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aellynera · 4 years ago

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The Best Years of Your Life (Reeves x Reader)

THE BEST YEARS OF YOUR LIFE

(hey hey, this is my other submission for @wasicskosgirl and her 800 follower celebration! and yes, you read that right - it’s REEVES. i had a lot of fun writing it and i hope you enjoy reading it! CONGRATS Amanda!!)

Word Count: um like 6200ish oops it was supposed to be a blurb

Summary: They say the best years of your life happen in high school, but what do they know?

Warnings: Some language. Female reader implied but no pronouns/description. Teenage angst. Adult wistfulness. Mostly fluffy tho. No promises about proofreading. Frog murder.

with the prompt - “Like what you see?”

It all started back in high school. Sometimes you wonder how often people say that, and if it’s really true or they’re just falsely remembering how things happened because high school is supposed to be the best four years of your life.

But in this case, it’s true. Because high school is when you met Reeves.

Sophomore Year. High School. A Friday.

It was the third day of sophomore year, fourth period on a Friday morning, your last before the lunch break. Biology class was maybe the one you were least looking forward to, not exclusively because of the required frog dissection, but pretty damn close. Gross. And you never understood why the school year didn’t just start on a Monday, but you were new here in San Diego. Maybe they just did things differently.

It was bad enough being the new kid. It was worse when you walked into class halfway through the lecture, even if it wasn’t your fault. The timing of the move was weird, and you’d spent most of the first two days, and this morning, doing placement tests and talking to your counselor.

And now you were being called out in front of the entire class.

“Ah, there you are,” your teacher announced as you walked in the door. “Everyone, this is our new student, please make them feel welcome. You can sit over there.”

Your eyes followed as she motioned to the empty seat at the lab table in the back of the room. Suddenly you weren’t sure if your face felt hot because of embarrassment or because of the boy in the other chair.

Dark, curly hair cut close on the sides but longer on the top. Deep brown eyes framed by long, long lashes. Full, plush lips curling up into his cheek on one side. A nose that, okay, maybe might be a bit oversized but for some reason worked on his handsome face and--

Well, shit. Definitely not the embarrassment.

You shuffled your way to your seat and slid into it with your head down. A few students watched you curiously but soon turned their attention back to the lesson. You tried your best to focus on what was going on, to not look to your left at the distraction next to you.

You weren’t very successful.

By now you thought you’d sneaked enough covert glances to know that we was wearing a leather jacket, had a small diamond stud earring in his left ear, a bunch of silver-studded brown suede wrap bracelets around both wrists, a silver ring on his right index finger, and oddly precise handwriting as he took notes. In between relevant facts the teacher was sharing, he was doodling tiny music notes in the margins of his notebook.

And he totally caught you looking.

“Like what you see?” he leaned over and whispered.

Your mouth felt drier than the Sahara but also somehow so moist you were afraid you might have actually drooled on yourself. You should have opened your mouth to respond but your brain refused to make the connection. Probably for the best.

At least, at first. When it finally caught up to you, the only response your brain could provide was, “Maybe?”

Now would be the perfect time for the floor to swallow you whole.

He just winked at you and his attention went back to the doodles around his notes.

You shifted your gaze back to your own notebook, but you don’t know if anything else of importance was said, and don’t remember writing anything down. The bell ringing sharply pulled you back to reality and you hastily shoved your books in your backpack, ready to escape.

Just as you were about to leave, a voice called out. “Hey, sorry about earlier. If I freaked you out or anything.”

You looked up. He was smiling at you, a little shyly. You bit your lip, your brain and mouth still refusing to connect.

He stuck his hand out. “I’m Reeves. You’re new here?”

“Um…” you smacked yourself internally. This was ridiculous, you weren’t really shy, you knew how to have a conversation, he was just introducing himself. You were going to have a serious conversation with your brain later about proper communication techniques.

It felt like hours had passed, but you finally pulled yourself together enough to respond. “Yeah. My- my dad got transferred for work, we moved here like a week ago. He literally dragged the family across the country. I’m originally from New York City.”

His eyes lit up. “Oh, cool! I always wanted to go to New York City!”

You found yourself smiling back.

“Do you...wanna sit with me at lunch?” he asked, tilting his head to the side. “Maybe you could tell me a little about the city? And...about you, since we’re gonna have to commit heinous acts of violence on an amphibian together? I’d like to know who’s wielding a scalpel next to me.”

The giggle that escaped your throat could not be contained. This boy - Reeves - was adorable. “Oh. Okay, yeah. I’d really like that.”

The Present.

Poor Lenny the Frog never stood a chance. Then again, neither did you.

To be fair, Lenny was already dead when you and Reeves got your hands on him. Well, when you got your hands on him, because for the full first half of that specific class period, Reeves refused to touch him and nearly turned as green as Lenny once was. That’s when he insisted on naming your cadaver, because somehow giving it a name made it easier to deal with.

You were pretty sure Reeves was nuts.

By the middle of sophomore year, you were dead too, but not for the same reasons.

By the middle of sophomore year, you weren’t sure how you were still alive, because every time he looked over at you and gave you a sly smile during class, gave you that look, you felt your heart go taut and you forgot how to breathe and certainly, rightfully, should have been dead.

Your friend Alexis stuck her head into your bathroom. “Hey, we’re just waiting on Vanessa, and then we’re good to go. Drinks first? The show doesn’t start until 8 so we have time.”

You glanced up from your makeup and nodded. “Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

Alexis grinned. “Aaaaaah I’m so glad you agreed to go out tonight! It’s gonna be so much fun!”

“Oh, it’s gonna be something,” you muttered, going back to your eyeliner.

Alexis had been the first one to see the concert announcement about a week ago. A benefit show at one of the clubs down in Greenwich Village, some punk revival thing (for charity) with a bunch of different singers and musicians. Not normally your scene, but Alexis scanned through the names and suddenly remembered you’d known Reeves in high school. You said yes, he was in your class, and you’d been lab partners once. Vanessa squealed in excitement and Alexis announced you were going to the show. There was never any actual agreement.

Because of course Reeves was going to be there. And of course, you had to be too.

Junior Year. The Parking Lot. A Tuesday.

“I’m just saying, it was a ridiculous foul, and it should never have been called,” Reeves groused as you walked out of the gym.

“We also should have made like twenty more of our own foul shots,” you pointed out.

The Lake Howell Silverhawks had fallen to their arch-rivals in a somewhat glorious fashion. You didn’t even like basketball that much. But that didn’t really matter. The games were just an excuse to go out for burgers before and hang out with your friends during.

It was definitely an excuse to hang out with Reeves.

Junior year, you were both disappointed to find you didn’t have any classes together, but you still almost always ate lunch together. He’d come over to your house to study during the week and sometimes just to chill out on the weekends. Over the past year, he’d shown you all around the city and taken you to his favorite places. You told him all about New York, how you missed it and one day you’d go back, and all the famous sites and which ones were tourist traps that he was only allowed to visit the very first time and then never again.

You spent so much time together, even your mother liked to tease you about why he wasn’t your boyfriend.

It took a while for you to find the words to tell her it was because he was someone else’s.

As much as you liked to pretend she didn’t change anything, Randie Rustenberg changed everything. It was gradual, like a creeping vine of ivy, and she slowly took him over. There was no malice; it was just one of those things that happened. Reeves spent less time with you, his best friend, and more time with Randie, his girlfriend.

The girlfriend you desperately wished was you, because ever since that first biology class you’d had the biggest, stupidest crush on him.

Eventually you had a boyfriend of your own. Theo was a nice guy, he really was. Polite, friendly, had a good sense of humor, liked your family. And your family loved him. Your mother was so happy that you had a boyfriend, she seemed to forget to ask how Reeves was and if you’d seen him lately.

Of course you saw him. You saw him every day, in the cafeteria, at his locker, passing by in the halls. Sometimes you could find him playing the grand piano on the stage in the empty auditorium. Yes, if your mother bothered to ask, you saw Reeves all the time. Now it was just always with her.

Except this week. It was a break of sorts, no classes, just some sports and other school activities. Randie was on some trip with her parents for some kind of church function, and Theo was fishing with his dad on some lake up north. He’d told you where, but you honestly couldn’t be bothered to recall. So when a bunch of your friends and a bunch of his friends all said everyone was going to the basketball game, there was no debate.

As if there was any way you’d say no.

Sometime during the game, your friends wandered off to the snack bar and never ventured back. His friends started a game of hacky-sack under the bleachers. And you found yourself pretending to understand all the finer points about hoops strategy, cheering and yelling along with Reeves and having a great time, just like you used to.

“Where’d you park?” he asked as you left the gym and headed out into the sea of cars. You vaguely pointed in the direction of yours and he grinned. “Oh, good, I’m that way too. Come on, I’ll walk you.”

The faint glow emitted by the lampposts in the parking lot bounced off his curls and his eyes, when you could catch a glimpse, were bright beneath them.

As if there was any way you’d say no.

The walk wasn’t very far, but it felt like it was over in a second. You hadn’t said anything on the way, just soaked in the comfort of walking next to him as he kept commenting on the game.

He was waving his hands everywhere, looking at them as he talked as if his hand motions would make things make any more sense to you, in the middle of saying something about your center and how they needed to get better about blocking out when you finally spoke.

“Oh, shit.”

Reeves looked up at you. “What, you don’t agree?”

You dropped your bag on the ground and rolled your eyes. “No, my car is locked and I left my keys inside.” You pointed to the passenger seat. Your keys stared back at you derisively.

You both stared back at them for a moment, then he grinned. “Hang on, I got you.” He held up one finger and trotted off to his car, coming back a minute later with something in his hand. “This should take care of it.”

You took a step back. “Reeves? Um. Okay, why do you have a coat hanger in your car.”

He rolled his eyes back at you. “For emergencies, duh.” He quickly twisted the hanger into a hook shape and went to your passenger side window.

“And why do you know how to break into a car with said coat hanger?”

“Like I told you,” his tongue poked out between his teeth as he worked, “for emergencies. You think I haven’t locked my own keys in my car once or six times?”

“Did Randie teach you how to do this?” The words were out of your mouth before you could think. She probably had. She might have been churchy when required, but she was also responsible for about half of Reeves’s stints in detention (the other half just being him making the wrong joke at the wrong time and pissing a teacher off.)

Thank god he didn’t seem to hear you as he kept working at the lock. Finally you heard a *click* and he pumped a fist into the air with a little “yessss!”

And then you’re not really sure what happened. You bent down to pick up your bag and then you were standing up and Reeves’s face was literally about three inches away from yours and for the eight thousandth time since you’d know him, you forgot how to breathe.

Neither of you said anything for what felt like days. You just stared at each other under the dim halo of the parking lot lights.

“Here you go.” He took your hand and dropped your keys into it.

“Thanks,” you whispered.

“Like what you see?” the corners of his mouth quirked up, just the slightest little bit.

“...Maybe.”

And the staring recommenced. Were you two getting closer? Physically closer, you meant, of course you were close, you’d always been close. Well, at one time you were really close but then Randie Restenberg happened and it wasn’t fair that she got to know what those lips felt like and did he always smell this good or--

“Yo, Reeves!” A pickup truck full of guys skidded to a stop behind your car and one of his friends - Jake? Jack? you barely remembered your own name right now - stuck his head out the window. “Fight to the death ping pong tourney at Matt’s house! You in?”

Reeves bit his lip and closed his eyes for a second before he pulled back with a soft “I’m sorry” before turning to his friends. “Um, yeah, sure. Sounds brutal. I’ll meet you there.”

The pickup sped off, tires screeching out of the parking lot. Reeves turned back to you, but you’d already gotten into your now unlocked car and started the engine.

You rolled down the window a fraction and gave him a weak smile. “Hey, um. Thanks for saving my butt. Now go kick theirs at ping pong, yeah?” Your face felt so hot, and for once you were grateful for the dim lights in the lot.

“You could, um, come along if- if you want.”

“Nah, I’m...I’m tired, I’m just gonna...um, head home. But I’ll see you tomorrow maybe?”

Reeves looked like he was about to say something else, but he didn’t. He just stepped onto the curb in front of your car, smiled, and raised his hand in a little wave as he watched you drive off.

The Present.

A series of shrieks and the slamming of the door told you Vanessa had finally arrived. It sounded like they were jumping up and down on the tile just inside your front door, which was ridiculous since you’d all just seen each other the day before. But typical.

You smoothed a pinkie under your eye, checked your makeup one final time, and went into the living room.

“Oh, you look hot,” Vanessa gushed. She grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and plopped down on your couch. “Who are you trying to impress tonight?”

“Reeves, of course,” Alexis laughed, leaning on the kitchen counter. She sorted anything she might need from her big purse into a little evening bag as she talked. “You know we go to all his shows. And you know they went to high school together.”

You snorted. “That was a long time ago. I’m not even sure he’d remember me.”

Vanessa waggled her eyebrows. “You’re probably right, No offense, honey, but no one was that hot back in high school.”

He was, your brain supplied. Very helpful. You smiled wanly.

Vanessa continued. “But you were friends, right? You’ve never really talked about it. God, it must be so cool now to think that you were friends with Reeves back when he was an awkward high school teenager.”

“Reeves was never awkward,” you laugh. “It was kind of unfair.”

“But you totally had a crush on him,” Alexis offered.

Had? What do you mean, had? Oh my god, shut up, brain.

A pillow flew in your direction and you ducked as Vanessa giggled and Alexis rolled her eyes. “Come on, tell us something about him,” Vanessa goaded. “Wait. Was he, like, your prom date? That’s your secret! You totally went to prom with Reeves and you never told us!”

Senior Year. Prom. A Saturday.

The night was not supposed to go this way.

It was supposed to be limousines and corsages and dinner with dates and friends. It was supposed to be endless pictures while your mother told you how gorgeous you looked and how handsome he was and your father gave a thinly-veiled shovel talk about how he knew what happens on prom night and what would really happen if that actually happened. It was supposed to be punch and cookies and balloons. It was supposed to be dancing closer than the chaperones were comfortable with and kissing with tongue when they weren’t looking.

It was supposed to be the best night of your life. It was supposed to be fun.

Nowhere in your weeks of dreaming of this night did it involve sitting on a bench in the girls’ locker room, knees pulled up to your chest, while the party carried on in the gym just beyond.

It definitely didn’t involve crying.

The bass beats of the deejay and the harmony of laughter temporarily got louder as the locker room door opened, and then faded back into a muted thumping as the door closed again a second later. You could hear footsteps headed in your direction but before you could unfold yourself and wipe your tears away, a familiar voice called out.

“Hey, there you are!”

Being able to find the words to describe how he looked in his tux, his curls slightly tamed by some gel, the blue rose (of course it would be an off color, why would he pick something standard?) pinned to his lapel, his lopsided grin… Finding the words was nearly impossible.

Of course he would show up now. Because your night wasn’t already crappy enough and half the reason you were sitting there weeping instead of out there dancing was standing right in front of you.

You realized that wasn’t fair. It was probably more like, twenty-five percent of the reason, and it wasn’t his fault. But that didn’t make it any better.

“Why are you in the girls’ locker room, Reeves?” you sniffled.

He furrowed his eyebrows and his nose scrunched up in concern as he took in your mascara-streaked cheeks and puffy red eyes. “One of your friends said you came in here like half an hour ago and nobody’s seen you since. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m fine.”

“Clearly not.” He sat down next to you. “Wanna talk about it?”

A deep, shaky sign left your chest. You didn’t really want to talk about how, earlier in the evening, you’d excused yourself to use the restroom and come back to the gym to find Theo dancing with...you didn’t remember her name, nor did you care. You didn’t mind that he was dancing with another girl, in theory, but it was another matter entirely when his hands were on her ass and she was sucking a deep purple mark into his neck. And he was laughing.

A short, vicious argument ensued in the coat room after you’d cut in and dragged him off by the elbow. And it turned out that he’d been seeing whats-her-name for months, somehow, behind your back while pretending that everything was perfect with you. When he was supposedly visiting his grandparents? He was with her. When he had to work an extra shift? He was with her. When he got off the phone with you, saying he needed to get to bed early? He was calling her.

Prom wasn’t supposed to involve a very public break-up.

And things didn’t get any better when, deciding you needed something to drink, you went back into the gym and immediately saw Reeves and Randie, dancing cheek to cheek, arms snugly wrapped around each other as a soft, romantic song wafted through the air. Because of course he was with her. She was his girlfriend and Reeves wasn’t a detestable cheating asshole.

There was always another her.

You couldn’t handle it.

So you took off to somewhere almost guaranteed to be empty. You figured the locker room wasn’t really the kind of place kids would want to make out, and you were right. It was blessedly empty. Until now.

But you couldn’t tell him the second part, so you just went with the first. His eyes got wide as you blubbered through the sordid details of Theo being a complete and utter twat. Another quivery sob half-burst from you and Reeves got up. He grabbed a few paper towels from the dispenser and handed them to you as he sat back down.

“Thanks,” you hiccuped.

“I never liked him,” Reeves announced.

You found yourself choking on a huff of air. “What? Yes you did! Everybody loved him. That’s what makes it extra shitty.”

“Did you?”

“What?”

Reeves cocked his head and looked at you with an expression you couldn’t quite place. “Did you love him?”

Your mouth opened and closed but nothing came out. Why did you always seem to forget how to make words when Reeves asked you questions?

“What?”

He shrugged. “Everyone else loved him. Did you?”

You used every last ounce of willpower you had to not jump up on that bench and shout that of course you didn’t love Theo, you idiot, because I love you.

That would not make this night any easier.

The next thing you knew, Reeves put an arm around your shoulders and pulled you into his chest, hugging you soundly. He rested his cheek on the top of your head. “Doesn’t matter. You’re better off without him.”

You dabbed at your eyes. Nope, still couldn’t make words.

Minutes, hours, days. You had no idea how long you stayed like that, pressed to him and feeling him breathe beneath you. You no longer had any idea how long it had even been since everything crashed around you and he’d come to try and help you pick up the pieces. You just listened to his heartbeat, strong and steady, as the muffled music and joyful shouts of classmates went on past the closed door.

Finally he spoke again. “Hey, you wanna get one of those complimentary pictures?”

“What?” Oh, great. You were finally able to answer his question but you could still only come up with that one word? Stupid brain.

“Well, I…” he sat up straight and, after the briefest look into your eyes, he glanced away. Was he blushing? You weren’t sure. “I always kind of...I kind of thought we’d have a prom picture together. I mean, I just figured, y’know, we’d go with a bunch of friends, but I always hoped I’d get a picture with my best friend.”

The sniffles were back in an instant. Damn him. “Reeves, I...you really want to get a picture now? I look horrible, I can’t get a picture taken like this!”

He took the paper towel from your hand and gently dabbed at your cheeks. “You couldn’t look horrible if you tried. Come on, it’ll be fun. And just think how excited your mom will be when she gets a copy of it.”

Despite your best efforts, you had to laugh. “Okay.”

You headed to the photo area after you washed your face, Reeves helped you wipe off the stray streaks of mascara, and you reapplied just a bit of makeup to make yourself feel better. You were never sure what Reeves said to the photographer before the shots, but he seemed quite happy to take multiples. Reeves stayed pressed against your back with his arms down around your waist, hands clasped together in front of you, for each and every one.

At some point between the second and third shot, he leaned just a little closer into you and you suddenly felt his breath against your ear. “Like what you see?”

For maybe the first time that entire night, your face broke into a genuine smile. “Maybe.”

For a few minutes, your night was absolutely perfect.

The Present.

It was the greatest date that never was.

“No, Reeves was not my prom date,” you told your friends with a shake of your head.

You left out most of the other details, partly because you didn’t want to answer eight hundred questions from Vanessa and partly because, well, you just wanted those moments for yourself.

After the pictures, Reeves had asked if you would like to dance. Until then you didn’t realize it was possible for eyebrows to shoot that far up a person’s forehead, but yours were up for the challenge. You’d mumbled something about if Randie would mind, because you were sure she absolutely would, but he brushed it off. Randie had gone off with her friends when he came to find you, and he really wanted to dance with you, just one dance with his frog murder accomplice. And he said that with a straight face and a twinkle in his eye and there was no way you could refuse.

As if there was any way you’d say no.

One dance turned into two, and then several, until the girlfriend in question finally did show back up and Reeves was pulled away, leaving you with a soft smile and a mouthed “sorry”.

Definitely the greatest never-date.

After prom, life returned to what vaguely resembled normal. Your love life sucked and Reeves still had a girlfriend that wasn’t you, and you didn’t see him much. To be fair, the end of senior year and graduation did creep up pretty fast so there wasn’t a lot of time anyway. Graduation was there before you knew it; he cheered for you and you cheered for him as you each walked across the stage. You made brief appearances at each others’ graduation parties and talked a bit and then, once again before you knew what happened next, it was time to leave for college.

You went back to New York. Reeves stayed on the west coast.

And over the years, like so many other people before you and after you, you just fell out of touch.

“And anyway,” you asserted, “we were just kind of friends. Yeah, like I told Alexis before, we were lab partners sophomore year, and we hung out sometimes, but that was it. Really.”

Alexis snorted and Vanessa narrowed her eyes. “Mmmhmm.”

You threw the pillow back at her. “Mmmhmm.”

“All right, you two,” Alexis chided. “Come on, let’s get going.”

Somehow, you managed to get down to Greenwich Village without further interrogation and minimal shenanigans.

The Present. One Hour Later. Another Saturday Night.

The bar inside the club was pretty packed. Granted, it was a Saturday night down in The Village, so it wasn’t too uncommon, but you were honestly surprised that this many people showed up for a punk retrospective.

There were a few other relatively big-name acts you recognized on the bill, and a fair number of people were wearing t-shirts with Reeves’s most recent album cover on the front. There were even a few that had shirts with his face on it, which was frankly kind of weird.

“Looks like you’re not his only number one fan,” Vanessa smirked.

“I just enjoy his music,” you said off-handedly as you tried to flag down a bartender. “But anyway, tonight isn’t even about him. We’re just here to support charity, right?”

Alexis pretended to agree with you. “Right.”

You glared at both of them before turning your attention back to the bar. Yes, you came to every one of his shows in the area. When you had time. When you could take the night off. When you could rearrange your schedule and switch shifts at the last minute and promise favors to be able to attend them. When you maybe once or twice just called out sick because nothing else worked. So what.

They were really starting to get on your nerves.

The bartender finally noticed you and took your order, and you looked around the club again while you waited.

Lots of people, ranging from just-allowed-to-buy-booze to mid-sixties businessmen. A few folks that looked to currently be in their golden years but were clearly once punks in their prime. Many people in black and chains and mohawks and neon hair and piercings, to the point where you honestly couldn’t tell who was a performer and who was a patron.

The one person you were looking for was the one that you couldn’t pick out of the crowd.

“He’s gotta be here somewhere!” Vanessa’s voice shouted from somewhere behind your shoulder.

“Vanessa, you’re getting a little weird about this,” you called back as you grabbed your drink and turned around.

“Like what you see?”

Eyes wide and mouth slightly hanging open, you almost dropped your full glass.

Vaguely, nearby, you heard the sound of glass shattering and shot a glance to your left. Alexis really had dropped her drink, and Vanessa was clutching onto her arm for dear life. She was holding her glass at a slightly odd angle and the contents were dripping onto one of her shoes.

The crowd silently pulsed backwards as one, clearing out around the four of you for a respectable distance. Several people watched curiously; surprisingly, they just stood back and stared instead of trying to get involved.

Reason Number One why you really couldn’t blame them: Reeves stood there, right in front of you. Literally less than two feet away, looking right at you. His mouth pulled up into his familiar lopsided grin, his hair still dark but shot through with strands of silver, curly on the top and shorter on the sides. His nose with the little dent, perfect on his face under those dark, luminous brown eyes and...holy shit, was he wearing eyeliner? He was wearing eyeliner.

Reason Number Two why you really couldn’t blame them: Leather pants. Under his old, faded t-shirt and black leather jacket (you were used to seeing him in brown, but you had to admit the black looked good) he was wearing leather pants.

Reason Number Three why you really couldn’t blame them: Quite simply, Reeves was standing in the middle of a bar in New York City and he was talking to you.

You blinked once, then twice. You may have blinked more times but all you could think about was the fact that, after all these years, your brain still couldn’t make words when Reeves asked you a question.

That same old question.

Suddenly you were grinning back, completely ignoring your friends and their dumbfounded squawking and sputtering next to you. You were smiling because even though your brain couldn’t make full sentences of words, it could pull one particular word out of the void and let it come out past your lips.

“Maybe.”

Reeves grinned fully now, his eyes lighting up and the crinkles at the corners deepening.

Someone - maybe Vanessa, maybe a total stranger, you couldn’t be sure - might have swooned from the sidelines.

“Always told you I wanted to come to New York,” he said.

“Always told you I’d go back.”

And the next thing you knew, the next thing that made any sense anywhere in your mind, was that Reeves had stepped forward, wrapped his arms around you, and placed the softest, sweetest, most heart-achingly gentle kiss on your lips.

You pulled away in a daze, felt the heat rising in your cheeks, as you heard a muffled choking sound halfway behind you. Definitely Vanessa.

Alexis and Vanessa’s eyes, already bugging out of their faces, nearly fell out of their sockets when Reeves turned to address them.

“Hey, ladies. I’ll come talk to you after the show, but for now, I just need to borrow your friend for a few minutes, okay?”

There were somehow still more bizarre, mostly inhuman noises that came out of your friends and even later, when they’d deny ever acting like that in front of a famous rock star (and rolled their eyes at you when you corrected them that he was a musician, not a rock star), it wouldn’t matter because you weren’t paying a single bit of attention to them them anyway.

You only had eyes for one person.

He took your hand and pulled you past the bar, into a little room in the back; the office, presumably. The second you were both inside, he wrapped his arms around your waist and looked you in the eyes. He just stared for a few minutes, or maybe hours, you weren’t sure.

It really didn’t matter.

“Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted to do that?” he whispered.

“Third day of school, fourth period biology class, sophomore year?”

Reeves smiled softly. “The second you walked in that door.”

“Why didn’t you?” you tilted your head to look at him. Okay, to gaze into his eyes. You tilted your head to gaze into his eyes and your subconscious hoped to any gods that would listen that you did not have actual hearts or stars in your pupils.

Not that it really mattered.

His arms never left you but he gave a little shrug. “Never seemed to be the right time. And then I had a girlfriend.”

“Yeah,” you laughed. “And I ended up with that lame excuse for a boyfriend. But do you know how long I’ve wanted you to do that?”

“When you couldn’t stop staring at me when you sat down at the lab table next to me?”

“Hmmm, maybe. But definitely when you told the teacher we had to have a funeral for Lenny.”

“Hey, Lenny was a fuckin’ hero,” Reeves batted his eyes at you innocently. “He performed a brave and great service to his country.”

“I am oddly happy you’re still an idiot,” you giggled.

“I’m ecstatic that you kept coming to all my shows in the city.”

You pulled back slightly and looked at the ceiling. “You noticed?”

Reeves gave you that look. That look he always gave you, when you were teenagers, when you said something either completely ridiculous or completely profound. That look he gave you when he thought you might not be looking, even though you were always looking. That look that said he always had your back and you were his best friend. That look that you thought you’d be lucky to see one more time but probably never would.

That look.

“Of course I noticed. I thought about having security make you stay back, but that’s just...no. You always looked happy, and I don’t know...I just didn’t want to intrude, I guess? Just always wondered why you never stuck around after the shows, never stayed to talk to me, never came knocking on the dressing room door.”

You thought about that for a minute. You really did try, but you couldn’t come up with a decent answer. You were happy. Just seeing him was enough, you told yourself. Just hearing him sing was enough, just being in the same room with him, just being near. Just like it was back in high school.

Only it wasn’t high school anymore, and now that he’d finally, finally - after years of would’ve and should’ve and maybes - kissed you, you knew enough wasn’t going to be, well, enough.

So that’s what you told him.

And Reeves pulled you close, leaned in closer, and kissed you again.

You pulled apart, breathless again, and rested your foreheads together.

After minutes, or maybe days, or maybe hours, and definitely years - it didn’t really matter - Reeves was there. You were there. And for once, you were really there together.

“Like what you see?”

“...definitely.”

The Future. Any Day. Every Day.

You always thought, and your friends always said, that the best years of your life happened in high school. And to a certain extent, that was true and you believed in that notion for a very long time.

But ever since that night, that one glorious night in a Manhattan bar, you realized you were wrong.

The best years of your life were still happening.

~end~

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four-loose-screws · 4 years ago

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FE8 Novelization Translation - Chapter 2, Section 3

If you would like to start from the beginning, read a missed part, etc., click here!

FE Game Script Translations - FE Novel Translations - Original FE Support Conversations

If you are interested in donating to support my work, please check out my Ko-fi here. Thank you!

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I call this a “section” because it is not a separate part of the chapter in the book, but divided from the rest of the chapter by a scene break.

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Chapter 2 - The Blood of a Warrior (con’t x2)

Renvall Castle was on the border that separated Renais and Grado, and was also called "Waterside Renvall," as it was built atop a lake.

Seth was the one to decide on their route to the castle. Though they were still only a small force of a few people, if they did not move carefully, then they would probably be spotted by the Grado soldiers. They needed to travel the route that would be the most likely to have the least people along it, and so chose to go south below the mountains in Renais territory.

After crossing the mountain range and cutting through the Za’ha Woods, they arrived in the border town of Serafew. From there, it was only a short distance to Renvall, but first, they had to travel a rural road that passed through a number of small villages.

Though they were in Renais' territory, Grado soldiers were currently waltzing around as if it was their own, and to make matters worse, bandits were also taking advantage of the confusion and rampaging about. They couldn't afford to let their guard down for even a second.

"First, I believe it best to ascertain that the road ahead is safe. Will you give me permission to go gather reconnaissance?" Vanessa requested.

She rode a pegasus even larger and more magnificent than Achaeus. However, they feared that if she flew up too high, the Grado soldiers would find her, so they had her stay on the ground with the horses.

Just as Tana had said, Vanessa was serious in both demeanor and speech, and her back was always straight. She was difficult to approach, but really wasn’t all that scary, as Eirika had come to understand. She was simply awkward with others, and had a hard time choosing the right words.

"Would you really be okay flying around in the sky? It would be very dangerous if an archer spotted you…" Eirika worried.

The pegasus knights may be praised as the elite soldiers of Frelia, but they were extremely weak to attacks from archers. If one of their pegasus' wings were hit mid flight, then the rider would also fall. If the enemy knew they would be facing pegasus knights, they'd be likely to start the fight with archers on the battlefield.

"I will be careful. If I sense an enemy's presence, then I will return right away."

"Then yes, please. Just be careful."

"Yes. I will succeed.” She was not excited, and showed the same lack of expression as always as she spoke. When she was finished speaking, she quickly mounted her pegasus.

After a short takeoff gallop, her pegasus spread her wings and rose into the sky.

Vanessa returned about half an hour later.

She was in a panic as she dismounted her pegasus and lowered on one knee in front of Eirika, then spoke quickly as she reported, "I found a group of bandits just ahead of here. They appeared to be attacking a village.”

"Bandits…?"　Eirika's face turned pale.

Moulder, who'd been standing next to her, said with a sad look on his face, "We should probably avoid any movements that will make us stand out here. ...If it were just bandits we had to worry about, then we could likely take care of them by ourselves, but I fear the noise will draw the attention of the Grado soldiers to us."

His advice did indeed seem very wise, but Eirika bit her lip and shook her head. "Still, I cannot overlook the actions of those who cause the people to suffer. Vanessa, please give me the details of the damage."

"I confirmed that there was an injured person. He seemed to still be just a boy…"

"Father Moulder, can I ask you to treat him?"

"You certainly can, but first, I must get to where he is."

"I shall take you to him." Vanessa said quickly.

When she saw Eirika nod, she turned around and got back on her pegasus, despite the fact that she'd just jumped off.

A strong wind stirred up the land around them, then they rose into the air. Eirika watched them fly off and said, "We must hurry as well, and head to the site of the bandits' violence straight away, so we may stop it."

She and the others all set out in the direction Vanessa had flown in.

Before long, the small ruined village came into view. It did not seem like it would be attacked again soon, so the villagers were calmly yet diligently working the fields.

Eirika turned to Seth and said, "It looked like Vanessa went just up ahead this way. This village still seems peaceful, but I think we should advise them that bandits are coming.”

"You're right. Then I…"

"No, I will go."

Those like Seth and Franz could be identified as soldiers with just one look due to their clothing, so they might frighten the villagers. On the other hand, since Eirika looked like a common traveler, she likely would not not startle them, and they would let her in.

"Please be careful." Seth said worriedly.

"I will return soon." She replied, then dismounted his horse.

Eirika rushed into the village and was immediately noticed by the handful of people chatting in the square just before her. They turned and started to approach her.

Standing in the middle of the group was a young woman. Her bright blonde hair was cut in a simple style that rested just above her shoulders, but her face was so beautiful that she made Eirika gasp. She had a very different air about her compared to the villagers.

Eirika didn’t know anything about the woman, but she didn’t seem to be arguing with the villagers.

Eirika approached them and said, "Please close the village gate straight away. Bandits are rampaging close by here. We can't let them get inside…"

"Who are you? I see you're wearing a sword." A woman said to her sharply, and looked at her with a puzzled expression.

Eirika’s heart skipped a beat. She'd been in such a hurry that she'd forgotten that her sword was still attached to her belt.

Her mouth uttered a lie so quickly that she did not fully realize what she was saying. "My… My name is E… Erina. I’m a member of a mercenary group that passes through this area sometimes…”

The woman seemed uninterested, but nodded and also gave her own name. "My name is Selena. I am a general of Grado."

"Grado…!?” Eirika could not hide her surprise. She stared straight at the beautiful woman before her.

Now that Selena had said it, she certainly seemed like a soldier. But it was a surprise that she was a general, being so young, and a woman at that.

Eirika had a feeling that her obvious staring would make the others see right through her lie, and her legs started to shake.

"What's the matter?" Selena asked her.

"It's nothing." Eirika responded. She wanted to get out of there right away, but she couldn’t.

Selena seemed to see her as a mercenary girl nervous to stand before a general of Grado. She softened her expression and tone as she continued to speak. "Bandits are running amok in this area, just as you said. I too came here because I was concerned about that. However, I have received orders from the capital to return home, and have no time to drive out the bandits. You being here will be a huge help. Your mercenary group is probably close by, correct?"

"Y… Yes, they are…"

"Then will you please help this village? I must leave already."

"Um…" Eirika looked at Selena in surprise. "You said you're a general of Grado, right? Why are you so concerned for a village in Renais…?"

"The lives of the people have no relation to borders. They are in your hands now." Selena said firmly, then turned away.

When she disappeared, the villagers immediately burst out in conversation.

"Wow, she's really cool… So even Grado has soldiers like her!"

"I'd heard that the Grado soldiers were beasts that shed no blood nor tears, but she was different!"

"She came here just to warn us. I wonder why such a good person is attacking Renais and participating in such horrible things…"

"Her feelings have nothing to do with anything. Whatever the emperor orders, she has to do, right?"

"Yes, that is true…"

While the villagers carried on their idle chatter, Eirika's heart became heavy. ‘So even a woman with such kind eyes like Selena was a part of the attack on Renais…’

But on the other hand, she was also filled with hope.

Lyon was not the only one. There were other people from Grado spreading such words. Both sides were currently in chaos, but when they had an opportunity to talk with each other one day, chances were, they'd be able to find a path to a solution.

"Please close the village gate and hide, everyone! My mercenary group will figure out what we will do after that." Eirika said to the villagers, then left.

They continued further down the mountain road single-file, and were soon able to meet up with Vanessa.

A boy was squatting next to her pegasus, and she was wiping the sweat from his brow.

When she noticed them, she stood up. "Lady Eirika, I safely rescued the boy."

"Good work, Vanessa. Father Moulder, please tend to his wounds straight away…"

Moulder walked up to him, staff in hand. The injured boy squinted in pain as he raised his head.

He was probably around fifteen or sixteen years old, had black hair and tanned skin, and looked like a bit of a rascal. He was undoubtedly glaring at them not because he thought of them as enemies, but because of the pain. Blood was trickling from his side and staining his simple clothing.

"The village… our village was attacked by bandits, and burned down! Please help! You guys are military, right…?"

“Please do not yell so loudly. You'll further open your wounds." Moulder soothed him as he healed his wounds, but the boy would not stay quiet.

"The name's Ross! I was born in Ide Village. It's just ahead of here. My father's still in the village fighting! Lend him a hand! Please!"

Eirika said kindly to the panicking boy, "Rest assured, Ross, we will take care of the village. Please relax in a safe place."

"No way, I'm gonna fight too!"

"But your wound is very deep…"

"Then hurry and heal it! If you just stop the bleeding, it'll be fine! Dad's fighting all on his own. We gotta hurry and help him! I'm the son of the warrior Garcia. I won't lose to a lowly enemy like bandits!"

The boy's angry words pierced through Eirika's heart.

He was trying to save his father, a man surrounded by enemies and fighting all on his own. He was the same as Eirika. She’d also rejected King Hayden's concern for her safety to save her brother, without even thinking twice about it.

No matter what dangers were awaiting him, he could not hesitate to save someone important to him... Eirika knew that feeling very well.

"Understood. Let's go, Ross. But please do not travel far from us, no matter what might happen."

"You got it!"

This was the first time Eirika ever watched a priest use a staff. When he raised the staff over the wound, a soft light emanated from the orb atop it, and the wound started to heal. If someone without training tried to use the exact same staff, then there would be no way they could achieve that result. Eirika had known about staves, but seeing one used up close was truly a wonderous thing.

Ross' wound closed up in the blink of an eye. He joined their single file line, and they all traveled even further down the mountain, until they reached the outskirts of Ide Village.

A small battle was raging in front of the burning village. A villager surrounded by bandits was brandishing his axe, and giving the bandits a hard time all on his own.

"Dad!" Ross called out and rushed over to him.

The man halted his axe mid-swing, and his face flushed with anger. "Why did you come back!? Run away…!"

"I went to get reinforcements! I'm gonna fight with you!"

The bandits flinched at the arrival of another group. They'd attacked the village to take advantage of the current situation, and were really just a ragtag bunch of thugs without any sense of order among them. Before Seth and the other powerful soldiers, they didn’t stand a chance.

Father and son also fought so hard that everyone was wide-eyed in amazement. Ross moved as if he’d faked the pain he'd previously been in, swinging his axe and chasing down his enemies. His father also took down bandits like one would think no ordinary villager possibly could.

Once the enemies were entirely defeated, Ross' father wiped his brow with one of his muscular arms, then turned towards Eirika and the others. "Thank you for taking care of my son. You saved him."

Seth stepped forward before Eirika could reply to him and said, "Forgive my rudeness, but are you… Sir Garcia, ex-member of the Renais Army?"

The man stared at Seth, but did not try to answer.

Eirika looked up at Seth. "Do you know of him?"

"Yes. Ever since I'd heard of the warrior Garcia, I'd thought something had happened to him… He was a commanding officer of a unit of the Renais Army until ten years ago. I was still just a squire at the time, but Sir Garcia's name was famous throughout the entire army as a courageous warrior who knew no fear…"

Garcia listened with a pained expression, but then abruptly tried to turn away.

Seth called out to him, "I never imagined I'd meet you in a place like this. As you know, Sir Garcia, Renais is currently in trouble. Won't you please lend your strength to her once more?"

"Sorry, but I retired. I won't work for the army ever again." Garcia said curtly, as if the question inconvenienced him.

"Sir Garcia!"

"You have my eternal thanks for saving my son. But I don't want to concern myself with you any further. I will be leaving now…"

"What are you saying, Dad?" Ross rushed over to him. Moulder had tried to hold him back, but he'd shaken off Moulder's hand and managed to get up. "Our village was burned down. If we don't fight here, then what will we do!? Let's go with them!"

"Ross…" Garcia looked deeply troubled.

Ross balled his hands into fists and continued, "You quit the army for Mom and I, right? I thank you for that. You've always taken good care of me. But to turn down this fight for that reason now, ain't like you at all!"

Garcia stared at his son, unable to respond.

Ross calmed his anger, quieting his voice a little, but his words were just as sharp. "I fought well, right? You watched me, didn't you? I'm proud to be the son of the warrior Garcia. I'm not a kid anymore! I'm a warrior, just like you!"

"...You are? Yes, you are." Garcia slumped his shoulders.

Eirika felt anxious that he might answer his son with just as much anger, but instead, Garcia immediately lifted his head.

"I'm ashamed. Being scolded by you made me realize it for the first time. That my son, before I knew it, grew from a boy I must protect into a warrior of his own. If these old bones can be of help to you, then please let me fight with you as well.”

Ross' face lit up.

Eirika was surprised as well. To such a small group headed towards Renvall Castle, the addition of this father and son pair reassured them. The battle they'd just fought was proof enough of their power.

Eirika wanted them to join the group and deploy immediately, but Garcia requested they give him a little time before leaving. Eirika agreed, and then he disappeared.

"I wonder where he went..."

Ross answered her question. "To Mom's grave, probably."

"Your mom's…?"

"Yeah. There is a graveyard nearby the village. Mom died many years ago, from an illness." He sounded sad, but even further beneath that seemed to be loneliness.

Eirika looked at him, but didn't say anything.

"That's when Dad changed. He'd only ever concerned himself with the army, so he probably regretted that he didn't get to care for Mom when she was sick and weak. I was still really small back then. He took me to her grave and made a promise to her. 'I will quit the army, and won't leave this village until Ross is grown.'”

"So that's what happened…"

"I think that's why he said he was so stubborn not to fight. But Dad really is a warrior, so when Renais is in danger, he should get more worked up than anyone to fight!"

"Your argument seemed to help him make up his mind."

Eirika's words made him happy. His face lit up, and he nodded his head. "No, it's all thanks to you and your group, girl! I think you lit a fire inside of his warrior's soul once more…"

"Stop calling her 'girl.' It's very rude to speak that way to a princess." Someone suddenly cut in, and made them whirl around.

An angry Franz was standing before them.

Ross looked like he didn't understand what Franz had said to him. "Huh?" Was his only response.

Franz repeated himself. "Don't call her 'girl.' She is Lady Eirika, princess of Renais."

"Huh…? Oh, is she? Sorry. I was raised in the mountains, so I don't know nothin' about manners. What should I call her, then? Princess? Your Royal Highness?"

"Lady Eirika."

Their exchange was a bit weird, and it made Eirika giggle as she said, "It's fine, you don't have to be strict. We're friends traveling together, after all!"

"Yeah, you're right. You're a really good person. See, the princess said it's fine!"

"Don't get carried away!" Franz yelled, but when he noticed that Eirika was laughing, he set aside his anger and started up a conversation with Ross.

Until now, he'd been surrounded by people older than him, so he'd probably been concerned about that. In truth, he seemed happy that someone around his age had finally joined them.

Ross and Franz were different in both personality and upbringing, but Eirika felt that they would become surprisingly good friends.

Garcia returned soon after, and the group left the burned down village.

Garcia spoke not a word of his visit to his wife's grave and walked along in silence. Even Ross did not try to ask him about it.

#fire emblem #fe #fe8 #sacred stones #nintendo #game boy advance #gba #japan #japanese #translation #novel #light novel #fe8 novelization translation

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pinkbubbles-and-bigtroubles · 4 years ago

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Wicked Game (Part 2)

Word Count: 20K+ total Team Long Winded Bitch strikes again, this will be posted in multiple parts over the next couple of days. The first part is about 5K, part 2 is 7K

Rating: 18+ Slash fic Strong language, alcohol and drug use, and a misogynistic and racist comment. Sexual scenes including masturbation, toys, voyeurism, oral, and anal sex.

Summary: Ashton is ready to move on with his life after his painful divorce from Luke and the demise of the restaurant they’d built together. With the help of his protegee and sous chef Hima Singh, Ashton is ready to take on opening weekend of his new restaurant Anne-Marie’s. Calum is a reporter filling in on an assignment and is surprised when his past comes back to haunt him. Hima arranges an interview that takes an unexpected turn between the two men.

Ashton grabbed his bag and shut off the lights in the bar. Hima was waiting impatiently by the door, keys in hand. Following the disaster of an afternoon, they'd been packed until closing. He'd been too busy cooking to think about it, something he loved about his job. The rush and the heat combined with the complete focus on his work. You had to keep your eyes on your fingers or you got hurt. The satisfaction of plating an order and sending it out until the next order came in, starting the process over again.

"Will you come on?" Hima tapped her foot, making her keys jangle. "My brother is waiting for us." Her twin brother had passed the bar exam a month ago, but everything had been so crazy with the opening they hadn't properly celebrated yet.

The bouncer recognized Hima and let them in immediately. Tirana was a sleek, neon-lit bar favoring overpriced cocktails, elaborately garnished and meant to be as much of a showpiece as a beverage. Ashton eyed the crowd full of men sporting off the rack Italian suits with egos as inflated as their dates' chests. Kabir was waiting in VIP with his friends and waved them up. Ashton congratulated him and ordered a spiked seltzer, passing on the bottle service Kabir offered. Hima was taking shots with the guys and he joined them in a toast. As he was taking a drink he spotted Calum Hood leaning against the wall, looking bored and maybe a little drunk. Hima must've seen his expression because she whipped around just as Calum looked up and noticed them. Ashton tried to look away and act as if he hadn't noticed the other man. Hima had other ideas and made a beeline for the reporter.

"Hey Calum, fancy meeting you here," she said relieved when he seemed happy to see her. "Come have a drink with us, or am I interrupting something?"

"If you're buying," Calum replied. "A friend brought me here and then fucked off on a phone call." He laughed, but it died out when he saw Ashton.

"Listen," Hima cut him off before he could speak. "I know this afternoon didn't go well, but what you don't know is just before you came in, my boss had to sit through an interview with Kevin Mackie. It did not go well "

"Oh God, that insufferable bastard," Calum snorted.

"Exactly, and you know Mackie brought up all that old shit from Lune Rouge," Hima told him "That's in addition to insulting every woman who works there, of course."

Calum cringed, and his eyes flickered back towards Ashton talking to Kabir and his lawyer friends. He couldn't help but notice the contrast between the intense scowling man he'd encountered this afternoon and the smiling bubbly ray of sunshine he was looking at now. Was that an actual giggle? Calum blamed the tequila for agreeing to join Hima for a quick drink since his date still hadn't come back. He'd allowed his editor, Shamara, to set him up twice now, but there wouldn't be a third time.

Ashton wiped his sweaty palms on his black jeans as he watched Calum following Hima over towards them. He'd found the reporter attractive this afternoon, but he'd been wearing a long sleeve button up for the interview. Tonight Calum was in all black, and the tank top he wore under the leather jacket showed the ink etched into his skin above his collarbones. Ashton gripped the drink in his hands a bit tighter, trying to keep his nerves steady. He slowly edged his way over to where they were talking just as Calum launched into a story about his magazine sending him on a tour of small mom and pop restaurants up the California coast.

"The owner's husband was sick that day, so she was doing most of the work herself," Calum was saying as Ashton listened in on the conversation. "Beulah was amazing, but they were getting slammed. I asked if she needed any help, and I spent the next three hours manning a fryer. I cooked the chicken, and she'd toss it in the hot oil and spices before slapping it on a bun with the sauce. You'd get the sandwich, pickle, and fries in a little brown sack. We sold hundreds of them, but I knew why when it slowed down enough that I finally got to eat. It's the best chicken sandwich you'll ever have! Tossing it in that spicy oil gives it a flavor that punches you in the mouth. She taught me most of her secrets over the two days I ended up staying until her husband got over the flu.."

I could listen to this man talk all day, Ashton thought watching Calum's expressions and hands as he told the story. The way his chest rumbled when he laughed, which was often throughout the tale. He seemed like a genuinely warm person, and Hima seemed to like him. Maybe I was wrong, five years is a long time

"That's so sweet," Hima smiled up at Calum as he finished.. She was smitten despite hearing rumors he played for the other team.

"Ended up extending my trip for an extra five days which caused all sorts of headaches when I got back. My boss was pissed I'd gone over my expense account," Calum said, shaking his head at the memory, his cheeks flushed from the alcohol now loosening his tongue. He was relieved his date was still MIA. Ashton was standing close enough for Calum to smell his cologne, and it was proving distracting.

"Is that the same magazine you work for now?" Hima asked.

"Yeah, but I was damn near fired. I paid back the money by throwing cash onto my boss's desk when I turned in my story, and he was not amused. The editor-in-chief, who also owns the publisher, loved my story, and after that, I was sent on more in-depth character profiles. I wanna get to know the people behind the food." Calum looked directly at Ashton, meeting his eyes as he spoke. His breath caught in his throat at the intensity in Ashton's hazel eyes as he listened. How is he this handsome? Calum thought. This man has no right to be this good looking. That chest hair peeking out from under that pink shirt is teasing me. Wonder what's underneath? Wait, no I don’t. Stop thinking about that or you're gonna get hard.

"So what exactly were you sent to find?" Ashton asked, his tone still guarded but more friendly than before.

Calum took a deep breath and thought quickly. After the interview bombed this afternoon, he came up with a backup plan if Ashton didn't come through. He made a decision to float both his ideas.

"Look, I know a lot of people are bugging you for gossip about your personal life, but that's not what I'm here for. You opened your first restaurant at 25, and the food at Lune Rouge was fantastic. I know I didn't give you a good review then, but I was trying to be edgy and cool," Calum admitted.

Ashton exhaled and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry about this afternoon. Mackie brought up Luke, and when you mentioned Finn I snapped. I'd like to try again, but I know Hima is more interesting. So what did you have in mind?" Ashton smiled and Calum had butterflies in his stomach.

"I'd like to watch you cook, and see how you are in the kitchen. Tell me how your philosophy on cooking has evolved and what stayed the same," Calum replied. I hope that didn't sound as cringe to him as it did to me. Turning to Hima, he continued talking, "I'd like to do an extra little feature on you if that's ok. It'll give the article a nice balance I think, what do you say?"

Ashton saw Hima's face light up and knew he'd have to say yes. He had to admit, the pitch sounded great, even if the idea of Calum watching him work made him nervous. They turned towards him to see what he thought, and Ashton's gaze landed on Calum's mouth just as he licked his lips. Please don't do that, he thought to himself. Don't make me think about how you taste, and how those lips would feel against mine.

"I definitely think Hima deserves her own feature. I'll go along with whatever you want," Ashton told them.

"You know Calum," Hima turned on the charm. "I'm off tomorrow. I could take you to the best Indian restaurant you've never heard of for lunch." Her eyes got huge and she grabbed Calum's arm. "I'm a genius you guys, listen, the restaurant is hella busy, and the boss man," she nodded towards Ashton, "won't be much fun to interview if there are customers waiting. He just redid the kitchen in his condo, so why don't you do the interview there? That way he's not around us idiots at the restaurant."

Both men stared at her, and Hima panicked thinking she'd overstepped somehow until Ashton nodded. "Sounds like it could work, what do you think?" He asked looking at Calum who nodded, his smile getting broader.

“Sure, um, that sounds great. Really just um, great," he fished his phone out of his pocket and unlocked it before handing it over. "Go ahead and put your number in, and I'll text you tomorrow."

"Is that your little sister?" Hima asked, spotting the picture on his lock screen.

"That's my daughter, Vanessa Joy. Absolute light of my life," Calum beamed, pulling up another pic.

"Daughter?" Hima and Ashton exchanged shocked looks before quickly regaining their composure.

"We were kids. I hadn't figured things out yet," Calum gave his standard explanation.

He started to say more, but he spotted his now-forgotten date headed back towards them. Hima saw his grimace and followed his gaze to the approaching man. She guessed he must be a lawyer who wanted everyone to know it, wearing a double-breasted British tailored suit and gold Submariner watch.

"Sorry about that Cal, that was a client who's a real pain in the ass," the newcomer joined their little group, peering at Ashton with suspicion. "I'm Nick Callahan, a junior partner at Fish, Filbeck, and Greene " Hima almost laughed out loud at this skinny little dude in a fancy suit trying to puff out his chest and put some bass in his voice as he went to shake her boss's hand. Ashton looked amused but Calum not so much.

"Calum, if you don't mind, there's someone I'd like you to meet," Nick waved at a group who'd just come in. He tried to pull Calum away, but he shook Nick's hand off his arm.

"Give me a second, and I'll be over," Calum said, nodding at someone he recognized in the group. "Tell Teddy to order a round of drinks, I'm buying." When Nick still didn't budge, Calum turned his body towards his date and leaned in to whisper in his ear. "I'm interviewing this young lady tomorrow, and I want to get it set up before I get drunk, ok?"

Nick swallowed at the warning in Calum's voice and scurried off to meet his friends.

"Sorry about that," Calum turned back, smiling again. He had them each put their number in and saved the info with a smile. "I'm so glad I ran into y'all. Hima, I will text you in the morning, and Ashton just let me know when and where." He gave her a quick hug and a peck on the cheek which made her blush furiously. He shook Ashton's hand and everything seemed to pause as they locked eyes, exchanging smiles. The handshake lingered a beat too long before they both pulled back completely flustered.

"See you guys then," Calum made a hasty retreat towards Nick and his friends.

"What did you do?" Ashton hissed, feeling dizzy, excited, terrified, and nauseous all at once.

"We'll just have to see, won't we? You two are obviously into each other," Hima tossed her hair over her shoulder, giving Ashton a pointed look.

"I'm not trying to start anything, you know that. Since the divorce it's been too hard and-" Ashton stopped when she put her finger to his lips.

"It's an interview. With a very attractive reporter. You'll be in your element, you can hide behind your food and your knives, but you can get through this. I want my feature." She glared at him and stood on her tiptoes trying to go eye to eye with him.

He had to laugh. Hima was impossible to stay cross with. As he glanced back over towards Calum, he couldn't deny he was intrigued. Don't get your hopes up, Irwin.

Kabir came over to drag them back to his friends. Ashton spent the next hour dancing with Kabir's girlfriend and watching his friends try to hit on Hima without getting caught. Hima's family was overprotective, and her mother was constantly pressuring Kabir to find his sister a good match. As a result, she kept her private life closely guarded, even Ashton didn't know much, although he suspected she had a thing going with one of the servers at Anne-Marie's.

As the song ended, he realized he had to pee. Ashton excused himself and followed the neon arrows to a dimly lit hallway decorated with glow in the dark graffiti. He made his way past the line for the women's room and around two people noisily making out next to the emergency exit. He reached the men's room door just as it swung open towards him. He stumbled back to avoid being hit and collided with the couple behind him. An arm shot out from the tangled bodies, shoving him forward chest first into the man who'd just come out of the bathroom. Ashton put his hands up to steady himself, inhaling the scent of leather and whiskey with a faint whiff of stale tobacco as he looked at Calum's face inches from his own.

"Sorry, uh, I was pushed," Ashton apologized, unable to stop staring at the other man's lips.

"It's ok," Calum's heart was pounding, and he was sure Ashton could feel it through his jacket. He was tempted to make a move and go in for a kiss. He paused long enough to remember the interview, and not wanting to have another misstep, he let the moment pass. "It's all yours," he said squeezing over so Ashton could pass.

Ashton paused, confused, but remembered he was headed to the bathroom. "Thanks, uh, see ya," he replied trying not to stammer. Yeah, that was smooth, he thought. Before he closed the door, he looked back and caught Calum looking back at him.hey both smiled before the crowd closed in and he lost eye contact. He had to stand and splash cold water on his face to get his pulse back to normal. When he looked in the mirror, he saw that his face was still very pink and he was grinning like a fool. I didn't just imagine that did I? What am I doing? What am I going to cook for him?

*********

Ashton jumped at the sound of the buzzer even though he was expecting her. He quickly let her up, and within seconds Hima was at his door.

"How did it go?" He hadn't even fully opened the door before the question was past his lips.

"Eager much? Why don't you get me a drink, and I'll decide what I want to tell you," she said, taking off her jacket and hanging it up.

"You impertinent bitch," Ashton cracked up and headed to the kitchen to put on the kettle.

"You sound like my mother," Hima settled at the bar facing him.

Ashton had expanded his kitchen so he could install a six top gas range and a convection oven while giving himself extra counter space with a small sink directly across and a small island in between. Instead of a dining room, he had an L-shaped bar where he could serve guests directly from the kitchen. He pulled a pitcher of cold brew out of the fridge and poured himself a glass with a splash of cashew milk adding a splash to her cup of hot chai.

"It's such a shame you're gay. We'd have such a great marriage," she joked blowing on her tea.

"I love you too much to marry you, darling," Ashton replied as always.

"Good thing I like my new stepdaddy," she told him, and he choked on his coffee.

"So what did you guys talk about?" He asked when he'd recovered.

"Mostly me, but also you. What do you want first, the details about him or what he asked about you?" Hima smirked at him, almost laughing when he glared at her.

"I'll let you decide, how about that?" Ashton rummaged through the refrigerator before pulling out a loaf of bread.

"Ooh snack time. When did you go to the market? I thought you opened for Rafi today. What are you gonna make for him?" She fired off, trying to crane her neck to see what he bought.

"Nope, you're gonna talk or you're not getting fed. I went before I went in at ten and I stayed till eight. I've barely got home, and I don't need your attitude, young lady. Now spill it," he told her as he pulled out a couple of onions and some gruyere cheese.

"I love it when you're pissy. It looks so good on you. So I took him to Parvati's and ordered chana masala on roasted sweet potatoes. It was so good, I wish you liked Indian food more. We talked about my family, and how they're mostly engineers and lawyers but food was my passion. Confessed that when we first met, I had the biggest crush on you because you were so handsome." She giggled and made a show of fluttering her eyelashes at him. Ashton blushed and threw a caper at her. Hima swatted it back at him and kept talking. "Calum agreed you were handsome by the way. So I told him how you'd mentored me, and when you left the Hilton to open Anne-Marie's, you brought me with you. It was very heartwarming, and I promise I made you look good. He asked a few questions about you, but it was mostly professional stuff. What was it like working for you? What kind of collaborative effort went into the menu? Stuff like that," she shrugged watching Ashton heat up some soup as the sandwiches cooked.

"Well, that's a lot of nothing. I thought you were better than that," Ashton said, pouting his lips at her.

"I know he asked if you were single, but he was hella smooth about it. He asked what kind of gift he should bring tomorrow, whether it should be a bottle of wine or something you could share if you had a roommate. Don't worry, I let him know you were single, but I was cool about it," Hima grinned at her boss's discomfort. He cut the sandwich in half and poured a cup of soup to go with it. He cut some fresh chives to top off the soup along with some crème Fraiche and fresh cracked pepper.

She stopped talking to enjoy the food. Ashton introduced her to cream of celery soup and it quickly became a favorite. The sandwich was beyond good yet incredibly simple: sauteed onions on a grilled cheese sandwich made with Ashton's homemade compound shallot-butter.

"I'm disappointed, I thought you were better than that," Ashton raised his eyebrows at her.

"I'm not done, I'm just enjoying the food. My compliments to the chef." Hima ripped a piece of crust off her sandwich and dipped it in her soup. "I found out some things about Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome," she told him before running her tongue along the edge of the bread and then taking a bite.

Ashton laughed and flipped her off. He had pastry cream cooking in a double boiler, so he was continuously stirring between bites.

Watching him work, she never knew if she was completely in awe of him or a little in love with him, but probably both if she was honest with herself. She'd told Calum as much, off the record of course. It always amazed her how his large hands could be so nimble and quick with a knife, yet so delicate and careful when he was garnishing and plating. She'd told Calum how grateful she was that Ashton had given her such a huge opportunity without being patronizing or expecting her to touch his cock.

People might think cooking would be a natural fit for a woman but professional kitchens were very much a man's world. You had to be physically and mentally tough. She was lucky that she'd gotten out the hotels before she'd been subjected to sexual harassment, but she'd seen enough. Ashton didn't tolerate any kind of physical or verbal harassment, but every cook could curse a blue streak and work through an injury. Most cooks wore their scars like battle wounds. Hima had a jagged thin white line trailing down her left forearm from a staple on a lettuce box that ripped her flesh open while putting away a truck. Ashton had a couple of red welts from the panini grill decorating his arms and a gnarly pink, puckered scar on his left wrist from an accident with molten sugar years ago.

"Ok so, he's a year and a half younger than you, turns 28 in January actually. Aquarius, so that should be fun. Never married, but he's got the kid," Hima informed him.

"That really came out of nowhere the other night. I never would've guessed that," Ashton said over his shoulder, turning his back on her to keep stirring.

"It happened when he was in high school. His first girlfriend, their senior year of high school. They'd already been broken up for two months when they got the news, just when he'd started to figure out his sexuality. They tried to get back together for the sake of their daughter but quickly realized it wouldn't work in a traditional way. Now they're best friends and co-parents to Vanessa Joy. In fact, when Nicole married her boyfriend, Michael, two years ago Calum walked her down the aisle," Hima told him.

Ashton's jaw dropped. "What the hell, Hima? You guys had lunch one time and you know his life story."

"My mother's interrogation skills rubbed off I guess. His daughter also happened to call while he was with me. It was so cute; she made the honor roll and he was so proud. He apologized for taking the call during lunch but said he always has to answer if it's his daughter or his mom."

Ashton turned towards Hima, smiling and blushing, "I can respect that."

"I'm sure you can, Mama's boy," she replied. "Honestly the two of you are adorable. A pair of smitten kittens. He kept asking questions about what it's like to work with you. What are you like as a boss? And every question he got this funny little smile and couldn't look at me. I really hate that you get the best looking guys. It's bad enough you look like that," Hima gestured at him as she looked him up and down. "First Luke, and now Calum, I'm so jealous. That being said I really hope you hook up with him. You could stand to get laid."

"Watch it," he cautioned, not wanting to kill the mood.

"Sorry, but the other night y'all had some serious chemistry. You should go for it. Speaking of, I gotta go. Kabir is having a date night so I actually don't have to go home," she checked her phone, and Ashton didn't recognize the gaudy pink glitter case.

She caught his puzzled expression and laughed, "My mom checks my location, so my iPhone and my car stay at Maisie's. Everything gets forwarded here, and I don't have to answer a million questions."

"You're 24, how are you still dealing with this? When is your mother going to treat you like an adult?" Ashton shook his head, he never understood how she dealt with her family.

She sighed, "It's impossible to explain unless you have Asian parents. My mom grew up here, but my grandparents were still very much rooted in India. If you think my mom is difficult, you should've met grandma." A text came in, and she wrinkled her nose in annoyance reading it. "Why am I the only person who's punctual?" She muttered to herself before looking back at Ashton. "So what are you making tomorrow for the big date, I mean, interview? Mind if I smoke?"

He shook his head and followed her onto the balcony. "Stop saying that, I'm nervous enough as it is. I'm starting with a wilted chard salad with figs and goat cheese, and maybe a soup. I haven't decided, but for the main, I'm making mushroom Wellington with my specialty Mac and cheese and whatever vegetables I pick up at the market tomorrow morning. I'm making a sorbet for dessert. I was going to make a pavlova, but I don't have the patience for merengue right now."

"Calum doesn't stand a chance, he'll be thoroughly seduced. Then I'll get my magazine story and be a star. People will start asking me for photos on the street, they'll learn how to pronounce my name, and I'm only going by Hima. I think I can get away with just one name, like Madonna, Beyonce, and Cher. Don't you? I promise the fame won't go to my head. I'll still be Hima from the block."

Ashton cracked up. "Ok there, Roxy Hart," he teased. "You are so extra, it's too much for an old gay like myself."

"You're not even thirty," she protested. Another text came in and her eyes lit up. She stubbed her cigarette out on the bottom of her shoe before wiping it clean with a napkin and stuffed both in her purse to throw away outside. "You've just gotta get back on the horse, and Calum seems like the type who'd be into chaps and spurs."

"Don't you have places to go, people to do?" He asked, walking her to the door.

"Sure do, good luck tomorrow," she kissed his cheek and was gone.

*********

Calum finished the dishes and popped another antacid in his mouth. Spicy food didn't used to give him heartburn. Getting old I guess. His dog, Brutus, danced around his feet begging for a treat.

"Not gonna happen, old man," he bent down to scratch the pooch behind his ears, but Brutus immediately flipped over for a belly rub. "Greedy bastard," Calum chuckled but obliged with a ton down and chin scratches. He found a chew stick on the couch and tossed it over by the dog's bed, and soon Brutus was curled up contentedly gnawing himself to sleep.

Calum watched his little guy for a bit before heading to his desk to type out a rough draft. Hima was a firecracker, full of energy and ideas, and hard to keep up with. She talked a mile a minute, often switching topics mid-thought as she spoke. He'd had his voice recorder on, but he liked to write his first draft from memory. He admired her passion for her work, and her determination to follow her own path. She was fiercely loyal to Ashton and grateful for the opportunity he'd given her. Calum would've suspected she was a bit smitten with her boss, but she openly admitted her crush. She was quick to insist Ashton had never encouraged or entertained the idea, but she didn't need to tell him that.

Calum knew all about Ashton's history, the cheating, the fights, the messy breakup that brought the restaurant down. He exhaled, nervous about having that conversation. He shut his laptop, now too distracted to write. It's just an interview, calm down. He tried to be rational, but his thoughts kept drifting back to bumping into Ashton at the bar. The pink shirt, the star tattoo begging to be traced with his tongue, those hazel eyes that made his heart jump into his stomach. He tried to focus on his laptop. This article wasn't going to write itself.

****

Ashton laid on his back, concentrating on his breathing as he pressed his knees to the floor in reclining bound angle pose. He'd had too much coffee, and although his body was tired, his mind was racing. His phone was vibrating on the dresser, but Ashton ignored it, moving into a butterfly pose and touching his forehead to the floor. He exhaled, trying to clear his mind. But all he could think about was Calum Hood. He had a brand new restaurant to run. Now was not a good time to become infatuated with a handsome reporter. So why haven't you stopped smiling all day?

He breathed deeply, in, out, in, out. But he couldn't concentrate, couldn't calm down. He pushed himself off the floor and grabbed his water off the table. He opened his phone and was surprised to see a notification from the restaurant security system.

Alarm deactivated at 12:02 AM

Alarm Panel 2

Code: 4452

Ashton realized Hima was at the restaurant. He knew she usually went there after her accounting class but that definitely wasn't the case tonight. Probably popped in for a bottle of wine, which doesn't sound like a bad idea.

The kitchen tiles were chilly beneath his bare feet as he headed towards the small wine fridge on his counter. Craving something sweet, he found a Shiraz he'd been saving and poured a small glass. He scrolled through Spotify, picking a playlist at random, and Robyn's "Dancing on my Own" came over the speakers following him through the apartment back into his bedroom. He caught sight of himself in the mirror and paused.

He pulled his shirt off and turned around examining the freshly-healed Phoenix tattoo decorating his left side from his hip to the top of his ribs, covering up the tattoo of Luke's name, birth date, and their wedding date. He trusted his tattoo artist and let him have creative freedom on the brightly-colored feathers and flames. It turned out beautifully. He turned sideways, rubbing his stomach and flexing in the mirror. He was in the best shape he'd been in since he was a teenager. Yoga kept him toned and lean so he was muscled without being bulky.

I'm giving it my all

But I'm not the girl you're taking home

He let the Swedish synth-pop beat take over, his hips swaying as he listened to lyrics about loneliness and feeling left out.

I keep dancing on my own

The irony wasn't lost on him as he kept dancing, moving away from the mirror. The next song was too slow so he quickly scrolled looking for something better. He clicked on Whitney Houston's "How Will I Know," and began to sing along. He saw that Hima hadn't left the restaurant and opened up the security camera feed on his phone to make sure she was ok.

****

The more Calum stared at the screen the more his concentration drifted. He wondered if Ashton had a type. Cal knew he was decent looking, but he wasn't Luke Hemmings. He snorted at the thought of that simpering pretty boy. Luke was a spoiled child, soft and weak, thinking only of himself. I bet he's selfish in bed, probably a bossy bottom He was surprised at the surge of jealousy he felt. Don't bring Finn into this. He rubbed his temples at the memory of finding out his then-boyfriend was cheating with Luke.

Finn was always looking for an opportunity, whatever would take him to the next level. His relationship of almost a year with Calum failed to get him noticed in the food press. Finn felt Ashton didn't give him enough credit at Lune Rouge and whined constantly about it. Cal was having his own career struggles at the time and personally thought Finn was acting like a spoiled brat instead of being grateful for the opportunity. They began to spend less time together after Calum's snarky review caused a huge blow up. So when Ashton and Luke's relationship began to fray, Finn had time to lend a sympathetic ear. Calum suspected Finn was cheating, but he bought into the “golden couple” bullshit so Luke never crossed his mind. Calum was shocked and gutted when he walked in on the two of them one afternoon. Finn was supposed to be out of town, and Calum popped by to check on his dogs. The sound of sex greeted him when he opened the door and he should have left right then. His curiosity got the better of him, and he walked towards the bedroom. Their moans masked the sound of his boots as someone had a very loud orgasm. Calum opened the door as they were falling away from each other. He walked in to find them panting for breath, sweaty and beautiful with the afterglow. Luke panicked and tried to hide himself, but Finn didn't flinch.

"Well, I guess you know now," he said, smirking as his green eyes met Calum's. "If you're down for it, we've been talking about trying a third. You can top us both if you want." He shrugged and Calum physically felt the spell break. Looking back, he knew Finn broke his ego more than his heart. He'd been humiliated when it all came out, but he knew the affair had been worse for Ashton. He could tell Ashton was still damaged but definitely not broken. Wouldn't mind letting him break me, Calum thought, his mind wandering back to that unbuttoned pink shirt, Ashton's chest and neck begging to be marked up. I bet he likes it rough.

Calum caught himself daydreaming again and blinked the half-filled word document back into focus. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had a crush on someone, and he felt ridiculous. How am I gonna get through this interview? It didn't help that Hima kept teasing him about it being a date. Calum's last date, with Nick the lawyer, had been a disaster. He'd ended up leaving after Nick disappeared on another phone call.

The truth was, he was excited about this interview and wished it really was a date. He'd scheduled a quick haircut and shave in the morning and carefully picked out an outfit. He figured his short-sleeve, red button-up paired with a black tank underneath would show off his arms while helping to hide his tummy pudge. He rubbed his stomach, still poking out from the leftover Indian food he'd finished off an hour ago, before letting his hand wander down and brushing his fingers across his cock and feeling it twitch in his basketball shorts. He wondered what Ashton would be wearing tomorrow. He pictured Ashton at the club, the ripped black jeans and the pink shirt unbuttoned enough to tease him. His dick twitched in his hand, waking up and demanding attention.

****

Ashton gasped and almost dropped his phone at the sight of Hima standing in the break room in nothing but her bra and panties. He hadn't recovered from that shock when a male figure crawled into the frame. It took Ashton several seconds to realize the man was nude and covered in tattoos. The tattoos rang a bell, and he realized he was looking at Dakota, model/actor, Maisie's nephew, and a server at Anne Marie's. Dakota was a dark, brooding pretty boy with a perfect pink pout and tousled dark curls that he was always brushing out of his eyes. He was great at his job, but other than that he'd made no impression on Ashton, until now. Ashton watched the younger man on his knees in front of Hima as he sucked on her bright pink cock. What the fuck is happening?

Ashton blinked at his screen, still processing everything when Dakota stood up and bent over the table. Hima lined up behind him and thrust her hips against his ass. Ashton gulped for air and felt beads of sweat break out on his upper lip. He watched for a minute, hypnotized by Dakota writhing in pleasure, his black curls bouncing with every stroke, shoulders hunching over as he gripped the table. Ashton's mind flashed to Calum and what it would look like to have him bent over like that. He realized his dick was getting hard and quickly closed the app, feeling embarrassed for invading her privacy. He fumbled getting his phone into his pocket and accidentally skipped to the next song. "Anytime, Any Place," by Janet Jackson filled the room. He laughed to himself at the sexy song and took another sip of wine.

****

Calum squeezed himself through his clothes. He vaguely remembered Finn telling him Ashton was rumored to have a massive cock. He groaned at the thought of Ashton's hazel eyes looking down at him while he was on his knees. He imagined Ashton's cock brushing against his lips, teasing both of them. Calum groaned and gave up any pretense of trying to work. He stood up too quickly and knocked his chair over causing Brutus to wake from a dead sleep and start barking his head off.

"It's ok, boy," Calum assured him, making sure he laid back down before going into his bedroom and shutting the door. Moments later he was stripped down to his boxers and shirt digging through his top dresser drawer until he found the small bag hiding under his socks. He pulled a bottle of lube and a small silicone sleeve out of the bag and walked back to the bed. He peeled off his shirt, kicked off his underwear and laid on his back on the bed. His cock was flat against his stomach, and as Calum reached for it he wondered what Ashton was doing right now.

****

Ashton felt the plug slip into his ass and shivered at the chill of the stainless steel. He wiped his hands off on a towel and walked out of the bathroom into his bedroom. The music was still playing. Janet's silky smooth voice gave way to Beyonce’s sultry vocals

Baby put your arms around me

Tell me I'm a problem

He walked back into his bedroom, feeling delicious shivers from the pressure on his prostate as he moved. The city lights illuminated the room from the open blinds on the balcony.

Stop acting so scared, just do what I tell

First go through my legs, go back on your head

And whatever you want, yeah baby I'll bet it comes true

He reached down and squeezed his dick, rubbing his thumb over the tip down to the sensitive underside of the ridge. Pulling the shaft down and away from his body, pushing almost to the point of pain before easing up and giving it a nice slow stroke. He repeated the motion, each time pulling a little harder, edging a little closer to making it hurt, each time when he pulled back the relief was more intense. His fantasies were new visions: dark eyes and black curls still coming into focus in his mind's eye. He squeezed his muscles around the plug as he tapped the remote on the table next to him. The plug began to vibrate on the lowest speed and Ashton hissed at the sensation. He wondered if he'd let Calum fuck him. Ashton didn't bottom very often. Luke didn't like to do the work, rarely agreed to switch up and whined whenever he did. Calum looked like he could give as well as he got.

***

Calum grunted as he pushed his cock, slick and shiny with lube, into the sleeve. His hips jerked upwards into the air as the countless smooth nubby fingers lining the inside of the toy closed around his swollen shaft, gripping and massaging the taut skin with every stroke. He screwed his eyes shut picturing Ashton on his back with his knees pulled up to his chest as he begged for him. Calum bit his lip to stifle a moan, slowing down his speed, not wanting to cum too fast. Hima told him Ashton called himself a “bendy boy” and had a strict yoga routine which just sent Calum's mind spinning, picturing trying different positions until Ashton was screaming for him. Calum moved his hand away, leaving the toy. The scenario in his mind began to switch up. The only thing Calum could think of hotter than fucking Ashton was getting railed by his massive cock.

****

The combed cotton, high-thread-count pillowcase felt velvety soft and air-conditioned chilled when he bunched the pillow in his fists as he thrust his hips, burying his shaft in the soft folds. It felt amazing but was cold comfort when he was craving Calum's body heat. He turned the remote up a notch and adjusted the settings; a pulse pattern began throbbing against his core. He squeezed down on his dick even harder. He could feel the delicate feathers snapping under his fingers, but he didn't care. Ashton ached for release, longing to have Calum in his bed tonight. Every nerve in his body seemed to come alive as his orgasm began to build. His hips pumped faster trying to match the pulsing rhythm inside him. He wanted Calum, with a craving he’d never felt before. Something in those dark eyes challenged Ashton. There was something about this mysterious reporter that he needed to discover. He was getting closer with every stroke, the fantasy switching to pounding Calum into the mattress, seeing how well he could throw it back. The image was too much and he shuddered, cursing out loud as his climax hit. His hips stuttered and his legs wobbled, forcing him to his knees. The vibrator extended his orgasm, milking him drop by drop as he whimpered and fumbled for the remote. When he finally turned it off, he rolled onto his back and tried to catch his breath, thankful he'd bought a nice fluffy rug to put next to his bed. .

****

Calum flipped over onto his stomach, grinding down with his hips, the sleeve moving with the friction. He wondered if Ashton was vanilla or if he could get into Calum's slight pain kink. He'd looked for Ashton on FetLife to no avail, but he was fairly sure he'd found Hima so that was a surprise. Calum reached up and tugged his nipple hard as his hips rocked slowly. There was a power to Ashton. He had a dominant side which Calum had clearly seen in his dynamic with Luke, despite Ashton being smaller in size. Calum wanted to see how he'd take charge because he wasn't soft like Luke, but he had no doubt Ashton could handle him. Calum raised himself up on his forearms, pumping his hips furiously. He thought about those arms wrapped around his neck, his teeth grazing Ashton's blood moon tattoos as he bent Cal over and took him hard and fast. He whimpered, biting the pillow, his rhythm starting to stutter as he thought about Ashton looking up at him, eyes wide with Calum's hand at his throat as they reached their high together. Calum was just at the edge when he quickly rolled over, removing the toy and ruining his orgasm. He gasped, his whole body shaking as his release spilled onto his belly. After a moment he reached down, using the sleeve to tease the tip through the aftershocks until it became too sensitive to touch. He was hungry again, so he grabbed a Kleenex and wiped himself off as best he could before walking, still naked, back through his house to turn on the oven. Pizza was always a good snack after sex, and he had an article to work on.

@sublimehood @tea4sykes @be-ready-when-i-say-go @scribblesos @kiiiimberlyriiiicker1995 @wildmichaelflower @castaway-cashton @damselindistressanu @notinthesameguey @cashtonasfuck @irwinkitten @mermaidcashton @malumsmermaid

#calum hood #ashton irwin #cashton #cashton smut #calum hood imagine #calum hood smut #ashton irwin smut #cashton slash #5sos #5sos smut

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haltandcatchfiretothemax · 5 years ago

Text

FEMSLASH FEBRUARY 2020 #5: In which Donna and Cameron enjoy a day off

[CN: food, cooking]

It’s the first summer Friday of the year, Cameron has moved in, Haley is home from her first year of college, and so Donna decides to start an annual tradition of celebrating the new season with some ‘me-time’: she sleeps later than usual (but still not as late as Cameron does), does some morning laps in the pool, takes a nice long shower, puts on a favorite outfit, has brunch with Haley and a groggy Cameron, and then sets out for San Francisco to get her hair and nails done. She listens to the radio in the car, meets Diane at the salon, has a late lunch with her after their appointments and then, on her own again, checks out a bookstore she’s never been to and a favorite bakery before heading back home around 4.

An hour later Donna comes home to a lively, noisy house, which is genuinely and unironically her favorite thing. Cameron is in the living room, parked on the couch, tv on for noise, with her notepad, two different notebooks, and a bunch of random sheets of paper with diagrams she’s made for the game she’s developing. Haley and Vanessa are in the kitchen, talking and laughing, and already starting dinner. “Hey, you monkeys, what are you doing to my house?” she calls out.

Cameron looks up from her notepad, and Vanessa momentarily freezes. Haley says, “Be cool, she’s kidding.”

Donna goes to the kitchen first, and sets a pair of baguettes in a paper wrapper and a light blue cardboard bakery box down on the island counter. “Are we still having ratatouille? I got some bread and some dessert to match.”

Vanessa opens the bakery box and says, “Is this a creme caramel?”

“You know it,” Donna grins, pulling Haley in for a hug. “How’s it going in here, though? Need any help?”

They don’t, but even if they did, Vanessa doesn’t think she’d make it through the preparation of an entire meal with Donna there. “No, we’re good,” she says. “Dessert should probably be in the fridge for now though?”

“Alrighty,” Donna smiles, grabbing the bakery box. She glides over to the refrigerator, pulls open the door, and puts the bakery box on the bottom shelf. “Now that that’s put away, I’ll excuse myself so I can go bug my business partner!”

Donna goes back to the living room, and from behind the couch, she quietly says, “Hey, weirdo. Can I sit? Or am I interrupting the genius at work?”

Without looking up, Cameron says, “I can hear you using your sassy, teasing voice, but it’s okay, because we both know that you really do think my code is genius, and that you wouldn’t want to disrupt my work or workspace unnecessarily.” She finally does look up at Donna, who is beaming down at her, and glowing after a relaxing day. “You look great,” Cameron says.

“I tried,” Donna chuckles.

Hurriedly, Cameron gathers up all her diagrams and notebooks and piles everything onto the coffee table, “Please, sit, welcome to my office….”

“Well, thank you,” Donna steps around the couch. She sits down right next to Cameron. “How was your day?”

Cameron hesitates, and then says, “Is it weird that I still feel like it’s weird to say my day was good?”

Donna sits back, and makes herself comfortable. “I don’t think it’s that weird. Sometimes we just don’t wanna jinx it.”

“Right,” Cameron nods, relieved to be somewhat understood.

Happy to rephrase, Donna asks, “So what’d you get up to while I was out?”

“Not much,” Cameron says. “I did some work, and then I spent some quality Donkey Kong time with Haley, and then I checked on the garden, and then it was so nice out that I went for a walk, but after 3pm….”

“Oh, good, you were listening when I told you that the sun is strongest before then and that it’s better to be out in the sun later in the afternoon when possible!” Donna enthuses.

“Of course I was listening, Boss,” Cameron sits back to be closer to her. “And I also put on sunblock before I went for my walk, because I knew I’d be exposed to the sun’s harmful rays for longer than fifteen minutes. How’s Diane, though?”

“She’s great, she sends her regards, and says that Bos is looking forward to dinner with you tomorrow night.”

“What did you end up doing with hour hair?” Cameron asks her. “Did you end up going ‘just a little lighter, for summer’ like you’ve been saying you would for the past month?”

“Why yes, I did,” Donna smirks. “Again, I’m so glad to know that you listen to me when I talk about things that aren’t computer or video game-related!”

“You really do look great,” Cameron says. She picks up Donna’s hand, and admires her bright coral nail polish. “You always look great. I always look like an alien from a planet without clothes that fell to earth and then put on whatever scraps of fabric I was able to scavenge in that first day I was here.”

“Which is a very distinct and valid style in it’s own right,” Donna says.

Cameron’s face colors slightly. “You don’t ever wish you were with someone who’s like, capable of looking like a grown woman?”

“Never,” Donna whispers. “I am more than satisfied with my very tall former child prodigy and her casual, youthful, androgynous dress.”

Cameron sighs, and rests her head on Donna’s shoulder. “Sometimes I hope that you’ll surprise me and come home from the salon with red hair.”

Donna grins. “And my old ‘Everything Is Bigger in Texas’ extra large roller curls?”

“Sometimes you still have big red hair in my dreams,” Cameron admits.

“Well, that’s okay,” Donna pulls her closer. “Sometimes I miss the bowl cut.”

Wryly, Cameron says, “That was a rough time. For all of us.”

Wistfully, Donna says, “Yeah. But how glad am I that I met you and your hair during that rough time?”

Cameron pulls her legs up toward her and folds them so she can curl up next to Donna for a little while before dinner. “We did get very, very lucky,” she agrees.

#it's fine #i can just sit here thinking about cameron and donna sleeping next to each other every night #and still having dreams about each other and their lives together back in the '80s #doesn't hurt my heart at all!#femslash february #femslash february 2020 #fic #fan fiction #cameron howe #donna clark #donna emerson #haley clark

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latitudesunknown · 4 years ago

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Tiny Haven Gazette #3

In which I drop the gazette format because it takes an ungodly amount of time and nobody cares. 🎉

My house gets a first floor, and coincidentally, my storage doubles, which is a relief. That should free me from spending 30mn every day desperately trying to figure out what to part with for at least a month.

So much space!

And now that it’s been upgraded, I get more customization options and can change the outside of my house!

¨🦄¨

By sheer dumb luck, I finally figure out how to get money trees!!!! I can’t believe it took me so long (although I’m very happy I never looked the answer up online). I should have known there was something up with the glowing golden hole that appeared whenever you dug up some money, that thing was clearly magic!

My pockets were full, so I had no choice but to bury back the money bag I’d just dug out, and this happened. Honestly considering how often I walk around with full pockets I’m astounded this didn’t happen sooner.

So now I have a little money tree orchard. Next experience: does the money tree give you MORE money if you plant a bigger money bag? Tried it this morning, will get an answer in a few days.

¨🦄¨

Raiiiiinbow!

That’s it. There’s no story to go with it, but it’s the first rainbow I’ve seen in the game!

¨🦄¨

I can’t stop thinking about that sweet little cow I saw on @astorytotellyourfriends ‘s island last week, so I decide to build the last house in the hopes of finding her on an island and inviting her over.

In the process, I realize I could have built myself a beach house all along.

Damnit!

To my horror, however, the very next morning, the house has been sold to a stranger!

Thankfully, my new neighbour, while not being Norma, is just as sweet.

I covet her living room SO BADLY. And also I kinda wanna eat her. Why would you design a rhinoceros to look like a cake?! She must get nightmares where people run after her, trying to bite off her strawberry horn.

¨🦄¨

Shortly after, and as a result of me ignoring him completely for a few days, Phebus FINALLY decides to leave the island.

I actually took a chance when I decided to talk to him, considering that’s the way he always looks.

“Good luck with the neighbours, their stories and their problems... you’re going to need a good dose of patience!”

That shouldn’t be a problem because, unlike you, I actually like people!

And because I like people, of course, joke’s on me, because I feel super sad to see him leave. 🙄

¨🦄¨

Following his departure, I start buying mystery island tickets like a crazy person, hoping to bump into Norma, but so far, no luck.

Why did I meet so many chickens?!

It’s the second day Phebus’s old house is on sale and I’m sure it’ll get sold to a random NPC any second now. The stress is intense!

¨🦄¨

I don’t know what’s up with them but everyone on the island keeps asking me if they should change their catchphrases! After the tenth time, I finally give in with Lili, assuming she’ll just come up with a new one on her own, but then am faced with a horrible screen that is asking ME to come up with something on the spot!

Have I mentioned how much I love it when she makes that face?

It took me ten minutes and some internet research to come up with this. This is too big of a responsibility!!

At least she was happy about it.

I’ve gone back to refusing to help the others, though. At least not until I can come up with proper catchphrases for them!

¨🦄¨

For the very first time, I get asked to play postman for my villagers. See, Nacer’s been bonding with Kali (no wonder, since they’re both jocks), but he was too shy to give him a present himself.

“Kali has helped me so much, I picked up a present for him. But I’m too shy to give it to him myself...”

Feeling like cupid, I hurry to Kali’s house. 👼🏹💘

“A frog costume! Oh la la!”

I have to admit that wasn’t the kind of gift I’d been expecting considering how much they both love sports, but ok!

“Did Kali say something about the gift?”

That was super cute, I hope I’ll get more requests like it!

¨🦄¨

In the span of one week I must have learnt about 20 new mimics, which, honestly, I find baffling. Most of them are just sliiiiight variations, it’s ridiculous. In the game I used to work on we ended up with about 50 expressions per character, but that was because they needed to express a wide range of emotions in very subtle ways. You don’t need that for cute island critters, especially when emoting is such a slow process in the first place!

¨🦄¨

Justine visits again one night, which gets everyone on the island talking.

“Since we have a visitor, I’ve baked some cakes. I hope she’ll like them...”

“I absolutely MUST tell her ‘hi’ before she leaves!”

“No, don’t mind me, you’ve got a visitor! Focus on being a good hostess!”

I like their reactions so much I spend more time speaking with my islanders than my visitors whenever I have one, haha.

Also, I love the smoke trails in the sky whenever a plane leaves. That small connection to a bigger world is very comforting.

¨🦄¨

Abraham, true to himself, is adorable.

“Good evening, sweets! Grum grom grom... My tummy also says good evening!”

🥰

Later we play to a little game with freakishly accurate results.

“Let’s play! Tell me your favourite color, and I will tell you what food you are.”

“You chose orange, which means you’re easy to live with, but you can also sometimes feel lonely.”

In the end, he said I was an onion. Layers, y’see.

¨🦄¨

I also finally figure out how to eavesdrop on people’s conversations, and get treated to many a story.

Lili : I just read my horoscope... You’re not gonna believe it! It’s sick!

Phebus : What am I supposed to not believe, exactly? The horoscope, or the fact that you managed to read it through? You know what, just tell me what it said, let’s get this over with.

Lili : Listen to this... “Your travels will bring good surprises.” Isn’t that sick?! Especially for me, because I love good surprises!

Phebus : Um... I guess? I mean, I don’t know. How did that make you sick? I’m confused.

Lili : Nah, just wait! After that, I went shopping, and it was the spring sales! Get that, I got a sweet little dress on sale! I was so happy I thought I was going to pass out!

Phebus : What?! Don’t kid with that! D’you need me to call for help?

Lili (totally ignoring him) : So anyway I put on my new dress and went for a walk. And that’s when it started raining big time, and I got drenched... Why didn’t my horoscope warn me about that?!

Phebus : I don’t know... have you tried reading the weather column instead?

¨🦄¨

I catch Vanessa and Maëlle talking about a movie they both watched... except they both remember it very differently...

Maëlle : Oh, Vanessa, thanks for lending me that movie, I loved it! The costumes were gorgeous... I want the leading lady’s straw hat!

Vanessa : And that chase in hydro planes! Pfiiiiiiiouuu, ppfffz, ka-BOUM! That was awesome sauce!

Maëlle : And that dress with golden trimmings that she wears at the picnic... that was fine art!

Vanessa : And what about the fight against the giant robot? When he punches a hole in the planet? Whazaam!

Maëlle : Yes! He really stole the scene with his diamond plates... It must have cost a fortune! ... ... Wait, did you say he punched a hole in a planet? Was that before or after the ball?

😂

¨🦄¨

Later, I find the same two talking about Maëlle’s insect infestation problem (probably caused by all the sweets she keeps in her house, just saying). When she asks me what I would do, I tell her I’d just move out, which gets me a VERY judgmental look from Vanessa.

“How do you manage to get rid of them?”

Vanessa’s solution, in the end, is for Maëlle to sell her house to “an insect-loving weirdo”. I wish I knew if that was a dig at Abraham or if it’s just a coincidence.

“Bah, that can’t be impossible. You just need a real weirdo who thinks insects aren’t so bad!”

¨🦄¨

Lili and Raymond get into a big argument about Lili’s cooking skills...

Raymond : By the way, Lili, I haven’t thanked you for lunch the other day! It was very good!

Lili : “Very good”? Seriously, don’t you have something even more corny? Nobody says that anymore! Don’t you mean it was delicious? Or maybe extremely refined? Or maybe super exquisite?

Raymond : Oh! You’re right, I’m sorry. Um, it was... delectable... succulent... A concentrate of sheer deliciousness!

Lili : And?

Raymond : And... every bite sent my taste buds into a transcendental ecstasy?

Lili : Oh! Is that a question or a statement, Raymond?

Raymond : A statement, of course! Pff... All that to describe a stupid sole meunière...

Lili : Don’t tell me you’ve just called my sole meunière, my mother’s own recipe!, “stupid”?!

I’m still amazed that they parted in good terms, I thought for sure Lili would keep on fuming

¨🦄¨

After trying to get my first residents to spruce up their apartments, with mitigating results...

I mean, the ball, jars and punching sack are all gifts of mine, so that’s cool he’s got them all out at the same time, but that’s still a sad little barren house.

I finally look it up online and discover their houses are actually not supposed to be like this at all! Turns out poor Nacer, Vanessa, Abraham, Renée and Lili are all stuck with generic houses because they got to my island too soon!

This is what Renée’s house should look like!

So I’ve decided to try and gift them all their true houses’ furniture, little by little. I know they can’t change their wallpapers or floors, but hopefully if I get them the right couches, beds, etc, they’ll display them all. 🤞

#animal crossing #animal crossing new horizons #long post #my post

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artificialqueens · 5 years ago

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How Far I'll Go Chapter Six (Ninex) - Mia Ugly, Meggie

A/N: We’re baaaaack! Hi hello how are you? LIFE is crazy. We’re so sorry it took so long to get this chapter to you guys, but honestly, Snatch Game was probably the hardest thing we’ve written. It’s hard to be funny. I’m going to be way nicer to queens who do badly on Snatch Game from here on out because it’s not easy, mama. Anyway. We hope you enjoy this SUPER MEGA SIZED CHAPTER (10.5k!) to make up for the super long hiatus. And hopefully we’ll be back with more very soon. Come visit us on our blogs: @mia-ugly and @artificialmeggie

Previously: The runway was purple, but Blair’s Scarlett O'Hara realness wasn’t enough to save a poor performance and she was sent packing. Brooke and Vanjie are (most definitely) probably still messing around, and Nina and Monet had a moment backstage when Nina narrowly avoided elimination. Or was it a moment? Oh, and Nina’s probably losing his mind.

To come: Katya, Snatch Game, a hotel bar date, and a musical number.

Nina wakes up and is still on Drag Race.

He might be having some kind of a nervous breakdown (and breaking into song periodically) but that’s showbiz, kid.

And now it’s time for the fucking Snatch Game.

Shower, shave, dress.

Prepare for another sloppy Branjie moment in the elevator (and thank God, Nina gets to avoid that for a change). Nina Bo’nina is riding down alone, and the two of them chat distractedly on their way to the conference room.

A few of the mentors are there, but no Monét and no Trixie.

Nina tries not to let that bother him as he nibbles his toast and drinks his coffee. He’s focused this morning, ready for whatever happens next. He’s been thinking about Snatch Game since the moment he got the All Stars call, is determined that this is going to be his challenge (of course, he might have had that thought about the last challenge too… No, nope, move the hell on, girl.)

Nina doesn’t see Brooke until they film the Werk Room entrance. The man looks exhausted. There are circles under his eyes that the makeup guy has done his best to cover, but it’s still obvious Brooke is not at his best. It makes Nina remember that - no matter how stupid the Canadian is being about Vanjie (and no matter what sort of history he has with Nina’s equally stupid heart), Nina still loves him. Will probably always love him in some kind of way.

“No coffee this morning?” he asks quietly as they’re waiting to get mic’d.

“Not enough.” Brooke pulls down his hideous knitted beanie (where the hell does he keep getting those? A P.A. should - frankly - take them away.)

“Have a late night?” Nina doesn’t really want to know, but if Brooke needs to talk about it -

“Oh no. No. Just - thinking.” He rolls his neck. “Like - we know what’s coming up, right? And last season - it wasn’t my best look.”

Nina barks out a an embarrassingly loud laugh. “No kidding.”

“You didn’t have to find it that funny.”

“It’s pretty funny.”

“You’re a dick, you know that? No matter how sweet Monét thinks you are.”

This makes Nina stop laughing. “Sorry - what?”

“He was just going on about you when he was watching Asia film our scene last episode. Like - ‘try this, Nina does this, blah blah.’”

Nina doesn’t know what to think about that. It makes him feel a bit warm and light-headed, but absolutely incapable of responding.

“Clearly you’ve got her fooled. I know what you’re really like.”

“Haha, yeah.” Nina’s voice is weak and he hopes to God Brooke doesn’t immediately clock his blush. Luckily, Vanjie chooses that moment to start flirting with the sound guy, and Brooke’s attention is suddenly elsewhere. Yes, yes, that’s good. Nina will have to keep Vanjie close by at all times, just in case he needs to distract Brooke.

They all romp into the Werk Room together, Shea and Asia working their few seconds in the doorway for all it’s worth (“pose for me, pose for me, POSE”). They talk a bit about Blair going home, but before they can say much about it there’s the sound of a video message, and the television flickers to life.

“Ladies,” Ru’s face comes onto the screen. “I picked you queens for All Stars because you represent the best of the best. But on second thought… I think I’d like to see some other queens in your place. Sorry, not sorry.”

The video ends.

“What the hell does that mean?” Shea asks.

“Nah, nah.” Vanjie is shaking his head in denial. “We don’t need no more hos up in here. We got too many of y’all already.”

“Hello, hello, hello!” The door opens and Ru comes into the Werk Room, followed by the mentors. Nina tries to smile and look as excited to see Ru as he’s always supposed to be, but - he can’t help being worried about whatever the hell twist is coming up. (Monét winks at him as he comes in, so that’s something. Nina will keep that one brief moment like a diamond in his pocket.)

“Ladies, for this week’s maxi challenge, it’s time for another All Star Edition of Snatch Game!”

Most of the queens around Nina are delighted - except Brooke. Nina can see him smiling, but it’s fragile and fake, and his arms are folded very tightly around himself, legs crossed at the thigh even though he’s standing; a clear indication he’s stressing.

“This time, however, to celebrate my recent single ‘Queens Everywhere’— available now on iTunes—we’re going to do things a little bit differently. I know you’re all amazing queens, but for this Snatch Game, I’d like to see if you have any other queens inside you.” Ru raises a suggestive eyebrow. “Not to give Miss Vanjie an unfair advantage.”

Vanjie’s jaw drops even as he laughs, mutters “shade” through his perfect teeth.

“For this Snatch Game, I’m asking you to channel one of your sisters. We’ve had a lot of iconic queens on this series, so you’ll have plenty of personalities to choose from. And luckily you’ve got some experts here for inspiration. Hashtag Snatch Game All Stars. Gentleman, start your engines. And may the best All Star… win!”

“The fuck?” Vanjie whispers to Nina as soon as Ru leaves. “Bitch, I had a damn plan. I brought the little gold trophies and everything. Watched all the fucking movies. Now I got to be one of y’all’s tired asses? That ain’t fair.”

“Trophies, like - you mean Oscars?”

“Sure, whatever.”

Nina has to admit that he’s kinda thrilled about this twist. He’d been telling anyone who will listen who he was going to be for the Snatch Game if he ever got another chance. He’d had a couple back-ups, of course (they’d all been told to bring a former queen, so honestly, they should have seen this coming from a mile away), but this really couldn’t have gone better for him.

He feels bad for some of the other queens though, especially Vanessa (the bitch was prepped to do Meryl Streep - Brooke’s idea, and a fucking hilarious one. He’d kill to see it).

“X-Queens assemble,” Monét calls over at him, and Nina pats Vanjie on the shoulder, goes off to sit with Monét and Asia.

Monét looks good. Real good. He’s in some loud patterned sweatshirt that has tiny slices of pizza all over it, and another pair of thick-rimmed glasses (white, or maybe baby pink?), and he’s smiling at Nina like - no, nope. Move along.

“It’s actually the Avengers that assemble,” Asia tells Monét, who rolls his eyes at her.

“Girl, you can’t be a bigger nerd than me. I won’t accept it.”

“Yeah, ‘cause knowing about the Avengers is real obscure, serious fan-only shit.”

“The shade, Miss Asia! Nina West, are you going to defend your mentor?”

Nina holds his hands up. “You’re the fearless leader, you got this.”

“The pair of you.” Monét shakes his head. “All right, what you got for Snatch Game?”

“I’ma be Brown Cow Stun-ning, yes, honey.” Asia pops her tongue after a pretty admirable impression of Monique Heart.

“And Miss Nina West?” Monét is looking at him with an eyebrow raised. Nina wonders if he’s heard the interviews, if he already knows.

“Miss Vaaaanjie,” Nina says, “Bitch, you know I don’t play games. Don’t play Monopology, Uno, Twistah, Tag, Marbles -”

“Jesus Christ, stop it.” Monét is covering his face with his hands, while Asia is cackling. “Does she know?”

“Not yet.”

“She will live. Okay, okay, I ain’t worried about either of you. Take me straight to the finale, win me that serious mentor coin.”

They run through a couple ideas for jokes, focusing more on Asia (who struggled last time and still has a bit of anxiety flaring behind her contacts). There’s a break for lunch, but it’s weirdly quiet, subdued. Snatch Game is an opportunity to stand out, to prove you deserve to be there. It’s also an opportunity to crash and burn in front of Ru, the judges, and later on - the world. So there’s that.

After lunch everyone starts putting on their paint, fixing their wigs. The cameras zoom in to get some Werk Room chatter about who is playing who, and of course they’re all dying for Vanessa’s reaction (as soon as he sees Nina pull out his pink-petalled Barbie-head dress from its garment bag, the pussycat’s out of the Prada bag).

“Noooo, bitch,” Vanjie shouts across the room, but he’s smiling. “Oh, I’mma have to whup your ass if that’s what I think it is.”

“Deuces!” Nina shouts back at him, throwing up the sign as well, while Brooke covers his face.

“That ain’t right, it ain’t right. Thought we was friends, sis.” Vanjie is laughing about it, though; Nina knows they’re cool.

“Who are you playing, Miss Shea Coulée?” Asia calls over to her sister, who is fussing with a nasty looking green wig.

“Paaaarty…” Shea drags out the word, working that vocal fry for all she’s worth. “I’m going to be Adore Delano, darling.”

Nina Bo’nina Brown thinks this is the funniest thing she’s ever heard, can’t speak for laughing so hard. Shea seems entertained by it at first, but her smile starts to tighten a little after the laughter continues a bit too long.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing, nothing. Just - good luck, girl.”

“Who are you doing then?”

“Yeah,” Cracker interjects. “You were Jasmine Masters for your season’s Snatch Game right? The judges loved it.”

“Right. So why mess with perfection? I’m going to do Miss Jasmine Masters.”

A couple of the girls stop what they’re doing when she says this.

“You’re going to play the same queen?” Cracker repeats, a bit shocked.

“Yeah. I was sickening last time, I’ll be sickening this time.”

“Aren’t you worried that they’ll read you for not showing them what else you can do?”

“Nah. They’re gonna be laughing too hard.”

“Mmmm…” Vanjie makes a low, skeptical noise.

“Trust and believe, Vanjie,” Nina B. calls over to her. “Trust and believe.”

The cameras have to reset then to film Ru’s entrance into the Werk Room, and catch all the queens’ “surprised” reactions.

“Hello hello hello, kitty girls!”

Nina beams, claps his hands, that whole production. He’s feeling pretty good though - the energy is real. He’s actually excited for this challenge, ready to show Ru what he can do. (That’s how he felt last year too, then Silky went and yanked the win right out from under him. But no time to dwell on that now.)

“How are my All Stars? I thought I’d take a little look-see at what you were planning for us. And I brought along one of our extra special guest judges to help me out.”

From behind Ru, Katya Zamolodchikova comes in waving and smiling, teeth glowing white against her red lipstick.

“Oh my god! Get your own thing!” Trixie yells from across the room, and Katya does that ridiculous/adorable silent laugh that Nina has seen on “UNHhhh” too many times to count.

“Thanks for coming, Katya!” Ru says cheerfully.

“No problem, Ru. Thanks for unlocking the attic door!”

“Well, it was a special occasion. And I was feeling generous.”

They go from station to station, cameras following them around silently, and Nina fusses a bit with his dress while eavesdropping on their conversations with the other queens. There is a bit of concern for Brooke, who’s playing Detox (no big surprise there). How is Brooke going to make Detox funny seems to be the main issue. Nina has the same question. Brooke seems more confident than last season, though, so Ru and Katya wish him luck.

There’s some controversy over Nina Bo’nina playing Jasmine again, but the girl won’t be convinced to try something else. Nina listens to some of the critiques, ignores some of the others. He’s interested, but he also knows he needs to focus on his own performance, and not get in his head. He’s not as bad as Brooke at over-thinking things, but no one goes into goddamn musical theatre who isn’t at least a little bit destroyed (psychologically speaking. Okay, maybe also a bit romantically. It’s fine).

“Nina West!” Ru says close to Nina’s ear, and he almost jumps a foot in the air. (Girl, Katya is standing four feet away from you, be cool, be cool.)

“Hello, hello, hello Christine,” he says, immediately launching into his Vanjie impression. Both Ru and Katya laugh - and Katya’s smile up close is completely unfair, like a smile cut out of paper, perfect and sharp-edged.

(“I don’t know her!” Vanjie shouts from across the room.)

“So who are you going to be?” Katya asks, completely straight-faced, as soon as she and Ru have stopped laughing.

“I don’t know, still making up my mind,” Nina says, back in his normal voice.

“And the uh -” Ru gestures to the hideous floral Barbie dress, “gown?”

“Do you like it? One of my best gowns. What’s funny?”

Katya is wheeze-laughing. Katya is wheeze-laughing because of something Nina said! He stores that one next to the Monét gem from earlier; hopes to have enough for his own tiara in the unthinkable event that he doesn’t win.

“Now on Season 11’s Snatch Game, you were hilarious, you played -”

“Harvey Fierstein and Jo Anne Worley-”

“Yes! And really, it might have been one of the strongest performances in Snatch Game herstory.”

Nina smiles gratefully (only slightly furious that Ru’s saying this despite the fact that Nina didn’t win. He deserved to win).

“So how can you possibly outdo yourself this time?”

“I’m not trying to outdo myself, I’m trying to do something different. Like Katya, when you played Björk -”

“Yes, yes, back to me,” Katya says, nodding.

“Completely different from Suze Orman, but still so funny. That’s what I’m going to do. Just - mix it up.”

“All right, Nina, good luck. Can’t wait to see it,” Ru says, moving on.

It’s fine. It’ll be fine.

As soon as Ru and Katya leave the Werk Room it’s a mad dash to get dressed and made up and before Nina knows it, before he can light a bunch of candles on an altar and find whatever religion will bring him the most luck, they’re all being rounded up and led into the studio for the Snatch Game.

Okay.

Brooke’s Detox look is iconic, the yellow and black striped bandage dress from the Season 5 premiere (probably borrowed from Detox herself) hugs his perfectly padded body, but he’s absolutely trembling as he walks beside Nina. Nina has to squeeze his shoulder, tell him it’ll be fine.

“It’s fun, Brooke. Just have fun with it,” he murmurs as he hits the bright studio lights, has to blink until his vision adjusts (the first thing he sees is Monét and Nina’s blinded by him).

Okay.

The mentors are sitting along the sidelines, ready to watch the show play out. Nina wasn’t expecting that, but it’s - fine. Monét smiles at him, and Nina’s going to use that smile as a good luck charm - a rabbit’s foot, a four leaf clover, whatever. It’s impossible not to feel lucky when someone who looks like Monét goddamn X Change smiles at you like that.

“Welcome to the first All Stars ‘Queens Everywhere’ Snatch Game!” Ru says after they’re all mic’d and seated, upbeat music playing behind him. “Let’s meet our contestants.”

Katya beams from where she’s sitting behind her glittery podium and microphone.

“It’s everyone’s favorite queen that we found digging in the dumpster outside - Katya!”

“And yet I’m still hungry!”

Katya smiles at Ru and then snaps her teeth at the other queens.

“And - just when you thought we’d finally seen the last of her - halleloo! It’s Shangela!”

Shangela raises one hand in the air, nodding seriously. “That’s right, I’m back again, bitches. And I ain’t even in a box this time, baby.”

“Ladies, are you ready to meet the queens?”

“Yaaaaaaaaaas,” they answer in tandem.

They reset so that Ru can film the introductions, and Nina’s heart starts rattling like bones in a bag. He’s buzzing with adrenaline and nerves, but he’s going to channel that into a goddamn win. That’s right, he tells his inner saboteur - you can fuck off. This challenge is mine.

“The heart of Season 10 - Monique Heart is here!” Ru starts with Asia, whose Monique look is extremely correct.

“Hello world! Hello America! Are you brown cow stunning?” She tosses Ru a ridiculous cow-patterned baseball cap. Ru briefly feigns excitement before throwing it over his shoulder in distaste.

“Burn that,” he murmurs to one of the camera crew. “Next up, we have the original party-queen - Adore Delano!”

Shea Coulee stretches her arms in the air before making a peace sign, growling “Party,” in a gravelly voice.

“How are you doing Adore?”

“I mean, I’m good, you know? Like. Excited to be back. Where am I again?”

Nina has to turn his mouth into his shoulder to stifle the laugh that bubbles to his throat immediately. He wasn’t sold on it when they were discussing it in the Werk Room, but Shea is killing it as Adore. Her voice, her delivery is hilarious. The makeup is flawless. Her perpetual open mouth is complete perfection. As always, Shea Coulee is slaying the competition. Nina’s stomach gives a nervous jolt, so he sucks in a deep breath and reminds himself to pay attention.

He realizes he’s missed Ivy’s introduction, but Katya is gagged at the illusion of, well - Her - that Ivy is turning today. A mid-length honey blonde wig barely brushes Ivy’s shoulders and her red bustier is covered in rhinestones (and, of course, the scythe and hammer.) The look is great. The accent, on the other hand… Nina sighs a little, but tries not to get comfortable, regardless of how terrible Ivy’s Russian accent is.

Vanjie is seated at the end of the top row, decked out in red lace, a large pair of dark sunglasses balanced precariously on her nose. There’s no denying the air about her: Miss Vanjie is living Miss Valentina’s French vanilla fantasy, and no one could doubt it.

Ru beams at him. “Valentina! How wonderful to see you again!”

Vanjie draws in a deep breath. “That’s right, Ru, it’s me - Valentina. I’m back, and this time, I just want you to know, I fully learned all the words to ‘Greedy.’”

“Excellent! You want to sing us a verse right now?”

“No,” Vanjie answers, extremely primly, and even in his gravelly voice, the delivery is enough to make Ru laugh.

“Maybe next time.”

“Probably not.”

Then Ru’s looking at Nina and - oh, god, why did he think coming back for All Stars was a good idea again?

“Miss Vaaaaaanjie is here!” Ru trills.

Nina sucks in a deep breath and - “What’s the grease, mama?”

Down the row, Brooke buries his face in his hands, but his shoulders bounce with laughter. Ru is giggling loudly. Even Katya and Shangela are agape at the spot-on impression like it’s the first time he’s done it, the first time they’ve heard it.

He lets himself relax a little.

“Three seasons in a row.” Ru consults his cue cards. “Girl, aren’t you tired of competing yet?”

“Mmhmm.” Nina shakes his head vehemently, the wig he pilfered from Vanjie weeks ago flying around his shoulders. (He really does owe Brooke one for that.) “Nah, girl, you know I’m still trying to get my own show. Like Vanjie of Love or some shit like that. You know, something where these triflin’ hos gotta pay me some damn attention.”

In his periphery, Nina catches Brooke cut his eyes to him. He hopes this is okay. They haven’t really discussed the Branjie territory in regards to his jokes, but he kind of assumed it was fair game. Besides, he isn’t planning on directly hurting anyone’s feelings. He’ll keep it light, keep it fun. Besides, they’re the ones who marketed their portmanteau and gave the profits to charity. It’s practically public domain at this point.

“Next up we’ve got - oh my goodness, it’s Jasmine Masters!”

Nina Bo’nina gives Ru an extremely “over it” look. “Yeah, and I got something to say.”

“Now Jasmine - no tea, no shade, but haven’t you been on Snatch Game before?”

There’s a bit of an awkward pause before Nina Bo’nina waves him away.

“Bitch, I’ve got something more to say.”

Ru chuckles a bit, “I bet you do,” and moves on to Brooke.

“Another former All Star contestant, welcome Detox!”

Brooke looks sullen and concerned. He gives a little nod at Ru and the contestants.

“Detox, what’s the matter? You don’t look happy to be here.”

“Oh, am I not smiling?” Brooke asks through his extremely full, painted-on lips. “I can’t feel anything above my neck.” He shapes his mouth into a grotesque smile using his hands, and Ru almost doubles over. Okay, okay. Nina feels a little less worried about Brooke.

“And last but not least, we have - um, Aquaria! Hey girl!”

“Hi Ru!”

“Aquaria, is that the new way you’re spelling your name?” Cracker has written Acwareea on her name-card. A couple letters are backwards.

“Huh?” Cracker looks down at the name card. “Oh, I can’t spell my name. Actually, I can’t spell anything.”

“Okay then.”

“You know, some girls chose to read books, I chose to turn looks.”

“Yeah, you did! Now let’s get ready to play the Snatch Game!”

They break for a few adjustments on the cameras and microphones, and Nina tries not to hyperventilate, and then fuck - they’re rolling again.

“Here we go. The first question is for Katya. Katya, All Stars Season 1 paved the way, and brought back some of the most celebrated queens of all time to compete. This time, instead of competing in pairs, the queens are competing in BLANK.”

Be funny, be funny, be fucking funny. Nina tries to think like Vanjie and writes down an answer as soon as he’s got one, hoping it will be good enough.

“Okay, pens down. Katya?”

“I said competing in traction.”

“In - traction?”

“Yeah, you know, when all the bones in your body are broken and you’re in the hospital bed with your leg in the air.”

“That would certainly be a different kind of competition.”

“I’d watch it,” Katya says seriously, and Ru laughs.

“Let’s go to the Queens and see if we have any matches. Miss Valentina. What did you write down?”

Vanjie has put a lace mask on over the bottom of her face. She mumbles something indecipherable.

“What was that?” Ru asks. Vanjie mumbles something again.

“Valentina,” Ru says, clearly picking up on the joke. “Take that thing off your face.”

“I’d like to keep it on please.”

Ru shakes his head slowly, and at last Vanjie removes her mask.

“Now, Valentina. What did you write?”

Vanjie flips her card over, and Ru starts to wheeze with laughter. “That’s what I wrote down. I’d like to keep it on please.“

Vanjie’s Valentina voice is slipping, but she’s hella charming anyway, as always.

“I’m sorry, my dear, but that is not a match. Moving on to Aquaria - oh! You’ve got a new outfit.”

Miz Cracker was scrambling to put on a new wig and geometric headpiece made of iPhones while Ru was speaking to the contestants. She looks great, and she’s killing Aquaria’s affected head wobble.

“This season the queens are competing in BLANK.”

Cracker flips her card to reveal Aquaria’s instagram URL. “I wasn’t born when All Stars Season 1 aired, so I just wrote this.”

“Oh, okay - not a match.”

“I’m young,” Cracker insists, and Ru nods, patiently.

“We all were once. What did Miss Vaaaaanjie have to say?”

“I said we’d have to compete in swimsuits,” Nina says, flipping over his card.

“Swimsuits?”

“Yeah. Cause maybe then Michelle won’t read my ass for filth every damn week.”

Ru gapes at him, like he can’t believe he just came for Michelle in Snatch Game.

“Swimsuits be glamor when everybody else is doing them too, bitch!” Nina pops his tongue.

Ru laughs, high and clear, and then turns to the other Nina. “What about you, Jasmine? What do you have to say?”

Nina Bo’nina slaps her hands on the table and purses her lips. “We gonna be competing in making viral videos to get Justin Bieber’s attention, Ru.”

The room — pauses while Ru tries to save face with a polite chuckle. Nina West can practically hear the shade rattle sound effect that will inevitably be edited in at this exact moment.

Jasmine Masters probably wasn’t Nina Bo’nina’s best option (anyone could have told her that and, good god girl, they really tried). It’s not working. Nina doesn’t think any of it’s working.

Ru clears his throat, shakes his head. “I’m certain you could teach them a thing or two about that, but unfortunately, it’s not a match.”

Nina Bo’nina shrugs.

Ru shuffles his cue cards and moves on. “This next question is for Shangela. In All Stars Season 2, we changed things up by letting the queens choose who would be eliminated. This season, as well as eliminating each other, the queens will have to BLANK each other.”

There’s the scribbling of markers from the queens around Nina (who like to think he’s got this answer down blind.)

“Okay, pens down. Shangela? This season, the queens will also have to…”

“I knew what y’all were looking for, because y’all are nasty…” Shangela turns her card around. “But I’m a lady, so I said they’d have to ‘tuck’ each other.”

“Tuck each other!”

“Sometimes a girl needs a helping hand, mama.”

“Ain’t that the truth. Let’s see if we have any matches! Katya, what did you say?”

Ivy looks a bit startled to be called on first, but she beams with her red lips, flips her card over. “I said eat each other. To consume each other’s power and fill the gaping void that lives -” She pats her chest. “Right here.”

Katya (the real Katya) shrieks, but Ru shakes his head.

“I’m sorry, that’s not a match.”

“Da,” Ivy says solemnly, in her terrible Russian accent. “Da. It never is match. Like me and Trixie. Match but… No match.”

And, okay, Nina might imagine it, but it seems like the studio goes eerily quiet as everyone waits for Trixie’s reaction. She’s smiling, but it looks forced. Katya clears her throat but laughs, which seems to dispel the weird tension that formed.

Ru, oblivious to the entire thing, moves on. “Miss Vaaaanjie, what did you say?”

Nina sighs and flips his card, feeling pretty pleased with himself. “I said date each other. You know, I still be lookin’ for that Notebook shit.”

“Oh yeah, we know. No more Post-Its, right?”

“No more Post-Its, never again. I ain’t got the time, Mary!” He glances over at Brooke, raises his eyebrows seductively. “Hey, how you doin’?” Behind him, the real Vanjie mumbles something under his breath.

“I’m sorry, my dear, that’s not a match.”

“Bitch, it might be!” Nina says, still looking at Brooke, and Ru bends over laughing, stomping his foot into the ground. It’s adrenaline, it’s power, it’s like Nina knows this challenge is his.

“You ain’t even know!” he continues, channeling angry Vanessa as much as possible. “Just ‘cause one tall blonde bitch did me wrong don’t mean they all will. Shit.” Nina crosses his arms over his chest, leans back in his chair, sees Brooke duck his head and blink rapidly a few times.

That might have been too much. He just got caught in the moment and… Fuck. Dial it back a little, but stay focused.

“Moving on to Aquaria,” Ru says. Aquaria, this season the queens will have to BLANK each other.”

“I said ‘copy each other,” Cracker says tightly, in Aquaria’s low voice. “And it’s too bad Miz Cracker isn’t here. Maybe then she would have won something.”

“Oho!” Ru laughs, a bit scandalized. “Not a match, my dear.”

Cracker shrugs and throws the card over her shoulder. “Someone save that so I can call and ask Cracker if she wants more of my sloppy seconds.”

“Adore Delanoooo!” Ru trills the last syllable as he turns to Shea, who tosses the long green waves over her shoulder.

She flashes Ru one of Adore’s signature winking, mouth-open, tongue-out smiles with a peace sign.

“What did you write down, darling?”

“I said ‘party with each other,’” Shea drawls in Adore’s affected tone, adding more fry than is entirely necessary, but it gets the point across. She’s goofy and perfect.

“Party with each other,” Ru repeats.

“Yeah! I mean, you guys all look super cool. I’d hang out with you, smoke a blunt, eat some pizza. You know, party!”

Ru tsks. “Sounds like a great Tuesday night, but unfortunately not a match.” He turns to face the contestants, where Katya is sitting with her hands folded primly on her stack of cards. “Back to Katya! In All Stars Season 3, BenDeLaCreme shocked the judges by sending herself home. This season, Michelle Visage will shock everyone by BLANKING herself.”

Katya takes a minute to ponder, pressing her index finger to her lips then writes something on her card. Nina and the other queens follow suit, and when their time is up, Katya is smiling ferociously.

“Let’s see what our contestant put down. Katya?” Ru faces her. “Michelle Visage will shock everyone by doing what?”

Katya clears her throat. “I could have gone the obvious route, you know.”

“Obviously,” Ru says.

“Instead, I said, ‘sacrificing herself.’”

“Sacrificing herself?”

“With fire. To the Gods, honey.”

“Okay… Any particular God?”

“…Satan.”

“Of course. Let’s go to our queens. Detox, this season Michelle Visage will shock everyone by…”

Brooke flips his card over. “I said motorboating herself. I mean, if anyone could do it -”

“I don’t know how shocking that would be… but either way, I’m sorry, not a match. Vanessa Vanjie Mateo! What did you say, my dear?”

Nina flips over his card. “I said cloning herself.”

“Cloning herself?”

“Mmm-hmm. Need two of her to manage your ass.”

Ru laughs, and Nina thanks every God he knows the name of. The burn landed!

“And now she got that done, she’s gonna clone me some Canadian bacon.”

“Is that right?”

“Hell yeah it is.” Nina does not look at Brooke or Vanjie. “But only the good parts, baby. Trim all the fat; I’m a growing girl, need more protein in my diet.”

“Bitch, you couldn’t handle that much protein,” Vanjie-as-Valentina cuts in, and Ru fans himself.

“A controversial question! Let’s go to Monique Heart, see what she said. Michelle Visage will shock everyone by…”

“I said believing in herself.” Asia-as-Monique-turns her face to the camera. “Like I believe in myself, America. And that’s why I’d like to take this moment to announce my run for office.”

“Which office is that?”

“Whichever.” Asia’s got Monique’s flighty passion down perfectly. “One of the big ones, you know. And thank you, America, for your trust. I won’t let you down.”

Ru reads the last question of the night. “In All Stars Season 4, history was made when we celebrated the first Drag Race double crowning. This season, we’ll be making history with a double BLANK.”

Shangela is already shaking her head knowingly. There’s a scrabble of writing from the queens.

“Ladies, pens down. Shangela?”

“I’m giving the people what they want, Ru. I ain’t proud. I had to say a double fisting.”

“Did you really have to say it though?”

“Actually, mama, I did. The PAs have my children.”

“Ha! All right ladies, let’s see if we have any matches. Adore Delano. This season we’ll be making history with the first double BLANK.”

Shea holds up her card proudly. “I said the first double… elimination.”

Ru is quiet for a moment. “That’s actually been done before.”

“It has?”

“A couple of times, actually.”

“Oh.” Shea is unfazed. “Well. I don’t watch the show.”

Ru wheeze laughs, and so does Nina.

“I mean, I don’t know who any of you people are.”

“Sorry, Adore. Not a match.”

Shea shrugs, flashes a peace sign.

“What about you Katya?” Ru moves over to Ivy.

“Well, I thought about what Trixie and I like to do behind the scenes of ‘UNHhhh’ and I just had to put - fisting!” She flips her card.

“It’s a match!” Ru exclaims.

Everyone is laughing, but Nina can’t help check out the subjects of Ivy’s joke. The real Katya Zamo is smiling but - her teeth look clenched. And over with the mentors, Trixie Mattel is not smiling at all. She’s staring at her hands in her lap, systematically picking at the baby pink polish that adorns her fingernails. Hopefully none of the cameras pick up on that.

“I’ll see you later tonight!” Ivy continues, pointing at Trixie. There’s a halfway amused smile on Trixie’s face right away, but Nina feels like he was punched in the stomach. Something’s going on between the two of them, clearly. It hurts to watch - not like watching Vanjie and Brooke hurts (that’s more like watching two attractive bricks smash together). But Trixie and Katya - there’s so much history there. So much darkness. And God knows enough people have been convinced they’re in love -

“Monique Heart, what did you put down? This season we’ll be making history with the first double BLANK.”

“I said the first double crowning, dahling.”

“I’m sorry Monique, we already did that as well.”

“I know y’all did it, but I feel like it didn’t really count because my ass wasn’t wearing one of those crowns. It should have been me, and that’s a fact, America. And facts are - what? Facts.”

Ru laughs for a moment before turning to Nina. “What about Miss Vaaaanjie?”

“I said the first double wedding. And before y’all even ask: I do.” Nina glances over at Brooke, hoping he isn’t hitting this note a bit too hard.

“You do? Who’s the other happy couple?”

Ivy interrupts before Nina can answer. “Trixie! I’ve been meaning to ask you!”

“Oh honey,” Trixie calls out, looking flushed and uncomfortable. “I know I said I’d give more to charity this year, honey, but my generosity has limits.”

Behind her podium, Katya’s face is absolutely expressionless.

“Well, queens, we’re out of time,” Ru announces. “Which means the winner is… Xanax! Talk to your pharmacist. See you next time on the Snatch Game!”

Nina throws ‘deuces’ at the cameras as they get some closing B-roll, keeping up his Vanjie-persona until the very end. As soon as the director yells “cut!” Nina lets out the breath he’s been holding for the past two hours. God, it went by fast, but now he’s feeling every second of it. His muscles ache like he ran a marathon this morning and then tried kick-boxing for the first time.

“Nice work, ladies,” P.A.’s are congratulating them as they leave the set, but Nina barely hears a word. He de-drags, does some of the talking head interviews he loves so much (has to look shady about Nina B.’s performance, and worried about Brooke. Nina doesn’t put on an act or anything - he is kinda worried about Brooke. Brooke did ‘okay’ - better than Celine for sure - but didn’t stand out the way some of the other queens did. And if Brooke goes home tomorrow night - fuck. Nina doesn’t quite know how he feels about that).

Brooke was also kind of weird as they took off their paint in the Werk Room. Nina thought at first that he was in his head about the Snatch Game, but now he’s starting to wonder if his answers as Vanjie might have fucked Brooke up a bit. He hasn’t had a chance to address it, but he’s going to have to tomorrow, just to make sure they’re cool. He thinks it will be okay. He’s pretty sure. Basically. Almost positive.

Nina might be working through some latent confidence issues as he pushes himself for four miles on the elliptical later that night in the hotel (work through the pain, he reminds himself), but it’s fine really. Nothing to see here. Move along.

His legs ache and his face drips sweat, but he feels—good, actually. Solid about his performance. (He did last year, too, but he’s trying not to think about that.)

Dolly is singing about ways to make a living in his ears. He’s not assuming - but he is preparing. Just in case. If he has to lipsync for his legacy, he wants to be ready. Wants to win this one more than any other challenge, and call him crazy, but he feels like there’s a real chance. He can’t pinpoint why exactly, but there’s some kind of feeling settling down into his bones, making him think that maybe maybe maybe—

Underneath that, something uncomfortable has wormed its way into his psyche. It has almost nothing to do with the actual competition. It’s stupid and predictable and oh-so-not what he should be concerned with while on the set of All Stars for Christ’s sake. But he is and he’s here and he’s feeling things, and Nina taught himself a long time ago that feeling things fully for a while and then letting them go is far more beneficial to his mental health than taking the Brooke route and bottling everything up and burying it under vodka cranberries and couch cushions.

So sure. Okay. He’s feeling some kind of way about this thing that he saw that he wasn’t even supposed to see and isn’t even any of his business, but that’s just Nina’s luck for you. So that’s what he focuses on (or tries not to) as he turns up the resistance and pushes through the last of his workout.

He’d risked a glance back at Monét right before the PAs had shoved them off the soundstage. He’s in the business of gem collecting now, savoring those moments, polishing them up for later use, and maybe he wanted a ruby tinted the exact shade of Monét’s lipstick as they’d smiled across the room at each other.

Instead, he’d seen Monét reaching out to Shangela, crimson lips puckered, arms outstretched, ready for the kiss Nina couldn’t make himself watch.

Maybe they had kissed, Nina didn’t know; he’d made himself turn away before he could inflict any more psychological damage on himself. (He’s choosing healthier options now, remember.)

Of course they hadn’t had a moment after the last runway. Why would he think that? When Monét could have anyone he wants, and Nina is practically an amorphous blob. Like. He knows drag queens are all touchy-cuddly most of the time, and he knows that there’s probably nothing going on between Monét and pretty, perfect, halleloo-ing Shangela. But there could be, right? And goddamn, that would actually make sense. As opposed to whatever madness was going on in Nina’s head last night.

He adds even more resistance to the elliptical - just for “fun.” Or maybe spite. And yeah, okay, one night of really solid work in the hotel gym isn’t going to turn him into Naomi Smalls with legs up to his asshole or anything, but it’s a start. And the sooner Nina can convince himself that he isn’t doing this for Monét (or anyone other than himself because he likes exercise, damn it), the better.

He’s a grown-ass adult. He recognizes delusion when he sees it in the mirror every morning. It’s time to face facts—he and Monét had one (wondrously) sensual, albeit (incredibly) drunken night months ago. Monét had left the ball in Nina’s court. Nina was too chickenshit to do anything about it. Now they’re tentative friends (Monét is his mentor after all), Nina might be going crazy (this whole bursting-into-song-but-not-really thing has gone too far), and it’s all just so messy.

Nina wipes his face, stretches, and heads out of the hotel gym. He probably looks like a sweaty disaster (okay, there’s no ‘probably’ about it) and he’s waiting for the elevator down to the floor with his room, when the doors “ding” open and he’s face to face with Monét.

Could be worse. Could be Branjie again.

“Get in loser, we’re going drinking!” Monét says, with a wide smile on his face.

He’s so fucking charming that Nina momentarily forgets that he himself is a hot damn mess. Literally, like hot. Dripping with sweat.

“Um.” He gets into the elevator anyway because - he’s gotta go somewhere. “Are we?”

“If you want.” Monét gets strangely shy as soon as the elevator doors close. Or maybe that’s just in Nina’s mind. “Was the Mean Girls reference too much? I feel like maybe it’s played out.”

Nina laughs out loud, awkwardness momentarily forgotten. Monét never seems anything but confident and composed, and that one moment of doubt is - surprisingly endearing.

Not that confident, composed Monét isn’t completely endearing as well. Like. It’s all good. It all works a little too well for Nina. Everything about Monét is working a little too well for Nina lately.

Shit, the elevator is moving, decision-making time is limited.

“I kinda look like - this?” Nina waves a hand at his damp self.

“Fine as hell, girl,” Monét says with a grin, “and no pressure, obviously. Though if I’m drinking alone at the hotel bar, it’s going to look a little sad. And, look, I can make sad work for me, that’s not a problem. But after the day I’ve had -”

“Oh, the day you’ve had. Yeah, I forgot how stressful it must have been. Competing on a reality show and all that.”

“Fuck off. Uh oh, we’re passing your floor -”

“How do you know which floor is mine?”

Monét blinks at him, briefly speechless, mouth agape. (It makes something spark like a firework in Nina’s chest, shoot colours across the night sky.) The moment passes and then Monét doesn’t even have the decency to look embarrassed, just smiles like a gorgeous monster as he taps his temple. “That’s classified mentor information.”

“Yeah?”

“Hell yeah. You don’t want to know about my top-secret dossier.”

“No, I - don’t.”

“You sure you don’t?” Monét winks at him, and the elevator dings as it reaches the ground floor. “Ah, shit, missed your stop. Better come do shots with me.”

“I mean, I could just press the button again.” Nina doesn’t know why he’s resisting, he wants to get tipsy with Monét more than he wants to do most things (aside from win All Stars and run for office someday maybe).

“Nah, girl, this elevator only goes down. One-way elevator. Sorry, should have told you.”

“Guess I’m out of options.”

“Guess so.”

They look at each other. Nina remembers the man that asked him up to his room the night of the finale. Nina remembers the taste of his mouth, the way Monét kept kissing him, like he couldn’t get enough. Nina -

- is clearly exhausted. And still delusional. But fuck it.

They go to the hotel bar (isn’t this how all the bad stories start?) and Monét buys them both a tequila sunrise and tells Nina way more than he should about Trixie Mattel.

“So her man and her are split. She’s feeling some kind of way about it.”

“Of course she is. Haven’t they been together for, like, ever?”

“Something like that. Fuck.” Monét drains his drink, motions for another round. “We’ve been talking about it, but I’m not - you know. I love her, she’s incredible, but - I’m not - her best friend.”

“You’re not Katya,” Nina says quietly, and Monét scrubs his hands over his face.

“Yeah. That.”

“So why isn’t she talking to Katya, then? You guys have your phones; Katya’s here now, for Christ’s sake.”

Monét shrugs. “Beats me.”

“Are they -” Nina doesn’t have any right to this information, but - he figures that Monét wants to talk about it. “Potentially… do you think -”

“Who the fuck knows? Honestly, when I said I’d come back to do this show, I did not think it would be like being in high school again. Like who is crushing on who, who is hooking up, it -” He darts a look over at Nina and then snaps his mouth shut. “I mean.”

Nina looks away. Finishes his second drink a bit too quickly. “You want another?”

“Okay,” Monét answers before Nina can even finish the sentence.

The bartender is particularly attentive, gets another round in front of them right away. He’s got a lot of smiles for them both, says, “This round’s on me, I’m a huge fan,” as he walks off to help another customer, and Nina - can’t help it, he’s a masochist - raises an eyebrow at Monét.

“Think you’ve got an admirer.”

“Yeah?” Monét rolls his eyes. “More like you do.”

“Should we turn this into an awful romantic comedy where we make a bet about who he likes more?”

Monét laughs like he’s shocked at himself. “Girl! Okay, but what happens at the end? Who wins?”

“Well, if we’re following the formula, we probably both realize that real love was right in front of - you know, I don’t know. You, you win.” Fuck fuck fuck, what the hell is Nina even saying? He watched too many Hallmark movies last Christmas. “That voice, that ass, right?” He tries to make it into a joke, even with Monét’s eyes all honeyed and serious on his face.

Monét purses those perfect lips, presses them into a semi-smile. “Just… didn’t want to assume nothing.”

They talk for another couple drinks, and it’s - shit, it’s easy. It’s never this easy with someone Nina likes. He knows he can be funny, knows he can bring out the charm (with the right amount of alcohol in his system) but usually if there are feelings involved it all goes to hell. Nina gets weird and in his head and laughs too loudly and spills his drink everywhere.

But with Monét - it shouldn’t be like this. It shouldn’t be this easy, especially with all the longing covering up the background like terrible flowered wallpaper. It shouldn’t be this easy for Nina to stop over-thinking things and just exist in the presence of this gorgeous person.

But it is. It is easy. That’s the worst part of it all.

Monét is laughing and grabbing for his arm (just like finale night in the other hotel bar) and there’s heat in Nina’s cheeks that isn’t just from the alcohol, and Monét’s lips are glistening and wet as he pulls the straw between them and sips every last bit of the cocktail into his mouth.

Nina swallows thickly, leans into the sound of Monét’s deep rumbling laugh, reaches for his knee when he starts to slip off the hotel barstool.

How many drinks are they in now? Four? Five? More? The room is spinning.

Nina is laughing. Light, airy. Not giggling exactly but laughing and his cheeks are burning and Monét is looking at him through narrowed eyes.

“Be careful, Nina West,” Monét says, and his voice is low and dangerous. “Be careful lookin’ at people like that. They might get… ideas.”

Nina’s breath hitches in his throat and he swallows hard. “Ideas?”

“I might get ideas.” Monét smiles crookedly; his eyes are half-closed and sleepy as he rests his chin on his hand and leans against the bar. “You never texted me.”

Nina’s so glad he’s drunk. So glad he missed his floor, even if it has led to this. Because this conversation, this thing has hung between them for the entirety of filming and it hasn’t been uncomfortable exactly (because they’re adults, thank you very much), but it hasn’t been wonderful either. And Nina more than anything wants to rewind back to May, go to lunch, talk about anything and everything and nothing with Monét until they fall back into hotel sheets and kiss and kiss and kiss until—

“Why didn’t you ever text me?”

Nina clears his throat. “I was… I… I wanted to.”

“But?” Monét’s eyes are wide and pleading now. Still glassy with the alcohol, but inquisitive, bright, waiting to see how Nina is going to explain himself.

Nina is too, to be honest.

So he shakes his head. “I don’t know. Honestly. I don’t have a good reason. I wanted to. I should have.”

Monét ducks his head, takes the paper straw from his drink and twirls it between his middle and ring finger. It sends tiny droplets of tequila sunrise all over the wooden bartop.

“I thought about that night a lot, Nina West,” Monét says quietly, wiping at the droplets with a damp beverage napkin. “I don’t do that. That’s not like me.”

“Me either,” Nina says.

Nina knows that if they were sober this would be a very different conversation. There would definitely be more emotions, there might even be some yelling (although that doesn’t really seem like Monét’s thing and he’s never been one to raise his voice, so maybe not). Either way, they aren’t sober, and now they’re the sleepy kind of drunk and exhausted, so they just sit there at the bar staring at each other, not sure what to say next.

“Why’d you pick me?” Nina finally asks. “For the competition? Because of… that night?”

Monét shrugs and pulls his credit card out of the back pocket of his jeans. “Just wanted to win, girl. That’s it.”

“Shit, I don’t have—”

Monét waves him off. “I got it. Consider it after-hours mentoring.”

Nina thanks him repeatedly as they stand (clumsily) and make their way out of the hotel bar (stumblingly) and back to the elevator. When the doors shut behind them, Nina has a brief flash of all the things that two consenting adults can get up to in an elevator (some of which he has seen in recent days). But no. No. They had their chance, right? The ship has sailed.

Nina’s room is a few floors beneath the mentors’ (apparently), so he steps off before Monét.

“Can you find your way back to your room?” Monét asks, and Nina wishes he could says ‘no. No, I’m going to get completely lost, no, I’ll fall down every two steps if I don’t have you holding me up. No, I need you to linger in my doorway, I need to panic about whether I should try to kiss you goodnight, I need to think about inviting you in.

(I wouldn’t. Of course I wouldn’t. So - unprofessional. But - it’d be nice to think about.)’

“Yeah.” He smiles. “I’ll manage.”

Monét grins. Nina likes to think there’s a bit of disappointment around the edges of it, but he’s also a couple drinks in, and wears the rosiest of glasses at the best of times.

“Thanks for the company and conversation, Nina West.”

Nina nods. Doesn’t touch him, doesn’t look over his shoulder at Monét as he leaves the elevator.

But he doesn’t go back to his room either.

He wanders the hotel. Presses the down button and gets on a different elevator a few minutes later.

Nina’s going to regret this tomorrow when he’s exhausted, but he just can’t imagine shutting himself in his dark little room and lying down right now. He’s vibrating, on edge. It’s a bad idea, because there’s nothing more depressing than a silent hotel after midnight - something about the lateness of the hour makes all the shine come off. Nina’s feet lead him down one hallway and down another, and he doesn’t realize he’s heading to their usual breakfast-conference room until he hears… music?

Yes, there’s definitely music coming out of there, the casual strumming of a stringed instrument that doesn’t have anywhere to go. Someone might be humming too, it’s hard to tell from a distance.

Nina follows the sound.

The door is open, just a bit, and all the lights are on. Sitting alone in the room is Trixie Mattel, bent in concentration over her autoharp.

Out of drag, she looks smaller, more vulnerable. It’s clear just how young she is. She’s picking at a tune, murmuring something under her breath. Nina suddenly feels a warm breeze against his skin, and the melody that Trixie’s playing becomes clearer, a delicate bluegrass riff that would be at home on Nina’s old Emmylou Harris or Linda Ronstadt records.

Along with the warm breeze comes a gust of dandelion seeds, floating through the hallway like tiny wisps of cotton. Nina feels like he’s alone with Trixie in the middle of a waving wheat field, sun-baked and desolate. He can smell the cracked soil beneath his feet, hear the sound of crickets chirping in time with Trixie’s brittle melody.

Oh no. That thing is happening again.

Trixie starts to sing:

“You’re the brightest star in any room.

I’m never lonelier than when I’m with you.

I miss something that’s never happened.

I miss a place I’ve never been to.”

Her voice is quiet at first, but it grows louder.

“There are some bridges that you cannot cross

Say it again ‘til I convince myself

But all this certainty it feels like loss.

I wouldn’t risk this much for no one else.”

Trixie gets to her feet, starts walking through the wheatfield as she sings the chorus.

“And there’s a wide field between us

How you traveled all those miles without me I don’t understand

I’m always on the edge of falling

And you could pull me over just by reaching out your hand

If you’d only take that chance.”

She keeps plucking at the harp, and Nina feels words welling up inside him, ready to spill from his mouth (when he starts singing, he’s thinking of Monét. Because of course he is.)

“This sort of thing, it don’t come easy

I never know just what to do or say

It feels impossible, believe me

That you would ever look at me that way.”

He thinks of Monét’s lips on Shangela’s after the Snatch Game. He thinks of Monét’s eyes on him at the bar. (“Be careful lookin’ at people like that, Nina West.”)

“There are some bridges that you cannot cross

I built up walls around this paper heart

But when I see you I forget it

All of the reasons we should be apart.”

Trixie harmonizes along with Nina as he sings the chorus.

“And there’s a wide field between us

How I traveled all these miles, baby, I don’t understand

I’m always on the edge of falling

And you could pull me over by just reaching out your hand

But could I ever take that chance?”

Nina sings the last line one more time, feeling the weight of his hopeless longing rising like a tide inside his chest. “If you’d only take that chance…”

“Nina?”

“Um.”

Trixie is sitting in the conference room, staring at him. She’s holding her autoharp but there’s no flowing wheatfields or whatever. Somehow Nina ended up in the doorway, just standing there. Fuck’s sake. Is he dissociating? Musically??? This is unbearable.

“How long have you been there?” Trixie asks, confused.

“Um, just got - here, so -” Nina’s face is probably turning bright red, and he’s hoping against that he hasn’t just been shouting song lyrics blankly at a terrified Trixie Mattel for the past few minutes. “Are you okay?”

Trixie winces. Then she nods.

“Yeah, of course. Just - yes. Couldn’t sleep. Figuring some - stuff out. You?”

“Just - you know. Having an emotional spiral.”

“Oh honey…” Trixie’s smiling but her voice is soft and sad. “My first perm was an emotional spiral, honey.”

Nina laughs in a brittle way, because 1) Trixie’s hilarious and 2) it’s obvious she’s trying to make him feel better.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not right now,” Trixie sighs, shakes her head. “But thanks.”

Nina leaves her to it. After - whatever that just was - he feels ready to crash at long last. He’s still a bit buzzed from the tequila, but his nervous energy has banked, and he heads back to his room. He’s ready to sleep, ready to deal with tomorrow when it gets here.

So of course, there’s someone waiting for him outside his room.

“Nina West.” Maya the P.A. gives him a slow, broad smile the moment he comes into view. “Found your way back, hey? Great. We need to talk.”

Interlude: Trixie

Conversation with:

swamp thing

i cunt believe i agreed to this

Fuck autocorrect CANT

It knows what you REALLY MEANT

It knew i was texting you and assumed

I’ll take it

You’ll take anything

I ain’t proud mama

I’m hunnnnnngry

For serious though, things okay there?

For serious serious

4 C-ri-us

GROSS

That’s gonna be my dj name

Please welcome to the stage

Why do I talk to you

Why do i even know you

Yes things are find its just weird

Being back on set

And like also runnign a business and

planning a tour and all of it. At least

they let us keep our phones

Must be hard being successful

I’m crying for you

I didn’t know you could still produce tears

I squeeze em out

Like milking a cow

Just need the right suction

Stop talking to me

What can you say that you won’t get sued for

I want drama

Who’s fisting who

Ha monet wishes she was fisting someone

Shes like middle school crushing on a queen here

Its kinda cute and sad

If love isn’t pathetic i don’t want it

And there’s last seasons whole thing

#branjie

sell those hats

That is not about hats

I saw them at a show in LA last summer

They’re fucked up in love, mama

IN LOVE???

Who even are you

I’m a person who has eyes

that can see things

Are they not together? They’re togther right?

NOPE

Are you fucking kidding

I don’t believe it

Since when are you this romantic

I’m not romantic

I have no romance in my bones

It’s just OBVIOUS

Well not to them

Ahhhh the gays

When will we figure our shit out

Realize what’s right in front of us

You gone?

Yeah sorry

Going to pass out

Don’t die or anything

Whiel i’m gone

Aren’t you sweet

Conversation with:

sure thing

Doing anything fun tonight?

Or just missing me

Babe?

Ok sorry filming again

Call you on break

Do not let me do this again

I don’t care what they offer me

(id o care what they offer me)

Breaks over talk to you after?

How was your day?

Call me if you want

I’m done for the night

Just getting white girl wasted alone

In my hotel room

At the mini bar yes i’m that famous now

I’m gonna crash call me if you get this

Love u

Conversation with:

swamp thing

I dreamt that i was in a bsatroom

At mcdonalds that one you puked in

After the show in philadelphia

Do you remember? Probably not

And you were there and fucking

Gordon ramsay was there (!!!)

And he wad hitting on you

And i wasd so pissed off

And thrn this lady came in and was like

‘You can’t be in here, this is for ronald only” And i fully shot her with a GUN

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TRACY

I just woke up and feel like a monster

She was just doing her job

Ronald mcdonald needs his private shitter

And i just killed her

I killed a living dream person

Thank you for sharing this with me

I feel so close to you right now

Yeah i don’t confess dream murder

to just ayone

But WHAT DOES IT MEAN???

Latent Ronald mcdonald fetish

Clearly

I’m not a doctor or anythng

But i’m sorry you’re dying

Yep yep makes sense

I always knew it would end like this

fuck/marry/kill

me/gordan ramsay/ronald mcD

(you wanna know what the D stands for)

No i want to sleep

For 3 more hours

But i’m on reality tv again

You should havw stopped me

Maybe this dream was a warning!

I’m supposed to save you

From endng up on Chopped

What did you dream about?

U have to tell me even if it’s sexy

That’s the law

Another teeth falling out one

Mama you know that’s my kink

Conversation with:

sure thing

Good morning sexy thing

I’m so tiiiiiired

Don’t make me get up yet

Hey are u alive?

Yes

Yay u r alive!

I called u yesterday night

And at lunch

U ok?

Did u get my messages?

yes

Can i call you?

I miss your voice

I cant talk right now

Sorry

I’ll call you tonight

After filming?

Sure

Love u gorgeous

Hey just called left a message

Give me a shout later

I miss you

Brian

Have you seen the pics

from the MTV Movie Awards?

Ummm ok

No i’ll look them up

Fuck my lashes are so uneven

U breaking up with me over lashes

Lol

U and kat are pretty cuddly

Haha

are u being serious

Ur joking

Are u ok? Can i call u?

I’m out right now

Call you when i get home

But we’ve talked about this before right

U know we’re friends

Me and Kat

We’re just friends

U know this

Yeah i have lots of friends

And we don’t hold hands and kiss eachother

All the fucking time

So we’re fdoing this over text?

Is that what we’re doing

No i’ll call u later

Call me ok? I love u

U cannot be jealous of katya

She’s my Business Partner

And it’s DRAG

We touch each otehr all the time

We all do

Gotta go call u later

Conversation with:

swamp thing

Can we talk?

Not if ur busy

Let me just stop blowing this senator

And kick the clowns out

And get thes handcuffs off

No i’m not worth it

Keep these good things goin

It was winding down anyway

Gettin awkward

I have yoga tomorrow

Whats up pussycat

This is gonna sound really weird

Have you seen the pics of us

from the movie awwrds

Probably blocked them out

why????

am i like a troll

No more than usual

David texted me about them

And he’s all pissed off??

Because of us holding hands

Like so so stupid right

WHAT???!

Thats crazy!

Im so sorry

This isn’t the handmaids tale

He can calm his tits

(sorry, not to attack him just) Has he seen our shows??

What did you tell him

To fucking call me!!!

And he hasn’t

And i’m on this stupid set and can’t just go

See him and convince him how crazy he is

I’m so sorry

Do you want me to call him

I’ll call him

Tell me what to say

No don’t

Don’t worry

Its fine

I’ll talk to him

Conversation with:

swamp thing

Hey are you awake

If youre awake call me

david and I are done

over the phone

FUN

sorry you’re clearly asleep

I’m just a little drunk

brian

he said some things

that ive been thinking about

maybe call me tomorrow if u can

guess ill see you soon anyway

dont die while im gone

miss u

#rpdr fanfiction #nina west #monet x change #vanessa vanjie mateo #brooke lynn hytes #ninex #eventual branjie #background trixya #smut #angst #musical #all stars au #how far i'll go #hfig #mia ugly #meggie #concrit welcome #on set fic

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raijinhasverybigpecs · 6 years ago

Note

A smite concept for an adventure or spinoff: a fighting game like tekken or street fighter but with the smite gods and goddesses as the characters

okay but like… this is my shit!! i dunno if i’ve mentioned it before on this blog but i love me a good fighting game (i’m terrible w/ fancy inputs but i’ll kick your ass in virtua fighter) so this idea is so up my alley omg. see the read more for my word vomit on this (it’s 854 words long haha oops)

izanami (basically kitana/mileena lol), daji and bakasura (even baraka sounds similar to his name lmao) totally belong in mortal kombat.

mk would totally do justice to daji’s more grizzly creations and there’s the perfect inspo to take for a game that is basically participatory torture porn lmao.

one of izanami’s fatalities should totally be her dragging someone down to the underworld as well :^)

and perhaps arachne and medusa should join? they’d have more interesting finishers,it’s p easy to imagine medusa stabbing people with some daggers and squeezing someone to death with her tail

all the gods w/ melee weapons can fit into soulcalibur p easily, esp. sun wukong (my boy kilik!), king arthur (siegfried) and susano (sexy samurai mitsurugi, they’ve got p similar personalities as well lol).

i also think jing wei and talim share a lot of characteristics and talim’s move set would fit jing wei like a glove.

nu wa would look amazing w/ xianghua’s move set although she’d probs be more controlled and mature with some of her moves lmao (no hissy fits on the floor i would hope). chang’e would also fit and i’m p sure i actually made a post a while ago how i’d like see her in xianghua’s super pretty outfits

aphro basically fits any sexy woman from literally any fighting game so take your pick there lmao. personally i’d love to see her as lili from tekken bc lili’s moves are so graceful but super powerful and their personalities are both p similar in that “i’m richer and prettier than you” way

hera would defs be in a tag team w/ argus as well, i keep thinking of poison and hugo but hera would be a whole lot less hoe lmao

the morrigan’s also got a lot of cool moves as well

using her clones to block attacks for her insteadnormal blocking and having them fade away when hit into a crow

if she gets a reversal then she copies the reversal of her opponent

her projectile is her 3rd chain basic w/ the dmg over time or it’s her 2 that marks an enemy and addes extra dmg to the end of a combo

the combo opportunities are also really sexci... all three sisters coming out and then coming together of a final blow in a combo chain UGH.....

and her special can be her summoning her sisters or turning into her enemy and using their special omg

and just in general smite’s mechanics are really easily transferable to a fighting game. chronos’ final freezing time or sending him back in time, ama’s mirror turning into a reflective charge move, ne zha’s sash as a ranged grab and his special being his ult (but instead of timing clicks you have to do certain inputs before time runs out)... it’s so easy to see smite as a fighting game lmao

if i was to narrow down a roster for smite: the fighting game i know i’d defs choose

king arthur - big sword, perfect for the heavy hitter weapon class. w/out the sword perhaps he’d be a boxer?

chang’e - dancing is always an interesting concept in a fighting game and i know chang’e would be one of the more interesting characters to watch and w/ a weapon she’d ideally be xianghua lol

daji - every fighting game needs a femme fatale and daji w/ ivy’s sword/whip thingo would be perfect or she’d strap on her claws and tear people apart. if she was going purely hand to hand then she’d fight like jun from street fighter w/ the leg raised all the way up

jing wei - talim is right there y’all! otherwise i’d go w/ sakura (from sf) for her melee

aphrodite - i’m telling y’all if she had lili’s moveset from tekken we would all be doomed

nemesis - big sword! reversals for days (as many as aoi umenokoji from virtua fighter)!

hera - tag team tag team tag team

ravana - duh

the morrigan - so much potential.........

amaterasu - she’s got a cool sword and melee wise she’d do some martial arts of some sort - she’s a leading lady so i think chun li’s style would fit her

susano - hot samurai dude, i get the feeling he’d be one of the more strong characters so perhaps a fighting style like ryu’s would work (or someone more mobile? can’t think of anyone rn but maybe he’s do some kick-boxing as well hmm)

awilix - lots of flexible stuff she can do with her staff

pele - w/out daggers i kinda wanna see her w/ a fighting style similar to laura’s but more fire-y lol

bellona - all the weapon switches would make her super interesting and if she had to stick with one then i think she’d work w/ the spear/sword combo of hilde from soulcalibur. she’d have moves like vanessa from virtua fighter if she was without weapons tho

mercury - nunchucks!! and y’all know he’d be boxing if he didn’t have them

all the other gods can duke it out for the other spots lmao

#thanks for this excellent ask hehe #love me some fighting games!#i'm not great at them but i still have fun anyways #i've defs forgotten some characters and missed parallels w/ gods and fighters but y'all can figure that out for yourselves #this was fun tho!#i've always loved the idea of a smite fighting game #and mobas are just fighting games but w/ more objectives anyways lol #i tihnk my fav parts of this post are jing wei / hera / the morrigan / aphro #they've got such potential i'm telling y'all #i can literally see aphro as lili!!! and jing wei as talim!!!!#I NEED IT SO BADLY.........#also i dunno about raijin but he'd be some sort of wrestler #ideally in zangief's outfit hehe #answered asks #anon ask

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eaglebones-falconhawk · 6 years ago

Text

ok. heres a write up of my astro weekend. sorry it’s so long.

...or at least everything i can remember.

i guess i’ll go in order.

thursday:

thursday was in athens. i sat around my airbnb room for a bit and then finally decided to go check out a shop around 2 pm. well apparently that fuckin shop was literally next door bc as soon as I turned around from loading up the parking meter, Birdstuff was there with the sound guy (his friend). I said hi and we talked for a bit, then I went into the store. I got a cool sweater and a cute dress and the girl at the counter took my picture to put on their instagram. I checked out a few more shops in the area before I went back. Also, Reel Big Fish were playing literally right up the road and I heard them rehearsing.

I got to the venue right before the doors opened and ran into a guy from the fan facebook group. we talked for a bit and he said he flew in from new york for the show. super nice dude. I went in and no one checked if i had a ticket or id’ed me or anything. kinda weird. Anyway i just kinda sat there for a while while people came in. avona nova waved at me when she showed up, then coco said hi later while I was talking to someone. the other guy was like “you know that guy...i feel like i should know him!” I had to tell him who it was, I thought that was pretty funny.

I also saw Birdstuff again before their set. He gave me a setlist but only if i promised not to look at it. I shoved it in my pocket and forgot about it til the next day. lol. Their set was really good. They opened with one of my favorite songs, and played the MST3K theme song. They also played one new song. Coco grabbed my head during one of the intro samples. Birdstuff also fed a chunk of pizza to the guy next to me. Oh shit, I almost forgot about Pylon. They played before astroman and were AMAZING. Also Vanessa (the singer) told me she liked my jacket when i picked up their new record from the merch table. I’m really really glad I got to see them.

After the set I stuck around to say hi and stuff. Me and my new buddy from the facebook group both talked to coco for a bit. I showed him my tattoo and he said he’d make sure i’d be on the guest list for the rest of the weekend buuut that never happened. I dont think he was lying or forgot but I never did get on that guest list :/. I gave him and everyone but star crunch some stickers. Avona Nova asked me about my shoes, and she was so into them. It was adorable! I love her. That’s about it for thursday night. Friday:

The friday show was in atlanta. I went to check out the botanical gardens in athens before i left town. it was unsurpisingly not that great on the last day of november but i still enjoyed it. it was nice to go for a peaceful walk through nature and i still got to see some cool plants. I left and drove to atlanta and went to my favorite shop in little 5 points, then left because i didnt wanna deal with people or traffic anymore. (i still got stuck in traffic). I did get a cool MoAM magnet though.

The show in atlanta was in the same place i saw them last year- except they expanded so the venue was about twice as big. i got there kinda early (they also opened the doors way later than advertised) so i sat with one of birdstuff’s friends/the sound guy for a while. hes a really nice guy and showed me pictures of his cats. he also introduced me to some other people that work at saturn.

the merch table was on the old stage and i fell a little bit and almost spilled my drink on star crunch who was unloading tshirts. he was like “oh...hi”. after the show he told me his dog died :/

the first 2 opening bands were kinda weird but i had fun watching them. Arcwelder played and I really enjoyed seeing them. I think i’m gonna try and get some of their cds. I saw coco in the audience again and i think he waved at me but i cant remember if he said hi. my new buddy was kind of impressed that any of the band members did say hi though. lol. i think avona nova musta said hi that night too bc at some point he was like “you’re like the astro-insider”. I thought it was hilarious.

The set for this night was pretty great. they opened with With Automatic Shutoff again but it sounded way better. they also did a few improv songs, and played the mst3k song again, but it wasnt on the set list. Coco fell at some point during the set and kicked me in the face a little bit. I told him afterward and he felt really bad. He also knocked over one of the monitors when he fell, and i had to hold it up with 2 other guys to keep it from falling. I got to wear coco’s helmet for a minute but its heavy and smelly so i put it on someone else as soon as i could. also henry (the guy who put all the shows together as his birthday party) told me he was really glad i came. it was kinda weird but it was nice. kinda made me wanna cry though.

After the show i stuck around for a bit. this time i did get to talk to the band a bit more. I asked star crunch how he was doing and he was like “i’ve had better weeks....my dog just died” UM. OKAY. he did seem really sad though. i feel bad for him. hes such a nice man. We talked for a bit and I gave him some of the stickers i made. birdstuff knew i was going to drive from atlanta to birmingham for the next show so he offered to find me a place to stay as they all claimed “the drive back was really boring”. star crunch was like “you could stay with my parents, my dad could teach you how to line dance.” lmao. him and coco also told me about a time they apparently both interviewed and applied for the same job, with the idea that theyd both work the same position for like half the year and get twice the amount of work done, so they could tour the rest of the year. i had to tell him that basically the same thing happened in an episode of its always sunny in philadelphia. lmao. i talked with them all for a while before they started leaving and stuff. i mean i didnt have anything better to do. i said see ya later and got an uber home. my airbnb was cold as shit and i didnt sleep very well.

saturday:

the saturday show was at Saturn in Birmingham. and it was perfect. i slept as late as i could then just chilled in my airbnb (it was a converted airstream trailer- hella cool but kinda cold in late november/early december) until it was time to go. i packed all my shit but wasnt really sure if i wanted to stay in Bham because i figured i’d have to stay with a stranger or something. the drive from atlanta to birmingham really wasnt that bad, but i’m also not a 40 year old man. I got to bham way earlier than i expected so i went and tried to get something to eat. the sandwich i ordered was amazing but i just wasnt hungry. did i mention i have appetite issues when i travel? because i barely ate anything all weekend. anyway i went to saturn and just sat around for a while til i met another person from the facebook group. which was nice, because i basically wasn’t alone at any of the shows. this guy was also super nice. avona nova came up and said hi and asked me about video games? i wasnt feeling good and i was really confused when she said that. it was still cool she said hi though. she’s so sweet.

once again i wasnt on the setlist even though coco told me twice he’d make sure i was on there. i was kinda mad about it til he came up before their set and asked if i got in okay. (he also startled me when he did this because he came up from behind). Arcwelder played again this show and they were really good again. Tar was also super good and the singer told me he liked all my space shit after the show. he was really nice.

This show was played on the floor with a huge parachute as a backdrop. it looked awesome and made for a nice intimate setting. the band came through the audience instead of from the back and scared the hell out of me when they came up from behind me.

This show was probably my favorite of the whole weekend. I think the set was a little longer but they also just sounded great.

early on in the set star crunch’s microphone was like, electrified and it shocked him in the middle of a song. he put his guitar up to it to prove it and there was a bright spark. someone said “put a sock on it” so coco, being the fucking weird man he is took his shoe off and offered his sock to star crunch. but like its a sock and your mouth goes real close to the mic so he was like “no!!” coco just threw his fucking sock into the audience and played half the show with only one shoe on til the rest of the band made him put the other one on (with no sock).

the theremin broke at some point during the set (it fell...but a cymbal also fell and broke the cord. who knows which truly broke it) so they almost didn’t play principles unknown, but birdstuff had the sound guy put a bunch of reverb on the mic and made coco do the fucking theremin noises with his mouth. and it was fucking incredible. he did it like, perfectly and TBH it was amazing to witness. i got it on video and i’m so glad i did.

coco put the space helmet on me again during this show, and i tried to take a selfie with it but it didnt save :/. oh well. it got passed around the audience and everyone that got it seemed super happy.

they played the mst3k song one more time this show, and birdstuff dedicated it to me :) he said something like “she drove all the way from fucking new zealand!” and this guy with a real heavy southern accent tapped my shoulder and was like “new zealand?” no...just iowa. lmao. it was so cool he did that, though. i’m really hoping someone recorded the whole show so i can go back and listen to it later.

birdstuff did his regular drum kit sculpture but this time he stole a bunch of people’s belts (yes....he asked the audience for belts and then took them) and hung the snare drum from the ceiling. the second funniest part of the show was watching people try to find their belt from the pile.

after the show i saw another guy in a jumpsuit so i went to tell him i liked it, just for solidarity i guess? turns out he went to high school with coco. weird! he was a super friendly guy and was kind of enthralled with my outfit. he took a picture with me and coco lol.

I asked coco if i could take a picture with all 4 of them. i hadnt done it yet and i was like why not! its a special weekend!. he was like “yeah! if we can get everyone all together” which yeah, took a while. i also made sure i asked star crunch since he usually disappears first.

there were some teenage girls there who were trying to get the band’s autographs, and it was awesome. they were nice and i hope they had a good show. one of them told me she thought star crunch was cute. lmao. i kinda wish i’d gotten some autographs but i had such a good weekend, it doesn’t matter.

i hung around until finally we got everyone in one room so we could take a picture. my bud for the night from the facebook group also got to take a picture with them.

birdstuff asked again if i wanted to stay there, and i was like “sure!” mostly just so i could say i did it. man, it was an awesome place. they put in some rooms and bunks above the venue so bands could sleep there. none of the bands that played that night stayed though, so i got the whole front room to myself. birdstuff showed me around and tried to get netflix on the tv to work but couldnt so he just showed me where the dvds were. i found a simpsons dvd and watched that.

let me tell you- staying the night in saturn, watching the simpsons after an amazing MoAM show where they dedicated a song to me and then i got to hang out with them for a bit, that’s my idea of heaven. it was such a perfect night. i also took some pictures in the upstairs of saturn, partially because i wanted to be able to prove i was there, but also because the art and decorations were fucking awesome. such a good night.

i did have to take a shower without a shower curtain though. birdstuff couldnt fix that. i didnt even care though.

sunday:

the sunday show was in atlanta again, at a place called whirlyball. now what i didnt know about this place was that its not a fucking venue but basically an arcade. or well, more like, its this sport played on bumpercars with lacrosse sticks. theres 2 courts and a few games in the lobby, oh and theres a stage too. what a weird place. i was starting to feel sick by this day so i just sat on the couch for a while. avona nova sat on the couch next to me and we talked for a minute, and the others said hi when they saw me.

i watched people play whirly ball for a bit, chilled while the first band played, then while the next band set up i went and found a bar chair in the lobby. one of the OTHER guys from the facebook fan group came and said hi and gave me an envelope with a ton of cool MoAM flyers in it. he also printed one of the pictures i took at the friday show and made me a custom record with that as the insert cover. it was fucking awesome but unexpected, i hadnt seen this guy all weekend even though he was at the other georgia shows.

this was an all ages show so there were a few kids there. (including coco’s kid, she was adorable). pretty standard set again. i was feeling kinda crappy so this show felt weird to me, but it was still a lot of fun. at the end they pulled up a few kids to play bass and drums, and it was awesome. i found those kids after the show and gave em some stickers. they were so excited.

i waited around after the show for a while again. avona nova told me she was gonna find the merch they brought so i could get some pins for my friends but mostly i didnt want to leave. she also asked if i wanted to take another picture with all 4 of them but star crunch and birdstuff were out of sight so i just took one with her, and then coco. shes so sweet.

i met one more dude from the facebook group, this time a guy that came with his kid. they were both so excited to be there and it was adorable. he saw one of the pictures i had posted of a huge leaf i found at the georgia botanical gardens and showed me one he had taken earlier that day of his son with the same type of big fucking leaf (it was as big as him!). I gave them some stickers, and then they left. i think they had a bit of a drive.

i hung around for a bit longer, talked to a few more people but there wasnt anything special really. some ladies really liked the jumpsuit i wore (lol). eventually i was ready to leave and birdstuff gave me a hug ( :)) ). he was worried about me driving back and offered to find me a hotel room. he also said to “make sure you stop at a rest stop if you start getting tired” which is exactly what my mom would say, lmao. it was sweet though. i said goodbye to him and daniel (the sound guy) and left.

i got gas and then cried while i was driving because i had such a perfect weekend and i wasnt really ready for it to end. but like i was getting sick and ready to go home. anyway i drove home overnight (like 10 hours).

anyway i had the most fun i’ll probably ever have for the rest of my life and it was worth the long fucking drive. my only regret is being too anxious to eat and not doing more shopping.

thanks for reading this, if you did in fact do so. part of this was just to act as a journal if i want to go back and look at it later.

sorry its so long.

#MOAM #long post #h205o #astro weekend 18

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piratekane · 7 years ago

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may 1, extended scene (vanessa/charity)

Takes place on the night of May 1...

Vanessa slips into the darkness of Charity's room and slips out of her shoes silently, carefully draping her jacket over the chair in the corner.

(She had set Johnny up for the night - a tub and a book and a kiss on the forehead - and left him with Tracy. She had lingered outside of Tug Ghyll, looking out into the darkness. A part of her worried to let Tracy out of her sight; what if Bails came by when she wasn't around, when the night shadowed his intentions? She tried to remind herself what Charity told her: he had a family, a bank account, a house, a life - all the things Charity didn't feel like she had.

She hadn't said it, but Vanessa could still feel the words in the air, suffocating them both. Bails had everything Charity didn't, everything he had stripped her of.

Another part of her tried to remember that Tracy knew part of the truth, now - Bails was married. She wouldn’t let him in this late. But if he forced his way in... Vanessa shook her head; she was just going to keep on this downward spiral of fear if she stood there any longer.

She had let herself into the Woolpack, nodding at Chas sitting in the kitchen, a brew in her hands.

"She went up before closing," Chas said bitterly. "Comes in late, leaves early. Wouldn't think she owns half this place, would you?"

Vanessa paused. "She's-"

Chas waved her off. "I know you two have your secrets. Don't make something up just for me." She sighed. "She's okay, yeah?"

Vanessa smiled half-heartedly.

"But you're looking after her."

Vanessa pressed her hand against her chest, feeling like it would beat clear out of her body. "Swear it."

Chas nodded. "Oh, go on, then. I know you're wantin' to get up there."

Vanessa had paused outside of Charity's room, her forehead against the door. She waited for a long minute in the corridor. The lights were out under the door, but the handle gave when she twisted it, and she slipped inside quickly, closing the door softly behind her.)

"Just me," she whispers as she starts on her blouse. She untucks it from her trousers and pulls it over her head.

The bedsheets rustle softly - Charity rolling over or sitting up, Vanessa can't tell in the dark. She leaves her trousers and socks on the floor next to her blouse, padding across the room slowly, her hand on the end of the bed as she feels her way to the side she's slowly claimed as her own.

(Might as well put a nametag on it, yeah? Charity had said one morning last week. Property of Vanessa Woodfield, Girlfriend.

Vanessa had pressed her hand flat against Charity's chest, letting her fingertips curl into her bare skin. "Here too, then."

Charity kissed her hard, stealing the air from her lungs and then pushing it back in with her fingers against Vanessa’s skin.)

She climbs under the covers now, feeling Charity move against her. Their bare legs slide and twist together. Vanessa shivers slightly, Charity's body warm and her bedsheets cool. She walks her fingers up Charity's arm, over the sleeve of the oversized top she stole from Vanessa's wardrobe, and buries her hand in Charity's hair.

"You're here," Charity says, her voice hoarse.

Vanessa's lips rest against Charity's forehead. "I couldn't stop thinking about you," she says quietly.

Charity's hand curls around the curve of Vanessa's bare hip. "Not really in the mood tonight, babe," she admits.

"I'm not here for that," Vanessa says firmly. She scratches lightly at the back of Charity's head, a thin smile on her face when Charity's body reacts, pressing into her own. She works her arm around Charity's shoulders and pulls her in closer, until they’re flush against each other. She can feel the shallow rise and fall of Charity's chest under her own; she knows Charity is one good cry away from collapsing into a hundred tiny pieces. "You were upset."

"Told you," Charity says, the words raw and scratchy. They rub against Vanessa's ears the wrong way, making her chest tighten uncomfortably. "I'm absolutely fine."

Charity is lying. Vanessa doesn't need to see her eyes to know it. She can feel it in the gentle hum of Charity's chest; in the tension of her shoulders; in the heat where their bodies meet and stick. Charity is holding something back, something she's afraid to tell Vanessa.

It hurts, at first. There's a flash of red-hot pain that shoots through her whole body. Charity is her girlfriend; they should be able to talk about anything. About everything. But after the hurt fades, Vanessa can rationalize why Charity is holding back.

More importantly, she knows that Charity will tell her, when Charity is ready to. She's learned one thing these last few weeks, and it's not to push. She won't push and she won't pull, but she'll stand still and be what Charity needs, what Charity has always needed: someone in her corner. I can do that, she had told herself when she realized what Charity so desperately needed. I can stand in this corner and hold up these walls. I can shoulder the weight.

She wants to tell Charity that. She wants to remind her that she's made the choice to help bear whatever burden Charity is carrying; that if she was given the choice a hundred times over, her answer would never change.

Whatever you decide to do, she wants to say again. I want to help you through it.

"Okay," Vanessa says instead. "But I'm already down to my knickers and I'm going nowhere."

Charity laughs, low, and it rumbles in Vanessa's chest. "Course not, babe." Her hands slide lazily over Vanessa's backside, dancing to a song Vanessa doesn't know the rhythm of. Her mouth brushes against Vanessa's cheek, a dusting of a kiss. "Wouldn't want you too, would I?"

Vanessa lets the whisper hang between them, savoring the way it feels to be Charity's choice, to be the one Charity wants near her.

"I'd hope not," she finally whispers back.

Charity leans away from her, cold air rushing into the sudden space between them. "Why did you come?" she asks, her voice steady, but small.

You needed me, is the first thing that comes to Vanessa's mind. But Charity wouldn't like the sound of that, the words too true. Instead, Vanessa winds a strand of hair around her finger slowly, letting it slide off and drift away.

"I needed you," she says.

It's not a whole lie and it's not a whole truth.

Charity's hand flex against her ribs, twitching in a way that says she knows. "Needy cow," she rasps.

"That's me," Vanessa says, humoring this game between them. "Moody, needy. A regular wife, I am."

The room gets too small, too quiet. Vanessa holds her breath, her whole body going taut. Charity is as still as a statue and Vanessa counts ten staggeringly long and terrible seconds before she barks out a laugh, like sandpaper against a cobblestone.

"Not like any wife I've ever had," she says.

Vanessa exhales slowly. "I'm one of a kind, me."

"Too right, kid," Charity says, kissing Vanessa's shoulder so lightly that Vanessa is sure she imagined it. "I'm sure you're off the hooks to talk something to death right now. Don't tell me you're not. I can hear that head of yours turning over. But tonight-"

"Just want you near," Vanessa says lightly. She shimmies down until she can bury her face in Charity's shoulder. Her top doesn't smell laundered anymore; it smells like Charity. She breathes it in and feels her eyes grow heavy with warmth. "That's okay with you, innit?"

"Sure, babe," Charity says quietly. "I'll hold you, yeah?"

Vanessa smiles against Charity's shoulder when Charity only moves closer into her, letting Vanessa's arms tighten around her waist. She holds Charity, her grip fast, and presses kisses to Charity's neck until the familiar soft snoring washes over the whole room.

I'll help you through it, she thinks again. Through it all.

#vanity #charity x vanessa #emmerdale #ficlet #everything was so soft and nothing hurt #except everything hurt #and here i am a pile of mush #i tried to stop but i cannot

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wolf-with-a-pen · 3 years ago

Text

Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door Part 3

TW: Swearing, Death Mentions, Unreality

Previous, Masterpost, Next

Please tell me if I have missed a trigger, or if you would like me to tag this with something it isn't already tagged with.

Enjoy Part 3!

Word Count: 3572

ISI had woken up pretty quickly, clearly shaken enough it couldn't sleep for long at all. It had a nightmare- an extremely uncommon occurrence in heaven, so it almost surprised it. Only problem was it looked like it was in the future. It hoped that wouldn't happen. It had no clue who they were, but it could tell that they were important to them, and if the dream was right it would lose them. Something it couldn't bear to think about, so it didn't. Gradually, it sat up, bringing Vanny's head onto its lap, like she used to do to it, a long time ago. Gently it ran its fingers through her hair, watching her stir slightly then lean into its touch gently. Instantly it started screaming internally from how much it missed this. Just looking at her face, pale and round, playing with her light brown hair, currently a mess from lack of caring about it, gently teasing out the knots. "God she is adorable when she's asleep, " it thought, "she looks so peaceful."

It was half an hour later that Vanny woke up and nearly cried from relief. "So, it wasn't a dream."

"No, I'm really here."

"But how, I thought you died. I watched you die."

"And that is a long story that you probably won't enjoy. "

"I don't mind sitting for it. I have nothing better to do."

"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you."

It was half an hour later that it finished. It took that long to overview the entire 5 years, leaving out half of it (mainly as many dangerous parts as possible that didn't matter to the story). It recounted how it had entered heaven, how it had gained its role in the hierarchy, and all of the major events that happened during that. Meeting Edward and Ansel, how it found out the place was corrupt and how they fought their way out. The entire time, Vanny was absorbed in the story, but on edge knowing that all of it happened to her partner- and that it had been in danger. When it reached the end, it could finally take a breath. “Any questions?”

"So, you're telling me that you went to heaven, gained an authority position, realised said authority was corrupt when your now-friend’s brother was killed for a small misdemeanour, so you and said friend got caught plotting to escape heaven, managed to escape and came here. And that all happened in the space of 3 months. What the fuck? I believe you ‘cause you wouldn't come up with something this big, but still, what the fuck? "

"Yeah, saying it out loud it is a bit crazy isn't it."

"A bit?! That's like saying a massive cake is just a cupcake. At least you are safe now. I'm guessing you and your friend need a place to stay."

"Yeah, just for now. Eventually we will go back to heaven, hopefully this time with an army."

"Wait, what? You're going back?"

"Not yet, but it's a case of we can't leave heaven in the state it is. From what Edward overheard, they're planning on destroying everyone."

"OK, I understand. I can't stop you from doing this, but it doesn't mean I approve. I might tag along if I'm able to, just to make sure you don't get hurt again."

"Depends on if you can see me when I take off this necklace."

"Why?"

"The necklace gives me a physical form, if I take it off you'll either see my spirit and be able to go, or not see me and have to stay behind."

"At this point I'm not surprised by anything."

"Oh, shoot, I forgot I left Edward at Dick's. I said I'd meet them back there, with you. You willing to come with me?"

"Yeah, sure, I could do with getting out of the house. Give me a chance to change first, I'm still in my pyjamas."

Isi looked down to find it was true.

"Sure."

20 minutes later and Vanny came out of her bedroom, now wearing a white long sleeve shirt, a hastily tied lilac tie (that Isi recognised as one of its) with a red short sleeved jacket. She had cuffed burgundy shorts with white boots on, half way up her calves. Her light brown hair was half tied up in a red scrunchy, and she had thrown on a red and white flower crown that Isi recognised as the one her sister gave her. "OK, I'm ready."

Isi itself had changed. Now, it was wearing a black blouse, with one of its lilac ties (the twin of the one Vanny was wearing) and black boots in the same style as Vanny's. For a change it was wearing black jeans instead of trousers-they were more practical for everyday activity. " Let's go then." Isi replied, heading towards Vanny, and gently fixing her tie. As they headed towards the door, she snaked an arm around Isi’s waist, and once they were out of the door, it did the same. Tentatively, she leaned her head on its shoulder and they ambled down the path towards the pub.

Edward meanwhile, was back at work- it was an hour after the lunch break, and thankfully there wasn't as big of a rush. Most of the people were now just sat at the bar so they could try to talk to the customers, but did not get the hang of it. The highlight was when they said "enjoy the rest of your life, however long that may be" to an unsuspecting customer, who looked scared the second they realised what they said. Edward realised what they had done a few minutes later and started panicking, but they had to pretend not to be. When they saw a familiar face walk through the door, they asked Dick for some time off. He agreed, knowing that they were going to meet up with Isi anyway, even if he didn't let them. Making their way to the back room, they speculated what Vanny would be like, planning ideas of what they would say in their head. It never worked, as shown by the entire morning of greeting customers really awkwardly, and accidentally inserting memes into the conversation. Grabbing their bags, they re-emerged from the room, to see Mast and Dick in conversation with Vanny and Isi.

Meanwhile, Isi and Vanny made their way over to the bar, Vanny remembering what the place was like and letting it sink in that she hadn't been there for at least a year. "How did I manage it?" she thought to herself. "It feels so much like home. I missed this place."

"Vanny! How are you?" Dick exclaimed upon seeing her, "I haven't seen you in at least a year!"

"I'm OK now, Isi's death hit me too hard, I rarely get out of bed anymore."

"It's good to hear that you're feeling better now."

"Well, it's all thanks to Isi's return. If it didn't come back..."

For a few moments, Dick was silent- a rare occurrence- and he nodded gently.

"I understand. But you're here now. That's all that matters."

"Thank you."

"Did I hear Vanny?" Mast shouted from out in the staff room.

"Yes, she's here."

At this Mast ran out, surprised that she was there and excited to see how she was. "Hey Vanny, how are you? Wait, Isi?!"

"Hey Mast," both of them replied in unison, surprised for a second, then bursting into laughter. "God, I missed you."

"I missed you too Vans, I missed you too."

"But aren't you dead?"

"Yes, but no. It's too long to explain again. I'm dead but here."

"Ok, I won’t ask. It's good to see you again. I think I talk for everyone when I say we missed your presence here."

"Thank you."

At this point, Mast and Dick got back to work, with Edward emerging from the staff room with all their stuff.

"Hey Isi, and this must be Vanessa, I've heard so much about you."

"Please, call me Vanny, everyone else does. And so, you must be Edward."

"Yeah, that's me."

"Cool, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too."

“So, I guess you’re living with us now.”

“As long as that’s fine with you, I’ll move out as soon as possible.”

“Don’t worry about it, I am fine with it. You are Isi’s friend so stay as long as you want. I am not one to refuse a friend help.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem, we’d better get going so you can set up the spare room and then maybe we could have a movie night and play a board game or do something like that to get to actually know each other, since we’ll be living together.”

“Sure, I’ll get my stuff from the back.” Edward responded, turning round and heading back into the back room.

“They aren’t how I expected them to be.”

“Why? What did you think they’d be like?”

“Honestly, I thought they’d be one of those bubbly types you seem to be a magnet for, or at least an extrovert.”

“Yeah, no, they are the opposite of that. But we get on and spent a lot of time watching Earth. After their brother died, they were lonely, so I made friends with them, hoping it would cheer them up. And it did a bit. Now we are close friends, and they aren’t as lonely as they could have been.”

“What was I expecting? I guessed it would be something like that, you enjoy spending time with them?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t I? They are kind and quite creative, despite coming off to most people as socially awkward, it seems to only be around people they don’t know, since they are fine with me.”

“Cool. From the sounds of it, they are an OK person, I trust you on this, I will try to get to know them.”

“Thank you.”

“Anything for you, darling.” Vanny flirtatiously teased, eliciting a large amount of blushing from Isi, forcing it to look down at its feet, before looking up to see her eyes glinting with mischief. It was then that Edward emerged from the other room, saving Isi from more. Vanny instantly snapped her head up to look at them, turning back to Isi, before whispering in its ear “They saved you this time, next time you might not be as lucky.” Turning back to Edward, she questioned if they were ready. Once she had confirmation, they all turned and left, saying goodbye to Dick and Mast before leaving.

It was half an hour later that they arrived home, mainly due to them all getting distracted by a smart cat on the way home. A pretty little thing- burnt orange with a black tabby pattern along their back, and bright yellow eyes. Little did they know they were the only ones who saw them. For this was a special cat- one that had crossed the border between life and death. And it just so happened it was owned by a particular group of friends. One from the opposite direction to Isi and Edward- hell spawn as the Guardians called them. Most just called them “demons”.

Riley, Sprite and Salami were sat in a bar, somewhere in the centre of town, but at the same time, nowhere near the angels or their cat, Spooky, who was almost like a familiar at this point. All had a drink in hand, and were conversing. Some more than others, in particular, Riley. He had spent most of the night toying with the barman, flirting near incessantly, and succeeding, from the look on the barman’s face, obviously blushing, desperately attempting to hide it. “When were we leaving again?” Sal questioned, giving the barman a break, “Cause I’m pretty sure it was 5 minutes ago.”

At this all of them looked at the clock over the bar. “Awww, I wanted to stay with this cutie longer.” Riley protested. “I mean, were only 5 minutes late, and didn’t we allow for this?”

“Mainly, because last time we were late, we had to stay in hell for a week. If you, like him that much, get his number, then we can go.”

“Fine. So, hotstuff, am I allowed to have your number?”

“Sure,” the barman replied without thinking, writing it on a napkin and sliding it over to Riley.

“Thanks cutie. Talk to you later. That’s a promise.” He teased, strutting out the door, Sprite and Sal following.

“Why are you late?”

“We got held up.” Riley confidently replied.

“He was fliting again wasn’t he?”

“Yeah,” replied Sal.

“Of course,” Sprite answered as if it was the most obvious thing ever.

“Thought so. I’ll let you off this time, but only this once, and even then it is only because of the mission I am about to give you. However next time you are late, I will punish you harder than you could believe possible. Follow me, we’re going back to hell, Satan wants to be there when I tell you the task.”

All were puzzled, but quickly realised how big a mission it must be if Satan himself wanted to see them. Riley was not worried at all. He never really was- he was good at missions, and he knew it. As far as he was concerned, why wouldn’t Satan go to him for a big mission? And that had always been one of his downfalls, but as of yet it hadn’t really mattered or made a difference. Before they knew it, they were back in Hell. It was kind of similar to Earth, but with a slight red tint that eventually became almost unnoticeable. Most of the demons lived in small civilisations, free to do whatever they wanted with no repercussions, with a few of the worst being in the fire pits to at least get to a manageable level of chaos. Not that it was hard- as long as you didn’t go around constantly annoying the elders, you could do whatever. However, there was one place off limits, and even if it wasn’t everyone would avoid it- the tall dark red spire in the centre of hell, that could be seen from almost anywhere, also known as Satan’s castle. Everyone feared him. Generally, because he was one of the few that could vaporise everyone with one wave of his hand. However, this time, the trio were allowed in.

The inside was as intimidating as the outside, dark red, and massive, as well as full of candles for some reason, that illuminated it just enough, but left it spooky. Unfortunately, Satan’s place was never updated with a lift. Satan’s meeting room, was on the top floor. The staircase was a floating one with massive gaps between each step. It was torture for most people, trying to get all the way to the top, while at the same time avoiding all of the gaps you could fall through. It was a painful 10 minutes, but they made it eventually, to Satan’s lair. Cosy wasn’t the word you’d think of when thinking of where Satan would live, but it was just that. Spacious, cosy and pretty comfortable looking to live in. Satan was sat at the end of a long table to the right, and upon seeing the three exclaimed “Welcome, please do sit down, then we can start the meeting. It is nice to finally meet all of you, after all this time of sending you on quests. It is especially nice to meet you Sprite, considering you are only one of 10 hybrids.”

“Thank you, Sir,” they all replied. Knowing it was best to do what he said, all of them sat down, Sprite and Salami on one side, and Riley on the other.

“So, what do you know about the angels?” Satan inquired.

“Corrupt and evil?”

“Yes, but no. We call them that so you distrust all angels in case any of them are Guardians, because it is the guardians that are corrupt, mainly due to being trapped as part of a hive mind, with no soul and no choice but to do what the elder says. The rest of the citizens are just victims of their ideologies and beliefs. Most are scared into believing what they say.”

“What about god? Aren’t they in control?”

“No. God disappeared long ago, leaving an elders in charge of heaven. Unfortunately, said elder had mind control powers and managed to convince people to allow them to be in control. What they didn’t know is that when they control you, you lose your soul. This created the Guardians, who are a terror, and threaten the balance of control.”

“May I ask why we need to know this?”

“It is for your mission. Recently I have heard about 2 angels who have fled heaven to Earth. We do not know where they are. One has apparently been plotting treason, and the other is their accomplice, for escaping and their plans. The accomplice was one of the border guards, not a guardian, but in a position of power and likely brainwashed into believing it was doing good. Both have been outlawed, and will be made either guardians or fallens if the guardians find them. If they are made Guardians, it is game over. I might be able to convince the Elder to make them fallens, that way they don’t have to stay in heaven, but we need to make sure they are not found by the angels, and that we can recruit them to us. That is why I have called you here. I would like you to find and monitor them, make sure they stay safe, and convince them to come to see me. I would like to meet them and see if we can help them or they can help us. Your mission starts today. There is no time limit on this one, but the quicker you find them, the better.”

“Ok Sir,” they all replied.

“Also, don’t make contact until you have found them and told me, unless you need to in order to confirm it is them. I have photos and equipment in the back room, I’ll go get it quickly.” At this Satan got up and left through a door somewhere off to the right.

“Well, this is intriguing, it should be easy to find them. From what I remember, they aren’t allowed to leave heaven after they have got there, so they won’t be used to being out in public and keeping their identities secret. Let’s start in Coventry and work through England, before going to other countries.” Riley announced, taking charge.

“Sure, I know the south of Coventry well, so I’ll look there.”

“I’ll check the North.”

“So, that leaves me the centre of town. I’ll look around there and all of the bars and pubs.”

All of them knew he would try to pick up everyone possible, and spend almost all of his time in the pubs.

“So that’s settled.”

At this point, Satan strode back in, carrying three backpacks. “Glad to know you have a plan. Each of you take a bag. They all contain spirit detectors and all sorts of different locators you can try. Also, there is a special collar for Spooky with a small camera that is set off when it senses any dead, I recommend you use it because they can cover a lot of ground. In the pocket on the front, there is the photos.” Satan explained, handing out the bags, and watching as they pulled out the photos. Pointing to Isi’s picture he continued, “This one is called Isi Danes, it died at 21 and has a girlfriend, called Vanessa Williams, who lives in Coventry. That’s why I chose you, I know that they were likely to go there in order to have a place to live and people they knew around them, and you know the area better than all of the other demons thanks to the large amount of time you have spent there over the years.” He moved his finger to hover over Edward’s image. “This is Edward. As far as I am aware they have no known living associates, with their brother being converted to a Guardian for crossing the border for a few seconds, and most of the rest of their family disowning them. The only one we know that they know, and could be with is Isi and Vanessa, so if you find one, you will find both.

“Isn’t it a bit cruel to punish someone for just a few seconds over the border?”

“Yes, that is due to them being corrupt. It is essentially a dictatorship- if anyone even slightly steps out of line then they lose their soul. Probably why they escaped from it. Now then, go and find them for me. Use the communicator in the pocket the photos were in to communicate with me without coming to hell every time.”

“Thank you Sir.” They all said, packing everything up and leaving the way they entered. Before they left, Riley hung back a second. “We will find them for you,” He promised, before turning and leaving. On the way downstairs, he spent ages talking constantly about how Edward didn’t look all that bad and how he would take them for himself. The others just sighed, used to it.

#Knockin' On Heaven's Door #Original Content #TW swearing #TW death mentions #TW Unreality

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dlamp-dictator · 7 years ago

Text

Allen’s End of the Year Rambling: Fighting Games

So now we get to the part of my End of the Year Rambling where I actually Ramble. This... this is gonna’ be a long one, and I haven’t even gotten to the RPGs yet... Lord help when I do.

So yes, video games. I can’t just talk about everything in one go, I’ve played so much, played too much to be honest. So for the sake of my sanity I’ll be breaking this into genres, starting with fighting games.

I’ll be honest here, I’m not the best at fighting games. As much as I love a lot of the characters, as much as I enjoy writing lyrics to the character themes and fanfics for the lesser known fighting games, I really couldn’t play at a competitive level for my life. My best game is Blazblue, and I can barely keep a 10% win rate on rank.

No, my love of fighting games comes from the aesthetics and the animations.

Fighting games just tend to look very pretty in motion, and as someone that loves action and shounen and all that, games like these are right up my alley in terms of hitting those aesthetics. I don’t mind trying to learn how to play the game, but... well, “Git Gud” is a phrase that will forever haunt me for a reason.

But yeah, I gave just about everything a shot as far as fighting games go this year. I played 2D fighters, 3D fighters, Brawlers, Side-Scrolling Beat-Em-Ups, and so on. If it went on sale on PSN or Steam, I tried it out. So here are some of the highlights and my general thoughts on some of these games.

So first I gotta’ talk about Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2, Blazblue’s older brother in a way. I’m not gonna’ lie, my opinion of Guilty Gear is a tad... negative due to a lot of Guilty Gear fans putting down on Blazblue fans in the early years of Blazblue’s rising as a fighting game. I know I shouldn’t let that color my view of the game, but it does make it harder to make posts like this, and I can’t help but compare so many things in terms of characters and aesthetics. I tried a bit of Xrd when it came out, the original Xrd back in 2014. I mainly played Chipp and Ramlethal, then mostly Ramlethal since she was a bit easier than Chipp (online anyway). I liked a lot the visuals and animations, it was a bit grittier than Blazblue, and had a much easier story to follow despite being the 3rd (major) game in the series than the time-traveling, multi-dimensional, quantum-mechanical science-meets-magic craziness that was Blazblue. Hell, the voice casting was actually pretty good, even if it felt like they used literally 10 voice actors at times (I swear every English voice actor was playing at least 2 characters). I put it down after awhile and went back to Blazblue and Under Night In-Birth.

What brought me back to Guilty Gear was actually Answer, and not Baiken to everyone’s surprise. As much as I love samurais and tough girls, Answer hit every single Ninja aesthetic I could ask for in the world of Guilty Gear. His suit, his style, how he talks on the phone while he fights, his theme, oh lord, his theme. I bought Rev 2 with every intent on Maining him.

Then I realized I had to learn how his scrolls worked to do that, and went right back to maining Ram.

As far as the story of Rev 2 goes, I... I really don’t care for it. I honestly didn’t bother with it after chapter 2. And honestly, it was because this game didn’t get dubbed.

Yeah... sorry if I’m bringing up an old point of complaint, but when games have visual novel-style cutscenes, or a CG movie in the case of Guilty Gear, to showcase their story I’d really prefer a dub. It’s just easier for me personally to follow the information a bit more. The Japanese voice actors sound fine, and I do prefer Ramlethal’s Japanese voice as a oppose to Erin Fitzgerald if I’m being frank, but... I need a dub for these kinds of story scenes, hearing it in a language I understand helps me. There are exceptions, but they are few and far between, and I’m especially not cutting Guilty Gear a break because of that. The only reason I tolerated it in Blazblue is because it was the finale to Ragna’s story, and I was personally invested in Ragna’s character after 3 games. Sol and the cast of Guilty Gear... don’t get that advantage with me since was my first time really caring about the story. I played a bit of Guilty Gear XX beforehand, but not enough to care.

In terms of how it plays, it’s fine. Personally, I think Guilty Gear is way more strict with inputs. You can’t just fumble around with joystick and expect to combo into a DP like in Blazblue, you need to be accurate. You also have to account for close and far-ranged normals like with Slash and Heavy Slash. Guilty Gear is... just a different animal for me. A more strategic and precise one that punishes mistakes heavily.

I do like a lot about it though. It’s music definitely surpasses Blazblue in terms of quality, my favorites of the Rev 2 track is One Dawn, Dizzy’s theme, and Enough is Enough, Answer’s theme. I’m... trying get lyrics together for those songs, but... eh, it’ll take some times.

Next up, we’ve got Street Fighter 5. Admittedly, I’m not a huge fan of the Street Fighter series, but I do like a handful of character in the sense of aesthetics. Makoto and Ibuki are my favorites, but yeah, I actually bought this game since it was real cheap at the time and I wanted to see if I could actually get into it despite it’s focus on competitive play. I heard this game wasn’t for those looking for a single-player experience, but I needed to see that for myself.

And man, this game is actually tough. Sorry, for the sudden segue, but mechanics of Street Fighter so different to the fast-pace style of an ASW fighter. Doing combos is so hard for me. I know Guilty Gear was tough and punished mashing, but Street Fighter is so much slower paced with how you need to approach it. This game does not want you to button mash for combos. Like, at all. In fact, the main reason I like Ibuki so much is because she one of the few characters who has a handful of combos that you can mash. You need to time things carefully, and that makes things a nightmare for me in netplay sometimes.

But, back to my time with the game. I know I’m beating a dead horse with this critique, but the lack of a true arcade mode or any really single-player experience outside of Survival Mode really bugs me. As someone that isn’t good on a competitive level, nor has an interest in the competitive scene of Street Fighter, I feel like there’s nothing keeping me around. Maybe I could find a group of beginners like me and just pal around with them and improve, but... I don’t know, I don’t think it’s worth it.

In terms of good things about this game, I like the presentation very much. We can... talk about character models and their hair another time, but I like a lot of the outfits and style of the characters. Certain outfits I just had to get for the aesthetics of them. Like I said before, Street Fighter has aesthetics, but... not much outside that is keeping me playing it. Eh, maybe I write a fanfic about the series, who knows?

Alright, next is something I was meaning to get to for awhile, King of Fighters 14. Between this and Street Fighter, I much prefer this one. The inputs took me a minute to get use to, realizing that special inputs could be combined into super inputs and all that, but I like the combo system in this game. I find it a little faster paced than Street Fighter, but not as fast as something like Blazblue. It’s a nice middle ground given my experiences, something I’d be willing to stick a little bit more time into.

I had to uninstall this due to... certain events happening this year with my PS4, but I’m hoping to buy a physical copy of this game at some point in 2018 and try this out in earnest. My favorite characters to use were Mian, Luong, and Mui Mui. I messed around a little with Alice and Vanessa too at the time before... the event. I’m just hoping there’s still a community afterwards when I get this game later.

And last one my fighting game highlights, I tried to get into Tekken 7. I really tried too, but there’s just a lot that’s dissuading me from it. Much like Street Fighter, I feel like the focus was on online and competitive play instead of making a single player experience. Story mode I didn’t care much for since I’m apathetic to Tekken’s storyline as a whole. Arcade mode... is barely there. There’s Treasure battle, but it doesn’t feel like much of a game there. Honestly, I think Tekken 6 was a little better at this. I feel like a lot of previous fighting game titles did more for the single player experience to be honest. I mean, it’s fine if they want to focus on multiplayer and online,but that just didn’t keep my attention. I’m not really interested in reaching a higher tier of playing a fighting game unless we’re talking about Blazblue and Under Night In Birth.

Now if there’s one good thing I can say about Tekken, it’s the animations. If there’s any reason I get 3D fighters, it’s for how fluid all the characters look and move. It’s why I like Virtua Fighter, it’s why I like Dead or Alive, and it’s why I like Tekken. Your character just does cool stuff when playing them, and unlike 2D fighters, it really feels like you’re doing all the crazy martial arts action. Spectacle is probably the main reason I love Tekken so much, and even if I feel this game is lacking, I’ll probably come back to it eventually... eventually.

Honorable Mentions

Blazblue Central Fiction 2.0: I’ll talk about the Blazblue series in depth another time, but I do want to at least finally welcome Jubei to the cast, it��s nice to have you here Cat Person, here’s hoping we can see you in Cross Tag Battle.

Dead or Alive 5: I actually played this a bit more often over this year, not enough to talk about it in depth, but I’ll admit there’s more to this game mechanically than the breast setting... plus I... spend roughly $100 on cute outfits for the girls... hehe... what can I say, I’m a bit of a shameless pervert.

Absolvers: While technically not a fighting game, there’s enough fighting and martial arts in this game for me to give it a quick mention. I liked it well enough, I just wish it ran at a higher frame rate on the PS4 though.

The Plethora of Small-Scale Fighters/Old Re-Releases I Bought This Year: If I talked about all the fighting games I bought and I’d be here all day, so I’ll just list them off here.

Brawlhalla

Chaos Code New Sign of Catastrophe

Garou: Mark of the Wolves

The Last Blade

Melty Blood

Blade Arcus from Shining: Battle Arena

Arcana Heart 3 Love Max Six Stars

And that’s it for fighting games. Again, I care more about fighting games in terms of aesthetics and animations, something I’ll probably Ramble about in the future, but for now... I’ll see you all when I talk about the Fate series... yeah, I’m really hesitating to talk about RPGs guys, just... give me a week at least.

#guilty gear #street fighter #king of fighters #tekken #your dictator is speaking

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seriestrash · 7 years ago

Text

The Story of Us

PROLOGUE || 1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6 || 7 || 8 || 9 || 10 || 11 || 12 || 13

Chapter Fourteen: Fall

Word Count: 3486

✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮

Riley returns to Jed’s feeling better for having let herself cry it out. Again she finds her brother Auggie sitting on the porch steps this time with a tablet in hand as he taps away at whatever game he's playing.

"Everything alright, Augs?" Riley raises a brow as she approaches, confused as to why he's outside.

"Yeah. Mom started freaking out about something so I'm keeping a safe distance while the adults talk." Auggie doesn't even lift his gaze.

"Do you know what about?" Some light panic creeps into Riley's chest expecting the worst before she allowed herself to theorise anything good.

"No, idea." Auggie rests the tablet on his lap and finally looks up at Riley. "Mom finally barged out onto the porch about twenty minutes ago. Then she came inside a few minutes later all open jawed- you know the look." Auggie chuckes.

"Boy do I." Riley laughs slightly menacingly but more nervous as she’d gotten that look from her mother a few times when she first started acting out. "Shall we see what the fuss is about?"

Auggie gets up and Riley throws an arm comfortably over his shoulder. The younger boy wasn't quite as tall as Riley yet but he did have a mini growth spurt earlier in the year. The two Matthews children enter the house to find their parents and maternal grandparents standing around the living room.

"Don't you think you're rushing into things?" Topanga squeaks, her jaw still slightly agape as Auggie had mentioned.

"Come on Tippy, don't you think that sounds a little strange given the circumstances?" Jed asks with a goofy smile. "It's not like we just met yesterday."

Riley has to stop herself from giggling at the endearing pet name Jed used for Topanga and the sight of her estranged grandmother resting a hand lovingly on Jedediah's chest with the other draped around his back as she curls into his side is strange but something that makes Riley’s grin grow.

"Yesterday you and mom hadn't spoken since Auggie was born and before that it was Riley and now- and now- this!" Topanga huffs.

"Honey, I think it's kinda sweet." Cory tries to soothe.

"Uh, what's going on?" Riley decides to speak up.

"Riley, August," Rhiannon says in her very proper manner. That showed the woman Rhiannon had become, a contrast to the stories she heard off Jed but the way he looks at her as she speaks has Riley wondering if there was any form of her grandmother that he didn't love.

"Your grandfather and I have decided that we would like to remarry." A soft smile rests on the elderly woman’s face.

"What?" Riley's mouth hangs open, mirroring that of her mothers reaction.

"Cool." Auggie wears a small but genuine grin.

"Very cool." Riley's jaw picks up with her own smile. "When? How? When?" Riley excitedly babbles.

"Immediately." Jed chimes in. "This weekend preferably."

"Congratulations!" Riley throws her arms out and hugs across her grandparents. She didn't need to be convinced that this was the right thing for them. Riley felt the love between them the moment their eyes met that afternoon and she’d previously learnt of Jed's longing for the life he once shared with Rhiannon. Slowly but surely the family are all engulfed in a group hug. Even a shocked Topanga eventually joined in.

Many conversations were had that night and eventually Topanga was onboard with the upcoming nuptials. It was hard to adjust to the idea that her parents were to remarry, a decision made in a few hours after almost twenty years of divorce but it was Riley who made Topanga see the light in it all. The brunette explained about her short story and how she’s learnt of Jed’s past slowly over her stay with him, how she knew he never stopped loving Rhiannon. Riley says she trusts this decision to be the right thing and Topanga trusts her daughter and gives her parents her support. Topanga didn’t even know Hillford Creek was the town in which her parents first met, once Riley shared that fact and spoke of how Jed moved here to feel closer to her, Topanga didn’t need much more convincing.

✮ ✮ ✮

The following afternoon Riley is dropped into town by her parents. They were with Auggie and going to run a few errands, a couple of which revolved around Saturday’s wedding but Riley had excitedly asked for a lot of the responsibility regarding that.

The New Yorker approaches the high school as the final bell was set to ring soon. Riley, waves at the smiling bus driver who is leaning against the bus waiting for school to get out. Riley takes perch on a large rock by the schools surrounding gardens. Patiently, she waits to hear the final bell and watches students exit the grounds on their way home. Lucas is the first face she sees. Riley rises from her place on the rock to greet him and Lucas approaches with a smile.

“You know you’re a little late for school.” Lucas jokes.

Riley understands he’s joking but still answers seriously. “I’m going to be making up most of my classes with my dad for the time being.”

“I know, I heard.” Lucas nods.

“You did?” Riley pricks up a brow.

“Small town remember?” Lucas laughs.

“Of course.” Riley shakes her head with a smile.

“So... How are you doing?” Lucas softens.

“For now I am okay.” Riley smiles genuinely. “I can’t let an inevitable sadness take away from times that should be happy.”

Before Lucas can say anything else, their conversation is interrupted when Mabel nearly tackles Riley to the ground in an embrace.

“I’m so sorry, Riley.” Mabel sinks into the hug.

“What for?” Riley asks a little shocked by the sudden embrace but she still finds herself warming up to it quickly.

“For Jed.” A sadness in Mabel’s voice reminds Riley that the girl had been through a similar scenario with her fathers passing.

“Sorry I’ve been MIA since Monday,” Riley lets herself fall into the hug more too.

“I totally understand, don’t worry.” Mabel gives her a gentle squeeze.

“Did Lucas tell you?” Riley asks once they part.

“No, I heard from Vanessa first, then I pushed Lucas until he confirmed.” Mabel admits.

“Vanessa?” Riley is confused.

“She approached me after first period I think at first she wanted to check that it wasn’t bringing up any sadness because of my dad but she did want me to pass on that she was thinking of you and is around if you need anything.” Mabel explains.

“How did she find out?” Riley questions.

“Small town.” Mabel half smiles. “I think the leak came from one of the teachers after they found out that you would be taking classes from home.”

“So everyone knows?” Riley crinkles her nose.

“Pretty much.” Mabel nods. “Sorry.”

“That’s okay, I was planning on explaining things to you myself but I guess I don’t have to anymore.”

At this point Lucas was now standing a few steps back with the twins. Riley hadn’t noticed the two Dunn boys approach but is happy they’re present. With an arm linked with Mabel’s Riley walks over to them. Each twin expresses that they’re sorry to hear about Jed. Riley thanks them both and takes a deep breath.

“I actually came here to share some positive news about this weekend with you all.” Riley says.

“You’re not going home to New York are you?” Tristan frowns.

“No. Not yet.” Riley’s smile is small. “I’m sure you’ve heard that my family is in town, including my grandmother.” Everyone gives little nods so Riley continues, “Well, my grandparents decided to get remarried... This Saturday.” Riley’s face curls into a goofy expression knowing how silly it all sounded.

“It’s so weird having Jed humanised.” Thomas jokes.

Mabel gives him a playful smack in the arm. “Riley, that’s so sweet.”

“I was wondering if you guys would mind helping me organise a few things for the ceremony and what not?” Riley sways on her feet.

“You want us to help you shop?” Thomas asks unenthusiastically.

“I’ll help!” Mabel says over compensating for her new boyfriends lack of excitement.

“Yeah me too.” Lucas smiles and it makes Riley excited for a moment alone with him, knowing he’d let her get overly excited about the wedding.

“I’m in.” Tristan raises his hand cutely.

“Of course I want to help my friend.” Thomas says defensively. “I was just worried that I’d even be of any help.”

“Well maybe you should stick with Mabel then if you’re that concerned.” Riley coaxes her head with a knowing smirk.

“I guess if I have to.” Thomas shrugs innocently.

Riley runs off a list of things she has to organise and the teens each accept responsibility for a few things. Mabel and Thomas go one way, Tristan goes off solo in another and Lucas stays with Riley like she had secretly hoped he would. The group had agreed to meet in time square one hour from when they parted ways.

Once Riley and Lucas were alone he did listen to her ramble on about how insanely wonderful this quick engagement is. Even after they’ve finished with all the items on Riley’s list and making their way towards the meeting point Riley is still going on about it.

“They never fell out of love with each other. They fell out of love with their lives.” Riley says as they walk. “And I know it's sad that it took grave news to snap them out of it but what really matters is that they did. They're happy to finish their story together even if it ends sooner than anyone would like.”

The two teens continue to make their way towards town square with shopping bags in hand. Lucas offered to carry the bulk of them but Riley is too hyped about their finds to let them go. As they near the agreed upon meeting point Riley stops dead in her tracks.

“Something up?” Lucas asks.

“What season is it?” Riley questions.

Lucas is initially confused for a second but then takes another to think. “Uh, Fall I think, why?”

“The tree.” Riley points grand tree that grows in the centre of the park square.

“You’ve been through town square before right?” Lucas creases his brows, he’s unsure what the big fuss is about.

“Yes.” Riley gives him a playfully unamused look before turning her gaze back to the thing that originally captivated her attention. “The leaves.”

“Oh yeah.” Lucas says, his smile only half as interested as Riley’s. “I hadn’t noticed.”

“Neither did I.” Riley’s voice trails off with her as she marches towards the empty park bench seat that sits in front of the tree. Lucas follows a few steps behind, once he catches up Riley is already seated. Lucas places the shopping bags he holds on the ground by the ones Riley sat down and he takes a seat beside the brunette. Riley’s gaze remains pointed upwards at the trees foliage that hangs above them. Lucas’ interest grows the more he watches Riley entranced the way she is.

“Fall used to be my favourite season.” Riley knits her brows together with a her chin still tilted to look above.

Lucas senses her thought process about wondering how she could miss the change of season when it used to be her favourite. He bumps Riley’s arm with his own. “Seasons don’t really change the same around here.”

Riley lowers her gaze to Lucas and wears a dubious stare. “No really,” Lucas chuckles at her response. “This is one of the few trees in town that actually change colour. It’s the same with winter, snow is a rarity. The seasons and the way they change aren't as intense here in this part of Austin as they are in other places, like New York for example.”

Riley pauses for a moment to see if Lucas was having her on. The genuine look on his face makes Riley comfortable enough to continue. “Back home it can be subtle, the change can sneak up on you and other times it’s like you wake up one morning and everything has been painted shades of red and orange.”

“See, you don’t miss out on everything coming from the city.” Lucas smiles.

Riley grins too at the thought of that. A reddish leaf dropped from the tree and floated down above Riley, she reaches out and claps it together in her palms. The New Yorker waves the leaf out in front of Lucas before pulling closer to herself again. Riley’s fingers gently brushing the veins of the leaf. “You ever seen a colour like this?”

“No.” Lucas purses his bottom lip slightly and watches the excitement on Riley’s face as she gazes at the leaf. It confused him the same way her happy twirling did. “I guess living somewhere where all the seasons tend to blur into one has made me unappreciative of the finer details.”

“Shouldn’t that make you appreciate them more?” Riley coaxes her head. “Because it’s extra special that way?”

“I don’t know.” A nervous giggle escapes Lucas and he feels lame about the sound but it doesn’t phase Riley as her smile remains perfectly perched on her face.

“Here.” Riley reaches out with the leaf in hand and offers it to Lucas. “Keep it forever.”

“Forever?” Lucas grabs it by the thin stem and raises a brow.

“If not to appreciate the season itself then keep it because I gave it to you.” Riley smiles softly.

“Maybe I can keep it for both reasons.” Lucas matches her gentle smile as he carefully slips it into his jacket pocket.

Riley watches his smile but she can’t help but tear her consciousness away from the lovely moment in front of her.

“Is something on your mind?” Lucas notices Riley’s mental absence.

“I think we need to talk about the other day.” Riley frowns.

“Is this about being upset in my room?” Lucas softens. “Because I didn’t tell anyone if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“No that’s not it.” Riley gives him half a smile. “It’s about the other other day. Sunday.”

“Oh. Oh.” Lucas shifts awkwardly. “I thought nothing happened...”

“Would I be crazy to think that maybe something was happening?” Riley chews on her bottom lip.

“What would that something be exactly?” Lucas seems just as eager to dance around the details as Riley.

“I like spending time with you, Lucas.” Riley releases a breath she was holding. “But I was worried that spending time with you meant I was being a bad girlfriend before.”

“Anyone who chooses to spend time with someone else when they could spend time with you is an idiot.” Lucas says. “And for the record... I really like spending time with you too, Riley.”

Riley points a sheepish smile at her lap before lifting her gaze up to Lucas. “So we both like spending time with each other?”

“Yes.” Lucas says quietly and even though he’s sure ‘spending time with each other’ was code for admitting their feelings he couldn’t help but feel like this conversation wasn’t going to end with them walking home holding hands.

“It’s just that with everything going on maybe I shouldn’t be spending time with you.” Riley frowns. “I mean, I should really be with my family...”

“I know.” Lucas nods.

“And eventually I’ll return to New York and then what?” Riley gets a little worked up. “Then we can’t spend time with each other at all.”

“I understand, Riley.” Lucas says sternly to communicate he knew exactly what she meant but still smiles sweetly. “We can still talk to each other though, right?”

“I really hope so.” Riley nods.

“Then we talk.” Lucas’ gentle smile remains.

“Hey,” Mabel’s voice draws both of their attention away from each other. The redhead approaches with Thomas close by her side. “Riley, my mom wanted to talk to you about dresses.” Mabel seems to be acting weird but Riley doesn’t think much of it. “So do you wanna..” Mabel nudges her head backwards.

“Sure.” Riley nods and stands up.

“I’ll drop these off later.” Lucas motions the the shopping bags. “And whatever Tristan got when he finally surfaces.”

“Thank you. See you later.” Riley nods and makes her way off with Mabel. Thomas stays behind with his cousin.

“I didn’t even think about dresses.” Riley says once they’re alone.

“I texted my mom while I was shopping and she said you can come by her store anytime tomorrow and she’ll help with outfits for everyone.” Mabel says. “The real reason I wanted to talk to you was about Lucas.”

“What about him?” Riley chuckles quietly.

“Something has clearly shifted between you.” Mabel squeezes Riley’s arm. “It’s like you’re finally on the same page about how you feel. Come on tell me I’m wrong?” Mabel asks confidently.

“I guess we both agreed or admitted?” Riley creases her brows for a moment. “That we like each other...”

“You did?” A little gasp escapes Mabel as she settles with an excited smile. “I knew it!”

“But we also agreed that there’s probably not a time and place for an ‘us’.” Riley seems to be convincing herself that this is what they agreed upon.

“Well that’s not a happy love story.” Mabel’s face drops.

“Some aren’t.” Riley shrugs.

✮ ✮ ✮

That evening Riley and her family went out to Chubbie’s to properly celebrate the engagement. Upon arrival Riley notices her friends all sat at a table like she knew they would be. Mabel had invited her that afternoon but Riley rejected as she had plans with her family already. Riley stops for a moment to introduce her family members to each of her friends before continuing on to a table of her own.

After the fifth time Riley’s eyes wandered over to her friends since ordering, Jed spoke up. “You can sit with your friends, Riley.” He chuckles. Riley returns her attention to her family, embarrassed because she wasn’t even aware she was doing it.

“No I want to be here with you guys.” Riley says genuinely. “So grandpa, is this one of the places you went with grandma when you first met?”

“Actually no.” A hearty chuckle comes from the man.

“Why’s that so funny?” Riley wears a look of confusion.

“That ‘tour’ I was going to take you on last weekend would have been very short.” Jed still laughs.

“I don’t understand?” Riley presses.

“I had been in town a few months already but left only two days after Rhiannon arrived.” Jed explains.

“Really?” Topanga chimes in. “Why?”

“I was only in town for two days, then I was set to move on.” Rhiannon joins in the explanation.

“So that tour would have pretty much been town square, since I figured Lucas has already showed you the inn.” Jed gives Riley a knowing look.

The brunettes eyes widen. “You know about the inn?”

“It was the first place I went when I arrived back in town.” Jed continues, “I head it was abandoned now but I had to see it with my own eyes. Lucas was young but I saw him walk up the burnt porch steps like the place was his.”

“How do you know Lucas has taken me there?” Riley questions.

“He’d be an idiot if he didn’t.” Jed smiles.

“Wait a second.” Cory throws his hands up. “You let the freak face whisk my daughter away to an abandoned inn?”

“I trusted you with my daughter.” Jed gives Cory a devious sort of look.

“And what lovely judgement you have.” Cory does his nervous goofy voice as he rubs his wife back. “Riley, I’m sure you and Lucas will be very happy together.”

“Dad!” Riley snaps embarrassed, more so of her friends overhearing than anything else.

“Why did you leave town with mom after two days?” Topanga presses again feeling like her question wasn’t properly answered.

Jed begins, “I was planning on staying in town another month to save some money before moving on. Rhiannon had plans to leave quite quickly so we went to the town square to say our goodbyes. We sat on the bench right under the big tree and I was struggling to find the words to say anything when Rhiannon just looked me in the eyes and said-”

“Come with me.” Rhiannon fills in the blank and the elderly couple smile at each other.

“So I did.” Jed’s gaze remains locked with Rhiannon’s.

The explanation made Riley nervous to think she’d sat at the same bench with Lucas only hours before, enough to make her knowingly glance over at the table with all her friends. Lucas is already looking over but instead of nervously pulling his attention away he just smiles at Riley and his lips read a simple, “Hey.”

Riley smiles too and gives him a silent, “Hi.”

#rucas #rucas au #rucas fic #rucas fanfic #rucas imagine #tsou

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