#I also got a ton of gold and made gold boots? You’re supposed to do that when you go to the nether? Don’t remember why but I’ll find out

[fisherrprince]

my third time starting a new minecraft world has been Much more successful than my first two times. on account of how i spawned in an area that kind of had things like iron and sheep and a coastline (I GET LOST VERY EASILY) and I didn’t get immensely frustrated trying to find Anything At All. I did however try to get two sheep near me, realize very quickly that that’s really hard without wheat, break both leads I got, dig a ton of stupid holes trying to get the sheep into it, kill one sheep out of pure choices in anger rage, then realize you can’t make a bed with two different colors of wool after I had already killed the sheep,

[thewritetofreespeech]

hello!! i've made a request before but this idea came in my brain and i heard your requests were open. So ive seen a lot of fics of the brothers saving mc, but what about mc kinda of saving the brothers, i mean like badass sword fighting style. Just like a stereotypical disney prince saves a princess mc kinda saves the brothers from getting killed by a lesser demon with a sword and just being badass (and sword) and the bros find it hot (weak humans? never heard of them)

*spongebob narrator voice* 400 years lat’er..... So sorry this took so long! I genuinely don’t know why I couldn’t get it done. When I actually tried, I got it done in like 2 days. My only excuse is that I’m a horrible trash munny >.<

Obey me Boys + Power Princess MC

Lucifer

It offends him that this creature, this being not fit to lick the soles of his boots, would raise their hand to him. The attack was not even what upset him, but just the gall. The utter stupidity of this decision to throw one’s life away. The fact that they had attacked with you around only made him wish to end that pathetic life that much sooner.

“Step back [Y/N]. I’ll deal with this quic—” Lucifer cut himself off when you rushed forward. A bright shining sword in your hand as you lunged. Slashing through the demon, who wailed and instantly turned to dust & ash. “What on Earth was that?”

“Oh. It’s my sword.” You reply nonchalantly. Turning around to show it to him. “It’s a holy arc sword, or something. I can summon it from my bracelet whenever I need it. Cool to know it actually works in a pinch.”

“And where did you get such a magical artifact?” Lucifer asked. Perplexed beyond reason, but trying not to show it.

“Lord Diavolo gave it to me when I first got here.” The demon arched a brow. Lord Diavolo? “It would be really irresponsible of him to just let a human wander around hell without some kind of weapon.”

He paused for a moment. Trying to piece all of what you had just said together. Then he just chuckled. “Yes, I suppose it would be.” And here he thought that he had been the only one protecting you. When all along you could do it yourself.

His hand reached out to pat your head fondly. His breast swelling with pride. “I’ll have to thank him for giving you such a thoughtful, practical gift. We’ll also have to add sword play to your lesson plans. I’d be more than happy to be your tutor.

Mammon

‘Shit!’ Mammon mentally cursed as he was hit again.

This wasn’t the first time he’d been rough up outside a club. Given his lifestyle, and his gambling track record, he’d been pummeled by a few bouncers in his life. With his immense power, he could easily take them; if he tried. But then he would be banned from the club, and ever other, and that was something he couldn’t handle over the humiliation of being beat up by these clowns. He needed this. It was all he had.

So, he took his beatings from lesser demons when they came around. He’d only wished they’d picked a different night to get their ‘payment’ back since you were supposed to be here soon.

“Come on guys. Don’t ya think you’ve had enough?”

“We’ll tell you when we’ve had enough!” One demon sneered at him, before kicking a man while he was down. Classy. “You owe us. And we’re gonna get back every cent you owe out of your hide!”

The demon reared his foot back to kick him again, and Mammon mentally sighed. Preparing himself for the kick and really being over this since it began. But….no kick came.

The demon let out a loud grunt over the sound of a metal ‘wack’ before the two, even lesser goons beside him suffer the same fate and they all slump to the ground. “Mammon! Are you ok?!”

The silver haired demon looked up at you in shock. The light from the street lamp causing a halo to form around you, highlighting your worried face as you brandished a rusty pipe like some great sword. “Yeah…I’m fine….”

“You don’t look fine! You’re all beat up!” He just sat there as you dropped the pipe and dropped down to him. Fretting over him as you looked him over. He couldn’t hear what you were saying over the beating sound of his heart in his ears.

No one had ever tried to help him before.

Mammon lifted his arms and wrapped them around you. “Mammon? What—“Let’s get out of here.” He interrupted as he hugged you. Standing up, and helping you to your feet, after a moment to walk out of the alley. “I don’t want to be here anymore. I wanna go somewhere with you.”

“But….I thought you wanted to go out tonight. Play cards. You said you were feeling lucky?”

He couldn’t tell if that was a jab or not, but replied, “well clearly I was wrong.” Though despite his bumps and bruises, he did still feel pretty lucky right not. “I just want to get out of here. I don’t need this anymore.” You both decide to head home to help Mammon nurse his wounds. He never went back to that club, or really any club, after that night.

Levi

“Levi….I don’t think this is such a good idea.”

“Nonsense!” Levi quipped in response to your perfectly reasonable, concerned feelings. “It’s just a little further. Besides, I want to see Henry 1! I’ve missed him a ton recently, and want to make sure he remembers me.” It had broken his heart to discover his poor, lost serpent had been down here, all alone, this whole time. So he made an effort to see him every now and then.

“Yeah but…isn’t this still like super-secret for Lord Diavolo’s family and stuff? What if there’s like booby traps and stuff?”

“Come on! There weren’t any booby traps or anything before. Why would he when he has Henry to keep it…..” Levi trailed off as both of you were ingulfed by a long, dark shadow. A low hissing sound growing louder as a gold, stripped serpent towered over you with a menacing glare. “That’s not Henry.”

The snake hissed loudly with bared fangs and an open mouth, and you both scream and run to get away from it.

The serpent of course chased you. Easily able to keep up, and only loosing you when the two of you duck into a narrow corridor. Levi turned around to say something to you, but you were gone. His immediate thought was that the stranger snake had gotten you, and it was all his fault, and he would never see you again!

When he came to the end of the corridor, walking out like a man on death row instead of running, he looked up to see the snake in front of him. Clearly angered by having to chase him. Levi didn’t care. He wanted to die if anything happened to you. He’d rather die than live one moment without you.

Prepared to accept his fate, the demon didn’t move when the snake unhinged his jaw to eat him in one gulp. Only for a sharp spike to thrust out from his mouth a moment later. A strange, hissing gasp escaping it before it slumped down in a lifeless heap on the floor. “[Y/N]!”

“Jesus! Not to put too fine a pin on it, but this place is literally a maze. One minute I’m next to you, and the next I’m in some armory on the other side of the hall 50 feet away. Are you alright Levi?”

The demon scrambled up the snake corpse to stand next to you and wrapped his arms tight around your being. “[Y/N]! I was so scared! I thought this Henry imposter got you, and you were dead, and I couldn’t think of anything!”

“I’m really ok Levi.” You assure him, as he wept into your shoulder. “Do you still want to see the real Henry? I think I spotted where he actually is when I was running back with the spear?” Levi nodded into your shoulder. Still not prepared to let you go.

Satan

Satan always tried to be a reasonable man.

He hated being referred to as ‘The Demon of Wrath’. It wasn’t his wrath that had caused him to be born. And he wasn’t any angrier than his brothers, so why did he have to be labeled the ‘bad seed’? So he always tried to be level headed. Calm. Patient. But there were somethings he just could not abide. Like the boorish behavior of someone talking loudly in the library.

“Excuse me,” the blonde said, attempting to remain calm, as he came over to the rude demon two tables over, “could you please keep it down? This is a library.”

“Yeah. I know what it is.” He quipped back rather snippily. “What are you? The librarian?”

“No. Just a fellow book lover.” Satan replied. Grinding his teeth now. “And one who can follow the rules and basic social decorum of keeping my conversations to myself in a place like this.”

“Are you calling me stupid?!”

“No. I’m calling you uncouth. A word meaning undignified, and without manners.”

“Why you!”

The demon rose to his feet, towering over Satan now that he was standing. Not that it mattered. Height was not an immediate representation of strength. Look at Belphie. His younger, shorter brother could level a whole city with a flick of his wrist. Satan could easily dispatch of his imbecile without even breaking a sweat.

He never got the chance though, as just after he stood the demon let out a grunt and slumped to the floor; with you standing behind him on his depleted chair with a book in your hand like you had just pulled it from The Stone. “Bet you’re glad I think Kindles are dumb now.”

Satan had to right himself on what he was seeing, and then frowned at you. “I never said that, and get down.” He insisted. Offering you his hand to get down. You hop down with ease and set your weapon book on the table. “Honestly, I could have handled him without resorting to violence or cheap theatrics.”

“Cheap?? This book was very expensive.” You insist, and Satan had to scoff.

“Be that as it may, please do not use books for more than their intended purpose. I appreciate the assist, but I can’t have you hurting yourself or fine literature in the future.”

“You’re such a buzz kill sometimes Satan…..”

Asmo

Asmo always loved going to the club. The dancing. The energy. The pulsing music. The people.

Well…usually the people. Some people, usually bro-dude demons, just couldn’t take a hint that ‘no’ meant ‘no’.

“Come on Asmo! Why are you being so stingy?!”

“I’m not being ‘stingy’,” Asmo replied with a frown marring his beautiful face. “I’m just not interested.”

“You were interested last time.” His pursuer replied. Like that somehow gave automatic permission that things would happen again.

“That was a long time ago.” The dusk haired blonde replied. Sipping his cocktail and looking thoughtful across the spacious VIP lounge over to you.

Yes, things had certainly changed. Once where it would take a whole room of people and attention to make him content, these days all he wanted was you. Just you sparing a moment to look at him made his heart feel incredibly full. He had come here to have a fun night out with you, but it seemed no matter where he went his beauty was always causing problems.

The lesser demon frowned, then looked towards the direction Asmo was looking to land on you. “Shoot, just bring them along with us.”

“Excuse me?” Asmo asked. Beautiful expression turning Ignatius as he sat down his drink.

“Bring them along. I’ve never had sex with a human. But there must be something to it if you’re willing to do them. Not that I suppose that takes much….”

At that, Asmo leapt from his chair and grabbing the brute by the collar. He wasn’t normally one for violence. He wasn’t like his dull brothers. But he couldn’t let a slight like that against you slide. “Take it back!”

The two demon’s scuffle. Clearing out the VIP lounge as everyone ran. Scared that they might transform at any moment and literally tear each other apart. Asmo somehow ended up on his back, a position that usually didn’t bother him, as the other reared back to punch him in the face.

Or, at least he would have if he didn’t start convulsing and fall on the ground a moment later.

“Asmo! Are you ok?!”

The Lust Demon looked at you for a moment. Then delicately covered his mouth with both hands. Returning to normal. “[Y/N]! You saved me!!”

“Yeah. This little thing packs a punch.” You replied. Holding out your little pink taser from She-Sword from your clutch. “I couldn’t let this jerk hurt your beautiful face.”

“No one is more beautiful than you my fierce warrior queen!” He praised. Basking in the moment for only a second before you both scamper off before security came.

You both might be beautiful, but you didn’t want to end up on the evening news.

Beel

“I want to take up kendo.” Beel announced to you one day. Out of the blue. “I’ve been looking for ways to add variety to my workout. I came across this video on kendo and thought it would be fun.”

Of course, Beel knew you had practiced kendo in the past at school. So he might have also been looking for fitness activities for you to do together. In any case, he really liked seeing you in your little workout outfit. It was super cute.

He also liked you showing him the basics of kendo; stance, footing, basic strike movement. When he felt he had gotten the hang of it, Beel jovially asked for a sparring match with you.

“I don’t know….”

“Come on [Y/N], sparring with someone is the best way to learn fighting.” He reasoned. “Besides, I’m not gonna hurt you.”

“I’m not worried about that….” He heard you mutter under your breath, but thought that he must have imagined it as you squared off.

Standing across from you in the arena, something changed. The hair on the back of Beel’s neck stood up. Not in the excited way that it normally did when he saw you. But something more….primal. His grip tightened a little more as he realized he might have to get a little serious with you.

It was all for nothing though as the match was over just as soon as it started.

The shinai went flying out of his hands, landing across the room just as Beel landed on his butt. His backside throbbing as his bell was rung clear as day. He rubbed his head as he looked up at you. “I may have forgotten to mention that I was three-time national kendo champ all through school.”

The demon looked up at you with a shiny, sparkly gaze only until now reserved for delicious food. “Teach me sensei!”

Belphie

He hated being out. He wanted to go home.

Being outside in the sun, with all these…..people was hell to him. Belphie would rather be home, in actual hell, with his blanket and pillow and quiet, rather than ‘top side’ with you for the whole afternoon. Not that it was you or anything. You were the only bright star on this miserable day. He’d be damned if he’d let one of his brothers spend the day with you when he could.

“Belphie, do you want an ice cream? Maybe that will help with the heat?”

He wanted to say that the only thing that would help him was getting the hell out of here. But, he bit his tongue. The demon knew how important this was to you to come ‘home’ now & then and he didn’t want to ruin it for you. So he just nodded and asked, “strawberry please.”

He sat in the shade as he watched you go over to the ice cream truck alone. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe he was just a hopeless shut in. Like Levi, only worse. He just wanted humans so much that being around them was making him crankier than normal today.

“Geez, get a look at that side show over there.”

Belphie looked up from his daze at the human who was a few yards away from him. Snickering and staring with his friends in a voice that a regular human wouldn’t be able to hear. “If you have something to say, then say it, you chicken shit fuck.” Again, he was very cranky.

The human was obviously taken aback at being heard and then called out like that. “What did you say to me?!” He yelled, once he got his bearings on the situation, and took a ‘threatening’ step forward to see if he would repeat it.

“I said ‘If you have something to say, then say it, you chicken shit fuck’.” Of course he repeated it. “Don’t mutter something under your breath like a coward. Say it like a man, or keep your gross mouth shut.” This was why he hated humans. No spine.

Well, metaphorical spine. If he kept this up, Belphie was gonna prove that he had a spine when he ripped it out and made him wear it as a neck tie.

“You little fuck--!” Belphie, of course, didn’t move when he stomped closer. Not that he needed to, because he was stopped in his tracks rather abruptly when you stepped between then. Holding a knife from your pocket.

“I suggest you get out of here, before the only ‘side show’ around here is your knife swallowing act pal.” The man seemed to frozen for a moment as he tried to process if you were serious. Then his flight instincts kicked in and he took off running with his friends across the park. “Gosh, I think I’ve been spending to much time with you guys. I never would have done anything like this before.” You said after a sigh, then turned back to Belphie.

“My hero.” He cheered softly, in his typical tired voice but still with a soft smile. Seeming extremely proud of the bad influence he was on you.

[wroteasongabouther]

>> Darling <<      part 4 ➭ harry tequila always wins

fic page // talk to me about it!

warnings: smut, alcohol, cursing, and maybe some second-hand embarrassment

authors note: if you started reading this fic over a year ago and are here for by far the latest update ever thank you deserve a gold star. lets hope the next update wont take me so long. buckle up boys and girls, it’s a long one.. hope u like it xx

—

December 3rd, 2021

To be a great business woman meant you also needed to be a great sociallite.

Parties were being held nearly every weekend here in New York by the wealthy business men and woman. And with it becoming a younger crowd year by year, the parties got bigger and better. Tonight’s theme was a white out party. You suppose it worked out well as the first snowfall of the year hits the city the very same night.

It’s no surprise that your stylist outdid herself. You wore a bralette styled top, high waisted white pants, white heels, and of course a flare of your extra self with a white faux fur jacket. With your freshly highlighted hair blown out by the cold winter wind and a dark red lip, you knew you were the hottest one to walk into the party. The long stares from both men and woman told you so too.

Upon your arrival, you waste no time give your very expensive jacket to coat check before making your way to the bar. The alluring feel to be all wide eyed and enjoy these parties were long over for you. No, instead you needed nice buzz to actually make it through any of these events.

“You look amazing tonight,” a fellow business woman from Westbrook Atlantic grins as you approach an awaiting group.

“Thank you,” you smile, “crazy how it’s snowing today, right?”

The handful of people you had the attention of all nod and give you the usual fake-interested look you were getting used to now. But then suddenly their gaze all fall to the new addiction to the group. Looking to your left, you see you won’t be avoiding Harry tonight.

He had spotted you and made his choice of socializing tonight it seems. You roll your eyes as everyone asks Harry about his newest deal. Stupid deal may you say, he was going to lose a shit ton of money in the end result.

“You’ve made better choices,” you state with a tight smile before bringing your drink to your lips.

“Oh really?” He challenges you, raising a brow.

“Yeah, I met with Vanessa just last month actually. Sure she’s got the assets but does she really have the brain to carry out such a deal she proposed?” You say.

Harry catches onto your play of words immediately, the others around maybe not so much. While they have questions, Harry simply gives you the slightest glare. If he really expected you to be the same girl who shut up and agreed with him while around business talks, he was sadly mistaken.

You didn’t see the harm in poking some fun at him. This Vanessa girl probably dressed as she did when you had her come to your office too. You didn’t think her boobs could be pushed any higher and her butt screamed fake. Something you’re sure Harry liked about her proposal. It wouldn’t surprise you if he signed with her and then fucked her right afterwards. 

Anything to get his dick wet, you knew his damn ways.

“I’m not sure that’s a way for a woman in your position to be speaking of other woman in the business,” Harry says, his lips just twitching to curl up into his well known smirk. “Are you insinuating that Vanessa couldn’t hold up a good deal, because she’s a woman,” he’s playing one of his stupid games, and earning spectators around you two. 

“That’s not at all-”

“You’d think that you’d be jumping at the opportunity to help woman in this business, not to try and tear them down,” 

“I’d say the same thing if it was a lousy man giving me the same proposal that she did,” you state through gritted teeth. 

How could he start such a conversation? He knew damn well that the people around the two of you would start rumours off any little lie he made up. He also knew that you once scolded him for the very same thing. Back when you worked for him. You always knew a part of him didn’t think a woman could handle any serious CEO business - but you also proved him wrong each and every day.

“Quite the statements you’ve made tonight, miss,” Harry smirks, “I should go speak with Mr Griffen, please, excuse me.” 

And then he’s wondering off. Not before turning to look over his shoulder at you with that same devious smirk on his face. He knew what he had done, planned it rather quickly on the spot too. 

You didn’t get a chance to talk to Harry again the whole night. No, instead you were playing damage control to the mess that Harry started at the beginning of the night. Woman were coming up to you, bickering your ear off about how disrespectful you could be for saying a woman didn’t have the brains for this business. Then you’d have to repeat over and over again your apology for the misunderstanding Harry had of your words. And as you did this, Harry always stood a fair distance away that he could catch your gaze every few moments.

And now here you were at the end of what had to have been the least fun you’ve ever had at an event before.

You’re tipping your head back and feeling the burn of liquor drain down your throat. It was unlike you to do a ton of shots though, in fact you’ve only gotten truly wasted three whole times in your life. And that’s what you were planning on doing, getting so freaking wasted that you’d forget about the horror of a night tonight turned into. You think back on the other times you’ve gotten wasted in your short life time.

The first time was at the fresh age of 16, Peter McDonald had stole a bottle of some brown substance and brought it over to some party - letting you grip the neck of it for most of the night. Thing was, it was your first party you ever attended. You didn’t know when to put the bottle down.

Plus, Peter was just trying to get into your pants. 

Too bad you puked all over them before the night was over and ended up being yelled at by your parents for days on end over the whole ordeal.

The other 2 times were because of the very reason you knew you were downing your fifth shot in the past ten minutes. His green eyes taunting you from across the bar. Why hadn’t he left yet? You think as you glare at him. A shiver runs across your skin as another shot of tequila burns down your throat.

“Give me another, Darren,” you order the bartender the moment you shot glasses hits the bar top. 

Flashbacks to the first time you had legally gotten black out drunk came flooding back as the familiar middle aged bartender poured you another shot of tequila. 

  —

December 14th, 2018

“I need this,” you say. It sounded like you were trying to convince yourself as you stared at the reflection staring back at you.

“Babe, you like so need this,” your best friend, and roommate, Samantha states from where the bathroom she’s currently made a mess up while getting ready.

You really freaking needed this night out on the town with your girls. Breanne and Chelsea were meeting you two at the club, the three of them had this master plan of begging you to come but after the first month of working for Harry had passed by - you needed this. So you did yourself up, curling your hair and putting on maybe a bit too much highlighter. Samantha let you borrow her newest black lace bodysuit - clearly meant to be a piece of sexy lingerie.

You wondered if Harry liked lingerie.

Shaking your head slightly, you focus back on your reflection as you touch up your lipstick. Before sliding it into the front pocket of your leather material pants. On second thought, you take out the lipstick seeing as the pants were too tight for anything to really fit in the pockets. So you open your closet and find the small white purse you kept hidden away for nights like this.

“Okay, Bre and Chels are like hailing a cab down now so we should leave soon too in order to meet up in line together,” Samantha explains, eyes cast down on her phone before looking up. Her eyes go wide at the sight of you all dressed up. “Or maybe we can skip the line all together if you just like pout those pretty lips at security,” she smiles.

“Oh shut up,” you roll your eyes and walk to where your phone was charging to unplug it and slip it into your purse. “Should I wear the boots or the open toe heels?”

“Heels, you’re already going to be cold in that top so might as well freeze your perfect little toes too,”

“My toes aren’t perfect,”

“Oh yes they are,” Samantha huffs while sipping up her thigh high boots. She went for a mini skirt and crop top look tonight, obviously looking hot as hell. Didn’t take much effort from her though.

“Ok you perv,” you chuckle.

Samantha laughs along with you and within minutes you’re both downstairs making minimal effort in hailing down a cab. Of course Samantha makes another comment about how your “hotness” got them a cab right away on this busy Friday evening in New York. But it was New York, there was cabs everywhere you looked.

You’re flipping your hair out of your face while looking down the line at the club when someone from behind the ropes steps up to you. He’s wearing a navy suit with a white button up under - the top two buttons undone, a gold chain barely visible around his neck.

“Hey,” he says, a grin upon his face. And it’s a nice face. He must be Lebanese if you had to guess. Perfectly Styles black hair, with perfectly trimmed facial hair and piercing blue eyes.

“Hi,” you reply.

“How many are in your party, beautiful?” He slides the compliment in smoothly. You can’t help the blush that creeps to your cheeks. At this point you notice the ear piece and thin wire that is tucked nearly behind his ear before disappearing under his shirt.

“Four,” you answer with a smile.

“Perfect, I’d love to escort you in,”

“Okay,” you nod.

Samantha doesn’t waste any time grabbing onto Breanna and Chelsea and pulling them from the line, all three of them picking up their pace in order to cut in line with you. The gorgeous man smiles at you all before unhooking the rope and letting you through.

“Told you so,” Samantha is singing in your ear as you all stick close together in the buzzing club.

You quickly figure out the man that let you in is one of the managers of the establishment. He orders a round of tequila shots, then a few drinks too. At first he’s friendly to the four of you, but then he’s turned his back to your friends and is asking you questions.

“So what do you do for work?” He asks. It’s a regular old question, but one that causes your stomach to turn and heart to pick up its pace.

“Um, I’m an assistant for a pretty big businessman I guess,” you answer with a shrug before bringing your drink to your lips and taking a generous sip.

“Oh nice,” he smiles, “do you like it?”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” you stumble on your answer, eyes drifting over his shoulder to where your three friends were now taking shots with some other girls.

“Suppose work isn’t a great talking subject for you, huh?” The man teases. “Did you want another shot?”

You nod, giving him a tight smile before he waves over the bartender again. Just as your tipping your head back, the manager seems to be called away as he presses a few fingers to his left ear in order to hear what’s being said into the earpiece in his right ear. Next thing you know he’s telling the bartender to put your drinks on his tab, brushing back your hair off your shoulder gently to whisper into your ear.

“Enjoy your night off, hopefully you’ll stick around long enough for me to escort you out,” he says, leaning back to give you a wink before he’s slipping away from you at the bar and into the crowd.

“Did you get his number?” Breanna asks as the three of your friends walk up to you.

“No,” you shrug and slowly let the corner of your lips curl upwards, “but I got our drinks covered for the night,”

“Oh my god!” Chelsea shouts, her mouth wide open in shock.

“That’s it, you’re coming out with us all the time now, you hot bitch,” Breanna exclaims before pushing her chest into the bar, her breasts nearly spilling right out of the top she’s wearing, as she waves down a bartender. “We’ll get eight tequila shots, please,” she shouts out with a grin.

“Oh, we’re so getting wasted tonight,” Chelsea smiles, pulling up her phone to take a video of the bartender pouring the shots - of course turning the camera to you after, causing you to giggle and hide your face.

“You need this, Y/N,” Samantha repeats her words from earlier in the night, “you’ve been working like a damn dog, now let’s let loose and enjoy this night,”

After downing the two tequila shots each, Chelsea is leading the way to the dance floor. The thumping of the bass, with the crazy light show and within seconds you can feel all those shots you just took. You’re jumping up and down, grabbing onto Samantha’s shoulder to shout out the lyrics of the song playing around you. And for almost two hours, you never once think of Harry.

That is until you’re sitting alone in a booth, pulling your phone out for the first time tonight to see a ton of messages from your boss - and your potential booty call? No, you tell yourself as you read the texts.

Harry: I need you to change my schedule for next weekend, clear all meetings. I will still take phone calls.

Harry: I also need my dry cleaning picked up before noon tomorrow.

Harry: Coffee and breakfast by 7.

Harry: And don’t wear any underwear.

Harry: Hello?

Harry: Y/N look at your damn phone.

Harry: Call me right when you get these messages.

You sigh before typing away at your screen.

Y/N: I don’t think I’m fit to call you at this moment, Mr Styles..

Harry: What do you mean by that? And why are ignoring my texts?

Y/N: I mean that I am currently unable to talk on the phone. Not in the best state of mind for a quick chat with my boss.

Harry: What the hell do you mean?

Harry: Are you drunk?

You rolls your eyes at your screen. Before you can even type out your response, Harry has sent another message.

Harry: Where are you?

Y/N: it’s none of your business actually

Harry: Actually it is completely my business, if you value your damn job I suggest you tell me what the hell you think you’re doing.

Y/N: I’m just living my life Harry. Let me live.

And with that, you slide your phone back into your purse. Your hearts racing as you stare across the booth. A hiccup passes your lips. Then all of a sudden you don’t feel so good. Slipping out from the booth you push your way past the people in VIP to get to the bathrooms. Once the door of the stall is shut behind you, you’re leaning over the toilet and taking deep breathes. Nothing comes up, thank god, but it was a close call.

Maybe that feeling in your stomach wasn’t the threat of tequila coming back up. Maybe it was because you just told off your freaking boss.

You groan and lean your head back against the cool metal of the stall. Tequila made you do some dumb shit.

You don’t remember how long you stood in the stall before someone knocking and asking if you’re alright. Then you’re back in the VIP section and unable to find any of your friends. Pulling out your cell phone, you go to unlock it and call up Samantha but instead you’re bombarded by incoming calls from Mr Harry Styles.

“And somehow you look just as stunning with a frown on your face,” you turn at the voice of the bar manager. “What’s got you frowning?” He asks, stepping up in front of you now.

“I-I don’t know where my friends are and my stupid boss is bugging me,” you explain, not even realizing that you’re pouting afterwards.

“I could check the cameras for your friends, if you wanted to come to the back with me?” He’s peering at you through his lashes. Something that maybe a couple hours ago you’d find sexy, and maybe you would go to the back with him for a quick fuck. But now all you could picture was Harry’s stupid green eyes and stupid stupid face.

“I think I’m going to go home,” and with that statement you turn on your heels to head out of this place. Only you seem to have forgotten in your foggy drunken state just how unstable you are, falling forward straight onto the floor.

“Shit,” the manager cursed as he kneels down beside you. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” you grumble while brushing your hands on your thighs, leaning back on your feet as you sat on the dirty bar floor. Suppose these pants were trash now, you think while looking at the scuffed material at your knees.

“Here, let me help you find a cab,”

“I need another shot,” you order while taking his hands and getting back to your feet.

“I think you’ve had enough-“

“No,” you snap, “I need another damn shot now,”

“Okay,” he nods and leads you to the bar instead.

Maybe it’s the powerful tone you used. Or maybe it’s cause he still wants to fuck you. But the bar manager nods and leads you to the bar once again. One shot turns into two as you try to blur out the thoughts of Harry. God where did Samantha go? You think while glancing around the club.

“I’ve got to go back to work,” the bar manager tries again. You sigh and close your eyes, resting your chin in the palm of your hand as your elbow rests on the sticky bar top. “Keep an eye on her,” he says to the bartender.

It doesn’t take long before another guy is slide up next to you. He’s cute, got that typical ‘I’ll fuck you then never talk to you again’ hair cut that’s shaved at the sides and long at the top. Clean shaved and sporting a coy smile.

“Dance with me,” he say.

You’re about to grab ahold of his hand and let him lead the way when you suddenly recognize Breanna and Chelsea walking towards you. A grin spreads across your face at the sight of your friends.

“Hey!” You shout while wrapping them both in for a hug.

The fuckboy seems to get the clue you’ve lost interest in him and walks off without you. It’s probably for the best, you’d look like an outright fool trying to dance all sexy out there. Tequila made for some sloppy dancing from you.

“We’re about to head out,” Breanna states, rubbing your back which brings a soft smile from you.

“Have you seen Samantha?” You ask.

“Not since she started making out with that guy back on the dance floor,” Breanna says.

“Pretty sure she left with him,” Chelsea adds.

“Nice,” you smirk and lean your head on Breanna’s shoulder. “Well, I for one had a ton of fun with you girls tonight,” you’re shouting out the words with maybe a bit too much excitement. Breanna and Chelsea laugh, hugging you once more before asking if you were ok by yourself.

You had hope a certain gorgeous bar manager would be making his way back to the VIP section.

After your friends have left, you’re walking back to the bar and leaning over it slightly as you go on your tip toes in order to get the bartenders attention. He’s watching you in between pouring a few shots for some other customers. Then as your pushing your cleavage together he’s resting both hands on either side of where you were leaning towards him, head tilting up with a smirk.

“You’re trouble,” he states, voice much lower than you expected. He’s hot. Like slightly older guy kinda hot. He’s got a nice moustache, a few lines around his grey eyes. Hell, he’s like really hot for his age - you think while biting down on your bottom lip.

“Maybe,” you counter back. “I’d like another shot of tequila, please,” you order with a smile while slowly leaning back from the bar.

The bartender doesn’t move at first, instead his eyes are drinking you in. Suppose this bodysuit - or lingerie or whatever - was really working for you. Then all of a sudden his grey eyes flicker over your shoulder. He stiffen immediately, then stands up straight and tall. What in the world-

“Actually she won’t be having any more tequila,” you could recognize that voice anywhere. Harry was here. Like right here, stepping up beside you in the same suit he was wearing earlier today. The same suit you had your hands wrapped around as he fucked you in the janitors closet. “Seems you’ve given her enough tonight Darren,” Harry adds with a dark look to the bartender.

“Um, no,” you pipe up, leaning back over the bar quickly to grasp the bartender - Darren’s attention. “Tequila, now,” you demand this time.

Darren looks from you, back to Harry, then back to you again to give you a small smile. And then he’s walking away. What the hell, you think.

“What are you doing here?” You question, turning a bit too quickly to face Harry as you sway a little bit. Harry reacts by grabbing your arm to settle your drunken movements. You shrug from his grasp right away. Seems Harry doesn’t like it, eyes narrowing in at you before his hand is back by his side.

“I’m here to take you home, think you’ve had enough fun tonight,” he says the word fun with more of an angry tone.

“No,”

“No?” Harry raises an eyebrow at you.

“Yes, no,” you say while lifting your chin up.

“Not making a lot of sense, darling,” he mutters. You notice how his jaw is clenched, eyes hard before they wander around the VIP section.

He seems to find who or whatever he’s looking for as he takes a few steps behind you. This is your chance, you think with a smile as you turn back to the bartender and flip your hair from your face. He’s standing back in front of you as you give him a wave.

“Tequila, please,” you sing.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea-“

“Look, Denis,” you pause as your eyes narrow into small slits. “If you don’t pour me another double shot of tequila so I can continue on with my night, I will make your life a living hell,”

“Put the claws away, Y/N,” Harry’s back standing behind you. “No more to drink, you’re leaving now,”

“No!” You shout at him as you turn to face him maybe a bit too quickly. Your stomach sloshing at the movements. “You’re not the boss of me,” you add.

“Actually, I am,” he smirks. Bastard, you think as you glare at him. “Put her tab on my card, Darren,” Harry says, his eyes not leaving yours as he places his credit card on the bar.

“The manager was covering my tab tonight,” you state, lips curling up into a smirk to match his.

“Actually, I fired him,”

“Fired? What do you think you just own this whole damn city?” You question, crossing your arms at your chest.

“Well, I do own this club,” Harry says, “so, yes, he’s fired,”

“Bullshit,” you roll your eyes as the anger seems to be rolling off you now. Your drunk was no more happy all thanks to your crazy boss.

“Thank you,” Harry says to Darren as he takes back his card, eyes skimming the receipt briefly. “Jesus, were you trying to drink yourself to bloody stupidity?” he asks before shoving the receipt into his pocket.

“Well my friends were with me, so like they had some drinks too obviously,” you shrug and lean back against the bar.

“Where are your friends now?”

You shrug again and find yourself watching him through your blurring vision. Didn’t matter how many men here tried to make a move. Harry Styles was by far the hottest most sexy of them all. Maybe it was a good call to not have another shot of tequila so you could fuck the-

Your thoughts are cut short as you feel sick suddenly. Running past Harry, you push open the bathroom door, locking the first open stall in sight before clasping to your knees and throwing up into the toilet bowl. Your ears are ringing as you barely make out the sounds in the bathroom around you. Some girl is shouting, then your heads in the toilet again as you gag out more contents of your stomach.

“Y/N,” Harry’s voice is soft from the other side of the stall. You close your eyes and lean against the side of the stall, the metal was cool like it was earlier too. “Are you okay?” Harry asks.

“I’m fine, Harry,” you answer in a sarcastic tone, smiling as you look over to see his favourite YSL boots on the other side of the door.

“Unlock the door,” he orders.

You roll your eyes and stand on your wobbly heels. Placing both hands on the door, you let out a deep breath before whipping the door open and pushing passed Harry. You needed to rinse your mouth, you think while stepping up to the sink. After doing so you look up into the mirror. Your eyes find Harry in the reflection right away. He has his back to you for a few moments, shoulders rise up before falling slowly back down to his composed posture he always has. When he turns around to face you, taking the step steps towards you, you can see the anger in his eyes.

You fucked up.

“Don’t yell at me,” the words slip past your lips before you can stop them. Then suddenly you’re pouting at him too.

Damn tequila.

“I want to do a lot more than yell at you, pet,” Harry says through clenched teeth.

It’s the first time you’re alone with him now. Glancing around you notice that Harry had kicked everyone out of the bathroom. You brush your hands against your hips, the lace rough before you touch the cool leather of your pants. Harry looks at you through the reflection in the mirror, he’s towering over your figure - so close you can feel his hot breath on your neck. 

“Like what?” You question, your tone once again taken over from the tequila in your system - what were you doing teasing your boss after you just threw up only moments ago? 

Harry doesn’t answer - verbally. Instead he grips your hips with both his hands, his touch rough and firm, pulling your body into his. You react with a quick gasp, then he’s lifting one hand up to your throat. Harry gently squeezes, while you widen your eyes and stare at him in the mirror once again. There’s no denying how your core is pulsing between your legs. There’s also no missing the hardness pressed against your lower back. A glimpse of desire crosses Harry’s face. Lips spread into a wicked smile, his eyes hooded as they gaze back at you through the reflection. 

“I want to fuck the recklessness out of you,” he speaks as though he’s craving the mere idea of it. 

Harry tights his grip at your throat as his other hand snakes around to the front of your pants. There wasn’t a doubt in your mind that he would do exactly what he just stated he wanted. Harry Styles made it pretty clear over this past month that he always got what he wanted. 

“I want you to know who’s the boss of you,” he continues, “I want you to stutter over my name as I show you exactly who’s the boss of you,”

A whimper gets caught in your throat as you ache to be touched. You had learnt over time that Harry had a way with his words - and he knew it too. The way he’d just simply reword something to sound more seductive in the office, it always got to you. 

“I want it,” you utter the three words Harry loved the most. 

He pops the button of your pants undone, sliding down the zipper before running his fingertip over the lace that was apart of your bodysuit situation. The motion causes you to quiver under his touch, you moving only results in Harry’s grip tightening - both at you throat and your hip. 

You don’t even realize that you had closed your eyes as they flutter open once more and catch Harry’s dark greens in the mirror. His chest is rising and falling at a faster pace than normal. In that moment it’s almost as though you read his mind.

“Please,” you say just above a whisper. 

Harry has your pants to your knees in only two swift movements, and that’s impressive considering just how tight the leather material was. He rips the material of the bodysuit just as quick, the veins in his hands pulsing as he does so, and you barely have a second to think of how upset Samantha is going to be you ripped her lingerie. Your bare bum is lifted up to the damp counter top, your hands falling back to grip on of the sinks while your head smacks back into the mirror. Harry’s hands are at his own body now, but only for a few moments as he slips his hard cock out of his pants. 

Your stomach feels like giants are stomping inside, while you can hear your own pulse in your ears loud and clear. There’s no sound coming from your mouth but it’s open, maybe in shock or maybe in anticipation - you were too drunk to really know. 

Harry only brushes the tip of him between your soaking slits once before he’s pushing himself into you - hard. You gasp, a burning feeling overcoming you between your legs. But then he’s moving, fast, pounding into you in quick hard meaningful thrusts. With each thrust a gasp escapes your lips. Harry moves a hand back to your throat, which you react by leaning back more in order to give his hand more room to choke you. The warm feeling in the pit of your stomach grows quick as Harry fucks you hard on the bathroom sink. 

You lose it when he rubs your clit, not soft in any way, no he wants to get your release out of the way almost. And when your body is pulsing under his touch, waves of your orgasm rippling through your entire body, he slips out of you completely and flips your body so your stomach is flat against the counter. Harry positions himself between your legs again before entering your warm wet cunt. You moan at the sensitive feeling as he fucks you some more. 

Lifting your head, you meet your own glassy eyes first. Glassy from the drinks you’ve downed tonight, and from the pleasure you’re feeling right in this moment now. Just has Harry’s thrusts begin to slow, you raise your gaze to look at him instead. What a sight, you think as his eyes are closed and his mouth is open. Within seconds you feel him finish inside of you. Warm and oozing between your thighs as he slips out slowly. 

You shut your eyes for a moment as you focus on your breathing. This was by far the quickest fuck you and Harry have had. Maybe even the roughest. And it was definitely hot. God, just thinking about how his hand felt around your throat made you want to pull him in for another round. 

“Pull up your pants,” Harry demands. 

Your eyes flutter open, meeting Harry’s serious eyes. Standing on wobbling feet, you reach for your pants and pull them up to your hips again. You have to tuck in the ends of the bodysuit, while you could still feel the wetness between your thighs. Suppose Harry didn’t feel like helping you clean up today. 

“Where are your keys?” Harry’s questions causes you to turn and look at where he stood now. He was by the stall, going through your purse. 

“My roommate has them,” you answer. 

“And she is where?” 

“I, I don’t know,” you reply sheepishly. Eyes cast down to the floor as you realize you’ve made yourself look like even a biggest fool in front of Harry. 

“Suppose you can stay at mine,” Harry mutters. 

You nod while brushing your hands through your hair. There was this feeling at the pit of your stomach. Tonight was gone to absolute shit. Harry was going to fire you. Let you sleep at his house, and then fire you tomorrow morning. There was no way in hell any of your behaviour was acceptable tonight. How you told him off, ignored his messages, and then somehow managed to fuck him in the public washroom. Your thoughts are running a million miles an hour as Harry leads the way from the bathroom to where he had a car waiting for the two of you outside the club. 

Harry doesn’t speak in the car. So neither do you. In fact the cool feeling of the window against your cheek causes you to close your eyes and nearly doze off to sleep. But you’re still aware of the situation you’re currently in, so you force yourself to stay awake till you got into whatever sleeping arrangement Harry had for you. 

You steal one glance at Harry during the car ride. The lights from the city night casting into the car and lighting up his high feature of his face. He’s got his knuckles pressed against his lips, something he did while in deep thought quite often, you had taken note of it over the past while now. His eyes are focused forward, but you know he’s zoned out in whatever thoughts are clouding his head. Maybe it was how he was going to fire you tomorrow. You open your mouth for only a second, thinking of slipping out a quick apology, but instead you press them tightly closed once more and look back out the window beside you. Right now you wanted nothing more than to go to sleep and get rid of this foggy feeling all that tequila gave you. 

“You can sleep in the guest bedroom, first door on the left down that way.” Harry states, pointing to the hallway at your left as the private elevator for his penthouse opens up. 

Harry walks out into the open concept quick. Obviously over the wow factor his home held. It was stunning. The living room, dining room, and kitchen were all one big room. Floor to high ceiling windows across from the wall with the elevator gave him and his guests the best view of the city you could ever imagine. It was decorated with minimalist taste, only greys and blacks - absolutely no colour besides the deep chestnut wood of the floors beneath your feet. You especially liked the dark cabinets and granite that complimented his kitchen beautifully. Harry’s standing at the biggest stainless steel fridge you’ve ever seen. 

He closes it and has one bottle of water and one bottle of blue Gatorade in his hand. You begin walking to where he is now, impressed by the appliances in the kitchen. He had a freaking high quality espresso machine that you’ve seen in a Starbucks.

“Drink this when you wake up,” Harry says. He meets your eyes for the first time since leaving the club. “There should be Advil in the cupboard of the en suite too. And drink some of this before you go to sleep,” he orders while placing the Gatorade down first and then the water bottle. 

“I know how to help a hangover, Harry,” you state, “I was once in university, you know,” 

“I do know,” he nods, “was just thinking you spend that time and all those student loans on your education, not partying,” 

“I didn’t always party,” you mutter under your breath. Harry stares at you across the island that you stood on the other side of it. “I just, I needed to let loose and have some fun tonight. I’m sorry that I got you involved in my personal bullcrap of a night,” you finally say half of whats heavy on your chest. 

Harry nods once. Then his eyes fall to where a clock was in the kitchen. You follow his gaze and catch sight of the time too. It was nearing 2 in the morning now. A yawn escapes your lips. 

“Have a good sleep, darling,” Harry says softly before he’s walking out of the open room and down one of the two hallways. 

Sadly he walks down the other hallway, opposite to the one he directed you to where the bed you’d be sleeping in was. You imagine sharing a bed with Harry again like you had the one time back at the hotel, the first time you two had had sex. Since that night you hadn’t fallen asleep beside him since. He fucked you at the office, in the back of cars, and even in the bathroom of a club now.

You ignore these thoughts and grab the two bottles that Harry had gotten for you before finding the bedroom you’d be sleeping in. There was nothing more you wanted right now than to get under the blanket and sleep. Well, maybe you wanted this night to have never happened - then you would be able to sleep peacefully knowing your job wasn’t about to be done for. 

The next morning you woke up to the sun shining in your eyes. The first thing that you notice as you sit up are how your clothes that you had left on the floor are now gone. Then your head begins to pound, letting out a deep breath you reach for the Gatorade. But sitting beside it is a note.

‘come into the office whenever you start feeling better- Harry’

You throw up in the shower. It’s not by any means your best moment, but it happens, and after getting nice and clean - in one of the greatest showers ever - you walk back out to the bedroom. Harry’s guest bedroom. Your bosses guest freaking bedroom. You shake your head at yourself and turn to see another note tapped to the closet door. 

‘got you a few things to chose from - Harry’

He was buying you clothes after last night? You sigh and open the door to reveal the decent sized walk in, you couldn’t imagine what the master bedroom was like if this was only a guest bedroom. Inside you see a few items hung in the otherwise empty closet, as well as a pair of shoes sitting on the floor neatly. 

There’s two dresses and a blouse and skirt hung up. All tags say Gucci on them, which honestly makes your head spin just thinking of how much they are worth but it could also be the killer hangover you were nursing while sipping on the Gatorade Harry had gotten for you last night. With little to no want to even be standing right now, you grab for the first hanger and put the simple cream colour dress with green and red stripes on. It zips completely up the front, from bottom to top. Suppose Harry would like the easy access of this dress, you think. Too bad he would no longer be your boss after the crap you put him through last night. 

There’s no underwear, that should be noted, but you’re not really that surprised that Harry hadn’t gotten you any sort of under garments at all. He wasn’t a fan of underwear at all really. You decide to throw your hair up as it’s still a bit damp, then you find your purse and walk to the bedroom door. The heels click against the hardwood flooring while you walk to the large open concept living space of Harry’s home. 

He’s not home, obviously, hence the first note you had read this morning. Going into the office so early on a Saturday only meant that things were just as busy as ever - business didn’t even stop for the holidays. You take another generous sip of the Gatorade and check your phone for the time. 

Suppose it’s better to get this over with, you think. It was only 8 in the morning, only an hour later than when you’d typically head into work. You ignore the text messages from your friends, only making sure there wasn’t any new ones from Harry. There isn’t. You let out another sigh and head towards the elevator that’s inside Harry’s house. Because who doesn’t have a private elevator right? You take in the view one last time with a longing look - you wanted this view. You wanted this life. And yet you managed to fuck up your only passage into this lifestyle by drinking far too much tequila and fucking your boss. Your professors would be so proud. 

“Miss,” you recognize Harry’s driver as you enter the lobby. He’s waiting for you it seems, standing from one of the couches as you walk towards him. “Mr Styles has told me to take you into work this morning,” he states. 

“Well,” you pause, swallowing back the threat of vomiting for the third time this morning. “Let’s get going then,” you say with a tight smile.  

You nearly fall asleep on the short ride to the Styles Enterprises building. Harry’s driver opens the door for you, which you simply give him a smile and short thank you in return. Maybe he’d like to give you a ride home to your crap apartment after, stop by a few cafes on the way home to find a new job too. You let out a sigh and ignore the rest of the people around the building that do recognize you. 

This was by far one of the worst hangovers of your life, you think while finishing the rest of the Gatorade and tossing the bottle in the bin under your desk. Harry’s office door is closed. As it always is. Checking the calendar on your desk, you make sure he’s not in a meeting or on an important call. There’s nothing written down, so you drop your purse off and walk to the large doors. 

“Come in,” Harry calls from inside after you knock. 

He’s sitting at his desk, his back straight as a board as he types away whatever business stuff he had to attend to at this hour. God you were too hungover for this. You stop only a foot in front of his desk and wait for him to look up. It takes only a few breaths before Harry’s gaze falls to you. He lets his eyes draw up the length of you, from the black heels to the mess of hair upon your head. He probably notices the few small bruises at your knees from whatever you did last night. Or maybe he notices the small red marks at your neck. You remember what those are from, 100-percent, you’d never forget it. 

“Did you not read my note?” Harry questions.

“Yeah, I did,” you nod, pausing to lick your lips, “just thought I’d get this whole losing my job thing over with,”

“Losing your job?” He raises a brow, pushing his chair back a bit from the desk. You raise your eyebrows as well, tilting your head at him. 

“You really expect me to believe you’re not going to fire me after what happened last night?”

“You were enjoying a night out with friends, I admit I was being pushy with my text messages,” Harry says as he stands from his desk. You stay silent at his words. You rarely hear Harry ever admit he’s wrong. In fact you can’t think of a time, work related or not. It may also be because your brain’s working a bit slower this morning. 

“You’re being serious?” You ask, “I’m not fired?” 

You watch Harry’s every step as he makes his way around his desk and towards you. There’s not missing how your heart rate picks up again. Damn him, you think. He looked so good today in his grey suit and baby blue shirt. The top two buttons were undone which makes you think he must really be having a tough morning. You wonder how you can help. 

“Miss, if you could get me another coffee, and make sure my next weekend is freed up,” Harry says. 

“Of course,” you nod. 

Harry reaches forward, the backs of his fingers gently touching the marks at your neck. You hold your breath. He blinks slowly, eyes still on them as he probably recalls last night in the bathroom. Then he’s reaching up to your hair, tugging at the elastic that was keeping it up. You reach up to help, letting your hair down. 

“Maybe it’s best to keep your hair down, darling,” he says, a sly smile curling at his mouth. 

“Right,” you breathe out. 

Harry’s so close. So close that you can’t help but look down at his lips. 

“Coffee, please,” he smiles. 

You nod again and turn to walk out of his office. And maybe stop by the woman’s washroom to empty out your stomach yet again this morning. The mere thought of vomiting makes you feel even more sick. 

“Y/N,” Harry calls. You turn back around, lifting your brows as you fear opening your mouth would resulting in vomit ending up on the floor of Harry’s office. “Make sure your calendar is clear for next weekend too, you’ll be joining me” he exclaims. 

“Sorry?”

“Is there an issue?” Harry questions, his eyes barely raise from where they were looking down at some papers in his hands. 

“It’s nothing, just had some plans-”

“Another night with tequila?” 

“No-” 

“Good, then cancel your plans. Or I’ll think about that whole you losing your job thing again,” Harry says. You can only nod before you turn away and walk out of his office. 

These past 24 hours have been the wildest of your entire life, you’re sure of it. You try to forget about it all as you sit at your desk and begin to clear Harry’s schedule for the upcoming weekend. What for? Well that was the burning question now, seeing as you were to join him. You hoped it was to travel somewhere nice - you could enjoy Hawaii in December. 

—

December 3rd 2021

You catch sight of Harry in the thinning crowd of the night. Though you hadn’t done much socializing after trying to cover yourself from the load of crap Harry started earlier in the night. While Harry had been buttering up anyone and everyone. You especially didn’t like the attention he was giving that blonde, her hair looked fake for Godsake. 

“Lovely coat,” Harry says as he steps up in front of you. 

“Oh shut it, before I kick you out of my club,” you spit back. All these drinks in your system meant you didn’t have the time to put up with him right now. Truthfully you just wanted Michael to get here and bring you home. 

“Such a petty move, by the way, buying this bar,” he states, eyes wandering around the room. 

“Thought that bar manager deserved his job back after your jealousy got him fired after all,” you ramble back at him, tightening your coat at your chest as the front doors open a few feet away from you. “Besides, you put it on the market, I just saw a good business opportunity,” you add. 

“Questionable statements, all of them,” Harry says. 

You don’t have a response. So instead you press your lips together tightly, eyeing Harry for the millionth time tonight. God you wanted nothing more than to hit him. Maybe you’d hire someone to do it. A few ideas came to mind as big bold letters reading ‘PAYBACK’ flashed through your head. You pull your mouth up to a smirk, crossing your arms at your chest now. 

“I didn’t realize we were going to be playing these games so soon, Styles,” you say. 

“Thought you knew the business by now, darling,” Harry’s smirk matches yours. It was like fighting fire with fire. And you loved it. 

“Oh you taught me plenty about this side of the business, don’t you worry,” you say, taking one stop forward and bringing your fingers up to the collar of his white dress shirt. You smooth your fingers slowly over the material a few times. “I’ll play dirty,” you pause and lean towards him till your lips brush against his ear, “if that’s what you want,” you say. 

You think for only a second that you’d stunned him to silence. But you never had the upper hand. A gasp pushes passed your lips as he places a hand at your lower back and presses you flesh against his front. Turning your head, you meet his gleaming eyes and devious smile. 

“You’ve always know exactly how dirty I like it, darling,” he says. 

He’s only close for a few seconds. As you’re too tipsy to push away immediately - or maybe too turned on. Either way, you give him a quick look before bringing your hands to his shoulders and pushing away from his hold. There’s no more words to be exchanged, you think as you walk to the front doors and find Michael standing there with the door open waiting for you. You don’t miss the questioning look in his eyes. 

“Take me home, Michael,” you hiss at him. 

Of course, you’re not angry at him. Oh no, it’s the mischievous green eyed bastard of a man that has managed to weasel his way back into your life - even after all the damage he’s done to you.

[ashleyh713]

“His Reasons” Ch1

Hello! This is my ongoing MHA fanfic called “His Reasons.” There are many chapters so far but I thought I’d post the first one here. If this interests you, links to the full fanfic are below. I am very proud of this fanfic and I hope you will give it a chance, even if it may sound generic at first. Trust me, it isn’t. 

Todoroki X OC

Sibling Bakugo as well 

Feels, angst and character development a plenty. Not your typical OC story. 

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

Katsuki Bakugo was born at 1:10AM on a rainy Friday morning. When they weighed him he turned out to be irregularly strong for the newborn. 

His parents cried for joy but soon realized everything was not over. 

Amari Bakugo was born at 1:20AM and right away they noticed a drastic change between the two infants. 

Where as Katsuki was abnormally strong, Amari appeared weak and stick thin, almost purple and blue around the sides of her face. 

The doctors noticed this and sprang into action quickly, grabbing the child and attaching all sorts of tubes and wires while she remained silent. 

The parents raced forward and asked what was wrong but the doctor were too busy trying to keep the newborn alive. 

That was the start of Katsuki and Amari Bakugo’s very different lives.

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

After they stabilized her, Amari was forced to stay in the hospital so that doctors could monitor her health. It seemed her body was extremely unstable, and they knew exactly why. They didn’t talk about it though, especially in front of Katsuki. 

Katsuki himself was stronger than ever though, living his life like a normal preschooler would. He didn’t pay any mind to his sister and just lived as he pleased. 

He would sometimes visit her though, mostly because he was forced by his mom. 

His mother pulled him inside the building, practically dragging him. “Now listen here young man! You are going to visit your sister and you are gonna like it!” 

Although Bakugo had other plans. “Ugh I don’t want to! It’s gonna be so boring and she just sits there not doing anything. I’m supposed to go play with my friends! Let me go!” 

But the woman wouldn’t budge and soon enough they were face to face with Amari. She just smiled but he couldn’t help but notice the tubes and machines hooked up to her. “Brother!” 

Bakugo scoffed as his mom pushed him into the room. “Tch.” 

Pulling him even further, his mom smiled back. “Hello sweetie, how are you feeling?” 

She looked down for a moment before nodding her head, pretending to flex her non existent muscles. “I’m good mommy! Soon I’ll be all better!”

There was sadness in their mother's eyes then. “Of course you will. Now, mommy’s gonna go downstairs and get you something delicious, okay? Katsuki, watch your sister.” 

He grumbled at this. “Ugh. Do I have to?”

This caused her to narrow her eyes. “Katsuki..”

Rolling his own eyes, Katsuki scoffed again. “Fine, just hurry up.” 

Seeming happy with that, she left the two kids alone, hoping that this time would be good for them. They were practically twins after all.

Once the door shut, Katsuki strolled up to Amari and put his small boot on her bed, looking rather annoyed. “So what’s your deal? Why are you stuck here?”

Putting a hand on her IV, Amari just sighed. “They said I can’t leave.”

Being a young kid, Katsuki didn’t understand her statement. “So you can’t even go outside or anything? What about go hunting for beetles or play superhero games?”

Amari shook her head. “No, the mean doctor said I have to stay cause I could get hurt real bad.” 

Crossing his arms across his chest, her replied. “Ahh how boring. So what do you do in here then? Just stare at the walls?”

She seemed to find this funny. “Sometimes. Sometimes I think about what my quirk will be.” 

This got him excited. Extending his legs, Katsuki stood on the chair next to him, his fists out in exhilaration. “I already know my quirk is gonna be the best so don’t even think you can beat me! I’m gonna be the best of the best, like All Might!” 

At the name, Amari perked up. “You know All Might?! I see him on TV all the time. Brother it would be good to be like him!” 

He nodded his head in agreement. “Hell yeah! I’m gonna be the best!” 

Laughing maniacally at his own statement, their mother peaked in and couldn’t help but smile at the two. It seemed she was worried for nothing. 

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

A couple years later, Bakugo was sitting in kindergarten when he felt a small spark ignited from his fingertips.  

All of his classmates turned and gasped in awe at what they were seeing, even the teachers seemed impressed. “Oh! Congratulations Bakugo, you got your quirk, and a wonderful one it is.” 

Looking down at his hands, the entire class cheered and he felt amazing. Finally, after all these years he was finally going to be the best. 

Then, he remembered something he once heard in class. 

Leaning over to his teacher, Bakugo questioned. “Teacher, is it true that twins get their quirks around the same time?” 

She looked confused but answered anyways. “Uhh yes that is true usually. Why do you ask Bakugo?” 

It was obvious she didn’t know about Amari. Heck, no one knew about her. It wasn’t really something he brought up in class and because she was in the hospital that meant she basically didn’t exist in the outside world.  “No reason.” 

But internally, he was excited to show off his new quirk to his family, silently hoping that what the teacher said was true. Maybe then she wouldn’t be so weak. 

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

Rushing to the hospital, Bakugo threw the door open and Amari just looked confused. “Brother? What are you doing here?” 

She didn’t seem any different from usual but that didn’t phase him much, instead running up to him and shouting. “Amari! Look, I got my quirk!” 

He let his palms ignited with sparks and her eyes went wide. “Whoaa, cool! That’s so cool brother!” 

Nodding his head at the ego stroke, her brother stood proud. “Right? Now I can be the best of the best, the most powerful!” 

Amari smiled happily for her own brother but it didn’t last long. Her eyes then shifted from him to her very skinny arms, muttering under her breath. “I wish I could get my quirk too.” 

He stopped then, racing towards her bedside. “I heard my teacher say that twins get their quirks around the same time. If you really focus, I’m sure you’ll get yours also!” 

Seeming rather uncertain, Amari raised her brow. “You sure? The doctors said…” 

But Bakugo just cut her off. “Screw what they say! You’re my sister which means you also gotta be strong! Just try!” 

A moment of silence filled the air and Amari thought about what the doctors told her, that she might never get her quirk because of her weak body. But on the other hand, she didn’t wanna disappoint her brother who had never come to see her willingly before this. 

Nodding her head, Amari squeezed her eyes and tried to focus, willing her quirk to come to the surface. She didn’t know exactly how to do it but all she could think about was making her brother proud. 

Suddenly she felt an odd heat in her fingertips and looked down to find them glowing a swirling gold color. This wasn’t the power her mother or father had.

Eyes widening, Amari gasped and got her brothers attention. “Brother, look! I did it! I got my quirk!” 

Bakugo just stared in awe at her power and watched her laugh, a small tear coming to her eyes. “Does this mean I can be a hero too?” 

Her brother was about to smile when something unexpected happened. 

Amari’s eyes grew panicked as she began coughing excessively, heaving heavily and curling over her sheets in desperation. The glow in her fingers was gone and Katsuki didn’t know what to do. “Hey, what’s wrong with you?” 

She didn’t answer though as she put a shaking hand to her mouth only to find blood on her palm. 

Suddenly, a dozen doctors and nurses came running in, dragging huge machines with them and rolling them to the side before eyeing the girl. “She seems to be having an attack. We need a C34 now” 

They began hooking up a ton of wires to her while her body shook and seized underneath them, her small hand grasping the railing for deal life. 

Now noticing the boy, one of the doctors put his hand out in anger. “Someone get this boy out of here! We need to operate!” 

Bakugo felt a hand on his arm, pulling him away from the scene but he wasn’t having it, choosing to curse at the woman. “Hey, what are you doing?! Get your hands off of me!” 

But given his small size, he was easily pushed out as the door locked behind him. 

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

After about thirty minutes, his mother showed up looking panicked and the doctors pulled her into a private room so they could talk. 

Young Katsuki couldn’t live with that though and quietly followed his mother so he could hear the conversation the two were about to have, although knowing what he knew now, he wished he didn’t back then.

His mother put a hand to her mouth, whispering out her words. “How is she?” 

The doctor picked up a file from his desk and opened it carefully. “It seems we were able to stabilize her condition finally. Her attack was caused by her quirk awakening.” 

She eyes grew wide in shock. “Isn’t that a good thing though? You said she might not ever get her quirk.” 

Shaking his head, the doctor sighed. “Normally yes, getting a quirk is a wonderful thing but in Amari’s case it’s very dangerous.” 

Not understanding, his mother spoke up. “Dangerous, how so?” 

Pulling out another file, he showed the woman the statistics. “In order to be able to sustain your quirk, you must have a strong body, the more powerful the quirk, the more the body must work to maintain it so it doesn’t shut down. In Amari’s case though, her body was so weak from birth that using her quirk could potentially end her life. That’s why we didn’t want her to have one.” 

Katsuki remained frozen at his words. What did he mean his sister couldn’t use her quirk? Just because she was so weak?” 

His mother made a choking sound with her throat and put a shaking hand to her forehead. “Oh god, so that means she can’t ever use her quirk?” 

The doctor just simply shook his head. “I’m afraid not. As you know, Amari was born weak because in the womb, Katsuki took most of her energy and nutrients. It’s a sad fact but it’s not uncommon with twins. One just comes out stronger, and that one happened to be Katsuki. His quirk will surely be extra powerful because of that.” 

Leaning against the wall, Katsuki seemed dumbfounded at what he was saying. His hands grew unnaturally numb as the boy tried to process everything. 

The reason that his sister was like that was because of him? No, that wasn’t his fault. Yet it seemed like all the pieces were slowing sticking together. 

The reason she couldn’t step foot outside, the reason she couldn’t play with anyone else and the reason she couldn’t even use her quirk, there was no mistaking it, it was because of him unknowingly. His sister was sick because of him, because of his need to be better than everyone. The very realization made him sick inside. 

Feeling the bile in his throat, Katsuki ran away from the conversation, unable to hear anymore and fell to the ground, heaving at the reality that had smacked him in the face. 

Time and time again he made fun of her for being stuck in the hospital and being weak but the ugly truth was, he was the one that made her that way. Everything was his fault. 

A couple nurses came rushing to him and asked what was wrong but Katsuki couldn’t hear them over the sound of his own despair.

What had he done?

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

Because Bakugo got sick, his father picked him up and brought him home, although the child had far too many other things on his mind. 

He didn’t eat much dinner and just crawled to bed without any resistance which was rare for him. Usually his parents would have to fight him every night to go to bed. 

Laying down, all he could think about was Amari. Katsuki wondered silently if she would be okay. He hoped so, or else he didn’t know if he could live with himself. 

If only he wasn’t so stubborn in the womb and didn’t take all of Amari’s strength, then she would be able to run and jump and go outside like everyone else. It seemed almost selfish  that he bragged about his life to her, knowing everything now. 

Gritting his teeth, Bakugo sat up from his bed, throwing the sheets off of him and stood up, a new sense of passion burning in his eyes. 

He then realized that since he took all of Amari’s power that he wouldn’t let it go in vain. He would use that power to protect her and become the strongest number 1 hero the world has ever seen

Throwing the window open on the right, Bakugo sucked in a deep breath and screamed and the top of his lungs, all the pain and regret flowing out all at once. “I’M GONNA BE NUMBER 1 DAMN IT! I WILL BE THE NUMBER ONE HERO!”

He knew he had to, for her, and for himself. 

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

Shortly after that night it was announced that Amari would study in America so that she could get away from everything and hopefully have a new start. The medicine over there was also better for her sickness so everyone thought it was best. 

Bakugo hadn’t seen her since that night and he wanted to keep it that way. He much rather shoved her existence and the guilt so far down until he could hardly see it. Yes, this was better. 

Although one day, Bakugo and his friends were playing near his street when they caught a glimpse of a familiar shade of blonde hair watching them. 

He turned to her and that sickening feeling rose up again in his stomach, all the painful memories and guilt rushing back. 

One of his friends seemed to notice her as well and pointed. “Hey, who is that? She looks just like you Bakugo!” 

Another friend snickered at her appearance. “Yeah expect she’s like a twig. Are you related?” 

The two twins stared at each other for a couple moments and Amari opened her mouth to say something when Bakugo cut her off. No, they couldn’t know about what he did. “I’ve never seen her before in my life. You really think I could be related to someone that weak? Let’s just go.” 

Then, he turned his back on her and walked away, not bothering to see her expression. He didn’t want to see the damage he caused. 

His friends also agreed. “That’s true. Besides, Bakugo is an only child, remember?” 

Nodding his head, the other friend understood. “Yeah that’s true. I don’t know what I was thinking. Let’s go play superheroes!” 

Then they all hurried behind their leader and left the street, leaving Amari alone once again. 

And that was it. 

That was the last time that Bakugo last saw Amari,and the last time he had to worry about her. To him, she was just something that didn’t exist. 

Or so he thought.

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

10 Years Later 

Kicking off her shoes, Amari raced into the house and past the dorm leader who shouted at her angrily. “Amari, slow down! You are going to push yourself too hard!” 

Amari just looked back and smiled at the leader before putting her hands up in forgiveness. “Sorry Vanessa but I got something waiting for me!” 

Turning the corner Vanessa just sighed. “This girl, I swear..” 

Running down the hall, Amari stopped when she reached her destination, the mailbox. 

She then took the key out of her pocket and started muttering. “Please please please please let it be here please please…” 

Amari put the key in the lock before opening it slowly, squinting her eyes in case she didn’t want to see. 

She paused for a moment when she saw a white envelope with a red seal on the back. Amari squeaked in delight at this, shouting happily. “IT’S HERE, OMG IT’S HERE AHHH.” 

The rest of the dorm shushed her but Amari didn’t really seem to care, just putting her paper to her lips and smiling. 

Then, ripping open the paper, a little hologram message popped up with All Might shouting gleefully. 

Hello young Amari Bakugo.  It is with great excitement and pleasure that I welcome you to U.A.  Being one of the five recommendations this year, we expect great things from you.  But remember it isn’t just about status but rather heart and determination.  That is all, can’t wait to see you there Alright, transmission out!

The transmission then cut off and Amari couldn’t help but smile gleefully. Finally, she was going to U.A. 

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

Where to read the rest of the fanfic (Goes until S4 as of now and is updated every couple days) 

Quotev: https://www.quotev.com/story/12212516/His-Reasons/1

Watt pad: https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/202689789/write/792330223

Fanfic.Net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13405192/1/His-Reasons

AO3:  https://archiveofourown.org/works/22762864/chapters/54392668

[peaches-of-1]

Peachtober | Day 27: Glowing

Warnings: Consensual tentacles, shy Mino, smut, slight mind break, slight hypnotism, cum inflation, incubus, summoning ritual, oral, anal, restricted movement

Citrus scale: Hand of Buddha

It was your last day visiting Korea, and your friends had all wanted to go celebrity hunting at least once a day. So far, you had met a few idols here and there and taken pictures with them, but you weren’t one for actively looking for them. It wasn’t sasaeng stuff, just going to places they had posted about and seeing if they showed up or not.

If they did, it was a win. If not, then you still had some good food and great conversation. Today, you got to choose what kind of place to go hunting, a night club. Specifically for BTS or BigBang’s GD. They were both known to frequent a spot called 마술, and so you went with a few friends to party the night away.

After doing your final touches on your makeup, you, Seongmin, his wife Soohyun, and their friend with a crush on you Changwoo, were headed to the club. It was a nice night out, so you decided wearing your most comfortable pair of heeled ankle boots would be best. Also, you liked to carry light, so no flats. You hoped you would be too drunk to feel your feet in about three or so hours.

At the club, you guys were left outside waiting because the club had “reached capacity” even though the bouncer was still letting in the faces he recognized. You recognized a few even though their faces were sometimes covered in masks.

A group of four guys and three girls entered, and for a moment, you met eyes with the guy in the back wearing gold pants and a blazer. That’s all you could see before you looked away and covered your stomach. You looked so fucking hot, why weren’t you being let inside? You had the confidence to wear a red choker, a red off the shoulder crop top with angel sleeves with a shorter than usual leather skirt and fishnets. Your shoes were a bit darker than your top, but it still went well.

Also, all over your arms and stomach were those metallic tattoos for some extra flair, even though a few sections were starting to chip off already. It had taken HOURS to get your hair braided on the sides to create a cute looking frohawk. You pouted and were about to tell the rest of the crew they should just head to another club.

“You, red and leather and crew, you’ve been allowed in. Don’t cause any trouble.”

None of you asked questions and quickly went in.

“Full capacity, my ass!” Soohyun said.

“Y/N, wanna dance?” Changwoo asked.

You held up a finger, “Lemme get a drink first, and then we dance.”

There were a ton of drinks you didn’t recognize at the bar and there were a bunch of drinks you didn’t recognize. So you picked one and downed it. The lights seemed to get brighter, and the music was perfect for dancing. The man with a crush on you got the same drink and joined you. This was some of the best tasting alcohol you ever tasted. It didn’t feel like it was alcoholic at all.

“Y/N, I’ll be right back, don’t go anywhere.” my adorable dance partner Changwoo promised.

“Ok!” You said in a chipper voice.

In your movements, you accidentally hit a guy who was in nothing but pants and a fur coat.

You bowed when he growled at you, “I’m showrry.” Then you giggled and reached up on his head, “Can I wear your dog ears, please? I’ll be such a cute puppy.”

He jerked his head back and looked you up and down as he began to advance. What had you done? A man with a gold and black choker got between you two and calmed the situation down before taking you to a place to cool off. Your body felt like it was on fire.

“What’s happn? Feel like sunlight.” You said.

The man chuckled and handed you a small blue sparkly and bubbly vial, “Take this and you’ll feel better.”

“Are you giving me drugs? I don’t DO drugs. Drugs baaadddd.”

“It’s not drugs. I promise. You drank some Faery Nectar and you’re human. This will reverse the effects of the Pollen.” He held you and the vial in different hands.

You tilted your head, “Reverse pollen? Like Nyquil?”

“Uhhh, sure. It’s like Nyquil.”

“Ooooo, ok, gimmie.” You reached your hands out. You took it like a shot and it felt like less powerful Pop Rocks on your tongue.

A few blinks and you slid down on the wall needing to sit for a moment. You reached out for a hand and felt something harder than a normal hand. A slight focus, and it was a set of abs. You pulled your hand back and apologized as the person in front of you did the same.

“...Seems like you’re doing better.” The stranger said.

“Y-yeah. Thank you.” Then you looked at his face. “Mino?”

He smiled, “Yea?” Then he sighed. “That’s what I get for allowing a bunch of mortals in here and not guiding them. Ugh. At least your friends stuck with drinks they had before. Then again, I would mistake you for a Faery, too.”

“Faeries aren’t real, silly. Thanks for the compliment, though.” You said before standing up.

Mino giggled, “You don’t know what this place is, do you?”

You furrowed your brows, “Masul, a nightclub and popular spot to meet idols such as yourself. Or did we take a wrong turn?” You leaned on the wall allowing yourself to return to normal.

“Nah, nah, you’re right, but um. It’s not usually meant for humans…” He said, not making eye contact.

You scoffed, “Did you have too much to drink?”

“Nope. It’s part of the idol process. We are all human when we begin training, but there’s a reason why idols have a certain charm to them. Some of us are Fae or merpeople. Others are infused with unicorn blood or--”

“Lemme guess, vampires?” You moved your fingers in a silly menacing way.

Mino laughed, “Yes, well. Used to, but the blood lust wasn’t turning out well and they often died after their family or significant other found out. However, that strain was replaced with the blood of another highly charming creature confined to myths.”

You folded your arms, “What?”

He looked up at you, “Incubi. Like me.”

You couldn’t help but guffaw at this joke. This had to be a joke. There was no way anyone could actually be part incubus or vamp or whatever he was saying. He was literally wasted. Maybe he had followed in the path of his sunbaes and gotten high. It wouldn’t be too hard in a place like this, would it?

Then you looked up at him. He seemed rather upset and pouty that you were laughing at what he was telling you. Like actually sulking.

“You done?” the idol asked, offended.

“Sorry. Sorry. But like, did you smoke something?”

He looked at you, “I’m serious!”

You decided to entertain this notion, “Ok. Show me.”

“What?” The blonde man asked.

“Show me whatever you are, Mr. Incubus.”

To be fair, based on his outfit, it wouldn’t be surprising. His blazer was wide open, showing a fishnet crop top that had an elastic criss cross right above his belly button. Gold pants and shoes to go along with it. The diamond encrusted gold safety pin earrings and the golden heart lock choker he was wearing went along with it perfectly.

“I can’t...I can’t just whip it out and--and show you.” He stuttered.

From what you remembered from media, incubi were sexual beings. You were in a good mood and had nothing to lose, so you decided to play with him. Flirt a bit.

“What? Am I not sexy enough for you? Or do you need me to be closer?” You sashayed towards him and backed him against a wall.

He closed his eyes and shivered slightly when you trailed your finger down to his belly button piercing and traced his tattoo.

“D-don’t awaken something you don’t know anything about.” Mino said, his breath getting heavy and his pants getting a bit tighter in the front.

You were really making him hard. Did idols really need to get off so badly?

“Or else, what?” You giggled at how much he was trying to hold back and then you let it drop. “I’m going back to the party to find my friends. Some incubus you are.”

“Ya!” He called.

You turned around in the doorway and went to face him, completely weakened by what you saw. His eyes no longer help pupils, no longer human, but instead replaced with pure light. They were legit glowing.

“You can’t just tease me like that and not expect anything to come from it…” He brushed back his hair and closed the door to the hallway you were in. “We have rules. You want me to show you what I got?”

You nodded.

“Speak!” He barked.

“Yes.” You gasped.

Mino smirked and tossed his blazer onto the ground and handed you a golden key. There was no doubt what you were supposed to do. You grabbed the lock and were about to put the key into it when he grabbed your wrist, making you gasp.

“If you do this, there’s no going back. This is your last chance.”

The idol said this, but the glow of his eyes wanted you to keep going. Was it your thoughts or his being forced upon you? Didn’t matter. You unlocked his necklace and he smirked and chuckled at the same time. His body seemed to come alive, no not his body. His clothing. The fishnet unravelled in chunks, the two bottom thick pieces elongating and turning into glistening black tendrils.

They seemed to be glowing from the inside out and wrapped around your arms and before taking off everything you had on. The tentacles wiggled their way underneath and slid them off without Mino moving a muscle. They appeared to be coming from behind him. He left your fishnets and jewelry on.

“Cuz I like roses.” He said when he saw the question in your eyes. “Now, I can’t really control myself in this form, you see. Because it’s early and your first time, I’ll try--emphasis on try-- to take it easy on your body. However, I won’t be able to stop until I’ve completely drained you of sexual energy.”

“Ok~” you said, curious to see where this went.

Mino’s smile got bigger, “Good girl.”

And your body began to become covered in some thick liquidy substance. You started to feel more tingly and you wanted to be filled. You didn’t care by what or how, but you needed it ASAP. Although the secretion hadn’t yet made it between your legs, you could feel yourself dripping and getting more wet there. What was happening to you?

The slippery tentacles wrapped around your legs and spread them. Every part of you was completely bare, and you could feel yourself blushing. You wanted to hide yourself, but Mino wasn’t letting that happen.

“I haven’t even touched down there, and you’re dripping.” He rubbed down there using a thicker tentacle, making you shiver. “Oh, cute. We’re just beginning, and you’re already so sensitive. This is going to be so much fun.”

Two medium sized tendrils wrapped around your breasts and squeezed them. No human could ever make you feel this way. You were struggling to close your legs just because you were so embarrassed, but the transformed idol was holding you in place, making sure to use tiny tentacles to play with your clit. He turned you so that he was just staring at your pussy being toyed with.

You couldn’t tell what face he was making, and so you tried to look at see. However, the smooth glowing tendril hovered in front of your face.

“Open up~”

With little hesitation, you opened your mouth and it slid in. It tasted like you. The taste went farther and farther down your throat. You had never taken anything this impossibly large before. Your gag reflex was repressed by the previous secretions, so it went in smoothly. Tears pricked your eyes as it was getting more difficult to breathe. It began to face fuck you as two small mouth like apendages began to suck on your swelling nipples.

Words faded from your mind as you were turned upside down. Something played with your ass, but you hardly felt it. You were too focused on the luminous eyes in front of you, watching as you slowly but surely lost any sense that was going through your brain before.

The wet sloshing sound of your mouth and his slick black tentacle inside of it turned you on even more and you couldn’t help but think about how much you wanted his growing cock inside of you. He followed your line of sight and started rubbing his crotch.

“You wanna see it?” he asked.

You nodded, unable to speak.

“It’s gonna be different from what you expect. Are you--fuck.” His eyes fluttered for a second. “You just gave me a Surge, pretty girl. Guess I don’t need to ask you again.”

Mino unbuckled his pants and let it drop. It was covered in bumps, not like nasty ones, but like his foreskin had been altered to house beads. Like a dildo but on a human. Well, not exactly a human. Either way, you wanted it inside of you. The way you began squirming. It seemed to have a mind of its own as well as it stretched from his groin to rub against your pussy.

You wanted it. You wanted it so badly. No wait, you were about to--

Mino cooed, “Oh, come for me. I’ll make you come again. I promise you. Please, please, please cum for me.”

You had the best orgasm of your life! Even though you were screaming, all that could be heard were muffled cries as more of your mind leaked out of your pussy. He let you lay out on the floor, your chest heaving and trying to remember what breathing felt like.

He smiled and crouched in front of you, “Is that enough proof for you?”

“Yeah.” You coughed. “Oh fuck.”

The idol brushed his hair back and then stood up, “Ah, I guess I should get one of the security guys to come pick you up. I’m sure--”

You pulled at his nearest and largest tentacle, wrapping your whole body around it. With a cloudy haze of pleasure still floating around your brain and the walking aphrodisiac that is Song Mino still within your grasp, you couldn’t let him go like this.

“You said you were going to make me cum again~” and kissed the dimly glowing appendage. “I have sexual energy to spare, so fuck me more.”

Mino scoffed, “Ok. Alright. I’ll fuck you again and fill you with my cum. How does that sound?”

You shivered at the thought and bit your bottom lip as you nodded and began rutting on the tentacle that went lower and played with your folds. A devious smile crawled upon his lips and said it would be done, but properly this time. He picked you up as well as the clothing you had been wearing that were now just on the hallway floor.

“What do you mean, properly?” You asked, wrapped up by the man’s tentacles.

“You gotta summon me. Give me something in order for this to be fair...official..and to make sure you don’t die afterwards.”

“Make sure I don’t what now?”

He smiled, “Part demon, remember? If I’m not properly paid then your life becomes my reimbursement.”

He brought you into a room that was past all the rooms where erotic screaming and moaning could be heard. Of course an idol club had an area like that. You sat on the black and white canopy bed where he set you down.

“I need some of your hair, can I…?” Mino asked.

You nodded and a tentacle turned into scissors. After doing some strange mixture at the vanity, he handed you a black mix and a photo of an Incubus symbol. You couldn’t exactly tell what was going on, but this was your first encounter with magic like this.

“Draw this on the floor and then read the other side. And then...round two.”

A quick nod and you did as told. The symbol was easy enough, and luckily the chant wasn’t in Latin, just plain English. The symbol lit up on his chest. His eyes turned a fiery blue. A smile on his face.

“Alright, now your soul won’t be damned in Eternal fire. Time to fuck, Mistress~”

He pulled you towards him. You were lifted up once more and the sensation returned. Because you were into it, he took more time in preparing your pussy which was already dripping on the bed. You couldn’t keep your eyes off of a specific area as an appendage wrapped around both of your arms and kept you still. It felt like he was putting something bigger inside of your hole.

Mino was pretty big and to have a tentacle dick like that inside of you, there needed to be preparation. Part of you didn’t even want to be readied and wanted him to plunge deep inside of you to finally--

“You want it that badly, huh?” He made you look into his eyes.

“Y-y-yeah. Ah, yeah. Please. I want. I want it.”

“How rude.” He teased. “Getting yourself off to the thought of my dick without me.”

You shuddered and tried to close your eyes to gain some control, but he wasn’t having it.

The blonde man chuckled, “I guess if you do one thing for me, I’ll make do what you want. I am under your control you know.”

“What?”

“Did I fuck you so much that I made your brain forget how basic summoning works?” Mino teased.

You nodded.

“How cute~” He laughed. “I am yours, Mistress. Any sexual desire you have, I will fill it...and you just say the word.”

“Fuck me now. You can patch me up afterwards. Right now, I want your cock in-inside of me, Mino~”

He smiled, “Can I ask for one thing before I do?”

“Depends…” you said, shuddering and shivering at the sound of his voice and his tentacles starting to spread your legs.

“Kiss me please, Mistress?” The idol tapped his lips as his eyes glowed.

You let him pull you forward and kissed his mouth. It was cut short by his textured tenta-cock thrusting into you and bringing tears in your eyes. You reached out for anything to grab onto. He was there. Mino told you to look at him, and he had regular eyes. You kissed him again as he fucked your pussy which felt like it was melting on his filling dick.

A few smacks on the ass by some smaller appendages followed by human hands squeezing them and then squeezing your breasts as his lips nibbled on your neck. There was not one inch of your body not covered with lubricating slime. All of you inside and out was being pleasured to the utmost as a mouth-like tentacle took the place of Mino’s tongue and explored the inside of your mouth.

Your senses were on fire! And yet you did not want to orgasm yet. The climax was building for sure, but you were just on that edge. That constant edge of wanting to cum, but also wanting to hear him ask for it again.

“Fuck, I’m so close. What’s your name?” He grunted.

“What?”

“Your name. What is it?”

You told him.

Mino smiled as he repeated, “Y/N. That’s beautiful. Oh, Y/N! Oh fuck!”

As gleaming ivory cascaded over shining ebony, you let yourself release as well. Your stomach became distended and absolutely bulbous as he filled you more and more. You...couldn’t...breathe as it even came out of your nose. Your lids got heavy as you began to choke and beg for air.

Losing consciousness, you felt the softness of the bed on your back and glowing eyes returning to human were the last things you saw and felt as your eyes fluttered shut. Maybe it was more than sexual energy that he had taken from you.

“Goodbye, guys!” You hugged your friends as your number was called for the airport. “I had such a great time with you, and I am so sorry for wandering off last night. I’ll be more careful with my drinks. I promise.”

Seongmin giggled, “Just make sure you come back soon so we can do it all over again.”

“We’re just glad you’re safe.”

“I will be back soon. I promise.”

Then you got your ticket punched and got to your seat on the plane, sticking earbuds in and getting ready for a good long nap before layovers. You looked again at the necklace that had been on your finger when you woke up back at your friends’ place. On the couch because they couldn’t carry you any further.

Last night was hazy and you couldn’t remember much except feeling so satisfied. Had you fucked someone in the club? Was it an idol? No...no way, but. The guy in gold stayed in your mind so strongly. Your gut told you it was Mino from Winner, but why would he ever do anything with a pleb like you?

The ring in question was that of an octopus or squid, no body, simply tentacles. A silver tentacle ring with a golden key in your skirt pocket.

A hand tapped your shoulder and a man in a black mask looked down and asked, “Can you sit up? I’m sitting next to you.”

And you swear on your life, his eyes glowed.

If you know who made these gifs, let me know. I tried to find the creators but had no luck in backtracing. Even when I clicked the link, it didn’t tell me who they belong to. I’d really like to credit them. (Or replace them if they don’t want them being used)

[jeonminhao]

Best Regards, Jeon Jungkook

BTS JEON JUNGKOOK | 2.5K WORDS  |  FLUFF

Rating : PG-15  | Pairing : Jungkook x Reader

Summary: Neigbor AU!   “You really didn’t hate Jeon Jungkook, the resident graphic designer with – as Seokjin had put it – a heart of gold and zero self-perseverance. You really didn’t think you bore any resentment for the tenant who lived next to your apartment. Or that was what you were trying to think for the past month until you saw three post-it notes stuck on your apartment door when you got home from a meeting.”

A/N. I’m trying to write again so here goes nothing! Let me know what you think! Find me on AO3 :D

You didn’t hate your neighbor, really. You barely knew the guy! Your landlord only told you his name was Jungkook and that he was a graphic designer. “Maybe you knew each other!” Seokjin, your overly optimistic borderline dopey landlord had said when you mentioned you were a music producer. That was not how it works, but you couldn’t really destroy your landlord’s excitement, so you replied him with a smile. You didn’t think you’ve even met the guy when you first moved in aside from the note slipped under your door telling you to stop making loud noises at night. It would have been fine if it weren’t for the fact that he took the time to doodles dying stick figures on one corner with one stick figure clanging cymbals on the other corner (you might have ended up replying with a very bad doodle and an equally passive-aggressive note but that was not the point).

You really didn’t hate Jeon Jungkook, the resident graphic designer with – as Seokjin had put it – a heart of gold and zero self-perseverance. Min Yoongi, the resident grumpy cat lady who happened to be your cousin, had also told you the same thing, although with a very much more interesting choice of words (“the dumbass who loves Iron Man a little too much and looked like a muscly rabbit” Yoongi said as he helped you unload some boxes). But then again, you’ve spent most of your life with Yoongi and you knew the guy never said anything nice to anyone except for his cats. Hell, he even told you, his favorite cousin, that you looked like 'the hairball his cat hacked up’ when you fought off some bullies who made fun of him.

“He’s not that bad.” Jimin, the beautiful dancer who lived two floors above yours commented the other day. He had accidentally listened to Yoongi’s very creative opinions on Jungkook. “Kinda dumb when it comes to girls, but a very decent guy. You look like you can get along with him.”

“Excuse me, are you implying I’m kinda dumb too?” You asked.

Jimin only flashed you a grin as he sauntered off and it reminded you of Yoongi’s cat that would always try to claw your face whenever you came too close to it.

“Come to think of it, you are similar in some ways,” Hoseok, your best friend, commented offhandedly as he picked up another box. “You have that look on your face.”

“What? Beauty?”

“It’s more of a perpetually confused look. But whatever helps you sleep at night.”

(You chucked your sandal at his head at his comment.)

So yes, you really didn’t think you bore any resentment for the tenant who lived next to your apartment. Or that was what you were trying to think for the past month until you saw three post-it notes stuck on your apartment door when you got home from a meeting.

“Do you want me to buy you a headphone? :(“

“It’s amazing how you and Yoongi and Hoseok are friends for so long! I wouldn’t have survived it.”

And more intricate doodles of what you thought was you screaming while the other stick figures cried in the corner.

.

Jeon Jungkook was a little shit and you didn’t know why everyone thought you’d get along with him. You, as the mature adult that you were, decided to play loud music that night only for Jungkook to slip more notes and stupid passive-aggressive doodle at midnight. The exchange went on for the next three months. Which was why you were now lying on Yoongi’s couch, asking him for more revenge ideas. You had played most of the songs on your favorite playlist, to the ones you hated. And you had collected a pile of post-it notes with doodles and weird notes that you were sure were filled with more passive aggressive messages and insults.

“He’s a little shit, Yoongi.” You groaned.

“You have one more thing in common then,” Yoongi replied.

“I am not!”

“Didn’t you try to make better brownies for our neighbors, Namjoon last week?” You opened your mouth to retort, only for Yoongi to cut you off, “and both of you ended up sending tons of food to our poor neighbors by the end of the week.”

“He started it.” You grumbled.

You should have known better. You should have left the apartment when you realized Yoongi was silent for a good minute before his lips curled into the most obnoxious smile you have ever seen.

“[Y/N]…” he started with a manic grin. “Do… do you have a crush on Jeon Jungkook?”

“I DO NOT!”

You definitely did not have a crush on your tall, cute neighbor of yours that always tried to get on your nerve. And the heat on your cheeks was definitely because of the hot weather. Nothing to do with how Yoongi kept staring at you with that stupid grin or the thought of Steve that popped into your mind.

.

“Hey, [Y/N].” You jumped at the voice and quickly turned around to face Jungkook standing by his door with his eyebrows raised. His lips quirked into a smirk at how wide-eyed you were.

“Jungkook.” You nodded, trying to calm your racing heart.

“Hey, can you play those cute songs you blast the other day? I kinda like it.” Wait, what?

“Do you not have iTunes, Jungkook? You know you can buy the tracks online, right?”

“It’s free.” He shrugged. “I’ll draw you some doodles if you want.”

You gawked at him. Jungkook, bless his heart, had the decency to look a little sheepish for a mere second before he went back to his annoying self.

“Don’t forget to play the songs!” He grinned before he entered his apartment, leaving you gaping at his door in confusion and shock.

.

“Were you trying to flirt with her?” Taehyung asked the moment Jungkook closed the door behind him.

“Uh…”

“Cause that’s so pathetic.” Taehyung snorted, ignoring how red his best friend’s face had become. “Man, I told you to be all cute and romantic and you decided that sending weird notes and doodles are romantic?”

Jungkook groaned and buried his face in the couch while his best friend watched him from the kitchen, clearly used to his antics. “Wh-ami-sup-to—do!”

“Well, you could start by actually talking to her and not acting like a kid. She’s pretty nice once you get to know her.” Jungkook quickly turned to Taehyung, his eyes wide.

“You’ve talked to her?!”

“She gave me some brownies, which, in my opinion, taste better than yours.” Taehyung shrugged, sipping his coffee while he enjoyed the sight of Jungkook flailing on the couch, mumbling more incoherent words. “I can’t believe you have a crush on your neighbor and your first idea is to tell her she played her music too loud.”

Jungkook was about to reply when he heard it. The bubbly pop music she had played the other day. The songs he requested her to play for her. His face bloomed into what Taehyung described as ‘disgusting, love-sick, puppy face’.

“Do you think she likes me too?”

“Jesus, you’re really pathetic, Jungkook. This is why you’ve been single all your life.”

.

You really didn’t think you like him. You were just entertaining him. Maybe he was too broke to buy one track on iTunes. Maybe his laptop broke. You were just doing him a favor. Definitely not because he flashed you that cute smile that morning when you picked up your mails. Not because of the way your heart beat a little faster at the sight of him helping your neighbor and playing with some random dogs by the street. Most definitely not because of the butterflies in your stomach every time he greeted you in the hallway. It was justa favor.

But when you jumped out of your couch to run to the front door, beaming from ear to ear at the little notes and cute doodles he drew you for the day, you knew it wasn’t just some simple favor for a neighbor. He drew you a little cat and you thought it was you, judging from the frown on the face and your favorite dress. It was too adorable and you ended up sticking it on the fridge along with the other doodles he had given you.

You were, as Yoongi and Hoseok had said, completely and utterly fucked.

.

Friday was supposed to be a good day. But it rained the moment you exited the building and you had to deal with traffic. As if it wasn’t bad enough for you, you ripped a hole on your rain boots on your way to a meeting. You had to sit with wet socks for a good three hours, freezing your ass off because you had also forgotten to bring your favorite scarf. The client ended up not liking the song and ordered you to do more revision, much to your frustration. But the highlight of your awful day has got to be the time when you realized you’ve forgotten your keys and locked yourself out of your own apartment while Seokjin was away for a vacation with his daughter and Yoongi was visiting his family for the weekend.

“Great.” You sniffled, rubbing your nose pink as you sat down in front of your apartment. Your hair and clothes were wet from the rainstorm and you wondered if your makeup was still intact or you’ve already turned into a sad raccoon. You were too engrossed in your pity-party for one to notice the opened door next to you. You didn’t even notice it until said person crouched in front of you with worry plastered all over his face.

“[Y/N]?” Jungkook hesitantly called.

He smelled like pine and fresh soap and something else that made you feel at home. You looked up at him, startled at how worried he looked.

“Are you okay?”

At his words, you sniffled a little louder, your eyes burned with fresh tears. He gently put his hand on yours in comfort and it was like a dam broke, the tears you desperately tried to keep in check rushed down your cheeks.

“I can’t get inside!” You wailed, slapping the door pathetically.

“Shit. Please don’t cry. Oh, shit–” Jungkook panicked. “Do- do you want to go inside? I can make you some tea?”

You really didn’t know why it just made you cried harder.

“Y-yes.” You hiccupped between your tears as you let Jungkook guided you inside his apartment.

.

Jungkook’s apartment was like how you imagined an artist’ apartment would look like. Books scattered near the bookshelf, his laptop propped on the coffee table with sketches strewn all over the floor. There was a small pot of cactus by the window. It was oddly endearing and so Steve.

“You can sit here.” He offered, grabbing all his sketches and dumping it on the lone couch beside you. “I’ll get you some towels and clothes? Will that be okay? I can make you tea too.” He rambled.

You can only manage a weak nod, trailing behind Jungkook while he dug out a T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants from his bedroom.

“You have a nice apartment.” You said between hiccups. “I like the little cactus.”

He laughed and it almost sent your heart into overdrive. He had that adorable blush on his cheeks as he led you to the bathroom, explaining which one was soap and which was shampoo in case you want to use it. You didn’t really pay attention to it, too focused on the way he smiled and the affectionate pat on your head before he left you alone. And if you accidentally used the soap on your hair, it was understandable. You were sad and tired.

.

Jungkook was sitting on the kitchen counter when you finally stepped out of the bathroom with a T-shirt and sweatpants that were definitely too large for you. You tried to pull up the pants as you waddled to the kitchen, trying not to trip on your pants by accident (damn Jungkook and his long legs). He quickly looked up, face blooming into a warm smile at the sight of you standing in front of him (his brain short-circuited at how adorable you looked in his clothes but he would never tell you that).

“TEA!” He said a little too loud, blushing as he almost shoved the hot mug at you.

“Thank you.” You hesitantly took it, sipping and sighing in relief as it slowly warmed your body.

“I have to finish some work first but you’re free to do anything here. You can grab anything to eat if you’re hungry or you can just sleep. Just–,” he paused, “just make yourself at home.”

You dumbly nodded while Jungkook ran to the living room, wanting to get away from you as soon as possible so you wouldn’t see how red his cheeks were. Too tired to do anything, you decided to join Jungkook in the living room. You walked past the fridge, smiling at the little notes he had until your eyes caught the familiar notes and handwriting that definitely belonged to you. The little ugly doodles you did for him, the weird messages. You froze as it dawned on you. Jungkook had kept every single note you have sent him and stuck them all over his fridge.

“Hey are you ok–,” Jungkook’s question died out when he saw you standing in front of his fridge, holding a piece of paper.

“You kept this?” You softly asked.

“Uhh–,” Jungkook’s mouth slightly opened, trying to find an excuse that doesn’t scream ‘I have the biggest crush on you’.

“That’s really sweet.” You giggled, feeling warmth creeping up your face. You didn’t know if it was the tea or the weather that made you look at him in the eyes and said, “I kept yours too.”

Jungkook was sure his brain stopped working the moment the words escaped your lips. You kept his doodles. The doodles Taehyung thought was a dumb tactic to get your attention. He thought he heard you said it was cute and you really liked them, but he couldn’t really hear it over how loud his heartbeat was. So, being the smart person that he was, he took a step closer towards you and blurted out, “I really want to kiss you.”

(He did get to kiss you, only to panic a moment later when he felt how feverish you were.)

“I’m okay.” You insisted as Jungkook dragged you to his bed, forcing you to take some medicine and get some sleep. “Kiss me, please?”

“You’re really sick, [Y/N]. Let’s talk about this tomorrow okay? When you feel better.” He smiled, though he still planted a soft kiss on your forehead.

“Okay.” You cutely nodded and Jungkook swore he died and went to heaven when you reached out your hand to hold his before you fell asleep.

[andrewmoocow]

Steven Universe: The Fantastic Mutants Chapter 1: Fantastically Uncanny (originally posted on January 1, 2020)

AN: After going back to the past to explore the history of Thanos, we finally jump back to the future with this latest and long-awaited installment of the Marvel Gems Universe in the all-new Heavy Metal Trilogy! I'm your darling author Lightyearpig, and we're finally back in business baby! Just as a disclaimer, this takes place a few weeks after Change your Mind which unfortunately means no references to the movie or Spinel. Tragic, I know. But without further ado, let the return of the Crystal Gems commence!

--

"So nice of you to take us in professor." Rose Quartz thanked a young Charles Xavier as they, along with Garnet, Amethyst & Pearl strolled through his mansion home in Westchester County, New York during the year 1963. "I empathize so deeply with your desires for harmony between humans and mutants. Both your kinds are just so intriguing to me." "And I find Gems a peculiar topic as well." Xavier remarked with a smile. "I have to admit, I find myself endearing to your plights against those Diamonds thousands of years ago. Do you believe they could strike again?" he asked. "I don't think so. Ever since the end of the rebellion, Earth has been in relative peace for millenniums." Garnet responded adjusting her shades. "However, they could strike again if any deeper knowledge of the Crystal Gems reach them." "So Xy, got any cool stuff to show us? Or are we just gonna keep walking around and talking about junk?" Amethyst asked casually. "Amethyst, be polite!" Pearl gently scolded the smaller Gem, but Charles laughed warmly. "No need to be so concerned Pearl." the professor stated. "But there is one thing I've been working on for the past few years. Please, follow me." Xavier lead the Gems to his office, where he pressed a button hidden inside a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. and opened a secret elevator hidden behind a bookshelf. "Right this way now girls." he commanded stepping into the elevator and the Gems followed. The lift slowly creeped down the passageway and then finally stopped at a sub-basement inhabited solely by a helmet and computer-like device, both connected to a large electronic brain hovering above them. "This is what I call Cerebro." Xavier explained. "It's still a work in progress, but one day I can use this to search for mutants around the world and take them in as both my students & future heroes." "Mind if you give us a demonstration?" Rose asked. "I never thought you'd ask." Charles proclaimed sitting down at the computer and putting on the helmet. -- Years later, a far older, wheelchair-bound Xavier took off the helmet in a more modern looking Cerebro room while Wolverine and Mister Fantastic stood by him. "You sure this is still the one Logan?" Professor X asked the Canadian mutant. "I'm sure of it Chuck." Logan replied. "Just say the word and we'll all be there in a jiff." "I would like to research this boy sometime." Reed Richards commented gazing at a video image of Steven Universe conjured up by Xavier's machine. With a press of his temple, the professor telepathically gave out his orders. "To me, my X-Men!"

-- "So what was that Universe child like Logan?" the field leader of the X-Men Scott Summers, aka Cyclops asked Wolverine while the mutant team flew out to Beach City on the Blackbird. "Real energetic little squirt who sees the good in a ton of people, even Thanos." Wolverine answered. "Got a bunch of crazy friends too, like this big square lady who's literally just a pair of tiny girlfriends in a trenchcoat, a purple midget with a whip, some bird woman who had the hots for his dead mom when she was alive, etc." "My stars and garters, what an interesting bunch." the beastly researcher Hank McCoy commented. "Heads up gang, we should be landing in Beach City any moment now." their current pilot Angel, aka Warren Worthington III, announced as the jet got closer. "Please keep arms and legs within your seats as we begin touchdown. Okay Wolvie, where to?" "Just be on the lookout for a beach house jammed into the big statue of a giant woman near the beach, that's all." Logan ordered sitting down in his seat and looking out the window. "See, there it is!" he exclaimed pointing at that very beach house in the distance, only it was very different from when he last saw it. Since he last departed Beach City after the battle with Thanos, the house now had a second floor in construction process connecting to a barely-finished crystal dome, larger windows at the front and two flags outside of it. When the X-Men touched down on the beach close to the beach house, he got a better look at the flags to discover that one of them symbolized Earth while the other was colored yellow, blue, white and pink. "Whew, talk about a chic place!" the cryokinetic Bobby Drake, better known as Iceman, whistled while gazing at the house. "You told us he was just some kid with crazy alien powers!" "Bob, there's so much you don't know about these Gems yet." Logan declared placing a hand on his comrade's cold shoulder when the door opened and out of it came Steven himself. "Hi Wolverine! We weren't expecting you to come back after helping us stop Thanos!" the half-Gem boy greeted the savage mutant. "And are those the X-Men?! Awesome!" "We just need to talk squirt!" Logan hollered back from below the front porch. "And also, WHAT THE F-" -- "You're just worried that I can survive that." Wolverine snarled while hand soap slowly dripped out his mouth. "So you were saying that your dead mom was secretly a space warlord who ditched her home planet for Earth because she was sick of the other Diamonds treating her like shit?" "That's basically it, yeah." Amethyst commented. Also since Wolverine first left Beach City, the Crystal Gems had changed in appearance as well. Garnet's visor had turned orange while the top part resembled a star, the bottom part of her torso was split between red & blue and had copper & tin wedding rings on her fingers. Amethyst now had a black top exposing her gemstone, jean shorts with black stars on them and her boots were white. And Pearl had gained a cyan blazer with shoulder-pads over a teal blue top, indigo leggings and pink flats. But it was the newer members of Crystal Gems that changed the most. Peridot's visor was now a larger butterfly shape, she proudly wore her stars on her chest & knees and her socks were now chartreuse yellow boots. Lapis had doffed a skirt entirely in favor of dark-blue sweatpants held up by a gold ribbon, her top had the upper portion of a star on it and she now had golden sandals on. And Bismuth was now clad in a black vest-like garment over a strapless red apron while her boots & pants remained unchanged. "Well, good to know." Cyclops stated standing at attention before Steven. "Greetings young Mr. Universe. I am Scott Summers, also known as X-Men leader Cyclops." Scott introduced himself. "My team and I have arrived at your homestead with an offer to better your skills under the tutelage of our superior Professor Charles Xavier." "Wait, you mean Chuck?!" Amethyst exclaimed. "Aw, it's been ages since we last saw him! How's he been?" she asked. "Since he last met you Crystal Gems, he took us in as his students before becoming paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair." Cyclops's lover & second in command Jean Grey responded. "I'm Jean Grey." she introduced herself as well. "These are the rest of our graduating class; Iceman, Angel and Beast. And I'm sure you're already familiar with Wolverine." "Anyone wanna tell me who this newbie is?" Logan asked standing next to a green one-eyed Gem with white hair and a pink diamond on her chest dressed in light green coattails. "Forgive me sir, my name is Nephrite." the new Gem introduced herself. "Honorary member of the Crystal Gems at your service!" "She was the first corrupted Gem we fought and as such, one of the first we fully healed." Garnet briefed Howlett. "She's here today because we're in the process of building a place for all former Gem monsters to call home, just like her." "So kind of like our headquarters, where we train mutants from across the globe to become the next generation of heroes." Jean stated. "Wait, there's more of you?" Bismuth asked the telepath quizzically. "I suppose you must've been unaware for some reason." the scarlet-locked mutant guessed correctly while using her mutant powers to read the blacksmith's mind. "Oh you bet I was!" Bismuth replied. "Just a simple case of being bubbled and stuck in a lion's mane due to...disagreements, shall we say." "You mean this creature?" Beast asked observing Lion as he sniffed his blue fur. "How can it be possible? Surely the mane of a normal lion cannot contain anything at maximum length!" Steven however answered Dr. McCoy's questions by sticking his hand inside the mane. "My word, I must learn more!" "Hey Steven, just came by today to help with construct-" Connie announced stepping into the beach house expecting the Gems to accept her help. They were present, but were too preoccupied by a group of mutants investigating them including a blue-furred man holding Lion by the sides. "Not even going to ask." "Am I the only one getting some weird deja vu?" Lapis pondered. "Oh you bet! All we need now is a black hole bomb made out of kitchen things!" Peridot replied with a snicker. "Oh hey Connie, I'd like you to meet the X-Men." Steven introduced his swordfighting friend to the merry mutants. "You must be the friend of Steven I've heard Logan talk about." Cyclops commented shaking the girl's hand. "I am Cyclops. Me and my teammates are here today to test Steven and see if he's got what it takes to be a student of Xavier." "Oh cool! Let me guess, you have a flying machine outside on the beach to take us to your HQ?" Connie asked. "That's how the last few superheroes came to see us." "You are very spot-on young lady." Beast declared opening the door for everyone to leave. "Come now, we have much to discuss in Westchester!" The Crystal Gems exited the beach house where the Blackbird awaited them on the sand outside. "Oh my gosh, your ship looks so cool!" Steven cried out in excitement. "Can I sit in the front?" "Surely. Anything Steven." Scott kindly accepted when they boarded the X-Men's jet and allowed the boy to take one of the front seats closest to the pilot's section while the other Crystal Gems, plus Lion, simply stood around. "Well aren't you just a lucky boy?" Amethyst quipped while leaning against Iceman's seat. "Getting to ride shotgun with the big cheese of the X-Men." "Though I'm not sure if we're ready to let Steven leave Beach City to better his powers." Pearl stated with concern when Beast put a hand on her shoulder. "Do not worry my dear, he's in good hands." Hank declared. "Or maybe not." Garnet announced adjusting her shades. "I fear something bad could happen to him while at your mansion." "Yeesh, Captain Ominous here. Am I right?" Angel snarked as the Blackbird finally took off, heading towards Westchester and zooming away from Beach City. Down below, Greg was ready to drive up to the Temple in his van when he saw the Blackbird flying overhead. "I wonder what bizarre adventures Steven is getting into this time?" he muttered as the jet vanished from sight. -- "And that, children, is how you land a fastball special." the metal-skinned Russian mutant Piotr Rasputin, aka Colossus, declared to a classroom full of young mutants in the Xavier Institute of Higher Learning for Gifted Youngsters. The school was established by the genius to better the skills of the young mutants, build them to be the next generation of heroes and inspire his motto of peace between humans & mutants within them. When the X-Men were not fighting the forces of evil, many of them spent time teaching classes, and Colossus, the leader of the Gold team of X-Men, was no different. "Now then, any questions?" Piotr asked his pupils when one of them raised his hand. "Yes, Mr. Collins?" he stated. "Have you noticed that Kitty's head is poking out of the board?" Russell Collins asked, bringing attention to Rasputin's fellow X-Man Kitty Pryde popping her head out with her phasing abilities, inciting giggles from the class. "Bozhe moy!" Colossus exclaimed in surprise. "I didn't see you there Kitty! What brings you here?" "I came because Emma told me to tell you that Cyclops and the others are coming back." Kitty announced. "Uzhe?!" Piotr muttered before turning to his class. "My apologies students, I have other matters to attend to." he apologized to his pupils as he walked out the door. "Be sure to keep studying everyone!" -- In the foyer of the mansion, the X-Men assembled to welcome back their six famous teammates and gemlike guests. On one side were the Blue Team of mutants. Aside from Cyclops, Jean, Hank, Angel, Iceman & Wolverine, they included the weather-wielding Storm, power-stealing Southern belle Rogue, charming card-tosser Gambit, implike teleporting Nightcrawler, fireworks-tossing Jubilee, the disappearing Shadowcat & her pet dragon Lockheed and the tracker Warpath. On the other side was the Gold Team led by Colossus. By his side were the beautiful telepath Emma Frost, Wolverine's clone daughter X-23, Colossus's younger sister Magik, the fire-wielder Firestar, solar-powered Sunspot, pop singer Dazzler, wisecracking shapeshifter Morph, living rocket Cannonball, lava-generating Magma and the other teleporter Blink. Professor Xavier psychically lifted his wheelchair down the stairs and planted himself on the floor to look at the Crystal Gems. "Today my fellow mutants, we welcome some old friends of mine into our school." he announced. "I'd like to thank Logan here for pointing us in their direction." Wolverine simply rolled his eyes before lighting up a cigarette to smoke. "Without Wolverine, our eyes wouldn't have been opened to the potential of young Steven Universe here as both a student of my school and a potential X-Man as well." Xavier finished his speech with a grin. "Now then everyone, introduce yourselves." "Yo Chuck, it's been ages! How ya been?!" Amethyst excitedly greeted the professor. "Why Amethyst, so good to see you again too." Xavier replied tousling the smaller Gem's hair. "It seems that all three of you have changed quite a bit since we last met." he added looking at Garnet and Pearl. "Along with new additions to your ranks as well." "Astounding! Some humans can choose not to use their gravity connectors!" Peridot exclaimed gazing at the mutant's wheelchair. "And they can also choose to not have hair as well!" Xavier gave a warm chuckle and patted Peridot on her three-sided head. "Quite an observant one, isn't she?" "So what's up with the whole no-hair business?" Lapis asked Charles. "It's just old age my dear." the professor stated while gazing at Steven and Connie meeting the rest of the X-Men. "So you're basically Wolverine's clone?" Connie asked X-23. "Yeah, pretty much." Laura replied deadpan. "And I'm also sort of his daughter as well." "Whoa, you have a pet dragon?!" Steven gasped in amazement while Lockheed perched himself on his shoulder. "Well, Lockheed is more of a weird alien dragon, but you get the point." Kitty replied earnestly. "Which reminds me, can I get a look at your lion?" Without Steven even asking him to, Lion walked towards Kitty Pryde and stared at her for a few moments before bowing his head, allowing her to pet him. "Aw, he's a real cutie." she cooed at Lion. "When and where did you get him?" "It was when I was starting to go on missions with the Gems, I found him in a desert one time." Steven explained. "Ah, sometimes I miss the simpler days when I was just an excitable tagalong to them. Just a new monster with no drama related to my dead mom or other Gems in sight." "Kinda reminds me of when I started out as an X-Man." Kitty regaled. "I was just another student of theirs until I happened to save their lives from the Hellfire Club and that's how I became a full member with both Storm & Wolverine having my back." "Wow, you two are surprisingly pretty similar." Connie observed. "You mean like how we were once eager young sidekicks to more experienced heroes who soon grew into our own?" Kitty responded. "Yeah, that's basically it." Connie replied. "So what can all of you do?" "That's just what I needed to hear young lady." Professor X stated. "I want to see how skilled you and Steven are on the battlefield. Come now, to the Danger Room everyone! Reed and company should be down there waiting for us." "What's that?" Steven asked Wolverine. "It's what we call our training room. Able to simulate any situation that requires any of our abilities." Logan explained. "It's been rebuilt God knows how many times, but it's still the same old room through and through." As the Crystal Gems were led by the X-Men, a female student of the Academy watched them depart and her eyes turned yellow as she eyed Lapis in particular. "Ah, she seems easy to replace." she muttered to herself while her skin slowly turned blue. "Let the mission proceed." -- Happy New Year everyone! I sincerely hope 2020 and beyond brings us more fond memories together, and I also hope I don't procrastinate on every chapter like what happened towards the end of both Secret Wars & Gravity Soul. With that said, just who is that mysterious student and what does she want with Lapis Lazuli?! Well if you know your Marvel, then I suppose the yellow eyes and blue skin should give it away. Anyways, be sure to leave a review and I'll see you next time!

[writingbarnes]

Best Regards, Steve Rogers

Summary : You really didn’t hate Steve Rogers, the resident graphic designer with – as Scott had put it – a heart of gold and zero self-perseverance. You really didn’t think you bore any resentment for the tenant who lived next to your apartment. Or that was what you were trying to think for the past month until you saw three post-it notes stuck on your apartment door when you got home from a meeting. NEIGHBOR AU!

Character : Steve Rogers x Reader  |  Genre : Fluff,crack, failed attempt at angst |  

Words : almost 2.5K

Author’s Note : Sometimes you get months of writer’s block and then you finished a one shot in a few hours :))) What is writing. I have like 2 version of this so if you see the kpop one that’s me 🤷

Enjoy <3 Tell me what you think! Thank you @pleasecallmecaptain for reading this mess and for the inspiration behind the rain boots lmao

You didn’t hate your neighbor, really. You barely knew the guy! Your landlord only told you his name was Steve and that he was a graphic designer. “Maybe you know each other!” Scott, your overly optimistic borderline dopey landlord had said when you mentioned you were a music producer. That was not how it works, but you couldn’t really destroy your landlord’s excitement, so you replied with a smile. You didn’t think you’ve even met the guy when you first moved in aside from the note slipped under your door telling you to stop making loud noises at night. It would have been fine if it weren’t for the fact that he took the time to doodle dying stick figures on one corner with one stick figure clanging cymbals on the other corner (you might have ended up replying with a very bad doodle and an equally passive-aggressive note but that was not the point).

You really didn’t hate Steve Rogers, the resident graphic designer with – as Scott had put it – a heart of gold and zero self-perseverance. Bucky Barnes, the resident grumpy cat lady who happened to be your cousin, had also told you the same thing, although with a very much more interesting choice of words (“the dumbass who’d jumped off a plane without a parachute because he thinks he’s cool” Bucky said as he helped you unload some boxes). But then again, you’ve spent most of your life with Bucky and you knew the guy never said anything nice to anyone except for his cats. Hell, he even told you, his favorite cousin, that you looked like 'the hairball his cat hacked up’ when you fought off some bullies who made fun of his prosthetic arm.

“He’s not that bad.” Natasha, the scary redhead lady who lived two floors above yours commented the other day. She had accidentally listened to Bucky’s very creative opinions on Steve. “Kinda dumb when it comes to girls, but a very decent guy. You look like you can get along with him.”

“Excuse me, are you implying I’m kinda dumb too?” You asked.

Natasha only flashed you a grin as she sauntered off and it reminded you of Bucky’s cat that would always try to claw your face whenever you came too close to it.

“Come to think of it, you are similar in some ways,” Bucky commented offhandedly as he picked up another box. “You have that look on your face.”

“What? Beauty?”

“It’s more of a perpetually confused look. But whatever helps you sleep at night.”

(You chucked your sandal at his head at his comment.)

So yes, you really didn’t think you bore any resentment for the tenant who lived next to your apartment. Or that was what you were trying to think for the past month until you saw three post-it notes stuck on your apartment door when you got home from a meeting.

“Do you want me to buy you a headphone? :(“

“It’s amazing how you and Bucky are friends for so long! I wouldn’t have survived it.”

And more intricate doodles of what you thought was you screaming while the other stick figures cried in the corner.

.

Steve Rogers was a little shit and you didn’t know why everyone thought you’d get along with him. You, as the mature adult that you were, decided to play loud music that night only for Steve to slip more notes and stupid passive-aggressive doodle at midnight. The exchange went on for the next three months. Which was why you were now lying on Bucky’s couch, asking him for more revenge ideas. You had played most of the songs on your favorite playlist, to the ones you hated. And you had collected a pile of post-it notes with doodles and weird notes that you were sure were filled with more passive aggressive messages and insults.

“He’s a little shit, Bucky.” You groaned.

“You have one more thing in common then,” Bucky replied.

“I am not!”

“Didn’t you try to make better brownies for the new neighbor last week?” You opened your mouth to retort, only for Bucky to cut you off, “and both of you ended up sending tons of food to our poor neighbor by the end of the week.”

“He started it.” You grumbled.

You should have known better. You should have left the apartment when you realized Bucky was silent for a good minute before his lips curled into the most obnoxious smile you have ever seen.

“[Y/N]…” he started with a manic grin. “Do… do you have a crush on Steve Rogers?”

“I DO NOT!”

You definitely did not have a crush on your tall, cute neighbor of yours that always tried to get on your nerve. And the heat on your cheeks was definitely because of the hot weather. Nothing to do with how Bucky kept staring at you with that stupid grin or the thought of Steve that popped into your mind.

.

“Hey, [Y/N].” You jumped at the voice and quickly turned around to face Steve standing by his door with his eyebrows raised. His lips quirked into a smirk at how wide-eyed you were.

“Steve.” You nodded, trying to calm your racing heart.

“Hey, can you play those cute songs you blasted the other day? I kinda like it.” Wait, what?

“Do you not have iTunes, Steve? You know you can buy the tracks online, right?”

“It’s free.” He shrugged. “I’ll draw you some doodles if you want.”

You gawked at him. Steve, bless his heart, had the decency to look a little sheepish for a mere second before he went back to his annoying self.

“Don’t forget to play the songs!” He grinned before he entered his apartment, leaving you gaping at his door in confusion and shock.

.

“Were you trying to flirt with her?” Sam asked the moment Steve closed the door behind him.

“Uh…”

“Cause that’s so pathetic.” Sam snorted, ignoring how red his best friend’s face had become. “Man, I told you to be all cute and romantic and you decided that sending weird notes and doodles are romantic?”

Steve groaned and buried his face in the couch while his best friend watched him from the kitchen, clearly used to his antics. “Wh-ami-sup-to—do!”

“Well, you could start by actually talking to her and not acting like a kid. She’s pretty nice once you get to know her.” Steve quickly turned to Sam, his eyes wide.

“You’ve talked to her?!”

“She gave me some brownies, which, in my opinion, taste better than yours.” Sam shrugged, sipping his coffee while he enjoyed the sight of Steve flailing on the couch, mumbling more incoherent words. “I can’t believe you have a crush on your neighbor and your first idea is to tell her she played her music too loud.”

Steve was about to reply when he heard it. The bubbly pop music she had played the other day. The songs he requested her to play for him. His face bloomed into what Sam described as ‘disgusting, love-sick, puppy face’.

“Do you think she likes me too?”

“Jesus, you’re really pathetic, Steve. This is why you’ve been single all your life.”

.

You really didn’t think you liked him. You were just entertaining him. Maybe he was too broke to buy one track on iTunes. Maybe his laptop broke. You were just doing him a favor. Definitely not because he flashed you that cute smile that morning when you picked up your mails. Not because of the way your heart beat a little faster at the sight of him helping your neighbor and playing with some random dogs by the street. Most definitely not because of the butterflies in your stomach every time he greeted you in the hallway. It was just a favor.

But when you jumped out of your couch to run to the front door, beaming from ear to ear at the little notes and cute doodles he drew you for the day, you knew it wasn’t just some simple favor for a neighbor. He drew you a little cat and you thought it was you, judging from the frown on the face and your favorite dress. It was too adorable and you ended up sticking it on the fridge along with the other doodles he had given you.

You were, as Bucky had said, completely and utterly fucked.

.

Friday was supposed to be a good day. But it rained the moment you exited the building and you had to deal with traffic. As if it wasn’t bad enough for you, you ripped a hole on your rain boots on your way to a meeting. You had to sit with wet socks for a good three hours, freezing your ass off because you had also forgotten to bring your favorite scarf. The client ended up not liking the song and ordered you to do more revision, much to your frustration. But the highlight of your awful day has got to be the time when you realized you’ve forgotten your keys and locked yourself out of your own apartment while Scott was away for a vacation with his daughter and Bucky was visiting his family for the weekend.

“Great.” You sniffled, rubbing your nose pink as you sat down in front of your apartment. Your hair and clothes were wet from the rainstorm and you wondered if your makeup was still intact or if you’ve already turned into a sad raccoon. You were too engrossed in your pity-party for one to notice the opened door next to you. You didn’t even notice it until said person crouched in front of you with worry plastered all over his face.

“[Y/N]?” Steve hesitantly called.

He smelled like pine and fresh soap and something else that made you feel at home. You looked up at him, startled at how worried he looked.

“Are you okay?”

At his words, you sniffled a little louder, your eyes burned with fresh tears. He gently put his hand on yours in comfort and it was like a dam broke, the tears you desperately tried to keep in check rushed down your cheeks.

“I can’t get inside!” You wailed, slapping the door pathetically.

“Shit. Please don’t cry. Oh, shit–” Steve panicked. “Do- do you want to come inside? I can make you some tea?”

You really didn’t know why it just made you cried harder.

“Y-yes.” You hiccupped between your tears as you let Steve guide you inside his apartment.

.

Steve’s apartment was like how you imagined an artist’ apartment would look like. Books scattered near the bookshelf, his laptop propped on the coffee table with sketches strewn all over the floor. There was a small pot of cactus by the window. It was oddly endearing and so was Steve.

“You can sit here.” He offered, grabbing all his sketches and dumping it on the lone couch beside you. “I’ll get you some towels and clothes? Will that be okay? I can make you tea too.” He rambled.

You can only manage a weak nod, trailing behind Steve while he dug out a  T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants from his bedroom.

“You have a nice apartment.” You said between hiccups. “I like the little cactus.”

He laughed and it almost sent your heart into overdrive. He had that adorable blush on his cheeks as he led you to the bathroom, explaining which one was soap and which was shampoo in case you want to use it. You didn’t really pay attention to it, too focused on the way he smiled and the affectionate pat on your head before he left you alone. And if you accidentally used the soap on your hair, it was understandable. You were sad and tired.

.

Steve was sitting on the kitchen counter when you finally stepped out of the bathroom with a T-shirt and sweatpants that were definitely too large for you. You tried to pull up the pants as you waddled to the kitchen, trying not to trip on your pants by accident (damn Steve and his long legs). He quickly looked up, face blooming into a warm smile at the sight of you standing in front of him (his brain short-circuited at how adorable you looked in his clothes but he would never tell you that).

“TEA!” He said a little too loud, blushing as he almost shoved the hot mug at you.

“Thank you.” You hesitantly took it, sipping and sighing in relief as it slowly warmed your body.

“I have to finish some work first but you’re free to do anything here. You can grab anything to eat if you’re hungry or you can just sleep. Just–,” he paused, “just make yourself at home.”

You dumbly nodded while Steve ran to the living room, wanting to get away from you as soon as possible so you wouldn’t see how red his cheeks were. Too tired to do anything, you decided to join Steve in the living room. You walked past the fridge, smiling at the little notes he had until your eyes caught the familiar notes and handwriting that definitely belonged to you. The little ugly doodles you did for him, the weird messages. You froze as it dawned on you. Steve had kept every single note you have sent him and stuck them all over his fridge.

“Hey are you ok–,” Steve’s question died when he saw you standing in front of his fridge, holding a piece of paper.

“You kept this?” You softly asked.

“Uhh–,” Steve’s mouth slightly opened, trying to find an excuse that doesn’t scream ‘I have the biggest crush on you’.

“That’s really sweet.” You giggled, feeling warmth creeping up your face. You didn’t know if it was the tea or the weather that made you look at him in the eyes and said, “I kept yours too.”

Steve was sure his brain stopped working the moment the words escaped your lips. You kept his doodles. The doodles Sam thought was dumb. He thought he heard you said it was cute and you really liked them, but he couldn’t really hear it over how loud his heartbeat was. So, being the smart person that he was, he took a step closer towards you and blurted out, “I really want to kiss you.”

(He did get to kiss you, only to panic a moment later when he felt how feverish you were.)

“I’m okay.” You insisted as Steve dragged you to his bed, forcing you to take some medicine and get some sleep. “Kiss me, please?”

“You’re really sick, [Y/N]. Let’s talk about this tomorrow okay? When you feel better.” He smiled, though he still planted a soft kiss on your forehead.

“Okay.” You cutely nodded and Steve swore he died and went to heaven as he watched you reached out your hand to hold his.

[formlesscopycat]

Meet Me at the Red Bridge

A Kuroko no Basuke fanfic.

Pairing: Aomine x Kise

Summary: Kuroko Tetsuya means well, he really does. So he takes matters into his own hands and goes into a mission to get his dumb friends, Aomine and Kise, together.

Read on AO3

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.

He’s already fifteen minutes late to their meeting but Daiki doesn’t give a fuck, after all, it’s just his best friends, Tetsu and Satsuki, asking him to hang out with them on their stupid Valentine’s date.

He’s got nothing better to do than mope at home tonight, and honestly, Tetsu and Satsuki are infinitely more tolerable than watching his folks get lovey-dovey with each other. At least with his friends, they just hold hands and blush a lot like fuck, it only makes Daiki gag just a little bit. Add to it the ultimate deal breaker, Tetsu and Satsuki promised him free food, all the burgers and milkshakes that his appetite can hold, no holds barred, all Daiki gets to do is to show up on time.

Tetsu said they’ll wait for Daiki by the arched wooden red bridge overlooking the river, the one they always passed by on their way to and from Teiko.

5pm, sharp! Satsuki had reiterated. But to hell with punctuality, Tetsu and Satsuki should’ve accepted the fact that he, Aomine Daiki, Teiko Ace and future NBA star, had no sense of urgency in his bones.

Past the clearing, Daiki approaches the red bridge with careless, unhurried steps and braces himself for Satsuki’s inevitable tantrum. But instead of teal and pink heads, a splash of gold breaks into Daiki’s vision, the smoothest, softest-looking blond locks he’ll never mistake for anybody else no matter the distance. The other teen has kept his back turned towards Daiki, his lean, athletic frame half-bent against the red-painted railing, seemingly too engrossed with the rushing waters under the bridge that he fails to sense Daiki’s presence drawing near.

“Kise?”

There’s also an obvious mark of astonishment on the blond’s face, that of which on an equal level with Daiki’s, as soon as Kise pivots to face the Teiko Ace. For a moment, Daiki gets lost in his thoughts as he takes in Kise’s appearance, and he wonders how the hell Kise pulls off a look like that, casual yet quite dashing in camel-colored trench coat, layered over a knitted-gray turtleneck and dark skinny jeans.

“A-Aominecchi?” Kise stammers, his amber eyes blown wide like saucers.

“What are you doing here?” Daiki and Kise both ask at the same time. Daiki reflexively looks away out of embarrassment, and from the corners of his eyes, he’d noticed Kise do the same, almost furtively, and Daiki feels his cheeks heat up despite the February chill hanging in the air.

Predictably, it’s Kise who speaks first.

“I’m waiting for Kurokocchi, said he needs to tell me something important.” Kise clears his throat before adding,  “I didn’t know you’re coming, too.”

Daiki likes to think that he didn’t just imagine the blush that briefly colored Kise’s cheeks just now.

But still, there’s something quite puzzling in their situation that Daiki can’t put a finger on.

“Huh? But I’m supposed to meet him and Satsuki, no mention of you, either!” Aomine exclaims.

“What?” Kise gets caught up in the confusion, as well. “Wait, you’re like, third-wheeling with Kurokocchi and Momoicchi?”

“Only for free food, yeah.”

“Aominecchi, it’s Valentine’s Day!”

“So?”

“So you ought to give the love birds some privacy!”

“This wasn’t my idea, Tetsu insisted that I tag along! And where the hell are those idiots, anyway?”

“Weird… ain’t likely for Kurokocchi and Momoicchi to run late like this.” With his thumb stroking his chin, Kise looks upwards into the afternoon skies already bathed in purples and oranges.

Daiki nods. Satsuki, at least, should’ve been here already. She hates being late. Daiki squints his eyes and searches around for Tetsu, but there are no traces of the Phantom Sixth Man anywhere. And how come nobody said that Kise’s coming along, too? It’s not likely that they’d just forget to mention this.

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Daiki pulls out his phone from his jacket pocket and immediately dials Tetsu’s number. After six rings, Tetsu finally picks up the call.

“Tetsu, where the hell are you and Satsuki?!” Aomine jabbers on the phone.

“Are you with Kise-kun?” Tetsu asks in his usual calm monotone.

“Yes, he’s here! Why didn’t you say he’s coming?”

“Put me on loudspeaker, Aomine-kun. I’d like to speak with you both.”

Still utterly clueless about what Tetsu could be up to, Daiki catches Kise’s eyes first, the latter meeting his gaze with an equally baffled look, before he taps the loudspeaker icon on his phone.

“Kurokocchi, where are you, is everything alright?” Kise inquires worriedly, sliding closer to Daiki as he holds out his phone.

“Listen,” Tetsu’s voice cackles through the phone’s speaker. “You two are huge dumbasses so I decided to make things easier for you both. I’m so fed up with the two of you mooning over each other all the time and not doing anything about it. Aomine-kun, you’re crushing hard on Kise-kun since the first time you saw him, aren’t you? You always like to poke fun at Kise-kun if just to hold his attention all the time. And don’t you dare deny, you secretly collect his photobooks, I knew because I saw the stash under your bed when the Miracles had a sleep over at your house!”

“What the--the fuck are you saying, Tetsu?!” Daiki shouts, already feeling an angry vein bulge and throb on his forehead. Holy shit, did Tetsu actually exposed him like that? He never expected to be pushed off the cliff of humiliation in this manner, his well-kept secrets divulged in the open, right in front of Kise, whose eyes are blown wider than Daiki has ever seen, the blond’s gloved hands are both clapped over his mouth. Daiki swears, he’ll definitely gut Tetsu when he sees him.

“Don’t interrupt, I’m not done yet,” Tetsu continues, with barely a hint of emotion in his voice, which makes it more scathing, somehow. “And you, Kise-kun. You’ve always admired Aomine-kun, too, right? And we’re not talking about his basketball skills. Too many stolen glances don’t escape me during practice.”

At this, Kise gasps and buries his face in both of his hands.

“Always… admired?” Daiki repeats, his mind barely keeping up with the information Tetsu has just revealed. This is certainly new, and Tetsu better not making this shit up or Daiki will hunt him down and kill him again.

“...And you can’t stop talking about ‘Aominecchi this, Aominecchi that’, I’m betting my milkshakes, you keep talking about him in your sleep.”

“Kurokocchi!” Kise lets out a muffled squeak, Daiki assumes the mortification gets too much for him to handle, too.

However, Tetsu, the little shit, is unstoppable. “...But you thought Aomine-kun only likes big-chested girls. Well, you’re wrong, he likes you. A lot. So there, enjoy your date. You can thank me later, bye.”

The line goes silent, as simple as that.

Dead air weighs around the two teens, stifling and awkward.

Daiki’s throat goes dry, he can’t look at Kise, running away and hiding forever in his bedroom seems like the most convenient option and yet, he freezes on the spot, his legs feeling like a ton.

He is going to fucking murder Kuroko Tetsuya.

“Is it--is it true, Aominecchi likes me?” Kise suddenly blurts out, snapping Daiki out of his homicidal thoughts.

“I don’t know what made Tetsu spout that crap. After all the help I gave, this is how he repaid me. What kind of friend is that?”

“Uh, okay.” Kise looks down, as if his boots are the most interesting things to look at in the world.

“Don’t mind him, Tetsu’s probably having a bad case of being a huge-ass prick,” Daiki puts in, waving his hand in the air dismissively.

Pressing his lips together in a tight line, Kise just nods and turns around to go.

“Hey, Kise, where are you going?”

“There’s no point of me being here, Aominecchi. You should go home, too.” Then Kise begins to run, the rows of wood slightly creaking against his steps.

Kise’s reaction makes Daiki’s thoughts swirl and churn into a messy heap but before he figures what to make out of the situation, Daiki’s reflex had pushed him to chase after Kise. As soon as he gains ground, he seizes the blond by the wrist in a tight clasp, the effort makes Kise wince.

Kise whirls around, enabling Daiki to get a good view of his face. He sees the slight trembling of the blond’s lips as he fights the urge to cry and Daiki doesn’t quite understand why, but the sight wrenches his heart painfully.

“Please let go, Aominecchi.”

There are a million things Daiki wants to say but how and where to begin, he has no freaking idea. And there are a million possible ways for things to go downhill from here, but he knows, he knows…

It’s worth a try.

Daiki swallows the lump lodged in his throat, tries to ignore the fluttering of a hundred butterflies in his stomach.

Now or never. Daiki pushes himself to take the leap of faith.

“I never said Tetsu was lying,” Daiki begins. He doesn’t know where his speech will lead him but he’ll say it, anyway. “Yeah, I like you… not as a friend, that is. And maybe I like you a lot, I think about you all the time. That’s a lot, right?”

It all sounds so lame, so absurdly lame, and Daiki had really wished he knew how to properly articulate the flurry of sentiments he’s kept to himself for so long, all coming down to these stupid impulses, how much he likes to look at Kise, and to be around Kise everyday, and how much he thinks about Kise when they’re not together.

The soft rustle of water beneath the red bridge seems to mark the moments slipping away as Daiki waits for Kise’s reaction, fretful and breathless, the silence that chased after Daiki’s words intensifying the roar of his own heartbeat.

Kise blinks, then a smile blooms from his lips. Daiki lets go of his hand.

“Aominecchi really likes me.”

Daiki shrugs his shoulders. It feels strangely pleasant coming from Kise. “‘kay. But what about you?”

“Same.”

“Same, what? Speak clearly, you idiot!”

“You can’t be mean to the person you like, Aominecchi!”

This is so unfair. He wants to hear it from Kise himself. Did Kise make him admit his feelings so he can poke fun at him?

A staring contest commences between them before Kise says quietly, “I always like you, Aominecchi. As in more-than-a-friend like.”

Daiki lets that sink in while steadily holding Kise’s gaze, he lets himself and Kise bask in the quiet comfort of finally letting the truth out.

“So uh, what do we do now?” Daiki is still clueless as to where the revelation will take the two of them, exactly.

“Would you, um, like to go out with me?” Kise asks, amber eyes shining with expectation.

“You mean, date? The two of us?”

“Yes, that.”

“Yeah, sure. I like that, Kise.” Daiki grins as he scratches the back of his head, disbelieving how ridiculously simple things are. They just agreed to date and that had been it. The prospect of going out with Kise starts to toy with his teenage fantasies and for a fleeting moment, an image crosses his mind, of Kise and himself kissing behind the lockers after practice. For sure, he’s earnestly looking forward to that. “We can start right now.”

Kise’s smile grows bigger. “And where would you like to go?”

Daiki thinks for a moment. “How about we hit the movies?” he suggests, vaguely remembering that couples always go to cinemas in those drama series that his mother enjoys. “But I didn’t bring money with me so you’ll have to pay for everything.”

“Eh? How can you leave the house without bringing money?” Kise scowls.

“I told you, Tetsu and Satsuki promised me free food, not a… a boyfriend. Anyway, I’ll let you choose the movie. If you want the latest chick flick, fine.”

“Alright, let’s do this! Be my, um, Valentine?”

Daiki isn’t sure how to respond to that, it’s all happening too fast.

And Kise doesn’t wait for his words, either, he just takes the initiative to entwine his and Daiki’s arms together. For a tad longer, Daiki takes it all in, he lets his eyes linger on the blond because Kise at that moment, is a picture of complete bliss and the ray of sunshine that is his smile brings so much warmth into Daiki’s heart.

-x-

Daiki, admittedly, has no first-hand experience on dating and it annoys him to an extent, that he keeps on second-guessing himself, so he still blames Tetsu for putting him in a tight spot.

In the cinemas, there’s nothing much to choose from except a handful of chick flicks, Daiki thinks he’ll just sleep through it. But the fact that Kise’s right beside him, their elbows touching, the two of them actually sharing the biggest bucket of honey-butter flavored popcorn, keeps Daiki awake and hyper-conscious of even the tiniest of Kise’s gasps all throughout the duration of the film.

After Daiki cleans his fingers with tissue, he debates whether he’ll hold Kise’s hand or put his arm around Kise’s shoulder. Both are equally nice, he thinks, and it’s not an easy choice. Just yesterday, Kise and himself are mere classmates, teammates, one-on-one buddies, yet today, they’ve gone through the friends-to-lovers phase quite fast, it’s a mixture of terrifying, confusing and incredibly wonderful feelings Daiki has to find a name for.

A moment later, Daiki feels Kise shift a little from his seat, gingerly sliding closer to lean his head on Daiki’s shoulder.

“I hope this is okay, Aominecchi,” Kise whispers. In response, Daiki slides his arm around Kise’s shoulders, making more room for the blond to get closer, his head now comfortably rested on the crook of Daiki’s neck. Daiki then puts his chin on top of Kise’s head, he sniffs on Kise’s hair and catches the scent of his shampoo. The freshest strawberries. Daiki likes it so much.

“This is more than okay,” Daiki drawls. He and Kise can stay forever like that.

-x-

It’s dark outside when they left the cinemas. Daiki barely understood the plot of the movie, he hadn’t really paid a lot of attention, but he did quite enjoy the feeling of having Kise’s body pressed against his, the warm, velvet smoothness of Kise’s hand on his skin. He remembers, though, that there are lots of kissing scenes, and now, he wonders if Kise would want to be kissed later and when would be the perfect time execute his plan (though he’s very worried too, that he might not be able to do it properly).

“What’re you thinking, Aominecchi?” Kise peers up at him, curious, honeyed eyes focused on Daiki’s features.

“Nothing,” Daiki replies, looking away.

“Are you thinking of me just now, hmm?” Kise teases with a slight tilt of his head to the side. There’s this mischievous smile playing on the corners of Kise’s lips and fuck, it’s doing these things to his heart again.

Daiki’s hand moves on its own, it has given Kise’s cheek a hard pinch.

“Ouch!” The blond yelps, gently stroking the tender spot on his face.

“That’s what you get for being so cheeky. I was thinking about what to eat.” Daiki feigns a little annoyance, then he pulls Kise’s arm. “C’mon, let’s go to Maji!”

But then Kise easily pouts, refusing to move from his spot. “No way, that’s not even a good place for dates. I’ve got a better idea!”

-x-

Daiki lets himself be dragged through several train stations, no questions asked, since he knows that his new model boyfriend is adept and more experienced at these kind of things for completely obvious reasons.

When they reached their destination, it’s not really what he has in mind so Daiki turns to Kise with raised eyebrows and asks, “What do we do here, exactly?”

“Oh, I’d be perfectly happy walking around and holding hands!” Kise chimes.

They arrived at Hanegi Park at half past seven in the evening, and of course, it’s bursting with people who came to admire the delicate plum blossoms in full bloom at this time of the year. The wide pathway leading towards the lake at the center of the park is lit by hundreds of hanging paper lanterns that gently flutter with the night breeze, bathing everything else under a soft yellow glow. With their hands intertwined, Kise leads Daiki past the countless stalls selling street food, flowers, toys and other trinkets, stopping at intervals to stuff themselves with whatever snack that rouses Daiki’s appetite. Daiki makes Kise buy mozzarella cheese dog, yakitori and several bowls of heart-shaped Umaki while Kise insists on getting taiyaki, on the belief that they bring great happiness, and though Daiki’s really not that fond of the sticky red bean filling, he chooses to humor Kise in the end, who whines and keeps making these cute, stupid faces until Daiki caves in.

-x-

They stroll past the plum orchard, treading through the bushes until they hear the loud pounding of a drum from somewhere. Curious and excited, Kise pulls Daiki to the direction of the drumbeat, making their way across the sea of people while being careful not to step on anybody’s foot. Their quest leads them to a crowded open field, and when Kise realizes what the drum is for, he gets even more restless.

“Calling all couples to come join the game!” A woman in megaphone announces before she swings and pounds on to the large, makeshift percussion before her. “First couple in piggyback to round up a hundred-meter dash across the field wins this little guy over here!” She points to a short girl with dark braided hair, her assistant, carrying a giant stuffed bunny.

And the look on Kise’s face, even before the blond utters a single word, tells Daiki where this leads to, so he makes his case and declares adamantly, “Don’t give me that look, I’m not gonna do that!”

“But Aominecchi, please?” There he goes again, wielding his silly little pout and stupid puppy eyes— rounder, softer under the glow of paper lanterns above their heads—and Daiki is certain that Kise knows the extent of his charms and just how much Daiki is powerless over them.

In defense, Daiki shakes his head and deliberately looks away. “No way, I’m not carrying you around!”

“Oh, but you don’t have to. I’ll carry you!”

“No, never!”

“Pretty, pretty please, Aominecchi, do you really love me?”

“Shut up, Kise!”

“But I want the bunny! I can carry you, I’m fast, we can totally win this!”

Daiki gives Kise a sharp, warning glare but the blond is relentless on his pursuit to play. He gives Daiki a shock, jaws unceremoniously dropping in awe just as Kise crouches in front of him, an imploring demand for Daiki to hop onto his back already.

“C’mon, Aominecchi!”

“You idiot! Get up!” His nostrils flaring, Daiki grumbles and yanks Kise’s upper arm, forcing the blond to stand on his feet despite vehement protests.

“Aominecchi, please I--”

“Shut up, I’ll carry you, I’m so much faster!” He bends his knees and swoops low before Kise.

“Huh?”

“What are you waiting for?” Daiki growls, “get on before I change my mind!”

After Kise throws his arms around Daiki’s shoulders, Daiki gets to his feet, hauling Kise high on his back by grabbing under the blond’s knees before he marches closer to the row of other couples preparing for the relay.

“On your mark!” The gamemaster yells.

“Ah, this is so nice, being carried off by Aominecchi like this,” he hears Kise murmur over his ear.

“This isn’t. You’re heavy, my spine’s about to snap.”

“Get set…”

Kise retaliates by hugging him tighter, nuzzling his face on Daiki’s nape, sending in waves upon waves of warm current to the tips of Daiki’s toes.

“Stop that, do you want us to win or not?”

A round of silvery laughter coming from Kise fills the air while Daiki feigns annoyance as much as he can, blanketing his words under a growl, to save face, because he won’t be caught dead admitting out loud just how much he loves the way Kise is making him feel, Kise’s arm draped around his shoulders, feather-light breath ghosting over the back of his neck, the soft thud of Kise’s heartbeat against his back.

The gamemaster’s whistle goes off, and Daiki’s legs break into a sprint, soon he’s soaring, soaring, towards the finish line, to the edge of his emotions, the wind against his face, Kise laughing behind him, chanting his name over and over, and then nothing else matters in the world except the two of them, earning a piece of heaven tonight, the beginning of many nights and days of making memories together, him and Kise.

-x-

He’s pretty sure it’s Satsuki who tells him that first kisses are like a thunderclap, a kind of explosion that resonates inside you, the crashing of waves against the shore. Tonight, Daiki has found out otherwise--his first kiss is much comparable to the break of dawn, warm sunlight that filters through the leaves of trees, the calm of the morning before everything else stirs to wakefulness. His first kiss hadn’t turned his world upside-down in an exhilarating fanfare as he initially pictured it to be, rather, it quiets everything in him, slowing all senses, all thoughts, to a standstill.

Much to Daiki’s delight, Kise lets himself be kissed more than once, as they sit together on the front step of the Kise house, the huge stuffed bunny perched raggedly beside Kise almost a foot away. And Daiki’s lack of experience poses no problems at all, because Kise has made it so easy, so effortless, as they slot their lips together and the sensation overwhelms Daiki just as he savors everything at once: soft lips pressed on his, shifting ever so carefully with each bated breath, fingers threading through his hair, Kise’s warmth washing over him, vibrant and comforting.

“Aominecchi, we should really thank Kurokocchi for this. I want to hug him and give him all the milkshakes in the world.” Kise tells Daiki when they pulled apart to catch their breath.

“Thank him however you want. But those hugs, they’re all mine from now on. And the kisses.”

“Okay, deal.”

Daiki leans in to kiss his boyfriend again, however, the momentum gets shattered when the front door suddenly bursts open.

“Ryou-chan, it’s cold out here, why don’t you and your boyfriend go inside?” A petite, blond woman in her pyjamas, the splitting image of Kise, peeks through the door and throws the two of them an impish gaze.

The intrusion startles them and both teens stood up at once. “Onee-chan, why are you still awake?”

“Good evening, Onee-san,” Daiki curtsies, bowing his head.

“Aomine-kun’s finally your boyfriend, huh? I’m so glad! I mean, it took you forever to confess!” Kise’s sister gushes, pressing both hands to her cheeks.

“Onee-chan—!”

Yet his sister ignores Kise, commenting, “and is that Aomine-kun’s gift to you? That’s so cute!” She wheezes as she inspects the enormous stuffed animal. Then she steps back, making way for her brother and Daiki to come in. “Get inside, love birds.”

“No, Aominecchi’s already leaving, he needs to catch the last train!”

“Are you sure? We can always set up the extra futon in your room, your boyfriend’s welcome to stay the night!” She teases with a sweet smile that’s almost identical to Kise’s but not quite. Daiki thinks that the smile he comes to love is far more radiant, somehow.

“Shoo, stop embarrassing me in front of my…” Kise awkwardly pauses, and he visibly stiffens. “Aominecchi!”

“Whatever you say, lil bro!” She singsongs, biting back a fierce laugh before she disappears behind the door.

Out of embarrassment, Kise sidles over to Daiki, nestling his forehead into Daiki’s chest to conceal his face. “I’m sorry, Aominecchi, my sister wants me miserable.”

“It’s okay, she’s only worried we’ll both catch a cold.” Daiki’s arms move on its own accord, wrapping Kise in a protective embrace. “You should get inside.”

“Aominecchi is such a sweet boyfriend,” Kise remarks, lifting his flushed face towards Daiki. “Had I known you’re like this, I wouldn’t have waited—“

Daiki shuts him up by closing the distance between their lips.

When Daiki pulls back, Kise still has both of his eyes shut.

“Kurokocchi’s mission is a huge success,” Kise quips, rather dreamily.

“Wow. Thinking of some other guy while kissing me.”

Kise’s eyes snap open. “It isn’t like that! Aominecchi is the only one who has my heart!” And then, “Oh!”

Too abashed by his own words, Kise gasps, clapping both hands over his mouth. An even deeper shade of crimson overtakes his face, Daiki notices with pure amusement, despite the scant amount of light slipping through one of the windows.

“God, that’s too much sap in one night.” Daiki palms his face with a slight shake of his head, a feeble attempt to hide the blush crawling on his own cheeks. “I’m leaving.”

“Alright, just go home.”

“But you were my home.”

“Oh my god, Aominecchi!”

Daiki lets go of Kise, and he runs away as fast as he can, out into the street, his heart drumming so hard it’s swelling with bliss, with inexplicable contentment.

Fuck. He thinks. He’s gone from a brick wall to a disgusting cheeseball in a span of one night.

But Daiki has no regrets.

[sunflowerstache]

Not So Bad In L.A

A/N: Hi again guys! I’m so sorry it took so long to update, I was having so many technical problems posting, but I finally made it work! I really hope you enjoy this chapter, it was super fun to write! I love hearing from y'all about what you think of the storyline so far or any questions, comments, suggestions you may have so please let me know! I absolutely adore hearing from you guys! Again, thank you so much for the support, I love you all immensely!

Chapter 2: Take The Time To Waste A Moment      January 28, 2017

Word Count: 4.8k 

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You knew you really had nothing to be complaining about, because in retrospect, you understood your career is relatively laid back compared to many others. But does that stop you from hanging your head and groaning every five minutes? Absolutely not. You and the girls had been in Los Angeles for about a month now, and you all really couldn’t be happier. Bri and Sav were spending every day at their internships at The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM for short) in hopes of being recruited once their six months was finished. Bella, as per Nick’s prediction, had found herself spending many nights with the lucky guys she had deemed worthy of her time. And you? Sure, you’ve gone out and seen some of the beautiful city you moved to, but you had just gotten a new job and were doing everything in your power to make a name for yourself.

“Y/N come on! You’ve been cooped up in your room forever.” Bri walked into your room and flopped down on your bed, “We’ve been in L.A for like a month and you’ve barely left the apartment.”

“IfeellikeImadeamistake.” You mumbled, throwing your head in your hands and she asked, “Huh?”

“I feel like I made a mistake.” Spinning around in your desk chair to face her, you tossed the pile of magazines, that currently lived on your desk, in the trash can, “I thought coming here would help me, ya know, like get into the headspace I need. But I’m just so stuck and I have to submit this by Tuesday. And I can’t be late with it ‘cause it’s my first article and I just got hired and I don’t want them to thin-“

“Hey! Slow down Usain, you’re gonna get hysterical in a minute and you know I can’t handle that.” She smiled, moving to sit up on the bed, “Take a deep breath please.”

Doing as she said, you felt your heart rate slowly being to go down and you rubbed your hands on your jeans. “There ya go. Alright, listen up sister. You’re fucking talented as shit, you got that?” Bri stared at you and waited until you nodded softly, “They wouldn’t have hired you if they didn’t love your work and think you were talented.”

“Yeah but I wasn’t under as much pressure for any of the work in my portfolio. What if I’m just not good anymore? What if I just can’t write when there’s actual things at stake… like paying bills or like buying food!” It had been quite a while since you had had a breakdown over work. While living at home, you didn’t have to worry as much about how well your writing did when you submitted to local magazines. It was something you did more as a hobby during high school, and then during college you started getting paid for it. But now, everything was riding on it. Yes, you had gotten hired by a great company who obviously thought you would succeed, but this is a whole new ball game for you.

“I mean I’m not gonna tell you that you’re wrong, ‘cause it is gonna be a lot different than when you were writing in high school and college. And yeah, the stakes are a bit higher, but Y/N, come on. You know you’re good. You wouldn’t be where you are if you weren’t. You’re such a talented writer and you’re an insane videographer. I mean you have fan accounts for fucks sake.” She laughed, getting up from the bed and walking over to kiss the top of your head

“Thanks B. Always know you can set my head back on right.”

“You know it girlfriend. Also, you better have a great time tonight, it’s the first time you’re actually going out since being here.”

Bri’s comment made your eyes widen, like they were going to pop out of your head, when you realized what day it was, “Shit Bri, I gotta go pick up Nick!” Shooting up from your chair, you ran across your room to throw on your yellow vans and denim jacket to pair with your black leggings and white t shirt. Nick was flying in today and you knew if you were even seconds late, you would never hear the end of it. Mental breakdown forgotten, it was finally time to see your favorite British lad.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Look, I’m still not gonna tell you where we’re going tonight.” You had made it in time to pick up Nick, granted he was an hour late which lead to a conversation about timeliness - even though you were aware he had no control over his flight - and now here you were. Sitting on your couch, surrounded by all four of your best friends.

“Yeah, but we at least have to make sure she looks cute. You never know who you’ll run into.” Bella wagged her eyebrows as she lifter her glass of roséup to her lips

“What’s that supposed to mean? Do you know where we’re going?!” a small gasp slide past your lips as you realized your friends all knew what was happening tonight.

“Well I mean, I had’ta get someone’s opinion.” Nick shrugged, “I just should have assumed that tweedle dee was going to tell tweedle dumb and dumber.”

“Ya know, I just really find it unfair that I’m the one attending whatever the hell is happening tonight and literally everyone but me knows what it is.” You stood up from the couch and pointed in the direction of your bedroom, “But let’s go. Show me what to wear my all-knowing friends.” The five of you made your way out of the living room and towards your bedroom. Your place was quaint. The brightness of it had been what drew the four of you in in the first place. The walls throughout were various shades of white and windows littered the walls, providing much needed natural light. You had the cutest fireplace in your living room, accompanied by your grey couch, gold coffee table, and tons of green plants.

“I’m thinking something super simple but still hot.” Bella walked straight over to your closet and began digging through your items.

“You’ll be on your feet all night, so get cozy.” Nick grinned, leaning back in your desk chair and flipping through one of your magazines, “You in this one?”

“No.” you mumbled, walking to your vanity to grab some hair clips for Sav so she could start your hair. the same time Bri yelled, still picking out your outfit, “She had a breakdown before she picked you up earlier. Doesn’t think she’s good enough to write anymore!”

“Gee thanks B, why don’t you just post about it, so everyone knows.” Dropping down to the floor, you sat criss cross in front of Sav – who was waiting on your bed, so she could start her process

“What d’ya mean you ain’t good enough? You have a degree in this shit Y/N of course you’re good.” Frowning, Nick woke up your computer and began reading the unfinished piece on your desktop, “This is bloody fantastic. They’d be stupid not to love it.”

“I don’t know. Just second guessing myself I guess.” You shrugged

“THIS!” Bella shrieked, running out of the closet holding a black, off the shoulder, long sleeve shirt and black booties, “This is what you’re wearing. With jeans. Super simple but still sexy. Nick what are you doing?”

“None of your business.”

“You know, you’re staying in my home. Maybe I’ll just take all your shit out of the guest room and put it on that couch down on the corner. I’m sure that man would love to have a cuddle buddy tonight.” Sav was easily the wittiest out of the four of us, always coming back with jabs quicker than any of us could think. This is how you imagined your life in Los Angeles. Surrounded by the best people you knew and getting ready to have an amazing night. You just wish you weren’t being kept in the dark. Bella and Bri laid down on your pink duvet, behind Sav, while Nick continued to read some more of your unfinished work on the computer.

“Yeah. Jeans and that shirt are good. Simple is good tonight.” He said, shutting your computer off and standing up from your desk, “Add a cute bag or summat. I’m getting dressed”. The girls helped you finish getting ready, adding “that belt you got from that store in Georgia! Remember that place with the old redneck guy and the weird painting of redneck Elvis!” as per Sav’s request. You let to meet Nick out in your living room and just like your expected, he looked like his usual self. Ripped black skinny jeans, his black and tan striped sweater, and a pair of brown Chelsea boots. “Looking dashing as ever darling.” He peered up from his phone as he heard your heels clicking into the room.

“Don’t butter me up Nicholas. I better have a fan-fucking-tastic time tonight or I’ll take Sav up on her offer.” You threatened, everyone in the room hearing the joking tone behind your empty threat, “Let’s go.”

“No need for the hostility. Just texting my mates to see if we can head over.” The girls, who had perched themselves back on the couch, snickered hearing Nick speak about the friends you would be meeting up with, “Alright, all set. Just gotta take a wee!” He quickly ran back down the hall as Bella grinned, “Have fun tonight.”

“Oh shut up will ya. Shouldn’t you be at what’s his face’s house by now?”

“Ready?” Nick strolled out, placing his hand on your back to lead you towards the door. “Let’s blow this popsicle bar.”

“Stand Nick. It’s popsicle stand.” You chuckled, stepping through the front door and starting your first night out in Los Angeles.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Really? This is our exciting night out?” you proclaimed as Nick nodded, “My first real night out since moving to L.A and your big surprise is to take me to the Forum?”

“Hey! If it wasn’t for me, you’d still be sitting at your desk, probably pulling your hair out and talking shit about yourself. So, you should really be thanking me.” The two of you had gotten dropped off at the side entrance of the building, and were now making your way into the venue, maneuvering up staircases and through the crowds. You always loved going out with Nick and looking to see if anyone recognized him. It happened more often when you were in London, but every once and while, he would get spotted instantly in the U.S. Today, however, you didn’t really see anyone noticing him.

“Wait, who are we even seeing?” you questioned but all he did was shake his head, “You’ll see. Come on, gotta find our seats. Making your way up yet another set of stairs, the sound of your heels clicking being drowned out by the opening act, who was finishing their set. “Wow Nicholas, getting a private box for the show, how very posh of you.” You laughed as you both walked up to the man checking tickets.

“Hush with the 20 questions, would you? Just be a normal person and be grateful I brought you here in the first place.”

“I would be grateful if I knew who we were seeing.” You replied, begrudgingly, as the two of you walked down the small hallway where it finally opened up into the small, private seating area. There was a small group of people standing down by the railing, while some were off to either side, pouring drinks and enjoying the end of the opening act.

“You must be daft. We walked by at least five posters. Go down and enjoy, I gotta say hi to some people and grab us drinks.” Nick responded as he slowly left you standing in the middle of the entryway

“Nick!” you whisper shouted, “I have no idea who any of these people are. You can’t just leave me here!” Due to the loud instrumental of the opening act walking off stage, he didn’t hear your complaining and continued to walk away from you. Sighing, you decided to make your way down the small set of steps and join the small group against the railing. Looking at them, you felt your breath freeze in your lungs as you recognized one of the females to be Kendall Jenner. Like THE Kendall Jenner that you were just watching on TV earlier that day. This was already an interesting night. They glanced your way and gave a small smile when they didn’t recognize you, before turning back to face the stage and continue their conversation. You had to give it to Nick, you were happy to be out of your apartment and finally doing something fun. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to experience Los Angeles, you did! You just wanted to perfect your job before getting to wild and screwing anything up. You turned your head quickly when hearing Nick’s very loud laugh coming from behind you.

“Stupid Nick.” You mumbled, quietly to yourself, “’Let’s go out’ he says. ‘You’re gonna have a great time’ he says. Sure, just leave me here to fend for myself why don’t ya dickhead.”

“I hear talkin’ to yourself means you’re actually a genius.” A voice spoke up from behind you, sounding eerily familiar, yet completely unknown. Turning around, you opened your mouth to lay into whoever had snuck up on you, but it was like your body shut down. Your eyes widen quickly, before you regained composure, and turned back around to face the stage.

“I guess just call me Albert Einstein then.” The man laughed at that and you looked down at your hands resting on the railing, now picking the skin on your pointer finger.

“Well, very nice to meet you Mr. Einstein. Very fond of your work.” He replied, moving to stand right up against the rail next to you

“Oh yeah. E=MC2was a real dozy.” You laughed

It was quiet for a minute, well, as quiet as it could get with thousands of talking fans and music playing throughout the venue. You were still trying to wrap your head around who was standing next to you. Who you were speaking with, and quite frankly, how you were able to form coherent sentences. “’M Harry.”

“I know.” You had a small smile on your face as you gently looked up at him, and when you did he was nodding, like he already assumed you knew him, “Y/N.” He looked down at you after that and when your eyes met, you felt your nerves come pouring out. “I – I mean, I’m-. Y/N’s my name. Not yours. Cleary it’s not yours, you just told me yours. And obviously you know that’s not you – your name. I’m Y/N.” you could feel your cheeks getting warm, as they turned a light hue of pink, at your embarrassing rambles.

“Figured that’s what you meant.” He smiled, “So, you’re friends with Nick.”

“Unfortunately.” You chuckled, but instantly regretted your comment as your remembered Nick and Harry were best friends, “He’s great… when he doesn’t take me out for the night and then ditch me.”

“One time, he took me to dinner with some people from BBC and then proceeded to leave without me, forgetting he brought me with him.” Harry recalled, turning fully so that the two of you now faced each other

“I’ll do ya one better. Like a year ago, he begged me for weeks to come out and visit him. So, finally I agree and tell him when my flight lands. Get into Heathrow and call him to come pick me up, only to find out he went to New York with Rita. So, I ended up spending a week in London by myself.” Talking with Harry was surprisingly easier than your initial thought. The nerves had dissipated and now, for some reason, it was like you were talking with someone who you’ve known for years. Maybe it was the bashing of Nick that made you feel more comfortable, or maybe it was because you had wanted this moment to happen for so long. Either way, you were living your fantasy.

“My two favorite people! What’s going on?” Nick grinned, walking away from the bar and towards you and Harry.

“Just discussing all the times you’ve been flaky.” Throwing his arm around Nick’s shoulder, Harry went in for a hug, “Good t’ see you mate. Been a while.” The two of them stood and spoke for a minute, so you decided to walk over and grab a quick drink. After all, you would be spending the night at an event with one of your long-time celebrity crushes. A rum and coke, or two, would definitely be in your cards tonight. All of a sudden, the lights dimmed, and loud cheers were head echoing through the venue, so you quickly finished pouring your drink and made your way back over to Nick, and subsequently, Harry.

“Okay, you gonna tell me now who’s playing?” you asked returning to your place beside Harry, who whipped his head around to Nick so fast you swore he would have whiplash.

“You didn’t even tell her who was playing tonight? Some friend you are.”

“Oi! I was trying to get her out of her house and help her make some friends. She just moved here for fucks sake!” you could see the smile lines start to creep up in the corner or Nicks eyes, indicating that he knew the two of you were just yanking his chain. Harry turned back to talk to you when the sound of drums filled the air, and chills instantly covered your body.

“KINGS OF LEON?! Nick you’re joking!” you screamed leaning over the railing, and around Harry, to look at Nick

“Told you you’d enjoy yourself.” He laughed, taking a sip of his drink and shrugging.

Kings of Lean had been one of your favorite bands for years and always being your go to drunk karaoke band. You had told Nick one night, during your last visit to London, how much you would die to see them live and how much they meant to you. Not only did he come through and hook you up, but he also brought you to a show accompanied by none other than THE Harry Styles - someone he also knew you adored. The talking was kept to a minimum during the first half of the set, everyone thoroughly enjoying the atmosphere. But none the less, you got to have some great conversations with Harry. He was surprisingly laid back for someone of his notoriety. It was interesting to watch Harry be a part of the crowd instead of on stage. During his time in One Direction, he had been notorious for being quite wild on stage, so seeing him on the opposite side was a sight to see. He swayed to the beats, threw his hands in the air every so often, played the air guitar occasionally, and sang his little heart out. Not to mention stole a few quick glances at you when he thought you weren’t looking. You were. Obviously, you had all lost your shit during “Eyes on You” and “Sex on Fire” – those being some of hypest songs during the first half of the show. The music slowly began to shift from loud and in your face, to quiet and soothing. The band opting for taking a small break from rocking out and providing some acoustic songs.

“So, you just moved here. Where from? If you don’t mind me asking.” Harry asked, noticing your lack of interest in the current song

“Charleston, South Carolina.” You nodded, always loving talking about your home

“Ahh, I love it down there. So beautiful and everyone’s always so kind.”

“Who’ve you been talking to? Definitely only nice to you ‘cause you’re Harry Styles.” You laughed, but then your insecurity came lurching back up and felt horrible for saying that, “Not that there’s anything wrong with you being Harry Styles. ‘Cause there’s not. Ya know, any - anything wrong with that.”

“Cute when yeh ramble.” It sounded so natural coming from his lips, but you could swear your heart rate increased tenfold. Harry Styles just said you were cute. You. “So, why make the move to L.A?”

“Work mostly. My friends also kind of had a hand in the decision, but we’re all just trying to make it in our fields I guess. Just like everyone else.”

“And what field is that?” he scrunched up his nose, “Sorry, ‘M being nosey aren’t I?”

“No, no it’s okay. I adore my job, so I love talking about it. I’m a travel writer for “Travel and Leisure Magazine”. I get to work from home, or wherever I am at the time, and just write about the culture or food or experiences there. And I just submit the work to my boss. Basically, I write to inform the readers about potential vacation spots or locations to move to.” You beamed, loving getting the chance to talk about the one thing that made you the happiest

“That’s amazing. I’ve always loved traveling, one of the greatest parts of my job really. And getting paid to travel and write about it must be thrilling.” He looked so in awe of you and your job that it made your heart tingle.

“It really is. My whole life I was stuck in South Carolina. Grew up there. Went to college there. And I just knew there was so much of the world I wanted to see. So, I declared my major, got a job at a small magazine and was able to start traveling for money. That’s when I met Nick.”

“Good for you. Seriously, that’s fantastic. How’s L.A helping you with all that?”

“It’s good! I’ve been in a bit of a funk lately, just worried I made a mistake coming all the way out here and that – surprise, I’m actually a horrible writer.”

He placed his hand on the small of your back and leaned in closer to speak to you as the music got a bit louder, “I’m sure you’re fantastic. Wouldn’t have made it out here if you weren’t eh?” 

“Thanks.” You blushed, “I don’t really think I would have decided to make the move our here if it wasn’t for my friends. Two of them are trying to break out into the fashion world, so they convinced the rest of us to move with them.”            “Show me some of their stuff sometime, I’d love to take a look.” You always knew he was the most into fashion out of his band, but you never in a million years thought you would be talking to him about it.            

“Sometime huh? Think we’ll be seeing each other again?” you joked, turning back to watch the rest of the show, as the acoustic set had just finished, and the music was picking back up with the song “Find Me”.             

“I hope so.” Your cheeks were in a constant state of warmth the rest of the show. Nick had brought the three of you more drinks, enough to the point where you were feeling pretty loose by the last two songs of the night. You were having the time of your life – watching one of your favorite bands, with one of your best friends, and a man you had only hoped of meeting in your dreams. The notes of “Waste a Moment” began to play and you stopped your jumping around to hold onto the railing tightly with one hand, the other placed over your heart. You could feel your blood pumping through your veins and nothing else existed other than the stage and the four men standing on it.

“You alright?” you heard from your left, but you couldn’t form any words

“Song just means a lot to her. It’s her brother’s favorite.” You heard Nick yell over the sound of Caleb Followill’s voice. All too soon, the guitar and drums faded and the band was screaming their “THANK YOU”s to the crowd, while the lights began to get brighter.

“Y/N.” Nick sounded from right behind you, a hand on your elbow, requesting you turn around to face him, “Come on, let’s go.”

“Yeah. Yeah. Sorry,” you breathed out a laugh, “Just really love them.” Looking to say your goodbye’s to Harry before walking out, you saw him putting on his red coat while saying his own goodbye’s to some friends – Kendall included

“Nice to see you again Ken. I’ll see you soon.” You could hear very quietly fall from his lips, before turning back to face you and Nick, “Mind if I walk out with you?” Stunned that he wanted to spend more time with you tonight, you shook your head and held your hand out towards the stairway. This time, on your way down the stairs, you felt all the eyes on your group. Obviously because of who was walking with you, and you knew you’d be seeing his, and possibly your, figure all over the internet tomorrow, leaving the venue.

“You ever get used to all the staring?” it was something you had always wondered

“It’s always a bit weird to have hundreds of people just staring at you. So, I wouldn’t say it gets any less weird, just get more used to it.” He looked a bit sad by the statement, and you couldn’t blame him. Years of being in the spotlight has to be difficult. “Hey, before we go our separate ways, I just wanted to ask you. Uhm-“ he stopped, hearing a fan scream his name from across the parking lot, “My birthday’s next week. And ‘m having a bit of a gathering at a restaurant with some mates. I know Nick’s coming. Why don’t you tag along with him?”

You stopped in the middle of the walkway, forcing Nick, who was holding your hand to make sure you didn’t get lost, stop in his tracks as well. “What’d ya say to her Styles. Swear, I’m never gonna be able to bring any friends around you anymore.” Nick groaned

“Just invited her to my party next week. Piss off.” He glanced down to you, “Of course if you’re not free, don’t worry about it. I know it’s last minute.”

“She’s coming.”

“She’s right here and can speak for herself, thank you Nicholas.” Rolling your eyes, you looked at Harry, “Yeah. Sure. I’d love to come.”

Nodding to himself, he looked very pleased, “Great. I’ll be sure to brush up on my theory of relativity for you Mr. Einstein.” He smiled and then pointed with his thumb behind him, “Well, I gotta go, so I’ll talk to you both later, yeah? It was a pleasure to meet you Y/N.”

“Yeah, you-you too Harry.” Watching Harry get into his car, Nick’s grip on your hand tightened and he spun you around, “What the bloody hell just happened?!”

“I don’t – I don’t even know bro.” you giggled, not even sure yourself what happened tonight

“Did I just unknowingly play match maker?!”

“No Nick! I was a blubbering, stuttering idiot. You did nothing. Except leave me. I’m still pissed by the way. Who does that?”

“I would say sorry, but it looked like you had a great time tonight, what with your pink cheeks and all.” He chuckled, “Let’s go, before your moms have an aneurism because I kept you out past curfew. I really want them to like me, maybe they’ll let me take you out for a second date.”

“Oh, shut up you idiot.” You laughed, pushing him away from you and off the curb into the parking lot cement. Kings of Leon had a special place in your heart. In your entire family’s heart. And now, they held even more of your love. For they had given you a night you had only ever dreamed about. If this was what living in Los Angeles was going to be, then it really wasn’t so bad in L.A.

TagList: @staceystoleyourheart @faith8993 @theasstour @emotionally-imbruised @isitjamiemoriarty @swayingnoodlelove @hes-a-rainbow @harrygivenchy @customhucci @artdecobae @bridge-to-terabethia @pinkflowerharry @carolinaghosts and also tagging @meetyourmouths @meet-me-in-the-kitchen & @pendantstyles because they’re three of the absolute sweetest most genuine humans I know and also three writers i look up to/admire with my whole entire being and heart and hope to do them justice one day

[mst3kproject]

The Corpse Grinders

This movie was directed by Ted V. Mikels, who did the same job on Girl in Gold Boots, and was written by Arch Hall Sr., who did the same job on Eegah!.  Those were two of the sleazier and more misogynistic entries in Moon 13’s big ol’ vault of Kingachrome vials, so let’s prepare ourselves.  Another warning sign is how the title card is literally cut out and glued on the film there.  This isn’t just gonna be slimy, it’s gonna be cheap.

I’m not sure I can write a normal plot summary of this movie because that would make it sound far too straightforward.  As with The Astro-Zombies, we seem to have several beginnings, all of them for unrelated movies.  First we’ve got a couple who are suddenly attacked by their cat.  Then we’ve got a gravedigger grumbling that a guy named Landau owes him money.  Then we’re at the Lotus Cat Food company, where Landau is complaining that he needs more product.  Then we’re at a hospital, where a doctor named Howard and a nurse named Angie are also getting attacked by a cat.

Even when I write it out like that, you can kind of see where this is going – the cat food company is buying bodies from the gravedigger, and as a result the cats are developing a taste for human flesh and attacking their owners.  In the movie itself, however, it’s still less clear than that, because all these scenes focus on things that are beside that point.  The scene with the gravedigger is more about his fractured relationship with his wife, who is mentally ill and obsessed with her doll, than about what he’s up to.  The scene at Lotus is a showcase of the disabled weirdos Landau employs.  The bit at the hospital is about Howard’s drinking and his affair with Angie.

Anyway, yeah, Landau and his pal Maltby load the corpses into their rape van and probably molest them before feeding them into a ridiculous contraption that somewhat resembles an old, rusty version of the Teletubbies’ tubby custard machine.  When the local graveyard runs dry, Landau starts killing his employees and random homeless people.  Howard and Angie investigate.  There’s a detective with a mustache hanging around watching things and he looks so much like Howard that I was forty minutes into the movie before I was sure they were two different people.

Like the other Ted V. Mikels movies I’ve seen, this one is dark and out of focus and never makes a whole lot of sense.  The actors are bad, weird editing choices are made, and only one of the cast – Sanford Mitchell as Landau – looks like he’s having any fun.  The camera focuses on women dressing, undressing, and lounging around in their underwear, rather on things that might develop the plot.  The nearest thing to a special effect is a shot of Howard pulling chicken gizzards out of what may be an actual taxidermied cat.  There’s only one mildly amusing joke in the entire movie, which is the ad on the wall of Landau’s office: Lotus Cat Food, for cats who like people! Pity you can barely read it.

The levels on which the whole thing is ridiculous are many and varied.  Landau thinks he’s gonna get rich selling cat food?  The cheapest way to get meat for it is to buy human corpses?  A taste of the result makes eight-pound cats attack hundred and fifty pound humans? The stuff I feed my cat claims to be mostly turkey and giblets but I’m quite sure if she ever saw a real turkey she’d go right up the nearest tree and howl until I got her down.  Why hunt your own food when you can pester the humans until we give you some?  Isn’t that the whole reason evolution gave us thumbs – so we could open cans of cat food?

The Corpse Grinders isn’t even really sure what’s supposed to be its major source of fear.  Is it the cats turning on their owners?  If so, it’s pretty poorly presented, because we don’t get to see the bond between human and animal before we get the attacks.  Is it the fact that they’re digging up corpses?  If that’s so, we really needed to see people reacting to the raiding of the graveyard and not knowing what’s become of their loved ones’ remains.  Is it how Landau regards human beings as so disposable?  The movie should have spent less time making fun of the ill and disabled, then. Is it Landau’s crony feeling up the bodies?  This only happens once.  Is it the reminder that we are, in the end, made of meat?  This has been used to horrifying effect in many films, but it just never works here.  The Corpse Grinders throws a number of ostensibly awful things at us, but never has the focus required to make us feel any real disgust or horror.

All we’re left with, then, is a really bad movie made by people who obviously hate cats.  In several scenes a cat is supposed to be attacking somebody, but it’s clear that what’s actually going on is the ‘victim’ holding the cat against him- or herself while it struggles to get away.  The only cat attack scene that doesn’t involve obvious cruelty is the one where the cats move in to eat Landau’s body at the end – this seems to have been accomplished by putting cat treats or catnip on the actor’s chest.  I really hope the taxidermy cat in the autopsy scene was one they found at a garage sale or something, rather than being killed and preserved for the movie.

Not only does the movie mistreat its actual cats, the script insults them, too.  At several points we’re told that so-and-so adored her cat (it’s always a woman) only for the ungrateful beast to turn on her.  That does mean there’s a little bit of food for thought in this movie, because you quickly realize it had to be about cats.  You couldn’t make this movie about dogs, because people and dogs have a totally different relationship.

There’s a bit where Howard reads from a book that even domestic cats are ‘half-savage’ and that we don’t own them, they own us. Anybody who actually has a cat, including myself, would agree with this – a dog is a pet, while a cat is a room-mate. If all the humans magically vanished, dogs seem like they would probably wither away and die while cats would get along just fine.  Like most things we all kind of know without remembering where we learned them, this isn’t actually true in the real world: both dogs and cats can survive in the wild much better than we’d expect, but both prefer to seek out human help if they can find it.  But we do not trust cats, and that’s what this movie plays on.  We would have a hard time believing our dogs would suddenly turn on us, but our cats? They do it all the time, as soon as they’re tired of having their tummies rubbed.

The other reason this movie has to be about cats is because dogs would be expensive.  Dogs can be pretty big and could easily hurt somebody, so a movie in which dogs turn on their masters would require trained animals, their handlers, and a ton of insurance.  Cats are small enough that if you’re an asshole you can hold them down or throw them around.  I guess you could use only small dogs, but it might be hard to take the movie seriously when somebody’s getting their toes viciously gnawed off by a miniature schnauzer.

The Corpse Grinders is also about how we treat the dead, the homeless, and the disabled – three categories of humans that society would rather push under the rug and forget about.  It’s not the first to explore the intersection of these categories, either. In a sense, this is a Burke and Hare movie.  If you haven’t heard of Burke and Hare, they were a couple of landlords in early 19th century Ediburgh who made some money by selling the corpses of their dead tenants to the university medical school to dissect.  Eventually it occurred to them that they didn’t need to wait for their victims to die on their own.  They’ve been the subject of several movies, themselves, ranging from outright horror to dark comedy, and The Corpse Grinders follows the same basic premise.  When you’re already selling the dead, it’s a small step to the almost dead, and from there to the merely unwanted.

Almost all of Landau’s victims fall into this category.  There’s his disabled employees, who work for him because ‘nobody else will hire them’. There’s the homeless drunks. There’s the gravedigger and his wife, an isolated and ill couple who don’t appear to have any friends.  He knows to pick victims like these because his first victim, the cat food company’s financial backer, was missed, and it’s still causing him trouble after all this time.  People like one-legged Tessie, or the gravedigger’s wife, have no support system. The fact that nobody even notices they’re gone ought to be just as horrifying as their fate.

Not that this is actual social commentary on the movie’s part.  I don’t think even the stuff about cat-human relationships was intended to make us think. The film-makers just don’t like cats. Even when it shows us Landau’s victims, its logic is the same as his: nobody wants these people, nobody will care if they’re gone.  The setup in which we meet people like Willie, Tessie, and the Gravedigger’s wife is mostly to show us why nobody wants them, rather than trying to make their deaths into tragedies. Mikels and Hall Sr. don’t seem to like people any better than they like cats.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go hug my cat and tell her she’s a pretty girl.  She’ll try to eat me, but it’s just her way of telling me she loves me too.

[superhusbands4ever]

To Infinity... and Beyond!

Halloween is coming up and after watching a certain toy themed movie, Peter knows exactly what he wants to do. He’s just going to need a little help.

Tony would like to submit this as evidence that he will do anything for his son. Including dressing up as a toy cowboy. (Ao3)

Pepper had just sat down at the bar, heels kicked off and martini in hand when she heard someone clink up behind her.

“Reach for the sky!”

Pepper turned to see what craziness she was about to get pulled into today and nearly spit out her drink at the sight in front of her.

Tony was there wearing a yellow and orange plaid shirt with dark blue jeans and a brown belt with a giant buckle. His jeans were tucked into his cowboy boots, which had spurs on the ankle that clinked as he moved his feet. He wore a cowhide vest with a sheriff pin attached, and to top it all off, he had a red paisley ascot tied around his neck, and a brown cowboy hat on his head.

“Oh my god,” Pepper whispered, trying to contain her glee.

“Hey there, pretty lady,” Tony said in a gaudy southern accent, “come here often?”

“Dear god, Tony, what are you doing?”

“What?” Tony asked with a grin. He put his hands on his hips and sauntered over to stand next to Pepper at the bar. “Am I not the rootinest, tootinest cowboy you ever seen in these parts?”

“Have you finally fell off the deep end,” Pepper asked, mock seriousness in her voice as she reached out to put a hand on Tony’s shoulder. “Is this a cry for help?”

“Oh har, har,” Tony said, voice back to normal. He brushed Peppers hand off his shoulder and sat down next to her. “If you must know, I did it for Peter.”

“Peter, yeah, sure,” Pepper said, her face cracking as she gave into her amusement, “are you sure this isn’t just some weird new role play thing with Stev--”

“No,” Tony said, mock glaring at Pepper out of the corner of his eye. “We let Peter watch Toy Story last month and it’s all he can talk about now. He wanted to be someone from the movie for Halloween and he made us all dress up. He picked the costumes for everyone.”

“Wait, everyone?” Pepper said, her face alight with glee. “Where’s everyone else?”

“Right here,” Steve’s voice sounded behind her.

Pepper turned and nearly fell over in laughter. The other Avengers walked through the door, all dressed in some sort of Toy Story themed costume.

Steve was dressed as Buzz Lightyear, his costume top quality no doubt thanks to Tony. It looked like he was really dressed in the white, green, and purple plastic astronaut costume, complete with a button on the arm that pulled back the retractable plexiglass helmet. He even had the weird purple head wrap thing on.

Natasha was dressed in a similar fashion to Tony, no doubt supposed to be Jessie. Her hair, now dyed a deep, bright red, was tied back in a French braid beneath her cowboy hat. Her shirt was white and yellow instead of Tony’s plaid, and her jeans flared down over her cowboy boots instead of tucking in. Halfway down the thigh her pants changed from jean to cowhide pattern. The spurs on her boots clink as she walks as well.

Clint’s entire person is painted in military green, from his skin, to his hair, to his clothes. He’s dressed in an old timey army uniform and helmet. She isn’t sure how he managed to get himself so thoroughly covered in the paint, but looking at him makes her glad she isn’t the one who has to remove it all later.

She has to hold back a snort when she looks at Thor, who looks positively ridiculous in his Mr. Potato Head bodysuit costume. His arms and legs are covered in form fitting black material, his hands covered in white gloves. Around his middle, a giant, bulging Mr. Potato Head sack hangs, complete with eyes, nose, mustache, and mouth. He looks, quite frankly, idiotic, but somehow still manages to look like an imposing figure.

The last two costumes confuse her. She looks at Bruce, who seems to look completely normal except for the fact he’s wearing a blue onesie with a green spaceship type image stitched up into the corner. His hands are covered in green gloves, his feet in black shoes, but otherwise looks normal.

“I’m sorry,” she says, shaking her head at the craziness of it all, “ but what are you supposed to be?”

Bruce stares her down with a blank expression for a moment before reaching behind himself to pull up the hood on the onesie. With the hood up, Pepper is presented with the three eyed green alien from the movie.

“You have saved our lives, we are eternally grateful,” Bruce deadpans in a nasally voice.

Pepper nods, covering her mouth with one hand to try and contain her laughter, before turning to the last man of the group.

Bucky is standing next to Steve and wearing much the same outfit, only Bucky’s also contains a pink, frilly apron tied around the chest with a red heart in the middle. He also has a blue bowler hat with a white daisy placed outside the helmet on top of the plexiglass.

“Okay, I’m confused,” she says, looking back and forth between Steve and Bucky. “It’s been awhile since I’ve seen Toy Story but I’m pretty sure there is only one Buzz Lightyear.”

“Oh no, no, no, wait until you see this,” Tony said with glee, moving around her to stand beside Bucky. “This is the greatest thing I’ve ever seen, watch—“

She watches as Bucky removes his left arm and hands it to Tony. She watches with morbid fascination as Tony whips the arm back and forth, the joints bending easily, the hand and the forearm flopping around as he moves it.

Bucky pulls a small, plastic teacup from somewhere and holds it up in front of him, pinky extended.

She sees Steve in the corner of her eye roll his eyes and reach up to pinch the bridge of his nose between his fingers.

“Alright, go,” Tony says.

Bucky holds the teacup in front of himself.

“I am MISSUS. NESBIT.” He says in a weird, pinched, high voice before cackling and laughing in a high pitched, hysterical manner.

She watches on, feeling slightly disturbed, until Tony presses a button on Bucky’s costume so the helmet retracts, sending his bowler hat flying backwards, and slaps him across the face with Bucky’s arm.

Bucky and Tony both turn to her expectantly.

“Well, that was… that was something.”

“Oh, come on, don’t you get it?!” Tony said, waving Bucky’s arm at her. “This is comedy gold, people.”

“Don’t wave that thing at me, you’re going to hurt someone,” Pepper scolded, stepping away from the flailing arm.

“Don’t worry, it’s harmless,” Tony says, reaching up with the arm to hit himself on the head. “I made him a new arm especially for this costume. It’s just standard toy plastic, it doesn’t really hurt and he can’t feel anything with it anyway.”

“Right,” Pepper sighs as she watches Bucky reattach his arm. “And I’m sure that was the costume Peter picked for Bucky.”

“Well, I may or may not have had a hand in that one,” Tony, running a hand along his neck. “But come on, that was the perfect opportunity!”

Pepper exchanges an exasperated but fond glance with Steve as Bucky and Tony high fived.

“You’re all whipped,” Pepper proclaimed, looking around at the group before her.

She was saved from having to further comment by JARVIS speaking instead.

“Pardon the interruption, Sir, but Master Peter would like to relay a message into the living room.”

“Shoot, J,” Tony said, brushing lint off of his shoulder.

Suddenly, the speakers crackled and Peter’s voice could be heard ringing out throughout the room.

“Andy’s comin’, Andy’s comin’!”

Faster than Pepper could even blink, the Avengers all dropped to the ground and lay there, as if a marionette had cut their strings. She stood there, unsure what to do as she looked down at the collapsed heroes before her.

Not long after, small but fast food steps could be heard from the hallway. Peter appeared from around the corner, looking mostly normal. He wore a green shirt and blue shorts with white tennis shoes. On his back was a pair of toy Buzz Lightyear wings, and on his head was a cowboy hat that matched Natasha’s.

He stopped when he took in the costumes adults on the ground, laying still as though sleeping.

“They did it, they did it!” Peter exclaimed excitedly, jumping in excitement. He quickly raced over to Pepper and grabbed her hand, practically shaking with happiness.

“Didja see, Aunt Pepper?”

“I did, Peter! That’s really cool! I take it that means you’re Andy?”

Peter nodded, biting his lip. “Mhmm. Look!”

She looked down at the group on the ground and, sure enough, on the bottom of everyone’s left shoe, written in awkward, childlike letters was the word “Andy”.

She felt a warmth in her chest as she looked down at the heroes before her. These people, these adults, were the Avengers. Some of the most powerful people on the planet. Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

Brought to heel by a five year old that had them all wrapped around his finger.

She watched as Peter ran over to Tony and jumped onto his stomach, causing Tony to let out an “oomph!” as he sat up to hold Peter in his arms.

“Daddy, you did it! Just like you said you would!”

“I told you we would, baby. You just gotta make sure we’re not in anyone’s way or anywhere we could get hurt and we’ll do it, okay?”

“Okay,” Peter nodded, hands clenching Tony’s costume as he stood back up. “Can we go trick or treating now?”

Tony laughed. “Yeah, bud. We can go trick or treating now.”

Peter threw his hands up in the air and cheered before squirming to be let back down. Once his feet hit the ground, he ran over to Steve to help him get up, only to let out a squealing giggle as Steve grabbed him and pulled him into his arms, tickling his sides.

Tony stepped up beside her.

“Wanna come with? I’m pretty sure I’ve got a Bo-Peep costume in the shop with your name on it.”

“As fun as that sounds,” Pepper said genuinely, smiling at Tony as he pulled her into a hug. “I am exhausted. I think I’m going to head home and take a warm bath, get ready for trick or treaters.”

“Suit yourself,” Tony shrugged, kissing her cheek with a smile.

“Take tons of pictures though,” Pepper said, “I want to see how this goes.”

“Fair enough,” Tony said, glancing around at the other Avengers. The had all made a pile on the ground, all reaching out and trying to grab Peter for tickles as he ran around them all.

“You’re a good father, Tony,” Pepper said softly, grabbing Tony’s hand and squeezing before letting go. “I’m proud of you. He’s going to remember this for the rest of his life.”

“Thanks,” Tony said, his face flushing a little at the genuine compliment. “I’m trying. He makes me want to do better. Be better… than—“

“I know,” Pepper smiled. “And you are. No doubt about that.”

“Daddy, can we go now?” Peter begged, running up next to Tony and tugging on his shirt sleeve. “Uncle Clint says we gotta go now or else all the good candy will be gone!”

“He would say that,” Tony said dryly, reaching down to pick Peter up and place him on his hip. He leaned over and blew a raspberry on Peter’s cheek, causing the little boy to shriek with laughter, leaning away to try and escape.

“Alright, kiddo,” Tony said, turning to join the other Avengers. Peter wrapped his arms around Tony’s neck and rested his head on Tony’s shoulder.

“Let’s go get some candy.”

[merciattire-blog]

My Top 12 Thrift Finds and How I Style Them

Welcome back, readers! This week, I will indulge in writing about one of my most loved hobbies: thrifting. Not only am I a sucker for affordable clothing (college budgets, right?), but I also love bringing worn pieces back to life. Plus, it’s a much more sustainable option than purchasing clothing brand new.

Now, if you haven’t tried it, I certainly recommend a trip to your local thrift store. You never know what you may find. As a matter of fact, these items are some of my most worn pieces from my closet! That being said, my goal here is to show that you don’t always have to spend tons of money in order to find pieces you’ll love. Furthermore, I hope this will encourage you to give thrifting a try. So, let’s get into it!

Now, there’s a reason why this item is first on the list. This is, by far, the most worn jacket I own. Ever since I found this gem last year, I’ve looked for every reason possible to wear it.

How I Style it:

Black on black on black—literally my style in a nutshell. If you’ve seen me in real life, there’s about an 80% chance I was wearing this outfit. By throwing on a white graphic tee, the contrast makes this look really “pop”. Of course, I chose to add some leather booties to match the lettering on this jacket and the Harley vibes.

This is definitely the priciest item on the list. However, it is important to consider the brand and condition. Plus, how often do you find a pink leather jacket?

How I Style it:

To align with the feminine hue of the jacket, I layered it over a sheer blush blouse and added some pumps. With the addition of jeans, this look is not too casual, yet not too fancy. Score!

Now, I know what you’re probably thinking—no, I did not steal this coat from the local flea market. Actually, as my boyfriend and I were driving home one day, we saw some signs that said “Free Sale”. (If that isn’t an oxymoron, I don’t know what is.) Naturally, we decided to check it out. Low and behold, the signs were true and there was a whole building of free stuff! Who doesn’t love free stuff? So, long story long, I saw this jacket and fell in love.

How I Style it:

This is literally the perfect fall coat; it’s so cozy! Therefore, I layered it over a chunky knit sweater for extra warmth. With some green jeggings and taupe booties, this fall palette-inspired look is good to go.

Okay, how sweet is this shirt? I saw this at the local flea market and I just had to have it. However, it took me a year or so to put it to use.

How I Style it:

Obviously, my inspiration for this look is Sandy from Grease. After trying on this piece with several outfits throughout the years, an all-black outfit does it justice. I added in a statement double-sided belt to break up this monochromatic look.

When this shirt shrunk after a few washes, my brother-in-law was sending it on its way to Goodwill. (So, in a way, that’s kind of thrifting, right?) Anyways, I got my hands on it first and have cherished it ever since.

How I Style it:

This gem makes up yet another one of my go-to outfits. A tip when it comes to oversized t-shirts: never underestimate the power of tucking or tying a knot to keep it snug. Rolling the sleeves helps, too. With some leather accessories, this simple tee is instantly stylish!

When thrifting, I never fail to do a thorough search for band tees. Why? 1. Music from the 70’s-80’s is the best and 2. they make for a totally rockin’ outfit. Therefore, my closet contains around 10 vintage band tees. (Sadly, I have yet to get a vintage Eagles tee, but then again, who would ever give THAT up?)

How I Style it:

Here we go again—the good ‘ol knot and sleeve roll to the rescue. If I didn’t do this, I would be wearing a dress because this shirt otherwise reaches my knees. With some distressed jeans and Vans, this tee looks right at home. A baseball cap doesn’t hurt either.

Okay, this shirt was just too rare (and cheap) not to purchase. I mean, La Crosse Oktoberfest, baby! I have no idea what year this is from, but judging from the cut and condition, I’d definitely categorize it under “vintage”.

How I Style it:

Due to the shortness of this shirt, I tucked it into some high-rise jeans. Furthermore, what says “fall” more than a good pair of comfy combat boots? To finish off this look, I threw on a belt to tie into the brown autumn footwear.

Here’s another one of my favorite thrifted pieces. I’m pretty sure this sweater wasn’t always supposed to be cropped, but hey, those are totally in now! Also, I recently found out Zara has been around since 1975. Who knew?

How I Style it:

Another signature Paige look: black and white. With this simple contrasting base, I added in a maroon belt for an unexpected twist. This base also gives the gold accents of the accessories their chance to shine!

Usually, I’m not one who wears floral, but when I saw this dress… all bets were off. I had finally found the perfect summer sundress!

How I Style it:

For this ensemble, I planned around the accent colors in the dress itself. Some candy pink heels and a light blush purse effortlessly complete this romantic look.

With the 90’s slip dress and velvet trends coming back into style, I couldn’t NOT purchase this dress. I literally found exactly what I was looking for with this one. It was an incredibly lucky find!

How I Style it:

I went for a wearable, casual look for this piece. The t-shirt-under-a-slip-dress certainly roots back to this popular 90’s trend. However, this dress also looks amazing with some black opaque tights and pumps (another popular 90’s look) to serve as a great New Year’s dress.

When I came across this dress, I was searching for a trending color that was a little out of my comfort zone: mustard orange. Needless to say, I found what I was looking for. Plus, it was only 7 bucks!

How I Style it:

Being that this is an autumn-colored long sleeve dress, I went for a cold-friendly outfit. These suede thigh-high boots are just the answer! Thus, my Thanksgiving of 2017 attire was born.

I’m not going to lie: shoes are a toughie in the thrifting world. The odds of finding footwear that is in your size AND in good condition are slim. Needless to say, these boots are precious to me.

How I Style it:

With statement boots like these, I tend to keep the rest of my outfit more laid-back. These square toe boots give off a strong 70’s vibe. That being said, I styled them with a white embroidered off-the-shoulder top to complete this natural look.

So, there you go. My favorite thrifted finds! I will end with some tips I’ve accumulated throughout the years.

Top 5 Thrift Tips:

· Visit Often – I am, hands down, THE pickiest shopper when it comes to clothes. Therefore, I must make a disclaimer that, more often than not, you are going to walk out of the thrift shop empty-handed. It happens! I have been thrifting for about 5 years now and I only have about 15 thrifted items. So, my point here it that it takes time. However, keep in mind that the turnaround rates of these shops are typically pretty high. So, visit often and don’t give up!

· Look for Trends – One main thing that actually turned me on to thrifting is the prevalence of bounce-back trends. Sure, you could buy a vintage-inspired Tommy Hilfiger tee at Urban Outfitters for $50, or you could find an ACTUAL 90’s Tommy tee at Goodwill for $5. Bam! You’re instantly trendy. See what I mean here?

· Try it on – This is a given. One of the things I like to do is to picture in my mind the various ways I could style a certain piece. If you can’t think of any reason as to why you would ever wear it, then it’s probably not ever going to get worn.

· Keep Your Standards – So, you find an “okay” looking shirt. You typically wouldn’t buy it, but its only 3 bucks! Impulse purchase made. Let me tell you now that it probably isn’t worth it. This is a mistake I made in my first few thrifting trips and I never ended up wearing the clothes. My point here is that, no matter how awesome the price, don’t buy something you don’t love.

· Switch it up – Sure, you may feel the need to limit yourself to women’s size medium, but you might be missing out! Take my Harley Davidson jacket, for instance. This was found in the men’s section, size large, as were my Hard Rock Café and AC/DC shirts. My point here is that there may be potential in other sections that you shouldn’t overlook.

Photo cred: My sister, Tiffiny—I definitely owe you a free night of babysitting.

Thanks for reading! What’s your favorite look? Also, are you a fan of thrifting? I’d love to hear in the comments below!

[lulu0917]

Fanfiction - Percy Jackson fandom - The Battle Has Just Begun - Chapter one:

Jason:

Jason woke up in his quiet praetor's cabin. He glanced at his clock, 9:00 am. Why do I keep waking up so early? He thought to himself. It's been one month since the war with Gaea. Yet, the Romans didn't have a chance to return back to Camp Jupiter, as Chiron requested they stay for at least six weeks to help settle things at Camp Half-Blood.

After two weeks of residing with the Greeks, Jason decided he was staying with them, permanently.

Everyone seemed thrilled when the announcement was issued. Except, Jason noted, Reyna, the Praetor of the Twelfth Legion. She appeared distant around him lately and constantly gave him an expression she used when she was in deep thoughts. Deep, unpleasant thoughts. Jason tries to ignore them, but it's kind of hard to enjoy your breakfast when someone is glowering at you from across the room.

Enough of this, you just fought in your biggest battle yet, no need for more trouble. Think pleasant thoughts. Think about Piper. He grinned to himself. Piper, she was something else, in a good sense, of course. She was perfect for him. From her chocolate-washed hair to her kaleidoscope eyes, and her delicate lips.

The former month of pulling everything together after the war went smoothly for him because she was with him every step of the process, which for that, he was grateful. His thoughts were disrupted when he heard a gentle knock on the door.

He reluctantly got up out of bed to go open up. "Pipes!" He exclaimed. He winced at bright sunlight, but smiled.

"Hey, Sparky," She responded, raising her brows. "For a sleepyhead like you, you're up pretty early. "

"I now wish I am sleeping," He muttered. He let her step in, then closed the door.

"What are you doing today?" She asked, fidgeting with her fingers.

"Why?"

"No reason," She innocently smiled.

Jason didn't buy it for a second. "Uh huh, I totally believe you," He said, sarcasm layered thick in his voice.

"Okay, fine. What do you want to do today?" She crossed her arms. He didn't miss the way her eyes dropped down to his chest, back to his face, then back down again.

He paused for a moment and really looked at her. She was wearing an extremely faint blue tank top and skinny jeans. Simple and cute. Hot. Stop gawking like a middle schooler, Jason mentally cringed. He then smiled.

"Usual spot?"

"Usual spot," She confirmed, her eyes twinkling as she grinned.

With the stress of settling everything down after the war, Jason and Piper had found a secluded area in which very few knew about. They would go there at least once a day, just to get away from everyone else. Together.

"Okay, let me just get ready. Give me five minutes?" Jason asked.

"Take your time," She countered, a warm look on her face. She glanced at his chest before he turned away, and a pretty pink blossomed on her cheeks when Jason smirked at her.

Jason opened his drawer, fished out a Camp Half-blood shirt that would piss Reyna off, dark jeans, and his comb. He went into the bathroom, pushing the door shut behind him, not really caring if Piper got more than a glimpse. After having changed into the fresh new clothes, he carefully combed back his hair. Jason winced; it was growing longer, to the back of his neck now, and Piper wouldn't let him cut it. She said when it was always in his eyes it made him look like a normal seventeen-year-old, instead of a leader of a bunch of Roman gladiators.

It wasn't that Jason didn't like it; everyone liked his hair, it was just...different. It was soft, really soft—according to Piper—and also according to Piper, it 'shined like gold' in the light. Jason had scratched his head when she first told him, he replied he supposed that was nice.

Nice, Jason snorted at his reflection.

He took one last glimpse into the mirror, then headed out.

He found a little surprise, though. His bed was expertly done, and his filthy clothes were all in the laundry basket. He also noticed his curtains were open, which allowed tons of light to occupy the area.

Wow, he thought. It's not every day your girlfriend cleans up your cabin for you. Finally, his eyes settled on Piper, tinkering with his clock. He gave her a puzzled look.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Your clock is wrong."

"Well, yeah, I know. But what's wrong with it?"

"The time is two hours early."

Jason's brain switched on. "Wait, so that means—"

"Yes, Jace, it's 7:15 right now."

He reacted with a groan. "Why? Just why are you doing this to me?" He thought out loud.

"Um, if you honestly prefer to look at the false time, that's fine," Said a confused Piper.

"What? Oh, uh, I think I was reflecting out loud. I'm mad at myself for waking up too early, you could say. Been doing that for the past week. You know, post-war trauma," He grinned sheepishly.

Piper smirked.

"What?" He demanded.

"Nothing. Anyhow, you ready?" She scanned him. "Oh, no, that will not work," She told him.

"What?" He inquired.

She sauntered up to him, then ruffled his hair so it looked not too formal or too casual. "Today, you're not Praetor Jason; you're just my Jason," She chuckled. "You're not going anywhere with me looking all proper like that."

"Oh, well, thanks for the compliment," He muttered.

"Don't let it get to your head."

"Thanks, Pipes."

She leaned in and pecked him. "Are you all good to go?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Are you positive?"

"Piper, yes."

"So, you're going barefoot?"

Jason looked down. "Oh," Embarrassed he overlooked something as basic as that, he snatched his socks and boots, relying on the support of the bed to put them on. He finished, then stood up and presented himself to an amused Piper.

"Okay, now you're ready," She beamed.

With that, they strolled out the door.

[bestpromiserings]

13 Things People Wish They'd Known Before Buying Engagement Rings

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My mother has a story she wants to advise about her commitment to my dad. She was an as of late separated from 25-year-old when they met; he, at 28, was prepared for marriage and felt that she was the one. Following five months of dating — commitment came a great deal sooner in 1969 — he popped the inquiry. She challenged. In spite of the fact that she revealed to me later she realized he was the correct person, she would not like to race into anything, not when dating was so much fun. He continued inquiring. At long last, she reacted in taunt dissatisfaction, "Fine, in the event that you get me a precious stone wedding ring, I'll wed you." His reaction: "How about we go out to shop." (My folks are as cheeky as they are sentimental.) He purchased the ring; after two months they strolled down the walkway, and right up 'til the present time they both fortune the gems and the story. My father says, "Two things Mom gained from our pre-commitment: I wasn't shabby — I got her a major ring — and I was determined.

The custom of wedding bands is not really new. Old Egyptians are believed to be the originators of the custom, however the jewel as the cutting edge commitment standard didn't come to fruition until Frances Gerety made the uncontrollably viable "A Diamond Is Forever" slogan for De Beers in 1947. It was once suspected that the fourth finger of your left hand contained a vein that ran directly to your heart, which is the reason we wear rings there — sentimental, correct? Obviously the present wedding bands come in all shapes and sizes and with a variety of jewels, and a few people don't go for the convention by any means. Likewise with weddings, doing it your own particular manner has turned into the new standard. Obviously, there's dependably help to be picked up from the encounters of others. This is what 13 individuals needed to share about the procedure.

1. You don't need to go through multi month's pay on a ring.

My life partner purchased my wedding band at a pawn shop with his joblessness check and proposed to me five days after I moved on from Auburn. I was insane to state yes! Individuals dependably inquire as to whether it is a "family piece." I state it presumably was from someone's family.

He understood that I was the lady he needed to wed and went and got me a ring he could bear. Each time I consider it, I am helped to remember the amount he adores me and that I am so valuable to him. I've known about individuals "overhauling" their rings when they get more seasoned, however I will never part with mine. — Alana, 37, Alabama

2. You can purchase your ring on the web. (Truly!)

In 2002, we were 25 and in graduate school and poor as chapel mice. After a ton of forward and backward, including hand-wringing about whether or not wedding bands were women's activist, it was concluded that we'd search for a vintage ring. Everything was excessively costly. So then we looked on eBay and discovered one that I loved. It was in our value range, and it looked so sparkly and neighborly. Also, we both resembled, "Ooh! It's so pretty!" But purchasing gems on eBay is crazy, isn't that so? Truly, unmistakably, that is an awful thought. In any case, we offer on it. What's more, we won it.

It arrived half a month later in a cheap little heart-formed ring box, however the ring was so sweet and beautiful and sparkly. We took it to a closeout house in Boston that does free gems evaluations. Incredibly, it was worth possibly somewhat more than we paid. — Katherine, 40, New York City

3. Ring correspondence is meaningful of ALL correspondence.

We'd been dating around nine months, and we were beginning to have discussions about getting hitched. I'd stated, "I'm not into every one of the trappings; on the off chance that you need to set aside some cash, you can get a good deal on a ring." He begins dropping clues, and I'm supposing the proposition is coming any moment now. We stroll into his condo and he motions over the space to a bicycle I hadn't seen and resembled, "This is for you." Earlier in our relationship, he'd shown me how to ride a bicycle, and sooner or later I understood "Gracious, he's utilizing the bicycle to propose to me." He'd taken "I needn't bother with an extravagant ring" to signify "I needn't bother with a ring by any stretch of the imagination," which was not the situation.

My father referenced that he had my grandma's ring, and we chose we'd make our own utilizing one of its stones (and we'd treat the bicycle like a wedding present). My life partner had his granddad's ring, which was gold. He chose to have that softened down for the band, and we'd put my grandma's stone in it. However, after we made sense of this arrangement, he came over and got down on one knee and gave over a container. Inside was an appalling wedding band. I resembled, "For what reason are you doing this?" and he stated, "You said you needed a ring." I can't recollect whether they let him return it or gave him a credit. What a horrendous misuse of cash. It was another opportunity to scrutinize his judgment and listening abilities.

In the end I ended up with my ring, which is excellent. In any case, it's in a sheltered store box, in light of the fact that several years after the fact we got separated. I think the procedure of wedding band shopping was extremely significant of critical ways we didn't impart well. Similarly as with any piece of a relationship, getting connected with is a decent trial of whether you're truly ready to address each other's issues. — Jessica, 44, Washington, DC

Photograph given by Jessica

4. There is such a mind-bending concept as a women's activist wedding band — it's classified "doing anything you desire."

My life partner simply wasn't that into profitable material products being given from a man to a lady as a feature of our choice to live cheerfully ever after, yet she likewise originated from a culture where rings are a truly major ordeal. She was vacillating. She had a gathering of companions she delighted in month to month boozy early lunches with: a Sociology PhD, some book editors—a fairly women's activist and lefty group. So I brought forth an arrangement: Why doesn't she ask them what they think? I sent her off to early lunch secure in the learning I'd recently splendidly spared "two months pay" and struck a blow for women's liberation to boot. The early lunch aggregate wasn't keen on striking a blow for correspondence; they were amped up for the wedding, the wedding band no short of what whatever else. I think one individual knowledgeable and achieved bruncher was cited as saying something along the lines of "You better get that stone, young lady!"

What's more, that is simply the tale of how I found, the following week, wedding band shopping. We did live joyfully ever after. My significant other kept her own name. Be that as it may, she has a pretty kickass wedding band. — Steven, 46, and Karina, 35, New York City

5. You don't should be very nearly a proposition to get one.

My companion Mary and I were having early lunch, and she was revealing to me things were quitting any and all funny business with her beau. She inquired as to whether I was keen on running wedding band shopping with her. I said would it say it wasn't somewhat possible to go wedding band shopping — how could she know whether her sweetheart would propose? "He'll propose," she said.

So we go to a ring shop in downtown Portland and eye a couple of rings. At that point a more established lady came into the store. The representative pardoned himself and told the lady, "I have your ring prepared!" and gave her the little box and she opened it and screeched. Mary and I resembled, "Amazing, that is an incredible ring!" and I asked "Who is the fortunate individual you're wedding?"

"Gracious! I'm not locked in," she said. "I'm not notwithstanding dating anybody at the present time. I simply realize that one day I need to get hitched and I need the person to utilize this ring."

Mary resembled, "There is a lady who realizes what she needs," and I kind of concur, yet I additionally thought, "There's a lady who has abandoned the fanciful notion of being locked in." I'm 31 now and pondering marriage than when I was 22, yet despite everything I figure it would be odd if a person got down on one knee before me and I resembled "Hold up I ALREADY GOT THE RING." — Shefali, 31, Washington, DC

6. Ring shopping implies unlimited things to learn.

There are such huge numbers of choices out there, and a great deal of them don't include precious stones! My ring is "The Oval Gatsby" by Heidi Gibson Designs. It's a hand craft with blended stones. Stick to what you need in your heart, and somebody who might be listening can make that for you!

My life partner had utilized my closest companion as a bait without me knowing. I had zero thought what my ring size was, and my closest companion made me accompany her to get her wedding ring and check my ring size while I was there. She at that point transferred this data back to my life partner.

After I got my ring, it was marginally too huge. I'd gotten my ring size estimated while I was hot and sweat-soaked in August, which implied that my hands were swollen. I expected to get my ring estimated down somewhat. Presently, resizing a ring truly debilitates the metal, and I didn't realize that previously. Be that as it may, Heidi Gibson offers these measuring balls that can be evacuated at a later time, which causes it fit my hand better. — Allyson, 30, New York City

Photograph given by Allyson

7. You can wear it on any finger.

I didn't need one, yet my life partner got me one in any case, and it's great. I wore it on my center finger so it wouldn't be An Engagement Ring. It is anything but a basic band/solitaire, so it doesn't resemble a wedding band, however it has a precious stone — vintage, so it doesn't look prominent. What's more, when individuals requested to see my wedding band, I indicated it to them on that finger, however I don't recollect that anybody saying anything. Before commitment and marriage began d

[getseriouser]

20 THOUGHTS: Two Weeks Doth a Season Make

ALRIGHT. So we’ve all played two games now, the Suns and Roos have played at least one outside of a swimming pool, we can start to make some long-lasting judgement.

 The Bulldogs are staring down a full rebuild, Gold Coast have turned it around and can now match the personnel prowess of the Giants and going by Monday’s centre square performance Geelong must surely end up premiers?

 April Premiers, righto. When the Melbourne supporters start to pack the ski gear into the back of the Land Rover, then let’s chat.

 1.       The Western Bulldogs. How much is that supposed post-flag offseason playing a role the best part of 18 months later? Sure, it was a 7th placed finish with an over and beyond September in their glory year, but again its two weeks, last week was colours lowered but we are not off their bus completely, save your wooden spoon bets.

 2.       This column continues to be buoyed by Fremantle. Much better on the weekend, their talented kids look fantastic, Blakely had 30, Ryan had 22 in defence, Brayshaw is showing a bit, Cerra kicked two goals, those two had nine tackles between them, Fyfe, Neale look good and Walters and Wilson are proper x-factors.

 3.       Also worth noting that we were originally wrong about the number of Perth games for the Dockers, it’s not just the standard eleven home games plus an away game to West Coast, its thirteen all up – the Gold Coast host Freo at Optus this week. Thirteen games in Perth, this is more than set up for the Dockers to rebound nicely in 2018.

 4.       Port look very industrious. Matched the Swans for grunt in their home opener and that’s two years in a row they've got that scalp. Back home this week for a soft kill with Brisbane, this is all shaping up very well at Alberton.

 5.       Clarko, moving people around, finding the right role, failing fast, motivation, development, all that – genius. This Hawthorn side still holds several guns in their arsenal, a number of premiership players to that matter, but the way he coaches that side extracts maximum performance out of the available resources, more than any other club going around clearly.

 6.       How about Geelong? Should have won although the umpires, Burgoyne's soft tissue and goal posts helped their cause too. But, Ablett 35 touches, Dangerfield 31, Selwood 29, teams are going to have to shut down one. Daniel Howe was on Selwood but didn't do enough. Ablett looks far too rejuvenated that it’s going to cause opponents issues if they don't curtail the engine room. If they can, the Cats don’t possess too much else.

 7.       If you didn’t know the backstory of the infamous starting three mids for Geelong, watched the game on Monday unencumbered, you would be excused for thinking Ablett is their best player. All the rage on Dangerfield vs. Martin, but if Ablett is fit enough (seemingly so) and has found a new lease on life being back home (clearly looks that way), maybe its back to 2015 and it’s a Ablett vs. Fyfe conversation again?

 8.       Tom Mitchell - 40 touches, two goals, four tackles. Supposedly on six Charlie votes, getting a tonne of exposure. Clayton Oliver though, 35 touches, eight tackles up in Brisbane. One is 25 next month, one is 21 in July. Still a no brainer for me.

 9.       Jaryd Roughead, big shout out to him. Cancer, overcome, and that speaks for itself on its own merits of course, but five shots on goal Monday, looked really good particularly late in the game, last year played 22 games coming back to footy and really picked up as the season came to an end kicking five in the final round. He has three seasons of over 70 goals in his career, only Buddy has done that as well, so he is a genuine star of the game who could really influence a Hawks side aiming to make finals and then do damage from there.

 10.   Good Friday - North and Footscray worked well last year, nothing against St Kilda (aside from their performance of course though, we'll cover that next) but last year felt like the making of something, great game, crowd over 40k, should have got another run. This threat of 'well performed sides' from now on is off the mark, I would go back to North and Footscray and give it three years. It should definitely stay with North, so in that case its commit to one regular opponent not rotate their opponents through.

 11.   So, the Saints. Did ok Round One then followed up with a stinker. Why? Membrey obviously had cricket finals so now that’s all wrapped up he can put the boots on. He averages four marks inside 50 a game, which is fantastic, but for such little impact. Nathan Brown is a good stopper, a premiership player, but is no longer a modern, effective defender and can be exploited. Jake Carlisle, has he gelled as a Saint yet? Not sure. He has had his disruptions but still looks a shadow, and then there's Paddy McCartin. Bless him, still only young, but he looks years off. Chuck in a midfield that yes, has Jack Steven, but Seb Ross and David Armitage don't hurt enough and it falls away big time. They were popping rubber bands at Josh Kelly for a reason.

 12.   Bryce Gibbs is just such a nice piece for this Crows side. 35 touches first up, 28 touches and a goal against Richmond, he is an All-Australian player if he stays fit. Amazing addition.

 13.   On All-Australian, going the early crow, or Magpie, but with some level of objectivity. Two games in Max Gawn would be the AA ruckman easily, no question, but Brodie Grundy, still only 23, in his 84th game had 20 touches, 45 hitouts, eight clearances, three tackles and kicked two straight. Their best player, most important player, perhaps both. He will be a strong AA contender all year.

 14.   The Pies were a little stiff on the weekend, two on the bench, no-one over six foot in the forward line, a little luck and it’s a big scalp, 1-1 into the Carlton game, it’s a whole new story. But the Pies, whilst without luck, at times the last couple seasons need to do better at making their own luck. As an example, Hawthorn definitely makes their own luck it seems, making moves, minimising errors, and they're maybe on the bounce back, perhaps overlapping Collingwood in the process? Jeremy Howe forward during games more often, things like that are required, can’t resign to same old same old, tried hard though..

 15.   Gerard Whateley interviews Nathan Buckley weekly on his radio program. Gerard was coy enough to raise Tom Lynch kicking eight on the weekend, and a normally very assured, calculated and not easily ambushed Buckley didn’t do a great job of avoiding any ‘reading between the lines’ from his responses. Short, sarcastic answers, deliberately avoiding the obvious reality, obvious narrative. Conceded that “I don’t think there's many clubs that would say that they can't do with a marking tall forward. He is a very aerobic, hard running tall forward as well – they don't grow on trees. I reckon he be well sought after.” It suggests the Pies think he is gettable, coming home, and they remain in the running which would not extend to too many clubs, or indeed have him.

 16.   Buddy watch, 12 goals already, I expect another decent bag in the Sydney Derby this weekend, talk of a ton this year is premature, but the Coleman-Brownlow double, don’t tell me you missed out when I lobbed it on all of you back in March. Utter. Value.

 17.   Credit to those down at Arden Street. The Kangas have bottomed out, got a tonne of cash, and yes, apparently asking Andrew Gaff how much he misses living in Melbourne, but Ben Brown up front, a lot of decent depth through the midfield, not a lot of star power, but it’s even, Robbie Tarrant is horrendously underrated, good kids, if you’re a Roos fan, stick fat, they’ll be ok.

 18.   A few non-footy to finish, let’s wrap the cricket up. Firstly, David Warner, couple concluding takeaways. He has ball-tampered at least throughout the South Africa series, that’s how Bancroft got caught. AB De Villiers got suspicious of Warner in the first few tests, texted his old captain now commentator Graeme Smith to watch Warner with the ball. Cluey to this Warner then courageously flipped his conduct onto Bancroft in Cape Town when the cameras would be following the ball from Paine to the bowler and low and behold, here we are.

 19.   Hiring Roxy Jacenko, a Sydney-based magazine PR pest, having wife Candice do a tell-all with News Limited, the delayed and then train wreck press conference, he will now be lost to Australian cricket and despite all the good he has a cricketer and person has done, he has made his bed he will now lie in it. Smith and Bancroft made progress to redemption upon arriving home, Warner has gone the other way sadly.

 20.   The Test Team from here? Head to England and play County Cricket. Yes the next nine months looks good, tests against minnows or against Asian countries at home, ripe conditions to succeed. But with an Ashes over there in 15 months, if I’m Burns, Renshaw, or anyone on the fringe, Kurtis Patterson, Jake Doran, get over to England, smash out a big county season with a mass of runs, and you’ll do well to be back there next year on an Ashes tour.

 (originally published April 6)