#NOT MUCH HERE TO DUMP AS FAR AS. TAG TALKING GOES so . enjoy i guess

[extravalgant]

title: crosspaths

summary: You were familiar with Monquistans, seeing as they ran around in Azteca doing whatever they pleased. But this one... you recognized this one.

notes: not much to say about this one... i edited this one about twice? before i thought it seemed good enough to post 👍 may this encourage me to make more switch up au stuffs....

READ ON A03

You think, after all this time, you would forget a name like his – a face like his.

The hustle and bustle of the late-night crowd is loud, but the air is filled with hearty laughs, the ambience of the denizens of this world having a good time; you hear the sounds of drinking glasses clinking together, cutlery sliding along plates, and spoons digging into bowls.

It would be comforting if you weren't running on very little sleep. You can feel your tunic bunch uncomfortably from underneath your coat, feel the itch of the fire insignia still fresh on the back from when you drew it in a rush, eager to get something warm over your body.

You feel as if you look a bit foolish standing there in the entrance to the inn, so you busy yourself with finding an unoccupied table. Regardless of how put together you look at the moment, your mind is still hazy from recent events.

Khrysalis had ended on... a semi-rough note, you reflect. The sting of betrayal is still raw, still twists something in the pit of your stomach if you marinated on it for too long, but you can’t help the wash of embarrassment that rushes over you at the thought of your kindness taken advantage so easily again.

You had gotten too complacent, and that’s why you were here—on the verge of frostbite and too tired to care. You had been too used to the idea that everyone was going to be on your side, that they wouldn’t lie to your face, extend an olive branch, offer any sagely advice that came with being trapped in a shadowy, guard-infested prison for thousands of years—

That train of thought stops very quickly. 

The physical symptoms of that particular adventure still lingered within you—you believe it’s because you absorbed so much of Morganthe’s magic after she had fallen to her demise. You figure this may be your body's way of getting used to having the proper amount of magic again.

Perhaps, a little part of your mind speaks up, voice so quiet you almost wanted to ignore it, perhaps it would have been better to die a martyr – you would have liked to see the look on his face had you not decided to be obedient for once, and died with the magic he so craved.

It had initially been a surprise when Merle Ambrose summoned you to his office, with claims of ‘something important’ needing to be discussed with you. You hadn’t noticed the sharp curl of anxiety in your stomach until he presented you with your diploma, managing a quiet laugh at your shocked expression. The tension bled out of your shoulders almost as easily as it appeared, and your vision focused to better examine the document he gave you.

The paper had felt crisp and clean, so unlike the quest paper you bought from the bazaar, and so unlike the thin and flimsy paper you used when you used to turn in your assignments. It had felt warm to the touch, and your eyes narrowed in on the way ink pooled slightly in certain places, as if this certificate had recently been finished.

And then, there had been your name – printed neatly, slanted in Merle Ambrose’s cursive script, sharp and wondrous across the page, with a golden stamp reflecting in the light.

Graduation. You couldn’t help the small grin that overtook your features. It took this long, but I’m finally… 

The following graduation ceremony had been… quick. You suppose Wizards hadn’t been much for celebrations, always straight and to the point, but it had been sweet. Try as you might, you could not discreetly wipe away the tears as each of the Ravenwood staff stepped forward to say a few words after the official assembly had ended, giving you their own words of encouragement as you stepped out into the new world. 

It wasn’t hard to miss the sudden chill that blanketed the area, and the familiar pit inside you was starting to fester inside you. Bartleby got sick, you knew it had been your fault, in some way or another—and now you were here. 

In cold and icy Polaris, tension is thick and heavy. The air is full of things unsaid, but you’re not quite sure what’s being said in the first place. This isn’t helped by the local inspector, who sniffs with disdain and squints disapprovingly at your lack of prepared attire for the weather. He doesn’t seem pleased by the smudged ink displayed almost proudly on your hand, but lets you pass anyway.

The quest was still fresh–you had to write it in a hurry and head to Polaris, after all.  You had always been a bit sloppy with quest writing—there’s a bit of an excuse now. You have a time limit. 

As long as it's legible, You said to yourself.

(A habit that would never die – a habit that lingered as soon as you learned the practice of quest writing. At the beginning your letters were neat and clean – this habit had stopped during Azteca, until you stopped writing them at all. 

…

Spell Writing 101 had always been your favorite class anyways.)

You digress.

Now, you were familiar with Monquistans, seeing as they ran around in Azteca doing whatever they pleased. But you didn’t think you would ever run into one in Polaris of all places. You didn’t think anyone could stand the cold like the Pingouins. But this one... you recognized this Monquistan. 

Because as soon as you laid your eyes upon the figure, you blinked, pausing in your descent of the steps.

“...Mister Gandry, is it?" You said, stepping close to the figure's table. He had been nursing a mug of... something. You detected the smell of something vaguely sweet and acidic.

Wine. You think, immediately. Wizard wine exists? Well, wine isn't exactly hard to make, is it? It's just... grapes.

That wasn’t important right now, you think.

He scrutinizes your dress for a moment, in a way that reminds you of the inspector at the world door, but he must have recognized you, with the way his eyes widened slightly at the edges.

"Can it be?" He said, and even his tone brings something like disbelief to the surface. It's almost hard to hear over the thick accent he has, and the sudden loud cheers a nearby table gives, but you nod in reply, breaking into a grin.

"The Wizard we met on the ship! My word, you're looking... a bit worse for wear."

He gestures for you to sit down, waving over the nearest waiter to bring them a drink for you as well. You can't even get a word in edgewise about your lack of drinking before the cup is being slid across the wooden table, red pooling deliciously at the edges.

"Worse for wear is putting it lightly." You say, chuckling a bit. Your hands come up to wrap gingerly around the pint, fingers tapping gently against the aged wood. It smells even sweeter than you thought. "I never thought I'd see you again! Where is, ah...?"

"Boochbeard?" He finishes for you, just as he polishes off the last of his drink. You nod. "Who knows. We got separated a while back."

“Aren’t you worried?” You ask, and he levels you with a stare, brow raised.

“It’d be a miracle if something around here manages to kill him.” He shifts in his seat, giving a lazy look around. “I see Polaris still hasn’t gotten back up on its legs after the war, eh? Figures.”

The words begin to blend together into his accent, but you can hear bits and pieces of what he’s trying to say. Something about the ‘armada,’ something about a ‘pirate.’

“The pirate?” You tilt your head to the side before the memory blooms behind your eyelids. Excitement bursts in the pit of your stomach. Yes, yes—the ship, those people, and most curious of all, that robot. “How are they doing these days?”

He takes a swig of his second drink – when he had ordered that one, you wondered – and shrugs.

“You... don’t know?” You’re dumbfounded. “I figured they were one of yours.”

“An orphan.” He amends, but the tone of his voice dips into something more casual, as if this were par for the course.

“Is that... common? Is this common?”

He nods without saying another word, and the two of you descend into another silence. This didn’t exactly astound you, seeing as Wizard City also housed these types—the city was safe enough as it was (with you there anyways, your brain supplies). You had surmised a while back that Ravenwood functioned more as a boarding school then it did a regular school, so the lack of parental figures wasn’t all that surprising to you.

But regardless, a pirate... you didn’t have any experience with them, minus Taylor Coleridge and the Monquistan in front of you.

“Is being a Pirate fun?” You ask.

His mouth twists thoughtfully before frowning. You think that has more so to do with the taste of his drink than your question. “About as fun as being a Wizard is.”

That was… Hm. You can count how many times you stood there and wondered if being a wizard was worth it. For all that it gave you—whether it was the joy and awe of seeing magic for the first time, or the warmth in your chest as you learn the words to another spell, or even just the fact that each spiral key you required earned you a glimpse into a new world, with new places to explore…

There were also things you… loathed about being a Wizard, no matter how hard you tried. Clearly there were things written in the fine script, but you had been reading that contract with younger, naive eyes. 

In Wizard law there are no accidents. 

You think your silence stretches on longer than usual – Gandry pauses, peering over the rim of the cup with inquisitive eyes. He puts his cup down.

"Tell me then," he prompts. "Is being a Wizard fun?"

The edge of your own cup reaches your lips. The first and only sip you would have. "...About as fun as being a Pirate is, I suppose."

He says nothing as you tell him your answer, but push your cup to the side and flag down the waiter for a steaming mug of something hot instead—the tea smells earthy and fragrant, warming your frozen fingers as you blow on it with cooling breaths.

"I wonder how they're doing." You muse quietly. You hadn't even gotten a glimpse of their face, or their personality—only gave words of encouragement, coaxed Mister Gandry and Mister Boochbeard into investigating whatever it is that the Maestro and his robotic friend were keen to stop before it started. “The Pirate, that is.”

You had touched upon their life – altered the course of their timeline, without ever seeing them. You think it's almost better this way, but you can't help the twinge in your heart that wants to meet the person they are today.

Did they have any friends? Do they have family? Did they have a favorite food, a favorite color, did they like the way the stars twinkled at night, or how the clouds stretched upon an infinity? Most of all—

Were they alive? 

You wonder.

"Running from the armada, probably." Gandry’s dry tone snaps you out of your haze. "I want to say I'm surprised the armada hasn't touched this part of the spiral, but – you're here."

"... I'm here." You repeat softly. Almost fondly. You were here, fighting tooth and nail to prevent the rest of the spiral from falling apart. To give others the chance to do the same. You’re not sure what an ‘armada’ is and have no clue whether or not you’d be able to defend against it, but you recognize that the two of you are on different journeys. 

You wonder if you’ll ever cross paths.

The silence stretches on until you stand, pushing your chair backwards as you relay to your companion that you had Wizardly duties to deal with. There's no note of change or expressions on his face, only neutral responses; he nods as he waves you off, and pushes the gold back into your hand when you attempt to repay him back.

"My treat, wizard." Mr. Gandry speaks. This time, there's a grin stretching across his face. "Welcome to Polaris."

[dre6ming]

The delicate beginning rush- teaser *(y/n) being asked about Austin’s Oscar nomination

* relationship is still a secret to the world*

Masterlist <chapters 1->14>

Imagines Masterlist

Instagram photo dump masterlist

Get added to my tag list HERE

Interviewer:

So you and Austin are good friends and just few days ago you were the one to present him with the Golden Globe, for best actor.

Per Oscar’s tradition the winner for best actress from the year before presents best actor the next year. For this year that’s you.

(Y/n): *laughs nervously

Yeah I guess that’s me, it’s funny that I got to hand him his first Golden Globe and it would be amazing to get to hand him his first Oscar.

*pauses

But I’m extremely excited to be just presenting in general and I’m rooting for each and everyone of the nominees this year. All of them gave us incredible performances and brought to screen remarkable characters. So I’ll be happy no matter who gets to win, cause I know it’s well deserved

Interviewer:

Did you talk to him? (Austin) did you call him to give him some wisdom or something like that?

(Y/n):

I haven’t yet, I’m on the long list of people waiting to congratulate him.

As far as wisdom goes, I don’t think I have any, I’m still star struck by my experience last year… I guess best advice I can give is just to enjoy it and to try and not humble himself too much, he deserves it, he should own up to it.

*next day same interviewer talks to Austin*

Interviewer:

So yesterday I got to talk to (y/n), she told me she’s excited to get in line and congratulate you. Did you two get to talk?

Austin: *chuckles softly

We haven’t talked yet, no, I’m gonna call her after this.

Interviewer:

As you know she’s going to be presenting the Oscar for best actor, since she won best actress last year. Do you think she’ll be like a good luck charm? Since she was the one to hand you, your first Golden Globe?

Austin:

I- you know, she’s such a good friend of mine and I adore her, so whether I get to win or not, I know she’ll give me a great hug.

Interviewer:

Aw, that’s so sweet. *Austin giggles* at last we asked her if she has any wisdom to shear from her personal experience as a first time Oscar nominee. She said to enjoy it and try no to humble yourself too much, you deserve it, so own it.

Austin: *laughs

Haha oh my- as always she’s the best and she knows, she knows me, um that’s great advice, I’ll call her later I’m sure she has more to say.

Tag: @galaxygirl453 @rainydayz101 @samaraannhan20 @marlowmode @myradiaz @areuirish @micaelainthe60s @homebodybirkin2003 @pennyroyalcreep @purejasmine  @strokesofstokes @lanasfloridakiloss @denised916 @kibumslatina @macey234 @melodixs-blog @shantellescrivener @chewiethecatus @guacala @fangirl125reader @father-of-2cats @lucid315 @melodixs-blog @ilovehobi101 @richardslady121 @jensmithin @julie181 @chrisevansgirl34 @ranaissingle @onecrazydirectioner @maria-1287 @austinbutlerssimp @kingdomforapony @acoolnight @tarot-sybarite

[sanhatipal]

~~ Shards of Eden ~~

This is my little cove, and where I post art and dump other things occasionally. Come inside,have a look~

I haven't lasted 2 weeks on any other site since the fall of g+, except maybe twitter but that also drove me nuts and I always took long hiatuses, but have been here constantly since 2018. Which...says quite a bit. I'm a doctor by profession,but here on Tumblr for fandom (pretty obviously) and art

My fandoms:

Pandora Hearts

The case study of Vanitas

Fate series (mainly Fate/Stay Night)

The House in Fata Morgana

Shadows House

Rozen Maiden

Tegami Bachi / Letter Bee

Witch Hat Atelier

xxxholic

Witch's Heart/Majo no Shinzou

07 ghost

D gray man

Some others I'm into but not that crazy about: Touhou, Madoka Magica, Princess Tutu, Tsubasa Reservoir chronicle, Totsokuni no Shoujo (and more but my head is empty). I like seinen, josei and a very specific brand of shonen: aka things enough to mess up my brain. I don't enjoy romance, sexual things(says the Fate fan..HAH. but seriously,I don't.), or mecha unfortunately

I tend to draw Pandora Hearts, VnC and Fate fanart most

I collect figures,so you'll see them here,but since ,as you can see,most of my faves are a bit on the below the radar side,there hardly are any figures... you'll see custom figures here,and orginal character figures because I like those too.

I like a lot of things,but mostly whimsical, folksy aesthetics,forests and plants, and glowy flowers and things like wisp motifs (there's no limit actually).My favourite colours are,as you might have guessed, the multitude of shades of red, deep maroons and browns. I love fantasy,and folk tales and Celtic things in general have been my passion for a long,long time ,though I also love things inspired by Alice in Wonderland .

As far as music goes...I sang soprano at a choir for a larger part of my teenage,and choral music is very close to my heart. My favourite genres of music are Celtic, especially Irish traditional, new age, classical/neo classical, sea shanties,and whatever Yuki Kajiura and Mili have going on.

Now...art! When not doing fanart,I like drawing fantasy illustrations, and one day I'd like to illustrate books but that's a pipe dream. I'm self taught,and use mostly watercolour and ink. I also love sculpting. It started with trying to sculpt figures and while that's still what I do most,I sculpt other things too,and in general it has to be the favourite of my scores of hobbies . I also do bookbinding...and music box strips ...and doll customs...yeah there's no rhyme or reason to what I do and don't actually.

Sometimes I post photos of plants,I like taking photos and smelling wet mud

If you want to hop into my DMs to talk about fandoms or fanart,feel free! I would be very happy! Also I really love getting tagged and asked ,but often don't get around to responding because I'm a mess of procrastination...if that happens please don't mind, I really really appreciate it and it certainly made me happy,and I'll get to it as soon as I can.

If you've made it this far,thank you. It's been quite a long post,and thank you for reading,I appreciate it. Here are my other blogs:

@sanhatis-abyss absolute reblog hell,if you're looking for something I reblogged 2 days ago my condolences,you probably won't find it unless you scroll for hours. Sometimes I shitpost there , sometimes I scream about the latest thing that consumed me, that is ,if I don't accidentally do it here. Truly,an abyss.

@amaryllis-arachne my doll blog. I realise not everyone likes dolls,or photos of disembered plastic body parts,so I don't reblog those onto the abyss blog. Sometimes I put pictures of my own dolls there,and sometimes er...yes parts.

If you want my other links, they're all in the blog description. Except my Anilist, but it's really not worth anything,since I don't review or rate or anything,just use it to keep track. I do roughly-monthly uploads on YouTube of craft tutorials and drawings,but there's not much rhyme or reason to that either... anyways,hope you have a great day,and hope you find anything you like in this mess of a red coloured pit.

[dreamerhideout]

enhypen genshin impact!au hcs

characters: enhypen

word count: ~200 words each

warnings: mentions of alcohol for jay’s part, lore inaccuracies (i haven’t caught up on dragonspine event lore yet), spoilers for mondstadt + liyue main quest

a/n: i’m supposed to be working on something else but this brainrot got to me first... anyways, i’m assigning their visions + weapons based off a few fan theories i’ve read~ please enjoy my word dump! :D

more under the cut!

jungwon

okay so we’re starting off with our leader! hmm... i’d say that he has a geo vision

why? idk, i’m half sure it’s based off how calm and composed he is; i do kinda think jungwon is a picture of maturity and elegance (he literally has to take care of six children wdym)

it was kinda hard for me to choose a weapon because i kept going back-and-forth from sword to polearm, but my final pick for him would be polearm

yes this would mean that he is zhongli

a polearm would probably suit him because i see him as the kind to want some kind of control over his weapon (not saying he can’t control a sword). at the same time i feel like he’d want something lightweight which won’t bring him down

i think he’d work with the knights of favonius. working with the liyue qixing could also work for him, but considering the tension between the adepti and the qixing + the social climate of liyue makes me think that he’d want somewhere more calm

acting grandmaster jungwon? i’m down for it

spends time near the mondstadt church; he likes the peace and quiet of it

heeseung

from the get-go i knew he’d have a hydro vision

this one theory i’ve read says that hydro vision users have a strong sense of morality and justice (i guess i also interpreted it as balance) and heeseung seems like the kind of person who does

for weapon, i think he’d prefer to use a sword. we see that he’s good in a lot of areas when it comes to being an idol, so he’d perhaps want that versatility in the weapon he uses as well

hello xingqiu (wait i kinda think this fits)

i don’t see him particularly associating himself to any organization, so i think he’d simply be a wanderer. he goes from country to country as a vagabond, battling monsters along the way in order to perfect his skills

at the same time, i also see him making a lot of friends and having a bunch of connections from just about any corner of the land (more to acquaintances i suppose? heeseung doesn’t seem like the kind to let people in very quickly)

is probably very curious on elemental reactions and might be studious in a way; he would want to learn alchemy

likes stopping by mondstadt’s library when he needs to look up on something. probably keeps in contact with alchemists too

jay

oh man this is going to probably be very stereotypical

pyro vision, hands down. i was considering an electro vision for him at first but the amount of passion he has in doing the things he loves (primarily hip-hop) screams pyro to me

he would also have a claymore because let’s be real, he’d want something to get the job done quick; claymores are literally the weapon that causes the most damage

yeah he’d be diluc. or xinyan. whatever your pick is

bonks monsters for fun, fight me on this

association... i think he’d be a part of the adventurer’s guild. he strikes me as the kind of person who’d want some kind of reward for something he does for fun (in this case, mora. and a bunch of other items you can get from katheryne once you complete your daily commissions)

this is probably how he meets all his friends. if he wasn’t a part of any association, i don’t think he’d have many (not saying that he’s unable to make friends, he’d choose not to unless necessary)

strives to be a well-known adventurer, probably takes up more commissions than the average one

likes spending time in places with good ambience, food, and booze. probably is a regular at angel’s share and liyue’s street food stalls on days he comes to town

jake

i think he’d have an electro vision. it’s something about the way he fiercely cares for other people that makes me think that this suits him best

okay hear me out but i think he’d be amazing with a bow and arrow. he seems to have the tenacity and upper body strength for it, and i don’t think he’d particularly want something that could do a quick kill, like a sword or claymore per se

uhh... yeah he’d be fischl, i suppose. idk this realization was a bit weird to me but it doesn’t seem so far off from happening

sometimes uses his skills to shoot at fruit from trees; it’s a pretty good party trick

association-wise i don’t think he’d wanna join any, tbh. he’d be an “everyone’s friend” kinda guy. unlike heeseung who’d have acquaintances from all around, jake would generally want to befriend different kinds of people (helps around wangshu inn sometimes because of this)

still though, i think he hangs with members of the adventurer’s guild a lot

don’t be surprised if you catch him befriending a member of the fatui-

i also see him really immersing himself in the culture of each country he visits

he’s the guy who pets all the animals, especially the dogs

also seems like the kind to purchase or collect raw meat just to give to the stray animals he meets on his travels

sunghoon

oh boy am i excited for this one

okay so i know this is stereotypical but... cryo vision. honestly, having a geo vision would also be possible but remember that one time childe said something around the lines of the goddess of cryo having such a warm heart and she loved so much to the point it froze? yeah i think i’m basing him off the tsaritsa-

weapon would be a sword. i considered choosing a polearm for him but i think he’d want something slightly heavier that would get the job done, but not necessarily a claymore. do i think he has the capacity to use a claymore if he wanted to, though? sure why not

hello kaeya (or qiqi, if you’d wish)

okay okay this is where it gets fun... imagine sunghoon as a member of the fatui

mmm villain!sunghoon we love to see it

he’d honestly probably be on the road to becoming a harbinger? like, we see how he works very hard at ice skating and idol training, who’s to say that he won’t climb up the ranks real quick?

yes jakehoon brotp agenda is still on so they would be friends (though honestly their friendship is kinda uncanny)

when i thought of stuff to write for him i kinda think that he’d like liyue a lot; the tradition and order feel like home to him. this also fits lore because there’s more fatui appearances in liyue compared to mondstadt

also seems like the kind to wander around the city when things start to calm down for the day; if he’s not being tasked on a mission, he sometimes likes to head out to huaguang stone forest

sunoo

sunshine baby

okay i think he’d have an anemo vision (and this is not because he reminds me of venti). there was another theory that said that anemo vision-holders are hard workers who sometimes don’t give themselves enough rest, and sunoo seems to make the cut. he’s crazy hardworking at things he know he’s lacking at and strives to improve

i think he’d have a catalyst (yes!! we need male catalyst characters!!); i can see him absolutely fascinated by the way catalysts work like... “there’s no solid object engineering the attacks so... what is that? it seems so cool!” 

so yeah he’d be sucrose, hello

i also think he’d want to be a part of the adventurer’s guild! it keeps him busy plus he likes helping people :D

would then be introduced to jay (and possibly jake) when he’s assigned to do a commission with him. honestly he’d prefer doing commissions with others rather than doing them alone

has a hard time killing monsters because he finds them cute (especially slimes). i think he’d also empathize with hilichurls to a degree

i see him residing in mondstadt most of the time; he’d also like talking to the locals a lot (has a high rep because of this)

loves trying out local cuisine, some of his favorite dishes include sweet madame and zhongyuan chop suey!

ni-ki

oh i’m also kinda excited for his too

so i initially thought he’d have a pyro vision, but after some time i figured he’d have an electro vision instead. i think it’s this weird sentiment i feel that he’d protect his passions with his life (in this case, dancing; he’s literally inseparable from it), so there’s that

totally looks like the kind to have a polearm. he definitely would want something lightweight that he could lowkey flex with

sadly he doesn’t have a genshin character twin yet :(

would also not have any affiliation whatsoever; he just traverses the land like the free spirit he is

occasionally would tag along with some adventurer’s guild members, but doesn’t like the idea of people telling him what to do; he creates his own adventures instead

am i the only one here who thinks that he’d honestly run really fast here (hehe speedy boi)

he’d love dashing through mondstadt’s plains (particularly springvale), sometimes slashing monsters left and right (he likes liyue’s scenery but the terrain is way too mountainous for him)

one thing he does like about liyue though is playing with the kids in the harbor. he’d get them toys with the extra mora he receives when helping people (big brother ni-ki agenda hmm)

[puppy-phum]

get to know me

am going to mix these two different tag games into one post so thank you a lot for tagging me @jazthespazz and @i-am-just-a-kiddo ♥

it’s somehow funny to do these same games again after a while so let’s see what I come up with:

Part I

name: real name petra but i prefer vish/vishie over here ^^ 

pronouns: she/her

star sign: aries ♈

height: 178cm (which am coming more and more proud of while i realize how damn tall every cdrama actor is lol)

time: 10:37pm as am answering this one

birthday: 10th april!

nationality: finnish 

fave bands/groups: ah well this is always a hard question but let’s go with these: BTS, DAY6, OneRepublic, Hurts, Oneus, Hoppipolla, TXT, Red, Mamamoo

fave solo artists: (forgive me if i’ve assumed any of these wrong) Novo Amor, Talos, Crywolf, Liu Yuning, SYML, EDEN, PVRIS, Joker Xue, NF, Halsey, Sleeping At Last, Nuz, HyunA, Sam Smith, Taemin

song stuck in your head: it’s OneRepublic’s Rescue Me bc of the song tag game i did earlier today :’D that one always gets stuck in my head whenever i as much as see the title lol 

last movie you watched: i think it’s The Yin-Yang Master (2021)? I haven’t watched any movies after that bc am so busy with all of my dramas haha

last show you binged: i think binged would be The Journey Across the Night! I watched that as a whole in 4 days

when you created your blog: in 2013 

the last thing you googled: ummm i think it was “what is a ball of wool called” bc of fic purposes haha as a non native speaker i always get a bit lost with words like this 

other blogs: none, i just dump everything here like the idiot i am 

why i chose my url: dates back to my intense summer of binge reading J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Vishous was my favorite of the brothers haha. i first used this username in some random game on my nintendo ds lol 

how many people are you following: 358 which somehow feels like a lot but also like way too few?? i should probably search for some new blogs with other topics than cql, bts and/or dmbj bc i do love a lot of things at once 

how many followers do you have: over 800 

average hours of sleep: i’d say around 7h

lucky numbers: i remember answering 5 previously? i don’t really have a lucky number but 5 pops into my head

instruments: nope, no. not touching those tyvm. i admire everyone who can play any instrument tho

what i’m currently wearing: black jeans, socks with foxes on them (plus my woolly socks), a gray cardigan (my fave thing ever!) and an orange/brown top

dream job: writer would be ideal but that is very faaaaar into the dream zone 

dream trip: around different parts of asia to taste all the amazing food ;; maybe a road trip of sorts through europe? or inter railing? another trip to london bc i miss that ;; a trip to the very northern part of lapland to see all the auroras etc! i’ve never been that far north :’D 

fave food: if i need to quickly name something then sushi. otherwise am pretty fine with anything spicy 

top three fictional universes you’d like to live in: i remember thinking about this a lot the last time i answered this but hmm. currently i’d say dmbj still bc that world is fascinating AND i would love to talk to the characters. mass effect would be the second one currently bc i miss those games and the space stuff is super cool! and the third one would be assassin’s creed rogue bc that is my fave ac game and i like the northern sea and the places in it AND i could probably be one of abstergo’s employees instead and just test/play those simulation games haha 

Part II

Last Song: am currently listening to my playlist with just everything so i have Andrew Belle’s The Enemy playing right now (also I only just now realized that Andrew Belle also sings Pieces which is one of my fave songs? my bff linked that to me after it played in some tv series she was watching)

Last Movie Last Stream: i didn’t want to mention the same movie again or skip this question and i’ve wanted to talk about this anyway so! i watched Liu Chang’s bday live last night :’D it was so much fun even if i couldn’t understand anything. it was just nice to watch him being himself and have fun and chill with his fans. also the songs were amazing ;; i cried with Liu Sang’s character song as well as the ending. and all the while i couldn’t turn my gaze away from his eyes! he has such pretty eyes and they were absolutely Sparkling throughout the whole stream, it was so nice :’)

Currently Reading: Devotions by Mary Oliver (i adore her poems! they’re a very nice change after Siken haha) and then some uni stuff for a course about culture and mental health plus my thesis

Currently Watching: Douluo Continent, Word of Honor, The Long Ballad 

all of these are amazing and make me feel different things! i started Douluo Continent just a while ago and am now on ep 16 i think? it’s been very pretty and very chill and i watch it during the weekend while i wait for new episodes to the other two :’D it’s nice to see Xiao Zhan again and i’ve enjoyed the rpg game type of feeling in it? the group of seven is doing amazing and it’s interesting to watch them craft their team work! Word of Honor again has reached the ending and i just hold my breath with it. am not too far gone with it so i am not getting as heavy feelings about it as i probably could but i enjoy it  alot still and i do cry at times ^^ and then The Long Ballad has just blown me away! i didn’t expect to love it this much and be this invested in it but everything about it has been such a positive surprise and it keeps making me super emotional! i love the characters and the story and the romances even! it’s a great accomplishment for me. also yes i cry on the daily bc of hao du and bc of ashile sun’s hair haha

(i am also rewatching Ultimate Note kind of and been thinking about getting into rewatching Reboot bc it has been on my list ever since i finished it)

What is antipoetry to you: okay hmm i had to google this too and have to agree with Kiddo here. i don’t have strong feelings about poetry tbh, i wasn’t into poetry that much before maybe a bit over year ago? Siken has really blown me away haha. but i have always loved song lyrics which i never thought as poetry but then Kiddo said to me that they consider them poetry and yeah ok. i agree? so idk poetry can be whatever i suppose. i’ve never seen any rules in it anyway. i know there are many rules for different types of poetry but then again. i feel like poetry has always been just words put together to feel things and i guess that is the core purpose of every written type of art in the end right? 

Currently craving: a drama as good and as personal as The Journey Across the Night. that show really just stole my heart and i want that feeling back. i think about that show every day. i miss Li Jia and his two partners. i miss the vibes. i miss sitting on my floor watching it and just sobbing my heart out haha. also! craving a properly subbed, whole version of Anti-Fraud League. only the first 12 eps are badly subbed out there. wetv has... blocked? deleted? the whole show??? i need it to my life, i wanna see Xiao Yuliang being cute as Mi Ruo and i wanna know where the story goes smh 

thank you so much for these both! i had fun ^^ also am sorry this is so long but haha if you’re asking me to talk about myself and my interests then this is what you get :) 

tagging (to do which ever part you want or both!): @cross-d-a @jockvillagersonly @humanlighthouse @kholran @xcziel @minmoyu and @leonzhng ♥

[hasquetzorkukudoneanythingwrong]

The kids pt 2

BB: we're back all you weirdos that enjoy senpai's blog! Here again to show you the kiddos with this convoluted lore dump of post Chaldea life for senpai and his family!

Mari: please, stop talking in such a stupid way...

BB, ignoring her: a lots happen since the last time we did this! We even learned where lovely lil Maria's name came from. And daaaaww, wasn't that a sweet story?

Ed: BB, can we please get started? Sis is eyeing that water bottle and I'm afraid of what she'll do with it and our computer if you don't hurry.

BB: fine fine! Dang Mari you are just no fun huh? Anyways, just like before we're discussing the others who got a second chance at life and how they're viewed through the eyes of these two! So who first? How about, my lil darlings! The first 3 members of the Sakura 5!

Mari: why only the first 3?

BB: spoilers!

Mari: stupid. Well we've seen that Melt became a famous ice skating performer. We don't see her much but the few times we do it's pretty nice.

Ed: sometimes she acts like a big shot celebrity out in the open, but she seems more humble around us.

BB: yeah, that's melty for ya. I gave her a good amount of tsun! Have you seen the picture of her before this tho?

Mari: yeah... pretty weird. Why did you give her huge blades for legs and no hands?

BB: I guess it's just a part of my twisted lil personality!

Ed: and you wonder why Mom wants you gone from our computers.

Mari: and Lip seems happy, she's found love with someone, and her partner seems to truly love her. So that's nice.

Ed: and she's changed even more from before. No huge metal claws and a slimmer body.

Mari: again, wtf BB?

BB: pls stop asking me questions.

Ed: and Protea is also happily in a more normal body then before. But for her it was just too big.

Mari: she still acts like a Kaiju sometimes.

BB: yes, those three are in such happy lives. As their mother I'm so happy for them.

Mari: stop lying or I'm pouring root beer all over the computer.

BB: do not! Moving devices is a pain in the ass!

BB: *sigh* anyways, whose next? Hmmm... what about lil miss Gorgon?

Mari: we don't see her much, the only times we do she's forcefully dragged by mom and her friends.

Ed: and she's always hiding her face and such. She has self esteem issues for some reason.

BB: yeah, and those reasons are called "Stheno" and "Euryale"

Mari: such shitty sisters. Where do they get off messing with 'Dusa about her height?

BB: who knows?

Ed: she isn't even that tall... mom's taller and she's never self conscious.

BB: have you not heard the heaps of praise your father gives her about that?! It's so much I get sick hearing it!

Mari: oh be quiet! What I wouldn't give to have such a beautiful relationship!

Ed: woah! This is the first time hearing you say something like that!

Mari: ...well yeah... when I was young I kinda did that silly kid thing of being grossed out by their affection. It was so much I honestly thought they overdid it in front of us just to mess with us. But growing up... and seeing them still like that and the old videos from Chaldea and how everyone else talks about them... that's real genuine love! I hope one day to find a partner like that.

Ed: yeah, I'm so happy we were born into a genuinely loving family! Sometimes I hear stories of kids born because their parents thought it'd save their relatives, when they should've gone to therapy or something instead!

BB: this conversations nice and all but can we get back on topic? It's almost time for you to walk the lil mutts.

Mari: right... now who?

BB: well speaking of mutts, what about that lil dog Lobo?

Ed: lil!? He's huge! Biggest wolf I've ever seen!

Mari: and they said he was bigger back in chaldea too! Like holy crap!

BB: yeah, he got huge.

Mari: now he's at this wolf sanctuary and seems to be fine with humans now.

Ed: yeah, and he's found a nice mate again. White just like La Blanca!

Mari: you think he used his grail wish to be reunited with her? And she's the same wolf?

BB: why wouldn't that be cute? Anyways, let's do one last servant. Hmmm... actually! Why don't you talk about your dear 'ol mother?

Mari: mom? OK, I guess technically that'd fit.

Ed: well after she reincarnated she became a famous luchadora! She was an unstoppable force in the ring!

Mari: yeah, she was unbeatable! Never suffering a single defeat for her whole career!

BB: buuuuut! She retired! Care to say why?

Ed: well... after she became pregnant with us... she had to leave the ring.

Mari: and... the responsibility of taking care of us didn't allow for time to return to fighting... so she hasn't come back since.

BB: yeah, that's the thing about childcare, it can get in the way of other things.

???: BB, you better not be messing with the children!

Mari: oh hey mom!

Ed: what's going on?

Quetz: it's time to walk the dogs, come on your father's already outside!

Mari: crap! Sorry!

Ed: we're going now!

After the kids went out, Quetz had more words for the ai.

Quetz: you just can't help but try to mess around huh?!

BB: all I did was tell the truth! Can't control their reactions!

Quetz: do this again and I'm burning every device you've been in! I don't care if we lose some data, you're gone if you go too far!

BB: fine! Don't need to take it that far!

Quetz: this is you were dealing with here

Rex, from outside: mi corazon! Come on!

Quetz: coming!

Quetz then goes outside to join the family

A/N: more of the kiddos. Along with what Quetz got up to in between this and Chaldea. BB can get a bit too Mischievous at times.

Tags

@hasereshdoneanythingwrong @hasishtardoneanythingwrong @haspaulbunyandoneanythingwrong @haskamadoneanythingwrong @hasbbdoneanythingwrong @hasnightingaledoneanythingwrong @hasabbydoneanythingwrong @hasspartacusdoneanythingwrong @nureenarts @kierakaz @valiantstrawberrymilk

[yee-fxcking-haw]

What Happens Next?

A/N: This chapter is kind of short, so I hope you still enjoy it! The next chapter will definitely have a lot of smut and cheesy stuff in it so stay with me lol. If you want added to the taglist or if I was the worst and forgot to tag you please just message me and let me know!!

Summary: You and James finally have that long avoided talk.

Warnings: Violence, blood, mentions of mental illness, implications of sexual assault.

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four Playlist

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Part Five

Annie's Diner

James orders two chocolate milkshakes and plate of fries, thanking the waitress with a beautiful smile. Sitting in this diner with him feels absolutely surreal. It's obvious to you why you've refused to say a word to him since prom. He makes you weak. You feel yourself falling again, you're so easily swayed by him and you don't even want to fight it.

"Are you sure that's all you want to eat?" He asks, obviously trying to be careful with his words.

You just nod without a word. You keep your eyes glued to the table, pretending to be very intrigued by it. It kills you that this is almost awkward. You never dreamed that you and James would ever have a moment that would feel this unnatural.

"Doll?" He says, his voice has a questioning tone.

"I told you not to call me that." You say without looking up. You don't want to hear him call you that name ever again, he poisoned it when he used it for that other girl.

"What's her name?" You ask quietly, glancing up at him.

He sighs deeply, accepting the inevitable question.

"Elise, I never wanted to take her to prom." He explains.

"So you dumped for me somebody you didn't even like! That makes me feel so much better, thank you so much James." You say, filled with anger at his sorry ass explanation.

"She started the rumors about you, not me. As soon as she got into the gym that night she started spreading them." He blurts out, obviously desperate to convince you of his innocence.

"Honestly, I don't care who started the rumors. It almost makes it worse that you didn't. If you had, then you would at least be able to plead the case of clinging to your own lie, of not wanting to embarrass yourself by telling everyone that you were an asshole that made that shit up. Since somebody else started them, you had nothing to lose by telling everyone the truth. You didn't though, so that's what matters, not who started them, but the fact that you didn't stop them." You finish your little rant with a huge sigh.

Does he really think that he's going to get out of this by blaming somebody else? James just sits there, eyes wide. He looks so defeated already, like you just sucked all the life out of him. Maybe he's really starting to grasp just how much pain he's subjected you to.

"You're right, I didn't. Because I cared too much about what people thought and I was scared. I was stupid, and selfish, and it made me lose the best thing that's ever happened to me." He looks at you with pleading eyes.

"Save the Shakespeare bullshit, James. If I was the best thing you've ever had you wouldn't have thrown me away for somebody who meant nothing." You retort.

"I did not fucking throw you away. I did not dump you. I showed up expecting to meet you with Elliot and Henry, but then the girls were there like an ambush or something." He says, his voice laced with frustration.

"Listen to me, if I had turned Elise down right then and there, your life would have become a living hell." He says, lowering his voice like he's scared somebody will hear.

"Right, because she didn't do that anyway." You snap, words dripping with sarcasm.

"Do you remember that girl at the beginning of the year, the one that sang the national anthem at the football game?" He asks urgently.

You try to think back, you do remember her a little. She wasn't here for very long though, just long enough to sing the national anthem and then she left the school abruptly. She had the most beautiful black hair, that seems to be the only detail you can remember about her.

"Elise wanted to sing that, but the principal liked the way Wendy sang it." You begin to put the pieces together.

"When Elise found out that she wasn't going to sing it, she got very close to Wendy all of a sudden. She found out that she was pregnant because she was foolin' around with one of the football players." He explains.

"So she told the principal and got Wendy expelled." You fill in the rest.

"Where's Wendy now?" You ask.

"Last I heard she left town, she was about 6 months pregnant when she moved. Her and her parents just up and left one day." He says.

"Is that according to Elise?" You ask.

"That's according to Andrew, the guy that knocked her up." He states.

You sit quietly for a second, could one girl really hold that much power over a school? You think back to when you were called to the principal's office that Monday afternoon. You had plead your case honestly, but all the principal had to say was, "Evidence suggests otherwise". What the hell did that even mean? It sort of made sense now. Adults have never been good at taking people your age seriously. Especially if it's a grown man being asked to listen to a young woman. Unless of course, that young woman has something to offer him.

"So you were scared of what Elise might have done, then you saved your ass by pretending you didn't know me?" You ask, not really angry just trying to understand.

"I hate myself for it, but yes." He says.

"How did she even know you'd be there?" You ask, realizing how stupid the question is.

"Elliot told Annette, then Annette told Elise. You know how it goes." Annette is obviously one of the two girls that accompanied Elise that night.

"She was the one stalking me." He says.

"Stalking you?" You ask, your eyebrows shooting up in shock.

Just then the waitress shows up with your milkshakes and fries, sets them down quietly and asks if you need anything else. You say "no thank you" a little too quickly, trying to get back to the story James is telling as fast as you can.

"You've gotta be kidding me." You say, popping a fry in your mouth. Your anger is disappearing slowly, but you still cling to the fact that he hasn't made it right until now though.

"She was obsessed with me man." He says, sipping his shake.

"I caught her driving past my house, I even caught her looking in my bedroom window when I came home one night. I was scared what she might do to you if I didn't go along with what she wanted at prom." He seems genuinely stressed, visibly upset by how everything played out.

You just sit and listen, munching on your fries, occasionally drinking your shake. Every part of you wants to be mad at him, to yell at him for not making it right before now. He didn't even want to make it right really, he just happened to be at the dance hall tonight. By pure coincidence he saw Daniel dragging you out of there. Right? He couldn't have known you would be there tonight… unless.

"Molly?" You ask, realization suddenly hitting you like a bus.

He's not confused at all, his eyes just go wide.

"Molly set this up with you didn't she?" You say, voice growing in volume.

"She may have given me a call." He says calmly.

"Oh my God." You whisper.

"Doll, please-." You cut him off by staring daggers at him for using the nickname.

"Sorry, just please hear me out." He says cautiously.

"That's what I've been doing." You scoff.

He ignores your snark and keeps talking, taking it as some form of permission.

"I couldn't show any sign that I knew you at prom, for obvious reasons. I couldn't come talk to you after, I never found out where you live, I never got your phone number, I had no way of reaching you except for at school where you wouldn't even look at me. For good reason I know, but I just couldn't get to you." The words spill out of his mouth like he's running out of time.

"Then of course there was Elise, she was always breathing down my neck constantly. I tried to confront her one time, asked her what the hell her problem was. All she said was that I should watch it or she would get the principal involved. I can only guess that her rich ass parents were pumping money into the school, or maybe she was-"

"Or she was sleeping with the principal?" You interrupt to ask out of morbid curiosity, your eyebrows high and eyes wide.

"That's a possibility." James says.

"Either way, she had some kind of hold on him. Something that made it very difficult for him to combat anything she told him." He says.

"Jesus, this is like some twisted murder novel." You exclaim.

"Now I hate to use this line, but please believe me when I say this." He says with begging eyes.

"In a very messy way, I was trying to protect you. And when you wanted nothing to do with me, I couldn't force myself back into your life because that would just make you hate me more. I couldn't tell the school the truth because Elise would have dragged you down with me. If it had just been my own ass on the line I would have told everyone and their mother the truth, but I couldn't let her make things worse for you."

You both sit in silence, him waiting for a response, you waiting for him to go on.

"As soon as I could I found Molly and told her everything. She told me it would be hard to do, but that she was certain we could fix this."

"Traitor." You mutter, earning a chuckle from him.

"I had to wait. I'm not just saying this to sound dramatic, I was genuinely afraid of what Elise might do if she ever found out how I felt about you. Which are feelings I still have, by the way." He says quietly.

You just sit there, dumbfounded. He was being stalked, genuinely stalked. That's why he was so stiff that night, so unlike himself. Holy shit. James actually has a pretty good reason for what he did. It's not perfect by far, and you could sit here all night arguing about other options he may or may not have had. That would be a waste of time though. There's just one question burning in the back of your mind.

"Why didn't you ask Molly where I live, or what number to call?" You ask.

"I told you, I couldn't force myself into your life with you already so angry with me. While Elise could hurt me with words, I'm quite confident you could whoop my ass if I pushed you enough." He says, a teasing smile on his lips.

"I didn't want to ruin it doll, the most I could hope for was a night like tonight. I told you, I had to just wait. If I had pushed you or cornered you that would have been the last straw and you know it. I had to hold on to that hope that I had a sliver of a chance to…" He stops for a second, his face knits into a very pensive look.

"A chance to love you again." He finishes, seemingly content with the words he's found.

You hate how much sense it all makes. If Elise is really that batshit, he really had no other option than to just let everything play out until he could find a way to talk to you. A chance like tonight.

"That afternoon, it's irreplaceable. I know a lot of it happened really fast, and a lot of it was really intense." He says, the look in his eyes tells you he's thinking about the way you made love. Both of you were so reckless and full of passion. Your chest burns with desire, heart aching for his touch again.

"Well then what about now, James? Are we supposed to just be together and expect Elise to be over it just because we're not at school anymore? Is she still stalking you?" You ask.

"She's not here anymore. Her family moved to Florida, not before she broke one of the windows in my house for not calling her back though." He says and lets out a little laugh.

"Well shit." You say.

"So let me get everything straight. One of your friends let it slip to one of her friends that you would be at prom. She surprise attacked you and then you panicked and did your best to make it seem like you didn't know in an attempt to protect me. That wasn't good enough for her, so she started the rumors about me being your stalker for good measure?" You ask.

He nods silently.

"Then I was so pissed off that I wouldn't talk to you, for good reason in my mind. You couldn't expose the rumors as lies without painting an even bigger target on my back, so you just gave me my space, waited for Elise to not be a problem anymore, then conspired with my best friend to get me to the dance hall so you could finally have your chance to explain?"

Another quiet nod.

You chew your lip, it does all add up. You try to think of what you would have done in that situation. Of course you want to say you would never throw James under the bus, you would stand up for him and bravely profess your love, but human nature is a bitch. People panic and scramble to do what they think is best based on instinct. That's what James had done. You can't even be mad at him for not trying to get you alone to talk sooner, because you know you would have been too blinded with rage to do anything except flail your fists at him like you had earlier tonight.

"I am so fucking sorry doll." You don't even flinch at the name now.

"After I've said all of that, I need you to know that I know it's my fault. I should have told you about Elise that night on the roof, I should have warned you and kept you safe that way. I just didn't know how to really throw in the fact that I was being stalked without absolutely ruining everything. It was all so perfect, everything was perfect with you. It was all so new and overwhelming, I couldn't think straight. So when I saw you there, in those damn boots and that dress, I just fucking panicked. I only ever wanted to keep you safe, that's all I wanted. I just fucked it up. I really fucked it up." There are tears in his eyes now, he pulls his bottom lip into his mouth and breathes deeply in through his nose.

He's watching you with those beautiful eyes, waiting for you to say something, anything.

Then it hits you, there's something he still hasn't done. With Elise gone he has no reason to not tell everyone she made it all up.

"Then why haven't you told everyone the truth? That I never stalked you, that Elise did, that it was all a lie and-"

"I have, everyone I could get to listen, I told. I told them as soon as Elise left." He says.

It makes sense that you never heard of him doing so. You've avoided everyone from highschool since you graduated. That would definitely explain the lack of stares and whispering at the dance hall. Your presence no longer caused anxiety in everyone, because they knew the truth.

"Why didn't you ever call the police on her Buck?" You ask, slipping back into the habit of using his nickname. His shoulders relax a little bit when he hears it leave your lips.

"What good would that do? She's too young to go to jail, so the only other place they'd put her in is the asylum." He says, his voice very serious.

You start to feel very sorry for Elise. She has all that beauty, but she's so very sick. You understand how somebody could be that crazy over James, he's everything a girl could want. Your mind wanders to what all Elise must have been through in order to be so unstable. Your heart aches for the girl you only spoke to once. You had seen her around school a handful of times now that you think about it hard enough. Always smiling, always talking to somebody, always looking so pretty. Even after she ruined prom for both of you, even after she stalked him at his house and damaged his property, he didn't want to ruin her life.

"Her friends came and talked to me after she started driving by my house. Of course I asked them what was wrong with her, all they could say was that her parents were both too obsessed with their wealthy socialite lives to give her the time of day, so she became desperate for any attention she could get, to the point of getting involved with faculty. They told me her family was moving eventually and begged me to let them and Elise's parents deal with the situation. That way Elise wouldn't get herself into a bigger mess." He says the last part with a low serious voice, your jaw drops when you catch his implication.

"Good God." You gape at him.

"So they begged you to wait until she had moved to tell everyone the truth, so she wouldn't snap and get herself into legal trouble?" You ask, filling in the blanks, everything making sense now.

He nods, "She left two weeks after graduation. She came to my house and cried on my porch for two hours the morning they moved."

He seems like he feels guilty, like he wishes he had done more.

"There's a million things I could have done differently, and I'm so sorry for all the things I should have done. I'm sorry for not telling you everything right away, I'm sorry for being so fucking cold to you at prom, I-"

"James." You say, reaching across the table to grab his hand, he stills completely and looks at you like a deer in headlights.

"It's ok. It was all a shitshow, and you were doing the best you could. I understand now, I can see how you were just trying to protect everyone. It's ok." You tell him.

Every ounce of anger and pain has left your body. It all makes sense now. James did all that he could to keep everyone involved from hurting anymore than they already were. At his own expense, maybe his execution wasn't flawless, but he did everything he could to make it right. He's still doing everything he can. He's sitting here with you, begging you for another chance, owning up to all the ways he fucked up. Had he really though? You realize something you haven't yet, James may very well have the biggest heart of anyone you know. Filled with enough kindness to even want to protect a person who made his life hell.

"She's sick James, you didn't want to fuck her life up anymore than it already had been. I don't blame you for that, I don't blame you for how you handled it." You explain.

God this night has done a complete turn around. As soon as you saw him, you agreed to talking with him and you fully expected him to tell you that he and Elise had been together all along, that he had gotten caught up in the moment with you and that he was sorry for leading you on. You never imagined that James had been carrying this load all by himself the past few months. It's all absolutely insane, and incredibly difficult to wrap your mind around. You feel so much relief at the fact that James had never lied to you about his feelings, and a significant amount of guilt for never reaching out to him to give him a chance to explain.

"I'm sorry that I never even-"

"Doll, don't. You had every reason to cut me out of your life. You were trying to protect yourself." He says, he squeezes your hand for reassurance.

You feel like you should have trusted what you shared that afternoon instead of acting purely on emotion, then maybe you would have been able to heal quicker. Then you remember the sensitive timeline with Elise, she would have done everything in her power to ruin what you and James have if she had been around to see it. Everything that happened had to happen that way for the safety of everyone involved.

"I haven't stopped loving you. I can't, I know I can't. Which sounds absolutely fucking insane, but I just feel it. You're still the most incredible thing I've ever seen." He says.

You don't even feel like you're in the diner anymore, it feels like you've floated to the roof and you're suspended in the sky, high off of the feeling of being loved again.

"It's ok if you can't say it back, I know we've only really spent half of a day together, but I've been miserable without you and I can't see myself ever feeling this way about somebody else so, I know what I feel. I know that I love you." He says it like somebody's about to cover his mouth to stop him from telling you.

You open your mouth to tell him that you love him too, that everything is ok, that you guys are going to figure it out, but you freeze when you hear the bell of the door jingle then see a large man in uniform walk through the door. You feel your entire body tense up, anxiety welling in your chest as your throat closes and your palms begin to sweat.

"Oh shit." You say quietly.

It's fucking Daniel, how the hell did he find you? He's accompanied by the boy that danced with Molly, and one other stocky blond man.

"What?" He asks, bewildered he turns his head towards the door.

"Oh shit." He says, whipping his head back around to look at you with terrified eyes.

"What's the plan if he-" James starts to say, but he's cut off by a loud voice.

"Hey punk, that's my girl you're sitting with." Daniel states, slurring his words just a little at the end.

James' chest inflates and he gives you a stern look. Anger flashes in his eyes.

"James don't." You try to say it as harshly as you can, but he's already moving before you can get the words out.

Everyone in the diner is frozen, watching with dropped jaws and wide eyes. Even the wait staff has paused to observe, those behind the counter have halted their cooking so they can gawk. This stupid small town, everyone's always so desperate for drama.

"Oddly enough, I don't remember her ever agreeing to be your girl." James starts, rolling up his sleeves as he talks. Is this idiot really about to try and fight off three soldiers?

"-but you don't strike me as a man who cares too much about consent." He says, dropping his voice a little to stress the weighty implications of his words.

Daniel's fists ball up at his sides, his friends start to glance around the diner with anxious eyes.

"Boys, if there's to be a fight y'all better take it outside." One of the older waitresses says loudly, obviously sick and tired of all these young bucks bringing their nonsense into her diner.

"What a great idea ma'am. Shall we gentlemen?" James asks with all the confidence in the world. God he really is an idiot.

"James-" You start, but the men are already stomping through the door into the parking lot.

"Fucking hell." You huff, you throw money down on the table out of your clutch, inevitably taking out way too much for some shakes and a plate of fries.

"Keep the change!" You say with an urgent voice as you gather yourself and run towards the door.

The boys have circled around to the side of the building, horrible fluorescent lights illuminating the scene. They've got James completely surrounded, almost backing him into a wall already. You know you aren't going to be able to stop this, not with all the damn testosterone and adrenaline already pumping through all of them. The most you can do is make sure it's a fair fight.

"Alright look. If y'all are gonna fight, you're not going to do this bullshit where you just outnumber him so you can win." You nearly shout.

"This is between James and Daniel, you goons need to step off." You say it like you're a strict teacher telling them off for whispering in class. You can't fucking believe that you're playing referee for this idiotic dick measuring contest.

"Unless you're all cowards who don't feel like you could beat him unless the fight is unfair." You finish then cross your arms, your plan to challenge their masculinity obviously working.

"I could take this prick in my sleep." Daniel says, rolling up his sleeves with clumsy drunk hands, "Watch and learn boys." His two friends glance at each other then take the cue to step back and let this fight be his.

James gives you a quick look, the corner of his mouth twitching up into a cocky smirk. His eyes say thank you, while he rolls his shoulders back and brings his fists up while Daniel steps towards him. Your fool in shining armor runs a hand through his hair and winks at you, you assume to thank you for getting Daniel's cronies to back off. You internally curse him for looking so damn handsome.

"Was one hit not enough pal? You want some more?" James says, cocky as ever. Your stomach twists with nerves, he's pushing it. He and Daniel are about the same size. Daniel is maybe an inch or two taller, but James has more bulk to him. Of course you want to say James is going to win, but it could really go either way.

Daniel sneers at him then cracks his knuckles, taking a hulking step towards James. James opens his mouth to make another snarky remark, but is cut short by Daniel's fist landing right on his jaw. Right where you hit him earlier. It makes a horrible cracking sound and blood sprays out of his mouth. You gasp and have to fight the urge to run and stand between them, knowing that would only make James more bent on fighting for you.

He seems completely dazed by the impact, stumbling back while he holds his face. He pulls his right hand away to look at the blood pouring out of his mouth. Before you can even process it, Daniel lunges at James, knocking him to the ground. They both smack on the pavement with a grunt, Daniel has James pinned to the ground and he just starts swinging, hitting anywhere he can, much like you did earlier. Except Daniel is drawing blood. James has his arms up, acting like a cage over his face. They're taking most of the blows, but Daniel occasionally gets his fist through to hit his face again.

"Fucking do something!" You scream at his gawking friends. They both jump and look at each other, not having any idea what to do.

"Stop!" You scream, running over to where Daniel is still laying into James.

You know you won't stand a chance just using your fists, so all you can think to do is kick. Kick like hell. You run up to Daniel, you bring your upper body in tight then let your right leg swing forward, bringing your foot full force into Daniel's face. He howls and falls back off of James, who takes the opportunity to jump and scramble backwards.

"You fucking whore!" Daniel yells, standing up to stalk towards you. That's when his friends finally intervene, each grabbing an arm to hold him back.

"Call the police, somebody call the police!" A woman's voice yells from behind you. You look wildly around, unaware of the crowd that had gathered.

Daniel and his friends panic at those words, faces white as they scramble back towards their car. Daniel turns and spits at you, swearing under his breath while his friends drag him away.

You hear James groan and your heart freezes in your chest. He's lying flat on his back, hands holding his face.

"Oh God, James." You run to him and drop to your knees. There's blood coming from his nose and his mouth, and his left eye is already swelling. He lets out a breathy laugh, gazing at you with heavy eyelids.

"I'm alright doll, doesn't hurt half as bad as when you socked me." He says, lopsided smirk spreading across his lips.

"You fucking idiot. Bucky, what the hell were you thinking?" You ask, cradling his head, you wipe his hair off of his forehead and cup his jaw. He looks up at you with an earnest look in his bright blue eyes, they appear almost silver in this lighting.

"He said you were his girl." He says with a weak voice.

"So?!" You almost yell at him, but you catch yourself.

"You're my girl." He says simply, then he winces and screws his eyes shut. His face relaxes and his head goes limp and falls to the side. Your chest fills with terror.

"James? James!" You yell, shaking him while you do. You know he isn't dead, but he's still unconscious, and that's enough to panic you. You hear somebody yell about an ambulance, but all you can focus on is James. God, this is all your fault.

@b-o-n-e-daddy @lillsrecs @all-art-is-quite-useless @brownlee-22 @peace-love-hobbitness @pinknerdpanda @supernaturalwintersoldier @can-i-sin-right-now @pennyroyalcreep @jessyballet @calwitch @aurora-sweet @learisa

[darkelite020]

Bad Batch thoughts & predictions Ep 12

Continuing these written reactions/predictions somewhere cause itd be fun I think to see what actually ends up happening and remembering what I thought at the time so im dumping it here, youre welcome. (Feel free to discuss if you want) if you want to keep up with it im gonna be tagging these as #jay rambles about bb

- So I sort of expected it by the end of last episode but it seems like last episode was a start of an episode arc about hera's family, which, for rebel's fans I'm sure it's cool and exciting and maybe answers some questions or will actually show things discussed in rebels maybe, but as someone who hasn't seen rebels yet, I really hope this episode and the next few have more bad batch screentime, cause we were a little robbed last episode lol (but in a way I do still enjoy this stuff too, because im sure when I DO watch rebels it'll make the experience better). -- I'm not disliking this arc or anything, but up to this point we've kind of had almost mandalorian style 'one episode one adventure' sorts of episodes, and personally I really hope we get more of that (which I think we will), because while this is all new content and everything, we all have to admit clone wars had some less interesting filler arcs here and there, and I just hope bb doesn't fall the same way (across all of its seasons, im not very concerned about it so far from what we've seen of season 1) because if there is filler, I'd rather sit through a couple of the one episode stories, rather than a 3-4 episode story that takes nearly a month to get through if im disliking it, mostly for the fact that even if we got those 1 ep fillers, its more stories and more likely I'd like at least one. ---kinda rambling about this unnecessarily atm cause while again right now I think bb is fine, I just want the future to be that way too. - fffff every time I see howzer on screen I think of that fucking audio thats "here comes the boy, hello boy~" and honestly can you blame me he is so precious like ugh I swear dave you better be nice to him -- YOU CAN TELL HE FEELS SO BAD AND GUILTY LIKE IT HURTS - hey admiral can you not be MEAN to howzer when he is trying to be fucking helpful -- ;-; BRO im saying it so much already but I feel so bad for howzer like dude someone help him --- imo it feels like its sort of setting up howzer for something more important in the show kinda, at least for his character. Like we can clearly tell he doesn't really agree with the empire and I think they're going to do something with that. He's probably undercover for someone against the empire but I get the bad feeling they're gonna pull a Fives and have him go against the empire and help everyone else somehow but then he will probably end up dead because we cant have nice things. - hello cross... bet you wont be saved this episode - Ok good, some more bad batch here already. -- ALSO GONKY BEING DEFECTIVE!!!! EVEN GONKY IS DEFECTIVE LIKE BB THATS SO CUTE! - uh, im not the only one getting the leia transmission vibes from hera, right? -- ok, again I haven't seen rebels so I dont know BUT if hera has the ability to talk to bb, couldn't she have done so in rebels? Yeah she's older and im sure better at fighting and defending herself and all that, but wouldn't it still be possible for her to have gotten in some kind of rough situation in Rebels to ask for bb's help again? I super doubt bb made any appearance of any kind in Rebels, so doesn't that imply that she lost communications with them? What happens to bad batch >> - bad batch not wanting to help but because omega really wants to you can see its making hunter soften up and I appreciate it - bruh what??? Taa is dead af, like theres no way the show is gonna pull some magic and be like 'oh yep here he is' thing??? Like this has to be a lie, but even then, what even is the plan here?? Saying "oh hes recovering" well he can't be recovering forever, how does that seem like a good plan to lie about that?? People are gonna find out?? - "Great just what we need" from Wrecker about crosshair MAKES ME ANGRY LIKE??? YES?? DONT BE MAD AT HIM ITS NOT HIS FAULT??? SAVE YOUR FUCKING BOY??? -- oooo then the rest of bb doesn't comment about it literally gsjrkgbdkfbg why do they not care about him???? Like it seems they legitimately dont care about crosshair, even though theyve been together for so long like even before the show came out they

had history together and were all really close. I know people argue "oh well its just difficult to save him and its unrealistic for them right now" but so what? Even if they aren't trying to save him they should at least CARE about him. --- Which is also like the thing with echo and fives!!!! Like Echo didn't seem to care much at all when Rex mentioned fives even a little! Or even about seeing Rex that much!! Dave I'm gonna need some answers my guy, cause you humanized these characters but then you dont make them act that way so like whats up. - Lucky hunters abilities came in handy - Back to crosshair for a second im predicting they 100% arent saving him this season. There was a poster released part way through the season and he's not even on it... makes me so sad. - "I'd do the same for you." ;-; that didnt need to get that deep - CROSSHAIR BETTER NOT START SHIT WITH HOWZER - Howzer helping Hera's parents or at least implying that is good but that also means im right so far and therefore worried >> -- HES GOING TO GET FUCKING CAUGHT I BET TALKING TO THEM LIKE THIS AT SOME POINT AND HOW MUCH DO YOU WANNA BET ITS GONNA BE CROSSHAIR THAT CATCHES HIM --- Cham stfu its literally so obvious that howzer is trying to be genuine, also if he's kind of undercover for him like what the fuck do you expect howzer to do if he has to play along with the empire to keep his cover?? "Won't make that mistake again" Fuck off like honestly. ---- #stopbeingmeantohowzer2021 - "A little help" and the gentle "Hey" ahh love it - I'm really enjoying this whole them fighting in the ships sequence - "Stay here and guard the capitol" SCARES ME -- Please for the love of god bad batch don't get howzer killed --- or plot B Bad batch maybe run into howzer but save him and take him with you at least temporarily ---- oh god.... bb is helping heras parents escape and that means howzers gonna get in trouble.../probably replaced by crosshair - Crosshair is smart but thats also badddd - The scene of howzer and crosshair looking at each other is killing meeeeeeeee - Ohhh is howzer gonna stop them before they go out the door? -- YES HE IS SEE WHAT A GOOD BOY HE IS - (please fucking listen to him I beg) - Aw dude I just had a thought that breaks my heart... howzer cares about his squad and "trying to get through to them" but what if his squad is clones as well and the chips... that hurts me so badly... -- Like we all know howzer is a sweet boy by now but ughhh like the thought that he doesnt want to leave them even though they are doing whats wrong shows just how much he cares and I really hope he doesn't get into trouble because of what he's saying to them, but you know he totally would do it because he seems to care about them so much and :( bad batch more like sad batch --- This is the kind of compassion I wanted from bb for crosshair hunter kind of looks back at howzer as they leave him and I doubt itll mean anything but I really hope that maybe seeing how much howzer cares will make hunter care a little too... - *sigh* howzer is getting left behind by them which we know why but yeah... now he's definitely going to be in trouble... I just hope they don't hurt him... - OH GOD HOWZER BABY DONT -- He's making a speech and I know he's trying to sway them but you know damn well this is gonna go so badly for him because of the chips and crosshair is watching so you know howzer is gonna get fucked here and I know what hes trying for but I really wish he didnt just do that because now its blatantly obvious he's gonna be against them ;-; - Wow ok im kinda shocked people are siding with him (I guess cause theyre not all clones right) but I feel so bad for themmmmm - Crosshair missed multiple shots? Uh what? I didnt think that was possible lol - bb please come back for howzer and the others at some point.... -- I guess maybe if hera's parents are going to organize rebels against the empire maybe they will help them but I somewhat doubt it... - Ok I know that crosshair requesting to hunt them was supposed to be this big moment and all but I

can't help but feel like its a little underwhelming (but dont get me wrong still cool vibes) because he's kind of already been doing that anyway?? Or has tried to several times?? So I don't get why its a big deal, however, I do have a possible prediction: We know that bb got their chips removed, (crosshair doesn't, I know that) and so that eliminates the idea that they will get caught and actually go bad like crosshair, but it does leave a possibility where maybe they get captured and then *pretend* to be bad? And that could lead to a better possibility of helping crosshair (they wont) or maybe howzer and the other rebels or something? Cause I also feel like its significant that they brought up how the war will eventually come to them and bb will be a part of it no matter what eventually, and it makes obvious sense theyd be on the rebels side of it, so maybe something like that goes on, idk.

[perriewinklenerdie]

Sugary lips (Ethan Ramsey x MC)

Open Heart, Ethan Ramsey x MC

Author’s note: Hello, hello, hello! So, I guess this is turning into a series pretty rapidly, huh. Well, this timeline is just so fun and easy to write, a true pleasure, I’m telling you. I have one more planned, that doesn’t mean that it will be the last one though, so we’ll see how that goes :D

Here are the links to all the previous parts in the order that is correct with the timeline in case anyone wants to read them :)

~Before we met again (How they met)

~Into your arms (Their date) 

~Sugary lips

~Convincing enough (Claire’s first day working with Ethan)

AO3 link:

 https://archiveofourown.org/works/21836734

  Tag list:   @paleweasels , @lilyofchoices , @hopelessromantic1352 , @aloehasrose , @valiantlychaoticbarbarian , @radlovedreamer , @usuallyamazinglyaverage, @palestazure, @cordoniaqueensworld, @universallypizzataco, @princess-geek, @faithhasnowords, @mightyfangirlofthefandoms, @drakewalkerfantasy, @timmagicktoad, @laceandlula, @greywitchyshots, @llamasgrl, @gingerjane15, @bucket-harrington , @marywrites-things , @ethanplaysfavorites , @mfackenthal , @betelgeusebee , @simsvetements,  @i-only-signed-up-for-fanfiction, @buzz-bee-buzz, @owleyes374, @cora-nova, @aworldoffandoms, @l822, @cream-ray, @ughhhxjazzy, @silverlitskies, @justendlesssummerfeels, @togetherwearerapture, @desmaranj, @edgiestwinter, @friedherringclodthing, @daisy-ashton, @waytooattuned, @choicesgremlin , @lapisreviewsstuff, @the-soot-sprite, @writerapprentice, @chasingrobbie,@choicesobsessedd, @cassiusownsmyass, @x-kyne-x, @thisperfectmemory, @drakewalker04, @rookie-ramsey, @jlynn12273, @thepinknymph @dr-brianna-casey-valentine, @a-i-n-a-a-s-h

Enjoy! <3

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

„Ugh, is it possible for you to go and take my exams for me?” Claire whined as she let her head fall onto the open book in front of her. She felt the soft touch along the back of her neck that made her shiver. “If you’re trying to distract me, it’s working.”

“Hm, it would be my pleasure…” Ethan replied, leaning towards her, planting a hot kiss in place of his fingers, tracing a line down the column of her spine. Her low moan made him smirk, his hands making their way to her shoulders, working the knots out of her body. She groaned in pleasure, prompting him to move closer to her, whispering into her ear. “Right after you’re done studying.”

“My god, Ethan, you’re no fun.”

“You’re going to be thankful for it tomorrow.” He smiled, pushing her hair out of the way to look at the side of her face. She opened her eye, trying to intimidate him with her hard gaze, but all she managed to do was make him laugh. “Come on, baby, you can do it. I’ll help you, and after we’re done, we can do whatever you want.”

“Oh yeah? Then I want my candy. And I want it now.” Claire stated as she sat up, shaking her head from side to side, blowing her hair away from her face. Ethan shook his head at her, laughter bubbling up in his chest.

“You’re going to get diabetes if you eat that much sugar that often.”

“I won’t let that happen. Who would be here to annoy you if I died of sugar overdose?” She giggled, leaning over to plant a kiss on his cheek. He smiled, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, pulling her to his side as they looked down at the book again. They focused on the matter at hand for solid five minutes before she spoke again.

“Ignorance isn’t going to save you, Ramsey. I want that candy, you either give it to me or I’ll go and throw your kitchen upside down to find it. Your call.” He sighed heavily, standing up from the couch to get her a bag of sweets he had stored only for her. He didn’t like eating it himself, he preferred chocolate over anything else, but he knew his girlfriend had a sweet tooth. Just for that reason and that reason only, he started putting ‘candy’ on his shopping list, making sure the shelf in his kitchen was never empty. The moment he sat down next to her, she tore the bag from his hands, digging into it as she started reading again.

“Keep that up and I’ll get jealous of all the artificial substances that you’re stuffing yourself with.” He teased, trailing his index finger down her arm.

Hours passed, filled with textbooks upon textbooks, him quizzing her on every topic possible in every direction possible until he was satisfied with her results. Finally, with a heavy sigh, they both deflated, sinking into the couch with a heavy sigh. Her head fell onto his shoulder and his head on top of hers, their eyes closing for a short while.

“If I don’t pass this, I’ll sue them.” she muttered, turning to the side to nuzzle her nose against the column of his neck. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her onto his lap, hiding his face in her hair.

“Tell them that I quizzed you and you passed with goddamn 110%, that should be enough.”

“I don’t know, Doctor, they might say that you’re biased.” She teased him softly, all her energy leaving her more and more with each moment that passed. “Ugh, I’m coming down from my sugar high. Carry me to bed?”

“I told you not to eat so much, but of course, you know better.” He shot back, waiting for her response, but got none back. He didn’t even have to lean away from her to know that she was sending daggers his way this very moment. “Remind me to just give you smaller portions so you can fulfill your candy desires in doses.”

“Are you going to continue on talking about how much sweets I had or are you going to take me to bed? I swear to god, Ethan, you are the strangest man I’ve ever met.”

“And yet you’re still here, Herondale.”

“That still remains a mystery to me, how do I stand your sarcasm? Oh right, I fight back with my own. My bad.” She bickered, pushing her finger between his ribs playfully as he finally stood up and started walking them towards his bedroom. As they were getting out of their clothes and getting ready for sleep, he smirked, inching away from her.

“You admitted you were wrong. World must be ending.” He raised his hands, preparing himself for the upcoming attack of a flying pillow that she sent his way, laughing as he went over to her side of bed, pulling her to him by her waist, planting a soft kiss on her lips. “We should get some sleep, you have some ass to kick tomorrow in that exam room.”

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

Claire would never know what went down at four am. She would be asleep the whole time, while he tiptoed to the kitchen for a glass of water. Sleep was what she needed, not unnecessary questions about his intentions of leaving the bed in the middle of the night. Covering her up with their blanket to keep her warm, he padded out of the bedroom, looking back at her one last time.

As he was drinking water in complete silence, his gaze fell onto the almost empty bag of candy that Claire left by the couch. Ethan hated mess, so it was almost an impulse that he walked over to pick it up. Before he could turn around to put it away, his eyes located a chocolate covered caramel candy. His curiosity peaked when he saw more of the similarly looking ones, so much so that he sat down on the couch, dumping the candy onto the coffee table, examining the sight before him.

In a split-second decision, he reached for the first one, not even checking what kind it was, popping the sweet cube into his mouth. The rich flavor coated his tongue, far better than he expected it to be. So much better in fact, that he found his hand reaching for another one before he was done with the first one. And so, twenty minutes later, what started as an almost empty bag, was now completely empty. He could feel the sugar high Claire talked about so often, he could see the appeal of it, although maybe not in that exact moment. One thing he didn’t think through was that it was the middle of the night, and he was supposed to be sleeping. Instead, he felt as though he could go to the hospital and pull of a graveyard shift without even needing coffee. Not ideal.

He cleaned up the wrappers and walked back to the bedroom, getting into the bed and wrapping his arms around her. She stirred a little, falling deeper into his embrace, and he was so sure that he was about to get away with his little sin and just hold her all night until he fell asleep, when she spoke up.

“If your lips are sticky from sugar, I’ll murder you right here and right now, Ramsey.”

He tensed up, unsure how was that even possible that she immediately knew what he did, and she wasn’t even there to see it happen. Breathing in and out, he shook his head, trying to deflect her question, distract her.

“And how would you check if that’s true.”

She didn’t reply and was lying still for a short moment before turning around in his arms, flipping them over so she was straddling him, his hands pinned to the mattress, their faces close. Grinning, she nudged his nose with hers.

“I think I have a few ideas.” She whispered before pressing her lips to his.

Unsurprisingly, they were covered in candy, making her giggle as they kissed. Their fingers tangled together as she kept his hands against the bed. Ethan’s groan made her lips tingle, the intensity of it all took her breath away, causing her to lean back, her eyes closed for a moment longer before opening.

“You’re a dead man walking, Sir.” She muttered, trailing her hands down his arms, pushing herself up into a sitting position, releasing her grip on him. Looking down at him, she could clearly see how his eyes flashed with something darker and deeper, as though he was about to beg her to kill him and thank her afterwards.

“If you want to kiss me to death, I’ll die a happy man.” He breathed, focusing on the way the moonlight created a halo around her head, illuminating her hair from behind. His hands ran up and down her sides before finally resting on her hips, pushing her down onto him as he sat up, reaching for her, pressing his lips to hers again.

She hummed softly, tangling her fingers into his hair, pulling on the strands a little. She could taste the chocolate that lingered in his mouth as their tongues touched, time and time again, making them fall into each other, deeper and deeper into their passion. There was a quiet voice in the back of his head, nagging him that he should stop kissing her and let her sleep, but with each movement of her lips, he found himself forgetting, more and more, why.

Ethan moved his hands to the small of her back, his fingers brushing against her backside. He grasped the material of a shirt of his she was wearing, suddenly desperate to feel her closer to him. Claire leaned back for just a second, catching her breath, before descending onto him again, pressing her lips to his jaw and moving downwards, tracing the lines of his muscles with the tip of her tongue. She looked up and into his eyes, smirking as she left openmouthed, hot kisses on his stomach, creating a trail from one hipbone to the other. He let out a broken moan, his head falling back against the bed slightly, panting as he felt her move her hair to the side of her neck, going back to kiss his lips.

“You should probably get some sleep.” He spoke slowly, flipping them over so he was leaning over her. She grinned, stroking his cheeks with her hands before cupping them, pulling him to her again, pecking his lips a couple of times.

“You’re on sugar high, we have to get you tired somehow. Now, come here.” Claire whispered, smiling up at him softly, sparking warmth in his chest as he embraced her once more, kissing her again, one of many times that night.

[afewmarvelousthoughts]

Truth [Part 1]

Master List 

Request:

What’s up sug! sorry you’re struggling right now but I’ve come to help you If you could bring this to light for me I’d absolutely love for YOU TO DO JT So basically Bucky X Enhanced reader who are fuckin enemies. Hate each other to every last fiber of their beings bc Bucky is rude and she calls him out on it. AnywHs, they get drunk, truth or dare (go crZy baby) and LOTS LF dirty talk if u wanna do smut but if u don’t then buck taking care of her while she’s drunk cause she admitted her feelings

Pairing: Bucky X Reader (Enhanced)

Summary: Since The Avengers gave you a home the only blight has been Bucky Barnes, a ghost from your past that you can’t seem to shake. It makes you hate him. The feeling, it seems, is mutual. But maybe things aren’t quite as simple as they seem. (Post Winter Soldier AU)

Warnings: Violence, guns, plotting (lol).

A/N: Well. This is a thing. At first, when I got this ask I was like... uh... hmm... this is so not me. (Honestly, the truth or dare element threw me because let’s be real, I haven’t played that since high school.) But then I thought about it and realized I could totally run with this and have some fun. Then I ended up having too much fun I guess. (And look I’m not saying it’s perfect but damn I’m enjoying it.)

I think this won’t go past a three-parter but who knows. The next bit gets smutty (I know for sure since I’m currently writing it) so stay tuned for that. Also, this makes three fics I’m actively writing (you know plus my day job) so I can’t promise part 2 will be up next week but sooooon. 

Tags are open! 

@mywinterwolf  @disagreetoagree @peachthatdrinkslemonade @breezy1415

I could do it, you thought staring down the ridge. No one would know it was me, too much chaos, just focus and BAM, the old fuck drops… Just then Steve flings Barnes the shield to fend off an attack and you remember that you can’t off the fucking Winter Soldier because Steve, who had unquestionably saved your life, would be absolutely devastated.

“Hey Y/N!” Barnes bellows over the com, “How about you pull your fucking weight?!”

No. One. Would. Know. “Hey Barnes, how about you go fuck yourself?”

“Kids,” Clint pipes up. “Play nice.”

You chose to ignore them both and plant your hands firmly on the ground. About 20 Hydra agents just ahead of you, you could feel the vibrations of their energy through the soil. Your breath stops and you begin to pull energy into your body, the air around you getting cooler with each second. This was going to be a show. Heat curls up your arms, you feel like you’re on fire, electric with this power. Admittedly this didn’t always work, focusing the energy through the ground but this time you had pettiness on your side and that was as powerful a weapon as whatever Hydra put in you.

“Fuck, on our twelve,” you hear Barnes say. Little late old man. “Goddamnit! Y/N why do-“

Now. Intentionally making the energy release a little more powerful than it needed to be you let go, concentrating hard, Just the Hydra agents, no one else, acutely aware of where each of them stood. White hot light snaked from the ground into the bodies of each unsuspecting agent, their screams loud, an uncomfortable sizzling hitting your ears as they lit up like candle flames. As gruesome as it was, in one shot you eliminated every single one.

“What was that about doing my part, Barnes?” You snipe over the com standing looking smugly over the ridge, “Your count was what, five?”

“We’re clear,” Natasha says before he can respond and you silence your earpiece, turning on your heel to head to the jet.

Back at the tower, you’re stripping out of your gear in the locker room with Natasha.

“You know you two could just fuck and get it over with.”

“What?!” You’re genuinely confused.

“Uh, you and Bucky. You go at each other like-“

You begin laughing, “Look I get your angle here but no, that’s not what this is. He’s a fucking asshole, and not in the way that gets me going,” and they didn’t know what he had been like before, not really.

“Whatever you say,” she slams her locker, dirty tac gear inside to be picked up for cleaning, “but there’s nothing like a good hate fuck to work out tension.” With that, she saunters away.

The thought of letting him touch you made your skin crawl. Though… No. Absolutely fucking not.

Tony had demanded everyone get together to celebrate a successful mission and as much as you weren’t a huge fan of social gatherings of more than two people even after almost a year of working with them all you begrudgingly agreed when it was made clear that this was a casual affair.

You stare in the mirror at yourself in black skinnies and a fitted white tee, so… normal looking. Who would suspect you were essentially a woman shaped atomic bomb? Sighing you throw your hair into a ponytail and head for the elevator. At the very least, Barnes never came to these things.

Mother. Fucker. When you got out of the elevator you had thought you were in the clear. Tony shoved a whiskey neat in your hand (spiked with his special ingredient to get the enhanced among you just as lit as the rest) the coast looked clear. Then across the room in a corner, you saw Barnes brooding, drink in hand, slouched in an oversized chair.

“What did I say earlier,” Clint says with a wink, jabbing an elbow at you.

You roll your eyes, “I always start off playing nice, thank you. It’s not my fault he’s determined to piss me off at every turn.”

“I’m on your side,” Sam pipes up from your other side and you can’t help but laugh at the exaggerated look of disdain on his face. Barnes looks at you then, eyes burning. All humor drains out of you and you turn away to head to the other side of the room.

The evening goes surprisingly well. Tony’s ‘special sauce,’ as he keeps calling it, is just enough to get you perfectly tipsy... if not bordering on drunk. Honestly, you couldn’t remember the last time you had felt this loose. Not to mention his playlist for the night was on point, unsurprising since you were technically Tony’s age (even if you looked half that) so you generally had the same taste in pop culture.

This was the first time since you had been with them that everyone was together and for the most part everyone was having an exceptional time. Everyone that was except for your resident cloud of darkness.

Unable to let sleeping dogs lie Tony finally plops down on Barnes’ lap, “You know, I made this hooch for you special, because out of all you,” Tony gestures to you, Steve, and Thor, “I think you’re the one who needs to let loose the most. So,” Tony picks up the tumbler that had been sitting on the table next to Barnes the whole night, “drink your juice, Shelby.” Between the Steel Magnolias reference and the look on Barnes’ face you nearly send your drink shooting through your nose with a laugh.

Barnes looks at you then back at Tony, not a flicker of humor in his tone, “I don’t think you care to know what me letting lose looks like Stark.” With that, he dumps Tony off his lap. The mood of the room immediately shifts, everyone afraid of just what The Winter Soldier letting lose would indeed look like.

“Wow,” you drawl, “really know how to kill a buzz don’t ya Barnes?” The look he shoots you is ice cold, Steve looks stressed, and all you can think is, Please, please give me a good reason.

He saunters over to you in, what Natasha has playfully labeled his ‘murder strut,’ and looms over you, “And you’re just the life of the party, huh?”

You sneer, “Nah, but at least I can pretend to be a normal human for a few hours.” His upper lip ticks just a bit, and you swear you can hear the metal plates in his arm shift. When he moves you’re already bracing yourself internally for a hit, instead he just plucks the drink from your hand and downs it in one shot.

“Alright, Tony, it’s not bad. Guess I’ll have another.”

“That’s more fucking like it!” Tony bellows getting up to make another drink for Barnes immediately lifting the room back almost to where it was before. As for you, you plaster a smile on your face but all you want to do is level that fucker.

Banner goes down for the night and Clint follows not far behind despite taunting from all of you. About being lightweights. Things had started to wind down but Natasha, still wide awake, isn’t quite ready to let everything go quiet just yet.

“Alright, now that the old men have left us I say we play a game,” the look on her face is filled with mischief.

“What kind of game?” Steve catches her tone and looks more than a little suspect.

She smirks, “Only the best kind of game when you’re in the company of soldiers, assassins, gods, and spies...” everyone stares, “Truth or dare.”

“I’m down,” you’re drunk enough to want in on this mess.

“What exactly is that?” Thor looks confused as if it can’t mean what it sounds like.

The rules are laid out. No truths that can get anyone killed because... well between Nat, you, and Barnes there had to be more than a few secrets that should 100% be kept. And, only minimal bloodshed would be permitted in the event of a dare. All rules everyone could easily abide.

Only ten minutes in and you realize the long con Nat’s been playing at... and that you should have definitely not agreed to this.

“Dare,” you say.

Natasha’s mouth curls into a smirk, “Good. Kiss Bucky.”

“What?!” You both spit at the same time throwing daggers at the other. Everyone is cackling.

“You can’t refuse, it causes no harm, and it’s the least the two of you owe the rest of us for making us deal with you,” shrugs of agreement from everyone. Barnes’ head drops to his hands.

“I’ll take a truth then.”

“Not how it works,” Thor chides laughing. “You have-“

“Want to make me?” The temperature around you dropping just a little as tiny streaks of energy snake up your arms. Any residual cheer drops away.

“Now who’s a buzzkill?” Barnes asks sardonically. You close your eyes and take a deep breath. He was right. And maybe you could zap him a little just to prove a point.

Without another word, you stride across the circle and pull him up by his collar, the fabric making a ripping sound. He doesn’t resist you and you kiss him hard, bordering on violent, forcing your tongue in his mouth just to be sure no one can say it wasn’t a thorough kiss. And... maybe you were curious as to what he would taste like. For good measure though you let just a touch of the energy zap his lips. He pulls back in shock at the feeling.

“Happy?!” You ask turning to the group. They’re all staring like they really didn’t expect it. “Good.” You sit down heavily next to Natasha without another word and diligently chose truth for the next hour.

Eventually, you all grow bored of the game and fall into just talking, though you mostly listen. You were so committed to ignoring his existence you don’t actually notice that Barnes had slipped away until everyone decides to disperse.

The rest of them seemed perfectly content to go to bed. You were envious. Being drunk went from being fun to making you feel anxious around the time of the kiss. The power had been too quick to come to you, too volatile, you knew that. Not being in control was something you hated and... if you were being honest wasn’t good for anyone around you.

Need to sweat this out, you think and head down to the training grounds buried beneath the tower.

You had intended to go to the shooting range. Tony had set up a special stall for you that had heating panels all around it so you could play with your energy manipulation more, refine it, make it your own. But as you walk up to the glass you see someone else emptying a clip at a bevy of moving targets, hitting each perfectly.

Lightening fast he changes the clip and you can’t help but watch as again not a single target is missed. You’re good but you can’t touch that level of precision. Not yet. But Barnes was good at what he did, no one, not even you, would question that.

It doesn’t take long for your admiration to sour though. He had this uncanny way of being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Suddenly the steady sound of bullets stops and he hurls the gun at the targets, roaring. His hands rest on the small counter before him for a second, back heaving. Turning halfway, not noticing you, he leans against the wall of the stall and slides to the floor his head thudding against it, forearms resting on his knees, cheeks shining with moisture from sweat or tears you couldn’t tell.

Goddamnit, your dislike for him ran along the lines of hatred... you had thought about how to kill him so many times in so many ways it was almost comical. Right now though... You didn’t have it in you to comfort this man when you could hardly tell him good morning most days but you could at least give him privacy.

You turn to leave and you feel his eyes on you, “Enjoy the show?” Most wouldn’t have been able to hear his words through the thick glass but you weren’t most.

He’d seen you, no use in pretending. “Not particularly.” You open the door and stride in, heading toward your booth, “And as usual you’re right where I don’t want you to be.”  

You’re almost in your booth when he starts laughing, and you’re pretty certain you have never, in the years you’ve known him, heard him laugh. You lean around, “Something funny?”

He keeps laughing, “Yeah, you.”

“Oh?” You walk back to him and stand looking down, arms crossed. He’s cackling. “Do tell.”

“You really don’t know why we always end up here at the same time? Why we’re always at each other?” More laughter, “You really think you hate me.” Finally, he takes a breath, wiping the tears from his eyes, “Your obliviousness is hilarious.”

“You’re such a fucking prick,” you say and turn away.

“Yeah. I am. And you’re a cunt.” You spin so fast any normal person would hardly have seen your movement, streaks of light snaking around your skin, ready to destroy him. “I’d say we’re cut from the same cloth.”

“No,” you growl.

“Really?” He stands up and shoves his hands in his pockets. “So you’re not in here because you need to work off the feeling of not being in control?” He takes a step toward you and you move back in turn. “You’re not in here because you’re scared if you don’t get that energy out you’ll hurt someone?” A few more steps. “You don’t wind up in here more nights than you’re in your bed because you can’t sleep?” You're almost against the door. “Just. Like. Me.” Your back bumps against the glass.

He’s inches from you, so close you can smell the whiskey on his breath, “If you touch me I’ll fucking kill you.”

“I know you will.” He stares at you for a moment, “That’s why I’m glad you’re on the team.”

[rulesofthebeneath]

how bout a dance: part 11

<AN> WELL HELLO THERE FRIENDS!!! Guess what week it is? IT’S SHOW WEEK(S)! Hope y’all enjoy this chapter, it’s long (as hell) but I had a ton of fun writing it. Gonna warn again for some suggestive content but we’re still firmly in the TV sitcom realm. [But I do think it’s entirely fair to mention that almost the entire beginning, as short as it may be, is a big sex mention, but that it’s a side plot development]. Anyways, credit as usual to @euphonyinestetica, tagging @pixelburied, @lilmissperfectlyimperfect, @ajaysbhandari, @itsbrindleybinch, @witchiegirl, @aidenzhous, @catlady0911, @ylevolenahs, @awkwardalbatros, @hufflepvnk, @ravenclawpokegirl25. Hope y’all enjoy, let me know if I need to edit the warnings. </AN>

The morning of opening night, Grace woke up to the smell of pancakes and the sound of laughter coming from the kitchen. Isra was nowhere to be found, which was strange because Grace almost always woke up with the cat asleep on her chest. She put on her contacts and tried to tame her bedhead, shoved her feet in some slippers, and slowly opened her bedroom door to step into the kitchen.

“Good morning, Grace!” came Mayleen’s chipper voice from the stove, where she stood in a long t-shirt making the pancakes Grace had smelled. Unable to locate the source of the laughing, Grace stepped into the kitchen suspiciously.

“Hey, Grace,” came another voice, and Grace whipped around to see Rosa sitting at the kitchen table, also in just a long t-shirt, her face completely red but a smile playing on her lips.

It took Grace a second to figure out what was going on, but then she realized.

“Oh my god!” she squealed, clapping a hand over her mouth. “I must be a really heavy sleeper.”

Rosa’s face got impossibly redder, but Mayleen just laughed. “You were pretty exhausted after your shift Sunday. I was a little surprised, but it was convenient.”

Grace let out another surprised laugh, then sat down at the table next to Rosa, who had Isra in her lap.

“You stole my roommate and my cat,” she grumbled playfully to Rosa, reaching over to rub Isra’s gray ears.

“Lo siento,” Rosa muttered. Grace turned back to Mayleen, still at the stove.

“Wow, so uh, guys, how did this happen?”

“Well, when a woman and another woman like each other very very much…” Mayleen started in a teasing tone, but was cut off by Grace and Rosa both yelling at her, the former throwing a balled-up napkin that Mayleen barely dodged.

“You know that’s not what I meant! I don’t need to know about that! Tell me about your date!”

“Well, we went out dancing last night. I thought I’d try to help Rosa de-stress after final dress, because I get how tough tech and dress weeks can be. We went out for dinner, then we went to a club not too far away from your theater, then we came here.”

“Where you and Rosa de-stressed,” Grace deadpanned, sending Rosa into a fit of embarrassed giggles.

“Exactly. Several times,” Mayleen quipped shamelessly.

“God,” Grace snorted. “Well, I’m glad to see you guys together.”

“We’re glad to be together,” Rosa mumbled, flustered. Mayleen turned around with a smile and walked over to kiss her. Grace rolled her eyes jokingly.

“Yeah, we had a good time last night so I think we’re just gonna see how this goes,” Mayleen said, pulling away from Rosa and moving to stand behind her, wrapping her arms around her from behind. “But I have a really good feeling about it.”

Rosa turned to look up at Mayleen with soft eyes, and Grace gave them a second before she obnoxiously cooed at them. Then she got up to turn on the tea kettle on the other side of the room to give them a little privacy and pulled her phone out of the waistband of her pajama pants. There was a new text from Ajay.

Ajay: You ready for opening night?

She thought for a second before texting him back.

Grace: yes? maybe? i’m a little nervous

Ajay: I get that. But you’re going to be amazing.

Grace: i bet you say that to all the people who star in your productions

Ajay: You got me there. It doesn’t mean it’s any less true.

Grace laughed a little, then tucked her phone back into her waistband. The water was done boiling, so she dumped some loose jasmine black tea into the infuser in her teapot and poured the water in, setting a timer for five minutes to let it steep. Her phone buzzed insistently at her hip, so she wiped her hands off and pulled it back out.

Ajay: It might go without saying, but I’m really looking forward to seeing you today.

Ajay: This evening.

Ajay: At 6.

Ajay: Which is call time.

Grace: i know when call is

Grace: if you were trying to be cute it didn’t work 😂

Ajay: Just making sure.

Grace: i’ll be there. and hey, try not to melt into a puddle of stress today

Ajay: Anything for you. See you tonight.

Grace stopped by the fridge to take a bowl of fruit and grabbed her teapot to take back to her room. Rosa and Mayleen were still being disgustingly cute and Grace didn’t want to interrupt. Once in her room, she poured herself a mug of tea and sat on her bed with her script, running through places that had been trouble spots during final dress. Thankfully there weren’t many, but Grace knew she couldn’t be too careful.

The morning faded into afternoon all too quickly, and after a shower, lunch courtesy of a microwave meal, some quick physical and vocal warm-ups and another anxious look at her script, it was 5pm. She knew she had to leave in about ten minutes in order to get to the theatre early (and early was on time), so she pulled on her socks, grabbed her theatre bag that was still packed from final dress, and walked out into the kitchen.

Mayleen and Rosa sprang apart from where they’d been on the couch. Grace just rolled her eyes with a smile. She crossed over to the kitchen to fill her water bottle.

“It’s almost time to go, Rosa,” she called in the direction of the couch. Rosa made her way back to Mayleen’s room (probably where she’d kept her stuff) and Grace dropped down onto the couch next to Mayleen.

“So,” Grace said, grinning widely.

“So.” Mayleen answered, matching her grin.

Grace shook her head slightly. “I’ve never seen you this smiley. It’s weird.”

Mayleen gave a noncommittal shrug, and Grace laughed.

“Oh, I’m coming to see your show next Friday,” Mayleen announced, clearly wanting to change the topic.

“Wow, okay! Stay after and Rosa and I’ll introduce you to everyone.”

“Awesome.”

The two chatted for a little longer before Rosa reemerged with her bag. Grace stood up and the pair put their shoes on at the door and Grace waited patiently outside while Rosa kissed Mayleen goodbye, then they walked down the street to the subway station together.

They rode for a few minutes in silence, then Rosa spoke up.

“You still sure that’s not weird?”

Grace giggled. “Yeah. But I would’ve appreciated a warning. I guess I’m just lucky Mayleen and I don’t share a wall.”

Rosa rolled her eyes, but Grace saw a genuine happiness in her expression.

“I’ve never seen Mayleen so cheerful in the mornings,” Grace said. “I’m really happy for you guys.”

Rosa ducked her head. “Thanks. If I’m being honest, I was only there for Isra.” Grace laughed.

The train ride and short walk to the theatre passed quickly, and the two walked through the stage door fifteen minutes early. They ran into Ajay just inside.

Grace gave him a teasing wink and tried to walk past, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her back towards him. Rosa kept walking, and Grace knew that she’d hear about it later. Nevertheless, she let Ajay pull her back.

“You need something?” she asked, eyebrows raised. He slowly backed her up against the wall and pressed his lips to her collarbone, her neck, her jaw, careful not to leave marks, then pulled away with an intense look on his face.

“Yeah. You.”

Grace’s heart jumped into her throat, and she pulled him forward to crash their lips together. His hands came up to her hips and he pushed her back harder against the wall. She ran a hand through his hair.

When he pulled away again, her lips stung from the pressure. Something akin to joy sparkled in his eyes, and he pulled her in one more time for a kiss that was softer, shorter, sweeter. He ran his fingers through her hair, making shivers run down her spine.

“God,” was all Grace could say, completely breathless. “That all you got?”

He scoffed. “Hardly. But you need to get in costume. We’ll meet in the music room at quarter til to warm-up and for a pep talk. Oh, and Grace?”

His eyes swept over her. She shivered again, but met his gaze. He reached over to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. She barely noticed it, but he blushed just a little bit.

“There’s a lot more where that came from.”

He grinned at her—a bright, brilliant thing—then spun on his heel and left.

Grace took a moment to gather herself, to slow the desire that curled low in her stomach, to remember how to breathe again. He had her intoxicated by his presence, dizzying her with his touch until the only thing left in her head was a deep need for more.

He’d certainly come a long way from the awkward boy he was in high school.

She shook her head and tucked that away for later. She knew she needed to focus. Still, even though her mind stayed focused on the trouble spots she’d gone over that morning, her hand drifted up to stroke the places he’d kissed her, her thumb absently tracing her swollen lips.

She quickly got changed into the dress she wore at the top of Act One, an exact copy of the iconic burgundy dress but riddled with gunshots and bloodstains. One of the makeup artists came in to help her apply some blood streaks (made out of tape for easy removal) to her face. Grace took a little while to braid her hair flat against her head and to put her wig and hat on, then she was ready to go.

On her way down to the music room she stopped by Rosa’s dressing room. She shared it with the woman who played the governor, but she was finishing up her makeup when Grace arrived and vacated fairly quickly. Grace took her seat next to Rosa, who was intently lining her lips.

“You feeling ready?” Grace asked, nerves coursing through her veins. Rosa took a second to finish her makeup and consider the question.

“Yes,” she said decisively. “Everyone’s worked so hard and we’ve had a ton of fun. I think this is going to go really well.”

“Optimism. I like it.”

“I try. How about you? Feeling ready?”

“Mmm,” Grace hummed noncommittally. “I guess I kind of have to be.”

“Yeah, a little bit. But you don’t have anything to worry about. I’ve seen how hard you’ve worked on this show. You’re absolutely the right person to be the lead, and I’m completely sure that you’ll be amazing.”

“Aw, Rosa!” Grace quickly flung her arms around Rosa, trying not to tear up and ruin her makeup. “You always know exactly what to say.”

Rosa simply shrugged. “Anyone here would say the same.”

“Still. It means so much. I think… ugh,” Grace trailed off as she turned her face up towards the ceiling, trying desperately not to let tears run down her cheeks. “I think I’m breaking out of this funk that I’ve been in for half a year. Like, I heard your compliment and I didn’t automatically think that you were just lying because we’re friends. I don’t automatically declare myself a failure anymore when I mess up little things.”

“That’s great, Grace! I’m really proud of all the progress you’ve made. You’re a ton more confident than when we first met.”

“It’s mostly because of you, yknow,” Grace said, reaching over to squeeze Rosa’s hand. Rosa just shook her head.

“No, it was all you. But I’m glad that I could help.” Rosa handed Grace a stack of tissues and Grace carefully blotted at the corners of her eyes with them. When she finished, Grace moved to pull Rosa into a tight hug.

Once they separated, Grace’s eyes found the clock. It was almost 6:45.

“We should go soon. Ajay said to be in the music room at quarter til.”

“Oh, is that what he said?” Rosa asked, her face neutral but her voice light and teasing. Grace blushed and smacked Rosa lightly on the arm.

“Yes! Now let’s go.” Grace pulled Rosa from the dressing room.

“Ay dios mio! Let me put my shoes on!”

“Hurry up!”

After some friendly bickering and speed-walking to the music room, they were among the first to arrive. Rosa huffed indignantly at Grace, then went over to check her makeup in the mirrors that covered the walls. Grace looked around the room and settled down next to Kevin. She offered a hand for a high five.

“Ready to be a 1930s power couple?” he asked.

“Yup. ‘Two livin’ legends’,” she quoted with a smile.

He chuckled, then his face turned serious. “Nervous?”

“Yeah. I think I will be until we’re onstage.”

“Really?” Kevin asked. “I didn’t think you got nervous.”

“What? Why not?”

“I dunno. You always seem so calm onstage.”

“It’s an act. It’s all an act,” Grace laughed. Kevin looked relieved, and Grace set a hand on his shoulder. “We’re gonna be awesome.”

At that moment, Ajay entered, followed by Emily. He sent a stunning grin Grace’s way—she remembered with all too much clarity how that grin had felt against her lips—then turned to address the room at large. He spun a chair around and sat backwards on it, facing the collection of actors.

“Alright,” he started with a big smile, “you guys have worked so hard on this production, and I’m so incredibly proud of all of you. All I’m gonna ask of you guys is to keep that passion up for the entire run. Don’t let me down now.”

The cast laughed.

“I’m going to be watching from the audience tonight. We’ll meet here right after the show every night for notes, and I’ll also email them out.” He paused to check his watch. “Alright, curtain in ten. Go make me proud.”

With that he and Emily left, and the cast slowly got up from their seats. Grace’s stomach started to churn and a burning sensation ran up her throat into her chest. Her hands started to shake, and her leg started to bounce. She got up quickly and made her way backstage, where she paced behind the curtain until she nearly ran into Kaylie who was doing the exact same thing, her face white as a sheet.

Grace stopped her and reached around to adjust a bow on Kaylie costume.

“Hey, you okay?”

Kaylie swallowed. “I’m fine,” she said unconvincingly.

Grace grimaced sympathetically. “I’m nervous too. This waiting around part kind of sucks.”

A small smile reached Kaylie’s face. “Yeah, it really does.”

“Can I give you a hug?” Grace asked. When the girl nodded, Grace wrapped her arms tightly around her.

“You’re going to be great, Kaylie. I know it.”

The smile reached Kaylie’s face. “Thanks, Grace. You too.”

Just then, Emily appeared from the wings to tap on Grace’s shoulder and gesture to the car. Places. Grace took in several deep breaths, then walked onstage to join Kevin. She got in the car with him and he gave her a smile. She rested her head on his shoulder and they both closed their eyes. They heard the sound from the audience get quieter, then the curtains rolled open and the lights came up on the stage.

***

The light went amber, a sunset fading in the distance. Bonnie stood in front of her car, angrily kicking the front tire.

“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!”

Clyde sauntered up to her, an unkempt man in a torn white tank top and suspenders. She had no reason to trust him, but immediately upon seeing him she did anyways.

“Hey!” he said. “Engine trouble?”

She finally stopped kicking the tire. “Engine trouble, tire trouble, oil trouble…” she listed, sounding defeated.

“Looks like you and me got the same car,” Clyde noted. “Goes through oil like a preacher through whiskey, huh?”

Bonnie smiled, just a little. “Yeah.”

“How ‘bout I see if I can fix you up? And then maybe you gimme a lift into West Dallas.”

“Sure. Thanks,” she said, then stepped back to let him pop the hood and peer under it. “You live in the Devil’s Back Porch?”

“Not for much longer.”

“I don’t know anybody ever moved out of West Dallas,” Bonnie said, hands on her hips. He pulled his head out from under the hood and offered her a grease-stained hand.

“You do now,” he said with a wink. “Clyde Barrow.”

She shook her head, but smiled and took his hand. “Bonnie Parker.”

***

Clyde, now clad in a suit, pointed a shotgun at a bank teller. Bonnie stood beside him, a large leather bag hanging from her shoulder.

“Now, my partner here is gonna approach the counter with a bag that I would very much like you to fill with cash,” he said, his voice commanding the silence of the entire bank.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” the teller said calmly. Only his trembling fingers betrayed his anxiety.

Clyde raised his eyebrows, and exchanged a look with Bonnie. “Do you not see this gun, mister?” He gestured with the gun, causing a few in the crowd of hostages nearby to startle.

“I can’t fill your bag with cash because there isn’t any,” the teller clarified, a shake starting to become audible in his voice.

“This here’s a bank, ain’t it?” Clyde asked, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

“Yes, but--”

Clyde looked around as if he’d just noticed the uncommonly large crowd at the bank. “What is goin’ on here?”

“The bank’s closed.”

“Then what’re all these folks doin’ here?”

“Trying to get our damn money!” shouted an older man from near the back of the crowd.

“They’re sayin’ the bank is broke!” yelled the woman beside him.

“Not a nickle in the drawers,” said the teller.

“You’re tellin’ me I’m robbing a bank with no money?” Clyde said, disbelief coloring his tone.

“Complaint forms are over there.”

***

For Grace, the curtain call was always a precious moment. She and Kevin stepped onto the stage, hand in hand, to thunderous applause. Tears welled up in her eyes from the pure joy of the moment as she took her bow. As soon as the curtain closed, she let them fall. Rosa rushed up to her, putting a hand on her back as Grace desperately tried to wipe the tears away.

“Grace, are you okay?”

Grace nodded, a small sob bursting from her throat. She sniffed and tilted her head up to the lights. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy.”

Rosa grinned and put an arm around Grace’s shoulders, guiding her backstage to the music room. After a few minutes of the cast circulating the room, hugging and cheering, Ajay stepped in and they all fell silent.

“Good job, guys,” he said, trying not to sound too enthusiastic. “I have a couple notes, but that was a good show.”

The entire cast started cheering again, louder than before. They knew that that kind of compliment out of their director was  rare, and it meant a lot more than he wanted them to think. Eventually, they quieted down to receive their notes, then dispersed to their respective dressing rooms. Grace stayed behind, waiting in the hallway outside the music room. When Ajay finally emerged, she caught his attention and he pulled her over to an alcove in the hall. He took her face in his hands and kissed her forehead almost reverently.

“You were stunning up there, Grace. I knew you would be.” He kissed both her cheeks and then pressed his lips softly to hers. “Now go home, get some sleep. We’ve still got three shows left this week.”

***

After the show Sunday, the end of the first week:

“Mom! Dad! James!” Grace cried, running full tilt through the nearly empty lobby to sweep her family up into a giant hug.

Once they broke apart, everyone grinning, Grace’s dad handed her a gigantic bouquet. Her mom beamed at her. James just sighed and ruffled her hair from his height almost a foot above her.

“Thanks, guys! And hey, cut it out!” She batted James’ hand away from her head. “But really, thank you guys so much for coming!”

“It was great, Gracie,” her mom said, smoothing her hair down where James had messed it up. “You’re our little star.”

“Hey!” James protested, sending the whole group into peals of laughter. Grace caught Ajay’s eye from where he was leaning against the wall, waiting.

“Guys,” she said, turning back to her family, “I want to introduce you to the director. Or, reintroduce you.”

Her father’s brow furrowed in confusion, but her mom’s eyes widened when she saw Ajay walking up to the group over Grace’s shoulder.

***

Friday, the second week:

“Bonnie!” Clyde yelled, reaching through the bars. Bonnie rushed over to him, throwing her bag to the ground and sinking to her knees when she saw him.

“Oh my god… what happened to your face, baby? What’s goin’ on? Can’t I complain? Can’t I do something?” She turned to yell for the prison guards.

“Somebody help him!”

She turned back to him, her eyes searching his face for some sort of explanation. Clyde opened his mouth, but said nothing.

Grace tugged on Kevin’s collar again, but the only thing she could register on his face was sheer panic. His line cued the guard’s entry, but he wasn’t saying it. The silence grew awkward, and Grace knew she had to do something, she just didn’t know what.

“Baby, what can I do? Can I–” Bonnie looked around, then lowered her voice. “Can I break you out of here? You got somethin’ I can bring you to help you bust out?”

Grace searched Kevin’s still-panicked face, hoping that improvised line was enough to give him a cue. And as realization slowly flooded his eyes and his face relaxed, she breathed a sigh of relief and knew it had been.

“Yeah, at the gas station, there’s a gun hidden under the porch–” he started, but a guard burst into the room, interrupting him.

“What seems to be the problem?”

Bonnie turned to face the guard, standing up. Pure rage twisted her features.

“Look at him!”

***

After the show Friday, Grace leaned against the door of her dressing room, scrolling through something on her phone. Ajay sauntered up.

“Hey,” he said, startling her. “Oh, sorry.”

“No, don’t worry. I’m just waiting for Rosa.”

“Is she running late, or something? You guys usually leave together.”

“Yeah, but my roommate came to this performance so we’re all going to leave together. But Rosa’s currently making out with my roommate in her dressing room, so…”

Ajay’s eyebrows shot up. “Wow.”

“Yeah,” Grace sighed. “If only there was something I could do in the meantime…” She cast him a meaningful glance. He promptly turned red and started stuttering. Grace burst out into laughter.

“I don’t get you,” she said between laughs. “You can be the smoothest guy in the world one second and a blubbering mess the next. What’s up with that?”

He shook his head with a smile. “I don’t know. I guess you bring out the best and the worst in me.”

***

Sunday, the second week:

Bonnie threw a glass jar to the ground, enraged. Then, all the fight gone out of her, she sighed and dropped to her knees, sweeping the shards onto a piece of fabric that she dumped in the trash. The familiar piano-and-guitar melody started up, and after a few bars Bonnie began to sing.

“I know my heart don’t care what people say. All I know is that I never felt like this. And besides, I wouldn’t change him if I could… No man’s all good…”

She walked over to an old armchair and sat heavily in it while Blanche sang from inside her beauty parlor.

“I always knew what I was takin’ on, but I always felt that I could change his ways. Even if my man will never fall in line… glad he’s mine.”

And then, from opposite sides of Cement City, Bonnie and Blanche sang in harmony.

“‘Cos you love who you love, and you can’t help how you’re made. You don’t have no say, your heart decides. It’s that simple, I’m afraid…”

Later in the song, Bonnie got up from her armchair. She pulled on Clyde’s old coat that he’d left in her house, and she gazed offstage, singing as if he were there.

“I only care that he’s mine and I am his. There ain’t no rules, that’s how it is. Most girls would hate to be standing in my shoes, but true love’s something you don’t choose,” she belted, all the loneliness and anguish and desperation flooding her face and affecting her tone.

Grace poured her own emotions into every syllable of those words, singing to her invisible Clyde right in the front of the wings. Except he wasn’t invisible, and he wasn’t Clyde, and he wasn’t even hers yet but he was standing there in a beige blazer and tortoiseshell glasses with gentle eyes and a soft smile, his face reflecting every sentiment she expressed. And she hoped that he knew that she meant every single word, even if she couldn’t tell him.

***

Thursday, the last week:

As she stormed offstage as Bonnie, Grace felt a sharp pain in her foot. She ignored it until she got to the wings, but immediately sat down under a blue light once she was there and took off her thin-soled shoe. The sharp pain only got worse when the removal of her shoe meant pulling a large shard of glass out of her heel. She nearly cried out in pain, but clamped a hand over her mouth before any sound could escape. One of the dressers—the one that helped Grace pull the gunshot wound stickers off her face during the prologue—noticed and rushed over, grabbing the first aid kit from the wall.

The dresser helped her back to her well-lit dressing room, then inspected the cut.

“It’s not too deep,” the dresser smiled up at her. “I’ll just clean it, stick a bandage on, and wrap it up. You’ll be fine for the rest of the show, but you should probably get it checked out tonight or tomorrow morning.”

Grace hissed as the dresser sprayed antibacterial on her foot. “How do you know all this?”

“I’m a paramedic,” the dresser grinned up at her.

“Wow. Well, thank god for you. I hope this is the worst you ever have to save me from.”

They laughed softly as the dresser finished bandaging her foot.

“When do you have to be back on?”

“After they do ‘When I Drive’. It’s not a lot of time, but it’s something.”

The dresser sighed. “Well, rest that foot as much as you can.”

“Yeah. Thanks so much.”

The dresser turned to leave, and Grace sighed down at her foot, still smarting from the glass shard. She’d have to be careful next time about only breaking the jar over the rug.

***

Curtain call closing night was indescribable. The joy she’d felt opening night was multiplied and combined with nostalgia, fierce love for every person onstage and backstage, and this time she really did tear up right on stage. Kevin wrapped his arm around her shoulder (and pressed a kiss to her temple for the sake of the audience) as tears rolled down her face. She wiped them away and put on her best and brightest smile for the audience, all standing, until the curtains closed. Then she turned directly into Kevin and wrapped her arms around him, sobbing into his chest.

When she looked up, she was surprised to find that his cheeks were wet too. And she was even more surprised when Rosa came and wrapped her arms around both of them, then Elijah, then Andrew, then Lysander, then Kaylie and Jackson, then all of the ensemble and even the dressers and run crew came out and joined the massive group hug. More people were crying than not, and most from pure happy joy.

Minutes later, when the hug finally broke up, everyone split off in opposite directions. They were all eager to get home, fatigue turning to happy exhaustion. They’d all help with strike Monday, but nobody planned to show up before noon. The theatre may have been rapidly emptying, but Grace’s heart was filling up fast. The cast and crew might have been wavering, but she thrummed with energy as she went to look for Ajay.

She searched backstage for him, behind every set piece and in every darkened corner. Nothing.

No mind, she thought, he’s probably in the music room. That was where they had notes every night, and even though they wouldn’t tonight it wasn’t unreasonable to think he’d be there. She made her way down to the music room, but it was empty.

Turning desperate, she searched the halls through the theatre, the house, and the lobby for him, but he was nowhere to be found. As she made a final lap through the music room, just to make sure she hadn’t missed him, her heart sank lower and lower until she felt it drop out of her body and sink into the floor. She rounded the stairs to head resignedly back to her dressing room.

He stood me up, was all she could think. He realized he was making a mistake and he bolted. Logic piped up and tried to tell her she was being unreasonable, but between the emotions running high from closing night and the fissure quickly forming in her heart, she couldn’t listen.

Maybe he has a good explanation, her brain protested as she trudged up the stairs. You should go check your phone. See if he texted.

Or maybe I’m just a failure again, her heart screamed, drowning out all reason.

Tears sprung in her eyes again, but for a completely different reason this time. She slowly turned the knob to her dressing room door, all the happiness gone out of her. 

She was so preoccupied with her warring emotions that she didn’t even notice that the light was on in the dressing room.

[a-shameless-otome-rp-sideblog]

looking for otome-based RP partners!

Hullo (hopefully future) friends! I’ve got a bit of a weird proposal.

(For anyone who saw the first one on my OTHER-OTHER side blog, this is redux, the 2.0, because that sideblog was TOO NEW to show up in tags and I am really hoping that this one shows up on this MUCH OLDER and REPURPOSED sideblog!) 

ANYWAY, here blog isn’t and probably won’t ever be an RP blog. I’ve RPed on Tumblr a lot in the past (mostly in the Homestuck community, a few years back) and while doing so was a lot of fun, it was also a lot of work! Maintaining pages, bios, graphics, etc, is all stuff I seemed to have all the time in the world for a few years back, but I find I really just don’t anymore.

Unfortunately, I don’t really know where to find RP outside of Tumblr and cherubplay (thanks again, Homestuck!) either, but Cherubplay isn’t exactly the greatest for finding anything outside of just raw-doggin-it-smut-fests and while that can be, uh, fun, it’s not really what I want to focus on when I RP.

So why am I here?

DISCORD RP!!

I’m hoping to find other people who don’t really have time to run an RP blog (or who do have time, but also might be willing to dip their toes into doing it on Discord, too, assuming you aren’t already!) for some good time plotting and roleplaying!

Which I guess brings us to the meat of this whole thing… (more, of course, under the cut!)

WHAT WILL WE RP?

I’ve been real keen on otome lately and I’m really looking to play some canon boys to your MC or OC! While I’ve certainly had my fun playing girls before (mostly in WoW, or other MMORPG settings), I find I always prefer to play dudes, and (if you’d pardon this bit of arrogance!) I think I can be pretty dang good at it!

While I do occasionally ship MxM, it’s really only something I do with my best bro, so I’m sorry to disappoint, but I’m really only interested in MxF pairings atm! I hope that’s okay with everyone.

COOL, BUT WHAT SERIES? WHAT CHARACTERS?!

I’d like to say I have a pretty healthy familiarity with a lot of otome, but I’m not sure I’d be the hottest at RPing them all! If it can’t be guessed by my avatar, I’m kind of on a Hakuouki kick right now, so I’m partial to that, for sure, but for ease of readability and so you can get a good idea of what I’m open to, I’ll list them in some nicely formatted order.

Hakuouki Characters

Okita :: Okita is tied for my personal favorite Hakuouki dude with Sannan, but I think I’d enjoy playing him a lot more than Sannan (which isn’t to say I wouldn’t like to play him, too!). I’ve always been partial to smirky, tease-y boys, especially when they’re struggling with confronting their feelings.

Sannan :: Sannan speaks to my love of polite but cold characters, and it’s only a bonus that he’s a megane, which I’ve also always loved! As mentioned above, he’s probably tied with Okita as favorite Hakuouki dude, but I think Okita’d be easier to play.

Kazama :: Kazama is fun because I’ve always had a love for garbage can style kidnap-and-seduce plotlines if that was your kind of thing!

Saito :: I love Saito aesthetically and his personality is pretty rad and I’d rank him as pretty up their on faves, but I admit I don’t have overmuch experience when it comes to awkward slow-to-open-up kinda boys! I’m sure we could make it work though.

Other dudes :: I’d be willing to try honestly most anyone from Hakuouki but these are the ones above are the ones I feel most confident/interested in playing! If you’d like someone else, you can most certainly ask, especially if you have some kind of plotline you’d like to see!

===

Diabolik Lovers

Oh baby, yeah I am totally into this hot hot dumpster fire!

Reiji :: As mentioned, I love megane, and Reiji’s probs my favorite of everyone in the whole dang series. Older? Check. Smart? Check. Responsible? Check. Cold? Double check. Really fucking mean? Check. Smirky? Well, in the games, yes!

Shuu :: Sorry Reiji, but I also love Shuu. I might make him just a twinge OOC because his laziness might make advancing the plot kind of headachey, but other than tht, I love this loser.

Subaru :: Subaru, contrary to his third place on this list, is probably pretty close behind Reiji for favorites. Aggressive, ill-refined, totally willing to fight everyone – I admit I tend to play the more well-spoken and calculating kind of characters more, but I’d be willing to rock Subaru for you to the best of my ability!

Ruki :: I won’t say Ruki’s my favorite of the Mukami brothers but I like him a lot and I think I’d play him well!

Everyone else except Azusa and Kou :: Spoiler: I love Azusa to death and find him adorable but I don’t really relish playing openly masochistic characters, so he’s a no go unless we can work something out! Kou is – no offense, but I just really do not like Kou. As far as the famous Sakamaki triplets go, Kanato is one of my absolute all time favorites, and I’d be willing to play him with the right person… but we all know he’s kind of an absolute nutbag, so I’m hesitant to dump that on anyone! Ayato is a staple and Laito could be… like Kanato, I think I’d have to feel pretty assured by my partner they could handle the grosser parts of his character. Open to exploring it, however!

===

Amnesia

I’m not gonna bother sectioning everyone into neat little areas cause there is so few, but Toma is my favorite (I’m a real sucker for yandere, whoops). I’d be willing to play him, of course, provided my partner was comfortable with it! I’d also be willing to do Kent (my second favorite!), Shin and maaaaaaybe Ukyo. Sorry, I didn’t really care for Ikki – not because Ikki was bad (he was actually cool!) but because fan girl route characters drive me BANANAS.

===

Other fandoms :: Hit me up and ask if you want me to try anything! I might surprise you!

===

AND SO THAT LEAVES US WITH… WHAT WILL YOU PLAY?

Honestly, I’m gonna be real with everyone here: I love roleplaying because it’s like writing fanfiction with someone else, so it’s all the fun and self indulgence of fanfiction, but better, cause ya know – someone else is doing it with you! And I’m really here for the self indulgence, so please go ham.

Yeah, you can play the MC of the game, and I’d be cool with that! But honestly, I love OCs, and I’d love to hear about and plot with your OCs. I have some ideas for potential plots (especially for Hakuouki), but I’m also open to your ideas, too, and I think a lot of plots could work best outside the confines of a pre-established MC. Also, you get to show me your drawings/face-claims/whatever for your characters, and that’s pretty rad!!

Also, as someone had asked when I tried to post this on my previously non-functional blog, I’m also open to crossovers! I’m cool even if I don’t know much about the character -- you’ll just have to pardon my ignorance.

===

So, uh… RULES? RP STYLE? ETC? SOME POORLY ORGANIZED POINTS

+ Yeah, I’m deffo 21+ so ideally you would be too, especially if there’s anything like, remotely scandalous going on! I’m not too sure I feel very comfortable RPing with anyone younger than 18, mostly just because there’d be such a big age difference between us. Rest assured it isn’t because I think I’m better than you, or being ageist! It’s mostly just for my own sense of comfort!

+ Speaking of scandalous, I don’t push hard for anything super graphic unless that’s your style because I’m very much a person who loves drowning in the emotions of “holy crap does this guy really like this lady a lot”. I tend to be over indulgent as heck when it comes to inner monologues describing just how much your character makes mine’s heart go doki-doki, so expect a lot of that. If we start heading towards fuck-making of the graphic non-fade-to-black-variety, we should deffo discuss the sorts of things you discuss before those scenes! (Kinks? I GUESS???) But, as mentioned, it’s deffo not at all on top of my list of prerogatives. We need to BUILD for that!

+ My RP style tends to be 3rd or 2nd (lmao, Homestuck) person, present tense, a couple paragraphs to “oh my god, you can shut up now”. You can write however you like, with my only request being that you be passably literate! Not like, snootily literate. You get what I mean? I hope so. ):

+ As far as activity goes, I’m also fine with the Tumblr esque style of replying whenever you get around to it! If we both happen to be on for a barrage of replies, great! If we can only get one or two out a day, also great! I’m pretty easy going, honestly.

+ I love working in universe and also going mad with AUs. Find some cute starters or AU ideas on tumblr and you wanna throw them at me? I’m always open. From vampires where there are none to school AUs to coffee shop AUs I am willing to try most things, but note: I am primarily a fan of DRAMATIC ROMANCE so keep that in mind!

+ Want some kinda crazy love triangle where your lady is pursued by not one, BUT TWO DUDES? We can probably make it happen!

+ I run the gamut from fluffy and sweet romance to angsty yandere esque stuff, so please feel free to talk to me about what kind of dude you’d like!

===

A SAMPLE OF MY STYLE:

It has been months, Okita reminds himself. It has been months, and months, and more months on top of that – almost a year, maybe a little more, even, and as he sets his teeth behind that constant wolf’s grin, he thinks to himself: You should be better than this. You should be stronger.

But for all the time he’s spent with her, it has never gotten easier. No, no – it has only ever gotten worse, and it’s particularly bad now that he’s alone with her, now that she’s so close –

“Okita-san?” Her voice rings in his ears like a few plucked notes of some delicate string instrument, and he feels his lips part, his smile all teeth. She’s paused, midway between pouring him a cup of tea, and her eyes – ever and much too familiar – meet his with a hint of shyness Okita feels guilty for relishing. “Are you okay?”

“Worried about me, mn?” He rolls his head from one shoulder to the next, halfway between a shrug and a stretch, and tries very hard to resist the urge to pull her towards him, into him, that he might catch more of the rich perfume that lingers along the line of her throat. “You shouldn’t be.”

You should, he thinks, and not without a hint of guilt, be more worried about yourself.

===

ANYWAY, IT’S LATE.

I feel like I’m missing some garbage, but I’ll probably add to this tomorrow when I inevitably remember what I forgot! If you’re interested, send me an ask or a submission or a Tumblr… DM? We can work from there with regards to exchanging contact info!

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

3x06 Missing Scene

So we’re all screaming after the latest @timeless-season-three episode, which included Houdini informing Lucy about something the rest of us have probably guessed for a while, and had Jiya telling Rufus that “Lucy’s over at Flynn’s tonight.” Given that Lucy and Flynn had a tumultuous time during their trip to Roanoke in 3x05 and the ending hug... well, between the two episodes, this totally self-indulgent ficlet was born. Tagging @extasiswings for reasons and of course @qqueenofhades because she’s the reason this whole thing exists in the first place.

This fic is rated Explicit, so you’ll find it below the cut.

She can’t sleep.

That’s not unusual nowadays. Especially now that she’s sharing with Jiya—the poor girl doesn’t like to talk about it but more often than not she wakes up crying in the middle of the night and Lucy crawls over, holding her quietly until it’s over. She knows she’s a poor substitute for the person Jiya really wants to be held by, but it has to be better than nothing.

And besides. If she’s being honest… it reminds her of Amy.

But tonight Jiya’s not sleeping at all, and Lucy can’t handle the suffering of both of them in the same small stuffy room, and her claustrophobia is making her feel like she can’t breathe, and she can’t stop thinking about Flynn.

Garcia.

She nearly lost him. Metaphorically, and then literally, dragged away, sacrificing himself for her while she could do nothing but watch as he was taken. He could’ve been shot, his body dumped into the water, not even a grave and she never would’ve seen him again.

The thought makes her throat close up.

She can’t quite articulate what he is to her. Part of it, she knows, is pure fear. Cowardice. She’s lost too many people—Rufus, Amy, Mom, even Wyatt in a way—and she isn’t sure if she has the strength to speak her heart and then lose someone again.

The other part of it is that she honestly can’t find the words. There’s always been something between them, a spark as deadly as it is exhilarating, and she can’t help but feel the heat of it as it burns when they’re together. It’s intense, and should probably scare her, but it doesn’t. It never has.

But is it—

She can’t finish the sentence, even in her own head.

But she can’t be in this room a second longer, so she gets up, and goes down the hall, and knocks on Flynn’s door.

He opens it with a weary expression on his face, although there’s something warm in his eyes, something she dares to think of now as affection. “Lucy.”

“Garcia.” Now that she’s said his first name once, it seems as though she can’t stop, at least in private. “I was hoping… I could just, spend some time with you?”

“…spend some time.”

She nods.

He gives her an odd look, then opens the door further to let her inside, swinging it softly shut behind her.

“And what did this spending some time entail?”

“I… I’m not here for advice, or anything, I just…” She feels helpless, out of her depth, drowning. “I just need you.”

Flynn blinks at her. “Uh…”

“That came out wrong!” Oh, God, she can feel herself blushing. “I just meant—you—”

The truth is… maybe it didn’t come out that wrong after all. She’s long been aware that Flynn’s generally a three on the personality scale thanks to his near-magical ability to piss off everyone around him, but on the attractiveness scale…

Well. He’s far from hurting.

All right, so maybe he’s annoyingly hot, so what of it? She’s not blind.

And, God, she did nearly lose him, and there have been moments where she’s thought that maybe, the way he was—talking about her and looking at her, that perhaps—

She realizes that the silence has now stretched on long enough to become uncomfortable.

Flynn, at least, looks amused rather than annoyed. “You just meant…” he prompts.

Oh, fuck it. She never does anything reckless, she’s always the good girl, and he’s sexy, and the one person she feels like she can trust and be herself with, and she almost lost him, he almost died and she never even got to finish apologizing, she left so many things unsaid—

She gets up onto her tiptoes, yanks him down by his shirt front, and kisses him.

Flynn does a spectacular impression of a statue.

Something breaks in her chest and she worries—oh God maybe she had it wrong, of course he’s still in love with Lorena, or at least not into her, and she’s crossed a boundary and lost a friend and—

She makes a small sound, she doesn’t mean to but she does as she pulls away, and something about that makes Flynn spring to life. He gets an arm around her waist and hauls her against him, his free hand sliding into her hair to tangle in her curls and tilt her head to the side, giving them both a better angle, as his lips slide against hers and his tongue flicks out, parting the seam of her mouth. She arches up, opening her mouth on a sigh, and for a moment it’s almost soft, slow, the two of them exploring each other for the first time.

Then she remembers why she’s here in the first place. She can feel Flynn’s heartbeat underneath her fingers but it almost stopped, it would be so easy to make it stop—and then she feels hungry, demanding, desperate, and the kiss turns from soft into something else entirely.

She shoves at him, forces him backwards, and Flynn goes easily, acquiesces as he always does to her orders, even the unspoken ones. They land on the bed and she practically claws at his clothes trying to get them off, squirming in his lap, feeling him harden underneath her. A shudder works through her. He feels—well, he feels like he’s six foot four and proportionate.

She wants him inside her so badly she’s dizzy with it.

Her hands finally get underneath his shirt, finally get to skim over the warm planes of his skin, and of course that’s when Flynn’s brain comes back online. He pulls back, panting, and oh, well-kissed and desperate is a very good look on him.

“Lucy.” He says her name like nobody else. “What—”

She cups his face in her hands. “You almost died,” she whispers. “And there are so many—I mean I’ve lost—” Words feel so inadequate. “Garcia,” she ends up whispering, her voice cracking.

He runs a hand through her hair, his thumb brushing her cheek. There’s so much in his eyes, things she doesn’t dare name, and she sort of knows she’s in denial but there’s only so much she can handle right now and she can’t afford to break, she can’t.

“If it really means that much to you,” he whispers, his accent thicker than usual and rather spoiling the lighthearted tone he’s going for, “then I’ll do my best to stick around.”

She makes a noise that’s a laugh and a sob at the same time, and she kisses him again, and this time he doesn’t stop her when she yanks his shirt off.

Oh, fuck, yes, he’s all hard muscle, his skin dotted through with scars, and she doesn’t waste a second getting her mouth on them, feeling them with her tongue. Flynn inhales sharply and then she’s being flipped, her legs spread as she lands on her back on the bed, her loose flannel pajama pants getting yanked down as Flynn gets his mouth on her thighs.

She has to clap a hand over her mouth, surprise making her cry out a little. She’s not ashamed, she’s a grown woman goddammit, but this bunker has enough relationship drama already without adding her and Flynn’s midnight rendezvous to the mix. Flynn chuckles against her skin, dark and self-satisfied, and then he nips at it and proceeds to lick his way into what feels like the very heart of her.

Dear. God.

It might have been a while since Flynn was with Lorena, but he’s forgotten nothing about how to do this. He slides his tongue in and out of her and all she can do is get a handful of his hair and try not to buck him off the bed as she loses all motor functions and the world goes white.

Flynn pulls away from her, his mouth red and slick with her, his eyes questioning as if he’s checking to make sure she really did, in fact, enjoy that orgasm or if all the writhing and tugging at his hair was for show.

She sits up, tugging her shirt up and off and finishing kicking her pants to the floor, then crawls back to him, undoing his own pants and then seating herself in his lap again. She rather likes his lap. She plans to spend a lot more time here from now on.

“I don’t—”

“I took my shot,” she assures him. Being on the pill when you’re time traveling is a bitch to keep track of so she switched to something a bit more permanent way back when she was still living at home, when things—dear God she can’t believe she’s thinking this—actually had some feeling of normalcy.

Flynn hesitates a moment more, then nods and lets her wrap her hand around him.

Mmm, yes, he’s thick, and she takes pleasure in playing with him a little, watching the way Flynn’s mouth falls open and his eyes go wide and glazed. He works his hand between, gets his fingers in her, as if to double check that she’s really sure, she’s ready, and then he’s carefully parting her and she’s sinking down onto him and all the air gets punched out of her lungs.

She tips forward and rests her forehead against his, the two of them breathing together for a moment as they both adjust. She wraps her arms around his neck, wondering if she can take all of him into her, if she can somehow actually make magic happen and brand him, mark him, so that his life is tied to hers and he will remain alive so long as she does.

It certainly feels like something deep, some kind of witchcraft, as she tilts her head and their mouths meet again. She can taste herself on his tongue as she sucks on it, as his teeth scrape against her lower lip, and at last, as if by silent pact, they both begin to move.

She presses down onto him as he thrusts up, and it’s a bit shallow but good, so good, gliding along and pressing against those nerves as she gets used to him, opens up more for him. Her mouth falls open and she begins to breathe by gasps, Flynn’s chest heaving against hers, their skin growing slick with sweat as their bodies slide against each other. Her nails dig into his back and he groans, thrusts harder, and with that it’s like a dam breaking loose. He falls back and she digs her knees into the mattress, fucks down onto him as hard and fast as she can, drawing him into her and marking his chest in glorious stripes of red as he moves his palms up to cup her breasts, then slides them down to rub his thumb against her clit, and it feels like she’s at the center of a whirlwind, like she’s the storm itself and dragging him in with her, like maybe she—what they are together—is a union at once unholy and fantastical.

Flynn is, in his own intense and unconventional way, ever the gentleman, and she can feel him straining to hold back as he fucks her, touching her in all the places that he learns can make her moan, until she’s coming a second time and clenching around him, her head falling back. She collapses forward onto him and he wraps an arm around her lower back, thrusts deep into her a few last, messy times, before she can feel him stiffening and spilling within her.

She feels completely, thoroughly fucked, and she loves it.

They breathe harshly, covered in sweat and, in Flynn’s case, claw marks. She isn’t sure what to say, what to do now. All she knows is that she doesn’t want to leave him.

He slides out of her eventually, growing soft, and they manage to clean themselves up somewhat. She doesn’t bother with her pants, just tugs her shirt over her head, and Flynn gets his pants back on but arches his eyebrows in amusement and obeys when she shakes her head as he grabs his shirt, dropping it dramatically to the floor. She can’t help but laugh a little at that, and his smile turns into a full on beam of sunshine, as if he can’t believe that he’s actually managed to make her joyful, if only for a moment.

She isn’t sure how to ask if she should stay, but Flynn seems to take it for granted, sliding into bed on his side and pulling back the blankets for her. “Would you call that ‘gentle and responsive’?” she teases as she slides in next to him.

Flynn snorts, tugging the blankets over both of them as she unashamedly snuggles into his side. “Looks like the journal lied, then.”

She chokes on her own spit. “I—the—it doesn’t say that in there!”

Flynn laughs so hard he makes the bed shake. “I’m sorry—the look on your face—”

She smacks him on the chest, uncaring that she’s hitting the marks she made with her nails. “You asshole.”

Flynn just hums, looking smug, pulling her back into his side. Lucy bites her lip. There are things she knows they need to talk about. Things she’s kept back from him. The ghost of her night with Wyatt hovers over her shoulder, reminding her what happened the last time she gave into her desire for someone. And there is the whole… matter of her family to consider, the truth she’s too scared to tell him.

But Flynn is warm and solid around her, and he plays with her hair as she nestles against him, and hums off-key under his breath, and she’s so tired, and she just wants to hold onto this with him as long as she can.

Even if she knows that they will, in fact, have to talk about what they are to each other, and about what they might feel. Even if she knows she’s sort of running on borrowed time.

Instead for now she sleeps, sleeps in his arms and feels like she’s not alone.

[uinen-harth-estraven]

Loving Vincent. (Tom Hiddleston x Reader)

Title: Loving Vincent.

Chapter no.: 6 (last chapter)

Notes: The story is written in Tom’s pov.This part,this month is December.

Rating/Warnings: ANGST,death

Chapter’s Soundtrack: Gnossienne by Erik Satie (x)

Summary: Your family,not the best,dump you to a pcychiatric clinic in London due to your melancholia,if only they knew..

Tag List: @lilyrosebae , @naniky , @queen-of-elves

A/N: Phew..I really loved this story,this is the last chapter my loves,I hope you like it!

December 6,2018.

I don’t know how it happened,how was she able to do it or why..(Y/N) shot herself on the chest,12:00 a.m.I believe my mistake was that I let her walk around the clinic alone.What troubles me the most is that from all those months she stayed here,she grew to know where exactly are the security cameras.So when the guard left his post to go see what was wrong with a camera,she went in his place and stole his gun which he forgot in there!The guard returning to his post realized that his gun was missing,so he send a message to everyone in the clinic to search for it.Of course no one was expecting that a patient would have stollen,because all the doctors are with their patients almost all the time..except from me..I was careless,I had so much faith in her that I didn’t suspect her.Until the night that I heard a gun shot in the next room.

Panicked as I became I got dressed as quick as I could and ran to her room.I opened the door and saw my little girl,my (Y/N)..on the floor,her blood a pool around her,she wasn’t dead..oh no..that means she could feel the pain.Seconds passed as I heard more footsteps coming our way.I immediately ran to her,lifted her from the floor up to her bed.She was looking in my eyes,she was crying.She was weak I could tell..not too weak to die but not to strong to live either.

I send William,for medicine and gauzes to stop the bleeding,anesthesia shots,lancet blades and anything that could help me getting out the bullet.Oxygen devices,heart rate devices,warm blankets,anything and everything to keep her alive,to keep her away from pain.

I tried to open her blooded shirt so I can clean up the wound,when her trembling hand touched mine.I looked in her eyes but she was trying to tell me something..her voice was a whisper,a too weak whisper,I bowed my head closer to hers and that’s when I heard a pained and faint..

“I’m sorry..”

December 7,2018.

I tried to hard just to take out the bullet,but no matter how hard I tried..the bullet was stuck in her sternum,the x-ray showed that her heart is scratched,it’s a miracle she didn’t die immediately..I can’t do anything than wait..and wait I will,I won’t leave her alone this time.

Her breaths are heavy,her eyes closed but I know better..I know she’s awake.

I look around her room,Starry Night is complete..all those beautiful colours is the only thing that calms me,but there’s something different in the side room..painted with glow paint.I stand up as quiet as I could to not disturb her,and went closer to take a look.What I saw made me sad and happy at the same time.

It was a scene.Vincent,her and me together.I was wearing black trousers,white shirt and waistcoat,I could see the detail and it was looking like lace made,its colour was a dark green,almost black..I had black shoes on,my hair were longer and a bit darker,and my left arm was stretched towards her,offering my hand to her,smiling softly.Van Gogh had an arm around my shoulder,he was almost behind me,he was wearing the same clothes,only he had also a coat and the colours he was wearing were mostly brownish.His other hand was streched towards her but his whole body was disappearing,like a ghost or a fading memory..

(Y/N)..she was wearing a beautiful dress with a corset..but it wasn’t very long,it ends just below her knees..she was wearing black knee length boots that fit perfectly with her black dress,her arms stretched towards me and Van Gogh,her hand almost touching mine..almost..

A tear run down my cheek,as I turned to leave I saw her looking at me with a pained smile,her heart beats really slow,slower than before..and keep on slowing down..oh no..

I ran towards her..just before my hand was about to take hers..the heart beats stopped..her eyes closed..a faint smile..she was gone..I looked at the clock,2:00 a.m..she died at her birthday..

I didn’t know what to do..I just hold her hand,and gave her a kiss..how could I imagine that our first and last true kiss would be when she dies..William let out a sigh,he was with me most of the time,started gathering things.

“Tom..”

“My little girl..”

“..”

“Wake up..please..”

“Tom..buddy..”

“Open your eyes,love..”

I knew she was dead..but the fact that I didn’t said to her how much I love her..it breaks me..

“I’m so sorry Tom..”

He was taking care of the things in her desk when he found those letters..

December 8,2018.

Name: (Y/N) (Y/F/N)

Rag.No.: 1225

Age: 37

Sex: Female

Birth Date: December 8,1981

Ward: Melancholic Depression

Date of Death: December 8,2018

Hour Of Death: 2:00 a.m

Report: (Y/N) (Y/L/N) has been in the clinic for 5 months.She was a very special patient,the least hostile with the doctors,the most loveable among other patients.She had a big imagination,and a special love about Vincent Van Gogh.I can not understand exactly the reason that made her take her own life the night of December the 6th,but I can tell you that she wasn’t insane,she was different,lonely,melacholic and enigmatic.

After her death,on her desk we found 2 letters,the first letter was for patient Navid Amalfitano,her closest friend.After reading the letter,Navid became hostile.He wasn’t talking to anyone not even his doctor,William Blake,he wasn’t eating or drinking,and after two days of (Y/N)’s death,he took his own life too..holding a piece of paper that wrote “I’m coming my friend.”

The second letter was for me,her doctor,Thomas William Hiddleston.It was a copy of Van Gogh’s last letter to his brother Theo..only it was written for me.The letters goes bellow:

“My dear love,

Thanks for your kind letter and for the 50-franc note it contained.

I’d really like to write to you about many things, but I sense the pointlessness of it.

I hope that you’ll have found those gentlemen favourably disposed towards you.

   You didn’t need to reassure me as to the state of peace of your household. I believe I’ve seen the good as much as the other side. And besides, am so much in agreement that helping us is hard labour, as much for you as for dear William and the rest. Since that’s going well, which is the main thing, should I go on about things of lesser importance? My word, there’s probably a long way to go before there’s a chance of talking business with more rested minds. That’s the only thing I can say at the moment, and that for my part I realized it with a certain horror, I haven’t yet hidden it, but that really is all.  

The other painters, whatever they think about it, instinctively keep their distance from discussions on current trade. Ah well, really we can only make our paintings speak.

But however, my dear love, there’s this that I’ve always told you, and I tell you again once more with all the gravity that can be imparted by the efforts of thought assiduously fixed on trying to do as well as one can – I tell you again that I’ll always consider that you’re something other than a simple doctor,that through my intermediacy you have your part in the very production of a certain painting, which even in calamity retain its calm. For that’s where we are, and that’s all, or at least the main thing I can have to tell you in a moment of relative crisis. In a moment when things are very tense between dealers in paintings – by dead artists – and living artists.

Ah well, I risk my life for my own work and my reason has half foundered in it – very well – but you’re not one of the dealers in men; as far as I know and can judge I think you really act with humanity, but what can you do..I wish I could tell you how you make me feel..I wish you knew that - besides my actions - you’re the one in my heart,and I wish I was strong enough to tell you,but what can I do..”

That Letter changed my life..That day I didn’t loose just a patient..I lost the love of my life..the only woman that won my heart without even trying,the woman that made life in this clinic more bearable.By taking her life,she took Navid’s life and mine with her..

Our clinic isn’t very famous but we have many patients nevertheless,we help them with special treatment each,and we do something that other clinics don’t,we make our patients feel at home.The entire world is in chaos..many people have problems,no matter if they’re big or medium or small problems,they exist and always make us anxious,depressed,most of all tired.Clinics like ours exist to help those people,who society thinks them weak,to hold on..to keep trying,to keep fighting.I tried to do it with (Y/N),I tried to show her that everything will be alright..I guess I lost.Taking her own life doesn’t mean she’s weak..no..it was different,she believed in something to much,so deeply,that she proved it by shooting herself.She wasn’t afraid of death..It takes a lot of nerve to kill someone,but it takes a lot more to take your own life.

To me she is the bravest of them all,her and then Navid.They both believed in something..they proved it.And all I wish is,when the time comes I will be able to see my little girl,and that time we won’t part again.

I’m Thomas W. Hiddleston,and as the leader pcychiatrist in the depression section,I lock their rooms,101 and 648,never to be opened again or to be used by other patients.I take responsibility of their funeral and their graves will be side by side,in the hill under the roses.In my will I want to write that when I live this place,this life I want to be buried beside my love,my little girl,my sweet (Y/N).

The End.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I did,and as usual leave a comment? ♥

[fallen-imagine-angel]

Your Forever Home (Harry Potter AU with Peter Parker) Chapter 9

Notes: Hey guys, here’s part nine of the HP AU with Peter! I’m so happy people are liking this so far and it’s been so great to write this. Unfortunately, though, I will not have the next chapter up for a couple more days because I have a guest staying with me this weekend. I will try to get it up earlier than that, but I can’t make any promises. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Summary: The chapter where you finally feel like you have a home again.

Your Forever Home - Chapter 9

Peter Parker x Reader

Word Count: 1,538

Warnings: FLUFF, also a smidge of angst if you read between the lines. also, it’s a little short, sorry.

About a month later, Peter walks into your room, which is really the spare bedroom that you stay in. You see that he’s crying and you immediately drop what you’re doing to sit down next to him on your bed.

“What’s wrong?” You ask, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“Liz broke up with me.” He sniffs, and you can hear the heartbreak in his voice. Your heart physically hurts at this. Not only because your best friend and crush is crying, but because he liked her so much that he feels the need to cry over her since she broke his heart.

“Oh my god, what happened?” You ask, giving him a pained look. He frowns.

“Well, it wasn’t completely her. We had an argument and she was the one to actually break up with me, but I wouldn’t take back anything I said. I guess it’s better we ended if she can’t deal with why we argued.” He shrugs, but you see one more tear glide down his face. You reach to wipe it away, keeping your hand on his cheek once it’s gone.

“What was the argument about?” You ask, grazing his cheek with your thumb. You drop your hand, missing the sad look on his face after you do.

“Well, we were talking, and I told her that you’re staying with me. I told her because I didn’t want her finding out some other way and freaking out on me. She freaked out anyway, and we fought. I explained that you were in a bad situation at home, but I didn’t go into detail, and she kept pushing for answers, and since I didn’t give her any, she got so upset that she just...broke up with me. I would kind of rather it be that way, though, because if she can’t deal with you staying with me then it’s not meant to be. You’re my best friend, and I hold your relationship above all others. You matter more to me than she does. Especially since you need me right now.” He puts an arm around your shoulders and you’re on cloud nine. Not only did he say he was glad they broke up, but he said he cherishes your friendship above anyone else’s friendship.

“Thanks, Pete. I value you above everyone else, too. Especially since you saved me.” You smile and lean into him, wrapping your arm around his waist. He pulls you closer to him in a side hug.

“I would do it again. Every time.” He promises and presses his lips to the top of your head and your breathing hitches. This doesn’t feel like a friendly thing anymore.

“Peter?” You whisper. He doesn’t move.

“Hm?” He hums, and you feel the vibration on your head. You close your eyes and let out a steady breath.

“Is this what friends do?” You ask, biting your lip in anxiety.

“I...I guess not.” Peter moves his head just slightly to answer you, and your heart rate quickens rapidly.

“So what does that mean?” You pull away and look up at him, frowning. You don’t want to be his rebound.

“I... don't know. I guess we could...I mean, we could try to uh, be something. If you want.” He stutters, looking at you for approval. As much as you want to say yes, you shake your head.

“Peter, I like you a lot, but...you just got dumped. I don’t want to be your rebound.” You look down at your hands, only to feel Peter lift your head back up again.

“You could never be my rebound, (Y/n/n). It’s always been you, after all. Everytime me and Liz would do something together, I couldn’t help but think if it was you there instead. I wanted to ask you to the Yule Ball, but I kinda liked Liz and I thought I had a better chance with her. Plus, I wouldn’t have felt as heartbroken if she would’ve said no. Then she said yes and my feelings grew a little more each time I hung out with her, but she was never you. When you started to ignore me….it hurt me more than I like to admit, but now that I have you back and Liz is out of the picture, it can be just you and me again. Like it’s meant to be.” He goes on a tangent, grabbing your hand in the middle of it and rubbing his thumb softly on the back of it.

“I feel the same way, but I really don’t think that now is a good time. Liz literally just broke up with you, and you came in here crying over her. You should give it time before we try to get together. I just want you to know that I will wait for you until you’re ready to date again. I just don’t think now is that time.” You smile and squeeze his hand. He nods and looks a little hurt, but understanding. You lean in and give his cheek a small kiss, making his face light up.

“What was that for?” He smiles at you.

“Just a promise. A promise that I will always be here with you, waiting for you.” You lean into him again, and his arm is wrapped around your shoulders once more. Nothing will ever be the same between you again, but do you want it to be? The answer to that is no. For now.

~+~

The next morning, you’re woken up to the smell of breakfast. You inhale deeply, loving the smell that you hardly ever get the pleasure of smelling, and sit up straight. Peter walks in with a large tray and sets it down on your lap.

“Breakfast in bed for my beautiful girlfriend.” Peter gives you a charming smile which you return with a pointed look.

“What did I tell you last night?” You hum, still looking over the delicious food he had prepared for you.

“Fine. Breakfast in bed for my beautiful...friend, for now.” He winks and sits down on your bed next to you, laying his arm around your shoulders. This was your new thing, he’d lay his arm around your shoulders and both of you would know that it meant more than friends, but he’d never make a move past that. Which you’re thankful for because you don’t want to keep reminding him of the boundaries. If you have to keep reminding him, it’ll get difficult to abide by the rules on your side, too, eventually.

“That’s better. I have a question, by the way.” You grin and dig into your food, even offering him a couple bites which you fed him. 

“Oh yeah, and what is that?” He asks, taking another bite of your food that you offered to him.

“Why did say I was like your sister about a month ago? You seriously friend zoned me and now you’re, like, all over me.” You tease, but it’s a serious question.

“Well, I was trying to deny my feelings for you since I was with Liz. I didn’t want to like you because I thought you were unattainable and that I’d just end up getting hurt at the end, which obviously isn’t the case anymore. I threw caution to the wind and look how it turned out in my favor.” He gives you a cheeky smile which makes you giggle. The rest of the morning is filled with jokes and laughter with your favorite person.

That afternoon, though, things changed. Just slightly.

“Hey, Peter--” May walks in on you and Peter sitting on your bed, casually talking, with his arm around your shoulder. May raises an eyebrow at the two of you, and your face heats up.

“It’s not what you think, May!” You blurt out, covering your mouth afterward.

“We’re just talking.” Peter backs you up, blushing madly. You let out a small giggle as May laughs.

“Okay, kids. I’ll accept that answer for now. I just wanted to tell you guys that dinner’s ready.” May shoots you a wink and walks out, leaving the door open. Peter groans.

“I cannot believe that just happened. I’m so embarrassed.” He sighs, getting up and rubbing a hand over his face. You chuckle and take his hand in yours, letting them dangle loosely.

“It’s not like we were doing anything, Pete. After all, we’re just friends right now.” You tease and walk out of your room to go get dinner. Peter follows closely behind, with a pouty frown on his face. You smirk.

He’s wrapped around your finger and neither of you even know it yet. 

You, Peter, May, and Tony have dinner like a happy family would. You’ve been dreaming for this moment to happen since you were little. You’ve never had a nice family dinner like this before since when you were younger your parents were always out of town or busy during dinner. On the rare occasion that they did sit down with you at dinner, it was always tense and never filled with laughter like this dinner is. You think you’ve finally found your home, and that’s with Peter and his family.

Until it’s all ripped away from you one fateful night.

Tag List: @nerdofthehighestcalibre @carry-on-ms-believer @trumpettay @tcmhcllqnd @ajl090 @mysticalmagicmoon @anglekit123 @farfromjustordinary

(Strikethrough means it wouldn’t let me tag you)

[nachtgraves]

Andreil Week 2018 - Day 1

Ey. I’ve never participated in a fandom week type deal so I thought this might be fun. I’m not doing all the days, but gonna attempt to do every other instead :D

If you squint, I technically incorporated all three of today’s prompts in some form. As per usual, given a prompt, chances are I’ll stretch it to the point it probably doesn’t count anymore. I can’t read a map and following directions sans detours is hard.

Influenced by Nekojita’s Heartlines and you should read that if you haven’t already. Just read all her work, honestly.

Title: A Midsummer Night’s Fib  // AO3 Word Count: 3,620 Warnings/Tags: G. Urban fantasy AU, bastardization of midsummer practices and festivals of past and present, an abnormal amount of glitter and sparkles Prompts: shakespeare | mythology | fake dating/fake exes

Neil doesn’t know why he did it but Nicky wasn’t going to quit and Allison had her phone out with that plotting gleam in her eyes and Dan and Matt were looking at him in certain ways and he just blurt it out: “I’m going with Andrew.”

They all fall silent, staring at him in various forms of shock, disbelief, and overwhelming confusion. Maybe he can make his escape while they process his words.

Nicky recovers before he can give the escape attempt more thought, however. “Andrew? You definitely mean an Andrew that isn’t my cousin, right?”

“Why are you going with the monster?” Allison demands.

“So much makes sense now,” Matt mutters and Neil would like to know what he means by that but, as if summoned, Andrew enters the room. He looks around at the various faces staring back at him before turning around and leaving without a word.

“Andrew, wait!” Nicky is the first to recover, chasing after his cousin before Andrew can get too far. “You’re going to Midsummer? With Neil?!”

Andrew stops in the middle of the doorway and turns back around. His face is blank but he meets Neil’s eyes for a brief moment before answering Nicky, bland and dry, “What I may or may not be doing is none of your business,” and then leaving.

Allison comes up to Neil, looks him up and down then directs her gaze to where Andrew had gone and sighing. “Why? I will never understand why you always go for the monster when there are way better options you could pick from. That woodland druid we ran into grabbing things for Abby a few days ago, for instance. He was so into you and not a psychopath.”

Neil just blinks at Allison. He thinks he knows what druid she’s talking about but that’s about it. Allison just sighs heavily again and shakes her head. “Whatever. I guess I should commend you for getting Andrew to come to Midsummer for the first time in forever.”

Neil frowns. “He’s never gone?”

Dan answers him. “Andrew’s not really big on the quarter day festivals, really any sort of festival, in case you hadn’t noticed. And he’s not Fae so he’d need to be taken as a guest, not that he’s ever accepted anyone’s offer for as long as he’s been here.”

Neil himself isn’t quite up to date on what Fae festival and celebration etiquette is. Between Baltimore and being on the run, Fae celebrations were never something he partook in. For most of his life, his mother’s Fae heritage was beaten down and he recoiled against his father’s warlock practices.

He doesn’t get a chance to think on his past for too long. Nicky, having lost Andrew, comes bounding towards Neil with a broad grin that has Neil worried.

“Since you’ve got yourself a date, that’s part one done,” he starts. Neil really doesn’t want to hear part two, or if there’s a part three and four to follow. But Nicky barrels on, his eyes doing that sparkly thing it does when he’s excited about Erik or shopping or matchmaking. “Now, we need clothes!”

Neil regrets everything.

Midsummer lands on a Saturday this year, and the festival starts midday Friday to the sunset on Saturday, just over 24 hours of celebrations. Basically, it’s just a drinking marathon with interspersed traditional events, as far as Neil knows.

Shopping ends up being a team activity. They split up into the various cars, Neil going with the twins, Nicky, and Kevin. Once at the mall, the group splits up, agreeing to meet up at the food court in a couple hours. Dan, Matt, Renee, and Allison go off, Allison knowing exactly where she wants to go. Aaron dips away to meet up with Katelyn, leaving Andrew, Neil, and Kevin to follow after Nicky.

They wind up in stores that Neil would only ever expect Renee to shop at, but he learns that Midsummer attire consists of light, airy, or floral. He can’t imagine Andrew dressing in anything on the racks around them.

Neil’s eyes flit to the man, picking blankly through some loose, long sleeved shirts, and worries his bottom lip. He hasn’t had the chance to speak with his apparent date, never able to catch Andrew alone. So far, it seems like Andrew is going to play along. At the very least, he hasn’t thrown Neil under the bus. But Neil doesn’t want to force Andrew into doing something he doesn’t want to, the guilt eats up at him.

Looking around, Nicky’s looking through jeans, a pile of clothes already over one arm, and Kevin’s on his phone texting. Neil makes his way over to Andrew, pretending to look through the pile of shirts next to him.

“You don’t have to pretend to be my, uh, date,” he says.

Andrew makes no sign that he heard Neil, or even acknowledges him. He just grabs one of the shirts from the rack and throws it at Neil. Neil only just catches it. It’s soft and light, a faded dark red. Andrew moves on to a pile of jeans and grabs a light beige pair after looking through sizes, tossing that to Neil as well.

“Go try those one,” he orders. Neil frowns but does as told when Andrew just stares at him. Like previous times, the clothes fit well in that they’re not too big on his frame per his usual preference, but these are still light and loose. The shirt has some sort of crisscross lacing at the neck that dips down his sternum, and the sleeves are a smidge too long, coming halfway down his palms. The jeans are tight, formed to his legs, especially at his calves. They’re ripped at the knees with other signs of distress low on his thighs and along his shins.

He changes back into his own clothes and goes to find Andrew and the others. They all finish up relatively quickly and go to pay. Andrew dumps his collection with Neil’s with a pointed, “This is your fault.”

Since that’s about as close as Neil is going to get as a response to whether or not Andrew’s on board with the charade, he pays for the both of them and only winces slightly at the resulting cost. Nicky has a few other shops he wants to go to so they follow after him until it’s about time to meet back up with the others and grab food.

Dan, Matt, Allison, and Renee are already there. They’ve commandeered a table big enough for all of them and two extra chairs are piled with shopping bags. They’ve also already gone and grabbed food, trays ranging from burgers to pizza to what looks like Thai. Andrew’s crew dump their bags and go off to grab food of their own before returning. Neil pays for Andrew’s burger and tooth-rotting milkshake.

“Successful day?” Nicky asks, plopping down and immediately going into conversation about purchases with Allison and Matt. Neil quietly takes a seat at the end of the table next to Andrew, busying himself with his salad. Aaron and Katelyn show up and Katelyn joins in talking about Midsummer plans and excitement. Neil keeps half an ear on their conversation, piecing together what Midsummer with the Foxes entails. It really doesn’t sound like much more than a big party involving all the Fae courts in the area.

Neil’s content to listen and pick at his salad, but not everyone else is on board with that. He’s pulled into conversation by Allison cupping her chin in her palm and leaning across the table, staring him down. “So how long have you and Andrew been enough of a thing to go to Midsummer as a pair?”

Neil looks to Andrew who continues to work on his monstrosity of a milkshake. The only sign of him paying attention to the table is the way he loudly sucks up the chocolate and brownie ice cream mix.

Neil rolls his eyes at Allison. “It’s not anyone’s business. It’s just a party.”

“Midsummer is not just a party,” Nicky butts in. “Of all the quarter days it’s the one that’s all about relationships! Erik proposed to me at the last one I went to with him in Germany.”

“It does focus on relationships, but not only of those romantic in nature. There’s an emphasis on women and family as a whole, as well,” Renee adds.

Neil frowns. “But you were trying to set me up with strangers.”

Allison just looks at him like he’s a fumbling child who doesn’t know anything. “You don’t go to Midsummer stag unless you intend to get around or your partner can’t make it for whatever reason.”

Neil still doesn’t get why they care so much. He stuffs his mouth to keep from having to continue the conversation and is relieved when Renee distracts everyone by talking about the upcoming fall semester.

Neil finishes his salad and slides his eyes to Andrew who’s dipping his French fries into what’s left of his milkshake. Andrew meets his gaze and raises a brow mockingly at him. “Enjoying your first Midsummer?”

Neil really doesn’t need his input on how much of a hassle one little fib’s turned into.

Midsummer Eve starts like a normal day up until Neil is nabbed by Allison and Nicky to get dressed and made up. He’s given a pile of clothes and told to get dressed. In addition to what he had tried on the other day, he’s given knee-high leather boots that lace up all the way and an assortment of braided leather and hemp bracelets in varying shades of brown that all together cover a good three inches of his wrists. He’s made to sit through a bit of make-up, Allison lining his eyes with dark red-brown eyeliner and smudging some sort of gel, shimmery with specks of red glitter, on his cheeks. He draws the line at the equally shimmery lip gloss Allison is poised to smear on him.

Allison isn’t too disappointed. “I figured the lip gloss would be too much for you.”

Nicky, however, sulks openly as he gets his turn to arrange Neil’s auburn curls. He adds some sort of spray to it on top of the styling gel. Neil catches sight of the can, seeing it’s some sort of gold glitter spray suitable for skin and hair.

When he’s allowed to see himself, Neil scrunches his nose at his appearance. He looks, well, Fae. There’s no other word to describe it. If he pulled down the glamour that rounded his ears, he’d look like something out of a fairy tale storybook, scars ignored. It’s almost too much, but seeing how the girls and Nicky are done up, he’s grateful that this is all they’ve done to him. He could have had glittery lips to match his hair and cheeks and a lot more sparkly jewelry.

They meet up at the court when they’re ready. Everyone’s dressed in ways to complement their natures or alignments, or matching their Fae date. They’ve all got shimmery glitter on them in some form. Neil wonders if Allison and Nicky bought out their favourite stores of everything that contained glitter and sparkles.

In essence, they look like they got lost going to a Renaissance faire. Even Andrew’s deigned to look the part, although he’s stuck with his black, just in different cuts. Neil finds himself staring at the way the shirt, similar to his own but a deep black, hugs Andrew’s shoulders. Somehow, he’s been convinced to partake in the glitter, his jeans glittering silver in the light and a matching shimmer in his hair.

Andrew comes up to him. “Staring,” he accuses, but he stares Neil up and down before reaching out and tugging at the leather necklace around Neil’s neck, pulling Neil down and leaving barely inches between their faces. He reaches up to thumb at Neil’s cheek, some of the red glitter staining his thumb.

“Couldn’t take the lip gloss? Andrew smirks.

Neil narrows his eyes. “Not like you’re wearing any either.”

Andrew shrugs and lets Neil go, moving to stand beside him waiting for Wymack and Abby to finish up lighting up the first fires. Since they can’t go around lighting full bonfires across campus and the court, they light candles that will burn until they get back. They’re put everywhere from Wymack’s office to around the court to the dorms.

“Now, most of you know how this works. We’ll be there until tomorrow morning unless one of you idiots manage to do something that’ll have us leaving before someone dies or gets cursed,” Wymack says as Abby gathers together what she needs to create a portal to the Fae realm.

Where Midsummer is held differs every year and by regions, but it is always within the Fae realm. Abby and Wymack, with help from Renee, create the portal and they all file through once it’s set up. Non-Fae enter with the Fae who invited them and Neil watches as Allison takes Renee, arm in arm, while Dan ushers Aaron and Katelyn in, and Matt takes Nicky, Nicky cheerfully clinging onto Matt’s arm. Kevin escorts Abby, so Wymack can keep the doors open and Neil realizes it’s his and Andrew’s turn.

Andrew offers an arm and a quiet, “Yes or no?”

Neil nods, says yes just as quietly, and lightly slides his hand into the offered crook.

There’s nothing overly shocking about stepping through the portal, it’s a smooth transition for the most part. But Neil feels his glamour fall the second he and Andrew are through and into a clearing alight with lanterns and the beginnings of the biggest bonfire he’s ever seen. He panics, hands going up to his ears, now pointed and distinctly elven, and he can only imagine that his pupils have turned into cat-like slits, mirror images of his father’s.

A hand comes up and grips lightly but firmly at the back of his neck and after a second, Neil sees that it’s Andrew’s. He allows Andrew to guide him to the side, towards a copse of trees decorated with little lights.

“Glamours have no effect in places like this,” Andrew says. Neil knows that there are such places, it just didn’t cross his mind that Midsummer was held in one of them. “Is this going to be a problem?”

Neil takes some controlling breaths and shakes his head. “I just wasn’t expecting it.” He looks around and sees that it’s true, no one appears to have glamours, an array of various Fae and their companions in full form. Matt’s arms are patched with bark, Dan’s hair is littered with tiny flicks of flames, and Allison’s translucent wings are tucked behind her back as she walks with Renee towards where the bonfire is being set up.

Andrew releases his hold on Neil’s neck, and Neil finds himself missing it. But he focuses and grounds himself, tries to ignore how open and vulnerable he feels without his glamour, something he’s far too used to constantly having on his person.

When he feels more or less in control again, Andrew’s staring at him. Neil raises a brow and Andrew shakes his head and starts walking towards where food is laid out. “You Fae better have alcohol at these things.”

There are various types of alcohol, mundane and Fae tinkered. Andrew sticks to the normal drinks and piles a plate high with various desserts after making Neil figure out what some of the unfamiliar ones are. Neil sticks to the array of fruits, berries, and cheeses.

Neil finds Midsummer to be interesting on the whole. The bonfire is built quickly and people in pairs or groups dance around it. Nicky flits between couples and people who appear to be single, dancing and running around cheerfully. He even takes Katelyn for a round around the fire, the two twirling amongst other couples and groups. Abby and Wymack stick to the small lake where mermaids and water aligned Fae linger. There looks to be some sort of flower garland making camp set up, rings of woven flowers and foliage set to float into the water. Neil notices that a number of attendees have flowers in their hair as the night goes on, ranging from crowns to being woven directly into their locks.

At some point, Renee comes by, a rainbow crown of flowers in her hair, and hands Neil and Andrew flower crowns of their own. Neil’s is made of flowers in hues of red and white and Andrew’s of dark purples and grey. They’re lightly dusted in glitter and Neil both wants to and doesn’t want to know where on earth they’re all getting it from. Andrew scowls at it but puts it on and dares Neil to comment on it with a glare.

“Who’s the one that looks like some woodland elf?” Andrew sneers when Neil can’t stop his smile quick enough.

“At least I don’t look like some goth pixie.” Neil gets shoved for that, dropping his fruits. He glares at Andrew who just smirks. But when Andrew goes to refill on drinks and sweets, he has an extra bowl of sugar glazed berries he claims he lost interest in on the walk back to Neil. They’re almost too sugary sweet but Neil eats them all, licking his fingers of the glaze after.

He finds Andrew watching him before Andrew looks back to the fire, watching his brother and cousin and Kevin who’s been off with Thea who came separately. Neil grabbing some more of the sugar covered fruit is met with narrowed eyes. It only encourages him to smile as he offers some of the fruit to Andrew who only scoffs and takes a swig of his drink.

As the sun begins to set, young Fae take part in some tradition involving jumping over the bonfire that’s settled down to something a little more reasonable. Couples go after and Neil watches Matt and Dan, Allison and Renee, Aaron and Katelyn, and even Wymack and Abby. He doesn’t know if he and Andrew are expected to do so, but he sees some other pairs only watching and stays settled in the grass beside Andrew. However, once it begins to grow dark and the lanterns and lights in the field grow brighter, Neil and Andrew are tracked down by the Foxes, none sober, and forced to join in the new round of dancing around the dying bonfire.

It’s not terrible, and Neil finds himself laughing and smiling at the Foxes’ actions. And then Nicky ushers Neil towards Andrew exclaiming something about how the two haven’t danced at all together the entire night and Neil just barely stops himself from crashing fully into the scowling man.

“I’m going to kill him,” Andrew mutters but he holds out a hand and directs to Neil, “Yes or no?”

Neil blinks in surprise but he finds himself taking Andrew’s hand and saying, “Yes.”

“Hands don’t go below my shoulders,” Andrew states, his own going to Neil’s waist after pausing for Neil to nod his consent. Neil lightly places his hands on Andrew’s shoulders, feeling the muscle and warmth through his thin shirt.

As they dance around the fire, Neil thinks back and realizes he’s not entirely clueless as to why Andrew’s name was on his tongue. They may have started off rocky when Neil first met the Foxes, but Andrew’s safe. Andrew is strange and dangerous but safe. He’s not safe in the conventional way, but he understands Neil and Neil knows he can trust the other man.

He doesn’t know what look is on his face but Andrew stares just as intently at him for the duration of the dance before they break apart. Andrew leads the way to the side, finding a patch of grass barely touched by the firelight. Neil sits down beside him, just short of their shoulders brushing.

The festivities die down, people dozing off around the fire, going into the woods to sleep for a few hours. The Foxes all gather to where Neil and Andrew are, eating and drinking until one by one they nod off and Neil and Andrew are the only Foxes awake.

“The autumnal equinox is next,” Andrew says quietly. “Now that you’ve agreed to this one, fat chance of evading any of the others.”

Neil groans, falling over his bent legs, pressing his forehead to his knees. “I have to deal with Allison and Nicky trying to set me up four times a year now?” He turns his head when the expected jab from Andrew doesn’t come, staining the knees of his pants with the red glitter that is still stubbornly stuck to his cheeks.

Andrew’s looking at him, considering. His flower crown is tilted and in the flickering lights of the fire there’s something unearthly about the human. Neil wants to reach out and touch the curve of his jaw, feel the strength of his shoulder again.

“Staring,” Andrew says.

“So are you,” Neil replies.

“Why did you lie?”

Neil frowns. “About?”

Andrew rolls his eyes and gestures around.

“Oh. I just wanted them to get off my back,” Neil answers. “I just blurted your name out.” The shuttered blankness of Andrew’s expression has Neil offering more, a truth he’s still figuring out. “At first I didn’t know why I picked you, but. I think I would have asked you anyway.”

Neil doesn’t know if he’s said too much, revealed too much, but Andrew only reaches a hand out towards Neil’s face. “Yes or no?”

Neil sits up, pressing his cheek into Andrew’s waiting hand, keeps his hands in the grass.

“Yes.”