#I AM MUFFY SHE IS ME WE ARE THE SAME

[kitkat-the-muffin]

OH BOY I need some AIR after playing Cloutchase Vol 2!!!!

Time for the customary screenshot dump! Spoilers under the cut!

But first, some spoiler-free teases to further encourage you to play the game yourself first!

Aight here we go

Hrrrrrrrrrrrrgh I started with Amino and then had to wash it down with Discord cause oof the cringe flashbacks to middle school

They really went all out on the accuracy didn't they. It just like me fr (derogatory) (inaccurate)

We need to talk about this split second of dialogue btw- I caught it just in time oh my god WHAT- they should kiss I think

I played this with a friend actually and she gave Kik a Beetlejuice voice and it was amazing. My friend did all the voices actually and I did the narration and she was great and accurate it was a real fun experience. I've never even heard of Kik before this but she HAD and knew what to do XD

THE FREAKIN WARRIOR CATS ROLEPLAY. I know EXACTLY how it feels to be dragged into a WCRP when you've never read the books or know anything about the series, more middle school trauma for you there

Amino's route was positively perfect I have no notes I am going insane I am going feral I need therapy I need a monkey onesie-

Moving on, Muffy was in Discord's route! That was so neat to see! Also the crypto ending was so funny look at this:

We also need to talk about Twitter X. Just look at him

Amazing. Perfection. He is disgusted with us, as he should be

Ok in regards to actual Discord, I freakin love him. Again, I was playing this game with a friend, and she said his trans experience was so relatable to her. Then I spoke with another friend and he said the same thing. We all agree he's very gender looking, even tho two of us are femme XD

When we finished the Good Ending my friend said that Discord's feminine persona looked a lot more fake than initially thought now that we knew the truth, and that's honestly great character building. The maze was such an interesting way to get to know Discord better too, even if all the mythology reference were askew lol

I think both versions of Discord are incredibly cute and adorable but Masc Discord is my favorite cause he just looks so much more comfortable in his own skin if you know what I mean? Or maybe I'm just projecting idk

I've actually hit 12 photos already so idk why Tumblr wont stop me from adding more. Maybe it's different on desktop than mobile idk

Anyway I loved both routes and I wish I could gush about them more but I have a certain social experiment session in an hour (shoutout to the two people who actually read through my experiment tag) so I'll just leave it here

But gosh I loved these two they were amazing I want to play them again aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

LAST NOTE BUT THERE ARE ACTUALLY A PAIR OF CREEPY TWINS AT THE END OF THE SHINING HALLWAY BTW

Calling it now it's Thesaurus.com and Dictionary.com (two of MY ocs that I haven't even DESIGNED yet ffffffffffff now that Webtoon's done I guess that's my next project)

[beck-derringer]

Twin Session || Beck&Jude

Date: Tuesday, May 16th (Late Evening)

Location: Jude’s apartment

Notes: The Derringer twins smoke up and talk about real life stuff. (TW: Drugs)

Jude and Beck were lying on the rug in the middle of Jude’s living room, lying in opposite directions. Jude was off parenting duty for the night, so the twins did something they always loved doing when they had twin time - smoking very strong herbs Jude always had in supply that were imported from Kor’Sel’Koo. They were currently in a state where pushing the coffee table aside and just lying down on the floor was a great idea. It was very comfortable on the floor. It was also always when they were on herbs that the twins got extra philosophical.

“You know what I think sometimes,” Beck spoke, exhaling some smoke. “If we get the whole incapable of committing to relationships thing from the sperm donor.” She took another puff and exhaled. “‘Cos Mum is the complete opposite.” She raised her arm up towards Jude, attempting to pass the blunt to him. With some effort, Jude managed to take it.

“Probably,” Jude agreed, bringing the blunt to his lips. “That shit is genetic.” He took a puff before continuing. “Like, I think I love Molly.”

“Wait, what?” If Beck could, she would sit up right now. But the floor was too nice. So instead she tilted her head sideways toward his head, eyes wide open.

Jude gave an inebriated grin before taking another puff. He was quiet a few seconds after exhaling the smoke.

“Yeah. She’s the Mum to my kid. I guess it’s kinda hard not to.” A pause. “But I can’t give her what she wants. The big romance. The monogamy. It’s just not me.”

“No,” Beck agreed. “It’s not you.”

Jude appreciated the honesty. “Exactly. But what I realized is that I’m not giving her what she wants because I love her. Not because it’s what’s easy for me. How fucked up is that?”

“Pretty fucked up.”

They both laughed.

“Yeah,” Jude sighed. “You know, I used to wonder if that was why the sperm donor ditched Mum. For the same reason. Because he cared about her too much and didn’t want to put her through whatever fucked up shit was going on in his head.” He took another puff and exhaled. “But, the second Cleo was born, I knew that was bullshit. You don’t abandon the people you love. You try to be there in the way that you can be. So, I’m there for Molly and Cleo as a dad.”

“Damn Jude, who knew you were such a softie?” Beck teased.

Jude tilted his head towards Beck. “You did. You know everything.” He grinned. “Just like I know you’re also a softie.”

“Oh -” Beck reached up to give him a light smack on the nose. Not a precise position but it got her point across. “- fuck off!”

Jude laughed and pushed her hand out of the way. “Don’t bullshit me! We shared a womb, you know. The deal is you know everything about me the same way I know everything about you.”

There was silence for a few minutes. Then Beck sighed.

“I really don’t want to be. Feelings are extremely fucking inconvenient.”

“Oh?” Jude’s eyebrows raised slightly. It was very rare Beck ever mentioning anything about feelings. Really, the infamous crush on Daphne was the only time he heard anything like that. “Rebecca Elise Derringer, do you have a crush?”

Beck tried to smack him on the nose again, but Jude was quick enough to block it.

“What the fuck am I, twelve?” she growled. “I don’t do crushes.”

“Anymore? ‘Cos, just 'cos I feel like I’m floating right now doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten about your old crush on D-”

“Don’t you dare!” Now she sent a flurry of sloppy smacks his way. She didn’t hit anything critical, but did cause a hysterically laughing Jude.

“Okay okay! I will not mention the D-word!” Jude exclaimed. Beck stopped her smacks for now. “Do tell. Is it someone on your crew? Anyone I met at the diner? Let’s see... quite of few of them didn’t strike me as interested in women. Oh, I got it - the nice, older Vanneer woman? She seemed your type.”

“Muffy?” Beck seemed surprised he would suggest that. “I mean, okay, Muffy is hot. But no. Nobody there.” She sighed again.

“But it is someone on your crew?” Jude smirked.

“It’s not someone. I don’t even fucking know. This is why I said feelings are inconvenient!”

“Here.” Jude passed her the blunt because God knew she needed it right now. “So you have a crush on multiple someones in your crew, is what I’m gathering here.”

“Please stop saying ‘crush’.”

“This is a wilder development than me having a whole baby. You never catch feelings for anyone, let alone multiple anyones!”

“It really doesn’t matter,” Beck huffed. “Shit completely blew up with one, and shit didn’t exactly blow up with the other but it was established we weren’t on the same level of ‘feelings’.”

There was silence because Jude was in complete shock. “Hooooly shit. Alright, right now. I need the full run down of whatever the hell you’ve been up to.”

Jude was completely unprepared for the full rundown of what Beck had been up to with both Gwen and Karmel. With plenty of blunt-passing in between.

“Damn Becca, you’ve been busy.”

“You couldn’t be further from the right person to talk about this,” Beck dryly cracked.

“Well, true! But I think what you also need is another you to talk you through this.” And Jude was the only person close to another Beck. They were of course different in a lot of ways, but if the whole twin-being-one-person thing were true, then yeah. “So, asking as a You, what do you feel like you want?”

Beck put an arm over her eyes and passed the blunt to Jude.

“Fuck if I know, Jude. This is why I prefer sex. Sex is uncomplicated. It feels nice, you finish, you move on ‘til the next time.”

“True,” Jude agreed.

“And I know me. When have I ever been happy the times I tried staying in a relationship?”

“Yuh huh.”

“Sticking with one person? Forever? I don’t think I’m wired for that.”

Silence.

“God,” Beck continued. “We really did get this shit from the sperm donor.”

They both started laughing. It wasn’t exactly funny, but they were pretty high, to be fair.

“I’m going to propose a theory but you have to promise not to try and smack me again,” Jude told her.

“I’m not promising that.”

Jude rolled his eyes. “What I think... is that the issue isn’t your unwillingness to commit. It’s your unwillingness to be vulnerable with other people.”

Beck removed her arm from her eyes. “What?”

Jude lifted a finger up. “When you were talking about this Gwen, you kept saying you didn’t give a shit but you being as pissed as you were indicated otherwise. And you kept downplaying how you felt when Karmel told you she didn’t feel the same way, but I know you Beck and you don’t just tell anyone you have feelings for them. You’re not as invincible as you try to come across.”

Maybe if Beck hit him hard enough he’d knock out. She was seriously considering this option.

Jude continued. “Maybe the sex with one person only bit you can’t commit to. Sure. But it’s not sex we’re talking about here. It’s that intimate connection with people you can’t deal with. You can’t stand anyone knowing you have weaknesses.”

“Alright, that’s enough,” Beck snapped. This was no longer a fun conversation. “If I wanted a fucking therapy session, I’d pay a professional to do that for me. Not the damn middle school teacher who knocked someone up because he was too dense to put the rubber on.”

Jude was used to Beck getting defensive, so he wasn’t fazed. He merely smiled up at the ceiling.

“I love you, Becca. And I wouldn’t have you any other way.”

Beck didn’t really believe that. “Liar, yes you would.”

“I’m serious,” Jude assured her. “Life would be so boring without you. I won’t pretend I’m not hoping Cleo is significantly more chill than you are. But I hope she’s at least a little bit like you when you gets older.”

That was... really nice of him to say. Beck closed her eyes, feeling very tired of all the drugs.

“Yeah yeah, alright. I love you too. Galah.”

Jude laughed. Typical Beck.

[pedropenguin28]

Summary frankie bar tender on palm tree hawi bar female reader is a blonde smart studying veterinary who is woohed over by frankie but he has a bit of reputation in the local area a bit of a player and has his own secrets

Warning smut and kink consent sex and violence achol abuse drug abuse PSD drowning and many more

A/w I don't know how this fan fic working

Frankie pov warning PTSD ⚠️nightmare

"After nice night, I was confessed over n/a frankie James called the over yeah mate I collect glass you fancy a cold beer why not he was rolling a joint I out the glass down grabbing the cold beer so that girl who you know she just nothing I sipped my beer I like to just slept with woman and forget them mate " I picked up the ice cold beer fuck that good yeah " he hands me a joint placing it in my mouth I lit until it turned Amber fuck inhaling that good I blow the smoke " we was working are away through the bar nearly James was drunk putting the juke box on I was halfway stoned singing to all the classic. It was getting late. I started to walk back to my house. Which wasn't fair stumbling everywhere, " I managed to turn the key. Getting inside, I kicked my shoes off and stumbled into the bedroom, pulling my shorts down and letting the coins fall on the floor. Fuck I cussed dragging top off sliding my boxer shorts " I fell on the bed falling asleep . My body was overheating I was tossing and turning . It was a cold misty day are corporal margins was waiting for us.i was just a young lad just left school a scared kid "my parents thought it would be a good idea to join the army . At first I was like hell No. new it, I was shipped off on a bus with a group full of lads,"same age" no one had a clue what was in for us . "Hi a lad with black floppy hair chewing gum " i am Oliver what posh name Oliver sorry he laugh people from my neighbour call me olls nice to meet you I am francso but frankie will do "oi lads a cheeky mousey brown haired guy I am nick and a another guy Tommy nice to meet you all . Right follow me on by one we was in a line " what are they doing cutting your hair cut franky no one in the army like long hair . Morals, you're next. I walked in the barbes' hair hearing the hair clippers all my curl hair was off .

I walked out going to get my uniform. Try it on looking at the mirror frankie come on . We walked where the rest of the lads where . Sitting in like a class room " right we are all on the front line to morrow okay we leave nearly in the tanks and head west okay. 'Muffys you all have a good night sleep and see you to morrow .

"We all walked back to our cabins packing our bags for tomorrow. I am scared Tommy choked out. Why I have girlfriend handing me a Picture and she is pregnant with our first child congratulations yeah same I looked sorry a guy turned around I am nick hello " right I think its good time Tommy walked to the door" we all walked to the canteen it was busy the food look horrible cold porridge it look not nice we all at down "tucking into cold porridge "so why did you join the army "I guess my parents didn't want me to be in trouble anymore I smiled yeah "dinner time was nearly finished "I scrape my tray in the bin " I walked back to the cabin climbing into my bunk bed . " I fell asleep. Then next morning, the lights were on. " Everyone quickly got changed, grabbing my bag and things I walked out the fright on everyone's face . We all stepped in the army trunk helmets on guns in are hands , we arrived the fields where muddy when you walk your boots get suck . Right olly frankie Tommy and nick your in a group, okay we began walking over shit it was cold hearing gun shots in the distance. We kept are weapons by us we quickly ran not knowing if the enmerys was behind us "crawling through mood .. olly stopped me and nick and Tommy running over olly hurry up "what is he doing nick looked at us olly . Turning his head "frankie don't come closer why " I looked down sit "what Tommy and nick shouted he stepped on a mine fuck "olly don't move please. Frankie I can't go on it a honer solider he sault" running and turning back it blow up .

"We carried on battling shot fiering fuck shooting back nick what he was hit in the chest fuck nick running over Tommy he been hit shit nick he looked down he gone .

Me and Tommy kept walking more this is horrible yeah shooting back again Tommy couldn't fight them frankie there hitting us I dodge a bullet the next thing I seem Tommy fall to the ground "I ran over fuck Tommy he was bleeding trying to compression the womb was open fuck I looked my hands was coved in blood . He was struggling to breath buddy stay with me "I am not going to make i croch down sitting on the muddy ground holding his head hey you will sobbing . Frankie I know we wasn't close but can you have this I looked leaning over it was his gold chain . "I can't have this yes you can. " putting the chain around my ,neck he closed his eyes .

"I will never forget you the place was slient "the next thing I was in my bed screaming having pains in my chest "I woke up sweating the flashback from me in the army is trigging me again "reaching over to get my pills. " I turned over the alam clock says it was too early "I rubbed My face laying there for seconds until I seen the crank of dawn through my wood slants "I out of bed waking over to my bathroom .

Turning the light on grabbing a grey towel and turning the shower on . " grabbing shower gel " washing my body letting the water relaxed me "after a hour I wrapped the towel around me walking into my room rubbing my hair with my hands I pulled out sweatpants grey lowing them to my hip bone. " there was a knock on my door Walking down the stairs it was Tina the girl I have been sleeping with " she was standing there in a red letix mini skirt and a leopard print boobie tube pushing her tits up I can smell her cheap perfume "what do you want? Tina I thought you was asleep tapping her fake nails on the door frame " no I was shhh she push me inside placing my hands on her hips she kissed me and lowing her mouth to my ear where is the bed room frankie just kissing her down there anyway I thought you was with that tart oh she just nothing huh -" well maybe we should have fun are own we walked to my room "she sat on the bed walking over I grabbed a condom "she stood up undressing her self I looked sliding my sweatpants off " you like them hum I moved closer playing my hands I massage her boobies maybe move your hands her Inbween her legs fuck this is where I want you frankie " okay she climbed on the bed I was standing behind her sliding my fingers and pleasing her she moan ., I open the condom she moan deeper I grabbed the headboard until my knuckles went white .

Frankie yes she screamed my name that music to my ears I pulled her hair fuck spitting out your such a naughty thing fuck I went deeper and deeper until i was reaching my climax I ride out spilling into the condom I pulled up throwing in the bin " its not emotional thing its just a hook up with all girls . Are you heading to the beach "yeah in bit I slid my boxer shorts on a tee shirt and shorts well see you then

"Once I let her out, I lay on my bed." Question what I have done, " I pulled myself together, " walking out I grabbing my keys to my beach buggy." Driving frankie, the others were waiting for parking up. Tina walked over, kissing me."Beer sure we spent the day chilling and listening to music. You're working tonight, yeah Tina kissed me see you there James smirk you and Tina hey its nothing what about the tammy girl I really like here you do yeah she is so lovely and cared hum sipping my beer .

" well have you seen n/a no she probaly busy you might be at the bar tonight yeah

"We all had lunch from the burger joint nothing better sitting on the beach eating with your freinds " laying back sunbathing " until it was time to get ready for work leaving the others at the beach. James smirk can I catch a lift sure driving him back see you later mate yeah hugging him I walked back into my house grabbing my red polo shirt for tonight "I look no maybe a white t shirt I did popping the gold chain out and throwing My green shorts and vans on"grabbing my things I needed for work .

"I walked to the bar the sun was setting its going to be a busy night " finally arrving I placed My bag frankie stock the bar grabbing the creates and filling the fridges with cold beer " getting my cocktail things ready soon you now it the bar was full I mixed cocktails looking around n/ a wasn't here maybe she will come "I mix vokia and different " achol people shouting orders mixing and shaking my ass " there was lots of gorgeous woman i was like a kid In a sweet store "fuck hello flirting my away across the bar until she was her" I looked she was breath taking walking In with her group of freinds be cool "my heart was beating fast my mouth was dry fuck " What can I get you a red wine it's that yes she was snappy I was confessed I will be sitting over there with my freinds okay "I got the bottle of wine pouring into a glass frankie I looked Tina "I am busy getting a glass of wine for her yes "n/a was looking over Tina was jealous she grabbing my tee shirt kissing me everyone was cheered pulling back

" Tina smirk n/a looked away why did you do that because want your, mad am I. Leave me alone " I walked over to the table "here is your wine thanks she couldn't even looked at me " James came over have you told them about the beach bonfire thing tommoorw no she took a flyer and look I smiled maybe I will see you there maybe .

[belphesnore]

do i even need to say it?

THATS ME THATS ME THATS ME THATS ME THATS ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[funkyrabbit]

i am losing my MIND over arthur’s first day

i fucking loved this special, i’d give it a 9/10 only because the character models and animation suck as usual, but other than that i was really impressed. samir is great, and alex finally has more depth after 20+ years!

the rest is tl;dr bc it’s just me going absolutely feral as i watched the episode but i’m posting it anyway

*spoilers*

- dw said she’s five, so arthur is nine? they’re all officially a year older? will they still be a year older in all future episodes?? i have so many questions 

- dw making arthur into her packmule and making him carry her shit, lol love it

- buster wishing dw gl on her first day of kindergarten was wholesome af whY IS THIS BOY SO SWEET

- ARTHUR STILL HAS HIS LUCKY PENCIL?? OMG

- YAMLET IS ALIVE ??? he was turned into french fries at the end of “prunella the packrat” what is this 😂😂 buster has more than one yamlet...

- buster and his rock shaped like iowa

- buster’s lucky hat from “friday the 13th”!

- ”anyway you two should probably be split up. you’re a bad influence on each other” DW YOU DID NOT JUST TELL THEM TO BREAK UP

THEIR FACES

- francine and muffy riding to school in muffy’s limo eating quiches was the most sapphic thing that’s happened in recent eps and i’m Loving it

- binky getting mr. ratburn for the third time in a row 😂

- i still have no idea how mrs. grimslid went from pe coach to teaching fourth grade??

- ARTHUR AND BUSTER ARE IN SEPARATE CLASSES ???? WHAT?? 😭 NOOOOO

- “I guess I should’ve brought my lucky pencil” oh NOOO 😭

- buster clinging to his horseshoe in fear as he walks in the opposite direction of mr. ratburn’s class...aww...

- OK UHHH I DO NOT LIKE MRS. GRIMSLID SHE’S MAKING BUSTER SO UNCOMFORTABLE LIKE GO BACK TO THE GYM AND LET BUSTER BE W/ ARTHUR IN MR. RATBURN’S CLASS 😭 SHE MADE HIM TAKE OFF HIS HAT!

- kevin is chill. i like kevin

- samir is adorable!! i love his card tricks aaaa

- this girl who speaks italian tryna flex 😂😂 i can’t

- they put “dora” on dw’s name tag rip

- dw’s teacher is so cute,, they have the same name,,

- A;LEX IS SPEAKGFIN???

- ALEX HASN’T SPOKEN IN LIKE 23 SEASONS. THIS IS HUGE.

- “i love the drawings. they’re so detailed” i love how alex’s comic has better art than this animation 😂 seriously oasis??

- jenna and brain staring at alex and arthur as they talk abt the comic: 👁👄👁

- “you and i have been in the same class for years, but we’ve never really had a conversation” breaking the fourth wall lol

- i know it’s a terrible recolor but i like mr. ratburn’s new suit!! the color of the tie looks a little out of place but other than that it’s v nice!!

- pls someone save francine from getting tortured by tommy tibble that is a fate worse than death

- I CAN’T?? REMEMBER ANOTHER TIME WHERE WE SAW BOTH OF MOLLY’S EYES THIS CLEARLY?? this episode is making history

- MUFFY PAN AND TINKER BAILEY ARE GIVING ME LIFE

- “learning directions is very grown up, i just use an app” relatable

- IM SOBBING ARTHUR’S HAVING AN IMAGINE SPOT WHERE HE CREATES A PORTAL INTO ANOTHER DIMENSION W BUSTER -

- THEY’RE HOLDIGN HANDS AHHHHHHHHH

- THEY’RE TRYING TO HOLD ON TO EAHC OTHERS’ HANDS BUT THEY CAN’T OH NOOOOO

- arthur got separated from buster and he’s holding onto his lucky horseshoe 😭 

- 86 year old arthur is married to 86 year old buster and is just pulling 9 year old arthur’s leg about not knowing him. fight me

- ”I don’t want any other best friends. i want buster!” okay but this isn’t the first time this has happened. arthur has these anxiety-induced imagine spots whenever he has the slightest idea he might lose buster as his best friend and vice versa. these boys care about each other so much 😭

- the tough customers creating “project icebreaker” was so wholesome i rly love how in the newer seasons the writers gave the tough customers way more depth, they’re not really bullies anymore but i kinda like that

- emily and muffy bonding at the end was actually p wholesome...i wonder why the writers really didn’t have them interact before. it really does seem like they’d get along.

- alright i’m dying to know if they’ll still be in third grade in the next episode 😂

[hufflepuffliest]

Flirting prompts - Hyung Line x Reader

Hello hello I saw this post a few weeks (months?) ago and I really want to use them as a prompt so I will lol. Hope you enjoy and if you ever want to request something, please do! I love to write and quarantine gives me time but my creative brain juice is drying up lol so help a girl out :) 

How the Hogwarts houses flirt Gryffindor: But is it morally okay for me to secretly wish your relationship doesn't work out?

Hufflepuff: WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU AREN'T AN ANIMAL PERSON WE ARE GOING TO A PET STORE RIGHT NOW AND ADOPTING ONE

Ravenclaw: Let's be workout buddies. Marathons count even if they're for movies, right?

Slytherin: I don't like your clothes. Take them off.

RM:

You were studying in the library when the sharp, scraping sound of the chair next to you made you look up from your books. You had read so many spells in the last few hours, they were all darting before your eyes, taunting you. You sighed as you looked at your best friend, Namjoon, opening up the same book you had in front of you.

“How are you holding up?” He asked, “Getting any wiser?” You sighed in frustration as you slammed the book shut.

“No,” You picked up your wand and practiced some of the movements without voicing the spells. “The longer I look at them, the less distinguishable they are to me. The exam is in a few days, and Peter keeps nagging about our Hogsmeade date tomorrow. I don’t think I have time to go, but he’s so insistent. Maybe I can practice some on the way. Oh Merlin!” You exclaimed, as you accidentally thrusted your wand a bit too aggressively during your rant, and made one of the book stands collapse. Mrs Pince was behind you in an instant, and almost literally tried to throw you out of the library, whilst simultaneously waving her wand around to mend the fallen books.

“Maybe look at what she’s doing,” Namjoon said with a smirk, but changed his expression when he saw your gloomy face. “Hey, Y/N, don’t worry. I can help you study every day until the test comes. You can do this. Maybe just go to bed early today, get some rest, and we’ll continue the spells tomorrow.” You locked eyes with him and nodded, a forced smile on your face.

“I wish I could do tomorrow. Stupid Hogsmeade is waiting for me. I don’t even have enough sickles to last me a butterbeer or two.” You dodged one of the ghost that suddenly rounded the corner, and slacked dramatically against the wall of the corridor until you were seated on the ground, your bag full of textbooks discarded next to you. Namjoon scooted before you and stuck out his hand towards you.

“Why are you so nice?” You scoffed, but still took his hand and let him pull you up.

“I’m not.” He replied, as he gave you your bag and continued the walk.

“You are.” You said, matter-of-factly.

“Definitely not,” He stated. “For example, I took the last muffin during breakfast this morning, even though it was plainly obvious Jin wanted it.” You snorted, and stopped to look at him.

“You are still nice.”

“And for example, is it morally okay for me to secretly wish your relationship doesn’t work out?” He turned a bit red, but kept looking at you. You broke the eye contact as you walked away.

“No.” You said, as you pushed your bag on your shoulder. “But I do too sometimes.”

Jin

“Isn’t it the perfect weather for a quidditch game?” Jin exclaimed, as he eagerly looked up to the quidditch pitch you two were approaching. “A small breeze, not too cold, not to warm. No clear skies, but no dark clouds either, just cloudy enough to block the sun. Merlin, what I would give to be up on a broom right now!” If he would have on with him, he probably would have, you thought.

“Isn’t it the perfect day to watch a quidditch game without having someone shout in your ear all the time?” You said, and Jin squinted at you. 

“Such a sour plum today, Y/N.” Jin said, as he threw his arm around you shoulders and bopped your nose. “It’s way too good of a day to not be happy.” 

You entered the quidditch pitch, and the two teams were already warming up, flying in circles and throwing balls up and down the field. A quaffle came soaring towards you, but Jin caught it with his right hand. A figure quickly flew towards you, halting in mid air as he waited for Jin to throw back the quaffle.

“Hey Y/N, be careful around the pitch, okay? Don’t want any bruises on your pretty face.” Your boyfriend winked at you, and Jin reluctantly gave him the quaffle. You quickly wished him good luck and during your trek up to the best seats around the pitch, Jin was remarkably quiet.

“Okay, what’s up with you?” You asked as you finally sat down, way up high.

“I know he’s your boyfriend and all, but I still think I’m the better player.” He kept following the boy on the broom with eyes that almost shot daggers. 

“Well, the team captain doesn’t think that.” You said, receiving one of the eye-daggers yourself. “I’m sorry Jin,” You lowered your voice, and put your hand on his. “I know how badly you wanted to play, but you were a starter last year! And first replacement if someone gets injured! Besides, you’re a prefect too! You won’t even have enough time to play and keep an eye on all the troublemakers in the school.” He smiled at that, and slightly squeezed your hand before he let go.

“You’re right, I know you’re right.” He let his eyes wander back to the game that was about to begin. “I also don’t like him as a person.” You laughed out loud.

“So you have said. Many times.” You rolled your eyes, but the smile lingered on your face. “He’s nice, Jin. At least to me.”

“Well, he better be.” Jin scoffed. You understood Jin, really. Your boyfriend didn’t have the best reputation. Him sending one of the bludgers into a Slytherin’s face just now and blatantly laughing about it didn’t help his case. 

“He’s… interesting.” You just said. “I just want-”

“But is it morally okay for me to secretly wish your relationship doesn’t work out?” Jin intercepted, and you looked at him with shock in your eyes.

“Well, it’s not secret anymore.” You said, still a bit perplexed. You looked from Jin, to the brooms flying through the air, back to Jin, who was still looking at you. “But I guess, you should never give up that hope.” 

He smiled at you, turning his eyes back to the game. After a few quiet moments, he started to commentate as usual. You relaxed, sat back in your seat, and finished watching the game, and your boyfriend being hit by a bludger in the face, with a sly smile on your face.

J-Hope

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU AREN'T AN ANIMAL PERSON? WE ARE GOING TO A PET STORE RIGHT NOW AND ADOPTING ONE!” Hobi yelled as you walked with him through the halls on your way to the courtyard, his voice echoing through the ancient castle walls, almost amplifying his voice even more.

“You are overreacting.” You said, grabbing his yellow-and-black scarf and gently pulling it to get his attention. It worked, as his eyes settled on you. “I just said I don’t necessarily see the need in people having pets at the castle.” You continued.

“The need is: pets are awesome and cute and fluffy and a buddy for life!” Hoseok beamed, no doubt thinking about his little black kitten, probably curled up on his bed, waiting for him in the dorms.

“I thought I was your buddy for life?” You teased.

“Yes,” He said, as he teasingly poked your side. “But you can’t always cuddle with me. A small, cute pet can! The pet can keep you warm at night if I can’t enter the dormitories and you can’t sneak to mine.” He reasoned, and you puffed out some cold air when you entered the path towards Hogsmeade. As you walked through the barren British air, your hands found his and your fingers intertwined, his heat radiating through the gloves and warming you up.

“I still don’t get it, don’t you have pets at home?” Hobi started again, and you sighed.

“Yeah, we have a dog that’s been in the family for ages. He’s old but still hanging on, he’s been there as long as me probably.” You smiled at the memory of your family hanging on the couch, the old, muffy dog sprawled on the floor.

“Okay, hear me out. A family dog is awesome too, but having one for yourself? Doesn’t that sound great?” He almost beamed as he spoke the words, and you chuckled.

“But that also means I have to take care of it, whereas my parents mostly take care of the old dog I have at home. Besides, I already have you to take care of, so in a way, you’re my pet.” Hoseok fawned fake hurt at this.

“Are you saying you don’t like me? After all, you aren’t an animal person.” You rolled your eyes, but a smile was still stuck on your face.

“Am I not taking you out on a walk right now? You can’t ask too much of me, Hobi.”

After a short while, you finally arrived at the wizard town. At Hogwarts, you’re allowed to keep some small animals, including cats and owls. Your mom has always been fond of frogs, so you were thinking about getting a toad, if you really had to get a pet. Hobi hated this idea, as a slimy toad would debunk his argument of your pet being the best cuddle buddy to have, besides him. You spotted the pet’s place and entered, a small bell signaling your arrival to the owner. Hoseok was gone in an instant, off to pet some cats. You sighed and strolled after him. Cats did not really interest you that much. Owls were okay, they could deliver notes and letters so they had a usefulness to them, but they would also defecate everywhere. You left Hoseok behind and finally ended up near the toads, their croaking drawing you in. You were looking at them, a total of five, and actually liked the little creatures. They weren’t fluffy, or cute, by default. They didn’t have big eyes or small, pink noses, but they were interesting. 

You felt two arms wrap around you and the weight of a head leaning on you, which woke you from your daze.

“I want that one.” You said, pointing at the toad nearest to you, silently lounging on a rock. He wasn’t as warty as the others, and a shade of green. “I like that one.”

So Hobi bought it for you, along with a cage to fill with water and greens. So at night, you would listen to the song of the toad, and imagine it was Hoseok, then tell him that the next day to annoy him. But if one could not sing you to sleep, the other would.

Suga

It was a breezy Sunday afternoon, and you and your friends we’re lounging near the lake, trying to enjoy some of the sun before another busy week of classes would begin. Some people we’re discussing the latest quidditch game, arguing about whether Gryffindor had deserved the win. You just closed your eyes and tilted your head back, enjoying the warm sensation of the sunshine that shone on your face. Someone sat beside you, the grass rustling under this person’s body. 

“I can’t believe this is our last taste of free time before our OWLS start.” Yoongi said, and you opened one eye to look at him. His normally neat attire was bit messy today, his tie hung loosely around his neck. His robe hadn’t even left the dungeons today, as he was just clothed in the simple pullover, the green and silver crest worn proudly on his chest. 

“Me neither. You replied, shifting to sit up a bit more upright, and scooting a bit closer towards Yoongi. Unintentionally, of course. You yawned, and stifled it by holding a hand before your mouth. “Looks like the weekend still didn’t help me regain some much needed sleeping hours.” Yoongi laughed quietly.

“I think none of us sleep enough these days.” He looked at you, his eyes darting downwards towards the sweater you were wearing. You knitted it together with your grandma over the Christmas break, in your proud house colors. You loved it, as it reminded you of home and also smelled like home. “I don't like your clothes. Take them off.”

You raised your eyebrows to him, and simply said: “No.”

“Feisty.” He replied, and you stared back at him, continuing the intense eye contact.

“Are you trying to flirt with me?” You asked.

“What if I am?” He replied, and you lost the battle by looking away, trying to hide your blush.

“I’d advise you to try another tactic.” You just said, leaning back into the sun again, closing your eyes, and trying to escape this awkward conversation. You’ve liked Yoongi for a while now, but he isn’t the most talkative, and when you’re with the big group, it’s hard to find time alone to talk to him. This proved to be true this time too, as some other people decided to join you in this place of sunshine, and started some small talk with the two of you, ending the conversation.

You just exited the great hall, eating your belly round of the delicious foods served at supper, when you heard someone call your name. You turned around, surprised to see that it was Yoongi, catching up to you. He matched your pace easily, and didn’t say anything at first. You were perplexed, and also unsure of what to say, plus majorly crushing, which didn’t help the situation at all.

“Did you make this sweater yourself?” He asked, and you looked at him, chuckling.

“I thought you said you didn’t like my clothes.” Now it was his turn to blush, but he didn’t look away from you.

“You said to try another tactic, so I’m trying. Did you make it?” You slightly shook your head in disbelief, but also didn’t quite understand that he was in fact trying to flirt with you again.

“Yes, actually. Together with my grandma, she taught me over winter break.” You said, absentmindedly stroking over the slightly oversized sweater.

“I do like it.” He said, and you glared at him. “I do! Before was just a… failed attempt at being smooth, I guess.”

“I forgive you.” You said. “But only if you treat me to a butterbeer after the OWLS are over.” He beamed at this.

“Done. And maybe you can make a sweater like this in my house colors too?

“We’ll see about that.” You said, still smiling when you parted ways to enter your common room.

Maknae line is on the way :)

[kitkat2cats]

2017 – 2018

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  On 12 October 2017 Dear Elgar, I think you are too young to realise that humans are not as well adapted as we felines. They do not seem to have our ability to just let go and curl up and sleep. They mainly seem to sleep when it is dark. Poor things, I think it’s because their eyes are not as good as ours.You must be aware that if you want her to go on serving you let her have a good night’s sleep. I speak from experience. Purrs from Quintus.

13 Oct 2017 ​Dea-purr Quintus she says I is to say thank you for your email even though I felt you were tellings mes offs. Iz gets excited when zshe turns overs in bedz – I think she mights swant zto tickle my belly so I goes ands nuzzles her, somesztimes she pulls my next sto herz which makes me purrrrrrrrrrrrr lotz, butz Iz sdnont understands whys shes cross wiv me & like today at lightening ups inz the zskys wiv birdies teaszings mees she putz me out of her room nd shutsz door on me. I is cryings & puts my paws (thayz be bigg paws I haz *purrrrrrrrrr*) ins gapz under doors but she ignores me. I waz veryz sad nd I cryyd. I is confoozd I just brought her a prezant of birdzy nd she pickd meez up nd putz me outz de door! I  brought zit backs again but now shez stopped me comings in. Meow, 😦 I donts understands) Mew mew meow, moarghomew Elgar xx

On 13 October 2017 Dear Elgar, I was not trying to tell you off, more just trying to make you understand that humans are rather unlike us. I’m sorry yours was so misunderstanding of you. It is hard I know. For  some reason mine get narky when I get on the table. They don’t seem to realise it seems natural to me. They will spray me with water. Can’t understand why. Purrrrs and a nose rub, from Quintus.

25th Nov 2017 Dear Elgar, I hope your human is feeling a bit better. My human has thought of her lots, she has told me about her. I understand you are bigger than me. How is that for you are still not much more than a kitten?Though you do seem quite adventurous, and an expert at hunting. They do not always seem to appreciate this. They do seem to have some funny ideas, mine seem to get cross when I get on the table. It is such a good place to see will is going on, and I can even see out of the window if I face that way. She sometimes sprays me with water which I think is unnecessary, unkind. Funny things humans. Purrrrrrs to you and my aunty Muffin, and Arya, Quintus 

Dearapurrr Quintus I iz understanding yous – this one had a shock last nights (purr purr purr miaowwwwwwwwwww!! So funny) I had posted a toad through the slightly blocked cat flap (I has got Muffin to type – much faster & I am licking her ears) but my hooman didn’t know until she came to lock up last night. She was squealing (I don’t think it was with delight though 😦  ) as she had to pick it up & put it out of the flap – I was watching & it kepts leaping all over the place she got it onto the cat flap door but as she tried to put it out it jumped at her – she said some words I don’t hear very often – Muffs sez it’s shwairing – it took hooman over 5 mins to get toady out the hole! I waz giggling inside so much I fellz over n my legs were in the air!

Poor you being shqirted wiv water – not nice ats all! My hooman makes a noise like a snake which I knows is bad so I always try to gets as flats as possibles as snakes are naszty thhngs . sometimes I has to run away, but so far no sprayz wiz water. I got my hooman up today at 8am (so she sez) its waz urlier az dem birdiez wer teasing me so muches.

I is off to getz more birdz I thinks – I don’ts knows waz the problemz iz about it coming ins the house to be eats – after all my others foods are INDOORS – silly hooman! Purrs n no fleas (I don’t like havings that stuff on my neck but the bittings has stopped so I gez its a goods things reeelys) Speaks soon Elgar xx *purrrrrr*

On 27 Nov 2017

Miaowy greetings Uncle Quintus 

I is finally able to get my paws on hooman’s computery thing. Thank you for your writings. My hooman has been very poorly mother says & I am supposed to be keeping her warm, buts this is difficults at times as she moves me off, or says “Feet” – I knows I is meant to sits on her feet as they get cold (I never has cold feets have you?) but they are bony & she wriggles so I need to pounce, then she gets cross with me.

I sometimes worry about this thing of my hooman getting cross. Yesterday she smacked my nose! I was not happy at all with this, and the only reason was I was trying to clean out her breakfast bowl before she had finished – I don’t think I was unreasonable as she had taken HOURS to eat it…

Last night Aunty Muffin boxed my ears – I was just supporting her in keeping our hooman warm, I can’t help it if I am a bit bigger than Aunty Muffin – she needs to let ME have some room so I can be comfy shouldn’t she?

Hooman have me a deep groom this morning – she has taken her time over it! I like them every other day – but at least I has had one now. I stretched out for her, but something happened & I forgots – I puts my teeth & claws into my hooman. She put the furminator away & left the bedroom where we was. I got lonely & I still wanted my belly tickled! Such unreasonable behaviour from her at the moment.

She is also very smelly now, & has a REALLY noisy thing that she uses which makes her look like a dragon smoking (I has heard of these mystical creatures – I would like to grow up & be a dragon I think, does you know how I grows up to be a dragon?) she also coughs really loudly at times – so much so I have fallen off her legs – how is I supposed to do my “job” as foot warmer if she kicks me off?

I is in a mess here I thinks. nothing is going the way it should be. I is not worshipped – although my hooman does get me excellent food I suppose. So far she hasn’t sprayed me with the wet stuff deliberately – how bad is your hooman!?! That’s such an insult (unless you wanted some water – we does not have a table as far as I knows.

Right I has better sends this to yous before she comes back from the little room. Aunty Muffin is now sitting where I WANT TO SIT. It is just NOT FAIR! I is the biggest, bestest & only boy cat – surely they should treats me the bests? I is still only a baby in age.

I found a small squeaky thing outside – but it had a pointed nose – my hooman says its a shrew – & that it wouldn’t make good eatings – she knows about stuff like that so I left it on the mat in the kitchen for her. She didn’t say thank you. it’s all too confoosing for me.

Am I at the worst home ever?

sadly love Elgar xXx

28th Nove 2017 Purrrs Elgar, That was a good piece you sent. I will try to answer your questions First I don’t think your home is bad. There are many worse I understand, where you are not fed well and can be shut out when you want to go in. Humans are funny strange animals. They do odd things like getting wet all over in a thing called a bath, but seem to be almost afraid of rain. I don’t like rain much myself but it is natural.

My human tortured me the other day and said it was for my own good. First I was wound up in a towel, and held by the other human in my house, but I got free, cos I’m strong, but it was no use for the door and window was shut so they got me again. So undignified, I think I deserve more respect. Some fur was cut on my neck and some horrible stinging stuff put on. I got out as soon as the window was opened after I had given her a killing look, and almost decided not to go back but I got hungry.

I am training her, I just look at the food in my dish  but I will only eat it if she adds some of my treats, this way I get a few extra, which is good. She says I will get too fat and already looking fatter. It’s only my winter fur is thick, I don’t have to put on funny clothes and she puts on on lots if it is cold then SHE is fat. I guess your human is in a funny mood because she is not well. I would not leave until she is better, if she is still odd then you could visit me, I hope things improve soon. Purrrs , Quintus 

On 29 November 2017 Dear Elgar,Your message was very kind, but really my humans are not really that bad, and I am still training them. I have always plenty of dry food available, and water to drink, though I prefer the water that is outside. I too get treats every evening, and have trained her to give me extra sometimes.

I don’t usually sleep on my humans bed, but do sometimes. I prefer to be where I can roam as she keeps her door shut at night. At the moment my favourite place is a chair half way up the stairs. I can keep an eye on what is happening, though this cold weather makes me sleepy. Today I only went out for short times.

I have not heard about this dreadful monster but maybe I will stay in, especially she says it will be freezing tonight. Even with my thick fur I can not like that much cold. I am glad your human is a bit better.  I think you are all looking after her very nicely. Just remember not to wake her up.  Many purrrrrs to you, Quintus.

2nd December 2017 Dear Elgar, You send very good letters. Thanks. Presents are things that you give or receive. The food you sent me was a present, sometimes to make things complicated it is called a gift. Humans seem to like having different words for the same thing. Very odd. I still have a little of your special food for it is given to r almost like a great, though more than a great. It sounds fun that you search for yours. Mine are put in a special little dish. The special ones for cleaning my teeth are put there too, but at a different time. Yes, it is too cold.  I usually go out lots, but I suppose staying on my chair much of the time. I think I will go out and do, but come in again very soon. I am intrigued , what is a furminator? I think you must be cleaver to hold it. I have you are kind to warm your humans bed, but I guess it is a comfortable place for you too. My human has a cold but she thinks it is almost better, so maybe she will see you on Monday. Purrrr from Quintus, and to Aunty. Muffin and your mother too.

6th December 2017 Purrs Elgar, I am sorry your human is unhappy. I hope she is feeling better today. I nudged my human and she weighed me. She says I am 12lbs, but our scales are not as good as yours. We will try again. My last letter was a bit funny. Maybe the cold does not suit me! I know I have been indoors much more than usual. Fresh air is good for my thinking. (But not too cold).I hope Aunty Muffin is more happy . I s she sick too or just worried about your human. My human says yours has got pneumonia. Perhaps it’s called that because it makes them feel moany. Is yours moany or just sad? Please give Aunty Muffin a nose rub from me, and of course to you. Lots of purrs, Quintus

Oooh Elgar, what do you think of this white stuff they call snow? When I was a kitten I liked to play in it, but this morning I only stayed out briefly, It is still snowing and the trees look as if they are dressed in white, though I am going to curl up on my chair soon. A time called Christmas will be here soon I think. Maybe you will get a present then. I was given a funny mouse like thing but it was not alive, but it had a wonderful scent, which made me play with it as if it was alive. The humans have more things but I liked the paper and ribbon best, and there can be a useful box. They do odd things like put a tree inside and then hang things on it. I thought these were for playing with, but my human says NO! She  was very cross when I tried to claim the . (But that was when I was a kitten). I still play with the hanging things when there is no-one there, though usually they shut the door. I don’t think you should try to climb the indoor tree if you have one as I think you would be too heavy for it. I look forward to hearing your you. Purrrrrrs to Aunty Muffin and your mother, and a nose rub to you. Quintus.

10th December 2017 Dear Uncle Quintus Thank yous got your letter. It is very cold outside isn’t it? Mother, Aunty Muffin & I stayed with our hooman for a Very long time – she didn’t go to sleep very early – not su/purrre why, but she’s kept us all up until about birdie time – but I waz on her lap downstairs whilst she was awake so I go so many cuddles that I ignored the birds & we all slept in until this afternoon. Hooman is cross with herself for not sleeping at what she thinks are the right times to sleep – I don’t understand this as any time is a good time for 40winks! I has been better behaved & have been rewarded for it – so until it becomes boring I will carry on – last night I was chasing treats all around her bedroom! The girls were boring on the bed eating their pile so delicately! Pooh girls are silly! I think it is much more fun to chase my bits of treats – sometimes I miss a bit & find it later!

Hooman wants to know how much of my special food you have left? She said something about presents – which I am confused about a bit – but I think you will get some for your present. I tried to help her do some drawing yesterday – but it seems my paws are just a bit too wide to hold a pencil – I can hold the furminator and it remove some loose fur around my face – I is very clever to do this – neither of the girls can do it! I’m off upstairs to preheat the bed – hee hee what she doesn’t see she can’t worry about! miaory purrs  – Keep Warm Elgar XXX

Dear Elgar,

I think you are too young to realise that humans are not as well adapted as we felines. They do not seem to have our ability to just let go and curl up and sleep. They mainly seem to sleep when it is dark. Poor things, I think it’s because their eyes are not as good as ours.

You must be aware that if you want her to go on serving you let her have a good night’s sleep.

I speak from experience.

Purrs from Quintus

These are letters from Quintus son of Tinto, sister of Muffin. Q is the 5th kit in her litter. He chose to reply to a kitten called Elgar(son of Arya) who was very confused about Humans (hoomans). Their letters span several years 2017 - 2018 On 12 October 2017 Dear Elgar, I think you are too young to realise that humans are not as well adapted as we felines.

[atazblr]

Minerva’s Last Name, Part 2

Minerva, Duck, Aubrey and Juno sat cross-legged on Duck’s living room floor.

“So Janelle’s going to be officiating,” Juno began. “Aubrey, you said you would ask Kelly if she wanted to be flower girl?”

“Dani’s been cleaning up after her nonstop! She keeps throwing petals all over the house practicing.”

“I’m sure that out of everyone, your daughter has no trouble talking her way outta trouble,” Duck interjected.

“No interruptions, Ranger Newton,” Juno teased. “Respect your superiors.

“Now, back to business. Jane’s son will be ring bearer. Duck, Muffy and Winthrop keep saying they’ll provide the good because they ‘owe you one for that awesome hunt.’ I don’t want to know what that’s about, just tell them that I expect an omelet bar. Billy agreed to be an usher since no one’s gonna argue with Ryan Gosling when he tells them where to sit. Mama said she’s more than happy to have your guys’s wedding at Amnesty Lodge, but she’s need more chairs, so Agent Stern said he thought the Bureau might have some they could part with for a few days.”

Aubrey took over, “Silvayn says she needs your flower orders soon Id she’s going to be able to make them perfect. Jake and Hollis and Keith said the Hornets’ll send you off in style after the wedding, so maybe wear something you don’t mind getting grease on on your way to the honeymoon? Leo says all looks clear and good weather wise. Pigeon said she’ll send place cards over from prison. Vincent insists that he run security, even though I’m not sure why he thinks that’s necessary.”

“I think that’s it for what we need from everyone else,” Duck said. “Honey, do you want to take over?”

“Yes I do, Wayne Newton!” Minerva responded, her booming voice contrasting with her earlier silence. “We need your help, Best Woman Aubrey Little and Woman of Honor Juno Devine. My honey-buggy Wayne Newton and I can not decide what our last name should be after we are joined as husband and wife!”

“We thought about a bunch of options,” Duck said. “And Minetva Newton sounds good, but her taking my last name would be too patriarchal. And I’m not taking her last name, because I refuse to be Wayne Wayne. Same with hyphens. Wayne Newton-Wayne, Wayne Wayne-Newton.... I’ve kept that part out of what people call me for long enough. I’m not having it be half my last name.”

“So that takes the last name Duck out of the equation?” Aubrey quipped. Duck glared.

“I know your friend died a few years ago,” Juno said. “Maybe you could honor him?”

Duck and Minerva thought for a minute, before—

“Absolutely not,” Duck said. “Aubrey and Dani took Kelly for their daughter which is good am all, but that leaves first and last name. And Edmund and Ned aren’t last names. And Min calls me by my full name way too much for me to be ‘Wayne Chicane.’”

“What are popular Earth last names, Aubrey Little?” Minerva asked.

“I dunno... there’s Smith, Johnson...”

“Nope! I’m not gonna be Wayne “The Duck” Johnson.”

Suddenly, Juno Devine’s eyes got big. “Holy crow I’ve got it. I don’t know if you’re gonna like it, but it’s good.”

And Duck’s first love, that Minerva had learned to love as much as he did, became his last name.

When Duck and Minerva got married, they became the Potts.

Just kidding.

When Duck and Minerva finally wed, Janelle pronounces them husband and wife, Ranger and Ranger Forrest.

—-

Author’s Note: yes, a big part of writing this was for the wordplay and feels.

[lioncunt]

so i want to preface this by saying, again, that i am not trying to be negative. i don’t think anyone is trying to be negative when they bring this up; we all agree the scene was lovely.

but it really, really wasn’t enough, and now i have actual proof.

i babysit a ten year old girl. tonight, i told her the andi mack series finale had aired, and she wanted to watch it on my phone. she’s not a huge fan of the show, doesn’t keep up with it regularly, but she’s watched it enough that she knows everyone’s name and the basic plotlines of each season.

so we’re watching it, we get to the tyrus scene. after the scene finishes, she says, “they’re best friends.”

so i said, “well, i think they’re a little more than friends.”

and she just stared at me in confusion. i told her, “i mean, they’re boyfriends.”

she was shocked. “what? not they’re not.”

“yes,” i said, “they definitely are.”

and then she said, “no, they’re not gay.”

the episode continued, she didn’t want me to interrupt - but i just. this is why they needed to be more explicit with it. a ten year old little girl who knows what gay means, who comes from a progressive household, who maybe happened to have missed cyrus saying he’s gay or other tyrus episodes, could not pick up on the subtext of that tyrus scene. she didn’t see cyrus’s coming out, and the tyrus scene wasn’t enough to make her think, “oh, he’s definitely gay, and they definitely like each other romantically.” in her mind, it was still just friendship.

i almost said to her, “well, they’re confirmed to be boyfriends by the actors,” but honestly, who cares? that shouldn’t be how we confirm anything. she doesn’t know about the actors, she doesn’t follow them on twitter or instagram. she watched the scene, and the scene didn’t convince her.

i’d also like to point out the way this show establishes romantic relationships. every major relationship on the show has been established with a kiss - jandi, muffy, bexie, jamber, even cyrus and iris. the literal scene prior to the tyrus one is marty and buffy becoming canon THROUGH A KISS. in a kid’s mind, this is how the show makes it clear two characters like each other - they kiss. tj and cyrus didn’t kiss, so she assumed they were only friends. they didn’t even say they like each other.

we need to stop looking at this from an older perspective and start seeing it from the lens of a child. of course we can pick up on the actual meaning, but lots of kids are very literal, and they need things to be spelled out for them in order to get it. obviously all kids are different, and there are many who did pick up on it and understood, but not all kids are going to. and what, those kids don’t deserve to understand what’s going on? just because they need things to be really clear? it’s honestly unfair. this little girl represents kids who casually watched the show, who maybe hadn’t seen every episode or didn’t remember that time cyrus said he liked boys. kids who just tuned in to see how it ended and literally did not realize cyrus ended up with tj. that’s how unclear it was.

i appreciate the cast and crew for doing a terrific job with what they had, but we need to stop being okay with the bare minimum. and yes, this was the bare minimum - if you’re going to say, “hey, we’re making the first gay main character on the channel,” then commit to it. don’t half ass it. we shouldn’t be grateful that they got together at all - complacency is just going to make them keep giving us the same shit, and we’re not going to get anywhere.

[prophezeiung]

@vorhersage​ said:    3, 12, 18 for all of them thanks​​   ›   oc creation questions ( accepting )

3. how did you choose their name? carter: i remember scouring baby naming websites for the most obnoxious sounding rich people names. i wanted something more ~modern frat bro-y but with a touch of old money™ too, so in the end i went with lewis montgomery carter which imo already sounds extremely annoying so i’m happy. lloyd was.. just a vibe... but also lloyd bank, no correlation but a vibe. marty: marty was acc a really stupid one, because i first made him on forums where you have to sign up with the character’s name... very funny story for a different day but i just wanted to make an account so i could work on the site, so i just picked any random name that i thought sounded cute. i think i was thinking of back to the future? only after that we came up with an rpg concept and i started creating an oc... who wasn’t very marty mcfly-ish at all? but i decided to stick with this fresh nickname and give him an eccentric real name...... that’s why it’s a stretch from artemis to marty when he literally could’ve been arty but that’s not a vibe at all. his middle name is aurelio bc it’s cute and lighthearted but i realized it’s almost a c/mbyn mood which .. puke.. also all his siblings have a. a. names so 8) graves just sounded nice and dark academia-y, plus because it was a fantastic beasts-ish rpg concept i was thinking of claiming p.ercival graves as a distant relative oop. when i removed marty from the hp setting i thought the last name still fit v well with his new lore so i yoinked it from fb and now it’s mine uwu pandora: i have no clue how i came up with pandora, i just thought it’s funny to give her the nickname bread bc ‘big bread’ was somewhat of an inside joke but i couldn’t make myself give her the last name grande... also all my central american friends have like 7 names each so i wanted to give her at least one middle name and two last names ... i went with belén like bethlehem because it doesn’t fit her AT ALL hehe and then for a last name i really liked olivar.. bc of plant imagery and it sounded like bolivar... anyway... holden: very non-deep i found it on a baby naming website and vaisey is a golden trio era side-side-character so i just thought i’ll make an ancestor ... stonks! 8) margaret: i really really liked the nickname muffy and so i looked up for which names it’s a nick name... mary and margaret just happened to be on the list, which perfectly matched her background hehe 8) barr is actually kind of an eva-ism, i asked her if i should name my character after a.aron burr or c.atherine parr and she said yes <3 so i did 8) conan: conan means little wolf babey!!!! r.emus l.upin who!!!!!!!!! irish werewolf all the way!!!! and hm mcloughlin just struck me as irish™ idk it sounds nice! sunshine: haha... i didn’t have a name for her for the longest time, i just knew she was a hippie gal with a pure heart and uwu attitude so eva and i just called her ‘sunshine rainbow baby’... and then when it came to actually naming her... i didn’t :) it’s just the right amount of tacky and in-your-face so i kept it ayyy emily: she just was emily .. i didn’t choose the name it was just there and i accepted it.. sorry... for her last name i looked at japanese name meanings that sorta fit her vibe and i liked all the kuro- ones bc kuro means black which... hello... and kurosawa just sounded really fitting!

12. what have you found to be most difficult about creating art for your oc (any form of art: writing, drawing, edits, etc.)? carter: the fact that he knows shit about american politics and icba to look that up for every reply. plus the fact that his political opinions disgust me .... also i changed carter’s fc once and that kinda messed up a little how i picture him physically, esp with art and edits i... still don’t know if he rly has curly hair or nah.. have stopped thinking about it... marty: the fact that he’s so cringey and his vocabulary is bigger than mine.. also he has read walden and i refuse to... generally his obsession with classic literature is a big yikes for me bc the canon is so str8 white cis male heavy oof pandora: her lore? i am very lazy with her lore... also finding the balance between whirlwind and Chill.. i know she’s there i just gotta find where exactly... holden: trying not to make every reply sound the same but he only has 2 emotions ( angry, a little less angry ) so it’s hard. muffy: not so much difficult as interesting but i find out more and more that muffy is actually... kinda dark? idk man i don’t wanna see her snap. ( but actually.. i do.... ) conan: it just hurts man.. everything about him.. i want happy endings for my characters so bad but i wonder if he can ever be happy without being sad :/ sunshine: her whole inner monologue lmaooo i have no idea what i’m writing i’m just winging it?? emily: i’m yet to find out babey 8)

18. what is the most recent thing you’ve discovered about your oc?

carter: how whiny he is rip :/ i knew he kinda was.. but oh boy he’s terrible... marty: his relationship with Evil people and that he actually... would rather follow charisma than ideology which is a big oof ://// .. not that he’s into breaking the law at all but his moral compass is so weak and he usually thinks about other things and he is so easily peer pressured that he could high key be manipulated into doing bad stuff :/ pandora: she’s a coffee person! holden: that he spits on kids muffy: that she’s kind of a slytherin? conan: he can’t sit with his back to the door.. sunshine: she could be kind of an adrenaline junkie? not in a dangerous way she just... is the person who says ‘ i wanna go again! ’ after getting off the roller coaster hehe emily: that she swears oop

[27emailsicantsend]

Hoodies at Midnight: Muffy Fic

Author’s Note: This takes place about a week after Andi’s party (presuming the party was a Friday, this takes place Thursday night). Marty and Buffy have spent every day together, but aren’t official yet. No one knows they are official in this fic, because Buffy wasn’t ready to tell her friends yet. Marty, on the other hand, wanted to tell everyone right away, but Buffy convinced him not to say anything yet.

Buffy was laying in bed, absentmindedly scrolling through her phone after a pretty uneventful day. She was looking at pictures of her and Marty, reminiscing on the time they had spent together yesterday. Today was the only day she hadn’t seen him since Andi’s party.

***

Buffy went over to Marty’s house after school to work on homework. Because winter was just starting, Marty’s mom hadn’t changed the temperature in the house yet to keep the bills low. This made the house feel comfortable at first, but as Marty and Buffy got to question twenty on their math homework, Buffy looked down at her arm and noticed small goosebumps forming.

“Hey Marty, do you have a blanket or something I can borrow? It’s a little cold”.

“I’ve got something even better,” Marty said with a sly smile. He popped up from the coffee table where they were doing homework and returned a few moments later with a baby blue hoodie. He tossed it at Buffy and she caught it, moving it around in her hands and eyeing it suspiciously.

“Well?” Marty prompted. “Are you gonna put it on or what?”

“Oh... y-yeah,” she stammered. She pulled the hoodie over her head, his musk filling her nose. Her heart melted at his scent. He had a cologne smell typically, but he also had a natural musk. She wasn’t sure how, but his natural scent smelled just as good as his cologne scent. Once the hoodie was on, smell surrounded her, making her feel as though he was wrapped around her. A feeling she wasn’t going to forget.

“Thanks,” she smiled as she looked down at the hoodie. It had “SHAW: DISNEYLAND 2018″ written across the front. It felt new and slightly worn. He must have worn it between the summer of 7th and 8th grade, when they weren’t talking. Suddenly, Buffy became very self conscious.

“You know, I really don’t have to wear this. I’m drinking juice and don’t want to spill it. This hoodie seems new and kind of like an antique thing for your family and I don’t want to get it all messy. I can just take a blanket-”

“Buffy,” Marty cut her off. He smiled gently at her with reassurance in his eyes. “It’s fine. I got it on a family trip and I grew a lot since then. The hoodie doesn’t even fit me anymore. I would give it to my sister, but she has her own.”

Buffy laughed sheepishly, but then she perked up. A realization hit her and she started speaking before she had the time to stop herself. “Wait, you’re giving this to me?” She body felt paralyzed after she realized what she had just asked him.

“Of course?” Marty said, as if Buffy’s question shouldn’t have even been one.

Buffy smiled sheepishly again, her blood beginning to rush to her face. “Well... thanks. I do like shirts. I don’t know who wouldn’t”. She laughed a little as she thought of Cyrus giving Jonah the shirt meant for TJ. And how jealous TJ got when he saw Jonah wearing it this week. He practically ripped the shirt off of Jonah and told him “never. again.” in the most threatening TJ voice he could conjure up.

She lifted the sleeve to her nose and took one last sniff. Marty sat down on the ground next to her. She began to start their homework again, but Marty was too distracted. He stared at Buffy as he shook his pencil rapidly between his fingers. He didn’t realize he was staring, but he couldn’t help but savor the moment. Buffy looked so good in his hoodie. The blue meshed well with her chocolate skin, her black curls slightly bouncing, her face slightly scrunched as she focused intently on answering her problem-

“dhsidhgsidofjd shfsdkgn lefnldsgk?” Buffy asked.  

Marty shook his head back into reality. “Huh?”

“Do you know if we are supposed to answer this in decimals or fractions?” Buffy said, more clearly this time. 

He turned back to his homework and quickly found problem #20. “Oh- yeah- decimals for sure”. Buffy leaned over and looked at the problem he was pointing his pencil to. “Marty, we’re on 23. Have you been listening?”

No. He wasn’t. He definitely wasn’t. “Ugh, ok,” she said jokingly frustrated when he didn’t respond. Buffy began to reexplain the problems, but Marty zoned out again. Nothing she did was going to keep him safe from himself. He ducked his head in under hers and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. She pushed her face into her shoulder and giggled, as if to protect herself. He kissed her cheek again. And then again. And then again, for good measure.

She playfully fought him off, “Martyyy... stop. We need to focus”.

“Ok, ok,” he said, pretending to back down. Buffy straightened her body back to a normal position and started talking again. “As I was saying, I think we use decimals because the answer is looking like a percentage... Martyyy. Stop. We really need to get this done,” she giggled again as he tickled her hip, her weakest spot. 

Little did he know, she knew his weakest point too. He stopped tickling her and started to talk about the question. This time, however, while he was talking she reached over and tickled him right under his rib cage.

“I thought I told you we needed to focus!” Marty said, mocking Buffy.

He got up to run away from her, but she began chasing each him all over the kitchen. At one point, Buffy swerved around the corner of his kitchen island a little too fast in her walking boot. It caught on the edge of the wood and made her fall down with a loud thud!

“Buffy!” Marty said as he turned around and ran over to her. “Are you ok?” he asked, now extremely concerned.

Buffy acted a little weak and sad as she said, “yeah, just help me up please...”. She reached up a hand, but when Marty leaned forward to grab it, she yanked his hand down so he was on the floor too, his body in a 90 degree angle to hers. They both laughed until they ached. When they were done laughing, Buffy wiped some tears from her eyes and looked over at Marty.

She felt a sudden surge of confidence and rolled onto her stomach. She held her head above his and leaned in slow until their lips were touching. Like magnets, they reflected each others movements. The kiss being perfectly soft, sweet, and reciprocated. When she lifted her head back up, Marty reached his head to hers and pecked her lips one more time. He then laid his head back down, reached his hand up to her cheek, and began to caress it. Their eyes were locked and their faces close. So close, in fact, that they were practically breathing the same air.

“When are you going to tell Andi and Cyrus about us?” Marty asked softly, thumb still moving gently on her cheek. Buffy’s face dropped. She pulled away from Marty and rotated her body until she was sitting normally. She then pushed her knees up to her chest and locked her arms around them, gently placing her chin between them. “I don’t know. I’m sorry, Marty. I’m just not ready”.

“I’m not asking you to tell the whole school or anything, Buffy. Just Andi and Cyrus. Besides that, don’t you think they already know? We held hands and slow danced at her party while they watched,” Marty insisted.

Buffy started to sound a little frustrated. “Look, I’m just not ready yet. Can we please talk about something else?”

Marty heaved a large breath and scratched his head, frustrated. “Yeah.. ok... sorry. Want to go work back on homework?”

Buffy felt horrible he was upset with her over this, but it was hard for her to talk about. She was ashamed for how they fell apart still. She knew there was a lot of pressure riding on them to make things work this time and she didn’t want to let anyone down. Especially her best friends.

“Actually, I’m kind of done with homework,” Buffy said, smiling. She really wasn’t, but she owed it to Marty to make the rest of the night fun. 

He helped her up and asked, “well, what do you have in mind?”

She smiled at him mischievously. In unison,  they both yelled, “Ghost Hunters!” They had been binging the show together, so it shouldn’t have even been a question that they were going to do that. Marty pulled out the couch foot rest, while Buffy grabbed a pillow for him and her favorite gray soft blanket in his house. He sat down first and when she walked over to him, with the items tucked under her arm, he patted the spot directly beside him. She smiled, took her walking boot off, threw the blanket and pillow on him, and then hopped into the spot next to him. She scooted close and buried her head in his neck. He put the pillow behind his head and then let his head drop until it was resting on top of hers. She wrapped her arm around his torso and pulled him in even closer.

After one episode, she pulled out her phone and took a few silly photo’s with him (with the bonus of two of him kissing her cheek). She put her phone away and began to get squeamish. 

“You ok? Are you hot?” Marty asked as he noticed her getting more and more fidgety by the moment.

“Heck yeah I am and that’s why you like me”. Marty rolled his eyes, “but no. I’m actually pretty comfy,” she said as she forced herself to sit still.

This was a lie. His body heat radiated onto her, so much so that she felt herself begin to sweat, but she didn’t care. She was not taking off her hoodie and she was not moving from cuddling with him.

***

Buffy lifted her hoodie sleeve back to her nose as she kept scrolling through her phone. She put her phone down and sat up in bed. She sniffed it again, and then again for good measure. There was no scent. It was gone. Already? It had only been a little over a day.

She looked at the clock. 11:48 PM. It was way too late to FaceTime, so she texted Marty instead.

Buffy: Your hoodie :(

Marty: What about it? haha

Buffy: It doesn’t smell like you anymore. I need you to come put your smell back in it.

Marty: Buffy do you have any idea what time it is?

Buffy stuck out her lower lip, knowing he couldn’t see her pouting.

Marty: I’m already on my way.

Or maybe he could.

About fifteen minutes later, Buffy heard little taps at her window. 

Clink. 

Clink. 

Clink.

Buffy rolled her eyes as she got out of bed. She hobbled over to the window and looked down. Clink!

Another rock was thrown that made her jump. Marty must have not seen her at the window. She slid it open and leaned her torso out. 

“You had to be cliche, huh?” She asked, unamused.

“Of course I did,” Marty said, obviously amused.

“How did you get out of your house?” She half yelled-half whispered so her dad couldn’t hear. He probably couldn’t anyway, he was usually in their basement, watching a game, around this time. 

“You going to give me the hoodie or what, Driscoll?”

Sheesh, demanding! Buffy thought. “Come around back!”

Buffy quickly put on her walking boot and snuck downstairs to the kitchen. If her dad came up, she was just going to play it off like she needed some water. She slid open the patio door, flicked on the patio light, and stepped outside.

Marty was staring at Buffy again. It was easy to tell he was admiring her, but he wouldn’t say it out loud. She looked beautiful, even in her pajama’s with no make up. It was impressive to Marty how easily beauty came to her. She doesn’t have to do anything, she just is.

“Hey,” Buffy said, a small grin on her face. 

“Hey,” Marty said, a slow grin starting to form on his face. Quickly, his grin became a mischievous smile. “So... Buffy Driscoll? Asking for my help? Is this... a new reality? An alternate universe?” he said, with an arrogant air to his voice.

Buffy punched him in the shoulder playfully while repressing a grin. “Stop it! Just fix it,” she said as she stuck her bottom lip out. He smiled as she took the hoodie off and held it in his face.

“So remind me again? You want me to put my smell put back on it?” Marty asked, slightly playful, slightly confused.

“Yeah, I miss it,” Buffy said, still pouting.

“Ok, whatever you say...” Marty said as he put his hoodie on the ground. He then laid on top of it and started rolling on it.

“Better?” He asked standing up and laughing. He handed Buffy back the hoodie. She ripped it from his hand by it’s hood, letting it dangle from the tight grip in her fingers.

“You’re an idiot, Marty,” Buffy said, reciprocating his gut-bellied laugh. She put the hoodie back on and sniffed the sleeve again.

“So?...” Marty asked, intrigued.

Buffy frowned. “It still doesn’t smell like you”.

“I knew it probably wouldn’t, which is why I brought you this”. He held up a small container. “It’s travel-sized, but it’s the cologne I use”.

Buffy had to hold herself steady. She couldn’t believe he was giving her his cologne and hoodie all in one day. He was one of the purest and most gentle human beings she had ever met. He came all the way to her house at midnight, just to make her happy. He helped her get care for her foot. He didn’t leave her during the race. Why shouldn’t she proud to call him hers?

“Thank you, Marty,” she said as she rested her hand on his shoulder and pecked his cheek. She looked sincerely into his eyes as she finished her sentence, “for everything”.

She wasn’t sure if he understood the sublimity behind her words, but his soft dimple-filled grin, gave her the reassurance that he probably did.

“Good night, Buff,” he said as he stepped off the patio.

“Good night, Marty,” she said as she walked back in the kitchen. 

What each of them didn’t notice, was that they both looked back one more time at each other.

***

The following day, Buffy was standing at her locker, when Andi’s hand slammed it shut.

“This hoodie?” Cyrus said, interrogating. “Where did you get it?”

“I’ve always had it,” Buffy said, arms crossed.

“Oh, really? Because last I remember, you hadn’t been to Disneyland since we were ten!” Cyrus continued, pointing at the lettering on her shirt.

Buffy tightened her arms and said defensively, “I found it in a thrift store”.

“Too new looking,” Andi countered.

“I really liked the color,” Buffy fought back.

“Or you really like the person who gave it to you. Everyone knows it’s a rule at this school not to wear someone else’s hoodie unless you are dating!” Cyrus said accusingly.

“Back off, Cyrus! It’s mine!”

“Oh, please, Buffy. We all know that I have a thorough recollection of the pieces in your wardrobe and this is not one of them, nor would it be unless it meant something special to you,” Cyrus said, slightly arrogant.

“Wow, you’ve really reached peak gay, haven’t you?” Buffy said, trying to antagonize Cyrus into stopping. 

He wasn’t fooled though.”Buffy, you already know I reached peak gay the day I was born! Now let us see it!” He and Andi reached over and fought Buffy’s arms down. Once they were down, “SHAW” was revealed in big letters.

“SHAW?!” Cyrus screamed.

“Are you kidding me, Buffy? This is Mar-” Andi was yelling too, but was cut off by Buffy hushing her.

“Yes,” Buffy said quietly, talking fast. “It’s Marty’s. But I don’t want you guys making a big deal out of it or anything. I got it two days ago when I was at his house-” Buffy cupped her hand to her mouth as her eyes widened. Both Cyrus’ and Andi’s eyes widened too.

“Is that where you’ve been all week? You’ve blown us off every day saying you were helping your grandma! You’ve been with Marty, haven’t you?” Andi accused.

“Yes and I’m so sorry for lying to you. It’s just that... Marty and I kissed at your party and I wasn’t ready to tell you guys. I was just scared that it wouldn’t work out again. But I really was going to go to my grandma’s the first day. When she cancelled, I used it as an excuse to see Marty,” Buffy explained.

“Awww, Buffy. I am so happy for you guys,” Andi said softly. Her face hardened almost instantly after that. “But if you ever leave out details of you and Marty from me -your number one Muffy stan- again, I will end you”.

“Alright, alright,” Buffy said, throwing her hands forward to fake-block Andi.

“I am so excited to tell Jonah, and TJ, and Amber, and...” Cyrus began to ramble.

“Cy, you can tell them, but please only them. Make them promise not to say anything. I want Marty to find out I’m wearing this on his own. Which is why,” Buffy began to take the hoodie off and opened her locker back up. “I am waiting to wear it again at lunch. I won’t see him again until then and I want him to see it before the rest of the school does,” she finished as she tossed the hoodie in and closed the locker door.

At lunch, Buffy was sitting casually on top of the table, in her new hoodie, biting the tip of her fork and laughing. Andi was sitting next to her and Cyrus directly across. Both were putting their pizza bagels up to their eyes, pretending to be zombies with them.

Marty, Jonah, and TJ all walked in at the same time, talking and getting in line to get their food. Marty was busy talking to the short, crotchety lunch lady while TJ and Jonah looked around the cafeteria for their friends. Jonah noticed them first and tapped TJ’s chest with the back of his hand to get his attention. Keeping his finger out of eyesight, Jonah pointed at Buffy. 

TJ, oblivious, yelled, “oh yeah! There they are! Hey, Cyrus!” Both Cyrus and TJ waved massively towards each other, grinning from ear to ear. Jonah smacked TJ again with the back of his hand, but much harder this time.

“No, you idiot. Look at what Buffy is wearing,” Jonah said quietly. TJ’s eyes widened. “Ohhhhhh, wow. Is that-?” He nodded in Marty’s direction.

Jonah nodded. Affirming that, yes, that is Marty’s hoodie Buffy was wearing. The one Cyrus had excitedly told them about earlier. Both stayed quiet, as if mutually agreeing that they wanted to see Marty’s reaction.

“Have a good day ma’am,” Marty said as he turned from the cafeteria lady. He popped a baby tater in his mouth as Jonah and TJ watched him turn around. His eyes immediately fixed on Buffy and he almost choked.

“I-I-I’m gonna go sit... w-with those guys?...” Marty stumbled as he walked away from his friends.

Jonah and TJ tried humiliating him him with manly grins and nods as they used their most encouraging words they could for Marty.

“Yeah you are!”

“Yeah go sit down with your FRIENDS”.

“Looks like there is a seat next to Buffy!”

That last comment made Marty turn around and glare at them. He began to walk towards the table again, but this time a lot more confidently towards Buffy. He placed his tray next to Buffy and sat down. She hopped off the table and casually slid into the spot next to him. 

“Marty, you’ve got to see this. Do it! Show him the face!” Buffy giggled as Andi and Cyrus started doing pizza-bagel-zombie faces again. But Marty wasn’t watching them, he was watching her. He looked Buffy up and down, noticing every movement. From the way she laughed, to the glimmer in her smile, to the way his hoodie looked on her. That hoodie felt like some form of acceptance that they were finally a true pairing. 

A year ago, he couldn’t have ever imagined this happening. He would have never seen himself, next to Buffy Driscoll, making such an obvious statement they were dating, in such a public place. The rejection he faced ran deep to his core, to the point that he never saw her coming back to him. Much less so proud to show that she was with him.

Marty took his chances and slid his arm around the bottom part of her waist. He knew it was risky, but she only scooted closer to him on the bench. He leaned over and softly whispered in her ear, “since when did you start wearing my hoodies to school, huh?” 

Buffy bit her bottom lip and looked down. She didn’t want Marty to see how much she was smiling, how much she was blushing, or how much she really liked him in this moment. 

What she did want, however, was for the school to know they were together. For everyone to know that she was proud to be with him. The hoodie was the perfect symbol for that. She lifted up her sleeve and took one last sniff. She smiled as she nuzzled her head into his shoulder. Everything was going to be alright.   

Requested by: @dancerdramatic14  and myself lol

[supergraphicultramoderngirl]

tyrus prompt: museum field trip where cyrus gets on the bus to find that the only empty seat is next to tj. also whoever they sit next to is their partner/buddy for the day. you can make this as angsty (post 313, both hurting and not knowing how to deal but forced to by the situation, so close yet so far etc) or fluffy (closer to a date, maybe an au where this is the first time they get to know each other) as you want! either way, love the concept of field trip setting tyrus

“oh and muffy are also sitting together/partners, if you wanted both ships in the same prompt! those two as partners could be fun. competing to see who's faster to fill in the worksheet or whatever first, but ending up enjoying themselves at the different museum exhibits. how carefree they are could either contrast with angsty tyrus for more angst (wishing they could enjoy themselves like that too, like they used to) or make a fluff fic even fluffier, idk, good with either”

thank u for the prompt, enjoy!!

(word count: 1951)

———

“What do you mean you’re not gonna sit with me?” Cyrus whined as he and Buffy walked to the bus that would be taking them and the rest of their history class to the Shadyside Museum of History.

Buffy chuckled, knocking into his shoulder, “I mean, I’m not gonna sit with you. Marty already asked me to sit with him, and it’s been long enough ago now since he broke up with his girlfriend. I’m not screwing things up this time.”

Cyrus deadpanned, “Well, you have always been known for your determination, didn’t know why I expected this to be any different.”

Buffy rolled her eyes and stopped walking for a moment as she exclaimed, “Cyrus!”

“I’m sorry! You know I’m team Muffy and all, but I have no one else to sit with since Andi and Jonah aren’t in our class,” Cyrus complained, stopping with her.

“What about TJ?” Buffy questioned.

Cyrus squinted, “Well...”

Buffy smacked him on the shoulder. “You still haven’t talked to him? Why? You’re, like, the king of communication. Andi and I had to physically constrain you from talking to him during the whole gun thing.”

“Why do you want me to talk to him? You’ve never exactly been his biggest fan,” Cyrus asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

Buffy sighed, “Because, Cyrus, I’ve seen how important you are to each other. There’s gotta be a reason he ditched you for the literal devil.”

Cyrus raised one eyebrow, deadpanning yet again, “You mean Kira?”

“I said what I said. Now, come on, we’re gonna miss the bus,” Buffy said, grabbing Cyrus’ wrist and dragging him to the bus.

They made their way on the bus as the teacher was giving them instructions, droning on about, “...Whoever you sit next to will be your study buddy for the trip, and you are to stay with them at all times so we can keep track of you all easier...”

Buffy sat down almost immediately as Marty was in the front, which left Cyrus to look down the aisle on the bus to see the only spot left open. He walked down towards almost the back of the bus and sat down, and he turned his head to spot the one person he did not want to see, the one person he would have to be around the entire day.

TJ.

Of course, Cyrus thought, of course the universe wants to play me again. Thanks a lot.

“Hey, Cyrus,” TJ mumbled, looking down, almost scared to talk to him, which surprised the smaller boy.

“Hey,” Cyrus breathed out. It was all he could manage, really.

“Looks like we’re partners for the day,” TJ added, now looking anywhere but Cyrus.

Cyrus just nodded slowly, not knowing what to say. He looked across the aisle just in time to notice Buffy taking a glance at the two of them, who quickly turned around as to not draw attention to herself. Yeah, that didn’t work. He pulled out his phone and texted her.

cy-guy: what are you doing?!

slayer: TALK TO HIM!!

slayer: it’ll be worse if you guys are just in silence the entire day, if you at least talk then it won’t be as awkward

cy-guy: i hate it when you’re right

slayer: you must hate it all the time then ;)

He turned off his phone and faced the other boy, who was looking out the window as the bus started to move. He swallowed his pride, if there was any there to begin with, and said, “So, what’ve you been up to lately?”

TJ’s head snapped to look at him as practically the speed of light. “Oh, uh, nothing really... basketball, you know.”

Before Cyrus could register what he was saying, he blurted out, “You been hanging out with Kira a lot?”

TJ blushed—figures, Cyrus thought—before he responded, “No, not really. ‘S not like I want to anyw— I mean, you know what, I should just stop talking.” He tried to laugh off what he said, but Cyrus had caught it.

Maybe not figures.

“Why wouldn’t you want to?” Cyrus questioned, trying to tread as lightly as he could. He wouldn’t push, but he couldn’t stop himself from adding, “You kinda did a costume together.”

TJ looked scared then. He tried to joke, “Asking a lot of questions today, aren’t we, Und—Cyrus?”

Cyrus just raised a patient eyebrow, waiting for him to answer.

TJ sighed, leaning his head back on the chair. “It’s just a lot to explain.”

Cyrus turned to face him entirely. “I’ve got the whole day to listen. If you want me to.”

———

Meanwhile, Marty and Buffy had quickly reassumed their usual bantering ways, as Marty had been reading her texts with Cyrus over her shoulder. “What’s going on with him, anyway?”

Buffy replied, “He’s just being unusually... quiet.”

Marty snorted. “‘S something you could never do,” he teased.

“Please, Mr. ‘I Ate a Live Frog’, you never know when to shut up,” Buffy teased back, nudging him on the shoulder.

“Only around cute girls, which you would know if you were around when I started talking to Rachel,” Marty joked.

Buffy made a pitiful face, “I am sorry about you guys— wait.”

“What?”

Buffy had a look of incredulity now, as she continued, “You thought I was cute?”

Marty blushed and chuckled, “I thought that was kinda clear when I asked you out on the bridge. And you turned me down.”

Buffy’s mouth went into a straight line at that. “Right.”

“Right.”

———

They arrived at the museum soon after, splitting up to roam around and look at different exhibits. Marty and Buffy dashed ahead of the rest of the groups, obviously caught in some competition, again. TJ and Cyrus hung back from mostly everyone else, riddled with awkward silence. They took their time throughout the museum, and TJ would stare intently at every exhibit as Cyrus took the notes they required.

Eventually, though, Cyrus got sick of the quiet game and said, “Okay, I know you’re a history buff and all, but the history of oil in Shadyside cannot be that interesting.”

TJ continued reading the wall, dismissing him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“TJ,” Cyrus said calmly, placing his hand on TJ’s shoulder, and it was only then that he looked towards Cyrus. “You can talk to me.”

TJ sighed, looking up at the ceiling, “It’s not that I don’t want to. I just... don’t know how.”

“Then I’ll try my best to listen.”

TJ looked around the room then, noticing it was next to empty aside from two other pairs of students, and he dragged Cyrus to a bench next to the exit for the next exhibit. They sat down, a beat of silence following them.

“Kira and I had never talked before. She introduced herself right before you had come over to me that one time. The next day, she came up to me again while I was practicing alone and asked me if I wanted to do a costume with her,” TJ began explaining.

“And you said yes because she’s a pretty girl and you’d rather to a costume with your crush than your friend. I get it,” Cyrus said, trying to make sense of it all.

“Actually,” TJ took a moment, “I said no, because I was already doing a costume with you. I didn’t want to do a costume with her at all. She kept persisting, and I kept turning her down. Finally, she said, ‘You’d rather do a costume with Cyrus than with me? Have fun with that.’ It felt like she was implying that it was bad I’d rather do a costume with a boy than a girl, like it was a threat.”

Cyrus gulped. “Oh.”

TJ continued, “I was so ready to do the costume with you, I had the board shorts on and everything, but I couldn’t help thinking she was going to do something if I didn’t match with her, so I... took the coward’s way out.”

Cyrus furrowed his eyebrows, trying to comprehend what the taller boy was telling him. “Because you didn’t want it to look... gay.”

TJ crinkled his nose. “If that’s how you wanna look at it, yeah.”

Cyrus immediately grew defensive then. “What’s so bad with looking gay? Do you have a problem with gay people? Because if so, I’m just gonna lea—“

“I’d be a hypocrite if I did, Cyrus.”

Cyrus’ eyes widened. “What?”

TJ leaned forward, analyzing the floor as he rested his elbows on his knees. “I am... gay. I just didn’t want people to know yet,” he mumbled.

“Oh.” Cyrus put a comforting hand on TJ’s shoulder. “I’m glad that you trust me enough to tell me,” he said, giving him the warmest smile possible. “And, I’m sorry that I jumped to conclusions about things.”

TJ looked up at him with soft eyes. He nearly whispered, “You have nothing to apologize for, Cyrus. This is all my fault, I should be the one apologizing.” He took Cyrus’ free hand in his. “I am so sorry, Cy. You have no idea.”

Cyrus dropped the hand that rested on TJ’s shoulder. “It’s okay, I get it, you got manipulated, which isn’t fair at all. You have nothing to worry about.” He paused, then added, “If it makes you feel any better, I know exactly how you feel.”

TJ’s eyes almost popped out of his head as he began stuttering, “I– you’re– wh– a-are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

Cyrus smiled confidently, “I’m gay, too.” He’d come a long way, and he was proud of the fact that he could actually say that with confidence now. (As he should be.)

TJ just gave him one of his signature grins, a blush painting his cheeks. “Cool.”

Cyrus chuckled, “I’m getting a little deja vu.”

TJ furrowed his brows. “What?”

“Oh, nothing.”

———

“I told you I could answer all the questions first!” Buffy boasted to Marty, who simply laughed in defeat as they exited the museum.

“You always were the smart one, weren’t you?” Marty teased. “Just means I’m the more athletic one.”

Buffy elbowed his side. “Oh, you wish.”

They both walked in a comfortable silence for a few beats, blushes painting both of their faces.

That is, until Buffy mumbled, “You know, if you asked me out again, I wouldn’t turn you down this time.”

Marty turned to look at her overdramatically and shouted, “Oh, really?”

Buffy grinned, blushing even more. “Please don’t make a big deal out of this.”

Marty simply smirked, stopped, and took both of her hands, exclaiming, “The one and only, Buffy ‘The Slayer’ Driscoll, will you do me the honor of being my non-virtual girlfriend?”

Honestly, Buffy was just surprised no one was paying attention at that point, but she rolled her eyes and nodded in response.

Marty dropped her hands as they made their way back to the bus, muttering, “Took you long enough.”

Buffy scoffed, “Oh, don’t be so entitled.”

“You love me.”

“Maybe.”

———

Yeah, Cyrus and TJ has seen that whole thing as they were walking out of the museum, and they couldn’t help but laugh at the spectacle Marty had made. But, Buffy deserved it, she deserved to be happy, so Cyrus was happy for them. TJ was just grateful they wouldn’t have to watch the endless pining and banter anymore.

They plopped back down in their spots on the bus as TJ blurted out, “I’m really glad we made up. That was probably one of the worst weeks of my life.”

Cyrus took his hand, replying, “Me too.”

Cyrus didn’t care if Buffy was looking that time. TJ didn’t care if anyone was looking that time.

———

slayer: so, tj?

cy-guy: so, marty?

slayer: oh shut up

[thirteen-beaxhes]

Delayed - Chapter 4: Since We’ve Been Gone

Summary:  “All felt like they knew the others were far away, living ideal lives. They kept to their windows and phones for the ride, thinking about the others. They reminisced separately but prayed for the night to go by fast, to get to the places they needed to go. But the night hadn’t even begun yet.” High school ended 6 years ago, and with it, so did the friendship between Andi, Buffy, Cyrus, Jonah, TJ and Amber. But now their flight is delayed and they are stuck in a hotel together for the night. Not much can change in one night, though. Can it?

ALL LINKS IN REBLOG

~~~~~~~~~

Three beers later, TJ had moved from the table where Cyrus had left him to the bar, balancing on the stool and he gulped down the drink. He had texted Amber, asking her where she was, and he had just gotten a waffly response about how she was going back to her room, one she was sharing with another passenger. Great. Even she had company. Super.

As he set down the now empty bottle, TJ called for another beer, not caring about how it would feel in the morning. He knew it would suck, and that his head would feel like utter shit. But he didn’t really care. The bartender flashed him a worried look, but slid another bottle his way. TJ looked around, spotting another person at the bar. A girl, with shoulder length hair and a leather jacket, a whiskey on the rocks in her hand.  Picking up his drink, he turned to face her.

“You also drinking the night away? I get that,” he said, taking a swig. The girl turned to him, eyes narrowed, but she cracked a small smile.

“Well, nothing else to do, huh?” she said, and TJ couldn’t help but feel like that voice was familiar. He furrowed his eyebrows and lifted his head slightly.

“You sound familiar,” he said, moving to the bar stool closer to her. She inched away, but narrowed her eyes further.

“Yeah, you too,” she muttered, peering up at him. Suddenly, realisation flooded her face and shoved him in the shoulder.

“Fuck! TJ, is that you?” she exclaimed, smiling.

TJ took a minute to place her, the hair making it harder, but as soon as he did, he laughed in shock, pulling her in for a hug.

“Oh my god, Andi Mack in the flesh,” he said, pulling away, still laughing. “Shit, how are you?”

Andi shrugged. “As good as you’d expect from a person sat at the bar drinking after everyone has gone.”

TJ nodded, holding up his beer slightly. “I feel you. Take it the flight delay was not ideal?”

“Anything but. Not just that, I had some, interesting reunions with people,” she said, taking a long swig of her drink as she stared forward.

“Me too,” TJ said, nodding. “Who did you meet?”

“Buffy and Cyrus. Did not go well. Started good, ended bad. My fault mostly,” she said softly, looking own.

“Fuck, Buffy’s here too?” TJ asked, looking up in surprise as Andi nodded.

Andi narrowed her eyes at him. “Who did you meet? Cuz it seemed like you didn’t know Buffy was here, but you didn’t say anything about…” Andi trailed off, realisation hitting her as TJ looked away and took a big gulp of beer, wincing slightly.

“Cyrus?” TJ said quietly, and Andi sighed.

“Was it the first time since..?”

“Yup. This time though, I actually got a goodbye so, now we know its permanent.”

Silence fell between them as both continued to take sips of their drinks, unsure of what else to say. But, unlike with Buffy and Cyrus, Andi just didn’t care about having to find things to say with TJ. Something in her just told her that TJ too just wanted to be left alone in the silence.

Finally, after a couple minutes, Andi spoke up. “So, how’s Amber doing?”

TJ looked up. “She’s okay. She’s here too, you know?”

At that, Andi perked up, much to her own annoyance because she thought she was done with that. “Oh?” is all she managed, the word coming out high-pitched.

TJ laughed a bit, narrowing his eyes. “I’m surprised you didn’t see her. I thought you were her roommate.”

“She has a roommate?”

“Apparently they didn’t have any free rooms left for this one person, so Amber offered her room.”

“Well, that’s unusual for her,” Andi said, furrowing her eyebrows. “Especially if it’s some random person.”

“I know,” TJ said. “Which is why I assumed it was you when I saw you here. She’s always had a soft spot for you.”

For some reason, that comment made Andi’s cheeks grow warm, a fact she did not appreciate, and she kept her eyes focused on the table as she finished her whiskey. She was beginning to internally debate how to end the conversation because as much as she enjoyed it, she just really wanted to be alone. And reminders of high school were the last thing she needed. Given everything that made up her life. But thankfully, TJ finished his beer and placed his bottle on the table, taking his coat as he stood up.

“Well, I gotta go to my room now,” he said with a tired smile. “It was nice meeting you Andi. God, it’s like Shadyside reunion time, huh?”

Andi just smiled, tipping her glass at him as he walked away. She dropped her smile as soon as he left, gulping down the rest of her drink as she pushed herself away from the table, the room swaying slightly as she dragged herself away from the bar. To the room, and there she would stay.

*

“So, have you guys decided a date?” Amber said, as she flopped onto the bed. Buffy, who was just pulling her suitcase in, narrowed her eyes in amusement at Amber.

“Date for what?”

Amber groaned, pushing herself up. “For your wedding, you idiot!”

Buffy laughed, sitting on the foot of the extra bed, looking at Amber who was now lying on her stomach, resting her head on her hands as she looked at Buffy with a giddy smile. “Not really, but we’re aiming for late next year.”

“And theme?”

“Hmm, minimalistic.”

“Classic Muffy.”

“What did you say?” Buffy said, narrowing her eyebrows as Amber laughed at her expression.

“You know? Marty and Buffy, Muffy?” Amber said, but Buffy just continued to shake her head in confusion.

“I don’t even wanna know,” she said, laughing.

Amber laughed, feeling her phone buzz with a notification. She picked it up, and as soon as she saw the name, her smile dropped.

Emily.

She quickly put down the phone, and looked up at Buffy, nervously pushing her a strand of hair back. “So, what’s new with work?”

“Are you okay?” Buffy asked quietly, her eyes narrow in worry.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine,” Amber said, looking down, but Buffy grabbed her hand, making her look at her.

“You know that doesn’t work on me,” she said, and Amber gave her a small smile, letting out a long sigh.

“Why are you so good at reading people?”

Buffy shrugged, smiling. “I just am. You’re an open book when something’s bothering you.” She moved over to Amber’s bed, sitting down next to her. Amber kept her eyes trained to the ground, taking a deep breath in.

“A year ago, I met this girl who I worked with at a coffee shop during college. She was a Fine Arts major, and an aspiring painter. She would always turn up to work late because she would be working on something, her jeans and shoes always had huge paint stains. She was kind and smart and funny, and for some reason, she decided that I was someone worth spending time with. Her name’s Emily.” As she finished, Amber’s voice cracked, a fact she disguised by coughing. But Buffy didn’t buy it.

“I take it, all wasn’t perfect eventually?” Buffy asked softly, and Amber nodded quietly.

“I kept feeling like she wanted to be anywhere except with me when we went out. I just thought I was being paranoid. I was blind, and I thought everything would be okay, because I loved her,” Amber said, her voice breaking as she reached up to hastily wipe away her tears. Buffy came close to her side and hugged her, resting her head on Amber’s shoulder.

Amber looked up at the ceiling, releasing a shaky breath before continuing. “Then, a month ago, I get this text from her as I was going back from work.” She pulled her phone to her and opened it, scrolling up to the message and showing Buffy the phone. Buffy pulled it to her, her eyes running over the words, immediately looking up at Amber when she was done.

“Well, that’s lame,” Buffy said, thankfully eliciting a small laugh from Amber. “Over text too?”

Amber nodded sadly, scoffing. “It’s bullshit. Obviously it’s me, it’s always me. Every single relationship I’ve been in, I think it’ll last, but then it doesn’t. Maybe I just don’t deserve it.”

“That’s not true, Amber,” Buffy said, squeezing Amber’s hand, but she pulled away.

“Of course it is, think about it,” she said, her eyes desperate. “From back in high school to now, every single one has just been the same thing. I go too fast, or I get jealous, or I’m just not enough.”

“Okay you listen to me, Kippen,” Buffy said, lifting up Amber’s chin so that she was looking at her. “The Amber we met in high school took no shit from anyone. You were, and still are, an annoying and stubborn pain in the butt. But guess what? That’s you. You are confident in yourself, and you are a strong presence. And if people can’t handle it, it’s their problem!”

Amber looked up at Buffy nervously. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Buffy said softly, resting her head back on Amber’s shoulder.

Amber smiled and leaned her head on Buffy’s, sighing. But soon, she looked up again. “She did text me saying maybe we made a mistake.”

“No she did not!” Buffy yelled, and Amber laughed, nodding her head.

“See for yourself,” she said, handing Buffy the phone.

Buffy just shook her head with a laugh, looking at Amber. “Just block her, she’s not worth the trouble.”

Amber laughed, looking down at her phone. It took a while, but after some encouraging from Buffy, she ended up clicking ‘Block’ on Emily’s contact before tossing her phone onto the bed.

“That felt good,” she sighed, putting her arm around Buffy’s shoulder and leaning her head against hers.

“I know,” Buffy said softly, smiling at Amber.

And for that moment, Amber’s heart was just a tinier bit lighter.

*

Slumping onto the bed, Cyrus opened his phone to find texts from a guy he had gone out with a couple nights ago. He was nice enough, kind, sweet, charming. But, Cyrus couldn’t imagine having anything more serious that what they were, something the other was clearly not up for. Cyrus sighed, shutting off his phone, pinching the bridge of his nose. That encounter with TJ (because ‘encounter’ was the only word he could use to even try and describe it) had been unexpectedly emotionally tense. Although, why was he surprised? Given their story…

Cyrus rolled over to one side, playing over the conversation in his head. The surprise and shock, the brief hit of nostalgia, the bitter annoyance on TJ’s face as he first began to walk away, and finally, the tired defeat. After everything, after 6 years of silence, there it was.

Goodbye.

And now here he was, in his hotel room, alone, running away from people who wanted to get closer to him because the ghost of his first real relationship still haunted him, even though he refused to admit it. He had to face it now. He probably never really got over TJ Kippen.

And that terrified him.

Cyrus smiled wistfully to himself, remembering high school. Dates at the Spoon, holding hands under the lunch table, stealing hidden moments in empty hallways, short handwritten notes pressed into palms while running down the hall to class. He had been in love, there was no doubt about it. That was the first time, but not the last time. But it had been the last time he had acted on his feelings.

Funny, he thought to himself. All the time in school, when Cyrus saw Jonah have issues with commitment to relationships, he never imagined himself ever having that problem. But there he was, desperately starting the getaway car every time someone wanted more.

Cyrus lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling. He had to let go of the past, of TJ. That was the only way he would ever truly move on. But he shook his head, pulling the cover over himself as he rested his head on the pillow, squeezing his eyes shut.

He didn’t need to think about it just then. He just needed to sleep, and then get on the flight, and never see him again.

~~~~~~~~~

Sorry this chapter is so short, I was out last week so I didn’t have time to work on it. Hope you like it!

@pixieangelprincess @luzawithoutu @terri-does-gods-work @sxshx-sxshx @tozbier @alittletooliteralleah

HMU if you wanna be tagged in future updates!

[rainbat]

a prompt could be, maybe: TJ has to kiss someone in a game of truth or dare. Cue jealousy/jealousy induced realisation from Cyrus (??)

fuck i really need to work on my paranoia fic i love group games im literally 20 and i still always suggest these dumb games at parties 😩

Have some Muffy, have some Tarty, have some Tyrus, have it all...

Cyrus sat cross-legged, elbows propped up on his legs and chin resting on his hands, which were clasped together. They had been playing truth or dare for the last ten minutes, and he had yet to be picked for anything. He was pretty much expecting to be left out: Andi had really only picked the game to force Buffy’s feelings for Marty to come out, but it still stung a little. They were three ‘truth’s’ deep with Marty, where he had already admitted he had a crush on Buffy (to no one’s surprise) and that he definitely would kiss her out of everyone in the circle. He still wouldn’t choose dare, however, so the game went on. 

Buffy, on the other hand, kept choosing dare because Andi had promised to never make her first kiss come through a party game. Cyrus had never promised anything of the sort, and he had already had his first kiss, so why couldn’t he be the source of kissing entertainment? There were certainly people in the circle he wanted to kiss.  

He risked a glance over to TJ, who was whispering to Marty. He frowned. He had never realised the two of them were actually friends until Marty started hanging out with them again. He wasn’t jealous, but they did seem a lot closer than Cyrus had expected.  

“Okay, Buffy,” Marty said, pushing TJ away from him slightly, “I dare you to kiss TJ.” Buffy looked at him like he had just asked her to kiss a dead rat. TJ scowled at Marty, smacking him in the head. 

“I’d sooner lick a toilet,” Buffy replied, which earned a laugh from Marty. “Besides, you can’t dare me to have my first kiss, it’s an established rule.” 

“I’m just kidding. I wanted to see your reaction,” he said. Cyrus considered this. Was he kidding? Why had they been whispering right before that whole ordeal? Could..TJ like Buffy? Cyrus shifted his position, drawing his legs up to his chest and resting his cheek on his knee, facing the two boys. TJ noticed this and smiled at him, holding up his bag of chips in offering. Cyrus shook his head in response. 

“I dare you to lick the toilet,” Marty said.

“You’re disgusting,” Buffy replied.

“A dare’s a dare!” 

Buffy rolled her eyes and pushed herself up from the ground, walking toward the bathroom. Marty jumped up, following her quickly. Cyrus watched them go into the room, but had little interest in actually watching whatever was going to happen. She came back out approximately three seconds later, Marty scowling. 

“That’s not fair!” Marty whined, trailing behind her as they made their way back to the circle.

“You didn’t specify,” Buffy replied, not bothering to look back at him. “It’s not my fault you’re bad at giving dares. Get better.” Marty had a goofy smile on his face and Cyrus turned to make eye-contact with Andi, just to clarify they saw the same thing. “So now it’s my turn!” Buffy announced and she sat back down.

“Oh,” Marty replied, his face falling. 

“Really didn’t think that one through, huh?” Cyrus sighed, trying to get more comfortable on his knees. They were just going to go back and forth again. There was no end to this game, to the flirting and the bantering, and there was no way to include him. “TJ,” Buffy stated. Cyrus was suddenly interested again. 

“Dare,” TJ replied. Cyrus looked to Buffy, somehow hoping he could convey his desire to have TJ kiss him to her telepathically. But did he really want that to be their first kiss? In a dumb game? Probably not, yet he really was regretting keeping his crush a secret at that moment. 

“I dare you to kiss,” she rose an eyebrow in suspension, “Marty.” Cyrus’ head shot up. What?

“What?” TJ said, looking to Marty and then to Buffy, who was smiling. 

“Kiss Marty,” she repeated. “On the lips.”

Cyrus was hoping he would say no, say he hadn’t had his first kiss, that he’d sooner kiss a toilet, that Marty would be the last person in the world he would ever kiss. But he didn’t. 

He shrugged. “Okay.” Buffy’s smile fell. Cyrus was looking at the two boys, trying his hardest to tear his eyes away. He couldn’t believe they would actually kiss. They wouldn’t, right? There was no way. 

Marty was facing TJ now, wiggling his eyebrows and TJ wasted absolutely no time. He placed his hand behind the boy’s head and pulled him in. Their lips connecting. 

Cyrus watched TJ press into the kiss and his vision went blurry. He pushed himself up as best he could, stumbling on the way and exiting the room as fast as he could. He wasn’t excusing himself to the bathroom, he needed to be completely out of that room, as far away as possible. 

He made it outside, with some luck, and threw himself down on the porch bench, dropping his head into his hands to rub at his eyes. His breathing was shallow and he still couldn’t see clearly. What was wrong with him? Why was he panicking over a stupid kiss in a stupid game?

He tried to focus his breathing but his mind just went back to the kiss. How TJ had been so casual about it, he hadn’t even acted like it was an issue. He was casual about kissing Marty, and he had..actually kissed him. Not that Cyrus had expected him to actually do anything at all, but he thought it would be a peck, something small and reluctant, like his kiss with Iris. That wasn’t what that was. TJ had kissed him and then kissed him again. TJ had kissed Marty exactly how Cyrus had daydreamt the two of them would kiss one day. TJ’s hand in Cyrus’ hair, their lips touching lightly at first and then-he felt sick. He stood up, pushing himself off the bench and grabbing onto the rail of the porch, leaning over it. Whatever he was going to do, he wasn’t going to cry.  

The cold helped, and he got a nice breeze from the wind as he leaned over. He slowed his breathing finally, and his vision wasn’t as blurry. He was okay. There was no need to panic. Whatever that was, however TJ may feel, Marty liked Buffy. Marty liked Buffy. He closed his eyes, repeating that sentence in his head. He was going to have to go back inside, and explain some reason for his absence. Or was he? He wasn’t even being included, maybe they didn’t even notice he was gone. The thought made him sad, but it helped calm him down. His problems weren’t that big of a deal. He loosened his grip on the railing slightly and tried to straighten himself, taking another deep breath.

“Cyrus?” He froze. It was TJ. He closed his eyes, unable to turn around. “Are you okay?” Bad words. Really bad words to use around him. He felt his eyes sting. No. He gripped the railing again. He wasn’t going to do this. 

He took a breath, a little shakier this time. ‘Yes,’ ‘I’m fine,’ anything along those lines was what he should say. “Go away,” was what came out. He didn’t want to tell TJ to go away, but he really couldn’t handle the boy being there. 

“Cyrus.” He stepped closer, Cyrus could tell. “Did I do something wrong?” Cyrus wanted to yell and laugh at the same time. At least he was that oblivious to Cyrus’ crush, that was a positive, right? “Can you talk to me?” His voice was soft but there was a twinge of annoyance in his voice. Leave it to TJ to make Cyrus believe this was somehow his fault. He took a breath and turned around.

“What do you want?” He asked, trying to keep his voice steady. 

“To know if you’re okay? Why did you run out like that?”

“Because I’m an idiot,” he replied, feeling his eyes sting again. He hastily pulled at his sleeve to wipe his eyes.

“Are you crying?” TJ asked, stepping forward. Cyrus pulled away quickly, trying to hide his face. “Cyrus,” TJ pushed, obviously growing frustrated with him. His voice made Cyrus tear up again. “Hey,” TJ said, slightly softer. He grabbed Cyrus by the arm, pulling him back around. “Am I making you cry?” Cyrus was looking at him now, and there was no turning away. He didn’t know what to say, how to respond to a question like that, so he just blinked. He felt a tear roll down his cheek and noticed TJ’s eyes went to it. His hand came up to Cyrus’ face, thumb brushing over his cheek and wiping away the tear. “Please don’t cry,” he whispered, his hand still on Cyrus’ face, thumb pressed lightly to his cheek. 

“I like you,” Cyrus whispered. It came out like a reflex, like an impulse he had absolutely no control over, which was likely thanks to his emotional breakdown. 

TJ smiled at him lightly, his thumb ghosting over Cyrus’ cheek. “I might have assumed that when you freaked out over me kissing another guy,” he admitted. Cyrus blinked, another tear rolling down his cheek. So TJ knew. And he was still standing there, hand on his face. And he knew. “Hey,” TJ said, his thumb catching the new tear, “Why are you still crying?” He hadn’t said it back. He hadn’t really said anything. 

“Y-you, did—haven’t—you—,” he couldn’t get the words out. He was trying so hard not to cry even more, it took everything he had.

“You think I don’t like you?” TJ chuckled softly, leaning in closer. “Cyrus, I’ve had a crush on you since the moment we met,” he admitted. “I’ve been infatuated with you for months. I’ve lost sleep thinking about you. I’ve failed tests trying to work out how to tell you. I’ve spent hours ranting to Amber about you.” Cyrus couldn’t believe a word coming out of TJ’s mouth. Was he dreaming? 

“But you kissed Marty.” That was still at the forefront of his mind, obviously. 

“That was a dare,” TJ pointed out. “A dare by Buffy. I morally, and probably legally, could not back out of that.” Cyrus chuckled and TJ smiled wide. “Marty  is an idiot,” he continued, “He’d never get a real kiss out of me.”

“A real kiss?” Cyrus asked, looking up at TJ, all too aware the boy’s hand was still on his face. 

“Yeah,” TJ whispered, running his thumb across Cyrus’ cheekbone. “A real kiss.” 

“What’s that like?”

TJ ran his thumb down Cyrus’ cheek and met his hand under Cyrus’ jaw, angling his chin slightly. “Can I show you?” 

It wasn’t really realisation i realised once i was like halfway through this but...i hope you like it either way!

[thinkingaboutyoungroyals]

Thoughts on “Hammer Time”

LET’S DO THIS

IT FEELS LIKE IT’S BEEN A MILLION YEARS

THIS PREVIOUSLY HURTS

We open... at the Spoon...

Everyone is sad that Bex and Bowie aren’t getting married.... BIG MOOD

Awww, Amber...

Ooof... Andi is angry.... 

“You’re not heartbroken. You’re furious.”

“No, I’m not. YES, I AM.”

YES, ANDI. BE ANGRY. IT IS VALID.

Nice metaphor, Cyrus. (I think Joshua popped out there for a sec.)

RAGE ROOM TIME!!!!!

I wanna do this too.

Damn, this looks satisfying. 

Lol Peyton’s angry face! So adorable!

That Rage Room must have been satisfying.

Cece is facetiming lol

Millennial was two generations ago? (Am I a millennial?)

Awww Cece is so excited about the wedding.... OH GOD I CAN’T BEAR IT IF HER HEART IS BROKEN

“You hungry?”

“No.” **eats a cookie**

MOOD

Poor Andi. She’s in such a bad position. And that can be the worst feeling ever.

BENCH

THEY MET AT A BENCH

WHAT ARE THOOOOOOOOSE, MARTY?!

“It looks like your feet are wearing other feet.”

He’s running a marathon!

Buffy. Honey. No. You shouldn’t. It’s a bad idea.

HIS FAAAAAACE. HE’S SO IN LOOOOOOOOVE

WHEN DID JOSHUA GET SO TALL?!?!?!

Jonah/Cyrus friendship is what I live for!

“Russia, that one time.”

Faaaancy dinner

Wait for Cece and Pops? WHERE’S POPS? IS JOHN CENA POPPING UP?!?!

HE’S NOT COMING

INDIA

HE’S IN INDIA

SHE’S ANGRY

CAUSE HE’S IN “INDIA”

Now we know what they did to Ham’s character! That box is ticked off now.

It actually works with the episode. Cece is angry and unhappy. Bex has a hard time telling her the truth.

Who put up the tent, Cyrus?! Was it really you?!

Whoaaaaaa...

S’MORES.

HE LEFT WITHOUT SAYING GOODBYE.

“Since he got back, he seemed a little lost.”

We’ll hear from him again?!?!

Awww Cece, she’s so excited....

AN ALPACA FARM

THAT SOUNDS AMAZING

Bowie looks like he wants to do it.

TELL HER OMG

THIS POOR WOMAN HAS HAD HOPES UP AND THEY’RE GONNA BE CRUSHED

“That is the plot of a Bruce Willis movie.” Lol Jonah

I can’t even spell that....

THAT WAS RACOON

Lol that was kinda cute omg the Jyrus fans are being fed (I’m happy for them, honestly. I prefer the pain of Tyrus anyway.... ouch...)

Ahhhh..... this hurts..... it really hurts.....

Yes, Cece.... Be angry....

“We didn’t want to ruin your birthday.”

**enter cake**

DAMN

COLD

THAT WAS COULD

That poor cake!

Cece needs to go to the Rage Room.

MACK CHAT IS BACK.

What if it was a coyote? OMFG

“Something’s wrong with the zipper.”

THIS IS A JYRUS FANFIC BRUH

“Not when there’s a cheese knife.”

That poor tent.

IT WAS PROBABLY A RACOON OMG

Awwww pretty meteors!

Marty looks really worried, damn.

Marathons are no joke, honestly.

The “you don’t exist” treatment.

RAGE ROOM

“This place is not for you.”

BURN

Buffy, honey, no.... this is why you shouldn’t run a marathon without training.... Buffy, honey.... omfggg, my child....

“I’ll do it next marathon.” Oh, Marty.

Damn..... the tension.... did they have a fight again? Was that a fight? i can’t tell.

LET OUT YOUR RAGE, CECE.

LET IT ALL OUT.

OMG I LOVE THIS

HE CAME BACKKKKKKKKK

Why is he talking like that? Lol

“I wanna cross the finish line with you.”

AWWWWWWWWWW

MUFFY GIVES ME ALL THE FEELS RIGHT NOWWWWWW

I CAN’TTTTTTTTTTT

HE GAVE HER A PIGGY BACK RIDEEEEEEE

MY HEART IS FUUUUUUUUUUUUUULL

“I found my church.” BIG MOOD.

Pink helmet.

AMBER.

Oh, honey. 

Oh, Jonah.

Still the same 6 emojis.

LET ME HUG YOU, AMBER. 

“I think I’m in love with him.”

DAMN. GIRL, THAT’S DEEP.

ON TO THE NEXT.

[typingtess]

NCIS: Los Angeles Season Ten Rewatch:   "Born to Run"

The basics:  Nell helps Sydney and Sydney's high school crush who is framed for treason and murder.

Written by: Jordana Lewis Jaffe wrote or co-wrote “Honor”, “Patriot Acts”, “Dead Body Politic”, “Paper Soldiers”, “Unwritten Rule”, “Big Brother”, “Iron Curtain Rising”, “Exposure”, “Savior Faire”, “Beacon”, “Defectors”, “Exchange Rate”, “Black Market”, “Payback”, “Battle Scars”, “Mountebank”, “Vendetta”, “Where Everybody Knows Your Name”, “Pro Se” and “Heist”.  

Directed by: Lily Mariye directed “Liabilities” in season nine and “The Prince” this season.  Also appeared as Shirley Hidoko, Harley’s mother-in-law at the end of “Superhuman”.

Guest stars of note:  Peter Jacobson was dancing as Special Prosecutor John Rogers in "Till Death Do Us Part".  Ashley Rae Spillers returns from last season's "Goodbye, Vietnam" as Sydney Jones.  Kimiko Gelman as Commodore Cindy Kang, Delon de Metz as Andre Martinez, Carolyn Hennesy as Bunny, Wayne Federman as Eli, Georgia Leva as Hayley, Carlos Ciurlizza as Worker #1, Alastair Bayardo as Worker #2 and Ally Iseman as Horseback Rider.

Our heroes:   Get a lighthearted, mostly played for laughs episode after the emotions of the wedding hour.

What important things did we learn about:

Callen:  Can't charm his way out of a Rogers review. Sam:  30 burpees to start the day. Kensi:  Can shoot bad guys while riding a horse. Deeks:  Thinks Rogers is a gift. Eric:  Freaking out about Nell. Nell: Saves Martinez with the help of “her people”. Hetty:   Misses her protégé making Hetty like-moves.

What not so important things did we learn about:

Callen:  Once a lone wolf, now the lion leading his NCIS pride (not the guy in New Orleans).   Sam:   Impressed Nell with his dance moves at the wedding. Kensi:  Essentially a goddess from Themyscira. Deeks:  Savored every moment in his Rogers review. Eric:  MASH fan. Nell:  Does not like or joke about doughnuts. Hetty:   Absent.

Who's down with OTP:  Kensi and Deeks are back from their honeymoon and all is well.  Eric is worried when Nell is missing and when Nell is seen kissing another man.  Nell makes her feelings about Martinez and Eric clear.

Who's down with BrOTP:  Callen and Sam were themselves in the gym as Sam worked out and Callen watched.  Deeks and Eric spent some quality time together.

Any pressing need for Harm and Mac:  Kang is going to need a great lawyer.

Who is running the team this week? Rogers.  And by the end of the episode, the team understands that.

Mosley watch:  Who?

Fashion review:   Callen and Sam start the episode in gym clothes.  Callen changes into his grey and blue plaid button down shirt, Sam in a black henley.  Kensi wears a grey long sleeve sweater. Medium blue long sleeve tee for Deeks.  Dark red pullover sweater covering a dark blue dress shirt and long pants for Eric.  Nell wears a navy blue dress with little red hearts.

Music:   "Volcano" by Parker Gispert plays in the final scene.

Any notable cut scene: No.

Quote: Rogers:  "Agent Blye and Detective Deeks!" Kensi and Deeks:  "Yes." Rogers:  "Are you to tell me that you and your team purposefully withheld vital information from me, and because of that withholding, I inadvertently put Intelligence Analyst Nell Jones in harm's way?" Kensi:  "Yes, sir." Rogers:  "What do I have to do to convince you that I am here as an asset, that we are on the same team?"

Anything else:   A well-off woman called Mrs. Bunny by two workmen is directing the men as they remove a washing machine from her home around her brand new, white Bentley.  In Spanish, the men complain about women named Bunny and Muffy, how money makes people crazy and why Bunny is throwing away a perfectly good washing machine.  Bunny speaks Spanish and tells them the machine is broken.  Repairing it would cost more than replacing it.  As for Bunny, she explains it is better than Babs or Barbie, the other choices she had for nicknames as a child.  Finally, she agrees Muffy is a ridiculous name for a grown woman. Muffy is also the only reason she hired the men.  The men apologize but Bunny has moved on - get rid of the washing machine and don't damage the car or her driveway.

The men toss the washing machine in a dumpster on the property.  Blood spatters everywhere – on Bunny's Bentley, on Bunny's pricy white blouse and slacks, on the men's work clothes.  She thinks they crushed a dead squirrel.  Instead, it is a dead man.

Nell is surprised to see Sydney hang out in her driveway by the car – really surprised because she didn't know Sydney knew where she and Eric lived.  Sydney reminds Nell about the housewarming party – address was on the invitations.  Nell remembers, also remembers Sydney was a no-show.  When Sydney switches to the "Notting Hill" line about being just a girl, Nell wants no part of being manipulated by the movie.  Sydney wants to take Nell out to coffee, Nell reluctantly agrees as long as Sydney is buying.

In the gym, Callen is counting as Sam does burpees.   Sam is mocking Callen for standing there, not even breaking a sweat, counting.  Callen is busy – he's being amazed by Sam's skill set.  He can defuse bombs, run, jump – all important skill sets – but Sam is a terrible dancer, a "spunky kid mainlining Smarties" on the dance floor.  Stating he has moves, Sam is laughing that Callen is the one criticizing him.  

Sam was having a good time at Kensi and Deeks's wedding.  So good, according to Callen, that the videographer will have to cut him out of the wedding video.  Sam tells Callen that Michelle loved the way he danced.  "Or did she just love you?" Callen asks.  Eric arrives, surprised Callen was knocking Sam's dance moves – "you are a brave, brave man Grisha Callen."  Asked his opinion of Sam's moves, Eric's opinion is that they have a case.  As the three men leave the gym, Eric is a step behind, mocking Sam's moves.  That earns a towel snap from Sam.

Kensi and Deeks walk into the bullpen area through the door behind Callen desk.  Deeks wants a plan for post-honeymoon Kensi to keep her hands off him.  Kensi is pretty sure she's strong enough to keep her hands to herself.  Deeks thinks everything has changed as they spent the entire weekend in Malibu, naked in the sun, enjoying each other's company – everything has changed.  "Has it, though?" Kensi asks, sounding very much like Deeks.

The two walk into Ops.  Callen asks about "the 'bu."  Deeks found it lifechanging, Kensi thought it was nice as always.  Callen and Sam agree, they're married.  Callen asks about Nell and after a minute, Eric realizes he has no idea where she is.  Burying his feelings of panic and dread, Eric reviews their case.  Eric struggles through the workmen finding the dead man in Bunny's dumpster.  The dead man was Mason Walker, who provided security for meetings between the Navy and contractors working to improve submarines.  

Sam explains the Russians new class of Yasen subs can launch a missile that can bob and weave its way through US defense system to a target.  Walker was guarding the main "war room" of the meetings when he was abducted.  Callen thinks Walker was targeted as the security officer for the Navy's meetings.  Commodore Cindy Kang is waiting for the team in the boat shed.  She was the person running the meeting.

Nell and Sydney are in a doughnut shop.  Nell hate the coffee which Sydney sees more as a doughnut chaser.  Sydney has a nice, big doughnut, Nell does not.  While Sydney tries to sell the place as "her spot", it is obvious she's not a regular. While appreciating the gesture and hoping to spend more time together in the future, Nell tells Sydney she is "insanely late for work" and needs to leave.  Sydney thinks Nell's watch is fast.  As a waiter comes by to fill up their water glasses, Sydney has Nell check out the time on her phone.  When Nell complies, Sydney grabs the phone, sends a quick text message and then drops both her phone and Nell's phone into the waiter's pitcher of water.  Nell freaks.  The waiter isn't happy either.  Sydney explains she needs a small, tiny favor.

As the team is leaving for the boat shed, Rogers calls to them.  They try to ignore him but a "yoo-hoo" catches Deeks's attention – he can never ignore a yoo-hoo.  Rogers is there to conduct performance reviews as a way to reign in the chaos.  Callen reminds him it is March and Rogers thinks the end of first quarter is a great time to start.  Deeks is up first – he and Rogers share a whimsical shorthand.  Besides, he can't ignore a yoo-hoo.

Commodore Kang explains that her teams are not as much envoys between the Navy and the civilian engineers and contractors as they are a brain trust.  The Navy put together the brightest engineers they could find and come up with workable ideas.  They were well on their way to finding a way to defend against the Yasen class of Russian subs.  All that info was a now missing hard drive.

Sam wants the Commodore to walk the team through the prior night.   Kang's team as working late as is their usual pattern in an office in Westwood.  Most of the team is civilians.  They closed up shop around 2AM and everyone was brought back to their hotel – a 25-minute ride from the office. The late Mason Walker was security for Kang's team.  He was supposed to be on duty until 9AM.  Sam notes that Walker was found dead long before that.

Asked about her team, Kang says they are still at the hotel, resting.  They've been working on fumes for days.  Kang is worried about one of the engineers, an Andre Martinez.  She can't get in touch with him.  She's worried something happened to him or….she sets up so Sam can wonder aloud if Martinez was involved.  Callen asks about Martinez, who was nothing more than a resume before he was hired last week.  Kang does call Martinez young and smart but she wonders if he is dangerous.  Callen going to have Kang's team moved to the boat shed for their own safety.  

Nell and Sydney are reliving the froyo incident from their childhoods.  Sydney reminds Nell that their Mom punished Sydney for that "a million years ago" and that Nell needs to let it go.  Nell has a hard time letting it go when Sydney has her living a rerun of it right now.  Sydney tells Nell to be cool, setting Nell off.  She wants her keys back, she wants Sydney to not destroy her phone.  

Sydney isn't paying attention, she's waiting for someone.  Nell notices, which is odd because they are in the middle of nowhere with just "that rando" walking up to them.  The rando is Andre Martinez who went to high school with Nell and Sydney.  Sydney had a major crush.  Seeing a black SUV, Sydney announces they have to go.  The SUV is full of kids and their mom going for doughnuts.  Sydney explains someone is trying to kill Martinez.  He needs their help

Deeks and Rogers are sitting in the area off the bullpen.  Timing their conversation so they keep things around an hour, Rogers wants to know what it says about Deeks that he keeps one foot in LAPD and one foot in NCIS.  Deeks is surprised by the level of Rogers's deep question.   Feeling that calling him "Deeks" is bro-ey, Rogers ask if Martin works better.  Deeks answers the split agency questions by going back to when he was seven, having a friend Jodi Barnes who he chased around the playground like it was his job.  One day, Jodi was gone.  As Deeks is about to dive deep, Eric stops by with official business. Asking Rogers to pause his timer, Deeks follows Eric to the coffee area.

Nell is not answering her phone, causing Eric to worry.  He also can't track it or turn it on.  Deeks has logical answers to all these issues.  Eric's concern comes from the last place he could track Nell's phone.  A doughnut shop which is out of character since Nell considers them the "dregs of the dessert world."  Deeks thinks that's harsh.  The "Penelope Jones" Eric both knows and loves would never go to a doughnut shop.  Eric also brings up text Nell sent at 8:29AM where she used an exclamation point – totally out of character.  Deeks is willing to help but has to tell Rogers.  Promising Rogers it is not goodbye but see you real soon, Deeks is off to Ops to help Eric.

At the extended stay suite hotel, Callen, Sam and Kensi are talking to the very uptight manager.  The manager does not want his renters to know law enforcement is talking about other guests.  Kensi asks about security cameras.  The manager says they were on his wish list but Santa thought he was too naughty.  He then winks at Kensi which she advises him not to do again. The manager is surprised, thinking he and Kensi had a connection.  They don’t.

Getting back on topic, Sam asks about who works the front desk at night. Nobody does – every guest gets a unique key-card that allows them access to the building during their stay.  As the manager leaves to get a list of who was in and out the night Mason was killed, Deeks and Eric call Kensi.  On speaker, they have info on Lt. Andre Martinez and the $100,000 just deposited in his savings that morning.  Tracing the deposit, Eric asks if any of them know where Nell is – Deeks is worried.  Kensi is sure Nell is fine, Callen and Sam agree.  The manager returns with list of who was in and out of the building.  There is just one name – an Andre Martinez used it at 3:14AM and 4:47AM.  The manager reluctantly turns the access records over to Callen.

Back in the bullpen with Deeks and Rogers, Callen is looking for Eric to work up a profile of everything they have on Andre Martinez.  With an investigative lull in the investigation, Rogers would like to talk to Callen.  Callen is not happy but Rogers assures him it will be fun.  When Rogers leaves, Callen, Sam and Kensi question Deeks about his review.  Deeks tells them the Rogers review was incredible – savor every minute because "that man is a gift."  Eric arrives – "duty calls," Callen tells Rogers.

Eric has them up in Ops for more a show not tell situation (which all TV should be).  Eric puts up a photo from a security camera in the doughnut shop parking lot of Nell, Sydney and Martinez but the team doesn't know Martinez.  Kensi, in fact, is happy the sisters are getting along.  Sam is annoyed – they are supposed to be investigating Andre Martinez.  Eric tells them the man in photo is Martinez.  The photo is three hours old.  Eric has no idea where Nell is.

Eric has no idea where Nell is because she's been driving through backstreets and alleys, avoiding security cameras, traffic cameras and satellites until she can figure out what is going on.  Nell wants to go to the authorities or at least NCIS but Martinez won't – the authorities are trying to kill him.  If there is a problem at the DoD, there may be a problem at NCIS.  If Martinez is so mistrustful of NCIS, Nell wants to know why he trusts her.  She gave him a pencil once in a calculus class.  Sydney is jealous.

Martinez was attacked in his hotel room that morning, he needs to keep moving.  And Nell has to trust him.  Technically, Nell tells him, she doesn't have to trust him.  With a baby voice, Sydney asks Nell to help – "do it for me."  Nell and Martinez agree – that is not helping.  Since NCIS is likely looking for her car – she did not show up and can't be contacted due to her water ruined cell phone, the three are walking.  Sydney can't believe they are walking in LA.

The team is working through ideas why Nell is with Martinez. Deeks goes with Keyzer Soze – she's been fooling them all for ten years.  The team reviews the case.  They decide not to tell Rogers about Nell.

Waiting at a bus stop in a residential area, Nell, Martinez and Sidney are wearing black hats – caps for Nell and Martinez, a bucket hat for Sydney.  A police car – siren going – nears the three. Martinez is waiting to be arrested but Nell takes off her cap and kisses him – obscuring their faces.  Sydney is shocked.  As the patrol car drives by, Nell breaks off the kiss.  Martinez offers a little "whoa" and then an apology.   Nell wants to know everything once they are in a safe place.  Sydney is disgusted.

Callen and Sam meet with Kang.  Morale is bad among the group with the death of Mason Walker, the missing hard drive and now the MIA Andre Martinez.  Sam mentions the $100,000 found in Martinez's bank account.  "I had a bad feeling about that kid," Kang says as Callen and Sam depart.  Callen and Sam agree Kang is pushing Martinez as the bad guy too hard.  She also is breaking eye contact.  Telling one of the agents guarding the group to keep their eye on Kang, Callen and Sam want to be called if Kang tries to leave.

In Ops, Eric is reviewing Martinez's cell phone records with Kensi and Deeks when Rogers walks in.  Rogers calls Kensi's name, causing a startled reply.  He wants to take her away.  Kensi tries to make a joke and admits during their one-hour conversation, she and Rogers can discuss how awkward that exchange was.  "Let's," Rogers replies.

Sydney isn't sure why they are at the beach.  Nell wants Martinez to tell her everything that's gone on so she can figure out a plan and clear her thoughts.  Martinez says it is the least he can do.

In Ops, Deeks and Eric once again review what happened the prior night.

At the beach, it is Martinez’s time to review what happened.  Telling Nell and Sydney he was back in his room, Martinez got a call from Kang asking him to go back to the office to check the hard drives.  Sydney asks if that request struck him as strange.  As his boss, Martinez doesn't question it.  He took a Lyft.

Eric and Deeks have records of the Lyft ride to the office and back.  There was a second Lyft ride to the office and back they don't understand.

Explaining that he returned to the office because he lost his key card, Martinez is asked if he left it at the office.  He did not – it had to be stolen.  His suspect, the Lyft driver who just happened to be by the extended stay hotel at 3AM on a work night.  The driver opened the door for Martinez.

Eric and Deeks see a call from Martinez's cell phone to the Commodore at 4:11AM – a call Kang never mentioned to NCIS.  In fact, she didn't mention the call that sent Martinez to the office the first time.

Saying that Kang was great considering he was calling at 4AM, Martinez thought Kang was going to let him into his room.  Instead, two goons beat him up.  He fought back but had bruises on his temple and both arms.  Martinez is new to the team – he doesn't know any of them.  Anyone of them could have set him up.

Deeks and Eric say Martinez is off the grid from 4AM until 9AM when they have him with Nell and Sydney.  Eric thinks Sydney may be to blame for this.  Eric is looking at Deeks who is looking at the big screen when security footage of Nell kissing Martinez pops up.  Telling Eric not to freak out, Deeks causes Eric to freak out.  Deeks tells Eric he found the connection between Nell and Martinez – their lips.  "What is happening?" Eric asks looking at the kiss.

Nell wants to contact her team.  Martinez is suspicious of NCIS but Nell isn't – "I trust my people."  Martinez thinks that's nice.  Nell can't figure this out on the run.  Sydney teases Harrison Ford figured out his case on the run.  Again, Nell and Martinez don't think that's helpful.  Nell wants to figure the case out, keep them all alive and out of jail.

Returning to the office with Callen, Sam gets a call.  Kang left the boat shed for some fresh air.  Nobody on the team left with her.  Callen and Sam turn right around and leave.

With three younger women watching and admiring, Nell is spray painting the side of an old car.  Sydney is worried about whatever Nell is doing may not work.  One of the younger women chides Sydney for bothering Artist Nell and for her negative energy.    Thanking Hailey for her spray paint, Nell hands the can back to the younger woman.  "Suicide is painless" is on the side of the car.  Hailey is going to drive the car three times around a block with heavy traffic cameras to get Eric's attention.  Hailey thinks texting is a much better way to get your boyfriend's attention, "because that's how everyone does it now."  Sydney is more worried about Eric finding out Nell kissed Andre.

Kang is walking near the beach in Malibu.  Callen and Sam are tracking her.  Sam gets photos of Kang meeting with a woman in a car.  The woman is Natasia Yasnova, according to Eric, a Russian national whose father is connected with Putin and the KGB.  Kensi is worried that the Russians may already have the missing hard drive. Deeks thinks is the worst case scenario.  Kensi thinks Martinez is innocent – innocent of killing Mason Walker, stealing the hard drive and taking a $100,000 pay off.  Eric is not pro-Martinez.  Kensi sees Martinez as a loose-end for Kang.  If they can find Martinez, prove he's innocent, they can find Nell.

Eric already knows where Nell is.  Now it is Kensi and Deeks's time to freak out.  Kensi demands to know where Martinez is just as Rogers passes by.  Rogers is excited they found Martinez.  Eric confirms he is in Malibu Creek State Park at the old site where they shot the television show MASH.  Rogers calls Eric's work excellent and top notch before leaving and making a call.  Kensi wants to know what Eric knows.  Nell sent Eric a message in hot pink.  Kensi and Deeks are confused.

Still in the car with Yasnova, Kang gets a call.  Yasnova start the car and the two women drive off wtih Callen and Sam right behind them.

Kensi is on the phone with Callen.  Callen and Sam are staying with Yasnova’s car, she and Deeks will go after Martinez.  Rogers comes by and reminds Kensi and Deeks to drive safely and not push the speed limit.  Deeks is grateful for the tip but wonders why.  The call Rogers made was to Kang, who just happens to be near Malibu Creek State Park – "what are the odds?"  Kensi and Deeks realize Rogers told the suspect where the victim is hiding.  Kensi comes clean about Nell being with Martinez and Kang being the suspect.  They also have no way to warn Nell about what's coming.

Kensi and Deeks review that Kang and Yasnova are on their way to Nell, Sydney and Martinez and they have no way to warn the three.  Rogers keeps trying to interrupt until he's finally yelling.  He is not happy the team "purposely withheld vital information" causing him to put Nell in harm's way.  He is livid that the team does not see him as an asset to help them all work together.  Rogers orders Kensi to Malibu Creek State Park, Deeks to Ops to work with Eric.  When Deeks tries to push back a little, he is quickly shut down.

Callen and Sam see Kang and Yasnova arrive at the park.

Nell, Sydney and Martinez are walking to the MASH site.  Sydney thinks the park is gorgeous.  Martinez agrees.  Sydney tries some chit-chat but Nell is worried that the hill isn't going to hike itself.

Callen surprises Kang and Yasnova as the women are walking up a hill.  He is standing just behind them.  Yasnova readies for a fight by pulling out a knife.  Sam is a second surprise but he's on the road just ahead of them.  Yasnova goes after Sam while Callen tackles Kang.  Both women are quickly in handcuffs.

Kensi arrives as Callen and Sam are walking their prisoners to the Hellcat.  With murder and treason charges, there is no reason for Kang to help NCIS call off whatever team she has going into the Park to find Nell and company.  Motorcycles are heard in the background.  With the trails to the site being too narrow for cars, Kensi sees a woman on a horse. After having to pretty much order the woman off the horse due to a federal emergency, Kensi is on her way to save Nell, Sydney and Martinez.  Callen and Sam are going to meet Kensi at the trail head.

Deeks and Eric are tracking Kensi's progress.  She can't hear the motorcycles anymore.  Deeks is stunned she's on a horse.  

Nell, Sydney and Martinez are waiting in a covered picnic area.  Martinez hears motorcycles, Sydney hears horse hooves.  Nell tells them one of those may be a good thing, both of them are trouble.  Nell orders them all to run.

Kensi shoots one of the motorcycle riders as he tries to pass her.  She hears the second rider's bike and moves toward him.

Running right into Callen and Sam, Nell, Sydney and Martinez are safe.  Nell wants the team to know that Martinez is innocent, the kiss meant nothing and it is all Sydney's fault. The motorcyclist drives closer.  Nell, Sydney and Martinez take cover as Callen and Sam shoot out the tires, causing the rider to fly through the air and land hard.  Kensi arrives, annoyed Callen and Sam got the bad guy.  "I had him.  I was going to go two for two.  On a horse!"  Nell introduces her group to her people.  Martinez is grateful to the Jones sisters.

Eric is working in the gadget room when Nell arrives.  She explains the kiss – Martinez is cute but tastes like a doughnut.  Eric missed Nell, Nell missed him.  Nell starts a short recap of her day, admitting it was kind of fun hanging around with Sydney.  Eric and Nell share a hug.

Rogers walks into the still unnamed bar.  Deeks pours the man a requested chardonnay.  He was invited and thought it would be rude not to show up.  Callen, Sam and Kensi are at the bar. They all wanted him to know he was one of them now and apologize for treating him any differently.  With the apology accepted, the team again reviews the case.  Martinez is cleared, the hard drive is safe.  As for Kang, "that bitch is going down," according to Rogers.

They toast Rogers who reminds Callen he can't toast his way out of his review.

What head canon can be formed from here:  They had to review what was just shown half-a-dozen times in this episode.  Sydney near the end of the episode was described by Deeks to Kensi as “Nell’s sister Sydney”.  There was far to much explaining to the audience what was just seen and what the audience knew.

Sydney herself was a disaster of a character.   After being humanized at the end of her last two appearances, here she’s at best an annoyance.  As someone who works for Homeland Security, she seems completely unprepared to do anything helpful.  She knows enough to drown Nell’s phone to keep them from being traced but seems to be amazed by traffic cameras as a tracking tool.

There is a good caper episode to be written around how smart Nell is.  Maybe make Martinez an old friend of Eric’s.  Maybe have Sydney running the search instead of Eric.  Having Hetty around to play chess against a running from NCIS Nell would be a lot of fun.  This episode - not a lot of fun.

Episode number:    Episode 18 – three quarters of the way done with season ten.  Episode 234 of 240 through season ten.