#I still gotta read a couple of your last chapters but I'll get there!

[dumbasslesbi2]

Let Me Read To You ~ Chapter 2 (Agatha x Rio Bookstore AU)

Chapter 1

Summary:

Rio and Agatha go on their second date! What's the worst that could happen?

Notes:

I couldn't help myself so there's some SMUT in this chapter lol

Rio awoke the next day with a killer headache, she drank way too much once she got back home from her date with Agatha. She needed something to cut the edge off from everything so she may have gotten a bit carried away with some wine and a rose toy. Once she got up and dunked her face into some cold water, she went to go check her phone for any drunk calls or texts she did. Rio let out a sigh of relief once she realized she hadn't sent out any. She went to her coffee machine and made herself some much needed coffee. As she was waiting for her machine to finish, she decided to send a text to Agatha

Good morning gorgeous, hope you had some good sleep 😘

Agatha was still asleep when she got Rio’s text and was awoken by phone vibrating, she looked at the time and was shocked Nicholas hadn't woken up yet. She rubbed her eyes and checked her phone to see who was messaging her. She couldn't help but smile down at her phone.

Well hello there beautiful ❤️, I slept well, hoping you did as well 💖😘

Agatha had Rio giggling at her phone like a schoolgirl . She was falling for a woman who she just met but she wasn't about to deny the u haul lesbian allegations. What Agatha didn't know was that Rio had a group chat with the book club where they gossiped and told each other news constantly 

Rio: Jen, Alice. You guys have to watch her son today pleaseeeeeee. I need to see her again, she's so perfect 😭😭😭

Jen: Fine, only cause we like you Rio 

Alice: SIMP

Lilia: You better not break her heart like your other dates. I actually liked her this time and I would like to have a new member we could keep 

Rio: She's different Lilia, if anything I'm the one genuinely falling here. I don't even know if she feels the same as I do 😭

Alice: Like I said earlier, SIMP 

Rio: Alice I swear to god 

Alice: You swear to god what? That me n Jen rnt going to watch her son now cause ur being mean now? 

Rio: Don't you dare

Jen: She's kidding, we'll watch him don't worry. Have fun tonight 

Rio: Thank you two 💚

Alice and Jen decided to head on over to Agatha's after seeing the texts, they already planned on going on over since Jen made a pie and wanted to share it with Agatha. “Hey Agatha! We brought on over a pie that Jen made last night, it's apple so we hope Nicholas will like it too” Alice said as Agatha opened the door. “Aw,thanks you too! Nicholas loves apple pie so I'm sure he'll love it. Come on in, do you two want coffee?” Agatha asked, taking the pie into the kitchen. “I'll take a coffee!” Alice said, following Agatha. “Oh actually I have a favor to ask of you two” Agatha asked the couple while pressing down her French press. “Of course, anything for our favorite neighbor,” Jen told her with a wink. “Rio wants to go on another date tonight and I need a babysitter for Nicky” she told them, giving Alice a mug of coffee. “Also any creamer or sugar?” She asked, walking over to the fridge. “ Yes please, also we'd love to look after Nicholas, where is he anyways?” Alice asked, noticing the absence of the child. “He's still sleeping, didn't have the heart to wake him up when I saw him asleep” Agatha said, handing Alice a creamer and some sugar packets. “Sooo, how was your date with Rio yesterday?” Jen asked, smirking. “It was something,” Agatha said nonchalantly. “What's that supposed to mean?” she asked in return. “If you wanted straight answers you should have asked a straight lady” Agatha retorted with a laugh. “I'm taking that as a it went really well” Alice said, taking a sip of her coffee. “I mean, you're not wrong. Also I hope you don't mind, I'm going to go wake up Nicky and give him some breakfast” Agatha said, looking at the two. “Yeah of course, do what you gotta do” Alice said, waving her off. While Agatha went up stairs to get her son , Jen decided to text the group chat 

Jen: Update, Agatha really likes Rio 

Alice: She tried to play it off but it's so obvi she's into u dude 

Rio: Oh thank God. I got scared I fucked up some how

Lilia: The only reason you “fuck up” is because you leave women without saying anything 

Rio: Lilia I swear to fucking god 

Jen: She's not wrong, you do have a ghosting problem

Alice: If u ghost this one, ur dead to me 

Rio: I'm not!!! I told you guys I genuinely really like her 😭

Lilia: We'll see 

Jen and Alice put their phones away once they heard the footsteps coming down. “Hewwo Miss Jen and Alice” Nicholas greeted them, running over to the kitchen. “Nicholas! What did I tell you about running!” Agatha yelled from the last step. “Sorry mommy!” Nicholas said as he went up to the couple. “Hi Nicholas, how are you buddy?” Alice asked, ruffling his hair. “I'm good, I had a dream that I was an astronaut and went to the moon and it was made of chalk so I could draw with it and then I took a piece but it poofed when I got back to earth so then i had to go to my big big rocket and-” “Nicky I don't think they need to hear the whole dream. How does banana and waffles sound for breakfast, hm?” Agatha interrupted her son from yapping to the two. “He's so cute,” Alice said, finishing her coffee. “Thanks, I'm just dreading the day where I blink and he becomes a teenager” Agatha said, putting eggo waffles in the toaster. “Well I think we'll get going, text me when we should come over and watch him” Jen said getting up from her seat. “Sounds good! Thanks again!” Agatha told them, getting the door for them. She went back to finish giving Nicholas his breakfast and decided to text Rio once she finished.

Hi sweetheart, good news! Jen and Alice agreed to watching Nicholas so we can go out today! 

Sounds great, gorgeous. How does 5 sound? We could stay at the bookstore and watch a movie. I have a projector and everything ;) 

That sounds wonderful. Can't wait to see you 💖

Te veo 💚

Rio couldn't help but giggle after texting Agatha. That woman did things to her that she hadn't felt in years. Even though it was only the morning still, Rio had decided to already start cleaning the shop and set it up for their date. She even made sure that her pillows and seating nook looked perfect and just right for the two of them. As Rio continued to ready the place for their date the time went by and eventually five o’clock came quicker than she thought. 

Agatha had parked behind the bookstore where Rio showed her yesterday and walked to the front of the store and knocked on the door. Rio heard the knock and looked at herself one final time on her phone, making sure her makeup looked fine. “Why hello beautiful” Rio said, opening the door to her shop to Agatha. “Hi sweetheart” Agatha said giggling. “Wow you really decked the place out for little ol’ me” Agatha told Rio as she walked in. “What can I say, I wanted to impress a certain lady” Rio told her, kissing her on the cheek. “Mmm well you definitely are” Agatha said, grabbing Rio’s chin and giving her a peck. “C’mon let’s pick out a movie, I already have the popcorn and everything ready” Rio told her, showing her to the couch and a million throw pillows. “Ooooh, quite the collection. Why don’t we go with something classic. I’m thinking Carol?” Agatha asked, looking at Rio’s blu-ray collection. “Anything you want gorgeous” Rio said, taking the disc out and putting it in.

 At first Agatha was a bit nervous to cuddle with her but as soon as Rio sat down she put her arms around Agatha and put her head on her shoulder. As the movie progressed Rio had begun to tease Agatha a little bit here and there. She would feed Agatha chocolate and distract her, putting her hand on and off her leg. Agatha couldn't help herself any more and turned her head to kiss Rio. As the two progressed Rio put her hands around Agatha's neck but Agatha started to let her hands wander. She unconsciously put her hand on one of Rio's breasts and started to knead. Rio could hold back anymore and moaned loudly. “Oh I'm so sorry” Agatha said, backing away from the kiss. “Don't be, I loved it” Rio said, leaning into Agatha “oh, okay” Agatha told Rio, leaning back into the kiss. Rio couldn't stop herself anymore and bit Agatha's bottom lip, only then to dominate the kiss with her tongue. Agatha was taken aback at first but was happy to let Rio dominate her. As the two continued, Agatha let her hands wander Rio’s body and slowly she started lifting her shirt. Rio started grinding more on Agatha and started pulling her shirt off. “God you're so beautiful” Agatha said after helping Rio unclip her bra. “I could say the same thing about you, come on, you’re wearing too much, gorgeous” Rio told Agatha, unbuttoning Agatha’s shirt. Once Agatha’s shirt was removed, she instantly latched herself on Rio’s neck and jaw. She kissed any and all skin she could seek out. Rio moaned and let Agatha continue on before unzipping Agatha’s pants. Rio couldn’t hold back and slowly brought her finger down to tease Agatha’s waistband. “Please, please I need you” Agatha whined. Under regular circumstances Rio would have teased Agatha more but she was equally as needed right now. She plunged her fingers into Agatha’s underwear and put two fingers into her. “Mmmm thank you, thank you Rio” Agatha started to chant, holding herself closer to Rio.

 After Rio started to get a good rhythm going she started to mark Agatha. She started biting and licking at Agatha’s breasts and chest. Agatha was about to tell her not to mark her too badly but she caved into it. Agatha was a shivering and moaning mess for Rio at this point. “I’m so close Rio, I-I’m close” Agatha said with a shudder. Rio responded by putting a third finger into her and started making circles on her clit with her thumb. “Come on baby, give it to me. Be a good girl and let it all go” Rio said, kissing on her jawline. “Oh god! I’m cumming! Rio I’m cumming!” Agatha exclaimed, moaning and practically holding onto Rio for dear life. Rio slowly started to take her fingers out. She leaned back from Agatha, licking and sucking her fingers for Agatha to see. Rio let go of her fingers with a pop from her mouth. To which Agatha could only respond by kissing her passionately. She loved tasting herself in the kiss and started to practically put her tongue down Rio’s throat. As she started to dominate Rio, she started pulling down Rio’s pants. As Rio’s pants and underwear got pulled down, Agatha let go of the kiss and started kissing down Rio’s body. She made sure to stop at Rio’s breasts for a minute and let them get the attention they deserved. She sucked and tugged on them with her teeth while teasing Rio’s other nipple by pinching it and rubbing them with her fingers. After Rio had given Agatha the moans she wanted to hear, she continued to kiss further down until stopping at her bush. She nuzzled against Rio’s pussy, looking up at Rio’s eyes. Rio’s face was the most flustered Agatha had ever seen but her eyes were the most important part to her. Rio’s eyes were almost completely dark with desire. Slowly Rio brought her hand onto Agatha’s head and pushed her down. Agatha started teasing Rio by just licking down her slit but made sure to surprise Rio. She started sucking on Rio’s clit which made her thrust like crazy, practically grinding her pussy onto Agatha’s face. She moaned and rocked more onto Agatha. “Oh god Agatha! I’m cumming!” Rio exclaimed, digging her fingers into Agatha’s scalp. As Agatha brought her to her climax she made sure to hold Rio by her hips. Rio was stuck shuddering on to the couch and slowly released her grip on Agatha’s head. Agatha started to lick slower, letting Rio ride it out. Once Rio was able to catch her breath Agatha started to come back up and sat next to Rio on the couch. Rio instantly put her arms around Agatha and hugged her, hiding her face into the crook of Agatha’s neck. She breathed in the scent of Agatha’s perfume with the mix of the smell of sex. She never wanted to move again if she could stay like this with Agatha forever. 

“If I knew you would fuck me this hard I would have let you fuck me sooner” Agatha said, playing with Rio’s hair. “If I knew you’d eat me out like that I would have suggested myself for dinner yesterday” Rio told her, leaning back from the hug to kiss Agatha. Rio let go of the hug for a minute to bend down and get her pack of cigarettes from her jeans. “Want one?” Rio asked, holding out the pack. “Sure, why not” Agatha said, taking one. Instead of lighting Agatha’s with her lighter, she brought their cigarettes to kiss. Rio looked at Agatha during it and once they locked eyes, she winked, making Agatha blush insanely. After a moment of silence of smoking and enjoying each other’s presences Agatha couldn’t help but ask a question. “So what exactly are we? I don’t exactly let just anyone fuck me” Agatha said, looking over at Rio. “I don’t either, honestly. Look, I really like you Agatha and I don’t want this to be just a one time thing or just fucking. I wanna be in a relationship with you, I wanna see what happens with us together” Rio said, staring into Agatha’s eyes. “I do too. I wanna be with you, I wanna be your girlfriend” Agatha said, giggling like a highschooler when she said girlfriend. “Mmm I like that, Agatha my girlfriend Harkness.” Rio said, giggling with Agatha. They stayed there giggling and kissing each other every few minutes. Once Agatha saw how late it was she shot Alice and Jen texts that she would be staying at Rio’s for the night, receiving a thumbs up and congratulations from the both. She told Rio that she was set to stay at her place for the night to which Rio excitedly took Agatha upstairs. Rio unlocked the door to her apartment and showed Agatha the way to her bedroom. “I have a sweatshirt and some shorts you could sleep in,” Rio said, looking back at Agatha. “That’s perfect, thank you sweetheart” Agatha said, taking the clothes from Rio and giving her a kiss on the cheek. “It’s the least I can do, don’t want you sleeping naked. Unless you want to?” Rio asked with a smirk. “Mmm maybe not tonight” Agatha said, winking back at Rio as she started putting on the clothes Rio gave her. As they went to bed Rio just like before instantly had her hands on Agatha. Before drifting off to sleep Agatha took Rio’s hands and kissed them, wishing her a good night. Rio smiled and kissed Agatha’s head before also wishing her a good night as well. As Agatha was falling asleep in her arms she thought how she could get used to this. What she didn’t know was that Rio was thinking the exact same thing.

[winniemaywebber]

The Apple Tree • part 2 🌳

2/7

read chapter one here

It's rainy in Thorpe Abbotts. Six planes go up, only five come back. Y/N worries about Rosie.

A familiar rumble distracts the class from their work, the scratching sound of pencils on paper ceasing almost immediately. Today, they had been sheltered from the graying drizzle of the village, much to their discernment. One look at their sad little faces pulled at your heartstrings, and the words “go on, then” had barely left your smiling mouth when they had all rushed to their cubbies to pull on their raincoats to protect themselves from the horrific weather. 

Six had gone up, according to the second teacher down the hall who had happened to be on a tea break when she saw the planes ascend. You hadn't told your class the number, not wanting to potentially make their miserable day worse. You wondered if the weather had affected anything - whether the thick, black clouds full of raucous thunder  had blocked their vision, the harsh wind causing them to break out of formation and bringing danger to themselves. And, in the back of your mind, you wondered about Rosie, hoping that he was safe.

It had been a couple of days since your last meeting, wherein you'd seen him taking a walk alone around Thorpe Abbotts, you spotting him as you rode home on your bike. You had waved nervously, precariously taking a hand off one of your handlebars to do so. Even from the opposite side of the road, you saw his face make a huge, beautiful smile, his baby blue eyes twinkling at the sight of you.

“Hi, Y/N. Wonderful to see you again.”

“Rosie,” you'd replied, your mouth also instantly bearing a grin at seeing him. “You, too. How was your weekend?”

“Ah, nothing special. I flew a practice mission, came back and wrote my mom. I try to keep her updated, she worries about me so, especially with me being so far away.”

“Oh, I understand. That's very sweet,” your heart melting at a man caring so much for his family. There is a pause as you keep smiling sweetly at one another, stuck for words due to being so excited at seeing each other again.

“So,” he breaks the silence. “Are you headed home?”

“Yes,” you sigh. “It's been a long day. It wasn't sunny enough to let the children play outside, and being cooped up drives them mad!” You laugh, hoping to diffuse the butterflies rising up in your stomach as he begins to offer to wheel your bike home so you can walk alongside him. 

“I can imagine!” He responds, once again smiling in your direction as his eyes dart around, trying to get his bearings. A crack of thunder from above distracts him, his shoulders sagging with a sigh. 

“We'd better hurry you home, ma'am.” 

Running through the rain, you arrive at the cottage quick as a flash. “Come in and warm up by the fire,” you shout over the loud pattering of raindrops on your slate doorstep, both of you sheltering under the front door canopy. 

“I'd love to, but I gotta get back to base. We have a briefing in the morning and I should get some rest.”

“Oh, of course. Well, thank you for walking me home again. You're great company.”

“You too, ma'am,” he smiles, exhaling through his nose with a slight giggle. “Are you doing anything Thursday afternoon?”

“No, I'm not,” you reply, the fastest answer that's ever left your lips. “I leave the school at around 2pm. You could meet me there? I could show you around a little. Bring your bike!”

“Oh, er–” he stutters, face turning red with embarrassment. “I haven't quite got to grips with that thing yet.” You try your best to stifle a giggle, shaking your head.

“I've heard you're the best pilot in the Army Air Force and you can't ride a bike?” You wink at him jokingly, his face now a cute shade of pink. 

“Leave me alone, Y/N,” he pokes at you, his face however, still holding that beautiful smile. 

“I'll teach you…if you'd like,” you say with a shrug. He nods, the color of his cheeks returning to normal. He reaches over and softly kisses your cheek, your hand coming up to touch it as soon as his lips break contact. 

“Miss, I saw five come back,” Penelope says in a small voice. “How many were there?” Feeling your heart jump to your throat and your breathing become ragged, you try your best to maintain composure. 

“I believe it was five, little one,” you respond, gritting your teeth into a reassuring smile. “Mrs Meldrum said five, but she was nose deep in the biscuit tin at the time. I'll ask her later, okay?” The wide eyed little girl nods and rushes back to her seat, pushing her round glasses up her nose as she sits down, once again ready to learn. 

Getting through the rest of the day without making your unease obvious is an arduous task. Every time you think of Rosie, you feel your heart almost stop, feeling like a phantom hand has its grip around it, crushing it bit by bit. You find yourself taking a moment while the children are distracted to place a hand on your chest, willing your breathing to return to its usual pace, arguing with yourself for feeling so anxious over somebody you've met only twice. 

To your surprise, you see your friend Sally outside as you corral the children out the door for home time, zipping coats and tying shoe laces as they rush out of the door into the cold drizzle. She's stood in a yellow rain coat, a black umbrella swaying slightly in the breeze.

“Sally?” You call. “Come in, doll.” A look of concern etched on your face, she runs in, dismantling her umbrella, a sob catching in her throat as she runs past you into the schoolroom. 

“Oh, Y/N,” she wails, her pretty face crumpled. Her eyes are squeezed shut, black inky trails from her mascara shooting down her face. “Only five–” she stutters, before taking a deep breath to try and compose herself. “Only five came back…and–and I don't know if James…”

“Hey, Sal,” you murmur, pulling her into a tight hug, her wet raincoat against your skin causing you to shiver suddenly. “It's all going to be okay, just–” you pause, a hand on her cheek now. “Just be patient. He'll be knocking on your door tomorrow.” She nods, a small sob escaping her lips as she wipes her eyes. You hand her a small white handkerchief, embroidered with your initials. This seems to make her cry all the more. 

“I still have the one your Granny made me,” she says as she dabs away the mascara lines. “Maybe I should start carrying it again.” You titter, exhaling as you do so. 

“She gave them to us when we were, what, six?” You look at Sally inquisitively, and she nods. “And she made us promise to always stay friends. I'm not sure why she thought matching handkerchiefs would cement that, but…”

“I'm glad we did, though,” she laughs, sniffing. 

“Me, too. Now, come on. You're about to freeze if we don't get you some place warm. I'll light the fire at home and you'll stay for dinner to take your mind off this.” You grip her softly by the shoulders. “He will be here tomorrow, okay?” But you're not quite sure who you're trying to reassure more: yourself or your best friend. 

A restless night awaits you, tossing and turning in your bed as the moonlight peeks through your thin curtains. All you can think about is if Rosie and James are safe, the weight of your thoughts crushing your chest with every attempted deep breath. You fall asleep just as the sun is rising, and you wake feeling horrific. You pad to the bathroom to wash your face and brush your teeth, hoping going through your daily routine will bring some color back to your pale face and somehow, take your mind off things. 

It's only when you pull your bike from against the wall of the cottage that you realize it's finally stopped raining for the first time in three days. You breathe in the fresh air, hearing the soft breeze blow through the leaves on the tree outside your gate as your eyes close softly. “Y/N!” you hear a voice call from down the lane. There, in his uniform, looking a little battered, is James. As he approaches you, you see he has a small scratch above his eyebrow and another gash upon his cheek. 

“James!” You reply, extremely happy to see him. “You're here! Oh, Sally came to see me in such an awful state yesterday. We only saw five planes come back, and–”

“I'm headed there now,” he responds, interrupting your train of thought. He smiles brightly at you, and gives you a friendly wink. “Thank you for looking after her,” he says, softly. “I sure do hate worrying her but…it's just the way of the job.” 

“I understand, James. I know. She just has such a big heart.” You begin to wheel your bike down the lane towards the school, waving a goodbye to James and trying your best to avoid asking the one question that kept you up all night. The temptation, however, is too much and you stop in your tracks. 

“James?” You call after him. He turns but keeps walking, looking precariously behind him every few steps to avoid potholes and small ditches. “Is Rosie okay?”

“Finally!” He yells into the distance between you. “I was waiting for you to ask. He's fine, Y/N. Teach him how to ride that darn bike before he puts himself in the infirmary again!” 

The day passes in a blink, which you think is mostly in part of you wishing the day away. The children leave in a gaggle of excitement, looking forward to feeling the warm sun on their sweet faces as they begin their short walk home, playing together all the while. As they disperse, you look out of the bay window and spot someone under the apple tree, reading, their brow furrowed in concentration. “Rosie!” you squeal, swing open the door and run towards him as fast as you can. He spots you immediately and stands up, just in time for you to fling your arms around him without second guessing yourself.

“Well, hi,” He murmurs, his face buried in your neck. You breathe a huge sigh of relief into him, your eyes squeezed shut. 

“I didn't know if you were--oh, I was so worried about you,” you hold him a little tighter, wanting to make the embrace last a few moments more. “Oh, I'm so happy to see you, Rosie.”

“Likewise, Y/N,” he replies, reciprocating the tighter hug. You finally break apart, your hand finding its way to cup his cheek. 

“Now,” you sigh, finally content. “Tell me why you can't ride this bike.”

He demonstrates, looking a little embarrassed when you see him begin to try pedal backwards. 

“Hey, stop!” You call after him. “What are you doing?” 

“I'm trying to stop the thing,” he laughs, but obviously frustrated.

“Darling,” you reply, the word just spilling out of you. “These–” you gesture to the long buttons just off the handlebars, “--are for stopping.” He rolls his eyes jokingly, comically slapping a hand to his head. 

“Wow,” he says, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. “I guess I can ride a bike. You really are a great teacher, Y/N. Those kids are lucky.” You shove at him playfully, laughing at his tone, until he grabs your hand. “Seriously…” he pauses, his thumb stroking the back of your hand. “You're wonderful.” 

Both balancing your bikes against the schoolhouse, you find yourselves under the apple tree, the sun just beginning to set. You had grabbed a spare blanket from the classroom, just in case the weather began to turn at a moment's notice which you knew was a terrible habit England possessed. Rosie places it around both of you and pulls you in close, your head resting on his shoulder. You close your eyes and exhale, contentedly, the rollercoaster of emotions from the past day finally leaving you in that breath, grateful and happy to have him here with you and safe for the time being. You reluctantly check your watch as he runs his fingers through your loose hair.

“You probably should get going,” you sigh, eyes a little sad. “It's late. I don't want you in trouble.” 

“I can handle it,” he says quietly, his whole body relaxing underneath you. “Just a few more minutes, please. I just want to be a guy, watching the sunset with a pretty girl on my arm.” 

chapter 3

masterlist

[tokyo-tower-symbolism]

I've been meaning to get into the re:live game story for a while now, but I don't know how necessary the event stories are in comparison to the main and school stories...

do you have a recommended reading order for main story and events if the timeline makes them interspersed?

Uhh, there was this one good google doc that had a bunch of stuff like what stories were important for each character, but I cannot find that right now so I'll do my best from memory but honestly I might miss a couple things so my bad.

Edit: thank you @pallastronomy for finding the doc in question, i really wanted to read that again too

To read it you can go to the wikia, read it on karth.top, or look up the parts on Youtube. That last one might be the best since you'll get the full visual novel experience.

So first off I would suggest reading the first part of the story, so Main Story chapters 1-6. Well, suggest is a strong word. I think those chapters kinda suck, but I guess they're necessary for the premise and to introduce the characters? But then again they abandon the original premise half way in favor of the performance festival so whatever. And if you want a better introduction to the characters you should read the School Stories (ignoring SJH) and also maybe watch Shoujo Cante All Starlight. So really I don't suggest you read those chapters but

I think at this point you are can read the event stories from "Hello to Halloween" to "Surprise! Rehearsal Friends!"

And you don't need to read them all, but they're fun! I couldn't really tell you which ones are super important to the plot, sorry about that. Honestly my personal opinion at this point is to just pick a couple characters you like to follow and read their stories. You can see who participates in each one on the Revue Starlight wikia

Plus, character card bond stories! Each event has a couple gacha cards they're trying to sell, and sometimes they're not super related to the story, but sometimes they are. If someone references something that happened off screen, it either happened in an earlier event or in the bond card, but I'd still only read the bond cards once you're done reading the event is over since otherwise they can be spoilers. Just think of those as prequels instead of preludes.

Then at this point you can read Main Story Chapters 7-11. And I really do think you should read these since they are juicy. There's a new plot and we really get to dive deep into the ReLive characters and see their individual pasts and why they now stand on stage. It's great.

Now for the Event Stories, feel free to read any story from "Starry Diamond Tragic Orion" up until "Royal Retainer"

Although now I gotta bring up some caveats. Anything with Seiran is not going to matter to the main plot of ReLive, and if you're curious about them, then that gets into Stage Play Territory which is much easier to follow but not in ReLive.

And honestly same with the Seisho only stories. They're fun, don't get me wrong, but they kinda don't affect the developments of the cast at all.

Starry Diamond is a live show that had some Revues, so some of the relive events are just rehashings of those. Except Venus & Cupid Story, which is a sequel to Zeus no Chuusai from the Starry Diamond Live, and that revue is actually super important to the Yumeoji Sisters's story but it is not in ReLive.

And once you've had your fill of those stories, you can start reading Main Story Chapters 12-18, Arcana Arcadia. And this one is really good. Iirc, the main revue starlight writer came in for these parts. There's some info that directly leads into the movie. And it's honestly great.

But the issue is that there are intermission bond stories that need to be read in the middle of the chapters. If you are reading it online that can be kind of pain, but in the game I think it's in the right order? I could not say for sure since I don't actually play it. Anyways, here's the vague order according to the wikia, but I'm not 100% on this

Chapter 12: 1-2

Chapter 13: Tower, Hermit, Empress, 1-3, High Priestess, 4-5, Magician, 6-9, Hanged Man, Strength, 10-15

Chapter 14: Wheel of Fortune, Chariot, 1-2, Lovers, 3-14, Faith, Hierophant, 15

Chapter 15: 1-2, Devil, Sun, Justice, 3-15

Chapter 16: Death, Charity, 1-15

Chapter 17: Temperance, 1, Fool, 2-4, World, Judgement, 5-15

Chapter 18: Hope, 1-9, Emperor, 10-14, 15/Moon

So yeah, after this you have basically free reign to read the remaining event stories. The next big ongoing plot seems to be about Siegfeld Junior High, but that one also isn't really connected to the previous stories at all.

Also some cards have connecting bond stories even without events, such as the Frontier Rangers, Orpheus, Camelot, Snow White, and Yin-Yang.

But for real, I think the best way to get into the story is to read the main story and then see what characters you like. Then you can read along all their bond stories and events that they star in, and maybe you'll find other characters that stand out. If you are missing any information, usually characters will reference whatever they are talking about, so you won't be completely lost.

So yeah, I hope you have fun with the relive story! It touches on a lot of the themes from the show and honestly I just really liked seeing the characters again. And also Arcana Arcadia is great, just so great.

[immajustvibehere]

Spark (6/8)

Arthur Morgan x fem!Reader - Enemies to Lovers

Chapter 6 summary: While still recovering from your wound, you get wind of a trap being layed out for Arthur. You might be the only one who can protect him from something bad happening...

link to my masterlist

chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 5

Warning: You have to live with my headcanon that Micah had something to do with Arthur getting kidnapped by the O'Driscolls.

3800 words, 18 minutes reading time

Your wound was healing agonisingly slow. Or at least, it seemed like that to you. Miss Grimshaw had sternly forbidden you to leave your bedroll for the first two days. Afterwards, she'd remain on high alert and snatch everything out of your hands that was even remotely heavy.

Grimshaw also urged you to take care of your wound, so it wouldn't get infected. She offered to have a look at it. Charles and Hosea also offered their expertise, showing that they meant well. Yet, you always refused. Though the sight wasn't a pretty one, you insisted on taking care of it yourself. Had Arthur offered...you might haven't refused. But only because he was the one who stitched you up in the first place. You knew he was capable and secretly, you longed for his gentle hands, but you’d never openly admit that.

The following week passed with a certain routine. You'd wake up early, often forced awake by the pain in your abdomen, and share a cigarette with Arthur. You never said much in the morning. The only thing he usually mentioned in a gruff and raspy morning voice what he'd do today and how the previous mission had gone. Then you'd do the chores that Grimshaw allowed you to do: cleaning weapons, washing the dishes and chopping vegetables. This aside, the days were marked by sitting by the fire and listening to whoever's story was being told at the moment.

Tonight, as it grew late and camp gradually emptied, with every person retiring to their designated bedroll one by one. Micah was the only one left. And while you had enough alcohol in your system to numb the occasional pain in your abdomen, Micah had decided to get absolute shit faced. If you understood correctly, it had something to do with losing some decent amount of money while gambling earlier. For the past half hour, your half-brother had been mumbling a bunch of nonsensical words, you had stopped bothering to listen. But suddenly, you perked up your ears.

"Ohh, I gotta tell you something", Micah rambled on, but he put such peculiar stress on the words, it made your stomach turn. "You know some people here...", he went on.

Micah paused and grumbled, opening his sixth bottle of beer. Honestly, not too much of an astonishing number, hadn't he already arrived drunk at camp a couple of hours earlier.

"Some people here ain't no good for the gang...just gonna make a lot of trouble down the line", he slurred.

Though your thoughts on "those people" had changed significantly in the last weeks, you knew better than to let Micah know that. So you answered with an air of nonchalance and a hint of mockery: "The women, you mean?"

"No, no", Micah chuckled darkly.

"The hophead of a priest?", you swallowed after delivering these words. Swanson was getting on your nerves daily, but he had proven to be a good listener.

"You ain't thinkin' big enough!", Micah gestured some huge motion with his hands, "Morgan's gone soft recently...Ain't no use for that. I'll just send him up the ridge and maybe they'll take care of it", he hiccupped. Your eyes searched the camp, you weren't sure why, but maybe you wanted to see if Arthur was still awake. At this very moment, you couldn't make any sense of Micah's words and when you looked at him again, his body was slumped over with soft snores escaping his open mouth.

The next day, lunch had barely passed when you heard the commotion, whose cause was a livid discussion between Dutch, Hosea, Pearson, Arthur and Micah. Something about Colm O'Driscoll and a parley. You hadn’t been properly introduced to the feud Dutch had with Colm, but you have had enough run-ins with his boys. After all, when you stole the bank stage with Micah and Arthur, they had almost managed to surprise you.

While you watched from a distance, the discussion seemed to have found an end. Dutch and Micah strolled off to their horses, followed by Arthur, who reluctantly trailed behind them. He wasn’t so happy about the conclusion of the conversation.

"Fuck", you mumbled. Is this what Micah had been talking about? You waited until the group had left, staring at the dust their horses had stirred up. You had to follow. This uneasy feeling in your stomach that Arthur was in danger wouldn't leave.

For a moment you took a deep breath and thought: "The heck? Why should I care?" Only to blink and admit to yourself, you cared a fucking lot. There was no way denying that. As Arthur stitched you up, his warm hands all over your body, that did something to you. You never thought anyone would ever treat you this kindly. And even though the circumstances had been...peculiar...you didn't care. If there was even the slightest chance....of chasing this feeling could pay off...

You strode towards your horse, aware that neither you, nor your horse, were carried any weapons. Grimshaw still had a stern look at you and when you tried to carry your guns yesterday, it was frowned upon with some demeaning remarks. You were still grounded to camp chores and resting your wound, though you were pretty sure it had beautifully healed the last couple of days. It didn't matter now. You sneaked to your horse and seized the opportunity to ride off before anyone could tell you not to.  

-

Arthur was lying in the grass, the scope of his gun pressed to his eye. He didn't exactly know what the hell he was doing here. It hadn't sound like a good idea before, and it didn't feel right even now, though he had a good view of the surroundings and saw that the coast was clear. A sigh escaped Arthur’s lips when he suddenly heard grass behind him rustling. He was in the motion of turning around when the sound of a muffled groan came almost simultaneous to something warm splashing onto his exposed arm.

When Arthur looked up, he saw you slitting the throat of an O'Driscoll that had sneaked up right behind him. There was still some life in him when you whirled him around to bury your knife in his stomach. Once, twice,...

"God damn fucker!", you hissed, your knife about to stab him for a third time, when Arthur tackled you from behind and pulled you on the ground.

"Jesus, woman! What the hell are you doing here?", Arthur hissed.

"Saving your ass, you ungrateful bastard!", you yelled back. The adrenaline was rushing through your body and you feared your heart would jump out of your chest any second now. Your horse was at some distance, so nobody would hear you ride up and you had sprinted the last yards.

Arthur had to give you credit for staying almost clean after pretty much gutting the fellow, most of the blood had landed on him, anyways. When you opened your mouth again and sat up, angrily wrangling yourself out of Arthur's grip, you spoke more quietly, and yet not quietly enough for a mission where the job was to stay hidden: "This fucker was about to knock you out, Arthur! If I hadn't been-"

Before you could finish the sentence, Arthur's hand was slapped onto your mouth and he grabbed your collar, to pull you into a lower position again.

"Shhh! I hear you. Stay low, damnit", Arthur's eyes bore holes into you as he tried to get his point across. For some moments, neither of you said anything. Your heavy breathing, which you had trouble calming down, was the loudest noise. With his big hand pressed on your mouth, you feared you might suffocate if you didn't calm down. This man's blue eyes that looked you up and down did nothing to relax the situation, quite the opposite actually. The thought alone that they would be closed by now if you hadn't stepped in made you sob, muffled by Arthur's hand that was still covering your mouth.

It wasn't only that. Your suspicion had turned out to be true. Micah knew. He fucking knew. This whole thing was designed to get rid of Arthur, and aside from Micah himself, only you were in on that. Arthur too, was wrecking his brain right now. He quickly checked on Dutch and Colm before he lifted his hand off your mouth only to put his index finger onto his lips, indicating you to be quiet.

"We gotta get out of here. They know you're up here", you whispered. Your voice was shaky, which you found deeply embarrassing. But you were upset.

"M'kay darlin'. Come on", Arthur announced, gripping his rifle and crawling away from the edge before he stood up to go to his horse. You followed, flabbergasted. Darling? Where the fuck did that come from? He hadn't even given you time to react. You just hurried after him, catching up when he was mounting his horse.

"We gotta lay low for a while. I'm not supposed to be here and I dare say you aren't expected back either", you said as you pulled yourself onto your horse.

"I gotta tell Dutch that this was a set-up. I knew it was a bad idea to begin with", Arthur answered.

"No. Please", you almost whined. Arthur looked at you with knitted eyebrows. He did not understand why telling Dutch was bad idea, but he hadn't expected that tone from you either, so he decided to give in.

"Okay. I know a nice spot..."

You rode off, leaving the Heartlands behind. The next best creek you passed, you used to get some blood off of you. Despite stabbing the O'Driscoll from behind, you still had managed to get your arms dirty. Arthur watched you in silence. The last couple of questions he had asked had fallen on deaf ears, so he had given up poking for answers right now.

Later, you entered a wooded area. The sky had taken a mesmerizing shade of purple and the presence of some darker clouds in the South suggested that the drizzle that had just started was about to transform into a solid rain shower. It already smelled like damp earth. Guiding your horses with ease, you navigated through the light-filled gaps between the trees. They did a decent job of shielding you from the rain, except for the occasional drop that would land on your arm.

"I camped here a while ago", Arthur explained as he jumped off his horse when you reached a nice place, "'s a good spot."

"Yeah. I'll get a fire started", you said briefly, hitching your horse and walking off to quickly grab some dry twigs. Arthur was left behind at the spot he had picked and kept wondering at your behaviour. He noticed that you didn't have anything on your horse, no spare clothes, or a tent...So, instead of putting up his tent the normal way, he used every inch of the material, not fixing the corners in the dirt, but spanning it in between some trees.

You returned with wood and build a fire. Nothing was said until Arthur had warmed some beans and passed you the can before he had tried some. His eyes were begging for some explanations, but you sighed: "Please. Don't ask."

"I'm not", Arthur put his hands up in defence and though he remained silent, you felt his gaze on you. Trying your very best to ignore it, you gulped down the beans.

"Y/N...", Arthur started.

"Mh?", you replied, mouth full, starring into the flames. The fire had become strong enough to withstand the occasional raindrop, but the air around you had cooled significantly.

"Is your wound okay?", Arthur asked, "You have some blood on your shirt..."

You checked the brownish stain on your shirt, it was indeed at the same height as your wound should be. The wound which should have healed by now.

"Did ya take the stitches out already?", Arthur inquired when he saw your sceptical look.

"Planned on doing it today, but some things came up", you shot back.

"Want me to have a look at it?", Arthur now offered, already changing his sitting position to better accommodate you.

When Arthur caught the slight questioning gleam in your eyes, he smiled softly. You weren't someone to trust easily – he knew, because he's like that too. Yet, despite the wall you both harboured, Arthur couldn’t help but worry. He wasn't sure if you felt the same, but the events of the afternoon had surely left an impression on him. The fact that you had rushed to his side and stabbed a man a few seconds before his light would have gone out...You had been so calm the last two weeks, but today you were visibly shaken. Arthur wasn't sure if there was some deeper meaning behind this or if he let hope dictate his thoughts.

"I ain't gonna hurt you", Arthur said gently, when you didn't answer.

"I know", you shrugged, setting down the can of beans, "I just think that your reasons for getting me to take of my clothes are somewhat unimaginative." You gave a cocky smile when Arthur released a shaky breath. He mumbled a 'You're insane woman’ as you slipped one arm through your sleeve and therefor exposed your bare side.

In a moment, Arthur's hand was on you again. You flinched a bit as his thumb grazed the flesh near the wound.

"Looks good. Just a slight tear, should be all healed up again by tomorrow", Arthur assessed.

"Good", you replied briefly, getting into your shirt again quickly enough to not let Arthur notice the gooseflesh that had formed at his touch. He still saw the blush on your cheeks though.

In a tender moment, your eyes locked in a silent connection, and in that instant, you discovered that his hand hadn't budged. It remained steadfast, gently resting beneath the fabric of your shirt. It was as if an unspoken agreement held you both captive, unwilling to release the intensity of your gaze, except for Arthur's occasional stolen glances towards your lips.

The feeling of wanting nothing more than to protect you overwhelmed Arthur. He wanted to claim you as his, but not in a selfish, unreflective manner. More as a testament that he still could feel so strongly for someone. Arthur wanted to ensure that love was still possible for him. So he leaned in and in a moment, his lips met yours. The touch was so soft and loving that neither Arthur nor you would have expected that your body jerked away. The same moment, your hand met Arthur's cheek, slapping him. It wasn't meant to hurt, it was more your natural answer to this sudden invasion.

"What the hell?", you mouthed breathlessly.

Arthur's head remained frozen in the position your slap had left it in. His lips had curled into a sad smile, his eyes now avoiding yours. The slap had inflicted a sting, but it was a peculiar sensation, not one he was used to from other brawls and beatings.

"Sorry", Arthur mumbled in a soft whisper. The sad smile didn't leave his face, as if something else would surface if he dared to change his expression. "Might have gotten somethings wrong...", he added. Still looking down, he adjusted his hat, so it threw a darker shadow over his eyes.

You found yourself stumbling over your words, caught between the urge to apologize and swear at him at the same time. But your incapability to express your emotions frustrated you deeply. You managed a loud enough "excuse me" for him to hear before you stood up and walked off. Not too far, just a few feet into the shelter of forest where you thought the light of the fire couldn't reach. Arthur watched you walk off. He figured you thought yourself shielded from his gaze, but he saw as you leaned against a tree, lightly bumping your head into the wet bark.

Arthur couldn't bear watching you for long, so he took his journal out and quickly started to write. It was a momentary update of his state of mind and purposefully, he left some space before he started to sketch the outlines of the dark forest and the campfire in front of him, knowing that you would dictate how this evening turned out for both of you.

However, it wasn't long until he heard your boots rustling through the twigs and leaves. Arthur looked up and his eyes followed you, until you were seated right next to him. The closeness surprised him, but he took it as a promising sign. It was a flicker of hope that soothed the anxiety that he had felt at the thought of having offended you seriously. You had your words prepared, but Arthur was faster: "'M sorry, y/n. I should've asked."

Your eyebrows knit together in a sceptical look. You thought about snorting and and mocking him by saying 'Micah's right when he told me you had gone soft' but deep down you knew that this was just further proof that Arthur was more than what meets the eye.

After you had cleared your throat, you said: "It's okay. I didn't mean to slap you, I was just...surprised."

"Remind me to never surprise you again", Arthur joked, and a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. With light-hearted spirit, he continued the drawing in his journal. You caught a glimpse, but quickly averted your gaze and instead stared into the fire. You sat right next to Arthur, your arms occasionally brushed against each other, yet he didn't bother closing his journal - seemingly unaffected by your presence.

You couldn't help yourself. It was too impressive to see the drawing come together. When he sketched the shadows of the trees, you could make out the raindrops, though he hadn't specifically drawn them. Your eyes became fixated on the tip of his pencil, captivated by its movements, unwilling to tear your gaze away. But it didn't feel right, not after the last time.

Arthur noticed you were restless, so he said in an affirming voice: "I don't mind you watching, ya know?"

"All of a sudden?"

Arthur shrugged and continued to draw: "Not like you learned to read the last couple days, did ya?"

"Maybe I did. Didn't have much to do recently", you teased.

"Sure", Arthur replied, knowing you were bluffing, "So? Read it out then!"

You helplessly stared at the letters he had written, with not one clue in the world what was spelled out there. You tried to come up with something that could have been written there, but you weren't quick enough. Arthur interrupted your thinking process: "Knew it."

You sighed in defeat but lightened up when Arthur chuckled at your frustrated response. Both of you listened to the crackle of the fire. In a silent agreement, every passing moment saw you inching closer, gradually, you leaned against him. Astonishingly, Arthur showed no signs of discomfort, allowing the newfound proximity to exist, as if it were the most natural and cherished space between you.

"I like your drawings, you know", you whispered.

"They ain't special", Arthur replied. He was done with his little painting of the scenery and skipped back two pages to reveal a sketch of a squirrel.

"How can you even draw that thing with those little fuckers moving around all the time? Was it dead when you drew it?", you asked in awe at the level of detail.

"No", Arthur replied, "I jus' remember how it looks like."

Amidst the crackling of the fire, you uttered words that were almost indistinguishable, your voice muffled by your mouth pressed against Arthur's arm. Perceiving your intent, he instinctively adjusted his arm, skilfully manoeuvring it around you. Both of you were now enveloped in a half-embrace and you let it happen willingly. This was exactly what you had been craving the last couple of days. It was unusual, and yet so welcoming and soothing.

You sat like that for a while before Arthur stated his intent of laying down. You replied you'd still sit and tend the fire for a while.

Arthur lied down on his bedroll, staring at the canvas that obstructed his vision of the night sky...which probably was cloudy anyways. Aside from the usual forest noises, it was silent. About fifteen minutes had passed, but Arthur was still far from falling asleep.

"It just has never worked out for me...every time I tried the whole trusting thing...it ended badly", you explained. Your voice ended the silence and caught Arthur's attention. He sat up again.

"'m sorry to hear that", Arthur answered, "But yer still young. There are plenty people out there. I'm sure you'll find someone. If ya weren't so bad behaved-"

"Hey!", you turned towards him, to see a sarcastic smile back at you. You wondered why he’d just said that, when he kissed you earlier. When he clearly wanted you.

Arthur continued in a teasing manner: "I thought you were a nasty companion at first too, but you’re alright if ya calm down a bit and let yer guard down."

"Could say the same about you", you drew circles in the dirt.

After a while, in which you felt Arthurs eyes on you, he said: "You should try 'n rest. There's nobody around."

"Maybe a bear passes by and attacks us."

"Sure", Arthur readjusted his bedroll, "You ain't much to chew on, so ya gonna have plenty of time for running as long as it's busy with me."

Arthur had adjusted his bedroll vertically, so you could at least put your upper body on something softer.

"I bet ya taste like shit. It won't bother with you for long", you grinned at the teasing, surprised to see that Arthur had arranged a sleeping setup that would benefit you both.

"No doubt", Arthur chuckled.

You looked at the bedroll.

"If ya don't mind sharing with an old man that tastes like shit, it might be more comfortable for you like that", Arthur offered and lied down, his head now resting on one part of the soft material, while still leaving enough space between you. You joined him in the grass, turning your back towards him and fixating on random trees in the darkness. It was difficult to get those words out, but you had promised yourself to at least try expressing some of your emotions.

“I…I don’t really care if there’s plenty people out there. I think, I already found the one I’d like to trust...” You might have rushed the delivery of those words, but Arthur had understood them very well. There was a boyish smirk on his lips when he answered.

“I don’t mean to offend, miss, but you picked a real weird fella.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Next chapter HERE

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[juicycoutureheaux]

Fixer Upper

Chapter 1 Chapter 2

Hey y'all. Here's Chapter 2 of my Sheriff!Leon Kennedy AU. Just a couple of notes, this chapter does have some TW. Domestic violence and Alcohol are mentioned in this chapter. If those are active triggers for you and still want to read, PM me and I'll be glad to summarize for you. Seriously! Also I gave Patrick a last name because he literally DOES NOT HAVE ONE. LOL Anyway this is kind of slowburn-y and this may be more than three chapter but not too many. I might extend to four. Anyways this fic was inspired by @angelscoda and I strongly recommend that if you haven't discovered her page, check her works out! Also, I churned out this Chapter and it hasn't been edited very well, but I did not wanna keep yall waiting. Also if you or anyone you know is affected by domestic violence call 800-799-7233 or text 'START' to 88788. You are not alone, your family and friends love you no matter what situation you may be in or what your abuser says. Love is patient and Love is kind.

You went to bed with a strange feeling. Instead of thinking of your sweetheart, Patrick, you were enamored with the thought of your new boss, Sheriff Kennedy. 

He was so kind and unpretentious, it seemed so easy to be around him. You wondered if he read books or looked at the stars and wondered what was behind them like you did. 

Y/N shook herself out of her thoughts and drifted off to sleep. 

She dreamt of finding new life on other planets, her parents taking her seriously, and most importantly, she dreamt of Leon. 

You woke with a start, to the sky at the precipice of sunrise. The oranges and purples danced together as the moon made its grand exit into the horizon.

You swiveled around to the side of your twin bed and let the bottoms of your feet touch the smooth hardwood floor. 

You turned off the old fan on your bedside table. The fan had seen better days, however, y/n had taught herself how to make repairs to keep it in working condition. 

Her tinkering had been born out of necessity; however, over time she grew to love being able to make old things efficient again. She wondered if Patrick ever had to repair a fan or anything really. 

She imagined he had enough money to get a new anything, anytime it broke.

You started the morning by combing your hair and brushing your teeth. You splashed cold water on your face to make it seem less irritated. You didn’t want to admit it, but you wanted to look good for Leon, even if he didn’t notice.

You picked out your favorite dress and ironed out all the wrinkles. You looked at yourself in the mirror admiring your reflection. You felt confident enough to head down the stairs to the kitchen table. 

Mary-Anne and Mama were busy fixing breakfast. Mama was fussing over Mary-Anne telling her to sit down and whatnot.

“Mama L/N, I promise I’m fine and your grandchild is just fine!” 

“All that moving, he’s gonna come early!” You heard your mama say.

“You and the rest of the family are so sure Hank & Mary-Anne’s baby is going to be a boy.” You said announcing your presence. 

“Good! Someone else is here, Mary-Anne! Please sit!” Mama said, exasperated.

Mary-Anne, not wanting to put up a fight any longer, sat down.

“Y/N, why don’t you look pretty today? I remember when I could wear dresses like that!” Mary-Anne said, rubbing her belly.

“You mean like six months ago?” You said sarcastically. 

Mary-Anne smiled and your mother rolled her eyes. 

You grabbed an apron not wanting to ruin your dress, and began kneading the dough for the biscuits. 

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to stay too long, mama. I gotta make sure I'm on time to meet my new boss!” You said a little too enthusiastically because your mother whipped her head around to look at you. 

“You know, if you marry Patrick, you won’t have to work anymore, you’ll be busy planning parties and get-togethers for all the married ladies.”

“Mama…” you groaned. 

“I’m just saying Y/N, you would love it, imagine, my daughter, the belle of the social season in Collier!” Her mother sighed. “So don’t ruin it by chasing after some cop!”

“Mama!” You said insulted.

Mary Anne decided to get in between the duo. 

“I think Y/N just wanted to make sure he felt welcome; after all, it is her job.”  She made sure to emphasize the last word. 

Mama’s body relaxed and so did yours. 

With that, you kissed your mama goodbye on the cheek and mouthed a “thank you!” to Mary-Anne. 

You walked out the door shocked, to see your new boss waiting outside leaning up against the side of the patrol car. 

“Hey! Y/N!” He said, smiling with all of his teeth.

You thought your legs were going to turn to jello, he was so handsome.

“W-what are you doing here?” 

“I thought I’d save you the trouble of driving that old truck and risk not having a secretary for the day.” He opened the passenger door. “Wouldn’t want to make me late for my first day would you?”

You smiled a genuine smile. 

You hopped in the car and you made your way down the road. 

The radio was playing Elvis's “Blue Suede Shoes.”

“You like this kind of Music Deputy Kennedy?” You asked genuinely curious. He didn’t strike you as the Elvis type.

“You can call me Leon when it’s just us,” he said, eyes not straying from the road. 

He made you blush, and you sank down in the seat unconsciously.

“But to answer your question,” he looked at you with those sharp baby blues. “I love the King.”

You laughed together like it was the funniest joke ever. 

You were a little disappointed when you arrived at the station. You could have spent the whole day in the car with Leon.

You two entered the building and you went quickly to the break room to start the coffee for the day. 

Leon entered his new office and opened the blinds. Two years ago he would have never imagined a career in law enforcement, let alone a town like Collier’s Sheriff.

Leon was brought out of his thoughts when you walked into the room carrying a fresh cup of coffee.

“Should I get used to this or are you just being nice because its my first day?” 

You looked at him confused.

“I’m not used to someone else doing things like this for me.”

“Well get used to it,” you said happily. “The old boss made me bring him his coffee like clockwork and I had to make it juuuussst riiiiigggghhhttt.” You emphasized.

Leon just nodded.

“So Deputy Kennedy, how do you like your coffee?”

“I can make it myself Y/N, don’t worry about it.”

“I insist! You’re going to be pretty busy, pretty soon.” You said looking into the mug. “I don’t want you to worry about the easiest part of your day.”

Leon smiled and patted you on the shoulder. “I take it black, with just a little bit of sugar, Y/N. Thank you.”

You smiled and felt your cheeks get a bit rosy. You fixed his coffee and set it on his desk.

“Well if you need me, I’ll be outside the door. Just ring me if you need me.” 

He grabbed your hand gently. “Do you mind staying in here just a little bit longer, I’m not ready to start working quite yet.” He smiled a toothy, but nervous smile. 

You held on to his hand and squeezed it in a friendly, assuring manner.

“Of course, Leon.”

He smiled in response.

You looked around the office. It was empty, there were no pictures of his family or any personal effects to the room, save for a framed police academy diploma. 

“They didn’t give you time to set up here?”

“What do you mean Y/N?” 

“The last guy here had tons of pictures and hunting trophies and…” you realized your mistake a little too late. Maybe, Deputy Kennedy didn’t have those things and you had just reminded him of the fact.

Leon smiled a sad smile, “Well maybe while I’m here, I’ll be able to fill this room with all those things.”

“Leon, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to…” 

“It’s okay, you’re honest. I like that about you.”

You smiled and heat spread across your cheeks.

“I don’t have any living family members, I grew up in a group home.”

You felt so embarrassed. How could you just interrogate him like that?

The blowing of the A/C unit emphasized the silence. It felt like your body was on autopilot when you went up to him to pat him on the shoulder. 

“I’m so sorry, Leon, I hope you can find your chosen family here.” 

“That's really nice of you, Y/N. I hope I do too.”

You quickly took your arm off of his bicep, realizing you were touching your boss in a more than intimate way. You didn’t want to be known as “that” type of girl.

You quickly mumbled “Gotta get back to work,” or something along those lines, and scuttled away.

Leon just kicked his boots and sat down behind his desk. He couldn’t quite figure it out, was she flirting with him or was she genuinely kind? He hated to admit it, but he was used to women throwing themselves at him. They’d be good for a night or two, but they never seemed to care to learn more about him than what he could do for them.

Y/N was sweet, but she was young. She probably had never had a real relationship before, her kindness was just surface-deep; it was nothing more.

He decided to go ahead and look over the schedule for the week that Y/N had already prepared for him. 

He could get used to this.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

You were heading to Leigh’s diner to grab lunch for the office. It was actually one of your favorite tasks. You were able to get out of the office and walk around town for a bit. It also helped that you walked past “Gannem’s Appliances” where they always had the news on in the window. 

You would take a moment to look at the goings on in the world, to see what was happening outside of your small fishbowl of a town. 

The announcer was reading hastily from a fresh news bulletin. 

“After 40 years of groundbreaking research, NACA has officially decided to change its name to NASA. The official decision was made late last week, after changing their focus from just flight to space travel of humans and robots.”

You could have fallen right where you stood. Robots? Spaceflight? You were in heaven, you had only daydreamed about working in a high-tech lab with robots; now it was really happening.

You quickly looked at your wristwatch and scuttled to the diner to pick up the order before the men at the office got too hungry and wondered where she was at.

You walked into the bustling diner, thank goodness her order wasn’t quite ready yet. You decided to stay out of the way of the other patrons and sat at an odd chair near the window. You felt almost invisible, but, you were used to it and didn’t mind.

You were stuck in your thoughts until the sound of women gossiping brought you out of your stupor.

“Did you see the new Sheriff? He’s a cutie!” one girl with perfectly coiffed blonde hair asked. 

“Do you think he has a secretary? They almost always marry the secretary!” Another girl with auburn hair giggled.

Y/N recognized the girls. They were girls from her graduating class, they had gone to the same school since kindergarten and they either didn’t seem to recognize her or were ignoring her. You couldn’t decide what was worse.

“Oh he has a secretary all right, it's Y/N. Do you remember her from school?”

The girl with auburn hair just raised her eyebrows in slight confusion.

��Great.” you thought. “They don’t remember.” That stung.

“Well, she wasn’t much of anyone, she’s lucky her daddy “the farmer” got her the job,” she emphasized the farmer part as she lit her cigarette. 

“Ohhh, I remember said the auburn-haired girl. “Isn’t OUR Patrick supposed to be courting her? I heard his mother set him up, guess they’re trying to fix his image. I hear he made a fool out of himself at the University of Georgia last year. His daddy had to call in a LOT of favors from his buddies from the law school.”

“That’s just Patrick, he’ll grow out of it. I feel bad for him, one bad mistake and he has to get married off to the first prude that would take him. I bet Y/N’s mother is just beside herself, all the new social connections and money.”

“My mama told me her mama was a social climber. Always trying to get invited to social events;  well she’ll never belong just like her daughter.”

The girls broke into laughter.

Your face was red from anger and embarrassment.

Of course, your order was ready and the waitress called out your name which made the girls' heads snap and turn around to look at you. You did your best not to make eye contact, as you grabbed the food, but tears were already falling from your eyes.

As you left you could hear them burst out in more malicious laughter. 

You were humiliated, and you just wanted to get back to work.

You were two doors down from the office when you heard a car next to the sidewalk slow to a roll.  You instinctively glanced over and there was Patrick in his fancy car. He was definitely the last person you wanted to see right now. 

“Hey, baby. I missed you.” He slurred as he stumbled out of the car.

You took a minute to look at his car, there were beer bottles littering the back seat. 

“Let’s go for a ride, I’m bored and I want some alone time with my girl.” He grabbed her roughly. 

“Have you been drinking? Why did you drive here? You know it's dangerous! You whispered harshly at him. People were beginning to stare.

“Baby, I just wanted to see you, I’m lonely. You should keep me happy you know, if you’re gonna be my wife,” he was looking at you like a piece of meat. 

You felt sick to your stomach.

“I have to get this back to the office, then I’ll come with you.” You were trying to stall, you didn’t want to make him angry, but you surely didn’t want to get in the car with him.

It didn’t matter. He didn’t like your answer. Patrick was shockingly strong and when he yanked you into him, you both fell over and you yelped. 

People were now watching and whispering. 

You wanted to disappear into dust and wondered if you should have just got in the car, maybe nothing would have happened, and the two of you wouldn’t be out on the sidewalk in the middle of town embarrassing yourselves. 

Patrick yanked you up and raised his hand to hit you, you braced for impact when someone broke you two up.

It was Leon and his face was calm, but she could feel the anger radiating from him.

“Y/N! Do you know this man?” He said calmly but firmly. 

Before you could answer, Patrick yelled at Leon. “I had it handled man, she’s my fiance. We don’t need your services anymore.” He made a move to grab your arm again. Leon moved in between you two.

“Sir, not only are you in violation of a city ordinance of being intoxicated in public, but you are also assaulting your fiance in public, which is a felony charge.” 

Patrick just scoffed. “And what? You’re gonna arrest me? Do you even know who I am?”

Leon stepped closer to Patrick, they were about the same height, but something about Leon’s body language made him seem taller. 

“Yes, Sir you’re under arrest for the assault of my secretary Miss Y/L/N. You have the right to remain silent…” he began cuffing Patrick in broad daylight. 

“Wait a minute! Y/N just tell him we were just fooling around baby.” Patrick pleaded with you.

“Deputy Kennedy please, we’ll handle this in private. Patrick just made a bad mistake that's all.”

You pleaded to Leon, you hoped he would take your side.

“Handle in private? Are we supposed to wait until he kills you Y/N?” He said loudly.

You couldn’t move. This was really happening and everyone was going to blame you for Patrick going to jail. 

Leon picked Patrick up and brought him into the station and locked him up in their little holding cell.

Everyone in the office was dead silent when they saw who Deputy Kennedy was bringing in on the first day. You followed in quickly behind them and everyone glared at you. You ignored the glares and got on the phone to call Senator Armstrong, Patrick’s father. 

Deputy Kennedy refused to let you see your Fiance, stating that she was the victim and a witness to his crime. 

You just sat in your small little cubicle and cried. You cried over how embarrassed you were and how those girls were right, Patrick didn’t really love you. How could he? Who would do that to someone they loved?

The sounds of a man shouting broke the silence of the police department.

“How could you lock this man up? It was a simple lovers' quarrel, they’re both kids!” You heard Senator Armstrong’s baritone voice fill the small station. 

“You either ignore your son’s behavior or are too ignorant to see it.” Leon quipped back.

“Excuse me?” Armstrong sneered. “You better watch it boy or I’ll…”

“Or what Armstrong? I’ll go missing? Don’t go incriminating yourself in the police department now.” Leon said smugly. 

You walked out of your cubicle to see the scene unfolding in front of you. You thought Senator Armstrong was going to have an aneurysm with how red his face was. 

He quickly looked over at you and saw your tear-stained face. “My poor future daughter! Look what you’ve done! You’ve upset her by jailing her fiance right in front of her!”

He wrapped a heavy arm around your shoulders. “ I paid the bail and I'm taking my family home.”

Leon just gestured for the door and said nothing. Senator Armstrong ushered you out, but not before you took one final look back at Leon with fresh tears in your eyes.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

You were sitting in the Armstrongs’ tinted limousine Patrick’s head on your lap. You couldn’t help but stroke his soft hair. He buried his face in the fabric of your dress and groaned.

“I can’t believe that asshole through me into the cell with all those actual criminals. It was miserable, sobering up in that shithole.”

You rolled your eyes instinctively, Leon’s words ringing in your ears still. “What if he did lose his temper and couldn’t stop hitting me?” You shrugged it off. It was just one bad moment, he’ll change.

Your future father in Law just glared daggers into his son. 

When you arrived at your home, you still patted Patrick’s head gently. “I’ll see you later honey.” 

He quickly leaned up and kissed you on the mouth for the first time. It was sloppy and full of want. It wasn’t sweet at all and you felt sick.

You quickly got out of the car and ran into the house. 

When you arrived in the foyer, Hank was waiting for you.

“Is that bastard out there?” He asked angrily.

You looked down at your feet, you thought you’d at least be able to sleep and take a bath before being interrogated about the incident earlier. 

You heard your mom shout from the kitchen. “Is my baby home? Hank you leave your sister alone! She needs to rest.” Your mother hurried in to welcome you.

“Oh sweetie, there’s no need to cry.” She wiped your tears with a cloth she had in her apron. “Daddy and I get into arguments all the time.” 

Hank got even angrier. “You know damn well that was no argument they had, Thomas Wells said that son of a bitch shook her like a ragdoll before Deputy Kennedy got to them.”

Your Mama just rolled her eyes. “Thomas Wells is a known exaggerator, people love talking about people who they’re jealous of. Speaking of Y/N, you’re not going back to that job. It doesn’t look respectable to have the future Mrs. Armstrong working at that office.”

Your mother grabbed your arm gently and took you into the dining room and fixed your dinner. She hadn’t done this since you were a child, she was definitely trying to get on your good side. 

You felt that familiar pit of disappointment and anguish in your stomach. You had realized Mama really did want to be a part of the social class as the Armstrongs. She wanted it so bad she was willing to cover up what Patrick was willing to do to you.

You nibbled on supper and went upstairs to cry, you were exhausted.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

You couldn’t sleep that night. All you could do was replay the day’s events over and over in your mind. 

You also felt extremely violated by Patrick’s lack of respect for you.

When daybreak came, you took a light catnap for an hour or two. You were awoken by your mother shaking you awake. 

“Y/N, sweetie, time to wake up.”

You squinted at her through your dark eyelashes, confused.

“Don’t give that look, Y/N, Suzanne Armstrong called and wanted to take you shopping.”

You lurched up from your bed. “Miss Suzanne...why?” 

“She wants to make sure you look polished for the engagement party of course. The local and state newspapers will be covering it of course.” Your mother said excitedly. “Hopefully she’ll remember your mama too, I could get one of those tweed suits just like the first lady! Wouldn’t that be fun?”

You smiled a sad smile. You wanted to see your mama happy, but was she willing to do the same for you?

You got up and began your morning ritual, you made sure your dress was crisply ironed and you even added a ribbon in your hair to make yourself look a little more stylish.

You waited patiently in the sitting room before seeing the car roll up. Your mother ushered you out the door and into the awaiting town car, driven by a chauffeur of course. He opened the door for you. Inside awaiting looking prim as ever, was Miss Suzanne in a pastel-colored suit. 

“Well look at this little doll,”  she said and kissed your cheeks. “I just can not wait for you to marry my son. You two are just going to give me and your mama the cutest little grandbabies.”

You smiled uncomfortably. 

The town car started to pull away into town and Miss Suzanne wasted no time discussing future plans with you.

“So, I’ve already contacted all the news outlets. The Atlanta Sentinel is sending reporters to this party and even LIFE Magazine!” She squealed excitedly. 

“They love the Cinderella feel of this story, my dear. Everyone loves a great love story.” She composed herself again. “and it is my job as fairy godmother, to make sure you ARE the belle of the ball. There are going to be a lot of eyes and I want to make sure you look perfect.”

She looked you up and down. “We’ll have to do away with this wardrobe,” she motioned with her pointer finger to your homemade dress.

The car was heading out of town, you made a comment about going to the local department store in town. 

Miss Suzanne let out a full-bodied laugh. “My dear, we’re going to Atlanta to shop. You can’t be photographed in some outfit from Belford’s.” 

You just fell silent and looked out the window as Miss Suzanne rambled on about how excited she was, planning a wedding, and how much great press it would be for her husband and Patrick. 

When they finally arrived at the fancy boutique in midtown Atlanta, they were greeted by staff in crisp uniforms waiting outside for their arrival. 

The head designer, or who you assumed was the head designer came blowing through the doors and came to greet your future mother-in-law. 

“My dear, thank you for coming, let me grab your coat.” He grabbed Suzanne’s expensive tweed jacket and hat. He handed it to a dour-looking assistant.

He then acknowledged you. 

“My, my who is this diamond in the rough?”

Suzanne answered for you. “A diamond in the rough indeed. This is my future daughter in Law, Y/N.” 

You didn’t know whether to curtsy or not. You gently bent your knees and answered with a quiet “hello.”

“My goodness, she is just precious! We certainly have our work cut out for us.” The man snickered.

Being brought up in the south, you knew being called precious wasn’t a compliment. 

You sighed as you followed the man and Suzanne into the boutique knowing it was going to be a long day. 

[hanquokkasgirl]

Will We Last?

Chapter 2

"Excuse me, Miss Hart. We're landing in 30 minutes." I felt a poke on my shoulder waking me up from my slumber. Whoever said that redeyes to anywhere were a good idea is lying.

I yawn. "Thanks. Could I get an iced coffee with two sugars and cream please?" I said while I adjusted my blanket and taking off my eye mask.

"For sure, in just a moment." She leaves through some curtains. I decide to go to the restroom, and do my skincare. And by skincare I mean moisturizer and cleanser because I forgot everything else. I also reapply deodorant and a bit of perfume. As I get out and walk back to my seat, the coffee was waiting for me. I chugged that motherfucker because man did I need it.

After a couple more minutes, the landing announcement came on and I started looking out the window. I still couldn't believe that I moved here, far away from everything. My anxiety was already a bit on overload but the excitement helped mask it. As I was taking in the beauty and being the cliche that films the plane landing, a million thoughts rushed into my head. What if I don't fit in? What if this whole deal was not actually legit? I mean, this whole thing sounded too good to be true, a great job straight out of college in a whole new country that pays my housing and a salary? What did I get myself into? And with that last thought, the plane landed.

I got off the plane and went to baggage claim. This airport looks amazing, so modern yet classic. Can I fall in love with an airport? I think I can. Once I was able to grab my bag and head to where I was supposed to get picked up, I saw a bunch of girls behind barriers with their phones and banners that said "Ateez", were they waiting for someone? Is that a singer's name? Well, anyway... I make my way to the door when they all start screaming and I see a bunch of camera people coming at me. Then because of the flashes and screams, I get dizzy and confused, I ended up crashing into someone and fall ass flat to the ground... great.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry" said the guy helping me up... right before a security guard pushed me out of the way. "Hey hey, let me help her. It's fine"

"Thanks. I'm sorry too. I was just trying to find my exit." I look up after getting my stuff and we kept walking outside. He was tall... like really tall. Wearing sunglasses *indoors well that's a fashion choice*, black leather shirt and a black tank underneath, a spiky silver necklace, and he smelled so amazing.

"Well, good luck, and sorry again." And he left outside some doors, right then its when I see someone holding a sign that read Ms. Y/N Hart.

"Annyeonhaseyo.  Jeoneun Y/n Hart-imnida" I tried my best with my korean... truth was that it was really rusty because I never get to practice it.

"Welcome Ms. Hart. I will be your driver today." okay english, good. Not embarrasing at all. "I'll be taking you to the company and then dropping your luggage off in your apartment." My driver said while opening the door. What a service. I feel like the queen of England... rip.

I get on the car, and he closes my door. But all I keep wondering is who was that guy? Even though with sunglasses, the vibe I felt was like nothing I felt before.

Okay one thing we gotta get straight, I don't believe in love at first sight, all that "I looked into his eyes and I just knew" bullshit, no I don't believe on it. Relationships take work and if one of the parts in not willing to put in the work, then that relationship is over. That's why my parents split up, they didn't work. They always talked about love at first sight, until my dad fell in love with his secretary. They still think I don't know, but I know. My family life all went to crap about a year ago, and my parents have been trying to keep it to themselves all this time... unsuccessfully. That bimbo that works as my dad's secretary is even younger than I am... about a year younger but its still significant to the implications and consecuences this brings to all of us. I was, and still kind of am, pissed at my dad but until they decide to tell me there's nothing I can do. So that's why maybe I decided to take this job and get away from all that drama. I mean I am 23 years old, but still they are treating me like a 5 year old.

We arrived to a building that had the letter KQ posted at the entrance. New beginnings here I come. I was just about to open my door when my driver did it for me. "Thanks...uhm..."

"Mr. Kim, ma'am. I'm the one that mostly will drive you to important events with the rest of the crew."

"Thanks, Mr. Kim." I got off the car with just my purse and important stuff, meanwhile the rest left with Mr. Kim to my new apartment. I may be exhausted but it is like noon here in Korea so, gotta get some things started right away I guess.

I walk in into the building and I get greeted by the security guard at the reception. I walk up to him and he looks up from his phone. I was about to say something when he pressed somethings on the phone and called someone, something nim, that wasn't part of my vocabulary. I better get into some korean classes soon.

"Ah, Ms. Hart! Glad you arrived safe. I'm Ms. Jung, head of international relationships and your boss for the time being. Please follow me." Ms. Jung was very attractive. Like any guy could fall in love with her, I would be lying if I said I wasn't feeling self concious right now. I mean, to be a stylist and make up artist, I look like a homeless person with a slight better fragrance than most. I mean I have my Air Forces Ones and wearing the sweatpants from Louis Vuitton that my dad gave me last Christmas. Airpods Max and my Iphone... not an Android person... still not the looks for the future stylist of whoever they assign me to.

"Do you know who am I being assigned to yet? I liked to be prepared for whenever my first day starts." I tell her while we were in the elevator going to the last floor.

"Sure! You are being assigned to one of our most successful groups and with your designs and innovation of ideas, we feel here in KQ that you will be a great fit." She said letting me pass once we arrived to our floor. "Now we will go to our conference room and sign the last contracts, will get your ID badge information ready... do not worry your photo will be taken tomorrow once you go and pick it up from the reception." We stopped and she opened a door to let me in. "Then I'll give you the code to your new apartment." Code? What about the keys? "Korea uses a coding system instead of keys, its just safer that way." She reads minds too, wow. "Here's your new T-card. You'll use it to move around the city, we'll give you an assistant as well who will double as your roommate, and everything else you're schedule will be all set in this contract which of course you will have a copy of." Ms. Jung handed me a pile of papers that seemed like a million miles to read, but the excitement of this new city took over me and I was signing right away.

"All done, Ms. Jung. If its not an issue I would like to go get settled at the apartment now." I said standing up and grabbing my stuff from the table.

"No issue at all, Ms. Hart. We'll let Mr. Kim know to take you there so you don't get lost. Now take the elevator all the way to floor 1 and Mr. Kim will be waiting for you." Ms. Jung grabbed the stack of papers I just signed my life away to, and walked to one of the offices on this floor. I just made my way to the elevator and put on my headphones, it was a good idea to download some music before the trip. I put on my favorite song to date Lost in Japan by Shawn Mendes. There's something about that song that always makes me wanna dance, y'know.

I noticed after a bit that I had gotten to the first floor. I was about to get out when I crush into someone...again. I really do have to start looking up, at least this time I didn't fall. I looked up to apologize to whoever this person was... it was the same guy from the airport.

"Oh my god its you" Suddenly that thought slipped my lips and said it aloud.

"And it's you... you're here"

[fangirls-fanfiction]

Chapter Eight

Story below undercut:

When the Devil woke up, the first thing she noticed was the splitting head ache she'd gotten from her hangover. Next was the pain in her back from sleeping at her desk all night— Again. And lastly, and perhaps most importantly, she couldn't quite remember when or how she'd gotten here.

Groaning, she rubbed her temples, trying to remember what had happened the night before.

Dice came along... They started drinking... Lucifer had drank and drank and drank... Then it was a little fuzzy after that. She only hoped that she hadn't said anything embarrassing. She wasn't too smart when she was drunk.

Drinks... Wait, the drinks!

The demon looked around for her bourbon, not finding any trace of it anywhere. Or Dice's whiskey. Or was it brandy...? Either way, it wasn't there.

"Why that rotten little..." The Devil stood from her seat. "She robbed me of my alcohol?! When I get my hands on her, I'll— "

She stopped as she felt something slide off her shoulders and to the ground. Directing her attention to it, her heart practically dropped at the sight of Queen Dice's jacket.

"Dice's jacket? But she doesn't go anywhere without it! Why would she—?" She stopped, catching sight of the woman sleeping on the chase lounge.

Absentmindedly holding the jacket close to her chest, the demon blinked at Dice sleeping on the couch. She couldn't remember for the life of her why Dice had stayed in the room with her overnight. She may have just been too tired to leave for her own room. She may have been drunk herself and just fell asleep there.

Either way, it was surprising— No, alarming how comfortable Dice looked. Not just because the chase lounge was incredibly uncomfortable to sleep on, but the fact that she, the Devil was there. She'd never met anyone like Dice. Anyone so willing to let their guard down and sleep in the same room as Lucifer, knowing very well that she could easily steal their soul.

The demon looked back at Dice's jacket. It couldn't be true, could it? Did Queen Dice really care about her? Care enough to keep her company? Or fall asleep not only on the couch but in the same room as her in the first place?

A familiar smile appeared on her face looking back to Dice on the couch.

'She really is wonderful.' She thought as she sighed.

The Devil was soon pulled back to reality when there was a knock at the door. Though not a loud knock, it was still enough to intensify her awful headache. Glancing back at Dice, she hurried to the door to avoid the noise waking the woman up.

Whipping the door open, she glared down at Henchwoman, smiling up at her.

"Good morning, Boss!"

"Shhh! Keep your voice down!" The Devil snarled at her. "I've got a monster of a headache from this hangover, and Dice is sleeping!"

"You gotta hangover?" Henchwoman blinked, doing as she was told and keeping her voice as down.

"Yes! Now what do you want?"

"D'uh... Your mornin tea, Boss?" Henchwoman gestured to the cart. "I went to your room but I couldn't find ya. You didn't sleep in here last night, didja? You know it's bad for your back, right, Boss?"

"Of course I know that, I was just... Uhm... Queen Dice wanted to celebrate last night with a few drinks and... I might've had a couple more than a few...

And Queen Dice slept here last night..."

"D'aww, it was awful nice of ya to let Miss Queen Dice sleep on the couch and you sleep at your desk." Henchwoman smiled.

"Oh no, I got so drunk that I think I passed out and..." The Devil thought over what her companion had said, slowly turning to face her as her rage built. "What did you just call me?"

"I said you were awful nice to let Miss Queen Dice sleep on the couch— "

"Stop!" The Queen of Hell hid her face in her hands to avoid Henchwomsn seeing her flustered face.

"It's nothin to be ashamed of, Boss."

"I'm not nice! I... I passed out on my desk because I got so drunk. If— If it weren't for that, I would've taken the couch and had her sleep on the floor! That's how much a care about her!"

Lucifer glanced back at Queen Dice, making sure she was still asleep and not hearing the conversation. To her relief, it seemed like Dice was a very heavy sleeper. Still, she kept her voice low.

"So if that's what you're wondering; no, it wasn't out of the goodness of my heart!"

"Ok! Ok! I believe you! But... If ya don't mind me askin, why did you get so drunk last night? You haven't gotten that drunk since— "

The Devil's blood boiled as Henchwoman went on before a growl rose from the back of her throat which immediately shut the imp up. Though it also aggravated her head ache, making it worse.

"Henchwoman, I don't want to discuss this any further..." She placed her face in her hands. "Please just... Leave me be..."

Henchwoman nodded, doing as she was told and walking off with the tea cart. After quietly closing the door, the Devil marched back to her desk. Though as she went to sit back down, that was when she noticed she was still holding on to Dice's jacket.

She wasn't actually sure if she passed out. For all she knew, she could've been too drunk to realize what had happened. Queen Dice probably asked if she could sleep on the couch in her own drunken state and the Devil only agreed because she was too drunk to argue. She wouldn't have found it in her heart to let Dice sleep there. She wasn't nice. She didn't care about Dice. She didn't care about anyone.

Still, she wondered if Dice was comfortable enough on the couch. Even for the demon it wasn't a comfortable place to sleep. Not that she slept there regularly, she only slept there when she was sick or drunk. And by the Seven Hells that one hangover was bad.

Walking back over to Queen Dice, she draped the jacket over her to ensure she was warm enough. Turning to her face, she smiled and gently brushed the woman's hair out of her eyes. She chuckled at the sight of Dice's makeup being slightly smeared.

'She's so beautiful...'

Blinking at her own thoughts, she quickly pulled away from Dice, backing away from her as if she was radioactive.

Dice wasn't pretty! She wasn't even a 5 on the scale! Shaking her head, Lucifer couldn't seem to stop thinking about Dice. She wasn't even awake or talking yet, she could hear her voice, see those shimmering eyes— She hated how Dice made her feel. Just when she thought she'd grown used those feelings of hers, they'd get worse.

She closed her eyes tightly shut, making her headache worse, but she couldn't look at Dice right now. It was too overwhelming to even think about. Burying her face in her hands, she continued to back up, eventually backing herself into her desk and falling.

And of course, that was a loud enough of a noise to wake Queen Dice.

"Boss?" She asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "What's goin on?"

"Dice! I— I can explain, I just..." The Devil couldn't think of an excuse, so she just kept her mouth shut.

"You ok, Boss?" Queen Dice stood from the lounge, letting her jacket slid off of her and to the ground. "Here, lemme help you."

She extended her hand out for the demon to take, Lucifer wincing as she attempted to back away. The last thing she needed right now was for Dice to hold her hand.

"It's ok, Boss, I'm just tryin to help."

Blinking, the demon reluctantly took Dice's hand, the woman helping her stand up.

"That looked like quite a fall, you ok?"

"I... Uhm..." She still couldn't seem to bring together full, coherent sentences. "I just... Tripped..."

"Oh gosh, you ok?"

The Devil nodded.

"That's good, why don't you sit down?"

Nodding again, the demon sat on the chase lounge, trying her best to hide her flustered face. Though it seemed like Dice hadn't noticed, as she seemed distracted by getting her jacket off the ground and dusting it off.

"Did you sleep well?" She turned to her Boss again.

"Y— Yes."

"You got a hangover?"

"H— H— How'd you know?"

"You drank almost an entire bottle of bourbon on your own last night," Queen Dice chuckled. "And you keep on hidin your face like you gotta head ache."

"Oh..." The Queen of Hell realized she had still been covering her face. "Yeah... Hangover... That's— That's why I tripped."

"Oh, you poor thing, anything your Number One can do?"

"No... I'll be... I'll be fine..." The Devil furrowed her eyebrows at what Dice had said. "My what?"

"Your Number One! That's what you called me last night."

"I must've been drunk."

"No, it was before you started drinking."

The demon's eyes widened.

"It is rather fitting, ain't it?" The woman continued. "Queen Dice; the Devil's Number One!"

"Ok, ok, don't get a swelled head over it, Dice."

"Too late~"

That got a chuckle out of her Boss, yet she still thought;

'If I didn't remember that, what else embarrassing did I say?'

"Dice?"

"Yeah, Boss?"

"You... You remember last night, right...?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Well uhm... I didn't say anything else embarrassing, did I...? I... I'm afraid I don't quite remember..."

"Hmm, well," Queen Dice thought. "Not much, we mostly just talked. You called me your Number One."

"Yeah, I got that."

"And your best friend, and you loved my idea for the Carnival instead of a second game show— Oh, and you have the cutest laugh, Boss! Especially your cute little snorts!"

"...What?"

"We should drink together more often, Boss."

"Wh— What? Why?"

"Because, I love spending time with you."

The Devil blinked, heat rising to her face. Covering her face again, she looked away, unable to face Dice at the moment.

"Still got a bad head ache?"

The Devil nodded.

"I'll go get you a glass of water, that should help."

After the door clicked shut, the demon slowly lowered her hands. Had she really said all those things last night? Or was this some twisted joke that Dice was pulling? How could Dice be so cruel? No, that couldn’t be it… Dice would never… Right…?

What was it she said?

Dice loved her?

No! That's not what she said;

She loved spending time with her.

No matter what she'd said, the Devil's face was on fire— Metaphorically speaking. It was almost infuriating how Dice acted around her, especially compared to how she used to. Dice, like most people, was afraid of the demon. Just like every single other mortal was; but now? Now it was different. She was so comfortable around Old Scratch. There wasn't much if at all a fear toward her from the woman. And the Devil resented her for it. Or maybe it wasn't resentment...

Maybe it was something different...

She needed to think of something else. Anything else.

She liked the idea of a carnival, even better than two games shows. Dice was smart like that.

The Devil shook her head, her mind wandering back to Dice again.

The door opening again, she once again tried to cover her flustered face, to no avail.

"Alright, Boss, here's that glass of water— " Queen Dice looked up at her. "Are you ok?"

"Y— Yeah? Why wouldn't I be?"

"You look like you're burning up. Are you getting a fever?"

"Oh— Oh! That! Uhm... Its... It's a demon thing..." The Devil quickly lied. "We uhm... Get all flustered and... Stuff... When— When we get a hangover..." She glanced at Queen Dice, the look on the woman's face telling her that she wasn't buying it.

"Wh— What's it to you? Hm?" The demon got defensive. "Why do you care?"

"Because," Queen Dice replied, rather casually. "We're friends."

'We are?'

"Anyway, I gotta get going, Boss. I got photo shoots today and I gotta fix my makeup before I go." Queen Dice headed back toward the door. "But maybe we can hang after my show tonight?"

"Ok!" The Devil perked up, her tail wagging slightly. Though realizing how much of an idiot she looked and sounded, she stopped;

"But... I... I think I'll be too busy..." The Queen of Hell crossed her arms, looking away. "But I'll... I'll think about it..."

"Of course, see you 'round, Boss." Queen Dice waved as she went out the door.

Waving back at her, the Devil looked at her hand, immediately retracting it. She actually looked forward to seeing Dice again, already counting down the seconds since the door closed shut again. And for Hell's sake her blasted tail was wagging again!

Grabbing the damned appendage like that would stop it from wagging, she growled, more at Dice than her tail.

Why did Dice have to make her feel this way? Why'd she make the Devil make a fool of herself around her? Why was she so awkward with Dice? Why? Why?! Why?!

She stopped, her eyes widening.

By the Seven Levels of Hell...

She covered her mouth, utterly mortified.

Queen Dice did have the Devil wrapped around her finger.

[daydreamgoddess14]

Aspirations pt.1

Hopefully you can look past the rubbish title and summary enough to give this a go!

It started as me coming up with a 'one bed situation' but I've expanded it a little to probably 3-4 chapters in total.

I've only done a couple of very short pieces for this fandom so far so I'd love to know your thoughts! Be kind! 😘

Sydcarmy Masterlist

Full Masterlist

Sydney Adamu / Carmy Berzatto

Syd is 12 months deep in a crush, Carmy is 6 months into a relationship he doesn't want, The Bear is 4 months open and Nat is 2 months into motherhood....

~~~~~~~

Syd didn't know why she'd said yes. Nat had asked, and while her brain went to say 'no thanks', her heart saw the look of desperation on Natalie's face, and a 'yes, of course' popped out instead. Nat even had her minor guilt trip lined up. 

"... I mean, I haven't had any real adult company since the baby was born, and I just -"

"Nat, I said yes."

"For real?"

"Sure, why not. Wait - is Claire invited?"

"Oh god, no. Just us and Tiff."

"Richie's ex?" Nat nodded. 

"Yep. Just some drinks at home, so I'm around if I'm needed. Maybe a couple slices of Marcus's cake?"

"I'll bring you some food."

"You're an angel. Does Carm know you've been keeping my fridge stocked for the last 3 months?" Syd shrugged,

"If he does, he hasn't said anything." They sat in the closed restaurant, Nat feeding baby Mikey while Syd went through the books with her. Carmy was… late. "Where the fuck is he anyway?" Nat clipped her bra back into place and lifted the baby to her shoulder. Every Friday between lunch and dinner service, they did the books together.

"Good question." Syd murmured, eyes on her calculator. "We need to start putting some money aside for Thanksgiving and Christmas promos."

"On it. I need you guys to confirm the festive menu by the 15th, please. We go to print on the 19th, delivery by the end of the month ready to take bookings throughout October."

"Wow, you are still, like, smashing it." Syd says, impressed. 

"I gotta do something during those 3 am feeds other than shopping." She reasoned, heaving the baby over to her other shoulder. 

"Here," Syd stood and held out her hands so Nat could gratefully pass him over. She'd not been around too many babies and was terrified the first time she'd held him. Richie had ribbed her about it in the weeks prior - so much so that she hadn't actually held the baby in company other than Natalie. She rocked gently from side to side, hearing little Mikey's snores in her ear. Nat read through the books and the notes left by Syd and/or Carmy.

"Hey, did I tell you what Uncle Jimmy did?" Syd didn't stop her gentle movement but turned to face Natalie better,

"No?"

"So we each own 33%, right, and Jimmy had the 1% leftover? Well he's gifted it to Mikey. The baby bear is already earning."

"That's dope, I'm still gonna make him do the dishes as soon as he's old enough though. He's gotta earn that paycheck." Syd smiled down as Mikey's eyes drifted shut. 

*

"Hey, fuck, sorry I'm late." He pushed through the swing doors, stopping at the sight of Syd swaying with the baby in her arms. 

"Too late, Carm, we're fucking done now." Nat teased, "good job someone is pulling their weight around here. And giving my arms a break." 

"He's asleep, where'd you want him?"

"You've got the magic touch." Nat took him carefully and transferred him to the car seat. Carmy squatted down for a closer look, 

"I missed out."

"Shoulda been here in time," Nat warned, "I've got a night shift going if you're -"

"No. No thanks sis, I don't get enough sleep as it is."

"Makes two of us."

"Makes three of us." Syd laughed. Carmy kissed Mikey's forehead and stood to pull his sister into a hug while Syd knelt down to tuck the blanket around Mikey and brush a finger over his milk drunk cheeks. 

"I'll let you know when's good?" Nat confirmed to Syd with a hug before letting Carmy lift the heavy car seat and take it out to her car. "Bye Uncle Bear, bye Auntie Syd!" She singsongs. By the time Carmy has returned, Syd is making sure the paperwork is filed correctly and clearing the table they've used. 

"Coffee? Probably too cold now."

"Unlikely, no such thing." He takes the mug and finishes most of it in one go making her grimace. 

"That's gross."

"You ate doughnut off the floor." He counters, she has no argument. "You and Nat planning something?" 

"Just Thanksgiving and Christmas."

"We need a menu."

"We do. I have some potential dishes down but I gotta link them with the theme or some shit." He raises an eyebrow, "Nat's idea. I'm not naming dishes after reindeer or any bullshit like that." 

"Got it. Wanna work on it Monday?"

"You got time?"

"Always." This time, Syd looked incredulous. "I mean it." She nodded slowly, 

"Heard, Chef."

"What'd you make for them this week?" He asked, holding out his hands for the paperwork folder. Syd froze, "C’mon Syd, you think I don't know you've been batch cooking for Nat and Pete for months?" She breaks into a smile, 

"Just easy stuff, chilli, casserole."

"Let me know when you're makin' more and I'll do some as well."

"Oh, I got it under control. You're busy with… like, Claire and this place. I only have this place so…" She trailed off with a limp shrug. 

"Well, you don't have to do it either -" He tried to interject. 

"Nat's been good to me. She's the only other voice of sanity around here." At that, Carmy feigned a look of hurt which made Syd snort with laughter. "Do not - do not - try and claim otherwise!"

"And here I thought we were partners."

"We are. Which is why I can't complain to you about you." She grinned and Carmy returned it with ease. Over a year of working together, 4 months since The Bear had opened, and she'd finally gotten to a point where she only felt awkward approximately 60% of the time, which was a solid win. With time, communication between them had significantly improved. The only downsides currently were his time management when it came to Claire and the raging crush Sydney had developed on Carmy over the course of the last year. The crush was the main/only reason her awkwardness level remained so high. 

"You can, y'know. I want to know if there's something I need to do better. I told you, you gotta let me know if I'm fucking up." She caught her lower lip in her teeth. He was doing that thing again, standing frustratingly close and looking at her with those ocean eyes. 

"You need to stop being late. That's the second time Nat and I have had to go through the books alone, and there's stuff in there that you're closer to than us. I'm the shit, Carm, but I can't read your mind. No matter how hard I try." She jokes. He nods sincerely. 

"Heard. I'll do better, I promise." He paused, "when'd you start holding the baby anyway?"

"Literally the first time I didn't have you and Richie watching me like a hawk." She laughed, "If you'd been around, you'd know that I am his number one Auntie."

"That so?"

"I get all the smiles, all the giggles. Me and baby Mikey are like that -" she holds up her crossed fingers, "you can't compete with a love like ours." She teases.

"Nat likes you better too, s'ok maybe the Fak's will take me in. Or T."

"Dude, T would mother the shit outta you!" She exclaimed.

"Already does. You two gonna be OK tomorrow?"

"So you and Richie can play fucking hooky? Yeah, yeah, I remembered. We all good."

"Sure?"

"Yes, Chef."

"Syd?"

"Carm, babe, Tina and I will be fine. We have everyone else here, I got Nat on front of house, we're gonna smash it." He was about to call her out on calling him babe, but they'd finished clearing up just as everyone else started arriving for dinner service and chaos soon descended. The rest of the day passed without incident. The following morning, Syd and Tina had the crew prepping for a busy lunch service while Richie and Carmy flitted in and out of the kitchen, filling up the car for their catering event. Syd took her break outside while they finished off, 

"I'm gonna get some smokes." Richie called out, already halfway down the alley. Carmy moved towards Syd,

"If you ask one more time if I'm sure, I'm gonna give you a black eye." She warned. He held his hands up, 

"Just checking in."

"You've already done that. We'll be fine."

"I'll keep my phone on. You need anything, you'll call?"

"What're you gonna do from across town?"

"Yo, cousin!" Richie shouted from the sidewalk, "bring the car down." 

"Call me."

"Just fucking go, we're good." She hopped down from the pallets with the intention of pushing him as he continued to hesitate. 

"Carmen!" Richie bellowed again, turning to talk to Natalie who'd just arrived out front. 

"Festive menus Monday?" He asked, 

"Yes, Chef. Go!" He nodded once, took half a step closer and kissed her gently on the lips before turning and running to the car. He was pulling out onto the street before she'd had time to register the kiss at all. 

*

Two miles down the road, Carmy stopped at a red light and his brain reactivated. 

"Holy fucking shit." He muttered, staring straight ahead. 

"What'dya forget?" Richie asked, looking up from his phone. Carmy thought fast,

"Uhh napkins." Richie tsked,

"I picked em up you fucking dipshit." He laughed, shoving Carmy's shoulder. "Good job one of us knows what the fuck is goin on cuz. You gotta stop thinkin bout Clairebear all the time, man." Carmy barked a short laugh,

"Yeah, Claire." He agreed, still thinking about Syd's easy smile and soft lips. 

~~~~~~

[spookymystery67]

I Wish I Could Walk In Heels

AN: I didn't re-read once again out of fear I'd hate it, so hopefully this chapter doesn't suck. There is game plot and dialog that I changed here and there. Enjoy!

TW: Violence, mutant bug thing, zombies, language, sort of terrible flirting?, typical Resident Evil things, ect. I don't know, I suck at tags. Sorry if I traumatize anyone. NO MINORS!

Chapter 4:

-September 28th, 1998-

You and Jill were halfway to the surface when a sudden sound filled the air. 

"Jill, Y/n, it's me again. You two topside yet?" Carlos called through the radio.

"Working on it. So what's the plan?" Jill answered, holding the radio in front of her.

"The old tank's got me clearing the tracks. You two mind getting the subway infrastructure back online?" Carlos asked.

"And how do we do that?" Jill asked.

"Let's start by restoring power. I'll navigate you to the substation once you hit the main road."

"Copy that. Let's do this fast." Jill finished, shutting off the radio.

"So, you gonna join the other survivors when the train starts working again?" Jill questioned you, wanting to start a conversation.

You shrugged, "I don't know. I still need to get to the police station." 

"Why? What's at the police station?" 

"Hopefully, Ben. Alive. My guess is that Irons didn't let anyone leave their cells when all this started." 

"I wouldn't put it past him. Were you and Ben, you know, close?" She looked at you with a suggestive look, implying something in her last question.

You snorted, "Me and Ben? Yeah right. He's not my type. Plus, he was dating my friend, Katherine."

"Mmhmm, and what's your type then? Strong and broody? Someone with a goofy side? I know a guy." She joked.

"Are you trying to set me up?" You laughed.

"Well, I kinda owe you one. You have done me more than one favor in the last couple of hours I've known you." You laughed louder. "C'mon, what's your type? Now I'm curious." Jill pressed. You debated in your mind.

You've never really told anyone this before. Well, anyone besides Katherine and Ben. Questions about your sexuality never came up that often in your life.

"Not men." You bluntly responded. Jill nodded in understanding.

"Ah, only have eyes for the fairer sex. I respect that. Am I your type?" Jill asked, the teasing tone bringing a small grin to your face.

You honestly didn't know what your type was. You were never interested in dating in high school. You were too much of an introvert. And you haven't really met anyone that caught your eye or shared similar interests. You just knew that men didn't do it for you.

"Gorgeous. Badass, with a caring side from what I've seen… Yeah, you kinda are." You said, a teasing smile on your face.

"Sweet. So if you save my ass again we can go on a date." She joked.

"You gonna buy me dinner? I'd kill for an extra cheesy supreme pizza right now. And a shower. And a nap."

"We'll have a sleepover. Do you like movies?"

"Love them."

"We'll shower, sleep, then eat pizza and watch movies."

"Sounds like a dream. It's a date." You laughed, Jill joining you.

"Can't wait." 

You made it to the top of the station and gathered supplies. Herbs and ammo. According to Jill, these herbs have healing properties. You had no idea. If you had, you would have been grabbing them sooner.

You two make it to the entrance you used to duck under the half closed shudder to get to the outside. As you did, you noticed there were still people running away. One man, panting in fear, quickly ducked under the shudder you had come from where survivors were beckoned with yellow paint.

"More survivors. We gotta get that train moving." Jill said. As she did, I noticed how many more people have been infected and how much more the fire has spread. This whole city was a horror show. No corner you turned was left unaffected by the last week. By the last few hours specifically. You two carefully maneuvered through the streets, careful of zombies and being extra careful as to not shoot any survivors. 

Once you two reached another blocked off area, Jill took out the radio to contact Carlos.

"Carlos, we've reached the main avenue. Which way do we go?" Jill questioned him on the radio. You had your pistol out and kept your eyes peeled, ready to shoot anything that might try to snap its teeth at you or Jill.

"See a big transmission tower? That's the substation. You'll have to circle around through an alley to your right to get there."

"You mean the alley that's on fire?" Jill deadpanned when she saw the flames. You snorted at her tone.

"Maybe? Surely a tall drink of water like yourself can put out a few flames." Carlos' joking voice said through the speaker.

"Fuck you." Jill sighed as she shut the radio off. Clearly she wasn't in the mood for his flirty jokes. 

"Alright, let's see if we can get this fire out. Hopefully it won't be too much of a hassle." You said. And, as if the universe just loved to torment you, you had to get a tool to get the fire hydrant to work.

"This is gonna be a hassle." Jill sighed. 

"Yeah." You huffed. 

You both walked out of the alley, barely making it fully onto the street again when you saw zombies just full on knocking down and picking up the fences blocking them from getting to the two of you.

"You have got to be kidding me." Jill said as the horde walked closer.

"Those are some weak ass fences. No wonder this outbreak spreaded so fast." You said. You raised your gun, prepared to shoot at any moment.

"Wait, back up with me." Jill said.

You didn't bother questioning her, backing up, away from the zombies walking toward you.

Jill quickly took aim and waited until all the zombies were in one spot, before shooting a red barrel sat next to a crashed car. The barrel exploded, sending debris and zombies flying through the air. You block your face and squint from the heat of the blast. When it faded, you saw all the zombies were dead.

"Huh. How'd you know it would explode?" You asked.

"It's red. Red means flammable."

"Why would someone just leave flammable barrels around?"

"Why would someone create a virus to turn people into monsters? The world is full of questionable people." Jill shrugged.

"More like fucking idiots." You sighed. You were tired. You haven't been able to sleep more than a few minutes since a week ago. You were running on pure adrenaline at this point.

"Well, I guess the bright side is that we have access to a whole new street. We can look for a hose for the fire hydrant." Jill said, gesturing to the somewhat clear street corner, bright neon signs lighting up the area.

"Sure. I suppose. I'm getting tired of all these sidequests." You said. You both began your trek through the brightly lit street.

"Me too." Jill agreed. 

A while later, you both had successfully found a fire hose. Only having to avoid a few zombies in the process. You made it back to the flame filled alley, fire hose in your arms.

"Here, you can do the honors." You said, handing Jill the heavy fire hose.

She huffed from the sudden weight, "Thanks so much. You really shouldn't have." 

"What are friends for?" You joked.

Jill set up the hose and began spraying water onto the flames. It takes a few seconds for the flames to finally go out.

"There." Jill sighs, putting the hose down that was no longer needed.

"See. It would have taken me far longer if I had done it." You said, nudging her arm playfully.

"Mmhmm. Let's go lazy bones." Jill said. You both start forward once more.

"In my defense, I haven't slept in a while. It's honestly a miracle I've made it this far." 

"No, you have some natural survival skills in you. I've seen you shoot that gun. You only miss a couple of times." Jill teased.

"Hey, I do pretty good for someone who had absolutely no experience with guns, thank you very much. And why do you think I try to avoid shooting?"

"Is that why you haven't used your shotgun? You don't know how to?" She asked, pausing in her step in the alley, standing near a building.

"Honestly, yeah. I found it and figured I'd take it in case I lost my handgun or ammo for it. I probably would have figured it out through trial and error." 

"And get yourself killed in the process. Let's stop real quick and I'll show you how to use it."

Jill quickly went through the step by step process of shotgun 101. It's pretty much similar to the handgun. Just have to watch out for more recoil. But it was nice to understand how it worked and how to reload.

You both walked through the back entrance of a repair shop. You immediately saw bolt cutters, shining in a spotlight on a wall.

"Looks like those could be useful." You said.

"Yeah, can you carry them in your backpack?" Jill asked.

"Oh, now I gotta carry everything?" She smirked, nodding. "You need to get your own backpack." You said, grabbing the bolt cutters and slipping them into your backpack.

"Why should I when I have you and your never ending abyss of a backpack. How much stuff can you carry in there anyways? It's not that big of a bag."

"A lot if I put my mind to it. Speaking of where we are putting things. How are you carrying so much stuff?"

She shrugged. "Skills. Now, use the bolt cutters on that yellow chain on the door." She demanded, pointing to the door.

"Alright, bossy. Is this pay back for the fire hose incident?"

"Maybe."

You used the bolt cutters on the chain, causing them to break and unlock the door. You and Jill entered the room, noticing an injured man panting against a car. It's a car repair shop.

You and Jill quickly rushed forward to check on the man. "You're U.B.C.S?" Jill asked, kneeling down to check his wounds. You took your bag off your shoulders and knelt down with her, looking for your med kit.

"Y-yeah. Careful, careful." The young man gasped as Jill touched a painful wound. A bite.

You and Jill shared a glance after looking at the man. "C'mon. Don't look at me like that, alright? I'm not infected." The man said.

"Okay, we'll take care of-" Jill starts.

"No no no, wait! Please!" The man's cut off by a gunshot to the head, killing him instantly.

You and Jill gasped, turning to see the man with graying hair behind you who held the gun. Blood was splattered on your face.

"What the fuck!" Jill exclaimed, standing up in anger. You follow suit, attempting to wipe the blood from your cheeks. Luckily it didn't get in your eyes or mouth.

"He was infected." The Russian man said casually.

"He might have been infected!" Jill shouted.

The man scoffed. "Are all S.T.A.R.S this soft? No wonder so many of you are dead." He said, beginning to walk off.

"And what are you? U.B.C.S? Killing your own people?" 

He huffed and turned to face her from the stairs. "He would have turned. Where is your sense of self-preservation?"

She said nothing and glared. You walked up to stand by her, ready to help fight the man if she needed you to.

He tsked and began walking up the stairs again. "Go back to the subway station. We don't need a bleeding heart like you getting in the way." He shuts the door behind him.

You rubbed Jill's arm in comfort before turning to look at the man. You saw a book sticking out of his pocket and picked it up in case it had information, skimming through it.

It was a training log. The man's name was Murphy. He was apparently in prison for murdering twenty gang members and Umbrella had let him out to work for them. He seemed to have had a motev for the murders as his brother was killed by a gang member. Not that you really approve murder. You just understand why someone would do so when blinded by grief. 

"Find something?" Jill asked you.

"Uh, that guy that just left, his name may be Nicholai. That's just a guess though. But the way Murphy over here described Nicholai using him as a shield during training just screamed it's self-preservation dude." You said.

"Yeah, you may be right." She glanced at the dead man, saddened by another loss. "Let's get out of here. There isn't anything else here that we need." 

You nodded and you two made your way up the stairs and out of the shop. You tried not to look at the body of the man as you left. As sad as it sounded, you've been trying to stay disconnected with your empathetic side since this all started. It's hard to go through the city knowing that all the dead and undead were once people like you. People who had feelings and family. People who you and Ben tried and failed to help.

You made it to a dark alley and looked ahead, seeing dogs and a crashed police car with the lights still flashing. Oh yeah, animals get infected too.

You and Jill did your best to avoid getting bit by the dogs, stunning them and shooting them to put them out of their misery.

Finally, you make it to the entrance of the transmission tower. The door was locked. Figures.

"Great." You sighed.

"Maybe that guy has something that can help." Jill motioned to the man slumped to the ground with a box in his hands.

"Let's check." You walked over and carefully grabbed the box from the dead man's hands. You screeched and jumped away when a bunch of bugs came exploding and crawling out of the man's stomach, guts exposed.

"Oh my god." Jill gasped.

You shivered and gagged. You hate bugs. Hate hate hate!

"Here you open it." You shoved the box in Jill's hands, not wanting to chance it. There could be more bugs in there.

She carefully opened the box, finding a lock pick.

"Nice. You know how to use it?" You asked her.

"Yeah. You?" She asked, you shook your head.

"I'm more of a climb through the window type person." You said. 

She raised a brow at you. Oh yeah, she was a cop. Maybe you shouldn't talk about how you've broken the law during your time as Ben's assistant. "I've locked myself out of my apartment more times than I care to admit. Crowbars were my best friend in those scenarios. Had one left on the ledge."

Not entirely a lie there. You have had to lodge a crowbar through your apartment window after you've locked yourself out. And you hadn't wanted to call a locksmith, thinking you could "do it yourself" for free. You almost had the cops called on you by your neighbor before they realized it was you being an idiot.

"That's not safe. Someone else could have broken in." Jill scolded. You shrugged. "Nevermind. Let's just get this over with." She walked over to the gate lock and began picking it.

"Where did you learn to pick locks?" You asked as you watched her work.

"My father." She deadpanned, you could tell she didn't want to elaborate further.

"Huh. My dad never really taught me anything. Except how to sweet talk my way out of trouble. Very helpful since became Ben's assistant." You said.

"How'd you become his assistant anyways?" Jill asked as she worked on the lock. 

"I found an ad somewhere in the papers. I needed a job that wasn't the fast food place I was working at. So I figured, why not apply. He liked me, I liked his thought process and his goals, and the rest is history."

"Now you're here, stuck with me. In a city wide outbreak where everything is trying to kill you. How's that feel?" She joked weakly.

"Well, it could be worse. I could still be alone. I'm glad I found someone I can trust in all this." The lock clicked and she stood and turned, giving you a smile.

"Ditto. I'm glad I have someone watching my back through this."

"Even though I suck at shooting?" You joked.

"Even though you suck at shooting." She laughed. She walked through the gate, holding it open for you.

You went to walk through the gate when you heard something behind you. You turned to look and saw nothing. As you were about to shrug it off, you saw a slimy substance falling from above. You looked up and saw a giant, mutated bug. The bug shrieked and grabbed you by the neck, still hanging from above. You screamed.

"Y/ n!" Jill yelled, running to help you.

Something slimy and tongue like is shoved down your throat, causing you to choke and gag from disgust. Jill gets it off of you and shoots the bug-like creature, killing it instantly.

"Fucking gross." She grimaced.

You choke and gag trying to get the disgusting sensation out of your throat. Of something crawling within you. A parasite.

"Here, you need an herb. Quickly!" Jill urged, coaxing you to swallow the herb in her hand.

You gasped and shoved the herb in your mouth, swallowing quickly. You immediately felt the urge to throw up and turned away from Jill, puking the parasite on the ground near the dead bug creature. You closed your eyes, trying to regain your breath and calm your beating heart.

"You okay?" Jill asked, rubbing your shoulder in comfort.

"No." You rasped. That was disgusting. You felt disgusting. You hate bugs.

"You know, I won't blame you if you'd want to wait out here. I can get this done alone if I have to." She told you.

"I'm thinking about it." You joked weakly. You shook your head and sighed. "No, I'll come with you. Hang on a second." You reached into your backpack and grabbed a pack of gum from your bag. You stuck a piece in your mouth, the mint refreshing the nasty taste in your mouth. You offered one to Jill and she smirked, taking a piece and sticking it in her mouth.

"Of course you have gum." Jill laughed.

"Well, yeah. I wish I had a toothbrush. My teeth aren't too bad right?" You haven't brushed in two days, having unfortunately lost your toothbrush and your cleaned bottled water when you had to run away from a public bathroom that was suddenly overrun with infected people. Finding out the hard way that the water was infected. Best not to drink the city water. 

"No, you're fine. You surprisingly don't smell as bad as you look." You glared. "I mean, well, you know what I mean. You smell fine. And your teeth are fine. Now get up, we have things to do." She helped you to your feet from your kneeled position.

"Thanks." You deadpanned.

"Don't mention it. Let's get this over with."

You two quickly made your way through the building, shooting any bug that so much as twitched at you, working to get the power back on. There was some kind of disgusting growth covering the walls of the building. You weren't even sure what it was. You didn't want to know.

You finally pulled up the last lever, sighing in relief that you could finally leave.

"Done. Time to get the hell out of here." Jill said. You nodded in agreement, shooting and kicking away the angry giant bugs that ran at you.

"Agreed." You both ran, dodging any creature that lunged at you, until you finally made it outside.

"Okay. All that leaves is the main power switch." Jill panted, running up the stairs to the power station.

You both walked over to the control panel. Jill finds the switch and presses it, starting the power and destroying all the growth and bug-creatures. Mutated cockroaches? You weren't sure what type of bug it was. You just wanted them dead.

"Enjoy that." Jill said, watching the nest crumble.

"Good riddance. Hated those fucking things." You shivered.

"Me too. Come on. We gotta radio, Carlos." Jill said. You nodded.

You two began making your exit as Jill called Carlos.

"Carlos, it's Jill. We've restored power to the subway." Jill said.

"Nice going!" Carlos' voice sounded. "Next up is the traffic control system. It should be in the subway company's offices." 

"Right. I think I know the building." Jill said.

"Really? Way to go partner. One step ahead!" He said.

"Not your partner." Jill finished, shutting the radio off.

You snorted, "Awe, he seems sweet."

"You can have him." She joked.

"I'm good."

You two walked down some stairs, making your way to the offices. You stopped to gather supplies you found lying around and hiding in lockers. They're probably not going to need it anymore. You pushed through an orange door, making it outside once more, then went through a gate and onto a street, following Jill's lead.

As you were walking, you had a sudden feeling of dread in your chest. It was quiet. Too quiet.

"Hey, Jill-" You started.

"I feel it too. Stay close." She said, feeling that something was wrong. 

As you two walked by the police cars with the flashing lights, the wall to your right exploded, bricks flying everywhere. You gasped in shock and saw the tall and strong monster that had been chasing Jill earlier. Guess it recovered.

The monster growled, the sound similar to the word "stars". It started going after Jill once more and you grabbed her arm, pulling her way from getting hit.

"Are you shitting me?" Jill yelled, frustrated and frightened.

You both dodged and ran around it, continuing to your destination. Now with the added problem of that thing chasing you.

As you ran, it lunged forward and smacked at you both, knocking you back. You guess it's not doing the eerily slow walk anymore. You shot at a power generator, making it shock the monster and pulled Jill to a run, dodging zombies while you went.

You made your way back to the repair garage and Jill pulled out her radio. "Carlos, that thing is still alive! It's after me!" Jill yelled.

"What? Run! You both come back to the station!" He told her.

"Not until we get traffic control online." Jill put the radio away and glanced at you questionly.

"You okay to keep helping me? That thing is only after me. You'd be safer away from me."

"No, I'm not going to leave you to fix the train by yourself. And I'm not leaving until I know you're safe. It's the least I can do."

Jill nodded sincerely. "Thank you."

You both finally make it to the offices, careful as to avoid anything trying to kill you. Jill pulled her radio out again.

"Carlos, we're in the control room. Now what?"

"Nice! Now you gotta plot out a route." His voice said through the speaker.

"Okay, gimme a sec." Jill handed you the radio to hold and got to work. "Alright, where are we headed?" She asked through the radio in your hand.

"The train is stopped at Redstone Street. We need to reach Fox Park Station. Can you program that in?" Carlos asked.

"Hey, I'm supercop. Consider it done." She joked. You chuckled and watched as she input the directions. She did so successfully.

"Carlos, it's me. I've finished inputting the subway route." She said, gently taking back the radio from your hand.

"Jill, you are amazing! Tough as nails too. Hurry back to the station. We'll make sure the subway is ready to depart." Carlos said.

Jill put the radio away after that. "He's right. You are amazing. Just thought you should know." You smirked.

"Shut up." She snorted, smiling sheepishly. "We better get going to the station. Thanks for your help, by the way. And the company. It's nice having someone to talk to through all of this." She told you.

"Don't mention it. I couldn't just leave you to do this by yourself. Even supercops need help once in a while." You both laughed and made your way out of the office.

Now you need to make it back to the station in one piece.

[autumnslance]

I have a question about carrying out an idea. I think this writing issue I've been having has been plaguing me longer than my time on Mateus; I’ve always struggled to get past chapter one or even stick to an idea, even when I started writing years ago. Are there any pointers on carrying an idea or story through?

That's a hard one, as I know I have plenty of plans and WIPs I haven't gotten past those stages myself.

So I ask myself what's the core of the idea, the heart of it? What is it I really want to say? I don't tend to write chronologically myself; I write lines, descriptions, bits of dialogue, scenes, and chapters entirely out of order. I know where they "go" in the overall arc. And sometimes, like with the Avengret storyline, I can then string them together, shuffling the order, writing new bridging scenes, removing or combining others as needed.

If I am trying to write in order, even then if a section is hard, or boring, or not working--skip it. Put in some brackets with [AND THEN X AND Y HAPPENS AND IT'S NOW THE NEXT DAY]. Move on to the next part that excites you, or that you at least know what happens. You can always double back later and add in that connecting scene...or even decide it isn't needed now, you've covered everything it would have elsewhere, and can just be summarized and moved on from.

I've recently been reading a "How To Write" series of books by James Scott Bell; there are several, but they're all pretty short. One of the pieces of advice he gives is to start in the middle (go to the midpoint of just about any novel or film, and it's somewhere very near that 50% mark in one direction or another). Find the "mirror moment" a point--sometimes a page or paragraph, sometimes just a single line--that is a frank look at the situation, self, etc on the part of the main character. What do they see? It's a moment of reflective truth. Who is the character in this midpoint? How did they get here? Who do they need to be/what must they do to get to the end? How do they realize they may fail? What forces are against them? Do they realize/acknowledge any of this?

These are recommendations more for novels than short stories, but heavens know how long some of our fics go, and short stories do still have similar, if truncated, structures and beats.

Anyway, you're not beholden to write from beginning to end. You may not know everything about your story yet--because you haven't written it yet, and these things change form, even for plotters with outlines. Write scenes. Write chapters. Write microfics that are just a couple lines of dialogue. Use prompt lists and challenges, if you gotta. Start small and build, as one of the old philosophers said.

(and eventually one day you look and realize you've written a few hundred thousand words, many of them about your OC and a Damn Rogue wending through their world...)

Writing works like exercise; you have to practice it, figure out what works for you, at what times of day, and it can be a struggle to keep up momentum. In the meanwhile, you also have to take other care of yourself.

Like actual exercise (whatever you're able to do; at least stretches, which is where I'm at some days). Remembering to eat and stay hydrated, get plenty of sleep (don't @ me, I sleep, just on a later schedule), and also do remember to intake other creative works; I got a rush of inspiration last year and spent months feverishly writing scenes and plotting and writing dialogues and making timeline outlines and writing more pages I'll never use after reading a popular novel, cuz the visceral language and a vaguely similar character dynamic in certain specific ways clicked something on in my brain. We gotta feed that persnickety little muse.

And on the days the muse is being recalcitrant...we write anyway. It's hard, it feels like it sucks, but if we want to get something done? Write something. Anything. Stream of consciousness if you gotta; complain, talk out your ideas, maybe write a little from that. And the next day look at it and realize it's not so bad as you thought and a little polish will fix it.

So don't try to be perfect first round; writing is messy. Revision and editing is where we make it look pretty (you usually don't have to rewrite entirely front to back, either; some folks like to, but for many others that's only if there's serious structure issues; mileage varies per project, too, as they're all different).

So write the scenes out of order, as they come. See what ideas stick and what are just idle thoughts. Maybe they're all true and there's multiverses and AUs there. See what starts t string together into coherence. Don't be afraid to revise, rewrite, even retcon if something better comes along months later after you already posted something.

The only way to know the story is to write it, figuring out how it wants to be written, and sometimes that means writing it from other angles and around the back way until it tells us how it got to that point (and whether what we thought was the start actually was or not).

Anyway. This got long, hopefully there's some tiny tidbit that helps!

[recurring-polynya]

Writing/Art Update 2.20.2024

Well, I had another very solid week. I hesitate to call it good, because I didn't actually enjoy it very much, but I did grind out 8,642 words last week. I finished Chapter 8 and made a solid dent in Chapter 9a. Basically, I just tried to write at least a thousand words a day, which I accomplished almost every day. Yesterday, I only did 800, but I did 2000 on Sunday, plus the 800 was the ending scene for the chapter, so I deserve a little grace there. And it was a three-day weekend for my kids!

I am at the stage of the fanfic where most of the ambiguity is gone--I know what scenes are left and I just gotta write them. It doesn't matter if I want to or not, the fanfic isn't going to be done until I write them, so I just do it. I always worry that writing in this mindset is going to produce bad, unlovable writing--like, if I don't love writing this, how is anyone going to love reading it? Historically, though, that doesn't bear out--big chunks of Call Me Back and What We Do with Our Hearts were written in this exact fugue state, and I often end up loving them after the fact, and they still contain parts that are really funny or insightful or heartfelt or whatever. I literally do not know how this is possible, it just is. Also, like: there is going to be editing. It is truly astonishing how hard it is to slap anything at all down on a page and then how easy it is to shape it up into something good later on. It is a lot like throwing flat colors down on a piece of art and then adding a little texture and shading later.

The other thing I don't like about writing in this mode is that it makes me actually insane, which I don't like. I just roll word counts and percentages around in my head 24 hours a day and I'm not really able to relax and do things that are not grinding away at my writing. I can do it for short periods of time, but I think I have too much of this story left to tough it through, plus, like, what's the point? This is the thing I allegedly do for fun, and even though I really really really want to be finished, I feel like I should actually try to enjoy the process a little, at least.

So anyway! My first goal for this week is to be less insane about my fanfic. My second goal is to finish Chapter 9a (I think I have about 3-4k to go). My third goal is to edit Chapters 7 and 8 and send them to the beta.

After that, I'll just have 9b (of which I've already written about 4k) and the epilogue to do. After that, of course, there's still more editing, a beta pass for chapters 8->the end, and then I may try to read the whole thing through again from the beginning. So, 3 weeks, maybe, give or take a little?

In the interest of trying to have a little fun, I think I'm gonna try to post some previews for the next couple weeks? In the past, people have enjoyed previews. Today's is a little long, but it's the opening to the whole thing. It's below a cut for those who'd rather wait until the whole thing comes out.

“I don’t know if they’re trying to capitalize on Boy’s Day, or what,” Rukia said, idly inching her hand toward the plate of hot, steaming gyoza sitting on the countertop next to Renji’s stove, “but they’re having some sort of Seafood Festival out in East Sixth.”

A dish towel appeared out of nowhere, the tip whipping painfully against Rukia’s hand.

“Ow!” Rukia howled.

“They’re hot! It’ll hurt worse if you jam one of those in your mouth whole like I know you were gonna,” Renji replied, stuffing the dish towel back into his obi, and juggling the pan of gyoza he was currently frying. “What about a Seafood Festival? Why the Hell is the East Sixth having a Seafood Festival?”

“It’s being put on by the Train Museum, I hear,” Rukia continued grumpily, rubbing at her hand. “I guess they’re hauling a bunch of spring fish up from the Shiranui Sea at the other end of the line. It only takes a few hours to get out to Six. There’s probably carts making the run that we could take, but I would honestly just flash-step, at least on the way out. I want to eat my own body weight in katsuo. Possibly your body weight in katsuo.”

“Mmm,” Renji replied noncommittally, dumping the rest of his gyoza onto the plate and turning off the stovetop.

“I was thinking of asking Hisagi if he wanted us to take some pictures and do a little write-up for the Bulletin,” Rukia went on. “Get us a little walking-around money.” Not that Rukia lacked for pocket money, but it was a little more expensive than their usual weekend activities, and Renji got a little cagey when she tried to treat him to things.

“That’s a bad idea.”

“Why? We had fun the last time we played reporter!”

“Grab the bowl of sauce, would you?” Renji gestured with his chin as he picked up the plate of dumplings and the teapot to carry them to the table. “Don’t you remember when they built that damn train line? Took ‘em over over thirty years, and there were three to four articles every single Bulletin about the delays, the graft, the politics, the environmental impact, whatever. People got so mad about the idea of a train inside the Seireitei that it doesn’t even go anywhere useful. I didn’t even know they used it for anything aside from twee holidays for bored nobles.”

“I heard a story from my friend, Lady Akizuki, that the old head of the Seshimo clan actually lives on the train! He hasn’t set foot outside it in fifteen years!”

Renji cocked an eyebrow at her. He looked like he desperately wanted to hear about the Train Noble, but also did not want to be a guy who cared about Train Nobles. “Anyway, don’t mention the train to Hisagi unless you got six or seven hours to kill. Preferably when I’m not there.”

Rukia picked up the big, fragrant bowl of ginger dipping sauce with both hands. “It was just an idea. So what do you think? Do you want to go?”

“When is it again?” Renji asked, frowning.

“It’s running for all of May, but the weather has been so nice lately, I thought maybe we could go next weekend,” Rukia suggested. 

Renji was quiet for a moment, but Rukia figured that maybe he was just focused on serving her dumplings, which was, in her opinion, very important. 

“Ru,” he finally said slowly, as he poured her a cup of tea. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

“Is it that you want to go to the Seafood Festival with me?”

Renji took a big breath through his nose and let it out again. “If things work out, I’d love to go later in the month. Next weekend’s not gonna work, though.”

“Oh.” Rukia frowned. “That’s fine. That’s no big deal.” She looked down lovingly at her gyoza and then up at Renji hopefully. “Itadakimasu?” she asked hopefully.

Renji blinked. “Huh? Oh, yeah, please help yourself. That… that wasn’t the thing I had to say.”

“Well, spit it out, already,” Rukia groused, her mouth already crammed with gyoza. “Why are you being weird?”

Renji still hadn’t touched his own food. He had circled his right wrist with the thumb and middle finger of his left hand and was rotating it back and forth. He used to make that gesture a lot when he was young, and Rukia realized that she hadn’t seen him do it in years.

“I’m having some surgery,” Renji finally said. 

Rukia froze. After a long moment, she slowly finished chewing her dumpling and swallowed it. “Are you okay? What’s going on?”

“I’m getting my arm fixed.”

Rukia watched him rub his wrist for another few seconds. “Did it not heal correctly after the, um, accident?” “The accident” was when Byakuya had stabbed him through the forearm during a demonstration fight the week prior. Everyone was being very polite about it.

“Wellll…” Renji drew out. “I mean, no, that healed up fine. Very clean cut, Senbonzakura, as always. But, uh, while I was at the Fourth, the topic of my burnt-out kidou ducts came up. Captain Unohana thinks she can fix ‘em. And I’ve decided to, um, let her try.” “Oh,” said Rukia. Her chest was filling up with a lot of strange feelings. “Oh.”

[canirove]

I don’t like you, Mason Mount | Chapter 2

Previous chapter | Next chapter

Masterlist

"Have you texted him yet?"

"Text who?"

"Mason, of course!"

"Why would I do that?"

"He gave you his number over Christmas, and we are half way January. You should have texted him already" my sister Monica says.

"But I don't want to text him. I already told you I don't like him."

"Whatever" she says, rolling her eyes.

"If you are so interested on him, why don't you text him?"

"Because he is interested on you, not me. And besides, he is too young for me."

"And for me."

"Oh, c'mon. He's just a couple of years younger than yourself."

"Sometimes that's enough" I shrug.

"Where is his card?"

"I don't know."

"What?"

"I think it is on the bag I took to the game, but I haven't checked."

"You are the worst" Monica says, getting up from the sofa.

"Where are you going?"

"To your room, to find that card and make you text him."

"What? No!" I say, following her. 

"God, your wardrobe is a mess" she says once we are on my room.

"Monica..."

"Oh, here it is. Mason Mount" she reads. "You also have his business email."

"One I'm not interested in either."

"Yeah, yeah" she says, taking out her phone.

"What are you doing?"

"Saving his number just in case."

"No, give me that!" I say, trying to take the phone and the card from her hands.

"No!"

"Monica!"

"No!" 

"Give me that!" I say, managing to get the card from her, but tearing it in half.

"Look at what you've done, you idiot!"

"It probably is for the best."

"Urgh!" my sister grunts. "Now a couple of numbers are missing."

"You can always spend your afternoon texting all the possible combinations" I shrug.

"You are gonna regret this. You'll see" she says, leaving my room.

"I will not, Monica. You'll see" I reply.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"Looks like Mount already replaced you."

"Uh?"

"Look at this" my sister says, showing me her phone. "They are saying he's seeing that girl."

"God, he has such bad taste."

"I know, he liked you" Monica says with a big smile.

"You are so funny. But good for him."

"Really? Aren’t you regretting rnot texting him?"

"No, I don't" I say. But I gotta admit that over the past few months, I've been tempted to try and get his number from the card and text him something. Because I have kept the card, though my sister doesn't know. 

"Anyway, have to go back to what I was supposed to be doing: getting Lola tickets for Chelsea's last game of the season. If you were dating Mason, I could ask him for them. But oh, well..." she says, making me roll my eyes. 

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"Auntie, are you sure you don't want to come?" Lola says, hugging me by the waist.

"100%."

"But you still have your Mount shirt!"

"I do, yes.” For whatever the reason, I've kept his shirt. It is on a bag at the back of my wardrobe, but it is there.

"Why don’t you want to wear it and come to the game with us?" she pouts.

"I’m really tired from my shift today at the bookshop and my head is starting to hurt."

"I'll miss you."

"I won't" my dad says behind us. "Watching football with you is the worst, you are always complaining about something."

"I love you too, dad" I smile.

"Ok, are we all ready?" my sister says.

"We are" he replies.

"Then let's go, the traffic is gonna be a nightmare."

"Promise that you will at least watch it to see if we are on tv" Lola says before letting me go.

"I will, I promise" I say, giving her a little squeeze.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"Oh, shit, there they are!" I say, quickly grabbing my phone to take a photo of the tv, Lola and my dad singing with the rest of the fans. But when I finally manage to do it, I take a photo of someone else. Of Mason. "Urgh" I complain while looking at the photo, which happens to be a really good one. You can see how nice his hair looks, how fluffy and... "No" I say to myself. "Do not go there. You don't like him, you can't think those things about him." 

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"Auntie!" Lola says, running towards me when she comes back home. "You won't believe what happened!"

"You were on tv!"

"We were?"

"Yes, you and grandad."

"Did we look good?" he asks.

"Gorgeous" I laugh. "But I didn't manage to get a photo. Sorry."

"It's ok, auntie. Because look who took a photo with me!" Lola says, showing me her phone.

There he is, with that big smile of his, his dimple, and the fluffy hair. Mason.

"How did you manage to get a photo with him?"

"He recognized her on the stands" my sister says.

"Isn't that cool?" Lola grins.

"Really cool, yeah."

"He was so nice, asking about how we were doing, if we had enjoyed the game... But I'm sorry, sis" Monica says once Lola and my dad have left for the kitchen. "He didn't ask about you."

"Why would he?" I ask.

"Yes, why would he" she repeats, leaving me alone with a weird feeling on my stomach. Something like... Disappointment? Why would I be disappointed? I don’t like Mason. I don’t hate him anymore after getting to meet him a bit, but I don’t like him. And he has moved on and is seeing someone. He has forgotten about me. Which is what I wanted, right? Right?

"Urgh" I say to myself before following everyone else into the kitchen.

[desolateice]

fanfic ask for umibudo!

Send me a fic of mine and I'll answer...

Thank you for your patience. I wanted to re-read the fic before answering, which I did with the others, this one just took longer. I've put it all under the read more.

My favorite scene

So many. But probably after Johnny nearly drowns and Chozen is lying in the tide having given up and waiting to turn into seafoam and just sobbing into the sand, covered in sand and Johnny's like I'm right here and has to drag him away from the tide, talking to Chozen and Chozen hasn't realized Johnny is up and okay-ish but sobbing because Chozen's magic (siren song) is just so heartbreaking that he can't stop crying and it's some world building with the ningyo abilities and he's like why are you crying about your bride? Aren't I your bride? I nearly drowned pay attention to me. And Johnny's actually asking for attention that he wants and he gets it. Which is, for this story, huge for him.

My favorite chapter (if it's a multichapter)

The chapters about Johnny nearly drowning. chapter 14 and 15. 15 has one of my favorite dialogues between kid Johnny and his mom ['she' in this case is the little mermaid]:

“She’s dead! That’s what people say about dead people! That they’re still here but not here. You said that about Dad!” It’d been maybe one of her worse lies, when she’d been tired of answering his questions about when Dad would come back and where he was, so she pulled out the adult favorite: “He’s on a farm up north, running wild and free with the other farm animals.” He wasn’t dead. He was just gone.

Plus in this chapter Johnny realizes he can be vulnerable and also rely on Chozen in difficult situations. And how much Chozen cares for him truly sinks in.

And Chozen continues to realize that him being a ningyo is only an issue in Tomi Village. Everywhere else he's respected, so when people find him people instantly realize he's a ningyo with an injured bride and take care of them. Which just sort of stuns Chozen. But to them a ningyo is good luck. So of course they're going to put Johnny and Chozen up in a hotel room and run out to get them clothes and find their car and do this team effort to help because goodness, when was the last time anyone had seen a ningyo? And one so upset with an injured bride? Gotta help out.

Hardest scene to write

Johnny nearly drowning. I kept trying to figure out when it was going to happen. I knew it would but I didn't want it to be too early or too late. I wanted it to happen in a cave but I realized the island famous for caves they'd already passed, so it was a lot of reworking logistics and their plans. I rewrote it a couple of times. And while I felt like Chozen could protect Johnny I wanted it to show that he didn't really know how to properly pay attention to a human. Like humans have to breathe so you have to pay attention to water level and tidal waves and stuff and just because you can dive in and save someone doesn't mean you can skip learning CPR for if they were in the water longer than you thought or in a way you couldn't get to. It was like a wake up call Chozen needed to have. Plus I wanted an excuse for Chozen to go feral. What worked, which I don't know if people caught, was that Chozen moved Johnny without realizing it into a recovery position. Meanwhile on Johnny's end he really just wanted someone to care in a visible way. He hadn't gotten that after Kreese had hurt him. He'd been saved but then kinda just had to get up and move on and it's been hurting, but Chozen is so upset because it's him and he cares so much and Johnny needed that. He needed to be precious to someone. I also wanted to explain with the flashback why it's important to Johnny. Not just that feeling but also he had this deep love for fairy tales and Chozen is a fairy tale. I'd hinted at it before but then it became this deeper thing. He didn't want the beast to become human, he didn't understand why anyone would hate him. He didn't want the mermaid to turn into seafoam. He wanted magic to be real and he wanted to rewrite it and here is a merman that loves him upset and like 'let me turn into seafoam' and that snaps straight through to that deep set feeling and he's like nope. The other thing was trying to find places for Johnny to help facilitate Sato and Mr. Miyagi's interaction but there was no basis for it. Johnny didn't know Mr. Miyagi and he's a teen. What's he going too do for this old feud? Straight off a plane? Not happening. And not his job. So sending him a way was more fun for me and better for Chozen and Johnny. Oh also the shells in Johnny's hair. I decided really early on that they'd stay there via magic and mean Johnny was a ningyo bride, but it didn't work with Johnny going home and finishing school. So I had to change it but I kept trying to find spots for it and it just didn't work till the end.

Favorite character to write in the fic

Probably Chozen. Chozen being a mermaid was so much fun because I got to take things from canon and weave okay what if he was a mermaid? into it. How can I take the falling out between our Mr. Miyagi and Sato and twist it to fit the monster narrative? Oh also Sato and Mr. Miyagi's bickering in the background. Mostly Sato, it was a lot of fun to just make him very yandere. He loves Mr. Miyagi but he can't let himself relax because he feels like he'll instantly turn into sea foam if Mr. Miyagi doesn't return any care whatsoever, so he just calls Mr. Miyagi Coward but still follows him around, and still has fun, but he's like grumpy the whole time because he can't turn into Seafoam before Miyagi sensei passes or before Chozen is set up. But Nariyoshi Miyagi just keeps realizing how in love kid Sato was with him, because he kept offering him things, following ningyo courting culture but without explaining it and Sato hates that Nariyoshi realizes and remembers it. (But they get a happy little threesome with Yukie)

Favorite dynamic to write in the fic

Chozen in fish brain mode and how Johnny sort of realizes it. Everything is logical for Chozen but also illogical. And when it gets super strong Johnny is there to keep him from going into the sea or trying to logic with him or to carry him if he can't change out of his ningyo form.

Like the original one which was Johnny getting Chozen clothes but Chozen seeing a bed and assuming something else. Or when they go swimming and Chozen's delighted then realizes he forgot to ask Johnny if he can swim and is like ah man I'm going to have to get my bride some arm floaties.

Why I chose that title

A lot of this fic takes place in Okinawa and if I have an Okinawan heavy fic I try and pick foods from Okinawa. Umibudo are sea grapes, a type of seaweed that I tried on a visit and I thought would be fitting for a mermaid fic because it's food from the sea, a little salty and surprising but also delicious.

A fun fact about the fic

I did so much research that didn't get used. So when I write about Okinawa I generally dig around online for things and then have to go back and see when they were created. For example some places in Okinawa you can get to by bridge now, but in the 80's those bridges didn't exist, so I had to figure out alternative ways for them to get there, which generally was a plane or a ferry, especially for the smaller southern islands. I researched love hotels in general, and the history of condoms in Japan, apparently there used to be door to door sales people who'd come into your home and sell housewives condoms. And it was just considered the norm. Like condom use was higher in Japan then it was in the USA and I had to figure out okay then is Chozen more likely to use condoms and if so what brands? Which led to researching brands of condoms in the 80s in Japan to hope that those filtered to Okinawa. And I thought about having Chozen looking for brands he recognized in the states, one of the factories of a brand used in Japan in the 80s is in Newark. Did I end up using any of that? No. Also tried to research common lube brands in the 80s Japan which more or less just taught me that you can make lube out of seaweed. (maybe they'll try it lol, knowing them, maybe that's why Chozen spends so much time in the sea, harvesting seaweed to make homemade lube ) Tried for toys too because I was going to try and put some in the love hotel. But didn't know what would've been available. I also read a lot of books about marine life because I wanted Chozen to have different marine life characteristics and to have some comparisons. (and to use as references) I watched this horror movie a while ago where one of the heroines drops this 'fact' that turtles have sex for a long time, but I couldn't find anything to support that. (I had a similar issue with 'body wash therapy' which I'd read about somewhere once but couldn't find again, but it could've been a mistranslated) So I tried sea horses and other marine life and ended up just reading a whole lot of random books. Which I do this frequently and have been thinking about sharing what books I read for research with which fics. But for Umibudo I read:

The Curious World of Seahorses: The life and Lore of a marine Marvel by Till Hein (which wasn't quite what I wanted but I learned how difficult it is to raise seahorses)

Kings of Their Own Ocean: Tuna, Obsession, and the Future of Our Seas by Karen Pinchin

The Dragon Behind the Glass: A True Story of Power, Obsession, and the World's Most Coveted Fish by Emily Voigt

There was also a lot of research onto where I'd get excited about something and then realize it was the wrong season since they were in Okinawa in January.

[silvergolddraco28]

He’s Mine- Roleplay with @sanityisinthemusic

Chapter 3 Wind’s Whispers

Red and gold eyes cracked open as a weak beam of sunlight shined in his face from a nearby window. ‘That’d the light of sunrise.’ Wukong idly noted as he sat up finding he was alone with the bandage around his chest having been changed along with the bandage around his splinted leg. ‘I need to get up.’ Wukong thought as he shifted himself over to the side of the bed noting how much slack was on the chain attached to his ankle as he gripped the bedpost and stood up testing how much weight he could put on his leg and finding he could stand on it for a few minutes before he had to sit back down. ‘My pain tolerance must have been reduced.’ Wukong mentally noted.

On the other side of the closed door, Macaque's ears twitched from the sitting room where he'd been reading aloud to Qi Xiaotian. He listened for a moment trying to guess what his mate was doing. He'd not put his glamor back over his ears since he'd shown them to their cub, wanting to make sure the child viewed their six glowing ears as a normal thing, as it was a sign that he was his son. So hearing Wukong moving around wasn't much of a stretch. And based on the curious ear twitching of the baby monkey, Xiaotian could hear it too.

"Let's go check on Mama," He said with a smile, scooping the now giggling and cheering little monkey into his arms. "Baba's gonna show you a fun trick, okay? Don't worry, you're safe with me. I'll never let you get hurt," He nuzzled the little one's head before singing into the shadows, darting invisibly into the bedroom where Wukong was safely and securely kept in bed to recover. Seeing his Sunshine on his feet both surprised and didn't surprise the shadow monkey. He popped out of a shadow by the foot of his bed as he sat back down. "Guess I should have expected you to be up and moving around again after some sleep. How's the leg?"

“Fine. I can move around on it for a few minutes at a time.” Wukong stated. “Am I going to be given any clothes?” Wukong asked.

Macaque chuckles. "I dunno, I think you look pretty good like that. Makes things easy for this little guy." He sits the little monkey on the bed so he can scurry over to his Mama. "But I guess if you're feeling modest..." A shadow portal opened above him, dropping a silky red and black robe onto his head. "You can wear that until you're healed. I need easy access to change the bandages."

Wukong scowled but slipped the soft robe on as he rested against a pillow as Mk ‘ate’ his breakfast. ‘To think I'm going to have to get used to breastfeeding Mk for the next decade now that he will age like a normal demon Cub instead of a human.’ Wukong thought.

Macaque was quiet for a moment as he watched the domestic scene play out in front of him. 'This is gonna take a while to get used to.' Wukong might have always been great with the Cubs, but this was on a whole other level. And this was all his. His tail swayed behind him as he walked around the bed and sat on the edge of it as he had done the day before. "Gotta admit, I'm surprised you could only stay on your feet for a few minutes. I know you're healing's slowed down but I didn't think a couple of holes would be able to slow you down this much."

Wukong grimaced. “My pain tolerance has been reduced, might be an effect of the collar reducing my magic."

Macaque hummed and nodded. "Makes sense. Still, you're healing faster than a mortal at least." He wasn't sure he wanted Wukong's leg to heal that quickly, but he wasn't going to mention that. "I'm surprised you managed to keep the little one so safe in the last month with how cheerful and curious he is." Macaque noted, watching the little one still latched on tight to Wukong. "Did you have to use some spell to make him sleep? That wouldn't require too much magic."

“No… I fed him a mix of milk and my blood to keep him from imprinting on any of the demons if we got caught or cornered.” Wukong replied.

Macaque nodded. "Good call, especially considering the kid's track record. He's always been too friendly for his good." As he continued to watch the child from his spot, a thought popped into his head. "You know, I think he might just be the youngest a celestial monkey has ever been born. "He glanced up at Wukong's face. "The two of us were both born old enough to not need milk." He paused, frowning slightly. "Well I guess I can't say about the Gibbon or the Baboon, but at least that we know of, he's the youngest. Wonder why?"

“Because he was made from only a fraction of my egg that wasn't much larger than a watermelon once the clay form was sealed inside,” Wukong answered as Mk finished his meal burping afterward as he giggled and reached up to touch and investigate Wukong’s face.

“Mama pretty peach!” Mk giggled repeating the words the whisper of wind blew into his little ears.

Macaque paused, ears twitching, listening for whatever the wind may have carried to him, but heard nothing at the moment. Instead of wondering if some fool had dared to say such a thing about his mate, he smiled. "Oh, you think your mama's pretty as a peach too?" Macaque asked the little one, glancing up at his mate's face. He'd certainly said it himself in the past.

Mk nodded. “Baba, beautiful blueberry!” Mk giggled, his cute little ears twitching.

Macaque's eyebrows raised. Now that was an old memory unlocked. He smiled more. "I see the winds are already sharing all sorts of interesting things with you Xiaotian. Do you know where those words are coming from?" He leaned toward the cub, still clinging to his mama, and lowered his voice to a stage whisper. "They're coming from the past."

Mk tilted his head listening intently to Macaque with wagging tails. “Wind telling stories?"

"That's right," he said as he scooted forward. "The wind knows everything because it hears everything. It carries every word someone says. So it knows all of the stories and for monkeys like us-" he wiggles his ears, "it will sometimes share those stories."

“Like Mama peach and Baba blueberry!” Mk giggled.

"Exactly like that." He lets his tail come around and tickle the little one's nose. "That's something Baba and Mama would say to each other a long, long time ago bud. The wind thought you might like to hear that story."

“Story!” Mk cheered settling in Wukong’s lap before a loud and hungry growl came from Wukong’s stomach making the golden monkey blink and blush a deep tomato red in embarrassment.

Macaque blinked before snickering. "Sorry bud, looks like story time has to wait. Looks like your Mama started getting hungry again." He said, standing. "Be right back Peaches." He took two steps forward into a shadow and fell through. Once he arrived in the kitchen, he quickly grabbed a few fruits (mostly stone fruits, but there were a couple of bananas in there,) into a bowl. He didn't think Wukong would need to be hand-fed after his stomach made a sound that loud. But just in case he grabbed a small place where he could sit and cut fruit this time if he needed to. When he returned to the room, he sat the bowl on the nightstand next to the glass of water that had been refilled after he'd changed the bandages. He grabbed the peach he'd placed on top of the pile and offered it to Wukong. "You up to eating yourself this time?"

“I can eat on my own,” Wukong replied taking the fruit in hand and biting right into it consuming the flesh and seed with ease.

Macaque frowned, rolling his eyes. "Really? You're gonna teach the kid to do that if you keep it up."

Wukong grimaced at that. ‘Right… monkey see monkey do…’ Wukong recalled the old saying. “Dont repeat what Mama just did starlight,” Wukong advised the cub with a boop to the nose.

"Right, so you wanted a story." Macaque said, sitting back down as he looked at the little cub. "The story behind Papa Blueberry and Mama Peach is a simple little story. It might not be a story you'd find that fun to listen to," he admitted. He was sure he could make it sound more interesting than just the two of them flirting over a millennia ago, but his cub was so young, he wasn't sure he'd be interested in what was essentially a love story. Even if it was an old romance story.

Wukong silently tuned out the old memory of a story while Mk listened rather intently with wagging twin tails. ‘Macaque always did have a knack for weaving epic tales from simple actions.’ Wukong recalled as he silently devoured the bowl of fruit leaving behind the seeds he wasn't supposed to eat that his seven immortalities made the issue a moot topic for him.

Spinning a tale to entertain a child was simple for him. He fell easily into his storyteller's voice as he talked, dramatizing events from so long ago he only half-remembered them, playing more into the silliness into the whole thing in an attempt to make it more comedic for his baby. He even directed his child's eyes towards a wall, letting shadow figures play across it to aid in his storytelling. He was pleased to see how much their child liked his impromptu play. Story done, he dismissed the shadow monkeys on the wall. "As I said, not the most exciting story. I'm glad you enjoyed it though. Next time I can tell you a more exciting tale, how's that sound?"

Mk clapped his hands. “Baba shadow puppet master!” Mk grinned before he let out a rather large yawn showing off his milk fangs while rubbing at his eyes.

“Someone is ready for their nap.” Wukong hummed in amusement.

Macaque's tail flicked in pleasure as he reached over and placed his hand on the side of his little cub's head, gently stroking sensitive those little ears. "I'd say that was a good bedtime story. Why don't I take you back to your room so you can get that nap?"

Mk reached for Macaque purring as he snuggled into the silky black fur.

Macaque purred back, petting the little one's head. "Be right back Sunshine. Want me to grab you more food, or are you good?"

“I’m full,” Wukong replied to the question, watching as Macaque left through his shadows. ‘Now… time to investigate what I can reach.’ Wukong thought in determination, turning his gaze to the shackle on his ankle. ‘That needs to go but I need something to break it.’ Wukong planned as he got up from the bed making his way to the desk under the window only for the chain to go taunt.

[seven-stars-in-his-palm]

heyyyy💖 your wips sound amazing! Looking at 'in a west end town and dead end world like' 👀👀👀 will this be a multichap or a one shot?

And for the asks🤭 (Hope it's not too much?)

From the first one J & K and and from third one 13, 17 & 22?

HI MARI!!! i have answers for you, friend 🫵

so first off, in a west end town already has three chapter out of four out 🥹 i have one chapter left in the works, so it stilll counts as a wip?? if you'd like it to?? i CAN talk about the last remaining events tho (spoilers just in case you want to read it urself before): aziraphale and crowley's reunion. i am SO excited to show the world that bone crushing hug fr‼️ crowley has been through so much these last six years and deserves to know that aziraphale is still here and still loves him despite his mistake🫵🫵🩷 also having the reassurance that no matter what heaven or hell might do in response to all this, they'll get through it TOGETHER AND THATS ALLL THAT MATTERS pardon me. im emotional

J: What’s your favorite fanfic trope?  Have you written it?

i gotta go for them presumed dead/fake character death thangs 🗣 i will genuinely NEVER get over it, its just so MMMMMMMM. im gonna read more of them tonight actually, this has just reminded me i wanted to. and as for writing it...the closest ive done is it comes and goes and that one kid from jersey, but not exact exact. but two of my bang fics do involve it for a little while!!! 🔥🔥

K: Do you have a guilty pleasures in fic (reading or writing)?

watching characters be angry at the universe. specific, yeah, but this little trope can be molded in soooo many ways and i'll eat it up EVERY TIME!!!!!! imagine it like the "show me a great plan" scene. THAT anger, whether it be obvious or not, KILLS ME. i have crowley get close to these of moments multiple times in my fics, even if its not always noticable. sometimes that anger is masked for aziraphale. ougj

13) what’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

write what you have energy go at that moment? wanna write chronologically? go ahead. wanna write the climax when you havent even wrote the first scene? right-o. wanna write one scene in the second act that makes you feel all soft inside? hell yeah. do whatever you want forever!!!!!

17) what do you do when writing becomes difficult? (maybe a lack of inspiration or writers block)

step away for a while (from either a couple days or weeks), read other fics, and shower. those are usually the go-tos, because most of time whenever i cant write its due to some external force like tiredness or boredom rather than "i dont know what to write". i know what to do, i just cant DO it because it feels like miniscule progress in comparison to what i want when its meant to be finished. doing something else usually helps :)

22) are there certain types of writing you won’t do? (style, pov, genre, tropes, etc)

first person pov, accidental pregnancy, and smut are the rock solid nos, but everything else is possible (though some things need a lot more convincing than others). and that "everything else" is very fluid. i am very attached to hurt/comfort and pain tho

[mybrainismelted]

Office AU - part 7! previous chapters here (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6) Or read it all on A03 here

Mickey woke suddenly the next morning, confused and alarmed at first at the feel of another body in his bed, his hand wrapped around someone's arm.  As his brain finally lost some of its fuzziness, he remembered just who was there with him, and couldn't help but smile. He opened his eyes, and found Ian already awake and apparently watching him sleep.

"What are you looking at?" he grumbled, not able to quite get the smile off his face.

"Just the best sight I've woken up to in a long time."  came the mushy response, as Ian turned on his side to face Mickey.  "Thanks again for letting me stay last night.  I probably would have fallen asleep on the train and still been there."

"Sap."  Mickey replied.  "You can crash here any time, man. This next couple of weeks is going to be exhausting.... maybe you should head home at lunch and get some extra clothes to keep here, just in case?" he couldn't quite meet Ian's eyes as he said that part, not wanting to see what he expected to be confusion or rejection.

Instead, he felt fingers gently stroking his arm, and then softly pulling his chin up to make eye contact.  "You're amazing, and that's a great idea.  If you're really sure you don't mind?"

"Wouldn't have offered if I minded, Ian. Want to see you as much as I can since the boss is intent on cockblocking us." he had to laugh.  "But I guess that means I should like, buy some groceries or something.  Pretty sure all I have is half a jar of peanut butter and a couple of pop tarts.  Which reminds me, we might have to buy breakfast."

Ian laughed and leaned in and gave him a quick peck on the lips before rolling out of bed.  "Guess we should get moving then.  Mind if I shower?  And... uh... I might need to borrow something to wear?"

"Yeah, of course, go shower.  I'll find you something to wear and leave it out for you, but you probably have to wear your pants again."  he gestured to Ian's long legs, with a smirk.

Once he heard the water running, he climbed out of bed and went rummaging for clothes for both of them for the day.  Laid them out on the bed, found Ian's pants and added them to the pile, and made a snap decision.  He stripped out of his boxers and undershirt,  and made a dash for the bathroom. 

Pulling back the shower curtain, he took in the beautiful sight of a naked, wet Ian Gallagher, before managing to stutter out "um, mind if I join you?"

Ian blinked open his eyes, smiled, and grabbed his hand, pulling him in under the water.  They took a minute to admire each other, before crashing together in a heated kiss.  Hands roamed, lips and tongues tasted newly exposed skin, and soft moans filled the air as they took each other in hand, finally touching, feeling, and bringing each other to completion under the warm spray.  "Fuck..." was all either one of them could say as they leaned against each other, trying to catch their breath.  "ok, we gotta actually get clean and get to work now." Mickey said softly. 

They finished up, smiling gently at each other, before stepping out and drying each other off.  They got dressed and ready in companionable silence, never too far from the other.  On the walk to work, they stopped at the closest coffee shop to get muffins and coffee for breakfast, and talked idly about not much of anything as they headed to the office.  Just before they got to the doors of their building, Mickey grabbed Ian's hand and pulled him to a stop.  "Before we go in there and have to try to behave for the day...." he leaned in to kiss Ian, intending it to be quick and gentle, but not being able to stop.

"I KNEW IT!!"  they heard being screeched from half a block away.

Mickey pulled away, sighed, and muttered "Hey Jess" as he turned to face his friend.  "Could you maybe chill with the squealing, it's early and we haven't had our coffee yet."

Jess sauntered over, and punched him in the arm. "Fucker. Most of us were asleep on our feet last night, and you somehow ended up bringing the office hottie home with you?"

Mickey just sighed, glanced at Ian, and said "yeah, ok, but can you please try to keep quiet about this for a bit?  We know people already think something is going on, we just don't want to like, confirm anything right now.  One nosy friend all up in our business is enough."

Jess sniffed, but hugged them both, and linked her arms with them, escorting them into the office, chatting about the dreadful day they had in store.