#ANYWAYS THAT'S ALL DID YOU KNOW IT'S AMI DAY GOSH I LOVE AMI DAY SO MUCH DAMN IT

[mythvoiced]

-. FORTUNATELY i'm alive, work's been keeping me busy & tired but i shall see to it that i RETURN~ i opened this text post and realized i've completely forgotten how to be on tumblr, how--

unfortunately for all of us, my brain has been trying to concoct a New Guy, and unfortunately he's gay and annoying? and unfortunately he has such a nasty personality as defense mechanism and unfortunately he can't even be loved into healing because if you're mean to him he's 'hehe i was RIGHT then' and if you're nice to him he's 'don't you fucking try to scam me i'm not stupid' so he's hopeless and my little princess~

[miryum]

"The Stakeout"

Summary: Detective!Jason Todd x detective!Reader based on Jake and Amy's relationship

Series Warnings: Swearing, descriptions of violence (but nothing descriptive), guns and other police stuff

Series Masterlist

“Did you leave the precinct last night?” Jason set a mug of coffee next to Y/n’s desk. 

“The internet’s out at my apartment. The neighbour I’m leeching off turned it off for a couple days to teach their kids a lesson and this is the only place I can watch Bluey.”

“The kids show?” Jason raised a brow. 

Tim gasped and raced to Y/n’s computer. “I love Bluey!”

“Of course,” Jason rolled his eyes.

“Don’t you dare scoff at the majesty that is Bluey!” Y/n pressed a dramatic hand to her chest. “Clearly, you haven’t seen its brilliance. Sit down, baby Jay. You’re gonna love this.”

Both Tim and Jason crowded around the screen. Y/n pressed the keyboard and the iconic intro music played. Tim hummed along and Jason stared longingly at his book.

He hardly registered when the unicorn came on screen. “Children,” Tim and Y/n murmured with the unicorn.

The unicorn was spoiling a book about a princess and shoes. Jason wasn’t really paying attention. He could be reviewing files or reading books or bothering Damian. All valuable uses of his time.

“Wait, did you quote John Mulaney?” Jason realised. 

“Baby Jay? Yeah.” Y/n shushed him, “now watch this cinematic masterpiece.” 

“It’s a goddamn kid show. Any adult that watches this voluntarily needs therapy.”

“Yeah, I thought that was obvious,” Tim peered at him. “You’ve known us for more than four years. You hadn’t deduced that already?” 

“Touche.” 

“She calls herself The Queen of Crime,” Dick announced to the briefing room. “Or more well-known as Harley Quinn. She and her wife have broken into, set fire, exploded, and murdered more people and places than I can count.”

Y/n gasped. “Oh my gosh, gay crime queens? Do you think they would adopt me?”

“L/n, you would be an accomplice.” Tim frowned at his friend. 

“I would go to jail for my criminal moms.” 

“Anyway,” Dick rolled his eyes, a smile creeping at his mouth. “L/n and Todd will be staking out a place we’ve seen Quinn and Isley frequent. Cain will be their contact. Drake and Brown, I have another assignment for you that involves a murder.” 

“A murder?” Y/n whined. “No fair! How come I’m stuck with Todd and Steph gets a murder?” 

“I’m just better than you,” Stephanie shrugged. Y/n glowered at her. 

“I’m sure you’ll make the stakeout incredibly frustrating and boring,” Jason patted Y/n’s arm from his seat next to her. 

“Frustrating and boring: Title of your sex tape,” Y/n muttered, crossing her arms. “Dickie, you can’t expect me to live with Todd for three days! He won’t even do anything! He’ll just read and… I don’t know, what other nerdy things do you do?”

“Nerdy?” Jason shot back, “Says the person who references every TV show known to man!”

“Just so everyone knows,” Y/n raised a finger up. “The obsession this week is the Barbie movie.”

“Amen,” Steph clapped Y/n’s hand in a high-five. 

Cass fistbumped her. “Margot Robbie is a goddess amongst men.”

“Speaking of goddesses: Julie Andrews.” Y/n said. Steph hummed in agreement. “Princess Diaries marathon this weekend?”

“Y/n,” Dick interrupted. “You’ll be on a stakeout with Jason.”

“You think that will stop me?”

“No,” Dick admitted. “But... we‘re done. Everybody just go back to work.”

“You remind me of the Hulk.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Jason looked away from the camera that was perched in the windowsill.

“You remind me of the Hulk,” Y/n repeated from her seat on a beanbag chair. She grabbed some goldfish and popped them in her mouth. The apartment where the stakeout was taking place was small and decrepit. When Y/n had first seen it, she’d said, “I’m sorry, but I don’t wanna get tetanus.” Jason had locked the door before she could escape. (“If you wanted me alone, Jay, you could’ve just asked.”)

“How so?” Jason fought the urge to roll his eyes before turning back to stare out the grime-covered window.

“Well, first off, you’re fricking huge, but also a nerd.”

“Yeah, but I’m not a destructive green monster.” 

“I don’t know what you do outside of work.” Y/n shrugged. “But seriously, my dude. You need to stop working out. You’re making the rest of us look bad.” She reached over and poked Jason in the bicep.

“Are you flirting with me?” Jason smirked.

Y/n huffed and said, “you wish, Todd.” Thankfully, the walkie talkie crackled to life. “Talk to me, Goose,” Y/n snickered into the walkie talkie. 

Cass replied, “Maverick, we’re getting intel that Quinn and Isley are headed your way.”

“Thanks, man. Iceman’s keeping a watchout.”

“Iceman?!” Jason scoffed. “What makes me Iceman?!”

“Because you’re all stoic and impassive and eventually, you fall in love with me,” Y/n explained.

“I don’t remember Iceman and Maverick’s romance,” Cass’s voice was staticy and Jason was surprised she was still listening. 

“Come on,” Y/n’s eyebrows rose incredulously. “We could all feel the tension.” Cass hummed in acquiescence.

“L/n,” Jason shushed. “They’re here.” Y/n immediately quieted and turned off the walkie talkie. She went to sit next to Jason, making sure the camera was effectively hidden behind a screen. Outside, the pair could see a large truck pull up to the warehouse across the street. Out jumped Harley Quinn, her pigtails bouncing as she whistled. She skipped around the semi-truck and opened the door for her wife, Pamela Isley. Isley gave Quinn a kiss on the cheek and Y/n let out an ‘aw!’ Jason rolled his eyes and said, “just because they’re lesbians doesn’t mean they’re cute. They’ve committed many crimes.” 

“Being lesbians automatically makes them adorable and exempts them from all their crimes.”

Jason shushed her again and started taking pictures, the camera softly clicking away. Quinn opened the back of the semi and Isley pulled open the doors of the warehouse. Cheerfully, Quinn stacked boxes for Isley to roll away on a dolly. 

“What’s in the boxes?” Y/n wondered. 

“Do you think we’d be here if I knew?” Y/n glared at Jason’s response. 

Minutes passed, silent only for the snaps of the camera. Quinn and Isley continued to unload the truck and by the way they were piling them in the front of the warehouse, Y/n guessed that they were either moving the boxes soon or the warehouse was already filled. It wasn’t long before Isley slammed the truck door shut and blew a kiss to her wife. Quinn waved dramatically as Isley started the truck, leaving Quinn behind to man the warehouse. 

“Are we good?” Y/n asked. “Did we get all the pictures? Can we return to civilization and its cleaning supplies?”

“The apartment isn't that bad,” Jason said. “And no, we have to wait to see what Quinn’s doing.” Y/n groaned loudly and flopped over on her beanbag. “I figured this would happen,” Jason began to dig around his bag. “So I came prepared.” He pulled out some paper and pens and threw them at Y/n. “Draw me a picture or write me a story.” 

Y/n frowned at him. “What do you think I am? Five?” Jason shot her a knowing look and she muttered, “yeah, okay. That’s a pretty good idea.” Y/n sat down on the ground, mumbling about blastomycosis and mold poisoning. Jason silently wondered how she knew so much about diseases. Sitting back on her beanbag, Y/n uncapped a pen and started drawing. Or writing. Jason wasn’t really sure. He was more preoccupied with the case. 

After fifteen minutes, (Jason had hoped it would distract her for longer,) Y/n proudly showed Jason her drawing. “I even wrote a story to go with it!” She presented another piece of paper, filled with her scribbly handwriting. 

“What’s it about?” Jason asked, eyes slowly turning away from the camera and towards Y/n. 

“It’s a tragic love story between a marshmallow and a cup of hot chocolate who can never be together because the hot chocolate would melt the marshmallow, but the marshmallow stayed with the hot chocolate, even though it was slowly dying, because it loved the hot chocolate.” Y/n taped her picture and story up on the wall.

“Shakespeare would be put to shame,” Jason said after a moment of processing. Y/n nodded along. “Romeo and Juliet, who?” 

Y/n gasped softly. “Oh my gosh, I think I love you.”

“I thought that was already established,” Cass’s voice came through the walkie talkie. 

Y/n quickly pressed the button. “You’re still there?” 

“L/n, this is an open police line.” Cass was rubbing her temples. “We need to be in constant contact with you.”

Jason snagged the walkie talkie away from Y/n and updated Cass. “Quinn’s still at the warehouse. L/n and I request to prolong our stay to keep tabs on her.” 

“Wait, we could still leave?!” 

“I’ll ask Wayne,” Cass said. “Stay sharp.” The line crackled and went silent. 

“Todd, why are we staying later than needed?” Y/n whined. “We could be back at the precinct right now.”

“Because this would be a big bust for us. If we shut down the Crime Queen’s operation, and maybe even catch one, that’d be a major operation off of the street.” He looked back at the detective. “Come on, Y/n. Think about it.” 

Y/n grumbled, but relented. “Fine.” She went back to scribbling on the paper, angrily huffing out profanities every now and then and asking Jason how to spell certain words. (“How the hell do you not know how to spell equipment?” “It’s a hard word!”)

“Cass, I’m transferring some pictures to you,” Jason spoke into the walkie talkie, sometime around ten fifteen at night. “I’m not seeing any activity right now, but I’ll keep you updated.”

“We’ll keep you updated,” Y/n corrected. “We’re a team, remember, Todd?” 

“You’re right,” Jason looked back at her. “I’m sorry. We’ll keep you updated.” He flipped off the walkie talkie and said, “if we’re a team, then do you want to take a turn at the camera?”

Y/n scrunched her nose. “Nah. I’ll just wait until you pass out from exhaustion to take my shift.”

“Thanks,” he said dryly. “Really helpful.” 

“I know.”

It was late the next morning and Y/n was sitting dutifully by the window, letting Jason snore on the beanbag. She had the movie Deadpool on in the background, occasionally quoting things alongside Wade Wilson. “A fourth wall break inside a fourth wall break! That’s like… sixteen walls,” she mumbled, wrapped in a fuzzy blanket she had stolen off of Jason. A loud honking lifted her from the edges of sleep and Y/n bolted upright, cursing. A sleek, black limo pulled in front of the warehouse and Y/n immediately radioed in to Cass. “Hey, Goose, we have a situation.” 

“What is it, Maverick?” Cass yawned, still following along with Y/n references.

“A black limo, licence plate…” Y/n took dozens of pictures. “PNGIN, just pulled into the lot. Sending evidence now.” She opened the precinct laptop Jason had packed and uploaded the photos. “I might need backup if an exchange is going down.” 

“Copy that,” Cass said. 

From the limo stepped a pudgy man in a three-piece suit with a large tophat. Y/n had to refrain herself from commenting on his appearance. “Jay, get up! Get up!” She kicked the beanbag chair and Jason awoke with a start, mumbling things about interrupting his sleep. “Oh my god, is that…” Y/n squinted through the camera lens, pressing the ‘talk’ button on the walkie talkie. “Cass! It’s Cobblepot! Cobblepot’s meeting up with Quinn!”

“-at?” It sounded like Cass said ‘what?’ but only clicked her button during the last half, surprise evident in her voice. “Lemme get Dick. And Wayne.” She added the Captain as if on second thought. 

After a tense minute where Y/n had to kick Jason again, Dick came on the radio. “L/n, report,” he commanded.

“Cobblepot’s meeting up with Quinn. I’ve sent the photos. I’m requesting a soft backup. Let me see what’s going on, but I want officers on hand. We could stop something big here, Sarge.”

“Copy that. You’ll get your officers. Where do you want them?”

“A half a block away,” she said. “And Dick? I need ‘em now. I don’t know what’s going on, but Quinn’s coming out to meet Cobblepot.”

Cass’s voice returned. “Y/n, Dick’s going to lead the officers himself. His ETA should be about ten minutes. Sit tight.”

“Will do, as soon as Todd WAKES UP!” Y/n kicked Jason in the shin, earning a loud “ow!”

“I’m up!” Jason shot up, rubbing sleep from his eyes. “What?”

“Fucking Cobblepot! You’re about to sleep through our bust! Bitch,” she clicked her tongue, ”wake up!”

“Cobblepot?” Jason said blearily. He raced the window, squinting down at the scene below. “Holy…”

“I know!” Y/n punched Jason on the shoulder excitedly. He flinched away from her, acting as if it had hurt. 

Y/n snapped pictures as Jason took over the computer, typing a report. Finally, after what seemed like ages, Cass said, “Backup’s here, just in case.”

“Thanks, Cain,” Jason said, eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

“Quinn’s taking Cobblepot into the warehouse,” Y/n reported. “But I can’t see… do we have any footage of the interior?” 

“Would we be here if we had access inside?” Jason groaned. 

“Now I see why people avoid you in the morning,” Y/n grumbled back, shooting Jason a warning glare. She shoved a cereal box towards the man and Jason angrily shoved some food into his mouth. “Now you won’t be so fucking cranky,” she muttered.

“Stop fighting!” Cass demanded, “what do you see?”

“Nothing! Other than Cobblepot’s men standing ominously by his limo.” Y/n asked, “how come we don’t have limos? That would be so much cooler.”

Cobblepot stepped out of the warehouse, Quinn trailing behind him. He gestured to his men and a couple of them started loading boxes into the trunk of the limo. “We’ve got movement!” Y/n shouted into the walkie talkie. “If we’re going to arrest them, it’s gotta be now! We won’t get Isley, and she’ll probably break Quinn out of prison, but at least we’ll get Cobblepot.” 

“You’re just soft for your crime moms,” Jason exhaled sharply. 

Dick’s voice was hardly understandable through the radio, but Y/n and Jason watched from the window as Dick and his team surrounded Quinn and Cobblepot and his men. “I feel like we should help,” Jason mumbled.

“Do you have a zipline?” Y/n asked out of the blue.

“No… why?” Jason seemed hesitant to answer, concerned about the answer. 

“Dang it,” Y/n shook her head. “It would’ve been easy for us to join the fight if we could just zipline down there. It’d look so cool, too!” She mimed shooting down a zipline and fighting all the bad guys off. Jason chuckled. 

Dick eventually managed to apprehend Cobblepot and Quinn, the latter who threw a wink right to the window where Y/n and Jason sat. Y/n gasped and threw open the window, sticking her head out. “Hi!” she shouted down to the apprehended criminals. “Oh my gosh, you’re Harley Quinn! I’m a huge fan!”

“Hey!” Harley Quinn waved back before Dick handcuffed her. “Aren’t you just a sweetie pie?! Were you the one spying on us since Tuesday?” Her thick Brooklyn accent shouted up to the detectives.

“Yeah! That was me!” Y/n grinned. “I love you and your wife! Can you adopt me?”

“Oh, honey, we would love to!” Harley called. “But unfortunately, I may be going to jail.” She pouted sadly and then grinned hopefully. “Think you can do anything about that, sugar?”

Y/n frowned and said, “unfortunately, no I can’t, adopted mom. But, I can promise to turn the other cheek when my other adopted mom breaks you out.”

“Deal!” Harley winked again and said, “send me the adoption papers and I’ll sign anything.”

“I love you!” Y/n shouted as Dick shoved Quinn into the back of his police car, rolling his eyes. 

“You just can’t help yourself, can you?” Jason joined Y/n leaning on the windowsill, gazing over at her. 

“Nope.”

[loveroftoomanyfandoms]

Every Little Thing *He* Does is Magic, Chapter 3

Pairing: Platonic Steven Grant x Reader (for now)

Rating: T

Word count: ~900

Story Summary: The events of Every Little Thing She Does is Magic, retold from Reader's perspective after the fact to her best friend.

Tags/Warnings: Companion fic, canon Divergent since Steven still works for the British Museum post-canon, No Jake Lockley, developing friendship, spoilers for ELTSDiM

A/N: Enjoy Reader's perspective of the gala!

Y/N yawned as she took her shoes off and  flexed her toes. While the heels she had chosen to wear to the museum gala that evening were fashionable, they hadn't been the most comfortable to have been wearing while on her feet all night. Gotta remember to wear flats to the next one.

She was exhausted but had promised to call Amy as soon as she had gotten home, so she sat on her couch and opened their text thread.

Made it home, she typed out. You free to FT?

Less than a minute later, her phone rang with a FaceTime request.

She swiped to answer. “Hey, Ames.”

Amy grinned. “Hey! How was the gala?”

Y/N huffed out a breath. “Oh my gosh, I have so much to tell you.”

She stretched out and got comfortable. “Okay, first of all, like as soon as I got there I was immediately accosted by that one board member who has to brag to me about the original Vermeer he has hanging in his house every single time he sees me, as if one day I'll magically be impressed and take him up on his offer to come see it in person.”

Amy made a face. “Eww. That guy just cannot take a hint that you're not interested.”

“I know. Anyway, I was looking around for some way to escape Cohen when I saw Steven.” Y/N huffed out a breath. “Girl, when I tell you he looks good in a tux…”

She shook her head. “Actually, wait, I have a photo that Helen took of the two of us with the head of Curation. One second.”

She quickly reopened her and Amy’s text thread and sent her the picture.

Amy's eyebrows raised. “Damn. He’s really the whole package, isn't he?”

Y/N laughed. “I know, right?”

“Also, might I say that you look amazing in that dress. I'm actually not surprised Creepy Cohen tried to make another move.”

“Aww, thanks. So anyway, Steven came over and pretended like he had been looking for me in order to discuss ‘important museum business’ and whisked me away, then he got us a couple of drinks and we chatted about work for a bit until it was time for my welcome speech -- which by the way, thanks so much for helping me with that.”

Amy smiled. “Any time, bestie. So did you get to dance with your man after your speech or was it not that kind of party?”

Y/N shook her head. “Not that kind of party, but I did get to talk with Steven some more, get to know him a bit outside of work.”

“...Like as in finding out if he has a girlfriend?”

Y/N huffed out a light laugh. “It doesn't seem like it from what he said, but he does have a pet goldfish named Gus. Oh, and he's studying hieroglyphics.” Y/N bit her lip. “We, um, we actually snuck away from the gala together to go see if we could translate Akhenaten’s sarcophagus.”

Amy raised an eyebrow. “Please tell me that was a euphemism.”

Y/N let out an undignified snort. “Oh my God, Amy. Of course not.”

“You seriously snuck off from a fancy work event with a hot guy that you're majorly jonesing over to do more work? Girl, I love you, but you are such a nerd.”

“What? It was either that or go hide out in my office alone. Besides, I've told you before, regardless of my feelings, I'm sure Steven doesn't return them anyway. He's so formal with me -- it's always ‘yes, ma'am’ this and Dr. Y/L/N’ that.”

Amy smirked. “Maybe he has an authority kink.”

Y/N sat up. “Okay, I'm hanging up now--”

“No, no, wait!” Amy shook her head with a smile. “Seriously, though, maybe that's his way of keeping his distance since you are off limits. You did say he was much more relaxed and maybe even flirty with you before he knew you were the new director.”

“It’s more likely that he’s just not interested. Oh, and apparently I turn into a Victorian maiden at the slightest touch, because I tripped while standing up from crouching in front of Akhenaten's sarcophagus and when Steven grabbed my hand to steady me my brain went completely offline, like I mean full-on ‘ does not compute’ .” Y/N shook her head. “I must've made him uncomfortable because after that it seemed like he couldn't get back downstairs to the gala fast enough.”

“Or he felt a spark too and decided that he needed to get back downstairs before he slammed you up against Akenhament’s sarcophagus and had his wicked way with you.”

Y/N shook her head even as her mind entertained the thought. “It's Akhenaten, and I very highly doubt that. It’s fine, it's just a little crush. I'm sure I'll get over it soon.”

She yawned. “It's almost midnight here and I'm exhausted, so I’m gonna run.”

Amy nodded. “Okay, I'll talk to you tomorrow. Sweet dreams!”

“Thanks, Ames. ‘Night.”

Y/N ended the call and stood, then headed to her bedroom.

She plugged her phone in to charge then got ready for bed. 

She climbed into bed and drifted off to sleep almost immediately, dreaming of soft brown eyes and a crooked smile.

[ladypurplejanewrynn]

The Wild Side Of Me Chapter 20

Versailles (Audrey Bonnefoy) and Josephine (Ausver child OC) belongs to @queen-of-stoneharts

The sun risen up, this time it was Alfred who woke up first. He took a look at his boyfriend, who surprisingly was still asleep. He looked so peacefully in his sleep. The American decided not to wake him up. He got up and dressed up. When he put his clothes on, he went downstairs to make a surprise breakfast to bed for Tolys. Alice and Feliks were already up, eating their breakfast. "Oh, good morning Alfred. Slept well? Where’s Tolys?" asked Feliks. "He’s still asleep. I guess is the first time he sleeps longer than usually. Normally he always wakes up early. Anyway, I’m gonna make him breakfast to bed. I just hope he’s gonna like it. I know how to cook and stuff, but I don’t think I’m as much good at it as Tolys is." he answered. "I’m sure he’s gonna love it. Just don’t put yourself down like that." said Alice. "Thanks dudette." said Alfred and began preparing the breakfast. After he was done, he went up upstairs. Tolys was just waking up. "Good morning love. Slept well?" asked Alfred. A yawn escaped the Lithuanian’s mouth:"Actually, yes. I slept pretty well." "Anyway, I made you breakfast. Here’s some eggs with bacon, and added fruit salad to it and some tea. I hope you’ll like it." said the American as he handed him the food. Tolys immediately start it eating. "Mmmmmm, Alfred this is delicious." escaped his mouth. "Really? You… like it?" asked Alfred. "Oh gosh, yes. I love it." answered Tolys. After breakfast, Tolys put his clothes on and along with his boyfriend, they decided to go on a small walk close to the house. Tolys put on a disguise just in case if there are people walking by, so nobody recognizes him. "The weather’s nice today, isn’t it love?" asked the American as he turned around to the see his lover with sadness on his face. "What’s wrong?" he asked. "Oh, is just… I’m worried. Now that everyone knows that I’m a werewolf, I wonder what will happened. I don’t wanna be hunt down and go back to that awful place ever again. I just… wanna be treated equally. Without being called a bloodthirsty beast, or any of the other names that we no humans are being called." answered the Lithuanian. Alfred pulled him into a hug:"Everything’s gonna be fine, my dear. I promise you that. To every problem there’s always a solution. No matter what happens, I will be there to protect you from anyone who dares to try and hunt you." "Alfred, I’m so happy that you’re my boyfriend. I love you so much." said Tolys. "I’m happy that you’re my boyfriend as well." answered Alfred. Some days later, Arthur and Francis came with a visit and handed Tolys the potion to help him regain some of his strengths a bit faster. "Just be careful. Don’t drink more than two small gulps each day. Drinking more than that might have some really unpleasant side effects." warned the British. "Like what?" asked the werewolf. "Well, things like massive headaches, possibility of your heart stopping for a few seconds, feeling like your body is on fire in some moments, your limbs going numb for a few hours and hallucinations." answered the sorcerer. "Alright, then I’ll do like you told me to." said Tolys and took two small gulps of the potion. "Don’t worry mon ami. You should regain the rest of your strengths in no longer than two weeks, if you keep going like this." said Francis. So, Tolys did how it was asked of him. He drank two small gulps of the potion everyday, with Alfred making sure he didn’t drink more than that on accident. Everything was going well. Few days later, Feliks and Alice invited the rest of their friends for a sleepover. Everyone brought what they needed and came over. All of them gathered in the salon and watched a horror movie. "Are you sure this isn’t a bit too gory?" asked Audrey, as she let Roderich hold her in his embrace. "Well, duh. Is a horror movie after all." answered Feliks. "We can change it, and watch something less scary if anyone wants." said Alice. "No, is fine. Is just not the genre of movies that I would watch." said the French woman. "Are you sure, love?" asked the Austrian. "Yes, I am sure of it." answered Audrey.

They kept watching. After the movie was finished, Alice went to the kitchen to prepare some more snacks for the night. Rose and Audrey decided to go with her and help. Meanwhile, Feliks along with Roderich and Vash started chatting. Francis and Arthur talked between them, so Matthew joined in the conversation with Tolys and Alfred. When the girls came back with snacks, everyone played truth or dare, but later the game turned into chaos when Arthur and Francis started arguing, and the rest of the group had to break them away from each other. After calming them down and working out the issue, all of them had a pillow fight. The fight was wild, laughters not disappearing for even a moment. After the fight, everyone were exhausted, so they took a break, by sitting next to each other’s on the floor forming a circle. At each turn, every single one of them telling a scary story. After resting for a bit and telling scary stories, they danced on Just Dance. Some dances alone, some in groups from three to five people and duets. The best performance was the one from Roderich and Audrey, doing a romantic dance. But the one from Feliks and Alice wasn’t bad either. Once they were done with dancing, all of them were so tired that they immediately went to sleep. Days passed. Tolys finally regained his full strengths and could turn into his werewolf form again. He still stayed at his friends’s house, as they still thought about what to do with the whole situation. Alfred also stayed by his side, even thought the Lithuanian told him that he didn’t have to take care of him anymore since he was back at his full strengths. But the American didn’t mind and wanted to stay by his lover’s side no matter what. On one day though, he had to work, so he couldn’t really stay with Tolys. Also on that day the werewolf was being really clingy to Alfred. "I’m sorry honey, but I really have to go to work. My small vacations are over and I have to go back. I promise I’ll bring you something nice when I’ll get back." said the blond, trying to calm down his boyfriend. "No please don’t leave. Just stay with me one more whole day." begged the Lithuanian as he started making small wolf squealing noise, not wanting let go of Alfred’s arm. A small chuckle escaped Alfred:"Tolys, I really have to go." It didn’t help. Tolys kept on begging and Alice had to intervene. "It will be alright bestie. While, our boyfriends are at work, we can spend some time together between friends and do something fun." she said. It wasn’t easy, but the Lithuanian finally let go of his boyfriend and let him go to work. The Polish lady went to the kitchen, Tolys joined her. "What are you making?" he asked. "Oh, nothing special. Just some Gołąbki. I promised Feliks that i would make some today." she answered. "Can I help you?" asked Tolys. Alice smiled:"Sure. The more the merrier." "Also it will go faster if there’s the two of us working on it." he said. A small chuckle escaped the girl’s mouth and they got to the cooking. They had a lot of fun together. Once they were done, they ate the lunch. Later Alice proposed him to go shopping. "I dunno, Alice. I know I go out with Alfred for walks, but is just small walks and not too far from the house. What if someone recognizes me despite wearing a disguise?" asked the werewolf. "It will be fine. I’m sure nobody should recognize you under Audrey’s disguise. I mean, nobody recognized us, especially Gilbert when we sneaked up to get you out." answered the redhead, comforting her friend. "I know and I don’t doubt Andrey’s tailoring skills. But what if…?" he started but got cut off by his friend. "You really need to stop overthinking so much. You can’t stress yourself this much. Is bad for your health. I understand that you’re worried and afraid. And I know this isn’t easy and something that you can overcome in one day or a week. Of course it takes time. But you can’t let your fears take control over you. But you’re not alone. You have all of us to help you out if there is an issue you want to talk about, or if something bothers you."

He smiled:"Thanks. But, I’m still unsure about this." A thought came up to Alice’s mind:"What if I would call one of our friends? I could call Matthew since he’s free today." "I guess that would be fine. Alright, go ahead." said Tolys. The Polish woman called their friend. Some minutes later Matthew arrived. Tolys put on his disguise and the three went out shopping. There was a nice clothings store, so Alice dragged the boys to check it out. Honestly, all three were able to find something for themselves. After paying for the clothes, they went for bubble tea. "I’m glad you guys took me with you. If not you, I would probably die of boredom." said Matthew. "Don’t mention it. Beside, you’re part our friends." answered Alice. The chat continued between the two, while Tolys’s was awfully quite. "Tolys? Are you with us?" asked the blond snapping the Lithuanian out of his thoughts. "Yes. Right. Sorry, I got distracted in my thoughts." he answered. "Anyway, me and Alice came up with the idea that after we finish our bubble teas, we could come back home and play some video games together. And we were asking you if you’re in, but you weren’t answering." explained Matthew. Tolys smiled:"Sure. I’m in." After finishing, they went home and played some Super Smash Bros Brawl. Some hours later Matthew had to go home. He thanked his friends for the fun they had together today and left. Later Feliks and Alfred came back from work. When Tolys heard his boyfriend was back, he immediately ran up for hug to him. "Hey honey. Wow, did you really missed me so much?" escaped the American’s mouth. "How could I not?" asked the Lithuanian. Alice went up for a hug to her lover as well, and greeted him with a kiss on the cheek:"Welcome back home, dear. How was at work?" "Honestly, pretty well, pretty well. How about you?" answered Feliks. "Oh, me and Tolys had a lot of fun. And Matthew joined us too." she answered. The two man ate what was cooked for lunch. While they were eating, Alice and Tolys told them about their day. Alfred was really happy that his boyfriend could relax and spent some time with friends today. The next day, Feliks planned a date with Alice, which meant Tolys and Alfred would have the house for themselves for a while. The two lovers were goofing around with each other, until Feliks came into the room. "Oh, hey dude. What are you doing? Aren’t you supposed to go on a date with Alice?" asked Alfred. "I am, just wanted to tell you about something important. You know this date isn’t just some regular date that me and Alice usually go to. I have a surprise for her." answered the Polish and took out a small box out of his pocket. He opened it and there was a a really beautiful, shiny silver ring with a small emerald on top of it. The two men looked at it. "Are you gonna propose to her?" asked Tolys. "Yup, I think is finally the time. I’ll like totally make sure she has a time of her life. Hopefully she accepts." said Feliks. "Why wouldn’t she? Alice is head over heels for you." said Alfred. "I know, but what if she’s not feeling ready yet?" escaped the blond’s mouth. Tolys came up to him and put his hand on his friend’s shoulder:"Don’t worry. I’m sure she’ll accept. And even if she won’t be ready now, she will be later." "Thanks bro. I needed to hear that." answered Feliks. Just as Feliks was about to leave the room and get Alice, she entered:"Oh, there you are honey. Are you ready for our date?" He turned around and faced her:"Of course I’m totally ready. Let’s go dear." Then he took her by the hand and they left. As they arrived to the restaurant, they took their sits and ordered their dinner. The lovers reserved a pretty exclusive place for their date tonight. It was Feliks’s idea, as he wanted to be special. While waiting they were chatting. "You know, the idea of the exclusive place in a restaurant wasn’t a bad idea. I really like it, but even without it I would be happy about the date either way." said Alice. "I know sweetheart, but I like totally wanted it to be special." answered Feliks.

The woman placed her hands on her boyfriend’s cheeks:"Oh Feliks, every moment that I share with you is special to me. No matter if is just us having fun together, if is us kissing or making love to each other, or if it is a serious situation. There is no one to me who’d be as special as you. And there’s nothing that can and will ever change that." Blushes appeared on the Polish man’s face:"I totally feel the same way about you as well." Once their orders arrived, they started eating still chatting and flirting with each other. Feliks took some fries along with some chicken meat while Alice had a huge, well cooked steak and some veggies. When they finished, Feliks got down on his knee and he took out the small box out of his pocket. He opened it, revealing the ring:"Alice Tarczyńska, you make me the happiest man in the world. I’m like totally glad to be your boyfriend and to have an amazing woman like you in my life. Moving in into one house with you was one of the best ideas that we could come up with. But now I want us to be something more than just a boyfriend and girlfriend. Alice, will you be honored and marry me?" A sparkle appeared in the Polish lady’s eyes:"Yes! Oh, God yes! I will marry you, dear." He took the ring and put it on her pointing finger and both shared a kiss on their lips. When they got back home, they shared the news with all of their friends. A few days later, the wedding preparations start it. The food, the cake, decorations, the suit and the gown, invitations. So many preparations. Some days later when Alfred was going back from work, he got a phone call from an unknown number. He picked it up. "Well hello there. Long time haven’t talked to each other haven’t we friend?" said a well known voice. "Gilbert? How dare you call me your friend, after everything that you’ve done you bastard?" escaped the American’s mouth. "Now, now. If I were you, I would keep my mouth shut and listen." said the German. "And why would I do that?" asked the blond. "Because if you don’t, your little sister gets it. And I know how much family members are important to you." he answered. A gasp escaped from Alfred’s mouth. "That’s right. I have your sister hostage. To be honest her boyfriend did put a lot of a fight when we were taking her." said Gilbert, as a small chuckle escaped his mouth. "Rose, Vash. What did you do to them?!" shout it the American. "Oh, the man is fine. He was only knocked out and left where he is. As for your sister, she’s fine. At least for now. So, let’s make a deal. I give her back unharmed, and you will bring me back the werewolf." said Gilbert. "So you can experiment on him and hurt him? Never! I’m not going to give Tolys back at the hands of a monster like you!" he said. "Careful with what you say. One bad step and your sister might get hurt. And you don’t want that. Do you?" Alfred went silent. "That’s what I thought. I would think this through if I were you. If you make the decision, then call me. But honestly, the choice is simple." said the German and hang up. Alfred quickly rushed to Feliks’s and Alice’s house. "Guys! We have a problem!" He shouted "What’s the matter hun?" asked Tolys, concerned for his boyfriend. "My sister… She was taken hostage by Gilbert! And he wants Tolys in exchange in order to get her back!" Alfred answered. Shock appeared on everyone’s faces. "Is he damn serious? Taking hostage your family member like that and threatening to hurt her? That’s a real low blow right now." said Alice. "What do we do now? Obviously we’re not gonna hand over Tolys to him." said Feliks. "First, it would be good if we looked for Vash and took him to the house." said Alfred. "There's no need for that." said a familiar voice. All four looked at the door to see Vash in them.

After explaining everything about what happened while Vash and Rose were walking together, a frown appeared on Tolys's face:"That damn bastard. He won’t back down on doing anything, in order to get me back in that dread place." Everyone nod. "We need to come up with a plan to get Rose back, safe and sound." said Alice. Later on, they called the rest of their friends and they came to Feliks’s and Alice’s house. Then they came up with a plan of saving Rose. They would come in whole group, Arthur would cast a spell to create an illusion of Tolys, to make Gilbert think he’s really here. Then when he would give Rose back, they would run away before the illusion disappears. However, Tolys was little sad cause he also wanted to come and help save Rose, but his boyfriend and friends told him that it is too risky and that they didn’t want him to get captured again. When the plan was put in place, Alfred called Gilbert and planned a meeting with him. It was evening. Gilbert waited in the forest, holding Rose down and had some others Unnatural Beasts Hunters with him, in case Alfred would try to trick him. The poor girl had her hands tied up behind her back, but she was unharmed. "You’re a terrible person, you know that?" asked Rose. Gilbert looked at her:"What do you mean? I’m only doing the world a favor." Anger painted itself of Rose’s face:"By hunting down my friend and trying to take away his freedom and other creatures as well? And why? Because they’re no humans?" A frown appeared on the German’s face, but he didn’t response. Then both noticed Alfred coming up to them, along with Vash and Matthew, with Tolys walking behind them with a mixed up look. Gilbert smiled:"So you weren’t kidding. You actually brought the werewolf like I asked." "Shut your face, bastard. You know damn well you left me no choice, by threatening the life of my own sister." answered the American. "You got what you wanted. Now hand over my girlfriend." said the Swiss. A chuckle escaped form Gilbert:"Not so fast. First hand over the werewolf. Then I’ll hand over the lady." Matthew frowned:"And do we know you’re telling us the truth? How can we be sure you won’t trick us?" "Oh please. I have no interest in the woman at all. The only use I have of her is to make the trade. You give me the werewolf and I give you her back." said the German. Tolys came forward and stretched out his hands to Gilbert:"You're a monster for threatening an innocent person. You know that, right?" The man got out a pair of iron cuffs and bound the Lithuanian with them:"And you’re the one to talk about being a monster, when in reality you are a monster." He cut off the ropes binding Rose wrists and pushed her to Alfred’s direction. She immediately rushed to Vash’s arms:"Oh, I was so afraid that they would actually harm me." The Swiss caressed her cheeks:"Is alright now. You're safe my love." A laugh escaped Gilbert’s mouth:"It was a pleasure doing business with you. Now, I’ll make sure that this one won’t escape ever again. We prepared a special cell for him. Even if you try to come and rescue him, you won’t be able to pass our security system." Alfred looked at him with anger on his face. His stare like he would be throwing daggers at Gilbert:"I hate you for everything that you do. These creatures, and especially Tolys doesn’t deserve this kind of treatment that you and your coworkers give them." The German rolled his eyes:"Yeah, yeah. Are you done talking?" "Yes. I guess, I am." said the American and along with the rest they turned and walked away. Once they were far away, they hid behind a tree where the rest of their friends were hiding. "Alright Arthur, they got the hatch. Rose is safe. We need to go, and quick before the illusion of Tolys disappears." said Matthew. Then they started running toward Vash’s van. As they were getting closer, they noticed that they were chased by Gilbert and some other hunters as well. Then their way got blocked.

"How dare you tricking me, like this?! How is it even possible?! Could it be that you have a sorcerer in your group?" asked Gilbert, slowly approaching the group. Arthur slowly stepped forward:"One of us? A sorcerer? What gives you that idea?" He then quickly reached into his pockets, he threw some small seeds under Gilbert and the some other hunters feet, which soon turned into huge vines, trapping most of them. "We got to go. Quick!" shouted Francis. And they started running anew, knocking down some other hunters on the way. "Those vines won’t hold them for long. We need to hurry." said Arthur. Before they knew it, they got surrounded. "Nice try. But we aren’t going down without a fight." said one of the hunters. "And neither do we." said Alice. Then a fight started. Everyone were fighting. The group taking down the hunters one by one. One of them almost managed to get Feliks from behind, but on the last minute Alice knocked out the guy, protecting her fiancé's back. "Thank you, honey" said the Polish man. "You’re welcome, dear." replied the redhead. As the fight was going on, Alfred got tackled by no one else than Gilbert. The American got pinned down against a tree. "That’s it. This is the last time you get in my way." said the German with an angry tone. Alfred slightly chuckled:"If the life of my boyfriend is at risk, then I’ll gladly do anything in my power to protect him." The blond hit the white haired man’s knee hard enough to make him let go of him. As Gilbert was holding onto his knee, Alfred punched him the face, making him stumble a few steps backward. Gilbert looked at Alfred with his red eyes and rushed at him forming a fist from his hand. The blond managed to caught his fist and push him away for a bit. The German tried to attack again, but Alfred managed to dodge the attack and hit the man in the head with a roundhouse kick. That fight was going into Alfred’s favor until Gilbert took the upper hand and hit him in the face with the elbow. The hunter started beating up the American, while he tried to defend himself. Matthew noticed this. "Holy crap, we need to do something about it. Gilbert will kill him, if we stand by idly." He said to his sister Rose. The girl looked at the situation:"I have an idea. But it will take me some minutes." Then she started to run into another direction. "Rose, wait! Where are you going?" asked Matthew. "Trust me. I know what I’m doing. While, I try to make my plan work, try to protect our brother. I’ll be right back." She answered and left. Matthew tried to approche Gilbert and help Alfred, however his way got blocked by two other hunters:"Going somewhere?" After some moment of fighting, Gilbert hit Alfred really hard in the head, making him slightly bleed from his forehead. The blond could barely fight and was now on his knees. Gilbert stood above him, looking at him with a serious look. Then he smiled:"This should teach you a lesson to not mess with me." He raised his hand. Alfred closed his eyes shut, expecting the get hit, but to his surprise it never came. He opened one of his eyes. Suddenly both of his eyes widened, as what he saw, really surprised him. Tolys stood in front of him, in his werewolf form and caught Gilbert’s hand, protecting him. "Leave. My. Boyfriend. ALONE!!!" shouted the werewolf with a really angry tone. Slight fear could be noticed on Gilbert’s face. He clearly didn’t expect that to happened. Tolys used the opportunity and used his strength to throw Gilbert against a tree. He looked at his boyfriend. "Alfred! Are you alright? Oh god, you’re bleeding. I’m sorry that I couldn’t arrive faster." said the Lithuanian kneeling down in front of the American. "Don't worry. I’m fine. I’m just glad you’re here, love." answered Alfred, as Tolys helped him with getting up. They immediately pulled each other into a hug.

However their joy didn’t last for long. Gilbert approached the lovers from behind and tried attacking both of them, but luckily Tolys pushed Alfred away and dodged the attack as well. "Coming in here was the wrong choice." the German said. "And yet, still I came to help my loved ones." replied the Lithuanian and jumped into attack. Gilbert dodged, however it wasn’t easy due to the werewolf's speed. Suddenly, Tolys got punched in the face, but this didn’t have much effect on him. He used his claws and scratched Gilbert’s arms, leaving his suit a bit torn and revealing a mark that was slightly bleeding. "You should have never messed with me or anyone I care about, Gilbert." said Tolys, lunching another attack, however he missed. Alfred watched the fight between his boyfriend and the hunter. He wanted to help but he felt a little dizzy after the hit in the head he received from Gilbert. As the fight kept going on, Tolys had an upper hand despite the fact Gilbert was using some of his weapons. In the same time, the werewolf was careful not to kill the man. Sure, he wanted to get back at the German for the betrayal but not by killing him. He was better than this. Suddenly, Gilbert used one of his gadgets and shot some ropes and got wrapped around Tolys’s arms, binding them together. "Gah… What is this?!" escaped the Lithuanian’s mouth as he tried to free himself. Then his legs got bound as well and he fell to the ground, with a hard thud. "You foolish beast. Did you really thought I came unprepared? We the Unnatural Beast Hunters are always prepared for any occasions. After all, we can't just let any beast escape from our sight." Gilbert said, slowly approaching Tolys. Alfred run up to his boyfriend, trying to untie the ropes, also taking a protective position when looking at the hunter that was approaching them. "Oh, I see your little boyfriend is still trying to protect you. That’s adorable but also pointless." the German said. "Seriously, what is your problem with other creatures?" asked the American still trying to free the Lithuanian. "What is my problem? Oh, I always saw other creatures as a threat to humanity. They have lots of different abilities that we humans don’t possess. That makes them more dangerous than anyone else. That’s why they need to be put in their place and should not be allowed to live to run free in this world." Gilbert said, while laughing. "I’m not letting you take Tolys away, ever again!" shouted Alfred as he managed to untie the ropes from Tolys’s legs. In response, Gilbert hit the American, making him hit the ground, hard enough to make him lose consciousness. Tolys looked at his unconscious boyfriend with fear. The white haired man was about to grab the werewolf, to only get his hand bitten in self-defense. "Don’t you dare touching me!" shouted the Lithuanian as he got up, and used his whole werewolf strength to tear up the ropes bidding his arms. "You! How dare you to bite me?!" Gilbert shouted and was about to throw an attack, when a voice behind all of them shouted:"Not so fast!"

Gilbert and Tolys both looked at Rose, that was holding out her phone and recording. "Wha-What’s the meaning of all of this?!" asked the German. "While the fight was going on, I hacked into the broadcasting systems. Which means that everything that I just recorded, was also seen by everyone else. They all saw the true colors of the Unnatural Beast Hunters." the brunette lady said. "Whatever. Is not gonna do much. I bet that after seeing this whole broadcast, everyone will support the Unnatural Beast Hunters even more." said the hunter. Rose smiled in satisfaction:"I wouldn’t be so sure about it. I’m receiving so many comments that are against what you’re doing. People have seen what you really are. They have seen that you would go as far as to attack or possibly even kill another human just so you could capture one of the creatures. They have also seen how Tolys was protecting Alfred and on how much he cares about him. In other words, you lost!" Gilbert didn’t want to believe it. However when he checked the news, he was surprised to see it was all true. The Unnatural Beast Hunters lost a huge part of their support. Sure, there were still some people that supported them, but those were most likely those who felt deepest hatred toward other creatures, or those who still haven’t accepted the fact that they are similar to simple human beings. The hunters had no other choice but to back down at this point, leaving the group of friends alone. It was the group’s victory. Some days later, Feliks and Alice had their wedding and got married, finally becoming husband and wife. As months passed by, the support for other creatures was increasing. Tolys finally was able to be his true self and didn’t need to hide his werewolf side any longer. One day when he was coming back from work, he met one of the hunters. "What do you want?" the Lithuanian asked. The man sighed:"Listen. I'm sorry for what happened a few months ago. You didn’t deserve any of this. None of the creatures did. You see, I’m also not just a simple human. I’m actually a vampire. But I used to hid this from the world. And the only reason I joined the Unnatural Beast Hunters was because I didn’t want to be caught. I know that what I did was a coward’s move. And that I should never do such things. I’m sorry." Tolys smiled at him:"Don’t apologize. I think I can understand. Honestly, I don’t think I can blame you for making such choice." Then a question popped out in his head:"But wait. Since you are a vampire, how did you manage to not get caught and also survive? Aren’t vampires supposed to burn in the sun and don’t have their own reflections in the mirror?" The vampire chuckled:"Well,I use special cream to be able to walk in the sun without burning alive. I also used to drink potions to let myself be half human temporarily and have my reflection in a mirror, so people don’t seem suspicious. But I guess I don’t have to do it anymore at this point." Tolys giggled:"I think so too." After the chat, the werewolf got back home. On another day, when Alfred and Tolys planned a movie night just the two of them together at Alfred’s house, someone rang the doorbell. Both men went up to open the door, and in them stood a taller than both of them man, with blond hair and blue eyes, with a serious expression. "Good evening, mister. You are…?" began Alfred. "Ludwig Beilschmidt. I’m the younger brother of Gilbert Beilschmidt. I came here to apologize for my brother’s actions toward mister Tolys Laurinaitis. He barely told me about his job and mostly kept things secret from me. I had absolute no idea of what he did until now. Unlike him, I never thought badly about other creatures. He would never admit that he was in the wrong. I am also well aware that a simple sorry won’t undo those actions that he committed. Is there a way I could possibly repay you for it?" The man said.

"Oh, no. You don’t have to do that. After all you didn’t know. You don’t have to repay me anything. Really. But I really appreciate it." replied the Lithuanian. After Ludwig’s visit, the lovers started their movie night. And some years later, they got married and moved into a house together. They also wanted to have a child together, so they adopted a little girl named Tiara. After all the years that have passed humans, sorcerers and other creatures were finally able to live in peace with each other. Of course, everyone knew there will always be someone who will be against it, but as long as they all stayed together and fought for the freedom of every creature, they knew they would succeed. The huge part of Tolys’s and Alfred’s friends also had children. Alice and Feliks had two kids, an older girl named Monica and a younger boy named Anthony. Rose and Vash had a boy named Aaron. And Audrey and Roderich had a daughter named Josephine. Over the years, the Unnatural Beast Hunters seized to exist, as they turned into Protectors of other creatures. And one day, when the lovers along with their friends and their children were celebrating Tiara’s birthday, while the party was ongoing, a loud knock at the door could be heard. "Huh, that’s weird. I’m pretty sure we didn’t forget to invite anyone." said the American. "I’ll go check it my love. Meanwhile, make sure our precious daughter has the best birthday party in her entire life." the Lithuanian replied and went to check up on the door. Once the door swung open, a look of surprise but then frustration appeared on Tolys’s face. "You?! What are you doing in here? As far as I remember you are not my friend. You never were one in the first place, Gil." he said. Yup, the person at the door was nobody else than Gilbert. "Hey Tolys… Long time not seen. You see, I came here with no ill intentions. I just wanted to say that, well… I’m sorry about how I treated you in the past. I’ve realized I’ve been a terrible person to you and… I wanted to tell you that…" the man began and then suddenly smoke appeared around him. Later on, it revealed a huge white werewolf right in front of Tolys’s sight. "I’m no longer a simple human as well. You see, at that time when you bit my hand in self-defense, you also infected me, turning me into a werewolf and…" he continued but got cut off. "So, you came all the way here because you thought I would suddenly forget about things from the past and forgive you just because now you’re a werewolf as well? I’m glad you were able to understand what it feels like and that you’re trying to become a better person. Truly, I am. While I didn’t have any intentions of infecting you with the werewolf curse, I will never forgive you for what you did to me in the past. Don’t expect me to. What you did, is way too hurtful for me to forget about it. I could possibly die. Not to mentioned you also put my loved ones in danger. And a simple sorry, won’t fix it. I hope I will never see you again. Goodbye Gilbert. Good luck on your new path in life." The Lithuanian said and slammed the door. He came back to the party. "Who was it, my love?" Agreed asked. "Just Gilbert, trying to make me forgive him for what he did in the past. But I didn’t. I don’t want to." Tolys said, his tone clearly showing he was upset. "And you don’t have to forgive him. Is up to you if you want to forgive someone or not. Also don’t let someone like Gilbert ruin your mood." his husband said. Tolys smiled:"You’re right. I shouldn’t let my mood be ruined just because of him." The two shared a kiss on their lips and joined the rest at the party. Finally, they earned their happily ever after.

The End

[aerequets]

can you give me some webtoon recommendations? name some of your favorites! :)

i am here to answer folks 😎

all of these webtoons can be found on webtoons.com! I'm not sure about the whole daily pass thing they've got going on (which sucks tbh) but like,,, you could probably find it online illegally. NOT THAT I CONDONE ILLEGAL ACTIVITY HAHAHAHA ᵖˢˢᵗ ⁱᶠ ʸᵒᵘ ˡᵒᵒᵏ ⁱᵗ'ˢ ᵗʰᵉʳᵉ

I'll split these up between completed and in progress :) most are still in progress though

COMPLETED

1) Gourmet Hound (166 chapters)

this is like, my all time favorite webtoon. it follows Lucy and her quest to find all the chefs that left her favorite restaurant, Dimanche! it’s a really heartfelt story and the food illustrations make you really hungry, so make sure you have a snack before you sit down to read it. each character’s name is also food-related, so that’s pretty cool too! and the diversity in this webtoon is AMAZING. it’s the only webtoon i’ve ever read that has a hijabi character in the main cast. the development is done really well and it explores themes of loving and letting go. all in all, it has a bit of everything. i personally love food-related things, and this centers around it, so i was set LOL

(also a bonus is that this webtoon has NOT succumbed to daily pass hell, so you can binge read the whole thing. legally.)

2) Hooky (200 chapters)

if you like stories of witches, this is the one! the summary and beginning chapters are deceptively lighthearted. DO NOT BE FOOLED! the story really develops further on and explores numerous conflicts, a big one being (if i remember correctly) witch vs. nonwitch. if you like to see struggles between two sides, not a good-and-evil but just people-who-want-the-best-for-themselves-and-their-loved-ones type of thing, this is good for that. also, sibling love! the two main characters are Dani and Dorian, and while there is someee romance, i like how this story centers around the siblings first and foremost. ALSO THE ART??? I LOVE HOW THE AUTHOR DRAWS SETTINGS SO MUCH and am unabashedly jealous because i am completely incapable of doing so   just like,,,, even if the story doesn’t pull you in, you can at least stare at each panel for long stretches of time.

(unfortunately succumbed to daily pass, but you can read it on mangaowl or manganelo!)

3) Spirit Fingers (167 chapters)

aww, this one is cute. Amy is 18 and lacking in self confidence (her family definitely doesn’t help). but HEY she joins a wacky art club!! without her parents knowing!! HECK YEAH!! unfortunately it takes more than joining an art club for her to learn to love herself (it is a long journey after all!). i love this webtoon because it explores the problems of multiple people, not just amy: her high achieving brothers, her mother who had to give up her dream, the different members in the art club, Amy’s girl friends. the art is unique and has a cool watercolor-y texture! and the main couple is just adorable, too. if you’re an artist especially, i recommend this because that’s a big theme and you get to see these characters expand their art styles! which is very cool!

(you can read this one fully on 1stkissmanga)

now here’s where the majority of my recs are:

IN PROGRESS (all can be read on webtoon.com)

1) The Makeup Remover (currently 71 chapters)

i look forward to this every tuesday and friday because oh man!!!!!!!!! idk about you guys, but i am thinking about beauty standards A Large Amount of the time, especially when i consume media. and this webtoon is all about beauty standards (specifically in Korea, but still applicable like. everywhere). Main character Yeseul ends up having to partake in this beauty competition and, with her experiences through it, she begins seeing makeup and beauty standards for the huge role they play in society. i said it already but i LOVE LOVE LOVE this webtoon because it really challenges you as a reader to think about your own perspectives. why do we find the things/people beautiful that we do? what shapes our perception? how much of it is marketing, and how much of it shows in our daily lives? what assumptions do you make about people based on how they look? AGHH im sounding like an essay prompt instead of a reviewer but man. if you like webtoons that examine society through a critical lens (gosh i sound like an english teacher), this is the one. 

2) Odd Girl out (currently 261 chapters; on season 2) 

okay, first and foremost: if you’re NOT into long winded drama, this probably isn’t it for you. i will admit im not a fan of long problems that get dragged out, especially in a school setting, but i did keep reading this webtoon and i am glad that i did! the character development here is amazing and ONE CRUCIAL THING is that the whole first season (which is many, many chapters. at least over 100) focuses on the friendship between our main 4 girls. if you don’t wanna wait for a romance storyline (which comes in season 2), then you’ve gotta have the patience of a saint. i loved this though because lots of romance webtoons cast friendships aside or use them to further the romantic plot. platonic relationships are great to read about and this one does it masterfully! main character nari is resilient and emotionally strong, and it’s great to see her ruin her enemies

3) Cursed Princess Club (currently 110 chapters; on break before the final season)

this is another one about beauty and societal expectations, but in a fantasy setting! it’s really funny and the cast of characters is heartwarming. Gwen is a princess, but she doesn’t look like the typical princess. she accidentally stumbles upon the Cursed Princess Club, which is exactly what it sounds like: a club for princesses that have been cursed and are trying to find their self worth despite not being conventional princesses! now that i think about it, this is like a lighthearted mixture of Makeup Remover and Spirit Fingers. although while i do say “lighthearted”, this webtoon has its fair share of mysteries and exploration of deeper topics. but its funny throughout

4) Brass & Sass (currently 83 chapters)

ahh this one is really cute and the art is cute, too! i also like how this has a diverse cast. high schooler Camilla kinda sucks at band, but dangit if she’s not passionate. Victor is some type of musical prodigy but he’s a brass-hole (hahaha get it. no that’s not original i ripped it from the summary). now i KNOW I KNOW, the whole “perky girl and asshole guy” is so overplayed BUT DON’T FRET! this isn’t the type of story where the girl “fixes” the guy, or where the guy is an asshole to everyone except the girl. believe me, the character development and relationship development in this story is SPLENDID. there’s no real antagonist. it’s just a bunch of high schoolers trying their best to make themselves and everyone else happy, and that’s hard! the story is carried more by the characters than by the plot, but it works well in this case since the characters are strong and each one has a presence. 

5) Surviving Romance (currently 10 chapters)

this one is relatively new compared to my other recs but it’s by the author of the Makeup Remover so yaknow i had to hop on it. BUT IT IS VERY DIFFERENT! first off, it’s a horror, so keep that in mind. the best way i can describe it is a mixture of the standard “girl falls into a story” genre, Groundhog Day, and zombies. Yeah. Bascially, Chaerin is our main girl and she’s in a romance story that’s she’s read a bajillion times, so she knows the day has come for her male lead to confess his love! except he doesn’t! because he becomes a zombie instead! hahaha well that sucks! it’s only got 10 chapters but i am very into it, and it seems to be taking an emphasis on platonic relationships, so i am very closely watching 👁👁

6) The Witch and the Bull (currently 60 chapters) 

another witch story! and the art is GORGEOUS. more witch + nonwitch conflict, too! our main dude, Tan, is the royal advisor and he’s hella bigoted against witches. our main girl, Aro, happens to be a witch. and Tan needs her help to make him into a human again (because he got turned into a bull. that is worth mentioning). this is a very barebones summary and there’s a lot more that goes on, but that’s the general gist of the beginning!

ANYWAYS. this got very long, predictably, and i rambled for each title, predictably. i’ve got more that i’m reading, but i really like these 9! i also made comments on the art for a lot of them, which might not matter to some people, but i feel like my art was very impacted by each webtoon i read. if you’re an artist i recommend finding a webtoon you like and studying the art; try implementing parts you like into your own style! 

anyways, i am FINALLY done talking. bye yall 

[butterbeerblurbs]

flowing into your heart (f.w.)

 💌 : being friends with the golden trio meant you had front-row tickets to hagrid’s shenanigans. one of it being putting you and fred weasley on a boat because he’d like to add “matchmaker” onto his resume.

📝 word count: 3,800 words / fred weasley x reader / 🌸 fluff fluff fluff

💬: this is a part of @ch0colatefr0gs​​​ 500 writing challenge! congrats again on 500, love! 🥳✨

⛵️prompt: “you and ___ are cute, i’ll put you in a boat.” / “you’ll put us in a what?” - captain holt to jake and amy, brooklyn 99 

sneaking out of the castle during the times you weren’t supposed to be... out of said castle, was no out of the ordinary thing when it came to being with the golden trio. sometimes, you became a part of the equation whenever you chimed in your thoughts. (albeit when they don’t ask for it)

today was no different when they said they’d be going down to hagrid’s. something along the lines of testing out a... small thing he has been working on. it piqued your interest and when the trio said they’d be heading out to hagrid’s cottage at half past eight and offered you to tag along, you did.

so that’s how all of you ended up following hagrid’s lead, deeper into the woods. the giant says nothing the whole way, only making you feel anxious at where he was leading all of you.

barely knowing where you were as it’s getting pretty dark, you can only make up the sight of a small boat coming into view as all of you stood by a lake. you squint your eyes at the sight, and no one’s asking questions yet? you had no idea what the little... experiment was all about anyway. you ought to be the first one to say something, but hagrid beats you to it.

“welp! here we are!” hagrid chuckles, and it seems like there was more than just the five of you when it seems like a certain pair of twins were here as well.

“hello there, children,” george snickers, “out of bed?” fred snorts.

“h-hey, how’d you guys get here?” ron hisses, and you could tell that he’s probably glaring at his brothers.

“think we’d join in on the fun, right georgie?” one of the two elbows the other.

“right you are, freddie,” the second from the first elbows back.

as the voices die out to the silence, past the dark, you gaze to fred’s direction to see he’s already looking at you. swallowing the lump in your throat, you quickly look away, up to the sky. you hate how your brain can’t process what hagrid is saying because of how nervous you feel. your heart is hammering in your chest at the sight of fred, and you hate how the boy doesn’t even know. it’s not until hagrid mentions your name that you find yourself coming back to reality instead of having your head in the clouds.

“well... i reckon y/n and mr. weasley look cute together, so i’ll put two of you in a boat!”

“m-me?!” ron squeaks, only for hagrid to snort, “not you, laddie!” he turns to the pair of ginger heads who glance at one another. hagrid effortlessly grabs ahold of fred and places him in the boat. then, he reaches for you to do the same and upon being placed in the boat, there’s a split moment you thought you’d fall into the abyss but fred’s hands are already by your sides, gently holding you down to take a seat.

your heart is about to fly out of your ribcage and you’re certain if this place was well-lit, might as well call yourself a cherry tomato at how hot your face feels at fred’s kind gesture.

“you alright?” he asks softly, trying to get comfortable on the wooden seat and you nod, trying to relax opposite him, “y-yeah, ‘m okay,”

you can’t even digest what hagrid is saying at the proximity between you and fred. usually there’s a large table between the pair of you or at least an arm’s length away when walking with friends but now? in a small boat that barely fits three people, here is two, mushed together, legs tangled. before you can try to comprehend the spell hagrid was casting, all you can feel is a small tingle of sparks tingling your body before your eyes force themselves shut at the sudden gush of wind greeting you.

it sends shivers down your spine before the boat accelerates with a ferocious speed that nearly sends you off the damned thing. luckily (or maybe the opposite...) there’s a pair of arms steadying you down, as if its’ keeping you grounded.

you realise you’re making incomprehensible sounds, as if you’re speaking in tongues that you ignore the soft chuckle coming from the boy next to you.

when you manage to catch your breath, the boat slows down and it’s like you can hear a pin drop. your eyes peel open and it’s almost pitch black, except the small glow of the night sky painted above you. your brows furrow when you feel your hands not in the position they were in before the boat took off... nor is your body. your eyes trail off to your hands to see they’re... wrapped around fred weasley’s torso and his, tucked around your waist. your cheek, pressed to his chest and gosh, he smells like cinnamon and-gasping, you pull away from him, yet he does it nonchalantly as if he’s unbothered, a smirk on his face.

“you know, i don’t mind it at all,” he winks, and you scoff a laugh at him, nudging him playfully (as if he could go very far), “oh sod off, weasley,”

there’s a moment of uncertainty and silence that falls over the pair of you. unsure if it was confusion or... nervousness or... both, you look around only to realize you have no idea where you were. it’s almost like... the only thing that’s lighted is the lamp attached to the boat and what seems to look like some stars scattered above. and... fred, right in front of you, who is currently looking right at you and nowhere else.

come to think of it, he doesn’t really look as surprised as you are.

“so... um... nice view, huh?” he tries to break the silence that bestows unknowingly, and he can’t help but grin at your response.

“freddie,” (because you’re calling him like that)

“yeah?”

“it’s pitch black and we can’t see anything,” your arm extends to point at the vast space of nothing. absolutely nothing.

“i mean i can see you,” he’s blunt, but then again, fred weasley has always been honest and direct with his words. however, when you catch the meaning of his words that... you’re the view he’s talking about, you can’t help but feel the butterflies roaming freely from within. yet, you shut them down whenever they tried to escape, muttering a quick, “ha ha, hilarious,”

you exhale deeply and roll your eyes, flicking the material of your robe lining your wrists. you’re still looking around to see if anything else was going to happen, because if this was part of hagrid’s little experiment, it’s not very impressive if it means he’s just going to cast a spell on a boat to speed across the wide sea of nothing.

fred doesn’t let you ponder too far, bringing you back to the topic you tried to brush off.

“i don’t think i was being funny, y/n,” he hasn’t looked away from you since, resting against his side of the boat and cocking a brow up to you when you finally do the same against your side of the boat, trying to make do with whatever space there is here.

“oh, really? then what?” you fold your arms, raising your brow,

“i mean, i think you look like an angel,” he shrugs, “just without the wings,”

“so like a normal, average person?” you sneer, using one of your foot to nudge against his. he rolls his eyes and shakes his head, gazing down to your legs closely pressed together because... this is a pretty small boat. “you’re impossible, you know that?”

“what?” you feign innocence, blinking at him, “it’s not like you’re flirting with me,”

at your remark, that’s the first time it’s rendered fred speechless. his mouth hangs open, eyes widening before they scrunch in confusion as he stares at you incredulously.

“good golly, y/n. for someone as smart as hermoine, you are a bit daft sometimes, aren’t you?”

“what’s that supposed to mean?” you huff, puffing your chest out as you lean closer to him without realising. he takes this opportunity to mirror your actions, leaning a bit too much for your comfort that he takes up the rest of your vision. it makes you gasp at how close he is again all of a sudden, making your head spin as he smiles at you this near, it’s as if you can count how many lashes he has despite it being this dark.

“well, now i’m going to ask, are you interested in me?” he tilts his head a little, teasing.

“y-you?” breathless is what you are, a little scared.

“yes, me,” he confirms, with a nod, “fred weasley,”

said boy doesn’t know which confuses him more: your statement, or the way you lean away from him once more, trying to create a bigger distance between the pair of you.

“i... well...” you debated being honest, but figured... if there’s a moment you had to be, now would be the perfect time to be nothing but honest when there’s literally only you and fred here. maybe, just maybe, whatever happens here, will stay here.

“i had to question myself multiple times if i was - if i’m being honest,” you were sure you were being soft, not trusting your voice to be an octave louder because you could feel your insides shaking. the thought of it alone scared you, but saying it out loud in front of the boy who has been keeping you up for countless of nights made it feel like there was a tsunami wrecking up inside.

it wasn’t that you didn’t like fred. godric, you do. if anything, you liked him so much you wondered it almost every other day if your feelings were... still there. and they were. every time he came up to you just to say good morning, or how you can hear him asking where you were when you were just a step behind from the rest, or the way he insisted to walk you to class because you had too many books for a pretty girl to carry (you had two). it made your heart feel full whenever he seemed to care about your presence but... you’d be lying if you said he only cared about you.

fred and george were no strangers to anyone (at least, the vast majority). being in the quidditch team, the ultimate duo of pranksters, of course their names were well-known at hogwarts. with that, it came to being friends with a lot of people as well. with that, it was also noticing how there were a swarm of girls interested in them. with that... (the last ‘with that’, promise), you couldn’t help but feel dejected whenever it’s also possible fred’s just a kind soul who is nice to everyone. you’ve seen it and heard it many, many times.

“y-you... had to question multiple times if you fancied me?”

him repeating your own confession back to yourself, made your anger boil from within. not at him but at yourself. no matter how hard you’re trying, you can’t seem to hold it back and-“of course i had to!” your voice echoes and it repeats a couple of times into fred’s ears. he's taken back by your sudden outburst, looking like a puppy that took a step too far and you almost hate yourself for raising your voice. your eyes avoid his as you look down to your fiddling thumbs, still flicking one and the other to relieve your nerves.

“o-of course i had to...” you mumbled softly, refusing to look at him and fred... fred doesn’t like that one bit.

“why?” he asks, the same volume you spoke and it seems like the boat has slowed down. you didn’t know if it was actually slowing down or if... your head is making you see things.

“because what if i get hurt from liking you too much? what if... you were as nice to me as everyone else and i’d spiral down this - this sick joke of being infatuated with you and all this while you had eyes for someone else?” you look up to him and this time, fred feels a knot tighten in his gut. the way you genuinely look... upset, and that these are your sincere thoughts, made him want to extinguish every single one of them but-”what if i’m in over my head that someone like you would like someone like me? o-or what if i misread the signs and-” your eyes flutter shut, feeling prickles against the back of your eyes as hot tears start to form.

you inhaled sharply and refuse to speak, knowing your voice will give out at the first sign of it cracking. a tear manages to escape, before you use your sleeves to wipe them away.

“y/n,” fred’s voice is as clear as day, the only thing vibrating against your eardrums in the tranquil.

“y-you don’t have to say anything, really,” you refuse to listen, shaking your head, ”it’s fine, this is pathetic and we can pretend this never-”

“y/n!” similar to your outburst, the sound of fred’s voice raising up in volume makes you flinch. your eyes shoot up to him but they don’t stay on him very long before you quickly look away, unable to look him in the eyes if he rejects you and-“i’m mad for you,”-there’s only so much your heart can... can...

what?

your face morphs into one of confusion, changing from afraid to... puzzled.

“w-what?”

fred licks his lips and tries to shift closer, testing the waters to see if you would move and you don’t. so when you don’t, he carefully makes you face him properly so he can look at you, a toothy grin appearing on his face as he brings the color return to your face.

“i’m way in over my head for you, love. so much i think it’s driving everyone bloody bonkers that i haven’t confessed up until now,” he gives you shoulders a squeeze before letting you go, seeing that you still need time to digest before he can try to show his affections for you. when he sees that you’re still very much in denial, he clears his throat to continue.

“do i think i go around asking people where you are all the time just because i didn’t fancy you? or how i constantly try to sit across from you because i really do think your smile is gorgeous?” he watches as you take the information in and it seems like the nuts and bolts were being placed in the right places when there’s a blush on your cheeks. he feels like he should stop, but when you’ve had your moment to say what you had to say, well, fred thinks he should have his moment to say what he wants to, too.

“do you think i’d go to honeydukes to get you pumpkin pasties, in the middle of a snowstorm just to cheer you up if i didn’t fancy you?”

“that really cheered me up, freddie,” you admit quietly, and fred refuses to give in, not now - no matter how hard you were making it for him by looking that adorable.

“merlin, y/n, i even got hagrid to put us here together so i’d have a chance to...” fred’s voice trails off quietly, “to...”

“t-to what?”

as if it’s on cue, there’s a small spark between the pair of you that rises from beneath the boat, flying up into the air at least two heads above and it combusts quietly. the words string out together as y/n, i think you’re an angel sent from above. could i, fred weasley, have the honors of going out with you?

it wasn’t particularly big or grand, but it was as if it was meant to be small enough for this intimate moment between the pair of you. after the words disappear, small tiny hearts start to fall down, as if in slow motion and you follow the hearts back into fred’s eyes. it finally sinks in that… the boy you had so desperately hoped to see you in the same light, is lighting up fireworks to show you just that.

“i-if this is some sort of sick joke, i’m going to kick you somewhere where it really hurts, fred weasley,”

he can only smirk, inching closer to you and locking you in place with his knees casing you in, “figured i’d be safe then,”

“you...” you had no idea how you were still sane, blinking a couple of times profusely to make sure this wasn’t a dream, “...really like me?” 

he knows you’re somewhat convinced. you just need... a little push to believe him completely.

“could i have the permission to show you, y/n?” he carefully uses a hand to tuck your hair behind your ear and gazes into your eyes.

“please do,” your voice comes out in a soft breath and it’s not long before your vision starts to blur, shifting the focus to just fred being in your line of sight.

fred shifts closer than he already is and reaches out with one arm to steady himself by your waist, the other gently cupping your cheek. he adores the way you gaze into his eyes as he brings his lips down onto yours, eyes flutters shut upon contact. he feels your body tensing at the initial touch of his lips, but soon you melt against him as he kisses you with such delicacy it’s making your heart swell. you can smell the hint of firecracker embers and a whiff of cinnamon on him. you didn’t know where this newfound source of confidence came from but your hands, gingerly crawl up his sides and wrap themselves around his neck that it earns you a soft sound of approval from him.

he can feel your smile against his lips, mimicking a smile you can feel on yours before teeth starts to break the kiss at how wide the both of you are grinning. you rest your forehead against his, breathless, and when fred opens his eyes before you to see yours still closed, at peace, his heart is for certain (as if he needed it to be).

he was so in love with you, he couldn’t see a day without you in it. and right now, where fred was the only thing you could see… you could finally see it.

“you’re so pretty,” he murmurs, his thumb gently caressing across your blushing cheek. it makes the side of your eyes crinkle as you open your eyes a little, a wide smile still apparent. “i feel pretty, freddie,”

“guess you’ll be feeling pretty all the time then,” he smirks, raising a brow, “i won’t let you have a chance to forget, i’m quite the charmer, you know?” he’s doing that thing with his eyebrows again, eliciting a laugh from you as you gently let your fingers run through his hair (and fred resists the urge to ask you to do it again, feeling his heart somersault at the innocent gesture).

“i mean, as long as you’re not shouting it down the halls or getting expelled for it, you’re more than welcomed,”

“...eh, no promises on the latter,” he shrugs, tsk-ing right after.

“freddie!” your hand hits his back gently.

“‘m only joking!” he laughs with you, shaking his head. he then lifts his chin up with a brow cocked, “or am i?”

fred has always found a way to make you smile, even in moments you never thought he’d be able to. today, at the sound of his confession and your feelings out in the open for each other, sealed with your lips together, it was another day of fred weasley making you smile so hard, your cheeks are hurting. it fills your heart with a feeling no one else could. 

surely, yes, surely, whatever happened here is going to stay here, for your memory only. however... the scenarios you imagined yourself doing with fred inside or out of the castle, were going to be a reality. not just a vision you see in your dreams. most certainly not when… he’s holding onto your hand tight, pressing kisses onto the back of it and smiling at you like you’re the only thing that matters to him.

whatever hagrid’s experiment was, albeit it’s a facade, you give him an outstanding.

((”hagrid, please! ’m begging you! just this once!” fred huffs, tailing the giant around.

“just this once, this boy says. reckon a week or two later he’d come back asking for the same thing!” the gatekeeper refuses to acknowledge fred following him back to his cottage. (yep, fred had been walking and begging all the way from the castle)

“c’mon, hagrid!”

fred only bumps against his back when hagrid stops walking. the ginger haired boy huffs and dusts his robe, shaking his head dejectedly. he turns around and begins his way back, mumbling to himself, “f-fine... i’ll figure something out then... i guess confessing to y/n on a hot air balloon would be the next shot,”

“hold your horses!” fred’s shoulders stiffen at the bellowing of hagrid’s voice. he turns around carefully to have hagrid storming up to him with curious eyes.

“did you say y/n, freddie boy?”

“...yeah...?” he’s beyond confused, but he can’t deny the excitement from within when hagrid looks sold upon the mention of your name.

with a devilish smirk, hagrid instantly agrees, “alrightie lad! i’ll do it!”

fred doesn’t try his luck to question why, only grateful that hagrid is on his side to help.

hagrid doesn’t disclose to fred why he’s interested all of a sudden, but let’s just say, this friendly giant has been a bearer to your secrets for a while now, and when hagrid sees this opportunity in front of his eyes... c’mon, you can’t expect him to pass on it.))

//

(((”d’you see anything?” hagrid asks, giving harry - who was resting on hagrid’s shoulders - a nudge,

“darn it, no. it’s too dark to see anything,” the boy in round-glasses huffs, shaking his head.

“maybe you guys should actually give them some space. you know, the whole point of them being so far only where it’s just the two of them?” hermoine chastises, refusing to join the boys with their nosy antics of figuring out what was going on between you and fred.

“ah, but then where would all the fun be?” george chimes, finding a way to climb onto a tree just to see if he could get a peep.)))

[amjustagirl]

I love your writing! especially the domestic interludes series. your writing is calming and warm!!! If you don't mind me asking, do you have any favorite fic writers? I really want to read more haikyuu fics! Wishing you well

Hello hello Anon! Thank you so much for loving my writing! (if you don't mind, I've assigned an emoji to you in case you ever decide to pop back into my inbox again!)

Of course I'm more than happy to recommend my fellow writers to you! There are so many talented writers on this space that I've jointly set up a fic rec blog @msybookclub (tho I admit I've skipped this week oops)!

Anyways, here are just some of my favourite (sfw) writers:

@miyachondria - every piece of bees that I've ever had the pleasure of reading fills me in awe at how beautifully full of human emotion (humour and love and passion and longing) they are. Her writing inspires me. All my affection, dearly beloved, waltz of four left feet - these are but just some of my favourites and I don't think I could ever shut up about them.

@myelocin - I don't know how Nic manages to make me cry and laugh and feel for her characters so much. She's a genius in scene setting and giving her characters the space and time to breathe and feel and interact. Pls check out the faded side of the photograph for starters and work through the rest of her work. Oh and did I mention Nic as a person is just amazing and kind and gracious?

@voxamcris - yuki (sorry do let me know if you don't wanna be tagged) writes every piece like it's a poem. I'm inspired by the imagery she uses, the detailed characterisation she places into each of her work. Her kita swordsman piece is a masterpiece, and all that glitters is just wistful and beautiful.

@forgetou - dee is on hiatus at the moment but her pieces are grounded yet sweet, a mix of grit and fluff and she's just so versatile and varied a writer. Her suna kitsune piece is charming, her sakusa piece fragments of glass will break your heart. Pls Pls go check her out and send her your love (and ILY dee darling)

@tsukishumai - cams writing, as dee put it, reminds me of a warm blanket on a cold day. You feel like you're seated before a crackling fireplace when you read her works. Her osamu Onigiri miya pic is my personal favourite!

@violetsoju - lin writes lovely, funny ficlets that fill me with with delight. Northern lights (w sakusa) is charming and smart, her suna motorbiker! Fic makes me swoon gosh darnit, and her atsumu roommate fic is just sweet and comforting.

@eightonenine - Yvonne writes some rly lovely sweet fics that I turn to when I've had a bad day. Her bokuto fic (building a blanket Fort??) is perfect. Her sakusa fic (w a volleyball s/o who loses her match) is so comforting. Her tsukki make-up fic is just...grounded and feels like a snapshot of a real relationship. Pls go check her out!

@softsakusa - ami is a fantastic sakusa writer. Actly she's fantastic in general, her pieces are soft and quiet and lovely and I won't shut up about them. My favourite is merry go round but just do yourself a favour and read everything she's written 😊

@hajimine - lex is adorable and has rly sweet headcanons and drabbles. Her recent bokuto hurt /comfort fic felt so...real and her msby cooking headcanons were bloody funny??? Gah.

Anw these are just some of the writers that I love, there are so many more and if you want more pls shout at me in my inbox. In the meantime, pls send these writers your love!!

[obsidiancreates]

Freezer Duty (Part One)

(This was going to be a one-shot but then it reached 4,000 words so now it’s split up)

----------------------------

Amy parks her car and lays her head on the steering wheel. "You can do this. Christmas shopping is already slowing down, you can do this."

She grabs her coffee thermos, a special blend Emma came up with just for the holiday rush days (it had made Amy almost cry with thankful joy, and had made Emma shrink into her sweater and mutter "Whatever," five times straight), and gets out of her car.

The parking lot is mostly empty. Either most of her coworkers took the bus, or Amy is one of the only people on time... again. Not that she blames anyone. The weather is so cold that getting out of bed feels like a death sentence.

As she walks to the doors, she glances at the other cars. Glenn, obviously. As long as she's been working there, he's always been early. Carol, too. Probably planning to mess with Sandra somehow, this kind of stuff is why corporate shouldn't have shut down the in-store HR department. And then...

Jonah's car? He's usually at least a couple of minutes later than her... weird.

She walks past, and pauses. Why are the inside lights on? That means it's unlocked, and she knows Jonah locks his car obsessively. She once saw him lock it five times through the doors of the store. 

Curiosity claims her, and she peeks inside. 

And drops her thermos.

“Oh my go- JONAH!”

The scream is loud enough to summon Glenn. “Amy, what is- AHHHH!” he holds his hands up to his head as he shrieks.

Jonah is laying inside his car, bleeding from the neck.

Amy yanks open the car door and shakes Jonah’s shoulders. “Jonah, Jonah wake up!” As she shakes and calls out, Glenn stands behind her with his hands clasped, frantically praying to both Jesus and the Jewish God in a highly confusing yet heartfelt prayer.

“Jonah!” Amy slaps him in the face in a moment of complete desperation.

Jonah startles awake and puts his hand up to his cheek. “O-ow! What was that for! And...” he looks behind Amy. “... Why is Glenn turning purple.”

“Wh- oh, my god, Glenn, take a breath. Okay, um, Jonah, are you alright?”

“I-I think so... why?”

“Well, because you’re sitting in your turned-off unlocked car, in the middle of winter, passed out with blood on your neck.”

“WHAT?!” Jonah feels his neck. “OH- oh, god this is- this is not good, how did-”

“Our insurance is so bad,” Glenn sobs, “You’re not gonna make it!”

“Glenn, don’t- okay, let’s get you inside and- you’re not still bleeding, right?”

“I don’t think so, but what does critical blood loss feel like? Like would I be able to tell? I need to Google this, just-”

“Yeah, you’re going to be okay. Okay, into the store, Glenn help us out.”

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“Ow.” Jonah winces and flinches away as Amy dabs his neck with a wipe. 

“Pretty dramatic start to the work day, gosh. I hope nothing else happens.” Glenn shakes his hands by his sides and looks around nervously. He leans in and whispers, “Do you think they’ll find another foot? Jonah, what sneakers do you wear?”

“Again, still have both off my feet.” Jonah winces again, and Amy sets down the towel. 

“Okay, it’s all clean, so now we can-”

“Hey guys! Whoa...” Cheyenne stops in her tracks as she enters the breakroom, spreading her arms and stopping everyone else from entering too. There’s an annoyed clamoring for a minute before Garrett just rolls in under her arm. Everyone stoops down to follow, except Marcus, who tries (and fails) to turn it into a game of Limbo.

Garrett looks at the bloody wipes on the table Jonah and Amy are at. “Whoa, dude, what the hell happened?”

Amy sighs. “Jonah was-”

“We found Jonah dying in his car!” Glenn exclaims.

“Not dying!” Jonah and Amy say quickly. 

“He was passed out and bleeding a little,” Amy says to cut any rumors off preemptively, moving the collar of his shirt to get a better look at the wounds.

“In your car? In the middle of winter?”

Glenn nods, his face screwed up with worry. “And no scarf!”

“Oh, you’re for sure gonna die,” Cheyenne says, Mateo nodding in agreement. “It’s like, super cold outside.”

“Honestly I didn’t even feel that cold,” Jonah says, putting his hands up. “I guess my car stayed warm. ... Some-somehow.”

“What were you even doing in there? Are you homeless again? You could always crash at my place. Unless the birds don’t like you, then you’re gone. Nothing personal.” Dina sips her coffee.

“Thank you, for that... generous offer, um, I don’t actually remember.”

Amy pauses her checking. “You don’t?”

“No, I um, I just remember realizing I forgot something and going back into the store to get it, and then coming out and everyone was gone. And then there’s just sort of, nothing. ... That-that actually is more worrying, now that I say it aloud, am-am I dying?”

“Your brain probably froze up and is just taking time to de-thaw,” Marcus says with a flippant gesture. “Happened to my cousin once when we ate too many beer-pops.”

“... Okay, then, what’s a- no, nevermind, I can just guess. I don’t actually think that’s how brain freezes work, but thanks, I think.” 

Marcus smiles and raises his hands in an attempt at a gracious gesture.

“So you don’t remember anything?” Amy asks, bringing the subject back to the alarming and somewhat urgent situation.

“Maybe someone came up behind him and hit him over the head. Blunt force trauma, put him back in his car to make it look like he froze to death, do you know of anyone who wants to kill you? Maybe a disgruntled ex-classmate, customer you bored out of their skull with a pointless story, maybe-”

“That- no. No, I don’t think anyone wants to kill me for telling an invigorating story. And I’d rather not think about that, actually.”

Dina shrugs. “You don’t want to solve the mystery, fine. But don’t blame me when someone you screwed over in a group project cuts off your junk.”

Jonah and Amy stare at Dina for a second, and then Amy shakes her head. “Anyway... I checked, and I don’t think he has anything wrong with his head. Just his neck.”

Mateo glances over, unperturbed but curious. His expression becomes horrified. “Oh, my god! There’s two giant holes in your neck!”

Jonah slaps his hand over the wounds. “WHAT?!”

“They are not giant holes!” Amy shouts as everyone starts chattering. “They’re tiny ones! And-and they’re more like cuts, anyway!”

“Maybe someone injected him with drugs.”

“Why would they do that, Dina?”

“Yeah, who wastes drugs like that?” Cheyenne looks around at everyone else, who have gone silent. “What?”

“And, wait, with two needles?” Garrett points to Jonah’s neck. 

“Maybe they missed a vein the first time.” Dina snorts like it’s an obvious conclusion.

Marcus snaps his fingers. “Maybe it’s some kind of new fancy needle.”

Dina shakes her head. “I keep up to date on drug needle trends. We find too many in the customer bathrooms for me to be out of the loop.”

Glenn startles slightly. “We do?”

“Guys!” Amy gestures at Jonah.

Everyone murmurs some form of “Right!” or “Sorry Jonah.”

“Really, I’m-I’m fine.” Jonah keeps a hand over the holes. “It’s just a little sore, and um, I don’t know, I guess I’m a little chilly and tired, but I’m generally okay.”

“Okay, great!” Dina claps her hands. “You can have an easy assignment today because of the whole ‘attacked for revenge’ thing-”

“That’s not what-”

“Well, no-one knows what happened, so for now my theory is valid. Anyway, I’ll assign you to grocery. Slow over there today, bakery is having a big sale and uh, huh, we had an overstock of powered donuts so it might get wild.”

“Well... thank you, Dina. A slow day sounds good, actually, because I’m starting to get a headache.” Jonah rubs his eyes. “Really bright in here.”

“It’s the standard fluorescents.” Glenn looks up. “Unless corporate had it changed overnight, but I don’t think so...”

Cheyenne tilts her head with a small frown, and looks at Jonah’s neck throughout the rest of the meeting.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“No way,” Mateo scoffs. “That’s far-fetched gossip, even for us.”

“No, but it would make sense, right?” Cheyenne looks around, and then whispers. “Didn’t notice the cold, lights too bright, two holes in his neck. Jonah totally got bitten by a vampire.” She leans back and nods, eyes wide at her own revelation.

“Vampires aren’t even real though! As much as we might wish they were.”

They glance over at Grocery. Jonah is yawning, leaning against the freezer section. 

“He looks pale, right?” Cheyenne whispers.

“He always looks pale. He could wear non-tinted sunscreen as foundation,” Mateo says with a dismissive wave of his hand. 

“Yeah, I guess. ... Should we try to get a look at his eyes?”

“Chy, I love you, but we’ve got a ton of restocking to do and I don’t want to be all panicked before lunch.”

“Right. Right. Yeah. Probably just like, letting my imagination get the best of me, right? Yeah...”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Excuse me?” 

Jonah startles, jumping away from the freezer door. “Hi! Yes, sorry! Um, what-what can I... help you with?”

“Could you please show me where the frozen pizzas are?”

“Sure, ma’am, right this way.” Jonah rubs his eyes, leading her to a different section of the freezer area. 

“Oh, thank you! Could you grab it for me?”

“Wh-why?”

“I don’t like the cold.”

Well, neither does he, and he’s already chilly. But this is his job. Somehow. How did he get here again? His head feel a little foggy, he can’t quite gather his thoughts. 

He reaches in and grabs the pizza. “Okay, here you-”

“No, the ones from the very back.”

“... I-I’m sorry?”

“The back ones are always better.”

“... Alright, I will... reach all the way into the back of the freezer.”

Jonah leans into the freezer, bracing himself for chills and shivers. And...

... Nothing.

It’s cold, but it’s... not bothering him that much. he leans in, grabs the pizza, and leans back out without feeling any more cold than he did prior to the task.

“Thank you, young man. You should grab yourself one too, it’ll put some color into those cheeks.”

The old woman walks away, and Jonah pulls out his phone to look up symptoms of frostbite and hypothermia.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Justine shakes her head. “I’ve read Twilight a million times, if he was a vampire I would be able to tell.”

“What if we give him some garlic bread, and tell him it’s normal bread?” Sandra suggests.

“Because if he’s just allergic to garlic, we won’t know the difference. Doy.” Marcus scoff-laughs at Sandra and points at her mockingly with his thumb.

“What are you guys talking about?” Garrett asks, rolling up to the group. “Marcus, aren’t you supposed to be unloading a truck right now?”

“Eh, didn’t feel like it. Anyway, we’re trying to figure out if Jonah is a vampire now.”

“Are you serious?”

They all nod. Garrett grins. He folds his hands in his lap. “So what have you tried so far?”

“Nothing yet,” Justine admits.

“We might give him garlic bread,” Sandra says with a shrug. “Is he allergic to garlic?”

“No.”

Sandra lights up. “So it would work!” Her smiles fades. “Oh. But then it might kill him.”

“We can’t do that! The Horsemen stick together, I could never hurt my best friend.” Marcus shakes his head. “What if we just drop something really heavy on him and see if he catches it?”

“That won’t hurt him?” Garrett checks.

“Not if he’s a vampire.”

“Right, right. How about instead of splattering him across the Wheaties boxes, you just ask Glenn to go pester him with Bible stuff?” Garrett would love to see that, Jonah gets to flustered over trying not to offend while trying to get away. It’s hilarious.

Marcus points at Garrett with a smile. “That- yes! Perfect! Thanks man!”

The small group runs off, and Garrett laughs a little to himself as he heads on back to customer service.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Oh, this one is one of my favorite verses, so here we go, ahem-”

“Hey, Glenn? Isn’t there a-a rule, against doing this kind of thing at work?”

“Well... technically... but Marcus told me you wanted to know my favorite parts of the Bible, so I just sort of thought why wait.”

“He- really? Because I’m not... known, for being very curious about... the Bible...”

“But you are known for being curious about your friends,” Glenn says with a point and a smile.

Jonah plasters on a smile himself. “Yeah. Yeah, I do tend to-”

“Get a little nosy.”

“... I was going to say get involved, but... I-I guess nosy works too. But um, I’m restocking the ice cream right now, so kind of have to act fast,” Jonah motions at the freezeer.

“Oh, then I’ll make this quick! Okay, this verse says-”

Jonah sighs, rubbing his head. His headache is just getting worse and worse. He’s pretty sure it’s the lights, or maybe the dry-cold freezer air, but Glenn’s babbling is not helping. 

And his voice is really grating right now. It’s not exactly soothing at even the best of times, but Jonah is pretty sure he’d rather listen to nails on a chalkboard than another round of ‘Top Bible Verses’ from Glenn.

“Okay!” he snaps. “That’s good, that is- that is very much enough! Thank you for sharing something you enjoy with me, now please let me do my job!”

Glenn startles, and then hugs his Bible to his chest. “Fine. Then I guess you don’t get to hear me sing the top five best Psalms. Which is too bad for you, because Jerusha says I do them well enough to be on radio.”

Glenn walks away, and Jonah sighs. He hadn’t meant to snap, it was just really getting on his nerves. ... At least his headache is a little better already without the extra noise.

He watches Glenn walk away, and then catches sight of Justine and Sandra quickly ducking behind another isle. He looks on in confusion for a moment more, and then gets back to work.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Okay, we need a real plan,” Justine sighs. 

“For what?” Dina pauses on her way to the coffee pot. “More raccoons? Did they find a snake in the bananas again?”

“We think Jonah night be a vampire,” Sandra says.

Cheyenne stops eating her lunch. “Oh my god, you told them?”

“I couldn’t think of anything else to say!” Mateo defends. “It’s been a boring day! Other than, you know, Jonah almost dying.”

“Wait, you guys think Jonah is a vampire? No way, have you seen him? That’d be too cliche.” Dina scoffs at the idea. And then looks at the ground, a thoughtful frown appearing on her face. “Although the cliche would also mean it makes sense...”

Garrett eats a chip. “Come on, he’d be a terrible vampire. Vampires are supposed to be confidant and suave. Jonah can’t even explain his cookie choices without a five-minute tirade.”

“And he’d cut himself off at least six times in those five minute,” Dina says with a slight wince. “Yeah, he’d be a terrible vampire.”

“I don’t know. Sometimes he’s really confident, and he does that smirk thing?” Sandra says, gesturing to her own mouth for emphasis. “Plus, he always stands like a politician.”

“And he puts way too much product in his hair! That’s a total vampire thing,” Cheyenne says with a definitive shrug.

“He does already have that black-hair-pale-skin thing going for him...” Mateo admits. “If he could be a villain on CW he could be a vampire.”

“And how would he drink blood?” Garrett asks. “Just talk until the person passes out? Ask overly politely in a way that really sounds like he’s trying to ask for sex?”

Everyone murmurs in agreement.

“He would starve,” Cheyenne declares. “Because he’d be picky, too, right?”

“Picky like, about the person’s health?” Mateo asks with a doubtful frown. “He’d probably freak out about not wanting to discriminate though.”

“That would be the starvation,” Dina says with a nod. “He’d be too worried about the socio-political crap of whoever he picks so he’d just debate himself until it was too late.”

“... That’d be kind of funny,” Mateo says quietly.

Everyone thinks for a moment, and then agrees.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hey, Jonah.” Dina snaps her fingers in front of Jonah’s face, jarring him out of his standing sleep. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Sorry, Dina.” Jonah rubs his face. “I feel exhausted.”

“It’s the middle of the day.”

“Yeah! Yeah, I know. Um, what did you need?”

“I need you to go help Brett move some of the exercise equipment, the dolly broke.”

“Wh- so-so we have to move it by hand?”

“You’ve got a little muscle on your noodle arms, you can handle it.” Dina slaps him on the back and walks away. Jonah huffs, hands on his hips. After a moment he shakes his head and moves over to exercise.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Okay, now we find out for sure,” Dina says smugly. “No way a Human Jonah could handle the weight of that stuff.”

Everyone is crammed into the surveillance office, watching Jonah on the monitors.

“Should one of us tell Amy about this?” Cheyenne asks. “I feel like we’re leaving her out.”

“It is weird that I’m in on this and not her,” Marcus agrees. “But she’d probably tell us this is ‘dangerous’ or something.”

“She wouldn’t like it at all,” Dina confirms. “Best to just tell her about it later, or let her find out on her own. Later.”

They watch Jonah and Brett work together surprisingly smoothly, moving the heavy equipment with a perfectly human amount of struggling. Dina leans back in her chair with a disappointed sigh. “Dammit. I almost let myself believe in magic...”

“Wait, look!” Cheyenne points to the monitor. 

Everyone looks, excited and hopeful. And they collectively sigh and grumble.

“He’s just talking to a customer,” Mateo says.

“A super rude one! I’ve dealt with him before, he’s a total asshole. Let’s turn on the audio and listen to Jonah freak out.”

“I do love a good Jonah freakout.” Dina turns on the audio.

“Yeah, I-I’m sorry, sir, we just don’t carry that here anymore.”

“This store has carried it for over ten years.”

“Yeah, it’s a bummer! I know I hate when store stop carrying stuff I like. But maybe! Maybe we can view this as a-a chance for personal growth, for you! A chance at... at evolution, at moving forward-”

“Are you mocking me, little bitch boy?”

Everyone gasps. “Oh no he didn’t,” Cheyenne whispers. On the camera, Jonah is clearly taken aback, leaning away from the customer and staring with wide eyes.

“Some... very strong language, sir. Um, no, I just meant that maybe, you know, instead of-of viewing this in the negative-”

“So I’m a negative person?”

“No! No, I can’t- I don’t know you! I can’t make judgements about people that fast! Just- I hope this doesn’t ruin your day, right? And-and I want to see if we can find you a-a replacement, so that you can still have what you want!”

“How important do you think this is to me? You think I’m pathetic? Can’t be happy without my specific little brand?”

“No, I just-”

“I’m gonna need to speak with your bitch of a floor manager or whatever she’s called.”

“... I’m sorry?”

“Your bitch of a floor manager. The loud Latina lady.”

Dina stands up, ready to go beat the man with a bat for talking about her best friend that way. Cheyenne pushes her back down, jaw dropped. “I think Jonah is about to stand up to him,” she says.

Jonah is indeed, looking quite pissed off. He steps closer, and looks the much taller man right in the eyes. Jonah’s a good head shorter, his hair barely coming up to the other man’s chin, yet for some reason unknown the black-and-white monitor shows the customer being the one who leans back.

“You, sir, are a very unpleasant person,” Jonah says in a calm, measured voice. “And I think you need to do some self-reflection. I think you should leave the store, and learn how to talk about people without using the word ‘bitch’, alright?”

It’s so overly polite it’s almost comical. Yet somehow... it works.

The customer stands there for a second, then just... walks away. Jonah watches after him, the calm and collection expression on his face quickly giving way to confusion. He looks around as though wondering if someone else had done something to scare the customer off.

“Confidence boost,” Sandra says softly.

Cheyenne pulls out a notebook and ticks something off. “That counts as evidence.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jonah has no clue what just happened.

One moment he was speaking with a rude customer, the next the customer was walking away and Jonah has no clue why. What he does know was that his headache was slightly better, and that he really wishes his lunch break was sooner because he is famished.

Someone taps him on the shoulder, and he nearly jumps out of his skin. He turns around to see Amy looking at him with slight concern. “You okay? You’re just sort of... staring off into space.”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah. Uh... yeah, I’m fine. Totally fine.”

“... I don’t believe you.”

“Well, then you... have trust issues, because I am. I’m fine.”

“... Sure... can I see your neck again, real quick?”

“Why?”

“Because you’re acting weird and I want to make sure you’re not developing an infection that’s getting to your brain?”

“... Yeah, check away.”

Amy checks, and winces. “Youch. Yeah, let’s get some more antibiotics on those.” She starts leading him towards the breakroom. “So, what happened with that customer? I came over right at the tail end, missed the whole thing.”

“Oh. Um... I guess I just, really got through to him.”

“You?”

“Yes, me, why- what is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing! It’s just, usually when you try to calm down a customer you don’t get very far.”

“Well, you know, sometimes people just listen if you hit the right cords-”

“Mmm-hmm, yeah.”

“-I guess I just found the right words to resonate with him, is all I’m saying.” If only he knew what those words were...

Creak

Jonah pauses. “Did-did you just hear that?”

“Hear what?”

Creaaak

Jonah looks up. “I think the ceiling is about to collapse.”

“Why?”

CREAAAAK!

A mass of merch falls from the ceiling! Amy and Jonah both scream, brace themselves, Amy still holding onto Jonah and Jonah still holding onto Amy-!

...

And... they’re a safe distance from it all as it crashes down.

A multitude of raccoons scamper out and scatter, their Nest Of Stolen Goods now revealed. Jonah and Amy watch from the sidelines.

The sidelines!

“How did we get over here?” Amy is staring at the pile.

“... I don’t know,” Jonah replies, staring as well. Oh, what an adrenaline rush, his heart is racing- ... it... should... be racing...

Amy’s hand is still around Jonah’s wrist. She looks at him for a moment, and then shakes off the shock. “Okay, um, let’s get a team to clean this up, and get some antibiotic on your neck.”

“Will that part take a whole team, too?”

“Ha-ha, Jonah. ... I’m just glad neither of us got hurt.”

“Yeah. Me too.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“OH MY GOD OH MY GOD!” Cheyenne grabs Mateo and starts shaking him. “DID YOU SEE WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!”

“WE ALL SAW!” Mateo shouts, pushing Cheyenne away. He huffs and brushes off his sweater. “All three of us left, anyway.”

Dina taps the monitor. “That’s why you never leave the surveillance room after something mildly interesting happens! Something big always follows!”

“He’s actually a vampire,” Mateo says in disbelief. “He vampire-ran away from that junk, he’s actually a vampire!”

Dina scoff-laughs. “The little guy pulled off one hell of a ruse, huh? Pretty clever, faking amnesia.”

Cheyenne stops her mini victory celebration. “Whoa, why do you think he’s faking?” 

“Because why wouldn’t I? He’s a vampire now, even if he actually doesn’t remember what happened it’s got to be pretty obvious to him that he’s undead. ... Right?”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“What’re you googling?” Amy dabs at the neck wounds gently with a damp cloth as she prepares to put on the antibiotic cream.

“Symptoms of frostbite and hypothermia. I guess everyone got into my head this morning, and I’ve had some weird stuff happen to me...”

“Well... anything about last night coming back? Could help you figure out whatever symptoms you’ve got.”

“Still nothing.” Jonah rubs his neck when Amy is done dabbing it with the cloth. “I still feel like the day just started, honestly.”

“Oh yeah,” Amy agrees. “Today’s going to be a long day.”

[snowe-zolynn-rogers]

Pairings: Past Aizawa/Mandalay, Pre-Bakugou/Kirishima

Word Count: 2,006 Words

Summary: The Sports Festival, part 2.

Warnings: Fighting Mention, Cursing, Fire Mention, Bullying Mention, Trauma Mention, Injury Mention, Teen Pregnancy Mention, Pregnancy Mention, Partial Nudity Mention, Death Mention, let me know if I should tag anything else.

Usernames: Existence Is A Prison   Aizawa: feral cat dad, Aoyama: gay salt, Hagakure: ranch flavored jello, Tokoyami: foil-mecha, Shinsou: farmer toshi, Kuroiro: life is a nightmare, Shiozaki: saviour, Tsunotori: schrodinger better run, Honenuki: pure, Monoma: nat20, Yamada: President Megaphone, Bakugou: deku-deck-you

Notes: Bakugou doesn't get chained down because fuck that part of the canon. The League will just go after him because he's powerful.

Aizawa, We Agreed No More Cats: Chapter 9

11:50 AM

Existence Is A Prison

gay salt: Yaoyorozu is amazing.

ranch flavored jello: She can bench press me anytime.

gay salt: To be fair, you'd let any strong lesbian bench press you.

ranch flavored jello: You're not wrong but you don't have to say it.

life is a nightmare: She did really well, I'm glad she's advancing despite that Tsubasa guy cutting her up with his glass.

deku deck-you: I think that guy might be related to one of my old friends before UA.

foil-mecha: What happened that you aren't friends anymore

deku deck-you: Tsubasa Ryuu? He got kidnapped or something during a break and I never saw him again. My other two friends? They were fake. They ditched me after the Sludge Villain incident.

nat20: I'll kick their asses for you.

deku deck-you: I wouldn't stop you from burning Aldera Middle School to the ground. For Deku's sake, mostly, but also because I hated those teachers.

feral cat dad: What happened at Aldera Middle School?

deku deck-you: Well, you probably know from Deku by now that I wasn't always easy on him or even this easy to get along with. From the time Deku was misdiagnosed as quirkless, I bullied him. Let's be honest, my reasoning wasn't important because I made his life a living hell just because mine was a living hell at home.

deku deck-you: We talked about everything the day after I moved into the dorms, so don't worry, there's no hard feelings and we're working through all the shit I did to him.

deku deck-you: But, anyway, the teachers at Aldera tried to fail Deku constantly because of his 'quirklessness' but I'd vouch his grades for him once I realized they were trying to flunk him out of the school. And, after the Sludge Villain happened, they began doing the same thing to me because they thought I was influenced by a villain even though I'd told them so many times that I was basically a hostage.

feral cat dad: Looks like I'm opening a formal complaint against Aldera Middle School after the Sports Festival.

deku deck-you: Don't, me and Deku just want to leave Aldera behind us.

feral cat dad: Fine.

feral cat dad: Oh, they had a draw while we were texting. Jeez, that was fast.

deku deck-you: Don't you dare underestimate Kirishima.

ranch flavored jello: Someone has a crush.

deku deck-you: Don't you dare speak of this. I'll launch Deku at you.

ranch flavored jello: Jeez, fine. Feral Deku scares me.

deku deck-you: Good. I gotta go.

12:20 PM

Existence Is A Prison

farmer toshi: Wow, Kats. You did great.

deku deck-you: Can't talk right now. She's in pain and won't let go of me.

deku deck-you is now offline

feral cat dad: Fuck, she overstressed herself.

farmer toshi: I want so badly to check on her but I need to fight Tokoyami now.

1:15 PM

Existence Is A Prison

farmer toshi: Katsuki, you're coming back soon, right? I mean, your match is next after Todoroki and Yaoyorozu.

deku deck-you is online

deku deck-you: I'm back, who's won?

farmer toshi: Kirishima won against Tetsutetsu in their rematch, I won against Fumi, Midoriya won against Toru, Kiyo won against Shizuka, Kaminari just won against Fujioka.

deku deck-you: Okay, good.

ranch flavored jello: I'm down by the entrance to the field. What's wrong with Yaoyorozu?

ranch flavored jello has started a video chat

[Yaoyorozu is shown fumbling around a bit in the ring and Todoroki is in a fighting stance, but drops it when she's facing the wrong way]

Yaoyorozu, why are you stumbling? -Unknown

Shut up and fight me, Todoroki! -Unknown

Something's wrong with you, I won't compete if you're hurt. -Unknown

Just fight me! -Unknown

[Yaoyorozu is shown collapsing and Midnight goes to check on her.]

Yaoyorozu cannot compete due to a previous injury, this match goes to Todoroki! -Unknown

ranch flavored jello has ended the group chat

gay salt: Mon dieu. Is she alright?

ranch flavored jello: She's muttering about her eyes.

ranch flavored jello: Oh god, there's glass in her eyes.

feral cat dad: Get up here, Toru. Now, you don't have to see that.

ranch flavored jello: I won't leave her alone without anyone she knows. I won't. She can't see, Dad.

feral cat dad: Okay, keep her company. But please be aware, they're probably going to do surgery to try to save her vision.

ranch flavored jello: It must have happened when she made that smoke bomb and Tsubasa couldn't see her.

feral cat dad: They're already having Katsuki against Kirishima to ease the tension in the stadium. Clearly, Katsuki's winning already.

2:00 PM

Existence Is A Prison

feral cat dad: Yeah, Katsuki won. So did Shinsou against Midoriya, Kiyo won against Kaminari, and Katsuki won against Todoroki.

ranch flavored jello: At least there's some good news.

deku deck-you: What good news? Icyhot wouldn't fight me with his fire and we spent like ten minutes yelling about trauma before the fucker got blown back so hard when his fire hit my explosion that he's now got a concussion.

feral cat dad: I understand you're angry, but you didn't do anything wrong, Katsuki.

deku deck-you: I know, I just feel bad. Now two of the people I've fought today are out of commission temporarily and I feel responsible.

feral cat dad: I know, and I also know they'll both forgive you. You went off with Uraraka for almost a hour and you didn't mean to injure Todoroki.

2:20 PM

Existence Is A Prison

feral cat dad: I'm so proud of all three of you.

farmer toshi: Katsuki, you're helping put my shoulder into place as a punishment for pulling it out. Recovery Girl already said it was fine.

deku deck-you: A punishment I'll accept fully for doing it in the first place. After I'm done visiting Pink Cheeks again.

deku deck-you is now offline

feral cat dad: My chaotic sons.

ranch flavored jello: Alright, I'm back. Momo can't leave the hospital tonight and she's been instructed to have Recovery Girl heal her in two days.

feral cat dad: There's my daughter. It's a good thing you kids are off for two days after today because you need time to heal after all that.

feral cat dad: Nezu's already insisted Yaoyorozu stay in the dorms because he doesn't want her too far from campus and her parents live in Tokyo prefecture and he feels it's too far for an injures student to travel.

feral cat dad: Tokage is already getting spoken to by Nezu, so she'll likely be added to this chat soon enough. Toru, can you turn on Yaoyorozu's screen reader for her so I can add her to this chat.

ranch flavored jello: Done!

feral cat dad has added Yaoyorozu

Yaoyorozu: Hello everyone!

foil-mecha: Hi, Momo!

Yaoyorozu: Hello! I'm going to take a nap, the surgery was very taxing so I'm quite tired. I'll message you all later when I wake up.

ranch flavored jello: I'll stay with her, don't worry!

Yaoyorozu is now offline

feral cat dad: You haven't changed her username yet, Hitoshi.

farmer toshi: I figure she probably doesn't know our usernames yet so I'll do it later after we tell her ours.

deku deck-you is now online

deku deck-you: Nezu's with Uraraka so I can't visit her right now.

farmer toshi: Is she okay?

deku deck-you: I don't know if I'm allowed to say. Honestly, if it were me and someone told other people I didn't know well without me knowing, I'd call it an invasion of privacy.

feral cat dad: Nezu said Uraraka should be fine. There's no need to worry about her, Recovery Girl is nothing if not adamant on the care of her patients.

deku deck-you: Alright, I'm allowed in now that she's asking for me.

deku deck-you is now offline

life is a nightmare: I wonder how badly hurt she is to want Katsuki there for comfort.

3:00 PM

Existence Is A Prison

gay salt: screenshotofurarakaslatestinstagramphoto.jpg

ochako&baby.jpg

Liked by blastyboykats and 57 others

uraravity Welcome to the world baby boy, despite being unexpected.

View all 15 comments

minabeana Oh my gosh, that baby is so cute. I love him already.

winniepie He's so cute.

kiripima Aw, welcome to the world, little guy.

sparklegirl He's cute, Ocha, mon ami!

michipeachy 🥰🥰🥰

farmer toshi: Does Uraraka have a baby sibling?

foil-mecha: Last I heard she was an only sibling.

nat20: Maybe her mom had the baby today?

feral cat dad: Alright, Uraraka is good now, not that I need to tell you since Aoyama apparently stalks people's accounts on everything.

gay salt: Hey, she gave me her account name willingly! I have all the other girl's accounts.

feral cat dad: Anyway. Tokage's also done talking to Nezu. Here's the girls of the hour.

feral cat dad has added Uraraka and Tokage

Uraraka: Hi, guys.

gay salt: Ocha, are you okay?

Uraraka: Oh yeah, Nezu said me and my baby can stay at the dorms.

gay salt: Quoi? Your baby?

Uraraka: Yeah, didn't Katsuki or Aizawa tell you all? That's why I'm moving into the dorms. I went after my match in the Sports Festival with Katsuki and they had to end up doing an emergency C-Section because they weren't finding a heartbeat. Thankfully, my idiot daughter is fine, just chaotic.

gay salt: What's her name?

Uraraka: Uraraka Emiyo.

gay salt: I will spoil her.

foil-mecha: How cute is she?

Uraraka: katsukicryingholdingemiyo.jpg

foil-mecha: Truly a glorious child. I assure you, us 1a students will assist you in your raising of dear Emiyo as best we can.

ranch flavored jello: I'm not good with baby-babies but I'll try.

Yaoyorozu is now online

Yaoyorozu: I'll help as well, once I'm able to.

Uraraka: It's okay if you don't want to, Momo.

Yaoyorozu: I don't believe you were there for it but, in the second rounds, I had to forfeit the match to Todoroki because, in the first round, Tsubasa Yuudai accidentally got glass in my eyes. My win in the first round was a fluke and I was running only off instinct when I got him out of bounds but, since taking the glass out can't fix the amount of nerve damage, I'll likely be blind for the foreseeable future.

Uraraka: Oh gods, Momo, I'd come give you a hug but I can't move around much yet.

Yaoyorozu: It's fine, Uraraka. It was an accident after all, he didn't mean to do that but the smoke bomb I made obscured his vision.

life is a nightmare: If either of you need anything, just text us, someone will get it to you.

Yaoyorozu: Thank you, but I have Toru for now!

Uraraka: Thanks. I'm good, I've got a Katsuki.

nat20: You say that like you've roped him in or something.

Uraraka: Well he's been proclaiming that he's Emiyo's uncle for the whole thirty minutes she's been in this world.

schrodinger better run: To be fair, is he not her uncle by now?

Uraraka: He is. He's the first besides my parents and me to hold her. He's definitely her uncle.

pure: Has he even put her down yet?

Uraraka: katsukiasleepwithemmiyoinhisarms.jpg

Uraraka: No, he hasn't. My mom's about to pick her up though. She's worried she'll fall and I have to feed her and all so he'll be temporarily losing holding rights anyway since I have to make him leave to feed her.

gay salt: He's sleeping, Ocha. Plus, I thought you knew he was 💅

Uraraka: He's gay?

gay salt: No, he's trans, Ocha, us girls had a whole meeting on including our ftm classmates on girl days if they're comfortable with it and you forgot?

Uraraka: Oh yeah, in that case I'm whipping out the titty so my mom can show my how to feed a baby.

Uraraka is now offline

feral cat dad: You kids are going to give me a heart attack one day and I'll put all your names on my tombstone as a reason I died.

@everythingisstardust 

[justgillespie]

Missing (5/?)

Summary: Your next door neighbor, Luke Patterson (a.k.a. your longtime crush) has gone missing, and you think you could help finding him.

Word count: 2.7k

Warnings: none!

Part 6

•

“I can’t believe you’re here!” You said to Max once he approached to you.

The whole neighborhood and, other kids you assumed were Amy’s friends, were at her party. The place was packed with teenagers.

“Yeah, I’m regretting it.”

“This is a POOL party. You can’t regret coming to a pool party.”

“I just did.”

“Don’t be ridiculous- Hey Josh! Come on.” You grabbed Max’s arm and took him with you to were your neighbor was.

“Hey guys.” He smiled at you two. “It’s nice to see some familiar faces. I lost Victor somewhere around here.”

You chuckled.

“Max, I can’t believe you’re here.” Josh looked at your friend.

“Yeah, Y/N convinced me to.”

“Then I should thank you, dear Y/N. I’m glad that you were able to take Max out of his room. We barely see him anymore.” Josh hit Max in the arm, slightly. “We’re going to meet at Matt’s this week. Wanna come along?”

“I-.”

“He would love that.” You said to Josh, before Max could say no. He looked at you with wide eyes.

“Great! I’ll call you one of these days to coordinate better.” Josh smiled. “Oh, cool necklace, by the way.”

He pointed to the guitar pick hanging around your neck with a piece of thread. You thanked God he didn’t ask if it was yours. Maybe he just related it to Tamra, who did play the guitar.

“Thanks.” You said.

Victor found his way back to the three of you, and he came with a few other kids from the block, and after chatting for a little bit, you all agreed on finally getting into the pool.

You took your dress off, since you had your swimsuit under it, just like the other girls. You saved the dress on your bag, left on a chair near the pool, and then, you noticed how Max was just staring froze at some point of the pool.

You frowned and approached to him. “Hey, you okay?”

You tried to locate what was he looking at, but you couldn’t, so you spoke again. “What? What is it?”

“Max, come on!” Aria called him from the pool.

You then noticed: he was looking at her.

“Coming!” He said, laughing nervously.

“You like Aria?!”

“Shh! Shut up!”

“You like her.” You said lower this time and smiling. “I didn’t know you liked girls.”

“Honesty is something I really appreciate, but there are times where you should just stay quiet, you know?.” Max said, clearly frustrated.

You giggled. “Sorry. I’m just so excited! But, wait, do you guys even talk? Well, I suppose you do, otherwise she wouldn’t have called you.”

“Well, she laughs at my jokes. And I laugh at hers, when we’re talking in a group but... we’ve never shared a conversation just the two of us.”

“That could change today! Go, talk to her!”

“What part of “I’m not exactly sociable” did you not understand?”

“Max, you two grew up together. There’s nothing you should be afraid of. What could go wrong? Go!”

“Oh my gosh! You’re so annoying. I shouldn’t have told you anything... wait, I actually didn’t!”

You laughed. “You could never hide anything from me. Now go!”

With an indecisive look, he carefully got into the pool and approached to Aria.

You clapped, excited, and then got in too. Amy also joined you a while later. Some played and other decided to just relax. It was when you were playing Marco-Polo when you noticed him and your heart skipped a beat.

It was Reggie.

You couldn’t tell for sure, but judging by the picture you’ve analyzed for a long time the night before, it was him. And Bobby was next to him.

“Marco!” You heard Liz say, and you got out of the pool, as fast and carefully as you could.

“Polo!”

“Y/N! Where are you going?” Josh asked you.

“I’ll be back. Just keep playing.” You said, and you looked for Max among all the people in the pool.

You then found him, but he was sitting on the grass, with Aria. They were talking and he seemed so comfortable and himself, that you didn’t have the heart to interrupt.

You put a towel on you, put on your flip flops, and then headed to where you could see the guys were standing and talking to each other.

“Excuse me... Excuse me.” You pushed slightly to the crowd until you got close to where Reggie and Bobby were.

And you froze. It had to be them, but why?

Wasn’t Alex the one who kind of knew Amy?

You didn’t have anything planned and you weren’t even sure if those were Luke’s bandmates.

What should you do?

Impulsively, you walked to them.

“Hey.” You said, ignoring the adrenaline you were feeling along with your racing heart.

“Hey! Are you Amy?” The guy you recognized as Reggie said.

Before you could say anything else, Bobby spoke.

“Alex wasn’t able to come, and we thought that maybe we could come in his place?”

“Except that Alex was just one guy, and you can see two here.”

“Shut up.” Bobby hissed at Reggie and he rose his hands up.

“Um, can I know your names?” You played along.

“I’m Bobby, and this is Reggie.”

Think of something, come on, you thought. You didn’t know how could you take information out of them. But before you could ask them something else, Reggie seemed to notice something on you.

“Do I know you from somewhere?” He said, tilting his head. “I think I’ve seen you before.”

You frowned. You’ve obviously seen him before, and not even in person, but where could he possibly have seen you?

Right when you were about to respond, Bobby seemed to notice something on you, too.

“Where did you get that?” He asked, pointing at the guitar pick.

You tried to act natural, despite the fact that you’re heart started racing faster than before.

“My sister plays the guitar-.”

“No, that’s- That’s Luke’s.” Bobby said to Reggie in a lower voice, who seemed to be confused at the situation. “We need to go.”

“Wait! You know Luke? You know where he is?” You desperately asked, not too loud so people couldn’t hear you.

“Sorry. We have to go.” Reggie said, and he really seemed to be sorry.

“I told you coming here was a bad idea.”

“No you didn’t!”

“No, wait, please!” You followed them outside Amy’s house. “I just-! Is he okay? Where is he?”

“Sorry, um, Amy? We can’t tell you anything and we’d appreciate it if you didn’t say anything about this to anyone either.” Bobby said, opening the door to the driver’s side.

“So you’re admitting you know where Luke is?” You asked.

“I didn’t admit anything. Come on Reggie.”

The so-called seemed extremely nervous, and just obeyed, getting into the car.

You rapidly came up with something.

“How do you know I’ll keep quiet? How do you know I won’t go to the police, who’s looking for Luke now?”

You weren’t actually sure of that, but the words came out of your mouth before you could stop them. Even if it was true, you didn’t have enough information to do so.

But they didn’t look like they thought too much about what you said. Bobby froze right when he was about to get in the car and Reggie rolled his window down.

“I don’t wanna go to jail! Please don’t call the police, we-!”

“Reggie!” Bobby stopped him. “Just-. Luke is fine. He just needs some time, okay?”

“Can I go with you?” You dared to ask.

“No that’s... not an option.” Bobby shook his head.

“Maybe we could send him a message from you.” Reggie suggested, but Bobby looked like he didn’t like the idea. And before he could say anything, you rushed to talk.

“Please tell him that his family is fine. His mom misses him. Everyone here does. And just... please tell him I hope... that if he ever decides to come back... I hope we can get to meet each other better.”

“Aw...” Reggie pouted. “You’re gonna make me cry!”

“We’ll tell him.” Bobby nodded and rolled his eyes at his friend.

“Bye! It was nice meeting you! I still think you look familiar!” Reggie said when Bobby was already driving away.

You waved at him, with a sad smile. Reggie was really nice.

You sat on the sidewalk and hugged your knees. You really thought for a moment that you would see Luke. That you would bring him back home, safe. At least he would get a message from you. Maybe, somehow, you could get a reply.

And that’s when you realized: Reggie and Bobby thought you were Amy. They would tell Luke that Amy sent him the message.

“Come on!” You said out loud.

Why was this so hard?

Every time you thought you got to something, you would then realize you forgot something else, or your ideas weren’t good, or your plans would just not work out...

You found yourself crying out of frustration.

Luke did ran away for a reason. Was he even planning on coming back? He didn’t want to be found, that was obvious. Max said it before.

Why were you even still doing this then?

And what if you find him? What would you do anyways? You didn’t have that planned.

Rule number four, somewhere deep in your mind echoed.

But if Luke doesn’t want to come back, then the rule didn’t have any value. So what was the point?

Then, you remembered Mrs. Patterson’s tired face. The way she expressed her repentance...

You went back in, as fast as you could, to head into a bathroom. And only decided to come out once you didn’t look like a mess anymore.

“Y/N! I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” Max said when you were getting out of the bathroom.

“Well, I’m her now.”

Should you tell him? Should you tell Max what just happened? What if he got mad? You didn’t exactly know what should he get mad about, but still. You didn’t want to ruin what it seemed to be one of the best days of his life in a long time.

Okay, maybe you were exaggerating.

“But is everything okay? Are you okay?”

“Yes, Max, don’t worry. I’m okay. Where’s Aria?”

“She’s in the pool. I told her to wait for me for a second... that was twenty minutes ago.”

“That isn’t a second.” You teased and he rolled his eyes.

“I’m gonna ignore you said that. Come on, let’s go back with the rest. They were saying something about a movie before I left.”

“Actually I think I’m gonna go home? I’m kind of tired.”

Max frowned. “You? You’re never tired.”

You shook your head. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“But it’s super early! How long have you been here? Like, what, one hour and a half?” He noticed you were about to make another excuse so he rapidly spoke again. “You made me come here. You said you were dragging me with you everywhere. If you’re going home, I’m going too.”

“We both know that’s not exactly what I meant. And you don’t wanna leave yet. I do.”

“When did the roles change, huh?” Max teased. “Come on, Y/N. Just stay for a bit more. We live a block away. We’ll be back home super fast after the movie’s over. And you said that if there weren’t any news about Luke, than the party could still be good to distract ourselves.”

You saw how excited and happy he was, which helped you make your final decision: you were definitely not telling him about the incident right now.

You stared at him for a second and then sighed.

Maybe he was right. If you did go to your house, you would only keep thinking and that would make you feel worse. You indeed needed some distraction.

“Okay, let’s go.” You walked past him and he followed you with a big smile.

It wasn’t until most of the people left, that you all seated in front of the tv and watched a movie. You sat next to Amy, who linked your arms together and wouldn’t shut up for a minute. She had something to say for every single scene. But you weren’t listening. Or even paying attention to the movie.

You looked down, discretely. Aria and Max were seated together on the floor, and you noticed how their hands were placed just centimeters away from touching.

You smiled and looked back to the tv. That was their moment. Not something you should be seeing.

Amy’s voice whispering to you something about how the girl’s shorts were awful started to fade in the background, and you slowly let your eyes shut.

“So did you like the movie?”

You rolled your eyes but giggled. “Shut up.”

Josh was the one who woke you up after the movie ended. It was six, or maybe seven forty when he did so, and he told you Max already left with Aria and that he was taking her home.

You couldn’t help to feel disappointed. You were hoping you could get some time alone with Max just so you could tell him what happened before with Bobby and Reggie. Josh said he would take you home, and you accepted his company. His house was just a few houses away from yours, after all.

You shifted your bag from one shoulder to another, since it felt kind of heavy, and Josh noticed.

“Hey, let me take that for you.”

“It’s really not- Okay.”

He took the bag out of your shoulder before you could even protest.

“Thank you.” You added.

“Today was pretty fun.” He said after a pause. “It’s been like a month since the last time we all hung out together.”

“I know. School’s been pretty heavy for everyone. We are entering finals season.”

“Yeah. At least it’s getting over. At least for some months.”

“Yeah...”

“It’s crazy what happened with Luke, right?”

You nodded. “It is.”

“Do you think he is okay?”

“Yes.” You said convinced, and you knew it was true. You confirmed it that afternoon. But you didn’t say that to Josh. You just repeated Mrs. Patterson’s words. “He’s smart. He’s probably somewhere safe. Like a friend’s house.”

“I guess. Did you ever talk to him?”

“Not really. You?”

“Kind of. We grew up together but once we got to high school he wouldn’t hang out with us anymore... I think ever since he started his band, actually.”

“Well, a band takes a lot of responsibility.” You said, without actually knowing that for sure.

“Yeah.” For a moment, he seemed to be debating something with himself, until he finally spoke, when you were already arriving at your house.

“I thought you guys were dating.”

“What?”

“You and Max. I saw you hanging out together a lot lately.”

“Oh.” You shook your head. “No, no. We’re just friends.”

You stopped and faced him on your sidewalk.

“Yeah I noticed today... Him and Aria seem to have something going on.”

“Yeah. I’m really happy for them.” You smiled, sincerely.

“I actually, um... felt kind of relieved? When I realized that you two aren’t dating and now you confirmed it, so... yeah. I’m really glad...” He rambled, and you just stared at him.

“Why?” You asked, and you wished he didn’t ask. And that he didn’t say it.

But he did.

“Because, I’ve been meaning... for a while, to ask you something. Would you, um... like to go out, some time?”

You got ready to give your usual response. I like someone else. But you stopped yourself.

How many times since you moved, since you noticed Luke, did you reject guys asking you out?

Always with the stupid hope that Luke would one day wake up and think that you were the one. That you were the one for him.

But he never did. And now, he had other plans. He was somewhere else, maybe far away from you, and he didn’t want to come back.

And you were tired. Tired of that fantasy. A fantasy that only you were living, that only you created in your head.

If you were mad at someone, it was yourself. For never trying. For never taking any of the opportunities you had to talk to him.

And this was a clearly a new opportunity. An opportunity to move on.

“I would... like that. Yeah.” You nodded, giving him a little smile.

•

Taglist: @ifilwtmfc @sovereignparker @catbcyluke @marvelgirl300 @charlieschickens @kegkingbillyhargrove @imamysticalwitch @viamiasoncrack @sunnyrye

*The ones crossed out are the ones I wasn’t able to tag! (Sorry!)

[rampagingsuga]

[ not what it seems ]

pairing :

bestfriend!semi eita x reader

warnings : lowercase is intententional :3

genre : big angst , fluff , friends to lovers au

synopsis : having been friends since middle school, you and semi were inseperable. however, partway through your third year in high school, you notice him having heart eyes for someone else.

a/n : im baaaackkkk!! exams are over so i'll be posting more often (hopefully anyways :P) ,, i've had this idea for weeks now so enjoy! <3

"semi-semi!" you called out.

"stop that, y/n. tendou calling me that is bad enough," semi retorts, ruffling your hair as you appear next to him.

you were halfway through your third year in shiratorizawa academy. surrounded by your closest friends, some which you've made in your 3 years in high school and others you've known since middle school.

semi eita was an exception. he'd been by your side since the both of you could talk. he'd seen you through thick and thin, helped you up when you fell and comforted you after your first heartbreak in your second year of high school. likewise, you had done the same.

it came to a surprise to nobody when you began catching feelings for him.

"y/n! you're doing the thing again," ami mentioned.

"oh, right," you replied as you peeled your eyes away from semi.

you'd met ami in your second year of high school. much like you, ami was an only child. it was inevitable that the both of you became sisters-from-different-mothers within those few months. she was also the only one who knew of your fondness for semi.

you were seated at the back of the small classroom with ami next to you. semi was seated just infront of her. a few weeks ago, you wouldn't mind semi glancing at the new girl who'd just joined at the start of the year.

but now, you were feeling uneasy. they had began to talk more, laugh more and become too comfortable with each other for your liking. was this where it ended? was she going to steal your best friend just. like. that?

"no! y/n you idiot, you're not his girlfriend. you can't feel this way. he's allowed to have other female friends," you thought to yourself.

you unwillingly stared at the whiteboard full of terminology that you had to memorise. out of the corner of your eye, you saw semi. still glancing at her and making snide remarks which would normally be shared with you. not her.

accept it, you told yourself. he'll be gone in a few days. you knew it.

later that day..

you asked semi to ask if you guys could walk home together to which he agreed. y'know bestfriend things. but you also had some things to clear up. he didn't need to know that though.

"so.. what's the deal with you?" you chided while walking next to semi.

"what do you mean? i'm fine!" he replied, looking confused.

you began to explain the many, many hints he had been dropping to that new girl. his faced morphed into an expression that was undescribable.

"oh," he blurted, "i didn't know you felt that way.."

there was complete silence after that. it was suffocating. did you just ruin your many years of friendship with a confession of your jealousy? despite being close enough to touch, there was a void between the two of you.

you let out a quiet sigh of relief when you saw your house in the distance. by the looks of things, semi wasn't going to say anything else. you'd assumed the worst by now. as you approached the steps of your house, your wrist was quickly grabbed by non other than semi eita.

"hey.. uh y/n?"

"yea?" you turned to face him. he was fidgeting with his fingers.

"i'm sorry i made you feel so uneasy. just so you know, i'd never leave my favourite dumbass behind for another girl. although i know we aren't dating.. yet," he confessed sheepishly.

"yet". that word rang through your head. you still had a chance. it wasn't all over.

"yet?" you questioned.

"yeah.. i was gonna ask if you wanted to maybe.. change that? but if you're uncomfortable with it then it's okay! i understand. we can just move on like none of this happened-" he rambled, only to get cut off by you.

you wrapped your arms around his figure. listening to his heartbeat. it was beating out of his chest. you tighted your hug around him.

"of course," you mumbled.

his arms reciprocated your affection. you'd never felt such comfort before. yes, the both of you had hugged before but it was always a quick one. just a sign of goodbye for that moment. the hug you were embraced in at that moment felt different. it lingered. the void you had previously had disappeared. neither of you wanted to let go.

"gosh, i love you so much," he mumbled while pulling you closer and resting his chin on your head.

"mhm," you replied in acknowledgement.

"but you, have your parents coming home soon," he said as he gently ruffled your hair.

reluctantly, you pulled away from his warm embrace and pressed a soft peck on his cheek.

"call me later?," you asked.

"of course," he replied with an innocent smile.

you walked into your house feeling grateful that you had him in your life. your heart was full. your mind was racing. and your phone? well..

"eita? it's been five minutes since you left," you answered with a chuckle.

"i know, dumbass. i miss you,"

and the rest is history~

a/n : ahh this was so fun to write ,, feel free to drop any requests! i'll write them whenever i can :D

[whateveridreamup]

The Job Offer

Hi There

Here is the first post for my new story, centered around Taron and a main female character named Claire. There will be many (many) more chapters to come, centered around themes of friendship, lust, and eventual love. This is Part 1 of the first Chapter, as the introduction is a little long.

I hope you like it! Send me any comments you have :-)

*Disclaimer- I don’t know Taron, have never met him, and this is just a work of complete fiction

x

The Job Offer- Chapter 1 (Part 1)

  “Higher! Higher Mummy!” giggled Isabella

 “I’m not sure I can…bounce…any…HIGHER!” Claire replied as she gave one final almighty stomp on the trampoline, sending her and Tom flying high in the air. The screeches of joy that escaped them were like music to Claire’s ears. Hearing her children’s laugh and giggle was truly the best sound in the world.

She was interrupted from their bouncing by the sound of her phone ringing on the trampoline step. Peering at the screen through the trampoline net, she could see the name of one of her colleagues, Amy, flash on the screen. Odd, she thought. She didn’t often get calls from her, especially on a Sunday afternoon.

“Hang on a minute you two, I’ll just answer this and see what my friend wants. You guys keep playing, I won’t be long.”

 The kids happily went back to their game as Claire removed herself from the trampoline enclosure rather ungracefully, grateful for the fact that no one could see how uncoordinated she looked doing it. She grabbed the phone off the step and pressed to answer it.

 “Hi Amy, how are you?” Claire answered, slightly breathless.

 “Claire, hello!...Are you ok? Have I caught you at a bad time?”

 “No not at all” She replied “Just playing with the kids in the backyard, enjoying this beautiful weather. What are you up to?” She enquired, trying to figure out what she could possibly be calling her for on the weekend. They saw each other once a week at the school they both worked at, but it was unusual for them to call each other outside of those times.

 “I’m actually just home from a meeting. It’s what I’m calling you about actually. Have you got a minute to talk? I’ve got a bit of a work offer for you” Amy explained, her tone hopeful.

 Well now she had her intrigued. “I sure do- What’s happening?” She asked as she sat down on the bench seat in the yard.

 “Well, I’ve been offered a job- a sort of tutoring or home schooling set up for a family that has moved out to Sydney all the way from Wales. They have moved here for the Dads work and are out here for around six months.”

“Wales?? My gosh that’s a long way to come- how one earth did you score this job?” Claire interrupted her, wondering out loud.

 “Long story- basically my Aunty is friends with a friend of their family, they were looking for a tutor and my name got thrown out there. Lovely family. They have two girls, aged 8 and 10.” she added.

“The job is for four days a week, starting immediately, and going for around 5 months until Feb I think at this stage? Anyway, I had accepted the job and was meant to start tomorrow, but now Michael has been offered a huge design job for our business, and I really need to work on that with him full time for the next couple of months.”

 “Oh” replied Claire “Well that’s awesome for Michael and for your business, Isn’t it?” Claire asked, noticing the angst in Amy’s voice as she spoke.

“Well yes, it’s amazing for us,” She acknowledged “But as you can probably figure out by now, I’m in a bit of a mess. I’ve committed to this teaching job and the family are relying on me, but I really need to take on this work with Michael because our business really needs it.” She paused for a second before asking her the big question “So I was wondering……Would YOU have any interest in taking on the teaching job?”

 The question caught her off guard, and she felt her jaw job and her eyes widen in surprise. This was certainly not a question Claire had been expecting to be asked today. She was silent for a moment as she let her thoughts gather. Although the offer had taken her by surprise, Claire was certainly not unhappy about it. She had been working across two different schools as an emergency teacher for the past couple of years, trying to consistently build up four solid days of work a week to keep the family finances ticking over on her single income. Finding a school that could cater to that for her, whilst also allowing some flexibility in days or hours was a task she had found near impossible.

She shook her head, a little stunned by the offer her friend had presented her with. “Wow...I’m a little shocked actually Amy. What made you think of me?”

 “Well,” She responded “I remember you mentioning to me in the staff room the other week how you would love to be a little more settled with work, and not have to be in two different places every week. When I was thinking of someone that could potentially take over this job for me- someone that I trust and that I know is a great teacher, and someone that might like the stability of this kind of work, you came to mind straight away.”

 “Gosh I’m flattered” Claire replied honestly “I guess the main question I have is what the hours would be for a job like this? I’m not sure how I’d go working longer than school hours- there is only so much I can rely on the grandparents for drop off and pickups and babysitting duties….”

 “Oh no the hours are great” Amy interrupted her “The family are really flexible- they only want someone four days a week like I said, from 10 until around 2, so you could still drop your kids off and pick them up from school. You wouldn’t even need to ask the grandparents to help out with that anymore. Or send them to before or after school care.’ She added, trying to make the job sound even more appealing to her.

 Claire was silent as she took in this additional information. She really was making this sound almost too good to be true.

 “And as another note” She added “The salary they are offering is excellent, too- well above emergency teaching rates. AND, they have rented a place out in Lane Cove, so not too far from you, either! See? Doesn’t it just sound perfect?” She probed gently, trying to gauge Claire’s response.

 Claire chuckled as she listened to Amy trying to talk it up as much as possible. It was true that she was listing many of the things Claire had been searching for in a job. If she took on this position, she could stop doing emergency teaching and settle into the one job, and still have one day a week to herself to sort out the house, shopping, and anything else the kids or her family needed from her. It would also mean relying less on her families help with the kids, and more importantly, more stability for her- something she had been trying to achieve for the past two years.

Amy could hear her friend silent on the other end of the phone and started to worry.

“I’ve overwhelmed you a little, haven’t I. I’m sorry. Would you like some time to think about it and call me back?” she offered.

 Claire didn’t need any longer to think about it. She knew that offers like this didn’t just come up all the time- to turn it down would be foolish.

 “No, no, my mind is just racing with all you have said...but I’m definitely interested” She replied confidently.

 “Oh, that’s BRILLIANT!” Amy exclaimed. “I just had a good feeling about calling you!”

 The two girls stayed chatting on the phone for another 10 minutes, talking through some more details about what kind of work would be expected from Claire, what she already knew about the two children and their schoolwork in Wales, and a promise to send through some of the background work she had been researching on the curriculum in Wales. As they started to wind up their call, Amy left her with the phone number of Tina, the mother of the family.

 “I’ll give them a call now and let them know that you are interested, and maybe I’ll set up a meeting for you both, say…tomorrow, if you’re sure that’s alright with you?”

“Perfect” Claire replied, a huge grin on her face.

 As the two girls hung up, Claire looked over at her kids, now happily playing tag with each other. Life had certainly been chaotic for the three of them over the past couple of years. She knew that some form of steady job that didn’t involve her working in a different place every day, was exactly what she and the children needed right now. The idea of being able to work with just two children, and really help them to progress in their academic work was also incredibly appealing and exciting. She let out a long, heavy sigh, her mind racing and full of anticipation. She stood up from the bench and walked back over to her children.

 “Come on you two!” She called out to them “Let’s go and start making dinner together. I’m thinking hamburgers- that work for you two?” She asked, knowing full well what the response would be.

 “All RIGHT!” Exclaimed Tom, a huge grin erupting on his face. She smiled back at them both as they ran past her into the house, wondering how she had gotten so lucky to have two such awesome kids.

 After dinner Claire received a text from Amy to say that the family were happy to meet with her tomorrow as a sort of interview. She noted down the families address which was only around 15 minutes from her place, and mentally planned her outfit for tomorrow in her head. She wanted to make a good first impression, as the more she thought about her chat with Amy, the more she started to really want the job.

 Once her children were both fast asleep, their lunches made for school the next day and the house looking somewhat tidier than it had looked earlier, she sat down with her computer and started to do some preparation for the interview. She opened the email Amy had sent her with her notes on the Welsh Curriculum, and studied it carefully, wanting to prepare herself as much as possible for tomorrows meeting. From what she could understand, it aligned quite nicely with the Australian curriculum in Numeracy and Literacy, with similar expectations for student achievement at each age bracket. After making some notes in her work planner, she finally packed it up and got herself ready for bed. The prospect of a job interview the next day and a possible new job arising from it had her buzzing, and she found it difficult to sleep. When sleep finally did overtake her, her thoughts were focused on new beginnings and all the exciting opportunities that could arise from it.

[blackhakumen]

Mini Fanfic #755: Spending Time With His Two Favorite Aunts (Sonic x Crash Bandicoot)

1:12 p.m. Outside of Knothole's Burger Joint......

Coco: ('GASPS') (Slams her Palms on the Table in a Very Surprised Manner) NO WAY! Did all of that seriously happened in one day!?

Bunnie: (Smiles Brightly) Yup. With Sal's clever thinking and 'mah high tech prowess, we were able to put Robobnik and his heaps of scrap metal in their place! (Smiles Sheepishly as She Starts Rubbing the Back of Her Head Back & Forth) With a teensy bit of casualties of course.

Sally: ('Sigh') I'm just glad no one in this town got hurt during that time. I've always hate how relentlessly persistent that crazy maniac used to be when it comes to attacking us.....

Coco: (Starts Snicking) He's sounds almost like our Cortex.

Sally: Is he annoying to deal with too?

Coco: Yeah. But that's only when he's in a good mood or whatever. But forget that noise! (Excitedly Turns to Tails Next to Her) Your aunts are freaking amazing, Tails!~

Tails: (Chuckles Lightly) Told you. They are one of the Freedom Fighters for a reason, you know?

Sally: (Giggles Softly While Blushing a Little) Oho Sweetie~ You're being too modest~

Bunnie: (Giggles Softly While Blushing a Little as Well) Yeah, sugah cubes~ We ain't all that amazin'.

Tails: (Smiles Softly at his Two Aunties) You guys are to me. You've inspired me to have more confidence and even better myself everyday, even when we first met each other. I wouldn't be who I am now if it weren't for the two of you.

Coco: Awwwwwwwwww~ You really do love your two aunties~

Sally: (Heart is Already Melting in Pure Happiness) He does~ That's why he has and always will be our sweet, baby boi~

Tails: (Immediately Starts Blushing in Embarrassment) Aunt Sally! Not in front of Coco!!

Bunnie: Oh don't be like that, sugah! It's not our faults you're gosh darn precious.

Coco: (Shrugs at Tails While Having a Sheepish Smile on her Face) You are a precious bean.

Tails: (Glares at Coco While Pointing at Her) S-So are you!

Coco: Yeah. (Playfully Pulls Tails' Cheek) But not as much as you are~

Tails: (Starts Grumbling To Himself While Rolling his Eyes)

Coco: Blantent cuteness aside....(Turns Back to Sally and Bunnie) What makes you guys wanna be Tails' aunties in the first place?

Sally: Well, you see, it all started when we were all younger at the time. Tails was four and I think Bunnie and I were probably twelve or thirteen at the time? (Starts Shaking her Head a Little).But anyways, we were both watching over the little guy while Sonic and the others deals with Robobnik and whatever kind of schemes he was planning during that time. Once we read him a bedtime story and tuck him in, he suddenly starts calling both of us "aunties" a couple of minutes later in his sleep and the rest of was history.

Tails: Ah yeah.....I remembered that night. (Chuckles Lightly) You guys were trying way too hard to sound like actual pirates.

Bunnie: (Pouts at Tails) Oh hush! You were laughin' up a storm when we made those pirate impressions!

Sally: (Simple Nodded) Mmhmm.

Tails: Yeah. But that's when I was a little kid. I'd probably laugh to anything that was funny to me at the time.

Sally: ('Sigh') That is true.....It feels.like it was only yesterday when we first see you for the time. You were small, young, still new to the world....(Already Starts Tearing Up) ('Sniff') And now you're all grown up.....

Bunnie: (Starts Tearing Up as Well) Yeah....('Sniff') Grownin' up too fast if you ask me.....

Tails: (Frowns a Bit Worryingly) Guys, are you okay?

Sally: (Starts Wiping the Tears Away From her Eyes Alongside With Bunnie) Yeah, 'hon. ('Sniff') (Smiles Softly) We're okay.

Bunnie: (Smiles Softly) You're two aunties were gettin' a little emotional about you is all. ('Sniff') No worries.

Tails: ('Sighs a Bit in Relief') If you say so.

Coco: You know, I'm curious..... You guys have any more stories to tell about Tails when he was little?

Tails: (Starts Blushing a Little) I-I don't think that would be necessar-

Sally: (Smiles Excitedly) Oh my gosh! We have TONS of stories we would love to share with you today! (Turns to Bunnie) Right, Bunnie?

Bunnie: (Happily Nodded) Oh absolutely! (Places a Family Photo Book Down on the Table) This here beauty has a lot cute and wonderful memories that I don't even know where to where begin.

Tails: (Eyes Widened in Complete Shock) You've been carrying that book with you this entire time!?

Sally: (Happily Nodded) Of course! We've been wanting on showing you and Coco these photos ever since you came here. We were going to wait tell got back to Bunnie's house to show, buuut.... since the book is already out and about.....

Coco: (Excitedly Turns Back to Tails) Ooh! Can we see them together, Tails!?

Sally/Bunnie/Coco: Pleeeeeeeease?~ (Gives Tails Each Sad Puppy Dog Eyes)

Tails: (Stares at His Aunts and Coco For a Brief Second Before Sighing in Utter Defeat) Fiiiine....We can see the family photo book together. (Turns Sally and Bunnie) Just don't show anything too embarrassing, okay? A-And don't even think about telling Amy or Wave about this, alright!?

Sally: (Smiles Brightly) We won't, sweetheart!~ Thank you!~

Bunnie: (Smiles Brightly) You have no idea how happy you've made us, sugah cubes!~

Coco: (Smiles Brightly at her Best Friend While Hugging his Arm) It'll be a lot fun, bud. You'll see.

Tails: (Starts Rolling his Eyes) For you guys maybe.... (Smiles a Little) But I'll try being a little optimistic about it. (No matter how embarrassingly dreadful this might get.....)

Happy Mother's (or Auntie's) Day Everyone!

@keyenuta

@caleb13frede

@26shann

@cyber-wildcat

@ma-lemons

@albion-93

@sonicsflowers

[anotherhamiltonblog]

Confessions

Thomas Jefferson x Reader

Warnings: Drinking, cursing, Fluff Word Count: 1.4k Request: @namethathasnotbeentaken​ with  “how much did you drink?” from the fluff prompt list with Jefferson.

Thank you for the request lovely girl!!!! <3

Going out with friends was Always a good thing, For Y/N it meant getting almost shitfaced after a few hours of bar hopping. Lafayette and Hercules standing on either side of Y/N, she was happily laughing and telling them about how cute little Peggy rushed into the wrong class that morning.

“She came in… yelling about how she was sorry for being late. Calling the professor, the wrong name and by the time she realized where she was, poor thing ran out.” Y/N laughed at the memory of her dear friend and roommate.

“Where is she?” Hercules asked, the three entering the next bar and instantly finding a seat.

Pouting, Y/N laid her chin on the palm of her hand as her elbow rested on top of the table.

“Out… With James Madison and Jefferson probably…”

Lafayette raised an eyebrow at the girl before grinned. “Mon amis… why do you say… Jefferson in such a sweet way?” he wiggled his eyebrows and Y/N narrowed her eyes.

“I didn’t say his name in anyway you curly fry,” she stuck her tongue out at him before thanking Hercules who came back with their drinks. “Wasn’t Alexander and John supposed to meet us?” Y/N looked around. Finally noticing that the other two members of their group wasn’t with them.

Lafayette and Hercules also looked around. “Well, they were supposed to meet us two bars back. Guess they forgot about us.” Herc laughed and Y/N shrugged before picking up her drink, eyeing it.

“What the fuck is this?” she asked her large friend and frowned.

“It’s a Magenta Margarita!” Hercules grinned, Lafayette trying to hide his laughter. “You know, so you can think about Jefferson and those ridiculous clothes he loves wearing to mock court.”

Y/N only glared at them and knocked back the drink in a few gulps. “Fuck you two.” She pointed at them and went up to the bar. Asking for a double shot, Y/N hummed as she took it in one go and then asked for three beers.

“Put her tab on me.” A voice said behind her and Y/N stood up quickly.

‘Fuck… shit… MOTHER FUC-‘ but she was interrupted mid thought as a throat cleared behind her.

Turning slowly, Y/N had a fake smile plastered on her face. “Jefferson…” she looked him over and saw he was still in the suit he had worn for their court session earlier that day, the magenta tie loose around his neck.

‘god… to have that tie tied around my wrists by this man…’ blinking and turning to grab her drinks. She offered Thomas a smile.

“Thanks for the drinks, not all of us can afford to pay for other people’s drinks.” She winked at the ridiculously good-looking man. “Well… Lafayette can, but the asshole almost always forgets his wallet.” Y/N rolled her eyes and picked up the drinks.

With one last smile to the man, she walked off to the table with her friends who were doubled over in laughter.

“I got you another Magenta Margarita.” Hercules said innocently and Y/N had half a thought to throw the drink in the mans face. Instead she picked it up and took a small sip from it.

“You know, this is actually really good.” Y/N grinned at the two, who smiled back.

As two hours went by, beers kept rolling to their table, Lafayette leaning back against his chair. “I think…. I think you should go and thank Jeffersooon for us!” he slurred, and Y/N thought abut it only to tap her hand on top of the table.

“I SHOULD!” she agreed and got up. Swaying for a second, she made way over to where the man was sitting with Aaron Burr and paperwork between them.

Raising an eyebrow, she sat down at their table and smiled at the two men. Though her eyes were mostly on Thomas.

“You are the sweetest!” she hummed and leaned forward.

Thomas couldn’t help but laugh softly. “Is that so?” he asked and leaned forward as well, ignoring Aaron who got up.

“I’m going to go get a drink before I throw up.”

But neither Y/N nor Thomas paid him any mind.

“Mmm… It is so! You didn’t have to buy our drinks!” she gushed and pursed her lips together.

Watching as Thomas moved to sit next to her, Y/N felt her face heat up. “Well doll face. I did it for you. Not so much those friends of yours. But I was feeling nice.”

“Gosh… I really want to kiss you now... Heck I wanna kiss you all the time.” Y/N said, not realizing she said those words out loud and not in her head.

“how much did you drink?” Thomas chuckled and glanced over her face to see if she was ok.

“I think… I had too much to drink.” Y/N squeezed her eyes shut and moved to stand, swaying again from standing too quickly.

Putting his things away, Aaron had come back and gathered his own things. The two shared a look, a look that went unnoticed by Y/N who was looking through her purse for her phone.

“Come on, I’ll walk you back to the dorms.” Thomas offered his arm to Y/N who happily took it and she waved to her friends who waved back.

Walking outside, Y/N gave a slight shiver when cold wind blew and hit her and her bare arms and legs. She had the warmth of Lafayette’s coat earlier and now she didn’t. Yet when she felt something drape over her shoulders, Y/N couldn’t help but giggle when she saw Thomas’ coat jacket wrapped around her.

Putting the coat on properly, so it wasn’t just hanging over her shoulders. Y/N held onto Thomas’ arm as they walked. Y/N trying her best to not show that she had a little two much to drink. Kept almost tripping over her own feet. Thankfully Thomas steadied her each time with a chuckle.

“Have you ever been to Paris?” Y/N asked, looking up at the night sky. Only to let out a snort and roll her eyes. “What am I even asking? You’re a Jefferson, of course you have. You probably stayed at your home there, sitting on the balcony overlooking the French countryside, drinking Fifteen-Thousand-dollar wine with those stupid Seven-foot Krazy straws…” she smirked and glanced at the man. “How right am I?” she wiggled her eyebrows.

Thomas just laughed, “Uh, well I stayed at a hotel with an Eiffel Tower view drinking expensive wine… not fifteen-thousand-dollar expensive… but close.” He grinned. “Though… there was no seven-foot krazy straw. Sorry little miss Senõrita.” He winked.

Laughing, the two fell silent as they walked. Y/N humming some song stuck in her head.

“I love it when you call me Senõrita.. I wish I could pretend I didn’t need ya.. but every touch is Ooh-la-la-la… it’s true la-la-la. Ooh, I should be runnin’ ooh, you keep me coming for ya.” Y/N sang and swayed her hips slightly.  

Thomas just smiled watching her. Sadly, they arrived at the dorm rooms and he walked Y/N up to her door. Bending down and kissing her cheek. He said a soft goodnight and Y/N pouted.

“Sorry doll face. You are in no position to be kissing me when you’ve spent the night drinking.” He grinned and eyes widened when Y/N asked him to just lay with her then.

“Fine… but no funny business missy.” He shook his head and went into her room. Closing the door behind them, Thomas kicked off his shoes and watched as Y/N grabbed pajamas and threw a pair of large sweatpants and shirt at Thomas.

“Those are my older brothers… but they should fit you!” She smiled and walked out to head to the shared bathroom on her floor.

Once her face was makeup free, pajamas on and teeth brushed. Y/N returned to her room and closed the door, making sure it was locked before heading to her bed and laid down. Patting the side next to her for Thomas, she smiled happily. The two agreeing on a movie and half an hour in, both were fast asleep.

With his arm around her, Y/N had her head on his chest near his left shoulder, she laid on her stomach and an arm draped over his middle. The blanket was pulled over them and Y/N had the best sleep she’s had in a while.

[pynkhues]

Hi, I’m curious what your thoughts are on what Manny and Adelfa posted just because of what you tagged on that post about his hands. I agree with both of them. I think that they’re probably right about the majority of the people caught up in this boycott of the film haven’t actually seen it and I agree that cancel culture is awful. Side note you are my favourite author in the GG fandom, I stay up so late reading and re reading all your fic. Next one I’m most excited about is the parents group AU

Hi! And oh gosh, thank you, anon! Your side note made me grin so much. I say it a lot, but I really do mean it when I say that people re-reading my fics is something that makes me the happiest. We live in a world with SO MUCH content! The fact that you’d choose to come back and repeat an experience of mine is just extremely magic. I’ve been loving writing the parents group AU too, so fingers crossed I pull it together enough to actually post soon too! 

And okay! 

Onto your question!

Honestly, I have really mixed feelings on Manny and Adelfa’s posts, and I also have very mixed feelings on the movie Cuties, which their posts were about. And I say that as someone who’s watched it! I saw it last week actually because - - I mean, I watch a lot of movies generally, as I think people here probably know at this point, haha, but also I try to watch most things that are available with a woman director to, y’know, rep, haha. 

But yes! Let’s break my mixed feelings down!

Manny & Adelfa’s posts and ‘Cancel Culture’

SO, for those who haven’t seen it, Manny and Adelfa both made Instagram posts on a French film, Cuties, yesterday, which is a movie that’s currently at the centre of a pretty heated controversy. I’ll get to Cuties specifically later on, and what I think about their posts as they relate to the movie, but for now, let’s just talk about their comments specifically:

Here’s Manny’s post:

And Adelfa’s:

So just to get something quickly off my chest: 

Cancel culture does not exist.

Name one person who, or one piece of content that has been successfully ‘cancelled’ entirely. You can’t! Woody Allen’s still making movies! Louis CK is touring again! Hell, there are still people out there devoted to protecting the legacies of men like Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein, despite their crimes and their convictions. 

The idea that something or someone can be universally decided against is fundamentally false.

That said, I do think outrage culture is alive and well.

When you boil that down to it’s most basic tenets - namely calling something harmful out - I think that can be great! I think that it can highlight issues or focus public cultural conversations. 

I just also think outrage culture as it actually exists can form a sort of echo chamber where people become so fixated on what someone or something gets wrong, or the optics of something, that the content itself is removed from it’s context, and the whole thing actually falls by the wayside. It’s usually doubled down on by the people making an argument surrounding themselves with people who agree with them, and not truly engaging in a meaningful way with other opinions, and frequently those other opinions go on to do the same. It results in a lot of discourse, but not a lot of actual conversation or engagement. 

In that sense, I do agree with what Manny and Adelfa are saying here. I think people should experience content in context before forming an opinion. I think people should think crtically about that content, about the arguments for and against aspects of that content, and ultimately make up their own minds on it. 

That said, this particular conversation - and this particular film - isn’t as black and white as these two posts imply that it is.

A personal aside

Speaking of context, before we talk about Cuties, I should clarify that I work as a freelance writer in a range of fields, but about four years ago, I (very accidentally haha) fell into the world of child safety, and since then have worked extensively as a policy and procedure writer in the field across government, clubs, theatre and TV.

A lot of this involves research, conversation, case studies, workshops, deep dives, etc, so that I can be pretty informed on the ways children can be exploited and hopefully write good procedures and tackle risks to children in proactive ways.

As I’m sure you can imagine, that means it can also often be harrowing work, and it also means that I know a lot about what some adults do to children, and with content of children, so that really does inform my feelings about this topic overall. 

Cuties

Which brings us to Cuties.

The premise of the film is both simple and compelling. An 11-year old girl chafes against her family’s conservative, muslim culture, and gravitates towards a group of girls who seem to be taking ownership of their bodies. The girls wear revealing clothes and dance provocatively and try to take photos of boys at the urinals. They’re also a tight-knit group that symbolise a type of acceptance for our protagonist, Amy. Together, they form a proper dance troupe, enter a competition, and - - well. They dance.

It’s a coming of age story that looks at the way girls are constantly exposed to hypersexualised images, and how that can in turn compound in a way that leaves vulnerable young girls in dangerous situations.

There was a lot I really liked about Cuties. I thought the performances of the girls were terrific, I thought Maïmouna Doucouré’s script was pretty well paced and that she landed most of the tonal and emotional beats of the film. There was a great energy to the movie overall, interesting relationhships - both to others and the self - and I think that Doucouré had something to say. 

That said, I don’t think the outrage is wrong.

The girls in the dance troupe are supposed to be 11, the actresses ranging in age from 12-14. There are repeated, long, gratuitous crotch shots, ass shots, images of girls with their fingers in their mouths, gyrating against the floor. You see them in nothing but their training bras as they get changed, you see them flash their underwear while they try to do the splits, while they’re pantsed. When the lead kicks her new, grown up undies off to take a photo of her vagina.

Some of these shots are even in slow-mo.

At the end of the day Doucouré wanted to make a movie about the exploitation and sexualisation of children, and she did. But she also made a movie that ultimately became a part of the problem, because the content of the film itself exploits and sexualises the bodies of children. 

What are you getting at, Sophie?

Right, sorry, haha. 

What I’m saying is that Cuties is both a film that, to me, has artistic merit, and is fundamentally problematic. I think Doucouré has something to say about these issues, about the sexualisation of girlhood, about the essential lie of empowerment via male gaze, but I also think she creates a product that intrinsically enables the exact thing she’s trying to commentate against. 

There are ways to tell stories about these things without - - y’know - - showing the thing. 

Ultimately though, this is a really complicated conversation about a lot of different issues, because in a case like this it’s about child exploitation and paedophilia (because having worked in this field now for years, I can guarantee you that clips of this film are on child pornography websites), how, when and if we should censor art - and what it means when we do - and how we conduct complex conversations like this in public forums.

It’s something that requires a lot of nuance, which just generally doesn’t seem to be happening.

Instead it’s basically manifested in this outrage that’s unfair to the film that Doucouré’s made, but at the same time, resulted in responses like Manny and Adelfa’s that go too far the other way too, and that end up placing the art above the issue, meaning they minimise the exploitation of children’s bodies for art, in a way that’s unfair too.

Art, after all, doesn’t exist in a vacuum.

It’s in response to, and responded to, broadly.

On cultural, social, political and personal levels.

And to be fair to Doucouré, she does seem to have made it in response to her own experiences, but in doing so, she has created something that puts five little girls in vulnerable positions, because at the end of the day, she cast real children, shot them in a way that was sexualised, and - - 

Well.

Nobody gets to choose their audience.

Pretending that everyone who watches this film will be, as Adelfa says in her post, ‘uncomfortable’ by the exploitative shots of these girls is false. There are plenty of people who won’t be, and a number who will be the exact opposite of uncomfortable. Netflix absolutely pandered to that audience specifically with the way they initially promoted the film too - Manny and Adelfa were right on that front - but, again, ignoring the fact that these are real little girls’ bodies on screen is not something I personally feel we should be doing either, because they’re the ones who will be dealing with the ramifications of this for years to come.

It’s a massive topic, honestly, and it’s one I don’t think the team behind Cuties was prepared for (at least not in terms of the scope). 

Anyway! This got long, haha. Basically I don’t disagree with Manny and Adelfa’s posts, but I think they also gloss over the fact that the debate that’s happening right now is about more than just a viewer’s comfort, but about the very real bodies of child actresses on camera, and the ethical lines of art.

I’d love to know other people’s thoughts too! Like I said, it’s a very complex conversation. 

[sorry-apsalar]

I Thought What We Had Was Special

Bender had been in plenty of romantic relationships in the past but it had always been more of lust thing than whatever it was he had with Fry. What he had with Fry was special; he cared about him in a way he never had any of his prior partners. There was probably a word for it but he didn’t care to dwell it on much because he didn’t care to dwell on such things in general. Besides, they were both happy so why did it matter?

But despite that, they hadn’t been officially dating for much more than a month before Bender cheated on him. Why he’d done it, he couldn’t say because he certainly wasn’t tired of Fry in any way, in fact he was happier than ever with him. Cheating was just something he’d always done so… he’d done it again. With a lady-bot; they flirted with each other at the bar for a bit before going back to her place for a quick fuck. He was a bit late returning home but Fry accepted his excuse, no questions asked and seemingly not the slightest bit suspicious. So really, it wasn’t a big deal. As long as Fry never found out – which he wouldn’t because he was too stupid and trusting to ever figure it out for sure even if he ever did start to suspect something – it wouldn’t matter.

So, of course, he ended up doing it again a few weeks later with a different bot, it was even a proper date at a fancy restaurant this time, making it worse. Fry would never know though so it was fine. Things were going very well up until…

“Bender!”

He snapped around to see Leela glaring at him. “What do you think you’re doing?” Oh boy, she was mad. Madder than she should be because it’s not like he was cheating on her.

“Uh… just chatting with an old pal of mine,” he replied with a forced grin, glancing back at his date – a smithing bot named Melter who suddenly looked a lot more uncomfortable. “We used to work in the same factory and were just catching up.” Which was true so technically Bender couldn’t be called on an actual lie, he was just leaving out the fact that they were on a date.

Unfortunately, Leela wasn’t fooled. “You ought to be ashamed of yourself. How do you think Fry would feel if you knew about this?” Oof, she just had to bring that up, didn’t she?

“Welp,” Melter said with a grimace as they stood up. “I think I’ll be going now.” They were fleeing the scene before they were even finished speaking.

“Now look what you’ve done.” Bender glared up at Leela. “I had a fun evening planned and you ruined it.”

“Well too bad, you shouldn’t be cheating.” Fair point but…

“Why are you even here?” It was a nice restaurant, pretty much the only people who came here were couples and the occasional poly group. The kind of place Fry would never go without Bender and thus it should’ve been safe.

Still glaring at him, Leela sat in the seat Melter had just vacated. “If you must know, I have a date here in…” she glanced at her watch, “like half an hour. I arrived early because I’m kind of nervous actually. But anyway…”

“Ooh,” Bender interrupted, “you got yourself another boyfriend? How long do you think this one will last? My bet’s on no more than two dates.” That would hopefully get her talking about not Fry and the fact that Bender was cheating on him.

She glared at him. “I thought you and Fry were happy together, that… that… you’d found someone you actually wanted to be with as more than just a short fling like all your other romances. I know Fry’s head over heels in love with you.” Oh gosh, did she have to use the ‘l’ word, really? It’s like she was trying to make Bender feel bad. … Which well, she was, wasn’t she? And it was working. “But here you are doing this! How could you? And how long has this been going on? From the start?”

“No! This is only the second time I’ve done this. I’m still plenty happy with Fry, I just want some variety every now and then. He doesn’t know though so it’s fine. And as long as he doesn’t know, it won’t hurt him so you better not tell.”

Leela frowned at him even harder before sighing. “Fine, I won’t tell but only if you promise to never to cheat on him again, okay?”

“Okay, all right, I won’t do it again, I promise.” Not where she was likely to see anyway.

“Good, now if you’ll excuse me, I have a date to get ready for.”

 -

Upon returning home a short time later, Fry greeted him with a large grin and a hug because he was a touchy-feely kind of guy. It was sappy but he was warm and squishy in Bender’s arm and his lips were soft when they shared a brief kiss before separating.

“I missed you,” Fry said, still grinning.

“I wasn’t gone that long.”

“I know but… I get lonely sometimes when there’s no one around to talk to and stuff. But you’re home now so everything’s better.” Ugh, he was too sweet and cute for his good.

“Pansy.”

“Yeah, I know.” Fry shrugged, unphased by the insult. “But let’s watch some TV before going to bed. If we’re lucky, something good might even be on.” There probably wasn’t but watching TV before heading to bed had been part of their routine since long before they started dating. New to their routine since then though was the cuddling because Fry was a cuddler, the fact that Bender was made of metal never seemed to bother him. And even if Bender would never admit it out loud, he enjoyed it too and thus was more than willing to put up with it.

Tonight though, as Fry inevitably ended up leaning into him, Bender was almost tempted to push him away. Not because he didn’t want to cuddle but because… Fry deserved better than to be cheated on and if Leela hadn’t caught him that’s exactly what Bender would still be doing right now. … Fine, Bender would keep that promise to Leela. Not because he cared what she thought of him and his actions but because Fry deserved better. Bender could be a slightly better person for him.

…

Not even quite a full month later, Bender cheated again. How was he supposed to say ‘no’ when a sexy man-bot approached him and started flirting? Just once more couldn’t hurt, it’s not like Fry would ever find out, right?

***

“See I told you he’d do it again,” Amy whispered as they watched Bender leaving the club with his new companion.

Leela couldn’t help but let out a heavy sigh. “Yeah, I know you did and you were right.” She hadn’t wanted to believe it though, mostly for Fry’s sake. “And I was about to suggest we stop following him around too.” Keeping an eye on him had been Amy’s idea after Leela had told her about what she’d caught Bender doing and the promise she’d extracted from him about it. She’d been hoping Amy was just be pessimistic but nope, Bender was just a terrible person.

“We have to tell Fry. He deserves to know even if he shouldn’t be surprised, it is Bender after all. Seriously, what was Fry thinking? What does he even see in Bender? I mean he’s fun to have around sometimes but… why would anyone who knows him want to date him?”

Leela didn’t really get it either but… “That’s not for us to understand. But you’re right, we need to tell him Bender’s cheating on him. Let me handle that.” As much as she dreaded such an uncomfortable conversation, Amy had a tendency to be blunt in a way that wouldn’t be helpful in such situations.

***

“Fry, we need to talk,” Leela said almost as soon as Bender had left the cockpit – after much complaining of course – to deal with delivering the package alone because he was the only one who could set foot on the planet’s surface without combusting.

Fry swiveled his chair to face her. “About what?”

“Bender. He’s uh…. cheating on you.”

“What? No way.” Fry scoffed, expecting her serious look to go away but… it didn’t.

“I’m serious.”

“But… he wouldn’t do that to me. I know he's not the best person morally speaking and can be pretty selfish at times and has cheated on his partners in the past, but what we have is special.” Or at least felt special to Fry. … What if that was just him though? No, couldn’t be, right? “So… there’s no way he’s cheating on me.”

“I’m sorry but he is. I caught him at it twice. The first time I made him promise not to do it again but I saw him again last night at the club with Amy. I didn’t confront him this time but there was no doubt he was flirting with someone else. He even went home with them.”

Fry took a breath to voice a protest but… Leela wouldn’t lie to him about this. When not counting Bender, she was his best friend and she’d nothing but supportive since Fry and Bender had started dating, heck she’d been the one to tell him to make a move on Bender. So she had zero reason to try to break them up or make them upset with each other. Meaning she had to be telling the truth. But… “Maybe you’re misinterpreting things? Like uh… maybe he was just hanging out with his cousin or something?” Did robots even have cousins?

“I wouldn’t be telling you if I wasn’t absolutely sure.” She could still be wrong though, right? Even if it was unlikely because she was smart and thus was right about things most of the time.

“Well… I uh… I’ll talk to him about it later today. And then I’m sure he’ll offer an explanation.” Because what they had was special, Bender wouldn’t be that awful to him.

“Okay then. If things go poorly and you need a place to stay tonight, my couch is available.” Well, she certainly was a pessimistic. It was nice of her to offer though even if it wouldn’t be needed.

 -

Fry wanted to wait to bring it up until they got home to give himself more time to think about it in general as well as how he wanted to broach the topic, and to ensure it would be a private conversation. But after they returned to the Planet Express building, they sort of ended up alone in the break room together. Nothing unusual, that’s often where they went upon returning from a mission, to laze around and watch TV, avoiding any further responsibility for the rest of the day until it was time to go home and watch TV there instead. But what was odd was the look Bender gave him after closing the door instead of heading the couch.

“What’s bothering you meatbag?” Oh no, he knew something was wrong. Though that wasn’t really surprising, Fry wasn’t great at pretending everything was okay and had kind of not been talking much the past couple hours since Leela had told him the news. Which, even if it couldn’t be true, still was something to worry about until he knew for absolute certain.

And as bad as he was at acting, he was even worse with words so… “Uh…” he looked away, burying his hands in his jacket pockets. Beating around the bush or trying to bring it up subtly would probably just leave him stumbling over his words and saying ‘nothing’ wasn’t an option, leaving him with only one way to say it. Taking a deep breath, he looked back up at Bender. “Leela told me that you’re cheating on me.”

It might’ve just been Fry’s imagination, wanting to believe the worst, but Bender seemed to flinch which… basically confirmed it, didn’t it? “Did she now?” No immediate denial or explanation either, huh?

“Yep, she told me she caught you twice. The first time, she made you promise to stop but then saw you doing it again last night.” And come to think of it, Bender had returned home really late last night. Fry hadn’t thought much of it; while they did most things together since they were dating, roommates, and worked the same job, they each still occasionally went out and did their own things. … Bender had always had more of his own things to do than Fry. Had he started going out on his own more since they’d started dating? Maybe a little? It was hard to tell though, Fry had never paid much attention to such things. Maybe he should’ve though.

Bender was silent as he looked away. If he really had been unfaithful – which while Fry still wanted to believe the best of him, that was starting to grow hard – all he had to do was admit it and apologize and Fry would forgive him. Maybe that would be being too easy on him but as long as he never did it again, it wouldn’t be that big a deal as far as Fry was concerned. What they had was special, Bender had to see that and thus see the error of his ways now that he was being called out, right? … … …

“She’s lying,” Bender finally said in a forced flippant tone. “You know I wouldn’t do that to you.” He was a decent liar and it probably would’ve fooled someone who didn’t know him well but Fry knew him probably better than he’d ever known anyone before and thus it didn’t fool him even if he wanted it to. If Bender had been telling the truth he would’ve been more openly offended by the accusation instead of obviously trying to act like he wasn’t. And the hesitation before replying, there was no doubt he’d been cheating and apparently didn’t care to even admit to it and apologize. “That fact that she’d even suggest such a thing…”

“You’re lying,” Fry interrupted.

Another small flinch, no doubt about it this time even if he did recover quickly, putting on an angry expression. “So you believe her over me, your boyfriend and best friend? I thought you trusted me more than that but I guess I was wrong.” He crossed his arms and turned away with an offended air as if he had any right to be upset here.

“I do trust you and I want to believe you but… you’ve made that really hard. And I… I just can’t. I thought what we had was special but I guess it isn’t to you.” Before the tears threatening to well up in his eyes could betray just how hurt he was, he turned and left, slamming the door behind him.

***

Bender flinched again, more at Fry’s words than at the sound of the door slamming. “It is special,” he mumbled to himself as he turned to look at the now closed door. “Or… was.”

Fry was dumb but… not even he was that dumb, huh? Bender shouldn’t have expected any different. What was he supposed to have done though? Admit to it? No way. He should’ve been prepared for the question as soon as he realized Fry was upset about something – because really what else could’ve it have been with him having only been alone with Leela, the only other person who knew he was cheating? – and denied it immediately, pretend it was preposterous idea.

But nope, he’d hesitated and had even considered coming clean about it because whenever he really thought about it, he felt bad like some kind of idiot with morals. He should be able to do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted but somehow he’d ended up caring about Fry enough that doing things that hurt him in any significant way made Bender feel bad and guilty. And now horrible because he’d fucked up and Fry knew and there was no taking that back.

It was all Leela’s fault for tattling on him. If she’d just kept her dumb mouth shut, everything would still be fine, he’d only have to feel guilty over being unfaithful to Fry when he returned home afterwards. But no, she’d just had to tell him, not only hurting him but also ruining everything.

But maybe him and Fry weren’t completely over. They’d had fights in the past, majority of them Bender’s fault – though he’d never admit to that out loud – and Fry had always forgiven him eventually. Yeah sure, they hadn’t had a big fight since they’d started dating, only a few mild arguments over things of little consequence, but the principle still applied, right? Fry would get over it eventually and then everything would go back to how it was before. Bender just had to put up with his ire for however long it took him to get over it. Which would be punishment enough for his mistake and then he’d never do it again so everything would be fine in the end.

***

The look on Fry’s face as he approached Leela in the locker room as she was getting ready to head home said it all. She’d never seen him so miserable before, he even looked like he’d been crying not long ago. If Bender weren’t a robot, she’d kick him in the groin for being such an awful jerk.

“You were right,” he said as he stood next to her, hands in his pockets as he stared dejectedly at the floor. “Bender was cheating on me. What we had wasn’t special after all, I was just a fool.”

Comforting people wasn’t really Leela’s thing but she’d certainly had boyfriends that cheated on her before so she knew what that was like, the first time was always the worst. So taking a deep breath, she closed her locker and turned to face him. “No, it was special because it was special to you and you’re not a fool. Bender’s the one who’s a fool for not seeing what he had in you.”

Fry shrugged. “So uh… your couch still available? I don’t really want to go home tonight because Bender’s going to be there and I’d rather not see him and the apartment’s too small to really avoid him.”

“Yeah, it’s still free. I was about to head home so if you’re ready to leave we can go now. And uh… here you can carry Nibbler, he’ll make you feel better.” She bent down to scoop him up off the floor and put him into Fry’s arms after pulling off his harness and leash. He needed the exercise but Fry probably needed the comfort more right now.

“Uh… hmmm, I guess he does make me feel a bit bitter, thanks.”

 -

As soon as they reached Leela’s apartment, Fry flopped onto the couch. He didn’t even turn on the TV, he just slipped his shoes off and lay himself out on it, placing Nibbler on his chest to pet as he stared up at the ceiling; the exact dejected image of someone who’d just had their heart broken via finding out their partner was cheating on them. Nibbler seemed okay with it so with a sigh, Leela left them to it. Hopefully she wouldn’t regret inviting Fry to crash on her couch for a while.

She wasn’t even quite two steps into the kitchen before her cell phone rang. Pulling it out her pocket she was not at all surprised to see it was Bender calling. She had some things she wanted to tell him anyway so she might as well answer it.

“You’re a jerk,” she said before Bender could start whatever he wanted to say.

“No! You’re the jerk. Why’d you have to tell him? He would’ve never found out if you hadn’t ratted me out.”

“True and that just makes it worse. And don’t try saying I shouldn’t have told him or anything because he has a right to know. I told you if I caught you cheating again, I’d tell him so you have no one but yourself to blame. And now he’s hurt and upset and it’s all your fault so I hope you’re proud of yourself for that jerk bag.” She didn’t wait for a reply before hanging up because she wasn’t in the mood for him right now.

Immediately her phone starting ringing again. She declined and silenced it before slipping it back into her pocket. Later she’d call the rest of the Planet Express crew to let them know they needed to shun Bender for being a jerk to Fry until he apologized, assuming Bender even knew how to apologize.

***

Everyone at Planet Express was mad at Bender. Which made sense, he had been the one who’d done wrong so of course they sided with Fry. But it was still no fair because it was none of any of their business. And to make it worse, the way they all chose to express their anger was the cold shoulder, the worst kind of anger because it meant everyone went out of their way to not pay attention to him even when he was purposefully being obnoxious. Even Professor Farnsworth ignored him more often than not because everyone else was and Leela had told him to. Not even Zoidberg wanted to talk to him anymore.

Even when he skipped going into work, no one called him up to ask why he hadn’t come or demand he do so. He would’ve stopped going to work entirely if it wasn’t for the fact that at work was the only place he could see Fry because he apparently lived on Leela’s couch now. Which was… whatever, he just needed some space, he’d get over it eventually and come back to Bender. And then everyone else would forgive Bender too and pay attention to him again.

Except even after more than a month had gone by, Fry still showed no signs of being over it. He never talked to Bender and sometimes even left the room when Bender entered. Nothing worked to get his attention: ignoring him completely, passive-aggressively faking happiness whenever he was around, and being miserable all failed to provoke much of a response from him. Even when Bender let himself run so low on fuel, he was barely functional, Fry didn’t seem to care much.

What if… he never got over it? What if Bender had fucked up so badly this time, there was no coming back from it? What if he’d ruined everything forever? … What would he even do with himself without Fry and Planet Express? Before meeting Fry all he knew was bending girders which he’d already firmly decided he’d rather die than spend his life doing that. Going back to the suicide booth and going through with it this time was an option, not one he really wanted to take though especially when there was a potential option to fix things. He hated the idea of it and would rather not but he hated that he’d hurt Fry and that Fry was now no longer even talking to him let alone anything else even more. It might not work but it was probably worth a try since waiting out Fry’s anger didn’t seem like it was going to happen this time.

So having reached a decision and before he could change his mind, he sent a text to Fry’s cellphone. ‘We need to talk. Meet at home after work?’

Two minutes and thirty-five seconds shy of exactly three hours passed before Fry finally sent a reply. ‘k’ That was it? Not much to go on to guess his thoughts or feelings on this meeting. Though to be fair, Bender’s message hadn’t exactly given much information either. Ugh, this whole emotions and caring about people thing really sucked sometimes.

He opened his eyes to survey the room, the closet technically but since Fry had moved in, it had become the living area and Bender had spent far more time in here than the front. It was a mess of course. Maybe Bender should clean it up a little since that’s what humans did when in this kind of situation, right? Cleaning up garnered some good will with them. … They also gifted dead plants sometimes too, didn’t they? What kind though? … He’d never paid close enough attention to remember. … If he was dating a human, he should probably make an effort to learn at least a little about their customs and stuff, huh? … Hmm, that was something he’d worry about later. First, he had to do something about the fuck up he’d landed himself in.

 -

Fry showed up a handful of minutes after Bender had finished clearing out the worst of the mess. “You uh… cleaned, that’s new,” he said, closing the door as he glanced around the room.

“And I got you these,” Bender said, holding out his handful of plants that he’d stolen from the gardening bot a few doors down.

Fry gave it skeptical look but accepted it. “Carrots and… an onion? Thanks, I guess.”

“Humans like that kind of thing, right? It’s viewed as a kind gesture to give someone a handful of plants.” One that would hopefully win him some forgiveness points.

“Well uh… actually you know what? I guess this is close enough, thanks.” Despite his words he didn’t seem to relax much. He didn’t even go over to sit on the couch, instead staying by the door as if he expected not to stay for long. Not a good sign. “What’s this about though? You said we needed to talk.”

“I did yes.” And now that Fry was here, he couldn’t take it back and… didn’t really want to even if he’d rather not do this. “Leela was telling the truth, I was cheating on you.”

Fry opened his mouth to say something but Bender immediately interrupted him. “Shut up. No talking until I’m done saying what I want to say because if you say something it’s just going to make me say something stupid in response and then we’ll be fighting again, so don’t, understood?”

Fry snapped his mouth closed and nodded. He even lifted his free hand to mime zipping his lips shut. He then gestured towards Bender; an invitation to continue.

Unable to hold his gaze or keep still while saying this, Bender looked away and started pacing, gesturing with his hands he spoke. “I cheated on you. I shouldn’t have and I feel bad about it. You were right when you said what we had was special because it was to me. I’ve never… felt like this about anyone before. And honestly it sucks a lot of time but… but… sometimes it’s really nice too. Like whenever I do something that makes you laugh or when we hang out watching TV and cuddling or whenever you tell me how great I am. But I fucked it all up like a moron. I don’t know why exactly I cheated, I just kind of did because that’s what I’ve always done in the past and… I don’t know. It was unfair to you and hurt you though so… I’m really, really sorry.” He stopped pacing, letting his arms droop towards the floor as he started down at it.

Behind him, Fry was silent for several horribly long seconds. “You really mean that?”

“Yes.”

“And you promise to never do it again?”

Bender turned around to see that Fry had stepped closer. “Assuming you’d ever have me back, I’d never do it again.” And he actually meant it this time because it wasn’t worth it and because Fry deserved better. Could he really hope that Fry would take him back though? It’s what he’d had him come here for but…

“Well uh…” Fry looked around before placing the plants Bender had given him into one his jacket pockets. He then extended that hand towards Bender. “Then I forgive you.”

“Really? Just like that?”

“Yep. All I wanted was you to admit it and apologize and promise to never do it again. So I’ll gladly have you back if you’ll have me.”

If it had been anyone other than himself, Bender would’ve thought Fry was dumb for being so forgiving. And maybe even now he still thought that because seriously, who forgave being cheated on with a just a simple apology and easily broken promise to never do it again? Only Fry probably because he’d always been too forgiving for his own good. This would be far from the first time Bender had taken advantage of that though so he wasn’t going to fight it, instead for once in his life he was going to try to be worthy of that easily gained forgiveness.

“All right, thanks,” he said. “So uh… all’s good between us again then?”

“Yes,” Fry said before stepping closer to hug him. It was a bit sudden but it was nice to hold him again after so long. He warm and soft, the way only living things could be. Sometimes Bender wished he could soft like that.

“I missed you,” he whispered, hating how emotional he sounded but it had been a long month of being shunned by everyone he’d ever cared about but especially Fry.

“I missed you too. And uh… I’d wanted to say this for a while but never found the right time to so uh while we’re being sappy and hugging and stuff; I love you.”

Ah yes, that was the word for how Bender felt too, huh? So while they were still being gross and sappy with each other, “I love you too.”

He held Fry for a few more precious seconds before they finally withdrew. “Don’t ever tell anyone about how sappy and stuff I’ve been tonight, okay? I have an image to maintain. If the other robots knew I was getting all emotional and lovey-dovey with a meatbag I’d never hear the end of it and they wouldn’t think I was cool anymore.”

“Okay. You’ll always be super cool to me no matter what though.” Fry smiled and looked at him with that expression of his that almost always melted Bender’s cold dead metaphorical mechanical heart.

“Good because I’m super cool. And I suppose you’re kind of cool sometimes too.”

“Thanks.” Fry gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Let’s watch some TV now though, huh? Tomorrow we can tell everyone that we made up.”

Bender wasn’t looking forward to that since it would undoubtedly involve admitting he’d earnestly acknowledged his wrong doing and apologized for it. That could wait for tomorrow though because… “Good idea, the new episode of All My Circuits should be starting soon.” And he’d finally get to watch it with Fry again, watching it just wasn’t the same without him.