#She seems quite affected by Fizzy's passing

[quietzap]

.

[starryse]

The Star Pitcher

Juyeon x Reader

The Boyz high school au!, 60’s au!, baseball team TBZ au!

6.8k Words

Summary: The perks of baseball season consisted of seeing your cute guy friends in their uniforms, soft pretzels, and the excuse to get out of your house and sit in the warm summer sun. The downside? One of your cute guy friends was also the team’s pitcher who you were madly in love with.

Masterlist

The neon lights cascaded across the line of skateboards and bikes outside of the diner, the shining glare reflecting onto the window next to your booth. The sky was darkening to a deep shade of purple, the street lights and passing by cars offering comfort in the oncoming night. Dusk was a beautiful time in the city, though the shadows that came from the groves of trees when you walked through the trails were disheartening to say the least. You weren’t as lucky as the rest of your bunch, not owning a motorcycle or your dads hand me down car- you weren’t even allowed a skateboard because it was “unfair” to your younger siblings. This made the long journey home after your daily hangouts quite dreadful; and as summer time grew closer, the nights became shorter, meaning the comforting blue sky disappeared twice as fast.

Your face scrunched in distaste as you focused on the increasingly dark outside, not registering the conversations going on around you. The boy next to you noticed your dazed state, his eyes glancing down to your hands as they twirled around the straw in your half empty milkshake.

“You okay?”

Blinking a few times, the dryness of your eyes slowly faded as you snapped your attention to your disformed straw in front of you. You hummed, “yeah why?” your finger gliding across the rim of the glass, strawberry cream coating your skin in result. Juyeon watched you wipe the residue on the bottom of the Jean jacket he let you borrow, his sharp eyes enlarging as he winced- his mom would surely kill him later. The slicked hair boy was brought back to his senses when you finally looked over at him, his mouth quickly stammering a response, “oh, I uh just thought you seemed a little out of it,” Juyeon awaited your reaction, continuing when you simply shrugged, “you know I can drive you home, y/n”

You groaned, pushing your back into the booths cushion while pushing your drink closer to the window sill, “Juyeon-“

“I know I know, you don’t have to tell me twice” the huffing man leaned against the table, resting his chin against his propped up arm. You rolled your eyes, poking your pouting friend in his side, causing him to jump and swat away your hand, “Don’t be a baby, baby. I can handle myself okay?”

“Yeah Yeon, don’t be a baby. Y/n has made it very clear she doesn’t want any of us to take her home because she’s embarrassed by our presence” Hyunjae’s mocking tone ceases your hands from Juyeon’s sides.

“Wha- not true asshat” you didn’t bother in defending yourself anymore when it came to Hyunjae’s smart remarks, it was a hidden show of affection between the two of you. Though it didn’t stop you from tossing the ball of straw paper into his open cup of coke. That particular action gave you a disgusted look from the brunette, his lips moving as you could only imagine the mimicking words that spilled out.

Daily hangouts with your group of angsty, sarcastic boys was your favorite thing to do when you needed a much needed break. At the end of a long day, seeing the familiar 11 faces waiting for you at the school entrance was just what you needed to relieve stress. Even if they were possibly the most annoying people you have ever had the pleasure of knowing, they were your favorite humans. Maybe except the current boy beside you who’s shoulders were shaking against yours as he laughed at Eric’s sly comment. He wasn’t as annoying as the others. Then again, the hearts that soared around your eyes as you snuck glances towards him were a dead give away you were a bit biased- the heart wants what it wants. And in this case, yours most definitely wanted the handsome baseball player, Lee Juyeon.

“Earth to Y/n. Hellooo? We’re leaving, dummy.”

“Huh?” Your head snapped up to meet the annoyed expression of Sunwoo, eyes following the boys that had been piling out of the booth as you sat confused.

Sunwoo looked to Eric for assistance, knowing fair well why you had been blatantly zoned out the last 15 minutes. Eric nodded at Sunwoo, ushering for him to head out the door with the others as he mouthed an I got this.

“Cmon’ pretty girl, I think me and you need a Juyeon free night. What do you say?” Eric grabbed the jacket you had shrugged off over the back of the booth, tossing it over his shoulder while he stood waiting for you at the exit. God you were really whipped, Eric was pretty damn sure of that as he watched the puppy dog look you sent his way in response to his question. Knowing the answer, Eric wrapped his arm around your shoulder, tugging you closer as the two of you made way back to the rowdy group.

Most of the boys had took off towards their houses, only Juyeon, Kevin, Sunwoo, and Hyunjae remaining. The boys were sat along the curb of the parking lot, shared glasses of coke being passed around while they waited for their two youngest to return.

Sunwoo broke the silence, his infamous evil smirk pointed at Juyeon and Hyunjae, “I wonder what Y/n and Eric are doing” Three heads turned to the sighing boy, eyes scrunched in curiosity as they awaited Sunwoo’s next words.

“I mean, it has been awhile right? And those two are quiteee close”

Antagonizing. That’s all he’s doing.

Did the two gullible idiots whom were currently gawking at one another realize this? No. No they didn’t. The muttering boys scrambled up from their spots on the ledge, untied shoes tripping against the pebbles that had loosened from the cement as they rose quickly to find the “quite close” pair. Sunwoo’s hand clasped tightly against his mouth, the urge to fight the oncoming cackles growing harder as he watched the gangly men run into the bike racks, their ego’s too high to even care while they bolted for the diner’s door. Kevin, not remotely amused, watched in disapproval, knowing fair well that the hyena sounding laugh near him was that of pure provoktion at the gullible dancers who, at their own expense, were a tad finicky over their youngest friend.

“You know why they’re like that, right?”

Sunwoo nodded his head, sucking in a breath as his laughter died down. Of course he knew why, whether or not he liked it, he knew everything about the diverse set of feelings in the group. He sighed, tucking a leg close to his chest while the other kicked against the pavement, “yeah of course I know. I think everyone does except Y/n herself.”

The coke was bitter in Kevin’s mouth, the acidic taste tingling against the cuts on his lips. Having enough, he set the coke by Sunwoo, using the drink as a sort of share of thoughts between the two. Uttering a thank you, Sunwoo was quick to down the rest of the fizzy soda, a grotesque burp following. Loud laughter once again surrounded the curb, though this time sounds of disgust and displeasure joined as Kevin shoved the guilty party farther away from him, his left hand fanning the air away from his nose.

“God Sunwoo-“

“What, it was a great drink!”

You and Eric finally rounded the corner of the parking lot, a fighting cat and dog duo following close behind as they beat themselves up for listening to Sunwoo, yet again. Hearing the noises behind them, Kevin and Sunwoo turned to the 4 of you, looks of relief washing over them. Sunwoo stood up, dusting the dirt off of his track pants in the process, “God finally you idiots show up, did you not notice the darkness surrounding us?? It is,” he checked the thick silver watch decorated on his wrist, a scoff leaving his lips, “8 pm”

Eric snorted, rolling his eyes in response, “okay grandpa, let’s go then”

You stood against the small tree near the end of the street, your arms crossed against your chest to shield yourself from the growing winds. The cars passing by offered some light against the darkening sky, the diner’s lights beginning to dim as closing time got closer. Summer time was supposed to be warm and bright, and yet here you stood waiting for your friends, shivers running down your body while you glanced around the city's streets. Interrupting your small bruising session, the feeling of a shoulder knocking against yours had you turning to look at the culprit, your nerves calming at the familiar face.

“Hi”

“Hey” you grinned back, eyes scanning the pretty man. The moonlight brought a look of innocence to his face, the blue fluorescents casting shadows across his skin leaving only the bundle of stars in his dark eyes to light up his appearance. Juyeon was a human of the finest features, and a stellar personality to match. The duality his eyes could perceive was always interesting to watch, you never knew to expect his sharp gaze or soft looks of adoration. Tonight, you found yourself hoping for the second option.

Juyeon reached for your hand, tugging it into his as he placed both of them into his jacket pocket. His thumb ran circles over your knuckles, the slightly rough padding of his fingers locking between yours. Your eyes peered down to his jacket, stomach knotting at the sight of your hand with his. This was okay, right?

“I figured you were cold”

You lifted your head, free hand pushing away the strands of hair that blocked your vision. Juyeons sight was casted on the other boys, watching as they fought over who got to ride with him instead of skating home in the dark, “I saw Eric with the jacket I gave you, so I kinda assumed you would be freezing your ass off by now”

Juyeon’s taunt was meant to joke around with you, and normally you’d scowl then proceed to pick at him right back. But maybe it was the way he looked under the stars, or the way your hand felt great in his as the feeling brought you warmth. Or it could be the proximity between you two, shoulders pressed against one another in comfort against the wind. Either way, the options had the same anxious thoughts of feeling the need to get over the stupid crush on your friend. Your heart tugged at the thought, it was hard to move on from someone who hid you snacks in your room every time he came over. But having a crush on your best friend who you just knew was too out of your league? That was even worse.

“Y/n, let’s bounce. I wanna start that new film series before my mom gets home from the pub!”

Oh thank God for Eric Sohn.

Mentally letting out a breath of relief, you loosened your grip from Juyeons hand, slipping away from his hold in the process. Bidding the boy goodbye, you waved over your shoulder before jogging to Eric as he began to skate back to his house. Juyeon, on the other hand, stood stone cold, watching the two of you exchange laughs and smacks on each other’s arms. He knew it was ridiculous to be pissed over two friends getting along, so why was he squeezing his jacket sleeves just a tad too hard? His jaw was slack, teeth nipping at cheeks as he yelled for the three idiots, who were still fussing over who got to ride with him home, to give him his keys.

Thankful that the trip to Eric’s was much shorter than what would have been your lonely walk home, you were pleased to already be walking up the steps of his farm porch. Knowing there was no formality needed to invite you in, Eric simply unlocked the door and waited for you to step inside before he relocked it.

Eric’s house, much like him, was always comforting. His house smelt of pine and vanilla, not surprising since he too smelt similar to that. Eric’s bedroom was on the 2nd floor, whereas his parents slept downstairs (which made for great sleepovers so you didn’t have to worry about waking his mom up who works 2nd shift).

Your shoes were tossed to the side of the wall next to Eric’s, knowing how strict his mom was when it came to keeping the house tidy, you had a designated spot for your shoes whenever you visited. Eric, who was now passing you one of the waters he grabbed from the fridge, motioned his head to the stairs, silently telling you to make way to his room.

For a teenage boy, Eric’s room wasn’t nearly as messy as one would think. His clothes were tucked away in his dresser drawers or hanging behind his closest doors, leaving the messiest thing to be his un-made bed. You plopped yourself onto the nearest side of the bed, making room for Eric on the other side. The radio that usually sat on his side table was tossed in between you two, Eric’s fingers nimbly flicking between the stations to find the baseball film he had been non-stop talking about. The TV downstairs was off limits until his parents were home, they were quite finicky as the cost for the larger box tv was a little too much to be accidentally broken by their energetic son.

Settling yourself into his pillows, you tugged the closest blanket over your torso, legs curled up to press against your chest. Eric’s sudden exclaim had you giggling at his victorious outburst, his arms fist pumping the air before turning the volume on the gadget up. Jumping beside you, the blonde shimmied to your side, wrapping one arm behind your back and the other behind his head.

“I cannot wait to watch this, Younghoon told me it was the best movie he’s ever seen!” Eric was going on and on, his eyes lighting up as if he were the same moon that glared down at Juyeon earlier. Juyeon. Right. Why did your brain have to bring him up? As if you couldn’t escape the mere presence of him, he was filling your thoughts just as often.

Noticing your lack of response, Eric craned his head down to see you pressed against his shoulder blade, eyes stuck on the bed sheets beneath you. He should have known it would be nearly impossible to have a night without the pitcher of their own baseball team being brought up.

“I can feel you staring at me”

Eric scoffed, flicking the side of your temple while looking back at the radio, “yeah well I bet my sheets could say the same thing.”

Left hanging, Eric took notice real quick at the feeling of something wet drip onto his jeans. His inner baseball player came out as he swiftly moved you up to eye height, hands pushing your shoulders back to rest against his bed frame.

“Hey, look at me”

Before you even had the time to react, Eric was already gently lifting your face up to meet his. Your eyes raised to meet Eric’s concerned brown ones, though your vision was much blurrier compared to his you could imagine. His thumb was soft against your cheeks, blue sleeves wiping the few tears that escaped past your waterline. You felt terrible. Not just because of the unreciprocated feelings you had on Juyeon. But seeing the way your usual happy-go-lucky friend was looking at you as if you were the most fragile thing on the planet- man, that stung.

“What can I do to help, Y/n?” Eric’s voice was gentle, barely audible even. His palms never left their spot against your cheeks, his fingers lightly tracing across your skin to bring you ease.

The truth was, you didn’t know how he could help. Deep down you knew there wasn’t anything anyone could do to relieve the ache you felt every time you saw Juyeon; everytime you remember that he wasn’t interested in you like that, how his heart wasn’t set on you like yours was for him. Not only did you feel utterly helpless, but you felt the gnawing feeling that you were only being annoying, making a big deal out of a stupid crush.

With a shaky breath, you placed your hands on Eric’s before pulling them down to your lap, “I want you to help me move on.”

“Are you sure you’re fine? Because I have no problem keeping you here until you are”

“Yes Eric, I promise I’m okay” you slipped your shoe over your heel, “besides, I’ll see you at school tomorrow so you’ll know if I’m not, right?”

The pout on his face raised enough that he could mumble a Pinky Promise, as he tightened his pinky around yours. You laughed at his childish antics, pulling him over for a hug, “pinky promise,” you patted the top of his head, his chest huffing after, “don’t forget to be at my house before 6! Juyeon gets there around 6:15 so I want you there before he is”

Eric nodded, pushing you towards the door, “okay leave now because I have no self control and will definitely not let you leave if you don’t go now”

Mumbling strands of okay with giggles spewn between, you finally made it out the door and began the ever boring walk home.

**As soon as you stepped inside your house house, the weight that you thought was lifted off your shoulders came hurling itself right back, and this time it brought shame along with it. Normally when you felt like shit, you’d make yourself a bowl of cereal, turn on your radio, and listen to whatever Elvis Presley interview was on. This time, thanks to Miss Shame, that wouldn’t be enough to cure your self-pity moment; no, it was time to call in the big gun.

** “I’m sorry, you did what?” Sangyeon sat across from you, his legs tucked under his butt as he shifted his position so he could properly look at you.

“I had sex with Eric” your voice trailed off at the end, eyes glued to your hands that currently were tugging off loose string on your jeans.

The sound of silence only made you more tense, terrified of what your eldest friend was thinking, or even feeling, at the moment. Growing frustrated with the lack of response, you begin to try and explain yourself- though the assertive tone that Sangyeon had when he called your name out had you quickly pursing your lips.

Sangyeon went on a tangent for what felt like forever, his hands doing the dramatics besides the substantial amount of sighs he produced, “I- I just don’t think I understand why, emphasis on the why by the way,” his hands finally went down from their long phase of being tossed around in the air, “you would go and do something so stupid like that?”

“I told you-“

“Stop, I understand what you told me,” the frustrated man interrupted you, “I’m just failing to see why you both thought it was the correct solution”

Quite frankly you were puzzled about it yourself. Fucking your other best friend, and the one you didn’t have feelings for, definitely wasn’t in the itenery when you joined the odd bunch of athletes. You were frustrated. Depressed. And just tired of being the last choice. And in the moment, sitting there being comforted by Eric, you finally felt like you were the most important person in the world and not just the star pitcher of your school’s baseball teams groupie.

“Eric only did it because he knew I was hurting, he just thought he was being a good friend- which he was. As for me, well I. God Sangyeon I just-“ A tissue suddenly sat in your open palm, sangyeon softly smiling as pointed at your eyes. What the hell? We’re you seriously crying right now? Wiping the stray tears that had fallen, you took a long chug of your water before continuing, “I just wanted to be something important for once. I didn’t want to be the pathetic little girl that had a crush on her best friend, Juyeon, the popular pitcher who could have the hearts of any girl on those stupid bleachers. I’m sorry, Sangyeon. I fucked up, huh?”

“Pft hell yeah you did”

At times, you forget just how blunt your friend was, this being one of those times as you sat with your eyebrows raised in slight shock at his confession. Sangyeon noticed your look, raising his hand at you to signal you to just listen.

“But we all make mistakes, right? Sure your mistake was Eric’s dick, but I guess that’s just what you needed to figure things out. Which, you need to definitely do as soon as possible because I have a hunch things are going to work out just fine” Sangyeon opened his arms, waiting for you to thank him with his favorite hug (news flash, he loved your hugs a lot.)

You squeezed your arms around him, slightly shaking you both back and forth. The sound of your thank you was muffled by the white and blue shirt he wore, causing you both to laugh at the disformed words. You leaned back, Sangyeons eyes still partially crinkled from laughing, “thank you for being the best dad a girl could have”

Sangyeon scoffed, his grin widening even more as he shoved you back, “whatever, weirdo”

Mondays. Also known as Satan’s asshole.

Eric kept his promise, showing up before Juyeon could arrive to take you to school like normal. That, you were eternally grateful for. You weren’t ignoring your best friend persay, just simply giving him space until you could realize what the hell you were going to do about your feelings. And that was starting today, as you and Eric skateboarded (or in your case walked) past Juyeon as he made his way down your street. You’d be lying if the look on his face didn’t make you want to run back to his car and apologize endlessly, but you were raised to be strong, and that’s what you were. Kind of.

The perks of baseball season consisted of seeing your cute guy friends in their uniforms, soft pretzels, and the excuse to get out of your house and sit in the warm summer sun. The downside? One of your cute guy friends was also the team’s pitcher who you were madly in love with.

Since you were the boyz’s (ha) best friend, you had attended every game since they formed the team 2 years ago. And even today, as you sit front row on the cold, metal bleachers, you were still cheering them on despite the fact you had sworn you were going to distance yourself from Juyeon. Maybe you would have succeeded in that promise, but the way Juyeon looked at you right now as he struck yet another player out, well, it had you wondering why you even thought of such a blasphemous idea in the first place.

With only one out remaining, the opposing team was bound to have to forfeit as the gap between the teams was only increasing. You could only imagine the pride running through your friends’ veins as they got even more amped up knowing they were soon to claim victory. The amount of talent they had could match their love for the game, the two qualities mixing to create one hell of a baseball team; you were sure even the opposing team could see that as their energy levels drained with each strike or out they received. And while you wanted to feel bad, you knew there was no use- because even the team who knew they were bound to lose, had smiles written on their faces while they half-fived their teammates when running past one another.

The sound of bats clinking against dugout cement floors, helmets being tossed to the side of the field and the overlapping good games being said to one another signified the end of the short-live scrimmage. Watching the boys finish their lineup and run to do their large group hug was heartwarming, the other fans in the audience snapping pictures with their disposable cameras could agree. Your moment of proudness was cut short as Haknyeon and Younghoon yelled for you to join them on the field, their hands waving frantically at you to get your attention. Not wanting to cause anymore attention to flood your way, you quickly gathered your bag and rushed to your boys, an embarrassed laugh bubbling in your throat as you were welcomed into the hug. Loud smacks were heard, the cheering players aiming to slap each other in utter happiness over their win- of course you ducked between their arms in an attempt to hide yourself from said slaps (unfortunately for you your ass was not covered and they gladly gave you a few victory whacks.)

“God pretty soon you guys are going to win the championships, then imma be the biggest groupie ever” your comment had the group in fits, heads shaking in amusement.

“Yeah well you’re the best groupie ever” sunwoo pushed your shoulder, a cheesy grin lighting up his face. Hollers and whoops were made in agreement, the two closest to you (Sunwoo and Jacob) tugging you closer into their sides so they could ruffle your hair (leaving you very displeased as you spent quite a while that morning carefully taking the hair rollers out to have stable curls). Trying to tame your now frizzy hair, you weren’t able to control the smile that grew to match the boys’ around you.

Seeing you smile wide in happiness and hearing the laughs that you fabricated, Juyeon couldn’t help himself from staring at you. Watching your nose crinkle from the side pokes the boys littered on you, or seeing the way your eyes were filled with light as you joked right along with the others, it only made the man wish you were standing next to only him and not his attractive friends. Normally, he wasn’t one to be possessive or even jealous. Though when it came to you, someone who’s supported him at every game, waken him up at the crack of dawn to adventure to the sea side of town, and have feverishly grown on him over the few years you've known him? He’s positive he’d go to the end of the world for you.

With the amount of time he spent with you, attached to one another's hips, it was utterly impossible for him to not have developed feelings for you. You were beyond sensational. In his eyes, you were a stellar person- someone with a heart of gold who would probably sell their soul to protect the ones they loved. You had always been the first person he’d call when he needed someone the most, there was never a second of doubt that you couldn’t help him through anything he went through. When he tore the ligament in his elbow and couldn’t participate in 2 weeks worth of games, he was devastated. He had spent forever just trying to wrap his head around the fact he couldn’t be there for his team when they needed him the most, beating himself up over an injury he couldn’t have prepared for. You were the only reason he kept going after that, why he continued to get out of bed everyday to watch his brothers practice even if he couldn’t do so himself. Truly, Juyeon knew you were his foundation. His beautiful, intoxicating, better-half best friend who he had finally realized, as he stood across from you now watching you look as perfect as ever in his extra jersey he gave you to wear at games, just how in love with you he was. And he has absolutely no idea what the hell he was going to do about it.

You weren’t dense, you could feel Juyeon’s non-trailing eyes on you. You didn’t think you made it obvious you were trying (and clearly failing so far) to distance yourself from him, unless he was that intelligent he knew something was off already, so why was he very blatantly staring at you? You couldn’t stop the questions from piling up, your thoughts keeping you distracted from the winners high the boys clearly still had. To meet his eyes and stand your ground was what you should have done, but alas, you squeezed your arms together and slipped away from the sweaty, compact group. With a mix of genuinely overheating due to being stuck to the sweating boys and the gaze Juyeon had locked on you, you were quite aware of how hot you felt at the moment. You tried to escape as quietly as possible, wanting nothing more than to get back to your house and sob until you the tears stopped flowing. Unfortunately for you, your group of friends all had overprotective spidey senses over you, practically able to sense your every move before you could even make it. The moment you turned your back from the group, you were instantly met with whines from the boys, a hand tugging you back to the middle of the circle.

“Eh eh eh, where do you think you’re going missy?” Chanhee poked your stomach, earning a light tap to his forehead from you in return.

You groaned in response, “I was trying to leaveee.” Noises of complaints erupted from the group, sounds of why’s and no’s sounding from each boy.

“Uh sorry but you can’t”

You turned around in Chanhee’s hold, head cocking in confusion. “Uh why not?” you mocked his tone. Chanhee opened his mouth to respond, his eyes rolling at your taunt. Though he was cut off before he could he even begin,

“Because. We can’t celebrate without you, you’re my- I mean- our good luck charm” Juyeon stuttered, just merely missing total embarrassment.

You, who was very much not expecting Juyeon to comment something like that, were quick to shut up. The internal struggle of what to say was hounding you, your eyes looking anywhere but Juyeon. So you hid closer to Chanhee instead, stealthily sneaking your hand behind him to pinch his elbow in an attempt to get him to help you out. Chanhee, getting the hint, smoothly answered for you, “Y/n would love to come, but unfortunately she has our psych project to working, right Y/n?” The white haired male looked at you, his eyes narrowing while he nudged your side.

“O-oh yeah. The projects worth a lot and I can’t take another bad grade in that class” you voiced, gaze finally meeting Juyeon’s. It didn’t take a genius to see the soft glaze of disappointment that lingered in his eyes, even after he masked it with a smile.

Taking that as your cue to exit, you waved at the group, their previous wide eyes and grins much more tamed as they stood glancing between you and their friend. They watched you walk away, waiting until they couldn’t see you or thought you couldn't overhear them to start murmuring amongst each other.

“So that was obviously a lie” Changmin stated as if it were a fact, his sight still locked to where you walked off at.

Jacob, who could either be considered too nice for his own good or just gullible, furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, not understanding what the brunette meant. Changmin, who was more than pleased to explain himself, responded to Jacob’s puzzled expression, “I’m in her psych class, and there’s no project due. At least that I’m aware of, anyhow”

Chanhee felt his heart jump out of his stomach, his stomach buzzing as he was caught in the lie. He had to cover for you, and yet he had absolutely no idea how. They already knew he was lying once, they would surely realize it a second time. He could feel the pairs of eyes make way to him, his fingers drumming against his thighs to ease his nerves.

“Well what I meant was-“

“He meant to say Y/n had thrown up earlier and wasn’t feeling up to the whole party scene” Sangyeon covered for his friend, locking eyes with Chanhee’s grateful ones as he mouthed a thank you in which Sangyeon nodded his head in approval.

The boys seemed to believe their captains' claim, most of them backing up and leaving it as is wanting to just celebrate their victory. Of course, Sunwoo hadn’t believed a word of what Sangyeon said. The round eyed boy snorted to himself, knowing very well as to why you left in such a rush. And then there was Juyeon, and even Hyunjae, who couldn’t help but feel there was a hidden truth to the line. Both boys chose to not speak up, deeming it as just a weird feeling instead.

“Anywho, can we go get food now? The other teams already leaving and we’re still standing here like weirdos” the youngests outburst had the group in fits, loud laughs filling their ears once again. Whining, Eric let out strings of protest as his friends shook his head and left him taps of affection on his butt. Leave it to Eric to lift the sour moods of his teammates, even if he himself was a bit tense.

The team was sure to have made an appearance at your group's famous hangout, meaning snagging a burger and fries on your way home had been out of the question. You opted to just scavenge your cupboards, hoping to find at least something dinner worthy; unfortunately, you were sure you’d end up eating ramen again, as per usual.

You were correct, ramen was indeed the main dish of the night, you had been remotely blessed with packs of spam to fry up along with some eggs and rice. Though you had been content with what you were able to eat, the rising feeling of guilt couldn’t stop itself from making an appearance as you sat alone at your small kitchen table. You couldn’t help but to imagine your friends right now, knowing fair well they were probably messing around and eating the familiar greasy food you all had grown to love. And yet here you were, eating dinner by yourself, just because you couldn’t grow a pair and accept that you had feelings for Juyeon. Instead, you went to the measures of ignoring not only him, but the 10 other people who had been nothing but great friends to you.

It wasn’t like you could just call them up, the diner only had one wall phone and it was for emergency use only, and your wall phone was currently broken as your dog had chewed the cord. And God forbid you walked all the way to the diner at this time of night, your anxiety would have you running right on back to the confines of your rural home as soon as you made it down your road. Regret was a thing you tried not to experience, you tended to just live doing what you liked and that was that. But this time, it was eating you up.

The food in front of you had gone cold, not that you cared considering your mind was obviously worrying about other things- or people. Your thoughts had drifted off to Juyeon, specifically to him earlier. Logic wanted you to believe that he was merely looking at you because of where you were standing, though your heart had other things in mind. No matter how many times you told yourself there was no way Juyeon could have reciprocated your feelings, something always told you to believe otherwise. Sure you knew he could have practically any girl he wanted, he was absolutely gorgeous and his personality was even better. But was it so hard to believe he could maybe, just maybe, like someone like you? His teams #1 fan who went to all of their matches. Someone who not only had his back, but your shared friends as well? You wanted to believe that, you really did. But why else would you be sitting here, alone, not with Juyeon?

Continuous knocking on your door startled you, your previously sulking shoulder now standing straight as you made way to the abrupt sound. You hadn’t expected your family home until rather late that night, considering they were an hour away at your aunts house. The boys were all at the diner, so you had presumed, and you didn’t exactly have other friends besides them. Maybe it was the tofu cart?

The halt your feet made as you opened the door was sudden, your eyes enlarging at the man in front of you. The wavy tuffs of black hair certainly did not belong to the tofu delivery man, unless he had a strikingly good looking son who looked way too similar to Juyeon you didn’t know about.

“Can I come in?” Juyeon looked down at you, hands twisting the ring on his fair in a habit of anxiety. He didn’t expect you to say no, which is why he sucked in a deep breath of anticipation as he entered your home.

You were fairly shocked yourself, following Juyeon’s figure as he went to his favorite spot in your house- the bar stool Island in your kitchen. It wasn’t surprising he went there, though it only spiked your nerves more knowing he chose to sit there instead of your bedroom; the two of you considered the counter in your kitchen your “deep discussion” area, it was a place you had always found yourselves in the early hours of the morning, talking about the little things that been bugging you lately. Which is why you couldn’t help the way your heartbeat sped up as you sat across from Juyeon, moving the scraps of your dinner to the side in order to have no distractions.

You weren’t sure what to say, deeming it as Juyeon must have had plenty in the way he tapped furiously st the countertop before jumping straight to the point. Oh how you wish you didn’t open the door.

“Are you in love with me?”

You understood what they felt in the movies now. When the camera pans in on the character during the aftermath of the climax, the environment around them seeming to slow down with a blur. “I-I’m sorry, what?” You choked back the saliva that had gotten stuck, not feeling like haphazardly dying in front of your crush.

Juyeon sighed, drawing his fingers back to his lap as he glanced up to you, “Eric told me what happened”

Now normally you weren’t one for violence, in fact, you were rather just passive aggressive in all that you did. But at the moment, you wanted nothing more than to strangle the blonde haired snitch. Placing your hands over your face, you let out a long drawn groan, “that little bitch, of course he did”

Juyeon couldn’t stop the short chuckle that escaped his lips, “you didn’t answer my question”

Apparently the opportunity to confess then be brutally rejected was a lot closer than you had hoped. It was now or never. You’d much rather choose never, but it seems that your friend couldn’t keep his mouth shut to save his life.

“Yes”

“Yes what?” Juyeon spoke, unable to focus on anything but the way your mouth moved in response to the question.

“I’m in love with you. Did you really have to ask? I thought it was pretty damn obvious, myself” sarcasm rolled easily off your tongue as if it were a form of defense getting ready to face rejection.

Juyeon huffed, leaning forward to flick your forehead at your retort, “I had to make sure it wasn’t a one-sided thing, dummy”

The remark you had saved next was useless now, your tongue ostensibly getting caught in your throat. If now wasn’t a better time to choke on spit, what was? Juyeon jumped up from his seat, grabbing a water from the fridge to pass to your choking frame. You, unable to speak clearly, stuck a thumbs up in appreciation, to which he found incredibly cute.

After recovering from the fit, you finally made eye contact with the softly smiling boy in front of you for the first time since you (unwillingly) confessed, “does that mean I didn’t just get rejected?” Your lips were in a mix of a pout and smirk, your face resemble that of a duck.

“I love you too” Juyeon was grinning wide at this point, his heart pounding in his chest at the affectionate exchange.

You were beyond giddy, body quickly leaning close to Juyeon’s to press a soft, quick kiss to his lips. As you pulled back, neither of you could say anything, the fond gazes you had on one another and the heating of your cheeks conveying the right words for you. Juyeon, for one, was ready to do nothing but return the kisses- and that’s exactly what he did.

Note: Hi y’all, I’m back (kind of). This is my first full fledge AU, and I’m so happy it was for Juyeon! I’m a sucker for baseball tbz au’s, so I just had to make one myself! Stay tuned for a special announcement regarding Star Pitcher ;)

Extra Note: pls don’t be afraid to leave feedback (reply, message, reblog), it would help me tremendously and I’d really appreciate it! I love seeing what y’all think! :)

[1ddotdhq]

👐🏻 Sat Sept 19 ‘20⚓️

Gigi’s mother posted another photoset on instagram yesterday assuring her followers that Gigi is still pregnant, including a picture with many hands on Gigi’s belly. The hands that were notable missing? Zayn’s! Don’t worry, I’m sure he will pop up soon enough to talk about another boxing match or his FIFA games. The photos weren’t, however, dated, so they could have been taken at any time in the last few months. Honestly, I want to be on their side about this, but they are doing their level best to be the shadiest they can be about the birth of this child! 

Hip hop/rocker and Doncaster native Youngblud (real name Dominic Harrison) did an interview with Hits Radio, where he talked about ‘exchanging DMs’ with Louis, a ‘fellow Donny boy’, about catching a Rovers game on Boxing Day. He was quite close to Fizzy (“God Bless”), but has apparently never actually met Louis. About Doncaster, he said, “every time I go back, it kind of gets a bit better. I remember walking through Donny town center, there’s loads of Pride flags in Doncaster, and I’m like WOAH this is SICK, we’ve really come a long way!!” One of the comments then said, “You look like an e-boy version of Harry Styles”, to which he replied, “I’ll take that! I’d quite like to kiss Harry Styles, actually”. Sorry, Dom, I don’t think Louis’ll be DMing you anymore! 

Speaking of Harry, it was not, actually a Baby Yoda sticker on his phone yesterday, but rather a Kid Harpoon one! It features a rope wrapped around an anchor and two harpoons sticking out either end. I...don’t know why Kid Harpoon has his own merch, but there you have it! Meanwhile, fans continue churning out discourse about his and Louis’ shared shirt. Is he larrie-baiting for the sake of his Grammy campaign? Um, no. To be doing so would mean that he would have known that Louis had one of these VINTAGE, SOLD OUT shirts, have bought one BEFORE they sold out, and have waited for years until a picture of Louis in the shirt came out. THEN, he would have had to be walking around London hoping that someone would recognize him near the dentist’s office (in a beanie and a mask) and hope that they would release the picture rather than keep it for themselves. AND he would have had to time all that with the moment it would best serve his career. So, either that one picture was years in the making, or he sometimes wears his boyfriend’s T-shirts. Take your pick about which seems most likely, I guess! 

Now let’s talk about some less happy news: since the early days of the band, the boys did a lot of funding and charity work for Believe in Magic, which is a charity that was meant to help children with terminal illnesses fund their treatment. It was started in 2012 by supposed cancer survivor Meg Bahri, who was 17 at the time, and her mother. Anne Twist was the first person related to the boys to patron the charity, which she did by doing a fundraising climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Jay Deakin then took up the cause in 2014, and, in 2015, Louis threw his famous Cinderella ball for the children that this charity was meant to benefit. Emily passed away in 2018, at age 23; it was said, at the time, that she succumbed to her brain tumor. 

Then, earlier this year, it was discovered that funds were inexplicably missing from the charity. There was not enough evidence to charge anyone with a crime, but it was incriminating enough that the charity was forced to dissolve. If that wasn’t enough, it has just been discovered that Meg did not, actually, die of a brain tumor, but rather of complications due to a fatty liver. While it is true that chemotherapy could cause such complications, her medical records showed no evidence of a tumor ever existing, and her mother was either unwilling or unable to provide supplementary records that would substantiate their claims. It does quite seem that everyone who sponsored the charity - Louis and Harry included - were duped. It is unclear how this fraud affected the other children who were the beneficiaries of the charity. I hope they saw the money that was meant to go to their treatment. However, when having these hard conversations, I would urge everyone to remember that a tragedy HAS occurred - this girl has died. Maybe we don’t have the exact details of her diagnosis, but clearly she was sick in some way. 

[vicarfelix]

Surprise, Captain!

__

Vicar Max x Fem. Captain

Warnings: Language.

A/N: I’m gonna just...leave this here.

Word Count: 4,053

“So, is it possible...at all?”

__

She was always very vigilant and careful about this sort of thing pre-hibernation. She knew the risks and knew how drastically her life would change if she suddenly had a child to take care of. Not that she didn’t want a child; quite the opposite in fact. It was just that she wasn’t ready for that kind of responsibility at that age, nor did she want it.

Truthfully, sex (more specifically, the chances of pregnancy) wasn’t really her first concern when she was awoken by Phineas from the Hope. She definitely had much more on her plate than that. She knew it would happen at some point or another. She just didn’t expect it to be with anyone from her beloved crew. 

It didn’t take long for Vicar Max to end up in the Captain’s bed. They had chemistry from the very beginning and it was only a matter of time before they finally crashed together. Their relationship was bliss. She was the happiest she had ever been. It wasn’t until one morning that began the first bump in their relationship.

She woke up that morning much later than usual. So much later, in fact, that she was the last one to get up to begin the day. She had been awfully fatigued the last week or so, but had brushed it off due to the fact that they had been going hard for the last few months. She exited her room and walked up the stairs into the kitchen to see her crew scattered about. Her eyes directed to Max instinctively, her heart warming at the sight of him. He was sitting at the table with a book in his hands. She watched as his eyes scanned every word of each page, his brows furrowed in thought and focus. He finally caught her gaze, offering a slight smile with a twinkle in his eye.

Felix was the first to announce her entrance;

“Mornin’, Boss!” He chirped.

She grinned at his enthusiasm, offering a small wave;

“Good morning, everyone.” She greeted.

“You sure slept late.” Ellie noted from the other side of the kitchen.

Ellie and Nyoka were the most observant of the crew. They always could tell when something was up. There wasn’t much that got past them. Ellie had been especially cautious in paying attention to the symptoms the Captain had been having. Ellie had an inkling that the Captain might be pregnant. No one knew that Max and the Captain had been together. That was the one thing they had managed to keep under wraps. Ellie knew better than to ask in front of everyone. 

“Yeah. All this running around is catching up to me.” The Captain explained.

Ellie nodded silently, but the wheels in her head were turning. Max closed the book in hand, setting it on the table before retrieving a bottle of fizzy tea from the fridge. He poured it into a cup and sweetly offered it to the Captain where she stood at the counter. She accepted it gratefully and raised the cup to her lips. However, the second she caught the familiar mock-apple scent, she felt her stomach become immediately queasy. 

A disgusted groan escaped her lips and she moved the cup away from her. She pressed the back of her hand to her nose and swallowed to keep the threatening bile from coming up from her stomach. Everyone’s heads turned to her at the sound of her gag. 

“You okay, Cap?” Nyoka asked from her place next to Felix.

Thinking the tea had expired, the Captain asked;

“How long has this been in there? I think it’s spoiled.”

Parvati’s light voice chimed in;

“There’s no way. I just picked those up yesterday. They should be fine for a few weeks!” She claimed.

Max took the cup back, bringing it up to his own nose. He shrugged;

“It seems perfectly fine to me. I was under the impression that it was your favorite...” Max replied, feeling like he had been mistaken.

The Captain shook her head in confusion;

“It is my favorite. I drink it all the time,” She recalled; “That’s so weird.”

That was when the idea first came into her head. It was a quick, almost passing thought. There was no way she could be pregnant...right? It was also in that moment that she realized that she and Max hadn’t been using any kind of protection. The thought had never occurred to her honestly. 

Suddenly, she felt nauseous, but not from the smell of the drink. Now was definitely NOT the time for a baby. She had the fate of the colony on her shoulders. How was she going to have the time to grow and raise a child? This was bad. Surely her 70 year hibernation had altered her fertility in some way...there was only one man to ask. 

“You don’t look so good, Cap. You sure you’re okay?” Nyoka asked again, now suddenly having the same thoughts that Ellie was having. 

The Captain smiled briefly, not wanting to make an issue of it. She assured them she was fine before booking it to the navigation terminal. She needed to see Phineas ASAP. A million things were going through her mind. How could she take care of a kid? What scared her more was the question of Max. Would he stick around if she was with his child? 

While the ship was in transit, the Captain meandered around, finding absolutely anything to keep her distracted. She found herself passing by Ellie’s room. If there was anyone she trusted to keep her secret, it was Ellie Fenhill. The Captain knocked lightly on the outside wall, catching Ellie’s attention;

“Can we talk?” The Captain asked. 

“Uh-oh. The most dreaded sentence in human history. What’s up?” Ellie replied.

The Captain looked over her shoulder to make sure no one was around. Well, to make sure Felix wasn’t around. He’d tell everyone in the colony if he found out.

“Did...you ever have much experience with pregnancies when you were in Byzantium?” The Captain questioned.

Ellie suddenly knew that the Captain had the same concerns she did. Ellie humored her;

“Oh, sure. Plenty of them,” She clamored; “I see you had your first bout with morning sickness earlier.”

It was a little bit of a relief to the Captain that Ellie was already picking up what she was putting down. She fully entered the room and closed the door.

“I don’t even know if it’s that...but I suppose it could be. I’ve got to talk to Phineas and see if it’s even a possibility. You know, with the hibernation and all...” The Captain trailed off.

Ellie leaned back in the chair she was sitting in;

“Female fertility is tricky. It can be affected by the smallest of things. I’m willing to bet that you’re fine, but if you’re having symptoms then you definitely need to see what Dr. Welles says,” She suggested; “Also, I feel as if it’s now my business to ask. Whose is it? It’s not like any of us have had any real time to settle down.” 

The Captain’s silence was misconstrued by the foul mouthed sawbones;

“Oh, shit. You don’t know, do you?” She asked.

The Captain was quick to respond to that;

“No, I do...Ellie, I’m serious you can’t say anything if I tell you.” The Captain said almost as a threat.

Ellie threw up her hands in defense;

“My lips are sealed.” She promised.

The Captain drew a deep breath. Here goes nothing.

“I’ll be honest. Max and I-”

“I fucking knew it!” She said leaping up from her chair; “I knew the two of you were a thing!”

The Captain was startled. How could she possibly have known? The two of you had worked so hard to keep things quiet.

“What? How?” She bantered back.

“The long looks, the lingering around each other, the way he goes back to his room early in the morning. I knew the two of you were sleeping together!” She exclaimed.

The Captain would admit, she was amused by this. She’d expect nothing less of Ellie. Still, the Captain still had a huge dilemma on her hands. ADA interrupted their conversation, announcing that they had landed. After what felt like an eternity, The Unreliable was docked at his lab. 

“I need to go. We’ll talk later.” The Captain said, exiting her room. 

She cut through the kitchen to get down to the airlock, but was stopped just as she got to the top of the ladder;

“You going alone, Boss?” Felix asked standing from the table. 

“Yeah, I won’t be long. I just need to check in with Phineas.” She lied.

Max entered from his own room;

“I’m not sure that’s a great idea. I think someone should go with you.” He suggested.

Normally, this was Max’s way of saying ‘I want to go with you’, but there was no way she wanted Max to be there with her when this went down. Instead of asking Max, she called out;

“Ellie and Nyoka, let’s go.” 

Ellie and Nyoka appeared quickly and down the stairs, ready to go. The Captain looked at Max, disappointment clear on his face. She shot him an apologetic look before climbing down the ladder. She didn’t even bother gearing up other than making sure she had her pistol on her. She hoped this wouldn’t take long.

Phineas was in his lab, behind his bullet proof glass as usual. He beamed at the sight of the Captain and her selected crew;

“Ah! Captain! What can I do for you?” He offered.

She looked at him with a worried expression;

“I have some questions...” She stated meekly.

“Of course. Anything. What’s on your mind?” He asked.

She looked over her shoulder at Ellie who was watching intently and Nyoka who wasn’t sure what was going on. The Captain didn’t want more people to know about this than necessary. She used her more extensive vocabulary to cloud what she was actually saying.

“Phineas, would the chemicals used to keep me in suspended animation have any sort of negative impact on my reproductive system?” The Captain asked as eloquently as possible.

Not surprisingly, Nyoka saw straight through the Captain’s bullshit. Her eyes widened and her voice was loud in the room;

“Oh, shit! Cap, are you knocked up?” She questioned anxiously.

The Captain turned to look at her;

“Nyoka, please.” She begged.

Ellie jumped on the shot;

“Just wait until you hear who daddy is.” Ellie snorted with a smirk, looking over at Nyoka with crossed arms.

“Ellie!” The Captain shrieked.

“What? Who?!” Nyoka pressed on.

“Oh, you know. Just The Unreliable’s very own priest.” Ellie spilled.

Nyoka’s face fell and her jaw dropped;

“Max? The vicar? Cap, you sneaky bitch!” She smiled brightly.

The Captain’s cheeks burned with embarrassment, Phineas’ voice cutting in;

“Captain, I’d be worried if you hadn’t partaken in those kinds of activities. I wasn’t sure how it would have been affected. If pregnancy is a...concern, I can  run a simple test to know for sure.” 

The Captain was overwhelmed. She was stressed from the mission and now suddenly she was terrified that she might be carrying a little one. There was a lot at stake. A baby was not something she was prepared for.

“So, is it possible...at all?” The Captain replied.

“Well, there’s no way to accurately tell how your infertility has been affected, but I would venture to say it absolutely is possible.” Phineas responded

It didn’t take long for Phineas to conduct the test. He made it sound complicated, but really he just took a blood sample to be tested. Sure enough, within a half hour he had the results. The Captain stood in front of him, Ellie and Nyoka at her sides.

“Good news, Captain!” He shrilled; “I can conclude that your test is negative. You are not pregnant.” 

A collective sigh of relief could be heard from the Captain and the two women next to her. This had been a scare for everyone involved. 

“So, the nausea and fatigue were just coincidences?” The Captain wondered.

Phineas shrugged;

“I would say yes. Do understand, side effects will be present for a little while longer. You were frozen for quite awhile.” 

As relieved as the Captain was...she felt the smallest twinge of disappointment in her chest. She didn’t want to admit it, but she had the slightest bit of hoping that she was pregnant. The Captain was already in her 30s and her time to have a kid was now. Within the next five years or so, having a kid wouldn’t have been a wise choice. However, with the way the colony was now, she wasn’t sure that dream would’ve ever been reality.

She realized something else now. She was going to have to tell Max. They were very honest within their relationship. It was something they had been adamant about since the beginning. She knew that if there had even been a question that she might’ve been pregnant with his child, then he deserved to know. 

They bid farewell to Dr. Welles, finally heading back to the ship. The Captain was unusually quiet for the given circumstances, which was a surprise to Ellie and Nyoka. Neither of them were the ones to pry into business that wasn’t theirs. They knew that the Captain didn’t have to confide in them and that their boundaries of respect should be appreciated. Although, Ellie knew the psychological effects of things like this. 

As the three of them approached the entrance of the ship, Ellie gripped the Captain’s shoulder. 

“You wanted it to be positive, didn’t you?” Ellie asked bluntly.

The Captain’s hesitance was all Ellie needed as an answer. The Captain’s eyes shifted to her feet and a heavy, sad sigh escaped her chest.

“No...I don’t know.” She eventually replied.

She entered the ship first, only closing the airlock once she made sure they were all safely inside. 

“Hey, Cap...” Nyoka’s soothed; “Don’t be so down about it. You’ve still got plenty of years in you.” 

Her words were true, but not any more comforting. Still, the Captain smiled genuinely and thanked them both for being there for her. Nyoka’s statement stuck around with the Captain for several minutes after. Did she really have any time left for a kid? Would she have been better off to have had a child when she was still in her 20s?

She had lots of questions to consider that would weigh heavily on her conscience for the next little while, but she still had one thing she needed to do. 

She had to tell Max.

It was fairly late now, far too late in the evening to really go do anything. They’d stay in orbit until in the morning where they would dock at Groundbreaker to get some supplies. The Captain carried herself up the stairs with shaky hands and a pounding heart. She had never had to tell anyone anything like this. How do you simply tell your boyfriend that you’ve just had a pregnancy scare with his child?

She was unsure of how to approach this. Even worse yet, she had no idea how he’d react. Max was significantly older than her. She didn’t care. He didn’t care. But having a baby in your early 50s is way different than when you’re in your 30s. Would he have even wanted to raise a kid at his age? Would he have left the crew? The Captain was beginning to realize just how many things she would have had to consider if she had actually been pregnant. 

Her room was comfortably warm and even more inviting at the sight of Max stretched out on her bed. He was in a very light sleep, his arm draped over his eyes as he breathed slowly. The book that was haphazardly discarded onto the floor as evidence that he had been waiting up for you. She smiled softly, her eyes raking over his frame. His toned biceps, his fit core, his hair...Law, she had it bad.

The Captain was quiet as she entered, being careful not to wake him yet. She removed her boots to leave her clad in her socks and soften her footfalls. She picked his book up and smoothed out the pages that had gotten ruffled from being squashed into the floor. She closed it and set it back at the bedside. He always liked to read in the mornings before the Captain woke up. 

She eventually mustered up the courage to wake him. She sat on the very edge of the bed, placing her hand on his shoulder and gingerly shaking him awake. He stirred from his slumber, a little miffed for a moment from being awoken. His mood quickly changed when he saw it was just his stunning captain. He looked up at her from where he lay on her bunk;

“Captain, you’re back.��� He noted.

She nodded;

“Yeah. We just got back.” She replied casually, still mapping out how she was going to tell him.

He sat up from his position, shaking his head quickly to rid his head of it’s haziness. 

“How was Dr. Welles?” He asked curiously.

She nodded again and offered a somewhat convincing grin;

“He was fine.” She answered shortly.

Her brain couldn’t think of anything to say now. At this point, she was at a loss. Truth was, Max had a gut feeling that something was going on. Between her previous reaction to the tea and her refusing his assistance off the ship, he had a notion that something wasn’t right. He had yet to put his finger on it. He leaned his head against the headboard and his hand on her leg.

“Darling, if I’ve done something to upset you in any way, I would like you to tell me.” He requested.

The Captain was quick to deny what he was insinuating;

“Oh, no. You haven’t done anything at all,” She admitted; “I just had some...concerns I needed to air out with Phineas.”

His curiosity was sparked now. What was she on about?

“What kind of concerns?” 

She sucked in a breath and looked away at the adjacent wall. This was so much harder than she wanted it to be.

“Max, I went to Phineas because...I thought I was pregnant.” 

Now, in all his years, Max had heard his fair share of startling things. This topped them all. The Captain watched as he blankly stared back at her for what seemed like forever. Every ounce of color drained from his face as he attempted to process what she had just said. Her heart was beating violently in her ears. She wanted him to say something. Anything at all. Eventually, he gave a very bleak response.

“Okay.” He replied.

The Captain froze for a moment before responding;

“Okay? That’s all you’re going to say?” She asked, slightly annoyed.

He wasn’t really sure what to say. He hadn’t ever dealt with this before.

“In my defense, I didn’t expect that at all.” He bantered.

She figured that was fair. She didn’t exactly break the news easily. Another silence ensued after. She was fighting tears and he desperately racked his brain for something to say. She had been scared and honestly, she was disappointed now. 

“What did he say? Are you?” He asked, biting the bullet.

She shook her head no, eyes averted to the floor. The color slowly returned to his face and he didn’t feel like he was going to faint anymore. However, he was more worried about her. He watched her intently, studying her expression and behavior. He could tell she was upset about it. He had accepted long ago that kids weren’t probably in his future. Not because he didn’t want them, but he was about a decade past the usual first time parent age. He couldn’t miss something that he never had, right? Truth was, he struggled with it sometimes. He had been so committed to OSI and the Plan that he never settled down with anybody. Before he knew it, his parenting days were long gone by. Now, he felt terrible that she was taking this so hard. 

“It wasn’t something we had ever talked about. Not that we had any reason to,” She sniffed; “I was just so scared. I wasn’t sure it was even possible for me and I didn’t know how you were going to react and-”

“Hold on,” He interrupted; “Surely you didn’t think I was going to be upset, were you?”

She shrugged, finally looking at him. Tears were brimming her delicate eyes.

“I wasn’t sure. A kid is a big responsibility.” She admitted.

He sat up to where he closer to her;

“Of course, but I wouldn’t think any less of you. I wouldn’t just disregard you that way. I assure you of that.” He confessed.

He noted that she didn’t exactly have a moment of relief at what he was saying. There was something bigger going on. Sure, she was comforted that he was unhesitatingly willing to stick around like that, but suddenly that wasn’t the hard part of this endeavor.

“Something tells me that’s not completely what you’re occupied with,” He astutely claimed; “What’s really going on?”

“There was just a little sliver of hope that maybe I was...” She blurted.

His eyes shifted to the nearest wall for a moment and he nervously shuffled his feet. This wasn’t a conversation he ever thought he would have. He was unprepared, and surely didn’t want to say the wrong thing.

“Well, that’s perfectly normal.” He stated.

“Is it?” She questioned; “How could I possibly miss something I never had?” 

He breathed out a short laugh. He knew that feeling all too well.

“It’s not as insane as it sounds. It can be rather easy to fall in love with the idea of something and forget it isn’t actually true. Though I doubt that offers you any sort of comfort.” He rubbed her leg.

She didn’t speak for a while. He used this time to attempt to persuade her.

“I can see you’re disappointed, and rightfully so. But would you really have wanted to raise a child?”

The tears she had been fighting finally slid down her cheeks, a heartfelt confession escaping before she even had a chance to process it.

“I wanted to raise a child with you.” 

His eyes went wide at that. He was stunned. He didn’t realize just how much she wanted this. He hated to disappoint her, because at the end of the day, he was the part of the equation that made it impossible. Sure, raising a kid on a ship in the middle of space was challenging. However, the real kicker was the fact that his days of having a kid were long gone, realistically. 

She was trying to pull herself together. She wasn’t making it any easier on him by making him feel bad about. That wasn’t her intent to make him feel bad about something that wasn’t his fault.

“[Y/N], I...” He struggled to find the right words; “I’m sorry.”

She shook her head, wiping away the tears that made her feel so vulnerable. At least they reminded her that it was okay to feel this way sometimes. She couldn’t be her best all the time.

“It’s not your fault. I’ll get over it soon enough,” She said; “I love you, and I’m lucky to be spending my life with you.” She said shakily.

He held her hand to his face, kissing her overworked skin. This wasn’t how he wanted tonight to go. But he knew that not every evening with her could end blissfully perfect. That was something he had gotten far too used to.

“I love you, Captain. Baby or no baby.” He kissed her forehead now.

She moved to snuggle next to him, still trying to stop her crying. Every trembling breath she took made his heart sink a little more. He knew she’d be okay with time. She’d come to terms with it and they’d live their normal lives. But for now, she had some healing to do. 

And he’d be there for her every step of the way.

[merryfortune]

Day 26 / Lips

Clover and Violets 2021

Ship: Lassieshipping | Asuka/Junko/Momoe/Rei

Universe: GX

Word Count: 1,347

Rating: T

Tags: Secret Relationships, Polyamory, Misunderstandings

Edit: so you guys weren’t just gonna tell me only half of this fic posted, huh, is that it?

Loose lips sink ships, Rei reminded herself as she saw something that maybe she shouldn’t have seen.

She pulled herself back behind the endless bookcases of the Obelisk Blue Dorm and she felt her heart race and her cheeks hue with warm pinkness. For someone so obsessed with love and romance, Rei was actually quite shy when it came to the minutiae of it. But only because in this instance, she thought she might have seen something salacious. Scandalous. Hilarious given it was only the chastest kiss between Asuka and Junko in the library. Oh, it had been so romantic, Rei could have swooned. Junko sitting at the table, quibbling with her pen as she tried to take notes. Asuka sashaying back towards her, putting her hands on the edge and then initiating a surprise kiss. They looked so good together in the dim, dust mite ridden light that came in shafted sunbeams through the library’s sky-lights in the ceiling. All secluded and to themselves but here’s the thing. Rei could have sworn that it was Junko and Momoe who were a thing. Her heart hammered in her chest as she saw what she thought was adultery. Momoe was so sweet, sweet as a peach, there was no way that her girlfriend and their mutual best friend would do something so harmful to her behind her back such as kiss on the lips together - and who knows what else. Rei waited a moment and then she stole another glance at them. She just knew this had to have been bad luck; Chronos giving her a free pass to the Library because he wanted to see her excel and join his ranks was too good to be true. This was clearly karma for accepting a nicetie from such a harsh teacher. She saw that Momoe had returned and they were giggling amongst one another. It was as though the kiss between Asuka and Junko had never even so much as happened. She clearly did know. Oh, this was horrible. Rei had never known either Asuka nor Junko to be so cruel but apparently, even girls as nice as they were capable of horrible things too. Since they were clearly going to be there for a long while, Rei slunk out the way she had came. Sticking close to the bookcases and getting out there. Studying be damned. She didn’t need to pass biology anyway; this was a school for card games, why did they need to know punnett squares, anyway? But after witnessing such an event, Rei felt something awaken in her. A sense of duty and justice to her friend, Momoe, perhaps? A betrayal of her own eyes and what she saw; maybe they had just been talking and she had imagined or misunderstood what she had seen. Either way, Rei began to fixate on how Asuka, Junko, and Momoe behaved around one another. Junko and Momoe were always super-duper cuddly with one another. Sometimes even involving Asuka in their impromptu hand holding and arm linking. And Rei watched carefully how Asuka would stiffen before softening into whatever affection that Junko and Momoe were sharing between themselves and then inviting Asuka into it. She couldn’t help but wonder if that initial aversion from Asuka was an admission of guilt, that she knew she was doing some terrible to Momoe by having Junko in secret? Rei didn’t know and she kept having to look away, like a voyeur, because she didn’t want to get caught. She knew that this wasn’t her business but she was boiling up and over about it because she didn’t want Momoe to be hurt but she didn’t want Asuka and Junko to be either. All of it, seeming, to be the glisten on lips. Because it had started with a glimpse of Rei seeing lips where they maybe shoudln’t have been but she had begun to fixate on Asuka’s. And Junko’s. And Momoe’s too for good measure. They all seemed so soft and pretty, especially compared to her own. Rugged and chapped. She wondered what sort of lip balms that they used - and likely shared among each other. And just as Rei was on her way to the dining hall to hopefully score an egg sandwich, she saw Momoe and Asuka together. She wondered where Junko was and at first they were talking but as she walked by, she saw it in the corner of her eye.   Another kiss. It was melancholic with the late afternoon sun filtering through the branches; it sort of seemed like a thank you kiss, sweet but with eyes open, shared in full, both girls standing up straight, not even holding hands.   Rei stopped in her tracks so that she could gawk and unfortunately, Asuka and Momoe had noticed.

Momoe giggled, “Rei, you pervert,” she teased, “get over here.”   

Rei’s face went red. She nodded and she very stiltedly walked over. Just as she arrived, so did Junko who had drinks for three and not four.

"Oh, hey, Rei what’re you up to?” Junko asked as she handed out a water to Asuka, a peach iced tea to Momoe, and kept a diet cola for herself.   

“She was being a lookie-loo again.” Momoe told her.   

“It’s not like she meant either times…” Asuka offered as Momoe tilted her drink to Asuka so she could unscrew the lid.   

Momoe smiled at the small gesture that was otherwise unacknowledged.   

“I’m sorry!” Rei said. “I didn’t mean to, um, see either of that.”   

“Thank you for keeping it to yourself but, er, you still sort of gave it away in your body language. Everyone can tell you’ve been tense about something for the past few days.” Asuka said.   

“I’m sorry!” Rei said again. “For, um, thinking you were an adulterer, Asuka. And to you, Momoe, Junko, I knew that Junko would never go behind your back to kiss Asuka but I’m kind of confused. Who's dating who?”   

Junko laughed. “We all are, silly.”   

“O-oh, um, really… how?” Rei asked.   

“The same you would if you were only dating one person, I guess.” Momoe shrugged. “Works for us, we get a lot of crushes after all.”   

“True, true.” Junko said. “I have no idea how Asuka here puts up with us given she is very, very slow to develop any feelings for anyone.”   

Asuka blushed. “That’s not quite true.” In her flushedness, she was quick to change the topic of conversation. “But we like to keep it on the downlow since it is a bit unusual, you are right about that, Rei. It can be difficult to explain…”   

“I - I see.” Rei stammered out. Her eyes were all huge and starstruck - Junko and Momoe couldn’t help but notice.   

Junko leaned in and Rei’s heart jumped to her chest. She could smell the kind of tropical lip balm that Junko used.   “But now you’re curious aren’t you, aren’t you, girlie?” Junko teased.   Rei made a tiny hand gesture, “Only a little…” she murmured.   

“It’s natural to be curious about that sort of thing.” Asuka assured her.   “Okay, well, I am…” Rei admitted.    

“I think three’s just not big enough yet, you know.” Junko said, flicking her attention to Momoe.   

Momoe giggled, “Me too.” she agreed.   

Asuka sighed. There they went again. Getting more crushes but she had to admit. If it was Rei, she wouldn’t mind. And poor Rei. She was standing there still, not quite sure what to do with herself as it was a bit above her head but she did look cute with her eyes all lit up like that and her own lips a little slack.   Only to be kissed on the cheeks from both sides from Junko and Momoe. A sparkly, fizzy kiss on one side and a sweet, fruitier kiss on the other and it just made her go all red and smiley and her heart beating a million miles an hour because she was right to have a fixation. Junko and Momoe really did have nice lips.    Now it would just have to be Asuka’s turn next.

[innittowinit]

Let's just make some hot chocolate

Fic summary:

Niki finally gets a day off work at the Toy store and decides to spend it with her favourite boys!

You'll probably need some understanding of the au to get this fic tbh, it's mainly just an add on to 'abandoned amusement parks...' since it doesn't really affect the story much and i wanting to write it

aka soft drabble in the same world as the main fic

Word count: 2150

AO3

One under, one over, one under one over

Niki had finally been given time off work from the toy store and, much to the twins delight, she had decided to spend it with Wilbur and Techno. It had always been obvious that she felt more comfortable talking to Wilbur, he was a social butterfly, an absolute extrovert, and easily bounced off other people in conversations, Techno was very much the opposite. He was mostly silent, awkward and if he was being honest most days he’d prefer to just spend the day with his brothers than going to hang out with their friends, still though he understood his brother needed his social time and, as they came in a pair, Techno was always sure to tag along.

Sometimes Wil had days where he was exceedingly confident, where he had absolutely no problem going off on his own, while Techno seemed to be more consistent with who and where he would talk, Wilbur's levels of separation Anxiety tended more to fluctuate depending on how well he was doing mentally. Since the days where Wil was brave enough to do these things were so rare, every time they came up Techno would insist that he takes the time to hang out with his friends, even though it usually made him calm up and spend the day watching movies and answering questions with shrugs or nods.

That being said, days like that were good, it meant Wilbur was feeling good and Techno always knew he’d be up for spending time together when he got home, plus even though they were together so much of the time, Wil and Techno both had friends who weren’t so warm to the other, of course nobody hated anyone, Techno would never be friends with someone if they hated one of his brothers, but sometimes there just wasn’t any bond there and it was just awkward to have your brother tagging along. Wil had his bandmates, Techno had his hypixel group.

It had been on one of these days that Wilbur had met Niki, as Techno had been told, he had been going into the toyshop on his way home from band practice. Apparently this had been one of the weeks that Tommy had actually done his chores so he was picking up a disc for his music box, they were a niche little toy, and quite pricey considering how they were collectables. Nobody really minded getting them for him as a treat though, he always took such good care of them, Techno was willing to bet he’d lose his mind if he ever lost one of them. So, again, according to what Wilbur had told him, he had scanned all over the shelves for the disc Tommy wanted, Stal, but couldn’t find it, eventually giving in and asking the girl who was running the counter. Apparently she had made some small talk with him as she helped him out, and by some miracle they had arranged to play some farming game together that neither of them knew that well.

To Techno, who was unsociable at the best of times, this sounded flat out crazy, the fact that you could just arrange to spend time with someone you just met was a bit mind-boggling. Still though, he was glad it happened since had it not, he wouldn’t have Niki behind him right now, carefully braiding his hair.

Honestly, Niki was the sweetest person he’d ever met, Phil still being the leader of being the kindest as they were two very different categories, She’d met Wilbur when he was having a good day but not once had she tried to pry him away from Techno or convince them that it was just ‘all in their heads’ as they’d been told by countless other people (Techno always said that was a stupid thing to say because obviously anxiety was in their heads, that’s what a mental illness was.) Of course, she had been curious, asking a few questions about what it was like living like that but she was always respectful, backing off and changing the subject quickly if either of them showed any kind of discomfort.

She was sweet. She was sweet and nobody else braided his hair as well as she did.

Techno leant his head back into her hands a bit, very relaxed under the feeling of having his hair played with, and tried to zone back into the conversation a bit. He hadn’t even realised he was in his own head, just moments ago he’d been actively participating in the conversation.

“I get that it’s winter but Schlatt is insane! I have Christmas presents to save up for too! I can’t keep working overtime if he isn’t going to pay me for it” Sighing, Niki pulled a little ribbon out of her pocket, holding it ready since she was almost at the end of Techno’s long braid.

“Schlatt is….he’s a good guy deep down, we used to be friends, he can definitely be greedy though. Niki, you need to stand up to him or he’ll just carry on using you like this.” Wilbur hummed, placing a hand on her shoulder.

A grim smile passed over Niki’s face as she nodded, knowing that Wilbur would most likely continue to try to see the best in him until he saw for himself just how cruel he could be, nobody could blame him for that though, trying to see the best in people was a good attribute but even so, it was clear his opinion of the older boy was a little skewed due to their fond memories.

“You wanna get your mind off it? I doubt you want to spend your day off thinking about work” Techno glanced behind him, trying to direct his voice without seeming rude, giving a little smile and ‘thank you’ when he realised she had finished tying his hair, a pink ribbon and a pig themed hair tie closing it off at the end. “It’s so pretty”

“Your hair is really nice Techno!” A wide grin spread on her face as she crawled around to sit in front of him and pulled a few strands out around his face to frame it better “Once you learn how to do it, it’s over for everyone! Oh- Yeah! Taking my mind off of work would be nice”

Seemingly feeling a little excluded from this interaction, Wilbur scooted a little closer to Techno and rested his head on his brother’s shoulder, a small smile growing on his face when said brother pat his head a couple times to acknowledge his presence.

“It’s cold, if you guys don't mind going out to get some stuff, I’m really good at making hot chocolate” Sitting back up, Wilbur flashed a grin to them both, worming his way into a position where he could face them both.

“Yeah Wil’s Hot chocolate is elite”

Niki was left with a few seconds to make the decision before she jokingly rolled her eyes and hopped up, gesturing for them to do the same. Pulling on her boots and coat, she got ready to head out into the chilly weather.

Being the start of December, the coldness was really starting to etch away at the teens as they walked, none of them really bundled up well enough to be out right now, still though this was all for the goal of Wilbur making hot chocolate so it was definitely worth it.

Almost in unison, a sigh of relief waved over the friends when they finally made it to the small corner store, the artificial heating warming them up sufficiently.

“What’s on the list then Wil?” Niki smiled as she picked up a basket and started to lead them down the few grocery isles. A proud smile seemed to stretch on his face, absolutely ready to flex his superior hot chocolate making skills.

“We have some milk at home so I think we just need Chocolate, the Cadbury one it’s nicer, Cream and cinnamon”

“Cinnamon?” She had raised an eyebrow as she dropped the items into the basket, counting them out with her index finger

“It’s good! Especially with chocolate, and very christmassy” The brunette laughed as they strolled down to the snack section, dropping some of the crisps Techno liked into the basket since they had ran out as well as some marshmallows to put on top of the drinks “Don’t be so judgy Niki! I expected better from you, what snacks do you want?”

“Grab some blue m&m’s” She smiled, watching Wilbur chuck them into the basket along with some fizzy cherry sweets that he liked.

“I’ll pay if you want, Since you guys let me stay with you today!” Smile wide and kind, she placed the basket on the counter, ignoring Wilbur trying to insist they pay, it wasn’t uncommon that she made up something she needed to ‘repay’ them for to use as an excuse to pay for their things. Aside from the fact that they were her friends and she’d happily do it anyway, she was also very aware of the situation with their parents and, as the only one aside from Phil old enough to work, liked to help out where she could. At times it felt embarrassing to have your friend looking after you but Wil and Techno both knew she’d never judge them and this really was just her trying to make life easier for them.

Thanking both the cashier and Niki, Wilbur took the bags, wanting to help at least a little, before they started to trudge back through the bitter winter.

“Tommy and Phil should be home by now” Wilbur commented as they walked, Techno giving a little nod, Phil having taken Tommy to go play at Tubbo’s house.

“I bet they’ll be happy to hear you’re making drinks then, Tommy’ll probably be moody about not being with Tubbo anymore right”

Wilbur nodded along to what she said, smiling to himself as he realised just how well she knew them, she really had picked up on all their little habits hadn’t she?

Techno had been the one to open the door, fumbling with his key a little before sliding it in and twisting it open, the trio immediately getting crushed by a hug from Tommy.

“Missed you!” He laughed, sticking out his tongue before letting go so they could get inside properly “Where’d you go? What’s in the bag?”

Wilbur just shrugged, laughing when Tommy groaned and slouched off to the living room. This would definitely be better if it was a surprise.

With the coats and boots all discarded by the door, the three of them seemed to scamper to the kitchen. As expected, Wilbur took the lead, grabbing a pot and measuring out some milk, leading it to boil on the stove while he instructed Techno to chop up the chocolate and Niki to chop up the cinnamon. Once the milk had been boiled, the chopped up chocolate was added, until it was melted together with the milk. Next came the cream, Wilbur gently stirred it in, making sure everything was incorporated well before he took it off the heat and stirred in the cinnamon.

The pot was divided among five cups, each topped with a generous amount of whipped cream and marshmallows, Tommy also getting a strawberry on his since he liked to dip them in the cream, and Niki was sent to grab the two brothers in the living room.

The table had already been made, a cup at every seat, giving it a fancier feeling than necessary.

“It’s really good!” Tommy chirped up as he raised the cup to his mouth, fanning it afterwards since it was too hot.

“It’s hot but it’ll also burn you, careful” Phil chuckled as he passed Tommy a tissue.

Everything was still and everything was comfortable, Techno’s hair was out of his face and they all had nice hot drinks. It was nice

“Oh I almost forgot!” Niki got up and ran upstairs, rushing back down with the backpack she had arrived with “I brought presents! They aren’t wrapped but I hope you still like them”

First was Tommy, Niki handing him a red stuffed cow with little mushrooms on it’s back, who he immediately named Henry, Then was Phil, a striped green and white hat since the one he had was getting a little old Then Wilbur, a small but beautiful notebook, pages lined one way with staves and the other with lined paper, made especially for writing songs. Wilbur grinned and thanked her. Finally Techno, She handed him a crown, it was more of an inside joke about his ego but he loved it, putting it on straight away with a big grin.

Everyone was happy and warm, plus there was still some of Wilbur’s great hot chocolate to be drank!

[thefinishpiece]

Sick Of Sisters

There once were three sisters.

All spiteful of each other, despite being born together. All conniving and callous toward each other. Constantly scheming the demise of their least favorite sister—which changed seemingly every day, dependent upon chance and temper.

To them, the other was a cancer inflicted upon their life, wreaking the sort of disruptive trouble a cancer normally causes. Draining all the energy and health of the sisters, whom were caught in this atrophic web, incapable of escaping except through death or feigned tolerance. Relationship as existential prison.

This is where the morphine came in.

At first, it was pragmatic precedent. The eldest sister—Marilee—had hurt herself in a horrible home accident. She was curling her hair in to impossible strides in a venal attempt to seduce a car salesman into selling a car without insurance, when she slipped on the bathroom tile, clobbering her neck on the ridge of the toilet, knocking her collar-bone out of tune, and slopping the heated curler onto her belly.

Momentarily immobilized from her snapped stabilizer, she was unable to remove the curler for quite some time, until the youngest sister—Marin—discovered her writhing in agony on the floor, saving her from further damage with a swift swatting of the curler, maiming her own hand in the process. But not before the imprint of the curler was seared onto the stomach-flesh like a sloppy cattle-prod, spurts of blood peaking under crusted scab.

The Good Doctor— all doctors are good, are they not? —prescribed a profound amount of medication to ease Marilee’s pain, providing her a nightly nectar of morphine upon which two of the sisters are now addicted.

The first one to consider abusing the substance was the middle sister—Marlo—who had always been envious of her other two sisters, concealing her envy behind a curtain of false confidence and sensual swagger, often pretending she was “too cool” to be bothered by anything concerning her “mules of sisters”—even though she was prone to copying them at every turn, whether in fashion item or darling desire or turn-of-phrase, stealing from them every parcel of her identity. So it seemed only inevitable she eventually stole the medicative goo when no one was noticing, installing in in her veins like caustic wires, until she was dazed and dwindling in an oozing circus of her own.

The other sisters, to no avail, could never make fun of their middle sister for anything she did, because although she was an actress of appropriation, she had always been the most attractive and popular to the opposite sex—a trait of being that the eldest sister measured with worth, and that the youngest obsessed over only if to impress her fellow sisters and not be outcast by their inclinations of how a female should conduct herself and value her abilities. The ability to persuade male mates into misuse and mischief was a value most regarded in this home of three sisters, none of whom had ever been married.

So when Marlo, in her devil-may-care attitude, took to the morphine like mosquitos to electric maidens, Marilee soon followed, claiming her rightful spot as the original recipient of the tonic, complaining of increasingly discomforting pain to the Good Doctor, who continued to prescribe higher and higher dosages. And on a certain level, it appeared as though the Good Doctor himself had no real condolements for the sisters, as they could be bothersome in viscous sums, so he waivered practical dignity and supplemented them with joyful juice out of hope they would leave him alone—and possibly someday die.

What the Good Doctor failed to apply in his summation was the wickedness of Marilee and Marlo, which included their exasperating aptitude for withstanding tremendous levels of punishment. And so, the morphine binge marched on, much to concern of the innocent and confused Marin.

“You will never find a man,” Marilee was quoted as muttering frequently to her poor sister, “if you continue to act like a field mouse!”

Then Marilee would hawk something at Marin; some type of nearby object, anything from an empty beer can to a holiday ornament to a raggedy shoe—anything within reach. Marin never fought back, unfortunately, mitigating the aches and sores with the assurance that her sisters loved her, and that she, too, should always love her sisters. And could you blame her?

The maleficent mother of these three sisters died while Marin was only three months living, crushed to crumbs in an intoxicated crash of which she perpetuated, driving the wrong way on a road through the wrong intersection, at just the right time to be plowed by an oncoming supply-truck—which of all things good-timing, had its brakes sputter out in that exact moment. It was almost divine in its machination.

So, Marin was raised by Marilee and Marlo, who never appreciated having another sister— one younger and infinitely more adorable in infancy than they ever were. And they detested being imposed upon by the chore of nurturing her from nakedness to nuisance.

Their father, a gambler with a penchant for gore, would stop by on occasion to check-in, bringing fortunes and gifts for his girls, staying for about a week or so, then slipping away back to his precious casinos. Marin enjoyed these visits the most—the other sisters couldn’t be bothered to display any sort of affection or gratitude—and as such, she received the grandest gifts, becoming her father’s favorite, vexing her sisters to tease and taunt and torment her after father left.

Marin accepted it, however, because they were the only family she knew, and they’d habitually remind her of that terrible fact whenever she made a mistake. Whether it was metal in the microwave or buying the wrong flavor soda-pop from the convenience store; plucking weeds not deep enough, or not cooking their meals to meet “standards and decency”. And even though the sisters poured all means of errands and petty tasks on her, Marin, from the moment she could walk, did all of them with a grace unfounded in children, and a starvation of sense in understanding how her sisters could treat her this way yet still love her.

They reminded her, with clops on the head every so often, while she was on her knees scrubbing gunk from the kitchen tiles or washing the aerial defecation from on top the roof in boiling sunshine, nipping the side of her ear with their counterfeit nails, spewing some nonsense like, “Remember how much we loved you? We took care of you when no one else would! And this is how you repay us? By missing spots? To hell with you, mouse!”

Another nip. She didn’t like being called “mouse”, so she worked harder and holier each time. Until her tiny paws were quivering from fatigue.

By the time Marin was eleven years, her ears were adorned with porous marks, leftover scars from every time she had missed a spot or performed inadequately. Which in hindsight was all the time without any discretion, seemingly at the whims of her sisters, who spent leisure fantasizing about suitors and sulfurous insults, nicking her as they passed in meditative waltz.

Marin kept on cleaning and cooking for her sisters, dreaming someday they’d reward her by showing her how to grow her nails long and cruel, with all the shades of a rainbow; or maybe how to puff up her lips and brows with cosmetic witchery, making herself look like a famous face, finally free to attract the whole world to her porch. She’d be just like them. But this dream never came true.

And now she was twenty-two years, never spoke to a man let alone been with one, never worn makeup or dresses, never been outside her home except on trips for groceries, most of her experiences and memories from the visible pane of floor and corner, a sponge in her hand, her life soaked in suds and sorrys, spurned by her sisters.

The three of them shoulder to shoulder in spite.

||

“Marin! The heat! Open a damn window!” Marilee hollered.

Marin sighed. It was snowing outside. But she did as she was commanded, for fear of reprisal from her overlord, pushing glass aside so flurried air could shoot its frosty venom in.

Marin shivered, ice-flecked fangs nearly cutting the freckles from her face. Luckily, she avoided this loss—she was the only sister with freckles, a special trait the others disdained. Marlo even went so far as to pencil-in artificial freckles of her own, acting as if they were contagious.

“Marin! The cold! Close the damn window!” Marilee shouted.

Marin sighed. She gripped the bandages on her right hand, trembling in overuse. The Good Doctor explained very clearly that Marin should evade any sign of pressure or purpose on her bad hand, for worry of straining the wounded areas apart. It burned in fizzy agony whenever she went against the Good Doctor’s orders, straight to the marrow, but nobody else was going to do her chores and keep this home from shambling.

Marin was most disappointed by the notion she would no longer be capable of clutching a knife, which she kept burrowed in her tomato garden. She found it in a dumpster she had been rummaging through after Marlo “accidentally” tossed Marin’s stuffed-moose—Marley—a gift from their late father that Marin had sanctified in her youth. Her incapacity for stabbing foiled her plan temporarily, upsetting her. The upset was worse than any physical ailment could be.

After finishing the recent demands of Marilee’s mood, Marin shrouded herself in a tattered-fleece and sallow-scarf, the freckles on her face dissipating in pallor complexion. In careful tact, she maneuvered gloves onto her paws, a mission made simpler by the many holes and frays. Her sisters updated their wardrobes every season, discarding previous incarnations to the garbage in disgust, lest worn clothing despoil their entire soul of spirit.

Marin meanwhile had the same set of garments that had lasted her for a decade, and being that she was petite and pure, she never much grew out-of-focus for these childish threads to fit her. Though they had scars of their own, Marin never protested. She was grateful to have anything at all.

Outside, away from the clatter and carrion, Marin wept.

There had been an awful, wintry storm going on for quite some time, encasing everything in a crypt of ice and frost. A haze had turned black and green and orange, waste and trash fusing with dead air, puncturing the adjacent woods, and the gutted entrance across the lot, where Marin often had to pass through to walk the road to the convenience store, which sold almost everything they ever needed except for companionship and morphine.

What a trial it was to do, carrying plastic bags brimming in useless toiletries and rotting fruits, through hail and heat and gusts. Marin’s arms felt disjointed from their slots every time she had to walk the groceries back, and it was too many times where the plastic containers stretched beyond belief and ripped open, tumbling its treasures to the ground and forcing Marin to make-do with whatever she happened to have on her.

Once, under spears of sleet, Marin had to remove her coat and wrap it up like a bucket, placing all her groceries in it and dragging them the remainder of the way home, flogged by freezing air the whole way. Because if she hadn’t, her sisters would have scolded her. They would have slashed her. Flicked her face and ears with those carved-claws of theirs, slicing her skin, leaving behind traces of whatever hue they were wearing that week, from furious fuchsia to jolly jade. “You stupid mouse! How could you forget everything? We sent you out there—it isn’t even that far!”

Their voices punctuated her every thought. Marin did nothing of her own volition. Every move and mile were made only in regard to how her sisters may react. And she was sick of it. Sick of them. Sick of herself for letting them sicken her. Sick of everything.

Marin grumbled, her stomach jangling in pain. As a child, she was always having spells of random nausea. It’s why her father only ever took her somewhere on a few occasions—her favorite place being the museum, where she awed at dinosaur frames and star-maps and mummified pharaohs, absolutely adoring these relics of time. The dinosaurs were her favored exhibit, inspiring such wonder in her to see these prehistoric titans, once rulers of the same ground she now walked on, still standing resilient, even if they were now nothing but bones. She wondered if after she was gone, if anybody would hang her bones up and be awestruck by this mouse that once existed and still does.

Of course, she vomited on the way there. And on the way back. But her father insisted she survive the trip. He explained to her that the world was a wonderful place, endless in its miracles, ceaseless in its reverent history. It was his duty to at least show her its wonders—if only for one time—so that she would have these murmurs of imagination to leech off for the duration of her life. Because, in his heart of hearts, he knew his time was nearing an end. And he knew the malice of his own daughters. But Marin was supposed to be different.

And here she was, hiding outside in the snow, shivering and shamed and soured.

Her tears were a gas in the frigid afternoon. And her memories were a bullet to her brain, shooting through her entire body in prickly misery.

Marin stepped close to the edge of their lot, looking back at their trailer-home, covered in grime, practically glowing in the darkness; then stared longingly into the woods, as far as permitted by the storm, through naked trees and pined ones, standing in diametric dalliance, stripped of their color but standing the same way they always stand, unmoved by any force. She watched for signs of life. Sometimes she’d see a fox wandering through. Maybe a deer, if it had been quiet. And yes, even mice, scuttling from root to root, swifter than she could ever be.

She didn’t feel like a mouse. She had never understood why her sisters referred to her as one.

Marin examined her paws, shaking in the cold. Half of her fingers were bent, joints bristling away. Her nails were fractured, chipped in at random junctions, dirt and gunk rolled in them as if rolled in blankets, sleeping. The filth seemed comfortable there. Her right hand was stitched in bandages, spotted and soiled; their ends taped on after falling apart.

But Marilee was given new wrappings every day, and Marin had to traverse to the convenience store and back to bring her sister clean and sterile padding. But she herself wore the same saggy rags, every day.

Her paws were not nimble; they shuddered. Her paws were not swift; they lagged in lethargic weakness. She had freckles instead of whiskers. A bony-butt instead of a tail. She had no fur but skinny strands of hair, not even layering her whole body, which was brittle and bare anyway. Her teeth were crooked and putrefied, preventing her from biting most foods, which was just as well since all her sisters ever fed her was soup and mush. When they gave her the list for groceries, it was only ever enough for two. And the money was only ever enough for what was on the list.

Marilee, as much of a scoundrel as she was, always cooped up in the house, always irritated, seething at Marlo for always being out on dates and dinners, living the life of lies she once lived, when she was younger and prettier and her crabbiness was manageable and somewhat buttery—even in all her sullen squalor, Marilee had a precise mind, a tactical thinking, and it served her well in doling out only the bare minimum necessary tasks and necessary payment for Marin to deal with. Only the necessary amount for two sisters instead of three.

But there were three of them.

All harboring in that shackled abode of theirs. Passing seasons in continuous strife. Bickering—they loved bickering.

Marilee and Marlo engaged in contests of yelping and critical strikes almost daily. Marilee thought it disrespectful Marlo was always stealing—"borrowing”—her dresses, jewelry, makeup. Marlo thought it distasteful that such pleasant garments and ornaments should go to waste on such a petty, poisonous tree as her sister. And then there was Marin, meshed in the barbs between them, agent to them both, bandaging the wounds of their relationship while mitigating the worst injuries.

Because no matter how fiery Marilee and Marlo became toward each other, the consequent combustion always seemed to have a way of spilling over unto Marin, until finally Marilee and Marlo were both quite certain it was Marin whom they had been fighting against all along.

But outside, in the lonesome cold, the musty frigidness of a world decaying in tune, nobody blamed Marin for anything. Nobody could claim she did a poor job or that she lacked courage or that she was nothing but a squabbling mouse scrambling for crumbs. Out here, she was as uninteresting and unnoticed as a branch. Just another limb on the body of nature. It was calming, meditative. Marin took time with her breathing out here, inhaling so deep through her nose and mouth sometimes she would accidentally snort or hiccup.

So, she clung there, wading around the mounds of trash and piles of discarded vehicle gears. When suddenly, something scraped against her nostrils. A hideous smell—caustic and mushy. Marin winced, forming a shield around her nose with her little paws, trying to replace this odorous odor with one of her own flayed skin. Underneath the bandages, even under the scabs, her sores still danced with the pungent aroma of old blood and burnt skin. Anything was superior to this other scent, however—one of revolting ruin, of putrid pall.

Marin peered from one corner of the clearing to the other, when she realized the origin of the smell. Despite the ugliness of it, she sucked up personal disgust and peeled only two slight fingers apart into a slit, sniffing the source of the smell, following its rotting chain to its forsaken soul.

Over by the edge of the makeshift lawn, there was a metal bin, meant for industrial junk, but which the sisters had become accustomed to dumping all manner of trash in, especially liquor bottles and lipstick containers and ointment rags and leftover food they had let rot over for too long, either forgetting to eat it or just refusing to bother with them. Instead of sharing with Marin—as was typical—they would dump it in the barrel and send her to the convenience store to pick up more for supper. “Why are you begging for this filth? Huh. Just like a mouse, all you ever want to eat are scraps!”

When Marin was younger and weaker, she had a habit of sneaking out late at night, to fish out remains, picking at the parts still edible and least likely to sicken her. But what was there now seemed too sickening.

Approaching the tin bin, Marin was cautious not to let slip her mask of fingers, for fear she might suffocate from the smog. Her eyes began to sweat. If only she had more paws—a normal mouse has four.

Marin, with the wariness of a spider snatching eggs from a bird nest, leaned over and looked in. Abomination.

On the bottom rung, a smoldering cluster of shredded flesh and coiling bone, rusted, ravaged. The cavity of its chest hollowed-out, the bite-marks of fanged feasters and mauling maggots, halted halfway, as if the hoary night had frozen their procession in place. Its surrounding body remained in remains, skin shrunken so as to appear sinking between bones, its fur whittled away, spoiling in some spots and moldy in others, drained to a gross paleness, almost grayish-green, like swamp-muck turned to stone.

Marin could recognize it had been an animal at some point, observing its four legs now bent inward, wilting. And it had a tail, which was now a patched effort, skinny and sallow, craters of flies and worms still reminiscent on it.

Then she examined its head, whose covering had shriveled so much, it was more like a pastel skull, cheekbones and maw-ridges and sunken sockets, fleeced by a thin-layer of skin so emaciated and tarnished, it was impossible to imagine it had ever been a face.

To Marin, it reminded her of the skeletal mannequins she once admired at the museum. Unable to determine what kind of animal it was, she thought maybe it was a dinosaur. A long-lost primal beast, reduced to worthless size by time and commotion, the world a mess of monkeys and mice, vying for the same room. This was something that belonged in a museum.

Marin was so mesmerized, she removed her hand, and for a splitting moment the smell ceased to be smelt. She was entranced by this faded form, which had withered to its internal frame while still wearing the cloak of its dermal costume, like a ghost clinging to its corpse, even though the soul was now detached from the body and there was no coming back—no reattaching. She looked down at her own fleece, which she had outgrown, which was battered by tears and frays and splotches of obliterated dye. Then she gazed at her hands, beneath the gauze and speckled sound, how close her bones had come to the surface, her joints and appendages now more visible than her actual skin. And this haunted her—her own form fading.

Marin nearly disintegrated into the snowy ground, this disparaging despair causing a dissolution of herself. She cramped over, her stomach bubbling, sitting in the snow among trash and ash and mud. But she had no concerns about being damp or dirty or cold. She stared, at no particular direction or object—just staring because she wasn’t sure what else to do with her eyes. But she couldn’t close them; they were swollen from the sting.

Her fingers trembled, as they were prone to doing, but this time it was different—this time it was a body-quake, shaking and cracking her open. Marin huddled in the snow-stained dirt, her spirit in shambles. The little mouse had tripped herself.

She burped. Gases were mingling deep inside her. A nervous existentialism swirling in her stomach. And a sickening radiance overtook her—some hideous light, rays convulsing deep within her.

She expelled everything.

It spouted out from her mouth, thickening through her body as if a tree was sprouting from her intestines to her nose, filling her with heavy boughs, replacing veins with branches. She couldn’t breathe. And straight onto snowy surface, a splattering flurry of pungent-chunks and noxious-slime—a mess of eaten nature rebounded to its breeze.

Marin kneeled over her bodily puddle, writhing in strangely warm numbness. She finished, heaving every last drop of poison from inside her, her chest frozen in aching shock, barely able to find her first breath before gulping it down and choking on it again, broken on all-fours in remarkable ruin. Only moments after it was all done, did Marin lean over, panting; all the pain and displeasure expunged from her, feeling somewhat normal again, as if nothing had happened, just slivers of it in the way every breath still seemed desperate.

Marin recovered from her shock, as if it didn’t even happen, in the same way the earth pretends it wasn’t once swarming in terrible lizards and giant sharks. As if fossils were manufactured in a factory somewhere, for the sole purpose of populating museums to entertain people who take for granted how short their time on this planet really is. And Marin considered this thought, luring herself into the dark depths of doubt.

But she stopped, rescuing herself from further discourse, assuring herself there were most certainly dinosaurs roaming the earth, and most certain of all that things deceased are not simply forgotten. Because at the nougat of Marin’s anxiety was worry that she herself would be forgotten. Even after all the struggle and pain she wallowed through, thinking eventually some culmination of compensation would present itself, that to think everything in her past was actually fleeting and futile, that it was not in fact a crescendo but rather a flat-note existence—this most of all frightened her. The broken never being repaired. The servant never being rewarded.

The mouse never being given its cheese.

“Marin! Marin, where you are? Where have you gone little mouse?” Marilee shouted.

Marin perked up. Her sister came dashing out of the house, leaping from the porch barefoot, unchained from coldness. Her face was pallid and dripping, bland saliva painted onto her chin, eyes stretched by tentacles of blood, nostrils peeling snot-icicles at whim. She looked like a moving statue, tense and torpid. How she always looks these days.

But Marin limbered up. Something was different.

“Marin, call the Good Doctor. I don’t feel right—goddammit, I don’t feel right at all!” She shrilly muttered.

Yet, she was still caked in cosmetic frosting, appearing like a decorative tree whose branches and bark are spoiled and rotten behind a façade of kitchen-kitsch ornaments. Marlo often referred to her as a clown, runaway from the circus. This is how most of their arguments began.

“Listen you rodent, I—” Her scaly claws dug into Marin’s arms, pinching her already frail skin to the limit of perforation. Marin winced. Her sister’s eyes swallowed behind their icky ink, suddenly buried in a moldy-white. Then she collapsed to the ground.

Marin gasped, scurrying to the aid of her sister. Black-brine leaked from her lips, with a fuming foam seeping from her nostrils, her body so depleted of normal nutrients, which had been eroded away in her all-morphine diet, any fluid dripping from her lacked blood or color. She was bleeding residual leftovers. Her eyes were dead and drained.

Marin whimpered, a sea of veiled blood swarming around her freckles. She wasn’t sure what to do.

“Sister? Sister? Should I call…?” Marin whimpered, half-legible as her throat swelled and heart stampeded. As she held her sister, something peculiar happened. Marilee’s mouth curved into a serpent grin, and through her last gull of breath, she mumbled to Marin, “Don’t you worry, sister. We’re finally done.”

Marilee chuckled like a goblin, her fangs shimmering in the holiday stream, a rainbow of dim reds and greens and yellows and blues.

“Sister. Sorry. I love you.” Marin assured her that she loved her sister, not just because she was her sister, but because she was compassionate and caring and concerned.

And dead.

Marin remained there, shuddering in solemn scum. No heartbeat. Marin wept for her fallen sister; a piece of genetic memorabilia wiped from the scrapbook of living. The feeling of a corpse—it hurt Marin more than any punishment or wound she ever endured. She staggered up again, dragging Marilee’s body back into their house. Then Marin sunk onto the floor, fatigued by fate, by fear, by finality.

All Marin could think about is what her sister’s skeleton would be like displayed in an exhibit. What would they call her? The Serpent? Marin refuted this conception. Her sister did not have the cunning of a snake, even if she thought so. No, if they were to put Marilee on display, it would be as a vulture—a vulture chasing a mouse.

Dreary lights pierced through the shadowed room. Marlo had arrived home, presumably dropped by whatever new beau she had been entertaining for the night. Marin panicked. How could she explain such a fantastical occurrence?

Not that she had done anything wrong, but, well, Marin had a habit of being the subject of trouble and always assumed to have done the wrong thing when anything else would have sufficed. Maybe that was just the opinion of her sisters. Marin didn’t think about that now, however. Her blood and flesh had just left life in her own paws. The worthless mouse couldn’t salvage anything.

Marlo entered, swooning over her date. A spinster no more, perhaps? So, what a sight it was to see Marin huddled on the floor, quivering like a scared child, Marilee’s body flung across the room, limbs jaggedly sprawled and bitterly dark froth collecting around her head. Marlo screamed.

“What…? What did you do? Marin!” Marlo shrieked her sister’s name. Marin flinched. “What the hell did you do?!”

Marin, sniveling, couldn’t say a thing, rendered a mute by a flood of panic. Marlo rushed to her, her pincers clamping on Marin’s left ear, to which she finally found sound and released a tremendous whine.

“Please, please, please, it hurts!” Marin pleaded. Marlo hung Marin to her feet, a faint murmur of blood whistling across her nail and down her finger.

“What happened here, little mouse? Tell me the truth or God help me!” Marlo commanded.

Marin winced, her ear a trapeze of pain. She couldn’t explain—she herself didn’t even know what happened. Marlo’s patience burned to its final wick, however, and she shoved Marin down on the couch, a violent glare, then she examined Marilee’s body.

After, she sighed. And Marlo took a seat beside Marin, her emotional state transmuted to something entirely different, her anger and sullenness washed over by shades of volatile disappointment and uncomfortable relief.

“It’s not your fault,” Marlo murmured, staring at Marilee, while Marin rubbed her cut. “It is nobody’s fault.”

Nobody said anything. It was the first time this house had ever experienced such fractured silence.

Nauseous anxiety buoyed in Marin’s tummy. She closed her eyes, erasing the image of her sister’s deceased silhouette; she ignored the throbbing pain of her bleeding ear; she focused on a shard of memory, a vision from a time so long ago she doubted whether she had actually lived it at all.

In the museum. Her least favorite part. A section that wrapped around tubular barricades, static aquariums of plastic prehistoric fish and fauna carved into the cement walls, lights dimmed and receded, a sparse dark. At the end of this aquatic tunnel was a gigantic wall, enshrined with the molding of an ancient leviathan, behind it glistening vertical strains of deep ocean, partial artificial sunlight painted on, dropping to unfading black. And Marin standing there, a small mouse, directly in front of these behemoth jaws, slabs of unchipped gray, surrounding a gargantuan hole of darkness darker than the deepest elegies of space.

If there were eyes, they were meaningless lamplights compared to the sheer earth-swallowing pit of nothingness that was its mouth. It was the only part of the exhibit she was truly frightened of—the thought of being mindlessly swallowed up by this monstrous thing, without even being bit or chewed, without even having a chance to swim away. And she resented this memory, because she remembers when she was standing there, lost in the gape, so afraid, she soiled herself, and all the other passersby pointed and giggled and laughed at her.

This was when her father came and knocked one of the other fathers in the nose and there was shouting everywhere. That’s when she had to ride home in the back of a police vehicle. It’s when someone actually gave a damn enough to protect her.

As Marin opened her eyes, Marlo sobbing in her lap, embracing her sister, Marin had the most curious instinct of latching her arms around her sister in an affectionate—rather than hateful—manner. There was no more trouble.

Marin wanted to ask Marlo if she would ever let her slip away. Into the fade. Or if she’d have the decency of contributing her fossil to a museum. So she could live on forever—not as a monument to fear and darkness, but as a reminder of life and love, even in the corners of something as quiet and little as a mouse. But then Marin began crying fabulously furious tears, thinking to herself, Who would ever want to look at the skeleton of a mouse?

“Don’t cry, Marin. Save your energy. I still need you to clean up this mess.” Marlo disappeared into the kitchen, scrambling to find whatever remained of the morphine.

There were three sisters. Now there were none.

[old story, circa 2017]

[fanficwithyn]

Five Day Off-Bounds - Fred Weasley X Reader

A/N: There were no requests about this one. I just wanted to make one since I was away for more than a week.

You were chatting happily with Angelina and Alicia when your boyfriend leaned in close to you to tell you to go to the tree near the Black Lake after dinner. You turned to face him and furrowed your brows.”Why?” “Just go there.” He said and kissed your cheek then stood up. You were still looking at him confused. He chortled and just said “I’ll be there, don’t worry, love” He ruffled your hair and left the hall. You blinked a couple of times and just shrugged it off. 

After dinner, you told Angelina and Alicia to go ahead in the common room saying that you still needed to go somewhere. You bid goodbye to them and started walking the path towards the Black Lake. When you were near you saw the silhouette of your boyfriend standing facing the tree. 

You smiled to yourself and walked slowly towards him. You hugged him from behind causing him to jump a little. He looked down and smiled when he realized that it was you. “Oh, good, you came” Then he held your hand in front of him. “Of course I came.” You told him as a matter of fact. 

You broke away from the hug and asked him why you were here. He just simply gave you a large bottle and your eyes widened slowly. You then beamed at him widely like a kid getting excited with a candy. He laughed and said “I asked mom to send me a bottle of Otter’s fizzy juice last week because you told me you wanted to drink those and Hogsmeade trip were still weeks away.” You hugged him and said thank you many times while jumping up and down.

The two of you drank it together under the tree while talking. Taking turns in drinking from the bottle. 

In less than an hour, the fizzy juice was finished up to the last drop. Then silence wrapped the both of you. You leaned your head on Fred’s shoulder and stared up at the sky. 

“Y/N.” “Yes?” you looked up at him. “Let’s play truth or dare.” “What?” you asked “You’re not deaf, are you, darling?” He asked holding both of your ears looking concerned  “Oh shut up.” you told him off chuckling. “Fine then.” Fred smiled, picked the bottle from the grass and spu it. It stopped in front of you. “Dare.” you answered without giving it a second thought.

“Oh, sure, mademoiselle.” He smirked and began thinking. When he seemed to have already thought of something he smiled at you “I dare you to go to the lake up until your knee.” You quirked up your brows at him. “That’s it?” “Oh,no, miss. You’re going to bring this bottle with you.” He gave you the bottle that had the fizzy juice a couple of minutes ago. “…fill that up with water from the Lake and pour it to your head.” You stared at him for a few seconds. “You do know that winter is approaching, don’t you?” “Yes. So go now.” he shooed you off excited to see how you would react.

You rolled your eyes at him and walked towards the bank of the lake. You took off your shoes, socks and robes. “Oh gods the water is bloody cold.” You whispered to yourself as you went deeper. You filled the bottle up with water and looked at your boyfriend who just gave you a thumbs up. You huffed before closing your eyes and quickly poured the contents of the bottle to your head. “Cold! Cold! Cold!!” you shouted. When the contents were all poured out you quickly dashed to the bank of the lake - splashing more water into your clothes, and into Fred’s arms. Fred wrapped your robes around you while laughing. “Stop laughing!” You slapped his arm while you slowly relax by the warmth of Fred’s body. Fred picked up your socks and shoes and hugged your side. “Let’s go back” he said rubbing your arms and shoulder.

When you got back to the tree you suddenly asked him truth or dare. “You haven’t even spun the bottle yet.” he asked defending himself. “Well it’s my turn! and I couldn’t just ask myself to choose between truth or dare, Weasley.” He nodded slowly and blurted out the words “Dare then.”

You thought of embarrassing things he could do but it appears that he has done so much that you thought it wouldn’t affect him big time. “So?” Fred asked you; his hands on his waist and his left brow was raised. “Be patient, Weasley.” you said. You then thought of something. You just weren’t sure if it’ll be hard on his part but its worth a try. “I dare you to never talk or approach me. And never be near to me within 2 meters for five days, meaning we won’t seat together in class for five days..” you told him. He waited a bit expecting you to add more. “Are you sure, love? Because, really, you can’t resist this more handsome Weasley twin, you know. I bet only by tomorrow you’ll be cancelling the dare” he said smirking at you. “Oh, Fred. Let’s just see who’ll give up first” You said winking at him. 

He then pushed you away from him “AH! What the heck, Fred?” “You told me not to be within 2 meters from you.” and shrugged his shoulders. “Git.” referring to him.

The next morning you sat on the bench clearly away from Fred. When he saw you, you just smirked at him and looked away.

In your first class with Professor Flitwick, you asked George if you could exchange seats with him. “Why? did you two fight or something?” You shook your head and told him to let Fred explain. George sighed and gave you his seat. For the whole class, and the entire day, you sat with Lee. 

There wasn’t much going on that day except this one girl who always follow Fred around. You grunt in disgust and roll your eyes every time she try to talk to Fred, especially when she touch his arms and tuck her hair away from her face trying to be flirty.

You and Angelina were in the field talking when, “Angelina” you called out to your friend “What?” “Hold my arms. Do all you can to prevent me from hexing this bloody girl.” Angelina frowned at your words. She then looked at what you were looking at and understood. “You know what,” Angelina started “I won’t even stop you. I’d even support you, Y/N. Go on.” She encouraged and you just smacked your face with your palm and grunted.

At noon the next day, the whole of the Gryffindors were summoned by Professor McGonagall in the Great Hall. Professor McGonagall had explained that she doesn’t want to see any of you acting like a babbling, bumbling band of baboons. All of you must act accordingly for the sake of the name of Godric Gryffindor. 

“Now, boys and girls, find a partner and practice the waltz together.” Your first instinct was to find Fred but then you remembered the dare. Fred had caught your eyes and you had this worried look on your face. Fred smiled teasingly at you and you looked the other way trying to find someone to partner up with. “Mr. Filch, please play the song.” You heard Professor McGonagall’s sentence and your worry began to swell again. You looked around, George was taken by Angelina, Lee was taken by Alicia… then someone tapped your shoulder from behind. You turned to see Oliver Wood(pls just imagine Oliver is still here)

“May I have the pleasure?” Oliver Wood was bowing slightly infront of you. His left hand on his back and his right hand asking for yours. You sighed in relief and smiled at him “Yes, yes, thank you” You answered him. You two started to dance. Your eyes had caught the sight of Fred and his partner and you just huffed trying not to be jealous. Fortunately, Oliver was somehow able to take your mind off the things. He’d crack a few jokes while you two were dancing and you’d try not to laugh but he’ll just wriggle his way to try and get that laugh. At times you would blush and smack his arm when he remind you of the times when you had a crush on him. You then, thanked Oliver again after the practice was finished and bid him goodbye.

By the third day Fred had this long stick that looked much quite like a staff and might be at least 2 meters long. The students, including you, frown at what he’s carrying with him. He looked like a ginger Jack Frost. Some Professors even restricted it inside their classroom. So he leaves it outside the room leaning on a wall looking like a very lonely piece of wood. When someone asked him what is it for, he answered saying that it is used to eliminate pests.

Out of nowhere, during lunch break, Diggory, tapped your shoulder. He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Fred’s piece of wood. “Cedric, my dear pumpkin, friend, I’m sorry but this woman is reserved.” He got hold of Cedric’s shoulder and walked him down the aisle and talked to him.

When Fred returned your eyes followed him while he just blew a kiss at your direction. You looked at Cedric and his face was a mix of confusion and annoyance.

By the fourth morning he looked so grumpy and sad. In classes, you would always catch him looking at you longingly. At times George would call out his name a few times before he would snap back to reality. You would even hear him sigh and click his tongue at classes or in meal time. He wanted the game to end, really.

The next morning in Potions you get partnered up with Nathan, a Slytherin boy. And boy, was he good at potions. You were at awe in his skills and always asked him about things. What to do when things are like this and that and he would always smile and answer your questions. You swore you were like a child beside him and it is visible in your facial expressions.

In the middle of class, you asked him if you were still needed. His ears perked up at your statement and said “Oh no! no. I mean yes, y-you are still needed. Here, you can pour this inside the cauldron and stir clockwise 5 times” He smiled apologetically at you and passed you the ingredients “Omg, relax.” You smiled at him. “I was just joking.” “Oh” He frowned and chuckled. “Well, cool” then smiled at you.

While you both were discussing about potions, a loud fall was heard from a nearby table. “Weasley!” You heard Snape hiss at Fred. You looked on the floor to see his and his partner’s cauldron; you then looked at Fred who was already looking at you, clearly pissed. You gave him your softest expression and a “what happened?” face. He just looked away and faced Snape.

In every chance you get, you try to look out for him but he never returned your glance even once since Potions. 

By nightfall, he didn’t spend too much time in the Hall. He pushed away his plate, indicating that he was done and stood up. You followed him quietly to the common room and saw that he went up to his room. Since it was finally the last day, you decided to end this. You went straight up his dorm room, took a deep breath and gathered your courage. You then opened the door slowly.

You found your boyfriend sitting at the window sill holding his legs up to his chin looking out of the window. He looked up and went back to looking out the window when he saw you. “Love?” He remained and you gently walked up to him. You sat beside him and held his left hand. 

After a few minutes of silence, you cupped his face and made him look at you. You looked at him straight in the eyes and pouted at him ‘why didn’t it work??? it usually works with him?!’ you asked yourself “C’mon.” You stood up and held his wrist.. He stood up following you and sat on his bed.

‘This should work with him then’ you thought. You cupped his face again and started to pepper his face with kisses. You started slowly but then you felt him smile. You decided to double the pace and say I love you in every kiss. He laughed and suddenly took hold of both of your hands. He gazed at your eyes; his eyes going back and forth from your eyes and lips. He bit his lip and quickly kissed you. In that kiss you felt his longing and love for you and it made you deepen the kiss.

When he broke the kiss “Gods, did I miss your lips.” he said and closed his eyes for a moment. You chuckled and said ‘Me too.” “Don’t ever make either of us do that ever again, love. It was torture! Just imagine how I felt when I saw you with Wood dancing! You had a big crush on that guy before we became together!” He sighed and shook his head. You laid yourself down on his bed, still listening. “And that slytherin boy Nathan! He was so close! And you giggle at the things he does like he’s the most interesting person you’ve ever met!“ You just nodded at him. When he stopped you pulled him down with you, and hugged him. "Is someone jealous?“ You asked innocently while you softly rub his back. It was seconds you waited before he answered “Oh I’m not even going to pretend I wasn’t, because it was clear to my sentences, Miss Y/L/N” He broke the hug and you burst into laughter and you saw him looking at you completely not agreeing with your festive mood.

But nevertheless, he kissed you again. You smiled into the kiss as you feel his hands on your bare back. When he pulled away, he stared intently in your eyes. “I just missed you so much, you know.. you were there but I can’t even hold you or talk to you..” You hugged him tightly and said “I’m sorry, Freddie. But hey, at least we did it!” You cuddled closer to him and wrapped his arm around you. “Just tell that other Gryffindor girl who always flirt with you to stop or else I won’t hesitate to hex her.” you said “What a scary woman.” he replied and chuckled. “I love you, Y/N” You smiled at him and said “I love you too, Fred.” 

Both of you stayed together that night and cuddled until you fell asleep.

A/N: so…so…trashy.. 😭 but I still hope you liked it. I missed writing for Fred.

[docholligay]

Chekov’s Gun and Other Disasters

The second entry in the Silverleaf series, sponsored by Ben of my patreon! I hope you all enjoy our widening cast of characters, some light tragic anime backstory, and Mina being an ass. 2,200 words. Thank you Ben for sponsoring this!! 

Haruka liked teaching gym. Not only did she get to move around all day, but, she found, students often didn’t know what they were capable of, and thought themselves weaker than they were, and there was nothing that brought out Haruka’s sense of personal pride quite like seeing a student move and change, realizing there was a strength within them that they did not know. They didn’t have to win any awards (though Haruka had often been the soft-hearted teacher who gave them out) they simply had to prove something to themselves.

 Hotaru Tomoe caught Haruka’s eye from the instant Haruka walked into the gym, the girls sitting in their perfectly matched gym shirts and skirted shorts, in straight seated lines like the jewels waiting to be cut and polished that they obviously were. She thought of them, all having come from around the country to the finest academy for young ladies, filing back to their dorms at the end of the night, patiently studying at identical desks, ready to do it again tomorrow.

 It freaked Haruka out a little, to be honest.

 And Hotaru sat in the back row nearest the wall, in her shirt and skirt shorts, hair tied back with the issued headband, seemingly terrifyingly uncomfortable with the entire affair. And this was not the first time Haruka had seen this--so many students felt out of place in this physical world, as much as she always had as she struggled through her classes.

 But she had done it, and she had succeeded, and she wanted these girls to trust that they could do the same.

 Another student caught her eye, as she looked over the assembled crew, whose eyes never left Haruka, waiting to see if this new teacher was friend or foe.

 The pink haired girl was bubbly and bright, chatting with on of her friends behind her, who seemed to be half-ignoring her, looking forward, trying to stay with the rest of the well-manicured pack. Chibiusa Tsukino was the kind of girl who sat in front, the kind f girl who chirped and chattered and vied for the attention of anyone giving it.

 A less charitable teacher might have been annoyed by her, but Haruka was not a less charitable teacher, at least not yet, she worried in the back of her mind, pleased by the budget and the pay of this place but worried about the straight lines of calm girls she saw passing through the halls. She thought Chibiusa’s sparkle was quite charming.

 “So,” Haruka put her clipboard behind her back, affecting a large smile that she hoped showed joy, and not the absolute abject terror she felt in front of a group of girls whose parents could buy and sell her, “I know most of you probably aren’t very excited for physical education…”

 Was this her speech? Was this what she had practiced in the mirror this morning, while brushing her teeth, combing her hair, over and over again? It didn’t sound practiced at all. It sounded fearful and desperate.

 Shut up, she hissed at the voice in her own head. “Anyway, I hope,. And I think, that I can change your mind about it. It’s not about being a jock,” she winked, “though I am that, too. It’s just about,” she gestured aimlessly, “learning how to have fun with your body, and cooperate with it, you know? It’ll be fun.”

 A girl raised her hand high. “Miss Tenoh, will we be doing fencing this term?”

 “Uh.” The thought had never occurred to Haruka that even the sports were different at this level, and she thought of the basketball sitting in her office. “Maybe?”

 The girls looked at her, unimpressed.

 It was going to be a long semester.

 __

 This school was sprawling. She could hardly believe it as she had toured through the buildings during her interview, each built to its particular purpose.

 The arts building directly adjacent to the gym was one of the newest, and she entered into the glass atrium where the sun streamed onto the girls sitting at little tables, eating lunches, studying, or gossiping. It was beautiful and high-ceilinged, and as she passed through it toward Mina’s classroom, she couldn’t help but think how different this was from her time in public education.

 It had, of course, been Mina’s influence that had gotten her the interview in the first place. Yes, she did her job well in the public sector, but places like this hired actual Olympians, not people like her who blew their knee and ruined any shot they had at trying for the gold medal.

 Mina’s influence had governed a fair amount of her life since they were assigned to the same dorm, as she thought of it, and it had been her who had convinced Haruka that her life was not worthless and over just because her Olympic dreams had died at the hands of a poorly-set hurdle.

 “Excuse me?” The voice took Haruka out of her memories of that day on the track.

 She looked up to see a woman, taller than her, which always gave Haruka a bit of a shock, standing in front of her in a rich purple suit. She must be important, of course, but Haruka could not quite parse out how she might be important.

 “Yes?” She felt, suddenly, a bit unchivalrous. “Can I help you with something?”

 “Oh, not at all,” the woman smiled kindly, “I simply wanted to meet you. Miss Tenoh, the new physical education teacher, is that correct?”

Haruka extended her hand. “The hoodie must give me away.”

 The woman laughed appreciatively and returned her handshake. “It’s not normal attire for an instructor here, that’s true. Setsuna Meioh. Principal of the Silverleaf School for Girls.”

 “Oh! Nice to meet you!” Haruka adjusted the bag on her shoulder.

 Setsuna walked alongside her, and Haruka was not certain if she knew where haruka was headed or simply had one of those bearings, but she headed in the direction of Mina’s classroom nonetheless.

 “The dean of health tells me wonderful things about you. About the work you did.”

 To an extent, this surprised Haruka, as she had spent a great deal of her interview choking on her own bile as the dean had assured Haruka she could do so much more with a better class of student, rather than the low-income populations she had served previously. But Haruka couldn’t get too mad, she supposed. She was the one who sold out to go to a rich kid school.

 She puffed out her chest. “I can give them the discipline they need, and of course you know I’ve come up with some innovative programs, I know I’ll be great.” she felt herself eyeroll internally. When push came to shove, she fell back on the old bluster every time.

 Setsuna stopped in front of Mina’s classroom. She definitely must have known where Haruka was going.

 She smiled kindly. “I’m sure you will do a lovely job with the girls.” If she was somewhat uncomfortably knowing, there was at least the compensation that she seemed to be considerate, “You might be just what they need.”

 Haruka gave one acknowledging nod, playing with the strap on her bag. “It’s nice of you to say so.”

 Setsuna looked down the hallway, to a group of girls whispering nervously over papers as they exited a classroom, the first day of school already daunting.

 “I suppose I should see what Miss Hino has done to the freshman. She also has a great deal of zeal for her work, if you know what I mean.” She gave a small laugh. “It was nice to finally meet you.”

 “You too.” She shook Setsuna’s hand again, privately hoping that she would just go away and Haruka could stop pretending she knew what she was doing for even one minute.

 She walked down the hall, calling out the freshmen leaving Rei’s classroom, and Haruka ducked into Mina’s. Everything was different here, Haruka knew, but even still, the idea of a purpose-built drama classroom had never occurred to her. But here it was, with a small stage at the front of the room, couches and chairs scattered in front of it in various combinations. At the back of the room, a strange collection of cabinets and tables seemed to be serving as Mina’s desk.

 If the drama teacher couldn’t be odd, she supposed, then who could be?

 Mina looked up, her eyes lighting up as she registered Haruka. “Hey! Good to see you didn’t get lost on the long walk.”

 There was a certain fortuitousness, grace, or fate that had allowed Haruka and Mina to have the same prep period, but Haruka could not have imagined how grateful she would be for it until this moment. She slumped down dramatically into the beanbag chair across from Mina’s desk, tossing her bag to the floor.

 “No wonder they fear you, proud warrior.” She set her chin on her hand and looked down at her.

 Haruka lolled her head back, her limbs spread long from the beanbag chair like a huntsman spider. “They all just stare at me with these eyes, Mina. They just let me keep talking and they have their hands folded and I’ve never been so scared in my life.”

 “Ah yes, not so much a blackboard jungle here as a blackboard UN summit.” Mina rose up from her chair and walked over to Haruka. “Did you die?”

 “Yes.”

 “I didn’t know I was a ghost whisperer, but I’ll take it.” She playfully kicked Haruka’s shoulder. “You’ll get the hang of it. Takes time.”

 Haruka rubbed her eyes. “I’m gonna get fired. One of the girls asked me if we were doing fencing. Fencing!”

 Mina knelt down beside her. “You know she means the thing with the swords and not actually building a f--”

 “Mina!” Haruka shot her a look. “Not helping!” she laughed weakly. “Building a fence I could actually maybe do. I should have just been a construction worker.”

 “Buddy,” Mina put her hand on her shoulder. “You didn’t work your ass off for four years, and I saw it, i saw your ass slowly disappear! So that you could go do construction. You’ll be fine.” She patted her shoulder and stood up. “Want to come over to my place tonight? I’ll even order that shitty Italian food you love so much, with extra breadsticks, I’ll get some of that pink fizzy shit you like. For making the trip.”

 “Your apartment is two doors down from mine.” She looked up at Mina from her place on the floor.

 “The cat in 309 has an attitude. Dangerous. C’mon. Let me treat you.”

 Haruka sighed. There was a peace in knowing that no matter how bad things went, Mina would be there. That had been true, from the day Mina had come through the dorm door, throughout her multiple boyfriends and girlfriends and friends otherwise affiliated, throughout Haruka’s bad dates and her eventual attachment to Yuki, and throughout the heartbreak after. She had lived in Mina’s apartment after Yuki broke their engagement, and then the one down the hall had opened up, like a sign from whatever you believed in.

 “Okay,” Her knee twinged as she got to her feet. “I’ll see you tonight.”

 “Wear your jammies, we’re gonna watch some shitty action movies and eat cake.”

__

 Haruka went back to her office, tucked back into the locker room. It was all hers, not the office she had shared with two other teachers back at the sprawling high school in the middle of the city. And there was air conditioning. It was deluxe.

 Her first few classes had been fair enough, even with the nerves she felt, and the students had not, at least, rioted against her, and a few of them had even attempted weak laughs at her jokes. She was trying too hard. It was just like when she went on dates. Wait, why was she comparing teaching to going on dates? Just because she was bad at both?

 No, she wasn’t a bad teacher. She had plenty of commendations that proved that. She was just nervous, and this was all new to her, this world of incredible wealth where the girls’ uniforms cost more than her nice clothes.

 Thank god she just had to wear athletic shorts and a t-shirt.

 She looked over at her desk. Bright yellow and dark chocolate, framed by red strawberries.

 Her stomach rumbled in appreciative response. Mina must have known she’d be nervous, and sent it to her. She walked over to the bouquet and removed a strawberry, popping it into her mouth.

 She flopped down into her chair, picking up one of the pineapple daisies. Pineapple was her favorite, even though it tore up her mouth every time. She just couldn’t resist it, no matter the pain.

 There was a card attached to the side of it, that she hadn’t seen before, and she popped it open.

 Her eyebrows popped up in response, the words immediately not Mina’s, even at the first.

Best of luck, and I hope to run into you again, in a purely colloquial sense, M. Kaioh.

 Haruka turned that card over in her hand, and took a bite of the pineapple.

[bffhreprise]

Entry 157

 The convention was lovely.  If I had an ounce less self-control, I would have humiliated myself greatly, shouting out with the rest of the rabble at various booths.  There were many wonderful things to be found in this place, such as unique stuffed animals, anime, and numerous video games.  I pursed my lips as I thought of how few games I played lately outside of Ancient Tribes of Earth.  Aaliyah outdid herself with that particular game.  I worried at her having dominated the market, knowing what she was.  Could she actually enjoy gaming?  I severely doubted it.  When the day came to an end, I made sure everyone was gathered to head back to the hotel.  We couldn’t afford any injuries this weekend, not with us performing each day… not with Aaliyah having a contract over us.

 Most of the group departed once we reached the top floor, having taken two lifts, but Aaliyah hit the button for the ground floor before James and I departed.  What was she doing this time?  Ah.  There was a man delivering pizzas.  We’d simply look ridiculous attempting to carry that many, but that could easily be avoided quite easily.

 I felt James turn his eyes to me just as I was pointing at the bellboy.  He watched as I gave instructions for a trolley to be brought.  Was he watching me clean it as well?  Cleaning in plain view required subtle magic, carefully planned and executed.  James seemed to ignore the actual spell, despite my efforts to perform it slowly.  His eyes were fixed on me until the pizza was handed over to him.  We waited for the delivery driver to grab the rest, heading back up after our trolley was full.  The smell of our dinner was absolutely divine.

 While we had been detained downstairs, the others had slipped into pajamas ad were now lounging in front of the telly.  I would have to discuss Ai and Mai’s choice of pajamas with them later.  I knew those two were interested in Jarod, but those tops were simply too low-cut to be worn in front of others.  I restrained a sigh.  They wouldn’t listen.  I wasted my breath on them many times in regard to fashion, but they insisted on “fitting in”, despite the obvious expense of their clothes.  I created a spell to summon a box of pizza and two-liter of fizzy drink while I arranged my laptops.  James was watching me again.

 “What?” I asked, creating ice cubes from the water in the air.

 James seemed distracted by the feat.  I would gladly demonstrate for him if he ever wished to learn.

 “Sorry.  I just figured you’d be joining us.” he confessed, sounding disappointed.

 I was tempted.  I knew I could push things off again, but neglect always caused problems.  There would be missed deadlines, sneakier types attempting to slip by me, and missed opportunities.  No, I mustn’t allow myself to slack off with the rest.

 “Though this is a pleasant diversion, I still must do work.  Don’t worry.  I can see the telly perfectly fine from here.” I told him, trying to reassure him without falling to temptation.

 The idea of abandoning my work to sit next to James and watch whatever might be displayed for us grew stronger in my mind as he nodded, looking disappointed.

 “Boss-man, sir!  You can’t eat yet!  Go get changed, so we can start the movie!” commanded Aaliyah.

 “I thought I might eat first.  I’m rather hungry.” he replied.

 “You’ll last another minute, boss-man, sir.  Don’t risk getting your costume dirty.  I worked sooo hard making it.” she insisted.

 I knew Aaliyah was perfectly aware of how easily the twins or I could clean an outfit, so she was simply making excuses for him to depart for the moment, unless she actually worried over his comfort.  Unlikely.  Still, James nodded and went to his room.  I did my best to ignore him changing, but I couldn’t help being aware of each movement as he took off his shirt.  Fearing I might blush, I started working in earnest, trying to be distracted.

 I was thankful when James had finished, but I was too aware of him looking at me.  I wasn’t being indecent.  I couldn’t help my abilities.  I tried willing myself not to blush.  James didn’t seem to notice if I did, and I allowed myself a small sigh of relief when he turned to sit with the others.

 “Are you staying like that for the entire weekend?” questioned James as he looked to Brandon.

 “Huh?  Oh.” Brandon dumbly replied.  “Yeah.  Aaliyah pointed out that with all the cameras down there, someone could notice if I screwed up the shape a bit.  This is just safer.”

 I actually believed he would be fine.  Brandon showed remarkable skill at his shapechanging.  I wouldn’t have believed he could pull off switching genders had I not seen it, but I did notice that he could precisely resume forms he had used before.  If only he shared in his sister’s ability to alter her pigmentation, he would make a fantastic spy, despite his… other limitations.

 Iron Man started playing, and I assumed Aaliyah had somehow hacked into the telly or the hotel’s feed.  I had no other explanation as to how she could simply press a button on her phone and instantly get the precise film she wanted from the top.  With anyone else, I might consider luck, such as turning on a telly and happening to find a film one enjoyed starting, but she always planned.

 The second film started immediately after the credits of the first were skipped, confirming my suspicions.  Furthermore, I was making great progress with work.  I might well finish before morning, finish what I deemed most demanding at least.  There was always more work.

 Too many people started dozing during the second film.  When it concluded, I said, “Off to bed.”

 “Couldn’t we just…” started Ai, her head resting on Jarod’s shoulder.

 Interrupting her, I stated “No.  There is no justification for piling together for sleep when perfectly adequate sleeping accommodations have been made for everyone.  Such behavior would be highly improper.”

 Mai had the audacity to make a face, though she at least had the good sense not to aim it in my direction.  I worried over the affect the U.S. was having on those two, but I couldn’t bring myself to send them away either.  Even I needed company at times.

 I intercepted Portentia as she went toward the bedroom, knowing she was certainly not going to pretend to sleep.  Not being able to stop her with a word was most inconvenient, but no one would be foolish enough to tell me I took too long in responding.

 <Where do you think you’re going?> I asked her, signing instead of speaking.

 <Patrolling.  Someone might need help out there, and the others need sleep.> she replied.

 I quickly told her <Absolutely not.  You do, of course, realize there are security cameras as well as staff that might note your departure.  You must at least attempt to show discretion with your nightly activities, especially when being employed through James’ company to be here.  Getting yourself into trouble with the police would be bad enough, but besmirching his name cannot be tolerated.>

 Hours passed as I continued working.  Thankfully, Portentia didn’t attempt to go out again.  She really was a good girl, despite her peculiar view on life.  I understood to a degree how her uniqueness set her apart.  Without my family, I might well have sought trouble as she did, but I would hope that I still would have the good sense to keep others out of it.

 I was surprised when James woke.  Was he having difficulty sleeping?  Oh.  Of course.  I quickly sought a few extra things to do as he made his way toward the lavatory, wanting to be as unaware as possible of what came next.

 When he was finished, he was apparently drawn to the light, seeming surprised that some of us were awake.  Ai and Mai had joined Portentia by the telly nearly an hour ago.  He gave us a wave before making his way back to bed.

 I considered what a life with him could be like embarrassingly often.  There was a great gap between our abilities, but I never felt like this toward anyone before, not even close.  I couldn’t say that things would certainly work, but I wanted to try if he was willing.  Adelmar wasn’t precisely against it.  James’ magical abilities were unique and highly valuable to our family, assuming they could be passed along to his children.

 Children… I could easily see myself as a mother someday, but I worried over how well James could be a father.  There was a great deal of history on the matter where my family was concerned.  The relation between the human parent and the offspring was often strained, but James’ magic would surely influence his children as well.  He just wouldn’t be able to keep up with them.  The idea was a tad depressing, but I couldn’t shake the thoughts as I continued to work.

 By morning, I found a modicum of peace again, having thought through the countless stories I read.  There were cases where things went fine.  Aside from his magic, James was a spectacular person, capable of winning over people with charm that was quite mundane.  He also demonstrated a good mind when pressed to use it.  As for the trials, I had some plans for those as well.

 Breakfast was quite delicious and started before everyone was even up.  I refrained from laughing when the twins sent water washing over James that they had obviously intended for Jarod.

 “James!  Get out of the way.” commanded one of them.

 “Is Jarod up yet?” asked the other.

 I had lost track of which was which earlier, but I couldn’t let them know.  I’d just avoid using their names again.

 “Yes, he’s up.” replied James, apparently unperturbed by the sudden dousing and drying.

 As James came to the table, I said, “Please, do join us.  Did you rest well?”  I already knew he had been… restless, having been unable to ignore him entirely throughout the night.

 “I slept fine.  Thank you.” he told me, not looking up.

 He seemed troubled as he loaded his plate with food.

 Aaliyah deftly stole one of his sausages as she said, “Boss-man, sir, are you not feeling well?  There’s hardly anything on your plate!”

 Emma then stole one of his pancakes and told him “Well, you can’t go back to bed.  We’ll need you out there, even if you’re delusional!”

 James rolled his eyes but looked confused for a moment as he stared at the spot where a roll had sat before I had claimed it with a spell.

 “I believe you mean ‘hallucinating’.  He’ll be fine, I’m sure.” I teased.

 He looked at me in time to see his breakfast roll dividing on my plate through another spell.  His amused expression was priceless.  The day was off to a good start.