#-and once again we reach the end of a queue! tune back in for more art maybe

[mouseinsweater]

$25 $15 OPEN ADOPTS!!

payments go through my ko-fi, DM to claim! (and yes 7 is taken)

ive had these for a few months but i just... forgot to send anything on tumblr honestly. a bunch of misc fellas from a list of random prompts.

UPDATE: #3 & #2 taken!

[karasuno-volley]

HAIKYUU THIRD YEARS + SAYING I LOVE YOU FOR THE FIRST TIME (PT. 2) ( ft. nekoma + shiratorizawa )

plot: how the third years say i love you for the first time.

pairing: nekoma / shiratorizawa third years + gn!reader (some are more fem!reader)

warning: some foul language in yaku’s part. otherwise it’s pure fluff.

a/n: part two! i also added kiyoko in at the end because i forgot when i did karasuno last time. likes / reblogs welcome, no reposting. taglists and requests are open !! love, volley.

PART ONE | PART TWO | (like for) PART THREE?

     He’s said I love you from day one, but you’ve never returned the sentiment in its entirety, only smiling and squeezing his hand. How could he love you, you’d only been dating for two weeks! But Kuroo was consistent, almost to the point of annoyance. Each hello and goodbye consisted of him confessing his love. It’s one night, only two months after the first date, when Kuroo drops you off at your apartment. He says it again, making a point to kiss your cheek. He doesn’t expect a reply at this point, and turns to head back to his car, surprised when he hears you call out for him. “No, you don’t. It’s only been eight weeks.” It isn’t meant to be a mean statement-- you were only telling the truth, but the look you see on Kuroo’s face when he turns to face you nearly causes your heart to shatter.

     “How could you say that?” He huffs, hands stuffed into his jacket before approaching you slowly. “All those other times I’ve said it? Everytime I see you or leave you someplace?” He gets dangerously close now, head dipped and lips so close all you had to do was lean forward a few inches to kiss. You’ve never kissed him, not yet. Each time he tried to, you moved so it was your cheek instead. He’s accepted that, never pushed you to do anything you didn’t want to, but now… Now, Kuroo seemed to want something more. When his eyes find your own, you feel like you’re melting under the heat of his gaze. He’s so serious as a hand brushes against your cheek, followed by his lips. He doesn’t kiss you, not without you taking the initiative. Kuroo’s lips land so close to your ear, you feel his hot breath as he says: “You’re wrong, kitten. I love you more than you could ever know.” When he turns away, you’re left in a state of shock for a moment, dumbfounded as he makes more tracks in the light dusting of snow on his way out. Before you can think better of it, you’re chasing him down the sidewalk, yelling his name. As Kuroo turns, his expression goes from amusement to shock as you go careening into his arms. He tumbles backwards with you in his arms, but he could care less as your lips collide. Even though he’s steady on the ground, Kuroo gets the distinct feeling of falling.

     You knew Kai wasn’t much of a talker even before you started dating. He was always silent, laughing occasionally, keeping the first years in line. He escapes your eye as the manager for the longest time, simply on the sidelines. So when he asked you out on a date (mostly because of the pushing by Yaku and Kuroo to do so), you had even surprised yourself when saying yes. Now, a few months later, you can’t imagine your life without him. You lounge next to him on the bed, lazily flipping through TV channels. You notice Kai continually looking out the window, as if searching for something. “Something wrong?” You ask, and the Nekoma’s vice captain only shakes his head, a bit of an embarrassed smile playing at the corner of his lips. “Uh, no. Sorry.” You sit up a bit straighter, look at him better. “Kai, what is it? You’ve been acting strange all week. If you want to talk, we can talk.”

     You watch your boyfriend as he seems to debate something, before he stands and a mischievous look takes over his features. Your eyebrows raise curiously, and before you can protest, Kai tugs you up and towards the balcony. “Kai, what--?” “Just come!” He insists, and when you’re finally outside in the night air, you can see it. You knew Kai was out in the countryside a bit, but far enough to see the stars in detail? You pause, looking upwards at the different constellations and wishing you could remember at least one to search for. “Do you like it?” He asks, quieter now that he’s brought you outside. He wraps his arms around your middle, head resting on your shoulder. “Yes, it’s great, but… Why’d you do this?” He pauses, breathes out. You see his breath dissipate into fog. “I want to share the place I love with who I love.” he mumbles, pressing a kiss to your collarbone. You laugh, before recognition sets in. “... Love?” “Is that alright?” Kai pulls away a bit, looks at your face for any sign of discomfort. Instead, your cheeks are flushed. Maybe it’s from the winter air, maybe it’s from a growing feeling in your chest. “I love you, too.”

      Yaku is so good to you that it almost physically hurt. He had always been a bit of a wildcard-- sweet one moment, yelling the next (never to you, but still). As you step out of the shower, hair dripping and skin damp, you wrap yourself in a towel before heading out to grab your extra clothes. You hadn’t meant to spend the night, but Yaku never seems to mind either way. When you finally make your grand appearance into the kitchen, you spy Yaku there, humming mindlessly as he pours some more pancake batter into the pan. You pause there for a moment, watching as he adjusts and flips it over once it’s brown on one side. The last thing you want to do is scare him, or worse, stop him from humming. You see a cup of hot tea just waiting for you on the kitchen table, so in bare feet, you sneak over. He still doesn’t seem to notice you, and when you look closer, you realize he has earbuds in. Slipping into the chair, you watch him for a few more moments, more curious of his fluid movements than anything. He’s never told his team that he’s a good cook-- in fact, he’s begged you on more than one occasion not to say anything to them. It’s not like they’d make fun of him-- well, maybe they would. Either way, you snap a quick picture. Unfortunately, the flash was on.

     Sensing movement behind him, Yaku turns, mouth half open in the middle of his tune. He nearly drops the pan and burns his hand, yelping. “Ow! God… Y/N, warn me next time!” You laugh, much to Yaku’s displeasure. He sighs, but you know he’s not frustrated with you. As you go back to adding honey into your tea, you feel his eyes on you. You wait for the feeling to go away, but it doesn’t. When you finally look up again, Yaku seems to snap out of it and turn back to the pancake, which was clearly burning. “Oh, fuck…” He whines. “I was going to surprise you with breakfast in bed!” “Were you?” You ask, sliding out of your chair to join him at the stove. “Here, let me help.” As you take over for your boyfriend, you feel it again. The constant staring. “Can I help you?” There’s a small smirk on your face, but instead of attacking your neck and collarbone with kisses like he normally would, Yaku only whispers. It’s soft, maybe in the end you aren’t supposed to hear it, but of course you do. “... You love me?” Queue Yaku’s face turning bright red. “I never--!... Yes.” You laugh, turning to kiss him gently. He returns it in earnest, if a bit confused. “Good.” you state, flipping the pancake out with the rest of them. “I love you, too.”

     “Tendou keeps telling me that I should be more romantic.” That’s how he greets you as Ushijima walks through the door, carrying a few bags from the convenience store. “What?” You ask, sitting up slightly as your boyfriend drops all the snacks by you. He looks at you blankly for a few moments, as if concerned you hadn’t heard him. “I said that Tendou--,” “Yes, Toshi, I heard you. Why, though? You’re plenty romantic.” You smile, holding up a few of the snacks he’d gotten you. “See? You even got me my favorites.” He shrugs, and you watch as he sits next to you. “Do you want me to be more romantic?” Ushijima looks at you closely then, as if trying to discern something. “I…” You say, cut off by his eyes searching your own. “What’s gotten into you?” You ask, but it’s quiet, unsure. “I want to tell you that I love you.”

     You sit up then, clearly shocked. He does as well, nervous he might have insulted you. “Is there something wrong?” You pause, glancing back at him and away. “You love me?” “Yes.” He nods, reaching out to envelope your hand in his own. “Is that bad? Tendou says I should--,” Before he can finish, you’re already kissing him. He kisses you back greedily; he would never admit it to himself, but he loves the taste of your lips. It’s his favorite thing in the world. When you separate, you’re smiling, laughing. “Remind me to pick up some chocolate later.” you say, leaning back against his chest. “What? Why?” He hums. His low tone causes shivers to travel up your spine. “I have to thank Tendou tomorrow.”

     You watch over and over again as the other team’s opposite hitter gets shut down. Once, twice, three times, and the game ends, just as fast as it had begun. As Tendou walks off the court, in high spirits as always, he finds you in the stands, surrounded by fans screaming and the drumline. He waves up to you, a smile brighter than anything you’ve ever seen coming across his features. He loves it when he can see you in the crowd, even more so when his jacket can be seen around your shoulders. When you meet him at the gym exit, he’s all smiles for you, picking you up and spinning you around. “Tendou!” You laugh, hands gripping to his shoulders for balance. “Just because you’re taller than me doesn’t mean you have to do that every time.”

     “Doesn’t it?” He kisses your lips, hums in approval. “But you always look so good like this.” He sets you down gently, but doesn’t quite let go of you yet, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear, holding your lower back. “Like this?” You ask, glancing down at what you’re wearing. It’s not anything special, but whatever it is about your outfit, it’s making Tendou a bit more affectionate than usual. He kisses your jaw, leading up to your lips before you pull away, a blush covering your features. “Tendou, not here. Later.” You mumble, feeling, for the first time, his teammates’ eyes on you. He searches your eyes, wondering if he’s made a wrong move, but when he sees that you’re simply embarrassed, he laughs, turning to the others before loudly proclaiming: “Hey, guys! This is my girlfriend and I love her!” You pull away by the end, half in shock, half happier than you could ever be. “You love me?” “Of course! Wasn’t that obvious?” He pulls you in for another kiss, and you let him, before being interrupted by a deep voice. “Tendou. Coach has said that we have to leave.” Ushijima nods to you before turning to leave with the rest of the team. You watch your boyfriend’s eyebrows raise in slight annoyance, before turning back to you, all smiles. “Shall we?” and then, quietly under his breath, “That man cannot take a hint.”

     When the idea of home comes to mind, Kiyoko’s the first person you think of. She places your bento on the counter, and you grab it without looking. You don’t leave without giving her a quick kiss, but she’s already kicking you out the door, insisting that both of you will be late at this point. As she walks beside you, you two don’t talk about anything in particular, but she does tuck herself underneath your arm, humming a tiny song to herself as she goes through a few new papers for the volleyball team. You drop her off at the gym like always, but before you could leave, she calls you back. “Y/N, don’t worry about waiting for me at lunch. I have to do some things for the spring pamphlet, okay? I’ll see you at my house after class.” You nod, not thinking anything of it.

     Lunch finally comes around, and while Kiyoko was busy as she promised she would be, you find some old friends to sit with. You carefully unwrap the bento, eyeing the homemade meal inside, but before you could actually eat, a small paper slips onto the floor. You grab it before anyone else could, but what you see makes your face run hot. The girls laugh at you playfully, attempting to grab the paper out of your hand. “Kiyoko leave you something special?” “Can I see?” “Come on, just one look!” They all shout in unison. You know they mean well, and you wave them off easily enough, but you can’t get the dumb grin off your face if you tried. When you meet Kiyoko outside the gym later on, you immediately pull her to you. She’s not as shocked as she should be, but smiles nonetheless. “What?” she asks innocently, but you’re not having any of that. You hold up the sticky note, and Kiyoko’s handwriting, neat and orderly, easily spells out “I love you” with a heart. “This?” You hum, and she laughs, looking up at you before quickly kissing your lips. Public affection is never on Kiyoko’s to-do list. Moments like this are rare, and you savor it for all its worth, kissing her back eagerly. She pulls away, a small smile on her face, pink on her cheeks. “I do love you, you know.” Before you could respond, she’s already taking your hand and leading you away.

[sarahjkl82-blog]

Artistic Instinct Chapter Eight

Header thanks to the lovely @yespolkadotkitty

Summary: Marcus Pike and OC Anushka Pierce have been selected to work on a 5 eyes (Australia, Canada, NZ, the UK and US) intelligence team to track down art forgeries as a part of taking down an international white terrorism cell. Marcus is trying to escape his broken heart, Anushka is just trying to escape what the world expects of her.

Word count: 5,600

Warnings: Language as always, mentions of drinking, alcohol and drunkenness, mentions of sex OH AND HEARTBREAK

Pairing: Marcus Pike x reader (OC)

This comes with a MASSIVE THANK YOU to the lovely @yespolkadotkitty , who read, re-read, pointed out the constant flipping between tenses and gave me the confidence to try to write something. This is the first thing I have written since angsty poetry as a teenager. Apologies if it is shit!

The right person, the wrong time.

The right script, the wrong line.

The right poem, the wrong rhyme.

And a piece of you

That was never mine

K Towne Jr.

Chapter 8

The black topped streets of Lewisham radiate the day’s spring sunshine as if intent upon sending the heaven sent warmth back up through Marcus’ soles. The evening’s golden light creates a love song in his heart - one that morphs from the irritation and melancholy of the morning to a happier more uplifting tune.

When did that mood change? Oh yes, that embrace.

Nush.

Marcus hadn’t realised just how low his battery was for touch until you threw your arms around him. How much much he’d needed your body close to his again. Feeling your softness against him, inhaling your intoxicating scent. How he’d longed to kiss your forehead and stroke your hair in that cuddle. Remembering the pain of breaking that contact, plastering on a smile and kicking himself for it.

Constantly having to watch his need for your touch and tempering it within the normal parameters for a working relationship, Marcus has found himself reaching out for you- making excuses to touch you as you passed him, finding imaginary eyelashes on your face. Being around you felt like a breath that he was unable to release, continuously having to dampen down his natural instincts to hold and stroke you.

Kiss you.

Taste you.

Had he been back in the States, he would have said fuck it and asked you out, but that didn’t exactly go well last time. The pain of knowing exactly what he wants and it just being beyond the reach of his fingertips plagues Marcus daily with the dream of coming home to be loved, nurtured and protected and offer it in return. How do you ever allow yourself to become vulnerable to that risk of failure again? One thing he is certain of, is your current ignorance of the true level of his feelings. The kindness you show others - so much care for everyone around you, albeit through a thinly veiled layer of sarcasm and swearing- and the love your friends show for you, demonstrate that you would be nothing but clear if he was to reveal his true feelings.

Squeezing politely through the crowds, between the narrow shack-like stalls of the fairy-light illuminated market, Marcus heads towards the Highline where Andy had told each of you to meet him. Before he could start climbing the staircase up, a large hand grasps his upper arm, another patting the space between his shoulder blades. Marcus spins, slightly surprised by the touch, to be greeted by Andy’s grinning face.

“Looking good, Sir. Bit sharper than at lunch today,” Andy observes, giving Marcus’ leather jacket, Henley and indigo jeans a once over, “and before you complain, I am going to get you a beer because of the day you’ve had. You can do your management thing of buying the first round in a bit, and I won’t take no for an answer.”

With Andy’s face explicitly telling Marcus not to disagree with him, he nods, definitely needing that drink. As they head together towards the bar, they are both absorbed into the throng of a hundred voices holding loud conversations as they compete with the soundtrack from the decks. The crowd is a mixed bag of teenagers, students and families - the children chasing or trying to catch the sparkling spotlights as their parents reminisce over large gin and tonics about lie-ins and late nights not hunched over a crib.

Winding their way through the laughing and dancing bodies, they head in the direction of the alcohol to order some locally brewed ales, bumping into an already buzzing Kiritopa at almost the front of the queue. After a round of handshakes, back slaps and hearty laughs, they edge ever closer to their goal of amber nectar. Before their drinks are poured, Marcus’ eyes scan the market for the rest of the team when they are caught by a flash of colour. Bright turquoise stockings, a mustard corduroy pinafore, red and white striped T-shirt - oh, it isn’t you. Your wildly coloured legs bring so much colour to his day and they are the first thing he checks as he enters the office. Elbow nudges and a pint glass from Andy brings his attention back to the men in front of him for a quick cheers-ing of glasses before heading out of the melée.

The table on the Highline that Andy had reserved was utterly perfect. It afforded a bird’s eye view of the market - a true dream come true for any avid people watchers, whilst also allowing everyone to talk and be heard by each other with its one storey elevation from the thronging crowds. Andy and Kiritopa are animatedly talking with each other lounging amongst the piles of cushions and blankets on the pallet seating, while Marcus leans against the walkway, clutching his beer, staring off into the urban sprawl of concrete car parks and fried chicken restaurants but only looking for one face.

“Hey, what time do you call this...Whoa - Nush, is that makeup? On your face?” Andy’s eyes are utterly saucer-like in this discovery.

“Hush your mouth - she did it to me,” you jab your finger in Dian’s direction, pouting your lips at the indignation and as Andy goes to make another quip, you add- shoving some chips in his mouth, “Dirty masala fries- thought we’d need something to line our tummies this evening. Although equally, they’ll do a wonderful job of keeping some people’s mouths shut!”

“I think I did a great job- she looks stunning!” having put three portions on the table, Dian steps back to admire her handiwork as you pull a duck face pout at her.

She always looks beautiful.

“So, what’s on these fries?” Marcus asks as he desperately tries to avoid the other thoughts running through his head of how that pencil skirt runs along the curve that falls and rises from your waist to your hips beautifully or the horizontal stripes of your t-shirt - an outfit winning in its quest to distract.

As for that goddamn red lipstick…

It would leave a mark all around my-

“Ok, so they’re skinny French fries with spices shaken over them and a dollop of channa masala on top. Oh and that white shit is garlic mayo to dip them in,” you grin broadly as you pass him a portion - the picant vibrancy of the food telling stories of the fresh, bold flavours to come. Always being a believer in food being one of the ways that you can love a person, the mouthful of potatoes, spices and chickpeas envelops Marcus in an all encompassing hug. His belly sings with happiness with each mouthful he consumes, his tongue delightfully tingling from the chilli powder.

“Y’know Nush. Not had one of your curries for a while,” Andy not-so gently hints.

Marcus can’t help but raise his eyebrows, “Nush, you make curries? How many other hidden talents?”

“She also plays the piano and did ballet until she was fifteen,” Andy adds, ducking as you lob a cushion at him - your face reddened with a mixture of embarrassment and rage.

“Badly according to my mother,” you say, rolling your eyes as you shove another mouthful in, “Mine aren’t particularly elegant but they are edible. Well they are now anyway - there was one, a keema matar, that I made as a kid where I didn’t realise that chili develops over time. Put in roughly five tablespoons by the end. Could have been used for chemical warfare. Never lived it down but it got me out of cooking for a while.”

The table explodes in uproarious laughter, earning several odd looks from the patrons nearby.

“Well, I’m considering this an invitation to try one of your edible curries as you so eloquently call them,” Kiritopa rubs his belly in anticipation, chuckling at your modesty, “When can we get a date in the book?”

“I love a good curry, so count me in,” Dian chimes in as she pops the chickpeas like sweets into her mouth.

Marcus watches you shift uncomfortably in the spotlight of demands from your co-workers, “If I do this, I need a bigger space to work in as I can’t fit you all in my flat. I’ll need to borrow somewhere that can fit more bums.”

“Could use my apartment to cook and host, if you like?” Marcus proffers, secretly hopeful at trying some of your dishes and perhaps more than a little excited at the thought of spending some one on one time with you.

“Shall we do Sunday evening, if nothing turns up from work?” Kiritopa asks hopefully.

Marcus shrugs by way of confirmation, catching your gaze, drinking in the swirl of colours in your iris, to give you a nod.

With a sigh and a roll of the eyes, you exclaim, “Andy- what the fuck have you started? You’ve all grossly overestimated my skills, and now I am going in search of alcohol to dull my senses and make poor decisions,” you dramatically announce with a theatrical bow, “What can I get everyone?”

Seeing an opportunity open up, Marcus touches your arm as you go to leave, “It’s my round. Help me carry them?”

“Deal,” Marcus feels his heart grow as he sees your smile reach every corner of your face.

Before reaching the top of the stairs, Marcus moves himself around to walk in front of you. His body on an autopilot of manners. On reaching the bottom step, he reaches back - unthinkingly - to grab your hand so as not to lose you amongst the multitude drinking, eating and dancing the night away. The momentary panic that spread at the thought of you rejecting him recedes as your fingers thread between his.

Sending a warm smile at you over his shoulder, you follow in the wake of him quietly.

The people near the bar are flowing like rivers, never stopping for obstacles but twirling, swirling around them nevertheless Marcus guides you through, never letting go. The noise of the chatter and throb of the music surrounds you, not allowing for much verbal communication so he settles for small movements and gestures with the hand that is holding yours. When you finally arrive at the queue by the bar, that is when you can speak a bit more freely albeit in theatrical whispers in each other’s ears.

Marcus watches how the evening breeze kisses you, blowing the strands of your growing-out fringe into your face. How you gaze around and observe people whilst also managing to make him feel like he’s the only person there. The way your eyes crease into crescents when you laugh or smile and how much he wishes he could thank all those people jostling you into him. But like all moments with you, it ends too quickly as soon you’re both heading upriver against the current with your trays of drinks.

“Nush, I’ve always thought it was some kind of miracle that you never spill alcohol,” Andy teases you as you bring the drinks to their owners.

“Hah! I don’t waste the good stuff,” you mutter indignantly, “Although perhaps if we want to protect the office carpets, I should…”

“No,” Marcus mock-sternly interjects at the thought of you being drunk and the chaos that would bring, “No day drinking at work, Nush. I’d prefer the coffee stains.”

Your pout and subsequent upward glance through your eyelashes, makes Marcus turn towards the railings, hiding his thoughts in his beer.

Fuck, Nush.

If you only knew what you do to me.

“Hey Kiri, isn’t it? You playing in the tourney tomorrow?” a deep, cut glass accent calls out, cutting through the crowds surrounding them. Marcus turns towards where the sound is coming from and as he does, he catches a strange look cross your face.

“What the fuck are you doing here and how the fuck do you know Kiritopa?” The tone of your voice, narrowed eyes and furrowed brow makes Marcus turn back towards the group inquisitively.

“Nush! Haven’t seen you in a long time but you are looking amazing,” the voice is attached to a face, the kind that would stop anyone in their tracks, “can barely recognise you with makeup on- you should wear it more often.”

You breathlessly mutter, “Fuck off, that’s never going to happen.”

Good girl. Don’t put up with that BS. You’re better than that.

“I know Seb through rugby training,” then tilting his head quizzically, Kiritopa asks, “How do you know him?”

“Since school isn’t it, so what? Roughly twenty years? Through her brother, Adam as we played rugger together. Although, despite such a long time friendship, you wouldn’t let me in your knickers until more recently,” Seb shoots you a wink from over his beer.

The words burn through Marcus as he considers your connection with this man - his eyes narrowing, lips thinning. Loneliness echoing through his racing heart. He hadn’t considered you seeing anyone else- even for the briefest of dalliances but then not everyone is a serial long term monogamist.

Of course you’d have needs, you are an adult woman.

I just wish you’d explore them with me.

“Every now and then it’s nice to have an orgasm attached to a pulse that isn’t delivered by a battery,” you deliver, utterly deadpan.

Seb pretends to be mortally wounded by your words, playing dead into the chair next to yours, languidly flopping his limbs around. Oh, how Marcus would like to wipe that stupid smug smirk off his face!

For fuck’s sake, Pike. Why didn’t you sit next to her when you had the chance?

White knuckles wrapped around his nearly empty pint glass, Marcus silently watches as Seb desperately works to get your attention whilst you chat animatedly with Dian and Andy while Kiri downs the rest of his beer. He hasn’t noticed the pretty young woman with bouncing corkscrew curls observing him from amongst her friends on the next table along.

“Hey. You look like you could do with a drink, can I get you one?”

Abruptly removed from his poorly concealed glowering, Marcus raises his eyebrows in surprise at this question, pausing for some time before realising that it was aimed at him.

“Oh, look don’t worry. It was just a silly thought...” the beautifully tight curls go to withdraw from view and return to their friends.

“No, I’m sorry. I was lost in thought,” Marcus offers apologetically, “It’s been a day from hell. Let me get you a drink.”

“Wanted to talk to you as I was a bit concerned that you were about to break that glass with how tightly you were gripping it. Glass is an arse to get out of wounds so thought it better to save your hands before you come visit me in A&E,” she gently proposes, “There are better places to spend Friday nights!”

Welcoming the pretty distraction from his destructive thoughts, Marcus’ cheeks dimple as he nods, “I can imagine. Are you a doctor?”

“Yeah, for my sins,” she amusedly huffs, “And on a rare night out, so shall we go get that drink? I’m Kemi, by the way.”

✪✪✪✪✪

Oh, how you long to rip the makeup from your face! As a child, it had been a form of let’s pretend that turned into a mask to hide behind as a young adult as you experimented with finding your true self. Now, that you are established in your womanhood, you feel no need to add layers to your face other than when you are convinced it would be fun by a fast-becoming firm friend.

When Sebastian made a remark about how pretty you looked with the makeup, it made you want to run to the loo right then and there to claw it from your skin.

And what the ever loving fuck is he doing here? Fucking Sebastian of all fucking people, who you accidentally keep finding yourself fucking. You’d just come around to the idea that it might be ok to occasionally go out with people from work but when they meet people from your everyday life - your home life - that isn’t ok. Especially when that person is just a hate fuck. Great in bed but an odious human being as you can’t be that handsome and a decent person, it seems.

Unless you’re Marcus Fucking Pike.

Who is now grabbing a drink with an absolute goddess of a woman.

You couldn’t quite pinpoint why it had hurt so much when he’d walked off with her but there was such an ache deep in your tummy that could not be ignored. Between that and the appearance of fucking Sebastian, you just want to jump on the 178 home and throw on your jammies, curling up under the shit crocheted throw that you’d made during your leave - more holes than stitches. If it wasn’t for Dian, you would already be on your way there, demolishing something unhealthy from UberEats, glugging a wine or two.

Dian seems to pick up on your drop in mood and decides that it’s time for a trip to the tequila bar. With Andy’s husband now joining your rag-tag gang, you agree to chase some bitter hits of alcohol. As you wind your way among the dancers and drinkers, you see him standing by one of the upturned kegs, laughing at something she has said. You catch his eye, plaster on a smile and send him a wink in the hope that your wish for him to have fun seems genuine.

You sign to him whether he wants a drink but a small shake of his head tells you all you need to know before Dian tugs your hand back in the direction of the bar. Standing in front of the bartender, a moment of sadness washes over you until Kiri passes the salt, Seb licks your hand and the rest of the evening finally takes a softer tone after one, two, three.

The tequila in your tummy makes it hard to concentrate on what Dian and Kiri are chatting about while the three of you curl tipsily upon the comfy cushions as a large fluorescent pink, plastic sign declaring TREAT YO’SELF looms large over your heads. Excusing yourself to the loo, you walk past Marcus - steadfastly refusing any eye contact but ensuring he sees you. As you go to repeat the action on the return journey - not entirely sure as to why you feel the need to seek your boss’s attention - a hand goes to balance you as you walk down the final step.

“Whoa - steady, Nush,” you look up to see Marcus’ concerned face looking down at you.

“Hah! I’m ok. You having a good night?” You ask, your eyes searching his, “She’s truly stunning.”

“Yeah, um, were you guys doing shots?” he enquires, brow still furrowed.

“Yup. It's a really good tequila bar upstairs - should have joined us,” you jab him in the chest with an index finger, “So good that the world just looks like an impressionist painting. All swooshy and a little bit blurry.”

You watch Marcus scratching his neck, “Anyway, what on Earth are you doing here with me? Go get her, idiot.”

“Ah, here you are Bad Idea Puppy- thought you’d fallen asleep on the loo. Although that wouldn’t be the first time would it?” Sebastian brays, stepping between you and Marcus as he grabs your hand to lead you onto the dancefloor. Allowing yourself to be led away, you look back over your shoulder at him, mouthing go get her with a wink as if that would soften the pain that had appeared with her.

The music flows through you - the clearest way to communicate you have ever known- your body rolling and swaying with the sensuality of the music. Sebastian moves effortlessly around you thanks to his mother, who having had only sons, deciding that her youngest would get the dance lessons that she’d hoped the daughter she never had, would take. The two of you vent in movements all of what you could never be said between you or to anyone else aloud. As you twist together under the orange stained hazy night sky, you notice the goddess’ hand on Marcus’ face, stroking his cheek. The poisonous ache returns to your tummy and however your face contorts, causes Seb to pull you closer, cradling your head into his neck. You know how the night will end and the loneliness stings.

✪✪✪✪✪

His mouth bone dry, Marcus awakes fully dressed, on top of the comforter, with a cool bed surrounding him. Reaching for his phone, pulling the charging cable from it, he flicks through messages and emails trying to work out what had happened from when Kemi had left him in the bar to rejoin her friends. Her words still ring in his ears - you didn’t come alone tonight - when she had watched his eyes trace your path out of the market. How he’d initially thought about taking her up on her offer to help him forget, wanting to obliterate last night from his memory and lose himself in her eyes and lips. Her final words to him, cutting him to the core- she must be really special and if she is as special as you think she is, you fight for her.

Bloodshot eyes and deep creases stare back at him from the mirror. More grey. They say that age exchanges beauty for wisdom but they are the same mistakes he keeps repeating. A strangled gasp escapes him as he tries to regulate his breathing, lifting his chin trying to fill his lungs with more oxygen. His shoulders are racked by gut-wrenching sobs and like an overwhelmed dam, the tears spill in hot torrents down his cheeks. Marcus slides onto the floor, allowing the grief to pour forth.

His first marriage was too much, too soon, too young. An art historian and an artist in love with creating and observing beauty until the former decided to change tack after being recruited by the FBI. The long hours of training at Quantico, the subsequent hard days and irregular nights as he worked his way through the ranks of the Art Crime department, wrung the patience from his wife. Gradually growing further and further apart until all that was left were two strangers constantly at odds, her cutting comment about how she felt that he gave her only apathy - never coming to her when she needed help or affection. She hated him for the choices he made - feeling that his work was merely interacting with the meaningless. The law enforcer spent more time at work to hide from the inevitable ending until the artist found someone who appreciated her and the beauty she created.

As for Lisbon. Was she really ever his? Wasn’t he really just a footnote in the Patrick Jane story? The whirlwind romance that progressed and extinguished again at such a heart attack inducing pace, emphasised by that stupid-ass move to DC. Although, if it wasn’t for that move, he wouldn’t be here in London now. Oh yeah. That was out of the skillet and into the fire, Pike. Another excellent career move.

So much love to give and nowhere, no one to give it to. The lessons he has learnt and is still learning but oh, just to find that person with whom you can drop that mask and enjoy togetherness, warmth and serenity.

The side of the bath offers a solid cool support to Marcus as he sits there on the herringbone tiled floor, sobbing into his arms. There is only one voice he needs to hear right now. Grabbing a tissue from the side to noisily blow his nose into, he rubs the heels of his palms into his eyes before putting his glasses on. Phone in hand, he dials the number he knows better than his own name.

The familiar dial tone is like a lullaby in his ear, “Mamá?... Hey! How are you doing?... I’m sorry Mamá - I forgot about the time zone difference... I’m ok, just missing you… It’s just been a long week and... Yeah, London is awesome and I managed a trip to France this week which was incredible to be back there. So weird having so many different countries within such easy reach…Come visit me soon?... Thank you... I miss you… Te quiero mucho Mamá… I’ll ring you in a couple of days. Hasta luego.”

Hanging up, everything feels a bit more manageable and less painful- I wish I could bottle my Mamá’s voice. Hauling himself off the bathroom floor, he turns on the faucet to splash icy water on his face. Sniffing his t-shirt, realising the shower could wait - perhaps a good run to get the endorphins pumping would be his best move. Or perhaps a text to Nush to check what ingredients he’d need to have in for the curry tomorrow?

Stop it, Pike. You’re just fucking torturing yourself.

Opening a drawer, he pulls out basketball shorts, a clean t-shirt and a pair of sneaker socks to throw on, discarding last night’s clothes in a heap by the washing machine.

AirPods in and classic nineties dance anthems to pace himself to, he gives his quads and hamstrings a quick warm up by the front door before it is time to convert the emotional pain into miles.

One of the many things that Marcus loves about London is the constant greenery with every second corner a park or stretching heathland. Texas is so proud of its big sky country status and yet, there are parts of central London where you could lie down and not see anything but skies around you. It is truly hard not to fall in love with such a beautiful, historical and spacious city.

Pounding the pavements towards the park, his feet hit the concrete slabs softly, sending small shockwaves to his brain. Whilst Marcus knows that the power in his thighs could have him across the park in seconds, he savours each step. The precision in his movements is perfect as he takes lungful after lungful of the sunshine filled air. It feels like part of a meditation - a mindful prayer. Dodging around errant dogs and small, clumsy yet terrifyingly aggressive children on scooters, he winds his way through the avenues of trees until he comes across a small lake.

He pauses the thrumming music in his ears to just soak up the tranquility of the moment as he stretches out his limbs. The lake is the kindest of nature’s mirrors, never truly showing exactly what is above, but converting it to an image so beautifully smudgy. The weeping willow stroking its branches elegantly across the skin of the water, the clouds gliding silently above as a host of waterfowl paddle effortlessly through the cool, clear pool, all become a priceless Monet hanging in The National Gallery – all free for the looking. Sure, it is transient, changing by the day - unlike the fixed in a moment of time pieces by the grumpy old Frenchman - but that's what makes it all the more precious.

There’s a family by the water’s edge. Marcus can’t help but be amused by the toddler’s antics as they threaten to jump in and become irritated that they can’t, especially when they have their wellies on. Can’t fault that logic! The older child is gathering sticks to make a “campfire” with their dad - discarding most of their parent’s choices with withering looks and expressive rolls of the eyes. The dark-haired mom, whilst trying to reason with the toddler, is swaying with some sort of baby carrier tied around her - a tiny one clutched tightly to her chest. The infant is virtually invisible from the passes of material, only two tiny socks and its little woolly hat peeking free. A collie is also darting between and around them, rounding up his flock of sheep, taking his role as protector very seriously.

The scene makes Marcus smile as he stretches out his muscles. Whilst he can’t help but watch and yearn for something similar in his life, the mom looks up and over in his direction,

“Are you going to come over and say hi or just be a park weirdo that lurks in bushes pretending to stretch?” a familiar voice curtly teases.

Nush - what the fuck?

“Your face is a fucking picture! Take a breath - these are three of my five niblings - big one is Sophia, middle one that keeps threatening to swim in the pond is Alexa and this little dot is Oscar. As for that blundering idiot, this is Adam, my oldest brother- their dad,” gesturing towards your brother you giggle, creasing up in laughter at the sheer shock then relief on Marcus’ face, “Ads, this is Marcus, my new boss that I told you about.”

The male version of Nush outstretched his palm, offering a sympathetic look, “Hi Marcus, pleasure to put a face to a name. I’m so sorry that you have to put up with my cowbag-of-a-sister at work.”

Marcus can’t help but laugh at the friendly sniping between brother and sister, reminding him of his own teasing relationship with his sisters back home, “Hey! Your kids are beautiful. Oh, you must be Sebastian’s friend - who we saw at Model Market in Lewisham yesterday, Nush?” he questions.

“As much as Sebastian can have friends… Oh Nush, you didn’t, did you?” Adam’s face scrunches in disgust and judging in the way that only a sibling can do.

“No! Not this time,” Marcus loves the speed and vehemence to which you respond to your brother- and enjoys the sheer relief that is now guiltily coursing through his veins, “To give the man his dues, he won’t ever sleep with me when I’ve had too much to drink. Not that I was going to and not that it is any of your fucking business in the first place.” You add jabbing your brother in the softness of his tummy with every word you say.

“Nush, I was gonna text you this morning about tomorrow, if you’re still on to make the curries?” Marcus gently questions, willing you to agree.

“Hah! You’re trusting her to cook?” Adam laughs heartily at the suggestion, “I’m not sure that’s the best idea. Our mum still won’t let her near the chilli powder now.”

You growl at your brother, “I was a fucking kid at the time! And yes, I am more than happy to come and cook curries- what time suits you for me to come over? They do take a bit of time to make.”

Marcus struggles to hold back a snort of laughter, “Any time is good - and perhaps while they’re simmering, we can have some classic films on in the background?”

“Ah that sounds perfect,” your smile warming every inch of his skin.

“You sound perfect for her,” Marcus catches Adam muttering under his breath, his eyes widening at your brother’s comment.

“Shut your damn cakehole, twatface,” you slap your brother’s arm hard as you grind the words between your teeth, the two of you glaring with a mirror image of your eyebrows raised at each other.

“Um, I’d better continue my run before I cool down too much,” Marcus manages to spit out between the flushes of heat through his skin, “Great to meet you and your family, Adam. Nush, it’s lovely to see you and I’ll catch you tomorrow?”

“See you tomorrow, Marcus,” you smile at him before turning back towards your niblings, who are working together to create a den using an old fallen branch.

“I saw you running earlier,” Adam adds, “You’ve got a really good gait - as a physio, it’s great to see someone not destroying their joints. Do you do anything to support your running through cross training?”

“Uh no, but that’s a good idea as I don’t want any injuries. What would you recommend?” Marcus asks, genuinely intrigued and flattered by your brother’s compliment of his running style.

“Speak to Nush - yoga is perfect for stretching your IT bands, which as a man they’re generally always tight and only get tighter with repetitive movements like running or cycling. She’s the yoga queen and will know of a local teacher who can help you,” Adam grins, nodding towards his sister.

“There’s so much I have yet to learn about her,” Marcus shakes his head as he sorts out his headphones.

“Yeah, good luck with that!” Adam laughs as he pats Marcus on the back, “Anyway, enjoy the rest of your run and hopefully see you again soon.”

As Marcus gradually picks up his pace away from you and your family, his heart that had felt so dark and lonely, now feels light and airy. The release valve in his chest is finally loosened and there is a little bubble of excitement in his belly that he allows to build at the thought of tomorrow. The thought of your presence in his apartment, doing something as domestic as cooking, is truly a salve for his soul.

Perhaps he can just make believe until it becomes a reality.

Tag list of glory: @astroboots @silverwolf319@sirowsky @leonieb @disgruntledspacedad @bison-writes @the-ginger-hedge-witch @danniburgh @sugarontherims @green-socks @tardisfangurl @absurdthirst @pedropascalito @mouthymandalorian @mrsparknuts @lunaserenade @zukoyonce @agirllovespancakes @yespolkadotkitty @theravenreads @lv7867 @songsformonkeys

[imaginationoverspill]

A Rebel's Destiny - Chapter One : The Great Escape

Imprisoned in an imperial labour camp on an unnamed prison-planet in the Unknown Regions of Space, you decide to escape with help from two brothers. Not only do you piss the imperials off, but you also steal something that could be very valuable.

Pairing : Cassian Andor x reader

Main Masterlist - Series Masterlist

Warnings : mild violence, some swearing, a little angst.

Word Count : 4000 words (exactly)

Sweat dripped down your forehead as you finished one of the trillions of circuit boards produced by the labour camp you was imprisoned in. The warehouse was stifling hot. There was no air conditioning and the thousands of bodies working hard did not help to reduce the humid atmosphere. The sounds of banging and welding made a horrible din that never stopped, even as you lay in your cot at night among ten others in what could only be described as a prison cell.

The inmates were under constant scrutiny of the KX security droids as they patrolled the warehouse. Occasionally, a shout could be heard as a droid punished an inmate if it viewed their work unsatisfactory. You had been at the end of that electric shocking staff once or twice. It was a rather unpleasant experience that left you both numb and in agonizing pain.

During the time spent in the prison-come-factory, you had spoken to many of the inmates, many of whom had spent several years there, even before the prison became a labour camp. Ocat Fuli, a middle-aged yellow twi’lek, and Toc Fuli, his younger brother, had spent nearly a decade surviving this place. The brothers were complete opposites, where Ocat was calm with a paternal attitude, Toc was, for lacking a better word, insane. You got to know Ocat as he was, he was your work neighbour and slept in the same cell as you. The prison did not separate the inmates by gender, especially since some species imprisoned do not conform to the old-fashioned concept of two genders, humans included. Besides, the imperialists who ran the place did not give a bantha’s crap about the inmates’ comfort.

During the day, you would stay at your respective stations, only mildly conversing during your daily 20-minute break at lunchtime. Ocat was very kind, he helped you adjust during the first few days of your sentence. He had introduced his brother Toc at the end of your first day. The twi’lek exuded chaotic energy, and it often caused him to be in trouble, much to the chagrin of his older brother. Although, he found himself frequently having his break-time reduced or even removed altogether, his trouble-making was never for no reason.

On one occasion, a fellow inmate had planned to quietly celebrate their birthday. Upon finding out, Toc made it his mission that Jula Visz, a young human woman he had taken a liking to, would have the best birthday possible, despite the circumstances. He had stolen extra dessert from the canteen to give to her, and encouraged the other inmates to loudly sing whilst on the way back to the cells. However, as the droids were distracted by the cacophony of off-key singing. Toc took the opportunity to high-jack one of the control panels used by the droids to communicate through-out the base. In doing so, he cut out the power to the communicators, preventing the droids from calling back-up or sounding the alarm. What started off as jovial singing turned into a riot that was forcibly brought under control, but during the commotion, Jula had disappeared. No one knows whether she escaped or was recaptured, either way she was never seen again.

Of course, Toc, being the optimistic, believes she escaped and insisted as such. Much to Ocat’s dismay, word had got back to the imperials that he had orchestrated the uprising. They isolated him for several months, hoping it would bring the Twi’lek to submission. If anything, it had hardened his resolve to be a pain in the backside to all imperials.

It had now been several months since you first arrived at the stupid prison planet. You had quickly realized that your work wasn’t just meaningless labour. The Imperials were building something and using prisoners as slaves. As to what they were building? Only the maker knows. But, you knew that when it comes to the Empire, it is never something good. After hearing Toc’s story one evening, you and your cellmates had formed a plan, and today was the excellent opportunity to set it in motion.

As the prison was transformed into the warehouse, the two brothers, along with the other veteran prisoners, became familiar with the layout. Ocat had known about some repairs being made to the outer shell of the base as the hull had a gaping hole from the last Barri attack, comprising the main route you usually took back to your cell. The planet’s atmosphere was too thin for most beings to survive without a spacesuit, but not for the Barri. The giant worm-like creatures were native to the planet and were mostly known for hitching rides on asteroids, hence their ability to survive with little to no oxygen. The creatures secrete an acidic substance to digest the asteroid they’ve hijacked. The individuals who are left on the planet are juveniles, nowhere near the size they can grow to be. Their acid, however, is just as potent as the adults’ and they regularly attacked the factory, attracted to the harsh vibrations and bright fog lights.

A loud siren rang, signalling the end of your shift. All the inmates stepped away from their stations, creating lines that would then form long queues so that they can be herded back to their cells by the security droids. You did the same as Ocat stood next to you, Toc was a few places ahead of you in the queue.

A stormtrooper stood at the start and end of the line. The front trooper barked an order before beginning to march away, with the line soon following. As expected, rather than your usual path to the prison cell, the droids were taking the line through a different passage to avoid the repair team. As you continued walking, the line progressed through the base and headed close to the side hangar, as the repair team blocked the main hangar. The plan you, Toc, Ocat and the other bunkmates had spent organizing since the Barri attack was finally going to happen. Once you approached a crossroad, Ocat signalled to his brother, who responded with a small nod. As planned, Toc began to sing:

“Droids preyed on the innocents, the sick, and the old

Mechanical murder, a murder most cold”

The closest KX droid turned to Toc at the sound of his out-of-tune voice.

“It made no difference what flag our foes flew

For Cham rallied our forces, charging boldly anew”

“Prisoner! Cease from singing or face punishment”, demanded the droid, but Toc ignored it.

Toc had begun to sing the Ballad of Cham Syndulla. Ocat had told the story several times about the brave Twi’lek, Cham Syndulla, who led a group of freedom fighters to combat against the Confederacy of Independent Systems and the subjugation of the people of Ryloth. The song had been written to honour the Twi’lek and had been taught to your cellmates by the brothers. You and Ocat joined in, and soon enough so did your cellmates :

“Our brothers have fallen, tread upon by steel feet

We buried their bodies, we tasted defeat”

As the noise of the singing grew, the more confused members of the line started to join in as well. Even though many of them didn’t know the song, they understood the meaning and as planned, a riot was beginning to stir. Noticing the rowdiness of the inmates, the security droids lit their shocking rods and threatened to punish if the inmates did not calm down. The droids efforts in frightening them to submission were in vain.

“Though we have been pushed back, our resistance won't fall

We're twice again in might, with headtails to the wall!”

We will continue the fight, with blasters and knives

With teeth bared and fists balled, we fight for our lives

Cham will free Ryloth, our home soil we hold dear

He will bring us our victory and teach droids how to fear!”

Suddenly, the power to the section they were currently in cut out. The only visibility came from the blinking blood-red emergency lights that made the corridor seem dark and ominous, especially with the warning siren that followed. Whilst the KX security droids were preoccupied with the inmates singing, Toc had taken the opportunity, as planned, to unscrew a hatch covering an electricity distribution board thanks to the screwdriver he stole from his workstation. Thankfully, they don’t search the inmates until they reach the cells.

Once darkness fell, all hell broke loose. Some inmates took advantage and began attacking the droids. You and Ocat did the same. You grabbed the hilt of the KX droid who had threatened Toc and slammed the end into its chest, causing an electrical surge to run through the droid, hopefully frying it in the process. The electric pulse caused the droid to lash out, violently throwing you against the wall and causing you to bang the back of your head from the force. You slumped to the floor as the world seemed to spin, and a nauseous feeling washed over you. The noise of the fighting sounded muffled and your vision blurred. Among the stifled commotion, you heard a more distinct shout, although you still couldn’t quite make out who it was until they crouched down next to you: “Ai’Jou! Are you alright !?”

Ocat had shoved through the crowd upon seeing you being tossed aside. Breathing heavily from having the air knocked out of you, you tried to focus on him.

“I’m fine”, you attempted to wave him off. The loud sound of the ongoing riot making your head ache even worse.

“Are you sure, Ai’Jou?” He gently titled your head to look in your slightly dazed eyes. He noticed something went at the back of your head. You hissed in pain as he gently pressed there, discovering a slowly bleeding wound:

“You are definitely not okay”

“I’m fine, we have to stick to the plan. This is the only chance we have”, you insisted.

Ocat wasn’t convinced, but he knew you were right, once the imperials figure out what the plan is, they weren’t likely to survive being caught. He gently helped you to your feet, using both hands to grip your arm as you stood. You were still dizzy from hitting your head, but the blurriness had eased, as well as the nausea. Once he thought you weren’t going to immediately collapse as soon as he let go, he picked up the discarded shocking stick and handed it back to you before picking up his own stolen weapon. You and Ocat shove through the crowd and breakthrough to an unguarded corridor. After having spotted you and his brother, Toc followed closely behind. The first phase of the plan was success.

You quietly rush down a set of corridors, pressing against the wall to avoid detection from troops heading back towards the uprising. Just as Toc went to take another turn, something in your gut told you to hold him back. You grabbed the back of his prisoner’s uniform and tug him into through the closest door that was luckily unlocked. Ocat quickly followed. Just as you all entered the room and pressed yourself against the inside wall next to the open door, stormtroopers turn down the passage you were just in. The quick movement had caused your head to spin again, and you screwed your face up, closed your eyes and gripped your deactivated staff tightly, willing the lightheadedness to go away. The three of you held your breath as the troopers jogged past. The clanking of their amour and their heavy footsteps fading away as they disappeared down the hallway.

“Woah guys, look at this”. Toc’s whisper caught your attention, and you opened your eyes to look at what he was referring to. He was stood over by a sleek black desk, with his attention being drawn by what was on a slightly transparent standing screen on the desk. You moved away from the wall to see what he was referring to. The file on the screen looked very official, the title ‘Project Mark Omega’ was written in a large font next to the imperial logo and a stamp marked ‘Confidential’. Whoever owns this office clearly left in a hurry, probably in reaction to the trouble your fellow inmates were causing. You watched as Toc began messing with the computer, pressing seemingly random buttons.

“What are you doing ?”, you asked. He smirked when a small data chip exited the machine.

“Well, whatever this is looks important. If we ever manage to pull our plan off, what an even better way to piss the imperials off than stealing a little intel too.” You huffed a laugh at Toc whilst grabbing the data chip and stashing it away in one of your uniform’s pockets.

“Come on, let’s go”, Ocat urged, leaning against the wall near the door and becoming more on edge the longer you three stayed in the office. He checked the hall for the all-clear before all three of you left.

The three of you continued on your path until you walked through into another a corridor that opened up to a larger passage with the right wall being replaced by transparisteel overlooking the side hangar. You looked through the transparent wall to see rows of stormtroopers standing to attention. The sight made you nervous, and you hope that what you had planned was going to work. As the low-level nausea came back, you stumbled slightly. Ocat grabbed onto your arm to stop you from falling over. He looked at you with concern.

“I’m not entirely convinced you are well, Muchi.”, remarked Toc.

“I agree. You did hit your head hard. I believe you have a concussion”

You waved them both off as the queasiness relented, and it no longer felt like you were being spun around in a TIE-fighter by an overzealous pilot. Ocat reluctantly let go of you, but kept his arms hovering over you in case you collapsed.

“I know, but we can’t stop to rest just yet, Ocat”, you insisted. He let out a sigh before lowering his arms and moved on towards a closed large metal double door that seemed to be protected by a hand scanner. Toc rubbed his hands together in excitement as he prepared his small kit to hack through the door’s security. You and Ocat stood in front of the door, stolen shocking sticks at the ready for whatever might be on the other side.

As the door slide open, the two stormtroopers who were standing guard on the other side turned around. Ocat quickly jabbed the trooper in front, hitting them in the space between their helmet and their breast-plate. The trooper dropped their weapon as the electricity immobilized them, and they fell to the floor, either unconscious or dead.

You weren’t so lucky, as your head injury had made you more sluggish than usual. As you aimed for the neck, the trooper was faster and knocked your weapon out of your hands. Left without a weapon, you grabbed at the trooper’s blaster, trying to prevent them from aiming. Ocat was about to help you, but whilst locked in a grappling hold, you hooked your left ankle around the trooper’s leg and forcefully pushed them, causing the trooper to lose their balance. As they fell backwards, their grip on the weapon loosened. You took advantage and ripped the blaster from their hands before firmly slamming it into their helmet. Ocat quickly followed the attack by jabbing the trooper with his stick, thoroughly making sure that the trooper stayed down.

Whilst you and Ocat were tackling the troopers, Toc had moved forward through the double doors and into a rather dark room where three officers were sat in front of multiple screens and a complicated panel covered in buttons and levers. Thanks to Ocat’s knowledge of the base, the three of you had managed to find the side hangar’s control room which, due to the repairs, was currently being used as the main control.

The three officers had turned around at the sound of the fighting and drew their blasters once they realized they were under attack. You surprised yourself how swiftly shot them with the trooper’s blaster, despite the fogginess in your head that didn’t seem to want to clear. Toc, impressed with your sharp shooting, hastily closed the control room doors before joining you at the control panel. In front of you were several screens displaying the different areas of the base. On one of them, you could see the original corridor where you, Toc and Ocat had begun the revolt. Remains of the KX droids that were attacked littered the hall, but they were also some victims. As you had left the fray, some inmates had done the same, attacking troopers and droids as they go, others hadn’t managed to escape. You watched as a group of inmates were made to kneel, hands on their head in surrender as stormtroopers had them surrounded. An officer stood with them, looking down at them and seeming a bit too happy with herself.

“We have to hurry”, Ocat stressed, looking just as tense as you were feeling at the scene. You nodded to him before all three of you sat in the seats that were once occupied by the officers. You knew exactly what to do as Toc gave instructions on what buttons to press. Section by section, all the cell doors were opened and the emergency shutdown that was initiated in an attempt to control the uprising was turned off. The haunting imperial alarm sounded as inmates fled from their cells and began to overwhelm many of the droids or troops they came across. You all cheered and whooped, high-fiving each other in celebration. Toc grabbed the microphone :

“Ladies, Gentlemen and every being in between, the base is ours!”

Upon Toc’s announcement, you saw as inmates cheered as the troopers and officer’s fled. His announcement wasn’t exactly true, but it did the trick as some of the inmates flooded the corridor where your fellow workmates were kneeling. The officer stood terrified as the troopers failed to control the incoming crowd. The kneeling prisoners became emboldened and joined the attack. Having seen this, you looked at Toc, grinning wildly, before you all left the control-room and headed down a flight of stairs down to the hangar.

The hangar had become mostly empty, the troopers that were originally there had left at the imperial alarm you triggered by releasing all the prisoners. Within the hangar stood several ships, mainly Lambda-class shuttles, often used as both cargo and troop transportation, and more basic cargo shuttles. You cautiously made your way into the spacedock still aware that more troopers might come. Suddenly, a shout was heard along with the clanking of stormtrooper armour. A small group of prisoners had also made their way into the hangar, with stormtroopers hot on their tail as they fired at them.

“This way!”, shouted Toc as he gestured to a small cargo shuttle. The three of you dashed towards it, dodging rogue blaster bolts. You screamed as a bolt flew past your head, barely missing you. Toc made it to the shuttle first and immediately started on hijacking the security system. He let a shout of victory as the shuttle door lowered and the three of you rushed inside to escape the blaster fire. Once inside, you and Ocat sit in the piloting chairs. The engine rumbled as you, rather roughly, began to take off. More stormtroopers had entered the hangar, but it was too late as they continued to fire at the shuttles leaving the base.

Leaving the prisoner planet once and for all, you prepared the ship for the jump to hyperspace.

“The Gordian Reach?”, Ocat questioned as he noticed the coordinates you set in the computer.

“Trust me”, you replied, before pulling down a lever. You felt the shift in gravity as the ship sped up, and you jumped to hyperspace. As the blurred blue light of hyperspace flew past the cockpit, you released a heavy sigh, letting go off the tension that had been building up.

“We did it”, said Toc, almost in disbelief.

“Yes we did”

You grinned at Ocat’s reply. Your plan had succeeded, not only had you escaped that hellhole, you three had stolen confidential information AND help other prisoners escape too.

“So … Now, what we do ?”, questioned Toc.

“Well. I suggest we find some supplies and plan from there. Ai’Jou, you set the coordinates for a sector in the Outer rim, perhaps there is a space station there.”

“Actually, I have a better idea. I have, um, some … special friends in the sector who can definitely help us out.”

“Special Friends?”, questioned Ocat, a little dubious about you meant by friends.

You winced at the pain in the back of your head before you could reply, and Ocat immediately became more concerned about you.

“We need to check that head injury of yours, no excuses”

“But-”

“I’ll go look for a medkit”

“Thank you, Nerra.”

You knew there was no getting out of it when Ocat went it to what you like to call ‘Dad mode’. As Toc disappeared from the cockpit, Ocat made you turn your chair to face him. “Follow my finger”. You did what you was told as Ocat held up a finger and moved it from left to right.

Toc reappeared and made you jump slightly as he gently placed a cold bacta patch to your wound.

“I think we should all rest, you especially Ai’Jou. We should be arriving in the sector in a few hours. You can explain your excellent plan then.”

The shuttle you had stolen was small, probably only used to ferry small cargo or a small group of people. Ocat had decided to take the first shift of piloting the ship, while you and Toc laid on the hard benches that lined the side walls of the craft, using the emergency blankets in the medkit to keep warm. You slowed your breath as the sound of hyperspace lulled you to sleep, and your headache subsided thanks to the bacta. The next thing you know, you were gently woken by Toc as he had swapped places with Ocat a few hours ago, and you were now dropping out of hyperspace. You groggily rubbed your eyes as you sat up. You no longer felt any dizziness or nausea, and your headache had lessened considerably. As you sat, Toc checked on your wound.

“Looking good, muchi”, he cheekily reported. “We’ve arrived, so now’s the time for you to contact these special friends of yours”

You smirked at his attitude and made to stand. Toc made sure that you were stable as you stood up and headed to the cockpit, where Ocat was sat in the pilot’s seat. You sat down next to him as the brothers watched you expectantly. Without another word, you opened up the ship’s communications line :

“Calling all rebel Alliance vessels. This is Ferox, I have escaped the imperial prison on an unknown planet along with two others. During my escape, I have obtained information that may have some importance.”

“Rebel Alliance!”, exclaimed Toc, “They’re your ‘Special friends!? Why didn’t you tell us that you were some badass rebel fighter or spy?!”

You smirked at the surprise on their faces, “I would have been a terrible spy if I had told you”

Suddenly, a crackly sound came through the comms:

“Hello? Come in Ferox? This is red flight squadron leader, do you copy?”

“I hear you loud and clear, red flight squadron leader”

“Excellent! We’re glad to hear you from you again, Ferox. We’ve transferred your ship’s code, and you’ve been granted permission to land”

“Copy that, squadron leader. Over and out”

At the end of the squadron leader’s transmission, a series of coordinates and a code appear through the comms. You knew exactly where they were to land.

Next Chapter

Notes :

Translations from Twi’leki :

Ai’jou = informal term used for young, Muchi = friend, Nerra = brother

I did not write the Ballad of Cham Syndulla, the song appears in a webcomic written by Pablo Hidalgo and I found it thanks to www.starwars.fandom.com

[rmg91]

Zoe Week; Day 5-ROTT

So I know we got given a free day considered ROTT was...what it was but I decided to still go with the prompt and it turned into more of a small rewrite than just a ‘Let’s slip Zoe into this scene’. Zoe is everyone’s braincell and we know it.

Also I tried writing a fight scene....I donno how well it turned out lol

AO3

~*~*~*~*~*~

“He WHAT?!”

Zoe stared at the assembled guardians, the kids, that had gone up against the demigods bent on restarting the world with that crazy plan to strip them of their powers, only for it to fail. Yes, they were alive. Yes, they had Nari, in spirit, but the Arcane Order had her body, had Douxie, and that was not okay for her! That stupid, self-sacrificing idiot! Of course he'd do something like that! But all it would do would buy them time and just what was going to happen when those power hungry beings found out?! It wasn't going to be good, that was for sure and now Zoe had to hatch a plan to try and save her idiot before something bad happened.

Ignoring the overlapping explanations and assurances they'd come up with a plan, Zoe marched her way out of the ex-throne room and down to what was becoming her studio. Shuffling around the various tomes and grimoires, she searched for the one she was certain had the spell she needed to find him, growling to herself when she couldn't. This is what she got for not sorting through all these yet. Finally, just when she'd been about to say 'fuck it' and do it without the book, she dug up the dusty purple codex of scrying and grinned in victory. Oh, she was finding that idiot of hers and then she was going to give him a piece of her mind once he was safe.

Coming back upstairs, the pinked haired witch flipped through the book, looking for the magic circle that would allow her to find Douxie. Ignoring everyone's voices, she quickly read through the directions, reminding herself how it worked and set to etching runes in the air with her wand. The symbols of power fell to the floor in sparking pink power, forming the necessary element for her spell. “Nari.” She called, “I'm gonna need Archie for a moment.”

The little nature spirit, inhabiting her partners body, let his familiar go from her hold as she finished the magic circle, sending the tomb to rest on the floor outside it. Sitting in the center, Archie crawled into her lap in dragon form, already having a feeling on what she was going to try to do. Normally she could sense Douxie's power, they'd known each other for so after all it was easy, but between distance and most likely being blocked, she couldn't without help. It would be easier if their magic was bonded, tied together for the rest of eternity and the ultimate sign of trust and love between magic users but...they weren't. Not for lack of wanting to but their lives had been pretty hectic and dangerous and bonding their magic came with lots of consequences as well as benefits. If one of them died...it would be the worse kind of hell on the other. And as much as they loved each other they hadn't wanted to have the other suffer so. But maybe, after all this, they'd change that.

“Uh..what are you gonna do?” Toby asked, standing near as he watched the pulsing pink runes.

“I'm going to track Douxie using the bond between him and Archie.” She explained, holding the dragon-cat gently, one hand scratching between his ears, “It should, in theory, help me find where the Order is holding him.” Then they would retrieve him and she was going to kick his ass for putting himself in danger, again.

Everyone took that as the queue to be quiet, to let her work, and Zoe breathed in deeply, letting her magic seep out and take shape. The circle glowed as she let herself fall into a trance, focusing on Archie, who was relaxed in her lap, his own magic open to letting hers in. She found the bond, a shining string of magic that was warm, comforting, powerful, reaching out beyond their little space in search of their missing wizard. She followed it as it swirled, twisting and turning through the space between, searching, searching, searching until-There! It sung brightly, tightening like a perfectly tuned guitar string and humming with life and she knew in that moment just where to find him.

Opening her eyes, a pink glow encompassing them, she grinned sharply. The Order didn't know what was coming to them.

~*~*~*~

The group entered the abandoned train tunnel, sans one Trollhunter, looking for any sign of the Order or Douxie. Zoe knew she had been harsh when she told Jim he needed to stay behind but she was not going to take back what she said. He was injured and therefore a liability and she wasn't going to let him kill himself or any of his friends if things were to go pear shaped. But hopefully they wouldn't and they'd be able to rescue Douxie with minimal trouble.

Her blue eyes roamed over the various crates and scaffolding, sensing him near but unable to see him. But she just knew he was here. Even as the group spread out and looked around old, crumbling crates and rusty metal drums, confused as to why they couldn't find anyone, Zoe was reaching out with her magic, searching for her wayward husband. Frowning down at the tracks, something just wasn't sitting right with her, she tried her best to see and think like Douxie would. There had to be something here she was missing...

She blinked, a thought coming suddenly and could it really be that easy?

Trotting up a staircase to get higher ground, she looked down at the tracks, shaking her head lightly because for some eon's old beings, Skrael and Bellroc really couldn't be original? “Their hiding in plain sight!” She shouted to assembled guardians, flicking her wand out and rearranging the train tracks, “They've made a giant sigil with the tracks!” The tracks moved, soon lighting up and dispelling the room around them, revealing a much darker room and three beings in the center.

She wasn't sure if they were aware they weren't alone anymore but it looked as if the demigods of ice and fire were taunting who they thought were Nari. She, or rather Douxie, was hovering in the air, held aloft by his hands in glowing magic and maybe, possibly keeping quiet as to continuing fooling the gods. But then, as they were staring confusedly as the Genius Seals, wondering why they weren't opening, he opened his big fat mouth.

“Abracadabra, Buttsnacks.”

Zoe groaned, because why had he said that?! But before the Order could do more than threaten him, she raised her wand high and cried, “Hey! Hands off!” She then sent a bolt of pink lighting down, just barely hitting Skreal, and then it was on!

Everyone jumped into action, firing and fighting the two remaining members of the Order. Zoe jumped down, joining the fray, firing spells and shields as she made way to Nari's body. She was put to a stop though as the icy wizard floated in front of her, brandishing his staff. Oh, if he wanted a fight, he was getting a fight. Ignoring Douxie's strained call of her name, the hedge-witch ducked a swing of the staff, dodging to the right and not giving in to Skreal's taunting. Hedge-witch or not, didn't mean she wasn't powerful and she wasn't about to let these bastards win.

Zoe fired spell after spell, wildly missing the floating god as he chuckled darkly at her. But that was okay, all part of the plan because when he least expect it she smirked and performed a round-house kick, planting her foot below his belt with a cry of “Rule Number Three!!”

As Skrael crumpled, she turned back to Douxie in Nari's body, running closer and hoping she could break the spell keeping him in the air. Fire had started to burn everywhere, the old wood catching easily to the spells Bellroc fired off but she ignored all that as she examined the magic around Douxie's wrists. She shushed him as he tried to talk to her, needing to concentrate on what she was doing, hopefully she wouldn't need Claire's help. Then a dark chuckle came from behind her.

“You won't break him free.” She turned to glare at Bellroc, their ever fluctuating voice grating on her nerves, “That magic is too powerful for even a full fledged wizard, let alone a little hedge-witch.” She growled as they laughed at her. And maybe she wouldn't be able to break it herself but if she could break this beings concentration... A wicked grin came to her face, feral as she remembered the chaos she'd wrecked at Killahead, and she began drawing runes behind her back.

“You're right...Guess I'll just have to make you break it.”

And with a flash of pink, twenty more Zoe's surrounded the demigod.

Crying out, Bellroc began to blast away her clones, easily poofing them from existence, which was fine as it was only meant as a distraction. The real Zoe dodged behind him, thankful for the rest of the crew keeping Skrael busy as she charged her magic. She'd only have one shot at this and she hoped it worked. It had been a while since she last did this. Bringing her now brightly flashing hands together, she drew them apart, a glowing, sparking, pink arrow held between them.

“Foolish girl! This won't defeat me!!” Bellroc cried with rage, dispelling the last of her clones.

“It's not meant to!” She yelled back before firing the arrow, sending a million volts through the wizard and causing them to spasm. And it was enough, for the spell holding Douxie up sputtered and died, dropping him to the floor. Zoe dived for his staggering form as Bellroc cried out again, pushing him out of the way of a blast of fire. Of course now she needed a plan to get them out of there...

Just as the fire god was approaching, already up from her attack and ready to end her life, a black portal formed beneath her and Douxie and they dropped away.

~*~*~*~

Zoe groaned as she was dropped onto the floor of Camelot, rolling onto her back. That had been...something. She really needed to practice that attack again, it took far too much out of her but at least now Douxie was safe. And Nari. She heard the rest of the guardians tumble in, shouts from their assembled allies rising and still she laid there, catching her breath.

“Zoe! Zoe, are you alright?!” She looked up at Douxie's voice, finding Nari's face above her looking at her with concern and they were needed to change back because this was just getting too weird. She watched him sag with relief, most likely due to her opening her eyes and he sighed, “You were nuclear, Love.”

“You better switch back before you kiss me, Casperan.” Was her only response.

Chuckling breathlessly, he nodded and she watched him hold out his hand for Nari to take, the goddess now crouching on her other side. A flash of magic and she was then being pulled into Douxie's lap, the wizard now back in his body. She let him nuzzle his face into her neck, still recovering from the adrenaline and almost overuse of her magic as they sat there, friends and allies all around.

“Thank you, Zoe.” Nari said softly, sitting primly in front of her, “You risked so much.”

“It's fine, Nari,” Zoe said, smiling at the forest child, “There was no way I was letting them keep your body and Douxie's mind.” Let alone risk the possibility of them forcing the two back into their proper bodies. Then they really would have been in trouble.

“So what do you do now?” She heard Claire ask because now they were back at square one. Keep Nari out of the grasp.

“I donno,” Zoe sighed, “But the important thing is the Order doesn't have Nari anymore.”

“That's not all they don't have..” The nature goddess smirked shyly before holding up the Genius Seals.

Zoe's eyes widen as cries went up around her, Douxie laughing in surprise, before she grinned wide and shark like. Oh, things were about to get interesting.

~*~*~*~*~*~

How the rest of the movie would play out from here I have no idea but there’s some choice Zouxie protecting each other/Nari/Archie so...there’s that. I hope you all enjoyed!

[hearteyesbowen]

practicing lines II ☆ ricky bowen

the theatre kids suspect something is going on between y/n and ricky hours before their first performance

warnings: we love angst, some swearing, fluff, kinda long

part I, part II

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

“Don’t worry, I got you. You’re doing great, babe!” Ricky cheered behind you as his hands hovered over your waist.

It’s been a week since your shared moment at the El Ray Theatre, and you both couldn’t be separated. You tried to spend as much time together to make up for all the fighting you had for months. You and Ricky were on another mini adventure you two would like to have. Yesterday, you taught Ricky how to play the ukelele, now it was his turn to teach you something.

Ricky was teaching you how to skateboard on his street, something he’s always wanted to do with Nini but she was too scared of. You were grateful he offered to teach you, but you never thought how overprotective he would be. I mean, he basically wanted to cover you entirely in bubble wrap so you wouldn’t bruise yourself, but you only wore knee-pads. You started off slow; you practiced balancing on the board first, then you would stand on top and Ricky would hold your waist as you moved as slowly as possible. He didn’t want to let you go out of fear that you would fall off and break a bone. You managed to convince him to let you start skating on your own, with him still there to catch you when you inevitability fall over.

“Ok, Ricky, I think you can let go now.” You giggled as he wouldn’t let you go faster than walking speed.

“No can do, you’re clumsy as hell.” He argued, stopping you completely.

You shuffled on the skateboard to face him, giving him a playful glare. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me, you’re a klutz.” He smirked.

“Oh yeah? Prove it.”

Ricky wasted no time in attacking your lips with his. Your hands quickly tangled in his hair while his gripped your hips. You were so caught up in the kiss that when you leaned forward you tripped off the skateboard. The board flipped over and Ricky expertly grabbed your waist before you could fall, and he brought you back on your feet.

“See what I mean?” He beamed, pinching your cheek.

You rolled your eyes jokingly as you pushed his chest, grabbing the knocked over skateboard and began walking back towards Ricky’s house.

He laughed, jogging up to you and grabbed your hand, and intertwined your fingers together. “So when is the next time I can take my Gabriella on another date?”

“I don’t know, maybe you should let your best friend know what’s going on between us first before you take me out again.” You replied, giving him a nod towards Big Red’s house that we were just passing.

“You want me to tell Red what we are?” He asked confusingly. We both stopped walking and stood in front of his lawn.

“What are we?” You wondered.

“What do you want to be?” He asked in a similar tone.

“What do you-”

“Hey guys!” You heard Red scream from beside you.

You both turned your head and saw the adorable redhead close the wooden door behind him before he ran up to the both of you. As far as you knew, Red only knows that you both settled your differences and grew to be friends, but nothing else. You knew Ricky hated to keep secrets, especially from his best friend, but he didn’t know how to tell Red that he was going on dates with his past enemy. Would Red judge you two? Ricky didn’t want to know.

“What are you two up to?” Red asked cheerfully, doing a handshake with Ricky and giving you a small fist bump.

“I was teaching her how to skate so she can ride with us in the morning.” Ricky joked, making all of you share a laugh.

“That would be so cool. So when are you going to tell everyone that you’re dating now?” He asked nonchalantly. You both froze and stared at each other with wide eyes. “I mean, come on, it’s obvious you two aren’t just friends anymore. Especially after that afternoon at the El Ray.”

“Does everyone know?” You asked worryingly.

“Everyone has their speculations; some thought you hooked up, some thought you just talked to each other, and some thought you punched Ricky in the throat which is why he had makeup on his neck.” He smirked.

“Makes sense.” You and Ricky said in unison.

“I don’t think you two should be scared to show that you’re dating. You should be happy that you have each other now. Miss Jenn is going to love that news the most.” He said, giving you both a reassuring smile. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow before the show.”

Red ran back to his house, leaving you both alone to think about what he said.

“You know,” Ricky started, “I wouldn’t mind letting everyone know you’re mine. Now all the guys at school can stop checking you out.”

“People check me out?” You questioned.

“What? I didn’t say anything.” He smiled smugly, grabbing your hand again and walking back to his house.

➢➣ ➢➣

“Ashlyn, can you run ‘Breaking Free’ with Ricky and Y/N?” Miss Jenn asked politely as she quickly inspected the costumes Kourtney left on the costume rack.

It was the night of the show, and everyone on and off stage couldn’t have been more nervous. Nini and Ej were practicing their lines together, Carlos tried to help Kourtney learn the dance work that was originally written for Gina, and Seb was trying to set his makeup that Kourtney did so it wouldn’t run.

You turned to look at Ashlyn who was giving you a cheeky smile. You both rushed to the piano, giggling as she sat down and quickly warmed up. You leaned against the large instrument, soon to be met with Ricky. He snaked his arm around your waist and handed you your shared music sheets. Ashlyn noticed his action and held back her growing smile.

“Let’s begin, shall we?” She squealed.

She began to play the keys, beautifully executing all the perfect notes written in her music. She hummed along with the tune and nodded at Ricky to give him his queue.

“We’re soarin’, flyin’, there’s not a star in heaven that we can’t reach.” Ricky began to sing, looking directly into your eyes.

“If we’re trying, so we’re breaking free.” You sang, giving him a playful nudge.

You and Ricky continued to sing the rest of the song, earning mixed reactions from your cast mates. While they were all really excited to see that you and Ricky lost the violence towards each other, they couldn’t help but wonder what had happened, especially EJ.

You both could tell that EJ was pretty disappointed to learn that he and Nini couldn’t get the roles for Troy and Gabriella. He would have gotten over it if it wasn’t Ricky who got the part for the sole reason that he wanted to win back Nini. As for you, EJ didn’t exactly have an opinion on you until he saw how you and Ricky acted towards each other. He believed that he and Nini could have played the parts better, but he couldn’t do anything about it anymore.

“You know the world can see us, in a way, that’s different from who we, are.” You two harmonized, finishing the song.

Carlos and Seb started to clap which then erupted more cheers from your other friends, making you blush. Ricky chuckled and brought you into his chest, kissing the top of your head. The most excited to see this change in action was Miss Jenn.

“That was incredible! Your chemistry together was absolutely phenomenal! What changed?” She wondered excitedly.

“Yeah, what did happen? Less than a week ago you two were at each other’s throats. Did something go on between the two of you?” EJ glared. The rest of your friends backed away, leaving you, Ricky, Nini, EJ, Carlos, and Miss Jenn.

“I’m sorry, is there a problem?” Ricky argued, taking a step towards EJ.

EJ followed his actions and stood directly in front of Ricky, “Yeah, two people who have hated each other for months don’t just become besties overnight. This is all just an act to kiss up to Miss Jenn so she would stop getting mad at you two for fighting all the time.”

“Shut up, EJ. Just because you’re mad that I got the part of Troy doesn’t mean you have to be a dick to us too. Nini didn’t care at all, in fact, she was so happy for us. So how about you mind your business, I’m not desperately trying to ruin your relationship.” Ricky fought back.

“Anymore?” EJ countered.

Nini was quick to go to his side and squeeze his arm, “Relax, EJ, people can change for the better. You guys sound awesome together!” She cheered, giving you a tight hug and quick hug to Ricky.

“Boys, let’s stay professional, please. You can fight outside my theatre. We have a show to perform in two hours! Let’s all get our scripts and run ‘Stick to the Status Quo’ one last time!” Miss Jenn screamed to the rest of the students.

You looked up at Ricky who’s glare was set straight at EJ, who also gave a mirrored look. Ricky put his focus back on you and walked you to the hallway.

➢➣ ➢➣

Your show, the performance that took you all months to prepare and perfect, had just ended. You and your friends could not have been more happy and relieved the moment you all bowed. All of your castmates ran backstage together, laughing and crying over how proud they were of each other. You and the rest of the girls went into a tight circle for one big group hug. You all had tears forming in your eyes from looking at Gina, who had surprisingly showed up just in time to perform as Taylor. Compliments were being thrown by everyone to each other, a lot of them focused on yours and Ricky’s slightly improvised duet, making your stomach churn at the memory.

You had a different performance than you thought you would have. You thought your show was going great; you haven’t missed a line, sang every note perfectly, and not once did you get any stage fright. Then it was the scene where Gabriella meets Troy in the basketball court and you lost all confidence.

Ricky believed his show was far from perfect. He believed that once he saw his parents together again, he would perform perfectly, also because you would be there with him. Then he was lifted up into the air and all he could see was his mother hugging another man who he immediately knew was her new boyfriend, and all went downhill. He ran off stage and tried to calm himself down. He did run into you, and when you tried to calm him down and ask what happened he bursted at you to leave him alone. He was angry at himself for not telling you what happened, but he didn’t know what to do.

The girls continues to cheer for each other on their performances, but all that was in your mind was everything that happened on that stage. Anger, confusion, and embarrassment filled your head.

You watched Ricky from the side of the curtains with one of the stage managers. You couldn’t contain the smile on your face as you watched him sing and dance. Then when he was lifted in the air, you saw him get choked up. You didn’t know what changed in his actions. You wanted to go out there and help him once he got down, but he had already messed up his lines and ran out. You instantly ran backstage and bumped into Ricky.

“Hey, what happened?” You asked worryingly.

“Not now.” He grumbled.

You stood back and stared at him, “Ricky, what happened? Is there anything I can do-”

“Fuck off, Y/N. I said not now.” He screamed before running out the door.

Your heart instantly broke. All the dancers who just finished their scene were there to witness it. Kourtney ran up to you and squeezed you in a tight hug before she helped motion you to the costume rack to quickly change for your next scene with Ricky.

“Wow, so this is your real stage.” You recite as you walk to the center of the basketball court where you held your show. You held in your anxiety as you were scared to face Ricky after he yelled at you.

You stop in your tracks as you noticed EJ in Ricky’s costume, smiling widely and holding a basketball in his hands. You could have sworn you were dreaming, or that this was a terrible nightmare.

“Guess you could call it that, or just a smelly gym.” EJ joked, giving you a small nod as if to play along.

You stepped closer to him and grabbed his forearm, whispering “What’s going on, where’s Ricky?”

“You’re not the only one who’s dreading this.” He softly whispered as he tossed you the basketball. Your hands began to shake as you looked at the hoop and threw the ball without a thought. You missed the shot and EJ was quick to grab the ball, “Woah, don’t tell me your good at hoops too.”

The rest of the scene played on, and when you knew it was safe, you ran off stage and tried to look for Ricky. You ran around hopelessly, hoping you could find an answer. You met up with Nini who was getting her hair fixed.

“Nini, why is EJ out there as Troy and where did Ricky go?” You asked hurriedly.

“We don’t know what happened to Ricky, after the big basketball scene he was shaking and left for a few minutes. When I saw EJ, he told me that Ricky had to go and gave his part to him. I’m so sorry Ricky didn’t tell you.” She answered, giving you a genuine look.

You still had to finish the show, and when it was time for “Breaking Free,” you instantly wanted to leave. You smoothed out your large lab coat that Gabriella wore and met up with EJ at center stage.

He began to sing, acting as though you two were lovers, though you could notice the discomfort in his eyes. Your throat went dry and you started to feel a headache.

“I can’t do it EJ-Troy. Not with all these people staring at me.” You stuttered.

“Look at me, Gabby,” Ej put his hand on your shoulder, “right at me. Like the first time we sang together. Like kindergarten, remember?”

You heard the gym doors open and looked to the side to see Ricky and Gina walk in together. They stood next to each other and watched you and EJ. You couldn’t help but stare at them, and EJ met your gaze.

��Go, you know what to do.” He whispered as he covered the microphone as to not let anyone else hear. You gave him a nod and sped to Ricky, singing the rest of the song and bringing him along with you. Although you acted as if you were better, you couldn’t forget the anger you felt.

You snapped back to reality and shook your head. You didn’t notice how Ricky’s eyes never left you. He and the guys were huddled close to each other. Ricky tried to focus on his friends and pay attention to what they were saying, but he could only think of you. He needed you to hold him, primarily after seeing his parents show up along with his mother’s new boyfriend.

Carlos ran up to you and brought you into a tight hug. As you congratulated Carlos on performing as Chad for five minutes and writing amazing choreography for the dance numbers, you felt a tap on your shoulder. You turned around to see Ricky. You let out a soft gasp ( Carlos nearly screamed ) when you saw he had bought a large bouquet of red roses and pink peonies, all perfectly bloomed and strung together.

“Can we talk in the dressing room?” He asked shyly, offering you the bouquet. You hesitated to hold them, but caved in.

“Ok.” You replied. You gave Carlos a quick hug and he squeezed your hand before you walked off with Ricky.

➢➣ ➢➣

“I know you must be so mad at me right now-”

“Wow, how did you know?” You asked angrily as you placed the flowers on top of the makeup counter.

You had found the changing room and locked the door as you didn’t want anyone to walk in on you two. Not because you two were going to do anything cheeky, but because you swore you would have slapped Ricky if he tried to apologize to you.

“I can explain.” He pleaded, trying to grab at your hands but you pulled them away from him.

“Don’t.” You started, “My god, Ricky, if I didn’t know any better I should have listened to EJ when he said this was all an act!”

“You really think that?” Ricky asked, he, himself, getting angry as well. “You think that this past week and that night at the El Ray was all fake?”

“I don’t know what I should believe because you told me you would always be there for me but you were so quick to almost leave the show without telling me what happened. At least EJ told me when he was leaving. If you could at least talk to me about what happened instead of basically telling me to fuck off then maybe I wouldn’t be so mad and would just believe you.” You screamed as you felt your face burn up.

Ricky looked at you in fear and sorrow. He didn’t know how to express his emotions well enough anymore. “Y/N,” You looked up at him and saw his lip quiver, “You know I’m so sorry about this. I just don’t know what to do.”

You could tell he was about to explode any second, “I know.” You murmured. “I just want you to talk to me. I’ll listen to everything that happened. I want to help you but you just shut me out. I thought we were past all the negative stuff between us.”

“My mom came with her new boyfriend, and she didn’t tell me but she thought it was a good idea for us to meet.” He rushed, “When I ran out after you tried to help me, she met me in the hallway outside the gym and tried to talk to me but I just yelled at her. She doesn’t realize how much this whole transition is affecting me and how fast she moved on is making me feel. It’s like she doesn’t care about my dad and I anymore.

“But frankly, I would have gotten over this whole bullshit. I don’t really care about Todd, you know? I would have gone back home with my dad and just laugh about this some other day but I’m so angry because I took out my anger on you. I was so mad and hysterical that I couldn’t be more stupid than to yell at you for trying to help me. I keep pushing people out of my life because I’m so fucking stupid. I lost Nini because I can’t express my emotions, I lost my mom because I couldn’t hold in my emotions, and I lost you because I don’t know what to do with my emotions.” He cried out.

You hesitantly took a step closer to Ricky and grabbed his face to gently wipe the tears that started to quickly rush down his heated face. You calmly fixed his hair and his collar, and he looked at you breathlessly. You pat his chest and took a small step back to look at him again.

“I’m sorry that this is happening, Ricky. You know I would have listened to you if you would have just let me help you. But you pushed me away and now I don’t know what to do.” You said.

“I’m sorry, Y/N, I shouldn’t have yelled at you. And I should have just told you what happened. This is all my fault. I’m literally the biggest dumbass.” He whispered, looking down at the floor.

“You are a dumbass, Ricky. You made me feel like we were back to how we used to be. I thought that everything between us was going to be good. EJ was right, I was stupid enough to think that maybe we could have been friends, or more.” You admitted.

“No, don’t say that. You’re not stupid for thinking that.” He pleaded.

“Then what am I supposed to think?” You screamed.

“I love you.” He yelled back. You could have sworn you almost tripped. “I’ve loved you ever since I heard you sing ‘Start of Something New’ for your audition. I’ve loved you since I was sick during rehearsal and no one wanted to help me, but you threw a tissue box at me because you were still a nice person. I’ve loved you since we spent that night in the closet at the El Ray and we kissed. I’ve loved you since you taught me how to play the ukelele and I helped you ride a skateboard. I’ve loved you for so long and I’ve kicked myself every day since then because I didn’t say it over my own fears. But I do, I love you. And I don’t really know what happens tomorrow, or in two minutes when we walk out that door. All I know is, I want this feeling to keep going. Because this whole experience, I-I’m not ready for it to be over. For us to be, I mean.”

Your eyes welled up with tears. Never in your life have you ever been left so speechless, not even during the show or when he yelled at you. You knew you couldn’t stay mad at Ricky, as much as you wanted to. You did love him, and even if your ego didn’t want to admit it, you did. You loved Ricky Bowen.

You closed the space between each other and grabbed Ricky’s face in your hands. You attacked his lips with yours and he almost instantly kissed you back. You felt a totally new feeling when you kissed him this time. Almost as if you released all the pent up emotions you have held in for a long time. Your arms moved to around his neck and his went to your waist. You pulled away from him and heard a small whimper escape his mouth.

“I love you, Ricky Bowen.” You gushed. His eyes lightly widened along with his lips.

Ricky smashed his lips back to yours again. His smile grew wide into the kiss and he gripped your waist even tighter to pull you closer. You played with his hair and gave it a small tug, making Ricky let out a small groan. You detached your lips from his to look at him one more time. His cheeks were a deep shade of red and his lips were swollen. He couldn’t have looked more perfect to you.

His hands went under your butt and picked you up, bringing you on top of the counter and next to your flowers. He stood in between your legs and continued to kiss you. He detached his lips from yours and started to sprinkle kisses all over your face, starting at your cheeks, your nose, and all the way down your neck. You giggled at his excitement. You brought his face from your neck and in front of you to look at him. His eyes glowed, and you both took time to catch your breath again.

“Be mine.” Ricky whispered.

“What?” You asked hopefully.

“Be my girlfriend. I promise you won’t regret it.” He pleaded.

You let out a small laugh, “Yes, Ricky.”

Ricky let out a large cheer. He pulled you back in for a tight hug and lifted you off the counter and in the air while spinning around. He kept you up for a bit and you couldn’t stop laughing from how cute he was.

He put you down and quickly kissed your lips one last time, holding either side of your face. He pulled away and held your hand, picking up your flowers and letting you lead him to the door. You unlocked and opened it to reveal Red and Ashlyn holding hands.

“Hey guys, everything alright?” Red asked with a big smile after seeing the large bouquet.

“Yeah, everything is perfect.” Ricky smiled as he looked down at you, and you gave him a short kiss on his cheek.

“That’s cute. Well, everyone is looking for you two. I’m hosting a cast party at my house tonight and we’re about to head out. We’re just waiting on you two so we can take some group photos.” Ashlyn announced.

You tightened your grip on Ricky’s hand and brought it closer to you, “Sounds great, we can go right now.”

“Awesome, and, uh, Ricky?” Red spoke.

Ricky’s attention left yours and went to his best friend. “Yeah?”

“Maybe take off that lip gloss you have on before we go out there?” Ashlyn smirked as she sent you a sly wink before walking out with Red.

You glanced up at Ricky and saw your shiny, peach lip gloss stained his lips, and you couldn’t hold in your laughter. You grabbed a wipe from the makeup counter and gave it to your new boyfriend.

“How embarrassing!” He cried out, harshly wiping his mouth.

“There will be more where that came from, babe.” You beamed.

A/N - boom, the second part to practicing lines . probably my favorite imagine that i have ! let me know what u guys think !! love y’all xx

[korkrunchcereal]

WoW Q and A

Elaborate on the Chains of Domination cinematic: Story of Anduin and Sylvanas/relationship with the jailer is foundational to Shadowlands. Anduin was dominated. Jailer needed someone like Anduin to be able to walk into Bastion and claim the key. Brief moment of Anduin gaining control in cinematic, so still in there. Chains of Domination will explain more.

When he (Anduin) walks past Uther, did Uther know what was happening or did he feel bad? Couple things going on. His hand touches his wound, made by a weapon of the maw. Uther recognized on some level that power, as well as stirring memories seeing this blonde, kingly figure. Confrontation with Sylvanas in the raid one of the biggest moments in WoW.

Moving from classic to BC while keeping a copy. Whats it going to look like for gold, items/banks. Am I going to see differences or is it two separate entities for all time? Logging in at pre patch will snap a copy of your character. There will be an option to move onto BC classic, or stay in vanilla classic. Can pay a fee and activate “clone” to put them on BC classic if you choose to stay Vanilla. Beta is around the corner. 

How will high population  numbers be handled in TBC classic? How will you handle bottlenecks, sharding, dailies etc. Recognize high population, want to make sure experience is enjoyable. Optimization improvements to help stabilize servers. Experience of rare material and multiple people going is part of the game. Willing to make targeted changes if there is particular problems. 

 Will there be more race/class combinations? Player agency and choice is major theme. Customization key, but also want to reinforce differences. Want to maintain a world that doesn’t have exact symmetry. Have gone back over the years to change things. For now, think they’ve gone about far enough. Nothing planned, but never say never.

 Surprise on Covenant armor? Based on heritage armor. Pure aesthetic, want to give players more and more options. Gameplay reasons to not tmog the entire range (warrior wearing cloth for example)

Workflow change during pandemic? Happened very suddenly. Team reached to each other to find comfort. The isolation found purpose for devs. Making Shadowlands/games help to reconnect friends and people.

Any plans to address faction imbalance? What happened to cause it? Something talked about a lot. Know there’s a very real problem, particularly high end. What caused the problem? Imbalanced in racials allowed to persist too long. At this point, don’t think racials are imbalanced. People staying Horde however due to social reasons now; compounded issue from all the way back from MoP etc. No real answer. Social issue requires social answer.

Have you ever seen a swing in either faction direction due to story elements? Across the game as a whole, faction balance is pretty good. Its raiding/high end PvE that the imbalances really emerge. Have seen faction switches/more cross faction alts in BfA for example. 

If I play BC, when I decide to play on main char and a classic era realm at 60, will I have to name change? You have your name in both places. Ensure people don’t park on names forever.

Any plans to connect more realms? Had to do survey across all populations in all realms. Essentially have to copy an entire realms database onto another. Not a flip a switch thing, lot of work. Have been able to address a large amount of the very low pop. realms. Had to pause for Shadowlands launch due to launch and Shadowlands had huge effects on server populations. Last time they connected realms was right before WoD, and realms had a LOT of queue problems. Watching and waiting for populations to go down before making the jump.

Never gonna have cross faction raids, dungeons etc? Not gonna say never. Essential to hold onto identity but...

Will our amount of Anima be increased later? Is it possible for sanctum upgrades to be account wide? Lot to collect. Hotfixed Anima drops so far. Looking for new sources of Anima for next patch. Over all looking at the costs. Cosmetics are generally account wide. Anima is designed to span the bulk of Shadowlands. 

Sire Denathrius is an eternal one and imprisoned. What will he do? Will we see him again? Best laid plans can adapt. During BfA, intended Bwonsamdi to be a one off. There, but no big deal. Once they heard the VA they went “we need more of this character”. Planned for Sire Denathrius to be there, you kill him w/e. Then heard the VA and went “this guys awesome we love him.” Changed plan to keep Sire Denathrius alive. Will find some other role for him to take. Watch fan feedback to see how community responds/gravitate to. He is in that sword, there may just be allies of him that would be interested in liberating him from the sword...

When will we see more Heritage Armor? As each one was released, got more and more excited from response/enhanced feel of the game. Working on further Heritage Armor. Some coming to near future updates, some more in the future.

Any plans to bring back the AH app? Not as you know it perse. It got turned into a lot of automation. Revamp removed app, then change of the AH. Meant to be more of a socialize thing then accumulation of gold by automated system. Recognize however convenience factor. Consider getting back into some form, but not like how it used to be.

Will there be more new character customization options for Shadowlands? None in Shadowlands. Tend to be fairly big projects. Release them when it’ll be very good for players. Lot of work to juggle. Felt like they got good feedback and support from it. Want to invest going forward when it makes sense.

What are actual requirements for flying in Shadowlands? Where can we fly? Can we fly across the realms? Shadowlands pathfinder no rep grind. Just requires completing full covenant campaign (9.0 and 9.1). Cannot fly from zone to zone. Once unlocked, alts will be able to fly freely. 

In the BC classic, will there be class tuning that would make it notably different than 2007? Broadly no. Want to keep the authentic behavior of final patch, like classic had. Seal of blood

Is there work being done on new Torghast Anima Powers for later patches? Spec specific, when can we see? WIll be done through all patches/future patches. new powers etc. As for powers working outside Torghast, keep OP nature of them inside Torghast.

Difference between passage of time in Shadowlands and in Azeroth? Salanar the Horseman in DK order hall said he was in the veil for what felt like days and it was between WoTLK and Legion. Meet characters for whom time doesn’t seem to have meaning. What is time a construct of? Order. On Azeroth, understand the passage of time because of influence of titans/order. Outside of the influence of order, time loses meaning. A lot more fluid. Shadowlands about eternities. Can have it perceived differently by different characters even going through same thing.

Bringing back 10-man content, either as different difficulty or different instances for smaller groups to tackle. All raid basically is/can be 10 man. These days its the 5 player mega dungeons that fill the role. In BC, ZA and Kara filled that niche of the smaller group doing the BIG, raid like content. Fulfills the spirit of 10 man content.

Will summoning stones be available at launch of BC or come later? Will have them at launch.

What’s Bolvar up to and where is his story going? Will he have a major role to play? One of the fun parts of Shadowlands was getting Bolvar back into the mix. We saw him be pivotal in Torghast and getting into Shadowlands. Saw there was a price to pay for visions with Torghast. He will be front and center in Chains of Domination. Good rallying figure.  

In BC, how will pvp titles be handled without battlegroups? Originally, reward was made for the best player in each battlegroup due to technical reasons. Now that they have better technology, fair way is % based, though still want to keep it small amount. 

In Stormwind, Darnassus refugees mention going back once the smoke clears. Does this mean Teldrassil can grow back and become habitable again? The damage was pretty definitive/lot of lives lost. Don’t want to reverse on a whim. The story of the souls of the Night Elves however is not yet done, nor is Tyrande’s story going into Chains of Domination and beyond.

Will fresh classic servers be added in addition to TBC servers? For the timeline of BC classic, no new classic servers. Eyes on it however for the future. Will discuss once BC launches.

How do you get the Wandering Ancient Mount? Got to have Shadowlands. Will be in 9.0.5 patch update next month (March). 

[thesevenseraphs]

Bungie Weekly Update - 9/10/20

[I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted one of these. It’s been a combination of being light TWABs and a lack of motivation to post. But this one is meaty with details and changes so it’s worth sharing!]

This week at Bungie, we’re consuming stacks of Light. Within Destiny 2, the exodus of Io, Titan, Mercury, and Mars continues. Zavala has tasked you with spreading word of impending Darkness and keeping our beloved vendors up to speed. There are still a few more loose ends to tie up on these destinations, so get to it. Along your quest, you’ll have some final chances to earn unique loot and fill out your collections before access to various strikes is impeded by the Darkness.

While the Traveler may have chosen you, it’s almost time to go beyond the Light. Don’t forget where you came from, though, as we’re celebrating Destiny’s almost-seventh birthday this week! Yeah, we know, it’s been six years. But seven is darker.

If you haven’t snagged the sweet wallpapers or seen our Stasis deep dives, head on over to our fresh blog article covering the fun! While we're celebrating the past, we're also getting ready for the future. Whether you’re a veteran of Destiny or have just been rez’d in the Cosmodrome, thank you for playing, and thank you for being a part of our community.

SUIT UP

A few TWAB’s ago, Luke Smith took some time to run through changes to our philosophy in doling out rewards through the various activities of Destiny 2.

Hit the article again if you’d like a refresher on vanity, cosmetics, and more. Today, we’ll be focusing on core playlist rewards (strikes, Gambit, and Crucible).

To quote the article, here’s what you can expect on November 10:

We are adding a new set of Armor for the core playlists (strikes, Gambit, and Crucible).

This armor shares a set of new geometry, with decals and shaders specific to the activity.

We will create new sets like this each Year (e.g., Year 4, Year 5, Year 6, etc.)

This set will arrive alongside the next expansion.

This armor can be earned by completing activities or through vendor rank-ups. Weekly challenges are also being updated to offer avenues for players to earn higher-stat packages for these armor sets.

Additionally, Year 4 will see the return of pursuit weapons. For those of you who may have joined our community in the last Season or two, these weapons have static perks, but allow for some customization. The final two perk columns have multiple perks to choose from, so you can tailor your weapon to your desired playstyle. Our eagle-eyed Guardians may recognize this beauty from a recent Stasis trailer….

Our goal is to have a pursuit weapon available per Season, earned through a focused quest. Banshee will give you a choice between Strikes, Crucible, or Gambit to earn the base model. Make sure you take a moment to think about how you want to earn the weapon, as you'll be locked in to specific objectives for whichever activity you pick. 

Once you finish the main quest, Commander Zavala, Lord Shaxx, and the Drifter will offer you an additional quest which will reward you with weapon ornaments to the theme of their respective activities. If you’re omnivorous and enjoy all three offerings, all three will be available to you.

So, now that we've caught your eye with some fancy armor and a new sniper, let's take a quick look at how things are changing for core activities as you launch into your new adventures on November 10. Strike, Gambit, and Crucible playlists are being streamlined.

Crucible

Starting in Season 12, the Director will be updated to reduce the number of playlists available at a given time.

Featured Modes:

Control

Elimination

Rumble

Survival

Both Survival and Survival: Freelance will be available

Weekly rotator:

Clash, Mayhem, and Showdown

Private matches

Limited Availability

Iron Banner

Iron Banner: Freelance will make its debut in Season 12.

Similar to Competitive, this will be a smaller node next to Iron Banner when the playlist is available.

Weekend Availability

Trials of Osiris

Note: Adept weapons, rewarded to those reaching the Lighthouse, return to Trials of Osiris in Season 12. (More details on functionality to come in a Sandbox preview, currently planned for October.)

Strikes

Vanguard strikes and Nightfall: The Ordeal will be your two playlist options.

Each playlist will continue to offer weekly challenges for Powerful loot.

Nightfall: The Ordeal will continue to feature matchmaking at lower difficulties, and increased rewards for higher difficulty options.

Note: We’re also looking to add Adept weapons to strikes in a future Season. We’ll have updates closer to Season 13 on what to expect.

Gambit

As covered last week, Gambit and Gambit Prime will be consolidated into a single mode. We have some additional details on specific rule changes, as well as development notes from the team on how things are changing, and the goals behind them.

Hi Gambiteers! We wanted to give you an explanations of rules changes coming to Gambit in November, as well as a key update from last week.

First, some goals we wrote down before we started:

Build a more approachable Gambit Prime, keeping the one-round format with a longer round, but without the Gambit Prime armor perks.

Rebalance the motes phase to last 2/3 of each match, rather than half of the match.

Speed up the Primeval fight (compared to Gambit Prime) to give more of the feeling of a ‘boss rush.’

We started with the Gambit Prime encounters, full stop. However, without the Reaper buffs, the Large bosses that come in enemy waves were too tanky – so we pulled them all down to miniboss or elite. The pacing should feel like how Gambit feels for a pickup group, or how Prime feels for a fully kitted team.

We also playtested the “having the motes” phase target a score of 150, and/or have a heavier mote drain, but this allowed organized teams to steamroll even more effectively – not less. So, we pulled back to the current Gambit Prime mote target and drain.

We started with the Gambit Prime Blockers, but pulled the Taken Captain from the Blocker lineup, as he proved a little too potent for a 10-mote Blocker. We replaced him with the Phalanx, who can be tough to kill, but not as lethal. Since we don’t have the armor perks, we also had to remove the 20-mote Giant Blocker.

We kept the invasions during mote phases at three – just like Gambit Prime – but pulled back the minimum time between invasions during mote phases from 10 seconds to 20 seconds. It never feels good to get invaded back-to-back.

For the boss fight, we started with the Gambit Primeval fight, removed the timed Slayer buffs, increased the Primeval health and potency of the slayer buff given by when killing envoys. We respawn the envoys every 40% damage done to the Primeval – so if you get invaded and the Primeval is healed a lot, you have the opportunity to get more Slayer buffs and catch up. The fight length ends up somewhere in between the original Gambit and Gambit Prime, so we adjusted the invasion timer during the Primeval phase to match – right in between Gambit and Gambit Prime timing.

So, overall this mode will be a little quicker than Gambit Prime – mostly due to shortening of the boss phase and the removal of the larger bosses from the fronts, but one that still gives that great Gambit feeling that you all love.

We see you’re hungry for info, and we’re excited to bring the heat. As we approach Beyond Light, we’ll have more details on how your weekly rituals are changing. Economy, Eververse, Sandbox, and more. We’re looking forward to talking about things like solo queue Iron Banner, but we have a few things left to tie up as we approach launch.

Stay tuned…

TRIUMPH TRACKERS

Last week, we announced some changes coming to Triumphs in November. Various Triumphs and Seals will soon become unavailable, leaving you to figure out which things to prioritize before the end of the Season. Partnering with some community API creators, there are now multiple options for you to create a checklist of sorts. Here’s a quick list in no particular order. They’re all amazing, and we hope you find one that suits you best!

Destiny Item Manager

Light.gg

Destiny Tracker

Braytech.org

D2Checklist.com

Many thanks to these creators, and we’re excited to see how their portals and communities grow as we begin another year of Destiny content.

THE NOBLE QUEST TO VANQUISH ALL BUGS

Destiny 2 Update 2.9.2 shipped this Tuesday, and the Player Support team has been prowling the #Help forum in search of fresh bugs to smash. Thankfully, it doesn’t look like there are any major issues cropping up!

This is their report.

Players will no longer freeze when respawning in Gambit.

Enemies will no longer stop spawning in Hexahedron area in the Prophecy Dungeon, blocking players from progressing.

Players who completed Tommy's Matchbook catalyst pursuit will no longer be re-awarded it.

Redrix’s Broadsword will now be available to reclaim from Collections.

Players will no longer block quest progress by acquiring Calcified Light without the quest active.

CURRENT KNOWN ISSUES While we continue investigating various known issues, here is a list of the latest issues that were reported to us in our #Help Forum:

Player badge counts will sometimes not update when the Season of Arrivals Collections badge is completed.

The Tribute Hall’s Completionist triumph doesn’t count Season Collections badges.

Players need to complete the Exodus: Preparation quest before they can begin the Exodus: Evacuation quest for Traveler’s Chosen.

The Artifact is sometimes enabled in Iron Banner.

Bounties/progress is sometimes not counted in Iron Banner.

For a full list of emergent issues in Destiny 2, players can review our Known Issues article. Players who observe other issues should report them to our #Help forum.

[whattodowithace]

What Neighbors Are For (Donghun)

Title: What Neighbors Are For

Pairing: Donghun (A.C.E) x Reader

Genre: Spice 

Word Count: 1.9K Words

Writer: Whattodowithkpop

******

Moving was not something new to me. I had moved many times before and had gotten efficient at packing and unpacking my things. The new apartment I was moving into was definitely on the nicer side, much nicer than any place I’ve lived in before. I had become successful in my job and was able to move to the nicer side of town in an upper level apartment. It didn’t take me long to unpack and get my things in the places I wanted them. It was still early afternoon by the time I had finish organizing my new living space and now I had the pleasure of standing at my wall to wall windows, watching the bustling city below me. I smile as I sip on my warm tea, already enjoying the peace and tranquility I felt in this space. My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. I walk through my living room to reach the door. I check the peephole to see a man standing in front of my door, smiling brightly with a basket in his hand. I open the door, greeting the man warmly.

“Hello, my name is Donghun.” The man introduces himself with a sweet smile. “I heard you just moved in and wanted to welcome you to the apartment complex.” He hands me the basket full of fresh looking fruits.

“Oh, thank you so much!” I exclaim before introducing myself.

“It’s nice to meet you.” Donghun says as he bows. “I live right next door.” He points towards the door just to my left.

“Oh that’s great!”I smile at him. “It’s really nice to meet you.”

Donghun nods, the smile still remaining on his face. “I’m so sorry, but I have to go. It was a bit of a rushed introduction.”

“No, that’s fine.” I wave my hand, emphasizing how fine it actually was. “I appreciate this basket and your time.” Donghun waves with a smile as he begins to walk towards the elevators. I bring the basket to my kitchen, placing it gently on the counter. I grab one of the apples, running it under some warm water before taking a bite out of it. The juice shoots through my tastebuds, a sweet flavor overtaking my sense of taste. I smile as I look at the pretty fruit, thanking my new neighbor in my head. I smile as I think of how nice he was, making me thankful I didn’t have a rude next door neighbor. I spend the rest of the evening relaxing in the evening light of my new living room, excited for the next chapter of my life to start.  

~~~

It had been a few months since I had moved in to my new apartment. I was able to work in peace and then enjoy the orange sunsets that shine through my windows. I hadn’t really left the apartment except for late night grocery runs, not having a lot of time durning the work hours.

It was noon when I hear a knock on my door, causing me to jolt in my seat. I wasn’t expecting anyone and was currently typing up a presentation for work, so I ignored it, pushing up my glasses to continue typing away on my keyboard. I hear the doorbell ring a few moments later, making me crunch my nose in confusion. I raise from my chair, shuffling through my apartment to get to my door. I look through the peephole to see my neighbor, Donghun, tapping his foot to a rhythmic beat that must have been playing in his head. I wince when I look down at my appearance, seeing my baggy house clothes. I sigh out, opening the door just a crack to peak my head out.

“Hey.” He smiles brightly. “Sorry to bother you. I went to get my mail and the landlord was worried since you haven’t got yours in awhile.” He holds up a stack of envelops and holds them out towards me.

“Oh!” I exclaim, opening the door fully to take the mail. “Thank you so much. I get really busy and forget to grab it.”

“No, it’s fine.” He chuckles. “It was on my way anyway.”

“I really appreciate it.” I smile at him. “Thanks again.” He smiles as he nods a goodbye and makes his way into his own apartment.

Now, every once in awhile, I would get visits from Donghun, bringing my mail that had piled up over the days I hadn’t gotten to it. There were many times where I was too busy with work to come to the door, so I ended up giving him my apartment code so he didn't have to waste his time waiting when no one was coming. It got to the point where he would knock once and only wait for a short while before letting himself in to place the mail on the counter. It was a big help to me and I thanked him for it on multiple occasions. I would thank him by offering to buy dinner for him. However, we were both so busy that it was usually just a cup of ramen together with some small talk. It wasn’t that often, but I always enjoyed the nights we were able to occupy each other’s company, even for just a short while.

~~~

It was the late evening and the sun was setting over the skyscrapers, setting a soft lighting in my living room. I had just finished my work and was ready to take a shower and wind down for the evening. I took a long shower, feeling the hot water run down my body relaxing my sore muscles from sitting and typing all day. I didn’t realize how long the shower was until I looked outside, seeing the sun had set behind the buildings, only the lights from the city illuminating my room. I grab my white robe from my bed, tying it loosely around my waist. I blow dry my hair and begin my nightly routine. I grab the empty cup that sat on my night table, the one I use for water if I happen to awaken any time during the night, I hum a quiet tune as I step out of my room, entering the living room and kitchen area. I look out towards the window to see the city lights, still humming as I ruffled through my hair. I place the cup on the coffee table so I could admire the lights before getting my water and heading to bed.

“I didn’t realize you were awake.” I hear a voice speak up, making me whip my head to my kitchen.

There stood Donghun, smiling mischievously next to a stack of envelopes that he had just placed on my counter.

“Donghun!” I gasp, pulling my robe tighter against my upper body. “What are you doing here?”

“I didn't mean to catch you in this situation.” Donghun chuckles, seeming very relaxed in this awkward situation. “I came to drop off your mail. I knocked, but figured you were sleeping so I let myself in.”

“Oh…” I trail off, feeling myself fidget as I shuffle my feet. “Thank you, for bringing my mail all the time.”

“Of course.” He smiles as he begins his journey to the door. “By the way.” He turns to look at me again, his smile becoming more and more like a smirk. “I think you should be careful what you wear when you greet your neighbors.” I squeak involuntarily, feeling my stomach do flips as I look into Donghun’s eyes.

“I wasn’t expecting company.” I mumble quietly, feeling nervous, but also anticipating his next move. “It’s really soft. Do you want to feel it?” I blurt out the question, before really thinking about the consequences of my words. I quickly cover my mouth with my hands, trying to suppress the small gasp that I release from my own words.

“Is that an invitation, Princess?” He asks with a quirk of his eyebrow, making my heart rise to my throat.

I try to speak, but no sound comes out. Donghun begins to make his way closer to me, not once taking his eyes off mine. My hand holds tightly to the white material over my body, right above my chest, giving me the chance to feel the quick palpitations of my heart. Donghun stands in front of me, his smile a full smirk at this point as he looks down at me.

“Let’s see how soft it is then.” He whispers as he reaches his right hand out to rest on my waist. My breath hitches as I hold the material tighter, not moving a single muscle. He places his other hand on my waist, his thumbs rubbing circles over the soft fabric.

He breathes out heavily before asking. “Can I, please, kiss you?”

I nod, knowing I wouldn’t be able to give a verbal queue to save my life. The slightest nod of my head had him pushing his head forward to mine, his right hand moving to the back of my neck, pulling me closer. My hands leave my robe, wrapping them around his neck to give me a a slight leverage so I didn’t have to stand on my tip toes.

Donghun uses his left hand to push my waist slightly, making my legs hit the couch. My body falls on it while Donghun looks down at me. He bends his knee to rest on the couch in between my legs. He leans down to reattach our lips his hands going to my hips, applying slight pressure showing his neediness. The kiss was slow and heavy, both of us breathing through our nose so we could stay lip locked longer.

Donghun carefully lays me down across the couch, crawling above me but not once leaving my lips. His knees rest against my hips, keeping me stationed right where he wanted me. He breaks the kiss so he can occupy his lips across my neck. Kissing the expanse of my throat and leaving small bites in sensitive spots, causing my breath to hitch. His lips drag against my skin down to my collarbones that revealed themselves due to the shifting of my robe.

He bites my collarbone, drawing a squeak from me. He chuckles from the sound, his breath fanning across my neck. He lifts himself from my neck, hovering over me to look into my eyes. He smirks as he sees my disheveled state as I continue to breath deeply.

“Is this what you do with all of your neighbors?” I ask through my labored breathing as I pull my robe closer to me again.

“Just the ones I bring mail to.” He jokes as he twirls the robe’s tie around his fingers.

I reach my arm around his neck, running my fingers through his hair. He tenses at the feeling making me smirk. I sit up slightly, resting my body on my elbow as I lean up to him. I tug at his hair lightly, causing him to groan out and lift his head slightly, giving me access to his neck.

I give him a small kiss on his neck before kissing over his jaw to his mouth. I take over this kiss keeping my fingers in his hair while he rests his left hand on my waist.

I pull away from him slightly, our lips still bushing against each other. “Do you want to stay over for ramen?” I whisper.

“Absolutely.” He whispers back before leaning forwards to start another kiss.

MAIN MASTERLIST

[who-is-olivia]

Track 1. Meet Me in the Hallway

Harry Styles x OC

Harry confronts Olivia but she shuts him out of their house. [3.4k]

Genre: angst, fluff

Warnings: sexual language

December 2017

  Olivia hits the last high note of the song, ending it with a bang. Only when her work is done does she look beyond the stage lights into the crowd. They adore her. She looks to her right and finds Frank messing with his pedal, the sound was a little off. The dress he wears tonight is stunning, and for a moment she feels a spike of jealousy. When he looks up, he smiles at her and she does it back.

“Alright everyone, you’ve been amazing tonight but this is the last one” she looks back under the crowd’s manifestation of disappointment and checks if the band is good to go. With the drummer’s queue, she focus on the melody, closing her eyes to get the tune right. She and the music are one in the same, the way her body moves with each note truly entrances the audience.

  When she opens her eyes it’s impossible to notice anything but a pair of green eyes staring at her intently. She’s at a loss for words. He wasn’t there before, she would have noticed. His short hair has spots of snow, a long navy blue coat wrapped around his body. If his intention was to be incognito, he did a terrible job because no one in the crowded pub looks as handsome as he does. In any other situation being speechless would be acceptable, but in this case she’s standing in a stage with a spotlight shining upon her. Frank frowns at her, looking at the crowd, then back at her. When the crowd begins to fuss, he stops the performance.

“What’s going on, bug?!” he asks, covering the microphone.

“Backstage, come with me” she pulls him out of the stage, leaving Sarah behind.

  She shuts the door behind Frank but it doesn’t have a lock, so she clumsily sticks a chair under the knob.

“What the fuck-“

“Harry is here, I have to go!” she explains, putting on her coat desperately.

“No way, we haven’t finished the set!”

“I don’t give a fuck” she looks for her purse.

“Oli, listen to me!” he holds her by the arm, “I called him”

“What?! Are you fucking insane?! How could you do this-” she pulls her arm violently away from his grasp before someone knocks on the door.

“Guys, open up!” Jim calls.

“What’s going on?!”

“This is ridiculous” Frank reaches for the chair but she holds him back.

“Frank, no! Please!” he’s forced to look at her. “I’m not ready to tell him!”

He sighs, letting go of the chair and rubbing his forehead nervously. “Oli, if this was the other way around he’d never hide it from you. He never did, not even once!” she shakes her head, this can’t be happening. “Talk to him”

“I...” she stutters, eyes brimming with tears. Her imagination takes the worst of her, making her see a heartbroken Harry crying alone on his kitchen floor, like one of the times she’s found him there. Calling her ceaselessly, his chest aching in anguish, desperate to reach her. But then other images haunt her, images of him turning his back on her, cold to her touch, his eyes aloof as if they see through her. “I can’t”

“Fuck this” Frank pulls the chair at once, letting both Jim and Sarah in. She stares at Frank disappointedly but with soft understanding. He had to put up with her problems for a long while without asking for anything in return. He got this incredible drummer to play for them in a small celebratory gig he’s been looking forward for so long and she ruins it. It’s only fair he’s upset.

“What was that?” Sarah asks angrily.

“Harry’s here” Frank replies.

“So what?”

“I have to go” Olivia takes her bag and pushes through the small gathering. She takes the back exit to the dark streets, pushing her steps a little faster. All the memories she tried to bury resurface violently, and she finds herself breathless on the winter air. She and Harry leaving Jamaica together, sharing the same first class seat as she slept over his chest watching Wall-E, his sleepy fingers gently caressing her temples as to not mess up her hair. Him pleading for her to stay in London for a few months while he finished the album, arousing another fight about their life together, the way he barely ever raises his voice during an argument, making her feel always as the bad guy. His meek crestfallen steps away from her building, turning her heart into lead so heavy she couldn’t move.

“Oli” she looks back, there he is. She wants to run but stops. To say her guilt is holding her back is a decent enough excuse, but she knows it’s not true. Seeing him, despite all the heartache, still lights a fire in her chest. However broken she might be, he’s still Harry, and he still makes her weak in the knees. Olivia expects the worst, but instead of cursing and raging at her he delivers a shy smile, bringing out his dimples. “Hey”

She freezes, only mumbling in return: “Hey”  

“‘S been a while”

“Yeah... look, I-“

“I just want to talk”

“I don’t”

“Please, I just want to know if you’re alright”

“I’m not” Olivia whimpers, “there, now you know” she turns and rushes back to her flat with him tight on her footsteps.

“Oli, wait!” he pleads, following her inside the three-store building. She’s fast to climb the stairs but he is a close second. When she comes to open the door, her nervous hands betray her and she almost fails to unlock it. By the time Harry arrives, she shuts it. “Please Oli, listen to me” she covers her ears like a child.

  She knew this was coming. Her silence was unusual, soon enough he’d be suspicious. Not even an argument as crude as the one they had could keep him away from her. Now that he’s here and she has to confront the truth so urgently she wants to avoid it even more, so she keeps shutting him out both internally and externally.

“Look, I don’t know what’s going on with you but you’re acting strange” he tells from the door, “Frank just called me and he said you had something to tell me, I suppose if he called me it’s important...” he heaves, trying to catch the breath he lost on the stairs, “but even if it isn’t, I just need to see you, love” he supports himself on the door and slides his back on it until he’s sitting on the floor, resting his head against the wood in frustration. It’s agonizing having her so close to reach yet so impossible to touch. “I though we were on the same page after Jamaica, but if something changed... are you sick? O-or in debt or anything like that, I need you to tell me, anything is better than let me fill in the blanks”

  The hands that covered her ears now cover her mouth, trying to muffle her panicked breath. It’s almost as if the truth is begging to come out. It breaks her heart to keep him out.

“Please open the door. I’m not going anywhere so you might as well just let me in” she lifts her bloodshot eyes to that shadow on the door. Hesitantly, she takes small steps towards the knob. Her hand lingers on the cold piece of metal but doesn’t turn, instead she falls with her back on the cold tainted glass. He feels the shifting on the wood but it doesn’t shake his faith, he needs to try harder. “You looked beautiful on that stage tonight, I almost feel bad for sweeping you away” there’s no reaction, only the sound of her heaving breaths. “Was it something that I’ve done?”

“No!” she cries in a small voice.

“Did you do something?” silence, “You’ve done something and you’re afraid I won’t like it?”

“More or less” she wipes her nose carelessly.

“Is that why you won’t return my calls?”

The moment of calmness ends and she feels her constricted sinus itch once more as the tears threaten to spill, “I’m scared...”

“Are you scared of me?” he cries, heart tightening from just imagining the scenario-

“It’s not that”

“If it’s not me, can I least help you, love? You know I’ll always have your back” she nods silently and take a deep breath. She still feels the impulse to cry but shoves it aside, maybe if they talk it will take the pain away. “Just tell me, please...”

“Haz...” she shuts her eyes and just blurts out, “I’m pregnant”

  His eyes freeze at a bit of the carpet floor in awe as he tries to process the information. His frown slowly rises as a quivering gasp escapes him, thrilled with the actual meaning of what she just revealed. He feel so ecstatic but at the same time so disappointed that he can’t share that moment with her.

“Please say something?” she begs as her imagination tricks her with a thousand different scenarios of his reaction.

“Oli... that’s amazing!” he turns to the stained glass, “That’s amazing! Oh my-“ he chuckles, feeling the tears fill his gaze. “How far long?”

“9 weeks”

His joy falters, this is the most important stepping stone of his life and he’s already missed a third of it. He can’t miss the rest, “So... Jamaica?”

“Yes”

“Oh my... Oli please let me in, I need to see it-“

“I don’t... I don’t want to” she chokes again.

He frowns at her reaction, anticipating the worst: “Oli... do you want to have this baby?”

  Her lack of an answer pretty much says it.

“Oh no, no no no...” he presses the glass where her body is leaning on it, cold sweat running down his spine. “Please love, don’t do this to me...”

“I haven’t done anything yet” her voice turns cold.

“Then why are you hiding behind the bloody door?” he asks in despair but she can’t answer. There’s no logical reason: he already knows, there’s nothing he can do to stop her, she’s not afraid of him... yet, she feels guarded by it. Harry sighs in frustration, a huge weight in his heart turns his legs to mush in anguish. “Olivia! For fuck’s sake, talk to me!” he cries.

“I don’t wanna talk anymore-“

“Why don’t you want the baby?” he presses, “I’m just trying to understand! Are we too young? You think w-we can’t afford? I need-“

“You can afford it Harry, I can’t! If I have the baby, this is it for me, how can I work and take care of a baby at the same time?” she blurts, shouting at the glass behind her.

“I’ll be right beside you”

“It’s not the same. You can give your time, your support, but I have to give up my body. I don’t want the swelling and the big boobs and the pain...”

He melts at her words, although many people would consider her dread to be selfish he can empathize with a fear as human as childbirth itself. Losing your physical form and a part of your identity is devastating. He can’t imagine how Oli feels about it, considering her experience with her parents and how she got lost between two people who didn’t really want her. If that’s the only reference she has, there’s no reason to bring a child in to this world. “It’s ok love... If you don’t wanna have it, I won’t make you”

“... but do you want it? The baby?” she whimpers.

“I do” he cries a bit, trying to give up on the idea is harder than he thought would be. “Ever since I met you I’ve been building this up in my head, planning every step forward and even when I think it won’t work it just keeps getting better. And I did all of that with this picture in my head that one day we’d build a family”

She slowly eases into a curious frown, her eyes fixed at a spot on the floor as she can’t help but imagine: “How’s the picture?”

“Excuse me?”

“You said you had a picture in your head of our family, how is it?”

He chuckles, wiping his cheeks. “There’s a few. My favorite one is you and me sleeping in the bed, and then the baby wakes up and comes to our bedroom. It tries to climb over the bed but it’s still too small and clumsy, so I have to wake up and pick it up and then it snuggles between us... and it smells like that oil you use when you shave your legs” he recalls the days when she shaves her legs and tries to shove them over him so he’ll feel how smooth they are, and after he feels it his hands always smell like lavender.

“It’s baby oil” she adds, “but go on”

“Alright... it’s got this cute little onesie but she’s heating up because of your radiator-“

“She?” he freezes.

“Always picture a baby girl, don’t know why” he confesses, reminiscing first time he had this epiphany back when he asked her to marry him. “She looks exactly like you, couldn’t tell it’s mine from a distance but-“

“She has your eyes” he agrees, “You stole that from Harry Potter, it’s not fair” they both laugh through their strain.

“Just to be fair, she’d also have my dimples which I believe is a genetical advantage”

“Show off”

His elation slowly fades as he remembers her leaning to another scenario, “It would be beautiful Oli. She’d never need anything, we’d take her anywhere, we would spoil her so bad...”

She feels the impact of his words on her soul, it soothes her to know this baby will be looked after and loved and yes, even spoiled. She wants that vision to be true, if they were in a different financial situation it might be just a reverie but they can actually make it happen. “Harry?”

“Hm?”

“If I told you I want to have the baby, what would happen next?”

“I would probably take the keys out of my pocket and open the door-“

“You’ve got keys?!”

“Of course I have keys, this is my house!” she laughs letting that tension escape.  

“Then why are you out there?!”

“I was hoping you’d come on out” she nods, relishing in how ridiculously respectful he is. “But if you’re still wondering, I’d kiss you until I can’t breath, I’d probably talk to your belly in a way that’ll make you slightly uncomfortable-“ a neighbor steps out the door to walk his dog and find Harry sitting on the floor beside the door, “Evening”

“Evening” the guy waves awkwardly and leaves with the dog.

“What was that?”

“Neighbor... you know what? Why don’t you open the door and I’ll show you instead”

“That’s better” she gets up and turns the key, opening the door for him to walk in. He comes through and helps her shut the door behind him as he pulls her in for a hug and embraces her tenderly, her touch making his heartbeat soar. He nuzzles her temple pressing a gentle kiss against it before leaning in for a kiss. She cups her jaw and deepens the kiss, smashing their faces together with the intensity of their yearning.

  He breaks it in a smile, urging his chest to calm down or else she’ll notice the heave of butterflies taking flight in his stomach. How come he has kissed the same lips so many times and yet it feels electric every time? How come he knows every inch of her skin and still he feels sparks rise wherever her tender touch connects them? When they part he can still feel her in the swollen skin. Maybe that sums the nature of his love for her: even when she’s not there, she’s still an entire sensation that dominates him and, at the same time, gives him peace.

“‘ve been dying to do that for weeks, you know?” he doesn’t let her answer though, stealing another kiss from her. She breaks it so she can take a good look into his lovingly smile. His eyes then dart to her stomach as he reaches down and kisses that bit of skin picturing their baby in there also glad to meet him.

“It can’t hear you yet so don’t waist your words” she reminds him.

“9 weeks huh?” he strokes the back of her knee, still crouched in front of her tummy. “Can’t believe I lost it”

“All you missed was me throwing up everywhere, nothing exciting” she tries to be dismissive but he’s not feeling it. He wanted to be there, holding her through it. Just the reverie of them sharing a bed like they used to makes him light-headed. “Now we’ll get to the fun part: the cramps, the ballooning, mood swings...”

“We’ll work it out”

“Maybe... I don’t know Harry, I’m so fucking scared” she tries to hide it but it’s inevitable.

“Love,” he gets up and tips her chin towards him, “A kid is a huge ‘maybe’: maybe we’ll fuck it up, maybe we’ll work it out... but if we get this chance, can you believe that? We actually get to raise a beautiful kid just the two of us, isn’t that amazing?”

“It’s pretty amazing” she smiles shyly. “Maybe that’ll push us to be up to the task”

“Right?!” she nods enthusiastically and he cups her cheek, “We gotta get better and we will”

She takes a calming breath and nods again, “Can’t believe you’re actually here”

“‘f course I am!” he pulls her to their living room, “‘s my house!”

  He gloats endlessly about the place, but it means so much to him. He and Oli built it together out of their pockets and planned their entire life in it. The flat feels like a safe-house for their relationship, the only place they can be together and grow.

“Oh, sure, the house” she rolls her eyes playfully but he pulls her by the waist and kisses her cheeks earnestly. He rests his bottom against a decorative table and holds her within his reach. He slowly tugs on her shirt and pulls it up until her stomach shows, sliding his cold hands over her warm skin. With his eyes closed, he tries to feel the bump as he rests his head against her shoulder. Olivia loves the goosebumps it causes, having his touch so unashamed on her.

“There’s something you might need back” he fumbles his coat pocket for a rose golden ring with flowers engraved on it. “Only if you want it”

“Of course I want it” she allows him to slide the metal band on her finger and admires it from a short distance. She then runs her knuckles over his cheekbone, relishing on the small hairs of his face as he tries to kiss them in place. “Should get married before I start to show”

“Why?”

“Don’t know if we can have a wedding night if I’m too far long...”

“Oh... you mean we don’t get to fuck if you’re too pregnant?”

“I don’t know how the physics works, what if it harms the baby?” she teases him.

“We should get married right now, is there any restrictions this far long?” he asks in fake hurry and she cackles at him.

“I don’t think so”

“Hm, good” he leans his kisses down her neck and she doesn’t have the strength to push him away. She comes undone beneath his touch as she knew she would if she talked to him, specially when she’s this sensitive. “We could technically get married right now”

“Can you at least call Anne first? She might want to know she’s about to have grandchildren”

“Bloody hell, you’re right” he recomposes, taking a small distance but holding her hand still.

“Should we tell anyone else?”

“Not right now, let me just...” he kisses her hand and sighs, “Let me just enjoy this, just you and me, eh?”

  He smiles fondly, it’s not hard for him to picture them as parents. Harry always wanted kids, he’s always been good with them and this is a welcome surprise after being in a relationship for so long. He was afraid that their small affairs with other people would eventually rob them of the chance of having a child out of their love but this is perfect. And it’s also so frightening, he wants the baby so bad he’s already willing to lay down his life for it. If anything goes minimally wrong, nothing else will do.

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Masterlist

[cultureaddictconfessions]

Unromantic Love - Cubicles CYO Ending #5

(As requested by readers, I’m posting all the endings for Cubicles! I hope you enjoy them, and I am excited to bring you more choose your own ending fics in the future. Shoot me a message if you want to be tagged. Stay tuned! xoxo, Bri)

The sun streamed in through your bedroom window and slashed right across your eye line, waking you instantly. You groaned, rolling over and trying to escape the golden heat. How had you gotten back to your bed? You held your phone up and blinked blearily. Multiple messages left on your voicemail. Sighing, you opened the visual voicemail app and found that you had 4 from unknown numbers and one from Lily. It was about 10 am and you didn’t usually show up at Lily’s until lunchtime, but you listened to her message first. She reminded you that she would be rather upset if you didn’t show up to Lazy Saturday, and to call her when you were on your way over. Lily also suggested a cold shower and lots of water, assuming you might be hungover. Unfortunately, she was correct.

You pressed the next message after that, sitting up in bed and noticing a glass of water on your night table. You were truly confused now. Suddenly, a man’s voice began speaking boisterously.

“Goooooood morning, dearest! This is James, your favorite co-worker! Just checking to see that you woke up alright and that you’re not still on a bender from last night! You were quite a riot! -chuckles- Anyhoo, I’m sure the rest of the lads will have left you messages because we’re all very chatty, but if you need anything, well… now you have my mobile! Thanks for making last night fun and well-decorated, see ya Monday!”

Oh, Merlin… what had you done to elicit such a bubbly response from James Potter? You grumbled again, getting up and heading to the loo to pop a few aspirins into your weakened body. You shook your head and pressed the next message, after registering James in your contacts.

“Shut up Prongs! Er… sorry Y/N love, you know how James can be! Just wanted to drop you a line and make sure you drink the water on your side table, yeah? You’ll definitely need it considering that third shot really threw you for a loop, I think. Very cute though, and that gave me an excuse to ring you and give you my mobile, didn’t it? Feel better, see you Monday, and please also apologize to your owl for our intrusion.”

WHAT?! You stared at your phone incredulously for a moment before scurrying out of the bathroom, down the hallway and into the kitchen, where your owl was asleep in his cage. The only thing amiss was that the door was open. Had… had the group been in your flat last night with you...unconscious? You’d had the guys over for dinner before, but that was entirely different and in your control. You paused for a moment, looking around wildly, before gasping aloud.

“Oh, Merlin’s knickers! I must’ve gone out on the lash and they had to bring me home. Oh no... how dreadfully embarrassing.” You sunk onto the kitchen floor with your head in your hands. Steeling yourself after a moment, you decided to play the last two messages, which you could only assume were from Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.

“Hi Y/N, it’s Remus from work. I’m calling to fill you in on what happened last night because I imagine the others will take the opportunity to say some silly, unhelpful things… oh shut it, you know you’re just using it as an excuse to… Sorry about that. Anyway, James and Sirius had a drinking contest with you and you were completely out of it afterward, so we decided to make sure you got back to your flat okay… We just looked at your ID to find your address and you had your key on you so… Sorry, I know it’s not really appropriate, but I… -coughs- we were all rather worried about you and they felt bad for basically poisoning you THAT’S HOW ALCOHOL WORKS LADS so we set you to bed and put water and the trash bin around in case you needed. Sorry again, and please give me a ring to let me know you’re okay. Cheers.”

Honestly, at this point, your life couldn’t get any worse. Not only had you thought it was a good idea to try to drink James and Sirius under the table, but you proceeded to roll off your trolley and need assistance making it back to your bed. You were honestly surprised that they all collectively decided to bring you back and take care of you, but they were basically your only close friends at work besides Lily. You dragged yourself off the floor and darted back to the loo, rushing to take a shower and get yourself somewhat together so you could Floo over to Lily’s flat in 20 minutes. You didn’t bother to put on real clothes, as you were just going to be lounging on the couch with Lily. As you cobbled together snacks to bring over, you played the final message.

“Why am I going last?! OH! Hullo Y/N! I hope you’re feeling better this morning. Not that you weren’t having fun last night hanging out with us at the party but you seemed pretty sick by the end of it… Moony probably already told you we brought you home and woke up your owl. You didn’t throw up though, and we made sure to leave you on your side so you’d be okay! That was my idea! Your flat is very nice, I really like your posters! WHAT?! WE WERE THERE, I’M NOT GONNA LIE ABOUT LIKING WHAT I SAW! ...Sorry, that sounded creepy. Your decorations, I meant… not that you’re not lovely too… ugh, I’ll shut up now. Anyway, Y/N, I’ll bring you extra sweets Monday to make up for us breaking-and-entering. We really are sorry, but friends don’t leave friends alone when they’re knackered! Have a great weekend! Oh, it’s Peter by the way! Bye!”

You were finished by the end of the message, and you were pretty damn sure you would never be able to look any of them in the eye again after that shitshow. It was pretty funny that they all seemed to have recorded their messages together and were yelling at each other during that. You stepped into your fireplace with a sigh and shouted for Lily’s flat. Green flames licked up over you and whooshed you away, spitting you out in the lobby of Lily’s apartment complex. You gave her a ring to let her know you were downstairs. In a few minutes, the redhead appeared, giving you a once-over that was rather like a mum who thought her child was up to something suspicious. You blinked at her and gestured to go upstairs, and she shook her head before acquiescing. Lily lived on the third floor… and was apparently pet sitting?

“Right, I um… I needed a favor from Potter for this upcoming piece I’m writing, so I was obliged to babysit his cat Algernon for the evening while the party was happening. He’s actually much more agreeable than Potter, and you know I love making new ginger friends.” Lily chuckled nervously as the orange cat called Algernon wove his way around your legs appreciatively. You gave her a pointed look before reaching down and scratching Algernon behind the ears. He pawed at your leg, so you walked through to Lily’s couch and sat down, with Algernon hopping up onto your lap. Lily took the bag of snacks you brought with you and laid the things out on the coffee table. You flipped on the tv and scrolled to Witchflix, too embarrassed to bring up last night’s incident to Lily.

“What did you want to watch Lils? I don’t think I’m in the mood for another romantic comedy, I’m not gonna lie. I think I could do some interior decorating or baking or something…” You took a sip of the water bottle you’d brought along, feeling somewhat better than you had earlier in the morning. Lily appeared from the kitchen with a bowl of Chex Mix and gave you a once over before she settled in with you and Algernon. She snatched the remote and rolled through her queue, making reactionary noises at everything before stopping and looking over.

“Okay, out with it. What happened last night? You look like hell, didn’t take the mickey out of me hosting Algernon, and you haven’t said much since you came in. Did someone make an awkward love confession to you? Better yet… was it more than one of them?” Lily chuckled at the end, but she was fairly serious when she questioned you. You sighed.

“I just got rather drunk and…” You gulped, remembering the voicemails from earlier. You knew Lily was going to roast you for them. “The boys had to bring me home and tuck me in. Spooked Aidoneus and apparently checked out my decorating scheme. Nothing major. Honestly, I shouldn’t have done shots with James and Sirius because they’re notorious for how trashy they are when they drink.” Lily listened silently the whole time before she closed her eyes and sighed.

“Honestly… that’s much better than I expected. Not that being carted home by a bunch of bozos from work is okay in my book, but considering none of them tried anything and you just blacked out and went to sleep, I’m pretty much fine with giving the whole night a pass. Plus that means I didn’t have to babysit you!” She stuck her tongue out at you and you smacked her with a nearby pillow, almost dislodging Algernon from your lap. She held up her arms in surrender, laughing. After a fair bit of ribbing between the two of you, you enjoyed the rest of the afternoon cuddled up and laughing at the flailing and friendships of Muggle British bakers, and didn’t think about boys or work at all. It was absolutely lovely.

———————————————————————————————————

Credit to @ghost-of-bambi​ and @fetchalgernon for letting me borrow their boy!

Tag List

@supremequeenofthenerds​, @wizardwritings​, @couragetocontinue​, @fudgefight​, @lionnottheanimal​, @crtreg​, @shehassomuchsoul​, @formersovietunion​, @serenefreakgeek, @bibimagines​

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(In an effort to keep the “secret” element of the stories, I will only be linking to each ending in the main post, so check there if you want to read more endings!)

[arigatouiris]

out of my league // t.h — 15

Pairing: Tom Holland x Critic! Reader [I use female pronouns]

Warnings: swearing; fluff; a little bit of cliche because come on.

A/N: You guys are the best. Ugh, but this chapter is like fluff max. Just fluff. And some swearing. But GOD SO MUCH FLUFF. And every TV show mentioned here is fictional soooo. Hope ya’ll like the last chapter!

Do keep a look out for my other stories, on queue! My main masterlist~

Word count: 2883

Series Masterlist

13 | 14 | 15

   “You’re set to meeting the casting director, this afternoon.” The director of the show told (y/n) over call.

Once that conversation ended, (y/n) felt a panic hit her system. It had been three days since her script was approved, and the team had jumped immediately to cast members. The previous cast had rejected the second attempt, all except Harrison and the other main character, a new artist named Chelsea Hayworth. It was strange, the show’s name was still the same but it felt like everything was starting from scratch, increasing her anxiety each day. Harrison had to personally tell her that this was how things worked, and that there was nothing to worry about now.

   The story was not a complicated one. Paint it Red was a series of three novels written by Theodore McLarsen, a writer (y/n) regretted not knowing before. She’d met the writer before finishing the script and he was a lovely person, encouraging her and also gave her pointers for certain scenes. The story was about Frank G. Richardson, an illegitimate son of a government employee who was running for office, and how his life changes after a tragic terrorist attack kills his family. His life changes after this, forcing him to somehow take up a role in the criminal underworld. One of the other main characters is his half-sister, Clara Richardson, played by Chelsea. But, the biggest dilemma was who may be cast as Henry, a drunk truck-driver by day and a mafia leader at night.

It was initially speculated that Sean Bean would play this role, but now he wasn’t. So the casting remained unclear. (y/n) noticed that her phone pinged, and saw a text message from Tom. A smile crept on her lips as she saw a picture of him with Tessa, asking her when she’ll be free for lunch. ‘I can’t join you for lunch today, sorry. Have to meet the casting director.’

She looks outside her window and sees how gloomy the weather was in London. It’s definitely going to pour, and it’s freaking September right now. Grabbing an umbrella, she headed to her car, fully intent on reaching the studio before it poured.

   On reaching the location, she spots someone she thought she’d never see again in years. Grinning rather cheekily, (y/n) made her way to Jenny, the reporter who had defamed her months ago, and greeted her.

   “What a nice day, isn’t it?” (y/n)’s voice was sickly sweet.

Jenny rolled her eyes, “(y/n).” She spat.

   Jenny, however, looked terrible. It was strange, and no matter how much bad blood the two shared, (y/n) always agreed that Jenny was quite the looker. However, at that second, she had bugs underneath her eyes, her skin was pale and her lips were chapped. She looked tired, and the cup of coffee in her hands indicated that Jenny had a headache. Having studied in the same college as the woman, (y/n) was aware that Jenny only had coffee when she had a headache.

Sighing, “Jen, are you alright?”

   “I’m supposed to meet your show’s casting director. And besides, look at you. Using your influence with Tom to gather fame. What a move.”

(y/n) rolled her eyes, “Jen, go home. I’ll tell Laurel to give you a call. You look horrible.”

   “Excuse me, I don’t need your pity—”

   “Jen, seriously. It’s going to pour, and I know you don’t have a car. The cab service around here is shite when it rains, just go. It’s not pity. You look like a talking corpse and you and I both know you’re not great behind the camera.”

Jenny scoffed. She looked at (y/n), who noticed Jenny’s gaze soften. The woman then sighed, threw the coffee cup into the trash and walked away. However, Jenny paused a bit and sighed, looking at the ground. Turning to (y/n), with a deadpan, she said, “You’re going to kick ass. You always do.”

(y/n) smiled and nodded, watching Jenny leave.

*

   “So, we have a candidate who we think might be good for the role of Henry.” Laurel said, grinning widely at (y/n).

   “Laurel, I trust you. And I have no clue about casting.”

   “I understand and use this knowledge fully against you. But, considering what Tom told me the other day, you might like this choice.” Laurel said, winking.

   “What do you mean?”

The two were inside the office that Laurel shared with (y/n) for the time being. It was a small space, but not too small—four windows that provided ample lighting for the room, two tables, one for each of them, and a cute couch on the right side. The room was quite minimalist, which (y/n) adored.

All of a sudden, the theme for Star Wars begin to play. (y/n) blinked, obviously knowing the tune, and stared at Laurel, who was sitting in front of her. (y/n)’s back faced the entrance to the office, and the woman stood up slowly.

   “What’s—”

As the theme progressed, (y/n) heard the door open, she finally saw that Laurel was recording this on her phone, and this finally hit her. (y/n)’s eyes widened and she turned to the door right away, revealing Mark Hamill with a blue lightsaber, walking toward her.

   “Fuck me,” (y/n) cursed, her hand going to her mouth, her fingers trembling. She could faint right then, she was sure this was a dream, there was no way this was real. There was no way Mark Hamill was in front of her, holding a lightsaber.

   “Fucking shit.” (y/n) cursed more, her face turning red as a tomato. She could hear Laurel laugh in the background, and Mark Hamill paused in front of her.

The music stopped and (y/n) let out another array of colorful terms, causing Mark to snicker a bit. She rubbed her hands over her face and froze as he handed her the lightsaber.

   “No fucking way, no fucking—” She took it and felt her eyes well with tears, which she blinked away rapidly or she’d not be able to see this clearly. “I cannot believe this.”

A smile rose to her lips as a blush rose to her cheeks. She looked at Mark and grinned, and he came forward and hugged her. He could feel how much she was shaking and he laughed some more.

   “Goodness, you’re shaking like a leaf!” He said, smiling widely at her.

   “I’m going to die—”

   “I really hope that doesn’t happen,” He said, ruffling her hair. “What is with you and your analogies on death? Even your tweet.” He turned to Laurel and nodded once.

   “I took a look at the script, I’m very glad to be a part of this.” Hamill said, standing right beside (y/n).

   “Oh my God.” (y/n) said, letting the tears fall. She turned to look at the door to see Tom and Harrison standing there, grinning at her.

   “You guys are horrible.” She said, still trembling.

   “I love you.” Tom said, laughing.

   “Honestly, (y/n), I sure hope you don’t keep shaking every time we meet because it’ll be a lot now that we’re working together.” Mark teased.

   “Mark Hamill is teasing me. I can die in peace.” She muttered.

   “I’m gonna take that lightsaber back if you don’t stop making those death jokes.”

*

Once that meeting was over, Tom and (y/n) headed out for lunch. Just as they exited the building, Tom grabbed her wrist and spun her around. Her face was still slightly red, a sight that made him chuckle at her, causing her to slap his shoulder.

   “Was that a joke?” She asked, shyly.

   “You’ve always wanted to meet him!”

   “Well, yes, but… Oh my God. I still cannot believe it.”

Tom kissed her forehead as he said, “It’s true, babe. Mark’s in your show.”

   “It’s not my show!” She fought, pushing him away playfully.

Tom laughed some more before entwining his hands with hers. He kissed her temple and put an arm around her waist, pulling her form to his. It had been three months since they got together, and it’s been lovely. When Tom was busy, (y/n) was working and when (y/n) was busy, Tom was understanding. The relationship, although fairly new, felt comforting. It was as if they were friends, which they were, and confidantes, which they were, and lovers, which they were.

   Tom was aware, and it was clear as bright as day, that they were from two different worlds. Two entirely different people. But upon their coming together, they created- they found- their own path and together they had their own world and in their own world, they were the same. Everyone else outside of it—everyone else was over there. Away. And they together—they together were here. They were right here. They were the same.

   “I love you, Tom.” (y/n) said, blushing and he felt it.

   “I love you, (y/n). And I hope one day you’ll love me as much as Mark Hamill.”

   “Oh, sweetie, keep dreaming.”

That evening, Tom invited both Harrison and Aditi over to (y/n)’s for dinner. Aditi was the first to arrive, and for some strange reason, she had taken it upon herself to tease Tom Holland, and make him uncomfortable.

   “You might as well move in, because you’re always here.” Aditi said, scoffing.

   “Jesus, Aditi,” Tom grumbled, turning away, “I’m not always here—”

He caught (y/n) raise both her eyebrows at him and he sighed. Turning back to the Indian woman, he shot her a nasty glare.

   A moment later, Harrison let himself inside and took his jacket off. He made himself comfortable on the table, which had the food ready, shooting (y/n) a flying kiss, and greeted Aditi. He looked at Tom scowling and then back at Aditi who grinned innocently and read the situation.

   “I don’t want to know.” He said, happily.

   “But, on a more serious note, Tom Holland,” Aditi said, just as (y/n) sat down at the table with them. “If you hurt (y/n), I’ll kill you.”

Tom smiled before nodding, “I won’t.” He looked at (y/n) and placed his hand on hers, above the table.

   “No,” Tom turned to look at Aditi, who had a very serious expression on her face. “I will kill you.”

Tom’s smile wavered. “Yes—”

   “Actually, if you hurt her, I’ll kill you.” Haz said.

   “Guys, I… I won’t hurt her. God.”

   “You better not.” Aditi grumbled.

   “Alright, let’s eat!” (y/n) said, clapping her hands together.

*

The casting was done. Shooting was set to begin in close to three weeks, and (y/n) was practically free at the moment. However, something, didn’t sit right with her. She had made peace with almost everything that had happened so far. She loved Tom, who was also considerably busy with post-production involving his movie, Harrison was learning the lines that she had written for him, she had Mark Hamill’s phone number (a massive dream come true), and she was doing what she had always dreamed.

   And despite all this happiness, something was missing. Standing outside the door, she felt her heart beat rather slowly, something about this made her nervous. She breathed, before knocking twice. After a few moments passed and no one answered the door, she knocked on it some more.

The door opened and revealed Susannah, a shocked expression on her face.

   “Can I come in?” (y/n) asked, smiling shyly.

Susannah nodded, quickly moving aside. (y/n) walked inside and let out a breath.

   “(y/n), what brings you—”

(y/n) quickly embraced Susannah, making her swallow her words. Susannah’s eyes widened, her words were stuck in her throat, and she swore she felt like she would choke on her spit. Her hands slowly wound themselves around (y/n)’s form, and tears filled her eyes.

   “Thank you,” (y/n) said, softly. “I know why you did it.”

Susannah shut her eyes and cried, knowing full well that she could have done it differently. She could have been easier on (y/n), not have her believe that this was all her fault. Once again, Susannah’s peace of mind depended on (y/n)’s kindness, and she felt dreadful.

   “Don’t beat yourself up, Susannah. Please. I forgive you. I do.” (y/n) said, pulling away.

Susannah wiped her tears and smiled a bit, “Don’t say psyche.”

(y/n) laughed. “Of course not, I’m not five.”

   “I’d say psyche.” Susannah said, sniffing.

   “Of course you would.” (y/n) rolled her eyes.

*

She was set to meet Tom for dinner that night. He had been coming to her house a lot these days, and she wondered if it was too soon to ask him to move in with her as a joke. He was an actor, and he probably (definitely) had a better house, she had been there a couple of times, only to see Tessa. She wondered if he ever thought of asking her to move in with him, and quickly brushed away the thought.

No way, it’s too soon, she thought, blushing.

Turning on the TV, she felt blessed when the Graham Norton show was airing. Leaning back, she waited for him to announce the guests and her heart skipped a beat. They kept this from me?

Harrison and Tom were both on the couch that night. She didn’t know when this was shot, a couple of days ago, but whenever it was, they had kept it from her. She grinned a bit, hoping Tom would walk in when this show was airing.

   “So, you—” Graham pointed to Tom. “—just finished with Hopelandish, right?”

   “Oh, yes. It was beautiful. Most of the shoot was in Croatia, which is a beautiful place. And it was fun because Donald was an absolute blessing to work with. He’s hilarious.” Tom said, chuckling.

   “Right, right. So Harrison, you’re shooting for Paint it Red, aren’t you? It was initially pulled out?”

Harrison nodded, “Yes, apparently the script initially didn’t match up to what our director had in mind, so one of my close friends, (y/n), rewrote the whole thing. It’s brilliant.”

   “This is the same (y/n) who used to be a critic and got into trouble for doing her job?”

The couch laughed. “I mean, who doesn’t?” Graham grumbled, before chuckling, “But, you’re not the only one close to her, is it?” Graham pointed out.

(y/n)’s heart flipped. Tom looked slightly bashful as Graham continued, “We also have this,”

An image of (y/n) and Tom holding hands in Haz’s shoot site was displayed, causing her heart to flip. Oh my God, she thought as she saw this, watching Tom squirm on the couch.

   “I really didn’t think…” He laughed some more, his face completely red.

   “Wow, Tom Holland is actually blushing. Relax, Tom, you’re just holding hands in this. I wonder what would happen if I showed them the picture of you two kissing, because I have it.”

The couch laughed some more, before Tom covered his face with his hands. Harrison was laughing as well as he leaned back against the couch.

   “Yes, yes. Um... So, it’s a funny story,” Tom said, taking a sip of the beer. “She, uh, I practically begged her to meet me because I felt terrible for the whole shaming thing she went through for writing the critique for Birds of a Feather,” Graham nodded.

   “And um, we became friends shortly after and yeah. It’s good, Graham, I love her.”

Graham’s eyes widened and so did Tom’s, before he began laughing and covering his face again.

   “You really can’t keep anything with yourself, can you?” Graham teased, (y/n) laughing as she watched this.

   “Does she know? Have you told her?”

Tom nods bashfully. “What he hasn’t told her is that he plans on asking her to move in with him, but he’s too chicken to say it out loud.”

   “Haz!” Tom said, surprised.

   “Come on, mate.” Haz said, slapping his friend on the back. Tom laughed.

   “I’m sure she’ll say yes, at least for Tessa.” Graham said, rolling his eyes.

A moment later, Tom allows himself in, and (y/n) turns off the television. She turns to him, as he approached her and kisses her, and noticed her face was red.

   “What happened?”

   “I was watching something hilarious.” She said.

   “Oh, what is it?”

   “I’ll move in with you, Tom.”

Tom froze. He stared at nothing before turning to her, slowly, and blinking a couple of times.

   “The show.”

   “Yep.”

   “Jesus.”

(y/n) laughed before hugging him from behind. “You’re such a shy idiot.”

   “You still chose Harrison for your show and not me.”

   “That’s because Harrison is more handsome.”

Tom gasped before turning around, “What? We’ve been dating four months.”

   She leaned in to kiss him on the nose and said, “What a lovely four months it’s been.”

series taglist:

@strangemaximoff​, @aestheticgaybish​, @noobmaster63​, @why-are-all-the-teens-gay​, @wonders-of-the-multiverse​, @boushalaivre​, @jackiehollanderr​, @nerdypisces160​, @yourwonderbelle​, @quackson606​, @stickyqueenbouquetsstuff​, @fandoms-stuff​, @danicarosaline​, @toolateformcrtooearlytoleaveemo, @multiverseprincess @spider-mendes @jazzhandspotter @the-rad-mad @itsjlynadaxoxo

[alleiradayne]

Unconventional A J2 x Reader RPF Series

After a rousing evening of Friday Night Karaoke at the Supernatural convention, you’re tired and about to go to bed. But then a distinctly familiar laugh echoes through the hallway outside your hotel room door, and sleep is the last thing on your mind.

Part IV - Traditional

Summary: Saturday Night Special and afterparty Warnings/Tags: Floofs Characters/Pairings: Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Female Reader, Briana Buckmaster, Kim Rhods, Rob Benedict, Mike Borja, Steve Norton, Rich Speight, Jr., Ruthie Connell, and Matt Cohen  Word Count: 1,567 A/N: For the love of everything good in this world, assume everyone involved is single or polyamorous. No. Wife. Hate. Allowed. This series as a whole will fulfill my Polyamory square for @spnkinkbingo but not until closer to the end. Beta’d by @atc74 because she’s awesome and managed to read this hella long buncha nonsense.

Hope. An eager sort of anxious anticipation shuddered in your fingers as you gripped the barricade railing. The hall buzzed with an energy so palpable, the fine hair on the backs of your arms stood on end. Fellow fans pressed in all around, their own little space of floor carved out for their spot amidst the tiny sea of bodies. As the house lights dimmed, the stage lights illuminated in their vast array of colors and shapes, and a crescendo of hundreds of voices filled the hall. Louden Swain took the stage as they always did and kicked off their set with Present Time.

They played favorite tunes and lesser known tracks, as well as their covers with other actors. Briana belted out a tune that showcased her vocals with her classic aplomb. Kim rocked the house, as usual. Matt, of course, couldn’t stand in a single spot his entire song. Ruthie in all her five-foot-three glory, danced as beautifully as she sang. And then there was Richard. Oh, Richard. With his big acoustic guitar and that gorgeous Tennessee twang, he could melt a heart with just one note.

You did your best to live in the moment, but with each song, that fervent expectation of what came next crawled up your spine and settled at the base of your neck. Part of it, you thought, had to do with your proximity to the stage—within arms’ reach of Rob and the rest. But the other part, the larger part, kept you on your toes the entire evening.

“We have a very special guest singing a couple songs with us tonight,” Rob started.

Your hope, it seemed, was about to pay off.

Rich leaned into his microphone and spoke. “Oh, we’re gonna let him out of his cage?”

“Something like that,” Rob replied. “Please welcome to the stage, the one, the only, Jensen Ackles.”

Louden Swain always earned a tidal wave of applause when they performed. But the roar, the deafening wall of sound that exploded from behind you put that to shame. Jensen crept out from behind a curtain on the stage, with his leather jacket and wide-brimmed hat, his perfectly tight jeans and shit-kickin’ boots.

“Thanks,” he mumbled into the mic. “Ready?”

Another burst of sound from the crowd blocked out the first set of elevens of Whipping Post. But when the cheers faded, that unique rhythm caught your hips in its steady rock beat, swayed from side to side. And Jensen’s baritone drowned out any other sound you might have heard, for his voice was the stuff of gods. He thumbed a boot in time with that smooth set of elevens—bless Gregg Allman for gracing the rock world with the 11/4 time signature—and damn it all to hell if you didn’t ogle Jensen’s bow legs.

S.O.B. followed, hot on the heels of Whipping Post. Those words in Jensen’s growl left you wanting more, bolstering your hope again for more of it later that evening. Amidst that hope, the whirlwind of music passed in such a rapid blur that Rob had cued the closer before you noticed. But with a quick sweep of the crowd, Jensen found you front and center, and as discreetly as possible, pointed stage right and mouthed, “Go, now.”

Through the throng you shouldered past your fellow fans, your space filled as soon as you vacated. To your left you pushed, side-steps bearing you slowly to the far end of the platform until you broke free of the mass of crowded bodies. There a Creation staff member stood and as you approached, smiled and asked for you name. When you gave it, she asked for an ID, and, after you flipped open your wallet, ushered you around the corner to the hallway behind the riser.

“I’m Sara,” she started as she held out her hand. When you took it, she said, “How long have you known Jensen?” she asked over her shoulder.

A quick lie took shape and you shrugged as you said, “Several years, now. Damn near a decade, actually.”

Face unreadable, Sara simply smiled as she led you around a corner. “Here we are,” she started as she unlocked a door and pushed it aside. “Welcome to the green room.”

She held the door aside as you stepped over the threshold. Though empty, the signs of life lay scattered about the room. Bottles of water at various levels of consumption littered every surface, as well as plastic cups, some empty, some containing hints of liquor. On the far wall, a table stood laden with beverages, liquor, beer, soda, and water, and a melting bucket of ice perspired on the end beside the cups.

“Folks will be back in a bit. Get comfy, help yourself to a drink.” She pointed at the table on the far side of the room laden with options. “Have fun!” she added with a bright smile as she slipped back through the door, a soft click following her.

What then? A drink? Maybe one or two would calm the creeping sensation beneath your skin. You headed for the table and snatched a cup from the stack, dropped in a single ice cube, and poured over it a generous amount of whiskey. The first sip warmed your tongue, slid down your throat, and settled in your belly as the door to the room burst open. You turned to find Rob leading his bandmates into the room, followed by the cast that had sang that night. Briana and Kim chatted excitedly while Matt and Ruthie continued singing the closer. Rich brought up the rear, face buried in his phone until Rob spoke.

“Hey,” he started as he crossed the room. “You’re Y/N?” he asked.

“I am,” you replied as you held out your hand, “I guess Jensen warned you?”

A bewildered shake of his head preceded Rob’s curious smile as he looked over his shoulder. Briana held back a laugh when Kim raised a brow at her. When Rob checked in with the others, they all shrugged. He turned back to you and said, “No, Sara only mentioned a gal with a backstage pass, although I didn’t know we did that here. So, you know Jensen?”

Your casual lie faltered, far too thin to work on Jensen’s actual friends. “Not… really.”

“Jared, then?” he continued as he reached for a bottle of water.

You struggled to find a response to that after memories of the previous night flooded your mind. “Yeah, we’re sort of acquaintances,” you said with a shrug.

“Oh, cool, for how long?” Rob continued.

“About…” you paused as you checked your phone, “36 hours.”

He laughed through his water, nearly spitting it out. “Are you—”

The door opened once more, and Jensen stepped through with Jared in tow. “Oh, awesome, they’re already picking on her,” he said over his shoulder. “Give it a rest, Rob.”

“What?!” Rob shrieked, “I wasn’t doing anything!”

“Uh huh, sure,” Jensen retorted as he neared you and wrapped an arm around your shoulder. “Alright, only time we’re gonna do this. This is Y/N, she’s a friend of ours. Cool?”

The others shrugged their agreement, and without another word, the afterparty started.

Long conversations led to stories about longer friendships, and as the minutes ticked by, the group eased in around you. They each took their time to talk with you, learning a little bit about you and eager to regale you with their favorite moments as a part of the family. Most common of all, though, was that each one of them shared a memory of Jared and Jensen being their incredibly kind and giving selves. And it was during those stories that you realized how damn lucky you were.

An hour had slipped by as you finished your drink, and Jensen took a queue from Jared. He stood from his chair and headed for the table, grabbing three bottles of water, and returned to the group as he spoke. “We’re off.”

“Boooo.” Rob’s hands cupped around his mouth and amplified his voice. Jared, much to your delight, flipped his middle finger at him for a laugh.

When you stood and followed Jensen to the door, Jared fell in behind you. The conversation picked back up and you thought yourself clear of any further teasing as you stepped over the threshold. That was until a catcall of a whistle pierced the din of the room. Jared did his best to push you onward, but as you turned over your shoulder, you caught a glimpse of Briana winking and Kim’s two thumbs up.

The door closed with a click and Jensen pressed into at your side. “I'm beat. What about you?”

“Exhausted,” you said. “Probably gonna pass out when I get back to my room.”

Jared's giggle from behind you drew your attention over your shoulder. His wicked grin and wandering eyes betrayed his indifferent shrug. His hands grasped your shoulders as he leaned into your ear and whispered, “I think Jen has other plans for the two of you.”

As you rounded the corner, Jensen slipped his arm around your waist and pulled you closer. You wanted to say something, anything, but dumbfounded excitement seized your tongue as you approached Clif at the end of the hallway.

“Hotel?”

Jensen nodded as he looked to you with a wicked grin. “Yeah. We're exhausted. Right, Y/N?”

“Yeah… exhausted.”

Reblogs and feedback are awesome. If you want in on the tags, send me an ask or a DM!

UNCONVENTIONAL MASTER LIST

ALLEIRADAYNE’S SPN KINK BINGO MASTER LIST

ALLEIRADAYNE’S SPN MASTER LIST

The Whole Thang:

@atc74  @hannahindie @bevans87  @meganwinchester1999  @plaided-ani-on-hiatus  @oneshoeshort @jonogueira @andkatiethings @elfinmox@wonderfulworldofwinchester @princessofthefandomrealm  @just-another-busyfangirl @jmekitchens @81mysteriouslyme @dolphincliffs  @seenashwrite  @canadianspnhunter  @meowmeow-motherfucker @depressed-moose-78 @staycejo1 @hobby27  @pretty-fortune @mypopculturediva @fanfictionjunkie1112 @sandlee44 @4llmywr1tings @claitynroberts @maddiepants @scarletluvscas @donnaintx @blackeyedangel9805 @rainflowermoon @winchesterprincessbride  @lazinessisalliknow  @the-is13 @waywardafgrandma @keymology

Dean’s Dames (Jensen):

@supernatural-jackles @jerkbitchidjitassbutt

Unconventional:

@wayward-and-worn @evansrogerskitten @squirrelnotsam @jerkbitchidjitassbutt @pink1031  @kutie-stans @aomi-nabi @wilde-abandon @samwichesterssexyface @heavensheadbitch @amandamdiehl @thatonecurlygirl

[rosedavid]

Tyrus duet prompt; kinda like the high school musical scene but they are already close friends and after this duet add some getting together fluff?? Thank you I hope you have a FANTASTIC morning/day/evening/night 😊

aww thank you!! :) I’ve never done a song fic before so I hope you enjoy it!

(italics is TJ singing, bold is Cyrus singing, and italics + bold is both of them singing)

All around them, the party is in full swing. High schoolers crowd the floor, making it nearly impossible to navigate through. Colored lights flash above them. People dance along to the music booming from the speakers. A karaoke stand sits at the front of the room, where people occasionally get up and bolt out their favorite lyrics. No matter how bad they seem to be, everyone gets into it. 

“Come on!” TJ pleads. “Don’t you want to make a lasting impression?”

“I was here, at a party! Cyrus Goodman at a high school party! Isn’t that enough to make people talk?” Cyrus debates, practically having to shout over the noise. 

“Please, we can do it together!”

“TJ, I suck at singing! Just because you’re some kind of musical god doesn’t mean that I am.”

It’s almost midnight, and TJ has been trying to convince Cyrus for the past hour to get up and do karaoke with him. Being best friends for so long, TJ thinks he can convince him, but so far he refuses to budge. TJ knows how shy Cyrus can be when it comes to things like this, but he also knows Cyrus likes being pushed out of his comfort zone every once in a while. 

“You can’t say you suck at singing because I’ve never heard you sing,” TJ declares. “Just one song? That’s it. You can even pick!”

Cyrus eyes the karaoke stand wearily, where a girl is just finishing up the song “Wannabe” by the Spice Girls. Around them, everyone seems to be holding red solo cups, laughing wildly and bopping to the music. With the alcohol at the party, maybe most people wouldn’t remember it. 

“Okay, one song,” Cyrus concedes. 

TJ cheers, grabbing Cyrus’s arm and pulling him toward the stage right as the other girl leaves. Up in front of the crowd, it seems like there are lots more people than before. Cyrus gulps nervously, trying to focus on queuing up the song he chose. 

“This song?!” TJ laughs as he sees Cyrus’s choice.

“Hey, it’s a classic!”

TJ shakes his head. “Don’t play dumb! I know exactly why you chose this song!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

TJ rolls his eyes, passing him a microphone. Cyrus gladly takes it, feeling more confident with TJ by his side. They share a smile as the song starts up to queue them in. TJ begins with a chuckle:

“Somebody once told me the world is gonna roll me, I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed”

Then, he switches with Cyrus:

“She was looking kind of dumb with her finger and her thumbIn the shape of an "L" on her forehead.”

The nerves Cyrus felt at first have now vanished almost all together. The people cheer and dance in the crowd, singing along, which helps, but that’s not Cyrus’s main focus. Whenever he starts to feel anxious again, he simply looks at TJ, who beams at him proudly. That instantly boosts Cyrus’s mood and energy once again. 

“Well the years start coming and they don't stop comingFed to the rules and I hit the ground running”

“Didn't make sense not to live for funYour brain gets smart but your head gets dumb”

As they near the chorus, Cyrus and TJ find themselves inching closer and closer to each other. TJ dances toward him dorkily, and Cyrus soon finds himself unable to resist joining in. 

“So much to do so much to seeSo what's wrong with taking the back streets”

“You'll never know if you don't go“

“You'll never shine if you don't glow!”

Finally, when they reach the chorus, they start belting it out together. They start jumping up and down, heads bopping to the music. The crowd follows their lead, bouncing up and down with drinks sloshing everywhere. The energy level is high. 

“Hey now you're an All Star get your game on, go playHey now you're a Rock Star get the show on get paidAnd all that glitters is goldOnly shooting stars break the mold”

At this point, TJ and Cyrus are so close to each other that they’re practically touching. To remove the gap, TJ takes a risk and wraps an arm around Cyrus shoulder. Cyrus grins over at TJ, and they sway back and forth quickly to the tunes as they continue singing. 

The entire time that they’re up there, the audience is completely smitten. TJ learns that Cyrus’s voice is amazing, probably even better than his own. It just makes him like the boy even more. His long repressed feelings have surfaced yet again that night, and they’re getting harder and harder to contain. 

Meanwhile, Cyrus is equally as smitten with TJ. As the song comes to an end, Cyrus wishes that it wasn’t over. Not because he suddenly loves singing in front of crowds, but because TJ is up there with him, arm wrapped around his shoulders. 

They finish up the song together, grinning like idiots as the crowd claps for them. The instant they clamber back into the crowd, TJ brings Cyrus into a giant bear hug. 

“That was so amazing, Cy!” He praises, squeezing him tight. 

“It was pretty fun,” Cyrus admits bashfully. “Especially with you up there by my side.”

TJ pulls away to look him in the eye. He grips Cyrus’s shoulders with both hands, smile tugging at his lips. 

“I’ll always be by your side, Underdog.”

The tension between them is obvious. Cyrus cautiously steps forward, brows raised in a silent question. One of TJ’s hands moves slowly toward Cyrus’s face, tracing the outline of his jaw with the lightest of touches. 

People around them are still in full party mode, being loud and obnoxious and crazy, but for TJ and Cyrus in that moment, none of that matters. It’s just the two of them. 

“Teej,” Cyrus whispers, barely audible over the hum of the crowd. “Please...”

Finally, the moment they’ve both been waiting for arrives. TJ ducks down, swooping in to capture Cyrus’s lips with his own. Cyrus sighs into his lips, body relaxing. He brings up his own hand to tangle in TJ’s hair. 

They wait until the last possible second to separate, when neither of them can breathe. Panting softly, they look at each other and start giggling.

“I can’t believe all of this happened because of a song from Shrek,” TJ comments, completely ruining the mood. 

Cyrus snorts, “Oh please, you love it!”

The rest of the night they spend dancing with their hands interlaced, never once letting go. 

Send me andi mack fanfic prompts!

[hrhduchessoflancaster]

Chapter Ninety-One: Blooming

Disclaimer: see Prologue

A/N: Thank you all for reading! I'm so so sorry for taking so long to post another chapter but I'm currently finishing my thesis and the process had been very chaotic. Warning: there are some NSFW scenes in this chapter. Read with caution. xx Bea _________________________________________________________

   Christmas break had started a process of healing for both Harry and Elle. Being close to his family during the few days after the celebrations had been key for them to feel like they could take a step further into their future. Little by little, Harry more than Elle, began to reconnect with William, Catherine and Charles. It was clear they had missed each other terribly. However,  their relationship which had been torn and was hopefully mending, would never be the same. They were different people now and would all have to adjust to new settings and new lives.

During the New Year's, their little family had ventured to St. Malo, a place that had a profound connection to their own love story. It had been a magical couple of days, where they soaked in the hot springs and ventured themselves in the beach, with Arthur giggling every so often once the waves reached his chubby toes, his voice bringing joy to his parents more than being away from all the fuss back in England ever could.

   When they finally returned to Kensington, their peace and tranquility was smashed into the floor and in came all their routine rushing back and soon they settled in comings and goings from events and engagements. With their Caribbean tour about to start, they had a lot to prepare for. Arthur, who would be coming with them, would soon turn one year old. Elle could hardly believe her baby was becoming a toddler with each passing and who would, very soon, be walking upright and talking in full sentences. Every time she thought about it, she got a little emotional to the point that one afternoon Harry found her quietly sobbing in their son's nursery while folding his baby clothes.

" Love, what's the matter?", he asked stepping into the room and gently caressing her arms and cheeks.

" It's silly...", she muttered, holding back tears.

" If it's made you this upset, it isn't. Please, tell me? I want to help.", said Harry, gently.

" It's just... our baby is not a baby anymore. He's going to start walking soon and talking as well... then he'll be off to school.", said Elle, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Oh my love, you knew this would happen eventually.", said Harry, pulling her towards him and holding her close by the shoulders, placing a kiss her temple.

"Yes, I know, I know...", she commented, breathing deeply as she stopped crying. "It's just... it seems to have gone so fast.", she continued and Harry nodded his head in, understandingly.

" All children grow up, love. And ours is no exception.", said Harry and Elle nodded her head sighing.

" I just wish sometimes that I could keep him like this... tiny and in my arms, forever.", said Elle.

"I think most parents wish for the same thing, love.", Harry said chuckling.

   As if on queue, Arthur began to cry and babble from his cot. Picking him up, Elle consoled her child in rushed tones and kisses, caressing his back and lulling him to sleep as she rocked him in her arms. Soon enough, he was once again asleep, dreaming, no doubt, of fun and colourful things, being watched over by his doting parents.

************

       Their second tour as a couple and first as parents began with a great start. Harry, Elle and baby Arthur, accompanied by their trusted secretaries Daniel, Lisa, Rupert, the nanny they had hired just for the trip who'd be taking care of their son while they were on engagements, and of course, their RPO's John, Alfred, Ingrid and Leo boarded the private jet at Gatwick Airport and travelled to Antigua and Barbuda, where they'd stay for a few days. In total, the Sussex and their entourage would spend two weeks traveling the beautiful and diverse countries of the Caribbean.

On their arrival at Bird International Airport in Antigua, they were, as was customary, greeted by the officials and representatives of the government. Side by side, the couples descended the stairs. Harry had his hand around Elle's waist giving her support while she carried Arthur in her arms. The warm weather and equally warm welcome was made all the more special by the happy tune of the local band and the colourful sights. They were redirected to the Antigua and Barbuda Defense Force Air Field, were Harry inspected the guard. They were then taken to the Governor General's home, Clarence House, where they'd be staying during their visit.

" Your Excellency, it's a pleasure to meet you.", said Harry greeting the Governor General, Sir Rodney Williams. " This is my wife, Eleanor.", The older man greeted the couple with smiles and a firm handshake

" Your Royal Highnesses, welcome! We're delighted to have you here. And may I congratulate you on the birth of your child, who might I add, is growing into a fine young boy.", said Rodney.

" Thank you very much, Your Excellency. We're very happy to be here and to be able to present our son to the magnificent sights and people of the Caribbean.", said Elle smiling. The couple was then taken to their room so they could rest for a little while. Elle took the time to shower and feed Arthur who was then put to bed. Then Ronald, Lisa and Daniel talked to them about the dinner party that evening and the events on the following day.

" The morning will start with a sport's event at the Youth Sports Festival at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium. Your Royal Highnesses will tour the grounds meeting local children and young people showcasing the many national sports played in Antigua and Barbuda and will take place on the awarding ceremony of that day. Following up, a luncheon with members of different charities such as the Halo Foundation and Nolan Hue, as well as cultural youth ambassadors. Your evening is free for you to enjoy as you wish.", said Ronald.

" Thank you, Ronald. That's all for now.", said Harry. The older secretary bowed his head and excused himself from the room. Daniel gave Harry a few other notes and helped him out with his clothes, leaving a few selections so that either him or Elle could choose from.

" Ma'am, would you like to select your dress for the evening?", asked Lisa. Elle nodded her head and together the women went through her options and settled on a minimalist one by Bermudian-British designer Catherine Quin. After all of their affairs were settled and their secretaries had left, they could finally relax before the grand gala.  Lying down on the bed, Elle briefly closed her eyes as she vaguely heard Harry tell her he'd take a shower. Soon, she listened to the faint sound of the shower water and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

(NSFW)

With a towel draped around his waist, Harry made his way out of the bathroom to find his wife cuddling one of the pillows, deeply asleep. As gently as he could, he sat on the bed just beside her and started to softly caress her hair, running his fingers between the fiery strands, but she didn't stir. Then, he began massaging her scalp and that earned him a moan, which escaped past her lips, though she was still asleep. Finally, he began kissing her arms, neck and face... his lips trailing all of her curves in the sweetest, most loving manner her could muster. Slowly but surely, Elle began stirring from her sleep, blinked a few times and her eyes focused on his. She smiled at him and pulled Harry on top of her, small droplets of water from his hair falling on her skin and pillow. Lowering his lips on hers, they kissed. Very softly and gently at first, but their hunger started to build up in their core and their kiss grew more urgent, passionate and desperate.

" Easy love...", joked Harry as he felt her nails on his back. Elle didn't reply and instead, took the towel off of his waist and tossed it on the floor. Harry chuckled and towered over her, taking her wrists into his hands and pushing them down the bed, above her head. " Eager, aren't we...?", he whispered in her ear, sending shivers down her spine. " This isn't very fair, is it? You still have everything on...", he muttered, whiled trailing kisses down her neck and collarbone, opening her blouse button by button, teasing her mercilessly with his tongue.

" Ha..arry...", she moaned as he worked his hands on her body until the very last piece of her clothing was on the floor beside his towel. He held her down to the mattress and kept on teasing her entire body. But Elle had had enough of it. Using all the strength she had, she pushed him away from her and turned them on the bed, so that she was on top of him, straddling his crotch. Smirking at him, she began to give him back the same treatment. Harry didn't even fight back and responded to her touches with grunts and moans, which she adored hearing. Finally, she lowered herself on top of him and started rocking back and forth, up and down, on a agonisingly slow pace, watching as his closed eyes and furrowed brow, gripping her waist. She took that as a sign and quickened the pace, the bed under them squeaking, as their moans, pants and grunts filled the room.

(end NSFW)

Collapsing on top of her husband, Elle panted and breathed deeply, sweat covering their bodies. She placed a kiss on his chest while his arms encircled her body, keeping her close to him. They dozed off for a few minutes before Elle's alarm rang. Lazily, they untangled themselves from each other and the bedsheets, each took a quick shower to rinse off their sweat and began getting changed. Soon enough, their secretaries were at their door, along with a hairdresser and makeup design who would be helping the duchess get ready for the gala. Before going to down the stairs, the couple took a quick visit to the room adjacent to theirs where Arthur was. The nanny had just given him a bath and was putting a very light baby grow on him. Upon hearing the sound of the door, the baby turned his head and grinned at his parents.

" Hi little cub!", said Elle picking him up, to his delight. " Have you been good to nanny Jackie?", she asked and her son babbled. She chuckled and kissed his head, cuddling him close to her as Harry moved to their side and continuously caressed their son's back.

" Was he good, Jackie?", asked Harry to the middle aged woman.

" He's been very good, sir. A bit fussy due to the heat but nothing out of order. I'll give his bottle in a short while then but him to bed.", said the nanny. The doting parents nodded their heads and said their goodbyes to their precious baby, making promises of seeing him later.

Once they were finally ready, they were escorted to the main hall at the manor, where the were greeted by His Excellency and his family, as well as members of the government. Before the dinner and speeches, they were presented with a performance of cultural dances and musics from Antigua and Barbuda, to the couple's delight. The evening then proceeded with the exchange of pleasantries between the two nations and the inauguration of a plaque dedicated to their visit at the new Clarence House.

In the following morning, they took place at a series of events regarding sports and youth groups, which were very dear to both Harry and Elle. They talked to children and teens, competed against each other, played with a group of teenagers, took place at an awarding ceremony and had lunch with representatives of a few charities. During the evening, they took some time away from any social gathering or event and enjoyed the beautiful sunset in the garden that oversaw the Nelson's Dockyard and English Harbour, along with Arthur. Having a small picnic they watched as the sun set low, its light painting the sky in a myriad of colours, that reflected on the water.

************

During the following weeks of their tour, Harry and Elle met a great number of people, of different backgrounds and ethnicities, who thought them a great deal about mutual cooperation, strength, love, happiness, resourcefulness and commitment to the causes they believe in. While also promoting the alliance between Britain and the Caribbean countries of the Commonwealth, the couple also forged alliances of their own, friendships with local authorities and potencial new charities who could be aggregated into their scope of action.

Arthur also enjoyed himself immensely. He had a few playdates, accompanied his parents to a few official events and was cuddles and given all the attention a child could want, as well as gifts from many people from a variety of nationalities. Presents, he would certainly cherish once he got older. However, by the end of the tour, they were exhausted and longing to go home. They left Guyana in a sunny afternoon in early February, arriving in London in the middle of the evening, heading directly to Kensington Palace, where they were greeted by William and Catherine and Sir Lancelot, of course, who was more than happy to shower them with licks, wiggling tail and happy barks.

" Welcome home, you lot!", said William, giving each a hug, followed by Catherine who did the same.

" How was the tour?", she asked them, while helping Elle out with Arthur. She smiled and the baby cooed in his aunt's arms.

" Excellent!", replied Elle. " We had lots to do and Arthur loved it.", she continued as they walked inside the apartment.

" Indeed. It was really nice to meet up and talk to different people of all ages and backgrounds and to work out strategies to help the communities grow and somehow make their lives better.", said Harry. As they all put away their luggage and settled in the living room with a plate of snacks and drinks in front of them as Arthur dozed off on his Moses basket with Lancelot close to it, the four adults made small talk and relaxed together, for the first time since Christmas. They kept on talking through dinner, which William and Catherine had brought over, and went through the night, laughing and remembering stories of their childhoods and dating periods. When the older couple finally left, Elle and Harry put their son in his cot and cuddled against each other in bed.

" This was nice, wasn't it?", she asked him, placing a kiss on his neck. He murmured an answer and she kept on kissing down the side of his neck to his collar bone.

" Yeah... felt like old times...", he whispered to her huskily.

" Thought so too.", she reply amidst kisses. The conversation died and Harry flipped her on top him as she straddled his body. They kissed passionately, hands roaming each other's bodies as their clothes were one by one being thrown to the floor.

" I love you so much, you know? Much much more than I thought I did yesterday but less than I will tomorrow.", said Elle to him.

" I love you more than I put so beautifully in words. But I can show you.", he said smirking.

" Do it then.", she said, kissing his chest. " Show me...", she whispered in his ear as she nibbled on his earlobe. And he did. Again and again.

************

As the months passed, soon came April and with it Arthur's first birthday. Elle and Harry were determined to make it the best possible birthday they could give their little boy. Winnie the Pooh and his friends were the theme they had chosen and Kate's parents were happy to provide the decor and all the assistance they needed to make the birthday bash. They've decided to make the party at their home in Sussex, South Hartfield, which was adjunct to the the Ashdown Forest, the very same which inspired A.A. Milne in the creation of the Hundred Acre Wood from the stories.

They would turn their garden into a Winnie the Pooh festival with balloons and stuffed animals, as well as toys and themed games. Elle's parents, aunt and uncle, cousins, Valerie and her parents as well as William, Catherine, their children, Mary, Rick and little Rose would be staying with them at South Hartfield. The party was going to be small and intimate but full of joy and fun.

Elle had made sure to research as much as she could about the forest and the Pooh stories because she wanted the feel of the party to be as authentic as possible. That being said, she put Harry to work on his skills on carpentry and woodwork to recreate Pooh's home. She watched in awe as he worked and was even a little turned on seeing him splitting wood and working with the housekeeper's husbands to make the makeshift shed. By the time to put it all together for the party on the following morning, his hands were a bit sore and he had a few bruises but he was proud of his work and so was Elle.

" It looks amazing, darling!", she said congratulating him with a peck on the lips. He beamed as he watched his work and Elle soon began decorating it as per the illustrations of the books. As they put it all together with the help of their family and friends, their garden and backyard soon started to look like the Pooh stories and its characters had really came to live and were there before them.

    She had dressed Arthur in a very cute Pooh outfit that even had a hood with bear ears in it, which made him all the more adorable. As the guests started to arrived and the kids to roam around the garden, Elle and Harry delegated tasks to other people and actually took the time to enjoy their son's first birthday and spend time with their loved ones, specially their goddaughter, Rose, whom they hadn't seen in months and was now a lively, bubbling toddler, who walked and talked in full sentences and was every bit her parent's image. Elle and Harry doted on her and the time they got to share with her. They also took a lot of pictures with her and their son, as well as hundreds of pictures of him in different moments of the day: behind passed on people's laps, playing with his cousins and other children, giggling and playing around the garden and in the hut Harry had built and finally, attempting to blow the candle on his three tear chocolate cake, topped with Pooh themed decorations.

At the end of the day, the family had had a wonderful time together, and indeed it had felt like old times. The laughs and smiles shared would forever be imprinted on their memories and on the photographs they had of this festive moment. For the months about to come would make theirs memory even happier.

[royalbloodedbastards]

chatzy // weed closet pj party

DATE: Friday, March 27, 2020 CHARACTERS: Chase, Jesse, Malia, Alec, Casey, Blue, L, Parker, Jack ABOUT: The Morpheus cabin hosts a PJ Party. Mammals smoke marijuana and Twister ends with a twist.

Chase made sure that all the lights were placed well and all the blanket walls were secure. He picked up a cat from the twister mat and flipped it onto its back so he could hold it like a baby. He unlocked the door and stood to the side, wondering if he should wait there and be a fake psychic that was standing there the whole time or step back so he wouldn’t be weird. He swayed a bit and then walked over to take his cookies from the oven.(edited)

Malia held her mug of hot chocolate in both her hands as she shooed Killer # 1 from pulling at the blanket fort. She followed Chase into the kitchen and smiled. "Any pronoun preference tonight? I don't want you to like, explain yourself if you don't want to."

Jesse was finishing washing the few dishes that had piled up over the day and didn't hear Malia's question to Chase between the sound of the water running and some vague daydreams. As he put the last plate on the drying rack, he turned around and absently pet Killer # 2 on the head, still in his own world.

Chase set the cat down on the counter, pulled the cookies from the oven, and then picked the cat up again as he turned the oven off. He grinned widely at Malia, heart full. “No, no preference. Thanks for asking. Say whatever feels right.” He leaned against the counter. “Did either of you want a cookie? They’re vegan and don’t have nuts, but they do have weed.” 

Malia considered it, then glanced at Jesse. "Want to split one?" 

Jesse tuned in to catch the last part of Chase's offer, once he realized he was being addressed. He smiled at Malia, shrugging one shoulder. "Sure, okay." 

“I’m actually gonna put a note on them to only take half, so y’all might wanna take a quarter.” 

"Oh shit, okay." Malia pulled off half a cookie and then held that half out for Jesse. 

Jesse took it from her. "Thanks. Who're you expecting to come?" he asked Chase. 

Alec let themself into the Morpheus cabin and wandered over to where the three were standing in the kitchen, looking around as they go. "Hey gang! Are there new sheets up in here? It looks swanky. Do those have weed in them?" 

Jack doubted his decision up until the moment he knocked on the door, but he was determined to push himself. "Let yourself blow, Jack," he whispered. After waiting half a minute and hearing voices from the inside, Jack decided to let himself in. "Is this..." The room was much emptier than he expected. "Oh my actual gods," he muttered. "Why am I always so fucking early."

Malia brightened at the sight of Alec and waved her quarter of the weed cookie at them. "Hey! Yes they do." She walked over to Alec to give them a quick cheek kiss and noticed Jack in her peripheral vision. "Hey! You came!" She walked over to him. "I gotta say I wasn't sure if you'd come." 

"Uh, yeah," Jack smiled. "Me neither, TBFH," he chuckled. "It smells like the inside of Martha Stewart's purse in here."

"Oh yeah, Chase made weed cookies." She held out her quarter for him. "Take this, I'll go get another piece for me." 

Chase shrugged. “Um, it was more of a general invite? Alec said they were co–“ As if summoned, they were there. “Hey!” Chase turned his attention to them. “Sure do! But don’t have any eggs, dairy, or nuts.” He turned to Jesse again. “Uh, I dunno who else. Blue, maybe?” 

"Uh," Jack took the quarter cookie in his hand, eyes wide. He hadn't been high before and had no idea this is how the night was going to go. But at the same time, the cooke did smell great... 

Malia noticed his hesitation. "You okay?" she asked. "Oh my gods, did I just peer pressure you? I totally did, didn't I? I'm sorry, you don't have to eat this." 

Jack laughed. "No, I mean, that's fine. I've just never... Done this before? I've always been curious but, like... Just have not." 

Alec beamed at Malia, then bounded over to Chase and Jesse. They scooped up a cookie and broke it in half. "Oh holy mackerel, awesome! You're the fucking best." As they happily chewed away at it, they started petting the cat in Chase's arms. "Can I hold him?" 

"Oh, okay." Jesse closed his eyes for a half second and exhaled when Alec came over, and then put on what he hoped was a polite smile.

"Ah." Malia tapped her lips. "Okay, eat like, half of that and check in with me in like, 20 minutes. We'll just pace you." 

"Okay," Jack brought the cookie up to take a bite. His first was cautious and amounted to nothing more than a nibble. Swallowing the crumb down, Jack thought to himself, It's already quartered, it's probably not that much, and ate the rest of the piece in one bite. "Ugh. Butter makes everything taste so good." 

Chase opened his mouth when Alec took the cookie and then closed it when they only took half. He smiled and held the cat out to drop into Alec’s arms. “I’m gonna go make a sign for the cookies. Can y’all stay here and make sure people don’t take more than half?” 

Casey pushed the Morpheus cabin door ajar and poked his head inside. "Knock, knock! It's your friendly neighborhood drug peddler—I mean girl scout!" Casey held his arm through the door, showing off two boxes of Girl Scout cookies in a little plastic bag.

Alec gave Chase two thumbs up and hopped up to sit on the counter beside the tray of cookies. "You got it! I'll guard them with my life." They hugged Killer # 2 close to their chest. "If anyone tries to take more I'll sic Killer here on them." Jesse looked between Chase and Alec, then rubbed his temple and nodded. 

Malia blinked as he watched the whole quarter go into Jack's mouth. "Or, you can do that, too." She laughed and sipped her hot chocolate, finding it finally warm enough to drink. "It'll be fun! Here, uh, I dunno if you know everyone here?" She walked back into the kitchen. "That's Chase," she said, kissing their cheek as she walked past. "And that's Alec, and that's Jesse." 

Alec waves at Casey from the kitchen with the arm they aren't using to hold Killer. 

Jack rubbed his hands together to get off the crumbs. "I don't know anyone," Jack half-laughed. He waved along as Malia pointed people out, being careful not to make contact. "Uh, hey. I'm Jack. Thanks for inviting me." 

"Oh my gods, kitty!" Casey launched into the room, setting the girl scout cookies on some surface along the way. "Hi kitty," he sang. "You're such a beautiful little mammal!" Casey smiled up at Alec. "And you're a beautiful mammal too, of course." 

Chase smiled at Malia and waved at Jack, then waved at Casey. “Hey Case!” He smiled at Jack. “Ah, Chase.” He shoved a thumb into his chest. “Make yourself at home. It’s real cosy here.” 

Jesse has only ever had one interaction with Jack before, and he isn't too keen to remember it. Still, he smiles at him– this is a better place to meet than on a frozen lake. "Uh, hi. I'm Jesse." He rubbed the back of his neck. "But Mal just said that, sorry." 

Alec held Killer out to Casey so he can pet him, and then they reach out a hand to pat the top of Casey's head too. "Aw! We should make a club. Founding three members right here. There's vegan weed cookies!" They wave at Jack as well. "Hi Jack!" 

Malia moved back into the kitchen to pick up another quarter of a cookie. She popped it into her mouth and kissed Jesse's cheek, too. She wanted to tell Jack that she also invited her brother, but wasn't sure how either person would take the news at the moment, so she refrained. "Should we put on some music?" 

Jack waved and smiled at all the greetings, not sure if he was supposed to respond or if everybody else had just convened before Jack arrived and agreed to be nice to the weird guy. "Uh, yeah. Let's put some music on please." 

Chase sprinted upstairs to grab a pen and paper and wrote “STRONG: TAKE HALF” on it so that people would get the message. He took a moment to rummage around his room and then ran back downstairs so that he could put the sign next to the cookies and hold allergy medication out to Alec. “Thought you might need this.” He leaned against the counter and looked around. He raised his eyebrows and pulled out his phone. “Does anyone have any requests?” He put on Toxic by Brittany Spears. 

"Oh my god," Casey crooned as he stroked the cat. "Cute mammals and vegan weed cookies," he repeated under his breath. His active listening turned off at first contact with the cat and the verbal response was just his way of saving the memory in case it came up again later. 

Jack narrowed his eyes at Chase when Toxic came on. He whispered to Malia, "Is Chase... Gay?" 

"Ooh, yes, put on—" But the music started playing before she could finish her sentence. Malia laughed, slapping a hand over her mouth. "What would make you think that?" she replied quietly, giggling again. 

"Two of the best parts of life," Alec replied cheerfully, breaking off a small piece of one of the cookies and popping it into their mouth. They almost spit it out in their excitement when Toxic comes on and they immediately hop off the counter. "Chase, I would die for you!" 

"Um, do you not hear and see what is happening in front of you?" Jack gestured vaguely in Chase's direction. "I mean, like, it's great. But..." Jack laughed. 

Jesse exhaled a laugh at Chase and leaned back against the counter, crossing his arms over the pastel pyjama shirt he's borrowing from his brother.

Malia laughed again. "Oh don't worry, I see it. Jack, I think me and Jesse are the only straight people at this party right now." 

Chase laughed at Alec and blew them a kiss before looking at Malia. “I can queue up a song that you want!” 

Jack looked around the room, brows furrowed. "Um... Since when?" If what Mal was saying was true, then Jack had to fight the urge not to kick himself for coming out to these events sooner. 

Alec picked up one of Killer's paws in each hands and made him dance along to the song with them.

Casey pulled a pen from his pocket and took a deep hit, watching Alec dance with Killer. "So debonair!"

Alec cracked up and let Killer jump down once he started to struggle. They sneezed three times in quick succession and picked up the allergy medication Chase had given to them a minute earlier. "That's what they call me!" @spexile

Malia laughed. "I mean... since always? But since we've all been aware? A few years." @spexile

"Oh my gods, are you allergic to the kitty?" Casey sat down to let the cat brush by him as he walked away. 

Jack widened his eyes and laughed. "Ugh. Of course. So are there, like, no straight boys at this camp at all because..." Jack's sentence trailed off as he remembered who he was talking to. 

"Nope!" Alec replied as they took one of the  pills. "I'm allergic to all kitties! And everything else with fur. Do horses have fur, or is it hair? Maybe I'm not allergic to horses. I haven't really tested it out, I think they're some creepy." 

Malia raised an eyebrow questioningly. "What do you mean?"

Chase took half of a cookie and nudged Jesse. “What’s up? You look like you’re leaving your body.”

"Huh?" Jesse blinked a few times and turned to Chase, breaking into a smile. "Sorry, zoning out. Everyone looks really nice, yeah? Especially for a pajama party." He ran a hand through his hair, watching Malia as he said this. @caitlin

"Oh my gods," Casey gasped, pushing Killer away. "That's so tragic, I'm so sorry for your loss. I mean, I don't have any cats or pets or anything, but I love being a pet uncle." 

Chase smiled and leaned against the counter. “Yeah, not everyone just wears sweatpants to bed.” He looked at Malia as well. “I really like her robe.” 

"Nothing!" Jack quickly covered up. His eyes scanned the room, looking for something to change topics to, but he came up short. "So, pajamas..." 

"It's horrible," Alec sighed dramatically, their expression giving away how much they were exaggerating their distress. By the time Killer was out of sight, a grin had spread back across their face and they waved their hand. "I used to work in a pet store, I can handle a couple cats." 

Malia gave him a knowing smirk. "Were you going to say something about my brother?" 

"What? Why!" Casey laughed. "That's so masochistic of you but also feels so correct for your vibe and I love that for you." 

"Um, what?" Jack turned red, unable to help the smile forming on his face. "I have no idea what you're talking about, shut up." 

Chase sings along to Womanizer under his breath.

Chase also looked around. “Uh, if we don’t all want to stand, we can move to the couches?” 

"Working around animals all the time's a dream come true, eh? But they fired me after four days." Alec laughed. "'Cause I was allergic to everything in the store except the fish." They turned to Chase. "I love couches, let's go!" 

"Okay, I'm pretty sure you'd be super obvious to anyone, but I literally have a superpower about this stuff so don't play dumb."

"Oh my gods, you're incredible," Casey laughed, getting up to join everyone on the couches. "I want the side seat!" 

"Ugh." Jack flushed. "Wait, what do you mean you have a superpower?" 

Chase grabbed the tray of cookies to take with him so that the cats wouldn’t be able to get at them while he wasn’t looking. “Case, I put up the shamrock stained glass.” He smiled and pointed it out to him as they sat down. 

Malia shrugged and finished her hot chocolate. "I have a superpower. I like, know who everyone likes, who everyone is fucking. All that good stuff. I used to think I was just really observant? But I'm pretty sure it's because of my mom. Oh my gods, but my brothers don't have it, before you like explode with embarrassment. Parker is so clueless and if Kieran did have the same thing I'm pretty sure he wouldn't care enough to do anything about it." 

Casey gasped. "Oh my gods!" He went up to the glass to admire the details. "Oh my gods, wait, Chase, now that I'm not drunk, this is actually so good!" 

Jesse waited for Chase to leave the kitchen before he followed. He paused to smile and shake his head at the twister mat in the middle of the room before taking a seat on one of the couches.  

Alec veered away from the couches to go over to the glass as well. "Aw, shit, it is really good!" They looked over their shoulder to smile at Chase. "You have a new calling!" 

"Wait, so, like... Can you tell if someone, like..." Jack didn't know how to phrase the question without sounding pathetic. "What do you think you sense with me and your brother, then?" 

Chase set down the cookies and then turned to lean over the back of the couch to look at where his art was hanging near the window. “Aw, guys, you’ll make me blush!” He nodded sagely. “Drunk art is a talent of mine.” 

L knocked at the door and smiled at Blue and Parker. “This was a good idea for a party!” Parker shrugged. 

Malia hummed and turned toward the sink to start washing her mug. She had a huge grin on her face. "Well, I don't think you need a superpower to tell?" She glanced at Jack. "Let's just say there's a reason I left you two alone on St. Patrick's day."

Jesse got back up from the couch to get the door when the knock came. He opened the door and looked at Parker, then Blue, then L. "Oh, hey. Come in." 

Blue nodded, taking L's hand in hers. She slapped Parker lightly on the back. "It is! I don't know why Parker is being so grumpy about it." When Jesse opened the door, she grinned at him. "Sup." She pushed Parker in ahead of her and followed after him. 

L stepped in and gave Jesse a hug in greeting. “Hi! I hope we’re not too late!” She pulled away and took Blue’s hand again. Parker sighed and stepped in. “I’m not grumpy, I just don’t see the point in buying clothes specifically to sleep in.” He smiled awkwardly and looked at Jesse. “Um, hi.” 

Jesse nodded at Blue and gave L a one-armed hug back before stepping away to give them room to enter. "No, no, not at all." He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled back at Parker. "Hey," he repeated. "What's up?" 

Jack's sheepish grin fell off very quickly as Parker, L, and Blue all walked into the cabin. Breathing deeply, Jack pressed his lips together. After the jacuzzis he had mentally prepared himself for a moment like this, but now in person, his heart and brain still felt like they were operating miles apart. 

Blue wandered into the living room and, of course, Jack was there. She immediately Did Not look at him and instead put her focus on Casey. She rushed over to him. "Fuck yes, we look so good!" 

"Oh my god, trash babies!" Casey squealed and ran over to celebrate with Blue. "What is this recurring mammal theme tonight?" He turned to Alec and called out, "Watch out, we've got some allergens coming through!" 

L followed after Blue and waved goodbye to Jesse. “Oh, Alec, do you need any antihistamines? I don’t have any on me but it’s probably not a far run to my cabin.” She teased. 

His reaction was not quite what she expected, but looking at what he was staring at told her why. She took a deep breath and dried off her hands quickly. "Want me to go get Parker?"

Alec moved to sit on the back of the couch and pretended they were trying to lean even further away from Casey and Blue. "No! Keep them away! Also you guys are cute as all hell, aw." They shook their head at L. "I'm good, I'm good! Chase got me some already." 

Parker shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged. “Um, nothing. Cool idea for a party.” He hoped Jesse hadn’t heard him bitching about it to Blue a moment ago. 

"Oh, yeah, it was Chase's." Jesse cleared his throat and glanced back at the couches. "Yeah."

"Um, no, I mean, he can live his life. it's cool." Jack tried to sound casual but wasn't convinced that he did. 

Blue gasped, clutching Casey as if in need of support to stand. "You're allergic, to mammals?" 

“Oh.” Parker frowned but didn’t know how to retract his statement without sounding like a hypocrite. “Um, Mal said she was here?” 

Jesse relaxed. "Yeah, yeah, just over there. Talking to Jack." 

"I know, right?" Casey confirmed. "It pains my heart and I'm not even involved." Casey shook his head piteously toward Alec.

"I am," Alec responded mournfully. "Like, all of them. Wait." They scrunched their eyebrows together. "Not humans. Humans are mammals? Yes." 

Parker felt the blood drain from his face. He looked over at Jack and made sure that was far away from where Blue was. “Um, did your brother choose the guest list?” 

"I guess?" Jesse shrugged– he's not sure what Parker's really asking, and he has no desire to find out. "I think it was open invite, kind of." 

Malia watched Jack carefully, then checked the time on her phone. "Well, okay, that edible is probably going to hit you in a hot sec. We can just chill in here for now?"

L nodded. “Humans are mammals because we make milk! I’m pretty sure you’re just allergic to, like, fur an dander though. But, actually, going back to the milk thing...” she squinted. “I guess you are... allergic to all mammals.” 

"That was a gross sentence!" Alec said to L, brightly.Casey fiddled with the ears of his onesie. "Dude... That's so rough," he laughed. 

Blue laughed and kissed her girlfriend's head. "You're so fucking cute." She turned back to Casey. "So, I was told there was weed? Where's that?" Jack nodded. "Uh yeah. I mean," Jack looked for a place to sit on the floor. "How do I know when it happens?"

“Ugh, okay.” He frowned again and looked at the two groups of people, and then made his way over to Jack and Malia when he made his decision. “Hey. Hi.” He smiled at them a bit. 

"Oh, you'll know." She looked to Parker when he walked over and smiled. "You came! Hi." 

L laughed. “I know! I regretted it as it was coming out of my mouth!” She smiled at Blue and tugged at one of her raccoon ears. “Says you in this.” 

Jack smiled at Parker as he walked over. "Hey!" Jack noticed that the question he had just posed Malia was echoing now in his brain. How do I know when it happens? 

Parker took a seat near Jack. “Hey,” he repeated and shrugged at Malia. “Yeah, Blue invited me.” 

"That's cool," Jack mentioned a little too quickly. "Mal invited me." Jack felt a tingle slowly rise up his spine and a smile started forming on his face. "Yeah," he chuckled. 

"And so did I! Jerk." She crouched down so she could look at the both of them more easily, smiling despite the weirdness between her and her brother right now. She watched Jack's smile slowly travel across his face and then looked back to Parker. "I was just telling Jack that he might start to feel this edible soon. He took a quarter of one so it should be fine, though." 

"Ah, c'est la vie," Alec responded to Casey (on time) and stroked an imaginary beard to give the impression of wisdom. "You can quote me on that." 

Blue giggled and pressed her mouth to L's neck briefly. She came back upright and slung her arm across her girlfriend's shoulders. "Very wise," she said to Alec. "I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that before." 

Casey scampered away from Blue and L to give them space, taking a seat beside Alec on the couch instead. "Is this distance okay? You'll let me know if you get allergic to me?" 

“Oh. Yeah.” Parker flushed. He’d mentioned Blue inviting him to get at Malia and hadn’t even thought of Jack in the moment. He frowned at her. “You gave him an edible?” He tried not to sound too judgemental. 

"Thanks! I should put it on a t-shirt." Alec grinned at Blue. They slung an arm around Casey's shoulder and leaned against him. "I'll let you know by sneezing on you, does that work?" 

Jack shrugged. "I took it, she didn't peer pressure me." With each wave of static rising up his back, Jack felt his smile grow wider and wider. "This is... Great." He laughed. 

Malia sighed. "I gave him a quarter of an edible, and told him to eat half of that to take it slow. Jack," she smiled at him, more teasing this time, "decided to eat the whole thing. But I promise, it's fine. You look very chill, Jack." 

"Yes, that's wonderful, right into my hand." Casey cupped a hand under Alec's chin, pinching their nose twice in the process. 

"Ugh, shut up, I literally look the same." Jack grinned goofily. 

L blushed and nodded at Alec, though she hadn’t really been paying attention to what they were saying. She took a seat on the couch. “Were you asking about something, babe?” 

Parker squinted and then hummed in acknowledgement at Malia and then looked back at Jack, and then at the floor. “You do. I’m actually surprised you’re not wearing a power ranger’s suit, since it’s a pajama party.” 

Alec scrunched their nose up after Casey pinched it and shook their head like a wet dog. "Gross!" they laughed. "Is there enough like, DNA in that to clone me if I do? I feel like I talk about cloning a lot. Maybe I just talk about everything a lot." 

"Um, you told me that we were never gonna talk about that again." Jack pointed at the ground in front of Parker. 

Malia tucked her hair behind her ear and stood. "I'm gonna go say hi to everyone else. I like, barely spoke to Alec since they got here." She winked at Jack and then lightly squeezed Parker's shoulder, even though he wasn't looking at her. She walked away from them and wandered over to Jesse, grabbing his hand as she moved to his side. "Hey."

"Yes you do, but so do I." Casey leaned into Alec's embrace and kicked his feet up onto the couch. He pulled his pen out of his pocket and took another hit before holding it out to Alec. "Do you want some of this? It's CBD." 

Jesse had been caught between heading back to the kitchen or sitting by Chase on the couch, so he relaxed when Malia approached and gave him something to do besides examining the shamrock stained glass. "Hey," he replied, squeezing her hand with a smile and turning to face her fully. 

Parker laughed and ducked his head. He looked back at Malia, smiling a bit as she walked over to Jesse, then shook his head at Jack. “No, no. I promise, my lips are sealed. It was just too perfect to not bring up right now.” 

Blue dropped onto the couch and pulled L a little closer to her. "Oh, I was gonna ask about the edibles, but I think they're in the kitchen and uh, someone is in there." She looked around, frowning when she didn't see Parker. "I don't want to make it weird so I'll just— Oh! Casey," she rolled her head over so she was looking at him, now. "Can I have some too? Pleaaaaase?" 

"Okay, but actually," Jack leaned it. "If I got like, not a morphsuit, but a headless one? Like a turtleneck with gloves? Would that be weird? Because I feel like it could be like, a thing?" Jack cackled. "Oh my gods. Wow. No sorry, I heard it as I was saying it." 

Alec was beginning to feel the edible kick in. "Yell heah," they sighed happily and took the pen, settling against Casey more. "You are an angel and also so comfortable I never want to move again. But hat could also be the, uh," they waved a hand around. "–decor? Yeah, the decor speaking. It's so cozy in here!" Alec passed the pen to Blue. 

Chase blinked out of his momentary suspended animation and looked at the people around him on the couch. “Oh, uh, Blue, the edibles are here.” He smiled and pointed at the coffee table. “Didn’t want the cats to be able to get at them.” He blinked again. “Also, hi!”

Malia could feel the edible hitting her slowly, and she smiled up at Jesse easily. "I," she said a little smugly, "stopped a potential disaster. Jack is safe and stoned in the kitchen." 

L nodded approvingly at Chase not wanting the cats to consume drugs. She backtracked when she thought of who she might have seen in the kitchen. “Ah, good idea.” 

"Yeah, Blue, just take it," Casey waved a hand nonchalantly. "Um, don't take my comfiness away and credit it to inanimate objects! I'd like full recognition for everything you're feeling right now, thank you." Casey pulled his feet onto Alec's lap and nuzzled his raccoon hooded head into Alec's neck. "If they're gonna be cute on that side of the couch, then so are we!" 

Parker tilted his head to the side, a smile spreading across his face. “No, no, please let me hear about this thing.” 

"Oh shit, I'm blind," she said, laughing. "Okay wait, I don't want your pen." She grabbed a half of a cookie and started to eat, then snuggled back into L's side. "It is a good idea. I have a lot of them, surprisingly."

Jesse didn't bother glancing at the kitchen to check, too busy smiling at Malia. He rested his free hand on the side of her arm. "I guess that makes you the resident peacekeeper." 

Chase picked up the nearest cat since everyone seemed to be pairing off. He looked at Casey and then at Blue. “Are you guys matching on purpose, or was this a coincidence?” 

"Ugh!" Jack cackled again. He wasn't sure if he could feel his face turning red or if that was just the high. "I was thinking like it'll be like a turtleneck but with the morphsuit hands. And I could just wear it under what I normally wear and it would just look like gloves, but then I could like, poke your face or hold your hand or something stupid like that, blah, blah. Ugh," Jack pulled his face down with his hands, half laughing, half whining. "What am I right now?" 

Alec wrapped both of their arms around Casey fully now. "I take it back! You can have 110% of the credit." They rubbed their cheek against the top of his head. "You're saying we're not always cute? I'm betrayed!" 

L moved so she could put her arm around Blue. “That’s not surprising! You had the idea about the solar panels!” 

"Literally just a coincidence, I don't even know this woman," Casey called out to Chase, scowling at Blue. "And nooo, we are! Sh, shh." Casey gave Alec a reassuring stroke on the back of their head. 

"Oh shit, you're right!" Blue laughed as she swallowed the rest of the edible. At Chase's question, she leaned over and flicked Casey's head. "Don't lie because I look better than you!" 

Malia flicked her hair over her shoulder. "Oh, me? What an honor! Glad to be of service." She leaned a little closer to him as she laughed, lifting her hand to pull at his shirt. She thought better of it at the last second and lowered it again. "Everyone is on the couch, should we like, actually use the blanket fort?" 

Parker felt his chest swell and pressed his face into the cupboard next to him to try to cool his cheeks down at least slightly. He pressed his palm into his mouth to keep from smiling too much and to keep down a small, strangled sound at how cute Jack was. He covered it up as a cough and nodded at Jack, face still against the cupboard. “Wanna hear something lame?” 

Alec flopped backwards when Blue leaned over so they were half twisted and lying over the arm of the couch now, still somewhat entangled with Casey. "I hate it when you fight!" they said with a laugh to the two of them. "Not in front of the children!"

Jack sighed, smiling at Parker. "Please. Let me be the not lame one for like, two seconds," he laughed.

Chase laughed and put his hands up. “Woah, woah, calm down everyone, didn’t mean to start anything. This is actually a zero violence household, so I’m gonna have to ask y’all to cool it, you both look great in your fursuits.” 

"Aye!" Casey flinched in exaggerated offense when Blue flicked him. "Don't you flick me!" Casey swatted Blue away, his other hand grabbing Alec's shoulder to keep himself steady. "I'm the good parent!" Casey protested to Alec and Chase. "She literally started it." 

L pressed her hands to her cheeks and fake-sobbed. 

Parker spoke quickly so he couldn’t stop himself. “I brought plastic gloves with me from work so that maybe we could hold hands on Saint Patrick’s day, but I didn’t know how to bring it up.” He leaned back on his hands. 

"Sure." Before letting go of Malia's hand so they could move, Jesse ducked his head to lean closer to her so he could still be heard. "You really look amazing tonight." 

Jack closed his eyes. His body was frozen still, but a huge smile grew on his face. "Wait... Are you... Being serious?" 

Alec pretended to wipe tears away. "This is the way the world ends, this is the way the world ends. Not with a bang, but with raccoon fisticuffs on a chesterfield." 

“Ugh.” The cabinet wasn’t even cool anymore. Parker sighed. “Yeah.” 

“Yeah, and I’m finishing it.” Chase did his best to sound serious and not to laugh, but utterly failed when Alec spoke. “Not with a bang, but with the most Canadian sentence I’ve ever heard in my life.” 

"Yo, I have no fuckin clue what you just said, but yes." Blue turned a exaggeratedly mean face to Casey. "You're going down, Casey." 

Casey threw his head back laughing at Alec's lament and wrapped his arms around Alec's shoulders again. "Raccoons are very vicious, I can't help it. We fight to the death, we eat trash, and we loan out money for desert island real estate." Casey stuck a tongue out at Blue. "Try me, Nook." 

"Do not insult me like that! Nook? The evil capitalist scum? You're really dead for that." She disentangled from L just to get close enough to flick Casey between the eyes, then moved back to her spot. "Try me again." 

Jack felt like simultaneously melting and fizzing up like a bottle rocket. "You don't like..." He drew a circle on the floor between them with his finger. "Have them right now... Do you?" 

Malia's face uncharacteristically flushed, and she turned her head a bit into his so the rest of the room wouldn't see. "So do you, and I mean it. You look sexy in stripes." 

Casey gasped and sat frozen, mouth agape. "You just—Chase!" Casey turned his head toward Chase and yelled out. "Blue is bullying me again!" 

"You brought that on yourself!" Blue shouted back, trying to hold in a laugh and keep up the bit. 

Parker had never regretted not taking plastic gloves with him to a party more. In all honesty, he considered it, coming to the Morpheus cabin. He pulled his face from the cupboard and buried it in his hands. “No. I didn’t know you’d be here.”

Alec lifted their head more to look at L past the ruckus on the couch. "Did you know koalas have smooth brains?" 

Chase tutted and wagged a finger at Blue. “Hey, hey. What did I just say? Raccoon or not, you gotta keep your paws off each other.” 

L tilted her head at Alec. “What does that mean?” 

Jesse touched her cheek , then remembered where they were and dropped his hand. His ears were warm, and the flush was quickly spreading to his cheeks. "Should we sit down?" 

"Their brains are smooth," Alec repeated to clarify. 

“What does that mean!” L laughed.

Jack pressed his hands into his face then laughed and shook them away. "That's okay! I'm like—I feel so good right now and I'm just really happy that you're here." Jack scooted closer and touched his index finger to Parker's knee. 

Casey stuck out his tongue at Blue again, but he was smiling. He gave Alec's shoulder a squeeze before standing up and walking over to Chase. "Hey! Are we gonna play Twister?" 

Malia glanced around the room. "I think I actually left something upstairs," she said quietly, brushing her hand lightly over his chest. "I should go get it now before a game starts or something."

Parker smiled so hard that his cheeks hurt. He touched Jack’s knee, careful not to make contact with his skin. “Me too.”

Alec held their hands out until Casey was fully out of reach, at which point they wrapped their arms around themself instead and turned their attention back to L. "You know how our brains are wrinkly, like coral? Koalas don't have wrinkles, their brains are right smooth! That's why they're bad at crosswords."

Chase tilted his head and then perked up a bit. “We should!” He stood and looked around. “Does everyone wanna play Twister?” He addressed the party. 

Jesse didn't get the chance to agree before Chase spoke. He closed his eyes for a moment, then laughed and rubbed the back of his neck again. "Spoke too soon, I guess."

Jack savored the moment for only a second before hearing Chase's announcement. He dropped his head and laughed. "Ugh. Of course it's Twister." He smirked up at Parker. "That's like, a total disaster if I play, right?" 

Malia's eyes closed in frustration. "Okay, well, maybe we can go get it later?" she asked him quietly. 

L tilted her head, blinked, and then laughed. “Are you serious? About the smoothness, not about the crosswords.” 

"Twister!" Casey yelled in repetition, throwing his arms up in the air. 

"Fuck yes, Twister!" Blue clapped. 

Jesse tucked a piece of hair behind Malia's ear and gave her a half-smile. "Of course." 

Parker exhaled a laugh and shrugged. “I bet you could do really well, actually.” He shook his head. “Ugh, nevermind, I didn’t say that.” 

Chase picked up the spinner and put it on the floor. “Okay, so, either if someone doesn’t want to play or if someone’s closest, they can spin the wheel for everyone else?” 

"Deadly serious!" Alec exclaimed. Without sitting up they slowly slid off the couch, head first, so they could lie on the ground by the twister mat. "Sounds good, Chase!" 

Jack laughed and rose to his feet. He pulled the sleeves of his sweaters down past his fingers and held his covered hands out to help Parker up. 

It was physically painful to rejoin the party and sit at the Twister mat, but Malia managed, somehow. She pulled Jesse along with her so they were sitting beside each other. 

Casey bounded across the floor to sit beside the mat. "Has anyone ever played this in underwear covered in oil?" He asked nobody in particular. 

"Only you, weirdo," Blue said as she moved, pulling L along with her. "But that does sound fun." 

"I've played it in a swimsuit covered in oil, does that count?" Alec asked, sitting up so there was more room. 

“That’s very Greek.” L nodded as she followed after Blue. 

"Um, I've never done it," Casey clarified. "I just think it sounds fun! Did you have a good time?" he asked Alec. 

Jesse followed Malia easily and nodded his head towards the blanket fort before he sat. "Want a pillow?"

Parker took Jack’s hands through his sleeves despite not needing any help up. He stood there for a moment, the  dropped his hands, heart pounding in his chest. “Um, were you gonna be spinner?” 

"It was crazy hard, but fun!" Alec moved to sit up on their knees. "We did it on the beach with way too much spray on sunscreen. Slip-sliding everywhere." 

"Uh, I guess." Jack's heart sank a little bit. A naive part of him was hoping he'd be able to play, but he wasn't sure how. "Do you think—" Jack turned to Parker. "If they have gloves, maybe I could play? I could just, like... Wear a scarf and gloves?" 

"Oh," Malia didn't want to be not at his side for ever a few seconds. But, her ass would start to hurt, sitting here, so she nodded. "Sure, yes, thank you." 

Parker blinked and then nodded quickly. “Uh, yeah, I don’t see why not!” He looked around. “Do you want me to ask?” 

"Oh my gods, sunscreen, that's genius!" Casey clapped his hands in recognition. "I bet tanning oil would work too. Except for the radiation but whatever, beauty is pain, right?" 

"Yeah, please. I like, just officially met half the people here and I'm afraid I won't remember their names," Jack laughed. 

Chase crouched to pick a cat off the mat again. “Should I change?” He asked Malia and Jesse, since they seemed least likely to make fun of him and most likely to tell him the truth. 

"Well," Malia looked over to Chase. "I love the shorts, but if you're in a compromising position it might be... a bit of a show, for us?" She giggled. "Up to you." 

Jesse disappeared into the blanket fort and came back out with a pillow in time to hear Chase's question. He glanced between Chase's shorts and the twister mat. "Maybe, yeah, you might want to." He held out the pillow for Malia, then sat down next to her.  

Parker smiled and reached out to touch Jack’s sleeve again. “Cool, I know...” He looked between Chase and Jesse and frowned. “I can ask Jesse.” He dropped his hand and walked over to Jesse and Malia as Chase left, figuring Jack would follow. 

Chase bobbed his head and scampered up the stairs.

Alec laughed and leaned against Casey again. "But the tanning oil would rub off some places and stay on the other! Your skin would look right fucked up." 

Jack followed Parker. The sensation of walking was very interesting to say the least. Jack found his mind drifting to several different places in the short span of distance between where they were sitting and where Jesse stood. Casey put an arm around Alec. "Okay, good point, good point. So then maybe the beauty is in the fun and laughter you share with your friends and then you just wear long sleeves the next day!" 

Blue was leaning on her hands, her eyes mostly closed and lazily leaning in and out, lightly pecking L's lips every time she was close to their face. She wasn't paying attention to the rest of the room. "What did you learn about koalas?" she asked.

Jesse blinked when Parker came over and looked to Malia, remembering now something about a fight between them. He assumed Parker had come to speak to his sister, so he waited for one of them to speak with hopes that it wouldn't turn into an argument.

Malia accepted the pillow from Jesse and moved so they were practically touching while sitting next to each other. She looked up at her brother from her place on the floor and gave him a little smile. "What's up?" 

“Um.” Parker cleared his throat and looked at Jesse mainly. “Do you have, like, gloves and scarves and stuff?” 

Alec smushed their face into Casey's shoulder. "You're a genius. We could do that in my loft! Except I don't have tanning oil or money to buy it. I have vegetable oil?" 

L was in and out of conversations. She smiled. “They have smooth brains! No wrinkles, and can’t solves puzzles because of it.” She nodded a bit, then looked at Casey and Alec. “If vegetable oil comes from vegetables and olive oil comes from olives, where does baby oil come from?” 

Jesse rested one hand on the ground behind Malia so that even though his arm wasn't around her, there was still a semblance of it. He drew his eyebrows together. "Winter clothes? Uh, yeah, some. Why?"

"Vegetable oil is probably so bad for your pores but maybe, like, olive oil? Is that expensive?" Casey laughed. "Or bubble bath! Oh my gods, this Twister idea is getting steamier and steamier."

Blue laughed at L's joke, resting her head on her shoulder. She glanced around the room finally, not sure how much time had passed since she sat down. She saw Jack standing in the middle of the living room and stared maybe a little too long, then turned her head in the opposite direction, staring at the floor.

Parker shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Because Jack wants to play Twister?” 

Jack smiled and waved awkwardly at Jesse from past Parker. "I'm a freak, I'm sorry." 

"Oooooooh," Malia turned to look at Jesse. "Do you have rubber gloves? They might have more traction than fabric." 

Alec laughed at L. "Olive oil is so expensive," they lamented to Casey. "But I have bubble bath! Oh! Oh! I have bath oil. Or, Ime did, but they left it behind so it's fair game!"

Jesse fully noticed Jack behind Parker now. "Oh. Right." He realized how that sounded and flushed again. "Yeah, yes, we have rubber gloves in the kitchen. And you said a scarf, too? I can grab that."

L tucked a piece of hair behind Blue’s ear when Jack walked into the room and cuddled up next to her more. “Are we waiting for Chase to get back?” 

"Wow, this is like, the most intimate game of Twister I've ever heard of and I am so in." Casey squeezed Alec's shoulder. "I'll bring the scented candles and red wine."

"Cool," Jack nodded at Jesse. "Good thinking with the rubber," Jack mentioned to Malia. 

Parker nodded and resisted the urge to take Jack’s sleeve again. “Thanks.” He felt weird being the only people in the room standing and took a seat next to Malia. “Hey, what’s up?” 

"I'll get the gloves?" Malia offered to Jesse, then turned to Parker with a smile. She wasn't sure if Chase would want to sit there, but her brother was talking to her so she didn't say anything about it. "I'm great, how are you? Actually, hang on, let me go get the gloves." 

"That'd be great," Jesse replied to Malia. He smiled at Jack but was careful to keep a decent bit of distance between them as he got up and moved past to go get a scarf from the closet behind the door. 

Alec heaved a sigh and pressed the back of their hand to their forehead. "You can't say things like that and not expect me to fall head over heels in love with you!"

Jack glanced around the room while waiting for the scarf and gloves. For a moment, his eyes found Blue and he pressed his lips together in a terse smile before quickly looking elsewhere. 

Malia stood and walked over the mat and into the kitchen. She found the gloves in the cabinet underneath the sink and brought them back to Jack with a smile. "How are you feeling?" 

Parker opened his mouth to speak to Malia and then closed it again. He folded his hands in his lap and pretended not to notice Blue. 

Jack's attention fell back to Malia and he smiled, taking the gloves. "Honestly, so good. Like... Great." He pulled the rubber gloves on with a loud snap. 

Blue didn't know what to make of that facial expression, but she was more focused on Parker sitting next to him, clearly with him. She turned her head back to L. "He just gave me the weirdest smile ever? What the hell?" 

L frowned and tilted her head “Maybe that’s how he smiles?” 

Jesse returned with two scarves, one large and one small. "Uh. I didn't know if you wanted a big one or not." He held them out, carefully. 

Malia nodded, briefly squeezing his hand once the gloves were on. "Great." She returned to her spot at Parker's other side and bumped shoulders with him. "Okay, hi, I'm good. How are you?" 

"Uh," Jack opted for the smaller one. "This is probably good. So it doesn't, like, drag or anything. Thanks." He wrapped the scarf around his neck, tucking the excess into his sweater. He sat down beside Parker, his face wrapped in a hand-knit neck brace. "This is great." 

Parker moved his hand to the space between himself and Jack and looked at the Twister mat. He shrugged at Malia. “Um, I’m fine.” 

Casey let his head rest on Alec's and brought up the hand that was wrapped around Alec's shoulder to cradle their face. "Fall in love with me, baby. That's all I've ever wanted." 

Jesse nodded at Jack and wrapped the end of the other scarf around his wrist absentmindedly. "Should I check if Chase remembers the game?" he asked Malia. 

Malia was debating trying to press for more conversation from her brother when Jesse spoke to her. "Oh, yeah," she frowned. "He's been gone for a while?" 

Jack's gaze fell to Parker's hand. He shifted his weight to sit more comfortably before letting his hand settle beside Parker's, so their pinky fingers stacked. 

"Hmph," Blue sighed, looking ahead and not at Parker again. "Maybe." 

Alec could feel a blush spread across their face despite themself and they grinned at Casey. "I see now! You orchestrated this whole thing to seduce me! Keep going, it's working– flattery is accepted 24/7 in this town. By 'this town' I mean my brain." 

Jesse shrugged one shoulder, but he glanced at the staircase. "He might've fallen asleep. I'll go check." 

Malia's frown deepened. "Fallen asleep?" 

Casey laughed. "Yes, good, then my plan is working beautifully." He let his hand move up to the side of Alec's head, gently scratching his hair. Casey suddenly remembered that he had brought cookies, but couldn't recall where had placed them. He pouted slightly as he wracked his brain for the memory. 

Jesse glanced at Parker and Jack before deciding how much to say. “Yeah. He hasn’t been sleeping well. I’ll be right back.” 

Malia nodded as Jesse walked away. She knew Chase hadn't been sleeping well but it was concerning to realize that he was this tired. She eyed the mat, brow furrowed in thought.

Parker stifled a smile at touching Jack’s hand and moved so the tips of his other fingers touched Jack’s. He tried to make it so that the line of sight between Blue and his hand was blocked and acted Fully Natural. He looked at Malia and tilted his head at her. “Are you okay?” 

L frowned a bit at the mat and extended her legs in front of her. “Have you guys played Twister with paint? It’s awful.” She smiled. 

“I’m high as all hell right now,” Alec sighed happily, feeling as though Casey was slowly pulling their soul from their body through their hair. “L! That sounds like a dream come true.” 

Jesse headed upstairs and knocked on the wall beside Chase’s door, even though the door was ajar. “You okay in there?” 

Jack relished in the sensation of having Parker's hand on his, as strange as the method was. Both physically and mentally, he was buzzing. 

Chase was curled up on his carpet, pajama pants cuddled to his chest when Jesse knocked on the door. He sat up with a start and looked down at himself, shook his head, and sighed. He pulled the pants on and ran over to the door. “Ha, yeah, sorry.” He smiled and started back towards the stairs. 

Casey laughed at Alec's declaration. He didn't have as much of a head high as he figured everyone else did, but the sensation of playing with Alec's hair was really satisfying multiplied with the CBD tingle. "Oh my god, wait, paint twister actually sounds so fun. Or like pigment powder twister, like they do in Holi?" 

Malia looked over and Parker and smiled. "All good." 

Jesse put an arm out to stop Chase before he reached the staircase. He was going to say something about how Chase didn’t have to go back down, or how he could stay with him upstairs if he wanted, but neither seemed quite right. He sighed and patted Chase’s shoulder instead. “Want me to make some coffee to get you through the party?” 

Parker wanted to take Jack’s hand fully, but was somewhere between not brave enough and not stupid enough to do so in front of Blue. He frowned slightly at Malia. “Okay.” 

Blue was trying very hard to ignore Parker sitting next to Jack but was only halfway succeeding. She turned to L and raised an eyebrow. "With paint? That sounds terrible, I kinda love it." 

L bobbed her head at her friends. “It’s super messy, but I think it��d be fun. I’ve never done it, by the way.” She tilted her head at Casey. “Is that a thing? Do people end up inhaling it?” 

“Pigment powder. I love the alliteration. And that sounds amazing! But less slippery than paint? So lower stakes.” Alec looked around at everyone. “All of the hosts have fled the circle. Oh, hey Parker!” They waved at him considering he was the only one they had yet to greet. 

Chase stopped and frowned slightly, then shook his head. “Nah, man, I can make it though a party.” He exhaled a laugh as though this was obvious and started down the stairs. “Were y’all waitin’ for me?” He asked once he was down. “Y’should’ve started!” 

"Oh good points," Casey conceded. "Okay, yeah, paint is probably better. And if the colors are all good, probably more aesthetic too?" Casey followed Alec's focus and waved at Parker and Jack. 

Parker looked somewhat less than pleased to have Alec bringing attention to him and flushed, glad Jack wouldn’t feel how sweaty his hand was. He coughed. “Um, hey.” 

L nodded. “I think I wouldn’t do all the colours on the board! Because then you’d just get brown, right? I’d pick nice pastels or something.” She looked over at Parker when Alec and Casey waved, but thought she probably shouldn’t wave. 

“How’s it going?” Alec asked Parker since it was clear Parker didn’t want a conversation. They laughed at Chase when he returned. “Howdy,” they replied in a poor imitation of his accent. “Yeah, w’all were waitin’!” 

Jesse returned to his seat beside Malia, watching Chase carefully. 

"Yeah, that's a good point. Wow, look at you, Apollo kid over here with the color consciousness," Casey snapped for L with his free hand. 

Malia bumped Jesse's shoulder with her own and waved at Chase. "We were! Ready to start?" 

Blue is pointedly not looking at Parker. "Who's spinning?" she asked the group. 

"Well, we probably can't all play at the same time right? Maybe we could do teams and spin for our teammates," Casey suggested. 

“Um, I’m fine.” Parker’s fingertips started to tingle, but he brushed it off as anxiety. “I hear you’re well? High as a kite, was it?” 

"Ooooh, good idea." Blue nods. "Okay...." she scans the room. "Teams of three?"

"Close enough," Alec replied cheerfully. "I'm glad you pay attention!" They counted the number of people in room, then nodded. "So like, teams of three where one person spins and the other two duel to the death?" 

Chase shook his head and mussed up Alec’s hair as he passed them to take a seat next to Jesse. “Sorry! Killer was bein’ real cute.” He looked around and bobbed his head. “That sounds like a good idea.” 

"Don't even joke about death matches, Alec, because I will make it happen," Casey replied seriously. 

L looked around. “Should the teams be random?” She suddenly felt like that could turn out terribly. “No!” She replied to herself. “I wanna be on Blue’s team!” 

Also she was totally like “omg Casey I AM a color conscious Apollo kid!!!” on time

Blue laughed and pulled L closer. "Okay! And..... Chase, come join us!" 

"In.... in Twister? How would that even work?" Alec glanced around the circle again. Their eyes settled on Jack and Parker's hands for a second and they smiled to themself, but it quickly faded and they drew their eyebrows together and pulled their phone out to text Parker.

arent u allergic to latex???

Chase scooted closer to Blue and waved goodbye to Jesse and Malia. “Godspeed without me, guys.” 

Malia glanced between the two clearly forming couples on either side of her and Jesse. She put her chin on his shoulder. "We might have to split up," she pouted. 

Jesse smiled at her and rested a hand on her back. "Did you want to play? Because I really just want to spin." 

Malia laughed. "I also really just want to spin."

Parker checked his phone and made a weird face at Alec when he saw it was them that texted him. He checked the message and the color drained from his face as he realized his fingertips were not pounding in time with his heart but because they were starting to swell. He pulled his hand away and shoved it in his pocket. “Um, where’s the bathroom?” 

"Seems it's for the best, then." Jesse blinked and looked over at Parker. "Uh, just over there." He pointed to a door under the staircase. 

Feeling Parker's hand pull away, Jack looked down at his own. At took a second longer than it normally would to register the question being posed. "Uh..." Jack turned to Jesse for an answer. 

Parker nodded and rushed to the bathroom so he could run his fingers under cold water. 

Casey, ever eavesdropping, cupped a hand beside his mouth and called across the room to Malia and Jesse. "Give us your boyfriend!" 

Malia sighed. At Casey's suggestion, she closed her eyes and smiled. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that!" she said to Casey. She ran a hand down Jesse's back. "Good luck," she said to him before scooting closer to Jack. "Where'd Parker go?" 

Alec laughed at Casey and hopped to their feet. "I'll BRB!" They grabbed the allergy medicine Chase had given them earlier and put it on the ground outside the bathroom. "There's Reactine right outside," they said to Parker through the door ."Don't die!" With that, they hopped back over to Casey. 

Chase looked at Blue and L and kept his voice low. “Who’s spinning? Also, should I use my powers to cheat?” L shook her head. 

"Same to you," Jesse replied, also choosing to pretend not to have heard Casey. He moved over to sit by Casey and Alec. "Are you guys okay if I spin?" 

Blue shook her head. "It's too obvious if you cheat in such a small room." 

Jack nodded his head toward the bathroom. "To the bathroom." He folded his hands in his lap and smiled idly at the Twister mat. "This is great." 

Malia giggled. "Still feeling good? I think you should be plateauing by now. I'm gonna spin, okay?" 

"Yeah! Spin away," Casey chirped, scooting a bit to give Jesse room. As Alec came hopping back, Casey looked up at them. "Everything cool?" 

Parker groaned quietly when he heard Alec outside the door and grabbed the allergy medication on the way out. He took a few and downed them with tap water before returning, hand still in his pocket. He sat between Jack and Malia. “We’re a team? Can I spin?” 

Alec gave two thumbs up, one for Jesse and one for Casey. "Yep!" they replied to both. "We should get the Killers in on this." 

"I just feel so calm. This is what Linda always talks about in my podcast. I just... Ugh." Jack sighed. His hands came up to the scarf to play with the knitting. "Your sister is spinning too," Jack mentioned to Parker as he came back.

Chase sighed and shrugged. “Pretend people are just really high.” L shook her head again. “No way!” 

"Yes we are and absolutely not, I can't play twister in this outfit," Malia said to her brother. She grinned at him. "Sorry, deal with it." 

Blue cackled. "Nah, we'll play fair." She wrapped her arms around L. "Okay but, who is spinning?"

Parker sighed. “Fine.” He smiled as Jack brought up his podcast. “The uterus one?” He pulled out his phone to text Alec quickly.

Pls dont mention it to anyone?

"The Power of U," Jack smiled. "Hosted by Linda Ballerini, expert in hollistic healing and women's health, thank you for joining us today." 

L rubbed her cheek against Blue and smiled. “I can spin if you guys really want to play!” Chase hummed. “I am tall but not bendy. I have trouble touching my toes.” 

Malia's mouth opened a little and she smiled. "Why do you listen to a women's health podcast?" 

Alec winked at Parker, then realized that could be misinterpreted so they texted him back as well.

u got it!! u should also get new gloves for him tho if u guys are playing tweester together??

They laughed at how 'tweester' sounds for a couple seconds then put their phone away. "Are we against each other Casey? 'Teams' is misleading, eh?" 

Parker smiled at Jack more and shook his head at Malia. “It sounds calming!” He checked his messages again and shrugged before putting his phone away. 

"She's just so affirming and understanding and empowering. And her voice is like honey." Jack shrugged. "Helps me relax." 

Jesse was getting more confused by each addition to the rules. "Wait, I thought we were playing as a team? Is it against each other?”

"Oh my gods, are we?" Casey thought about the logistics for a second. "I mean I guess if it's like every person for themself on the board then that makes sense," Casey shrugged. 

"I was thinking like, the two non-spinners face off and whoever wins goes against the winner from another team! But we can also try and cram six people on the mat. That sounds hectic, in a great way." Alec nodded. 

"Six people on the mat could be chaotic but also I love chaos," Casey suggested. "Or we could try to tie teammates back to back and have them play as a conjoined unit!" 

Alec snapped their fingers. “I love that! Let’s do that.” 

Jesse frowned slightly. “Or one from each team at a time?” 

Malia still looked a little confused but nodded. "Okay, okay, fair enough." She overheard Alec and Casey's scheming and leaned over the mat. "Um, friends," she sing-songed. "How about, one from each team, when the first person falls the second person swaps in. Last person standing wins for the team?" 

L smiled. “Hey, that way nobody has to just spin!” She nodded at Blue like this was the perfect solution. 

Casey rolled his eyes. "I mean, Alec and my idea sounds way more fun but sure we can go with the rational thing." Casey leaned towards Alec to whisper, "Okay, so our game is gonna have bath oils, scented candles, and hand cuffs." 

Malia shook her head. "Nope, no, I'm just spinning. Two people per team so it doesn't take too long?" She smiled sheepishly between Chase and Jesse. "Please?" 

Alec grinned at Casey. “I have two of the three! Do you have scented candles?” 

Casey shook his head quickly and put his hands up. "How is scented candles the thing that you don't have?" 

Chase gave Malia a thumbs up. “I love not bending and stretching!”

“That’s a good idea,” Jesse answered quickly to Malia, then nodded and laughed at Chase. 

Alec cocked their head to one side. “Huh, is that surprising? My cabin used to be full of explosives so I steered clear from candles.”

Satisfied, Malia moved back to her side of the mat. "Okay, Parker and or Jack, one of you get out there." 

Casey blinked. "Wow. Amazing. Okay, no, yeah, I have scented candles." 

Blue realized too late that Jack was not the spinner for his team and frowned. "Um," she scooted closer to Chase and spoke very quietly to him. "Hey, do you think this is a good idea?" 

Parker looked from Malia to Jack and tilted his head. “Should I start? Not to brag, but I’m pretty flexible.” 

"I," Jack slapped the floor in front of him, "would love to see that." 

"Ew, Parker," Malia shook her head. "Go for it." She addressed the rest of the room. "Who has the spinner?"

“So now I’m thinking about it and being covered in oil with reduced mobility in a loft that has no railing and surrounded by fire is kinda fucking bananas?” Alec laughed. “Sounds thrilling! I’m glad I’m lucky!” 

Chase chewed on the inside of his cheek, only now noticing Jack’s Lewk™️. “Um...” He looked at Jesse. “Probably not? Should... uh.” He tried to message Jesse through telepathy and looking at him. 

L frisbee’d the spinner over to Malia. 

Jesse glanced over at Chase and raised his eyebrows in question when he noticed his look. “Huh?” 

Parker laughed and stood. Then, when he noticed nobody else was standing, he squatted so he seemed more ~casual~.

"You... Are incredible." Casey was at a total loss for words. "And also your cabin needs a visit from the fire marshall." 

Chase looked at Jack, then at the mat, and then raised his eyebrows at Jesse in question. 

Blue saw that Parker was up first and pressed her lips together. "Whatever," she muttered, and moved to stand on the mat. "Casey," she said to her friend. "Come on. Parker versus the raccoons."

Casey clapped, hearing Blue's challenge. "Yes! Let's go!" He stood up and moved to the edge of the mat. "Three competitors! Two species! One victor!" 

Alec just laughed at Casey and waved a hand. “Go Casey! You got this!”

Jesse frowned slightly and shrugged one shoulder. “I think it’s okay,” he answered Chase. 

Chase bobbed his head. “Alrighty. Spin, Malia. Raccoons should team up and get the human out for now! Then deal with each other.” He smiled. “No alliances!” L protested.

Malia laughed and spun the arrow. "Okay, left hand green."

Parker takes his hand out of his pocket and puts it on the mat, apparently Extremely skillfully.

Chase leaned over and spun the arrow. "Right foot red!"

Blue yawned as she put her hand down, a little off balance.

Casey feeling cocky, turned to face away from the mat, stretched his arms up overhead and leaned back, falling into a backbend with his left hand on green.

Alec whistles at Casey. "Holy shit!" 

Parker put his foot on red.

Blue also whistles at Casey and stretches her foot out to hit a red circle. "Don't get too cocky, Case." she teased.

Casey, grinning cockily, slid his right foot over to land on a red circle. "I will be as cocky as I deserve, thank you."

Jesse spun the wheel now. "Uh, right hand green now."

Parker slid his hand over fairly easily to the green circle.

"Already there, baby!" Casey nudged his right hand over an inch to reach another green circle.

Parker put his hand exactly where Blue was reaching and it knocked her off balance. "Uuuugh," she groaned as she slipped out of place. "You screwed me over, Valentine!" 

Parker blew Blue a kiss and smiled, hoping that this was a joking anger rather than a threatening one.

Casey tried to angle his head up so all the blood wouldn't rush into his brain.

L jumped up and took Blue's place. "I'll knock 'em dead, baby!" She was secretly glad that Blue was out before Parker.

Malia took the spinner back and twirled it around. "Okay... Left foot yellow."

Parker skillfully moves his foot to yellow.

L moves a leg next to Parker's.

Casey steps his left foot yellow, crossing his legs so that he's holding himself up sideways.

Chase took the wheel from Malia and flicked the spinner. "Left hand red!"

Parker moved his hand and leaned on his blisters. He inhaled sharply but managed to save it.

Casey calculated his next move in his head. With a quick switch, Casey managed to flip himself into an upright position on all fours, with his limbs in the appropriate places.

L moved one arm around but simply wasn't tall enough to reach the other colour. "Oof." She fell and sighed. "Sorry guys." She stuck out her lip as she crawled back to Chase and Blue.

"All good!" Chase patted L on the back. "You did better than I could've." He smiled. "It's all about having fun, anyway. Now we can watch them and mix up all the colors on the mat."

Blue booed. "This is rigged!" she protested, then pulled L close to her to kiss her cheek. "You were the cutest one out there." 

Parker is also going After everyone to see which row he's supposed to do because I forgot that he was colorblind ok

L wrapped her arms around Blue and smiled. "Only because you weren't there!" 

Jesse spun the wheel next. "Left foot red, now."

Casey deftly brings his left foot over to a red circle. "We're killing this, baby!"

Parker laughed at Casey. "Are you saying that to yourself?" He slipped as he twisted and hit his back. "Ugh." He rolled. "Jack, get in there." He smiled up at him.

"I'm saying it to my beautiful teammate and supporter over there," Casey nodded his head toward Alec.

Malia smirked at her brother. "Now that you're out you can spin," she teased him. 

Alec cheered as Parker fell. "Whoo! Twister master Casey!"

It took Jack a solid moment to bring himself up to a standing position. "Oh my gods, okay. Ready to watch me fail?" He went over to the side of the mat and tried to visualize how he was going to take Parker's place.

Parker held up his hand to Malia. "I can't. Out on disability." 

"Ugh," Malia swatted his hand away. "Fine, whatever. You ready, Jack?" 

Chase whistled at Casey as well. "I believe in you, Nook!"

"Yep!" Jack called out from the mat. He crouched slowly and carefully placed each limb on a circle. "Oh my gods. Oh my gods. Ohhh my gods." Somehow, he managed to get into the correct position. "Oh my fucking gods, wait, am I doing it?" Casey laughed beside him. "Yeah man, that's it."

Blue took great interest in playing with L's hair now that Jack was on the mat.

Parker pulled his hand away, in fear of it actually hurting, and then grinned at Jack. "Oh, you're a natural!"

"Can you braid my hair?" L asked. 

Malia spun. "Left hand yellow!"

Both Jack and Casey reached for the same yellow circle and for a moment, their bodies wobbled together on the mat. With clutch reflexes, both of them caught their balance, planting their hands on adjacent yellow circles. "Fuck," Jack hissed, chuckling all the while.

Chase bungled the colours up to throw them off, but did it too late

Blue couldn't help but watch as Jack got way too close to her friend's hand. She eyed the shared circle with suspicion then, finally, turned back to L. "Oh yeah, no problem." She ran her fingers through L's hair and started putting it into sections. 

Chase leaned over to flick the spinner, then tossed it in Jesse's direction. "Uh, left foot green, I think it was?"

Casey saw that the easiest green circle was the one caught between them. Trying to move quickly, he launched his foot toward the circle. However, in his haste, he overshot the distance and accidentally kicked Jack's leg out from under him, sending them both toppling to the floor. 

"Ow, fuck," laughed Jack. 

"Sorry! My bad. Here—" As Casey brought himself up to sitting position, he offered a helping hand out to Jack. Jack reached out in response and before his high mind could perceive what was happening, Casey had grabbed onto his exposed wrists and pulled them both up to a standing position. Casey gave Jack a congratulatory pat on the back and turned to Alec, cheering, "Ay! Who's your man!" Behind him, Jack stood open mouthed, frozen.

Alec pointed at Casey and jumped to their feet. "You are! Wow, that was amazing! Did we win?" 

Parker watched the interaction, opened his mouth to say something, and closed his mouth before anything could come out. He tilted his head at Jack and opened his mouth again, but didn't know what exactly he was supposed to say. He pushed himself up and raised his eyebrows at Malia. "Did you see that?" 

"Hell yeah we did!" Casey ran over to Alec with his hands up for a celebratory high five. "Mammal power, baby!" 

Chase smiled at Jesse, seeing nothing wrong with the interaction. "Good job! You won." 

Blue watched them both wipe out with trepidation, and almost stood to interfere when Casey grabbed Jack's arm. But, nothing happened. Blue blinked and sat back.

Malia looked up from readjusting her robe. "What?" 

Jack wasn't sure if he was having trouble processing what just happened or just having trouble processing. He looked back at Parker and Malia and stepped off the mat, his brain struggling to form a continuous thought. "Uh, sorry guys. I guess we lost."

Jesse smiled back. "I guess so. I got lucky with my team." He looked up at Casey. "That was really impressive."

Before Parker could say anything to Malia, Jack was back, so he just shook his head at her. "Nevermind." His heart pounded in his ears. "Oh, well. That doesn't matter, the teams were stacked. Alec, like, never loses games."