#Parking Lot Catwalker

[etherealkissed88]

how i manifest when i feel anxious •°. *࿐

i decide i have what i want…

when i feel anxiety -> i let it pass while knowing its only a human reaction

◦ since i am beyond just a human (i am limitless imagination/self), i know any anxiety is below me and it has nothing to do with my limitless self. i have exactly what i decided i have, regardless of any anxiety.

know anxiety usually comes from a fear of failure

◦ so, i cannot limit myself based on what i see or what i negatively assume my future will look like bc i am always beyond the 3d, no matter what feelings/anxiety my human self experiences.

◦ i become indifferent/i dont care about what i see or what i assume i will see because i know everything comes together in the 3d once i change self/know its done. fact: everything always comes together and works out in the end. being indifferent to the 3d = being indifferent to emotions, anxiety and everything that doesnt serve you.

dont fight it, dont avoid it, tackle it head on

◦ acknowledge you are experiencing anxiety bc you are. yes it can feel like shit but it doesnt have to affect who you are being (whatever version of self you are embodying). again, i can choose to be indifferent to this anxiety. you dont have to be scared of the anxiety. it is a natural human response. cry if you need to, let it all out. dont try to suppress it bc that will only come to bite you back in the ass, believe me.

◦ take care of your mental health in whatever ways necessary. when i used to experience anxiety, i used to take walks in the park, clear my head, meditate, express myself and my emotions through art and journaling, etc. remember nothing you do (or feel) in the 3d has to affect who you are being/your state.

"how can i still have anxiety yet still be a desired version of me?"

anxiety has no affect on anything unless you allow it to change your identity. you are the one with power, the anxiety is only an experience, similar to breathing in oxygen and using our sense of touch; its all neutral. when you start surrendering to the anxiety, you are creating and accepting negative stories that you create based on the feeling of anxiety. allowing that anxious feeling to change your state/identity is surrendering to something you view as more "powerful" than you. stop transforming that anxiety into a state that you embody based on the false, negative stories u imagine.

remember a 3d experience or anxious feelings doesnt have to influence who you are being. an example: a model who knows (fulfilled) that she is graceful and beautiful can have anxiety about doing her catwalk. the anxiety is normal, she can experience the symptoms of anxiety (shortness of breath, dry mouth, shaking) but her core identity/state is still a graceful model. the anxiety is only a temporary feeling. usually when we experience these feelings, they occupy all of our attention in that moment which is why it seems so scary but in reality, its not that big a deal. know that anxiety is just a feeling. you are safe. you can still experience shitty feelings while knowing you are a bad bitch!

you dont always identify with everything you experience. for example, a lot of people experience good things and still identify as people who are unworthy of good things. so its really up to you to choose what to identify with.

i know my only job is knowing its done

◦ if i just decided its done, as the operant power, as i say goes, therefore its done. so my job is done. anxiety is part of the 3d, not my limitless self, imagination. so i can be indifferent and experience it without identifying with it, the same way people manifest what they desire while experiencing their shitty circumstances daily (because they do not identify with those shitty experiences).

◦ ive heard/experienced situations where we know its done yet we cried and felt like shit, and what we wanted still manifested into the 3d. bc anxiety is only a feeling. do not allow your feelings to take hold of your state, but if it does, its never the end of the world... just get back in the state. 3d shit/anxiety doesnt have to intervene with who you are being/what you identify with.

kisses, jani ☆

[stxrvel]

absence (1)

series summary. the holy grail of the seven men who ruled the country's entertainment used to be your friends at school. now, ten years later and between successes and failures, what reason would they have to want to come back into your life? pairing. eventually ot7 x f!reader... or not? content. first of all, english is not my first language so sorry for any mistakes! curse words, fangirling a lot and some self-deprecation. no proofread. this is just silly writing, we're on the safe zone for now. a/n. hi guys! i was gonna wait a little bit but i'm really excited about this one so you're gonna have earlier! thank u all for the support and i really hope you enjoy this 🫶🏻

series masterlist | bts masterlist | next

You met them all at school. Each with their own ambitions, their different dreams, but so similar in the nature of their core. It was almost funny how everyone with their dissimilar personalities fit so strangely well into one school group. There were times when you could still remember how you used to tell them that all together they could rule the world.

Maybe that's why you didn't see them years ago.

Jeon Jungkook was an idol. There wasn't an hour in the day or a screen in the city where you weren't watching him. He was so popular around the world that you suspected that not even one person didn't know him. His voice was on every radio station, on every cell phone of the people you passed on the street and on the buses, his face on the TV sets with the last interview he had done, as if it were a national achievement. You even saw him in restaurants, chefs naming dishes after him, production companies releasing collaborations with his company. There wasn't an object in that city that didn't have Jungkook's face on its forehead. It was impossible to escape him.

He was closely followed by Kim Taehyung and Park Jimin, two of the most promising models of the last decade, a national pride hand in hand with Jungkook. You didn't see them as often as Jungkook, but they still swept the international public and there was hardly anyone who didn't talk about them. Invited to catwalks in Paris, choosing their contracts and collaborations, wearing the most expensive clothes that you wouldn't even think of buying, wearing beautiful matching jewelry, expensive enough that a single outfit from each of them could buy you five houses in the small town they all came from. Taehyung and Jimin were known as the Siamese twins of modeling. Wherever one went, the other always had to be. Their exclusivity was incomparable.

In levels of recognition, Min Yoongi followed them in line. A great rapper who was well received by the general populace. Yoongi had managed to captivate a large audience thanks to his incredible command of the production of his music and his ease and gift for writing his own lyrics. His growth was gradual, but when he touched the sky he never went down again. His popularity was not low even though his presentation to the public was not that high compared to the other three. Still, Yoongi had enough charisma and talent to stand out, especially when his fans were obsessed with highlighting the duality he had when he was on stage and when he did those seventy question interviews with Vogue or whatever… that had made him one of the best rappers of his generation and probably of the last century.

Kim Namjoon was the owner of the company that made Jungkook's debut and welcomed Yoongi with total creative freedom. If he were not solely focused on music, he would surely also be Taehyung and Jimin's agent. Namjoon had inherited a company from his parents, but the success he had turned it into over the past few years, into one of the most profitable businesses in the country, was entirely to his credit and effort. His popularity was also high, because everyone said he was too handsome to be a mere businessman; not knowing, of course, that everything involved in maintaining such a business required much more than a pretty face. Of Namjoon the public didn't know too much, not probably like the other guys and you, if he was still half the person he was before.

Hand in hand with Namjoon were Jung Hoseok and Kim Seokjin. Hoseok was and still is to this day a national pride as he passionately played tennis since school and turned professional, reaching to participate in major international tournaments representing his country and winning one of them. However, two years after that great feat, an accident involving one of his hands prevented him from continuing to play. No one knows exactly what happened during the more than a year and a half that he almost completely disappeared from the public eye, but when he returned with his huge smile he announced that he would dedicate himself to dance, opening his own academy throughout the center of the city. Although he was not a recurrent teacher, his academy was one of the best in the country, and of course, it was financed by Namjoon's company. At one time Hoseok became Namjoon's associate.

Seokjin, on the other hand, was the one who kept the lowest profile. He was a great doctor, cardiovascular if you were not mistaken. In addition to being an amazing surgeon, his research projects were the ones everyone looked forward to the most at the end of each year. You didn't know much about the subject, but he was almost like the guru of medicine in his field specifically. The only reason he was so much in the public eye being a doctor was because he was regularly seen in the company of Namjoon, Hoseok and Yoongi. The four of them made up the holy grail of dilfs.

They had all had incredibly successful careers and you were glad that they had been able to accomplish everything they once talked about on the rooftop of Namjoon's house, with sneaky steps so their parents wouldn't scold them when they sneaked out in the wee hours of the morning.

You didn't know exactly what it was - or you didn't want to acknowledge it - that succumbed inside you every time you saw or heard about any of them on the news or on social media. Because yeah, no matter how low media exposure any of them had, always the faces of all seven appeared on your TikTok every week.

It was amazing how they had all moved on and you… well, you-

“Weren't you supossed to leave?”

You lifted your head from your phone, trying to hide it with trembling hands as you let Taehyung's face next to Jungkook's plunge into the darkness of your apron pocket.

“Huh?”

You tried to look distracted, returning your gaze between your boss and the notes next to the cash register. She had a soft gaze, between amused and sisterly. Her brown eyes shifted from your eyes and hot cheeks to the notes you held upside down in your hands, pretending to work as if she herself hadn't seen you completely frozen and gawking at the pair of the country's great casanovas.

“I thought you were leaving earlier today,” your boss shifted, settling her trench coat and long brown strap bag over her shoulder. At that moment she was leaving to walk around to each of the locations she had in town, just to do follow-ups. “Don't tell me you forgot.”

You followed her index finger until it landed on the red circle you had drawn on the calendar placed in your little cubicle a couple of weeks ago, with hearts surrounding it and exclamation points. Yes you remembered, of course you remembered, but at the point where you were at the time no one was going to miss you if you didn't attend.

“I didn't forget…” your voice trailed off as you looked down, your fingers finding the tips of the pages more entertaining than your boss's worried expression.

“y/n, you asked me to leave earlier this day from four months ago,” her high-pitched voice echoed in your head, reminding you how excited you had been a while ago for this day to come. “You can't just give up like that. Come on. You still have time.”

You began to shake your head, releasing your grip on the woman who was looking at you with the same worried eyes of a mother. Your boss had been one of the most encouraging people you'd ever had in your life, besides the handful of friends you had stored in your phone's contacts.

“It was a bust last time. I don't plan on going through that again.”

“But hadn't you told me afterwards that you weren't going to let that stop you? You said… what was it? I can't drown in this glass of water.”

You grudgingly resisted the urge to roll your eyes. Really you of four months ago was a deluded fool.

“I had no idea about life at the time.”

Your boss clicked her tongue, dropping her hands on your shoulders, giving little squeezes whose familiarity stole your breath.

“I'll leave Patrick waiting for you in case you change your mind.”

You shook your head, evading the memories. The man outside the store shook his head in greeting as the two of you turned to look at him, as if he knew you were talking about him.

“Don't miss this opportunity because you're afraid. It may change your life.”

You watched her leave, the clacking of her low heels drawing the attention of everyone in the store, earning every possible stare as she did every time she entered any room. Her chauffeur, Patrick, greeted her with a similar nod of his head as before and stood leaning against the black car parked right where he could get a perfect view of your nervous face.

You, unlike the great and successful lives of your high school friends whose company you still used to miss like a fool, had not had such a great and successful life.

You were a writer. Well, an attempted writer and, worse, part-time. The other part-time was this job behind the cash register at the largest pastry chain in the country. Or sometimes as a waitress, it depended on the day. There was good pay, mind you, at least it allowed you to make up for the losses you took every time you tried to sell a book and then had to market it on your own, only to have five purchases once every seven months and three of them were from your parents and brother. The other two were from your friends.

Four months ago you had been invited to a sort of convention for readers, how they had found you and why? You had no idea, but the idea of being considered in that way drove you crazy at the time. You were so excited that you had more copies of your failed books printed and prepared your booth several days in advance to present them to the horde of people who, you were sure at the time, would come to meet you.

Only one person came by to ask you about the bathroom.

You never recovered from that.

Even with all that failure, that same day you were invited to another convention and, for a while, you were excited to attend. Everyone goes through those kinds of bumps at some point in their life, right? You have to work hard to earn that kind of fame, you kept telling yourself. But as time went on and your networks didn't grow and your videos didn't get more than ten views, or fifty views at most in a week, you began to lose that spark of excitement you held for your dream. Your parents had never turned your back on what you wanted to do, but it was too demotivating and discouraging to have spent so many years at it, so many headaches and tears invested for you to just keep losing and losing money.

That was why you were sure you wouldn't go to that convention if you had to go through that mockery again. You hadn't even bothered to go and fix your booth so surely they already knew you weren't going.

“Have you seen them yet??????”

The female voice coming from the wine cellar made you jump up on your chair.

“Jesus, Yuna, you almost killed me here.”

“I don't care! We could die right now for all we care!”

“Wow, speak for yourself.”

“Haven't you seen theeeem?”

Yuna held up her phone, the screen at full brightness blinding you for a moment. The blurry dots you saw from the proximity of the device told you nothing, as your friend jumped excitedly beside you.

“God, hold still.”

Grabbing her wrist, you leveled the phone to see her TikTok and a picture of three men.

Namjoon, Yoongi and Jungkook coming out of a building. From Namjoon's building.

“They look amazing, don't they? They just came out! That means their car will pass in front of us any minute!”

Yes, Namjoon's building was just a few blocks away from your boss's place. In fact, your boss knew him and many times they would prepare large orders for parties at his company. You had never seen him set foot in this place or any other in the country, but every time he went to celebrate something he had to dial your boss's personal number and you would work until your backs burned because everything had to be perfect for the big businessman.

“Are you going out to greet them or what?” you frowned, letting go of her wrist and returning your gaze to the notebook next to the cash register.

Yuna let out an excited exclamation.

“Ohhhh~, should I? Should I?”

You grabbed her by the collar of her uniform as she tried to pass behind you.

“We're still on business hours.”

“I'm sure Sol wouldn't mind,” her almost heart pupil eyes stared down the street, her hands moving in front of her like she was a zombie. She almost seemed possessed by her fanaticism. Though of course you didn't blame her, if you didn't know any of the seven knights of the underworld you would surely be as excited as she was.

“Don't put words in her mouth. You'd better tell me if the lady's batch of cakes is out yet-”

Commotion erupted throughout the room. You almost saw in slow motion how all the people in the premises got up and running in the direction of the glass doors when you heard the screams coming from far away.

“They're comiiiiiiiiiiiing!!!”

Sometimes you wondered how they dealt with this level of fanaticism.

The ground almost shook with the amount of people running after a black car, where the three men who were causing such a furor so early that day were most likely to be, and the commotion was not tiny inside the venue where the screams erupted.

Having to deal with that on a daily basis would easily turn someone into a hater. Not that you were one... strictly...

“God, for a moment we breathed the same air,” Yuna plopped down on the table, her body doubled over with her eyes lost. You resisted the urge to smack her forehead.

“Their car windows were up.”

“So you saw them, right?????”

“Argh.”

You had to drag her back to work as the excitement in the store dissipated. You attended to another batch of consumers while Yuna fixed the display case and, in a moment of lapse you could almost tell, her back suddenly straightened and she turned to look at you with her eyes a little too wide. You passed the change to the man in front of you, who barely sent you a confused glance before continuing to claim his order at the other corner of the store.

“What's wrong with you?”

“You shouldn't be here.”

“Don't say that with that face. You look creepy,” you pulled out the bill to tuck it under the cash register as Yuna approached, leaving the frightened face behind.

“Wasn't that convention today?”

You sighed. “Yes.”

“Then why aren't you there?”

“Do I look like I want to be there?”

“Y/n! It's a great opportunity. You should-”

“A great opportunity for what, to be a laughingstock again?”

Yuna pursed her lips, looking almost pained that you would remember in that way the experience that was supposed to change your life. She had been one of the ones who had accompanied you to set up the booth and she was sure she had never seen you smile so much during all the time the two of you had known each other. Yuna was aware of how over time you seemed to have lost interest in this new convention, but she didn't think you would finally decide not to go.

On the sly, she had prepared your booth with the help of your mother and Sol, your boss.

“You were never a laughingstock! Don't say that,” Yuna patted your forearm harder than necessary. “Besides, I recently logged some purchases on the site! How do you-?”

“I know it was you and mom,” you raised your voice to interrupt her, stepping archly away from her body.

“What the… Of course not, ha, ha!”

“You're the only fools who would write down celebrity names to register purchases. Besides, the addresses don't even exist.”

“Fuck, I told her that wouldn't work.”

Under your heavy gaze, Yuna had the decency to look embarrassed.

“Okay, I'm sorry! We wanted to motivate you to go to the convention.”

“Can't you just let me do my own thing? If I don't want to go, I won't go.”

“Even if you leave Patrick waiting there?”

You followed his gaze, watching the man pull an umbrella out of the trunk of the car as the slightest breeze brushed against his body and the water droplets were smaller than a dew that the two of you had to squint to see them on the glass of the entrance.

“Whatever it is, I'm not going.”

“y/n…” Yuna pleaded, coming closer with her puppy dog eyes.

“No.”

“y/n, please…”

“No and stop doing that. You look weird.”

“I don't,” Yuna pulled away to frown at you. “I once heard you agreed with Seoyeon about my puppy face being cute.”

“I never agreed with that!”

“Seojun told me so!”

“Your first mistake is believing Seojun.”

“Do you blame me if the reason is your demonstration of love for me?”

“That was your second mistake.”

“Y/n!”

_____________________

That day you arrived home a little later than usual. Since Patrick had been waiting for you all day in the sun and mini rain and refused to let you take a cab on direct instructions from Sol, you asked him to take a ride downtown so you could buy the teokkboki your mom loved and incidentally bought some for him, even though he didn't want to accept it at first.

“y/n, dear, how did it go?”

Your parents were in the living room when you arrived playing Go. Your father left the table when he saw you carrying the bag of food and came over to take it from you.

“What does our little writer bring here, a contract by any chance?”

You watched out of the corner of your eye as your mother tried to get your father's attention by wildly waving her fan, while the man rummaged through the bag to find something warm and delicious smelling.

“Oh, it's teokkboki.”

Your mother stopped waving her arm to stare at the bag with sparkling eyes.

“The ones from the center? From Mrs. Wang?”

You nodded in her direction, taking a seat in their midst on the floor. Your parents started a pitched battle to see who would break the bag first to try the first batch of teokkboki and you could only watch them with a smile on your face. The day may have been difficult, but being home at the end of the day always made you feel so much better.

Amidst laughter and anecdotes, trying to avoid the elephant in the room because you knew your mother's furtive glances weren't for nothing, the three of you ate teokkboki until you were bursting at the seams. You organized the kitchen with your father while your mother grumbled from the living room whatever he said about her. You watched the three of you favorite soap opera on the fixed schedule and finally got ready for bed.

With your body more relaxed and lighter, you let yourself sink into the softness of the sheets, completely ignoring the messages Yuna had sent earlier and the stupid questions your brother asked at the most inopportune moments.

How do I unclog a bath?

Do I add salt to the rice???

Where do I get the kimchi mom makes?????

His independence was probably one of the worst things that could happen. You being the older sister thought you would leave home first. Even according to your twelve year old diary, you should have been married by then or at least planning your amazing, mega giant wedding, complete with helicopters and puppy dogs carrying drinks through the reception. You didn't know what kind of crazy dreams you had when you were younger, but up to that point you hadn't been able to fulfill any of your inner child's desires except to study for a career you were passionate about.

Still, what good had that done in the end? Maybe you should've listened to your grandparents to study medicine. Maybe your parents should've been a little more conservative instead of libertarian, which your grandparents always complained about when they had the chance. If you were a disgrace to anyone in the family, it was to them.

Ah, what a long day.

You didn't know at what point you fell asleep, but the incessant sound of your phone vibrating next to your pillow woke you up. With a grunt, you moved your hands to put the device in front of one of your half-open eyes to find Yuna on caller ID. Your eyes moved upward.

It was one in the morning!

“What the fuck are you doing calling at this hour? It better be an emergency because-”

“WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU DOING THAT YOU DON'T CHECK YOUR MESSAGES?”

“WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT? IT'S ONE IN THE MORNING! WHY WOULD I BE DOING ANYTHING ELSE BUT SLEEPING?”

“I'VE BEEN TEXTING YOU FOR A WHILE NOW, Y/N!”

“YUNA HOW CAN I NOT FUCKING SLEEP-?”

“Well, whatever!”

You let out an exasperated snort, giving her time to say what she had to say.

“You're going to fall on your ass.”

“I'm lying down.”

“Your books have sold a thousand copies in the last hour!”

Silence. Absorbing silence…

“Yuna, if you really woke me up to play a fucking prank on me I'm going all the way to your house to pull out every single one of your hairs with a fucking tweezer.”

“First of all, gross. Second of all, I'm not kidding! Get on your fucking Instagram! What's worse is that's not the most shocking news. Well… depends on how you look at it.”

“Yuna, I don't think I'm following you.”

“Fucking Kim Taehyung was at the reader convention and he took a picture of your books and UPLOADED IT TO HIS INSTAGRAM STORIES!!!!! AN HOUR AGO! The damn shopping notifications woke me up and I think I took too much time trying to process what was going on because they already tripled!”

“What the fuck are you talking about, did you start smoking weed?”

“Ugh, why are you so insufferable? Just look at fucking Instagram!”

You didn't want to believe Yuna, but a part of you was vibrating in anticipation. You'd already seen her text messages, her exclamations and voice notes, you'd barely processed the images she'd sent you. You logged on to Instagram. The first thing you noticed was the exorbitant amount of notifications and direct messages.

You had to search for Taehyung's account because you weren't following him.

There was the colorful arc around his profile picture. The story.

You clicked on his picture on the screen.

Your books were all over his story, with his hand holding one of them.

It jumped out at you that there was a stand of your books that you had no idea where it had come from.

A description loomed between the image.

One of the best fantasy books I've read in recent years. And by one of the best writers I've ever met in my life.

Your user was next to the description. You had no idea how fucking Kim Taehyung had gotten your user when it wasn't even something related to your name. You hadn't even uploaded pictures of yourself once in all the time that account had been open.

“Did you see it?? Can you see I wasn't lying?”

With Yuna's malevolent laughter in the background, you felt your mind escape into an unknown mental space.

“You're going to be rich!!! And I'm going to meet Kim Taehyung!”

Your mind was racing a thousand miles an hour trying to make sense of what your eyes couldn't credit. His story was replaying on your screen. So many things you could say and just…

“What the fuck?”

--

tag: @rinkud @futuristicenemychaos @pastelpeachess @parapiop7

[stayconnecteed]

🪐˓⠀˚⠀hold on tight⠀@⠀han jisung.

synopsys: it's the birthday of the twins in the group and the usual plan is to celebrate it at the amusement park. everything was going as always until they got to the roller coaster and noa had to sit alone. thankfully, the rules say that everyone who has no one to go with will be paired with other single ones. that was how han jisung ended up screaming and squeezing the hand of an unknown pretty girl who he quickly caught feelings for.

SEE MORE.⠀⠀⠀⠀10 . 5 k words⠀⠀skz mlist.⠀⠀series mlist. 

⠀⠀⸺⠀⠀pairing ★ han jisung x f!reader.

⠀⠀⸺⠀⠀about ★ original characters guide.

⠀⠀⸺⠀⠀genres ★ idol au, found family, angst, fluff & smut ; love at first sight, strangers to lovers, friends to lovers, idiots to lovers, not really enemies but end up lovers, friends with benefits to lovers, polyamory. also, boy x boy subplot with original characters.

⠀⠀⸺⠀⠀hold on tight's warnings ★ first chapter! full into the spanishverse! this is the beginning of an amazing adventure, and there are practically no warnings. just jisung's anxiety. it will be his pov, so you know what to expect. mmm, and then fluff. lots of fluff, because he's afraid of heights and noa isn't. also, it's pretty clear ( me thinks ) but everything is in english minus the italics text - that would be spanish or korean depending on who's talking.

⠀⠀⸺⠀⠀author's note ★ hehe, hi lyra, happy ( late ) birthday!! i told you i was going to try and finish this by 14th y por mis cojones que lo intenté akshjaskd. you deserve it. hope you still like it by the end of it, and all the waiting was worth it <3

Everyone knew that the moment Jisung pulled on his hood and picked up his phone, his social battery was below zero. Unfortunately, at the moment he had no hood to hide from the rest of the world, and his anxiety told him that unlocking his phone screen for anything other than taking pictures would make him look terrible. He was wearing a custom-made black Balmain suit that felt soft against his skin, he was surrounded by strangers who were surely more famous than he would ever be, and there were hundreds of cameras pointed at him, waiting for his reaction to every outfit on the catwalk he'd been invited to.

Well, at least he wasn't alone. He had his manager, Jaehyun ーalso known as his older brotherー, sitting right behind him, Felix chatting quietly with another guest three seats to his right, and he knew that their leader was somewhere in all the chaos, also displaying an extroversion that overwhelmed Jisung. He couldn't understand, no matter how many years he had been witnessing it, how the two Australians in his Kpop group could strike up a conversation with anyone outside of them with such ease. And it wasn't even that he envied them for that ability, he just stared at them in horror and prayed that the panic wouldn't show on his face. But he had travelled all the way from Seoul to Madrid just for this, so he had to leave a good impression.

Stray Kids was starting to grow in fame, even if he wasn't really aware of the magnitude, and apart from music, his company wanted to explore other fronts. They were going to shoot a sort of short film by the end of summer, with one of the songs from their second comeback in the year as the soundtrack, and in addition to advertising, they had been considering the world of fashion for some time. The Louis Vuitton brand had snatched up his sunshine twin almost instantly, showering him in French clothes and affection, just as Versace had done with Hyunjin. It seemed that Fendi wanted to see how Bangchan's image would look in their campaigns, and it was rumoured that they wanted to make them international ambassadors.

He was grateful that Balmain had chosen him, of all the idols in the industry, to represent them in this collaborative event between Balenciaga and Zara for the winter campaign. He knew it had been an amazing opportunity for the group, and for him as an artist, but he hadn't been given the option to refuse, and perhaps it was that lack of choice that was making his perspective on the situation so negative. He was almost thirteen hours away from his family, his boyfriend, the rest of his band, in a place he knew nothing about, and every second he allowed himself to think about it, his heart pounded faster against his chest.

‘First time?’ whispered someone to his left, causing him to startle.

Jisung narrowed his eyes, focusing his gaze on the girl he had greeted nervously as he had sat next to her, in the seat assigned to his name. Her locks were slicked back and parted in the middle, all defined lines and gleaming aura, though the rest of her long hair fell down her back in a smooth cascade of chocolate-coloured strands, and her gaze was fixed on him, expectant, as if she couldn't help but let the almond shape of her eyes acquire that sharp edge. He merely nodded, smiling the closest thing to a gentle grin, his curved lips making hers reflect a more enthusiastic copy.

‘Me too!’ her shoulders twitched as he heard her poorly masked giggle, and for a moment he feared that the people around them were going to tell them off because of the easy, melodic way the laughter left her glossy lips. It was evident that she was a girl who caught attention without even being aware of it.

And then he realised that they were both speaking Korean. He frowned, because he knew that most of the people in the audience were Spanish ーand she certainly seemed to be, with her tanned skin and foreign accentー but the level was pretty good. He turned slightly towards her, knowing that they had been photographed together already, and approached her, leaving a respectful distance between them, clearing his throat.

���Are you from here?’

‘More or less,’ she replied, leaning towards him, as if she were telling him a secret. ‘I'm from Spain, and I live here, but I'm from a town to the south, down at the bottom of the map.’

‘Oh,’ he murmured, his mind blank.

‘From your reaction, it's as if I've spoken to you in a completely different language’ she giggled.

‘The truth is, it's my first time in Spain,’ he told her, smiling more confidently, as if making small talk with that nice girl distracted him from the rest. ‘It's been from the airport to the hotel, from the hotel here and not much more.’

‘I can imagine,’ she whispered, nodding. ‘When I arrived in Madrid I felt the same way, but it's a city that has its charm. I got to know it through my uni friends, who taught me a bit about it. If you want, I can give you a tour.’

Jisung opened his eyes wide in surprise and gave a quick glance at his manager, in case he had overheard them. Maybe he'd gone too far in talking to a stranger, he had to find a polite way to turn down her offer without making her feel bad, and he had to do it fast, because staring at her with that look on his face wasn't a good idea.

‘Huh... The truth is... Well, I…’

‘Hey, it wasn't obligatory to accept the offer’ she soothed him, resting a hand on his arm gently, ready to remove it if it made him uncomfortable. ‘My best friend always tells me I have no filter, which is hypocritical because she acts the same way, but I'm sorry if it was too much. Do you want us to introduce ourselves first?’

He saw her smile as he nodded slowly, his heart still trying to escape from his chest, feeling the warm palm of her hand through the expensive black suit. But it was all right, wasn't it? She was a nice girl, who had a clear problem with trust ーof depositing it in total strangers, that isー but who apparently had no bad intentions whatsoever. And he was in a room full of people anyway. Nothing could go wrong.

‘My name is Abril’ she said, bowing his head slightly, ‘I studied at EID, the European Institute of Design, I have a little silly vlog acc on You Tube and I really like make-up and Paris.’

‘I'm Jisung’ he replied, mimicking the bow. ‘Han Jisung, and I'm an idol, and... well, huh…’

‘Nonono, you're doing it wrong,’ she corrected him, denying firmly. ‘I know you're an idol and what brand you're representing. That's usually known to anyone who's been slightly informed. Introduce yourself for real, like I have.’

‘Like you?’

‘Mm-hm,’ she made eye contact with him, and indicated the beginning of the sentence. ‘You're Jisung, you come from…’

‘Oh, yeah,’ he nodded, already more enthusiastically, understanding where she was going. ‘I'm Jisung, I live in Seoul and I'm a Kpop producer and singer. I like music a lot, anime, and watching documentaries.’

‘See, a fantastic presentation,’ she said, clapping quietly, but with a big smile on her face. ‘So it's your first time on a modelling catwalk.’

‘And yours,’ he replied, unable to bite his tongue. ‘Can I ask you a question?’

‘Of course’ Jisung realised that they were fully turned towards each other, and that with how focused he was on the conversation he had stopped stressing over the myriad of thoughts that anxiety was sneaking into his mind.

‘If you're from here how come you speak Korean so well?’ his frown was furrowed, lips forming an adorable pout, and she found it endearing because it was the same gesture her best friend used when she didn't understand something.

‘I like to listen to Korean music,’ she replied, hoping she didn't scare him off, ‘occasionally’.

‘So you know who I am?’ he asked, his leg starting to move up and down.

‘I know what group you belong to,’ April said, her smile taking on a relaxed, casual gesture. ‘And I know you're not the boy with the foxy eyes, or the one with the freckles, which are the most recognisable.’

‘Oh,’ Jisung murmured, exhaling a relieved sigh that he didn't know he was holding back. ‘Jeongin and Felix.’

‘Yes, that was it’ he heard her crystalline laughter again, ’I saw him around earlier, he came looking very handsome.’

‘Louis Vuitton is doing an awesome job with him, and they're very nice and attentive’ he explained, cracking a smile at the thought of his best friend. ‘He's been very welcomed, and our fans love it.’

‘No wonder,’ April replied, nodding, ’Louis Vuitton has a very good reputation.’

There was a pause, and Jisung looked away from the Spanish girl, suddenly self conscious. She knew who he was, not because she was a fan but because she had studied the guests at the event, but he didn't know her at all and it was starting to become less of a problem to talk to her and more a reason to feel bad. He wasn't good at starting a conversation, and he doubted that in a situation like that asking her about her favourite colour was the best approach.

He opened his mouth, determined to ignore the anxiety bubbling in his chest, but let all the air in his lungs escape as soon as the lights dimmed. His manager tapped him gently on the shoulder, alerting him that this was the first sign that the catwalk was about to begin, and the insufferable twitch of his knee going up and down uncontrollably became present as soon as the murmur in the room died down.

He had barely had time to talk to the girl, Abril, and just when it seemed he was finally able to make a friend of his own, he was interrupted. He wasn't even able to concentrate on the introduction to the event, on what songs were playing as the first models came out. All he could think about was how sweet she had been to him, and how unresponsive he had been in return, even the impression he must have made on her, and all the phrases he would have said if he could go back in time.

But then he felt April's soft hair brush against his arm, her bright eyes still following one of the girls around the stage as she whispered excitedly about how much she loved that specific outfit. And somehow, all the voices in Jisung's head quieted down a bit. He cleared his throat, as if he could reset the reaction he'd had, and tried to locate the model she was talking about, offering his opinion on the jumper she was wearing.

It didn't take long for them to start gossiping, choosing a classic one-to-ten point system to evaluate the clothes, whispering numbers to each other between models, slyly pointing at them to discuss outfits. Jisung had a good time. He didn't feel judged when April made him giggle and his laughter sounded slightly louder than it should, and he didn't worry about the image he was giving, even when Felix gave him a look full of affection when he saw that anxiety hadn't crept up his chest until it choked him.

Even as the catwalk came to an end, and the CEOs of each fashion brand came out to greet the audience, Jisung was still glued to the girl, clapping but exchanging murmurs, and asked her to accompany him outside, to the small terrace hidden from the eyes of the people and Stays on the street, to say goodbye. Or meet Chan and Felix, whichever made her feel more comfortable.

‘Actually, I have to take a taxi home,’ said the brunette, clutching her small bag with both hands. ‘I have to get there before the pizza delivery guy.’

Abril's laughter at the joke Jisung hadn't understood hung in the air, the Korean's face turning somewhat serious. After nearly two hours with her, maybe letting her leave so quickly didn't sound so good to him.

‘Maybe we can drop you off at home,’ he proposed, forgetting to glance at his manager to confirm that he could do that.

‘No way, don't worry,’ she replied, resting a hand on his arm. Her smile was genuine, and Jisung wondered if she really didn't care if she had to pay for the taxi or if she was just saying that to avoid compromising him. ‘It's right here... huh, well, near here. And my friends are waiting for me.’

Jisung looked at her, letting her know with a raised eyebrow that precisely because it was nearby, even if it wasn't, it was no problem for them to drop her off.

‘If your fans see me get into your car, my public career is over,' she added, this time with a compelling reason.

Jisung deflated, knowing she was right, and gave her an apologetic smile. Maybe in Spain the fans weren't as controlling as in other countries, but there were freaks everywhere, and a photo taken out of context could ruin her life and force him into hiatus.

‘Anyway,’ Abril continued, averting her gaze, but letting him notice the mischievous glare that didn't promise anything good, ‘if you're going to stay longer in Madrid, the tour offer still stands. Signing whatever NDAs it takes to make you feel safer, just as a friend showing you around town.’

‘For real?’ 

Jisung saw that as possible. It wasn't the first time they had attended events in other countries and seized the oppotunity to visit the city or go out with friends. It wouldn't be anything they hadn't done before. Even his company could run Abril's digital footprint if they didn't trust her. The city looked very nice, and he knew he wouldn't be bored with her. He could even invite Chan and Felix and introduce them.

‘Tomorrow is the birthday of two of my best friends,’ Abril explained, making calculations with one finger, counting days in the air. ‘We're going to Warner's, which is an amusement park very close by. I know Lucas won't mind if a few extra friends join us. And then I think we're going to Murcia for a couple of days, but you can join us. We're good people, I promise.’

And he knew she wasn't lying. A soul as pure as hers could only get along with people just as fantastic. The plan sounded good, and even if his managers wouldn't allow him to travel with strangers, they couldn't deny them a visit to an amusement park, so he was going to be able to see her the next day. That was enough for him.

‘I'll have to consult about the trip,’ he announced, taking a breath of air to pretend he didn't feel guilty about making decisions without the input of his hyung and his sunshine twin.

‘Mm-hm,’ she murmured, nodding. It was fair, she understood that.

‘But I'll see you tomorrow at the Warner.’

‘Oh my God, that's fantastic!’ she exclaimed, tightening her grip on the young rapper's arm, her touch warm in the Spanish capital's night breeze. ‘If you need anything, text me on Instagram!’

Before he could react, the girl threw her arm around his shoulders, pressing him against her body in a light embrace, and hurriedly said goodbye, unlocking her phone screen to check the time and blurting out a string of what sounded like really aggressive insults in Spanish. Jisung believed that Spaniards dined very late if they pretended to have pizza at eleven o'clock at night, but he himself usually made himself ramen if he got home past midnight from the studio, so he couldn't say anything about it.

He saw her white lace dress flutter behind her as she walked down the stairs to the main entrance and disappeared into the crowd, but he heard a loud whistle followed by an unmistakable ‘Taxi!’ in a strong, musical Spanish accent, so he assumed she would have gotten a ride the first try.

He turned towards the inside of the building, looking for Felix's unmistakable blond hair, which would be the easiest to spot in the midst of the people, and waited in his corner for his friend to get lost in the area Jisung was in. The staff would wait for all the guests to leave the venue before starting to collect chairs and decorations, but a few people with the organisers' branded clothing and name badges were already guiding the stragglers to the entrance.

Jisung felt that it would be an opportune moment to pull out his phone, and at least try to contact Chan or his brother to let them know where he was. After giving a couple of rather competent directions, it was Jaehyun who succeeded in reaching him, and Felix who greeted him with a pat on the shoulder and his eyebrows going up and down suggestively.

‘That's a rather childish reaction when you consider I'm a taken man,’ he commented, before the blond could say anything.

‘That wasn't why,’ he protested in response, the high-pitched whine catching in his throat. ‘But you could share her number around the group or something, in case anyone's interested.’

Felix laughed at his own words, as if he had told a joke, and Jisung rolled his eyes playfully. He shook his head, giving Felix up as impossible and turned to his leader when he called his name.

‘Did she know us?"

‘She's a Kpop fan, but not Stay,’ he explained, getting defensive. If they had been the ones sitting next to Abril, they probably would have introduced her by now and been close friends. ‘I wish you guys had met her, she has that responsible little girl aura in her.’’

He saw Felix frown, but ignored it. He thought it was a fairly apt description, but it was true that it was a little strange if you hadn't interacted with her. It reminded him a little of the way the blond himself lit up the room he was in, and made you feel special when he gave you his undivided attention. But he couldn't ramble on about what description to use for his new friend. He had more important things to think about.

His priority was to figure out how to introduce the subject of meeting up the next day without causing rejection out of mistrust. Because he knew that no matter how much he could inspire Felix's enthusiasm, the final say would rest with Chan and Jaehyun, his manager, who were directly responsible for him, especially overseas. And while Jae answered directly to Division 1 (and sometimes their mother), Chan would primarily look out for his safety. And Jisung had to admit that it didn't look very safe.

‘Jae hyung, do we have plans for the next few days?’

‘A scheduled visit tomorrow to the Bernabéu stadium for Chan,’ he said, trying to recall the trip schedule from memory. ‘But nothing else. Do you want to add anything?’

‘Can we go in the afternoon to the Warner?’ continued Jisung, waiting for that pause when the question would sink into their heads before they asked what that was.

But they didn't have to. Felix grabbed his arm, his eyes wide with excitement looking up at him, as full of excitement as Abril's had been when he'd told her they'd see each other tomorrow. He knew Felix wouldn't let him down ーwhat had surprised him was how quickly he had reacted.

‘What is...’ began Chan.

‘Do I  want to know what Warner's is?’ interrupted Jaehyun, crossing his arms.

‘It's the amusement park in Madrid!’ exclaimed Felix, doing all the work for him. ‘Can we go? Please, please, please?’

Chan narrowed his eyes, recognising Jisung's gesture of faux innocence, but decided to keep quiet, leaving the decision in the manager's hands. For a few moments the four of them were silent, and Jisung could count his heartbeats in the time it took Jaehyun to contrast pros and cons. Felix had his eyes closed and his fingers crossed, and at the sight of that the manager could only exhale a defeated sigh.

‘I'll take care of getting the tickets,’ he murmured, hiding a smile at the excitement of the younger ones.

Unable to sit still, Jisung fidgeted once more in the seat of the tinted-window car he felt he had been in all day. It was five o'clock in the afternoon, and although Seoul would soon start to cool down, Madrid was still at a temperature he wasn't used to. It was very hot, and having to wear a mask and a hat to avoid being recognised only made his long-sleeved clothes more uncomfortable. He was looking forward to getting to the amusement park, but sometimes his only wish was to get to the hotel and take a cold shower.

The night before, he had made a video call with Minho, telling him everything he had experienced, from the tense moments to the sweetness of the lovely April. He had listened for quite a while until Jisung realised he had no idea what time it was in Seoul, and when the dancer told him not to worry, that it was worth listening to him talk about his day, Jisung hung up on him, because he knew Minho would answer a call from him even if he was very busy. He believed there were limits.

For example, when he found out that it turned out that eleven o'clock at night in Spain was six o'clock in the morning in Korea, and he was almost certain that he had woken Minho up.

But he hadn't been able to sleep, too excited about what would happen the next day. He had been up late watching videos on YouTube, and by the time he realised he could look up Abril's account it was already one o'clock in the morning. The long plane flight had messed up his sleep schedule, and he didn't really feel tired, so he started watching his new friend's latest vlogs.

He browsed through the covers of all the videos, guided by the images, as the titles were of no use to him ーhe didn't understand them at allー and ended up watching one from the previous week, which featured the logo of his band. As it started, an upbeat tune began to play while the intro was shown: figures of celebrities with the effect of being cut out of paper appearing and disappearing against a light background, and then the same words he had seen as the title. With one difference, however, the small addition of the name of the event he had gone to earlier that same afternoon.

And then April appeared, this time with her hair in a bun, though just as tight, and began to speak. It took Jisung about forty seconds to realise that he didn't understand a word she was saying. He snorted, suppressing a smile, and stopped the video, praying that there would be Korean among the subtitle options. As he searched for it, he found himself thinking that this was probably what all the international Stays were suffering from with their group's content. He should talk to Division 1 to make sure there was a variety of language options before uploading their videos.

When he pressed play, Jisung understood what the Spaniard had meant when she said she had researched which celebrities would represent which brands. The video was basically about that. She had a roulette wheel with the main fashion brands, all invited by the organisers, and throughout the twenty minutes of her explanation he talked about what the event was going to be like, and who she would meet once inside. At the mention of Prada, Valentino and Gucci, Jisung remembered seeing the people Abril was talking about. But the minutes passed quickly, enchanted by her voice, until he realised that she had left Fendi, Louis Vuitton and Balmain for last.

’The new addition to Europe is the three members of Stray Kids coming to Madrid,’ he had heard her say, as the group photos they had taken for Maxident appeared on his screen. ‘It's rare for a Kpop group to show so much interest into send so many of their members to fashion events, but we're thrilled to welcome them.’

Abril had given a short summary of how the Korean music industry worked for those who had no idea, and then had objectively detailed what role each had in the group and which brand had invited them. Jisung had liked the professional and open way she had introduced them, and once again he understood why he had felt so comfortable with her. She made you feel welcome, listened to. She made you understand without making you feel dumb. With one warm look you knew you could trust her.

So he had told Minho, before he noticed he was falling asleep again.

But at that moment, in the car, after a busy morning in which he'd been late for his gym session with Chan and then they'd walked around the city before visiting the stadium of his hyung's favourite football team, it was too hot. He rolled up the sleeves of the oversized jacket he'd bought before the trip once more and turned to Felix, leaning his head against the backrest with a huff. The blond, who had his phone in his hands as he played some Genshin, made an acknowledging noise, leaning against Jisung.

’We're getting close, Ji,‘ his manager said from the passenger seat, picking up on his uneasiness.

He didn't reply, too abstracted to notice that Jaehyun couldn't see him nod. He fiddled with his own phone, removing and replacing one of the corners of the case, deciding if it was a good idea to text Abril. He didn't have an individual Instagram account, even though more than half the members were considering creating one, and he didn't know if they'd let him use the group one for something like this. He hadn't discussed it with anyone, that he wanted to meet the girl at the Warner, and not knowing if it would look bad to his friends made him think too much in his head.

He wasn't even listening to the distracted answers Felix was giving Chan, when the older boy asked him about what kind of attractions they would find, which ones he was most excited about. He went into the Instagram app he had almost unused, then turned off the screen. He looked for Abril's username, which he had memorised from her Youtube videos, then turned off the screen. When he turned it back on, the search box had gone blank, so he had to type it in again. But when he finally had her account in his hands, he had to turn it off again. He wanted to contact her, but somehow it felt wrong.

And then he noticed Felix giving him playfully with his head on the shoulder, as if he didn't have to curl up slightly to do it, as if he were a kitten, and heard him say ‘Do it.’

He didn't even notice the way his own heart stopped, thinking he'd been caught committing a crime. He glanced at Felix fleetingly, his wide eyes colliding with his best friend's soft gaze, and snuck into the Spaniard's private messages, hoping his coy ‘Just arrived at Warner's, where are you? Jisung’ along with the blue symbol next to @ realstraykids indicating his authenticity would get Abril to see it as soon as possible. And then he took refuge in Felix's embrace, the two of them entwined like the hands of two lovers, answering Chan's questions with renewed energy.

Jaehyun escorted them to the entrance of the huge amusement park, letting them wander along the cobblestone paths once he displayed the tickets he had gotten the day before online, and Jisung tried to calm himself, not to look at his phone, to enjoy a moment with his friends. He let Felix, to whom he was glued by their linked arms, guide them to the first attraction, which had a short queue. Chan began to ramble on about the memories the pictures in the place brought back, and Jisung took a breath of air as he took in every person who passed him.

By the time Felix got his attention, Jisung had already had a heart attack for every straight-haired brunette girl he'd seen, and the touch of his best friend's hand in his arm brought him back to reality, to the spinning mugs with Scooby Doo decorations, and to his leader's terrible jokes about how it was a betrayal to be there without his own Mistery Inc. gang's dog, Seungmin. He closed his eyes to relax a little before the ride got started, and then had to hold on to Felix and his manager, looking for support that he could only find on the edge of the giant cup they'd been stuffed into as it began to spin.

It was fun, he thought. And then he let out a shaky laugh, hearing Felix's excited shout to his left, followed by one from Chan in front of him, and stopped thinking. He didn't need to. Not as long as he could rest his mind and fill his memory with moments like this.

And for a while it worked, leaving Scooby Doo's Tea Party Mystery and heading straight for the bumper cars themed on the Joker movie. The park was huge, and what was most striking was the continuity with which people were screaming. It was all conversation and laughter and screaming all around him, until he realised that he too was laughing with his friends, and talking. And he'd be screaming too, he thought to himself, when Felix pointed out all the roller coasters surrounding the hotels and the smaller attractions. The blond was going to want to go on one, probably the one that looked the most dangerous, as soon as they let him, even if he ended up passing out.

And Chan was going to let him go on one, even if it made Felix so dizzy, because it made him happy. He'd say it would be better if he could ride along with him, and that would leave Jisung alone, because Jaehyun refused to participate in crazy ideas like that. 

So after leaving with sore knees, but with his adrenaline pumping, he had resigned himself to it. They used the map they had been given at the entrance to get to the queue for the Stunt Fall, the star of the park, and after fifteen minutes of pent-up nerves, they found themselves first in line at the entrance to the roller coaster. Chan went first, Felix behind him, following the directions in English from the staff, and Jisung waited for them to come back for him.

‘Are you here alone?’ the boy asked him, in a rough accent.

Jisung nodded, his throat suddenly dry, and he began to regret it as he saw that he was being taken to the opposite area where Felix and Chan had been placed. But he said nothing. It wasn't worth it. He didn't feel able to formulate a sound, anyway. His vocal cords were as tense as the muscles in his shoulders, and if the girl in the seat next to him noticed as the staff secured the harness to his body and the belt to his lap, she said nothing too. Jisung closed his eyes and tried to swallow, highly attentive to the remaining people before the attraction was full and they could begin.

‘First time?’ he heard from behind him, as he watched the same staff member lead the couple who had waited behind his friends and him to a spot further down the queue of seats.

‘First time?’ the girl repeated, this time in English. Jisung turned to his left all too quickly, utterly convinced he was experiencing a déjà vu. This time he didn't need to squint his eyes to focus in the dark, but to make sure that the girl he had failed to greet nervously as he sat down wasn't Abril. She didn't really look anything like her, her skin slightly paler and her hair chaotically curly and much darker, but she was the owner of a similar smile. Wide, kind, luminous.

Jisung nodded again, too overwhelmed to do anything else.

‘Not mine,’ she said, as if it were a matter of pride. ‘Whenever I can I come with my friends. It's pretty awesome, but you don't have to be afraid of safety. Nothing's going to happen to you, I promise.’

‘Huh..., thanks.’ he muttered, taking another breath of air.

‘Do you want me to distract you for a bit?’ the girl asked, tilting her head to the side, her hands clasped in the harness, ’Or would you rather I leave you alone?’

Jisung was grateful to be able to choose. It gave his brain the feeling of being in control over something, even if before she finished uttering the second question he was already ready to say yes to the first. He would give anything to pretend he wasn't about to die.

‘A..., a distraction wouldn't be bad, actually,’ he managed to whisper, his words achieving to soften his travelling companion's sharp gaze.

‘Mm-hm, I'll tell you things then,’ she warned him, as if Jisung could back out at any moment. ‘You can interrupt me at any time, or tell me things yourself if you like. Did you come alone?’

‘No,’ he replied, glad to be able to focus on something other than the way the harness was digging into his skin. ‘I came with two friends, but we got separated.’

‘Oh, you didn't see the sign.’ she sighed, frowning as if the information really hurt.

‘What sign?’

‘We didn't see it the first time we came either,’ the girl recounted. ‘While you're queuing to get on, there's a sign that says if you don't have a partner to share seats with, they'll put you with someone who doesn't have one either. That's why they put you with me.’

‘You came alone?’ asked Jisung.

‘Nope,’ she said, smiling. ’I also came with my friends. But there are five of us. One gets dizzy so she goes with the one who doesn't have phobia to highs. And of the other three, last time Lucas went alone, so this time it was my turn. My name is Noa, by the way.’

‘Jisung.’ he spoke, more cheerful. ‘The same thing happened to me. Felix gets dizzy, so he can't go alone. And I wouldn't be much help either.’

‘It's all right, Jisung,’ said Noa, savouring every syllable of his name, ‘you can be helpful to me. Sometimes I need to squeeze someone's hand when the curves are too pronounced. If you need it too, we can make a deal.’

It sounded good. He knew she would gain nothing and that she was proposing it because he was probably so pale he looked sick. It was him who needed to be able to anchor himself to someone so he wouldn't get too overwhelmed, or dizzy, or faint, like Felix. Noa was already being helpful herself, and he would be eternally grateful - it was either trust her or ask the boring boy from before to get him out of there and let him put his feet on solid ground. For a moment he even wondered if she was so kind to all the rookies they put next to her when she went alone, or if he had been an exception.

‘I'd like to make the deal,’ he confided, putting his hand in front of them.

She took it, and Jisung's breathe hitched, feeling Noa's soft palm against his. ‘I promise to hold your hand very tightly and let you know what's going to happen so you won't be caught by surprise.’

‘I promise not to let go of your hand, and to hold it a lot tighter in response,’ he said, finally smiling, letting the air that had caught in his throat come out shakily.

They did not separate their hands once the deal was done. Instead, Noa rested them in her lap, humming whatever song was on her mind, giving Jisung a chance to observe her. She was tan, not as dark as April, but a caramel shade that made the light freckles on her cheeks blend in with the wrinkles that formed in her eyes when she smiled. Her hair was in a high ponytail, but the curls spilled over her bare shoulders like cascades of coffee. The top she wore was red, flashy, with a straight across neckline that clung to her chest, crossed by a black belt pouch.

He let his gaze wander until Noa's voice brought him back to reality, ‘There's a minute left, maybe you should put your hat away, so it doesn't fly off.’

Jisung hadn't thought of that. The clothes he was wearing were loose, just the way he liked them, and he hadn't brought a backpack. All his belongings were with Jaehyun, as were Felix's and Chan's, so he didn't know where he could leave it. Noa probably saw the doubt in his eyes, because with her free hand she reached up to his head, murmuring a quiet ‘May I?’ and waiting for a nod before taking it. Jisung watched her fold it in half and tuck it as best she could behind her back, shoving it between her skin and the secure grip of her bra. His cheeks flushed red when he noticed, but he said nothing, letting her settle back in.

She flashed him a smile and he grinned back, leaning back against the seat, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He felt Noa's hand give him a friendly squeeze, and even though fear was beginning to build in his chest, nerves rising in his throat, vertigo clouding his mind, he was able to return the squeeze, stroking the back of Noa's hand with his thumb.

And when the ride started, Jisung began to scream.

Once they returned to their point of origin, silence fell. It lasted only a few seconds before trembling sighs and adrenaline-fuelled screams began to sound, reactions that gradually ranged from euphoria to relief. Jisung would consider himself in the latter group, his heart pumping blood at full speed, if he wasn't too busy trying to figure out if all his limbs were still part of his body. His chest was rising and falling in hurried movements that looked too much like terrified hyperventilation, and he was still holding Noa's hand as if his life depended on it.

She belonged to the first group, however. She was a little dishevelled, taking big breaths of air, but her eyes shone with the intensity of someone who had just experienced a great adventure. Jisung wanted to memorise that vision, but he felt a tingling on his skin that made him uncomfortable, so he tried to close his eyes and think of something else. The worst part was over. He should have informed himself before going up, because he certainly wouldn't have set foot on the Stunt Fall if he knew it had a free-fall section of at least fifty metres, but at least he'd been lucky enough to get the ride with Noa.

While he had been screaming, yelling out phrases in Korean and English, thinking that his heart was going to burst out of his chest at any moment and that he was making a fool of himself in front of a beautiful girl, Noa had warned him that the worst moment was coming, and to close his eyes tightly. He had reacted two seconds too late, and by the time he saw the void opening up before him, even though he had curled up in his seat, his imagination had done the rest. It felt like the longest moment of his life, and he couldn't even recover before the ride played another trick on him with a section where the seats spun on their axis and he ended up upside down.

He didn't know whether he wanted to curse Felix for his love of roller coasters, or Abril for mentioning Warner.

He had to check if she had replied to his message. The reminder of Abril's presence at the park hit him like a bucket of cold water, knowing he'd left his phone in his brother's hands and would probably murder him if he found out, and he tried to get up, not realising he was still strapped into the seat by the harness. The restraint caused him to become even more distressed, his hand still numb but gripping Noa's tightly, and he gave her a frightened look.

Noa realised immediately what was happening, and slid her hand from his gently, holding it by the back to leave a quick caress. She removed the safety bar that had allowed them to hold on to something during the trip, and undid her harness before jumping down to the solid ground and starting to undo Jisung's. She removed buckles and loops quickly with the speed of someone who knows how they work, taking Jisung by the arm and escorting him to one of the less crowded corridors nearby. Jisung let himself be guided, his gaze blurring and his chest constricting his lungs, preventing him from breathing normally.

Jisung was losing control of the situation, and being aware of it made him feel even more overwhelmed. The heat wasn't helping, and even though the shirt he was wearing was quite thin, because he could feel Noa's hand on his arm, it clung to his skin with sweat. His legs were shaking, though whether it was his anxiety or the effect of the roller coaster, he didn't know, and he was shivering. The high temperature of the park, with all the people everywhere, seemed to grow by the minute, and Jisung thought it was very likely that he would pass out right there and never be able to return to Korea. No one would find him, no one would come looking for him.

‘Hey, Sung,’ Noa murmured, rubbing his arms, ’can I call you Sung, mm?’

Jisung nodded, eyes closed tightly, concentrating on his breathing. It seemed silly to him that he was having this reaction once it was all over and not when he had no idea what the journey might be like. It didn't make sense. And he knew that focusing on how pathetic he felt wouldn't help this attack to end quickly, but he couldn't help it. All the tricks he knew would disappear, his mind a blank, when anxiety began to bubble up in his chest and he wasn't in the comfort of his room, or with one of his members.

‘Listen, you're doing great, okay?’ he heard again, and tried to focus his gaze on her eyes, trying to distinguish where the brown started and the green ended, losing himself in the depths of her pupils, ’but I'm going to need you to breathe with me, yeah? Do you think you can do that?’

Jisung processed her words, frowning at the insistent dizziness he felt swirling in his temples, nodding again. He could do it, he wasn't losing his mind. He had to do it so he could apologise properly. A girl like Noa didn't deserve to have someone like him spoil a nice May afternoon with her friends. So he pretended that the shiver that crept over his skin had been from anxiety and not from her when he felt Noa's hand slide down to rest on his chest.

He also chose to ignore the way Noa touched him, all gentleness and decency, giving him the sweetest of looks, as if she'd done that routine many times before. Anyone with anxiety who had someone to lean on at times like that was very lucky, but having Noa was a gift. She didn't make you feel like a burden, instead she distracted you enough to make you think it was a team effort. That was why his breath caught in his throat when he felt one of Noa's fingers brush against the skin of his chest, unintentionally slipping through the hole between two buttons.

She seemed not to notice, too busy ensuring his well-being, and continued with her rehearsed choreography. She took the hand that hadn't been abused by the trip, grasping him gently by the wrist, and rested it on her own chest, slowly raising it with a breath, urging him to do the same. Jisung closed his eyes, feeling more clearly how smooth the skin of her collarbone was, soft and delicate under his guitarist's fingertips, and forced himself to mimic the calm rise and fall of her chest. 

No words were exchanged, none were needed, until Jisung felt sane enough to look at her again. They were only inches apart, arms locked and intertwined, her hands in his, and though he could only hear his heartbeat thudding in his ears, he felt her own mirroing his quick race beneath his fingers.

Noa had beautiful eyes. Not only that, but the smile she offered hid an accomplice that made you want to follow her wherever she wanted to take you, and for a moment, Jisung wanted to. But he couldn't. He was trapped, between the wall and her hands, between the wall and her gaze, and he didn't want to run away. Every second he spent memorising all the intermingled shades of mahogany and forest green in her irises, and when he realised that he hadn't once taken his eyes off hers, he was shocked. Jisung was incapable of holding eye contact for more than a few seconds with anyone.

‘That's my girl, now kiss him!’

The spell broke as soon as Noa processed those words in Spanish, and Jisung's body moved a little closer to hers as she pulled away slightly.

‘He was having a panic attack, you moron,' she whispered, her low, strong tone contrasting with the gentleness of her hands against his skin.

Then Jisung snapped back to reality, his chest rising and falling more calmly, and he located the boy who had spoken. He had been cracking a rascally smile until he had heard the word panic - which was not so different in Spanish than it was in English, Jisung had been able to understand - and now he was approaching with a concerned gesture towards them.

‘Do you need ice? Do you want us to find you somewhere cooler?’ he asked, still in the language he didn't understand, dividing his attention between Noa and Jisung.

‘Use English, please,’ she asked him, leaving warm caresses on the back of Jisung's hands absently, ’he's a foreigner and it's not polite to gossip without him knowing what we're saying.’

Then she turned to him, giving him her full attention again, and said, ‘Remember I mentioned my friends earlier?’

Jisung nodded, remembering every word he had exchanged with Noa.

‘This is Lucas,’ Jisung turned to the boy, who had left a safe distance between them, waiting for instructions from the girl. His hair was disheveled, as if he'd just taken a nap, and all chestnut brown except for an unruly blond highlight in his fringes. ‘Her twin sister is the girl who gets dizzy that I told you about. She also has anxiety, so he asks if you need ice or a cooler place.’

‘Huh, thanks, Lucas..., Noa,’ Jisung's gaze flickered between one and the other, suddenly nervous. He wasn't used to that kind of attention, it made him uncomfortable to a certain extent. ‘I'm better now.’

‘Oh,’ Noa murmured, taking a step back and pulling her arms away from him. Jisung wanted to follow them, to place them back on his body, to keep feeling her touch on him. He repressed it. ‘Of course.’

‘I'm grateful, really,’ he repeated, as if that wasn't enough. Noa's gaze had flashed with pain at his rejection, and Jisung had hated it. ‘But I should go, my friends...’

‘Right, of course,’ she repeated, taking a step backwards, towards Lucas, like two planets orbiting on the same axis. ‘I understand, they must be worried.’

‘I didn't mean to...’

‘Hey, we made a deal,’ she reminded him, forcing a smile onto her rosy lips, ‘we've already gotten off the Stunt. Glad I could be of help.’

The deal was to hold on tight to each other, Jisung thought. And now she was letting him go. That wasn't part of the deal.

‘We could always get the groups together...’ Lucas wanted to propose, resting a hand protectively on Noa's shoulder.

‘Jisung!’

His heart skipped a beat at the sound of his name. Behind Noa and Lucas was Abril, smiling as if her life depended on it, also slightly dishevelled but with the same cheerful vibe that characterised her. She had stood halfway, having recognised his slim figure and his dyed ash-blonde hair, and Lucas had turned around quickly, frowning.

‘You two know this one?’ he'd said, receiving a smack from Noa for continuing to use Spanish, ‘Are you swapping me for him? On my own birthday?’

‘We're not, dummy,’ Abril said, and Jisung found it odd to hear her voice a softer tone, using English to communicate and not the Korean they had spoken in the previous evening. ‘This is the boy I told you about yesterday, Han Jisung.’

‘Ahh,’ pronounced Noa, placing him in her memories, ’the nice guy from Balmain. I hadn't actually caught the name, sorry.’

‘That's okay,’ he said, shrugging, processing that Noa and April knew each other. For a person who wasn't used to Korean culture, understanding how names worked or being able to remember one must have been difficult. For him, their Spanish names were.

‘I still don't get it,’ Lucas interrupted.

‘You were drunk yesterday,’ Abril reminded him, reaching their level and bowing her head slightly in respect. Jisung did the same. ‘You made a terrible joke, let me remember... Oh, jamón serrano. Ham in English. Ham, because of Han. He's one of the members of the group that Carla likes.’

‘Carla is another one of our friends, but she didn't come today,’ Noa informed him.

Lucas made an affirmative noise, indicating that he already remembered, and was about to make a comment about it, searching for the right English words, when another shout was heard from behind him. Again an acquaintance shouting his name. This time his brother. Jisung grimaced, and turned slowly, avoiding making eye contact with him, and turning directly into Felix and his hyung, who were trailing after Jae and relaxed as soon as they spotted him.

‘Hey, hey, hey, hey,’ Lucas exclaimed, stepping protectively between him and the other three, ’do you even know each other?’

Jisung paused for a moment, wondering to whom the question was addressed, but before he could explain who they were, or even gazing at Abril fro help, his brother stepped up to Lucas, facing him, and replied in slurred English, ‘I'd like to know if you know him at all, because he's obviously my little brother.

The tension could be cut with a knife, and Jisung shifted uncomfortably under the incredulous stares of Felix and Chan, who couldn't believe they had just witnessed their manager's words. Jaehyun never let his emotions, and especially anger, spill over into his actions. Never. But before Chan could jump in to try and sort out the misunderstanding, Abril and Noa burst out laughing behind Jisung's back.

‘Lucas, he looks an awful lot like Jisung,’ Noa said, stepping forward with her hands in the pockets of her baggy jeans, her face still holding an almost uncontrollable laughter.

‘It's actually kind of surprising that you didn't notice,’ April chipped in, tilting her head to the side, trying to stifle her smile behind Noa's shoulder.

Jisung saw Lucas blush, mumble an apology to Jae, who accepted it with a nod, and step back so that Jisung could approach his friends. The first to move closer when Jisung was near enough was his brother, putting his arm around his shoulders and asking him in Korean if he was okay. He explained that he hadn't been, but thanks to the girl he'd been sitting next to, he was feeling better now. Noa smiled at hearing her name, and Jisung found himself smiling back, adding that she had been the perfect rollercoaster companion.

‘I'm glad you had someone up there,’ Jaehyun stated, looking up at the ride, which had started up again, and feeling guilty for not getting on with his little brother. ‘Are you going to introduce us to the fashion girl and her friends?’

Jisung blinked, confused, thinking that Jae's next action as manager would be to say goodbye and send them back to the hotel, but he nodded and turned to the three Spaniards.

‘Guys, this is my brother and manager Han Jaehyun,’ he began, resting his hand on the one Jae had on his shoulder, ‘then there's Lee Felix,’ he continued, letting the blonde flash one of his brightest smiles, ‘and Bang Chan hyung, our leader.’ Then he turned to his friends, and prayed that he pronounced the Spanish names correctly. ‘Abril I met yesterday on the catwalk, because she was sitting next to me. Noa was the one who saved me just now, and made me survive Stunt Fall,’ he shared a smile with her and then paused, glancing at the third member of the trio, and finished the introduction, ‘and Lucas, huh, the friend who thinks I'm jam.’

‘Ham,’ he corrected him, ‘Yummy, Spanish ham.’

‘They're the ones on the albums Carla buys,’ Abril explained, turning to Noa and Lucas. ‘Stray Kids, the ones she had saved up for the concert in Madrid and couldn't go to because it was cancelled due to covid.’

Noa nodded, as if she already knew all that information, but Lucas was too busy staring at Chan.

‘Luc, that's creepy,’ Abril said to him. ‘Stop, please.’

Jisung saw Chan blush slightly at the Spaniard's attention, but he didn't say anything. He couldn't tell if he was uncomfortable or nervous, but he knew that Lucas's nonchalant nature was shocking him a little.

‘It's just that he rings a bell, but I can't place him,' he explained.

‘Oh, I know!’ exclaimed Noa. ‘It's from the Korean reggaeton music video! He's the one who plays the bodyguard!’

‘Korean reggaeton?’ asked Chan, confused.

‘Maknae on top’ replied Abril, and their leader raised her eyebrows in understanding. ‘Carla, our Stay friend, teaches them Kpop songs if they say things is Spanish or have a Latin beat.’

‘But Lucas recognises Chan because there was a time when you kept playing the video over and over,’ Noa informed, smiling half-sideways, waiting for Abril's poorly suppressed alarmed cry at being exposed.

‘I'm a Seventeen fan, shush,’ she confessed. ‘Besides, they sure don't like talking about this stuff.’

‘Oh, we like knowing that people enjoy our songs, don't worry,’ Felix said, smiling, enjoying the chaos. ‘I'm the one who says ‘Felix Navidad’ in a song called Christmas Evel.’

‘And your name is Felix,’ Lucas spoke, letting out a laugh, ’It’s genius, I love it.’

‘Jisung and Chan are the ones who compose and produce all their songs,’ Abril added.

‘And Changbin,’ Jisung added.

‘And Changbin,’ Abril repeated, apologising with a smile.

‘Oh my God, enough with the work talk,' Noa interrupted, stretching her arms and rotating her wrists, as if standing still for too long bothered her. ‘Do you want us to show you around? We can even go back to Madrid, if you want.’

The three of them looked at Jaehyun automatically, as if waiting for an answer, and he tried to keep a straight face, crumbling the moment Felix tugged at his shirt sleeve, taking advantage of the effect of his adorable pout. Jae shrugged, deflating like a balloon as he exhaled a tired sigh, and Chan put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

‘You know what the limits are,’ he said, in Korean, looking at Jisung, as if he were to blame for everyone's enthusiasm. ‘And that you don't know these people. They can be fans, they can be stalkers.’

‘Han-nim, if I may,’ Abril interrupted in her soft Korean voice, approaching slowly and timidly, as if she didn't want to get Jisung in trouble. ‘It's true that I'm a fan of your work and I know the Kpop world, but we're not sasaengs. I can give you my word, and speak on behalf of my friends, we simply want to leave a good impression of your first visit to Spain. If you don't trust me, I can show you the content I do on my social networks, and Noa's, even tell you what the rest of them are doing or documentation that certifies that everything I've said is true. Nothing proposed is with bad intentions, we just want to have a good time because Jisung is a wonderful person and I would like to share my time with him and let him meet my friends.’

Jaehyun stared at Abril for a good time, a battle of hard, unmoving brown gazes between the older brother and the Spaniard, who was also an older sister, and then held out his hand.

‘I'm going to need you to sign confidentiality contracts, but it works for me,’ he pronounced slowly, his chest warming at the joy gradually visible on Jisung's face. ‘You're a sincere and kind girl, I respect and admire that.’

‘Thank you very much,’ she replied, accepting the compliment with a bow.

Felix hugged Jisung, excited, but Jisung waited to see the way Noa's eyes lit up when Abril translated her and Lucas what she had just spoken to his brother in his own language. He liked Noa. He liked the way the corners of her eyes crinkled when she smiled, and the soft curve of her arms when she held them close to her body. He liked the tendency she had to rotate her knees and wrists from time to time, or the mischievous turn her smile took when you least expected it. And he liked knowing that there were still a lot of details about her to discover.

Lucas whistled, drawing everyone's attention, and said, ‘I'm guessing the manager's going to need three more NDAs.’

Jisung turned, and saw three more people approaching. He assumed they were more of Noa's friends, and she confirmed it as soon as she noticed Jisung's questioning glance at her. One of the girls was undoubtedly Lucas' twin, with blonde hair falling down her back and the same grin. The only boy, also blond, had tattooed arms, and was pacing a step behind them, lost in thought. The other girl, approaching with a phone in her hand, and the terrifying look of an angry mother, was a Latina in a pretty sundress. And she was the first to open her mouth.

‘Oh, you must be so full of yourselves!’ she exclaimed, in Spanish, not realising that there were more people with them. ‘Get off the Stunt, disappear and then give no sign of life! I don't know what you want the phone for! You always have it in your hand but you never use it when you actually have to use it!’

The blond boy at her back cleared his throat slyly, and the soft noise seemed to snap the angry Latina out of her mindset. She interrupted herself, almost swallowing all the words she had been about to blurt out, and looked up at Jisung, her gaze softening instantly and curving her lips in a welcoming gesture.

‘Sorry, I didn't see you.’

‘In English, Nea.’ pointed out Lucas, voice still, knowing when to goof off, picking his battles wisely.

‘Oh, in English then,’ she repeated, switching languages. ‘Sorry about the show. It's just that they disappeared and we couldn't find them.’

‘That's all right,’ Chan pronounced, before anyone could say anything.

‘Who... are you guys?’ she asked, and Jisung knew the mom attitude wasn't a facade, because all her friends seemed to gather around her like chicks chasing their mama duck.

‘Jisung,’ Noa began, ‘the boy Abril met yesterday, sat next to me in the Stunt because they were uneven. Chan and Felix, along with him, part of a Kpop group, and Jaehyun,’ she paused looking at Jisung's brother, waiting for his approval so she knew she had pronounced it right, ‘is his manager. And Sung's older brother.’

‘Oh,’ said the blonde girl, still sheltering next to her twin brother, ‘welcome to Spain.’

‘She is Isabel,’ introduced the Latina, stepping forward and indicating with her hand the names of the newcomers, 'my name is Atenea, and this is Miguel.’ The tattooed boy waved his fingers in greeting, then folded his arms and stood behind Atenea, as she clapped her hands in the air. ‘I'm sure you'll have time to memorise them all. Any friend of my girls is a friend of ours, and that means you are already part of the group. I assume you've invited them to show them around town, right?’

Noa nodded, and Atenea smiled softly at her.

‘I can take care of talking paperwork with the manager while you tell them about the twins' birthday plans, in case they want to join,’ she told Noa, and Jisung smiled when he saw her and Abril give each other a sneaky high-five. If their group dynamic was even the slightest bit like theirs, he knew his older brother and Chan would consider her an equal. She was the force keeping all her menaces in check.

‘I know a food stand that is perfect to grab something to get over the Stunt Fall impression,’ Lucas said, starting to walk, Abril after him, and waited for Noa and Jisung to follow. ‘Your friend Felix is still a little pale.’

Jisung smiled, knowing that his sunshine twin would appreciate a sweet drink to recover from the faint, and also the nice detail from the Spaniard. He took a quick glance back, checking that Chan had found a spot next to Atenea, and that Jae was trying to communicate with Miguel ーit seemed that neither of them knew much English. Felix, who was indeed still a bit pale, had approached Isabel, who had fallen a bit behind, and had just whispered, ‘Happy birthday.’

He could get used to it.

© stayconnecteed 2024 ★ do not copy, translate, repost or share this work as yours on other platforms ! consider leaving a comment or reblogging.

[hometoursandotherstuff]

I'm fascinated by this industrial loft. I don't know if the architect was being creative b/c of the architectural layout of the building, or what. But, I'm also impressed by the size of it in comparison to the price. It's a 2bd, 3ba, unit in a 1929 building in Atlanta, GA and it's listed for $650K, (reduced $15K), + $330mo. HOA.

The entrance from the parking garage.

The lobby with the mailboxes is very unattractive.

And, I think that this is the direct entrance into the unit from the street.

When I first saw this, I thought it was the lobby, but it's actually the unit.

It's gigantic. Look at the size of this. It's hard to tell what the rooms are, but this looks like the living room.

The kitchen is a very large galley style. I dont think that the counters are granite, they look like a composite, and there's no backsplash.

That black area is interesting. I don't know what you'd put in there.

Lots of metal railings. I would think that this is a dining area.

That wood floor area is elevated, so it must be the dining room.

I would imagine that these are bedrooms, but there are only 2.

And, there's also a 3rd level. This is confusing.

Here's the laundry room.

This is definitely a bedroom.

Those are steps to the en-suite.

I can't tell if that's a catwalk, but there's part of the HVAC system up here.

I don't like how the sink has exposed pipes.

Why is the tub so high?

I think that this is a private patio.

I don't know if this belongs to the unit or if it's a shared area.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/320-Peters-St-SW-UNIT-3-Atlanta-GA-30313/55016923_zpid/?

[doctor-dusk]

𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 | 𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐱 𝐭.

you and a certain riddler (eycte!alex) have some fun at a halloween party.

warnings: unprotected sex (piv), veeery soft dom!alex, i think that's it lol

word count: 4.6k

english is not my first language, so sorry if there are any grammatical errors. also this is my first smut posted here, i'm fucking nervous :v

‘’so, you think it will take a while for her to arrive?’’ 

alex heard miles' question sound far away as his eyes were fixed on the partially busy street. they were at the entrance to the hotel exactly ten minutes ago for a costume party, after all, it was halloween.

‘’perhaps. it wouldn't be her if she wasn't late, eh?’’ he replied, looking at his wristwatch and avoiding rubbing his eyes in frustration, as he didn't want to smudge the perfectly done eyeliner on the waterline of his eyes.

alex had planned this for over a month, not just because miles and other friends would be at this party, but because you would be there. well, at least that's what you told him three days ago, when he asked you for the umpteenth time if you were really going. turner knew you well enough to know that you could change your mind in the blink of an eye. you weren't the type to leave the house, so seeing you be anywhere other than your apartment was like a huge event that he really didn't want to miss.

‘’you can go ahead if you want. i'll wait ‘ere.’’ alex turned to kane when he saw him adjust the platinum wig on his head. he couldn't say exactly what miles' fantasy was, but he didn't think it was bad. it suited him.

‘’nah, i don't think it will be necessary.’’ miles pointed with his chin in the opposite direction, making alex turn his head. his eyes caught sight of the silver toyota prius arriving at the rotating parking lot. alex breathed a sigh of relief mixed with satisfaction when he knew it was you.

he didn’t look away for a second, not even when the valet came around the car to open the driver’s door so you could get out. he thought he forgot how he breathed when he saw you tiptoe out of the vehicle, wearing a strapless leather dress, highlighting even more your clavicle and well-defined shoulders; the black leather boots didn't shine any more than the chocker-style necklace wrapped around your neck subtly, not looking so tight; your voluminous hair was down, finished impeccably, and turner thought for a moment that was the reason you took your sweet time. as you approached as if you were parading on a catwalk, he noticed how the femme fatale makeup fit you like a glove, your entire face seemed more highlighted with the catty eyelashes.

he definitely couldn't stop looking at you. and he didn't even want to.

‘’what kind of fantasy is this, miles?’’ it was the first thing you asked after you handed over your car keys to the valet to park your car in a space in the underground parking lot. ‘’i don't know, a mix of elvis presley and niall horan?’’

‘’yeah, yeah, very funny.’’ miles forced a laugh without a hint of humor. ‘’this is art, okay? ric flair, better known as the nature boy.’’ he said, taking a walk while you let out a laugh. ‘’of course ya’ don't know, just want to know about lovecraft and allan poe.’’

‘’and what's wrong with that?’’ you rolled your eyes in amusement, then resting them on turner. his smile grew even wider when he saw you so close and so… tempting. you never thought you'd actually need to see turner wearing eyeliner until you saw it before your eyes. ‘’oh, and you must be…’’ you said, sliding your index finger over qlex's covered shoulder, making him smile.

‘’c’mon, darlin’. it shouldn't be that hard to know who i am.’’ alex extended his arms, also doing a little turn so that you could look at him up and down and caught your lip between your teeth just in time, before he could complete the turn and look back at you. ‘’what does a liar do when he’s dead?’’

‘’he lies still.’’ you replied immediately, seeing alex smile as he nodded. ‘’well, 's not bad, al. such a perfect riddler. better than a certain someone…’’ you mumbled under your breath as you gestured to miles, making turner hold back a laugh.

‘’yeah, just pretend i'm not here. bullying can be avoided, ya’ know?’’ he lightly pushed you by the shoulder, making you laugh. you couldn't help it, but you knew that deep down, it was all just a joke. you and miles got along very well, especially because you had been friends for a long time and it was through him that you met alex. it couldn't be better.

‘’c’mon, you know i love you, mi.’’ you hugged him over his shoulder, gently rubbing the palm of your hand on miles' chin, feeling his sparse beard tickle your open palm.

‘’okay, okay. and who are you, by the way?’’ he asked, now paying attention to your costume.

‘’neither do i know. something close to the characters in the books i read, a mix of dracula and… i don't know.’’ you said, shaking the vampire cape you wore. turner couldn't help but let an almost invisible smirk appear. he knew you would choose something like this, it was as if he knew you like the back of his hand.’’

‘’i liked it. ‘s just like you.’’ alex said, seeing you smile without showing your teeth, your cheeks flushed as the smile was still present on your face. ‘’looks like you’ve been flashin’ triple A passes at the cemetery gates.’’

‘’oh, here it comes. we don't have time for that, let's go ‘cause the night is young and it grows fast.’’ miles gestured in mock boredom, opening the way for you to enter. obviously you and alex followed him side by side, and alex didn't pass up the opportunity he had by wrapping his arm around your waist, resting his hand there. 

of course, you didn't stop feeling that ravenous shiver, even though you tried to hide it as best you could. you just loved alex's touch on any area of your body. literally any area.

‘’thought you weren't going to come.’’ alex whispered in your ear, even though the room was filled with loud music, you were able to hear and smile.

‘’i thought about giving up, you know me. i hate leaving the my cave.’’ you laughed through your nose, looking at him. alex awakened something inexplicable in you, even more now. the clothes, the hair, the makeup, the way his jaw was so marked as if it could cut diamonds, the eyes marked by eyeliner seemed more enigmatic even in the partially lit environment, the mouth that seemed to invite you for a kiss in a hidden corner... all of that was capable of taking away what little sanity you had left and making you insane, even if you hadn't drunk a drop of alcohol until that moment.

‘’oh, sweetheart, you would break me heart if you didn't come.’’ turner pouted amidst his slurred voice, letting his thumb run up and down your waist, giving you an almost imperceptible caress. you held your breath subtly, trying not to lose your self-control.

but in front of alex turner, you had anything but self-control.

‘’it's not like you won't have fun here without me.’’ you joked, taking a drink from the waiter who passed by, serving drinks on a golden tray. the party was packed, more than expected. miles had already gotten lost in the crowd, not that you cared about that. you’re fine just in each other's company.’’

‘’it wouldn't be that funny, love.’’ alex laughed, letting his nose run over your bare shoulder, feeling the fragrance of your perfume invade his nostrils, absorbing a smile that was impossible to hide. ‘’you and your mysterious energy like someone with an unkind of ravens and murder of crows fascinate me. i couldn't do without you ‘ere.’’ he finished, taking some of his drink to try. his throat burned with the first sip, but nothing he wasn't used to.

‘’me and my mysterious energy? this one is new.’’ — you raised an eyebrow, a little curious. alex couldn't explain exactly what caught his attention.

he knew that you were kinda different from the other girls he had ever met. fascinated by lovecraft and edgar allan poe, further denoting your small obsession with death. your favorite films were horror films, especially the italian kind. you could spend hours and hours listening to the soundtracks while driving your prius through the city streets in your dark leather clothes, living your life the way you wanted.

he loved your authenticity. you weren't afraid or ashamed to be like this. maybe that was what excited him so much that he wanted you so bad.

alex laughed instead of giving you an answer, pulling you onto the dance floor. at one point, they met up with miles and other mutual friends, you drank, had fun listening to some music from the 80s. you felt free to do whatever you wanted as the drink got more to your heads and the zeros lined up on the clock.

in fact, you don't usually go to these places, you'd much rather be at home under the covers and in the company of a good book. but when you were with alex and miles, everything seemed to get better. or more specifically, when you were with alex. even though he was completely the opposite of you, turner was seen as a kind of magnet, impossible to ignore, especially when you had already taken enough shots to lose track of each other and the sexual tension increased with each exchange of glances.

little did you know that even though he wasn't your type, alex was completely willing to try something.

‘’what do you think we get out of ‘ere, baby?’’ you heard alex's voice drawl when he brought his mouth to your ear. you thought he did it on purpose, just to make every hair on your body stand on end. and well, it really was on purpose.

‘’where?’’ you asked, wrapping your arms around his neck, feeling him closer. turner looked around for a moment, trying to adjust his blurry vision. you could go to any room in that hotel, but he had a better idea in mind.

‘’your car.’’ he suggested. you gave a roguish smile, finishing your drink in one gulp. oh, you knew exactly where this would take them, and there was no way you were going to back down now. not when turner is absurdly irresistible and you're in an overwhelming mood.

‘’what about miles?’’ you dared to ask, looking over his shoulder, seeing your friend dancing as if there was no tomorrow, not caring about the two of you there.

‘’don't give a shit about him right now.’’ turner said, tilting his face a little to give you a soft kiss without using his tongue, already being able to awaken even more that insane desire in both you and himself. ‘’just want you, darlin’.’’ he finished in a whisper, biting your bottom lip.

you didn't need to respond any further, leading the way immediately, passing through the euphoric and drunk bodies, gripping alex's hand who was following right behind you, also eager to get out of there as soon as possible. you got your car keys from reception, and soon the two of you were heading to the parking lot, stopping to exchange some caresses that you thought were urgent since you couldn't do it while walking.’’

‘’oh, i love this car.’’ alex comments in an ecstatic sigh, letting his hand slide over the sparkling silver bodywork of the trunk of your toyota prius.

‘’more than me?’’ you asked, leaning your body against the warm hood of the car, practically lying on it. alex watched the scene in slow motion with a roguish smile. and for him it was impossible not to walk towards you, leaving your bodies almost glued together, his hands were firm on your waist while he used one of his legs to create a small space between your legs.

‘’no, no more than you, honey.’’ he replied in a purr, his thirsty lips trailed across your chin in a drawn-out kiss, making you gasp as you felt the light pressure of his kiss on your neck.

soon enough, the kisses on your neck stopped when you felt the need to feel his lips crushing yours, becoming as urgent as the touches on his neck and waist, bringing him closer to you, his sneaky hands moved down to lift the skirt of your dress so that you felt freer to open your legs a little more and he could be in the middle, pressing more against you. the rough kiss had an alcoholic taste, not that you minded that, in fact, it made everything even more delicious when mixed with the heavy breathing and racing hearts.

‘’fuck, you're so…’’ he murmured amid the kiss, feeling your hands loosening the black tie he was wearing around his neck. even though he was a musical genius, words always seemed to escape him when it came to you. and you loved it.

‘’so…?’’ you laughed, biting his lip softly before turning your face away to look around. you didn't know if anyone was nearby or if there were cameras in that parking lot. but deep down, you both loved that adrenaline.

‘’so dark. but i want you hard.’’ he said, grabbing your face by the chin and forcing you to look at him. his hair that was previously combed back was messy, and that made him even sexier in your opinion. ‘’so hard…’’ he repeated as he kissed you again, as if somehow he couldn't live without feeling your mouth against his and your tongues tangling briefly.

‘’how much? do you have a percentage?’’ you teased him as you felt his hands squeeze the warm skin of your thighs, sliding a little lower. every touch and sensation was so electrifying that any little thing could make you even more aroused.

‘’fuck the percentage, i want you so much. so fuckin’ much.’’ he laughed, dragging his slightly drunken voice. you laughed too, you liked that it was always in moments like this that you managed to get a hearty laugh out of each other, and so soon you were in the backseat of your car.

within moments, you were sitting on his lap, feeling his hands on your back and the cold breeze from the air conditioning on. turner relaxed his body against the back of the backseat, wrapping one hand around your waist while the other pressed the back of your head as you trailed kisses on his neck. he gasped with each touch, each time he felt your tongue snake up his neck to his earlobe while your hands had the agile job of unbuttoning his shirt and getting rid of his belt.

you had an immense desire for each other, and every second seemed to increase your desire even more, especially when you kissed him again, so deeply that you lost your breath, even more so when you moved your hips in his lap, feeling him pant against your mouth.

you quickly unzipped alex's pants, sliding them down enough with his help as he lifted his hips so that you had an easier time taking off not only his pants but also his boxers, revealing his throbbing erection pulling out of his confines.

you give a smirk, not hesitating to place your right hand there, causing a drawn out sigh from him. your touch was all that he needed, he was craving it for such a long fucking time.

‘’i’m not going to lie, it's the first time i've done this in a car.’’ he said, still panting as he felt your hand slide up and down his cock, seeing you sit a little below his belly so that his leaking tip gently brushed against your belly. you were stroking him so deliciously slow, making him clench his fists in anticipation.

‘’same, i don't even know if this will work.’’ you laughed softly, feeling alex’s hands lower the top of your dress a little just to see the sight of your breasts exposed in front of him, leaving him more aroused than he could have imagined.

‘’let’s make it work, love.’’ he replied, moving his hand to your panties, not feeling the need to take them off, just using his index and middle fingers to form a hook and pull them to the side, leaving them free so he could test the waters a little, teasing you just like you did to him. ‘’oh, you’re so wet, baby.’’ he smirked, using his thumb to ghost over your clit, his touch was as light as a feather, and it was torturous for you. ‘’we didn't do anything and you're already soaked, eh?’’

‘’and it’s all your fault.’’ you grumbled, pressing your thumb on his fat tip, spreading the precum all over his throbbing cock. he let out a growl, he wish he could eat you out until you’re screaming his name and your moans echo throughout the parking lot, but he was kinda desperate to feel you around him.

''lift your hips, babe. need to feel you.'' he commanded, still holding your panties firmly to the side with the hook he formed with his fingers.

you obeyed immediately, raising your hips a little, rubbing his tip through your folds, spreading your wetness over it, closing your eyes as you sink down on him, feeling him bury his cock completely inside of you, throwing your body back a little, placing both of your hands on his knees while he helped you move by putting one hand on your waist and the other were still occupied holding your panties to the side.

your movements were slow, lifting your hips up and bringing them down again, making alex have the privilege of seeing his cock coming out almost completely to the point of seeing his tip out and then disappearing completely inside of you, your walls feeling like home for him. and you did this with such precision, increasing the pace a little more with each bounce, both of you panting with each firm thrust.

‘’f-fuck, al, feels so fuckin’ g-good…’’ you barely have the voice to whisper in his ear when you lean your body towards him, making him place one of his hands on your lower back. alex kissed your neck, already free from the necklace when you took it off earlier, leaving a trail of saliva with his tongue until he reached your jawline.

‘’you feel so fucking good, darling. so tight…’’ alex hummed, satisfied with the feeling of your tits against his chest, your hard nipples poking his skin. ‘’you ‘ave no idea how much i want you on all fours right now.’’ he said, sucking the air tightly between his teeth, his hand moved to give you a hard slap on your left buttock, making a noise that would certainly echo through the room if you were in one.

‘’let’s make it work, love.’’ you repeated his line, seeing him smile as he caught his lower lip between his teeth as he caught one last glimpse of you above him. you had an idea, knowing that you could fold down the backseat, doing so by pressing the small latch in the corner of the car, folding the seat down and creating more space.

now you were able to reverse positions, and soon you were on all fours towards him, letting your ass up so that he could take you from behind. the car was silent, you only heard the sound of his breathing and your own breathing before you felt him pulling down your panties until it reached your bent knees, your hole were clenching around nothing, feeling so empty without him, but soon this emptiness were filled when he entered you again with no warming, making you gasp.

his hands grabbed your waist after traveling a path along your thighs and buttocks, respectively, feeling your skin shivering at his touch. you pressed the upholstery of the seat with one hand while the other was leaning against the window. whoever was passing by could easily see the prints of your fingers and palm because of the air conditioning on. 

even though the pace was slow at first, you couldn't help but roll your eyes at the delicious sensation of feeling him fucking you so deep , his tip kissing your cervix repeatedly, even more so when he held your shoulder, making you lift your head a little and feel his warm and alcoholic breath hitting your hair as he leaned his body a little more over yours.

turner had a smile on his lips, he liked the sight of having you in all fours at him, and even more so when you were so lubricated that it was even slippery, he could pull out his entire cock and bottoms out with such ease and did it several times, not only because it is extremely pleasurable for him, but also for you. 

he loved seeing you so cockdrunked, he love to see you arch your back as you contorted your body whenever he hit your g-spot to the point that it made you feel a small twinge, just like a cramp.

‘’oh, fuck, alex.’’ you growled, grabbing his wrist, making him look at you while you turned your head enough to look him in the eyes. you had bright eyes, a flushed face, your lipstick was completely smudged and your chest was rising and falling with heavy breathing.

‘’yeah?’’ he asked cynically, leaning his body more to leave a small kiss on your shoulder, watching you struggle to reach his lips to try to give him a kiss.

‘’are you sure i'm the dark one around here?’’ you mumbled, and alex gave another smile. he knew you wanted more. he might as well make you beg for it, he liked being in control, and that turned him on even more.

‘’shh, you are very impatient.’’ he tilted his body more so he could kiss you while he remained still inside you, then returning to his starting position to continue thrusting slowly for a few more seconds, just for fun.

he kept his eyes closed, feeling his adam's apple throb and even though he tried to ignore it, he couldn't help but respond to your requests for more. the position made the penetration deeper and, when he realized that you were more comfortable and wiggling your ass to match his pace, he sank his fingers into your hips as he began to thrust harder.

there was a moment when you didn't know which was louder, whether it was their moans or the sound of his hips bumping against your ass, and turner didn't hesitate to close his fist around your hair, making you roll your eyes under your eyelids, needing just a few more thrusts so he could notice your arms failing to keep you fully on all fours, announcing the arrival of a orgasm.

alex wraps his arm around your waist, his palm resting on your belly, making you partially kneel while he is pounding hard, just to hear you moan his name madly, feeling your nails scratch his arms wrapped around your torso. 

his other hand roamed to your front, moving down so his middle and ring finger could rub your clit tirelessly, making your knees even weaker as you grabbed his hair for your dear life. you're just a babbling mess, and he liked the effect he had on you.

‘’what’s the matter? you wanted it hard, so you’re fucking getting it.’’ he growled, biting your shoulder as you gasped for air, your cunt was clenching hard around him, you’re really close.

‘’fuck, fuck, fuck, alex, ‘m gonna cum, please…’’ you moaned breathlessly, feeling his fingers keeping its ministrations on your sensitive bud.

‘’mhmm, that’s right, baby, cum for me.’’ he encouraged you, and you just loved it when he talked to you like that, and it didn't take long for you to cum on his cock, he kept fucking you through your orgasm just to prolong this overwhelming feeling.

and of course, it didn't take him long to follow suit, letting go of everything he was fighting to hold back just for the feeling of pleasure to linger, his hot load coated your walls, filling you up so good. soon he was breathing deeply as he tried to adjust his blurred vision, his grip on you still tight.

he let his limp body fall onto the bench, seeing that you did the same. now you’re concentrated on regulating your own breathing. you had a smile on your face, running your tongue over your lips as if you couldn't believe what just happened.

his half closed eyes still captured the moment when you reached the dashboard only to turn off the air conditioning and open the glove compartment, taking out a cigarette pack and a black lighter. every movement you made was slow, from the moment you brought the unlit cigarette to your full lips until the moment you took the first drag, blowing the smoke outside through the small crack in the window you opened.

‘’why are you looking at me like that?’’ you asked curiously, your bent legs swinging from side to side in a distracted way. turner shook his head, taking a drag on the cigarette you offered him next.

‘’i just like looking at you.’’ he replied after releasing smoke from his mouth. you both stayed in a comfortable silence for a while longer, just looking at each other and enjoying what you had. and you wouldn't trade it for anything. ‘’we should do this again.’’

‘’maybe in a bigger car.’’ you added, looking inside your prius before taking another drag, taking your hand to the outside of the car to get rid of the cigarette ashes. ‘’but I really want to do it again. not here.’’ you raised one of your eyebrows, sliding your foot over turner's bare and sweaty chest, letting him know that you weren't satisfied with just this quickie. and he wasn't either. he would never get tired of doing this to you wherever he went.

‘’my place or yours?’’ he asked with a smirk, seeing you shrug your  shoulders. 

‘’odds and evens?’’ you asked and alex laughed.

‘’fair enough. evens.’’ he responded by closing his hand and you did the same, and they soon showed the chosen numbers. alex showed one finger and you showed two.

‘’guess i won this one.’’ you giggled, touching the tip of his nose, implying that you were going to your apartment. and then, they were putting back your clothes and getting ready to leave the parking lot in the car.

‘’are we really going to leave miles ‘ere?’’ he asked, laughing as he combed his hair with his fingers. you laughed, nodding.

‘’miles knows how to manage without us for a night.’’ you replied, allowing yourself to speed up the car as you left the hotel, moving further and further away. ‘’i just know that i want you so hard.’’

‘’how much? do you have a percentage?’’ alex asked, hearing your hearty laugh echo through the car while the wind that came through the window ruffled your hair and made you more graceful.

‘’fuck the percentage, i want you so much. so fuckin’ much.’’

alex laughed, being quick enough to steal a peck from you as you took you both to your apartment or wherever. alex didn't care about having a certain destiny as long as he was with you.

after that, all you saw before your sparkling eyes while you both were inside the prius was an empty avenue on a halloween night in los angeles.

[steevbuckk]

FAVORITE STUCKY FICS | 42/100

perfectly right wrong number by melonbutterfly

[Shrunkyclunks, 31 942 words, Teen And Up Audiences]

Summary:

It all starts because Steve is too dumb to handle his smartphone.

A wrong number AU in which Bucky Barnes doesn't enter Steve's life (meaning: Bucky wasn't born until the eighties, but Steve is still Captain America) until Steve accidentally dials the wrong number. Wherein there is a lot of texting, some advice via Natasha and Darcy, a bit of pining, and a first date in an amusement park. Oh, and on top of being a disabled veteran, Bucky is a professional catwalker. Literally.

more fics

[alarrytale]

Why do you want him to suddenly wear colors and prance around on stage? It would look fake as fuck and nobody would buy it. It’s not like he was doing much when he was on 1D but walk on stage and get into water bottle fights. Harry just does the same little dance throughout his whole show so it’s not like he’s pulling Beyonce type shit here while performing either.

Hi, anon!

I just said? So he can sell twice as many tickets as he does now? Continue to be an international touring artist with a thriving, growing and happy fandom?

He's also doing stadiums and large venues now. He's not in a pub or small venue anymore. His whole set and blocking is made for that smaller size. Do you know why most stadium artists wears bright colours, sequins and glitter? So they can stand out in the crowd and people can recognise the artist. The ones in the nosebleed seats shouldn't have to ask themselves if it's Louis they see or a stagehand because they're both wearing all black and it's dark...

Also, he should start moving on stage because it's less monotone than just standing there for every song. Break it up a bit. Do one song at catwalk, do one where he lets go of the mic stand... He should move around and greet fans left of stage, right of stage and not just the people at barricade. People need to feel seen. He used to do this all the time in 1D. Wave at the nosebleeds left of stage. Check that the people in the back were okay. For a stadium show he needs to up the energy level a bit.

There is no need to compare him to H, because H is of another caliber when it comes to performing and entertaining. L's got a lot to learn from H, and i'm not saying L needs to do anything disgenuine or fake, or do it in the way H does. He should talk more and interact more with his fans during break between songs, he should do some sort of collective chant or a mexican wave or something to get the fans going! Set the mood and the tone of the show. Ask how people are doing, talk about what a song means to him before it starts or do a suprise voice only part of a bridge to get fans excited. What i really miss is the fans yelling the princess park line with him or the whole OTB experience, like Harry's leave america thing. He hasn't got anything like that currently. I also wish he'd dared to play an instrument on stage.

He's so far from that place of confidence though, that all this is a lot to ask.

[haveyoureadthisfanfic]

Summary: It all starts because Steve is too dumb to handle his smartphone. A wrong number AU in which Bucky Barnes doesn't enter Steve's life (meaning: Bucky wasn't born until the eighties, but Steve is still Captain America) until Steve accidentally dials the wrong number. Wherein there is a lot of texting, some advice via Natasha and Darcy, a bit of pining, and a first date in an amusement park. Oh, and on top of being a disabled veteran, Bucky is a professional catwalker. Literally.

Author: @melonbutterfly

[ploridafanthers]

Calling all Floridian environmentalists!!!

i just checked my email which i never do which is why i missed all of dracula daily last year but that’s not the point and i got this plea from hernando county FNPS (florida native plant society)

weeki wachee state park (famous in earlier decades for its mermaid show) contains an unfathomably beautiful stretch of untouched wetland sandwiched between the ever-expanding suburbs of gulf-coast central florida. or almost untouched. it’s an active recreation area with catwalks, hiking trails, and boat ramps. boat mooring damages our ever-dwindling eelgrass beds, a horrible blow to our struggling manatee population. boating also creates pollution and transports invasives (booooo), not to mention the noise pollution (i think every person in hernando may own an airboat. going to the only beach in that county is miserable (for a lot of reasons)).

hernando county submitted a proposal for a Spring Protection Zone to prohibit boat mooring, grounding, and anchoring in these precious areas. FWC wants to reduce the protection area to appease boaters.

we need to email the commission before they make a decision by monday, 5/8/23

it’s an uphill struggle trying to protect florida from its inhabitants. please help by signal-boosting this and emailing BoatingPublicComments@myfwc.com to protect an irreplaceable sliver of our ecological inheritance.

thank you

[dontspillthefrijoles43]

Lost hero XIII- Breisa

Crashed landing…why would a flying dragon land that way?

Warning: Minor injuries, broken ankle, teenagers being teenagers, demigods being clueless Word count: 1557 Summary: AHHHHHHHH! 💥Crash! .....I think I broke my ribs...

Likes ❤️, Reblogs🔁, and comments 💬 very much appreciated!

<<Prev

Next>>

__

Breisa used to have a habit of being clumsy and tripping. 

She figured nothing beat free falling through the air at the speed of sound.

Far below she saw city lights glimmering in the early dawn, and several hundred yards away the body of the bronze dragon spinning out of control, its wings limp, fire flickering in its mouth.

A body shot past her—Leo, screaming and frantically grabbing at the clouds. “Not cool!” 

She tried to shout. But the force they were falling at knocked the wind out of her lungs. All she could manage were short gasps. 

Breisa had to think fast of the next best thing. She focused as hard as she could to try to levitate. 

But the fear of being pulverized into the ground was just too much. 

Something caught her arm and yanked her close—Jason and Piper. 

Piper screamed “You have leveled out! Stretch out your arms and legs!”

As the fall slowed down, she felt power coming from Jason. Whatever he was doing was working—but they lurched up and down like on a bad carnival ride. 

“Hav…get...Leo!” Piper yelled through the winds.

“...rough!” Jason shouted.

‘Wait what?!’ Breisa thought.

And they shot through the air like a bullet. 

Then whump, a warm body slammed into Breisa—it was Leo. She grabbed him as best as she could but he still wriggled and sweared.

“Stop fighting!” Breisa shouted, “It’s us!” 

“My dragon!” Leo yelled, “We gotta save Festus!”

An explosion rang below them. A fireball rolled into the sky from behind a warehouse complex, and Leo sobbed, “Festus!”

Jason’s face turned different colors of red and purple, he was straining himself too hard to keep them afloat. 

They bounced like going down a giant staircase, hundred feet at a time.

Breisa's eyes were straining against the wind—she could barely make out a factory complex where Festus crashed. It was made up of warehouses, smokestacks, barbed-wire fences, and parking lots lined with snow-covered vehicles.

Jason groaned, “I can’t—“

 And they dropped like stones. 

They hit the roof of the largest warehouse and crashed through into darkness. 

—

“¡HIJO DE PUTA!” Breisa swore. 

She landed on, now smashed—wooden crates. Pain shot through her ribs.

Jason's voice called in an echo, “Where’d they go? Where’s Piper?” 

“Ow, bro!” Leo groaned, “That’s my back! I’m not a sofa? Breisa?! Piper?! Where'd you guys go?!”

“Here.” Piper whimpered a few feet from Breisa.

“I’m right here too!” She forced herself up, and made her way towards Piper. 

Breisa stumbled a bit but found Piper trying to get up from a metal catwalk. But her left foot was pointing the wrong direction.

“¡Aye güey!” Breisa winced and helped her sit up.

Footsteps rushed up the steps beside the catwalk. 

Leo began to ask, “You two okay?” Then he froze as he saw Piper’s foot. “Ohh, no you’re not ok.”

“Thanks for the reassurance.” Piper groaned.

“You’ll be fine.” Jason tried not to sound worried. His voice failed him. “Do any of you have first aid supplies?”

Breisa rummaged through her bag—she found a bottle, pulled it up, and it read ‘antibacterial cream’. “Um, This could work? If the bone was sticking out..”

“Uh…” Jason turned, “How about you Leo?”

He dug around his tool belt, pulled some gauze and a roll of duct tape— which seemed too big for the belts pockets.

“How did you—” Piper tried to move her leg and winced. “How did you guys get those things?”

“Magic.” Leo and Breisa said in unison.

Piper raised an eyebrow. 

“My sister gave me a magic supply bag.” Breisa explained. “It works.” She was pleasantly surprised. 

“Magic tool belt.” Leo said, “I haven't figured it out completely. But I can summon just about any tool out of the pockets, plus some other helpful stuff.” He reached into another pocket, and pulled out a tiny tin box. “Breath mint?”

Jason snatched away the mints. “That’s great Leo. But can you fix her foot?”

“I’m a mechanic. Maybe if she was a car…” He trailed off.

“I think I can.” Breisa piped in. She tried remembering some of many first aid lectures from her aunt. She kneeled on the catwalk—slightly above Piper. “I’m going to need something to keep the pain away.”

Leo snapped his fingers at Jason. “Wait, what was that godly healing food they gave you bro— Rambo food?”

“Ambrosia dummy.” Piper said through gritted teeth,“There’s some in my bag, if it’s not crushed.”

Jason took her bag, and managed a ziploc bag with smashed pastry squares. He passed along.

“Here.” Breisa broke off a piece and fed it to her.

She relaxed a bit and demanded, “More.”

Jason frowned. “Piper, we shouldn’t risk it. They said too much could burn you up.”

“I’m guessing that should be enough for the pain anyway.” Breisa glanced at her awkwardly pointed foot. “I should set your foot.” 

Piper didn’t look so relaxed anymore. “Have you ever done that before?”

“Oh yeah bunch of times.” Breisa lied. “Leo,got anything I can use as a splint?”

 He found an old piece of wood and broke it in half. Then he handed her the gauze and duck tape. “Espero que sepas lo que estás haciendo.”

“I do…mostly.” She mumbled. “Jason, Leo— hold her leg still. Piper, this might hurt.”

Breisa counted to three in her head and snapped her foot in place.

 Piper shrieked, and sucker punched Leo in an arm—who screamed in a higher pitch than her.

“Fuck off.” He swore, catching Breisa trying to hold her laughter in. 

All together, they wrapped up Piper’s leg in makeshift splint. 

“Ow.” She winced, “Maybe next time we shouldn’t set my foot before the painkiller? That hurt like a bitch.”

“That hurt? Geez, beauty queen!” Leo rubbed his arm. “Glad my face wasn’t there.” 

“Sorry,” She said. “And don’t call me ‘beauty queen’, or I’ll punch you again.”

Breisa smiled, “You both did great.��

“We all did.” Jason passed Piper a water canteen. “Everyone else good? No server injuries?”

“Just some scratches.” Breisa waved off, but her side throbbed. She winced and clutched it. “Maybe a couple of bruises.”

“Definitely a bruised ego.” Leo was still rubbing his arm.

Jason handed both a piece of lemon squares.

It tasted like her dad’s arroz con leche. She felt the pain ease a bit.

Snowflakes fluttered through the hole in the roof.

Breisa just realized how old and abandoned this warehouse is.

Half broken tools around the floors and rusty machines. There were metals and wood materials in different directions. The place was tagged with graffiti. 

“What happened to the dragon?” Piper asked. “Where are we?” 

Leo’s expression turned sullen. “I don’t know with Festus. He just jerked sideways like he hit an invisible wall and started to fall.”

‘Hope you enjoy your trip demigod!’ The voice from the dream echoed. Breisa shuddered. 

Leo pointed to the logo on the wall. “As far as where we are …” 

It was hard to see through the graffiti, but  she could make out a large red eye with the stenciled words: Monocle motors, assembly plant 1. 

“Closed car plant,” Leo said. “I’m guessing we crash-landed in Detroit.” 

Breisa wondered how he would have known that. But he was the mechanic, she would second guess him. “How far is that from Chicago?”

Jason spoke,  “Maybe three-fourths of the way from Quebec? The thing is, without the dragon, we’re stuck traveling overland.” 

“No way,” Leo said. “It isn’t safe.” 

 Piper nodded. “He’s right. Besides, I don’t know if I can walk.”

Breisa butt in. “Four people—Jason, you can’t fly that many across the country by yourself. I’m not even sure I know how to magic us there.”

 “Right,” Jason said. “Leo, are you sure the dragon didn’t malfunction? Mean, Festus is old, and—”

“And I might not have repaired him right?” He puffed out his chest defensively. 

Breisa put her hand on his shoulder. She gave a look to both of them.

“I didn’t say that,” Jason protested. “It’s just—maybe you could fix it.” 

“I don’t know.” Leo sounded crestfallen. He pulled a few screws out of his pockets and started fiddling with them. “I’d have to find where he landed, if he’s even in one piece.” 

“It was my fault.” Piper spoke suddenly.

“Piper,” Jason said softly, “you were asleep when Festus conked out, it couldn’t have been your fault.”

“Yeah, you’re just shaken up.” Leo agreed 

“You're in pain. Just rest.” Breisa tried to put her at ease.  

Piper’s guilt only grew. She looked like she wanted to say more but she swallowed her words.

 Leo stood. “Look, um, why don’t you two stay with her? I’ll scout around for Festus. I think he fell outside the warehouse somewhere. If I can find him, maybe I can figure out what happened and fix him.” 

“It’s too dangerous,” Jason said. “You shouldn’t go by yourself.” 

“Ah, I got duct tape and breath mints. I’ll be fine,” Leo said, a little too quickly. “You guys just don’t run off without me.” 

Leo reached into his magic tool belt, pulled out a flashlight, and headed down the stairs, leaving Piper and Jason alone. With Breisa.

“I’m going after him.” She stood up awkwardly, “Uh scream if any trouble.”

“Be careful.” Jason called. 

Breisa gave a thumbs up and rushed down the steps. She took a deep breath and plunged out into the snow.

__

(A/N: Post again sometime again this month, sorry of my lack of motivation 😭, hoping to finish this fic before spring [April] . Hope you all enjoy this chapter :), did not plan on leaving another cliffhanger for too long)

[princesssarisa]

Below is a copy of that Heather O'Rourke "ghost tale" if anyone hasn't read it:

Heather O'Rourke's Ghost Story.

One of the saddest stories was that of stage 19 and the ghost of a little girl.

Stage 19 was the host to he ever popular "Happy Days" during its long run. It brought a lot of laughter and happiness to the nation and the world. Even though it was one of the most beloved sitcoms of all time, a piece of tragedy lingered with it.

Years after "Happy Days" had gone, one of its cast members lingered behind. A security officer was patrolling the soundstage as part of her usual route. She went inside to make sure that everything was locked down air tight for the night.

The rafters were checked, the stage was patrolled, and the doors were locked. As the officer was preparing to leave, she saw a bright light coming from behind her. No one was in the soundstage with her. No one was there to work the lights on the catwalk. She started to get scared. Upon turning around, the guard gazed up on the ghost of little Heather O'Rourke staring her down.

Heather appeared on the last couple of seasons of "Happy Days" as the daughter of Fonzie's girlfriend. She also appeared as the angelic "Carol Anne" in the doomed "Poltergeist" movies. Heather died on the operating table due to complications of both the operation and a birth defect.

The security officer was in shock. Here was this beautiful little ghost staring her straight in the face.Calmly, coolly, the officer took out her trusty radio and proceeded to scream. Over every radio that night were the cries of "Oh my God! She's here! Someone, quick, get over here! Oh my God! Oh my God!" Maybe this reaction scared Heather, for she never appeared again.

How interesting!

Hopefully she was just paying a short visit, not trapped there or anything like that. :( Or maybe it wasn't really Heather, but just a thought form created by all the memories of her on that soundstage, while the real Heather is in heaven or reincarnated.

I visited her crypt last week, as you might remember from my Westwood Memorial Park photos. Someone had put a bouquet of artificial flowers on it, but with one real rose among them.

[ancient-anteater]

Here’s part 2! I’ve been having a lot of fun writing this, and I actually rewrote this part so it’s a lot better than what it was originally. It’s still some exposition but I did my best to make it work, enjoy!

Warren had bought the cargo ship and remodeled the entire under deck area, making an almost secret space for illegal shipments that could be delivered to Gotham and into his care. How else would he transport helicopters with question marks, or obscenely large working toy penguins without his crew immediately being arrested on the spot. He took effort into making sure the cruise always arrived at night safe into the harbor, spending money on high tech systems that would plot the course of the ship and arrive just on time, practically driving and steering it without needing anyone to control anything but a few buttons, levers, or something out on the deck. The main issue was the ship wouldn’t stop moving, even after different tests and trials there always needed to be a small crew to basically park the ship.

There were two control rooms one for the lower deck and one for the rest of the ship, the lower cargo area was practically separate from the ship with only a few doors connecting to crew quarters and no connection to the actual engine rooms. The main way to get into the lower cargo area was a straight ramp that came out onto the center of the upper deck. It always had a shipping container on top of it, at least it usually did. Due to the weight of the animals empty shipping containers had to be left behind, and the ones on top of the ramp doors were moved off to keep the full containers up top.

Below these doors were locked with chains, up top they had no door handle or any sort of system to open it and as Warren walked through the dark he hoped his eyes would adjust to the low light soon. He needed to find something to open those doors due to the huge raptors prowling around the quarters looking for what he had stolen. He knew they wouldn’t find the eggs though, he had hidden them in the main control room in a secret compartment… his train of thought left him as he paused crouching down next to a wooden crate as he heard an almost chirping sound, he waited for his eyes to adjust better to the darkness to take a better look at what was making such annoying sounds.

It was more of the small fluffed animals, similar to the one that had been in the bedroom and was currently in a pillow case that he was holding. A few seemed to have lighter tails similar to a young lizard, but he didn’t think about it too much when he realized they were eating. He looked over from the edge of the crate to get a better look, watching the small animals bite at an arm specifically picking at the fingers and the part exposing the bone and he couldn’t help but scrunch his face up as much as he could in disgust. These small ones had striped tails and barley made it up to his knee but he knew by the small bite on his face that they were still dangerous, one or two he could handle, but there seemed to be more squeaking, chirping, and hooting at each other to tear off pieces of muscle and skin to eat.

They were distracted so he moved, going between two tight cages and moving to where he could more easily climb onto a crate, he moved trying to look for the secondary control room. He kept turning his head until he saw the small red lights and the glow they gave off, and he saw the bloody handprints staining the inside glass.

Warren swallowed, shifting for a moment as he hesitated before he bit his tongue and moved onward. He climbed across crates trying to avoid the metal cages and make loud sounds, there was a ladder that led up to a catwalk leading into the control room. The catwalk was flimsy and would no doubt make a sound when he got up there so he had to be fast. If he could get up to the control room, he could grab the emergency radio he stashed away there for a “just in case” situation, this seemed like that kind of situation.

Warren climbed down from the crates, there were only metal cages from this point on and stepping on those would no doubt result in some sort of day ruiner. So he walked, tightly holding the bloody pillow case like a weapon as he moved forward, then felt it. Felt like something was watching him, it sent shocks up his spine when he turned his head slightly and saw two eyes that glowed in the slight red glow of the warning lights centered close to the catwalk. The steel was the one thing separating him and those eyes and there was a rumbling he felt shake his bones. It had come from the big thing stuck in the cage, the tranquilizers were wearing off, had it been that long? Were they that close to Gotham harbor?

Another grumbling sound shook his body and he realized now how some of the cages were empty, he had brought extra cages but not nearly as many as there were. How many animals were now running aboard the ship? How many- the animal opened its mouth and tried to move forward, its lips touching metal as it bared its teeth. Its teeth had to be as big as his hand, slightly curved and no doubt serrated. It had bumps all along its nose and between its eyes, separating into round almost rock like bumps over and around its eyes. Those glowing dots that stared at him, it hissed lowly like some sort of pissed off crocodile. There were bumps at the end of its mouth, and it suddenly moved teeth trying to close around the metal and bend it.

God he was so close to its teeth and jaws, but also so close to the ladder it was right there, it was right there. There was an angry bellow as it closed its jaws around the metal and the metal bended after some pressure, Warren was still before he reached his hand into the pillow case and pulled out the limp headless striped animal. He held its leg and with little effort threw it into the much bigger animal’s jaws, it was quick to move its head away in surprise at having food quite literally thrown down its throat and it grunted as it corrected its posture beat it could. The hugely round animal turned with effort to get its feet underneath it, small two fingered hands scraping against the floor as it’s foot got underneath it and it tried to stand, banging its back and head against the metal.

Warren with his sense finally coming back to him, ran. He ran to the ladder and scrambled up it, probably climbing the fastest he’s ever climbed in his life, including all the times he’s tried to jump across a roof to escape the Batman or his bird brats. He made it to the catwalk and didn’t care about the small glowing eyes or the waking eyes of bigger animals as he ran across it and ripped open the control room door, slamming it as he got in. He looked around, seeing the vent and quickly closing that, ignoring how he slipped slightly on red and how when he got to his knee to close the vent the blood soaked threw his pants leg.

He swallowed, breathing before he turned around, seeing a picked apart body missing an arm and a leg. He grasped his shirt as he looked at the body, it wasn’t the worst he had seen in his life but the visible ribs and torn apart back was something outstandingly new. He heard metal creaking and shuffling, as well as loud honking, grunting, grumbling sounds coming from the cages. They were all trying to get out some more successful than others, he ran his hands around the dashboard until he found light switches, flicking them on and not caring if the light was red as long as he could see properly. He saw immediately a few small groups of the tiny striped tail animals run and scatter, and saw some of the bigger animals knocking on the metal they were trapped in, denting and damaging it, escaping slowly but surely.

Warren screamed curses as he banged his hands on the console for a minute, he stood there head in his hand as he thought before looking under the console. He grabbed a box and practically threw away the first aid kit to instead grab a box with a long distance radio. He looked around as it rang, moving past the body to open the cabinet and finding the tools. They were all meant for fixing parts of the ship or the cages, and he grabbed the bolt cutters hanging as the call finally went through.

Part 2 of 3

[justagirl1988]

I feel guilty as sin.

I think a “Mr. Steal-Your-Girl-and-Make-Her-Cry guy got to me.” I think I let him get to me.

All I know is that the day before I left for Europe, he ended a work call with “have a safe trip, I love you, bye,” and it’s all I could think about for days - so much so that I picked a fight with my loving boyfriend before I left.

Then, when I got back, nothing. Silence I wondered if he knew it was back.

As I waited for him to reach out, pining, I played “Guilty As Sin?” as we did it in my mind. Then, finally, I couldn’t take it any longer. I text. He didn’t reply.

All through the night and the morning, I waited for him to get back to me. He never did. I tried distracting myself with work, losing myself in a fever productivity. It worked until I had to think, and all I could think of was him.

I made up an excuse to call him. I looked around the office, I couldn’t do it there - my feelings would be read in capital letters if I did.

Stepping onto the catwalk into the parking lot, I press send, and his face popped up on my phone. he answered in my heart exploded. It doesn’t matter what we talked about. It never mattered. I just longed to hear him.

[quaranmine]

(potential spoilers for firewatch the game, not my au)

i find it interesting that it was against regulation for ned goodwin to have his son brian with him in the lookout, with delilah keeping it secret for them since she liked brian. i'm sure it's likely that things were stricter in the 80s, but this excerpt from a 200 page USFS history paper i found suggests that, at least for a while within the santa fe national forest, that families/children were absolutely allowed:

"Most years the Forest allowed or even encouraged family members to visit, and many lookouts had their spouses and (often many) children living with them for their entire season."

i also have a National Park Service fire lookout handbook from 1958 that specifically talks about the desireability of man-wife lookout pairs, since the wife would be able to cover for the husband whenever he was off hours. this has come up a few times in my other research, too. this document doesn't say anything about children other than to "not let them play on the tower catwalk" under the safety section--could mean anything to visitor children to the lookout's own children, i guess.

idk, it's just interesting. it's like how earlier i assumed that a pet would be prohibited, only for half the things i read to involve lookouts with dogs.

i imagine it would still be against regulation for brian goodwin to be in his father's tower all the time in secret, and it's possible that either the rules were stricter in the 80s or that shoshone national forest had different rules (it seems that some stuff differed by location.) a lot of my sources are from different decades. however i can say that children definitely weren't always prohibited by US forest service regulation, i guess

[redqueenphoenix]

The iPod (A TWD Fan Fic Clip)

Negan smiled to himself as he made for the stairs to head up to his office when his thoughts were intruded upon.

“Sir.” Simon was walking up to him with a grin. “I found this attached to one of the generators.” He handed the small black and silver Ipod, earphones and charging cord to Negan.

“An Ipod?” He turned the device over in his gloved hand. “Did you see who left it?”

Simon nodded with a shit eating grin, “Victoria snuck out to charge it. That’s a waste of resources.”

Negan shook his head, "I'll be the judge of that. Now let's see what kind of fun we can have here... see if she's a woman of my particular tastes." He waved Simon off as he began to head up the stairs with a smile. He tapped the button and started going through her music. Her taste in music surprised him. There was a lot of alternative rock. Flyleaf, Linkin Park, Rob Zombie, Staind and the one that got to him the most was In This Moment. 

Chuckling at her playlists as he stepped into his office, he shuffled through it and randomly picked a song. He leaned against the desk and grabbed the loudspeaker mic, "So guys, guess what I found." He hits the play button and places the Ipod down next to the mic as the Spice Girls begin to play in the speakers. Laughing he keeps it on the play list as he steps out to the office to the catwalk rail. Leaning against it to see what would happen as the song blared through the factory. 

Back in the production room, Eugene arched his eyebrow and looked up at the ceiling, “is that the Spice girls?”

Victoria's eyes widened in horror as she began to pat herself down for her Ipod. Remembering that she put it on a generator to charge as "Wannabe" finished and "Backstreet's Back" began to play. She tore out of the production room into the lobby of the factory. Her eyes shot up to see Negan standing on the third floor landing with the biggest shit eating grin possible. She ran for the stairs scrambling up them to get to him.

[charlesharrymackenzie]

Her Dreams/Her Destiny

Her  Dream  Her Destiny

Water Color Splashes Brush  Strokes  Arches Momentum Motion

Lines Shapes Square Pear Hourglass

Bodies Bodies Clothes Clothes

(Cardboard… Everything is cardboard They’re all cardboard… You relate to some people…. But you shuffle them like cards…)

Frame  Plan Vision  Painting Picture Destiny

(Crowds & Crowds & Crowds You join the invisible current in these swimming crowds Pungent Sweat  & Sticky Drink  & Glancing eyes)

Garments; Gowns, Blazers, Hats, Bras. Photoshoots, Catwalks, Paris, Milan, Tokyo.

Daytime: Dreams Dominate Nighttime: Strobe, Lasers, MDMA, Red bull. EDM, TRANCE, TECHNO. Warehouses,  Bunkers, Forests, Parking lots.

Men: Shoulders, pecks, hips, pelvis, sweat, (His. Neck. Your.Neck)  Body: nothing.left.for.sleep.dreams Timberlands  Or Stilettos  Or Flats Your bed rarely touches naked feet

Daytime  You: Sketch, paint, design Think, ponder, refine Men You draw men  but You draw men  like  playing cards One-two-three “Go fish” Men All Deficient Somehow Too Old Too Young Too  Rich Too  Poor Stupid Smart Careless Caring Careful You need to be careful

Silk, Cotton, Cashmere, Lace. Worn it  All. Made it All.

Lipstick, Mascara, Diamonds, Pearl, Nothing. Worn it all. Designed it all.

A Glass Menagerie  Colored by flesh  Everything  On Display You can  Touch  But you can’t Hold What You See Is What You  Get What You Get Is NOTHING.

Women, I’ve tailored all types. Men, I’ve met all types. Bodies,  I’ve studied all bodies. Mortuaries.  Fitting rooms. Bedrooms. Square shape, Pear shape, Hourglass shape. Square face, Oval face.  Shoulders  like  Mountainous  Horizons  Necks Like Trees Or Stumps I’ve seen it all. I’ve fucked it all.

All  Shapes  Haunting  Outlines No time To sleep dream  I must… Outlines  Haunting Outlines

Men White  Lines Women White Lines Men & Women Lines & Lines & Lines Spread all over the hotel room  Men & Women Some clothed Others naked All distractions  No leisure  All distraction The human form? I am the greatest...

But I am the greatest alone.