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maddgarbagemonkey · 6 years ago

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DEAR EVAN HANSEN 2018 TOUR THINGS THAT MADE ME CRY

Yep. Back at it again with this nonsense. I saw this show back in November and needed to frantically rant about how much of a MASTERPIECE it is and how in love I am with every single tour cast member. Buckle-up dorks and get ready to read a novel. Its gonna get pretty out of order so yeah, and obviously, SPOILERS for Dear Evan Hansen ahead. :)

So it opens and a bunch of live feed from multiple social media accounts appear on the monitors and screens surrounding Evan's bed and they make little beeping noises whenever there's something new and it was super cool and immersive.

I took like 2000 pictures of Evan's red bed and all of them turned out blurry but I will cherish every single one of them.

The classic Evan rant about sweaty hands and ordering food will forever be my eternal monologue. Ben also said that line so fast I was amazed that he didn't lose his breath and suffocate!

"Ohhh... Good." B A B Y

Heidi (Jessica Phillips) is my M O M. I love her and Cynthia's harmonies were superb.

Ok fam. Real talk. Ben Levi Ross. Best human 2019. Superior to every other person on this planet and I am unafraid of saying so.

I think a lot of people, including me, went into the touring show thinking "That Ben Levi Ross is cute, but I don't see how he could possibly compare to Ben Platt" STOP! STOP THAT NOW! THAT'S NOT OKAY! Because I can swear to you that his performance was one of the greatest things I've ever witnessed in my entire life and I cried so so very hard whenever he opened his mouth.

Not only should actors NEVER be compared to one another (as they are all their own people with their own incredible talent) but Ben's singing and performing was BEYOND WORDS! You could tell immediately how much of himself he put into Evan and did not doubt for a second that he should be up there instead of anyone else. His singing was so powerful and moving that I physically began shaking and did not stop until I left the theater, which Ben himself even acknowledged but more on that later. He was so incredibly talented it was unreal and I just wanted to take a second and say that he deserved every single moment of applause and cheering times a million. I need a recording of him singing Waving right now. BEN LEVI ROSS, GUYS!!!1!!!

oof, anyways his "Waving Through a Window" killed me. I'm dead. Gorgeous boy. Beautiful.

The way everyone's harmonies mix together and hit you in that song are phenomenal.

Jared, played by Jared Goldsmith, had such a squeaky highschooler voice and the biggest, doofy-est smile which made his stupid comments so much better. I loved him a lot. 10/10. Classic Jared.

Also, I would die for Marrick Smith.

Marrick, A.K.A. Connor was so good at being a broken teenager it hurt! I loved him a lot.

It also opened my eyes because... how do I say this without sounding weird... BOI HE THICK!

Marrick was so tall and swol and gorgeous and sweet and I love him and that's my TedTalk. It also created such a strong physical contrast between Connor, who was tall and strong and scary who processed his emotions through anger outbursts, with Evan, who was skinny and small and shrunk into himself and processed his emotions through hiding or running away, in a way that Ben Platt and Mike Faist couldn't really do. It was different in a good way and I really liked it! :)

Y'all can take Stronk Connor and Skinny Twink Evan out of my cold, dead hands.

In the cast signing scene, Connor was overly friendly and smiley which made the point where it all slowly fades into anger at "You wrote this because you knew that I would find it" so much worse.

The little tug on Ev's arm followed by a subtle "Ow" before signing. <3

"I LoVE JaZZ!"

I love the way Evan sits in chairs by taking up as little space as possible! Its such a cool detail to demonstrate Evan's social anxiety and his need and want to not take up too much space.

I just need to take a second to squeal about Phoebe Koyabe, who played Alana, because she had gorgeous pink hair and I was just all around in love with her voice and her quirky little Alana characteristics.

Here's where things are a bit out of order and blurred because I wrote down my favorite things and then instantly lost the paper so... this is all from what I rewrote later on.

During that line where Alana retaliates to Evan accusing her of using the Connor project for her college application, she became completely hysterical and began crying. That "because I know how it feels to be forgotten" will always be my weak point.

"Connor was OBSESSED with trees!"

"We were partners for our Literature class while reading Huck Finn. He was so funny! He came up with this funny joke where he'd say, well, instead of Huck Finn.... nobody else in our class thought of that!"

OH MY GOD ZOE!

Zoe, played by Maggie Mckenna, was so incredible and loveable it was insane.

Her voice was so deep and melodic that just listening to her speak made you want to curl up with a blanket and just be comfortable. She was also so expressive and good at delivering her lines that you felt and understood exactly what she was going through whenever she spoke. I loved her so much and can relate with Evan's sentiments in "If I could tell her!"

"That's just what you do when you're rich and don't have a job, you get crazy!"

That entire scene before "If I could tell her" was so good! She was so snarky and sarcastic with every line and I fell way more in love with Zoe. I love when she's not played as the angel love interest and more of a real character with flaws and feelings and emotions and Maggie's portrayal really solidified that for me! I love this little Jazz band brat!

I also need a recording of Maggie's requiem, it was beautiful!

There was this heartbreaking moment in that song where Zoe looked at and read through Connor's emails and held them close, but at "That you were not the monster," she crumbled it up into a ball and let it fall to the ground, covering up all her sadness with anger and it hurt me.

That song just hurt a lot all around. Cynthia, Larry, Zoe. Just all of it, all of their God-tier harmonies. All.

You'd also be glad to know that Zoe's star-covered jeans were in full view the whole time along with the ones on her sneakers.

There was this adorable moment in the scene before "Only Us" where Evan freaks out because he thinks Zoe's gonna break up with him and he screams and promises he won't start breaking things and Zoe just has to stop him like "no, you tree-loving twink, I'm not breaking up with you!" And Evan just stands there for a second and then does this sweet thing where he awkwardly bends down and grabs her hands and shakes them with a little "thank you." Then Zo copies his little hand thing as responds "Don't mention it!" They're so cute together and lovable it hurts! Hopefully nothing bad happens between them...

During Disappear, Connor started jumping on Evan's bed during "And even if you've always been-" and it was glorious and Evan just regarded it as a normal occurrence.

They also did this thing where they ran on opposite sides of the stage and then rejoined in the middle where Connor helps Evan put on his backpack and then just puts his hands on his shoulders in a moment of bro trust and admiration and then yeets out of existence at "when you're falling in a forest."

BEN'S YOU WILL BE FOUND WILL LIVE ON IN INFAMY!

During the panic attack before the song began, starting when Evan dropped his notecards, you can feel it radiating off of him so vividly that everyone in the theater was holding their breath.

First when he fell to pick the cards up you could see the tears swell up and hear his breath quicken and feel the panic swell like "no no no, this can't happen. Not now. Don't do this!" And the second you think he might be able to pull it together and stand up, he slips and hits his elbow so hard on the floor, we all jump. He lets out the most heartbreaking yelp and clutches his arm, abandoning his cards and the speech and all hope of recovering. The tears finally start to fall down his face and they don't stop.

Still holding his arm, Evan pushes his body out of the spotlight and holds himself in the fetal position, refusing to look up and just all around shutting hinself away from everyone watching. AND YOU CAN FEEL IT! You can feel Evan's shame and horror and fear and anger and it's awful. You almost have to look away because the emotions being displayed are so real and raw. More real than any recording or bootleg out there. And that's why Ben Levi Ross was so incredibly perfect in my eyes, because he could so accurately depict and portray Evan and what he's going through to the point where you have to look away to avoid the risk of being pulled under with him and losing yourself to your own habits and its heartbreakingly brilliant! Again, Ben. Fucking. Levi. Ross.

During "You Will be Found" they also display all these younger and baby pictures of Marrick along with present day ones to show little Connor, which was adorable. But then Larry, played by Aaron Lazar, looks up and sees little baby Connor on the screen and instantly breaks down sobbing, the first time ever since Connor died as we hear Zoe say earlier that "he didn't even cry at Connor's funeral." Cynthia has to come over and hold him to prevent him from instantly falling apart.

Evan and Jared also have this awkward high five at that part and its very uncomfortable and great.

There's another just horrible moment in the middle of words fail where one by one the Murphys all run off stage horrified at the news that Evan was lying. First, it's Zoe with Cynthia following after, frantically trying to grasp what happened with tears falling everywhere. Then Larry, who looks disapprovingly at Evan before solemnly following the others. Then, lastly, in what could just be described as the worst thing ever, one of the screens become transparent to reveal CONNOR, looking in dismay at what has happened, tears in his eyes, before also walking away from Evan back into the nothingness. Awful. Beautifully, beautifully awful.

Evan snuggles into Heidi and stays there for what seems like forever during "So Big, So Small" then, he finally lets go and Heidi rides away on the couch, reaching for him.

Okay, fam. That was all the specific things I wanted to scream about during the actual show, but then I had the pleasure of meeting them at the stage door which led to some great hijinks!

I said something really stupid to Jessica Phillips/Heidi when she signed my playbill probably along the lines of like "You were so amazing I might faint. Please catch me" and she SQUEALED! It was the best sound on the planet.

When Marrick Smith/ Connor came out, I was frozen in shock because, not only was he shorter than I thought and his cool hair was tied in a man bun and he was wearing a cool beanie and some hair feel into his eyes like a Myspace profile picture, I was so amazed that he was real and was standing so close to me. I was so amazed that I stood there like an idiot just staring at him and shaking while he smiled at me, an awkward little baby, until my Mom had to physically nudge me towards him to which he responded by giggling and saying "Aw! Don't be scared! I don't bite!" I... I. How? How do I live after that. He signed by his picture and, get this, also doodled a little mustache on Aaron Lazar/ Larry's picture. I am also proud to say that I saw his slightly chipped black nail polish up close in true Connor fashion. Then he thanked me for coming and waved at me. He was SO incredibly sweet and I couldn't stop smiling after that.

When Phoebe Koyabe/Alana came out with her gorgeous pink hair I squealed and told her she was gorgeous to which she kindly smiled and complemented my dress and signed my Playbill. She was a goddess and I love her so much.

Right before Aaron Lazar came out, My Mom without thinking just called out "Daddy" to which my sister and I were horrified.

Lastly, Ben Levi Ross, wearing the best sweater ever, came out and signed my Playbill. At this point my legs were absolute jelly and I was shaking so bad I almost dropped everything, but he was so SO NICE and, as a response to seeing me dying upon seeing him, said "Oh no! Don't shake! You're okay! Everything's fine!" He was so unbelievably chill and sweet and upon my family showering him with all of the complements he deserved was so down to earth and appreciative. It was so incredible to get to meet him and tell him how amazing he was!

In conclusion, I knew Dear Evan Hansen was incredible and loved it before, but actually seeing it made me feel so many feelings that I didn't know existed. Its such a genius musical and I 1000% recommend! There was not a weak link in the cast! They were all so sweet and talented and just absolutely PHENOMENAL! I would die for all of them! :)

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gaperezmakes · 6 years ago

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Original Fic Fest Day 1 – Characters (Iblan Light)

It is Day 1 of @originalficfest! Today’s prompt is about characters. As I said in my Intro, I’m going to deliver two entries for each prompt. Let’s get into it!

Era of the Iblan Light

While the Iblan Light series is mainly about Iblis’ journey, there are four characters who generally drive the plot along. Here’s the Big Four, a little about them, and where they stand between Rebirth and the next book in the series.

Iblis of Light: The powerful deity whose consciousness has been sent into the past. With his knowledge of the future, Iblis has accidentally created a new timeline, that he must keep under control if he wants to return to his proper future. After the terror of Emergency Order 52, Iblis has spent much of his time helping to establish the new Tribunal Council government, as well as strengthening the position of his church in Capital City and the Union.

Cerina Burmen: Iblis’ longtime girlfriend, capable of using the rare floraemancy (plant magic). Currently attending Suramen National University in Uwaye, the jungle nation south of the United Nations of Iblis. In the new timeline, Cerina is studying a powerful magical substance she calls the “Verdant Essence,” a crystal of distilled and condensed plant life essence she intends to use as a counter to the deadly Crimson Essence.

Swift: The orphan and vigilante has become a faithful ally to Iblis of Light ever since the end of Emergency Order 52. Although he has declined to become an official steward of the Tribune like Iblis and Dusk, he has put forth his own efforts to keeping Capital City safe as the new government establishes itself. With nowhere else to go, Swift has moved into the Burmens’ old home with Iblis.

Dusk of Iblis: Iblis’ spiritual brother who keeps him focused on keeping Capital City safe. As a former steward and protector for the Consulate, Dusk has also taken up the charge to help establish the Tribunal Council. Dusk has taken up a position as leader of the ARC, doing his best to keep the space station an international neutral ground. In accordance with the wishes of Iblis the Enlightened (Iblis of Light’s predecessor), Dusk has banned all military research on the ARC, opting instead to put its considerable resources into focusing mainly on medical research instead. When he can, Dusk assists Iblis (and Swift on occasion) in keeping the peace in Capital City.

And here are a couple of characters I’ll be talking about tomorrow:

Joseph Burmen: The alias of a powerful biomancer, a mage who utilizes the innate power of the human soul to cast their spells. Joseph mysteriously disappeared after Cerina left for school, later sending her a letter explaining the conditions of his disappearance.

Helen Burmen: Joseph’s wife, also living under an alias. Rescued from the hermit nation, Nobe by Joseph many years ago, Helen has become a strong and courageous woman. She disappeared alongside Joseph and has not been heard from since.

And here’s a short little bitty-bit with the Big Four together.

The boys waited at the docks impatiently, waiting in disguise. Swift’s was the simplest, with him just wearing a thin hoodie underneath his now-signature red jacket (”But I like it!” was his excuse for ruining the point). Iblis and Dusk had magically shifted their appearances. Dusk, more limited in his abilities than Iblis, had changed his short hair to a dirty blonde color and softened his naturally strong jaw. His now jade-green eyes were locked on the sea before him. Iblis had decided to match Dusk in height, but opted instead to change his hair to a medium-length chestnut color, except for a single green highlight that ran across his head. He gave himself a rounded chin, and put on a few pounds. His warm brown eyes were constantly scanning the horizon to see if the ship was arriving yet. She was supposed to be here hours ago. What was taking so long? Iblis wanted to start pacing. What if something had happened? What if the ship ran into something and sank? What if pirates attacked? What if--

“She’s fine.” Dusk’s voice was flat as he looked over, annoyed, at his brother. “You know she’s fine. Stop making up scenarios in your head where she’s in trouble. You know Cerina can handle herself.”

“I know that,” Iblis replied, his gaze never breaking from the horizon, “It’s just--why wouldn’t she let me teleport her?”

“Because she doesn’t want to always depend on you. You know these things.”

“I’m faster.”

Dusk shook his head, “You’re a child.”

Swift caught their attention by pointing out the ship rising from the horizon. It wouldn’t be long now. Not unsurprisingly, Dusk could see Iblis starting to twitch and fidget. He gave Iblis a less-than-polite nudge and a cold stare. Iblis returned his own and returned his focus to the ship. Swift just chuckled and shook his head.

“I have never seen a man get so worked up for a girl he doesn’t even get to sleep with.”

“Sex isn’t everything, Swift.”

“I know that,” he shrugged, “I’m just surprised, is all. You two have been together long enough, I’m surprised you haven’t.”

“We’re going to be together for the rest of our lives. There will be plenty of time for that later.”

“Whatever, dude, I’m just sayin’.”

“We don’t all look for the loosest women around, Swift,” Dusk interjected, looking over his shoulder down at Swift.

“One, I don’t look for the loosest women around. Two, I don’t always sleep with them. Sometimes I just spend the night and make them eggs for breakfast--unless they’re vegan. In which case, I panic and escape before they wake up.”

“I’m pretty sure they’ll have an egg substitute you can use.”

“It’s not. The same.”

Iblis stifled a laugh at his friend’s expense as he continued looking out to the seas. It was the first time Cerina was actually returning home for one of her breaks. He had popped in to check on her every once in a while, and she always looked run down and tired. But he could see the determination burning brightly in her eyes, even on her worst days. She wasn’t going to quit. This was her dream, and she would do whatever it took to accomplish it.

Soon he could see her standing behind the guardrails on the bow, looking right down at him and smiling warmly. She knew who he was no matter what disguise he wore. The minutes passed quickly before the boat docked. A security team from the docks was quickly dispatched as the passengers prepared to come ashore. They pushed the throngs of people back (something that was not a problem for the trio standing far away from the crowds of people), leaving a wide open space for the passengers to disembark quickly and efficiently. The ramp off the boat was lowered, and a small team of customs agents quickly moved aboard, setting up a makeshift checkpoint just before the ramp.

More time passed as Iblis started fidgeting more and more. The urge to pace around was growing unbearable. Where was she? She was here. He saw her. Dusk, once again, nudged Iblis. With a near-silent whisper, Dusk told him to calm down. She would be here any minute.

“Hey, guys.” They all turned and saw Cerina standing there, pulling a pair of suitcases behind her. She looked rested for the first time in a long time, a peaceful glow surrounding her. Her long, grass green hair was braided, although her bangs still covered one of her baby-blue eyes. Cerina was wearing a long blue skirt and a plain white t-shirt. Several thin bracelets or various materials dangled from her wrists, most of them not even matching.

Swift was the first to greet her, giving Cerina a big hug. “It’s good to see you!”

“Oh my god, you don’t stink anymore!”

“Yeah!” Swift responded with a big, doofy smile on his face, “I bathe regularly now! I hate it! Buying soap is the worst!”

Cerina laughed as she turned to Dusk, opening her arms for another hug. Declining, Dusk extended a hand instead. She sighed and returned his handshake, “Still a stick in the mud, huh?”

“My brother insisted that I come along,” Dusk replied, returning Cerina’s smile, “I am glad to see you’re safe, however. You look well.”

“I did a lot of nothing on the ride over. It was relaxing.” She flexed her arms, “I also managed to get myself a bit of a tan for once!” She gave Dusk a small hug (which he awkwardly returned) and turned her attention to Iblis.

He could feel his face getting warm. His eyes darted away as he quickly turned his head to look somewhere else. Cerina just walked up to him and grinned, putting her hand on his cheek and bringing his attention back to her. Their eyes met.

“Hello, love,” she said soothingly. Iblis just took her in his arms and surrounded Cerina in his embrace.

“It’s been a while,” he whispered. She just looked at him with a smirk as he let go of her.

“Y’know, for a being who can travel the world in literal seconds and can see me whenever you desire, you are awfully sentimental.” Iblis just shrugged off her observation.

“Alright, well we don’t have all day.” Swift walked over to Cerina’s luggage and grabbed the handle on the larger suitcase, “So let’s grab these and--” The suitcase fell to the ground with a very large, very noticeable thud that caught some people’s attention. Swift just stared wide-eyed away from the accident, as if not acknowledging that he did, in fact, drop the suitcase would make it as if nothing happened. “I hope there was nothing important in there.”

Cerina just laughed and shook her head, “That one is just for my textbooks for next year. Things are getting serious, and I need to be ready for when school starts again.”

“Well, we don’t have time to waste, then,” Dusk hauled the heavier suitcase over his shoulder and grabbed the smaller one, “It’s time for us to go home.”

“Of course!” Iblis opened a portal leading back to the Burmens’ house just outside of Capital City, “There’s so much I can’t wait to show you!” Abandoning their disguises, the group walked back home, the portal closing behind them.

And that’s where we’ll end for today! I, of course, am making two entries. If you’re interested in seeing something else, feel free to check out my Black Empire entry! And if not, that’s cool too! I hope you’ll come back tomorrow when we’ll have a nice little story with Joseph and Helen.

#originalficfest #original fic fest #character #day1

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korra-the-red-lion · 3 years ago

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Unnatural Affairs. Chapter 14: Thanksgiving

(Ally + Lyn)

Ally.

You know that when you wake up with a pit of dread in your stomach, that today is just not going to be your day at all.

I stared up at the ceiling for a very long time before mom knocked on my door and told me that grandma would be here in just over an hour, so I needed to be showered and ready for her arrival. I loved my grandma very much, I really did, but if dad was bad about the whole ‘talks to dead people thing’ than she was worse.

There was a time when she was over and overheard (I swear she was listening in though) my parents talking about what they would do with me. She immediately sprayed me with water, I’m not kidding. She claimed it was holy water but I’m 99% she just used tap water instead. Nana, my grandma on mom’s side of the family, didn’t care all that much, but dad’s mother was horrible about it all. And don’t even get her started about when I stopped going to church. If I wasn’t going to burn in hell for speaking with the dead, I was going to because I stopped visiting the Lord every Sunday.

At least she didn’t care that I was gay.

With a sense of impending doom, I rolled out of the safety of my bed, grabbing some nice clothes from my closet to change into. I took a quick shower, enough to get off the morning stink. As I was putting my lotion on, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of worry for Lyn and Michael. Lyn because she didn’t call last night, plus she was clearly upset about something yesterday. Michael because that was the second time Amelia visited his dream and I was worried it was leading to something a lot more sinister.

I planned on asking her once we spoke, but I was curious to know if anything like that happened to Amelia before her death. I even thought about asking Jamieson as well, even though I still found him to be annoying. They were my biggest leads, regardless of if I wanted them to be or not. My worry was if they had unwanted spiritual visits… was Michael the next target?

That thought kept me up for a good chunk of the night. I didn’t want to add to his own worries, but I couldn’t shake that thought once it burrowed itself deep in my brain. Overthinking was my specialty after all.

It was probably wrong, but if there was even a slim chance of it being true, I needed to know. Just another thing to my ever-growing list with no answers. Hey, on the plus side, no one could ever say I procrastinated again. I just chose where my focus lies, that’s all. Nothing wrong with deciding a murder mystery that really has nothing to do with you is something I should spending all of my time on. Maybe there was a little tiny bit of guilt when I thought about all my schoolwork piling up, but my parents would be none the wiser as long as I pass all my classes.

Suppressing the urge to groan, pull my hair out, and cry all at once, I felt like I was ready to face my family for the day. I did quickly send a “Happy Thanksgiving!” in the group chat before heading down. I hope the others did have a nice day. I sent one to Mags and Sarah too. There, every friend I’ve made so far, and I could count them all on one hand. That was more than my friends in high school, in which I could count on one finger. To be honest, I was happier with a small group of friends.

I went down the stairs where Wallaby met me with his big doofy dog grin. I scratched behind his ears before going into the kitchen, where he followed with a wag of his tail. There was no way I wasn’t sneaking him into the car tomorrow. Mom and dad would never notice.

The counter was already covered in a variety of foods for tonight. Mom had a ham ready to go in the oven, since we all hated turkey. The pies were made, the ingredients for the salads were spewed across the counter. I glanced at the clock, noting that it was only 1:00. Okay, early supper. I snuck an apple off the counter before mom noticed so she didn’t get annoyed for me eating before a huge meal, but I hadn’t had breakfast yet, I was starving.

“I saw that,” mom said without taking her eyes off her apple slicing.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, mother,” I said innocently, batting my eyelashes.

“You’re lucky that you’re the only daughter I have. Open that for me, please.”

I did what she asked and helped out a bit even though there wasn’t a lot for me to do. I stiffened when I heard the door open and grandma’s voice drift down the hallway. Mom looked at me with concern before rubbing my back gently. “You\re going to be okay. I haven’t said a word about what happened to you in the bookstore except to your dad, and he knows better than to tell his mom.”

Wallaby rubbed his wet nose against my hand to also calm me down. I nodded, swallowing the lump that was rising in my throat. It was just one meal I had to get through, then I could go back to the safety of my bedroom. I can do this.

Grandma Holland walked into the kitchen, surveying it with a critical eye before settling her stare onto me. I awkwardly waved and smiled as she walked over to me, giving me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“Oh, Alexandra, you look so much older now,” she said affectionately, patting my cheek.

“It’s only been a few months, grandma,” I said embarrassed.

“Still, you just look more confident in yourself,” she remarked.

Did I? I didn’t feel more confident…but maybe because I actually was doing something that really mattered to me, it was changing how I was carrying myself? Too bad it was a secret that I could never share with them, because it would only break their hearts. It was like Buffy lying to Joyce about her Slayer powers for so long. It really put a strain on their relationship. It wasn’t often that media portrayed how it hurt so much to lie. It was like a gnawing guilt that ate away from the inside, leaving you feeling empty and hurt. I felt my guts twisting as I smiled at my grandma, catching my dad’s eye from the door. I was lying to all of them, only because I knew how it would end if they ever found out. The thought of that rejection hurt more than any guilt I was feeling.

Maybe once it was all over I could tell them, but for now it was my little secret. Mentally shaking my head, I left the room to quickly scarf my apple down before helping mom with the rest of supper. The longer I could avoid talking to grandma and dad together, the better.

The hours sped by like seconds. One minute the ham was going into the oven, next minute it was coming out as we all gathered around the table for supper. Unfortunately, Wallaby was not allowed at the dining table during this meal, since grandma didn’t like when we had him nearby while she was eating. The look in his eyes when I locked him up in the basement was one of utter betrayal. I’m sorry fluffy baby, I hope you can forgive me.

The feeling of tension refused to leave my shoulders and jaw as we made our way through the meal. I don’t know why I was feeling so anxious. I know my grandma upset me sometimes, but she hadn’t really done anything to trigger me. I just really wanted to get through this supper in one piece, that’s all.

Then came Thanks.

We always did it after supper but before dessert. I don’t why, we just did it that way. Dad went first, like always. He cleared his throat before taking a sip of water, only to clear his throat again.

“I’m thankful for my wonderful wife, Ellen, who has put up with me for years,” he started off, giving mom a look of utter adoration. “I’m not sure where I would be without her. I’m also thankful of my daughter, who started her first year away from home to go to school. I’m extremely proud of you, baby girl. I know how hard it was for you, and I miss you more each day you’re gone,” he said, smiling at me with tears in his eyes. I felt myself tearing up too.

Mom reached over to take his hand, kissing his knuckles lovingly. “I’m thankful for you too, Patrick. My life has been full of love and laughter ever since I met you. And I’m thankful for my wonderful daughter, Alexandra,” she reached over with her other hand, taking mine in hers, “who has gone through a lot of scary things in her life but is always to take the first step forward. You made me a better person by being born, and you challenge me to be better each day. I love you.”

God, Thanksgiving always made me so teary eyed. My parents were such saps. I wiped at my eyes with the back of my hand, taking a moment to gather my thoughts. “I…I’m thankful for my family and their good health. I know we always don’t see eye to eye, but I can’t imagine any other family for me. I’m thankful that I was given the chance to go to such a nice university and met all kinds of awesome and lovely people. I’m thankful for everything that I have,” I finished lamely, trying hard to keep my voice steady. My face was flushed from nerves, my hands trembling. Mom squeezed my hand tightly with comfort, smiling at me.

“Goodness, you people are so emotional,” grandma said with a chuckle. “I’m thankful that you’re all well. I’m thankful that I’m in a happy place and that my son found the love of his life. And I’ll be thankful once my granddaughter gives me great grandchildren.”

“Grandma!” I laughed. “Sorry to disappoint, but I don’t think that will be happening anytime soon.”

“Adoption is a thing, my dear,” she replied airily.

Okay, phew. The worst of supper was over with. Dad got up and brought over the dessert. My mouth watered at the sight of the apple pie, the strawberry rhubarb pie, and the banana cream pie. I took a piece of each. I’m sure I was going to live to regret that later, but that was an issue for Ally of tonight, not the Ally of now. The Ally of now just really wanted pie.

The rest of the evening was spend talking about random things. Of course, I got a ton of questions about school and the people I met. I was really proud of myself for not blushing (too much) when I talked about Lyn. Practicing my poker face was really paying off. Everything was going really well until my grandma asked me if I was participating in any extracurriculars.

I stopped then, before shaking my head quickly. She raised her brow at me, looking over her glasses. “Now, don’t lie. You must be up to something.”

“Uh…not really. I-I just mostly go to class or study in my room, or watch movies with my roommate,” I said uncertainly.

“Well,” she hummed, “as long as you’re staying out of trouble, then.”

I tensed but chose to keep my mouth shut. Dad stepped in by saying, “She is, mom. You know that she doesn’t like to have that kind of attention.”

I could feel my heartbeat in my ears. I forced myself not to bite my lip as I focused on my breathing. I know dad didn’t really mean anything by that comment, but I knew exactly what he was talking about with ‘that kind of attention.’

“That’s good to hear,” said grandma. “I wouldn’t want her getting into all that supernatural nonsense that she was getting into when she was younger. It’s unnatural and unbecoming, if you ask me.”

“Mom, c-can I be e-excused?” I asked shakily, trying very hard to keep my tone steady. Mom looked at me with concern before nodding. I bolted out of the room, racing upstairs as fast as my shaking legs would let me. I managed to make it to my room before the tears fell. I know I should be used to it by now, but somehow it always hurt when they said it. Maybe I was overreacting, but right now I just needed to stay away from that. It was too much for me. I hated being blamed for something I literally couldn’t control.

I was finally feeling good about it, too. I was helping people. I was going to help those people move on and stop whoever who was killing people from doing it again. I only ever used it for good reasons, so why was I always the bad guy? It was just so painful to be see as a monster in the eyes of people who are supposed to love and care for you.

XXX

Lyn.

I smoothed out the wrinkles of my skirt. I stared into my mirror, my own miserable face staring back at me. I hated dressing up like this if I could avoid it. I was way more comfortable in a pair of sweats or jeans. A skirt and blouse just weren’t me. But mum requested that I looked nice for supper, so here I was. Even my braid felt tighter than usual, and I usually wore that thing pretty fucking tight. I checked my make-up on more time, making sure there wasn’t a single smudge on my face before stepping away, satisfied that it would please her.

I just needed to make it through this horrible night, then Olivia would take me back tomorrow first thing. I was doing this for her, so I was going to try my best so we could mend that bridge. I didn’t want to end up like those poor ghosts, feeling lost and alone because they had no one left.

With a heaving sigh, I plastered on my fake smile and left my room. I made sure there was no way mum or dad could say anything negative about my appearance today, so that just left every other little thing to nitpick instead. Yay.

My stomach was turning over in nervous energy as I descended the staircase. I felt awful about everything that went down between me and Leigh yesterday, and I hid from her all day. I snuck out of the house to talk with Stanford, then hid in my room for the rest of the day. I had to leave our chat early because my mum came knocking and wanted to know why I missed supper. Although I hated seeing that cold look of disdain, it was still better than seeing Leigh.

I also didn’t call Ally last night. I did it the first time because I really wanted to make sure she was okay, but then I kept doing it. At first, I thought it was because I was worried about her, then I realized at some point it was for my benefit. Listening to her talk about random things calmed me down, helping me sleep a little better. I was still having nightmares about a lot of things, but they were getting better. Ally had been handling this kind of junk since she was a little kid, so I felt like I needed to stop letting it hold me back. I don’t know if it’s because growing up I wasn’t supposed to show a lot of weakness or whatever, but not being able to control the situation at hand was making everything worse. I needed a way to keep this all under control without resorting to medication, and Ally was my fix.

Was it unhealthy? Was I so focused on what made me feel better that it was never about how she felt? It just made me feel even more disgusting. Was I really just like my mum? Using people to move myself forward in the world? The thought of that alone made my skin crawl. I tried so hard not to be like her.

I was so lost in my depressing thoughts that I never even heard Olivia until I nearly walked into her. She put her hands out to stop me from completely bowling her over.

“What’s bothering you, Lyn?” she asked, her face scrunched up in concern.

“Nothing,” I said automatically.

She sighed as she gently pulled me away from the dining room where I was heading. She led to me the coat room, closing the door behind her. Olivia clasped her hands in front of her face, pointing them at me.

“Lyn,” she started with a calm tone, “I need you to be straight with me here.”

“That’s physically impossible.”

“Don’t get smart with me.”

I shrugged, looking away. “We need to head to the dining room, mum and dad are probably waiting.”

“They can wait a bit longer,” said Olivia. “I can see that look in your eyes. Something is eating at you. What’s going on?”

“Noth-” I stopped when Olivia glared fiercely at me.

“Cut the crap, Lyn. You may be a lot of things, but a good liar isn’t one of them.”

I sighed, resisting the urge to run my hands through my hair. “I just- I got into a fight with Leigh yesterday. It was totally my fault and I don’t really want to see her right now.”

“I doubt that,” said Olivia with tone of disbelief. “I’m going to assume that you and Leigh got into a fight because you’re both stubborn asses.”

“You’re one to talk,” I muttered under my breath.

“Sorry? Olivia laced her voice with fake sweetness. “I am one to talk, actually. We’re all stubborn as oxen. Plus, I’ve been in my fair share of arguments between you and her. Seriously, we put the ‘dys’ in dysfunctional, with all the spiteful words we say to each other. What was the fight even about?”

Good thing I spoke Olivia, because most people would be utterly confused by that whole ‘dysfunctional’ bit. I understood that she was saying ‘dys’ as ‘diss’, but it still took my brain a few seconds to comprehend what she just said. When it finally clicked together, I noticed that she was staring at me expectantly. She asked me a question, didn’t she? I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing wanted to come out, so I settled for a shrug.

Her eyes narrowed. “Lyn, I really fucking hate when you do that, you know that? Based on the fact that you don’t feel like telling me suggests that she saw those hideous cuts on your arm.”

I nodded slowly in conformation. “She wanted to know where they came from. I told her it was a bear.”

Olivia shook her head. “Rookie mistake. You know she’s seen her fair share of bear attacks…which is very strange to actually say out loud, I admit. Anywaaaay,” she patted my arm lightly, “I don’t know what went down between you two, but it will be okay. I mean, look at us. Once we both put in a little effort not to be assholes to each other, we get along pretty well.”

“But I’ve never really gotten along with Leigh like I have with you,” I said sullenly. “She’s always been so perfect…and I’m just a hotheaded mess.”

“Okay,” Olivia clicked her tongue, “stop the pity party, please. Come on, let’s get this supper over with.” She went for the door, only to pause there for a minute.

“Uh, you okay?” I asked in confusion.

Olivia looked over her shoulder and smiled softly at me. “I just wanted to say thank you. I know that it wasn’t easy for you to come back here after what happened last year…it means a lot to me that you’re here because of me.”

I looked at her for several minutes of heavy silence, so much that she started fidgeting. I finally walked into her space and engulfed her in a big hug. Olivia relaxed, probably unaware of how tense she had been, hugging me back.

“I hate it here,” I said quietly, almost as if I was talking to myself. “I hate the person I become when I’m here. I hate the person I was because of this place. But I’m here because of you. I wanted to try and fix our relationship, because I learned a while ago how important it was to have people who care for you in your life.” I pulled away, looking into my sister’s eyes. “Maybe you don’t care as much as I do about how we were abused, but I’m not going to let them destroy this for us.”

Olivia didn’t say anything, but I could see the emotion in her eyes. Finally, she gave the slightest of nods as she patted my face affectionately. “Thank you, Lyn… Jesus, let’s go get some supper before I start bawling, idiot.” She turned away with a sniff, leaving the coat room. I took a deep breath and followed after her.

It wasn’t much but having that little bit of acknowledgement felt good. It was so horrible feeling like you were the only one who hated how we were treated growing up. Like I said to Ally, Olivia was quicker to forgive them than I was, but that was just her personality. She never took much to heart. She was a businesswoman like mum was in that way. She was able to compartmentalize her emotions into little boxes, so she could keep her focus and edge. I wasn’t like that. I was driven by my emotions. I’m not able to keep things lock inside forever. Eventually they would come bursting out like a dam being released, and anyone in my way would be swept in the rush. That’s why I finally lost my shit at Frankie at the Halloween Bash last year and decked him across the face. I hollered at Loryn and Jackie, until I finally told Loryn what happened here. After that I tried my best to never let me get to that point again, yet here I was doing the same thing again. I told myself I would be okay, that I would be able to handle it better. So far, I got into a fight with my sister and hid away in my room for a whole day. Overall, my coping has been dreadful thus far.

We walked into the dining room together, where they were all waiting for us. My eye caught Leigh’s, and we both turned away in shame. Or at least I did, maybe she didn’t. I took my seat at the table, making sure my hideous fake smile was in place. I could feel mum’s hawkish stare on me, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at her right now.

The cook brought in the food, setting it all on the table. We all waited patiently as they brought in the turkey, mashed potatoes, greens and all the other foods. It all seemed so wasteful to me. I put all the food I could muster onto my plate and waited until mum gave the a-okay to eat. Finally, she gave the table a curt nod and we dug in.

I was hoping to get through this meal without saying a word, but I wasn’t so lucky. About halfway through mum put down her glass of wine and looked over at me again with that same intense stare. I slowly put down my fork, turning my attention to her.

Her lip quirked upwards in something resembling a smile. “Lyndsey, I couldn’t help but overhear you on the phone or something the other night when you missed supper. Were those your friends from the team?”

A flurry of lies filtered through my head, but I knew that this was a test from her. I spent the whole summer here either at my summer job or talking to Loryn, Jackie, or Kerry on the phone. Slowly I shook my head.

“I didn’t think so,” she said casually, picking up her knife. She cut through her turkey meat before looking my way again. “Who were they?”

My heart stuttered in my chest, but I forced my voice to stay even. “Some new friends, not on the team.”

“Actually mum, did I tell you about this new project I was working on?” Olivia cut into the conversation. I sent her a grateful look, but mum held up her hand, her eyes still on me.

“Olivia, please don’t interrupt your sister. I’ll hear about this project in a minute. I want to hear about these new friends.” Her tone brokered no argument. Olivia slunked down her in seat, her eyes saying sorry, I tried.

“They’re nobody, mum,” I said, my voice clipped.

“Watch your tone,” dad said curtly.

“Sorry,” I ducked my head. I picked at my food, hoping to the fucking lord above that this was nearly over. I just wanted to go back to my room and throw on some music, to help me forget this whole conversation. “They’re just some friends, that’s all.”

Mum put down her knife as she chewed her food thoughtfully, though her eyes were coldly calculating. They flickered between me, Olivia, and Leigh a couple of times before settling on Leigh. For a minute, Leigh acted as if she took no notice to the sudden attention, but the façade was over quickly as her brows drew together in concern. She looked up from her meal and looked politely startled.

“Yes, mum?”

Resting her chin in her palm, mum tapped one finger against her cheek in thought. “Leigh, what was it that had you so upset yesterday? You weren’t yourself at supper.”

Both Leigh and I stiffened. Her eyes found mine for a brief second before they shot back to mum’s. “Um-” she cleared her throat awkwardly. “It was nothing, really. It’s already been settled.”

“Has it?” her eyebrows shot up in question. “How interesting, seeing as how you haven’t spoken to Lyndsey since then.”

My stomach was churning, and it felt like I ate lead. I pushed away from the table to excuse myself, until dad said sternly, “Stay in that seat, Lyndsey.”

“No thank you,” I took in a shuddering breath. “I’m not feeling well.”

“It wasn’t an option, dear,” mum turned to look at me, indicating that I should sit back down. I did as she instructed, trying very hard to keep my nerves under control. I ended up cracking my fingers under the table, to help with my anxiety. Mum leaned back in her chair, crossing her legs as she rested her elbow on the seat of the chair, chin balanced delicately on her fingers. The whole atmosphere was tense and anxious. Olivia shifted in her seat, trying very hard to look indifferent. Leigh was stock still, her face not giving anything away. I looked down at my socks, trying hard to keep my face impassive as well. A passed down trait to all the Hart women, I suppose. We knew when our poker faces were necessary, and this was one of those times.

“Ward, leave me with the girls for a minute,” mum said coolly, her voice business-like. Dad didn’t attempt to argue as he quietly removed himself from the dining room.

Sweat beaded at the back of my neck, but I still refused to look up. There was no way in hell I could look over at my mother right now. Why did it feel like we were all in trouble? The tone, the posture, the feeling in the air. Mother was imposing her power on us and it was working.

Then she laughed. Genuinely laughed. I looked up in surprise, and I could see matching looks on Olivia’s and Leigh’s faces. She smiled at us, her eyes twinkling with mischief. “You girls should see the looks on your face! This isn’t an interrogation. I was just asking some simple questions. Really, you’re all acting a tad bit ridiculous if you ask me.”

Leigh laughed too, but it sounded weak and forced. “Of course, we know that! You were just testing us.” Olivia and I said nothing, clearly both at a lost for words.

Mum shook her head. “Thanksgiving is a time for families to be grateful for what they have. You three should all be thankful that you were born into such a strong family. You will all prosper, live successful lives and continue on the tradition of the family. Stop looking like deer in headlights now.”

If I hadn’t already been nauseous before, I would have been now. Mum had been toying with us? I could feel my hands trembling underneath the table but I refused to let her know that. Something must have been showing on my face because her eyes narrowed ever so slightly in my direction.

“What is bothering you now, Lyndsey?” Her tone was mildly exasperated.

I worked my jaw back and forth for a few seconds, fingers curled tightly against the edge of my seat. I swallowed heavily, forcing myself to look up at her. “That’s wrong.”

“What was that?” The way she asked almost sounded bored. My temper flared and I slammed both my hands on the table, causing my sisters to jump in their seats. Mum just watched impassively.

“That’s fucking sick!” I stood up, towering over her. “Why do you think this is funny? Can’t you see how tense we all were? Stop acting like a bitch for five fucking minutes in your pathetic life and be a decent human being you fucking psycho!”

Mum regarded me silently for a minute before her gaze grew cold. “Are you finished?”

My heart was ramming against my ribcage, my whole body shaking. “Finished with what?” I asked with dread, my voice tight with anger.

“Acting like child,” mum stood up as well. She was no where near my height, but she gave off this imposing aura that made me feel small. She always made me feel small. I tried my damndest to maintain my sense of anger, but I slowly yet surely felt my nerve decrease as mum continue to glare at me coolly.

“I’m not acting like a child,” I said, my voice catching in my throat from emotion.

“Yes, you are,” stated mum frankly, placing her hands on her hips. “You’re raising your voice at me for no reason and slamming things around. If you have something to say to me, say with the level of maturity I expect from someone your age.”

I opened my mouth to say something snarky, but ended up closing it tightly, dropping my head in shame. My entire face was burning with intense feeling. I just wanted to go back to my room, lock the door, and hide under the covers for the rest of the evening. I was just about to apologize for yelling when Olivia spoke up.

“L-Lyn is right,” she said shakily. When mum raised an eyebrow in her direction, she quickly explained, “I don’t mean about the whole psycho bitch thing, but it wasn’t very nice of you to taunt us like that. We are trying to enjoy supper, aren’t we? Whatever happened between Leigh and Lyn is not our business.”

Mum regarded Olivia for a silent moment before clicking her tongue. “Perhaps. However, Lyndsey’s behaviour tonight wasn’t acceptable. Whatever outburst she had today and yesterday is just an indication that she needs to control her emotions better.” She turned her steely gaze towards me. “Isn’t that right, Lyndsey?”

Our eyes locked together, and I nodded weakly. Mum gave me a satisfied smile before looking towards Olivia. “See? We came to an agreement.” Olivia looked as if she wanted to say something more but wisely chose to keep her mouth shut. Mum looked to me again. “Apologize to you sisters for that atrocious outburst.”

“Sorry,” I said stiffly, barely able to keep my tone even.

“You don’t need to apologize,” said Olivia quietly. I just shook my head, wishing this whole thing would just end now.

Leigh fidgeted with the hem of the tablecloth. “Yesterday…we were both at fault, Lyndsey. Let bygones be bygones, yes?” Her tone suggested civil agreement, but her body language was screaming a different story.

I nodded again. Mum waved her hands, dismissing us entirely. I bolted from the room, taking the steps two at a time. I closed my door, locking it behind me. I tore these clothes off, pulling on my pajamas. I sat on the edge of my bed, breathing heavily. My eyes were throbbing, head pounding. My stomach was churning, I felt sick. My body was weak, my mind was racing. I needed to get out of here as fast as possible. I needed to get away from this toxic environment. What was I going to do when summer came around again? Fuck, winter break too. I pressed my hands into eyes, biting down on my tongue to stop myself from shouting out loud.

It didn’t escape my notice that Olivia for the first time spoke up, in defense of me. Too bad it didn’t do much. After a few minutes of forcing myself to get into a state of calm, I reached for my phone that was plugged into the wall. I needed to talk to Loryn. But just before I hit the call button, a wave of guilt washes over me. I shouldn’t bother her during Thanksgiving. She was probably eating supper with her family, enjoying the time with her sisters and parents. Slowly, I drop it from my hand and fell back into the bed.

There was no one I could talk to right now. I would feel terrible if I called and ruined their holiday. Instead, I decided that I would be miserable alone. It was better this way. I wouldn’t want to ruin the Hart name, now would I?

#unnatural affairs #ua #ally holland #lyn hart #paranormal #ghosts #anxiety #murder mysteries #wlw romance #sapphic lead #original story #original fiction #original content #olivia hart #leigh hart #psychological abuse #chapter 14 #writing

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h-sleepingirl · 7 years ago

Text

Snow (Game Grumps egobang fic)

(Rating: M for mentions of arousal. Slow burn, first time, sexual tension, somewhat fluffy.)

It's quiet, so quiet and so dark, like everything was dulled and muffled by the thick blanket of snow on the house that just kept coming down.

It's so hard to explain the kind of silence that comes late at night when there are no cars and no people; even the sound of your breath seems to stop right after it's come out of your mouth, like an anechoic chamber.

Dan has known Arin for only a few years now and though they are both adults with their own houses and jobs, the magic of nights like this, the feeling that there is no one else on this earth makes him feel almost like a child again.

Arin is spread out on the couch next to him, eyes on the TV but barely watching anymore. When they started marathoning bad Christmas movies, they were animated and cracking jokes and laughing, but the energy had died down and it looks like Arin is going to fall asleep soon.

Dan is content with it; Suzy was spending the night with her parents and he and Arin hadn't had a lot of time to hang out outside of work, which was mostly Arin kicking his playful energy into overdrive or hyperfocusing on something business related. Seeing Arin relaxed and zoned out is somehow very calming for him, feels right.

"Want to go to bed soon?" he asks. It seems to break Arin out of his trance, because he blinks and stretches for the first time in the last half hour or so.

"No-oooo," he whines. "You just got here."

Dan giggles. "Arin, it's been almost 6 hours."

"Not that long..." he mumbles, face covered by his hands, and Dan understands it.

Arin pulls his hands away from his mouth and he's got a big doofy grin on, staring at him, and it's always so infectious for Dan and he can't help but giggle again at it. Arin stretches exaggeratedly, spreading his arms and resting one of them behind Dan, whose giggle turns into a full laugh while he shoves him away.

"Come on, Daniel, you don't want to cuddle and enjoy a lovely Christmas movie with your good friend Arin?" There's mirth in his eyes.

"Shut up," Dan says, grinning.

"I could give you a hot BJ while you watch Santa make his naughty list," Arin says, waggling his eyebrows.

Dan rolls his eyes. "Oh my God dude, yeah, *that's* the thing on my mind right now."

Arin laughs and it goes all high pitched in that way that always makes him giggle along, and as it dies down the two of them lapse into silence again. Arin had woken himself up, sat up on the couch, even though his blinks are still long and slow and Dan thinks he could probably sleep at any moment. With the position Arin is in, all sprawled out, they're also significantly closer together on the couch, but they're in close quarters so much while they're Grumping that Dan ignores it. He thinks that he should probably be used to it by now; Arin is not one to see personal boundaries with his close friends, but it's just so different than what Dan was used to with his male friends that it may always catch him off guard.

They both settle back into the movie. Arin is starting to make small quips again, but softly, and Dan can't help but play off of him, always. He wonders how late Arin is going to push it; it's going on 1 AM already and while they don't have a full day of work tomorrow, they have to go into the office in the late afternoon to record a few episodes.

It seems to pass so quickly and before he realizes it the credits are rolling.

Arin moves to grab the remote. "Let's put on another."

"Come on, man," he laughs, "It's almost 2. I'm a sleepy sheepie!"

Arin is quiet and for a moment Dan thinks he's nodding off, but he shifts and scratches his head.

"We could take tomorrow off," he offers. "We could stay up all night and sleep all day tomorrow."

"Arin, we have to get some Jingle Grumps out, and we haven't recorded anything for it yet." Dan is being patient with him; Arin is clearly overtired.

It's quiet again, and it's uncomfortable, and Dan is almost beginning to feel like a parent with a petulant child, half-expecting Arin to roll with it and have a little fake tantrum before giving up and heading upstairs.

"Dan," Arin says finally, and there's no laughter, just what seems to be a strain to his voice, something raw and tight and different.

Dan's heart suddenly beats loud in his chest, keyed up by the tone in Arin's voice, on edge, cautious. He looks over, and Arin's eyes are huge and doe-like, and it makes him feel like something is about to tip and break.

He feels a blush rising on his face, and he really doesn't want to acknowledge that he knows what's happening.

"Yeah?" Trying to keep his voice neutral, aloof, please Arin, go back to normal, don't fuck with this, we won't be able to come back from this if you keep going --

"Do you want to go to bed?" he asks, and there's still a rough edge to it, a seriousness that weighs on Dan, tells him that he's the one who needs to be careful.

How long has it been? How many times has Arin joked about being gay, about kissing him, sucking his dick? He's not sure if this is something that happened from the start, or something that grew with the jokes and the familiarity...

"No," Dan says, throat dry.

Fuck.

Arin is close, so close. His hand comes to rest on Dan's thigh and Dan tries not to jump, tries not to spook him or break what's happening, because he can see the raw, exhausted desire in Arin's face. His eyebrows are drawn up like he's begging for this to be OK, like he's been waiting, like it's been hurting him, and Dan's heart feels tender with the weight of it.

His head is swimming and he feels hot and tight inside and he knows that it's already too late even before Arin leans in and kisses him.

By habit Dan's eyes slip shut and he moves his mouth to meet and match him, and Arin makes this little noise through his nose that goes right to his gut.

Fuck, Dan is so into this. Fuck.

He brings up his hand and cups Arin's cheek, pulling his jaw closer and Arin kisses back eagerly for a few long moments, lips parting, head tilting, the whole nine yards.

Arin pulls back and Dan is entranced by it, his pupils blown wide, lips shiny.

"Sorry," Arin says quietly, but he doesn't *look* sorry. He looks like he wants more; he looks like he wants much more.

Dan doesn't and can't say anything. He's half hard in his jeans from that one kiss and he suspects Arin is with him, or entirely farther ahead of him. They've already pushed this far and neither of them are ready to talk about it yet. He can't stop the momentum now, not when it could mean breaking this.

So he reaches out and puts his hand behind the back of Arin's head and pulls him in again.

(This is my first GG and egobang fic and I don't really have anywhere else to post it so it's in AO3 and here, sorry hypnotumblr. Please leave feedback! I may continue this.)

#Egobang #Polygrumps

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oneletterwrites · 7 years ago

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Company Mix Up

Summary: Thomas adores cartoons and his dream to work with a company that produces such magic is a reality. Sadly, one branch of the studio is failing and no one can figure out why. He volunteers himself to check on the building and get to the bottom of the problem.

Pairing: Eventual Prinxiety, Logicality, lots of platonic love between them all.

Part 1 | Part 4 |

For the rest of the week Thomas spent his days switching off between helping Roman clean his office, helping Logan mess up his office, making sure Patton had someone to eat lunch with, and even taking the time to head to HR and talk to Virgil. He didn’t have to he knows, but he could feel it that somewhere, they had something to do with the branch not performing as well as it could.

He didn’t want to say they are the ‘problem’, but they sure didn’t seem the best suited to where they are. It got him thinking and scheming for a solution. He tried just helping them do their job but it still ended awkward or with lackluster results.

So he decided to enact Plan B.

Or plan C, he’s not sure which letter he and Joan gave this plan but he likes it a lot more than firing someone.

Thomas puts his hands on his hips, papers in small piles in front of him and the pieces he sort of, kind of, took/stole are front and center. He nods proudly to himself then leaves the conference room to skip on up to the director’s office. He knocks on the open door and Roman spins to face him.

“Thomas! How are you this fabulous day?” His voice booms.

“Pretty good! Hey can I talk to you a second?” He asks and Roman agrees easily. Thomas tells him to meet him in the proper conference room in a few minutes and Roman smugly walks towards the area while Thomas skips out to find the next person in his plan.

He knocks on Logan’s door, waiting patiently for him to open it. He does with a small quick smile before turning to the side to let Thomas into his office space but Thomas stays where he is.

“Logan would you be able to join me for conference right quick?” He asks. Logan gives him an odd look.

“Is this the kind of quick that ends up taking the whole day?” Thomas grins sheepishly and Logan sighs.

“Give me a few minutes to make sure my day is cleared and I will join you.” He says and Thomas tells him which conference room, thanking Logan once again for opening up his day for this. Logan just rolls his eyes.

Unlike the leisurely pace it took Logan to open the door, Patton is in front of him quick and wrapping him in a hug. He’s bursting with energy.

“Thomas! It’s so nice to see you again. How was your weekend? Did you do anything fun?” Thomas laughs and holds up a hand to try and get Patton to be a little more quiet just for a second for him to get his own question is out.

“We can talk about that later, but for right now, can you help me out?” He asks and Patton actually jumps up out of excitement. Together they pack up one of Patton’s portable work laptops for the conference that Patton will not stop asking him questions about. Thomas just smiles at him.

Instead of going right up to the conference room, Thomas brings Patton with him to the HR department.

“Hey Virgil,” Thomas calls softly to startle the representative slightly less. Virgil still jumps a little but no where near as bad as he could. He eyes both him and Patton suspiciously.

“I wanted to ask you if you would join us for a conference?” Thomas asks softly. Patton nods his head but keeps his mouth shut sensing the delicate environment. Virgil raises an eyebrow at him.

“What for?” He’s skeptical. Thomas sighs.

“I have a project that I think you could be the designer for,” He says and though designing things is mostly supposed to be Patton’s job, the animator seems completely okay with his job being offered up.

“What.” Virgil deadpans at him, a glare on his face now.

“You’re an amazing drawer Virgil, and I think you would be the best for this project.” Thomas says. Patton nods his head though Thomas knows he’s never seen anything Virgil’s drawn. Virgil shrinks in on himself.

“You don’t.. really want me,” He grimaces and Patton gasps.

“Of course we do!” He turns to Thomas. “Who else is we?” There’s a doofy smile on his face and Thomas snorts. He goes back to Virgil who is already shaking his head for rejection.

“I really-” He doesn’t finish his sentence. Thomas sighs again and nods his head.

“Okay, I understand, I still do think you’re the best for the job though. If,” Thomas takes a step towards him and places a gentle hand on Virgil’s shoulder. He flinches away from the touch but not enough to fully get away from it.

“If you decide to join us, you’re more than welcome to,” Thomas takes a pen and writes down which conference room they are in. He smiles and waves to Virgil as he and Patton depart. Patton waves with his whole body and Virgil actually manages a small wave of his hand and turns to cower at his desk just as Thomas starts towards the conference room himself.

“So what are we doing?” Patton asks for the 15th time. Thomas gives him a smirk and just holds the door open to the room where Roman and Logan are already waiting with arms crossed and pouts on their faces.

“You didn’t tell me Mr. Tight Lid would be here,” Roman accuses Thomas right away. Patton shyly takes a seat next to Logan who pushes at his glasses.

“Mr. Sanders is not obligated to tell you anything considering your way of keeping information is all over the room.” Logan quips back and Roman looks ready to stand and challenge him to a duel. He actually does stand when Logan interrupts whatever he may say.

“Though I shall admit to being curious myself,” He then turns his glare to Thomas who stands taller. Patton gives him his full attention and Roman slowly takes a seat, still giving Logan a bad look.

“In the week I’ve been here, I’ve noticed some strange things with you all,” He begins. Roman scoffs hard and offended. Logan pushes at his glasses while Patton covers his mouth.

“Nothing bad of course, just, something a little off, I am proposing a project for you all to work on.” Thomas explains and hands out the little stacks in front of him. Logan rifles through it.

“These are my efficiency notes,” Thomas doesn’t miss the annoyed tone in his voice.

“That’s my idea!” Roman stands again, shaking the papers like they might change if he shakes them hard enough.

“Aww you think flowers on the desk is sweet?” Patton gives Thomas heart eyes as he looks at the motivational aspects. Thomas smiles at him then gives Logan and Roman a more professional look.

“Those notes that I took from you, should have come from the other based on your titles.” They have the sense to look a little sheepish at being called out like so. Logan sighs and tents his hands on the desk.

“So what exactly are you proposing.” It’s more of a statement than question that Logan asks. Thomas takes a deep breath.

“I am proposing that you create Roman’s idea into actuality.” That earns him a cheer from Roman and Patton but a struggling sigh from Logan who once more pushes up his glasses.

“How are we going to do that if you just insinuated that our roles are wrong?” He says. Patton’s cheers stop and he gets that kicked puppy dog look in his eyes. Roman groans at having his joy squished.

“You switch,” Thomas tells him like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

“Logan you will be in charge of planning and making sure things are done in an orderly manner,” Though he had his doubts, Logan sits a little taller at the idea of being in charge.

“Roman, bring your ideas, all of them, that’s your job.” Roman is all too ready to do just that.

“Patton I’m going to need you to bring general thought to the table as well as keeping spirits high,” Patton wiggles in his seat.

“These spirits will be flying like ghosts on helium!” He says and Roman snorts. Logan rolls his eyes then gives Thomas another questioning look.

“If Patton is to be in charge of frivolities, then who is going to-” The door opens to cut Logan off and they all turn just in time to see Virgil shutting the door by resting his back against it. He shifts awkwardly, hiding behind his hair, and glaring at the ground when he finds them all looking at him. Thomas goes to him, placing a hand on his shoulder gently.

“Virgil, to answer your question Logan, will be in charge of design animation,” Thomas gives Virgil a reassuring smile which is hardly returned. Patton claps his hands.

“I’m so glad you decided to join us!” His voice could make flowers grow. Virgil just takes a seat next to Roman who is still standing. His entire body hunched in a circle, wanting nothing more than to not be seen. Thomas slides him one of the tiny stacks of papers and Virgil takes the distraction thankfully.

“This is. Odd,” Logan says. Patton giggles.

“But it’s going to be fun!” He gets a little too close to Logan who adjusts his glasses at the sudden proximity to his person. He clears his throat.

“Well I suppose,” He’s almost stammering. He manages to collect himself and turn to Roman.

“What is the idea we are to work with?” He has a pen in his hand at the ready on a notebook Thomas swear he pulled out of no where. He takes a seat as Roman’s wide smile come full view. He swivels his chair and gracefully puts a foot on it to pose. His stomp causes Virgil to jump in his seat.

“It’s about a boy who has magic powers, but the powers are given to him by his mother. And she passes leaving him to live with his father figure and the mother’s friends who also have powers but that are different than the ones she had and there’s an entire hierarchy and war that went on and there are secrets around every corner and the boy is trying to learn how to-”

“Breathe Roman,” Patton says softly with a warm smile on his face. Roman takes a dramatic breath in, and launches right back into his idea. He waves his arms and begins to pace around the room, sliding on the floor to be dramatic and unleashing every idea he’s had. Thomas can’t help but laugh at bits, remembering random statements from papers he helped Roman sort not so long ago.

“And of course it’s hard for him to do so because he’s never known her and he has no idea what he’s supposed to do or anything and it doesn’t help her friends are hiding things from him.” Roman takes another deep breath and stops talking for a moment, shocking everyone in the room that he’s silent.

“That’s wonderful!” Patton exclaims reaching across the table. Roman laughs boisterously and takes one of Patton’s hands to squeeze it.

“I know isn’t it?” He boasts. Logan flips a few papers, most of them in his hand notebook, taking notes on the plot lines and character aspects. He then rifles through the stack Thomas gave him to the back page.

“This character description, did you read it Roman?” Logan asks as he scans the page. Everyone flips to that page and Virgil sinks, not before giving Thomas a look of annoyance, and panic.

“It sounds cute!” Patton says looking to them all. Roman glares at the page most of all before dropping it.

“I had pictured them to be a bit more,” He waves his hand about. “Fluffy.” He says and Patton snorts. Thomas gives Virgil an encouraging look. With an exasperated sigh Virgil pulls out his sketch book and flips it open to drop it on the table to the design he drew, the one described in their stack. Patton coos while Logan nods his head approvingly.

It’s Roman who gives the most pause, dragging the sketch book closer to himself to scrutinize it. Virgil twitches, body ready to bolt at any second. Roman pushes it back to him, leaning far into his personal space.

“Can you make his hair fluffier?” He asks, deadly serious. Virgil slowly takes his pencil out and his sketch book to mess with the design. It’s silent as he works.

“THAT!” Roman shouts and promptly makes Virgil draw a long line across his sketch book, almost ruining the design. He glares up at Roman.

“What the hell?” He asks but for the most part goes ignored by the creative mastermind. Patton offers him a reassuring hand and Thomas does the same. Virgil decided to sulk.

“This is exactly what it should be! Wonderful!” He cheers, twirling around with the book in his hands. At the praise however, the beginning of a smile makes it’s way to Virgil’s face.

“Now that we have at least the main character design, shall we work on the others?” Logan suggests. Roman pauses his laughter to give Virgil back his book a lot more gently this time. Virgil awaits impatiently for Roman to describe his characters.

And Roman does describe them. In extreme length and extreme detail.

Virgil is lucky Logan is taking notes and Patton reminds Roman to slow down sometimes otherwise his sketches would be way more off. He can’t get them all down right away but Logan goes to copy all his notes for them all.

The conference ends on that note. With Virgil taking the designs to work on sketches and Logan to work on a cohesive plot line from the scattered idea Roman gave. Patton is just happy to be included.

“This is amazing,” The bubbly not so much an animator any more says to him after the long conference is done with. Thomas laughs and bumps him playfully.

“Glad you get to be working in a closer group?”

“So much!” Patton gives him a quick hug and runs off. Thomas is left to his small office with more papers with him and a clearer picture in mind as to how this little project will work out.

#thomas sanders #roman sanders #logan sanders #patton sanders #virgil sanders #sander sides #drabble #not hetalia #company mix up au #YES ITS STEVEN UNIVERSE OKAY.

33 notes · View notes

jlalafics · 8 years ago

Photo

Dylan is about to get into the plan...

I actually updated! Yay me!

Summary: Beatrice Everdeen-Carter and Ramona Mellark, two friends with one mission–to get their parents together. Modern AU Everlark.

Part Eight is now available below the cut!

You can read all other parts here:

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Part Six

Part Seven

The Family Plan

Part Eight

Quietly closing the door behind her, Katniss walked slowly towards the stairwell. She had intended to be out earlier, but several kisses from Peeta had left her sneaking out of his bedroom later than she wanted. Bea and Dylan would be getting back from Cato’s by noon and Katniss needed to make the house look like she actually hung out there.

“Don’t forget your coat downstairs.” She whipped around to see Ramona at her bedroom doorway, arms crossed and a devilish smirk upon her pink lips. “It’s cold out there.”

Katniss sighed and shook her head, resigned at being caught.

“How long have you known about me sleeping over?”

Ramona put a finger to her chin. “We’ve known since after Halloween.”

Katniss approached her warily. “We?”

“Bea left something at the house during her weekend with Mr. Carter after Halloween,” Ramona informed her. “You weren’t home and so she figured that you were here with us. You always leave your coat downstairs before sneaking into Dad’s room and it’s gone by at least ten—so we figured that you wanted to keep it a secret.”

She counted quickly before meeting Ramona’s amused blues. “That was nearly four months ago!”

The young girl giggled. “It’s okay, Katniss! We’re happy for you…me and Bea…though I think that Dill is still a little young to understand grown-up sleepovers.”

“We should talk,” Katniss said, leading the girl into her room. Ramona went to her neatly made bed as Katniss joined her. “Sweetie, are you okay with this? Better yet, do you understand what a ‘grown-up sleepover’ is?”

“First of all, yes. We’re totally okay with this. Bea used to worry that you were lonely when she and Dill were with Mr. Carter,” Ramona explained. Katniss smiled at her words. “Second, it means sex.”

She nearly choked at Ramona’s statement.

“I mean, I don’t understand the logistics or need for it besides procreation,” the girl mused. “But, I’m sure it’s one of those things that I’ll understand when I’m older.”

“Like, when you’re thirty.”

Ramona grinned. “Twenty.”

Katniss shook her head. “Twenty-five.”

“How about we meet at twenty-two?” Ramona countered. “I’ll be out of college or peaked in my dance troupe. Sex might just be the next thing I’ll need to learn.”

“I don’t think I like how cavalier you sound when you say sex,” Katniss told her. “But you’re right. Sex is definitely something that needs to be understood and learned when you’ve gotten your feet a little more wet…pardon my words.”

“Obviously, you and Dad enjoy it.” Ramona’s face flushed in embarrassment. “I mean you’re here practically every weekend that Bea and Dill are at their Dad’s.”

Katniss nodded. “Well…what can I say?” She took a breath before seeing Ramona’s curious gaze. “It’s not all about the sex.”

“I know,” Ramona replied. “There’s no need to sneak about. We understand…to an extent. It makes us happy that you and Dad are happy together. Because we care…and love you.”

The young girl went silent, her eyes darting to her bright comforter. A maternal warmth rushed through Katniss’ chest; she knew what Ramona really meant to say.

“Your father and I love you, too.” She gathered Ramona into her arms, pressing a kiss to her soft, golden hair. “So, so much.” They remained, quiet and content, for a few moments—before Ramona’s stomach rumbled. “How about I make you waffles?”

“I love waffles,” Ramona declared as they both walked out of the room. “I mean, you two were up pretty late last night…”

Katniss put an arm around her shoulders. “How about I add in some bacon?”

Ramona nodded, moving closer to the woman. “This is why Dad and I love you so much.”

++++++

‘I caught your Mom sneaking out of Dad’s. She finally fessed up. Got some waffles out of it.’

‘Finally! Mom is not at all discreet. Where are they now?’

‘Making goo-goo eyes at each other at the breakfast table. We really need to figure out a way to get us all in one house!’

‘I second that!’

‘Dad’s calling me…better go. See you later?’

‘Yes! See you soon, sis!’

“What’s going on?” Beatrice looked up to find her Dad placing a plate of corned beef hash in front of her. “Ramona’s up?”

“Yeah. Mom finally blew her cover and got caught at Peeta’s,” she said as she dug into her plate. “It’s been months, so I’m finally relieved. It’s not getting us any closer to bringing all of us under one house, though.”

Cato pulled out the chair next to her, pouring himself a cup of coffee from the pot on the table.

“Bea, do you understand what’s happening?”

Beatrice took another bite of her breakfast before replying, “Yeah—sex.”

Cato nearly choked while sipping his drink. “I was not ready for you to say that!”

“Dad, we live in the age of Tinder, Tumblr, and sexting,” she relayed easily. “We’re going to know what sleepovers mean.”

“Yes, you know what it means,” Cato said. “But, there are a lot of different varying degrees when it comes to…” He scrunched his face, pushing the word out like an unpleasant taste. “…sex.” Beatrice looked to him in interest. “There’s more to it. There’s emotions…and passion…and discussions…I know your mother, Bea. There was a reason that you are probably just getting the lowdown.”

“Mom wants to shield us…maybe shield herself.” Beatrice took a small bite before reaching to drink from her glass of orange juice. “I know Mom, too. She loves Peeta, but she’s scared…because he might love her back just as intensely.”

Cato took another gulp of his coffee. “He loves her.”

“And, how do you know that?”

“That look in his eyes,” her father replied in a far-off voice. “It’s the same way your grandfather used to look at your grandmother—your mom’s parents, I mean.”

His parents were not the best example of familial nor marital love. There were fights and accusations then, to his relief, a divorce. Cato admired the love between the elder Everdeens so much that perhaps he had hoped that his own marriage would be the same way. However, neither he nor Katniss realized that a marriage needed more than love to keep it going.

“Oh yeah…Pop and Gams always have that doofy look about them,” Beatrice said thoughtfully. “You and Mom never did.”

“I agree.” Cato covered his daughter’s hand with his own. “But I love her in my own way—as your mother.”

“How about you and Glimmer?”

He felt his face warm. “That is a whole other story.”

++++++

“So sis, what is going on with Valentine’s Day?” Prim inquired as she painted her niece’s nails. She winked at Beatrice before going back to putting the garish pink polish on. “You and Peeta doing it up big?”

Katniss, who was looking over art commissions on her computer, furrowed her brows.

“We haven’t really talked about it,” she replied off-handedly. “I don’t know if I’m that kind of person, anyway.”

“You’re totally that kind of person,” her sister retorted. “You—who makes heart-shaped pancakes and handmade Valentines?” She pulled away and smiled at Beatrice. “There you go sweets! Nice and festive…maybe you should go show Jamie.”

“Yeah, so he’ll see just what I’m going to scratch his eyes out with if he gets near me,” Beatrice huffed. “I’ll be back!”

The young girl rushed out of the living room and up the stairs.

“Don’t say those things to her,” Katniss reprimanded her sister. “She is still so young.”

“Ramona is the same age and didn’t you speak to her about the ol’ humpty-dumpty?” Prim retorted. “And, I know that you’ve already talked to Bea about it.”

“I talked to you about it and look how you turned out,” Katniss groused, her eyes going back to the screen.

“I’m perfectly daisy-fresh,” Prim preened, batting her long lashes at Katniss. “However, if you’re going to antagonize me, then maybe I won’t babysit on Valentine’s Day.”

Katniss bit her lip. “Maybe, you won’t need to.”

++++++

‘SOS!’

Ramona quickly typed back: ‘What’s going on?’

‘Please tell me that your Dad has something planned for Valentine’s Day!’

Closing her book, she rushed out of her room and went down the hall to her father’s studio. “Dad!” She knocked on the door. “Open the door, please!”

There was a shuffle and the rushed unlocking of the door. Peeta widened it quickly, letting Ramona in. “What’s wrong?”

“Dad, did you plan anything for Valentine’s Day?” she panicked.

Her father grinned. “Is this what has you all in a tizzy?”

“Yes!” Ramona practically jumped. “Every girl knows how important that day is!”

“Is this about Cameron?” Peeta teased.

Ramona stepped back, trying to hide her blush. “We are not talking about him. We are talking about you, Dad.”

“Well…” Going to her, Peeta turned her around and placed his hands on her shoulders. He led her to the back of the room to present the canvas to her. “…what do you think I was doing?”

“Dad, it’s perfect!” Ramona turned to hug him. “Katniss is going to love it!” She quickly took a photo. “I’m sending this to Bea!”

“I’m not quite finished with it yet,” her father said sheepishly. “But, I heard that Katniss is really into homemade Valentines.”

Ramona grinned, tears filling her eyes. “This is so sweet!” Her eyes went back to the canvas. “You really love her, don’t you?”

Peeta put an arm around his daughter, pressing a kiss to her temple.

“I do.”

++++++

Beatrice smiled down at the photo on her phone.

The canvas painting was a large heart, made of purples, reds, and blues.

To her, it looked how love must feel: passionate, fiery, and true.

This was the kind of love that her grandparents gave one another; the kind that Peeta looked at her mother with, the kind that her parents could never really grasp.

She typed back to her Ramona: ‘Sis, it’s perfect.’

++++++

“I’m here!” Prim slammed the front door with a flourish, beaming at Beatrice and Dylan who had rushed over to greet her. “Y’all ready to party?”

“Primrose Everdeen.” Katniss walked down the stairs, putting her other earring on, as she stepped onto the carpet. “You’re going to be at Peeta’s house. Please make sure the kids are good…” Her eyes went to Dylan sans bra on his head, but wearing a metal colander as a helmet and Beatrice smiling just a little too brightly. “…as good as they can be.”

Prim picked up Dylan, letting him wrap his legs around her waist. “They’ll be good as gold. I promise.”

“You look so pretty, Mom!” Beatrice rushed over to her, giving her a hug. “The LBD is really working for you.”

Katniss had gone out of her comfort zone, on her sister’s suggestion, and bought the black body-con dress with lace bottom. The look was completed with a pair of stilettos that nearly made her faint when the salesperson told her the total. Bea had done her hair, giving her shapely waves, as she did her own makeup.

“Thanks love,” she replied. “When you’re appropriately old enough, you can wear this dress.”

“And, when will that be?”

“When I’m old enough to take my teeth out,” Katniss said. Beatrice giggled at her words. “Fine…after my first hip replacement.”

The doorbell rang and Dylan screamed before scrambling out of Prim’s arms to answer the door.

“PEETA! RAM-RAM!”

“Hey son!” Peeta picked Dylan up, knocking on the metal colander. “What’s going on here?”

“Special communication helmet, of course,” Dylan replied.

Beatrice went to Ramona, giving her a hug. “When did you become ‘Ram-Ram’?”

“Since I got him that book about Area 51 for Christmas,” Ramona informed her friend. “He gave me the name so the aliens would think I’m one of them during the invasion.”

“Good to know you’re so protected,” Beatrice replied. Her eyes went to their parents. “Look at that…”

The look in Peeta’s eyes was full gazing at Katniss. He whispered in her ear, his hand lightly resting on her slender waist, before she pulled away to do a little twirl to show off her hard work. They looked as if they were in their own little world and content to be there.

Her Aunt went to her and Ramona, grinning conspiratorially.

“I have a bet going with Glimmer and your father, Bea.” She put an arm around each of their shoulders. “That these two get engaged by the end of the year.”

“I’d say that they’re married before then,” Ramona countered.

“We still have to find a way to get us all under one roof,” Beatrice responded.

“Hey Prim!” They looked to Peeta, dressed in a perfectly fitted navy suit. He threw a set of keys in her direction. “Keys to the car and the house. I left some money for pizza in the living room and you’re welcome to anything else in the fridge.”

“There’s not much,” Ramona said with a chuckle. “Maybe, we can stop by a grocery store?”

Peeta nodded in agreement. Reaching into his wallet, he handed a credit card to Prim.

“Just in case you need extra.”

“Like an extra Gucci purse?” Prim batted her lashes at him. “I mean, you’re going to marry my sister.”

“Not without the kids there,” Peeta replied without batting an eyelash. “We have reservations so you better get going.” He moved towards the door, opening it for the group. “We’ll see you later tonight.”

“We get it—grown-up stuff,” Beatrice said with a smile. She went to her mother, giving her a hug then hugging Peeta. “Show her a good time.”

“I will. She deserves it,” he replied. Ramona approached after saying goodbye to Katniss. “You’re in charge tonight.”

“Don’t worry, everything will be fine,” his daughter said. “Have fun, Dad.”

The group left in a flurry of waves and happy shouts, slamming the door behind them.

Katniss walked to the door, locking it before turning to Peeta.

“So…where are we going for dinner?”

Reaching, he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close before pressing his mouth to hers. His hands skimmed her sides, savoring graceful curves and the thin cloth of her dress. Katniss moaned, deepening their kiss, and pressing Peeta closer.

“Should we go to dinner?” he asked breathlessly as they pulled apart.

Katniss grinned. “I am a great lover of pizza.”

Peeta laughed huskily. “Funny. So am I.”

“I’ll make the call,” Katniss said, going to the entryway table where her cellphone was. However, she was yanked back into Peeta’s arms. “Yes?”

“I don’t think you want to eat pizza in that dress,” he told her.

She grinned before turning so her back faced him.

“Help me out of it?”

Peeta nodded before reaching for zipper.

++++++

“This is your house?” Prim’s bright eyes stared at the home in wonderment. “Kudos, Ramona!”

“I like Bea and Dill’s place better,” Ramona declared, her arm going around her best friend’s shoulders. “Too many memories in this place.”

“Well, let’s make some fun memories,” Beatrice told her affectionately. “And, find a way to get us under one roof.”

“No luck so far, huh?” Prim said as they walked up the porch and she unlocked the front door. Dylan pushed the door open, rushing inside and hopping onto the plush couch of the sitting room.

“No.” Ramona shook her head. “It’s hard to find a perfect situation to get us together.”

“Well, how about you two try to think of something that might help while I put the pizza in the oven?” Prim suggested. “I’ll call you two down when the food is ready.” She turned to Dylan, already opening his backpack, full of art supplies. “Chicken fingers for you, baby boy?”

“Yup!” Dylan said cheerfully.

“Do you want to come up with us?” Beatrice asked her brother.

“Nope. I can talk to myself here,” he replied easily.

Ramona giggled, going to him and kissing his cheek.

“Don’t ever change,” she told her pseudo-little brother before following Beatrice up the stairs.

++++++

“Did I say thank you for the painting?” Katniss said as they sat on the couch, pizza cooling on the coffee table. “It’s really beautiful and I can’t believe that you painted it so quickly.”

She had almost burst into the tears when Peeta had brought to her house along with an official invite for Valentine’s. It had been a long time since she had been romanced…actually, it had been a long time for a lot of things.

“I found myself unbelievably inspired,” Peeta replied. His eyes went to the clock on the mantle. “I guess we’ve missed our reservation.”

“We have a house with no children,” Katniss reasoned and he guffawed. “I’ll take that over a five-course dinner any day!”

“I know what you mean. I love them all, but sometimes I appreciate when it’s just us two, you know? Like, I love waking up to you in the morning…or having that quiet moment to hold your hand when the kids are asleep.” She put her head on his shoulder, listening to his soft words. “Do you think you want more?”

“What do you mean?” She shifted on the couch, leaning into him. “Like do I want to get married again? Have more kids?”

“I was asking if you wanted more pizza—” Peeta laughed when she socked his arm. “—but, I think kids would be great.”

“Kids…that’s plural,” Katniss drawled.

Her eyes went to the photos on the mantle. The kids were the greatest joy in her life…and Ramona, she loved her from the moment they met. If she closed her eyes, Katniss could see more photos on that mantle; photos of a new little one in her arms…maybe that little brother that Dylan had wanted.

“It’s a good sort of plural, though,” she continued. “I think, however, that we need to figure out some other logistics.”

Peeta placed a kiss atop her hair. “Like what?”

“Well, you do like waking up to me in the morning.”

++++++

The painting was turning out just the way he wanted.

Dylan loved to create things, stories…buildings like his Daddy…paintings like Peeta-Daddy…

This one was going to go in Mommy’s room, just like the one that Peeta-Daddy made. It was full of reds, pinks, purples…he just needed a bit of green—Mommy’s favorite color—to finish it up. Looking at his paint palette, Dylan discovered that he had run out of green.

Suddenly, an idea zinged into his mind.

Grass was green.

He went to the front door, looking to the lush lawn before grabbing a handful of blades close to the edge of the lawn. Running back into the house, he tossed the bunch into his water cup to swish to make green.

Not quite green…but maybe he needed to mash it up.

Dylan raced to the kitchen where Aunt Prim sat on the tall counter, flipping through a magazine.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“I need a fork, Aunt Prim!” he said excitedly. “I’m making green!”

“Uh…” Reaching to the drawer next to her, his Aunt produced a fork. “Here you go. Be careful.”

He nodded before heading back to his painting.

Mash…mash…mash…Dylan liked the squishy noises that fork made as he made green in his water cup.

His green wasn’t looking any greener—and there were brown spots all over the carpet!

He remembered that Ramona’s mean mom didn’t like messes. If she came back, Ramona would be in trouble!

His mind searched and remembered that Mommy said that he could always clean up his paints with water—and there was a hose outside. He had seen Daddy clean up the whole porch with it. It would definitely clean up some brown spots!

Going outside, Dylan easily found the hose; it was right on the side of the house, wrapped in a big circle. Pulling it, he raced into the house to put it over the stains…there were a few more now because of his sneakers—but the water would clean it up!

Now all he had to do was turn the hose on.

Back on the grass, Dylan searched for the thingy to make the water flow. He followed the hose until he found its end and the knob. Now he remembered! It needed a twist!

Turning it, he waited to hear the sound of water…nothing. Maybe it needed a few more turns…

“One…two…three…four…five…six…seven…”

One more extra for his upcoming birthday.

There was a definite rush of water now.

Excitedly, Dylan ran across the lawn and back into the house.

There, before his bright eyes, was a large green snake dancing in the sitting room, spraying venomous clear liquid everywhere from its round mouth...all over the walls…on the carpet…and the couch…

But, what happened to the hose?

“DYLAN!” Aunt Prim screeched. “What’s going on?”

There was another rush of steps followed by two high-pitched yelp coming from his sisters.

However, amidst the screaming and his Aunt running out of the house, Dylan’s eyes remained on the dancing, green snake.

He couldn’t wait to tell his friends at school about it.

++++++

The frantic knocking on the door roused the two parents from the couch. Katniss quickly threw on the pair of leggings that had found their way to the floor as Peeta zipped up his pants. She threw on a shirt, which was actually his.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Katniss replied, just barely pulling herself out of her sated stupor.

Together, they went to the front door and Katniss yanked the door open.

“I am so sorry, Peeta!” The first words from a soaked-to-the-bone Prim. “I wasn’t watching him!”

Right behind her, Beatrice and Ramona emerged. Both were drenched, as well—their faces full of exhaustion.

Dylan ran forward excitedly, wet but beaming with exuberance.

“Guess what, Mommy?”

Katniss, looking amongst her family in a daze, gave him a bright smile. “What darling?”

“We killed the snake!” He jumped and his sneakers made a squishing noise. “It got venom all over the sitting room, but Bea and Ram-Ram got buckets and poured it out!”

In a semi-shocked state, Prim handed Peeta her phone. “These pictures can be sent to the insurance company.” She wrung out her hair before bypassing the couple and walking into the house. “I’m going to go dry up—then get my tubes tied.”

“We weren’t watching him either,” Beatrice said in a forlorn voice. “Sorry, Peeta…Mom.”

The noise that came out of Peeta’s mouth, as he looked at Prim’s phone, sounded like he was being held under a chokehold.

“We’ll go dry up, too,” Ramona told the couple. She placed her hands on Dylan’s shoulders to lead him into the house. “Let’s go, little brother.”

Left alone, Katniss looked at the photo on Prim’s screen—the water-soaked living room…the muddy couch, and the various broken knick-knacks on the floor.

“I’m really sorry, Peeta,” she told him. “I’ll talk to Dylan—”

“No, we will talk to Dylan. I need to hear this story.” Peeta turned to her, a chuckle escaping his mouth. “It’s a good thing that we agreed to move in together. This just lifts the burden of deciding which house it was going to be.”

“I still totally owe you,” Katniss replied.

Peeta led them both into the house.

“Yes, you do,” he declared. “The first payment being that you let me get one of those Tempur-Pedic beds for us—no questions asked.”

She nodded. “Deal…anything else?”

“Children—”

Katniss shook her head, laughter escaping her lips. “Oh boy…”

Peeta grinned. “Or, girl.”

He closed the door to their home behind them.

_____________________

Kids say and do the darnedest things…

Next: The big family move-in…more Jamie, Ara, and Cameron—Yay! Along with their parentals.

#The Family Plan #Everlark #Everlark Fanfiction #LaLa Tumblr-Exclusive

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forgeordan · 7 years ago

Text

A Love Note

"1 banana, 2 banana, 3 banana, 4 banana." Caleb counted to himself, as his friends scattered about the house. His small hands pressed firmly against his cheeks, and fingers draped over his eyes. He wondered where his friends might be, and the more thought he gave it, the more he considered just what kind of a challenge he was facing. 30 bananas might not seem like a lot of time to the average grown-up, but to 7 year old Caleb, he knew first hand the places kids could go, and the discoveries they could make, with even such a flutter of existence. The correct answer is his friends could be anywhere and everywhere, even at the same exact time. Physics might say that's not possible, but Caleb knew better. There was at least one occasion when playing hide and go seek at his Uncle Joseph's house last winter, when little Joe Joe managed to hide in the laundry room, and under the sink, all at once! Caleb knew this, because he's certain he saw Joe Joe's shirt hiding among the pile of clothes, but when he went to get a closer look, he was gone. In that very same moment, he heard a loud clank coming from under the sink. When he opened the cabinet door, there Joe Joe was, snickering suspiciously, his fingers curled and covering his mouth, in a meager attempt to hide his obvious magic. Joe Joe, being 4, was still at that age where little kids could seemingly teleport.

"24 banana, 25 banana, 26 banana," Caleb began counting out loud, until his voice crescendoed, and the phrase every kid loved to say, but all feared hearing, were spoken. "Ready or not, here I come!" The words brimmed from his lips, and the excitement slung through the air, as Caleb spun around and released his hands from his eyes. Not to say he never snuck a peak through the cracks in his fingers while he was counting, but the way Caleb figured it, if God didn't want little kids to peak, he wouldn't have put the cracks there to begin with. No matter, nothing was going to stop him from finding each and every one of his friends. Caleb pranced and prowled through his Uncle's house, leaving no pillow unturned. One by one he picked off his clandestine playmates, until there was only but one child left.

Henry was no where to be found. Every closet had been opened, and not one blanket had gone unflung. The rest of the kids had already started playing another game, but Caleb knew his sacred duty as seeker wouldn't be completed until he found Henry. Caleb double checked the same hideaways in the house, to no avail. It was then, as he was walking down the hallway, he noticed the very thing he was dreading. The attic door on the ceiling was cracked open just enough to make Caleb realize the dreaded truth; Henry hadn't temporarily jumped into another dimension, but the reality was much, much worse. Henry was hiding in the attic. Caleb knew what he had to do.

He mustered up all the courage in his little arms, and pulled hard on the string attached to the attic door. The cracked wooden stairs slowly presented themselves to him, like a parched tongue waiting to slurp up its next victim. Caleb was terrified, but he was no scared-sally. One step at a time, he walked up those attic stairs, wondering if he'd ever get to play with his friends again. Caleb took his final step, until darkness is all he could see, and dust is all he could smell. He flailed his arm around desperately, looking for the little string that when he pulled it, would illuminate the forsaken chamber.

Caleb was not scared by any means, uh-uh. Of course not. But he had to admit, pulling down on that string and witnessing that one small bulb illuminate every corner of the room felt really, really good. He never saw light as a trusted friend before, that is, up until that very moment. He was beginning to think, it could be the start of a very special relationship. Caleb's mind wandered, as he wondered just how much his friends would make fun of him if they knew he made friends with a light bulb. 'No boy can be friends with a light bulb,' Caleb mused to himself. 'Maybe a girl, but definitely not a boy.' It was a harsh world out there, Caleb concluded.

At least his new friend was by his side as he slowly meandered through the ghost infested attic. "Henry!" Caleb shouted. "You really can come out now! This isn't much fun anymore..." His last remark lost steam with the muttering of each subsequent word. It's as if Caleb realized he should be the one doing the hiding. 'Maybe this is it. Maybe this is how it all comes to an end,' Caleb began to petrify himself. "I'm not fooling around Henry! Please come out!!” This time, he shouted as loud as he could, in a desperate plea. It was then, that Caleb heard a thump and saw a cloud of dust in the corner. "Henry, is that you?!" Caleb frantically made his way to the sound.

As he made his way around a tower of boxes, there Henry was, in all his doofy chubby glory. He really shouldn't have been wearing yellow and black horizontal stripes, he wasn't doing himself any favors.

"Hiya Caleb. Guess you found me." Henry's words dribbled from his mouth, like the bumbling bee of a boy he was.

"You know Henry, you really took this whole hide and seek game a little too far. Someone really could have gotten hurt." Caleb confidently remarked.

"Don't be a buthz kill." Henry replied with a lisp. "It was all worth it, check out what I found!"

Henry reached down to this dusty silver box that was partially covered by some old brown attic blankets. "It's got some elephants on it or something, here check it out." Henry gently offered the remarkable chest to Caleb's outreached hand.

Caleb grabbed hold of the precious artifact, mesmerized by its beauty. 'Wow' Caleb thought to himself, as he wiped away the dust from the exterior of the chest. Caleb had never seen such a beautiful item in his whole life. "There must be something very special inside." He excitedly pronounced.

"I already opened it, it's just a dumb old letter." Henry assured Caleb.

"Oh no, that can't be. Any letter kept safe inside a box like this for all these years must have some kind of special meaning." Caleb slowly unfolded the note from itself, soaking up the etched words as they slowly revealed themselves to him, after what must have been a lifetime of neglect.

To Geordan,

Our life could be looked at as all the things we leave behind us. The places we've walked, the smiles we shared, and the people who passed us by. The mundane fades away in as quickly as a few hours, while the meaningful can last for years. But of all the things I could ever leave behind me, you're the one thing I want to keep forever in front of me. I'll often think about the night we first met with a smile. It brings me joy to know we haven't left each other's side since the fog descended, consummating our first date together with the approval of the night's spirit. Instead of those moment's fading in my mind, a year later they're as bright as ever. The same qualities that led me to kiss and hold you then, keep me holding on now. But more than any qualities you exhibit, it's the girl inside that I've fallen in love with. The one who constantly asks me 'what?' with a smile, when I look her way. Often I don't reply, but the answer is always the same. When I look at you, the rest of the world melts away, and there's just you, and me, and just for a moment, everything in my life is right.

Love, Jameson

Caleb slowly placed the letter back into the silver chest. "I wonder who wrote that." He said.

"Hmm, well my dad told me his Grandpa's name was Jameson, so I guess that makes him my great Grandpa." Henry replied.

"And that makes him my Great Uncle! Or something..." Caleb was unsure. "But, it sure seemed like he really loved this girl he wrote to."

Henry launched a disgruntled stare Caleb’s way. "Look at me! Do I look like the kid who wants to talk about love?! No, I’m the kid who does the truffle shuffle. The game's over Caleb, can we please get down from this attic?"

“That’s fine.” Caleb slowly placed the silver chest back where he found it, leaving it behind, perhaps for another kid to find 20 years from now.

Making his way down from the attic with Henry, Caleb couldn’t help but think about the note in the chest, but it wasn’t the note itself that captured his imagination. He wondered if he would ever have a love like that, and be lucky enough to have such a special girl in his life. More than anything it gave him hope, that real lasting love exists.

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