#(sorry for the plugging but i want this game to be famous its so good)

[pjsk-headcanons]

emu can do expert level parkour in heels. and both mens & womens gymnastics bcs i think ibe funny if she was better at gymnastics than the gymnastics clubs in both schools

also the entirety of vbs likes comic books! heres their fav series and character: (btw i dont mean like comic runs lol i mean like just every green arrow run ever for example)

kohane: prefers manga over american comics. loves horimiya, her fav character is remi ^^

an: she watched the entirety of batman: the animated series bcs she loves batman, but she instantly fell in love w harley quinn (who was also her queer awakening). fav character is harley quinn and fav series is anything centering on the batfam

akito: once cried bcs he wasnt part of the lantern corp. knows the oath by heart, and pretends to charge up his ring every morning with a lantern toy he got when he was 12. fav comic is green lantern, fav character is john stewart

toya: lost his shit over nwh. spider-man fan, fav character is peter parker (if going by movies, andrew spidey)

🍼 anon ^^

.

[literaturehoeenergy]

Opportunity

pairing: Corpse_Husband x fem!reader

genre: fluff i guess?

warnings: none

word count: 1,118

a/n: this is my first fan fiction so please go easy on me. lemme know if you want anything specific!

Being the little cousin of a famous YouTuber had its perks. Sean was friends with a lot of the gamers I was a fan of, so I got to interact with them a lot. They even invited me to play games with them from time to time. I was never really good at them, but it was fun to play. 

I was in the middle of the 1980 Friday the 13th when my phone lit up on my coffee table. 

Sean: Hey Y/N! Wanna play Among Us with me, Felix, and some friends?

I grinned and agreed, turning off my TV before making my way to my little office and powering on my PC. I clicked Sean’s Discord invite and smiled as I heard all the ruckus already. “Y/N!” Sean said cheerily. 

“Hi you guys,” I said meekly.

“Y/N, I’ve missed you, when are you coming to visit me?” Felix asked.

“Visit you? She’s my cousin!”

“She’s my cousin!” I laughed at their stupid antics.

“I want to come visit soon, maybe after this semester ends.” Another person popped up in the Discord call named “CORPSE”. CORPSE? That’s a scary name. I thought to myself. “So, I’m still terrible at this game, but I think we will have fun.”

“Oh, Y/N, this is Corpse.”

“Hello.” A very deep voice came through my headset. Woah.

“Hi, Corpse. I’m Y/N, Sean’s cousin.”

“It’s very nice to meet you.” I felt myself blush at the “very nice”, but shook my head and changed my character color to light green and put a flower on before the game started.

CREWMATE

Thank god.

I went around, doing all my tasks cheerily, humming to myself. I tried to stick with either Sean or Felix since I knew them and trusted them. While I was in the middle of Simon Says, Sean left me to finish his tasks and when I was done Corpse was in the room. I got nervous and stood there, my little character looking at his. He stepped forward so our little eyes were touching, and then I saw the kill animation pop up.

I gasped loudly, laughing as he ran away and I was now a ghost. I sighed, doing more tasks until I was found. Charlie reported my body, and the meeting started. “All right, who killed my cousin?” Sean asked jokingly angry. Everyone mumbled their innocence, and Corpse finally spoke up.

“Charlie probably self reported it.”

“Oh my god, not again,” Charlie groaned, chuckling. “What tasks did you do this round, Corpse?”

“Uh… My memory sucks,” he said. “I went up to admin table, I did trash, I fixed the lights.” He trailed off before piping up again. “Where was Rae?”

“I was in weapons. Where’s the body?”

“Reactor,” Charlie said. “We can skip this round, but I’m super sus of Corpse, just saying.” They all skipped, and I went back to my tasks. Card swipe first try, yeah baby. I saw Corpse walking down toward shields, and I followed him until he made it to electrical. The lights were out, and I knew he was going to wait for someone to fix the lights. Poor Poki was the first to the scene, and he murdered her and vented to med bay. 

Rae reported her body and the meeting got called. “Who was where? Corpse where were you?”

“I was doing med scan and then I was going out toward cams.” 

“Likely story,” Charlie said. “There’s a vent from electrical to med bay, he could have easily killed her and vented.”

“That’s true, but where were you Charlie?” Corpse asked.

“I was in nav, actually.” I wonder who the other imposter is… They kept arguing, and Lily spoke up meekly. 

“Uh, I have some information.” Everyone quieted down. “I saw Felix fake a task.”

“What!” Felix exclaimed. I laughed as he tried to defend himself, but he was lowkey sus. They all agreed to vote him off since Corpse apparently had this power of redirection and they didn’t talk about his suspicious activity again. The round started and the chat bubble popped up.

pEWds: I’m innocent!

Y/N: omg wait who do you think it is

pEWds: I think it’s Lily and Corpse.

Y/N: it’s def Corpse, he MURDERED me right after I finished Simon Says

pEWds: disgraceful

We ghosted around to finish all our tasks so we could follow Lily and Corpse. Corpse was stalking around, faking tasks. One of them sabotaged the O2, and they all made their way over to fix it. Sykkuno was alone on the top O2, and Lily killed him and ran up to weapons to fake that task. Sean reported his body, and they all argued and didn’t vote because there were seven, but they all seemed really sus of Lily. 

The round finally ended, and the crewmates lost because of Corpse. “I cannot believe you killed me first, we just met!” I said.

“I saw the opportunity and I took it, Y/N.” I laughed.

“Sorry Y/N, I should have told you that Corpse is #1 imposter.” Sean laughed.

“You can’t see me right now but I’m pouting.”

We played a few more games, and thankfully I never got imposter. I yawned and stretched my arms up. “Hey guys, I’m gonna go. I’m tired and I have an exam in the morning.”

“Awe, well good luck, I’ll call you later,” Sean said.

“Bye! It was very nice to meet you, Corpse.” He chuckled.

“It was very nice to meet you too, Y/N.” I smiled and clicked off the Discord call and the game, grabbing my phone and plugging it in before hopping into the shower. 

Corpse’s POV

“I think I’m gonna call it a night as well,” I said.

“Oh, so now that Y/N is gone, we aren’t good enough for you?” Sean said. I laughed, shaking my head. 

“Nah, I wanna work on some stuff.” They all said goodbye as I logged out. My Discord was still up and Y/N’s name was staring me in the face. Should I add her? Is that weird? I took a deep breath and pressed the add button before covering the window with something else and working on a video.

Y/N’s POV

I towel dried my hair and threw on a big t-shirt and some shorts. I grabbed my phone as I plopped on my bed. 

Discord

Corpse_Husband sent you a friend request

I caught myself grinning as I unlocked my phone and looked at the request on Discord. I hesitated a little bit before I clicked accept. I sighed, scrolling through Twitter until I got another notification.

Discord

Corpse_Husband: hi there, Y/N

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Let me know if you want a part 2 to this!

[missmalice202]

Designing Your Melody - Chapter 02: Time

Chapter 01 - Chapter 03

Marinette was once again in a state of panic. She clutched her phone to her ear as she paced around her room, tearing at her midnight blue hair with her free hand as she rambled endlessly, not giving Alya on the other end of the line a chance to get a single word in.

“I can’t believe it, Alya! Today has been so insane. First, I sleep in so I’m almost late for my meeting with Jagged Stone. Then, I nearly trample some poor guy as I’m racing to make it there on time, falling on my butt and scattering the potential designs I had drawn up all over the streets of Paris. After I finally get them all gathered up, I almost die when I ran across the street because some idiot driver didn’t see the crosswalk light was green because he was too busy talking on the phone with his head up his butt. I mean, seriously, there are laws about that kind of thing for a reason.” With a sigh, she falls back on her chaise and hugs its black decorative pillow to her chest in an attempt to comfort herself. “And then, when I finally get to the studio and meet with Jagged, I discover that I LOST ONE OF MY DESIGNS!

“I worked so hard on my portfolio and I’m such an idiot to just lose one of them. Granted, I was pretty sure that it wouldn’t be something that Jagged Stone would be interested in because the teal I had picked out for the-“

“Girl,“ Alya tries to interrupt, but Marinette’s tirade is on a roll and nothing could stop her now.

“-Accents on the jacket would have clashed with his signature purple and yellow, but still. What if someone picks it up, looks at it, and thinks that it’s just so awful that they just throw it in the trash?”

“Marinette?”

“Or what if it’s found and someone claims it as their own and they show it to Gabriel Agreste, and he hires them on the spot and they become an internationally known designer because they stole my design? And then-“

“MARINETTE!” Finally at her wit’s end with her best friends ridiculous tailspin, Alya yells to get Marinette’s attention.

Shocked into silence and her ear ringing slightly from the outburst, Marinette stops and takes a breath for to the first time in the past five minutes. “I’m sorry, Alya. Today was just such a crazy day and I don’t like the idea of my designs being out there for the world to see.”

“I get how you feel, girl, but there’s nothing you can do about it now. So instead of focusing on how your day went wrong, why don’t you focus on how it went right. How did it go with Jagged? I know he loved your designs, but did you guys settle on a concept? What can you tell me? Can I post an exclusive story on my blog?”

Marinette giggled softly. Some things never change. “I’m sorry, but I can’t give you anything yet. You know how it is. Non-Disclosure Agreement and all that. But I can tell you that Jagged’s new single is amazing!”

“You got to hear it already?” she gasped in shock. “Oh girl, I am so jelly! I can’t wait until you’re a super famous designer with all sorts of famous connections and when that day comes, you’re not allowed to forget your best friend in the entire world who loved you before you were a household name. And if you don’t give me an exclusive interview with the mind behind Jagged’s new look, I’ll post every embarrassing picture I have of you on my blog, including the pic I have of you kissing a picture of Adrien’s cologne ad back in high school when you were still obsessed over that poor, sweet, oblivious boy.”

Marinette cringed at her threat. Just remembering how completely crazy she had been in high school made her shudder in disgust. She couldn’t believe the way she had behaved at times. It had definitely been unhealthy and she was glad that she had grown up and gotten over her infatuation with her blond model friend.

After a years of unrequited pining and downright stalkerish behavior, she had finally accepted her defeat and come to terms with the fact that she and Adrien would be nothing but really good friends. And it was for the best as it would turn out.

Once she tucked her feelings for him into the darkest recesses of her heart, she had realized that he truly was an amazing friend and she was being unfair to him by trying to force him into a relationship that he truly wanted no part in. All he had wanted at the time was to have fun for the first time in his extremely sheltered life and to learn how to make friends. He wasn’t ready for a relationship with anybody, let alone the first true female friend he had made. In Marinette’s opinion, Chloe Bourjeois didn’t really count as Adrien’s friend. She was far too selfish and egotistical to truly put another person’s feelings before her own, a trait that Marinette felt was very important in a friendship.

So now, she counted Adrien a member of her inner circle and she wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize their friendship. She had taken her obsession towards Adrien and turned that laser focus on her fashion designs.

Now, a 20 year old Marinette could consider herself a relatively successful freelance designer. She still hasn’t been hired by any of the major fashion houses, but she was often contacted regarding commissions and requests that helped to support her passion. However, she was still holding out for a chance to work with her idol, Gabriel Agreste. Through her friendship with his son, she often got a heads up whenever he was holding a competition or accepting applications for designers, but so far, she hadn’t been able to do more than win a few monetary prizes for her designs and speak to the fashion icon through the screen of his assistant’s tablet.

But she wouldn’t let her phase her. One of these days, she’d create clothing that would send the fashion world into a frenzy and then the Gabriel Agreste would come crawling on his knees, begging her to work with him. But until that day came, Marinette would just have to do her best and live her life, one design at a time.

“Oh Alya,” she giggled, “you know that when the time comes, I’ll give you an exclusive interview and tell you everything I legally can.”

“Good. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, isn’t it time for us to get going? It’s almost time, right?”

Sitting up on the chaise, she glanced at the clock above her sewing desk. “Yeah, you’re right.” Standing up, she walked over to her computer chair and sat down. “I’ll see you in-game.”

Hanging up her phone and putting it on silent, she plugged it in to the charger and set it on the desk next to her keyboard. With a few keystrokes, she changed the input on her monitor from her PC to her PlayBox, the latest generation game console that she had decorated with little ladybug stickers and affectionately called Tiki. She picked up her red controller, crossed her legs on her computer/gaming chair, and uttered the words she always jokingly said whenever she turned on her console:

“Tiki, spots on.”

-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-

Marinette had always been an avid gamer. Everyone who knew her knew that. So it came to no surprise that when her absolute favorite game, Ultimate Mecha Strike 3, came out with another sequel a two years ago, she had picked up a copy for herself the day it came out.

One of the features she had been most excited about with the new version was the idea that it would be a MMO fighting game. But it wasn’t just fighting. It had exploration, collectables, seasonal events, and player versus player tournaments. It was a dream come true for Marinette. Looking back at the side-scrolling fighting game she had loved so much in high school, she couldn’t help but make comparisons between herself and the game. The original version was great, but the new and improved game was so different, but so much better.

The first weekend after Ultimate Mecha Strike 4 had been released, Adrien had invited her to play together online. Knowing how much of a gamer that he himself was, she readily agreed, wanting someone else with similar passion to play with her. And she had had a BLAST. They had spent hours that weekend exploring the game mechanics, gathering collectible, taking out enemies, and just learning the game. After a few weeks of their friends blowing off plans to play video games, Nino and Alya picked up their own copies of the game and started playing with them.

Over time, their inseparable team had created a long standing tradition that every Friday night, they would get together online and play. Because they played so much and had such a great rapport amongst themselves, they eventually rose to the top of the leaderboards for tournaments.

Then, a year ago, for the one year anniversary of the release of Ultimate Mecha Strike 4, the creators released a new feature that changed the game for Marinette: clans. With the introduction of clans, she and her friends were an officially recognized team and they qualified for their own hideout where they could trade and share equipment, treasures, and in game credits. But unfortunately, it was also a double edged sword because now, her clan, “Miraculous Kwami”, was bombarded with membership requests. She and her friends had agreed that they wouldn’t allow just anyone to join them. They had to be able to keep up with them and contribute to their clan.

So after careful selection and intense tryouts, she and her three friends were joined by four other clan members. One of the requirements that was set in stone for their clan was that they got together every Friday night at 7pm. Allowances were made for certain circumstances, but it was agreed that they would play as much as possible together. To Marinette, it wasn’t a big deal to spend a minimum of one night a week with her best friends.

 It was with a smile on her face that she placed her headset on her head while she loaded her game. Selecting her avatar, she couldn’t help but be excited to start killing noobs. Poor players who didn’t know that she was the legendary “Ladybug” would soon discover that even though her avatar was small in build, she was built for speed and accuracy.

When the player selection screen finally loaded onto her screen, she looked at her avatar in admiration. The countless hours she had spent on this one character had led to the birth of this elite player. Her mecha was a bright, fire engine red, embellished with black pads on its shoulders, elbows, and knees. On its back, was a pair of swords, their scabbards the same red as its suit and their hilts wrapped with black leather. Its cockpit was a red helmet with two black circles around the eyes and a set of short antennae sprouting from the forehead area. Black elbow length gloves and knee length combat boots completed the ensemble.

With one final smile at her online persona, she pressed a button on her controller and loaded her character. She watched as her clan’s headquarters loaded on the screen: an old, abandoned shrine. Seeing the dilapidated tori gates, she felt a thrill run up her spine in anticipation.

 And, it would appear that she wasn’t the first to arrive tonight.

She walked her avatar toward her other clanmate, clad in a dark teal and aqua mecha, a black and teal bow strapped to its back, and a vaguely reptilian looking cockpit. He must have seen the notification pop up on his screen announcing her arrival, because he turned around and bowed.

“Good evening, Lady luck,” he greeted her, his soft voice filtering through her headphones.

“Hi there, Viperion.” She waved. “Long time, no see”

Once again, she smiled. Tonight was going to be a fun night.

-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-

Chapter 03

*Hey everyone, first and foremost, I’d like to say thank you so much for the fantastic response to chapter one. I’m blown away at how supportive you all have been. It’s keeping me going and made me want to get this chapter out to you all as soon as I could.

In regards to Ultimate Mecha Strike 4, think of it as a kind of mix between Destiny 2, Fortnite, and the original Mecha Strike 3 featured in the cartoon. The avatars aren’t completely humanoid, but they’re kind of like armor that the characters wear and control from within. I’m sure I’m not explaining it properly, but it makes sense in my head haha.

Next chapter will focus primarily on Luka, because he’s just so adorable and I can’t wait to torture him with a slow burn, mistaken identity, near miss romance with our resident goofball.

Until next time!*

[thewritingstar]

Miss Americana and The Heartbreak Prince (Chapter 1)

Pairing: Blossutch (Blossom x Butch)

Fandom: Powerpuff Girls

Rating: M (drug use, mature themes, it’s butch do I even need to explain??)

Summary: An Ivy League school and a plan in place, Blossom has everything in order. But when a person from her past suddenly shows up, she wonders if her plans could be slightly rearranged.

I hope you all enjoy this new Wip that I am determined to finish!!! Enjoy!!! Also I’m on mobile so I’ll put the keep reading thing once I get on a computer sorry for the long post lol

———

“Bubbles, please stop crying.” Blossom patted her sobbing sisters back. She let out a laugh as Bubbles finally pulled away and squished her cheeks. 

“But I'm going to miss you!” The tears were coming again and Blossom pulled her into one last hug. 

Buttercup only huffed as she placed the last box on the ground. “Bubbles she is going to a college only three hours away from ours. We can fly in less than twenty minutes to see her.” 

It was true. Blossom had gotten into every single college she applied to, no surprise there and only the ivy league schools would be suffice for her. On the other hand Bubbles and Buttercup were attending the same college on the opposite side of the city, Buttercup on a full ride for sports and Bubbles in one of the top art and fashion programs around. Their sister almost went to that school but after a smack to the face and yelling about going to the best school, Buttercup made sure her sister only got the best, afterall who was going to brag at Thanksgiving dinner? 

“I know. I know but it just feels weird.” She shrugged before opening up a compact mirror and fixing her makeup. it closed with a pop. “I mean we all haven’t really been apart like ever.”

The thought did startle Blossom but that’s degree plaster on her wall protected by glass was the goal and if she had to be away from her sisters for a little bit, then so be it.

“She’s going to be fine Bubs.” And after a few more minutes of a goodbyes, Blossom was left alone in her apartment. 

Her sisters got roomed together but Blossom knew she was a fragile person to live with. It was better to live by herself than try and work out a routine with a random stranger, plus the dorms were right next to all the frat houses and Blossom cringed every time she went near them. 

How could such a presteigne school allow such juvenile behavior? She would never know. 

It only took an hour for everything to be in place thanks to her super speed and pre-planning of the layout. It was a simple apartment. One bedroom with a small kitchenette and a living room, nothing fancy but had a few places to study and get work done, perfect.

Not to mention her bulletin board that already had her schedule up with prime study times and library hours, this was gonna be fun.

By the time she was done and took a shower, her stomach grumbled and she knew she should eat. It was no secret that Blossom wasn’t the best in the kitchn. Okay it was known that she was the worst but she knew how to boil water and use the microwave, but eating at all the small local cafes seemed much more appealing. 

With her purse in hand she made her way out. 

“Um excuse me?” A voice came just as she was locking her door. “You must be Blossom”

Blossom wanted to turn back around and go into her room. Yes she might have been one of the most famous people on the face of the earth but the girl was one for her alone time. She put on a smile and was ready to meet the fan, she loved meeting fans she was just hungry.

She looked up at the girl with bright blue eyes and long brown hair. A gasp leaving her lips and she squealed. “Robin!”

Her childhood friend who sadly moved a city over during middle school was now staring back at her. “Hey Blossy.” She giggled as she was pulled into a hug. “I would say I am surprised to see you but I’m not.”

Blossom could hardly contain her excitement as Robin wrapped an arm around her own, a little trait that she did with everyone, and they walked down the hall. “Dinner time?”

“Absolutely, we have so much to catch up on.” Blossom smiled back. 

--

“I can’t believe you actually had to fight a monster on prom.” Robin laughed as she bit into her sandwich and Blossom rolled her eyes playfully. 

“Really? I'm not.” 

In that moment Blossom was thankful that Robin was there. Out of all their friends in school, she had always been the most genuine. Never once did the girls status affect their relationship and she never worried about any information about them getting leaked, unlike some of their classmates. 

To be honest she was afraid to be on her own. Her sisters were still together and she had no one. She was a peoples person but not in the way Bubbles was. It was hard for her to deeply connect to people unless it was intellguiet. 

“Soooo.” Robin started. “Did the boys go to high school with you?” She asked eagerly. 

It took a moment for Blossom to process it. The boys? And then it hit her. Robin had been a fangirl, like most, when the boys had joined the school system at the age of 16. Of course she was gone before that had happened and only knew them as the counterparts who tried to kill the girls every once in a while but it didn’t stop her from eyeing them. 

“They went to the rival high school.” Blossom said unenthusiastically as she patted her mouth with a napkin. “We all got along fine, just slight teasing.”

“Did you date any of them? I always thought you and the red one, Brick was it? Would end up a thing.” 

“Why would you think that?”

“Bubbles and Boomer did. I followed her on social media and saw all the cute couple posts about them but someone.” She looked at Blossom. “Didn’t have social media.” 

Blossom could see how everyone thought Brick and her would end up together. But to everyone dismay, they were only friends, maybe. And well, he was more occupied in the boy population than the girls. Of course she was one of the few to know that and they spent just as much time arguing about Shakespeare as they did bonding over the hottest member of boy bands. 

“I have a private instagram that you can have. Brick and I are just friends, well he’s more like my best friend” 

“That's too bad, I always thought you would end up with a ruff.” Robin laughed as she took Blossom's phone and plugged in her new number and every single social media she could find. 

She got her phone back after a minute and dropped some bills on the table. “Sorry to disappoint but he doesn’t swing that way.” 

“Oh really?” This surprised Robin. 

She laughed a little. “Actually we tried to date.” Robin almost spit out her drink. “He took me on a date and when he kissed me it felt wrong, no spark, nothing. It was werid since we are counterparts but afterwards he told me that he was gay and was just making sure.” 

“That's sweet.”

“So now we just braid each other's hair and judge people while complaining that we are single.” 

“What about the green one?” Robin eyed her. “I don’t think Buttercup was into him right? But you could be. Imagine it, the bad boy and the good girl.” Robin was practically blushing.

“Absolutely not.” Blossom almost laughed. “I don’t even think he would go to college and plus, we don’t have anything in common.”

The brunette shrugged and picked up her jacket. “Don’t worry Bloss, this is college. We will find you a hot piece of ass to match with your fine ass.” 

A loud laugh left her lips. “Thank you Robin. Now I heard there is a bakery near here that is to die for.” 

“Oh you and your sweets.” 

----

By the time her alarm went off, Blossom had already been on a morning run, ornginzed her books and ate at the small bakery that had the most amazing danishes. Unlike most people, she lived on the thrill of first days of school. 

She made sure to double lock her door as she strutted out of her appartment and took in the fresh autum air. There was still about an hour before class but so she could walk as slow as she wanted. 

The leaves where starting to tint to a rustic brown and crumble underneath her pumps, she was always a show fantaic and adored walking in heels even though she was already 5′6. There was something about being taller than most of the girls around her that provided a staggering connfiedcen in her, plus it made her more intrmidating against villains. Sometimes she wore 5 inch heels just to be 6 ft tall for the hell of it. 

The walk to the main campus buildings took her past the majority of the socail houses. She eyed one of the frat houses that she wouldn’t bother knowing its name and a glare and bad taste formed in her mouth. She wondered why people even bothered going to college if they were just going to mess around and not do their work. 

She huffed. She didn’t have time for those silly parties and games, she worked to damn hard to be the top of her class and she was determine to conquer this school too. And the school for her masters and eventally doctoral. She was going to be a leading chemist after all and follow in her fathers foot steps. He nearly cried when she said she wanted to work in his lab one day. 

By the time she got to class, and stopped for a tall iced coffee, extra vanilla for her sweet tooth, class would begin in just ten mintues. 

She was thrilled for her class. Professor Keene was amoung one of the smartest and well known chemists in the contry and when Blossom found out she was going to be learning from her, she almost blew up the house from exictemnt. 

She took a seat in the middle row of the lecture hall and was happy that she wasn’t the only student in there. The class began to fill in but she was engaged in her book so she didn’t notcie anyone who was shuffling in the seat behind or around her. She thought about turning around and intrducing herself to other students. She felt a little bad about how stand offish she could be but she was a famous superhero so not wanting to be the center of attention was something she strived for. Unless it was for grades, then she would gladly take her crown. 

Her phone buzzed quietly in the pocket of her skirt. A small smile came to her lips as she read the text from her sister group chat. 

Bubbles: Hope you have a good day at school sis!

Buttercup: i hate this already 

Blossom: Miss you!

She placed the device away as her closed her book and took out her text book. 

“Hey can I borrow a pencil?” A voice came from her right and she reached into her bag and grabbed one without hesitation. 

“Here you go.” She smiled brightly and as soon as her eyes locked onto his, she let out a gasp and nearly choked on air. 

A smirk appeared on his face as took the pencil from her hand, their fingers touched and she felt a jolt of electriy run through her body. Those dark green eyes that she knew all too well pierced through her soul as she gaped at him. 

“Butch?” 

“The one and only.” he winked and she only narrowed her eyes at him. His being in his prescne had set a shiver down her spine and she thought she wouldn’t see him again, espcecially not at a place like this. 

“How the fuck did you get into college.” She blurted out. She never meant to be rude but could you blame her? 

The smirk fell instantyl as he raised a brow. “That wasn’t very nice.” His smirk reteruned quickly. “When the fuck do you cuss Pink?” He disregearded the isnult and instead leaned closer towards her. “Its pretty hot babe.” 

Ugh those winks made her mad. Remindered her too much of there teenage years. 

She wanted to yell at him for the use of the pet name but soon the professor walked in and Blossom almost forgot that she was in class. She shot him a glare and he only laughed as roll was being called. She could feel his eyes on her occsianlly and wanted nothing more than to freeze his hand and punch him in the stomach.

Her eyes stayed glue to the board and her ears listened delicatly to the lecture. she ignored every time he poked her with a pencil or said something that only super hearing could pick up. 

“I could squash him like a bug.” She mumbled under her breath and she knew he heard, and was proabbly smiling and thinking dirty thoughts. Ugh. 

“Alright that wraps up day one. I am cutting class shorter so that you all have time to get settle and situated.” And with that she packed up her breifcase and made her way out. Blossom admired how she held herself so well, all she saw was a image of what she wanted to be. A respectable woman of science. 

Blossom looked down at her notes and smiled proudly at how neat they were. she had spent all of high school learning differnt technquies for optimal note taking and she had mastered it like a sience. 

“So Pink.” Butch intterupted her thoughts and she turned to look at him, she almost forgot he was there...almost. 

“What?” 

“Wanna hang out?” He asked innocently. He even batted his eyelashes for an effect and Blossom fianlly finished packing up. The room around them had cleared out so they were the last two in the room. 

“No not really.” 

He scoffed at her and dramatically leaned in his seat. “Come on babe.”

“Don’t call me babe.”

“You never yelled at Brick for saying it.”

She turned and rolled her eyes. “First of all Brick is my best friend, secondly, he calls me Toots.” 

“So that's why I’m claiming Babe.”

“No!”

“Don’t tell me Boomer has that one? Because thats not fair, hes got Pigtails already, you should learn to share.” He was acting like a child. 

“Ew no Boomer calls me nothing and neither will you.” She got up from her seat and left class, of course he was hot on her heels. 

She didn’t bother walking fast as he would just catch her anyways and she had a feeling he wasn’t leaving her side any time soon, great.

“I like those shoes Pink.” He whistled. 

“Stop staring at my legs.” She knew she should have worn black leggings instead of nude, fuck, it didn’t even matter, boys would find a way to make an outfit sexualized anyways. 

He fake scoffed, he does that alot she noticed. “I would never look at your long goddess like legs and wonder what they would feel like wrapped around my waist as I-” 

She hit him on the side of the head as he opened the door to exit the building. “In your dreams perv.”

“You better beileve in my dreams.” She ignored him and it was well past noon, she should get food. 

“Wanna grab lunch?” He asked as if he read her mind. She probably should say no but she was too hungry to even care. 

“Fine.” She’ll be “everything nice” for now. 

--

Everything nice her ass. Sure she was a sweet girl but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t put her foot down on bad behvior. Actually yes she would, she was Blossom after all. Bossy Blossy is what Buttercup always said. But scolding Butch, who is 19 mind you, for chewing with his mouth open was not being bossy, just a decdent human being. 

“So high school? Did you graduate?” She asked him with a teasing tone. 

During their high school years, the boys went to one on the oppsite side of town, probably for the fact that middle school was spent trying not to kill each other. I mean when you are born to kill someone, takes a while to get over it. 

As the crime rate for the RowdyRuffs died down, and ya know the whole Boomer and Bubbles hooking up thing, they all decided to be civil with each other. Butch had taken up the sport of ‘flirithng with every girl he sees and pissing of BC because he felt like it. And Brick just wanted to beat Blossom in all things academic, they always tied. 

Butch shurgged. “Nothing to tell, got to graduate, almost failed doing so too but I had my share of fun.” 

Blossom took a sip of her lemonade. “How did you get here then?” 

“Oh that. Yes how did I, Butch Jojo end up at this ivy league school? Well babe-”

“No”

“Yes. I am what you called, athetically inclined. Buttercup got a full ride on that basketball scholarship and I got the same, kinda of a greens thing.” He winked and she thought it over. It made sense that he would get a sports schaolrship but why here. 

“Aren’t there other schools with better sport programs?”

“Sounds like you don’t want me here.” He gave her a pout.

“Not thats not it-”

“Relax babe, im teasing.” He stole one of her fries. Bitch. “I got them from all over but I didn’t want to go where Buttercup and the lovesick puppies were, I’m never living with Boomer again, superhearing is a curse when Bubbles is over.” He made a face and Blossom nodded as she emeber that one time she caught them-ew nevermind. 

“So not there, what about Bricks school.”

“And have him up my ass constantly, no thanks. I needed to breath fresh air, plus the frat that I joined is top notch.” 

She almost gaged. “Frat?” Why was she surpised? 

He notced the hint of disapointment but brushed it off. “Yep. Apprently four other guys got the schalrship from that fraternity alone. If you get it and accept, you have to be there for at least two years, which means party, booze and babes.” He winked and it was her turn to scoff. 

She stabbed a piece of lettuce from her salad. “Well you must be enjoying yourself then.” She had lost her appetite suddenly. 

“Aww you’re the only girl I have eyes for doll.” That didn’t make her feel better and it shouldn’t have anyways.

“I would say don’t do anything stupid while you’re there but we both know thats not possible.”

“You flatter me Pink, thinking im the dumb one when blueberry boy is the offical Dumbest of the Dumb.”

“I’d be careful Butch, he passed high school with good grades.” 

“And yet im at an ivy league school and hes not.” 

“Touche” 

“So which frat did you get into?” She asked out of politeness but that smirk that showed his slightly sharper than normal teeth already had her regretting it.  

   ---

She shouldn’t have been shocked. No really. The fact that she was staring at the notorious frat house wasn’t even the worse part, it was how she didn’t connect the dots sooner. Of course he was in the highest ranked frat, Alpha Alp. 

“Welcome home babe.” He winked and her eyes widened before offering her most polite smile, ya know the ones reserved for the press.

He hung an arm around her shoulder and lead her up the path way to the front door. Her eyes turned to the lawn, which was scattered with beer cans, cigarette buds and oh my, is that underwear? Why is she not surpised. 

The house itself looked like it had alot of money invested in it and the boys who lived here were all proabbly from rich familes where daddy was sending them for a bussiness degree and to fuck around. She hated it. 

Frats to her were the lowest point of college. Everyone here didn’t even work to get in, well not everyone, and they just got to party and spend money. The amount of horror stories that came from this house alone made her shutter. 

There were handprints made of paint lining the wooden deck, presumabley of all the past members and a dark green print with ‘Butch�� sctarched in looked to be apart of the newest batch. She found it oddly charming in some sort of sick twisted way. 

He opened the door with a loud slam and she knew that if he was back home, Brick would have yelled at him for being obnoxious and brash. She couldn’t blame him. 

“Hey boys.” He yelled at the five guys surrouding the tv with more booze on the table. It was only a little bit past noon. 

“Sup Butch. Ooo got a new toy and its only the first day!” One of them cheered and Blossom instantly scoffed and glared at him. 

Butch sensed the disconfort immediately. “Actually boys.” He sneered with a smile. “This lovely lady is just an old friend who is smarter than all of you dimwits combined.” Blossom was now being pulled towards the right side of the house and up a flight of stairs. 

That was a smart move Blossom thought. He knew better than to piss of a red. Sure the greens were the toughest and the blues could cry and throw the worst tantrums but the reds, making them mad was a death wish that only few had endorsed and would like to keep it that way.

They passed some more of his frat brothers, each giving them a wolf whistle, wink or a high five and each one made Blossom shiver. Before more things could be said Butch had closed the door of his room, ignoring all the hooping and hollering. 

He let out a sigh and turned to Blossom who was sporting a frown. 

“Sorry about that Bloss” He smiled lightly and she only shrugged. 

“I didn’t expect anything less.” She replied as she turned to absorb the atmosphere

It was a simple room. Two beds, she assumed there was a roommate, dark oak furniture and a suitcase thrown on the ground. Clearly he hadn’t finished moving in. However when she turned to his desk there had been a sign of clear drug use. 

“Did you snort cocaine before class?” She asked. 

“Would you believe me if i said it was a pixie stick?”

“No.”

“Okay then.” He shrugged and plopped onto the bed. “So Pink, whatcha you wanna do?” He wiggled his eyebrows and she glared.

—

He had won this round of Go Fish. Of course she had already beat him five times but he said she couldn’t leave until he had a taste of victory or a taste of her lips, she chose the first one obviously.

“In ya face Pinky.” He flicked her bow and she rolled her eyes. He liked the bow. Even though it seemed childish to wear it, it screamed power and authority. Ever since he was a kid, he waited until he saw that flash of velvet red before starting a duel between the groups.

“One against five isn’t very good odds.”

“Maybe not but it just shows that I don’t give up. Now how about some poker, we can make it strip poker if ya like.” Again with the winks.

She shook her head. “The day I play strip poker is the day hell freezes over.” She looked out the window and saw the golden sky. “I should probably go, it’s getting late.”

It just registered that she had been here since noon and now it was almost 5 pm. How?

He frown and she thought he looked cute. No. He looked fine, not cute. Not cute.

She stood and slipped back on her shoes. Her eyes now level with his. She didn’t realize how tall he was compared to her. Sure she was only 5’8 in these shoes but she wasn’t used to someone being taller than her, specially since all the other Puffs and Ruffs fell below her.

He finished shoving the cards in his nightstand which probably had a stash of weed, cigarettes and snacks that again, probably laced with weed. He was lucky that the chemical x in his body reversed any damage those caused or else she would have scolded him more than usual.

“Well we can get dinner, there’s this really good place that has the best pizza.”

She thought about it and almost agreed. “Well pizza sounds good but I promised Robin that we would have sushi and movie night.”

“Can I-“

“Sorry Butch, it’s ladies night.” She shrugged and finally managed to get out the door before his puppy eyes showed up.

She ignored all the stares and teasing that the other frat house mates made as she walked out the door. The green ruff was right behind her and even though she couldn’t see him, she had a feeling that dark glare was being pointed in their direction.

“You don’t need to walk me home, im a big girl.”

“I know I just felt like it.” He clicked his tongue. “Ya know babe.” She shoved him. “This is the longest time we’ve ever hung out, jusy the two of us.”

“What are you implying?” Her voice was cold.

“Nothing doll. Just, it’s nice.” He fell silent after that and took in the fresh air.

The walk to her apartment wasn’t that far but when she arrived at the steps, she was a little sad.

“I’ll see you tomorrow Butch, do your homework.” She slightly scolded.

He leaned against the handrail. “Are you gonna punish me if I do bad?” That smirk again, ugh.

A dangerous thought got into her head as she leaned closer to him, their noses barely touching and she could see his eyes slightly widen and pink dust his cheeks.

“Maybe.” And as soon as he blinked, she was already walking up the stairs to her apartment.

His eyes blew wider than before as he realized just how close she was and that damn smirk. A smile grew on his face as he pushed off the rails and headed back to his own place.

“Game on Blossy.” He whispered to himself.

—

Robin was finishing the last of her food when Blossom told her about today.

“It’s not a big deal but we’ve never really hung out before.” Why did she feel weird.

“Is he hot?”

“Robin”

“Hey I haven’t seen him since middle school and if he was a hottie back then, imagine him now.”

Blossom didn’t want to admit that Butch was hot, but he was. Slightly tanned skin with dark raven hair and of course he was ripped and tone. She saw the way his arm flexed every time he grabbed a new card and yeah maybe he was attractive, so what?

“He’s fine.” Liar. “You would probably kill over if you saw him so it’s best to keep your distance.”

A laugh bubbled out of Robin and Blossom finished her own food.

“But it’s nice to have him around, much different from Boomer or Brick. Carefree and fun, dare I say.”

Robin nodded and the girls fell back into a comfortable silence as the movie played.

“Would you date him?” She asked out of no where. “I’d bet he date you.”

“He would date anything that moves.”

“Anwser the question Bloss.” Robin was now playing with fire. Blossoms love life had never been a top priority and now with the added stress of college, it may never be.

She thought about it and shook her head. “No.”

Robin only shrugged and became engrossed with the film again. Blossom sat there wondering why she didn’t believe herself when she said no.

She pushed those feelings aside and watched the screen as the man brought the woman into a passionate kiss with a beautiful sunset behind them. Deep down she wanted that to be her.

————-

Ahhh first chapter of my newest PPG fic!!! This is dedicated and practally for all the lovely people in the fandom!!!

[kinglazrus]

i saw that post and thought of this yesterday but my brain was unreasonably shy but here it is now usdygbhjn: “It’s three in the morning.” danny @ dash

Milky Way

Sometimes Danny hates living in the city. Actually, most of the time he hates it. Not because of the noise, or all the people, or even the ghosts, but the stars. Or the lack of them, at least.

Danny was ten years old when he realized the sky he saw every night was a lie. He had seen plenty of pictures of the night sky taken from different parts of the world. At that age, he just assumed that’s how the sky worked. Some places had less stars than others, he was unfortunately born in a place with very few stars overhead.

Until his sister got him a big astronomy textbook for his tenth birthday and he learned the city was to blame. All the city lights polluted the sky and kept him from seeing the sky for what it truly was. For weeks, he tried to convince his parents to move, to pack up all their things in the RV and drive out far away into the middle of nowhere, where there was no people and no light pollution, and he could see the stars in all their glory every night.

He never got that wish, but nowadays Danny doesn’t mind it so much. Now, if he wants to see the night sky as it should be seen, all he has to do is fly up, up, up beyond the clouds, just past the edge of the mesosphere.

There, he floats along the Kármán line, the boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and space, and he can see everything. It’s beautiful. He can’t help but think of every childhood drawing he made of the stars and how wrong he was.

The sky isn’t an endless expanse of black peppered with bright white spots. It’s a gorgeous mix of blues and purples, and even some pink in the Milky Way itself. Every inch of the sky is covered in stars. There are so many he has trouble picking out the constellations he knows better than his hometown, but he manages.

The familiar cup of Ursa Minor, Draco’s lithe body winding past, Hercules’ crooked form by the dragon’s head.

Danny traces the familiar lines with his softly glowing eyes and feels as empty as the space between the stars. Even though that distance looks so small from here, he knows how vast it really is.

Tipping back his head, he stares back down toward Earth. Cities make their own constellations across the dark surface. The sixty-two miles between him and the ground right now is not enough. He wants to fly higher, way out into space, and get lost in its cold comfort. But he can’t, because he has a city to protect, friends who depend on him, and a family who loves him.

At least he thinks they love him.

Danny reaches for his phone and goes to check the time, but the screen doesn’t turn on. He frowns, tapping the screen, and even shakes the device a few times. And then he remembers how cold it’s supposed to be up here, something he can’t really feel anymore, and it probably killed the battery.

He’s just lucky it isn’t iced over. At this height, it should be, but he probably has the radiation from his ectoplasm to thank for that.

Grudgingly, Danny tells himself he should probably head home. He flips over, head to the ground, and starts flying.

He takes his time, it’s still barely more than hour before he’s back in Amity. Just before diving through Fenton Work’s roof, he looks back up at the sky. It’s empty and sad.

The first thing Danny does when he’s back in his room is plug in his phone. He considers transforming; it’s dangerous to stay in ghost form while his parents are home. But after staring at his blank phone for a few long seconds he decides against it. He doesn’t really want to be human right now.

Curled up on his bed, head against his pillow, knees pulled up to his chest, he waits for his phone to charge enough to turn on. Those five minutes feel infinitely longer than his flight back from space.

“Screw you, Clockwork,” Danny mutters. It’s not really Clockwork’s fault, but it feels good to have someone to blame, and the ghost of time is a ripe target.

The moment his screen lights up, Danny reaches out and snags it off his bedside table. He notes the time, quarter to three, then goes through his notifications. Some spam emails, a couple game notifications, but no texts or calls. Which makes sense, it’s the middle of the night, who the hell would be up right now besides him?

As soon as Danny thinks that, his phone buzzes and a message appears at the top of his screen.

From Dash: [image]

Another quickly follows.

From Dash: was that u?

Eyes heavy, Danny stares at the texts for a long moment before clicking them. The messaging app is bright and glaring compared to his dark home screen and he squints when it lights up his room. He clicks the image Dash send, feeling instant relief when his screen gets significantly darker.

It’s a shot of the sky from Dash’s bedroom window, the corner of the next building over cutting through the image. Just above that is a bright white speck. If Danny didn’t know better, he might have mistaken it for a star or a planet.

Closing out the image, Danny types back: yeah, it’s me.

He hits send, turns onto his back, and sets his phone down on his chest. He’s not expecting a reply, although he has no reason not to, so it startles him when his phone buzzes not even a second later.

From Dash: thought so. What were…

From Dash: Patrol?

Danny pulls himself up, opening his phone once again, and reads the full messages.

Dash: thought so. What were you doing so high up?

Dash: Patrol?

Hunched over his phone, Danny doesn’t so much stare at the screen as he does zone out in its general direction. He knows what he wants to type in response, but he can’t seem to get his fingers to move.

The phone sits cradled in his hand, his thumbs thick silhouettes against the white screen. The longer he looks, the more he thinks they aren’t his thumbs but just thumbs. Anyone’s thumbs. They didn’t belong to him. He was a hundred miles away, out in space.

Before he can decide if this is a good or bad idea, he hits the call button.

It gets through half a ring before Dash picks up.

“Hey, Danny.”

Dash’s is voice is rough and dry, but it isn’t thick with sleep, reassuring Danny he hasn’t dragged Dash out of partial slumber.

“Danny?”

The call time says it’s been going for over a minute.

Danny swallows. “Hey.”

“You okay?”

“Dash…” Danny trails off. He rolls his neck. It pops in a way that probably isn’t healthy, but is also so familiar he doesn’t think twice about it anymore. He licks his lips. “Why are we friends?”

That isn’t what he meant to say. He doesn’t know what he really wanted to say, but he knows that wasn’t it.

The call is at five minutes.

“Because Paulina and Sam are dating.” Dash chuckles.

Danny thinks he should be chuckling too, but the sound doesn’t come. It’s a joke they’ve made a hundred times, as familiar as the crick in Danny’s neck, but it’s not the answer he wants right now.

“I’m friends with Tucker because… because we’ve always been friends. I can’t imagine not being friends with him,” Danny says. He takes one the hands—his hands, he has to remind himself—away from the phone and turns it over. Is it really him doing that?

“Sam kind of made herself friends with us. But we always thought she was cool anyway, so, we wanted her.” Danny rubs his hand on his thigh, stopping to grip his knee. He can feel the pressure, but he can’t really feel it. “We hate each other.”

Ten minutes.

“We used to, I guess. I don’t know. I don’t think I ever really hated you. Just, stupid high school stuff.”

“Stupid high school stuff,” Danny repeats. He glances at the time at the top of his screen. “It’s three in the morning.”

“Yeah.”

“Why are you up at three in the morning?”

“Why are you?”

Danny sucks in a sharp breath. “Just. Couldn’t sleep. Yeah.”

“Yeah? Same.”

This time, Danny chuckles. He can’t figure out why it’s funny, but it is. Dash? Having trouble sleeping? People like him aren’t supposed to have Danny’s problems. They’re supposed to date the head cheerleader, and have tons of friends, and get some big football scholarship that carries them through college, and be famous. Or something.

But the head cheerleader is dating Sam. Dash only has a handful of people he talks to regularly. He told Danny last month that he doesn’t want to play football in college. He wants to be a social worker, like his mom, and not be famous.

Danny laughs again.

“What’s so funny?”

“S-Sam,” Danny says between giggles. “Sam stole your girlfriend.”

“She really didn’t.” Dash sounds amused, a humorous lilt in his voice.

Danny can’t figure out what he finds so funny. It’s Dash’s life that isn’t going how it’s supposed to. Sucks to be him, thrust into a set role the moment he became quarterback in freshman year, stuck with a path he doesn’t want, that he doesn’t quite seem to fit. What kind of high school king is he?

The next time Danny laughs, it sounds closer to a sob. He sniffs and rubs his nose on his sleeve, the thick, rubbery material of his jumpsuit irritating his nose. The suit smells vaguely of burnt flesh and sulfur. No matter what Danny does, he can’t seem to wash it out.

Twenty minutes.

“Danny, I think you should go to sleep now.”

“’M fine,” Danny insists.

“You’re really not.”

“That’s kind of rude.” Danny drags his hand through his hair. It never feels like normal hair in his ghost form. Too wispy and light, like a silk veil.

“I can call you in the morning if you want. Or I can get Paulina to text Sam, or Tucker. I think I still have Jazz’s number somewhere.”

“Don’t hang up,” Danny says softly. He fells forward, curling onto his side around the phone, sticking his feet under his pillow.

They’ve been on the phone for well over half an hour now. Danny’s pretty sure they haven’t talked enough to fill out all that time. He wonders how much of it Dash has spent just sitting there, waiting for Danny to answer. It makes him feel like a bit of a prick.

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

Danny can tell Dash doesn’t know what the apology’s for, but he appreciates the acceptance nonetheless.

“You won’t hang up?” Danny asks.

“I won’t hang up.”

Danny nods, even though Dash can’t see it. He wishes he could. He wants someone here right now, but not Sam, or Tucker, or his sister, or his parents who maybe hate him, but he can never be too sure because they don’t know they hate him and he’s too afraid to tell them. Without all those other options, he supposes Dash will do.

He falls asleep, eventually, and wakes up human and cold, his phone still on beside him.

[starryknight09]

Unforeseen dangers ch. 4

Summary:  As Peter recovers from his capture by Ross, a photo of him with Tony and the Avengers leaks and is splashed all across the media. Luckily, no one can figure out who he is and everyone thinks the buzz will die down. However, the public’s interest has been ignited. While Tony worries it’s only a matter of time before Peter’s identity is exposed, Peter isn’t as concerned. Besides, what’s the worst that could happen anyway?

Read on AO3.

________________________________________________________

A knock sounded on Peter’s bedroom door just as he finished the last equation of the problem set in front of him.

“Kid, can I come in?” Tony’s voice came from the other side of the door.

“Sure.” He answered.

His dad walked in, a tense expression on his face.  He wondered if it was from the same thing that’d put a similar look on Pepper’s face.

“Doing your math homework?” Tony asked when he got close enough to see the open textbook and the sheet of paper with the completed problem set to the side of it.

Peter nodded.  “I just finished it.”

Tony ruffled his hair.  “Want me to check your answers?”

“No I got it.” Peter said, trying to fix his mussed up curls.

His dad watched him fondly for a moment, amusement warring with worry on his face.

Peter frowned.  “Is everything ok?”

“Everything’s fine,” Tony answered quickly, “but there’s something I need to talk to you about.”

Peter’s heart leaped to his throat.  Had Tony figured out Peter’s plan to change his name?  Was he unhappy about it?  But how had he found out?  Pepper wouldn’t have told.  Had someone else?  Or was it just his dad’s uncanny ability to somehow know everything that happened in his Tower?  Maybe FRIDAY had squealed?

“Um what-what’s up?” He asked, trying not to sound as nervous as he felt.

His dad sighed, sliding his homework off to the side so there was a clear spot on his desk where he could sit down.

“Watch any TV recently?” Tony asked.

Peter blinked.  That was not at all what he’d been expecting.

“Um I watched a few episodes of Love it or List it last night.”

“I thought I told you that show would rot your brain.”

“I like it.”

Tony shook his head with a sigh, but Peter could tell he didn’t actually care.

“What about today?  Did you watch anything today?”

“No.  Why?  Did something happen?”  Had some sort of world catastrophe occurred that he was unaware of?

“Yes…and no.” Tony answered.

“Wow that’s cryptic.” Peter joked, trying to lighten the solemn mood that’d fallen over his room.  “Are you actually going to tell me or am I supposed to guess?”

Tony took a deep breath as if to bolster himself before he answered, “Someone leaked a photo.”

“Ok…” That answer was just as vague.

“A photo of us.”

Peter’s mouth fell open as he tried to absorb the words and what they meant.  “What?  But who would—?  When did—?”  He could only get out clipped, incomplete fragments, but his dad seemed to understand all the same.  

“Some government aide leaked the photo of us together on the couch after the Accords signing.  The press is having a heyday with it.” Tony answered.

Peter winced.  Oh.  That was bad.

Tony continued, “It’s playing on all the major network stations.  Everyone wants to know who you are and what your connection is to me.”

Peter frowned, staring blankly at his math homework for a moment as he tried to process the news.

“What-what does this mean?” He asked, looking up to meet Tony’s worried eyes.

Tony licked his lips and answered slowly, “It means…we’re going to have to be a lot more careful in the future to not be seen together.”

“But why?  If they already know who I am?” Peter didn’t really understand.  Why did they need to be careful if the cat was already out of the bag?  

“No.  They don’t know.” His dad shook his head.  “The photo isn’t very good quality.  I can barely tell it’s you.  They just know I was sitting with some kid.”

Peter scrunched his nose, not really loving that description.  “So what are we going to do about it?”

“Nothing.  We’re going to do nothing and let it run its course and eventually it’ll die down.  We’re not telling anyone who you are or what your relationship with me is.  But like I said, we’re going to have to be careful.  We can’t go out in public together for the time being.  One good photo and they might be able to figure out who you are.”

“And that would be bad.” He said, but it came out more as a question.

Tony frowned as he answered, “Yes Peter, that would be bad.  If the press found out you were my son, they’d hound you nonstop, and it wouldn’t be for only a couple weeks.  It’d be forever.  The unfortunate curse of being a Stark.”  

Peter swallowed hard, thinking of the paperwork he’d just signed to officially make himself a Stark.

“And that wouldn’t even be the worst part.” Tony explained, looking stricken.  “Certain people might see you as a tool they could use to try to get to me.  You’d never be safe, and I don’t want that for you.”

“They could try,” Peter smiled, trying to reassure his dad, “but I’m Spiderman.  I’m not so easy to get to.”

“Don’t underestimate the crazies.” Tony shook his head.  “It’s not a risk I’m willing to take.”

“So, if we’re not going to do anything about it, then why are you telling me?” He asked.

“Because I want you in the loop.  In case things come up or go wrong, I want you to know how serious it could be.”

“Ok.  I guess that makes sense.” Peter’s brow furrowed as another thought struck him.  “Wait.  Is this the emergency Pepper got called back to deal with?”

Tony nodded.  

Peter immediately felt guilty.  Because of him, because of something to do with him, Pepper had needed to run back to work to deal with the fallout.

Tony must’ve seen the guilt on his face.  “Don’t worry kid.  Compared to some of the things I’ve put her through, this is nothing.  And the game plan’s simple.  We’re doing nothing.  We’re not confirming or denying anything or making a statement.  It’s literally no extra work for Pep.”

“I don’t know.” Peter mumbled.   “She looked pretty stressed.”

Tony waved a hand in dismissal.  “She’ll be fine.  Believe me.  The woman’s as tough as nails.”

That got a smile out of him.  “I know.”

“Good.” His dad ruffled his hair again and he groaned in fake complaint.  “You’re done with your homework, right?”

“Yeah.” It wasn’t exactly a lie.  He’d done the problem set he’d been working on, but he still had a mountain load to do by the end of winter break.

“What do you say we go down to the workshop and work on the new updates to my suit?”

“I’m in.” He stood, always eager to work on the Ironman armor.

Tony got off the desk and wrapped an arm around his shoulders as they walked out of his room and to the workshop together.  It should’ve been comforting but Peter still didn’t feel completely at ease.  Even though Tony had tried to reassure him, he couldn’t shake the troubled look on his dad’s face from his mind.

“Hey Ned.” Peter answered his phone as he laid on his mattress.  Tony had sent him to bed an hour ago but he still hadn’t been able to fall asleep.  The phone call was a welcome interruption from staring at the ceiling.

“Dude you’re on TV!  You’re famous!” Ned erupted in excitement.

Peter groaned and rubbed his eyes.

“Have you seen the news?  Like literally everyone is talking about you.  I’m friends with a celebrity!”

“I haven’t seen it yet but I’ve heard.” Peter sighed.  “And no one can know it’s me Ned.  You have to keep it to yourself.  You can’t even tell your parents, got it?”

“Oh man.” Ned whined.  “Are you serious?”

“Yes.  I mean it.” Peter reiterated.  “Tony will flip if someone finds out that I’m the one in the picture.”

“You don’t think someone’s going to figure it out?”

“I don’t know.  Tony didn’t seem to think so.  I guess it’s not that great of a picture.”

Ned hummed.  “Yeah it is pretty blurry.  I might not have even known it was you except I knew it was you.”

Peter snorted.

“That sucks though dude.  I thought I was going to be famous by proxy.” Ned said with disappointment.

Peter grinned.  “I don’t think it works that way.”

“I already had an awesome tag line idea for my twitter.”

“Uh huh.”

“Do you want to hear it?”

“Sure.  Why not?”

“It was going to be, ‘Best friend of Ironkid.  Friend of the Avengers.’  What do you think?”

“I think maybe keep working on it.” Peter laughed.  “And my name wouldn’t be Ironkid.”

“Are you kidding?  The media’s not all that creative.  If they found out you were Ironman’s kid I’m pretty sure they’d dub you Ironkid.”

Peter made a face in disgust.  “Oh god I hope not.  That’s reason enough to make sure they don’t find out.”

Ned laughed over the phone.

“So I guess for now I have to stick with secretly being Spiderman’s guy in the chair?”

“And Peter Parker’s best friend.  Sorry.”

“It’s all right.  I like that role better anyway.” Peter could hear Ned’s honest smile in his voice.  “Besides, we both know I probably do better work behind the scenes than out in the spotlight.”

“Yeah and it might sound fun at first, but it would totally suck to not be able to go anywhere without being recognized.”

“Yeah you’re right.  Although, I bet we could get some sweet Comic-Con tickets if people knew who you were.”

“Tony can get those for us anyway.”  Peter rolled his eyes.  “And if no one knows who I am, we can go and not get mobbed, and actually have fun.”

“I guess you have a point.” Ned agreed.

Peter heard muffled voices coming from across the speaker of Ned’s phone.

“Um sorry dude but my mom says I have to go to bed.” Ned said.  “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Ok.  Good night Ned.” Peter said with a smile.

“Good night.”

Peter plugged his phone back into the charger and set it on the nightstand.  Fatigue leadened his eyelids, and he closed his eyes as he settled into his soft pillows.  Talking to Ned had at least helped him finally destress.  Sleep was no longer so hard to find.

“How does that feel?” Ross sneered at him as he stabbed a knife straight into his thigh.

Peter couldn’t hold back a cry of pain.  He instinctively tried to grab the offending object but he couldn’t move his arms.  They were tied behind him as he sat helpless in a chair.

“Hurts, doesn’t it?” Ross said with grim pleasure as he slowly twisted the knife.

It burned.  Electric shocks of agony danced through his leg.

“Stop.” He moaned and crumpled forward at his waist, but he only had enough slack to make it a few inches.

Ross snorted in amusement.

“You want me to stop?  Oh no.  We’re just getting started.” Ross said and ripped the knife out of his leg.  It hurt almost as much as getting stabbed in the first place and Peter cried out again.  He panted as blood bubbled from the wound, too much too fast.

Ross leaned forward and placed the edge of the blood coated knife on his bare chest.

“No.” He pleaded.  “Please.”

The corner of Ross’s lip twisted up in a crazed smile and he pressed down.

Peter watched as blood flowed out and around the knife as it carved into his skin.

“No!” He tried to thrash away but he couldn’t as Ross trailed the knife across his chest to form a burning line of red.

Peter couldn’t help it.  He was crying now.  It hurt.  And there was so much blood dripping down his chest and out of his leg.  He was going to die.  Oh god.  Ross wasn’t going to stop.  He was going to keep going until he slowly killed him.

The man placed the knife a couple inches below the line of open skin and repeated the process, forming another crimson line of open flesh.  Peter didn’t want to look but he couldn’t help it.  The cuts were deep enough he thought he could see flashes of white bone underneath.

“Stop.  Stop!  Please.” He begged through his sobs.

Ross ignored him and continued the process, dragging the knife over his skin to make a third line.

Peter screamed.  He didn’t want to die.  He didn’t.

“Help!  Someone please!  Help!” He yelled hoarsely even though he knew it was hopeless.  He was all alone with Ross.

“No one’s coming to save you.” Ross taunted.  “Not even Daddy.”

Peter whimpered at that.  He wanted his dad.  Ross carved another slice across his front.

“Dad!” He screamed this time, clenching his eyes shut at the pain.  He knew it was pointless and that Ross was right.  Tony wasn’t coming to save him, but he couldn’t help instinctively calling for him.  “Dad!  Help!  Please.  Dad!”

Ross gripped his shoulders and gave them a firm shake.  Why had Ross stopped hurting him?  Peter’s eyes snapped open in confusion.

Instead of Ross, all he saw was a darkened figure leaning over him, holding his shoulders.

“You’re all right.” The figure soothed.  Not Ross.  Peter blinked and immediately recognized his dad.  He took in the rest of his surroundings.  He was in his room.  In bed.  He spread a hand across his chest but there was nothing there.  His leg was fine too.  Nothing hurt.  It’d all just been a bad dream.  Ross didn’t have him anymore.  Right.  Tony had saved him.  And Ross was dead.

Tony sat perched on the edge of the bed and Peter wasted no time in sitting up and wrapping his arms around the man.

“You’re all right.” His dad repeated softly into his hair.

Peter closed his eyes and melted into the comfort.

“I’m sorry.” He mumbled.  He had no idea what time it was, but Tony was wearing pajamas so Peter knew he’d woken him up.

His dad shushed him and rubbed a hand over his back.

After a long minute of silent comfort, Tony said, “You were calling for me.”

Peter knew it was a question as much as a statement.  His dad was offering him a chance to talk about his dream but he wasn’t going to force it.

“I was back there.” Peter whispered into Tony’s chest.  “Ross had me.”

Tony made a sound of displeasure but Peter continued, “He was hurting me and he wouldn’t stop and I couldn’t get free and no one was coming to save me and I just wanted you.”

“I’m right here.” Tony said, squeezing him even tighter.  “You’re safe.”

“It felt so real.” Peter mumbled.

“It wasn’t.” Tony tangled a hand in the hair at the back of his head.  “You’re not there.  And Ross is gone.  He’ll never hurt you again.”

“I know.  It’s stupid.  I’m sorry.”

“It’s not stupid.” Tony said firmly.  “What you went through was traumatic.  Someone took you, held you hostage, and hurt you.  I’d be surprised if you weren’t having nightmares about it.  Hell, I’m having nightmares about it.”

“You are?” Peter pulled back and saw the truth in his dad’s eyes.

“Yeah.” Tony tried to smile as he palmed his cheek, but he just looked sad.  “Of course.  Someone took you from me and hurt you as a way to get to me.  That’s the very definition of my worst nightmare.”

“Really?”

“Yes.  Really.” Tony rubbed a thumb over his cheek.  “You’re the most important thing to me.  How many times do I have to tell you that before you finally start to believe me?”

“Lots.” Peter said and grinned.  “Maybe because I like to hear it.”

Tony let out a short huff of amusement and dropped the hand on his face so he could ruffle his hair.  “You seem better.”

“Yeah.” He agreed.  He did feel better.  With his dad so close, the fear from his nightmare seemed miles away now instead of lurking in the room.  “Thanks.”

“Think you’ll be able to get back to sleep?” Tony asked.  “It’s still pretty late.”

“I think so.” He said even though he wasn’t sure.  The yawn that escaped him a couple seconds later seemed to contradict his doubts.

Tony nodded and stood, fluffing his pillow for him and then gently guiding him backward to land on it.  Once he was settled, his dad pulled the covers up to his chin and brushed the hair off his forehead before lightly pressing a kiss there.

“Get some sleep.” His dad whispered.

Peter hummed in response, eyes already drifting closed.  He expected to hear the door click shut as Tony walked out, but instead, a few moments later, he felt the other side of his bed tip.  Peter cracked his eyes open and watched with a frown as his dad crawled into the other side of it.

“What are you doing?” He asked.

“Shh go to sleep.” Tony said, reaching a hand across the space between them to place it briefly over his eyes to close them.  “I’m keeping the nightmares away.”

“Mine or yours?” Peter joked.

Tony chuckled.  “Both.”

“Night dad.”

“Good night kiddo.”

“I love you.” He mumbled as sleep pulled irresistibly at him.

“I love you too.” His dad said back and Peter could hear all the fondness and love infused in the sentence.  “Now go to sleep.”

Peter hummed tiredly in agreement.  With his dad next to him, a sense of safety encompassed him, and he had no trouble slipping quickly back to sleep.

[miresofblack]

𝒊 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒌𝒏𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 — i never promised you an open heart or charity / i never wanted to abuse your imagination

𝒔𝒚𝒏𝒐𝒑𝒔𝒊𝒔 : the date is may 25th, 1938, and spring is not the only thing twisting dark damsons by their stems. 

her clothes don’t fit quite the way she likes it – being away for months had meant she’d grown out of everything but aside from the lightness, she is clean and sprightly as spring rain, and has arrived at pollux black’s countryside estate like a strong current blowing through the drapes. the morning had been spent hovering about the entire estate, listening to her aunt’s mumbling about minding the carpet, the way the humidity clung to the glasses, fussing at every green thing in turn until alphard, poking his head out from the top of the stairs, asks if lucretia has seen the great dane in the courtyard.

“maybe i saw it the foyer,” she says as she draws closer to the railing, “but i saw cygnus cleaning today. what’s that all about?”

alphard finds her trivia hardly interesting but simply stupid. it’s obvious he’s busy about the dog and all, and what he does offer is not quite an explanation but a well-know fact: “cygnus doesn’t do many things, much less with cleaning anything.”

“oh.” lucretia’s hand settles on the edge of the railing where she lingers inconveniently, smiling like a thunderhead on a tether worth pulling. “you don’t say.”

-❈-

it’s noon now, and the day's heat is whistling through her kindling body like a greeting.

she looks behind her and finds that the light behind her is weaker — like looking at sunlight through a fine white cloth, orion is now sat at the hilt of the mound, a silhouette of grey and shadow no different than an unsuspecting doe resting in a round, makeshift nest of grass.

'can you believe—' (now rolling her eyes, a fine spray of lucretia’s flyaway hairs scatter with irritation in the breeze; in this way, it's true that lucretia has always been a thing of motion.) '—they're making me learn—' (and motion, like way of sound, can only be compelled to change its state by the actions of an outside force.) '—about those BEASTS!' (and lucretia, by way of law, will always be the one of two to carry that force.)

the way he sounds and looks at her seems to turn every leaf, every single one, to a breathless crisp. “what.”

“the half-beasts. i’m talking about centaurs.”

he glares for something else that isn’t her answer even if it is all the more unspectacular and irritating. “like you? you’re half-gnome yourself.”

lucretia wastes no time shoving him into the grass with the delicacy of a bulldozer. “don’t ever say that to me again.”

and then she felt a tug. it was the kind of tug like having a rug pulled out clean from beneath her, like a plug yanked out straight from a socket. and then another tug, carrying with it that same sense of surprise, the same sense of blinking and finding herself severed until she’s face-planted into the ground. the dead of spring breeding dead thistles that scratch her bare legs with each shock of pain with every tussle, shredding whiteness into her skin and pinpricks of blood in the afternoon glare.

"you SNITCH—” he mumbled between both of lucretia’s hands she’d placed over his face in attempt to ward him off. “now i won’t be able to go to the world cup game, because of what you did, you snitch!”

“stop it, cygnus!”

they strike each other hard enough to ring a two-tone bell, the sound mad as a bull and heavy and scarlet enough that it all but shakes the trunk of the trees.

“you shouldn’t have done what you did!”

the thought of it leaves an agitation, a trepidation, like wings beating in her chest, that precise half-moment she’d watched cygnus hide something in his pocket before going through a chest full of linens. at first she’d thought he had been cleaning, that perhaps had meant to launder the linens, but elves did the laundry and she’d found for herself the antique pipe he’d placed behind four layers of linen.

“you stole.”

“and was it worth it to have told? well, let me tell you something lucretia - nobody likes a know-it-all, especially one as stupid and sneaky as you.”

when she’s older the pressure of her disdain will smash windows, but for now it only rattles in her scowl, the spring air giving a violent rustle as if it’d developed the requisite nerves to feel cold. lucretia stands over him and delivers one final spat:

“i’m not to blame for the bad thing you did, cygnus.”

when she shuffles down the path that cygnus had led her to not long ago, the soles of her shoes drag on the dried-out flower heads that litter the path, slogging miserably and diminishing the brown husks to ash. cygnus is following in her tracks and calling out to her only to remain in miserable earshot.

it is only when she nears orion she is reminded her to correct her dizzied gaze. “do not ask,” is all she has to say, “but you may see later.” with a hand now at his forearm, she steers them to a less aggravating area of the estate. “ right now i’m thinking bad things because i’m mad.”

-❈-

there’s a lag in the star’s sparkle, a wrinkle, a chink, in the way she blinks and unwraps her eating utensils and crosses her legs at the ankles after taking her seat at the table. both violent with thistle and scalded like flowering dogwood refusing to be pared for the cold bark of winter.

“a-yā!” her mother’s hand pecks at her hair and the slit of dirt on her elbow. “don’t look so pestilent, lucretia. we’ve hardly begun to cut into our food.”

terse, but still shaken after the tremor of cygnus’ underfoot, lucretia decides to try her best to remain placid. “i’m sorry,” she exhales with a squaring of her shoulders, gently smoothing out the fabric of her skirt as each thistle catches her fingers like a small sting. now with butterknife in hand, she’s cutting into a scone and eyeing cygnus with the fondness of an arrow enroute to bullseye. “i guess that cyngus and i are just not good at playing fair.”

the other looks up in gummy embrace and toothy smile. “it’s all in good fun, really.”

“but lucretia isn’t used to such excitement...”

“she has to.” a third voice announces as graceful and filled with intent as a serpent, or arrowhead, both marked with imperial demand. “present afflictions tend to our future good - better she and orion scrape their knees in the bounds of our homes than be clubbed over the head by anyone else outside our gates.”

they all nod. but what they don’t say is that tyrants are blind to their own rubble until they are crushed by it; which is to say, there is a kind of joy in the being crushed, as well as a kind of apathy. that’s all holiness is, really – the joy of indifference. so lucretia sinks like a stone into her seat. at a glance, her expression is flat, the body looks discarded, like a doll flung akimbo, but she’s eleven and all play, a wind-up toy waiting to be vitalized again after dinner. she doesn't know words like hate, like smash, like pain, like war, like murder, but she knows that familiarity is a type of ownership, ownership a type of omnipotence, and so that famous black family spirit is naturally crammed tight into all four foot, eleven inches like a handful of a molotov cocktail.

so she’ll play along, and the look she levels him from across the table is scorched and barren from the height of day. “next time, cousin, we play a game that you won’t see coming.”

“— and, can you pass me the butter, please?”

[beckzorz]

Out of Nowhere (5/21)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes/OFC Summary: An offhand comment at work draws Jesse Kaplan into the orbit of Bucky Barnes. Bucky’s excited at the prospect of normalcy, but there’s nothing normal about falling in love with the Winter Soldier. Words: 4060 A/N: The song for this chapter is “The Mooche” by Duke Ellington & His Cotton Club Orchestra from By Popular Demand Duke Ellington. And these songs are absolutely recommended to accompany your reading :3 Hope you enjoy!

PART 5: “THE MOOCHE”

Jesse sat cross-legged at the tiny desk in her bedroom, waiting for her parents’ biweekly video call. They had emigrated to Israel once she’d graduated college, about five years back. Jesse had only seen them in person four times since then, twice in New York and twice abroad. These calls were more for their sake than Jesse’s. She was generally happy to limit their conversation to emails or audio, but her mom in particular craved actual face time. Jesse wasn’t sure why—the only difference was that Jesse got nitpicky comments about her hair when they spoke face-to-face.

Once her parents called, Jesse sighed, smoothed back her hair, and answered.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Shalom, motek,” Jesse’s mom said. Hi, cutie. “How are you?”

“Fine, fine.” Jesse twiddled her thumbs in her lap. Her mom looked the same as ever. Pale like Jesse, with darkly graying hair and casual clothes despite Sunday being a workday in Israel. Everything was more casual in Israel, or so it seemed to Jesse. “How’re you?”

“Oh, lovely!” Susan said. “We went to the theater with our neighbors last week, it was fantastic.”

“Hi, Jesse,” Jesse’s dad cut in. He leaned in from out of the frame and waved. “Don’t believe your mother, the theater here is fine. Fantastic is pushing it.”

Jesse grinned. “Hi, Dad. Not up to your standards?”

“Nothing beats Broadway.”

“Exaggerate all you want, Joshua,” Jesse’s mom said, smirking. “You were crying too.”

“So what if I was?” Joshua withdrew. “I need to go put gas in the car before everywhere closes for the night. Talk to you soon, kiddo!”

“Bye, Dad. Have fun.” Jesse waved, though he couldn’t see her; she could hear him leaving.

Susan sighed as the door slammed, then smiled at Jesse. “Well, so how are you, cutie?”

“Fine, Mom. I already said so.”

“You look nice today. Your hair’s neat for a change.”

Jesse bristled. “Thanks,” she forced. “What was the play about?”

“Oh, it was a new production of Ghetto by Joshua Sobol. Israel’s most famous playwright, you know.”

“I do know,” Jesse said. “I’m glad you liked it.”

“Thanks, dear. So what have you been up to? Made any new friends?”

Jesse pressed her lips together. How was it that her mother managed to get under her skin so damn easily? Jesse had friends. Adrian, Mike, Zach from work, other dancers… Bucky. Well, he was new. She’d only met him a week ago. And from a distance, she could tell her mother as little as she liked.

“I had to go to a benefit for work, and I met someone there,” Jesse said.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, he did some work with BCEI and he wants to do more.”

“Is he nice?”

“So far, yeah.”

“What’s his name?”

Jesse paused. “James.” It wasn’t a complete lie. That was his name, just not the one he used with her. “He dances too,” she added.

“Oh, how nice.” Susan smiled slyly, though she said nothing more about it.

Jesse could have kicked herself. Why did she have to say so much? She never told her mom anything. Susan basically knew Bucky’s whole life story in comparison to what she knew about Jesse’s other friends. Now her mother would get ideas, wrong ideas, bad ideas. Just because Jesse had stray longings didn’t mean anything was going to happen. Or that anything could happen.

If Mike’s assumption that she and Bucky were friends ever came to pass, Jesse would be more than satisfied. There wasn’t rational hope for anything more. Bucky might have raised a glass to normalcy, but Jesse knew his real life wasn’t going anywhere.

If she could provide him a brief reprieve, she’d be satisfied. God knew he deserved it.

—

Bucky’s proposal to teach swing dancing to local students went over better at work than Jesse had expected. Marilyn was still working from home, and she skyped in to the Monday meeting that Jesse took notes for with the director Robin and Zach, who worked under Marilyn in programming. Jesse waited until the end of the meeting to float the idea. Robin raised her eyebrows, Zach stared at Jesse in surprise, but Marilyn said, “That sounds fantastic!”

Jesse relaxed a little as Marilyn talked through various logistical issues and how to avoid them—keep the session short, get a signed contract, have access to back-up instructors ‘just in case.’

“I’ll get in touch with Bucky myself,” Marilyn continued, “and we’ll put together a proper proposal for you, Robin.”

“Alright,” Robin said. “Thanks.”

The meeting ended, though Marilyn asked Jesse to stay back. Once Zach and Robin left, Marilyn smiled more broadly at Jesse. “Was this your idea, Jesse? I won’t tell.”

“No,” Jesse said, surprised. “I had nothing to do with it.”

“Well, I’m sure that’s not true,” Marilyn said. “You’ve inspired him! He went to you, not me.”

“You’re still on bed rest,” Jesse retorted. “If anything, props to him for not bothering you!”

“Fair enough,” Marilyn said, laughing. “Well, thanks for keeping him involved! I think it’s good for BCEI, having a famous face around.”

“Sure,” Jesse said. She did not mention how much she suspected he’d hate to be spoken of that way.

Even if Marilyn was right.

—

  Francisco Pérez   Tuesday, 6:57 PM

Francisco: Yooo sorry for last minute, but can you water the succulents on my windowsill?

Jesse: Sure, though I might kill them by mistake... Send me hyper-accurate watering directions for minimum casualties

Francisco: THANKS

Francisco: I’ll send you an email

Jesse: Righto, have fun in Iceland! Safe travels!

—

On Friday morning, Jesse woke with her alarm. She rolled over in bed, reaching blindly for her phone with a groan. It had been a particularly late night—she’d gone back to Frim Fram Jam, and though she hadn’t reached out Bucky had been there too. Mike hadn’t, oddly, but Jesse was still bitter enough about their conversation on Saturday that she was more relieved than anything. Without Mike to fill up her metaphorical dance card, she’d gotten more dances with Bucky than she’d hoped for.

Of course, she’d stayed far later than usual for the pleasure, and now she was suffering for it. Most mornings she was up ten, twenty minutes before her alarm. Getting up at the last minute never suited her well, and her eyes still weren’t fully open when she stumbled into the dark bathroom. She made her way to the toilet and reached down to open the lid, but she missed.

Jesse’s outstretched arm went straight into the toilet. She yelped; she managed to grip the lip of the toilet with her other hand but—

Oh my god, why was the lid up?

Jesse leapt to her feet, right arm dripping. She quickly turned the tub on, then turned back, holding her arm over the tub, and stared with newly wide eyes at the toilet. Now that she’d been startled awake, she could see that it wasn’t just the lid. The seat was up too!

“Oh god oh god oh god,” she muttered. Her stomach and toes curled in on themselves, and she whirled back and fell to her knees on the shower mat. She thrust her wet arm under the lukewarm water and fumbled above her head for the shower soap. Jesse scrubbed at her arm furiously until the water began to scald her skin and steam clouded her vision.

She sat back on her heels and turned off the water. Her right arm was raw and red below the elbow, and her fingers had begun to pucker.

Jesse took a steadying breath and twisted to look back at her toilet.

The lid and seat were up. How could that have happened? She didn’t leave the seat up. Sure, she’d cleaned the toilet yesterday afternoon, but she’d surely used it again since then. Hadn’t she?

Jesse pushed her frizzy hair back from her face and frowned. She thought so, but… maybe she was wrong. She had taken the subway home with a dance friend in the neighborhood, but she hadn’t invited them up, had she? No, she would have remembered, surely. Wouldn’t she have remembered?

Something niggled at the back of her mind. She was forgetting something… Something about the hospital, something about the coffee shop, something not quite about Bucky… Jesse banged her head against the tub, trying to remember. Then it came to her.

A string of break-ins.

Maybe nothing had happened. Maybe she’d just left the toilet up yesterday afternoon.

Or maybe someone had broken in and used the toilet.

Jesse drew in a sharp breath. The hair on her arms and the back of her neck stood on end. With her white noise app running, would she even have heard it? She sometimes heard Fran moving around in the morning, but not until she was already awake.

She climbed slowly to her feet and went out into the common space, giving the toilet as much berth as she could. Nothing looked out of place at first glance. The toaster was still unplugged; the dishrack had a single plate, fork, and knife in it; the chairs at the tiny table were pushed in.

But had she left her computer on the counter, or at the table? Plugged in or not? Tears pricked Jesse’s eyes as she clutched the back of her neck. Nothing was missing. If someone had broken in, wouldn’t they have taken everything of value? Would they have bothered to double-lock the door on their way out? Why couldn’t her brain just do its fucking job and remember, once and for all?

Jesse glanced at the half-closed door to Fran’s room. Her heart raced, but she scurried over and, after a silent deep breath, kicked it open.

Empty. Totally empty. His tiny closet was open, and it was empty too, apart from his clothes and a haphazard pile of shoes. Jesse sagged against the doorframe, eyes wet. She blinked until a few tears fell and wiped them hastily away.

Was she just being paranoid? She couldn’t think of a single thing missing. All of Fran’s stuff was still in there, too—his gaming monitor, his nice headset… The iPhone speaker system by the couch was still there too. Jesse sank onto the couch and hugged her knees to her chest, staring at the sound system. Should she call the police? Would anyone believe her—would anyone make enough of the little oddities in her home to do anything other than laugh at her? No, how could they? Why would anyone break in to do… nothing? She must be overreacting. Just a series of coincidences. She’d gotten home late last night. She was still exhausted from a short night’s sleep. Whatever she thought was suspicious had a rational explanation. She hadn’t used the toilet last night; she’d just left it up after cleaning it. She had used her laptop at the counter while washing dishes.

Jesse took deep shuddering breaths until her breathing was back to nearly normal. She glanced at the clock—shit, she was running late now. She went to the bathroom, this time shutting the toilet properly, and went through the rest of her morning routine. Stray remnants of panic overtook her as she was getting dressed, and she had to clutch the wall to refocus. She braided her damp hair across her head and down one shoulder; the end began to drip onto her blouse, but she ignored it.

She tightened the strap of her purse across her body and gave the apartment one last once-over as she slipped into her flats.

Normal. Perfectly normal.

Jesse double locked the door and bounded down the steps and out the door towards the metro. Everything was normal—the crowds, the traffic… Her commute was normal, she was a few minutes early as usual, and she started up her computer without a hitch. She slouched in her chair, curling her toes under her desk, and stared blankly towards the front door of BCEI’s office suite. She forced a smile as people trickled in.

Zach from programming doubled back, his eyes crinkled in concern. “Hey, Jesse, you okay?”

“Oh—yeah, yeah.” Jesse sat up quickly and scooted her chair in. “Late night, that’s all,” she chirped.

“Ooh, that sucks,” Zach said. He ran a hand through his stiff black hair and shook his head. “I feel that.”

Jesse smiled up at him as he ambled off. Zach was nice; he was less than a year older than her, and he was approachable and relaxed. They’d gone out for drinks a few times and shared good-natured complaints about the hardass in charge of marketing, among other things. But they weren’t close enough for Jesse to feel comfortable sharing her early morning anxieties.

The smile slid off Jesse’s face. She sighed and rubbed her forehead. How was she going to be productive today? She was usually a rock star at work. But even getting set up was taking her—shit, twenty minutes? She scrambled to finish her starting routine.

Nothing about the rest of her day didn’t suck. In addition to skipping breakfast, she’d forgotten to bring lunch, and she was too behind in her work to have time to eat anything more substantial than a granola bar Zach gave her—out of pity, no doubt. Every stray noise at work made her start, shredding her nerves to bits. She didn’t get a seat on either subway home, either. By the time she made it up to her apartment, she was too exhausted to do any better than a few slices off a block of cheddar cheese, which almost left her worse off than before.

Jesse collapsed onto her bed, still fully dressed, and lay prostrate on the quilt. Tears leaked from her eyes as she half waited for the front door to open and for someone to break in—again? For the first time? Had she even locked the door on her way in? She was too tired to go look.

She kicked her shoes off—only one actually fell onto the floor, the other landed somewhere out of reach on the bed. She had wanted to do laundry, finish her book, go dancing. She’d meant to go out. She’d even promised dances to a few people. But there was nothing for it. She was in no shape to go out, not when her gut cramped and her head spun. Distant noises from the building—a pipe groaning, a door slamming—made her flinch, but she was too exhausted to do anything more than that.

She cried herself to an early sleep.

—

Jesse woke with the dawn. She reached blindly for her phone, then realized it was still in her purse in the other room. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, staring down at her rumpled clothes in mild horror. God, how tired had she been? How long had she slept?

Too long, apparently. Her mouth was dry and her head throbbed with the telltale signs of dehydration. Ugh.

Jesse spent the morning lazily. She had locked the door on her way in last night—thank god for ingrained habits—and she changed out of her dirty work clothes into a cotton tunic and leggings. Much better for lounging. She mindlessly browsed the internet, refilling her water cup as often as she could bear to stand. The longer she sat at the kitchen table, her legs propped up on the second chair and friendly music playing from the stereo, the more she felt silly about yesterday’s paranoia.

Who would break in to her apartment? It was laughable. There were other, richer people in her neighborhood—even in her building. She lived on the third floor, for heaven’s sake. Nothing was missing, and there was nothing worth anyone’s salt on her computer or in her phone anyway. By lunchtime she was almost laughing at herself, and then she got a text from Bucky asking about the evening dance. Mike’s ominous warning echoed in her mind.

“Bad stuff happens around people like that.”

A chill ran through her. Jesse slammed her computer shut, silencing her peppy music, and clenched her fists. She took deep breaths through her teeth, all the forgotten anxiety flooding back.

“Dammit, Mike!” she muttered, eyes stinging. It took close to ten minutes to calm down enough to think rationally again.

What the hell. Why would someone break into her apartment to get to Bucky? She knew nothing special about him. All she knew—all that anything in her apartment would reveal—was that he’d gone dancing recently. How could that possibly be worth the trouble of a stealthy break-in in a multi-unit apartment building? And whatever Mike said or thought, there was really nothing to indicate she’d know more! Dancing with someone, however close, was not an indication of actual closeness.

Even if Bucky was a recluse, there had to be a more substantial lead than her. Wouldn’t anyone with the guts to go after Bucky need to be good enough to do better? Iron Man, the Falcon… Any random SHIELD operative, even. Surely they were the ones worth targeting, not her. Bucky had said so himself—she was normal, a nobody. If they could find her out, they had to be able to find out where Bucky lived himself. She certainly had no idea. But it couldn’t be any more complicated than just following Bucky home from dancing instead of her.

No.

Mike was wrong, she was wrong. Everything was fine. Everything was normal. She just needed to get over herself, and everything would be okay.

—

“We should lesson plan,” Jesse said to Bucky that night. She was sitting on the side of the room to recover from a string of uptempo songs, and for the first time she’d asked for a break before they danced. He’d promptly sat down beside her, which made her smile. Supersoldiers didn’t need to rest; he was here just for her sake. “The proposal is probably going to get approval, so it’d be good to have at least one lesson ready. Especially since the content of the first few lessons tend to get repeated quite a bit.”

“I thought you’d never done this before,” Bucky remarked.

Jesse blushed. “No, but I reached out to a friend who teaches at my alma mater. She lent me a few lesson plans, just so I could see what they looked like. They’re too barebones for my taste though. And we should figure out how we’re doing it ourselves.”

Bucky hummed. “You are full of information.”

“Is that a bad thing?” she asked, a little nervous. But he shook his head seriously.

“It’s good to be prepared.”

Jesse studied him out of the corner of her eye. Bucky was lost in thought. She wondered what was on his mind, but she had the feeling he wouldn’t answer even if she asked. For all that she’d seen him often these last two weeks, she still knew very little about him.

“Have you ever taught before?” she asked. It seemed like a safe question, compared to anything else. He tilted his head towards her, still not looking in her direction. “Apart from the Great Depression thing, I mean.”

“Yes,” he said slowly. “I have.” He fell silent again, his face darkening. The hair on the back of Jesse’s neck stood on end; he looked almost as frightening as her first glimpse of him back at the Stark benefit, when he’d frowned so sternly at her. But after a moment, he shook his head, expression lightening a touch. “Not in a classroom setting. Not… applicable.”

“Yeah,” Jesse said, as lightly as she could. “I feel that.” She bent in her seat to stretch her legs, staring out at the crowd. She recognized a bunch of people, including Mike. Mike hadn’t approached her yet; she couldn’t tell if he was avoiding her. As much as his comments had pissed her off and caused her anxiety, she was sure he’d meant well. And she missed dancing with him. It was worth apologizing, even if only for that.

But first…

A new song began, and Jesse’s lips curled into a smile. Slow, languid—a perfect song for dancing with Bucky.

“I’m good if you still want to dance,” she said.

“Mm,” he answered. He stood smoothly; she bounced to her feet and followed him onto the dance floor, barely containing her grin. Whatever else was going on, or wasn’t going on and was just in her head, these moments made it all worth it. She draped her arm over his and took his hand. He drew her close, and they started to dance.

Jesse’s head was turned outwards. She didn’t see anything around them; she was too focused on the warmth of his hand on her back and the feel of his strong arm under hers. The song was still in its quiet introduction, just quiet enough that Jesse could tell their breathing was matched. Her eyes slid shut, and she just breathed with him. It was the simplest dance she’d ever had, and yet she was completely satisfied.

At one point, Jesse turned her head to look up at him. Bucky glanced down with a little smile and fondly squeezed her right hand in his metal one. She smiled back and looked away, overwhelmed with sudden headiness. Heat flooded her face, her chest; her whole body warmed as they moved in tandem. She was too afraid to look at him again, not with so much heat in her face. She tried to keep her breathing even with his, though her heart was pounding. He didn’t need to know about the longing tightening in her ribcage, pooling in her gut—

No, he didn’t need to know. She could keep it to herself, where it belonged. To herself, she could only think that she’d never felt so agonized by a feeling that should have been wonderful.

Once the song ended, Jesse escaped quickly and went to the bathroom. She splashed cold water on her face, willing the flush to recede. It was dim in the ballroom, but not nearly dim enough to hide the glow in her cheeks. She glanced surreptitiously at the others going in and out; all the other white women had red in their cheeks too. From a different heat than hers, she suspected.

But it was awfully hot, though thankfully not particularly humid, tonight. Jesse studied her face in the mirror once she’d dried off. Any lingering blush on her cheeks could safely pass for an effect of the temperature. The rest… well, she’d just have to live with it. Dealing with her inexplicable want was on her, not anyone else. Not Bucky.

If she was smart about it, she’d probably pull back. Stop dancing with him so eagerly, stop with the plan for teaching together, stop checking for his texts.

But just the thought of dropping him so neatly gave her a pang of grief. He didn’t deserve to be abandoned. He shouldn’t have to deal with her issues any more than he made her deal with his.

Jesse shook her head and strode out of the bathroom, the heels of her dance shoes clicking on the floor. Time to face the music.

—

Jesse did talk to Mike that night, though less than an hour before the end. Jesse spotted him from the center of the crowd; Bucky had already left, and with him gone she felt better about approaching Mike once the song was over.

“Hey Mike,” she said.

“Hi,” Mike said. He put his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his feet. “How’s it going?”

“I’m alright,” Jesse said. “I wanted to talk to you about—”

“I said some dumb things,” Mike said quickly. “I’m sorry.”

“Oh.” Jesse blinked up at him, then smiled. “Well, thanks. I was going to apologize too. Would you like to dance?”

“Sure,” Mike said, and it was almost as good as that wonderful dance with Bucky. Once it was over, Mike squeezed her shoulders in a one-armed hug. “You coming out on Thursday?”

“Of course!”

He looked down at her. His smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Don’t be surprised if you see me before then.”

“Oookay,” Jesse said, bemused. “Well, um, I guess I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah, no doubt,” Mike said. He squeezed her shoulders one more time and vanished into the crowd.

So much for an ease of tension!

[riverrunfar]

We're gonna be okay

(Holy shit! You guys!! I didn't think my last post was gonna get that much attention! Over 100 notes?? Thats crazy im ajakfjsaujdh- thank you guys!! I personally thought that last post was complete garbage but idk about that anymore. Anyway I was rewatching Jacksepticeyes lets play of DBH and I wanted to write another fanfiction! Also I would really love some feedback on if you guys want some more Connor x Reader things! Thanks again that makes me super happy guys!)

Fandom: Detroit: Become Human

Paring: Deviant Connor x Detective Reader

Summary: You, Connor, and Hank get kicked from the deviant cases because of the hole war that was going on and everything and you had to leave Connor and Hank to warn Markus about it. Soon your faced with machine Connor with him pointing at gun at you and Markus. You got shot! Now what's gonna happen?! Read and find out!

Warnings: Swearing, blood, violence, wounds, and mentions of death. (Also spoilers?? I tired to write down what i remembered from the game but i know its not 100% accurate so don't come after me. Juussstt warnin ya! :))

(Honestly guys this story is kinda all over the place but i hope its still good. Its way longer then i wanted it to be but oh well. There might be some misspelled thing but oh well. I really don't feel like fixing them rn 😂 anyway i hope you like!)

"You're off the case." Fowler said. "Wait what??" you yelled as you looked at Captain Fowler in complete shock. "You can't pull the plug on us now! Not when were so close! Can't you have my back this one time?!-" Hank said. "This isn't in our hands anymore Hank! This is doesn't have anything to do with us anymore- this is a fucking civil war were talking about here! We have no control over this situation anymore!" Fowler yelled.

You stood there in complete shock. No way! They couldn't do this! Now what are you gonna do? You're gonna have to tell this to Markus right away!

"Hank your back on homicide. While the android goes back to Cyberlife." Fowler said as he nodded over to Connor. You looked at Connor with a concerned look. Connor looked at the floor for a second, then to you. You gave him a 'im so sorry' look and he just looked back at Fowler with a slightly sad look on his face. "As for Y/N, your back on the red ice investigation. They need you back there because they have barley gotten any leads since you left." Fowler said as he rubbed his head. You nodded and looked down at the ground as you shoved your hands in your pockets.

Hank walked out of Captain Fowler's office and you followed right behind him along with Connor. You sighed as you sat in a chair next to Hanks desk while Connor sat on Hanks desk. You bent over and put your head in your hands while Connor just looked at Hank for a second.

"We could have solved this! With just a little more time! We could have accomplished this mission!" Connor said with a frustrated tone. "So what? Now your headin back to Cyberlife huh?" Hank said as he looked over at Connor. Connor shook his head, "I have no choice. Im goings to be sent back and deactivated to see why I failed my mission." He said with a slightly sad and disappointed face. You looked up at Connor with a worried expression.

"But that isn't fair! You didn't do anything wrong! We just didn't have enough evidence! We weren't close enough! It's no ones fault! Especially not yours Connor!" You said in a defensive tone. Connor shook his head. You sighed and looked back down at your legs. Hank was about to say something but you stood up and walked in front of him and Connor.

You hugged Connor. You hugged him like it was the end of the world. You felt so bad for him. You always believed deviants were in the right and humans were in the wrong. Markus helped prove that along side with the rest of Jerico.

You had developed feelings for Connor over the last few months of working with him and Hank. You had a crush on the Android, you wouldn't deny it. So knowing that this would probably be the last time you saw him, you hugged him with everything you had.

Connor didn't know how to react. He didn't know if he should hug you back of if he should push you away. So he didn't do either. He just sat there. Shocked. While you hugged him. You understood that he didn't hug back, but it still hurt you non the less. Slowly you let go of him. You needed to go and report to Markus and the rest of Jerico about whats happening. But you didn't want to leave Connor. You looked at Connor with sad eyes as he just sat there, stunned. You looked down as you shook your head slowly, then you felt tears start to make there way to your eyes.

"Im sorry Connor but I need to go. I have to go do something." you said sadly as you looked up at him. He looked at you with a sort of sad expression.

'No!' he thought. He didn't want you to leave just yet. He wanted to spend his least moments at DPD with you! He didn't know why but he just wanted to stay by your side! And just be with you!

"Im...Im gonna miss you, you fuckin android..." you said as your voice cracked. You slowly leaned in and kissed Connors cheek. He was taken back and so was Hank. Poor Hank was so confused. He was just sitting there awkwardly as you too were in your own little world.

Connor didn't know what to do or how to react. This wasn't in his programming. This wasn't part of his software. He was so udderly lost for words. Poor boy. You chuckled softly at his reaction. But oh was that laugh music to Connors ears. He loved it and he realized he wanted to hear it more. But he couldn't.

You slowly let go of Connor and backed up away from him. Your touch still lingering on his shoulders. You sighed sadly and looked over at Hank. You put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a small peck on his head. Not knowing if you were gonna see him again either. You were going to go help Markus with the revolution and you had no idea if you were gonna make it out alive. Hank just looked up at you confused as ever as you looked down at him with a small smile.

"Bye you guys...i.." you trailed off as your voice cracked. "I'll miss you two..." you said softly. You felt your tears overflow and run down your face. You quickly turned around and walked away, out of DPD, and to go to Jerico to help Markus and the rest of the cause. All the while, Hank and Connor sat there confused and sad.

---------

You cautiously walked into Jerico and quickly found your way to the main room and ran up to wear Markus, Simon, North, and Josh were at the top of the ship.

You were panting by time you made it to them. They quickly turned around as you had scared them. Josh let out a relived sigh as Markus walked over to you. "Y/N what are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be-" You cut Markus off, "They kicked us off the case and are handing the 'situation' over to the fbi and the army. This isn't in my hands anymore. Which mean I have no idea what they plan to do anymore." you said this a forceful tone. Markus looked at you slightly stunned.

"But all i know is that there on to us. There close to finding out where Jerico is! So that means we need to be on high alert." you said with a stern tone. Markus nodded and looked back at North, Simon, and Josh. "Josh, Simon, North, go tell our people downstairs to be cautious and ready for anything that may happen. The 3 of them nodded and quickly left to go warn the rest of Jerico.

"Do you know what they know?" Markus said in a concerned tone. You shook your head. "All I know is that they know what Jerico is. I don't think they know WHERE Jerico is though." you said. Markus nodded. "What about 'the famous deviant hunter'? Where is he?" You were about answer when all of a sudden, you were cut off.

"Im right here." you heard Connor say with a stern tone. You quickly turned around to find Connor with a gun pointed directly at you and Markus. He was also in different clothing. Which, you would admit, he looked pretty good in.

"Connor?! Wait- how did you get here??" you asked as you face held complete shock in it. "I was ordered to take Markus here alive. And I won't hesitate to kill anything that stands in my way." Connor said as he pointed the gun directly at your head.

What the hell? This isn't your Connor! You Connor would never do this! He hasn't killed anyone since you started working with him! He isn't like this! He-

You were brought out of your thoughts when all of a sudden you heard a gun shot, then felt a sharp pain to your shoulder. No way.

No way!

Connor shot you!

You fell to the floor as you held on to your arm. Markus called your name, "Y/N!" but you could barley hear him. All you heard was ringing in your left ear. But soon after, the ringing went away and you could hear everything again. Now all you needed to focus on was the bullet shoved into your arm. You looked at your wound, man it looked way worse then it felt. You looked back over at Markus and Connor, and Connor still had the gun pointed at you. "That was a warning shot. Stay out of my way Y/N." he said with a cold tone. You looked at him with complete shock. You felt so betrayed. He told you that he would protect you! That he would save you! That he wouldn't do anything to hurt you! But that look in his eyes says otherwise.

All a sudden you felt something lift you up. It was Markus! He carefully walked up to you and helped you up. After you were standing again, he leaned his body against yours and whispered in your ear, "Go warn help the others. I'll be down soon." you furrowed your eyebrows and turned your head to look at him, but then stopped when he squeezed your arm as a sign to hurry. You looked at Connor and slowly walked forward. His gun still pointed at you. "Okay okay...i-i'll leave...just don't shoot me again." you said with a shaky voice. He looked at you with a cold stair. "I can't let you do that detective L/N. Im going to have to get rid of you first." he said coldly. He was about to shoot but Markus lunged forward and grabbed Connors gun and made him shoot at the ground. You quickly took your chance and ran out of there as fast as you could, and down to the main room with all the androids to get help.

Meanwhile Markus and Connor were fighting over the gun. Connor threw a left hook to Markus face, then Markus kneed Connor in his stomach. This made Connor fall to his knees and Markus was able to grab the gun and pointed it at Connors head.

"Its doesn't have to end this way Connor. You don't have to be like this anymore! They're just using you. We're your people! Come join us and our cause!" Markus said. Connor slowly got up and backed up away from Markus and said nothing. "You shot Y/N. She cares for you Connor. A lot. She wanted to help you become a deviant. You can be with her if you stop being a 'machine' and open your eyes to the reality of things." Markus said with a slightly smoother tone. Connor again said nothing. "Now I think its time for you to decide. Are you just some program, or are you a deviant?" Markus finally said. Connor looked at Markus with a cold look at first, but then it slowly softened as he looked around. He did it.

Connor became a deviant.

"They're going to attack Jerico." was the first thing Connor said. "What?!" Markus yelled. Then they heard what sounded like jets flying over them. "Shit!" Markus hissed as he ran out of the room, with Connor quickly following behind.

Connor ran behind Markus, but the only thing he could think about was how he shot you. He felt guilt in his chest but tried to push away the feeling, but he couldn't. He couldn't believe himself! He shot you! All he wanted to do was hold you and say he's sorry, but he wasn't even sure if he could do that anymore. You two would be lucky to survive this.

-------

You were running through the halls when all of a sudden you heard a loud BOOM sound. You quickly turned around to see soldiers running around the Connor towards your direction. "Shit!" you hissed. You quickly ran away from the soldiers while still holding on to your upper arm. Along the way you ran into Josh.

"Y/N!" you heard him scream. You stoped in your tracks and looked over to where you heard your name. He smiled slightly and quick ran over to you. When he got closer to you, his smiled quickly faded and you saw his eye dart to your wound. "Your shot-" you cut him off, "Yeah I know what I am- we need to get out of here! People are attacking Jerico!-" you were cut off by the sound of bullets flying past you. Josh quickly grabbed your right arm and pulled you to safety. You two stood there and waited for them to leave. Eventually you both knew that they were far enough, so you both booked it try to go find Markus and the others.

"Do you have any idea where the others are??" you said loudly, glancing over at Josh. "No! We got separated!" he said in a panicked tone. "Damnit!" you whispered. You whipped your head left and looked over to him, "We need to regroup! Can't you talk to them telepathically??" you asked. "No! Only when we're so close!" He said back to you. "Look out!-" he yelled as he pulled you into a little room as the soldiers went by. You two sighed, then carefully walked out, then started to run again.

"We just need to pray to RA9 and hope that we can find them!" he started up again. All a sudden you were tackled to the floor by a soldier! You yelled in pain as you landed on your wound. "Y/N!!" you heard Josh yell. You felt the weight of the soldier suddenly leave you. You looked over to see Josh fighting with the man. You quickly looked around to see if there was a weapon near by. Luckily for you, there was! You reached for the gun then quickly aimed it at the soldier. You felt the pain from your left shoulder shoot through you hole body but you forced yourself to ignore it.

"Josh! Hold him still!" you yelled at Josh. He did exactly that and held him in a choke hole. You quickly shot his head and watched as his body went limp. You sighed and looked at Josh. He nodded and you both took off again.

About five minutes later you ran into North and Simon. You called there names as the quickly turned around to see you and Josh. They smiled as you ran up to them and gave them both hugs! "Oh thank god you guys are alive!" you said thankfully. "We could say the same for you! He had no idea where you guys were so we just started running." North said. "Y/N your arm-" you cut Simon off, "Yeah long story but we don't have time! We need to find Markus-" this time you were cut off. You heard hurried footsteps, so you quickly turned you head only to see Markus and...

Connor?!

Connor looked at you with wide eyes as you did the same. You could hear Markus talking to north but you didn't really pay attention to him. Connor's alive?? Wait but does that mean-

Your thoughts were cut off when you heard Markus say, "We need to blow up Jerico." "Wait what?!" you yelled. "Markus that's suicide! You can't, you'll die- they'll kill you!" North said in a worried tone. "Its the only way!" Markus said, "I'll meet up with you guys again later, for now try to get everyone off the boat!" you heard him yell before he started running. You looked at North, and he nodded at you. "Let's get going then. Come on!" she yelled. You all ran to go help the other androids get to safety.

------

"Is that everyone??" Simon yelled. "I think so!" North yelled back. "Then lets get out of here!" Josh said as he started running. "What about Markus?!" you asked. "He'll meet up with us! For now we need to get to safety!" Connor said to you in a calm but rushed tone. You nodded and started running, but all of a sudden you heard gun shots. As you were running you got shot on the right side of your hip. It had barley gotten you, but it was still enough to make you bleed. You cried in pain and fell, quickly grabbing your hip, letting go of your other wound. Your right side was soon soaked with blood, and so was your hands. It was covered in it.

Connor looked back at you with a panicked expression on his face. "Y/N!!" He quickly picked up a large piece of metal as he ran over to you, shielding you and him from anymore bullets. He threw your right arm around his shoulder and helped you up, then turned you and him around as he through the metal at the soldiers, causing them to get knocked out.

"Are you okay?!" He asked in a panicked tone. "Y-yeah im fine! But we need to go! Or else were gonna die!" you said in a rushed tone. He looked at you with worried eyes, but then nodded. You and him both ran and eventually caught up to the rest of them. Also in time to meet back up with Markus too. You all made a run for the exit, but then you heard gun shots again, but this time you weren't the one getting shot.

"North!" you heard Markus yell. He quickly ran back to protect her. You let go of Connor, which causes you to stumble at first, but then quickly regain your balance as you went to go help them. "Y/N no!" you heard Connor yell at you.

You quickly pulled your gun out and started shooting at the soldiers, killing 2 of them. You saw the last one quickly aim at you, then fire. You prepared yourself to feel the pain of the bullet, but it never came. Instead, you felt a arm wrap around your chest and pull you safety. You looked to see who it was and you were slightly taken back to see that is was Connor! He spun you around and pushed you against his chest, being careful not to touch your wounds, then fired his own gun and killed the last soldier. You were shocked. He saved you!

You looked up at him and he looked down at you. He smiled softly at you and let go of you. Then his smile quickly faded as he grabbed your right hand, staining his own in your own blood. "Come on! We gotta get out of here! The things gonna blow!" he yelled at you. You nodded and started running with him.

Then you saw the ledge. Oh god! You guys were fucking high! Were you gonna survive that?! You didn't have anytime to think about stopping when all of a sudden you where snapped out of your thoughts by Connor yelling at you. "Pencil Dive!" was the only thing he said before he pulled you off with him. You didn't even get a chance to react. He made you jump with him cause he knew that you wouldn't jump other wise. You quickly held your breath as you put your arms to your sides and your legs together. Once you hit the water everything went dark. You passed out.

---------

You woke up cold and in a lot of pain. You opened your eyes slowly yo see you were in a old building. But you couldn't tell what building it was though. You quickly sat up and coughed violently. After you were done, you felt a comforting hand on your back. You turned around to see Connor with a worried expression on his face.

"Connor!" you said happily as you went to hug him, only have you thoughts snapped away as you felt pain shoot through your body. You flinched and whimpered quietly. You forgot that you had gotten shot and looked down at the floor. Then you noticed how your wounds were cleaned up, and that you had bandages on your arm and hip, then covered up by some wraps. Connor sighed and sat next to you, then putting his hand on your leg. You looked up at him with a sad face. But then you realized something. "Wait- Conner! You became a deviant??" you said taken back. He smiled and chuckled softly, then nodded. "Markus helped convince me. He helped me understand that im not just some machine. That im not just some thing that takes orders." he said as he looked at the ground. "He said all the things you used to tell me..." he said softly, almost in a whisper. He held a guilty look on his face. Then he looked back up, not to you, but to your wound on your arm, where he had shot you.

You looked at him with a worried expression, "Connor, its okay!" you said in a soft tone. "I know you didn't mean it-" he cut you off, "No Y/N! Its not okay!" he said as he voice cracked. "I...I fucking shot you!" he said as he looked up at you. You saw tears running down his face. You froze for a second, but then quickly collected yourself.

You put your hands on both sides of his face and wiped his tears away. You didn't care if this put you in more pain, you needed yo comfort Connor. "Its okay Connor. I know you didn't mean too. You were just following your orders. No one is blaming you for this. Im okay! It'll heal i promise!" you said in the softest voice you could manage. He looked at you with his big puppy dog eyes, and you saw tears start to form in his eyes again. This alone broke your heart. "Come here." you said softly as you brought him in for a hug. He wrapped his arms around your hips, being carful not to touch your wounds, as you wrapped your arms around his shoulders and held him tightly. He tucked his face in the crock of your neck, which made you giggle slightly. You stroked his hair and ran your fingers though it as a tactic to calm him down slightly. Luckily for you it worked and he soon stopped crying. He slowly started letting go of you as he backed up. When he finally came face to face with you he stopped, and kept his hands on your sides, as you kept your arms around his shoulders.

He looked at you sadly and rested his forehead on yours as he closed his eyes. "Im so sorry Y/N...im so so sorry..." he said quietly as he furrowed his eyebrows together. You frowned slightly and looked at him with a sad look. "Hey, look at me." you said softly as you put a hand on his cheek. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at you. "I forgive you Connor. I'll always forgive you. You could shoot me one hundred more times and i'll forgive you. You know why?" you asked. He kept his eyebrows furrowed. "Why?.." he asked quietly. Smiled a sweet smile and looked him directly in the eyes.

"Its because I love you."

Connors led went red, then yellow, then back to its beautiful shade of blue. "You...you do?" he asked hopefully. You smiled and nodded softly. "Yes. I don't when I fell for you but it was somewhere along the way of us being partners. But I think I realized i loved you when you saved me from falling of that edge when we were going to catch a one deviant, you know, the one that loved the pigeons and stuff." you said as you and him giggled. "You didn't have to save me then. But you did. You chose to save me instead of accomplishing your mission. That's when I realized you were going to become a deviant." you said as you giggled again. He just shook his head and smiled at you. "As time went on, I fell more and more in love with you Connor." you said softly as you looked at him. "Tell me Connor. Do you feel the same for me?" you asked quietly, but only loud enough for him to hear. He looked at you as a smile grew on his face. (In your opinion, it was the cutest smile you ever saw.)

"I do. I love you too, Y/N."

Connor said only loud enough for you to hear. You smiled widely as you eyes lit up. Oh god Connor just melted seeing your reaction. He thought it was the cutest thing ever. He put a hand on your cheek and smiled softly as you leaned into his touch. You wished this moment could last forever.

Sadly it couldn't.

Markus came over to you guys and coughed to get your guy's attention. You both turned to face him. "Sorry to interrupt, but, Connor were about to leave." Markus said calmly. You looked up at him questionably, "Wait, what do you mean?" you asked Markus. Markus sighed and looked at Connor. "You didn't tell her yet?" Markus asked, and Connor just shook his head. "I was getting there..."He said quietly. He then looked back at you with an apologetic look on his face. "Im going back to Cyberlife-" you cut him off, "Wait what?! Connor-" he cut you off as well and put his hands up in defence. "Let me finish! Im going back to Cyberlife to get the other androids there. If we get them, then we would be able to out number the soldiers and they would have no choice but to step down." he said calmly.

You looked at him, trying to process what he just said. "But Connor!- Love that's suicide! You can't do that! I-" he cut you off. "Trust me Y/N. Im gonna be fine." he said soothingly. You sighed and rubbed your face. Then let out a frustrated huff. "I can't make you change your mind, can I?" you said to Connor. He chuckled and shook his head. "Im afraid not Y/N." he said softly. You sighed again and nodded. "Okay fine. But you need to promise me one thing!" you said as Connor got up, then help you up. "And what would that be?" he said as he pulled you up to him. "You have to promise you'll come back to me." "But Y/N-" you cut him off, "No 'buts' Connor! You have to promise me you come back to me alive and safe! You got it?" you said as you poked his chest softly.

He sighed and nodded as he looked down at you. "Okay I promise i'll come back home safe and sound for you." he said softly. This made you smile, and he smiled right back at you as he gave you a kiss on your forehead. "Okay. Lets go drop you off at Hanks house so you can get a little more cleaned up and out of theses wet clothes." he said as he grabbed your jacket. You nodded and shivered. You didn't even realize how cold you were untill now. Connor noticed and took off his coat and put it around your arms. You smiled at his action even though you knew it wouldn't do anything, but you still thought it was a cute gesture.

-------

While taking a ride back to Hanks in taxi, you fell asleep on Connors arm. But he didn't minda at all. Infact he love you being so close to him. He was thinking about if he made it back alive, he would totally go straight to Hanks house to cuddle with you there. The thought brought a smile to his face.

Eventually you guys made it to Hanks house. Connor woke you up gently and told you that you had made it. Your face dropped from a smile to a small frown. Connor noticed this and kissed your cheek softly. "I'll be back later, Okay?" he said softly and you just nodded sadly. He sighed, "Do you want me to walk you up there?" he asked and you nodded fastly. He chuckled quietly, then got out of the car with you. He held your hand all the was up till you were at the door.

You turned to face him with a sad face. He smiled sadly and squeezed your hand slightly for reinsurance. "I'll be home before you know it, okay?" he said smoothly. You nodded and looked up at him. "Okay." you said softly. Then you did something that caught Connor of guard.

You kissed him on the lips.

He obviously kissed you back right away. He loved it. He loved the taste of you. The feel of you. He just wanted more of you.

Yeah he was definitely coming back to you. He thought. After about a minute of kissing, you two broke the kiss and just looked at each other, untill you broke the silence. "You should get going. Everyone will be waiting on you..." you said quietly as you messed with his shirt. He smiled and nodded. "Your right." he kissed your lips one more time. "I'll be back soon." he said finally before he got in the car and drove away to Cyberlife.

You walked in Hanks house only to find no body home. Well of course for Sumo but Hank was no wear to be seen. You decided to call him, but he didn't answer. You sighed and just welcomed yourself to his shower and some of his bigger clothes as you washed you soaked ones. Your sure he wouldn't mind right?

--------

Later on you found out that Hank was kidnapped by a fake Connor and you freaked out! But then he told you everything was fine and Connor got all the Androids to "wake up" and follow him to go help Markus and the rest of Jerico. This helped but you at ease.

Then the next day you found out that the Androids had won and are now getting their liberty and their rights! This made you the happiest you've ever been! They finally got what they deserved! You felt now you could truly relax! But wait!

Connor wasn't home yet!

And Hank wasn't at home anymore either after you thought about it. He left again? You asked yourself. You had fell asleep last night after Hank got home because you couldn't keep yourself up any longer. So you quickly kicked off the blanks Hank gave you last night, but got light headed as soon as you stood up. After you were fine again, you ran to your phone to call Hank or Connor. Neither of them answered and you went into panic mode!

Were they okay?! Did something happen to Connor?! Did something happen to Hank and Connor had to go help him?! Is Connor wounded at all?

All these thoughts were going through you head, when all a sudden you hear the door open. This quickly snapped you back to reality. You quickly turned around to see Hank and Connor both standing there with grins on their faces. You couldn't help but smile back at them.

Then you tackled the both of them with a hug, which they both gladly returned. Soon you let go and then smacked their arms softly. "Jesus you guys scared the shit outta me!" you practically yelled at them. They both laughed as you folded your arms. "Sorry, I guess I could have woken you up huh?" Hank said with a "im not really sorry" tone. This made you laugh and then nod. "Yeah you dick!" You said with an offended tone. Hank chuckled again and walked into his room to change. Which meant you and Connor were left alone.

He smiled brightly at you as you hugged him with all of your might. He hugged you back just as tight. "Im so happy you're home and safe!" you said quietly and tears started to form in your eyes. He let of the hug and looked at you as he kept smiling. "Of course! I promised you i'd come home to you, didn't I?" he asked and you nodded and let out a breathy giggle. You were so happy and just relived to see him home and safe and free!

Your tears slowly slid down your face as you smiled up at him. He still had his smile on his face as he wiped your tears away. Then he covered every inch of your face in kisses. You giggle happily as you hung on to his while you let him continue.

After he was done, he gently grabbed your chin and forced you to look up at him. When you to made eye contact he smiled softly. Which made you melt. You loved his smile. Slowly he leaned down and kissed you slowly. The kiss was full of passion and love! You could just feel the raw emotion radiating off of him. You turned your head to deepen the kiss and you could just feel Connor melt into your touch. You smiled into the kiss as you wrapped your arms around his neck. He followed you and wrapped his arms around your back, being carful not to touch your wounds.

After a few minutes of making out, you too broke the kiss and just looked at each other. You were both so happy and both feelings were so genuine. You hugged him again once more, then whispered in his ear, "I love you Connor." you said softly. He smiled a huge smile and whispered right back, "I love you too, Y/N." and kissed your head.

Then Hank came back in the room and made a fake gagging sound. Which made both of you laugh and look his way. Then Connor looked back down at you and said, "You think we're gonna be okay?" you smiled and nodded,

"Yeah, we're gonna be okay."

End

AHH ANOTHER ONE DONE!! YEAH!!!! I hope you guys liked this one cuz honestly for me this is a piece of shit but ya know what oh well. I hope it was good cut it took a fuckin long ass time to write!

[fardell24b]

Quinn’s Code 15 Yeager 0.68 Beta, Morgendorffer 1.05 RC

Yeager 0.68 Beta, Morgendorffer 1.05 RC

“I'm going to make some bread, Daria,” Helen said as she pulled out a breadmaker and set it on the counter.

 “Isn't that what supermarkets are for?” Daria asked, wondering just what her mother was up to.

 “The Yeagers are coming for the weekend, and I can't serve them store-bought bread.

 “Why not?” Daria asked.

 “I haven't seen them for twenty five years, and let's just say they know a different Helen. A Helen famous for her oatmeal pumpkin seed loaf,” Helen explained.

 “And just what have you done with this Helen?”

 There was then the sound a car horn.

 “They're here! I hope they don't think I've changed too much,” she said as she primped her hair.

 “Just be yourself. That's what you've always told me.”

 “I could kick myself for that,” Helen said.

 Daria smirked.

  Daria's sister, Quinn Morgendorffer saw a yellow Beetle pull up. 'Just like Jennifer's,' she thought. She then saw a couple in their late forties, dressed like they hadn't changed their styles since they were teenagers, get out of the car.

 “Willow! Coyote!” Helen called out.

 Willow went up to Helen. “Wow, Helen!”

 Thus the Morgendorffer's and the Yeagers reintroduced themselves to each other. A German Shepherd came out of the car and sat next to Willow. “Why, even Leary is exactly the same.”

 “Come here, boy! Don't you remember old Jake?”

 Helen was confused. “Wait, that can't be Leary. He'd be almost thirty by now!” she said.

 “This is Leary number three,” Willow explained.

 “We had to replace the original a couple times,” Coyote said.

 “If only you could do that with Timothy Leary, huh, man?” Jake asked with a laugh.

 “They're working on it, man,” Coyote responded.

 “Well, these two are irreplaceable,” Helen said. She moved aside. “Our girls, Quinn and Daria.”

 Willow clasped Daria's hands. “You have a very old soul,” she said.

 “It just looks mature for its age,” Daria responded.

 “Are they retro, or are they just the same?” Quinn asked Daria after Willow had wandered off. She wasn't sure.

 “I think it's the latter,” Daria answered.

 “Let's get your bags, man!” Jake said.

 “We travel light,” Coyote said.

 Daria sighed. “In the head. I gotta get out of here before I catch any more good vibes,” she said, distaste showing in her voice.

 Quinn objected to that. “Daria, you can't leave me alone with the hippies!” She was sure that she would get bored with their reminicing rather quickly.

 “You can learn a bit more about Mom and Dad!”

 Quinn changed her mind. “Deal!” she said. 'I'll invite Cindy, Kristen and Stacy over. And Maybe Kristen's Mom,' she thought.

 “Ethan, come and meet the girls!” Coyote said.

 A teen boy emerged from the Beetle. “Hi! I'm Quinn!”

 Daria took the opportunity to make herself scarce.

 Quinn didn't notice. She only had eyes for Ethan...

  Fifteen minutes later, Daria arrived at her friend, Jane Lane's, house.

 She found Jane and her other close friend, Jennifer Burns, in her brother, Trent's, room. They were talking to Trent and his friend Jesse Moreno. Jesse and Trent were comparing different methods of music storage.

 “Zappa CD. Zappa Vinyl. Zappa Downloaded,” Trent said as he changed the sound inputs.

 “All sound the same to me,” Jesse said.

 “And you call yourself a musician?”

 “No, I call myself an interpreter of sound,” Jesse responded.

 “Top secret experiment?” Jane asked.

 “My parents gave me their old records to sell at the flea market, but now Trent wants to keep them,” Jesse explained.

 “It's the warmph of vinyl...”

 “You're tuned to the radio,” Jane said as she turned off the radio.

 “I was wondering why Zappa was selling fish sticks,” Trent mused.

 “We have to be there by seven to set up,” Jesse complained.

 “No problem, Daria and Jen are early birds,” Jane said.

 “I get up early,” Jennifer spoke up.

 “There is nothing like watching the sun rise, except watching the sun set in reverse,” Daria said. 'They haven't missed much!' she thought.

 Trent and Jesse laughed. “Good one, Daria,” Trent said.

 “Thanks,” Daria said.

 “OK, this time, let's reverse the polarity of the plug. I'll stand facing west,” Trent said as he stood. up.

 “Are you nuts?” Daria asked.

 “Hey, you could always go on home and swap yogurt recipes with the Yeagers,” Jane said.

 Daria grumbled.

 “You should thank me. It's a chance for you to spend some quality time with Trent. The flea market is so romantic this time of year,” Jane teased. She turned to Trent and Jesse. “So, the flea market, we're there.”

 “Cool,” Trent said.

 Daria found the Lane's phone and called home. “Eric?” Helen asked.

 “No, Mom. It's Daria.”

 “Are you still at Jane's?”

 “Yes. Jane says I can stay over tonight. Can I stay over?”

 “I was hoping you would want to get to know our friends.”

 “My old soul has already made their acquaintence ina previous lifetime.”

 “Well that frees up some space for Ethan. He can take the guest room, and I can put Willow and Coyote in your room.”

 “You're going to put them in my room? You better tether them to the bed so they don't float away.”

 Helen laughed.

Daria went over to where Jane and Jennifer were watching the TV.

“A nightmare story of an enchanted kiss gone horribly wrong when Sick Sad World returns.”

 “Okay, I can stay. You have anything for me to sleep in?”

 Jane went over and got an old dressing gown.

 “Not that!” Daria said.

 Jennifer spoke up. “I go to my place get some spares.”

 “That would be a good idea,” Daria said with a glare at Jane.

  Back at the Morgendorffer, Quinn showed Ethan Daria's room. “This is where Daria sleeps and composes her music,” she said.

 Ethan looked at the room. “Cool! What kind of music?”

 “Metal. She says it suits her mood.”

 “It probably does,” Ethan mused. “Tell Mom and Dad that I'm sleeping here.”

 “You're not sleeping now?” Quinn asked.

 “It has been a long trip,” Ethan explained. He then went in and closed the door.

 “I guess I'm gaming tonight afterall,” Quinn mused.

   Saturday, April 1, 2006

Trent knocked at Jane's bedroom door, and opened it.

 “Come back at six,” Jane said sleepily.

 “It is six,” Jesse pointed out.

 “Then how come you're so damn chipper?” Jane asked with annoyance.

 “It was easier to stay up all night than to wake up early,” Trent answered.

 “We'll load the van,” Jesse added.

 “Van?” Jane asked.

 “You know, the Tank,”

 “Oh, goody,” Jane said.

  Back at the Morgendorffers, Quinn met Ethan at breakfast. “Hi, Ethan,” she said, with a meaningful lilt to her voice.

 “Hi, Quinn,” Ethan said, not taking the bait.

 “Want to have a look around Lawndale?” Quinn asked.

 “You mean Lawndale's malls?” Ethan asked. “Pass.”

 “Wait! There's that Big Strawberry. We could go see that,” Quinn suggested.

 “That actually sounds interesting,” Ethan considered.

 “So, you'll come?” Quinn asked.

 Ethan sighed. “Sure.”

  Daria, Jane, Jennifer, Jesse and Trent had arrived at the flea market. They had unloaded the Tank, and then started sorting through the LPs. Although the latter two had fallen asleep.

 “Should I fille this under 'self indulgent posers' or 'underrated geniuses'?” Daria asked.

 “I'm not sure,” Jennifer said. “You could just file them alphabetically,” she suggested.

 “But that would be boring,” Daria complained. “I guess they call it a flea market because it makes you want to flee.”

 “Oh, relax. We're going to do well today,” Jane said. “We have a choice location,” she added sarcastically. She indicated the booth next door, where a man was selling 'patriotic' toilet seat covers which were adorned with the faces of various presidents (including the current one).

 Then an obese lady approached the booth. “I'm looking for snow domes. You got any, girls?” she asked. Daria seemed to remember her from somewhere.

 Daria said. “Sorry, Ma'am. All we have are these strange, flat disks the aliens left behind. You know about the aliens, don't you?”

 Jennifer sighed.

 “You enjoy working with the public, don't you,” Jane said.

 Daria grumbled.

 Quinn knocked on Daria's bedroom door. Ethan opened it. “Are you ready?” Quinn asked.

 “Of course,” Ethan said. He could see that Quinn had changed into slightler flashier clothes, although they still displayed her partiality for a certain cyberpunk movie.

 “Let's go then,” Quinn said. Ethan then followed her downstairs.

  Willow saw her son and Quinn come down the stairs. “Hi, Ethan, you're up early,” she said as she completed a Yoga move.

 “Quinn is showing me around Lawndale,” Ethan said.

 “Not to the malls, I hope?” Willow asked.

 “No, the Big Strawberry, whatever that is,” Ethan said.

 “That sounds like a 'tourist trap' place. Be careful.”

 “I will, Mom.”

 Willow then started meditating, for the third time that morning.

  Quinn and Ethan said goodbye to Helen before heading out.

  Back at the flea market, an annoyance arrived at the stand in the form of Charles Ruttheimer III, known amongst the students of Lawndale High as 'Upchuck'.

“Hello Ladies! I didn't know you were of an entrepreneur bent. Perhaps you would be so kind as to show me you goods?”

 “Upchuck, what are you doing here?” Jane asked with annoyance.

 “I am on a quest for the Holy Grail of fast food premiums. A complete 1993 California raisins posable eraser set. Only mint condition will do,” Upchuck explained. He nooded at Trent and Jesse. “Your investors?”

 “Silent Partners,” Jane answered.

 Upchuck nodded. But before he could say any retort, another man appraoched the booth.

 “Do you by any chance have a copy of Neighborhood Threat?” he asked.

 “No, but we do have Non-Threatening Neighborhood,” Daria answered. The guy thought for a moment and left.

 “I wonder if I may provide you gals with a lesson in salesmanship. It's a once in a lifetime offer,” Upchuck siad.

“No!” Jennifer objected.

 “How about once in two lifetimes,” Daria countered.

 “Now, now, let the boy show us how to do it. Then we won't have to,” Jane said.

 “Are you sure?” Jennifer asked in a whisper.

 “Yes,” Jane answered, waving Jennifer's concern aside,

  Meanwhile. Quinn and Ethan, met Quinn's friend Cindy Brolsma outside the grounds of the Big Strawberry. “Hi, Quinn,” Cindy said.

 “Hi, Cindy,” Quinn said.

 “And this is Ethan?” Cindy asked, with an appraising eye.

 “Yes,” Quinn answered.

 “He's cute,” Cindy responded.

 “Cindy!” Quinn called out playfully.

 “Well, he is,” Cindy said, equally playfully.

 Ethan held back a sigh. “Are we going up?” he asked.

 “Yes,” Quinn answered.

  They entered the grounds of the Big Strawberry. “How much is it to go to the top?” Quinn asked Cindy.

 “Not sure, it was five dollars each a few years ago,” Cindy said after some thought.

 “Exorbitant,” Ethan commented.

 “Probably,” Cindy said.

  “You see, ladies, trying to close a sale without proper technique is like playing cards without a full deck. You must treat your customers like a king. This is the ace up your sleeves. You're a joker if you don't, and you'll be left with jack,” Upchuck explained.

 “Is that really the best analogy?” Jennifer wondered.

 “I think so, Ms. Burns,” Upchuck answered.

 Seeing that Daria and Jane were not interested (and were in fact ignoring Upchuck), Jennifer stepped closer and asked; “Tell me more.”

  Cindy, Ethan and Quinn looked out over Lawndale from the top of the Big Strawberry. “Wow,” Ethan said. He hadn't expected the town to look pretty. 'I suppose it is the trees,' he thought. Many of the streets and yards had well established trees growing.

 “That's nothing compared to the Fall,” Cindy said.

 Ethan looked back to the vista in front of them. He supposed it would look a lot prettier when the leaves had changed colors. He turned to Quinn. She was standing quite close to him. He moved over so that she wasn't in his personal space. “Is there something you want to say, Quinn?” he asked.

 “Huh?” she asked.

 “Quinn, you're tongue-tied.”

 “Oh, yeah,” Quinn realized.

 “Quinn,” Ethan said. “You're nice and all, but we only met yesterday,” he added, trying to let her down gently.

 “Oh!” Quinn said in disappointment.

 “However,” he said. He saw Quinn perk up again. “We can be friends.”

 “Sure,” Quinn said with less disappointment.

 “Are there other places we can look at in Lawndale?” Ethan asked.

 “None quite so high,” Cindy answered.

 “But there are other places?”

 “Yes,” Cindy answered.

  Meanwhile, back at the flea market, business had been slow for Upchuck and Jennifer. “Ah, Mr. DeMartino,” Jennifer pointed out.

 Upchuck saw the history teacher approach them. “Mr. DeMartino!”

 “Well, Charles Ruttheimer, and Jennifer Burns. What is it, Charles?” He could see that Jennifer wouldn't speak.

 “As a man of culture and breeding, I thought you might be interested in some of our audio gems.”

 “Is this a pathetic attempt at flattery, Mr. Ruttheimer? An obvious smoke screen for your calculated attempt to separate me from the payments I receive each week for babysitting a bunch of determined idiots?”

 “Eep!” Jennifer said. She ducked down behind the counter.

 “I just wanted to sell you some records...” Upchuck said in a frightened voice.

 “You have anything by Annette Funicello?” DeMartino asked.

 “Certainly,” Upchuck said, he began to look through the records.

  A while later, Upchuck was making a roaring sale. Or so he thought. “Is this the best you can do?” a customer asked.

 “Afraid so,” Upchuck responded.

 “Well, then I'm just going to walk away,” the customer said. He turned. “I'm walking!” He walked away, but then returned. “Okay, fifty five cents,” he said, handing that amount over to Upchuck and taking an LP.”

 By this time, Trent had woken up. “Thanks man,” he said. He held out his hand. Upchuck gave him the money.

 “What about my commission?” he asked.

 “Hey, you're working for free,” Trent said.

 Upchuck sighed.

 “Well, Trent, now that you've returned to the land of the living, maybe you and Daria can go get us some soda. With caffeine?” Jane suggested.

 “No problem,” Trent said. “Coming?”

 “Sure,” Daria said with a blush.

 “Take your time,” Jane said.

 After Daria and Trent had walked off, Jesse said “I could use a burger!”

 “I'll go with you,” Jane said. She turned. “Jen, could you watch the booth with Upchuck?”

 Jennifer looked at Upchuck, uncertainly, “Sure,” she said.

 “I can handle it!” Upchuck added.

 Jane and Jesse then left.

 Upchuck then saw a man walking past the booth, reading a magazine. “Excuse me! Is that a vintage copy of Eyefull?”

 “1969,” the man answered.

 “Where did you find such a treasure?”

 “That booth over there,” the man pointed out.

 Upchuck then left the booth to find more copies of the magazine, leaving Jennifer to tend it, alone. “Great!” she murmured. The man then looked at the booth. “May I help you?” Jennifer finally asked.

 “What LPs do you have?” he asked.

 “A great many,” Jennifer answered.

 “Could you show me?” he asked.

 “Of course,” Jennifer said quietly. She started showing the man the various LPs.

 “I'd like all of those,” he said.

 “Sure,” Jennifer said. She began showing the man the various LPs. Unfortunately, she suddenly realized that she needed to go to the bathroom... 'Oh no!'

  After going to two other places in Lawndale, Cindy, Ethan and Quinn arrived back at the Morgendorffer house. They could see that something had happened.

 Jake and Coyote were lounging on the hood of the beetle. “What's up, Dad?” Ethan asked. “Looks like the berry juice has fermented again,” he said aside to Cindy and Quinn.

 “Reminicing,” Coyote said, not entirely convincingly.

 “Come on, I bought some slush cups,” Ethan said.

 “Wouldn't they have melted?” Cindy asked.

 “Probably,” Ethan said.

 “We can eat them out back,” Quinn said.

 “That will work.”

  Jane and Jesse were walking back to the booth, sodas in hand. “You see, my theory is that our primitive hunting instinct has no outlet in modern society,” Jane said.

 “Cool,” Jesse said. He slurped his soda.

 “So, rather than stalking animals, we substitute it with the shopping experience, and hunt for objects,” Jane added.

 “Cool,” Jesse said again.

 Jane was exhasperated. “And then, Jesse, while we're asleep, those objects come to life and plot their secret take over of civilization. April 1st, 2014. That's the day they make their move!”

“Cool!”

 “But they could make it sooner!” Jane said, trying to get Jesse to react.

  “I don't know, all these people swapping useless junk. Maybe the Yeagers are onto something. At least they are not caught up in constant state of consumer frenzy,” Daria said.

 “Yeah , I guess if you're gonna insits on holding onto something from the early Seventies, peace and love beats a Mission Impossible lunchbox,” Trent said.

 “Especially if the lunch is still in it,” Daria added.

 “Well, let's go give Jesse and Jane a break,” Trent suggested.

 They then ran into those two. “Too late,” Daria said.

 “Who's watching the booth?” Trent asked.

 “Jen and Upchuck,” Jane said.

 “I don't think the latter is...” Daria said. She pointed to where the wannabe Casanova and their history teacher were rummaging through boxes of magazines.

  “You have redeemed yourself, Charles. Woof!” DeMartino was saying.

  “Um... Where's Jennifer?” Daria asked when she saw the ransacked booth.

 The girl in question appeared. “Sorry! I had to go to the bathroom!” She said.

 “Figures!” Daria said, annoyed at the circumstance.

 “You're forgiven,” Jane said. She turned to Upchuck, and grabbed him by the ear. “You should have seen when Jen left the booth!”

 “Um, less to carry home?” Upchuck said in a hopeful tone.

 “Daria?” Jane asked.

 “It's not worth it,” Daria said after a moment of thought.

  As they drove away from the flea market in the Tank, Jesse said. 'Well, we do have three copies left of 'Boston'.”

 “At least we're not money grabbing capitalist pigs, right, Daria?” Trent asked.

 “Yeah, we're hard core believers in voluntary simplicity,” Daria said.

 Jennifer looked at Jane in confusion.

 “Don't look at me!” Jane said.

  Cindy, Ethan and Quinn had gone to the Pizza place. “No, they never formally charged them, but they did keep them there in jail for the next day,” Ethan said.

 “Wow!” Quinn said, as she put the information in her PDA. “This has gotta be worth at least twenty five bucks. Now, tell me again about how Mom punched out the cop?”

 Cindy sighed.

  It was late when Daria, Quinn and Ethan arrived back at the Morgendorffers. “Girls, I expected you for dinner!” Helen admonished. “Before I officially ground you, would you care to account for your whereabouts?”

 “Sure,” Daria said. She took out a notepad. “But first, a few questions. “Number one: Why did you and Dad spend a night in jail in Boulder in August, 1976?”

 Helen gasped. Then Daria asked another question...

   Sunday, April 2, 2006

The Yeagers were ready to leave.

 “Ethan?” Quinn asked, once their fathers had said goodbye.

 “Yeah?”

 “You never told me whether you thought I was, you know, cute?”

 “Oh, well, sure you're cute.”

 “Thanks.”

 “And you're knowledgeable about stuff,” Ethan added, uncertainly.

 “Yes...” Quinn prompted.

 “But you're too invested in your identity as a 'geek'.”

 “What? What do you mean?” Quinn asked, confused.

 “There's more to life than being interested in video games, anime, computers or minutiae of science fiction,” Ethan said.

 “Of course, there is,” Quinn said. “I'm not shallow!”

 “I'm not saying you are,” Ethan responded. “You just need to have your priorities straight.”

 “Right...” Quinn said. She had something to think about.

  Soon, the Yeagers had left. “Daria, do you think long-distance relationships are a good idea?” Quinn asked.

 “Why are you asking me?” Daria asked.

 “Something Ethan said...”

 Daria was about to add something to that when Jake interrupted. “You know, kids, it's pointless to try to go back in time. You have to live in the present, and I'm going to start right now. First things first: I'm getting rid of all my vinyl records. Hey, Daria! You want 'em? ”

[pirate-queen-randomness]

Prompt List of  Solangelo One Shots:

This list of 32 prompts can be used by anyone wanting to create work on A03, send me a link if you are going to use it so I can see them as well if you want!

- Where one person is famous and sets up a dating account with their real picture and the other sees it and is like, oh dude you are not fooling anyone with that picture and when they actually meet the other is pissed because DUDE YOU’RE THAT FAMOUS PERSON and the other is like, yeah, I mean, I thought you knew…

- I’m egging a random person’s house to relieve stress and you join me and as it is your ex’s and now they are chasing us as well as the police and now we’re both in jail waiting to be bailed so um you want to talk about it?

- Supernatural High School AU Vampire!Nico/Witch!Will. We meet because I need a vile of vampire venom for a potion and my demon best friend said you’re the person to talk to.

- We’re both in the brass section of the marching band and you never stop making ‘horny’ puns.

- You think I always forget pencils in this class, but I just want to talk to you and now have a little over 200 pencils at home.

- I’m a single parent bringing my kid to school and you run the overpriced ice cream cart and keep guilt tripping me into buying your expensive shit for my kid but I swear I didn’t see you walking beside us and I just wanted to make my daughter happy by driving through the biggest puddle in the road later on.

- Solangelo as thieves who accidentally try to rob a bank at the same time and team up. Nico complimenting how sexy Will looks while weaving their way through an intricate network of deadly lasers. Nico then as soon as Will makes it across, turns off the lasers and just walks through.

- I was walking by the roller coasters and SOMEONE’S SHOE FLEW OFF AND HIT ME IN THE HEAD.

- We are panicked yelling in unison because of lost baggage in between connecting flights and now we’re stuck-in-an-airport-because-the-flights-were-SO-VERY-delayed-and-it’s-like-two-am. When the plane does come; we’re sitting next to each other on this plane and I was eating gummies, but I left all the red ones cause they’re absolute shit and now you’re asking if you can have them.

- It’s the middle of the night and I’m walking home alone in the dark and there’s this guy following me and he’s starting to gain on me and I found this phone booth with a lock on the door and I tried to call my best friend, but my hands were shaking so badly I accidentally dialled the wrong number and I don’t even know you but help me.

- I was super pissed, so I went to the gym even though it’s late at night, so I was the only one there and I was at the punching bag listening to music and you surprised me by tapping me on the shoulder, holy shit I didn’t mean to punch you, I’m so sorry, but seriously why the hell would you surprise SOMEONE WHO IS ANGRY AND PUNCHING THINGS. It turns out you always come to this gym to work out because holy god you can’t stop watching me training because it’s so hot.

- The mailman constantly mixes up your home address and mine together and keeps on sending me your letters and packages and I’m sorry I look through them, but I read some letters from your ex and oh my god do you want me to go with you to police or something?

- What do you mean I didn’t try to pick-pocket you your butt is just amazing?

- We’re neighbours who don’t really talk but your cat might have gotten my cat pregnant, so we must raise this little kitty family together.

- I decided to take a shortcut home that involves crawling through a tight hole in a fence and I end up getting stuck and you just happen to past by and after poking fun at me for a million years you finally decide to try and help me.

- It’s 2am and I was just trying to get home, but I left my sunroof open all day and now there’s a squirrel in my car and it scared me and I drove into a pole – would you please stop laughing you’re a cop. you’re supposed to be helping.

- I went out to throw the garbage in the most unflattering clothes and there was a flash from a camera and for a good five minutes I was trying to fight you because I thought you were going to make fun of me/perving, but it turns out you found a pretty butterfly near where I was.

- I’m in the library researching for this giant assignment that’s 90% of my grade I haven’t slept or gotten anything besides coffee in two days I am going to explode in rage if you don’t shut the fuck up this SECOND. Turns out you and your friends have been playing the penis game in the library for the last five minutes and none of you have gotten above a quiet yell and I’m really just trying to study over here so I’m going to put an end to this by winning the game

- You’re so attractive but every time you open your mouth I want to strangle you how did you end up in my apartment exactly how many tequila shots did I have last night. Also, why are you sitting in my living room with a goat in a poncho, and how did you get the goat in here since I live on the 12th floor?

- Its 4 am and I’m drunk as fuck in a McDonalds and you have been watching my trying to eat this burger for 30 minutes; want to help me?

- Were at a club and although you’re a shitty dancer your also really fucking adorable so I decide to say hi and you end up accidentally hitting me in the face and fucking hell I think you broke my nose.

- A toddler broke your nose and I may or may not have snapped my thumb during a very intense game of Mario Kart and now we’re both sitting next to each other in the hospital waiting room watching my best friend try to fight your best friend for the next appointment.

- I’m scared of the dentist, so I brought my best friend along for support, but they’ve been flirting with the dentist for the past fifteen minutes and now I’m third wheeling at my own dentist appointment and hallucinating on the drugs.

- Army man & nurse/therapist I’m supposed to see but man fuck off. shit you’re cute

- It’s exam week and I run a coffee shop near the campus and you walked right into my glass door I’m laughing so hard oh my god. You start coming in regular and a friend says the only reason the cafe is popular now is because people enjoy eating while watching our relentless flirting with each other, but I swear to God we’re not flirting because you never talk much, but now these two assholes are harassing me and you step in and defend me. I really like you and I thought you liked me back until you walked in here with a date later on and whoops would you look at that I keep spilling stuff on them.

- Black Friday/black coffee: you’re sitting in front of the only plug in this entire coffee shop and not using it. I don’t care how attractive you are, I’m sitting at your table because I need that plug au.

- I work at a public market and some viral advertising campaign is filming videos across from my stall. And therefore, blocking my stall. Listen, buddy, I know you’re just doing your job, but this is getting ridiculous- oh shit you’re cute and its turns out you actually only work in the new stall next to mine and neither of us can get any work done because of the film crew so…hey?

- We both work at the same company and I kind of had a crush on you until I found out that you were the thieving asshole that kept stealing my lunch from the office refrigerator so now we’re in a meeting where there’s a semi-formal dress code and I’m slaying in my outfit, but you showed up in jeans and a sweatshirt and I’m really trying not to go over and get on to you for it and your actions. So, I just vent a little to my friend and you heard us I’m so sorry I didn’t want to be rude or anything- but seriously dude? / I forgot about the dress code at this meeting and can tell you’re bothered by it and now I’m torn between feeling bad about my clothes and being amused at your indignant reaction and I’m the sarcastic techie who got dragged into running your stupid presentation before suddenly we’ve been taken hostage Die Hard style.

- We take the same elevator every day and due to a misunderstanding, I assumed you didn’t speak English and I’ve been talking to my friend about how hot you are for three weeks and apparently my friend has known from the start, but you agreed not to tell me because you both think it’s hilarious what the fuck.

- Guest/Talk show host who flirt, do you do this with everyone? it’s been a week and oh my god, our fans are shipping us

- I understand that you’re my bodyguard but that was a freaking FRISBEE not a nuclear bomb Jesus Christ - Hey why are you still on top of me and why have I not noticed how beautiful you are?

- We somehow got stuck overnight in an ikea and I just want to go to sleep in one of the display beds but you’re slowly convincing me that it’d be fun to see how much shit we can get into before the morning staff come to open up the store.

[aspinonbusinesspractice]

When Apple removed its old charge plug and then its earphone jack from an iPhone-to what end?

Yes. Business is usually well and good, and the profit motive is usually a force for good. It creates hard work that will create something the customer will find useful. Usually. Generally, what is good for the business is good for the customer. There are exceptions.

One was when Apple first removed the original plug hole, and then on a later version the earphone jack, from their iPhones. It’s fairly easy to see why if you got a new iPhone: people then had to buy a new charger, and then new set of headphones, designed by Apple, often from the Apple store itself, to listen to anything from their iPhone.

Yes. Apple stood to make a lot of money, and I’m sure they did. Nothing of value was done for the customer. The customer lost.

Is this ethical? I don’t think so. I wish Apple had not done this, even if profitable.

Yes, you heard me. I think businesses should forgo profit if it harms society. I think making someone buy a new phone charger and set of earbuds when there old ones worked perfectly fine is doing just that. It harms society.

I only advocate win-win situations. No win-lose situations.

Businesses can stand to make a profit to the detriment of society. Grocery and convenience stories certainly make a profit selling cigarettes at their counters. They also cause health problems for their customers.

Am I comparing Apple’s decisions to something like this? No. I’m saying I think we need to remember that not everything good for the income statement is good for society. Many people cannot easily afford to buy new phone chargers and new headphones.

Also if a prominent and respected political commentator (Rush Limbaugh) was able to say greed is basically good, and feeds more mouths than charity, and a famous movie Wall Street has the famous tag line Greed is Good, it’s safe to assume enough people believe greed is basically good. By the way, I do support self-interest, just balanced with the interest of our society. Rush’s quote:

Whatever subset of people you want to talk about, what has fed more people, greed or charity? . . . It’s a multiple-choice question with two possibilities: Greed or charity . . . That’s right: Greed! Greed has fed more mouths than charity ever could. If you don’t like the word “greed,” use “self-interest.”. .

Actually charity has fed more mouths than greed, in the literal sense. It actually has fed every single mouth. Your mother did not feed you, each day, for 18 years, out of greed. Parents make sacrifices. In truth, it’s cheaper to save the money spent on groceries, and when you retire, have the saved money take care of you rather than family. No, she fed your mouth purely out of love.

Lastly greed is not actually the same as self-interest (sorry, Rush, I don’t agree with you). Healthy self-interest will let you look out for yourself, but also other people too. It’s a fair game. Pure greed is defined as

intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth, power, or food.

Self-interest is

A concern for one's own advantage and well-being

What’s saying a business can’t balance its needs with the customers needs?

[choisgirls]

i'm so so so sorry for bothering, i just absolutely ADORE YOUR BLOG. LIKE HOLY HELL, YOUR BLOG IS THE REASON WHY I GO ON TUMBLR. ITS MY FAVORITE BLOG, WHY AREN'T YOU FAMOUS FOR THIS BRAH. but i do have an ask! how about an RFA + V + Saeran reacting to the MC fluently playing an instrument? i understand if you can't but it would really make me happy if you could! 🖤

A/N: You totallyaren’t bothering!!! Don’t ever think that!! ^^ BUT OMG WOWOWOW REALLY??? US??THIS BLOG?? YOUR FAVOURITE?? ARE YOU SURE??? i am but a lowly 404;;;; ~Admin 404

*YOOSUNG:

               -He could hear this faint,whimsical sound through his headphones but he had no idea where it was comingfrom??

               -Until he took off hisheadphones to ask you about it and heard it 10x louder

               -It sounded.. magical! Soft andairy, he had no idea what it was though?

               -He found you sitting in the shower,holding some sort of long, metal thing in front of your mouth and his headtilted to the side like a confused pup

               -“MC? What is that? Andwhy… are you sitting in the shower with it?”

               -You quickly got embarrassed andset down your instrument, trying to look busy with your sheet music

               -“I, um,” you startedto turn bright red, knowing you’ve been found out. “It’s called a flute.Lame, I know, but I’ve been playing since I was younger and really liked itmore than the others. I even got into a symphony with my playing… and as forsitting in here, well.. the acoustics are better in here. It sounds nicer to myears than if I were to practice in the living room. Oh god, did I bother you?I’m sorry, I can just-”

               -He cut you off (and lowkeyscared you) when he jumped into the shower next to you, excited as all hell

               -“Sorry? Sorry for what!When you play, it sounds just like the fairies in LOLOL! Wait, can you playmusic from LOLOL? MC! If you can, you’ve gotto teach me! I want to play it too!! Look at it!!”

               -He picked up the fluteincorrectly and you could feel yourself cringing, trying to pry the instrumentfrom his hands before he broke a key or lost one of the pads. He turned it intoa game and you had to chase him around the house just to get your pride and joyback from Mr. Destructive

*ZEN:

               -You never told him where youwere going later at night sometimes and it scared him to death

               -What in the world were youdoing?? Seeing someone else?? What if you were out and about and something wereto happen to you?!

               -So, he decided to wait up foryou the next time you took off

               -You turned on the living roomlight and practically jumped out of your skin when you saw bright red eyeslooking up at you from the arm chair

               -“Ah, hi MC! Would you liketo tell me where you’ve been tonight?” he stood up and walked towards youas you stood there, trying to get your heartbeat to calm down. That’s when henoticed you were holding a large… and oddly shaped case

               -He pointed to it and looked atyou quizzically, expecting an answer

               -You sighed, “It’s my saxophone.I’ve been going to this coffee shop Jaehee recommended to me so I could playsome shows. I missed playing my baby and just had to get it out of mysystem!” you raised the case to your chest, rubbing it gently, giving himyour best pair of puppy dog eyes hoping it would get you out of trouble

               -He looked at the ground and youcouldn’t tell what he was thinking, but before you could ask, you hear hisvoice dip low and ask you, “Saxophone? You play… the saxophone…?”

               -You made a noise of agreementand jumped again when his head shot up to look at you, stars practically in hiseyes. You’ve never seen him this excited for an instrument in your life and itwas actually pretty cute?

               -“MC! The saxophone is oneof the smoothest sounding instruments… so jazzy… so… sexy? Oh god, MC,you’ve got to show me how good you are. Right here, right now. Play a privateshow just for me- you might get one in return” wink wonk

*JAEHEE:

               -The two of you decided to add alive musical element to your coffee shop!

               -But you also really… wantedto be a part of it. It had been so long since you picked up your ukulele and ithad been killing you

               -The musicians who played yourshop were really good, but you wanted a little kick! You wanted some upbeatmusic! Something that was soft but kickin’!

               -So, you signed yourself up onthe list.

               -Jaehee looked down at your nameand tried to find where you were hiding so she could ask you about it, untilshe saw you up on that small stage

               -You were strumming to yourheart’s content, singing just as happily, your eyes closed and your face thebrightest she’s ever seen it

               -People surrounded the stage,moving slightly to dance along, but nothing too extreme

               -She absolutely loved it! It wasmust softer than a guitar but had a strong enough sound to get people on theirfeet

               -From then on, you decided tofollow her around with it, playing her own theme music whenever she feltstressed, because you knew it would make her happy, and you’d get to hear thatprecious laughter again

               -10/10 you play her Disney andSteven Universe songs because?? They’re short and cute?? And it makes her fallin love with you even more because you’re a total dork

*JUMIN:

               -He was already playing acomplicated piece on his piano when you walked into the room and sat next tohim, laying your head on his shoulder light enough he could still move his armaround

               -“Hello, love. What are youup to?” He asked, pulling his hands from the keys so he could grab yourhand instead

               -“I was enjoying hearingyou play. That piece requires a partner, right?” you asked, feeling himnod to agree with you

               -“Yes, but I’ve neverplayed with a partner. I just play it as best as I can without one”

               -You sat up and stretched yourfingers out, placing them on the keys as he raised an eyebrow, questioning you

               -“Well?” you prompted,“You need a partner, and now you’ve got one. Come on! You start,sweetheart.”

               -He shook his head to clear hisconfusion, as he started to re-play his piece

               -When you started to play thepartnering piece flawlessly, he was so shocked that he kept messing up his ownkeys until he gave up and watched you dumbfounded

               -“I never knew you couldplay the piano… much less as flawlessly as you do. And here I was, trying tosway you with my skills- in the end, you have won me over with yoursinstead”

               -You felt your face turn acrimson red before he kissed the side of your head, smiling against it gentlybefore turning back to his set of keys. “MC, I won’t let you distract methis time, shall we try again?”

*SAEYOUNG:

               -He could hear banging andcrashing from outside of his computer room and he immediately got concerned foryou

               -What if you were trying to geta glass from the cupboard and everything else fell down on you??? That cupboardis unstable! Not.. saying that it… happened to him before, or anything…

               -He ran out towards the sourceof the noise to see Saeran sitting on the couch with his electric guitar inhand, and you banging on a set of drums

               -Skidding to a stop, he lookedat you like he was a deer in the headlights

               -He watched as you smiled indetermination, keeping the beat of the song loud and steady, passionate enoughto get a little sweaty from it, but you didn’t let that stop you! He stood andstared as he took in every feature of your face and every little movement ofyour hands, arms, and upper body. You were shining in a way he’d never seenyou- and he didn’t mean from the sweat of course

               -When the two of you finishedyour song, Saeyoung practically scream and both you and his brother jumped outof your skins

               -“SAEYOUNG!” youyelled, “YOU CAN’T JUST SCREAM AND SCARE US LIKE THAT, WHAT THE HELL ISWRONG WITH YOU???”

               -He laughed and apologized, buthe explained how amazing you guys sounded! You were so in sync and the beat youcreated was amazing! Definitely the kind of beat to get someone up and raging

               -“OH! Wait!! You guys!!! Ican play with you too! Wait right here!”

               -He ran back in and furiouslystarted to play his small, shiny triangle until Saeran threw a couch pillow inhis face and called him an idiot

*V:

               -He was relaxing, listening to awonderful violin piece, waiting for you to join him

               -Until the song ended… and hecould still hear the soothing sound of a violin?

               -As he was looking for thesource, he stumbled upon you standing on the balcony, holding an almost pristineviolin in your hand, playing it softly as you swayed back and forth, spinningalong as you played as well

               -You looked like an angel tohim, accompanied by your own heavenly music and he couldn’t look away

               -Hearing the shudder of acamera, you opened your eyes to find him just putting down his camera andsmiling warmly at you

               -Without another word, he leftthe balcony and you in complete confusion. Where was he going? How could heleave the room like that and not say another word? “How rude!” youcalled, hearing his laughter approaching the door again

               -“I’m sorry,” heapologized, pulling his own violin into view, “Would you allow me toaccompany you on another piece?”

               -You started to play one of thelove songs you know, smiling as you heard the hum of his violin joining you inperfect time, matching note for note, harmonizing like it was heaven

               -The both of you seemed to openyour eyes at the same time to look at each other, laughing at yourselves

               -The two of you took turnsplaying your favourite love songs, or songs that reminded you of each otheruntil the sun started to set. “MC,” he started as he pulled you intohis chest, kissing the top of your head, “I must say, this is definitely myfavourite way to relax. Can we do this again?”

*SAERAN:

               -You ate the last bit of icecream and now he wouldn’t even look at you

               -“You’re being a kid,Saeran! I can get you more ice cream!”

               -All he did was pull his 3DScloser to his face, signaling that he was ignoring you

               -Having enough of it, youdecided you were going to get his attention one way or another

               -Pulling out your amplifier andyour baby that he didn’t know about, you placed the amp on the table close tohim, plugging in the guitar and turning it up as loud as it could go

               -Foot up on the table, guitar inhands, smirk on your face, you were ready to get his attention. You raised yourarm and

               -You. Just. Started. SHREDDING.

               -He practically jumped 3 feetinto the air off of the couch, scrambling to catch himself, he clutched hisheart and stared at you with his eyes wide enough it’s a wonder they didn’t popout of his head. You turned the amp off and put your hands on your hips,shifting to stick one side of them out, a blank emotion on your face

               -“Hi. Are you going tolisten to me now?” You asked, taking your guitar off and placing it gentlyon the couch

               -The moment your hand left theguitar, he practically tackled you to the floor, attacking your lips and theside of your neck with kisses, no words exchanged for a solid 20 minutes. Whoknew he was into guitarists?

Masterlist

[jungkookienoona]

The Meme and His Tutor

Part 4: The Time Jungkook Broke His Keyboard

Recommended Song: Double Trouble by MAMAMOO

|All Chapters|

Summary:

A month had gone by and Jungkook’s English had improved.

Genre: Fluff, comedy

Pairing: Jungkook X Reader (Y/N)

Warnings: Swearing

Word Count: 1706

Length: 4/?

It had been a month since the first lesson and Jungkook's English had somewhat improved with the weekly lessons that followed. It was still broken but his vocabulary had expanded. During their last lesson, Namjoon had suggested that the next session be cancelled due to BTS's busy schedule, which you agreed to. However, about an hour later Jungkook sent you a message asking fir the lesson to be rescheduled to later in the evening instead of being cancelled. You were unsure at first, not quite believing him when he said that despite Namjoon’s absence, due to the later time, he had agreed to let Jungkook call on his own. It didn't take much to persuade you; a few smiley face emojis and one heart one (which may or may not have caused you to hit your knee as you stood up in shock). So when the familiar alert rang through the room, you were prepared for an odd lesson without your translator. You accepted the call as per usual and was greeted sight of a smiley yet tired looking Jungkook waving at you a bit sheepishly. You returned his smile.

"Annyeong Jungkook" You watched him lean forward and type something.

Ding! The message read 'Can't talk. Hyungz zleeping. Don't want to wake them up'.

You found his concern for his hyungs endearing but were confused by his use of the letter 'z' instead of 's'.

"What's with the z?" You ask.

Jungkook suddenly whipped around, head darting from side to side.

"Shhh," He hissed, a finger to his lips.

You apologise quietly. He leant forward slightly, the angle alluding to his toned chest that peaked out of a loose fitting white t-shirt, and produced a pair of headphones. Once plugged in, he offered you a thumbs up and you laugh freely.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?"

He nodded silently and looked down as he types.

'Wanted to zee you.'

In that moment you felt like you could have died happy. But you noticed the use of the 'z' again.

"Jungkook-ah, have you gotten confused with the alphabet?"

He shook his head 'no' then sent his reply. 'Broke 's' button playing Overwatch'.

You couldn't help but laugh. Of course, it was something gaming related. He looked like he wanted to say something and quickly got out his phone, typing something. Once he had finished he sent you a message.

'Iz it okay to juzt talk inztead of teach? I'm very tired.'

You looked up from the message and catch him mid-yawn. He looked exhausted with droopy eyes and slumped shoulders.

"You should go to bed. We can talk tomorrow."

He frowned deeply, 'Tomorrow buzy. Plz Noona?'

Your lips quirk into a smile.

"Sure Kookie. Tell me about your day."

You saw him get out his phone again, holding it as he typed.

'We learned new choreography today. It waz very tired. Oh, I'm uzing online interpretation in that way'  

"New choreography?"

'For new album'

"That's cool!" You replied, smiling brightly hoping to pass some of your energy onto Jungkook. His lips quirked and an idea came into your head. "Can you show me?"

His eyes widened, glancing over his shoulder into the darkness.

When he turned back he was grinning. 'Ok. I'll zhow you hook'

He got up out of his seat. You watched as he danced though you could tell it was lacking energy. When he sat back down he sent you another message.

'You like?'

You smiled and nodded feeling a tad guilty for asking him to dance when he was already tired. He seemed to hesitate before sending another message.

'Noona can we be friendz?' He was looking down, twiddling his fingers as if he was nervous.

A small gasp escaped your lips. Jungkook wanted to be your friend? And...He was nervous. An easy smile found its way onto your features.

"Sure Kookie, we can be friends."

His head whipped up, headphones slipping from his ears to his neck. He grabbed them with one hand while typing with the other.

'Really?'

"In case you forgot, you are my bias. Why wouldn't I want to be your friend?"

He looked dumbfounded for a second before giving you his famous bunny grin.

'Now have cool, zmart Noona az friend and tutor'

You laughed and without thinking said, "And now I have my cute, daebak bias as my friend and tutor."

You didn't realise you'd called Jungkook cute until he typed back 'Cute?'.

You blushed scarlet, wondering how many times you were going to embarrass yourself by calling him cute to his face. You shyly nodded and could've sworn you saw his cheeks turn pink despite the dim lighting of his room.

'How waz Noona day?'

You smiled at the message, understanding that he was trying to change the topic to stop things from becoming awkward.

"My day still isn't over yet, it's only the afternoon. But so far I've slept in and gone to college."

He brought out his phone again, furiously typing for a moment. You waited patiently for him to translate and then type.

'Did you zleep well? Noona muzt rezt and ztay healthy!'

"I did." Your eyes went to the time in the corner of your screen and you couldn't help but feel guilty again. "You need to sleep too!"

He shook his head. 'I'm good. Howz college?'

You hesitated, one part of you wanted to convince him to go to bed while another more selfish part of you was thrilled that he wanted to spend more time talking to you. Evidently that side one.

"It was good. The teacher is useless so I tend to do my own thing in lessons".

He looked a little confused for a second before asking you to send your answer as a message. You saw him typing on his phone again, translating what you had said.

'No! Bad teacher! Noona go and complain!'

You sighed, thinking back to your class and pathetic excuse for a teacher.

"I can't, Kook. And it doesn't matter, I'm leaving college soon."

He raised an eyebrow. 'Zoon?'  

"I finish college in set wol (3 months). But there is a short holiday coming up"

That seemed to have peaked his interest. You were pretty sure that if he was a dog you would have seen his ears perk up.

'Holiday? When?'

"In about saju (3 weeks) time"

'For how long?'

"Iju (2 weeks)"

Once again he was tapping away at his phone before smiling. 'Noona come visit'.

You were shocked to say the least "I can't afford it Kookie".

His face fell, 'Want to zee Nonna~'

You smiled sadly, "And I want to see Kookie."

He looked at his phone for a second, lips twisting as he thought something over. When you read his next message you had to stop yourself from falling out of your chair.

'I pay for you.'

"Ani-Ani-Aniya. I don't want you spending your hard earned money on me."

'Then when zee Noona?'

"Sanyeon (3 years). When I finish uni."

You saw his eyes blow wide in shock before he sent his next message.

'ZANYEON?! JINJJA?!'

He seemed to take a moment to think before a mischievous grin appeared on his face.

"What are you planning?"

'Nothing'

"Kookie"

'Not zaying'

Was he laughing?

You opened your mouth to respond when light flooded your screen. You looked to Jungkook in confusion who was hastily pulling off his headphones, holding them securely around his neck, and staring at something off to the side.

"What is it?" You said causing him to look back at you.

The newfound light allowed you to see his cheeks burning pink. Did he just get caught? Jin walking into view confirmed that he did indeed get caught. Jin said something that made Jungkook look back at him, scowling. From their hand gestures and head movements, you could tell they had started bickering with each other. But soon Jungkook look defeated and unplugged his headphones.

He must have turned his microphone back as he said "Mianhae Noona".

There was a pause.

"Ah, You Y/n?"

"Ye, Annyeonghaseyo Jin-oppa."

He crouched beside Jungkook, holding onto the desk chair as he squinted at the camera.

"Oh, you teach Jungkookie?"

You resist the urge to smile at his broken English. "Ye, mianhaeyo."

He turned to Jungkook, talking quickly and quietly with the occasional nod to you. You wondered what they were talking about, only being able to understand your own name because they were talking so fast. You grew more curious when Jin said something that caused Jungkook to frown and suddenly pinch Jin's nipple through his t-shirt.

"Yah! Naneun neoui hyung! No pinchy!"

You burst out laughing; their heads swivelling round to look at you. You desperately tried to muffle your giggles in your sleeve but it was no use and before you knew it Jungkook was laughing too. While the two of you chuckled like children, Jin was looking back and forth between you with an open mouth.

"Aish, you children!"

Jungkook clutched Jin's shoulder when more giggles wracked his body. Jin looked at him disapprovingly at Jungkook before turning his attention back to you.

"Sorry Y/n. Jungkook need sleep now. Very busy this week."

"Hyung" Jungkook complained, drawing out the one syllable word with a pout.

"It's okay, I understand it's late over there"

He looked helplessly at Jin who ruffled his hair and stood up.

"Bed."

You heard the door shut and as if proving Jin's point Jungkook let out a long yawn.

"Kookie, go to bed."

He nodded and pat down his dishevelled hair.

"Goodnight Noona. Have good day."

"Goodnight Kookie."

"Oooh wait, wait. Wanna say different."

"You want to say something different?"

He smiled then nodded. "Goodnight Y/n-chingu (Y/N friend)"

"Yah! We're not the same age! You can't call me chingu"

His nose scrunched in amusement and you had to hold back the squeal that wanted to escape.

"Goodnight y/n-chingu~" He sang, waving at you before cutting the call.

You checked the time and wondered how it had gone by so fast. As you packed away your untouched notebook you started to sing quietly to yourself and knew that today was going to be a good day.

AN: The Meme and His Tutor will now be updated every Wednesday! Yay a schedule! 

Story co-written with @tragicshadows  

[seventeen-going]

Seventeen going to Dino’s Birthday Party: A Dino Birthday Special

Episode 11: Where Seventeen tries to plan and prepare for Dino’s birthday by splitting up into their units to get things done.

A/N: I may or not have been trying to stall time to have this special posted as the 11th episode cause you know 11 feb is chan’s birthday haha okay im sorry my brain stopped functioning and it this special somehow ended up being episode eleven... 

Jeonghan: "Okay children we need to do something special for my baby! He's finally turning 5!"

Scoups:

Scoups: "Um Chan's gonna be 18 what are you talking about?"

Jeonghan: "We need FIVE candles for his cake, we need FIVE presents, we need FIVE balloons, we need to buy five of everything because he is FIVEEEE!!!"

Joshua: "I love you Jeonghan but I think you have problems with facing the fact that Dino is growing up..."

Jeonghan:

Hoshi: "I think it's time to let go of that fact that he isn't 5 years old anymore"

Vernon: “The last time I checked… Chan hasn’t been 5 years old in let’s see… about THIRTEEN YEARS?!?!”

Jeonghan: "My baby is FIVEEEE!!!"

Seungkwan: "This is absurd, you guys didn't do anything for my birthday... this is unfair! WHAT IS THIS INJUSTICE?!"

Seungkwan: “I TURNED 18 BEFORE THAT CHILD DID”

Jeonghan: “HE IS A BABY NOT A CHILD”

The8: "Your birthday passed?"

Jun: "I thought Seungkwan's birthday’s in December"

Woozi: "No that's Joshua's birthday"

Jun: "Then when's Seungkwan's birthday?"

Seungkwan: "F-"

Joshua: “February?”

Vernon: "No cursing on Dino's birthday it's bad luck for the birthday boy"

Jeonghan: "You mean birthday baby"

Seungkwan: "Who cares?!?!?! It's Dino that'll have bad luck NOT ME and my birthday for your information is in January!"

Woozi: “No one asked for when your birthday was”

Seungkwan: "UGH fine and anyway Vernon you curse all the time..."

Vernon: "Gangsta-sol rests on birthdays, on birthdays I sing happy songs and give presents"

Joshua: “That sounds more like Santa Claus”

Jeonghan: "Okay attention to the less beautiful human beings, please gather before me"

Wonwoo: "Is hyung the birthday party planner?"

Jun: "Yeah he thinks no one can do a better job than he can..."

Jeonghan: "Okay so we are going to split up into our units to split the tasks, the hip hop unit will be going to buy the cake and present, the vocal unit will be decorating the house and the performance unit will be stalling time and making sure that Dino doesn't come home"

Mingyu: "Why do we have to do the errands? You always give us the tougher ones..." *pouts*

Jeonghan: "Because Dino is my baby and Jeonghan the Angel says so!"

Mingyu: "Wha-"

Jeonghan: "and also because my hair is superior"

Scoups: "Don't fight with Jeonghan, you'll never win if he brings his hair into the fight"

Mingyu: ...

Mingyu: "Fine but we are stopping by KFC before we come home"

Scoups: "Okay deal"

Mingyu: "and also the famous bakery"

Scoups: "Alright, we have to get Chan's birthday cake anyways"

Mingyu: "and the candy store!"

Scoups: "I guess we can get Chan some candy for his birthday right?"

Mingyu: "AND AND AND the pancake and waffles cafe!!"

Wonwoo: “Um Mingyu I think you are getting too carried away…”

Scoups: "... It's okay if we have a slight detour right?"

Mingyu: "AND POPCORN!"

Scoups:

Scoups: "Now you're just being greedy"

Mingyu: “POPPPPCORNNNN!!!”

Jun: "Is this your birthday or Dino's?"

Mingyu: "Mine"

Seungkwan: "You mean mine since y’all never even bothered to celebrate mine?!?!"

Mingyu: “NO it’s MAH birthday since I’m gonna get some cake!”

Seungkwan: “BACK OFF MINGYU ITS MY BIRTHDAY”

Mingyu: “OH YEAH? WE’LL SEE WHO GETS TO BLOW OUT THE CANDLESSSS!!!”

Jeonghan: “SHUT UP ITS MY BABY’S BIRTHDAY! DON’T YOU BOTH DARE RUIN THIS FOR HIM OR ELSE I WILL SKIN YOU TWO ALIVE AND SELL YOUR SKINS AND USE IT AS MY CARPET!”

*on the way to the toy shop with the hip hop unit*

Mingyu: “I hate Seungkwan… he’s trying to steal my birthday…”

Scoups: “Okay ONE, your birthday is in April. TWO, it’s neither yours nor Seungkwan’s birthday, it’s DINO’s. THREE, we are already going to all the places you want to go so plea-“

Mingyu: “OHHH CAKE!” *runs to the bakery’s display window”

Scoups: “annnnddd I guess we’ll be buying Chan’s birthday cake first then” *sighs*

Mingyu: “CAN I EAT IT?”

Vernon: “No, it’s just for display, it’s not even real, it’s just made out of styr-“

Mingyu: *opens mouth*

Vernon: “Mingyu you can’t eat Styrofoam!”

Mingyu: “IT’S CAKE I’M GONNA EAT IT!”

Vernon: “IT’S NOT!” *attempts to take the display cake away*

Mingyu: “GET YOUR OWN CAKE VERNON THIS IS MINEEEEE!!!”

Vernon: “I DON’T WANT YOUR DUMB ASS CAKE I’M TRYING TO SAVE YOUR LIFE MAN!”

Mingyu: “IF YOU WANT TO SAVE ME THEN YOU SHOULD LET ME EAT THIS CAKE SO I WON’T DIE OF STRAVATION!”

Mingyu: *takes a bite*

Vernon: “Oh my god”

Mingyu: *chokes and collapses*

Wonwoo: “MINGYU!”

Scoups: “I knew this was going to happen someday”

Wonwoo: “Someone save Mingyu!!”

Vernon: “Okay hang on, let me google how to save someone who is choking on styrofoam”

Wonwoo: “Are you serious with me now?”

Vernon: “Why am I not getting any reception?!?!” *hits phone*

Mingyu: *coughs out white foam*

Wonwoo: “COUPS HYUNG!!!”

Scoups: “Hold on, hold on, I’m buying Dino’s cake, if I don’t buy it Jeonghan will either nag at me every single day until my ear bleeds and I die because of excessive bleeding or he will just take a knife and stab me until I die. And just between you and me, I think I rather have the latter”

Wonwoo: “But if you don’t do something now, MINGYU’S GONNA DIEEEE”

Scoups: “YEAH YEAH GIVE ME A MOMENT WONWOO”

Mingyu: *CHOKEESSSS*

Wonwoo: “AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO CARES ABOUT MINGYU?”

Mingyu: *nods head*

Vernon: “okay for once google was useless”

Wonwoo: “HELLO IS THIS THE HOSPITAL MY FRIEND IS CHOKING ON STYROFOAM CAN YOU- WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT IT ISN’T AN EMERGENCY? HELLO? HELLO??? THIS IS AN EMERGENCY DID YOU JUST HANG UP ON MY CALL???!!!”

Mingyu: “W-won-woo”

Wonwoo: “Yes Mingyu?” *crying*

Mingyu: “I-I don’t think… I’m going to make it…” *chokes*

Wonwoo: “Don’t say that! You’re gonna live! I won’t let you dieeee!”

Mingyu: “Wonwoo…. If I die…”

Wonwoo: “Yes?” *cries harder*

Mingyu: “Please bring lots of food to my funeral”

Wonwoo: “Anything for you Mingyu, I’m sorry you had to leave this way…” *hugs gyu tightly on the floor*

Mingyu: *closes eyes*

Wonwoo: “NO MINGYU OMG DON’T DIE ON ME! THERE WERE SO MANY THINGS THAT I HAVEN’T TOLD YOU! YOU CAN’T LEAVE ME!”

Mingyu: “G-go-goodbye Wonwoo….”

Wonwoo: “I can’t believe… he’s…. gone….” *SOBS*

Scoups: “Oh look, they sell donuts here too”

Mingyu: *gets up* “WHERE?!?!”

Scoups: “Just joking, alright boys let’s go”

Wonwoo:

Mingyu: “B-but I came back from the dead for donuts….”

Vernon: “They said to wait for the person to cough first and if the person’s nails and lips starts to turn blue then you can stand behind the person and put your arms around his waist and make a fist with your hand and place it above his navel and then- “

Scoups: “He’s not choking anymore Hansol…”

Vernon: “Oh”

Wonwoo: “My life is a lie”

*meanwhile at the dorm with the vocal unit*

Jeonghan: “I’m going to blow up the balloons, Joshua and Woozi, you two will hang up the banner and posters, DK and Seungkwan can you set up the Karaoke set and games?”

Joshua: *grabs banner from the floor*

Joshua: “Woozi can you stop lying on the sofa and help me with this banner?”

Woozi: “Sure”

Joshua:

Joshua: “I’m waiting for you Woozi….”

Woozi: “Yeah continue to wait then”

Joshua: “Woozi I can’t hang this banner up alone!”

Woozi: “I’ll come help you as soon as Jeonghan cuts his hair”

Joshua:

Joshua: “That’s never happening…”

Woozi: “And so is me helping you hang that banner” *smiles*

Woozi: “I’m very glad we had this talk Joshua” *pats Joshua on the back and walks into bedroom*

Joshua: “Well first he forgets about my existence in the vocal unit and now this”

DK: “What games did Jeonghan hyung write down?”

Seungkwan: “According to this list…. We’re gonna play… hide and seek, musical chairs… and pin the tail on the donkey?”

DK: “What is this? A kid’s party?!”

Seungkwan: “DID YOU FORGET THAT HE THINKS DINO IS FIVE?”

DK:

DK: “In that case, that donkey better not be me”

Seungkwan: “That actually… doesn’t sound too bad” *evil plots*

DK: “Oh you know what? We should set up the Karaoke set first” *takes console out of the dusty box*

Seungkwan: “EW THE DUST”

DK: “It’s grosser than Mingyu’s snot bubbles”

Seungkwan:

DK: “Yeah you don’t want to know Kwan… you don’t want to know…”

Seungkwan: “Okay question”

Seungkwan: “Do I plug in the pink, blue or yellow plug into the TV?”

DK: “That’s a good question…. You know what? Let’s just try it all”

Seungkwan: *plugs the blue one in*

Seungkwan: “Nope not the blue one” *yanks it out*

Seungkwan: “Pink one?”

TV: *sparks up and makes hissing noises*

Seungkwan: “OKAY OKAY HOLY CRAP ITS NOT THE PINK ONE!!!” *unplugs pink one*

Joshua: “Hannie…. Can you get Woozi to do something? I still haven’t put up any posters”

Jeonghan: “Jihoon! Can you put up ONE poster please?”

Woozi: “No”

Jeonghan: “I see that you haven’t cleaned up your room since a week ago when I told you to, and also you haven’t been writing or composing any songs what have you been doing in your room? It’s becoming a pig sty, oh god have you been eating pizza in this room?! I told you to clean it up-“

Woozi: “Okay! Okay! what do you want me to do?!”

Jeonghan: “Help Joshie with the posters”

Woozi: *sighs*

DK: “ALL DONE”

Seungkwan: “LETS SEE IF ITS WORKING PROPERLY THEN” *switches it on*

DK: “Won’t Jeonghan scream at us?”

Seungkwan: “Oopsy too late” *clicks song*

*song starts*

DK: “PICK ME PICK ME PICK ME PICK ME PICK ME UP!”

Seungkwan: “I WANT YOU TO PICK ME UP!”

DK: “PICK ME PICK ME PICK ME PICK ME PICK ME”

Seungkwan: *dances to Pick Me*

DK: “I WANT YOU TO PICK ME-”

Seungkwan: *lets go of microphone and hits the TV screen*

DK:

Seungkwan: “oops”

DK: “Omg you broke the TV Seungkwan BOO”

Seungkwan: “I said sorry!”

DK: “NO you said oops”

Seungkwan: “Well oops means sorry!”

DK: *pushes kwan*

DK: “oops”

Seungkwan: “DID YOU JUST PUSH ME?”

DK: “I said oops which means sorry”

Seungkwan: *pushes seokmin making him knock over a glass over water and spilling it onto the karaoke console*

DK: “They are gonna freak out, both the karaoke console and the TV are fried”

Seungkwan: “Well it’s not our fault… it’s Jeonghan’s for putting two irresponsible kids to such difficult tasks”

DK: “Now the problem is… how and where shall we hide this?”

DK & Seungkwan: *looks at each other 

DK & Seungkwan: *quietly turns the tv off and puts everything into the store room*

Joshua: O.O

Joshua: “What the heck is that?!”

Woozi: “A dinosaur poster with Michael Jackson’s head on the Dinosaur’s body, I call it Michael Roarson”

Jeonghan: “Genius”

Woozi: “Dino likes Michael Jackson and he likes dinosaurs, so why not combine it into one and it’ll be the best poster of the century!”

Jeonghan: “You’re gonna give the child nightmares”

Woozi: “Yes! It’ll finally scare him enough so he’ll stop talking about Michael Jackson and I can sell them away and make tons of money, now step two of my plan is to find out where Chan keeps his limited edition MJ items”

Jeonghan: “Did you say something Jihoon?”

*meanwhile with the performance unit*

Dino: “Where have you guys been???”

Jun: “Walking?”

Dino: “You three said you wanted to watch this movie and told me to go buy it at 8 in the morning and which by the way only opens at 10am, I waited 2 hours just to get the ticket and another 2 hours for you all to walk HERE!!”

Hoshi: “Sorry Chan, we were busy listening to Jeongh-“

The8: *elbows hoshi*

Hoshi: “I mean listening to Jeonghan talk about his hair” *awkward laughs*

The8: “How about we treat to popcorn and snacks”

Hoshi: “You know since its your b-“

The8: *steps of hoshi’s feet*

Dino: “My what?”

Hoshi: “Owwieee Minghao!”

The8: “Sorry I thought I saw a bug and I wanted to kill it”

Dino: “Hyungs… you are acting weirdly...”

Jun: “My boy, when have you not seen us act normally?”

Dino: “You have a point there”

The8: “Dinosaur gummies for Chan!” *hands him a packet*

Dino: “I DON’T KNOW WHAT IS BETTER, THAT IT’S GUMMIES OR THAT IT’S SHAPED LIKE DINOSAURS” *hugs packet*

Hoshi: “Can I have one?”

Dino: “NO”

Hoshi: “Selfish brat I bought that for you! Do you think you’re the king just because its your bir-“

The8: *pours his cup of coke onto hoshi*

Hoshi: “AHHHHHHH IT’SSS COLLDDDDD”

The8: “Oops it just slipped out of my hands”

Hoshi: “Onto my head?!?!”

The8: “Yeah”

Jun: “Okay Chan let’s just leave the two weirdos out here and let’s go watch the movie, if anyone asks you, you don’t know them”

Dino: *nods head like a lil’ child*

*in the theatre*

Jun: “Do you feel cold chan?”

Dino: “Yes” *pouts as he chews on his gummies*

Jun: “Okay you can use my jacket” #mama jun mode on

Hoshi: “I’m cold too! Why isn’t anyone asking me if I’m cold?”

The8: “Because no one cares”

Hoshi: “UGH it’s not like you care about chan either, you’re just giving him special attention today because it’s his damn birt-“

The8: *whacks hoshi with his chocolate bar*

Hoshi: “OW MINGHAO!”

The8: “I can do this all day hyung”

Hoshi: “I miss Woozi…” *sobs*

*halfway through the movie

Dino: "Stop pushing me hyung!"

Hoshi: “Hush it child”

Dino: “Why are we going back to the dorm? We didn’t even get to finish watching the movie!”

Dino: *opens door*

Seventeen: "SURPRISEEE!!!"

Dino: *jumps in shock*

Dino: "I can't believe you did all of this for me! A dinosaur cake oh my god, dinosaur balloons...is… is... is that a dinosaur poster with a michael jackson face on top of its body?!"

Jeonghan: “Erm… *looks at poster* … yes?”

Dino:

Woozi: “I did it, you better be happy”

Dino:

Dino: “I l-love it” *fake smiles*

Mingyu: *chokes and coughs out white styrofoam*

Dino: “Is…. Mingyu okay?”

Wonwoo: “Don’t ask Chan, some things are better left unknown”

Scoups: “I got you your cake do you like it?”

Dino: “YES it’s a giant dinosaur! Can I eat his head please?”

Joshua: “Hello Chan please look at the banner that I put up ALL BY MYSELF”

Woozi: “Joshua can you stop yelling, I’m just next to you. I’m not deaf”

Dino: “It says Happy birthday chan you’re finally…. five?”

Joshua: “Jeonghan thinks you’re five years old”

Dino: “Of course he does”

Jeonghan: “NUGU AEGI?”

Dino: “Not this again... hyung do I really have to?”

Jeonghan: “Yes”

Dino: “J-Jeonghan’s aegi” *mentally stabs self*

Jeonghan: “TIME TO SING YOU YOUR BIRTHDAY SONG!”

Seventeen: “HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR DINO”

Jeonghan: “YOU MEAN BABY DINO DID YOU EVEN READ THE LYRICS I SENT YOU ALL?!?!?!”

Jun: “Frankly no”

Seventeen: “HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU” *claps hands*

Mingyu: *blows out the candles*

Jeonghan: “Seriously Mingyu what did I tell you?”

Seungkwan: “NOT FAIR YOU GUYS DIDN’T CELEBRATE MY BIRTHDAY I SHOULD BE THE ONES BLOWING OUT THE CANDLES WHY DOES MINGYU GET TO???”

Mingyu: “Because it’s my birthday!”

Seungkwan: “OH you really want to do this Kim Mingyu? Let’s see whose birthday it really is!”

Seungkwan: *cuts the cake and bites it*

Mingyu: *gasps*

Mingyu: “MY CAKE!”

Scoups: “YO DUDE THAT CAKE IS FOR CHAN!”

Dino: *cries*

Jun: “It’s okay Dino, it’s okay” *hugs the baby*

Mingyu: *runs up to poster with a marker and cancels chan’s name and writes his name instead*

Mingyu: “Now it says Happy birthday Mingyu you’re finally five!” *claps for self*

Seungkwan: *gasps*

Woozi: “I’m not the one who hung up the poster but I feel like I need to hit someone”

Seungkwan: *runs towards presents*

Mingyu: “Oh no I’m going to open them!”

Seungkwan: “Not if I get there first!”

Mingyu & Seungkwan: *starts ripping the wrapping paper*

Jeonghan: “WHAT THE HECK”

Mingyu & Seungkwan:

Jeonghan: “I TOLD YOU NOT TO RUIN HIS BIRTHDAY DIDN’T I?”

Mingyu: “But it’s my birthday”

Jeonghan: *grabs mingyu by the collar*

Jeonghan: “I will break everything that you love and care about”

Wonwoo: “Me?”

Jeonghan: “No, I’m going to break all the snacks he secretly hid in this dorm and throw them out of the window”

Mingyu: “NO NOT MY FOOD!!!”

Jeonghan: “THEN BEHAVE!!!”

Dino: “Oh well, it’s okay it was a fun birthday anyways, as long as we are together and not apart”

Joshua: “Awwww what an angel, you really are Jeonghan’s baby”

Vernon:

Joshua: “Y-you know ca-cause Jeonghan is an angel?”

Scoups: “I’m happy you had a good birthday Chan”

Dino: “I got to watch a movie with the performance unit hyungs, even though Hoshi and The8 kept fighting…”

Jeonghan: *glares*

Hoshi: “It was Minghao that hit me, stepped on me, poured his drink on me!”

The8: “That’s because Soonyoung kept mentioning Dino’s birthday!”

Hoshi: “What so you want me to lie???”

Dino: “And the hip hop unit hyungs bought me my favourite cake even though I haven’t tasted it…”

Jeonghan: *GLARES*

Seungkwan: “WHAT”

Vernon: “Now I’m fully equipped with the knowledge from google of how to save a person who is choking from styrofoam”

Wonwoo: “I wish you’re the one who is choking right now because no one would know how to save you”

Vernon: “What did I ever do to you?”

Wonwoo: “For not saving Mingyu”

Vernon: “I TOLD YOU ITS NOT ME! IT WAS THE RECEPTION OF MY PHONE!”

Joshua: “I still want to get rid of that phone so badly”

Dino: “And the vocal unit hyungs decorated the dorm so nicely… even if that Michael Jackson head is just pasted on the dinosaur’s body”

Hoshi: “Did my woozi do that? It’s a WORK OF ART!!! Can I keep it?”

Woozi: “I rather have Dino hate it and burn it then to let you keep it”

Seungkwan: “OKAY ITS TIME FOR GAMES! WE ARE PLAYING… PIN THE TAIL ON THE DOKYEOM!”

DK: “You mean Donkey”

Seungkwan: “No I mean Dokyeom”

DK: “Is that a real pin? With a sharp pointy tip? You can’t pin that on me!”

Seungkwan: *puts a blindfold on Chan*

DK: “What are you all just gonna watch?”

Dino: “Where is Dokyeom hyung? I can’t see” *swings arm around*

DK: *runs away*

Woozi: “Take three steps to your right, then five steps in front, he’s hiding in the corner of the house by the dining table”

Dino: *tries to pin it on Dokyeom*

DK: “AHHHHHHHH!!!! SOMEONE GET THIS CHILD AWAY FROM ME THIS IS A DANGEROUS GAME!”

Jeonghan: “YOU MEAN BABY HE IS A BABY EVERYONE GET YOUR FACTS RIGHT!”

Scoups: “Hold up…. Where’s our TV?”

phew that was a long one, I hoped you all enjoyed it :) HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE OH SO LIL’ ONE! :)

masterlist ✨

Read the previous episode: Seventeen going to a SHINee Concert

[concettolabs]

Using ASP.NET Core for Your Business: It Is Free, as Good as WordPress

One question I want to ask you, people.

Do you use Linux on your computer? Whether at home or at the office?  

90% say “No”. Remaining 10% are utilizing Linux on their server computers.

Reason? Linux_is_not_user_friendly.

Do we need to become a chef to eat something? Why an accountant or doctor should know workings inside of a computer or has to remember keyboard shortcut keys? I hope I elaborately answered.

Coming to flexibility.

To customize or tailor any given piece of software, its source-code should be accessible where new code is to be injected, i.e. “open-source” code.

Often, we hear that “Don’t use Microsoft technologies, they are neither free nor open-source.”

It’s not true.

Everything in ASP.NET is open-source.

After 2015, Microsoft has upgraded all its products to make them platform-neutral & made them publicly viewable,  open-source.

In simple words,

websites

mobile applications

ERP systems &

anything created using ASP.NET core are cross-platform. Meaning they can be hosted on any device & all operating systems, including Linux.

Coming to cost-effectiveness.

Kick out the guy who tells that you need to spend even $0.01 dollar for developing & using.Net apps. Not only that,.Net framework’s internal inventory like compilers & SDK are free altogether.

Whether you are a one-roof retailer or an enterprise-scale venture with 100+ offices worldwide,.Net runtime is 100% free for all.

Then why do people define ASP.NET a paid solution?

Because they don’t know that only a few components of ASP.NET, which are not compulsory to use, have added cost.

Take, for example, a high-end version of Visual Studio, an IDE, is NOT free.

Then what? Simply deploy Visual Studio Code instead of Visual Studio. It has the same features, same versatile & same security.

Difference? Visual Studio Code demands more stress from software developers side as it is less comprehensive. But as a business owner, it’s NOT your part of duty. Go to your software partner or instruct the in-house team to put extra efforts for the exchange of their salary. If it were drag-and-drop activities, rather you could do it just like you do in WordPress / Windows 8. Developers are given money for coding capability. Am I wrong? Obviously not.

So above, I briefly demonstrated that ASP.NET is open-source, free and cost-effective.

Now, let us go on a short tour of major subsystems which make up gigantic ASP.NET and understand the application of each of them.

I know, as a business manager, technical data bores you, alike fashion magazine stuff.

But, as according to a famous proverb, “We ought to be better safe than sorry.”

If you did not close the tab and read until this word, you will now order your loving software engineer to utilize Visual Studio Code, and save money. This article is actionable, isn’t it?

You will benefit if you continue & complete the next 2 paragraphs, it won’t take more than 3 minutes.

Subsystem 1: ASP.NET Web API

If you are not a newcomer on the internet, you probably know that plug-ins or API integrations are common nowadays to add a missing feature in an application.

Further, it’s NOT necessary that those 3rd party plug-ins from whom missing functionality shall be added in your website would have been written in ASP.NET.

Because there are so many programming languages like PHP, Java etc. available to make software. WEB API risks you in this situation & through its REST interface, it allows your ASP.NET system to communicate with outside software.

Subsystem 2: ASP.NET Core MVC v2.0

In the olden days, software was generated by writing an entire codebase in a singleton file.

That custom is no more into the practice.

ASP.NET Core MVC basically offers two great services:

It paves the way for separating design, code, and data.

           When the site is redesigned, code and data are not intercepted. So, it minimizes risk and maximizes adoption.

MVC Core is that card which changes the game.

For decades, ASP.NET was criticized that it can be used only on Windows machines.

With the introduction of ASP.NET core, other platforms like WordPress, Magento & competitor e-commerce vendors have noticed a serious threat that they would now be replaced by Core!

ASP.NET is a full-fledged architecture, hence I succinctly mention other major names here, but I will convey their functions in upcoming articles.

Subsystem 3:  ADO.NET - for data storage & manipulation

Subsystem 4: ASP.NET Razor - to display content in a fluid manner

Subsystem 5: ASP.NET Entity Framework - for data persistence, e.g. when the internet goes down & again comes back, refresh button would not take as much time as it took 1st time plus form data in a browser you entered will be available with this

Concetto Labs is an India based Offshore Software Development Center that excels in providing ASP.NET websites and mobile apps.

Forget about

How would be a company’s response?

Will they serve decently?

Will they be reliable?

Can they customize?

etc.

We are honest, righteous individuals and always seek to boost client’s results for minimum investment.

To hire ASP.NET developer or to get an estimation quote for your project, please drop us a requirement file.

“The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.”