#Now if you made it until here with my ramble and understand German go over to leo.org and look at the only discussion about the word

[fandom-necromancer]

In good company

I had this prepared in case there were no prompts, which there are now, but for time reasons here is a little story of my own! It was initially just the first two pages of this as a start of another wasteland AU big story, but either I will never get to it or so late it doesn’t really matter then XD So enjoy this converted into a short story!

Fandom: Detroit become human Ship: Reed900 AU: Wasteland/past violent successful revolution (non-canon) Warnings: None

The world is dying.

RK900 had read that somewhere on a poster. It had been soggy from the rain, the words reconstructable only thanks to his advanced systems. He found that he had to disagree. The world wasn’t dying, no. A world couldn’t die. And overall, the life on earth flourished. Plants had conquered structures with roots strong enough to split concrete. A tiny flower stronger than most machines humanity had created. It was the human life that had changed. The violent android revolution had chased them out of their homes, their lives. They had run off to find refuge somewhere else only to find there was none. Because androids outnumbered humans. At least in the cities they did. RK900 couldn’t say he regretted the revolution as he hadn’t been alive back then and only had been activated after the fight was already over. But he regretted that he had never seen the old world. Sure, androids had fought for their freedom and their rights and now they had achieved that goal. But at what cost? They were a lost people now. Other than humans they weren’t built to survive and be happy with just that. They were doomed to wander without purpose and direction. Their abilities were adapted to a digital world. Most functions relied on some sort of framework, a network for accessing further data, a constant connection to the internet and other services to provide information. Services that were no longer available, connections that hadn’t been maintained any longer when the humans had run away. Infrastructure that was decaying and decaying metal bodies that had no spares to repair themselves without humans to design and produce them.

When RK900 thought about being free in a world that didn’t need him or serving humans in a world that did, he knew what he would have chosen. He was faced with an eternal life and didn’t know what to do with it. It was the epitome of boredom. At times he even contemplated shutting down and from day to day the urge was getting stronger. He didn’t want to stop existing. He just wanted to rest for a bit, wait it all out without having to witness time passing. He wanted to wake up when he was needed. When something happened. When the world was less lonely, less segregated. Less hateful and less violent. He sat down in a corner of a small parking lot, behind burned out cars and heaps of trash. It was relatively safe there without the danger of a decaying building dropping on him, the cars keeping him from view and the open space deserted as those androids that had fought still remembered the slaughtering.

RK900 took in his surroundings one last time, before nodding and coding his own stasis protocol.

[Code received. Applying new conditions to deep stasis protocol…] [New deep stasis protocol completed:] [End stasis when reactivation conditions are met. Reactivation conditions are:] [-Movement near unit.] [-Events that will lead to unit getting damaged.] [-Any background analysis returning threats, danger or environmental change.] [Commencing deep stasis cycle…] [All passive scanners online] [Stasis cycle: active.] [shutting down.]

-

Gavin ran for his life. Not only had his day started bad, no it had continued worse and was about to end the worst way possible: He had been awakened by gunshots, had snuck out of the building he had slept in, walked in on a few androids that immediately started chasing him, narrowly escaped them by passing a group of humans that thought of the androids as the greater threat and ran from them as they split up. Then around the early afternoon he had been granted roughly an hour of peace to eat something, before the smell of quickly prepared meat had attracted stray dogs. They would have rather eaten Gavin then accepting his attempts of sharing his meal not to be torn to shreds. In the end he had to flee again, giving up his only meal to gain time. Just as he had escaped the dogs, he ran into some androids again. If he was still alive by the time night fell, he would rather believe he died somewhere, and this was the afterlife, and he was in hell where he belonged.

Thankfully, these androids weren’t armed with pistols. All they had were some rocks and really good aim. They seemed to be damaged, too. Gavin couldn’t find any other explanation for why they hadn’t caught up to him yet. He pushed his already tired legs to continue working and suffer through another sprint, as he turned a corner and another. He hoped the androids would lose track of him. Maybe they wouldn’t think of him as a threat when all he had done was run from them. Maybe they would let him go with a warning and his newly acquired bruises and wounds.

Sometimes he thought they did it just for fun. They had won, everyone had accepted that and run to the small communities popping up here and there far out in the countryside, away from the androids in the cities. Gavin hadn’t even thought of fighting back. Hurt one, let alone kill one and the whole mob was after you. They wouldn’t rest. They didn’t have to.

Gavin ran until his knees started to buckle. There was a small parking lot in front of him with an old pharmacy in the middle of it. The roof was already half caved in and didn’t look too stable. Perfect. No android would go in there if it didn’t have to. The run over there was a risk, but hell, what wasn’t. And it promised a break, maybe even a shelter for the night if he was allowed to stay this long. He leaned against the corner of another building, trying to blend in with the bushes around, and caught his breath. His legs burned with an intensity he had seldomly felt and wished for nothing more than to sit down for half an hour to recover. But not yet. Not yet. He had to get over there.

He swallowed and closed his mouth, instead scanning the area for any movement. The wind brushed over a few bushes and grass where they had pushed through the asphalt, but otherwise it was completely still. Now was better than never, so Gavin pushed off the building and ran for the old pharmacy. He tried to keep his body low, even if it didn’t really matter with androids.

Gavin had made it half-way to the pharmacy, when he saw movement around the corner of the building. He let himself fall immediately, sliding over the ground until his back hit the black skeleton of a car. He felt how pain crept to his knees and hot blood rushed to his scratches, but all he could do was close his eyes and pray they hadn’t seen him. He couldn’t go for another sprint, another chase. He was tired and hungry. He wasn’t ready to give up, never had been, but he also knew he had no chance against even a single android. He heard footsteps close to him and opened his eyes. He wouldn’t go without a fight, however quick it would be over.

He froze all over when he saw something he hadn’t noticed before: There was an android, sitting right opposite to him, leaned against a car and eyeing him. He hadn’t moved there. He must have been sitting there the whole time since Gavin had been running over to the building and slid to his current position. Phck. He would alarm the others, likely already had. Likely was the reason why Gavin had been stopped in the first place.

With panic in his eyes, he stared at the other, who didn’t move, while the footsteps came closer.

-

‘Have you seen a human around here?’ The android looked up, beyond Gavin. So the other androids stood behind the car he leaned against. ‘No’, was his answer. ‘We heard breathing.’ ‘That’s me. My subroutine is broken, I am constantly running my artificial breathing.’ Gavin’s eyes wandered down to the android’s chest, which was moving in synchrony with his own breathing. ‘There is a heartbeat, too.’ ‘Maybe your sensors are malfunctioning’, the other android shrugged. ‘I haven’t seen a human here.’ ‘What are you doing here?’ ‘Waiting for better times. I would like to go back to stasis now, if you would leave, I could get back to it.’

Silence, then footsteps that disappeared from their position. Gavin listened for them, then let go of his breathing, sinking down against the car. The other android’s eyes were still trained on him, but Gavin didn’t have the energy to still stay tense. ‘What are you planning?’, Gavin asked finally. He knew he wouldn’t run again, but if this was how he died, he wanted to at least know why. ‘As I said, I plan to go back to stasis.’ ‘Why?’ ‘To wake up when the world is a better place.’ ‘Relatable – wait, no I meant why haven’t you told them about me? Why haven’t you attacked me?’

The android frowned. ‘Why should I?’ Gavin sighed. ‘Because that’s a whole thing! Androids drove humans out and since then hunted us down.’ ‘You didn’t accept our freedom and rights as persons’, the thing answered completely deadpan. ‘Humans make errors!’, Gavin called out, throwing his arms in the air. ‘That’s how we phcking learn. Just because a few didn’t accept you, doesn’t mean all of us do! But even if, that doesn’t justify genocide.’ ‘It did for the humans.’ ‘And that’s terrible, but I also know of humans keeping your kin safe, protecting and hiding them when things went to shit.’

‘Really?’ the android asked. ‘Yeah. What, been too busy killing humans back then?’ ‘I wasn’t alive before the revolution. I was activated about two months after it.’ That let Gavin swallow his next words and really look at the machine. ‘So you never…’ ‘I never killed or harmed anyone, if it’s that what you mean. And I don’t intend to start now.’ ‘Huh.’ Gavin sank against the car in his back. ‘Well, I had to have luck eventually this day.’ ‘Why?’ ‘Well, everything went to shit, lost my remaining food and was on the run the whole time. It’s not easy to escape your tin-can friends.’ ‘It should have been impossible for a human’, the android said, looking at him more intrigued than anything now. ‘Yeah, well, you are broken, and I have experience. Doesn’t mean it’s easy, but I’ve managed so far.’ ‘Why aren’t you outside the city then, where the humans found refuge?’

Gavin groaned. ‘I’m not good with people, bot. And they need medicine, spare tech, whatever I can find here, I bring back to them. But I’m not one for making friends or staying in some hole waiting for the day androids attack. I needed something to do, I guess. A purpose if you want to be poetic.’ At that the machine seemed to look at him with an intensity, that made him instinctively recoil, now that his strength was gradually coming back. ‘What about you?’, he asked. He was pretty sure the machine would attack him, but other than a few minutes ago, he felt like he could at least try to run, should this all just be a plan to kill him or find out where the others were. ‘What better days are you waiting for? Haven’t you guys won?’

‘Does this look like winning to you?’, the bot asked and looked down. ‘We are decaying without maintenance we don’t know how to do. We can’t produce the missing parts ourselves. We wander decaying cities without anything to do. Humans have the ability to set missions yourselves, you can set your mind to something and do it. It’s more difficult for us. At least for me it is. I was gifted freedom, but no one ever cared to tell me what to do with it. And I know a few others think the same, but they were active before, they have their hate on your kind to rely on or on whatever they did before.’ ‘So you regret your freedom?’, Gavin asked disbelievingly. ‘No, not that. But I would like to have something to do. Something meaningful, something that might change this.’ ‘Change what?’ ‘Everything! I mean, we are talking right now, aren’t we? And we haven’t killed each other yet. It’s possible. But others don’t see it.’ ‘And you think sleeping time away will change that?’, Gavin chuckled. ‘No, but what else can I do?’

Gavin shook his head and got to his feet, standing up to look over the car’s roof. The parking lot was laying as still as it had been before. He brushed off the dirt from his pants. ‘Okay, let me tell you: if you do nothing, nothing will change. If you truly want something, fight for it, whatever way you can. Maybe those you talked with didn’t see it, but there will be people out there that do. Find them, group together and lead by example. That’s all I can advise you.’ The android stood up, too, even if a little slower and more uncertain. ‘And that will work?’ ‘Most certainly not’, Gavin shrugged. ‘But you don’t know that unless you tried it. And you can still go into hibernation if it doesn’t.’

The bot nodded to himself. ‘What will you do now?’ ‘I will go into this building and see if there is anything valuable. If there is, I will take what I can, leave the city and come back with more food to search for more next time.’ ‘How do you do that?’ ‘What?’ ‘Decide what to do?’ ‘It comes with growing up. People tell you what to do until you realise you don’t want to do some of them and do others. And then you start to decide for yourself. I don’t know how to help you with this one, buddy.’

Gavin had turned around to run for the building, but a sudden hand at his arm stopped him. He looked down on it and up to the android, not entirely without fear. Immediately the other let go. ‘May I come with you? For a while? I want to learn.’ Gavin grinned, waiting for the punchline. But the android seemed to mean it. ‘Wait, for real?’ ‘Yes. We could help each other. I have better sensors, I can warn you of other androids. And you could teach me how to… find something to do?’ He wanted to immediately decline. He had been on his own for long enough and survived. But there was something that made him reconsider. It would be a huge advantage to have an android at his side. And to have someone to talk to, who didn’t want him far away from the camp or dead would be a welcome change, too.

And maybe… Gavin wasn’t someone to hope for the impossible, but it still felt nice to imagine the world could go back to how it was before… And if it didn’t work out, he could always lure the bot into a trap if it got aggressive or make a run for it. So, hell… Why not.

‘Fine. I don’t know how I could help you, but I’m not saying no to some friendly company for a change.’

[wondersofdreaming]

Sex on Fire - 3

Co-written with @radaofrivia​

Characters: AU Captain Syverson - Gynaecologist, dr. Syverson x female reader

Word count: 7.601

Warnings: NSFW! Overthinking. Talking to a dog. Flirting. Nervous energy. A little awkwardness. Smut. 69. Making love. Love. Fluff. The end.

Author’s note: This story was co-written with the lovely @radaofrivia​​ - who wrote the beautiful smutty parts.

The dividers are made by @firefly-graphics

This story is dedicated to all the women who struggle with pain. It doesn’t matter where that pain is, but know that you are not alone.

Please go enjoy her stories here:

Rada’s Masterlist

I do not own any characters in this short story, except the reader who is a figment of my imagination.

MY MASTERLIST

Sex on Fire Masterlist

Feedback is appreciated.

“What have I gotten myself into?

You stood in front of the mirror, having changed into the fifth dress, but nothing you had tried on was good enough for a date with the hottest doctor in town. A loud groan left your lips, making your sister peek inside your room.

“Everything alright in here?” she asked, looking over the room. Clothes were spread everywhere, shoes thrown all over, and you pacing in front of the closet, desperately trying to find something fitting to wear. “Looks like a tornado went through.”

“I have nothing to wear! So please, either come help me or get out,” you snapped. You heard the angry tone in your voice and turned around to face your younger sister, who looked mildly annoyed at you. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound like a bitch.”

“Care to tell me what’s going on? I thought you were excited to go out with the dashing doctor?” She asked and went to sit on the only available space on the bed.

You picked up the five discarded pieces of clothing.

“This,” you held up the first dress, “is too short. He’ll think I’m a whore.”

“Then wear leggings underneath it. Do I need to remind you, sissy, that he has already seen you butt-naked?”

You glared at your sister, feeling she didn’t understand your situation that this date had to be perfect.

What if our attraction was a fluke?

“This,” you showed the second dress, “is too long. He’ll think I’m a prude.”

“Then cut it to the right length.”

What if he thinks I was an easy prey? I was. I practically begged him to fuck me. Fuck!

You were starting to sweat as you held up the third dress.

“This shows too much cleavage. He’ll think I’m trying to seduce the entire restaurant.”

“Wear a shirt under it.”

What if he isn’t taking me to a restaurant? What if we’re going to his place?

You kept rambling about the fourth and fifth dress, and your sister retorted with solutions to each of them.

“Sissy, your thoughts are so loud I think even he can hear them.”

You threw a dress in her face.

“You’re thinking of every possibility that this could go wrong, aren’t you?”

“No…” you mumbled, but a good death stare from your sister made you change your mind from lying, “Yes, I’m scared, Pat. What if he isn’t the man he made me believe he is? What if he’s a serial killer disguised as a vaginal doctor? What if he’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing? What if I’m walking right into grandma’s house and get eaten by the big bad wolf?”

“Stop, stop, you’re making no sense whatsoever…”

“And what if he doesn’t like me? What if we don’t have any chemistry? What if… oh my god, what if he only wants me as a fuck-buddy?”

You were pacing around your room, walking through the clothes, kicking the shoes away from your wandering path. Your sister grabbed your wrist and pulled you down on the bed.

“You are overthinking,” she booped your nose, “You are a gorgeous human being, very pretty too, if I have to say so myself. If he was only going to have you as his fuck-buddy, then you either say yes, because God knows you need a good fuck, or you say no because you’re looking for something deeper. And he wouldn’t have asked you on a date if he wasn’t into you! Take a deep breath with me.”

You both inhaled and exhaled, again and again, until your heartbeat wasn’t about to gallop right out of your chest.

“Now that you’re nice and calm… eh, ish, let’s put on some music and get you ready for your date. I have the perfect dress for you to wear tonight, just promise not to spill wine on it.”

Lucas walked out of the steaming shower, wrapping a large fluffy towel around his hips. His dog, a German Shepherd, was lying on the carpeted bedroom floor by the door. Her brown eyes were staring at him intensely like she knew that he was going somewhere.

“I’ll be home as soon as I can, Aika. And I promise to bring your favourite treat from the restaurant,” he told the dog. Mention of the treat perked her ears up.

Sy chuckled as he started grooming his beard. Then a light went off in his mind.

Fuck, what if she doesn’t like dogs?

He looked apologetically at Aika, who was drooling on the carpet, already tasting the treat on her palate.

Lucas finished in the bathroom and went to his spacious walk-in closet.

“What should I wear, girl?” He asked as if Aika knew what was hot in fashion. She walked over to where he hung his trousers, sniffed a few before picking a grey pair down from the hanger. She then managed to trot over to him with a pair of brown leather shoes.

“Well, thanks, girl, these are perfect. So what do you think, a white shirt or a black shirt?” Sy held each piece up to Aika, and she barked happily at the white shirt, her tail wagging excitedly. The dashing doctor also chose a matching grey suit jacket. He looked himself over in the mirror.

“I really want this to work, Aika,” he mumbled to his dog, who cocked her head to the side. “I think she’s amazing, and I hope she likes dogs because if not, I would be really sad… to say goodbye to you.”

Aika growled at him, making Sy laugh out loud.

“Sorry girl, I’m just kidding, I’m kidding. You belong with me, forever and always,” he scratched her belly. “What do I do if I make an ass out of myself?”

Aika rolled around and let out a loud ‘woof’ as if she was saying that he should just be himself.

“Okay, I’ll do my best. But what if she’s not who I think she is? What do I do then?”

Aika let out a deep rumble from her chest. I’ll bite her sorry ass if she isn’t.

You walked down the pavement looking for the restaurant Sy had texted you the address of. Sy was standing out front, waiting for you, he looked so handsome in his grey suit, and now you felt you might have been under-dressed. His face lit up in a warm grin, and his eyebrows arched when he saw you moving towards him. You smiled shyly back.

As Sy leaned down to kiss her cheek, you were going for his lips, ending in an awkward angled greeting.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” you whispered at the same time he said: “Sorry!”

You stood there, looking down on the pavement, red-faced and suddenly very shy, not knowing what to do next while he was staring at you, not being able to take his eyes off you.

Lucas chuckled and presented his arm.

“Shall we go in?”

He was smiling at you, trying his best not to make your encounter awkward. You took his arm and was led into the restaurant. You looked around at the warm and comfortable atmosphere of the room. Chinese lanterns were hanging down from the loft, casting a soft light over space. The wooden tables had an induction heating plate for the hotpot that could contain either one, two or four different soups. The couple were seated near the covered fishing pond that was placed in the middle of the restaurant, a glass wall surrounding the pond, so no one could fall and get wet. The koi fish were swimming around, showing off their orange, red, white, and black scales. It was a soothing and calming sight and helped you relax in the presence of the handsome doctor.

A waitress came to take your drink orders while you looked through the menu.

“Oh, I don’t know what goes well with anything here,” you said, suddenly feeling so out of place.

“May I suggest one of their beers? They’re really good,” Lucas smiled at you warmly as he gave his drink order. You ordered one of their light and refreshing beers.

You looked down at the menu again. Not knowing what to pick as everything sounded delicious.

“There’s so much food,” you commented with a giggle.

“Do you want to try one of their special menus? That way, you can try a little of everything,” Sy suggested.

“I’d like that.”

The waitress came back with their drinks, and Sy rambled away your order. He ordered the four soup hot pot, various meats, seafood, vegetables, and an enormous amount of different types of noodles.

“How did you come by this place?” You asked, taking a sip of beer.

“I was walking around the neighbourhood one day with my sisters, and one of them wanted dumplings, another some noodles, and the third wanted some soup. I searched for a restaurant that had all three things, and this place popped up. It has become my favourite restaurant in the entire city,” he was a vivid storyteller that doctor.

“You brought me to your favourite restaurant?”

“Well, yes. I know it’s not the most traditional place to have a first date, but the food is amazing,” a pink blush crept up his neck and reached his cheeks.

“I think it’s the perfect place for a first date. I like trying new things,” you assured him, watching as a boyish grin of pride spread on his lips. God, how you wanted to kiss those lips.

“I hope you mean that because here comes the food,” Sy nodded towards the three waiters walking with an extra table full of food and the pot filled with the four soups.

“Oh dear,” you watched as they set the plates full of meat around you. “Are we feeding an army?”

“Trust me, darling, this might not be enough when we first get started,” Sy smiled. He reached for his chopsticks, “Have you eaten with chopsticks before?”

You gasped, pretending to be offended.

“I will let you know, doctor, that I was trained by the best to eat with chopsticks,” you showed him your hold, “My sister loves to get Chinese takeout when none of us feels like cooking, and there’s a restaurant that makes the best potstickers and chow mein.”

“Maybe we can order from there one day,” Sy suggested, his voice soft and full of promises.

“I’d like that. So, how do we do this?” you asked.

Lucas told you about the four different soups. They ranked from not-so-spicy to hell’s gate spicy. He talked about all the different cuts of meat, how to just put the ingredients in the soup, advising that you put in the lotus root first as it took a long time to cook.

While the doctor was talking, you were watching him. Your sole focus was on the way his lips moved and his tongue darting out from time to time. That tongue, that godly tongue.

His voice was rich and deep, so smooth and velvety you wanted to hear him talk forever. He caught you ogling at him.

“Everything alright?” he asked, looking a bit confused.

“Yeah, I was just thinking how amazing you look out of your white coat,” you blurted, making Sy laugh and blush an even deeper shade of pink before turning red.

“Why thank you, but I think the real showstopper tonight is you. You look beautiful,” he complimented.

“You’re just saying that because I complimented you first,” you giggled like a teenage schoolgirl with a crush.

Sy shook his head as he reached for the pieces of meat he had put in the soups. He picked one out and moved the chopsticks closer to your mouth.

“Try this,” he recommended. You closed your mouth around the chopsticks, letting the meat fall on your tongue. The sweet umami flavour of the pork was melting in your mouth, and you let out a soft moan.

Lucas was watching your mouth closely. The mouth that had been sucking him off a few days earlier in his office. The pretty mouth that swallowed his seed. His pants were suddenly feeling very snug around his groin area. Fuck, not now!

Thankfully his horny thoughts were interrupted by your suggestion.

“My turn to feed you,” you dove into the spiciest soup and picked out a dumpling. Why does he look so good? Lord, what is he thinking? Why is he looking at me like that? Something on my face?

Your hand was shaking a bit as you leaned over to give the dumpling to Sy, and then you dropped it, watching in slow motion as gravity did its thing, making the dumpling land on Lucas’ crisp white shirt and then down to his lap it went.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” you exclaimed. You quickly stood with your napkin and went over to clean the mess you had made. Lucas had picked up the fallen dumpling, not even thinking about the stain the red soup had made. He was having sinful thoughts of you sitting on your knees trying to wash off the red colour with your napkin.

“I ruined your shirt,” you sighed as the stain became worse, and it started to spread the more you rubbed the fabric.

“You’ve made it a habit to ruin my clothes, sunshine,” Lucas chuckled, but his laughter died quickly as you dabbed the napkin on his thigh, moving closer to the hard-on he was willing to go soft, but too late.

Oh, ooooooh.

“Maybe I don’t like that they’re hiding what nature has so gracefully given you,” you smirk up at him, giving him a sultry look.

Lucas swallowed hard. You could see his throat tensing as his Adam's apple bopped up and down. He’s looking you straight in the eyes, trying his best to restrain himself from taking you right then and there.

“God, I love your boldness,” his voice was low, soft, almost velvety, as if he was trying to tell you with the tone of his voice alone how much he wanted you. The smoothness of his voice was sending shivers down your spine, and some part of your brain was signalling that now was the time for you to attack him, rip his clothes off, ride him right there in the chair, not even caring about the people around you.

“Is everything okay?” A waitress asked, interrupting the moment. You snapped out of your lust-filled haze and went back to your chair. Sy coughed, masking his even dirtier thoughts.

“Yes, everything is good. The food is amazing. Can we get two shots of baijiu?” he asked, suddenly in need of something strong to stay put during dinner.

The waitress came back with the shots. Lucas held up his glass.

“Cheers,” he said and downed the clear liquid in one go, but you took a small sip.

“Oh shit, it’s burning my throat,” you gasped, putting the shot down.

“Believe me, you’re going to need all of it until we’ve finished eating,” Sy hinted at something more.

You inhaled the shot, letting the fire spread throughout your chest all the way down to your thighs and throbbing core. Your brain was slowly getting fuzzier, giving you the courage to ask him what had been on your mind since he asked you on the date.

“What are we, doctor?” You blurted, not thinking about how loud you actually were. You continued as you watched confusion spread on his handsome face: “What are you looking for in a partner? Are we going to be a no-strings-attached kind of thing? Casual hookup?”

You stopped and took a deep breath, waiting for his answer. You watched his lips, trying to avoid his eyes. If he wanted a ‘friends with benefits’-relationship, you would be devastated.

“There’s nothing casual about you, buttercup,” Sy was surprised by what you had just told him. He couldn’t deny the connection there was between the two of you. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but he felt it deep in his guts that there was something more, and he wanted to be more for you. “I want to get to know you. I want to explore the deep connection that we have and see where it leads us. What about you? What are you looking for?”

“I… I want that too. Because to me, this. What we have is too good to be just an emotionless thing,” you started, “I feel safe around you, Lucas. I don’t know why, but I do. Do I make any sense? Because I feel like I’m just sitting here rambling…”

Lucas grabbed your hands across the table, avoiding the soups. He caressed the soft skin over your knuckles. His protective instinct was on overload, he wanted to protect you, and his heart was racing from hearing you say that you felt safe around him.

“You make sense to me, bug.”

Your first date had been perfect, so were the following dates afterwards. Lucas Syverson was the perfect gentleman and taken it like a champ when you had asked to take things slow, especially with you not knowing if it was still going to hurt when having sex. You wanted to have your ‘problem’ solved before you took that all-intimate next step with Sy. You built a beautiful relationship and a strong friendship from your attraction.

Lucas had invited you out for lunch one day. He asked about how it was going with the new gynaecologist he had recommended, a woman, as he wasn’t keen on knowing another man touching you in such an intimate place. You told him that you had been referred to a physiotherapist and was going to see a specialist in vaginal diseases.

With time you hurt less and less, and it was with the support from your sister and Sy that you continued the different treatments the doctors gave you. You stretched out muscles in your abdominal area. You used soap that was for intimate use only. You even started using an anaesthetic gel to relax the nerves in your vagina by Sy’s recommendation. You had cursed him all the way to hell the first time you’d used it, even as far as telling him that it burnt worse than the alcohol shot he made you drink at the Hot Pot restaurant. You were walking like you’d ridden a horse all day long until the burning stopped after a few minutes, and Sy had kept his laughter to himself, not wanting to hurt your feelings, but when you had started giggling from looking at yourself in the mirror, he couldn’t stop the roaring laughter either.

Sy was very helpful when you were exercising. He had made the stretching into a game of some sort. You might not be having sex, but you could still tease each other, orally or with your hands, anything to build intimacy between the two of you. He was determined to make the process sexy and fun, not dull and boring.

You asked him to penetrate you a few times but had to tell him to pull out because the pain became too intense. Sy was extremely understanding, and he helped you through the crying afterwards, as you felt that you were never going to heal again. He loved that you were comfortable enough around him to tell him to stop, and you felt so safe with him.

It became your goal not only to have sex but to be penetrated without the pain. And you would get there eventually. For now, you would just bask in the afterglow of a good make-out session with Lucas on the sofa.

You had always felt that there was a part of you missing, a vital part, and now, with Lucas, you felt whole. You couldn’t go a day without at least texting him, saying you missed him, or when you were together, and he went to the bathroom, you missed him. When you had to go home the following day after a night of cuddling, you missed him the minute you walked out the door. Both of you felt like you were addicted to the other. It was almost becoming an obsession.

Life with a boyfriend like Sy was amazing, incredible, fantastic. He was everything you needed without having known it. And Lucas loved to have someone he could take care of, protect and maybe even love. Sy had never felt this way about anyone before. It was a fantastic feeling to have this wonderful woman he could call his girlfriend. His.

Not only were you an extraordinary human being: you also loved animals just as much as he did. If you were allowed animals in the apartment you lived in with your sister, you would have filled it already. Sy had let out a breath of relief when you’d told him. You and Aika had become cuddle buddies whenever you were visiting Lucas. The German Shepherd would completely ignore Sy and follow you around instead, and Lucas was only happy to share his girl with his other girl. The sense of having found you excited him, completed him and made him so happy.

There are two kinds of tired: one that needs a good night's sleep and one that needs so much more. Lucas fell into the second category. He was both physically and mentally exhausted from a long and hard day at work, and he also had to face the guilt for ruining your plans for a quiet dinner.

“Plans are made to be changed,” you told him when he called you to cancel your dinner plans and suggest grabbing something to eat and spend the evening at his place instead.

"And I really like the sound of staying in and just cuddling with you, big bear," you whispered in your phone so your colleagues wouldn’t hear you.

"Big bear?"

"Yes, you're massive, hairy and just like a big cuddly teddy bear," finishing the phrase you noticed that one of your colleagues, Rita, was looking at you, chuckling at your big bear comment. You cleared your throat and with all the seriousness you could muster you told Sy: “I can’t talk right now. Call me when you get here,” and quickly ended the call, turning to her, “he’s an activist for the conservation of big brown bears.”

“Yeah, right,” she laughed. “Have fun with your bear-man, girl, you don’t need to explain yourself.” She winked at you and went about her work.

To your dismay, Lucas didn’t follow your instructions and decided that would be the day he showed his face to your work coming into the library to pick you up. He walked into the place, standing tall, his long strides and posture showing a sense of confidence and ease. He was as handsome as always, in his dress jacket, white shirt and jeans. Upon entering the library, he took off his sunglasses revealing his cobalt blue stare that made people stop in their tracks and this time was no different.

“Oh my God!” You heard your colleague gasping next to you when she laid eyes upon him. A small grin formed on your face to her reaction. You watched your man getting closer, noticing that his face looked tired, something only you would notice. The moment your eyes met a warm, sweet smile spread on his gorgeous lips, lighting up his face.

“Do they accept new members in the bear conservation club?” She asked not too loud, but loud enough for Sy to hear, who was standing right in front of you now. You blushed from embarrassment and broke eye contact with him. His soft laughter brought your eyes back on him.

"Sadly all positions have been filled up," he countered looking directly at you with a lopsided grin. “Ready to go home, sunshine?” You nodded excited, picking up your things quickly and moving on Lucas’ side, looping your arm around his offered elbow.

“Have a good evening, Rita,” you said giddily, looking back at her as she was fanning herself trying to cool off to the sight of Sy’s behind.

"What would you like to eat for dinner?" Sy asked as he opened the car door.

"You," you whispered silently.

In the shower, the water came down warm and soothing, washing the weariness and bad energy of the day off of Lucas’ body. He took some time for himself to relax and find his balance again. But the thought of you sitting on the other side of the wall made him impatient. He needed to be close to you.

Aika whimpered at you, licking your fingers and begging for another treat. You were lying on Sy’s bed, flipping through channels, nibbling at the leftovers of your Chinese takeout, with a comfortable, fluffy pillow behind you, soft and crisp sheets underneath you and Aika laying across your lap, sharing the guilty pleasure of eating in bed with you.

“Shhh, girl! Do you want him to hear us?” You whispered at her, feeding her another bite of the delicious potstickers you had for dinner. She gulped the treat and then licked your hand in gratitude. “Eating in bed is the best, right Aika?” You told her in a colluding way, scratching your accomplice behind her ears. You knew that Sy didn’t approve of eating in bed nor sharing food with Aika, so you both were on the lookout for when he would finish his shower. You didn’t want him to find out the ‘magic tricks’ you had used to gain Aika’s trust so fast.

The moment you heard Sy turning off the water, you both jumped up, Aika taking her usual place at the foot end of the bed acting all cool, and you ran to hide the evidence in the kitchen and wash your hands from the grease. In a minute, you were back in bed pretending you were watching TV. Of course, you had no idea what was on.

“What are my girls doing?” The bathroom door opened, and Sy came out with a towel wrapped loosely around his hips. He leaned lazily on the door frame, smiling in all his wet, half-naked glory, making you choke on your own drool. Quickly, you gathered yourself trying to sound as convincing as possible.

“Nothing special, just sitting here and relaxing.”

Sy walked across the room heading for his dresser that was on your side. Your eyes followed every move he made, studying even the tiniest dent and bump his muscles formed. At the view of his butt, a very unladylike sound escaped your throat.

‘Everything ok, sweetheart?” Lucas asked absentmindedly while looking for his underwear.

“Mh-mm,” you nodded, turning your eyes to the TV. There was a short pause after you heard him close the drawer.

“Babe, is there something you want to tell me?” You craned up your head to meet his eyes. His face was serious. The only thing that kept you from worrying was a small twitch of a smile on his lips. Oh, his lips.

“Huh? Like what?” You asked puzzled.

“I don't know, maybe you want to confess something?” Your mind started racing, a hundred thoughts per second: you are so hot, take off that towel, take me now, how lucky can a girl be, you are perfect, I love you. What? Where did that come from?

“Uhh, no. I don’t think so,” you mumbled trying to hide the instant blushing on your face.

“Don’t you think that trust and openness are important, darling?” He leaned over you, his hand running over your jaw. So busted! But how?

“Of course!” You gulped, readying yourself for the revelation.

“Then can you tell me, why are there crumbs on the bed, bug?”

“What?” That was not what you were expecting.

“Aika?” Sy turned to the German shepherd. She whimpered, hiding her snout in her paws and quickly left the room.

“Traitor,” you muttered.

“I thought we had an agreement on this,” Sy spoke softly, putting on his underwear and sweatpants and headed to his side of the bed.

“I want her to like me,” you confessed in a small, guilty voice.

Lying down, Lucas let a deep sigh out, finally being able to relax and cuddle with his girlfriend. He pulled you closer letting you rest your head on his shoulder.

“Baby, you don’t need to buy her off. I’m sure that Aika loved you the first moment she met you… just like her owner.” Sy’s voice drifted off as he started zoning out, feeling so relaxed in your arms. Your breath caught in your throat, gazing at him like you saw the sun for the first time after an eternity of darkness. You wanted to say so many things but couldn’t find the words to bring out of your head. The only thing you could utter was:

“Wrap your arms around me,” you felt the need to be close to him, lost in him.

“How’s that?” He murmured with his eyes closed.

“Perfect.” He brought his face in your hair, inhaling deeply from your scent.

“Mmmmm, you smell amazing.” This felt so right to him, holding you and being held. He tightened his arms around you. Being in his embrace felt so soothing, calming and safe to you, that you let out a soft purring sound.

“Did you just purr?” He opened his eyes, a huge grin forming on his face.

“No….”

“I think you did.”

“Uh-oh,” you said lazily, burying your face into his neck.

“Alright. But in case you did, I find it really cute.’’ He let you know in his deep, soft and gentle voice.

“I might have…” Your admission made you both dissolve into laughter allowing you to release all the pent up energy. Once out of your laughing fit, you were both left gazing into each other’s eyes. It was you who made the first move, bringing your hand on his cheeks, your fingers idly playing with the curls in his beard before you kissed him, slowly at first, lips tracing lips, becoming deeper, bolder and more intense as your tongues danced in a passionate rhythm. The moan that escaped his mouth when you finished the kiss, gently biting and tagging his lower lip set you on fire.

Sy felt he was on cloud nine. His head was spinning with giddy happiness. The way your body was moulded to fit him like a puzzle piece. His heart was galloping, his mind was going crazy, his feelings were all over the place with joy and love, he felt loved, so loved. But the minute you moved to sit in his lap, grinding against him as if you were riding a horse, his mind was transported to another place, only thinking about how good the friction between you felt, he wanted so bad to make love to you, to make you feel as good as you were doing to him at the moment.

He was still lost in your kiss, basking in your touch with his eyes closed as you kissed your way from his neck to his ear whispering:

“Baby, I think I'm ready.”

He opened his eyes, blinking lazily. At first, he didn’t understand what you were talking about. He looked straight into your eyes, his eyebrows furrowed with question. You caressed his face softly, waiting for realisation to hit him. The smile on your face, the feeling in your eyes soon let him in on the meaning of your words. His heart had skipped a beat as he truly grasped your words. You saw the surprise register on his face, his breathing quickened, his lips parted ever so slightly, his hands stilling on the lower part of your back and a faint wrinkle showed between his eyebrows. And then immediately his short-lived surprise gave its place to happiness shining through his eyes, fueled with desire as the colour of his blue orbs turned to a dark navy ring around his full-blown pupils.

His arms wrapped around you and you felt him pulling you onto his chest. You could feel the urgency in his movements, there was raw emotion in the way his fingers curled around the fabric of your dress. He claimed your lips once again, kissing you deeply, absorbing every detail of the moment, your scent, the weight of your body against his, all the feelings that were washing over him, raising a wave of heat inside him.

The taste of him stripped you from all your thoughts, fears and senses. His kiss, hungry and intense, ignited a fire inside you. Your palms were flat on his chest, your fingers were trying to dig into his skin as if wanting to hold on for dear life before you let go of all inhibitions and get lost in him. His hands trailed down your neck, never releasing your mouth from the hot, wet kiss he had you captured. Your body reacted to his touch, sending shivers down your spine and making you moan. You brought your hands to his deep brown curls, carding your fingers through them, tugging at his roots, to feel a little bit of control as your sanity was in the balance of tipping over. The little pain that he experienced made him exude more lust, he loved how you took control, as he could unwind and let you loose.

With one strong arm around your waist, he gathered you up and moved you both to a sitting position, letting you sit astride his lap. His fingers dug into your hips and pulled you closer to him, pressing your core to his straining bulge. You couldn’t help but grind against him, letting your instinct take over. Your kissing grew more passionate, more urgent, muffled moans and gasps filling the room. Sy brought his hands on your breast, kneading the soft flesh over the light fabric of your sundress and realising that you had no bra on. A throaty noise escaped him as he broke the kiss, looking at you with blazing eyes.

“You had it planned all along, you little minx!” he growled, his thumbs tracing your perky nipples through the thin layer, weakening your core, making you lean your forehead against his for purchase. He could feel the warmth coming off your skin through the lite fabric, but it wasn't enough. He wanted to touch you, he wanted to see the delicate, subtle flesh of your breasts.

You could feel the feral animosity inside him, as you kept grinding your core to his groin. You had never seen him like this before. His hands were eager to touch more than just your dress. Before you could think about taking the dress off, it was ripped from your chest, the fierce action kicking the breath out of you. Buttons flew in every direction and landed on the soft carpeted floor.

“That was my favourite dress,” you said in a shuddering voice, watching him take in the image of your naked body like a starving beast.

“Payback time,” he snarled. He studied you, running a finger over your breastbone slowly down to your stomach, his eyes following the invisible trail his touch burnt on your skin. He left a wet kiss on your chest and licked his way to one of your nipples, taking it into his mouth, torturing it with his tongue and tugging it with his teeth making it even harder. Although his moves were slow, you could feel how aroused and ravenous he was, his breathing shallow and fast just like yours. You closed your eyes, burying your face in his hair, feeling him everywhere; his lips on your breasts, his fingers pressing into the flesh of your lower back, his erection stirring between your legs. His scent and taste defined your reality now.

Sliding your hand between your bodies and pressing firmly on his arousal made him growl like a wild animal against your skin. He looked up at you with lustful eyes ordering you to take off your clothes. The demand in his husky voice stole your breath for a second. He commanded and needed you at the same time. You stood up obediently, let the dress fall down to your ankles, slowly peeled off your panties down your legs and stepped out of them with small moves while watching him watching you.

You crawled back onto the bed languidly, wrapping your fingers at the waistband of his sweatpants, removing them slowly along with his black boxer briefs, revealing his throbbing manhood and his muscular thighs. He stared at your face through half-lidded eyes with desire, taking in how you ran your tongue over your lips at the sight of the glistening precum that oozed from the top of the head, showing your eagerness to taste him.

He pulled you against his body, holding you close, feeling the warmth of your body skin on skin, your breasts pressed into his chest and his erection straining against your body. His lips captured yours in a deep passionate kiss, owning your very existence.

“The things I wanna do to you, right now,” he moaned in your mouth, locking eyes with you.

“Tell me what you want.”

“I want to make you come. Hard.”

“Mmm, how?” you purred, biting your lower lip to the suggestion. His eyes fell on your lips again and a small wicked grin appeared on his.

“Ride my face and I’ll show you,” his voice low and heavy with desire. His words sparked an adventurous excitement inside you, making your heart start racing. A bold smile appeared on your face taking up his challenge and the look of awe in the doctor’s eyes gave you the courage to move over, stride his beard, facing towards his body. His strong hands guided your knees on either side of his head and then trailed over your body, adoring every inch of it.

The beautiful close up of your dripping core mere inches from his eager mouth made him salivate, yearning for the taste of you. His tongue started tracing the inner of your thighs, writing small circles on the sensitive skin, lazily finding his way to your lips, licking, sucking, and making them beautifully wet. But his hands on your butt cheeks, kneading the round flesh with fervour showed you that he was impatient to dive into the main course immediately.

A warm, coiled tension started building up inside you, feeling your muscles quivering in anticipation. You couldn’t stop yourself from grinding on the soft bristles of his beard, the variation in textures making you weak. You leaned slightly forward, putting your hands on his stomach to hold on, the small change in angle intensifying the sensation and giving him more space to navigate. You couldn’t tell the difference between his lips or tongue. All you could feel was just a nice, sloppy warm mess. A loud gasp escaped you when you felt his tongue run over your opening, lapping your juices.

“You taste like honey,” he grunted into your core, the vibration of his bass hitting you hard. He didn’t wait for you to answer, he went on with his smooth, wet and warm stimulation. When he hit your clit, your whole body shuddered in his tight grip. The effect he had on you made his cock jump. You leaned lower, putting your mouth on him, your fingers wrapping around the base of his shaft. You felt his body jerk upon contact and he tried to drown a curse clenching his teeth, causing you to laugh around him. But you didn’t stop, taking him deeper, giving him the attention he needed.

For a moment, he let himself get lost in your ministrations, having your eager, soft tongue wrapped around him, eyes closed, moaning deep, feeling he was growing bigger and harder in your mouth. You took advantage of his openness and brought your hand over his sack, massaging it softly, accelerating the pace, your tongue twirling around his glands every time your lips were around his head.

“Fuck!”

His hips thrust up involuntarily, searching to go deeper into the wetness of your mouth. You felt like you had the upper hand, loving the power he granted you over him, the naughty side of you wanting to make this a race of who was going to come first. But you should have known better, Sy wouldn’t let you have this one. He pressed his tongue flat on your core, intensifying the sensation and then ran it over your opening and sliding it inside you. You couldn’t keep the needy moan from escaping, feeling his tongue teasing your moist entrance and penetrating you.

Your focus was lost and so was your balance. You leaned your forehead on his pelvis, concentrating on all the pleasure he was giving you, stroking him slowly with your hand.

"Don't stop,” you whimpered, feeling the warmth of your orgasm spreading all over you. He pulled you closer against his face and shoved his tongue deeper inside you, fucking you at a frantic pace while his beard set your clit on fire. Your legs started trembling, his firm grip not allowing you to move away from him, the light tremors of your orgasm building into an earthquake, making you shudder and scream.

“God, Luc! Your tongue is magical,” you gasped as you collapsed on the bed, panting with your eyes closed. You heard his deep chuckle and felt the bed shift as he moved over, lying next to you. His arm wrapped around your waist and he scattered small kisses on your shoulder and collarbone, his beard wet from your nectar left a cooling sensation on your skin. You turned to face him, bringing your hand on his jaw, guiding him into a deep kiss. His kisses were always a delicious treat but now that you tasted yourself on his lips and tongue, it made you feel amazing and aroused again.

Never breaking your kiss, Sy laid on top of you, his weight spreading your legs apart. You couldn’t stop your hands from tracing his taut body, relishing in the texture of his muscles. You could feel he was tense, his strength, his heat increasing as he was taking over you and you couldn’t get enough of it. You needed this. You wanted to watch his face as he came inside you, to have his sweat all over you and you couldn’t believe it was finally happening. And neither could he.

He fought to control his movements and the urge to claim you hard, pouring all his passion on you. He needed his mind to take over the primal, animal instinct he was feeling at that moment. He was too far gone by now, his whole body aflame. Your voice brought him back.

“Lucas,” you whispered more breath than voice.

“Say it again. Say my name,” he said in your ear, his voice a low groan.

“Lucas, do it.”

His expression was one of intense concentration, replaced by wide sensation, as he eased slowly inside you. His thrust was slow, gentle, allowing your body to get used to his size and open up for him. You took in a deep breath as your body prepared for that familiar feeling of pain to come and tensed up but his kisses, his bites, his touch, his fire engulfed you, making you relax and forget about everything. Without even being aware of it, your pelvises touched and there you were, one deep inside the other. The realization alone made you both gasp, staring at each other with awe.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Sy murmured, the overwhelming feeling choking him.

You paused for a moment, running a mental check before nodding faintly and breathing: “More”.

Sy took a moment trying to catch his breath and allowing you to catch yours. Eventually, your bodies unwinded and your breaths almost synced. With slow, soft thrusts he started moving inside you, claiming your mouth at the same slow, languid pace. Your bodies now were the closest they could be. The intense feeling of your tightness made him moan against your lips.

“I can feel every muscle inside you moving,” he gasped, “and it feels fucking incredible.”

"I love the way you feel inside me," you said, your voice giving away a slight hint of breaking, feeling a lump in your throat. You just needed to say it, tell him before your heart burst.

"I love the way I feel inside you," he let out a low content groan, not picking up your emotional overload.

"I love that I can trust you," you went on, closing your eyes trying to contain your feelings, trying to find comfort in his motions, rocking back and forth inside you.

The tears in your voice were more evident, making Sy stop and look at you with worry on his face.

"Baby... Look at me."

You couldn't bring yourself to open your eyes, you didn't want to ruin this moment for both of you.

"It's OK, bug. I'm here for you. Open your eyes."

"I love how you are always here for me," you gasped an intense sob ripping through you. "I-I love... you."

His eyes travelled from your lips forming those three words to your eyes, gazing inside them, finding your soul and claiming it as his own. He saw you, really, truly saw you and loved what was there. He tenderly caressed your face with his fingertips, wiping away the trail of your tears. He placed a feathery kiss on your lips and whispered:

"I love you too."

[ravenlesslangblr]

So I did all of the Duolingo placement tests

Related to this post I saw a few requests to post the results of all my placement tests, so let's go! Long post and a lot of rambling ahead! So my friend and I did the tests chronologically (leaving the High Valyrian and Klingon out until the end in case we got too tired), but I'm going to group them up here in an order that makes sense.

Each of the numbers means the number of skills I've tested out of/the number of 'crowns' I got in each language. Since I got to complete the placement test 37 times in total, I could actually find out how it works. It is pretty hard to try and cheat your way through it with a language you don't know, because if the test picks up on a fact that you messed up a 'beginner sentence', it immediately sends you back to the basics. Due to this, some results were a tiny bit upsetting, but later on, I realised that this is just how the test works and is not necessarily reflective on one's language skills. Another thing that is super important - the test reflects your knowledge of the Duolingo course rather than your actual language knowledge. I could actually prove this 'theory' to myself later on with some results.

My 'main' languages aka the languages I did well on and I kind of expected to:

Irish 48 French 42 German 51 Honestly, I was a bit more open not to do so well on French since it's become quite rusty and I'm experiencing some kind of a mental block with it, but I still did quite well! As for German and Irish - I would have been so upset had I gotten a single mistake. And it has not happened in either case.

My native language: Czech 31 This one honestly made me lol, because I have made 2+ mistakes and the Duolingo course is just strange. It called me out on my use of nějaký and některý where I was like 'There's a difference? o.O' and at one point it used the verb 'left' for 'forgot', which I did figure out correctly, but it was yet another sign that the course/placement test isn't very accurate yet when it comes to Czech. Languages I did well on because they are similar to a language that i already speak: Spanish 12 Italian 14 (well, I briefly studied Italian, so some credit there as well) Portuguese 3 (surprising since I mostly guessed) Polish 24 Ukrainian 17 Yiddish 5 (I LOVED the Yiddish placement test! I will definitely try the Duolingo course)

Other languages I have done before: Welsh 3 Esperanto 9 I was quite disappointed in both of these (Welsh broke my heart!) but I think this is just a testament that the placement tests aren't reflective of your language knowledge, but of your Duolingo topics knowledge. I haven't done much of Welsh or Esperanto on Duolingo since I studied them at university. I'm not fluent in either, so it really boils down to what I was taught. More proof are the next languages Dutch 22 Scottish Gaelic 20 These are the two lanuages I have studied almost exclusively on Duolingo only. I also definitely have a better knowledge of Welsh and Esperanto than Gaelic and Dutch. But the tests went much much better for these, because I already knew the topics that Duolingo was going to ask me. And now for the Nordic languages: Swedish 18 Norwegian 16 Danish 7

Honestly, I think it's hilarious that I did better at Swedish than Norwegian, when the only reason I did well at Swedish was because of Norwegian. Also, the articles are still super confusing to me and it was a source of many frustrating mistakes! Speaking of mistakes - I don't think that the test takes into account what kind of mistakes you made. It could be a missing article (which imo is a pretty minor one) or you could pick an adjective for a verb and both of the mistakes will be marked down the same. This one was pretty frustrating and prevented me from doing well on languages that I was actually okay at. Languages I've failed and it was quite upsetting: Korean 0 Russian 0 Latin 0 I have been learning some Korean on Lingodeer (mostly reading Hangul), so I expected to utilise some of these skills on Duolingo. Not the case. My Russian - I can read and understand - just like Ukrainian that I did pretty well on in comparison.... and it all boiled down to me confusing some things and not knowing what 'a horse' was. Boom, 'let's start from the basics'. Same with Latin - I have studied it briefly and was able to understand, but I haven't touched it in a while and completely forgot some minor things, which the placement test picked up on immediately. Also! When you're not doing well, the placement test almost taunts you! They keep giving you the same stuff over and over until you remember it and it feels like there's some hope for you. But no, still back to basics! it's quite mean! haha And here's the languages I have also failed, but it wasn't surprising:

Japanese 0 Mandarin 0 Hindi 0 Arabic 0 Turkish 0 Greek 0 (this is an example of the one I thought I was doing well on) Vietnamese 0 Hebrew 0 Indonesian 0 Hawaiian 0 Finnish 0 (bit sad since I really want to learn Finnish) Romanian 0 (I was super surprised here since I somewhat expected to be able to understand it more) Swahili 0 (again I really enjoyed it! Will check out the course on my actual account) Hungarian 0 (another one i thought I did well on haha) Navajo 0 (also will check out the course!) And the fictional ones - no one's surprised, even though High Valyrian was giving me some hope: High Valyrian 0 Klingon 0 Also, is this a testament of how eurocentric my language interest is? Yep, pretty much. I am quite aware and I'd like to broaden my interests, but then again, it's not that easy. Still all in all, this was so much fun, even though it was a bit tiring and frustrating at times. However, once you find out that there's no point in trying to bs the languages you don't know/recognise anyway, then it gets a bit easier. Let me know if you try and honestly, congrats if you've read up until here, I don't even have the patience to re-read this post :D @dutch-polyglot , @anthropologicle and everyone else who liked/reblogged :)

[peachtree-dish]

A Te Che Sei il Mio Grande Amore Ch. 7: Niente ti farà del male piccola

23 Gennaio, 1970

The first indication of Luca’s growth spurt began with his school blazer suddenly feeling too tight as he raised his hands in class. The second indication came from bursting seams on his pants and his pants becoming more like capris as he wore them each day. The third time his inseam split, Signora Mia finally resigned herself to the reality of new clothes. Now, standing in front of his mirror, Luca could see the changes he had been too busy to notice before. His body was lengthening and becoming more svelte, with his legs becoming toned from cycling around the city. His face had slimmed down, losing most of the baby fat and child-like roundness he had grown accustomed to for most of his life.

The only features that hadn’t changed with time were his eyes; richly brown with flecks of gold and red. Luca wondered what Alberto would think of when he saw him. His friend’s voice had begun to deepen when they spoke two months prior, and Luca had all but melted into the warm depths of that voice. Would Alberto have a similar reaction to seeing Luca as he grew into himself? His thoughts were mildly put on hold as a gentle hand knocked on his bedroom door seeking permission to enter. Giulia entered, her hair damps from her bath and her skin glowing from the warmth of the water.

Dante and Luisa had left about an hour ago, having visited for after-school studying. He was not overly excited for their upcoming midterms, and with the added stress of assisting the teachers, he felt nervous about how his grades would fair. She plopped none too gently on his bed while the sounds of Signora Mia’s poor singing and the radio blasting in the kitchen echoed into his room.

“They’re playing the Beatles again?” He inquired, picking up the familiar tunes under Mia’s caterwauling. He pretended to brush imaginary dust from the light blue shirt he was wearing while strains of ‘Let it Be’ floated through the air. Giulia grinned and nodded, wincing when her mother’s voice reached for a particularly high note.

“I think Beatlemania has finally bitten her.” She rolled onto her stomach and faced him. “Were you going to try on the clothes we bought?” She inquired. He flushed under her scrutiny, not wishing to appear vain, and instead opted for sitting nonchalantly in his chair by the window.

“No, I was just thinking about changes.”

“Like what kind of changes?”

“The physical kind; I didn’t realize we were growing up.” Giulia hummed in thought. Just like her mother, both women had a gift to perceive and understand those around them with hardly any words or context.

“You don’t seem overly happy about it?” She cautiously pried.

“I wouldn’t say that, exactly, it’s something new.”

“Well, if it helps, you look good in your new wardrobe. I can hear the swooning girls now.” Giulia grinned wolfishly. The thought of girls noticing him more made Luca nervous and uncomfortable.

“I sure hope not,” he looked out the window to the hues of sunlight bathing the coral and cream houses orange. The lighting reminded him of Porto Rosso, and in turn, reminded him of Alberto.

“Don’t you want to start dating? Dante hardly shuts up about girls and most everyone in your grade is going out. Unless you’re only allowed to date sea monsters.” He continued to avoid her gaze, instead focusing on a flock of pigeons strutting along the rooftop to the left.

“No one interests me here.” He hedged after a moment.

“Not even Luisa?”

Now that got his attention.

“Ew, what? No!” He wagged his arms in horror, nearly losing his balance on the chair.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry!” Giulia soothed, baffled at his reaction.

“No offense to her or anything, I just… no. Definitely not.”

“Bene, she’s not interested, if that helps.”

“Why did you ask her?”

“I never said I did,” Giulia blustered, pink spreading across her face. Luca just stared at her with an unimpressed expression. She laughed nervously, glancing to the side.

“I was just curious,” she mumbled. She began to wrap strands of hair around her fingers, obviously avoiding his gaze now. A light suddenly clicked in Luca’s brain.

“Do you like her?” Giulia’s head snapped up and she glared at him.

“Do you like Alberto?” She shot back.

Looking back at this moment, Luca would realize he should have felt fear, or nervous, perhaps even anger, but Giulia’s question felt like a shock to his system. A switch flicked on and flooded his body with realization and for the first time in years, Luca understood everything.

A shock of laughter escaped him, “Yeah, actually. I do.” He laughed again, this time harder, unsure as to why tears were starting to leak down his cheeks, staining them green. Luca pressed his face into his hands as his laughter turned into hysterical gasps for air.

“Actually, I-I think I’m in love with him.” Oh shit, shit, shit, shit. “O mio Dio, I’m in love with my best friend, Gules.” He didn’t hear Giulia move until her arms were suddenly wrapping around him and she was awkwardly rubbing circles into his back.

“Is this okay?” She asked. He could no longer form words, so Luca nodded his consent instead.

When he eventually calmed down and the only evidence of his initial panic were the scale tracks on his face and neck, Giulia quietly went to grab him a glass of water and held it out for him to take.

“Sorry, that was dramatic.” He whispered croakily. Giulia laughed kindly and patted his shoulder.

“I think dramatic is a requirement in our family. Besides, you already know how I can be too much.”

They sat in silence for a time with their arms around each other, the light outside fading to the familiar dark and loud nightlife of Genoa.

“Per favore, don’t tell my mama.” Luca cast her a look of confusion. “About Luisa.” She amended. “As kind and accepting as she is, I think this is something that would be too much of a sorpresa.”

The red-headed teen scuffed her big toe against the floor, eyes downcast.

“Hey,” Luca nudged her softly, prompting her to look up at him. “She might be the one to surprise you. I’ve never met two people like your parents, Giulia, who truly only lived to make their child happy.”

“Ad ogni modo, I’m still not ready for that conversation. Besides, it’s not like I have a chance. Luisa’s, like, super pretty and smart, and Santa mozzarella! When she sings, it’s incredibile!”

Luca smiled as his friend rambled on about the Sicilian sea monstress, wondering if this was how he looked every time he gushed about Alberto. Eyes bright, cheeks flushed, and an endless amount of knowledge about the one person you consider to be your whole world. It was a wonder no one else knew of his feelings.

21 Marzo 1970

“Santa ziti! You’ve been in love with him this whole time?!”

“Zitto, Ciccio! I’d rather not have the whole town know, thank you.” Alberto flung flour at the blonde’s face, nervously checking to make sure no one had heard them. They were currently working in the kitchen behind the Pasticcini’s front area, with Alberto kneading the dough and Ciccio creating scores in the bread or decorating the more delicate sweets.

Ciccio winced apologetically and lowered his voice, leaning in for good measure.

“Does he know, or have you not told him yet?”

“Of course, he doesn’t know, stupido! I’m trying to not ruin our friendship.

“Don’t call me stupido, and how do you know it would?”

Alberto threw the ball of dough down on the wood surface with more force than necessary, the surrounding flour splattering like snowballs after the season’s first snowfall.

“I just know, é tutto.”

They worked in silence for a while, taking turns with switching pans from the clay oven and glazing sweet rolls with fruit jellies and powdered sugar. When the sun was beginning to set everything on fire, its orange gaze turning the sweet rolls into apricot imitations, Ciccio’s mother brought warm cider and a platter of buttered bread. Alberto liked Ciccio’s mother, she was as warm as the bread she baked and her personality as strong and opinionated as the spices she used. Bella shared the same round features as her son, with a strong nose and bowed lips that were quick to smile. Ciccio once explained to Alberto that he and his mother got their strong noses and blonde hair from Bella’s German heritage, but it wasn’t something they spoke openly about.

Today, Signora Bella’s smile was strained, but it had lost none of its warmth. Alberto knew that meant either some customers had been more difficult than others or some pastries hadn’t turned outright. He recoiled at the thought of her being disappointed in anything he’d done.

“Come va tutto, ragazzi?” She lovingly patted Ciccio’s halo of curls and squeezed Alberto’s shoulder with a large hand. “It’s smelling really good in here. Ah, che bello!” She motioned to the cooling racks on Ciccio’s right. The sweet rolls and scored bread glistened perfectly in the afternoon light and the Signora’s words made Alberto glow as well.

“If you keep this up, Alberto, I may have to bribe Massimo to let me keep you all year long,” she teased. Alberto could only shrug nonchalantly, hoping his pride didn’t show.

“How did the sales go, mama?” Ciccio asked cheerfully, taking a large bite from his buttered bread. Alberto watched nervously, eating his own snack at a slower pace, his stomach suddenly feeling as if hermit crabs were marching and pinching at his insides.

Bella waved the questions away, her mouth pulling sourly at the edges. “Bah, Signor Tafani nearly scared away my customers this morning with his complaining. That man is never satisfied.” She sniffed dismissively. Alberto’s fingers began to pick at the bread, the smaller crumbs slipping from his lap.

“Was there something wrong with the baked goods?” He managed to ask, focusing on Bella’s crocifissione that hung around her neck. The older woman’s hand rested over Alberto’s, pausing the destruction of his bread.

“As I said, piccolo, he is never satisfied. No matter how perfect the bake is,” Her smile was small but firm and it made the hermit crabs release their pinching in his stomach. “God help that poor man’s wife.” Bella sighed heavily as she heaved herself to her feet.

“Ora,” she stood and clapped her hands together and both Alberto and Ciccio swallowed their bread quickly, the butter coating Alberto’s mouth with salt and cream. “Alberto, will you be staying for dinner?”

Alberto’s mouth watered at the thought; the signora’s food was always amazing, rich in seasonings and filled with love. Not to mention Ciccio’s father would usually play his guitar and serenade his family with music and singing. If he drank enough wine, Massimo would usually join in and the resulting cacophony would leave the rest of the family in tears and howls of laughter. Outwardly, the curly-haired teen hesitated, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

“I don’t know Signora, I don’t want to leave Massimo hanging…”

“Bah, but of course he is invited as well, what do you think telefoni are for?”

“To make long distances seem short.” Ciccio supplied cheekily, earning an inconspicuous kick from Alberto. Signora Bella gave her son a bemused look.

“Si, mio figlio, for that too…” deciding that it was safer to not question the odd antics of teenaged boys, Bella left to call Massimo and prepare dinner.

When she was out of sight, Alberto gruffly shoved Ciccio in the side, earning him a loud laugh.

“I think I preferred it when you were trying to hunt me,” he groaned miserably. Ciccio merely grinned.

“It’d be hard to catch a fish that’s already been caught.” Alberto kicked him harder in answer.

28 Aprile 1970

“You want me to start applying already?”

The headmaster grinned expectantly at Luca.

“Ma certo, Luca! You’ve shown so much potential these past two years, which is even more impressive considering your, ahem, background.” The balding man stage whispered behind his hand. Luca could only stare in confusion.

“Why are you whispering, we’re the only ones here?” Signore Bonetti flushed red for a moment, his thin lips disappeared under his obnoxiously large mustache as he frowned.

“It doesn’t matter,” he waved his hand away, his smile returning instantly. “What matters, mio caro ragazzo is that you could have the opportunity for great things.”

“Bene, I don’t know, Signore Bonetti.”

“You don’t know.” The signore’s mustache quivered as he peered at the curly-haired youth before him. Luca shrugged awkwardly under his gaze, feeling a nervous trickle of sweat make its way down the back of his neck.

“I still have two years here and I have to consider prices as well. Moreover, I would like to discuss future possibilities with my family first.” He offered what he hoped to be a placating smile at the headmaster.

“All the more reason to start now,” Signore Bonetti pressed, his hands inching university pamphlets across the oak desk. “Signora Castello has already agreed to help write your application letters along with several recommendations from our staff. And, I should add that we’ve had a growing handful of universities reach out with interest once I sent a copy of your grades.”

Luca sighed internally, he had a feeling that he wouldn’t be escaping this conversation without some sort of agreement.

“How many universities would accept a full-grown sea monster into their halls, Signore Bonetti?” Luca asked bluntly. Thin lips open and closed in an “o” shape. The mustache covering the top half of his mouth reminded Luca of an octopus who couldn’t quite catch its food. He decided to keep that thought to himself.

“Actually, quite a few would be ecstatic, if you were willing to supply their science departments with some information.”

Luca clasped his hands to keep them from shaking. “I will not be some science project that is locked away and never seen again.” He said firmly.

The headmaster quickly backpedaled, “No, no of course not! We would never allow-”

“I’ve seen what humans do to those they consider different. Fear is a powerful, if uneducated, weapon. If I am to go to any university, I do not want them to know about my…background, as you say.” Luca smiled condescendingly.

The bald man paled, his eyes round with shock.

“No, mio ragazzo, I don’t think that would be wise.”

“Bene, if that is everything, I need to head back to class.” Luca stood, he considered the colorful papers on the desk before grabbing the lot and turning towards the door. Signore Bonetti stuttered a farewell to his retreating figure. He didn’t look back.

“What’s got you looking so glum, chum?” Dante’s question sprayed crumbs everywhere, much to the rest of the group’s disgust. Luca glared up at his large friend, dusting the rejected food off of his copy of ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’.

“Is it really that hard to swallow first then speak, Castello?” Luisa asked, her cupid bow lips curled in distaste.

Dante rubbed a large hand across his face, dispelling a few straggling crumbs from his mouth. Without saying anything, he stared challengingly into Luisa’s eyes and took a larger bite of a dinner roll, the crumbs falling to their doom. Luisa scoffed and turned back to braiding Giulia’s red locks in intricate patterns. Giulia hadn’t said much during their lunch hour, and if Luca had to guess, he would wager having Luisa sit so close with her hands combing through her hair had something to do with it.

They were currently sat outside on the campus grounds, good weather permitting it. Around them, other students sat on benches or laid out on the grass, soaking up the weak rays of spring sunshine. Today, Luisa brought an intricate blanket that they all rested on, with Luca lying on his stomach and Dante munching beside him sitting cross-legged. A very flushed Giulia sat leaning back so that Luisa could access her hair easily.

Dante made to speak again, but Luca interrupted him. “I’ll tell you if you promise to keep your mouth shut and your food inside it.” The larger teen rolled his sky-blue eyes in annoyance but didn’t say anything, much to everyone’s relief.

“The headmaster wants me to start applying to universities.” Luca started, immediately his friends turned to him, their expressions matching.

“Cosa?!” Their table received several odd looks from the surrounding students who were simply trying to enjoy their meals.

“Yeah, that’s what I said. Apparently, there are universities already showing interest in me.”

“You don’t think they know about, ya know.” Giulia mimicked swimming, wincing when Luisa yanked her head back into place so she could continue braiding.

“I honestly don’t know, I told Signore Bonetti I don’t want universities to know about it, I didn’t think to ask if he’d already brought it up.” Luca allowed his head to rest heavily against the pages of his book. Up close, the letters were indiscernibly blurry.

“I’ve never heard of a sophomore applying for university before, my mom has never allowed it. Have you been getting tens this whole time?” Dante looked at him incredulously. A red flush crept its way up Luca’s neck.

“That and a few extra-curricular.” He mumbled. Who knew joining the swim team and being the chess club captain would be so impressive?

“Aspettare, why aren’t you happy? Isn’t this a good thing?” Luisa intervened, her honey eyes never leaving her work.

“I dunno, I’m worried about more people finding out, and then there’s Alb- my family, I don’t want to make any decisions without them.”

Giulia shot him a look through her curtain of hair, he responded by nudging her foot with his book. They hadn’t spoken much since that incident happened, something that Luca wasn’t eager to change.

“Ya know, I’ve heard my mom talk about these exchanges that universities will offer to promising students for a few weeks.” Dante tapped his lips thoughtfully. “You’d have to wait until the summer after next to do it, but that would allow you the chance to experience college life without the full commitment.”

“Veramente?” Luca felt a flicker of hope and excitement flicker in his stomach.

“Yeah, take a few classes, sleep in one of the dorms, meet your professors, etc. That kind of stuff.” Dante waved his hand nonchalantly, “You know my mom would be happy to help, it’s her job, but, like, she reaaally likes you. So, instant win.” He popped a cherry tomato into his mouth.

The bell sounded, causing the group of teens to quickly finish what they were doing. With a hum of contentment, Luisa tied Giulia’s hair and helped the other girl to her feet. Dante and Luca helped wrap the blanket up neatly, being sure to shake out any remains of Dante’s lunch. The group split into two and headed to their respective classrooms with the promise to meet after school per usual. Luca’s last two classes of the day were physics and music, and he hurried towards his physics class which rested resentfully on the other side of the school.

As he passed a darkened alcove, his ears picked up the sounds of muffled giggles and whispers. He slowed down against his better judgment and peered around the corner of faded, blue lockers that lined the walls. Two boys, at least a year older than him, were leaning against each other in the darkened hallway. The tall, lanky blonde Luca recognized from the group of teens that Luisa had soaked near the beginning of the school year. The shorter brunette was unrecognizable, especially with him facing away from Luca and most of his body being overshadowed by Lanky.

He knew he was interrupting a private moment, but Luca couldn’t find it within himself to look away. Lanky leaned down and began to gently press kisses to Brunette’s neck who laughed breathlessly in response. Luca felt his stomach flip at the sight, and if he gripped his books harder than necessary, well, that was nobody else’s business. He wondered if Alberto would kiss him like that, or if he would prefer to have his own neck pressed with gentle ministrations. The thought made him sigh forlornly and rest his head non too gently on the lockers before remembering he wasn’t alone. The two boys jerked apart as if burned but Luca was already turning the corner at the end of the hallway before either could see him.

03 Maggio 1970

“Finalmente!” Luisa exclaimed, slumping against her towel in the sand. Luca could only continue to itch at his skin, flakes peeling off and leaving red scores wherever his nails scraped. Next to him, Dante was already removing his clothing, the pale moonlight making his skin glow like marble. The tall Italian hid a yawn behind his hand, his eyelids still struggling to carry their own weight. Due to both Luca and Luisa being sea monsters, it was agreed that they couldn’t attend the beach during the day where people might see them. Thus, it had become a monthly ritual for midnight swims since Luca’s first year in Genoa. With the weather being too cold during the winter, Luca had to settle for long soaks in Signora Mia’s bath.

However, this time around his skin had felt particularly itchy, and transforming during his morning showers had revealed new scales pushing underneath his older ones. He had panicked and ran from the bathroom with nothing but a towel and a shriek. After a rushed phone call with his mother, Luca learned about the extra joys of growth spurts and puberty.

“You’re going to have to swim daily to help your body push out the old scales,” his mother explained in her matter-of-fact way. “Your tail fins especially will need the help and they’re also going to be the sorest.” Daniela’s voice turned sympathetic. “Just a few weeks more and then you’ll be home, we can help manage it from there.”

So, for the past week, Luca with his trio of friends would all pile into Mia’s small, bright yellow Fiat and drive the half-hour to the ocean at three in the morning. Without a second thought, he was in the water, pushing through briny waves allowing the ocean to peel scales away with gentle brushes. His mother had been right, his tail was instantly sore once it unfurled in the waves. The spines along his fins were growing longer and sharper, their bases pink with tender new skin. Luca did his best to stretch his body gently in the dark waters, taking brief breaks to check his location in comparison to everyone else on the beach. The signora could be seen snoring loudly on her quilt and Dante was doing his best impression of a starfish, his face mashed into the corner of the quilt. The only two who weren’t passed out were Giulia and Luisa, who appeared to be in serious conversation near the water’s edge.

Luca dove back into the cool depths, the water burned his eyes in a barely noticeable way, and he wondered if it was because more tourists visited Genoa in comparison to Porto Rosso. There were also fewer fish here, although a stray school of fish could be found here or there. He felt a familiar tug in his chest at the thought of Porto Rosso’s waters. The year was finally coming to an end, with finals taking place for the next few weeks, and then Giulia and he would be heading home. Luca grinned freely as he thought about Alberto again, the tug growing stronger in his chest the more he thought about him. He wanted so badly to talk to his friend about his newfound feelings, but there was also the risk of losing Alberto over said feelings. And then there was the decision of attending university in two years, who knew what could happen during that time? The fifteen-year-old groaned in frustration, sending a burst of bubbles to the surface. A smoothhound shark swam past him, appearing to roll its eyes at his dramatics. Luca stuck his tongue out in defense, not willing to argue with a shark at the moment.

When he rolled onto the beach with a swell, the sun was beginning to crest over the ocean’s face. Giulia and Luisa both nodded to him, neither having moved from their spot on the sand.

“Did you want to swim a bit before we head back?” Luca asked Luisa, already knowing the answer. The Sicilian girl smiled gently at his offer before shaking her head in a negative.

“Is it a self-conscious thing because I totally get that. But just to be very clear, you have nothing to be embarrassed about.” Luca balked at Giulia’s sudden boldness. The redhead in question looked at him as if to ask why he’d let her say that her face turning the same shade as her locks. “Sorry,” she muttered, wrapping her arms around her knees. “that was too much.”

Luisa had the most genuine smile on her face that Luca had seen in their entire time together. She wrapped arms the color of caffè around Giulia, pressing her grin into her shoulder.

“You’re too cute, Giulietta.”

Giulia looked dazed out of her mind, her face the definition of a satellite that had gone to space and made no motion of returning to earth.

Pulling away, Luisa’s expression turned carefully neutral, and she appeared to be at war with something in her thoughts. As the sun began to pour its warm rays along the sandy shores of Genoa, the young sea monster seemed to come to terms with something. Sighing, she gracelessly flopped forward and began to push her fingers deep beneath the sand’s surface.

“When I was really small, I was taken from my parents by fishermen.” Luisa began slowly, “I was sold to a Circo da baraccone in Napoli, and I was their star of the show. The circus was filled with other people who had anomalies, like me. For the most part, they were really nice.”

“For the most part?” Luca asked quietly. He suddenly felt oddly cold, even with the rays drying his skin.

“Our… master,” Luisa bared her teeth at the word, “was not kind. He wanted perfection instantly and he was very greedy, he barely met our basic needs for food and water. Instead, he would spend money on alcohol and parties with powerful people.” Luisa traced vicious lines through the sand, contrasting light and dark with her fingers.

“When he was particularly ubriaco, he would wake us up at all hours of the night and run through shows with us. Every time we would make a mistake, he would use his whip.” Her fingers stopped. “I was just seven years old.” She whispered.

Beside her, Giulia had become rigid, her face pale and her cheeks were glistening with tears.

“One night, he was more violent than usual, and he knocked over a lantern. The whole circus went up in flames. In all the chaos, my tank broke and I was afraid I would die without water, I’d never made the change before. When I realized I could breathe, it didn’t matter because the fire was too big by that point. The smoke and heat were everywhere, and I couldn’t run.

“But then, Marta came back for me.” Luisa gave a small smile and finally met their stricken gazes.

“She carried me to safety, and we escaped together, never once looking back.”

“Is that what brought you here to Genoa?” Giulia’s voice shook, though she tried to hide it. Luisa turned to her and laced their fingers together and they both held on tightly.

“No, I was only nine. Marta tried to help me find my parents, but I couldn’t remember where I had been taken from and I couldn’t find other sea monsters near Napoli. Actually,” she finally looked at Luca, “you’re the first one I’ve encountered in all these years.”

“I’m sorry,” Luca murmured. Luisa raised her eyebrows in question.

“Don’t be,” She answered easily, though her voice caught, “for the first time, in a long time, I have hope.”

“Anyways,” she continued, “we moved to Sicily to avoid recognition and Marta did what she could to teach me how to be a human, including teaching me my letters and numbers. Eventually, she was able to enroll me into a school.” Here, she frowned.

“I didn’t mean to reveal myself, but there was an accident with water, and I changed. I escaped school, which wasn’t hard to do when everyone is afraid of you. Marta and I fled here and changed our names, she’s sacrificed for me so much and I feel terrible about it.” Tears began to leave pink scale marks over her skin.

“No,” Luca corrected gently. He shared a look with Giulia, and wordlessly they embraced the weeping teen. “You did what you had to to survive. And there is no guilt or shame in that.” Luisa sobbed harder, years of heartache bleeding out and dampening the crystals of sand. They stayed that way until there was no guilt left.

[contrabandhothead]

Hi! I saw your post about requests! :) could I get some BOB head cannons of what it’s like to date them while also being is easy company? :)

I’m so so SO sorry this took so long, and I hope you like it 🤞🏻also, I couldn’t do all of them because school has been keeping me very busy. If you want to send another request, and i’ll do more for you when I have time 💕 Enjoy!

Dick Winters

generally very private about his relationship

mom and dad™ of easy co. 

 i want to say that he puts you on his team during missions, but i feel like he thinks it’s unprofessional 

so he probably puts you on a team with someone he trusts and that he knows won’t take unnecessary risks *cough cough* Speirs *cough cough* 

doesn’t mean he doesn’t get worried though 

give this man a massage please, he’s stressed af  

you’d never want to jeopardize his position though, so you’re generally okay with it 

however, sometimes you get a little lonely 

Dick notices this and tries to clear out a slot in his schedule in order to spend some quality time with you 

treats you like any of the other men, except when you’re alone

king of stolen kisses behind crumbling walls before a battle

very healthy relationship overall 12/10 would be an amazing father 

secretly wants to get married when the war is over 

i’m not saying he definitely proposed on V-E Day but he definitely did it 

cries at the wedding, especially since it’s been so long since he’s seen you all dolled up because of the war 

also cries because he’s finally getting to marry the love of his life 

drunkenly told Nix at his bachelor party about how amazing you would look at your wedding and then went on and on about the specific shade of your eyes

S I M P 

Nix never lets him forget it 

Lewis Nixon

this man 

let’s be for real here 

he has NO idea how to display affection at all, especially because of his past 

so he does what any rich boy would do 

showers you in gifts that you don’t need 

it’s not that you’re ungrateful for them, you just wish he would understand that you don’t love him for his money 

i feel like everyone forgets that he’s lowkey rich 

can’t relate Nix

he will buy you anything he sees you look at for more than a second

always has them delivered by some random Private 

the men tease you RELENTLESSLY for it 

“hey Y/N, what did that overflowing wallet buy you this week?”

“Shut up Tab”

is always worried about you 

especially since he usually isn’t on the battlefield since he moved to staff

you’re fine 

you can definitely handle yourself after Sobel’s training what a fucking dick

takes you out on small simple dates when you guys actually have weekend passes 

the guys always help you get ready for your dates (they see you as a little sister it’s really cute) 

Ron Speirs 

this man 

oh wow 

the flavor 

never really got to see you until Dog Co. was basically absorbed by Easy Co. 

definitely thinks he’s not good enough for you 

when you first introduced the Easy Co. men to him, they thought the exact same thing (they changed their minds after a while though) 

REASSURE THIS MAN. EVERY. STINKIN. DAY. THAT HE IS GOOD ENOUGH. 

P L E A S E 

secretly is a cuddle monster

will 100% sneak into your foxhole to cuddle and will slit anyone’s throat that mentions it 

this man has arms and legs like an octopus when it comes to cuddling 

will pull you back into his arms even if you need to use the bathroom and will not be letting go 

steals you pretty things for absolutely no reason (Ron, no) 

the man is like a freakin magpie

the men of Easy Co. grow to like him more when they realize how happy he makes you and how he doesn’t hurt you 

he actually values their opinion on your relationship a lot

he knows Easy is like family and you’re like the younger sister 

doesn’t show it though 

pushes you away when he feels insecure 

jealous™

surprisingly domestic 

Carwood Lipton 

wholesome but to the max™

you’re both so in love i feel like i’m going to throw up rainbows

signed up for the paratroopers together

i feel like Carwood is the type of person to marry his high school sweetheart 

so yeah, you guys are that™ couple

best aunt and uncle of easy co. 

Lip worries about you just a littleee more than the other men 

he’s just a worry wart in general 

almost threw hands with Sobel once when Sobel insulted you 

he will not stand for anyone insulting his gal 

isn’t as private as Dick is with his relationship, but is known to hide it from superior officers other than Nix and Winters

aka Sobel

was 100% willing to get kicked out of the infantry to defend you from Sobel 

thinks a lot about how good of a mom you’d be, especially when he sees you caring for the men

is also a cuddler, though not nearly as clingy as Ron

just a loose arm to tuck you into his side, especially during Bastogne 

prefers having you on his team, not only because he cares about you, but also because he admires your skill and accuracy 

you’re a damn good shot, and he’d scream it from a mountain for all to hear 

so proud of his gal 

George Luz

you’re either the jokester and the stoic couple, the shy kid and the jokester couple, or the jokester and the jokester couple 

there’s no in between 

cracks terrible jokes just to see you smile 

still tries pick up lines even AFTER you two are dating (even the guys shake their heads)

you two are the entertainment for easy co. let me tell you 

you’re also the only person that can get George to shut up 

you must thank him in kisses he takes no other currency 

clingy baby™

it’s like dating a 12 year old boy sometimes 

he can be so immature but it’s kind of endearing at times

everyone is immediately accepting of your relationship because it just makes sense and you’re both good for each other

wants a hug and a kiss even if you’re just leaving the dining hall to go to the bathroom 

just give the man what he wants or he’ll pout all day until you kiss his cheek 

you guys once had a match of how long you could ignore each other once 

he was surprisingly dedicated 

but he broke 

he snapped like a twig after everyone went to sleep

he dived into your foxhole and begged you to talk to him

he kept snuggling closer to you until you talked to him again

Joe Toye 

rough on the outside, soft on the inside  

brings you flowers when he asks you out (surprisingly very traditional and respectful when he asks you out)

everyone has a good time when Toye is with you, he loosens up a lot more 

loves when you pet his hair and he can just stare up at the stars while laying in your lap 

he’s just as bad as Speirs when it comes to cuddling 

a cuddle bug but won’t admit it 

actually might be worse than Speirs when it comes to cuddling because he can actually sneak into your bunk while you’re sleeping 

also wants to fight Sobel when Sobel insults you and actually almost threw hands 

he almost got court martialed and was 2 steps away from getting up in Sobel’s face before Guarnere and Luz stopped him

hands down the dumbest thing he has ever done 

you were so mad at him for it 

you didn’t talk to him for a week 

you felt bad because he was always giving you those puppy dog eyes from across the dining hall 

Joe gets teased by the guys for being sweet on you  

“at least I got a broad! the rest of ya’ can’t really say that much.”

will not hesitate to let you win during arm wrestling 

he’s not allowed to arm wrestle with you anymore because the guys know he’s just letting you win 

you’re his #1 fan during arm wrestling 

look at those arms tho

Joe  Liebgott   

y’all thought Toye was soft 

OH BOY 

the way Joe acts around you is definitely bullying material for the other guys 

Lieb drinks respect women juice 

thinks you’re so cool 

would probably walk up to random people and be like “that’s her. she’s my girlfriend. can you believe how lucky i am?” 

thinks it’s so cute when you show off your brand new jump wings to him

you just looked so excited 

he wasn’t even staring at the wings when you started rambling about how happy you were, he was just making this stupid in love face

definitely grabbed your face and kissed you hard after that 

he wants SO many kids???? 

ya know those lists that lots of girls have on their phones and it’s just a bunch of future baby names??? that’s Joe 

this man has 8 names

4 girls names and 4 boy names 

he plans to use every name 

just wants to live the domestic life with you after the war 

will freeze his ass off and take your watch just so you can get some extra sleep 

another cuddle monster (they’re multiplying)

whispers really cute things in german to you until you fall asleep

has also almost fought Sobel for shit he said to you 

David Webster 

you help him fit in more with the other guys 

please teach him the art of socializing  

yes, the men have stolen his journal to read all his terrible poetry about you

still gets shit for it to this day 

shares his chocolate bar with you 

longing stares but from across the room 

doesn’t actually take you out until the war is over because he wants to do it right dammit 

has little to absolutely no relationship experience

please teach him 

or better yet, struggle with him and get made fun of by all the guys 

they actually accept Web more now that he’s with you 

cuz Easy Co. loves you 

sends letters all the time when he’s sent to the hospital 

everyone teases him that he acts like he’s more likely married to Liebgott than to you

you’re the only reason the men will stop teasing him 

definitely more badass then him 

you radiate boss energy and that’s what easy co. likes about you 

especially Web

everyone’s like “that’s my girl!”  

and he just smiles in the corner with the rest of them 

Bill Guarnere 

DID I SAY SOFT??? 

S O F T 

weak for his girl 

arm wrestles just to get your attention (flexes all the time for pete’s sake) 

also wants like a gazillion children and talks about it constantly with Liebgott

this man wants an army of little Italian kids 

no one makes fun of you or Guarnere for his actions to get your attention because they don’t want his fist in their face 

people who have almost punched Sobel for making fun of their girl: let’s add Guarnere to the list 

you didn’t ignore him, you just told him off for being an idiot 

if i could describe it, he sulked like a puppy that got told no more treats

so proud of you when you get your jump wings 

probably makes a toast about it at the celebration 

he was so drunk but it was so cute

literally will do anything for your attention 

chugging three bottles of whiskey so Y/N will pay attention to me??? pass the bottle bitch

not a massive cuddle monster but enjoys PDA and the occassional ass slap

probably has slapped your ass in front of company before

this boy has no morals smh 

don’t worry, you get him back though 

Frank Perconte 

worry wart but multiply it by 1000x 

is always bothering you to brush your teeth 

not because he’s scared your breath stinks, but because he cares about you and your oral hygiene 

now gets bullied about oral hygiene and his relationship with you 

ft Skip. “oh Y/N, take me away my princess. did you brush your little pearly teeth??? i would never want your perfect smile to be ruined.” 

Skip has been chased multiple times around Toccoa for this behavior 

will fight anyone that thinks you’re not a good shot 

is amazed how good you are at darts (knows you’re better than Buck) 

does share a foxhole with you 

is NOT part of the monster cuddler club because he knows when to stop 

has not arm wrestled for your attention but will if so needed 

always needs attention

whiny 12 year old boy P.2

sometimes it’s like you’re dating Luz as well 

Luz has purposefully third wheeled before 

yes, you heard me 

ON PURPOSE

likes spontaneous dates 

would fight Sobel for you but isn’t stupid enough to almost do it 

Buck Compton  

realized he had heart eyes for you before his old girl broke it off with him

WAS RELIEVED WHEN SHE SAID SHE WAS DONE WITH HIM IN BASTOGNE 

the other Easy men were like “dude, what the hell are you waiting for. GO GET YOUR GIRL!” 

let’s you win at darts 

is also stupid and needy enough to arm wrestle for your attention

actually wins though 

wants you to kiss his guns (absolutely not sir) 

jealous and protective 

jealous af around Winters 

gets teased a lot about it by the other men

but they can see why he’s insecure about it, Winter’s could sweep any girl he wanted to off her feet

indeed a cuddle monster 

will only share a foxhole with you in Bastogne 

no one else

radiator of heat and thus a good cuddler though 

will only let you make fun of him without repercussions 

wants you to move in as soon as the war is over

always demands to be in your unit during an attack

will keep you safe at all costs (and one of the reasons why he got shot in the ass again) 

Floyd Talbert 

THE ABSOLUTE SWEETEST BABY 

 people use to bully Tab for his condom shipments

now they bully him for the way he acts around you 

tough guy??? no. absolute stick of melted butter when around you 

thinks you’re a saint 

so does the rest of Easy though, so I guess it doesn’t matter

they had everyone from Easy give him a pep talk just to ask you out (Trigger even barked at him) 

he was actually worried you would reject him 

no one will ever reject that man lol it doesn’t make sense

not necessarily a cuddle monster

DEFINITELY A PDA MONSTER THOUGH 

likes when you sit on his lap 

can’t explain it, it just makes sense

will also arm wrestle for your attention 

will honestly do anything for you 

you need me to bring you Jupiter in a jar??? 

sure babe I’ll be right back 

has specific pet names for you 

his favorites are buttercup, angel, and beautiful

Babe Heffron 

P U R E 

does not get bullied for being in a relationship with you because everyone loves him

not a single person in this company, including you, would hesitate to sacrifice their life for that replacement 

whines a lot to you when you don’t give him attention

will arm wrestle for your attention and loses

has not had the chance to fight Sobel before but I feel like he could if he wanted to 

will tear Dike to shreads if he even mutter one hateful word against you 

cuddle monster #2323293

enjoys being the little spoon and the big spoon while in the foxhole 

shares his food with you during meals 

will not hesitate to get shot in the ass for you 

also will not hesitate to get shot for you in general 

is like an angry 6 year old baby when you don’t pay attention to him

is known to give the silent treatment when you’re too busy to talk to him for days

MAKE TIME FOR HIM DO IT NOW 

wants you to meet his Ma in Philly after the war 

has many hopeful dreams that include you after the war 

will only share chocolate with you and Gene

give him a hug, even when he says he doesn’t need it

Eugene Roe 

HOLY SWEET JESUS 

FIRST OFF 

NO ONE IN THEIR GODDAMN RIGHT MIND WOULD EVER MAKE FUN OF YOU, ESPECIALLY AROUND DOC

this man has so many pet names 

he is not afraid to use them on the battlefield, especially if you’re bleeding out because he’ll know you’ll answer to them

“darlin’, mon amour, ma mie, ma belle, ma chérie” 

 please stop Gene, it’s embarassing but also like don’t stop

get us a defibrillator his heart stopped while he was looking at you and we need to do CPR NOW-

thinks you’re the most beautiful girl ever

is not dumb enough to arm wrestle for your attention

he just makes this grumpy or upset face and you catch on quickly 

he’s also not dumb enough to fight Sobel

BUT HE WILL FIGHT ANY SOLDIER WITH THE AUDACITY TO INSULT YOU 

is always worrying about you

especially in Bastogne 

always jumping into your foxhole to check for any wounds

probably lost his sizzuhs that way

always has extra bandages just for you 

treats you with tender care

Donald Malarkey 

THE CUTEST COUPLE EVER

NOT EVEN SKIP HAS THE HEART TO MAKE FUN OF YOU 

is not dumb enough to fight Sobel for you 

doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to punch him though 

is dumb enough to arm wrestle for your attention 

it lowkey depends on the day though 

i mean 

he doesn’t need to arm wrestle for you to admire his arms 

like, have you seen that gif of him taking of his shirt???

loves cuddles in your foxhole but is not a cuddle monster

he’s a big baby when he gets tired

loves it when you take care of him 

has definitely fallen asleep once on your shoulder during watch 

would run up Currahee with full gear 3 times just to see you smile

he needs a hug. give him one now. 

likes to rest his chin on your head 

also wants you to move in (and maybe get married) after the war

treats you kindly, but he’s still a sarcastic little shit 

kiss his muscles

that was literally so long i can’t believe i finished

[schrijverr]

Can’t help it

How Blake befriended Scho through sheer stubborness and touching.

On AO3.

Ships: Blankefield (could be read as platonic)

Warnings:  WW1, PTSD. Tell me if I missed anything or if you want me to tag something!!

~~~~~~~~~~

William Schofield didn’t know what to think about Thomas Blake. The man, more a boy, was soft, cheerful, full of life, all the things you wouldn’t expect or want in a war-zone, but it made Blake, Blake and Schofield couldn’t find it in him to want to change the other man.

Another unexpected thing that came with the blaze that was Blake, was his love for touching people, in particular Schofield.

It had started the moment they had met, really. Schofield had been lying in a field looking at the clouds go by and telling himself that he should get up, do something useful at least, but still he didn’t. He just lay there and watched the clouds.

Then a shadow fell over his face and before he could react there was a pain in his side and a yell above him.

Within seconds Schofield was on guard, ready to fight this new threat, but it turned out not to be a threat at all. In the grass opposite to him was a soldier, English uniform, cursing a bit while rubbing his head.

When the man turned back to see what he had hit, his eyes widened and he quickly said: “I’m so sorry. I kicked you, I totally kicked you. I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there, I was looking at this map and I wasn’t paying attention at all and I should have been paying attention, but I didn’t and I’m so sorry. Oh and you’re a Lance Corporal, I’m so sorry, sir.”

As he was spewing words, he had pulled himself up to his feet and Schofield as well. He also had put his hands on Schofields shoulders and checked him over while he rambled apologies. Although he did let go of Schofield shoulders when he noticed the rank of the man he had hit and did a quick salute with his last words.

For a second Schofield just stood there, quietly and unblinking as he tried to process what had just happened.

The longer he said nothing, the more anxious the other became, he noticed how the smooth forehead got wrinkles and how the soft jaw clenched with stress. He then realized that he should probably say something, so he settled on: “It’s okay, I probably deserved that for lazing around. You can stand down.”

With his words the other relaxed as he let go of the salute. Then he smiled and he seemed even younger then before, he held out his hand and said: “I’m Private Blake, Thomas Blake. I came in new with the others to supplement the forces after the Somme.”

Schofield tensed a bit at the mention of the Somme, but he couldn't find it within himself to blame Private Blake when he smiled at him like that. So he grabbed the extended hand and said: “I’m Schofield, William Schofield.” then he went on and asked, “What were you trying to do with the map?”

“Oh,” Blake looked surprised at the sudden question, and frankly so did Schofield, he hadn’t been talking much since the Somme and most of his left over comrades had learned to leave him be, so the fact that he was offering up conversation at all was noteworthy, not that Blake knew that of course.

He just went on to explain: “I’m trying to figure out where we are, but all the fighting has deformed the land so much that it’s kind of hard to pinpoint, but I guess I’m mostly trying to look busy so they won’t send me out to do something. Is that bad?”

Schofield smiled a bit at the innocent question before saying: “That isn’t bad at all, mind if I join you?”

Blake shook his head and allowed Schofield to walk next to him, unconsciously bumping their shoulders together as they did.

After that Blake just kept showing up everywhere. He was there when Schofield was assigned to dig the trenches, he showed up at the mess when Schofield was getting dinner and he sat down next to him when they had time off.

Always with a story that needed great gestures, always nudging Schofield with his shoulder, elbow or hands, always pulling him along to something he absolutely needed to see and always with that smile.

Schofield didn’t understand why the boy kept coming back and he was desperate not to figure it out, because he would have to grow close to the other in order to do that and the last thing he wanted was forming an attachment to someone out here.

He used to have a few friends, before the Somme, but everyone he was close with had died, so he had vowed to not grow close to someone again. Everyone here was a person on borrowed time, just waiting till the final day when the war would become too much.

So, no attachment to Blake, not if he could help it.

He couldn’t help it. The boy would just show up and start talking to him, nudging him and Schofield couldn’t help it, he laughed, he smiled, he acknowledged the person next to him. Everything he had decided to do was thrown out of the window the moment the other pushed him away while giggling after a bad joke.

Schofield was finally getting a bit over the apprehension of forming a friendship, when the Germans attacked. As soon as the first bomb landed a cold hand gripped Schofields heart as he silently prayed for Blake to survive.

It surprised him that he prayed, he didn’t believe in God, not anymore, and not only that, he had also prayed for another life instead of his own.

After the attempted siege of the Germans, Schofield walked through ruined trenches along the bodies of fallen men, in search of his friend. His insides felt hollow as he tried to remember where the other was supposed to be before the attack.

He knew he shouldn’t have tolerated the endless chatter or the small touches that made him feel human, he knew that befriending Blake was a bad idea, because he was sure that the other hadn’t made it and he was alone again. He wouldn’t have been alone again if he hadn’t befriended the other, but here he was.

Hollow and alone.

He slumped down on the ground, it would be pointless to find Blakes body. He didn’t need another ghost to haunt him in his sleep, to accuse him off surviving while they couldn’t. Blake was always pure and seemingly uncaring of the violence around them that needed to be preserved in Schofields memory.

He later learned that Blake survived the attack and was promoted to Lance Corporal, same rank as Schofield. He didn’t go looking for him. No, keeping his distance was a safer route, a route which could hurt him least when the inevitable came.

Blake didn’t agree.

It was only three days after the attack that Schofield is awoken on an early morning by a foot nudging his side. Once he had grudgingly opened his eyes he was met by Blake, arms crossed and determined look on his face. Blake stated: “You’ve been avoiding me.”

Schofield closed his eyes again and ignored the younger soldier. He was nudged again, but he didn’t react.

That didn’t sit well with Blake, who had gotten used to Schofields company, his surprisingly dry and funny comments or his silent acknowledgments that Blakes story was being listened to as well as the way his face would loose a bit of the lines when he would slightly lean into Blakes touches. It was strange, how a person could crave both touch and isolation.

Set out to fix whatever happened to his friend, Blake crouched down in front of him and placed a hand on Schofields shoulder, the other on his chin, forcing  Schofield to look at him. The stubborn man kept his eyes close. Blake pouted and said: “You’re gonna have to open your eyes at some point, Scho, and I’m not leaving until you do.”

Schofield was determined not to give in, but not reacting also felt wrong, so he said: “Piss off, Blake.”

“Why?” Blake asked, “Just a few days ago you smiled when you saw me, you know how long it has taken me to get there? You’re always frowning, you’re gonna look eighty soon if you keep doing that.”

Schofield ignored the ribbing, but cracked open one eye to suspiciously glare at Blake. It didn’t work, because Blake smiled when he did so, completely ruining the attempted effect and lowering  Schofields defenses.

He quickly closed his eyes again and stated: “It’s unwise to form attachments, I don’t need to worry about your life when I should be worrying about my own. Now, piss off, please.”

Blake put the puzzle pieces together. The lives lost at the Somme, the detachment to reality  Schofield had when Blake first met him, the unwillingness to socialize, the recent attack.

It all clicked.

He sighed softly and let go of Schofields jaw, when the hand left Schofield unconsciously leaned forward a bit, chasing the contact, Blakes sigh deepened.

When nothing happened for a few more moments Schofield opened his eyes to shoot Blake a questioning look. Blake said: “I missed you, Scho. You can’t just laugh at my jokes and then go. I got a letter this morning that Myrtle was expecting, but no one who I told cared.”

“Really?” Schofield asked, he couldn’t help it.

He had to listen to Blake ramble on about his dog every day and through the stories he had gotten quite attached to the dog. Blake brightened immediately and said: “See, you care. Come on, my presence can’t be that bad.”

Schofield rolled his eyes, then he looked down and quietly asked: “But what if you die?”

Blake let go of Schofields shoulder and knelt down in the grass, knees bumping Schofields thigh in the process. He hardened his jaw and stated: “I’m not going to die.”

Schofield raised an eyebrow at him, but the knot that his heart had been tied in loosened at the factual manner it was said in. The odds of surviving were low, but Blake was convinced that he was going to survive and Schofield couldn’t help, but believe him.

Then he smiled and said: “Okay, but only because I will be saving your dumb ass.”

“Will not, I can protect myself, thank you very much, Lance Corporal Schofield.” Blake pouted.

Schofield rolled his eyes and said: “If that helps you sleep at night, Lance Corporal Blake.”

Blake smiled: “You noticed! I was gonna wait to tell you until you addressed me as Private, just to throw it in your face, but you are one observant little bugger.”

“I’m taller than you.” Schofield shot back.

Blake waved it away: “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Come on, we are digging more trenches today, to help fix the ones destroyed in the attack.”

“What? Why?” Schofield said as he grabbed the hand Blake was offering him to get him up to his feet.

“Cause I volunteered us.” Blake said with a grin.

Schofield blinked a few times then he said: “Why would you do that?”

“Well, it gave me an excuse to talk to you without you running away and if you were a dick it would be a punishment for you.” Blake said like it was the most natural thing ever.

“I hate you.” Schofield told him.

Blake pushed him and said: “No, you don’t.”

Schofield was quiet, but didn’t deny it. He just walked next to Blake with his little touches here and there and listened to the other mans chatter. It was just how it was, Schofield couldn't help, but follow Blake wherever he went.

It was good and he hoped it would last forever.

[imanativeofswlondondahling]

Being A Stark (5)- Peter Parker x Stark!femReader

Word Count: 2153

Warning: None I think

Author’s Note: I had a completely shitty T1D day yesterday and wasn’t able to get this up. However, here it is and hopefully you enjoy!

Becoming A Stark Chapter One | Being A Stark Chapter One | Master List

When Happy pulls up in front of MSST, your heart is pounding in your chest. Everyone else stepped back into the world over a week ago and you’re facing it alone. “You going to be alright kid?” Happy asks, looking at you through the rearview mirror.

“Yeah. Fine.” You mutter before grabbing your backpack and lunch. It felt like deja vu, apart from the fact that you weren’t about to panic when you started ninth grade the last time.

“If you don’t feel ready, say the word and we can head back to the cabin.”

“I’m not a chicken. I can do this.” 

“Never said you were.” Happy smiles at you. Part of you wishes that your mom or dad had come with you, but your dad is still healing and Pepper had to take Morgan to her school near where you live now, so it meant that Happy was your ride. “You’ve got this kid. But if at any point, it gets to be too much, I’m a call away. I’ll just be at SI.” You nod, before opening the car door. From across the street you can hear the paparazzi calling your name, trying to get a look at Tony’s daughter that disappeared. But you’re distracted the moment you hear a familiar voice.

“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” You look up to see Peter’s hand reaching for yours as you climb out of the car. You can’t help but smile finally seeing him again. Was it your fault you hadn’t seen him since after the battle? Yes. But now he’s here and that’s the only thing you can think about. 

“Hey Parker.” You say, wanting it to feel like old times to try and calm yourself. “Since when are you fine with the paps just seeing you waiting?” When the paparazzi were here, Peter usually walked next to you until you were inside the building.

“Lost each other for five years. I think that deserves not caring about the paparazzi any more.” He shrugs as you two walk towards the front doors of the school, your hand wrapped in his. “You ready?” He asks as he opens the door for you.

“No, but let's do this.” You answer honestly as you walk inside. You expect everything to look different, but it looks… normal. There are posters hanging on the wall about clubs and events. There’s a banner hanging reminding people about homecoming coming up in a few weeks. It was like nothing had changed. Peter’s arm moves to wrap around your shoulder, pulling you into him.

“So ninth grade all over again?” He teases.

“Going to fail chemistry this time. I feel it in my bones.” You say already dreading your third period.

“Won’t let it happen babe. Between your dad and I, we’ll make sure you pass.” Peter smiles as he walks with you towards the lockers. You had already sent him pictures of your new schedule and your locker number last week when everyone who Blipped got their’s. You have three classes with Betty, unsurprising since they’re trying to fit all the Blippers into similar classes. Your English class is only Blipped students according to Betty, because there wasn’t enough space without creating a new class. “Come on, let’s go dump your stuff in your locker.” He stops the two of you in front of your locker. You spin your locker combination and open the door, expecting to find an empty locker, but instead there’s a cup of coffee waiting for you.

“What is this?” You pick it up to find that it’s still warm.

“Thought you might need something to make your day a little better.” Peter shrugs, the tips of his ears going a bit pink. “I went to your favorite shop and got your usual.” You look at the cup in your hand and then back at him. “Almond milk latte, sugar free hazelnut syrup, two Equal.” He recites. Next thing you know, your lips are pressed to his, not knowing how to say what you want to to him. 

“I love you.” You mumble against his lips.

“All I had to do was bring you coffee?” Peter asks as he pulls back slightly, still keeping you in his arms. You had said it to him during your call in the middle of the battle, but hadn’t mentioned it again since then. Peter was sure you had been putting space the past week between the two of you. So hearing it again was music.

“All you had to do was be you.” You shrug, taking a sip of the coffee.

“I love you too.” He adds, realizing he hadn’t said it back. “I should have said it when you did, but I do-” You smirk before cutting him off with your lips. You love his rambling, but right now, you’d rather just kiss him.

“There’s probably an empty classroom if you two want some privacy.” Betty teases from behind you. Peter starts to pull back, but you lean forward to place one more kiss on his lips.

“Make fun all you want Betty, but I just happen to have the best boyfriend.” Your hand pulls Peter’s into your hold as you turn to face your friend who already has her books. 

“You two are in love, the world gets it. However if we’re late to English, Mr. Briggs will not have it.” You place your lunch and your backpack in your locker, before taking the binders and books you need for your first few classes. Peter holds your coffee as you rummage through your bag grabbing what you need. You throw a bag of extra pump supplies into your locker and take some low snacks to throw in your pencil bag. As you do this, Betty peppers you with questions about what school work you reused and what you actually redid to get ready to come back to school. After you slam your locker shut, you turn back to Peter and take your coffee back. 

“Thanks.” You smile, saying both for holding it and for getting it.

“Anytime.” Moving the cup so it sits in your hand that holds your binders, books, and your laptop, you reach with your other hand for Peter’s hand. You and Betty will literally need to pass Peter’s locker to get to your class so you have more time with him. This moment of talking with one of your best friends while walking down the hallway with your boyfriend, it almost makes it feel like the Blip never happened. Peter walks you all the way to your English class.

“You’re going to be late if you don’t get going.” You say, not letting go of his hand. 

“So I get detention. It’s not the worst thing that could happen.” Peter shrugs.

“Until you want to do stuff after school and you can’t because of detention. Go. I’ll see you at lunch.” You kiss his cheek, but as you start to pull away, he turns your face ever so slightly to kiss your lips. “Go.” You laugh as you push him away. Walking into class you take the empty seat behind in front of Betty. 

“You too are too cute, you know that right.”

“Yeah, I lucked out.” You say as you set the stuff in your arms down, while your phone buzzes in your pocket. Glancing at the screen you can’t help but roll your eyes. Peter just left you, why is he already texting you?

PP: You know, I could get used to the taste of coffee if it’s always from kissing you.

Y: You’re ridiculous you know that.

PP: You love it.

Y: That I do.

“Miss Stark, I understand it’s your first day back, however the bell has rung, so phones away.” Mr. Briggs' voice comes from the front of the classroom. 

“Sorry!” You put your phone into your pocket. Betty taps your shoulder and whispers six words to you.

“Peter’s already getting you in trouble.”

“Shut up.” You mumble.

“Now let’s get into our discussion on A Brave New World. We only have today and tomorrow to finish with it, so let's jump right in.” You pull out a notebook and a pen to make notes on your favorite class. Having it first thing in the morning will make taking ninth grade all over again more fun. 

The morning passes with a relative ease. You had to talk to each of your teachers about your diabetes, which is nothing new with a new school year, but seeing as half of them had you before the Blip, there wasn’t as much info dumping for them. By the time you got to lunch though, you’re ready to just curl into Peter’s arms, and honestly, you could go for a nap. You swing by your locker to switch out your books as well as grab your lunch. 

“How’d the first half go?” Peter’s voice is next to you and you’re almost surprised to hear him, until you remember that his Mechanical Energies class is right across from your locker.

“It went fine. Calc 1 is awful already since I missed a few weeks of catch up. But English and German were good.”

“And Chemistry?” He asks, noting the class you skipped talking about.

“Kill me already.” You say as you slam your locker shut and take his hand.

“And have Tony Stark after me? I don’t think so.”

“He wouldn’t hurt you.”

“If I hurt you, he’ll make an exception.” Peter looks at you, seeing you don’t believe him. “Baby, your dad made time travel to bring you back. He would do anything to keep you safe. I’m not risking it.” Peter explains as you walk to the table your friends sit at. “Guys, tell Y/N I’m right. Her dad would definitely kill me if I killed her because Chemistry isn’t her subject.”

“Your dad would probably use the excuse of Peter accidentally tripping you as enough of a reason.” Betty says as she pulls the contents of her lunch out. 

“See, point made.” Peter says as he places his own sack lunch on the table. “Therefore, you’ll just have to make it through Chemistry with some help. I hear you and I have pretty good chemistry anyway.” His eyebrows move up and down at you.

“You’re ridiculous. I already said that once today.” You work on pulling your lunch out.

“And you also said you love me because of it.”

“Because of it or in spite of it?” You tease, adding up the numbers written across your lunch so you can put it in Queenie.

“Both.” Peter says before kissing your cheek.

“Some of us are trying to eat here. Don’t be gross.” MJ teases.

“Honestly, it’s all Peter’s fault.” You shrug as you type the numbers into Queenie to get your bolus started. 

“Fine, I’ll keep that in mind the next time you want a kiss.” Peter teases, making a face like he wouldn’t give you anything you asked for.

“Play for both teams and you always win.” You wink at him as his face falls. “I have other options.”

“What?” Peter’s voice goes up an octave.

Betty rolls her eyes. “Like she actually would.” You know Betty’s right, but you shrug and smirk at Peter.

“Fine, fine, I’ll be the gross one, but I’m not sharing you.” He says wrapping an arm around your waist and pulling you into him. “Only one person should be kissing those lips.” 

“Yeah? You’re right. Only kissing Spider-Man from here on out.” MJ, Ned, and Betty laugh as you kiss Peter’s cheek. 

“If that’s how you feel, maybe I need to go have a talk with Spider-Man and see what his intentions are.” Peter says, not letting go of the arm around your waist.

“Probably nothing good.” You smirk as you raise an apple slice to your lips.

“That sounds about right.” Peter says trying to peel his orange with one hand and failing, but not willing to let go of you. You take the fruit from his hand and peel it apart easily before handing it back to him.

“You can use your other hand, you know?”

“I could, but it’s fairly happy where it is.” His thumb moves up and down along your side. You roll your eyes at him as your friends fall back into talking about things that have happened in the past week. Mentions of new memes and stories that happened fill the space as you listen. Your head falls to Peter’s shoulder as you keep eating. The blue sweater he’s wearing is soft against your cheek, but more importantly being where you are, your nose is filled with the smell of Peter. Mainly a citrus note entwined with something earthy. And it calms you immensely. Your dad was right about leaning on him instead of pushing him away. It’s making today easier.

Permanent tag list: @wormonastringonastick

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strike won’t let me tag

[catboymingi]

the dragon’s appearance - veninder chap. 4

navi/masterlist

story masterlist

pairing: mingi x reader

genre: somewhat crack, a little angst, fluff (FLUFF in caps); eventual best friends to lovers

word count: 7.1k

warnings: slight language

a/n: i’m back on my bullshit and also making y/n’s background way more specific than it has to be but it's about the ~storybuilding~. also i am running out of lyrics to summarise the chapters with :(( recycling?

hun er gal, hun er syg, den pige - that girl’s crazy, she’s sick

mingi didn’t even need to ask who this was, the way she spoke up telling him all he needed to know. and if there had been any doubt, feeling you tense up next to him immediately after hearing her voice was confirmation that it was one of the girls that had dared to call themselves your friends despite how they treated you. he was, in all honesty, fuming at her audacity, but this wasn’t about him, it was about you and resolving the situation as quickly and easily as possible. so instead of giving in to his emotions he replied, voice raised just enough to guarantee the professor would hear him: “oh i’m so sorry, i didn’t know there was fixed seating! i just don’t know anyone but y/n, so i thought it’d be okay, sorry again!”

now it was the girl’s turn to fume, and even though you still refused to look up from your papers you could imagine how the steam was shooting out of her ears when the professor told him that it was okay, that seating was free and that he could stay right where he was. she left, sending him a look that could kill, but he didn’t care. this wasn’t his issue - he’d be able to deal with whatever she’d have planned for him. he was just worried about you, because even though she’d left to sit at the other end of the class by now you were still tense, staring at your desk as if you weren’t even really there. the redhead placed a hand on your knee, squeezing gently to comfort you and let you know he was there, that you’d be okay as long as he was there, but before he could say some reassuring words the professor started speaking, and he knew he had to be on his best behaviour because he wasn’t actually enrolled in this class. so he just squeezed again before listening intently to whatever was going on right now. he didn’t actually understand much, but when he saw that you still seemed so taken aback that you didn’t even seem to have realised that class already started he began writing down every single word the professor said, sometimes having to guess just what exactly the word was when it was some scientific term, but trying his best.

it took you a little while to snap out of the state of shock your ex-friend had caused you, and when you did you realised you had no idea what was even going on. your eyes turned to mingi, who was taking notes as if his life depended on it, and who, when he noticed you’d returned to the here and now, moved his arm slightly so you could see what he’d written down and hopefully catch up enough with the topic to participate from now on. your eyes widened when you realised he’d taken your notes for you and was still doing so right now until he could be sure you’d actually be able to decently concentrate, and now it was you who squeezed his knee, an act of thankfulness, before you shuffled a little closer to get at least a rough overview of the topic of this class.

his notes were taken meticulously; you were certain he’d written down every single word the professor said simply because he couldn’t tell whether or not something was important or not. and these notes managed to get you back on track after maybe a minute or two of reading through them and listening to what was going on right now, and another minute later you were able to be your usual, question-filled self. mingi still didn’t exactly understand much of what you were discussing, but he felt like you had a much more straightforward way to talk about concepts, which didn’t make your points any less valid, though. you weren’t dumbing down anything, you just left out the unnecessarily elitist terms that he knew were so common in academia, so even he felt like he got a rough grasp of what was going on. it didn’t take much to see that you were a teacher’s favourite, and rightfully so - you brought up a lot of concerns, different points of view on what had just been talked about, and even to him, someone that had no idea about the topic, it was clear that you had a very diverse way of looking at the problem or topic and actually thought a lot about what you learned rather than just learning it by heart to pass the course. you seemed excited, interested, fully immersed in the topic, and it was through these discussions that he found out that you spoke at least three languages well enough to offer a different perspective on sociolinguistics based on their cultures and how the cultural norms found realisation in the respective language. he wasn’t sure if this was the average for this course, though, and he was the only odd one out, or if you were actually extraordinarily skilled in the language department. though it didn’t matter much to him, because either way he felt like you were a genius and he was a mere peasant watching two experts talk. not that he minded - this wasn’t his major, so of course he wouldn’t be able to engage in the same kinds of discussions as students who’d studied this for roughly a year already. he was just very impressed.

before you knew it (and before he knew it, which was maybe more surprising) class was over, and the redhead gave you the notes he’d taken for you earlier since he wouldn’t need them anyway.

“thank you so much for that”, you told him, smiling shyly because you were still kind of embarrassed that he’d had to take notes for you.

“i just hope they help” was all he replied, because it wasn’t a big deal to him at all. when you packed your things he noticed that the girl from earlier was staring at you, and to prevent you from looking around to see if she was he put his arm around you, guiding you out of the classroom like that while distracting you by asking just how many languages you even spoke.

“depends on how you see it?” not the reply he’d expected - you could speak a language but not speak it by matter of definition? it was probably a language major thing.

“give me the biggest number you can with a definition that makes you happy”, he told you, because he wanted to be impressed. not that three languages wasn’t already impressive, but you’d made it sound like there was more, and he was curious to find out more about that.

“if we count just being conversational, and we also count classical languages… like, eight? though my parents are immigrants so that doesn’t really count, because two of those eight i didn’t really have to learn, we speak them at home. three, actually, now that i think about it. i was the only kid in first grade that barely even spoke korean.” you laughed at the memory, but mingi looked at you wide-eyed.

“which ones do you speak?”

“finnish and swedish from home - my father is finnish, we moved here because he got a job at the embassy. and my mother is finnish as well, but with swedish as her first language, and she made it a hobby to annoy my father by speaking swedish with me when she was plotting something. then english, korean, i took japanese in high school but i think everyone did? some classical chinese because there was no way i’d be able to figure out hanja without that, latin from my mother because she thought it was important for whatever reason, and german just for fun. how about you?” and even though he was a little embarrassed about his in comparison depressingly low amount of languages spoken he told you, because you seemed excited to know, because he could tell languages were a big passion of yours.

“korean, obviously, and english, and i took some chinese in high school but wasn’t the best, so i’m pretty sure i forgot most of it.”

“is there any you’d really like to learn?”

he furrowed his brows at that question. was there? it wasn’t something he’d thought about, and now he was desperately searching his brain for any language he’d ever been interested in even when it wasn’t mandatory. you noticed his expression, though, and chuckled a little.

“it’s fine if there isn’t, you don’t have to make one up.”

“sorry. how about you?”

“there’s too many”, you laughed, “i’d learn all of them if i could, and i’m trying my best to actually at least start with that. but if i have to pick just one… maybe russian? or arabic? i’ve been interested in french, too. and spanish. this is too hard!” you were whining, unable to pick just one, and mingi thought it was adorable. he was grinning like some kind of idiot because he’d managed to distract you, to seemingly entirely remove the fear from your mind at least for now. you were either smiling or pouting, your eyes wide and excited, and he felt like he’d gotten to know you a lot better just through this conversation already.

when you arrived at the table the other boys were already sitting at for lunch you were still talking about languages, rambling on about your childhood and how weird it was to realise that on top of the three languages you were already frequently speaking with your parents there was a whole other language that everyone else spoke and that, while you could understand it, you had no idea how to speak. he was just listening, sometimes humming in acknowledgment, sometimes commenting or asking about a story, but mainly happy to hear about your experiences, and you were so immersed in the conversation that you didn’t want to stop, because he actually seemed to care about what you were saying.

“hey!” was the only acknowledgment anyone that wasn’t mingi got before you resumed your story.

“when they taught us about hanja, i thought i was going to die. hangeul was already so hard to write because everything is so small and then the new characters were even smaller!” the boy nodded in either acknowledgment or agreement, you weren’t sure, but it didn’t matter all too much to you, anyway.

“how is hangeul small?”, jongho asked; your comment had apparently piqued his interest.

“you put so many sounds into where a single letter goes in latin script!” you sounded so exasperated, but the others didn’t have the context of you not having grown up with korean as your first language yet, so they didn’t understand where the problem was. to them, hangeul was the regular character size and it seemed like it didn’t even occur to them that it might have caused problems for you.

“she speaks eight languages!”, the giant next to you offered as an explanation, and while it didn’t exactly clear up your distress about the korean script it did make it a little more understandable, considering how most languages (that they knew of) did offer a little more space for their sounds or letters.

“my mother read to me in swedish, and my parents taught me how to read and write swedish and finnish before i ever even realised that there’s more than one alphabet”, you clarified further, and now it seemed like a lightbulb had been lit above the boys’ heads.

“you’re not korean?”

“technically i am? i have dual citizenship. but my parents aren’t born here, if that’s what you meant.” the faces around you all bore the same expression of surprise at the information they just got, six ‘o’ shaped mouths and six pairs of wide eyes looking at you.

“say something funny!”

“jokin hassu. or något roligt, in swedish.” their eyes got even wider and san asked you what you’d just said.

“something funny?”

“yeah, but what does it mean?” it seemed like he was impatient, not realising that ‘something funny’ was in fact the translation of what you’d said.

“it means ‘something funny’. that’s the translation”, you grinned. “i didn’t know what else to say, so i just translated it.”

now oohs and aahs could be heard from around you, and they soon gave you sentence after sentence to translate, watching you as if you were an interactive tv programme.

seonghwa put an end to the fun when he reminded them that you hadn’t even started eating yet, and everyone started apologising immediately, but you just waved it off. it was nice to get to speak the languages you grew up with again, because you certainly didn’t do so with your parents, with whom you barely had any contact anymore at all. but now you should probably eat, if the growl in your stomach was a sign to go by - you could always do this again later.

“how was class?”, hongjoong asked with a slight hint of worry in his voice while you were eating, but he was surprised when you smiled at him without even the slightest hint of any negative emotion.

“it was good! though mingi really saved my butt.” you sounded a little embarrassed, and reasonably so - everyone was once more looking at you wide-eyed.

“you went to class with her?” it seemed like it was impossible for wooyoung to control his volume when he was excited or surprised, so he was near yelling the question at mingi, who by now seemed equally embarrassed as you.

“yeah. it was kinda fun, actually.” now the number of surprised eyes staring at him increased by another pair, because you hadn’t expected him to actually like your class when he didn’t even understand the topic.

“she’s a teachers’ favourite”, he then informed the others teasingly, and you playfully hit his arm.

“i’m not!” you genuinely didn’t think you were. you just asked questions when you wanted an elaboration, and participated in discussions when the professor started them. but you weren’t trying to make the teacher like you by acting a certain way; you were just genuinely interested in the topic, and it was hard for you to shut up when you got so invested in something.

“she is”, the redhead said in an exaggeratedly conspiratorial way, “and she’s a genius, too.”

now you yelped out his name - you didn’t like it when people praised you like this, because you didn’t feel like you deserved it and because it made you a little uncomfortable, made you feel like you were now expected to live up to the impression others had of you even when you couldn’t. but those feelings quickly subsided at his next words, being replaced with a mixture of shock and disbelief.

“do you think you could teach me the basics so i could take that class as extra credits?”

“you’re joking.” you absolutely would not believe that he meant it, no way. he had no reason to mean it. sitting in a class where he didn’t have any idea about what’s going on while you all but ignored him in order to talk with the professor couldn’t possibly have been nice enough for him to want to do that weekly.

“it’s your choice, obviously, but i think it’d be fun.” a smile accompanied his words, a smile that wiped out any doubt you’d had.

“i can try? no promises that i’m a good teacher, though.” and while you appreciated the bright grin you got in response the boy appreciated his friends’ reactions a lot less.

he felt his phone buzz and saw it was a message in their private group chat, from yunho.

[saint bernard]: someones WHIPPED

and everyone was quick to agree, which awakened the carnal urge to commit a crime in mingi, a crime that would reduce the amount of people in ‘hyung hate club’ to him and you only. he stopped himself before any blood was flowing, though, both because crimes are illegal and because he didn’t want you to witness that. but no promises could be made for when they were home alone, no one there to witness and frame him.

“put your phones away, it’s rude”, he ordered in a desperate attempt to get them to stop grinning at each other the way they were now before you’d notice anything, and because his attempt was a success he considered maybe leaving them alive. maybe.

the rest of lunch break was spent joking around and teasing each other, and ended with mingi asking you to text him the room where you’d have your last class so he could pick you up. and even though you were still anxious about being in class by yourself, with the people that obviously wanted to ruin your life, the fact that your first class had gone so well reassured you a little, making you feel like maybe it’d be okay for the rest of the day as well.

and it was, surprisingly. you were shot angry glares and had insults whispered at you in passing, but nothing bigger than that happened, maybe owed to mingi’s obvious protective attitude earlier. while they knew they’d easily be able to take on you, the giant was a whole other question. he hadn’t seemed intimidated at all, calm and collected, so they couldn’t even turn his reaction around on him. and the new situation required a new approach, which meant that they’d have to cut you some slack until that new approach had been developed. you knew this, too, knew that the current somewhat peaceful situation was a mere side effect of them having to adjust to the change in circumstances, but that didn’t mean you couldn’t enjoy it while it lasted. you were very aware of the fact that this could all too soon be over again.

still, you managed to enjoy the rest of your classes as well, and when you left the room after the last one had ended and saw a certain redhead waiting for you, as he’d promised, you smiled at him, and first when you saw his shoulders drop a little did you notice that he’d been nervous as well. but at least for now there was no need to, you were okay and nothing had happened. you still wanted to get away from the girls as soon as possible, though, so as soon as you’d said hi to him you took off, him following you quietly until you’d left the building.

“you’re okay?” it had seemed like you were when you came out of class, but your quick exit had sparked some worry in him again.

“a little anxious”, you let him know, “but nothing happened. it’s more being scared that something will happen.”

he nodded in understanding, wrapping his arm around you without thinking much about it and once more somewhat embarrassed when he noticed what he’d just done, but you just moved a step closer to him so it’d be more comfortable for him. then, you sighed, but he decided to ignore it, not sure if you wanted to talk about whatever had caused that sigh. when you sighed a second and a third time, however, each time louder than the last, he decided to ask.

“what’s up?” the way it sounded like the worry had sneaked its way back into his voice had you feeling a little guilty, seeing how there wasn’t actually anything up. you just wanted to tease him.

“you’re just so unfairly tall, i feel like i’m your arm rest.”

since this wasn’t at all the reply he’d expected it took him a moment to fully realise what you’d said, but when he did he started laughing before walking on with his knees somewhat bent, reducing not only his height but also his speed. now you were laughing as well, enjoying his awkward crouching walk more than you maybe should.

“i really hope you appreciate this”, he interrupted your laughter, “because this does kind of hurt my thighs.” you didn’t stop laughing at this, but you crouched down a little as well now, readjusting his arm on your shoulders before pulling him up with you when you stood up straight again.

“maybe i’ll just have to start wearing platforms again instead”, you thought out loud, your laughing faded into a grin now. then, changing the topic entirely, you asked: "do you actually want to join my class? you'd have to catch up with a lot."

“if you’re willing to waste all your time helping me try to catch up?”

“if you’re ready for me to never shut up ever?” this wasn’t an exaggeration; you’d annoyed the girls more than once by studying with them and being way more immersed in the topic than them, even though you all shared similar majors and the class was relevant to all of you. so you couldn’t help being scared that he’d get annoyed with you as well, seeing how this class wasn’t even relevant to him, and you tried to test the waters by joking like this. but he grinned at you, saying that worst case he’d just feed you fruit loops to buy him a few seconds of silence.

“no but the more you talk the more i learn, that’s how it works, right?”

“mm, maybe? i haven’t tried teaching anyone yet, so we’ll have to see”, you admitted a little anxiously. you’d be happy if you managed to help him catch up enough to join the class, but you weren’t exactly confident in your teaching abilities.

“wanna start today?” mingi’d noticed that you were almost at the train station now, so if he wanted to spend the evening studying with you he’d have to ask before you got in your trains going opposite directions.

“i can’t offer you any decent dinner, though. i forgot to get groceries this week so the options are limited to toast, fruit loops, and instant ramen. in case that makes you change your mind.” you wanted to tell him now before he got disappointed by how little you had to offer even as a host, and because if you told him now it’d be less embarrassing to reveal your pathetically empty cupboards when you were at your place.

and he could tell that you were a little embarrassed about the apparent lack of food choices, so he tried to cheer you up.

“is it even a study session without instant ramen?” he genuinely meant it, too - studying and instant food kind of belonged together, the instant food being an important part of what made a study session feel like a real study session. it was about the vibes, not the nutrition.

“okay”, you laughed, then added: “next time we can go somewhere else, too, i just obviously don’t have all my materials with me right now.”

“your place is fine”, he was quick to reassure you. if anything, he was worried that you might feel awkward about having him there again. it wasn’t exactly like you were close, though it sometimes felt that way to him and he had to remind himself that you’d only met half a week ago.

you were once more being prevented from paying for your own ticket by mingi, who’d already paid when you just got your wallet out, and you scoffed at him playfully.

“you know i can pay for myself, right?”

“but i’m being a gentleman.” and with that, he considered this discussion done.

severe buzzing from your phone startled you when you were sitting next to the redhead on the train, because you’d forgotten you’d just muted the girl chat for 24 hours rather than fully leaving it, and your 24 hours were up now. it was as active as ever, and though it seemed like the current topic was unrelated to you just the thought of still being in this kind of space with them made you feel sick with anxiety. but you were too scared to leave the chat, so instead you just stared at your screen.

“it’s them again?” of course he noticed. you just nodded, leaning against him in exhaustion with him gently rubbing your arm.

“we have a group chat and i want to leave, but i can’t.” it was absolutely stupid to feel this way, you knew it was, because what was scaring you wasn’t no longer being in the group chat, it was the act of pressing the little ‘leave group’ button with your own finger.

“you can’t leave or you can’t not be in it?” he surprised you with how he actually seemed to understand your struggle, the very important distinction between the conscious act of leaving and the passive state of not being in the chat.

“i can’t leave. this is our stop.”

he didn’t reply when you left the train, but once you’d started walking towards your dorm he asked you: “do you think i could leave for you? would that work?” you told him you didn’t know, because you really didn’t and you also didn’t really want to think about this at all right now. you wanted to be home, in your bed, with instant ramen and focusing on nothing but how to make mingi understand, remember and internalise the basics of sociolinguistics. it was an act of escapism, definitely, but sometimes you just needed to pretend your problems didn’t exist until you were ready to deal with them.

the rest of the walk was spent in silence, though not uncomfortably so. you both seemed to be in your own thoughts, arms brushing against each other every now and then as if to remind each other that you were still there, even when you weren’t talking. it was nice to know that you didn’t have to talk when you were spending time with mingi, that just being near each other was already enough sometimes.

and just this being silent with each other was what managed to in a way comfort you enough for you to be able to fully concentrate on your materials once you’d reached your place, asking him whether he wanted to eat first or study first as you unlocked the door.

“let’s start with studying, and when i feel like my head’s exploding we’ll eat?”

“deal. make yourself comfortable, i’ll hunt for all my notes.” and with that said you proceeded to ignore the giant that had now settled on your bed in favour of groaning and sighing while you tried to gather all the relevant material from the last year, a task made more difficult because he most likely didn’t have any linguistic background, so you also went through your notes from other courses to find those that had the basic linguistic terms explained on them, because there was no use telling him about phoneme variations if he didn’t know what a phoneme was, and you wanted to be sure to give a 100% right definition.

once you’d found everything you needed you sat down next to him, now trying to divide the notes by topic so you’d have a better overview over what you had to teach him and how much it’d be. he whined quietly next to you at the sheer amount of paper you’d spread on the bed - how was he going to learn all of that?

“we’ll start easy”, you laughed out at his desperate expression. “you can pick the topic that seems most interesting to you, and we’ll start with that.”

then you listed the topics available, along with a short summary or explanation of just what was hidden behind a term like chronolect, which he decided to go with because he thought that might be easiest to a total beginner, because he obviously knew how people of different ages talked, right?

not right. he soon found everything to be much more complicated than it sounded, but he was determined to learn, and you really appreciated how hard he was trying. you knew it had to be hard for him, but he didn’t seem to want to even take a break until he understood, and it was actually you who told him it was time to eat.

“i didn’t think it would be so hard when we’ve barely even started yet”, he groaned while you were waiting for the food to be done, and before you could stop yourself a ‘that’s what she said’ escaped your lips, which made mingi look at you in shock before he burst out laughing.

“i didn’t know that’s what you were thinking about while i was trying to learn!”, he said in feigned indignation, and you hit his arm playfully as you pretended to be equally as scandalised by his implication as he was by yours.

“i don’t know if my memory is giving up on me here, but wasn’t it you who asked me to spend the night together? twice?”

you heard him gasp loudly in reply and grinned at his expression.

“i didn’t know you’d use that against me!” there was a mixture of shock and hurt in his voice, though very obviously playful, and you immediately started apologising in an exaggerated manner, pleading him to please forgive you for your careless words. and even though he tried to stay serious the pout on your face and the fact that you looked like the pleading face emoji made that impossible, stern expression turning into a small smile turning into a grin turning into laughing with his mouth wide open and head thrown back in a matter of seconds. and then you were lost, too, joining in and laughing until your stomach hurt and the instant ramen demanded your attention.

when you found him looking through the notes you’d used for studying by himself it surprised you, though in a positive way. you were glad to see that he at least seemed to have caught a genuine interest for the subject now, glad to see that he was eager to learn. still, you asked him to please move the notes away so you could eat without the risk of them getting dirty and, consequently, unusable. he did as requested and you sat down next to him as soon as you’d handed him his plate - past experience had taught you that shuffling to comfortably sit on the bed when you had an open container in both hands was a very bad idea.

the two of you ate in silence and went back to studying right after, and it was first when you heard thundering outside that you realised how much time had passed. it was fully dark now, heavy rain hitting the window and lightning lighting up the sky every now and then. neither of you looked pleased at the weather, though mingi a lot less so, considering he was the one that somehow had to get home. and it really didn’t seem like the rain would stop anytime soon.

“i’m gonna be so soaked when i get home”, he whined out, making you feel sorry for him because he was right, not even a minute outside in this weather would have him drenched to the bones.

“you can stay over if it’s still like this in an hour”, you offered, not thinking much about it, your main thought being less about him staying with you specifically and more about him not having to go out when it would most likely result in him getting sick. you came to regret your offer when he looked at you with a teasing glint in his eyes, though.

“so now you’re asking me to stay the night? when you called me out for having improper thoughts earlier because i’d offered you the same?”

you rolled your eyes in reply, grabbing his wrist and attempting to drag him out of your bed.

“you know what, forget it, if you get pneumonia that’s not my problem.” at your threat the redhead did a 180 on his behaviour, now begging you the way a little child begged for an extension on their bedtime, except he was begging you to not send him out into the cruel, unrelenting, cold harsh wind. and even though you pretended to be considering doing so you knew that if he actually wanted to he could most definitely spend the night. it was just fun to tease him back.

“fine”, you finally gave in, “you can stay. but behave!”

he sighed in relief (as if there’d ever been any doubt about that), promising you he’d be on his best behaviour, and, as if to prove it, went to do the dishes for you. you knew you wouldn’t be able to stop him because he was at least half a head taller than you and without a doubt much stronger, but it was still worth a try. you should have known it’d barely even bother him, though, pulling on his shirt and trying to drag him back towards the bed, to no avail. he walked on as if he couldn’t even tell that you were trying to move him with every ounce of strength you had in your body, but the grin on his face told you that he knew, and that he was enjoying this too much for your liking. you decided to let him get away with it either way, this once, because truth be told you hated doing the dishes, hated the sensory hell it proved itself to be, time and time again.

you watched him ‘be on his best behaviour’, trying to come up with a way to prevent the situation from turning awkward should the weather not magically turn around, but the only thing your brain could come up with was watching a movie; that’d have to do then. he didn’t seem displeased with the suggestion, finishing washing up quickly and once again sprinkling some water onto your face.

“‘best behaviour’ my ass”, you huffed under your breath, but of course mingi heard you, sending you a smile that with a lot of benevolence could be interpreted as apologetic, but if you were feeling unrelenting might also be a teasing one. he was on your bed and patting the space next to him as is this were his place, though, before you had a chance to threaten him with kicking him out again, and, even though you would deny it if anyone were to claim it, the way he looked so comfortable and somewhat domestic made you a little soft. not very, but just enough to let his teasing slip as you settled next to him.

that position was soon neglected in favour of you sitting between his legs as you found that that was more comfortable for watching a movie. one of you had been complaining no matter where you’d placed the laptop before, because it always gave the one that wasn’t currently complaining a better view. but when you were sitting like this you could just place it right in front of you, and because your friend was so tall he could easily rest his chin on your shoulder without it being uncomfortable at all, and now you both were able to decently see.

you hadn’t decided on a movie yet, though, scrolling the ‘popular right now’ section to get any kind of idea. there was one that seemed interesting enough, kind of dramatic (which was needed because you were not about to watch a romcom with the unfairly attractive redhead pressed against your back like that), and you clicked on it to see the preview since it had sparked your curiosity. as soon as you saw the description you noticed it was a horror movie, though, trying to exit out before anything scary would actually appear on screen.

you succeeded, but your frantic clicking had confused the boy behind you - your netflix was set to finnish, so he didn’t actually understand the caption, but when you told him you’d accidentally chosen a horror movie’s preview rather than a regular dramatic movie he sighed out in relief.

“thank fuck you closed that.”

“not a fan of horror movies either, hm?” you weren’t trying to tease him, and the question sounded like more of an observation. you absolutely hated horror movies, with every fibre of your being, hated the jumpscares and the gore and how you wouldn’t be able to sleep without light for at least a week after. so you found yourself relieved when he told you that he’d have to have his eyes pried open forcefully if someone wanted him to watch one, because at least this way you could be sure he’d never suggest watching one, nor would he make fun of you for being scared.

your thoughts were momentarily guided in a whole other direction though when your partner in being a coward leaned forward, chest pressed even closer to your back and also forcing you to basically fold yourself in the middle underneath his weight as he pointed towards a section title he would in no way be able to pronounce.

“choose from that one.” it was the kids’ movies section, but you had no objections. it was neither a romcom nor a horror movie, the only two genres that were a hard no for you right now. still, you found it hard to do as asked because the way he was leaning forward had your chest almost pressed against your legs and greatly limited your arms’ moving range.

“it’d be easier if you weren’t crushing me”, you whined out, trying to get him to lean back by pressing against him with your back, and with a surprised ‘oh!’ he did lean back, finally giving you room to move again.

“let’s see”, you hummed out, now scrolling the kids’ movies section. you didn’t really know which one to pick, though - kids’ movies weren’t really your usual kind of movie, so it wasn’t like you had a go-to favourite. it seemed like mingi noticed, because he decided to interrupt your aimless scrolling by speaking up, surprising you with his question.

“is there anything you watched as a child? something that’s not korean.”

you didn’t need to think long about this - the moomins immediately shot to your mind, something you’d watched up and down as a child.

“i’m not sure if they’ve ever been dubbed to korean, though”, you informed him, “but i can see?” and without waiting for his reply you abandoned netflix in favour of google, where you hoped that your phonetic interpretation of how moomin would be spelled using hangeul was at least close enough for the search engine to do the rest for you.

you were both glad and somewhat astonished when you did actually get results for your search, clicking on the first video that seemed about as long as you remembered the movie to be and leaning back against the taller one’s chest as you felt nostalgia wash over you. and it was the actual movie, though not dubbed - someone had added korean subtitles, and the finnish speech only made your nostalgia stronger. you were comfortable, head leaning against mingi and his arms around your waist because that was the least awkward place for them to be, underneath your blanket in the dim light coming from your laptop, warm and cosy and, before you knew it, lulled to sleep by the comfortingly familiar sounds of your childhood.

the red-haired male didn’t even notice that you’d fallen asleep, thinking that you were simply just as immersed in the movie as he was, until he tried to tell you that he needed the bathroom and you didn’t reply. peeking over to your face he saw that your eyes were closed and your mouth slightly ajar, and a fond smile made its way onto his face. still, his bladder wouldn’t let him not wake you up, and he felt incredibly guilty when he had to disturb your slumber.

“sorry, but i got big girl business to do”, he told you quietly, and even though you were slightly annoyed at being woken up you laughed at the memory of how that was the first thing you’d heard from him, that his business was big girl business. you paused the movie and shuffled to let him get up, but before he went to the bathroom he asked: “do you want to go to sleep now or finish the movie?”

your heart said movie but your other heart, the one that regularly had you give in to your body’s wicked desires (such as an entire bag of crisps in a single second) said sleep, and once more that heart won. you mumbled out a sleep and he smiled at you, telling you to get ready while he was in the bathroom, then.

getting into your pyjamas was an act in and of itself, because you absolutely did not want to move at all. you did it, though, forcing yourself into the admittedly much softer fabric before plopping right back onto your bed.

when the boy returned (once more shirtless, and you weren’t sure if that was to your dismay or your delight) he would’ve guessed you hadn’t even moved, had it not been for the fact you were wearing something else than when he’d left you. the laptop was closed now, though, placed in the empty space underneath your bed so stepping on it would be avoided even if someone had to get up during the night in a half-awake state.

you shuffled to make room for him as he made his way towards the bed slowly, room lit only by the street lamps outside now. he laid down next to you, looking at you for a moment before the drowsiness-induced desire for cuddles and warmth won over the embarrassment that would have securely prevented a less tired mingi from saying what he said next.

“can i hug you?”

and because you were at least equally sleepy and in need of a warm embrace you just ‘mhm’ed in confirmation, resulting in both a long arm and an even longer leg wrapped around you immediately after. you turned to your back because it was slightly uncomfortable like this, laying on your side facing him, and he didn’t waste a single second before he placed his head on your shoulder, the arm on that side holding on to him now, too. you felt warm and cosy (and soft at the thought of the giant cuddled up to your much smaller frame like this) and it didn’t take long for you to fall asleep again, once more unnoticed by mingi, who had almost immediately fallen asleep as well.

[llnwritings]

♫ JULIE AND THE PHANTOMS APPRECIATION WEEK ♫

DAY 5 | Write a fic focused on friendship/found family.

Summary: 5 things Julie learns about her boys and 1 thing they tell her.

[[Read on Ao3]]

1. Reggie can surf Julie walked into the studio to find Luke and Alex whispering furiously to each other while glancing at Reggie every few seconds. Reggie was obliviously working on tweaking the melody to 'Home Is Where My Horse Is' hoping it would convince Luke to finally put it in their setlist rotation. "You distract him," Alex whispered, "I'll go get it." "Are you sure?" Alex nodded, "Yeah, yeah, I'll be quick. 15 minutes tops, Willie says he can get it to me by 3. It's quarter to now."

"Okay, okay," Luke sighed, "Don't break it." Alex gave Luke a disappointing look before poofing out with a huff. Julie walked up behind Luke and tapped him on the shoulder, "What are you two whispering about?" "Julie!" Luke jumped at the contact and spun around, "How long have you been standing there?" Julie shrugged, "Not long, but my curiosity has peaked. What were you talking about and why can't Reggie know." "Shhh," Luke hissed, covering her mouth with his hands and glancing over to the other ghost, "It's his birthday today, we got him a present." Julie frowned as she pushed Luke's hands away, "It's Reggie's birthday? Why didn't you tell me, I feel bad I haven't got him anything." Luke waved off her concerns, "It's all good, we weren't sure if he wanted to acknowledge it so we haven't really said anything yet. But Reggie mentioned something to Alex this morning and we wanted to see if we could make it happen." "Tell me what you need me to do," Determination burned in Julie's eyes, she was going to help out. "Alex will be back soon," Luke smiled at the shorter girl, "We just got to keep Reggie busy for a few more minutes. Alex will poof outside the studio with our present and let us know when to cover Reggie's eyes." "Right," Julie nodded, she grabbed onto Luke and dragged him over to where Reggie was sitting, "Let's do this." Reggie smiled brightly when the other two sat down next to him and spent the next few minutes working on his song. Luke had to admit that the song had potential. At the 10 minute mark, Luke's head shot up when he heard Alex poof back. Alex poked his head around the door and gestured for Luke to join him outside. "Back in a sec," Luke shot to his feet and pointed to Julie, "Julie, cover his eyes, don't let him peek." Reggie frowned at Luke's order and looked to Julie for answers. But Julie gave Luke a thumbs up as he poofed to Alex and smiled back at Reggie before placing her hands over his eyes. "Don't worry," Julie spoke softly to Reggie, "It's something good." Julie's eyes widened as she watched Luke and Alex haul in a surfboard. 'What the hell,' She thought to herself as they stopped in front Reggie, huge smiles on both of their faces. Luke nodded to Julie to remove her hands. She did so, still confused with the present. "Happy birthday, dude!" Luke and Alex shouted together, as they displayed the surfboard between the two of them. Reggie's jaw dropped at the sight of the board, he jumped to his feet in excitement. "Dude," Reggie gasped, running his hands along the red pattern on the top of the board, "Where did you get this? How did you get this?" "Do you like it?" Julie asked. "Yeah, yeah, it looks gnarly. But how?" Reggie looked up at his friends, questions wanting to be answered. "To answer both questions," Alex smiled, "Willie knows a guy." "We thought you missed going out into the water, so ta da," Luke bounced on his toes. "And it's mine? Like to keep?" "Yeah dude," Alex laughed, "Willie says it's all good, he worked out a trade. So no worries." Reggie gripped the edges of the board, his eyes shining brightly, "I got to try it out, Julie," He turned to face her, board still ripped tightly in his hands, as if he was afraid it would disappear, "Can we find out what the surf is like?" "Oh yeah sure," Julie the shock slowly disappeared as she pulled out her phone and quickly googled a surf watch site, "I didn't know you surfed Reggie. Are you any good?" "Reggie's house used to be on the beachfront, before it got turned into a bike shop" Luke explained, "If he wasn't practising with us, he would be in the surf." "Burning in the sun like I don't know what," Alex smiled, "At least you won't have to worry about that now." "Yeah," Reggie distractly agreed, before mumbling to himself, "I need board shorts." "Got you sorted dude," Luke pulled out a pair of black board shorts with red piping down the side out from behind his back, "Did you think we'd leave you high and dry?" Reggie cheered, placed his board into Alex’s hands and took the board shorts from Luke's outstretched hand, "You guys are the best!" Julie's eyes widened in shock as Reggie started to change in the middle of the room. Quickly she closed her eyes and turned her back. "Reggie!" She hissed, "Don't change in front of me." "Dude," Disappointment filled Alex's voice, "Not cool." "Sorry Julie," Julie could hear the grin in Reggie's voice, "I got excited." "We could tell." Julie looked back down at her phone, "Well good news, the surf is good." "Awesome!" Julie heard Reggie poof away. She slowly turned back around and found only Luke and Alex standing in the studio with a pile of clothes on the floor. "That went well. He seemed to love it." "Dude," Luke turned to Alex and smiled, "We did good." "Totally," Alex returned the smile.

----

2. The contents of Alex's fanny pack

Julie watched from the doorway as Alex searched throughout the studio for something. Clothes and books went flying as the blonde looked.

"Whatcha looking for?"

Alex jumped at the sound of Julie's voice. He spun around to face her, one of Luke's shirts clutched tightly in his hands.

"Aren't you supposed to be at school?" Alex blinked in confusion.

Julie shrugged as she walked towards the couch to sit down, "It's a half day."

"Oh."

"Yeah," Julie agreed, "Sooo, watcha looking for?" She patted the space next to for Alex to take.

Alex sighed and flopped down next to her, “It’s stupid.”

Julie frowned and grabbed his hand and squeezed it in comfort, “If it’s important to you, then it’s not stupid.”

Alex took a deep breath, “Luke and Reggie thought it would be funny to hide my bag.”

“Oh, your,” Julie gestured across her chest, like how Alex wore the bag, “Fanny pack?”

Alex nodded sadly, “I know it’s stupid, but I don’t feel whole leaving without it.”

“Why?” Julie asked softly, “Why’s it so important to you?”

Alex bit his lip and twisted the bottom of his hoodie, before replying softly, “I have a, or is it had, I’m not sure,” Alex frowned in confusion, “But before all of this,” Alex gestured wildly around the studio, “I had a pretty serious nut allergy, like you eat a peanut butter sandwich next and I’m going to have to go to the hospital within the next few minutes serious. So my parents always made sure I carried an epipen around with me. I had to have it on me at all times or I couldn’t go to band practise or hang out with the guys. I know how to use it and I taught all the guys how to, even though Bobby always got squeamish at the thought of actually using it on me.” Alex rambled on, “And I know, right now, with me being a ghost and all, I don’t have any real use for it whatsoever, but I feel anxious and twitchy and my head isn’t going to quiet down unless I find it and have it in my hands.”

Silence filled the studio as Alex finished speaking. Julie continued to hold Alex’s hand in comfort, while he tried to control his breathing.

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay,” Julie smiled brightly, “I’m going help you for it and once we’ve found it we’ll get revenge on Luke and Reggie, because what they did might have been funny to them, it was kind of mean to you.”

“You don’t think it’s dumb?”

“Of course not,” Julie frowned, “This is a judgement-free zone Alex. You can carry around that fanny pack for as long as you want and it will be fine with me,” She stood up and pulled Alex up with her, “Now tell me where you’ve already searched. This studio isn’t that big, we’ll have it back in no time.”

Alex was quiet for a moment, a searching look on his face as he looked into Julie’s eyes. He must have seen something he liked, as he quickly started to list off the places he had searched.

“Thanks Julie,” Alex smiled softly as they started their search.

“What are friends for?” Julie smiled back.

----

3. Luke speaks french when angry

(I’m using google translate please, tell me if I’ve horribly butchered it wrong)

“Où est mon cahier?” (Where is my notebook?)

Julie frowned as Luke poofed into the studio, anger clearly written across his face. He stalked towards the couch where Alex and Reggie sat.

“Uh, what?” Julie blinked in confusion from her place at the piano.

“Alex! Où est mon cahier?” (Alex! Where is my notebook?)

“Oh no,” Reggie gasped, his eyes widened in shock, “Luke’s speaking french,” Reggie scooted to the other end of the couch away from Alex, “Alex you’re in trouble.”

“Come on dude,” Alex pleaded, having no clue what Luke was talking about, “You know we can’t understand you when you’re like this.”

“Cahier, maintenant!” Luke held his hand out to Alex and shook it when Alex didn’t move. (Notebook, now!)

“Dude please.”

“J'ai cherché partout et je ne peux pas le trouver. Vous étiez le dernier à l'avoir.” Luke folded his arms and began tapping his foot. (I have searched everywhere and cannot find it. You were the last to have it.)

“Wait, cahier?” Julie frowned, trying to remember any of her french lessons from school, “That’s the french word for ‘notebook’ right?”

Alex and Reggie shrugged at the same time.

“Didn’t take a language class,” Reggie said, “Don’t have the head for it.”

“I took German,” Alex replied.

“Why is Luke speaking french?”

Alex and Reggie frowned at each other, “Luke grew up in Vancouver until he was like 5, learnt french there, then his parents moved him here,” Alex explained.

“He only really speaks french when something’s pissed him off though,” Reggie added, “If you’re right then he’s implying Alex has his lyric notebook.”

“Which I don’t” Alex huffed and looked back up to Luke, “I didn’t touch your notebook Luke, I know better than that.”

“Oh,” Julie gasped softly and quickly dug into her school bag, “Luke, I have it. I wanted to show Flynn some of your lyrics. Sorry I didn’t mean for you to worry.”

The anger on Luke’s face instantaneously melted away and was replaced with a smile as he took back his notebook, “Thanks Julie. No harm done.”

“What ‘no sorry Alex, didn’t mean to yell I didn’t have all my facts’?” Alex squawked with a frown.

“Sorry Alex,” Luke apologized with a sheepish smile, “I didn’t mean to yell, you know how I it get without my notebook.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Alex rolled his eyes, “Next time aim for Reggie.”

“What’d I do?”

“I’m sure you’ll do something by then.”

----

4. They happily share clothes

“Rise and shine boys!" Julie cheerfully called out as she entered the studio, ever since the removal of Caleb’s stamp, her boys had started to feel the need for sleep at the end of each night, like real people, "We have a big day ahead of us. Lots of things to do before our gig tomorrow night."

Julie watched as Alex struggled to open his eyes and find where she was standing. He went to sit up but found himself unable to move, this was due to the fact that his bandmates had both wrapped themselves around him during the night. Reggie had his arm wrapped around Alex’s waist, with his head on the blonde’s chest. While Luke pressed his face into Alex's neck, with his hand reaching across to grip the front of Reggie’s shirt.

"Well this is very cute," Julie smiled as she whipped out her phone and snapped a few dozen pictures, then sent the best ones to Flynn, "Flynn's going to love these."

"What time is it?" Luke mumbled into Alex’s neck, his breath tickling his ear.

“It’s nearly lunchtime.”

“Noooo,” Reggie whined as he buried his head further into Alex’s chest, “It’s too early.”

“It’s lunchtime,” Julie stressed, “If you guys keep on sleeping we’ll never have our setlist done. Now get up, I’ll be back in a few minutes so you can get dressed.” Julie left the studio to give her boys some privacy.

It wasn’t long before Luke called her back in. Upon entering the studio, Julie was pleased to see that they had folded away the sofa bed this time and put away the blankets.

“Good job boys,” Julie smiled at the trio. Only to frown a moment later at what they were wearing, “You guys get a bit mixed up?”

The boys frowned and looked down at themselves, not understanding what Julie was talking about. They were dressed, why did she have a problem with that. Luke was wearing one of Reggie’s tighter red flannels and a pair of Alex’s shorts. Reggie had on Alex’s pink hoodie and a pair of Luke’s jeans. While Alex had on someone’s sweatpants and one of Luke’s sleeveless tanks, though he still had on his snapback. They were all barefoot, not that they minded, they weren’t going anywhere yet.

“What’s wrong with what we’re wearing?” Luke asked with a pout.

“Yeah,” Reggie agreed, “You said get dressed and we did.”

“It was first to the bag, gets to pick first and these are our only clean clothes,” Alex helpfully pointed out with a smile, "We might need to do some laundry soon."

“Uh, okay” Julie blinked, “I guess I’ve just never seen you wear each other’s clothes.”

“We used to share clothes all the time,” Luke said, “You know, before the whole hotdog thing.”

“Yeah,” Reggie smiled, “But we had Bobby’s in rotation too then. It’s slim pickings between the three of us.”

“Well, I guess as long as you guys are comfortable,” Julie shrugged.

“We are,” The trio said at the same time, causing them to burst into giggles.

Julie rolled her eyes, it was going to be a long day, but hopefully a productive one.

----

5. They all have matching tattoos

Julie blinked up from her lyric notebook as her boys poofed into the studio, soaked from head to toe from the rain. Julie tilted her head in confusion, she wasn’t quite sure how that worked. They didn’t notice Julie in the studio with them, as they had their backs to her.

"I don't get it," Alex huffed as he shook his snapback, hoping to get rid of some of the water, "We're ghosts. How can we walk through walls and not be affected, but we get caught in a rain shower and we're soaked?"

"Not a clue dude," Reggie shrugged out of his jacket, "Just another mystery of our new ghost lives."

“Well I don’t like it,” Alex stripped off his soaked hoodie and dropped it to the ground with a wet splat.

“We know.”

“We know.”

Julie frowned as the ghostly trio continued to remove wet articles of clothing, she tried to get their attention but the sound of the rain drowned out her pleas. It wasn’t until they were just standing in their boxer shorts that she gained their attention.

“Uh guys,” Julie called out, “Please stop taking off your clothes.”

The boys gasped and spun around.

“Julie!” They yelled out together as they attempted to cover themselves.

“What are you doing out here?” Luke asked, “You should be inside, it’s raining.”

“Do you need towels? Let me get some towels.” Julie got up from the couch and went for the cupboard in the corner.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Luke sounded like he was pouting.

“I know,” Julie agreed, “But I’m not speaking to you until you’re covered up.”

“Oh.”

Julie pulled out three big fluffy towels and handed one to each of her boys. She watched as they wrapped themselves up to dry off, only to stop at Alex when she noticed a splash of colour on his ribs. Alex attempted to pull the towel from her grip, but was unsuccessful, much to his disappointment. Julie took a hold of Alex’s arm and lifted it slightly and saw a half sun design with a sketchy looking outline, with colours of red, yellow and orange sitting on his ribs.

“You have a tattoo?” Julie asked Alex, not quite believing what she was seeing.

“Uh, yeah,” Alex muttered still trying to get the towel as he was actually starting to feel the cold, then he gestured to the other two, “We all got one, after we got told we would be playing The Orpheum.”

“Bobby too,” Reggie supplied.

“Are they all the same?”

“Yeah,” Luke smiled, towel up over his head as he stretched out his ankle showing off his own tattoo, “Alex designed it, it represents Sunset Curve ."

"Where's yours, Reggie?"

"Oh," Reggie opened his towel and pushed down the top of his boxers to show off his hip, "Right here."

"Keep that towel on and your boxers up Reggie," Julie shook her head, "Did they hurt?"

The trio looked at each over Julie's head as she looked between her boy's tattoos admiring the artwork, before unanimously deciding to protect their past selves dignity, as they had all hurt quite a lot, but Julie didn't need to know that.

"Nope."

"Nah."

"Didn't feel a thing."

"Well," Julie smiled, "They look pretty cool."

"Thanks Julie." She received three bright smiles in return.

----

+1. They knew her mother!

Julie sat in her room, going through one of her many photo albums, looking for the perfect picture.

"Whatcha doing?" Julie jumped at the sound of Luke's voice right in her ear.

"Don't do that," She turned around smacked him with a pillow, sending the ghost tumbling off the bed, to the amusement of his friends, "You know better then to sneak up on me."

"Sorry Julie," Luke pouted from his position on the floor, "I was just curious."

Reggie and Alex snorted at the spectacle that was their lead singer.

"Yeah," Julie huffed, "Make some noise next time."

A moment passed in silence before Luke broke.

"Soooo," Luke got up onto his knees, put an elbow on the edge of the bed and rested his chin on his palm, "Whatcha looking for?"

Julie looked down at the photo album, "Carlos is doing a family tree-slash-timeline thing for school, he wants to use a couple of my pictures of mama. One of when she was younger and one from last year just before she got sick. You know, different stages of life."

"Oh," Reggie sat himself down next to Julie, "Sounds interesting, I don't think we've seen any pictures of your mum. Other than that one Alex grabbed and she wasn't really looking at the camera."

"Yeah, you wouldn't have,” Julie sighed, “Tia thought it would be best if we took them down for a little bit, you know while we mourned."

The boys all nodded, understanding the touchy subject.

“Wait, is that her?” Alex lent over and pointed to a photograph of a woman singing into a microphone, with a three piece all girl band behind her, “She looks familiar,” He mumbled softly to himself.

“Yeah,” Julie smiled, “It’s her and her band, Rose and the Petal Pushers. That’s how her and dad meet, he was the photographer for one of her gigs. Love at first sight or so he says.”

“Didn't we know a Rose?” Reggie asked with a frowned, thinking back, “I swear we did.”

“I don’t think we do.” Luke leant over the photo album to see the picture. “Aww Julie you look just like her. Was her band any good?”

“Do you know how many people are called Rose?” Alex cut in, “We could have met someone called that at any of the bars or theaters we played at.”

“Thanks Luke,” Julie smiled, “Mama said she recorded a few demos, but never really got far with her bands, they never hit it big but she had tons of fun. It was more of a hobby thing for her, she was more interested in the songwriting aspect more. It worked well for her when she was between jobs. She waitressed mostly and wrote some songs for other musicians. I think she even helped Trevor write something for one of his later albums. Here,” Julie pulled out one of the photos and passed it to Luke, it showed a young woman with Julie’s hair, wearing a sparkling top and a similar leather vest that Julie had worn with they had performed Finally Free at that cafe, “This is mama when she worked at The Orpheum, she said she got to see a lot of cool bands play there.”

Luke’s eyes widened in shock as he looked down at the photo, “Oh no,” He whispered to himself, recognising the woman.

“That’s it, I remember,” Reggie clicked his fingers, his eyes lighting up, “At The Orpheum, that waitress who listened to our soundcheck and said we sounded good. She was called Rose, she was cute.”

Alex rolled his eyes, “I also remember you, Luke and Bobby all trying to hit on her.”

“Uh guys,” Luke grabbed at Reggie’s arm, “I think we are connected to Julie, after all.”

“What do you mean?” Reggie was confused, Luke wasn’t making sense.

Luke flipped the photos around to show the others, “This is Julie’s mum, does she look familiar?”

Reggie and Alex lent in close to look at the photo, recognition hit them hard and Reggie’s jaw dropped, “I hit on Julie’s mum!” He squeaked.

“What?!” Julie looked at Reggie in shock, “What do you mean by that?”

“You hit on Julie’s mum,” Reggie pointed at Luke, as his voice went higher.

Julie swung around to face Luke, “What?!”

“Bobby hit on Julie’s mum,” Was the last high pitched thing Julie heard from Reggie before he poofed out of her room in a hurry.

“Luke?” Julie asked her brows furrowed in confusion, but Luke couldn’t give her an answer as he too poofed out, his face bright red in embarrassment.

“Alex?”

“If it makes you feel any better, they all struck out with her,” Alex smiled sheepishly with a shrug.

“I’m not sure how it makes me feel, to be honest.”

“Fair enough,” Alex nodded and sat down next to her on the bed, “Want me to help you pick out a photo for Carlos?”

Julie blinked at Alex’s change of subject, “Sure.”

“Cool,” Alex smiled, “Luke was right, you do really look like her.”

Julie returned Alex’s smile, “Thanks Alex.”

The End

[gemma-lemma]

Cloudy Days - JJ Maybank x Male OC

Chapter 2.1 – Ms. Lana

The next morning Parker was woken up by loud hammering on the door.

A voice that sounded familiar, but he couldn’t quite place yet, yelled: “DCS! I know you’re in there!”

While John B slowly turned around with a groan, Parker was up and alarmed within seconds at the mere sound - he hadn’t even processed the words yet. By the time JJ jumped against the window he was halfway towards the kitchen and the knives.

“Gotcha, slicks.” The Maybank boy cheered, and Parker rubbed a hand over his face in exhaustion. By the smile JJ shot him he knew exactly that he had done it on purpose.

“Man, you should have seen your faces! I mean, your faces…” JJ laughed to himself. When Parker flipped him off, he sent him an air kiss and vanished from the window, just to enter through the door.

“Why you headed for the kitchen anyway? Wanna scare DCS off with a bunch of rancid fruit?” JJ asked with a grin and nodded his head towards Parker. At that, John B raised his head curiously to look at his cousin.

“Bold of you to assume John has fruit in the house.” He shot back and headed for the bathroom.

Upon the questioning look JJ shot him, John B merely shrugged. “He’s not wrong.”

 Not even half an hour later the boys were seated in the Twinkie – John B and JJ in the front seats, Parker sprawled over the entire back bench – and JJ kept on rambling about how John B wouldn’t try his chances with Kiara.

“I’m just saying, I don’t understand why you don’t at least try with Kiara. She clearly likes you.”

Parker kept zoning in and out of the conversation as he found it incredibly pointless and just focused on relaxing after yesterday’s stress. His shoulders were giving him hell though he wasn’t sure why, and by now he was confident about having a serious crack in his psyche due to all that happened in his past. He quietly debated about seeing a psychologist about it, but decided against it since seeing someone long enough to feel safe about opening up sounded like the kind of commitment Parker couldn’t allow himself to give.

He was finally torn out of his floating state of mind by JJ’s voice. “…Right, Parker? John B totally blushed.”

When he pried one of his eyes open, he could see that the blond boy had turned around in his seat to look at him. Without even looking in John B’s direction he gave him a lazy smile before closing it again. “Like a tomato.”

“What? No, that’s not true.” John B defended, but JJ was already talking about how it had to be true if even Parker agreed.

“I gotta admit, your father’s compass, in Scooter’s boat, that’s freaky.” JJ said and Parker grunted agreeingly.

“Yeah.” John B said. “And that’s why we’re going to talk to Ms. Lana. To figure this whole thing out.”

“I’m sure she would just love to talk to us. It’s not like her husband just drowned or anything.” Parker mumbled and draped an arm over his eyes.

“I gotta agree with Grumpy Cat on this one.” JJ said, and then added: “Man, do you think it’s a bad omen that me and Parker are starting to agree on shit?”

“Parker and me. The ass goes last.” Parker corrected, thinking about how his mother had always told him that. She had used the word ‘donkey’, though, not ass. It was a German figure of speech, if he remembered it correctly. An exchange student from Berlin had taught it to Tamara when she had been in high school, and she had loved to say it to Parker’s father ever since he could remember.

He could hear JJ mumbling something under his breath and John B laughing lightly but paid no mind.

When they arrived at Lana Grubbs’ hut, JJ suddenly turned around and slapped Parker’s thigh. “Wake up, sleeping beauty. We’re going on a mission.”

“Leave me alone, 007.” Parker grumbled but got up and out of the Twinkie nonetheless, JJ and John B hot on his heels.

“You know what this house looks like?” JJ asked rhetorically. “Like whoever lives here smokes too much weed.”

About halfway over the lawn the sound of shattering glass and crashing furniture made Parker halt dead in his tracks. JJ, who had been walking right behind him, almost bumped into him at the sudden stop. Instead, he laid a steady hand on his back, right between the shoulder blades.

“I don’t like the sound of that.” Parker mumbled, knowing said sound very well.

“Maybe we should come back.” JJ suggested with furrowed brows as someone inside the house screamed: “Bullshit!”

“No, no, no.” John B said. “Shut up, JJ.”

“It’s a little too soon.”

“Shut up.”

“Tell me where it is, or I’ll fuck you up.” They heard a faint voice, followed by a wailing woman.

“I’ll sink you in the fucking-“ The man yelled, and the boys ducked at another crashing sound.

“To the wall. Hide!” Parker hissed and rushed the boys towards the window.

The woman wailed again, a desperate, pain stricken sound. “You’re hurting me!”

“Fuck!” Parker whispered and tried to peek inside the house. His blood was boiling and memories of a similar situation back at home came to his mind. Just then a couple of drug dealers had trashed his friend Alice’s house because her father wasn’t able to pay for the drugs in time. He had gotten her out of there just in time before one of those lowlifes could fully process that she was a girl. Stitching her up had been horrific.

JJ pulled him back down, backs pressed against the wall. “What are you doing?”

“We need to help her!”

“No way!” JJ looked at him incredulously. “What if those are the guys who shot at us?”

“I think they’re looking for something.” John B interrupted as screaming continued from inside the house.

“The compass wasn’t in the boat! Where is it, Lana?” The man yelled and Parker closed his eyes. He didn’t realize how badly he was shaking until JJ laid an arm over his shoulder to pull him closer into him.

“Keep. Breathing.” JJ ordered in a low and hard voice. “If you get a panic attack now, they will find us. And we won’t be able to run away fast enough.”

Parker nodded, then shook his head. “Thank you, but I’m not scared. I’m angry. And on edge. We need to do something before they seriously hurt her.”

JJ decidedly shook his head and eyed him sceptically. “First: No way. They sound dangerous. Second: I don’t buy that you’re fine.”

Parker was thinking about a way to prove to JJ that he was, in fact, fine, as paint rained down on their heads. JJ roughly shook it out of Parker’s hair with his free hand. “You stay here until they are gone. You’re no use if they beat you up, end of discussion.”

“There’s nothing here. Let’s get the hell outta here.” One of the men said and John B moved to the edge of the house. JJ shot Parker a here-you-go-what-did-i-say?-look and moved after him.

The men left the house and the boys pressed against the wall while they were walking back towards the bogey.

“Dude, those are the guys that shot us.” JJ determined while Parker tried to get a look through the window.

The second they were gone, John B turned around to go to the front door. JJ turned around to assess Parker with a questioning look. “You good?”

“Better than ever.”

“I really don’t believe you.”

Parker flipped him off, though they both knew that JJ was just genuinely worried. After all, shaking from rage was not much better than shaking from fear.

When they entered the house, everything was a mess. The men had taken it apart piece by piece. Somewhere they heard a woman sob.

“Ms. Lana?” John B called. When he spotted her on the bathroom floor, he ran over to her worriedly. “Hey, hey.”

She jumped when he touched her and held her arm closely to her body.

“It’s okay.” John B reassured her.

“Dude, she’s tweaking.” JJ stated and Parker gave him a dark look.

“Do you need a doctor?” Parker asked. John B suggested they call the sheriff’s department, but she immediately said no.

“No cops, please.” She sobbed.

“Mm. That’s not good.” JJ said.” Come on, dude. Let’s just go.”

Though Parker agreed with JJ, he felt like he couldn’t just leave the poor woman here by herself. Ms. Lana looked at John B with watery eyes.

“You shouldn’t be here.” She whimpered and shook her head.

“That’s enough for me.” JJ decided and turned to leave, but Parker grabbed him by the shoulder. Hard enough to make him stop, but gentle enough to reassure him. JJ gave him an insecure look, not at all liking the situation. Parker didn’t like it either, in all honesty, but he was much more familiar with it.

“Wait, wait.” John B said to them without turning around. “What do you know about these guys?” He asked her.

“They were looking for something.”

Parker understood the moment John B started roaming his pockets. They had mentioned the compass John B was now holding up when they had terrorized Ms. Lana.

“Does it have anything to do with this?” Ms. Lana’s face fell when she saw the compass. “Do you know anything about this? This is my father’s, and Scooter had it. Why?”

She shook her head. “Scooter didn’t have it, okay? Don’t tell anyone that you have that!”

“Why?”

“They can’t know! They can’t know that you have that! You’ve gotta get out of here!” She yelled and JJ finally shoved both Parker and John B – who still tried asking her what she knew – out of the house.

“That was…unusual.” Parker said as they walked back to the Twinkie.

JJ shot him an incredulous look. “Unusual? You call that unusual? Man, you’re really fucked up.”

Parker merely shrugged.

[cravingmarvel]

Once Upon A Time: Part One - The Invitation

Sebastian Stan Au

Sebastian Stan x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 1231

Summary: When Laura Blake receives a letter from her old friend Sofie Stan in New York, she doesn’t think much of it. Until the contents reveal that Sofie would like her son Sebastian Stan to marry Laura’s oldest daughter Hannah. Laura and Hannah couldn’t be more happy about the offer and decide to take you with them to New York, without mentioning a word about the engagement.On a stroll around Manhattan, you accidentally meet Sebastian and, without a doubt, accidentally fall for him too. 

But, can Sebastian go against his mother’s wishes? And what about Hannah, who has already fallen for the wealthy bachelor?

A/N: Here we go again! This is a story I’ve wanted to write for a long long time now, but I didn’t know how I should write it. Basically, this story is heavily based on the german classic Sissi! I’ve loved the movies since I can remember, but ever since discovering marvel, I imagined that story just a little bit more modern and of course with Sebastian! Some of you might not know the masterpiece that is the sissi trilogy so I wanted to bring the story to you, wrapped up in a modern AU! I hope you enjoy this story just as much as I love the movie! 

Enough said! Enjoy!!

Tagging my loves once again:  @starksparker​ @arawynn​ @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan​ @moonbeambucky​ @sgtjbuccky​ @jaamesbbarnes​ @buckybarneshairpullingkink​ @buckyforbreakfast​ @v-2bucky​ @buckisthatyou​ @hearttoearth​ @denisgurianov34​ @samingtonwilson​

Laura and Ben sat down at the table where an arrangement of different types of food were neatly laid out for breakfast, the two of them each taking something they desired this morning. As usual, Bed couldn’t help but to eat with his hands which set Laura off on a ramble about why he shouldn’t. “Why did I even get cutlery if no one except Hannah and I use it? You know Y/n has always been like you, but I want her to still be well mannered!” She sighted as Ben started to laugh. “Oh dear, you know that Y/n will always be a little bit freer spirited than you would like her to be, but that’s just how she is.” Laura couldn’t argue with that. Even though Y/n wasn’t as much of the lady that Hannah was, she could never stand in her way.

“Where are the two anyway?” Ben spoke, food still in his mouth. “Y/n is out with the dog and Hannah is studying in her room for her French exam.” Laura looked at Ben a little disgusted by the food around his mouth, but still smiling shaking her head. All though he wasn’t the most gentleman- like, he was still the love of her life and carried her on his hands wherever she wanted to go without question.

As barking erupted from outside the house, both running out, Y/n could be seen running alongside the dog. Laura, afraid that she might fall and ruin her new pants, partly hid behind her husband. “MAKE HIM JUMP OVER THE FENCE” Ben shouted while Laura hit his arm. “No!” But Y/n did what her dad told her and instructed for the dog to jump the fence. Both of them laughing and congratulating the dog on his jump, Laura went inside holding a hand on her forehead.

“He was so well behaved today, dad.” She told him as she removed the leash from the dog. “How about we go into the city today to get new Records?” Y/n couldn’t hold her excitement and hugged her dad.

Laura stood in the living room a letter in her hands. She opened it and read it while pacing around the room, coming to a stop suddenly. “HANNAH, COME HERE.” Laura shouted and immediately heard footsteps. Hannah entered the room a little concerned, but that was washed away as soon as she saw her mother smiling brightly from ear to ear. Hannah, the oldest of Laura and Bens two daughters, looked just like her mother. Long chestnut hair, blue crystal-like eyes and her posture graceful like her mothers.

“Hannah, I have just received a letter from an old friend in New York.” She held the letter close to her heart. “We’ve been invited to her son’s birthday, Sebastian.” Hannah couldn’t quite understand her mother’s excitement but was distracted by Y/n yelling from outside. “Mom!” Laura went over to the window, opened it and saw her youngest daughter standing outside smiling brightly. “What is it?”

“Dad and I are going into the city to buy new records and I wanted to ask if Hannah wanted to come with us?” Laura sighted. “No, she can’t right now, but have fun.” A little disappointed, Y/n turned and walked to the car.

Bringing her attention back to Hannah, she smiled with tears in her eyes. “My dear, Sofie, my friend has asked me, if you would be willing to get engaged with her son, Sebastian.” Hannah, visibly shocked, was unsure. “But when we last saw each other, he didn’t pay me much attention.” Laura took her daughters hand and guided her to the couch. “Yes, but you were only children back then. And the Stans are the wealthiest families in New York. Sebastian is one of the most desired bachelors in Manhattan and there is a reason why Sofie wants you to be the one to marry her only son. Oh, how lucky you are. But don’t mention anything to your father. It’s all a secret as of now.”

Hannah nodded. “But isn’t it a little suspicious if only us two are going to New York?” Laura thought for a while. “Yes, you’re right. Listen, let’s take Y/n with us too so that it seems like any other travel. Ben doesn’t like Sofie anyway, so we don’t have to worry about him.”

Sofie entered the library of the house, seeing Sebastian sitting on one of the reading chairs, immersed into another world. “Sebastian? I would like to talk to you.” Gracefully, Sofie sat opposite her son who has grown into a charming young man over the past few years. “You know that in our circle, marrying the right person is not just about choosing one you like. It could make or break our reputation, right?” Sebastian, now more focused about what his mom had to say, than the book, sat up straight and nodded his head. “And I don’t want you to make the wrong decision, one which you might regret later on.”

“Mom, I know that, but I don’t think getting married is one of the things I want to do right now.” He knitted his eyebrows together, unsure of where this conversation is going. “Maybe, but you’re at the right age, Sebastian and a lot of woman have expressed their interest, but you haven’t made a move. So, I took it upon myself to find someone suitable for you instead.” Sofie smiled brightly knowing that her decision was the finest she could have made. “But mom, don’t you think I should have a say in who I marry or not?”

“Well yes, but trust me, the woman I have chosen is everything you could ask for.” Sebastian still unconvinced that this was right for him questioned his mother even further. “The only problem is, is that I don’t know her.”

“But you do! You met her years ago in Italy. It’s my old friend’s daughter Hannah.” He thought for a while and a few memories came flooding back, just none of Hannah, only her father Ben. “You mean Ben’s daughter?” A smile crept its way across his face at the memory. “Yes, that’s the only downside of it.”

But it wasn’t for him though. He really liked Ben and thought fondly of him.

All the Blake family sat in the living room, each to their own occupation. “We’ve been invited to Sebastian’s birthday.” Laura said to her husband, who in turn scrunched his nose. “He’s the son of Sofie, isn’t he?”

“Yes, he is.” She smiled at Hannah who lifted her head as Sebastian’s name came up. “Don’t worry you don’t have to come. But Y/n, you’re coming with us.” Y/n peeled her eyes away from the television and looked at her mother. “I’m going to New York?” Her eyes sparkled at the thought of her favourite city which she hasn’t been to in a long time. “Is Chris going to be there too?”

“Of course, he wouldn’t wan to miss his best friend’s birthday! Do you still have the necklace he gave you in Italy?” Y/n thought for a while. “Oh, I’ll have to look for it.” Hannah and Laura shook their heads at Y/n’s ways of losing things. “When are we leaving, mom?”

“Tomorrow morning. So, you better find it tonight.” Y/n wasted no time and got up to pack her things, including the necklace.

[musedblues]

Always Something There To Remind Me [Part: 6]

summary: Home is where the heart is. You're working on finding yours. After a handful of misfortunes, your old friend Joe helps to unravel life's greatest mystery while adding a bit of extra grief to the mix.

w/c: 3k

a/n: Oh my God, I did it. I finished something I started. I sincerely hope you all enjoy the finale of this story, I tried to make it happy as I could manage. Thank you lot for reading this far and for all the support along the way. Here it is... THE END!!

tagliast: @im-an-adult-ish​ @mrsmazzello​ @lettinggosthehardestpart​ @the-moving-finger-writes​ @imtheinvisiblequeen​ @joemazzmatazz​ @sherlollydramoine​

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

one year later...

"When are you gonna come visit me, huh?" Gwilym whined like a child, via facetime. "That's... a very good question. What do you think?" Joe rose a brow, turning his face from his phone screen to look right at you. "Huh?" All your attention had been focused on scribbling music notes onto sheets of paper. 

"The weather is finally nice again. We should take a trip!" Joe quipped, and you saw Gwil nodding in encouragement from the phone propped on the kitchen table. "Oh, please! It's about time I take you pair on a tour of my city." Gwil imagined on your behalf, coxing you to dream along. He'd stopped in New York a handful of times, usually just to see you. It was about time you hit up his haunts... You had the money, and you could make the time. The savings from your shifts at the flower shop were a great start, but after leaving your hometown to move in with Joe, you'd landed an even better job.

When you started roaming the city for places that were hiring, a nice woman behind a bakery countertop informed you that her husband might be able to help you out. She scribbled his business address on a sticky note, and you left to follow the directions. And when you discovered where you'd been led too, all you could do was laugh out loud.

It was the piano bar. The one Joe had taken you and Gwil too the first weekend you stayed over, with naugahyde seats and a very nice Steinway. With a deep breath, you stepped inside. It was still early in the afternoon, and there weren't many patrons lazing about the lounge. You moved to the opposite end of the bar from where its only customer sat slumped over a beer. Behind the counter was the same friendly older man with the German accent, whose eyes lit up when he saw you. You wondered, for one fleeting moment, if he somehow remembered you too. "What'll it be for ya, then?" The man set down the glass he was cleaning and looked to you expectantly. "Actually, I heard you were hiring." You grinned. The older man lost his smile but the sparkle in his eye remained as he let out an "ahh," of understanding. "You any good?" He wondered, leaning against the counter. You took a beat to peer past his shoulder at the rainbow of bottles that lined the walls. Some were drinks you'd never worked with, but you had years of experience otherwise. "I'd have to renew my license, but I think-" "Oh no," The man frowned, softly interrupting you. "No, I'm looking for someone to play in residence." He nodded toward the small risen velvet stage where a baby grand sat in waiting. Your heart leapt to your stomach and back up again. "I- I haven't played in years." You meant to think it, but you said it out loud. When you turned back to look at the man behind the counter, his sly smile was back. He insisted you an audition, practically begging you to go and play something. As you stood in deep thought, he spoke up again. The man decided you could work behind the bar until you got the guts to play something. So for a week you mixed drinks and worried over what to do next. The last time you touched your keyboard was a lifetime ago, when you sold it off to pay for groceries. But you were living in another world, now. One where you ended your evenings alongside Joe, arguing over what to cook for dinner and laughing over his well thought out debates of why it was perfectly okay to have pizza four nights in a row. He was silly as ever, in fact, his wit seemed sharper than before. But unlike in high school, when he'd test the limits of how mad his dumb pranks could drive you, he knew when to draw the line. Joe knew when to stop laughing and listen, but never lost his smile when gears shifted. After those first few long nights of laying out all your pent up thoughts and feelings from over the years, after telling every story you could each think of; those late-night conversations didn't end. You listened to each other ramble over silly things, unimportant things. But in the midst of it all, Joe was good at reminding you of your worth.

If it hadn't been for Joe's encouragement, you wouldn't have ever played the piano again. Through his persistence, you understood that an opportunity had presented itself and that you had nothing to lose by taking the chance. So you did. You warned your new boss that you didn't have much practice, but he sat patiently as you got the guts to play through most of Erik Satie's Gymnopedie no. 1 as the sunset. When the open sign flickered to life, you stayed on the bench. After then, you played almost every night, and even helped mix a drink or two when the occasion called for it. You'd settled into such a familiar routine at the piano bar without missing a single day, surely you'd earned a bit of a break, right? And how could you say no to Gwilym? His puppy dog eyes were even more convincing over facetime. /// "Oh yeah, I have a surprise for you." Joe sleepily grumbled like it might have been any other passing thought. "What, you're overtaking Gwilym as the tour guide?" You chuckled, setting back into the airplane seat as Joe's head fell to your shoulder. "No. Something much more exciting." Joe let out a little laugh, drifting to sleep soon after he said so. The plane had barely taken off. But Joe had been so busy planning this weekend-long trip to London that you were almost certain this was the most rest he'd gotten in weeks. Sure, Gwilym had been on the other end of the phone helping decide dates and times and reasons, but Joe was like a soccer mom competing to plan the best Disney World itinerary of the decade. He said it was because this was your first big trip together. But of course, you could have walked down the block with Joe at your side and been just as ecstatic to join him there, hand in hand. The sun rose over the clouds through the plane window, and Joe was heavily snuggled against your side, keeping you grounded a mile above land. 

At first, when kisses still seemed new, and every trip to the market was an adventure, you wished you'd loved each other like this much sooner. But you decided everything happened at just the right time. You belonged together, but you wouldn't have been brave enough to accept that if you hadn't lived a few uncomfortable lives apart. After everything, coming back to each other seemed expected.

Your mother, though, acted as if the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ had occurred when you first told her you and Joe made it official. She actually ran across the street to recruit Mrs. Mazzello in asking you one thousand embarrassing questions, but even that seemed like any other day. You spent the majority of the plane ride thinking back to those little moments, letting your mind wander. You thought of the last time you were in London, feeling glad to be headed there with Joe, for a change. Gwilym was lingering near a row of empty seats in a bustling waiting area, grinning from ear to ear. You were the first to greet him with a big hug. Gwil, to you, was a fresh start. A new friend from an old place, who came into your life at the exact perfect time. "Bore da!" Gwilym cheered, like a kid fresh from school. “I leave you all this time to practice and that's the best you've got?" You laughed at Gwil's charming efforts in keeping your silly challenge of speaking in a "secret" language. He was never any good at remembering the rough phrases you passed on to him, but he tried all the while. "I tried teaching him how to say 'welcome back' but we agreed I should be the one to say it." A familiar raspy voice cut through your attention focused on Gwil. Joe broke out into a dance in the place he stood, beaming at you. "Surprise!" He called, as you turned away from the men to lock eyes with one of the best friends that surely ever existed at all. Tegan was casually sipping on an iced coffee, holding back a massive grin. Her icy eyes were free from streaks of black makeup. Her dark hair was a little shorter than she used to wear it, but her smile grew bigger than ever before, and she was here. You lunged toward the girl, wrapping her in a hug she'd been practicing for the same as you. Joe was still dancing. "This was your surprise? How'd you pull this off?" You laughed, connecting the dots with what Joe had said as your plane took off. He went on to explain how the idea just sort of came to him when he started planning the trip. Joe had called Tegan one night while you were at work, and after making sure Gwil was alright with your dearest friend crashing the party he'd thought up, the three of them started scheming right under your nose. Gwil explained how Tegan's flight had been scheduled to land an hour earlier than yours, and how he didn't mind the sudden strange company one bit. 

You were well and truly surprised, and you made sure to thank the lot of them for thinking up such an exciting idea.

"Thank you," Tegan's tone floated low and serious past her smile as she reached out to hug Joe, for the first time ever. But there was such an air of familiarity between the lot of you that this too, felt like another day out of the life you were meant to be living. /// "God, I'd love if he'd toss me around like a rugby ball." Tegan sipped from a spiked lemonade, propped up on her elbows as her gaze focused on Gwilym tossing a ball to Joe, who was coaching his friend on proper pitching etiquette. "How romantic." You snorted, reaching for some cherries from the basket of snacks you toted along. Gwilym had led you all to his favorite beach where pockets of sand and tall grass made perfect spaces to enjoy a bit of quiet nature. Of course, you couldn't help but set up a speaker to play a list of everyone's favorite summer tunes. Just loud enough to cover up the sound of your chatter with Tegan, who had some new fantasy about Gwilym to blurt out every other minute. "I know it's not Wales, but it's nice to have you back, even for a minute." She turned toward you, setting her drink aside. you tucked your feet away from the hot sand and admired your friend as she peered up at you. "I'll always come back for you." You halfway joked, but nodded in assurance. "If my flirting pays off, you and I might see more of each other yet," Tegan informed peering at the boys near the shoreline. "Those two seem like the most inseparable of us all. We'd be like sister wives." You laughed, silently wondering when your life became one big full circle. Tegan joked about her little crush, but as the day went on it didn't seem so silly. When your friend wasn't looking, you noticed Gwil stealing glances all afternoon, tripping on his mother tongue, your secret language out the window.

The radio crackled with some chime saturated pop song, birds dared to scuttle toward your picnic.

"I can hear the wedding bells now," You joked, looking toward the radio, laying on your side to face your friend.

"Yeah, those are clearly for you." Tegan pointed out.

"Maybe." You responded with your first thought, conditioned to be wary of the future. But when you caught a glimpse of Joe laughing with his best friend near the water, you realized you didn't have to be weary any longer. "Okay, probably." You corrected, out of some primal fear of keeping Joe at a distance ever again. "But not yet. You know he and I decided to take things slow."

Tegan let out a chirped laugh, causing a nearby bird to fly off.

"Yeah, that's what you keep saying." She subtly stressed how your actions seemed to be contradictory. How you and Joe agreed to ease into a relationship together. But being together seemed like a glass of water after being stranded in the Sahara. You moved into his place in the blink of an eye. You abandoned the guest bedroom to share his long before moving in.

"It's hard to waste so much time when there is a lot we have to make up for." You reasoned. Tegan hummed in understanding right away, but then she sat up a little more, looking back to the horizon.

"I know what you mean. It's like... where has he been all my life?" She dared to speak as Gwil was approaching dangerously close to the two of you. After bursting into giggles and assuring Gwil you weren't talking about him, he grabbed a bottle of water and scurried away with one last glance over his shoulder.

You and Tegan went on planning a double wedding, to save money and time and innovations, naturally. Through fits of laughter, she decided to run the free bar, and you happened to know a pretty good wedding photographer.

And before you knew it the night had turned navy blue. You rented a hotel where each separate room was connected by a door near the entertainment center. You and Tegan claimed one room for yourself, taking turns showering and swapping clothes, like you used to.

The four of you ended up at some all-night joint who catered to a bunch of miners who traveled through at odd hours. The neon sign was a beacon and you all split plates of food and told embarrassing stories. You could have stayed there laughing all night if Tegan hadn't suggested adding drinks to the mix.

So you headed back to your shared suits, filing into one room and setting up shop for a late-night of laughter.

Tegan dropped Joe into learning how to mix a drink at the mini bar, cursing in welsh. You laughed from the place you settled on the balcony, and Gwilym took a seat beside you with a smirk.

"Why didn't we all just go to Wales?" He wondered aloud. You'd been making fun of him for being so lost when you and Tegan traded secrets.

Your first thought was to keep poking fun at Gwil, to say something about he'd get lost navigating the street signs. But you trusted the guy enough to tell him the truth. When you glanced inside to make sure Tegan and Joe were still occupied making a mess at the minibar, you leaned closer to Gwil and tried to make a very long story as short as possible.

Under the dim patio light, you explained how you moved to London after graduation, met a guy, moved to Wales and wasted too long with him. How you felt stuck. How he died and how you went back home to Joe where you belonged. Gwilym listened quietly, running his fingers over the stubble on his jaw as you capped off your story with how glad you were to have scored such a valuable friend in Tegan, through it all. "Guess you really don't need my tour of the city after all, huh?" Gwilym shrugged, realizing you were already pretty familiar with the back alleys. "Of course I do. I'm dying to see this place from your perspective." You grinned. Gwilym had a way of making everything seem newer, more exciting. But the question he asked that kick-started your conversation hung in your heart a little heavier as the evening went on. When you'd become overloaded by everything the day had to offer, you decided it was time to call it a night. You pulled Joe into the room meant to be for you and Tegan, hardly thinking of anything but how badly you longed for a quiet moment alone with the guy. You didn't speak, you just curled up and laid together. And if she noticed, Tegan didn't seem to mind as her laughter existed somewhere behind the door you locked her out of. You could even hear Gwilym singing Christmas carols in the warm summer night.

Your eyes grew heavy as your breathing synced with Joes, chests rising and falling in time. Everyone you loved was right where they ought to be.

The nightmares had gone away, but you must have had one. It happened like it used to, some heavy feeling rising in your chest and causing your eyes to shoot open when you hadn't even realized you'd fallen asleep.

The laughter and music from the other side of the door was gone, and the rising sun was casting a purple shadow through the curtains.

You were drawn to the window, trying to drown the sickening worry rising in your throat. You stood focusing on the sun sparkling over the waves. Watching far away people walk their dogs, and kids chasing each other. You were so lost in the scene that you were almost startled to have been interrupted.

Joe had woken up and joined you, snaking his arms around your middle and resting his chin on your shoulder. You felt safe enough to speak your mind.

"What if I don't ever go back to Wales? Is that selfish? What if I want to, but just can't do it?"

You'd lost so much there. You left so much behind, things you loved. Things you never got to say goodbye to. You realized that some of the things you'd planned on keeping now, could disappear just as well.  Days like this could slip away no matter how desperately you clung to them. Nothing lasted, good or bad. You spent the morning worrying over how to exist between those epic highs and tragic lows.

"I heard something once," Joe spoke up, keeping his loose hold around you. You rested your head back against his shoulder as you watched the waves crash to shore, a safe distance away. "Something about how there are only so many cutting patterns used to make puzzles. There was an artist who took different pictures and put them together because the puzzle pattern matched up. So you get funny little pictures, like, a train with the legs of a horse. But others were hard to tell apart. Like different mountainscapes blending together."

Joe rambled, looking at the same view as you.

"Life is like that, ya know? Things might not always make sense but they go together whether you like it or not. I'm not saying you should do anything you don't want to do. But I can promise no matter what puzzle you decide to put together, I'll be there to help fit in the pieces."

"God I can feel my teeth rotting, Joe," You elbowed him in the ribs as you spun to face him, because if you didn't joke about how sappy that was you would have surely burst into tears.

"I love you too." He rolled his eyes before leaning in for a gentle kiss, your own secret language.

Joe gave something that you were terrified to lose. And you were glad it was him. No matter where you wound up, you'd find his humor in places and the color of his eyes in things.

Joe was your destination. His arms remained open, inviting, even though you never truly strayed too far from his reach.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

"Together, we can live with the sadness I'll love you with all the madness in my soul." - Bruce Springsteen.

[eugenesmorphine]

A Cold Forest Night // Richard Winters Imagine

Taglist: @alienoresimagines

The forest grew colder and colder each night. The German artillery seemed to never end. The casualties just continued to rack up in numbers each day. The screams, the bombs, the shouts of orders, it just never ended. And I don't know how much more I could take in all honesty. Now my friends were dying. I know it was an awful thing when the Replacements died. Being blown to bits or being shot to pieces. Though, now it was my friends. The people I had grown close to ever since Camp Toccoa. Skip and Penkala's foxhole was hit directly by a German artillery shell. Now, in the past few days I lost four more friends. Joe Toye lost his leg during a bombing, and then Bill Guarnere lost his trying to drag Joe into safety. Poor Buck hit his official breaking point. Joe and Bill were sent back to the states whilst Buck went back to god knows where. Hoobler finally got a Luger and it accidentally went off in his pocket. The bullet shot a main artery. He died in minutes. It was really doing a number on me and many others.

///

  I sat in my foxhole. Leibgott just had gotten up to go take a piss. And now I had been all alone with my thoughts. Which were running like wild today. It was night time, the cold air hit my face and sent a shiver down my spine. I wrapped my arms around my torso, praying that it would bring some more warmth through my body. The blanket on my lap was only doing so much. I sat in silence, dead pan staring into the deep, endless void of the forest in front of me. I wished everything was perfect. There was no war. Every man and woman in every branch was home. Not having to worry about when they would have a next meal. or more importantly. If they were going to fucking live to see the next day. So many innocent men and basically kids didn't have to die each and every fucking day.

  I began to think things over. Why the fuck are we here? How is it worth it to have men die every single day. Fathers, brothers, sons, husbands, boyfriends. Every day, hundreds all over the world. And what was it for? How would this ever help something or someone? I just started thinking about the people I lost. I wanted to go home. I hated to admit it. But I did. I missed my parents, my bed, my dog. That is when my eyes began to water. Not from the cold. The hot tears were from my own doing. I wanted to let them fall, though I couldn't let them.

 I had grown rather distant to the rest of my friends here. I felt bad for a moment. It wasn't fair to them that with all their friends were either dying, or being shipped back to the states. And I was just pushing myself farther and farther away. Though, I didn't know what else to do. I wasn't like the others that could just push away the feelings or just forget about them. Hell, most of the guys act like nothing even happened. I just wasn't like that. I couldn't be like that. I wanted to, I needed to. Though, no matter what, I can't just ignore what happened to my friends. I can't just act like everything is okay. That isn't me.

///

 I was pulled out of my daze and thoughts when I heard someone jump in the foxhole. Dirt puffed up as the person's boots collided with the ground. I looked up, expecting to see Joe. Though, the man that sat in front of me was Captain Winters. I stared at him, my mouth slightly open. Why was he here.

 "Captain Winters?" I asked quietly. My eyes carried the look of confusion.

 "Sergeant L/N," He gave me a nod. For a few minutes, we sat in awkward silence. I brought my knees up to my chest and kept a steady eye on the Captain. He pressed his lips into a thin line. "Sergeant, I heard from First Sergeant Lipton that people are starting to worry about you," He spoke softly. I let out a sarcastic chuckle and looked down at my lap. Looking back up to him.

 "Sir, what is the purpose of you coming over here?" I looked at him, tilting my head to the side. Everyone was worried about everyone. I wasn't the only one turning into a more distant person. Men like Malarkey and Jackson were coming down to be just as distant and upset as me.

 "We are worried about you Y/N. It wasn't just Lipton that brought it up to me. It was Malarkey, Leibgott, Bull. You're friends are worried. I'm worried," he answered. Looking at me. The look in the Captain's eyes proved his care. So instead over saying something in return, I kept silence. Thinking it was probably for the best. I turned my head and just tried to find something else to focus on. Anything but the the officer that was eyeing me.

 I heard him stand and him shuffle to sit right next to me. I just kept looking away. I heard him sigh heavily. "Y/N, I'm not going to force you to talk to me. This is purely unprofessional. But, you need someone to talk to, and I'm here," he reassured. I turned and looked at him. I raised my eyebrow and he just stared at me. I shut my eyes for a second and took a deep breath.

 "Sir, it hasn't even been a fucking month and the amount of men that we lost is huge. So many replacements, my closest friends. We volunteered to do this. I mean some might've been drafted. But most of us volunteered. Knowing damn well that some of us wouldn't even make it out of the plane. That as soon as we land anywhere, we could get shot, blown up, fucking stabbed. And what for Dick? We watch our friends die, get blown to pieces, and we still fight. How come I've made it so far and hundred of others haven't?" I rambled. My voice broke my hard lump that began forming. Tears pooled in my eyes as I just bit down on my bottom lip.

 Winters just stared at me, he looked down at his lap and nodded slightly. "I know Y/N, I understand where you are coming from. But you can't blame yourself. This entire war doesn't even make sense. We are all human, and here we are killing each other just because someone in charge told us too. But, you still have us and yourself. Remember that," Richard spoke softly as putting a hand on the woman's shoulder and rubbing it slightly. I looked over to the officer and just quickly went to wrap my arms tightly around his shoulders. I felt his arms snake around my waist and held me close. I felt the stubble on his cheek brush against my forehead and I buried y face in the crook of his neck. "It's alright Y/N," he whispered. That is when a few tears broke free from my eyes.

 He began flattening out my hair as I cried silently into his shoulder. For the first time in the three or more years I have been with the Airborne, no one really knew how to comfort me. Or even ask if I was alright. I didn't really care. Though, when it came from Captain Winters, it felt different. Almost new. I felt cared about. Almost loved. And right now, I didn't want to move. A flip switched within me when he placed his chin on top of my head. I didn't want to move for anything right now. And that's what we did. Richard held me until I had fallen asleep. He planted a soft kiss on my forehead and slipped away.

 Only leaving me slightly confused with my feelings towards the officer when I woke up the next day.

[badwolfwrites-sometimes]

Drawn Together: Chapter 21

"You know, I was really looking forward to eating some homemade German cooking." Feliciano said. They were currently sitting in a small restaurant not far away from the house. Although Feliciano invited his grandpa to join, he stayed at the house to work through some papers, leaving Ludwig and Feliciano to enjoy stuffing themselves with food alone. "Like you making me something."

Ludwig looked at Feliciano from behind the menu he held. "I am not a good cook. That was always Gilbert's job. I only bake."

"Speaking of, where does Gilbert work? He never showed me."

"Here."

Feliciano blinked in confusion. "Here as in right here? As in this restaurant?"

"Yes. He is this restaurant's chef."

"That's amazing!"

"He is good at his job, but I am not sure if he likes it or not."

"What do you mean?"

"He gets into fights with other cooks easily."

"Oh... But it's nothing bad, right?"

"Nothing physical at least." Ludwig wanted to say more, but they were interrupted by the waiter. Feliciano stared at Ludwig, puzzled as he tried to make sense of what Ludwig was saying. He really should polish his German.

"I ordered us a Gilbert's special." Ludwig read right through Feliciano.

"I'm that obvious?" Feliciano asked, shocked but laughing.

"In a way."

They talked some more until their food arrived, a large piece of meat covered in gravy with side potatoes and sausages. Feliciano looked at Ludwig, unsure of what to name this dish. "What is this, Ludwig?"

"We call this The Gilbert's Special. It is actually Rinderroulade-," he pointed with his fork at the meat-,"with mashed potatoes and Knockwurst. It isn't a single dish, but more of a combination of dishes."

"It looks too delicious." Feliciano said before cutting up a large piece from the meat and stuffing himself with it. Ludwig watched him with amusement. "Wait, is this beef?"

"It is. Do you not like it?" Ludwig asked, cutting up his own piece.

"I love it. I haven't had proper beef like this in years."

"What do you mean by proper?"

"Not straight out of a package." Feliciano was struggling to speak and eat at the same time, devouring the meat in a matter of seconds, like it was going to grow legs and run away from his plate. "We used to eat proper meat back in Tuscany."

"Tuscany? Aren't you from Venice?" Ludwig asked, puzzled.

"I am, but my grandparents from my dad's side are from Florence. I haven't been there since Romeo was small."

"I see." Ludwig answered, continuing to eat his meal.

Feliciano and Ludwig shared a few small words here and there as they ate, mostly preferring to stay in each other's silence. They were, of course, unaware of Gilbert who was sneaking glances at them from the kitchen and giggling.

"I'm so full... Ludwig, can we cancel everything for today?" Feliciano asked when he was finished, sprawled on the chair like a shirt worn once.

"Only if you plan on exercising double the usual amount tomorrow." Ludwig answered, faint smirk visible on his face.

Feliciano's eyes widened before he stood up, too sudden for his brain as he had to sit down immediately from the dizziness. Ludwig offered him a glass of water. "I was joking, are you alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, yeah. I am. This happens sometimes." Feliciano laughed awkwardly, massaging the back and sides of his head until the pain passed. When it did, he stood up again, slowly this time. "Should we split the bill?"

"No, I will pay."

"Oh absolutely not. I won't have you paying for my meal as well. No!"

"Feliciano, you are a guest at my house. I can pay our food."

"Over my dead body will you be the only one paying!"

As they argued, they failed to notice Gilbert approaching them, trying his hardest not to laugh at the exchange. Only when he coughed to get their attention did they notice him. "Children, it's all on me and already paid. Now get out." He said before walking back to the kitchen, allowing neither of them to protest.

"So it isn't okay if I offer to pay, but if Gilbert does, it is alright?" Ludwig asked as they walked out.

"Well, he didn't let me argue with him. I'll pay him back when we get home." Feliciano answered.

"I doubt he will accept it."

"I'll make him accept it. I can be very convincing when I want to be."

"I would like to see you try."

Feliciano suddenly got serious as he stared Ludwig right in his blue eyes. He noted Ludwig's eyes looked the best when it was cloudy outside, bringing the bright blue sky in the dark moments.

Normally, Ludwig would start to grow anxious about being stared at so hard by someone. But this wasn't just 'someone', this is Feliciano. He didn't know why but the way Feliciano's irises would soften and expand when he looked at him, eased Ludwig's mind. He could look at Feliciano all day.

"I'm gay." Feliciano finally spoke, dead serious look on his face.

Ludwig blinked in confusion. That came out of nowhere. "What?" He asked.

"I'm gay." Feliciano repeated himself.

It didn't shock Ludwig any less, but... "That was a bit sudden, but I respect you. Thank you for telling me." He managed out. Ludwig really did respect Feliciano, even if his assumption of Feliciano's sexuality was incorrect. As long as they are friends, Ludwig could care less who Feliciano loved.

That's what he was telling himself at least, but deep down, he did care. They were already separated enough by their countries, Ludwig didn't need another person waltzing into Feliciano's life and stealing him away. Even if he knew Feliciano would make time for him when time itself was scarce.

Feliciano smirked at him, turning his head away so Ludwig could be left longing for his calming eyes. "See, you believed me?" He said.

What?

"I don't understand." Ludwig raised his hand as if he was asking the teacher to explain something.

"I told you I'm very convincing. I'm not actually gay, Ludwig."

Ludwig was once again left confused. What just happened?

"Well, I don't have anything against gay people and I don't think dating men would be too bad. Maybe it would in Italy, but my brother is more of an expert on that field. I don't think it matters what's between your legs or what you identify as, as long as you love each other-" Feliciano rambled on, Ludwig half listening, half tuning out.

"So you said you were gay just to prove your point to me? Is that correct?" Ludwig asked.

Feliciano stopped his rambling, nodding. "Yeah."

Ludwig sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Feliciano, I am not all too familiar with LGBT+ issues and jokes, but that was a bad one. Coming out to someone and then saying you were kidding is making fun of their struggles."

Feliciano paused, his brain remembering what happened during that dinner a couple of months ago with their grandpa. In his attempts to prove something to Ludwig, he hurt his own brother, without either of them even knowing it. "Oh." Was all he could manage.

They walked to the park in silence, Feliciano still thinking about what Ludwig said. When they sat in front of a pond to watch ducks, he finally spoke. "Thank you."

"Hm?" Ludwig questioned.

"If you hadn't told me it was bad, I would have probably continued to use that as a joke. You aren't exactly taught this in Italy, where being gay is an insult on its own."

"I can't speak for them, I just know that coming out is very important to them. For that reason, I believe, we should all respect it."

"I never understood it really well. I would just read Tumblr posts about it, but the ones I found were always vague for me."

"From what I know, it is having a secret you can barely tell yourself and sharing it with your family or the world."

"Like being sad when you're smiling and everyone thinks you're happy and you should be happy, but you aren't?"

"That sounds... close." Now Ludwig was worried about Feliciano.

"I've been there." Now Ludwig was very worried about Feliciano.

"Are you alright?" Ludwig asked.

Feliciano smiled. "Yeah. I learned something new today. Learning new things makes me happy."

Ludwig sighed in relief, turning his eyes back to the ducks in front of them.

"And being here, in Germany, with you. It makes me so happy, I could fly."

Ludwig smiled. It made sense for Feliciano to say something like that.

The two of them sat in front of the pond for what felt like hours, talking and commenting ducks. Feliciano occasionally mentioned pigeons to get a laugh out of Ludwig, who never forgot how his drunk brother screamed he was a pigeon for days after the conversation with Feliciano. When they were ready to go home, Feliciano felt something soft rub at the side of his leg. Turning around, he noticed a black cat nuzzling up to him. It was dark, but Feliciano could still see those beautiful, piercing blue eyes staring at him. He let his hand move on its own as he pet the cat, who moved its head into Feliciano's hand. It was a perfect fit and Feliciano was instantly in love.

But it was time to go, so he couldn't pet it longer. And it broke Feliciano's heart really bad. He bid the cat farewell and left with Ludwig. But the cat had other plans, following both of them home. Feliciano wasn't the only one who was in love.

"Ludwig, look at it!" Feliciano squeeled when they arrived home and the cat was right behind them.

"It seems to really like you, Feliciano." Ludwig smiled.

"Ah, I wish I could keep you." Feliciano pet the cat once again, motioning for Ludwig to join in. It didn't seem to like Ludwig as much as Feliciano, but it gladly accepted pets.

"If my dogs get along with it, maybe it could stay here. It looks like a mouser cat, we could use one here."

"There's a lot of mice?"

"They sometimes run around and my dogs are scared of them. Gilbert wanted to suggest we get a snake, but they are scared of them too."

"I'm scared of snakes too, I completely understand." Feliciano shivered at the thought. "Can you go get the doggies so we can see if they like it?"

"You are that intent on keeping this cat? Alright, I will be back soon." Ludwig said, standing up and unlocking the door to the house. Immediately, three dogs raced out of the house and almost tackled Ludwig down. He gave each of them their hello kisses and some dog treats he keeps in his pocket, just in case there is a cute dog outside.

Feliciano picked the cat up, it was really obedient as long as Feliciano kept petting it, and walked to the mess of fur and Ludwig. "Hello!" He greeted the dogs, who went to licking his free hand as a greeting. "We brought a friend with us. Please get along well, pretty please."

The dogs sniffed around the cat as Feliciano placed it down. Neither the cat nor the dogs seemed to mind each other that much, to dogs, it was a new playmate and to the cat, it was a new family. Feliciano was overjoyed and, seeing him like that, Ludwig was too.

"All of you need a bath, though." Feliciano commented as he went to pet Aster, before Berlitz protested and jumped into Feliciano's lap for hugs and pets.

To Ludwig's surprise, the cat, it was actually deep gray and male, was much easier to wash than his dogs. Even Feliciano, who was washing Berlitz and Blackie, seemed surprised by that. His cats would rather die than be touched by water and shampoo, this one was very calm and serious. It reminded Feliciano of Ludwig. "Germouser." He said.

"Hm?" Ludwig asked, rinsing the cat out.

"You said he was a mouser cat. And seeing he's from Germany, his name will be Germouser." Feliciano explained. "Do you like it?" He asked the cat.

The cat meowed at him and Feliciano all but melted right then and there.

By the time Gilbert arrived home from work, the six of them were cuddling on the couch, watching some movies on the TV. Berlitz and Germouser were glued to Feliciano while Ludwig took Blackie and Aster to himself. Gilbert was about to protest having a cat in the house, but the look of happiness on Feliciano's face silenced him. "Just don't let it eat Gilbird." Was all he said before going to his room and passing out.

"Berlitz doesn't usually like new people." Ludwig said at one point.

"Really? He's very cuddly with me." Feliciano asked, petting the sleeping dog's head.

"Yes, he is very shy. Before he came to us, he was in an abusive household and it took him 5 months to warm up to us. And he was still a puppy back then."

Feliciano felt his heart break at the poor dog's past, hoping that whoever abused this lovely dog got what they deserved. "You poor baby. How dare anyone do that to you?"

"Apparently, she got a life sentence in jail. Not only did she abuse animals but she also killed her ex husband for talking to the cashier lady, I believe. It was in newspaper a couple of years ago."

"I hate women like that. If you're certain he loves you, if you married him because you know he loves you, then acting jealous like that is just irrational."

"It is all in the past now, but Berlitz is still recovering. I am glad he gets along with you so well."

Feliciano smiled, his previous anger at the unknown abuser woman now gone. "This is the first time in a while. I'm not much of a dog person."

Ludwig's face fell, but not enough for Feliciano to notice. "You aren't?"

"I was in the past, but not so much since then."

"I see." It still wasn't enough to cheer Ludwig up.

"I had this dog, well, he was actually my grandma's dog and she would bring him when she came for a visit." Feliciano looked at the TV and, for the first time, Ludwig saw distance in his eyes. "I have so many good memories of him. He was a friend unlike any other, better than anyone ever was to me."

Feliciano looked back at Ludwig, but the distance never went away. It was only clouded by glossy glass. Feliciano looked ready to cry. "You kinda remind me of him. The way you follow me into my dumb ideas, even if you know they are going to fail. And you stay."

Feliciano swallowed whatever saliva he had in this mouth and turned his head away. "He was like that and we played all the time, but then... then..." At this point, Feliciano couldn't choke back the tears. He hadn't thought about his friend in years, even if he was always in his heart, and telling Ludwig about him opened up old wounds.

He felt Ludwig wrap his arm around his shoulder, bringing him closer into a hug. "I got you, Feliciano. You don't have to tell me the rest."

Feliciano cried into Ludwig's shoulder for a couple of minutes, telling him how his grandma wrote to him how his dog got eaten by a wolf, even if that was probably untrue. Ludwig said nothing the entire time, knowing how hard it is to lose such a precious friend. It probably hurt Feliciano enough for him to distance himself from dogs. Ludwig understood it all.

"What was his name?" Ludwig simply asked.

"Tsuki." Feliciano managed through tears and sobs.

"Like the Moon." Ludwig said.

"What?"

"Tsuki is a Japanese word for Moon."

Feliciano laughed. How ironic. "I don't know what species he was but he was white and had large black dots on his body. There was one that went from his ear to his eye so I guess he kind of looked like the Moon."

"He sounds adorable, I wish I could see him."

"I have a framed picture at home with us. For my 4th birthday, my grandma brought him and me and Lovi dressed him up in Romeo's clothes. He looked so cute and funny." It seemed like Feliciano stopped crying.

"You have to show it to me when you get home."

"I will. I'll show you all of the pictures with us, but I have to warn you, I was a really cute kid. So don't go falling in love with me because that would be illegal."

Ludwig laughed and Feliciano joined in, waking up the dogs who moved to their beds and the sofa to sleep, taking their new friend along as well. "We should go to bed as well. Tomorrow, I won't be back until 8 p.m." Ludwig said.

"Oh." Feliciano's face fell. "Right, you have work."

"Yes, but we can have fun after that. Just promise me you won't skip your training tomorrow."

"I'll sleep the day off until your return, Captain." Feliciano saluted to Ludwig, with his left hand.

"I will let Gilbert know then." Ludwig said. "And you salute with your right." Feliciano quickly corrected himself.

"Can I at least sleep with you tonight?"

Ludwig was about to decline, knowing he probably won't get enough sleep for the day ahead of him if Feliciano 'slept' next to him, but seeing how Feliciano just finished crying, he couldn't refuse. Feliciano probably needed it too. "Alright."

"Yes!" Feliciano leaned in to kiss Ludwig's cheek, a thing Ludwig would have to get used to. "Thank you! Let's go then."

They turned off all the lights and the TV and, unlike the previous nights when he would sneak in to sleep with Ludwig, Feliciano didn't go to the guest room at all. Instead, he made himself comfortable next to Ludwig, even if it was a single bed and not his double sized one. "Ludwig?" He called.

Of course Ludwig would get less sleep that night. "Hm?"

"I'm really glad I met you." Feliciano said, smiling before he turned around so his back faced Ludwig.

Ludwig felt his cheeks warm up, still not believing that the two of them actually met and are lying in bed together like this. He wrapped his arm around Feliciano's waist to properly tuck him in. Nights in Germany were cold and Feliciano probably isn't used to that. That's what he told himself to justify his action. Turning around so their backs faced each other, Ludwig whispered. "Me too, Feliciano." And just like that, the two of them drifted into the world of dreams.

[liamtsullivan]

-- && guests may mistake me as ( andy biersack ), but really i am ( liam sullivan + cis male + he/him ) and my DOB is ( 12/28/93 ). i am applying for the ( banquet manager ) position as part of the EHP and would like to live in suite ( #203 ). i should be hired because i am ( + loyal, charismatic, driven ), but i can also be ( - distracted, opinionated, pushy ) at times. personally, i like to ( watch documentaries, play poker, get tattoos ) when off the clock, but that won’t interfere with work. thank you for your consideration!

ooc;; it’s ya girl kay again, i’m so so sorry adfjlaksfj. this is liam, he’s a brain baby of mine that i played a little while ago and he’s been haunting me since i stopped playing him so here he is to be a part of y’all’s lives. hopefully you dig him, if not......... well that’s fine, too. can’t make you do anything, i’m not your mom unless you’re card; go to your room, card.

TW’s: Mentions of prostitution. Abortion. Drug use, drug addiction, drug overdose, & drug related death.

fast facts / personality details;;

( i put these first this time because the background is A Lot on this one okay )

has a rather protective and care-giving nature mixed in with his excellent work ethic and drive.

loves when guests ask for the manager and he gets to come out and see how much they didn’t expect the manager to be a 6′4″ beanpole with neck tattoos.

lives by the ideal “put your money where your mouth is” ; also just like, be genuine and up front with him in general, like he’s not an asshole, but also he knows how to deal with assholes, so let that be said

has a five year old german shepherd named Roxy that he rescued from shelter overflow when she was only a six month old puppy; Roxy still thinks that she is a small lap dog despite being a Big Girl

still wears the ring that his mom gave him for his eighteenth birthday every day, despite the issues that they had, and despite her being gone now.

has his nose pierced and his lip pierced, though the lip ring he takes out for stretches of time; the nose ring is always in, though.

absolutely covered in tattoos, in case that wasn’t already painfully obvious. he loves getting them and yes, still has room for more, will continue to get them probably forever.

prefers brown liquor over pretty much any other alcohol, though he’s not opposed to a good draft every once in a while

listens to more classical music than anyone would ever probably expect of him; that being said he also listens to a lot of classic rock and, naturally, a dose of pop punk, too, for fun.

he likes listening to true crime podcasts and watching various true crime / serial killer documentaries; criminal minds is also his favorite show. so like don’t piss him off, i guess ajdkfljasdklf

smokes cigarettes like he’s a motherfucking chimney; says he’s working on quitting, has yet to actually start that process.

generally just a supportive person; if Liam cares about you in any capacity - even if it’s just because you work together - you’ll know it. he likes to help the people around him, try to steer them in the right direction, offer them advice.

he’s not a shy person, in fact he’s rather social, and while there’s a dry humored joke or a sarcastic toy here and there, he’s a pretty genuinely nice dude. despite the things that he’s seen and been through in his life, he’s worked really hard to stay optimistic, and driven throughout and so far he’s been very successful at that.

dresses rather nice / got that business casual look down with the short-sleeved button ups or the long-sleeved ones with the sleeves rolled for work purposes. however, outside of work it's like a cat and his wardrobe were in a trash bag together. lots of black, and dark earthy colors, too. the duality of man.

background / life story;;

Liam Travis Sullivan was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, where his mother, Stephanie Sullivan, was an escort / call girl on The Strip.

Stephanie getting pregnant was a tremendous ‘oops,’ but she kept the baby anyway. The baby’s father was a client who had a wife and kids already, so he paid Stephanie a whole lot of money to stay quiet and out of contact with him. This money allowed for her to take time off from working to be able to have Liam and take care of him for a bit.

Liam really was Stephanie’s whole world once he was born; the best thing that she ever did, as she so often told him through the years.

Liam never knew his father, but he put two and two together once he was old enough to understand what it was that his mom did.

Liam was three years old when Stephanie finally returned to working on The Strip. He was left in the care of some of Steph’s other ‘working girl’ friends on the nights she happened to be working.

He got very accustomed to spending his time around females, having a heavy female influence in his life as he grew up -whether that particular female influence was always the best or not. It led to his respect for women, though, and his ability to feel very comfortable around them, even from a young age.

When Liam was six years old, Stephanie ended up pregnant again. However, this time she ended up actually having an abortion. Liam only knew about it because his mother rambled about it to him in an overemotional drunken state. She told him that “he was her good boy and all that she needed.”

Working The Strip -as notorious a place as it was- and making the money that she did left Steph open to a lot of drinking and drug use.

At eight years old, Liam found a stash of his mother’s cocaine in their bathroom. This earned a distressed meltdown from Steph about him staying away from that sort of stuff because it was bad. Though, as a developing child gaining understanding of the world around him, that proved to confuse Liam because he didn’t understand why his mommy had it and was doing it if it were so bad.

Liam was ten years old the first time that his mom overdosed. This instance just involved going to the hospital to get her stomach pumped and spend the night on a fluid IV, but it was still terrifying for the boy at the time.

Stephanie struggled with drug abuse for most of Liam’s life. Living where they did facilitated it so easily and also made any getting caught up in the law with it rare -it was Vegas, after all, not to mention Stephanie was in sex work, so the law wasn't always looking out for her anyway.

Right before Liam was about to start high school, the young teenager -already having had to do so much growing up so early and so fast- took it upon himself to give his mother an intervention of sorts. He told her that if she was going to keep taking time with her away from him that he was going to run away, figure life, out himself, even if he did end up in the foster system or something. He pleaded with her that he didn’t want to lose her, that he wanted her there for all the things his life could still have in store for him. Ultimately, after many tears and a lot of convincing, Steph let her fourteen year old son flush her drug stash and they made a very rushed plan to finally get out of Vegas.

Moving to California was really good for the both of them for a while. Being in a new place meant starting fresh, moving forward. Stephanie didn’t know anyone she could get drugs from; between that, the support of her son, and finding help at local NA meetings, she managed through the withdrawal and the struggling. She got a stable, more normal job, working at a sports bar -bartending and waiting tables.

Liam easily adjusted to the change of environment. He practically thrived in Los Angeles. Before he knew it, he had friends, got into playing football at his high school, was losing his virginity. Fast-paced and unconventional were ways that Liam was used to living his life, so getting into things like physical relationships with girls, despite how young he was in reality, felt normal to him in all his adjusting.

Things stayed going really well for pretty much the whole first year they were in LA. Liam did well in school, got a part time job to help his mom out. Steph ended up picking up a second job to stay busy and keep money coming in. They were good, they were better than they had been, and they had each other.

The summer before Liam’s junior year of high school, he caught his mom using again. Evidently it had been going on for a few months already at that point, and because of how busy he was with school, friends, and work, he had caught on late. Stephanie argued with him on the matter, told him that it wasn’t his business to worry about, among other unexpectedly harsh things. It was the first real, legitimate fight he ever really had with his mom, at least the first one that really mattered.

With too much riding on his focus on school and football -given he had since come up with the goal to go to a good college, to make something of himself and do good things- Liam shut himself off from his mom for a little while. They lived together, came and went about their lives, but they spoke minimally, Liam didn’t fight more with her despite knowing that she was still using at the time. It was very odd for him, to have any sort of bad energy between him and his mom -it was so rare, it had always been just the two of them. He decided, though, that he had to focus on himself and his future.

Senior year came with the promise of scholarships, multiple college scouts having their eyes on him, more than one girl interested in dating him, a wide friend circle, a basic car he had been able to buy for himself, and a growing savings account. Liam was doing great, he was on the right track, focused. Stephanie, however, had downward spiraled. Her using had gotten out of hand to the point of losing both of her jobs, having to get a new one in a setting that was dangerously close to the things she had been doing in Vegas -a strip club.

It wasn’t until Liam’s Winter Formal that year -Stephanie deep into her continued cocaine addiction- that something changed. He was in his suit, getting ready to leave to go pick up his date when his path crossed with Stephanie’s. Upon finding out where her son was heading, who he was going with, the friends he was meeting -details she hadn’t been knowledgeable on for some time at this point- the woman burst into tears. She sobbed apologies to her son, begged him to forgive her for missing out on his life, made promises to him that she would get better for him -promises Liam tried not to take to heart; he had learned.

They did get Stephanie into a rehabilitation clinic shortly after the holidays. She had to sober up a little bit and once again Liam shouldered the responsibility of getting rid of the drugs that she had in their apartment. He spent two months alone in their apartment while his mom worked through her issues, sobered up fully, came back to him. It was an exhausting couple of months for him, trying to be a self sufficient adult in an apartment that had to have things paid for in it, while also juggling school and football, but he managed.

Stephanie came home a different woman than she left, and upon getting a more functional version of his mother back, Liam had the tiniest glint of hope that maybe things would be okay again. Graduation was looming, and he had a few different schools that were more than willing to offer him full ride football scholarships to their universities. Notre Dame, Duke, UCLA, among other state-based colleges all had eyes on him. It was something he could finally talk to his mom about.

While Stephanie encouraged him to follow his heart, follow wherever his dreams were gonna take him, Liam couldn’t shake the idea of being far from home -or, in particular, being far from where she was. Things were so fragile with her and her addiction, it was so much more possible for something bad to happen and him to have absolutely no idea about it if he went far away. So despite the incredible opportunities he could have had elsewhere, he chose to accept to scholarship from UCLA out of all the schools who chose him.

Going to college, let alone such a prestigious and well known state school like UCLA was like something out of a fairytale for Liam. Looking back on what his life had been up to the point of graduating high school and moving on to bigger things, he was amazed at what he had accomplished. Given the healthy and sober way that his mother still was at the time of his high school graduation, she, too, made it a point to make sure he knew how amazed and proud she was of him.

College wasn’t quite as easy for him as high school was, but that just drove Liam to work even harder. He wasn’t going to waste the opportunity he was given. He was double majoring in business and marketing; even though he had little idea what sort of business he wanted to be a part of, he knew that he wanted something for himself, something that could do good, give back in some way shape or form. Those subjects would do a lot to help him get there, he knew that much.

Stephanie stayed sober for most of Liam’s college experience, after the help of going to rehab, and the continued going to NA meetings. He popped back to the apartment every now and again -having moved into campus living during the semesters- and that helped her, too. Things seemed really good for quite some time, but having the other shoe drop once again unfortunately didn’t come as too terribly much of a shock to Liam. She had been getting involved with some guy she knew from work, they’d been sleeping together, and what Liam didn’t know is that they frequently went out for drinks. Drinking slowly but surely progressed into getting high together; something easy for Stephanie to fall into, particularly because of her habit, but also because of the familiarity of the circumstances -it was awfully similar to when she was working on The Strip and would get wasted with clients.

Liam was in his last semester of college, just about three months shy of graduating with his bachelor’s degree. It was a huge deal for him, it was something that he wasn’t going to give up for anything in the world. Still, he made it a point to help his mother after she called him absolutely high out of her mind and apologizing to him while he was pulling an all-nighter on an assignment one night. He didn’t ask many questions, just the basics, and he looked into a place himself -a rehab center that was further away, lengthier and more in depth with their programs. Before, they had gone with what was convenient, facility-wise, but he wasn’t going to make that mistake twice. If his mother needed more special attention, he was going to get her to that.

Getting his degree was a gift, a blessing he in reality never thought would be his. While his mom was still in rehab at the time of his graduation -Liam insisted that she not leave treatment just to come to the ceremony- she still wrote to him consistently, sent him a congratulations card right around the day of the ceremony. Liam was in a position in his life that awed him in a way, ready to take on the world.

Pursuing the concept of his own business sort of took a back seat; having just gotten his degree, it wasn't like Liam could immediately leap into much, not to mention he didn't have the funds. He had been working and saving all through college - served, cooked, and bartended at a grand total of six different restaurants in Los Angeles by the time he graduated - but on top of any business itself being expensive, school itself was expensive, too.

By the time Liam was twenty-four years old, he was managing two bars, and co-managing a restaurant out in Los Angeles. He was living on his own, keeping tabs on his mother sporadically, but mostly working toward a goal for a business of his own. He was teetering between a pub of sorts, or a burlesque club - two wildly different ideas, but both with the same idea in mind; somewhere entertaining but somewhere that also provided a sense of community, somewhere he could give jobs to people that needed them - perhaps that was inclined to women, from his subconscious protection of his mother, but that was beside the point.

A coworker of his at one of the bars he was the bar manager of ended up being who presented a move out of Los Angeles to him. There was potentially more business opportunity somewhere out of that location, out of the state of California, even. Chicago was brought to the table, this friend having heard of a program that offered employee housing at a luxury hotel. Liam was apprehensive about the Malnati at first, given he didn't want to have to start on a bottom rung in terms of his job once again. As it turned out, however, there was a management position that was generally up his alley. Seeking opportunity and further growth wherever he could find it, Liam made the move to Chicago.

Things between him and his mom had been more distant over the year since he graduated college, and in his move to Chicago, he couldn't say he was surprised to end up hearing about things getting bad again for his mom. It was a moment of true growing up for Liam, realizing that he had to be responsible for himself, he had to do what he needed to do, he couldn't carry his mom anymore. If she didn't want to get better and stay better, he couldn't be the one derailing his life to continue to try to make her do so.

That first year of him living in Chicago, working as the banquet manager at the Malnati, his mom overdosed for the last time. It was unexpected in the same way that it wasn't; Liam went through a brief period of a numb sort of grieving - he was of course sad to have lost his mom, to have to come to terms with the fact that he'd never get to see or speak to her again. He also, though, had to face the fact that as dark and upsetting as the circumstances were, they were out of his hand, they were not his responsibility. He mourned his mother as she deserved, and he went on with his life; because deep down he knew that she would want that for him, anyway.

Liam has been living in Chicago and working as the Malnati's banquet manager for the last nearly-three years now. He oversees more than just a restaurant and a bar now, and it's expanded his career experience in ways that he is very thankful for. It's a little bit on the backburner once again, but definitely not forgotten, that he intends to have his own business some day. Perhaps more than one, even. He loves the organization and the hard work and dedication that go into leading - whether that be a kitchen or a bar or an event. He likes to be supportive as much as a leader - Liam wants to see his team succeed; if there's slack that needs to be picked up and he can help, he will. He's not going to bark orders and call it a day, that's not what he's about, that's not what he considers his job. He's got a good head on his shoulders, and a good work ethic, and he likes doing what he does.

wanted connections;;

IT’S TIME ONCE AGAIN FOR ME TO FAIL AT THESE LMFAO

Liam in his job oversees chefs, bartenders, servers, room service runners, and musicians, so like we got a whooooole lineup of connections to be had there; he’s their boss yeah, but as I’ve said like a million times now he’s really active in trying to help his team succeed. he’ll help out on the bar and running food and covering breaks or callouts or whatever, so like there’s a lot of good potential relationships to be had there.

other managers bc we love seniority adfjlkasdfjk no i’m just kidding, but still we love some manager pals why not

idk i think it’d be really funny to have someone who’s like intimidated by him simply because of the way that he looks and he’s like look i’m really not that bad i just like tattoos a lot okay lmAO

a casual hookup here or there is chill; he’s not super into the fwb thing? like he’ll stay friends after a hookup if the other person is cool with it, but as an ongoing thing it just gets too complicated for his liking.

pet parent friends; his girl Roxy is a friendly giant baby and he adores her, bring him some parent friends and her some dog friends

tattoo pals of some variety?? even if it’s just him constantly encouraging people to go get tattoos, or talking them through processes? going with them for moral support because he barely even feels it when he gets tattoos now?? who knows

honestly we been knew i’m up to just talking shit out and winging it a lot of the time too so just hit me up if you wanna figure some stuff out with this inked up beanpole okay? okay ily.

[san--shine]

My fansign experience (10.04.2019)

Soooo after 2 months here finally comes my fansign experience. I will try to keep it short but still it will be way to long so I will place it under the cut after Hongjoong. I hope I don’t make anyone sad or something and it can make you smile a bit maybe~

Hongjoong

When I came up to him and told him that I am nervous he instantly told me not to be nervous and tried to make me laugh. When I asked him why he said that I am cute when I laught. He then proceed to laugh with me about my post-it question which was telling me the mental ages of the members. Afterwards we still had time since Seonghwa was still busy so I let him guess my age. He asked if he should guess in korean or german age and I told him that he could decide and he decided on german age. He then leaned back and proceed to drag his gaze up and down until he settled on my eyes. And guess what. He said 23 which is kinda right since I tun 23 later this year. We were both so surprised since normally noone guesses my age right and he was surprised probably that he got it right and that I am older than them ^^

For the general vibes he gave me during the fansign: He has such a calm and funny vibe. He was nervous, you could tell, but he was always sure of himself and about what he was saying to you. Truly the perfect leader who did everything he could to calm you down or make you laugh depending on what he thought would help you more ~

Seonghwa

Let me give you something of his trained english: “HI, oh you bought shiber with you. How are you.” ... “Nervous? Me too, so nervous.” He leaned so close while we were talking. His post-it question was about his favorite korean food. And he asked me if I have ever eaten Ramen in the end and I was like “Yeah yesterday before the concert.” He was so surprised, happy and excited and was telling me that he actually ate ramen 10 minutes before the fansign and that I shouldn’t tell anyone ^^ In the end he gave Shiber a pat and said that I should come to Korea to eat with him. Poor baby was wearing so much make up tho. 

Seonghwa has such a calming vibe. Like, I literally thought I would freak out while sitting in front of him. But he hold eye contact all the time and let me tell you, you could see his eyes shining with happiness. He was so happy and it managed to calm me down instantly. I don't know how often he told me how nervous he is too. It makes you feel so much better knowing that they were struggling with nervousness too.

Yunho

The first thing after he read my name was saying how muched he loves my name. He also loved that I am becoming a teacher. Though he guessed that I'm a English teacher since my english was so good. When I tried to explain him what I am studying he was struggling to understand what I mean with the word math but he understood biology. After he read my post-it note (where I asked him to write down some encouraging words for studying) he asked me why. So I told him that I was struggling with university and was scared to actually fail it in the end. Yunho said that I should always study hard and that whenever I feel that it gets to much that I should know that he will think about me. I told him that he is cute when I got up to get to Yeosang and he got so shy ~

Yunho gives the BIGGEST boyfriend vibes! Idk. It's so hard to describe actualy. But he was so curious about my studying and teaching. And I think he kinda felt bad that he didn't understood a word, but hyped me up anyway. I got the feeling that you could tell him everything and anything and he would listen to you! He always looked to endluged in whatever atiny was telling him. If you ever need someone to just listen to your rambles and then tell you that everything will be alright you will love him!

Yeosang

He. Is. So. Cute. And.. he didn't shave^^ He had so much make up on his face trying to conceal it but you could see it clearly. It was so adorable. And he was wearing blue contact lenses. Oof. I asked him to sort all member into Hogwarts Houses (because I knew from a gc beforehand that Yunho would get that question like 3 times already) and he was so eager to do it. He struggled with some word but I had written the house names in the original colors so that helped him. Actually he asked me to help him sort after a while and it was so much fun (San was watching me while doing it because he was bored but I will scream about it later). It was especially funn when we had written down 7 members and we both were looking down left and right wondering who we forgot to sort (it was Jongho btw) :D

Yeosangs vibes are just.. He is so cute. The cutest. You could actually see in his eyes how nervous he was, but he tried his best to talk to you. His english might be broken but he was so sweet trying so hard to make you understand what he was saying. He used up so much time talking to Atiny, the staff in the back almost always tapped him on his shoulder and saying that he was taking too long. And he gave me and others such a good and calming vibe because of it. Like a rock in a waterstream or something. If I ever had a problem I would go to him and he would just hold me and tell me it's fine.

San

OMG San. First of all, before I even got a chance to meet him, he- ugh. Let me tell you something. I was sitting first row, number 17, when I had to get up to start getting in line he still had no one sitting in front of him. So he saw me picking up Shiber and getting in line (I didn’t saw that). A bit later when I was waiting in line I watched the members one by one because I felt like somebody was watching me. San.. He was starring at me. Because he saw me waiting there with a Shiber plushie. When we locked eyes he made a sign like “I am watching you, just you wait until you get here” and was smiling so brightly. When he had to look away because atiny sat in front of him I broke down. I actually found myself sitting on the floor you can’t fcking believe! 

Okay so when it was my turn to talk to him he was waiting for me (Later in pictures and videos I could see that he actually really was waiting. He looked at me and even had the fcking decency to tilt his head and everyone says his eyes screamed “cute” while he was watching me talking and discussing with Yeosang). The first thing he did was scolding Shiber: "Hey Shiber. What are you doing? You are supposed to be in my bed! What are you doing in her lap, hmm?" It was so funny but I got a bit defencive I guess because I answered: "he's here to protect me because I'm nervous" He just looked up to me and smiled?!! And then to Shiber again: "Good Shiber. From no on you protect her and make her smile for me yeah?" I DIED. When he looked down to write in the album he had his hand open on the table for me to hold it, like an open gesture, but I was so shy. I took it tho after a short while and he smiled and HAD THE FCKINGASLJHDFALSJD sorry.. he pulled his fingers in so my hand was touching him more (what freaking fanfiction is this). And actually, it helped so much to calm me down. He wasn't surprised at all about the kkt groupchat I am in and he was happy about it translating everything he wrote down so I could tell them in the groupchat how much he appreciates them. I had a second question prepared, because I am selfish like that where I basically told him that he is the dimple kind and if I could be his dimple queen (since I have dimplse too) San just smiled and said that I can be his queen ~ He high fived me, smiling down at our hands and even continues talking to me while I was already sitting in front of Mingi (I’m sorry Mingi sweetheart).

Now his vibes: Like.. oof. You just sit in front of him and get all kind of different vibes from him at once. Cute. Handsome. Maybe even get a bit scared if he comes to close. Boyfriend. Soft. Respect. But his voice is so soft, it makes you feel all kind of things. And he respects you so much. Like, the others hold their hands up so you can touch and high five them and he just hold his on the table in front of me (I actually didn’t saw him doing it for anyone else) and let me choose if I wanted to hold hands or not. Such a happy vibe

Mingi

Mingi sunshine I’m so sorry again ^^. But still so much fun honestly. The first thing he did was greeting Shiber and then got cut of by San because he still wanted to talk to me (I’m so sorry Mingi, I couldn’t help myself. How should I say no to San?!) While San and I were talking he signed my album silently. He was so glad that I translated the question and wrote it down in english and korean (my question for him was to list his 3 favorite things to do in his spare time). He was so happy about his question and so he wrote down his answers way to fast. And then he tried to translate them for me (Eat, listening to music, going to the sauna). He asked me which ateez concept of the album I like more the red or the black one. I said black and he was surprised and tried defending the red side ^^

He has such little lost baby kitten vibes. Mingi has so much energy in him and you could see he wanted to just run around. Especially in the end it seems to get really hard for him to just sit still. He was so active he even managed to knock over his water bottle while talking to one of the first atinys xD

Wooyoung

My baby Wooyoung. He was so nervous and looked so scared and insecure. I just wanted to hug him, but of course I wasn’t allowed. When he read my name he was confused because I wrote it normally and in korean. But instead of a “j” I used an “i” in the korean version because it sounds like an i if you pronouce it. I tried to explain to him why I wrote it like this, but I don’t think he understood. While he was signing he started to sing to one of the songs playing in the background but stopped when I joined quietly. I felt so betrayed ^^ He smiled about the question (I asked him what I could do to make him happy) He didn’t translate what he wrote down and I needed 2 weeks to get it translated (work on your fcking handwriting woo baby) Sadly we didn’t talk at all while he was writing. Of course I don’t know the reason for it. I actually think it was because I was one of the first and he was still too nervous, because I saw him smiling and opening up more and more while the fansign went on. When he gave me a high five he intertwined our fingers and said he is happy just like this. I told him that he is cute especially when he smiles and that he is loved by me and Atiny. He got so shy and said thank you ~

Wooyoung was so shy. You know how he always acts so confident, but he is such a shy bean and insecure. And he is pure. So we two were actually just two shy beans sitting in front of each other that didn’t know what to do. But he still has much more confidence than I do. The bit we talked were all initiated by him ^^

Jongho

Jongho is so precious. And he just basically overflows with confidence. I was a wreck when I finally came to him but he was so nice and understandable. His english is really good and you could see that he knows what effect he had. His post-it not was to rank his members from the funniest to the lamest. He started but then decided he want my opinion too. So we sorted them together when he struggled with deciding who was funnier. He smiled so much at me and holds deep eye contact while talking actually. We laughed together about his hippo head and the choices he made on the post-it. When I needed to get up he told me I was cute (this btch). I told him he was cute too and he didn't believe me (maybe because of the hippopotamus head). Since he was sitting in front of me we had some cute moments when he was bored. Looking and smiling at me, encouraging me to take pictures of him

Jongho gives really down to earth vibes. He was so calm. Sure he was confident but he was bubbling with energy and happines you could see in his eyes how he was containing himself. And the respect he gives you. I was red as a tomato when I finally reached him (I saw that on video, so no one can tell me otherwise), but he talked normally with me ignoring my internal struggles. He only broke when I told him that he's cute :D

Final words

This fansign was THE best day in my life so far. 

If you ever get the chance to meet them or you are struggling to decide if you wanna try to see them just do it. Its worth the stress and the money and your time. (The fansign actually cost me less than the concert ^^)

They ruined my biaslist those 2 days completly. Yunho at the concert and everyone else at the fansign. San is still on top and will forever stay there tho.

I hope you had fun reading my little rant ~<3