#GEEZ SORRY THE HIATUS TOOK SO LONG

[ask-avb-au]

[labarboteuse]

Hair color

Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x f!pilot reader (call sign Daisy)

Summary: Is it reader's new hair color that pushes Jake to finally tell her that he is interested in her?

Warnings: None

Hello friends! Here I am again after a hiatus. I've lost a bit of inspiration and I'm searching for it again. This on is a try, and will try to post a story once a week or every two weeks. Sorry for the quality of this one, I'm not very happy with it..

Comfortably seated on one of the break room sofas, she was reading the latest novel on which she had set her heart on while waiting for her turn for the day's exercises. She saw movement around her out of the corner of her eye and heard a slumping sound on the couch opposite where Hangman had just dropped himself.

She felt his gaze on her and breathed out deeply before taking a quick look over the top of her book and seeing him sunken into the couch, one arm stretched over the top of the backrest, the other hand resting on his thigh, his leg bent, ankle on the knee. He was playing with a toothpick between his teeth, his legendary pain-in-the-ass smile on the corner of his lips. She returned her gaze to her book and said, "What?

"What? I'm not allowed to admire the painting?"

She raised her eyes and turned the page of her book.

"I wonder what made you do that." He said.

"Oh Geez." She slammed the book shut and stood up, having no desire to hear his opinion, which she didn't care about, but which he would feel compelled to give.

"Eh eh." He chuckled and stood up in turn to face her and stop her from going any further.

"Jake refrain from saying anything, no one cares what you think."

He chuckled and took her hand to pull her towards him when she tried to step around him and she instinctively took a step back. He raised his other hand and tucked her hair behind her ear in a more tender gesture than she would have expected from him.

"It looks good on you. It gives you a sexier, femme fatale feel."

She raised her eyes once more and tried to withdraw her hand of his by making a step backwards but he drew it again towards him more firmly, as to avoid entering in collision with his chest she put the palm of her free hand on this one. A cloud had formed in her brain and all her thoughts were swirling, one caught in the other, without ability to think clearly. What was happening?

"Come on sweet Daisy, why are you resisting? Any resistance only fuels this sexual tension between us, you know that."

For far too long the two pilots had known each other and hung around without anyone being able to clearly define the nature of their relationship. One day they seemed to be getting along fine and the next one they could barely stand each other's presence. They had graduated the same year and lost touch afterwards, each trying to take their careers to the next level, sometimes hearing about the other's accomplishments. Hangman and Daisy had become acquaintances who had just been graduated Top Gun at the same time, yet at that time they had constantly seemed like an old couple. And while they had lost touch, fate had brought them together for the most important mission of their careers. 

To say that they were not attracted to each other would have been a lie but they preferred to put all their energy into showing that they hated each other, they alone were still trying to convince themselves of this while everyone around them exasperated by their behavior were only waiting for one thing, that they finally end up having sex.

He slipped his second hand between her kidneys and a smirk stretched his lips which were only a few inches of hers and the tingling that she had so much been able to feel near him woke up in the bottom of her stomach.

"I have to admit, you used to have an effect on me, but this color... makes you look so much wilder."

"Jake shut up."

He was about to retort when their names were heard through the radio indicating to them to gain their respective planes for the exercise. Without undoing her glance of his she moved back and he let fall his hands slipping them in his pockets while following her out of the room and in the corridor.

"I've got your back dear Daisy." He said as he tilted his head to the side, his eyes resting on her ass. "As always." He added with a sly smirk as she rolled her eyes once again.

He may have been talking about her butt, but once they were in the air it couldn't have been more true. If there was one person Hangman never turned away from in flight, it was Daisy. And it was for this reason that everyone quickly realized that there was something between the two pilots. Even if no one could ever say what it was.

To her surprise, Jake didn't insist, no mockery, no reflections of any kind, just his usual haughty and overconfident air, even sometimes looking elsewhere. She didn't see him again all day, which annoyed her because she had been waiting for that. They had been circling each other years ago, they were still circling each other now, and even today she wasn't going to tell him clearly what she wanted from him, what she wanted from them. After all he obviously didn't intend to do it either, perhaps because in his case he only wanted to have fun? That's why she didn't say anything, their expectations were probably different. While she was ruminating lost in her reflections, she was drawn into a corner of the corridor that led her to the locker room, let out a cry of pure surprise that was muffled by a hand over her mouth. Her raised eyebrows frowned as she saw the blonde head standing proudly in front of her. Grabbing the hand over her mouth she abruptly withdrew it.

"What the hell are you doing Seresin?" She hissed.

"I needed a moment alone with my favorite rival."

"Oh the quota of time to be able to be alone with you has far exceeded today." She said dryly.

His sly smile stretched enough to reveal his white teeth that dressed up his perfect smile. As far as she could remember and no matter what the circumstances, she had never seen him not smile.

"It didn't seem to bother you earlier though."  Eyebrow raise number 764830862 which made him chuckle. "Stop acting like it really bothers you."

"What do you want? You have two minutes."

"You. And I'm afraid that's not enough."

He moved toward her, forcing her to back away and she bumped into the cold wall. As he had done earlier in the afternoon, he tucked her hair behind her ear and shivers ran down her spine. He leaned in to place a kiss on her neck and she closed her eyes, slipping a hand over her waist he pulled her against him and placed his lips on hers. He gave her the most tender kiss she'd probably ever had in her life and she didn't expect to receive from Jake Seresin. He was the kind of man who would put you up against the wall and give you the best sex you could get, taking away the use of your legs for a while. She opened her eyes again as he pulled away from her and placed his hand on the wall next to her head.

"As much fun as this game has been going on now, it's probably time to stop playing cat and mouse."

She looked at him puzzled, not understanding what he was getting at. Had he found more fun elsewhere? Had he grown bored and found a new prey?

"We lost touch the first time years ago.” He continued.  “I'm not letting you go without saying anything this time."

"Who are you and what have you done with that arrogant dickhead?"

He chuckled and took a few steps back, reaching out to offer her his hand to take.

"You're the only one I don't want to be that dickhead with anymore."

"But still arrogant?" She raised an eyebrow as she took his hand.

"You can't take away my best quality." He replied with his usual arrogant smile which had the merit of making her laugh. "Let me have your back dear Daisy.”

As he had always done, he had always looked out for her and he would continue to do so, a little closer from now on.

[yuzukimist]

Tagged by the amazing @ladykittenfair. Thank you so much! I love doing these. <3 (And sorry it took me so long lol)

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 143, apparently! Which is, uh. Wow. Although in fairness, some of those aren’t actually fics (just picture accompaniments to an older fic) and some of those fics are on hiatus. Still, I didn’t realize I had so many things posted lol.

2. What is your total AO3 word count? 832,822. And always growing, haha, especially since I’m going to be posting a lot of Whumptober content very soon. ;D

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they? Oh geez. A lot! I tend to dabble in whatever catches my interest. Let’s see…right now I write mostly for (in no particular order): Final Fantasy XV/Kingsglaive (and I’m loving every minute of it!), Batman (the Red Hood comics specifically, because I love Jason Todd), Owari no Seraph/Seraph of the End (although I will admit that I write for one pairing specifically and have not really been keeping up with the actual manga storyline), Chaos Legion (a really fun video game that no one but me even remembers but that’s okay because I love it enough for a hundred people lol), Cursed (the Netflix show), FFVII/Crisis Core/Dirge of Cerberus (although all I have posted is one OC fic that’s on hiatus, I have various other WIPs kicking around that I will get around to polishing up and posting. Hopefully. Eventually. Someday. ;D), Final Fantasy XII, Megaman X7/X8, Lord of the Rings, Naruto, Tales of the Abyss, the Originals, and a few others as inspiration strikes. My fanfiction career can basically be summed as me going “ooh shiny!” and then making that everyone else’s problem because I have ideas and a keyboard and very poor impulse control. ;D

4. What are your top five fics by kudos? Oh boy, let’s see. Counting just standalone fics and not anything that’s technically a drabble series (because otherwise I think my Nyx time travel series beats everything through cumulative kudos lol and that doesn’t seem fair to my other fics haha), I think my top five fics are actually all Batfam/Jason Todd fics! Which is kind of entertaining actually, considering how hyper-focused I’ve been on FFXV lately lol.

Anyway! Are We Living In The Darkness (Do We Listen To The Light) has the most kudos (~1874), while the sequel to it, Won’t Stay in the Shadows Now, comes in at second place (~1655). 3rd place goes So Hard to Find the Way Back Home (which is actually the 5th installment of my ongoing Jason Todd-centric Batfam series, A Motley Little Crew of Dysfunction). 4th place goes to the first Motley Little Crew of Dysfunction drabble, I Turn at Last to Paths That Lead Home. 5th place goes to When the World Says Give Up, Hope Says Try One More Time, which is the 3rd drabble in that same Batfam series.

Honorable mentions go to some of the other drabbles in the Motley Little Crew of Dysfunction series (2, 4, & 7), as well as my KagaTobi Naruto time travel fic, you’ve got ten more thousand miles to go (because you’re one of the living), and my most popular OnS fic, a 5+1 titled Five Times Shinya Suffered Through a Panic Attack Alone (and One Time Someone Showed Up to Help).

5) Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Oh man, I try to!!! I really love interacting with people who read my stories and forming those connections with other members of a fandom is always really great. That being said, I sometimes take reeaaallly long to reply (which I always feel guilty about lol) because I am just stupidly crazy busy these days. Like, I work one full-time job, do freelance writing on the side, and generally have two college classes going on at the same time, all while trying to stay on top of my household chores and do fic writing. So if I ever respond, like, 3 months late to someone and you’re like ??? that’s why lol. But everyone should definitely know that I absolutely adore feedback and every single comment I get makes me grin so wide my cheeks hurt. ;D

6) What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Uhhh…I don’t know if anything I’ve ever written has an angtsy ending??? I mean, normally if I’m writing a fic it’s because I want a happy ending lol, or at least a hopeful one. So while a lot of my fics can have a lot of angst in the main body of the work, the endings are generally not that bad. Like, I think my most commonly used tag is “Angst with a Happy Ending” haha. Maybe my Tales of the Abyss drabble Pâro qualifies because it’s sort of an angsty introspective piece? Idk. ;P

7) Do you ever write crossovers?

You know, I actually don’t think I ever have? Huh. They seem like fun, though, so maybe someday I will!

8) Have you ever received hate on a fic? Who hasn’t, lol. At this point I have enough self-confidence for it not to really get to me the way it used to so I generally just do my best to ignore it.

But! If someone is being *really* obnoxious I will absolutely return fire without hesitation lol. My eight+ years of working retail has also helped me to have a No Fucks To Give mentality when it comes to jerks so that probably contributes to my attitude haha.

That being said, it’s been a while since I got any hate on anything; the most aggravating hate I’ve ever gotten was way back when I was still actively posting on ffnet, and it was literally years ago now. Since moving over to ao3 I’ve had fewer problems by far, so that’s nice! Plus the fandoms I’m in right now are mostly full of very nice people, so that definitely helps. :D

9) Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Uhh, not really, no. I think the only actual smut piece I’ve ever written was a request for someone on ffnet way back when I was actively writing for the Originals fandom; I had a longtime reader following along with my hundred chapter OC-centric longfic and as a holiday gift I wrote them a smutty one-shot for a pairing they liked. Other than that I think any other love scenes I’ve written are done, like, fade-to-black style lol. Like, smut is just. Not really my area of expertise in any way, shape, or form lol.

10) Have you ever had a fic stolen? I think something of mine got stolen a couple years back when that one paid fanfic app was developed? I don’t even remember what the app was called lol but I remember me and my fandom friends all being Really Mad when we heard about how someone was snatching fics off of ao3 and then charging people to read them. It’s possible that other things of mine have been ripped off since then, but if so I haven’t found out about it yet; I know some writers do periodic searches to make sure their fics aren’t being posted other places without their consent, but I just don’t have time to do that lol.

11) Have you ever co-written a fic before? No, not yet! Regrettably my hectic schedule doesn’t really lend itself well to co-writing. My work hours combined with my other responsibilities mean I write kind of just whenever I can, and if I were to ever make a commitment to co-write with someone I’d like to be able to offer a little more consistency so I don’t accidentally let them down. I hear it’s a great experience, though, so maybe someday I’ll give it a whirl!

12) What’s your all-time favorite ship? Oh jeeeeez. I don’t think I have an all-time favorite ship lol. I kind of flip between OTPs depending on whatever my hyper-fixation is at the time ahaha. At this particular moment I’m super into Promptis (Prompto/Noctis, FFXV), GureShin (Guren/Shinya, OnS), and KagaTobi (Kagami/Tobirama, Naruto).

Other OTPs that I still like but am not currently obsessing over include Keith/Shiro (Voltron), Sterek (Stiles/Derek, Teen Wolf), and KakaObi (Kakashi/Obito, Naruto), Zack Fair/Aerith (their scenes in Crisis Core are The Cutest), Vincent/Veld (because of @ladykf-writes who writes them So Well) plus a bunch of others. Honestly, I’ll read just about any pairing if it’s written well. ;D

That being said, for most of my own fics I focus more on platonic relationships (I think good friendships are just as important as romances, if not more so), although I am unapologetically GureShin trash and also have an extreme fixation on Nyx Ulric/happiness. ;D

13) What was the first fandom you wrote for? Uhhh, I don’t know if I remember lol. I think the first thing I ever posted might have been a Stargate Atlantis OC fic but I think I wrote a few different Final Fantasy and Naruto things before that? Didn’t post them though, so maybe that doesn’t count? XD

14) What’s your favorite fic you’ve written? Ack, this is like asking to pick a favorite child lol. I love everything I’ve written for one reason or another. My Nyx time travel series is currently at the top of my list, I think, although another one I’m proud of is my Megaman X fic the past cannot be changed (the future is yet unwritten) because while I am writing in a small/mostly dead fandom it’s definitely a labor of love that I’ve put a lot of effort into and even though updates are really slow/sporadic right now I still have a lot of fun working on it. My LOTR and FFXII OC fics are very near and dear to my heart as well, because both feature pretty extensive world-building and that's something I love to do. That being said, some of my Whumptober2021 drabbles ended up being very shiny to my gremlin brain so I think they’re favorites at the moment too lol.

Now to tag some people! Let's see, uh...@phantomchick @gingersnapwolves @ocfairygodmother @darknightfrombeyond @whostarlockeda03 @garbria @ceruleanmusings @comebackolivia @yumearashi @wandererriha plus whoever else wants to! No pressure to do this, of course; if you don't feel like it, that's fine, too. <3<3<3

[kamilah-the-bloodqueen]

Remember Me (3/??)

So it’s been quite some time since I looked at this series, and I apologize for such a long hiatus but it’s back (Someone reached out to me asking when part 3 would be out so I moved it forward in my WIP queue! Basically Amy starts out with Adrian, and it’s perfect but one day Amy gets into a car accident and doesn’t come out the same. Her memories from the past 5 years of her life - and that includes all the events from BB1 (just roll with it). Just a FYI I will NOT be rewriting the first 2 parts, you’ll just have to deal with the shitty writing for the whole series. Honeymoon is the current WIP I’m working on, followed by a f!Blaine x MC angst one-shot, the cafe part 2 and then the first chapter of my university AU. Please be patient with me, I am under a lot of academic stress but I promise these will be finished. 

Pairing: Adrian x MC x Kamilah (It’s not romantic - just a description...for now)

Warnings: This series does include a serious injury, amnesia

Word Count: 2753 

Tags: (Since it’s been so long if you’d like to be removed just lmk - that being said if you’d like to be added to the tag please let me know) @a-raines @bloodboundstuff f @kamilahtopme

Part One    Part Two 

Amy’s eyes fluttered open, Adrian slouched in the chair beside her, sound asleep she sighed softly, her side sore and tighter than usual as she watched Adrian shift in his gentle slumber. Amy squinted as she tried to recall her memories, frowning as she attempted to make herself more comfortable in the bed. Adrian slowly moved, rubbing his eyes and smiling at Amy as he stood to make two cups of coffee.

“Good Morning Amy…” He spoke softly, lovingly. It almost felt familiar to Amy, something about the way he said it resonated with her. She flashed a smile at him, her eyes lighting up as he brought her a cup of coffee, perfectly made the way she always liked it. 

Adrian is very sweet, I could see how I would have fallen for him. His heart is made of gold, and he is the cinnamon roll that Lily said he was and...and I’m breaking his heart...me...Amy, just a regular girl...I’m breaking his heart because I don’t remember anything...oh...

Amy felt her heart break just a little - she couldn’t force herself to love Adrian and he certainly didn’t deserve this pain, but the spark between them was extinguished in that accident. Amy drew a deep breath, catching the scent of the cooled coffee cup in her hands, she shakily held it to her lips, spilling a small amount on her lap as Adrian rushed to grab napkins. He gently placed them down, patting the sheet dry as Amy felt her heart skip a beat. She let out a breath as Adrian sat down, slowly drinking his own coffee. 

“Thank you Adrian, you’re a good friend.” Amy spoke softly, barely a whisper as Adrian grinned, his eyes sparkling in the dimly lit room. He paused before sipping his coffee, his heart dropping as he replayed Amy’s words silently. 

Good friend. Good friend. Over and over again. Good friend. She doesn’t love me anymore, is there any chance she’ll come back to me? 

“Adrian? Are you alright?” Amy tapped him on the shoulder, a concerned look written on her face as Adrian nodded slowly. 

“Yes, my apologies, I just...need a moment. I’ll be right back.” Adrian stood quickly, nearly sprinting out the door as Amy tilted her head in confusion. Adrian shut the door, leaning his whole body against it as he let a tear fall from his eyes. He pulled his phone out, immediately opening his camera roll as he replayed forgotten memories- memories Amy had promised to never forget. He slid down the door, his legs losing strength as he dove deeper into the past she had forgotten. He pulled out a small package of tissues, quickly replacing them with his sleeves as tears flooded his face and the floor. He choked as he stumbled upon a picture of them together in the moonlight, Amy smiling on his back as he had carried her through Central Park that night. He watched videos of Amy dancing, singing and saying ‘I love you’ to him, all recent. He rested his head against the door, looking into the lights as he clenched his jaw, reaching into his pocket to pull out the engagement ring that had lost all of its purpose. 

“Amy...goddammit Amy...I should have been with you that night...I should have driven you myself.” He stood back up, adjusting his suit and tie and wiping his face clear, re-entering the room as Amy sat quietly, gazing out the window. 

“Is something wrong Adrian?” Amy turned to him with that always curious look in her eyes, he took a quiet seat next to her before smiling. 

“No, but I have something to tell you.” Amy pursed her lips as Adrian pulled the velvet box from his pocket, gently handing it to her and letting her open it. She gasped and closed the box before handing it back to Adrian as he smiled, a tear slowly flowing down his face. “I was going to propose to you that night…before the accident happened...” 

“Adrian…I...I’m sorry…” Amy interrupted, Adrian holding the box tightly as he forced a smile. 

“It’s okay Amy. It’s not your fault…” His voice was calming but Amy could sense the broken in him, she could see the heartbreak in his posture and his face. 

“I...I just don’t...I don’t feel that way anymore...I’m sorry…I...those memories...I don’t...” Amy cried softly, Adrian placing a gentle hand over hers as he closed the box, placing it back in his jacket. 

“Don’t worry about it, our relationship is probably one of the last of your worries. I just thought you should know. I am sorry if I crossed a line Amy...I...I love-” Adrian clenched his jaw, Amy brows furrowing as she averted his broken gaze, “I have to go to my office, but...I’ll be back to visit you either tonight or tomorrow. Get some rest Amy.” He stood, his shoulders slumping in defeat as he found the strength to compose himself before he walked out of the hospital room. 

Amy stared out the window, her eyes welling with tears as she tried to comprehend the situation, to be empathic to Adrian and to herself. Amy got so lost in the web of thoughts and worries that she didn’t even notice Lily open the door.

“Hey Ames.” Lily slowly shut the door, a cheeky smile on her face as she laid a collection of electronics in front of Amy. Amy’s eyes fell on the nintendo switch as Lily beamed with excitement, Lily setting up her laptop so Amy could see the screen.

“I thought you could use some fun today, I bought movies and some video games.” Amy’s eyes crinkled at Lily, before using her one hand to pick up one of the switch controls. Lily took the other control in her hands as she started mario kart, adjusting the controls so it would be a fair game. 

“Thank you Lily...now I’m going to blow smoke up your ass.” The beeping to start the race went off as Amy gassed her bike, Lily gasping as she took off too. Amy laughed, throwing a red shell and taking first place as Lily slowly made her way up from 12th to 2nd. 

“I’m right on your ass now Amy.” Lily hit the buttons more aggressively as Amy laughed, leaving a banana and screwing Lily’s position up.

“Fuck!” Lily set the remote down as Amy crossed the finish line, taking first place. “I see you haven’t lost your touch.” Lily laughed as she set up the next race.

“No. Never. Luckily I still reign champion when it comes to Mario Kart.” Amy nodded her head in pride before they played another race, and another. They lost track of time, Lily’s alarm pulling them from their entertainment as Lily looked at Amy, feeling as if she had her best friend back once more. Amy caught Lily’s gaze, both of them happier today than they had both been in the past few days. A soft knock on the door pulled them both out of their moment, Jax’s soothing voice ringing from the other side as he slid the door open slowly. 

“Jax!” Amy’s voice squeaked as Jax put a hand over his heart.

“You guys are racing without me….I’m wounded...having a stroke…” The room filled with laughter as Jax took a switch remote and sat next to Amy on the other side. “Now I’ll have to whoop both of you for leaving me out!” Jax smirked as Lily adjusted her glasses. 

“Oh it’s on!” Lily cracked her knuckles as Amy laughed, raising a brow at both of them as the countdown began. 

“I’m injured, my memory is missing and yet I’m still going to wreck both of you!” Amy tapped her fingers against the controller as the race started, all three of them battling for first place with red shells and bananas. 

“I’ve got it! Oh! ....Fuck!” Amy screamed as a NPC threw a red shell and took first place. All three of them gasping and laughing at their loss to a NPC, Lily exiting to the home screen as Jax and Amy handed her the remotes.

“Geeze. Don’t let Kamilah know I got smoked this badly...” Jax rubbed the back of his neck as Lily took the remotes, put them in her bag and plugged the switch in for a charge. Jax fiddled with his hands as Lily sat back down, asking Amy if she needed anything. 

“I can’t believe we lost to an NPC...this is the end of my career.” Jax chuckled under his breath as Amy rolled her eyes before laughing too. Jax relaxed back into his chair as Amy shut her eyes gently, Lily brewing the group some tea after all of the excitement. 

“Hey Jax...Lily can I ask?” Amy mumbled softly, Lily turning to face her as Jax lifted his head up.

“Of course.” Jax placed a gentle hand on Amy’s shoulder, his soft eyes fixated on hers as she smiled. 

“What’s Kamilah like?” 

Silence. Jax and Lily gave each other looks before Jax cleared his throat. 

“She can be cold if she wants to be, she’s...quite mysterious but she opened up a lot with us, although I don’t know the details of your personal relationship with her. I...I’m not entirely sure how to describe her to you but she wouldn’t refuse your questions Amy, especially given the current circumstances. Why do you ask us?” Jax furrowed his brows as Amy felt a blush creep onto her face, Lily catching the pink cheeks in the corner of her eye. 

“Nothing, just curious to know what my friends were like…” Amy stared down at the blanket as Jax’s phone buzzed in his pants. 

Friends. Friends. Friends. Of course Lily and Jax were Amy’s friends, but Adrian? Kamilah? She felt something towards both of them. She didn’t carry the same feelings Adrian had for her - and they were far from the intensity he felt for her. He made her feel so safe and secure - and his nurturing nature would make any girl fall in love and Amy could sense something there, even if it was small. And Kamilah? There was something radiant about her to Amy, something about her presence that brings Amy a sense of tranquility that she doesn’t feel with Adrian. She didn’t know her but Amy felt herself infatuated with wanting to know Kamilah, wanting to spend time with her and just talk to her. Jax’s panicked voice brought Amy out of her head as Lily placed a calming hand on her shoulder - having watched Amy go through the whole thought process. 

“Nikhil-” His face changed from content to concerned as a muffled voice rang through, “I’m-I’m on my way.” Jax rushed over to Lily, whispering as Lily’s face grew concerned. They exchanged silent whispers as Amy tilted her head, wondering what it could be about. 

“Amy...I have to go...it’s a uh...work emergency..., will you be alright?” Jax squeezed her hand before hastily rushing out the door. 

“Amy...do you...do you have feelings for Kamilah?” Amy’s heart jumped at Lily’s voice, her face turning pink as Lily slowly took a seat beside her, her face full of curiosity.

“I...I don’t know! I-” Amy reached her hand up to cover her face as Lily gently pulled her hand away, giving Amy a reassuring look. Another knock on the door startled both of them as Lily rushed to open it, Kamilah stepping through the threshold. Amy felt her heart speed up, her palms growing sweaty as Kamilah came closer and closer to her. Her maroon suit perfectly fitted, her hair practically shining as her eye softened upon meeting Amy’s. 

“How are you feeling Amy?” Kamilah's voice was like music to Amy’s ears, it was smooth and silky yet firm and commanding, Amy’s heart pounding so loudly she thought Kamilah would hear it. She swallowed the lump in her throat as Kamilah gave a more concerned look to Amy. Amy thought she’d faint as Kamilah placed her palm against her forehead, her fingers rubbing small circles as she asked Lily to get some water. 

“Thank you for visiting Kamilah...I really appreciate it…” Amy whispered softly, Kamilah smiled, her usual exterior melting for a moment before Lily returned with the water. Lily paused before setting the water down on the table next to Amy, her eyes scanning between Kamilah and Amy and the odd sexual tension that lingered throughout the room. 

“I uh...gotta blast!” Lily squealed and dashed out the door, unsure of how to deal with the situation. Kamilah blinked twice, shocked as Amy furrowed her brows before returning to Kamilah. 

“I wonder what that was all about…” Kamilah pursed her lips as Amy shakily reached for the glass, her heart nearly beating out of her chest. She gripped the cup and brought it to her lips, Kamilah watching subtly as Amy spilled some on herself by accident. 

“Amy, here...let me help you…” Kamilah rushed to grab a few napkins from the counter as Amy’s face flushed red, when Kamilah placed her delicate hands on her lap where the water was spilled Amy thought she was going to have a heart attack. Kamilah lifted her hand, gesturing towards the water as Amy shook her head. Kamilah picked the glass up and gently placed it against Amy’s lips, tilting it back so she could drink. Kamilah tried not to stare but she couldn’t help herself but to watch Amy’s lips against the rim of the glass.

“Had enough?” Kamilah brought the nearly empty glass back down, perching herself on the chair next to Amy as Amy wiped her mouth. 

“Yes...thank you…” Amy mumbled, she shifted her eyes to the floor to avoid Kamilah’s eyes, a gaze that would make Amy question her feelings more than she already was. 

Kamilah cleared her throat, her hands slipping into her pockets before she sat forward, placing her hand over Amy’s. 

“Amy, everything will be alright. You have all of us at your side and we will get you whatever you need.” Amy smiled at her gesture, Kamilahs stoic expression that Lily had spoken of was nowhere to be found. Amy nodded in silence, enjoying the comforting touch of the older woman. She must’ve dozed off because she awoke later in an empty room, a small letter placed beside her as she rubbed her eyes. 

Amy,

Many apologies for running out so soon. An urgent matter needed to be handled and I could not address it from the seat beside you. I’ll return to visit you as soon as this matter is taken care of. Feel free to text or call if you need anything. My number is already saved in your phone. 

~Kamilah Sayeed

Amy smiled at the heartwarming note, maybe Kamilah wasn’t as cold and stoic as Lily had previously told her. She took in a deep breath as the doctor opened the door, clipboard in hand as he ran through the tedious checklists to ensure Amy was properly recovering. 

---------------------- Adrian’s Office ------------------------------

Kamilah, how late are you working tonight? 

Not much longer Adrian, just a few things to finish up here. Do you need something?

I could use some of your advice, and company. 

Of course brother. I’m sure the current situation has been exhausting among other things for you. 

Thank you Kamilah, I’ll see you shortly?

Yes.

Adrian leaned back in his leather chair as it gently squeaked, his suit wrinkling as he removed his tie from his neck and tossed it to the side. He turned his gaze towards the ceiling, his shoulders falling - a single tear falling from his face. He took a tissue from his desk and uselessly wiped away as his face became flooded with them, the teardrops staining documents and leaving marks on his jacket. He ripped the jacket off, not caring about how much it had cost him as she rested his head in his hands - his composure falling apart in seconds. His white blouse became disheveled as his breathing grew fast and desperate - his heart racing and beating so hard it hurt. He tried to stand, his legs completely failing him as he leaned against the bookshelf, hiding his face in his knees as he let his bottled emotions out. He stayed there for what felt like hours, until the door slowly creaked open...

[gojoyogurt]

happy birthday gojo!! || chilhood friends to lovers au || short fic

pairing: gojo satoru x reader

summary: you spend the whole day together with gojo, your childhood friend. this birthday was special since you were the only one to celebrate it with him since all his other friends were overseas. on this day, it felt more like you were receiving a gift on your birthday rather than giving him a gift.

warnings: grammar and vocabulary may not be the best. also, i know gojo isnt 20 but... for the sake of this story i made him just reaching his 20s hope you guys dont mind. some spelling mistakes may not be noticed.

“hey gojo!” i screamed acrossed the road as i saw the tall, light haired man with a bandana covering his eyes leaning on the lamp post. he looked over and gave a small smile along with a wave. it was such a special day since he just turned 20, if he made my 20th birthday so memorable, i should only return the favour since the both of us have been together ( not in a romantic way ) for the longest time and we were always there for each other. “ayo happy birthday you overgrown man baby!” i jokingly congratulated him. “thanks you tiny tiger” he replies back with a smirk on his face while patting me on the head. i blushed slightly, i always had a crush on him but i never got the chance to say it to him. “should i say it today?” i thought to myself as my heart skipped a beat.

we walked down the street for a while and we stumbled across a cafe that seemed pretty quiet, the atmosphere it gave off was so simple yet it was drawing our attention to it. “hey do you-“ we both said simultaneously. “man... that single braincell energy tho amirite HAHA” i affirmed him as both of us were laughing our asses off right infront of the cafe door. after wasting our energy on cackling, we finally stepped into the cafe and ordered our drinks. “one cafe latte-“ we both said simultaneously AGAIN. “why are we so in sync today??” he questioned as we both started giggling uncontrollably at the register. “excuse me, are you guys going to order?” the staff asked us. “oops, sorry. we’ll get two cafe lattes please!” i cheerfully ordered. “two cafe lattes, anything else?” he reassured us. “nope!” i confirmed our order. “ok here’s your receipt, you guys make such a cute couple! you’re so lucky to find your soulmate that matches you perfectly!” the cashier said to us. we both just looked at each other and laughed it off.

it was nearly impossible for us to get to the table since gojos hands wouldnt stop shaking because he was giggling. luckily, we made it to the table without spilling the drinks. “here, its a small gift i made” i said as i handed over a brown wrapped package to him. the crumpling and tearing sound of the paper filled the area we were in, my heart was racing since i was worried that he wouldnt like it. “oh wow, y/n you made this??” he questioned me as if he couldn’t believe that i actually made the picture collage of the both of us. “yeah... do you not like it?” i asked quietly, scared that he actually hated it. “YO I LOVE THIS SO MUCH THANK YOU!!” he screamed in excitement. the collage was filled with memories of me and gojo from when we first met when we were 5 and uptil this day.

it felt like a heavy weight was just lifted off my shoulder. “thanks!! that took a while since i also added some pictures of us when we were still kids!” i replied back in relief. “hey! lets take a photo now so we can add it to the frame!” i suggested. i wriggled my chair over next to him and i took out my polaroid camera from my bag. we both smiled for the picture and i waited for the photo to come out.. “should i tell him now?” i reassured myself. i looked at him quietly, he was smiling while looking at the photos of our past selves, “i want to see that smile forever... ” i knew that it may seem greedy, but my heart always raced whenever i looked at him, even uptil now. “hey, y/n you ok? you seem a little flushed” he asked me with a concerned look on his face. “oh, uh, yeah just feeling a little warm...” i muttered. “lets go to my place so you can rest, ok?” you agreed to go over to his place after finishing your drinks.

during the walk back to his place, i couldnt control my heart, it was beating as if im about to go on stage and perform for millions of people. i stopped walking and i was shaking quietly in a small alleyway leading to his house. “y/n, are you ok??” he ran back after noticing that i wasnt by his side anymore. i dont know why but i suddenly started crying, it was supposed to be a happy day but... why am i like this??? am i scared? gojo hugged me and i cried into his chest while he was calming me down. / “y/n... talk to me, is there anything wrong?” he tried to ask me after i calmed down a little. “i-i- i li- like u b-buht i d-don whant to ru-ruin our fwe nd shipp” i somehow managed to get the words out in between breaths. at that point, my face looked like it was a tomato about to burst. i could hear my own heartbeat, i didnt even dare to take a glance at gojo. “man... how do i take care of you... you see, y/n, i also liked you for such a long time but i always thought that you would go off with some other man so i never confessed” he confessed while scratching the back of his head.

my heart felt like it just stopped, at that moment in time, i feel like the world was so serene and quiet. after snapping back into reality, “wh-what weally??” i sniffled as i looked up at him with my swollen eyes. “HAHAHA YOU SHOULD SEE YOUR FACE RIGHT NOW BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA” he teased me as i quickly wiped my snot and tears off my face. “you’re not joking with me right?” i tried to confirm with him. he suddenly let out a huge sigh and walked towards me. my heartbeat suddenly increased as he got closer and closer with every step. he leaned closer towards me and took off his black bandana, “do i look like im lying?” he questioned me as i stared into his beautiful blue eyes. this isnt the first time im seeing it but i always can never prepare myself to see it. his eyes looked so peaceful, like a quiet ocean that has no limits. it felt like you could clearly see the sky even though we were in a dark area.

he put his bandana back on and gave me a long, tight hug. “you are the meanest person i know did you know that” i jokingly said to him. “hey is that the first thing you say to your boyfriend? ouch” he joked back. he hugged me for a little while longer before staring at me. he leaned in closer next to my ear and whispered, “thank you, for making this the best birthday present i could ever ask for” he gave me a peck on the cheek before looking back at me. my face was once again about to explode and my heart was probably on the verge of exploding. “can you not do that i have a weak heart you know???” i scolded as i jumped on him to attack him. “ouch ouch ouch!1!1!1!1! okok im sorry geez, violent much” he teased me once again. “c’mon, lets go to your house already, i look embarrassing” i pushed him so that i don’t embarrass myself in public. i clinged onto his arm and kept my head down the whole way back so that people dont see my face. this day was honestly the best day of my life, i had a huge smile on my face for the rest of the day.

and the rest is left up to your imagination...

hello people! sorry if this seemed rushed because i’ve been quite busy recently but ill still try to post whenever i can. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GOJO YAYYY. actually ive been on a hiatus off anime for a while and jujutsu kaisen is getting me back into the swing of things so im really into jujutsu kaisen atm HAHA. anywho hope you guys enjoyed this short fic and see yall in the next one byee!!!

also im so happy aot the final season came out today but since i read the manga, im really not prepared for whats going to happen... also can we talk about how the intro is just a whole gender reveal party??

[cucumbers-and-olives]

Want You Back (Day 4 fic)

Summary: After an argument with Reggie, you move to NYC, where you reunite with him under- different -circumstances 

Category: Angst

Fandom: JATP

Paring: Reggie x Reader (i- well...)

Word Count: 1.5k!

Warnings/Includes: implied cheating, angst

A/N: @reggiepetersappreciationweek preciationweek, thank you guys for creating this amazing week (also, was this half baked idea originally intended for @jatpx5sos week? *akwardly hides under a table* i blame the hiatus whoops sorry!

AO3 link here (yep ill get my shit together eventually)

Please don’t repost my work without my permission, in part or whole. My work can also be found on AO3 under the same username. Thank you!

“It’s like this every time Reg! You keep going out late and you don’t come back until it's morning!” You yelled at your boyfriend. “Do you even remember that I’m your girlfriend?”

“Really Y/N, this again? God, you are so childish,” He rolled his eyes and started to walk past you to the door of the dressing room. You didn’t even notice at first, but you grabbed his arm. Looking into his eyes, you could see the boy he used to be. The one that always had a smile on his face, the one that insisted on having a picnic every week, the one that listened to you no matter what. But that seemed to have faded, hidden behind a shield of the boy he was trying to be. “If,” You whispered as Bobby walked into the room. You ignored him as you continued. “If you walk out onto that stage Reginald, we are done. I’m not getting back together with you again. We are done, and I’m hopping on a flight in the morning and never coming back.”

“Fine,” He said. You could have sworn that at that moment- in that second -he broke. His bad-boy attitude seemed to fall for a moment, but as he walked out of the room and didn’t look back, he seemed fine.

“This will never work!” You shouted after him.

Bobby let out a small laugh. You pivoted to look at him and your hands found their way to your hips. “What?”

“Oh nothing,” He said, in a very nonchalant way as he turned away from you to his mirror. You punched him in the back to get him to talk. “Okay, okay! Geez!”

“Talk, Wilson.”

“He needs you. And you need him, don’t deny it Y/N,” Bobby said as you shook your head.

“He acts like he’s moved on from a relationship that hasn’t even ended! I need who he used to be, I need my sunshine boy back.” You said, promptly turning on your heel as you left.

Unfortunately for you, the fastest way out of the theater was across the stage, where he was warming up.

“Good,” You said to yourself. “I can give this damn shirt back.” 

Walking onto a stage in a bra and leggings wasn’t something you ever thought you’d do. But it was worth it as Reggies face dropped.

You flung the shirt into his face. 

“Guns n Roses, my shirt,” He whispered, as crew members all around watched your conversation.

“This is the last time you’ll see me,” You spat at him. “You’ll never change.”

It wasn’t until you stepped out of the theater that you noticed the tears pouring down your face. But it could have just been the rain.

~

You left a lot of things behind in that theater. Funnily enough, it happened to be your favorite thing to contemplate.

For starters, a broken relationship. Reggie was always on your mind. His faults and your faults as a couple were always right behind. Your phone, your favorite jacket, and an amazing group of boys. New York was a far move, but you fell in love with the city as soon as your eyes had fallen upon the wonder that it was.

The plan, of course, had been to find a place to stay in the very expensive city for the night, and then move to a different city. But, as is the case with most plans, it fell apart as you fell in love with the city. It was the perfect place for someone like you.

Your phone pulled you out of your contemplative trance as it buzzed. Flipping in over, you saw two texts from phone numbers that you had hoped to forget.

Unknown: He needs you. It’s been a month Y/N, we know that you are in NY.

It took every ounce of self-control to not curse out your mother at that moment. She was the only one that knew the boys and where you had gone.

Unknown: We are playing at Madison Square Garden in a week, here’s a ticket.

Reggie needed you now? A month later? 

Y/N: Bobby? How did you get this number?

Bobby: Are you coming?

You sighed as you closed your phone. Reggie was your past, New York was your future. But something in the back of your mind told you that you were making the wrong choice.

~

“I just want to thank you all for being here. We’ve got one last song on the setlist, and then I hope you all have a wonderful night!” Bobby shouted, and your eyes drifted over to Reggie who played an unfamiliar piano intro. The crowd shouted with excitement at the song, but you had no idea what was coming.

“Can’t help but wondering 

if this is the last time that I’ll see your face

Is it tears or just the fucking rain

Wish I could say something

Something that doesn’t sound insane

But lately, I don’t trust my brain,” The crowd seemed surprised that Reggie was singing, but it wasn’t long before they began to sing along with him. He had changed, he looked older now and more stressed. He just didn’t seem like himself.

“You told me I won’t ever change

So I just say nothing

No matter where I go, I’m always gonna want you back

No matter how long you’re gone, I’m always gonna want you back

I know that you know, I will never get over you

No matter where I go, I’m always gonna want you back

Want you back.” As the chorus ended, you could see that three of the boys were looking at you. Alex, Luke, and Bobby all seemed aware of your presence, but Reggie stayed oblivious. 

“I remember the freckles on your back

And the way that I used to make you laugh

Cos you know every morning I wake up

And I still reach for you

I remember the roses on your shirt

When you told me this would never work,” The song seemed like too much of a coincidence. Too many things matching up to the past. His eyes seemed to see where the rest of the boys were looking and he squinted a bit. Bobby didn’t make it hard for him, as you were standing in the front row. Just your luck.

“You know, even when I say I’ve moved on 

Yeah, I still dream for you,” The lyrics seemed more targeted this time, and Luke took over the chorus as Reggie moved around the stage, telling the boys different things. He disappeared off stage, and seconds later, one of the security dudes tapped you on the shoulder.

“Come with me,” He said, opening up a gate. You shouldered your bag and followed him. You were confused, but you had a slight bit of foresight cause reading fanfics never hurt anyone.

“No matter where I go, I’m always gonna want you back

No matter how long you’re gone, I’m always gonna want you back

I know that you know, I will never get over you

No matter where I go, I’m always gonna want you back, want you back,” As the chorus ended, you were shoved on stage. The other boys were gone, and it was just Reggie, looking at you from across the stage as he sang. 

“You know even when I say I’ve moved on

You know even though I know that you’re gone

All I think about is where I went wrong

You know even when I say I’ve moved on

You know even though I know that you’re gone

All I think about is where I went wrong

Yeah I still dream for you

No matter where I go, I’m always gonna want you back,” You don’t know what compelled you to move closer to him as he sang, but by the time the other boys jumped back in, you were two feet away from him. And as the gap got smaller and smaller, you could hear your heart get louder and louder. 

“No matter where I go, I’m always gonna want you back

No matter how long you’re gone, I’m always gonna want you back

I know that you know, I will never get over you

No matter where I go, I’m always gonna want you back,” Your face was inches away from his.

“Want you back

I’m always gonna want you back

Want you back.”

And then you woke up in your empty apartment in New York.

~

Send me an ask/fill out this form to be added to my tag list! Send me an ask to be removed from my tag list.

JATP Tag List: @n0wornever @dream-a-little-bigger-x @calamitykaty @crybabyddl @badwolf00593 @screwunsaidemily @potterly

Reggie Tag List: @willex-owns-my-heart

All: @funsizearsonist

[harringtonstudios]

vegas run. (VI)

plot: it’s the annual las vegas run. let’s see what kinda trouble you get into this year!

A/N: super sorry for the brief hiatus. lots of things started happening at once, hope you can understand <3

masterlist!

Ten minutes later, you were slouched on the pew cushions, head resting back as you stared at the painted ceiling. Your bag sat on your lap, things shoved back in at random by your newly-declared husband. The chapel area was silent, the minister had disappeared behind the curtains after marrying the last couple and no one had come in yet to kick you out. 

Colson had left you a couple of minutes ago, taking your burnt out phone and charger with him. You didn’t really know where he was going, but then you’d heard his voice echoing through the lobby and you knew he was just asking the lady in the front to charge it. 

You didn’t know what time it was, if it was still Friday night or if the day had bled into Saturday morning. There was a pounding at the back of your skull, which had started at the sudden rush of emotions that you’d experienced in the past few minutes. You closed your eyes. 

-

“Hey,” came a whisper, followed by a soft tussle of the hair on your head. Groaning a little, you pulled your head up, hand going to rub at the back of your neck. There was a dull ache rising from the awkward angle you’d apparently been sleeping in. 

“Here,” Colson mumbled, handing you a bottle of water. You blinked the sleep out of your eyes, trying to get rid of the foggy feeling as you took a sip. 

“How long was I out?” you asked, hand slipping into your back pocket as you reach for your phone. He clocked your movement, smiling slightly before pulling your phone out from his pocket. 

“Charged it,” he offered at the split-second confusion on your face. 

“Oh, fuck yeah. Thanks,” you grinned, immediately going in to check your texts.

He nudged you slightly and you moved over, leaving just enough room for him to sit next to you. Swiping through your text chains, you grimaced at the stupidity of your drunk texts. The groupchat had exploded after you’d sent it through, texts itching to find out exactly who was getting married and why. 

You snickered a little at a few of the more angry ones from Slim, who seemed to be outraged at the fact that his best friend was supposedly getting married without him. The texts had tapered off though and you opened the separate conversation you’d had with Ellie who’d called you three times. 

“About half an hour,” Colson mumbled, arm raising to rest behind your back. You looked up at him and he cleared his throat, “You were asleep for half an hour.”

Putting your phone down, you looked at him, shifting a little so your body was facing him. Pulling a leg up, you tucked it under yourself before uttering, “I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to. I feel bad.”

He laughed, bringing his other hand up to scrub at his face before muttering, “Don’t be. Sorry, I mean. It’s fine. That’s what husbands are for, right?”

You couldn’t stop the smile from covering your face as you chuckled out, “Shut up, I can’t believe we’re married.”

His face sobered up at that and you felt his hand shift from where it laid behind you, could feel the way his fingers were antsy, tapping against the wood, “Yeah, married.”

You took his silence as a message, and turned back so you weren’t facing him anymore. It wasn’t hard to tell that the alcohol had left both of your veins by now, the reality finally settling in. 

Going back to your texts, you typed out a quick “where are u??” to Ellie, hoping that she was back in the hotel room by now. 

Hovering over the call button, you were suddenly interrupted by a voice yelling, “Hey! You two! I let you do your thing, now I’m going to need you to leave.”

Your head whipped around as you spotted the lady from earlier standing by the entrance, arms crossed. She was staring daggers at you, anger radiating off of her in waves. 

Colson got up slowly, picking up your bag from your lap and pulling on the straps as he faced her, muttering, “Alright, we’re leaving. Can you give us a few?”

“No. I’ve given you enough time. Out now,” she scoffed and you stood up quickly, eyes quickly moving over the pew to make sure you both weren’t leaving anything behind. 

Making sure you were up, he outstretched his hand and you gladly took it, heart skipping a beat at the fact that he was still offering it to you. 

“NOW!” she bellowed and you scoffed loudly before moving down the aisle towards where she was standing. 

“Geez, who pissed in your cornflakes this morning,” you mumbled, voice hushed as you passed right by her. Colson clearly heard you and the way he shook his head slightly while smiling had you smiling too. 

“Fuck you,” he shouted as you pushed open the door, laughing while exiting the building. 

-

Stepping outside your laughter died down as you looked around at the emptiness. Vegas was never known for being silent, but the eerie silence seemed to translate from inside the chapel to the outside streets. The lights were still radiating in the distance, pulling people in like sirens arising from the sea. 

You watched the purple glow in awe, taking in the way the city could be bright, alluring on one side, but quiet and dark on the other. The buildings around you were mostly deserted, the only lights shining here were ones’ of neon luminescence. 

“You hungry?” Colson asked as you both stood outside, looking in different directions. His hand was still holding yours, and even though he’d sounded uneasy about your marriage earlier, you felt at ease with the weight of his fingers against yours.

As if on cue, your stomach grumbled. Scrunching up your nose, you turned back to face him, mumbling out, “Guess I am.”

Realizing that you both were still lost, you pulled out your phone, looking up the nearest stores as he started walking towards the lights. 

“There’s bound to be some food there,” he explained as you trailed alongside him, switching from the maps back to your texts. 

Ellie: hotel. with baze. 

Ellie: where are you 

Ellie: are you with him

You could only assume that him was supposed to be Colson and you quickly typed out a response. 

yes. 

getting food. we’ll be on our way back. 

lost hotel key.

She responded within a few seconds with a: dumbasses. i’ll be up. get back quick. 

You felt some weight lift off of your shoulders, knowing that at least you’d be able to sleep in an actual bed tonight. There’d probably be a replacement fee for the key you lost, but as long as you and Colson were safe at night, it didn’t really matter to you much. 

-

Sitting in the back of a shitty McDonald’s was not where you’d seen your wedding night going. There was a tray filled with fries in front of you, ketchup packets tossed alongside the 20 piece nuggets you’d ordered. Colson was spooning up ice cream from his sundae, dipping your fries into the vanilla mix every few bites. You two hadn’t said more than five words to each other. 

You took a bite of the chicken nugget currently in your hand before deciding to bite the bullet.

“We’re just not going to talk about it?” you asked, eyes trained downwards at the cheap red plastic tray, nervous to meet his. 

“Talk about what?” he gruffed out, and you could hear the icy tone through his words. It just didn’t make sense, one minute he was holding your hand and staring at you with warm eyes and then the next, it was as if he didn’t even know you. 

“Us. This. We’re married for fucks sake,” you snapped, voice rising at the end of your tone. Your eyes were now directly on his, and you shifted a little, suddenly burning up inside. 

“Look, it’s fine. We’ll just get an annulment tomorrow. It’s not a big fucking deal,” he scoffed out before going back to eat another spoon of ice cream. 

You felt a sudden heaviness settle in your stomach, grounding any butterflies that were there. He didn’t want this, not the way you had hoped, not even the way you’d wanted it. Biting your lip, you pinched your eyes shut, trying to swallow the lump that was growing in your throat. 

“Right,” you breathed out, going back to your nuggets. They left a sour taste in your mouth, so you finished the one in your hand before getting up. 

He looked up at you with an expression you couldn’t quite decipher before you mumbled, “I’m just gonna. Uh pee.” 

He didn’t say anything else, just returned his gaze back down and you brushed your hands off on your jeans before turning towards the little bathroom hidden in the back.

You went in eagerly, trying to be by yourself before the storm building in your throat exploded. You could already feel your tears edging out and the minute you entered the bathroom, you leaned against the door, hand coming up to stop the sob leaving your mouth. 

The tears fell down, and you let them, trying to get rid of this new-found emotion before you had to go back out and face Colson. Wiping at your cheeks, you looked at the cracked mirror, taking in the streaks of your makeup. 

“Fuck,” you moaned, fingers tapping around your eyes, trying to fix up the streaks. This wasn’t fair, wasn’t how you wanted to spend time with Colson, wasn’t anything you had looked forward to when you thought of the words marriage. 

It was bothering you, how he suddenly didn’t want to be with you, how he became closed off within minutes. You couldn’t understand it, you’d thought that this was something you both wanted, albeit marriage being too big of commitment, you thought he wanted to explore it with you. 

Taking a breath, you pushed the thoughts out of your head, trying to bring yourself back down to a normal. There was a knock against the door. 

“Coming,” you voiced, turning on the sink to wash your hands. 

“It’s me. You okay?” Colson asked from the other side, and you bit down on your lip. Of course, it was him. 

Wiping your face for the last time, you gave yourself a once over before opening the door, “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

He stepped back, letting you get out before taking a long, hard look at you. If he saw the mascara smudging on your eyes, or the patchy streaks running down your cheeks, he didn’t say anything, just nodded before saying, “Ellie called.”

You’d forgotten she was staying up for you guys. Walking back to the table, you noticed everything was either thrown out or packed into a go-bag. Picking up your backup, you pulled out your phone, noticing there was a timer going. 

“She gave us fifteen minutes, thought I’d humor her,” Colson expressed before slouching down across from you again. 

“Cool,” you squeaked before clearing your throat, “Should I order an Uber?”

He shrugged and you rolled your eyes, more than aware of the shitty attitude he was projecting. 

“Ordering one,” you declared before opening the app. He hummed in response, the echo of your words dying out between you. The silence settled in again, and you stared at the homepage of your phone screen, colors blurring together as you wondered just how your wedding night ended up like this.

-

taglist:  @iamdorka​ @no-shxt-sherl​ @bakerkells​ @findingmyths​ @rosegoldrichie​ @mayaslifeinabox​ @itjustkindahappenedreally​ @hnbtx​ @backoftheroomandnotbelonging​ @nowhereiswhereibelong​ @whyisgmora​ @oopsiedoopsie23​ @babybloomer​ @bolivianchickennugget​ @nimrodblackparade​ @agentstarkid​ @calum-defense-squad 

[calpalirwin]

Stuck In My Head

Summary: Anon request- Idk if you've written anything about the quarantine yet? Idk if you feel comfortable right because weird topic. But I feel like Cal has been posting a lot about his mental health during this and it might be cool to explore like living along side him dealing with your own (this was the worst worded request I've ever submitted I'm sorry)

A/N: If you’re struggling, please reach out. I think it’s easy to feel alone, especially now. But please don’t listen to the voice in your head. You are not alone. And you are not bothering anyone. In fact, hearing from you makes our day. 

Content: Mental health awareness. 

Word Count: 1.4k

And away, and away we go!

__

Melody stared blankly at the television screen. The words “Stay at home order” should have hit deeper. But all she could think about was that it was a good idea Calum had run out to the store. 

“Geez it’s like a zoo out there,” Calum announced while the women continued to stare blankly as Governor Newsom continued his speech about his plans for California during these “troubling times.”

“Uh… Mel? Little help?” Calum asked, snapping his roommate out of her daze.

“Shit, sorry,” she apologized, rushing over to help him with the groceries.

“The news say anything?”

“Stay at home order. God knows for how long.”

“Shit, no wonder the stores were all packed.”

“Yeah. How’s this gonna work for your album next week?”

“Fuck…” The question was enough to stop his actions of unpacking the shopping bags. “Fuck..” he repeated. “We’ll figure something out. Probably last minute, but we’ll figure it out. What does this mean for you? You had that photoshoot planned, didn’t you?”

Melody nodded as they put the last of the groceries away. “Yeah, I’ll have to call my agency, and see what’s going on with that.”

“Well don’t stress too much about it,” Calum told her. “I mean, I know you. I know you’re gonna stress about it. But try not to do it too much.”

Melody rolled her eyes. “Yeah I’ll try not to be too torn up over how now sitting on ass is a contribution to society. Every introvert's dream come true.”

Calum chuckled. “I’m just sayin’. If you need me, I’m here. Same as always.”

~~~

Again, Melody was staring blankly at the television screen. The noise was soothing even though she couldn’t focus on the show. She hadn’t been able to focus on much in the last month since quarantine hit. Her job was on hiatus until further notice, and while there was plenty for her to do around the house, she couldn’t bring herself to enjoy it the way she once had.

During the first week she had tried to settle into a routine to keep some semblance of normalcy. But as the days dragged by, time became almost irrelevant. Most nights were spent staring up at her ceiling, watching the fan spin in circles. It took effort to drag herself out of bed before noon. Still, she fought to go through the motions. But it was hard when there was no real reason to. While logically she knew she could get in her car and go visit her friends the way Calum had done with Michael, the excuse of not was heavier than her want. What was there to talk about that couldn’t be said through text anyway? She wanted to see her friends so she could go out with them. But there was nowhere to go out to. And it wasn’t like she didn’t have company because Calum was stuck at home just like she was.

Calum, she was beginning to realize, was the only reason she was bothering putting herself through the paces. She might be sleeping late and wandering around with a blank expression, but at least she was showering, wearing clothes other than sweats, and eating. So she supposed she could be doing a whole lot worse.

But Calum had been right. With the world quiet, there was nothing to drown out the screaming in her mind. Her thoughts swirled angrily in her head and the only relief came through sleep, which of course had been evading her. She had always dealt with insomnia, but having no real routine made it that much worse. She could be on the verge of falling asleep, but it was like the second her head hit the pillow and she finally closed her eyes, she found her energy. Only it wasn’t energy to do anything besides stay awake. Awake and listening to the thoughts.

~~~

Melody watched as the ceiling fan spun around in a hypnotizing circle, jealous that it was moving, unlike her. It had been almost ten weeks now and she was just as lost as she had been when this started. Logically she knew there was nothing for her to worry about. Calum and her were healthy. They all had more money than they knew what to do with. Groceries and other things were being shipped to their doorstep. There was nothing actually wrong. But no amount of talking on the phone with her family and friends, or taking Duke out for small walks around the neighborhood with Calum was enough to shake the feeling of emptiness. Like everything was pause, but it was only on pause for her. Her roommate had managed to stay plenty busy with his music in spite of everything coming to a complete standstill. And while she knew that had nothing to do with her, she couldn’t stop the comparison no matter how hard she tried.

If you need me, I’m here. Same as always.

“Even at… 2:47 am, Cal?” she whispered in the dark as she climbed out of bed.

She paused outside of his bedroom door, debating. It was late. He was probably fast asleep. She should probably just go back to her own room and try again to fall asleep. “Cal?” she asked, her voice low as she entered the dark bedroom. “Cal, are you awake?”

She heard the jingle of Duke’s collar as the dog woke up to readjust himself on the bed. Calum’s arm moved out from under the covers, patting around beside him. “Duke, go back to sleep,” he grumbled, still more or less fully asleep.

“Cal, it’s me,” Melody told him, moving further into the bedroom.

“Mel,” Calum acknowledged as he yawned. “Just Mel, Duke.”

“Cal, scooch over,” she directed as she swallowed her hesitation and edged herself onto his bed.

“Mel, shh. I’m sleepin’,” Calum scolded lightly, but he rolled over in his sleep, allowing her to curl up next to him.

“Keep sleeping, then,” she whispered at him.

Again, he rolled over in his sleep, his arm falling across her. He startled awake, not expecting to find a body there. “Fuck, Mel! Way to give a guy a heart attack! What are you doing in here? Some watchdog you are, Duke…” His voice lost the heaviness of sleep as he worked himself awake with his rambling.

Melody stared up at Calum’s ceiling, watching the fan make its rounds, feeling stupider by the second.

“Mel?” Calum prompted after a good minute or two of silence. “Everything okay?”

“Can’t sleep.”

“Mmm, so bothering me seemed like a good idea?”

Melody rolled her eyes and pushed into his shoulder, his chuckle a deep rumble. “You said you were here if I needed you, yeah?”

“Course.”

“Well I need you.”

He shifted in bed to sit up against the headboard, draping an arm across her shoulder. “Took you long enough.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked, leaning against his shoulder.

“You were going off the deep end before this started.”

“And you didn’t think to say anything?”

He shrugged. “If I approached you, you would get defensive, and retreat further inside yourself.”

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”

“So what’s going on in that head of yours?”

“Feeling like a failure. Like no matter how fast I move towards my future, I still feel like I’m getting left behind somehow. Like what I'm doing doesn’t measure up to what other people my age are doing.”

“And with the world at a standstill, you don’t have the noise to silence that voice.”

“Exactly. I mean, I’m cooped up in here for days on end. With nothing but my thoughts to keep me company. And as much as I know that voice is wrong, there’s nothing to dispute it. And it feels weird to complain that I feel useless and helpless when I know that there are people out there who are actually struggling. People who can’t make ends meet even when they did have jobs to go to.”

“Okay, but that’s not how pain works. You’re allowed to hurt, too.”

“But I don’t want to hurt, Cal. That's the whole problem. I don’t want to feel like this.”

“Well, what do you want?”

“I don’t know. This maybe? To be held by someone I know cares about me.”

“Touch-starved?”

“Maybe a little.”

“Well, good. So am I.” He shifted one last time to lay down on his side, pulling Melody’s back to his chest. “Do you mind?”

“No, not at all. This is…” her voice choked around the words, cutting off her sentence.

Calum’s chin rubbed in her hair as he nodded. “I know. I got you, and you got me, right?”

“Always, Cal, always.”

__

Tag List

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[theskytraveler]

So, here’s the deal.

I’ve been a terrible internet friend lately to the lovely @dreamwritesimagines​. Sorry. I didn’t mean to pull a Houdini, you know? In my defense, it’s been one of the craziest years of my life, but now I’m BACK! For good! And I know I said that before, but now it’s FOR REAL.

Btw, thanks for always tagging me in your work, it truly means the world.

Anyway, I need to make up to you, so here’s a little surprise 😉 Instead of reading each and every chapter I haven’t read yet and writing my lovely comments on them – spamming your notes with me in the process – I wrote this little thing here.

To you, Dream, here are my long overdue thoughts on your recent incredible work.

To you, my followers and whoever else might be reading this, here are some incredible fic recommendations. You’re welcome.

Since this is partially a fic rec post, I’m gonna write about everything available on your Masterlist, Dream. You know my thoughts on most of these, but ah well. I’m on a roll.

Series I have already finished: (so you can skip it if you’re curious about the ones I haven’t talked about yet)

First, my all-time favorite series you have ever written, the phenomenal Bad Habit. I guess this started as a one-shot and it became so much more. This series has it ALL! Great characters, smart and funny dialogue, fantastic character development and plot twists that hit you out of nowhere.

Oh, and the Y/N here is basically my spirit animal.

Btw, I reread this series a few days ago, and I wanna know: where is my sequel? Where’s the Christmas themed one-shot? My little Zoe acting as Matt’s sidekick and falling in love with Peter Parker (I still remember this anon headcanon, yes, and I still ship it, yes). Gah, I love this series.

While we’re on the Ben Barnes train, let’s talk about Daddy Issues. It’s a Westworld fic that doesn’t take place in Westworld. And it is GREAT. Logan and Y/N are so cute and the ending was perfect. And I still want a one-shot of a proposal, thanks.

And before we get into the more angsty stuff, we gotta talk about Invisible. It’s the softest series ever. I know it’s on a long hiatus for now, but I still think about Y/N and Steve and the fact that I lowkey ship her with Billy. When you find the inspiration for this series again, I’ll be ready. Also, what the hell happened in Detroit?

Ah, Don’t You Love Me. Don’t I love this series. (Sorry, terrible joke. Don’t you love me?). One of the best character developments ever. Y/N here is so flawed and struggling with so many things. It just makes her so human and real. And her road to recovery was a joy to read. And Steve is Steve. The most perfect puppy of a man. And how could I forget my favorite villain in all your series? Trent is GREAT! I STAN A PERFECT ANTAGONIST!

And, finally, it’s time to talk about Faint of Heart. Another one where the character development we see Y/N go through is astounding. I love Queenie, my favorite Y/N ever. This series had the most perfect ending I could dream of. And not just Queenie, I mean, this series has the most amazing cast of characters, I love all of them! The ones from the show and the new original ones. Queenie, Bree and Eric are my babies. AND I WILL DEFEND THAT SOMBER LITTLE PASSAGE WITH MY LIFE OK? THAT IS MY FAVORITE PART IN THE SERIES, NOBODY TOUCHES THAT!

From this point forward, be aware that there WILL be spoilers for new readers.

Series I started, but you have no idea who I feel about the ending because I never told you and series I haven’t started yet: (again, my bad, sorry).

There is never enough Billy Russo, is there? So, Once a Year. The one I never finished. UNTIL NOW THAT IS! Two dysfunctional people falling in love, ah. Or realizing they’ve been in love all along. Billy and Skittles give me the creeps, but I also couldn’t help but ship them. As I recall, the last chapter I read was Chapter 9 and I had a LOT OF QUESTIONS. Like, what the hell is actually going on kind of questions. AND WHAT HAPPENED LAST YEAR kind of questions. Here are my final (and edited, because this post was already super long, so I had to do some compromises) thoughts on this series:

Chapter 10: My desire to kill Krista is alive and well, I see. Carter is still a puppy and I see myself in Karen, because I too want to see all the drama up close. Skittles and Billy “broke up” and I am SAD. And also curious as to WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?! Always questions, never answers;

Chapter 11: THEY KISSED, OMG, STOP EVERYTHING THIS IS SO GREAT, SO FINALLY, OMG, I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS FOR LIKE 84 YEARS, NOBODY TOUCH ME! THEN HE SAID HE WAITED OVER 10 YEARS FOR THIS, EXCUSE ME DREAM HOW DARE YOU? YES THIS IS HAPPENING IN A PUBLIC BATHROOM, DON’T STOP THEM NOW! (This five steps game is so cute btw, BUT WE DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS NOW)! HE BROKE UP WITH KRISTA? YAY! JSFOIAHFI IT’S HAPPENING;

Chapter 12: THEY ARE SO SOFT, I CAN’T- and now everything has gone to shit. Well, it was good while it lasted. Why can’t they just communicate? Tell him what is going on, Skittles. Why are you marrying Carter? AT LEAST TELL ME! Oh, wait. They’re communicating. WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT! EXCUSE ME, WHAT THE FUCK? Bring me this Aldrich dude, I’ll kill him;

Chapter 13: This whole “second wedding” thing is cracking me up, I laugh every single time. Aldrich has some nerve showing up in the gallery. And I am reminded yet again of how much Skittles and Billy scare me hahaha it’s great;

Chapter 14: It really is one step forward and two steps back with those two, huh? I love my girl Karen! She ships it and her being confused about the situation is the funniest thing ever. And then she gives the best advice. Gotta love her. And now, back to the Skittles and Billy show… COME ON, MAN! Wait. IS SHE BREAKING UP WITH CARTER? Man, I’m so glad I don’t have to wait to find out, which brings us to…

Chapter 15: Oh, geez. I feel for Carter. Dream, set him up with Rose or something, I’m suddenly so sad. Carter is such a great guy. DAMN IT, BILLY! There are only two chapters of this left, how are you messing things up, man? Oh, wait. MERMAID! Oh, I just remembered that these two CREEP ME OUT. Jesus, Billy. That’s not romantic, man. Skittles and Billy need professional help, my GOD;

Chapter 16: Poor Carter. I’m not really a beach kind of person, but I’m glad Skittles and Billy are happy in a remote location. “BEYONCÉ TAUGHT ME BETTER”, THIS IS THE BEST QUOTE OF THIS SERIES, I’M DEAD! Awn, the gallery is so cute! I love it! OH NO! Rawlings. Of course you needed to give us on last plot twist, why am I surprised? EXCUSE ME, HOW DARE YOU? YOU WRITE AN EPILOGUE OR SOMETHING RIGHT THE FUCK NOW! OH MY GOD! WHAT THE FUCK.

I just...

Of the new series I haven’t started yet, how could I not begin with Crown of Hearts? After how much I loved Faint of Heart there is a sequel? GIMME! Let’s break this down chapter by chapter (again, I had to edit my comments, because they were just too long):

Chapter 1: OMG I’M SO EXCITED. Ah, Queenie’s childhood was so sad, I’m glad she won’t let the same happen to her children. EITR, THE BEST FALCON, I MISSED YOU! The domesticity between Ivar, Queenie and Ragnar, I can’t. It’s too cute. BJOR AND BREE! I missed them too! And Gala and Hvitty. Where’s Ubbe? And Torvi? Btw, I don’t trust any of these new people;

Chapter 2: “Baby shark”. I’m gonna laugh every time I see that. “BWE” OMG! I LOVE THAT! Oh, yes! Flashbacks! I love those. Ok, I’m warming up to this Osmond guy, but I still don’t know if I trust him. Threats everywhere, they really can’t catch a break, huh? STOP EVERYTHING, ERIC the love of my life IS HERE! I am so ready for more Eric content. Can he fall in love with that dog loving shieldmaiden of the headcanons now, please? WAIT, QUEENIE, DON’T LEAVE! I WANT MORE ERIC CONTENT! NO! ERIC, FOLLOW HER! That was cruel, Dream. Wow, those rumors about Queenie. People sure are creative in defeat (burn people from her home country, burn). QUEENIE IS A LEGEND PEOPLE, YOU TELL THIS RAYDON GUY;

Chapter 3: They are really talking about teaching poisons and swordfight to a baby? Of course they are. Oh, they’re waiting until he’s seven. That’s better. I hate Queenie’s mother. Such a vile woman. Ok, I like Osmond. Can we keep him? Make him fall in love with a Viking girl! Or boy! I see him falling in love with someone rather clumsy. I ship it already. “Who did Ivar kill?” AHAHAH I LOVE THEM. It will happen, guys. But oh well;

Chapter 4: I love them all ganging up to tease Hvitty. Poor guy, but still. It’s so entertaining. DAMN BREE, WAY TO GET ME EXCITED LIKE QUEENIE OVER NOTHING! I want this wedding, damnit! But, sure, go off on a raid instead, I guess. “THE BJOR INFLUENCE” AND “IT’S LIKE A CURSE” I’M SCREAMING AHAHHA. Ok, Bree, you convinced me. Go chase your freedom. Excuse me, but WHO THE FUCK TOOK BABY RAGNAR? I’LL END YOU;

Chapter 5: Bree is a godsend. Bless her heart. Taking care of Queenie during this mess. This entire situation is awful, btw. That was MEAN, Queenie! This fandom has raised you better! OH THEY FOUND HIM, THANK YOU! Queenie scares me sometimes, but I guess this time those guys had it coming;

Chapter 6: Queenie is gonna have to make up to Ivar, sorry I don’t make the rules. HVITTY CALLS GALA “MY HEART”, EXCUSE ME THIS IS TOO SWEET! DAMN, Hvitty. Tell us how you really feel. But, yes, I guess Queenie needed to hear that little comment about Edgard. Bree is so smart, I stan. Why are you being shady right after I decided I like you, Osmond? Please explain yourself.

I’m loving this. I missed this gang so much. The only thing lacking in Crown of Hearts is more Eric content. How dare you show him for like two seconds and then NEVER AGAIN? You’re torturing me here, Dream. But ah, I want to know more about what is going on in Kattegat. I don’t trust a whole bunch of people, but, well, can’t say I’m surprised about that. CAN’T WAIT TO READ MORE!

I literally squealed with glee when I saw that you were writing for Bucky. Untouchable is the one I was the most excited about reading. And the best part? I already have 7 chapters to binge! And I am obviously going to tell you my you guessed it, edited thoughts on them:

Chapter 1: I’m liking this setting! The 1940s, what a twist for most of Bucky fics out there, this is great. And Y/N is already so interesting! AH, HI BUCKY, I LOVE YOU! I love flustered Bucky. This feels like they are star-crossed lovers, separated by their “places” in “society” and I am HERE for it;

Chapter 2: OMG SHE’S IMAGINING BUCKY, YES! I already ship them so hard, I s2g. This Charles guy, I don’t like him. I bet he is a Hydra double agent. Who sent her the flowers? Does Y/N have a stalker? I’m worried. OMG, HI LITTLE TINY STEVE! The alley scene broke my heart, thanks;

Chapter 3: Wait. Bucky and Y/N are sneaking around? What happened? Did I skip a chapter? Did we skip time and I didn’t notice? Like, I’m glad and all, but still. AH, it was a dream. I see. Rude. And on that note, Shirley is rude too. Oh, not now, Charles! Go away! Y/N and Bucky were having a moment. Oh, there’s bad blood between Bucky and Charles, I see. Interesting. “If you knew half of the things he did, you would have nothing to do with him”. Bucky, darling, do you really think Y/N has a choice? Men are so obtuse, my god;

Chapter 4: “And sooner or later he would get mean, all of them did” I AM CRYING! This is terrible. Y/N must have had a very difficult life. And her current situation isn’t really any better. LITTLE TINY STEVE TO THE RESCUE! I stan. Steve also ships it, welcome aboard, buddy. And, Y/N is in denial. I would argue that a broth is never just a broth. Thanks for coming to my TED talk. I LIKE YOU THOMAS! He ships it too and he has no idea who is the other half of the ship. Bucky sees the real her, I can’t- “There’s nobody” and I am deceased;

Chapter 5: Daydreaming about Bucky Barnes? I sure can relate. NOPE, Linda! Don’t even think about it! And she thought about it. Argh. But who cares about that when we have Bucky and Y/N being their ADORABLE selves? Bucky, my sweet summer child, you are so fucked. You will be happy eventually, but Hydra, man. Brace yourself for the next 50 years. THE KISS! THIS MOMENT WAS SO SWEET! OMG, I’M DEAD! This was so perfect. So of course Y/N had to run away. Thanks. LINDA I’M GONNA KILL YOU! AND CHARLES IS NEXT! Y/N get OUT of there;

Chapter 6: I need to know. Are the bruises a regular thing with Charles or did she do something that made him angry? I feel like it’s the former. I don’t like it. WHY THE EVERLOVING FUCK DID YOU SIGN THE CONTRACT, Y/N? I hate you, Linda. And you, Charles. OH MY GOD, BUCKY IS THERE! He is the best person ever, so soft. Someone get me a Bucky. Omg, tell him, Y/N! Why don’t you people ever communicate? This is driving me crazy;

Chapter 7: Do NOT ruin this for us, Shirley! Don’t tell a single soul! Or else I’m putting you on my hit list. Y/N and Bucky are going on a date and I am SO excited. Hey, Ruth? Do NOT ruin this for us! Go away. “I want you to trust me first” and my soul has left the earthly realm for I am deceased. Again.

Ok, I’m loving this? I don’t want it to EVER end! Bucky is perfect, Y/N is so interesting and Shirley is also pretty great. I hope she does find true love eventually. But that General guy… I don’t trust him. At all. I’m also pretty sure he’s Hydra and things will get really ugly for both Bucky and Y/N. And given your recent history with Once a Year, I’m not really sure we’ll have a happy ending, so thanks for that. I obviously CAN’T WAIT TO READ MORE!

Now, Burn It Down has nothing to do with FoH and CoH, but it was influenced by The Last Kingdom? I’m sold. (Like I always am when it comes to your writing, as you’re probably aware, but oh well). I obviously read all three chapters and here are my thoughts (edited, as I’m sure you know by now):

Chapter 1: That was a creepy way to start a story. Like, first paragraph and I’m already kinda creeped out, thanks. Hmm, the animal heart bit? We’re not in Kansas anymore, I guess. But I’m intrigued. She doesn’t trust men what a mood, very smart of her. I like her. She’s creepy, but I like her. What happened in Ivar’s tent two nights ago? Ok, I’m intrigued;

Chapter 2: I’m liking Y/N’s and Ivar’s dynamic. It’s fun to see them getting acquainted with each other and figuring out how to deal with this little situation they have going on. Ok, but why is she helping Ivar? Like, yeah, their destinies are entwined or whatever, but he’s so rude. I’d tell him to go to hell, honestly. He’d have to earn my help;

Chapter 3: Well, Hvitty is obviously the brother that will be forgotten. Poor guy, but oh well. At least forgotten doesn’t mean he won’t have a good life. Now, the brother who “shall be the victor” is Ubbe and the “tragedy” one is Ivar, because of course. Also because I don’t accept anything bad happening to my sweet puppy Ubbe.  But like, “victor” of what? This is so vague. This Y/N and Skittles would be good friends.

Ok, I’m intrigued! Not sure how I feel about Y/N yet, but I think she’ll be more like Skittles than Queenie. I’m ready for that! This fic has a different atmosphere than the ones I’m used to see in your writing, but I’m liking it so far. Obviously can’t wait to read more.

So, there you have it! Hope you liked it and I promise I won’t disappear on you again!

[creativenostalgiastuff]

A Soft Place to Land

Summary: 4 times that Thomas finds the Sides in their happy places, and the 1 time they find Thomas in his Rating: G Warnings: hurt, falling, gym, stress Word Count: 4036 Author’s Note: Ugh I am so sorry it took me 5ever to get this story done. I swear I never meant to go on unofficial hiatus! Work just became way too hectic. But this was a cute little project to work on in my spare time. The goal was to use pick a happy place for the sides that were not my knee jerk answer/ obvious choice. I also challenged myself to use present tense since I don’t normally do that. So here we are. I hope you like it.

***Patton***

Thomas doesn’t know how it happened exactly. One minute he is sitting in a room following a meditation app on his phone, the next he is in a park, laying in the grass. He sits up slowly, blinking as his eyes adjust to the sunlight. It appears to be a rather large park with tall trees to provide enough shade to satisfy any visitors on this rather humid day. A warm breeze dances through the air, bringing the soft scent of flowers the landscapers must have planted recently. The laughter of children and the cautious calls of mothers fills the air.

Thomas stands up and looks around the park. He’s next to a jungle gym with little children playing happily. He can’t really describe it, but something pulls him over to the bench nearby. The metal is warm, but not completely uncomfortable. He sits down and let his eyes scan over the view around him.

Suddenly there’s a cry from the playground. A small child is a on the ground, clutching his knee as he pulls it to his chest, tears filling his eyes. There’s a split second of silence as all of the heads in the area snap to see who has gotten hurt. Faster than expected, a familiar man in khaki pants and a light blue polo is the one that moves towards the child: Patton

“Hey there, Kiddo,” Patton says to the child. “You’re okay. Can I see?” The boy nods as he wipes at the tears in his eyes, extending his leg towards him. Thomas doesn’t remember when he stood up, but before he knows it, he is moving across the playground to just behind the kid and Patton.

Patton looks at the child’s knee and brushes off the few pieces of mulch that stuck to it, “Aw, see there? No harm done. Just scared you there a bit, right?” The kid nods. “Well, we all fall down. What is important is that you get right on back up,” Patton encourages with a smile. “So come on, give me a high five and get back out there.”

The kid smiles as he hits Patton’s hand with his own before scampering off again. Patton stands, brushing the mulch from his pants as he watches his friend run off.

Thomas takes a few steps to stand next to his Morality, “Hey, Patton.”

Patton smiles as he continues to watch the kid go and join some others for a game of tag, “Hiya Thomas.” They stand there for a moment as Thomas tries to read Patton’s face. There’s something there that Thomas can’t quite place, some kind of peaceful acceptance coinciding with a longing.

“Uh, Thomas?”

Thomas shakes his head as he realizes he had been asked a question, “What, sorry?”

Patton chuckles, “Not that I’m complaining, but what are you doing here?”

“Oh, right, uh,” Thomas laughs nervously, “Where exactly is here? I had been in my room meditating and suddenly I’m in a park with you.”

“Oh, this isn’t a real park,” answers Patton. “This is the imagination, or at least part of it.”

Thomas spins around, “This is the imagination? I thought that was Roman’s room.”

“It is. He lets the others of us borrow it sometimes when we need to.”

“Did you need to?”

“Well, yeah,” Patton states as he raises an eyebrow at his creator, “You were meditating. As part of you, that means that us Sides also are reflecting on the same things you are.”

“I was thinking about the passage of time,” admits Thomas. “I guess that is a rather emotional topic for me.

Morality nods, “You must have tapped into just enough creative energy to join me here.”

“In the park?”

“It’s my happy place,” says Patton as he smiles, looking Thomas in the eyes. “You have a lot of warm memories in the park even before you knew what that meant. Mom would even go to the park and walk when she was pregnant with you, and then she brought you when you were a baby. Geeze-oh, even as an adult you often find yourself in the park with your friends.”

Thomas nods, “You’re right. I just never thought of it like that before.”

“Yeppers,” Patton says, “This is my happy place. But I really should give it back to Roman before I cause problems here.” A door appears a few feet away with the words, signaling Patton’s exit.

“Of course,” responds Thomas as he takes a few steps. He pauses, “Uh, how do I get out of here?”

“Same way you came in, close your eyes.”

“Do I need to click my heels together?” Thomas jokes as he follows the directions.

“Three times,” Patton dead pans. “And no peeking.”

*** Logan***

The next time it happens, he wakes up in a white room surrounded by bright lights. A gentle hum fills the air from somewhere behind him. He’s sitting in a chair in the middle of the room, still spinning slightly as if he had pushed it moments ago. There are so many things around him that Thomas doesn’t know exactly where to look first. As his eyes adjust, Thomas notices green blackboards filled with writing and formulas in a scrawling font. Bookshelves are scattered throughout the room filled with various textbooks and binder, meticulously labeled. Throughout the room, a few desktop computers sit hooked up to various machines and instruments, running various tests, beeping happily to verify their continuous running.

The faint smell of gas from a Bunsen burner nearby fills the air, mixed with something that almost seems like burnt sugar. Whatever the cause of the scent, someone is trying to cover it up with the hash aroma of lemon cleaners.

There’s a soft humming in the background, a gentle tune that Thomas recalls but can’t quite place. It isn’t quite classical, and the melody just sort of floats through the ambient noise of the laboratory. It might be from a video game, or maybe a movie he watched. Thomas stands and slowly begins weaving his way through the maze of science materials around him, trying to find the source of the smell.

It takes him a moment, but Thomas finds it. There’s a familiar figure hunched over a microscope, his blue tie draped over the shoulder of his lab coat, a familiar black polo collar peeking up over it. His glasses are pushed up on his head, allowing him to press his eye as close to the mechanism as possible. His hair is a mess, not its usual well kept state, as if he had ran his hands through it numerous times.

“Logan?”

Logic jumps at the call of his name, pulling back from the microscope as his head snaps up, “What?” He turns, a hand on his chest trying to calm himself from the surprise until he sees his creator. “Oh, hello Thomas.” Logan pulls down his glasses so he can see his friend, “I… Uh, Thomas?”

Thomas smiles, “Yeah, Lo?”

“What are you doing in my laboratory without the proper safety gear?” Logan asks as he pulls his tie back in front of him and smooths it over. “I really must insist that you observe proper safety while in the lab. You were an engineer. This is not news to you.”

Thomas rubs the back of his neck, “Right, sorry. Where…”

Logan waves his hand and conjures up a lab coat and a pair of safety goggles before extending them out to Thomas, “Honestly I am flabbergasted that Virgil let you in here without the proper attire. The risks in this room alone… Ah, but is he alerted that you are here in the Mindscape? We should run some tests…”

Thomas pulls on the lab coat and sticks the goggles on his head, “Yeah I don’t think we should test…”

“But what would be the control?” Logan asks, as if he did not hear Thomas. “Do we try and make you anxious in here? Or do we simply wait and see how long it takes for Anxiety to notice you are in here and not in the real world?”

Thomas’ brow furrows as he listens, realizing that Logic is rambling and lost in his own thoughts, “Logan?”

“But if we were to do that,” Logan mutters as he runs a hand back over his hair and turns to the notebook on the table next to him, “we would have had to start the time already. There’s no way to know how long you have been in here before I was alerted to your presence. Tell me, has this happened to you before?”

“You mean just showing up?” Thomas asks, not quite sure where Logan is going. “Yeah, it happened a few weeks ago with Patton. He was in Roman’s room, at the park.”

“Ah, so you were pulled into the creative realm without cause?”

“I had been meditating.”

“Of course,” Logan exclaims as he scribbles notes on the paper. “You were meditating, which allowed you to tap into the raw creative energy which in turn allowed you passage into the setting that was currently being used.”

“Are we currently in this creative realm?”

Logan nods without looking up, his speaking pace rising with each sentence, “Yes, but how do we prove that this is the case? Can you end up in this space without one of us using the energy currently? I should talk to Roman, run some tests. Do I test him, or the room? Or how do you test raw creative power? Maybe…”

Thomas grabs Logan and spins him back around, “Logan, stop.”

Logic freezes, tense from the surprise contact. He stares at Thomas with unblinking eyes. Thomas’ heart sinks as he realizes what must be happening.

“Logan, are you stressed?”

There’s a soft whimper in response. Thomas lets go of Logan, smiling at him, “Is this your happy place?”

Logan nods, still tense.

“Take a few deep breaths with me,” Thomas instructs. “Let’s talk about it. What makes this your happy place?”

Logan takes a few calming breaths, and Thomas watches the tension leave Logic’s body as he does so. When he speaks, his pace is back to a normal rate, “The laboratory is always as I leave it. The only surprises here are the ones I allow to happen. Everything has a place and I know where to find everything here.”

Thomas smiles, “Of course.”

Logan takes a few steps over to the table and sits on a chair, leaning over with his elbows on his knees and hands folded. “I apologize, Thomas. I… must have gotten carried away. With the current schedule we are trying to keep, our sleeping routine has been interrupted. That tends to make it more difficult for me to function at optimal levels. Add to that Patton’s whole demeanor being heightened, and… I guess I just needed a break.”

“No worries, Logan,” says Thomas, his voice soft and warm. “We all have our rough days. You have to take care of yourself. And if coming in here helps, then far be it from me to stop you.”

Logan takes off his glasses and wipes his eyes, “Thank you, Thomas. Roman has been quite generous to allow us all access to this space when we need it. I think I shall just run some old experiments before I head back to the others.”

Thomas nods, “Sounds good. I should probably come out of this meditation. I feel like I’ve been out for too long anyway.”

Logan replaces the glasses on his nose and smiles up at the Youtuber, “That sounds like an adequate plan. Please take some notes on this experience? I really am quite curious on how this particular phenomenon in the Mindscape works.”

***Roman***

Thomas opens his eyes and blinks a few times in surprise. He is surrounded by bookshelves that only reach to about his waist, all stacked with layers of organized books, thin in their binding and colorful. The rows twist and turn around him, creating a winding path of bright books all angled in the same direction to push a person towards the same center. The walls are all a light blue with white puffy clouds painted on, a few kites and an airplane scattered across it too. The room is quiet and peaceful, a sort of respect and dignity echoing in the empty air.

In the center there is a lone rocking chair in the middle of an open space, the back of which is against a large glass window. Sunlight streams in bright, filtering through the foliage of the forest behind the building. One person is sitting in the rocking chair, gently swaying while they read. Thomas smiles at the sight: Roman.

Roman’s head is in the middle of the book in his hands, bright colored pictures beautifully adorned the jacket of the book, spilling onto the pages. While Roman is clearly grown, Thomas can’t remember the last time the man looked so young. Roman’s eyes scan back and forth as they read the words and take in the illustrations that accompany it.

Thomas doesn’t remember deciding to move, but he soon finds himself in front of the Prince, still smiling fondly. He considers saying something, but for a reason he can’t quite place, he hesitates.

Roman doesn’t notice Thomas standing there, thoroughly engrossed in the book as he gracefully turns the page. His mouth forms the words as he reads them without speaking. This level of focus was hard to come by from the royal; he usually was much more animated and enthusiastic.

Thomas decides to sit on the ground in front of his friend and waits patiently.

“Hello Thomas,” Roman says finally, his eyes not leaving the book. “To what do I owe the honor?”

Thomas shrugs, “I honestly don’t know.”

“You don’t know your own quest?” asks Roman with the raise of an eyebrow. “That will make it quite difficult to accomplish, wouldn’t it?”

“I guess you could say that my quest was self-reflection?” suggests Thomas as he scratches the back of his head.

“Ah,” Roman nods. “I had heard rumor that you were being pulled into my creative realm when meditating recently.”

Thomas returns the nod and puts his hands in his pockets.

Roman’s eyes finally lift to look at Thomas, “What were we meditating on?”

Thomas sighs, “I was just thinking about how far this project has gone. We’re coming up on the Sanders Sides anniversary.”

“I remember,” Roman comments with a glint in his eye that makes Thomas smile. “Who do you think has been coming up with all of the celebration ideas?”

“So… what brings you to the library?”

Roman closes the book in his hands and leans his head against the back of the chair, “Much like yourself, I was taking a break.”

“A break?”

“We need a spectacular idea for this anniversary. Especially since it has been so long since we got a video out.”

Thomas looks around the room, “Yeah, I guess we both are feeling that pressure.”

“We all are,” Roman corrects as he stands up and stretches. “But yes, that is why we are here.”

“In your happy place?”

Roman turns and gently places the book in the chair, “Yes.”

“Which is the library,” Thomas states slowly, trying to make sense of the idea. “Not a stage.”

 Thomas looks at him and can see the shadows under Roman’s eyes, indicative of an overworking imagination. The two of them start walking out of the labyrinth of smaller bookshelves, entering the shelving units that extend high above them. Roman walks with him, running his hands over the spines of the books as they walk, a faint smile on his lips. His eyes seem far off, as if lost in thought.

“All stars need their time out of the spotlight I guess. So yes, the library. It’s where it started if you really think about it. All of the stories, the traveling performance groups mom would bring us to with our brothers, the puppet shows: they all helped to set us on our path, helped to give me form as it were.”

Memories flood Thomas at the mention of these events. The kindly old lady that would read the children stories every week, the two-person show that told the old folktale, the young librarian that helped Thomas apply for his first library card. This library was full of creativity and inspiration in a calmer environment than any stage he had been on.

“It makes sense,” admits Thomas with a chuckle. “Although, I have to admit I am surprised Logan wasn’t the one with a library.”

“Oh, he has one. It’s just on the other side. He prefers reference while mine is children’s books and fiction,” responds the Prince, shaking his head. He pulls a book off of the shelf and starts flipping slowly through it until he stops, having found his place. “Care to join me?” he asks Thomas without looking up from the book.

“Honestly, I should probably be getting back to reality,” Thomas says pointing over his shoulder. “If that’s okay with you at least.”

Roman nods and waves a hand dismissively, “Of course, Thomas. Whatever you need. But if its all the same to you, I think I’ll stay here with this book for a little while longer.”

“Totally,” smiles Thomas as he gives a small salute to the royal. “Catch you later?”

“As you wish,” Roman says as he slides down to sit on the floor with his back against the shelves.

***Virgil***

Thomas sits up and looks around. Unlike the previous times he woke up in the imagination, he realizes where he is right away. But maybe waking up on the workout bench is a good clue. He wrinkles his face at the stench of dried, old sweat hits him hard. Thomas smiles, it’s a recreation of the gym from home. The only differences were small, like the lack of the wall of mirrors, or that any of the equipment he could possibly want to use was empty. That never happened in reality. It was a ghost town without a soul in sight… almost. One person with familiar purple hair, a purple shirt, and black athletic shorts was running on the treadmill.

Thomas stands up and walks over to the treadmill adjacent to his Anxiety and presses the quick start button. The treadmill slowly starts to move beneath his feet, allowing Thomas to leisurely stroll.

He watches Virgil from the corner of his eye, not wanting to spook the Side. Anxiety is keeping a good strong steady pace for distance running. The hum of the treadmill with the rhythmic footfalls created a soothing atmosphere, if Thomas is honest.

Thomas can’t help but notice how good Virgil looks. And not just from working out. He seems to have more color to him recently and is less curled in on himself, standing straighter and with more confidence. Plus it takes less time for him to calm down when something stressed him out.

“Are… you just… what are you doing?”

“Huh?”

Virgil is now watching Thomas, “Are you just watching me run?”

Thomas shakes his head, “Sorry, I just didn’t expect this. I knew I was stressed, hence the meditating, I was trying to help. But I never imagined that your happy place would be the gym.”

The corner of Virgil’s mouth twitches into a smile as he hits a few buttons on the treadmill, slowing it down to a walking pace. “I know, it’s weird.”

“No,” corrects Thomas with a hand up, “Not weird. Just not what I expected, but now that I see it, it makes sense.”

“Right. Fight or flight reflex,” Virgil says as he picks up the water bottle and takes a sip. “It just needs to get out sometimes, right?”

Nodding, Thomas says “Exactly. I know I always feel better after exercising, I just never thought of it coming from you relaxing specifically.”

“Well, surprise,” Virgil answers with his usual brand of sarcasm. “It works. Especially since I could edit the stressful parts of going to the gym out of this particular day dream.”

“Is that what this is?” smirks Thomas. “A day dream?”

Virgil presses the pause button on the machine, “I guess it depends on your definition. Logan would say no I think but Roman would say yes.”

Thomas stops his own treadmill and leans against the machine, so he can get a better look at Virgil, “But what would you say?”

“It’s the gym without the mirrors or the people, both of which I don’t get along well with,” Virgil smirks as he wipes away the sweat on his face with a black towel. “Seems like a dream to me. And it is day time.”

“Fair enough,” laughs Thomas. “Well don’t let me stop you from enjoying the dream.”

“No worries there,” Virgil sighs happily. “You’re always cool with me. Besides, its time for me to get back to reality. Patton wants to have movie night.”

Thomas grins, “Sounds nice. Have fun.”

“Yeah,” Virgil says as he grabs his water bottle and heads towards the door with a wave. “See you around?”

“You know it.”

***Thomas***

“Are we sure we should be doing this?” asks Virgil. He is sitting on the couch in the living room with the other three; Virgil sitting against the arm of the couch with Patton next to him. “We don’t really need to use the Mind’s Eye, do we? Isn’t it, like, breach of confidence?”

Roman waves a hand dismissively at Virgil as he presses the buttons on the remote to the TV, taking a step back to sit next to Patton, “Oh you worry too much. Thomas doesn’t mind us checking in on him.”

“That seems awfully dismissive,” Virgil moans as he pulls his legs up underneath him on the couch.

“Help me out here, Lo,” Roman sighs as he fiddles with the remote some more, smacking it a few times.

“We are part of Thomas, are we not?” Logan reasons as he adjusts his glasses on his nose. He is sitting on the ground at Patton’s feet, a book propped up against his knees, “Therefore, it would stand to reason, that we cannot spy on him since it is impossible to spy on yourself.”

Patton reaches over and pats Virgil’s hand, “We all have been feeling Thomas’ work take its toll on him. And if we’re honest, we can all feel a little settling right now. So it wouldn’t hurt to see what is helping him feel better right?”

Virgil pauses for a moment and thinks it over before nodding in agreement. Patton was right, he could feel a little relief in his chest starting to settle gently and spread. It would make things easier if he knew what was going on to help make that happen for the next time he was being a bit too much for Thomas.

The television lights up causing Roman to jump slightly in his seat, “I got it!”

The four of them quiet down and watch the Mind’s Eye play out on the TV. Thomas is sitting on the floor of his own living room, looking up at the couch. Many of Thomas’ friends are on the couch, laughing at something that must have been said. Thomas stands up and walks towards the kitchen to grab some snacks before returning to the others.

“Aw,” Patton lets out a high pitch sigh. “He’s with his friends. No wonder he’s feeling more relaxed.”

“History would show that his friends are always a way to help him feel better,” Logan says as he opens his book.

“Helps us feel better,” adds Patton.

Virgil watches the screen for a moment. He can’t help but notice how happy everyone seems, the smiles and light in their eyes. He takes a deep breath, relaxing further, “I guess its our happy place.”

Roman nods as he lays his head against Patton’s shoulder, “Friends definitely help give us a soft place to land when Thomas needs it.”

[fearofflamingos]

Alright, it’s a date!

Summary/AN: This takes place during the hiatus we’re currently on (before Jan. 18th) so everything as far as ‘New Girls’ is the context. This is also supposed to take place before the events of Season 3 Episode 8. This honestly ended up being complete different than what my goal was but I’m fine with that. Enjoy a very soft Tyrus date with an okay-ish ending.

Includes: POV!cyrus, crushing!cyrus, anxious!cyrus, (somewhat) jealous!cyrus, soft!TJ, Tyrus, (this is suggested, not stated) Amber + TJ Kippen siblings! (but cyrus thinks it’s flirting between them), this is basically a date but actually plausible

Warnings: I poked at dead jyrus (sorry not sorry), cyrus thinks TJis flirting with Amber (according to me, the writer, that is not true), realization of feelings

Word count: 1,368

Genre: fluff/oneshot (I may continue this tho so tbd)

——-

“Goodman!”

I heard that familiar voice call out and I couldn’t help but smile as he jogged over to me.

“You’re allowed to call me by one name you know?” I teased.

He began to scratch the back of his neck with an awkward smile

“You don’t like that?”

I snorted at his immediate change of demeanor. Confident and smiley to an awkward mess, who would’ve thought of all people the once infamous “scary-basketball-guy” would be like this?

“I’m messing with you, Kippen.”

I was trying to give his last name a shot but it came out weird and I added

“I can’t pull that off, can I?”

He smiled widely and shook his head.

It was the kind of smile that made his eyes squint, his laugh lines be defined, and his chin lift a bit.... not that I thought about his smile much.

“Anyways, what’d you want to tell me?” I asked trying to force myself back to reality.

“Right, sorry. I was wondering if you wanted to go the Spoon after school.”

The Spoon? We hadn’t hung out their before except for that one incident with Andi and her Jonah drama.

“Just us?” I questioned probably just a little too happily.

“Considering the last time we hung out with my friends it didn’t go so well and your friends aren’t my hugest fans I figured just us would be fine... unless you already have plans?”

Correct me if my wrong but did he look a little disappointed at that thought?

“No, no! No plans here I’m as planless as... something that... doesn’t have plans. Only one question, why the Spoon?”

Luckily TJ didn’t mind my lame failed attempts at jokes and just general speaking but it didn’t stop me from internally scolding myself.

“Well it’s inside and it’s not where I work which knocks out a couple of our hang out places. Also I could really use something to eat and they happen to have food there.”

His explanation was so good I almost felt bad about asking in the first place? Why did I ask exactly? Oh... i was trying to recover from the plan thing. Don’t remind me. Still, come on Cyrus, you’re usually awkward so you’re better than this!

“Yea, that’s cool. I’ll let my mom know right now.”

I couldn’t help but smile. I was going to the Spoon with just TJ. TJ and babytaters and fingers crossed no drama and babytaters in the same place. Did I say babytaters twice? Yea, I did!

“I’ll meet you by your locker after school then, see you later.” He said saluting to me.

“Alright, it’s a date.”

The sentence left my mouth before I could possibly think.

I swear I felt my hear stop. I stood their quietly with wide eyes. Maybe if I freeze long enough I’ll disappear. He’s gonna cancel plans. Oh geez he’s gonna awkwardly laugh and say no. He’s gonna hate me, why did I come to school today? Why am I allowed to speak?

It was quiet for a moment.

He didn’t do any of that.

With an unreadable expression he just ruffled my hair and walked away.

I let out a huge breath I hadn’t know I’d been keeping in after a couple of seconds.

A hair ruffle? A hair ruffle. Maybe he didn’t notice? I do joke a lot so he probably took it as one. I mean.. it was one, it was a joke.

I facepalmed internally, what just happened?

...

After the last bell rang and I started collecting my things I could help a small smile to myself. As I walked I couldn’t help but think about the situation I was currently in. No interruptions just me and TJ hanging out at the Spoon.

Wait.

I walked over to a wall briskly and leaned against it while searching through the contents of my backpack. I don’t have any money. I’m gonna ruin a good day because I decided to clean my backpack last night. Why is the universe so cruel? No, it’s fine I just won’t get anything.

I zipped up my things and continued walking over to my locker, waving when I finally saw him stood next to it.

“All set?” He asked when we were finally within mere feet of each other.

“Yea, let’s go.”

Our walk was spent mostly talking about our interests which were always surprisingly more similar than I expected.

We liked similar music and shows, we had our personally dreaded classes (mine being PE and his being math), and our senses of humor lined up pretty well.

Even when we talked about differences neither of us mocked or got upset with the other which is my favorite part.

He talked about Basketball-which I had no clue about- and even if I was lost, hearing him speak so passionately made me want to hear even more.

When I made a self-deprecating joke or when I almost tripped crossing the street all he would do was hold my shoulder comfortingly, sending little shocks of electricity through me.

I never experienced that before. It was a strange, scientific phenomena.

When we approached the Spoon’s entrance he grabbed the door and gestured me inside with a warm smile.

After I entered, he followed suit and we sat at a nearby booth.

“So what do you think you’re gonna get?” He asked as Amber walked over and gave us two menus.

When he grabbed it from her he directed his smile her way and I felt a little funny.

She rose her eyebrow and glanced over at me before patting his shoulder.

I was probably staring oddly and I was only shaken from my trance when TJ waved a hand in front of my eyes.

“Earth to Underdog?”

I shook my head and let out an awkward laugh.

“Sorry I was gone for a couple seconds there. So Underdogs back then? Good, I like that one.”

He retreated his hand and spoke confidently.

“It’s some of my best work.”

He put his chin on his hand and continued “You still didnt answer my question though, what are you getting?”

Weirdly enough he seemed extremely interested in my nonexistent order.

“I’m not all that hungry. Big lunch, big big lunch. Nothing for me.”

I maybe said that a little too suspiciously because he leaned back and studied me. After a couple seconds of staring he inquired

“What do you usually get here?”

I leant forward and pointed at the menu

“Babytaters and a milkshake, the most iconic of their options.”

He laughed looking at the food names

“Wouldn’t expect anything less from you.”

Amber made her way over notebook already in hand

“Ready to order?” She said taking the pencil from behind her ear.

I looked over at TJ who was studying the menu before speaking up

“Yea, I’ll have two orders of baby taters, one chocolate milkshake, and one strawberry shake.”

My jaw dropped and I blinked a couple times as TJ grabbed our menus and hand them to Amber.

“Wow, you must be thirsty.”

I finally decided to say something, anything, hoping he just wanted both flavors.

“The chocolate shake is for you.” He answered with a shrug.

I opened my mouth but no words came out.

Seeing my expression he added “unless you want strawberry?”

He’s such a dork.

“I really didn’t want to get anything.” I lied.

He’s gonna think I’m cheap for not paying, why did I clean my backpack. Damn Buffy and her pestering. Why did he order for me? Freaking mind reading TJ

“Today’s lunch was disgusting so hopefully a shake will redeem your palate. Besides, I’m paying so if you’re not lying to me right now I will take it for myself. I promise you, I’m willing to make that sacrifice.”

He’s paying? This does seems a lot like a date... and that idea sounds strangely nice to me. Hold on, what am I thinking? Have I gone insane?

I looked up to see he had put on that adorable faux pout and then I realized it was happening.

For the first time since Jonah I noticed my heart did that thing where it quickly went badoom, badoom, badoom, badoom.

Oh. Wait.

I looked up at him and he straightened up.

“Did you see a ghost? You’re even more pale than usual and your eyes are doing that scared thing.”

“I must’ve.” I said in a monotone voice.

because I am so dead!

You like TJ? I couldn’t help but my ask myself to see if it was real.

I looked at his now genuinely concerned expression. His features look so much softer when he’s not being mean.

Yeah, I do. I told myself without another thought

——

Send prompts or feedback to my inbox <3

[themarginalartist]

Think... Ink: Chapter 14

It’s finally time to leave the safe house!~

Cause it’s been since April... 

There are NO chapter 5 spoilers I promise. We are a very very long time from that... Especially if I go on hiatus like I did previously for so long whoops...

The first thing Henry noticed upon leaving the safe house was the sheer number of cobwebs coating the set of vending machines in front of them.

“Geez does no one clean around here?” Bendy commented trying for a joke.

“It’s not exactly high priority.” Boris said, not taking notice of Bendy trying to lighten the mood, looking around to make sure the coast was clear.

“Yeah I guess not...” Bendy trailed off.

Henry was admittedly nervous, being back out in the studio, hearing the quiet dripping of ink and the creaks and groans of the floor under his feet made his heart beat faster. But they had to keep going if they ever wanted to get out of this nightmare. They had to face whatever was thrown at them next. No matter how much easier it would be to just stay in the safe house and hide.

“Care to take the lead Boris?” Henry asked, he had noticed that much of the studio had begun to feel less familiar when Boris had lead them to the safe house and the feeling was only growing. Boris gave a quick nod taking the front of the pack causing Henry to spot the Little Miracle Station sitting in the corner at the end of the hall. “Boris, what is that?” There had never been anything like that when Henry had worked there.

“A Little Miracle Station. If you feel like you’re in danger, or we get separated, run to one of these, close the door, and keep your breathing quiet.” The wolf practically growled out. Henry could feel Bendy’s worry increase, and his own as well, but he had to swallow his own nerves, there was no reason to turn back now.

“Alright will do.” Henry confirmed, ready to move on. Boris nodded and moved forwards again.

“It’s kinda dark up ahead… Stick close okay? Mind holdin’ the light?” Boris passed Henry the flashlight on the desk before the pitch black hallway they were standing in front of.

“Uh… It’s uh… real dark in there ain’t it?” Bendy was really nervous about entering the hall.

“It is but we need to keep moving forwards.” Henry took the light, stepping forwards determined. Boris gives him a grin and walks forwards into the darkness after Henry turned on the light.

As they walk forwards in the hallway the churning of mechanical parts and ink fills their ears. Bendy eventually relaxes once inside the hallway and not having anything immediately dangerous come at them.

“See? Not so-“ Henry is cut off as something bangs about in the vents above them. The three of them hold their breath for a long moment after. Finally releasing his breath Henry tried to calm his racing heart. “I bet it was just a board falling. Nothing to worry about.” Boris shot him a nervous smile at his attempt to brush off the possible danger. Bendy didn’t take his attempt as well as Boris however.

“Henry…” Bendy’s nerves were obvious. The three made their way to the end of the hallway a lot quicker after that. However their progress was halted as a large metal door sealed their way forwards.

“Any ideas?” Henry asked. Boris stood near a vent, hand raised out for the flashlight. “…You sure?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll find my way back to ya.” Boris gave him a bit of a cocky grin.

“I trust you will.” Henry passed the flashlight over. Boris nods and climbs into the vent, traveling further and forth away. The darkness causing Henry to lean a little closer to the door. Shortly after the floor shook as the door finally opened. They waited for a while, but Boris didn’t come back through the vent he left from. “I’m sure we’ll catch up with him…” Henry couldn’t deny his worry for the lanky wolf.

“Just- We should wait for a few more minutes. I’m sure-“ Bendy tried.

“We’re exposed… We need to keep moving. Sorry bud.” Henry sighed. “I’m sure it’s just that he can’t get back the way he went. We’ll see him again. I’m sure of it.”

“I- Okay…” Bendy seemed to finally accept that as an answer.

The two started moving forward again. Walking towards the end of a short hallway where a large Bendy decal was pasted on the wall. As they walked around the corner it opened to a large area causing both the toon and man to stare in awe. In front of them was what looked to be a toy shop, only confirmed by the sign “Heavenly Toys” written in massive letters above a fountain of ink. Plush toys of varying sizes scatter around amongst cutouts and couches. Large airplanes chained to the ceiling above them.

“I don’t remember any of this…” Henry trailed off as he looked around the place.

“Henry that toy looks as big as me when I’m in my other form!” Bendy’s eyes were stars as he stared at the oversized plush toy.

“It sure is-“ Henry was cut off as humming filled the air, striking fear in their hearts. It was certainly a female voice, but Henry couldn’t place who it could possibly be.

“Who- Who was that?”

“I dunno… Hopefully… Hopefully their friendly?”

“…In this place?” Bendy raised an eyebrow at that.

“Boris was- Is. Boris is friendly.” Henry tried to remind himself and the toon that they didn’t know if the wolf was no longer with them.

“I guess so… Let’s keep movin’… It feels like something’s watchin’ us…” Bendy shivered on his line.

“Yeah… Let’s keep moving bud…”

How true Bendy’s remark would turn out to be.

[spnbaby-67]

Not how I wanted to tell you, I love you.

A/N: Just an idea that hit me late the other night, i know its corn and whatever but hey i’m trying.. I was in a car wreck last night first time ever since i’ve been driving, and I've been so upset, so i thought i’d finish this and post it. if it’s all wrong or doesnt make sense i’m sorry. I don’t have a beta and i use Grammerly a paid subscription to try and help me out. Seem to work for most part if i put my goals to high standard.. remember to please dont copy and paste on other sites, i’m doing my bet to get out of writers block so i can start on these new series and finish other ones. 

Pairing Jensen and reader, Jared Padalecki, 

Warnings; None, Jensen being goofy 

Y/N McKenzie had been on the set of Supernatural for six months, and in that six months, she had fallen hard for Jensen Ackles. Who wouldn't? Jensen was considered to be the definition of one-hot-son-of-a-bitchin' dude. He's sexy as hell, compassionate about things he got involved with, true to his fans, and loves anyone he got close to with all his heart. Jensen makes Y/N's heartache for him every day; the only thing is Jensen doesn't know this. She was scared to tell him because she didn't know how he would react, so she kept it to herself. Y/N was sitting at the picnic table outside their studio three days before Christmas hiatus when she felt a slight shift of someone sitting next to her. Jared Padalecki, who played Sam Winchester just finished his scenes for the day and decided to eat before he left. He saw Y/N sitting by herself playing with her food instead of eating it and wanted to know what was wrong. "So, a little birdie told me that you have no plans for Christmas." He gently tapped her side to get her attention with his elbow. Y/N had been leaning into the table, and her right arm bent so that her head rested on her hand. "Nope, I don't. My family doesn't care if I live or die, so why go home to that drama?" She said as she shrugged her shoulder, then continued to make fork rows in her mash potatoes. "Well, how about you come home to Texas with us? Gen and I would love to have you, and the kids would be happy to see you." He took a bite of his baked potato. She sat up straight, "I dunno Jared. I'm not really big on family get-togethers. Besides, I'll be fine up here. I have a few TV shows to catch up on." She stood up to get ready to go to her trailer, but Jared stopped her from leaving. "I'm telling you this because you're not going to stay here alone, and I won't have it. Even if I have to pack your bags for you, and carry you over my shoulders, I will." He said as he looked up at her with that damn puppy dog eyes he had mastered over the years. With a sigh, she agreed. "Fine, but the minute I feel I’m in the way, I'm leaving." Jared smiled at her, "You won't be disappointed Y/N, I promise!" He shouted in her direction after she was able to escape his hold. She just waved her hand back to him acknowledging him as she walked on to her trailer. "Great, now I have to find things to wear." She muttered under her breath. "Oompf." She said as she bumped into someone, not realizing it was Jensen until she looked up from her cell phone. "Hey beautiful, what's so important that you can’t look where you were going?" He asked her, seeing the slight blush on her face. "It's nothing really, just reading a text from my sister. H-how are you doing?" She swallowed hard, feeling her stomach flip from looking into his green eyes. "I'm good, just finished my last scenes and ready to get the heck out of dodge for a while. What about you?" He smiled, and her heart skipped thousands of beats. "Moose decided for me that I needed to be joining everyone down in Texas for Christmas hiatus. So, I am about to hit the mall. I have nothing but jeans and rock band t-shirts to wear." She giggled hearing her cell go off with another text from her sister taking away her smile. "There's nothing wrong with jeans and rock band t-shirts, I have quite a few myself, and sometimes that's all I want to wear. Especially, wearing Dean's flannels all the time, t-shirts are always welcomed." "Yeah, I can see that. If you’re not busy, you're welcome to join me." She secretly prayed to herself he would. "If you promise to tell me what your sister told you in that text to make you upset." She smiled at him, "Deal, meet me by my car in about ten?" He nodded his head to acknowledge her, gave a wink, then walked towards his trailer to get out of his Dean clothes and change into something more comfortable. Y/N went to her trailer and paced a bit; she couldn't believe that she was going to spend some time with Jensen. They never really had a moment together alone, because Jared was always there with them wherever they went. So this was going to be a treat for her. Jensen was leaning back on the hood of her car with his arms crossed over his chest, but that changed when he saw her walk out of her trailer. She stopped on the top step to throw her bag over her shoulder. Just as she did, the wind blew by her. Y/N's long brown hair fluttered to the side of her, making Jensen's heart stop. He uncrossed his arms and stood straight as he watched her walk towards him.  His heart pounded in beat with her walk. Jensen had always felt something for her, since the day she had joined the cast. But he never acted on it, for reasons he kept to himself. The chemistry between her character and Dean had made their friendship easy.  However, Jensen wasn't sure if she had felt the same way.  But seeing her confident and bold just now made his heart rethink his feelings to speak up, and see where it could go between them when the time was right. She stopped in front of him, "Hey, you ok?" "Yeeeah, I'm ok. Why wouldn't I be?" He walked over to the passenger side of her SUV. "I dunno, you just look distracted, that's all." "Nope, all good. Let's go have some fun." He raised his eyebrows at her, with a big goofy grin, tapped the rooftop of the SUV, then got into the vehicle. The ride to the mall was comfortable, it wasn't annoying or silenced. It was fun, and Jensen's company made Y/N's nerves go away. She loved how he would tap at the dashboard on a song he recognized, or point out certain things where they filmed before her arrival. They were having fun and driving to the mall didn't take such a long time as it usually would have. She parked the car and turned to look at him. "Are you sure you're ready to go in there? That place," she pointed in front of them. "That's packed with fans who will recognize you?" She chuckled. Jensen looked at her, then looked at the mall. With a wink, he pulled out one of his caps and put it on. "Now, I am ready." Y/N got out of the car laughing, "Jensen, they are going to eat you alive." He walked around to join her. "That's why I got you, my bodyguard." He smiled and took her hand as they walked towards the building. Walking, she tilted her head sideways a bit to look at him. "Well, you're in luck, Ackles. I happen to know a few moves that can get us out of a sticky situation if need be." "Alrighty then, let's do this." He held their hands up together in the air as if he was ready to conquer the world.

After a two and a half hour visit to the mall, Jensen was never so excited to see his trailer again. Once inside, he flopped down so hard on the couch that dust from under it puffed outwards. "Geez Jensen, do you ever clean up around here?" Y/N chuckled as she fanned the dust from her.

"Hey, I clean all the time, so don't go there." He pointed his finger at her making her laugh. Just as she sat down at the table just as Jared walked in, "Hey, where have you two been? I've been looking everywhere for you." He sat next to Jensen after helping himself to a beer from the fridge. "Dude!" Jensen slapped at Jared’s hand as he sat too close to him. "We were at the mall, Y/N needed clothes." He chuckled remembering what happened also. "What's so funny Ackles?" Y/N asked him as she went through her bag of clothes trying to hide the other items. He gave her a cheeky grin as he sat up straight, "Just remembering what else is in that bag." She rolled her eyes, "Don't you even say anything, your dead if you do Jay." If the look on her face at the time could kill, it would have. Jensen just cleared his throat and stood to get another beer. "Oh no, you can't do that to me," Jared spoke up. "What happened?” Jensen couldn't help but tell Jared. flashback After hitting a couple of shops Y/N found a few outfits she could take with her to Texas, thanks to Jensen's help. Ironically, there were only maybe two or three fans who had recognized them and they took the time to talk with them. Y/N then saw Victoria Secrets to the right of where they were standing, thinking that she could sneak off to get a few things without Jensen seeing, she started to walk over. But, to her surprise, Jensen caught up with her. "Hey, sneaking off without me huh?" His arm slightly brushed up against hers. She stopped walking to look at him, "I kind of need to go into a store that I don't think you need to follow." She stood there biting her bottom lip. "It's ok Y/N, I've been in every store this mall has, including Victoria Secrets." He grinned at her. "I'm afraid to ask why you been in Victoria secrets." She rolled her eyes and continued to walk in, then stopped, pointing her finger at him. "Don't you dare embarrass me, Ackles." "I wouldn't dream of it," he said with a raised eyebrows and a cheeky smile. They walked around a bit, and Y/N noticed Jensen wasn't with her. She closed her eyes a moment to stop a heat of embarrassment she knew was about to happen. "Y/N! Look!" Came Jensen from behind her. Nervously, she slowly turned around muttering, "Please don't, please don't." But that all changed when she saw him. "Jensen! Seriously? I told you don't embarrass me." She palmed her forehead, then dared to get closer to him. Jensen giggled and wondered how far he could take this with you, to get a rise out of you. When he saw her reaction which is what he was hoping for, he had to stifle back a laugh.  Jensen was holding up some vibrating edible undies, and you could hear the vibrator going off. "You know babe," He raised his voice a bit. "We could buy a pair or two, they would look amazing on you." He wiggled his eyebrows at her as he held them up. "You want to try them on?" She looked around to see people staring at her, she felt her face turn three shades of red. She felt the temperature in her body grow the more she looked at him. She wanted to slap him, to punch him, to do whatever she could to get him back, but all she did was go over to him, snatched the vibrating underwear out of his hands quickly and put them back down on the table. "You, Jensen Ackles, are a dead man, got it?" She gave him a look, then proceeded to the checkout. "Oh my god, I wished I could have been there to see your face Y/N." Jared was laughing so hard that he was doubled over holding his stomach. Y/N got up from the bench seat by the table, grabbed her bag in haste, then looked at them both. "I really hate you, both of you." She muttered as she left the trailer for hers.

Jensen got up from the couch and went to stop her, she was halfway to her trailer when he grabbed her by the elbow and turned her to face her. "Hey, hey, hey, hey, look at me." She refused to look him in the eyes, and kept her head down towards the ground. "Y/N, hey. I'm so sorry I didn't mean to embarrass you, it was just all fun honestly." He touched the side of her cheek with the back of his hand. He was expecting to see an angry, red-faced Y/N, but what he saw was totally opposite. It was wet, and he knew she’d been crying, he felt guilty and wanted to apologize. 

Her heartbeat picked up when he did that, she felt all hot and bothered on the inside like someone had turned the heat up to 120 degrees. "You embarrassed me Jensen, I know you guys like to prank people. I get it, I really do. I know how you and Jared are, yeah it was funny. In the long run i’ll laugh about it. But at the time it was embarrassing when people were looking at me to see what i’d do. But ask yourself, would you have done that if you knew I loved you." She broke free from his hold and walked quickly away from him and to her trailer, leaving a stunned Jensen behind.

Current tags;

@secretlyfurrydragon @writersaredreamers @waywardbaby @horsegirly99 @shaelyn102 @percussiongirl2017 @mogaruke @internationalmusicteacher @shamelesslydean @alliedimlerr @destiny314 @percussiongirl2017 @angelessquirrel @nanie5 @racheladams77 @spndeanlover1967 @akshi8278 @tiffanycaruso @spnlover67 @wonderfulworldofwinchester @jensen-gal @squirrelnotsam @alliekay727 @madisun16 @haceleyes @smoothdogsgirl @jdmbabe1980 @bombaluv96 @waterlilyshaista @family-business-forever @Suchandra10 @waywardnerd67 @mannls @woodworthi666 @healojane @rainflowermoon @spnskinnyballs @sammieimpala-67 @toripike1234 @lessons-of-red

[jejublr]

boyfriend!s.coups

A/N: I am baaaack. I’m sorry this took so long :( Exam is coming up next week and the last weeks have been a flurry of exams and projects in need to finish! I’m going on an exam hiatus next week but meanwhile, here’s another boyfriend!seventeen, starring our very own Most Boyfriend-able leader, Choi Seungcheol!!!

so much pda omg

and we saw it coming but Cheol is probably one of the biggest cuddlers

like oh my gOD is this guy clingy

he’d absentmindedly play with your hair during cuddle sessions

can’t stop touching you in any way

I mean, control yourself, Cheol, there are kids in here

the worst times were always ones when he got sick he get so clingy and wHINY

“y/n, I’m hungry.”

“y/n, it’s too cold.”

“y/n, it hurtsss,”

“and what do you want me to do?”

“kiss me :(”

greasy, I tell you

#1 supporter of backhugs

you be casually standing when you suddenly feel arms around you and you’re like

“Seungcheol..”

“hmm?”

he’d rest his head on yours and just sway side by side

and honestly it’s so warm and it felt secure and you wouldn’t ask for anything more

fathers you without realizing

sends you texts at night asking you if you’re home and safe

kisses the top of your hair as he puts his arms on your shoulders

always finding the time to pick you up from class/work

holds your hand with the other on the steering wheel as he drives you around

“Cheol, you’re going to crash us.”

he tries to stop doing it bc he doesn’t want anything to happen to you

still finds himself doing it from time to time tho

brags about you to the members and his friends

everyone and their grandma knows you bc of he couldn’t stop talking about you lmao

DINNER DATES!!!

OR JUST EATING OUT GENERALLY!!!

bc Seungcheol loves seeing you eating well and healthily

always giving you the last piece of food during a meal

“eat up. you should take care of your health.”

also pls bring back his cheeks and his dimples I miss them :(

also this greaseball would probably order one drink just so he could share it with you

but hold the thought that he’d be the smooth greaseball, bc THAT’S A LIE

if you’re being bold and you decide to come up to his face as you drink from your straw, he’d die

like, come on, this guy is a teenage school girl at heart

but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t has his fair share of moments where you just want to shout “CHOI SEUNGCHEOOOOLLLLL”

ARCADE DATES!! BC DDR!!

this guy will deadass challenge you at DDR thinking that he’d win

GETS COMPETITIVE AS F like calm yo tits Cheol, geez

“hey, aren’t you supposed to let me win every once in a while?!”

him: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

ok but he (kinda) does it because you look cute looking angry like that

plus, loser gotta do whatever the winner tells them to do so he gets to use it at his own advantage

like maybe, a kiss? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

will call foul and ask for a rematch if you win

sometimes insists that he did it on purpose bc he “feels bad.”

but will never let you hear the end of it when he wins lol

it’s a lose-lose situation so you usually just try to avoid playing games with this one

also: going to the grocery store with him would be such an event tbh

like, have you seen the pic of him carrying two grocery baskets in the supermarket?

dad material™ 

idk but I just see him as the one who get sent on grocery runs if Mingyu can’t

like Mingyu, he’d know what everyone likes by heart

“oh, get the onion rings, Dino loves them.”

“no, we don’t need carrots. Jeonghan doesn’t like it.”

but would probably buy more than what he actually needs bc he gets sidetracked

he’s not afraid of talking about the future with you bc honestly? 

he couldn’t imagine one if it’s not you by his side

would probably start naming his future kids early

“no, Cheol, we’re not getting a child-leash.”

“but it would be so cute!”

“YOUR CHILD ISN’T A DOG.”

CHEESY AF OMG

will insist holding the umbrella when it rains

“uhm, Cheol, it’s not even raining that hard.”

“leT ME HAVE THIS.”

honestly, Jeonghan would fight you

speaking of Jeonghan, you guys would actually get along really well

sometimes the three of you would hang out and you can clearly see the chemistry between those two and how they care so much about each other and it really is something to witness

sometimes you even question who’s dating who at some point because they could get so lovey dovey with each other lmao

like, if you go out to have dinner and they’re sitting beside each other and Cheol would have one of his arm around Jeonghan and you’d be like

“uhm excuse me, Mr Choi, am I interrupting a moment? :)’

but you don’t mind because you both know that you’re just joking and it’s super important to him if his s/o get along well with his members

gets super soft if he sees you play along with the other guys and take care of them

istg you’re like the mom of the group now

you’d sometimes bring food for the members but not too often bc feeding thirteen people is not good for your wallet

you having to remind him to take care of himself, too and not to worry too much bc he’s a great leader

he tends to overthink and sometimes, he need someone to just wind him down, take a breather, relax a little

I feel like he’s the type to not to talk about his problems until you prompt and probe him a little

then his facade would break and he’d tell you everything

he’d be forever grateful whenever you sit down and listen to him as he rambles on about his day and his problems

but he’d like it if you trust him enough to lean on him, too

he won’t hesitate to go through your struggles together with you, to be there for you

you guys would definitely be the power couple so please take care of our kind and selfless leader Choi Seungcheol because he cares so much for everyone and it’s about time someone give back to him

Other Boyfriend!Seventeen

S.Coups | Joshua | Jeonghan | Jun | Hoshi | Wonwoo | Woozi | DK | Mingyu | The8 | Seungkwan | Vernon | Dino

[yourfaithfulsidekick]

COMPLETED. This was my first TMNT long-fanfic series! I started this WAY back in 2012 and finished it summer 2017 [yeah....I went on a 2 year hiatus it was bad]. But, it stuck with me. This story truly was a coping skill itself as it got me through a lot. When I first wrote it, until the last chapter-- it was a ride! If you’re interested, check out chapter 1 below and the link for the full story! Thank you!

"Again!"

Man, what I'd do for a nice large pepperoni pizza right about now… Michelangelo smiled at the thought of the delicious masterpiece. Immediately his mind began ticking at the thought of what he could conjure up. Obviously it'll have a ton of cheese! Maybe I could make- HAWAIAN! Now that's a pizza that'll-!

"Focus, Michelangelo!"

Oh, shell! Shaking his hungry mind, Mikey realized that he was now sitting on his shell, sprawled out on the ground. Looking up, Mikey was shot with his infamous brother's death glare. Oh, Leo. I swear, this dude practices how to rip through my soul in his mirror.

"That's the third time this week I won in less than ten minutes, Michelangelo." Leonardo said, scoffing the dirt off his knuckles. He sighed as he reached his hand out to his youngest brother, "How many times do I have to tell you to keep your mind on one thing? More specifically, your training?"

"Uh," Mikey smiled weakly, accepting his brother's hand as he lifted him up. "Just today or this week? Cause' if it was today I think it's about...the third? And if was the week well I really wasn't thinking of keeping score of-!"

"Oh come on, Raph! That was totally uncalled for!"

"Don't be such a sour puss, Don."

"What now?" Leonardo mumbled to himself as he rubbed his forehead. Lately all of his brothers have been a source of both migraines and ulcers. He shook his head as he stormed over to his brothers. Stopping in his tracks, he turned around and said, "You stay here, Mike."

Karai has been awfully quiet for the past few months, the Purple Dragons haven't made any big moves, and the Foot has yet to steep out on the streets since the fall of the Shredder. The pressure of danger popping up, maybe even stronger, at any point pushed Splinter to train his sons much harder. Of course, Leo took Splinter's intentions to heart. Maybe a little too hard, for Leo's sake!

If he were human, he was sure that his oldest brother would have a hair full of grey hair at this point.

Uh-oh! Leo looks even more ticked off than usual! Maybe if I just sneak past using my Battle Nexus Champion ninja skills… Michelangelo watched Leo turn to face the other side of the dojo where Raphael had Donatello in a headlock, shouting something about winning fair and square. Smiling to himself, he took complete full advantage of his situation. Tip-Toeing his way toward the door of the dojo, Mikey could hear Leo and Raph bickering over Don's cries to be released. This was his big break-!

Making a sprint to his bedroom, Michelangelo can't help but embrace the adrenaline rush that consumed him. Pushing himself to run as fast as he could, he finally reached his bedroom door. Shutting it behind him, he sighed of relief. Ha! Made it out alive! Go Mikey, go Mikey! Go! Go!

A loud knocking echoing outside his door interrupted his exhilaration. Oh, Shell. "Michelangelo!" Leonardo was back again for the kill -this time, his voice full blown with authority. "Your training is over when I say so! Get out here right now and finish!"

"Geez, Leo, calm your katanas." Lowering his head in defeat, Mikey opened his door. Before Mikey could plea to his big brother, Leo slapped his brother across the side of his head. Before Mikey could cry out, he suddenly felt his arm being dragged out of his room and down back to the dojo.

"Aw, come on, Leo!" Mikey cried, (failingly) attempting to get out of his brother's grasp. "I'm sorry! Next time I-!"

"This won't happen again." Leo said sternly, giving him a shove into the dojo. Inside, Raph and Don were already waiting. There, Don is leaning against one side of the wall, and Raph being on the other- both his older brothers pouting in their own corners.

"Alright," Leo began, clearing his throat. "Everyone's behavior has been unacceptable these past few days-."

"We don't need a lecture, Fearless." Raph grunted. "Especially from you." Mikey bit his lip to the growing tension in the small room. Lately, things weren't very peachy between him and his brothers. Hell, even Donnie is acting up!

Leo, after Splinter fell ill earlier in the month, took the role of being head of the house. As if Leo wasn't already- er- besides Master Splinter of course! In Mikey's eyes, this meant Leo's big brother's aura/lecture/talks have increased a good fifty percent. Leo has become even stricter with his brothers than usual. Sure, Leo wasn't fond of Raph going up to the surface with Casey some nights. It wasn't until recently when Leo became more persistent with Raph about his time out, with or without Casey. But it wasn't just Raph getting the wrath.

Don, being in his lab even more often than usual, has focused solely on helping Master Splinter have a speedy recovery and his usual calibrations. Master Splinter insists that he just has a simple cold, nothing for his sons to fret over. Of course, Don being his own perfectionist, convinced himself to run every test on his father as possible- just to be safe. Even Michelangelo knew that once Don was head into a project, there would be nothing to snap his head out of it until he was through. Leo, knowing how hard his brother pushes, attempts to pull his brother out of his lab and train more. More like force him to train.

"Believe it or not, I'm going to agree with Raph on this one." Don sighed. "We did everything you asked Leo, it's only morning practice. There's no need to push so hard-."

"No need?" Leo hissed, clenching his hand to his katana.

Oh, shell. Well, yup, aaaand Leo has officially cracked.

Mikey took a step back as Leo walked up to Don. Getting face to face with his younger brother, Leo said, "Karai can be out there planning a way to get back at us!"

Mikey could tell that his oldest brother was trying to hide any emotion in his voice. In a way, he always felt bad for Leo. It was very, very, rare that he'd see Leo calm down and just hang out with them. He tried to recall the last time he just joked and played with his brother. Were we 10? 12?

Leonardo looked over to the rest of his brothers as he continued on. "You think that you'll be able to fight off an entire Foot elite? You think you're strong enough to face Karai?"

"We know you aren't."

Wait; scratch that, now Leo has cracked. Oh, come on, Raph! Michelangelo slapped his forehead as Don cursed under his breath. Well, this is it. It was great knowing my brothers.

Silence fell onto the room.

Donatello stood helplessly in front of Leonardo. Leonardo's head snapped over to Raphael, still clutching his katanas tightly. Donatello placed his hand on Leo's shoulder, gripping it firmly to keep him in his place.

If Raph and Leo don't kill each other now, than the tension in this room will! I totally got to stop it-! Mikey stepped in between Raph and Leo as he put his arms outward toward each of them. Forcing his trademark grin, he coughed a chuckle, "Okay, dudes, look, we're all tired, pretty ticked off and maaaybe even hungry? Let's part on friendly terms, eat some pizza, say our sorries and call it a day!"

Silence fell again.

Mikey darted his eyes to each of his brothers, still attempting to keep a smile. Raph, on his right, was standing firm with his arm crossed. His eyes locked onto Leo's, irritation oozing from his glare. Looking to his left, Leo had the same glance to Raph. Don stood on Leo's right, still holding Leo's shoulder for dear life. Don, being the only one who was looking at Mikey, simply shook his head. Mikey bit his lip as he desperately looked to his brother. Come on, Don! Give me a hand here!

Knowing Don, being the most peaceful one out of them, he probably won't step in until Raph and Leo pull each other's heads off. Leaving Mikey going solo.

Forcing a more cheerful smile, Mikey clapped his hands together. "Okay, then! I'll start then! Leo, bro, I'm sorry I ran off to my room to hide from your demon like wrath and for probably pissing you off even more- BUT, anyway, I am sorry! Now, Raph, apologize for being mean to Leo."

"I ain't apologizin' for shit."

"GOOD APOLOGY, Raphie-!" Mikey smiled, attempting to cut Raph off. "I can almost feel the emotion of sympathy flowing in the wind! Now, Don, you apologize for talking back to Leo!"

Don, rolling his eyes, knew to play along with Mikey's game- or else he won't stop the charade. His voice monotone, he squeezed Leo's shoulder. "I'm sorry for talking back to you, Leo."

"There ya go!" Mikey smiled. His plan was working! Er, well, Raph is too proud for that anyway. I think I even see Leo lighting up a little! Smiling to Leo, he pointed to his oldest brother. "Now, Leo, it's your turn! Apologize for being so strict and fatherly and dominating over us!"

Raphael chuckled as Donatello slapped his forehead. Oops. That one was my bad.

"You're absolutely right, Michelangelo." Leo smirked, deep blue eyes beginning to grow even more intense. He forced a laugh as he continued sarcastically, "Wow! I'm sorry that I'm only just looking out for each of you. Oh, wait! I am so sorry for making you guys train harder so that when you go out in a fight, you won't come back as many times as you've all been hurt. But, I am mostly sorry for being so fatherly. I didn't think caring about my brothers' safety and protection could be so awful."

"You're so full of yourself, Fearless." Raph hissed, stepping closer to his older brother. "You think just cause' Master Splinter has a tiny cold you think you could play master! Well guess what? Yer no master-!"

Brushing Don off his shoulder, Leo stepped closer to Raph. His voice raises higher, the emotion no longer hiding. "Coming from the guy who goes out every night just to feel more tougher and stronger! How does that protect this family?"

"Stop!" Mikey cried, stepping in between his brothers. "C-Come on, guys! I know how much you guys love proving each other wrong but-!"

"Stay out of this, Mike." Raphael warned, shoving his brother to the side.

"Guys, come on." Donatello took a try at stopping his older brothers. "At this rate you two are going to wake Sensei. And he needs all the rest he can."

Ooooh the guilt card! Nicely done, Donnie! Leonardo hesitantly backed away from Raphael and nodded. "Fine. We're done for now."

"Finally!" Grabbing Raphael's arm, Mikey attempted to tug his arm toward the door. "How about we play some Resident Evil, Raph? We always make a good team-!"

"Yer leave me to die and take all the ammo," Raphael shook out of his little brother's grip, "no way in hell am I playin'."

"Aw, come on!" Mikey pleaded, watching his brother stroll to his room. And once he's in there he ain't coming out until dinner...Maybe Don will play with me!

Adrenaline rushed through him as he skipped his way to Don, who was cleaning up the dojo. "Donnie!" Mikey tackled his brother, putting his arm around Don's shoulder. "How about we play? I'll let you be the cool dude and I'll be the chick!"

Half-laughing, Don removed his brother's arm off his shoulder. "Can't, Mikey. I got to check in on Splinter and call April to pick up more medicine." Making his way out of the dojo, he looked back to his youngest brother and smiled slightly. "Maybe you could check in on Leo. You do owe him an apology, you were pretty harsh on him."

"ME?!" Mikey squeaked, raising his hands in the air. Before he could defend himself, Donatello was already gone. Sighing in defeat, Mikey slouched his back and dragged his feet back in the hallway.

Plopping himself on the floor, he leaned his shell against the wall. Pulling his knees up to his chest, he rested his head on his knees. This wasn't the first time he felt that all his brothers were completely against him. Shell, all I wanted to do was help. That's what I…always wanted to do. Why can't his brothers see past that?

I-I know I like to play jokes and act like an idiot sometimes…but don't they see that I'm not an idiot? O-Or do they really see me as just…that. No. Mikey shook off his deep thoughts and pulled himself back up on his feet. There was no way he would let his family see him this way. They'll just think he's whining again for attention.

B-But, I don't! I just…want to make things right for once.

And he knew jus where to start!

Mike quickly paced himself over to Leo's room. His door was completely shut. Biting his lip, Mikey hesitated knocking. Leo usually never keeps his door totally closed, that is, unless he wants privacy. But Donnie's right…

Mikey did his traditional knocking; knocking twice, then again three times. "Leo? Its me…can we talk for a second or are you sleeping or meditating or-."

Leonardo slowly opened the door halfway, leaning himself against the door frame. His arms crossed, he cleared his throat. His eyes finally reaching his little brother's, Mikey was taken back by the look his oldest had. He was exhausted- whether it was mentally or physically (shell, or even both) he couldn't tell.

"H-Huh?" Mikey snapped out of his dazed thoughts and looked back up at Leo. "OH- uh- look, Leo, I'm…sorry about picking on you before. I totally get how freaked out you are over this-."

"As should you." Leo cut off, his voice becoming deeper with authority. "Remember what I told you at the Battle Nexus? If one of us goes down, we all go down. You need to pick up your slack or…" His voice faded as he looked to the ground, then immediately back up. "…or we will go down too."

"What are you sayin', bro?"

"I'm saying…that if you don't stop fooling around and focus on training with me and the others, we can't trust you in a fight."

"Can't trust me?!" Michelangelo echoed, hurt piercing his voice. His brothers, brothers, believed that he'd be nothing but… "You guys think I'm just some kind of…liability to you guys…?"

"I didn't say you were one, Mikey." Leo placed his hand on his youngest shoulder. His voice becoming more comforting. "I'm saying, if you keep slacking off and not working with all of us…then yeah, you're putting us in danger too. And as the leader, I'm not putting Raph and Don in danger too."

What the shell? L-Leo really sees me as that much of a weakness that I put Raph and Donnie in trouble..?

"L-Leo, come on." Mike pleaded, starting to back away from his brother's reach. "I-I mean I joke around with you guys but, when we train I do my part and get it done! Okay, maybe sometimes I get distracted easily a-and I tick you guys off, but I work!"

"Mike!" Leo exclaimed. "Just…get your act straight. I'm not going to tell you again." And with that, Leonardo shut his door. Leaving his youngest drowning in his own brother's words…

./././././././././.

Shutting his eyes tight, he could have swore he heard his brother choke a sob. Sure, his brother was the most sensitive out of them all. And yeah, he took any criticism to heart at times, even while covering it with a joke. But he did it for the best…right?

Leonardo collapsed on his bedside, staring up at his ceiling. When did things get so crazy? Sensei…I-I don't think I can handle all of this not-.

"I trust you, my son. You know your brothers well. You will take care of them. Have faith, Leonardo. Just as I have faith in you."

His heart clenched as his father's words swam around his already filled mind. He knew Raphael was already completely fed up with him, Donatello was too stressed over Splinter's condition, and Mikey…is just in his own world.

At least there, Leonardo knew Mikey didn't have to have the burden of worrying over anything. He can just be himself, laughing, goofing off, cracking jokes, and just acting like things were just the same as they were.

He needs to realize the truth…

Even if it hurts him.

[neoworldcorp]

Insecity: City wars of kids Part 3

Hi guys, sorry for the mini hiatus, live before Silvester is a mess, so I found some free time to finally give some extra ideas for Insecity, I think I might stick with this name.  So you might remember, I said there will be 3 blaster brands, but explained only one, there will come the latter two. The first of which is:  Battle bees: The classic, vanilla, blaster brand, with a wide variety of blasters, from lightweight to heavyweight, but no many specialized or quirky blasters. This brands basic blaster designs are light futuristic blasters, with some idea of today gen blasters, with a simple color scheme of Bright yellow, black, and grey, with orange or red as accents. They often use stripes or dotted decos on they blasters, even too coloring some blasters like tiger skin. They darts colorations are just black on the tip and yellow rest. The main use is in urban areas, because of the more precise, but low reach darts, so perfect in small radius skirmishes, especially when using the full auto blasters. The poster boy blaster is Beequeen v.02 blaster, which is a 25 mag middleweight blaster, with a medium reach barrel and fast firing speed, but lacks in range. This blaster too sponsors the companies main logo of a striking bee, as a stock paint. These blasters are mainly used in early game, but still are useful in mid and late game, if you gonna train newbies. This company has three other “subseries” for different tastes, these are:  Lava knights and frozen dragons: This series is more specialized in a rival like fake competitions between two factions, which use different kinds of blasters on they own, but some are very similar to the basics, just different decos or shells. This series specializes in all kinds of blasters, but mainly in medium and heavyweight blasters and faction differences aren't really big, just two or 3 blasters are faction exclusive. This series specializes more in mid range fights, mainly in half open battlefields, like parks or plazas. The poster boy of these 2 factions are: The Frost kings cannon (these blasters are faction specific, so choose which faction you want to follow, or just wanna go both) Which is a heavyweight blaster, which shoots 3 darts at the same time, in a line like formations, and this big gun uses a 50 dart drum mag, and the packaging gives you an extra 50 dart drum mag, with a clip to attach two of those bad boys, but for love god, this gun gonna slow you down to a crawl, because its so freaking large, its similar to the sizes of the freaking mastodon blaster from the mega dart series. Although its medium range, this boy can you give you pretty nasty punch. And the lava knights poster boy blaster is the: Dragoon destroyer rifle, this lady rifle is the main thing of the elite soldiers. This blaster just needs a 20 mag dart to hit hard and fast. Is just a common semi-auto with really hard springs to hit far radius targets, but this baby needs to rev for some time to properly hit your desired target. Although its kinda mid-tier in shooting time, its outclasses most of its competitor blasters in how hard and far it can hit.  Although it doesn't have a long barrel, the packaging includes a barrel extension, which might help when trying to hit more accurate, but kills the range, and isn't this thing's main thing its range? So, better don't attach the barrel extension, but you can try. Oh, i forgot the two faction blasters deco and dart things. Well, the frozen dragons have mostly trans light blue, white and silver coloration, with navy blue added in accent colors and extra shells. They mostly make the main shells look like ice is freezing over them and even adding extra shells, to look like some bones and skulls have fused with the blasters, even one blaster uses a nose cavity of a skull as a partial barrel, but I don't say which.The darts of the frozen dragons are on the tip cyan and other pure white, with light part of cyan visible in side the foam. The lava knights on the other side, use mainly trans neon red and orange for deco, black and silver for main colors and scarlet for deco and or added details. The main thing with their blasters' deco, is heavy usage of low poly hexagonal clusters or just making it more sci-fi mechanics, then looking less complex. The main use of the trans colors are used for mags or “energy” vents and tubing. These blasters too sometimes have rotating parts, which just are made for looks. The darts on the lava knight side, are orange on the tip and grey foam with parts of red crystals on the grey foam. That might be all on the series and i almost forgot, this series is specialized in mid game and bit of late, but you find better blasters in late game.    The last series of them, is quite a mess, for the eyes mainly. This series is called: Nightmare Realm, and it's quite a mess of light and medium-weight blasters, with quite gimmicky blasters. They main deco way is black and gunmetal grey, with lavender and yellow, added in. The main deco is tentacle-like and scratch like, even sometimes looking like black sludge over took a common blaster, even sometimes eyes and mouths visible on the sludges. Some blasters too have lights inside the partially visible shells, which make the part look like its alive, even scaring people. These blasters have the most gimmicky blasters in existence, like using a Ferris wheel-style machinery and using 6 dart cylinders as shotgun shells, even being able to replace the cylinders. Or making a full auto blaster with an 18 dart cylinder, but you need to crank to shoot. They are very gimmicky but have sweet passive abilities and even being able to scare off enemies. This series darts have a neat extra, they squek when fired fast enought, and have a yellow tip with purple foam. This blaster series is only late game accesible and even can help you out on the harder side missions.  So that might be all, for one company i invented out of the blue, i will try to make the last and third company, geez, sorry guys for torturing you for the rest. I will try to make the last company in the future, but i am creatively drained. Sorry guys ._.