#I just saw so much meme potential crush in front of my eyes

[swugflower]

I cannot tell you the disappointment I just experienced.

I had the most intense high after reading that a Loki x Morbius ship exists on the tumblr ship list only to be now crashed with sadness that this isn’t about Jared Leto Morbius but apparently Owen Wilson (????) in that Loki series.

Morbius has been the biggest meme between my former co-worker/bestest of homies for years now, to the point that I swore to name a cat Morbius.

I am,,, devastated right now.

[astranva]

Power BFFs.

// masterlist //

Word Count: 2.1k

Category: Fluff best friend!harry, best friend!reader

Warning: None!

Summary: In which Harry’s best friend is a hijabi blogger and they’re everyone’s bffs’ goals.

Bonus: Instagram posts!

..

For as long as you lived, you have always been into fashion. You were the kid who chose to wear pink with orange long before Taylor Swift’s dress was the new cool, always one whom family went to for advice when it came to putting outfits together.

Hell, if someone could pay you for the times your mom was on the phone with your aunt or a friend and you heard her tell them “Y/N can help you with putting the clothes together! She studies fashion. Yeah, not a doctor but she’s doing a good job” you would be a billionaire.

You remember how shocked your parents were when you told them that you wanted to switch majors. How could they not when you told them that you decided to leave med school for fashion?

But you wouldn’t have taken the step if it weren’t for your longtime best friend – Harry.

You and Harry have been best friends for as long as you could remember, having had been your friend long before you even wore the hijab and you remember when you were 16 after deciding to wear it, having sat him down one day and explained to him what it meant.

He has always been supportive of you, and you, of him. You lost count of how many times you had helped him with his wardrobe choices, and every time he was more thankful that he had someone who was daring with fashion and saw it as he did; a form of expression.

You had a good relationship with his fans long before you decided to enter the fashion blogging world, and maybe fans liked you more because of how carefree and natural you were and how innocent and supportive your friendship with Harry looked. Hell, he talked about you whenever he mentioned his family and if that said anything, it would be that he saw you a Styles, a sister.

It was always fun whenever you styled Harry for an appearance, only so the both of you could sit back and watch their tweets and comments, always freaking out and gushing over how good he looked because of your fashion choices, adding memes along the way.

“How does that look?” You asked him, holding a dress on a hanger of you, looking down at the vibrant green color.

Harry, with 3 shopping bags in his hands and his eyeglasses on, shifted his weight on one leg before bringing his finger to his chin and he looked at the dress. “Think it makes your skin look a little dull, not pop.”

“You think so?” You mumbled as you moved to a mirror, nodding, “You’re right. God, I hate green.”

He chuckled, “No you don’t.”

“Olive green is nice, when we’re talking about trousers and skirts but tops and dresses? No, thanks. Looks good on you though, you lucky bastard.”

“Watch out, you’re looking a little green now, love.” Harry teased, a dimpled smile on his face.

“Oh, shut up, I’m not jealous of you.” You scoffed jokingly, fixing your headscarf to avoid looking at him, “Maybe a little.” You added, laughing quietly as Harry laughed.

“I think they have a beige one, hold on.” Harry’s eyebrows were furrowed in concentration as he looked around before walking towards a rack, searching through the colors of dresses for the one color he knew his best friend loved. “Ha!” Harry smiled in triumph as he reached the color, getting your size before holding it out for you.

You sighed in relief, “You are an angel. Sometimes.”

Harry rolled his eyes at you with a chuckle, handing you the dress before you both agreed to pay and head somewhere to have dessert for a treat.

You smiled at the cashier, watching as her eyes widened as she looked from Harry to you. “How are you?” You asked politely.

“Oh my God. Y-You’re-“ She looked at you before looking at Harry who smiled at her, too, “And you’re-“

“And you’re Sasha. Hi, Sasha.” You giggled, reading her name from her tag, “You know this goof?” You joked, pointing at Harry, “Was following me everywhere here,” you cupped a hand around your mouth, though still speaking at a tone louder than a whisper, “Think he’s a bit of a creep.”

“Hey!” Harry whined but laughed, “Don’t listen to her, love. She’s only doing that because I look better in green.”

It wasn’t unusual for you and Harry to tease each other, and it wasn’t new either that you did it in front of people. Perhaps it’s why people enjoyed being around the both of you together.

“You’re both adorable,” the girl laughed, finally calming from her moment, “I’m a huge fan of the both of you. And Y/N, congratulations on your new collaboration with Tommy Hilfiger. I think it’s amazing that you’re helping in representing more people in the industry.”

Your mischievous expression changed to a softer one, your hand going to your heart as your eyes twinkled.

“Right? Bloody talented that one is.” Harry smiled proudly as he glanced down at you, “Making history as she goes.”

“Aw, stop it, you two. I’m going to cry.” You cooed, “Thank you, Sasha. This means the world to me. Think this made my entire week.”

“It’s no problem,” she beamed, “I wouldn’t let you pay if I owned the store but…” she frowned.

“Hey, no. It’s your right. We all have bills to pay and as much as it would be nice, favors don’t really pay the rent.” You smiled with a shrug, handing her the money.

“Okay, true.” Sasha agreed, packing your dress before handing you the bag. “It was amazing meeting the both of you.”

“You think it’s okay if we get a picture together?” You asked before looking at Harry, “Can you take a picture of us?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Oh my God,” Sasha fanned herself before letting out a deep breath, shakily handing Harry her phone, “This is the best day I have ever lived in since I started working here.”

You giggled at that, watching her move from behind the cashier before she reached you. The both of you stood beside each other, you wrapping both arms around her as you smiled, her beaming as Harry took the picture – he took 3, just in case the girl didn’t like one of them – before you reached your hand out.

“Here, let me take your picture.” You said, taking the phone from Harry before exchanging places so you can snap a picture of him and the girl together.

As if to tease you, Harry made the same pose as yours, causing you to roll your eyes before you jokingly told him to “be original” to which he wrapped one arm around Sasha while the other was close to his face as he threw a peace sign – a classic Harry pose.

After hugging Sasha goodbye, you and Harry were on your way to his car to go somewhere else to have dessert and maybe spill the latest tea like you always did.

“I’m not so sure about working with them,” You said after taking a sip from your smoothie, resting your chin on your hand as you talked about a brand that had reached you for a collab, “Think they want it so they can look cool, you know? They don’t really care about the message or the representation of hijabi women and I just don’t want to get treated like the next cool trend and hey! Bonus for having a rockstar best friend. It’s ridiculous.”

Harry’s arms were crossed on the table, face showing concentration as he listened intently and nodded in understatement. “I get it. Sorry about that, love,” he sighed, “Wish I can do something about it. Feel helpless when I can’t seem to find any solution to offer.”

“Harry,” you rolled your eyes, “You’ve done enough for people. Besides, you’re growing and learning. This is the best solution.”

“Yeah?” He asked reluctantly, “Just sucks whenever I find the shit they write to you online. Don’t know how you do it.”

“What? Getting told that I’m oppressed even though it was my choice and the racist comments?” You chuckled a little, “Got bothered by it enough already. Just sick of justifying my choices. It’s like,” you thought before your eyebrows went up before pointing at him, “It’s like people with you and how you dress. The mean comments about your choices and the head-scratching comments about why you wear nail polish.”

“Took me long enough to feel comfortable in my skin.” Harry admitted, sighing with a shake of his head, “Wish people would just let people be.”

You shrugged, “Mean people are everywhere, it’s mostly about not letting yourself be one now. I actually feel like we’re at a time when people are unlearning most shit they blindly followed by older generations, the racism, the sexism, the double standards. This is generation is just,” you smiled, “It’s phenomenal, don’t you think?”

Harry joined in, giving you a smile and a nod, “It is. I’m where I am because of all these young people. Music legends are legends and are basically worshipped because of all the young women of their days. Sometimes I can’t even wrap my head around how societies belittle these people so much.”

“Right? They care more about shaping them than helping them unleash all this potential. It’s why they’re so angry sometimes, but so driven. Like, they had enough of silence and are now taking matters in their own hands.” You said, “But to be honest, it’s can be kind of sad sometimes.”

“How so?” Harry asked, sipping his smoothie.

“Like now you have people as young as 13 doing what world leaders should be doing. Really young people trying to teach older people why sexism is wrong and how they can help the Black Lives Matter movement and why they should. They shouldn’t be defending rights and protesting and dying, they should be worrying about their moms not cutting the crust off of their toasts or maybe some high school crushes. But it has to be done, you know? And if world leaders are staying silent, somebody needs to change that even if they’re only 13 for the love of God.”

That was the thing about yours and Harry’s friendship. While you both bickered like children all the time, you also always had heart-to-heart conversations that you couldn’t have with anyone and everyone. It was always comforting.

There were times when you didn’t agree with each other but it was never embarrassing or immature, you’d both state your point of views and find common grounds. It was never about winning an argument because you never could call it an “argument”, just a talk.

“How’s the tour rescheduling going?” You asked, the both of you drifting to another conversation.

//

harrystyles: Proud of you. Always.

..

fan0 CRYING

fan1 power bffs don’t @ me

fan2 are they dating? pls say yes

↳ fan3 when will people stop ruining friendships with shit like that?

yourinstagram are u sick?

↳ fan4 me when my family is nice to me

↳ fan5 me when my friends invite me to places

↳ harrystyles …

yourinstagram you know it all, H. you’re the best best friend anyone could ever wish for. cool photographer too. ❤❤❤

↳ fan7 HE TOOK THAT PICTURE HE’S SO TALENTED

↳ fan8 Hélène Pambrun who? We only know ✨Harry Styles✨

↳ yourinstagram don’t do my girl Hélène dirty like that

annetwist Looking beautiful! 😘

↳ fan8 I love this friendship sm

↳ yourinstagram says you! miss you loads xx

yourinstagram: harry out here looking like mr. pringles on a sour cream & onion can and i love it

..

fan0 HAHAH DEAD

fan1 ADHQWJDIEFIGHEFH HONTENT

fan2 y/n taking the piss at harry is my favorite thing

fan3 10 years of y/n giving us the hontent we need and deserve

↳ yourinstagram happy to provide

user aren’t muslims not allowed to drink wine?? why is harry holding one and why are YOU taking a picture of it? Lol

↳ fan4 leave her alone

↳ fan5 you know she’s free to do anything she wants, right?

↳ yourinstagram this is the amazing chef Massimo Bottura’s dark cherry balsamic vinegar but go off

↳ fan6 ENDED

fan7 This friendship makes me sleep better at night

harrystyles Is this because I look good in green?

↳ fan8 AJDGFKJWOI SHOW OFF

↳ fan9 I love them so much

↳ yourinstagram i dislike you sometimes

↳ fan10 ^ me because harry won’t release studio versions of medicine and anna

↳ harrystyles Love you, too.

 yourinstagram: silky

..

fan0 LOOKS LIKE HARRY’S OUTFIT FROM TOUR IN NETHERLANDS

fan1 imagine looking like that

fan2 this is an au where harry is a hijabi woman

[harrystyles liked this comment.]

↳ fan3 OH MY GOD HE LIKED

↳ fan4 he: confirmed

harrystyles A look.

↳ fan5 I want to thank the queen y/n for teaching harry online lingo

[random-mha-thoughts]

Truth (Todoroki x Reader)

Pairing: Todoroki x Reader

Genre: Crack, fluff

Summary: By some dumb luck, Todoroki’s drank some truth serum, and it’s the only way anyone finally hears what’s on his mind aka my excuse for making Todo act like an incorrect meme

Word count: 1,802

Tags:  @yuki-osaki​ @liviitehe​ @iamsoftsodonttoucheume-blog​ @bunnythepipsqueak​

a/n: I’m back on my Todoroki BS.  Only because I had no other ideas and I was babysitting most of the day so I had to pick something that I can passively write without any intense feelings.  And because Todo deserves some crack.  Not terribly proud of it, but it was a good idea in my head so, here ya go.

"It was a mistake!  Honestly!" Hatsume cries, backed against the wall at the group of students confronting her.

"Well, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO FIX IT!" Bakugou yells, the most ticked off of all of them, sparks popping in his palms.

"How could you do something so irresponsible?  What were you even doing with something like that?"  Iida reprimands the girl, chopping the air as usual.

I was planning on asking Hastume for some adjustments on my hero costume, but instead I'm standing in the doorway watching a confrontation.  In addition to the two boys, Uraraka and Midoriya stand behind them, slightly flustered but still cross.  Yaoyorozu stands with them, arms crossed over her chest in disappointment.

"Uh...?"  All of their heads snap towards me.  "What's...going on, guys?"

Before anyone has a chance to respond, Bakugou bellows, "THIS IDIOT MADE ICYHOT INTO A RUDE EMO BASTARD!"

Huh?  I blink and turn to the three standing aside for a better explanation while Iida continues reprimanding the support girl for her wrongdoings.

Yaoyorozu rubs the bridge of her nose.  "Hastume-san made a truth serum for some reason and left it in a cup of tea, which he drank."

"I thought he would've liked it to cheer him up," Uraraka twiddles her finger nervously, "He seemed more stoic and quiet than usual today.  Deku and I came for some upgrades and we saw it on the table."

"Hastume-san said I could have it, but we figured Todoroki would've liked it instead," Midoriya whines out.  "It's all my fault, I did this."

"You had no way of knowing, Midoriya, don't beat yourself up," I assure the poor boy and I quirk an eyebrow.  "But, if Hastume said you could have it, and there was a truth serum inside it, then what was she trying to...?"  I slowly turn to the girl in question.

At my train of logic, Bakugou growls and steps closer to her.  "YOU BETTER START TALKING, PINK HAIR!"

Her face becomes flustered.  "I just needed to ask him a few questions, that's all!"

"You should be ashamed of coercing your schoolmates for information like that!  That's way beyond unethical!" Iida chimes in, truly the class representative.

"Guys, why she did it is a whole side issue, the bigger thing is that she makes something to fix it," I cross my arms in front of my chest and give her a harsh stare.

Hastume waves her arms around.  "I promise it's only temporary!  It should wear off by itself in an hour or less!"

"If you're wrong, I won't have any qualms about the two of us roughing you up," I crack one of my knuckles and she nods frantically.  I turn to Bakugou.  "Wait, so what do you mean Todoroki's a 'rude, emo bastard'?"

.

"I think it's unhealthy for you to be eating all those sweets, but it's part of your quirk, so I guess you can't help it."

Frankly, Sato doesn't know how to react to that.  The confused guy was just coming out of his dorm with freshly baked cakes ready to share with his classmates when Todoroki, quite literally, violated his quirk with such a stoic expression.

"Okay, I understand the rude part," I whisper to Midoriya, covering my hand with my mouth.

"Just wait, it gets worse."

Mineta casually walks down the hall towards the two boys and waves, "What's up guys-"

Todoroki looks down at the little purple boy.  "I'd love to file a restraining order against you on behalf of every girl in this school, it's a good thing you're not pansexual or else I would've done it myself."

Mineta's jaw drops to the floor.  "I- Where-"

Kaminari laughs from behind, patting the boy's back.  "Todoroki got you good, Mineta!"

Todoroki sighs.  "I don't know how to sugarcoat this, Kaminari, but I'm afraid that being around you might make me lose brain cells.  Sero should probably tape your mouth shut.  At least then he would be a more notable classmate."

My jaw drops to the ground and I shrink back a little behind the corner so they can't see us.  "Oh...my...god."  Half of me doesn't want to go out there for fear of what he might say to me.

Kirishima eases up to the sharp-tongued boy.  "Hey, hey, where's this coming from, dude?  We're your friends."

His mismatched eyes downcast.  "Unfortunately, I was never taught how to be friendly because I was isolated for most of my childhood.  Not to mention my father isn't the most personable or kind either."

The hallways falls silent.  What is anyone supposed to say in that situation?

"I'm going to bed.  At least in sleep, I can feel a percentage of the sweet relief of death," Todoroki casually turns on his heels and walks off.

"Holy shit, it's worse than I thought," I mutter.  I've always wondered what's inside the usually quiet and proper boy's head, but this is something else.

"OI, ICYHOT!"

"For fuck's sake, Bakugou, you couldn't have just left him alone?!" I whisper-yell at his sheer stupidity.

Todoroki turns around to face the spiky-haired hothead.  "Yes, Pomeranian?"

Bakugou growls at the insult.  "I'm still not finished with you from earlier!"

There's still the same cold expression on his face.  "What more do you want?  Do you want me to say that if I wasn't hesitant to use my left side at the Sport Festival, I would've been the 1st place winner?"

The ash blond pops sparks from his hands.  "You wanna test that theory out right now?!"

Todoroki puts his hands in his pockets, still keeping his cool.  "I'd rather not waste my energy ruining this building to appease someone with a deeply rooted inferiority complex."

"You better shut up before I smash your face in!"  He bends his legs into position, about to spring.

"And I'd still be considered better looking than you."

I come out from behind the wall to calm the situation down before it escalates anymore.  "Alright, that's enough."  I glare at Bakugou.  "You didn't need to egg him on, stupid, you just made it worse for yourself."  I brace myself and turn around.  "Todoroki, just-"

"I like you."

The rest of my words catch in my throat.  Huh?  I had to look up to make sure he was looking at me.

His heterochromatic gaze fixes on me.  "You can be just as aggressive as Bakugou at times, and it's frustrating how you have so much potential to be a great hero with such a strong quirk, not to mention that you can be such a mess during practice."  He steps towards me so we're standing arm's length away.  "But you're charming and sweet as well.  Just seeing you smiling makes me feel warm on the inside.  Sometime's it's the only thing I need to see in the morning to make my day better.  And I can look into your eyes..."  He trails off suddenly.

My heart's already pounding and I can feel the heat from my blush reach my ears.  When he stops, I finally let out a breath.  I thought I was going to die if he continued.

Todoroki's expression morphs into slight confusion before his eyes widen and he looks around at all the slack-jaws and smirks around us.  A blush as intensely red as his left side colors his entire face and neck.  When his gaze finally rounds back to me, he nearly bursts into flames and slaps a hand over his mouth.  "Pardon me," he murmurs before retreating to his room.

I'm dizzy enough that I could faint, from both embarrassment and joy that the guy I like has feelings for me too.  My legs are about to give out until Midoriya holds me up.  "I guess...the serum's...worn off now," I let out shakily.

"Are you okay?"  The freckled boy looks concerned trying to balance me back onto my feet.

I nod, my thoughts a little scrambled, but I still need to address the rest of the students.  "So, uh, Todoroki was under a truth serum, which is why this all happened.  Just thought I'd let you guys know."  I lean over Midoriya's ear.  "Can you take care of the rest?"  The weightlessness in my stomach tells me I should go knock on a certain someone's door and talk to them.

The boy nods and I stumble over to Todoroki's door, leaving Iida's signature class rep voice to deal with damage control.  I take a deep breath to calm my rattled nerves as I stand there.  I'd say we're friends by association, since we both talk to Midoriya, but we've never really been alone to talk before.  Somehow, I'd developed a crush on him, but I'd never really planned on confessing.

I gather my wits and knock gently.  "Todoroki?  It's me."

There's rustling of clothes very close to the door, which means he was probably sitting behind it, before the boy opens it a crack.  He clears his throat, "Yes?"

It's cute how he's trying to sound like everything's normal.  "Can I come in?  I'd like to talk."

Without another word, he opens the door fully to let me in, closing it behind me.  He doesn't meet my eyes, trying to hide his face behind a closed fist.  The image of this normally cool guy falling apart embarrassed is priceless.  "I'm...sorry...I embarrassed you.  And I wasn't very kind to everyone else either.  My behavior was completely out of line, and I'd like to take back everything-"

"You want to take back what you said about me, too?"

His face turns even more crimson.  "If it makes you uncomfortable..."

"It doesn't, actually."

The boy finally looks at me, childish shock clear in his eyes.  It makes me want to hug him and not let go.  "Really?"

I nod, "I'm just a little upset that you cut off where you did."  I close the distance between us and tug the fabric on his sleeve.  "What did you want to say about my eyes?"

It seems I might have asked too much of him.  He's the complete opposite of how he was 2 minutes ago, but that's what makes this more genuine to me.  "I...was going to say...I can look into your eyes...all day."  And he finally does so.  "Because they hold the entire soul of the person I'd like to get to know."

My heart flutters at the cliche but sweet line and throw my arms around him.  "Was that so hard to say?" I tease.

"Somewhat..."

I rest my head on his shoulder.  "I like you too, Todoroki."  The words coming out of my mouth feels almost like a liberation.  And when his stiff figure finally loosens up to envelop me too, I smile.  "You know, you're gonna have to apologize to everyone formally tomorrow."

His body becomes hotter.  "I know..."

[lucas-koh]

Stitches - Bryce Lahela x MC XII

Parts 1-11 linked in bio!

Somewhat canon compliant.

Rating: M, mentions of medical misdemeanour, implied sex, language

Song: Do I Wanna Know (Live At The BBC) - Hozier

Word Count: 3367

Taglist: @lahellacute @lahamseiroshoe @anotherbeingsworld @fuseboxmusebox @choicesficwriterscreations @bubblelaureno @bratzlahela @eleanorbloom @bryceslahela @thegreentwin @kelseaaa || please let me know if you would like to be added to or removed from this list

Chapter Twelve: An Inconvenient Truth

So. Denial hadn’t been working. At this point Suki had to admit to herself her crush on Bryce. She had no clue what to do. She should end it, right? It wouldn’t be fair on him. He hadn’t signed up for this and they’d made it pretty clear they didn’t want this to happen.

Suki hadn’t had feelings for anyone in such a long time that it had never seemed possible to her. She’d never dreamed she’d end up feeling some type of way for Bryce Lahela. The moment she felt that déjà vu she should’ve run for the hills. Maybe in hindsight the whole thing was a mistake, but it was too late now.

She was laying there in his bed, on his chest, wearing his pyjamas. She definitely wasn’t doing herself any favours right at that moment.

She wanted to stay there forever, enveloped in his smell and his warm skin and the light breeze of his breaths on her forehead; the soft cotton of his pyjamas, the dizzying sensation of his arm on her waist.

But god, Bryce really hadn’t bargained for this. She had to get out of there before she drove herself crazy or overstayed her welcome. Or worse, drove him away. Because although it might not have been what was best for her after the revelation, all Suki wanted was to keep Bryce in her life.

“Thank you so much. Again. But I oughta get out of your hair.” She started to lift herself off him, dreaming up reluctance as his arm fell away from her.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want. You said you had today off too, right? You must be feeling pretty rough,” he chuckled.

“Thank you for offering but really. I should go home.” Should more than you know. Should for my own sanity. Should because it’s the right thing to do when it was me who fucked up.

Bryce left her to it as she changed out of his pyjamas – slowly, she was hungover as hell – and back into the clothes that were strewn across Bryce’s kitchen.

“I’ll wash your underwear for you,” he offered, as they had been caught in the crossfire of her vomit. She could tell it was a serious offer despite the smug smirk painted on his face.

Stop it! Stop it stop it stop it! “No, you won’t. I have a washing machine at home.”

She collected them from him in a plastic bag, how embarrassing.

Imagine making such a state of yourself? I’m twenty-fucking-eight years old and I drank too much because I was afraid to admit I might have some stupid schoolgirl crush on my fuck buddy? Have you ever seen anything more tragic? And now he’s fucking handing me my sick-soaked underwear in a plastic fucking bag. Like a fucking child. A child who threw up at school and had to go home early and get picked up by their mom. And now I can’t stop fucking cursing myself for putting myself in this position. If there was ever any moment at all that he maybe saw me as more than a fuck, that moment was lost now.

So Suki left, her head spinning and not just because of an asshole of a hangover.

Maybe it was just a temporary baseless infatuation. Maybe Suki shouldn’t have been jumping to such drastic measures…

So that - Suki’s denial and clinging on to the hope that she could find a way to continue this – was how Suki and Bryce ended up continuing to sleep together throughout the month of February. But the longer it went on, the more sure Suki was that this addicting feeling when she thought of him was sticking around. And it wasn’t fair on him.

She kept thinking about it, considering her options, making the excuse that she didn’t want to jump into the wrong decision. So yeah, she kept sleeping with him. And no, there was no way in hell Suki was admitting to Bryce that she was into him.

She’d been afraid to contact him after everything that had happened, the amount of embarrassment she’d caused for herself, but he was the one to reach out first. It surprised Suki that he even wanted anything to do with her after all that.

“How’s your hand?” He’d asked the first time since the incident, picking up her wrist and investigating the healing.

“It’s okay, it doesn’t hurt much any more.” The wound was scarring to scab and itch.

“It’s looking good.”

“I guess I have your skills to thank.”

“How many times have I told you?” He grinned, “I’m a talented guy.”

They’d become comfortable with one another, really comfortable, and the friend part of friend with benefits could no longer be ignored.

Suki’s problem? Bryce was impossible to get a read on. She had absolutely no idea to tell if her newfound feelings were reciprocated, because he was a huge flirt to everyone. And Suki wasn’t one to take risks. So she didn’t say anything, assumed Bryce felt the same as he ever had for her.

She was right, of course, but not in the way she expected.

A few nights into the month Bryce texted:

Scalpel Jockey: *sigh* i should call her😉

Bryce’s text was accompanied by a selfie taken in front of his toilet, wide grin and thumb up. So embarrassing. He’d been right about the blackmail thing, then. He wasn’t going to let the mess I was go.

Santa Fe: you’re not even using the meme right

Scalpel Jockey: well my toilet misses your mouth so be sure to come visit it tomorrow

Santa Fe: you think you’re going to get laid after reminding me of the most embarrassing night of my life?

Over-exaggeration. But it honestly sort of felt that way.

Scalpel Jockey: of course I will😏

Santa Fe: nope

Scalpel Jockey:👀😌🤨

The next day,

Santa Fe: fine. see u soon.

—-

“Owwww somethings digging into my back!” Bryce yelped as he’d rolled away from Suki. He did some odd contortions to reach underneath himself and grab whatever was causing the grievance. “Suki, why the hell is your id badge in my bed?”

“Uh, maybe because you chucked it into the abyss a minute ago.”

He gave her a look with pursed lips. He rolled to his side facing away from Suki.

“Aww, you look so cute in this. All innocent and shit.”

“Give it back.”

“I mean it! Look at that little face,” he cooed, brushing the image with his thumb.

“It’s really not my best picture at all,” she groaned. What was it about ID card images which made them always turn out terrible? And then one is left with said image for potentially years to come.

“Suki, this says your birthday is January 18th? You didn’t say anything?” He turned to face her.

“January was so busy, I wasn’t that fussed.”

“You should’ve said. I would’ve celebrated with you.”

“Birthday sex?” She laughed.

“No, like proper birthday stuff. Whatever you like doing on them. And then maybe some birthday sex,” he added with a smirk.

“Eh. It was fine, I just got takeout.”

Bryce tutted.

“When’s your birthday, then?”

Suddenly he looked bashful and uneasy. “Um. November 27th.”

“Oh my god. You’re an idiot.”

“Nah. I’m a Sagittarius,” he winked.

“I can’t believe you were trying to make me feel guilty for not mentioning my birthday when you didn’t either.”

“We actually spent it together. That day I looked after Tommy. I had a great time.”

“Oh.” He had to stop saying things like that. It was terrible for her heart. “I can’t believe you let me set a random kid on you for your birthday.”

“I said I had a great time didn’t I?”

And god Suki’s stomach was having a party, an anxiety-ridden, nerves-on-fire, doubt-clad, smitten-as-shit party.

—-

In no time at all It was Valentine’s Day. Not that Suki was paying any attention… or that she wanted to spend it with a certain god-like surgeon. She didn’t even need to mention it, the plan was just act like this was any other hookup. February 14th was just a day – the way we ascribe time only exists because of us; and therefore it’s just a normal hookup. Using existentialism to cure crush nerves? Surprisingly works.

Santa Fe: 👃

Scalpel Jockey: sorry sukes i’m sick🤒

Well. That was not what she was expecting.

But wait. What if he was faking? What if he knew it was Valentine’s Day and was worried Suki was trying to make a gesture and had to let her down easy?

Worse, what if he was spending Valentine’s with someone else? After all, they had agreed not to be exclusive. Shit. What if Bryce liked someone else?? She didn’t even think about it before and now she felt a bit sick. He was an insanely attractive guy – chances were even without time to meet people there would be plenty at the hospital falling at his feet. There was no way he hadn’t been asked out for Valentine’s.

Those worries were quelled by another text, a picture of Bryce’s legs in his bed and the TV at the end playing something. There was a small bag full of used tissues.

Bless him, he really is sick.

Suki knew what she had to do.

Clanging about in the kitchen she muscled up some veg-packed soup, a vegetable lasagne, and a vegetable stir-fry. She also blended a fruit smoothie. Then she packed everything into Tupperware and fit a couple of portions of each into an insulated container.

Suki marched over to Bryce’s with the insulated container full of her cooked meals and determination. God, I’m a simp.

When she arrived she knocked hard so that he could hear. It was a couple of minutes before Suki heard footsteps, then they stopped (presumably for Bryce to look through the fish-eye) before Bryce creaked the door open.

“Suki. Didn’t you get my text, I’m sick I can’t-“ his voice was weak and croaky, slightly nasal – and he definitely sounded ill.

“I know. I’m not here for that. I bought you these,” she held up the insulated bag.

“What is it?”

“Food. Meals. Because you’re sick and you can’t cook. It’s just simple immune-boosting stuff,” she held out the bag for him to take.

He sniffed loudly and opened the door wider. “Come in.”

She was going to protest, but for some reason she didn’t. The plan was just to drop the food off, not to come in. But when faced with the opportunity Suki’s legs carried her subconsciously. When Bryce opened the door up for her she could see him closer. Dark bags under his eyes, greasy hair, chapped lips. He was wearing sweatpants (similar to the pair Suki had tucked away in her drawer at home from Christmas), and a cotton t shirt. He looked rough. Somehow, he was still the most beautiful man she’d ever met. And seeing him like this wasn’t off-putting at all, it just made her want to look after him. Be there for him. Why am I willing to do so much for him? Liking people is a bit like giving away your soul, isn’t it?

“You get back into bed and I’ll heat one of these up for you. They should still be mostly warm, anyway.”

“Sukes, I’ll be fine,” he said nasally. The nickname sent Suki’s organs into overdrive. Because here he was at his lowest, referring to Suki with an affectionate moniker and sounding like a melancholic song.

“I kind of owe you, remember?”

Bryce hummed a nod, too tired for much else, and slunk back into his bedroom.

Suki busied herself checking all the Tupperware’s – they were cool enough to go in the freezer by then so she put all bar one away. She heated that one for a few moments and transferred it into a bowl with cutlery, planted that on a tray, and brought it through to Bryce.

He was in bed as Suki had instructed, old reruns of Criminal Minds playing on his TV. He smiled weakly when he saw her enter with the tray of soup.

“Thank you,” he said as she placed the tray on his lap.

“No problem.”

He took a spoon of soup and gulped it down gently. Then he turned to Suki, who was now perched lightly on the edge of his bed facing him.

“I’m not good with… seeming weak,” he said, looking at Suki intensely.

“You don’t need to worry about that. It’s only me. I vomited in your toilet.”

“Exactly,” he muttered, and when Suki was about ask what he meant he carried on, “this soup is amazing.”

They sat in silence with only the sounds of the TV as Bryce worked his way through the bowl of soup. Suki was too nervous to ask what he’d meant.

“Thank you,” he said as he finished the bowl. She took the tray from him and took it back through to the kitchen, washing everything up for him. She returned to Bryce’s room, noting beads of sweat on his forehead. Going into Bryce’s en-suite, Suki found a washcloth and soaked it with some cold water before giving it a squeeze.

When she returned to Bryce’s side she gently dabbed the washcloth over his hot forehead. He looked up at her, vulnerable, exhausted – very un-Bryce. She was ever so gentle as she dabbed the cool cloth over his skin. Then Bryce reached up and held onto her wrist weakly with his hand.

“Why are you doing all this?”

“Like I said, I owe you. I was hard work that night at yours.”

He seemed to accept this answer, and gulped a little as he let go of her wrist. She pulled the cloth from his forehead for a moment.

“I’m still nervous,” he croaked.

“About?”

“You seeing me like this. It’s not exactly sexy.”

Suki’s nosiness was getting the better of her, and she knew now would be a good time to strike since there’d been an opening.

“The whole… weakness thing – that’s why you were weird about the surgery?”

“Yeah. Yeah it is,” he sighed, looking at Suki as though weighing up his options. He seemed to come to a decision and continued: “I already went through struggles with self doubt. My parents fucked up my whole belief in myself - it’s why I overcompensate now. It’s why I took the surgery thing so hard, I felt myself doubting my abilities. Well it was more like – less that I was actually doubting myself, because I know I’m good, and more that I was worried I would start doubting myself.”

“Yeah, that totally makes sense.” Suki was surprised he was opening up to her like this. She noticed how he mentioned his parents, but she’d let him get there when he was was ready.

“I’m sorry for not telling you at the time.”

“It’s okay, I wasn’t owed the story. So what really happened? You got kicked off because of karaoke?”

“Uh, the other surgical interns kind of have it out for me.”

“What?”

“Well… everyone liked me at first. You know, I’m a likeable guy,” he flashed a grin, a ghost of his normal megawatt smile, “but I think once they saw how competent and determined I was that changed fast.”

“Jealousy,” she scoffed, “So that’s why you don’t hang out with them any more?” Suki remembered how he’d avoided them at Halloween.

“Yeah. And there was a group of them spreading shit from the start about me, dangerous rumours that could get me fired. Saying I drink on the job, I have *ahem* sexual relationships with my patients, that I’m a terrible surgeon and only made it here because of my parents money which is...”

“Your parents are well off?”

Bryce’s jaw tightened. “Yeah, uh, people found out about who my parents are too.”

“Who are they?”

“Another time,” he bit his lip as though unsure, concern as he looked into Suki’s face.

“Okay- drinking at work, sex with patients? Where the hell did those come from?”

“Well I keep a few condoms in my locker, for you, that can’t have looked great after the accusations. I don’t know shit about the drinking. I guess it just sounded bad and anyone who has had out it for me just wants me to look incompetent.”

“Those fucking dicks.”

Bryce shrugged. “It shows I’m a major threat,” he gave her a smug grin but his heart wasn’t quite in it. “So all that stuff got relayed back to Dr Emery and the karaoke the night before was apparently the last straw. She didn’t want to take the risk in case it was true and gave my surgery to Ben.”

“Ben, huh?” She asked, a sudden iciness in her tone. Like, Ben ‘you like her?’ Ben? Digging into Bryce’s private life Ben?

“Yeah, he’s another intern - you probably don’t know him.”

Maybe not. But I’m about to.

“I know some Ben’s… what’s his last name?”

“White.”

“Oh no, I don’t know him,” Suki smiled sweetly, dabbing Bryce’s head with the flannel again. She’d gotten the information she needed.

Bryce chuckled weakly. “I told you.”

“Sorry.”

“Yeah so, obviously Dr Emery investigated it all after that and realised that none of it was true. But by then I’d lost it anyway. The damage was done, you know? Sorry, I know I sound a bit ‘woe is me’.”

“Not at all. You can talk to me, seriously. Friends – remember? I’m so sorry you had to go through that.” And angrier than I’m letting on.

“I suppose I owe you an apology too. For shutting you down and running away when you tried to ask me about it. I’m just- it’s- I like being That Guy, you know? The one who’s got his shit together. The one who’s the expert surgeon. Who doesn’t let things phase him. Laughs everything off. The one who’s amazing in bed,” he looked at her with a look that was, if Suki didn’t know any better, nervous. God, it’s so weird seeing him like this. But my heart is completely breaking for him.

“If I’m-“ he continued, then seemed to change his mind, “what you need from me wasn’t that, so I didn’t want to mess things up.”

“By being human? You could never,” she smiled as she bought the flannel back to his face, but it was more an excuse to stroke her finger over his cheek comfortingly. Bryce’s eyes seemed to shut involuntarily and he moved into her touch, just letting it be for a while. He was still hot, but had a bit more colour to his face, so Suki felt she had helped at least a little.

Fuck. I like you so much.

This definitely wasn’t helping her whole predicament, because each word he’d said to her, each touch, each look on his face – and she was a puddle on the floor. Overwhelmed with the ache she felt in her chest at the whole situation. That something as ridiculous as jealousy – between people who’s job it was to help others for gods sake – had put Bryce in such a spin. And it seemed to her that losing the surgery was bad for him, but the way that affected his confidence and how he felt he had to be around her – that seemed to have affected him more.

He was too proud.

And she cared for him too much to be okay with seeing him like this.

Suki must’ve been cradling Bryce’s face longer than she’d realised, because he eventually started snoring quietly. His eyebrows now flattened on his face and looking more at peace than he had since she’d arrived. She was careful when removing her hand and placing a pillow up under his head. She placed a gentle kiss to his forehead, brushing against the cool damp area she’d been dabbing. Then she snuck into his bathroom to fill up a glass of water and collect some aspirin, leaving them on his bedside table for him before escaping his apartment.

Suki was on a mission, fuelled by affection and anger.

[charlietheepicwriter7]

Me: Wow, I love otome games! Also Me: *only writes family AUs for them*

So, getting V’s route in this au would be a lot harder, since MC is hella connecting with Ray on the whole “My Family Member Abandoned Me” front. 

Vanderwood hasn’t contacted her yet, telling her he’s alive yet (since another story takes place like a year before the deep story), so MC is still really pissed at him for leaving. 

Like, you just saved your cousin from getting kidnapped and you disappear!? Without a word!? You dick!?

Also, as a consequence of almost being kidnapped, her parents make her take self-defense. This is important for later. 

So she and Ray connect really well. MC is really adamant about not betraying him, making Ray’s Route more likely to happen. 

Unfortunately, Ray’s After Ending isn’t out yet, so I don’t what happens to Vanderwood. Hell, MC doesn’t even know Vanderwood is her cousin. Her cousin isn’t named Vanderwood!

(as a side note, I should probably decided on a fan name for Vanderwood, his name is too long). 

If Vandy ends up dying in Ray’s afterending, MC is going to be so confused and sad. Like, she was pissed, but now he’s dead with so many things left unsaid. 

If somehow V’s Route happens (like, maybe MC figures out there’s someone suspicious about Magenta early and realizes Ray’s lying), she’s still going to try to bring Ray with them. To the point where she’s actively trying to avoid going with Seven when he comes to rescue her and V. 

Poor Seven has to drag them both out of there bc MC keeps trying to go back for Ray. 

Ray later looks at the cameras to watch as they escape and sees that MC keeps trying to escape Seven. He can’t hear what they’re saying. He uses this as evidence that MC wanted to stay at Mint Eye (even tho she doesn’t and just wanted to save Ray who was being abused). 

Ray is furious. 

The trio end up at the cabin and MC is freaking out bc V is low-key dying. And who should walk in like a leopard-print Jesus, but her cousin. 

It’s the spiderman meme, only v is dying in the background and Seven is very confused about why this random chick he lowkey has a crush on screamed “YOU!!” when she saw his coworker. 

And then MC just decks Vanderwood. 

“MC, what the fuck!?” Vanderwood rubbed his jaw. “No, wait, I deserved that.”

MC pretty much ignores Vanderwood for most of the time treating V, usually by being in the not-chatroom, where Ray is becoming increasingly frantic about getting her back to Mint Eye and begging her to tell him where they are. 

She still gets the tazer tho

Meanwhile, Ray/Saeran is calling MC all the time, making sure she’s okay and trying to convince her to tell him where she is. She can’t, mostly because she doesn’t actually know, and Ray convinces himself that either Seven or V is constantly standing over her while she talks to him because she always sounds so distressed over the phone. 

It’s not until Vanderwood steals Seven’s phone that they have an actual conversation. 

He explains how he ended up getting blackmailed into the agency for everyone to see and MC feels really guilty about punching him now. 

They make up and MC makes him promise not to disappear again. He counters that she’s not allowed to get kidnapped anymore, because seriously MC, wtf

Ray, or Saeran at this point, reads this. He’s been getting increasingly worse in terms of possessiveness. MC is his. They have a connection. And nothing, not even her cousin, is going to get in the way of that. 

So, they’re at the cabin, trying to make sure V recovers, and Vandy is more than slightly aware of the romantic tension between V and MC that Seven is trying to ignore. It’s really awkward, especially when Vandy tries to make small talk. 

“So... you’re into older guys now--” *Smack*

It’s day 9 at night now, so you know what that means. MC and V go outside and have that romantic talk in the woods and hug until V realizes that Rika is nearby. So V sends her away. 

He shouldn’t have done that because in this au, Saeran is still active and he followed Rika. 

Yeah, turns out that the boy who is most like a yandere doesn’t take well to someone else potentially snatching up his darling, so he grabs her and starts dragging her back to Mint Eye. She screams.

V, who’s life for the past week consisted of solely worrying about this one girl, hears that girl scream when he’s trying to break things off with Rika and immediately runs towards her. This also gives the benefit of Rika now knowing that she truly doesn’t have his heart anymore. 

MC, meanwhile, remembers that she has a tazer and tazes Saeran just in time for V to show up. 

(Congrats, MC, you saved V from getting stabbed AND Saeran from getting blown up!)

V and MC are mildly panicking bc MC almost got kidnapped again (and V is suddenly realizing that there seems to be a pattern in MC’s life, wth), so they drag Saeran back to the cabin bc they can’t leave him there in the woods! There are bears there!

Seven gets the horrifying realization that his brother is the hacker, but there’s no time for angst bc with the hacker captured (and in need of medical attention too) they can finally take V to the hospital!

So the rest of the route is like canon, only V hasn’t been stabbed, he’s just recovering from a shit-ton of drugs. Mint Eye still explodes, this time because of some rando believer, Rika blows up her apartment only to try to drug the party, Vanderwood gets MC microchipped bc she’s been kidnapped/almost kidnapped three times now, V kidnaps Saeran from the hospital so they can go on holiday much to Seven’s ire, the works. 

And I’ll do V’s after ending later. 

[writethehousedown]

Got me losin' all my cool (Crygi) - Mar

A/N: First fic I’ve done in years! Any feedback is welcome.

The sun shone brightly through the window, directly into Crystal’s eyes. It fed the headache she could feel growing with every squeak of chalk on the blackboard, every droning word that left her teacher’s mouth. Ten a.m. and she was already done with school.

Crystal was holding a pen, but every time she thought she understood the lesson enough to reflect it on paper, the teacher moved on to a new concept and Crystal’s fragile understanding crumbled down. Three attempts later, Crystal gave up on the entire lesson and resigned herself to relying on someone else’s notes. She studied her classmates, trying to figure out who would be willing to help her out. She didn’t really have friends in the class, but maybe…

Crystal looked a few desks over to the girl sitting at the front of the class, hair gathered up neatly in a ponytail, face propped on her left fist. Her pen hadn’t stopped moving since class started.

Gigi Goode was not her friend. Up until the previous week, their relationship was limited to the moments when Crystal would feel brave enough to wave at her and Gigi would wave back, giving her a half-smile so pretty that Crystal had to look away every time. That was it. Crystal was pretty sure the girl didn’t even know her name.

But then.

Then, the class had got paired up for an essay, and God had decided to be funny.

“You’ll need to write fifteen hundred words, more or less, including the conclusion,” said the teacher. “Now, for the teams, uhh… left side of the class, write your names in pieces of paper, then put them in this jar, c’mon.” At that, he grabbed the chalk jar off his desk and emptied it, then handed it to the nearest student to pass around.

Crystal tried to be discreet, but she couldn’t stop sneaking glances at the front of the class, where Gigi Goode was ripping off a bit of paper from her notebook. Crystal knew better than to hope. There were twenty three people in her class, and she had twelve potential partners, which meant… eight percent? She had an eight-ish percent chance of getting paired with the girl she couldn’t stop looking at. It was a very low number.

Do I even want her as my partner?, she thought. At the time, Gigi was a nice distraction during a boring class, something to look forward to on Wednesday mornings. By spending time with her, by having their first real conversation, really, Crystal risked ruining a perfectly nice crush. What if Gigi was secretly mean? Although she didn’t seem like the type. Crystal had seen her happily chatting with Jan Mantione many times. Jan was too kind to befriend a mean girl.

God, what if she was boring? That would be depressing. If Gigi was the type to call everything a “meme”, or if she tried to show her a joke she found on Instagram that Crystal had seen on Twitter six months ago… Maybe they wouldn’t have anything to talk about, maybe Crystal would forget everything she knew about the subject and look stupid, maybe-

Her thoughts were interrupted by the kid behind her tapping her gently on the shoulder with the name jar. Crystal smiled her thanks and took the jar, and a folded strip of paper from it. It’s no big deal. It’s no big deal. She unfolded the name, and… oh.

Gigi had really pretty handwriting.

  Crystal noticed that her classmates were moving around and finding their partners, so she stood up and walked to the front of the class, where Gigi was looking around, waiting to be approached.

“Umm, Gigi?”

“Crystal, hey!” said Gigi. Okay, so she did know her name.

“I got you. Your name, I mean.” Smooth.

“Oh, good! I was hoping I’d get you.”

“Really?” asked Crystal, a little shocked.

“Really. You seem cool, and I know you have a high grade in this class. You’re my perfect partner,” she explained, again flashing her million watt smile.

What the fuck… what the fuck…

“Oh, uh, great, then! Great…” Crystal trailed off, but she thought she deserved a medal for even replying, at all. She looked at Gigi and noticed the girl was staring at her, expectantly.

“What?” she asked, dumbly.

Gigi smiled and leaned in.

“The essay?”

“Oh my God, right. So, how do you wanna tackle this? Library after school?”

“Let’s go to my place, instead. My mom can pick us up and you can stay for dinner, if we need more time.”

Gigi didn’t ask questions, she just laid out plans and expected the masses to follow. And they did.

“Oh, sure, that sounds good. I, um, should I give you my number?” Nice, Crystal.

“Yes! Here,” said Gigi, handing over her phone.

Crystal typed her number under the name “Crystal” and saved the contact. Then, she went back and added “(from school)”.

The bell rang and Gigi started gathering her things. “Meet me in the parking lot at the end of the day, okay?”

“See you then,” said Crystal. There was really no denying Gigi’s smile and directness, her unwavering confidence.

In her defence, the plan worked. Gigi’s mom was funny and loud, throwing quips back and forth with her daughter and making Crystal feel at ease the moment she got in the car. The Goode house was big enough that the girls could discuss their ideas loudly when they got excited (which happened often), and play music at top volume (Gigi had an actual CD player, and The Cranberries’ entire discography, to Crystal’s delight.)

They ended up working together for five hours, which gave Crystal plenty of opportunity to make a fool of herself, and she more than delivered. But Gigi just kept laughing at everything that came out of her mouth, and after a while, Crystal understood that she was being laughed with, not at. Gigi genuinely found her funny.

Crystal did end up staying for dinner, even though their work was finished. Crystal and Gigi set the table in perfect coordination, as if they did it every day, and Crystal felt warm at the notion and dumb at the feeling.

You talked today for the first time. Calm down, lesbian.

But the Goode family didn’t make it easy either, with their welcoming attitude and the way they teased Crystal like they’d known her forever. She felt comfortable there, and once her dad picked her up, all she could think about was that she wished the essay had taken longer.

A week later, they were back at square one, like nothing had happened. Gigi still waved in the hallways and Crystal maybe held eye contact for longer but that was just scratching the surface of what Crystal wanted. Namely, to be asked out. But she’d fucked up monumentally by not getting Gigi’s number when she had the chance, and Crystal’s suave move of putting her contact in Gigi’s phone had gone to waste, because Gigi had not texted her. Crystal was not about to talk to her in person about the weather or whatever people talked to their crushes about. High school sports. Locker decoration or something.

Asking for notes, however, was a logical and not at all suspicious reason to approach someone. The bell rang, people started leaving. This mission had a ticking clock. She could do it, she could talk to Gigi as long as she had a goal and an opening line thought out. She was doing this, she was getting out of her chair, she was walking to the front of the class and it was a bad idea Crystal turn back turn back turn-

And she was at Gigi’s desk.

Gigi noticed her and slammed her notebook shut with a pencil still inside.

“Hi, Crys!”

Any weirdness Crystal may have noticed on the girl was completely swept from Crystal’s mind by that nickname.

“Hey, Geeg.” That’s good, that’s casual. Crystal leaned against the empty desk next to Gigi’s. “So, I completely blanked the entire class. I wanted to ask if you’d lend me your notes?”

Gigi’s face fell a little. “Oh.”

“Only if you want, of course!” Crystal was quick to add, “You totally don’t have to, you probably need your notebook, and- forget I asked.”

“No, no, Crystal, it’s not that. It’s just, I- I also didn’t take any notes, so. Seems we’re on the same boat, ha ha.”

“Oh, sorry!” Hold on. “I saw you writing a lot, were you just fooling Mister Crawley?”

Gigi looked down to her pencils and whispered, “No, I was, uh, drawing.”

“You draw?” Crystal asked, suddenly excited. “I love drawing, I draw all the time!”

“I know that,” whispered Gigi.

“What?”

“I said, I don’t like this drawing, really, so I don’t wanna show it.”

“I feel like that all the time about my drawings. I like to think it’s because I’m improving, but who knows!”

“You get it,” said Gigi.

“Well, do you wanna go get someone else’s notes? Since we both missed the class.”

Gigi visibly perked up. “Sure! Let’s go.”

When Crystal turned to go get her things, she kicked Gigi’s desk and her pencils and notebook fell to the ground, open at the page where Gigi had left a pencil. The pencil rolled under the teacher’s desk, but Crystal didn’t notice because her eyes were fixed on the drawings on the page.

She recognized those lips. She recognized that nose, she recognized that hair.

She recognized herself.

Gigi dropped to the floor and scurried to close the notebook.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, clutching her notebook to her chest and not looking up.

Crystal lowered herself to the floor and laid her hand in between their bodies.

“Can I see?”

Gigi’s head shot up and she stared at Crystal in shock.

“You weren’t meant to see that.”

“I mean, you don’t have to show me, but from what I could see, you made me really cute,” said Crystal, smiling wide.

Gigi seemed to pick up on Crystal’s good intentions and smiled back. “I just draw what I see,” she said, handing Crystal the open notebook.

“Cheeky.”

Crystal studied the drawing, running her finger through the lines. It really was good.

“You got my hair exactly right. Even the color.”

“You’re being weirdly chill about this. Most people would freak out, I assume.”

Crystal shrugged. “No need to freak out over this. I’m honestly flattered, I didn’t realize you spend so much time looking at me,” she teased.

Gigi laughed and took her notebook back. “Shut up! I don’t, you just have a memorable face.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment!”

“It is.”

The girls stared at each other for a moment, until Crystal broke the silence.

“Although, you missed my freckles, and the eyes are too big. You should look at me some more, maybe after school at the milkshake place down the block?”

Gigi blinked a few times.

“That was smooth as fuck. I was hoping you’d have the gall to ask me out sometime this year,” she teased.

“You know, I was nervous to do it before, but you really showed your hand today, so I figured it’s my turn to embarrass myself.”

“Fuck you,” said Gigi, with the biggest smile.

“Sure. Not in school, though. We’ll see how this date goes.”

[denqis]

Ok I hope this isn’t too vague (if it is, let me know!) but Kami and his s/o being cute together? Like cuddling and taking silly videos together and everyone is like EW GROSS but lowkey jealous because wtf they’re so cute together. Thank you!! I just want some disgusting fluff 🤧

OKAY LISTEN, LISTEN!!!! WHEN I READ THIS REQUEST AND WHILE MAKING THIS I TEARED UP??? i literally love denki so?much? he's my baby, my angel, my sun??? so yeah i probably went kinda overboard but thank you so so much for requesting this!💗

two halves of one idiot — kaminari denki x reader

- okay sO when you first walzed into that classroom, no matter how insecure or nervous you may have felt

- denki? boy oh boy, was he whipped

- he didn't show it, though, always making advances to every girl in your class

- you didn't care in the beginning

- but ever since he took your hand during the villain attack at the usj, you may have felt your heart skip the tiniest bit every time you caught a glimpse of him

- you got injured due to kurogiri's warp gate slamming your head against a rock, you were pretty much useless and a burden

- you felt dizzy and nauseous and denki, being the idiotic gentleman he is protected you by pushing you into a gap between two huge rocks, shielding you with his body

- when you finally decided to flee, he took your hand and rushed away, rendering you even more useless, slipping in and out of conciousness

- you felt bad for denki because he was handicapped due to you

- you invited him to lunch and took him out for ice cream once you were feeling better

- he didn't really like that you paid and wanted to pay you back for paying him back???

- endless spiral of idiocy

- both of you were broke and had gained a few kilos by the end of the week

- you definitely felt butterflies every now and then, especially when he purposely sat down next to you instead of sero or kiri

- you found out that the two of you enjoyed memes far too much

- it started with you quoting one of your favorite vines and he literally almost got whiplash when he heard it

- "OH MY GOD YOU LIKE VINES TOO?!"

- you greeted yourselves by quoting cody ko vines daily

- you'd stay after class with him, sitting across from him when he'd have extra study sessions

- jokes on you and him, he couldn't concentrate

- you'd snap the stupidest pictures of him, with instagram or snapchat filters and send them to him and his friends

- he'd notice you staring at him more and more and how you stuttered and blushed, it was so unusual

- he didn't change, still flirting with every girl around and you started feeling worse and worse, jealousy eating you up slowly but surely

- during the summer break you didn't meet up at all, due to you ignoring him, trying to fight your feelings

- but shit that day at the pool

- it came out of the blue and you contemplated on not going, but were eventually forced to

- you wanted to DIE when you saw denki in his tight swimwear

- the heat rose to your cheeks and your nether regions, you felt the distance you had put between the two of you

- he was so unsure of what to do, not even daring to look in your direction

- "dunce face what the fuck is wrong with you today?" bakugo was more pissed off than denki himself

- katsuki KNEW how both of you felt, he had overheard a pep-talk you were giving yourself about not freaking out when next to him

- let alone denki never actively pursued you so that must mean he's hella nervous around you

- denki suddenly felt everything crash around him, taking your hand into his just like he did back at the beginning of the school year

- all eyes were on the two of you, but you didn't care

- you were so very confused??

- until he stopped, nibbled on his lower lip and fiddled with his fingers, not meeting your gaze once

- both of you were tomato red, blame it on the heat or the sparks that were flying between the two of you (pun intended)

- you were about to raise your voice when he finally mustered up enough courage to smash his lips into yours

- he WAS A LITTLE TOO EAGER

- let's just say he almost lost a tooth and you almost peed your pants from laughing too much

- you couldn't stand up straight, holding your stomach and wheezing

- he was a pouty, upset little pupper after that, even more embarrassed than before

- "i like you too, idiot."

- that's when you leaned in, hands caressing his cheeks, lips lightly locking with his

- um... he was shocked, so shocked that he kinda mayhaps shocked you????

- he wanted to DIE, he felt so bad, but you liked the thrill

- you simply connected your lips again, moving so smoothly and naturally UNTIL

- someone cleared his throat, both of your heads whipped around and holy shit, oh no

- aizawa had just busted your asses

- "please, just please, never do that in front of me ever again. i don't want to have to update the whole teacher's office weekly on your relationship. you know how they can get."

- well since those kisses you tried to be not as touchy-feely

- but it almost turned routine that you two'd leave during breaks and could be found in the bathroom stalls

- SERO ONCE WAS IN THERE TOO AND HE'S NOW TRAUMATIZED FOR LIFE

- y'all sum dumb bitches

- actually recreating vines, throwing empty bottles down the hallway, giving iida several heart attacks

- recording yourselves doing dumbass tiktoks just for shits and giggles

- you hated tiktok, calling it knockoff vine and shit

- you're playing the sims together and he always sets your house on fire

- SLEEPOVERS

- y'all deadass in the same dorm but it's too far away

- in the living room you'd always be connected to him one way or the other

- your favorite is laying in his lap with him massaging your scalp/ playing with your hair

- and omg when he leans down to kiss you? you were a goner

- everyone in your class hated you two, you were just amplifying each other's stupidity

- running around screaming profanities when school's out and getting into detention

- pulling out sero's tape while he was sleeping, taping himself up and hanging him upside down

- no one was safe from the two of you

- you loved to play cupid too, spying on the others and their potential crushes

- you wanted to go on double dates is that too much to ask for?

- your otp was bakugo and kirishima

- partly because they were so cute together but mainly because bakugo would get SO riled up about it that he nearly killed you two every single time

- there was this incident when denki had gotten no sleep, zero, zilch

- so he fell asleep in class, recharging, literally

- he had this huge adorable pout on his lips, face all squishy and blushed

- you couldn't help yourself, even though the risk of a teacher coming in every three seconds was huge

- you leaned down and pecked his pout, tears pricking at the corners of your eyes

- he was the cutest thing you had EVER laid eyes on

- you adored this stupid dipshit so so much, your heart was overwhelmed with the love you felt at this moment

- the whole class just stared at you, looking down at your boyfriend and CRYING??

- "ugh oh my god, disgusting. grow the fuck up y/n."

- you looked at bakugo through the curtain of tears and raised a middle finger at him

- he was jealous, you knew he was, because the inferior dumbass got a significant other while he didn't

- you simply went in for another kiss, curling his locks in your fingers, when he suddenly pulled you in for thirds, starteling you so much that you fell forward, ontop of his desk

- he shocked you AGAIN and your foreheads budded, giving both of you a huge hematoma in the middle of your forehead

- he's so overprotective, every time you'd have to work in pairs and you weren't paired up with him

- get ready for pouts and long stares

- paper planes with little i love you's scribbled onto them

- air kisses

- dude you were so cheesy and obvious

- you were the only couple in your year and no one wanted to admit how jealous they were

- you always brought him lunches because

- "gatorade and nutella toast aren't breakfast, denki."

- your heart was so full of love for this dumbass that whenever he spoke you felt the need to kiss him and cuddle him to near death

- you run at him and jump and he'd ALWAYS catch you, dropping everything around him

- you always prank him into cuddling you, when you pretend to be asleep in the living room so that he feels obligated to carry you to your (or his) room

- you'd just wrap your arms around his neck and pull him on top of you

- you loved having him close, hearing his heartbeat and steady breath

- he showers you with stupid little gadgets and gifts let's be real

- "i bought you this pen you talked about three weeks ago!"

- he's so attentive 🥺

- I LOVE KAMINARI DENKI AND YOU SHOULD TOO

[peachandmark]

Day6 Jae as your college senior (Political Science major since he’s one)

Jae is the senior who’s in charge in freshmen orientation and head of poli sci association, a very charismatic leader. He’s a sophomore. His tall figure, fair skin and cute eyes under those glasses caught you off guard.

Super friendly and jokes a round to make the juniors comfortable, always asks “Do you have any question?” with a cheeky smile.

Most girls in your batch probably having crush on him because you too. He’s even famous in the entire faculty. Super respectful towards everyone.

But you’re competitive so you’re a step ahead, asking for his number in case you have any question without anyone noticing even your new friends. At random times you will chat him first tru katalk

Though he would gladly answer but instead he suggest to meet you face to face to explain further. He always chooses library as a place to meet you.

He’ll explain all about the course and the subjects in every semester, a little bit introduction of the lecturers and some tips to excel the subjects of your first final. He’ll also tell his experience during first year over coffee, in which he treats you

Sometimes you’ll came across him on your way to the class and you’ll greet him first and he replies as friendly to you that Brian, his closest friend and also your fellow senior, teases him over his over friendliness to you. And Jae will hit him and shut his mouth after that. You chuckles and yes your day has been made just by looking at that handsome figure

Would try hard to explain why Nicollo Machiavelli’s thought is not as evil as you think and is necessary in modern politics because you’re such a softie and more likely into Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy in which govern the nation with “love”

He would suggest some helpful tips and inspirational books/movies in politics to help you understand the whole field better

He would hit you up to ask how you’re doing on midterm quiz and if you’re doing bad he’ll cheer you up and continue supporting you. “Actually there’s formula in understanding World Politics, it’s heavily based on realism theory with three key points; Identity, Geography and Power. Anyway, let’s have a tutor lesson on Saturday. I will explain later. For now let’s grab a lunch, are you free now?” he says

Whenever it’s just the two of you, Jae becomes flirty but not too much that it makes you uncomfortable. He’a really keep it slow and not too much. Complimenting you has becomes one of his die-hard habits. Some of your female seniors (his fans) are annoyed with you. But you brush them off, because who cares? Whenever Jae see some of them trying to bully you, he becomes more protective of you

You will go supporting him for every debate competition he participates in. He’ll teach you the right way to debate too and make sure you’ll go practice with him whenever there’s time. He does that because he saw potential in you to replace him next year in the debate team. But stop the lesson if you’re too worn out in which you feel thankful for. He can be persuasive at times but knows too well about the limits. Anyway he’ll make sure you will do your best at it.

You and Jae will be in the same party in your campus. Besides, he would also run for campus elections and you’ll accompany him when he’s campaigning here and there even though it gets dark. He’s so thankful for it and always checks you up to make sure you’re okay. He would aslo asks your opinions on his manifesto and how he deliver his speeches

Whenever there’s issues regarding the university administration and national politics, he would lead the protest with all the students. Students and leaders from other universities also joining him. He and his friends will help solving the issues and if they’re successful, both of you will go out celebrating first then he’ll meet up with his friends later because you’re with him through thick and thin, giving ideas and supports, becoming his source of energy to go through it all

All of his friends know you even the political activist outside the campus because he won’t stop talking about you in front of them. You’ll be so shy but later on and change the subjects. You’re super comfortable and friendly with most of his friends and sometimes he’ll get jealous over it. “I shouldn’t tag you along!” He says with a cute pout while driving to your dorm

Jae will send you random memes and ugly pictures of himself when he gets bored in class and you will do the same. At the end you can’t concentrate in the class because it’s too funny. Your lecturer noticed that your mind is elsewhere and warns you. So whether you want it or not you have to keep your phone in your bag but still can’t stop laughing because of him.

When he holds a visit to the parliament/UN building for the freshmen to expose themselves to, you’ll sit beside him in the bus. You lost your breath a bit at how dashing he looks in suits (usually he’s looks fine but at that moment he’s looks the finest!)

Well, later Wonpil spill the tea that Jae purposefully bought a new one just to tease you. But Jae also secretly likes you in suits too, he captures your new look in his mind.

Whenever Jae is sick, you’ll take care of him, makes sure he’ll take his medicine on time and make him rest. Sometimes you’ll ask Brian about his health because he’s his roomate. Brian will guide you at what to do, what he can eat, wht he cannot eat etc. Usually Jae won’t be open so much about his health condition beacuse he doesn’t want to worry you

Jae likes to frame you in his lyrics and composing songs with his acoustic guitars, you probably not knowing this except Brian and Sungjin, a Music major who would help him with the composition.

Your faculty holds an annual dinner. You dressed up because Jae will be your date. You kind of want to sweep him off his feet that night. “Wow y/n, you’re...beautiful tonight” he says breathily. Yup, your mission cleared. “Shut up, Jae sunbaenim” you reply shyly.

To you surprise, he performed with a guitar in his hands that night on the stage. The song he sings is so unfamiliar, something you never heard of.

Sungjin whispers to you “He wrote this song himself”. “Oh really? He’s so good at it. Just how perfect a human can be?”

From the way he keeps looking at you while letting his beautiful vocals charm everyone, you kind of have a hunch that he sings about you. But you just be silence about it, don’t want to be upset if it’s the otherwise. Maybe he sings for another girl in this hall, no one that she knows of. Everyone claps and whistles for his amazing performance. His circles and your friends especially being loud for it.

“Being oblivious is one of her talents, does she?” Said Brian to Wonpil and Wonpil just laugh it off. “Hey, let Jae suffer a bit dude. It’s fun to watch”

“Ah...ahh... Sungjin asked me to perform tonight. Hahaha...he said it will make my popularity rise among the students, so...it’s kind of important for the campus election, if you know what I mean hehe” , “But you’ve always been popular among the students what do you mean? I can see the girls almost...fainted” you pout and Jae captures this sight again in his mind

He shut you up as he takes your hand in his “Well don’t you know my name? ‘Jae’ means ‘fame’ in Greek. I born with it ya know. It’s the most natural thing to happen hahahah” He laughs out loud at his lame joke. You just laugh along with him since his laugh is that contagious. If he’a not Jae, you will slap this boy for sure with savage remark

“Hey you’re cute when you’re jealous, y/n.” Jae said while tapping his fingers on the steering. “Shut up, sunbaenim!”

After that you’ll bug him to make him sing again, so he had no other options but to send you several videos of him jamming or when he’s practicing

But when you’re having bad time, concerns or trouble sleeping, he’ll sing to you while face timing with you. At that time you never know you need a voice to put you to sleep since your busy parents never did that

Whenever Jae gives a speech at any events, because he won the elections and become one of the student leaders, you’ll take photos of him and once he recognises it, he looks at the camera with a smirk and you sequeled over it

Study week is approaching, apart from your own circles doing revision together, sometimes you’ll ask Jae for help. So you guys will go to library together and have a little library “date”. He would also share some of his old notes with you. After teaching you something, he would go ask you some questions to test your understanding. “What’s the differences between oligarchy and aristocracy? Which one is better in Aristotle philosophy?” He asks but then you failed to answer it to his liking so he pinch your cheeks as a punishment

The library date is so fun, apart from being serious when it has has to be, Jae is so damn playful. He would tell some jokes about his friends, mostly about Dowoon and Wonpil, and make a fool of himself whenever you’re stress. The librarian sometimes will warn you guys to keep it down a little

Your last paper has ended and Jae finished his first so he picked you and your friends up from the examination hall. Later he make excuses so that your friends get the fuck out of his car and that you’ll go on date with him peacefully. As usual, your friends kind of expected it and fake sulking about it but got out of the car nevertheless, warning him to take care of you and get you to the dorm safely that night

After both of you got the result, you asked him first. He doesn’t want to reveal it unless you reveal yours. So you sent him your cute selfie, he doesn’t have a choice but to let you the screen shot of it. His cgpa is higher than you but regardless both of you are in the dean list. He sincerely hapy for you and deliver a bouquet of flowers to your house. Roses and baby breath to be exact because it’s your favourite

As the new semester begins, both of you’re able to meet now. It’s not a secret anymore that you and Jae are a thing now. Though both of you want to keep it low but he lowkey want to let the world know. Event the lecturer noticed and smirked to him whenever he see you guys talking while walking to the class

Jae asks you out the first day of the semester and both of you going to his favourite lobster restaurant. Yup, after working so hard saving up for this moment. He’s a simple person and you like that a lot bout him. Since you’re new to eating lobster, he cracks the lobsters for you and feeds you

Nothing too fancy, as he damn sure about his feelings and the probability of you liking him back, he asks you to be his girlfriend on the way to grab coffees before sending you back to the dorm. You hide your face with the sleeves of your hoodie and turn your face away from him as you say yes.

“Do I have to call you oppa now?”, “You can when it’s just the two of us. But if it’s in front of other people, just use sunbaenim, will you be okay with it? Either way my heart flutters whenever you said both hehe” , “Aren’t we obvious enough to hides it anymore?” , “You’re right but let’s just keep it simple, okay?” , “Sure Jaehyung oppa” you smile while locking hands with his free hand

(Since I’m also a poli sci and ‘Jae’ major so why not?)

[anti-pasto]

for the 200 ask thingy, i actually dare you to do all of them. :D

delgaskarthalexhere we go, anon: 

200: My crush’s name is: I don’t have one right now, I don’t get them often (if I ever had a crush at all)

199: I was born in: 2003

198: I am really: A 2005 emo kid x a 2008 scene kid x a 2014 tumblr fangirl x Kyle himself

 197: My cellphone company is: Apple

194: My ring size is: Honestly? No idea. Propose to me with a sword.

 193: My height is: Somewhere between 5′7″ and 5′8″

192: I am allergic to: Nothing I’m aware of 

191: My 1st car was:  94 Station Wagon, by request

190: My 1st job was: being this funny is a full-time gig

 189: Last book you read: Bone Gap by Laura Ruby

188: My bed is: “made”

187: My pet: I have a cat, I love her very much and I will show her to you if you dm me a cursed image

186: My best friend: We don’t use “best friend” for personal reasons, but they’ve been with me since I was 5 so, my one and only Bro

185: My favorite shampoo is: anything with “silky smooth” or “strawberries” on the bottle. i’m not that picky anymore.

184: Xbox or ps3: xbox or ps4  xbox

183: Piggy banks are: really useful

 182: In my pockets: wallet, keys, phone, earbuds, black pen/pencil, earplugs, mini flashlight

 181: On my calendar:  i’m meeting a friend for smoothies tomorrow

 180: Marriage is: something we shouldn’t push so much onto people. it’s a declaration of love, not an end-all fix-all to your life. i can’t ever see myself getting married but who knows!

 179: Spongebob can: continue to be a relevant meme

178: My mom: i mean. we function. i can’t really complain about my family at large but i am defiantly looking forward to living literally as far away from them as i can. 

 177: The last three songs I bought were? psh, you think i pay for music? (folie a deux, lake effect kid, believers never die volume two) (those are albums but its okay)

176: Last YouTube video watched: I watched Markiplier play Uno

175: How many cousins do you have? 11? 12? I lost count

174: Do you have any siblings? I have a brother

 173: Are your parents divorced? Nope!

172: Are you taller than your mom? Yes, I have been for a while

171: Do you play an instrument? dude HECK yeah! i vibe on piano, guitar, ukulele, clarinet, and im a drum major

170: What did you do yesterday? I went on a drive by myself.

 [ I Believe In ] 

169: Love at first sight: Nope.

168: Luck: Yes, but luck is something that can be engineered

167: Fate: To an extent

 166: Yourself: I’d say overall, yeah. I still have doubts tho

165: Aliens: Mmmmmm yeah

 164: Heaven: Yes

163: Hell: Yes

162: God: Yeup

 161: Horoscopes: without an ounce of truth, they would have died a long time ago

160: Soul mates: the greeks had seven words for love. i think we have multiple soul mates to fit each of those categories. there are definitely people we’re just meant to vibe with

159: Ghosts: i want to say yes but i really dont know

158: Gay Marriage: yes. its 2020. grow up.

157: War: in theory? no. war is kinda messed up. in reality? not everyone is going to be down to nice diplomatic conflict resolution, and not everyone is just gonna leave people *countries* they don’t like alone, so...

156: Orbs: ??? energies are real

155: Magic: vibes are real

 [ This or That ]

 154: Hugs or Kisses: hugs

153: Drunk or High: i am a child of jesus

152: Phone or Online: online

 151: Red heads or Black haired:  irdc but black hair bc i am Emo

150: Blondes or Brunettes: blonde?? ig?? easier to dye

149: Hot or cold: hot weather + cold rooms

148: Summer or winter: summer

147: Autumn or Spring: autum (screw spring)

 146: Chocolate or vanilla: vanilla

145: Night or Day: night

 144: Oranges or Apples: oranges (better to share with homies)

 143: Curly or Straight hair: i dont care but curly

 142: McDonalds or Burger King: mcdonald give iced coffee

141: White Chocolate or Milk Chocolate: dark chocolate

 140: Mac or PC: pc for vidgya gaemes

139: Flip flops or high heals: ...converse. please. i cant walk properly in either of those

 138: Ugly and rich OR sweet and poor: sweet and poor 

 137: Coke or Pepsi: pepsi

136: Hillary or Obama: this is kinda outdated but obama

135: Burried or cremated: cremated i aint watch spn for nothin

134: Singing or Dancing: singing. at least that gets better with practice

133: Coach or Chanel: chanel (thank u mr frank ocean and also the neighborhood)

 132: Kat McPhee or Taylor Hicks: whomst

 131: Small town or Big city: big city and if you say small town you’ve never lived in a small town

 130: Wal-Mart or Target: target

 129: Ben Stiller or Adam Sandler: who tf is this

 128: Manicure or Pedicure: idk dude probably pedicure i don’t like people touching my hands and i use them for too much to get my nails done

127: East Coast or West Coast: hnngggggggg west coast has more to do but east coast has better beaches and 

126: Your Birthday or Christmas: birthday 

125: Chocolate or Flowers: chocolate bc then i can give u some

124: Disney or Six Flags: ive only been to disney so disney (though i AM a HARDCORE rollercoaster stan so it wouldnt take much for me to say six flags)

123: Yankees or Red Sox: what 

 [ Here’s What I Think About ]

 122: War: unfortunately sometimes necessary but not as a first resort i went over this already 

 121: George Bush: is that the shoe guy?

 120: Gay Marriage:  be gay. do crime. kiss wife. or husband. or partner. basically, hell yeah

119: The presidential election: america need 2 b single and focus on herself

 118: Abortion: pro-choice and that choice should be made by the one carrying the baby

117: MySpace: tumblr’s dad

116: Reality TV: don’t talk to about abt this

 115: Parents: disgusting. go to therapy. 

114: Back stabbers: if you’re gonna stab me in the back, pull my lungs through my ribcage bc that’s what my ancestor’s ghosts are gonna do to you (thanks great (x a few times) grandma viking ily thanks for the hair:) )

113: Ebay: good for merch and selling books

 112: Facebook: zuck my dick, data-theif

111: Work: i like doing work? like- i enjoy completing tasks and seeing my hard work pay off? it’s not that bad?

110: My Neighbors: old. boring. want me to babysit for free.

109: Gas Prices: i cant really complain rn they’re kinda low and im a little broke so

108: Designer Clothes: i vibe to them, honestly

 107: College: not for everyone but definitely for me

106: Sports: marching band is a sport marching band is a sport marching band is a sport marching band is a sport marching band is a sport but only technically speaking though you can make fair comparisons to sports such as cheer, and gymnastics where the idea is to put on a show and receive a score in the form of competition. 

 105: My family: disgusting

104: The future: the future doesn’t exist

 [ Last time I ] 

103: Hugged someone: god, don’t ask me this

 102: Last time you ate: uhhh like 9 hours ago? it was dinner and i had pizza

 101: Saw someone I haven’t seen in awhile: three or four weeks ago by best bro came to visit and we vibed

100: Cried in front of someone: i finished twist and shout at school at the end of a very bad week. it was only a few tears but that’s as close as i get to crying

99: Went to a movie theater: whenever the last star wars movie came out

98: Took a vacation: last year i went to dc over summer break to see the Smithsonian, it was a lot of fun. i was supposed to go to altanta and florida this year but that didn’t happen for reasons

 97: Swam in a pool: last week

 96: Changed a diaper: never

 95: Got my nails done: never

 94: Went to a wedding: its been at least 6 years dude

93: Broke a bone: never, somehow

 92: Got a peircing: nope

91: Broke the law: technically, yesterday. 55 is too slow

90: Texted: just now

 [ MISC ] 

89: Who makes you laugh the most: the person in my snap named “junior”

88: Something I will really miss when I leave home is: my cat

87: The last movie I saw: probably into the spiderverse

86: The thing that I’m looking forward to the most: things going back to normal. or somewhat normal. i need school to have a schedule bc i absolutely cannot force myself to function without outside influence

 85: The thing im not looking forward to: ironically, school in the fall. the way we’re going back is going to wreck me more than lockdown already has

 84: People call me: i only ft one of my bros and they know who tf they are if you ask to ft you’re getting fuckin blocked mate i dont do that shit video calls are for WORK and SCHOOL thats IT. but ppl call me by my nickname irl, i go by screech on here. 

83: The most difficult thing to do is: listen to my parent’s political opinions? live in a small town? force myself to be productive without a physical influence and reminder? put up with that one dude?

82: I have gotten a speeding ticket: nope

 81: My zodiac sign is: scoprio/leo/gemini

80: The first person i talked to today was: the potential bassist for our potential band? 

79: First time you had a crush: uhh im still not sure if it was a crush but i wanted them to myself and they wanted (and got) someone better. we were just friends so it doesn’t really matter

 78: The one person who i can’t hide things from: the person on snap named “the great oracle”

77: Last time someone said something you were thinking: yesterday, it was my brother

 76: Right now I am talking to: in order of snap names, “vibin ~[^.^]~”, “russian umbrella”, and “mom” (not really)

75: What are you going to do when you grow up: hopefully, a job that makes me happy

74: I have/will get a job: as soon as i know what’s going on with school. but like as an adult? wherever will hire me and pay my fairly. being a barista would be fun, but at a local place (not in my current town)

73: Tomorrow: ???? time for bad poetry: tomorrow i will see my friend/ admist this lasting chaos/ we will be each other’s solitude/ while sharing fruity drinks/ and when we both come home/ a smile we will bring

72: Today: idk what this means so more poetry: today i will be sleep deprived as always/ i will think of them and weep/ but no tears will fall from my eyes/ for i know there is a reason/ we went our own way

 71: Next Summer: i fr dont know whats goin on so: next summer i will be/ as happy as can be/ because i will be in pain no longer/ the earth is sure to heal/ and i will heal with her/ so i can enjoy/ the heatwave of next summer

70: Next Weekend: next weekend i will spend/ my days wasting away/ maybe ill finish hannibal/ again/ not that serial killers make the dopamine stay/ i will not see my friends/ or talk to my family/ i will seldom eat/ and live off coffee/ this has been my life/ all quarintine/ god someone please help me

 69: I have these pets: i have four cats, three chickens, and a dog

 68: The worst sound in the world: my dad and grandpa talking

 67: The person that makes me cry the most is: Them

 66: People that make you happy: snap name time: the great oracle, junior, vibin ~[^.^]~, russian umbrella, mom, hero, booby-king 48, go to bed, son, pooper trooper, mac&cheese, plain egg biscuit, apple pie

 65: Last time I cried: i dont cry bitch (last week over officals that cant make up they gottdamned mindes)

64: My friends are: my family and i would die for each and all of them

 63: My computer is: an old hp but it play gaemes real good so it okie

 62: My School: is trash but the band pops off

61: My Car: old, fast, clean

60: I lose all respect for people who: are my dad

 59: The movie I cried at was: i cried over big hero six

 58: Your hair color is: blonde

57: TV shows you watch: supernatural, good omens, hannibal, parks and rec

56: Favorite web site: this hellsite or youtube

 55: Your dream vacation: out of the country with beautiful beaches, amazing food, and my best friend

54: The worst pain I was ever in was: the time i split the back of my head open, the time i split my chin open, and the time my then best friend said they didn’t want to talk to me anymore. i’ll let you guess which one hurt the most and which one i think about every fucking day

53: How do you like your steak cooked: medium or medium well. 

52: My room is: clean and a reflection of myself, or so i’ve been told

51: My favorite celebrity is: i do not engage in celebrity worship. ill follow them and reblog gifs/interviews but i dont really have a favorite. the less i know abt them the better.

 50: Where would you like to be: my own apartment in nyc

49: Do you want children: FUCK THEM KIDS BRO

 48: Ever been in love: i dont know if it was love. i dont know if it was a crush. what i do know id that i was attached and they didn’t feel the same, and why would they?

 47: Who’s your best friend: we dont really use best friend bc but “the great oracle” “junior” and “vibin ~[^.^]~”

46: More guy friends or girl friends: its 50/50

45: One thing that makes you feel great is: goin fast, the beach, playin video games

44: One person that you wish you could see right now: them

43: Do you have a 5 year plan: go to college, earn degree

 42: Have you made a list of things to do before you die: commit arson

 41: Have you pre-named your children: FUCK. THEM. KIDS. BRO.

40: Last person I got mad at: they do not understand that they do not know everything about something they’re not even involved in yet

39: I would like to move to: new zealand

38: I wish I was a professional: artist? musican? youtuber? who knows

 [ My Favorites ] 

37: Candy: nerds

36: Vehicle: 1970 mustang gt

 35: President: jfk only bc his assassination is the only good thing abt american history the rest of it is fucked up and shouldn’t have happened. also jfk’s song in assassians the musical goes hard

34: State visited: california

 33: Cellphone provider: verizon? apple? idfk

32: Athlete: what is sport

31: Actor: i don't watch shows or movies

30: Actress: i do not consume media

29: Singer: alex gaskarth or alexander deleon

 28: Band: fall out boy 

 27: Clothing store: hot topic (i will not apologize)

 26: Grocery store: okay harris teeter fucks but lidil’s has aloe vera juice and target at 9 pm energy so idk man 

25: TV show: supernatural...

24: Movie: big hero 6

 23: Website: tumblr or youtube

 22: Animal: snow leopard 

 21: Theme park: busch gardens bc roller coaster go fast

20: Holiday: christmas

19: Sport to watch: snowboarding bc its like skateboarding but on snow

18: Sport to play: anything with havy footwork (marching band is a sport)

17: Magazine: i do not condume media

16: Book: the ranger’s apprentice series as a whole makes up my all-time one favorite book

 15: Day of the week: friday bc its game day baybey

14: Beach: cocoa beach in florida but also i have so much left to experience 

13: Concert attended: i havent been to any notable gigs but i was supposed to go to hella mega

 12: Thing to cook: pancakes

11: Food: pizza or shushi

 10: Restaurant: chiplote

 9: Radio station: i like my local rock station and my local edm/top 40 station

8: Yankee candle scent: anything smoky or vanilla idc

7: Perfume: chanel no. 5 if i even wear it

6: Flower: Hydrangea

5: Color: orange

 4: Talk show host: cecil palmer

 3: Comedian: john maulaney

 2: Dog breed: yes

1: Did you answer all these truthfully? ;)

That was a trip. But it was fun, please do things like this more often. Also, I don’t consume media by choice. I’m not sheltered I just can’t be bothered, and I have enough going on. That being said I will now be sleeping. Thanks again, Anon, I hope you have fun reading this :D

[starlightinhumanform]

The Art of Love: Chapter 12

Fandom: She Ra (2018)

Ship: Glimadora 

Summary: While Glimmer gets to spend some time with her mother, Angella, she gets a potentially disastrous text from Adora. 

Warnings (for this chapter): Food Mention, One reference to parental death, Some discussions of internalized homophobia (please tell me if anything needs to be added)

Genre: High School AU, Angst with a Happy Ending, Rivals/Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Fluff

A/N: I have to say,,, this has turned out to be much slower of a burn than I originally expected but oh well, the story will do what it wants. I am so happy and excited to continue working on it. I have found such a sweet and wonderful community through this silly story and I hope you all know just how much I appreciate each and every one of you. Love you all 🖤✨

Ao3    The Art of Love Masterpost    Fic Masterpost    Fic Request Info

A few hours and several hastily done homework assignments later, Glimmer sat across from her mother at the dinner table and quietly moved broccoli across her plate. It was her mom’s day off which meant they finally got the chance to spend time together. Unfortunately it also meant her mother felt obligated to cook dinner.

She glanced up to see her mother mirroring her actions, using her fork to bat at what Glimmer could only assume to be something that was- at one point or another- a vegetable.

Her mother wrinkled her nose as she looked up at Glimmer, “It’s not very good is it?”

Glimmer smiled, trying to lighten the blow, “It’s not... great, no.”  

Angella sighed, “Pizza again?”

“Well, I don’t know. This isn’t too inedible.”

She stuck her tongue out at Glimmer and laughed, “Stop teasing me! I’m trying my best!”

Her mother began moving to get up, presumably to order a pizza for the third week in a row, but Glimmer scrambled to get out of her chair first, “I’ll get it don’t worry!”

Glimmer had a hate/love relationship with having her mom finally home. She enjoyed being able to see her and rant about the stupid shit both of them had been forced to deal with. Their was a certain comfort in laughing until you’re crying with a person you know has the same sense of humor as you. On the flip side, that didn’t happen very often. At least, not anymore. It was far more common for Angella to laugh lightly, leaving Glimmer wondering where all the joy her mother used to hold had gone. She was tired. Work was hard and long and unpredictable; things would have been far easier if she wasn’t the only one bringing income into the household. Glimmer saw the stress it put on her mother- both physically and mentally- and wished she could do something to fix it all.

“Thank you, dear,” Glimmer could hear the relief in her mother’s voice and knew her legs must have been bothering her after standing on them all day.

“Yeah no problem, Mom,” Glimmer grabbed her phone off the kitchen counter and was about to dial the local pizza place when a notification flag caught her eye. The text came from a number unregistered in her contacts but she knew it well. Adora.

She could only see the first few words of the message:

Hey! I was wondering...

A thousand possible situations flashed across Glimmer’s mind- most of them revolving around the image of Elizabeth chattering away to Adora, casual as could be while she ripped apart Glimmer’s world.

And now Adora was texting her, probably asking why the hell Glimmer would ever possibly be foolish enough to crush on someone so out of her league. But she would never say anything like that; she would try to let Glimmer down easy. And it would hurt so much worse because Glimmer wouldn’t even have the comfort of hiding behind anger. It would all be soft words and sympathetic frowns and dull blades that did so much more damage than the one sweeping sword Glimmer wished Adora would reject her with, but knew she never would.

“Everything ok?” Angella called from the dining table, probably wondering why she hadn’t heard a sound when this was usually around the time Glimmer tried to sneak pineapple onto their order.

“Yeah, sorry! Got a little distracted!” Glimmer prayed her voice didn’t sound as strangled as felt in her throat.

“Well hurry up!! I’m hungry!”

Glimmer smiled at her mother’s playfully impatient tone before glaring down at the unopened notification.

She was tempted to throw her phone as far away from her as possible. Maybe into the garbage disposal at which time the switch would mysteriously flip on and the disposer would grind to life, ending all of Glimmer’s problems. On the other hand, she wanted pizza.

Glimmer paused for a second to think, bringing out all her customary mannerisms to do so- from chewing her lip to tapping her foot.

“Are you alright? Glimmer, is there really so much to be distracted by?”

Glimmer set her phone back on the counter face down and took a deep breath. She wasn’t ready to deal with whatever Adora was going to say. Or rather, had said and was now simply waiting for Glimmer to acknowledge. But Glimmer, in all her stubborn brilliance, decided she wasn’t going to acknowledge it. Not yet. Right now she was going to order some god damn pizza, attempt to sneak some pineapple onto it, and spend the rest of the night talking to her mom. The world owed her that much of a break.

She glanced over at her phone, its pastel rainbow case hardly representing the threat Glimmer felt it contained at the moment. All she had to do was was grab the phone and open the lock screen before she got a chance to read the message. Easy-peasy. She felt like a runner, coiled up at the starting line and ready to spring. She gave a small huff of a laugh. It’s just a text; you’re not trying to dodge bullets.

“Glimmer, what are you doing?”

“Yeah, Mom, sorry. I’m getting it now.”

“You’re not texting you friends are you?”

The irony very nearly got a legitimate laugh out of Glimmer, “No, Mom.”

She grabbed her phone, opened her lock with her thumbprint, and exhaled a breath she didn’t she had been holding. The message app held a red little bubble, trying to get her attention so she would answer the texts that had piled up since the last time she had checked. Glimmer knew at least four of them would be Bow, sending her memes. But one of them was Adora.

She shook her head. When it came down to it, she wanted pizza right now far more than she wanted any type of drama. Glimmer quickly pulled up her contacts, gave her usual order to one of the workers and walked back to the dining room; she left her phone in the kitchen.

Glimmer slid sideways into her chair, “So how was your day?”

Angella shrugged, “Pretty boring, really. Didn’t do much.”

“I mean that’s kinda the point of a day off,” Glimmer nodded as she spoke, trying to concentrate on the conversation instead of on the unopened message that waited for her on the kitchen counter. She felt guilty as her mind drifted away from what- no, who- she knew was more important. But it was like fighting an ocean’s tide; no matter how hard you grip the waves, they’re always going to pull away. And through her fingers, Glimmer’s attention would slip, always finding its way back to Adora.

It was beginning to be infuriating. The past few days had seemed completely centered around Adora. Every second Glimmer was getting a stomach ache over worrying about her or she was melting into some sad, pining puddle. Even when she managed to hold some composure, there was some nagging little feeling deep in the back of her mind that would eventually manage to bait and trap her focus. It was beginning to be ridiculous. This certainly wasn’t Glimmer’s first time having a crush, but she had never felt so trapped by her emotions before. It had never been this suffocating, so all-consuming. Anyways, she had more important things to be doing than daydreaming about something that was just that- a dream. But it was beginning to be unnerving. Because Glimmer didn’t know how to stop it.

“Hello there? Earth to Glimmer?”

“Hmm?” Glimmer snapped back to the present, scolding her mind for let her get so wrapped up in the middle of a conversation, “Hi. What were you saying?”

Her mom was smiling, “I was just asking how your day was, Miss Head in the Clouds.”

Glimmer pushed a smile onto her lips, “Oh, yeah I’m fine.”

Across the table, her mother’s eyebrows were pressed together, “You seem very tense.”

It was presented as a statement but Glimmer knew it was a question she was expected to answer.

“Really, I’m fine. I just have a big project right now and it’s... causing me some problems.” Well that’s not a lie.

“Oh?” Angella sat up a little, “What’s it on? What class is it for? What do you have to do?”

Her enthusiasm wasn’t contagious but it did hold a level of charm. Glimmer shook her head, “It’s not nearly as fun or exciting as you think it is. We just have to build a model of an element.”

“Wait is this for your chemistry class with that horrible teacher?” Glimmer’s mother jumped in, interrupting her with surprising passion, “What sort of problems are you having?”

Glimmer rolled her eyes, “Really, Mom, it’s no big deal. I’m... figuring it out, ok?”

Her mind flashed back to the time her mother had marched into the school’s front office- fuming and probably ready to physically fight someone- after Glimmer had complained about some idiots mocking her for being bi. It had been more infuriating than insulting or anything actually impactful. But Angella, in all of her attempts to be a supportive and protective mother, had decided to take matters into her own hands.

“And, uh, I don’t need any help.”

Her mother’s face fell in what Glimmer knew was disappointment, “Oh definitely. I’m sure you can handle it.”

“But if I need help, I’ll definitely tell you,” Glimmer tried.

Angella’s face brightened; it was nice to see her smile, “Ok!”

Silence settled between them. Angella let her eyes roam over Glimmer, studying her. It was obvious she was looking for something, mouth set and eyes slightly squinted. If anyone else had done it, Glimmer would have squirmed and snapped at them for even acknowledging her existence, let alone making her acknowledge it.

Glimmer just snorted though in response to her mother’s scrutiny, “Can I help you?”

Angella gave a tiny frown, “There’s something else going on. You have way too many thoughts floating around in your eyes for this just to be about a project.”

Glimmer shrugged and decided to focus on the easier subject of her plate instead of her mother. Her fork made a plink plink sound as she tapped it against the rim of her plate. It was almost funny to think she was so consumed by it all that apparently just her eyes gave it away. Just as strongly, it was disgusting to think she was so consumed by it, just her eyes gave it away. Even when she was trying to focus on something else, the thoughts in her head were loud enough to be heard by everyone around her.

Her mom’s frown deepened at Glimmer’s avoident answer, “Come on, what’s up?”

Glimmer looked up. Her mother’s warm brown eyes were searching her, concern written clearly on her face. It made a Glimmer wonder- if her mother was so easily readable- what her own face was displaying. What pining, sick to her stomach, completely hopeless novel she set down for people to see whenever they passed her.

Glimmer smiled sadly, if only for her mother’s beauty. She and Glimmer had dyed their hair together and the long pink strands drifted across her eyes and onto her shoulders. Her face was filled with determined warmth, trying to fix whatever was bothering Glimmer. But the creases between her eyebrows were far too deep and the frown on her face fit into place too comfortably. Glimmer didn’t want to add to those lines.

She waved her hand casually, “I’m just having some people problems.”

Her mother leaned forward, “What sort of people?”

Glimmer gave up. Maybe it would be better just to come clean, “Pretty people. There’s a girl in one of my classes that I kind of like.”

“Oh!” Glimmer couldn’t help but laugh at her mother’s genuinely surprised expression.

“What? You really thought my heart was so cold I couldn’t fall for someone?”

Angella opened and closed her mouth before speaking, “No, no it’s not that. That’s just not the type of problems you usually have. That’s almost, like, a normal problem.”

Glimmer rolled her eyes, “Wow, Mom, thanks. That’s not at all vaguely insulting.”

“That’s not what I meant! But that’s fun, isn’t it?” She had gained happy little light in her eyes and clapped her hands excitedly, “Tell me about her! Also a her? I mean, this is the first time you’ve told me about having a girl crush.”

Glimmer could feel her face flushing cherry red. There were so many open wounds her mother had bothered in just a few seconds of speech. Because, no, it wasn’t fun. It was overwhelming and terrifying and it had all hit so fast. It was like a tsunami- no warning and then boom the water was over Glimmer’s head and she was just struggling not to drown. And every time someone talked to her, they were assuming she was standing in the shallow end and just needed to remember how to swim. But swimming wasn’t going to help her now.

And it was intoxicating, all of her thoughts swarmed by emotions that buzzed and made it hard for any ideas to come through clearly. But it was addictive; she could let herself just float in that white noise for the rest of time. She could let herself sink beneath the waves and ignore her lungs as they screamed for air.

“Yeah,” Glimmer let the fork fall back to the plate and moved her hands to start fidgeting in her lap, “I think we’re both still getting used to the whole ‘girl’ thing.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, don’t you think it could be-“ Glimmer’s voice had risen in aggravation but cracked as she searched for a way to wrap all of her fears into one word, “Dangerous?”

“Glimmer, my darling, we live in a very accepting area- I know two whole lesbians at my job!! I think you’re overthinking it-“

Glimmer slammed the palm of her hand flat down on the tabletop, “Yes! I know! I do that! And people seem to think that telling me how ridiculous I’m acting will help! And guess what? It doesn’t. It doesn’t help in the slightest because maybe, just maybe, I’ll be right one of these days. Because the world sucks so why wouldn’t something else go wrong?!”

“I-“ Angella seemed speechless, marveling at the fury in Glimmer’s eyes. Glimmer sat stiffly and breathed heavily like she had just sprinted a mile. She dared her mother to challenge her.

Finally Glimmer was the one to give in, letting her posture collapse and the anger subside, “I’m sorry. You don’t deserve that. It’s just, I’m so tired of being different. I stand out so much already. I’m the kid who can’t do anything but art and I cry too easily and I’m the one whose dad died... I wish I didn’t have to add my sexuality to that list.”

“Oh, darling,” Her mother’s voice was soft and seemed to dissolve into pieces as it broke.

Glimmer realized that maybe she had taken it too far, gone too deep, “I’m sorry. Just ignore what I said.”

“No, if you want to talk-“

Glimmer attempted once again to change the tone, smile a little too forced and voice a little too loud, “So about this girl. Yes! She’s very pretty and smart and funny.”

Angella’s lips twitched into a frown, “You sound like you’re reading off a list. I can tell you’re just trying to avoid the subject, even though you are the one that brought it up.”

Glimmer shrugged and popped a vegetable into her mouth, regretting her actions as the taste hit her but thankful that she didn’t have to answer.

Her mother pursed her lips, “I don’t like you closing everything up from me but-“

The doorbell drilled from across the room and Glimmer jumped up, practically running away from the table, “Pizza’s here!”

She walked back into the room a minute later and set the box down with an exaggerated flourish. She let the performance drop with a grimace when she noticed the defeated look on her mother’s face.

She didn’t try to hide the sigh that escaped her, “What’s wrong, Mom?”

“I don’t know,” Angella shook her head, “I just feel like we haven’t been, I don’t know, connecting lately.”

Maybe that’s because you’re never home. Glimmer bit her tongue, immediately feeling guilty for the words that had very nearly jumped out of her mouth. You know she doesn’t get to choose when her shifts are. You know she works long hours for you. And maybe she would know more if you actually told her anything.

Glimmer reached to open the pizza box and grab a piece, buying time for her to fish for a more appropriate response in her mind. She wished she could just shrug again and brush the whole interrogation off her shoulders. But her mother had a look of soft pleading in her eyes that Glimmer knew was actually veiling steely stubbornness. There was no way she could win this.

She took a bite and chewed it slowly, all while keeping eye contact with her mother. It was a contest of wills at that point and they both knew it. But every possible strategy and escape route Glimmer could construct had twisted itself into a dead end.

“Well, I’m here now so... let’s ‘connect’ I guess,” The words felt weird and awkward as they left her mouth.

Angella leaned forward, grinning triumphantly, “How’s school been going? Have you started any new art projects? Also this girl- what’s so problematic about her?”

The last question caught Glimmer off guard, “I never said she was problematic. What makes you say that?”

Her mother gave a vague, noncommittal twitch to her lips before looking away and grabbing a slice off pizza for herself. Glimmer almost burst out laughing- She’s using my own tactics against me.

After a moment Angella spoke, “There just seems to be more going on; there’s something that’s bothering you right now. Did something happen today?”

Glimmer resolved to shredding the remaining crust in her hands to tiny pieces that she then threw at her plate. There were a thousand things her mother could have been picking up on, all the stray thoughts that bumping on the edges of her mind and dragged her off topic. But there was only one thought that took center stage; Elizabeth and whatever trouble she had no doubt already gotten Glimmer into.

The reminder of Adora’s text still waiting for her in the other room made Glimmer queasy. She felt like Adora was herself perched in the kitchen, patiently waiting for Glimmer to notice her. Glimmer could just see her sitting in the edge of the counter and swinging her legs out, probably looking far too cute than she had any right to given the danger she represented.

It was no wonder that her mother could tell something was up when Glimmer was practically squirming in her seat. Not that Glimmer would admit that. It was too close to the surface; one of those issues that caused her so much more pain because the wave could crest at any moment and the entire crisis would come crashing down her. It was the difference between slowly turning the shower temperature up bit by bit- yes, you might be aware of the damage in the back of your mind but it doesn’t really bother you- and simply thrusting your arm into a boiling pot of water.

Admitting to her discomfort would be admitting to the problem’s existence. She wasn’t ready to do that yet; wasn’t ready to take her arm out of the boiling water. Worst of all, she wasn’t ready to treat the inevitable burns.

The whole situation with Elizabeth was way too delicate to let her mother stomp into the scene. It was a white hot rod that twisted within her and kept her sitting stiffly as it ran the entire length of her torso. But it was like leaving a ticking bomb in the middle of the room and expecting her mom to ignore it.

Glimmer tapped the tongs of her fork against her throughly destroyed crust, occasionally stabbing into it.

Her mother blinked across at her, patient for an answer to the point of obstinance.

Glimmer gave her an awkward scowl, “Yeah, there’s just been some complications.”

Angella opened her mouth, obviously prepared to protest but Glimmer bolted up quickly, filling the room with the sound of her chair screeching against the floor before her mom could fill the space with any other sort of noise.

She grabbed her plate and rushed out of the room before she would have to admit to anything else- or have her body language admit it for her. She let the plate clatter as she hurriedly set it down in the sink and continued down the hall, moving in a straight line to nowhere in particular other than just away. Away from all the reminders. Away from her mother’s eyes that managed to pick her apart with just a glance. Away from those eyes that were too tired and too sad.

It wasn’t until she was half way down the hall that Glimmer realized she had taken her phone with her. She must have impulsively snatched it as she walked out of the kitchen. As much as she wished, it was too late to put it back.

Glimmer paused momentarily and stared down at the small device in her hand. It’s just a phone. It can’t actually hurt you. Even if Adora’s message is, you know, crushing and life ruining, it’s not like she can REALLY do anything to you. The voice of reason sounded flimsy and unsure if itself even to Glimmer- and she was the one creating it. Look loser, you’re gonna have to deal with it eventually.

That made more sense.

She stopped stalling and trudged into her room, careful not to slam the door to assure her mom that she wasn’t mad. Glimmer tripped her way over to her bed; her room was still a war zone of craft supplies from the night before.

Even that was a surreal experience. Part of Glimmer was still convinced none of it had ever happened, another part was sure it had occurred years ago. A final piece whispered that Adora taking up space in her room and her voice filling the house was the norm and Glimmer being by herself was the alien situation.

Glimmer flopped backwards onto her bed. She almost wondered if the soft impression Adora had left in the sheets was still there. She almost wondered if they had held onto that hyper-specific scent that Glimmer knew you could only notice if you sat right next to Adora- or if she had her arms wrapped around you. She almost closed her eyes and tried to pretend that Adora was still there and they still had a few hours until the morning and more clay to paint and time was still their’s to play with because they were just a couple of dumb teens trying to live their lives and sometimes that meant abandoning human constructs and dancing to Hozier. She almost did that. Almost. But she didn’t. She hadn’t fallen that far.

She stared up at her ceiling for a second. It was too bright in there with her lights on for the star stickers to glow. Instead they just sat there looking mildly dirty, just some dusty greenish yellow spots above her that could never measure up to the real thing.

Glimmer finally stopped procrastinating and raised her phone above her face so that she couldn’t see that sickly stars anymore- just the still darkened screen of what was surely her doom.

She took one last gulp of air and she tapped in her password. The message icon was bright green, but it might as have been dark indigo because Glimmer felt like she was diving into a bottomless ocean trench as she opened the app. Here goes nothing.

[nad-zeta]

Heya, can I have an Ikesen matchup? I’m an INTP-A, 5w6 on the enneagram, Ravenclaw. I’m pretty reserved in character, though by no means shy. I love learning new languages and studying history, and also have a love for debating and discussing politics. Friends complain that they can’t hide anything from me, strangers think I’m too closed-off, but I really just prefer to stay in the background and support from there. A troll with friends, serious with those I’m wary of.

Hi, there love! I hope you are doing well! Thanks so much for the request! 🌠 Soz for making ya wait sooooooooooo long for this matchup! I hope you enjoy it! ^0^ <3😆🔥

So I match you with................ Sasuke

Gosh you were absolutely having the worst and best night of your life. You had been thrust back in time, on one of the worst days of your life. From the moment you woke up that day, everything seemed to be going wrong, first your geyser burst, then you burnt your breakfast, and finally, on your way to visit one of the famous shrines to lift your spirits, it started raining. Not to mention the fact that you got freaken struck by lighting, and pulled a man x3 your size from a burning building. Things, however, started looking up when you realized just who you had saved. 

Nobunaga himself stood proudly before you. You were utterly awestruck, and you low key thought this was some prank, that any moment someone was going to jump out of the bush and say “You have just been pranked, the cameras are there and there.” But no one jumped out of the bush and Nobunaga thought that the smoke had cooked your brain, because of your strange behaviour. You rode back to camp with him and got spooked when you saw Mitsuhide. According to the history you so fondly learned, he was the one who plotted Nobunaga’s murder. He had picked up your hand and place a small kiss on it while introducing himself and before you knew it, you bolted. You don’t know why but between him and Hideyoshi’s death stares you just felt uneasy.

You ran and ran and ran, almost running off a cliff, when a clumsy man saved you from plummeting to your death. You instantly recognized that red armour and coin crest. It was Yukimura who had saved you, you couldn’t believe it. You started questioning if maybe the lighting had knocked you unconscious, and you were now just in the hospital dreaming. You spotted someone behind Yukimuta who looked vaguely familiar. That’s when it clicked, he was there at the shrine, you had pushed him out of the way before the lighting could strike him, and by the look on his face, it seemed he too recalled your face. 

He walked up to you and introduced himself as Sasuke, he then pulled you aside and explained the situation. You honestly had to sit down; this was absolutely unbelievable. You had spent your life leaning and fascinated with history, and nowhere you were in one of the most historical eras, with all your high school crushes. Sasuke gave you a knowing smile “You love history too, huh?” you beamed up at him and nodded. His breath caught in this throat damn you were beautiful. He gave you the slightest of smiles and asked if you would like to stay with him in Kasugayama Castle. You dabbed your fake tears out the corners of your eyes “seems like all my wildest dreams are coming true tonight”. Even though Sasuke had just met you, he could tell the two of you nerdy geeks were going to get along just fine.

You were given a room fit for a princess and you couldn’t help but geek out a little at the architecture and artefacts in the castle. The way you looked at Kenshin the first time you met him was with stars in your eyes, he was even more beautiful than the books say. The look you gave him, very much reminded him of the first time he had introduced himself to Sasuke. Based on that fact alone, the god of war found himself opening up to you a little.

You loved the people of Kasugayama Castle they were all so fun and goofy. There was a party every night, and with this mixed lot, there was never a dull moment. You, Sasuke and Yukimura had become quick friends. Although Yukimura was slightly wary of you because he thought you were an enchantress

It didn’t help that you and Sasuke would constantly troll the poor boi. The one day Yuki had eaten all Kenshin’s pickled plums. He summoned you and Sasuke to his room to discuss the dispute when you and Sasuke smiled at each other and laid out your plan for payback. Kenshin eagerly agreed to your plan as he definitely wanted to get back at Yuki for stealing his precious plums. You and Sasuke spent that morning getting all the castle staff in on your plan and finally it was time to put your plan in action. You, Sasuke and Yuki were hanging out in the garden joking around when Yuki dropped “you’re an evil enchantress” comment. At that, you smiled and said: “careful what you wish for Yuki, what if I really am an enchantress”. “Yeah, sure a wild boar woman like you could never be so cool”. 

Just then Kenshin walked past and accused Yuki of stealing his precious plums. He drew his sword intending to fight Yuki when you chimed in “Don’t worry Kenshin I know how to make him pay”, Kenshin smiled a knowing smile and nodded, Yuki took an audible gulp. You waved your hands around “abracadabra, I turn you, Yuki, invisible”. Yuki simply rolled his eyes. Kenshin looked around, and Sasuke joined him, they looked right past him pretending like they couldn’t see him at all. “OMW YUKI WHERE ARE YOU”. You had to hold in your laugh at Sasuke’s overdramatic behaviours “I CAN HEAR YOU BUT I CAN’T SEE YOU”. “Nice try guys I know your just messing with me”. 

As the day progressed, Yuki got more and more stressed, as it seemed like you genuinely did turn him invisible. He finally cracked at the banquet when no one there could see him. He got on his knees in front of you, begging you to turn him back. That’s when everyone in the banquet hall broke out into a roar of laugher. “TROLLLOLLLLLOLLLL”. Yuki legit tackled you and Sasuke to the ground from managing to troll him once again.

You and Sasuke honestly had the best time together, whether it was trolling the people of the castle or discussing history for hours and hours, when the two of you were together it was always a good time. You discovered that both of you also love learning different languages, and the two of you would often converse in the various languages that you had learned together. Sasuke loved how you even knew so much about politics. At this point, this boy was head over heels for you. If he ever had to imagine a perfect woman, you would be her. He loved how you even had a passion for debate, and the two of you would often converse in witty debates.

Even though the both of you seemed closed off to the world the two of you understood and loved each other.

Sasuke honestly couldn’t hide anything from you and you keenly picked up on, his crush on you early on, in your relationship. You found the way he blushed when you confronted him extremely cute. He actually loves the fact that you could easily read people as very few can read and understand him. It finally made him feel understood and loved.

The two of you make the sweetest couple, trolling and pranking everyone in the castle. When the two of you goofballs are together, no one can understand the two of you, as you guys would constantly be quoting memes or talking to each other in different languages. It is also not rare for the two of you to dab or do your secret handshake at a troll well executed.

Both of you can often be found cuddle on the top of one of the roofs of the castle, looking up at the stars. You listen keenly as Sasuke explains the different constellations. 

You absolutely love it when Sasuke surprises you by hanging from the ceiling like spiderman. He will always insist on giving you a spiderman kiss, and you can’t help but chuckle and comply. If the two of you aren’t out trolling and having fun, the two of you are gently nestled in each other’s arms just enjoying each other warmth and company

Other potential matches................ Nobunaga

I hope you enjoyed it, love! ❤🔥

[dc41896]

Worst Fear (1)

A/N: So I had this idea for this little fic (that’s only 2 parts btw) and thought it would be funny to write and was also really excited about it, but honestly looking back on it, idk how I feel about it. Hopefully what I had in my head transferred over how I wanted and is entertaining to you guys :). Not gonna lie i honestly don’t feel like it does, but I also might be being hard on myself so again I hope you guys like it! Oh and Florian’s not really in this part as much as he’s in the second so sorry about that.

Warnings: None

Word Count: 2,603

“Alright SO, today I’m thinking after we eat, we go to the mall and shop for a while. Then we go to the movies and maybe tonight we get lit!!!!” Alani, your best friend since high school, cheerily says as you both walk into the restaurant. You haven’t been able to hang out as much as you’d like due to your hectic work schedules, so you planned for today to be a much needed girls day to do any and everything you wanted.

“Sounds like a plan, but we both can’t get lit. Well at least your level of lit, so you can do that for the both of us while I make sure you don’t get us kicked out or banned from said establishment,” you laugh causing your bestie to roll her eyes.

“Hey, I’m not THAT crazy when I drink thank you ma’am,” she replies laughing along with you as you both are led to your table by the hostess. Before you can get seated comfortably in your booth, your friend hits your arm making you yelp an “Ow!” And look at her like she’s lost what’s left of her mind. “What was that for?!” You whisper yell trying not to cause too much of a scene. “Oh that didn’t hurt! Stop being dramatic and look at the mountain of men over there!,” she replies nodding her head in the direction of the table located in front of yours.

Following her head, your eyes land on a table of 3 nicely built men talking amongst themselves. One was shorter in height than the rest but had a very suave and high-class vibe about him, but not in a snobby way. Like he owned a yacht that he would occasionally take out in the warmer months. The next was tall, but seemed like he was more so on the reserved side. Mainly when it came to new people though. The last one was just as tall as the second, but was more muscular than the first two combined. With his backwards cap and chain, he exuded a vibe that was like no other and would immediately draw anyone to him. However, that last statement was something you knew all too well and experienced first hand for yourself. “Y/N?!” You heard, snapping you out of your trancelike state. It seems that you were so busy looking towards the men that you didn’t realize you caught the eye of the last one and he had since made his way to your table.

“Florian! Hi!” You smile hoping that you weren’t staring for too long and potentially about to make this an awkward experience. “Hey! How’ve you been?!” He excitedly asks as he slips next to you in your booth and gives you a strong bear hug.

“And who’s your friend?” Florian asks as he reaches his hand out across the table. “Alani. Nice to meet you Florian,” she smiles while shaking his hand. As you both chat for a minute, she can’t help but to look shocked at how you seem to know the man she was just drooling over and never mentioned him in conversation before.

“I can’t stay for long, but I would love to hang out with you before I leave. Your number’s still the same right?” He asks as he stands up to leave, “Yea it is, um just let me know what day works for you. I have some time off so I’m free for the next few days,” you reply not breaking eye contact from his expressive green ones.

“Ok great! I’ll text you next time me and my brothers plan something,” he smiles before saying goodbye and leaving you and Alani a shooken mess, but for different reasons. “Florian! Hi!” she mockingly repeats, “How do you know him and why haven’t I heard anything about him before?! Spill the whole tea kettle!”

“You have heard of him, remember muscle beach bae?” You sigh as you slouch in the booth relieved that the interaction was over. “Yea the one who could get it any day? WAIT A MINUTE!!” Your friend gasps finally putting the puzzle pieces together to realize that Florian was the bae in question.

“Yea,” you reply taking a drink from your glass of water. While you weren’t a heavy drinker, you honestly wouldn’t mind a shot or two at this very moment. “Just don’t be weird about it ok?”

“I won’t I promise. But our plans have now changed for the day to be any and everywhere that man and his brothers are” your friend smirks making you wish that you stayed in bed today.

______

“The way I see it, you have a lot of explaining to do, starting with how this all got started,” Alani says as you both look through the rack of colorful clothes in front of you. “Alright alright, you want the sparknotes or the play?” you ask referring to if she wants to hear the long or short version of the story.

“What do you think?” she replies taking a shirt out of your hand that you were currently looking at so she has your full attention. Being your best friend for so long, Alani knows how you’ll busy yourself doing the first thing you can get your hands on whenever you get nervous or anxious. Seeing how she had never heard about this guy in detail and yet he had this effect on you, something had to have happened between you two.

“It happened about last year this time,” you start with a sigh mentally preparing yourself to have to relive this story all over again. “So as you remember last year I was helping out my uncle at the restaurant for a while until he could hire more employees. Since the place was right by the beach, on my breaks I would walk to the water and just sit either reading a book or laying down and that’s where I met Flo,”

“Wait Flo? Oh we got nicknames now! I KNOW something happened then” Alani interrupted with a Cheshire cat smile making you laugh. “That doesn’t count as a nickname, that’s just a shortened version of his name,” you explained with arms crossed and a smile similar to that of a child who just got his way.

“Still it’s informal, which means that there’s some comfort there that you could use it,” she retorts with a smile similar to yours causing you to drop your arms and mimic what she said in the manner of your favorite spongebob meme. “Anyway! One day while I was there reading, a soccer ball rolled beside me and he ran up apologizing and asking if it hit me. I kept telling him it didn’t but he was really sweet and wanted to be sure I was fine,” you smile at the concerned tone he had and how he squatted down to be somewhat at your eye level.

“Aww that was sweet! What happened next giggles?” she asks leaning on the rack of clothes and making you glare for the nickname she just gave you. “He told me have a good day then grabbed the ball and left. The next couple days though we kept seeing each other at the beach and while I thought he probably didn’t notice, he did and mentioned it when he came up to me. We talked for a minute about what we were doing in the area and then he said that seeing each other that much must have meant something so we exchanged numbers before we both went our separate ways.”

“Ok all this seems innocent enough, so why are you acting like you’re afraid of this guy or something? He didn’t do anything while you guys hung out did he?” Alani asks in a more serious tone, straightening up from her relaxed state. “No! No nothing happened…and I’m trying to keep it that way,” you reply looking down at your sneakers. You knew nothing was wrong with having a crush on him, but crushes came with feelings, which would more than likely become stronger and make things even more complicated.

It’s not that you despised love, you felt quite the opposite actually. You couldn’t wait until the day you found the man you wanted to spend the rest of your life with and do everything those cute couples you saw on YouTube and Instagram do. But you also knew with love could come unexplainable behaviors and that’s what scared you the most.

Of course for your family and best friend you would do any and everything you could to make sure they were happy and taken care of. However, having that same love for a man to potentially take advantage of and cause you to go to a place you never thought you would added to that fear and caused a feeling of dread to envelop you whenever a crush developed.

“Look, I know you’re trying to guard your heart and feelings, which is totally understandable, but also don’t potentially miss out on something great because of a fear Y/N,” Alani responded knowing how you tended to view crushes and would distance yourself when you felt yourself falling even more. “Plus you don’t even know if he feels the same! He might just look at you as a really close friend and not want to go there, which would kinda hurt but also you wouldn’t have to worry!”

“Yea but that’s the thing we don’t know. I mean that may be the case now, but what about the future? Plus that doesn’t stop my own feelings,” you reply giving the hanging clothes in front of you your attention again. “Then why don’t you tell him?” Alani suggests making you quickly snap your head up to look at her as if she had just revealed she was actually from Mars.

“Um are you insane?! I can’t do that! Didn’t you just hear me say I would like to keep nothing from happening?” you ask looking around to make sure no one was staring at you from your outburst. “Yes I did, but calm down and hear me out. You want to get over your feelings so why don’t you write a letter, email, whatever you chose that is for him but you don’t send it to him. That way you technically did tell him, but he doesn’t know so nothing becomes weird and everyone is happy. Total win-win if you ask me,” she explains before picking up a dress and holding it up to herself.

You had to admit, she had a point. You could get these feelings off of your chest, which was a way to start getting over Florian, and he would never know anything about it since you wouldn’t send it to him. Well, unless you randomly decided to tell him one day or during a drunken night out. Other than that, no harm no foul and you guys could continue being friends like nothing happened.

“You know, that’s not a bad idea,” you admit holding out your hand to join with hers to do your secret handshake. “I know, I’m a genius,” Alani replies acting proud of herself by doing a hairflip. After making your purchases, you continued walking through the mall stopping at your favorite stores to see what else you could find that you didn’t need.

______

Although you guys planned to stay out all night, you both felt that after eating way too many nachos at the movies you should call it a night. The last thing either one of you wanted to do on your full stomachs was squeeze into outfits and be trapped like a bunch of sardines in a club. Making your way back in your apartment, you feel your phone vibrate and see Florian’s name flash across the screen.

Flo: Hey! I was thinking we could all hang out tomorrow sometime. You and Alani, me and my bros. Any ideas?

Y/N: Hey and sounds good! Honestly no not really lol, we’d be down for anything though, we’re not picky I promise

Flo: Lol ok cool. Meet at my place around 1 then we can all decide what to do

Y/N: Ok that’s fine. See you then! :)

Flo: See you tomorrow! Night :)

Y/N: Night!

“Ok, let’s get started on this letter,” you say to yourself after you send a quick text to Alani letting her know the plans for tomorrow. Clearly she must’ve been asleep or away from the phone to not immediately say anything about the goodnight text or smiley faces.

Since you knew the message would be long, you decided to use your iMessage app on your laptop to write everything you needed to say to Florian. Hopefully he wasn’t still in your conversation or else he would definitely see the dots and know you were about to say something. Seeing as though he said goodnight, you assumed his phone was closed.

At first it felt silly typing all your feelings and you felt like a school girl sending a “Do you like me? Check yes or no” letter to your crush. But as you began to let go and release everything, you felt this weight lift off your shoulders. As you finished your last sentence, you looked over everything proud of the fact that you finally shared what had been going on in your mind. In a way, it was actually therapeutic and you were a little surprised that Alani had a good idea this time.

With heavy eyelids and a yawn, you turn towards the clock to see that it’s 2 am and you still need to get ready for bed. You started to erase everything then, but since you were so sleepy you decided you would do it in the morning before you left to hang out with the guys. Closing your messages and your laptop, you placed it on your desk before moving towards the bathroom.

_________

“Wakey Wakey!!” Alani screams in the call box making you lean backwards so your eardrums would remain intact. “Ow! Could you not yell at me please, thank you!” you laugh before buzzing her in to access your apartment. It doesn’t take her long to arrive at the door and knock as loud as she possibly can, which you’re sure woke up your neighbors if they weren’t awake already.

“I’m just making sure you’re up! Ready to go?” she asks before flopping on your couch. “Yea let me get my phone really quick,” you reply walking to your room to retrieve your phone that was still charging on your bedside table. However, you noticed your coworker texted you to ask a question about one of your clients.

As an attempt to multitask, you decided you would use your Alexa to send the message right before you walked out the door. “Hey Alexa! Send message to Dorian,” you say waiting for her to respond with her usual reply.

“Ok! Sending message to Florian” her robotic voice echoes through the living room making you freeze and look at your machine hoping it didn’t say what it just did. “Alani….did she say Florian or Dorian?” you ask feeling your heart race and palms become sweaty. You already knew the answer, but there was a small part of you that hoped that it wasn’t so.

“She said Florian, but from the look on your face the real question here is what was sent to Florian just now?” Alani asks standing up and making her way over to your side. “Please tell me you deleted the message you ‘wrote’ to Florian to get your feelings out.”

To Be Continued...

Tags: Tags: @themyscxiras @honeychicana @crushed-pink-petals @lady-olive-oil @ellixthea @lovelymari4

If anybody else would like to be tagged just let me know! :)

[vdoesbookrecs]

Book Review #6 - There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done

Blurb:  Come on, Simon Snow.

Your hero’s journey might be over - 

but your life has just begun.

SIMON SNOW IS BACK, AND HE’S COMING TO AMERICA!

The story is supposed to be over.

Simon Snow did everything he was supposed to do. He beat the villain. He won the war. He even fell in love. Now comes the good part, right? Now comes the happily ever after....

So why can’t Simon Snow get off the couch?

What he needs, according to his best friend, is a change of scenery. He just needs to see himself in a new light.

That’s how Simon and Penny and Baz end up in a vintage convertile, tearing across the American West. They find trouble, of course. (Dragons, vampires, skunk-headed things with shotguns.) And they get lost. They get so lost, they start to wonder whether they ever knew where they were headed in the first place.

With Wayward Son, Rainbow Rowell has written a book for everyone who ever wondered what happened to the Chosen One after he saved the day. And a book for everyone who was ever more curious about the second kiss than the first. It’s another helping of sour cherry scones with an absolutely decadent amount of butter. 

Synopsis: Following the events of Carry On, Simon, Baz and Penny are more or less free to do whatever they want. Penny and Baz throw themselves into Uni work - and worry about Simon, who seems to be falling deeper and deeper into depression. When Agatha, who moved to California to get away from all magic, starts acting strange over text, making Penny worry, the three of them jump at the chance to get a change of scenery. Armed with a spell that makes Simon’s wings disappear and some stolen plane tickets, the three of them fly to Chicago, Illinois to pick up Penny’s boyfriend Micah on the way. 

Only Micah doesn’t seem to see himself as Penny’s boyfriend anymore. 

In fact, he sees himself as someone else’s boyfriend altogether. Penny is crushed and would much rather return home, but the boys think they might as well finish their road trip, and after all, Agatha still needs their help. But without someone to explain the completely different set of rules the American magical community lives by, the group gets into all sorts of trouble. Good thing they have the mysterious Normal Shep offering to be their guide. If only they could figure out what Shep wants from them - and why he knows so much about magic. Meanwhile, Agatha gets kidnapped by a group of suspiciously well-kept entrepeneurs who call themselves the NextNow and have a feud with the King of Las Vegas. 

What was supposed to be a relaxing vacation is quickly turning into a dangerous and violent getaway drive across half America - but at least Baz’ and Simon’s relationship is still going strong...right?!

My thoughts: I have so much going on in my life right now that I honestly forgot about Wayward Son being released. And then I saw the memes on Tumblr and thought to myself: No way in HELL am I reading this now, I don’t need any extra stress in my life (I recently moved, I’m pretty homesick, my anxiety is going haywire, the usual). Only then I was doing some exploring in the city and stumbled across a bookshop. And they had this. And it was exactly ten Euros. And I had ten Euros. 

I read it in one sitting, and then I reread it again yesterday, because it’s just that damn good. 

The writing style is On Point, the story is gripping, we get so much more information on magic and how it works, the ‘European persons shocked by American culture’ is played so well, and Baz challenges Simon to a duel with the Master Sword from The Legend of Zelda in Shakespearean English when they visit a renaissance fair. Need I say more?

That being said, I would like to address some things the fandom has been freaking out about though. 

I’ve seen a lot of posts saying the book reads like a fanfiction, or the classic ‘lmao that was wild, anyone know when the REAL Wayward Son is coming out’, and....I don’t get it. In my opinion, Wayward Son read a lot more ‘bookish’ than Carry On, which I totally would’ve bought as fanfic (High School AU, Boarding School AU, Magic AU, Vampire!Baz, Chosen One!Simon Evil!Mage, BAMF!Penny. Do these tags sound familiar? If you’ve ever read any Harry Potter AU or crossover fic for any other fandom ever, they should.) Carry On, like a fanfiction, jumps right into the interesting stuff and kind of assumes you know the characters already. Wayward Son does not, though I will grant you it’s a sequel and doesn’t have to introduce its characters like the first volume of a series does. 

The real reason why lots of people who’ve read Carry On don’t want Wayward Son to be canon is a different one, though, and it’s the portrayal of Simon and Baz’ relationship as crumbling and, potentially, failing. And listen, I would’ve totally got that if it really was the way y’all made it sound before I read it myself, but it isn’t. 

Wayward Son is not the story of a relationship falling apart; It’s the story of two people who formed a relationship in very specific circumstances preserving that relationship after these circumstances completely disintegrate. When Baz and Simon got together, Baz clearly had the role of the adversary, and had had it for years. Simon was used to being the all-powerful Chosen One, who knew almost nothing beyond school and foster homes and fighting the evil of the day. Now, none of that is true, and they’ve all witnessed it come apart in front of their very eyes. They’ve witnessed their headmaster and father figure, respectively, kill a person. They know they are responsible for his death, even if their actions were justified. They witnessed one of their friends become traumatized to the point where she gave up magic. Penny couldn’t even bring herself to go back to Watford for her final exams, and y’all expect them and more importantly their relationships, especially Simon and Baz’ relationship, which was literally founded on trauma, to magically be O.K. because they moved to London and can make out without risking the contempt of everyone around them now? 

Bitch please.

As someone who went through a really hard time on a very much smaller scale, I actually think Wayward Son is unbelievably optimistic about Simon and Baz’ relationship. I mean, for fucks sake, it literally ends with a prologue. A prologue is what comes before a story, not after. 

In my opinion, Simon dealing with internalized homophobia, depression and a fucked up self image and that clashing with both his and Baz’ PTSD and Baz’ trauma and internal conflict about being a vampire is very well portrayed and written, and I, for one, am very glad to see the aftermath of being the protagonist of a ‘chosen one’ story being treated realistically. I mean, could you imagine if Rainbow Rowell had pulled a J.K. Rowling? Would you really be happy with the white picket fence and 2.5 children type of ending that a big part of the fandom seems to be screaming for? 

Do I recommend this book? Yes tf I recommend this book. I recommend it so hard if I recommended it any harder it would fly through your computer screen and smack you in the face. 

Don’t read this book if...

...you want a story or an ending where Simon and Baz are completely fine and happy.

...you’re squeamish about blood, violence, kidnapping, unconsensual medical testing, multiple near-deaths for several main characters, unsafe medical procedures, body horror. 

...your least favourite characters in Carry On were Penny and Agatha and you hoped that Wayward Son would focus less on them than Carry On did. 

[iridescentanachronism]

when one night only turns into two

hello folks, i have never written fanfiction and never used this blog! i guess i’m diving in headfirst LMAO!!! 

this is a lil blurb i thought of when y/n is a singer (not super big but for sure up and coming) and she covers kiwi at one of her shows and it goes viral and harry notices and decides to just SHOW UP at her show the balls on this guy!! anyways this is my first fic so please be kind! constructive criticism is always welcome 

“thank you for coming out tonight! your presence gives me the ability to do my job- i will always be grateful for each and every single one of you. drive safely and love one another, los angeles. thanks again for having me, you have been wonderful.” 

as you walked off the small stage at the house of blues your heart swelled with pride. this was your first show out of state, and from what the audience sounded like, you had crushed it. performing in LA had always been a dream of yours, but a daunting one, considering that their crowds were used to big names and powerful stage presences. you were intimidated by the city- yet you walked off their stage with an indescribable feeling of pride, adrenaline, and confidence. this was the start of something new and you could feel it.  

feeling someone’s eyes on you, you made a sharp turn and ran into your tour manager, rosco. “hello! hey, hey, hey, that was amazing wasn’t it? the energy felt absolutely maddening! god, i could do that everyday for the rest of my life. what do you think? was it too much, did we do too many covers?” the words seemed to flow right out of you, even though you gave LA your all, it was still LA, and rosco had always been your best critic. he quickly responded to let you know it was as amazing as you’d originally thought, and that if this show was any indication, you would have plenty more shows in LA. 

what you didn’t expect, however, was the ruckus that one of the aforementioned covers would cause on twitter. you had always loved harry styles, and after taking quite some time to look into the legalities on the matter, decided to cover kiwi for the first time last night. logging into your account, you noticed the song title trending- and after clicking on it you were led to a video of your show, hair being shaken around you, throwing yourself around the stage with the heavy music, and the scene was completed with a boisterous crowd jumping around and singing every word along with you. a smile covered your face- this is your favorite part of performing, losing yourself entirely in the stage, and in this video you were doing just that. however excited you had become at the potential this showed for your career, you immediately had so many questions. why had this blown up so much? you covered four songs last night, why is this one such a big deal? after looking through the tag, chuckling at some memes, and being freaked out by some responses, you had found the tweet that made you lose your shit. the tweet itself wasn’t even the raunchiest you had found this morning, it simply stated: “@y/t/n: fuck my shit up, babe. literally, whatever you want to do to me, do it” with the linked video of you singing kiwi. however, one thing in particular stood out to you. the part that said “liked by harry styles”. 

you immediately dialed rosco, not only is he your tour manager, but basically your entire support system. a musicians life gets lonely, and he is the only one who has stuck by you throughout the entire tumultuous journey. 

“sweetheart! perfect timing, i actually was just about to call-”

“harrystylessawthekiwivideoandlikedatweetaboutitholyfuckingshit-” you started to ramble, your most prominent nervous trait, in the highest pitch rosco thought he had ever heard from you. 

“sweets, first of all, where was that pitch when we recorded the album? second, take a breath and tell me again, i can’t understand a damn thing you said”

you took a deep breath and told him of the tweets you saw, and when you told him about harry’s interaction he simply told you to chill out. he had favorited a tweet, and he may not have even been the one to do it. with an odd sting you realized he was correct, while it was exciting to have your idol recognize you, you could not overthink it: it was simply recognition for a job well done. 

“it seems as though the people you needed to impress are just as proud of you as i am, lovey, your ‘one night only’ in los angeles has been extended to two, you interested in doing it all over again tomorrow night?”

you must have looked like a goldfish in your kitchen, jaw slack and eyes wide open, you struggled to come to your senses. you had asked for the chance to prove yourself in a city known for music, and good music at that, and were apparently being gifted with a second chance. 

“oh! um, yes, of course, why wouldn’t i? holy shit, this is amazing, holy shit!” you began to squeal and run in circles around your house. whilst giggling with elation, the seriousness of this event hit you: two nights of rocking out with the liveliest crowd you have ever played for, in the city you’ve dreamt of doing this in for years. drops began to form in your eyes as you managed to spit out a quick thank you to rosco, who knew you would cry. he, quite frankly, did not want to hear your tears, so he hung up after telling you what to tweet. 

after logging on you realized you had gone from a respectable 10k followers to an overwhelming 30k, you almost squealed again, composing yourself enough to type, you wrote: 

@y/t/n: wow. in absolute awe of you la. thank you for supporting me, and thank you for letting me do what i do. and thanks to you all, i have been gifted another night here (-: night two at the hob! tickets on sale at 6pm california time, come see me tomorrow night, peeps! i’ll be sure to make it worth your while <3 

with the click of your fingers and the ping of your phone, the announcement had been sent, and the stage had been sent. the pressure was on, and you had never felt more in your element. 

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

everything that could have gone wrong on the morning of your fateful second show, had. you had woken up late (something minor, but was an omen for your bad day), gotten a flat tire, been hit on by the man sent to fix said flat tire, and had been late to soundcheck. after arriving at soundcheck you had found that everything was wrong, the stage wasn’t set up correctly, the duct-taped x’s from the previous show had been removed, and you had to all but start from the beginning. 

you had planned to change things up from your previous gig, but had no time to practice the changes. you spoke to your band and hoped that was enough, you drank some coffee, did some jumping jacks, warmed up your vocals, and put on your game face. this is your second show in LA, and you weren’t going to let anything ruin it; hearing the sounds of a sold out bar in front of you, feeling your heart began to flutter in your chest, and knowing that in a few minutes you would be putting on the best show of your goddamn life had set you up well. you were ready. with your shoulders back and head up high, you walked onto stage and, unknowingly, commanded the attention of the room. 

about twenty minutes into your set you decided to take a quick breather. taking a long sip of water and leaning into the microphone, you decided to do a quick little check in, “hey folks, hows everyone doing out there?” your southern drawl had just slipped in towards the end, and you felt so at ease on stage that you hadn’t even noticed. someone else did notice. 

harry styles had decided to surprise you at your show, he had favorited that tweet because he agreed- you could do whatever you wanted to him, but he would rather do whatever you wanted to you. he had his signature smirk on as he stood backstage, listening to rosco ramble about how surprized you would be when you realized he had come, and how much you adored his album. as you continued to banter back in forth with the sold out bar, harry had taken note of how peaceful you looked. you stood proudly on stage, with messy hair, and a sick body you looked comfortable; the stage had seemed like your home. 

luckily, you hadn’t noticed harry the entire show, hadn’t even noticed how his eyes hadn’t left your body while you passionately belted out every word to his song, completely losing yourself in the melody, and delivering another breathtaking performance. he watched you take your final bow, and heard your last expression of gratitude, before watching you run off stage and into the arms of your tour manager. harry quickly noticed the tears in your eyes and the smile so large that it looked painful, he heard your rambling and the joy in your voice, it had reminded him of when this was all new, when nothing was guaranteed, and the only thing keeping him in this trying industry was the feeling you were experiencing right now. 

his moment of nostalgia passed as you had unraveled yourself from rosco’s arms and did a double take. harry styles was standing in front of you. you heard a deep chuckle coming from him, likely due to your wide eyes and gaping mouth, he heard a quiet “no fucking way” come from you, and decided he had waited long enough. as cocky as usual, he rasped out, “hello love, your show was amazing. it’s a pleasure to meet you, i’m harry, as i think you may know” he didn’t bother waiting for a response from the gobsmacked young woman before continuing, “y’know, i’ve seen plenty of covers of kiwi, but none have been as genuine as yours. you captured the song for what it is, you blew it away, blew me away in fact, so i knew i had to come out and see ya tonight.” his accent grew thicker as he became more bemused with your state of shock.

your breath eventually caught up to you as you nervously chuckled, “holy shit, thank you so much. you have no idea how much that means coming from you. thank you for coming out, oh my god, i have so much to say to you but nothing is coming to mind other than thank you, so thank you, again” 

“of course, darling, i loved it. i’ll be sure to pass along my number so whatever comes to mind can be said. unfortunately, i have to run, but i’ll be seeing you around kiddo, keep up the good work” harry said with a sly wink, leaving you flushed at the pet name, and yearning for more time with him. while you let out a soft thank you and goodnight, you began to think of what the future held for you. praise from harry styles was not to be taken lightly, and his impromptu visit had only fanned the flame in your soul, his visit meant you were doing something right, and this had been the fuel you needed to continue putting in long hours at the studio, and spending evenings alone, writing in your shitty and overpriced apartment.  

while you had been thinking of what this visit meant for your career. harry had thoughts of you headlining arenas swimming around in his head. as he walked away he thought of you; thought of how immensely talented you were, how charismatic you were, and how far you had to go. he also thought of your grace, the presence you carried as you pranced around on stage, and the charming beauty that you seemed unaware of. harry styles knew you were talented, but he also knew you were breathtaking, and he could see absolutely nothing stopping you. 

as he walked away and you listened to rosco’s compliments, you allowed your own mind to wander. maybe, just maybe, things were going to look up for you. and you couldn’t help but sigh happily at the thought. 

A/N: hello peeps! sorry this was super long hmm i’m torn between cutting it or not, because not much harry but also the buildup is important to me, please let me know what you prefer! constructive criticism is ALWAYS welcome and apprecited! thanks for reading this far if you did, you mean the world to me! let me know if y’all would want a part two (-:

[jaggedwolf]

For the meme! The tscosi hogwarts au ficlet. I think the entirety is around 500 words.

You are probably correct, haha. The ficlet is here

“Looks like your admirer’s here for the show again,” said Brian. The only indication of a direction was a quick dart of his eyes in the direction of the broom shed at the opposite side of the field. Then he went back to his Ancient Runes reading like he hadn’t said anything at all. He was only a fourth-year and he studied like it was him who had O.W.L.S to take this year. Well, only if it was Ancient Runes.

In which I forgive myself for the recurring awkward sentence structures/flows that happen with ficlets, because the whole point is that I write them with little thought and for fun. Also, will find a way to translate Brian being a linguist into any universe. 

Sana rolled her eyes. She ran her wand over her broom, finishing up the last layer of the new enchantment. “Not an admirer. Honestly, she’s probably been showing up to see Krejjh make another attempt at the Wronksi Feint.“

See: adapting Sana tinkering with her flying device. And my fervent desire to see Sana and Krejjh be adrenaline junkies together, because it’d be so good.

“I’m telling you Captain Tripathi, this time’s the charm.” Krejjh grinned, already floating in the air on their own broom. “And then we’re gonna crush you Hufflepuffs this year.”

Sana raised her eyebrows. “As long as our Seeker doesn’t literally get crushed. Though, honestly, he should know better by now than to follow you into a dive like that.”

Krejjh and Sana would be friendly opponent captains and you can’t convince me otherwise - they are good sports! I think Krejjh in this AU only addresses Sana as “Captain” when it’s fun trash talking time.

The Gryffindor team had Krejjh, sure, but no other stand-out players. And as great a Seeker they were, Sana had a feeling that Krejjh mostly thought the responsibilities that came with the Captain title were 1. Be really good at Quidditch 2. Schedule practices. So, Sana wasn’t too worried about Gryffindor this year. She swung a leg over her own broom, ready to take off. 

I imagine having Krejjh as your sportsball team captain is very fun and inspiring and exhilarating! But not particularly consistent! (In Krejjh’s defense - I also picture this being their first year as captain. Sana, while also a fifth-year, has already had a year under her belt, because she’s just Like That and the ‘puffs recognize a good thing when they see it.) 

Sana is very ready to win this year :)

“Also, she hasn’t been watching Krejjh at any of these practices. Mostly you.” Brian said out of nowhere.Krejjh’s grin grew wider. “Jeeter. Were you concerned I had an admirer?”“Wha-no,” Brian sputtered. “Sometimes I finish the work I bring with me before you guys are done, so I started trying to figure out why a third-year would skip Hogsmeade weekends to watch you two.”

Are these two already dating in this ficlet??? They don’t know either, pal. I just like the idea of Brian doing his homework in the stands while Sana and Krejjh practice (in addition to their regular house practices, mind you). Brian’s also bad at letting inconsistencies lie. 

“That is a good point about the weekends.” asked Sana, glancing over at the broom shed. It stood far enough away that sound didn’t carry, but close enough that Sana could spy the corner of a red-edged robe peeking out from behind one of its walls. “Krejjh. She is in your house. Any ideas?”

As may be very obvious, I went with everyone’s primary houses from my sorting post. 

“Sorry, fellas, I’ve only really passed by her at meals and the common room.” Krejjh shrugged, now slowly looping around Brian and Sana on their broom.

Krejjh in any universe: mmm jock brain flying good (stole this phrasing from @shrimpeggroll​). They’re not really paying attention to random tiny third-years. (Sana, however, you may note, already knows Arkady’s name.)

“Maybe she wants to talk to a prefect? I haven’t heard great things about the Gryffindor ones this year,” Brian ventured.

Sana frowned at him, and then sighed knowingly. “Violet?”“Yeah,” he said uneasily. “I think she’s okay now, though? Even if the prefects weren’t much use.”She hadn’t seen Brian’s new third-year shadow recently, so that was good news. An implied subplot of lonely Muggle-born Violet possibly getting hassled by some Gryffs while the Gryff prefects didn’t do much. It’s resolved, so she isn’t constantly trailing Brian anymore. Also, c’mon, isn’t the image of fourth-year Brian taking third-year Violet under his wing the cutest - bet those nerds spend a lot of time the library. 

“It’s going to get dark soon.” Krejjh had transitioned from horizontal loops to vertical ones, their expression looking like that of the world’s most impatient child.

“Sorry, let’s get going.” Sana shot up into the air without a beat. The wind rushing past her face, the feel of the new charms she added, the familiar quick gain in altitude were all the only things on her mind. Nothing about the team or O.W.L.S. She’d missed this. She leveled out at the top of the hooped goal posts, waiting for Krejjh to catch up so they could do their usual race. Sana took in the view. Brian was watching Krejjh’s ascent into the sky with rapt attention, as always. More and more of the red-edged robes behind the broom shed creeped out till Arkady herself was leaning on the front of the shed. Couldn’t make out much of an expression from this angle and altitude.

These two just like flying :D 

Sana was midway through going over her knowledge on the Patel family when her broom jerked. And then jerked again, and again. Sana gripped tightly with one hand as she went anything that could have gone wrong with how the new enchantment interacted with the broom’s magic, simultaneously reaching for the wand within her sleeve. Always good to have a quick way to undo things.The wand slid into her hand and then just as quickly out of it, latching itself to the broom of it’s own accord. What? The broom stopped a jerking for a brief moment and Sana tried to scrape the wand off of it as well as guide the broom down. Neither attempt seemed to do anything.The broom dove.

I fully confess action/description is the weakest aspect of my writing, haha. And yeah, Sana’s aware of the risks of her messing with the magic a broom already has, but she’s gonna do that anyway.

She held calm even as the bright green of the field rapidly came closer, going over everything she knew about the field’s cushioning charms and crash landings.Then the broom stopped so suddenly she lost her grip, flying head over heels off of it. She was still really high off the ground. Not good. Wind rushed past her as she fell, and out of the corner of her eye she could see Krejjh changing course to fly towards her, but Sana had a feeling even Krejjh couldn’t close this gap.

Sana: realistic and not prone to panic even as she’s about to crash into the ground. 

“Arresto Momentum!” yelled a voice she didn’t recognize, and suddenly instead of plummeting she was floating downwards instead. Sana swallowed a gulp.

Way to save the day, kid. (Who again, you might note, Sana has never heard, thought she knows of her family.)

Arkady wasn’t by the broom shed anymore, instead she was right on the field, arm outstretched and wand pointed right at Sana. Arkady was breathing heavily, and also…scowling? At Krejjh? Who had finally reached Sana and flew next to her as she slowly came to a stop on the ground.Sana turned to Arkady. “Oka-”“I thought Gryffindors were supposed to be all ‘honorable’ and ‘chivalrous’, what’s so honorable about hexing someone’s broom to hurt them?” interrupted Arkady, shifting her wand from Sana to Krejjh, her oversized robes swinging a little as she did.

Arkady hates a hypocrite, even more so as a kid. (Has perhaps witnessed some of the Gryffs-behaving-badly nonsense that Violet dealt with? Will latch on to suspicion at the clearest potential suspect?) Also has hand-me-down robes bc the idea of the Patels as a scrappier version of the Weasleys in this AU makes me cackle with glee. 

“What? Sana tries out new enchantments all the time, and sometimes they go a bit wonky. I don’t even know how you hex a broom,” said Krejjh, looking confused.“Krejjh wouldn’t hex my broom,” Sana leveled a look at Arkady, wondering what on earth she had to do with anything, and also what level of house baggage they were dealing with. “But something did grab my wand away from me, which is making me thinking that a side-effect of my enchantment isn’t the right answer here.”Brian ran up to them, panting. “Is…everyone…okay?”

Sana’s firm but honest about her assessment of the situation. Poor Brian, he just had a gazillion different heart attacks at witnessing all of that happen in the sky, realizing too late to do anything himself.

Arkady paid no notice to him, still pointing her wand at Krejjh. “I’m not saying you did it. That’d be stupid. Having the Captain do it, even if you have regular access to her broom since you hang out. I’m saying you got your teammates to.”A rare flash of anger crossed Krejjh’s face. “I wouldn’t-”“I heard them talking about sabotaging the Hufflepuff captain, I followed them, and I saw them break into the broom shed.” Arkady’s scowl deepened.

What a tiny distrustful spy! Weirdly effective! (Krejjh does not appreciate the suggestion that they would hurt Sana. Also, they play fair, how else can glorious victory be an accurate assessment of one’s skill and talent?) 

“Dude,” said Brian, “that’s not really proof Krejjh told them to do anything.”Arkady deflated a little. “You saw all that, and decided stalking Sana and Krejjh’s practices was the best plan?” continued Brian.Arkady dropped her wand arm, muttering something indecipherable.

Brian’s here to point out Arkady’s ridiculousness. Arkady talked over her plan with absolutely no one. Just went full speed “Make sure unsuspecting Hufflepuff captain doesn’t get hurt”.

“What?” asked Sana.“I didn’t have any proof,” grumbled Arkady, crossing her arms. “I didn’t know how to figure out what they did or undo it, and I figured it’d make sense for them to activate the charm in one of these sessions instead of the Hufflepuff team practice because there’d be higher chance of you getting injured with only one other flier.”Brian’s jaw dropped. “Okay, I know she saved your life, but I’m a little scared of this third-year now.”

I don’t know that I’m a fan of this Brian line anymore - I just wanted to communicate how truly thrown by this level of quidditch conspiracy and paranoia he was.

Arkady glared at him. Sana shook her head, and smiled at Arkady. “So, this is a mess. For the record, Arkady, you could have told me.”Arkady squinted. “Why would you have believed me?” “Why wouldn’t I have?”Arkady kept squinting at her, saying nothing.

Sana is pretty impressed. Arkady has no words for Sana-patented honesty and openness XD.

“Pals, I don’t know about you, but I am starving!” said Krejjh. “What do you say we grab some food from the kitchens, and then our new friend and I can discuss who exactly I need to have a little Captain-y chat with?”“Sounds good to me,” said Sana.“I’m in,” said Brian.They turned to Arkady, whose arms were still crossed and expression was still suspicious. “I am kind of hungry.”

Yay friendship and conspiracy-cracking and food! And uh, Hufflepuff Prefect and Captain Sana Tripathi may have gained a new tiny shadow. It’s fun to think about an AU where Arkady being the last to join the gang.

Also fun to think about - Krejjh looking at Brian-Violet and Sana-Arkady, and going: when do I get a underclassmen trailing me when is it my turn. (Somewhere, in the Slytherin dungeon, second-year RJ sneezes.)

Finally, I like the idea of Sana’s prefect partner being Park. What a pair, y’know? Golden girl Sana alongside Park who is…Very Tired. 

[wxldchxld]

✉ - push my muse back down when they try to get out of bed (perhaps involving illness, injury, or sleep deprivation)

In which Zen has sent me several potentially angsty memes in the last couple of months that I didn’t answer so I try to roll them all into one drabble.

Beck pinched the bridge of her nose and counted to ten. Someone had once told her that counting calmed the nerves; they’d apparently been bullshitting her. The break room couch was plush and comfortable, but she couldn’t relax into the cushions. Her entire body ached. Every inch of her skin felt like it was crawling with writhing, biting centipedes, and every beat of her heart triggered a ripple effect of throbs that shot through her extremities. She’d excused herself to the break room to try and calm the magic that was haphazardly tearing through her body, but ten minutes of deep breathing hadn’t helped.

Exhaustion called to her and pleaded with her worn body. How many days had it been since she slept? Not since the briefing, and that had been—five. Yes five days. A quiet and miserable whimper floated past her lips. Her senses were all off. Some of them were on fire, making the scent of coffee in the air smell burnt and stale, and some of them were woefully dull. More and more it was getting hard to zero in on sounds. The consistent hum of the air conditioners and the erratic plop-plop-plop of water dripping from a leaky faucet roared in her ears like jet engines, but she missed half the conversations that went on when she was sitting at her desk. The sound was there, but the voices were blaring and distorted.

Pictures flashed through her memories. Faces. There were screams, and heavy, rushed footsteps pounded between her ears. But they weren’t there. None of them. She felt tears well up behind her closed eyes and took a deep breath as she did her best to chase them away. She could handle this. There were no other options.

The lack of sleep might have killed anyone else, hell it’d likely kill her too if she kept it up for too much longer, but she’d been maintaining some modicum of sanity by siphoning energy off other creatures. Healthy people, trees, her familiars once or twice, anything alive and able to spare it. The rest of the team didn’t suspect her, as far as she could tell. When she excused herself to go recharge the focusing circle or enact a spell, she told them that she was going to sleep. And she’d always been elusive. They hadn’t noticed. Surely. She was hiding it well. She could do this. There wasn’t much of a choice.

The phone Ros had given her buzzed in her pocket—silently alerting her that her fifteen minute timer was complete. She had to get back to work. 

Beck removed the hand from her eyes but kept them closed as she dragged herself upward. Her back hadn’t made it three inches from the cushions before a gentle pressure forced her back. She could hear someone talking, and her eyes fluttered open to search the room.

Someone had turned the light off and lowered the blinds, washing the room in a dull slate grey. Her brow furrowed, and she slowly tilted her head to keep the world from spinning, until she saw the looming face of her girlfriend frowning down at her. Ros’ touch was gentle, but she felt as if it were crushing her. The skin beneath her work-appropriate top burned so fiercely she thought she might melt her girlfriend’s hand right off. She couldn’t breathe. 

“Up.” She managed, grabbing at Ros’ hand with her own and flinching when a spark of energy cracked through the air beside their fingers. Ros’ expression faltered ever so slightly around the eyes, uncertainty glinting in the depths of her pupils, but it faded back into her determined glare only a breath later.

“Damn it Beck.” The words crackled like static in her ears. This was all too much. Now she really was going to cry, and worse, she was going to cry in front of Ros. Her body trembled slightly as she begged it to behave. Again she tried to sit up, but Ros wasn’t having it. The agent easily overpowered her. “What did you do?”

She turned her head to the side and shut her eyes, and yet still she could practically see Ros checking the door to ensure they were alone. Careful fingers cupped her chin and pulled her face back in the direction of her girlfriend’s prying eyes.

“Talk to me.” Up until then her voice had been soft and worried, but this was a demand. When a few tears dribbled down her cheeks, she heard the agent sigh before they were brushed away. She spoke again, much softer. “Please look at me.”

Beck did her best to comply, even though her face turned red with embarrassment. Crying wasn’t something she was really ashamed of. Before she’d come to MI-5 she hadn’t thought anything of a few tears. But here strength meant so much. She wasn’t strong or fast like Lucas or Beth. She wasn’t smart like Tariq or Harry or even Ruth. She wasn’t nearly as daring or calculating as Ros or Vivian. She was small and not particularly difficult to frighten. There weren’t many ways she could show strength. Refraining from being a sobbing mess was the easiest of them.

“Let me—” She gasped for breath, and her stomach rolled precariously. “Let me go.”

“Will you stay put?” But Ros was already removing her hand. Because it hadn’t actually been a question. The older woman’s gaze pinned her down into the seat just as firmly as any physical restraint could have. Beck nodded her compliance anyway, but it only lasted a moment. 

She rolled to her side, frantically motioning to the waste bin by the sink, and Ros leaned back to snatch it just as she expelled what little food she’d managed this morning.

“That’s it.” She wasn’t sure if Ros had muttered it or if the sound of her own retching was muting out everything else. “You’re going to hospital.”

Still unable to talk, Beck reached out and snatched the leg of her girlfriend’s jeans. Her head was shaking back and forth stiffly. 

“This isn’t an argument. You’re going.” Ros said. There was a rare thread of anxiety to her tone, and Beck looked up and pleaded silently with her until she knelt back down by the couch. Ros took what hair that wasn’t kept up in Beck’s braids in her hands and pulled it away from the witch’s neck. A sigh left the young woman. 

She was so embarrassed of the ordeal that she was crying in earnest now, and she could tell Ros was uncomfortable. Sensitivity didn’t come easy to her girlfriend. With the tips of her perfectly groomed nails, Ros scratched against her back as softly as she could. Beck could hear her steady voice telling her to breathe, that it was ok, that if she’d just tell her what was wrong they’d find help. 

“It hurts.” The witch admitted, letting her head rest on the edge of the couch. “Everything hurts, Ros.”

There was a slight pause as the information settled between them. Beck could feel Ros trying to keep her temper in check, trying to run a thousand scenarios through her head to see where this could have happened or who had done it.

 “What happened?” To her credit, she was trying to sound gentle.

“It’s just the spell.” The witch said. She found the strength to roll over onto her back and capitalized on it. She didn’t even have the energy to lie, and there was no use trying to save face when she was still hiccuping from the crying fit and the taste of bile still stung on her lips. 

“What spell?” And there was the anger, creeping back in like a snake slithering through the brush. 

“I needed more magic.” She confessed, looking at the ceiling instead of Ros. “I need it to find them, but I need it to conceal myself, and I need it for the protection charms. I needed more.”

And now she had more. She’d had more for far too long, and between it and the lack of sleep it was starting to eat her alive.

“We have to find them. We have to. Or they’re gonna find us.” 

Beck looked over in time to see Ros’ jaw clench. 

“How do you undo all of this?”

The witch shook her head rapidly, trying to force her tired limbs to obey her. She pressed upward, her arms shaking, until she was nearly upright, but Ros’ grip on her arm was uncompromising. 

“Absolutely not.” She said sternly.

“I just need to get up.” Beck was doing her best to defend herself, but she was starting to panic. Ros couldn’t physically force her to release the spell, but if Ros kept her here on this couch for too much longer she’d eventually doze off and it would shatter. Her head shook. The hair on the back of her neck clung to the skin and stung like bees. “I just need to get back out there.”

“No.” Ros replied in a simple, irrefutable tone. “Lay down, Beck.”

Feeling trapped and defeated she fell back into the plush cushions and felt the tears threaten to spill again.

“Since when are you so---dedicated?” It sounded more like Ros was talking to herself at first, so Beck didn’t bother to answer. “You aren’t exactly the self sacrificing type, Beck.”

She was trying to be careful, to her credit, trying to tread lightly to keep from triggering the onslaught of tears that threatened to break free of her girlfriend’s eyes once more. 

“I have to find them.” She said, trying her best to communicate with Ros effectively. “I have to-”

“Find who?”

The witch shook her head and kept her eyes on the ceiling tiles. Afraid she’d lose her tentative grasp on control if she went into detail. In a trembling voice she said, “The briefing.” 

“Beck.” Ros’ said sharply, drawing her girlfriend’s gaze, and now there was less pity in her eyes. Now the agent’s gaze bore straight into her soul, daring her to squirm away or lie. “Do you know them?”

The tears began to fall faster and faster with each breath, and all she could manage was a shaky nod. 

“Ho-” Ros stopped abruptly, and Beck looked at her through bleary eyes. There were questions written plainly all over Ros’ face, but she’d apparently deemed this wasn’t the time. Her hand gently came to rest on the witch’s knee and squeezed softly. Even that hurt. “We’re going to find them Beck. Right now, you’re going to rest.”

“I can’t.” She cried, her voice raising to the surprise of both of them. “You don’t know them. You don’t know what they can do.”

The file had the facts right, but they hadn’t been there. They hadn’t seen it. Oh god Ros was going to hate her when she found out. This was all her fault. She’d stayed too long and now Fenris was sending men after her. He knew. That was the only explanation for them being in London. 

Before her tears could descend into hyperventilation and panic, she felt Ros’ hands cupping her chin. 

“Look at me. Beck---listen to me, damn it.” The witch managed to calm herself enough to meet the razor sharp eyes of her girlfriend. “They don’t know what we can do---what I’ll do if they so much as look at anyone on my team.”

The solemn promise was enough to quiet her again, but even as the tears stopped she couldn’t help but think of how much she’d miss Ros. Her stern expressions that melted away from prying eyes, her long, lean form, her lethal hands that touched her with nothing but tenderness. 

“Do you hear me?” Beck nodded her response. “Good. Then you’re going to lay here and get some sleep?”

Beck let her eyes shut again and sighed. There would be no arguing with Ros. She could already feel the ebbing magic as sleep eagerly reached out for her tired mind. Ros’ hands left her, and Beck heard her footsteps trail away. Moments later the returned, and she opened her eyes to see Ros with Vivian in tow. Ros pushed a laptop into Vivian’s hands and let a stack of files drop onto the table.

“Whatever you’re doing. You’re doing it here. Quietly.” Ros said curtly. The agent turned to leave, but she spared Beck one last concerned glance when her back was to Vivian. As if to prove her compliance, Beck shut her eyes, and she heard Ros huff in either amusement or frustration. Her footsteps faded until she reached the door, where she paused again. “Oh, and Vivian? If she tries to get up---we’ve got enough in the budget for you to do something creative with the office tape.”