#Nicole nourmal

[sage-lights]

(in angela’s voice) THERE YOU GO!! THERE’S YOUR CLIP!!!!!

[i-miss-summertime]

[ianthoni]

Choose your fighter from sleepy hard working Smosh soldiers

[femmmie]

[heart-of-the-card]

In the newest assumption episode, I love that Nicole is on camera

[femmmie]

I'M SCREAMING

[femmmie]

THE ISLAND

Read on AO3

Chapter 14: Reconnecting

Excerpt: Tommy had been extremely anxious on the way there but when Spencer opened the door, all that dread disappeared.

“Hey there, gamer,” Spencer joked. Or did he? He was wearing a headset, and had a Switch in his one hand.

Chapter wordcount: 1.943

Rated: general

It was four pm on a Thursday afternoon. Brandon squinted as he opened his eyes. Too bright. He had the night shift yesterday and made the most of it. He still felt some of the residue THC in his system.

His doorbell rang.

“Who the fuck could that be?” He thought.

He opened the door, still in his pjs, which consisted of pants only.

His mouth fell open.

“Hey, Brandon! Mind if we visit?” Anthony looked good. Of course, he always looked good. But there was a glow about him, something jubilant. Maybe it had something to do with the president standing right next to him.

“Am I still dreaming?” Brandon asked faintly. But as Anthony hugged him, he snapped out of it.

“Anthony, you’re back! You bastard son of a bitch, I knew you’d pull it off! Also, you pulled that? I mean, let’s be real, if anyone could, it would be you.”

They all laughed.

“Hi, I’m Ian,” the president introduced himself to Brandon.

“Hi IAN,” Brandon said to Ian’s delight. “Why aren’t you in Washington? Don’t you have some more wars to stop or something?”

“I’m undercover, the VP’s got it under control,” Ian replied. Brandon was not convinced.

“But… why are you HERE? Mind you, you’re most welcome of course! Wow, you’ve got gorgeous eyes! Those don’t translate to TV as they should!”

“Hehe, thanks! My giant dick also doesn’t really translate to TV but what can you do, right.”

“He’s a comedian,” Brandon commented to Anthony. “I bet you’re loving that.”

“Brandon, get this,” Anthony giggled. He’d been giggling the whole time ever since they entered Brandon’s house. “Me and Ian went to the same high school. Had crushes on the same girls even. We were in different friend groups but the more we talk, the more we realized we should have stuck together.”

“And you never recognized him?”

“Like I said,” Ian smirked, “The dick doesn’t translate to the big screen.”

“So, you’ve seen each other’s dicks before, you big sluts?”

“Not yet,” they both started to laugh in sync. “Maybe we should make an event out of it. Or you could be the jury, Brandon.”

“Why are you joking about doing comedy bits with the president? I demand to know, Anthony!”

Anthony started telling the story of his long journey to the ocean and back.

“Listen,” Brandon stopped him for a moment. “I am too sober for this. Who wants a smoke?”

As they all sat down in the richly decorated living room, smoke filling the air, listening to Anthony’s voice, a faint, fuzzy memory made its way to the forefront of Brandon’s mind. Did he dream this?

“You saved the world, you bad bitch!” He tried to keep it together, but he kept glancing over at Anthony’s lips. Did something happen between them? He didn’t think so… No, he would definitely have known for sure if it had.

“Are you noticing too? I can’t believe what I feel whenever the wind picks up from the west. Fresh air, in California? I would have never dreamed it.”

“It’s absolutely incredible. So, why isn’t this place overrun by journalists? Or secret service?”

“Oh, the secret service has this whole neighborhood covered right now,” Ian said like he was saying something normal.

“But I have a deal with one particular journalist, only she can interview me, and she already has.” Anthony smiled at Ian and he smiled back.

“I hate not being in on everything!” Brandon protested.

“That’s why we’re here right now, we’re getting you up to speed!”

As they talked, Brandon couldn’t help but notice. Ian and Anthony were really into each other. He decided to save that thought for his evening wank, though. But he was happy that Anthony finally found someone he could vibe with on the same frequency.

~

“Hiii!”

Tommy had been extremely anxious on the way there but when Spencer opened the door, all that dread disappeared.

“Hey there, gamer,” Spencer joked. Or did he? He was wearing a headset, and had a Switch in his one hand.

“Yeah, I’m replaying Link’s Awakening, on hero mode of course,” he bragged. “Wanna watch?”

“Of course!”

Spencer’s home was what you’d expect a gamer’s house to look like. Not an FBI agent’s house, though. The walls were plastered with katana’s, concept art of classic games like Doom and Amnesia and some meet and greet pictures with people like Shigeru Miyamoto. There also was a side table which doubled as a Pong arcade cabinet. Tommy loved everything.

He draped himself over Spencer’s couch and watched as his crush cleared dungeon after dungeon.

“Could you get me some Kickstart from the fridge?” Spencer asked, his eyes remaining locked on the tv-screen.

“Sure, I’ll be right back,” Tommy cooed, and walked into the kitchen. To his delight, it was very clean and tidy. He opened the fridge, did a double take and then laughed. It was stocked with only Mountain Dew.

“How is this man real,” Tommy thought to himself.

“There’s ice cream for you in the freezer!” Spencer called from the living room.

“Ooh, you take such good care of me,” Tommy answered.

He returned with two cans of Kickstart and a chocolate ice cream. The two cans were both for Spencer. He figured that he’d appreciate that.

“Thanks,” Spencer smiled.

It was 2 am when Spencer had finished the entire game. Tommy was in awe.

“You’re so good at this! I can’t believe it.”

“It took me a good many years of training, but I did always have a talent for gaming,” Spencer said while looking away, probably remembering something from his childhood.

“I’m really glad you came over. It’s kind of lonely playing by myself.”

“I’ve missed you,” Tommy admitted.

“I’ve missed you too,” Spencer said and he scooted over, so they cuddled together.

“Tommy, you’re a pretty chill dude. But you know. You’re also pretty beautiful. I’ve noticed it a lot during our chase at sea. I liked how you kept trying to fix your hair. It was cute.”

Tommy blushed.

“Spencer, you flatter me,” he joked.

“Gaming also sharpened my reflexes, my problem solving and my logical thinking skills. It prepared me for the job I do now. But the spy life makes it so I don’t meet a lot of people. Would you like to make it less lonely for me and move in?”

“What?!”

“Do you want to come and live with me, Tommy?”

Tommy was overwhelmed. Their relationship suddenly went very fast. Did Spencer really like him, or did he just need someone to pay half the rent?

“I, I…”

“I’d love it if you watched me play games every night after work.”

“Spencer…”

“Come here.”

Spencer kissed him. Tommy smelled and tasted the Kickstart. It was visceral, and he didn’t hate it.

“Oh, Spence…”

Tommy deepened their kiss. Spencer seemed to back off a little though, so Tommy paused.

“Is that alright with you? Or do you want to stop?”

“It’s quite alright, I mean, it’s good, no notes.” Spencer looked away from Tommy though, like he was embarrassed.

“What’s the matter then, honey?”

“Well, as I said, the life of a spy is pretty lonely, you know. It’s also very busy. So, until you came along, I’ve not really had the time to… to train my sexual skills.”

Oh. Spencer was a virgin? Or he’d never been with a guy before? Tommy decided not to pressure Spencer with more questions, because he already seemed quite vulnerable. Tommy was convinced now though, that Spencer was being sincere.

“Hey, that’s really, really okay,” he said. “I love that you told this to me, it takes a lot of courage to admit something like that. I’m willing to take it slow with you. You’re so brave, I’m so proud of you! Let’s just play another game. Can we do something easy, I’m pretty good at Pokémon?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Can I put my legs over your lap though, I need to stretch them.

“No problem.”

They started the game. Tommy was amazed by the situation. This mysterious, strong and capable agent was also a very sweet and innocent guy. Tommy thought of the word, although he couldn’t say it out loud just yet. But he did start to love Spencer.

~

“Oh my god, hi!!”

It was three in the afternoon. Amanda wore a green apron and her hair was in a bun and blotched with flour. She’d opened the door with oven mittens on.

“Hi, Amanda,” Trevor smiled. He looked happy. Amanda’s heart swelled. “This is Raven,” he introduced his girlfriend. She was a very pretty girl with a kind smile.

“I’ve heard so much about you, Raven!” Amanda hugged her, accidentally smudging her with flour.

“OH my god, I’m so sorry, wow! Here, wipe it on my apron. I’m so happy you guys accepted our invitation, you have no idea! NO, Sporky, stay inside! He always wants to escape, he’s a little nightmare, aren’t you, Spork?. I swear we’re treating him so well! He’s just a free spirit like that, ya know?”

The little doggy barked excitedly.

Amanda and Angela’s apartment was cozy and inviting. They had lit the entire room with real candles. Trevor made sure to move very slowly and carefully so he wouldn’t set the place on fire. A big Christmas tree stood outside on the balcony.

“Yeah, we loved this one so much, but when we got home, it didn’t fit in our house!”

“She’s a big girl!” Trevor joked.

“Trevor!” Amanda feigned exasperation. “You’re so right though. She is.”

They all sat down at the dining table, which was absolutely covered in cookies.

“She won’t stop baking,” Angela laughed. “The real reason we invited you, is we’re hoping you’ll take some of these cookies off our hands!”

Everyone laughed. Trevor stuffed his face with a few.

“So, your blog is still going strong?” He inquired about Amanda's new job.

“Yes! I’m so happy with it. I got my fifteen minutes of fame because of the Ian articles, of course. But now I’m just doing anything with it!”

“Must be freeing!”

“Oh absolutely, it’s so great being your own boss. You should try it, Trev!”

“I don’t know, I like a steady salary and everything. It’s been great working as a game journalist, I literally get paid for playing games. I’m not complaining!”

“That’s incredible! But what I love most about this life, is that I can just go anywhere, go on trips with Ang and blog about it, I can do flower arranging and blog about it, I can even workshop my characters!”

“I love those posts the most,” Trevor admitted.

“And then she takes them to my theatre,” Angela chimed in. “They’re always insane. She always uses wigs. I love it.

“Angela’s hosting a variety show now, did you know?”

“Oh, that’s so cool! At your theatre?”

“Yeah, that’s right! It’s called Bit City, I’m hosting it with Chanse.”

“That’s amazing.”

“You should come by sometime, Trev!”

“I think I will.”

“OH MY GOD, EVERYONE LOOK OUT OF THE WINDOW!!!”

Everyone tried to peek past the extravagantly decorated Christmas tree. And there they saw it: small white flecks, gently twirling down, melting on the tree.

“I don’t think that has happened in like, fifteen years or so?”

“It’s a Christmas miracle!”

“Are you taking pictures? Send them to Anthony! He will be so pleased.”

“He’s probably seeing it from his window as well, Ang.”

“So what? We should show him how incredible it is, the change he’s made!”

“Alright, if you say so, honey.”

Amanda kissed Angela gently. Then she texted Anthony.

[femmmie]

THE ISLAND

Read the entire fic on AO3

Chapter 8: The betrayal

Ian can't believe Amanda would write a hit piece on him. And yet, here we are. Meanwhile, Angela asks Amanda to come with her on an expedition of sorts...

Chapter word count: 2.266

Rating: general

“The fall of president Hecox

By Amanda Lehan-Canto

Once America’s golden boy, mister Hecox ran a brilliant but deceiving campaign, running on decency and respect. His platform was unifying and appealing to the general electorate.

Once elected, though, things quickly took a turn. As soon as he was sworn in, it was like a Russian sleeper-cell was activated. He grabbed power, misusing the declaration of a state of emergency. He’s been governing like a tyrant ever since.

Big business is not happy with these developments. A CEO of one of the Fortune 500 companies bemoaned anonymously: “We fear for our lives, actually. If the heat doesn’t get us, these draconian constraints on the free market will surely choke us to death!”

In fact, because Hecox has shown to be a liar and completely turned from being a normal and nice guy to being a self-imposed Steward of the country, he has thrown capitalism and democracy out of the window. A far cry from the all-American image he so carefully crafted of himself.

What will he do next? Will he usurp even more power? Will he dissolve congress? Who is to say, nobody knows ‘this’ Ian Hecox. We live in uncertain times and will remain so for the foreseeable future. One thing is clear, however: something has to be done about it.”

Ian couldn’t believe it. He and Amanda’d had a lovely interview once again just yesterday! How could she have done him dirty like this?

“Can you believe this crap?!” Ian showed the People.com article to Shayne and Courtney on his phone. They stood inside the oval office.

“It really doesn’t sound much like her. I thought she was cool,” Courtney said.

Shayne shook his head slowly. “Yeah, me too. What the heck? She was the only journalist still willing to write honestly about you. But I guess she finally folded to the pressure.”

Ian was genuinely hurt. He could usually judge people really well. And he’d only gotten good vibes from Amanda. They had… they had a ‘thing’. He didn’t even know if it was flirting, or just goofing off. But every time they would be close, something was in the air between them.

“And they even chose my ugliest picture!”

“Yeah, that doesn’t look good, my guy,” Shayne one-armed Ian’s head. Ian pushed him off playfully.

“Well, then. It’s going to be interesting to see which companies will still do business with us after this. We had the green energy ones planned this week.”

“Yeah, about that…” Shayne mumbled sheepishly.

“Just give it to me straight?”

“They cancelled.”

Ian threw his hands in the air in frustration. “Then why did I become president?”

~

“What the hell?!” Amanda called, and she never called otherwise, with her boss at People.com. “I didn’t write this? Why are you posting it under my name?”

“You interviewed him last, that little WANKER,” her boss squeaked. “And it was high time someone told the BLOODY TRUTH about him.”

“What are you even saying? This is unacceptable! Retract the article or I quit!”

“Well, I got news for you, babe: YOU’RE FIRED!”

Her boss hung up, but he apparently hadn’t pushed the button correctly. So, she overheard him say:

“Now, where’s my BOOZE!”

After the incident, Amanda called Trevor.

“Hey Trev. I have some bad news…”

~

It was the middle of the night, but infuriatingly hot as you were supposed to only use the AC during the day. Amanda paced back and forth through her apartment in her underwear. What would she do now? Somehow, she didn’t feel like pursuing journalism anymore after all this.

But as Fate would have it, her phone rang. It was Angela. Amanda sat down and relaxed into her couch.

“Angela! Am I glad to hear your voice.”

“Hey Amanda, sorry for calling so late. So, uh, this might be a weird question, …”

Amanda’s heart swelled. Angela’s voice was raspy as always and full of cheer. She just made Amanda smile.

They had talked on and off the last couple of months. Only on the phone, though.

“But I remember us talking that time at the dog park about how you love nature and would like to make a change.”

“Yeah.”

“And I’m going on an expedition to basically get some people together and brainstorm ideas on how we can make that change. To battle the heat, use nature to help out people and animals and stuff. I know you’re a busy woman, but…”

“You had me at ‘weird question’.” Amanda smiled and pushed her phone against her ear.

“Great! We sail out tomorrow at 9 o’ clock.”

“Wait. Tomorrow? Wait. Sail?”

“Yeah, I know it’s kinda short notice! But you know how it goes, I talked to a couple of folks and they have commissioned an artwork on an island. I told them I’d do it for free if they would let us chill there for a while so we can focus and come up with the best ideas.”

“Angela, my dad would love you. you’re so strange.”

“Gee, Amanda, thanks. You know actually, that’s the biggest compliment you could give me. Plus, you’re weird yourself, loser.”

“Ugh, I AM a loser though. Ang, I just lost my job…”

“WHAT? Oh no, baby! I’m sorry to hear that. But that means you have all the time to help me out!”

“I guess I do! But wait, what do I even bring on a boat?”

“Uh.. I don’t know actually. I guess a toothbrush?”

“Sounds good. Wow, I’m actually doing this? We’re going sailing? What if there’s another hurricane though?”

“There won’t be.”

“If you say so, babe. Oh, ew, my old boss called me babe. Can you believe it? He also used to call me ‘bird’, it was weird.”

“Ew ew ew! What the hell? Can’t you sue him or something?”

“Nah, I’m not putting all my energy into that. I’m just glad I’m out of there!”

“Yeah, me too! Nobody treats my friends badly without suffering the consequences! Which are, that I glare in their general direction, disapprovingly.”

Amanda laughed, and felt extremely grateful to have someone like Angela in her life. She’d never connected with anyone that well before.

Amanda felt safe talking to Angela. Raving to her about the latest Bridgerton episode, trying to get her to come to a true crime village, which was probably or definitely a tourist trap, but wanting to go anyway. And Angela was always enthusiastic, always up for ‘the bit’ and indulging Amanda to a degree nobody else ever had.

Even though they had only met once before, Angela felt like home.

~

“Hi, oh my god!”

Amanda hadn’t slept. She had thrown some clothes and her toothbrush into a suitcase, downloaded her favorite true crime series onto her phone and mindlessly brushed her hair until her alarm rang.

And now she stood on the quayside, looking up at Angela who was already on board.

“AYE AYE, SAILOR!” Angela saluted.

“I hope this isn’t my White Star Line!”

“HEY! NO JINXING IT!”

“Sorry, cap’n!” Amanda tipped an imaginary hat to Angela.

“Whew, okay, I guess I’ll get on board!”

~

The trawler, an old fishing boat, was quite large. Even so, there were a lot of people on board and everyone was crowding around in the salon. Amanda, being as tall as she was, had to bend her head down a little. It gave her cramps.

“So, you remember Chanse?”

“Of course, hi!”

Chanse waved.

“And these are Damien, Arasha, Noah, Keith, Nicole and Olivia. They are all experts at strengthening the environment against climate.”

“Look at you! It’s so nice to meet you all!”

Everyone politely waved or shook Amanda’s hand.

“So, are we all set?” Angela asked.

“Not quite, I have a plus one, if you don’t mind.” Amanda looked out of the window. A tall guy wearing a bandana quickly approached.

“Hi! Is this the right one?” He called.

Amanda ran on deck and waved at him.

“There you are, Jack!”

“Oh, my dear Rose!” Trevor joked back.

“TREVOR!” Angela, who’d followed Amanda outside, called down.

“Wow, your voice is so loud from up close, haha.” Amanda winked at her.

“You know me, my Italian roots run deep.”

“I love that!” Amanda fixed her hair behind her ear.

Trevor climbed up the boat as well. He hugged Amanda warmly and shook hands with Angela. Amanda had filled him in just this morning, and he’d volunteered to come with immediately. Amanda was really lucky to have a friend like him.

“So, where are we going?”

~

Everyone was either sat at or stood around the salon table, eating breakfast. Amanda sat next to Trevor and Angela. She was in high spirits despite the few hours of sleep she got last night.

“Thanks again everyone,” Angela began, “for joining me on such short notice. You know, things may seem bad and may be bad. But everywhere there are people trying to do something about it. And we can make a bit of an impact too. I really believe that. And, you know, if it’s all in vain, at least we died trying!”

The crew was silent. Amanda decided to laugh loudly to break the awkwardness.

“Yeah, we sure will Angela, haha! Anyway, I would actually love to know what everyone here does. What is your specialty? Because, well, I don’t have any, to be honest. But I am a journalist so I could at least try to get your ideas out there.”

“And I can spice up her stories with some good shots,” Trevor added. Amanda smiled at him. He was so cute.

“Shall we do a little roundtable?”

“Yeah, awesome,” Damien seemed eager to talk about his passion. He had a warm face and dyed silver hair. “Yeah, so I specialize in weather control. It’s not even my personal preference, because, ehh, it’s never without consequences. But things like great green walls, meaning giant forests surrounding cities to protect them from sandstorms and desertification for example. Those are cool. But if there really is no other way, you can use chemicals to make it rain.”

“Wow, that’s so impressive!” Angela was sketching in a little booklet.

“My work is also pretty impressive,” Keith said so deadpan that everyone was scared for a second but then laughed. “I put polluters in jail! I’m an environmental prosecutor and basically try to get big companies to pay for their sins. Let’s not kid ourselves though, haha. They will not stop polluting. But that cash goes a long way to help small businesses that do follow the rules.”

Arasha nodded. She was a beautiful girl with sharp features and long, black hair, falling in tresses around her shoulders. “I can’t believe these big corporations, don’t they know they’ve already killed off half the planet? The CEOs should be in jail!” She sighed. “I work at a smaller scale but try to optimize the outcome. The thing I do is plant tiny forests in big cities. They grow like crazy and provide a little shelter for the local animals and people alike.”

Amanda’s eyes lit up. “Aww, tiny forests? That sounds so cute! I’m imagining these tiny trees looking all cute and stuff…”

“They are pretty cute, you’re right.”

“You’re cute, cutie!”

“Aw, gee, thanks, Amanda.”

Trevor rolled his eyes.

“I work to supply companies that try to improve the climate with the data that they need,” Noah said a bit shyly. His hair was dyed green, and he had big green eyes. “It’s not as cool as you guys’ projects but it’s nice to be able to work data driven. It helps people higher up in these companies have the necessary arguments for their decisions.”

“Yeah, we use a data driven approach as well,” Olivia, a beautiful petite woman with a mischievous demeanor, continued the roundtable. I’m coordinating rewilding projects all over North America: wherever we can release animals that thrive in the changing climate, and have a positive impact on the environment, we do it. But we need lots of data to determine where exactly the right places are to do it. This way, nature does a big part of the job itself.”

“I love that,” Nicole said. “Our company Pressalike does carbon hypercapture. Nicole was a gorgeous woman in fashionable clothing, outclassing everyone else, except for her pink Grindr hat. “We could supercharge your tiny forests, Arasha.”

“That would be amazing!” Arasha smiled.

Angela sat up and stopped drawing for a moment. “See! We’re already making progress! Yeah, so I am more in Amanda and Trevor’s lane: I attract attention to the good cause with my artwork.”

“And you’re a masterful organizer,” Chanse added. “Oh, hii again everyone. Yes! So, well, I am your captain! That’s my job.”

Everyone laughed and cheered him on.

“Go Chanse! We won’t get anywhere without you!”

“So yeah, let’s leave shore and head to the island!” Chanse got up and went to the control room.

“I hope we see some whales or orcas or something,” Olivia said hopefully, looking out.

“I heard you can attract them by throwing meat into the water,” Keith suggested.

“Do you think that’s a good idea?” Noah challenged him.

“Don’t throw meat into the water!” Angela hastily interrupted. “I don’t even know if we have meat,” she added, pondering and losing track of her thoughts.

Olivia and Keith disappeared.

“They’re going to check if there’s meat on board this boat,” Amanda and Trevor whispered to each other.

“They better not find any!” Arasha shuddered. “I’m terrified of sea creatures! Any of them!”

[femmmie]

THE ISLAND

Chapter 2: Cyanobacteria

Read the whole fic on AO3

Anthony works on ways to bio-engineer plants and trees. Then he makes a shocking discovery...

Chapter word count: 1.138

Rating: general or teen (weed mention lmao)

The weather report gave a ‘red alert’ for the day. That meant to stay inside if possible, close doors and windows and wait for the wind to change direction. The wildfires were very severe this year. They actually never stopped burning anymore, it was more an ebb and flood kind of situation now.

Through the smoke, you could make out two figures moving slowly but surely along a hill. Somehow, they were wearing black. One of them wore a pink hat though. The other had shiny dark curls.

“Ugh, this is unbearable.”

“This was your idea, Nicole.”

“I know.”

“What are you smiling about?”

“I’m just happy that there is still nature around, you know? Even in these conditions. Look at this tree, it’s thriving!”

“Wow, it’s a beauty. This guy will be here even after we are long gone, I imagine. It should be part of a forest though. But it’s just here by itself. God… I don’t know. It’s making me emotional...”

“Look at you, Anthony! Empathizing with a tree. You’re always overthinking, my dude. And don’t get me wrong, that makes you a good person. But, well, I wish you’d care a little less, so you’d be happier.”

Nicole looked at Anthony and smiled. Sweat was seeping down both their faces, and dust and ash clung to the sweat. Still, Anthony looked gorgeous. There was really nothing that could make him look any less that that.

Anthony gestured to Nicole, inviting her into a tight hug. Nicole handed Anthony an inhaler.

“Here, a shot of pure oxygen should do you good.”

“Whew! I needed that! Now, where are they?”

Anthony and Nicole were colleagues at Pressalike, a bio-research company. They were looking for saplings strong enough to face the scorching California summers.

They continued their hike.

“After I’m done with these, they will absorb SO much carbon, oh my god. Oxygen cityyyy.” Nicole laughed at her own joke. Anthony chuckled politely.

He squinted and looked around the ravaged hills.

“I mean, if we planted a trillion trees, it still wouldn’t be enough.”

“That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it, though. I’m talking a dense, Native Forest. We can grow them within three years now.”

“I know, Nicole, and we should do that. But... We’re a bit late, aren’t we?”

Nicole turned to Anthony and grabbed his chin, tilting it upward. “We’re going to keep fighting until our last breath, alright, Anthony?”

“Yeah.”

Nicole was right. Anthony did overthink too much. He blamed it on his youth, when he’d lived in near poverty. By sheer work ethic he’d saved up enough for community college. His high grades then earned him scholarships and he went on to work at Pressalike. He never took anything for granted.

“I’m so lucky, really. To have you peptalk me every day at work.” He beamed at Nicole.

“Nooo, not the Padilla smile!” She joked. “It’s too bright! Too handsome! You really missed out on a modelling career, my guy.”

They laughed. But the day was heating up fast so for the rest of their hike, they concentrated on finding the saplings.

Back at the lab, Anthony handed Nicole his bag. “Here you go, milady,” he joked.

“Why, thank you, my liege.” She really was the only one at the company Anthony could laugh with. It was like a breath of fresh air in the otherwise gloomy office.

Anthony walked along the corridor. Everything about the building was grey, dull and grimy to him.

“Anthony?”

“Oh boy, here we go again,” Anthony thought. But he stopped and answered: “Tommy! How are you today?”

A tall, tousle-haired guy stood in the doorway of his small office. Tommy had a very obvious crush on Anthony. Admittedly, he was very handsome. But Anthony just wasn’t into him. So, it made things at the office a bit awkward.

“Oh, you know, nothing that can’t be fixed by caffeine!” Tommy grimaced.

“Oh yeah, totally, haha.”

“Or weed…”

“What?”

“What? I wanted to talk to you about the saltwater algae. I think I messed up with the readings.”

Tommy had been running some tests for Anthony. He had made alterations in the plants’ genes, and Tommy was checking whether it had a favorable effect on their photosynthetic intensity.

They walked, fast-paced, to the lab.

“Here. That can’t be right, can it?”

“Hmm, no...”

But then, Anthony saw the readings. His eyes widened. “Wait... uhh, Tommy?”

Waves of adrenaline hit Anthony hard, and it seemed like the gray walls, the vials and the containers were all spinning around him.

“Yes, Anthony? Wait, are you okay?”

Anthony shook his head, but still felt slightly dazed.

“You know what? I think I will take this project out of your hands. It’s boring anyway, right, trees are way more fun. I even got to hike outside today looking for saplings!”

“You went outside?! In these conditions? You could be having a post-heat heat stroke! How did you even survive? Didn’t you watch the weather report?”

Tommy looked Anthony up and down, as if he was checking whether all parts of him were still okay. It was kind of cute.

“You don’t have to worry about me, Tommy. I’m perfectly fine. Really! Nicole gave me an oxygen hit too.”

Tommy did not look convinced. “Well, then it must have been even worse than I thought! Really, man, what were you two thinking? Gosh, I’m sweating just thinking about it.”

“Aren’t you always sweating, though, Tommy?”

“You’ve got me there, Padilla.”

Anthony put his hand on Tommy’s shoulder to reassure him. Tommy swallowed.

“I’m okay, Tommy,” Anthony grunted in a deep voice. Ugh. Why did he do this? This is why Tommy was still chasing him. Flirting just came naturally to Anthony. He wished he had someone who would match his vibe. Who wouldn’t be intimidated by everything he said. And who could flirt back. God, that would be fun.

Back in junior high, there had been a guy… but they were not in the same friend group. Still, the most fun Anthony’d ever had, had been watching that guy crack jokes. He was hilarious, with the kind of potty humor you’d expect from a sixth grader. It perfectly hit Anthony’s sweet spot and he couldn’t help but laugh hysterically every time this guy opened his mouth.

And his blue eyes had lit up every time he heard Anthony’s high-pitched laughter at his jokes. Anthony didn’t know why he remembered this so well. But he still appreciated that kind of humor today, even now, at 37 years old.

Anthony shook the sudden memory and breathed in. He had more important stuff to worry about right now.

He ushered Tommy out of the lab and took another good look at the algae. Everything seemed normal. Anthony’s heart rate slowed down for just a brief moment.

[i-miss-summertime]

Nicole on Anthony's channel is getting into the Stevie Mythical levels of narration association in my brain. I love the Nicole cam in videos but especially listening at work, she's the voice, the narrator, the mastermind, I love her

[i-miss-summertime]

But if it's forever, it's even better (5567 words) by midnightflighttosanfransico Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Smosh, Video Blogging RPF Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Ian Hecox/Anthony Padilla Characters: Ian Hecox, Anthony Padilla, Erin Dougal, Nicole Nourmal, Mallory Myers Additional Tags: Single Parents, Getting Together, First Dates, Domestic Fluff, Family Shenanigans, Father-Daughter Relationship, two loser single dads are tired but ready for love, Rated T for swearing Summary:

Ian's daughter, Erin is being a good trooper in their move up to Sacramento but changing schools in the middle of Spring semester in 6th grade is less than ideal. When Erin announces she's made a new friend, Mallory, in class and she was coming to visit the next weekend, Ian also meets someone who ends up sparking feelings he hasn't felt in a long time.

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Ian's a single dad to Erin and Anthony's a single dad to Mallory and Nicole. This is also just an excuse to draw fun parallels to the way Ian and Anthony met with having their girls meet in a similar way. Perspectives change halfway from Ian to Anthony.