#I know there's no official thing that saids he's a good poker player

[itsamenickname]

So recently I've been seeing a lot of posts that mention Luigi being an amazing poker player (which makes sense because I remember and have played all those Luigi poker mini-games on the DS as a kid), but one idea I don't think anyone has touched on yet (at least not from what I've seen) is the cute idea of Luigi teaching Bowser how to play poker and how to keep a straight face whenever things go or don't go in the Koopa King's favor.

[unknowconcreteflower-art-blog-me]

Why Husker will be the driving force to save Angel Dust; Instagram deep-dive story! Angelhusk explained.

Okay full disclosure Hazbin Hotel is an adult cartoon has dark touchy subject matter so please tread carefully. This goes into shipper territory and I don’t want to get attack in my inbox about this or attacking each other too much shipping wars plus I’m a multi-shipper... But for the sake of this post it’s going to be all fuel Angelhusk (or Huskerdust), yes okay great thank you. This is a continuation of my previous post which was just a prequel to this one. I ended the post saying Husker will be the one to reach out to Angel and helping him. 

First I’ll be breaking down Husker’s first appearance and how his character is. When Alastor first summons him, he’s very pissed off when he’s pulled from the poker game. And he’s very quick show his anger, without fear despite Alastor being “one of the most powerful demons in Hell”, and does not care. Though this is a very short interaction we know that Husker does not put up with BS, he’s a drinker, and a poker player. How is this important to Angel Dust? Well Angel Dust, often hypes himself up but also tears himself down in the process, emphasizing that during the limo ride after being scolded by Vaggie that “his body is flawless, everybody wants a piece”... and thinks that’s all anybody wants from him. This is Angel’s way of protecting himself; he flirts with them first before they can hurt him, it’s just hidden with his confidence.

In reality he thinks everyone looks down on him, which is why he doesn’t accept help or confine in Charlie (like when he flipped her off )he isn’t taking a pity party. Angel hides his pain with vibrato and at the same time is too prideful to ask for help... he won’t admit when he’s in trouble. I explained this a little more in detail in my previous post why he thinks Charlie and Vaggie look down on him. But with Husker he in the same boat; using his addictions (gambling & drinking) to cope with his problems. Angel will be more incline to gravitate towards Husker and telling him his problems. I say this because it’s the same reason why Angel confines in Cherri, and is close with her. And unlike Charlie who can be naive at time ( don’t get me wrong I still love her), Husker will know when he’s over stepping his boundaries, and when to helping him since he’s going through something similar.

(Charlie wanting to help Angel but doesn’t know how...)

So all of you maybe wondering, how is Husker gonna help Angel dust then if he hides his problems like that. Vivziepop made Husker a poker-player for a reason, he knows how to tell if someone’s bluffing. And it’s already been established that Angel has a terrible poker face... so Angel can’t lie to Husker. This is why he was angry at Angel’s flirting when they first meet because he already sees through his facade, (plus he’s shy about it). He knows that he doesn’t really meant and he’s hiding something. His sense and observation skills are very necessary cause he can spot when Angel’s actually in trouble.

links to official instagrams below to follow the narrative: 

Angel’s instagram/Husker’s instagram/Nifty’s instagram/Sir Pentious’ instagram

This post starts the saga where Angel is waiting to be picked up at the studio. Saying “Waiting at the studio to...Be picked up for some fucking...Food.”, Val is quick comment on this saying “Forgot to pick you,lol.” and takes the chance to make him like an after thought and after Angel asks to be picked up again Val answer back “yeah but we are filming, I already ate.” just to rub it in. But that’s where Huskers intervenes and get Angel something to eat ,  and there’s a key detail here that it’s only Husker that comes to his aid. Now most of the main cast has an Instagram so you’d think they’d help him but they don’t... They all probably think he’s just being cute and sassy totally unaware of the Angel’s situation with Valentino, but we the audience know... (I’ll bring this point back later)

This one post is enough for Husker to be able see that Angel was really in trouble, which is why he goes out of his way to get him something to eat. And I would also like to point out after this post Husker starts following Angel’s instagram liking all his instagram posts. There’s more to this... keep in mind he starts following Angel after his posts about being tired and hungry. He’s not following him just because he has a “little crush” on Angel... he’s doing this because he wants to make sure Angel’s doing okay. He cares about Angel Dust well being and follows him to make sure doesn’t go hungry again. But during this time Angel isn’t aware of this... that Husker doing this out of worrying for Angel. I say this because right after Angel gets Husker tickets to his strip show, as “thank you” for the food. Showing that he trusts Husker but not entirely...

At this point Angel I don’t believe that he sees Husker’s actions as a gustier of genuine kindness towards him. No, he sees Husker as someone who just wants his body and this is just his way of getting towards that goal. Offering his services (or being flirty) is Angel way of not getting attach to someone (like I’ve said before): think of it as “ripping the band-aid quick off before it hurts more...”  it’s so he doesn’t get hurt again like with Valentino. I believe Val also managed manipulated Angel by doing nice things for him at first, like saying nice words or buying him nice gifts as means to just use him for his body (this is a real thing pimps do). And Angel thinks Husk is no different from the other guys who used him, that what everybody wants from him... he might as well give him what he wants. 

Night of the show rolls around and Husker misses it, kitty got too drunk... which we know takes place during the music video of Addict. In which we get another post about backs my statement the cast doesn’t know about Angel’s abuse. Nifty’s posts a pic, of Angel Dust looking sad after his show... saying “Saw Angel earlier, i hope he doesn’t leave the butts there 😅” Nifty wouldn’t have posted this if she knew what was going on. But Husker knows, that Angel’s depressed and feels bad about missing the show commenting “Oh fuck is that what I missed. Aw shit.” Feeling very guilty about missing Angels, usually Husk tends to hide his feelings but in this moment is very honest. Meaning he really did want to go to the show, not only that but realizes that Angel is actually upset. And he didn’t have to post this comment on Angel’s instagram but he had to he wanted to show that he was remorseful for not coming showing he is attracted to Angel Dust. 

This picks up to with a post with Husker saying “Ugh... Since I missed the show, @angie_fluffy_bootz is sayin I owe him one and is making me watch his fuckin pig... I ain’t a fuckin babysitter!” in which babysits Fat Nuggets, which means he went out of his way to say “ what can I do to make it up to you”, and the conversation after it is a major turning point in the relationship for them. In the comment section Husker complains that Fat Nuggets ate all the food at the bar and says he wants to be payed back. Angel’s offer to pay him pay with a “private show”, in the only way thing he thinks Husker wants (I mean that all anybody ever wants from him). He does this with his usually flirty response, but it’s very different (this is a cut version of the convo.):

Angel: “tell ya what I’ll pay ya back with another private show”

Husker: “...I’m not doing that.

Angel: that or nothing babe. I think it’s a good deal.

Husker:“Jesus fucking Christ...” 

Angel: Ugh. Fine I’ll quit it. Only if you join me for shakes.

Husker: Yeah okay I think I can do that. 

This is major turning point in their relationship; this conversation is very important. Like I said before this is just his way of ripping the band-aid but there’s a reason why he’s really pushing it this time. It’s because Angel knows that he’s starting to catching feelings for Husker. And he’s not sure if Husker wants his body or if really means it. And the matter of the situation is Husker’s feeling the same way. When Husker says “Jesus fucking Christ...” it’s his way of saying “For the last time I don’t want your body, I’m not playing this game”... Here’s the thing Husker believes he’s proven enough that he doesn’t see Angel as a sex object, he’s more tried of the facade than he is annoyed. He doesn’t want Angel Dust to be a “fuck buddy” to him...

And this is a major turning point in their relationship, Angel finally understands that Husker just wants to be there for him. This is why he offers to go out with shakes with him, and of course Husker denies it and says “it’s not a date...”, but we know Husker is happy, because he’s willing accept this as being payed back for the food fat nuggets are, to him this was enough. Needless to say to say it was very cute and I loved it. Not only that but Husker becomes more active on Instagram and low-key tries to flirt back to Angel in his own grumpy cat way. 

Try and tell me they aren’t flirting with each other!

A week after their date Angel Dust does a instagram post showing off his new outfit he got and Husker is quick to ask “why so many zippers”, he’s still too nervous to flirt directly Angel Dust responses with “More to pull down, respond...” Huskers clueless and responses with a “eh” still likes it anyway (the feelings are mutual now). And within the same week Husker posts his own selfie“ Wanted to wear a tie for once. 🥃”, posting one because of Angel. And this isn’t for nothing the pics clearly mirror each other (no pun intended). Just-wanted-to-wear-a-tie-for-once-my-foot ..he clearly did this to impress Angel with him asking “If he needs help with that tie...”, with Husker still being oblivious with the sexual reference but kitty’s still trying. 

This to me highlights why Angel is good for Husker (and vice-versa)... During his first appearance he comments “I lost the ability to love years ago...” and drinks down his booze. Which alludes to why he drinks because he feels lonely. Angel makes him active thus eliminating his reason to drink, as we can see through Husk trying things he hasn’t done before like wearing nice clothes. Now he didn’t have to but Husker pushed himself to be better. As for Angel it gives him a genuine romantic relationship that is centered by an emotional connection and not physically. Husker prioritizes Angels feelings and well-being first.

And for those of you that are confused with Huskers grumpy tendencies. In an interview Viviziepop has said about him is that he is a tsundere. Now a tsundere, it is a character the initially appearing as cold and hostile only to hide their true feelings. This is a troupe used  many times in animes (but if you are not familiar with the term or need an example of one Helga from Hey Arnold is a prime example of one).  His actions disregard his attitude towards Angel... Most of his grumpy responses to Angel are to hide his feelings for him and never used to cut down or degrade Angel Dust (like Val does). I will even argue that Husker is the total opposite of Valentino; Val uses flashiness and with sweet words to hide his heinous and vile intentions. While Husker seems hotheaded and temperamental initially his actions show he’s actually a very kind and caring individual and Angel defiantly sees that...

HUSKER MADE THE WALL!

Angel is special to Husker and he feels the same way... Now and is upper there with Fat Nuggets and Cherri Bomb. And of course Husker is embarrassed, realizing his pics there too saying “what the fuck!” but we know he’s happy. At this post we can assume that Husker is just as important to him as Cherri & Fat Nuggets is to him... and vice-versa. Which is why I believe that Husker will be the one Angel reaches out to first for help within the Hazbin Hotel. And I know some of you may not be convinced, that it’s just platonic or think that Husker just sees him as a friend, but as we know Husker is not a man of words... but a man of action! 

There is a key detail in this story that I’ve been keeping under-warps up until now, (and the reason why it took me so long to because once I found it piece of info; I had to change my original plans for this post). 

Remember how I said that the rest of the cast doesn’t know what’s going on with Val... and that Husker’s observation skills were going to be integral in helping save Angel. Well around the same time as the PJ pic... on Sir Pentious’ instagram he posts a pic of himself trying to make his minions look like Valentino and Vox: I wasn’t even trying to find this but low and behold guess who pops up in the comment section...

Now what does this post say to you. (Husker also liked the post too)

Now repeat after me...“You don’t hear shit about people unless you go looking for it.” ... HUSKER KNOWS!  My theory is that he’s been suspecting that there was something up with Val, ever since the pick-up post, so he’s been keep tabs on instagram Angel to make sure he was safe. And as time went on Angel became more precious to him and became more worried about him. And Husker not wanting to overstep his bounds by asking Angel directly, (because it’s none of his business but still super worried) so he goes around digging info on Valentino. SO then he probably knows that he abuses his workers.  

(Or Angel told him whats happening... I’m leaning towards that Husker did his own digging because narratively it would be too soon and we wouldn’t have a story to tell and would have told Charlie and the rest of the crew too already... Either way..)

Val sent him this, scumbag! And it only takes Husker seconds to defend him and makes sure Angel knows he’s not fat. (most recent post)

Husker has knows, he’s actively been looking into Valentino and the shit he’s done, because he wants to protect Angel Dust! And it’s evident now, he has been defending him on Instagram as well, now being in the know, Husker defending his boy! He is not afraid of Valentino and is not putting up with his BS for putting down Angel anymore... our boy Husker is watching you rat-man.

He maybe the only one who knows that Valentino is abusing Angel (or catching on to it). Which will lead Angel coming clean about how Valentino raped him... And at this point Angel trusts Husker so much that he maybe willing to listen to him when he says “Hey you need to tell someone” or “you need help” and Husker already knows Angel well enough to know how to help him without having Angel push him away. 

AND THAT is why I believe he will be the major driving force in saving Angel from the RAT-MAN (Val)... And we know Husker isn’t afraid of overlords; he’s gonna protect his boy. He is proven time and time again that he loves and cares for Angel Dust so much... and oh I’m gushing now.

AND LOOK HOW CUTE THEY ARE! I just want them to be happy, I want the best for our bois!

Thank you and I hope you all enjoyed the post (and please no shipping war in the comment section I don’t condone it whether you support it or not! Not fighting in the fandom)

[dawnmon]

Card Symbolism: Late August’s “Avarice”

(Wrote this Mid June the moment Avarice dropped, published half a year later, oh god procrastination)

So, since I’m energized on sweets and sprite, let’s do Card Symbolism while I remember very little about Poker, because with Avarice (link embedded, go watch!!), comes a new wave of card analysis!

I’ll go into official Avarice symbolism here (besides the end), as it sparked this behemoth. I ended up typing WAY more than I thought; if you know my C!Tommy and Chess post, I imagined that, but ended up with this-

So, Enjoy!

Avarice Symbolism Overview

Technoblade is King of Spades

Dream is Ace of Spades

Wilbur is Jack of Diamonds

Tommy is Jack of Hearts

Sam, Foolish, Purpled, Fundy, and Charlie are Q’s Nevadas Casino Chips

George has a chip but then drops it

Red is used as a common motif through all of Late August’s animations, including this one

I was going to go scene by scene and recap how everything plays out, but that A) has already been done, and B) would take a bit, so I’ll just go over Techno’s section for a bit:

-Quackity has three cards in his hands

-He plays down the Ace of Spades, Dream

-On top, King of Spades, Technoblade

-On top of that, a red poker chip, Sam

Analysis, Aka The Fun Bit

-Technoblade, King of Spades-

King of Spades is characterized by Wisdom, Labor, Authority, Mastery, and Acceptance, as well as The Highest Initiate, Self Distrust, and immovability.

How do these traits apply to Techno?

Wisdom, street smarts and survivability knowledge, knowledge of how the world works, and forming your own opinions on how things should be. Authority, Mastery, Labor; he is a strong fighter, who hones his talents in combat, often said to be the greatest Minecraft player ever, a master of his craft. He is immovable, almost considered untouchable, the top of the pecking order, the Highest Initiate. Self Distrust, in the voices that demand he kill and scream for blood for their deity (and also yell E!)

-Dream, Ace of Spades-

Ace of Spades is characterized by Death, Self, Covetousness, Negative Thinking Habits, War, and investments/Wealth.

How this applies to Dream;

Death, the primary symbol this card holds, is apparent in his necromancy and fascination with immortality, for himself and Tommy. His God Complex and need to cheat death is entirely self-motivated; he has cut all desires and attachments pertaining to other people away (besides the one attachment he possesses, Tommy). He wants to take from others, be it land, will, or lives, and his loyalties are bought, as personal and emotional investment is something he did away with long ago.

Notably, it is also the symbol of the standard deck as a whole. It is the top card on a deck of up-facing cards, only below the two Jokers. (I opened a fresh pack of cards to obtain this information, because new cards are satisfying, and because online was weirdly formatted). (This info will be brought up later)

-Wilbur, Jack of Diamonds-

Jack of Diamonds is characterized by The Messenger, The Merchant, persuasion, a young man who comes and goes and takes more than is allocated. An intelligent yet untrustworthy man. They win their crown through good values, though are controversial for being both spiritual and physical, and are affiliated with good fortune if they can grasp opportunity. They may be cunning, but then noble, depending on spiritual faiths/strength of soul, and represent freedom and unpredictability.

Any other card for Wilbur Soot would be a crime punishable by my most creative inconvenient punishments.

He preached a world in which freedom, liberty, and pursuit of victory were ideal, and he won his throne through these ideals, but when challenged by a world that rejects them, he is back to cunning unpredictability. He can make oceans rise and empires fall, he can build a nation and watch it end, and he is intelligent, but only trust him when he is at his strongest. He swept through the server, changed it forever, and left the stage, taking so much with him. Honestly, I would talk about this more, if I knew Wilbur in depth, but I do not, and thus, will leave that to people that actually have analysed him at length.

-Tommy, Jack of Hearts-

Jack of Hearts is characterized by an “honest young man in love”, generosity, intimacy, winning his crown through sacrifice for love, innocence, impulsiveness, charisma, fame, stubbornness, leadership, support, and to top it off, blonde.

The main trait of Jack of Hearts seems to be love, which is Tommy at his core. If this card had more in-depth descriptions à la Wilbur, I would go very in-depth, but this card still fits to a T with these bases.

Tommy is honest to a fault with his emotions, and his love for others - brotherly, mentorly, etc. - is one of his main characteristics. He won his country’s independence through sacrifices: his lives, his discs, his loyalty. This card as it relates to Tommy is interesting to dissect and go deeper into, as some traits like innocence are true at times, not true at others, and subverted again and again. During the L’manberg era, he can be seen as innocent; it’s his first war, he’s going in alongside his friends and Wilbur in the revolution starry-eyed and proud, but then reality sets in soon after, and innocence isn’t a word that often applies. Though, in the stream dubbed by fans as The Custody Battle, he seemingly displays this innocence, the wonder and awe of Las Nevadas leaving him excited, however, this could be interpreted two ways: he is truly enamored with the splendor, or he is putting on this front of childlike wonder in order to either stop or distract from Quackity and Wilbur’s various arguments and debates, over him and their own sides. Overall, the card is second only to Wilbur’s in terms of fitting perfectly, the bases are all absolutely perfect.

-Las Nevadas-

That’s all four shown characters, but a few overall points plus my own speculation and attributions in regards to the Las Nevadas cast (+George):

The five represented by poker chips are, as said above, Sam, Foolish, Purpled, Fundy, and Slime. A comment (by NotToLateToChange, on Avarice) mentioned that chips were given to those that Quackity can manipulate, and cards to those he cannot. George is notably shown dropping one of these chips, though I am not too well versed in Quackity or George lore, so I’m not 100% sure of their relationship, tbch. The five Las Nevadas citizens are all, to varying degrees, being manipulated, emotionally or otherwise, to varying degrees on Quackity’s end. With Sam, he exploits his guilt, Foolish’s powerlessness, Purpled’s legacy, Fundy’s desire for affection and belonging, and Slime’s naivete on human customs (though to what extent he is actually manipulating Slime and to what extent he is attached is unknown).

I’ve talked of the cards and the chips, but not, y’know, Quackity himself. So, Quackity:

Avarice is defined as “extreme greed for wealth or material gain”. That seems to fit Q; literal casino nation, built around material gain and power, though whether or not it does (or is even a bad thing) is for another day, and another in-depth dive that I likely will leave to other lovely analysts (though I will say: desire for power is not inherently Evil). But this, however, is about cards- So!

Quackity is: a card himself, a player, or the dealer.

Him being a card that he himself can put into play at certain times is in line with his whole manipulation strategy: he puts himself on the table to make his opponent believe he is vulnerable and trusting, that they have a choice. In this way, he is also the player: able to bet chips, and whose hands those chips fall into are dictated by the cards. Quackity being a Player with his own Card is also shown in Avarice, as he has a hand of three cards while only playing down two, Dream and Techno (and a chip), and keeping the third in his hand.

If he is the Dealer, he has much more direct control over which chips specifically to distribute, since unlike in actual Poker, each chip to him has a similar, yet varying value. The cards, however, remain always out of order: they are out of your control, no matter how many times you shuffle them.

He is either on the same playing field yet uniquely elevated, as a player who can use his own card status to his benefit in unique ways; or he is the orchestrator with levels of control and chaos, the Dealer that fixes the games and the benefactor from his grand operation.

This begs the question: If he isn’t shown to be a card in Avarice, which card is Quackity, assuming he is one?

Find out in Part 2 of-

Nah, I wouldn’t do that to you.

Quackity is a two of diamonds.

-Quackity, Two of Diamonds-

Two of diamonds is characterized by royal entertainment, facades, things that seem happier than they appear, disapproval of a union, fear of not having power, fixation on money and prestige, confidence, self-destruction, status, success, and ambition.

Quackity is and always has been full of ambition. What his ambition is motivated by has somewhat changed, but it is a constant. He always has strived for power and success, for himself and for the safety of those he cares about. Las Nevadas is wealth and power, it is glamorous and it is grand, but it is also foundationally hollow. It is not like L’manberg, where every build was a personal project of necessity or attachment, built on ideals of freedom; it was founded on the basis of greatness, of legacy, of making something that will outlive you, something with worth and strength and power and unity. Two of diamonds is of broken unions, of those who are ignored by Queens in favor of Jacks and forced to dance for Kings. Of estranged fiancés, but of security. Wealth and strength without intimacy or flesh. He is grasping onto the only thing that can protect you in the world of the Dream SMP: power.

He will need power to save what he holds close to him. (and where that got him in the end? well. we’ve seen.)

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So uuuuuuuuuuh. a bit late for this!!!

I intended to post this like, the day after Avarice. Suffice to say! That’s not today-

But I hope you all enjoyed! I don’t post analysis often (read: once every blue moon) so let’s hope this gains Traction? I’m looking forward to replies!

Ah, have a bonus:

-Drista and XD, Jokers-

When I referenced the order of the deck in Dream’s section? That’s relevant now! They are the only two cards above the Ace of Spades, which of course represents the two true gods above the God Complex namesake of the SMP.

Jokers are covered above all the suits, and fit the two of Order and Chaos almost perfectly. XD is still quite chaotic despite being supposedly a god of Order, as seen in the George’s dream stream, and Drista “Lord of Chaos” speaks for herself. Their interference in mortal affairs also grants them a sort of changeling status, that deities like the Blood God or Kristen don’t have. They gamble and grant mortals boons, at prices deemed worthy or not. Flight, bedrock, shulkers; the forbidden from beyond and below.

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I was Gonna two-part this, but cartomancy is… not well defined, so it’s mostly up to personal interpretations on suites and values, which a pt2 wouldn’t be able to sustain, i feel.

Regardless, Avarice slaps, and subscribe to Late August!

[where-dreamers-go]

“Game On” Riley Poole x Reader

(A/N: SURPRISE! A prequel to the Riley Poole x Reader Series! It’s a surprise for me too. Welcome to Ben Gates’ circle of friends prior to going to the Arctic Circle to find The Charlotte. This can be read without having read the series that goes through the movie National Treasure. Written for @girl-next-door-writes Bingo challenge! Bingo Card: Mutual Pining Warnings: Poker game. Word Count: 2,472 words)

Strategy. Confidence. Restraint. Three words perfectly fit the poker game on Ben’s dining table. Ever since your best friend had met Ian Howe, a man who believed in the Templar treasure and had pockets of money, the group of you had played poker on weekends. Not every weekend of course. There were only so many rounds of bets you were willing to have. Even if this time you brought cookies for a snack.

Although in truth, you had been playing more for a few months and sitting through more games than otherwise willing. Why? An incredibly intelligent, funny, and handsome man who was officially a part of Ben’s circle of friends.

Riley Poole. Thank the Universe that you helped Ben with his computer, you thought as you stole a glance to your right. Didn’t think I’d be having this much fun.

Sitting in your best friends’ apartment was a greater comfort than Ian’s home. Sure, you’d known the man for more than a year, but Ben had been your friend since you were in school. Around a decade of friendship meant you knew him. You knew him well.

“Ben,” you said calmly.

“Hmm?”

“You’re bluffing again.”

Ben’s eyebrows raised a fraction before speaking. “I fold.”

In only a moment, Ian chuckled.

“You might not be the best player,” Ian told you. “But you can read Ben like a book.” His chuckling doubled as Ben made a face.

“Maybe we should return (Y/N)’s library card.” Ben suggested with a smirk.

You scrunched up your face in disapproval.

“Yeah, but they can still buy books and stay in a library to read them.” Riley piped in.

You sent Riley a smile and pushed a box of crackers closer to him.

“Alright,” Ian spoke up. “Can either of you beat a Four of a Kind? Riley?”

Biting into a cracker, Riley shook his head and laid his cards down. “I fold.”

“(Y/N)?”

“No,” you grumbled. “I fold.” Reluctantly, you set your cards down.

He’s gonna start prancing his way out by the time we’re done.

Shoulders back and a smug grin on his face, Ian revealed his cards. A three, a nine, a queen, and a king.

“What?” Riley exclaimed.

You dropped your forehead to the table.

Not again.

“They’re not even the same suit. You lied.”

“I win again.” Ian stated as the poker chips could be heard being pulled to his side of the table.

“Next time we’re playing Mario Party,” you groaned as you picked your head up off of the table.

“I am not playing that.”

“Afraid you’ll lose?” You countered.

“No. I simply don’t want to play.”

You made a short sound of acknowledgement in your throat.

“You have a Nintendo 64?” Riley asked as everyone tossed their cards to the middle so that Ben could take his turn to shuffle and deal.

“Yeah.”

“I didn’t know you had one. Why didn’t you say anything?”

“You never asked.”

“How was I suppose to know to ask if you had one?”

“Conversation?”

“Save the bickering for the game, shall we?” Ian interrupted without glancing up.

You gave the man a pointed look.

It was times like those that you weren’t entirely sure if he was playing along or actually annoyed. There were times when you honestly could not tell.

Worse case scenario, he’s always annoyed with me and Riley talking. He’s usually not this way when it’s just me and Ben.

Having finished shuffling the deck, Ben dealt the cards out to each of you.

“As a head’s up, this is my last game.” You said after checking the time.

“You’re not working overtime again, are you?” Ben asked.

“No.”

“(Y/N)…”

“I have to double check an e-mail and double check a few things. Respond to a few more e-mails. Stuff.”

“That’s working.” Riley said.

“I know. I know.”

“At least you’re making sure everything is done properly. Some times that’s hard to find in some people.” Ian added.

“Thank you.” You reached for a cookie and—

Crunch

You peered over to your right and saw Riley’s eyebrows knitted together as he ate another cracker. His eyes were trained just above his cards.

That was a little louder than normal, you thought as you ate the cookie. Mentally shrugging, you checked out your cards. Oh, okay. Not bad so far. Hmm.

“Any chance next time we could play Twenty-One?” You asked.

“Blackjack?” Riley nabbed a cookie.

“Yeah. Though if Ben says ‘no’ he indirectly admits his many defeats.”

“Hey. That’s a game of chance.” Ben pointed a finger at you.

“And strategy.” You added.

“It is older than Poker.” Ian said as he waited for Ben to add more cards to the table.

Ben eyed his own cards. “You know,” he started. “Playing cards were actually invented before 1000AD by the Chinese. The cards didn’t have numbers…”

Turning your head to the right, you caught Riley’s eyes. You gave each other knowing looks as Ben continued giving facts. That could mean two things: Ben was confident or he had a pretty good hand of cards. If Ian had picked up on that through the many games, neither you nor Riley knew. However, you were willing to play more logically to win.

Game on, Ben.

Riley slid the box of crackers closer to you. The box was moved just enough that when you leaned back, Riley subtly tilted his cards.

You had a better cards. You took two crackers and gave one to Riley. He returned his sights back to the center of the table with a nod.

Now to figure out Ian and Ben. Can’t always let one of them win.

“Riley.” Ben said.

“Hm? What?”

“Your turn.”

“Oh, right.”

You reached for more crackers to munch on as the four of you continued playing. Looking up for only a second, you saw Ben smiling and his smile only widened when he caught your eye. You raised an eyebrow in question. He glanced over to Riley then back at you. Acting on immediate reaction, you tossed a cracker at your best friend’s chest. Unfortunately he didn’t drop any of his cards so that you could see them.

Stop it, you thought. Too bad we don’t have telepathy. Then again, that could backfire with comments, but we could team up during poker. Also would save money on the phone bill. Hmph.

With more cards in your hands, your chances of winning were dwindling. It was not a big deal. But you really wanted to win.

Darn it.

“(Y/N), I hope you’re better at bluffing than giving instructions over e-mail.” Riley said, catching you off guard.

“Wha—Hey.” You pulled your cards closer to yourself. “It’s not my fault they don’t know what the icons mean.”

“You should have explained that first.”

“I’m not Internet one oh one.”

Ian rolled his eyes. “Can we get back to the game?”

Hiding your smile as you ducked your head, you muttered, “We already went over this.”

“Bluff.” Riley murmured.

Ben cleared his throat and said, “Your turn, Riley.”

That e-mail was likely not going to be easily forgotten. Then again, it did remind you that a specific e-mail, from the same co-worker, had finally been sent to you earlier in the day.

Could have had it done last week.

A couple of days ago, you had given Riley a personal museum tour and treated him to lunch in exchange for helping you type up an e-mail explaining how to send a document as an attachment to a co-worker. It wasn’t that you didn’t know how to send the e-mail. It was that you didn’t know how to explain it for the third time. Or rather how to explain it in a way that the co-worker would understand the instructions given.

The game went on for another ten minutes until Ian and Riley were at a showdown. Ben and yourself had folded, knowing you were both beaten.

“Alright, show your hand.” Ian said confidently.

Both men turned their cards face up. A Three of a Kind versus a Flush. Riley won the game.

“Aaaay!” You patted Riley’s arm repeatedly for more than a moment.

Riley shuffled a bit in his seat before sitting a little taller.

“Good game.” Ian pushed his cards away.

“Good job, Riley.” Ben congratulated his friend.

Pulling the chips to his side, Riley grinned. Victory was sweet at times.

“Hey, sorry to cut this short, but I have to get going.” You stood from your seat and grabbed your plastic container of cookies to seal them.

Can snack on the cookies later, you thought as you smoothly placed one in front of Riley. He won. Prize given.

You pushed in your chair.

“I-uh better go too,” Riley said. “I don’t know how traffic is going to be. It’s dark.”

“Okay, Riley,” Ben replied. “Don’t forget your jacket.”

“Thanks.”

You walked passed Ian, saying, “Any chance you can teach Ben to bluff?”

“Not something you can teach.” Ian answered as he gathered up the cards.

“I don’t need to bluff to win.” Ben added in as he lead you and Riley to the door. Always the nice host.

“Bye Ian,” you waved.

“I’ll see you two later.” Riley said.

“Drive safely.” Ben patted his friend on the shoulder.

“Don’t stay up too late, Ben,” you teased as you walked out the door.

“Bye, (Y/N).” He laughed. Behind you, Ben had shut the door as Riley followed you out.

Two steps away from the door and Riley walked up beside you.

“I can’t believe how many times Ian bluffed.” Riley said. “He must have taken almost half of the chips.”

“I’d say I’m surprised, but I’m not.”

He nodded. Many thoughts running through his head no doubt.

“You didn’t do so bad today,” you added.

“I could have been better. I just can’t tell when Ian’s lying or confident or confident in his lying.”

“There’s little difference.” You murmured as you two reached your apartment’s door. Stopping for a moment, you considered your next words.

Eh. Do it.

“Remember that e-mail you helped me with?”

“Yeah.”

“Would you like to see what they e-mailed me back?”

“How bad is it?” His shoulders slumped.

“What makes you think it’s bad?”

“Because you’re asking if I want to see it and you’re already laughing.”

Oh, I guess I am. You thought as your grin widened.

“You’re right. It’s pretty bad. In a really weird way.”

“Great,” he said sarcastically. A small smile edged its way onto his face. “Let me see it.”

Turning, you quickly grabbed your key and unlocked the front door. Once you pushed it open, you let Riley inside.

“Just give me a second to grab my computer.” You said.

Front door shut and cookies placed on a flat surface, you fast-walked to another room to grab your laptop.

It was not the first time Riley had been in your apartment. It was not even the only time he had been in your home without Ben present. As it turned out, you had made friends with Riley almost as fast as Ben did. There was something that just clicked. Similar interests, shared knowledge, and good old companionship that was refreshing.

Walking out of your room, you spotted Riley sitting on your couch with his glasses on. Your laptop was already up and loading your e-mails.

“Ready?” You asked.

“They didn’t put any attachments, did they?” Riley watched as you placed the computer on the coffee table.

“You’ll have to see.” You sat beside him.

A couple of clicks and you had opened the message from your inbox.

“Hey. There’s actual attachments,” Riley observed as he scrolled to the bottom of the e-mail. “Uh. Um. Were they only suppose to send you the documents?”

“Yeah.” You nodded and bit back a grin. “Click on that one.”

He clicked on the one that had caught his eye.

A large picture of a large cat lounging on an armchair filled up a part of the screen.

“Holy Lord.” Riley looked to you. “Please tell me not all of these are cats.”

“Just two cats.”

Riley groaned.

“I got the other ones they needed to send. Thankfully. I’ve been needing these possible layouts for the next exhibition for a week now.”

“We’re going to have to teach them how to remove an attachment before sending an e-mail now.”

It was your time to groan.

“You don’t want them sending Lord knows what else next time, do you?”

“No.” You sighed. “But…that means I have to mention the cats.”

The moment Riley made eye contact with you, you both started bursted out laughing.

Out of all things to send you, they sent you pictures of cats. Perhaps you should be thankful it was not anything else. Who knew at that point? The question at hand was how to word your next e-mail? It was suppose to be a follow-up message about which layout of the museum space was better not another how-to.

“I’m getting paid to say, ‘delete your cat photos…from the e-mail’.” You wheezed. Trying to breath between laughing and speaking was challenging.

“Maybe….maybe send two e-mails?” Riley’s grin was still present. “One for work and one for clicking the small ‘x’.”

“Yeah, but at this point you should be charging them for tech support.”

“Put that in your next e-mail.”

You bumped his arm with your own.

“Just saying.”

“If they ask for more help I’ll let them know. How’s that?”

“I’ll get the documents ready.”

You covered your mouth as loud laugh escaped you.

Oh goodness. I hope he’ll do it anyway.

Smile only partially fading, Riley gestured to the laptop. “Let me know if their lack of technology skills makes your instruction skills disappear again. But not on your day off.” He removed his glasses and stood up.

You followed suit and walked him to the door.

“You really shouldn’t put in more hours than they’re paying you.”

“I want the new exhibition to be perfect.” You added as you leaned against the opened door. “But you’re right.”

“Can’t work for nothing. Especially when you’re suddenly working free tech support.” He stood out in the hallway.

“Hey,” you said. “Thanks for hanging out today. It was really fun.”

A smile returned to his lips. “I had fun too.”

“Drive safely, alright?”

“I will. See you later.”

“See yah, Riley.” You waved before finally shutting the door. With a lopsided grin, you locked the door and skipped over towards the cookies. Perhaps your winnings will be more than chips won in a poker game some day. Maybe something a little more meaningful.

~~~

(If you love my writings and want to support me, I have a Ko-Fi where you can buy me a coffee. I would be eternally grateful.

Best wishes and happy reading.)

~~~~~

DreamerDragon Tags: @cubedtriangle

Riley Poole Tags: @darkenwolfy @wesleeporstudy @yearning-warmth

Riley Poole series Tags (Would you like to be added to Riley Poole Tags?): @imacuteprincess @gingerlaserbeam @sledgy14 @thecaptainsgingersnap 

**Let me know if you would like to be tagged in insert readers, either through replies, ask, or message.**

[chroniclerdl]

Seven Fundamentals to Writing Better Yu-Gi-Oh Duelfics

Ever wanted to write a duelfic just as good or better than canon?

Done right, duels are memorable action scenes.

Done wrong, duels shatter the suspension of disbelief. It’s already a big ask to imagine the world revolving around a card game.

You don’t want the tragedy where your readers yank the scrollbar past your duel, or worse, close your tab. Even the small pool of duelfic readers/writers like me will skip huge chunks of your chapters when the duels sag.

By implementing basic storytelling techniques tailored to dueling, you can hook your readers into following the play-by-play.

High Stakes

Consistent Rules

Sneaks Checked

“Balanced” Gameplay

Foreshadowing Victory

Engaging Description

Dramatic Tension

1. High Stakes

When you advertise your story as a duelfic, your first duel tells readers whether or not what you wrote is worth their time.

If your characters duel without a concrete reason to rip the opponent’s throat, readers already know the outcome:

You lose.

Why? The game is pointless. Who’s dropping whatever they’re doing just to read the equivalent of your characters sipping afternoon tea? If you’re introducing the setting and characters, why can’t you introduce exciting threats?

No reader expects your first duel to decide the fate of the world, but your characters still need to bet.

Characters wager life chips.

If your character loses, they suffer death or suicide-inducing despair.

Is it too much to start with life-and-death? No. Think of the life chip as the culmination of hopes and dreams.

As the story progresses, the stakes will rise, must rise. How? Others will entrust the main characters with their own life chips, and/or the life chips acquire additional meaning. Consider this loose analogy: at the end of a poker tournament, gamblers sit at the final table with stacks built from the chips of others.

Life chips mean different things to different characters. Let’s take the Duelist Kingdom arc.

Yugi’s life chip is the hope to save his grandfather (and later, his own soul)

Joey’s life chip is the hope to win the prize money to fund his sister’s medical operation

Kaiba’s life chip is the hope to save his little brother (and later, his own soul)

You don’t even need your final showdown to revolve around the fate of world; it just has to be one or more things that matter to your characters.

Also, make sure to communicate the stakes, or why the characters accept uneven bets.

If you have the chops, you can also play around with disguising the stakes. As in, your character thinks they’re wagering something small, but it’s actually their life chip. However, your readers still need a vague reason to believe that a defeat will devour the character.

Always make sure the characters stake one or more life chips!

2. Consistent Rules

If you watched the Duelist Kingdom arc and tried to understand the moves everyone made, your head exploded.

Ask yourself: will the clever scheme that your hero invented drive readers crazy?

If I write a magic system that requires a wand, this applies to all. I cannot become a genius and suddenly wave my hands to cast magic.

Demonstrate the rules early, preferably in the first duel, and keep them sacred.

If you must make an exception, establish it early. In that case, the exception becomes a well-defined branch of the rules that the readers can anticipate.

Can the players magically draw the card they need, whenever they want?

If you can establish the when and why, by all means. The readers proceed with the understanding that the players can reach into their deck like a glorified toolbox.

For example, Duel Links has a concept called “skills” that function like a player’s special ability. At the time I wrote this, Yami Yugi’s “Destiny Draw” skill lets the player take any card from their deck once per duel after losing 2000LP (and even if they stacked the top of the deck earlier!).

Card should also have the same, predictable effect. If the card prevents attacks, I doubt the text discusses physical properties or mentions holding things in the air. But you knew that, right?

The rules are the laws of the universe.

3. Sneaks Checked

I love duels. I also love getting what I want.

Why does getting what I want have to be through a duel?

If we talk, maybe we can come to an agreement. If I blackmail you, maybe you’ll give in to my demands. If I shoot you, I can loot your corpse. Give the readers a good reason as to why your characters would bother with the hassle of honest dueling and can’t wiggle from the consequences of losing.

Often, the duel takes place in the context of a tournament. Hopefully, the tournament officials are keeping a good eye on the players and cracking down on cheaters.

However, even that’s not a guarantee. What’s the key concept?

Power.

The competitors have equivalent capacity for coercion (usually violence) or have a neutral referee presiding over the match with the most capacity for coercion (shoutout to gambling manga Usogui).

Anyone who enters a game otherwise has lost before the first move.

In Yu-Gi-Oh, magical and sci-fi enforcement are common. The Shadow Realm can trap the loser in a desolate hell. In a digital world, the loser suffers deletion. Or just have good tournament officials.

Be vigilant when your duel doesn’t call upon these tropes.

Your amoral characters won’t mind blindsiding your other characters, and they won’t mind blindsiding you with a plot hole.

If you’re not careful, the readers will ask you why they played uncharacteristically fair.

4. “Balanced” Gameplay

Duels should be fair and fun…for the villain.

Ostensibly, everyone plays a balanced game, designed to give both sides a sporting chance. In reality, the villain tilts the field to their favor with one or more tricks up their sleeves. Why would your villain ever fight fair?

But that’s fine. We love rooting for the underdog and watching the villain get their comeuppance.

Overpowered ability to let the villain read minds? Deck full of unbalanced cards that makes the villain’s monsters invincible with no drawback? Creator who knows every strategy in the game? Readers will turn the page as they wonder how the hero will prevail.

The more obstacles you can throw in the hero’s way, the better.

Got custom cards? No problem, just follow a couple guidelines. After all, some duelists are more equal than others.

The hero’s deck is full of regular cards that have a cost to use. For every play they want to make, their cards insist that they give up their attack, discard to play, etc.

The villain’s deck is full of rare cards that power up their game for free. So long as you can justify why the card made it to print, the villain can play whatever they want.

For every step your hero takes, the villain gets two.

5. Foreshadowing Victory

How many times have you watched a duel where the protagonist comes up with this never-before-seen card that does exactly what the protagonist needs to clinch the win? In the final showdown, no less? It’s like the writers begged to be called amateurs and idiots.

No other genre tolerates such laziness.

However, readers don’t want an infodump of the characters’ decks. Show the cards in action. To cover the deck, you'll probably need multiple duels.

This also implies you have more freedom in how your character defeats their early opponents in the duelfic.

Does that previous statement contradict what I said about never-before-seen cards clinching the win as the mark of laziness? No, because here’s the rule:

Tolerance for the hero’s new cards decreases as the story progresses.

(Notice that I specify the hero’s new cards; your villains exist to make life harder by inventing unfair tricks.)

When you must include new cards for the hero late in the duelfic, at least find a way to make them first backfire.

Now, some writers have lots of knowledge about the card pool and metagame. Can they assume the readers a priori know the hero has access to any of the available cards in a given archetype?

I’d err on the side of caution and properly foreshadow the cards before they appear late in the duelfic. Not every reader is a walking card database. They have no reason to assume something exists unless you show the card.

Take the tolerance rule into consideration when planning your duels. If you know the awesome combo you want to use for the final turn in the duelfic climax, that’s your cue to scatter the cards into the earlier duels.

Plan the last duel first and your early duels last.

6. Description

Every reader wants a front-row seat to the action.

They’re paying you their time, so make it worth the admission: sleek combatants & budget-busting fights. Kaiba invented Solid Vision technology for a reason, so help readers envision your duels.

Who’s fighting? Describe the point-of-view’s impression of the monsters’ appearances. Red-Eyes Black Dragon should be self-explanatory.

What about a decorated monster like Time Wizard?

You could go into detail about how the red clock humanoid has yellow gears that form epaulets and purple, pointy boots and a green mustache made from clock hands and so on, but such a level of minutiae bogs pacing and invites skimming.

Readers just need to hear about a purple-caped, red clock humanoid with a wand to form an image. Their imaginations can handle the little details.

Paint appearances in broad strokes and one or two brief sentences.

How are the monsters fighting? Duel Monsters is a game where the target takes the aggressor’s attack like a champ. That doesn’t mean you can’t spice it up.

For example, my opponent’s dragon attacks my weaker knight with a fireball. My knight, interested in not dying, raises his shield. Unfortunately, he screams as the flames engulf him.

You wouldn’t just stand still with a straight face if someone armed with a knife lunged for your gut.

A fight scene is a string of action and reaction.

Most people also experience life in more senses than just sight.

A dragon’s fireball is a bright reddish-orange, hot, dries the air, smoky, and explodes with a boom on impact. I never tasted a fireball, and I hope I never do, but that’s still four senses: sight, touch, smell, and sound.

Include multiple sensory details.

Let’s spare a moment to talk about the heads-up display (HUD).

In Yu-Gi-Oh, cards have multiple stats and abilities. You’re free to mention whatever you deem necessary. No set formula exists. On one extreme, you can mention nothing to keep the narrative clean at the risk of confusing the readers. At the other extreme, infodumps about the monster’s abilities provide great detail but wreck the pacing. But there’s a cozy middle.

State only what you need from the card.

If your duels occurred before the era of Synchro, you don’t need details about levels. You can just display the basic stats to determine the stronger monster. If a deck has Pendulum monsters, just mention the scale numbers when they're played as scales. And so on.

You can also make an index of new cards at the end of a chapter.

BONUS TIP! Understanding show, don’t tell.

What is show, don’t tell? At its core, this concept refers to immersing your readers in the senses and feelings instead of exposition. Unfortunately, that definition is a bit vague to execute. After writing for a while, I had my lightbulb moment.

Don’t TELL the readers how to think or force-feed them a conclusion.

SHOW your readers the evidence.

Here’s a written example from Joey vs. Rex in Duelist Kingdom. See if you can spot what makes this prose telling instead of showing.

“Joey watched nervously as Two-Headed King Rex stomped Baby Dragon. He messed up his Baby Dragon-Time Wizard combo!”

You can see two failures: “nervously” and the second sentence.

Adverbs like “nervously” and other “-ly” friends get a bad rep because rookies tend to use them as telling crutches (especially beware adverbs after dialogue tags!). “Nervously” tells me how Joey reacts. But what does “nervously” look like? One character might bite their thumb. Another might fidget in their seat. The adverb in this context lacks nuance.

We also have the second sentence: “He messed up his Baby Dragon-Time Wizard combo!” When you’re explaining the “why” to something, you’re telling. It’s like talking down to your readers.

Contrast with the next example.

“A bead of sweat rolled off Joey’s face as Two-Headed King Rex stomped Baby Dragon. He stared at the Time Wizard in his hand.”

The first sentence shows me Joey’s physical reaction. I see him sweating, so I think he’s nervous.

We also see a second physical reaction: “He stared at the Time Wizard in his hand.” This comes on the heels of the first sentence, and I also have knowledge of when Joey used the Baby Dragon-Time Wizard combo in a prior duel. Combined, I think Joey is ruminating about a missed chance.

Readers are smart; they’ll catch your intention if you show the proof.

7. Dramatic Tension

I bet you know what it's like to draw a bad hand.

Imagine: The hero staggers into the arena, and the villain just needs to win one duel to take over the world. The villain draws a bunch of powerups with no monster, but the hero draws a one-turn-kill combo.

Anticlimactic. The readers throw that duelfic straight into the trash.

Don’t just write real-life duels. “It really happened” doesn’t mean it’s emotionally satisfying.

That’s why we have literary structure.

Success and setback pace together with progressive intensity to maximize dramatic tension and emotional payoff.

I’ll spare the nitty-gritty theory detail, but your duels should look like this on a basic level:

Part 1: Villain’s basic threats. Introduces the villain’s deck and style.

Part 2: Villain’s minor strategy. The villain’s first serious attempt to defeat the hero.

Part 3: Villain’s major strategy. The hero’s reversal! But the villain has worse in store.

Part 4: Hero’s imminent defeat. The hero must break through, or else will instantly lose!

Ideally, you’re also integrating the story itself into the duel; themes and duels synergize to create a stronger effect.

You may notice how the format resembles the three-act structure.

Act I is Part 1

Act II until the Act II midpoint is Part 2

Act II midpoint until Act III is Part 3

Act III is part 4.

I’ll use Yugi/Pharaoh vs. Pegasus in Duelist Kingdom as an example.

Part 1: Mind scan. Pegasus can read minds to counter combos.

Part 2: Toon World. Indestructible, cartoonified monsters attack.

Part 3: Shadow game. Toons destroyed! But playing a shadow game weakens Yugi.

Part 4: Yugi passes out. The Pharaoh must find a new way to stop Pegasus’s mind scan!

Figure out each part of the structure for your duels before writing the turn-by-turn plays.

By the way, modern real-life Yu-Gi-Oh duels don’t suit drama because the rules provide weak constraints to creating strong boards. A good modern deck usually establishes a scary turn one board and jumps straight into Part 4, whereas other card games like Magic: The Gathering and Hearthstone force the powerhouse cards to wait several turns until the player builds the mana to pay costs.

You can still write a good modern duel. Here’s a basic outline of Arc-V’s duel between Sora and Shay. Technically, “tragedy” is the structure of this duel, so I’ll make Shay the “hero” to flip it and keep matters simplified.

Part 1: Basic monsters. These clash before a monster appears from the Extra Deck.

Part 2: Frightfurs. They come one after another to crush Shay’s Raidraptors.

Part 3: Sora’s wrath. Rise Falcon survives! But Sora’s malevolent nature comes to light.

Part 4: Frightfur Chimera. Sora chomps candy and summons his biggest fusion horror!

If following the four parts is too difficult for you, that’s okay. They're just logical extensions of one basic concept. Keep the following in mind, and you’ll never go wrong:

The villain’s subsequent threats become increasingly overwhelming.

Conclusion

Much of writing a duel boils down to storytelling technique.

Let’s tl;dr the main takeaways.

High Stakes: Minimum ante is the life chip, worth a character’s hopes and dreams.

Consistent Rules: Everyone plays by the same logic.

Sneaks Checked: Characters can’t skip the duels with violence and coercion.

“Balanced” Gameplay: Villains enjoy advantages.

Foreshadowing Victory: Readers have a chance to predict the winning combo.

Engaging Description: Immerse senses and invite reactions.

Dramatic Tension: The villain makes progressively stronger threats.

As a duelfic reader/writer, I can gauge a writer's ability by measuring their duels with the fundamentals. Many fan writers struggle; even the canon writers struggle.

But writing a duelfic isn’t rocket science. With practice, minding the fundamentals will become second nature.

And don't forget to tag your story as a duelfic. It's a whole genre in fanfic, so sort it properly and help readers from the future find you.

May the heart of the cards be with you.

…

Want to see in-depth examples of my advice? I rewrote the Orichalcos arc to reimagine its untapped potential without the failures of the canon presentation. You can find it on FFnet and AO3.

[fandom-necromancer]

The daring date

This was prompted by an awesome anon! Enjoy some long overdue Allen60!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Allen60

Allen sat in his office, absent-mindedly staring through the blinds. It has been a week now and still he hadn’t gotten used to the new face in the force. The new familiar face. A RK800 unit, dubbed Sixty not to confuse him with his exact twin in the building next door. To be honest, the SWAT Captain had no idea what to think of the android. Normally he would at least try to keep his prejudices against them at bay. They were people now and Allen had no problems accepting the fact once he had spoken to a few of them. But this specific one… He simply didn’t trust him and still searched for reasons to get him out of his team.

The official file for the bot was spotless. But of course, rumours had spread still and being part of the raid on Cyberlife tower, the SWAT team could confirm them. Sixty had threatened Lieutenant Anderson and would have without doubt killed him, had the android not been shot himself. Right in the middle of his forehead. He was supposed to be dead - every human would be. But no, he was repaired and deviated and thrown into society. Deviancy was supposed to be the wondrous medicine to every wrong an android could possibly commit. But Allen wasn’t so sure when androids had had a certain programmed freedom even before deviation and this specific android had still decided to shoot Hank when there must have been other possibilities to fulfil his mission. And who said androids weren’t capable of committing crimes, just like humans? Who said that Sixty, just because he deviated, wasn’t still loyal to Amanda or a certain belief? And now he was infiltrating SWAT, possibly trying to gain their trust just to betray them later. He knew he had no evidence for his theory, but his gut had proven themselves to be correct almost every time, so Allen would keep an eye on the new android. Who knew, maybe-

‘Captain?’ He looked up to the door, where Frank had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Without knocking, as always. ‘Err… Yes?’ ‘You joining game night this evening?’ ‘Whose turn is it?’, he asked caught off guard. ‘Jensen’s! I think he decided on starting with poker, but I haven’t asked.’ ‘Yeah, I’m in. I think I can manage 7pm.’ ‘Great! I’ll let him know.’

Allen sighed, as soon as he was alone in his office again and decided to try and do some actual work today. In all his paranoia about the new android, he had almost forgotten it was the last Friday of the month – game night. He usually enjoyed them. It was one of these team-building exercises that actually worked as it wasn’t obligatory. Although normally most attended them. The SWAT team really was a team, working atmosphere good enough pulling rank wasn’t necessary most of the time. Allen really hoped the android wasn’t invited. But he guessed not. As in many other points, his team was pretty uniformly suspicious of the RK800 too.

-

It was raining as he parked his car in front of Jensen’s house later that evening. He was a bit late as it seemed, but he was greeted with enthusiasm nonetheless and a coke was pushed into his hand. Most others were already sitting at the table with beer and other beverages and someone hastily gave Allen his seat and poker chips as he was clearly loosing already. A few pleasant hours and rounds later that was a thing of the past as most of the other players were too drunk to remember the rules or keep up a pokerface. Allen had already driven quite a few into surrender and at some point, as if on a hidden signal, they decided to stop playing. What unfortunately meant they settled on the incredibly uncreative idea to play truth or dare.

Allen sighed, regretting his decision to stay sober tonight, but played along. It could still be fun after all. It started quite simple with everyday questions and mostly silly chores to do on dare. Unfortunately, it didn’t stay that way. ‘Are you single?’, was the first question in the truth-category, Allen sighed deeply over. ‘Why? Are you searching for someone?’, he returned hoping to embarrass the man and be able to skip answering. The other’s laughed, but the one that had asked him just shrugged. ‘Yes, actually, but you’re not my type, no offense there.’ It continued on and Allen felt relatively save, having passed the first awkward question. When it was his turn again, he groaned and demanded “truth” again. He could live with his team knowing intimate details about him. He didn’t like giving them blackmailing material in the form of videos or pictures of him doing something ridiculous though.

Unfortunately, his team had other plans: ‘Come on, you picked that so often already. Choose dare, come on. Would be unfair!’ He rolled his eyes, but caved in quickly as others joined the chorus. ‘Fine. Dare.’ ‘Oh, I actually didn’t think you would allow us’, the other chuckled. ‘I have nothing. You got something guys?’ Oh no. Everyone talked over each other, but it was one, Allen would have guessed Jensen himself, who screamed louder than everyone else: ‘Go on a date with the new android!’ It went dead quiet immediately, but soon they were laughing at Allen’s shocked expression. ‘No. No way!’, he protested, but the rest of his team instantly shook their heads. ‘You have to now! No going back on that!’ ‘I… Fuck, fine, I will ask him on a date, you lunatics. But that’s it, if he says no, that’s out of my hands.’ ‘Deal.’

-

Monday came far too soon, and Allen sat in his office once again, watching the android. He swore then and there to never attend another game night ever again. But well, better to get this over soon else they would bug him for weeks. He guessed the chance of the android agreeing was close to zero anyways. The whole week he had never seen him near any other member of SWAT if it wasn’t needed for work and seldomly speaking more than strictly necessary with his colleagues. He would just go there, ask him and then the android would decline and go on with his business. Simple as that.

He approached Sixty’s desk and the android immediately looked up, seemingly preparing to stand up. Allen gestured to remain seated and he relaxed but nodded at him in greeting. ‘Captain. Anything I can do for you?’ His voice eerily sounded like Connor’s, maybe with a little less intonation. ‘Err… yeah, weird question maybe, but are you free tonight?’ God, this was embarrassing. ‘Oh. Sure. Planning a mission?’ ‘Uhm… No, actually it’s rather personal.’ ‘Personal?’ ‘Dinner?’ ‘Oh’, the android blinked, face unmoving. ‘Sure, what time?’ Fuck. Allen had not expected the android to actually agree. Shit. That was bad. ‘At seven?’ ‘Fine with me. Where?’ ‘Err… I’ll send you the address.’ ‘Okay. Looking forward to it.’

Allen turned around and grimaced as soon as he was out of sight of the android. He glared at Jensen who was barely containing his laughter and entered his office to remain there for the rest of the day. Fuck, now he had to come up with a place to go on a date with the murder bot.

-

He drove up to the sole restaurant in all of Detroit that served both android and human food. He had been lucky to get a table for today. He still didn’t know what the hell he was doing here, but well, worst case he would have to be here for a few hours and call it done. He saw the android already waiting at the entrance and tried to at least fake the polite smile. ‘Hello, Sixty.’ ‘Hello, Captain.’ ‘Err… Allen’s fine’, he commented. Shit, even his team didn’t call him Captain unless outsiders were around, or it was a work issue. ‘We’re not at work after all.’ ‘Okay, then hello Mr. Allen.’ ‘Uh, yeah, okay, let’s go in.’ Awkward.

They entered and were shown their table. The waiter spared them any more small talk, taking their orders for drinks and handing them the menus. A few minutes passed as they both chose their food, but after that they had to wait again until the waiter would come back. And the silence that caused was as uncomfortable as it could get. ‘So…’, Sixty spoke up in the end. ‘What exactly is this?’ Allen’s shoulders sagged a little. ‘Do you want the honest truth?’, he sighed in defeat. The android nodded, and Allen answered: ‘We played truth or dare. They dared me to ask you on a “date”.’ The android huffed with a humorless smile. ‘Well, it’s nice being a part of something I guess, even if it means being part of a joke.’ Allen frowned. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Okay, here are your drinks, what can I get you?’ Allen flinched, he hadn’t even noticed the waiter appearing. Sixty wasn’t as bothered, ordering for himself and Allen caught himself to follow short. Once the man was gone again, the android sat up. ‘I mean that I know you and your team could do well without me.’ ‘That obvious, huh?’, Allen asked, embarrassed about their sentiment being this obvious. ‘I mean, In the last week I barely spoke to anyone and no one even approached me.’ Sixty shrugged. ‘But that’s fine, I get you are close with each other, going on dangerous missions. I guessed as much as I got assigned the job. I hope I can prove my worth to you in action.’

‘I’m sorry’, Allen mumbled in all honesty. ‘It’s just…’ Sixty waited for him to continue, but nothing came. ‘Just what?’ ‘It’s hard to trust you when all we know about you is that you held our colleague at gunpoint and the only thing keeping you from pulling the trigger was getting shot.’ The android smirked. ‘Yeah, I get that. I could explain to you how I was under Amanda’s full control that time, being ordered to stop Connor by any means necessary, or be permanently deactivated myself. But I guess it wouldn’t change a thing, am I right?’

He smiled sadly at Allen, who couldn’t help but feel like a total asshole.  ‘Sorry.’ ‘It’s fine, really’, Sixty reassured him. ‘I guess it just needs time of us working together for you and your team to realise I won’t suddenly go full terminator on you.’ ‘So you were forced to nearly shoot Hank?’ ‘I mean, I was forced to end the revolution or die. I had to stop Connor for that. And Lieutenant Anderson was his weakness. His partner and only emotional support in this world. I guess if you ask if I was forced to kill him, then no, I wasn’t. But it really is a question of how far you are willing to go to protect your own life when you have only lived for a few hours at that point and don’t know what that even means yet.’ Allen stared at the tablecloth, trying to process what he’d just heard. ‘I don’t plan on holding the Lieutenant at gunpoint ever again, if that means anything’, Sixty carefully stated then. ‘Or put my own life about anyone else’s for that matter. I’ve learned my lesson staying with New Jericho, listening to all these android’s life stories and learning what life could eventually be.’

Allen looked up into the android’s eyes, realising to what extend he had misjudged him. ‘What made you chose police work then?’, he asked with honest interest. ‘Honestly? It was a heat of the moment decision. The DPD was hiring and I knew Connor worked with them. I thought maybe that would make it easier for me. Following my initial purpose and living with people that accepted him despite his crimes.’ ‘Crimes?’ ‘Well, he was a spy for Cyberlife initially before he switched sides. And he did kill at least two humans at Cyberlife tower. If you think about it, he actually did worse things than I have. But maybe I misjudged that.’

The waiter reappeared with their food, giving Allen time to make a decision. ‘I will talk with my team’, he stated as he had disappeared again. ‘I believe we all fell for prejudice here. I’ll tell them to give you a chance.’ Sixty eyed him lifting a brow. ‘Captain, do you really think this is necessary?’ ‘Yes, I think so. I don’t think you should be held accountable for something you couldn’t control.’ ‘I…’ The android looked at what looked like blue pudding in front of him. ‘Thank you, Captain. That really means a lot to me.’

They began eating mostly to play down the serious talk, but the silence really didn’t help making the whole thing feel less awkward and unnatural. Allen thought about what to talk about with someone he basically knew nothing about, but only one thing came to his mind. He tried to find something more fitting, but ultimately, everything was better than the silence. So, he spoke up again: ‘Okay, let’s stop talking about work for a while. Let’s talk about you, if you want, of course. What do you like? Any hobbies?’ That seemed to catch the android off guard. ‘I like… music?’ ‘Really? What kind of music? Favourite genre?’ ‘Err… No. I haven’t listened to a lot yet. Any recommendations?’ Allen chuckled, knowing this was a dangerous question as he liked to ramble. ‘Oh, were to start? I have a whole list…’ ‘Just give me a song, I will listen to it.’ ‘Right now?’

Sixty tapped his temple. ‘Android, remember? Can listen to it in my head.’ ‘Okay, not how you are supposed to hear music, but fine.’ He continued to list off a few of his favourite songs and stopped after he thought to have supplied the android with the essentials for now. Then he continued to eat, coughing when Sixty spoke up again: ‘Okay, I listened to them.’ ‘What?’ ‘I can listen to them simultaneously. I liked them.’ Allen stared at him. ‘Okay, that really isn’t how you listen to music.’ ‘Then teach me: How do humans listen to music?’ ‘One song at a time?’, Allen begun, not having imagined to ever need to explain that. ‘And normally coming from a speaker.’ ‘Inefficient’, Sixty commented. ‘But-‘ ‘If you hear one song at a time, you will never have listened to all of them in your whole lifetime.’ ‘I mean, it’s true, but-‘ ‘And you never get to see the similarities in between them. Analysing all the small changes in frequencies and subtle differences in between genres.’ Allen sat there staring. ‘Okay, I think we enjoy music on a very different level then.’ Sixty laughed. ‘I guess so, yes. But humans are inefficient at most tasks, so I don’t blame you.’ ‘Thank you?’, the SWAT Captain tried, but couldn’t help but smile too. ‘Okay then, what else are androids so much better at?’ Sixty smirked. ‘I have a list. It’s alphabetised.’

The evening was actually quite fun after its initial difficulties. Sixty just seemed to need a jump start to get over his hesitant demeaner. Once they had initiated their personal talk, he ended up unveiling he was actually a quite cocky person, sure of himself and almost stubbornly ambitious. But despite that, he really seemed to care for others, wanting to use his strong suits to help those that needed it. Somehow, despite Allen’s previous impression of the android, he ended up liking him and wanting to get to know him better than possible in one evening.

Unfortunately, that very evening was about to end as it got late and already was dark outside. They paid for their respective meal, although Allen jokingly stated his co-workers had specifically asked him to take him on a date. Sixty just laughed and told him they wouldn’t have to know every detail. As they exited the restaurant, the android turned to him before entering the automated taxi he had called. ‘And? Enjoyed your dare?’ Allen huffed. ‘Actually, I did. Obviously, this wasn’t a date, but it was nice getting to know you. I’m looking forward to work with you and… Well, if you want to do something like this again, I would be up for it.’ ‘Really?’, the android asked. ‘I made it to the second date?’ Allen closed his eyes and sighed somehow not knowing what he had expected. ‘Be careful what you wish for, I don’t want to know what they decide to task me with next games night.’ Sixty smirked and opened the door of the taxi. ‘Maybe next time I will be there to decide myself.’ He winked at the Captain and entered the car, leaving Allen standing in front of the restaurant confused. But somehow intrigued, too.

[smooshjames]

Promise?

smash bros, gay panic, and spicy cheese jell-o salad: the story of two women in love

word count: 4.4k

a/n: first courtney work and i gotta say, i’m extremely proud of this one. i hope i did the request justice! as always, here’s a link to my ko-fi if you want / are able to donate, which is, of course, never an obligation. whether you support me with your money or just with your eyes, i’m so grateful that you take the time to read my work, and i hope you enjoy!

warnings: some mild angst, mostly just gay panic and fluff, exceedingly dramatic descriptions of super smash bros gameplay

request: here

The first time you appeared as a guest on Smosh, they had you film a Try Not To Laugh. When that went over well with the fans, they invited you back for another. Then you appeared on a SmoshCast, and then an Eat It or Yeet It. And on it went. You became a staple to the community. You loved Smosh, though you declined to work there full time (you had enough of your own independent creative pursuits without adding on a full-time job, no matter how wonderful that full-time job might be).

But more than just the larger following and the fond memories that Smosh had gotten you, you also found quite a few good friends. You spent time with the Squad constantly, always going out to lunch or coffee, getting invited to dinner parties and other random hangouts, playing video games with Damien or talking with Sarah well into the night. Despite not officially working at Smosh, you had been accepted into the family, and you had come to consider the cast and crew as some of your closest friends.

All this to say that when Ian reached out to ask if you wanted to participate in a video for Smosh Games, you said yes without a second thought. It was a pretty casual video, just everyone sitting around and playing Smash Bros. There were two twists, one tamer than the other. The first was that everyone had to choose random characters, which was to prevent people who played the game a lot from picking their mains; it would provide some interest as people struggled to learn the mechanics of characters they didn’t usually play. The second twist was that at the end of each round, whoever won got to choose a punishment for whoever lost (losing, in this instance, defined as being the first person out). You settled on the familiar red couch with Courtney next to you and Shayne to her right. Damien, Keith, Noah, Matt, and Sarah settled in chairs around and behind you.

Shayne introduced the video and the rules, explained a few of the punishments that the winner would get to choose from (and that the loser would have to endure), and then the game began. Everyone hit the randomize button. Various groans of annoyance and/or cheers of pleasant surprise went up around you. Matt lucked out with Bowser, Shayne got Isabelle, Keith got Lucario. You had Villager, which you felt pretty neutral about.

Immediately, you set your sights on Courtney. Of everyone at Smosh, you were by far closest to her. The two of you had hit it off instantly and become fast friends. Though, much to your excitement and frustration, it sometimes seemed like she wanted it to be something more. The two of you were constantly flirting back and forth, veiled as teasing or just Friendly Complimenting. There was one incident that would be seared into your brain until the day you died: the time she had gotten a little too drunk at a party and leaned in to kiss you fully on the lips, but you’d been interrupted by Shayne before she could. You had fallen asleep in the same bed multiple times, for multiple reasons: the time she had called you after a bad breakup and you held her while she cried; the time you called her after a bad breakup; the time you’d been too drunk to make it home, so she’d invited you to stay the night at her place but neither of you wanted to make the other sleep on the couch so you just both slept on the bed. All things that could be explained away as close friendship (except maybe the almost kiss, but that was explained away with alcohol; you were pretty sure she didn’t even remember it). It wasn’t like you weren’t physical with your other friends. You’d cuddled with Sarah and held Shayne’s hand. But all that stuff felt way different when you did it with Courtney. With Courtney, it felt consequential, important.

Even now, having her next to you on the couch had your heart pounding in your chest. The couch was small (more a loveseat than anything), so her leg was pressed against yours from ankle to hip. Your arm kept brushing against hers as you played. You could smell the occasional whiff of her perfume.

You were in full, unadulterated gay panic.

But you also had a game to win. You weren’t a sore loser under normal circumstances, but one of the punishments involved drinking straight mayonnaise and you were not about to endure that. You knew you just had to outlast someone else, and you figured you could tease Courtney in the process. You went after her every opportunity you got, managing to knock her off twice.

The first round came to a close. Damien won and Noah lost. Damien chose to tweet something on Noah’s account, which Noah wasn’t allowed to delete or address; he just had to leave it up to let people speculate about it until the video came out. Damien strung together a bunch of non sequiturs that made exactly no sense, the group laughed, and the next round began.

In the second round, you went after Courtney yet again. It was fun to antagonize her; being as expressive as she was, she couldn’t keep a poker face, and she kept yelling unintelligible threats at you as her character plummeted off the side of the stage. As you laughed gleefully at her annoyance, you flashed back to the time in third grade when one of the boys wouldn’t stop pulling your hair on the playground. When you’d complained to your mother, she told you that he probably had a crush on you and didn’t know how to deal with it (she’d also told you to stand up for yourself, which led to you kicking the kid where the sun doesn't shine, which was a very interesting meeting between you, your teacher, and your mother; but that’s a story for another day).

Point being, you realized now how that kid had felt.

Once again, at the end of round two, you didn’t win or lose. You were perfectly content to run in the middle of the pack. In fact, until the last round, you were actively trying not to win. Your strategy for this game was going unnoticed. If you won too much, everyone would start to target you; if you lost too much, you’d have to deal with punishments.

By round three, you and Courtney were in a complete, unspoken war. The two of you ignored the other players as much as you possibly could, choosing instead to constantly pursue each other. She got a few hits in on you, but you were too good; months of playing with Damien and Shayne had prepared you for this moment. You knocked her off once, twice, three times. Your trash talk was louder and more constant than anyone else’s. Even Damien and Shayne weren’t ribbing each other as much as you and Courtney.

Round four went similarly. You knocked her off once, and then again. As her character fell into the abyss, she looked like she was sincerely considering putting her controller through the television screen.

God, you were in love with her.

“Y/N!” she said. You’d never heard such visceral exasperation. You went after her once again.

“What’s up?” you asked, voice light and breezy. It was a joke you’d picked up from Damien. You forced her character off the screen and she shouted so loud you were pretty sure passersby might’ve thought she was getting murdered.

“Quit it or I’ll bite!” she yelled. Shayne started laughing so hard that Noah managed to knock him off the stage while he was distracted.

Maybe it was the sheer adrenaline you felt as you turned to fight Keith, maybe it was the fact that you were so utterly love drunk, maybe you just weren’t really paying attention to what you were saying, maybe you were desperate for the last word. You weren’t sure why you said what you said next, but you sure as hell said it, and the room sure as hell went quiet when you did.

“Promise?”

There was a second, two seconds, three, of silence as everyone processed what you’d said. And then the room erupted in laughter and cheers. Meanwhile, on the screen, Keith beat you, and then Shayne beat him, and then Matt forced Shayne off the edge of the stage and was declared the winner of round four.

Sarah had lost, and as Matt doled out her punishment (drinking mayo, the one you’d been so staunchly against), you snuck a glance at Courtney. She was completely occupied with cheering Sarah on; she barely even noticed you looking at her. She didn’t seem particularly upset by what you’d said. In fact, she didn’t seem upset at all. It looked like she had just shrugged it off as a joke, which both relieved and disappointed you.

On the one hand, it was good that she hadn’t realized the deeper meaning behind your words — or, well. Word. Singular. If she had realized just how serious you were, your friendship might have gotten weird or awkward. You figured she didn’t like you back; if she had, she would’ve asked you out by now. You knew that Courtney wasn’t the type to stop being friends with someone just because of a crush, but you didn’t want her to think that your friendship with her had ulterior motives or anything like that.

On the other hand, you sort of wished she had taken it seriously. After all, she flirted back with you, and she initiated physical contact more often than you did. There had also been the infamous Almost Kiss Incident of 2019. It seemed like maybe, just maybe, there was something there. As much as you tried to rationalize it away, you couldn’t ignore the lingering touches, the tenderness she seemed to save for you and only you, the double entendres that came with a joking eyebrow waggle but a serious heat in her gaze. Maybe you needed to take the initiative.

So went the paradox you’d found yourself stuck inside of. It seemed like you had a good shot if you made the first move, but it might get weird if you were reading the signs wrong, which meant you did nothing, and maybe she took that as a signal that you weren’t interested, which meant she did nothing, which you took as a signal that she wasn’t interested, rinse and repeat.

Feelings were a complicated web and you were very close to throwing in the towel completely. Maybe you could fast forward to the inevitable spinster-slash-cat-lady days which seemed to be your destiny.

You forced yourself to stop thinking about it. Round five was starting, and round five had the biggest punishment of all, which meant you were really screwed if you lost. Plus, whenever you let yourself overanalyze your relationship with Courtney, you ended up with a migraine and exactly no progress on your game plan.

“Y/N,” she said as the round began, “let’s call a truce until it’s just us. And then we can settle this one on one.”

“Hm,” you said, pretending to think about it even as you turned away from her and started attacking Noah. “Tempting. But it sounds a little bit like you’re just trying to get me off your ass for a while since I’m so much better at Smash Bros than you.”

You heard someone (probably Damien) let out a low “oooo” from somewhere behind you. You were barely conscious of your surroundings. Your world had narrowed to the screen in front of you and the feeling of Courtney’s thigh pressed warmly against yours.

“No,” she said. She was fending off Shayne and Damien simultaneously, which was actually really impressive. Courtney was a good Smash player when you weren’t beating the shit out of her. You made a mental note to tease her about that later. “I just want to settle this without distraction. Then we’ll see who the better Smash player really is — damn it!” Shayne had gotten the better of her and knocked her off the stage.

“I’ll call a truce with you on one condition. If we both survive to the end of the game, whoever loses has to take the punishment.”

She considered. These were technically not the rules of the challenge: in the last four rounds, it had been that whoever died first had to take the punishment, rather than whoever died second-to-last. But you wanted to up the stakes, and hey, no one could say you didn’t know good television.

“Fine,” she said. Everyone else murmured their assent; it was better for them, anyway, since it basically guaranteed they wouldn’t have to take the punishment.

And it was settled. The two of you stayed away from each other. The game went on. After a few minutes, as you forced Keith off the edge for the third time, you realized that you and Courtney were the only two left. There was silence for a moment as you sized each other up in real life, both of your characters frozen in their respective places on the screen. All your friends were holding their breath.

You held your hand out to Courtney. “May the best woman win,” you said, and you meant it. She took your hand and shook it firmly, and you felt like the bones in your arm were melting as she did it. Even that simple touch was enough to have your heart pounding. Every nerve in your hand stood at attention. And as you pulled away, the feeling lingered like an electric shock.

The next few minutes were fraught with tension. You’d never fought harder in a Smash Bros game in your life. Courtney was fighting with a vengeance, and she was so good that you wondered for a moment if she’d been letting you win earlier. All of your trash talk ceased as the two of you focused on the game with the intensity of people whose lives were actually at stake. Your friends were forced to provide commentary as you and Courtney played silently, utterly focused, but you were barely hearing them. At one point, you felt Damien rubbing your shoulders and you were distantly aware of Shayne doing the same to Courtney, both of them talking in your ears like trainers at a boxing match. Matt was doing his best sports announcer imitation.

She killed you. You killed her. She killed you. The two of you were each down to one life. The playing field was completely even. Your fingers flew across your controller. You had broken an actual sweat.

And then, the unthinkable: Courtney, the underdog, forced you off the edge of the stage. The room erupted. Everyone was screaming, yourself included. It was absolute madness. Shayne grabbed Courtney’s wrist and held her hand in the air like the ref at the end of a match. Sarah and Matt were jumping around behind the couch. You were yelling things that even you couldn’t make sense of. Keith and Noah were scream-laughing and leaning on each other for support.

It took a solid couple minutes for everyone to settle down, and then it was time for your punishment, which had been kept a strict secret until this moment. Courtney didn’t get to choose anything. All anyone knew was that it was the worst of them all. Your heart was thundering from adrenaline and anticipation.

You knew you were in for a treat (in the worst possible sense of the word) when Garrett entered the room with a silver platter. You had a flashback to the ghost pepper pasta you’d been forced to eat on Eat It or Yeet It. Your heart dipped.

“No…” you said, more to yourself than anything. Everyone waited with bated breath as Garrett walked in and set the platter on the coffee table before you. You took a deep breath. You looked at the camera. “Well,” you said, “if this is what kills me, it’s been real.”

You uncovered the platter. It was a Jell-O salad, that much was clear. The smell had your stomach churning. It was indescribable, but if you had to try, you’d describe it as boys’ locker room with a side of wasabi. You picked up the fork and poked at it a little. You were pretty sure you heard Courtney gag as the smell hit her.

“Do I get a puke bucket?” you asked. You were actually kind of terrified for your digestive tract. A crew member walked out of the room and came back a few minutes later with the Eat It or Yeet It bucket. Fitting.

You got as much of the Jell-O salad onto your fork as you could and, with the bucket firmly in hand, put the bite in your mouth. You gagged, but persevered. Somehow, it tasted better than it smelled. That’s not to say it tasted good (it didn’t), just that the dirty sock smell got buried under the wasabi/ghost pepper/whatever spicy bullshit Garrett had found this week.

You swallowed, grimacing all the while, and opened your mouth for the cameras to see. Everyone clapped, you felt Keith put a hand on your shoulder, and Courtney began doing the outro for the video. She asked where the fans could find you. You plugged your Twitter and YouTube as usual. Someone brought you bread so you could drown out the spice in your mouth.

The cameras cut and you stood up, eager to stretch your legs after sitting on the couch for so long. “That was fun,” you said. Everyone agreed. Courtney stood up, nodded, and then made her way out of the room. Your heart dropped. You couldn’t help thinking it had something to do with you. Maybe she had been freaked out by your comment but just didn’t show it while you were recording. Maybe you’d hurt her feelings by singling her out throughout the game. Maybe the smell of your Jell-O salad had been so bad she needed a bathroom.

As you watched her go, Shayne sidled up next to you. “‘Promise?’” he asked in his best imitation of you, shit-eating grin on his face. You turned and slapped him on the arm.

Shayne knew about your crush. You’d been forced to tell him after he caught you in the middle of the Almost Kiss Incident. You had tried to play it off, say she was just drunk, say it didn’t mean anything to you, but Shayne was smart. He saw right through you. You had confessed your feelings. He’d been doing his best to help the two of you ever since, but he absolutely refused to tell you what he knew about how she felt; if she reciprocated your feelings and Shayne knew about it, he wasn’t letting you in on the secret. He insisted that it wasn’t his place to tell you one way or the other, which you respected as an adult and as his friend, but despised as someone stuck in romantic limbo.

“Shut up,” you muttered. You glanced back toward the door where Courtney had exited. “Did she seem upset to you?”

Shayne just shrugged. “Don’t know,” he said. And then he nudged your arm with his elbow and nodded pointedly toward the door. “I’m sure she’d tell you if you asked. You’re pretty much her best friend.”

“I don’t know…” you said. “What if it’s because of me?”

“Then she’ll tell you and you’ll talk it out like the grown women that you are.”

You bit your lip, debating. You knew he was right (Shayne, when he dropped all the bravado and the Comedy Man act, was seldom wrong).

“Go, Y/N,” he said.

You squared your shoulders and left the soundstage in search of Courtney.

You found her sifting through costumes on the Try Not to Laugh set. You knew that she came here sometimes to think of new bits and clear her head, so finding her now didn’t come as a surprise. You closed the door behind you and then knocked on it quietly to let her know you were there. She jumped, but relaxed when she realized it was you.

“Hey,” you said. Being alone with her had the butterflies in your stomach going haywire. “You ran off kinda fast after we wrapped the video. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

She nodded and turned back to the costume rack. Her hands were shaking slightly, that much you saw from your position by the door. You wanted to hug her, but given the events of the day, you weren’t sure if it was a good idea. You waited for her to say or do something; you decided you would let her lead.

Finally, she took in a sharp breath and turned to you. There was something utterly indescribable in her eyes, but whatever it was sent you overboard. You felt like you’d been launched into space without a helmet, screaming inaudibly, head about to explode from the pressure. The look on her face almost made your knees buckle; you had to grab the doorknob behind you to stay upright.

“Are we…” she stopped, took another breath, and started again. “Am I fucking insane for thinking that whatever we are, we’re more than friends? Because I keep getting it in my head that you look at me a little too fondly to just chalk it up to friendship. But every time I flirt or hold your hand or anything you just… you don’t seem into it like that. And I mean, even when I tried to kiss you — with the help of a little alcohol — it seemed like you were leaning away. But maybe I was just drunk. But after today, I mean… God! ‘Promise,’ Y/N, really? How the fuck am I supposed to take that? And the whole time we’re playing I’ve got your fucking leg up against mine distracting me.” She took a break to gulp in some air, but she was nowhere near finished, and you wouldn’t know what to say even if she was. “And no one else is willing to fucking help me! I know Shayne knows something but every time I ask he plays the It’s Not My Place card. Well what the fuck am I supposed to do with that! But it seems like you don’t want me, so I haven’t said anything because I don’t want to ruin what little of you I do have, so I just sit around feeling like I’m going into cardiac fucking arrest every time you’re near me but not being able to do anything about it!”

By the time she was finished, her shoulders were practically heaving with the effort. She looked close to tears. She was looking at you pleadingly now, terrified of what you might say.

Two equally inane realizations hit you in rapid succession. First, Shayne did know, the little shit; you were going to have words with him as soon as you were done here. Second, Courtney remembered the Almost Kiss Incident. You had assumed that she’d been so drunk she wouldn’t remember. That was part of the reason you’d leaned away; you weren’t sure if it was fueled by her actual desire to kiss you or just an alcohol-addled mistake, and you didn’t want to risk it being the latter.

Far more importantly, you realized how much time you’d both wasted on the same fear. Both of you walking on eggshells, afraid to say something because it seemed like the other didn’t feel the same way. The force of how monumentally idiotic you’d been knocked the air out of your lungs.

You debated how to go about resolving this. You knew one way or the other, you’d walk out of the room with a date scheduled. You considered just kissing her then and there; it would certainly convey all the words spiraling through your head. It would also be the romance movie thing to do. But you sort of felt like if you tried to walk you might pass out immediately. The doorknob was the only thing grounding you in reality.

“We’re both dumb as hell,” you said, finally. Not the most eloquent response to a declaration of love. She furrowed her brow. You hurried to elaborate, worried she would take it the wrong way. “I mean it’s been at least a year of both of us overanalyzing every time we so much as breathe in each other’s direction, and we’re just now confessing our mutual love. Kind of pathetic, if you think about it.”

Courtney laughed as she realized what you were saying. She made her way over to you, swearing as she almost tripped over the costume rack, and wrapped you in a massive hug. You buried your face in her neck, happy to finally have confirmation of the things you’d suspected for literal years.

You had a lot of time to make up for.

You pulled apart, though neither of you went very far. You were still in each other’s personal space, and it was taking a lot of brain power for you to speak coherent sentences when she was very much within kissing distance.

“How’s Saturday for you? Would dinner work?” you asked.

She grinned and nodded, and there was a moment where neither of you said anything, either too happy or too dumbfounded to speak.

“I’d like to kiss you now,” she said. “I know that’s not proper date etiquette, but I think we’ve wasted plenty of time.”

“Courtney, we’re far beyond first date,” you said. “If you leave this room without kissing me I’ll be so wounded, I don’t know if I’d be able to go on.”

She rolled her eyes at you but leaned in to kiss you anyway. It was perfect, everything you’d ever dreamed of and more. One of her hands was on your cheek, the other on your waist. When she pulled away, she made a face, and your heart plummeted.

“What?” you said, trying to keep your voice light despite your fear that she was disappointed with something. “Not good enough for you?”

“No, not at all. It was perfect except for one thing,” she replied.

You quirked a brow.

“You taste like spicy cheese Jell-O salad.”

[leverage-ot3]

notable moments from The Two Live Crew Job

leverage 2.07

Sophie: I love the symbolists.

- - - - -

🥰 I love when the ot3 are together in one frame 🥰

- - - - -

the dogs playing poker painting tho

- - - - -

Eliot: Any sudden movement's gonna cause displacement of the water. It'll set it off.

Parker: Is that C-4?

Sophie: Oh!

(Nate grabs Parker’s hand before she can touch the vase)

Sophie: Parker... please don't poke at the motion-sensitive bomb.

Nate: So, uh... secret admirer?

Sophie: Well, it's no secret they want me dead.

Hardison: What do you think, man?

Eliot: I'd have to reach into the vase to disarm it. It'd go off.

eliot’s lips quivered when he said that bc he’s so nervous for her im-

- - - - -

Parker: Do you have any instant pudding?

(everyone looks at Parker in surprise. Cut to Parker pouring pudding into the vase)

Parker: The powder hardens the liquid, tricks the bomb into thinking it's not moving.

Eliot: Should give you a little wiggle room. Very little

MASTERMIND PARKER

- - - - -

(mourners are gathered around a casket with a line of black cars parked nearby. An open casket shows Sophie lying inside. Eliot is standing at a podium)

Eliot: She had a way of taking care of people, you know? She was a sister... she was best friend, all rolled into one. I'm gonna miss you, Soph-- So-O-O-O-O much, Katherine.

(Eliot leaves the podium. Hardison stands to let Parker walk by and she approaches the podium. Nate stands at the back of the crowd, Eliot joins him)

Parker: Katherine and I have known each other forever. Almost two years. Yeah, I know that probably doesn't sound like a lot to you, but it is to me. I never really had many friends. Which is why losing her is so hard. (sighs) It's so creepy. I mean, she's really dead. I was just talking to her and now she's just laying there. She was just laying there.

(Nate coughs and Hardison gets up to go to Parker)

Parker: Can you hear me?

Hardison: Parker. I'm -- I'm sorry. I'm sorry, y'all. What – What she really means is just, um, Katherine was like family. And sometimes, friends are all the family that you have. So... you -- you good? Come on. Just – let -- just keep going. You got all hysterical and emotional

- - - - -

btw there is at least one door from behind the briefing monitors which means they have at least one extra room (most likely more) from the adjacent apartment eliot knocked the wall down from

they have guest rooms or something back there for if anyone needs a place to crash

- - - - -

Sophie: We used to work together. We did the Copenhagen job in '97, the Berlin Polytech job in '98, and, Nate, remember – Remember that great run in Moscow?

Nate: "That great run"? I chased you for three months.

Sophie: Well, uh, technically, y-you chased us. Sorry.

Hardison: Are you saying that you saw other teams before us?

Parker: Really just another Nate before Nate.

Eliot: Let me ask you a question -- what bugs you more, is it the fact that he was with Sophie first or that he outsmarted you?

Nate: Moving on

eliot puts his arms over the couch and behind parker and I’ll take it + them grinning at each other seeing nate’s discomfort

- - - - -

mikel is wearing flannel in this one and you can now take bisexual mikel from my cold, dead hands

- - - - -

Sophie: Wrong place, wrong time. Starke must have seen me, and now that I’m one of the good guys, decided to get rid of me, because...why? Because... Because I know his scams. Because... I know his favorite scam.

[Warehouse]

(Stark’s team is sitting on crates looking at monitors as he goes over the job)

Starke: Cafe and a moonlit terrace.

Sophie (voice over): The Mona Lisa variant.

[Briefing Area]

Parker: Oo! (claps) That was the first one I learned!

- - - - -

(Hardison is drinking orange soda and working on a computer as Sophie watches)

Sophie: I'm not dead. I'm right here, Parker. So, this is, um, it's what you do, right? You take footage of us on cons and you -- you -- you -- download it into that?

Hardison: Yeah, I analyze it, I monitor comms, I scan for a police frequencies, I -- You had no idea I do all this, did you? Well – d-does nobody respect the van? The van is important. What -- What is that?

Sophie: It's lemon-Zest tea. I got to tell you, it's -- It's a little bit -- It's a little bit whiffy in here.

Hardison: It smells like hard work. That's what it smells like. D-- Whiffy

sophie has no idea what hardison does and does not like the van smell. hardison is ready to go off

- - - - -

Sophie: That was some nice things you said at my funeral.

Hardison: Wait. We -- We trust Nate to make sure the plan works. We trust you to make sure we’re all okay.

- - - - -

Starke: Word is on the street that you run the nastiest crew this side of the Atlantic.

Nate: Well… what?

Starke: Come on. Everybody knows. You robbed a bank and you -- you framed a judge. You rigged a jury to steal a million-Dollar settlement. I hear that you even conned the Irish mob out of a couple of million dollars just this year. Now, that's style.

Nate: That's one way of looking at it.

Sophie: Listen, Nate, if you tell him the truth about us, we're blown

- - - - -

Hardison: I know this style. This is Chaos.

(computer screen flashes signal found. Hardison grabs his keyboard and heads for the back door of the van)

[Parking Lot]

(Hardison exits his van and a little ways down the parking lot, Chaos exits his van with a laptop in his hands. They square off like an old west gun fight)

Hardison: Chaos. I heard you were in jail. Guess I was wrong.

Chaos: Hardison. I heard you sucked. Guess I was right.

(they eye each other across the lot, their fingers twitching. Abruptly they raise their keyboard and laptop and begin typing while car alarms start going off)

this wild wild west showdown tho

- - - - -

Nate: Okay, now, we know Starke. This guy goes by the name Apollo. I've chased him a couple of times -- infiltration, physical security.

Parker: People in that line of high-risk work tend to be very unstable. We could use that. Write that down.

(the rest of the team exchange glances)

🥰 she’s sitting next to eliot with popcorn between them 🥰

- - - - -

Hardison: Now, this person here's ex-Mossad, sealed records. Mikel Dayan used to work both sides as a mercenary.

Eliot: Mikel Dayan. I know that name.

Hardison: You were scared to fight a girl.

Eliot: She'd mop the floor with you, Hardison.

Hardison: I don't care.

Eliot: Seriously. She actually killed a guy once with a mop. It's a funny story, actually. (starts gesturing time parker) She broke the mop and took --

Hardison: Eliot. Eliot. (turns back to monitors) Now, this here's Colin Mason, otherwise known by his hacker handle as "Chaos." As... whatever. Hacked the pentagon, the NSA. The CIA computer guys call him the Kobayashi Maru.

Eliot: What the hell is that?

Hardison: None of y'all got that? Seriously?

Parker: Star Trek.

Hardison: Thank you

parker’s reluctant fistbumb I love them + it’s officially canon that she’s seen at least some of the movies

- - - - -

Nate: I tried to say to her I’m sorry, you know, and I don't –

Security: Because, as men, we're taught to hide our emotions. You share or you pay the price.

Nate: Yeah

- - - - -

Mikel: You wouldn't hit a girl, would you?

(Eliot walks forward, taking off his jacket and hanging it on some pipe)

Eliot (in Hebrew): Not unless she hits me first.

(they approach each other and begin to fight, blocking each other until Mikel hits Eliot in the chest, knocking him back. He touches where her blow hit.)

Eliot (in Hebrew): That counts

let me just say I LOVE that they had a woman hitter

- - - - -

Starke: What is going on, guys?

Guard: Motion sensors went off, sir.

Starke: I already checked that out. Everything's secure. And who's this?

Guard: Uh... he just got lost. No problem.

Starke: Sir, you okay?

Nate: Yeah, I’m fine.

Starke: I'm Nathan Ford. I'm with the insurance company.

(Nate gives Starke an irritated look)

- - - - -

Parker: What kind of bird did you use?

Apollo: North American Kestrel. It's small-Bodied, but its wingspan is expansive enough that it sets off the motion detectors.

Parker: I would've gone with the Scarlet Tanager. Similar wingspan, but the brighter colors are more distracting.

Apollo: Yeah. That was my second choice.

(Apollo scrambles forward in the ductwork. Parker also scrambles forward, headed another way)

- - - - -

eliot taking off his shirt too? equal rights

- - - - -

Starke: Now, why would you want to kill Sophie?

Chaos: Come on, Starke. (gathering equipment) I had set up the perfect double-cross, and then you want to go and bring in a new player at the last minute? "Oh, and by the way, guys, that new player is gonna be Sophie Devereaux." There's no way I’m gonna try to out-con Sophie Devereaux! And I hate to break it to you, Starke, but she was the one that everybody was always scared of. It was never you.

- - - - -

[McRory’s Bar]

(Parker and Apollo sit at a table with locks)

Parker: Go.

(they begin picking locks to see who is fastest. Across the room, Eliot and Mikel sit at a table)

Mikel: I can top that. (pulls her shirt aside to show a scar on her shoulder) Frag grenade, Somalia.

Eliot (pulls up his sleeve to show scar on his arm): Myanmar. Sniper.

Mikel: I was a sniper in Myanmar for a while.

Eliot: When?

Mikel: 2003.

(Eliot looks surprised. Mikel holds up the handcuffs and Eliot quickly pulls her hand down)

Eliot: Oh, no, no, no, no, no. We can't have that.

Hardison (walking by): Handcuffs. Y'all nasty

(eliot has a handcuff kink and was probably pegged within an inch of his life that night. I said what I said.)

- - - - -

(Sophie stands looking down at her grave. The headstone for Katherine has been replaced with one for Sophie Devereaux. Nate approaches and stands next to the grave)

Sophie: Starke was right. I'm not Sophie Devereaux anymore. I haven't been for ages. I... you killed her, you and your silly crusade.

Nate: It's just a name.

Sophie: No, they're not just names, not to me. All my aliases, every one of them, I -- I know when their parents died. I know when they had their first kiss.

[the-pontiac-bandit]

miri + sympathy

Miri had never quite gotten the hang of pranks, but she’d certainly improved in her years with the Riders. Her ideas tended to be less subtle and more absurd, aiming for shock that could elicit an entertaining reaction rather than finesse in the prank itself. While she could appreciate finesse in the pranks of others--Evin did have a particular talent for it, after all--she found that successful execution of such complicated plans required far more work than she had any desire to put in. Commanding Spiderdeath--and avoiding being pranked herself--took plenty of her time.

It was only the look on Evin’s face when she saw him last week in the mess hall that had persuaded her to try. They hadn’t seen each other in weeks, which was hardly unusual in and of itself, but he’d snapped at three trainees in line for supper and had failed to clean up the ink stains he left splattered all over the table he sat at alone with his reports. His workload had steadily increased in the months since Buri had officially turned traitor on the Riders to ride with the Own, and she knew he must be losing his mind with all but three of the Rider groups stationed at the northern border in the middle of the largest war in more than a decade, but even she couldn’t deny after that that he deserved to be taken down a peg or two. As the leader of the only group currently in residence at the palace, she’d known it was her place to take the initiative.

She’d brainstormed frantically for days. For all her creativity in cursing her ponies when they didn’t comply--even more than a decade after her first day, she still had what her trainees called an “adversarial and tenuous” working relationship with horses--she’d struggled to think of the right prank to take down a new commander by approximately three notches without ruining any critical paperwork, destroying Crown property, or getting herself fired. She’d started to suspect that this was all an elaborate prank on her from her group members. After all, she found herself the victim of an elaborate joke that threatened to ruin her sanity once and for all at least six times a year, but when she asked for their help with Evin, they’d simply informed her that they’d, of course, do as their group commander told them and left her to her own devices on the planning. Although, she supposed, that might have something to do with how intimidating they found Evin--for all that she thought he was a silly player at heart, with hair that flopped in his eyes and a propensity for wild and poorly-thought out gestures of affection for his friends, she had to wonder if he seemed quite so non-threatening to the brand new Riders who had spent a summer watching him wage a unique brand of psychological warfare that might have scared even Sarge, although he’d never admit it.

As she sat on his desk, kicking her feet against one drawer while she lazed back on her hands against some reports, she wondered if she’d gone too far. Certainly, Kitten had thought the ice slide was a grand idea, but Kitten was a dragon, and a toddler, and Miri would never have trusted her opinion if she hadn’t been quite so desperate.

It took ages for Evin to return from his meeting with the queen. She’d checked his schedule carefully with one of the Rider clerks, and he was expected back by the fourth bell after lunch, but the fifth was rapidly approaching by the time she heard footsteps in the corridor leading to his office. She used one of the last moments she had as he turned a key in the latch to check that the door to the courtyard behind her was still fully shut, apparently locked, and snapped around to face front as he entered the room.

“You’re on my desk because...?” he asked by way of greeting.

“Because last time I sat in one of the chairs, and you failed to notice my presence for a full twenty minutes.”

He’d been nose-deep in a sheaf of papers when he’d come in, a brisk fall breeze blowing leaves in behind him from the courtyard, and he’d walked straight past her. She’d been entertained at first, but it took a kick to the shins under the desk, after she’d cleared her throat several times, to make him realize he was not alone.

“It wasn’t twenty minutes! It couldn’t have been more than five before you left a bruise so bad my leg throbbed for weeks!”

“Weeks? My sources tell me you were fully healed not three days later when you met Sera Gladstone behind the merchants’ day-stables.”

“How’d you hear about that one?” Evin demanded, a hint of awe in his voice.

“I have my sources,” she replied with a pert shrug and a grin.

“I’d commit murder for your sources, Miri. You still won’t turn spy for me?”

“Wherever would I find the time? My commander gets fussy if I don’t have my Riders fully trained and ready to move at his slightest whim,” she shot back. “I thought your side job was a secret from the Riders, anyway.”

“If I can keep it that way.” Evin rubbed his eyes hard, smudging a bit of ink on one temple and leaving his cheeks ruddy. “Sometimes I think I’m one more late night away from cracking and telling the whole palace, just so George will kill me quick.”

“That bad?”

“That bad. I’ve got nearly ten daily reports to read and condense for George now, plus, you know, the actual war going on that Buri dumped me straight in the middle of, plus finding recruits for next spring when not a parent in the kingdom wants their child in military service, plus--”

Miri cut him off before he could get going. “Let’s take a walk then,” she said, perhaps a bit too quickly, with a prayer to the Trickster that he hadn’t noticed. 

“With what time?”

“With the time before dinner. You look like you need it.”

“It’s below freezing.”

“You love the cold.”

“And you hate it.”

Miri almost sighed before she caught herself. She wasn’t sure how she’d gotten herself in this mess, but there were three gallons of purple paint strung up above his door and Riders waiting with very precise instructions on the roof, so she figured she’d best get moving before something came crashing down.

“I’d brave the cold for you, sir,” she said, with her best, most casual eye roll. “My Commander requires a break, and I’m proud to be of service.” She took on some of his own airs in her reply. She’d discovered in their years of friendship that nothing amused him so much as her attempts to put on his Player airs, and she had a vested interest in getting him outside before the sparrows who had agreed to participate left for the page’s wing and their evening meal. 

He sighed as he pushed his chair back from his desk. “Well, let’s get this over with.”

“What?” Miri asked, doing her best to feign innocence. “Is a walk with your oldest friend that intolerable?”

“Miri, you have the worst poker face of anyone I’ve ever met. I’d actually like to rescind my earlier job offer, based solely on this performance. But if I’m going to get pranked, I’d at least like to make it quick so I can get at the reports you’re currently sitting on.”

His eyes darkened as he looked at the stack of papers beneath her, and he rubbed his eyes again. Close to him for the first time in more than two weeks, she noticed the dark circles under his eyes and the new wrinkles at their corners.

“You really are exhausted,” she commented, a twinge of sympathy turning into guilt in the pit of her stomach at the thought of the large quantities of bread dough waiting to cushion his fall at the foot of Kitten’s ice slide.

“I really am.” Evin was moving towards the door to the courtyard, steeling himself with a deep breath while he removed his tunic and folded it carefully on the chair behind his desk that Miri had avoided. 

The twinge of sympathy she’d felt was now a wave, engulfing her and threatening to make her do something she’d never have considered even a half-hour before: back down. 

“Wait! Maybe don’t...open that yet.” She hopped off his desk, wincing as several of the top papers follow her down. Evin paused, one hand on the door’s latch.

She looked around the room frantically for something long enough and found a poker, propped against the small fireplace in one wall. She grabbed it and leaped over the arm onto the chair where Evin’s tunic sat. She spared a quick giggle at his dramatic wince and then tapped the ceiling above her firmly, twice fast and three times slow. She counted to five and repeated the code for good measure--any good Rider plan, they’d been taught, has an out.

When she looked back down, Evin was smiling. There was a familiar glimmer of amusement in his eyes, one that had been missing for weeks. “What was going to happen?”

“Kitten had made an ice slide, and Johanssen and Norris are on the roof with some purple paint, and I had the bakers set dough at the bottom to cushion you, and, well, things escalate from there. The sparrows are probably gone by now, anyway, and I’m not sure that Onua ever set up the wooden horses, she looked so annoyed when I asked...”

Miri trailed off, as Evin started to laugh. She let out a chuckle or two herself as she watched him lose control in fits of giggles, relieved to find that her friend was still there, under the stress and paperwork.

“You’re going to be great at this, you know,” she commented casually, hoping he knew how much she meant the rare compliment.

“I hope you’re right,” he replied, wiping tears from the corner of his eyes as he caught his breath. “Anyway, could we actually go on a walk, now? I’d gotten rather excited to have an excuse to avoid my paperwork. I’ll even bathe in some of the purple paint, if it’ll make Spiderdeath respect your pranks, which are still absolutely terrible, by the way.”

“No purple paint necessary, but I do know the best spot in the night market for a good pasty, if you’re interested.”

Evin was nodding vigorously as he opened the door before he was promptly doused by several gallons of bright lavender paint. Miri groaned, realizing that her Riders must have rigged the buckets to the door and left for their own evening in the city.

Evin, though, was still smiling. “I’d still love a pasty, if you don’t mind the color,” he commented, holding a dripping arm out to her while he used the other hand to wipe his face.

Miri spared a moment’s thought for her clothes--she did like this shirt--but swallowed it as she took the offered arm and linked her elbow in his. After all, he seemed like he needed the night out.

[oliveiraveiro]

what we keep inside

part 1 of 3 of The Weekend

Open Heart, Rafael x F!MC

series summary: Casey and Rafael try to face their respective feelings and be honest about them to each other. With Sora in the picture, what can happen in short three days? What will happen after?

chapter summary: Not everyone will have fun at the Edenbrook gala.

tags/warning: pining, eventual happy ending, rafael x sora, suggestive thought, mention of alcohol, verbal fight

word count: 2005 / ao3 link / part 2

Friday night.                                

Casey is spending it like how she always did; drinks and karaoke with her friends.

Friday nights are always good nights. It marks the end of her week at work. It is when she can truly relax and decompress from her cases, aside from spending quality time with her friends who are as busy as she is.

So as usual, she was giddy, a half-drunk cocktail in her hand as she watched and cheered Elijah as he belted out the lyrics to Sunflower by Post Malone and Swae Lee.

Casey had a blush on her cheeks that she has been feeling for about an hour now, and she had been smiling more than usual.

She keeps on telling herself it was just the drinks, but she knows deep inside that it had something to do with the brown-eyed man sitting in front of her who decided to join karaoke night tonight.

They were broken up, sure, and he is seeing someone else. But the times they hang out together, even just as friends, still made her happy. He still made her happy.

She steals a glance in his direction, only to find him already looking at her. They both smile at each other, and Casey blushes even more. She can only hope it was not too obvious.

“We’re friends with such singers, aren’t we?” she says with a smile.

“I certainly am. You really did good with your rendition of Famous. Always a Raleigh Carrera fan.” Rafael answers with a teasing grin.

Before she can flush even more, thankfully, Jackie interrupts. “Casey, you gonna buy a new dress for the gala tomorrow?”

Oh, right. The gala. She almost forgot about it already. She quickly noted her wardrobe in her head before answering no.

“I think I have a few that should work for the attire,” she smiles at her, glad for the needed distraction. “Are you? You should definitely check out my closet first, I have a gold formal dress that you’d absolutely love.”

Jackie smiles gratefully at Casey. “I will, thank you.” She turns her attention to Rafael. “How about you, Superman? It’d be nice to see you in a tux.”

“Oh, no, I’m not going.” Rafael says, shyly.

“What? Why not?” Casey was quick to ask him. “You always attend Edenbrook events. This has to be the biggest one yet!”

“Yeah, Raf. The fanciest, too. And the fact that the hospital won’t spend a dime on it is a plus in my book.” Jackie adds.

As soon as the word ‘fancy’ was said, Casey understood. She looks at Rafael with a small frown but does not try to speak again.

“Not the ones that require me to wear a tuxedo. Sorry, Jackie.”

“Aw, man, come on. I was hoping you’d join me to find one to rent tomorrow.” Elijah pipes in, now off the makeshift stage and back to join them.

“I can accompany you, sure, but I still won’t go. You guys know that’s just not my thing. But I do hope you have fun for me.” Rafael gives them a genuine smile.

Jackie is about to speak again, but Casey catches her attention and gives her a look to drop it, and she nods just a little.

“Well, if you change your mind…” Elijah says simply.

“Sure. I’ll…try to think about it more.” Rafael agrees. He ends up meeting Casey’s eyes, and he immediately gives her a sheepish look.

His mind is most likely not going to change, and they both know that Casey knew that. Reassuring him, she smiles and gives him a small wink.

She is just about to speak again to try and change the topic, but Sienna decides to join them again then, inviting her for a dance.

Casey agrees, letting Sienna take her hand, and before she can pull her into the dance floor, she gives Rafael a knowing look.

He smiles up at her again, his eyes lighting up at the familiar gesture, but Casey was pulled away by Sienna before she could see the also obvious elation in his eyes.

Saturday night.

To say that Casey looked beautiful is an understatement.

She is wearing an emerald green dress, matched with some black high heels that Rafael thinks can definitely be wielded as a weapon if needed. It only added to how sexy she looked. Her red hair is more wavy than her usual do, but is still swept to the side. She is wearing quite some makeup, but it suits her well, and all that is on Rafael’s mind as soon as he saw Casey tonight was how stunning she is.

Sure, attending this gala was far from how he planned to spend the night. But what happened already happened, and he is here now. He is more than thankful to be graced by Casey’s appearance.

He continued watching her rub elbows with some big-names, long enough for he himself to feel uncomfortable. Only then he realizes that he has been alone with his drink for quite a while now. With how much Sora tried convincing him that it will be such a great idea to attend tonight’s event, that it will be such a terrific date, he naturally expected her to be by his side. But only god knows which important person she is schmoozing with right now.

For maybe the twentieth time tonight, he lets out a sigh, finishing up his drink. Elijah! Yeah, he can probably try to find him.

Just as he is about to take another look around the room, Casey takes up his view. She gives him a friendly smile.

“Hey, stranger,” she greets. “Something wrong with your drink?”

Realizing that he is frowning, Rafael quickly schools his features, and for the first time tonight he grins.

“Something like that. I probably need something stronger, or-- actually I think beer is better.”

Casey laughs softly. “Not sure if we can find a pint, but we can probably help ourselves to a glass of whiskey. Or five.”

“Getting cozy with the rich and powerful exhausting you?” He asks her, seeing through her smiles and laugh, eyebrows furrowing again in concern.

“Barely starting and I am already very exhausted.” She sighs, easing off on the charm. “And you? You don’t look like you’re having a blast either.”

Rafael is grateful that she did not directly ask him what made him change his mind on going. But well, that is who Casey was. She hated confrontation as much as he did, which is why they were still friends, despite recently going through a breakup.

“Yeah, you know I’d rather be staying at home.” He sighed softly, looking down at his drink for a moment as he debated whether to tell her more or not. “Sora insisted that we attend. It was supposed to be a date, but…”

Casey nods as Rafael trails off, seeing how he is unhappy tonight, even more with talking about why he was. Still, she is unable to bite back a comment. “A date, huh?” she repeats.

Rafael chuckles, quick to realize what she means by that. On their first official date, he is the one who told her that he and the word fancy just do not fit together nicely.

Now he was here in this fancy gala, in a fancy tuxedo although rented, drinking a fancy drink. Casey can sense his discomfort, but although him being here tonight is not ideal for him, she thanks the stars in the night sky. He looks so dashing and handsome.

If he looked good in his casual clothes, he is mighty fine in black tie. It takes all of Casey’s concentration to meet his eyes the whole time and not check out his body and think about getting rid of his jacket, his bow tie, his vest, then proceed to unbutton his dress shirt slowly, all the while running her hands along…shit.

“I know,” he sighs. “At least I got to see you and spend time with you. And…the others…later.”

She grins at that, making sure she focuses on his face this time, nodding a little. “Come on, I know where they are. Elijah’s hell-bent on making everyone try playing poker tonight.”

Rafael gives her a surprised look, although he already starts following her.

“There’s a table labeled broke players only, I promise.” She clarifies and they laugh together as they head towards the rest of the gang.

“This was supposed to be a date night, Rafael! Surely you can’t possibly be mad at me that I’m upset to find you hanging out with your friends and ex-girlfriend.” About an hour later, Sora almost shouts as she follows Rafael out of the hospital.

Are you serious? Rafael thinks to himself, but he bites back his tongue. “I’m not mad, Sora, I just don’t think that was necessary or appropriate--”

“Why? Because you still like her? You don’t want me kissing you when she’s around?”

“You call that kissing? You could’ve sucked the lips out of my mouth! In public!” Rafael tries his hardest not to raise his voice but getting through her right now is just impossible.

Sora usually keeps her resolve. But when she gets drunk or tipsy, this foreign version of her, the one who loves fights, just comes out not to play but to yell at Rafael.

Actually, even without the influence of alcohol, he has been well-acquainted with her lately. Things between them have been less than perfect, obviously so, because this relationship, them, should be easy and comfortable, but for a few weeks now it has been anything but. They should really talk about it because their relationship turned out to be the opposite of both their expectations, Rafael notes in his head.

He will definitely not be putting it off anymore. He knows he already said that the last time they had a misunderstanding, but it will happen. Totally. He is not sure when, but surely, someday. Hopefully-- no, certainly, before she ends up deciding to break up with him.

“Look, I really don’t want to fight. All I want right now is to go home, so please get in the car and I’ll drive you to your apartment.” Rafael says in a calm voice.

“Let me guess, now you’re gonna tell me that you never wanted to go here in the first place? That you’re right about not wanting to go? And it’s all my fault that you’re flirting with your ex--”

“Sora, please, I swear to you I wasn’t flirting with--”

“Maybe I basically forced you to go with me tonight, Raf. That’s on me. But you were, and anyone with eyes would see all the sparks flying between the two of you. This is the reason why you didn’t even tell me you dated, right? This is why I had to ask specifically if you two had history.” She is finally calmed down, but somehow there is more bite to her words.

Dropping the hammer, Sora continues. “You still have feelings for her.”

Rafael inhales sharply, feeling the rising panic in his chest. “What- I- No…”

“I’d say you’re convincing me and not yourself, but I know better.” Sora chuckles humorlessly. “God.” she sighs deeply, rubbing her forehead with both hands in frustration. “I should’ve known better. Your heart is big, Raf, I’ve always known that. But not too big for me to be sharing your love with someone else, no matter how much you try to deny it.”

“Sora, please, let me just--” he tries to grab her hand, and she lets him, but he notices she looks past his shoulder.

“Talk to her, really talk to her. It’s about time you do.” Sora says, taking his keys. “I’m still buzzed so I’ll wait for you in the car. Take as long as you need.”

Rafael was confused for a moment, but he soon feels the eyes boring on the back of her head. He turns around, freezing upon seeing her.

“Casey…”

[ninliane]

Could i please ask for crush hcs from the P.O.V of Akaashi, Sugawara, and Kenma with the popular "cool guy" reader who's just a complete dork? Thanks and good luck with your blog!

I assume since you said ‘cool guy’ the reader is male, but if i was wrong please tell me and I’ll change it! :> Each of of these is unique cause I had different moods when writing each of them: Akaashi’s is kinda a scenario, Suga’s is headcanon, and Kenma is both! I hope you like themm :DD (I made it the opposite for Kenma though haha)

Thank you so much for the support! 

—————

cool popular s/o who’s actually a dork

Kenma Kozume

Yeah he didn’t care at all that (y/n) moved in

Good looks? So what?

Smart in academics? Good for you

Good in sports? Ok sure but try beating my team

He didn’t get nor care why all the girls and guys in his class were fawning over him

“Kozume-san, could you help me with this?” (y/n) charmingly smiled

All eyes were on (y/n) almost the entire class period, most burning with jealousy that the quiet one got the attention from him

“The answer’s 2.0” Kenma simply replied, not looking up

(y/n) paused for a bit, before smiling, “Thanks.”

He could feel his classmates eyes staring daggers at him because of how he treated the oh-so-popular prince of the class

While walking home Kenma heard a voice from an alley of the street, normally he would ignore these things but there would be a cutoff on electricity at home for an hour so he didn’t want to deal with that

Walking down the alley he peered out to the corner

‘This better not be Lev..’

“Kitty cat kitty cat you have kitty fat fat fat fat and make it go pat pat pa- aUGHCk”

As (y/n) pet the cat’s belly, the cat got tired of it and scratched his face, a little blood coming out of his forehead

(y/n) felt his cheeks heat up as he turned his head and saw the setter

‘Way to embarrass yourself in front of your crush..’

“Uh, Kozume-san..” he began

“Follow me, my house is nearby.” Kenma simply said and walked away

(y/n) stared at the walking figure in a bit of shock before smiling and getting up

Sugawara Koshi

As soon as this guy moved in I bet you Sugawara knew him already

(y/n) does some super cool sport like fencing

Luckily he fences in the place across Sugawara’s cafe where he studies so he would often watch him

He never saw him up close so when (y/n) sat next to him…boy he definitely underestimated his look

I mean if looks could kill he’d be a dead man 

But Sugawara wouldn’t get nervous at all! In fact he’d get a lot more friendly towards him!

He’s not shy at all but he would have a habit of over laughing whenever (y/n) says a joke

“ahhahhahahahahHA ohhhhhhhhhhhh (y/n) you’re so funny!” and he would put his hand on his shoulder 

Daichi and Asahi are so tired of it tbh

But one day he catches (y/n) in the music room doing a weird dance 

He also saw his phone resting on the table recording him

Sugawara has no idea what it is but he decided to watch anyway for the laughs, but at the same time not believing what he was seeing cause he did not expect this 

(y/n) was singing this song in english and though Sugawara’s skills there weren’t as good, he picked up: ‘why, obsessed, me, and lying’

He had no idea what was going on but he enjoyed watching anyway :>

Akaashi Keiji

“AKAAAASHIIIJSFDSBSDJFN”

“Bokuto-san, please control yourself.” the setter replied

“But Akaashi! Isn’t there a new student in your class?” Bokuto said eagerly and rose his hand, “you know, the really tall one!” This was news to Akaashi.

He was always acutely aware of who entered and exited his classroom, so to miss someone, especially a tall person..

“Why do you ask?” Akaashi faced Bokuto. “Cause with that height he could be a great asset to the team!” Bokuto smiled, “I also heard from the girls in my class that he’s extremely good looking!”

As if on cue the two players heard squeals from various girls outside of the classroom and their voices could definitely be heard

“(l/n)-senpai! Please accept this!”

“No fair! I was going to give him my lunch first!”

“You can sit next to me (l/n)-senpai!”

Bokuto started laughing “See Akaashi? Even the first year girls came all the way here to adore him.”

This (l/n) had now walked in and for some reason Bokuto felt a cold breeze enter the room and shivered

“Urgh, did you feel that?”

But Akaashi wasn’t cold at all, nope. In fact once (l/n) had stepped into the room, the setter felt his face heat up

He tried to let this all pass by…but it was hard since (l/n) was sitting *right* next to him

The way (l/n) read English perfectly, how he solved all of the equations on the board..

Oh and this one time he was able to borrow notes from him and saw just how neat and pretty (l/n)’s handwriting was.

It was official that with all the good looks and intelligence, Akaashi was starting to fall for him

When the next day came, Akaashi looked around for him before school started to ask him about some school work

(this dork just wanted to borrow his notes again so they could study together)

Keiji was about to give up and walk back in the building when he heard some leaves rustling from the tree behind him

“Yesyes!” “Arghhh noo!!!!”

He heard the familiar voice that usually made his face heat up, but this time it got him curious

“Wait wait wait!!” and there was silence…. “CRITICAL HIT!! YESS STAGE CLEARED!!!” (y/n) stood up with his hands in the air, and what seemed to be a Nintendo Switch in one of them.

He sat back down, closed his Switch and sighed in relief. “At least I was able to defeat Edelgar-”

(y/n) was cut off from his own words as he saw a certain pretty setter just staring at him with that poker face look

This time it was (y/n)’s turn to go red and he began stuttering. “O-oh gosh, please don’t tell me you saw that!”

Akaashi, a bit surprised replied, “Um, yeah I sorta did.”

(y/n) put his hands over his face and groaned, “Aaarghhhh,” he then look up, ran towards Akaashi and held up his hands with his own

“Hey Akaashi-san, please I’m begging you! Please don’t tell the teachers you saw me with my Switch today! I’ll do anything, I’ll promise!”

The sudden contact with his hands caused Akaashi to become visibly red and it was clear he couldn’t hide it anymore

“Y-yeah sure..” he managed to get out

(y/n) smiled and winked “Great! It’ll be our little secret then.”

[kooks3uphoria]

A/N: I’m gonna be honest and say that it’s been a hard week and I wrote this for the sake of putting something out for you guys. I don’t really have a title for it. The plot is kinda non-existent and I don’t really know where I was going with this. I have a list of ideas that i want to write about but I’m not really getting any feedback which obviously isn’t required or anything but I just don’t know if you guys are enjoying what I put out and it’s kinda making me lose the want to write. 

Anyways, Jungkook is kinda shy in this? Gets a little bold at the end but goes back to being a soft baby. I don’t really have a description cause I don’t know how to summarize whats going on. This wont be going on my masterlist until i figure out what to call it but I hope you enjoy!

You weren’t necessarily someone who looked for trouble but it always managed to find you. Whether it’s in the form of a fight or just sticking up for the people you care for, you were always the winner in those scenarios. This led to the label of “bad girl” being slapped on your forehead and is now what you’re known as in college. Almost everyone at your college knew about you and were warned not to get on your bad side. All the stories circling around campus along with your resting bitch face made it easy to believe. Only a selected few knew about what happened the night you were officially deemed a certified bad bitch but everyone else knew from past or more recent stories. 

Out of all of the stories you and your friends have heard, the most popular one by far was the one where you snatched a girls weave off during a fight and proceeded to bash her bare head in outside a club. the problem with that is that it was the only part of the story that everyone talked about. If people knew what happened prior to you beating her ass into a bloody pulp, they would’ve thought it was standing in your friend’s defence which turned physical. It wasn’t your fault she was basically trying to sexually assault one of your best friends. 

The night started off fine. You went out to drink with a couple of friends. You, Lisa, Rosé, Wendy, Hoseok and Jimin were all seated at the bar. You were all laughing and chatting until this girl came up to Hoseok. She got really touchy with him while they started talking. Hoseok was too nice for his own good and couldn’t outright tell her to stop when he started feeling uncomfortable. He was trying to subtly push her hands away but this girl just couldn’t take the hint. It was when her hands dipped down and rested on top of his crotch that he started looking around desperately. Luckily for him, you were watching the whole time, not getting a good vibe from this girl the moment she walked over. When he looked over at you, you were already looking at him and the panic that shined in his eyes was your cue to step in. 

Things got physical fast and the whole beating her head thing occurred after the two of you shared a couple of colourful words. Both Jimin and Hoseok managed to pull you off of her before you all left her. Videos were recorded and shared but other than that nothing happened since it was considered another catfight. 

While most of the other stories were tamer than this one, it didn’t stop you from getting scared looks from the girls and heart eyes from the guys. To put it simply, the girls were scared of you and the guys wanted a bad bitch on their arms to flaunt. You couldn’t care less about them. You were just trying to get to your 8 am class without actually giving in to the idea of dropping out. Not that you were a bad student or anything but these professors started getting on your nerves. 

You walked through the door and took a seat closer to the back of the lecture hall. You were sipping your coffee with your eyes closed when you felt someone sit down beside you. You opened one of your eyes to see that Jimin was the person who occupied the seat next to you. 

“Are you coming to the game with us tonight?” Jimin asked, motioning toward Lisa and Wendy.

“I mean like, I guess I’ll go. Hoseok already asked me to go to the last couple of games he had and I didn’t show cause I was binging Greys Anatomy so I guess I have to go,” you said, throwing your head back at the thought of having to go out tonight.

“Well, Yoongi is the captain of the team so I have to go to support and these two want to go just to look at the other guys on the team so,” Jimin said, trailing off at the end. You let out a little scoff.

“Wow, when did you start dating again? Like last week? And already going to his games? Jimin’s whipped!” you said loudly so that others around you could hear. This earned you a smack on the arm by Jimin, a couple of eyes looking over to the two of you and chuckles from both Lisa and Wendy. Just as Jimin was about to retaliate, the professor walked in and the sound of her painfully monotoned voice reverberated through the room. 

It was currently 5:30 pm and the game starts at six. You were definitely going to be late but better late than never. You put on an oversized hoodie and a pair of black skinny jeans before throwing some slides on and walking out the door with your phone and keys in your hand. If you took the bus, you could get there in 15 minutes but just like any other college student, you were broke and walked to save a couple of dollars for your next meal. You got there a little after six and found your friends quickly since they were the loudest ones there and were seated in the very front. 

You took a seat next to Rosé and took your phone out. You were going to start scrolling through your Instagram feed but the crowd suddenly went crazy. You looked up and saw Hoseok hanging off the rim of the net. Your eyes widened at the realization of what just happened. Putting your phone back into your pocket, you stood up and joined your friends cheering. You felt a pair of eyes on you and your eyes scanned the bleachers before scanning the court. You eventually locked eyes with the point guard, who shyly looked away after getting caught. You don’t know why but you felt a little tingle of sorts in your stomach and couldn’t figure out what it was.

Once the game was over, you and your friends waited by their locker rooms for them to come out. For some reason, the whole team came out at the same time. Usually,  they would trickle out one by one so you were surprised when all 14 of them walked out the door. When hoseok walked out the door, his eyes lit up when he saw you. You made your way through the people and threw your hands up for a hug. 

“Who knew little Hobi could be so good at ball? You’ve gotten better since the last time I saw you play,” you cooed, pinching his cheek. He scoffed and pushed your hand away.

“Yea, that’s because the last time you saw me play was like the first game of the season,” you shrugged at his words as the others came over to congratulate Hoseok.

You separated yourself from the group and pulled out your phone. Before you could turn it on, you felt someone’s presence nearing you. You looked up to find the little doe-eyed point guard making his way towards you. The tingles in your stomach returned and a smile made its way on your face. You barely even know this kid so why is he able to make you feel this way? From the brief stories Hoseok told you, occasionally seeing him on campus and in some of your classes, you knew of him but never spoke. 

“Hey,” he greeted you. Even though he was on the basketball team he didn’t carry the same cocky attitude some of the other players sported. 

“Hey,” You said, tucking some of your hair behind your ear.

“It’s really nice that you came out to support Hoseok hyung today. He played a lot better today, probably cause his girlfriend came,” He said chuckling. Your eyes widened at his words. 

“He’s not my boyfriend!” You said way faster and louder than you wanted to. This earned you a couple of weird looks from your friends and some of the members of the team.

“Oh. Sorry, I didn’t mean to assume but the hug you gave him when he came out and you pinching his cheek like that, it...it just kinda made me think that you were together since-,” you chuckled at his rambling. You could see the panic in his eyes.

“You don’t have to explain. He’s one of my closest friends but we aren’t like that. I just tease him like that,” you cut him off. Jungkook was about to say something but was cut off once again, this time by Hoseok who threw his arm over his shoulder. 

“Jungkook, I see you’ve met (Y/N). She’s kind of stupid so I wouldn’t recommend hanging out with her for long periods of time just in case she kills your brain cells-” Hoseok rambling was cut short by a smack at the side of his head, courtesy of you. You were now in a glaring match with Hoseok. Your attention was quickly drawn away from said man when you heard the most heavenly sound. Your eyes softened at the sight of Jungkook letting out little giggles at you two. 

“Well anyways, me and (Y/N) have to go since she promised me ice cream after the game,” 

“I never promised you shi-” 

“Jungkook, would you like to come,” well, that shut you up. You both looked at said man, waiting for an answer. Jungkook smiled softly at you before answering. 

“I would love to,” you felt your lips curling up in a smile.

“But my grandmother is actually in the hospital right now and I promised I would visit her today,” your smile dropped at the fact that he couldn’t come with you but your heart warmed at how sweet he was.

“Oh, sorry to hear that. Is she alright?” you asked. As bad as it sounds, if it was anyone else, you wouldn’t care enough to ask. 

“She’s fine. She had a minor surgery earlier this week but she isn’t allowed to leave until a couple of days from now,” Jungkook said scratching the back of his neck. Usually, you were very good at keeping your emotions to yourself and keeping your poker face on at all times but right now, anyone could clearly see how soft you were turning for this boy. 

“Hope she has a smooth recovery dude, but we should get going,” Hoseok said, now throwing his arm over your shoulder. 

“Oh yeah, of course. Sorry again for not being able to join you guys,” 

“Don’t worry about it. Next time, yeah?” You said to which he nodded back. You all said your goodbyes and went your separate ways. You friends left together and Jimin left with his new boyfriend, which left you and Hoseok to go and get ice cream by yourselves. 

“Jungkookie huh?” Hoseok said, smirk on his face, not even looking at you. You scoffed.

“What about him?” you said, down at the flavours on display. 

“Come on (Y/N), we’ve been friends for how long? I think I know when my best friend likes someone,” 

“How could I possibly like him? This was the first time I’ve talked to him,” you don’t know why you’re getting so defensive all of a sudden but the idea of Jungkook made your stomach churn. 

“A lot can happen when you first talk to someone. Don’t deny it. There’s no use. I see right through you,” before you could say anything, the worker behind the counter asked for your orders. 

You couldn’t sleep well that night. Hoseok’s words ringing through your head. 

~~~~

The next day, you woke up with a pounding headache. Was it the fact that you only got 3 hours of sleep? Possibly. Was it the fact that you went to sleep with wet hair? Doubt it but whatever. You rolled out of bed and got ready for your 10 am lecture. You walked into Starbucks for your regular order of overpriced caffeine. What you weren’t expecting this morning was to run into Jungkook. He saw you walk in and your eyes went from barely opened to wide and alert. There was a person between the two of you in line but Jungkook let him cut in front of him so he would stand beside you.

“Hey! How are you?” he asked sweetly. You returned his smile.

“Could be better. My head is pounding,” you said, letting your eyes fall closed for a second. When your eyes reopened it was met with a concerned-looking Jungkook. 

“Do you want some medicine? I think I have some Advil in my bag,” he said. Not waiting for a reply, he swung his bag over to his front and began looking through it. He pulled out a small bottle of pills and handed it to you. 

“Thank you Jungkook, but I don’t have any water or anything,” you said letting out a little chuckle, scratching the back of your head. He nodded before rummaging through his bag again, this time pulling out a plastic water bottle, opening it and then handing it too you. You smiled at him and quickly downed two pills. Once you were done, it was your turn to order. Jungkook ordered an iced caramel macchiato while you ordered an iced vanilla latte. Jungkook looked through his bag for his wallet to pay but you beat him to it, paying with the card you connected to your phone. The girl handed you a receipt and you grabbed Jungkooks arm, pulling him out of the way. 

“You didn’t have to pay for me,” he said with a little pout on his lips since you wasted your money on him. 

“Don’t worry about it. Think of it as a thank you for the Advil,” you said smiling at him. He seemed reluctant at first but said his thanks anyways. You got your drinks and began walking towards the lecture hall. The both of you talked the whole journey there and you were a little sad when he walked in the other direction towards the rooms his lecture was in. You sighed but walked into your lecture. 

Halfway through your lecture, your phone vibrated against your thigh. You took it out of your pocket and saw it was an unknown number. 

647-***-****

Hey

It’s Jungkook

I asked Hobi hyung for your number

I hope you don’t mind

You quickly saved his contact and texted him for the remainder of the lesson. Rosé tried looking over your shoulder a couple of times but you always leaned away when she did. It’s not like you were doing anything wrong by texting him. You just didn’t need your friends in your business right now. Once they know, the teasing would never stop. 

~~~~

You and Jungkook ended up hanging out a lot throughout the month. By the end of the first week, you guys made it a habit to meet at Starbucks and walk together. 

It was currently Saturday and you and Jungkook decided to meet at the Starbucks and get some work done down there. You were sitting at opposite sides of the table sipping your coffee and finishing some work when Jungkook decided to speak. 

“You know, you’re nothing like how they describe you,” You roll your eyes at his statement.

“What did you think I was going to be like?” you asked, shutting your laptop.

“Well, after everything I’ve heard, I thought you were going to be cold. I was honestly reluctant to speak to you the day of the game,” he said chuckling.

“Everything they say about me is taken out of context. They never know what happens before or after the situation. They only care that I’ve gotten into some pretty nasty fights,” he proceeded to name some of the stories that he’s heard, which you cleared up, explaining what led to them. 

“How about the time you got into it with Sana?” You laughed at the memory.

“That one doesn’t have a story. To be honest, she just really annoyed me and something she said that day ticked me off,” Jungkook chuckled at your honesty. You really didn’t want to listen to Hoseok but maybe you did like Jungkook. Gosh, it’s barely been a month and you think you like this guy. What has happened to you? You literally haven’t taken interest in anyone after your sophomore year in high school. 

Eventually, you and Jungkook parted ways and you made your way back to your apartment. When you unlocked the door, you weren’t that surprised to see Hoseok lounging on your couch with a bowl of popcorn in his lap. He looked at you when he heard the door opening and waved you over. You sat down beside him and grabbed some popcorn, looking over at the T.V to see what he was watching. I

“Where were you?” he asked, pausing the movie.

“I was at Starbucks with Jungkook,” he smirked at you, wiggling his eyebrows in a suggestive way. You gave him a little shove as your cheeks flushed with pink.

“I might actually like him Hoseok. What do I do?” you groaned out. Hoseok looks at you with wide eyes. He teased you for liking him but he didn’t think you would actually admit it. After what happened to you during your sophomore year, he really didn’t think that you would ever date again. You spent a whole 2 weeks crying to him after that breakup. You’ve sworn off boys ever since. It was a scary topic for you. You were hurt so badly by what happened. It felt like someone ripped your heart out of your chest and stomped on it. 

The more you thought about your feelings, the more anxious you got. Eventually, you felt like you couldn’t breathe. You felt tears prickling at your eyes, threatening to fall. Hoseok saw and set the popcorn on the table before wrapping his arms around you. His cheek rested on the top of your head as you cried. 

“Look, I know Jungkook alright. Even though he hasn’t said anything, I know he likes you. I see the way he looks at you when you briefly visit us during our practices. He wouldn’t do what that dumbass did to you all those years back. Don’t cry, baby. You’ll be fine. I’ll be with you through everything and if he does anything, I’ll rip his balls off myself,” his words calmed you. You couldn’t help but chuckle at his empty threat. What would you do without Hoseok?

~~~~

You found yourself sitting across from Jungkook once again today. You guys made it a weekly thing now. A couple of months have passed and although you don’t know if Jungkook feels the same, you’ve been falling deeper and deeper into this hole of feelings for the guy. Hoseok always said it was obvious how much he likes you but you didn’t want to get your hopes up too high. 

You were writing down some notes when you felt a pair of eyes on you. You looked up and saw that Jungkook was staring at you. On normal days, he would immediately look away, but today, he kept eye contact with you. Before he could stop himself, the words fell from his lips.

“How are you so beautiful?” when he processed what he said, his eyes went wide and he looked away. You felt your cheeks heating up at his words and your hand came up to your face to try and cool it down. You didn’t look back up yet but you heard Jungkook mutter out a little ‘fuck it’.

“(Y/N),” you looked up as he called your name. He hesitated for a second before saying,

“I know we haven’t known each other for long but I really like you,” he said in one breathe. Your breath hitched. You sat there staring at him for a while. The silence he was met with was killing him. He did it. He ruined your blossoming friendship. He started frantically packing his things, trying to save himself the humiliation when you finally grew some balls and spoke.

“I really like you to Jungkook,” you said, giving him a small smile. His movements halted and he looked at you with wide eyes. 

“Please let me take you out on a proper date,”

“I would love that,” you honestly don’t think you’ve ever smiled so big in your life. 

~~~~~

All that could be heard through the apartment was squealing, mostly coming from Hoseok and Lisa. Jimin rosé and Wendy were silently jumping up and down at your news. 

“So where are you guys going? What’s the vibe we’re going for? Sluty or casual? Are we trying to seduce him or?” Wendy asked. She was about to continue but was cut off by rosé. 

“She’s going on a date, not to a club you idiot. She has to look nice but not like she put in hours of work into herself. We have to wait until at least the third date to seduce him,” the three girls dragged you to your room. 

While rosé was picking out what you were going to wear for the night, Wendy worked on your makeup and Lisa was figuring out what to do with your hair. 

You walked out of your room about an hour later and saw jimin and hoseok laid out on your couch, phones in hand. Lisa coughed from behind you and both their heads shot up. 

“Wow, who’s this gorgeous little lady?” Jimin said, getting up to grab your hand and spinning you. 

You were wearing some skinny jeans with a black tube top and Lisa’s jean jacket you stole from her a couple of months ago. It wasn’t anything special but you also didn’t sport your usual bum look. Your hair was slightly curled and you had very natural makeup on. Hoseok didn’t have time to compliment you as you heard a knock on the door. Hoseok walked you to the door while the others hid in your living room. You opened the door as Hoseok stood behind you. 

The door swung open and there jungkook stood in all his glory. He was wearing black jeans, a white shirt with a leather jacket on top. It was simple but he looked so good. The both of you stood there for a while just looking at each other before Hoseok broke the silence. 

“Have her back by 10:30. No later or I will hunt you down Jeon. Have fun sweets,” with his final words, hoseok shoves you out the door and slammed the door in your face. 

“You look great,” he said shyly. 

“You do too,” offering him a smile, you held out your hand. He quickly grabbed hold of it and laced your fingers together. 

He ended up bringing you to the movies. He bought tickets to the newest marvel movie that came out. You didn’t have a problem with it since you wanted to see it too. You tried paying for the snacks since he paid for the tickets but he didn’t let you. Saying and I quote, “Can’t let the lady pay on the first date. That’s rude and I’m a gentleman” you rolled your eyes at his statement but just went with it. The movie was good. You and Jungkook share little whispers and giggles throughout the movie. You were honestly surprised you guys didn’t get shushed. 

When you came out, the both of you flinched at the light coming from the street lamps. Your hands never left each other’s for long. Jungkook insisted on walking you back home and on your way, you guys passed an ice cream shop. You ended up dragging him in with you. You managed to convince him to let you pay for it and you guys walked out hand in hand and cones in the other. You ended up going for a stroll in the local park. 

“You wanna try some of mine?” You asked, seeing him eye your cone. His eyes brightened and he nodded enthusiastically. Chuckling, you brought your cone up to his mouth and he slurped obnoxiously at the ice cream. You rolled your eyes before bringing it back and licking it to fix the now deformed part of the ice cream. Finishing your ice cream, you somehow ended up in a game of tag with Jungkook. The both of you running around the open space like children. You were running at full speed, not looking back but jungkook was right on your tail. Grabbing a hold of your waist he pulled you back, towards him. You lost your footing and felt yourself falling. You closed your eyes preparing for the impact but it never came. You opened your eyes and saw jungkook looking down at you with his little bunny smile on his face. Your arms made their way up his chest and around his neck as he pulled you up, his hands remaining on your waist. 

“Can I kiss you?” He asked, looking right into your eyes. Not being able to form words, you nodded and before you knew it, his lips were on yours. His lips were soft and sweet with the remaining flavour of his ice cream. You pulled him closer, before pulling away for air. Looking into his eyes made you nervous so you rested your forehead on his chest. You felt the vibrations in his chest as he chuckled. He wrapped his arms around you and the two of you stayed like that for a while, just basking in each other’s company. 

You walked back to your apartment hand in hand, with the biggest smiles on both your faces. When you made it to your apartment complex, the two of you stopped outside the lobby. 

“Thank you jungkook. For everything. I had a lot of fun,” you said, standing in front of him. His hands slid out of yours and settled on the dip of your waist, pulling you in for a hug. 

“Is this a bad time to ask if you want to be my girlfriend?” You blush at his words, shaking your head against his chest. He pulled away from you and grabbed both of your hands in his. 

“Give me the pleasure of calling you mine?” The blush never left your cheeks as you nodded. Jungkook walked you up to your unit and before you could even pull out your keys, your door swung open all of your friends standing in the doorway. 

“You’re very late,” Hoseok said. 

“We were worried sick!” Jimin called from behind the crowd. You pulled out your phone and looked at the time. 

“It’s 10:37 you pieces of shit,” 

“Still! I said 10:30!” You were going to smack Hoseok. 

“Sorry hyung. It was my fault,” jungkook said even though he did nothing wrong and your friends were just stupid. 

“Damn right it’s your fault. I was about to call the police!” Lisa called out. You rolled your eyes. You felt yourself getting spun around and were face to face with jungkook again. 

“Sorry I got you home late babe. I’m gonna go before Hoseok hyung actually beats me up,” he said chuckling, leaning down to peck your lips before waving to your friends and turning on his heel, walking towards the elevator. You waited for him to walk into the elevator before turning around. All your friends stood there, jaw dropped. 

“Go inside you idiots,” you said, pushing them all inside. You spent the night telling them all the details of your date. Squeals were bouncing off your walls all night, you were surprised you didn’t get any complaints. They all left your place around 3 in the morning giving you time to wash up and go to bed. 

The next day, you got up and got ready for your 10 am lecture. You walked out of your apartment with sweats and a sweater on. Your hair was in a messy bun and your bag slung over your shoulder. You were rubbing your eyes as you walked out the lobby. 

“Wow (Y/N), is this how you treat your boyfriend?” You stopped in your tracks. Your head whipped around and you were met with jungkook staring back at you with amusement in his eyes. He walked up to your shocked form and grabbed your hand. 

“Come on babe, we don’t want to be late,” he said, dragging you out the door. You and Jungkook walked together all the time but this was the first time you walked in hand in hand. You got looks from everyone. Some looked at the two of you in jealousy and others in shock. Jungkook gave you a little peck before you parted ways. 

~~~~~

“My game is tomorrow night. You’re coming right?” Jungkook said, looking down at you as the two of you cuddled on your couch. 

“Of course. I’ll be right at the front so you better do good,” you said, poking his cheek. He gave you a little chuckle before you two focused back on the movie that was playing on the T.V. 

You looked up at jungkook, admiring his profile. You don’t remember the last time you were so happy with someone. Jungkook made you feel like yourself. He made you feel like you were floating on a cloud. You have been dating for a little over a week and it has been the best week you’ve had in a while. You don’t need any more time to know that you’re utterly in love with this man. 

~~~~

It was the night of the game and you actually got there early. You walked through the big gym doors and saw the boys practicing. They waved as they saw you. Jungkook ran over to give you a quick peck before going back to practice. Hoseok looked at you in bewilderment since you were one of the first people to get there. Your eyes followed Jungkook as he ran around, doing drills to prepare for the game for a while before you pulled out your phone. The rest of your friends eventually made their way into the gym and sat in the seats you saved for them. 

“Look who’s here early. What did you say the other day about someone being whipped?” Jimin teased to which you rolled your eyes. You would retaliate but there was nothing to deny. You were whipped for this guy and you couldn’t say anything about it. 

The game went smoothly and your boys won. You all decided to go out for dinner as a celebration for winning. You were sat in between jungkook and jimin at the Korean BBQ place you guys went to. Even though you were fully capable of grilling your own meat, jungkook insisted he do it and he ended up piling towers of meat onto your plate. You all had a great time but you were beginning to get annoyed at these girls sitting a couple of tables down from you. They were loud and obnoxious but the reason they were really beginning to piss you off was because one of the girls sitting there was eyeing up your boyfriend. You were going to get up and say something but Both Jungkook and Jimin told you to just ignore it. 

Once all of you were done, you paid and left. The bunch of you were talking and joking around in front of the Korean BBQ place when the group of girls that annoyed you walked out. You were to busy laughing at something Hoseok said you didn’t realize the girl that had been eyeing Jungkook the whole night made her way over to him. Your laugh died down at the sight of this bitch sliding her hand down the length of Jungkook's arm. You stood there for a second, the anger building as Jungkokk did nothing to stop her. When you saw her place her hand on his chest, giggling at something he said, your body moved on it’s own and you walked over there, placing yourself in between the two. 

“Someone should really teach you how to keep your hands to yourself and off my boyfriend” you said, grabbing her wrist and throwing her hand off your man. 

“You’re his girlfriend? Pft. He could do better,” you couldn’t even describe how close you were to swinging at her. 

“Call me when you’re ready for a good time sweets,” she said, using her hand to signal a phone. She gave him a wink before turning around. Your body moved fast and before you could stop yourself, your hand was gripping her hair and yanking down, making her fall to the ground. People around you have stopped to watch the scene play out. She was sat on the floor, hands grabbing at the hand that still securely held on to her hair. 

“Say that shit again bitch. See what happens,” your grip only tightened as she screamed out in pain. 

“Let go you crazy bitch!” This would’ve been bashing a bitches head in 2.0 if it weren’t for Jungkook snaking his arm around your waist, calming you down. You eventually let go and her friends helped her up before they all ran off. You let out a sigh and blew your hair out of your face. Jungkook turned you around so you were now face to face with him. He was sporting a little smirk on his face. 

“Damn, was my baby girl jealous?” You scoffed at him. 

“Wouldn’t need to be if you didn’t let her feel you up like that,” you were honestly over it and pushed yourself out of his grip, proceeding to walk back to your apartment. So much for having a good night.

~~~

You didn’t go to class the next day. You didn’t want to see him. You know it was childish. Skipping classes to avoid a boy but you felt a little bit of your heart crumble last night. Especially when he didn’t bother coming after you. 

You were chilling in your room the whole day, only coming out to get food. It was about 5 pm when you heard a knock at the door. You didn’t invite anyone over and you didn’t order any food so who was it? You tiptoed to the door in case it was jungkook. If it was then you could just tiptoe back to your room and act as if you weren’t home. At the sight of his face through the peephole, you were about to do just that but looking down at the flowers in his hands made your heart melt. Even though you felt soft at how cute he was, you willed yourself to put on a mad face as you open the door. You were easy to crack though. His little smile as he held out the flowers for you to take broke you. 

“I’m sorry baby. I’m sorry I let her do that. I should’ve shoved her off right when she started. I’m terrible and I feel gross letting her touch me like that. Will you forgive me?” His smile dropped as a look of disappointment appeared in his face. You hate how this man is able to break down your walls so easily. You were supposed to be mad! How did he make you feel bad about this? His expression made your heart hurt. 

You walked out and slid your arms around his torso, resting your head on his chest. He let out a sigh before you felt him wrap his arms around you and his head rest against yours. 

“I guess I’ll forgive you. But you have to cuddle me tonight. All night. That’s your punishment,” he chuckled at your words. 

“Jokes on your babe. I was planning to do that anyways,” 

[cyrusharlow]

All in on a pair of Queens

“I thought we were friends, Marls.” Dorcas’s voice cracked slightly. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes.

“Fuck you, Dorcas.” Both of Marlene’s cheeks glistened with tears now. “You thought we were friends?

This is a little excerpt from a Dorlene fic I wrote! It’s friendly then frightning then right back to fluff, and it’s all around a good read if I do say so myself. The whole thing is right under the cut and is just over 2k words long. Please, enjoy!

“Flush beats three of a kind, spoils go to Sirius.” With a grunt, James complied with Remus’s command and shoved the pile of candy in the middle of the table towards Sirius. The latter just grinned; James had taught the whole group the rules of poker, so he couldn’t stand losing to his friends – especially to Sirius, who made a point of being an ass about it every round James didn’t win. All five players – yes, five: Sirius had convinced Lily, Dorcas, and Marlene to play as well – returned their hands to Remus, the dealer for the evening. Remus didn’t like gambling, but he liked mathematics, so dealing cards was a favourite way of his to spend time with his friends when they played cards to unwind.

“Do, you’re the small blind,” Remus began another round. “James, that makes you big blind.” Dorcas’s head swivelled at the mention of her name. She had been balancing a Bertie Botts bean on her nose ever since she folded last round. She saw Remus putting down the community cards face-down and patiently waited for the round to start while everyone stared at her.

“Why’s everyone looking at me?”

“You’re the small blind.” Remus answered.

“Right… What does that entail again? Do I match Marlene’s bet? Or increase it?” No one at the table had betted yet, but observable facts hadn’t stopped Dorcas’s conclusions before. Remus rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed slightly.

“No, that’s big blind. Small blind puts down the starting bet.” Dorcas put the bean that had just fallen from her nose in the middle of the table.

“Not that one! We all saw you drop it on the floor a minute ago!” Sirius protested. Dorcas turned to Remus with an offended look on her face.

“I’ll allow it,” Remus responded. James began muttering in protest, but Sirius interrupted before he could say anything:

“Stay out of it, James, you’re not going to win it anyway.”

“Yeah James, my bean is none of your business!” Dorcas laughed.

“And it is his business?” James gestured at Sirius with a questioning look directed towards Dorcas.

“Oh, good times!” Sirius exclaimed, looking up dramatically as if he were in a stage play. “Good times indeed,” he continued, “when I was entitled to Do’s bean!” Lily smacked him on his back in Dorcas’s defence.

“Behave, Sirius! And don’t go blowing your own horn, I happen to know you weren’t as good at bean-related activities as you are at poker.” James and Remus burst out laughing. Marlene sighed and stood up.

“I’m going out for a smoke, play a round without me.” Remus nodded and took her cards back. Marlene had been a bit quiet all evening; this was the first time she’d spoken since a few rounds ago.

“I’ll come with you,” Dorcas said, also standing up. “Same goes for me, Moony.” She tossed her hand of cards towards Remus’s side of the table.

“You’ve already bet, Do,” Remus replied. “If you walk away now, you forfeit your bet for this round.”

“Oh, sure. Give the bean to Sirius so he can practice” she said laughingly. As she followed Marlene to the balcony, she heard Sirius defending his skills in bean-related activities, stating loudly that he didn’t need practice at all.

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

Marlene took out a cigarette from her case and put it in her mouth, lighting the tip with a small flame from her wand while protecting it from the wind with her free hand. She breathed out a cloud of smoke over the railing, looking down at the courtyard of the school below. Without looking, she held out the case of cigarettes to Dorcas behind her.

“No thanks, I quit smoking.” Dorcas replied. Marlene didn’t lift her head.

“Oh? When did that happen?”

“Last week, James caught me out of breath at training and I realized it was the cigs. Shit’s bad for you, Marls.” Marlene hummed, as if she agreed, before taking another puff and letting the smoke flow out through her nose. Hogwarts rules technically forbade smoking, but the teachers had stopped enforcing the rule when students had turned to experimenting with homemade spells to mask the scent and smoke. Madam Pomfrey had promptly decided that she’d rather treat a few asthma attacks than a whole legion of students who had accidentally made their cigarettes explode in their face.

Dorcas sat on the railing with her back facing the edge, her feet hooked around the carved stone posts of the balustrade. She looked at Marlene – who had not looked at her for the entire evening as far as she knew – and tried to form a sentence, but couldn’t find the proper words.

“You don’t have to come out with me if you’re not gonna smoke, Do.”

“I never came out here to smoke with you.” Dorcas fidgeted with the lowest button of her quidditch jacket.

“What?” Marlene turned her gaze towards Dorcas, confused by what she had just said. “We used to smoke together like every day, what are you on about?” Dorcas didn’t look back at her.

“I never came out here to smoke with you, I came out here to be with you.” They were both quiet for a minute.

“Oh. Thanks, I guess.” Marlene turned her head away again.

“What’s going on with you, Marls?”

“Hm?”

“All day you’ve been quiet – hell, you haven’t been yourself in a week.” Marlene didn’t reply. Dorcas sighed. “Look – if you don’t wanna talk about it, just say so, but it feels like there’s something wrong.” Neither of them spoke for a while. Marlene lit another cigarette.

“I don’t know if I want to talk.”

“Well, I’m here if you do. And you know I’m not smart enough to take legilimency like you, so you’ll have to use your words.” Marlene chuckled slightly. Legilimancy was not taught at Hogwarts, being considered a form of malicious magic, but she did take an extra credit class in occlumency. Dorcas had often confused the two, and it had become an in-joke between the two of them.

“It’s good to hear you laugh.”

“It’s good to laugh.” They were quiet again. It was Dorcas who broke the silence after a while.

“Wanna head back inside?”

“Not really. You can go if you want.” Marlene rested her head on the hand with her cigarette in it, her elbow leaning on the railing.

“Nah, I’ll stay with you. Got to be there for my girl, you know?” Dorcas laughed and playfully punched Marlene in the shoulder.

“Don’t, Dorcas.” Marlene didn’t laugh.

“Oh, sorry. Did I hurt you?”

“No – well, yes, but it’s not about you punching me.” Dorcas was visibly confused.

“What’s it about then?”

“Stop calling me your girl.”

“Wh-”

“In fact, Do, stop leaning on me on the couch, stop winking at me in the hallways and stop asking me to be your date to parties as a joke.” Marlene had turned around and Dorcas could see a tear running down her cheek.

“I don’t- But-”

“What?” Marlene raised her voice slightly.

“I thought we were friends, Marls.” Dorcas’s voice cracked slightly. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes.

“Fuck you, Dorcas.” Both of Marlene’s cheeks glistened with tears now. “You thought we were friends? You don’t get to lead me on for a year and then decide we’re just friends.”

“Lead you on? I never- I mean I-”

“You never meant to?” She paused. “I was so fucking happy when you got with Sirius, because I thought I wouldn’t have to waste another night crying over you.” She sniffed. “But you guys broke up, and I came out to you because I was naïve and stupid, and you played me like a fucking fiddle.”

“I don’t get it,” Dorcas cried. “What are you talking about?”

“It’s been a year, Do. A year since I came out to you and started trying to get you to notice me. Last week marked the official anniversary and I decided I’m done. I’m done with your friendship if it means you getting my hopes up and letting me down again. I’m done letting you string me along, Dorcas.” She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “The only question I have left is why. Why, Do? Why not just tell me no and be done with it?” Dorcas’s mouth hung wide open.

“Because I’m in love with you, you fucking idiot.” Dorcas jumped down from the fence to face Marlene. Now it was Marlene’s turn to be completely dumbfounded.

“You’re- Wh-”

“Why do you think I broke up with Sirius? Because you made me realize I like girls!”

“Why didn’t you just say so?”

“Because you told me you weren’t attracted to me when you came out!”

“That’s just something people say when they come out!” Had someone been watching from inside, they would have seen the two of them yelling at each other with tears streaming down their faces. The balcony doors had been hexed with a silencing charm, though, so the people finishing up their game of poker at the table inside did not hear a thing.

“So you do like me then?” Dorcas yelled at the top of her lungs, seeming more frustrated by the fight than relieved by the good news.

“Of course I do!” Marlene shouted back, equally worked up and seemingly angry. “You’re fucking gorgeous, why wouldn’t I?” They stopped yelling and stared at each other, both breathing heavily. Dorcas swallowed and scraped her throat.

“Where does this leave us, Marls?” Her voice was quiet now, but she sounded no less upset. No, not upset; Dorcas almost sounded scared, like someone about to receive bad news.

“I don’t know, Do.” Marlene chuckled a bit. “How about you call me your girl again, but you mean it this time?” She sniffled and let out a small laugh. Dorcas returned a smile and wiped her eyes with the cuff of her jacket sleeve.

“D- Do you mean you want to-” The words couldn’t find their way out of her throat.

“Oh shut up and kiss me, Do,” Marlene cut in, stepping forward and softly pressing her lips against Dorcas’s. It was a soft kiss, but a lively one; their lips interlocked and they stood there for what felt like minutes, first not moving at all, then both of them – Marlene first, followed by a cautious but increasingly comforted Dorcas – slowly leaning into the kiss.

“That was nice” Dorcas said quietly, when they finally pulled back a bit and could look each other in the eyes again. Marlene hummed in agreement. They were embracing; Dorcas’s hands had found their way onto Marlene’s lower back, Marlene’s were on Dorcas’s neck.

“I’m a bit cold,” Marlene said, “Could I have your jacket for a bit?” Marlene was in fact wearing her own jacket, a leather one, which kept her at a very nice temperature.

“This one?” Dorcas looked down at her varsity quidditch jacket. “But your aesthetic? And it’s not even that cold out so I don’t-” Marlene smiled at her silently. “Oh.” Dorcas realized the request for her jacket had very little to do with temperature. “Of course you can wear it. Anything for my girl.” She began to take off her jacket and Marlene met her with a quick peck on the lips.

“Thanks, babe.” The jacket was a little big for Marlene, but she didn’t mind. It was warm, and it smelled of Dorcas, and above all, it was a reminder that things were good now. Marlene stepped away from Dorcas and faced the balcony, lifting two fists into the air. “Woo!” she yelled in glee. Dorcas watched her and smiled, joining her at the balustrade while some student – most likely a confused Ravenclaw – cheered back from the balcony across the courtyard.

“If we work together, do you think we’ll have an advantage over Sirius?” Dorcas put her arm around Marlene’s shoulder, and Marlene rested her head against Dorcas’s neck.

“You really don’t get poker, do you?”

“Not really, no. I just like the candy and the prospect of beating Sirius.” Marlene let out a small giggle.

“Dorcas?”

“Hm?”

“Are we like- you know, girlfriend and girlfriend now? Or are we still just friends?” Dorcas pulled back a bit to look Marlene in the eyes and lifted her eyebrows.

“Would you like to be? My girlfriend, that is?”

“I would. I’d like that a lot.”

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

That’s all, folks! Thanks for reading my work, be sure to leave a like (or even reblog this post) if you enjoyed the story. Thanks to @w0tchermarauders and @stuff-of-pi (as well as some of my non-tumblr friends) for proofreading! As mentioned in the moodboard post, an rp thread featuring them based on this fic is in the works. Hope to see you there!

[tangenciales]

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