#Hayden x Damien

[pickletrip]

When I started watching Stay Still I had my doubts because episode 0 was quite confusing. But as I kept watching this tiny little beautiful show I was mesmerized by its beauty, the atmosphere, the love, and the characters. As the show ended today, I felt sad that it's over, but happy with how things turned out

We learn about Hayden and Damien and Kelvin and Archie from a story narrated by this woman. She's getting married the next day, but clearly it's not something that would make her happy because he's not the one she's marrying but here she is with him the night before her big day. As they talk and smoke we slowly see how their dynamic changes as the story progresses. I really thought she would leave and he didn't seem like the type to hold on to someone. But things turned out otherwise. The lighting for their scenes was always warm and comforting even if the atmosphere seemed dense and sorrowful in a way. But we see how the light breaks through that invisible barrier to bring them together and to the realisation that they belong together.

Hayden and Damien met in the most unusual way but there was nothing unusual about the way their relationship develops. They both clearly have feelings for each other even though they were at different points in their life - Hayden moving on from his ex, Damien dealing with his grandmother's death. Through the rough patches they were there for each other, even though the gestures were small (Damien taking care of drunk Hayden and keeping him company on his birthday; Hayden buying food and leaving notes for Damien to help him deal with his loss). These are very real situations and experiences and the actors did a fabulous job showing that to us.

Now Kelvin and Archie faced such an unfortunate tragedy as high school lovers torn apart by this woman's jealousy. She outed them to the whole school (or class, I'm not sure which) forcing Archie to leave the school because he became the root of all jokes and verbal (maybe physical, not sure) bullying. Does she get what she wants? In a sense, yes. We see that they are married and they have a son. Are they happy? Well, that's a whole other situation. After Archie returns we see that Kelvin really lights up and becomes a whole different person. But of course that doesn't last long, because the ever meddling witch has come to threaten Kelvin with their son. So Kelvin does what is expected of him, he pushes Archie away. Only after losing him the second time does he finally realise what he really wanted.

Finding love in this ever broken world is hard. And we see how these stories depict the reality of these experiences we go through every day.

What a beautiful and touching show. I look forward to more from Jupiter Entertainment. This show is their inaugural production under the "Love Spread" program. So, I have hope that there's more to come in the future.

I highly recommend this show and it's freely available on YouTube. So, why not give it a shot?

[conscbgb]

The best way to drink beer with your bf 😏😉

Drama name: Stay Still - 5 episodes total

HONG KONG | The five-episode Cantonese BL '#StayStill #樓下來的人' will be having its remake into a full-scale series with a longer run-time: Jupiter Entertainment announced their future projects, three music microfilms and new series.

🙌🙌🙌 40 minutes for each episode 🙌🙌🙌

[4rainynite]

Welcome to Dreamworld Predictions

Here are some predictions/headcanons I have for the next episode of 'Welcome to Dreamworld'

Remember when Ribbon Dancer first met Wiatt?

"A new friend!? Hello, hello, hello! Where did you come from? Are you human, or have you fallen from the status like the rest of us?"

Ribbon Dancer knew from the very beginning that Wiatt wasn't human and you can't convince me otherwise!

After the last episode where Wiatt talked to Celio his eyes are black like soulless and numb.

This is hinting towards Wiatt being an animatronic/cyborg.

After, their talk Wiatt's eyes return to their normal brown color.

Also, look at Oddity! He's such a good support Twinblo being there for Wiatt, he's perfect!

Celio tells Damien, Oliver, Millie, Ms. Cabrera, Star, Eric, Rex, Ribbon Dancer, and Glory about Wiatt's eyes turning black during one of their talks. Celio knew it wasn't natural but couldn't explain how it happened. Celio believed it had to do from stress, doubt, and what the two talked about and all the supernatural things going on. Celio made them promise to report to them if Wiatt's eyes ever went black again and to make sure Oddity was with him at all costs in case something happened.

When the time comes, I hope the reveal is similar to Bee's from Bee and Puppycat.

Hazel will finally meet Wiatt, Damien, Oliver, Celio, and the other animatronics to help with the investigation.

We'll get an episode of how Hazel met Lorenzo, Night Light, Gruff, and Millie.

Finding out how she got involved with Dreamworld (I believe it has to do with Masquerade, Melody, Mimic aka John, James, and Jake)

While exploring the facility (mainly employee only areas) she came across Lorenzo, Night Light, and Gruff seconds after Sara possess Millie.

The decommissioned animatronics explain that they're the souls of children who were murdered by the founder Sara when they were children because they bullied her.

 During Hazel's investigation on Dreamworld she came across Ghosteyes and Wiatt's videos. Hazel looks up to Wiatt like a big brother and besides Ribbon Dancer ships Wiatt x Lewis/ Star Light.

Well, Hayden time to put your money where your mouth is.

He's mainly doing it for Andrew, Audrey, and Pen. He'll definitely give Wiatt a hard time, but at this point Wiatt would also be done with Hayden's nonsense by now but still protects him, Astra, and Morris. This will also be a wakeup call for Hayden realizing that his hatred should be focus more on Litho and Sara and how harsh he was on Wiatt.

I think something will happen to Wiatt making Hayden fill in his shoes, but the animatronics don't trust him (mainly Cheer since he was the last human she saw before she died), and we don't know his interactions with the other employees making it difficult for Hayden to get any info.

 Now that Norman knows that Litho has been possessing Sara and Sara killed him, he's gonna help Wiatt and the others stop Litho.

He won't be buddy-buddy with Wiatt and the others at first, he'll just leave clues like Hazel leaving that flash drive in Wiatt's bag.

He instructs Morris and Astra to hangout more with the others to help gain their memories.

When he's around 'Sara' he plays dumb to make sure Litho doesn't know he (Norman) knows that he (Litho) isn't Sara.

I really hope the other employees help with the investigation and find a way to free Rain from Litho's control.

Theories:

Litho is using Hayden to derail the investigations.

We all know that Mike, Alyssa, Hayden, Andrey, Audrey, and Pen have been working at the facility since it opened up and the group may have formed a bond during the past months. Until Lewis, Eric, and Oliver disappeared, only for Mike, Alyssa, and Andrew to disappear leaving Audrey, Hayden, and Pen.

And we all know what happened to them.

Remember when Oddity found Pen's laptop and then froze Wiatt in time for a week while the facility was being repaired. I bet Litho has the laptop now and has been using it since then.

Hayden would have zero interest in Wiatt's videos, but if 'Pen' sent him a message about it he would look into it.

Litho used Pen's laptop to send Ghosteyes' videos of the Dreamworld investigations to Hayden and then killed Pen and Lisa in front of them so Hayden could go off on Wiatt and turn against him.

I remember seeing a post on Tumblr from one of the artists from the show that Pen would return as a bug animatronic (I was rooting on an owl animatronic due to the 'neck' thing). If they get the chance Pen will reveal that he never sent Hayden any videos of Wiatt's investigations and that he's been tricked.

Now, Wiatt won't talk to Hayden due to self-doubt and 'you told me to leave you alone, so now I'm doing what you told me to do' which will make things difficult. 

2. Audrey has been doing her own investigations.

Like I said above Mike, Alyssa, Hayden, and Andrew were there since the beginning and it wasn't until Andrew went missing, she did everything in her power to look for him for example: made missing persons posters, contact his family, and would go to the police regularly.

When the facility reopened, she was the only one to voice Wiatt was missing. Audrey must have noticed that it was mainly the mechanics who went missing the most fueling her need to know what happened to her friends.

Audrey having some knowledge of the animatronic/computers took over Wiatt's duties. Before Winnie attacked her Audrey proclaimed that she knew Dreamworld had something to do with Andrew's disappearance and maybe Wiatt's.

Sadly, Audrey became another victim of Dreamworld Facility, and her soul now inhabits Astra.

I believe a good 50% of the victims were looking for friends/family, co-workers and got killed because of it.

4. Melody may get his memories back due to being around Winnie and remembering he killed him and his brothers.

Okay, that's all I got now.

[foxtime2012]

Favorite ships?

oh easy

1 : wiatt x starlight/ wiatt

2 : glory x rex

3 : Oliver x Damien

4 : Norman x Morris

5 :( this isn't canon but a friend of mine on instergram (probably didn't spell that right) ship Hayden x wiatt in a joke why but it's actually quite cute) Hayden x wiatt

6 : Carlos x Lucy

[choicesficwriterscreations]

CFWC F/AotW - Oct 8-14, 2023

✒️= Fanfic | 📱= Text Fics/Edits | 🎨= Fanart ��️ = Mature Content 18+ | 🔥 = Explicit/NSFW 18+ 🌺 = Hispanic Heritage Month | 🦄= Bisexuality Awareness Week | 🏳️‍🌈= LGBTQIA

BLADES OF LIGHT AND SHADOW

CRIMES OF PASSION

Crimes Drabble ✒️🏳️‍🌈🦄| Trysan Thorne x MC, Luke Watanabe x Ruby Webster @lilyoffandoms

The Favourite Brother ✒️| Vasili Thorne - @starsarewithinme

Heavy is Her Heart ✒️ | m!Trystan Thorne x f!mc - @moominofthevalley

Trystan Thorne x F!MC Fanart 🎨 by @nukritus

Trystan Thorne x F!MC Fanart 2 🎨 by @nukritus

IMMORTAL DESIRES

Cas Harlow Fanart 🎨by @nukritus

Cas Harlow x Gabe Adalhard Fanart 🎨🏳️‍🌈 by @nukritus

IT LIVES IN THE WOODS

Andy Fanart 🎨 by @myautumnrose

Lily Fanart 🎨 by @myautumnrose

Sophomore Secret ✒️🏳️‍🌈🦄| Dan Pierce x F!MC, M!OC - @aallotarenunelma

THE NANNY AFFAIR

To The Ballgame ✒️ | Sam Dalton x F!MC - @socalwriterbee

NIGHTBOUND

Nightbound Drabble ✒️🏳️‍🌈| Nik Ryder x MC - @lilyoffandoms

OPEN HEART

PERFECT MATCH

Indescribable 🎨| Hayden Young by @twinkleallnight

Peeping Damien ✒️Ⓜ️🔥🌺| Damien Nazario x F!MC - @georgiesgirl1223

THE ROYAL ROMANCE

Ghosted (Series) ✒️Ⓜ️| Liam Rys x MC - @kristinamae093 Chapter 10: Two Steps Back

Thro(n)es of Passion Part 2: A Bad Romance One-Shot ✒️Ⓜ️🔥| Liam Rys x MC x Maxwell Beaumont, Drake Walker x MC - @angelasscribbles

Turning the Page ✒️Ⓜ️ | Liam Rys x MC - @tessa-liam Part 4: I'm the Problem

Victim of Love (Series) ✒️Ⓜ️| Liam Rys x MC, Drake Walker x MC - @angelasscribbles Chapter 13: Torn Chapter 14: Yes and Maybe

WAKE THE DEAD

The End of the World (Series) ✒️Ⓜ️| Eli Sipes, the Sipes Family - @jerzwriter Part 2: The Very End

The Last Goodbye 🎨Ⓜ️ | Eli Sipes, David Sipes by @rosefuckinggenius (C: @jerzwriter)

CROSSOVERS

Bloodbound/Nightbound

Disembodied (Series) ✒️| Adrian Raines x MC, Nik Ryder x MC - @mynotsohealthyobsession Part 3 (of 8)

Endless Summer/Hero

Let the Shadows Fall Behind You ✒️| Jake McKenzie x MC, ES!MC & Hero!MC - @saibug1022

[lizzybeth1986]

Harvest Moon

Book: Perfect Match

Rating: PG

Pairings: Basil Park (m!MC) x Sage Young (f!Hayden), Basil Park x Sloane Washington, Kim Washington

Summary: It's Sage's first ever birthday! And what better way to celebrate it than a fun road trip to a place where they can see the last supermoon of the year - just her, Basil, Sloane and Kim. But this time might be a little different - because this time around, Kim knows Sage is a Match...

Word Count: 4, 099 words

Note: While looking up this year's celestial sightings would be, I discovered that 29th Sept is when we will see the last supermoon of the year. PM is set in the future but for sure I felt like it would be just extra special for me to do a similar setting for a birthday fic 😁 The events of this fic are referenced in "Saffron Sugar, Turmeric Spice"

--

Sage is pretty sure no one-year-old has ever had a birthday surprise quite like this one.

Though technically, there was no way it could have been a surprise. This road trip was planned and booked two months in advance, Sloane and Kim have been wanting to check out Cherry Springs State Park's dark sky view for a while, and Basil and Sage have checked the Yearly Astronomical Reference Guide on seasky.org often enough to know that the very last supermoon you'll see this year, will make an appearance on Sage's birthday.

Sure, there are people who'll wonder at the wisdom of driving five hours for a view they could enjoy anywhere in New York. But combining road trips and amateur astronomy is a family tradition. Their family tradition. A tradition the Washington women created and enjoyed themselves; a tradition both Sage and Basil both love. Because the Washingtons are their family.

Sage lets out a low, trembling sigh, and clutches her jacket closer to her body.

Were, she reminds herself, maybe "were my family" is the better phrase to use here. Would still be, if she hadn't opened her big mouth on a visit to DC last week. While Kim stood outside her door, frozen in stunned silence.

The memory is humiliating enough now to make Sage train her eyes with unusual focus outside the car window. She doesn't want to see the worry in Basil's eyes, or the pleas to talk to her in Sloane's.

She isn't sure what she'll see in Kim's, because it's been hard maintaining eye contact with her ever since that moment in the doorway - but she knows for sure whatever warmth she'd seen there before must be long gone.

On the face of it, everything seems the same. After that awkward first day, Kim seemed eager to steer things back to normal. So normal, in fact, that it began to freak Sage out.

It wouldn't be the first time someone tried to talk like everything was okay, while their stares and body language said something else altogether. Damien's wariness. Khaan's clinical interest. Winona's transparent-as-glass attempts to look away from her shoulder. The brief flash of pain in President Thompson's eyes every time she saw Sage. And while there's been enough press releases and outreach designed to change public opinion on sentient andriods....the path to real transformation is slow. And hard. And sometimes downright exhausting.

Sage is tired. She doesn't want to have to go through conversations like that again. And to have Kim - the woman she considered mom even before they met - be the person she had that talk with...would practically break her.

Better to keep off that eventuality for as long as she possibly can.

"Sage, baby," Kim says, distractedly, eyes on the road. "Which song next? Come Fly With Me, Fly Me to The Moon or The Girl from Ipenama?"

Nervous, Sage bites her lip. Kim has never had this much trouble choosing Sinatra songs on a road trip before. Still, maybe guessing why Kim would want these tunes in particular would distract her. The first one probably for the travel vibes. The second fits the theme of their trip and Sage suspects Kim would put the third one on just to get her to translate the Spanish verses again.

"Come Fly With Me for now," she says, "I don't care if it's about going on a plane and reminds me how sick and tired we all got of airplane peanuts last year - it's still a travel song."

Kim's laughter is light like a summer breeze, as she fiddles with the radio. Sloane joins her, her voice so like her mother's that they sound like double echoes. Sage can see the swing of her new earrings as Sloane turns to look at them. Bright yellow hoops that contrast so perfectly with her purple blazer, the spiral-like curls at the edges intricate and made entirely of paper.

Sage feels a glow of pride, looking at the immaculate detailing. Kim had taken up quilling as a hobby only early this year, and already her craftwork could rival any seasoned professional.

"Wonder how Dipper's doing," Sloane murmurs, suddenly rummaging inside her bag for her phone, "maybe I should give Nadia and Steve a call?"

"In the lap of luxury, for sure," Basil says, smiling.

"That dog is so spoiled," Sage lets out an unladylike snort.

Kim looks too preoccupied with the road to say anything, but no more than two minutes later the song on the car radio changes. To a song that Sage is pretty damn sure isn't a regular one on their playlist. Mama Will Bark. With its humourous whimsy, terrible dog puns and periodic howling. Sage almost chokes on her own laugh.

Her eyes meet Kim's in the front view mirror for less than a second; so belief that she's convinced she has to have imagined that Kim winked at her.

--

Basil and Sloane give Sage her birthday gift at the Campgrounds, just before sunset. She gasps at the beauty she's just unwrapped - A GoPro Hero 35 Black camera kit; the Creator Edition Bundle, the kind that comes with a chest mount, a head mount, a tripod - the works. It's the kind of camera that would work like magic any time, any terrain, any weather. An adventure lover's dream.

"Wow..." she breathes, her chest tight, "Fucking wow."

Behind them, Kim clears her throat. Very audibly.

Spying from beneath her lashes, Sage spots a slight smile. "Oops," she says, not feeling very sorry at all. Secret jokester that she is, Kim likes to front like she cares about the group's collective tendency to cuss at the drop of a hat, but does such a poor job of it that it's become an inside joke among them all now.

Kim chuckles. "What say we all take a small walk after half an hour?"

The three of them nod, and stuff the wrapping paper and used tapes into a bag they've reserved just for garbage, to be thrown at the sanitary dump area before they leave the premises. Basil looks around the near-empty expanse of greenery, "We could go now if you want, Kim."

A small huff of laughter. "Not yet. The moon will be out any minute now. Go put that camera to good use and...moongaze, I guess...I'll just take care of a few things in the tent."

Soon enough, the harvest moon does come out - more swollen, more rounded, more golden than the full moon they're all used to. Its colouring takes on an almost ombre tone - a light gold at the top, melting into an almost red-orange hue towards the bottom. It feels so close you could be tempted to reach out and touch it.

It wasn't like they didn't know what to expect. Sloane told them. Showed them videos, pictures, all peppered with jargon they could barely understand. Explained the science so that by the time they came here they knew that, technically, this was an optical illusion caused by the moon's elliptical orbit. They knew what a perigee was. Enough documentary nights have passed between the three of them to make the moon sound like less of an object of magic and whimsy, and more a funny little rock that orbits the earth every 28 days.

But...but seeing it up there like this, up in a sky unmarred by smog and bright lights, where on any other night the Milky Way would be laid out across the sky like a carpet of stars. And so close, that you could make out - ever so faintly - the lattice work of the craters and the fine lines that connect them. Sage wonders at the sheer intimacy of this experience; of being here, watching this, with the two people who mean the world to her.

"Yknow what," she murmurs, rummaging through boxes and protective cases and quickly setting up the GoPro, "now would be a good time to try this baby out. Like, it is my birthday."

Basil grins. "I'm game," he says looking at Sloane, "have any ideas, babe?"

Sloane looks up, nose scrunched in deep thought. "Would silhouettes take too much time? The moon could shift position too soon if we don't time it right."

"Leave that to me," Sage says, smirking. "I'm the photographer here, remember?"

Sloane rolls her eyes in a way that reminds them eerily of Alana. "I built you from scratch a year ago, remember?"

"Touché," Sage chuckles as she gets to work. The setup isn't easy, and the fact that the moon could shift position anytime makes Sage's movements almost frenetic, but just as she is about to signal to Basil and Sloane to move together for a silhouette shot perfectly set up on the backdrop of a Harvest Moon, she sees Sloane approach her.

"You're the birthday girl," she says, panting, "You should get first dibs on a shot."

Sage giggles. "Trust you to spoil me as much as you do Dipper." She makes a few final adjustments, then turns to Sloane. "You know how to work this?"

"Sure I do. I looked up at least 8 - no, 9 - tutorials!"

She lets out a belly laugh, playfully punching Sloane in the shoulder. "Show off."

Sloane has only one instruction to Basil and Sage when they finally position themselves to her satisfaction. They're already in each other's arms; Sage winding hers behind his neck and fiddling idly with the mess of curls there, Basil flattening his palms against her waist, nuzzling her nose with his.

"Kiss already!" Sloane yells.

Basil grins. "As the lady wishes," Sage barely hears the words over the rush of sensation flooding her, as his mouth descends on her top lip. She smiles into the kiss, her hands already moving to fist themselves in his shirt.

Almost a year since they first met, since that first life-altering kiss outside his apartment door. So much has happened to them since then...but still. Her pulses still race like it's the first time all over again.

Sage takes a deep, shaky breath when their lips part, her forehead touching his, not fully ready to break contact yet. She caresses his back slowly as she lets go, and she knows that the biggest, goofiest, sappiest grin must be showing on her face right now.

She calls out to Sloane as she makes her way to where she's standing. "Your turn, space princess!"

Sage lines up her shot and stands back, noting with satisfaction that the moon looks suitably large - overwhelmingly so - and still very close to the horizon. Basil and Sloane's silhouettes stand out perfectly against the backdrop; Sloane cups his face with both hands as she usually does, her shoulders folding in on themselves as she allows herself to settle into their kiss. Sage knows it's always been this way between them; sharing physical space isn't easy for Sloane, and she needs a partner who will ease her in rather than rush her.

Sage doesn't know what that feels like - she needs an element of surprise, the thrill of brief, needy kisses in hidden hallways. She's always been the more tactile one - for her, touch is comfort. And somehow, inexplicably, Basil seems to understand both their ways of loving, and enjoy it. Love it, even.

Stop being sappy, Sage shakes her head, laughing, you're gonna take the best damn pictures of them they've ever seen, just wait.

The camera captures everything - Sloane standing on tiptoe to kiss Basil, one of his hands tenderly cradling the back of her neck and the other wrapped around her, the shape of their parted lips so heart-stoppingly close as they move away. Sage has taken so many that it will probably be harder to pick the best one from the lot.

They take more pictures by the moon (Kim pops by shortly after Sage's last shots of Basil and Sloane, telling them she'll take fifteen more minutes before joining them for their walk). Sloane and Sage forming the cheesiest-ever heart shapes with their arms, making Basil laugh so much they're sure his photos will come out a blurry, incoherent mess. Spotting a nightjar on a low branch, lining the shot up so its silhouette is caught in sharp contrast to the supermoon too.

Sage wants to take other, simpler pictures: just them sitting and talking, the moonlight casting a golden glow over their faces...but she can't. She won't. Without Kim, pictures like that would feel incomplete. No matter what problems they may have among themselves, no matter what Kim would think of her...Kim matters too much to be excluded from her most personal, most vulnerable photos of this night.

Almost as though summoned by Sage's thoughts, Kim appears. Her smile seems a little tired, and her right hand seems to curl loosely into itself. A fist, but not quite. She carries a flashlight with a red filter on her right hand, the ones they all bought two weeks ago to preserve their night vision. For the first time Sage looks back at her, and when she looks at Basil and Sloane a few seconds later there is something strange about their smiles that she can't exactly place.

They're ten minutes into their walk when Sage realizes that Basil and Sloane are far behind her and Kim, seeming to take their own sweet time to catch up.

Panicking, she turns to Kim, searching her face for a mirror of the confusion she feels. She finds none. Kim is instead taking deep breaths, putting her hands in her pockets and soaking in the fragrance of the dark cherry trees nearby. Like she isn't in any real hurry either.

An invisible fist seems to close around the center of her chest. Sage can hardly breathe.

"Sit with me for a bit, Sage." Kim's voice is warm, gentle, like the handmade quilt she'd made Sloane one Christmas, that now covers the three of them in their own bed. For the first time she doesn't trust the emotion she reads into it.

Sage doesn't give much thought these days to the inner workings of her own body. Whether she has heartbeats, what causes the fizzing sensation beneath her skin whenever she gets too nervous, how her blushing (which not many notice) isn't a result of too much blood rushing to a singular place but a mechanism set in motion by commands and code. But it's times like these - when her body feels too much, all at once - that she wishes she understood better how it all worked. That she wonders why the magnitude of what she's experiencing alone doesn't cause her body to shut down.

Right now, it's just one emotion - fear - and there's too much of it firing every synapse in this manmade (womanmade? Sloane created her, after all) body.

She feels Kim's eyes boring into her as they settle on the grass.

"Sage, honey. Did I do something wrong?"

For the first time in a week, Sage looks up at Kim and actually holds her gaze this time. Those weren't the words she was expecting to hear, nor is this soft, worrying look in her eyes the one she was expecting to see. She lets out a deep, shuddering breath.

"Thought you hated me," she presses her lips together, hating the way tears form a film over her eyes and blur her vision, hating her inability nowadays to pretend she was strong when she most needed it, "For lying. For not being human enough."

The force of Kim's sudden embrace feels as powerful as a gut punch. Sage gasps at how strong Kim's arms feel, wrapped around her shoulders, engulfing her so that Sage's face is buried in the space between neck and shoulder. She breathes in Kim's distinctive fragrance - fresh herbs and warm tea - and is hit by the sudden sharp memory of the phantom figure she rarely thinks about now. The mother who hugged her just like this when her first crush rejected her in front of the whole school. The mother Sloane programmed her to remember.

"Oh, honey," Kim whispers, hands rubbing down her back in a rhythm that Sage always associated with soft blankets and lullabies. "No. No. No. Never." Her voice is soft and hoarse, almost like she's trying to hold back tears. "I could never hate you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I ever allowed you to think that."

Sage turns her head in the opposite direction towards the moonlit horizon, cheek still pressed against Kim's shoulder. It isn't Kim's fault, not really. She was trying to tell her nothing had changed. It was...it was just hard for her to believe.

She takes a few deep breaths, tries hard not to let her tears fall. They fall anyway.

When Kim speaks again, her voice is still soft, barely louder than a whisper. "I...I think I know where I got it wrong. That first day, wasn't it? Because I barely said anything."

Sage doesn't answer. There's too much she wants to say; none of it feels right for this conversation. Kim pauses for a beat, then speaks again.

"I think I wanted to take time to process. All those times I saw you crying about your mother, all those times the three of you would look at me...like there was something you needed to hide from me."

"Sorry," Sage says, giving Kim's arm an apologetic squeeze. "We were going to tell you at some point, I swear. I guess we just keep putting it off."

Kim places her hands on either side of Sage's face, raising it as if she wants to take a good look at her. Her eyes are moist too, and the pain she feels at making Kim sad twists inside her stomach like a knife. "Sloane told me you had no clue who you were until you saved Basil from a taser."

Sage nods. "I had all these memories. Huddling under a table with my mom during a storm. Getting jealous when my friends were hogging her attention," Kim chuckles a little at that one. Sage looks down before she whispers, "road trips with Sinatra on the radio..."

Kim's hands come to her shoulders now, as she shakes her head. "Sloane told me about that. All I could think of was what my poor Sage had been through. I felt like I needed to fully reevaluate everything I thought I knew about you with all that in mind. And when the time came to talk...I guess I didn't know how to actually talk about it."

Sage nods and looks away, finally understanding. Her brain is too much on overdrive to immediately respond, the words she doesn't hate me, she doesn't hate me, forming a tattoo in her head.

Kim speaks again. "I wanted to show you that it didn't matter to me...that's why I started speaking to you like before. Except...that backfired, didn't it?"

Sage sighs. Kim doesn't know about all the people who tried to pretend and then screwed up anyway, and Sage doesn't want her to know. "Maybe. But I don't know if I was ready to talk either," she says slowly, "And I can't blame you for taking a day to think."

Kim seems to search Sage's face for... something - Sage can't figure out what - before she moves away, raising her knees in front of her and winding her arms around them. There is a small, tight smile on her lips. "I guess you could say I was...processing."

For a few moments, Sage can do nothing but blink. Several times.

"Oh my God, Kim," once Sage gets it, she can't stop laughing, "that joke was terrible!"

The smile widens. "Sorry my load time took most of the day."

"No! Worse!"

Kim stares at her, all placid innocence. "Kim.exe has stopped working."

"Stop! Stop!" Sage almost punches her arm in her attempts to stop laughing, just like she did at Kim's jokes several weeks ago, and every golden, sunlit, wonderful week before that. "You're killing me here!"

Kim and Sage fall over each other, finding themselves in loop after loop of giggle fits. So much so that they forget what they were actually laughing about - they only have to look at each other before they start again.

When they're done clutching their stomachs and wiping tears from their eyes, Sage keeps her head on Kim's shoulder. Kim keeps her arm around Sage's. All the laughter is gone from Kim's voice now; it is low and measured, as if she's been practicing the words.

"It isn't fair."

Sage tenses. "What isn't?"

"That anyone would make you believe...that how you were built, should make you any less of a person."

Sage smiles wanly. It's as if all the stress and all the pain, all the fear of having to face hostility again, has leaked out of her - leaving her in a weird mix of exhaustion and bliss. She winds her arms around Kim's midsection, closing her eyes against the faint memory of doing this as a child, to a figure who feels more phantom than mother.

"I have my people," she says, "and before you ask - yes, you're one of them. I was just afraid I'd lose you."

Their arms tighten around each other. "Never," Kim says it like a vow, then tilts her head to where Basil and Sloane stand, holding hands and gazing at the harvest moon.

Sage grins, briefly dislodging herself from Momma Kim's embrace and calling out to them.

"Get here, you two! Stop pretending to moongaze or whatever. Kim and I patched up!"

"About time you did!" Basil calls back as they both make their way towards Kim and Sage.

Sage pretends to look annoyed. "We spent, like, a whopping ten minutes yapping here. The least you could've done was sneak in a good makeout sesh."

"Sage!" Sloane says, grinning and hiding her face in Basil's arm. "Not in front of mom!"

Kim laughs. "You two expect me to believe that? I've seen more than my fair share, Trudy!"

Seeing the four of them laugh together in a way they haven't all week, Sage's chest feels so full she can hardly bear it. They all stand together, switching between giggly banter about the rest of the group and gazing up at the golden moon again. They know it's the last time they'll see a supermoon this year.

Kim stops Sage just as they're all about to return to their tents, ready to settle for the night. Basil and Sage look at each other, smile, and go inside.

"C'mere," she says, taking something out of her pocket. Whatever it is, it's small enough to nestle in the palm of her hand. "In the middle of all that yapping I forgot to give you your birthday present, darling."

Sage lets out a soft gasp. In the brief but intense rollercoaster that was today she almost forgot she had a birthday to celebrate.

Kim opens her palm to reveal two large, gorgeous, teardrop shaped earrings - the quilling pattern on them so intricate it reminds Sage of arabesque designs. Even in the dark the colours dazzle: electric blue on the outside, sunset orange on the inside. The double-toned hues remind Sage so much of a fiery sunset, sinking into a deep blue sea.

"Happy birthday, honey," Kim whispers.

This work of art. One that must have taken blood, sweat, tears, paper strips, glue, tools. One that must have taken Momma Kim hours to get right.

Sage tries to swallow a lump in her throat, cursing herself for the fresh onset of tears. "For me?"

Kim lets out a laugh that borders on watery. "Anything for my girls." She steals a glance at their tent, "and boy, of course. Basil's getting a pendant. Don't tell."

She giggles; another implanted memory emerges as she holds out her little finger. This time it doesn't appear with the wave of bitterness that usually follows...this time, she holds that memory to her chest, with joy. And love.

She links her pinky with Kim's, laughing again as the older woman's eyes brighten. "Pinky promise."

--

They'd asked for a two-night stay when they'd made the bookings. Cherry Springs is an internationally-acclaimed Dark Sky Park, Sloane had explained back then, before slipping into what they all dub her personal "Guide to Understanding Astronomy Jargon for My Very Confused Boyfriend and Best Friend", That means a place that restricts artificial light so you can experience true darkness. The stars can never be clearer in the night sky than in a place like that! You just won't see as much of it when you have a big bright supermoon on the horizon.

Which is how they end up staying another night at Cherry Springs, soaking in the brilliance of the stars against a slowly waning moon, shrunk to its usual size. The three of them are huddled together beneath a quilt that Kim had knitted for Sloane, long before she had ever met Basil and Sage.

Kim herself has turned in for the night, early sleeper that she is. She'd kissed them all goodnight before leaving, and Sage couldn't resist tightening her arms around her so she could hold on to her warmth a minute more.

Sage marvels at how comfortably the three of them fit against each other right now: her head on Basil's shoulder, Sloane's lying sideways against his chest, her fingers idly playing with the smaller curls above Sage's neck, taking full advantage of the fact that she feels ticklish there. Sage squirms and buries her hushed laughter in Basil's arm.

Dangly, beautiful, handmade earrings - yellow and blue-orange - swing joyously against Sloane's and Sage's necks. Hugging the quilt tighter to herself, Sage begins to play with Sloane's lovely yellow hoops. Sloane returns the gesture, grinning cheekily, and Basil lets out a small huff of laughter.

They'll head home tomorrow - wind in their hair, the sun on their skin, singing New York, New York. Just as they did before they came here...but not at all the same. They will probably return louder. Happier. More one with each other than ever before.

She looks around at the two people with her, and the woman already sleeping in a tent inside. When she releases a breath, it comes out in a happy sigh.

My people, Sage thinks dreamily, as her eyes follow the long, winding, heaven-bound path of the Milky Way. My family.

--

Harvest moons refer to the final supermoon of the year, which usually shows up towards the end of September. It's called so because it coincides with the harvest season. This year it actually did happen on 29th Sept. Learn more about harvest moons here, and different kinds of supermoons here.

References for the quilled earrings Kim made for the girls:

I HC that Sloane likes hoops, and this is the first design Kim masters. So the one on the left is Sloane's, and the blue-orange one on the right is Hayden's birthday present.

Currently the latest GoPro in the market is the Hero 12, but since this is set in the future I've given it a different number.

Faceclaims:

Sage Young - Lupita Nyong'o

Basil Park - Eric Mun

Sloane Washington - Nelly Muse

Kim Washington - Aunjanue Ellis

-

Tagging @choicesficwriterscreations for FoTW and (possibly) Bisexual Awareness Week

Tagging @choicesseptemberchallenge2023 for Day 4 - Moonlight, Moon (pls ignore if the entry is too late)

Tagging @choicesprompts for Flufftober, "Birthday Surprise".

Tagging @haydenyoungappreciationweek and @sazanes for Day 5: Happy Birthday Hayden!

[choicesfanaf]

I posted 632 times in 2022

58 posts created (9%)

574 posts reblogged (91%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@jamespotterthefirst

@ghost-inacup

@pitrsattabhaadmeinjao

@identitycrisis-electricboogaloo

I tagged 131 of my posts in 2022

#ethan ramsey - 58 posts

#ethan x aru - 54 posts

#open heart - 51 posts

#arundhati kulkarni - 50 posts

#ethan x mc - 50 posts

#mc monday - 44 posts

#playchoices - 35 posts

#choices stories you play - 29 posts

#thirsty thursday - 28 posts

#dr ethan ramsey - 16 posts

Longest Tag: 62 characters

#you are a coward who's using the anon button to hide yourself

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Why Did You Leave Me Alone

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x f!MC (Arundhati Kulkarni)

Characters: Ethan Ramsey, Arundhati Kulkarni, Sienna Trinh

Word Count: 1031 words

Rating: General

Summary: On his arrival from the Amazon, Ethan receives a surprise

Category: Angst

A/N: TW Periods, TW Pregnancy

Tagging: @jamespotterthefirst, @rookiemartin, @choicesficwriterscreations, @openheartfanfics

A few weeks after her first visit to Ethan's apartment, Arundhati noticed that she had missed her periods.

"Not a big deal", she initially thought, "it must be due to stress", as she had a large number of patients to take care of recently. Also, she was preparing for her new position as a fellow in the Diagnostic Team, which ended up increasing her overall stress.

A few days passed by, and she started feeling nauseated and felt her sense of smell & taste change.

Having all of these symptoms together made the gears of her brain turn.

"I really hope that I'm panicking over nothing", she muttered to herself.

As a result, she decided to do a few pregnancy tests to confirm her suspicions.

The two minutes that Aru waited for were filled with anxiety and worry about her future if she was pregnant.

The ring of the timer broke the ominous and unpleasant silence that Arundhati felt captured and trapped by.

When Aru checked the results, she realised that her heart was pounding inside her, making her more terrified than she was before.

To her complete shock, the test came out positive. At first, she couldn't believe her eyes and decided to do another test, just for safety. But, when her second test also turned out to be positive, she broke down, unable to control her emotions.

Sienna heard faint cries from the bathroom and went in to investigate.

"Hey, can I come in?" she whispered, to not wake her roommates up.

"Yes, please", came the reply.

"Aru, what happened?" she queried as she tried to make sense of everything around her.

Sienna's eyes widened in shock when she saw a positive pregnancy test in Arundhati's hand.

"Oh, Aru. Come here", Sienna said, giving her a warm & comforting hug.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked, unsure of Arundhati's reply.

"Yes"

"Come to my room, then."

"Here, sit down and have some water. And feel free to let it all out."

"Si, please don't tell anyone about this."

See the full post

14 notes - Posted February 18, 2022

#4

Cafe

For Choices February Challenge Day 6:

A moodboard based on Open Heart Book 1, Chapter 7 when Ethan & MC go out to have coffee at Derry Roasters

Tagging: @burnsoslow, @choicesfebruary2022challenge

15 notes - Posted February 6, 2022

#3

My (Fake) Boyfriend

Pairing: Damien Nazario x f!MC (Aisha Park)

Characters: Damien Nazario, Aisha Park, Nadia Park

Word Count: 792 words

Rating: General

Summary: Aisha asks Damien to be her pretend boyfriend.

Category: Fluff

Tagging: @burnsoslow, @rookiemartin, @mrsnazariowrites, @choicesficwriterscreations

A week after Aisha had a date with Hayden, she had a movie night with Nadia & Damien, just like any other weekend.

"Okay, guys, I'm off. It's getting pretty late now. Steve must be waiting for me. Aish, you remember that tomorrow is Shalini's wedding, right?"

"Oh, right! I almost forgot. What time is it again?"

"It starts at 11 o'clock. That means we need to be there by 10 am."

"Are you bringing Steve along?"

"Yeah, definitely. Can't wait to introduce him to the rest of the family. What about you though? Are you bringing your boyfriend?", Nadia asked, vaguely pointing towards Damien.

"Oh! I'll try my best, but I'm not sure", she said winking.

"Well, see you tomorrow."

As soon as Nadia left, Damien asked the one question that was on his mind.

"What was Nadia talking about? Who's Shalini? And the last time I checked, you don't have a boyfriend."

"Shalini is our cousin who lives in Manhattan. By the way, how are you so sure about me not having a boyfriend?"

"Nadia and I are always the first ones to know whenever you have a new partner."

"But Nadia already knows about him."

On hearing this, Damien gave a look of confusion.

"Well, buckle up, D. Cause this is one hell of a ride."

"What do you mean?", he said, not knowing how the next sentence would change his life.

"So about two years ago, my parents were forcing me to get married and look at some proposals they had. They wanted me to marry for love, but they had told me that if I didn’t find someone for me, they would pitch in. I didn't want to get into all of that stress and drama, so I accidentally blurted out that you were my boyfriend."

"What?! Why me?"

"Cause you were the only person that came into my mind!", she exclaimed. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pushed this on you. You might have some plans for tomorrow that are more important than this mess", Aisha rambled as she calmed down.

"There is nothing more important for me than you", he thought.

"Well, I don't have anything important lined up for tomorrow, other than a meeting with a few people. Let me see what I can do."

"D, you don't have to worry. I'll tell them that you are in Paris right now."

See the full post

17 notes - Posted January 16, 2022

#2

A Surprise Date

For Week 5 of Choices Flashfics, Prompt 1: “Every time I think I’m close to finally figuring you out, you end up surprising me.”

Prompt used is highlighted in pink and bold.

Based on an ask by @peonierose, pictures used in the text messages.

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x f!MC (Arundhati Kulkarni)

Characters: Ethan Ramsey, Arundhati Kulkarni, Sienna Trinh

Word Count: 572 words

Rating: General

Summary: Arundhati takes Ethan out on a date.

Category: Fluff

Tagging: @peonierose, @jamespotterthefirst, @quixoticdreamer16, @rookiemartin, @choicesficwriterscreations, @openheartfanfics, @choicesflashfics

See the full post

18 notes - Posted November 6, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Thanks a lot to @choicesfandomappreciation for running this event!

Mods of @choicesficwriterscreations and @openheartfanfics, thanks a lot for organising and displaying the works of a lot of creators. Also, I love that you all create many wonderful events which leads to other creators having fun during them!

@lovealexhunt, I'm in awe of all the work you undertake to make this fandom a lovely space to be in! Thanks for all that you do!

@jamespotterthefirst, thanks for creating MC Monday and Thirsty Thursday, which gives all the creators an opportunity to discuss more about their pairings. Also, I love that you try to reply to everyone who takes part in these events!

@jerzwriter and @liaromancewriter, thanks a lot for being an awesome part of the fandom and responding to everyone who participates in various different events! Your comments definitely make my day!

@quixoticdreamer16, thanks for supporting all the work I do! I admire you as you support everyone in our fandom, and give them enough motivation to keep being a part of it!

@peonierose, thanks for sending lovely messages of kindness, and showering my inbox with love!

@potionsprefect, thanks for creating Tiktok Tuesday, and all the lovely content you create!

@genevievemd, I want to thank you for creating Wedding Wednesday which was a lovely weekly event!

@dr-colossal-pita, I'm grateful for Foodie Friday, and how wonderful it is to share additional details about my OCs.

@ofmischiefandmedicine, thanks for creating Style Saturday, and I hope that you continue it!

Tagging some more lovely people: @moodmusicmonday, @choicesflashfics, @headoverheelsforramsey, @burnsoslow, @monsoonblooms12, @nooruleman, @crazy-loca-blog, @inlocusmads, @lawyerlies, @mrsnazariowrites, @robintora

I appreciate you, and am glad that you are a part of the fabulous Choices fandom!

Please forgive me if I might have forgotten you!

25 notes - Posted November 10, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[oceanatydes]

this is so random but does anybody have the screenshots in perfect match book 2 ch. 12 where damien and hayden dance together and damien blushes?? I have the FAINTEST memory of that but literally not a single clue as to how to get it

[vaalchoices]

Damien x Hayden commission art by @somewillwin.

This was completely unexpected and a wonderful birthday gift from @lilyofchoices. I’m honestly gobsmacked to receive this and @somewillwin drew them out beautifully! Thank you so much for the amazing art!

[meindraws]

That scene in Book 2 Chapter 12.

A huge thank you to @waterwindow and @rocketshipsrising for all the help.

[conscbgb]

In preparation of Jeremy Ho and Louis Lam's comeback project 'Eyes on You', check out their impeccable chemistry and tensions built up on their first Cantonese BL : Stay Still ( now streaming on GagaOOLala for free)

The story takes place in an old-style tenement building in Hong Kong. Hayden, a new tenant, encounters Damien after helping his grandmother, and their relationship becomes entangled after an unexpected kiss. Additionally, it tells the story of Kelvin and Archie, who reunite after losing contact in high school.

I really liked this series and I'm sorry is so underrated: now that you can watch it for free you don't have any excuses 😉

[shreyamistry]

Hi, can I please request Hayden (whichever gender you're more comfortable with writing) x Damien, "I won’t let anyone hurt you, you’re safe with me."?

Pairing: Damien x M!Hayden

Prompt: “I won’t let anyone hurt you, you’re safe with me.”

Word Count: 1k+

Summary: Hayden is hurt during an excursion with Eros and Damien takes it upon himself to take care of Hayden while Helena and Sloane get out for the night to breathe. But, feelings and emotions run high during the tension with Eros in Hayden’s bedroom.

A/N: Whew it’s been awhile, I know you requested this ten years ago lmao. On that note, I’ve deleted a lot of requests because I knew I was never going to do them, so I’m sorry about that to anyone whose requested anything and I deleted it lmao. But thanks for the support I appreciate you a lot!

Thanks for reading! I hope you like it!

Damien brushes Hayden’s black hair off of hisforehead, his eye heavy with worry and need to sleep as he looks down at theunconscious robot in his arms. He was left in charge of watching over Hayden,he saw that Sloane and Helena needed a break and sent them off to do their ownthing while he waited for Hayden. Nadia and Steve joined them as well, he hopedthey were doing okay.

Hayden stayed lifeless for hours, he wanted tostorm Eros and destroy them all right now. Everything they did always left consequencesnobody could predict or harmless and Damien, already fed up before, couldn’t dealwith this much longer. He wondered about Khaan’s search with Alana to dig upinformation was going; he couldn’t believe he was even missing Alana fuckingKusuma at this point. He continued to stroke Hayden’s hair, his face peacefuland angelic, waiting and waiting for Hayden to wake up.

After a few hours, Damien’s eyes began toflutter shut sleep falling over him. His eyes shut trying to find sleep when asquirm in his arms made his eyes shoot open defensively lifting his arms toblock any attack should an intruder be interrupting them. To his delight, Damienturned his attention back to Hayden realizing they were safe, as Hayden’s headrolled backwards. His lips parting with life curling his back apart from thebed. A heavy cough left his lips before his eyes shot open, his system bootingback to life. Damien sighed a breath of relief reaching instinctively forHayden’s hand taking it into his watching the robot come back into himself.

“Damien? Where am I?” his groggy voicedripping with confusion trying to fully come back into his mind. Damien brushesa few loose strands of hair off of Hayden’s face, tucking them into his messyhair.

“You’re okay, Hayden,” Damien whispers softly.

“What happened? Is Sloane okay? Helena?” Hisconsciousness coming back to him, holding onto Damien’s hand for supportunrealizing the interaction between the pair. “Are…you okay?” His voicecroaked with worry looking at Damien through his fluttering eyes noticing his stubblybeard and a cut on his cheek.

“I’m fine, Sloane’s fine, Helena’s fine, we’refine.” Damien reassured, “You scared the shit out of me back there Hayden.”Damien struggled with his words, sincerity in this type and vulnerability washard for him especially with everything that happened between him and Eros. Hiseyes were building with tears, he didn’t realize how much he cared for therobot in front of him or when it happened, but it felt like the weight of acollapsing building.

Hayden stayed quiet internally processing theinformation, pressing his eyes closed taking a deep breath to himself trying tocalm his shot nerves and malfunctioning platform. Damien brings his hand to hislips kissing the back of his hand gingerly, a flush of scarlet coloring hislips. Hayden smiles despite himself, moving to brush his fingers Damien’s jaw,following the well-defined shape to his cheek stroking his skin rough with stubblyhairs from his beard.

Hayden brushes the tip of his finger againstDamien’s lip, Damien nuzzling into the comforting touch of his friend. This felt freeing,Damien longed to be touched and loved and Hayden the same and finding eachother in this mess made them feel slightly less alone. His eyes spoke a thousand words as they met Hayden’s, their chests moving slowly in sync both of them wanting to close the gap between them unable to trick themselves into it.

“I’ve never felt more like a human than whenyou touch me, Damien,” Hayden whispers. He draws himself up in the bed to situp straight beside Damien’s, allowing himself to move closer to Damien theirthigh flush against one another. “You make me feel alive.”

“Hayden…” Damien’s voice a hoarse whisper.“You’re driving me fucking crazy here.”

“I know.” Hayden chuckles, his face closer toDamien’s than before. “I just don’t want you to catch feelings when I could break down at any given moment.” Sadness laced his voice, his eyes heavy with tears that threatened to spill. Damien pressed his lips against one another trying to calm himself.

“I won’t let anyone hurt you, you’re safe withme.” His concerned demeanor melting into a mix of love and comfort, reachingout to cup Hayden’s own cheek, pressing his forehead to his own. “I promise youthat much.”

Hayden smiles drawing Damien closer, feelingthe warmth of one another on each other. Their lips barely brush against one another when a knock on the door breaks them apart,Damien’s hand dropping Hayden’s as the door pushes completely open Sloane andHelena rushing in.

“Hayden!” Sloane yells launching herself ontohim without hesitation.

“We couldn’t enjoy ourselves.” Helena mentionsapproaching Damien, pulling him into her arms. Despite the comfort of his best friend, he missed the weight of Hayden’s body on his own, the solidness of his form, the low rumble of his breathing against Damien’s body. “Thank you for all you’ve donefor us, Damien. And for taking care of Hayden. I never thank you enough for everything, I’d give you the world if I could.” She brushes her hand againstthe back of his head comforting him. Damien tightens his armsaround her body drawing out some of the nerves in his chest.

“Next time, I do the drop everything for you,make it a simple Starbucks run.”

“Shut up, oh my god.” Helena laughs pullingaway from him, shoving his shoulder playfully. “God, you try to thank yourfriend for epic heroism and he turns around and stabs you in the back. However, will I go on. Et tu Sloane?” Helena reigns horror a playfully smile pulling ather lips that she can’t hide getting Damien to roll his eyes at her. Sloanegiggles at her display, shaking her head with a happy smile on her lips.

“Whatever, tend to your Hayden, he needs you.”Damien tosses at her with a smile. She squeezes his hand one more time beforeturning back to the bed plopping down beside her girlfriend cuddling into theembrace between her and Hayden. Damien watches them a gnawing pulling at hisstomach to join them and hold Hayden close which he decides against for hisdecorum. He stands awkwardly at the door. “Get better, Hayden.”

“Thanks, Damien.” Hayden beams at him, a blushon his cheeks. Damien gives him a joking salute before exiting the room leavinghim with a sad boner and a desire to hug Hayden until he feels better.

[cordonianredruby]

Lmaoo

[choicesficwriterscreations]

Perfect Match Masterlist 2023

✒️= Fanfic | 📱= Text Fics/Edits | 🎨= Fanart Ⓜ️ = Mature Content 18+ | 🔥 = Explicit/NSFW 18+

December 2023:

Holiday Shopping ✒️🌟| Hayden Young x F!MC - @rosepetals1

Christmas Tree Dilemma ✒️🌟| m!Hayden Young x F!MC - @rosepetals1

November 2023:

Arielle Park 🎨| PM F!MC by @/coffeesforchole (IG) for @rosepetals1

October 2023:

Harvest Moon ✒️| f!Hayden Young x M!MC, Sloane Washington x M!MC - @lizzybeth1986

Indescribable 🎨| Hayden Young by @twinkleallnight

Peeping Damien ✒️Ⓜ️🔥🌺| Damien Nazario x F!MC - @georgiesgirl1223

Hayden Young x MC Fanart 🎨 - @oh-so-youre-a-nerd

September 2023:

Saffron Sugar, Turmeric Spice ✒️Ⓜ️🔥🏳️‍🌈🦄| f!Hayden x m!mc, f!Hayden x F!OC - @lizzybeth1986

February 2023:

Coffee Brown Eyes ✒️| Sloane Washington - @lizzybeth1986

Noot Noot ✒️| Sloane Washington - @lizzybeth1986

March 2023:

Trudy Sloane ✒️| Sloane Washington - @dcbbw

[lizzybeth1986]

Saffron Sugar, Turmeric Spice

Book: Perfect Match

Pairings: f!Hayden x poly m!MC (Basil Park), f!Hayden x f!OC (Nilukshi Sigera). Implied Sloane x MC.

Summary: Sage and Basil have been in an open relationship since that moonlit chat in Berlin. He's a free agent - so is she. It's an arrangement she's grown to love...but is Sage ready to to fall in love with more than one person?

Word Count: 3,720 words

Note: I mention a comet named "Comet Hasegawa" in the second part of the fic. This is a fictional comet modelled on Comet Nishimura (C/2023 P1) which was spotted this month and won't be seen for another 400+ years.

Old Fashioned Ice Cream, the sign reads, a fairly-large four leaf clover gracing the right corner. Mashti Malone's is practically an institution here in LA - with its pastel interiors and its quaint, old-world charm and the heady, rich, floral scents of Persian bastani. Sage can't resist taking in a deep breath everytime she enters this place. Although today...today she does it less for the pleasure of all these sweet scents, and more about keeping herself calm.

It feels like only yesterday that Basil brought her here for the first time, two years ago. To will away a bit of their nervousness about catching hold of Winona Johnson, he'd said.

And it did help. Every fear they'd had that she would laugh in their face, would throw them out, would never even listen...all of it melted away when the delightful coldness of French Lavender ice cream hit her tongue. Basil had playfully swiped a tiny spoonful of his orange blossom scoop on her nose. You could almost taste the promise of so, so many honeyed nighttime kisses in their laughter that day.

Mashti Malone has been their most-visited place in LA, ever since. Sometimes with the Candy Bombs (Damien, Alana and Khaan still grimace collectively at the name), sometimes with Sloane and Kim. But more often than not, it's just the two of them. Her spending an extra three minutes at the counter, taking in the rainbow-range of colours and gleefully tasting samples; him sitting back on his chair to watch her, ice cream sandwich in hand and a twinkle in his eye.

This is a place Sage never tires of exploring, and she always leaves it with a different flavour. It was Persian cucumber the last time, a burst of freshness that soothed and invigorated her sense all at once. And before that, the crystal glow of rice noodles against creamy, rose-scented vanilla, their signature faludeh. And way before that, the treacly unctuousness of date ice cream, so rich she had to take a full pint home.

Basil's order has always remained the same. Bastani Sonnati, offered to him the minute he shows his face at the door. From time to time they take bites of each other's ice creams; the smell of saffron and rosewater is familiar, and divine. This man sticks to his favourites - a principle he applies only to food, Sage thinks to herself, giggling quietly.

Today she finds herself in need, desperately, of the sunny-hued comfort of Basil's bastani. She wants to crack the wafers of the sandwich open, watching as the ice cream stretches and pulls apart. She wants to breathe in the floral scents of rose and saffron, feel the pistachios break in a satisfying crunch between her teeth. At this point when she wants to tell Basil her wish to explore the unknown, she finds herself seeking the comfort of the familiar. So she orders her own Bastani Sonnati.

"Baby," There's a teasing fondness in Basil's tone, as if he knows she has something in her mind that she's struggling to tell. "Something's up. You haven't said a word since we've got here."

Warmth creeps up her neck. Basil knows her too well for a man she's been dating for just two years.

"Um." Sage begins, fake-clearing her throat, " remember that time you and Sloane went to DC to visit Kim, and I took up that rock climbing tour at The Gunks?"

Basil grins. "Yeah...six months ago, right?" She nods as he continues to speak, finishing off the last of his wafers. "That may have been the first time I heard you gushing about Dr Madison Eckhart, but it sure as hell wasn't the last."

She smiles and mock-punches him on the arm, shaking her head as he steals a bite of her bastani sandwich. "You would, too, if you'd seen her normally sweet mouth come up with the most creative ways to shade a cocky guy," Sage tells him, giggling at the memory before she mimics Dr Eckhart's lilting but remarkably steely voice, "Get your head out of your armpits and listen to what I'm saying for once, Greg you asshole!"

For a minute, she almost forgets what she was intending to say, simply basking in their shared laughter. But then the strongest memory she has of that excursion resurfaces - silken brown hair whipping around a weatherbeaten face...almost like a reel in her head that she has watched too long on loop - and the warmth climbs up her neck again.

"So...uh. I met someone there."

"Oh?"

Basil tilts his head slightly, his eyebrows raised in an expression of mild interest. She searches his face for any traces of doubt, or judgement, or jealousy, and finds nothing but curiosity and...a brief flash of excitement? Either he's a very good actor or what she's clearly about to say doesn't sound as transgressive to him as it has to her.

She's been worried that he'd ask her - like he did two years before when she'd moved to her own flat - if her feelings for him have changed. Whether she's lost interest. Basil has identified himself as polyamorous for years, and she and Sloane have had his version of "The Talk" more times than they could collectively count. Don't be ashamed of wanting to be with other people. Openness is key. Honesty is key.

Back then they'd listened carefully, sincerely, but neither understood why any of that needed to apply to them. Sage and Sloane will always love Basil - for all he is and for all they've learned from him - but personally, they could never envision any sort of future with anyone else. And that was fine.

But now Sloane has started to show a sliver of interest in Alana, and as for herself...well.

"Earth to Sage." Sage can barely hear Basil's soft, laughing voice over the clamor of her own thoughts. It sounds like heaven, now more than ever.

All through this little trip, Sage had taken care. Touches. Kisses. The nicknames they use only on each other. An admission like the one she's making today could be taken the wrong way...and never, never, not even in a million years - not even after they are dust particles and rusted metal beneath six feet of earth - would she want Basil to ever believe the impossible. That her love for him would stop.

She puts what remains of her ice cream sandwich down, and steals a glance at him. Crinkles of laughter around his eyes, a corner of his mouth tugged upwards. A corner she will always want to kiss.

So he does know. He does trust her.

"There's a picture of her from that trip," Sage says, biting back her own smile, "You wanna see?"

"Mmm," he puts a hand over hers. "but let's get home first."

The trip back to Nadia's friend's place takes fifteen minutes but feels like hours, and they both drop with a thud on the couch rather than actually sit.

Sage has to slide the lockscreen upwards to unlock her phone. They both share a secret smile: the picture on the lockscreen is a silhouette of two people kissing, against the backdrop of a moon so abnormally large and golden that you would assume it was photoshopped in, if you didn't know what supermoons were. Only they (and Sloane, who gleefully clicked this picture just minutes before Sage took a similar one of her and Basil) know that it was real, that it was taken last year, that it's them. In this cozy, slightly messy sitting room - much like the one they own at home - Basil's hand moves from the small of Sage's back to cup her shoulders, and his head leans against hers.

The picture she shows him doesn't seem like much: a young woman, long brown hair loosely tied back, her dusky skin taking on a golden glow from the light of the afternoon sun. She's still wearing her climbing gear, her helmet on the rock beside her, her smile both tired and full of mischief. It reminds Sage of the very first time she looked at the woman - windswept hair whipping around her face before she tied it up and put on her helmet - and fell head over heels in love.

Sage had felt the gut punch of that realization the minute their eyes met - knew it was love with a terrifying certainty that was at once not at all like the way she fell for Basil, but also exactly like that.

Basil studies Sage's face for longer than he looks at the picture, his smile soft and knowing. "What's her name?" he asks as she flips through her gallery in search of other pictures, lacing the fingers of her other hand with his own.

"Nilukshi," She finds what she's looking for - a picture of the both of them against the backdrop of a stage. Sage sitting over a crate strumming guitar, Nilukshi singing, her hands spread out and her feet apart, her face a portrait of pure joy. Even here, in this quiet, cozy living-room sofa, far from the chaos of that stage, Sage relives the moment she realized they were both auditioning for the same play, just two weeks after that excursion. How their eyes locked for several skips of a heartbeat once they were done. "Small scale production for Rent. We were jamming on Seasons of Love backstage."

He chuckles. "Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes...how do you measure, measure a year." His voice is pitch perfect, as usual, and Sage has to bite back the urge to finish the verse with "Measure in love, sweet love". This is not the right time for an impromptu acapella.

But he turns serious a minute later, adjusts himself slightly to face Sage. His brows furrow in that way they do when he asks a question they both know will have answers that scare the shit out of you. "Does she know you're..."

"Yeah. I told her about Eros. It...didn't go as badly as I thought."

He sighs in relief. "Does she know about us?"

"Yep." It was funny how that was the harder conversation to have. Nilukshi's face had been studiously blank when Sage told her about her boyfriend, her hands shoved deep into her pockets. At least for the first five minutes. But the words "open relationship" loosened her up for some reason, and suddenly her gorgeous, long, artist's fingers were stretched out in front of her, eyes laser-focusing on them as if checking out her brand new manicure was the most important task in the world. Cool, she'd said, her voice almost squeaky, cool.

Basil's other hand lightly rubs her arm, encouraging Sage to sink into his embrace. "Did you only realise you wanted to date her now?"

She shakes her head, flushing. "I wanted to believe it was just a crush, not gonna lie. I just didn't think having my feelings returned was possible till now."

He frowns, almost like he's going to say it isn't like you to lack confidence in your charms, Sage. "Why not?"

Sage sighs, slowly inching forward and kissing a corner of his mouth. She looks down, training her gaze over their fingers tangled together.

It hasn't been easy, reliving the last five months of pining and awkwardness and just...the tendency to get ten times clumsier in Nilukshi's presence. Or reliving the last five months of tension and worry and (maybe misplaced) guilt, hoping against hope that she wasn't doing her relationship with Basil an injustice by getting even one step of this revelation wrong. But she'd still do it all over again - for him and for Nilu. For the two people who own her whole heart, the one that doesn't even physically exist in her body.

"Didn't think she'd be interested. Thought it would be a thing I'd tell myself to get over at some point. I'd have told you straightaway the moment I thought I stood a chance." Her eyes are darker and more shadowed as she raises them to meet his. "I did okay...didn't I?"

She feels the rumble of soft laughter from against her as he pulls her closer. "Oh honey. You did better than just okay." Sage sighs softly against his mouth as he draws her closer. "You were perfect."

His hands cup her face, his nose nudges softly against her own, making her giggle. The flavour of the ice cream they'd just shared half an hour ago lingers on his tongue. A bouquet of saffron and rose and clotted cream, coating her palate and making her feel like she is lying on a bed of flowers, sunlight streaming in rays of butter-yellow down her hair.

--

Two weeks later

Nilukshi is here before time at Brooklyn Bridge Park: binoculars, mat, amateur astronomy 101 booklet, backup garbage bags and snacks at hand. Chose tonight because of the new moon, she whispers excitedly. Even in the pitch dark, Sage can see her eyes light up as she approaches.

Comet Hasegawa is best seen in the early hours before dawn, where the sky is dark and unfettered by the thick veil of New York smog, preferably with no moonlight to obscure the intense glow of the stars. It was discovered only last month, by the Japanese scientist it was named after, and they have just this month to capture it in its full, emerald-green glory. This Saturday is the last time it will appear in the night sky. It'll take another 500 years for anyone on Earth to ever catch sight of it again.

Sage knows this because Sloane told her. Because Sage and Basil may have joined her in her backyard stargazing sessions, her trips to the planetarium, taken turns gazing into her humble home telescope just for the smile that lights up her face afterwards...but somewhere along the line they started to look forward to stargazing. Cherish it. Treasure it. It had become their thing.

Nilukshi had stared blankly at Sage the first time she'd yapped on and on about space - something stupidly jargon-y bullshit about Mercury's greatest elongation and seeing Jupiter at opposition. It got so embarrassingly obvious that she was confusing her crush that she'd apologized and backed away, whispering to herself since when did you become such a fucking nerd, Sage!

Nilukshi knows the basics. Orion. Meteor Showers. Total solar eclipses that make the sun look like an enlarged diamond ring; a nighttime sky at noon. She's the kind that would sit out even the major astronomical events because she's so used to city skylines veiled in smog. She, of all people, wouldn't have the time to squint at the night sky searching for constellations and planets.

And...and she set this up. Probably looked up this month's (maybe even this year's) calendar of astronomical events on Google, checked out amateur stargazing clubs, did her research, figured out the perfect timings, the perfect place, even the perfect gear. Chose a suitably dark night where they would need only binoculars. Sage has been through enough of these kinds of trips to know how much work goes into one like this.

And the way she sneaks glances at Sage, from underneath those impossibly long eyelashes of hers, you could tell that the success of every minute of this picnic will hinge on what Sage's own face gives away.

Nilukshi did this. For her. Dove headlong into this...this thing that she barely knew much about before they met, for her.

Goddamit. It should be criminal for that hum beneath her skin - the one that usually tells her that everything in her body is in tip-top shape - to keep running this...this normally. Not when her brain and her soul and her (mechanical) heart feel so out of whack.

Ignorant of the way Sage's thoughts are running riot, Nilukshi rummages through her backpack, not stopping until she takes out a ziplock bag filled with crispy, yellow, star-shaped snacks.

"Koki," her teeth gleam in the darkness. "Amma made these for me when she came over to visit last week."

Sage nods. She remembers Mrs Sigera from the first time she'd come with Nilukshi to the backstage area of the theatre, meeting the cast, clicking poloroids of them all on her cute pink FujiFilm. Sage can almost imagine Nilukshi's features maturing out to look exactly like her mother's when she reaches that age - warm brown skin with faint lines showing, fine crinkles around those wonderful brown eyes, streaks of grey peppering her dark wild hair. She shouldn't hunger for that sight the way she does now - the way she did when she first imagined Basil and Sloane and herself, rocking gently on armchairs, their wizened gnarled hands on her still-youthful ones, watching sunsets - but she does. She does. She wants all of those images to combine and become the truth of her future.

The rice cookies break apart in a satisfying crunch against her teeth, before dissolving into a sweet-savoury blend of coconut milk, and turmeric, with the slightest hint of red chili. The turmeric is perhaps the most prominent flavour - peppery and bright, slightly bitter and earthy and balanced out perfectly with a bit of sugar. If she were to guess, it's the turmeric that gives the koki its distinctive yellow glow, pretty much the way saffron stains Basil's favourite bastani this exact golden hue.

They sit together in a silence that feels both comforting and way too heavy, pretending to focus instead on the emerald glow of Comet Hasegawa, Earth's guest for only a few days before it disappears for another half-millennium. Sage points to the constellation of Leo it passes across; they both smile, recalling the surprise birthday party Dr Eckhart and her team threw, mid-August, for Nilukshi at their rock climbing gym. The comet looks like a streak of glow-in-the-dark phosphorus paint, brushed against the canvas of the sky.

Nilukshi has packed more food than that - maybe too much for this trip - but it's the kokis Sage keeps coming back to, their sweet-saltiness and that mild nuttiness that likely comes from the sesame seeds hidden beneath the surface. She eats slowly, conscious of Nilukshi's expectant gaze.

"Man," Sage whispers, "I could eat my body weight in these, they're so good. Don't tell your mom."

Nilukshi tears her gaze away from her, swallowing as she gazes again at the comet. "Amma only makes them for special people in our lives...and we don't have that many. She'd be pissed if I gave those kokis to anyone else..."

If Sage had any ability to think before she said that, it disappears completely when she hears what Nilukshi says next. "...if I didn't give them to the girl I've fallen so hard for." Fuck. Fuck. Holy shit. She'd been hoping and wishing and terrified of this moment and now it's... "The girl I want to spend the rest of my life with."

Nilukshi says the last one in a terrified whisper. She looks down now, at the grass. Her fingers tremble as they fiddle with a loose thread on the mat.

"Since when?" Sage can barely breathe.

"Since the minute Dr Eckhart dragged Greg Jones' arrogant, trip-sabotaging ass, and then someone let out a belly-laugh that made me think it was the sweetest sound I'd ever heard."

Slowly, swayingly, as if they're both in a dream, Sage inches herself towards her, whispering her name like it's a prayer. Balances herself on her knees, cupping her left cheek, making her look up so Sage can bask in the mixture of desire and fear in her eyes. Her fingers have combed through Nilukshi's hair often enough in her dreams that their softness against her fingertips feels like coming home. Sage feels Nilu's breaths turn shallow as she traces a line of kisses, from temple to jawline to corner of mouth, before covering lips thinner than her own. But the moment Sage's tongue brushes hers, Nilu sighs and almost sinks into her. As she is ready to be absorbed into the pores of Sage's skin, if that's what it takes to get closer.

On Nilukshi's tongue she tastes the creaminess of coconut milk and the slightest dusting of sugar, the light heat of the chili powder and the welcome, golden bitterness of turmeric. She tastes like heaven.

Sage can't bear to move away - even as their lips part - so she keeps her forehead against Nilukshi's and her hands buried in her hair.

"You too?" Nilukshi breathes.

"Goddamit, Nilu. Since the minute we met."

"What about..." Nilukshi flushes and looks away.

Sage understands perfectly, smiles softly at her. "Basil knows. He'd probably cuss me out if I didn't stop moping over you and actually do something about it. I bet he'll get along with your mom like a house on fire."

Nilukshi lets out a watery giggle, then gasps as they stop talking altogether. They kiss again, and again, and again, moaning as Nilukshi catches Sage's lower lip with her teeth, as Sage grabs fistfuls of her dress so she won't fall over.

In the sky above them, Comet Hasegawa is close to completing its journey across the constellation of Leo, ready to continue its path across the universe and out of the solar system. Neither Sage, nor Nilukshi, nor any of the people Sage has loved or will ever love in the future, will see such a sight again in their lifetime.

In their minds, that comet has already passed, already streaked its way through their orbit and faded in relevance. All that remains is starlight and quick gasps and hushed kisses and the taste of spicy-sweet kokis.

Tomorrow, Sage promises herself. She and Nilukshi will need to talk, once this afterglow has faded and they have to think about the reality of their situation.

This is a first for Nilukshi, just as the relationship with Basil had been a first for her. Like Sage, there are going to be things that will scare Nilu. And like Basil, Sage will need to take on the lead a bit. Will need to ask the right questions, say the right words to reassure her, read her body language and listen to her voice and understand at least a little of what Nilukshi's boundaries are. Will need to ease her into the realization that as long as they're honest, as long as they trust each other...this will be okay. They will be okay.

Sage breathes in the smell of fresh grass and rice-coconut cookies, smiles at the stray thought of Basil looking at her, with that proud grin, raising his mug of coffee to her like he's making a toast. Baby, you did perfect.

Tomorrow, Sage promises herself, as the comet they came to watch slowly inches its way, half-seen, out of their orbit. There will be other starlit nights, other fantastic things to see and experience together. They will have so much of tomorrow left to savour.

For tonight, the kisses they share will be magic enough.

--

References:

Basil is my polyam MC, and he dates everyone in the group. Sloane and Sage, too, wind up having other relationships and the three of them live together in the current timeline of this fic. Sage is the Adventurer Hayden (Mysterious, Rebellious, Humourous and Impulsive) but she sometimes showcases opposing traits due to the Double Ripple Effect.

Mashti Malone - A Persian ice cream shop, v popular in LA. I used this video about them as a reference

Bastani - Iranian ice cream which is golden and made with saffron, rosewater and pistachios. Bastani Sonnati is the same, sandwiched between wafers.

Faludeh - A traditional Iranian cold dessert similar to a sorbet. It consists of thin vermicelli-sized noodles made from starch in a semi-frozen syrup containing sugar and rose water.

Koki - An all-time favorite Sri Lankan deep-fried snack made specially during festivals such as Sinhalese and Tamil new year, weddings, and ceremonies. The basic Kokis batter is made of rice flour, salt, turmeric powder, and coconut milk.

Sage's lockscreen in this fic (of Basil and Sage's silhouettes against a supermoon), is a reference to the next fic I'm writing, Harvest Moon

Yes the Dr Eckhart I mention here as the rock climbing professional trainer is Madison from The Freshman. I HC that she went on to do her PhD in Volcanology and runs adventurer courses. 😄

Tagging @choicesficwriterscreations for FoTW, and @choicesseptemberchallenge2023 for Day 14: Poloroid Picture/Clicking special photos of S/O(s) and @choicespride for Bisexual Awareness Week

Tagging @haydenyoungappreciationweek and @sazanes for HYAW 2023 for Day 2: Relationships

[nevrakisthorne]

can’t believe it took me this long (ive been playing choices for 4 years) to play perfect match and i must say, in the most lesbian way possible, i am in love with damien nazario