#I use it so much too like damn Del find new words please

[delta-piscium]

writing is just finding out a word is apparently spelled like that despite having written it correctly many times before

[sh0ek0]

miss you (part 3)

please find the other parts via my masterlist or the #sh0ek0 tag, I'm having some trouble with my posts not showing up in the tags and I think the links are messing this up

genre: angst, smut, dark content, all over the place content warning: 18+ !MINORS + AGELESS BLOGS DO NOT INTERACT! As I forgot to mention in part I + II: aged up characters OF COURSE (college setting), mentions of alcohol and drug use, name calling, toxic relationship, abusive relationship, violent behavior, emotional abuse, choking, dj!choso, rough!megumi, hints of narcissism, obvious mental problems, maddy and nate (euphoria) kinda dynamic, euphoria inspired dialogue, DARK CONTENT, I really don’t know how to do these content notes, I’m sorry, I’m trying pairing: Choso x Reader, Megumi x Reader (kinda???) word count: about 10k

recommended songs: Miss You - Southstar / Say Yes To Heaven - Lana Del Rey (sim0ne & Melo Nada Remix) / Search & Rescue - Drake / Teenage Fever - Drake / Star67 - Drake

Everything just felt so wrong. It was so hot down here and you were constantly bumping into people. The alcohol in your blood was making you dizzy with every step you took through the crowd and it was definitely messing with your sense of balance. You felt kind of nervous, but it was your own fault.

You were the one who hid in your bed for a whole week, your anxiety now at an all-time high. 

And you were the one who accepted all those drinks that Yuji had mixed for you upstairs.

However, those drinks seemed to fulfil their promise of freeing you from your inner torment, and as soon as the people around you were starting to look a little blurry, you start to move to the loud music blaring from the speakers.

I don't ever wanna see you / And I never wanna meet you again / One thing / When you're angry, you're a jerk / And then you treat me like I'm worth nothin'

"This track goes so hard." 

You open your eyes as you hear a familiar voice screaming in your ear. You see Nobara grinning from ear to ear as she dances to the music, the parts of her body that are not covered were glistening with sweat as the fluorescent lights hit her skin. She looked so damn beautiful.

How much you loved your friends.

This time it was Maki who dragged Nobara and you along with her to a house party off campus so the three of you found yourself in some guys huge basement, loud techno music blasting from the speakers and lots of sweaty people pressing up against each other. It was hot and completely dark except for a few neon lights that made it possible to at least distinguish a few faces. 

Not a single person down here seemed to be in any real control of their senses anymore, most of them were completely out of it already, while you could only imagine what kind of drugs they had in their systems by now. But hey, it was none of your business and you wouldn't judge, so the only thing that mattered was that the three of you were having a fantastic time.

I don't ever wanna see you / And I never wanna meet you again / It’ll happen again / I watch it happen over and over again

Another thing that brought you down here to this shady basement was a rumor that this new DJ was doing a pretty good job. And you knew he was pretty cute too - from where you were standing you could see his face hidden behind a MacBook screen, his hands effortlessly dancing across the array of buttons, knobs and sliders in front of him. Watching him, his body moving in sync with the music, his head bobbing as he worked his magic, you couldn't help but notice how good he looked. His lip was visibly split from last weekend's events and the pale hint of a black eye still marked his skin, but if you were being honest, it made him look even hotter.

You find yourself staring in his direction for a second too long and before you can look away, his eyes lock with yours and you see the realization in them just seconds later.

You feel a jolt of electricity run through your veins as your eyes lock.

Choso turns his eyes back to the DJ set in front of him a few times, but each time he looks up, you can feel him searching for you in the crowd. You can feel his gaze sticking to you like the bodies of Nobara and Maki who were dancing near you.

The heat around you envelops you like a suffocating blanket, while the bass pounds through the walls, pulsing in your chest and guiding your movements.

Don't try to find me / I’m better left alone than in this / It doesn't surprise me / Do you really think that I could care? / If you really don't like me / Find somebody else, it could be anyone else out there

The next time you turn in his direction, it was you who sought his gaze, flashing him a mischievous grin as your eyes locked again. 

Choso raises an eyebrow, but the grin on his lips gives him away. He winks at you, and as you continue to watch, you notice him smiling to himself as his hands skillfully move over the equipment, fading the old track into a new one. A few people immediately start to cheer.

Say yes to Heaven / Say yes to me / If you dance I’ll dance / d-dance / I’ve got my eye on you / you / you / you

The moment you recognise the song, a squeal escapes your lips. Your hips sway effortlessly from side to side, perfectly in sync with the rhythm. Nobara has her arms loosely wrapped around your neck, joining in and mirroring your every move. 

Choso knew you loved this song. 

You fell in love with it the first time you both heard it. That was a few weeks ago in his and Yuji's apartment, you were talking about music and you told him that you absolutely adored Lana Del Rey. It seems that he didn't forget that, because he mixed the song into something completely different, but just as beautiful.

You couldn't help but think that it felt like he'd done that for you. 

But did he?

Either way, he's managed to sweep you off your feet with a little gesture like that, and you can't remember the last time a man did that for you.

It feels like hours have passed before you realise that another DJ has taken over. As the current track slowly fades out into a new one, you notice how the vibe changes and most of the people who came for something with more bpm start to leave to go back upstairs.

Nobara grabs your hand and pulls you with her, Maki follows.

"Hey, I like that song—", you protest but Nobara and Maki were on a mission to get some fresh air. 

You notice how fast your heart was beating as the three of you make your way to the stairs, the pounding music slowly fading into the background.

"That was so good," Nobara sighs and you nod in agreement, still dizzy from all the sensations around you that your drunken brain was having trouble processing, "Choso did a damn good job, I didn't even know he could do that."

"Neither did I," you add, leaning down to take a sip from the straw in Maki's drink, "but he has skilled hands, so it makes sense."

"Oh shut up," Maki groans and you take the drink from her. You couldn't really tell what was in it, but you've reached a point where everything tastes the same to you anyway.

"I still don't understand why those idiots prefer to stay upstairs with Gojo and Getou and play beer pong," Nobara sneers, making you laugh. She was so right.

"Well, they missed a healing experience," you say, staying close to the two girls while more and more people leave the basement, "I thought all I needed was some random guy to fuck me in the bathroom to get Megumi out of my head, but actually this was just as good."

Nobara turns around and stares at you in shock as you take a sip of the unknown drink, causing you both to burst out laughing. 

"A win is a win, I guess," she says and you high-five her. 

"I'm actually so proud of you," Maki says, nudging your side before wrapping her arm around your waist.

You were surprised at how easy it was for you to talk about him. You hadn't heard from him in well over a week, and you weren't about to keep feeding your own delusion by telling yourself that  that hookup in his car was enough to rekindle your relationship. The two of you were over, and not just since he had dropped you off at your apartment at 4am last weekend. Those had been empty words, everything he had said to you that night. You had lied to yourself, thinking you could change his mind by having sex with him. He hadn't even waited until you were safely inside, instead you heard his tires squealing right after you slammed the door of his car shut.

"Who says you can't have both?" a deep voice whispers in your ear, snapping you out of your thoughts.

Well, that was embarrassing.

You immediately recognise his voice. 

Maki and Nobara start to giggle while you just freeze. They couldn't possibly have understood what he was saying at this volume, but the suggestiveness in his voice was enough to make you blush.

You turn and look up at Choso, who was looking back at you with a smirk on his lips. Up close, he looked even more battered than before, but you refrain from saying anything. An apology wouldn't help him and Megumi didn't look too good either.

He hugs you briefly, his hand remaining on your lower back even after you pulled away.

"Your set was great," you say, suddenly feeling a bit shy. Even though you meant it, you just wanted to fill the awkward silence. The fact that Maki and Nobara were standing right behind you didn't help, and Choso caught you so off guard that you didn't really know what to say or do. 

In the end, overthinking was what you did best.

Choso smiles at your comment and you catch his eyes roaming over your body for a second. 

"Thanks, I could see you enjoyed it," he replies, looking you straight in the eye. 

You can barely stand his gaze, your face could hardly get any redder and just as you open your mouth to say something, he clears his throat, his hand still on your back.

"Let's go upstairs, I need something to drink," he motions to Maki and Nobara to take the lead, "it's so damn hot down here."

"Oh, it really is," Nobara says, taking Maki's hand and dragging her through the crowd and up the stairs.

You and Choso follow, him being so gentle as he makes sure you don't bump into anyone, as you still have trouble walking a straight line in your knee high boots.

"Oh - careful," he says, catching you just before you could stumble up the stairs, "you know I'd do anything to get that goddamn asshole out of your head, but you really can't make me take advantage of a drunk girl."

Again, the words were only meant for you as you fell back against his chest, strong arms holding you, his hot breath brushing your neck, his lips just below your ear. 

He managed to get you up, and once you were both surrounded by even more people and loud music, you turn to face him.

"I might be drunk, but I'm not a girl," you say, looking at him challengingly.

"Oh," he laughs, "did I miss anything?" He looks at you for a moment, the grin never leaving his lips.

You just glare back at him.

"Fine, excuse me, ma'am," he says, making you giggle.

"But you are drunk," he observes. 

"Then let's get even more drunk together," you decide, taking his hand to lead him into the kitchen. 

"Sounds like a plan," Choso says, laughing, "Lead the way."

If you had turned around, you would have seen the adoration with which he looked at you. At that moment, he would have followed you anywhere. 

Maki was already sitting on the kitchen counter and Nobara was standing next to her, giggling at something she said. The two were drinking from red plastic cups when Yuta made his way over to them, waving at you. 

You wave back at him before you look around to see Yuji still mixing cocktails.

You and Choso push past some people to keep Yuji company, who hands you both two cups. Yuji grins as you taste his secret recipe and you immediately grimace. Right now you can definitely taste more than four different kinds of alcohol and that should be enough of a statement to make a final judgement about his creation

"I mean, it does it’s job but please don't ever start bartending anywhere," you groan and take another sip.

"Yeah, listen to her," Choso says, but he empties his drink before you do.

"Hey, don't hurt me like that," Yuji protests, "you weren't complaining earlier, though." 

"Well yeah," you say, "But I don't take any responsibility for the fact that you had the plan to get me drunk."

"Oh, I would never do such things," the pink-haired boy says, pouring another cup for Choso before changing the subject.

"My brother was doin’ a pretty good job down there in that basement, huh?"

"Yes, he definitely was," you gush as he reminds you, "but where were you? You missed something."

"Oh, I didn't," he replies, "I was right next to him, watching all the magic happen right in front of me."

"Really?" The music changes and you had to shout over it.

"Yeah, but I guess you only had eyes for someone else," Yuji grins, making you blush.

You sip from your cup, cheeks red and the grin still on your lips, but you don't say anything, instead looking up at Choso. 

"I'm going outside for a smoke, join me if you want," he says in a low voice, letting go of your hand, only now realising that you've been holding it the whole time.

You nod and watch him until he disappears through the kitchen door and out onto the patio. You see him join Gojo and Getou who had been sitting outside with Hakari, Kirara, Nanami and Haibara for a while. Before Choso could even sit down, Hakari was already holding a joint out to him.

Yuji snaps you out of your thoughts and you take another sip of your drink.

"Hey, what's going on, huh?"

You weren't sure what he was hinting at.

"What?" you ask, trying to concentrate on what he is saying.

"You and my brother," he replies, getting straight to the point, "what's going on with you two?"

"I don't know," you say, not even lying, "nothing? Something? I don't think I can say."

"Mhm," Yuji pauses and looks around before turning back to you, "Megumi's here tonight, I saw him earlier."

"Great," you say and put down your cup, "I don't care."

"I think I've heard that before," he sighs while looking at you with worry in his eyes.

"Yeah, well, I don't really care," you say, slightly disappointed, "he doesn't care about me either."

"I doubt that," Yuji tells you, without specifying what exactly he doubted. 

You lean against the counter next to him and watch the people standing around in the kitchen. Most of them were talking, shouting at each other over the loud music, dancing or laughing.

You had already drunk a lot and no decision you would make now would be a good one. Your senses were far too clouded for that, but you needed that kind of ease, you wanted to turn off your racing thoughts. So you didn't have too many options, either you could bang your head against the wall to stop thinking about him, or…

"Let's do some shots," you suggest, almost immediately hearing Yuji groan. You grab a bottle of tequila from the bar and pour yourself and Yuji two glasses.

"What about lemon or salt?", Yuji protests, but you just clink glasses with him.

"What an amateur," you retort, raising the glass to your lips, downing the contents and immediately refilling it, "works just fine without it."

"I hate you," you hear Yuji groan as he does the same, "this is fucking disgusting."

You both start to laugh at Yuji's disgusted expression. The tequila burns as it runs down your throat and you realize just how much you overdid it already.

But wasn't that half the fun? You always had the best nights when you and Maki would stumble into your apartment early in the morning, still completely drunk, with Yuta struggling to somehow try and get you two into your beds.

You start to refill your glasses when Yuji puts the half-empty bottle aside and looks at you with that worried look on his face. Before you can protest or tell him off for looking at you like that, someone else catches your attention.

That couldn’t be.

"Oh, he wouldn't do that…", you say under your breath, completely in disbelief, "that fucking..." 

Yuji holds you by your wrist. The two of you just stand there and watch as Megumi stumbles into the kitchen.

He was holding the hand of a blonde stranger. A stranger, at least until she turns around and sits down on the kitchen island in the middle of the room. You see Maki and Nobara turn to them as well, with Yuta looking at you instead.

You recognize the blonde girl right away.

And just when you think this scene couldn't get any more absurd, you watch as Megumi kisses Yue. Yue, the girl from the party last weekend, the one who went to the same class as you. The girl who tried to stop you from looking for Megumi. 

The girl who was so "worried" about you.

"What the fuck," you curse, trying to free yourself from Yuji's grip, "I'm going to fucking claw her eyes out, I fucking mean it."

Yuji was the only one who could hear you, loud music was still blaring from several speakers throughout the house.

"Am I fucking dreaming?" you yell over the music, "fucking let me go Yuji, I'm gonna..."

"That's his ex-girlfriend." Yuji says. Nothing else, just 'That’s his ex-girlfriend.

Ex-girlfriend?

"I saw him talking to her right after he tried to beat up Choso," he adds.

He didn’t. That couldn’t be—

"No, he..." That couldn’t be true.

"I saw his car outside her dorm the morning after the party when I was walking over to football practice."

It took you a moment to process this information.

"He didn't..." You wanted to throw up. Maybe it was just the tequila, but there was still the tiny chance that this bizarre scene was to blame for you suddenly feeling sick to your stomach.

"Get a fucking room, you disgusting piece of shit." You hear Nobara screaming over the music while Megumi and Yue were tightly entwined, standing right in the middle of the fucking room.

You were still standing next to Yuji, leaning against the kitchen counter and if looks could kill, the two of them would probably have turned to dust by now. You stared at Megumi, watching him as his hands wandered up her thighs and ass, caressing her waist while they made out as if they were the only people in the room.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, your eyes met. 

You could swear he was looking you straight in the eye as his lips trailed down her neck. His eyes were as dark as ever, almost pitch black, and if you were being honest you couldn't be sure if he was just drunk or if he took something else. Even by his standards, the show he was putting on was truly out of character

If that was one of his sick fucking games he liked to play he definitely did not give you a heads-up. What was he trying? Getting back at you for last weekend? What was he trying to achieve? And Yue was his ex-girlfriend? How come you're only finding out now, and how did she have the audacity to even look you in the eye last weekend, let alone try to comfort you?

"You don’t threaten someone you love with a gun."

Well, good for her that he was obviously treating her completely fucking different.

He seemed unfazed by Nobara's comment, and after your brief eye contact, he closed his eyes again, focusing entirely on the blonde in front of him. 

You were almost boiling with rage and the faces you made, made it really difficult to hide your anger.

"Let go of me," you say again with such emphasis that Yuji actually let go of your wrist.

"Don't do anything stupid," he says, clearly overwhelmed by the situation.

"Oh, I would never." Your voice dripped with sarcasm.

'Don’t do anything stupid.' - You didn't even know what to do. For a moment you thought about going up to Yue and ripping out her ugly blonde extensions and telling Megumi how pathetic he was, but instead you did...

Nothing.

You gave Nobara and Maki a quick look, then turned on your heel and stormed out the kitchen door. The cool night air helped you to calm down and it managed to clear the chaos in your head a little.

You take a quick look around before you realize that Choso is still sitting outside with the others, who have spread out over the various seating areas on the patio.

You walk over to them with a determined stride, Kirara sees you from afar and greets you, causing Choso to turn around in your direction. He was sitting comfortably in a two-seater and as he looked at you, you immediately notice his heavy eyelids and dark red eyes. You smile at him and as soon as he realizes it was you, a wide grin appears on his lips.

He makes some room for you, but before he could move to the side you were already sitting next to him, leaning against him, your legs casually stretched across his lap. Not averse to the sudden physical contact, he puts his arm, which had been resting on the back of the two-seater, around your waist and his other hand on your thigh.

"Hi," he says quietly, "what took you so long?"

"Oh, you wouldn't believe me," you whisper back, "your brother really hates tequila and I felt bad for making him do shots with me."

Choso laughs, not asking any more questions. 

"But I’m here now," you say, placing a hand on his chest, "guess I missed you."

"Did you smoke already?", you tease, looking up at him.

"Well, do I look like it?", he asks, that big grin not leaving his lips.

"Mhm, couldn’t tell," you lie while trying your best to hide your feelings from him.

You turn to look at the others and notice that Kirara is watching you. Gojo also looks at you from time to time, his gaze wandering from Choso's hand on your thigh to your hand on his chest. He raises an eyebrow, but you ignore him.

"Hi, y/n," Kirara says with a warm smile on their lips, "how are you? I missed you in class this week."

You could feel that they was really just concerned about you. After all, Kirara had been at the party last weekend as well.

"Yes, I'm better, I think," you answer and try to fake a smile, "Thanks for asking.

Kirara smiles at you again, "I can send you all the important stuff we did. It's not much though."

You watch as Hakari pulls them closer to him, his large body making them look so much smaller in comparison. Hakari and Kirara were one of your two favourite couples, the other one being Yuta and Maki, of course. He adored Kirara and wasn’t afraid to show that every chance he got.

You hear Getou clear his throat and you turn your gaze away from the two to look at him. You see that he is holding a joint out to you.

"You want some?", he asks and you politely decline.

"Oh, no, I think I need to chill for a bit." You smile at him. Your head was already spinning and you couldn't handle the sensation of another drug right now.

"Come on, you've got to try it, Hakari brought the good stuff," Gojo says, making you think for a moment before you reach out for Getou's hand.

"You're so easy to convince," you hear Gojo snort. He grins at you as you take a drag, but you just stick out your tongue.

"Or, maybe you’re just really convincing," you tell him, taking another drag before passing it to Choso.

"I'll remind you who's easy later tonight," Getou says, coming to your defence. You and the others break into laughter at his comment and watch as Gojo crosses his arms over his chest.

You hear the two of them start bickering and notice that the others, Hakari, Kirara, Nanami and Haibara, were also returning to their heated conversation.

"Did something happen in there?", Choso asks a little while later. He was observant even when he wasn't. Of course he had noticed something. You sigh, Hakari has just handed you the joint again and you hold it between your fingers. You take a drag, then a second one.

"Yeah," you say, blowing out thick, white smoke, "but I really just want to forget about it." 

It had already worked. Since you went outside, you had pushed the thought of Megumi and Yue far away from you. It was all so confusing, this time you couldn't understand what his motive could be. Of course he was angry that you had made out with Choso at the party last weekend, but you two had broken up. Why had he waited for you that night in the first place, was he really so shallow that all he wanted from you was sex? And what did he need you for anyway if he had spent the night with her after he dropped you off? 

The look he gave you earlier had been intentional. He wanted to make sure you were watching him, no doubt about that.

"It doesn't seem to be working very well," Choso says as you rest your head on the arm he has wrapped around you. You look up at him as your hand moves to caress his cheek for a moment but as soon as you notice, you pull it back. Even though Choso doesn't seem to mind. It just felt natural, you wanted to touch him as you enjoyed the feel of his hand on your skin as well.

"Being with you helps," you say, without breaking eye contact. That was the truth. Being with him felt peaceful, you didn't have to be afraid that he would snap at any moment, at something you said or did.

You didn't even notice that Nanami and Haibara had already gone inside, presumably to leave the party. Only when Hakari puts out the joint and says goodbye to take Kirara home, you look away from Choso to look at the others. 

Gojo does not make any effort to leave until Getou gets up, standing next to Gojo and looking at him expectantly.

"Come on, Satoru," you hear Getou say, "it's almost two o'clock, we have training tomorrow."

"Yes, but not until ten," the man with the white hair replies, not understanding why he should move now. Getou gives him a meaningful look and Gojo's eyes widen as he rose to his feet.

"Oh, uh - let's see what's going on inside then, I guess," he says, propping himself up on his knees to get out of the chair he was sitting in, "see you guys." 

Getou waves goodbye before pushing Gojo in front of him towards the patio door.

You’re all alone now, besides a few people standing outside and talking. You admire the night sky for a moment while neither of you says a word. It’s so quiet outside, peaceful even.

"Just the two of us, huh?", you say as you look up at Choso. You think for another moment but then, before he's has a chance to even say anything, you kiss him.

Choso wasn’t exactly surprised and instead kissed you back. His hand, which had just rested on your thigh, moved a little further up until it cupped your ass, moving up under your tiny skirt in a swift motion. 

You put your hand on his chest to support yourself and Choso pulls away for a brief moment. 

"You're so beautiful," he mutters, looking down at you through heavy eyelids and making you giggle, "I missed you." 

Then, your lips meet again. You move to straddle his lap, now sitting on top of him you were the one looking down at him.  

"You’re not so bad yourself, y’know," you whisper into his ear as you cradle his face in your hands, your thumb gently caressing the split in his lip.

When he said he missed you, you knew what he meant. 

Because you did, too.

Last weekend wasn't the first time you two had kissed. When Megumi had broken up with you, Maki had to study for some important exams and you had forbidden her from rotting with you in your depression cave. To make it easier for her, you had taken yourself out for a few evenings to Yuji’s place. He welcomed you with open arms in his new apartment, which he had just moved into with his brother. This was also the first time you got to know Choso properly, away from parties or those few casual encounters on campus.

It started innocently enough, your movie nights, the two of them watching every romcom with you that you had picked out beforehand. However, Yuji usually had training the next day, so he had to go to bed early. Choso promised to drive you home later, and as soon as Yuji disappeared into his room, you moved on to other things. He showed you some new songs, and sometimes a friend  of his would come over and Choso would sell him some weed. 

And at the end of the night you would find yourself spread out on his black leather couch, with his head buried between your thighs. 

It became a habit until Maki's exams were done and she wanted to spend more time with you.

You were glad that the couch you were sitting on had its back to the window in the kitchen, protecting you from the prying eyes of those who went outside to smoke or enjoy the cool night air. As you climbed onto Choso's lap, your skirt had risen up quite high, almost to your waist but you were past the point of caring what others would think.

You’re planting small kisses up his neck and jaw, watching him and how he enjoyed having you in his embrace. After a little while he pulls you into another kiss, this time you’re feeling exactly how hungry he was for you. You bite down on his bottom lip, hard, before you pull away for a moment to gasp for air. While you were grinding down on him, you could feel the thin fabric of your panties slowly getting coated with your slick as you were searching for some kind of friction. 

"How about…", you pause, while kissing his neck up to his earlobe, feeling him slowly but surely getting hard beneath you.

"How about we take this inside, maybe look for an empty room?", you finish your sentence.

You didn't have to ask twice before Choso had already grabbed you. He had one arm around your waist, his other hand digging into your hips while you let out a little squeal before wrapping your legs around his middle. He carried you a few steps until he gently set you down in front of the door into the kitchen.

"You’re going to have to walk real close in front of me," he mutters into your ear as he turns you around to take the lead. You could feel how hard he was already as he was pressed up against you and you couldn’t help but giggle at his remark. 

"I promise they’ll be way too drunk to notice," you say, "but let’s get inside and help you with that." 

***

"Shit—" You hear Choso curse under his breath as he was standing behind you, pumping his dick in his fist a few times before lining himself up with your entrance. He had you bent over the bathroom sink right in front of him, his other hand digging into the flesh of your hips, surely leaving bruises on your skin.

You hear a loud bang at the door, but decide to ignore it. The person could find another bathroom, you were sure the house was big enough to have a few other options. As the person knocks a second time, this time even louder than the first, you feel Choso getting impatient.

"What the—", he mutters, turning towards the door. "Fuck off," he shouts, getting distracted for just a second while you were so desperate for him to fuck you already. You scoot your ass back against him, feeling the leaking tip of his cock sliding through your dripping wet folds and turning his attention back to you.

"Hold - fuck - hold still," he groans before pushing you down with his hand on your back, holding you in place so you were unable to squirm under his touch. 

"How about you hurry up a bit?", you tease from underneath him, earning yourself a slap on your ass almost immediately. You jerk forward a little, not expecting him to do that, but enjoying the stinging sensation to your skin all the same.

You let out a small moan as he pulls you back up against his chest, cupping your breast with one hand while pinching your nipple, "You’re in a hurry now, huh?", he groans and without giving you another heads-up, he pushes into you slowly. 

He was stretching you out already without even being all the way in, locking eyes with you in the mirror before bottoming out completely, letting out a loud groan as he did.

Choso watches as your lips formed an O, needy moans escaping your mouth while he is thrusting into your wet pussy at a devilishly slow pace. You could feel the perfect curve and every ridge of his dick, stretching you out so well before he pulls out almost entirely, just the tip prodding at your needy hole.

"Tell me what you want," he whispers into your ear, sending goosebumps all over your body. His hand squeezes your breasts and you moan at his request, his low voice going straight to your core, making you even wetter than you already were.

"Tell me, did you miss me?," he groans, not breaking eye contact with you, "did you miss my dick?" He plants kisses down your neck and before you could give him an answer he pushes into you again, picking up his pace this time. You cry out at the sudden sensation, the stretch making your eyes roll back while loud moans were falling from your lips. 

"I miss— fuck…", you whine, "'missed you, 'missed your cock inside of me" You had to grab onto the edge of the sink, unable to form another thought besides how good it felt to have him bully his dick into you. 

"Please…", you beg as he continues to fuck into you, holding your trembling body tight against his own.

He watches how your body reacts to him as he was pounding in and out of your pussy relentlessly, your walls squeezing down on his cock so hard he had to use everything he had to not cum into you right then and there. 

"Look at you," he moans right into your ear, "look at yourself taking this dick so fucking good." 

His hand that was just digging into the soft skin of your hips moves further down, his fingers meeting your slick just seconds after. His thumb starts drawing harsh circles on your clit, earning  him a few loud moans that fell from your lips.

"Fuck— Choso, right there, plea—", you whine, eyes squinted shut, "please, 'wanna cum - fuck— don’t stop." 

"I said look at yourself," Choso groans into your ear as you suddenly feel him pulling his hand away, forcing you to obey him and open your eyes. You swallow at the reflection you see in the mirror in front of you.

You were already looking so fucked out, mascara smeared along your undereyes. Your tiny denim skirt was dangling around your waist and that high neck, sleeveless crop top was pulled up above your breasts, squeezing them together. 

"Good girl," he praises, pressing a kiss to your sticky temple while his fingertips continue to rub and pinch at your clit without any mercy. You cry out, louder than anticipated, and watch how tears start to prickle in the corners of your eyes. 

It was too much for you, you were barely able to contain yourself beneath him and you felt yourself getting tighter around him with every harsh thrust of his hips against your ass. Thank god the music outside was so loud, the heavy bass lining up with the lewd noises the both of you made. 

"Shit - you’re getting so fucking tight," he grunts before you hear low moans falling from his lips, "you wanna cum, pretty girl?"

All you can do is whine in response, as you already lost your ability to form meaningful sentences a while ago. "I’m gonna - gonna—", you cry, brows knit together at the overwhelming feeling of him hitting your cervix over and over again. 

You watch how Choso stares at you through the reflection in the mirror, your body almost going limp as you feel your core tightening and the only thing you were being able to do was moan his name, again and again.

"Then cum for me, babygirl," he whispers, his fingertips circling your nipples and pinching your swollen clit while he fucks into your throbbing cunt, getting you closer and closer to your release, until…

"There you go," Choso coos as he feels your walls pulsating around him. Your fingernails claw and scratch at the arm that he had wrapped around you, while you were trying to hold onto something, anything…

Then your orgasm washes over you and it made your thighs shake almost immediately. Choso doesn't stop fucking you through your overwhelming peak, giving you no time to breathe until he finally cums into you as well, thick ropes of hot and sticky cum painting your pussy white while  you had your eyes closed again and you hear him moan into your ear.

You lean back against his muscular chest as the two of you try to catch your breath, raspy moans and small whimpers fall from both of your mouths while neither of you was able to say anything.

You shiver as Choso slides out of you, goosebumps prickling across your body, before he turns you around and you open your eyes to look at him. Your cheeks were flushed and your legs almost too weak to stand on, but you manage to pull your top down, covering yourself up as Choso presses a kiss to your lips. 

He helps adjusting your skirt after you put your panties back on, stumbling against him as you were standing on one leg.

"Careful—", he says and catches you, almost giving you a Déjà vu. 

"You alway got my back, huh?", you ask playfully while you’re trying to fix your hair and makeup in the mirror. 

"Doing my best," he chuckles, pulling up his pants and putting on the hoodie he took off earlier. The shirt he was wearing underneath had stains at the bottom - well, his fault for not taking it off as well. "Let’s get out before they break in the door."

You reach for your bag, now that you can stand in your knee-high boots without holding on to anything, and just as you are about to head for the door, Choso beats you to it.

He holds the door knob as he looks down at you.

"Hey, let’s do that again sometime," he grins and brushes a strand of hair out of your face, "and text me if you want me to get you home."

"You're a gentleman after all," you say and take his hand, grinning as you stand on your tiptoes to give him another kiss on the cheek. "Actually, 'lemme just find Nobara and tell her I’m leaving, I won’t be taking long," you mutter before pulling back. 

"I’ll wait outside for you," Choso says after the both of you have left the bathroom. Not a lot of people were still left and those who were, were not paying attention to the both of you. You feel him squeeze your hand once more before he lets go of it and disappears into the hallway. 

***

You try and make your way into the kitchen, as a familiar voice startles you.

"Stop using my brother to make him jealous," Yuji says, his voice unusually cold as he suddenly pulls up behind you.

You freeze and turn around, slowly.

"What?", you ask, not willing to believe what you’ve just heard. 

"I'm sorry, y/n, but you heard me right," He was serious. Where had he suddenly come from? Had he seen or... heard you? 

"It’s not - it’s not like that, I mean, I," you stammered, completely taken by surprise, "I’m not using Choso."

"Honestly, Y/N, I don't care what you say, I care about my brother, and all you've been doing lately is destroying yourself. You don't give a fuck about your friends, we're always here for you, and yet you go back to him every chance you get."

Ouch.

You could tell he was drunk. This was unusual for him, he was an athlete and although he liked to go to parties, he rarely drank alcohol himself, apart from a few shots for fun. And it took a lot to get Yuji drunk, you were speaking from experience.

The words that came out of Yuji's mouth hurt you. He was right, but none of your friends had called you out on your bullshit yet.

"I can't save you, Y/N. I've given up on that, but don't drag Choso into this. He has no bad intentions and he would actually treat you well, I know you don't want that." Yuji was so serious and you couldn't even argue with him because he was right.

"Your brother is a grown man," you reply coldly, not even able to look him directly in the eyes.

"Yeah, exactly, he’s a man. Plus - he likes you." 

It wasn't as if you denied the way Choso looked at you with absolute adoration in his eyes. You knew he would move heaven and earth if you asked him for something, and even if he wasn't pushy, you could count on him. He was thoughtful and gentle, he knew what you liked and didn't like, and sex with him was fun, so what exactly were you missing?

"Listen, Yuji, this in none of your business," you say, trying your best to keep your calm, "I don’t need saving and your brother is perfectly capable of looking after himself, so—"

"Yeah, whatever," Yuji barks, taking a sip from the bottle in his hand that you only noticed now, "don't come back crying if he hits you again."

Wow. 

You watch him leave as you realize that you've never seen your best friend so upset. You take a step back, startled by the feel of the wall behind you. You feel your way along the cold wall, down the dimly lit hallway, not sure where you want to go, but you wanted to get away from here. Looking for a door to get out, you pass a few couples making out. 

You push down the door handles of a number of locked rooms and people coming towards you bumped into you. Some of them apologise, others look you up and down, whistling or shouting something at you, but your tunnel vision prevented you from noticing anything. 

You had your guard down while the things Yuji had said to you played over and over again in your head. 

Just as you reached the door at the end of the corridor, it was a glass door and you could see the starry night sky through it, someone slammed you hard into the wall. You were pushed into the chest of a much taller person who opened the door to your right with one hand and pushed you in with the other. 

"Hey—", you protested, but you had no chance. The man was much stronger than you and at least two heads taller. The familiar scent that rose to your nostrils as you were pressed against his chest set off alarm bells ringing in your head. 

And as you looked up, even the last doubts you naively had were erased.

"Megumi…", you gasp, and immediately try to get a few steps between the both of you. You hear him lock the door behind him and you instantly feel like a cornered animal. Your eyes scan the room for ways to escape, but unless you wanted to climb out the window, the door was the only way out. 

He looked you straight in the eye, all emotion gone from his face. It was obvious that you, on the other hand, were scared. You hadn't seen anyone outside and you were alone in some guest bedroom that was located in a part of the house where you couldn’t even hear anymore music playing.  

You clutched your bag and pulled your big leather jacket, which you had put on on the way out, tightly around you.

As if that would somehow protect you.

Megumi was still standing by the door, motionless. The grin on his lips never reached his eyes as he stared at you.

"I heard you were having fun in there," he says as you watch him closely.

Fuck.

"Yeah, and I want to leave now," you reply, trying your best to contain your voice, "why don’t you go back to Yue and leave me alone?" 

"Mhm." He seems like he’s thinking about it for a moment. "I don’t think so."

You gather all your courage as you decide to walk towards him.

"Cut your bullshit, Megs," you demand, "let me out of here."

He grabs you roughly as you try to reach for the door, pushing you back into the room.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?", you hiss, not willing to hold back anymore.

"You show up here, with your ex-girlfriend, making out with her, in front of me, in front of all my friends, and when you don't get the reaction you want, you jump me?" You almost yell at him and he was still just standing there in front of you with no reaction.

"I'm not doing this anymore Megumi, this isn't one of your little games anymore," you add, on the verge of tears, "why are you doing this to me?"

"I'll do whatever I want to you," his voice was as calm as always, scaring the living shit out of you as he walks towards you.

"I don't care about Yue, she was just, well, there," he says, watching you closely, "I wanted to know if you meant any of what you were saying last weekend, but as soon as your cute ego gets hurt you’re letting the next best guy fuck you in the bathroom."

You feel tears prickling in your eyes, and your attempts to blink them away only cause them to trickle down your cheeks.

"Oh," he mocks you, "now you’re crying." 

"Fuck you," you hiss and wipe the tears from your face. 

When he was standing right in front of you, you could smell not only his familiar scent, but also the smell of alcohol as he spoke to you. He was tense, you could feel it, and in the darkness his eyes looked almost pitch black as he stared at you.

"Watch how you fucking talk to me," he says through clenched teeth, "just because you can't stand that you act like a fucking slut every time, just to get my attention."

What he said made you cry even more and you didn't bother trying to wipe off the tears anymore.

"I don’t wanna talk to you right now," you sob, but of course he doesn’t care what you want.

"But I wanna talk to you," he barks, grabbing you by your wrists as you try to shuffle away from him, "what is it about him that you go back for a second and a third, huh? Want me to beat him up for good this time?"

He was squeezing your wrists so hard that it hurt. 

"I’ll kill him if he ever touches you again," he spits, "you fucking dirty whore."

You weren't sure what hurt more, his words, or the way he twisted your arms to bring you closer to his face.

"Shut the fuck up and leave me alone," you manage to get out, "you’re pathetic, I don’t need you."

You try to break free of his grip a second time, only this time he lets go of you to push you away from him. He does this with such force that you lose your balance and stumble backwards into the bed frame, which was now right behind you.  

You land on the mattress and before you know it, you feel his hand clench around your throat, pulling you up to his eye level again. You have to stand on your tiptoes to take some of the pressure off your neck.

He didn’t squeeze much but it still hurt. His grip was strong as ever and you couldn't move, so you stayed still, hoping he wouldn't hurt you any more.

You grimaced in pain and tried to look him straight in the eye. Somehow he had to realize what he was doing, didn't he? He was delirious and that frightened you. You knew this kind of situation all too well and it made you freeze. There was nothing you could do about it, you could only beg him to stop or try and keep still.

"Megumi, please, I’m sorry, you’re— you’re right," you sob, cheeks wet with tears, "just let me go, please…"

Suddenly you feel his hand tighten around your throat, but you don't realize it until he grabs you by your neck and slams you right back into the mattress behind you, throwing you around like a rag doll. You have no time to react, you just feel a sharp pain as your head hits the headboard and then he finally presses down hard on your throat. You're helpless, gasping for air, barely able to process what he's just done.

"You’re such a fucking whore, Y/N," he fumes, shaking you and pushing you even deeper into the mattress, "you deserve to get treated exactly like the little fucking slut you are."

You whimper and cry, while hearing the blood rushing through your ears as you struggle against his grip.

Panic rises in you and you feel your eyes begin to sting with more hot tears running down your cheeks. In your desperate struggle you feel your muscles ache and your body give in, the shock knocking the last bit of air out of your lungs and you can't breathe, you know you're about to pass out.

"Tell me again who’s pathetic?" His face was right next to yours as he whispered into your ear, his body hovering over yours.

You couldn't stop crying, even though you couldn't even make a sound. You were sure he was going to kill you this time. 

You had to fight back, but he was so much stronger than you.

"Megumi…", you groan.

"I— I need to—", you cough, desperately trying to claw at his arms, "breathe…please…stop—"

You cry and plead and try to free yourself, all while your strength slowly but surely leaves your body. And then, just milliseconds before you were about to lose consciousness, you feel the air flowing back into your lungs. 

You're so out of breath, coughing and choking and crying all at the same time, while your throat burns so badly, that for a moment you're not even sure he's really let you go.

The moment you realize that he pulls back to get up from the bed, you pull your legs towards you and crawl as far away from him as you can, putting your hands around your neck for protection, pulling the high-neck of your top up over the bruises that were probably already starting to form. 

You shake uncontrollably and can hardly stop crying, while he just stands there watching you for a moment. You wrap your arms around your legs, concentrating on your breathing as your body continues to shake.

Megumi stares at you, with a blank expression.

"You don't learn, y/n, you never do," he utters, completely zoning out, "Why do you never learn?"

He ignores your desperate crying and instead he turns around and leaves the room without another word to you.

And you again wonder if this was your fault.

***

"I'm so sorry," you say, standing behind Choso after you finally found your way out of the house. He was sitting on the steps outside the main entrance, a bottle of beer in his hand, waiting for you. You snuggle into your much too large jacket as you sit down next to him.

"You've been gone for half an eternity." Choso gently nudged into your side and you wince, barely noticeable.

"Nobara was throwing up downstairs," you lie, "I couldn’t leave her."

"Oh, really," he says, you couldn't know he'd seen her leave almost an hour ago, "poor girl, I hope she's feeling better now.

You say nothing, tugging at the high neckline of your top, your legs bouncing nervously.

Choso notices and puts a hand on your thigh. You flinch again and this time he feels it.

"Are you all right?", he asks worriedly, looking at you. Your long hair hides the bruises on your neck, but what it can't hide is your blank stare, your swollen lips and your red, watery eyes.

You nod. 

"Yeah, I'm just cold," you say, trying to smile. Your throat's still hurting when you speak.

He puts the bottle to the side and shuffles closer to you. 

The both of you were sitting on the stairs for a while, neither one of you saying a single word. Choso sensed that something must have happened, but what could he do? He knew you lied to him about Nobara, so he figured you wouldn't tell him anything he didn't want to hear.

"Sometimes I just want what they have, y’know?", you sigh after a while and lean into Chosos side, resting your head on his shoulder for a moment.

"I know I will never find that kinda love."

You're talking about the scene that took place in front of you, a scene that caught your attention immediately. Yuta and Maki were about to leave the party together, and Maki was completely drunk. Yuta had his arm around her to manoeuvre her into the car. They both giggled while Maki tried to wrestle her boyfriend, making it harder than it had to be for the poor boy to get her home quickly.

As you look away, you notice that Yuji was sitting in the passenger’s seat with the window down.

He was getting impatient, waiting for them to finally get into the car, and as he turned to see what was taking them so long, your eyes met briefly. 

You saw him open his mouth as if to say something, but then he noticed Choso sitting next to you and he immediately turned away.

He was still mad at you.

Yuta had finally made it and Maki was sitting safe and sound in the back seat. He planted a kiss on her forehead before gently closing the door behind her and walking around the car. You looked away but he caught you watching the scene and stopped for a moment, flashing you both a smile before he waved goodbye, got into the car and drove off.

"What do you mean?" you hear Choso's voice after you have sat in silence for another while. The car disappeared and you just stared into the distance, trying to find the right words.

"I don't know, there's just no...", you pause for a moment, thinking how pathetic you're going to sound, "there's just no darkness."

That's it. Everything about their relationship was genuine, they cared for each other. There was not a hint of jealousy, no one was trying to control or manipulate the other.

"It's just sweet, they're just... sweet," you swallow, feeling so vulnerable in that moment, "they don't hate each other, there's just so much love. I don't know if that would ever be enough for me. Doesn't it get boring?"

Once again, you feel tears welling up in your eyes.

"Sometimes it feels like I'm going crazy," you mumble.

None of you says a word after that. At some point, you lift your head from Choso's shoulder to look at him, almost as if you want him to say something.

"You’re not," he says, his voice sounding determined.

"I mean, you're pretty fucked up, but you're not crazy." Choso pulls two cigarettes out of a pack and hands you one, lighting yours first. He stuffs the pack back into his jacket and takes a few puffs, immediately blowing the smoke out into the cool night air before turning back to you,

"I don’t fuck with insane chicks, learned my lesson." 

He nudges your side again to make sure you understand that he was joking, but you were already too far up in your head. You smoke your cigarette, breathing in the smoke as if it might bring you some kind of clarity.

"I think I'm going to get back together with him," you whisper, almost as if you don't want to hear what's coming out of your own mouth.

Choso does not answer. 

Of course he doesn’t. 

What was he supposed to say? He didn't know what exactly was going on between you and him, but at this point he knew that there was something, at least from his side. It was unfair of you to talk to him about it, of all people, and at the same time he knew that you couldn't talk to anyone else at the moment.

"Y/n, tell me, what do you want to hear from—" 

You cut him off before he could finish his sentence.

"It's a mistake, right?"

"Don't do it, just…", he pauses and takes a drag, "don't do it."

"I don't know if I can help it," you tell him, sounding defeated. 

Inhaling, you feel what you had been blocking out all along. Your throat hurts. The cigarette smoke that keeps pouring into your lungs only makes it worse, and the sudden pain in your chest when you inhale too deeply makes you wince.

You knew that those bruises would form. Like splashes of blue and green paint they would cover your neck, spreading all around your throat. 

Choso doesn’t reply to this, either. 

His head was hanging low. Not because he was disappointed or pissed off that he wasn’t able to make another move on you tonight, but because he was afraid to lose you. 

Because he knew he couldn’t really do anything to save you.

"I wish you could see yourself the way I do or the rest of the world does, really," he sighs and pulls you in, wrapping his arm around your waist and letting you rest your head against his chest. He wanted to say so much more but he stopped himself before opening his mouth. 

He knew it wouldn’t change a thing. 

[dabi-drift]

Yaoyorozu, Bakugou, Compress x S/O {Valentine’s Scenarios} - Incomplete

If you want any characters adding here or to anything else I write, just drop me a comment or an ask!

Momo Yaoyorozu:

♡ La douleur exquise: the exquisite pain, unrequited love…

♡ This was perhaps the most appropriate summary of your emotions. You loved this girl, this sweet, gorgeous young woman, with all your heart, all your essence. But would she ever return that love? You watched her interactions with Todoroki and Jirou…it was more likely that she'd develop feelings for one of them.

♡ What was the point in all this pining? Not that you could help it, of course. You would've given anything to break free from the stifling jealousy, the borderline worship.

♡ It wasn’t obvious. You were the type so often described as a 'Kuudere'; your face very, very rarely betrayed your heart. But Momo…she made heat rise to your cheeks and butterflies flutter in your stomach.

♡ She was breath-taking, indescribable…incomparable.

♡ You noticed the way she captured everyone's attention, how she did it so innocently…you couldn’t help falling for her.

♡ You didn’t think she'd ever accept your advances, so you stayed at a distance. You became friends, but refused to take it further. You wouldn’t even try. You weren't willing to lose her.

♡ So when Valentine's came, you were extremely ill-prepared. Ashido asked if you were giving chocolate to anyone, and with your usual stoicism, you said no. For a split second, she seemed disappointed. Was the idea of love really that tempting to her? You would never understand that girl. Love wasn’t always something to flaunt. It hurt. A lot.

♡ Now, you weren't going to lie - you had briefly considered making Momo some chocolate with your sub-par skills, but that'd be too desperate…right? You could've waved it off as friendly, but if she was the only one to receive it, would she truly believe that?

♡ You sighed, busying yourself with school and listening to the mindless chatter of your classmates. Lunchtime approached, and you decided to sit alone. On the roof, of course (when is the roof ever not mentioned). You had to admit, all the happy couples sent you a slight wave of nausea.

♡ You were just wondering, ‘Why couldn’t you and Momo be like that? Why did love have to be so complicated?’

♡ Well, at least your food was there for you. As you began to eat, the last thing you expected was a polite little knock at the door. This was the rooftop - unexplored territory to the average student - no-one needed to be so gentle. You didn’t respond, thinking it'd been either the wind or your imagination.

♡ The door opened.

♡ It was Momo, all worn-out and blushy.

♡ Your heart rate picked up, and all potential words died on your tongue. Why did she hold such power over you? And why, why was she so damn cute?

♡ You wanted to turn her away, but a strange determination was burning in her eyes. In her hand lay a small box, complete with a ribbon and label.

♡ She moved toward you slowly, legs shaking. She presented the box to you.

♡ "I-I made these for you! Please accept them!"

♡ Although it floored you, how could you possibly refuse her?

Atsuhiro Sako/Mr Compress:

♡ His dramatic flair will certainly bleed through to this special day.

♡ This man 100% sat down and learned as many expressions of love (in different languages) as humanly possible; the more poetic the better. Obviously, he uses them at every opportunity, but on a day such as this…it was bound to be more heartfelt (I mean extra).

♡ He was forever going over-the-top, no matter whether it was your birthday, Valentine's, Christmas or anything in-between. He didn’t care for the tradition of men waiting until White Day to return gifts - he wanted you to experience the most amazing day, feel all the love he poured into you. He actually went to the trouble of purchasing (not stealing?? Man's dropped being a villain to officially become your biggest simp) everything he gave.

♡ Let's face it, the lure of thievery was strong, but his devotion to you was far, far stronger.

♡ You'd never professed to be a hero, but…you weren't a villain, either. You appreciated honesty and decency. Y'know, normal stuff - core values that villains were often shown to be lacking. So for Atsuhiro to break from his criminal tendencies, even for a moment…it meant that you were respected, cherished beyond belief.

♡ He hoped to prove as much, with each new dawn.

♡ But today, society had provided a legitimate excuse for Atsuhiro to flaunt his love. He'd organised the entire day, ensuring radio silence on the League's part. His plans wouldn’t be ruined by other obligations. Your importance surpassed theirs, tenfold. He couldn’t (nor did he ever wish to) fathom a world without your radiance.

♡ You were everything he never thought he'd find.

♡ This man will absolutely take you for a fancy dinner (PLF funded, of course), ending the night with a kiss beneath the twinkling stars - the ones he can't help but compare you to. In truth, the thousands upon thousands visible amid the partial cloud-cover, paled when judged against you.

♡ How did he ever win over such an otherworldly beauty?

♡ That thought was reoccurring. But it didn’t matter. It never would.

♡ "Tu sei un dono del cielo, e tu sei tutto quella che voglio."   *You are a gift from Heaven, and you are everything I want.

♡ "Voglio passare la mia vita con te."    *I want to spend my life with you.

♡ Get used to these more intimate phrases he's sprinkling into conversation. He might slip up a few times, but you'll never realise. And what does it really matter? The sentiment speaks with far greater clarity.

♡ He's a romantic at heart.

Katsuki Bakugou:

♡ Oh, your heart yearned for Bakugou's love. You couldn’t really understand it, given his attitude and that apparent God Complex. Unfortunately though, your rationale was side-lined in favour of this pursuit.

♡ Valentine's seemed like the perfect time to expose your feelings, but you just didn’t know what to do! While you stared at him a lot, you didn’t hang around the Bakusquad, and you couldn’t recall ever hearing him confess to liking something.

♡ That's where Midoriya came in. He was the ultimate treasury of information about the explosion boy. You just knew he'd have the answers. You spoke for a while in the dormitory's common room, Midoriya's notebooks spread across the table. By nightfall, you'd acquired knowledge of practically every inch of Bakugou's life. You wondered for a moment if that was a breach of privacy, but…oops?

♡ You settled on Mountain Climbing gear - Mountain Climbing, as Midoriya explained, was a favourite activity of Bakugou's. He gave you measurements, just in case you bought any clothes (how the hell did even know them), and walked you through the things Bakugou definitely wouldn’t turn down.

♡ It was gonna be a bit costly - good thing this boy was so intoxicating. 

♡ It sort of felt like trying to buy his affections, but even if he issued a fierce rejection, you'd still insist he take all the stuff. You didn’t hike, so what use would it be to you?

♡ You were determined to show your love, to prove you'd be his perfect match, far worthier than anyone else!

♡ When you'd collected everything (and thrown in a few spicy chocolate treats), you wrapped it up and steeled your nerves. The day of reckoning was fast approaching, like a herald of ruin. This could make-or-break your heart.

♡ Midoriya gave you lots of encouragement, but every time you saw Bakugou in the interlude, your smile faltered. What if he really did reject you? What if he hated you?

♡ Bakugou being Bakugou, he received letters and confessions of love on a daily basis. He never reciprocated, and he always complained - they were too desperate, too annoying, too…anything! He just seemed to hate love - the very concept! It was disheartening.

♡ But you wouldn’t give up.

♡ You wanted this boy, more than life itself. You wanted to be the one he held dear, the one he protected and grew jealous over.

♡ It was a fluffy fantasy. But hopefully, hopefully, reality would prove sweeter.

♡ The morning of Valentine's descended, and you caught him just before school. He would've walked with Kirishima, but said boy dismissed himself with a smile. He'd been clued in, you supposed.

♡ Bakugou tried his usual 'What the fuck do you want? How dare you address me directly, you piece of shit idiot', but you weren't letting him. He hadn't even realised the date, but when his gaze drifted to the items in your hand, he froze.

♡ You were in the middle of "IgotyouthisandIhopeyou'llbemyvalentinebutIreallydon'tknowit'sfinetorejectmeIjustwantedyoutoknow-".

♡ You saw the blush climbing his neck. You saw it settle on his cheeks. You heard him stutter, for the very first time. He was struggling under his contradictory thoughts of: My long-time crush actually feels the same way! And, I have a fucking reputation!

♡ You took pity on him, swallowing down all your nerves and stepping forward.

♡ You kissed him.

[haleviyah]

A Hispanic/ Latino Perspective: Border Clarification

This is one of the rare times I’m going to get somewhat political here, but these comments spread by the media are hitting to way close to home for me, so here I go.

Before you pounce on me, let me explain this: I am a moderate. I favor no sides, I don’t treat people by their titles but rather I prefer to judge by character even though I am not the best at it, admittedly. I favour and respect those who keep their word and own their mistakes. In short, if you do what you promise to do, you have my approval whereas if not, you will bear the brunt of my blunt rebukes and sarcastic remarks.

I am also from South Texas, specifically the Rio Grande Valley, and am a descendent of two humble Mexican families who since the Mexican Border War have made Texas their great escape and home.

Bit of a geographical reference, if you don’t know here where the Rio Grande Valley is. Look at the state of Texas, there is a bulge of state going in each direction that makes it look like a fat, lower-case ”t” : El Paso is the most West of the state, the Panhandle (Amarillo) the Northmost, Texarkana the most Eastward followed by Houston, and WAAAAAAY at the bottom is Brownsville and the Southernmost tip of Texas.

And for those of you too lazy to Google or "DuckDuckGo" the map yourself I've attached it:

The four counties: Hidalgo, Cameron, Starr and Willacy county make up the Rio Grande Valley. This is the region I grew up, the place where I experienced the best of a community and the worst of politics and failed promises.

For a bit of background: I have a parent working on the Border and they have been for many years (since I was a kid). Pretty much worked from a security officer to trooper within the span of a decade which is quite impressive and rare considering they never took bribes or anything to get where they were currently. They have told me off and on what their job is like. It’s crazy and boring some days, but also they have admitted somethings that may be fascinating. One of which is, yes, they do own horses and the reason why is so the Troopers can maneuver around tough terrain vehicles cannot go through (such as high water or narrow foot paths in brush). HOWEVER, they DO NOT OWN WHIPS. They don’t even own lassos, according to my Border Agent parent.

The only weapons agents on horse back have is a Glock, ammo, a taser, cuffs, and sometimes shot guns (but they prefer to carry light for the horses and themselves to be more flexible). They mainly carry items that would slow a person down or prevent them from hurting other people, officer or civilian; not for killing. So a whip is absolutely redundant or even absurd to have.

Those long ropes the Troopers are holding are called reins, and they are designed for steering a horse (horses cannot move opposite of the direction of their head; where their head is pointed they move in that direction). They are not made for whipping people, but rather made to get the horse’s attention. That’s it.

I took the liberty of highlighting the reins in red for you all as well as their arms and legs in blue and yellow in contrast to the reins and saddle.

It's clear from a Texan's or horse-riders perspective this Trooper almost fell off catching the other fellow and was holding onto the left rein for dear life hence why the horse looked distressed and its cheek was pulled back.

I'm not joking, you fucking try it if you're so damn horse-smart.

Now, let's look at a more relaxed position.

In short, if you haven't ridden a horse, I advise to keep your comments to yourself on this part. I have and it's way harder than it looks (horses can get cocky).

Second thing, the migrants.

Personally, I don’t know why they were so squirrelly that day. Perhaps they were spooked because they’ve never expected horse back riders to show up, maybe they had some bad experiences back home.

I don’t know!

But it’s clear there appears to be a lack of communication. Perhaps it’s the language barrier given that these guys came from Haiti, African countries and Brazil. English they probably know, but they probably don’t speak a lick of Spanish (Which both languages are mandatory for the Border Patrol).

(Again, I don't know...)

So the reasons why they started running circles around the Troopers’ horses is not for me to speculate, it’s not for YOU to defend blindly, nor is it up for the media to interpret and evangelize.

That should be left to the people to explain. No one else.

(Update: September 29th. I received a tip from a source that the Haitian immigrants (mainly) are not running from anything, they aren’t seeking asylum nor were in poverty as the media claims. They have admitted upon interview they were what we consider middle-low class and had no issues finding jobs before they decided to migrate northward. They’re just coming because they were told to come by “you-know-who”… that’s all. I know, I’m taken aback and scratching my head, too… but anyway. I digress, but do take note.)

Now, another bit of feedback I want to share: When it comes to dealing with Troopers (again, must I remind you this is a Border Patrol agent’s kid speaking), big rule:

DO NOT RUN nor MAKE THREATENING MOVEMENTS. Be calm.

It’s a simple rule, if you’re cool with the Troopers they’ll be cool with you. That’s it. Please respectfully keep in mind, these guys are trained to be safe rather than sorry. So patience and understanding with them is a must. Trust me, I’ve met my parent’s co-workers, they may look stoic and scary or condescending, but they can not let personal emotions interfere their work otherwise they risk safety.

They’re not “paranoid” or “harsh” they just have a job they cannot afford to fuck up otherwise the whole region is FUCKED. They’re the front line of defense, and do keep that in mind.

(Another footnote: I have seen Border Patrol offices, and without giving away how they function it’s not like CIA or Langley level of clean or fancy, so don’t think their offices are high tech and have marble floors with comfy lounges that cost a lot of money. Upon first glance you won’t expect the building to be an office. Border Patrol work with what they have available which isn’t a lot thanks to the ’00, ’04, ’08, ’12 and current administrations. That’s all I can give out.)

I’m going to come clean here and say the citizens in the Rio Grande Valley and the rest of Texas DO NOT FEEL SAFE with a border this wide open and no regulation is applied. Especially the Hispanic/Latino communities. So the pressure is on - and I mean REALLY on! Despite these guys working the Border are overwhelmed, they keep those emotions and opinions on lockdown when on the field. Like I said: If they fuck up, the region is fucked.

Bit of a history lesson: the Border issues on the Rio Grande are not new. Matter of factly, this problem has been happening for decades (The popular peak was during the 80s when cocaine was being distributed), but it was more than just cocaine and pot: Kids were going missing, people getting killed, women were used as mules and sold for sex, etc.

If you watched “Narcos” or “Sicario” you have a brief, dramatized taste of how the cartels function and what life is like for us Latinos. However, coming from someone who grew up there, the parts of watching your back, the abductions and even the gruesome murders are legit. To this day I remember seeing local news coverage (not CNN or MSNBC, our own stations down in the McAllen/Brownsville area) of beheadings, child murders and bodies being found in pieces… It’s something I hope my children won’t have to grow up hearing almost weekly like I did. Now it’s daily… and no one cares. And that hurts.

In the grand scheme of things, at least know this: South Texas has been part of the Cartel battle grounds and it’s obvious we’ve seen shit. Constantly being ignored is the payment we get for being front lines in the Drug War. So don’t blame us for being jumpy, or skeptical, nor even try convince us that the current surplus of immigrants is a good thing.

You can’t argue with our own experiences and history. The way things work down here is simple: You fight along side us, we fight along side you.

It’s called building trust, practicing faith. But we’ve been forgotten and lied to too many times by celebrities and politicians and social movements alike. And those who actually were going to help us are either shut down or unfortunately killed.

We just can’t trust anyone anymore. We are resorting to fending for ourselves basically, speaking up for ourselves… and so far it’s making progress in the mean time.

This level of “doing things on your own” bleeds into why our Troopers are trained they way they are trained - to expect the worst case scenario. To prepare themselves for the corpses, when a criminal pounces, the drugs being hid, for when they find a child with an adult they don’t know, or even a woman who was violated. They just genuinely don’t want to take chances and you just read why. Even my in-laws up in the Northern Midwest are disturbed.

So, considering the case of what happened a few days ago in Del Rio, Texas (as of writing this on September 25th 2021): If you run from a Trooper the first thing they are going to think is either two things:

You did something bad upon coming in to the country or

You don’t want your former government to find you because you did crimes in your home country or the country you were hiding in.

This is protocol, not biased opinions.

If, however, a Trooper commits any form of irresponsibility (such as abusing their power, unreasonable search and seizures etc.) it’s “kiss your badge good-bye” and DEMOTED or FIRED. The stakes of keeping your job in the Border Patrol are HIGH, so they are trained not to act out of line. Even a minor slip up in paper work from being fatigued gets you in SEVERE trouble with the Higher Ups and the County (Yes, that does happen and has happened). But you have to KNOW Border Patrol standards before you accuse them of anything.

With that being said, what’s floating around is not a constructive argument; it’s a distraction. How the public is demanding the trooper in the photo to be fired, tells us Latinos loud and clear that - once again - no one cares about our livelihood; no one is willing to brave enough to face the real hell going on. We are ignored or low-key demonized for simply defending ourselves.

(Now, you guys are seeing why I relate to my Jewish husband and the Israeli’ citizens - Arab and Jew - more; we’re pretty much in the same boat in the case of being ignored. But I digress.)

Before I come to a conclusion, here are other demographic facts to keep in mind that way it’ll help draw conclusions:

86.6% of the Border Patrol is HISPANIC/LATINO in the State of Texas alone.

A majority of children stolen from their families or molested are HISPANIC/LATINO.

A majority of the women violated immigrants on the border are mainly HISPANIC/LATINO.

Latin America collectively (Mexico down to Colombia and Venezuela) has the highest rates of femicide in the world.

So for you or anyone to get angry at Border Patrol agents in an unjust manner, not only are you getting mad at Hispanics and Latinos in UNIFORM for fighting to keep their communities safe, but you are actively contributing to the hell our families go through every day.

When you protest in demand for our cops or even troopers to be defunded, and fired for petty things, YOU are actively contributing to the problem of human trafficking, rape, kidnappings and murder that happens on the border. You are contributing to the Hispanic and Latino communities being dismantled and disintegrated by people who potentially want to kill us or hate us for money’s sake.

Take all of that into consideration before you get angry at anyone here.

In short:

I’ll only consider the accusations if you yourselves have been there and know the burdens we bear.

I’ll only consider your judgement if you genuinely are in law enforcement and know how to ride a horse and try to stop someone from running while riding the beast.

I’ll only consider your feedback if you don’t rely heavily on news like CNN, Telemundo and Tumblr for your information.

Until you grab a gun and fight the cartel yourself, and figure out a way to end this war on human trafficking, don’t come to us Latinos and express that you care and appreciate us.

Because frankly if you GENUINELY did, you’d bring to light what I just said and be slamming the desks at D.C. and DEMANDING the Border to be CLOSED by now.

Regardless of your political and personal beliefs, this is what is REALLY going on, and we’re going to keep fighting. Like the Israeli’s we don’t give a fuck if you hate us. We’re not radicals, we’re not blood-thirsty heathens, we’re not white supremacists (80+% of our population is of Latino Mexican descent) we’re just fed up with running away and being taken advantage of or taken for granted by people who value money over the lives of our neighbors.

If this were California, fine! Rail all you want, cuss us out as much as you want; hold us to those to California standards you keep yourself. But we’re not California.

We’re not D.C., nor Chicago, nor L.A., or New York, Florida, Canada, Mexico or whatever. We are SOUTH TEXAS so treat us as SOUTH TEXAS.

Honor us for who we are and hold us to the standards of what is SOUTH TEXAS, what is The United States Constitution, and the Texas Constitution; nothing more and nothing less. Don’t tear us down for what we’re not nor hold us accountable to an opinion or law we never agreed to nor knew existed.

That’s all I ask: If you’re not willing to honour our community and help us while holding us to our standards on a cultural, State or Federal level, back the fuck off. Generations we’ve dealt with the pressure from both the cartel and corrupt government from both the U.S. and Mexico, and the last thing we need is pampered kids living in the high rises or going to university on loans from school or your parents' paychecks, telling us how to deal with our issues.

You are FAR from a place to tell us how to function and resolve our war.

I’m not trying nor want to start a fight or otherwise, but I’m simply, humbly asking: when did we ever genuinely ask you “social justice advocates” to be our hero?

When did we ever ask you to fight for us or talk about what you think is wrong with us? Because last I checked we don’t want to drag anyone into our battles.

Also, we only know one messiah, but we never asked you to be him nor for him to act like you.

Did you start throwing punches because you wanted to find something to excuse your anger and outbursts, or is your good intentions married with ignorance?

Either case… it’s extremely unhealthy of you, and please just stop before another person gets hurt. We don’t want that. This is no different from the Crusades our ancestors took part in, and it will only end in more carnage than already sown.

So, just please, stop and take a step back for a moment. We don’t need anymore vehement evangelical-like people who just think with their ideals and not take a moment to have a healthy discussion with the One who created us, or let alone divorce their lust for a fight for ten seconds.

To close this off, even though I haven’t been home in a while, I know the spirit and the struggles the Rio Grande Valley goes through. I have met people on the run from the cartel first hand, and I have met people who may have ties with the cartel. I have seen some creepy shit, I have grown frustrated over the Protestant Baptist church doing nothing, and I have even been feeling the pressure my parent goes through with these apathetic riots threatening their job as a Border Patrol agent.

But aside from the pain, I am tremendously blessed that people and my family are still very optimistic despite the craziness and how bleak things are.

The family-oriented culture of the Rio Grande Valley is what is keeping it together… not trends, not clout and neither these guys in D.C. or Hollywood who are playing G-d.

It's the family-oriented connection. Our faith, that's keeping us going.

And even though I may not be the best voice of that region to speak up, I am blessed to have been there and I do plan on coming back soon.

I am planning on giving a more fun journal featuring the culture of the Rio Grande Valley in the future to finish this month off, but for the sake of this “Hispanic Heritage Month” I wanted to share our REAL issues we deal with rather than the made up ones that media likes to mainstream for money and clout.

In a way, I hope this offers clarity and a level of empathy. Again, I’m not sharing this to start fights or get sympathy - we don’t want it. We just want to know if our fights are not ignored, we just want to know we are heard.

That’s all.

[popculturebuffet]

Ducktales: Woo-oo! Review! or From the Top

Hello all you happy people! And to those of you just joining this blog, welcome I review ducks, other animated shows and comics... and today’s review is special for me. For a number of reasons. For starters it’s a reminder how far i’ve come. See I always wanted to be a reviewer, ever since high school when a friend showed me a certain online reviewer whose now dead to me, and opened me up to a world of much better reviewers who i’m still fans of to this day, and ones who came after them , and after that and so on and so on. I so badly wanted a community to belong to I struggled to be a youtube reviewer but frankly lacked the talent or self confidence back then to try, so my attempts over the decade were a series of stops and starts. Of me starting to find my niche writing only to stop because I hated myself so much, and still struggle with that, i’d tell myself I could never do it, I wasn’t good enough, I wasn’t funny enough and no one cared. I kept shutting myself down AGAIN AND AGAIN, for far too long. 

But that all changed a year ago next month: I’d long been a fan of the Ducktales Reboot. I was caustiously optimistic when it was announced. The optimism came from a deep abiding love of scrooge as a character despite not having dove into his comics that deep, I didn’t have an easy way at the time, thanks to life and times and what comics I had read, and was excited to see a fresh reboot closer to the comics with my eternal boy Donald Duck back in the main character. The caution.. came from the fact that at the time we’d gotten a string of bad to medicore reboots: Teen Titans GO, Powerpuff Girl, and Ben 10 which started pretty meh but has turned into alirght from some of the later episodes I saw. I wanted to be hyped to all hell but I had no proof this wasn’t going to be another dumbed down reboot. Then comic con came, the first teaser poster dropped, and my skepticism died.

It was perfect: a barksian art style with it’s own twists! Donald full on display! And best of all the triplets FINALLY had not only unique outfits but personalities! I’ve long went on in my reviews about how much that annoyed me and while it worked for the barks comics ever since then it’s just felt like a waste to have three characters there.. and not even the SLIGHTEST difference. 

My anticipation only grew with the full trailer, the promo posters as more and more info showed how good this series would be, how unique it’d be, and how much tw as taking what made the comics great, giving us a better distalation of that while still being very much it’s own beast. And once this episode dropped.. that faith was unfounded. Woo-oo! is without hyperbole, one of the best pilots i’ve seen, one that introduced the entire main cast perfectly, gets the series tone and mission statment out just right and in general set the stage for one of the best shows of the 2010′s (and 2020′s, even if it only lasted a year and some change). Wheras Teen Titans GO actively tried to take a dump on it’s source material, they thankfully have stopped that but it dosent’ make those early years any less grating, Ducktales was a breath of fresh air that honored the past while making i’ts own future. I tried talking about it but it was all in other failed attempts at reviewing: solo podcasts, my breif second video review career.. stuff no one rightly cared about and I just couldn’t get the hang of. 

So this is where we loop back to last year: I decided to finally try and cover it one more time, not realizing this would be my last chance as it came out anyway, and since I was doing text reviews but my output had slid in the new year, I decided to review Season 3 as it came out. If it bottomed out I could always stop.... and I just never did. I kept going, eventually finding new fans, a patreon (The other one’s an old friend of mine), and not only got paid doing what I love.. but found some peace.  I reviewed other shows as they came out, covered things i’d wanted to cover for years like life and times, scott pilgrim and x-men,. I covered other shows as they came out, found people willing to talk over my opinions and found my niche at long last. 

So that’s why the long speech folks: After almost a year of reviewing i’m properly covering the start of something that made me happier than I had been in a long time and gave me hope during one of the worst periods of ALL our lives. Something i’ve wanted to cover since I finally got started last year, and something truly amazing. So i’d be honored if you’d join me under the cut as I talk about the genesis of one of the best series Disney has ever put out. 

Behind the Scenes Stuff:  Most details I could find were sparse. it took going back to the first month the show came out and looking at a LOT of unrelated questions to finally find out Frank and Matt outright pitched the show. This dosen’t suprise me as both are huge ducktales fans with Matt having drawn his own duck comics as a kid and Frank taking it an extra mile having sang the theme song in his first grade talent show, worked it into his vows and got his first daughter’s first word to be “Woo-oo”. It’s very clear this show as a labor of love for them something they dreamed of Disney made possible. 

Otherwise I don’t have much on the genisis of the show: It was in the earliest ideas going to be a revivial but Frank and Matt both decided against it , deciding it’d be unfair to expect kids from 30 years after the original to know the source material, and instead just starting it over outright, which was the right call especailly with Alan Young’s passing. 

Design wise I found quite a bit of concept art thanks to one website, and it’s incredibly intresting. This is why i’ve really gotten into art books: I like seeing this early stuff what characters used to be, figuring out or outright hearing from the creators mouths why they changed it that sort of thing. 

Starting off we have some early designs for Donald, with him wearing the sailor suit as a kid but his Quackshot outfit as an adult, something I honestly wish they’d kept but get why they changed it: The iconic sailor suit both helps contrast him with della and fits his reluctance to adventure in season 1 more. I still wish that they worked the Quackshot outfit in somewhere, but they worked in so damn much, it’s hard to complain> Though I probably will make a list of “things I wished they’d worked” in at some point and i’d be lying inf I siad my mind wasn’t currently turning the gears to figure out how to work this into a fanfic. Oohhh maybe as Dewey’s outfit as an adult but blue, obviously. 

Next we have Donald settled more into his final apperance as well as the boy’s first outfits.  As you can tell from both of these the show originally went more with the classic art style before getting the one we’re familiar with now, one I love by the way and was made to combine a classic cartoon style with the visual of the comics. Donald originally had his classic outfit before they transitioned to the more barks style one, a good call.  

The interesting bit though is obviously the boys original outfits which i’m honestly bummed didn’t make it for Huey and Louie, not so much Dewey minus the visor. I do get the changes though: The hoodie Dewey had fit WAY beter on Louie, and the lumberjack shirt didn’t quite fit the nerdier huey. Still look nice. Dewey’s is okay, but only the visor is something I really gregret them removing same with louie’s fedora. It would’ve been neat ot keep the hat thing, but have each hat be unique. Likely they simplified things to make animation easier and simply removed the hats for some reason, but it’s nice ot see these more detailed original drafts and it is VERY interesting to find that differentiating the triplets was something planned from the earliest concept art. Though given Matt and Frank said in interviews they wanted a more natural family feel, it’s not a huge surprise. 

Scrooge like everyone BUT the boys thus far, naturally also had his original outfit at first, but like he ended up doing in the series rotated a bit, if not as much in the final product. We also see a protoype for his final design, the old coat but with a jacket over it in the last image. I also notice Donald seemed a lot more like his old comics self in the concept art with quackshot!donald. 

Like everyone else, Webby and Launchapd were originally their 87 deisgns, though Launchpad’s slightly diffrent jacket and green scarf were changed from the start. Webby is the closest to her 87 design, and as shown in the previous Lena concept art from my “Spies Like Us and Dime after Dime” double feature, she still had her new personality. More on that in a bit. 

Finally we have Flintheart, whose design is a bit diffrent from 87: He was a chub from day one it appears, though they’d exagerate it, and his beard was a bit longer at first like his other incarnations. 

Beakly is largely unchanged form 87, only given a coat, which would gradually be mofidied, much liekt he boys into her current outfit. 

As you can tell Beakly, Webby and Launchpad were all there from day one as they wanted them from the original ducktales just updated. 

Production wise they wanted to go handrawn, chose the style they did to have something close to the comics that felt classicly aniamteda t the same time, I feel they succeeded and wanted a show that felt like the original. I do think this show has it’s own feel but it does feel ducktales. I badly hope for an artbook at some point though as this show probably hada  LOT more intresting concept art. Seriously Disney I will PAY YOU to look at your neat art. Please. 

So they created a fully formed world and put the characters in it, wanting it to feel like the world had existed before and had throughly been explored and letting our young heroes be the watson to Donald and Scrooge’s holmes. 

Finally Della was indeed part of the initial pitch and a core idea from day one as every family has secrets and Della felt like one that had been lurking around the fringes of the story for 80 years. The rest of the production stuff i’ll weave in as we go but first one last stop, the STELLAR voice cast, none of whom outsideo f Tony i’ve talked about before sooooo...

The All Star Cast

The casting was outstanding here, with Matt admitting the cast brought a LOT to the characters, especially Ben Schwartz whose taken on Dewey was so unique and intresting they actually rewrote some of his dialouge for the pilot to fit this version better. This is far and away one of the best casts in western animation, most coming from comedy backgrounds and one or two coming from a voice acting background, but all bringing their absolute best. And since our main 8 are all in the pilot let’s run them down along with Keith Ferguson shall we?

Playing everyone’s faviorite billionare scotsman  and one of the very few to ever do so, we have David Fucking Tennant. David was their “First and only choice” and for good reason: David is a talented actor with a MASSIVE amount of stage, tv and audio drama credits. His biggest and best known role is playing the 10th Doctor on Doctor Who, which while not my faviorite (That’d be matt smith, as he’s both the one I came in on and hte one who got me hooked) he’s still  VERY close second and damn talented and I need to watch more of his tenure. Outside of that just to condense it to his ongoing roles on stuff and bigger roles: Filmwise he’s had starring roles in the Fright Night remake, You, Me and Him, Fish Without Bicycles and Bad Samartains, and is set to do a voice for the upcoming Loud House Movie, which excites me to no end. 

TV wise where most of his roles have been he got his first big starring role on the Telly with the BBC Mini series Taking Over the Asylum in the late 90′s. He’d go on to make a career out of doing mini’s for a while, also taking part in He Knew He Was Right, The Quatermass Experiment Remake, Casanova, Secret Smile.. and Blackpool. I saved Blackpool for last before we move into the Who era as if you’ve never heard of it.. it’s REALY fucking weird. It’s a jukebox musical about a man who wants to make Blackpool, a real city, into the new vegas and Tennat plays a cop investigating a case around the guy and also trying to get with his wife because they used to date and because our lead is philandering jackass. That’s already kinda nuts.. but then you get to the fact the songs are sung OVER the original songs instead of making a new version of them. It’s surreal to be sure but if you can find it it’s worth it for the handful of good numbers and how weird it looks and you can find clips of the songs on youtube if your intrested. Here’s a starter. 

Your also welcome. He’d go on to play Detective Alec Hardy in Broadchurch to critical aclaim as well as be a part of it’s short lived american remake, would play the Fugitoid in tmnt 2007, Kilgrave in Jessica Jones, one of his few post who roles i’ve seen or heard besides Scrooge and easily some of his best work he NAILS that purple bastard perfectly, would make his own show Staged about a fictional version of himself putting on a Stage play that’s still ongoing, and is currently , along with Ducktales as it wraps up, the voice of Lord Commander on Final Space, with the character returning this season judging by the trailers to fan delight and terror. He’s a VERY talented actor and voice actor and I do hope he goes on to do more and more voice work in years to come as, with his background in radio, he was born for it. 

He was also born for this roll, playing Scrooge perfectly and easily matching Alan Young in quality, not a small feat and i’ts VERY obvious why he was their one and only choice. 

Next up is another legend, Tony Anselmo who we’ve talked about before when I covered legend of the Three Cablleros: He’s been Donald’s voice since shortly before Ducktales, hasn’t done much else but given he’s THE voice for the character and this show let him show off one hell of a range with teh voice, he dosen’t really need other credits. The man is a treasure and I fear loosing him one day and fear for whoever replaces him as they have a LOT to live up to. 

Getting into the triplets, we’re going by age so starting off we have Huey, voiced by Danny Pudi. Like most of this cast aside from Toks Ogladyve and Beck Bennet (Who I probably HAD seen on SNL but didn’t really know or look out for him on there till after Ducktales), I not only knew Danny but was a huge fan of his going in. This is due to his breakout role on the glorious sitcom Community, which sadly only had a handful of i’ts cast show up on this show. I mean you got Lin Manuel Miranda I’m sure Donald Glover would’ve said yes too. He grew up with Ducktales. Regardless his role as meta guy Abed was easily the best of the cast on that show, with Glover as troy a very close second and the two working at their best as a duo. Outside of that he’s had a few roles being a regular on Powerless, which I forgot existed and currently on Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet, and shockingly hasn’t done a ton of voice work. And given his performance as huey was one of the best parts of this show he REALLY, REALLY SHOULD. Please Danny. He’s also a loving husband, father and surprisingly a marathon runner. Never would’ve guessed.

Next up is SNL Alumn of 9 years, Bobby Monynihan. Bobby is naturally best known for that, my faviorite role of his being Ass Dan. That’s right bitch you know he’s going to live fore..

ASS DAN 1981-2021

He’ll be back. Outside of SNL he’s done a bunch of minor roles. He’s currently on the tragically mediocre sitcom Mr. Mayor, and voiced Panda on We Bare Bears. Hopefully he keeps up the good work as he deserves better than he’s gotten and Ducktales proves it. 

Finally for the triplets we have a rising star in voice acting, Ben Schrwartz. At the time Ducktales launched, I was a fan of his from his roll on parks and Rec as Jen Ralphio, aka older scummier Dewey. 

Outside of his historic recurring role here he played a main role on House of Lies, a show I need to go back to, and has done other live action rolls but has REALLY hit his stride in voice acting. He started with voicing Randy Cunningham in Randy Cunningham 9th grade ninja and since then has hit the ground running: He was Rutabega on Bojack, Josh on Bob’s Burgers, and went on to complete the trifecta of blue nostalgic characters after voicing dewey by voicing Leo in Rise of the TMNT (and having one of the most unique and intresting versions of the character to play) and reprised the roll for the upcoming film. And of course he hit it HUGE by playing Sonic in the suprsingly fantastic Sonic the Hedgehog movie, and will do so again for the sequel and might even take up the roll for the games now Roger Craig Smith has retired. We shall see. Point is this guy’s at the top of his game and Dewey is part of that. Like with his brothers I can’t picture anyone else playing him. 

Rounding out the kids is Webby, played by the wonderous Kate Micucci. Kate is a lovely talented woman who mostly showed up in smaller parts, was part of the musical duo garfunkel and oates which even got their own tv show, and is currently a fairly prolific voice actor with this being her best known roll. I also had a bit of a crush on her once can you tell? Regardless besides absolutely nailing it as Webby she’s voiced Julie Kane in the crimnally short and even more crimnally not on Disney+ Motorcity, “Irma” in the 2012 TMNT cartoon, and the fact that “Irma” is in quotes should tell you how big a waste I felt it was having her NOT actually be Irma, despite Kate’s massive talent, the fact that Irma hadn’t been in anything since the 87 cartoon, and the fact that for added “Fuck you audience points” her krang form was voiced by Gilbert Godfried, who I love but whose casting feels like they wanted to make the twist as grating as possible. Good job there. 

Anyways her second biggest voice gig was as Sadie on Steven Universe, which took WAY too long to show off her absolutely tremendous singing voice. She started voicing Velma Dinkley in the mid-2010′s and has since, voiced Milo’s sister Sarah on Milo Murphy’s Law, Dr. Fox on Unikitty, and most recently voiced a sentient present on close enough who did this. 

So yeah quite the career and like Ben she probably has a long and storied career in Voice Acting ahead. 

Next up is Beck Bennet as everyone’s friend Launchpad where he excels. He’s best known as a castmember on SNL outside of this, and shockingly hasn’t done a ton of voice work. The only other time i’ve caught him is in the same season of Close Enough as Luc, aka dude-bro satan. But like eveyrone else here who hasn’t done a lot of voice work so far or has been more selective I defintely hope he keeps going with it as he’s amazing. He and Ben will be co-starring on MODOK in May so i’m excited for that. 

Last up for the main cast is Beakly, voiced by  Toks Olagundoye, who I hadn’t heard of before this show and hasn’t done a lot outside of the two season sitcom the neighbors, the aliens one not the really terrible looking one, and a stint on Castle, but like everyone here deserves much more and if Beakly is any indication, really should stick with voice acting. 

Last up is Keith Ferguson as only he could as FLINTHEART GLOMGOLD, whose a staple in the voice acting community ever since 2000, and has had a TON of roles some of which I was unaware with him. Given Frank worked with him on Wonder Over Yonder, where he voiced Lord Hater to perfection, the two clearly have a close working relationship. He also has a close working relationship with Wonder creator Craig McCracken and has worked on all of his post-powerpuff girls show, voicing Bloo as his first major role, something I never would’ve guessed, and currently voicing Papa G on Kid Cosmic. 

Outside of Craig and Frank, he played both Karate Kid and Nemisis Kid on Legion of Super Heroes (Which really needs to come to HBO Max), Deputy Durland on Gravity Falls,  and Thunderbolt Ross on Avengers Earth’s Mighteist Heroes. He’s damn good and deserves the world for Glomgold alone and i’m glad Craig rung him up again as so far through my watch of Kid Cosmic he’s great. 

So with our cast in place, our past in place and you all likely ready to get on with it already let’s dive into the episode:

THE EPISODE: Part one Woo-Ooo!

We begin with a shot of a seagull flying overseagulls, a nice way to establish how this world works and how it bends expectations. They’d have to wait till season 3 to get a duck next to ducks but given that gag is one of the best of the series, it was worth it. 

Inside a house boat we meet Donald, Huey and Louie and get a sense of their personalities: Donald is panicked trying to get to a job interview and insists the boys wear life vests, showing his overprotectiveness and responsibility exclusive to this version. Louie stresses that Donald wear a suit instead of his normal clothes to properly impress the interviewer, showing his skill at people reading and manipulation, and Huey is making a nice, if messy, breakfast with a heartwarming message showing his heart and dedication. After finding out said Babysitter was sent to the wrong address, the boys TRY to hustle him out to stay alone.. only for Dewey to blow the scheme by starting the boat too early, letting Donald know he’s been had. Huey’s attempt to lie about it is of course the classic “Who’s Dewey?” Dewey’s caught wiring the boat and Donald throws them in the car, with Donald livid and the boys upset as their chafing at his constant overprotectiveness. 

Both sides aren’t wrong. tThe boys DID do something reckless, putting an old woman in the desert and risking their home just to go on a joyride. What they did was wrong.. but the boys AREN’T wrong for getting annoyed that he won’t let them DO anything and overly hovering over them when they CAN handle themselves as we’ll see. WE now know why: he lost their mother and his sister to her and scrooge’s recklesness. While he got therapy for his anger it’s clear he never properly got help about Della, and thus overcompensates by trying to keep what he has left of her alive. He means well.. but to them it comes off as him being manically overprotective with no good reason. They get into trouble because it’s the only way to DO anything away from him. He’s trying so hard not to loose them he almost has by the time hte series starts, and it’s telling that when they get context in Last Crash, they appricate him more from then on. They do love him, but their frustration is understandable even if what their doing is pretty damn stupid. But their also 10 and Donald’s the grown adult in therapy who should’ve dealt with this or tried to at least by now.

So with no other options Donald sets a course for McDuck manor which excites the boys who have heard of Scrooge McDuck and his exploits, each rattling off something they heard him do that fits their personality (Dewey picks him fighting a stone monster, Huey picks him uncovering a hoax and Louie picks his swimming in money. ) As Donald tries to get them to simmer down, they wonder what he’s up to

He’s up toooo.. depression. He’s in a room with his board, watching them with utter hate and sadness as they talk about cutting the invention and aviation departments. This scene plays ENTIRELY differently after the final two episodes of the season. Before it still plays well as Scrooge clearly resenting being stuck in a boring board meeting, having lost everything that made him him and just having lost his passion for life. Now? It plays as a man utterly disdainful of the men who made him give up on his daughter. While as far as he knows they did it to save his employees from his company collapsing, we know better now... and seriously where IS the rest of the board they just vanished after the Season 3 premiere.

I don’t mind only one being fleshed out, unlike the triplets we only NEED the one I mind that they just never explained it and still haven’t. Hopefully the finale will. 

But back on the plot, it now plays as Scooge just full of hatred for them, knowing they had to do what they did, even if they weren’t emebzlling but still hating them and himself. He’s likely not even paying attention anymore because he just dosen’t CARE: he has all the money int he world.. and it couldn’t bring him his daughter back. As he sadly puts the coins he was fiddling with back and says see you tommorow he can’t even close the vault without a struggle. As we’ll see later the strength never left, it’s not like he stopped execrising.. but he has nothing left to fight for. Nothing left to care about. He could adventure agian so far.. but without Della or Donald, as we’d learn two seasons later the reason he enjoyed it again... what’s the point? He has nothing left except his money. 

This is also a nice parallel to the final Chapter of LIfe and Times. I always felt the first half of woo-ooo was a spiritual adaptation of chapter 12 of that: Scrooge meets the boys for the first time and with their help, and Donalds in the story< Webby and Launchpad here, he regains his passion and more importantly his family after driving them away> The how is very different: he did in life and times due to sinking to his lowest point morally, then cruelly dismissing his family when they tried to welcome him home and bury the hatchet despite what he’d done. Here.. he made a HORRIBLE mistake, one that wasn’t entirely on him but still cost him everything and spent the decade instead of stewing or making more money trying desperately to undo it. The end result is the same, a dried out husk of a man with nothing left to loose and no will to gain anything.

This husk has launchpad though whose introduced as his driver and while good with subs and planes.. isn’t great on the road. After that though Donald pulls up hoping to drop the kids off before Scrooge arrives. Naturally this being a cartoon and Donald having tempted fate with that Scrooge shows up telling him to jettison that Jallopy at once. And finding out who it is, apart from asking how Donald is and Donald doing the same, dosen’t sway him. The boys however freak out after finding out Scrooge is Donald’s and there uncle, with my faivriote bit of that being Dewey exiting the car via a window and rolling across the roof back in. Amazing bit of animation. Wish I had a gif of that. 

Donald makes the situation plane and angry and asks “Can you do that without LOOSING THEM”. And scrooge is so painfully disarmed by his reminder of his past mistakes and the fact his surrogate son still resents him, that he agrees before realizing “Shit I have to watch children now don’t I” as Donald drives off. As you probably guessed, this is another scene that plays differently in hindsight, if not by much: It still plays as two men too stubborn and bitter to reconcile.. but now we know the why behind both their rages it feels even sadder. They both lost the person they cared about most but as it sadly happens in real life both have dug in their heels to reconcile, both feeling their right when neither completely is. While Donald was right to be upset at scrooge and della for what happened, and is mostly taking it out on scrooge because he’s the one left... he’s held onto his anger for 10 years instead of going to help when he’s unemployed, living in a dilapidated houseboat and trying ot raise three children alone and could’ve used what help scrooge would give. Scrooge is right to be upset that Donald is just selectively ignoring everything he’s done to save Della, but is too stubborn and prideful to apologize for what he DID do wrong and feels that’s enough to make up for it when , while it is enough that donald should forgive him, still dosen’t mean he dosen’t have a lot to apologize for. Both are just too angry and too much alike, as much as it woudln’t seem so, to settle with each other and see too much of what they lost. 

So the kids follow Scrooge.. who forgets to open the door, and Beakly lets them in. It’s a nice subtle bit. After some silence, Bentina TRIES to get her old friend and now employer to talk to them, but he naturally refuses and they do the talking, asking tons of questions.. and Dewey ends the conversation by accidently pressing the “imply he USED to be something rather than is something right now “ button

So Scrooge throws them in the twins old room, and Beakly gives them some marbles. You will give them b ack they will be counted. But another subtle touch I missed the first time is there... her sad look. She clearly doesn’t want to do this, but she has to play this carefully or else he might get mad and fire her on the spur of the moment. He’d obviously hire her back, where else is he going to get an ex spy who will both clean for him AND be his bodyguard and security. It’s a very small pool. Mostly because Beakly probably killed most of the other people who’d of fit that description during her spy days. 

Scrooge meanwhile is still rattled by Dewey’s statment, wondering if he really is a “used to be” instead of a “never left”. The fire is starting to spark again.. he just needs more kindling. And more kin. 

Meanwhile Louie and Huey marvel at Dewey’s “Brilliant’ breakout plan: hit the door knob with the sack of marbles til lit breaks. To be fair, they’ve known dewey as long as they’ve been alive and even by season 3 after he’s taken several levels in badass and cunning.. he still crashed a plane because his brother well-meaningly called him basic, and thought being nearly sacrificed the most times was an accomplishment. This is the best he could do and you all know it. It also works, so they can’t fault him for that... though he’s quickly kidnapped as are they. They wake up after the commerical break in a room with pure darkness, hung from the celing with a mystery person asking who they are and who they work for before Louie calls out for “uncle scrooge”... so she claps the lights back on and..

Well close. But it is Webby, who cuts them down, fangirls over meeting the nephews and asks who the evil triplet is. They all point to Louie who shrugs it off. I mean it was funny enough the first time but at this point I know he’s running several fradulent charites, almost all scamming his uncle. He’s earned that title. Webby puts them on the big board and then when asked they find out she’s Webby, her granny Beakly is housekeeper.  She then asks the big questons “Are we friends now?” “If we say yes will you let us live?” “Ha good one new best friend”

She then explains she dosen’t get to leave or anything even eat a hamburger. The boys are moved by this and Louie asks what she does for fun. She leads them to the vents and while Huey and Louie are a bit relcutant, Dewey naturally goes first pointing out it’s better than the marble room. They agree and are on their way. 

Okay unpinning that pin, the crew conciously updated Webby and Beakly as neither really had a lot of purpose in the original. It was also to conciously add more actiony females to the main family lineup, as both creators, both being fathers, preferred someone their daughters could look up to and would enjoy watching. Not someone perfect but someone intresting instead of someone who often got Kidnapped and whose main charactrisitcs were “Sweet and GIRL STEROTYPE” So cleverly they KEPT her being girly, having a skirt, liking ponies. .but also gave her all the training and skill of one Cassandra Cain, a sheltered background and an adorable personality that kept the sweetness but added her probably having killed a man at some point. It worked as Webby is one of the best parts of the show. 

Likewise Beakly was upgraded from fuddy duddy housekeeper, to badass former secret agent whose also a housekeeper, and bodyguard and confidant to scrooge. Demonstrated by her talk with him as he tries to put on his diving suit and go after the jewel of atlantis, having spotted the signs to go after it in the paper.. and wanting to prove a child wrong. Beakly points out the flaws in this, and tries to get him to connect to his family. Having lost hers, it’s easy to see why.. though the how’s a mystery.. for now i’m guess. We’ll see in the finale. But she’s Scrooge’s concisence and the one who can easiest reign him in, to the point two episodes directly have our heroes have to NOT call her or else the plot was end, but have that worked into the plot so it works. She’s the calm in his storm and hte one person he needs more than anyone else even if he dosen’t always realize it. He calls family “nothing but trouble” just as Dewey passes overhead. 

So naturally as Webby shows off Scrooge’s old treasures in a mysterious room, while the other Siblings are rightfully impressed, Dewey dismisses it as “fake” because he’s being a little shit, and they agree after seeing Donald, not knowing his reputation. The cutaway to him struggling with a stapler does not help> it’s only when Webby accidnetly uneleashes Captain Peghook, a vengeful ghost after scrooge, who gets his hand on a ghostly sword do they realize this time the monsters are real. Huey also accidently wakes up Manny, the headless manhorse! 

Things somehow get WORSE as Scrooge finds them.. but is in no state to argue and as our heroes duck and Huey tries to divise a plan.. Scrooge get’s his spark back once agian.. it’s starting to become an ember now... and he charges in despite Dewey’s cries of “No come back your old!”. It then gets VERY badass Scrooge: Oi! Beastie! What's it gonna take to shuffle you off to the afterlife? Captain Peg-Hook: The head of Scrooge McDuck! Scrooge: [cracks his neck, flips his cane around to wield like a sword] Would you settle for his hat?

Now that is how you show how badass Scrooge is in a few lines and gestures. HE proceeds to take both out, as they’ve now teamed up, easily, tricking peghook into cutting off the head of a statue of him in the area, throwinng it at him and finsihing the ghosts buisnesss (”I should’ve been more specifiiiicccccc”) and then giving Manny the head, earning him a loyal employee for life. So our days saved, the kids have faith.. and Scrooge is still pissed. He also reveals this isn’t a treasure room but the garage in what’s easily the best gag of the first half, possibly the whole special but one iconic moment is very close in that one. Webby concedes what about the stack of old magazines or the hose or.. okay he’s probably right. He berates them only for the kids to fire back, pointing out he threw them in a room, they just wanted to spend time with him... but it’s only Dewey throwing his words back in his face that pisses him off. Scrooge bellows at them to get out, clearly having internalized everything with donald into rage and trying to justify pushing eveyrone away instead of working at it... but this dosen’t have time to actually work, nor would Beakly actually throw three children out on the curb, as he hits a mystic gong.. the third time it’s been hit. And after realizing it’s already been hit twice Scrooge is faced with Pixu, the gold hutning dragon! And guess who has a giant bin of it wanting to snack on? Scrooge naturally climbs on the thing and the kids naturally want to follow, with Webby getting her first development by proudly announcing “I’m going to eat a hamburger” then explains the metaphor. They just need a pilto.. and as Launchpad has been saying but I forgot to add in “I’m a pilot”

So we get a GORGEOUS bit of Scrooge riding the dragon over the city, getting banged up as he does before finally being thrown off.. only for the kids to catch him with the planes help and try and come up with a plan. Scrooge overcomes his anger at them not staying put, especailly since Webby brings up the right weakness: as a wise man once said...

So they need some.. like say the Medusa Gauntlet Scrooge had in the garage.. that Louie naturally stole. Huey and Webby eyeroll him but they have what they need.. and Huey brought the hose and quickly comes up with a plan, tying scrooge in, and swinging him to Pixu. The kids hold on tight, Dewey calls his family awesome and our heroes win the day as Scrooge turns the dragon to stone, slips and falls.. and then GRACEFULLY dives into hte bin, showing off his diving skills and his badassery. The day is saved, the gauntlet and the dragon go in the bin for safe keeping and Scrooge calls the kids trouble.. and chuckles fondly. “Curse me kilts how i’ve missed trouble”

He’s impressed: Huey’s quick thinking, Louie’s pickpocketing, Dewey’s drive, and Webby’s magical knowledge all saved them. For once. .he’s happy again. And for the second time in life it took his family to remind him why he does this and show him the true fun of adventure: Getting to share it with those he love. And he finally has people to love again. He has family back, kids who look up to him and want to learn from him again, a REASON to adventure. Money and treasure and eveyrthig couldn’t bring della back.. but he at least sees now that whiel they certianly couldn’t.. they can bring him closely with what he has left. She’s gone, for now.. but she left behind three great kids who could use a mentor and Beakly brought him a fourth. And he just found out he has a pilot. The ember.. is now a raging flame. Scrooge is back. Because i’ts not the money or the glory.. it’s the thrill of it, the discovery.. and the family that makes adventuring worth while and he’s learned that lesson again. So he calls Beakly to clear his schedule.. forgetting she you know PUT A FUCKING PIN INTHE WALL the last time he asked her to play scretary and the onlyr eason she dind’t drive over the choke him to death, is that she’s probably happy he’s back on track.

Back at the interview Donald is stapled to the wall and gets the job.. not as an accountant mind but his employer needs a sailor.. and his employer is FLINTHEART GLOMGOLD. Oh boy. 

Part 2: Escape To/From Atlantis First the last bit of background I saved: Originally, Fenton and Gyro were supposed to show up here, starting a gag of Fenton showing up but not being named until “Beware the B.U.D.D.Y. System!”, setting up the sub. But the crew decided this took too much away from the focus on the duck family. The not naming him gag was also dropped, and I have two reasons why: Their given reason, which is it’d take up too much time and a logistical reason: While they gave a heartfelt pitch to Lin-Manuel Miranda, as frank wanted a strong Latino superhero to combat the lack of them on film, Frank and Matt probably thought they woudln’t get such a huge name or at least prepared for it.. and were delightfully suprised when Lin happily and tearfully agreed. So they likely scrapped it so they could properly promote the biggest name in their voice cast. Honestly it was for the best and they still go to do the idea with Drake in “The Duck Knight Returns!”, where it worked much better than it probably would have with Fenton. 

We open with the Glomgold Industries Employee Training Video! Encourging IP Theft, making things cheaper and general scumbaggery, and claming your the world’s most beloved scottish billionare. IN short the perfect introduction to everyone’s favorite insane, fake-scottish, scheming, egotistical , short sighted billionaire. As i’ve made transparent before, I fucking love the reboot version of Glomgold and he’s easily one of my favorite parts of the reboot. They clearly needded to find a new place for Glomgold in the grand scheme of things as the show was more about globetrotting adventure and family and less about getting contracts or bets about whose bigger money and more about family. While they DID do a classic bet storyline with season 2, it’s clear the old glomgold was just a bit too stiff to properly fit into this new zanier and deeper universe. 

So they instead remolded him as a half insane, knockoff scrooge, someone who PURPOSFULLY modeled himself after the guy to try and one up him, and instead of being a fairly low pitched schemer, was a bombastic idiot whose schemes were half baked, whose name was on everything he made, and whose only thing bigger than scrooge was his glorious ego. In short he was perfect for this series and perfect to show up way more often as a bumbling thorn in Scrooge’s side.. but one who COULD be effective in the right circumstances, as to not make him completely pointless. Keith was likewise the only person I could see in the roll now as with Hater he had a history of playing bombastic, egosticial morons, and made Glomgold into the enjoyable ball of ego, bombs, sharks and shouting we know and love. Some people didn’t take to this version after a while... I’m not one of those. I loved him here, I love him now, and he’s every bit as good in season 3 as he was at the start. He’s also wearing a kilt mcduck A KILT. A bit that’st STILL funny four years and 70 some episodes later. 

So we meet Gabby McStabberson and the Smashnikovs as they and Donald file in, though Donald is busy wrapping up a call with Scrooge, who assures them he has a low key day planned.. while in the sub getting ready to go to atlantis. And nearly drowning when Dewey tells Launchpad to dive while he and Scrooge are still up top. Cue credits. 

So on the sub we get our setup for the two main plots for the episode: While the main thrust of everything is Scrooge taking them to Atlantis, each leads to a diffrent plot. Louie talks to Donald and lies entirely about their day, worrying Webby.. who then reveals she just didn’t tell Beakly she took off or where she was going and encourages her to call and lie. To save time, i’m going to cover this subplot now minus the conclusion as it’s pretty simple and this review is already a day behind. Louie wants her to lie so she dosen’t worry, which is oddly sweet.. still a bit greasy, but it’s clear he means well and it shows in his own way the boy cares about Donald: Sure he’ll lie to the guy, and set up a fradulent charity to scam him.. but he also knows not to worry his dad-uncle and kows Donald is better off thinking their safe than knowing the truth. Granted it also prevents consequences for Louie.. but he’s not playing here here. He gets nothing out of Beakly not knowing the truth or helping some girl he just met, he’s just being NICE in his own twisty way. It’s a nice show of his depths: While louie will lie, cheat and steal Eddie Gurrero style, he does have a caring side underneath hit. He can read people well and while he primarily uses it to manipulate people, we’ll see time and time again that he can use it for good too and to help those he cares about. He’s nothing but supportive the whole plot, and even when he says “you can’t back that up” it’s more worrying about her and having a bit of crack than actually being a dick. 

So Webby tries lying, but is about as good as Huey is at it, saying “I’m at a friends house nothing, then makes up a clearly fake name, then says their only talking in swedish for a grandpa. Launchpad DOES help, but only by accident and snake venom. We’ll get to that. As I said this wasn’t the most complex plot. 

The main plot is our focus episode for dewey. In theory each of the kids was supposed to have one in the first five episodes: Dewey here, Webby in Daytrip of Doom, Louie in Great Dime Chase and Huey in Impossible Summit of Mt. Nevverest!. Given the last one was horribly delayed, he instead got Terror of the Terra Firmians, which in hindsight wasn’t the best spotlight episode for him. But it’s a good system; Introduce them all in the first half of the pilot then slowly focus on each one.  So now Idoloizing Scrooge, Dewey is desperate to be his sidekick and be seen as an equal and is in deep denial as scrooge instead has them all buckle up for a 17 hour ride and when Dewey questions the route, which skips the direct path.. but is clearly marked with monsters, Scrooge just snaps at him and shuts him down and disapoints the boy who only wants to prove himself to Scrooge. 

Naturally though, telling someone with that kind of need for attention and validation to wait goes poorly as he redirects the map while Launchapd is distracted.. and we find out WHY the trip is 17 hours as the direct route nearly gets them killed by mer-ducks, krakens and some sort of storm elemental. Dewey is bummed it didn’t work and annoyed to realize he’s just lumping them all together like Huey pointed out earlier. Huey is also delightful here, having brought travel bingo and sea shanties, clearly used to trips with his other uncle. And adorably taking after him. 

But Dewey’s deversion has done more than make him even MORE determined to prove himself to Scrooge whose just trying to NOT loose the son of the daughter he lost...

The Merducks have taken up residence in the bathroom, so they have to make a pitstop. Scrooge, CLEARLY forgetting how to take a trip with children, wasn’t prepared for this but they find a frieghter and make a stop. Naturally it’s GLOMGOLD’S freighter, where his sub took off from, and he and his minons including Donald find Scrooge using the bathroom.. and the boys to Donald’s rage. Unfortunately saying ‘I’ll kill him” to a raging sociopath who takes that as a sign to kill ALL of them, isn’t a smart move. 

So while Donald tries to plan to keep his family alive, said family arrives in Atlantis with a great bit of Scrooge trying to give a big speech only for them to see it first and ooh and ah. They touch down in the city.. which is flip turned upside down. Scrooge notes hti is odd but is able to read the hieroglypchs even upside downa nd notes there’s tones of deadly traps and that they shoudl stay back and..

Huey: Dewey ran in as soon as you said traps. 

So while Scrooge tries to prevent dewey loosing his head, Donald prevents launchpad loosing his and makes up an excuse about “if their dead now we can’t tourture them later” to cover his ass. Glomgold is impressed.  Dewey is Dewcipointed that the traps are upside down, though he does trigger some snakes that get launchpad. He’s fine just delirious. And possibly slowly dying but the fact he’s lived this long is a miracle. Maybe that’s why he’s missing for most of season 3 part 2, the snake venom caught up to him and drake and fenton need to find the cure. Anyways the rest of the party stays behind while Scrooge chases after Dewey, who naturally runs ahead AGAIN. 

Donald ducks out to use the bathroom, as Dewey tries the old dance through the laser grid routine.. but forgets the part where your supposed to actually avoid it, leaving it to an unseen Donald to stop the fire traps from barbqueing his boy. IT’s a really awesome sequence that shows off Donald’s still got it even if he dosen’t want it.  Scrooge naturally works smarter not harder and simply ziplines above like a badass and berates Dewey when he tells him he took “The easy way”

“Why would you want to take the hard way?” The argument that’s been brewing all episode bubbles up and once again both sides have a point: Scrooge rightfully points out Dewey’s being reckless, has no experince and needs to listen to Scrooge and learn something. Dewey claps back that Scrooge isn’t TEACHING them, just teling them to get behind him while he does things instead of trying to actively mentor them. He outright told them he was going to teach them so while Dewey’s been a wee bit overbearing, he’s right in being disappointed that Scrooge instead just wants them to be safe. I see it as his subconscious acting up: He wants and needs the kids along and is right ot keep them safe.. but is too scared to properly mentor them after what happened to Della and is just trying not to loose anybody. His methods have been right, to keep them safe.. he’s just been so determined to save them, he can’t properly TEACH them so he won’t have to forever or explain WHY. And given the First Adventure shows that while protective he did eventually let Della and Donald pull their weight.. but here he lost so much between adventures.. he just can’e bear loosing them. Dewey also rightfully points out he just lumps them together which in any other version wouldn’t be an issue, until the reboot I had no idea which one was which here? They have distinct outfits and personalities and you had 17 hours to actually get to know them. Probably less given the shortcut but still, several hours at a minimum. It’s things like this that make the series work: while there’s plenty of internal conflicts, at their best their nuanced ones, where if one character is clearly in the wrong they have a reason, and if both are right both are also a bit wrong, versus the original where it’d be scrooge or the boys grabbing the asshole ball at times (Not always mind you but when they did it was insufferable. 

However they don’t have time to argue as the bridge goes out and Glomgold finds donald.. and another way around as a result and gets to the treasure first. Scrooge notices they have donald but once again Dewey charges in 

“Unhand my uncle” “No” “Okay wasn’t prepared for that”

Naturally both sides are a bit livid, Donald for dragging his boys into danger after being part of the reason his sister is on the moon right now, and Scrooge for working with one of his greatest eneimies.. though Scrooge has less ground to stand on because as Donald points out “I can’t keep track of ALL of your sworn enemies” I mean he has lived like .. 200 years. That’s a long enemies list and Glomgold, while the most persistent, isn’t exactly the most dangerous they probably encountered. Given the guy’s an artist with Bombs and Sharks that does say a lot about how badass Scrooge is.. and how incompitent glomgold usually is. He’s just having an on day today I guess. 

Glomgold naturally holds Donald hostage, takes what is suppsidley the jewel and leaves them to drown to death, hitting a wall to let it start leaking. HIs minons run into the rest of the heroes and a fight breaks out while naturally Donald, after even more naturally getting his ass stuck in a hole, literally, rails out at Scrooge for doing this telling him “I knew I couldn’t trust you and” “This is the spear of selene all over again”

Scrooge’s only response is “I was not responsible for the Spear of Selene!”

Dude you still paid for the rocket. While Della shoulders most of the blame, SHE choose to take an untested rocket, SHE choose not to come back during the turbulence YOU still built it and hid it from donald and didn’t make sure she couldn’t just take off in it. Your both to blame. And as I mentioned earlier to the least extent but still an extent, so was Donald telling his grown, adult sister whose as stubborn as she is what she could and couldn’t do. He had the right idea and was the only person trying to be an adult here in this situation.. but he still took the wrong approach with stopping her. Still he got far more ground to stand on than Scrooge, who also took his nephews out. Dewey stops both by pointing out that while yes Scrooge took them on an adventure he’s been doing NTOHING but keeping him safe and most of it was his fault which disarms donald a bit. Though Dewey is quickly distracted.. but for once by an obersvation: the gem glowing above thaem that glowed when they entered... and since the city got flipped turned upside down.. THAT’S the real jewel. Dewey asks Donald ot let it flood so they can get it and begs his uncle to trust him despite his doubts which he does. They get it and everyone’s okay and even more when they reunite with the others they find they’ve handily beaten them. To me this is where donalds walls go down a bit: he realizes he’s been smothering the kids, and that while he may hate his uncle for good reason... he’s not going to make the same mistake with them and while he lied.. Don probably realized if Scrooge had been honest Donald would never have let them go. He can trust him.. and he can trust his kids will be alright without him. 

So Glomgold naturally leaves his minions to die, but our heroes manage to make it to the sub, and Gabby asks if they can bum a ride. Not wanting to do any murders they agree. On the surface Glomgold is showing off his jewel, only for Scrooge to upstage him second’s later with the real jewel, and point out his is “nice but defintly cursed”... and right on cue Glomgold gets dragged off with an octopus and let’s off his first “Curse you mcduck!”. Scrooge offers clean water and power thorugh it, for a price because of course he does, and has offically made his grand comeback. 

We get back to Webby’s subplot, as she’s confronted by Beakly.. who naturally being a former spy easily figured it out immieditely but is only upset her grandaughter lied to her. And even at that she dosen’t raise her voice or anything about the matter, knowing it’d only make her feel worse and getting that her grandaughter needs to see the world and that much like donald, she walled her up to prevent loosing what little she had left. And since being with Scrooge is safe as with her, she can go with him anytime just tell her first kay? They hug. Awwww. 

Donald likewise apologizes, admitting that whatever has passed, he misjudged his uncle here and while not forgiving him yet, is at least willing to let him back into his life and into the boys.. on holidays and stuff at least. But fate forces his hand.. or rather his 10 year old nephew-son having left the engine on and neither having turned it off, meaning his boat goes boom and is in no liveable condition. But Scrooge has the space in his heart and mansion for them.

So as we close the kids help move the artifacts all around the house instead of just the garage while Launchapd drops the boat. While clearing out Dewey notices the painting from earlier.. and finds part of it was flipped over...

“Mom?!” 

Now keep in mind, while nowadays Della’s inclusion in the show is one of the most famous and treasured parts of the show.. back then this was a fucking shock. Disney never really cared about the boys mother and outside of one comics story never really went into what happened. So the fact she was not only an actual important part of the plot but we’d find out was a HUGE wham moment and left my jaw dropped after seeing the episode. Like I would with the finales I had read no spoilers and had no idea this was coming but damn was it a huge and welcome suprise and how far they’d take it and how much they’d flesh her out was an even bigger one. Easily one of the best big reveals i’ve ever seen. The only better one I can think of from this series itself... is the end of season 2. But that’s for another time. 

Final Thoughts on Woo-Ooo!:

This two parter/hour long special.. is still one of the episodes best and easily one of the best pilots. It does slow down a bit in pacing in the second half, but otherwise is just an immaculate , beautiful pilot movie that introduces and fleshes out all 8 main characters, maybe Launchpad the least but enough to still work, gives us some big mysteries to work out, and even throws in Glomgold’s first apperance. It sets the tone, reverent and adventuerous but also with it’s own weird and wacky sense of humor and world building, and universe perfectly. I .. don’t have much else to say really it’s just THAT good and really worth checking out. If you somehow haven’t seen it go watch it and if you haven’t seen it in a while might be worth a rewatch before the finale. The absolutely perfect start to an amazing ride. 

Next on the Della Arc: Dewey and Webby try to figure out where Della is while Louie learns a valuable life lesson and  pisses off a killer robot along the way.

Next on the Blog: Amphibia Season 2 is back! 

Until then if you liked this review follow for more and if you could please support me on patreon. Even a buck a month helps and juicy stretch goals give you na incentive to contirbute. We’re 5 bucks away from 20 dollars a month which means a review of super ducktales and a Darkwing Duck review EVERY. MONTH. So contribute now! Until the next rainbow it’s been a pleasure. 

[palaugranetes]

🔵BLAUGRANETS🔴

Ronald: I agree with @Iñaki on this.

Carlitos: Shocker!

Pedri: Night night! See you guys soon!

Oscar: ✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻

31 March 2021

JC:Do you guys know how lucky we are being this far from Geri for le Poisson d'Avril???

Carlitos: The what now?

JC: Poisson d'Avril

Carlitos: My French is rusty bro, that means?

Riqui: By Rusty you mean non-existent right?

Carlitos: Tais-toi petit idiot

Riqui: You google translating that does not negate my statement genius.

Carlitos: FOR YOUR INFORMATION PETIT, I did not google it.

Riqui: Sure.. I believe you

Carlitos: I DID NOT.. I asked Nyom

Riqui: 🤦🏼‍♂️🤦🏼‍♂️🤦🏼‍♂️🤦🏼‍♂️🤦🏼‍♂️

JC: Are you two done?

Riqui: Never

Carlitos: Yes, what were you saying Bro?

JC: Poisson d'Avril is April fool

Carlitos: HOW!!??!!

JC: It is

Riqui: Jan don't tire yourself.

JC: Hahahahaha

Carlitos: Doesn't poisson mean fish?

JC: Yes

Carlitos: April Fish?!?!

JC: It's a whole story

Carlitos: Blague d'Avril..

Carlitos: Tromperie d'Avril

Riqui: PROU!!

JC: I'll tell you on PM

Carlitos: Okay

Riqui: You were saying @JC?

JC: Right, we are lucky no?

Carlitos: Life finds a way.. or rather, if he wants to, Gerard Finds a way.

Riqui: Very true

Carlitos: But I feel if he was going to do something he would have done it on Dia dels Innocents.

Riqui: Possible, but one can never be too careful

Carlitos: You are oddly calm..

Carlitos: What are you up to?

Riqui: Nothing. I'm just saying

Carlitos: AhA

Riqui: Juro!

Carlitos: I SAID OKAY

JC: So he can still do damage

Carlitos: 🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️

Riqui: 🙂

.......

Ansu: OMG!!

Ansu: Guys WHAT IF GERI DECIDES HE WANTED TO PRANK JC AND CURLS ON APRIL FOOL'S!!!

Carlitos: Yes bro, we were literally just talking about that

Ansu: Oh.. where was I?

Riqui: In space clearly.

Riqui: HOW WOULD WE KNOW?!.. YOU WEREN'T HERE

Ansu: Right...

Dembz: Are you okay broski?

Ansu: I think so. I took a nap earlier and I feel like I wiokeoup in aanothred demtoiodn

Dembz: I was with you up until like

Ansu: up until like what?

Dembz: THE WORD LIKE

Ansu: HUH???

Dembz: "Ansu: I think so. I took a nap early and I feel like I wiokeoup in aanothred demtoiodn" WHAT DID YOU MEAN AFTER LIKE?!

Ansu: AFTER LIKE WHAT

Dembz: I give up someone else deal with him

Pedri: You took a nap and what?

Ansu: It feels like I woke up in another demention

Dembz: WELL YOU SURE WROTE LIKE YOU WERE FROM ANOTHER DIMENSION!

Frenkie: Yikes.. that has happened to me before @Ansu I know that feeling.

Pedri: How are you today bud?

Frenkie: I'm alright.

Francisco: Did you get some sleep? A little R&R?

Frenkie: I did

Francisco: 🧐🧐🧐🧐

Frenkie: I did, I promise. I slept 8 hours two days ago and 6 hours last night

Ronald: Why six?

Frenkie: I had to go .. and after that I couldn't sleep anymore. So I studied for a bit.

Ronald: Studied??

Frenkie: Yes Català

Riqui: 🥺🥰🥺🥰🥺🥰

Frenkie: 💜

Riqui: But you are feeling better?

Frenkie: Yes

Pedri: If you say so.

----------

Ansu: It's March 31st right?

Arnau: Yes?

Ansu: Okay

Arnau: Weird

Iñaki: 😂

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

Sergiño: Why does Jordi insist on replying with memes?!

Pedri: 🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️

Riqui: Jordi for you.

Dembz: Just what Grizou needed an enabler

Ilaix: And the Dad jokes are the worst.. idk whether to laugh or cry

Ilaix: @Carlitos where are your dad jokes?

Oscar: Please don't

Ilaix: I wanna hear his dad jokes

Oscar: No you don't

Ilaix: I do

Ansu: No you do not

Carlitos: Imagine if you walked into a bar and there was a long line of people waiting to take a swing at you.

Carlitos: That's the punch line.

Riqui: Look what you did now

Carlitos: Why did the stadium get so hot after the game?

Ilaix: Idk, why?

Carlitos: Because all the fans left.

Ilaix: GOSH

Ansu: Which dimension doesn't have Carles telling jokes in it? I would like to go there.

Carlitos: I don't play football because I enjoy the sport. I'm just doing it for kicks!

Ronald: Shoot me.

Arnau: Okay we get it Carles.. Please stop

Oscar: I BEG YOU PLEASE

Ilaix: I regret asking

Iñaki: 😵😵😵

Carlitos: Five out of four people admit they're bad with fractions!

Riqui: DO NOT GO INTO MATH JOKES

Dembz: This is the bad place

Carlitos: Ilaix asked 😌

Sergiño: Some questions never require answers. THAT WAS ONE OF THEM

Carlitos: Ask and you shall receive.

Ilaix: Thanks I hated them I would like to give them back.

Carlitos: No returns. No refunds.

Ilaix: 😫😫

1 April 2021

Pedri: Guys

.......

Pedri: Nevermind

.......

Riqui: ??

.......

Pedri: I'll tell you ON Pm

Riqui: Okay

.......

JC: 🤨🤨🤨

JC: What was that about?

Iñaki: 🤷🏼‍♂️

Oscar: Who the hell knows

.......

Unknown number joined via invitation link

Frenkie: Hello??

Francisco: Hiya!

........

JC: ????

Pedri: Hi there

Ronald: Who is this now?

Ilaix: 🤷🏿‍♂️

JC: I don't like this! Identify yourself!

JC: WHO ARE YOU??

Dembz: Let them breathe fréro..

JC: BUT WHAT IF IT'S HIM?!

Riqui: Um.. who is here?

JC: YOU TELL US

Riqui: HOW WOULD I KNOW?!

Carlitos: You are the admin idiot!

Riqui: But I never gave the link to anyone other than Leo!

Carlitos: FUDGE

Carlitos: FUCJ*

Carlitos: FUCKING FUCK*****

Pedri: He wouldn't though

Frenkie: Yeah I think so too

JC: YOU SAID LIFE FINDS A WAY!! MAYBE LIFE FOUND A WAY AND HE GOT THE LINK

JC: WE ARE EXPOESD NOW! This is all your fault @Carlitos

Carlitos: ME? RIQUI IS THE ONE WHO GAVE THE LINK AWAY

Riqui: TO LEO!!!

Pedri: Guys.. I'm sure there is an explanation

Sergiño: Agreed

Sergiño: but also.. this is still sus

Unknown number joined via invitation link

Carlitos: WHO IS THIS NOW

Sergiño: Okay.. now you can panic

JC: WE ARE WELL PAST THAT

Frenkie: 🧐

Oscar: Um.. who?

Riqui: Who is this??

Ronald: 2 new people??

Arnau: Who?

Ronald: Idk I just got here

Ansu: Oh dang

JC: I NEED TO KNOW

Riqui: We should stop talking.. maybe they would speak then

Ansu: Okay logical?

----------

Arnau: That clearly worked.

Riqui: 🤷🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️

......

Unknown number: Hello idiots

JC: FUCK FUCK FUCK SHIT IT'S HIM!

Riqui: Calm down

JC: I HAVE BEEN TELLING YOU HE KNEW THIS WHOLE TIME

Ansu: *Runs*

Ansu: I wish I can irl

Pedri: Soon

Ansu: 💜

JC: i cannot..

Unknown number: Hello morons

JC left

Arnau: 😵

Unknown number: Wow that really was easy

Unknown number: Yes it was

Iñaki: So it really is 2 people

Ronald: hm

Oscar: Jordi and Geri?

Unknown number: HAHAHAHAHAHA

Ansu: 😠😠😠

Riqui added JC

Unknown number: 😈😈😈

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

Iñaki: It's 23:00 and no one is talking.

Iñaki: It is both peaceful and unsettling.

Frenkie: Very

Arnau: Thanks??

---------

JC: WHO THE HELL ARE YOU

2 April 2021

Unknown number: Alex😜😜

Unknown number: Konrad 😎😎

Ronald: 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Unknown number: It was Riqui's idea

JC: 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

Unknown number: And Pedri and Fran

Ansu: GASPS!!!!!!!

Oscar: IT'S ALWAYS THE QUIET ONES!!!

Arnau: YOU SNEAKY SOBs!!!!!

Francisco: 😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇

Frenkie: I'm actually impressed

JC: I hate you three

Pedri: Hahaha it was April fool's!

Iñaki: I knew I smelt something fishy

Dembz: NO FUCKING WAY!!!

Dembz: WOW

Dembz: 😂😂 good one

Riqui: 😉😉😉

Arnau: Who was the mastermind behind this?

Pedri: Fran

Ansu: THIS IS WHY I HAVE TRUST ISSUES!!

Francisco: Hahahahahaha

Unknown number: Okay.. See ya

Ansu: Bye whoever that was

Unknown number left

Unknown number: That was Konrad..

Unknown number: Ciao for now

Riqui: Adeu!

Pedri: ✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻

Unkown number left

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

Riqui:

Riqui: HAHAHA I wonder what that message he sent to Leo was 😂😂😂

Pedri: OMG Hahaha poor Antoine

Francisco: I wonder if we all send Leo a message who he will reply to first.

Ronald: NO

Ronald: NO MORE SENDING LEO MESSAGES OUT OF CONTEXT

Arnau: Fran you've been hanging out with Riqui way too much

Dembz: HAHAHAHAHAHA He does talk a lot! Can you blame him

Dembz: LINK PLEASE

Riqui: I wouldn't but sure

Riqui:

Riqui:

Riqui: HAHAHAHAHA that's because he is always here Clem

Ansu:

Ansu: I remember that hahaha I was very confused at first

Frenkie: That was nothing.. I almost sent something to the main one that was meant for this GC!!!

Ansu: OMG

Frenkie: Yeah, close call hahaha

Oscar: Whenever he is asked if he can be considered *insert particular position*

Frenkie: 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Dembz: WHAT IS THIS FRENCH IDIOTS ATTACKING OUSMANE VIDOE?!?!?!

Dembz: 😑😑😑😑😑😑😑😑😑😑😑😑😑😑😑

Ansu: Your bestie

Dembz: EX BESTIE. FRIENDSHIP WITH ANTOINE ENDED. Sergiño is now my best friend

Ansu: HURTFUL!!

Dembz: 😂😂

Sergiño: 🤜🏽🤙🏽

Dembz: 👊🏾🤙🏾

Oscar:

Oscar: He really went for you neck huh

Dembz: RIGHT?!

Dembz: He's not lying

Dembz: BUT HE DID NOT NEED TO EXPOSE ME LIKE THAT?!

Ronald: HAHAHAHAHA

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

Carlitos: WAIT A DAMN MINUTE!! ALEX AND KONRAD WERE THE NUMBERS?????!!!!!!

Pedri: Yes 😂😂😂😂😂

Carlitos: MEAN!!!

Francisco: HAHAHA

Carlitos: I hate you guys

Riqui: Love you too rizos

Carlitos: 💙fuck off

[starlightnakamoto]

She Knows • Yuta Nakamoto

Member: Yuta x Reader

Genre: angst / fluff / smut / slow-burn / mystery

Warnings: Language, Drugs, Alcohol/Cigarette Use

Summary: You needed to find a way to raise money to find somewhere to stay. Little did you know it had to be through becoming a stripper at the biggest club in town, owned by the ceo himself. He’s not only a ceo though. Only at night he was.

Chapter 5

Soft lips were trailing all over. From your jawline to your collarbone, you felt the stars in you lighting up in a way you never felt before.

“More.. please”, you kept begging, not getting enough when you wanted all of him.

His hands were getting to know each part of you as you kept his name at a whisper, afraid if anyone would hear.

Two star-crossed lovers had become one through lips and you felt things heating up more.

“Yuta.. I need you”.

“So greedy.. I’m making you a fucking mess aren’t I?”, he smirked, looking up from where he was marking what’s his on your collarbone.

The moment started to fade along with the colors and his touch.

You didn’t want it to end but too late.

The blaring sound from your phone alarm had woken you up from the bittersweet dream you had so longed for.

You groaned into the now familiar pillow of the motel room you were staying in.

8:15 am. Today was show day.

Finally you were gonna get your first paycheck and could start seeing your dream be opposite from black & white.

You did the usual & went to the bathroom to take a quick shower. After getting out, you dried your body & curled up hair in a rose towel and went to get dressed.

You put on baggy silver pants & a crop tee, even though later you would be changing into the real outfit for tonight.

You & Ten had been anticipating all week to see what you two would look like on stage.

After putting on hoops and a final shape of lip gloss, you left the motel, this time with all your things.

It was time to find a new place after today and with the money you’d get you wouldn’t pass the opportunity.

The train ride to the Nakamoto Club was usually quiet & filled with only the mind being loud.

Ride by Lana Del Rey was blasting through your headphones as you tapped your hands against the foggy window.

I hear the birds on the summer breeze, I drive fast, I am alone in the night. Been tryin' hard not to get into trouble, but I

I've got a war in my mind…

—

You arrived to your stop and made your way to your destination.

As you climbed up the hollow steps, you headed to Room 1026 to meet up with everyone else even if everyone to you was mainly Ten.

You walked in and immediately were greeted by a slim pair of tan arms but with a body that radiated warmth for you.

“Y/N!!”, Ten gleefully cheered while ruffing your hair up and leading your hand to where you two would usually sit.

“It feels like forever since I saw you, I missed my best friend,” he pouted as he did his usual habit of playing with your hands.

“We just saw each other yesterday before you left me alone with—”

“Yuta!! Oh my god, tell me everything now. How big was it—“

“Ten!!”, you rolled your eyes, softly hitting his arm. “We just spoke for a bit and got to know each other’s names.. nothing else I promise.”

“Aghhh Y/N!! I tossed and turned all night just wondering if a moment finally happened with you two. I didn’t leave you in there for nothing—“

“Well a moment did happen..”, you cut him off as you played with the rings on his sculpted hands.

“Well tell me the moment.. I got my popcorn out and everything”

“Well it wasn’t much but it’s just the way how he looked at me like he already saw through me. Like I know it’s fast and all but I swear you could feel some—“

“Connection?”, a different voice had blurted out.

Oh shit. You had felt your whole face heat up into one color of crimson.

“Yuta—“

“Ten I think this is yours.. you uhh left it here yesterday”, he smirked like the bastard he was seeing the color you were, as he handed him his water bottle and walked back to the front.

He too was flustered but tried hiding it.

Ten had thrown his head back and squealed into your arm as you sat there with your mouth open.

“I don’t know what just happened but girl I’m loving whatever kdrama yall got going on”, he nonstop said between laughs, trying to catch his breath.

“Yeah yeah okay. Keep laughing, you’ll be crying later when that happens to you one day”, you rolled your eyes as your cheeks were still flushed and playfully flipped him off.

Your bestfriend kept teasing you for the rest the day about the most embarrassing moment of your life and you couldn’t wait till it happened to him later.

—

The night started getting closer and everyone was getting ready.

We got to our dressing rooms and staff was rushing around everywhere, helping with makeup, lights, outfits or what not.

It was all going so fast but he didn’t leave your mind, which brought you to the thought.. where was Yuta?

“He was there for most of the day but he seemed to have left”, a staff had told you while doing your eyes a bright shade of glitter red. “What can you say? He’s a busy man”.

You had hoped he would appear to see the performance you guys had worked so hard on, at least. After all, he helped with most of the moves.

7:30 pm

You started to feel more adrenaline as your first time performing is coming sooner than you think.

You had your makeup done & your outfit had shaped your body well. It was a crimson color built up of a corset with fishnets that made you feel self-conscious but everyone else had wore the same in various colors so you tried to feel at ease.

Looking up from your phone you heard “Damn Y/N!!”, from the now familiar cheery voice of Ten. “Girl you look amazing whatt!!”.

With the continuous praises you got & telling you to do a 360, you kept looking down getting all shy. He really was the only one of the dancers who made you feel at home.

Ten was wearing a see through black long-sleeved shirt with patterns on the front which had perfectly fit his figure & leather pants. It almost even turned you on.

His eyes were batted with sparkling black eyeshadow and wavy designs around it.

“The show is starting soon.. have you heard from him yet?”, he had asked as you two sat back down at your parlors.

“Nope. I’m just hoping he’ll show up at this point. I mean he has to after all the hardwork he’s done for us.”, you sighed while applying a cherry flavored lipgloss.

“He should. Lisa’s here, Johnny, everyone. It’s a big night, especially for you Ms. Yuta..”, he had chuckled looking in the mirror while fixing his combed back hair.

“Let’s not get too ahead now. We don’t even know his last name”, you admired how stunning you looked, pleading in your mind that he would consider coming.

“Yea.. weird but whatever”, he pondered but then decided to change the subject and apply final touches as you did the same.

—

8:25 pm

“We’re on in 5 minutes ladies!! Start wrapping it up and head backstage now”, Lisa had commanded everyone passing by each row of parlors.

“This bitch always forgets I’m here too”, Ten sighed, getting up from his seat.

You chuckled following with “C’mon my lady”, as you two linked arms to head backstage.

Showtime

Your nerves finally were kicking in as you had no idea how your first performance would play out. You just had hoped it would all go well after busting your ass to learn it for the past week.

When your group’s name was called on stage, you started recalling all the memories from the day you first got here. So much had happened already and you weren’t here for that long yet but you felt like you had. The places you were getting used to.. the faces that became familiar.

To see yourself doing all you can to get to that dance dream of yours, that was home. You knew all your hardwork would pay off one day and you were excited for it.

You got to your spot up in the back as you climbed up the shimmering steps on stage in your platforms, trying your best to see the taped X’s glowing in the dark to find your spot. You got into position as Ten got into his which was further down your row.

Lights of flashing black and white came on that then faded into color hue as the song started.

You know, from the moment she turn around.

She know, how to back it up and drop it down

She know, she what all the fellas looking at

'Cause they know, soon as her song come on it's a wrap.

You had been mirroring the moves everyone else had been doing as the chorus was building up.

And she loves the attention

That she get when she moves, yeah

Showin' out with her home girls

Hypnotizing all the dudes, oh

And she knows.

Even as a back dancer, you had felt confident in how good you were doing and living it up in moment that you hadn’t realized Yuta did show up.

But him also being Mr. Nakamoto, he had sat near the back blending in with the other people sitting on the barstools.

“You seem to come here often. I wouldn’t be surprised if you were Mr. Nakamoto himself”, bartender Jaehyun had remarked with a small laugh as he wiped the bar and served more drinks to customers. “In that case, welcome.”

Yuta was in a gaze as Jaehyun’s words were only muffles to him, trying to set his eyes on you even if you were blended in by other dancers.

You looked so beautiful right then and there even from far. The lights had illuminated your entire beint and made you feel like you were the only dancer in the room to him.

It was all going so well right up until after the chorus that Rosé had tripped you.

You knew something was up when Lisa had asked Ten and Rosé to switch spots before show day.

The music had continued but there was gasps throughout the crowd that led you to rush down the steps and back to the dressing room.

Hot tears were running down your face as you sat in your chair that had faced the mirror & violently threw off your platforms.

You had a bloody gash on your knee from the trip but other than that you just tried to breathe amidst your anxiety attack.

Yuta had noticed later in the dance that you were gone and was starting to worry as well.

You felt too embarrassed to wait till the performance was over to find Ten or just see anyone.

You had picked up some wipes laying around the lights framing the mirror and starting to wipe off the canvas that had been painted earlier on your face.

“It’s just a fall, quit crying Y/N”, that voice in your head telling you on a loop.

Mascara tears kept streaming down but you just hurried up the process so you could grab your things and head on out in the back.

You kept getting flushed at the embarrassed moment that kept replaying in your head and just wanted it all to be erased. Possibly to even just go home and forget you came here. You knew your family & few friends was worried sick from all the missed calls as well.

You were from Cloud City, a small town that not many knew about with only black & white surroundings. It wasn’t anything like Blossom City, with all the colorful lights everywhere and endless people with stories in them filling the streets.

You had come from a complete different area, all opposite from this.

After all you were a dancer, not a dancer for these types of clubs.

You went through the back door and droplets had hit you which progressed more as you walked further to the nearest bus stop.

You still had your outfit on but with a coat over it and your heels in your hands. You didn’t feel like going on the subway with the way you looked this time so the bus it is.

You pulled out a lighter to light up your cigarette as you had stayed hovered under the stop. The rain was making it harder for it to light up so you occasionally blurted curses under your lip with the paper between it.

As you let out the first puff into the foggy night air, you coughed a bit but felt more at ease. You were still new to this as you had picked up the habit from Ten.

Before the next bus arrived, you had realized you didn’t get your first performance’s pay and panicked at the thought of literally having nowhere to stay at tonight.

Suddenly a white polished Benz had pulled up with the passenger window rolling down to greet you with a face that had made the familiar flush come back to your cheeks.

Usually he wouldn’t greet any of his dancers at this time of the day with the work he had going on but here he was with his one hand on the wheel and other waving at you.

“Hop in”, was all it took for you to drop everything and forget your thoughts for the rest of the night.

0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5

[hadesgoddess]

Ok so I havent even finished the background fic for my Teen Wolf s/i, but that's ok because this is my circus and I'm calling the shots!🤡

Anyway, gonna just dump this short fic here because I can't wait to write the hurt/comfort that will come after this angst!! if anyone knows teen wolf, this takes place in season 3!

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

    Lockers and closed doors blurred together as Rose flew down the hall. Even with supernatural speed lending strength to her legs, it still seemed like she was moving through quicksand. 

    Over the rush of her own breath, she could hear the terrified screams of the trapped teacher downstairs. She could feel the roar of two feral werewolves rattle the ribs in her chest. She could smell the acrid tang of blood dripping onto a cold concrete floor; Derek’s blood. 

    Dammit, Derek! Don’t tell me you went in there alone!

    The force she used to throw the door leading down to the boiler room made it strike the wall so hard it rebounded almost immediately. Rose bore the injury without complaint; there were more important matters at hand. If not for her quick, cat-like reflexes, she knew she would have fallen straight down the stairs and landed in a broken heap at the bottom. 

    Scott caught her before that could happen and pressed his ear back against the door.

    “He didn’t-” She gasped for breath. “Did he??” 

    Scott nodded, jaw tense with worry and Rose spit out a few choice curse words. 

    “Did he forget that they’re absolutely feral right now?” 

    “Of course not,” Scott growled. “I told him that he would kill them or get himself killed, and that’s when he said ‘That’s why I’m going in alone’.”

    Rose stared at Scott in horror, unable to believe it. “He wouldn’t say that...” She whispered. 

    “He did.” 

    The cement wall was like ice against her hot skin, flushed with adrenaline and the power of the full moon, but she slumped back against it. Disbelief and dismay warred in her heart as it began to sink in.

    He really doesn’t think he’s worth anything alive...?  He doesn’t care... that he probably won’t come back out in one piece...

    Her hands shook with the urge to shove Scott out of the way and wrench the door open, to leap through the door regardless of the danger and help. She stood on unsteady feet, snarling out a warning to the young werewolf.

    “Scott-” 

    “Scott! The sun!” Isaac’s voice came ringing down the stairwell like a herald from heaven. “The sun’s coming up!” 

    They stared at each other in amazement; it was true, they could already feel the effects of the full moon weaning away. Tripping over each other, they flung the latch open and slipped inside.

    “Derek!?” Rose hated how high and thready her voice sounded, like some over dramatic, fainting damsel. But dread twisted her heart like a vise, sending her thoughts into a panic. Every instinct in her cried out to find him. 

    Finally, in the back of the basement, they found him. Derek was practically haloed in the morning light, streaming underground from the low windows. It threw his every injury into abrupt relief. It was a horror show.

    “What-” Rose, Scott, and Isaac, who finally caught up, came screeching to a halt. “What did you do?” 

    Derek’s eyes stared at them, glazed over and unseeing. He was sitting on his knees with Cora and Boyd on either side, both unconscious. For a horrible second, he didn’t respond, didn’t seem to even recognize them. Then-

    “There’s a teacher... I’ll take care of her... Get them out of here...”

    “Excuse me?” It only took a second for the heartbreak to turn to wild, hot anger. “You’re kidding right?” She turned to the boys beside her. 

    “Please, get them to the truck. Someone will be here soon, we need to go, but Derek is in no condition to help. I’ll get him out.” The teens were quick to move out of their way, sensing the change in the air. In seconds, they were alone.

    “What... are you doing?” Derek snarled, getting enough energy to try to stand. “If you’re trying to undermine my own authority in my pack-” He cut off, stumbling forward, blood splattering across the floor from still open claw marks. Rose immediately moved forward to catch him, hefting his muscled mass up.

    “News flash, Hale, I’m not in your fucking pack and neither is Scott,” She retorted. Moving carefully, she lifted his arm over her shoulder, trying to walk him back to the stairs. “Now just shut up until we get to the car.”

    “I’m fine!” Derek shouted, pulling away.

    “That’s obviously not true!” Rose yelled back, locking his wrist in a steel grip. “Why is it so hard for you to accept help?” Facing each other, Rose only came up to his chin, but she stared up with fiery determination. Hazel eyes stared back with just as much tenacity, dark brows furrowed low in confusion. 

    “Because I don’t need it! I don’t want it, ok?” He took a step forward, attempting to get her to move back. Rose stood her ground. The air quivered between them, charged with some unfathomable emotion. 

    To her utter embarrassment, she felt tears begin to well in her eyes. Her vision was filled with red lines, dripping blood that soaked through the soft forest green shirt Derek wore. It seemed like they were taking much too long to heal. Even when they did, she knew she would still see them on his skin, the invisible scars painted in her memory. She couldn’t stand the thought of him letting himself be hurt, just to punish himself. 

    “Why are you crying?” Of course, he would say something so bluntly.

    “What am I supposed to do when someone I care about is trying to get himself killed?” Her voice was thick. Rose stretched trembling fingers out to trace his wounds, pain and heartbreak choking her at the sight of his torn flesh. 

    “Wait,” Derek swayed back and forth on his feet, trying to catch up. “I’m not trying to kill myself! I’m doing what’s necessary. I owe blood, Rose... I have so much blood on my hands.” Those same hands, scarred and worn, so warm and gentle despite it all, came up to touch her shoulders, and moved further up, feather-light on the skin of her neck, to cup her face. 

    “Derek,” Again, she hated how her voice broke! “There was absolutely no reason to come in here alone. Scott could have helped you hold them off until sunrise while Isaac held the door. If he had- if he had, then you wouldn’t be about to collapse out on me!”

    Even as she spoke, Derek closed his eyes, struggling to remain standing. Involuntarily, he slumped forward, arms falling back to her shoulders. Cursing, Rose caught him once again. In this position, his forehead came to rest against hers. 

    She froze. A million thoughts ran through her head. Fear that he’d finally passed out, anxiety that he would push her away, affection for how sleepy and almost adorable he looked at this distance. But, he couldn’t know what he was doing. 

    He had just let two werewolves tear into him like some kind of sick christmas present. The entire pack had been up all night with the full moon, tracking them down. His mental, physical, and emotional state had taken a dive over a cliff; she would never let herself take advantage of that.

    She startled when Derek spoke. “I can practically feel you thinking, del Bosque. I don’t suppose they’re thoughts about me?” All the fight was gone from his voice, leaving resigned defeat.

    “Don’t be self-absorbed, Hale-” Rose scoffed, heat rising to her cheeks, but all thought ground to a halt when he looked back up at her. 

    “I’m not. I know,” he spoke with such certainty, her heart dropped. “I know, Rose.”

    She squeezed her eyes shut against his words, praying this was a bad dream, that it would all be gone when she opened them. Instead, those damn hazel eyes still stared at her, the heat of his face was still so close to her own.

    “So, you know,” Rose pushed the words out, knowing the only way out was to rip the band-aid off and move on with her life. But understanding it and wanting it were vastly different things. The stabbing pain in her heart switched back to anger, trying to save as much of it as she could. “Good for you. I’m glad you finally got a fucking clue.

    He tilted his head, forehead still pressed to hers, a puzzled look in his eyes.

    “Rose...” The way he whispered her name made her knees weak, but she had to hold strong!

    “Derek... It’s ok... you don’t have to say anything, let’s just get you-” All the words flew away, chased from her mouth by the insistent press of his lips against hers. All brain function stopped, but instinct took over. She kissed back fervently, her dream becoming a reality and she dazedly wondered how much she could steal away with. How much sensation she would carry with her until she died from this moment right here. 

    Would she remember how his skin was blazingly hot on hers, his fingers dancing up and down her neck, tilting her face in just the perfect way to slot their mouths together? 

    Or how he kissed her like he never wanted to stop, like a parched man in a desert oasis, drinking up all her gasps and moans like it was an illusion about to slip through his fingers? 

    When they finally broke to drag in deep, shuddering breaths, Rose’s mind was tossed and tumbled like a spare sock in the dryer. She could hardly tell up from down. Could anyone blame her? Her entire world had just been turned on its head!

    “Rose...” Again, he sighed her name against her cheek, seemingly unwilling to be separated from her. She closed her eyes, struggling to process everything and also wanting to remain in the moment forever.

    A metallic clang behind them broke her reverie. 

    Oh shit!

    They had to go! Hopefully, there would be time to speak with Derek when they got back to the loft, but they could not be found here. 

    “Come on,” Rose wrapped his arm around her shoulder once more and moved ahead. “Get a move on, you ridiculous, idiotic, fucking sweet man.” Thankfully, Derek finally seemed too tired to resist.

    Together, they climbed the steps up into the light of the dawn.

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

    Getting back to the loft proved much harder than expected.

    By the time Rose managed to lug Derek's heavy butt out the school, red and blue lights flashed all around them. Where was Stiles and his blue jeep when they needed him?

    Evading the cops involved quite a lot of crouching in the dawn shadows behind dumpsters and brick walls, praying the police would run right past.

    Luckily, the teacher who had been in the basement took a lot of their attention. While she gestured and ranted, Rose and Derek finally slunk past the last cop car and stumbled into the safety of the woods. From there, it was a slow journey to the back parking lot where Rose had left their car. Somewhere along the way, Derek finally passed out.

    With shaky hands, she deposited Derek's still form into the passenger seat and buckled him in. It took all her control to not speed through downtown and blow every red light on the way there. The last thing she wanted right now was more cops.

    Isaac and Scott were waiting in the parking lot when they pulled in. She wasn't ashamed to take Scott's steady arm and hobble inside while Isaac hefted Derek up after them.

    Not everyone could take every hit and stay standing like Derek tried to. 

    It was a long day, waiting for Derek's body to heal and wake up. The boys had to leave for school, but insisted Rose call them if they needed anything. Derek might be holding people at arm's length, but those people refused to do the same. Exhausted, but feeling better with a cup of coffee in her hands, Rose promised they would be the first to hear anything.

    Then she was alone. At first, she spent a few hours sitting at Derek's side, unwilling to leave for anything. But basic biological functions demanded she get up and shower and use the restroom. Since Derek hadn't even twitched all morning, she assumed it would be ok, just for a few minutes.

    It felt weird using someone else's shower, especially when the owner was comatose just yards away so she washed as fast as possible. Unfortunately, since this whole venture was a tad unexpected, Rose had nothing to change into. 

    Nose wrinkling over the dirt encrusted jeans and ragged shirt, she had a short internal debate before huffing. 

    It's just a shirt and a pair of pants, del Bosque! Besides, if he has any complaints, he can tell them to my fist. It's what he gets for scaring the shit out of me last night. 

    Mind made up, she rifled through Derek's bottom drawer, knowing from years of sleepover experience that he kept his work-out clothes in there. She picked the biggest shirt she could find and felt a tiny hint of satisfaction for nabbing a ridiculously comfortable pair of sweatpants. 

    Emerging from the bathroom, feeling a tiny bit better, she returned to her station at Derek's bedside. The coffee had turned cold by now, but she didn't refill it. More caffeine would only give her jitters at this point. In fact, she found it difficult to settle down. Her legs itched to pace, to run through the woods like she had in South America when the pressure of her clan got overwhelming. But she couldn't just leave Derek. She wasn't even aware of the passage of time, only the too slow rise and fall of his chest.

    At some point, she got the strength to stand up and collect some supplies. It wasn't exactly necessary since a were-creature would heal exponentially faster than a human, but it felt good to do something. Plus, she wanted Derek to be taken care of. Who knew when he had last let someone do that?

    Blood was blotted up, gashes were bound, and she even managed to get him coherent enough to drink a few swallows of water. Then it was back to the waiting game. With cloth bandages covering his wounds, Rose couldn't tell how fast he was healing. But if the coolness of his skin was any indicator, she had protected him from any infection and now the heavy lifting was up to Derek.

    Late evening light cast through the multitude of windows of his loft when he finally stirred. 

    "......Where- where am I?" His groan brought Rose back to the present. For the last hour or so, she had been nodding off, the lack of sleep finally catching up. At some point, Rose wasn’t sure when or how exactly, their hands had drifted together and were now entwined. 

    Derek held their clasped hands up, looking at Rose in confusion. “What happened? How did we get back here?” 

    “You- what do you remember?” Rose asked. 

    “We lured them to the school... We were down in the boiler room... there was a teacher trapped down there, right?” As he worked it out, he tried to sit up. He didn’t get very far before falling back against the pillows with a pained moan. 

    “Yeah, that’s what happens when you try to take 2 feral werewolves by yourself, Hale.” Rose snapped, jumping up to check his wounds. Satisfied none of them had re-opened, she went and got him a fresh cup of water. When he finished it, she sat back down at his side. “Do you remember the rest?”

    She knew she should let it go, just let Derek focus on healing. But, she had to be sure that she hadn’t just imagined what Derek said, what Derek did down there. Her lips tingled and she bit down on the lower one hard to put a stop to it. 

    “I-I don’t think so,” Derek gazed off into the distance, trying to remember. “After the first couple of claws in my chest, I think I just shut down. Just tried to take the pain.” 

    She couldn’t believe it. “You’re sure? Nothing else?” 

    His eyes landed on hers, sure and steady. 

    “...No. Nothing else.”

    Well. That was that. It was going to be brushed off as a mistake, fueled by delirious pain and the intoxicating effects of the full moon. Rose put her head in her hands. 

    “Rose?”

    She shook her head, not looking up. Just a minute, she needed just a minute to force back the tears and regain some equilibrium. Luckily, Rose was an expert at boxing up inconvenient emotions and unpacking them later. 

    “...Are those my clothes?” Rose groaned shortly, regretting her earlier decision. 

    “Well I didn’t exactly pack a suitcase when we set off the other night!” She couldn’t sit here any longer, pretending everything was perfectly fine. She leapt from her seat like she was on fire and headed back t0 the kitchen. 

    “Wait-!”

     “Don’t worry, I’ll leave them where I found them before I leave.” She didn’t need to look back to know he was staring at her. All she wanted to do was turn right back around and hold Derek close. But now she knew, that wouldn’t be a privilege she would ever earn. 

    “Rose, it’s fine, but-” Finally, she turned, one hand on the doorknob. From where he laid in bed, he looked strikingly lost. Like a boat lost at sea and she was a distant lighthouse. The thought made her heart drop, but she squashed the feeling down. “Are you mad? Was it something I did? I know we should have been more careful at the school, but we had no idea the teacher would be there.”

    “.......It’s always about someone else, isn’t it?” Her statement only confused him more, she could tell. But she didn’t have the strength to finish this conversation. Her heart hurt too much from the emotional roller coaster this man had just taken her on and she needed time to clear her head. 

    “Just forget it, Derek. You’re great at that apparently.” Rose threw over her shoulder as she left the room, not brave enough to see his face when she said it. 

    The door clicked shut, two confused and hurt people on either side.

[heycallmeladytypewriter]

The Call of a Siren

Chapter One

She could not, for the life of her, find her goddamn charger. If she was going to make it the rest of the stupid day without music in her ears which blocked out most of the annoyances, she’d flip a table. Or she would when it was finally unloaded from the moving van on the street. 

“Cordelia, would you please come get your brother!” Her mother shrilled from the bottom of the steps. 

Delia sighed and flipped off the boxes stacked in her room who refused to give her back her charger before stomping down the stairs. Her little brother, Henry, was tugging on her mother's hair and yelling nonsense only a toddler of age three could understand. She walked past her mother and went straight to the luggage bags from the flight next to the doorway. Spotting her purple carry on, she rummaged through until she found some fruit snacks she packed but never ate. Coming back over, Cordelia waved them in Henry’s face until he took notice and reached for the snack. 

Grabbing Henry from her mother and putting him on her hip, “ Mom what do you want me to do with him? Fruit snacks are gonna last about two minutes.”

Her mother threw up her hands, “ I don’t know! Just keep him occupied until we have everything in the house.” 

Rolling her eyes, Cordelia fed him a fruit snack one at time trying to buy time until she thought of what to do with him. Most of his toys were still packed and the ones he had on the plane were of no use now as he was now done with them after a 14 hour flight from the States to Japan. Pursing her lips, she thought about seeing a playground not too far from here on the drive. 

“Mom, I’m taking Henry for a walk around. Be back in a bit.” Her mother nodded and waved her off from the kitchen. 

After wrangling Henry’s shoes and light jacket on, they set off with him still in her arms as she didn’t know where the stroller was in that mess which was her new life. Henry was lightly tugging on her hair and quietly babbling as she walked towards the small playground down the street. She already missed home. Well, previous home as she bounced around enough to never really know one place as home. Army brat problems, she thought with slight disdain. Well actually, detective/police brat? Is there even a word for that?

Her dad was former military but since the age of heroes, the military need was still there of course but not as much as it used to be. Her dad decided to go into police work afterwards when she was seven and has since climbed into a detective which made her mother happy as he was more or less off the streets but still dealt with the hardships of the job. Her mother was actually the one to want to move from the States to Musutafu, Japan. 

Thanks to the number one hero, All Might, crime in Japan has lessened significantly which made it a safer place to live in her mom’s eyes. It also helped that her mother had grown up in Tokyo when she was younger before her parents decided to move to Chicago. 

Cordelia didn’t have anything against Musutafu but it still was another move, another restart, another everything which isn't too fun when you are fifteen. 

“Del, we go swing?” A little voice broke her train of thought as she saw them reaching the playground. She smiled at his nickname for her as he couldn’t pronounce her full name yet. Sometimes it was ‘Del’ or ‘la’ but both always made her smile as it was so cute. 

“Sure, bud.” She walked over to the swings and placed him in the little toddler seat. “Ready?” Henry squealed and kicked his feet in excitement. “Ye-es!” 

Cordelia started to push him, preparing to do this for some time as Henry could be in the swing for the whole time. It definitely qualified as a workout.

“Tch, stupid Deku.” Cordelia glanced over to see a blonde boy angrily muttering to himself while kicking a rock on the sidewalk. He was wearing some kind of school uniform but all rumpled like he had some kind of fight or fall before walking home. 

“Del, keep pushin’!” Henry’s voice broke the silence. She didn’t realize she stopped after watching the boy on the sidewalk. “Sorry, buddy.” She murmured before resuming as she didn’t want to call attention to the fact she was being nosy. 

“Oi, what are you looking at?!” The angry boy had unfortunately caught that and was now facing her. 

“I’m not looking at anything. Just pushing my brother.” She replied coolly. 

“That's what I thought, extra.” 

Extra? What was that? “Actually, I was looking at you. Rough day, buddy?” Cordelia shouldn’t have goaded him, a complete stranger, but what the hell was calling her ‘extra?’

“Shut the fuck up!” 

“Hey, child present!” Cordelia waved around her brother. Thankfully, Henry didn’t seem to care as long as he was swinging. 

“Tch. He can mind his damn business too!” With that, he flipped us off. So she did too. Then he walked off, looking madder than before. Weirdly, she wanted to laugh. 

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

After they got back to the house, Cordelia took her slices of pizza that her mother had ordered and slipped upstairs to organize her things a bit more and hopefully locate her freaking charger. Her room was towards the back and furthest from anybody else which she preferred with windows facing the small backyard and back alley street behind the houses. Quiet and isolated with the ability to blast her music a bit without getting yelled at as she liked. She wasn’t a complete loner but did like her space from her nosy family. 

She closed the door and plugged in her small dinky radio in, orange and covered in faded stickers from over the years, and found a decent radio station to unpack. Placing her hands on her hips, she faced the boxes and nodded. “ Okay, here we go.” She said sternly to herself. “Don’t get distracted by every little thing and get it over with.” 

It was three a.m by the time she got done but she was much further than before. There were still a few scattered boxes she stacked in the corner to deal with later but the essentials and whatnot were out and placed. 

Figuring she earned a break, she took out a bowl of water she filled earlier and placed it on her nightstand while sitting criss cross applesauce on her bed. 

Breathing deep, she raised her fingers towards the bowl and the water lifted out and into the air. 

Cordelia took her time and played with the water, trying to manipulate it into shapes before settling on her go-to weapon: a water whip of sorts. She had earlier set up her old stuffed animals along the furniture in the room and tried to knock them down one by one. 

Unfortunately, she whipped too strongly and made a divot in the wall and cut her teddy bear's arm off. 

“Aw crap. Sorry Mr. Tubbs.” Whipping the water back into the bowl, she sadly picked up the teddy’s arm off the floor  and then looked at the damage on the wall. “Yikes. Gonna cover that up with a poster..” Her dad will kill her for practicing in the house again since she usually damages something. 

Cordelia went to one of her leftover boxes to find something to tape on the wall when she found a paper she forgot about crumpled on top. 

U.A ENTRANCE EXAM APPLICATION

Biting her lip, she looked over her application she had printed before flying here. That was the one thing she was looking forward to with moving here: to be accepted in one of the world’s top hero schools. She wanted to be a hero more than anything. Unfortunately, her family did not share that dream nor like them very much. Her eyes flicked over to her family’s picture on her dresser, taken a few months ago on Henry’s third birthday, and sighed. Her mother, a prom queen in her day, had her arms around her dads buffed up arm with her wavy dark hair in a long plait down her shoulder. Her dad stood tall and proud over little Henry in his crooked yellow party hat while her sister, Josephine, grabbed their mother’s other arm. Like her mother, Josie held a sort of grace even in a casual stance and small smile with her hair pulled back in a tight ponytail. Delia stood slightly off to the side, hair unbound and free flowing in the wind, and was held tied to the picture by only Henry’s small hand in hers as if to keep her in place. 

Her mother had a quirk of healing small cuts and wounds with water which helped since she was a nurse in the ER. Nothing to scoff at, in Cordelia’s opinion. Her father had a quirk of weapons; particularly the knowledge of them and how they work. Again, nothing to scoff at especially considering his line of work. Her older sibling, Josephine, took after their father but instead of weapons, it was machines like a typewriter or an air conditioner. Pretty useful but she decided that a career in accounting was for her. They didn’t speak much. 

Despite having quirks, they resented them. They believed the world would be better without them and hero work was not a true profession to aspire for. Thus, a discovery of your quirk at a young age wasn’t anything to celebrate nor was it encouraged to practice and train other than the bare minimum of control. That did not stop her from wanting to be a hero. Everything about it seemed amazing. She would collect articles about them and hide them in the back of her closet along with a poster or two. She’d watch videos on the internet about all the top heroes and wonder how she could be just like them. 

 Getting her parents to agree to this...would be so hard. Hence why she printed the paper but never filled it out. 

She stared at the divot in the wall for a moment before sighing and placing the paper back in the box. 

____________________________________________________________

After only having slept a measly three hours, Cordelia gave up and put on some shorts and a tank top. She snuck outside as her parents and brother would be getting ready soon and she wasn’t ready for any human interaction yet. She was not a morning person in the slightest. 

She favorited her new home’s address in her phone since she didn't know the neighborhood or have a specific route around yet. Then she set off. 

After thirty minutes of light running, she came upon a beach. A sign on a big rock read ‘Dagoba Municipal Beach Park.’ Cordelia felt her heart explode with joy at the sight. Water was close to her. No, the ocean was close to her!

“Oh my god!” She shrieked to herself. She found her place. This is where she would practice and train and just be and just...breathe. She jogged down the steps to the sand and couldn’t stop herself from giggling from pure happiness. The only sad part was the mountain of random trash and junk off to the left of her on the beach. Hell, maybe she’d move it all just to clear more space or put in a request to the city as she saw refrigerators and car pieces which looked way too heavy for her to just lug. 

All of a sudden, a giant boom and junk flew outward causing her to yelp and duck out of the way as a toaster almost took her head off. 

“The hell..?” She marched over to the source and stopped cold. A skinny boy looking around her age with a mess of green hair stood in a clearing in the mess. Her brain could only notice that much about him as her focus was being pulled to the shock before the boy. 

All Might.

All Might was in front of her.

ALL MIGHT WAS STANDING IN FRONT OF HER.

HOLY AJKFC SHIT!!

Cordelia couldn’t breathe. The number one hero in the world was right there and this boy was familiar with him enough to have a conversation. Holy wow. Thankfully, she was hidden by some of the junk so they didn’t seem to see her. 

“..towards being a hero.”

“Um..All this?” The boy looked back worriedly at the junk piled all around him. “But..There’s so much. That’s impossible!”

“ Young Midoriya, you wanna go to UA, right?” 

“Well, yeah. Of course! You went there. So it must be the best school around, right? It’s a long shot but still..I’m going to shoot for the moon.” She smiled at the sound of how earnest he was to try. To be honest, it made her want to try to despite her family’s lack of support. 

“You’ve got a lot of spirit, fanboy! But, as I’ve mentioned before, Heroeing isn’t easy to do without a quirk. It’s not fair but that's the reality. UA is the hardest hero course to get into. So that means..”

“..that I have to prepare my body for your Quirk really fast. UA’s exam is in ten months!” 

Ten months. 

Backing away slowly, she turned and ran back to the stairs to grab her shoes before running home. 

By the time she got home, she had made up her mind. 

After her shower, she grabbed the crumpled application out of the box and a pen off her desk. 

She wanted to go to UA and just like the boy on the beach, she was going to shoot for the moon.

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A/N: Hey guys! I decided to take a shot at a fanfiction I’ve had in my head for a while with everyone’s favorite (especially my favorite) angry boy. I could use some beta readers and maybe some coverart if anyone is willing?? Feedback is more than welcome and I plan on updating at least once a week! 

[detectivedreameater]

Margarita Monday || Camille and Marley

TIMING: Mid October PARTIES: @carrionxcamille and @detectivedreameater SUMMARY: Camille comes over to Marley’s for margaritas but ends up sharing a little more than drinks. CONTENT: Alcohol

Relaxing just...wasn’t something Marley really did. Ever. Sure, she took time off and had nights off, but just doing something to do it for, well, fun? Was strange. Having another woman over and not having intentions to sleep with her was also very strange for Marley. But, here she was, setting out ingredients to teach someone how to make margaritas the right way, just to...do it. No ulterior motive, no reason other than to just be normal. Readjusting herself, Marley set out the ingredients-- Dragones tequila, triple sec, cognac, lime juice, and a little bit of simple syrup. Oh, and ice. Marley had had to go to the store and actually buy a bag of ice, considering the only fridge she had was a small drink fridge, and it didn’t make ice. Was that weird or suspicious? Did she care? If this Camille was anything other than what she said she was, Marley could easily get away or fear  gaze her. She was in no trouble here. Still, she jumped a little when there was a knock on the door. She looked over, straightened herself out, then went over. “Welcome to Casa Del Marley,” she said in a cheesy tone, even if she did know proper Spanish. “It’s Margarita Monday today, so please come in and make yourself at home.” 

Right, this was good. Meeting people, getting out of the house, making connections. Camille was making progress, and it sure was better than spending another tuesday night parked in front of the tv barely focusing on trashy reality shows. She needed more friends, and margaritas certainly seemed like a good way to curb any first meeting awkwardness, even if it was a little college to get drunk on a weekday. Whatever, it’s not like running the park was hard. This would be good for her. This wasn’t her threadbare allyship with Regan, and she couldn’t rely solely on Cece for company either. The greeting at the door made her laugh a little as she stepped in, toeing her boots off by the door, “thanks for having me, I needed an excuse to get out the house.” And an excuse to have a drink a little stronger than a glass of wine, honestly. “You earn points already for the alliteration.” She grins, “teach me your ways, margarita master.” 

Marley moved around to the kitchen quickly once Camille was inside, trying not to let the strange feeling in her stomach take too much hold on her. “Yeah, sure,” she said, setting out two glasses and the mixer. “Anything to have an excuse to make margaritas, honestly.” She gave an awkward smile. “Not that I need one, but, you know.” She cleared her throat, gesturing to the ingredients she’d laid out. “Well, first of all, you need the right ingredients. None of that cheap shit, okay?” she pointed at the tequila. “This is the best kind, hands down. People might try and tell you Cuervo or Patron is good enough, but they’re wrong,” she tapped on it, “plus, my girlfriend would gut me if I said anything otherwise.” 

It was a long time since Camille had tried to make friends, honestly. With Jace the way he had been she didn’t want people around at the house and eventually being lonely was just easier than trying to make yet another excuse for why the girls couldn’t meet her husband or see her home. But Marley had offered to have her over, she wanted the company too. Of course, Camille couldn’t really afford high shelf tequila right now, but they’d- unsurprisingly- had a well stocked liquor cabinet at home, and she did one day plan to have a set up like it again. “Right.” She nods sagely, laughing a little, “honestly I can’t drink Cuervo anymore anyway, it just tastes too much like terrible college decisions.” She grins, “does your girlfriend work for the company or is she just a big believer in high shelf tequila?”

“As it should,” Marley said, scrunching her nose. “Cuervo is for college frat kids who want to get drunk fast. You need a nice fine tequila to truly appreciate the art of the margarita.” She cleared her throat, trying to move past the awkward feeling in her throat, even if she’d said the word first. “She’s a lady of fine taste, what can I say?” grinned before sweeping her hand to the next ingredient. “Now, some people might also try and tell you that you can use sweet and sour mix. It’s cheap, it’s faster-- blah, blah. But they’re wrong. You gotta do it yourself if you want the best flavor. I use lime juice, salt and simple syrup. 2 parts lime juice, half part syrup. Pinch of salt,” she explained, finding talking about alcohol was much easier than talking about Anita being her girlfriend and what she liked. “Lastly, my special secret ingredients,” she moved down the line again, “triple sec and cognac. Add to taste, of course, but I usually do a shot of each. Really brings out the other flavors. You can add a little orange juice as a spritz sometimes, too, if you’re feeling citrusy. But, yeah--” she nodded to herself as if to congratulate herself on a job well done. “That’s all there is to it. So, shall we try and make some?”

College frat kids who want to get drunk fast? Camille almost winces. That had sure been Jace. Perhaps this whole thing really was her own fault, in a roundabout way. How had she not seen the signs of it when they were younger? Sure everyone liked to get messed up at parties when they were kids, but Jace was always looking for another party to get messed up at. She’d thought- stupidly- it was the social aspect. Jace was a jovial guy, he loved to be around people, that was why he loved parties. Maybe even back then he’d loved drinking more. Uh oh, yeah, she was not going to admit it to Marley but Cam had definitely made a few sweet and sour mix margaritas in her time. It was easier. But then she hadn’t been sure how easy the real method was too-- and honestly it didn’t sound like rocket science. She liked listening to people talk about a passion of theirs, and Marley clearly had this down to a T, so seeing her in her comfort zone made Camille a little more relaxed too, and they weren’t even drinking yet. “So you go pretty sour then? That’s good. I make cosmos sometimes and I always add more lime juice than recipes say too, I just like them sour.” She nods, “doesn’t sound like I’d be able to fuck it up too badly,” Cam grins and picks up one of the glasses, “assuming you start with tequila?”

“Oh yeah,” Marley said, nodding, “the more sour, the better. What can I say? I’m a sour woman.” She stacked two glasses on the counter in front of them and motioned to the ingredients. “It really is hard to fuck up a margarita, it’s more about getting the right proportions so that you can enjoy all the flavors at once. And, of course, making sure you have good tequila,” tapped the bottle again, “yeah, sure. Start with that, I’ll uh-- supervise,” she said stepping back and letting Camille approach. This was still...strange and knew for her, but she was learning that it was nothing to be awkward about. Maybe this was just how normal people interacted. Maybe if she kept trying, she’d actually get used to it one day. She gave a smirk. “Go on, then,” she motioned, “don’t fuck it up.”

Camille laughed a little- actually, she’d been called a sourpuss once, by an older guy at a club trying to grind on her. The memory amused her to this day. Maybe they were both a little sour, but she didn’t think that was a bad thing. “I’m the same with wine, I never like it overly sweet.” She says, stepping up to the counter to start by pouring some tequila in one of the glasses- hey, she was still young enough at heart to know roughly how to pour out a shot. “I’ve known people to use triple sec before, but I’ve never come across cognac. Hey, I’ll trust the master though.” Cam shrugs, adding in plenty of lime juice and salt before pouring some syrup into a measure and adding that too. “I will admit to hating it when people put stuff on the rim of a glass though, salt or sugar or whatever. I’ve never gotten that.” She was sure that too was something about flavor, but the grains just irritated her mouth. Camille knew she liked triple sec, so after a full shot of that she measured out a little less cognac- she’d never been a huge fan- and added that too. “Looks like I managed to avoid total disaster… Or I didn’t make a mess at least.” Obsessively watching bartenders in college to make sure they didn’t mess with her drink had paid off, it seemed. She raised the glass, “cheers.” And took a sip. “Wow. Okay, you’re right. I’m adding cognac to every margarita I make from now on. Damn, that’s good. I don’t even like brandy.” 

Marley watched Camille fill up her drink, talking herself through the process. “Cognac just gives it a little extra bite, you know?” she shrugged, “I’m not a big fan of the alcohol on its own, but the slightest touch really does spruce up the most basic cocktail.” Mostly, she didn’t like it because it wasn’t an alcohol she could consume copious amounts of in a small amount of time in order to get drunker quicker. But she didn’t need to say that outloud. “Ah, see! You’re amazing at it already,” she said, leaning back against the counter. From around the corner of the kitchen table came JD, sniffing the air and the new scent in the house. Marley observed him for a moment, before realizing that his horns really weren't anything that normal people would expect on a hare. Or, really even, expect a hare. She went forward to shoo him away, but he scampered under the table and around into the kitchen, right up to Camille. “Uhh, he’s got-- a mutation,” she said, staring wide eyed.

It was all going well and everything was very normal, which Camille was pretty pleased about because since waking up in town she kept getting hit across the face with weirdness. Killer mimes and vampire neighbors and an eyeball where the goddamn sun should be. It was nice to kick back with a new friend and have a drink, and talk about normal things like cognac. She’d been into cocktail making for a while when she was younger, but then Jace’s problem had gotten worse and keeping high percentage alcohol in the house just… Didn’t seem smart. She took another sip and tried not to think about that. “Well it helps to have a good teacher.” Camille laughed, only the slightest of a bitter edge to the sound, “I would know, I used to be a- ah!” 

Camille startled when the creature scurried up to her, pressing her body back into the kitchen counter. “Holy hell.” It was, in essence, a big weird looking rabbit. Which would probably not have garnered much of a reaction if it were not for the horns. Horns! Every day something new and totally out of left field. Is it the weirdest thing she’s seen? Well… There were eyeballs coming out of her taps at one point, that was probably weirder. But this-- Camille didn’t quite see how a mutation could give a rabbit horns. Which meant this was the supernatural kind of weird, which meant Marley knew about the supernatural kind of weird. “...Right.” She takes another sip of her drink and sighs, weighing the pros and cons. Camille could pretend to believe her, but there would be an awkward air over the rest of the night. She had enough secrets already. “Y’know, you don’t have to… I- look, here’s the thing, I’m not an expert. Like, I don’t know a lot about it all but I do know that there’s stuff in this town that is…” She waves a hand vaguely in the air, trying to find a good word for it. “Let me put it this way, when I lived in the motel my neighbors were vampires. So, don’t bullshit me. That’s not a normal rabbit.” 

Marley watched Camille closely, as she started down at JD. She could see the cogs turning in her head. Most people who wanted to remain ignorant would wave this away and be happy to accept the “mutation” explanation-- but when Camille didn’t, Marley felt herself slowly warming up to the idea that maybe she wasn’t half bad. She came over around the counter and picked up the large hare, hoisting him onto one arm and holding him so his legs dangled below her arm. He sniffed the air, wriggled once, then settled in. “You’re neighbors were vampires? Gross,” she muttered, scrunching her nose, “vampires are so broody and angsty. Oh, my life is so tragic,’ she sighed, putting a hand to her forehead, “I’m doomed to eternal life and I must feed on the blood of innocents! Or...whatever.” She remembered the last vampire she’d known, and how much his disposition to drink blood tortured him. Vampires, for all their monstrosity, could be so human sometimes. “Glad you got out of there, then,” she replied, feeling the awkwardness hang in the air a bit. She cleared her throat. “He uh--” glanced down at JD, “--he’s a Jackalope. Supernatural hare, basically. But I swear he’s nice! Usually.” 

Camille wasn’t going to wander around the whole town with her eyes closed. She was in White Crest because she’d died. If she wanted answers about what the hell had happened to her and didn’t want those answers to totally freak her out it would probably be a good idea to embrace everything else weird and wacky going on in town. It was just so… Exhausting. Nothing was normal. She couldn’t even make a new friend and drink margaritas without some not rabbit thing becoming part of the evening. Maybe she just had to get used to it.

It was almost comical the way Marley handled the thing, and how quickly it settled into her arms like it’d been there a dozen times before. It probably had, she seemed to be keeping it like a domestic pet. That was almost… Sweet. And her vampire impression did make Cam laugh. “They were broody!” She agreed, “those walls were thin, I could hear them complaining. Didn’t stop the parade of pretty young girls always going in and out of their room though, so they can’t have felt too put out.” Once she’d found out what they were Cam had started watching for those girls- some of them went back again and again, but what mattered to her was making sure they walked back out. She nods, “yeah. Cece really did me a favor.” Oh how much she had come to rely on the kindness of strangers as of late, it was new. “He doesn’t seem not nice. He just startled me. I’m still getting used to all this stuff, and I don’t really feel like getting into why I’m here in the first place but it.. Yeah, it’s part of my life now, so.” Camille shrugs, staring at the jackalope… She’d heard of them, but it hadn’t occurred to her that they might really exist in this new world. “He’s almost cute. Does he have a name?”

“All vampires are,” Marley said with a little roll of her eyes. “They’re pretty dramatic.“ At least, all the vampire she’d met were like that-- she felt like it almost came with the territory, just like how most mara liked the strange and horrific. Most of them even shared Marley’s love for insects, because unlike most mammals, they didn’t run away scared. “Oh, you know Cece? Like Cece Bishop, Cece? I work with her sometimes.” And somehow knowing Camille knew Cece made Marley all the more relieved. At least she didn’t have to skirt around things anymore. “He’s very nice, usually. Just spooks easy, which is funny, considering--” she paused, frowned, “he’s pretty scary looking.” Marley rustled her arms, cinching her brows. “Almost cute? He’s extremely cute, actually. I mean, lookit his face!” she exclaimed, holding him up. JD responded by thumping his legs against her and leaping out of her arms and over to the couch. “Well...I think he’s cute,” she muttered, looking back over at Camille. “His name’s JD. Short for Jack Daniels.” A pause. “I swear I’m not an alcoholic, though.”

Sometimes Camille worried she was taking all of this too well. But then she remembered her first few months here, the icy cold that had settled over her the second she realized she was supposed to be dead, sitting in that motel room and staring at the wall for god knew how many days without being able to move. Trying to accept it all had practically rendered her catatonic, and she was still struggling, but Camille was no idiot. Even with all the additions the world was still the world and she was still a living thing that needed to make money and survive and carry on.

“I haven’t actually met any vampires, so I couldn’t speak for all of them.” Cam shrugs, and then her eyes widen, “at least… I don’t think I have. I suppose that’s rather the point.” Wow, maybe she had met vampires. Marley could be one for all she knew. It was probably rude to ask. “Yeah, it’s her I live with. We met out at Dell’s Tavern one night and when she found out I was staying at that creepy motel she insisted I stay with her.” She nods, “right, it makes sense that you’d know her too.” The morgue and the police department probably worked closely. They’d probably done that in Boston, when she’d died. Camille chuckled a little at the contradictions, how Marley thought something could look scary and cute at the same time. Though she managed not to flinch when it- JD- was brought closer to her face. He had regular rabbit eyes, all big and innocent and shiny. She did jump when the beast moved suddenly though, clutching one hand to her heart and laughing despite herself. “He can leap like a rabbit, huh? Is he- do you just keep him, like, as a pet?” Cam smiled, “I like JD. When I was in college my roommate had a hamster and we called it Khalua.” 

“Count yourself lucky, then,” Marley said with a small chuckle. “Oh, trust me-- you’d know.” It was a strange thing, to find someone so...okay with all this weirdness. Even Erin had been a little freaked out by everything at first, but maybe Camille had just skipped past it all already. Or she just hadn’t seen the freak out and was getting the after effects. She shrugged. “Yeah, Cece’s like that.” She didn’t know Cece all that well, but from what she could gather, the woman liked to feel useful and help others. And was a bit nosey. “He’s a hare, actually. Common mistake. Hares are bigger than rabbits.” She scratched her chin. “I mean, yes? He’s pretty harmless. He mostly just follows me around and chews on things. Animals don’t normally like me, so it’s kinda nice to have one around that, you know, does.” A chuckle. “Khalua, ha. That’s a good name. I’m gonna steal that if I ever get another pet. I was considering getting another tarantula, they’re pretty low maintenance.” She gave a short pause, before prodding her next question. “So...how do you know about all this stuff?”

“Oh, would I? Well that’s… Reassuring, I suppose.” The only thing that’d tipped Camille off about her neighbors at the motel was how loudly they talked about it. Perhaps they’d been trying to scare her. Honestly at the time they’d been the least of her worries, and she’d even briefly wondered if any attempts to kill her would actually work. Jury was still kind of out on that one, but it wasn’t like she wasn’t going to ask anyone to try it and find out. 

Camille nodded, “right, a hare.” The difference wasn’t enough to bother her, but she’d try and remember it. “Ah, I hear most animals are a little bit destructive like that.” She chuckled, it was one of the things that had stopped her from getting a dog with Jace, being too precious about her house. “He was a real hit whenever we had dorm parties, that’s for sure. Even the dean thought he was too cute to tell us off.” The idea of a spider as a pet was… Really not Camille’s cup of tea, but if Marley already had a weird supernatural hare it probably wouldn’t seem so odd to her.

Right. How did she know about all this? Marley was a cop, it probably wasn’t smart to tell her too much about how she didn’t have a legal identity and there was a man in prison for her murder. But… Well, Marley was a cop with a jackalope, and wouldn’t it be a good idea to have as many useful people helping her figure this out as possible? If Marley had a strong enough link to the supernatural stuff, maybe she’d have some information no one else did yet. “Well…” Camille sipped her drink, tapping her fingers against the side of the glass. “How do you know about this stuff?”

.Marley ruffled her nose. “Hey, I asked you first,” she pointed out, frowning. It was strange to not feel affronted by the question, however, and she had to take a minute to pause and decide if that really was one she wanted to answer. A few months ago it would have been a solid and definite no, but now that things had changed in Marley’s life, she wasn’t sure anymore. She waffled on it for a moment, confused by her own indecision. “I’m a cop in White Crest,” she finally answered with a shrug, “how could I not know about this stuff? I know most of the precinct will like to make you believe everyone around there has their head in the sand, but you can’t judge us all because of that.” Even if Marley did. She knew most of the other cops didn’t believe in any of this shit. “I also sort of grew up with this kinda stuff.”

She leaned back against the counter again. “Okay, so now that I played my cards, are you gonna tell me yours?” she asked, nodding at her. “You seem pretty normal, so what could’ve happened to you to clue you in to all this shit?”

Camille lounged back against the counter, tapping her nails against the almost empty glass in her hand and waiting. Whatever Marley had to say she was willing to bet the other woman had been around this kind of stuff a lot longer than she had. The reasoning of being a cop was sound enough, she was willing to bet they all saw some weird stuff. But Regan worked in the morgue and had wings and still managed to be disbelieving of the whole thing. Growing up around it, though, that made Camille relax just a little. 

She set the glass down to pull back the sleeve of her shirt and show the sigil on the back of her hand. “I died a while ago.” Camille said, trying to sound more nonchalant about the whole thing then she felt. “Woke up in White Crest earlier this year. With this thing-” She tapped a finger against the mark- “which I did not have in my first life. A lady told me it means I was resurrected and the mark keeps my soul in my body, or something.” Camille tugged her sleeve back down. “So I am pretty normal. Or I was, but it’s kind of hard to deny all this stuff when you know there’s an autopsy report with your name on it.” She shrugged, twisting her hands together, “I figure for now this town is the best place for me, while I’m still trying to get it together.” 

Had Marley been drinking something, she would have spit out her drink. Instead, it came up as a cough that felt as if it stuttered and stuck in her throat, and she turned to look at Camille with wide eyes. “I’m sorry, did you say you died? And then-- came back?” That wasn’t really all that uncommon, but Marley had been sure Camille wasn’t a zombie or a vampire-- her tastebuds were too on par. But then she showed Marley the marking on her hand and it clicked-- someone had brought her back to life using necromancy. Marley didn’t know much about it, only that only very powerful spellcasters could do it, and that it was some sort of taboo-- Peter had informed her of this, and reminded her that they were not vessels of death while doing so-- and that Bea had likely also been resurrected. She’d told Marley she’d died after Marley had pestered her about not calling back. 

“Yeah, well, I guess that’s fair,” she answered, scratching the back of her neck. “Normal is-- relative, I guess. Even though you’re, well, you know…” she motioned towards her, “you can still live a normal life.”

Marley’s reaction was… Almost comical. Especially in comparison to others. Nell had been matter of fact, Regan in denial. Marley was much closer to what Camille had expected of people. The tequila probably helped, but she actually didn’t feel all that exhausted by talking about it for once, which was a nice change. Perhaps because she hadn’t gotten into the details of her ex husband and the whole ordeal that had brought about her death. She didn’t want too, it wasn’t like she owed Marley anything. Part of normal was moving on. “It’s kind of a lot to process.” She said, nodding. “So I’m trying to take it easy. Just… Getting out into the world again, y’know? Steady job, making new friends.” Camille shrugged, “not perfect but better than nothing.” 

She smiled,“actually, it makes me feel much safer knowing we actually have cops who understand exactly what is going on in this town, even if you can’t convince the entire squad.” She laughed softly, moving to set her glass down by the sink and pick up her bag. “It’s getting late. I shouldn’t keep you up all night. But we should hang out again, now that I know I don’t have to watch what I say with you.” 

For a dead woman, Camille was pretty casual. Marley didn’t know what that experience was like, but she could understand wanting to make a normal life for yourself. “You really should quit the Cryptid Corner,” she said after a moment, but it was with a sly grin and not a judging one. “I heard that place is haunted.” Marley gave a sheepish shrug. “Well, glad I can help out, then. I’ll certainly do my best to keep this place clean, but White Crest is certainly a...dangerous place. Don’t um-- do anything to get yourself killed again, alright?” She started heading over towards the door with Camille. She wanted to quip about how the night was her time, but she kept her mouth shut for now. She’d already given away too much, and even if Camille had been more forthcoming with all this than she’d originally thought, she still felt exposed in some way. Even though Camille had spilled her entire story, Marley kept hers much closer to her chest. “Uh-- yeah,” she said, confused for a moment. People didn’t often ask to hang out with her again, let alone as just friends. Was this really how the world worked? She furrowed her brow. “Yeah, let’s do this again. Maybe with snacks next time, too.” That’s what people offered, right? She brushed the thought away. “And uh-- thanks for trusting me enough to tell me. You don’t have to worry, either. Your secret’s safe with me.” And if Camille turned on her somehow, it would make for some good blackmail. Not that she wanted that to happen. But old habits die hard.

Camille snorted out a laugh and shook her head, “the closest thing that place has ever gotten to haunted was the one time we had a possessed toilet. A nightmare to deal with but we’ve had nothing since. It’s too lame to haunt.” She nods, “yeah… Yeah I know this place can be a bit wild. Hell, when I woke up here people were being attacked by mimes, so.” It was almost scary how quickly she’d gotten used to it all, but maybe waking up dead could numb you to experiences like that a bit. “Trust me, I don’t have any plans to put myself in harm's way.”

It was true, she certainly wasn’t going to go looking for trouble. She’d even stopped walking around the forest at night, so things were looking up. Another friend who knew her secret, someone else to trust. Camille was sick of being lonely, see, she’d decided this life was going to have friends. “Right. I appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of your night, I’ll see ya.” She gave a cheery little wave before heading out the door, to return to her own home feeling a little more optimistic than the day before.

[fistsoflightning]

6: for you the flowers bloom

prompt: free day ⮞ vernalization || masterpost || other fills || ao3 mirror

word count: 2224

Even if spring meets summer only once a year, A’dewah will keep coming back to Doma just to see Haruki smile. (Or; some flowers need the cold to bloom in spring.)

Post 5.3 MSQ; contains spoilers for after the last (scion-related) cutscene!! This got... incredibly gay. And soft. Thank you @to-the-voiceless​ for reaching through your computer screen and whacking me into writing fluff, and also for letting me steal Haruki yet again >:3

The dawn on the day Krile let A’dewah more than five steps out of the Dawn’s Respite came with a steady peace, Revenant’s Toll not yet awake to greet the rising sun in its unfiltered brilliance. Mor Dhona’s usual smog of corrupted aether hadn’t come back in nearly a week, now, and the air had been all the better for it, a summer breeze sweet on the horizon as A’dewah had taken in the emptiness of the Toll. He’d even made it all the way to the rooftop garden before his quiet view of the Singing Shards, glimmering like Zaya’s aquamarines in the daybreak, was interrupted—and not even by someone finding him.

In the pocket of the coat Lunya and Syhrwyda had practically smothered him in when he’d asked to step out of the Rising Stones, the light ring of a linkpearl catches his attention, singing of river water and spring. Warmth, among the morning chill, overly familiar.

His heart leaps into his throat. No, it couldn’t be, he’d forgot the linkpearl somewhere in Sweetsieve when he’d caught wind of Thancred’s collapse—

When he finally fishes the linkpearl from his pocket to find the same earring he’d resigned himself to never seeing again, A’dewah makes a mental note to thank Lunya when he has the chance to; she must have found it in her final journey across Norvrandt, G��raha in tow… sort of.

Either way, it’s simply another debt he figures he owes to her.

He scrambles to thumb the connection on, nearly fumbling and dropping the earring off the side of the Stones when his fingers stiffen and lock, barely lucky enough for the pearl to simply drop into the palm of his hand instead of down three flights of stairs.

“Hey,” Haruki’s voice rings clear—clearer than it did all the way from the First, at any rate—almost muted in comparison to his usual cheery tone, exhaustion seeping in where Dewah would usually find refreshing cheer. Rustling leaves fill the quiet lull between his words,  “Hope it’s not too early, where you are?”

He huffs; since that one call back in the Pendants, he hadn’t stayed up that early, and he wasn’t about to break that streak while he was still recovering, the dull, empty ache of missing aether enough to keep him bedridden most of the time. 

“Isn’t it later than you usually call in Doma?” Dewah tries to do the math in his head, but Haruki’s almost loopy shhh is enough for him to get his answer. “I mean… not too early? The sun’s still rising over Mor Dhona.”

That seems to wake Haruki up enough, a second wind to his voice as he excitedly asks dozens of questions—when did you get back, how are you feeling, did Hanami manage to get that tailfeather from Suzaku to you—and he tends to the garden while he talks; somehow, he gets from their newest Scions’ return (“L-look, it’s not—! G’raha still has his archer muscles, you know I get flustered!” “Mmm, maybe I’ll pick up archery…” “Please don’t for my own sanity’s sake.” ) to the rumors of a shark infestation at Costa del Sol having something to do with this year’s Moonfire Faire while Haruki drowsily comments here and there.

“Dewah,” Haruki mumbles, after Dewah’s finished recounting just how horrified Duscha and Syhrwyda were when Tataru came in with that odd-smelling bread, and he can faintly hear a muffled yawn. “When d’you think you’ll come back home and visit? I wanna—” Haruki pauses, and Dewah can hardly hear the groan he makes when he stretches over the thrum of his own damned heartbeat. “—wanna hold you again. Miss seeing you flustered.”

For a moment, Dewah’s heart stays stuck in his throat, somehow still unused to being wanted so earnestly even by Haruki, who would want probably want him to come home even if he’d didn’t come out all the same after the events on the First. Who had been so happy to see A’dewah in the House of the Fierce after years of nothing, even as horribly bent out of shape as he was over the stress of coming back to Yanxia with all of his allies’ eyes on him; who had been there when he’d been at his worst, who had loved him even when he had chosen to keep him an arm’s length away—

“Soon,” A’dewah promises, even while he thinks of how his aether had weakened from returning the part of his soul that, apparently, was Zaya’s, and of how he’d been destabilizing at around the same rate as Thancred had despite being called around the time of Urianger and Y’shtola. His free hand brushes over the petals of an iris, just about ready to bloom. “And this time, I won’t run away out of the blue.”

Haruki stifles a laugh—in his pillow, or sleeve, probably; A’dewah can hear fabric rustling about on Haruki’s end. “Yeah, because you’ll, hopefully, be stuck in a hug for as long as I can manage.”

A’dewah’s following laugh, echoing off the walls of the Rising Stones, is the first sound that brings Revenant’s Toll to life as dawn gives way to another bright day.

…

Two weeks after, A’dewah makes a very inadvisable choice for the sake of his heart.

After scarfing down about two and a half slices of Archon loaf—ew, gods, how did the other Scions eat this in Sharlayan daily, is this why Syhrwyda is so adamant about her cooking, is this why Duscha fed his slice of loaf the other day to Miloh—he practically wheedles Krile into letting him teleport, briefly peeking into the infirmary to grab his satchel and is almost out of the Rising Stones when—

“A’dewah Tia,” Hanami says, her voice sending chills down A’dewah’s back even though it really shouldn’t, by this point in time. “Where are you going.”

“A-ah, well…” He stammers, hands reaching to fiddle with the leather strap of his bag even as he (somehow) keeps his head held high, a bubbling nervousness in the pit of his stomach even though he finds no reason to feel ashamed. 

There is no reason to lie, either, he thinks, even if it will send her on his trail eventually, when Krile realizes what he has done for love.

“Home.”

He turns tail the moment Hanami’s brow furrows—he might have a burst of bravery, but there is no way he can handle her coldfire stare—already two steps out the door when he hears an almost exasperated sigh from Hanami—but no footsteps following after him, thank the Matron for that. A’dewah might really have fainted, then, regardless of the ether Krile made him drink earlier.

When he finally steps up to the aetheryte, it’s easier than ever to find the tailwind that leads him home and let it sweep him away.

…

The Doman Enclave is nearly the same as he remembers it, if not more festive; perhaps for a hanabi festival, considering the bright lanterns and stalls lining the streets that A’dewah did not remember being there before, vendors carrying crates of vibrant goods and patterned fabrics. He passes by Alianne, giving a light greeting before practically stumbling away to prevent her asking after his health, and then several of the children from the Doman Adventurer’s Guild rush past him, paper lanterns in hand and excitedly chattering.

He’s not sure he’s ever seen the Enclave more alive than now.

In his daze, he nearly runs into two Au’ra—both much shorter than him, even compared to Hanami or Zaya—and he nearly brushes it off with a quick apology before he catches just who he’d bumped into next.

“K-Kotone!?” He sputters; even though he’d known he’d be coming back to Doma he hadn’t quite expected her to be around, a loss of words for why he might be here, so soon after arriving home from the First. Honoka levels him with a sharpened glare—presumably relating to the origami knife (of which he’d nearly given himself a very large papercut on the edge of) he’d received from the post moogle after the entire debacle with G’raha’s new appearance and A’dewah’s very unwanted reaction—but Kotone’s shy smile never falters as she urges her sister to continue walking. For a moment, he expects some sort of verbal flaying, so uncharacteristic of his fellow wallflower, but why else would she make Honoka go before her—

But instead of asking anything of him, of why did you leave so quickly so long ago or did you know you nearly broke his heart she simply looks over her shoulder to the One Garden, letting Dewah’s gaze follow to a flash of teal walking past, bright in the afternoon sun.

“The morning glories you brought us,” she says, her voice a quiet autumn wind. “He’s taken to caring for them, when he can.”

Thank you, he mouths as Kotone smiles sweetly at him, walking briskly to catch up to her sister as he almost sprints to the One Garden before rethinking himself and merely speed walking instead. His heart beats in time with his steps, singing with anticipation as he turns the corner and sees that familiar, horrible peacock teal.

(He’d heard from thinly veiled conversations, back before he was taken away to the First on accident, about how Haruki had stopped keeping up with his usually strenuous ritual of horribly bright hair dye after he’d left; he remembers just how guilty he’d felt, and how scared he was of ever showing his face back in the Doman Enclave afterwards. He’d been so adamant on not even letting his roots show for a week, so for it to be noticable….)

A light tap on Haruki’s shoulder has him curiously turning around, though, breaking his gentle but distant stare into the garden pond. “Hi,” A’dewah says like he hasn’t just shown up after a good year and at least two tall tales worth of adventures, smiling when Haruki’s expression shifts to that of shock, then of barely concealed joy. 

“Hey,” Haruki replies, failing to swallow his smile before it brightens into a grin that Dewah never wants to see fall again. “Didn’t think you’d be back so soon.”

“I teleported here as soon as Krile cleared me to teleport—to Limsa Lominsa,” he confesses, bringing a hand up and scratching nervously at the back of his neck. Not the most well-thought out of his plans, now that he thinks about it. “B-but I think Hanami is going to be coming after me soon; she caught me leaving and if Krile asks she’ll probably, er, rat me out, and they’ll probably drag me back to get an earful—”

“But you’re here now. I think,” he says, reaching his hand out to gently brush at A’dewah’s torn ear, touch just soft and familiar enough that he snaps out of his worrying with ease. “that matters more than Hana-chan probably coming to kick your ass.” A’dewah snickers; he’s probably right, anyhow, and just maybe if Hanami does come knocking he can gently toss Haruki under the bus for how he refuses to call Hanami anything else but the nickname she hates when talking to him.

Haruki walks over to the railing of the bridge, after a moment, and pats the railing next to him; a seat so that Dewah isn’t craning his neck up all the time, probably, like he used to offer the last time he was here. Always somewhere sunsoaked and low to the ground, even when he’d taken Dewah on a trip across Yanxia, because for all his excitement when they were younger he’d always noticed just how he’d balked at heights.

Instead of taking a seat, he quietly pulls a flower out from his bag and holds it out to Haruki when he walks over.

“One of the flowers someone planted in Mor Dhona,” he explains, after a moment of stunned silence, idly fiddling with one of the flower’s leaves. “I didn’t have the time to, er, stop by my garden, so no brightlilies, but this was already in the Stones’ garden and—uh.”

A’dewah stutters to a stop when Haruki pries the iris from his hands, gently twining his creaky, stiff fingers into his own. Purple, unfortunately, isn’t Haruki’s color—it’s always been Munehise’s, actually, and Dewah’s not quite sure what is Haruki’s, too used to seeing him in eye-searingly bright teal to think of anything else—but he smiles fondly at the iris anyways, sunlight skipping across his scales and turning them pure white.

“Sunshine, it’s perfect.” Haruki leans over, lightly kissing his forehead; cool against A’dewah’s flush that could rival the summer heat at this point. “Thank you.”

And A’dewah doesn’t know what he could say to that, spring’s warmth blooming in his chest as everything he’s wanted to say in his one (four?) year absence bubbles up at once, so instead he steps forward and pulls him into a hug instead, sighing a summer breeze full of promise and withheld adoration into Haruki’s arms. The Doman sunlight seeps into the dark leather of his coat comfortably around the cooler touch of Haruki’s hands splayed across his back, and A’dewah could melt if his bones weren’t complaining.

Of course, he thinks, letting his fingers curl into the fabric of Haruki’s shirt as he finds himself lovingly trapped in Haruki’s embrace. What else would I have done?

[ubernoxa]

Chapter 14: A First Date

A Guns N’ Roses FanFic

Chapter 14:

Delilah stood in the kitchen chopping up peppers for lunch. She originally was going to make breakfast, but as it was 1pm when she woke up in Duff’s arms she decided on lunch instead.

“Do you always make the guys food?” Delilah laughed at Drew’s question.

“I’ve made the past couple. It honestly all comes down to who is here at the time...and awake,” Drew jotted down some notes as Delilah spoke.

“Sorry if I’m asking too many questions,” Delilah looked into Drew’s soft eyes and smiled.

“No, you’re fine. It’s nice having someone to talk to,” Delilah added looking up on the clock.

“Do you all usually get up in the afternoon?”

“No usually I’m up by 10 in the morning at the latest. Last night Duff and I were up late,” Delilah smiled as she finished chopping up the peppers.

“Up late?”

“No no no, not like that,” Delilah quickly corrected herself earning a laugh from Drew

“Ohh please do tell Del,” Mags said walking into the room with a blanket wrapped around her.

“We just stayed up late, talking and stuff,”

“Stuff,” Mags cocked an eyebrow at Delilah’s comment.

“Fine we cuddled and made out,” Delilah’s cheeks turned red as she mumbled and immediately went back to cooking.

“Alright mister next big journalist, do you have your story?” Mags teased trying to grab his journal.

Delilah focused on assembling the sandwiches as fast as she could in order to get out of the room. To say she felt awkward in the room while Mags flirted with the writer was an understatement.

“I think I might have something,” he replied tapping his journal.

“Can I ask you some questions too? I was quizzing Delilah earlier and I think she is too nice to tell me to get lost,” Drew added opening up his journal again and pulling out a pen.

“Well you are 100% correct, Delilah is probably the nicest out of all of us,” Mags added.

“Speaking on that, how did you two meet?” They two girls gave off a different vibe. It was more of a question on how Delilah, who seemed sweet and very straight and narrow met Mags and the band.

“A bar, and then we hung out back stage. Now we’re roommates. Feels like it was only a week ago,” Delilah snorted at Mag’s comment as she grabbed a sandwich and left the room to go sit on the couch.

“Hey Delly,” Delilah smiled as Duff joined her on the couch.

“Hey Duffles,” Delilah smiled as she passed her sandwich.

Duff places it down on the table and stood up, Delilah quickly following him.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Are you free tonight?” His voice was no louder than a whisper.

“Yeah, why?” One of the few perks of leaving everything she once knew behind.

“Be here at 8, it’s about time I took you on a date,” He played with Delilah’s hair as he spoke sending the butterflies that were in Delilah’s stomach into total chaos. Maybe Duff did like her, Delilah thought to herself as she watched Duff twirl her hair.

Without hesitation, he bent down and kissed her. What started out slow quickly sped up as he guided her to lay down on the couch. A loud moan filled the room as Duff climbed on top of Delilah, and it drove him crazy. He wanted her. No he didn’t want her, he needed her. Despite the noise that would lead the two of them to get caught, they kept going. Neither of them cared. The more Delilah pulled his hair the hungrier he became. It was an endless cycle that was only stopped when Slash yelled across the hall, “Get a damn room. No one wants to see ya fuck.”

Delilah felt her face flash red and Duff shot Slash a look before chasing after him. Delilah grabbed her sandwich and headed back to the kitchen.

“Good morning Izzy,” Delilah said as she noticed him eating a sandwich at their sad excuse of a table.

“Sounds like you are having a better morning then me,” he noted before grabbing another bite of his sandwich.

“Hey, shut it,” Delilah snapped at Izzy who just laughed.

“You know Delilah you’re not that threatening,” Axl added with a smirk on his face that mimicked Izzy’s.

“No, but that’s my job,” Duff walked into the kitchen now, a smirk on his face as he wrapped his arm around Delilah’s waist causing her to subconsciously lean into him.

——————-

“So he asked you on an actual date?” Mags asked while they drove back to her place.

“Yeah,” Delilah couldn’t wipe the stupid smile off of her face.

“What are you going to wear?” Mags asked causing panic to grow over Delilah.

“I uhhh..I,” Delilah had only ever been on one other first date, but this date wasn’t setup by her parents. This one she actually cared about.

“Let’s go shopping then. I would lend you my clothes, but it’s special occasions like these that you should buy a new dress for. I know a second hand store that’ll have something that you will hopefully like,” Mags smiled as she quickly switch lanes.

It was only a 10 minute drive to the small resale shop. The moment they walked in Mags grabbed a small shopping basket and followed Delilah.

“My treat,” Mags said as she began to browse the dresses section.

“Oh I couldn’t,” before Delilah could continued Mags interrupter her, “oh yes you could. You’re my new roommate, so why not. Plus I’ve never gotten you a birthday present before, and you’ve had what 18 birthdays is it now? I’ve missed 18 of them.” Mags dramatically tossed her head back earning a giggle from Delilah.

“Fine, but I owe you one. Remember that,” Delilah pulled out a floral dress.

Mags shook her head no and replied, “if you keep making food for all the guys and visitors in that hell of an apartment, we are the ones who will owe you.”

“Did I miss anything last night once Duff and I left?” Delilah asked as she moved into another section.

Mags froze in her tracks, but quickly collected herself. “Nothing much. Continued to drink, talked, and Axl almost got into a fight.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Delilah laughed as she pulled out another dress and immediately put it back. To gaudy for her taste.

“Sometimes I worry about him, all of them actually. Like for instance is Izzy okay? He never seems to hang out with the guys at night,” Mags could feel her heart warm, not only at Delilah’s words but the concern in her voice. Part of her also wondered when someone would tell Delilah that Izzy sold drugs.

“You’re not alone, welcome to the club. We call ourselves the mother’s of Guns N’ Roses. We meet Sundays at 10 AM aka the only time when Guns N’ Roses is sleeping and not spreading chaos and making stupid decisions,” the girls laughter fill the room as the continued to shop.

They wandered up and down the aisles looking for something, anything that would work, but they were not lucky. That is until Mags stumbled across a white dress on the return rack outside the dressing room. She quickly snatched it off the rack. It was a thin dress perfect for the hot summers. She smiled at the small blue flowers that covered the dress. It was perfect.

“Hey, Del!” Magmas raised the small dress into the air earning a smile from her. She checked the price and thanked God it was only a couple of dollars.

“Go try this on while I go find some shoes,” Mags handed her the dress, but Delilah quickly protested.

“It’s the least I can do,”

“The least you’re could do it nothing,” Delilah replied before Mags shoved her into the dressing room.

“Shoe size?”

Delilah sighed at Mag’s words. Delilah sensed that Mags was stubborn, but now she learned how correct she was about Mag’s stubbornness. “Seven”

Was part of Mags vicariously living through Delilah right now? Yes.

Did Mags wish she had a friend who helped her prepare for her first date? Yes.

But most of all, Mags knew the storm that Delilah was running from. She would do anything to help the girl, her friend.

She browsed the shoe collection only to find a couple of shoes that could work. Her eyes immediately darted to the pair of blue strapped heels, perfect.

Within no time they bought the clothes and drove back to Mags apartment.

“You say you have a roommate, but I have never actually seen her,” Delilah said strolling into the bathroom to take a shower.

“Trust me it’s better off that way,” Mags joked back, well at least partly joked.

———————-

“Duff come on man, you’re gonna use up all of the hot water,” Steven whined while pounding on the bathroom door.

“If you keep pounding on the door, it might actually break open,” Izzy groaned from the kitchen eating some leftovers.

“Maybe that’s what I want,” A wicked smile crossed his face.

“If you need help, go get Axl. It’s kinda his forte,” Izzy chuckled as he went back to eating.

“What’s my forte? What the fuck is going on out here,” Axl screamed over Steven pounding on the door.

“Duff is probably preparing for his date with Del,” Slash said while continuing to strum his guitar on the couch.

“Huh, he actually did it,” Axl said under his breathe. Slash heard what Axl said loud and clear, but chose to ignore it. He didn’t feel like dealing with Axl’s wrath.

The water turned off and Steven’s pounding stopped.

It only took a couple of minutes for Duff to put on his eye liner and ‘style’ his hair. As Duff left the bathroom he was welcomed into the hallway with a series of whistles and cat calls from his band mates.

“Ohh Duffy, ohhhh Duuuuffffyyyy,” Slash screamed from the couch, Axl soon joining him. Duff slammed the door to his shared bedroom as he dug through his clothing trying to block out his band mates screaming and laughter.

Delilah stood outside the door to his apartment, frozen. She was a couple minutes early. Should she knock. Should she stand out here and wait. What if he was waiting on the other side? What is he was just now getting in the shower?

Delilah took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

“It’s unlocked Del, you can come it,” Delilah smiled at the sound of Izzy’s voice. She quickly opened the door to see Axl, Steven, Izzy, and Slash relaxing on the floor and couch.

“Hey,” Delilah walked in now feeling the nerves growing in her stomach.

She was welcomed by a bunch of heys and immediately felt awkward. They were all staring at her, were they waiting for her to come by? Did they know about the date?

Slash scooted over on the couch making room for Delilah, she thanked him and quickly sat down.

“So where are y’all going?” Axl asked, more curious than anything.

“I have no idea,” Delilah replied now mindlessly fidgeting with the hem of her dress. So they did not about the date.

“Well do us a favor and don’t eat all of whatever Duff cooked for your dinner. It smelled amazing,” Izzy joked .

“Hmm so a picnic is involved,” Delilah said under her breath. She didn’t know he could cook.

“Do you guys know anything?” Delilah asked curious to hear any more potential hints.

“Besides the fact that he has a bag with a blanket and food in it, we know absolutely nothing,” Steven added.

That’s when Duff walked in. He saw Delilah sitting on the old couch smiling and talking with his band mates. He watched as Steven made a stupid joke and they all laughed. She looked at home amongst them.

Duff walked into the room and immediately made eye contact with her and smiled. She looked gorgeous. Both of them remained frozen in time as their the butterflies grew larger in their stomachs.

“Nice hat,” Duff interrupted Steven’s story commenting on the hat he gave Delilah the night before which she currently wore.

“Thanks,” Delilah felt her cheeks go instantly red. Why was she so nervous? It was just Duff. They had spent so many other nights before with each other and talking till the sun came up. This was different thought, this was a first date. Delilah wasn’t a fool, she saw the girls at the party last night. He could have had anyone of those groupies, but he chose her. Why?

“Hey, you ready to go?” Duff grabbed the basket and held out his hand to Delilah. The white flowered dress flowed angelicly behind her as she stood up and walked towards him.

She would be lying if she said she didn’t lose her breath the moment their eyes met. He wore black leather pants with a white puffy shirt that was partially unbuttoned. She gladly took his hand and then they left the apartment.

“Fuck, wait here,” the two of them didn’t even make it down a flight of stairs when Duff put the basket down and ran back up the stairs and into the apartment.

“Back so soon?”

“Run outa stamina already?”

“Dude, you okay?”

We’re amongst some of the things his band mates asked him as he ran into the apartment to grab his leather jacket. No, not for him, but for Delilah just Incase she got cold.

[queerchoicesblog]

Rooftop Talks (Platinum, F!Raleigh x MC)

Since I noticed so many fics starring M! Raleigh but none with F! Raleigh, here’s my attempt to fill that void. Inspired by the rooftop scene, this is my entry for the prompt “ honesty” of the @choicesjulychallenge hosted by @kinda-iconic !

In short, Raleigh and Rachel (Dorian, MC) grow closer as they make a habit of meeting on the abandoned building’s rooftop to avoid paparazzi and spend with each other. Then one night Rachel has a question for Raleigh...

Prompt: Honesty

Discalimer: mild use of bad words and hispano hablantes over here: I tried to incorporate some occasional Spanish in here - I wanted to incorporate that trait in Raleigh’s character- so please tell me if I messed something up with the language (I took Spanish classes ages ago) or in general and I’ll fix it!

Word Count: 2328

Perma Tag: @brightpinkpeppercorn @melodyofgraves @bhavf @abunchofbadchoices @silverhawkenzie @begging-for-kamilah @kennaxval @strangerofbraidwood @crazypeanat @desiree-0816 @universallypizzataco

F! Raleigh x MC Tag: @hellospunkiebrewster @furiouscloddonutpeanut

________________________

The night of the charity gala none of them would have expected it to happen again but Raleigh and Rachel made a habit to sneak away from the paparazzi and hide on the rooftop to catch some breath. They would chat and flirt, share takeaway food and views and suggestions about each other new songs. Some nights they would even bring their guitars and jam together: most of the times they would end up playing and singing their heart out silly hits of the past or campfire songs only to laugh till their cheeks hurt as if they were teens at a party their parents knew nothing about. Other nights they would be a soundboard for each other, especially Raleigh: she would listen to Rachel's ramblings and second-guessing herself and offer her advice: how to keep the tune on that note, a better rhyme, a few sick moves for her next video...even how to make the right impression during interviews, because Raleigh was a professional, not just her rebel stage persona, and she had been around journalists and paparazzi way more than the new sweet shining star. 

In return, Rachel would suggest new kinder strategies to deal with fame and fans or to call home every once in a while: even if she left when she was fifteen, she must have someone who missed her. The thought made Raleigh smile, but in a good way: it was almost painful to see how genuinely good the Dorian girl was.

"Are you homesick, Rachel?" she inquired to divert the question.

"Hm, not really, no...” she said, stirring her noodles as she considered her answer. "But I've lived with my parents longer than you did. I just wanted to break free and find a place of my own after I got my high school diploma. I mean, I love them but at a certain point in life, your roads need to part, so to speak, right? But you, it was different for you...that's why I asked. I hope I didn't overstep though"   Raleigh shrugged and took a bite of sesame chicken.

"I talked with dad a couple of weeks ago. It was his birthday, mom and the whole family squad set up a party for him. And just so you know, he hates parties. He's a good ol' grumpy fellow"

"Aw cool! I bet he's your number one fan even if maybe he doesn't show it much? I mean, your whole family should be your number one fan!"

"Nah, papi sticks and will always stick with the classics till the end of time and mamita y tìa were and still are -I guess- huge fans of Ricky Martin, el Rey del Pop Latino" Raleigh explained.

She didn't realize until the day after that she couldn't remember the last time she had talked about her family with someone. Everyone always asked her about future plans, career path, tips maybe, but private life? Never. Unless it meant asking out on dates, heavy flirting or scandalous gossips about a former lover. Only Rachel asked her about the life she had left behind in Puerto Rico and everybody had long lost interest in.

"You don't strike me as a fan of Ricky Martin" Dorian chuckled.

The R&B singer flashed her a wide grin.

"Not exactly, but thanks to them I can make quite a good impression of him. Wanna see it?"

"Is that even a question? Of course!"

Raleigh laughed and reached for her phone as the new star put down her empty food box and shifted to sit more comfortably. She scrolled down a YouTube playlist then her eyes met Rachel's again.

"You ready?"

As the young woman nodded she pressed play and ran her hand through her hair and produced her best puppy dog eyes, making Rachel laugh. She put down her phone and walked backward theatrically opening her arms.

Un, dos, tres Un pasito pa'lante María Un, dos, tres Un pasito pa' atrás

Then as the tune became more upbeat she produced herself in a complicated yet effortlessly fluid sequence of hands clapping, swirling and hips swaying. Latin Pop may have not been her favorite genre but damn, she owned the choreography just as she owned the stage during her shows.

Así es María Blanca como el día

She sang quickly stroking Rachel's cheek with one finger before spinning and turning away.

Pero es veneno si te quieres enamorar Así es María Tan caliente y fría Que si te la bebes de seguro te va a matar

After striking a dramatic pose, she winked just before bursting into laughter.

"Oh my God! That was everything, Raleigh!" Rachel enthusiastically applauded.

"Muchas gracias, nena" she said ruffling her hair and taking her seat beside her.

"Now I'm living to see a Ricky Martin and Raleigh Carrera duet"

Raleigh looked at her and snorted.

"I don't see it happening but paradoxically my team might love the idea so never say it out loud when they're around. Never!"

"A girl can dream, right?" Rachel shrugged and giggled.

All of a sudden way less bubbly considerations crossed her mind and she lost in her own train of thoughts. A girl can dream...she had repeated those few words in her head so many times lately. Every time Raleigh absentmindedly stroked her arms on a fake date, every time she caught her looking at her from afar, every time they kissed.

Then the night of the gala happened. When the two of them sneaked away and hopped on Raleigh's motorbike. She still remembered the cool breeze of the night caressing her skin as she held herself to her "girlfriend". That was a moment of rare perfection: the two of them finally alone and careless, the adrenaline of the ride, the warmth of "the R&B time bomb"'s body pressed against her. When they arrived on the rooftop and she admired the breathing view of New York skyline, her head almost started spinning, just like when Raleigh twirled her in her arms on the gala dance floor.

But what made her heart skip a beat was hearing Raleigh talking about that place, sharing memories of her past, when her teen self felt lost and lonely in the big city...and her project to turn the abandoned building into a community center for kids.

"You make me feel like I want to tell you things. I don't know why" Raleigh confessed that night.

That was when a familiar warmth settled into Rachel's chest. The same feeling she experienced when her high school crush caught her singing to herself in the auditorium and told her that she sounded like an angel and stopped to chat. She didn't ask her out before leaving - Rachel Dorian life had never been a romcom so far- but the little casual talk stole her younger self's breath away.

Rachel instinctively knew that Raleigh never shared that with anyone else. It was just her tone, the way she said it. And she couldn't remember a single interview or tweet mentioning it. So...Raleigh's walls were crumbling down? You don't share secrets, very private secrets with anyone!

Maybe I was just being paranoid as my usual...maybe I didn't misread the signs, she thought as Raleigh not only accepted but enthusiastically returned the kiss that followed. And took her to the railing, her lips never leaving hers or her neck.

But later...

Raleigh suddenly making a loud noise with her soda breaking her train of thoughts.

"Earth to Rachel"

Avery's protege turned to see her looking at her with a slightly amused grin on her face as she played with the straw.

"Sorry, I spaced out" Rachel smiled shyly, avoiding eye contact.

"No biggie. Just glad we're on the same planet again"

Rachel looked at her sideways: Raleigh was happily humming one of her latest songs. She seemed to be in a good mood, she always was in a good mood when she was on that rooftop. Or so Rachel could tell by what she saw over the past few weeks. Which lead her to summon up her courage and ask her a question that had been troubling her for a while.

"Why did you bring me here the night of the gala?"

Raleigh was probably caught off guard by that but concealed it well. She shrugged again and leaned down on the carpet, propping herself up on one elbow.

"I told you, I had to take a break from those stupid fraud activists and this is where I go to catch my breath. We were at the gala together so it made sense to ask you to join. Lie to me and tell me you don't like it here" she said, flashing her signature grin.

"Of course I do" Rachel gave a quick smile.

Maybe that's the problem. I like it here, when it's just the two of us, no one else in sight...probably I like it too much.

But this conversation was going nowhere. So she sighed and spoke again, hoping to find answers and hopefully reassurance:

"Our time is ticking out, right?"

When Raleigh looked up to her, the usual cheerfulness of Rachel had been replaced by what looked like...melancholy?

"What? It's barely midnight, the night is still young, Rachel!" she joked to clear the mood.

Then she gave another grin and reached to playfully bump the other girl's arm.

"I have a bad reputation in case you haven't noticed. You should know that I'm not the kind of girlfriend who respects nor gives a damn about curfews."

But Rachel didn't play along this time.

"That's not what I meant" she said as her eyes met Raleigh's again.

The Puerto Rican singer knew what she meant. The big issue that had been lingering between them for a while and that was written all over Rachel tired face. She felt a pang of pain at the thought of it and she decided to conceal it as she always did.

"Oh well who knows, Rachel? I haven't spoken to my PR manager about it on our last meeting"

But the other woman didn't seem satisfied with that brief explanation.

Raleigh grimaced and sat up. It actually hurt more than she thought. She reached for Rachel's hand.

"Hey, we both knew the deal. Start a fake relationship and get a career and reputation boost"

"It's all it is, huh?"

The Dorian girl looked at her with painful expectancy. Gosh, I knew this is what we would get out of this, Raleigh thought.

"Well, yes and no. I mean, I like you, Rachel, I'm glad we got closer. You're shockingly pleasant to have around, rising star. And you've been...well yeah so far you're the best fake girlfriend ever, seriously. I hope we will still be friends when this...you know..."

"Yeah, sure"

Rachel diverted her eyes as her chest tightened. She misread the signals, shit. She kept fantasizing and being oblivious of their current situation...but she couldn't blame Raleigh for it. That night, their first night on the rooftop, when the kisses grew hungry on the railing, the Puerto Rican star too soon parted and told her to follow her, she wanted to go on another ride on her bike. Rachel reached for her.

"We don't have to stop, you know..." she noted, gently stroking her hip.

"What? Too scared to admit you might be catching feelings?" she teased, since the other woman just stared at her in silence.

"Whoa, there. Let's not get crazy. I'm a seasoned professional" Raleigh interrupted her, walking backward.

What a stupid I am! What was I thinking? That she, Raleigh Carrera, might fall for me?, Rachel grimace, her face hidden from the R&B star's view. Your life is not a romcom, Dorian, and you have embarrassed yourself already. God, that night she might have...she totally thought I was taking advantage of the situation? Oh shit shit shit!

Her phone beeped. She picked it up as a deep blush spread on her face: Low battery warning.

"Rachel, are you okay?"

The girl didn't turn but she felt the weight of Raleigh's concerned gaze over her.

"Yeah, I'm good...I just-I just forgot that I have a meeting with Avery early tomorrow. Very early. Like dawn"

"Why so early?" Raleigh gave her a quizzical look.

"Oh it's Fiona's doing actually" she said as she stood in a swift motion and gathered up her belongings. "She just want to introduce us to some yoga routine or something like that. She said it stimulates creativity... the point is I gotta go. I'm sorry"

She gave a quick apologetic smile and moved towards the staircases.

"Oh, okay" Raleigh was visibly confused by the sudden change in her "girlfriend". "Do you want me to give yo-"

"No no, I know the way! I'll call a cab!"

Before she opened the metal door leading downstairs, Raleigh spoke again.

"You sure, you're okay though? Did I say something wrong? About the-"

Rachel stopped and slightly turned her head.

"No, of course not. It's just...my silly little head that keeps forgetting things. How things go. Buenas noches, Raleigh"

That said she speed up down the stairs and only the echo of the door resounded on the rooftop, "their place", before the other woman could say goodnight back.

Something doesn't add up, Raleigh thought, still struggling to make a sense of the last few minutes. What did I-

Then her eyes fell on the purple guitar she gave Rachel sitting not far from the wooden bench. Dorian jealously kept her ever since the first day they met. She wore it on every show, even in the music video they filmed together. She even caught her smiling down at it as she strummed a new melody. She really made her happy with her guitar: Rachel would never go anywhere without it, even the press noticed...and now it was there. Did she forget?

"Oh crap!" Raleigh sprinted to the staircases and opened the door, calling her name.

"Rachel hold on, your guitar! Rachel!"

But her words were welcomed by silence only.

[thegoldenyears-memories]

                               ♡  LOVER, a james & lily mix ♡

“the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”

                                                                     ( listen )

01. LILY de benjamin gibbard ( lily is a blinding light devouring the dark, lily is a 5 alarm fire that rages inside my heart. and all i want to do is tell her that my love is true. lily is a destination and she's where my arms belong, 'cause whenever she is there with me, i know where i'm supposed to be, i know where i want to be. and i just flip when i kiss her lips and all my senses reel. )

02. SOMETHING I NEED de one republic ( i had a dream the other night about how we only get one life. woke me up right after two, stayed awake and stared at you so i wouldn't lose my mind. with broken words i've tried to say, honey don't you be afraid, if we got nothing we got us. i know that we're not the same, but i'm so damn glad that we made it to this time, this time, now. and if we only die once i wanna die with you, you got something i need. )

03. SHIVER de coldplay ( so i look in your direction but you pay me no attention, do you? i know you don't listen to me, 'cause you say you see straight through me, don't you? but on and on, from the moment i wake 'til the moment i sleep, i'll be there by your side, just you try and stop me. i'll be waiting in line just to see if you care. oh, did you want me to change? well i changed for good. so you know how much i need you, but you never even see me do you? and is this my final chance of getting you? and it's you i see, but you don't see me. and it's you i hear so loud and so clear. i sing it loud and clear and i'll always be waiting for you. )

04. FLOWERS IN YOUR HAIR de the lumineers ( when we were younger we thought everyone was on our side, then we grew a little and romanticized the time i saw flowers in your hair. so then we grew a little and knew a lot, and now we demonstrated it to the cops. and all the things we said we were self-assured. be in my eyes, be in my heart. so now i think that i could love you back, and i hope it's not too late cause you're so attractive. and the way you move, i won't close my eyes. 'cause it takes a man to live, but it takes a woman to make him compromise. )

05. LIGHT A ROMAN CANDLE WITH ME de fun. ( you can wear your sandals and i'll pour you just one cup of tea. then you can go and rest, you haven't seen my best, so.. just spend an evening with me, just a lazy evening, then you could be leaving or we could stay and talk until three. i will think it's magic and i'll hope you'll agree. if we were honest and both wrote a sonnet, together a sandwich with everything on it, at least we would know that the sparks didn't glow, but we owe it to ourselves to try, so we aim and ignite. so often i call and i plead with you: "give me a chance!" it's not often that i understand the ins and the outs of what's wrong and what's right. oh, i know, it goes on, it gets old, but for now we're young, we smell good, we're alone, so alive. )

06. EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED de taylor swift ft. ed sheeran ( and all i've seen since eighteen hours ago is green eyes and freckles and your smile in the back of my mind making me feel like i just wanna know you better. 'cause all i know is we said "hello", and your eyes look like coming home. all i know is a simple name, everything has changed.  and all i feel in my stomach is butterflies, the beautiful kind, making up for lost time, taking flight, making me feel right. come back and tell me why i'm feeling like i've missed you all this time. and meet me there tonight and let me know that it's not all in my mind. all i know is a new found grace, all my days i'll know your face. all i know since yesterday is everything has changed. )

07. EVERYBODY TALKS de neon trees ( hey, baby, won't you look my way? i can be your new addiction. hey, baby, what you gotta say? all you're giving me is fiction. hey honey you could be my drug, you could be my new prescription. it started with a whisper and that was when i kissed her. )

08. BOATS & BIRDS de gregory and the hawk ( if you'll be my star, i'll be your sky, you can hide underneath me and come out at night. when i turn jet black and you show off your light, i live to let you shine. but you can skyrocket away from me, and never come back if you find another galaxy far from here with more room to fly, just leave me your stardust to remember you by. )

09. LOVER de taylor swift ( i've loved you three summers now, honey, but i want 'em all. can i go where you go? can we always be this close, forever and ever? and ah, take me out and take me home. you're my, my, my, my lover. ladies and gentlemen, will you please stand? i take this magnetic force of a man to be my lover. my heart's been borrowed and yours has been blue. all's well that ends well to end up with you. swear to be over-dramatic and true to my lover. and you'll save all your dirtiest jokes for me, and at every table, i'll save you a seat, lover. )

10. CROSSFIRE de brandon flowers ( and we're caught up in the crossfire of heaven and hell, and we're searching for shelter. and tell the devil that he can go back from where he came, his fiery arrows drew their bead in vain. and when the hardest part is over, we'll be here, and our dreams will break the boundaries of our fear. lay your body down, lay your body down, lay your body down... next to mine. )

11. NO SUCH THING AS TIME de elenowen ( it feels so right to hold you like this, there's so much i wanna say. the minutes are moving oh so fast and the days are slippin' away. time is our only enemy. so how do we fight what we can't see? i don't know but i'm trying. and when i hold you everything slows down, when i know you inside and out, i wanna show you there's no such thing as time. so take a deep breath tonight, i wanna breathe you in. i finally know how to fight, it takes two hearts to win. )

12. GREEN EYES de coldplay ( honey you are a rock upon which i stand. and i come here to talk, i hope you understand. the green eyes, yeah, the spotlight shines upon you. and how could anybody deny you? i came here with a load and it feels so much lighter now i met you. and honey you should know that i could never go on without you. honey, you are the sea upon which i float. and i came here to talk, i think you should know that green eyes, you're the one that i wanted to find. and anyone who tried to deny you must be out of their mind. )

13. SWEET EMOTION de the kooks ( she's the woman that's on your mind, she's a woman who takes her time. 'cause she's the woman that's on my mind, she's the woman who takes my time. i said i feel sweet emotion every time you're near me. and i feel vibrations, what are your expectations? baby i don't have no fear. )

14. SHUT UP AND DANCE de walk the moon ( she took my arm, i don't know how it happened, we took the floor and she said: "oh, don't you dare look back, just keep your eyes on me. "i said, "you're holding back." she said, "shut up and dance with me!" this woman is my destiny. she said, "ooh-ooh-hoo, shut up and dance with me." i felt it in my chest as she looked at me, i knew we were bound to be together. deep in her eyes i think i see the future, i realize this is my last chance. )

15. LOVE de lana del rey ( it doesn't matter if i'm not enough for the future or the things to come, 'cause i'm young and in love. don't worry, baby. )

16. YOU MAKE IT REAL de james morrison ( there's so much craziness surrounding me, there's so much going on it gets hard to breathe. when all my faith has gone, you bring it back to me, you make it real for me. when my head is strong, but my heart is weak, i'm full of arrogance and uncertainty, when i can't find the words, you teach my heart to speak, you make it real for me. everybody's talking in words i don't understand, you've got to be the only one who knows just who i am. and you're shining in the distance, i hope i can make it through 'cause the only place that i want to be is right back home with you. i guess there's so much more i have to learn, but if you're here with me, i know which way to turn. you always give me somewhere, somewhere i can run, you make it real for me. and i am running to you baby, 'cause you are the only one who saves me. )

17. STAY STAY STAY de taylor swift ( and i said stay, stay, stay. i've been lovin' you for quite some time, time, time. you think that it's funny when i'm mad, mad, mad. but i think that it's best if we both stay. but you carry my groceries, and now i'm always laughin'. and i love you because you have given me no choice but to stay, stay, stay. you took the time to memorize me: my fears, my hopes, and dreams. i just like hangin' out with you all the time. all those times that you didn't leave, it's been occurring to me i'd like to hang out with you for my whole life. stay, and i'll be loving you for quite some time. no one else is gonna love me, when i get mad, mad, mad. so i think that it's best if we both stay. )

18. FALL FOR YOU (ACOUSTIC) de secondhand serenade ( the best thing about tonight's that we're not fighting, could it be that we have been this way before? i know you don't think that i am trying, i know you're wearing thin down to the core. i may have failed but i have loved you from the start. but hold your breath because tonight will be the night that i will fall for you over again. don't make me change my mind, i won't live to see another day, i swear it's true. because a girl like you is impossible to find. so breathe in so deep, breathe me in, i'm yours to keep. )

19. THROWN DOWN de fleetwood mac ( he fell for her again, she watched it happen every day, day by day. he held her hands, she listened to what he had to say. thrown down like a barricade, maybe now he could prove to her that he could be good for her, and they should be together. )

20. RUN de daughter ( don't know where he's going, don't know where he's been. but he is restless at night, 'cause he has horrible dreams. so we lay in the dark, we've got nothing to say. just the beating of hearts like two drums in the grey. i don't know what we're doing, i don't know what we've done. but the fire is coming, so i think we should run. while i put on my shoes, he will button his coat, and we will step outside, checking might the coast is clear on both sides, 'cause we don't wanna be seen. and i won't tell my mother, it's better she don't know. and he won't tell his folks, 'cause they're already ghosts. and we'll just keep each other, as safe as we can. will you stay with me my love? 'til we're old and grey. 'cause i don't wanna be alone when these bones decay. )

21. NIGHT TERROR de laura marling ( i woke up and he was screaming, i'd left him dreaming. i roll over and shake him tightly, and whisper "if they want you, then they're gonna have to fight me." if i look back and he is screaming, i'd left him dreaming, the dangers fade. i'll run back and shake him tightly and scream "if they want him, then they're gonna have to fight me!" i'll roll over and hold him tightly, and scream "if you want him, well you're gonna have to fight me!" )

22. I KNOW PLACES de taylor swift ( you stand with your hand on my waistline, it's a scene and we're out here in plain sight. i can hear them whisper as we pass by, it's a bad sign, bad sign. lights flash and we'll run for the fences, let them say what they want, we won't hear it. just grab my hand and don't ever drop it, my love. they are the hunters, we are the foxes and we run. baby, i know places we won't be found, and they'll be chasing their tails tryin' to track us down. 'cause i know places we can hide. they take their shots, but we're bulletproof. i know places. and you know for me, it's always you. i know places. in the dead of night, your eyes so green. i know places. and i know for you, it's always me. i know places. )

23. ALL I NEED de mat kearney ( here it comes it's all blowing in tonight. i woke up this morning to a blood red sky. they're burning on the bridge turning off the lights. we're on the run, i can see it in your eyes. if nothing is safe then i don't understand, you call me your boy but i'm trying to be the man. one more day and it's all slipping with the sand. you touch my lips and grab the back of my hand. guess we both know we're in over our heads, we got nowhere to go and no home that's left. the water is rising on a river turning red, it all might be ok or we might be dead. if everything we've got is slipping away, i meant what i said when i said until my dying day i'm holding on to you, holding on to me. maybe it's all gone black but you're all i see, you're all i see. glass is breaking so don't let go of my arm, grab your bags and a picture of where we met, all that we'll leave behind and all that's left if everything we've got is blowing away. we've got a rock and a rock till our dying day. i'm holding on to you, holding on to me. maybe it's all we got but it's all i need, you're all i need. and if all we've got is what no one can break, i know i love you, if that's all we can take. the tears are coming down, they're mixing with the rain. i know i love you, if that's all we can take. )

24. MAKE YOU FEEL MY LOVE de adele ( i know you haven't made your mind up yet, but i will never do you wrong. i've known it from the moment that we met, no doubt in my mind where you belong. i'd go hungry, i'd go black and blue, i'd go crawling down the avenue, no, there's nothing that i wouldn't do to make you feel my love. i could make you happy, make your dreams come true. nothing that i wouldn't do, go to the ends of the earth for you, to make you feel my love. )

25. YELLOW de coldplay ( your skin, oh yeah your skin and bones, turn into something beautiful. do you know, you know i love you so? you know i love you so. i swam across, i jumped across for you, oh what a thing to do, 'cause you were all yellow. do you know, for you i'd bleed myself dry? for you i'd bleed myself dry. )

26. A THOUSAND YEARS PT. 2 de christina perri ft. steve kazee ( the day we met, frozen i held my breath. right from the start i knew that i'd found a home for my heart… beats fast. colors and promises. how to be brave? how can i love when i'm afraid to fall? but watching you stand alone, all of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow. i have died everyday waiting for you. darling, don't be afraid, i have loved you for a thousand years. i'll love you for a thousand more. time stands still, beauty in all she is. i will be brave, i will not let anything take away what's standing in front of me. every breath, every hour has come to this. one step closer. )

27. TENERIFE SEA de ed sheeran ( should this be the last thing i see, i want you to know it's enough for me. 'cause all that you are is all that i'll ever need. i'm so in love, so in love. )

28. REAL LOVE de the beatles ( all my little plans and schemes, lost like some forgotten dreams. seems that all i really was doing was waiting for you. from this moment on i know exactly where my life will go. seems that all i really was doing was waiting for love. don't need to be afraid, no need to be afraid, it's real love, it's real. )

29. WHEN THE DARKNESS COMES de colbie caillat ( i'll be here waiting, hoping, praying that the sky will guide you home. when you're feeling lost i'll leave my love hidden in the sun, for when the darkness comes. )

30. I WILL FOLLOW YOU INTO THE DARK de death cab for cutie ( love of mine, someday you will die, but i'll be close behind, i'll follow you into the dark. no blinding light or tunnels to gates of white, just our hands clasped so tight, waiting for the hint of a spark. if there's no one beside you when your soul embarks, then i'll follow you into the dark. )

31. US de regina spektor ( they made a statue of us and put it on a mountain top. now tourists come and stare at us. we're living in a den of thieves, rummaging for answers in the pages. )

32. BORN TO DIE de lana del rey ( feet don't fail me now, take me to the finish line. oh my heart it breaks every step that i take, but i'm hoping at the gates, they'll tell me that you're mine. the road is long, we carry on, try to have fun in the meantime. come and take a walk on the wild side, let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain. choose your last words, this is the last time, 'cause you and I we were born to die. )

33. BE STILL de the fray ( when darkness comes upon you and covers you with fear and shame, be still and know that i'm with you, and i will say your name. if terror falls upon your bed, and sleep no longer comes, remember all the words i said. be still, be still, and know. and when you go through the valley and the shadow comes down from the hill, if morning never comes to be, be still, be still, be still. if you forget the way to go, and lose where you came from, if no one is standing beside you, be still and know i am, be still and know that i'm with you. )

34. DEATH AND ALL HIS FRIENDS de coldplay ( all winter we got carried away over on the roof tops. let's get married. all summer we just hurried. so come over, just be patient, and don't worry. no, i don't want a battle from beginning to end. i don't want a cycle of recycled revenge. i don't want to follow death and all of his friends. and in the end, we lie awake, and we dream of making our escape. )

35. HEROES de david bowie ( i, i will be king and you, you will be queen. though nothing will drive them away, we can beat them, just for one day. we can be heroes, just for one day. and you, you can be mean, and i, i'll drink all the time. 'cause we're lovers, and that is a fact. yes we're lovers, and that is that. we can be heroes, for ever and ever, what d'you say? i, i can remember (i remember) standing by the wall (by the wall), and the guns shot above our heads (over our heads), and we kissed as though nothing could fall (nothing could fall). and the shame was on the other side, oh we can beat them, for ever and ever. then we could be heroes, just for one day. we can be heroes just for one day. )

BONUS TRACK. SHE LOVES YOU de the beatles ( you think you lost your love, well, i saw her yesterday. it's you she's thinking of and she told me what to say. she says she loves you and you know that can't be bad. yes, she loves you, and you know you should be glad. she said you hurt her so she almost lost her mind. but now she says she knows you're not the hurting kind. you know it's up to you, i think it's only fair. pride can hurt you too, apologize to her. she loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah. she loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah. with a love like that, you know you should be glad. )

╰  ❄  feliz navidad y año nuevo, dannie.

—; de: andy ( @thegoldenflowerr​ )

—; para: dannie ( @littlepotterdoe​ )

Pequeña Dannie:

Haha, te mentí. Sí me tocaste. 

Me dio emoción que me tocara Lily porque AMO Jily y siempre quise hacerles un mix y esta fue mi oportunidad. Busqué cada canción cuidadosamente, descarté varias, agregué otras, para lo que me parece una playlist que es realmente ellos. El título, además de que amamos a Taylor Swift en esta casa, es porque, en mi impresión, y como lo deja claro la saga, James y Lily siempre representaron el amor, no sólo entre ellos, si no a Harry (I mean, Harry se salvó por el amor de Lily que era tan poderoso). No creo que haya palabra mejor que pueda definirlos que "Lover", porque al final en eso se basaron, ¿no? Es el mensaje que dejaron en la saga, el amor los definió. Pasé de cuando James era un idiota en Hogwarts y Lily no le daba ni la hora del día, y él intentaba probar su amor, a cuando hacía a Lily enojar, al momento donde ella también lo amó y fueron felices, hasta tocar cuando tengan que empezar a huir por la profecía, y el final. Quise tocar toda su historia, todos estos momentos que los hicieron ellos. La verdad estoy feliz porque creo que me quedó muy bonita y mi elección de canciones fue ideal 8). 

Anyway, espero que te guste mucho y te haga muy feliz. Me cuesta escribir en cartas así cómo así mis emociones porque, normalmente a mí me salen de la nada a las 3 de la mañana y puedo mandar un mensaje de que amo a alguien a esa hora, u know it, but quiero primero agradecerte por tu amistad. Por ser tan paciente y amable conmigo, oír desde mis idioteces hasta mis problemas más profundos, buscar cómo mejorar todo, regalarme chocolates, levantarme el ánimo, y siempre recordarme quien soy cuando yo no puedo hacerlo. Eres una persona muy especial, ya te lo he dicho, no todos aman como tú y debes cuidar esa capacidad, porque justo por eso eres tan única en este mundo y todos querrían una amiga como tú; comprensiva, dedicada, desinteresada, que ve por tu bien, se preocupa por ti, y más que nada: genuina. Esa es la cosa, tu amistad nunca se siente falsa, y tú tampoco nunca te sientes falsa. Eres una persona hermosa y sé que el mundo te ha hecho sentir que no es así, ¡pero lo es! Tu capacidad para amar y ser tan detallista, ser tú, es lo que te destaca del mundo. En verdad eres una de esas personas que he pensado que todo el mundo querría tener en su vida, todos necesitamos una Dannie. Muchas gracias por todo, te quiero mucho y estoy muy emocionada por vivir muchas, muchas cosas contigo. Simplemente gracias por ser tú y por la amistad tan fantástica que me has brindado, eres un lugar suavecito donde uno puede descansar. 

Somehow siento que podría escribir más sobre ti, pero hice mi mejor esfuerzo. Ya sabes que de todas formas un día a las 4 de la mañana te puedo mandar un mensaje gigante de cariño, so AHAHAHAHA. Ojalá sea suficiente para este regalito y sepas cuanto te aprecio. Mis mejores deseos para este año, que nadie te haga olvidar lo rara que eres, y que vivamos muchas cosas bonitas juntas. 

You will be found.

Te quiere muuuuuuuuuucho,

                                                  — andy ♡. 🎅

[2elements-blog]

Summer Dates w/ NCT U (boss lineup)

//Authors note//

Hey Its me “the oldest,” We are finally done with exams and the summer here is very nice. So I decided to write a lil’ something something for you all to bring a summery spirit (?) Well hope you enjoy. And please send requests anytime uwu

Taeyong:

He doesn't have much time on his hands

but when he does he wants to spend it with you for sure!

The type to go out for a walk in the park

The man needs something to calm him from work

and what's better than a nice evening walk in the summer and you by his side?

answer: nothing

he cherishes these moments

you talk about everything and nothing

probably stops by a bench to watch the sunset and share a little kiss (MY HEART!)

he wants to stay for a long time but you have to go eventually becaouse you get cold

“you cold?”

“no or maybe a little… but this is nice..”

“y/n Let's go home, I don’t want you to get cold,”

“But… lets stay like this, just five more minutes?”

“I swear y/n you read my mind,”

lots of cuddles on that bench (agh so cute!)

Doyoung:

Likes little road trips 

would just drive with you with no destination 

just driving and singing to the radio (couple goals) 

discovering new places together and staying there taking a few selfies together 

totally sending them to the other members 

He would love to just drive and listen to music as the windows are down. (damn start playing Lana Del Rey already) 

You would scold him a lot for looking at you instead of the road. 

“Doyoung I swear if we crash because you keep looking at me, I wont talk to you in heaven,” 

“But y/n I can’t help it… you are so pretty,” 

“Stop being cheesy and look at the road,” 

Him needing to stop the car to kiss you because he can’t help himself

you just giggling at him for doing so

the kisses are so sweet and make you both want more

but you need to get going

Adventure awaits

Jaehyun:

It’s summer

It’s very hot

where do you go?

the ocean of course 

you try and find a place where there aren’t alot of people 

So it's just gonna be you and him, all alone- (oh damn)

He loves looking at you in your bathing suit (or bikini whatever you prefer) 

But not in a lustful way

more in a “I love this human so much,” kind of way.

“why are you looking at me like that?” 

“I love you y/n” 

kinda shocking but you can’t help but smile 

lots of kissing 

he can’t help it, he always miss you when he is at work 

So being able to go on a simple date with you is the most amazing thing in the world 

Also if you like swimming he will swim around with you for hours

Winwin:

Boy really likes spending time with you 

He legit asks you on dates, not just like “hey lets hang out,” 

he texts you the night before like, “Hey so uh… Wanna go on a date tomorrow,” 

He likes the word date alot, so he uses it alot 

“I can’t hang out, I’m going on a date with y/n”

“Hey guess what? I’m going on a date with y/n” 

It feels special to him

Probably just ends up at some cute cafe drinking milkshakes 

He can’t help but blush and smile like an idiot when you laugh at something he said

Likes those places where you sit face to face with each other, since he loves to look at you. 

but gets shy when you look back at him (I swear I am gonna die over this boy) 

“Don’t look at me like that y/n”

“You started dummy”

Likes to hold your hand when he gets courage enough 

ends the date with a sweet kiss that leaves butterflies in both of you

He keeps talking about the date to his members days after

Jungwoo:

2 words

Ice

cream

The boy loves sweet things, including you (okay that was cheesy I’m sorry) 

He is the kind of boy that invites you out to try out new Ice cream flavours 

will spend a lot of money so you can get just the perfect icecream 

always says its his treat

even when you complain about him using too much money on you 

When you then get your ice creams you’ll find somewhere nice to sit

Usually by a stone staircase 

You two giggle together as you just tell dumb jokes and look at the scenery 

Will very much take a lick at your icecream and giggle like insane afterwards. 

“Tastes sweet,  just like you,” 

“Jungwoo please that was mine! Now your saliva is all over it,” 

“Come on y/n its just an indirect kiss,”

“Can’t I get a real one instead?” 

He will immediately kiss you when you say that, no hesitation 

The kiss is sweet, sticky and cold 

Lucas:

He’ll text you late at night, asking if you want to go for a walk 

You agree and find him already outside your door, waiting for you

The weather is nice and warm, you don't need jackets 

You two will just walk hand in hand in the dark

he’ll tell you about his day and all the dumb stuff he and the other members had been doing 

you would tell him about your day 

He listens and asks questions, making sure to let you know that he really care and listens to you

“I read this book today,” 

“Really? Whats it about??” 

“Love mostly,” 

“well.. I Love you,” (Lucas you damn.asdfghjkl)

You stop by a playground where you play around for a bit

just being two big kids and laughing like insane 

Its moments like these that he realises how much he loves you 

You’ll end up sitting by the swings and talking about the deep stuff 

opening up to each other and showing the more vulnerable sides 

He makes sure to walk you home again 

and ofcourse the goodnight kiss by the door

Mark:

After a long day he just needs two things 

rest 

and you 

so he calls you up and asks if you want to hang out, which you agree to and come right over to the dorm 

he is just dead, so tired 

But eventually you get him up and you take a walk to a nearby park 

you settle down in the grass 

some of the Dream members tagged along 

So they are playing soccer or something 

while you sit on the grass with Mark laying his head on your lap 

Just playing with his hair (*dead*)

he hums as you do, showing that he is enjoying it 

The dream members trying not to die laughing at their Hyung 

Mark would usually run after them 

but today he just wants to enjoy the moment with you 

“Ew look Mark Hyung and y/n being all cute,” 

“Haechan you’re just sad its not you,” 

holds your hand while he slowly drifts off to sleep on your lap

Hope you enjoyed <3 

Please send some requests uwu 

[benjikarofsky]

Deliver Us From Temptation || Para

WHO: Benji Karofsky ( @benjikarofsky ) and Franco Del Rio ( @southsidefranco ). Mentions Topher Pierce ( @topherxpierce​ ). 

WHERE: Franco’s Trailer

WHEN: 21st March 2019 (about an hour after the Franco/Sebastian fight)

NOTES: Benji brings Franco his food delivery. Results in arguing, angry/hate sex, and something resembling a heart-to-heart?

TRIGGERS: Smut Warning (sectioned off with: ‘~*~*~*~*~’ for skippability); vague mentions of wounds/blood, fighting, and kidnapping

BOLD: Benji

ITALIC: Franco

WORD COUNT: 3060

Franco had been snappy with Benji bit he had his reasons. He'd only just got back from his fight with Sebastian and he needed to clean himself up and he wanted his fix but it would have to wait. 

He’d cleaned the blood from his face and removed his soiled t-shirt before sitting down on the bed, his torso aching, bruises already forming on both his face and his stomach. He had a mark across his throat and it was now he wondered what he had become. He didn't fight, he refused to fight yet he'd wanted to kill Sebastian. 

He closed his eyes as he waited for Benji to arrive, quickly looking to make sure his place was drug free and clean.

Finally being able to talk his way around Toph enough for him to let him do this specific delivery by himself without letting him know exactly why, Benji long-boarded from his Northside apartment all the way to Sunnyside. 

When he arrived, he made quick work of strapping his board back to his backpack and slowly opened the trailer to make his way inside. "Franco?" he called, unzipping his bag and pulling out tupperwares full of food as he walked. "I kinda grabbed everyth--" when he entered the bedroom, he stopped short. 

"Bro! What the fuck?" He dropped the bag and rushed to Franco, putting his hands on Franc's shoulders so he could pull him into a sitting position. "Are you okay?! What happened?"

Franco heard the door but didn’t attempt to sit up. He was tired, he was craving and he was aching. His lip was still weeping a little blood and his cheek felt like it was on fire. He heard the younger lad and then he felt him touch him and he flinched, “What does it look like” he hissed out, “I fell over” he lied, badly. One thing he didn’t want to admit was Sebastian had got the one over on himself and god knows how he was planning on hiding this from a Dare

Benji rolled his eyes, gently pushing Franco to the wall so the man could sit up without his help. "Dude. You look like someone put a hit out." He ran out of the room and searched the kitchen before coming back with a cup of cold water and a bunch of tissues. He climbed onto the bed as gently he could (thank god for his flexibility) and started to dip a tissue in the water. "Was this a hit? And don't bother lying. You've already shown you're terrible at it--also, this is gonna sting," he added, putting the wet tissue to his lip.

Franco laughed but he watched Benji intently, he didn't need him digging in the wrong places. When the boy returned and dabbed his lip he hissed and batted Benji's hand away, "I don't need your help" he breathed, scared of the touch. He couldn't understand how he'd been so ready for a fight but now, he felt scared of the other lad, "I just got into a fight but I swear to god, if you tell Dare about this... " but he trailed off, there was no way Dare wouldn't find out.

Benji scoffed, dropping the tissue when Franco hit his hand. "Dude. I'm trying to help you. I cleaned Toph's cuts for like two years; I know what I'm doing. Don't be a douche." 

He picked up a different tissue and started to dip it as he spoke. "I'm not telling 'Dare'. The guy's not even out the hospital yet. He's obviously gonna find out--you look like you were thrown in a trash compactor--but he doesn't need to find out his Serps can't even stay out of a fight when there's a fucking serial killer on the loose via me. ...I mean, seriously. The hell's wrong with you, Broham?" 

He lifted the now-wet tissue up to give Franco warning. "I hate to treat you like Toph, but I've seen what these look like when they get infected, so I'll give you an option: Let me clean the cuts on your face, or I will give you more first. Either way, I'm cleaning them."

Franco shook his head, "I spent three weeks in a fucking hospital for worse injuries and I didn't accept help from them so I am not likely to take it from you". 

He scoffed, "What's wrong with me? I suppose seeing your best friend hanging from a fucking tree can fuck you up. Oh and being kidnapped and drugged and beaten within an inch of your life, changes you" he said, before he could stop himself. He was angry, angry at everything. 

He glared at the tissue, "You think you could hurt me. Didn't know you were a comedian".

"Listen," Benji started, trying the good-cop approach again. "I understand that things are traumatic right now. This town is basically cursed and things are only getting worse. I get that. But getting in a fight and apparently getting your ass kicked helps no one. In fact, it hurts you." 

Benji barely blinked, staring at Franco. "Just trust me on this. Let me clean your damn face."

Franco flexed his neck, "Traumatic doesn't begin to describe it Benji. I've been through hell and back and Sebastian pushed my buttons. He's not exactly injury free himself". 

"What don't you understand about the word no?" he asked, his voice feeling weaker then normal, "I really appreciate the food but I don't want your help right now".

"It doesn't matter. That's my point! How is the two of you being injured any better?" Benji sighed. "You made the decision to have a food delivery directly after getting your ass kicked. I brought you enough food for almost 2 weeks, I delivered it for free, I lied to Toph to prevent him from coming with me, and I kept my promise of not telling anyone that you need this stuff... Don't look at it as help. Think of it as returning the favor. Please let me clean your face."

Franco had to admit that Benji had a point, he had done all those things and no questions asked. He also knew Benji wouldn't leave until he'd helped so he gulped and nodded, "Just, no unnecessary touching" he warned, "I can't handle it from anyone" he admitted, "And please, make it quick. Dare's going to be home at the weekend and I gotta try and hide this".

"No touching I can do. It's gonna take as long as it takes though. There's no point in doing it if it's not done right," Benji murmured, rolling his eyes again. He started to dab at Franco's lip with the tissue. "Besides, if you wanna hide it, you have to clean it. Why is this so hard to understand."

Franco sighed, "Look, I didn't think Sebastian would be able to handle himself OK" he explained as Benji started working on him, "I just assumed he'd be a push over and I have so much aggression. I've been angry since I got rescued" he admitted, "Part of me wanted to be left there."

Benji nodded, finishing up cleaning Franco's lip. The process was slow, but as he finished cleaning it, the wound looked half the size it originally did. It was obvious that the boy wasn't lying about knowing what he was doing. "I get that," he assured, "Believe me: I've got one hell of a temper too. But actual fighting isn't the answer. Talk a lot of shit, get a punching bag, go for a jog. I don't care. Just don't do this again." He moved onto a new bruise and started to clean it. "If you were left there, what good would that have done?"

Franco had not agreed to having all his wounds cleaned and he raised an eyebrow, reaching his hand up and shaking his head, "I said my lip" he warned, ignoring anything Benji had to say, "The rest of my was out of bounds"

Benji rolled his eyes again. "So much for a heart-to-heart then. Also, we agreed on me cleaning your face. Don't be a dick," he added, scooting closer to ignore Franco and clean the wound on his eyebrow.

Franco turned his head away, "Stop fucking touching me" he said, his mood erratic. He noticed his hands were a little shaky and he pressed them flat to the bed, "My lip was the worst injury. Other then that, my torso and throat hurt, so stop touching my face".

“I didn’t even touch you yet. Stop whining." In the back of his mind, he knew it didn’t really matter and that his temper was getting the better of him, but he couldn’t stand people who refused simple help. “If you wanna whine, I'll make you fucking whine," he growled, leaping forward and smashing their lips together.

~*~*~*~*~

Franco was about to reply but he felt Benji's lip crash into his and he was stunned. He pulled his head back a little, "Woah dude" he said sounding impressed, "Now you can make me whine" and he moved one of his hands to Benji's face, bringing him in to kiss him again.

Benji smirked and let Franco pull him into another kiss, blindly pushing the man's legs apart with his hands. He pulled back just enough to slide off Franco's pants without bumping any of the bruises and kissed him again. "Too bad you're injured. Otherwise, I'd turn those whines into screams," he teased.

Franco lifted his ass so his jeans would come off easily, pleasantly surprised by the turn of events. He smirked, "Babe, I've had sex in worse conditions... Do your worse. I can take it" he teased, his words whispered as he lifted Benji's t-shirt off.

Benji straightened his body to help lift his shirt off before planting a line of kisses down Franco's body. When Benj made it to his underwear, he liked a stripe up Franco's shaft and lightly sucked on the head before pulling down Franco's underwear. "Not usually much for teasing, but with as difficult as you are, I think you could afford to wait a while," he whispered, sucking on his finger until it was well-lubricated and starting to finger Franco, painstakingly slow.

Francos eyes rolled into his head as Benji licked him. He assisted with removing his boxers, suddenly aware what was happening when he felt Benji's finger in his ass. He moaned out, biting his cut lip, not caring about the pain, "Tease all you want" he breathed, "I fucking love it".

"You just refuse to let me have any fun, don't you?" Benji joked, pushing his finger all the way inside and curving it slightly, in search of Franco's prostate. Once he found it, Benj slowly pumped his finger in and out, sloppily kissing Franc's V-cut as he did.

Franco groaned hard as Benji hit his prostate and he felt himself grind down onto his fingers, "where would be the fun in that" he breathed, his breath deep and heavy.

"I think I'm seeing some." He lubed up a second finger and shoved them both inside, scissoring them slightly.

Franco tried to surprises his moan at Benji's words but when he felt a second finger in him he couldn't and he moaned hard, "So... Fucking... Hot" he breathed out, his head thrown back against the wall as he craved for more.

"If I was completely evil, I'd stop right now," he said with a smirk, stopping his actions just long enough to be believable before he slipped a third finger inside. With his free hand, Benj grabbed his wallet out his back pocket and grabbed a condom, unzipping his jeans so he could put it on.

Franco shook his head as soon as the third finger joined, "Oh but you wouldn't, I'd say you're quite enjoying it yourself" he groaned out, "I know I'm good fuck babe".

With Franco properly stretched and the condom on, Benji lined himself up with Franc's hole and slowly thrust inside. "Fuck... Brats like you usually are," he groaned.

Franco felt full when Benji thrust into him  and his body rocked and moved with the movement. He moaned out loud, hissing as he bit down on his lip, "Brat?" He groaned, "I've been called worse".

"Shhh," Benji murmured, lifting Franco's legs slightly. "Just... take it..." he groaned in between deep thrusts. As he found his rhythm, his thrusts became more hungry, barely even noticing Franco's reaction.

Franco noticed how Benji's thrusts seemed so hungry but he also noticed how good he was. He moaned with every thrust, whispering 'Fuck, Benji' over and over his hands gripping at whatever skin he could reach.

Benji closed his eyes and leaned forward, nibbling at Franco's neck as he sped up his thrusts. "Fuck... Toph..." he groaned, barely audible.

Franco groaned with every thrust, his hand pulling on Benji's hair but his hand fell loose when he heard the name, "Sorry who now?" He asked.

"Franc," Benji groaned in reply, not missing a beat. He kissed the man sloppily and snaked his hand between them, pumping Franc's cock to the rhythm of his thrusts.

Franco ignored the fact it definitely wasn't his name cause this was too good to ruin. He threw his head back when Benji started pumping his cock, "So fucking hot" he breathed, "Gimme me" he said through gritted teeth.

Benj left a line of hickeys down Franco's neck as he sped up his his pumping. "Fuck... cum for me," growled.

A combination of the biting and Benji's words made Francos head rush and he came all over his stomach and Benji's hand, "Fuck" he breathed, his breathing ragged and desperate.

"Fuckfuck..." Benji's thrusts  went uneven and he gave one more deep thrust before cumming.

Franco was controlling his breath as Benji came inside him. He gripped the bed at the last thrust, "Gotta hand it to you, you certainly know what you are doing" he remarked, a smirk in his face.

Benji laughed breathlessly, pulling out of Franc and tucking his cock back into his jeans. "More likely to believe me when I say that now?"

Franco sat up and reached for his underwear on the floor. His stomach was hurting from both the sex and the injuries but he managed to grab them and put them back on, not bothering with his jeans. He laughed, "I'll believe it. I mean you got me off".

~*~*~*~*~

Benji got up to throw the condom away and slid his shirt back on. "You know you're definitely gonna have to let me fix your face now, right?" he eyed the hickeys he left on Franco's neck, "At least you've got a slightly more believable lie now..."

Franco scoffed, "I don't have to let you do anything but, sure you can fix my face. Not like you have touched me now is it". It was now he'd calmed down and his breathing was normal he noticed his hands were still shaking and he moved them, hiding them under his ass as he sat on them. He'd had shakes ever since the kidnapping so it was no wonder the drugs had affected him already.

Benji rolled his eyes, but it was more playful this time; he was too calm now to let Franco's stubbornness get to him. "Yeah, yeah..." he murmured, making quick work of cleaning the wounds. "It's a lot easier to hide cuts when they're clean," Benji asserted, hoping off the bed, obviously pleased with his work. "I'm gonna leave the food on the table. And next time you see me, I want my tupperwares back."

Franco kept quiet whilst Benji worked on his wounds, he shaking hands under his leg worrying him, "Dude, I ain't being funny but I ain't gunna remember that you gave me those Tupperwares". He bit his lip and cocked his head, "who were you thinking about".

"Then I'll text you. Doesn't matter. Just need them back eventually." At Franc's question, Benji stopped short, halfway out the bedroom doorway. "...What?"

Franco sighed, "When we were having sex" he began, "You said someone else's name, who was it?"

Benji closed his eyes and took a breath. "Listen. I hate lying, so please just forget that that happened."

"Pretty hard to do that" Franco said. He was confused, but he'd known for sure he'd said someone else's name, "I've been having sex with someone else and you didn't hear me saying his name did you?"

Benj shook his head. "It's... it's different. It's a long story," he babbled, shaking his head more. "Besides. This was a hookup. And a nice one. Does it really matter?"

Franco shook his head, "Look dude, I'll level with you if you level with me. I could have easily said someone else's name considering I have feels for two people in this town. It ain't nothing to be ashamed of but I'm curious cause I think I know what I heard".

"If you have something to say, then say it." Benji sighed. "I've ran it through my head a billion times. I know. I know he's straight. I know it would never work out. I know if I ever told him, he'd probably avoid me forever. I know. I know. I know."

Franco smirked once again, "Babe, stop freaking out. You know, the guy I have feelings for is Aaron and I'm in love with..." But he trailed off, he hadn't told anyone he loved Dare. He sighed, "You got feels for Topher, don't you?"

Benji scoffed. “I don’t ’have feels’ for Topher. I met him at ePlay in 7th grade and I haven’t even thought about another guy since.” After all these years, he had never told anyone out loud, and he wasn’t handling it well. 

“Just… forget I said anything,” he snapped, near-throwing the tupperwares out his bag so he could leave. “Here’s your food.”

Franco laughed, "So you're in love with Topher" he said, "Dude, he's straight. I've had these discussions with him so I would suggest you let go". He knew Topher wasn't straight, hell he'd been the guy Topher experimented with, "I mean, you are, after all only setting yourself up for heartbreak" he finished with another smirk.

“No shit. Enjoy your food, asshole,” Benji replied, zipping up his backpack and walking out.