#PA Dawn
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
idontknowreallywhy · 1 year ago
Text
Estera - Ch 22 - Assist
Ok, time to find out exactly how squished she got?
Last one of these for a bit as I have to put this story back in its box and focus on that worryingly skeletal secret Santa fic in my notes…
What went before
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
She unthinkingly dived into the road to retrieve the precious device and clutched it to her chest in relief. A squeal of brakes had her looking round just in time to see the bus plough into her and erase her from existence.
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
That’s probably what would have happened, Estera told herself, as she knelt down to retrieve the crushed phone from behind the front wheel of the bus. She’d done the right thing. She couldn’t have saved it. Even so, she couldn’t help kicking herself. The bus had so nearly stopped in time but then the driver had kindly rolled forwards a few metres to better line up the door with where Estera was standing.
So close and yet…
She dragged herself to her feet and apologised profusely to the driver as she fished around in her bag for a credit card to pay with. Her annual public transport pass was, of course, stored on the phone along with pretty much everything else. Ticket acquired, she threw herself into a seat and curled up, her legs braced against the back of the one in front. She rested her head on her knees and tried to regulate her breathing. This was silly, it was just a thing. An inanimate object. She didn’t get attached to Things.
It was just that this one kind of had her new friend inside it.
The screen was completely shattered, but somehow the phone didn’t appear to be entirely dead - the message was displaying and by tilting it from one side to another she managed to read around the spiderwebbed cracks:
Can confirm that particular meteorological anomaly is also present in London 😮☀️ Also, hi! I’m free for a few hours, did you want to grab that coffee?
A photo was attached but with no touch screen control she couldn’t scroll beyond the top edge to view it… she only had blue sky and a hint of chestnut hair to go on.
Estera methodically tapped on every inch of the screen trying to make something respond but achieved nothing more than embedding a small shard of glass in her fingertip. She hissed and tried to suck it out, dropping her legs down and ticking them under her own seat as someone slipped into the one in front. She couldn’t help but remember the feeling of seeing her message had been read but no reply forthcoming and was filled with dread at what he might interpret her silence to mean.
“No no no no no I can’t mess this up again.” She growled in frustration.
The person in front swivelled round to face her. “Are you ok, Miss?”
It was the labradoodle guy from the beach. She nearly laughed at the irony that it would be the same person she’d hysterically accused Scott of hiring to follow her. His eyes widened as he recognised her and he smiled broadly:
“Oh, hello again!”
She smiled weakly and gestured at her phone “Hi. Sorry, just having a bit of a moment”
“Wow, and I thought mine was a mess.” He showed her a scratched and battered but intact device then held it out towards her “Do you need to call someone? You’re welcome to borrow it.”
A lifeline! She gushed incoherent thanks then paused with her index finger over the call screen. She didn’t know his number, why hadn’t she memorised his number? Because she wasn’t some hapless teenager with a crush that’s why. Nobody does that. Argh.
But wait… she rummaged in her bag for her wallet, hoping against hope she hadn’t thrown it away… Yes! The pet shop loyalty card she’d scribbled the emergency contact number on the back of when Scott dictated it over the phone that night. She’d tucked it back in there after saving the number to her contacts. She’d only needed one more stamp to get 10% off her next shop and with the amount Bez ate… the number was a little smudged, but legible.
Alright here goes. She dialled the number and a surprisingly cheery, singsong voice answered after the first ring:
“Scott Tracy’s Personal Assistant direct line, how may I help you?”
Gosh she sounded young. Must be a recent school leaver. Estera briefly wondered how someone that junior could end up working for the Tracys.
“Hello, is that Dawn?”
“Good afternoon, Estera Hermaszewska, I am indeed Dawn, Scott Tracy’s Personal Assistant.”
“H-how did you know it was me? This isn’t my usual, err, phone?”
There was a slight pause.
“A limited number of people have access to this number. As Scott Tracy’s Personal Assistant I made an educated guess.”
“Oh, well, ah, ok that’s great. Um. So, hello Dawn, thank you for picking up the call. I wondered whether you could get a message to Scott for me?”
“Of course. What is the message you wish me, as Scott Tracy’s Personal Assistant, to relay?”
“Thank you Dawn, he sent me a message but my phone just got broken and so I can’t reply to it and so…”
Frantic xylophone music interrupted mid-sentence and continued for half a minute or so before:
“I have relayed your message.”
“Oh, I err, thank you but I hadn’t quite finished.”
“In my capacity as his Personal Assistant I can certainly relay a second message to Scott Tracy.”
Definitely something unusual going on here. She didn’t sound incredibly experienced. Perhaps a family member? Maybe the poor kid was just working to a clumsily phrased script? Well, either way, Estera wasn’t going to make the girl’s job any harder by asking questions. She tried to keep her message brief:
“Please would you say I’d love to have coffee - I have a… commitment booked for a couple of hours but maybe he could meet me there and we could find a cafe afterwards? The location is…” she gave the details of the clifftop viewpoint carpark where she’d be meeting the rest of the group.
There was a brief pause then the xylophone music returned. Estera looked up at doodle guy and mouthed an apology, he gave a double thumbs up in return.
“I have made further contact and Scott Tracy has asked me to tell you he will be at the location you suggested within 60 minutes. He appears happy at the prospect of the meeting. Would you like me to connect you to his personal comm? Alternatively there are many other Personal Assistant tasks I am amply trained to perform?”
“Oh, thank you, ah no I should probably give this kind person their phone back but I will see him then. Thank you very much Dawn, it was nice to talk to you.”
“I am glad to have spoken with you too, Estera Hermaszewska.”
Estera hung up and breathed a sigh of relief, handing back the phone with a grateful expression. “Thank you so much, you saved me from a bit of a situation there.”
He smiled uncertainly. “He must be someone pretty special?”
“Oh, gosh, no! I mean, yes. He’s fantastic but we’re not… it’s not err… he’s a friend. Just a… an old friend. Well, ‘just’ is the wrong word really. Isn’t everyone special in their own way though? All of us unique and all with our own, err, specialities.”
The guy seemed faintly confused by her incoherent rambling but grinned anyway and put out his hand “I don’t think we ever did the name swapping thing - I’m Dave.”
She hesitantly reached out to shake the offered hand but he suddenly gasped and leapt to his feet.
“That was my stop, sorry!”
And he was gone, hurrying down the aisle.
She shivered and then mentally slapped herself. She really had to stop assuming the worst of friendly people.
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
John watched his brother’s face light up as he realised he had a message from the girl… from Estera. Scott smirked and without warning dragged John to his side for a self portrait shot in which John looked aghast and Scott was pulling the kind of deranged face they would more usually expect from Alan or Gordon. He chuckled and began drafting a message. For a few moments John could have spontaneously combusted and it was unlikely his big brother would have noticed.
He had to acknowledge that in all the… Concern… he’d experienced surrounding Scott’s interactions with his new friend, for all his tracking of comms activity, asking EOS to correlate that with his heart rate and sleep data… he hadn’t actually spotted the impact on his brother at all. It wasn’t merely non-negative. He seemed… younger all of a sudden. Lighter. This was what Virgil had seen? John felt an uncharacteristic pang of regret for the usual physical distance between himself and his brothers. It seemed despite his best efforts he was still missing things.
“Scott, surely you’re not sending that picture are you?”
His brother grinned and with a flourish flicked the send button with the back of his index finger.
John groaned “Why would you do that?”
“It’ll make her laugh. I like making her laugh.” The tiniest crease appeared between his brows and a brief flicker of something unreadable passed over his face. Again John found himself both curious and apprehensive about the circumstances in which the two of them had first encountered each other.
It was somewhat ironic that the same person whose reappearance in his life had caused all that pain and confusion should have become a positive influence so quickly. For all Scott’s adamant denial that he had the slightest romantic intention, he was clearly already quite fond of her. John desperately hoped whatever this was going to be, an uncomplicated friendship or… anything else, that it was going to work out. It had to, he thought with grim determination. His breath caught as a memory intruded - his brother collapsed against him on the bedroom floor, sobbing in agony as his fever-ravaged mind tore itself apart. John would never forget the gut wrenching sound of Scott’s grief. He tightened his jaw and glanced over at the same man, now quietly smiling to himself. The universe owed his big brother a break and John would do everything in his power to ensure he got it.
“We’d better head back to Tracy Two and get you down to the Westcountry then. I’ll pop in on Penny and you can let me know when to come and pick you up.”
“I don’t know if she’s free yet. Slow down, Johnny.”
The “don’t call me Johnny” was a reflex of course but John barely knew he was saying it, being too busy reeling from the two words that preceded it. Two words he wasn’t sure the speed demon next to him had ever uttered together before without the word DON’T in front of them.
John looked down at the messaging app displayed on his brother’s comm, the one attaching the awful photograph had been delivered and read so, surely soon…
Scott swiped it closed and drained the rest of his cup. There was a silence as he ran a finger around the edge of the lid almost meditatively then he appeared to shake himself and, in a sudden movement, crushed it and swivelled to face his brother.
“So how’s Penny doing anyway? We’ve not seen her for a while.”
“Hello Scott”
They both jumped as a hologram of a familiar ring of lights popped out of Scott’s comm between them. John recovered first:
“EOS, is there a situation?”
“Oh, hello John. I have been acting as Scott Tracy’s Personal Assistant and I believe I have performed exceptionally.”
John raised an eyebrow at Scott who looked faintly bemused.
“Well done EOS. What did you do, exactly?”
“I received a call from Estera Hermaszewska and recorded a message for you.”
Comprehension dawned in Scott’s eyes followed by a forehead wrinkle of anxiety. Estera’s voice suddenly emerged from his wrist.
“Thank you Dawn, he sent me a message but my phone just got broken and so I can’t reply to it and so…”
It cut off abruptly and EOS disappeared.
“EOS! Wait!” Scott clapped a hand to his forehead and John sighed:
“I knew this was a bad idea.”
“It was you who suggested it, John!”
“That may technically be true but short of you almost dying on live television I didn’t think she’d actually need to use it!”
“Now what?”
“I’ll try to raise EOS again, give me a second.”
Before John could raise his own comm. EOS reappeared and exclaimed excitedly:
“I have a second message for Scott Tracy from Estera Hermaszewska”
“EOS, wait, once you’ve played it would you stay with us so I can send a message back?”
“Of course, Scott.”
They could hear background chatter and then Estera clearing her throat awkwardly before
“Please would you say I’d love to have coffee - I have a… commitment booked for a couple of hours but maybe he could meet me there and we could find a cafe afterwards? The location is…”
John pulled up a map showing the highlighted postcode and Scott squinted at it then beamed
“Looks like about half an hour’s drive from Dunkeswell Airfield. Can you drop me there and I’ll pick up a hire car?”
“Is that the message I should relay, Scott?”
“No! Err no, could you say I’ll be there in about an hour?”
EOS disappeared again.
“Why don’t I just drop you in the field at the top of the cliff there? Last time I checked Tracy Two’s VTOL was working just fine?”
“No. I’d rather drive. I don’t want to use the plane… she doesn’t… it might… I mean…” his brother looked flustered “I don’t want to be all ‘check me out with my private jet’ when she could be with friends or something.”
John took a moment to contemplate what must be the first time in history Scott Carpenter Tracy didn’t want to be associated with an aircraft.
“I just want to keep it low key.”
“Good plan. However, have you considered what you’re wearing?”
Scott looked down at the dark blue three-piece Italian custom-made suit his TI EA had handed him that morning… was it Borrelli this time? John hadn’t been paying enough attention to be sure. As the token younger Tracy in the room it didn’t matter much what he wore, but as CEO, Scott had a certain image to maintain and Jennifer curated his office wardrobe with a somewhat terrifying zeal.
“Do you want to head back to the office and fetch your casual stuff?”
“Nah, someone will spot me and need something, we’ll get stuck there for hours. I left a sweater in Tracy Two, that’ll do.”
“Alright then Prince Charming, your carriage awaits.”
Scott cuffed him round the back of the head. John responded by ruffling his big brother’s perfectly styled hair and running away, chuckling as the man squawked in horror and chased after him.
“You are worse than Gordon, Johnny, I swear!”
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
Chapter 23…
43 notes · View notes
suntails · 2 months ago
Text
Tumblr media
spící dítě
269 notes · View notes
columboscreens · 2 years ago
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
451 notes · View notes
sunb0rn · 1 year ago
Text
ano ang best last song (not necessarily kayo ang kakanta ah) kapag karaoke night, para sa inyo?
16 notes · View notes
geezerwench · 1 year ago
Text
Tumblr media
Red sky at morning.
4 notes · View notes
hjbirthdaywishes · 10 months ago
Text
January 18, 2024
Happy 69 Birthday to Kevin Costner.
3 notes · View notes
painiac · 1 year ago
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
7 notes · View notes
legy · 11 months ago
Text
random game roundup
Un Pas Fragile - $2.60
Tumblr media
Included in Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality, Indie bundle for Palestinian Aid
very charming! this felt a lot like those long-gone childrens storybook games where you click on stuff to watch all the animations. very fun to go through :)
this is about helping a frog become a ballerina. it took about 8 minutes for me to complete. it was very lovely the whole way through
Knightmare Tower - $3.99
Tumblr media
Included in Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality
this is... an ascended flash game. i could have been seen playing this game in computer lab in high school.
knightmare tower is a quick-run game where you ascend a tower by flying up and gain speed by maintaining a combo killing various enemies. it has the only defining characteristic of a roguelike (you get gold to spend on permanent upgrades between runs) so i guess this is a roguelike! certainly an interesting timewaster. music is ass though
Please Follow - $1.99
Tumblr media
Included in Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality
man whoever made this pixel filter for unity is carrying the indie horror game industry on their back lol
this kinda fucks though. narrative-light walking sim with some interesting puzzles going on. i completed it in about 13 minutes. very striking visuals and great sound design
SPOOKWARE - $9.99
Tumblr media
Included in Worthy of Better, Stronger Together for Reproductive Rights, Bundle for Ukraine
damn this fucking rules??? lmao??? point-and-click adventure pretending to be a warioware clone. the art direction is peak and i laughed out loud more than a few times. highly recommended
Dawn of a Soul - Free!
Tumblr media
unbelievable art direction + phenomenal pixel art, but i am too stupid to get very far in this lol. puzzle game where you connect lines in a way to score high enough to pass the level
2 notes · View notes
cvrseduser-a · 1 year ago
Text
[ redoing my tags dfhgjg so small dump pls ignore ]
2 notes · View notes
universalvibes · 1 month ago
Text
Anyway upping the Lexapro dose and I hate telehealth visits. I was really hoping I'd love it because it'd make life so much easier for these psych appointments but fuck it feels so weird. Oh well. Let's go.
1 note · View note
sakkiichi · 1 year ago
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media
COVER ME IN SUNSHINE.
Tumblr media
Ways in which your kid calls his dad. Will he get to hear a ‘papa’?
ft. Scaramouche/Wanderer, Albedo, Xiao, Childe, Kaeya, Neuvillette x gn! reader.
cw/genre: pure fluff. Reader is referred to as ‘mama’, you and the character have a child. They’re all girl dads.
a birthday present for my dearest @bunny-rambles 🩵 i’m wishing you the best day today and always, hun ! ilysm, thank you for always being by my side. I hope we can celebrate many many more birthdays together, mwah <3
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ note: about this fic… i struggled quite a little with it, and i’m sorry it’s not my best piece… this was a totally new concept to write for me, but i still hope you can enjoy, bunbun, dear ♡
if you enjoy this, reblogs and comments help more than likes !
Tumblr media
✧ SCARAMOUCHE
Wide indigo orbs meet his furrowed gaze.
Scaramouche is not amused.
Or at least that’s what he wants whoever sees him right now to believe. Namely, you.
Tiny hands cup the Wanderer’s cheeks, big eyes, so similar to his, staring up at him in wonder. The little girl in his arms squeezes his face, a pout forming on her father’s lips. Giggles erupt from her smiling lips, the corners of Scaramouche’s mouth unconsciously tilting upwards.
“You’re amused, huh?” Your husband asks, rocking the baby in his hold. She stares at him, her little arms flailing upward, giggling happily.
“Moochie!” She babbles, trying to stand on the wanderer’s knees, her hands reaching for his hat.
“Hey, hey, now!” Kunikuzushi pouts, securing his hat. “That is not a toy and I’m not Moochie…”
“Moochie!” His daughter repeats, poking his cheek.
He sighs.
“Not Moochie…” Scaramouche’s ears take on a rather rosy tone, especially when your giggles are not exactly inconspicuous, your attempt at keeping hidden just outside the living room, obviously half-assed.
“Pa-pa. Not Moochie.” He repeats, bopping his little one’s nose. “And here, play with this.” He offers, handing his baby a doll curiously identical to himself.
Your eyes soften from your spot when you observe the fond smile on your lover’s face. He might feign annoyance, but when it came to your baby, all the facade was scattered to the winds. Storm clouds and lightning seemed so far away when he was surrounded by the blue skies and birdsong that dawned with your daughter’s hand grabbing his finger.
“Pa..” The little one begins, lifting the doll, as if indicating that it indeed represents her father.
“Pa…” Your wanderer prompts, as he points to the cloth mini version of himself.
Then, the girl’s eyes focus somewhere beyond her dad, tiny hands wiggling and waving, the plush doll still in her grasp.
“Mama!” She exclaims, making to reach for you, trying to climb over the sofa’s backrest, where it not for your partner’s protective hold.
Finally stepping out from your hideout, you walk towards them.
Familiar warm arms wrap around the no longer broken puppet, as your precious baby rests between your two heartbeats. Yours, steady, undeniably human. His, bloomed anew, thanks to you; with a newfound tune, sweeter, gentler, thanks to his little one.
Scaramouche closes his eyes, lashes of now starlit midnights resting on his perfect cheekbones. His head leans on your shoulder, your lips feather-light on his dusky hair, as your hands gently lift his hat a bit.
Your girl grabs one of her father’s fingers once more, the handmade mini wanderer kept close to her chest.
Yes, storms were definitely over for days to come.
✧ ALBEDO
A tug on the leg of his pants and familiar unintelligible noises pull the alchemist out of his task.
Albedo’s features soften when he spots the cause of his distraction.
Putting the notebook he was currently scribbling on aside, he crouches down.
“And who do we have here?” The chalk prince asks, smoothing the golden locks on his baby’s small head.
“Mama?” She replies, her tiny hand pulling on her dad’s clothes.
The gesture is followed by one of Albedo’s gentle chuckles, eyes like northern stars on clear nights bright at the sight of his daughter.
“Mama’s not here now, little princess.” He explains, as he picks the baby up. “They will get home soon, though.” Your child stares at him as if unsatisfied with the answer, head slightly tilted to the side. “How about we have some fun in the meantime?”
Giggles that always reminded Albedo of sunshine days at dragonspine are the answer that follows.
Taking his little one’s two hands in his, the chief alchemist helps his daughter take a few trembling steps, the baby happily padding on the wooden floor.
“There we go, princess!” Your lover chuckles, sitting the girl securely on the beige couch. Teal eyes flecked in emerald follow your partner’s movements, as he rummages through your living room’s drawers.
A few seconds later, more incomprehensible joyful babbles follow, when he sits by your daughter’s side, his hands expertely setting the supplies he retrieved on the low table. She stares at him intently, her gaze drawn to the vibrant crayons cluttering the tabletop’s surface.
“What should we draw today, my princess?” Are Albedo’s words, as he hands his child a light blue pencil, its tip dulled so she can’t hurt herself.
“Snow!” She exclaims, her tiny feet kicking back and forth in excitement, eliciting chuckles from her dad.
“You want to paint snow, my little cecilia?” He asks, combing through her blonde strands. “Alright, how about we paint you, mama and papa building a snowman?”
“Yay!” Your baby reaches for the blank paper, wonder and excitement written all over her rounded features, her tongue sticking out the corner of her small mouth. She always loved to draw and paint, especially when it was with Albedo. And even if her pictures often ended up turning out as just criss-crossing lines or messy splotches, you and your husband always kept every single one of them, displayed as priceless masterpieces on the fridge’s door, the living room walls or your study.
After a few minutes of focused work, three figures start taking form over a background of messily drawn blue snowflakes.
“Look, dearie.” Albedo calls. “Who are these?”
His girl looks up at him, a huge smile on her face as she bites the pencil.
“Mama! Me! And Papa!” She answers proudly, pointing at each of the figures.
Albedo’s eyes widen, gilded sparks reflected in the cloudless skies of his irises at his daughter’s words.
Those last two syllables.
His own pencil falls out of his grasp, clattering to the carpeted floor. In this moment, nothing else exists, save for the jingling echo of his daughter’s angelic tone.
“Papa?” She asks, tugging on his sleeve.
Albedo picks the little girl up, rising her as she laughs, unaware.
“Can you say it again, little princess? ‘Papa’.”
“Papa! Papa!” Giggles leave her throat.
Softly, Albedo places a kiss on her kid’s forehead, hugging her as the both of them lay down on the sofa.
When you got home, silence greets you, broken only by even breaths. Smiling to yourself, you brush a kiss against your husband’s and your daughter’s hair, a new painting adorning the walls after you gently throw a blanket over the sleeping figures of your two treasures.
✧ XIAO
“Do you want to hold her, Xiao? She’s been looking at you for a while.” You chuckle, your gaze softened when it sets upon your yaksha.
Golden eyes, not unlike the child’s currently on your arms, shadow in fear and shame for a moment.
What if he hurts the baby? What if his karma taints her somehow? What if-
“Xiao.” Your hand finds his gloved one, centuries of bloodshed written in the concealed scars. “She’ll be okay.” You reassure, a gentle squeeze, as your fingers slot between his.
The adeptus glances in his daughter’s direction, her round amber eyes curiously observing him.
Your husband’s jaw sets, his lips drawn in a taut line. If someone were to look at him now, they may think he’s sulking, the furrow of his brow apparently an indication to steer clear.
You, however, know better.
“Here, I’m with you, love.” You softly utter, placing your daughter in her father’s arms.
The baby stares up at her dad in awe, her little hands fiddling with the necklace he always wears.
She’s so small… such a pure and precious being… will she be safe with him?
Just as these thoughts plague his mind, the girl curls up in his embrace, nuzzling against his toned torso.
“See? She adores you, Xiao…” You tell him, knuckles brushing against your baby’s soft full cheek. “Isn’t that right, sweetie?” She turns around, a smile drawing on her lips, as she buries herself further into Xiao, whose cheeks have gone as red as the carmine lining his eyes.
“H-hello, little qingxin…” Xiao greets her, awkwardly rubbing her back.
In response, his baby tilts her head slightly backwards, the molten suns in her stare illuminating her father’s rusted gold gaze.
“Papa!” She goes, a little clumsy, it sounding more like ‘dada’.
The vigilant yaksha’s eyes widen, his heart feeling like a million bright lanterns floating towards a starry sky.
“Xiao! She said ‘papa’! See? She loves you!” You excitedly chant, hugging your husband’s waist, as you pepper kisses all over his face. “You are her first word, dear, our baby adores her dad so much. I knew she would!” A smile tugs at your lips, lids fluttering closed as you rest your cheek on Xiao’s shoulder.
His hands hover around his daughter, his hold on her delicate, as if she was a newly bloomed flower whose petals could vanish if the wind blew too strongly.
“Papa…” The girl repeats, her chubby cheek squished against’s Xiao’s form. Her eyes are droopy, a little yawn escaping her as she settles more comfortably in her father’s embrace.
Your adeptus heaves out a sigh of relief, the warmth of a familiar fireplace swarming all around him, as if candid candle flames were running through his veins when the soft snores of his daughter reach his ears.
The conqueror of demons’ mask would be shed for tonight.
✧ CHILDE
Small hands are glued to the window’s glass panes, a pair of bright blue eyes staring awestruck at the image currently taking place in your garden.
Flashes of crystalline cyan flit across the air as Childe wields his double blades, merging them into a spear, his muscles taut at the effort.
The little girl’s tiny hands curl into fists, as she leans forward in anticipation, marine gaze following her father’s movements.
He reminds her of the illustrations she’s seen in the picture books Teucer has shown her before.
She must get closer.
Looking over her shoulder, your daughter makes sure you’re busy with something in the kitchen.
Her plan can be put into action now.
Crawling towards the door on all fours, she realizes she’s nowhere near tall enough to reach the handle.
Oh, but she takes after you, and will not be deterred by something like this.
Silently, the baby makes her way towards the dog you took in. He’s big and fluffy and very peaceful, often keeping company to the little girl. With a gentle pat to his side, she looks up at him with those big blue eyes and, despite his instinct to keep her safe, the puppy obliges to her demand.
Folding his paws, the animal lowers himself to the ground, allowing your daugher to climb. A vivid spark flashes through her ocean eyes, tiny hands securing on her companion’s fur.
And just as she was about to reach the door opening to the garden, a familiar voice that’s lulled her to sleep many a night stops her in her tracks.
“And just what do you think you’re doing, little lady.” You stand a couple feet away from her, hands on your hips, your concern masked with masterfully feigned anger.
Your baby stares up at you, that oceanic gaze puppy-like, much like her father did when you were mad at him.
“Mama…” She mumbles, her little hands signaling to where Childe is training outside, sounds you can’t understand leaving her pouty lips.
You sigh, kneeling to pick her up, rubbing your dog’s chin gently.
“So you want to see papa training, don’t you, little troublemaker?” You prompt, smiling as you tickle her belly. She giggles, wiggling her legs in your hold. “Alright, just this once, and because he’s almost finished with his routine.” You warn, softly pinching her cheek.
Once outside, you both stare at the harbinger, you, with heating cheeks; your daughter, in admiration and wonder.
Then:
“Papa!” She calls, energetically waving to her father, as you have to struggle so she doesn’t fall out of your grasp.
Suddenly, Ajax’s hydro blades vanish, a rare glow present in the eyes that are so like his daughter’s. A wide grin spreads across his sun-kissed features, arms opening as he runs towards you and his baby.
“Papa! Papa!” His daughter repeats, as your husband hugs the both of you.
No matter how cold Snezhnaya’s blizzards blew, Ajax would always have his personal patch of sunshine in you two.
✧ KAEYA
Calla lilies surround the scene, their russet-hued petals aglow in the blue shimmer of the statue of the seven standing amidst the lake.
Dusk approaches, the sky still dyed in shades of tangerine and cherry blossom, the sun, a glimmering halo right above the horizon.
Over frondous grass spotted in sun and shadow, a blanket lies, its baby blue pattern fading into the multiple colors of the snacks scattered above it: portions of cake you baked the afternoon prior; sandwitches carefully cut in triangle shapes; handpicked apples and sunsettias, cut and placed into plates by your lover.
But perhaps the most vivid color of them all was that of the couple sitting atop it.
A couple and their daughter.
“You really liked this pie, didn’t you, little lily?” Kaeya coos at his baby, her chubby cheeks littered with crumbs of the soft cake she’s been devouring all afternoon. Two pairs of ice blue eyes meet each other beneath the setting sun, the girl’s giggles eliciting a chuckle from her father’s lips as he carefully wipes her face. “Mama will be mad if you stain your dress, little princess.” The cavalry captain points out, in mock scolding.
His reprimand is met with a bashful smile and his kid cuddling into him, her tiny hands clutching his clothes.
“Kaeya, don’t tease her!” You swat at his arm playfully, soft laughter leaving the both of you as your husband smooths over your girl’s hair, placing a soft kiss on her head.
“Don’t pay any mind to papa, now.” You reassure her, tenderly brushing over her chubby hands. “He’s a little silly sometimes.”
The girl looks up at you, those iceberg toned eyes wide in wonder at the world that she still has to discover around her.
You ruffle her hair, as she turns around in Kaeya’s embrace, settling on top of his legs, staring up at him.
“Papa!” She announces, taking ahold of Kaeya’s long braid, playing with it. “Papa… prince!” She points out, as she grabs one of the dolls she brought: a boy wearing a crown.
With a knowing grin, you shift closer to your lover, leaning against his side.
“Yes, little sweetheart, you’re right, papa is a prince.” Kaeya’s hand locks with yours over his shoulder, fingers laced together, the warmth of his touch so paradoxical, given the freeze he commands.
“And that is why you’re our little princess.” The knight tells your baby, as he places a stray calla lily on her hair.
“Princess!” She happily babbles, rising her arms.
Instances like this… they truly stoked gentle flames around the captain’s heart, oftentimes concealed behind apparently crystalline walls of frost. As long as he had the two of you, at least during brief moments like this, there would be no need for practiced facades.
Across the distant horizon, even dusk seemed to delay, allowing a few more seconds of luminous skies for the family sitting below it, a flickering smile crossing the anemo archon’s face of stone.
✧ NEUVILLETTE
Slate skies expand above him, his opal eyes restless oceans in the tears they contain, painted lashes dripping in midnight droplets.
Rainbow roses seem to weep too, their petals downcast, the sunrise shades of their blossoms muted in the downpour.
Neuvillette stands alone, the garden of your shared home melancholy; the trees too bare, the grass ashen, the flowers wilting.
Save for the pitter-patter of rusted silver droplets, silence reigns the scene.
The hydro dragon’s mood had a tendency to be mirrored in the heavens over Fontaine, after all.
Sighing, the Chief Justice takes a sit by a bush of lumidouce bells. Fitting, for someone whose shoulders slump not unlike the petals of the periwinkle hued blooms.
“Neuvi, love.” A familiar voice calls him, gently. “What are you doing out there in this weather, dear?”
Long argent locks of hair shift, like seafoam by moonlight, when he turns around, water, from the rain, or his tears, or both, running down his cheeks.
“Someone has come to see you, my love.” You softly utter, beckoning your husband towards the porch, the impending cacophony of his racing mind and falling downpour partially silencing.
Neuvillette’s features warm up a bit the moment he realizes who you’re talking about.
A little girl placidly rests between your arms, eyes of crystalline dusk looking up at her father. Unlike his, hers are rounded, lacking the dark circles frequently etched under your lover’s.
“Look who’s here, little rainbow.” You coo at your daughter, who tries chasing after your wiggling fingers, right as you playfully poke her belly. “Papa is here, do you perhaps want to play with him?”
The baby looks at you, one of her tiny fists on her mouth, as her eyes crinkle up in crescents. Then, she turns towards her dad, arms reaching out.
“Papa! Papa!” She laughs, inclining her flexible small torso towards him.
Neuvillette’s gaze widens, placing his hands around his little girl, protectively cradling her in his embrace.
“Papa is here, sunshine.” Your lover assures her, as he leans down to kiss her nose.
In the distance, a familiar arch shoots across the heavens, the violet of goodbyes and separations shifting into rosy affection.
Golden replaces dull steel, flecks of it dotting the grass, remnants of rain clinging like emeralds to the verdant stems.
The sun is out. The hydro dragon cries no more.
Tumblr media
9K notes · View notes
my-castles-crumbling · 4 days ago
Text
meet - Jegulus - November 20th - @stag-microfic - word count: 332
"Dad?"
James looked up from his book to see his sixteen-year old son standing awkwardly in the doorway, looking like he wanted to be anywhere but there. "What's up, Haz?" he asked gently, placing the hardcover down on the table and patting the empty space on the couch.
Harry sat down gingerly and frowned, green eyes troubled. "Don't laugh, alright?"
"Of course," James nodded, frowning. "What is it?"
"Remember when you used to read me stories, when I was little? About people who would go out and meet 'the one' and fall in love at first sight, and everything ended happily ever after?" Harry asked, still looking uncomfortable.
James nodded, not understanding. "Yes...why?"
"What if it's...not like that?" Harry mumbled, looking down at his hands and shifting awkwardly. "Does that mean it's not right?"
Dawning comprehension flooded through James and he tried to answer without seeming too eager. He didn't want to embarrass Harry, after all. "Prongslet, those were stories. You know that your Pa and I didn't fall in love at first sight, right? I mean...he bloody hated me!"
Harry chuckled at that and met his eyes for a moment before again frowning. "But you were an obnoxious arse," he pointed out.
"I was," James nodded, suppressing a laugh.
"And I was a stuck-up twat."
Both Harry and James turned to see Regulus in the doorway, a smile on his face. The shorter man joined the two on the couch and spoke again.
"Harry, love isn't like the stories. It doesn't always fall into place. But if you both want it and work at it, then it's usually worth it," Regulus said, looking over Harry's shoulder to give James a small smile.
Harry nodded and sighed. "Alright. Thanks."
James couldn't resist. "Is he a Slytherin, then?" He asked knowingly.
Green eyes shot up to meet his, a shocked look on his son's face. "How'd you know?" Harry demanded.
It was Regulus who burst out laughing. "Like father, like son," he chortled.
934 notes · View notes
30000songs · 2 years ago
Text
#740 - Environments 3: Dawn & Dusk at New Hope, PA - Irv Teibel/Syntonic Research Inc.
Tumblr media
Chill, but nature recordings can only do so much for me, sadly. 
68/100
0 notes
idontknowreallywhy · 1 year ago
Text
Frantic xylophone music interrupted mid-sentence continued for half a minute or so before:
“I have relayed your message.”
“Oh, I err, thank you but I hadn’t quite finished.”
“In my capacity as his Personal Assistant I can certainly relay a second message to Scott Tracy.”
WIP Wednesday
Just a little thing I am toying with… because the idea makes me giggle…
🖲️🖲️🖲️🖲️🖲️🖲️🖲️🖲️🖲️🖲️🖲️🖲️🖲️🖲️🖲️🖲️
A shockingly cheery, singsong voice answered after the first ring:
“Scott Tracy’s personal assistant direct line, how may I help you?”
“Hello, is that Dawn?”
“Good afternoon, I am indeed Dawn, Scott Tracy’s Personal Assistant.
🖲️🖲️🖲️🖲️🖲️🖲️🖲️🖲️🖲️🖲️🖲️🖲️🖲️🖲️🖲️🖲️
27 notes · View notes
xxanaduwrites · 5 months ago
Text
⋆ ˚。⋆୨୧˚ a residue series installment ˚୨୧⋆。˚ ⋆
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
sweet talkin’
main hive 🐝 | next part here: honey, are you comin’?
✎ elementary-teacher!reader (miss.honey) x biker!benny 🏍️
summary: in which “uncle benny” picks up johnny’s girls from school and finds some honey along the way ;)
warnings: not much of anything besides talks of danger & some side eyes from on-lookers. an absolute fluff cake of a piece really. enjoy! x
author’s note: ngl there is some inaccuracies. i fully made up locations & such. never been to chicago or illinois even, but maybe someday :)
word count: 2.8k
💌 requests are open, send ‘em honey 💋
⋆ ˚。⋆୨୧˚୨୧⋆。˚ ⋆
You remember it like it was yesterday, the very first time you met Benny Cross. Ironically, it was one of those sticky sweet days in June, just before the start of summer ‘65. The Chicago heat was hard to beat in the cramped little classroom you worked in on Phipps Avenue. Your third graders were all flushed faces with curly cues frizzing about, and their red little cheeks burned in exhaustion. It was no surprise that you lost their ears to the tsk tsk tsk of sprinklers swirling about on the school grounds. Even though the principal was against it, you were rather relieved to see your students running about the wet grass come dismissal.
It was a lovely reprieve, truly to be out of the shoe box you worked in at the end of the day. Sure, the heat hadn’t let up. It was awfully sweltering passing clammy hand to clammy hand to their designated pick up person. But you loved being a teacher. Moreseo you loved those sweet turned up smiles that graced those baby faces of your students as they chatted about their after school plans. Heading down to the local pool or picking up a firecracker pop at the corner store was such a sweet treat. It made you miss being that young again, finding hidden treasures through the little bits of life.
You moved like clockwork during dismissal, attentive as you made small talk with parents and hugged your students goodbye. The pick of the cycle was usually smooth on your part. You knew who tended to be retrieved right away and who was left hanging, so it took you by a hint of surprise when you found yourself still hand in hand with Mr. and Mrs. Davis’s little girls.
You knew the Davis’s well — as well as anyone could holding residence in the quaint village of McCook, Illinois. Mr. Davis and his wife Betty were perishoners at the local church you frequented with your Ma and Pa. St. Caron’s on the corner of Rose and Dawn. You’d see them all together in their Sunday best, the kids in puff pastry kind-of dresses packed together in a pew with their Ma, while their Pa was mulling about in his pressed suit and tie. There was no trace of the Vandals you’d come to know, the Johnny that would be amplified under that some-what imposterous clean cut demeanor. You’d see him solemn as ever ushering pew to pew with the collections basket for the poor and at communion during the mass.
Yet, if you had to name one thing that complimented Johnny to Mr. Davis, it had to be his consistency with being on time. Never once was he ever late to church. 12pm sharp he’d be looking at his watch, waitin’ for the priest and deacon to do their thang. The same applied for his children and their respected school schedule.
It took you a moment to remember the note from the office that was sent up in the afternoon. In your defense, mastering concentration in this heat proved almost impossible. Until it wasn’t. You could see the lovely writing of the secretary with that neat cursive of hers in the back of your mind, reminding you that the Davis girls would be picked up by their Uncle Benny come dismissal.
That would explain it, you thought. But would it really? Fathoming a member of Mr. Davis’s family not being as meticulous as him? You momentarily wondered how the man would react to such a thing as being late. You were sure it wasn’t in his vocabulary by any means.
Your fingers, engulfing the petite ones of the Davis girls, squeezed their hands reassuringly. “M’sure your Uncle Benny will be here any moment.” Neither of them said anything as you glanced between the two flanked at your sides, little eyelashes blinking up at you without a care in the world. And here you thought they would be just as anal-retentive as their father.
They weren’t.
Since the school yard was becoming less compact with people, and the principal put an end to the fun with the sprinklers, you figured some chit-chat wouldn't hurt to keep them occupied. “You girls have any fun afternoon plans?”
The Davis girl on the right, taller, darker hair, lookin’ far too much like her father — a carbon copy if you will — spoke up then. “Yes! Uncle Benny is takin’ us to a picnic. Gonna see Daddy race his bike, Miss. Honey.”
A bike race, huh? You couldn’t remember seeing anything in the McCook weekly papers ‘bout an upcoming cycling event. But, hey maybe you happened to miss it on your skim of the thing, when your Pa just so happened to put it down for a second durin’ dinner.
“Well, ain’t that sweet!” You chirped, smiling brightly at the girls with genuine excitement in your eyes. “Sure it’ll be tons of fun.”
“S’not when Daddy gets all muddy.” The smaller girl, the one that looked more like her mother. Lighter hair and lighter eyes said. Her tiny face contorted into a grimace.
Muddy? Weren’t cycling races on the roads?
Surely the town would block off the streets like they did for those celebratory parades. The little one was probably exaggerating.
“Aw,” you hummed, a frown dousing your features. “M’sure your Pa is just real dedicated, y’know?” You tried to bring out the bright side for your student. “S’like when you buy a fresh book and worry about those pages dentin’. Y’won’t know if you like it if you don’t read it, right?” The girls nodded. “Dentin’ the pages just goes to show all that love you had for that book while readin’ it.”
“I guess…” The Davis girl shrugged, tiny fingers wrapping about the strap of her pretty pink backpack. Seemingly, she wasn’t as impressed as her sister to the right.
You were gonna change the subject. Gonna start chatting ‘bout something else, when a twist of tiers against the pavement sent a squeak across the air. Your mother-hen instincts kicked in instantly, protective hands pulling the girls behind you without a second thought. All heads turned simultaneously to the intrusion on the road, expecting the worst. Expecting a crash of sorts. But no, there was no crash, just a slick car pulling abruptly up against the sidewalk and jerking to a startling stop. One that could only be equated to the driver going far above the speed limit in a school zone.
It went quiet. Far too quiet as the lot of remaining faculty, students, and parents alike kept their eyes peeled back sharply at the reckless driver. Funnily enough the attentive stares of onlookers could have very well been just as bad as those witnessing an actual crash.
You weren’t any better than the rest, collecting snap shot after snap shot like a roll of consecutive film. You could still hear the engine cutting out, the door swinging open and closing with a solid flick of his wrist. A wrist that would do far worse to you in the bedroom. Far worse in the eyes of your religious upbringing, but would feel too holy to you to be considered a sin.
You only caught a glance of him for a second until his back was facing towards you, thick white letters staking his claim with a skull and crossbones for the Chicago Vandals on his cut down vest.
You’d heard a thing or two about those motorcycle men. Your father ranting and raving about the disturbances near route 95 and police chases. But never, had you ever seen one of them in the flesh up close and personal. A shrill of unprecedented delight shot up your spine at the colorful sight, no longer reserved to those blurry black and white paper cuttings.
Stopping in his tracks, you figured his car must have broken down or somethin’ – but no. He was putting out his cigarette with his worn down boot before making his way over to you, and oh he had his eye on you alright.
A relative unease wahed across the school yard, harder than the obvious heat wave as he sauntered across without a care in the world. As if dozens of heads weren’t makin’ disgusted faces and whispering about. Yet a clear intimidation set over them, people stepping out of the way without a word as if he was a Bible figure. Like Moses parting the red sea.
“Uncle Benny!” One of them chirped. Who you didn’t know, couldn’t know with the sudden flush creeping against your cheeks. Your heart dropped to your stomach once you realized who it was and that the man himself with dirty blonde scruff, calloused fingers, and a black inked layer over a honey toned canvas was makin’ a beeline to you. A beeline to you and the girls.
It was the taller Davis girl that must have called out his name, cause suddenly she was pulling you and her sister forward to meet Benny half way. You almost tripped down the stairs within the broken bubble of her excitement. Barely having a moment’s notice to collect yourself, you found your pristine baby pink ballet flats toe to toe with some scruffed up biker boots that had seen better days. You managed a breath before you looked up and boy were you glad you did.
The wind was practically knocked clean out of you when you were caught face to face with the Benny Cross. It wasn’t because you were scared of him — no. You were more taken aback with how pretty he was. How his deeply set ocean eyes managed to speak volumes without saying a word.
And suddenly, on the front steps of Phipps Avenue School you felt seen. More seen than you had ever felt in your life. He wasn’t the only one sticking out like the sorest of thumbs. So were you with your baby pink tank to match your shoes with your signature embroidered denim overall dress. Hair up and out of your face, loose honey curls frizzing about. Your kitsch tastes and unpolished attire were rather baffling for the picturesque depiction gracing the magazines your Ma read at the salon.
Some would say you were lost somewhere in Neverland. Lots of your fellow teachers would crack jokes here and there ‘bout it too. Sure, on a bad day a jab or two could get to you — but hey you liked what you liked and you weren’t gonna change that. Not for anybody. Not even for your Ma or Pa who grimaced at your bedazzled pins wedged into your messy curls during Sunday mass.
So Benny, well who were you to judge him?
“Hi, you must be Uncle Benny,” you greeted the brood of a man in front of you, flexing a sweet-like-honey smile that was just oh-so-you. You let go of the Johnny look-a-likes hand then, allowing her to wrap her small self around Benny’s leg in pure delight to see him as you outstretched your hand in a shake. To your dismay, he didn’t take it. Instead, his free hand that wasn’t mushing up Johnny’s girls dark locks as he patted her head fished for his pack of Marlboro reds in his vest pocket. That didn’t stop you from introducing yourself though. “I’m Miss. Honey.”
He gave you once over, eyes tracing you from head to toe before the edge of his lip tweaked up in a sly smile. “Honey, huh?” He mused, that deep set voice of his, thick and smokey sweetin’ up something deep inside you.
Dropping your hand back down against your dress, the material felt rather rough on your clammy skin. “Yuh-huh.” You nodded, that tight smile of yours making your eyes twitch just a bit.
A fresh cigarette materialized between his teeth then, unlit. A strange courtesy you found rather charming on the midst of educational grounds. “Hm,” he hummed, the narrow cylinder vibrating against his lips as his eyes devoured you a second time. Yet, you figured he was more unimpressed. Most were anyways.
“Benny! Benny! Can we go see Daddy now?” The girl wrapped around his leg yanked his belt loop with a small finger. The little one was still at your side, hand in hand with you. It was kind of amusin’ how different the two were. It was simple figuring out who was the bigger Daddy’s girl of the two.
“In a ‘inute, sweet-art,” he mumbled, that cigarette of his disrupting any fully coherent sentence from spillin’ out. “C’mere ‘ittle one,” he motioned to the shorter girl who was rather uninterested in leaving. In the midst of your conversation, she managed to keep her hand raised, keeping herself conjoined to you as she sat down on the bottom step in complete and utter protest.
“Don’t wanna.” She pouted down at her bunny tied saddle shoes that matched her pretty little pick-tails.
In a sense, you couldn’t blame her. Now it was all adding up. What was really going on. This wasn’t just some run of the mill village cycling marathon. This was a Vandals bike race.
Any other teacher would have probably made a stink, called the parents in for a sit down with the principal over infiltrating their kids in a biker environment infused with criminal records. But, you weren’t like that — no. Especially when you’d see a child’s eyes light up with so much delight. It was clear that Mr. Davis’s look-a-like was really proud of her father. Who could blame her? Respected throughout the community, a family man who put his all into a trucking' job.
A picnic with some bike racin’ wouldn’t be so bad, right?
Not with Mr. Davis involved.
So, you gave the benefit of the doubt. Sure, it could have been for all those reasons that were swarming about your head, but in actuality your heart was working double time over your mind. The image of the Davis girl clinging to Benny’s leg had teddy bear written all over it, giving you all the sweet talkin’ you’d need. Ironically enough, in due time that soft side of him would turn into plushy lovin’ reserved just for you.
“Lemme,” you mouthed to Benny before getting down to the little one’s level. Flattening out your skirt you took a seat next to her and rested both hands over her own in her lap. “Remember when we were talkin’ about a good book? Dentin’ the pages?” The girl nodded, but didn’t meet your eye. Instead, Benny doing the opposite, his eyes practically grilled onto your peripheral vision. “Well, sometimes if we are too protective of it. Too keen on keeping it all in tack, we’ll never learn not to and we’ll just be more and more disappointed when we come across a little crack we never created in the first place. We may not like it, but it’s there, and there is so much love there.” You squeeze the little girl’s hand. “Just like your old man racin’. You may not like it, but he does, and that’s quite alright. You know why?”
“Why?” She looked up at you then, little doe eyes attentive as ever, clinging onto your every word. It was times like this that reminded you why you were a teacher.
“‘Cause you love him, no matter what” You replied, tilting your head ever-so subtly to observe her reaction.
And oh did Benny love you. He didn’t know it then. Couldn’t fully compartmentalize it until later. Yet, unbeknownst to you, it was one of the first of what would become many of Benny's thoughts on how damn good of a teacher you were, how fine of a wife you’d make, and how sweet of a mother you’d be.
Thankfully, your words must have resonated with the little girl. It only took a moment for those delightful dimples of hers to grace those little features before her lips turned up in a sweet smile. “We gotta go Uncle Benny!” The girl declared suddenly, standing up straight with a whole new attitude. You were glad to supply the optimism. That’s what you were all about. That was the lesson you hoped to instill to your students the most.
You couldn’t help but smile yourself, feeling like a warm blanket was being draped over your shoulders soundly. Not uncomfortable. Not contributing to the intolerable heat wave. You’d only been in your second year of teaching, but hey — small victories like this made it worth it. Made you proud of yourself, even if you couldn’t find such gratitude from others.
Little did you know, Benny — he was so fuckin’ proud. Proud to see you spreading such honey-coated wisdom to a youngin’. And there on the steep steps of Phipps Avenue school as the little one wrapped her arms around you and thanked you profusely before grabbing Benny’s hand and heading to Johnny’s car, he found his mission.
You were gonna be his wife.
He was sure of it.
⋆ ˚。⋆୨୧˚୨୧⋆。˚ ⋆
this was so much fun to write! i hope you liked it :) i’m thinking of also including some honey interviews curtesy of danny ! stay tuned for “from the hive” ����️🐝
also to note, my requests are open for any miss honey x benny cross works + any convos about these two in general. don’t be shy honey, i’m all for yapping in the asks.
+ don’t forget to comment if you’d like be added to “da bee hive” (my version of da tag list)
smoochies. all da love xanadu 💋
da bee hive 🐝🍯:
@nervousnerdwitch
@sunnbib
@rose-deathman
@austinbsblog
@thegabbyh
@jihyowrrld
@bellesdreamyprofile
@superemobitch
@m00npjm
@imusicaddict
@astrogrande
@alana4610
@cynic-spirit
@mariaenchanted
863 notes · View notes
bluesidez · 4 months ago
Text
Gym Rat Miguel Part 11 | chapter on AO3 for easier scrolling
content warning: fluff, some hurt/comfort?? angst??? bittersweet moments???, recreational use of zaza, some nerd talk, 18+ so MDNI, p in v sex (first time 😗)
word count: 10.1k, halfway proofread (don't ask me NOTHING...)
shout out to @hyjionie and @hwasoup for one of the ideas here! 😗 you guys will know it when you see it!
Prev | Next ✩°。 ⋆⸜ 🎧✮ Masterlist
Tumblr media
GymRat!Miguel whose mom was driving him crazy. The flight for New York was at 7 am and somehow she was up running around the house at 2 am.
“Miguel! Get up, we have to go. Now!”
“Ma, no one is even driving on the road right at this hour. There's no traffic."
"Which is why you need to get up and move. You know Gabriel takes forever. Get up!"
GymRat!Miguel who groggily put on his clothes. It was the hoodie you got for him for Christmas with the doodle of the two of you on the front. If he was going to be stuck in the airport for hours, he might as well be comfortable.
GymRat!Miguel who looked made sure that his laptop was loaded with things to do.
He could catch up on shows he knew you watched so that you could have someone to rant to about them. He could listen to that one podcast you mentioned just because you mentioned it. He could read that one manga you were raving about because he was not going to compete with fictional men, and maybe, he could steal ideas from it.
GymRat!Miguel who went to wake up Gabriel before their mom's voice pierced both of their ears again.
He opened the door to see Gabriel staring bug-eyed at his wall while he ate a bowl of cereal.
“Did you go to sleep?” Miguel asked, closing the door and walking closer.
“No,” Gabriel said. “Couldn’t sleep.”
Miguel ran his hand over his hair, curly strands bouncing back, “Promise me you’ll try to sleep on the plane?”
Gabriel took his bowl to his mouth, slurping up the last drops, “Only if the voices let me.”
“Right,” Miguel says then takes his bowl from him. “Maybe you can have a conversation with them right now.”
“And maybe I will!”
GymRat!Miguel who stares at the bags his dad has stuffed into the trunk with awe. 
“Pa, you know we’ll only be there for three days, right?”
George presses against the trunk with a little more force than needed, “You never know what could happen, mijo.”
GymRat!Miguel whose bones shake with exhaustion as he stares out the window on the way to the airport. Maybe it’s due to the lack of sun, but he’s never felt a cold summer night. 
GymRat!Miguel who sighs as his dad argues with the staff over a suitcase that Miguel knew would be too heavy. He’s not even sure what his dad has in there.
GymRat!Miguel who thinks that TSA is having a field day despite his family being one of the few coming in at this hour. 
The man in front of him was taking way too long to pat him down and he got the hint was Miguel scowled at him.
GymRat!Miguel who had about four hours to kill before the plane came, so he decided to walk around the airport with Gabriel and pretend like they were a spoiled set of twins shopping casually in France.
“What do you think about this, Mimi? A little chic, no?” Gabriel held up a Gucci scarf to his green hoodie. 
Miguel stuck his nose up, “No, Bribri, it’s so yesterday.”
“Ugh,” Gabriel put the scarf back like it was on fire, “You’re so right. Thank god you’re here or I’d be so lost!”
GymRat!Miguel who feels like he’s back at home with Gabriel as they try their best to avoid the luxury brand store staff. Every time one would get close, they would giggle and rush out of the store. 
GymRat!Miguel and Gabriel who crash back at their terminal with enough food to feed a family of five. 
“What is all of this?” Conchata asks as Miguel hands her a coffee, a frustrated look on her face.
“Ma, it’s almost the crack of dawn and we’re hungry. Big boys gotta eat,” Gabriel said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
George reached in one of the bags and grabbed a sausage sandwich, “He’s right, Conchata. We can’t survive on two bites.”
Conchata eyed her three boys with her arms crossed, “All of it better be finished and I don’t want to hear one complaint about your stomachs.”
Miguel just snickered. It’s not like she bought the food anyway.
GymRat!Miguel who is watching an older couple meditate at his terminal as the sun begins to rise. 
“Yo,” Gabriel says. “That looks relaxing as hell. I’ma join them.”
GymRat!Miguel who is wheezing as he watches Gabriel plant himself between them to spread his arms and breathe at deep paces.
GymRat!Miguel who is thankful that his parents bought better-than-Economy seats, but that still didn’t stop any of the O’Hara boys from feeling like they were in one of those miniature museums. 
Both his dad and Gabriel were already tall, but Miguel was more than tall with a heavier body to match. If another compartment almost smacks him in the face, he might lose it.
GymRat!Miguel who takes off his headphones when Gabriel grips his arm.
“The voices,” Gabriel whispers. “The voices are here.”
“Are we doing this the whole flight?”
“Miguel, what if they tell me to do something drastic?”
Miguel looked to the window next to Gabriel and then up to the ceiling, “Three hours.”
“Three hours in which my brain could be infiltrated!”
“I’m closing my eyes, Gabri.”
“But-”
“Closing!”
GymRat!Miguel who used the flight to catch up on sleep and listen to the playlist you made for him. You gifted it to him earlier this month and said it would grow more and more. Miguel loved it because it showed that you were thinking about him, daydreaming about him. It also meant that he could connect to you more. 
No sound of crying babies, no smell of the artificial air packed tight, no light from overhead, just you and him in his mind, dancing on clouds. 
His heart felt like it followed the tempo of each song that played, the words and melodies taking over his mind. 
GymRat!Miguel whose mind wanders by the time the second half of the playlist starts. It was sensual and intimate in a way that passed the sticky sweetness of the first half. 
He was thinking about the nights when it was just the two of you and a bed. He could feel your body tangled with his in the sheets and your eyes piercing his skin. He could see you in front of him as the music played, the words glowing on your skin and the harmonies bounding you to him.
GymRat!Miguel who is yanked out of his fantasy of him pressing you up against a wall when his body jerks from the turbulence. 
He opens his eyes to see Gabriel knocked out and not a clue in the world.
GymRat!Miguel who is always reminded how idiotic people can be at the airport. 
Standing in the aisles is not going to make the people in the front move any faster.
GymRat!Miguel who could finally stretch his legs once he exits the terminal.
“If I get on another plane where a kids stares back at me the entire flight again, I’m going to spin my head like an owl,” Gabriel mumbles as he cracks his neck.
GymRat!Miguel who has a time laughing at his dad slowly losing his mind. 
First, he complained because his fabric luggage was lopsided and twisted from its buckled components, extra bag barely hanging on. 
Second, a wheel on his luggage was a few more spins from giving out. Every time the bag would skirt across the shining floors of the airport, George would grunt in frustration and yank it back. Gabriel almost pissed himself leaning onto Miguel from laughing. 
Third, the ride to the hotel almost gave him a heart attack. The cabs in New York were fast and no-nonsense when it came to getting people to their destinations. The cab drivers were also known to bob and weave into lanes like it was nothing. At every switch of a lane, George was mumbling prayers into the air. 
Conchata kept a hand on his shoulder as best as she could from the middle back seat, but George’s grip on the handle was turning white as he tried his best not to yell into the driver’s ear. Gabriel was filming him from the left side, wheezing like it was the funniest thing in the world. 
GymRat!Miguel who dropped his stuff off, took a nap, and used the rest of the afternoon to walk around Times Square. 
“You refused to go to a Broadway show with me but mark my words, you’re going to one with me before the year is over,” Gabriel pointed his finger at Miguel. 
“Unfortunately.”
GymRat!Miguel who watches as Gabriel dance battles with the random people in costumes in Times Square when they try to heckle him. 
At first, Miguel was worried for him trying to navigate such a bustling place, but there are moments like this that show him that his little brother has always been quick on his feet. His little brother was light years ahead of him in so many aspects and he couldn’t be prouder. 
GymRat!Miguel who probably filled his phone with more pictures and videos of Gabriel experiencing New York for the first time than were necessary. 
He couldn’t help it. His baby brother was soaring.
GymRat!Miguel who sends you places that he wants to visit with you. 
Envisioning you in his hoodie or with a fluffy, long scarf and walking down the sidewalk hand-in-hand with you had him excited to see you again. You would shine so brightly under the Christmas lights.
GymRat!Miguel who didn’t get back to the hotel with Gabriel until the evening. His parents both snoring in the room across the hall. 
GymRat!Miguel who still manages to get up early enough to hit the hotel gym before he and his family go tackle Gabriel’s dorm room. 
GymRat!Miguel who feels like the only other lady in the gym is trying her best to follow everything that he does. 
So much room in the tiny cube of a gym that they’re in and she moves to wherever he is after five minutes. 
GymRat!Miguel who is annoyed when she taps him in the middle of his set. He removes one ear of his headphones and tries his best to stop the disgusted look on his face from forming. 
“Hey! Sorry, I was wondering if I could use this machine! I’m kind of in a hurry.”
“After I finish this set,” she jerks back at that. “I’m using it right now.”
“Well, I just thought that-”
“Ma’am.”
“I’m 22! Don’t call me ma’am.”
Miguel’s eyebrows went up. He could hear Gabriel in the center of his mind calling her a “hard 22,” so he just put his headphones back on and continued to work through his set. 
GymRat!Miguel who thinks that interaction ruined the girl’s mood but he really didn’t have the energy to be concerned. 
He had to freshen up for breakfast. 
GymRat!Miguel who feels absolutely cramped when he steps into Gabriel’s dorm. 
“It’s not bad!” Conchata rubs Gabriel’s back as he looks around with his mouth in the shape of a line. “Once we clean it and set up your things, it’ll be just like home.”
Gabriel puts his hands on his hips, “Home doesn’t look like cell block 1.”
“At least the window overlooks the city,” Miguel says. 
The door behind them opens with George poking head inside. 
“Mijo, we need to set some ground rules. Your suitemates have no idea how to organize.”
“Did you go in their rooms?” Gabriel asked in disbelief. 
“It’s not my fault they left the door open!” George puts his hands up. 
GymRat!Miguel who works harder than he did for his own dorm. Every piece of clothing was in its rightful place, every surface was sparkling clean, the bed was made with minimal pillows and a giant RJ churro plushie, and there was an odd-shaped humidifier plugged up on his desk. 
“I’m putting your cleaning supplies in the corner of your closet, so this room should stay clean,” Miguel grumbled as he stuck a mini vacuum against the wall.
“Whatever, mom,” Gabriel replied.
“Gabriel,” Conchata had a hand on her hip and a finger pointed at her son. “Don’t whatever him. He’s right. There’s no excuse for this room to be a mess.”
Miguel and Gabriel stood in shock at Conchata’s quick defense.
“Are we in the twilight zone?” Gabriel asks out the side of his mouth.
“Maybe it’s the air pressure,” Miguel whispers back.
GymRat!Miguel who equates Conchata’s growing softness to the fact that not one, but two of her boys will be leaving the nest. 
The sentiment is sweet, but by the fourth time she just lets him and Gabriel roam the busy streets, he’s internally freaking out. 
It was far different from the woman who pinched their ears when they tried to sneak sweets into the shopping carts or the woman who had her shoe locked and loaded for when one of them did anything to annoy her. 
GymRat!Miguel who stays up late to talk all night with Gabriel about anything and everything.
“Which one of these do you think is better?”
Gabriel reaced into his backpack to unfold two flags, one with Jungkook over the Mexican flag and a Weenie Hut Jr. sign.
“Well, I definitely feel like there’s a clear answer.”
“You’re so right,” Gabriel says and folds up the Spongebob sign. “It’s better to represent.”
Miguel only sighed, “If that’s what you insist, Gabri.”
GymRat!Miguel who hugs Gabriel tight as their parents pack the cab back to the airport.
They’ve dropped Gabriel back at his school and said their goodbyes all morning. Miguel feels like he’s fading away. He bites his lips in order not to cry, but it’s hard when Gabriel's hands grip his hoodie like a lifeline. 
“Knock em’ dead, baby bro.”
Gabriel leans back with a wet laugh, “They won’t see me coming.”
GymRat!Miguel who waves out the window as the cab drives off. Gabriel waves back with both hands and a smile on his face. 
Miguel keeps looking back and Gabriel is still standing there. He wants to tell the cab to turn around.
After the fourth look, Gabriel is no longer looking at the direction the cab went but to a girl who also seems to have said goodbye to her family. He’s talking animatedly, arms moving as fast as the words fly out of his mouth. 
Miguel turns back around and pulls the strings on his hoodie hard, eyes welling up with tears. 
“Ay, pobrecito,” Conchata pulls Miguel into her arms, kissing the top of his covered head. “I know, it’s ok.”
Miguel’s lungs take in chopped breaths, hands never moving from the strings. He doesn’t know how to stop the tears from falling. 
“George, you too?”
To Conchata’s other side, George was looking out of the window, sniffling with a fist covering his mouth. 
“It feels like just yesterday I was teaching him how to kick a ball!”
Miguel blew out some air, “That probably was yesterday. He sucks at soccer. And football. And kickball.”
“How did he ever make the basketball team?” George says, voice riddled with sorrow. 
“His height, pa,” Miguel’s throat was tight again. “I didn’t call him beanstalk for nothing.”
The two of them lean onto Conchata, snot and tears crowding their faces. 
“Lose one baby and I gain two more,” Conchata sighed as she rubbed their backs, barely space in the little cab. 
GymRat!Miguel whose eyes remained puffy and swollen the whole trip back home. 
GymRat!Miguel who had to go back to school as soon as possible. 
He loved his parents, but being in the house without Gabriel took a lot more patience than he was willing to give. 
GymRat!Miguel who doesn’t see you coming while he's looking for you around the Student Center. 
The campus feels a little different since he’s become more familiar with it. Now he’s got shortcuts and pathways down. He knows more places to hide away in and he carries more tips to survive than he did his freshman year. 
A tap on his shoulder has him turning around. He spins, looks down, and his mood immediately lifts. 
You’re standing there with a pretty smile on your face in the midst of the bustling crowd. Miguel bends down to pick you up, arms wrapping around your thighs, mindful of your skirt. You laugh his name out as you cling to his shoulders. 
He kisses your lips, mouth warm and cozy like the sun shining through the window in a cool room. 
“I missed you so much,” he breathes after two heavy pecks. He moved to the corner of your mouth to your nose to your cheek. “‘M happy to see you.”
“I’m happy to see you, too,” you run a hand through his hair and cradle his face, looking into his eyes. “Are you alright?”
Miguel puts you down, knowing your limit for periodic PDA was nearing its end. 
“Better with you here.”
“Really?” You lean into his chin on his chest with hearts in your eyes. 
“Absolutely,” he plants his arms around you. “Been replaying your playlist for me. You want me to be your good boy?”
Your eyes get wider and you bury your face in his chest. 
“Why are you hiding? You should have known I was going to ask about it,” Miguel chuckles as you groan. 
“You’re using it against me.”
“No, I just want to confirm!”
The irritated face you gave him was too much, he had to tease you more. 
“Just say the word.”
“Hmph,” you lean back as Miguel grins. “Well, be a good boy and help me find our friends.”
Miguel let you pull him, smile loopy, “Whatever you say, baby.”
GymRat!Miguel who is glad to see his friends again. Peter, MJ, Jess, and Ben are sitting at one of the high tables and they all greet you both with smiles. 
“The lovebirds are here!” Peter reached to shake Miguel by the shoulders. “Good to see you both alive.”
“Never better,” Miguel replied, holding the seat out for you to sit on. 
“Look at him,” Jess snickered. “His eyes are practically shaped like hearts.”
“It’s ok to look away from her Miguel,” Ben said. “She’s not going to disappear.”
“C’mon guys, leave them alone. Haven’t you ever had someone you’re head over heels about?” MJ asks.
“No,” Ben and Jess say in a monotone voice.
“I’m sure you’ll find someone someday,” Peter quips as he wraps his arm around MJ. “Someone to stare at like they’re the only ones at the table.”
Everyone looked at Miguel talking to you as you tapped on your phone. He would whisper something in your ear and you would push him back with a shy laugh. His hands rubbed on your shoulders and your thighs. 
“Movie night might be insufferable,” Ben sighed.
Jess leaned back, “A girlfriend or boyfriend would suffice. I’m not picky!”
“I am,” Ben says with raised eyebrows. “I need someone to acknowledge my beauty.”
GymRat!Miguel who does in fact become insufferable during movie night. 
Flashing bright colors are painting the white dorm walls, lighting up the room, and the two of you are cuddled together on his bed. It’s way too cramped and Miguel could barely fit on the thing by himself, but somehow, he has you laid in his arms, a blanket covering you both. 
He’s not even sure what movie is playing on the projector because his mind is too focused on you. His hands keep wandering your body under the thick blue fluff. He’s watching you body jump and listening to your breath hitch as he kneads your thighs, your sides, your stomach, your chest. 
He really did miss you and he wanted to take this time to become acquainted with your body again.
But you would kill him if he let his thoughts take over and sink his hands under your clothes. 
So he settled with touching you and kissing your neck occasionally, your mind to preoccupied with the movie before you. 
GymRat!Miguel who insists on a snack run and makes you tag along. 
Does he want snacks? Not really.
Does he use it as an opportunity to make out with you on the outside of his car? Absolutely.
“Mig, mm-” you melt into him as he pries your mouth open. “I thought you said you wanted milkshakes.”
Miguel cages you against the car, pans down to your chest, then back up to your eyes, “My milkshake is right here, though.”
You scoff, hit his chest, and push his arms to walk around to the passenger seat.
GymRat!Miguel who has milkshakes ready for everyone on their way out to their own dorms. He spent way too long playing with you in the privacy of his car.
GymRat!Miguel who by his second day of classes thinks he has the ideal fall semester schedule planned.
He’s still blocking things out on his calendar, but his classes are a bit more spread out this time, which means more time to be with you. 
With your stacked studio classes, he was going to take every opportunity he could to see you. 
GymRat!Miguel who wanted to take up a basic game programming class as an elective. What better way to nerd out than to get insight on how his favorite games worked?
Learning C++ and Python, breaking down the technical side of things, making his own small games through engines; Miguel was beyond excited, to say the least.
He walked into the empty lab, scoping the classroom out for the best seat. The perks of being early. 
GymRat!Miguel who is scrolling through his watch later list while he waits for class to start. Maybe he could finally watch the Let’s Plays he’s been piling up. Maybe character builds would be better. 
“Hare-Hare, is that you?”
Miguel stopped, that nickname something he hadn’t heard in forever. 
He turned to his right with a smile on his face, “Xina?”
“It is you!” 
Miguel stood to hug her, his body rocking from the weight of her, almost knocking him over. 
“It’s been so long,” she breathes out. Her hands slide down his arms. “Have you gotten even bigger?”
Miguel laughed, “Probably.”
Xina’s eyes flitted over his body and back to his face. 
Miguel sat back down, “You look different, too. Is that a tattoo?”
“Y-yeah! You like it?”
It was some computer code in a spiral shape on her arm. It was really different for her. A far cry from the conservative, shy girl who left the South. 
In fact, the outfit she had on was something she would never wear. It looked like something that Lyla or Tempest would throw on. No collared dresses or long socks over stockings, just low-cut skirts and flowy-sleeved tops. 
“It’s pretty cool. Do your parents know you have it?” 
She shuffled the sleeves of her shirt back down, “They weren’t too fond of it, but what can they do now.”
Miguel smiled softly, “Lyla told me you were coming down here. I guess I just didn’t believe it until I saw you. How have you been?”
“I’ve been pretty good. Just trying to readjust. It’s a lot different here.”
Miguel raised his eyebrow, “From China or from up north?”
“Um, from up north. It’s a lot slower.”
“Really?” Miguel watched as she picked at the mountain of bracelets on her arm. “Hopefully not too much slower. I want you to enjoy your time here.”
More people started to fill up the lab, dropping their backpacks and pecking on their phones. 
Miguel rolled his chair closer to Xina, “What happened up there? Is everything ok?”
Her eyes shifted nervously, voice tight, “Lyla didn’t already tell you?”
“She can say a lot of things, but I’d rather hear it from you.”
Her shoulders dropped and whatever thoughts that were clouding her mind disappeared. 
“I’ll-” the professor heads to the front of the class. “I’ll tell you one day.”
Miguel nods, dropping the subject. 
GymRat!Miguel who is really excited about the future of the class after the first initial day. 
The professor seemed to have a lot of knowledge involving the industry, and even if Miguel couldn’t see himself really tapping into the industry, he enjoyed the banter. 
“Class seems like it’s going to be fun,” Xina says as she walks next to him, bag patting against her hip. 
“That’s a sentence I’ve heard no one ever say.” 
“Oh, shut up,” Xina pushes his shoulder and Miguel fakes being knocked over. “This is coming from the man who got excited about encyclopedias being available for checkout.”
“There was good stuff in there! Not my fault that others didn’t catch on.”
GymRat!Miguel who chats with Xina like old times. 
She looked different, but the core of her was still there. Still the sweet, reserved girl that he remembers. 
“Ah,” Xina looks down at her phone. “I gotta go. Me and my roommates are having a house meeting.”
“You got a quad suite?”
“An apartment! You should come over sometime. We’re going to have a little housewarming party soon.”
“Cool, I’ll be there. See you Thursday?”
Xina grinned wide, hands folding together in front of her, “See you Thursday.”
GymRat!Miguel whose time with you during the day was limited to lunch time. Your studios were stacked along with some general ed classes and he hated it. 
“Miguel, stop pouting, I’m here now!”
“That’s until you have to go mix your paints with others and cut floorboards.”
“I’m not mixing paint with others,” you reach to wipe some salad dressing off of his lip. “I’m mixing paints with other paints. And mineral spirits. And turpenoid.”
Miguel slumped down his chair, petulant. 
“Why can’t I just sit next to you and encourage you?” Call you pretty, stare at you, hold you. 
“Because it’s a college course just like any other class. I just can’t just walk into your labs unannounced.”
“If it were one of my lectures, you probably could.”
You left out a soft breath through your nose, “True. Too bad my classes are three hours long, babe.”
Miguel groaned, “I should have switched my bio class to yours.”
“So you and I both could be distracted all day? Not a chance.”
“No,” Miguel held out the vowel. “I wouldn’t get distracted, I swear! We’d sit at the front of the class to ensure it.”
“And somehow, you’d still find a way to distract yourself.”
Miguel puffed and folded his arms.
“How so?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” you shake your cup, seeing if you had any drink left. “Writing me messages on your notes app, spamming emojis, sending naughty pictures in the middle of class.”
“That was one time.”
“One time that my professor almost saw the hairs leading to your-”
“So what you're saying is, you don’t want my chest in your phone?”
“No! I never said that!” 
Miguel smirks and you fall back into your chair with your heart pounding. 
“You’re so mean, I’m going to class early.”
“Baby, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”
Miguel held your hand to stop you from leaving the table, pulling you to his side. 
“Let go, I’m going to class.”
“Let me walk you there at least?”
Miguel wrapped his arms around you and moved his head wherever your gaze went. 
“Fine, hurry up.”
GymRat!Miguel who finished his lunch in two bites and reached for your portfolio. 
GymRat!Miguel whose heart swelled as you swung his hand on the walk to class. 
“I think we can still make more time for just us. There’s the weekends, your birthday, fall break, winter break, our anniversary,” you sang as you looked up at him. 
“You excited?”
“To spend time with you? Always.”
Miguel felt his cheeks warm at the simple statement. 
“Are you?”
“If I’m not excited to be with you, you’ll know I’m being kidnapped.”
“Stop,” you giggle. 
“It’s true!”
GymRat!Miguel who lingers in the art building while you wait for class to start. 
“Is there anything in particular that you wanted to do for our anniversary?”
You fan your eyes up, “Hm. I’m not picky. As long as it’s close to school. We can save the bigger trips for the future or holidays.”
So no sporadic trips across the country. He can check that off his list. 
“Your face is telling me that you were thinking of something else.”
“No…”
GymRat!Miguel who after two weeks of class could definitely say that his elective was taking more brain power than his science classes combined. 
It was fun, but god, he didn’t understand the point of his professor insisting that they learn C#. 
“This is so stupid,” Miguel grumbled after the third failed attempt to get his program to run. “I think I’m in hell.”
“With me here? No way,” Xina snickered beside him. 
“Yeah, you’re right. Still doesn’t change the fact that this is a program that is completely useless to not only me but the rest of this course.”
“It literally can’t be that bad”
“Look!”
Miguel showed Xina his code and the lack of progress that it seems like he made. 
“That’s ‘cause your lines are wrong, silly.”
She leaned over him, tapping at his computer. Miguel noticed that her tattoo was on display today despite the cool chills coming in as fall approached. 
“There. That should fix it.”
Miguel ran his program again and was filled with relief when it actually did what it was supposed to do. 
“You’re a lifesaver.” 
“Anytime,” she beamed and fanned absentmindedly. “I’m always here to help. I definitely need your guidance for quantum physics.”
“What do you need that class for?”
“My advisor suggested it, but I’m starting to regret it and I can’t afford to drop it.”
“Tell you what, you help me with coding and I’ll help you with physics. Fair trade?”
“Plenty equal to me.”
GymRat!Miguel who smells Xina’s perfume as she helps him for the third time that class. 
It’s sweet and earthy. It reminds him of the time you fed him ice cream on a campus bench not too long ago. 
“What is that? It smells good.”
“Really?” Xina looks over to Miguel with a smile. She leans back and twirls the black strands of her hair. “You like it?”
“Yeah, it’s nice.”
“Thank you.”
GymRat!Miguel who gets invited to Xina’s apartment-warming party. 
“It’s pretty small, and I’ve only made a few friends here so far, but I would love for you to come.”
“For sure, for sure. Should I bring something?”
“No, just you and your body will suffice.”
GymRat!Miguel who laughs with Xina as they exit the class. 
“I’m just saying that if you have time to make merch for your games immediately after the first patch of it does numbers, then you have enough time to improve it and make other parts faster.”
“Game developers have families to feed, ya know?” Xina states. “They can’t just sit at a screen all day, they need quick money like the rest of us.”
“So you sell plushies instead? Whatever happened to ‘hi, hello’ or ‘this is how progress is going this month.’”
“Miguel!”
He turned to where he heard his name, that voice like music to his ears. 
“Bebé!”
GymRat!Miguel who runs to you and spins you around like he hasn’t seen you in years. You squeal into his neck, excited because he’s so excited. 
He puts you down and stands in shock, checking his watch, “I thought you had studio right now?”
“Critique ended super early, so I wanted to surprise you!”
“So the rest of your day is free?”
“Pretty much, yeah.”
Miguel would punch the air with glee if he wasn’t in public. 
GymRat!Miguel who turns when you peek your head past him to see Xina standing with a small smile on her face. 
He slots his hand into yours and pulls you over. 
“Xina, meet my girlfriend. Bebé, meet Xina.”
You reach your right hand out, introducing yourself. Xina takes your hand with a grip like a blood pressure machine and a quick introduction. 
When you take your hand back, your eyes do a double take between the two, Miguel oblivious to what just took place. 
You clear your throat, “Do you guys take the same class?”
“Yep, we-”
“We go way, way back,” Xina grins. “Like trading silly bandz and Pokemon cards back.”
“Oh shit, really? So you saw Miguel in his baby days. What was he like?”
“Please don’t say anything embarrassing,” Miguel groans out. 
“Yeah, tell me something good. Something juicy.”
“Hm,” Xina tapped her chin. 
Miguel shook his head behind you, hands clasping together in a pleading motion. 
“Miguel had a crush on me.”
That’s not what he expected Xina to say and from the raised eyebrows on your face, neither did you.
“That’s,” you rock on your feet and adjust your backpack, “definitely something.”
“Yeah! He was so cute running around handing me flowers with the roots still attached. I was too busy trying to be the best ballerina around, though. Right, Hare-Hare?”
“Right,” Miguel looked to the door. “Uh, we’ll see you around Xina.”
“Yeah, see you soon,” her fingers twinkled, chains on her nails dangling. 
GymRat!Miguel who kept waiting for you to say something as you both walked to his car. 
He was excited to eat dinner with you for once, but your silence was scaring him. 
“What’s wrong?” He breaks, sick of his aimless thoughts. 
“I don’t know, Hare-Hare, you tell me.”
“Amor, don’t be upset. It was such a long time ago.”
“That’s fine, I don’t care about that. Why would she bring it up in the first place? I don’t even know her like that.”
“I think she was just nervous, she’s not usually like that.”
“Compared to…?”
“Compared to the kind person I know her to be. Look,” Miguel reached for your hand, voice steady. “I’m sure she’ll open up to you as I’m sure you will to her, ok?”
You blew out a deep breath, “Ok.”
“Trust me?”
“I trust you.”
“Good,” he pecked your lips. “Now let’s go get pizza. I’m starving.”
GymRat!Miguel who still brought a gift to the apartment warming. It felt rude to not show up with something. 
You had recommended a candle, so Miguel went and got something that smelled similar to Xina’s perfume plus a candle warmer in the shape of a flower. 
He knocked on the door, a gift bag in his hand.
After a few seconds, it swung open with a guy who he didn’t have to bend down to look at. 
“Woah,” he said. “You’re huge.”
“Uh, thanks? Is Xina here?”
The guy was brushed to the side to reveal a frazzled Xina. 
“H-hey, Miguel! You came!” Xina clung to him, fingers clammy and breath burning through his shirt. 
“Yeah, of course. Was this the wrong day?”
“No! No, no. You’re right, come on in.”
GymRat!Miguel who felt that the apartment was really nice and Xina’s roommates were a rambunctious bunch. 
Although, he expected the event to be a bit more relaxed. There were people crowded together in the living room, some screaming at a game on the TV, some making their mark on the couch, others dancing out on the balcony. 
Miguel was anxious to say the least. 
GymRat!Miguel who was pulled into Xina’s bedroom, the stench of that sticky, sweet perfume filling his nostrils. 
“Sorry about that, I didn’t know it would get this wild.”
“It’s fine,” Miguel shuffles the bag into her hands. “I just wanted to give you this, then I’ll be on my way.”
“Aw, so soon?”
“Yeah, I’ve got some stuff to catch up on.”
He wanted to get out of here. 
His eyes panned around her room, the style of it matching more to her past self. White lace, lilac and soft pink bows, tiny bunny and hamster families sitting on a shelf above her desk. 
A poster from a franchise that she swore she hated but he loved. Funny. 
Xina dug into the bag pulling out the candle warmer, “Miguel, this is so cu-ute! It’ll be perfect on my desk.”
“I thought you would like it.”
“You do know me very well,” she pulls out the candle and holds it to her nose for cartoonishly amount of time. “This smells fucking amazing. It’s like, like the inside of an ice cream bucket. But in a jar.”
“Xina,” Miguel sits the candle down before she moves the wicks up her nose. “Are you high?”
“Only a little…un poco,” she holds her fingers in a pinch. 
He pushed her hand away from his face. 
“They’re not making you take anything, right?” He pointed back to the door. 
“No, I wanted it to. It’s nice. You should try it sometime. Relax a little.”
Miguel watched Xina’s eyes for a moment, searching for anything, something about how she really felt. For the moment, they were only cloudy and unphased. Miguel supposes that he should be like that too. 
“Maybe another time. I think I’m gonna go.”
“If you must,” she pouted and hung on to his shoulder until they reached the door. 
GymRat!Miguel who finally breathed easier once he was in his car. 
He wondered what to get a person to help them come down from a high easier. 
GymRat!Miguel who didn’t care what Lyla had to say, the arcade was a great idea for the 1st Anniversary date. 
He had it all planned out: pick you up at your dorm door, drive you out, about an hour to the closest city, spend the rest of the night exploring the city, come back to the hotel, breakfast in bed, an afternoon at an art class because you wanted to see him paint, an evening at the arcade, and a night to complete out his Mission B: Virgin No More. 
It was perfect. Immaculate. Sublime. 
GymRat!Miguel who took the term passenger princess more seriously than he needed to. 
“You sure you don’t want me to drive?”
“Nope. Just sit there and look pretty.”
“I might fall asleep.”
“You’ll still be pretty either way.”
GymRat!Miguel who has the most fun going to random stores with you. Sure, there were some boutiques where the owners looked at you both like extra heads were sticking out of your necks, but there were also stores that were cozy and warm. 
You both stayed in the nooks and crannies of stores looking at trinkets, jewelry, books, anything. 
“Miguel, look!” you hold up the tiniest pair of baby shoes he’s ever seen. “How precious is that?”
“Put those down, I don’t need any new ideas.”
“You had old ones?”
GymRat!Miguel who buys a giant puzzle for you both to complete together. It’s a watercolor painting of the night sky and the bright day blending together. 
It was the two of you together in one piece, he had to get it. 
GymRat!Miguel who is giddy that you bought a set of matching silk pajamas for you both to wear. 
He knew you were definitely going to get hot in them, but what are hotels for if not turning up the A/C and cuddling together under the thick, starchy comforters? 
GymRat!Miguel who keeps staring at you through the mirror as you brush your teeth. There’s a fluffy headband keeping your hair out of your face, and you’re only wearing the top of your pajama set. 
He’s no better, only rocking the pants. 
“What?” you say with foamy toothpaste flooding your mouth. 
“Nothing. You’re cute.”
You spit out the toothpaste, “You’re cute!”
GymRat!Miguel who holds you close as you take a bunch of mirror selfies before you both head to sleep. 
GynRat!Miguel who knew this day was starting off right when you came out of the bathroom with your stomach showing. The shirt is like a blessing, mesmerizing in multiple areas, hugging your skin tight but loose enough for him to stick his hands under it. 
“Amor, I don’t know if you know this, but,” Miguel pulls you in between his legs. “We’re supposed to actually make it out of the hotel room today.”
“And we will,” your eyes sparkled. “So until we get back, be good.”
Miguel groaned and peppered searing kisses across your skin, hands hot on the pocket of skin he could see, squeezing and gripping. 
“Do I get a reward?”
You lean and whisper in his ear, breath tickling his skin, “A really, really hot one.”
Miguel's eyes are opened wider when you stand back, neck burning. 
“You’re killing me.”
GymRat!Miguel who really sucks at painting. 
“I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong.”
“Well, to start off, your brush isn’t even clean.”
You guide his hand to his water cup with a giggle, “None of your colors are going to show up if you keep dipping them willy-nilly.”
“Ok, but how come your hearts are so much better than mine? We both followed the teacher.”
Your eyes looked from your uniformed artwork, colors tangling together intricately and shapes flowy to Miguel’s canvas that had dripping paint, a bad mix of oversaturation, and wobbly shapes. 
“You know, I’m not completely sure how you managed that, babe. What matters is that you did it with love,” you say noticing both of your initials in one of the best hearts on the page. 
“Maybe you’ll be better at pottery? Mosaic?”
“I think you just enjoy laughing at my expense.”
GymRat!Miguel who rolled the sleeves of his sweater up when it was time to play arcade games. 
He had to look good, show off, and earn prizes. 
You watched with heavy eyes as he geared up to play the boxing game. 
He made the boyfriend outfit look even more yummy, with his button-down peeking from under his blue sweater to match your outfit and his big jeans hugging his waist. 
With a heavy swing, the machine seemed like it lifted off the ground with the force he gave it. His face was so serious as he waited for the score and you were inching closer to insanity. 
The machine faltered, red dashes dancing across the screen. 
“Did you break it?”
“Uh. I hope not.”
After what felt like a moment in which you both probably should have run away or called a worker, the machine blinks back to life. 
“No way.”
A max score of 999 stared back at you both and the card machine lit up with rainbow colors. 
You held his hand in yours, looking at his knuckles for any bruises or blemishes. When you stared up at Miguel incredulously, he had a goofy smile on his face. 
GymRat!Miguel who may have been more competitive than he needed to be. 
You yelled as his score kept inching away from yours on the basketball arcade game. 
“You’re, like, as tall as the machine! You’re cheating!”
“It has nothing to do with height, chiquita.”
You groan out a sound of frustration as you miss your shots, messing up your streak. 
The timer goes out, Miguel winning by a landslide. 
You push your head back as Miguel celebrates. 
GymRat!Miguel who keeps this song-and-dance up for the rest of the night. Sometimes you would win, sometimes he would win. 
His final strike was when you both were in one of those FPS games that required you both to be crammed inside of a dark box. 
“Miguel, stop taking my fucking shots!”
“Oo, she’s getting feisty with me now.”
You thought quickly and leaned over. With an eye on the screen and the intention to rile him up, you moan his name right in his ear, breath needy and warm. You lick at his jaw to seal the deal and turn back. 
Like paper, Miguel folds, and his aim becomes absolutely terrible. 
“W-why would you do that?”
You couldn’t bring yourself to feel that bad as “Player 1: Bunny WINS” and “Player 2: Bear LOSES” jumped across the screen. 
You kiss Miguel on his cheek as he readjusts his pants with a frown on his face. 
GymRat!Miguel who could hear his heartbeat in his ears on the elevator ride back up to the room. 
You were holding onto the giant plushie he gave blood, sweat, and tears to earn, saying that it reminded you of him. 
Miguel, on the other hand, was digging his nails into his palm and opening the collar of his sweater sporadically. 
“You alright?” you say, placing a hand on his elbow.
“I might pass out.”
“Miguel,” you hold him close as you both walk to the door. “You gotta calm down.”
“I am! I’m just nervous.”
“You’re shaking.”
Miguel’s hands tremored as he ran the key card over the censor.
GymRat!Miguel who let you hold his hands as you kissed over his wrists. 
He was so dear to you. His presence, like a beautiful spark.
“You’re so sweet.” A kiss to his palm. “The sweetest there is. I adore you.”
Miguel took a shuddered breath as he watched you, heart rushing to his ears.
GymRat!Miguel who is more calm when you both start to remove your clothes. It wasn’t steamy and desperate like he imagined. It was slow, intimate, and quiet. 
It was like seeing you all over again for the first time when he helped you take off your shirt. It was like stepping into new territory when you held his jeans so he could step out of them. You both took turns taking off an article of clothing, savoring the moment. 
Miguel fumbled a bit when he was met with you the clasps of your bra, fingers knocking against each other.
When the time comes, after what was an hour or so of touching, feeling, and existing within each other, your hands fumble with the condom.
Miguel feels out of his body as you slide it down with care, hands moving as if you were molding clay. 
It wasn’t until he was on top of you that he felt that this was really happening. The foreplay between you a spot of comfort and habit.
After so long, he finally slid in deep, the pit of his stomach quivering. You were so unbearably tight.
“Y-you ok?” Miguel squeezed onto your hand, watching your eyebrows knit together. 
“Yeah, it’s just,” you chuckle, breath almost gone from the feeling of him. “You’re really big.”
Miguel’s face shifted from worried to shocked. 
“Oh! Well, I guess that’s a good thing?”
“You don’t have to guess, I can feel it.”
Miguel twitched and jolted involuntarily, causing you to whimper, your words going straight south. 
“Miguel! Stop moving.”
“Sorry! You’re really tight right now and I’m trying to focus.” 
“God,” you sigh and let your head drop to your pillow. “Are we even doing this right?”
“No clue.”
Miguel kissed your collarbone as you wrapped your arms under his. He continued to kiss across your shoulders, lips light and airy. Up your neck to your jaw, he could feel you relax and breathe a little easier. 
He grazes his mouth to your cheeks, humming as you move them closer to his lips. He kisses your temple, your eyebrows, your forehead. At your nose, you start to giggle, Miguel’s kisses leaving flutters on your skin. 
Miguel joins in on your joy, grinning as you try to return the pecks. 
“Ok,” you whisper. “I think I’m ready. You can move now.”
“You sure?”
“Yes. I want you to make me feel good. I want you to feel good.”
Miguel looked at your eyes, waiting, wanting, open. He couldn’t help but to think how lucky he was to have a girl like you who was just so beautiful and lovely. 
His body is pressed against yours, the plush of your chest molding onto his. Your legs were wrapped around his thighs and your fingers danced across his back. 
He takes a hand to hold the side of your face while the other one is pressing you even closer to him. He moves out as best as he can, the warmth of you an addicting feeling, and slides back in slowly, a shallow thrust to start off. 
Your breath was hot against his mouth as you shuddered. Miguel groaned, feeling the heat of you through the thin condom. 
He moved again, watching as your face twisted and turned. Your hands are pressed against his back, palms applying pressure until the feeling stretches to your fingertips. The pricks of your nails dig softly into Miguel’s skin, muscles moving as he tucks your hair away from your face. 
By the third thrust, Miguel is moaning out, overwhelmed with you everywhere. When he breathes, you breathe. When he tightens his hand on your back, you tighten yours. When the feeling of you becomes too much to bear, you’re right there with him, eyes heavy and wet. 
Everything was heightened, from the sound of the bed squeaking as Miguel’s hips moved, to the little sounds you made when he inched in deeper. He’s scared he might shout in your face due to how good you feel so he presses against your lips, grunts coming out with each thrust. 
You take him with stride, hands balling up to fists as he gets deeper and deeper. 
His name from your lips is broken down from two syllables to four, enunciation clear enough for Miguel to know that he’s doing something right. 
“Don’t stop,” you plead, gaze reaching Miguel’s soul. “Please.”
“I won’t.” He would never leave if he had the choice. “Am I, shit, am I doing good? Do you feel alright?”
He shifts back to see your face and his heart speeds up watching you under him. Your arms fall to the bed and your mouth stutters open as Miguel continues. 
Your eyes drip as you let out staccato moans and Miguel leans down to kiss away your tears. 
“C’mon, bebé, let me know.”
You nod your head and cry out when Miguel goes even deeper. He hums against your mouth as a thank you. 
“Miggy, I,” you stop as you take a breath. 
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
A rush of heat from top to bottom filled Miguel’s core. The air left his lungs swiftly and came back in twice as fast. His back shook, nerves like a spring. All he could hear was your breaths, all he could smell was your warm skin, all he could taste was the lingering touch of your tongue, all could feel was the hot valley of you, all he could see was you.
He dies and comes back to life, sight piecing together that the stars and hearts were not part of you but they were just his muddled brain taking you in like the first day he met you. His throat burns like he swallowed hot coal. 
Your mouth is moving but he still can’t connect the words yet. He feels himself floating away. 
“Baby?” the way that your hands grip his body ground him. “Can you hear me?”
“Yes,” Miguel nods, eyes blinking fast. “What just happened.”
“I think you came?”
Miguel looked down, and sure enough, you were right. 
He doesn’t remember you getting any relief. 
“Can I-” he groans as you clamp down on him when tries to pull out. “Can we do that again?”
You nod your head, “Please.” 
GymRat!Miguel who, after a brand new condom and a clearer mind, realizes that he has a lot of work to do. 
He knew that you were his everything, but he couldn’t deny that he was a little embarrassed. You swore to him that it was ok, flattering even, but Miguel isn’t buying it. 
Your legs were bent at his sides as he lifted your hips off the mattress. He held them up as he stroked deep and focused on the sound of your breaths. 
“B-baby,” your voice is stunted as Miguel keeps a steady tempo. “Look at me”
Miguel groans into your neck, shuddering from the sound of your voice and your hands rubbing his sides. Your moans were high in your throat, breaking as Miguel’s hands pushed and pulled at your skin. 
“I can’t.”
“Why,” your words fizzle as Miguel hits a sweet spot. “Why not?”
“If I look at you, I’m gonna cum.”
Miguel goes faster as he feels you constrict against him. The bed creaks as the sound of him delving into you gets louder and louder. 
“Oh,” your nails scratch his back. Miguel matches your voice, desperate to please you. 
You open your mouth again, a three-letter phrase ghosting your tongue. 
“D-don’t,” Miguel’s hips freeze and unfreeze as he hears the first vowel leave your mouth.
“I wanna see you.”
Miguel shifts, eyes finding yours, and he knows he won’t make it. 
He tells you just as much and you pull him closer. 
“Te amo, mi luna.”
Miguel cries as he feels the air leaving him. He reaches down to touch you, your body jolting when his fingers graze your clit. 
You cum around him and he pushed through, waiting until you were shaking to let go. 
“You,” Miguel leans his forehead on yours. Both of you are shaking, blood pumping with adrenaline. “Play so unfair.”
“But you love me?”
He cuddles into your thumbs wiping at his eyes, “So much. I love you so, so much.”
You kiss him, feeling warm and satisfied, sighing as he melts on top of you. You run your fingers through his wild hair and scratch at his name. 
After a while, Miguel perks up, eyes sparkly and big like a little puppy. 
“A-again.”
“What?”
GymRat!Miguel who pulls you to the edge of the bed by your legs. You yelp at his strength and the icy pricks of the hotel A/C coating your overheating skin. 
Miguel slides back in with a practiced ease, the angle different, but not unfamiliar. 
He held your legs and hips from the bed, watching as your body moved from the faster momentum he produced. 
Your voice reaches the ceiling as your hands grip for anything. Seeing your reaction, Miguel grips your hips and your stomach, angling even deeper. It was fulfilling until your hands landed on your chest, stopping them from jerking so.
Miguel pulled your wrists together and down, watching as your arms framed your chest. He moans out your name, eyes stuck on the picture presented before him. 
How could anyone ever believe you were not beautiful? 
GymRat!Miguel who can’t help but to ask for one more round. In your disheveled state, you tell him it’s the last one. 
The sounds leaving your bodies were enough to make the bed blush. It was something so perfect about the whispers you mewled into each other's skin contrasting the wet sound of Miguel slapping into your wet entrance. 
Somehow you were nearly bent in half, knees almost next to your ears, as Miguel’s feet were planted on the bed. You didn’t even know your body could do that. 
At every smack of skin, Miguel was moaning your name louder and louder, mind completely gone. 
“I’m, ngh, gonna cum!” Your voice comes out at a volume that matches his. 
Miguel nods, encouraging you to release, kissing along your skin. 
You shout as he swerves his hips, melting your cour as he slides along your sweet spots. 
“So good,” Miguel says, balls twitching against you as crumbles to the bed. “So amazing. Mi luz, mi sol.”
The two of you catch your breath in the dim hotel lighting, jolting with aftershocks of your anniversary. 
GymRat!Miguel who held you on his chest as you slept, lips pressed against the top of your head. He checked his phone before going to sleep, wanting to set a timer for the morning. 
A Game Exchange’s Worst Nightmare
Miggy Mig MC: I did it
Winner-Winner: ???
Ly(ability)la: Only you would announce losing your virginity like that
Tempie: omg
You’re not a baby anymore 🥺
What am I gonna do
Winner-Winner: WAIT
LESGOOOO
Tempie: I never thought this day would come
Winner-Winner: you was tearing it up wasn’t you? 🤪
Ly(ability)la: you’re so annoying
Tempie: like I didn’t prepare fast enough
I
I WASNT READY
Winner-Winner: I hope you did that trick I taught you
It gets em every time
Guaranteed banger
Tempie: This actually ruined my night
Ly(ability)la: Temp is losing it and so is Wins
Congrats to you ig
Winner-Winner: I bet she’s KNOCKED OUUOOT
Ly(ability)la: is being normal like not in your cards or…
Tempie: I think I’m sick
Miggy Mig MC: .....
Gabri 🤏🏽🤡:
“I did it”
“No fucking way"
"NO FUCKING WAY"
"AND? AND SO?"
“It was just as good as you say. That’s all I’m saying.”
"I feel like I need to throw something on the grill"
“Not too much Gabri”
GymRat!Miguel who wrapped his arms around you as you fixed up something the next morning. 
“G’morning,” you say to a heavy Miguel leaning down on you. 
“Super good morning,” his hands reach to cup your left breast and your stomach under your robe. He left a long kiss on your shoulder. “Whatcha doing?”
“‘M getting your gift together.”
“Another one?”
“Mm-hm.”
“Well, let me step up my game.’
GymRat!Miguel who sits with you on the bed as you both trade gifts.
“Aw, Miguel! How am I supposed to eat these? You look so cute here,” you took a piece of candy in your hand and looked his face planted on it. 
“Like this,” Miguel takes your hand and guides the candy to his mouth. 
You smile watching him, body warm. 
GymRat!Miguel who watches your eyes glow when you see the dolphin charm with the date that you two took our first date. 
“Put it on me?”
Miguel slid the jewelry over your skin, watching as gold danced against your skin.
GymRat!Miguel who feels like crying when flipped through the scrapbook you made. Each section matched a song in the playlist you made for him. 
It was so thoroughly crafted and thought out that Miguel couldn’t stop the waterworks. 
“Why did I think that outfit was cool?” Miguel laughed wetly as he saw a picture of you both at a pumpkin patch.
“You look adorable,” you catch his tear on your thumb and hug his side.
GymRat!Miguel who drops you off at your dorm with kiss after kiss to your lips. 
Jess opens the door with a dramatic sigh, “The two of you are glowing. How cute.”
GymRat!Miguel who reaches back to his night with you every time he’s sick of the class he’s in. 
A little bit dangerous when it comes to his labs, but everything is reminding him of you. He can’t even look at his blanket without thinking about the way your shirt draped your body. 
Maybe he should make love to you with it next time.
GymRat!Miguel who is in a daze during his programming lab. 
“Earth to Miguel. Did you finish the mini code?”
“Uh, yeah,” Miguel replied to Xina. 
“Good, because I need you to check this equation really quick. I need to turn it in later this week.”
Miguel leaned over to Xina’s laptop, arm reaching across her. 
“So,” she slides her nails up his arm. “What do you think?”
“It’s fine. This part is very wrong, though.”
She squeezes at his muscle, chest pressing on him.
“Are you cold or something?”
“No, why do you ask?”
“Because,” Miguel slides her laptop in front of him. “You’re really touchy today.”
“Miguel, I’m always touchy.”
She puts an arm on the back of her rolling chair and leans on her wrist. 
“True.”
“Is there a problem with friendly touches?”
“No, Xina. I’m not like that.”
“Ok,” she holds her hands up in defense. “I’m just trying to understand.”
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“That,” Miguel says turning to her, “Being weird. Overstepping.”
Xina folds her arms and nods her head, “I got it.”
GymRat!Miguel whose time with you dwindles within the next couple of weeks. If it’s not studying, it’s the robotics team. If it’s not the robotics team, it’s his class schedule never matching yours. If it’s not your studios, it’s his study sessions with Xina. 
Currently, she was sitting beside him on the first floor of the library, head on his shoulder as she sighed over a new formula. 
“This is so gross,” she said, wiping away eraser shavings.
“Did you even try?”
“Like, once. That was enough.”
GymRat!Miguel who gets your text and looks up to where he knew you’d come from. He felt like he could feel you close, but the entrance was so far away he couldn’t see. 
He got up for a second, turning and standing tall to catch a glimpse. 
“I know you’re not about to give up this. You said it was easy! That’s not the Miguel I know,” Xina grabbed his wrist, hands unbearably hot. 
His phone buzzed again. You said you were going back to your studio. 
He sighed and sat back down, mind foggy.
Tumblr media
divider by: @thecutestgrotto + @adornedwithlight 🩵
a/n: Y'all know that gif with the smoking duck? I feel like that but I would replace the cigarette with an Icee or something.
Tumblr media
If you want to be on the taglist, sign up here! Make sure to have your age in the bio or somewhere on your blog!
taglist: @ghost-lantern @miguelhugger2099 @slushycoookie @emelie-s-h @lake-lili
@obsessed-with-miguels-ass @scaleniusrm @superiorspiderass @lexluvswriting
@flordelalunas @froggygal @vmpz8sauceee @famouscattale @nixinluv02
@jada-of-arcadia @spideykid22 @what-the-jams @julia4today @tojishugetiddies
@samjinxx @sleeklyalisha @the-pan-liquid @prongs-lover @kikaaauu
@urlocallocachica @wanderlustingcastaway @peachey-pie @ch3rry-bl1ss @girl-of-multi-fandoms
@love-kha1 @manlikemilesmyguy @sillysillygoofygoose @monticellohoe @kodzuminx
@lauraolar14 @bruhhvv @m4dyy @farrowroyale @cl3stevu
@ohara-whore @muneca-lemon-steppa @alexa4040 @amelialysm @snails-doodles22
@questionable-behaviour @babygotl01292003 @calig0sto @tatatida @haveclayeveryday
@corpsenightmarebride @earth2fae @maiyart @feegrh32 @darkstarlight82
@ladysimp @sonicbutbutter @relatednative @slowlyshycomputer @nuetralcolorsenthusiast
@maxlinpetersen @beyondstarlight @Madeofstar-dust @leoeloo @just-simpins-blog
@poisamm @thequeenreaders @tinybirdhidedout @aly29a2001 @mimi-sanisanidiot
@snakelore @pigeonmama @darkstalight82 @prettygirleli @koikohib
@jayskookies @xo-zeze @planetxella @thedevax @stressed-cherry
478 notes · View notes