d let you know. In case it works out somehow.” She looked down, the hand that was resting over his heart clenching into a fist.

“...Hey.” Douxie tilted her chin back up to look her in the eye. “Whatever happens, wherever we go, I know we’ll always find each other again. That’s what it means to be a pod.”

“...Right.” Zoe gave a half-hearted laugh, and gently bumped her forehead against his. “Alright. Now I want to know what you’ve been getting up to. Tell me everything.”

“We’d be here all night if I did that,” Douxie chuckled.

“Sounds good to me,” Zoe murmured, drawing him close once more.

*****

Douxie didn’t return until it was almost sunrise.

Nari hadn’t been expecting anything else, but she still couldn’t help the way her heart twisted in her chest at the sight of his exhausted, melancholy countenance. He slipped into the den quietly, stopping just long enough to renew the concealing spells around the entrance, before floating to the floor with a sigh, burying his face in a still-sleeping Archie’s fur. He’d hardly been there a full minute when he blearily opened one eye, and looked around as though he was missing something.

“Nari?” he whispered into the darkness. “Everything alright?” He must have felt her aura--there were times when Nari found the magical bond they shared somewhat inconvenient. She sighed, unhooked her tail from the frond she had anchored herself to, and flitted over to him.

“All is well. I....woke early.” The truth was, she’d been awake for most of the night, head too cluttered up with unwanted thoughts to let her rest. She curled her tail up beneath her and settled on the floor. “How is Zoe?”

“Beautiful,” Douxie answered without thinking, then turned bright red. Nari stifled a giggle in her hand. “I-I mean she’s fine. The flock’s down to just twelve sirens now... The mortals are getting braver and more dangerous. They’re going to fly west and try to find safer nesting grounds.” He paused, his tail swishing up and down thoughtfully.

“...Douxie?” Nari prodded.

“Zoe was telling me about a settlement across the ocean--a secret community of magical creatures. There’s a Trollmarket near the coast, and....possibly merpeople like me. That’s where she and her flock are going now. She... She wants us to go too.”

“This idea troubles you,” Nari observed, feeling the way his aura was turning with uncertainty. “Why?”

“It’s quite literally on the other side of the world,” Douxie explained. “We would have to cross open waters to get there, and even with my magic, the journey could take months. There’s no guarantee we would be able to find safe places to hide on the way, and even once we get there...” He sighed, ears drooping slightly. “...I don’t know if we’d really be safe.”

“We will never be safe anywhere, Douxie,” Nari said softly. “For as long as you are with me, you will be in danger. The Order will continue to search for me. They will not stop until they have found me and opened the Genesis Seals. They are not limited by time and space as we are. They could find me on the other side of the world just as easily as they could here.” She hated the way his aura seemed to grow cold as she spoke, his hand clenching against the stone he was resting on.

“...So what are you saying?” he asked after a long pause. “Do you think we should go?” Nari looked down, hands wringing in her lap.

For nearly five-hundred years, Douxie and Archie had dedicated their lives to caring for her. They had been her fins when she was still learning to swim, her warmth in the cold, deep waters of the north. They had been her guardians, and more than that, they had been her brothers. Both Douxie and Archie had taken her into their tiny pod, accepted her as one of their own, though she could not be more different from them if she tried. She had lost count of the number of times they bled for her, and she for them, as they fought to withstand the dangers of the sea together.

But she could never ignore the longing she felt in Douxie’s spirit, his heartache every time he was forced to part with Zoe in order to take Nari to safer waters. She couldn’t blind herself to the tears she knew he shed when he thought he was alone, couldn’t pretend all was well when that empty space in his heart hurt so much he couldn’t keep his aura from twisting in pain.

Which was why she now found herself telling him something she had never wanted to tell him.

“...I think you and Archie should go,” she whispered. “...and I will stay.”

Douxie’s tail thrashed suddenly, and his soul sparked with something akin to anger. Archie snorted and whipped his head up, ears perked and blearily searching for the source of his Familiar’s distress.

“No.” Douxie’s voice was hard as he grasped her by the shoulder. “That’s not an option.”

“You know it is, Douxie!” Nari argued. “You are not bound to me by the laws of magic, I am not your appointed ward--You could be with Zoe if you would only--”

“If I would only what? Cast out one of my own? Break my pod apart?!”

“Who are we casting out...?” Archie yawned. “Can it wait until morning, perhaps?”

“But you love her!” Nari argued desperately. “You deserve to be with her, you deserve better than this.”

“And I also love you! I don’t give a damn about the wizarding customs, you are part of my family, and down here, family is just as much of a binding contract as any ward-appointment or whatever!”

“Oh for the love of Poseidon, didn’t you two just have this fight not three decades ago?” Archie snapped. “Nari, you know how important pods are to merpeople--that includes mates, friends, offspring, and siblings. We leave none behind, no matter the cost. And if you’ve got a problem with that, well you should have considered that before agreeing to come with us all those centuries ago. I did try to warn you, after all. Now both of you, settle down and get some sleep, for goodness’ sake! It sounds like we have a long swim ahead of us.” He swam around in a circle three times, and resettled on the ground. Douxie opened his mouth to argue further, but Archie grabbed the front of his shirt with his teeth and pulled him down on top of him. “I said settle down,” he huffed. “You too, Nari. I know you were awake half the night working yourself into this state.”

“I was not working myself into anything,” she grumbled, curling up between Archie’s paws.

A long, heavy silence fell upon them. Nari could feel Douxie’s aura gradually settling, as anger gave way to exhaustion. She could have sworn he was almost asleep, when suddenly, his hand found hers and squeezed it.

“...I won’t settle for less Nari,” he whispered. “That’s why I won’t leave you. I need all of you--Zoe, Archie, and you, and I won’t....I can’t stop fighting until all of you are safe, and we can all be together. I know Zoe will be alright with her flock, and we can always find each other again. But I won’t leave you to face the Order on your own.” She heard him shift, readjusting his head where it was pillowed against Archie. “...I’d rather die.”

Nari swallowed the knot that rose in her throat and squeezed his hand in return.

“...Merpeople are so very unusual,” she murmured. “Even after all this time, I’ll never fully understand you, or your ways. But....I am truly happy to be part of them--part of your pod--even if I cannot fathom these sorts of bonds.”

“You’ll get it eventually,” Douxie huffed. “...Anyways, Arch was right--”

“I’m always right,” the Familiar interjected without bothering to open his eyes.

“--we should get some sleep. I guess we have a long journey ahead of us.”

“You have decided then?” Nari asked.

“The opportunity’s too good to pass up. Just promise me you’ll stay with us.”

“...Alright,” she whispered. “I promise.” There was another pause. “...And I love you too. More than I know how to say. That is why it hurts so much to know when you are suffering.”

“I know.” Douxie’s hand squeezed hers one more time, and Archie shifted his head to rest across her shoulders.

Come what may, they had to stay together. That was what it meant to be a pod. And though the thought of the journey ahead of them was daunting, it was made easier by the knowledge that they would undertake it together. And that at the end of it, the last missing part of their family was waiting for them. The pod would be whole again at last, safe in a secret haven for all displaced magical creatures.

A haven that would, in another few centuries, come to be known as Arcadia Oaks, California.

Hope you enjoyed, Willow! Thanks for reading. ✨

[hoodedwing]

Sleep, Red Bucket

Summary: Tim and Jason work together on a case. Just that, Jason had a hard week and maybe just 3-4 hours of sleep. 

Characters: Jason, Tim, Alfred (mentions), Avalanche (no, not from X-men. It’s an original enemy for a man named Snow here)

Warnings: Child drug rings, Drugs, Wild night terrors, Unconscious self-harm, Vomiting, Blood, Injuries, Swearing,

Additional Notes: I used way too much references from The Crown and this is a sickfic

Word Count: 2,233 words

***

Tim stretches a little from where he's sitting on the couch, running his hand through ebony locks as he tapped away on his laptop. He was secretly glad that he managed to sneak out of the Manor, after being ratted out by Jason for not sleeping. He had barely escaped after being coddled by Dick (that man in spandex sure can hug) and hovered over by Alfred. Sighing contently, he closed the webpage he was on and gave a quick glance at the clock.

It was still eleven, nearing towards twelve actually. He knit his eyebrows in slight annoyance, Red Hood and him had arranged to meet at twelve and he wasn't here yet. Tim assumed Jason probably had a run in with some bitch of a gang or seeing the  kids or whatever he does at Crime Alley. He had long learnt not to touch that area, last time saw him with a batarang held against his throat.

Ironic for someone proclaiming to hate Batman. Tim snorted.

He was well into his thought loop when he heard the sound of metal against his window. Tim's head shot up and he hastily grabbed his bo-staff laying on the couch opposite him. Silently, he crept towards the curtains and laid to wait. The sound grew louder and he heard irritated whispers or the wind, he couldn't exactly pinpoint.

The window opened and Tim nearly smashed the intruder's head from behind when he heard a panicked yell.

"The fuck?!"

Tim breathed a little before yelling back. Oh thank fuck, its Jason only.

"And you couldn't use the damn door like any other human?"

Jason allowed a snort to escape before walking resolutely  to the couch where he sat down rather heavily and let out a small sigh.

"I died, I'm technically not human or I mean does that count?"

Tim rolls his eyes and settles back on the couch where Jason was laying stretched rather lazily and flipping through the case files, with his hood still on.

"So, as far as I know. Snow has multiple bases in Bludhaven. Wonder how Dickface hasn't run into him yet."

"Dick knows him as Avalanche. That's what he calls himself. Different street names."

"He'll fall eventually."

Tim almost laughs but he cannot exactly tell if Jason was joking or just plaintively didn't give two fucks. It also sounded a tad more tired.

"Mhm. Anyways, his largest base is pretty near your territory. I think you know it like the back of your hand."

He offers tentatively, trying to rebalance the edge of tension in the room.

"Yeah. Got it."

"Do you need-"

"No. He's on my turf. I get to take him out."

Jason takes slightly longer than he does to get up.  Tim sees it but doesn't call him out on it. He really doesn't want another stab mark. he watches Jason climb out of the window.

"Oh and Jason?"

Jason turns, in zero mood right now because the small throbbing in his head has grown a little.

"What?!"

"Get some shut-eye."

He scoffs and leaves.

—

Some hours in, Tim decided he wanted coffee so he gets up to go make himself.

He hears a faint rustle and pin drop silence. He quietly grabs the dang bo-staff again. As he creeps along the rooms, he hears the sound getting louder. It sounded like someone was having trouble.

He almost shits himself when he sees Red Hood asleep. In his apartment.

Tim narrows his eyes and does a quick surveillance of Jason's things. He sees empty cartridges and shell casings lying at his feet

The only physical response was Jason's head tilting at an angle and soft snores filtered by the Hood.

Huh, he's back and asleep. Already?

"Jason?"

Tim raised an eyebrow at Jason.

"Mm?"

"Oh good. Just checking if you're alive."

Jason turned on himself, curling his legs under himself.

"Al'wys am, Replac'ment. F'k off. Lemme sleep."

Tim frowned slightly as he inched his hands towards the hood but a gloved hand comes out of nowhere and squeezes Tim's wrist tightly who now lets out a yelp.

-

Tim pours the coffee but the thoughts of Jason doesn't leave his mind. Something wasn't so right about Jason. But then, nothing was ever right with Jason.

Was he bleeding? He did return late from whatever he was up to. He did slur his dreaded nickname. He refused to take off his hood. Was he sick? Did he eat?

He hears a loud scream that interrupts his second thought loop of the night. Tim almost spills the coffee on himself and half stumbles-half runs to the source.

Jason.

"J..Jason?"

Erratic breathing greeted him. Tim steels himself as he nimbly types the correct combination and takes the hood off against Jason's order. He isn't about to let someone die in his apartment.

Why does everything have to end up so damn difficult?

Tim barely glances at Jason as he shakes him.

"Jason. Shh. Jason?"

Jason doesn't comply, the thrashing increases in intensity as he yells his throat raw. He claws his forearms, scratching the scarred skin in nightmare-delirium. He manages to draw blood which gently falls onto the white couch, turning the area into a crime scene wildly in contrast to the source of blood. His eyes were tightly shut, thick black lashes glued to his sweat covered cheeks

Tim restrains Jason, tries to grab his hands but he manages to fucking fling Tim across the table. He crashes at the bookshelf, wincing when his arm whacks against a particularly thick encyclopedia.

Ah, he thought, the pain of knowledge.

He quickly gathers himself and sees Jason thrashing on the couch, whimpering like a wounded animal.

"What the fuck. Jason? Can..can you hear me?"

The whimpers alternate into raw screaming, it leaves Tim's heart cold and skin prickled. He doesn't have to know what Jason is thinking. He needs to snap the nightmare loop before he decided his throat was next and he-

Focus, Tim.

Tim rummages everywhere in the apartment, heartbeat loud in his ears. He knows it was best to wait it out but it was almost like it was a loop. He spots a whistle, one from the Charity Games Bruce hosted. Yeah, he remembered that one pretty well. Grayson won the race and he blew the whistle right in his face. Jason laughed and Barbara poked fun at him later on it.

He quickly blows the whistle at Jason who shot up with a frightening velocity. Tim literally held Jason down, stunned into silence.

"Jason?"

He only pinched his nose-bridge, other hand clenching the couch tightly.

"Do you want water?"

"No"

He barely croaked, turning on himself like a wounded animal.

Tim fetches a glass anyway. He also brought some bandages to wrap his forearms. Quietly, he does so, rubbing alcohol into it alternated with small flinches. When the procedure was done, Tim stepped back a little.

Jason turned on himself again, shaking. His eyebrows were drawn in pain, breaths almost wheezing. His face was now alarmingly pale and eyebags almost like bruises cover below his tired eyes

Tim didn't know what to say to him. Jason might shoot down all chances to talk about it.

"I'm going to take your temperature, is that okay?"

No answer.

Tim awkwardly fumbles around, he needed distraction to come up with a way to talk about it. There was no way he was leaving Jason in that terrifying loop he saw.

He knew he had the latest state-of-the-art thermometer that took temperatures in seconds but he chose the mercury one to buy time he needed to calm himself. He returns back to Jason who sat up again, hand resting under his chin.

"I'm not sick."

A whisper barely above the rattling of the heater.

"I still need to check, I haven't ruled out fever dream. You look like shit."

"Course."

Jason lets Tim do it as he quietly counts to the 180th second. Tim removes it and sees it at 96.

"That's cold."

"Anemic."

"Oh, that wasn't in your files. I'll add that in later."

Jason lies down again and his eyes flutter closed. Tim properly gives Jason a onceover, he looked almost vulnerable underneath the glinting armor.

"You haven't eaten, have you?"

His eyes open slightly again, eyes squinting at Tim's undisguised worry.

"Won't stay down."

Tim bit his lip. This was bad.

"Can you handle some soup?"

"Try to, can't promise."

Tim gets up to reheat the soup Alfred left for him two nights ago but something in him nags to not leave Jason alone with his thoughts. He puts on The Crown and unpaused at where Queen Elizabeth hears about Jackie Kennedy's unflattering comments about her.

Tim quickly takes the soup out and shoves it in the microwave. His work could wait another day or two. He had checked the camera feeds momentarily and saw zero sign of the target.

The microwave beeped and he takes it out, carefully pouring into two bowls and bringing it to the living room where he now sees Elizabeth doing the foxtrot.

Tim places the soup at the table and gives one to Jason who cradles one in his arms, eyes unseeing at the television. Tim carefully watches Jason's face. His cheekbones had hollowed slightly and were clenched. Probably an aftereffect defense mechanism. Tim thinks.

"Do you feel like throwing up again?"

An imperceptible shake as his eyes glue at Philip yell at Charles while dangerously maneuvering the plane with tears streaking down Charles' face. Tim sees something momentarily shift in Jason at dad yelling at son.

Oh shit, trigger, trigger, trigger.

Tim abruptly switches off the television. This time, Jason properly turns at Tim.

"Why?"

Tim narrowed his eyes.

"Its..nothing, Jason. Not letting you go through that hell I saw."

"Funny you say that, been happening for two weeks straight."

Jason spits it with vitriol. Tim physically feels the force of the words. Biting, cold, hard. He moves back, as if the force displaced him. How the hell did Jason still have enough strength to do that? a half of Tim wondered.

He tried to open his mouth but settled to stretching his lips into a thin line.

"I said don't-"

"I'm not about to fucking ask or clarify anything remotely related to what just transpired. Listen to me carefully, all I want to know is whether you're sleeping enough. Yes or no?"

Tim hissed, chin dipping down with practiced ease. Jason seemingly curls onto himself more before grumbling, this time lacking the usual bite.

"Three in four days. Fuckers won't stop fucking recruiting kids on my territory to sell drugs. The hell am I supposed to do? Sleep while the kids get roped in a sick fuck of a game?"

Tim nods in understanding, clearly regretting his outburst. He watches Jason sag heavily against the couch and tip his head back. His eyes were pinched shut this time with his jaw tightening with more of the earlier tension Tim noted. He laid a hand on Jason's temple and carefully, he inched his hand throughout his head, warm fingers making their way through. He hears small sighs of relief when he reaches the sides. Tim slowly maneuvers Jason onto his lap and continues to stroke his sweaty bangs. Jason only winces again at the bright, florescent lights

"Headache?"

"Mhm."

He turns on himself, groaning quietly. he places an arm over his eyes. Tim continues to massage his temples, rubbing reassuring circles.

"How bad?"

"..."

"Want painkillers?"

Jason shakes his head, lights glaring in his eyes and everything spinning.

"Hate..meds. You know..that."

Tim seemed to consider that but got off the couch.

"Be right back, I'll dim the lights."

Jason almost whimpers again at the lack of heat of Tim's fingers as the dull throbbing increased and pounded behind his eyes. Jason wished he could will the damn thing to stop, if he could only sleep it away without the fucking nightmares. He curled on himself for the umpteenth time that night, wishing he was dead again.

He feels a dip in the couch and then firm fingers return, pressing hard. Jason gasped out.

"T..Tim."

"Sorry. Is this better?"

Tim apologetically whispers as he decreases the pressure against the wild throbbing. Jason silently hummed in agreement and leaned into the touches.

"Sorry, I overstayed.. I should go."

"You would, if you slept enough. How many hours did you get just yesterday alone?"

"Got here right after the run-in with Snow and be'fre was the druggists."

Tim narrowed his eyes while Jason closes his, worn out by the small conversation.

“What about you?”

He smiles a little at that, always caring about someone else before himself.

"Alfred made me sleep two nights ago at the Manor. I hid out here to find that intel."

"T'hts n'ce."

Tim places his hand on Jason's shoulder and watches as Jason's breathing evens out into soft snores. He threw on a blanket and quietly took his laptop to begin work, the soft blue glow illuminating the room.

“Tim?”

Jason sleepily opens one eye to where Tim settled down with his laptop. He motions Tim to join him who hesitates before lying down beside him. He presses a quick kiss on Jason’s forehead before adjusting himself under Jason’s neck. Jason only let a small hum of approval before encircling Tim with a soft hug.

“G’night.”

[cavalierious-whim]

Kicking, Screaming (FE3H)

Sylvix | Canon-Compliant | Pre-Timeskip | Teen | Complete Sometimes it feels like you have nothing left in the world and you'll only go down kicking and screaming. ----

A/N: CW--  They beat each other up, but it's not really graphic. Read here on AO3 for better quality! ----

The first time that they meet is on the training field.

Sylvain’s fingers are wrapped tightly around a lance, a real one because Gautier boys don’t play with wooden ones. There’s no lesson to be learned if there’s no harm to be had, so Sylvain’s held cold steel and iron in his hands since he learned to walk, and he’s only recently started coming back from sessions only bruised not bloody.

Miklan is bloodthirsty that day, weapon arcing high over his head as he lunges and parries and lunges again. Sylvain meets his movements with his own, polearms glancing off each other. Miklan’s spear tip catches the meat of his bicep and Sylvain winces instead of yelps, because Father is there that day watching carefully.

And with him are guests. Father looks annoyed, mouth pulled into a frown as Miklan laughs, lifting his shirt to wipe at his sweaty brow. Sylvain fingers the cut carefully. It’s not deep, but it’s a bleeder, crimson leaking down the flesh of his arm to his wrist. It drips onto the ground.

Sylvain ignores it, shaking out his hand and holding the lance up once more. “Again,” he says to Miklan, who’s already taking a stance. His brother is loose on his feet before Sylvain can even think, but he manages to catch the direct blow.

Later on, when the spar is over, Sylvain’s whisked away to his father’s side and meets Glenn Fraldarius and his little brother Felix.

“They are staying for the season,” says the Margrave, “and you will train with Glenn.”

Sylvain thinks that it’s because Miklan is too hard with his hits and his father is tired of cleaning up the mess that’s Sylvain when the sparring is over. He’s wrong. The first time that he and Glenn spar, Glenn hits hard and relentlessly.

But Sylvain’s also right because while Glenn gives him all he’s got, it’s never too much. Sylvain leaves their sessions not broken and battered but learned and energized.

Felix is a crybaby who hates to fight, so he watches from the sidelines the entire season. The next year, Glenn and Felix come back again for the summer months, and Felix demands to train too. Sylvain finds him cute, the way that he runs around with a little wooden sword, tripping over his feet. Glenn finds it endearing, admiring the drive from a boy that’s nearly ten.

When Felix takes the field one day against Sylvain, he’s short and small but determined. He’s already got dirt smudged across his face and he grips his sword too tightly and at the wrong angle, but there’s a determination there that Sylvain kind of envies.

He likes his spars with the Fraldarius boys, but the older the gets the less that he wants to fight, and the more he hates the bloodthirsty glint in his father’s eye.

Still. Felix is Felix, his best friend, his confidante. Sylvain owes it to him to at least sling him around the field. So Sylvain does and when Felix loses, he cries and cries and cries, guttural sobs as he hides his face in Glenn’s chest. Glenn shoots Sylvain an apologetic look when Felix calls him a rather nasty name, proclaiming that he never wants to see him again.

It lasts about a day before Felix is on the field again. Sylvain still wins.

These are the best years of Sylvain’s life, he thinks, looking back. The three of them training and laughing and learning. Sitting out under the warm sun and eating the pastries that Cook’s made for them. Late nights of playing Guards and Robbers as long as they can before the Governess sticks her head out into the hallway to crankily yell at them to head to bed.

They’d pile onto the same mattress, Glenn would open up a book and he’d read to them until they both fell asleep.

Shit goes to hell when Glenn dies. The world turns angry and bitter, Sylvain’s father turns angrier, more bitter, and with renewed purpose to marry him off, and Sylvain is caught between accepting his future and hightailing it the fuck away at first notice.

But there’s one thing that keeps him here, waiting. Sylvain’s too selfish to leave him behind.

#

This isn’t the Felix that he knows. Felix is short and quiet until he starts crying, often and at everything, and loud and never-ending. Sylvain’s not looking at Felix, though, he feels like he’s looking at a short, angry version of Glenn with badly kempt hair.

“Let’s go,” says Felix, all business, a sour tone dripping from his mouth tightly. He grips a real sword, not a training one, and for once in his damn life, he looks like he knows what he’s doing.

Sylvain’s wary because he’s learned over the years that you should never fight with a cornered cat. “Felix,” he starts, but Felix lets out a derisive snort.

“I haven’t come here to play,” says Felix, “I’ve come here to spar, like every year before this. And this time, I’ll win.”

Sylvain says nothing as he snaps into a stance, the training field of Gautier Manor long and wide between them. He and Felix have always been close, but right now it feels like they’re a furlong away.

They fly at each other, Felix’s sword landing a glancing blow across Sylvain’s lance. It’s intentional though, steel sliding along the pole before Felix pulls back and turns, his blade slicing inwards for a cut against Sylvain’s side.

Sylvain pulls back, angry. “Hey!” It’d been too close for comfort, too close to drawing blood. It’d reminded him of Miklan and the old days before he’d left without a word. Sylvain doesn’t like it, he doesn’t like this angry version of his best friend.

“Again,” says Felix.

And again they go. And again, and again, and again. Sylvain should have the upper hand due to weapons advantage, but Felix is smaller, lighter, and faster. Sylvain can’t land a blow to save his life, as Felix dances circles around him across the dusty ground. Felix has the decency to slap the flat edge of his sword across his side, dealing a large bruise instead of a nasty cut, but all it does is enrage Sylvain.

He’s never been angry at Felix before, but he is now and he hates, hates this foreign feeling that wells up within him.

“Again,” says Felix. He stands twenty paces away, no longer looking like a boy, but not looking like a man either. He looks tired and sore, circles cut deep under his eyes because he hasn’t slept in a year. Not since Glenn died. He’s only been angry, so, so very bitter and angry.

“Enough,” says Sylvain, wiping at the sweat on his brow. He knows when to call quits.

“Again,” says Felix, “We’re not done.”

“We are done,” snaps Sylvain, anger rising in him.

“We aren’t done until we’re done,” says Felix. “This fight isn’t over with.”

“Felix--”

Felix throws his sword down and tackles Sylvain to the ground with the type of maneuver that Miklan would pull-- down and dirty and not very honorable. Sylvain grunts as Felix throws his weight into him. He pushes back, throwing Felix to the side and rolling them over. Felix flails wildly, trying to hit anything that he can within reach.

He manages to catch Sylvain’s jaw hard with his fist. Sylvain pulls back onto his knees and looks down at Felix, cradling his split lip and spitting out the blood that wells up.

Felix stares back up at him defiantly and says, “Again.”

It’s fair when Sylvain hits back, he thinks. It’s fair to hit a person who’s hit you, even if it’s a friend, even if it’s a family member, even if it’s someone that you love deeply. Miklan taught him that lesson early on in life, Sylvain’s just never thought he’d ever duke it out with Felix on the other end.

Felix fights back like a rabid cat, claws out and hackles raised, yowling in anger as he launches himself at Sylvain once more. They tussle on the ground, rolling over and over, raking and scratching, kicking and screaming.

This time, Sylvain hooks his fist across Felix’s nose and there’s a distinct crunch under his hand. Felix doesn’t even blink. He lays there on the ground, nose crooked and bleeding, staring at Sylvain resolutely before croaking out another, “Again.”

Sylvain leans over Felix, knuckles bruised and lip swollen and bleeding, and he finally sees exactly what’s going on. He sees what Felix has been working through, he sees how alone he feels and he sees that he’s entirely at a loss. And Felix must recognize the pity that falls across Sylvain’s face because Felix pushes at his chest.

“Again!” shouts Felix, but this time it’s more like an angry sob, heart wrenching and painful. “Sylvain, again.”

Sylvain pulls him close instead, pressing Felix into his chest, fingers stroking through his hair as he murmurs soft words to him. Felix shakes in his grasp, but there are no tears because Felix has cried so much that there isn’t anything left. All he is is a pitiful, angry little shell who only feels things when he’s being pummeled into a pulp.

And that’s something that Sylvain understands truly, deeply, and with every fiber of his being.

Felix clings to him, fingers pulling at his shirt and Sylvain lets him, telling him that it’s going to be okay, even if neither of them believes it because Glenn is gone and war is on the rise. They both know what’s bound to happen.

Later, after the manor healer sets Felix’s nose, they’re out on the balcony of Sylvain’s room, where they used to watch the stars with Glenn.

“He left me,” says Felix.

“Yeah,” says Sylvain. “But you aren’t alone.”

Felix is quiet for a long moment, and then says, “I’m heading off to squire.”

Sylvain turns to Felix. “Is that what you want?”

“No,” says Felix, and it’s the first honest thing he’s said to Sylvain since he stepped through their front doors this summer season. “But it’s what Glenn wanted.”

“You aren’t Glenn,” says Sylvain.

Felix sighs, a soft little thing. “Of course not, but tell that to my old man.”

Sylvain bites his lip as he thinks, head falling back to stare at the dark sky. Felix does the same, and they both lean dangerously against the railing, reckless with their present-day because they already have no future.

“I promise that I’ll die with you,” says Sylvain finally.

“That’s a dumb promise,” says Felix with a snort.

“You wouldn’t be alone, though.” Sylvain pauses. “I wouldn’t be alone either. We can fight together and we can die together. Sounds better than marriage. It’d definitely mean more.”

Felix laughs at that, low and bitter. But then he nudges at Sylvain, a small quirk to his lips. Sylvain reaches out and brandishes a pinky, and Felix scoffs. “A pinky promise? Sylvain, we aren’t children anymore.”

“Pinky promises are a sacred thing,” says Sylvain with absolute seriousness.

Felix stares at his hand and then hooks his own around it. “It’s a promise then. We die together, or we don’t die at all.”

It’s a nice thought, Sylvain thinks. Too bad he doesn’t plan on keeping it, because he’s not going to let Felix die at all. Unlike him, Felix still has something to live for even if he doesn’t think so. Sylvain smiles at him, sickly sweet even though it doesn’t reach his eyes, and it’s the first time that Sylvain directs fakeness towards another person in such a way. Felix doesn’t see it because he’s not paying attention.

“Yeah,” says Sylvain. “It’s a promise.”

[fruitquake]

Hi so I had this prompt in my head for a while and I was wondering if you could make it come "alive"? One night a very drunk(or tired after the full moon)Remus Lupin says "I love you" to Sirius and then falls asleep(and doesn't remember anything).Sirius is super confused but then after a week of Sirius being awkward around Remus,Remus gets a boyfriend/girlfriend.Sirius is VERY jealous and he confronts Remus about it.They end up kissing or smth.Maybe even smut if you're okay with that lmao

this is so cliché but dang i enjoyed writing it.

(note: there’s no smut, sorry anon)

-

“Aww, they’re so cute together!”

James was referring to Remus and Mary, his new girlfriend, who were sitting together next to the fireplace.

Sirius didn’t agree, and he didn’t mind voicing his opinion. 

“It’s gross,” he said, scowling at the couple, who were huddled so close together they could’ve been one person. “So over-the-fucking-top.”

James shook his head at his best friend’s claim. “They’re not even kissing,” he pointed out.

“They were earlier,” Sirius growled. “And it was disgusting.”

“Oh, come on, Pads.” James chuckled. “You’ll have to admit they make a pretty cute couple!”

Sirius shook his head and scowled. Not wanting to look at the couple anymore, he grabbed the nearest distraction: A potions textbook which he had no interest in actually reading. 

It didn’t make sense to Sirius: Why was Remus dating Mary, a girl? Had Sirius misunderstood what Remus had told him that night?

It was about a week ago, the night of one of Gryffindor’s signature parties: the kind of party where everyone got super drunk and stayed up way too late. 

“Have you guys seen Remus?” a noticeably drunk James asked, dropping down on the couch next to Sirius and Peter.

Sirius scanned the room for his friend, concern tugging at his chest. Where was Remus?

“I saw him a while ago,” Peter piped up. “He looked like he was headed for the bathroom. Now that I think about it, he’s been in there for a long time…”

“Hm.” James turned his head towards the closed bathroom door, his brows furrowed in what seemed to be concern. “Maybe someone should go check on him,” he said. “If he’s still in there, that is.”

“I’ll do it.” Sirius quickly got to his feet, the need to make sure his friend was alright overruling his drunkenness and somehow sobering him up. 

Remus was, as they had expected, still in the bathroom. He was on the floor, bent over the toilet, and he wasn’t looking all too well.

“Moony, are you okay?!” Sirius hurried into the bathroom and knelt down next to Remus. “Did you drink too much?”

Remus groaned and gazed up at Sirius, his usually bright eyes dull. “I guess?” His voice was feeble and his words slurred. 

“Do you need to throw up or anything?” Sirius asked, brushing Remus’s curly locks away from his clammy forehead.

Remus shook his head. “I already did,” he mumbled, gesturing vaguely to the toilet. “I think I’ll just-” with a groan, he reached for the sink and tried to hoist himself up. “I’ll just go to bed now.”

Sirius reacted quickly, reaching out to support Remus just as he lost balance. “Hey!” he said. “Careful.”

As the two of them exited the bathroom, Sirius with his arm around Remus, they found James and Peter waiting outside. 

“Is he okay?” James asked with visible concern. 

Sirius nodded. “Yeah, he’s fine,” he said. “Don’t worry, mate, I’ve got this.”

He helped Remus up the steep stairs and into their dormitory, where he made him get into bed, pulling the covers up around his body. 

“It’s nice of you to tuck me into bed,” Remus mumbled, a sleepy grin slowly spreading on his face. “Are you gonna tell me a bedtime story too?”

He looked so beautifully innocent, curled up under the crimson red covers, his soft green eyes gazing up at Sirius, who smiled, heat rising to his cheeks. “If you want me to,” he answered. 

Remus chuckled softly, his eyes fluttering shut. “My mum always told me stories before bed,” he mumbled sleepily. “When I was a kid…” He was quiet for a bit. Sirius thought he might’ve fallen asleep, and was about to get up when he spoke again: “I think I love you as much as I love my mum.”

“Huh?” Sirius’ eyes widened as he turned around to look at Remus again. 

“It’s a different kind of love, though,” Remus murmured with a soft but sleepy smile.

“What… what do you mean?” Sirius asked, a nervous chuckle escaping him.

Remus seemed to already be half asleep, his breathing heavier, more relaxed, as he, with barely more than a whisper said: “I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you.”

Sirius had been shocked, to say the least. Confused too, and not quite sure he’d heard correctly, but he hadn’t been able to get another word out of Remus before the werewolf had fallen asleep. 

In the past week, he’d felt awkward around Remus, and neither of them had mentioned the conversation, but now, quite suddenly and as though nothing ever happened, Remus was dating Mary. Why? 

“Honestly, Padfoot,” James said, bringing Sirius back to the common room. “You’ve been acting really weird all day. Is this about Remus and Mary?”

Sirius wasn’t quite sure what to say, so he didn’t respond and James seemed to take his silence as confirmation. 

“Look,” he said. “She’s leaving now.”

Sirius looked up. Mary was in fact leaving, but not before grabbing Remus’ face in both her hands and pressing their lips together a little too passionately. It made Sirius sick to watch.

“I’m not going to get involved in this thing, whatever it is,” James continued. “But I think you should go talk to Remus.”

Talk about what? Sirius thought. Yet he nodded, got up and walked over to where Remus was now sitting alone. They hadn’t talked, not really at least, since the party last week, and the air between them was full of tension as Remus looked up, noticing Sirius coming towards him. 

Sirius cleared his throat. “Hey,” he said, shifting uncomfortably and trying not to look at Remus. The image of him and Mary kissing kept playing in his head, more and more upsetting each time. 

“Oh, hey.” Although Sirius wasn’t looking at Remus’ face, he recognized the tone: stiff, hesitant, but with pent-up emotion. “So you’re talking to me again, huh?”

Sirius bit down on his lower lip. He sounded… hurt?

“I hadn’t stopped talking to you,” he answered. He heard Remus draw in a breath, undoubtedly about to call Sirius’ bullshit out, but Sirius didn’t let him get in a word, continuing to talk instead: “Let’s go somewhere more… private,” he said.

He finally looked at Remus. He looked surprised but after a moment, he nodded, getting to his feet. “Alright,” he said. “I’m right behind you.”

They left the common room and found an empty classroom. Sirius felt his heartbeat quicken: he was nervous, unsure what he was gonna say to Remus.

However once they were inside the empty classroom, standing face-to-face, the words just rolled right off his tongue, from an unknown place he hadn’t been aware even existed:

“What the fuck, Remus?” The hardness in his own tone startled him, but he kept going: “Can’t you make up your mind? One day you’re telling me you’re fucking in love with me, but then you pretend it never happened and get together with Mary instead! So which one is it, Remus? ‘Cause I’m not going to get my hopes up again if you’re just gonna shatter them. Honestly, it’s like my feelings don’t mean shit to you.”

Remus stared at him blankly, a mix of shock and just utter confusion on his face. “What are you talking about?” he asked, cheeks turning brightly red. “I’ve never said I…” He trailed off, eyes looking anywhere but at Sirius. “I never said I’m in love with you,” he mumbled. 

“Wait, you… you don’t remember?” Sirius asked, surprise masking his frustration. Remus had been very drunk, but… did he really not remember? Sirius had walked around for a week now, being able to think about nothing else than that moment, where Remus had told him he loved him, and Remus himself didn’t even remember?

Sirius shook his head. “No,” he said, answering his own question before Remus could. “You’re lying,” he whispered, tears springing to his eyes. “You changed your mind didn’t you?”

“I- what?” Remus laughed in disbelief. “Sirius that’s-”

Sirius continued before Remus could finish his sentence. “You changed your mind about being in love with me,” he repeated. “And since you don’t have a fucking time-turner, you can’t undo it, so instead you pretend it never happened and jump into the lap of the first girl to give you the slightest bit of attention! It’s pathetic, Remus.”

“Don’t bring Mary into this,” Remus warned him, his voice quiet but serious. 

“Why the fuck shouldn’t I?” Sirius snapped back, Remus’ calmness only riling him up even further. “Me or Mary, Remus? Which one is it? ‘Cause you’ve been sending really fucking mixed signals!”

“I’ve been sending mixed signals?” Remus scoffed, shaking his head in disbelief. “Sirius, you’ve barely been talking to me this past week! Every time I’ve tried communicating with you, asking you why you aren’t talking to me, you’ve completely brushed me off! Do you have any idea how shitty that made me feel?”

Sirius felt a pang of guilt. He’d never meant to upset Remus, but after the night of the party, he hadn’t known how to act around him. “I need the truth,” he said quietly, heartbeat suddenly quickening again. “Are you in love with me?”

He was taken by great surprise as Remus, quite suddenly, stepped forward and grabbed his shirt, pulling him into a kiss. 

“How could I not be in love with you?” Remus asked in a tortured voice as they broke apart, their faces only inches from each other. “I swear, I’ve tried to let it go, and to just get over you because how could you ever love someone like me, but…” He looked up, his soft green eyes staring right into Sirius’ grey ones. “You make it so fucking hard.”

Sirius stared into Remus’ eyes, his mind struggling to make sense of anything that had just happened. “You’re in love with me?” he asked again.

Remus rolled his eyes but seemed unable to repress a smile. “Yes, I am,” he said, cupping Sirius’ face in his hands. “Keep up, Padfoot.”

[bestfriends-0212]

Trust me! Ch.1

- Y/N pov first day of freshman year

My alarm went off I shot up looking around crazy. Ugh the first day of school, I got up and got ready. I decided to keep it simple and not too flashy. I was looking around for my backpack when I heard a knock on the front door. I ran towards it and opened it to see Riley standing there looking pretty as always.

 "Hey Riles help me find my bag, " I said pulling her into a hug

 " of course, " she said chuckling a bit.

 We searched the whole apartment and found nothing. I groaned falling onto my couch.

 " how do you lose your bag on the first day of school " Riley asked falling next to me " I'm not even sure " I replied closing my eyes "come on we got to find your bag before Maya gets here " she said pulling me up " check your room again I'll check the living room " she said I nodded I went to my room and started looking . I looked under my bed and saw one of my heels

I thought I lost. I looked in my closet and saw nothing from the ordinary. I sighed where is it. I heard a knock

 " welp Maya is here and I don't have my bag, " I said walking to the living room. Riley opened the door to reveal Maya and my bag. 

" how ?" We both said

 " you left it at my house last night you just left and forgot to grab it, " she said handing it to me. 

" thank you for bringing it for me "

 " no problem ." She said giving us a hug.

 " Y'all ready for freshman year? " I asked closing and locking the door. We walked to Riley apartment

 " NOO" yelled Matthews once we stepped in

. " good morning, " I said chuckling a bit.

 " IM NOT READY FOR MY THREE GIRLS GOING TO HIGH SCHOOL "

 " there-there it's going to be okay, " said Auggie patting his back. 

" Auggie " I yelled he ran towards me and jumped into my arms. I sprung him around till we both got dizzy and fell on the couch 

" girls breakfast, " said Mrs. Matthews 

" not hungry " Maya and I said

 " didn't ask, eat now " we sat down and ate breakfast

 " y/n where's your dad now ?" Asked Riley " not sure he was already gone last night I'm sure he'll let me know throughout the day ." I said shrugging " oh honey he's doing this for you, " said Mrs. Matthews " I know it just sucks " " it does " agreed Maya I gave her a small smile . We have had this conversation before and we both have gotten fairly emotional about this topic. "Well it's time to go, " said Mr. Matthews we all said goodbye. The girls and I took the subway while Mr.Matthews drove. I couldn't help but think life and how's it's changing. We arrived at school and went to go pick up our schedules. We were just standing in line when we heard some girls talking.

" Y'all heard there are two new students " 

" oh yeah? Boy or girl ?"

 "Boys both of them ."

 " did you hear that " asked Riley l nodded 

" so interesting, " I said rolling my eyes Maya laughed

 " come on they could change our lives who knows, " said Riley with hope in her eyes which I haven't seen in a while so I just agreed with her "you are right Riley who knows what can happen" we grabbed our schedules and locker information. We had history, chemistry, a gym and a free period together. I had Ap language arts and AP calculus. I knew I'll be with Farkle for those classes. Our lockers were in the same hallway so we weren't that far. My first class was AP calculus I said bye to the girls and walked to it. I sat in the middle row took out what I knew I would need.

I saw Farkle walk in, I sighed I miss him but he just doesn't understand. He sat next to me. "Hey y/n " I just ignored him " I don't know what I did for you to hate me, " he said with his voice cracking a bit " you abandoned us. We went through hell and back you weren't there for us Farkle" I said quietly trying not to get emotional. " I'm sorry " I nodded I can't forgive him. The rest of the class went by fast. The bell rang I shot out and left like I was flash.

The girls and I have a free period so we were going to meet at the library and just chill there. I was at my locker putting some of my books away and grabbing the clothes I needed for gym later. I closed my locker and started walking towards the library.

This cute tallboy comes to me and as soon he speaks his voice is like an angel. When I realized what he asked I told him no as fast as I could and ran to the library. Riley and Maya came up to me

 " something happened ?" They asked worried 

" no, " I said softly

 "then why did you run ?"

 "It's nothing " I mumbled

 "it's something you look like you saw a ghost, " said Riley 

"Guys it was nothing okay just drop it " they both shrugged

 " can't you believe that my dad is going to teach us history again ?" Asked Riley I chuckled a bit

 " yeah riles I do he's been teaching us since middle school "

 " Yeah, we are stuck with him till senior year," Maya added in while starting to draw

 " Preach it, sister, " I said while laughing, they started laughing too.

 " did Farkle tried to talk to y'all this morning ?" I asked getting serious they nodded their head yes 

" I miss him " Riley replied sadly

 " I know me too but he kind of abandoned us for his grades," Maya said numbly

 " he wasn't there for us when we needed it, we were drowning, screaming for help and he still didn't notice. We only have each other " I said sadly

Don't get me wrong I do miss my little genius. He was our best friend since first grade but he always put his intelligence before anything. When we needed him the most he wasn't there. When we were in our darkest times he didn't notice, when we were drowning gasping for air he didn't save us. We saved each other. He never knew what happened and he probably won't know either. I don't like holding grudges but how could you say you are our best friend but wasn't there when we needed you the most. When Riley finally realized that the world isn't as great as she thought it was. When Maya finally broke down and went into a dark place. When I got my heart broken into tiny pieces and was made a huge fool out of. When the three of us were robbed at gunpoint going home after our extra activities were done. When our world did a full 360 and he wasn't even there to tell us we were going to be okay. He was too busy getting straight A's. Don't get me wrong I love that about him cause I do believe in him and his dream of world domination but there's more in life than that. He didn't stay up at night with Maya full-on crying in my bay window asking why was she broken while swallowing your own tears telling her she wasn't because she's a great girl. He didn't stay with us when we had nightmares of the robbery because we feared our lives being taken away from us. He wasn't there and I don't think I can forgive him for that. 

" earth to y/n !" Whispered Maya in my ear making me jump

 " sorry what ?" I responded slyly

 "dinner my place ?" Questioned Riley

 " always plus my dad is in Washington for the month so your parents have to sign my syllabus, " I said laughing at the end,

 " I think mom is making spaghetti, " Riley said while closing her book

 " yum, " Maya and I said laughing the bell rang telling us that free period was over and history is next. Thank god I have them in there. I grabbed my bag throwing it on my shoulder

 " can this day hurry up so I can sleep, " I said turning around to see the guy from earlier staring at me while his friend waved in front of his face, I couldn't help but giggle. I heard two gasps from behind me and that's when I knew I messed up.

 " did I just hear a giggle from Miss. Always Serious " mocked Maya,

 " I think we just heard the famous giggle from our lovely best friend, " said Riley a little too loud for my liking from the Corner of my eye I saw the guy smirking. Damn it, Riley .

 "Nope y'all hearing things let's go to history now please, " I said pushing them out the library.

 "No we know what we heard and it was a giggle, " said Maya

 " we haven't heard that giggle in a year y/ n. It's a good thing. You can't keep hiding your emotions in. Remember what happens when you do that " she said sternly I groaned

 " Riley that was one time please don't remind me about that day. " I murmured quickly I really didn't like talking about that day. I exploded on everybody even my dad and told him that I hated him.  Which lead me to have a panic attack it wasn't a great day.

 "Sorry but still don't hide your emotions it's bad for you, " she said pulling me in a hug.

 "Moving on my tall plant we are about to be late and I don't think your dad will like that one bit "

 "oh he'll have a fit, " said Maya laughing 

" oh yeah he would that'll be funny can we be late I want him freaking out on the first day of school, " I said laughing evilly

 " see I love this y/n the one who likes doing bad things, " said Maya returning the evil laugh.

 " I hate it when Y'all do that. Now let's go we have a minute till the bell rings and we have to walk all the way to the other side. " Riley said.

 "We are going on a trip on our favorite rocket ship, Zooming through the sky, Little Einsteins. " I sang randomly

 "the hell was that, " Maya asked laughing

 " I have no idea, " I said bursting out laughing, Riley was laughing as well. We looked like a mess laughing in the middle of an empty hallway. We were definitely late oh Matthews is going to kill us. Once we got in front of the door, Riley looked at us scared

 " who's going on first ?" She asked 

I opened the door

 " sorry, we late Matthews, " I said walking in not really caring.

 " -am from Texas " I heard a voice that doesn't belong to Matthew. Oh fuck I just ruined someone introduction. I looked at the girls and they were laughing quietly. Little fuckers. 

"Ah glad you ladies could make it to class, " said Mr.Matthews 

I turned around and was met with the guy from earlier right in front of me looking straight in my eyes. Wow, he has some pretty eyes. Dang, I could swim in that water. Snap out of it y/n.

 "Please take a seat we will have a talk about this later, " Mr. Matthews said 

" yes sir " I replied while turning around for a seat

 " and don't you dare sit in the back miss y/l/ n " 

" yes sir, " I said rolling my eyes. I sat in the middle row, Maya sat in front me and Riley sat next to her.

 " you can continue your introduction Mr.friar. "

 "right uh I'm from Texas and I move a lot because of my dad's job. I like to uh play sports " he said stuttering a bit aww he's nervous that's cute.

 "Thank you, Mr.Friar, you can sit next to miss Y/LN, " Matthews said 

I gave him a what the fuck look. He just winked at me. What is trying to do play Cupid? I don't need him meddling in my love life. I glared at him. I just notice Farkle is sitting in front of Riley and he was smiling at her. God, I ship them so hard but he had to ruin it. I also notice that guy friend is in front of Maya. Friar finally sat down. Mr. Matthews gave everybody a sheet with questions about what we should know from middle school. I was about to start it when a note landing on my desk. Sighing I opened it.

 Hi :) 

I rolled my eyes what is this 6th grade I looked at friar cause I have a feeling it's him. He was already staring once he notices I was looking at him he smiled and waved. What a dork. I decided to reply what's the worst that can happen.

 Hello there :P

 I threw it back at him. I answered a few questions when the note landed on my desk again. Damn boy, did you write a paragraph? 

Thank you for running away from me earlier. It was a great welcoming gesture. I felt like home. I'll also like to thank you for interrupting my introduction.

 I couldn't help but chuckle.

 No problem I'm here all week free of charge. Welcome to Abigail Adams. ;P  

I threw it at him and it hit his face. I burst out laughing. 

" is there something funny miss .Y/l/N, " Mr. Matthews asked I tried to stop laughing but his face was so priceless and I kept replaying it in my head. Maya and Riley turned around with an amused expression. Which made me laugh harder I looked at the guy next to me and he had a small smirk.

 "Do you need to step outside? " asked Mr. Matthews I shook my head no. "Then get it together " I nodded finally stopping from laughing. I finished the sheet when the note landed again. 

Seriously out of all the places you could have thrown it at you hit it my face. Like seriously do you have bad aim. 

I smirked at him

 I'm sorrryyy my bad.

 This time when I got up I put it on his desk and gave Matthews the class work. "Behave " he whispered sternly. "I am"I whispered he shook his head. I went and sat back down I notice that the note was already there. I smirked at him.

 I'll have you know I play softball so I have great aim.

 Our conversation continued I found out he plays baseball, basketball, and football. I told him I do gymnastics and cheerleading. He said not to let his best friend hear about that cause he's obsessed with cheerleaders. He reintroduced himself and asked for my name. I told him I like to keep my name mystery for now. Before he can respond, the bell rang. The rest of the day went by like a blink of an eye. After walking home with the girls I went home to shower and sleep before going to Riles for dinner. My nap was cut short when I was woken by the FaceTime ringtone. I saw it was my dad . " hey daddy" I said happily " hey sweetheart how was your first day of high school " he asked I couldn't help but to smile he always cares about me even when he's tired . " it was good shocking news Mr.Matthews is my history teacher again. " we both laughed . "That's good darling listen I have to tell you I won't be home for a couple of months... I know that it's a lot but we need the money I need to make sure you get to college, " he said I felt like my heart was just ripped out of me. He usually gone for a few weeks tops never months. "Honey ?" I just hanged up and put my phone in do not disturb. I locked my bay window and the front door. I can feel myself starting to cry, I miss my dad I wish he was here right now but he wasn't he was in Washington for a couple months. Next thing I knew I just broke down sobbing holding my pillow as if it was my only hope. I just let everything out until darkness took over me. 

-End of y/n pov-

Feedback is welcomed!-Kat

[clownsgobeepbeep]

If I’ve spammed this I’m sorry, tumblr was on the fritz for me 33

You haven't, it's all good ^^

33.)Compromise

Pirate drama as always

Stellar was quite upset. He disliked it when things didn't go his way of course and throughout these entire days, nothing went how he planned. He learned that his sister was not killed but instead romanced by his enemy and that she had his child. Very nice, his niece was related to that bastard. And that bastard happened to have kidnapped because he apparently didn't die. Oh no, some foolish story about magic was brought up and it was said somebody brought him back, after his sister killed him? Stars, he didn't understand her sometimes. Nothing was going his way, especially now! 

He knitted his eyebrows together as he recalled what had happened in the last few days. The only one who supported his decisions was his first mate, his brother who he could actually consider a sibling that was not betraying him! Meanwhile, the rest of his crew was against him, especially Maggie. Why did she have to grow so fond of that child!?

And then, there was the damned siren...why hadn't he left the ship already? It was annoying him having him around already, but now it was worse because not even Abraham was going to drag Vespers away.

"My sister and I would help each other, and we hate each other! Is this a human thing? Because dang.” Stellar spoke to himself as he mimicked Vespers' voice in a goofy manner. Damn Abraham! Damn Coraline! Damn that siren with the awfully good voice and eyes! Damn Maggie!

Stellar shook his head, then looking up in front of him when he heard footsteps. Speak of the devil...

"What do ye want now?"he asked, and Maggie sat down on a barrel next to him with a blank expression.

"Nothin',just waiting till we find the Bloody Saint."she replied, skimming her eyes around the water which looked completely calm. It was beautiful, sparkling, underneath a wonderful blue sky and shining sun. Not what they needed.

"Well trust me when I say we aren't gonna find the damn ship any time soon."Stellar spat out, remembering the hell she made him go through before she finally convinced him to save poor Lily. He could stand the pleading, the insane ideas she provided, the attempts at sneaking off of the ship late at night. But once he heard the pirates speak of mutiny, he drew the line and gave in. He didn't work so hard to find his grandfather's ship for nothing.

"I know, any ideas you got?"Maggie said, and he gave no response but instead a silent glare at the ocean. "Look, I'm sorry about the whole-"

"Stop talking and sing."

"What?"

"You said the girl was taken because she was singing, so sing if you want to find her."he demanded, and Maggie bit her lip for a moment before she turned around and closed her eyes with a sigh as she tried to remember the song Lily sang.

“Hear as I sing out to thee. Oh, my darling sailor please stay safe.Cruel and harsh waters, I beg them to ease and bring back my loving prince." she started, Stellar then shutting his eyes while he thought of the song his sister made, for...why even think of it."So daring is he. He sails every sea. See how my soul longs for him, day and night."

He then opened his eyes, noticing that a fog started to appear as Maggie continued singing to herself. His eyes widened for a moment as the sun practically faded out and the sky turned gray.

”My love for thee my sailor grows strongly. I keep all thee in my thoughts, and my dreams. In my arms I wish to have thee again. Dear hear as I si-" 

"Maggie, look."Stellar interrupted, and so Maggie opened her eyes to see that the entire atmosphere had grown to be quite dark. That was fast, and quite scary. She squinted her eyes to see through the thick fog, then hearing footsteps that belonged to the crew members, but some sounded as if they had landed meaning that there were others boarding the ship uninvited. 

Stellar stepped from behind his wheel and neared the top of the deck's stairs as he saw a figure fly through the fog on a rope before it got close to him. Too close.

Maggie's eyes widened before she heard Stellar let out an 'oof' as he felt harshly to the ground and looked up at the figure holding him down with a dagger against his throat. 

"Where is she!? Where have you locked her up!?"

"Shut it ye eunuch!"Stellar yelled out, then kicking the person on top of him off before he scrambled up to his feet and pulled out his sword in a fighting stance.

"Seven years, and that is still your sorry excuse of an insult!?"the other man shouted, drawing his sword out as well before Maggie drew her sword out which she pointed at the other man.

"You two better not start-"

Soon enough, the two pirates charged at each other and clashed swords, Maggie groaning to herself loudly before she stepped in and made her sword break both of theirs' apart. She struggled for a moment, then pulling her sword back so that both of the men were easily disarmed. They looked at each other in surprise before they looked at Maggie who placed her sword back and crossed her arms.

"If you two keep these silly fights up, I'll make sure my aunt wrecks both of yer arses without mercy!"she exclaimed, and the enemy pirate scoffed as he rolled his eyes.

"Nothing can kill me, I'm-"

"I don't care if you're dead or alive Mendax, she'll do it and you'll regret never having seen your daughter again!"Maggie yelled out, making the pirate furrow his eyebrows as he now remembered his purpose there.

"Where is she?"

"Lily?"

"Who else could I possibly be speaking of? Of course Lily! Where is my child!?"he questioned, making both Stellar and Maggie grow confused as they turned to each other.

"Isn't the girl...with you?"Stellar spoke up, James turning to him with a glare that deepened.

"I am here for one purpose and only one purpose alone, which is to retrieve my daughter and take my leave."he responded with clenched fists."Or are you not an ally of the sea witch?"

"Sea witch? Which one?"

"Katrina."James stated, and Stellar made his face scrunch up before James sighed to himself in disappointment."That signifies no."

The pirate turned around and picked up his sword, ready to leave while Stellar shot Maggie a glare. Although, she ignored him and instead turned to James.

"James, wait. We were trying to save Lily from you beca-"

"Because you believed me to be the kind of man to harm my own daughter? Of course you would."

"Are you sure you aren't a eunuch Jamie? Me and Roger real-"

"As I was saying, we wanted to save Lily and now so do you."Maggie interrupted Stellar who rolled his eyes and muttered to himself, James turned around to give her a look.

"What are you implying now?"

"That we work together to find Lily."

James' eyes widened before he turned around again, then walking down the stairway as Maggie followed behind.

"I would much rather slaughter this entire crew single handedly than ally my own with it."

"Well said."

"Stellar!"Maggie said through grit teeth, then running over to James as he fixed his coat and grabbed a rope while telling his men to return to his ship."James, don't you want to save your daughter?"

"I do, but I would prefer to do it alone."

"You need our help."

"I do not. I will never ally myself with anybody pertaining to a union with the D'Vitts."

"James, we care about her too! Lily is Stellar and Roger's niece!"

"Lily is of no relation to those imbeciles."

"Be a man, and step it up for your daughter! They are brothers to Coraline who is her mother!"

The ship was then silent, the only sounds being the wood creaking and the waves of the ocean as James looked down at the water.

"If you won't do it for any of us, do it for Lily and Coraline."Maggie whispered before James quietly sighed to himself. He lifted his head and turned around to walk over to Stellar who gave him a smirk. James in turn glared at him before he reached up to his right arm and pinched the fingertip of his black glove. Stellar watched as he removed the glove, and the pirates that surrounded them let out a few disgusted sounds as they saw James' arm looking a bit too boney...and meaty in a way it shouldn't have.

"Captain Stellar D'Vitt,"he started, obviously trying to conceal a smirk and snicker as he saw Stellar's disgusted face looking at his arm that he offered."Do we have a compromise to rescue Lily?"

"Not if you expect me to shake hands with that!"

"Stellar!"

"Oooh....alright Jamie the eunuch, we have a...compromise..."Stellar choked out, then turning away as he hesitantly grabbed and shook James' hand while he gave a small smirk. "Ugh...oh stars...it feels awful, worse than Calypso's tendril..."

"You can thank you sister for this, the woman is so talented. Did quite the number on me."

"Oh stars...I hate her even more now."

Maggie sighed to herself as she watched Stellar gagging to himself after James let go of him, feeling a sense of relief. At least she had these two on..."better" terms, and there was the certain plan of saving tiny Lily.

"Ugh! Oh stars, eunuch plague!"

Oh goodness...

[italicwatches]

Comic Girls - Episode 11

Today I have to decide whether or not to do a batshit thing to build hype for Smash. But also, it’s Comic Girls, episode 11! Here we GO!

-It all starts at the dorm, where the girls have gotten one of those career-goal surveys from school to fill out. Which has them in a bit of a trouble, since three of the four here already have their plans figured out and even Kaos knows her goals, she’s just struggling to, you know, achieve them. Of course, they all have to put down more than just the obvious first choice…

-So what’s Ruki’s backup plans if this manga train stops? She’d love to teach children. And Kaos gets all sad about the idea of losing Ruki and Tsubasa says, and I quote, “How could you leave Kaos behind to take care of other people’s children?!” And Koyume even backs her up. I’m sorry, Ruki, you’re stuck with this little pink blob thing for life.

-Opening!

-So why teaching, and especially at a nursery school of all places? Low supply, high demand, and she loves working with kids. Really, as much as she loves manga, Ruki would still be pretty dang happy if teaching was what paid her bills, and it’d be a lot more stable…She intends to get the license after she graduates, in fact, just so she has the option if things go sideways. …Just don’t draw any smut in front of them on accident. That’s how you got into this mess in the first place, remember.

-Well, Koyume’s thinking she could always fall back on her family’s sweets shop! She knows most of the recipes already! Oh hey it turns out Kaos’s folks also run a small shop, but they do traditional Japanese confectionaries, not Western sweets like Koyume’s folks. Koyume suddenly totally wants to do a fusion collab. East meets West! They’ll take the treat community by storm, Kaos! Would anyone even buy that…They could build it into a great cultural icon! Have enough space to do events, work with up-and-coming idols, it’d be the coolest! Koyume please focus on your actual current plans and not your wild ideas for if those plans don’t work out.

-So what about Tsubasa? Nothing. And she is NOT putting down anything her parents would want god dammit! …Tsu, you got issueOMINOUS CHANTING. We can never escape. I’m sorry what were we talking about? Oh, right, jobs. Tsubasa is having to figure out actual plan Bs to continue her rebellion. How about being a superhero? No, that’s too unrealistic. A professional swordswoman, maybe…You, you know what, let them help—

-SUZU IS HERE

-FROM THE CRAWLSPACE

-SHE WANTS TO BE A GHOST WHEN SHE GROWS UP

-Actually she also wants to be a caregiver. There’s lots of demand for it back home, as she casually starts to lower a rope to come down to the ground. …Suzu, you’re as much of a dork as Tsubasa. Also she really does want to be a ghost when she grows up. KAOS RUN FOR IT SHE’S COMING FOR YOU

-So after they banish Suzu to the shadow realm, back to this damned form. Tsubasa still has no idea what to write after ‘manga artist’. And Kaos…Kaos has the problem that she has no idea of anything she could do. She’s much too clumsy to help out at her parents’ shop…And she’s the only one without a serialized gig! She’s doomed, DOOMED she tells you! And cue Ririka to come check up on them.

-Soon they’re all talking over coffee and tea, and she explains her own past…How she was facing much the same decision. She was nearly serialized when she was your age, you know…But, she gave it up. The pressure of being a professional manga artist just…took the fun out of it for her. The freedom. It’s a bit embarrassing to admit in front of actual working pros, though she did get to to release a one-shot volume, “The Afternoon Smells Like Oranges”…

-Kaos perks up. Because wait. Wait wait wait. YOU’RE Rika Sonoda-sensei?! You still have fans! Look at all these reviews! And Ririka is embarrassed, most of all to admit that even under that, she just, couldn’t hold up her end of things…It’s one of the reasons why she runs this dorm, to give people a better place to work, to find the strength to be able to do what she couldn’t. Because there is nothing that makes her more proud than seeing an artist become strong enough to stand as a professional…And of course, she still does some hobby work from time to time.

-…Kaos wants to see it. Right now. Right now right now! Koyume also wants to see it! Nnnnope. (It’s all incredibly trashy yuri manga, isn’t it. I remember the flashback scene, I know you were pushing for girls smooching on the cover!)

-But then it’s a firm cut to the notice going up. The dorm’s final days in its current state. Everyone’s got to have their crap gone by February 2nd, because that’s when the wrecking crew is coming. It’s a painful moment for all of them…As Ririka decides she wants to make their remaining time special. And since nobody has deadlines, she needs help going through the storage room…Full of the history of everyone she’s held in these dorms. It’s all got to get organized, boxed, and ready for its next home…And treated right.

-There’s tons of history and weight in this little storage room. Sketches, photos, reference books…Everything that years and years of growing young professionals used. All carefully stored in closed book cases, to keep them safe from the ravages of time. Tsubasa and Kaos end up talking about those damn career forms…Tsubasa just gave up and wrote “manga artist” twice. Let them try and call her on it. But Kaos…Kaos still doesn’t even know if she’s confident enough to write it once. She absolutely wants to be a manga artist…But she gets so scared…

-That’s normal. It’s a scary thing to do. All you can do is just…Put the fear aside, and keep pushing forward. Focus on the dream. Now, come on, help her get this poster down…And when that poster comes down, there’s something behind it. A simple drawing on the wall. A little cheer for the artists still to come, written by someone who long since left this place. The history hits her like a freight train, and she properly realizes she’s standing upon the shoulders of giants…!

-Hard cut to Kaos and Koyume trying to get all fired up. Which mostly means a lot of wiggling and shouting.

-And then it’s night time, and Kaos has been working her ass off all day…When Koyume goes to get her something to drink, and finds Tsubasa and Ruki sipping cocoa. Everyone’s having a bit of a late night, it seems…I can only assume it’s the last night in the dorm, or close to it.

-But then the next meeting, when Kaos brings four storyboards to the meeting with Mayu. She, needs, to, have, SOMETHING accepted before the dorm shuts down! So, each of them is a little different…The first is a rom-com, borrowing some skill from Koyume. It’s…Well, it’s very Kaos. Her idea of strong and manly is firewood-chopping and mighty lung capacity. And full of ridiculous dad-jokes. Because her best concept of ‘manly’ is, well, her own dad. That’s kind of adorable, actually.

-So next. It’s a naughty comedy! She pulled from Ruki but it was like 2 in the morning and seemed like a good ideate the time even if now it feels like a terrible plan in the stark light of day. Also Kaos’s super simple chibi stylings don’t, entirely, work with eroticism. And also the height of perversion that Kaos can internally parse into her art is panty shots. Oh and the firewood again. You’d think someone so thirsty could go heavier.

-Third storyboard…It’s a comedy isekai! You know, that actually has a lot of potential meat on the bone. Meat that Kaos wasn’t really able to properly use, because it’s very cliche…Though Mayu points out that it just needs one good twist. Find a way to make the protagonist stand out, and…he’s chopping firewood. I’m sensing a pattern. Mayu is quietly despairing…

-When the fourth one comes up. It’s core slice-of-life, with a lot of the lessons she’s learned in her life so far…And without a lot of the real zaniness. No, without the over-the-top comedy, the cutesy art is able to just be…cute, and let the real heart shine through. The feel of a girl running on genuine fears and loves, passions and anxieties…It, it’s genuine. Mayu has to admit that she’s a bit brain-drained from chewing on all of these, as it’s been hours now, but…Let her hold onto this one. She wants to read it again in the morning.

-And so Kaos is off…Having left behind her manuscript with Mayu. For a simple, heartfelt manga about four plucky lesbians by the name of The Lord of the Ri—Er, I mean, Comic Girls. Yeah, that. Kaos is full of uncertainty herself, but as she walks home under the light of a full moon, and remembers that simple cheer that was on that wall, from someone who themselves finally escaped rejection hell on their last days in the dorm, she feels like she’s at least gotten her path forward…

-Even if she ends up staying up half the night in fear. Until she gets a call! From her mother! Oh, wh—ANOTHER CALL! It’s from Mayu! Who lets her know…She’s been APPROVED! She made it! She’s getting published! Not just that, they want her to expand Comic Girls into a two-parter! If the surveys come back well, it could even be serialized! Oh god, OH GOD SHE MADE IT! Making it. You ain’t there just yet, kid. Deep breaths!

-And everyone hears and YES you did it! You DID IT! Even Suzu is there, openly admitting she only shows up out of nowhere.

-So when the morning arrives at school, everyone’s got those career forms. Tsubasa’s is simple: Choice one? Manga artist. Choice two? “There’s nothing else.” It is true to her. And Kaos?

-…Kaos no.

-Kaos you’re doing into my bad place. That’s my bad place, stay out of there. I have it just comfortable for me. But anyways she wrote manga artist in the first choice so that’s the important bit.

-Episode 11: My Life Has Reached Its Peak

-Credits!

Well, much like Kaos’s own manuscript, this episode skipped a lot of the absurdist comedy to just…Be really from the heart, for a minute. And it hit fuckin’ hard, too. I guess now we will see what happens in our wrap-up, and if Kaos can stand on her own two feet, next time in the finale. Episode TWELVE of Comic Girls! Wait for it!

[journeysintowebcomics]

Stand Still Stay Silent Liveblog #32

UPDATE 32: Plague Dog

Last time Reynir had led Lalli to Onni, so he finally helped! Sure, he did it by accident, but what’s important is that he helped. Fulfillment! And Lalli admits Emil is ‘kind of’ a friend. Speaking of Emil, how are things going with him and Sigrun? Let’s see...

Emil heard something again. Hm. I’d have thought an old crumbling building while it’s raining had a lot of weird sounds in it. How many times did Emil say ‘I heard something again’ off-screen? Maybe he said it so many times Sigrun is now fed up, and that’s why she’s pushing him to go check what’s going on. Emil, knowing this could mean getting within biting range of a troll, changes his mind, but it’s too late. It’s time fooooor adventuring, Emil! Get that knife and gun ready because knowing how SSSS is like, you’re about to see some traumatizing stuff.

Besides, he can always call Sigrun if things prove to be too difficult for him. It’s not that I think Emil is weak or anything like that, it’s just that he’s inexperienced. Sure, he is a cleanser, but he’s young and I doubt he had many chances of dealing with trolls before. With some luck he’ll be okay and it won’t be too bad.

And if it’s a deer, well, there’s dinner. Reynir can start calming down, there’ll be no casual cannibalism in the near future.

Sounds like cats. Looks like those scenes from the start of the chapter are finally going to be linked to the current situation. To ensure what he supposes those noises are coming from is correct, Emil takes a look and—huh. Those legs...they’re definitely not a cat’s. Those are canine legs. Guess the cats aren’t the only ones from the start of the chapter that are appearing again.

It’s that cat, and she’s hurt. The beast must have caught her before. Speaking of the beast, it’s currently trying to reach the cat – and then it notices Emil.

OKAY, SIGRUN WASN’T KIDDING WHEN SHE SAID YOU COULD TELL FROM THE EYES. That is terrifying. I’ll spare you the image because wow that’s...well! Then again, it’s not like the dog looked completely normal and harmless everywhere else. It still has its spine protruding from its body. Needless to say, that’s not normal in dogs. But I guess looking at the eyes just in case is okay.

The gun is ready. Emil takes aim and talks soothingly. I’m...not certain that’s going to be of use? I mean, it’s not like the people in trolls are completely gone – I still remember that head from the train incident -- but even if it could understand Emil it doesn’t mean it’ll stand still and stay silent while Emil kills it. But hey, maybe it’ll work and the sound of Emil’s voice can soothe it enough to at least shoot—oh nevermind, it’s lunging at Emil.

Since it hit everything except the head I suppose that means it’s not hurt enough. It’s as if trolls and beasts are invulnerable everywhere except the head.

That’s a veritable hail of bullets, and at least Emil stopped that thing from mauling him. The dog flops to the ground, still not dead, while Emil apologizes and wisely puts more bullets into his weapon. The problem here is that beasts and trolls wouldn’t be so damn scary if a few bullets were enough to destroy them.

You know, someone once messaged me saying I didn’t need to withhold images because, well, anyone who is reading this liveblog surely already knows what’s going on, and how Ms. Sundberg draws some very creepy stuff.

There’s an illustration of something starting to crawl from the inside of a dog’s head. You’re welcome. Now if you excuse me, I’ll try to purge this image from my mind so I can have a nice night of sleep tonight.

You know, with things like this one living outside in the Silent World, Onni Hotakainen’s fears look pretty damn prudent right now. That’s all I have to say about this...grisly development.

Emil reacts rather appropriate: he runs away and calls for Sigrun’s help while that terrifying thing keeps pursuing him. Surely the captain will know what to do! Besides, this will get that beast away from the cat, and that’s good – as long as Emil doesn’t die, of course.

The good captain reacts immediately and comes to help, barely missing Emil and the hound from hell, and all she sees is the cat.

Superb observational skills, Sigrun. It’s just a cat. I find some amusement in that she doesn’t seem to consider for a moment that something else must be going on, she’s thinking that Emil got scared because of a cat. I have the feeling she has a certain measure of respect for Emil – partially based on the big explosion he made during the last expedition – but she still thinks he gets scared very easily. Which...he does! But not because of cats, that’s for sure.

Poor Emil can only shoot without looking, and...run with his eyes closed, I guess. I hope he will be okay. It’s too early in the story to kill a character, Ms. Sundberg! Emil is great, but there won’t be enough pathos if he dies now! But yeah, I hope he’ll be okay.

The beast lunges, having dodged all the bullets, and, right in that moment...uh, forgive me for posting the close-up to the diseased eye, but this is very poignant.

I have no idea how, but...yeah, looks like the dog’s still in there somewhere. You truly can tell from the eyes. Ms. Sundberg, you set that up for this moment, didn’t you? Because damn this is effective. I’m feeling this weird weight in my chest, I think it’s pity. Looks like the moment with the that troll in the train wasn’t just a one-time thing. I doubt every troll and beast has some form of consciousness among the disease and horror, but...it’s there. It does exist in some.

And now I’m thinking a lot about that and how about it must be horrible to feel yourself turning into these abominations and it’s very depressing to think about. Oh boy. You know what, I better continue reading. If I can distract myself with the horror I see right now, I stop thinking about the implications of the stuff I see.

...Ms. Sundberg, we have to talk. You can’t just punch me in the heartstrings and think everythings going to be fine and dandy. This has to be illegal in some way. Ouch. That thing was about to maul Emil like...two pages ago, and now I’m feeling sad for it. Dang. That says a lot about the storytelling in this webcomic, honestly. It must be really good if it can manage to do that.

Emil is still in fighting mode. He gets ready with his gun, braces for a bloodthirsty beast to appear from around the corner, and waits. Nothing happens. When he looks, he barely can see the dog retreating, and even gets a ‘wait!’ out. Looks like feeling bad for the beast is something that’s happening in-universe too.

The next page shows exactly why.

He wants to do a mercy kill. Being a beast must be awful, especially if there’s some consciousness left. I can sympathize with this. The beast doesn’t come back, though, and despite his intentions I doubt Emil will pursue it. I guess...it’ll have to keep living like that. For a largely lighthearted story, SSSS sure knows how to hit the right strings in you.

Unfortunately for the beast, it doesn’t seem like it’ll return to Emil or run into Sigrun. Sigrun is too busy trying to calm down the cat, trying to convince her to come along and let Mikkel heal her. The cat’s not listening. It must be because of her kittens; they must be nearby. I hope the kittens are okay.

What’s Sigrun going to do? It sounds like she intends to do something to make the cat get down. Is she going to make the column fall? This building is already falling apart, it doesn’t need Sigrun to make it happen even quicker. Besides, the cat won’t like it.

I guess that’ll be for next time.

Next time: in four updates

[5hfanfiction]

you're like a piece of art (you need to be nailed against a wall)

A/N:

Part of a one shot book on wattpad, at jaureguicabello5eva

–

Camila doesn’t know what she’s looking at exactly. Actually, she does know what she’s looking at, she just doesn’t understand the big deal. Like, it’s a bunch of colorful squares and rectangles? She thinks she’s absolutely capable of painting that, and she doesn’t even consider herself an artist, so yeah, pay her whatever they’re paying these “abstract” artists. Whatever that means.

God, she feels uncultured as fuck, she thinks as she takes a sip of her third(?) glass of champagne.

Camila’s spending her Friday night in a too-tight red dress at the Museum of Modern Art in New York instead of catching up on sleep like she had planned. The museum is holding an exclusive exhibit for the weekend that features several works from known artists around the world. Not that Camila actually knows any of them.

Dinah, her best friend since coming out of the womb, had scored passes for the event from the sister-in-law of her cousin’s best friend’s girlfriend? Camila lost track after sister-in-law to be honest. Dinah knows way too many people, and she’s related to like half of California, so who knows?

Anyway, Dinah had gotten these passes and had planned to surprise her ex-boyfriend, who is the broody, artist, mysterious, lying, cheating, S.O.B. type apparently. After finding her ex in a very compromising position with some wench in their previously shared apartment, Dinah had immediately broken it off and proceeded to get over him by getting under as many people as she could, until she got over that too, and now she’s sort of just wallowing in self-pity.

So, Camila, because she’s the greatest best friend in the world, naturally, offered to go with her to the stupid exhibit anyway in hopes of cheering up her best friend, and maybe you’ll even get lucky with some hot-shot artist who makes hundreds of thousands of dollars painting blobs, Dinah!

Well, now she’s kind of regretting her decision. She loves Dinah, she really does, but is everyone who attends exhibits just naturally broody and boring or does she just have to widen her perspective?

–

Lauren is in heaven. She thinks this must be where starving artists lay their brushes down and go to die. She’s surrounded by incredible pieces that range from hundreds of years old to decades to within the last few years. There are pieces from your classic Van Gogh and Warhol, to newer pieces by Philippe Parreno, and her personal favorite, Weiwei. She’s convinced she’d actually died and gone to artist paradise.

She’d gotten a hold of a pass for this exclusive exhibit from Normani, her best friend, and who, by the way, was already Lauren’s favorite person in the world before she’d given her the pass, but now undoubtedly and solely owns the green-eyed girl’s heart.

And because the universe is being extra kind today, the exhibit just so happens to have Piet Mondrian’s Tableau I on loan from Museum Ludwig in Germany.

Lauren is absolutely ecstatic. She’s been having kind of an artist’s block lately and there’s nothing like one of the greatest pieces in abstract history to inspire her. Mondrian’s Tableau I is a math-based geometric perfection that brings colors and lines and absolute arithmetic precision to life and Lauren can’t wait to see it in person.

She’s majoring in architecture [A/N: sorry I keep writing Lauren as an architect/aspiring architect lol] though if things were up to her, she would have majored in fine arts with a focus on painting and drawing. She’s a great painter and she’s not too bad at digital design either, but her passion lies in drawing. Give her a pencil and anything can be her sketchpad.

She’s studying architecture because it incorporates her love for design and drawing and you need to major in something realistic, Lauren. There’s a reason they’re called “starving” artists. Do you really want to starve your future husband and kids?

Has it been mentioned that her mother can be a bit overbearing? Well she is, and so Lauren is going to let her mom have her way because as suffocating as her mom can be, the dark-haired girl does love her with everything that she has. But since she’s hell bent on getting some say in the matter, she’s also minoring in fine arts with a focus on, yup, drawing and painting.

She needs inspiration for her project in her Drawing II class as well as for her Advanced Urban Design class and thinks Tableau I is the best of both worlds. Some people might think his work is just rectangles and squares but those are probably the same people who think pineapple on pizza is okay, which it’s not.

Also, her mother doesn’t know it, but she’s pretty sure she’s not going to end up with a husband anyway. Not when she’s just laid her eyes on the most beautiful person? goddess? God’s gift to gay women? she’s ever seen.

Lauren is on her way to where she knows the painting is displayed when she spots a brunette squinting at Mondrian’s work. One of her hands has delicate, slender fingers wrapped around an almost-empty flute, while the other is worrying the bottom of her luscious lip.

Normani who? This woman owns Lauren’s heart now as far as she knows.

Lauren is your typical artist/aspiring architect so of course, she carries a sketchbook and pencil everywhere she goes. She pulls them both out and sits on a bench not too far, but not too close to pretty, brown eyes either. She doesn’t want to seem creepy, even though she is being creepy.

Lauren forgets the world around her as she gets completely absorbed in trying to capture the beauty in front of her as best as she can. She needs to capture how this girl’s long lashes curve up in the most tantalizing way and the delicate way they fall over her mesmerizing eyes when she blinks. She needs to properly portray the gentle slope of her nose, the curve of her mouth when her desirable, full lips smile, and the defined cheeks and sharp jawline that flank her entire face. 

And that ass though.

She’s finishing up on outlining how her hair falls perfectly down her curved spine when she looks up and the object of her affection is gone.

“Shit,” she whispers to herself. “Where did she go?”

“I’m right here,” Normani says as she takes a seat next her. “I thought you’d be glued to an art piece by now, Laur” Normani chuckles. “You were so excited to come here and I find you just sat here, not even appreciating the work around you?” Normani clicks her tongue.

“Whatcha got there anyway,” she asks as she leans over and tries to see what’s got her friend busy.

Lauren scrambles to close her sketchbook and answers, “Nothing, just- um,” she struggles to look for an excuse that’s not I was drawing this pretty girl I saw. “Just working on a piece for my class,” she finally says. “All these pieces have given me the right inspiration,” she says with a bright smile and a thumbs up.

“Uh huh,” Normani says skeptically. “Anyway, I have to get back to finish this thing that’s due tomorrow. Did you want to leave with me or do you wanna stay for a bit?” Normani asks her friend.

Lauren takes one last desperate look around the museum for any sign of the mystery girl, and finally gives up when she sees none. “I’ll go with you I guess,” she answers despondently.

  –

It’s been two weeks since Lauren saw Ms. Brown Eyes and she still can’t get her out of her head. The girl’s been hounding her thoughts, partly because she feels frustrated that she can’t finish her piece, and partly because, well, pretty girls tend to occupy her mind a lot.

She’s rushing out of the Starbucks on campus to get to her design class on time for once when she spots the same wavy, brown locks that she’d been trying to re-create on paper, sitting on one of the outside tables. She guesses it won’t make a difference now if she’s late to class one more time.

She goes here! Of course she goes here!

When Lauren sees the girl get up to leave, she immediately follows her before she realizes what she’s doing. Stalking is probably not the way to get her point across to the girl, although, she’s not really sure what to say to her.

Hey, I saw you at the museum and then I started drawing you without your permission, but you left before I was able to finish, so do you mind just posing for me for a bit. Also, you’re really pretty. My name is Lauren and I’m an idiot.

That doesn’t sound like it would get her a very desirable outcome.

So, naturally, she proceeds to just follow the girl like the creep that she actually is and finds out that she’s taking a class in the BIOL. building around two-thirty on Thursdays. The stalking gets a bit out of hand and before Lauren realizes what’s happening, she’s basically got the girl’s schedule on three out of the five days of the week memorized.

In her defense, she really just wants to get a few more details on the girl’s face so she can finish the drawing. She’s an excellent artist, but she’s also a perfectionist, and her memory just isn’t doing the girl justice.

“Mani,” she catches up to the girl one afternoon. “I saw her again but she took a different route to the CHEM building today, and so I still don’t have enough details for my sketch,” she pouts. Lauren has given up on keeping the girl a secret from her best friend and since that cat got out of the bag, it’s all she ever talks about now.

Normani rolls her eyes and tells her, “You are an actual stalker. Just go up to the dang girl, geez. I’ve never seen you have so much trouble talking to a girl.”

“She’s not just some girl, Mani” Lauren insists.

“So you think the best course of action is to never speak to her,” Normani deadpans.

“Alright, fine” Lauren responds. “I’ll talk to her tonight. After her night class in the physics lab building” she decides with a determined nod of her head.

Normani looks at her like she’s crazy and shakes her head, “I’m not even gonna say anything about how that sounds.” Lauren rolls her eyes but slings an arm over the other girl’s shoulder. “I think I’m in love, Mani” she sighs dramatically, putting a hand over her heart as the other girl laughs and pushes her away.

–

So the whole coming up to and talking to mystery girl plan has totally fallen through. Lauren’s not sure how she got to where she is but that’s not important at the moment. Right now, she’s truly reached absolute stalker level because she’s currently following her in the dark to what Lauren assumes is her apartment on campus. Every time she tried to approach her, the green-eyed girl’s nerves got the best of her and she ended up psyching herself out. Now, the window in which it’s acceptable to approach a stranger about possibly drawing them has passed and Lauren is stuck.

She’s so lost in her thoughts she didn’t realize the girl she was following is no longer in front of her. She takes a few steps forward and when she passes an opening to an alley, the mystery girl jumps out in front of her with her hands holding something pointed towards the dark-haired girl and screams,

“I HAVE MACE! STAND BACK” the girl screams and Lauren can’t help but think even her voice is sexy, and wow she’s about to be sprayed.

“No! Wait,” Lauren pleads, raising both her arms up. “I’m not going to hurt you I swear” she tries to convince the girl.

Camila is a bit taken aback by the girl in front of her. When she first realized she was being followed, she expected some buff, tattoos-in-the-face, hoodlum, who may or may not be armed with a knife or – or like nunchucks (she’s never robbed anyone before, she doesn’t know which types of weapons are appropriate).

Anyway, she wasn’t expecting this- this, beautiful human being. God, those eyes are mesmerizing, she thinks. But, back to the topic at hand.

“Okay green eyes, I’m gonna need you to explain yourself and if you so much as make a move,” she warns, “I’m going to spray you.”

Lauren keeps her hands up and decides to just rip the band-aid off. This situation cannot get any more out of hand so she thinks it’s best to just come clean.

She takes a deep breath and says, “Okay, well, I saw you at MOMA a few weeks ago and I was just so taken by your beauty and I thought you were the prettiest piece of art there so I started drawing you for my class, but I lost you before I had the chance to finish, so I started to sort of follow you around? You know, to add details to my sketch but it’s so hard when you’re constantly moving, so now I have this unfinished piece and it’s due tomorrow and I was wondering if you would mind posing for me? So I can finish my drawing?” Lauren rushes her words all in one breath. “How was your physics lab by the way?” she asks with a nervous chuckle.

Camila tries to process all the information and when she does, she can’t help but flush red. This gorgeous human being called her pretty? And she wants to draw her? She’s not sure if she’s creeped out or endeared.

She decides on the latter.

She slowly brings her hands down and puts her mace away. Lauren relaxes at that and throws her a meek smile. “I mean, it’s probably a hundred percent not safe because you just admitted to stalking me and you’re a complete stranger, but you’re really pulling off the whole awkward-but-cute thing you got going on, so….” Camila trails, putting a finger to her chin and pretending to think.

 “…sure,” Camila concedes. “I’ll pose for you.”

“YES!” Lauren exclaims and then clears her throat. “I mean, thank you so much,” she says, her cheeks flushed. “My name is Lauren by the way.”

“I’m Camila,” the younger girl answers back while trying to contain a smile, extending one of her hands.

“Great, where do you want to do it?” Lauren asks after shaking hands with her. Then she realizes what that sounds like and backtracks quickly, “I mean do the drawing, for my piece, not like, do it in that way – I mean not that you aren’t, you know, attractive -  because you totally are, and I’m not assuming you’re even into gir–”

“Oh my gosh, Lauren. Calm down,” Camila says amidst her laughter while putting a hand on Lauren’s arm to calm the girl down. The touch is doing things to Lauren’s body and she feels a spark of heat travel from where Camila is touching her to the rest of her body, sprinkling a comforting kind of warmth in its wake.

Lauren flushes a deep red that’s accentuated by her light features and rubs the back of her neck.

Once Camila thinks the girl has gone back to her normal pale color, she answers Lauren’s question, “We can do it at my apartment, so at least if you turn out to be a sociopath, my roommate, Dinah, will hopefully get back to the apartment and find evidence of what you might have done,” she winks and Lauren is blushing again in no time.

On their walk to Camila’s apartment, Lauren says “Well if I were really crazy and was planning on killing you, I think I would be called a ‘psychopath,’” she explains. Camila furrows her eyebrows and Lauren elaborates,

“Both obviously have problems regarding their conscience and the way they think, but psychopaths tend to seem like well-adjusted members of society. They can even have charming personalities and hold high-paying jobs, like, they could be doctors,” Lauren explains.

“Sociopaths, on the other hand, are a bit more obvious in their behavior and they tend to be antisocial, and since you think I’m “awkward-but-cute” which I’m going to interpret as subtly charming, I would be a ‘psychopath,’” she concludes.

Camila looks at her and says, “Yeah, your knowledge of this is not helping your case in convincing me that you’re not out to kill me.”

Lauren looks back at her and shakes her head, “I was just clarifying you know,” she says nervously. It’s like she’s lost all of her ability to function socially around this girl. “I swear, I’m not usually this weird,” she responds with a nervous chuckle.

“I hope not,” Camila winks and continues to walk on.

Once they’re in the apartment, Lauren is wringing her hands nervously and Camila raises an eyebrow, “Is something wrong?”

“No, I just-” Lauren sighs.

“Not to push my luck or anything, but since we’re here and you’re willing to pose, do you mind if I start the drawing over? Like the one I’ve been working on is kind of hard to finalize because I’ve had so many viewpoints of your face. So, if it’s okay, would you be willing to pose for a whole, new drawing instead?” Lauren asks nervously.

“Well, since we’re here anyway,” Camila thinks about it. “Sure,” she finishes with a smile.

Laurens spends a couple of hours perfecting her drawing. Well, she tries to perfect it anyway. She doesn’t think it’s possible for anyone to capture Camila in a way that does her beauty justice. Now that Camila isn’t constantly moving and because she doesn’t have to draw from a distance, she does a better job at highlighting some of her features.

When she showed Camila the finished product, Camila had gasped into her hand and praised her talent so much that Lauren was convinced the blush on her cheeks was going to be permanent.

Now, they find themselves watching Black Mirror on Netflix and no, they’re not Netflix and Chilling. They’re actually just watching.

Lauren is in the middle of a passionate rant about the dangers of social media especially bullying in social media after watching an episode where literally hundreds of thousands of people died because of it, when Camila catches herself staring at the girl’s beauty.

Lauren is obviously pretty on the outside, but after spending a few hours with her and speaking with her about her passions and views on life, Camila is convinced maybe that the saying about beauty coming from within is true because Lauren is the embodiment of beautiful. She’s breathtakingly exquisite without reservation.

“Sorry, I’m ranting,” Lauren says with a weak smile.

“No, I think it’s great. I think you’re great,” Camila responds without thinking.

“Um, thanks” Lauren says. Then, she doesn’t know where she gets the courage, but she asks anyway,

“Would you like to have coffee or something, some time this week, my treat” Lauren asks shyly. “You know, it’s the least I could do to thank you for saving my assignment and not calling the police,” she says with a nervous chuckle.

“Are you asking me out,” Camila asks teasingly.

“I mean we can do something inside,” Lauren responds cheekily.

“Oh my gosh, you’re a dork,” Camila says mid-laugh. Lauren thinks she’d gladly shed her bad girl persona and be the biggest dork if it elicits laughs like this from Camila.

“It’s a date,” Camila says and Lauren’s heart soars.

Lauren is about to bid her goodbye when a loud clap of thunder, accompanied by a sudden downpour of rain and strong winds, sound from outside and reverberate through the apartment.

The girls jump and Camila says shakily, “Um, maybe you should stay the night? It’s late and it’s raining, I don’t want something bad to happen to you,” she explains. “Also, I’m not sure when Dinah is coming back, kinda depends on how her date goes.”

Lauren starts to refuse and says, “I don’t want to impose and-���

“Honestly, Lo. It’s fine. I’ll feel better knowing you’re safe,” she says with a genuine smile.

“Okay, I’ll take the couch,” Lauren concedes, the nickname catching her off-guard but sending another wave of pleasant warmth through her chest. She recognizes this feeling and she knows it’s way too early, but Camila’s soft smiles and genuine concern and just her overall presence is captivating Lauren in a way she’s not sure she has a chance to go against.

“No you can-,” Camila starts to protest.

“No, Camz,” Lauren says resolutely.

She shakes her head internally for letting the name she’s been calling Camila in her head all night slip out loud. “I’ve already asked too much from you, I’m not gonna take your bed too,” she says with a smile when it doesn’t look like Camila is going to object to the nickname.

“Okay,” Camila breathes out.

–

It’s about two in the morning when Lauren sleepily rubs her eyes as she hears movement from the far side of the couch. She jumps up from the couch in fright when she sees a figure standing above her and sighs in relief when she realizes it’s just Camila.

“Shit, Camila,” she gasps. “You scared me.”

“I’m sorry,” Camila answers quietly, her breath shaky.

“Is everything okay?” Lauren asks the younger girl.

“Um, it’s just that – I mean the thunder, you know, it hasn’t really stopped,” Camila answers weakly.

There’s a curve to Lauren’s mouth when she says, “Are you scared of thunderstorms?”

“What, no,” Camila says indignantly. “Of course, not. You’re scared of thunderstorms,” she throws back lamely.

Lauren raises an eyebrow and tries to stop herself from smiling.

“Okay fine, I’m scared of thunderstorms, so you’re either coming with me to bed or I’m joining you on the couch,” Camila dictates while crossing her arms.

Camila’s words spark a jolt of lightning through Lauren that starts from the base of her stomach and courses through her veins, spreading to her extremities, leaving her hot and bothered. She shakes the many different, dirty ways she’d made out of Camila asking her to bed and responds as steadily as she can, “Y-yeah, I’ll just join you. I don’t think we can fit in this couch anyway.”

She knows she wasn’t successful in hiding Camila’s effect on her when she spots the younger girl smirking at her shaky response from the corner of her eyes.

The heated atmosphere between them dies down when they settle in Camila’s bed. It’s not long before they start talking about anything and everything under the sun. They get in passionate debates about world issues and laugh at the silliness of toe socks.

Lauren, for her part, is decidedly continuing conversation between them because she recognizes a distraction is what Camila needs as she realizes early on that Camila’s fear of thunderstorms is pretty serious. Camila can tell that Lauren is fighting off sleep to keep her company and she feels herself falling.

It’s been less than twelve hours, Camila she thinks. There is no way she’s actually falling, right?

She goes to sleep free of the nightmares that usually plague her whenever there are thunderstorms and dreams about green eyes and white smiles and flushed cheeks instead.

–

The next morning, Camila walks out of her room and she is immediately jolted awake by the sight in front of her. Lauren had borrowed her clothes to sleep in and she’s wearing Camila’s favorite oversized hoodie that goes down to Lauren’s mid-thigh, sufficiently covering her short shorts and giving the illusion that she’s not wearing anything underneath.

Her messy hair is in a loose ponytail, highlight her widow’s peak and a few dark strands are framing her face. Her burrows are furrowed as her tongue is poking out between her teeth, seemingly in great concentration as she mixes what looks like pancake batter.

The sight is doing unhealthy things to her heart and even unhealthier things to the heat between her thighs.

She walks forward and makes her presence known. The green-eyed girl looks up and flashes her a smile that is threatening to combust her heart from where it’s trying to escape from her chest. The morning light catches Lauren’s eyes perfectly, making them the lightest green she’s ever seen them and highlighting the brown specks that are scattered right around her pupil. Camila’s heart needs a break, for crying out loud. How can anyone look this good at – Camila checks the time -  seven in the morning?

She’s shaken out of her thoughts when she hears a raspy voice say, “Good morning, I hope you don’t mind me taking over your kitchen. I made you breakfast,” she says while gesturing to a plate that’s already made with eggs, bacon, toast, and pancakes. Okay, she seriously needs to stop.

Lauren’s voice sounds even sexier in the morning and Camila has to take a deep breath to collect herself. She’s about to respond when –

“Why thank you, kind stranger,” Dinah says, walking out of her own room and grabbing Camila’s toast from her plate, proceeding to stuff her mouth with it.

Camila scowls and Lauren just looks amused.

“Wow, none of Camila’s previous hook-ups have made it past midnight before,” Dinah says while chewing. “And here you are making her breakfast and shit,” she says chuckling.

Lauren feels unmistakable heat creep up her neck and into her cheeks as Camila throws a piece of bread at her best friend, “Dinah! We didn’t hook up. Jeez,” she says scandalized, not yet at least. “She’s a friend. I helped her with a project. Lauren, this is Dinah,” Camila says gesturing to her friend, “Dinah, my friend Lauren,” she says as she introduces the two.

“Hm-mhm,” Dinah says, eyeing the two skeptically. “We all know what ‘friend’ means,” she says with exaggerated air quotes.

–

Their coffee date goes well and they continue to find out new things that they like about each other. Lauren is as passionate about her art as she is about world issues and Camila somehow pulls off being goofy and sexy at the same time while still keeping up with Lauren in their many, varied conversations.

They’ve gone on a few dates when Camila asks Lauren to go on a road trip with her to Baltimore one weekend. Lauren says yes without even thinking about it. She thinks she’ll follow Camila to the ends of the earth if she asks her.

Camila is finishing up her make up on the dresser in their hotel room when Lauren comes out of the bathroom, already made up, except for her dress, which she’s holding in the front of her chest with two hands.

“Hey Camz,” she says as she turns around and flips her hair over her shoulder so Camila can have access to her back, “Can you zip me up please,” she asks with her head only half-turned. She misses the way Camila basically drools at all the exposed skin.

They’ve only been dating a couple weeks and haven’t gone further than heated make out sessions where Camila had snuck a couple gropes on a breast or two and Lauren had made herself familiar with expanse of skin that is Camila’s ass. But right now, Camila is seriously considering throwing away her plans and throwing Lauren to bed instead and telling her she won’t need clothes for the rest of the weekend.

She’s shaken out of her trance when Lauren’s voice floats through the air and addresses her, “Camz?”

“Oh, uh, sure,” she says as she stands up and goes behind Lauren. They make eye contact through the full body mirror in front of them and shoot each other meaningful smiles.

Camila steadies her shaking hands as she rests her left hand on Lauren’s hip and the other grabs the zipper near her lower back. She swallows hard and slowly pulls the zipper up, her knuckles grazing Lauren’s skin and leaving goose bumps in their wake. She hears a soft gasp from Lauren and she squeezes her hard on the hip. When she sees Lauren through the mirror closing her eyes with her red-painted lips slightly ajar, Camila leans forward, turning her head to face Lauren’s side and grazing her mouth on Lauren’s ear as she breathes out, “Can’t wait to help you of this later,” she husks as she gives Lauren one final squeeze and a quick, but deep kiss just below her ear.

Lauren turns around breathless and says, “I don’t care what the surprise is, I want you naked on this bed now.”

  –

Camila should really get an award for having the world’s greatest self-control. After Lauren not so subtly expressed that she’d wanted to take Camila to bed, Camila had to power through and convince Lauren that the surprise is worth seeing.

Not very many people can defer such an offer from one Lauren Jauregui.

Lauren walks into the Baltimore Museum of Art and an energy of pure excitement courses through her as she looks around the exhibit. The museum had secured an exhibit from Ai Weiwei, Lauren’s absolute favorite contemporary artist. Weiwei is the perfect embodiment that showcases the intersectionality between Lauren’s two loves, art and activism. He uses his prominence to give voice to victims and decry faulty governments. He’s using a hundred percent of his profits from this specific exhibit to help the refugees in the Middle East.

The exhibit was pretty hard to get into and many other prominent artists and powerful figures had already secured VIP passes to this exclusive, one-night show months ahead, from what Lauren knows anyway. She looks at Camila and her heart soars at the way she’s looking back. Surrounded by magnificent art and Camila is looking at her like she’s the central piece.

“How?” she asks quietly, Lauren’s eyes stuck on Camila’s.

Camila shrugs her shoulders and says, “Pulled a few strings. I knew some people so…” she trails off when Lauren keeps looking at her like she had brought the moon to her.

“Thank you,” Lauren says sincerely squeezing Camila’s hand in hers.

“Anything for my girl,” she says with a with a wide smile.

–

After spending a couple hours in the exhibit, Camila finds Lauren in front of Weiwei’s Odyssey, a wallpaper piece that covers an entire wall on the far side of the gallery. The piece depicts the struggles of refugees in the Middle East in an ancient art style in which the characters in the piece are drawn as if they would have been in ancient times, on earth ware clay (Shaw, A. (2017) “Lest we forget, Ai Weiwei’s first show in Turkey is a meditation on refugee crisis. The Art Newspaper) [A/N: I still don’t know how citations work].

Camila comes up behind her and gently wraps her slender arms around Lauren’s midsection, laying her chin on the other girl’s shoulder.

“Do you like your surprise,” she whispers softly.

A fond smile forms on Lauren’s red lips. “I love it,” she says turning her head slightly. “I don’t even remember mentioning my favorite artist’s name to you” she says furrowing her brows.

“You may not have said his name, Lo” Camila explains. “But you mention his works a lot. Gosh Camz, there’s this artist I love. His pieces are so powerful and he’s a self-taught architect. He’s like me basically! An artist, an architect, and an activist,” Camila says in a deep, husky voice in what is supposed to be her imitation of Lauren’s raspy voice.

Lauren laughs softly, and god, she is endeared by the woman in front of her. “I do not sound like that,” she says mid-laugh. “I hope you don’t do that impression of me to anyone else.”

Camila feels that familiar warmth in her chest whenever she hears Lauren laughing because of her and she tightens her arms around the girl, trying not to say anything that could definitely scare the other girl away. Two weeks is way too short for such deep feelings.

“But I can’t believe you pay enough attention to my ramblings to pick out my favorite artist just from talking about different pieces. I mean, I talk about a lot of other pieces too,” Lauren continues to point out.

“Well, it really isn’t hard to pay attention to you, Laur,” Camila responds softly. “I know you don’t notice it, but half the room pays attention to you even when you’re not doing anything. It helps that I’m also always so in tune to everything you do. It’s like my body and mind are programmed to listen to and watch everything you do,” she finishes.

Lauren’s heart is hammering against her chest. She can’t believe Camila turned out to be even more beautiful on the inside once she got to know her. She turns around in Camila’s arms and wraps her own hands around the other girl’s neck.

“You know, you called me ‘your girl,’ earlier,” Lauren says.

“Oh did I?” Camila pretends to scrunch up her face.

“Well, am I?” Lauren asks hesitantly. “Your girl I mean, like, are we girlfriends?” she powers through the mad blush that is taking over her face.

Camila can’t believe this precious human being is all hers. “Lauren Michelle Jauregui,” she responds while trailing her hands down Lauren’s back so softly Lauren might not have noticed it if all her nerve endings weren’t firing like crazy at the moment.

“Will you be my girlfrie-,” Camila tries to say.

“Yes,” Lauren breathes out before she even finishes and attacks Camila’s lips with her own, immediately slipping her tongue in Camila’s mouth when she gasps. Lauren indulges in the warmth of Camila’s mouth and tongue and the soft breaths she’s letting out for every particularly hard swipe of her tongue before she pulls back, lest they get kicked out for public indecency.

Camila opens her eyes slowly, still slightly dazed, “I’m gonna go research a bunch of exhibits you like if I get thanked like that every time” she says in a breathless voice.

Lauren laughs and then leans close to Camila’s ear, playing with the hairs behind her neck when she rasps out, “That’s not all, baby. I plan on thanking you a lot more when we get back to the hotel.”

Camila swallows hard and responds shakily, “H-how exactly are you going to do that?”

Lauren smirks and subtly sucks on Camila’s skin where her jaw meets her neck while wrapping her slim fingers around Camila’s neck lightly, but noticeably more tightly than before,

“How about…,” she whispers, “I let you have your way with me?” she says and Camila drags her out of the museum before Lauren even has a chance to figure out what’s happening.

–

They’re cuddled up on Lauren’s bed one night with Lauren’s arms wrapped around the other girl and Camila facing away from the green-eyed girl, the brunette’s own hands playing with Lauren’s fingers, which have snuck their way in Camila’s shirt and is drawing patterns on her toned stomach when Lauren breathes out against her neck,

“Will you let me paint on you?” she asks.

Camila turns around in her arms and brings both hands to Lauren’s face, cupping her face gently when she responds with a cheeky smile, “You want to paint me like one of your French girls?”

Lauren laughs lightly and turns her head to plant a quick kiss to the inside of Camila’s palm. Camila’s gaze softens at the action and she’s close to saying the same words she’d made a conscious effort not say to anyone for a very long time when Lauren says,

“No I mean like, paint on you” she says. “I want to paint on your back, specifically.”

Camila shakes her thoughts away internally and thinks about it for a second. “Hmm, that’s very tumblr-y. And kinda gay. That’s very tumblr-y and gay, Laur” she finally says.

“Well then it’s perfect for the both of us,” she says with a bright smile. “Come on,” she implores while running her hand down Camila’s back and up her shirt, tracing the soft skin along the ridges of her spine as she leans forward to breathe out against the other girl’s neck, “Your back is so sexy, baby. It would be like making art on art,” she husks out after sucking on a sensitive spot on the other girl’s neck.

“You can be very persuasive,” Camila half says, half moans.

Lauren smirks against her skin and pulls back, “So is that a yes?”

Camila looks her girlfriend in the eye and says, “You’re way too charming for your own good, you know that? It’s kinda scary, like what if down the road you want to paint our kids’ room a crazy color or display raunchy paintings in our living room because it’s art, Camz.”

They both seem to realize the implication behind Camila’s words and the brunette flushes a deep red as her hands become sweaty.

Shit. She’s gonna run. I totally freaked her out.

Lauren’s heartbeat is thunderous in her chest and she can’t help but picture a future with Camila. A slow smile forms on her lips and she says before the other girl can backtrack, “Then I guess I’ll just have to persuade youthe only way I know if I want paintings of naked girls in our homeor if I want to paint our kids’ room a light shade of smaragdine.” [A/N: it’s green].

Camila’s heart leaps in her chest and it’s like Lauren and Camila’s hearts are competing to see who can jump out of their ribbed confines first. They look at each other with soft smiles and twinkles in their eyes, and against all the dating rules they’ve placed for themselves, with love. With Lauren’s response confirming that the green-eyed girl is in this for the long run, Camila can’t help but think she can’t wait to hang paintings of naked girls and design smaragdine-colored rooms.

That’s how Camila finds herself on her stomach with her top off and wearing only her Iron Man boy shorts with Lauren straddling her, the green-eyed girl perched right on top of her butt. They both go to sleep in just shirts and underwear so Lauren herself is sitting on Camila with nothing but a shirt and some lace underwear and Camila is finding it hard to focus.

They’re facing towards the foot of the bed so Camila has a perfect view of Lauren working on her back through the mirror on Lauren’s dresser, which is in front of the bed across the room. Lauren’s The 1975 shirt, or is it Camila’s(?), has already collected a few paint spots as Lauren seems too absorbed in her work to notice anything else. Her hair is up in a messy bun and her tongue is poking out between her teeth in the way that it does when she’s concentrating and she’s wearing her glasses and Camila is in love.

She’s still reluctant to say it because it’s still way too soon in her opinion and she’s had her heart broken too many times. She’d given her heart out way too easily in the past and she refuses to lose in love again. Her thoughts are broken when Lauren moves on top of her.

The older girl leans forward and props her right hand by Camila’s chest, her fingers grazing Camila’s exposed side boob, while she uses her left hand to work on, apparently, a very small detail on Camila’s back because her face is inches from Camila’s skin and her hot breath is sending a warm, tingling sensation throughout her body. Lauren leaning forward also shifts where the green-eyed girl’s center is sat on top of Camila’s ass and the friction causes Camila to moan.

Lauren seems to be shaken out of her focus and immediately asks, “Shit, are you okay? Did I hurt you?”

“NO! Um-,” Camila clears her throat. “I mean it’s just um-” she tries to gather her thoughts to no avail and swallows hard.

Lauren looks at Camila’s flushed cheeks through the mirror and sees how her blush has spread to her ears and the back of her neck. She smirks, “Oh, I see what’s happening. Can’t you keep it in your pants for like two seconds?” Lauren says while chuckling, their point of contact making Camila feel every vibration through her body.

“No I can’t just keep it in my pants. Have you seen yourself?” Camila huffs indignantly.

Lauren just shakes her head and laughs. She leans forward and puts her brush down, placing both of her hands on either side of Camila’s head, being careful not to touch the paint, and turns to give Camila’s cheek a lingering kiss followed by a whisper in her ear, “Later, babe.”

Lauren finishes up and takes a picture of Camila’s back with her polaroid camera while remaining seated on Camila. She retrieves the picture and can’t help the smile that forms on her lips. The flawless curve of Camila’s back had been the perfect backdrop for the galaxy that she painted, the swirls of the cosmos perfectly complementing the shape of Camila’s body. She can see her own pale thighs dotted with paint and contrasting against Camila’s tan skin as she straddles her. Camila’s head is turned to the side, showing her mid laugh with her eyes closed and smile wide.

Lauren looks at it and knows she’s in love.

–

Lauren and Camila are at another exhibit and this time, it’s Lauren’s.

It’s been three years since Lauren stalked Camila on her way to her apartment and started their story of a lifetime. Camila graduated with high honors and is now nearing the end of her first year as a medical student. Lauren, on the other hand, had been picked up by a benefactor when Camila and Lauren spent the summer after graduation in France.

Her patron’s massive wealth combined with her incredible talent meant it took almost no time before Lauren gained ground in the art scene and became one of the fastest rising artists in the world. Following the footsteps of her artist/activist hero, Lauren has been donating a good portion of her profits to various charities, some she’d founded herself, after she had established a steady pace in her career.

Now, she’s in the middle of one of her most important exhibits yet. The gallery is filled with art pieces that depict her own life. Her benefactor had convinced her to create a showcase as a way for people to “get to know the artist.” She had used as many different media as she could think of to symbolize the many different layers and nuances that make up her life. She has her career, her friends, her family, her hobbies and interests, and of course, she has her Camila.

Lauren feels exposed and not because there are people looking into different aspects of her life, but because even after years of being with Camila, she feels the most nervous about her art when it comes to the brown-eyed girl. What if she thinks the whole exhibit is ridiculous and narcissistic?

“Hey, babe” Camila addresses her cheerily as she comes up to her girlfriend, effectively stopping Lauren’s train of thought. She looks up and sees her inspiration for just about every significant art piece she’d sold.

“Hey,” she says. “What do you think?” she asks nervously.

Camila comes up to wrap her arms around the other girl’s neck and Lauren instinctively places her hands around the girl’s waist. “I think you continue to amaze me with your talent is what I think,” Camila says, pride shining in her eyes.

Lauren lets out a sigh of relief and grabs Camila’s hand, “Come on, it’s time to reveal the central piece.”

Lauren is next to Camila as the curator for the gallery is giving an introduction about Lauren and her piece and Camila can feel the nerves radiating from the girl next to her. Lauren had refused to show Camila the piece before the actual exhibit. She had even worked on it in secret, sneaking out at night and sneaking back in the early hours of the morning. It had caused quite the problem for them.

–

Camila stirs awake and her hands instinctively reach out for her girlfriend’s warmth, only to be met with cold, empty sheets. She sits up and rubs her eyes, adjusting her eyes to the darkness and finding no sign of the green-eyed girl. She gets up and calls out into the empty apartment,

“Laur?”

Nothing.

Her heart thuds in her chest and she feels a familiar ache in her chest. Lately, Lauren has been busy “working on something” and she’s barely seen her. She had trusted the girl early on, but Camila had been cheated on so many times she knows the signs like the back of her hand. She picks up her phone and dials the other girl’s number only to see it vibrating on the coffee table.

“Damn it, Laur” she whispers.

She tries to stay up for the girl but finds herself falling asleep on the couch after a couple hours. She’s stirred awake when she hears keys jingling on the door. She stands up and crosses her arms immediately. Lauren walks in looking tired.

“Long night?” Camila asks harshly.

“Camila, what are you doing up?” Lauren asks.

Camila looks at her like she’d lost her damn mind, “What am I- are you kidding? Where have youbeen?” she asks angrily. Her temper rising against her own volition.

Lauren sighs and moves to the kitchen, “I’m tired Camila, can we not do this right now? I told you I’ve been working on something.”

“Something or someone?”

Lauren turns her head and says angrily, “Are you serious? Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

“You’ve been out late most nights and all you have to say about it is you’re ‘working on something’.” Camila says heatedly. “I mean, we live together and I barely see you, Laur,” Camila says, her voice cracking. “I just miss you.”

Lauren looks at her with an unreadable expression, “Do you not trust me?”

Camila looks at her and stays silent. Lauren scoffs and shakes her head, “Unbelievable, after almost three years of being together, you still think I’m like your exes? Like I’m just gonna get up and leave? What do I have to do to show you that I love you and I’m here for the long run?” she asks exasperatedly. “You’ve been looking for reasons to not make this work, Camila, and as far as I know, I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Lauren I’m sor-”

“You know what, I can’t do this,” Lauren says picking up her keys again. “Come talk to me when you’re ready to listen” she says as she walks out the door.

That following night, when Lauren doesn’t come home, Camila cries herself to sleep. Lauren had left her phone again in her haste to leave and now Camila doesn’t know how to reach her.

Lauren is spending another late night at the studio and when she walks out of the ART building, she sees Camila by the steps. “Camila?” she asks. The girl turns around and gets up quickly. Her body is aching to bring Lauren in her arms and hug her and never let her go again, but she’s not sure where they stand so she keeps her hands to herself, choosing to stuff them in her pockets instead. Her eyes are swollen and she looks like she hasn’t slept in the last couple days. Lauren’s heart breaks at the sight. She thought she was doing the right thing by giving them space.

“I’m sorry,” Camila says, trying to keep her tears at bay. “I do trust you Laur. I do. It’s me, I just get so insecure,” she looks up with pleading eyes. “Please come home.”

Lauren closes the distance between them and wraps her arms around the other girl. She’d miss Camila and her warmth and just her these past few days, it’s like she’d been on autopilot until she got to touch her again. “I’m sorry,” she responds. “I’ve just been so stressed lately and I thought I was doing us a favor by giving us a break,” she turns her head to give Camila’s head a kiss.

Camila pulls back with tears in her eyes and leans forward to give Lauren a watery kiss, “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Lauren sighs. She’s glad to be home again.

The next morning, Camila wakes up to empty sheets again but when she turns her head, she sees a single rose with a note,

“I love you, Camila. I’m sorry if I did anything to make you feel otherwise. I’ve packed your stuff. Get dressed and come meet me downstairs, I’m getting the car ready. We’re going away for the weekend. – Yours forever, Lauren”

Camila smiles to herself and gets ready as fast as she can. She sees Lauren downstairs leaning against her car and holding a bouquet of red roses with her attention on her phone. “Is this how you’re going to make it up to me every time we fight?” she asks as she approaches the green-eyed girl.

Lauren looks up and smiles as she offers her girl the flowers. “Actually, I’ve had this planned for a while. I’d been working late because I was trying to finish my piece so we can have this weekend all to ourselves,” she says sincerely.

Camila’s gaze softens and she starts to feel guilty. “Don’t,” Lauren interrupts her moping. “I should have done a better job at communicating with you. We both messed up,” she says as she brings Camila’s chin up with her fingers. “We’re going to continue to mess up but it won’t matter because at the end of the day, we’re always going to come back to one another. My heart isn’t capable of doing anything else but beat for yours, okay?” she assures Camila as she kisses her forehead.

–

Camila looks over and sees the girl worrying her lip and fiddling with her fingers. Camila reaches out to stop her fingers and interlaces their hands instead. Lauren gives her a soft look and mutters a “thank you” in her ear when she leans over to give her forehead a kiss.

“…and now, it’s time to reveal, The Center of Her Universe,” the curator announces as the veil is pulled down from the framed piece.

There are soft gasps all around and flashes flicker as the invited press takes pictures of the gigantic drawing in the center of the room.

Camila herself is finding it hard to breathe. She’s looking at the piece and it’s causing a rush of emotions that bulldozes right through her entire being. The art piece is a larger-than-life drawing of a girl that looks a lot like Camila.

The artist’s perspective shows the girl’s side profile. She’s standing with her hand worrying her lip as she looks to be concentrating on what’s in front of her. Camila notes the familiar geometric shapes that the girl is looking at.

Tableau I.

It’s a drawing of Camila when Lauren first laid eyes on her.

What makes the drawing breathtaking is the fact that on the dress Camila is wearing and throughout her wavy, brown locks, there are miniature drawings of different scenes from Camila and Lauren’s time together. The mini scenes are drawn with exquisite detail despite the seemingly non-existent space. There are sketches of their movie dates, gifts they’ve given each other, and quotes and declarations of love they’ve said over the years.

Camila, with tears in her eyes, turns to look at Lauren, who of course, is already looking at her.

“Lauren,” she whispers in awe. “This is incredible.”

“It doesn’t do justice to half of your beauty and what you’ve done to my life since I found you,” Lauren responds sincerely. Camila can’t say or do anything but throw her arms around Lauren and say, “I love you so much.”

–

They’re sitting on the rooftop of the gallery a couple hours after the exhibit had come to a close with Camila’s arm intertwined with Lauren’s and her head leaning against the other girl’s shoulder.

Camila can’t think of any other place she’d rather be.

Lauren disrupts the silence when she reaches for something in her jacket and for the second time that night, Camila is speechless. In front of her, Lauren is holding onto an open small box with a ring.

“I actually wanted to this at the reveal, but then I remembered how every milestone in our relationship had always just been between the two of us and I also didn’t want to pressure you in front of those people so…” Lauren says with a nervous laugh.

Camila looks up into her favorite green eyes and she sees the other girl’s nervous gaze as if Camila could even say anything other than yes to her.

“Like I wanted to depict in my main piece,” Lauren starts. “You’re the center of my universe, Camila. You’ve brought nothing but happiness and pure love to my life and I can’t thank you enough. You continue to be my number one supporter and have stayed by my side through everything. I want to spend the rest of my life showing you how grateful I am for you if you’d let me, so…” she takes a deep breath.

“Camila Cabello,” she starts again, “Will you marr-”

“YES!” Camila answers and throws her arms around Lauren’s neck and kisses her as if to say every single thing she doesn’t know how to describe in words through the way her mouth moves along Lauren’s. She’s kissing her to show Lauren that with the green-eyed girl, it’s always going to be a resounding yes. Lauren owns her heart and everything else. She owns all of Camila.

“A thousand times yes,” she breathes into Lauren’s mouth as the other girl’s lips curve into a smile.

–

Camila is admiring the ring on her finger when she suddenly says to the other girl, “I still can’t believe you didn’t just come up to me that first day in MOMA,” she says with a confused look.

“That was probably honestly for the best,” Lauren says.

“What, why?” Camila asks curiously.

“The only thing that was going through my mind at the time was a lame pick-up line that definitely would not have worked in my favor,” Lauren says laughing to herself.

“What was it,” Camila asks.

Lauren looks at her and concedes. She clears her throat and says in a deep, husky voice,

“You’re like a piece of art,” she starts.

When Camila only raises an eyebrow, she continues.

“I want to nail you against the wall.”

–

The End.

  –

A/N:

Hey everyone,

I’m back with another one shot. I’m compiling my one shots in a book on wattpad under @jaureguicabello5eva (still working on getting these on ao3). I have a few ideas and I’m going to try to upload semi-regularly.

Feel free to send me some prompts or just general things you want to see in future stories and I’ll see what I can do.

Comments/feedback give me life so please tell me what you think. Talk to me about some ideas, scenes within the story, your thoughts on the plots, the characters, point out some typos if you want, etc.

Hope you guys enjoyed this one!

side note: there are pictures in wattpad if you want to have a better idea of the pieces being referenced

-Maddox

[thelapismoon]

MCSM S2 E4 Commentary

Wow I have forgotten what this episode even was about. *whispers* I actually never finished watching a playthrough so I guess I'll see some knew stuff. Heh. I'm scared. I managed to get changed, get my food, update my tumblr, and this thing is only 55% complete. HOW LONG IS THIS EPISODE? 

Quite funny that I've already said this much stuff and the episode hasn't even completed downloading. I wonder who actually ever reads this? Sorry about not writing my commentary for the last episode. I just didn't want to stop the episode every three seconds to write. Speaking of that, I might just paused every ten minutes to write. Huh. Thank god it's at 83%. I'm worried. This soundtrack, oml. It's finally done downloading. See you on the other side. Is Radar the narrator now? Admin, Admin, let me like you. I want more Warden interactions. Oh look at this awful frame rate- that's my fault Wait I forgot that I gave in and became a guard. Nurm, I love you. Warden didn't deserve to die. This lighting tho. 10/10. Radar, if you're trying to make me feel bad, it's not working. Nurmie-hurmie, I could never leave you behind, dear. Please don't hurt Xara, telltale. That facial expression. NGHHH FEELS. *singing* Holy shiet. Radar you better be careful because I won't hesitate. Nurm can I hug you? I feel like if that was actual minecraft logic, that jump would've killed us. ITS H I M I love this music, reminds me of some old western but.. dorky. Baby zombie. Tag urself, I'm Xara. NURM. Don't cry.. Let me wipe the tears away, you poor soul. Nghh Jack and Nurm are a perfect couple. If something happens to EITHER of them, I'm gonna throw some hands. You sure that isn't just a carpet..? I haven't played minecraft in like three years so.. Poor Xara. Wtf is wrong with you guys?! Um... NO I DO CARE!! Can I lay down next to you? Well.. Bye? OH NO I SUCK AT FIGHTING. Oh my gosh, this is the first time I survived in one try. Yees. R A D A R. I swear to Persson... Hm. NGHHHH I'm only going to do this because if I don't, Nurm is gonna cry. And I refuse to let. Nurm. Cry. Argh. You're all ungrateful swines. Who is that? Hm. I want to draw her. OH shoot my iPad is at 5% power. "1 night in Fred's house"? That sounds extremely CONVENIENT. Hello, Binta. You look... Nice. *cough* Everyone here seems.. Off. Oh hi Kent. Bye Kent. Gonna just... Slowly walk away. Lapis blue..? *cackles because you must know by now* Wow, good job, Jesse. You just ruined the moment. Can't wait for that to be a running gag no one will stop talking about for two weeks. *sigh* I can't stop thinking about Star Wars right now... Ngh.. F o c u s. Wow I'm actually really proud of this. Oh look, I won. Well now I feel bad. Me and my darn feelings.. WAIT THEY WERE PRETTY CAN I- Argh. I don't like these people. <<nothing much until the Ivor fight because there wasn't much to say>> Doodle doodle doo everything is nice and calm POTION. NGHHHH!!! Oh shiet I don't have a sword. I have a feeling I know who it is <<well of course I do>> Welp, honey, If you gotta kill me, at least I'll know my favorite character of all time did it to me. Hope this stains your conscious, Ivor. Ivor, my love, you're back! <<me the first time I saw him, YES. OH MY GOD. YES. YES!!! HES BACK! HES BACK! ARGHHHH! HES BACK! AHAAAA!>> My sweet alchemist, let me hug you on behalf of my friend and just because I love you so very much. I totally wasn't writing fanfiction about you two hours ago :,)) AGHHH. Ivor, can I just hug you for the rest of eternity? Oh my god I think I'm going to start crying. He looks... Slightly off... CAN YOU HEAR THAT? THOSE CHORDS!!! Those are IVOR'S theme. ACK I love him. Oh wait yeh, ninja, I have questions... Shiet, Ivor. You punched a forest worth of trees? Add that to my scar-headcanon-list. I can't believe they made Ivor the karate kid When his voice gets really deep and husky oh my lord... You know who I'm thinking of.. *looks at you Zoe* Can I hug you? Sweet old man I love you. Harper? Where IS Harper? *hack* where is Soren also? Mmmmm I'm getting all these good vibes now I gotta drop some stuff in the Ivor askbox once I'm done. Darn I wanted the old order to come back :( If Ivor.. shows some type of question of authority towards the admin... Oh my.. "Disappear", hm? Wait.. Okay Ivor's voice ;v; What if Ivor actually killed Jesse? I'd like to read a fic about THAT. Ivor is whispering, I can hug him, he's being witty! everything I could ever want is happening. Ivor's voice lines are my Christmas present. I love you, Ivor. Oh my gosh he looks so short next to Petra. NO DONT GO. Actually. Wait. DO go, If the admin suspects anything of you or even dares to TOUCH you, I will lose my god dang  m i n d Ivor Ivor Ivor. Farewell, my beloved... Okay I'm sorry you all had to see that. I thought I had hallucinated ninja Ivor at first tbh. Well now what? I don't even really wanna play after that.. Argh, I gotta finish this or else I won't be able to play the new episode tomorrow. Stay strong, Lapis. Weren't these two people based off of the great British baking show hosts? I love that show. And now I'm craving cake. Ugh I don't wanna fight in there, don't you know that I suck at fighting? Argh. I wanna read some fic now. Horrifying, hm? I know exactly what I'm gonna do... Okay well that was definitely PG-13 We're gonna forget that ever happened. Heh. *coughs* Hmm.. I'm gonna choose "please don't hit me". RADAR! PUT A SHIRT ON! You're a CHild! Well I just deleted all of the commentary after this so.. *insert distant screeching* Ooo Radar's feet I feel mildly bad about that.. LEVEL SIX HUNDRED?! Boy I don't have TIME for that! Wait WHAT?! Sweet J E S U S. AAA WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?!! *panicked screaming* Aaaaaand now I'm dead. Darn. Okay... Oh my gosh that golemn death scene! I smell some foreshadowing.. Romeo.. Death by water? I should keep my mouth shut. That was sick, man. There's MORE?! That's it, I want this to END. Wow that attention to detail.. Me and my darn Romeo-loving-heart. There has to be SOME type of redemption. They could do so much with him... Tbh my friends think I'm crazy because of how I like Romeo but ARGH I like villains, okay?! "Just kids" just started playing INSIDE THE CABIN and now I wanna flip onto Romeo's bed and cry. NGHHH MY FEELS!!!!!!!!!! The music just synced up perfectly. *sigh* I relate to Petra too much.. I want to burst out crying now, this hit too close to home! Petra has never been my favorite character but I can relate to her on a spiritual level. Man I came to have a good time and now I'm feeling personally attacked. AND THIS SAD MUSIC ISN'T HELPING Potato451? Hmm Potato backwards is Otatop. Top? Ota.. Obsidian? Top? The top? Top of the world? The sky? I'm probably taking this way too outta context. OUCH. ma feels. ... Just kids. IS SHE CRYING?! OH MY GOD CAN I ALSO CRY???? Wait this is changing my story? Oh god what have I done? <<later>> Hello, Xara, darling. What exactly did she "repair"? Have a bed, forget my hypocrisy. Wait.. where did she go? FIGHTING argh. Wow I'm alive. Hey Jack. Oh yeh I was gonna go back and save his eye. ..can I do that? I hope that wouldn't corrupt my save file. Okay.. Oh no radar or Fred's people? Radar... I'll see you on the other side. I have a bad feeling about leaving him. But it's his time to shine, and I won't take it from him. The order's temple.. WHO DARES GIVE ME THESE F E E L S?! Nurm just jumped into Jack's arms, everything is going swell- *sees Beacontown* Oh fuuuuu WAIT NO DONT YOU DARE CUT OFF RIGHT NOW!!! Oh my gosh it's Jack's lament. 50% 50% on the scavenger deal, hm. 51% won? That contest was easy. 32% promised to stay with Petra 50% on giving Xara her bed 51% took Fred's friends MMM JACK YOUR BEAUTIFUL VOICE. I listen to that song everyday. LUKAS NOOOOOOO N O NOPE NOOOOOOOOOO LUKASSSSSSSSSSS ARGHHHHHGHHHHHHG I'm lucky that the next episode comes out in 22 hours, wow I'm late. Toodle loo until tomorrow, dears!

[tilltheendwilliwrite]

Canadian Girl

Chapter Four

Previous Chapter

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC  |  Word Count: 2550 Warnings: Fluff, stereotyping of Canadians (It's ok, I am one)

“I’d kill for a chocolate bar,” Kennedy sighed, leaning her head against the wall.

“Then you’d be in serious trouble, doll face.”

Jerking away from the wall, she spun around and groaned, grabbing for her temple. “Do you have to keep doing that?”

Frowning, Steve took her by the shoulders. “Doc? You okay?”

It had been a week since her Thanksgiving, and he’d taken to wandering down to her floor every day. Friday was casually keeping him informed of her location. The AI was also doing him a favour by keeping his late night activity and daytime disappearances from the others.

He’d know Kennedy for a few weeks now and was smitten. Maybe a bit more than smitten, truth be told. She was so… adorable. The last thing he needed was his friends messing things up. If she could get to know him without his background getting in the way, hopefully, when she did figure it out, it wouldn’t be such a big deal.

“A headache. I’ll be fine.” She blinked up at him. “Spent too long bent over my microscope.”

He could see the pain behind her eyes in the way they squinted slightly, and the furrow between her brows.

The floor was still and silent, dark except for the glow from her lab. He stood with her in the shadows, all alone. He’d gotten good at seeing her with no one to witness the exchange, just the way he liked it. Shifting his hands to the back of her neck, Steve slowly worked his fingers up her nape. The muscles were tight and knotted, and he gently rubbed the strained cords. “Damn, Doc. No wonder you have a headache.”

Her eyes fluttered closed, pleasure apparent in the soft moan which passed her pink lips. “Ooh…”

The quiet little sound nearly made him growl.

She was so damn precious. So pretty. So sweet.

He wanted to kiss her pouty lower lip.

Restraining himself, Steve closed his palm at the base of her skull and squeezed. “You should go home, Doc. Get some sleep.”

“Later. I’ve got more work.”

“It will keep, doll. Go home,” he urged her.

She shook her head. “I’m on the verge of something here. I can’t just walk away. What I needed was a coffee crisp and a handful of Advil. I would have been fine.”

“Well, I hope you don’t take a handful, Doc, I think two would probably do, but… what’s a coffee crisp?” He moved his hands from her neck to her temples.

Her eyes fluttered back open. He bit back a groan, wondering if this was the look which would come to her face if he were to kiss her.

“Coffee flavoured chocolate bar. I had one stashed in the kitchen. Some dirty rat ate it,” she said, pouting slightly.

“Is this another Canadian thing?” Steve chuckled, rubbing his thumbs over her temples.

“Mmm,” she hummed appreciatively. “Jesse has a thing about sending me care packages. Coffee crisps, pin cherry jam, and all dressed potato chips.”

“What’s an all dressed potato chip?”

“It’s like an everything bagel. Only all potato chip flavours.” Her hand landed lightly on his hip.

Steve felt it all the way to the bones. “And pin cherry jam?”

“Grandmother’s recipe. Jesse’s wife makes jam. It’s delicious.”

“And Jesse is?” He threaded his fingers into her hair causing her to whimpered softly.

Her other hand landed on his ribs, and he leaned closer, gently working his fingers over her scalp.

“Middle brother.”

“I see.” Stroking his fingers through her hair, he smoothed it out, brushing his fingers over her cheek. “Don’t stay too long, Doc. You’ve got to sleep sometime.”

Sighing, Kennedy nodded as he stepped back. “I will.”

He didn’t want to leave, but figured the sooner she got back to it, the sooner she’d go home. It wasn’t like he could order her to go. Well, he could, but then he’d have to explain on whose authority. He wasn’t ready for that yet. “See you around, Doc.”

“Yeah. Bye,” she said, before disappearing back into her lab.

When he walked away, he noted, it appeared the pain was at least gone from behind her eyes.

***

Another late night, after everyone else on her floor had left, Kennedy was, again, standing in the kitchen. It was fully stocked with the favourite brain foods of all the scientists which worked there.

They each had their own projects, some overlapping, some with teams, some working on individual problems like she was, but each of them was willing to assist or be a sounding board when needed. This, at times, created long days and nights where they hardly left the lab. Hence the reason behind the kitchen. They needed to eat but often forgot.

Kennedy, however, liked food too much to ever forget to eat unless she was neck deep in a discovery like tonight. She’d had a breakthrough. One which had looked promising weeks ago had finally come to fruition. Coming up for air long enough to discover she was starving, she’d made her way to her present location, in the kitchen pulling fries from the oven.

The others all gave her a hard time over her snack choice. They didn’t get it. They weren’t Canadian. This was like gold to her people.

The fries went in a wide bowl, followed by the cheese curd she pulled from the fridge. Just as she was turning to go to the stove, she caught movement in the doorway and swung around, heart pounding in her throat.

“Oh! For Pete's sake! Do I need to get you a dang bell?”

“Sorry, Doc. What you still doing here?” The big blond grinned at her from the doorway.

“Working,” she huffed, heading for the pot on the stove.

“How are fries, cheese and,” he sniffed, “Is that gravy? Work?”

Standing beside the bowl, she glared at him. “Do not disparage my snack. This is edible gold to my people. You will draw the wrath of the poutine gods down on your head!” She proceeded to upend the pot of gravy over the top of the bowl.

It appeared to make him queasy if his face was anything to go by.

“Doll, I ain’t never met no poo teen gods,” he said, leaning against the doorframe.

Rolling her eyes, Kennedy dumped water in the pot, leaving it to soak in the sink. Returning to the table, she plopped herself down and shoved out another chair with her foot.

“All you American’s are so sadly uneducated when it comes to the glory that is poutine. Plant your butt, big man.” He did so, and she held out a fork. Pulling it back right before he could grab it she said, “Now, here’s the thing. You can eat this like a civilized human being, with a fork, or, you can join the ranks of many a Canadian who have burned their fingers for our country’s unofficial national dish.”

He bypassed the fork to snag a fry and lifted it up, dripping with gravy and strings of cheese. “You seriously eat this?”

“Says the man from the country that eats grits.” Even the word made her shudder in distaste.

“Touché,” he muttered, eyeing the concoction.

Reaching for her own fry, Kennedy popped it in her mouth without hesitation and moaned. “Not as good as New York Fries back home, as ironic as that sounds, but still heaven.”

He continued to only stare at the fry between his fingers.

“I swear if you eat that and call it disgusting you and I can’t be friends anymore.”

“Are we?” he asked. “Friends, I mean.”

She blinked, surprised by the question. “Well, yeah. I mean, considering I don’t know your name, or what you do here. You scare the Dickens out of me on a regular basis, and now you’re trying to decide whether I’m quirky or just plain gross for my food choices, I’d like to think we’re friends. I may know nothing about you besides your taste in books and music, and you have an insane desire to run places, but you keep turning up like a bad penny. I enjoy your company.” She shrugged, eating another fry.

His eyes softened in a way that made her want to blush. There was no possible way he was interested in her. He simply liked her company.

She couldn’t read more into it than that.

He took a deep breath, brought the fry to his mouth, and popped it between his lips.

Kennedy snickered when his eyes widened in surprise. “And you doubted me.”

“Only for a second, doll,” he chuckled, eyeing her bowl. When she shoved it closer, he dug in. “And I was born Steven, though most people call me Steve.”

“Kennedy. Though, considering you keep calling me Doc, I’m going to assume you already knew that.” She eyed him through narrow lids.

He gave a sheepish shrug. “I may have asked a few questions. You nearly ran me down six times in three weeks before I followed you to your lab that day. I was intrigued.”

Her hand paused midway to her mouth. “Six! Well… that’s a new record. Shoot! Now I’m going to owe Danny money.” Sighing heavily, Kennedy stuffed another fry in her mouth and pouted.

“Brother?”

“Cousin.”

“Big family,” Steve said. Sadness seemed to coat him like a shadow.

Kennedy just had to reach out, touch his hand, offer what comfort she could. “Some of us come from big families. Others acquire them over time.”

He looked up, and his blue eyes were so vivid, she had her breath catch.

“You’re right.” He turned his hand to take hold of her fingers, but she drew them back swiftly.

“So, Steven, what fantastic role are you playing in the ever-expanding Stark Empire?” she asked, picking a piece of cheese up between her nails and popping it in her mouth.

“Not a fan of Tony?” he asked.

“Not a fan of what he used to do. The weapons and all. Not a fan of what happened with Ultron. And I sure wasn’t a fan when he turned on Captain Rogers and his friends.” Getting up, she went to the fridge to grab a can of coke and held up a second.

He nodded, looking slightly odd, causing her to frown when she sat back down.

“You okay?” she asked, sipping on her drink.

“Yeah,” Steve cleared his voice. “Yeah, go on.”

“He’s done some stuff I really don’t agree with, but he’s done a lot of good, too. He’s creating clean energy and working on disarmament. The opportunity I have to try and decipher the serum, use what I’ve learned from it to help other people, is really important. There are parts of it which could do so much good. I mean, I don’t want to create more soldiers, nor allow the formula to fall into the hands of others who would. And I was pissed when I found out Stark brought me in under false pretenses, but I also believe if anyone will protect the secret, keep it from falling into Hydra’s hands again, it would be Mr. Stark.”

Nodding slowly, Steve appeared impressed.

Kennedy couldn’t help but blush a little, embarrassed by how she’d gone on. She was very passionate about her work.

“And once you finish? What then?”

“There’s always more research to be done. More things to discover,” Kennedy said, turning her face away. “And, someday, I’d like to have a family. Kids and a dog and a husband who thinks the world of me.” She shook her head at her foolishness. “Maybe.”

“Why maybe?” he asked softly.

“You don’t meet many people when you spend your life looking through a microscope.” She sighed. Collecting the now empty dish to take to the sink, she stood to her feet.

His chair scraped back, and she looked up at him.

“Steven?”

“You don’t read the papers, do you, doll?”

She shook her head.

“T.V?”

“I don’t have one,” Kennedy admitted, confused about why he was asking.

“What’s your opinion on the Avengers?”

“I… don’t really have one. They do good things for the world, and we need them, but, I wasn’t too keen on working here because this building has a very large target on it. I’m not a fan of guns, and it gets blown up… kind of often.” Though it hadn’t happened in recent years. “It’s definitely gotten me cool points with my nephews. Aunt Kenny who works with the Avengers. I haven’t the heart to tell them I’ve never even met one.”

“Would you want to?” Lifting his hand, he gently tucked her hair behind her ear.

“I think…” Her mouth went dry. The last time he’d touched her, her head hurt so much it had distracted her from the feeling until much later. The discovery that he’d fixed her headache with his gentle hands had been startling. This time was much more blatant. There was a different tone to it which she couldn’t possibly be reading right. “I would be very intimidated,” she whispered. “They’re them, and I’m… just me.”

Fingers wrapping at her nape, Steve stroked his thumb on the skin of her jaw. “I like just you, Kennedy, just fine.” He smiled when she gaped at him.

“Steven?”

“My mother used to call me Steven,” he said. Leaning down, he placed his lips lightly on hers.

She froze, stunned, but soft lips slanted and Kennedy gave a small whimper of pleasure. Her eyelids fluttered closed. This couldn’t be happening. She’d only just learned his name, and now he was kissing her? But the kiss was sweet, like something out of an old movie.

He didn’t grope her or try to take it past this simple brush of lips. Just kissed her gently, lips moving with hers. His hand softly cupping her face. It sent delicious shivers of desire through her body.

Then, his phone went off, and he pulled slowly away.

Heart pounding in her throat, Kennedy stared up at desire darkened blue eyes. “Steven?”

“In case I wasn’t clear, I’d like to be more than just your friend, Kennedy,” he said, stroking his fingers along her cheek. Stepping back, he dug for his phone. Frowning at it, he sighed. “Duty calls.”

She nodded, unable to find her voice. She needed to get back to work as well. Turning away, she went to clean up her dishes. All the thoughts in her head fled when his hands landed on her hips, and his lips bussed her cheek.

“You alright there, doll face?”

Clearing her throat, Kennedy nodded. “Yes. Sorry. Just… surprised.”

“Why?” he asked. His phone went off again, and he glared at it. “I really got to go, but I’ll be back when I can. We’ll talk.”

“Yeah, sure. No worries.” She threw a half a smile over her shoulder.

“I could be gone a while so don’t think I kissed you and didn’t mean anything by it, okay?”

“Of course. Go. I’ll see you later.”

He frowned, but when his phone pinged a third time he nodded. “Alright, Kennedy.”

With that, he jogged from the room, and she gripped the sink tightly to stay upright.

What in the heck just happened? 

Next Chapter

[ddtriohub]

arashu for the otp thing {imma compare my answers afterwards to see what differences we have haha of course i gotta answer mine too tho pfft}

Taken from meme: [x] ||Accepting||Boy did I try. Hopefully these make sense OTL 

1: Who spends almost all their money on the other?

Given the fact that Arashi likes to shop, I’d think Arashi would likely be the one to do this. Shugarl may buy a few things here and there if it makes him think of Arashi. Still, I sort of doubt that either of them would be stupid enough to spend almost all their money? If Arashi were to do that, I’m sure he knows Shugarl would scold him. Go return them. Now. Shugarl would not ever spend almost all his money on something like shopping, even if it were for someone else. That’s not happening.

2: Who sleeps in the other’s lap?

I think this can go either way to be honest. I can see that If Shugarl were to ask, Arashi would be okay with landing his lap. If the two of them were reading books on the couch and Arashi asked to borrow Shugarl’s lap, he’d allow it. I find it more likely that Shugarl would be the one sleeping in Arashi’s lap, but I don’t think that happens very often. I see the whole ‘Arashi slept on my shoulder, and I don’t want to wake him… so… if you can’t beat them join them’ situation where Shugarl just rests his head on Arashi’s and falls asleep as well.

3: Who walks around the house half-naked and who yells at them to put on some clothes?

Shugarl doesn’t exactly like to walk around not fully clothed. Especially given the fact that he’s got two noticeable scars on his chest/stomach. I can’t help but wonder if Arashi ever walks around half-naked? I feel like he might? Like 45% positive (which isn’t really positive at all, now is it?). If Arashi does this, Shugarl would only occasionally tell him to put a shirt on. No yelling. I don’t think Arashi would yell either? My sassy mind goes: Why yell when you can just stare and forget what was on your mind.

4: Which one tells the other not to stay up all night and which one stays up all night anyway?

DEF ARASHI TO SHUGARL. I feel like as a model you have to have a pretty good sleeping schedule. If he ever has to stay up late because of schooling, that’s inevitable but Shugarl is a workaholic, so staying up late is a constant thing for him.

5: Which one tries to make food for the other but burns it all by accident and which one tells them that it’s okay and makes them both cookies?

I think Arashi is more likely to burn the food than Shugarl is considering he excels in cooking/baking. It’s all a science after all.

6: Which one reads OTP prompts and says “Oh that’s us!” and which one goes “Eh, not really”?

LOL Totally Arashi, and Shugarl stares at it and either goes:

Hmph= I can see what you mean… Is that right? = I don’t agree fully, but it’s alright. [silence, and looks away] = Absolutely not.

7: Which one constantly wears the other’s clothes?

Shugarl prefers his suits and what not and really fashionable clothes just does not appeal to him like why does that have holes? Why does that look like you spilled chlorine on it? No. I don’t really see Arashi wearing Shugarl’s clothes either. Not outside anyways. I can see him just wearing Shugarl’s dress shirts around the condo? Like maybe wears them to sleep.

8: Which one spends all day running errands and which one says “You remembered [thing], right?”

Trick question, neither would spend ‘all day’ running errands. I think it sounds more accurate that they spread out their errands over the week. They’re both busy people. You can’t waste a full day. Shugarl does probably try to remind Arashi of things though. I can almost see Arashi forgetting to tell Shugarl something and then trying to speak as if he’s reminding Shugarl but this man aint having that and he goes: ‘First I’ve heard of this. You sure you didn’t forget to tell me the first time around?’ I dunno, but that’s the image I have.

9: Which one drives the car and which one gives them directions?

I feel as though Arashi doesn’t know how to drive because if I recall correctly not too many people in Japan actually own a car? If you don’t, what’s the point of having a license? Shugarl knows how to drive so he’d be the one driving and Arashi could give directions. Though Shugarl is the type to have already done his research so it’s just: “I know where I’m going” and actually knows where he’s going.

10: Which one does the posing while the other one draws?

Shugarl draws and Arashi poses like the model that he is.

11: If they were about to rob a museum, which one does backflips through lasers and which one is strolling behind with a bag of chips?

This would never happen, but I mean Arashi is pretty athletic, but idk about backflipping through lasers? Shugarl is athletic as well and can certainly do backflips given the martial arts under his belt. So I guess Shugarl would be the one doing the backflips—but I honestly think it would be more like: Arashi just walking around cautiously not knowing that Shugarl already deactivated the lasers so he’s just watching Arashi struggle with a smirk on his face.

12: Which one of your OTP overdoes it on the alcohol and which one makes the other stop drinking?

I mean… with Arashi’s bad habits… I can see Shugarl stopping him. The Graduate student is pretty good at pacing himself so it’s very rare when he overdoes it. If he does, Arashi will have to struggle to stop him. He only drinks like that when he’s really upset.

13: Which one likes to surprise the other with a lot of small random gifts?

I honestly think both of them do this. Shugarl would be browsing around, find something and buy it for Arashi. Likely small accessories and the like. A lot of the times he opts for making sweets because he knows Arashi likes sweets. As for Arashi, I feel like I recall it being said that he enjoys buying things for other people? As such I feel like Arashi would enjoy buying small things here and there for Shugarl as well.

14: Which one keeps accidentally using the other’s last name instead of their own?

Nope.

15: Which one screams about the spider and which one brings the spider outside?

Honestly Arashi will have to be the one to scream. Shugarl Geripeta simply does not scream over a spider. He’ll bring it outside and let it go freely.

16: Which one gives the other their jacket?

Arashi has shown a bit of clumsy moments, and you know, sometimes you dress for fashion. You don’t think about conventional stuff. I can see Arashi dressing a lil bit too light for the weather and Shugarl giving him his jacket. I imagine that Arashi will feel bad like ‘you’ll get cold, I’m fine’. Shugarl wouldn’t take that though and tell him to wear it and then taking Arashi’s hand, just walk over to a café so they can warm up with some coffee or something for a while. If they’re like out and just sitting around on a bench, then it is the classic ‘just drape the dang thing over both of them!’ trope if Arashi puts up a fight.

17: Who keeps getting threatened by the other’s overprotective older sibling?

… //Shugarl’s ready to fight Arashi’s older brother--- jk. I somehow doubt that Arashi’s older brother would be threatening Shugarl? I mean you sure can try but it won’t get you anywhere. Shugarl has no older brother (that we know of) so it’s like------ this can’t apply to Arashi.

18: Who’s the first one to admit they have feelings for the other?

I mean. //stares at Arashi straight up being like ‘I’d like to court you’ in canon threads. I think we know the answer here. Shugarl is also an emotional idiot so it’ll take some time for him to admit to it.

19: How good would your OTP be at parenting?

I mean, Arashi would make a good Mom and Shugarl would be that strict father who will at occasion spoil the life out of his kids. Break any of the house rules and you’ll get a major scolding though.

20: Which one types with perfect grammar and which one types using numbers as letters?

I don’t see either of them doing the latter. That’s not happening. If Arashi tried that, Shugarl wouldn’t answer. If Shugarl did that, I’m sure Arashi just squints at the phone like: ‘who is this imposter’?

21: Who gets attacked by a bully and who protects them?

Physically, Shugarl would be more likely to protect Arashi. Crazed fans or whatever. Emotionally, Arashi would be the one that would have to protect Shugarl because certain things can set him off and I don’t think Arashi would let anyone get away with hurting Shugarl emotionally. Shugarl can fend for himself in a physical fight, so I don’t think Arashi really even stands a chance to do anything here.

22: Who makes the bad puns and who makes a pained smile every time the other makes a pun?

I can see Arashi making small puns every once in a while to see if he can get Shugarl to smile. Then realizes ‘duh, of course math puns!!!’ Shugarl appreciates said math puns. Just shakes his head with a small exasperated half-smile. If Arashi gets into the habit of telling many puns, Shugarl would start to tell his own.

23: Who comes home from work to see that the other one bought a puppy?

Shugarl, why? Shugarl does not like dogs at all. He’d NEVER bring home a puppy. I can only see Arashi bringing home a puppy if he’s doing a favor for a friend. Even so I don’t think this would happen because Nyanko would not be a happy kitty.

24: Which one gives the other a piggyback ride when they’re tired?

The idea of Arashi giving Shugarl a piggyback ride honestly scares me. Let’s not. It will be another thing that ruins my lil image of adorable and pretty Arashi. I vote Shugarl spoiling Arashi would result in him giving the tired model a piggyback ride.

25: Which one competes in some sort of activity and which one does the overzealous cheering?

Overzealous cheering? Gotta be Arashi then. Shugarl doesn’t do zealous. He does Jealous, but not zealous.

26: Who takes a selfie when the other one falls asleep on their shoulder?

I imagine Arashi sleeps on Shugarl’s shoulder often and if he thinks of it, Shugarl would snap a picture, but only of Arashi. That doesn’t really count as a selfie then, does it? If Arashi wakes up to realize Shugarl is sleeping on him, I can so see the model that always has his phone on him to snap a picture or two… or three.

27: Which one would give the other a makeover if they asked?

… LOLOLOLLOLOLOLOLOLOLOOLLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLShugarl wouldn’t ask for a makeover ever and Arashi likely wouldn’t ask that of Shugarl who doesn’t really know anything about fashion. Now if makeovers can just stop at clothing, I can see Shugarl allowing Arashi to try to find clothes he’d like to see him try on? Does that count? Though that’s more dress up than a makeover.

28: Which one owns a pet that the other is absolutely terrified of?

Nope.

29: Which one holds the umbrella over both of them when it rains?

Shugarl is the taller of the two, so it’d be best if he did so. This way he can also ensure that Arashi doesn’t do that thing, the classic: ‘Let me angle the umbrella so you stay very dry while my shoulder gets wet’ kinda thing. He doesn’t know if Arashi would do this, but he’s not taking his chances. Instead, he’ll hold the umbrella and pull the other in close so both stay nice and dry.

30: If your OTP went on vacation, where would they go and what would they do? Who would take the pictures?

Arashi would be the one taking lots of pictures, probably asks for a few selfies here and there. I honestly think they’d either go visit Japan or the US for their first vacation because home countries ftw! I think Japan would go first, because Shugarl would be interested in visiting the country his mother was born in. Along the way, he can introduce himself to Arashi’s family. While in Japan, they can visit all kinds of touristy places, maybe even Yumenosaki.

[entj-werewolf]

I actually got tagged, so I’ll give this a shot! Since it’s big, I’ll put it under the cut...

Tagged by: @unlimited-goldfish​

Rules: Answer these 92 statements and tag 20 people.

(As usual with the tagging part of rules, I also just let anyone do this if they want. Idk who to tag most of the time...)

LAST:

1. Drink: Water 2. Phone call: Can’t remember... I think my mom was the last to call me today? 3. Text message: Mainly to my little sister. I’d been texting her about some Splatoon stuff! 4. Song you listened to: Some Splatoon 2 music... 5. Time you cried: I don’t remember, but even if I did.... I’d keep that to myself, ahaa. Lots has been going on though.

HAVE YOU:

6. Dated someone twice: Nope, never dated before either 7. Kissed someone and regretted it: I don’t like kisses, soooo I haven’t kissed anyone at all. I’d probably regret it if I did, tbh. 8. Been cheated on: Nah 9. Lost someone special: A few people, yep... 10. Been depressed: Boy, it was pretty bad when I was a kid I think. Came across some old journals of mine while cleaning through stuff recently, and yeesh, the bullying got to me worse than I remembered from that time. As of recent? I’m... Not too sure. I have drastic confidence drops under huge stress, but idk if they’re depressive states or not? Also, dealing with life loss is rough. I had a horrid time last year after losing my last grandparent. It’s still sometimes unpleasant to think about, so I try keeping my mind off of that... 11. Gotten drunk and thrown up: No way. I hate alcohol anyhow... And I dislike dealing with drunk people.

LIST 3 FAVORITE COLORS:

12-14: Green, Dark Purple, Dark Blue!

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU:

15. Made new friends: It’s not common that I outright make new friends. It’s mostly acquaintances and mutuals! Sooo, nah, haven’t technically made any new friends in the past year.

16. Fallen out of love: Haven’t had any feelings for anyone like that, so nope

17. Laughed until you cried: YEP. Great times...

18. Found out someone was talking about you: Ahh, yep... I’m talked about a lot by family, mostly in negative light. This is every year. RIP. 20. Found out who your friends are: Known that already before the past year! 21.  Kissed someone on your Facebook list: Heck nope

GENERAL:

22. How many of your Facebook friends do you know in real life: Only irl people or trustworthy online friends of mine can have my Facebook, buuut... I hate that site. So I actually rarely go on it. (I only signed up ‘cause my family made me when I was a teen, pfffff) 23. Do you have any pets: YES! My black cat, Luna! 24. Do you want to change your name: I thought about this once or twice in my life, buuut I’m fine with Sarah for now. 25. What did you do for your last Birthday: I went out to a new place to try out its vegan donuts, and they had some fresh coconut too. So, as a bonus, I got to have coconut water fresh from the thing itself! With amazing donuts. It was a good start to my birthday - but the rest of my day was being stuck in Ikea for 3-freaking-HOURS with my mom and older sister. I forgot how bad my legs could hurt before that.... 26. What time do you wake up: Technically 11:30-something-am, but I couldn’t get out of bed until like.... 12pm. My sleep is screwed up again, yeah... 27. What were you doing at midnight last night: Drawing, I think? 28. Name something you can’t wait for: Nintendo Switch Restocks... just PLEASE, EVERYTHING HOLY, GET THEM FREAKING RESTOCKED SO I CAN GET ONE. Besides that, I can’t wait to move on from my job to a better one. My job situation is driving me insane. 29. When was the last time you saw your mom? Just tonight when saying g’night to her, pffff 30. What is one thing you wish you could change in your life: Hmmm.... Better luck in general would be nice. 2017 is like the freaking biggest pique of my bad luck from what’s happened so far. 31. What are you listening to right now: Still listening to Splatoon 2 music! 32. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: I... Do not recall meeting or talking to a Tom in my life. 33. Something that is getting on your nerves: Lots of things... Mainly my job and money circumstance stuff.

34. Most visited website: I’m not 100% sure, but it miiiight be Youtube 35. Mole/s: I think so, but only the flat, not-dangerous types. I had one mole removed a couple of weeks ago though and..... That... was NOT pleasant. Turns out I do NOT have skin cancer, so that’s good?

36. Mark/s: Not that I’m sure of or remember atm, but I used to get scars pretty easily 37. Childhood dream: I wanted to be a veteranarian and actually would do a lot of side studies on my own about animals. This dream changed, of course, once I got older and learned more about what felt to be my “purpose” and I aim for that now. But I still like learning about animals and have scrambled knowledge on nature because of that! 38. Hair color: Dark brown 39. Long or short hair: Fairly long hair 40. Do you have a crush on someone: Nope! I have no idea what a crush feels like either..... 41. What do you like about yourself: Uhh... Hmm.... For several years, I’ve been liking my ambitious “energy” of sorts? Makes me feel like I’m living a full life as long as I’ve got that, hahaa... 42. Piercings: Nope, needles and anything that pierces my skin freaks me out to nauseous levels... 43. Blood type: If I recall correctly, it’s O negative; and apparently I can donate to most/all other blood types? (Too bad I don’t physically or mentally handle getting my blood drawn, otherwise I’d be fine with occasional donations to make use of that) 44. Nicknames? Wolf, Kat, or WolfKat - when people try referring to me based on my common online alias; “Fluffy” by some other people; and then freaking “furry” being a more rampant nickname by my friends recently..... -heavy sigh- 45. Relationship status: Single

46. Zodiac: Haven’t been much into this, but I only recall I’m Pisces ‘cause of my birthday. (Those Pisces descriptions are like the dang opposite of my MBTI type.....) 47. Pronouns: Just female stuff. I’ve been mistaken for a guy a lot online somehow, though.... I find it oddly amusing, pffffft. 48. Favorite TV Show: “Gravity Falls” and “[The] Slayers” are my top favorites, and I enjoy several other animated shows alongside these two!  50. Right or left hand: Left-handed pretty much, but I’ve taught myself to use my right hand decently for stuff like holding forks/spoons for eating. And I actually don’t like using left-handed computer mice... Regardless, I draw and write best with my left hand.

51. Surgery: Wisdom teeth surgery - which I had when I was 18 I think? That was a very weird experience for me. I’m glad I only talked to my close friends during the first part of my recovery... I would’ve died of regret if I tried posting anything online while I was drugged with pain killers and who knows what else. Eugh. 52. Hair dyed in different color: Nah, I like my natural hair color as is 53. Sport: Basketball! I’ve always liked this sport... I haven’t played in a long time though. 55. Vacation: My vacations in terms of travel and being fun for me, tend to be for conventions... Like Dragoncon and Momocon. Whenever they can be affordable, at least. 56. Pair of trainers: Idk what this refers to, sooo I looked it up. Synonymous with sneakers and tennis shoes, it seems? In that case, I have a few pairs of these ‘cause I LOVE sneakers/athletic shoes!

MORE GENERAL:

57. Eating: Not eating anything atm. I’m staying up late to wait for my acid reflux to chill the heck out, actually... (I can’t lay down when it gets like this. Ugh.) 58. Drinking: Some sips of water here and there. 59. I’m about to: Try and sleep, maybe. 62. Want: A lot. But for this very moment, I want to be able to lay down without feeling like I’ll throw up!

63. Get married: Nope. Probably never? Idk how to fit marriage into my future, and having to be in such a relationship like that is very.... Overwhelming and intimidating for me atm. 64. Career: I want my dream career right now but I don’t know when my skills will be professional enough for it so it’s just waiting and trying to find other jobs until then.... Game Development is my future, though.

65. Hugs or kisses: Hugs only. No kisses! 66. Lips or eyes: Huh? I dunno. I don’t like eye contact, aaannndd I have no idea what’s significant about lips. Just... Lips are lips? 67. Shorter or taller: No strong preference, but shorter people I tend to like being around the most (’cause lots of tall people treat me in an annoying way TBH. Like petting my head or trying to lean over me? Excuse you.) 68. Older or younger: Uhhh... ? In general, I don’t mind what age people are when I meet them... With friends, I tend to end up with lots of younger ones in my close circle. Very few are older than me. 70. Nice arms or nice stomach: I do not like either... Or caring about looks at all. Sooo, none/neither. 71. Sensitive or loud: I don’t like loudness in general (got sensitive hearing as well), so sensitive would be more preferrable. I mostly have sensitive friends too anyhow. 72. Hook up or relationship: Preferrably neither, but if I ever ended up in that kind of relationship, it would need to be under mutual merits and built from a deep friendship. No casual hook ups. 73. Troublemaker or hesitant: I tend to prefer hesitant people over troublemakers.... But some of my more mischievous friends can keep life interesting at times, hahaa

HAVE YOU EVER:

74. Kissed a Stranger: Heck no 75. Drank hard liquor: Again, hate alcohol 76. Lost glasses/contact lenses: I think I’ve lost my glasses once or twice? Those moments are true suffering 77. Turned someone down: Many times. Idk why people keep getting crushes on me... Like... Have mercy for once.... 78. Sex on the first date: Nopenopenope, and I NEVER want that at any point in my life either. 79. Broken someone’s heart: A few times on accident toward friends... Sometimes feel guilty about those moments again even if all is forgiven now. 80. Had your heart broken: I think so, but it’s not often in terms of friendship-based stuff. 81. Been arrested: Thankfully, nope! I intend to keep it that way. 82. Cried when someone died: Definitely. 83. Fallen for a friend: I’m not too sure what this means? Ummm... I mean, I assume it’s like making a huge/important sacrifice for a friend, but idk. I don’t recall anything like that atm other than the times I’d stand up for friends, against their bullies in high school.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:

84: Yourself: Normally, yeah. When overwhelmed with stress though? Nope. 85. Miracles: Yup. I’ve experienced quite a few either as an observer/witness, or a few times personally. 86. Love at first sight: Nah. Sometimes, there’s an instant “click” with people even for potential friendships, but that’s not always reliable for something long-term. 87. Santa Claus: Not now, but as a kid, I of course believed in Santa. A ton. 88. Kiss on the first date: Noooooope

OTHER:

90. Current best friend name: Pao/Paola! We’ve been close pals for about 8 years now 91. Eye color: Greyish Green? Sometimes looks more blue-tinted in other light sources? 92. Favorite movie: A tough pick... Hmm... Maybe Zootopia or Inside Out? I also really love Lilo and Stitch!

Alright, so yeah... No specific tags, but if anyone wants to do this, feel free to count it as my tag toward you!

I also noticed some numbers were missing from this list of questions, so who knows where those are? It’s almost 92. Have fun anyhow, maybe!

[sambashua]

8 questions tag~

hellooooo❁

well i was tagged by @king-hao​ and also i just wanted to do @strawberryboo​ ‘s questions bc i’m bored and she’s a damn gem so yayyyy i’m not gonna tag anyone tho

sister’s questions(✿◠‿◠)

1. What is your favorite kpop choreography? i legit wrote an article abt this soooooooo yeah i was struggling.... but then i remember that nct dream’s my first and last happened and if you think that isn’t THE best choreo you’re a fool... consider that the dance moves never repeat except for a single move at the end of the chorus. not to mention the moves are very rigorous too thanks to the extensive floor work. also the fact that there are an even number of members (comeback jaemin) the formations are even more tricky... bye i could talk abt this for 700 years

2. What MV is the most aesthetically pleasing to you? (not necessarily your favorite MV, just which one matches your aesthetic the most) uhhhhhh what even hmmmm i’ll say check in by svt’s hip hop unit actually bc i really like traveling and also wonwoo’s face:3 (and luna’s free somebody but what’s new) oh shoot also all the loona mv’s ahhh the one i like aesthetically best is probably choerry’s love cherry motion tho edit: shoottttttt i forgot fri.sat.sun by dalshabet a true fave

3. Literally just write a paragraph about your ultimate bias. Here’s your chance to rant about ur fave bye you fool you asked for this AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH well for starters if you don’t know... jeon wonwoo is the actual love of my life. for so many reasons he has become and remained my bias for about a year and a half which doesn’t seem long but he has been my only ult bias! usually i make fun of him but to be honest he is one of the most sweet and caring people i’ve ever seen. he may tease his members and make dumb comments but that’s really the only way he can express his affection. he’s very shy and he’s said without svt he wouldn’t have been friends w the members bc he is introverted. but he’s so grateful to be able to be so close w the boys my heart. he’s also such a huge dork which i love. as a fellow dork i support. i love how he’s so smart and witty and always has the best comebacks. i love how he gets so invested in books that he was ready to actually fight soonyoung for throwing his book once akhgfkal. he’s such a soft boy also like can you imagine him w a tiny kitten?? he’s afraid of dogs (like a damn dork) but w a kitten he’d be so careful holding it and loving cry. also i want to protect and care for him so much he has so many physical ailments like wonu how are you still in one piece but he stays strong for his members and for carats♡ wow dude i didn’t even yell i must be in a soft mood tonight hmmm

4. When did your bias look the softest? (include photo evidence if u have it) i mean wonwoo is soft 24/7 like i’m p sure his “style” is just comfy okay but basically all of pretty u era was just the SOFTEST honestly wonwoo invented soft mhmmmm like sweater paws ??? all ? the ? time ????? iconic

if i had to choose tho...

but any nose crinkles are verified the softest™

(creds)

5. What kpop merchandise do you own? (if any) well not a whole lot sister buys a lot of albums but i have some photo cards and posters from her and other friends:D when we went to LA tho we bought a lot of kpop stuff but i guess i only got some postcards and a poster hmmmm but @strawberryboo​ hAS SENT ME FOUR BEAUTIFUL KEYCHAINS WHICH I LOVE W MY WHOLE HORT THAT SHE MADE W HER OWN TWO HANDS WHAT KIND OF LEGEND (my keys are very heavy but it’s definitely worth it)

6. What August debut or comeback are you most excited for? well the main reason i’m finally doing this is bc august is tomorrow oops oh shoot technically it’s in two hours h e l p and this question is illegal bc literally so many faves are coming back i can’t even remember them all... i know for sure snsd, gfriend, samuel, n.flying, wanna one, weki meki, nu’est, boyfriend uhh ofc day6 and loona uhhhhhhhhh shoot i know there’s more fuck and i would say nct dream is who i’m most excited for but technically they haven’t announced it yet so...

7. Of your favorite groups, which one do you think has the prettiest lightstick? hmmmmm i may be biased... but seventeen’s is so pretty... i like monsta x’s too and vixx’s.... apink’s and got7′s are cute too... but carat bong has my heart

8. Of your favorite groups, which one do you think has the best fandom name? i mean again... biased... carat is so frickin cute bye~ but monbebe, honey10 and tinkerbell are also very cute! and i should mention that i didn’t really like NCTzen at first but them being excited abt it made me love it:)

emma’s questions(✿◠‿◠)

1. Ok so I’m gonna steal one of the questions that Mir answered in hers and its is if you could have any idols hairstyle past or present whose would you choose? bye i already did this lol but i’ll add taeyeon’s hair in why promotions and luna in this look:

byeeeee (i think creds to © No.91812 ? but there’s no credit:( (y’all don’t steal shit from fansites pls))

2. If you could take your bias group or just your bias and put them into another universe i.e. wizarding world or similar what world would you but them in? And why? okay i’m gonna copy sister and say ATLA too just bc i want to go there tbh~~~ i feel like wonu and i would be two average peeps tho w/o bending... unless i can maybe see wonu as a fire bender but he only uses it for dumb things like heating up his tea dfhlalfkjdaf oh shoot it’s bias group hmmmm well they will be our children i guess idk it’s late no it’s not it’s only 10:20 who am i anymore

3. Fave idol outfit? doesn’t have to be your bias just any outfit you’ve liked! Provide pictures if you want! i’ve really liked all of chungha’s outfits in why don’t you know promotions they’ve all been so summery kaflhjadskj also seohyun’s looks in don’t say no like destroy me and all of mamamoo’s you’re the best looks were iconic bye and ofccccccc luna in free somebody my all time fave ever

(i got this poster in LA and i’m still screaming)

i said ‘all’ so many times wow but i was gonna do boy groups too but it’s fine

4. Favorite fancams? Im a fancam ho I need recs plx. wellll i don’t watch a lot of fancams tbh but i think i have a couple faves? (oops they’re all my biases too but it’s fine)

wonwoo was so damn soft another soft time and also one of my favorite outfits eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee i just love this

dowoon is so dang cute he’s having such a good time and also thE END WATCH THE END YOU WILL NOT REGRET HE MAKES ME SO SOFT A TRUE BEAN

this one doesn’t need an explanation just that it’s illegal... but i do wish they hadn’t cut up the footage so much

5. What are your favorite girl group non title songs, if you don’t have any what are your favorite gg mvs? hmmmmm i really like magic by seohyun, mojito by red velvet (happy 3 years every bunny), next page by twice, babyface by wjsn, u & me by hyuna (does that count she’s a soloist ah), all mine by f(x) uhhhh tbh i mostly listen to title tracks bc i’m lazy... i normally don’t listen to full albums unless it’s svt, nct or monsta x or astro or a couple others idk i listened to all of wjsn and red velvet’s new ones why am i even still talking i should delete this...

6. ok so this was a question Claudent made up in another 8 questions tag that I just love she a brilliant bean! But if you could create your own group drawing from all other groups regardless of companies who would you choose and what would there concept be? whale whale whale i’m gonna keep my last plans but add more boys i think : 99line w dancey rap boys such as nct mark lee! svt chan! sf9 hwiyoung! astro rocky! and i’ll add wanna one park woojin! now it’s an odd number which is perfect! i’d like to see them do smth fun and age appropriate:) maybe a refreshing song abt youth and friendship w awesome choreo:D

7. so you are going to a music festival and in this dream world you get to decide all the ppl/groups that are going to be there, who would you choose? It doesn’t just have to be Kpop! wahhhhhh how many groups can i pick i was thinking of adding some non kpop artists i really like but;;;;; honestly;;;; i mean i love the music but also if i could see kpop artists instead i’d like it a lot better? florence welsh might be my favorite musician ever ever but w all the other things kpop idols do i’d rather see them i think... soooooooo i’d choose ofc svt and nct as co-headliners w monsta x, astro, day6, sf9, wanna one, red velvet, twice, oh my girl and aoa !!!! like how good? also this concert would last so long bc they all need to perform like 5-10 songs bc i love them too much okay... oh damn it could be like a festival nd each night two groups perform yayyyy also i need the interactions™

8. If you could have any talent in the world what would you want it to be? I would want to be in anyway musically inclined rip me tbh. well everyone knows i’m a language ho so i would want to be able to speak at leasy five different languages akfhlas but idl if that’s really a talent... maybe i’d want to be able to write better? or draw that would be so cool~

[latchingontoallofyou]

We Are Us - Chapter 32

Chapter 32

“But we always sing Maks!”

“Meryl, you just had a baby this week!”

“But Jenna and Val will be there.”

“We’re not singing Meryl.”

“Yes I am!” she says trying to hold back a yawn but to no avail,

“How can you sing if you’re so tired that you yawn all the time?”

“It’s the end of the day Maksim. Of course I’m tired. I don’t yawn that much in the morning. I can do it.”

“Meryl, I already told Ashley we won’t be there. She said she already had it planned that we’d be out for a little while. I told her we’ll both be back after the show ends”

“May! You are going to make me wait until May? Maksim, that’s so long away.”

“But it’s for your own good Meryl. If you overdo it…”

“Maks, it’s just Sunday mornings!”

“But you’d have to bring all three girls with you. How would you keep an eye on all three? Sure, Kamri can entertain herself but you can’t just let Rylan crawl around. You also can’t hold both Rylan and Olivianna.”

“I bet someone would hold one.”

“We can’t ask someone to hold her ever time. It’s just not fair to them.”

“But…”

“Meryl, please. Just sit back and relax for a while. It’s all going to be ok. You’ll get back up there soon enough.”

“Can I at least sing for Easter?”

“We’ll see if we can work it out closer to Easter.”

“But practices will start soon and…”

“Meryl, relax please. We’ll see what we can do when practices come around. For now, let’s go to sleep before Olivianna wakes up.”

“I can’t! My head is spinning.”

“Lay down. I’ve got you.”

Meryl lays her head on her pillow, facing Maks. He lays down facing her and reaches over and rubs the side of her face with his thumb. It puts her to sleep within minutes with himself following soon after.

~

The next morning, as Meryl breastfeeds Olivianna, she can’t help but still want to go and sing with the worship team today. She knows Maks is right and that she needs to take the break and just sit back and relax for now but she just can’t help it. She tried to convince Maks to go to church early anyway so the worship team can meet Olivianna before anyone else from church. He said they’ll see how the morning goes but not to push it.

“Mer?” Maks says poking his head in the door way.

“Yea?”

“I fed Rylan breakfast. Should I get her dressed?”

“Um, yea. Put her in the grey sweater dress with white polka dots. Find her white stockings that have the black shoes drawn on it too.”

“Ok.

“Is Kamri up?”

“Yes. She is still eating breakfast”

“Ok. Thank you. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Olivianna finishes and Meryl burps her before getting her outfit ready. She picks a white sweater dress with grey polka dots. The top is fuzzy. She pairs it with grey stockings. After an unhappy diaper change, Meryl dresses her in her first Sunday outfit.

Olivianna has been a pretty happy baby. She hates getting her diaper changed. She loves her swing but also loves being held. She loves when music is playing and really doesn’t like the quiet, thankfully because their house is rarely quiet. She sleeps best at night if she is in her nursery with the lullaby CD on. As much as Rylan has becomes a Daddy’s girl, Olivianna has been a Mommy’s girl from day one. Maks says it’s too early to know because Olivianna needs Meryl more than himself.

“Mommy?”

“I’m in Olivianna’s room. What’s wrong Lovey?” Meryl asks when Kamri comes into the room.

“What am I going to wear? I don’t know what to wear and we have to leave soon or we’ll be late!”

“We won’t be late Lovey.”

“Yes we will. We can’t be late to practice.”

“Oh Lovey, Daddy and I aren’t singing. We won’t be for a little while. I have to rest and Daddy said we’ll both go back after the show is over or maybe for Easter.”

“But Daddy said we were going early.”

“We are going early so we can introduce Rusalka to the worship team. We don’t have to be on time for that.”

“Oh, ok. Well, what am I going to wear?”

“Come on. Let’s go pick something.”

They head into Kamri’s room and look in her closet. Kamri bounces excitedly next to Meryl.

“I know the perfect dress” Meryl says pulling down the red and black checkered op dress with a black tutu attached to it.

“I love that Mommy.”

“Good. I know just the headband to go with it.” Meryl digs in the draw of headbands and picks out a black headband with a big tulle bow on it. “Will you come to my room and sit with Olivianna while I get dressed?”

“Ok.”

“I know just the dress to match you with. Well, we’ll have the same colors.”

Meryl goes into her closet and puts on a black maxi dress with red roses. The low neckline will be helpful with feeding. It also has ¾ length sleeves. She looks in the mirror and sees her hair still looks decent so she leaves it as is. She puts on her favorite black heels that she is finally about to fit in again and heads back out into the bedroom.

“What do you think Lovey?”

“I love it Mommy!”

“Thank you. Let’s go see if Daddy and Sissy are ready to go.”

They three of them head downstairs. Maks is just coming in from the garage when they get downstairs. He looks scattered.

“Maks, what’s going on?”

“I was just packing the car. The diaper bags, the stroller, the car seats.”

“Alright, go get dressed. We’ve got it now.”

“It’s all done.”

“Just go get changed Maksim.”

He rushes up the stairs and Meryl and the girls head to the living room to wait for Maks. Meryl holds Olivianna close as she watches Kamri lay on the floor with Rylan as they play together. She can’t help think about how blessed she is. She has three, beautiful, healthy, happy girls.

“Ready everyone?” Maks says as he comes down the stairs.

“Yes!” Kamri says jumping up off the floor. Maks comes over and picks up Rylan and then extends his hand to Meryl and helps her off the couch.

“Let’s go introduce you to those who have prayed over you so much” Meryl says kissing Olivianna’s head while she walks to grab her purse and then heads into the garage. She buckles Olivianna into her car seat and then hopes into the passenger seat.

With Kamri buckling in herself and Maks getting Rylan into her seat, they are off quickly. Maks reaches over and takes Meryl’s hand as he drives. She sighs, kind of missing having a belly to rest her hands on.

“Mommy, am I going to class today?”

“You mean your Sunday school class?”

“Yes.”

“Well then yes. Why wouldn’t you?”

“I don’t know. What about Rylan?”

“She’ll probably go to the nursery at some point.”

“What about Rusalka?”

“She’ll stay with me. She’s too young to be without me.”

“Oh. Daddy, was my birth Mommy like that?”

“Like what Lovey” he asks worried about the question she is about to ask.

“Did she take me everywhere with her?”

“Um, she was with you when she could. She had to work so she could buy the things you needed.”

“She always worked.”

“I know. I’m sorry Lovey.”

“I’m so glad you are my Mommy and Daddy now” she says happily.

“We are so glad you are our daughter” Maks says squeezing Meryl’s hand.

When they get to church, Maks gets out first. He opens the trunk and was about to get out the double stroller but Meryl stops him.

“Save that for later. Like if we go to lunch. That will take up too much room.”

“You sure?”

“Yes. You carry Rylan and the diaper bags. I’ve got Olivianna.”

Maks closes the trunk and goes to get Rylan out. Meryl already has Olivianna’s car seat out and is holding an antsy Kamri’s hand. When Maks and Rylan join them at the front of the SUV, they all head inside the calm church. It is 9 o’clock and only a few people are here. They say good morning to a few people in the hall and then head into the sanctuary. Everyone is on the stage still. They are in between singing. They all turn to look at the door. Meryl hears Rachel squeal and she grabs onto Lana’s arm. They are bouncing with excitement.

Meryl quickly makes her way up the aisle and towards the stage. All the ladies have flocked over towards Rachel and Lana. Meryl stands in front of them all. Maks, Rylan and Kamri are soon at her side. She turns the car seat around so they can all see Olivianna sleeping in the seat.

“Oh my goodness, she is so precious!” Rachel says softly.

“She looks just like you Meryl” Lana says.

“And you look amazing. How old is she now?” Ashley asks.

“1 week and 1 day.”

“Dang girl!”

“Thank” Meryl laughs.

“How do you like having another sister Kamri?” Lana asks.

“I love it.”

“Does she sleep alright?” Rachel asks.

“If there is music on, yes. She loves her lullaby CD. And motion, whether we are holding her or if she is in her swing, she loves it.”

“How has Rylan done?”

“Pretty well. She is such a Daddy’s girl so it helps that I have to be with Olivianna more.”

“Kamri, have you been a big helper?”

“Yes! She loves to watch me dance too. Mommy comes to the basement to watch my dances and Olivianna is always calm while I dance. Sometimes Mommy puts her in the bouncer and while I dance if she needs to help Rylan.”

“Have you gone back to work Maks?”

“No but I’ve been the driver for the grandparents. They’ve been staying at a nearby hotel so I have to go pick them up in the mornings.”

“Oh how nice to have them in” Lana says with a smile.

“My parents went home yesterday” Meryl says. “Maks’ parents are in for a few more days. My brother is coming next weekend.”

“How sweet.”

“Sorry to break up this cute meeting but we’ve got one more song to get through before service.”

“Right, right. We’ll sit down and watch” Meryl says picking the car seat back up and following Maks down the steps of the stage.

Kamri goes into the row first, followed by Maks and then Meryl. She puts the car seat on the ground and then carefully takes Olivianna out and lays her in her arms. Maks lays his arm around Meryl’s shoulders. They listen to the last song quietly. Meryl is happy where she is, holding her sweet little girl but still deep down she wishes she could be on that stage with them.

~

Now that church is over, they are back home. Rylan is down for a nap. Kamri is watching a show while Maks makes some lunch. Meryl is breastfeeding Olivianna. Sasha and Larissa are across the street spending time with Val and Jenna.

“Daddy, is lunch almost ready?”

“Soon Lovey. The chicken is still grilling. The veggies are done. What fruit do you want?”

“Strawberries!”

“You’ve got it.”

“When we are done lunch could we go to the park?”

“It’s a little too cold to stay at the park but what if we all going on a walk around the neighborhood. That way we are close to home” Maks suggests.

“It actually isn’t bad out there now Maks. We could go to the park for a little while” Meryl says.

“Are you sure? Olivianna is so little and…”

“Oh, I know! What if we go walk around the mall instead!” Kamri suggests excitedly.

“We could do that. That is certainly warmer” Meryl says.

“But we will get recognized” Maks worriedly says.

“That could happen anywhere Maks. It’s fine.”

“Alright, after lunch we can go to the mall. Come on over to the table. I’m just plating now.”

Kamri turns off the TV and runs to the table. Maks puts her plate in front of her but she waits for everyone to sit down. They say a quick prayer before eating their lunch. Kamri talks about all of the stores she wants to visit at the mall. She wants to know if she can bring her own money to buy something for herself. They agree it could be a good idea.

When they are done, Rylan hasn’t woken up yet. Kamri was worried they’d have to wait until she woke up to leave but Maks goes up to get her anyway. With the diaper bags packed, they all head out to the car. After a check to make sure the stroller is in the car, they head out of the driveway. They turn onto their street but then Maks stops.

“Daddy, why’d you stop?”

“We forgot something.”

“What?”

“Babushka and Dedushka. We didn’t tell them we were leaving.”

“Go pull into Val and Jenna’s driveway. I’ll go tell them” Meryl says.

Maks pulls into the driveway and Meryl rushes inside to tell them. They all said they are up for a mall trip too so they ask Meryl to wait. She said she needs tell Maks but they’ll wait. They all go to get ready and Meryl goes back out to the car to tell Maks.

“All set?” Maks asks.

“Not quite. They said a mall trip sounds great and they want to come. They are getting ready now. They asked us to wait and they’ll be out soon.”

“Yay!” Kamri says excitedly.

Soon the four of them come out the house and pile into Val’s car. Maks backs out of the driveway and Val follows behind them. When they get to the mall, Maks parks, turning off the car, quickly getting out to set the double stroller up. Meryl brings Olivianna’s seat over and puts it on one side of stroller. Maks comes over with Rylan who is still asleep. Meryl lays back her seat. Maks lays Rylan in the seat and buckles her in. Kamri is bouncing up and down while holding onto Sasha’s hand.

“Alright, I think we are ready” Meryl says as she puts the diaper bags underneath the seats.

“Two sleeping baby girls in a stroller, I’d say we’re ready” Jenna smiles.

The big crew heads into the mall, Kamri and Sasha leading the way. With Larissa pushing the stroller per her request, Meryl and Maks walk hand in hand through the mall. They have been a few stares but no one has stopped them so far.  They find themselves in the Disney store, Kamri’s favorite store. Kamri is now pulling Jenna around now as they look around the store.

“I bet she’ll want to buy something from here” Meryl says.

“I would be surprised if she didn’t.”

“Meryl, Rusalka is crying” Sasha says. “Larissa has the girls outside the store.

“Thank you Papa.”

Meryl rushes towards the front of the door. The closer she gets, the more she can hear Olivianna. Larissa is pushing and pulling the stroller trying to sooth the crying baby.

“She just woke up.”

“Thank you Mama. I appreciate you so much.”

Meryl goes over and takes Olivianna out of the stroller and cradles her against her face, bouncing and rocking.

“Shh, I’ve got you baby girl. Mommy’s got you.”

Olivianna starts to calm in her arms. Her diaper feels a bit full so she knows after this stop they’ll have to find a bathroom so Meryl can change her and she’ll feed her then too.

“Mommy, look! Look what I got!” Kamri says excitedly rushing over to Meryl with a bag in her hand.

“Let me see Lovey. What did you buy?”

Kamri reaches into her bag and pulls out a set of Moana figures. There is still something in the bag though.

“I bought this Mommy but Dedushka bought me this” she says and puts the box down and reaches into the bag again and pulls out a Moana dress-up outfit.

“Wow, how special! What do you say to Dedushka?”

“Thank you!” she says giving him a big hug. She then puts her things back in the bag and Larissa takes it to put it in the stroller.

“We need to head towards a bathroom. This little one needs a change and I should feed her too.”

“Let’s head to the food court. That’s where the best bathrooms are and then we can get a snack” Maks suggests.

“Good idea. Will you feed Rylan too when we get there? She’s up now and will want to eat. I can change her later.”

“Of course.”

~

Maks, Kamri, and Rylan have just gotten home from taking his parents to the airport. Here comes the test to see what it’s going to be like having three children, two under the age of one. Sure, Clayton is coming for the weekend on Friday but it’s only Tuesday.

The ride has been pretty quiet since Rylan has fallen asleep and Kamri is watching a movie on her iPad. They are about half way home when Maks gets a phone call. His heart drops, thinking it could be Meryl. He looks at the id on the screen in the car. It’s Rob from DWTS.

“Hey Rob.”

“Hey Maks. How are you doing?”

“I’m good. I’m driving home from dropping my parents off at the airport with Kamri and Rylan.”

“The girls are so quiet. You’re impressive Maks.”

“I’d love to take that credit but Rylan is sleeping and Kamri is watching a movie.”

“Oh, ok. Well the reason I called is you know how we are doing the cast announcement tomorrow right?”

“Yea.”

“Well Tom was supposed to do it but he is sick so he won’t be able to make it. I was wondering if you would fill in for him.”

“First of all, where is this happening because if it is in New York, I’ll say sorry but no right now. All of the family went home and I cannot leave Meryl all alone with the girls for that long.”

“I understand that. I talked to GMA already and they said they are willing to do a stream to LA and do the announcement that way. We’d fly all the contestants to LA instead of New York.”

“Ok. That would be doable then. I still have to talk to Meryl first. Would I be able to bring them with me?”

“I don’t see why not. I’ll talk with GMA but maybe they can help you do the cast reveal. If GMA agrees maybe you and Meryl, well the girls too of course, could do the announcement yourselves. Do you think you’d be up for that?”

“I have to ask Meryl but it could be a possibility. That’s really early here so the girls might sleep through it. At least Rylan and Olivianna. Can I get back to you? I’ll be home soon and I’ll ask Meryl what she thinks and then I’ll get back to you right away.”

“That would be fine. Thank you Maks.”

“No problem Rob. Talk you to soon.”

Soon enough they are home. Rylan has woken up and is ready for a bottle. Kamri wants a snack too so they hurry inside.

“Hi my loves” Meryl happily says when they walk in. “I missed you all.”

“We missed you too” Maks says before pulling her into a kiss.

“Where they good?”

“They were great. I need to ask you about something. Come sit with me while I feed Rylan. Kamri, you can have a snack.”

“Can I have a pirates booty bag please?”

“Yes you may. Sit at the table and eat it please.”

Meryl hands Maks Rylan’s bottle and they go and sit on the couch. Olivianna is in her swing sleeping peacefully.

“What’s up Maks?”

“So Rob called…”

“Oh no.”

“No, it ok. You know how the cast reveal is tomorrow?”

“Yea.”

“Well Tom was supposed to do it but…”

“You are not going to New York!”

“You’re right. I’m not. They are willing to do the reveal here in LA on a live stream to New York.”

“Ok then you can do it.”

“Ok. That’s just part of it. Rob said he’d talk to GMA but he wants to know what we think first.”

“I told you what I think. Go for it. The older two will be asleep then.”

“Wait Mer. There’s more. He thinks we as a family should do the reveal. The girls could come on with us. Yea, Rylan and Olivianna will probably sleep through it but that’s ok. Kamri should do ok. We’d have to have her nap later but…”

“She has school.”

“So she goes to one class. Either she goes to the morning class and then comes home or the other way around.”

“We could do that.”

“I don’t have anything really nice for them to wear.”

“They don’t need to dress fancy. Even if Rylan and Olivianna are in nice cute pajamas…”

“Oh, I know just the ones. I think I know what dresses Kamri and I could wear too.”

“So you think we can do it?”

“Yea, I think so. We’re going to be exhausted but…”

“True.”

“Call Rob. Tell him we’ll do it.”

“Are you sure? You don’t think it will be too much?”

“Maks, it will be fine. Plus, we don’t know what GMA will say to it anyway.”

“True. I’ll call him when she’s done.”

“Pass her over. I need some Rylan time.”

~

Very early the next morning, Maks’ alarm goes off signaling it’s time to get moving. He feels like he just fell asleep after Olivianna’s last feeding. Since Meryl had pumped, Maks had taken the last feeding so Meryl could sleep.

“Maks, are you going to shower?”

“I don’t want to move” he whines.

“I know but we have to. Are you showering first or am I?”

“I’ll go” he says rolling out of bed.

Meryl had set everything they’ll need for this morning by the door last night so she wouldn’t have to rush to get out of bed. She tries her hardest to not fall back asleep so she grabs her phone. Her eyes keep getting heavier. Just as she feels she is able to hold then open any more, Meryl hears the shower turn off. She rolls out of bed and heads to the closet to get her clothes. When Maks comes out, she slips in and takes a quick shower before blow drying her hair. She doesn’t do her make-up because she knows the show will do it for her.

“Mer, do you need me to do anything” Maks asks poking his head into the bathroom.

“The bags are at the door. Put them in the car. Oh, and coffee! Lots of coffee.”

“Pounds of coffee” Maks laughs before he closes the door.

Once Meryl is dressed in sweatpants and a long sleeve t-shirt, she goes to bring the girls down. Meryl gets Olivianna first. She slowly and carefully picks her up and cradles her in her arms. She takes her downstairs and buckles her in her car seat. She never wakes during the move.

She goes back up for Rylan. They had brought her seat in last night so she lays her right in there and buckles her in. She wakes slightly but Meryl just rocks the chair softly and Rylan quickly falls back to sleep. She turns around to go get Kamri but Maks is standing there with coffee and a toasted, buttered bagel.

“I’ve got Kamri. Drink your coffee and eat the bagel please. I’ll get them all in the car.”

Meryl can’t argue with him. She just takes the breakfast from him and flops onto the big chair behind her in the living room. Maks brings Kamri down and takes her right to the car and buckles her in. Meryl comes out with her coffee and bagel in hand. She smiles at him and climbs into the passenger seat.

Maks hurries back inside and brings out both Rylan and Olivianna and puts their seats on their bases. After one last trip inside for his coffee and bagel, Maks is back outside and climbing into the car.

“You ready for this?” Maks asks as they pull out.

“As much as I can be.”

“At least it isn’t a long drive.”

“If it was longer I could sleep” Meryl says with a small laugh.

“You can nap. I’ll wake you up when we get there.”

“It’s not worth it Maks. Like you said it’s not a long drive. Plus, if I go to sleep, you have no one to keep you company.”

“I’d be fine.”

“Maksim.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too. What do you think people will say about us not dressing the girls in dresses?”

“Who cares. Let them try to dress a 2-week-old and an 8 month old this early in the morning without waking them. Only then can they say anything.”

“I picked cute footy onesies at least.”

“Meryl, don’t worry about it love.”

“Sorry.”

“When the show starts again, are you going to come to the shows?”

“Probably not until later in the season. I don’t want to have Olivianna around all those people. Plus, I can’t hold both Olivianna and Rylan.”

“True. What if I ask for them to set you up a room at you can at least be at the studio during the show.”

“Maybe. I mean, we still might not go every time but that would be easier.”

“We should find a babysitter.”

“I’m not ready for that Maks.”

“Ok.”

When Maks pulls up to the studio, Maks gets the stroller out while Meryl unloads the bags. Maks gets out each of the younger girls and puts them in the stroller which Meryl is going to push in so Maks can carry Kamri in.

Inside the studio, they are greeted by a producer for GMA. They are lead to the green room where Meryl and Maks get themselves dressed for the show. Meryl puts on a long sleeve wine colored dress with a peach floral design. Maks is wearing a white button up shirt khakis.

“Are you guys ready for make-up?” a lady asks, poking into the room.

“Yes. Let us get the girls” Meryl says getting up off the chair and pushing the stroller towards the door. She has a feeling Olivianna is going to wake up soon. Maks picks up Kamri off the chair she was laying on before they head to the makeup room.

“Maks, will you hold her so we can just add a little powder to her face?” one of the makeup artist asks.

“Um, ok” he says carefully turning Kamri in his arms. They lightly powder her face before moving on to his.

Just as Meryl thought, Olivianna wakes as they are working on her makeup so she feeds her while they continue to work on her make-up.

“Do you want any done for your hair?”

“I’d prefer it just stay down. Kamri would probably love some pigtails if you think you can do that while she’s asleep.”

“I can definitely try. High or low?”

“High for sure. I love her hair down but lately she is loving pigtails. I think it’s her way of getting my full attention. Well, that and she loves how the fly when she does her spins.”

As the hair stylist works on Kamri’s hair she wakes up and looks a bit freaked out. She is looking all around.

“Mommy!”

“I’m right here Lovey. You’re ok. She’s just giving you pigtails. Daddy has you.”

“Pigtails?” she asks excitedly.

“Yes. Is that ok?”

“Yes! Thank you!”

“You’re welcome” the lady says with a smile. She has one pigtail done. Maks has Kamri sit in his seat so he can go get her some breakfast.

“Mommy, I’m still in my pajamas!”

“We’ll get you dressed after we are done in here.”

“Oh, ok.”

“Here you go Lovey. Eat some breakfast while she finishes your hair.” He passes her a plate with some peanut butter toast, some cheese, and some fruit. He also has a small carton of milk.

“Maks, Rylan is stirring. Can you try to feed her? I’m going to change Olivianna’s diaper.”

“Of course.” He takes her chair when Meryl takes Olivianna back to the green room to change her.

Meryl unsnaps her white footy with pink roses on it. After changing her diaper, she fixes Olivianna’s thin black hair. She thinks she can see the slightest bit of curl in her hair. That’s all from Maks.

“You know Rusalka, I’m a little jealous you get to wear a onesie today. It looks so comfortable. Are you going to be good while we are on TV? You can sleep right through it if you want. I hold you the whole time. No fussing for me. OK?”

She was about to head back to the hair and makeup room but she hears Maks and Kamri coming down the hall. They come happily into the room, Kamri’s pigtails bouncing around and a happy Rylan babbling in Maks’ arms.

“Hi loves.”

“Hi Mommy. Can I put my dress on now?”

“Yes please.”

Kamri takes off her pajamas and puts on the white tank top dress with a red and blue floral design. The skirt is a pink tulle skirt with a blue bow at the top. She puts on a white sweater as well.

“You look so big Lovey” Meryl says with a smile.

“Thank you Mommy. I love it.”

“I’m so glad. Maks switch girls with me for a minute. I want to change Rylan.”

“I’ll change her. I was just giving her some time to see if she’ll go any more before we go to stay. I’ll change her now though.”

Rylan is wearing a soft pink footy with larger, darker pink roses on it. Her pin strait blonde hair is laying nicely for once on her head. The hair lady must have done something with it.

When they are all dressed and changed, they are led out to where they’ll be doing the reveal. They are on a stage on the right side. Meryl, Maks and Kamri have mics on them. Maks is holding Rylan and Meryl has Olivianna. Kamri is in front of them both in the middle.

“Daddy, what do I get to say?”

“You’ll get to help us when we ask everyone questions.”

“Oh.”

“You all ready?” the producer asks.

“Yes” Meryl says with a smile.

They had been kept away from the pros and stars for the season. Meryl had requested it hoping to keep the girls asleep for as long as possible. They hadn’t even had a visit from Val or Jenna. They are pretty excited to see the cast.

~

“Wasn’t that fun Lovey?” Maks asks as they walk out to the car hand in hand.

“I barely got to talk.”

“I know. I’m sorry. You were on TV though. You can tell all your friends about it at school.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to go to school.”

“But you love school.”

“No.”

“Kamri…”

“I don’t want to go” says cries as tears begin to fall.

“Meryl…”

“Well go home and nap then we’ll talk about school”

“I don’t want to go Mama.”

“To what? Home or school.”

“School! I don’t want to go.”

“We’ll talk about it later. Go get into your seat” Meryl says when they get to the car. Maks is putting Rylan in her seat so Meryl puts Olivianna’s seat on the base.

As Meryl goes around the car to get into the passenger seat she meets Maks at the back of the car. She leans in for a quick kiss before they pass past each other and get into the car. It’s a very quiet ride home. Kamri falls fast asleep 5 minutes into the ride.

“Mer, are we going to send her to school. She seems so set that she doesn’t want to go. Do you think something is going on at school?”

“No, nothing is going on. She’s just tired. If she says she doesn’t want to go again after a nap and lunch, then we’ll keep her home but I have a feeling after a nap, she’ll be ready to go to school.”

“She was so upset.”

“Babe, we were up so early. She isn’t used to that.”

“But…”

“Maksim, trust me. She’s fine. Just let her rest and then she’ll be ready to go.”

When they get back to the house, Maks takes Kamri up to her room and lays her in her bed. She stays asleep while he moves her. She curls up into a ball and lets out a sigh in her sleep like she is content to be in her bed.

When he comes back downstairs, Meryl isn’t down there. Neither are Rylan or Olivianna. He grabs a cup of water and heads upstairs. He peaks into Rylan’s room and sees her sleeping peacefully in her crib. He closes the door and heads to the master. Meryl isn’t in there either. He figures she must being putting Olivianna down so he uses the bathroom before going to Olivianna’s nursery. He finds Meryl feeding Olivianna on the rocking chair.

“Hey, you can go lay down. I’ll be in in a little bit. I wanted to feed her now so we don’t get woken again right after we go to sleep.”

“I’ll wait for you.”

“Don’t be silly. Go sleep Maks.”

“But…”

“Go Maksim.”

“Oh alright” he sighs before heading back to the master and climbing into the bed. He tries to play on his phone to keep himself awake. It seems to be working until all of a sudden he feels movement on the bed and he opens his eyes to see Meryl climbing onto the bed and getting under the covers.

“I put your phone on the bedside table. You dropped it. I told you to go to sleep.”

“I know but…”

“Go back to sleep Maks” she says, giving him a quick kiss and curling up around him.

~

“Mommy?”

“Yea Lovey?”

“Am I going to my afternoon class today?”

“Do you want to?”

“Yes.”

“Then yes, you are going.”

“Good. I love school.”

“I’m so glad Lovey. Do you want me or Daddy to take you today?”

“You.”

“Ok. I’ll see if Daddy with keep Sissy and Rusalka home with him.”

“Ok!”

“Go get your backpack please.”

Kamri runs off to get her things and Meryl goes into the office where Maks is.

“Babe?”

“Yea love?”

“I’m going to take Kamri to school. She asked to go.”

“You’re too smart.”

“Can you watch the girls? I don’t want to take them back out again today.”

“Of course.”

“Thanks. Olivianna is in her swing. I’ll bring it in. Rylan would be fine playing on the floor. She doesn’t go for the cords usually.”

“Alright. Thanks Mer.”

Meryl brings the girls in and then leaves with Kamri. Kamri is excitedly talking about how much she loves school on the whole way. When they get into the car line, Kamri is waving at her friends already on the playground.

“Mommy, can I put down my window?”

“Yes you may.”

“Hi Veronica! Hi Tyler!”

“Is Caleb out there?”

“Yes but he can’t hear me if I yell from here.”

“Right. Get your bag. Here come Mrs. Payne.”

“Hi Kamri!”

“Hi Mrs. Payne. I was on TV this morning.”

“I saw you! I got to watch this morning.”

“You did?”

“Yes. I even recorded.”

“Was I good?”

“Kamri!” Meryl says surprised.

“Sorry.”

“It’s ok. Yes, you were. You all were.”

“Yay!” she says hopping out of the car.

“Bye Lovey. Have a great class. I’ll see you in a little while.”

“I love you Mommy!”

“I love you too.”