#So anyway *bashes my own head in with a rock* this post was inspired by a random diff HC I have. Anyway

[cursed-spirit-manipulation]

kenjaku is probably like. Genuinely super racist. 1 old as shit 2 doesn't really give a shit about other people at all and you might say "oh then they don't care about people Equally! So not racist" And no, not how that works when they're a fucked up opportunist, eg they're a misogynist for the cursed womb shit even if they didn't care abt the victim being a woman, they still took advantage of oppressive structures that target women (esp women who are victims and/or perceived as promiscuous bc. Like. How do you think they were able to abuse that woman? It was bc her family didn't care about her) so what I'm saying is they're racist

[tjlikesprettythings]

Joshua Tree Playlist-A Macriley Fic

So I’ve done it again, not sure what’s wrong with me or where this came from but enjoy my obsession. Thanks for the motivation and support from my other posts. I’m still waiting for my invite from Ao3 but wanted to share this monster with you guys. 

This fic was inspired by music that I thought fit the general tone of this story, so I decided to make a spotify playlist linked Joshua Tree Playlist hence the name. Now of course you guys don’t have to listen to it, I know we all have different preferences, but I would recommend listening to the last song by Dylan Schneider “Wannabe” so you get the full context of what I was trying to write. I also mention the songs that I recommend listening to. Well anyways Enjoy and do let me know what you think!

This is very long, just a heads up! Please let me know if I should continue writing. 

Joshua Tree Playlist

Chapter 1: Day 1

Mac sat on the deck after his run, another sleepless night. The nightmares felt more and more real each day. Looking out on the early morning LA skyline he felt like a stranger in his own life. There was so much anger in him that he didn’t know what to do with himself. The loss, the tragedy that was his life felt like a weight he couldn’t bear. He’d give anything to go back to that pressure chamber in Georgia again instead of this, at least things made sense then. He was spiralling, he was aware. Scrubbing his hands across his face he let another breath pass. He didn’t hear her coming but saw her shapely bronze legs standing in front of him dressed in khaki shorts and a black singlet one hand holding a backpack and the other on her hip. It was definitely early for her to be up, especially on an off day. 

He raised an eyebrow at her, “what’s up Riles?” 

“Get up, we’re going on a trip.” She simply said swinging the backpack at his feet. 

“What?” he was confused by the situation unfolding in front of him, maybe he was dreaming? 

She turned to walk back into the house, “You heard me Macgyver, get your ass in the car in 5!”

He stood up and swiped the backpack off the floor and chased after her. She was already in the truck sunglasses pulled down with her arm out of the window, fingers drumming against the door. “Riley.”

She nodded her head in the direction of the car, “come on, we haven’t got all day! Get in!”

He could have stood his ground but honestly, he was too tired to argue with her. So he threw his backpack in the back and got into the passenger seat. She started the car and connect her phone to the Bluetooth, a playlist called Joshua Tree Playlist that was curated by Riley Davis came on the on-screen deck. He discovered that Riley didn’t just listen to Beyonce, old school rap, and rock. Her music like her was multifaceted and ranged from what you’d expect to complete surprises. He even walked in on her listening to Harry Styles to which she had just shrugged and simply said “I’m confident in myself to like what I like, besides watermelon sugar is a tune.” But currently, she quickly scrolled and threw on Mumm-ra’s “Summer” the indie rock song had a classic indie bass and guitar combo as the intro, she shimmed her shoulders to the music. He couldn’t help but actually crack a smile at her antics. 

Her head turned to him then as she bopped to the music and gave him that brilliant smile lipping the words to the song “I’m only happy in the summer...I’m only happy with you, lover...” She was like a prism, all clear but as soon the light hit her she was vibrant colors and sounds. “Now that’s more like the Mac I know. Nice to have you back for a second.” 

Her words hit him fully, leave it to Riley to bring him back down to earth. To notice that he was struggling. He didn’t know what to say, so he opted for the next best thing. “Are you going to tell me where this semi-voluntary kidnapping is going?”

“Hey, no kidnapping vibes here. We’re taking a couple of days and chilling out. Matty already approved it. We have four days to ourselves. So we’re going on a road trip! Next stop Joshua Tree.” She simply stated as she drove down the hill and towards I-10E.

He widened his eyes and gave his head a shake, letting loose a chuckle he threw up his hand and let them slap his highs. “Ok! I’ll bite.” the brilliance of her smile made him feel like he made the right choice, the breeze already warm blew in through the open windows, the loose strands from her bun floating around her face. 

“Yea! Bozer is going to meet up with us there, he has an errand to run before. Unfortunately, Desi can’t make it, she’s on a mission.” she said sparing him a glance.

He shifted in his seat if he were honest, he was now just looking forward to spending time with her and Boz. “Yea, probably for the best.”

She didn’t say anything waiting for him to continue if he wanted to. The great thing about Riley was she pushed when there was something worth pushing for but otherwise gave him space to talk to her on his own time. Without saying it, he could feel her body asking him if he and Desi were ok.

“I’m not sure I’m what she needs right now.” He simply stated and the unstated that he probably didn’t need their complicated and messy relationship right now either. They were too volatile and while that gave spark to great sex, it left everything else scorched and untouchable. It wasn’t fair for Desi to be stuck with him while he was stuck in his head.

He watched Riley shift in her seat, lately, he noticed there was a strange distance between them but then here she was stealing him away as the old Riley would. Maybe four days would give him the answers to why he felt like she was slipping away slowly, the thought put such a tight feeling in his throat, he couldn’t lose one more person. Especially not Riley, not his amazing, smart, loyal, beautiful friend singing along to a cover of Billy Joel’s “Vienna”. Suddenly it was easy to smile again, it didn’t take all of his efforts. “Hey, did you pack my bag for me? Or am I gonna have to survive in these running clothes for four days?”

He didn’t think to change when she gave him 5 minutes to meet her at his truck.

“I got you, Mac, everything you need is in there boy! Why would I give you an empty backpack?” she tapped on with the music and threw him another smile. If the next few days were going to be filled with smiling Riley he was already glad she kidnapped him voluntarily.

“Did you go through my underwear and sock drawers?!” He asked narrowing his eyes and laughing as a soft blush spread across her cheeks, Riley Davis can be bashful what do you know. 

“I mean we’re all adults here, no need for this juvenile behaviour. Yes, I packed your undies and socks.” He could see her rolling her eyes behind her sunglasses, but he was amused by the blush that graced her face. Mac always thought Riley was attractive, men and women constantly commented on her beauty. Her looks helped them with countless ops. He wasn’t blind, just looked past the obvious. She was his friend, Jack’s daughter, and a relationship he couldn’t sacrifice. But these moments when they’re alone and he could look at her and steal glances he saw just how gorgeous she was as a being. 

They had become closer the past couple of years for sure, he felt completely at ease with her. Could talk to her about anything, seek her counsel about things that were on his mind. She usually could read him already ready to jump into whatever stupid situations he got himself into. Even now he couldn’t believe that she followed him into Codex. She had told him she trusted him, and he felt like he could breathe just from those words. Knowing she stood with him gave him the strength to follow through. 

They stopped for coffee and bagels, laughing about the guy in front of them that took ages to order. They made fun of a couple of housewives of Beverly hills type and how Bozer would’ve recognized who they are. It was just easy his mind kept saying to him. When he pointed to a smidge of cream cheese in the corner of her mouth, she attempted to licked it away with her tongue, he couldn’t help but gulp down some of his iced coffee and watch her miss it. Reaching over he brushed the side of her lips and without thinking licked his thumb clean. She froze for a second and looked at him with an intensity that he couldn’t read. “You were struggling” he shrugged. 

“Thanks,” was all she said with an almost shy smile, unaware of course of how that small act sent fire all over her. She was thankful that she was on her last bite and he was already finished with his bagel, now casually leaning back in his chair letting the sun warm his face, his golden hair casting a halo around him. She needed to run away, “ready to start the journey again?”

Smiling he stood, they took their unfinished coffee and bottles of water with them. For the next 15 minutes, they joked about the new episodes of Rick and Morty, as more of her playlist played in the background, glancing at the screen he saw the current song was “Good Life” by Randell Kent. The lyrics washing over him as they finally pulled into the expressway. This could be a good life, at least it felt that way right now. 

They passed the next 15 minutes in silence, but it was the kind they had often where it was just comfortable. They didn’t feel the need to fill the void. They just listened to music and watched the road and let their minds wander.

She hummed along with the new song that came on, he never noticed that she had a pretty nice singing voice. “...don’t overthink it...just surround me...hmm” LÉON's "Surround Me" played in the car. He leaned against his window and watched her quietly.  “Why don’t you take a nap, I know you didn’t sleep much last night. We’ve got another 2-hour drive ahead of us.” She finally says to him softly turning the music down a bit and rolling up the windows opting for the ac.

Of course, she noticed, it wasn’t a big secret that he had been spiralling out of control. He wasn’t sleeping or eating well, his mind obsessing over Codex. But now there was nothing but a jumbled mess of things and just pure grief and exhaustion left behind in the aftermath. Strangely enough, he actually felt ok enough to take her up on the offer, she made him feel safe. Knowing she was going to be here when he opened his eyes brought a feeling of comfort and peace he was struggling to have, it was like the darkness couldn’t get to him. “Yeah ok.”

He drifted and for the first time in a long time found sleep came quickly and a dreamless sleep took him over. No nightmares, just soft hum engulfed him. It was when he felt warm fingers on his cheek brushing back some hair did he open his eyes and came face to face with Riley’s hazel eyes and full lips. He blinked a few times to adjust to the light. “Hey,” she said softly. 

“Hey, are we here already?” He asked sitting up, it didn’t escape his mind that he didn’t mind that Riley was the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes, it never did but he filed it away with any other thoughts that ever came into his mind about her that seemed more than friendly behaviour. 

She stepped away from him and cleared her throat and nodded, “yea, we’re here. I’m glad you got some sleep” she smiled again. She was entranced with watching him sleep, she almost didn’t want to wake him, he was beautiful, soft and so vulnerable in this moment. She knew how much he was struggling, which made her predicament even more complicated. How could she tell him she would be moving out? Instead, her brilliant idea was to steal him away for a few days. She was playing with fire, but she also knew that as strong as he was, any more change might send him over the edge. She decided she’ll tell him about her move after this trip, but her priority will always be to protect him, her heart can deal with it. 

His own faced turned up, “yeah I guess I needed it, and who knew what I needed was you humming off-key to songs in the background to fall asleep.” She swallowed and told her heart to stop its stupid summersaults. 

“I’ll make you some tracks and make sure they’re extra off-key! I’ll be your white noise” she said quickly teasing back. 

“My very own ghost.” his eyes crinkling in the corners. This was the most she’s seen him smile in a while. 

Rolling her eyes and doing a mock laugh “careful or I will haunt your ass for real” to which she got full dimples, this was going to be four long days.

“Ok so I got us a house actually” she cheekily said pointing at the well-maintained terra cotta colored house they were parked in front of on top of a hill surrounded by sky and desert landscapes with cacti and boulders, the house faced the road below that brought them into town. The front porch had a couple of lounge chairs, a table for four, a couple of lanterns neatly hung around the arches and a small pathway that led to a circular covering what he deduced was the hot tub. There were shrubs and succulents neatly planted around the house giving some green to the otherwise very warm hue of the area. 

Mac looked around and already his head felt lighter under the sky that just seemed bluer here, probably because the air pollution was nonexistent here. He sheepishly said, “I kinda thought we’d be camping,” rubbing the back of his neck, “but the house looks nice.”

“Listen, we can camp I bought everything, but we can also stay in this awesome house with a hot tub, pool, and functioning toilets and showers.” she shrugged tucking her hands into the back pockets of her shorts. “What can I say, I’m a city gal and honestly we do ‘camp’ a lot for work.”

He shook his head lightly, “yeah I guess you got a point there,” thinking of all of the times they did camp out without any real equipments. “You thought of everything huh?” He asked softly taking her in fully. “Thanks, Riles.” watching her smile and nod made his heart feel warm, a feeling he’s been missing for a while.

As if on cue Bozer pulled up behind them. Riley’s smiled widen. Mac turned towards the car and he thought he was seeing a ghost. Then he heard the familiar sound of a Texan drawl. He turned to Riley wide-eyed and then back at where Bozer stepped out of the car with a shit-eating grin and next to him was none other than Jack Dalton. 

“How’s it going hoss!” He waved with a laugh as he approached Mac and took his hand and pulled him into a hug.

“Jack! Man, it’s so good to see you.” Mac said hugging the older man hard, he felt his eyes water just a bit.

Jack pat his back and pulled away smiling, “it’s good to see you too, kid.”

“Yeah, the OG gang is back together” Bozer claimed jumping with excitement.  

Jack turned to Riley and embraced her, “Hey baby girl!” Pulling her off the ground as she shrieked with laughter. Riley held onto Jack for a moment longer before releasing him and smiling, she didn’t hide the tears that were softly rolling down her face now. 

“I’m so glad to have you back.” She said softly. Jack brushed away tears from her cheek and nodded. 

“Me too.” he turned to look at his crew and smiled at the kids that somehow came to mean the world to him. “So we ready for this crazy weekend or what?!” his arm still around Riley. 

“Hell yeah!” exclaimed Bozer already heading to the trunk of his car to grab his and Jack’s bags. 

Mac just stood dumbfounded for a second taking in the 3 most important people in his life and finally feeling something, he’s been so scared that something in him was shifting but seeing them here smiling at him brought back the warmth he felt has been slowly seeping away. “Thank you, guys.”

“Come on man, we’re family,” Bozer said squeezing his shoulder. 

“You always got us,” Jack added a giant grin. “Alright now, let’s get settled and decide what we’re doing. I’m craving a cold one for sure!” He said picking up his bag.

Riley on cue walked over to the door and pressed in the security code into the door handle and opened up the door. “Welcome to the digs boys, we’ve got the living room” pointing to the right, “the master bedroom just past there as well as the second bedroom. Just ahead is the dining room and kitchen, around the hall to the left we have the other two bedrooms and bathroom. Laundry room and back porch with the grill AND pool. You saw the fire pit and hot tub in the front of the house.” she said sweeping both her arms around the house that was meant to be their home for the next four days. 

“Damn Riley! You did good!” Bozer said as he scanned the house, decorated with a mix of modern and country house feel. Walking over to the kitchen he hummed in approval, “I can work with this! I’m gonna grab the groceries!” he bounced back out the door. 

Jack gave a whistle of approval, “man, after the places I’ve been sleeping in, I’m gonna sleep like a baby!” as he went around ducking into rooms and giving his approval.

Mac didn’t care much about the house but did agree it was a nice one with all the comforts of home. 

Riley suddenly stood in front of him and gave him a warning “Macgyver don’t use any part of this house, I would like to get my deposit back.” He laughed holding up both hands in agreement. 

Jack turned the attention back to the group, “ok kids whose taking what room?”

“Riley should have the master,” Mac said right away. Jack did jokingly protest that he’s the one who’s been sleeping on rubbles and jungle floors. Bozer bounced into one of the bedrooms to the right, jack decided to take the bedroom next to Bozer. Which left him and Riley to the right side of the house. “Masters all yours.”

She smiled, “umm you sure you don’t want it?” to which he shook his head, all of the bedrooms where sizeable with queen beds and dressers, it honestly didn’t matter and being the only girl they didn’t mind giving her the room with space and vanity table so she can paint her face as jack put it to which she rolled her eyes. “So there is the bathroom down the hall next to the other bedrooms but one here on our side the bathroom is actually in the master, so feel free to use it if you need it. The shower in there looks amazing!” She said nervously.

He smiled “yea ok.” He helped her unpack the car and bring her bag into her bedroom. He looked around “maybe I should take this room,” which earned him a light shove at his shoulder and he chuckled. 

“Too late it’s mine now. Ok! So I say we get changed grab some lunch and chill for a bit while we plan the next few days.” She laid out the plans looking up at him both hands on her hips and she stretched forward towards him. That familiar hammering came back in her chest, the next thing she knows he’s embracing her. “Mac…”

He just needed to be close to her just for a second, releasing her from the embrace he softly said, “I just...I know I said thank you, but really, thank you.”

She held onto his biceps and squeezed them, ignoring the way that made her feel she just smiled at him “hey what are friends for if not to kinda kidnap you for a mini-vacation.” He laughed and she decided that was her favorite sound. Letting her hands fall to her side, “go get settled, I’m sure Boz will make us something to eat, I’m starving.”

He smiled once more and left her standing in the middle of her room feeling so many things. The next four days were going to be the hardest four days of her life she reminded herself again. She survived two years in prison, she’ll be fine, she hoped. Taking a deep breath she walked into the kitchen where she could already hear Jack and Bozer. 

Bozer was laying out sandwich meats and cheese he had picked up while swatting Jack’s hands away from stealing slices of the cold cuts. She felt a bit emotional seeing them goofing around, something about Jack being home made her feel like everything was going to be ok, that Mac would be ok and she would have the strength to get over what was currently happening to her in regards to Mac.

“Some things never change.” She heard Mac say softly now changed into a pair of trousers t-shirt and button-down. “Thanks for the clothes you picked out, I don’t think I could have picked better.”

Again she felt her face warm, what the hell was wrong with her. She couldn’t recall a time that she felt this affected. Usually, with guys she had found attractive, it was always coyness and subtle flirting but never did something so simple trigger this kind of response. She chalked it up to the heat even though the state of the art thermostat read a cool 70°. “Yea, of course, you’re welcome. And I’m glad that some things don’t change.”

Mac looked down at her, he agreed but maybe some things changing wouldn’t be too bad. Pulling up the chair at the kitchen island, they took the beers Jack handed them one by one raising his bottle “it’s good to be home, cheer!” They all clinked the bottles together and shouted cheers. Jack took a long swig off his beer, “Damn that’s good.” 

Mac couldn’t help but feel like he was transported back to a couple of years ago when things were simple and good. They saved lives and had fun. Everything seemed so much heavier and complicated these days. But right now at this moment, he felt the most present he’s felt in a year. 

“What are we having Boz, I’m starving!” Riley whined softly. 

“Girl I got you covered. I’m making a medley of sandwiches, you got a Cuban, prosciutto and mozzarella with balsamic vinegar and basil, and a BLT coming at you with my homemade mayo,” he said already working on prepping the bread with condiments. 

“Damn Bozer, have I missed your cooking!” said Jack with an excited glint in his eyes. 

“So I was thinking we take it easy for today don’t know about you guys but I could take a dip in that pool, we’ll start early morning for the hikes, if we want to camp tomorrow night we can, day 3 and 4 are open for whatever you guys want to do. We need to be back in LA by noon on monday.” Riley laid out the plans.

“Pool party, I’m in,” Jack said nodded seriously. 

“Me too! I can’t remember the last time I just had a day to do whatever I wanted.” Bozer said thoughtfully while working on their lunch.

“Yea, it’s been a lot going on hasn’t it.” He said picking at the beer bottle label. The room fell into silence for a moment, each reviewing the events of the past year if not longer. They lost so much as a collective but Mac and the most. 

Jack took another sip finishing off his beer and shook his head, “Nah, we’re here to have fun, let’s focus on that.” grabbing one of the pickles that Boze laid out, Bozer gave him a side-eye but said nothing. “This weekend we’re gonna unwind and be thankful for this beautifully weird place. Nothing is blowing up, no one is shooting at us, the worst thing will be the hangovers and food comas,”

Riley and Bozer both collectively knocked on the wood of the kitchen island, “don’t jinx it!”

To which Mac proceeded to explain that ‘jinx’ wasn’t a scientifically proven, and went into a ramble about logic. It wasn’t until he noticed all three of his friends smiling affectionately at him that he stopped dropped him head mouth curving into a smile. He knocked on the wood too just in case.

                                                         II

Twenty minutes later Bozer served them his masterpieces as he called them, and they all agreed that they were works of art. Jack had caught them up as much as he could on his mission with the deltas and catching Kovac, leaving the classified information out. It seems so natural that they wouldn’t give details, that they understood that somethings they could never talk about again. 

Finishing off his third sandwich Jack stood to plug his phone to charge “can you believe this phone lasted me almost 2 years?!” 

To which Mac rolled his eyes but his mouth still twitched upwards. “I can’t help that a phone has key components for most builds.”

“Yeah you left and it became either me or Riley. I feel like it was mostly me though.” Bozer said pouting. 

“Appreciate you picking up the slack, I already upgraded my insurance just in case.” Jack pointed at Mac. To which Boze and Riley hollered. 

Mac held up his hand and shook his head, “hey man I promise if I don’t need it, I won’t ask for it.” 

“Alright, Alright let’s get to the pool!” Jack said already pulling his shirt over his head. “Riley throw on some tunes, preferably something country or rock or close to my generation that we can all enjoy.”

It was Riley’s turn to roll her eyes, “don’t worry old man, I got us all covered. A bit of Brooks and Dunn, a bit of Ozzy,  a bit of Technotronic, a little Beyonce, and of course Drake for Bozer.”

Mac’s face squinted into lines. “Wait is Techtronic for me? Or is Beyonce for me?”

She laughed, “guess you’ll just have to find out, though I do recall you know the lyrics to at least one of Techtronic’s’ song.” her own eyes squinting to tease him. “Alright, I’m gonna go change, be right back.”

“Yeah ok fair enough, but only cause it was on the radio…saved your booty,” she heard him mumble as she passed him patting his shoulder. 

The guys were already set up by the pool when she walked out. Bozer managed to find a pool floaty from where they didn’t know and mildly suspected he might have packed the one that he was currently laying on and enjoying the sun. Mac and Jack sat next to each other with their feet in the water.

“I’m sorry about your old man.” Jack finally said softly. 

Mac’s lips pulled into a line before he sighed and looked down at the beer bottle in his hand “yea, as it turns out its hard to be mad at a guy that always chose the utilitarian method. He sacrificed himself, I wish I could just be sad or just angry but how I feel is just…” he didn’t know himself.

“Hey man, I get it. I know what it’s like to lose a father. No matter who and how he was as a person, he was still your dad.” Jack said placing a hand on Mac’s shoulder and giving a light squeeze. “But you know I‘m here if you gotta sort through all the jumbled mess in your head. I’ll be your sounding board.”

“Thanks, I appreciate that” He did appreciate it, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to, let alone where to start to untangle the mess that his life became. He was brought out of his brooding when Bozer whistled loudly.

“Damnnnnn Riley!” to which Jack knocked him off his floaty, when he resurfaced drawing water away from his face he whined, “I was just paying her the compliment she deserves!”

Mac knew that Riley had an amazing body, her tight jeans and crop tops proved this countless time if not by the countless gowns and tight dresses she had to wear for ops, but they’d never seen her in a bikini in the four years of working together. He swallowed hard and pretended not to stare, but it was hard when she was all bronze and glowing, toned abs and round hips, her smile radiant even if her eyes held a teasing annoyance at the attention. It suddenly felt hotter than 89°. 

Jack knew better than to tell her to cover up, and he knew that he could trust these guys but still, he pouted about her lack of clothing. “Jack, what do you want me to wear to the pool, a potato sack?”

“No, but...never mind!” he just mumbled. 

She shook her head, but she was trying to distract herself from the fact that Mac had looked at her hard, their eyes locked for a second and she could’ve sworn she saw something there, the way his adam’s apple bobbed make her skin tingle. She decided that she’d read it as a compliment. 

The rest of the afternoon passed with a game of pool volleyball, naps here and there or reading, Riley’s playlist playing in the background. Memories being solidified to sounds, smells, and feelings. She chided them to apply sunscreen and even offered to help with their backs. 

“Riley not sure if you’re aware but I’m black,” Bozer said to her proudly.

“So? Black people burn too and are you trying to get cancer?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.

Deflated he shook his head no and sat down. One by the one they gave up the protests as she threw savage shade at them. She applied a boatload of sunscreen just cause they gave her a hard time and decided to snap some pictures as well for blackmail of course.

Mac was last and sat in front of her as she steeled herself and slowly applied the sunscreen to the back of his neck, the hair at his nape tickling her fingers. She worked quickly and ran her fingers between his shoulder blades down his back. She felt him tense and worked faster. As much as she enjoyed being able to touch him like this, it was also inappropriate. He didn’t know about her feelings, and she felt sleazy as if she were taking advantage of a friend. Closing the bottle cap shut, she lightly tapped his shoulders, “done, now you don’t have to be an embarrassing lobster.” She weakly cracked.

He wasn’t new to attraction, or the body’s response to the said attraction. He didn’t expect to be so affected by her fingers running down his back, her nails making a slow trail that left him imagining those nails digging into his back for a completely different reason. He cleared his throat, “thanks, wouldn’t want that.”  he managed as he looked over his shoulder. Fuck him, she was adorable as she chewed her bottom lip and nodded. Ok, maybe four days of this Riley was going to be a challenge.

                                                        II

Around later afternoon everyone decides to shower and get ready for the evening, agreeing to head into town and grabbing dinner there. They decided with the drinks they’ve had best to grab an Uber into town. The awkwardness of the poolside sunscreen still fresh as they piled into the car. It was a short ride but felt long as Riley sat squeezed between Mac and Bozer. Bozer just grinned, of course, him knowing her feeling about Mac was going to be her downfall. When they were dropped off, She felt like she had been holding her breath for hours.

“You ok?” Mac asked her to which she nodded.

“Yep, just need a drink!” His brows raised and he seconded that feeling because he definitely could use one.  

Walking around the old Pioneer town setup, Mac explained different tools and contraptions that were displayed around the old buildings from the 1800s, Jack dazzled them with stories about Texas that either made no sense or was inaccurate according to Mac, Bozer, and goggle. They decided to have dinner at Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, where the smell of barbecue wafted through the warm evening air, They could hear the bustle of music and glasses clinking. Bozer was already rushing in to get them a table saying something about getting his hands on some ribs. Jack hollered that he has to see if this place is as good as Texas barbecue.  

Mac looked down at Riley as her eyes sparkled with excitement the earlier awkwardness finally forgotten. Even though they’ve been everywhere in the world, this place had her vibrating. “I never knew you were a fan of the country life.”

She laughed, “I don’t know, I didn’t think that I was either, but there is something about this place that just, I dunno gets me kinda hyped.”

“Hey, guys they have a table for us!” Bozer shouted over the live music and chatter. Apparently they came on open mic night and the local dentist was doing this rendition of Hank Williams’ “all my rowdy friends” and killing it. The energy was just infectious.

They sat down as Bozer rubbed his hands together, “I already know this is gonna be the bomb. I mean can you smell that hickory?!”

“Hell yea I can!” Jack chimed in.

Mac smiled at his best friends, Bozer and Jack were always bouncing off each other in any room the three of them were in, but since Riley came into the picture they’re better behaved. They listen to song after song and the cheers of the crowd as they ate. Jack approved and hummed in appreciation. 

“I’ve missed this, the good ole USA, bbq, and country blues.” 

“Every song is about beer, a truck, a woman, but man is it catchy” Bozer stood busting out his moves as he called it. 

“Jack, it makes sense you should feel right at home at this place.” She said with eyes twinkling. 

Mac took a swig of his beer and chuckled, “This whole place is Jack if he were a bar, maybe throw in some Black Sabbath and ACDC in and you have Jack.”

Jack grinned and nodded, “ok, ok, you’re not wrong. I’m totally digging this place.” His eyes finding the eyes of a pretty blonde at the bar.

“Classic...” She agreed, crinkling her nose up in that adorable way when she found something slightly distasteful, thought Mac. For a moment they took the time to acknowledge the man who became a father to them both with affection. If they ever have to thank someone for their sincerity they could claim Jack as one of the big influencers. They’re musing was broken by Bozer shouting,

“Guys come on lets dance, how often do we get to do this anymore?” Bozer ushered them onto the dance floor. He already found himself a couple of dance partners. Ph.D. in partying Bozer was out tonight. 

It was true, they didn’t do these things anymore. Things haven’t been the same for a while. It’s only been about a year and yet he felt like his whole world shifted. An avalanche of shit hit him. 

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Jack jumped up and was already making a beeline for the woman at the bar. They could hear a vague “how you doing?”

Mac and Riley just rolled their eyes and joined Bozer on the dance floor as the new performer of the night decided to sing Shania Twain “Man, I Feel like a woman.” As soon as they joined Bozer, of course, within minutes Riley was stolen away for a dance. Mac was happy to watch her, the joy finally reaching her eyes today. Maybe they all needed this, a moment to stop and appreciate their lives. 

He liked seeing her like this, Riley was always fun to be around. But right now she was everything he thought to himself, everything about her made his heart feel full. Finishing his beer off, he decided that he wanted to be the one to dance with his friend. The more he played with the word, somehow it didn’t seem enough anymore to call her that.

“Can I steal her for this dance?” he asked not really waiting for an answer already pulling her close to him. “You good?” looking to make sure he wasn’t misreading the situation.

She looked up at him and nodded, “yeah, I’m good.” looking down at their joined hands, it was this hand-holding that started the thud in her chest in Germany, and here it was hammering away. She was so screwed. There was a part of her mind that asked her, why not? He’s not attached anymore, so why not? But she knew better, he didn’t need this right now. He didn’t need her feelings to complicate his life. Lost in her thoughts or the blues of his eyes she wasn’t sure which, she didn’t realize the music was changing as the next performer took stage and cheers were heard. 

The music changed to a slower one, something about it just seemed fitting and he’d watched her dance all night with other people but now it was his turn. He stepped up closer to her, her eyes on him as he took her hand and swayed with her. She laughed softly as they danced to a soft country song about a man who wanted to be a girl’s everything. How ironic.

“If you wanna be with a guy who's gonna bring you flowers A guy who's gonna talk on your phone for hours A guy who's gonna wanna hold the door for you When you wanna walkthrough A guy who's gonna pick you up A guy who's gonna take you out and make you Wanna get a little dressed up and get a little down”

She once told him that she wouldn’t mind a small town, the quiet, after all things they saw daily. He wondered if secretly she wanted to be one of those ‘girl next door’ country girl. He felt her warmth through the shirt she wore, his finger brushing the soft exposed skin of her midriff. It was like an electrical current ran through him, which was of course plausible and probably didn’t mean anything.

“I wanna be the guy with the roses Number on speed dial, ladies first, don't you know that's my style Hop into my truck I got plans We’ll head on down to Jimmy's and we'll do a little dance There's a lot of things in a small town a guy can be But if its by your side for the rest of my life Baby, you can call me, a wannabe (a wannabe) Be be a wannabe (a wannabe) (a wannabe) Be Be”

She knew how dangerous this was getting, but she couldn’t help herself just for this one song. Couldn’t help giggling when he spun her around and pulled her close. Couldn’t help but let her stupid heart thud at his deep laughter. Where she could touch him for a little while without question, without worry. She can feel the hair at the nape of his neck as she wrapped her arms around him because they were just dancing. This stolen moment getting filed away as one of the best nights she’s had to date. 

“If you wanna be with a guy whose gonna give you The whole world from the back of a dirt road farm Scribbled in ink with a big heart a tattoo on my arm I'm talkin' kissin' like crazy, can't shut it down Can't you see how I wanna be the guy that you’re out with Arm that's your names on”

With every sway, he felt like he was taking a step towards where he should be. The person he should be and wanted to be. The doubt that has been clouding over him slowly clearing a little. He felt like he could finally see the light shining through. If someone like Riley could stand next to him as the world ended then life couldn’t possibly be that bad, right? So for now at this moment, he pulls her closer, lets her scent make him dizzy. Lets his hand splay across the small of her back to let each finger feel her.

“Be the lips baby that you wanna put your lips on All-day, all night, moonshine, sunrise, your favorite song There's a lot of things in a small town a guy can be But if it’s by your side for the rest of my life, baby you can call me A wannabe (a wannabe) (a wannabe) Be be a wannabe (a wannabe) Be Be”

There is a cheer from the crowd and she laughs “This song is fucking catchy,” She says as he dips her, the audible gasp vibrating through her to him. He decided then that he loved dancing with Riley. He loved her laughs, the way her whole face lit up. 

“I wanna be the guy you make a life with, picket white fence with Maybe a little later hell even make a baby with Just you and me livin' that life long dream There's a lot of things in a small town a guy can be But if it’s by your side for the rest of my life”

He placed his forehead against hers and held her close. She glances up at him and his eyes hold hers. She’s mystified by their intensity, her body on fire from his breath fanning across her face. They were so close, he could kiss. He wanted to kiss her. As they got lost in each other, they failed to see the silly smile on Bozer’s face as he watched them or Jack who also softly chuckled from where he got distracted from wooing his lady friend Carla. If he was being honest, he can’t believe it took this long for them to get to this point. Well, he supposed he’ll have to have a chat with Mac about what he can expect if he hurts his little girl. Turning back to Carla he spared them one last glance then he was all Dalton, Jack Dalton. 

“Baby you can call me, a wannabe (a wannabe) (a wannabe) Be be You can call me your wannabe (a wannabe) Be Be A wannabe (a wannabe) (a wannabe) Be Be”

The crowd clapped cheered and whistled around them, he held her eyes still in a trance. Something definitely shifted between them. She cleared her throat and let him go smiling. “Thanks for the dance. That was so much fun.” Turning to make her way through the crowd to their table where a fresh bottle of beer was waiting for them courtesy of Bozer she assumed. She didn’t wait to see if he was following.

The heat from the dance coming off her now as if she had a full HIIT workout. She took a sip of the beer and before she could swallow it, he was standing next to her. 

“Riley…”

She gulped down the beer and looked at him, she was so fucked. 

[cutesuki--bakugou]

Hoodie

Pairing:  Bakugou x Koge (OC) Genre: Humor / Fluff Rating: Explicit Warnings: Masturbation, thigh fucking, humiliation, orgasm denial, dirty words and vulgar phrases 

a/n: Inspired by a stupid meme I found on Facebook ╮(╯∀╰)╭ Might do a pt. 2 at... some point. Enjoy anyways~

BTW, please blacklist the tag cutesuki-lemons if you do not want to see this content from my blog. I will no longer be tagging with specific keywords for this type of content.Thank you~

Due to the nature of this post, the characters are 18+

Under the cut~

“Is that what I think it is?!” Koge couldn’t restrain the excited squeak in her voice, fingers over her lips as she gazed upon the form of her lover. Bakugou had come home a bit later than normal, having to attend a meeting about the subject of Koges current excitement. That thing being, the very first sample of his hero brands' clothing line: a hoodie. Although it was a bit oversized for him, the large red X and green accents were eye-catching and made it clear exactly what the garment was supposed to represent. Simple, but stunning, and Koge found herself loving it immediately.

Setting down his duffel bag, Bakugou glowered at his longtime girlfriend in annoyance of her chipper excitement. “Yes. Not even going to say ‘hi’?”

Koge put down the shirt in her hand, abandoning laundry in favor of hugging him. “Welcome home, Katsuki. I can’t believe it finally came in!” She gave a small hum in happiness as he squeezed her back, sharing a kiss before releasing each other.

“Took damn long enough. But yeah, it’s not bad.” Bakugou took hold of the end of the hoodie, pulling it taught to look at the design. “Might change the fabric but the design is fucking on point. They did well.”

“You did good, Katsuki.” Koge smiled as she observed it, before looking up at him to catch the red flushing of his ears. “You designed it, after all. It’s the only sample?”

“Nah, I have a… hat and some other shit in my bag. You can check it out if you want, I need to piss.” As he pulled both his hoodie and work shirt off in one fell swoop, he tossed them into the bed and grabbed a pair of sweatpants from the clean laundry basket. “Thanks for getting my laundry down.”

“Of course, love. You didn’t put it too high on the line this time so I could reach it all.” Koge had her eyes on him at every moment, and the instant he shut the bathroom door behind him, the hoodie was in her hands. After first removing his shirt that was all tangled up inside, she looked over every inch of it. What made it even more enticing to her at the moment was that it smelled like him, and she very much found herself wanting to wear it. So, while he was still changing, she stripped herself of her t-shirt and shorts to leave her in just a pair of panties.

The hoodie, of course, swallowed her completely. It ended right at her upper thigh, with the sleeves falling way past her hands. That was of little consequence, however, as that was how all his clothes ever fit her. This one was special, though. It was his very first merchandise for his brand, a sign of his improvement and proof that he was climbing the popularity ladder. In fact, it made her so proud she nearly felt the urge to cry, wanting to just hug and squeeze her lover for his accomplishments.

“I just got that and you already took it. Seriously, Utsuro?”

Koge turned to look up at Bakugou, who was glowering down at her. Still, she wasn’t bothered by his comment, holding her arms out and waving them a bit. “I had to try it! I’m just so happy for you, Katsuki, you finally have your own merch! I’m so proud of you!”

Becoming a bit bashful with her praise, Bakugou huffed as he shoved his hands into his pockets. Though, it wasn’t just her words making him lock up. She looked so damn adorable, the hoodie reminding him just how petite she was. The flushed and happy smile on her face didn’t help, and he wanted to just scoop her up and squeeze her.

“Alright, alright, Utsuro, stop ranting!” Bakugou latched his arms around her, pulling her to him and placing a rough kiss on her cheek. Laughing softly, Koge wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him back just as tightly as he nearly lifted her off the ground.

“I’m not ranting, Katsuki! I’m just so proud of you. You’ll be the top hero in no time.” She caught his lips in a kiss, her stomach fluttering at the way he caressed her body, as if he loved the feeling of her form beneath the fabric of the hoodie. “My big strong hero… Now I get to rep you everywhere I go.”

Bakugou couldn’t resist a smirk against her lips, the boost of his ego breaking through the temporary embarrassment. “Oh yeah? Gonna rep as my number one fan?”

“All day, every day, babe. You’ve always been my number one.”

“Of course I fucking have. Because I’m the best.” Placing her back down on her feet normal, Bakugou gave her another kiss as he gave her backside a few good smacks. “It looks good on you, though.”

Releasing him as he set her free, Koge looked down at herself. “Yeah? It’s so big.”

“Yeah, it is. But you like big things. Just like my dic-“

“Dinner!” Koge cut in, a sly smirk on her lips as she snatched his hand to lead him towards the kitchen. “Your dinner, of course.”

“No, I meant my dick.” Another hard smack to her ass made Koge squeak, hopping away from him to avoid further spankings.

“Don’t be dirty, Katsuki- ah, hey!” She stumbled backward as Bakugou snatched onto the hood, giving it the smallest tug to yank her back to him. Her back against him, she quickly found herself trapped with one hand on her hip while the other took hold of her chin, keeping her head still to place a firm kiss on her cheek. Before she could protest, his lips moved to her ear, the deep growl of his voice instantly making her body flush with heat.

“Can’t help it. You look so fucking hot in my hoodie, Utsuro.” With a rough nibble to a particularly sensitive spot on Koge’s neck right under her ear, both of his hands moved to caress her breasts on the outside of the hoodie. Her hands having been in the large pocket in the front garment, Koge found herself unable to move away from him, if she had wanted to in the first place. The fact that he was so excited just from her wearing this new clothing made her feel a bit… victorious. She had been stealing and wearing his clothes, from t-shirts to boxers, ever since they started dating nearly seven years ago. In the beginning, he had always been sexually drawn to her when she put on his clothes, but now he was used to it. Seeing her in his very first hero branded merch, though? That was new and Koge wasn’t going to miss out on this for anything, not even the food that was growing cold on the stove.

As a soft gasp escaped her lips, her body tingling from head to toe, she couldn’t take her eyes off the way his hands moved, massaging and pinching her nipples through the fabric. A particularly rough squeeze and a bite to her sensitive skin forced a moan from her, leaning her head back against him as she nibbled at her bottom lip. “Mmm… What does that make you want to do, Katsuki?”

“Makes me want to fuck you in it.” Turning them a bit, he shoved her towards the couch, prompting her to sit upon it with her knees. Holding onto the back, Koge provocatively displayed her backside to him, swaying her hips teasingly. The hoodie still didn’t uncover her body, covering up just to the edge of the curve of her ass, only a hint of her pale blue underwear peeking out at him.

“Yeah? Does it turn you on to see me in your hero merch?” Koge slipped a hand between her legs, the way she teased her sex mostly obscured by the clothing. It was still enough to excite Bakugou more, who placed one burning hand on her backside with the other removed himself from his sweatpants. Koge could feel how burning hot his palm was even with the fabric between their skin, a small smirk crossing her lips as she continued her teasing with soft moans and arching her back to press her ass closer to him. “Look how hot I am for you, Katsuki. How horny it makes me to know just how hard I make you. Don’t you want to fuck me?” Her entire body shivered as he pushed the hoodie up to reveal her ass to him, a squeak from her lips following a hard slap to her skin.

“I want to fucking destroy you.” With a tug on the hoodie, Bakugou pulled her upper body back against him, one hand gripping onto her throat. The other moved to shift her underwear to the side, though instead of entering her, he let his cock rest between her legs. Her hot and soaked underwear helped keep him snug against her sex as he began to rock his hips. The feeling of his hard cock stroking against her clit made Koge’s entire body tingle with pleasure. For now, his movements were slow and rough, both hands moving to squeeze and tease her breasts again. Koge wasn’t sure what had him taking his time, but she couldn’t complain, willing to take and do anything he wanted just so he would pleasure her.

In fact, she could already feel herself starting to become lost in the slow and sensual pleasure, her head leaning back against him. With very little prompting, she turned her head just enough to catch his lips in a kiss, unable to resist her soft moans as he increased his speed. She felt completely breathless as his tongue invaded her mouth, kissing her passionately and muffling her sounds of pleasure. Koge found herself completely enamored with the way he dominated over her, his strength and passion forcing her to submit his pleasures. Within minutes, she was already near cumming, though it was quite obvious to her that he was, as well.

Releasing her lips, he instead moved to her ear, one hand coming back up to grip her throat. “You’d do anything for me, wouldn’t you, Utsuro? Just so long as I make you cum.”

“Y-Yes, Katsuki-” Koge struggled to speak between her moans and his grip. “A-anything for you.”

Though, what she wanted wasn’t what she received. With a sly smirk against her cheek, Bakugou finished off with his final few thrusts, releasing his cum against her sex and into her underwear. At first, Koge was so shocked by the sudden heat that she tried to shift her hips away from him, though his arm wrapping around her waist and hugging her snug against him prevented that.

“W-wait, did you just finish? What about me?” Koge gripped onto the arm of the hand that still gripped her neck, her stomach fluttering with annoyance and arousal at the sound of him panting into her shoulder. “I was so close!”

“You’ll get it when I let you.” Bakugou gripped her chin, turning her head to catch her glare with his own. “My little horny Utsuro.” The smirk and words that came from his lips instantly crumbled her annoyance into the unbearable need for release, wanting so badly to move her hips.

“Please, Katsuki… please let me cum, I can’t take it.” She dug her nails into his arm as he removed his cock from between her legs, leaving her with nothing but the hot and gooey feeling of his cum. There was quite a bit staining her underwear, and as the fabric settled, she could feel it begin to dribble down her thigh. It was so hot along with her own mess, her mind already beginning to go insane without him inside her. “You’re so mean!”

“I’m going to give it to you. If you earn it.” Bakugou released her body, settling his cock back into his sweats while she turned to face him.

“I did earn it already!” Koge wrapped her arms around his neck, pouting up at him. “What do I have to do? I’ll put the fucking hat on if you want!”

Bakugou chuckled, his hands firmly on her hips. “No. You let our dinner get cold, Utsuro-“

“-that’s not all my fault-!”

“So we have to go get some take out. And you’re going dressed exactly how you are.” Bakugou kissed her lips, sliding his hands forward to grip and squeeze her backside. His touch only further made Koge aware of his mess in her underwear, though the thought of going outside like this made her incredibly hot. He had her wrapped around his little finger and he knew it, taking full advantage of her kinks and addictions to persuade her. Koge had no reason to protest, either. She may have been annoyed with him, but playing along was too enticing for her to ignore.

Bakugou continued after releasing the kiss, just his burning glare enough to make Koge feel breathless. “You’re going down the street with my cum in your underwear. Exactly as you should be, as my number one fan. If you’re a good girl, I’ll really give you something to moan about.”

[jadekitty777]

Forget-Me-Not

Alright, and for my final entry for the Shipwreckedfanzine (Read it here!), is my Taiqrow entry. Because you better believe I gave my boys some love.

(P.S. This showed up nowhere in the tags - I actually posted up a new Taiqrow fic yesterday as well - I would suggest checking out some of my newest works on Ao3!)

Rating: K

Pairing: Qrow/Taiyang

Word Count: 2.1k

Ao3 Link: Forget-Me-Not

Summary:  Tai’s not surprised to discover Qrow’s forgotten their anniversary… again.

❀~❀~❀~❀~❀~❀~❀

Tai hummed a jolly little tune as he shook the can of whipped cream, doing his best to keep his hand steady as he pointed the nozzle down and drew a heart shape on top of the stack of pancakes. Once he’d completed the point, he set the can aside and picked up the bowl of strawberry sauce, filling the inside of the heart generously. Next came the chocolate chips – he was just placing the first few down when his twelve-year-old warned:

“Dad, Uncle Qrow’s coming!”

He nodded, trying not to hurry too much and ruin all his hard work. “Thank you, Yang.  Would you girls get him seated please?”

“I got it!” Ruby shouted a mite too shrilly for this time of the morning.

In the corner of his eye, he watched her grab the butter knife and napkin before going to stand at the threshold. She quickly laid the napkin out along her arm to mimic a towel only the poshest of restaurant waiters had and rose the knife under her nose, clearing her throat a few times. As her uncle made it to the door, she said as classily as possible, “Mr. Branwen, we’ve been expecting you.”

“Is that so?” Qrow’s voice was still a bit gravelly from sleep but it didn’t quite hide his confused amusement.

“Indeed. We have a special reserved spot just for you.” She twirled on her heels. “Follow me please!” She marched with purpose the three single steps it took to get to his chair, having to lower her fake mustache so she could pull it out for him.

He sat, eyeing the mug already there. “Wow, coffee’s already made? Now that’s some express service.”

“Sir, we only provide the best for our customers.” Ruby told him, knife mustache back in place. “Your meal is also on the way, made by our finest chef in the business.”

More like the only chef, Tai thought as he placed the finishing touches on the arrow he’d been designing. He surveyed his work with an appraising eye, before lifting the plate and carrying it over with care. “Your meal, sir.” He told him grandly, placing it down before him.

Qrow took one look at it, then his head shot up, eyes wide. “What occasion is it?”

He smiled as forgivingly as he could. “Anniversary.” Their third, in fact – which Qrow had systematically forgotten each year. Having grown up on the outskirts of nowhere, he’d always been terrible with dates. Before his husband could speak, the guilty look already telling him exactly what he was going to say, Tai placed two fingers on his lips. “No apologies. Just enjoy.”

He heaved a sigh through his nose, before kissing his fingertips and murmuring against them, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He replied, all too happy to trade his hand in for his lips – much to his daughters’ very verbal noises of disgust.

“Dad, please. I’d like to finish my breakfast.” Yang’s nose was wrinkled up like a little piglet’s.

Tai couldn’t help but pinch it as he walked on by. “I’m sure you’ll survive.”

She stuck her tongue out at him, before turning her attention to the other adult in the room, looking almost gleefully predatory. “Soooo, Uncle Qrow.”

“Yeah firecracker?” Qrow had his cutlery poised in the air, uncertain on where to start.

“If you want to make it up to dad, I know the perfect gift you can get him.”

As he placed the dirty mixing bowl in the sink, Tai snorted softly. Oh, this oughta be good.

“Yeah?” His husband arched a skeptic eyebrow. “What’s that?”

She cleared her throat and straightened up her shoulders like a businesswoman about to give a rousing proposal. “Well, I heard, and this is just you know from the people in the know, you know? But I heard the Battle Expansion pack for Grimm Raider’s 2 hit the shelves this week.”

“Uh-huh.” Qrow was trying to keep a straight face. “And Tai would want that?”

“Yes!” Ruby jumped in with certainty. “Because what better gift for a dad than the joy on his children’s faces?”

In perfect sync, both girls placed their fingers on the ends of their mouths and pulled them upwards into big smiles.

Tai was full-blown laughing now. Little weasels!

“Been planning that one awhile now, haven’t you?” Qrow said, not fooled in the slightest.

Yang gasped in mock-offense, placing her hand to her chest. “Uncle are you accusing me of taking advantage of your forgetfulness for my own gain? Can you believe this Ruby?”

“But, didn’t we plan it?” She stage-whispered.

“Sssh, he’s not supposed to know that!”

Before this clown show could go on any further, Tai decided to interject, “Alright, alright, that’s enough you two.” He dropped the rest of the dishes in to be soaked before rounding back to the table. “You know what would bring me great joy today? You two finishing your breakfast and getting ready for school.” He reached out to messily ruffle their hair, enjoying their cries of annoyance and futile swats. “And anyways, you uncle gives me the greatest gift every day.”

“What’s that?” Ruby asked.

Tai met rusty red eyes across the table. “His love.”

Qrow flushed a rosy pink, looking away with a smile. It was adorable, the way simple little things like that could still make him so bashful.

Yang looked between them. “Well, you could have that and the battle expansion pack.”

“Nice try.”

The rest of breakfast went without preamble, Tai shooing the girls off to get ready while he took care of the dishes. It really could have been just like any other morning. The fact it wasn’t supposed to be lingered like a thorn in the back of his head that he did his best to ignore.

Another plate was placed on the counter, and he reached for it without thought, only to have his hand caught by a paler one. Fingers threaded through his own as Qrow’s arm came around his waist, his body melding against his side.

“Dinner? My treat?” He offered, gentle like the mouse that tried to pull the thorn from the lion’s paw.

Tai pressed their foreheads together, murmuring, “I’d like that.”

❀~❀~❀~❀~❀~❀~❀

Signal’s campus was pretty barren so early in the morning. While the faculty members were slowly making their way to their classrooms to get ready for the day, the halls wouldn’t be filled with the bustle and yells of the students for another half hour or so. Qrow had come to appreciate the quiet and calm, because he knew once the bell rang, it would be eight solid hours of chaos.

As they headed through the front doors, Yang sped ahead, waving as she did. “I’m heading to the training gym! Bye!”

“Ah, Yang-” Tai started to object, but she was already cutting around the corner. “Annnd there she goes.” His attention turned downward when his other daughter yanked at his wrist. “Yes Ruby?”

“Can I go to the library today?” She asked hopefully.

“You don’t want to help your old man set up?”

Qrow casually stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Ah, let her go. Kiddo’s got a big brain that needs feeding, ain’t that right?” He winked her way, making her giggle.

“Alright, go on then.” Tai nudged her forward. “And stay in the kids’ section, okay?”

“I will!” Ruby promised before scurrying off.

They headed in the opposite direction, towards their classrooms. Qrow side-eyed the man he’d had the pleasure of calling his husband for three years now. “So, where do you want to go tonight?”

“You even have to ask?” Tai teased.

“Well, maybe you were feeling creative for once.” He jabbed back, dodging away when the other tried to push him.

“Don’t make it sound like you don’t love Sarubia’s.”

Of course he did. While they’d both settled readily in Patch’s more remote, country-like society, and there was much Qrow especially hadn’t minded leaving behind, there were still occasions in which they missed Anima. So, Sarubia’s more eastern inspired menu was like a little taste of home for both of them.

“Guess I can’t argue.” He shrugged, their pace slowing as they approached Tai’s classroom. His heart rate started to pick up. “You know, it’s funny.  I was thinking about Anima just the other day.”

“Oh?” Tai’s keys jangled as he tried to unlock the door.

He rocked on his heels. “Yeah. I was thinking how nice it would be to bring a piece of it back home.”

“Heh, like what?” The door opened and Tai flipped on the lights. He took one step inside.

Then froze.

He swallowed down his nerves. “Perhaps, maybe, some Firelight Sunflowers?”

In the space between Tai’s body and where his arm was extended, hand not having left the doorknob yet, Qrow was proud to see the three sunflower saplings hadn’t wilted entirely overnight. Despite their droopiness, they were still thriving enough to see the curling, yellow petal tips that transitioned into a vibrant display of red that took up the majority of the bloom and gave them their name.

“Oh, Qrow.” Tai breathed. “You…” He trailed off, too overcome to find the words.

A relieved sigh left him as the tension Qrow’d felt the entire morning leading up to this moment flowed off of himself all at once. Between the knowledge that pretending to forget yet again could go horrendously wrong and the uncertainty whether the gift was even meaningful enough to warrant it, he’d barely been able to hold it together. Saying nothing of the weeks he’d spent nurturing the plants in secrecy or the bribery he had to give his nieces to ensure they’d be alone this morning.

Yet, any doubts he may have had were washed away by his husband’s response. The way Tai said his name was with such love, that Qrow felt it in his own heart and it burst back out of him in soft words: “Happy anniversary, sunshine.”

He finally moved, turning to face him. “I-I can’t believe - How did you find them?”

“That last mission I went on took me through lower Anima. I uh, may have detoured a bit.”

It hadn’t been any small challenge to find the specific species. They were an extremely rare variety which only grew in the southern meadows of Anima. He’d never actually seen them before, as the tribe never migrated that far down, but he knew they could be found only miles away from a little, obscure settlement known as Shén-Guāng. The community there was founded on extremely strict and religious practices, whose citizens’ bowed to the teachings of the God of Light and gripped so tightly onto every inch of its populace’s way of life, that even just hearing about it left Qrow feeling stir crazy.

The only reason he even knew of the little town at all was because when Tai was feeling particularly nostalgic, he’d sometimes share outlandish tales about his childhood. The one he never quite forgot was the story he’d told him during their second year at Beacon.

(“For my last test, Master Jinsei put a blindfold around my eyes. His semblance was the ability to tie an undoable knot – so there was no getting it off. He told me to use all the skills I had learned to go out and bring back a Firelight Sunflower.”

“A flower? You’re kidding right?”

“Don’t make it sound so easy. It was December. They weren’t even in bloom yet.”

“Oh, come off it. Now you really are making things up.”

“I’m not! The lesson isn’t just to find a flower blind. It’s about staying aware of your surroundings. Listening to the wildlife that will tell you of predators and Grimm. Having patience and fortitude through the winter. Most people give up a few days in.”

“So why didn’t you?”

“Because only those who pass that test are allowed to leave the village. You know, they say sunflowers mean all sorts of things. Like happiness or loyalty. But to me, I’ve always seen them as a symbol of freedom. So, when I finally brought one back, that’s what I felt I held in my hand.”

“… Yeah. Okay. I get that. Still, why put yourself through all that? Why not just go out on your own?”

“Hah! Maybe I would have, if I knew someone like you back then.”

“Well, you know me now. Was it worth it?”

Tai’s smile-)

-was bright and warm, and left Qrow’s knees feeling weak. His hand was calloused from training and work in the garden, yet the touch remained tender as it cupped his cheek. As they lent in towards one another, Tai whispered against his lips, “I love you.”

“Me too.” He whispered back.

Their eyes slipped shut as they kissed, and as an arm encircled his waist, Qrow rose his own to wind around Tai’s shoulders, one hand leafing through the short blond hairs along the back of his head. For a moment, that’s all they were: A soft and gentle caress of lips contrasting the strength in the way they held each other, neither ever intending to let go.

Even when they pulled back, they didn’t fully loosen their grip. Tai dropped a smaller, affectionate peck on the tip of his nose. “Thank you.”

“Glad you like them.” He peered over his husband’s shoulder, seeing a petal falling onto the desk. “Though, sorry they look kinda pathetic. Don’t exactly have your green thumb.”

With unshakeable certainty, he replied, “No. They’re perfect. Like you.”

“Uh.” Qrow spared the dying flowers a judgmental eye. “You know, you’re not usually this bad at compliments.”

“Ut-! Haha, sorry, sorry. Not what I meant!” He could feel the rumble of Tai’s laughter where their chests still touched. “It’s just, do you know what love and flowers have in common?”

“…Lovers’ Day?”

Tai shook his head. “They both regrow.” He reached up, cupping his hand around the one Qrow had rested on his collar, brushing a thumb over his wedding ring. “And though it takes a lot of work, with the right nurturing and care, eventually something strong and beautiful will blossom.”

Shock left his eyes widening and his jaw slackening.

When he’d chosen to plant three of the sunflowers, it was only because it was the same number of years as their anniversary. Now though, the other third he was in Tai’s life danced briefly through his head. On his worst days, the ones where he felt his most insecure, it was a fact that tormented him like a plague left to fester in his mind and was only treatable with a heavy dose of reassurance and comfort from his husband. But today, Tai’s words acted like a vaccine, abolishing the thoughts before they even could be.

Instead, Qrow was content and so light, he swore he could fly without wings. But more than that, he felt like he was falling in love all over again.

He buried his face into Tai’s neck, hiding the smile that he just knew was ridiculously large and goofy. “You know what? You’re right. But I’ll do you one better. We’re perfect.”

Tai’s fingers threaded through his own. “Yeah. We really are.”

[vernonfielding]

You feel brave little cub-cub

Welcome to my totally self-indulgent, insane and ridiculous Season 7 Countdown Project! For the month of January, I’m planning to post one missing scene fic a day. Yes, that’s 31 stories. I don’t know what possessed me to do this, except it seemed like a fun idea? And I like absurd challenges?

Anyway, on to the first fic! Only 30 more to go!

Summary: Amy and Jake decide to finish the Worst Date Ever after ending their stakeout and catching the bad guys. Takes place during The Bet. (Read on AO3.)

It’s well after 11 by the time they make it back to the precinct and hand their perps off to processing, and Amy is that particular kind of late-night punchy that comes from lack of sleep, physical and mental fatigue and the rush of having just made two arrests that weren’t even on her radar a few hours ago.

So that’s why she turns to Jake and says, “You have 38 minutes left on your date. Where are we going next?”

Jake just stares at her all agog and says, dumbly, “What now?”

Amy glances at her watch and snickers, then shoves it up in Jake’s face. “Thirty-seven minutes now, loser. Look, I just want to make sure we finish this thing so you’re not holding it over my head forever that I bailed early.”

That’s not entirely true – in that, it’s not her reasoning, though now that she thinks about it, that would be such a Jake move. The thing is, she can’t deny, at least to herself, that she kind of wants to see where else this worst-date-ever will go. She’s not quite ready for the night to end.

Jake’s eyes go wide and he nods slowly. She can practically see the gears spinning in his head. She’s sure he’s running over his horrible schedule of events for the night, and his mouth curls up in a look that Amy can only identify as glee. The look gives her a moment of doubt and she takes a half-step back, but Jake’s hands are up, catching her by the elbows.

His eyes are sparkling, his whole face is glowing, and Amy takes in a shuddery breath.

“Come with me,” he says, and wrenches her toward the elevator.

+++

He doesn’t make her put on the dress again, which, thank God. He refuses to even entertain her questions on the 10-minute drive to their next – and final, she presumes – stop for the night: a brick-faced walkup in Bedford. Jake parks in a passenger drop-off zone right in front and rings up at the lobby door and gives his name when a man answers. They’re buzzed in right away.  Amy shivers in the blast of heat when they walk inside.

Jake takes them up a flight of stairs and down a beige-painted hallway, and he knocks on a door at the end, three sharp raps with his knuckles. He gives her an exaggerated wink and the very definition of a beaming grin, so big and joyful Amy doesn’t even try to fight her own in response.

The door cracks open and bald man with more face piercings than Amy can count says, “Quick, inside.” He shoves the door closed behind them and turns about 18 locks.

“Jake-”

“I know, so cool, right?”

“This is so not cool,” Amy hisses at him.

The apartment is empty aside from a single beat-up couch pushed against the half wall beneath the kitchen counter. The walls are covered in disturbing scratches and gouges and what Amy’s pretty sure are patches of old dried blood. The bald man has disappeared.

“If you brought me to a murder apartment for a date, I will kill you.” Amy says, eyeing the majorly locked front door and wondering if there are any other exits. Jake turns and beams at her again and Amy adds, “I am serious, Peralta.”

Then a door back beyond the kitchen swings open and the bald man walks toward them, and in one hand he’s holding a leash. And at the end of the leash-

“Oh my God. Is that-” She cuts herself off, blinking fast as the room takes on a surreal, shimmery quality.

“Yes, Amy Santiago,” Jake says, going down on his knees to greet the approaching animal. “That is a tiger cub.”

+++

“This can’t be legal,” Amy says, for like the fifth time. The tiger cub is curled up in her lap and purring while Jake feeds it from a bottle. It’s seriously the most adorable thing she’s seen in her life, and she has a lot of pretty cute nieces and nephews.

“Yeah, I rented it on the darknet,” Jake says.

He coos at the cub and it blinks its eyes open lazily and rests one fuzzy paw on Jake’s hand holding the bottle. Amy melts.

She’s stroking the tiger’s back, scritching her fingers through its so-soft fur. After eating, the bald-headed handler says, watching them from the kitchen as he sips at a beer, the tiger will want to play for awhile.

They spend two hours with the cub, whom Jake names Goliath (Bald Man is weirdly secretive about the tiger’s real name). Amy rolls around with it on the carpet that smells like stale cigarettes, and Jake rocks it in his arms like a baby, and they both end up with shallow scratches all up and down their arms and tiger saliva in their hair. The tiger makes these grunting, labored crying sounds when it plays, something between a cat’s meow and a baby’s whimper, and Amy knows she’s going to be looking up tiger cub videos on YouTube the next day just to hear it again.

When the bald man finally says their time is up, and lifts the snoozing cub out of Amy’s hands by pinching it at the back of the neck like a mother would (Amy supposes – another thing she’s going to have to look up), it’s hours past the end of their date. Amy’s knees pop as she stands, and Jake stretches his arms up over his head and bends side to side, groaning at the pull of muscles.

He gives her a soft, guarded smile before leading the way out of the apartment and back to the car.

They don’t talk at first, and Jake weirdly doesn’t touch the radio, just lets it play whatever station he had it on before. Some pop song Amy doesn’t recognize crackles over the cheap speakers.

“That was amazing,” she says, as Jake merges into the late-night traffic on Myrtle. He’s looking in the rearview mirror, but she catches his gaze flirt over to her.

“Yeah, it kind of was,” Jake says, voice gone thoughtful, like he’s surprised even himself.

“And seriously illegal,” Amy adds.

“Oh, so illegal.”

They both laugh, and the silence that follows is gentle and easy.

Jake flicks the radio to something she still doesn’t recognize and Amy stares out the passenger window, at the red and orange lights bouncing off rain-slicked streets. She’s thinking that she’s glad she’s not allergic to cats. And that she hopes Bald Man takes good care of that tiger cub (and also that she should definitely report him to animal control in the morning).

And she’s also thinking that this worst-date-ever has been one of the better dates of her life.

“Why a tiger cub?” she says as Jake turns onto her street.

Jake doesn’t answer right away, just pulls next to a fire hydrant right in front of her building. Both his hands are on the steering wheel, thumbs tapping some rhythmless beat.

Finally he shrugs. “I guess I was just inspired.”

“Inspired,” Amy repeats, and he looks at her and nods.

The air in his car has gone charged, and Amy swallows hard.

“By me,” she says.

Jake’s face goes flushed with surprise and it takes her a moment to realize he’s flustered, and he says quickly, “No, what? No. By the bet. I was inspired by the bet, Santiago.”

“Okay,” Amy says, hands up. She thinks maybe she should feel offended but she’s not. “Well- thank you. I mean, for not making tonight too horrible.”

“Oh trust me, I had so much more terrible stuff planned, but-” He stops and lifts his hands in defeat. “Crime’s gotta come first.”

“I think you might want to reconsider that phrasing, but sure,” Amy says with a chuckle.

She reaches for the handle and pushes the door open with her shoulder, because it always gets stuck. She’s halfway out when she feels Jake’s hand on her upper arm and she turns back to him.

“Thanks for being a good sport,” he says. He’s leaning across the seats toward her, and his face is in shadow.

Amy shrugs. “You won.”

“I guess I did,” Jake says.

He lets go of her arm with a goodnight, and he stays idling at the curb until after Amy’s closed the lobby door behind her.

End Notes:

The FANTASTIC @fezzle is taking on the absurdly large job of beta-ing all of these stories. She also totally supported my craziness in planning this thing and gave me prompts and didn’t laugh at my planning spreadsheet even once. I love her so.

The rules of my countdown project are: All fics must be canon-compliant missing scenes, and at least 1,000 words.

Jake/Amy fics will dominate, but I’m deliberately diversifying. All of the main characters will have at least one POV fic. And several secondary/one-off characters will get POV fics too.

The titles will all come from The Lonely Island’s Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience. This...works shockingly well. The title for this fic is from Let’s Bash (and specifically Andy’s amazing baseball teams frap).

Look, do we know that Jake and Amy hung out with a tiger cub at the end of their date? We do not. But do we know that they didn’t? WE DO NOT.

I will happily take prompts!! Seriously, please send me prompts. If there’s ever been a missing scene you’re dying to read, now’s the time to request it. Or you can really challenge me and give me something super weird (just, no Cheddar or Sgt. Peanut Butter POV). My asks are wide open!

[harianadimples]

I Know You’re Not Far, But I Still Can’t Handle All The Distance

1.8k: hariana friendship rise warning(s): unedited soz just had to get this one out before I overthink

| – | – | – |

“Harry?”

“Yeah?”

“I wanna sing.”

Harry stops playing for a moment so he could hear what Ariana had to say.

“My fans have been wanting me to jump on Instagram Live to sing a few songs but I really can’t handle all that real-time shit. I just want to sing and then dip so I’m just going to record a quick video. I think it’d be a nice surprise to have you join in, finally feed your fans some new content of you.”

“Hmm, I suppose but I won’t sing.”

“Why not? They’ve been wanting some sort of duet for a while, you know.”

“Um, and show the world how rubbish I am singing next to you?”

“You are not rubbish! Have you forgotten our killer duet of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ when we watched ‘Wayne’s World’?”

“No, I just wanna listen to y’voice. I miss it,” Harry pouts, leaning into his elbow as it rested on the hood of the piano.

“Okay, then, H,” Ariana rolls her eyes, smiling as she fixes herself. “Suppose you’d like a relatively easy song to play. How does ‘My Everything’ sound? For old time’s sake?”

“I Know You’re Not Far, But I Still Can’t Handle All The Distance”

or

The one inspired by an alternate universe where Harry played the piano for Ariana’s 2020 version of ‘My Everything’ while in Quarantine

-:-:-:-

“‘Lo love, how are you?” Harry asks as he fixes his laptop screen, leaning it just right so the light coming from his bedroom window wouldn’t cause such a harsh glare. When it was just right he could see Ariana much better but it seemed like her picture needed another moment to catch up with her voice, as behind the frozen image he could hear her giggling softly.

“That was quick,” Ariana’s voice strays as if she walked away for a moment, but the picture’s finally changed and is moving so Harry just waits on his phone until she appears again. When the movement settles Harry sees that Ariana is sitting in her living room. “I’m good by the way; miss hugging everyone, I swear when we’re given the all clear I’m inviting y’all over and cooking the biggest fucking Italian dinner y’all will ever have,” she says.

“I could so go for Italian right now,” Harry sighs as he sets his phone down and shifts himself up a bit so he can be more comfortable, “Been eating all the bread in this household m’tooting up a storm in here.”

“That is… horrendous.”

Harry chuckles at her reaction, fiddling with the strings of his hoodie. “‘ave you got the pups with you?”

“Always,” Ariana smiles, “Toulouse is right here, Pignoli is watching me from the other sofa and Myron’s having a nap.”

“Miss the little ones so much–,” Harry is suddenly interrupted by a guttural snort which scares even Ariana. She soon breaks into laughter as she picks up Piggy Smallz who’d been lurking behind her. “Aw does miss Piggy want her Harry love too, my big girl?” Piggy makes a noise which sounds extremely happy which causes laughs all round.

“Yeah, miss ‘aving the wind knocked out of me whenever you give me kisses,” Harry chuckles.

Of her pets, Piggy became to be the most territorial over Harry.

It started when Harry went to support Ariana at her Sweetener Tour show in London. He’d finally gotten the privilege to meet Piggy in person, and after some time holding her thinking they’d become the best of friends, she took a massive shit which splattered on his white pants. He just had to have been wearing an all-white outfit that evening.

“You reading anything good?” Harry asks.

“Um… I’m currently reading ‘We Have Always Lived in the Castle’. Seems good so far.”

“‘Kay, adding it to my cart right now,” Harry mumbles. “I’ve read like two books so far. Trying to get through this third one but I keep fallin’ asleep. So nice to just sleep.”

“I know right. It’s weird actually getting like fourteen hours of sleep for once, instead of two.”

“You deserve the rest though. Bloody insane, your tour. Can’t believe the year you had. I like… honoured to have witnessed history unfold, y’know?”

“Oh please, can we talk about your music though. I genuinely cried listening to ‘She’ earlier, like full-out, ruined-my-makeup, swollen-eyes, everything– just… tears.”

“Thanks? I guess?”

“No, H, really. My mind can’t fully comprehend Mitch’s solo in that song.”

“Oh, well, thanks, I’m only the one singing the song.”

“It’s nice to hear you exploring different vocal dynamics. You have the range and it really shines on a song like ‘She’. These are all things I’ve told you before H.”

“I know but it’s nice to have my voice praised by the vocalist of our generation.”

“Oh my God–.”

“No, seriously, I have not stopped listening to the song you showed me a couple days ago. Can’t believe you posted it to your socials.”

“Yeah I don’t really care if I get in trouble at this point, I’m like in that place mentally, emotionally, whatever where I’m creating and it’s nice and free and I just wanna share that. But thank you.”

“That reminds me I’m writing something and sort of like putting the skeleton of the music together and I was wonderin’ if you mind if I use your vocals for the synth?”

“Yeah sure, use whatever’s on google drive.”

This folder on Google Drive that Ariana’s referring to, is a shared folder with a couple vocal notes they’ve made in the past that they’ve sometimes dipped into for production samples. Harry’s relatively new to using vocal samples as instrumentation on a song since his previous record was mostly classic rock inspired. Apart from double tracking his voice, the extent of his vocal exploration on that record had been the infamous duck sound on “Woman”.

With Fine Line he’d really been inspired by Ariana’s vocal production and wanted to do a lot more of it on this record. With his producers he got a lot better at curating his own sound but if it weren’t for Ariana’s support he wouldn’t have known where to start with figuring out what else his voice can do.

He liked the idea of sampling someone’s voice, hiding it within a song where no one knows it’s even there. Who better than Ariana to be that voice.

“Can I hear what you got so far?” Ariana asks.

Harry nods and gets out of bed (with great effort which makes Ariana roll her eyes). He brings his laptop with him as he descends down the corridor. He enters the living room where a grand piano sits in the centre and props the laptop down on its surface as he sits by the keys.

“Fair warning, m’still learning,” Harry says as he plays a few random notes to prep his fingers before he begins to play.

Harry’s only got a verse and a pre-chorus, and a sort-of chorus figured out. It’s mid-tempo for now, but it might change once he can get in the studio. He starts singing, trying not to focus entirely on his fingers playing but he’s still a beginner so he’s got his head down more or less the whole time. When he finishes, he looks up again and is honestly… not surprised to see Ariana crying into her sleeve-covered hands.

“It’s sooo good.”

“Obviously, it’s not done yet–.”

“The first verse got me, but that pre-chorus– damn it,” Ariana quickly, and quite dramatically wipes under her eyes as Harry smiles with warm cheeks, kind of loving the praise coming from her, “like you’re so fucking talented, and can I just say your piano playing has improved a lot! You have nothing to worry about.”

“Thanks love,” Harry looks down and plays a few keys, hoping the terrible MacBook camera quality would hide his sudden bashfulness.

“Harry?”

“Yeah?”

“I wanna sing.”

Harry stops playing for a moment so he could hear what Ariana had to say.

“My fans have been wanting me to jump on Instagram Live to sing a few songs but I really can’t handle all that real-time shit. I just want to sing and then dip so I’m just going to record a quick video. I think it’d be a nice surprise to have you join in, finally feed your fans some new content of you.”

“Hmm, I suppose but I won’t sing.”

“Why not? They’ve been wanting some sort of duet for a while, you know.”

“Um, and show the world how rubbish I am singing next to you?”

“You are not rubbish! Have you forgotten our killer duet of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ when we watched ‘Wayne’s World’?”

“No, I just wanna listen to y’voice. I miss it,” Harry pouts, leaning into his elbow as it rested on the hood of the piano.

“Okay, then, H,” Ariana rolls her eyes, smiling as she fixes herself. “Suppose you’d like a relatively easy song to play. How does ‘My Everything’ sound? For old time’s sake?”

“You’re in luck, that’s literally my go-to practice song at the moment. Surprisingly quite a vocal heavy track, or maybe I just don’t know how to sing.”

“Harry I fucking swear to God, you say one more self-deprecating thing–.”

“Sorry, sorry, m’just blown away every time I listen to it. Right then, let me take this old thing off. Gotta look good if I’m gonna be playing next to you,” Harry says as he pulls his hoodie off and sets it aside. He’s got on a black t-shirt that’s two days old and counting but the camera probably won’t pick up much quality anyway so he’s got nothing to worry about. Harry pulls his hair out of its scrunchy and runs his fingers through until his fringe looked somewhat contained.

“Got sent some cute-ass nails today,” Ariana says as Harry leans up close to his screen, being met with her brand new white nails with small light-grey clouds on the very tips. “Cute,” he agrees. “My nails are looking God-awful. Fuck, you think the camera will pick them up?”

The blue colour on his nails had mostly chipped off, leaving them in a ‘too naked to be fully edgy’ situation that has Harry hiding his hands from sight.

“I barely noticed.”

“I’ll just angle the camera so they don’t show.”

“You ready then? I’m gonna record the screen. Hopefully it works.”

“Okay, yeah, hold on. Okay, yeah.”

They eventually do two takes. One to see if it was actually recording and sounded good, and the second was the actual recording that Ariana planned to post.

This should have been easy, real simple, considering it isn’t their first time just hanging out, singing songs on the piano or whatever. Literally the other day she sent him a voice note singing some random meme and it didn’t phase him at all because it’s expected at this point. When it’s just them it’s not nearly as nerve wracking. Now he’s torn between wanting to play the piano well as to not mess her up, wanting to sound good to prove to himself that he’s doing better at playing like she’s said, but also wanting to just melt into himself and listen to her sing.

It seems this internal struggle appeared very well in the video as he and Ariana watched it back. Ariana sang beautifully; effortlessly as per usual, while Harry looked genuinely lost between playing and listening to her sing which with their videos side-by-side made it look like Harry was sort of in disbelief that the person next to him was singing so angelically, which wouldn’t even be far from the truth.

“Hah, that’s funny,” Ariana grins, “I’m posting it now. Prepare to become a meme.”

The video quickly went viral apparently. Neither Harry or Ariana would know since right after she posted the video they did as she wished and let it be, allowing the internet to have at it while they curled up in their beds and put on “Tiger King” to see what the hype was all about.

| – | – | – |

+ masterlists

[for-peace-war]

Art by @idrawbuffgirls.

I wanted to do hour long writing exercises and see what I could do with my own take on Robert E. Howard’s Conan series.  I tried to adapt my writing style to his.  Additionally, Kelzack was kind enough to help illustrate concepts from each of my stories! So thanks, buddy!

This story is the first written, but is not the first chronologically.  It’s total fanfiction of @perfectperfidy, @that-green-nut, and @iamreinhardt‘s characters.  It is appropriate only to my “Wednesday I make you fight random monsters” game, but... anyway!  Here it is.

THE GREAT WINGED ONE.

Part I.

BEMBA THE BARBARIAN of Brythunian blood cut a buxom, though brawny figure amongst the boreal battlefield.  For three days and two nights on had she watched Aesileif the Aesir and Torman the Vanir vie for dominance of Nordheim, with neither taking prominence over the other. There had been others that dared to enter the Bloodmoot, though by the first day’s end the greater number had been forced to capitulate or cast free the mortal realm.  Now, but the two towering barbarians battled to the end, with neither seeming to know how to surrender—and both refusing to accept what defeat might bring them.

She had once found the battlefield to be a beautiful thing—virginal snow, touched naught by the softest footstep, surrounded by honored and sacred stones meant to ward the melee against the interference of any savage spirit seeking to pervert their time-honored contest. As a member of the Varjanian Guard, those women descended from Byrthunian stock that had proven themselves under the auspices of the fallen Thane-of-Thanes, Varjan, she had placed great value and importance on tradition and honor.  After all, were it not for that then she would not stand where she did—she would not know what it meant to taste of Atali’s fury, and bathe her foes within it.

Her opinion—her reverence—ultimately mattered for little that day, though.  While it was acceptable for any of strength to claim the mantle left vacant by Varjan nearly five decades prior, there was little doubt that it would need be one that came of his blood, directly.  Varjan had been a prolific thane and fathered many sons and daughters, who went on to do the same.  Bemba knew that she lacked the requisite blood not because she was of the Brood of Brythune, but because when she saw blood she did not feel her soul rebel against restraint.  The virginal snow had been beautiful to her—the bloodied snow, sacred.

Aesileif the Aesir, whose fair hair and fairer skin nearly masked her within fresh snow, stood out strikingly against the blood that surrounded her, and that which was caked on her face.  She snarled a snow leopard’s fury as she threw herself forward, and caught hold of the larger Torman the Vanir with such strength that any lesser man’s bones would have broken as she ripped mightily against him.  At the outset of the contest they had each been garbed in wools and furs, but those had long since been discarded.  Each was brawn and brutality: the Aesir nude to her waist; the Vanir in naught but a loincloth as he pitched and tossed Aesileif from himself and sent her into a practiced roll.  When they moved, blood and sweat caused their heated muscles to move like siege weaponry at precise moments.

“They will die before they surrender,” a red-haired man leaning on a great-axe said.  On his left shoulder was the head of an immense bear, its pelt draped down to his waist besides.  “Can no one bring them to an end?  The Mountain was not meant to be united.”

Bemba spoke. “The Mountain must be united.  If it is not, then we are all damned.”

“What does a Varjanian known of damnation?” The man asked.  She knew him to be Mortund the Red, one of Torman’s huscarls known as Bearmen.

“Would you like to find out?”

She had no desire for blood, yet desire had little to do with what was before her. By birth and training had she learned to harness her strength; make it the fire that warmed her where no flame could ever touch.  The Varjanian Guard was not the illustrious group it had once been, but it remained relevant in the eyes of some—in the eyes of those such as the Aesir, who in that second caught a charging Torman and rolled backward to vault him to his back. She scrambled for a rock to shatter his skull, but he was quick to his feet and soon tossed her against one of the warding stones.  Her blood painted it in a haphazard streak as he bashed her against it once, mightily, though before he could again her forehead found his collarbone and he was sent stunned backward.

How could they not have anything but the same blood within them?

Brother and sister, they were meant to rule that mountain, surely.

Mortund rose after her question and rolled his shoulders.  He was a tall and proud son of Vanaheim, with a full beard that dropped down past his muscled chest.  “Do not let her inspire you past your senses, girl,” he said.  His voice would have been a chilling warning, had Bemba not known coldness far greater than any man could offer.

She felt her the spirit of Atali stir within her—knew that her nature was only so long pacified before it became that terrible maelstrom that called for sinew and blood; that rent bone and shattered thews in devastating order.  “Have you not been inspired by the display?” She asked.

“A bitch has never given me reason to know delight that didn’t place oak in my cock.”

“But have you considered watching Aesileif instead?”

It was so swift a turn of phrase that the Vanir stumbled upon himself.  Did he wish to smile? She saw his lip twitch, but then realizing the folly in that he corrected himself.  “You’re a clever whore, aren’t you?”

Perhaps she was faster than he expected—perhaps even, he had expected their conversation to continue until they excused themselves to some furred tent.  Bemba knew only that as soon as she heard the word ‘whore’ leave his mouth, that she no longer knew anything; that the spark had become an inferno, and in but a moment the battle that had been within her spilled out into the open world.

Battle was not a dance.  Battle was not a strategic series of actions.  It was a raw thing, that came to life with such fury that its utterance was the demise of all that was absent its glory.  Bemba was a trained weapon—a trained weapon that had a single target, and so she took to it.  Her roar was the only warning to those about that the battle within the ring had spilled out of it, and soon the sacred stones that separated the battle became but posts against an avalanche, incapable of holding fast and firm against the devastation wrought in their torrential swell of violence that erupted free them.

 Inside the ring, where Torman and Aesileif were once more prepared to descend upon one another, the cry of their followers drew them away from that which was immediately before them.  As though of one mind they glanced to those that remained and saw the glory of the moment: red and blonde massing about each other in a cyclonic fury that knew no end.   The might of their people, joined as a single host, was such that even their heated blood could be cooled in its manifested gale.

From the midst of those that swarmed over one another scampered forth a man unlike any present.  He was swarthy of complexion and gifted with a light step that made him move as if a mirage cast along the snowy surface about him.  He ducked, effortlessly, past a man and woman grappling and presented himself with a practiced bow that belonged in perfumed lands far away.  His hair was shiny and  black, doubtlessly coated in the fine oils that Zingaran scalps seeped when excited.

“As ever I arrive at just the right moment,” the Zingaran said as he rose.  Quite unlike the others present, who seemed as unbothered by the cold as they were the blood that poured free them, he was bundled in heavy garments that made him appear far larger than he was in truth, Aesileif knew.

“Valenso,” Aesileif hissed.

“Hello, old friend.”

“What do you want, Zingaran?”

Torman spit out a mouth full of blood, along with part of a tooth, and snorted. “This little man is your friend?”

“I have no friends,” she said.  As if aware that she may have harmed his feelings, she went on. “But I know of him.”

“I consider myself much blessed to be of those you know of.”  He said.  “But you have always been a woman that is quick to her point.”

“Perhaps you will prove to be one as well?” She asked.

Torman breathed a shapeless laugh at that.  He was a head taller than Aesileif, who already stood a head taller than Valenso.

Valenso’s laugh, to its credit, was well-practiced, if absent much mirth. “I have come with good tidings.”

“Good tidings never come from pretty perfumed men,” Torman said.  He eyed Valenso as a wolf might a bloody piece of meat—or more aptly, a Nordheimer would a Zingaran. “Especially not those in pretty silks.”

“I thank you the compliments as to my wardrobe,” he said, “but could the two of you shake hands and bring this mess to an end?”

“Shake hands?”  Each of the Nordheimer’s was more than faintly perplexed by the statement.  A touch verklempt by their savagery, Valenso made a gesture with his hands that seemed more appropriate for a bird attempting flight.

“Well, whatever it is you do when you make peace.”

“Peace comes through death,” Aesileif said.

Torman agreed. “And only then does the true battle begin.”

“Fatalistic as ever.  And I thought the Stygians were morbid.”  The Zingaran sighed.  “Well, do whatever it is for you to make temporary-not-war, yes?  You seem to be doing a poor job of killing each other. Have you considered fucking?”

“I grow tired of you, little worm man,” Aesileif warned.  Valenso laughed uneasily.

“A jest in poor order, perhaps.  But there is a great need for both of you—or so I have been told.”

Torman glowered and rose to his full height.  It would seem resting had returned vigor to him he had lost in previous moments.  “The sages have said the mountain must be united.”

“Well, I do not know of sages,” Valenso said, “but a Stygian woman said similar.”

“I hate Stygians,” both Nordheimers said.

“They are an acquired taste.”

The battle around them continued to rage on.  “What did the Stygian say?”

“That within Mount Glacimar awakens a great beast.  The Great Winged One, it is called.”

Aesileif soured, but did not stir against him.  Instead, she looked at Torman through a bruised eye and took note where her fists had battered his skin and busted his nose.  He was tattooed in her violence—as she was in his.  Against the darkness, she could see her father somewhat in the manner in which he brooded.  Did he see the same in her, she wondered?

“I hate Vanir,” she said. “But I do not doubt there is some truth in this.”

“Say what you will,” Torman said.

“We kill each other another day, brother.”

“If you live to see it, sister.”

As they gripped each other’s hands, Valenso released a chambered sigh.  “That was easier than I expected.  I half expected I would have to bribe you with—”

“Silence,” Aesileif said.

Mindful of the coin purse he had, Valenso shrugged and nodded.  Silence was cheaper than he expected—and certainly worth more, when it came to what he hadn’t had to tell them of the Stygian’s tale.

[thedistantstorm]

Dawning Delights 12: Dawning Surprise Pt. 3

Summary: Hawthorne invites her newfound family in the Tower to experience a City-Style Dawning with the family that took her in years ago. The holiday is not without it’s charm, or aggravation, and certainly has plenty of surprises in store. A season-inspired, trope-tastic story about a family forged by something greater than blood, finding reasons to enjoy the season - and cherish each other. Main Post

Pairings: Hawthorne/Zavala, Sloane/Amanda, Devrim/Marc

“Well,” Suraya supposes, looking at the crates in the cellar, “I guess I know why we have so much champagne now.”

“Do you think it will be enough?” Marc asks, squeaking every so often when the dim light manages to catch on her rock. She flicks her hand dramatically on purpose and Marc claps, he’s so excited. “Listen, kiddo, the second - and I mean THE SECOND this holiday is over, we are planning the most amazing event this City as ever seen.”

“Dad,” She deadpans, “I’ve been engaged for about forty-five minutes. You’ve got time.”

“I know. I’m just so happy for you.” Suraya looks worried he might devolve into tears, but he simply pats her shoulders. “I’m just happy you get to have this. I know things were-”

“Yeah,” She agrees, setting the crate she’d been about to lift back onto a shelf. Marc hugs her, tightly. She presses her tongue to the roof of her mouth, continuing thickly, “I’m happy, too.”

“Ugh. Okay. No more of this. We’re going to happy cry with Amanda enough as it is.” He settles things with a resolute gaze. “I’ll grab the good champagne from the fridge down here, you grab this crate and bring it up for when everyone else arrives. I’ll make sure we have plenty in the fridge down here as backup.” He taps her nose affectionately, watching as she scrunches it, flushing. He hasn’t done that since she was a child, though, so instead of her usual grunt of embarrassment she can't help but smile, albeit reluctantly. “Tonight, we celebrate.”

Ikora is brushing snow off her robes when Suraya comes up the stairs to the main floor. Ophiuchus appears beside her, looking rather expectantly in Suraya's direction. Taking a quick detour through the kitchen to drop the wine on the counter, she heads to the front door.

Zavala is elsewhere, likely with Devrim in his study. She won't be surprised if they begin trading classics, her father's literature collection has been passed down for generations. It's legendary.

"I hope you don't mind that I let myself in," She says, handing Suraya the wine she'd brought.

"No, not at all. Can I get you a drink?"

"Absolutely."

"Wait,” A quieter voice comes after Suraya has given them her back, heading into the kitchen. “Are we not going to ask? He did it, right?”

The Warlock holds up a hand to quiet him.

“I would have thought Zavala’s told him the second it was done,” Hawthorne comments idly, placing Ikora’s bottle beside another to chill. Facing them once more, she nods to Ophiuchus, who still looks at her rather optimistically for confirmation. “Guess not. You two knew about it?”

“I held onto the ring for a month so you wouldn’t find it by accident.” Ikora doesn’t shrug, but her weight shifts ever so slightly to her right. It makes the same statement. “Zavala was…” She tips her head, “Concerned.”

“He’s always concerned,” Suraya answers. “You know.”

“I do.” She raises her eyebrows. “So?”

“So,” The Clan Overseer smiles, ducking her head. “Obviously you know that he-”

“Yes.”

“That’s what I said?” She tries, sheepish.

Marc scoffs from the other entrance to the kitchen. “That was the line you went with?” He brushes past her to greet Ikora, setting the bottle of champagne he’d brought up with him on the counter. “Oh, give me this,” He says, yanking Suraya’s hand up to chin-level. “Of course she said yes.”

“Dad!”

“Hush,” He admonishes her before addressing Ikora. “He did great,” Marc confirms. “Little nervous, but it was-” He looks up, eyelids fluttering. “I could cry thinking about it.”

Ikora smiles. “Good.” She takes Suraya’s hand, prying it gently from Marc’s to inspect the ring. “He has good taste.”

“It’s really nice, yeah?” Suraya gestures to the ring with her other hand.

“I meant his choice in a partner,” She retorts, golden brown eyes lifting from the diamond to meet Suraya’s. Warmly, she says, “Congratulations.”

It elicits a bashful laugh. “Wow,” Suraya gushes, stunned at the praise. “Thank you.”

“Take good care of him.”

The implication goes unsaid, but Suraya takes it seriously. “I will.”

“I know you will.” Ikora’s lips curve deviously. “Where is he, anyway?”

“I’ll go get them,” Marc offers, spinning on his heel. “You two pop the bubbly.”

When they're alone, Ikora murmurs, "I had to change the plan."

"Obviously," Suraya says, though it's clear it hadn't been on her mind at all, because she blinks in confusion as if just remembering how things were to go. Ophiuchus feels the naggling sensation of Ikora being right through their connection though the Warlock doesn't display it obviously in her body language. "Where's Amanda?"

"There was a snag," The Warlock crosses her arms. "Shaxx nearly ruined everything. I salvaged it as best I could."

"Insensitive?" Suraya pops open the champagne.

"To say the least."

"Well, we knew there'd be a wrench thrown in there somewhere," Hawthorne comments. "I feel bad that she wasn't surprised, though."

"She was. Not as much as she would have been, considering she was too busy yelling at me beforehand, but," Ikora's eyes narrow in thought, not focusing on anything physical. She blinks, and the trance is broken. "She's grateful. There were tears."

"Sorry you had to handle it on your own," Hawthorne answers, pouring her some champagne. "You got hit with the brunt of the secret-keeping, didn't you?"

"A bit," She says wryly. "It's nice to know I can finally relax without worrying about the logistics."

"Well, for what it's worth, I appreciate it. I was really surprised."

The cordiality on Ikora's face softens into something kinder. She takes a sip of her champagne. "Good."

-/

Amanda flings open the door, Sloane trailing behind. She doesn't knock; Marc had yelled at her for it exactly once (she was to make herself at home) and frankly, Amanda can appreciate that kind of familiarity. She only lets go of Sloane's hand long enough to take her boots off, toeing them off in an easy way that still surprises her partner considering one leg is synthweave and alloy plating.

She grins up at her partner when her Ghost appears to quietly wisk their footwear away. It's not novel in the sense that a Ghost is transmatting her things; Zavala's used to do that when she was much younger and she works with Guardians every day. It's the familiarity that warms her. Being lumped in with Sloane - who is here, with her (IN PERSON!!) - just gives her the warm and fuzzies on the inside.

Sloane's presence doesn't loom over her, necessarily, but she is a good head taller and twice as wide with them shoulders of hers. Amanda can feel her breath on the back of her neck, an inhale that's a bit too long, and she knows for sure that Sloane is the most deserving of this holiday than any of them.

"Smells good, right?"

"Yeah," Sloane answers, taking it all in. "Very."

"Don't be shy about eatin'. Marc cooks a ton of food. He knows what a Titan's appetite is like." She grins. "'Sides, tomorrow's the big feast. This is just tapas 'n whatnot."

"Fancy lingo, Flygirl," She murmurs back, pressing her lips against Amanda's head, just behind her ear.

"It's about time you two made it," Ikora says, playfully, slipping out of the kitchen. Behind her, there's the sound of someone removing things from an oven, setting something up in the counter. "We were beginning to wonder if you got lost."

Laughing, Amanda steps away from Sloane to hug Ikora. She's done a lot of that today, considering, but the Warlock seems to accept it a lot less stiltedly than she had earlier. Though, considering the half-full glass of wine in her hand, perhaps she's loosened up a bit.

Devrim rounds the corner next, and Sloane lets Amanda drag her towards him. "I'm so happy you're here," The Shipwright gushes. The militiaman lifts her just a touch, returning her bearhug just as tightly.

"I'm just as happy to be here, I assure you." His bright blue eyes meet Sloane's when he looks up. "Ah, Deputy Commander."

"Just Sloane is fine," She replies, shaking his hand. "Thank you for having me."

"It's our pleasure. My husband and I have always enjoyed entertaining. This time of year is best shared with the ones we love, hmm?"

"You're right about that," Sloane agrees, while Amanda hums in similar approval.

"Do come in, though," Devrim gestures to the living room Ikora's gone into. "Marc will be out shortly to dote on you both, I'm sure." Amanda laughs at that - Sloane has no idea what she's in for - as he continues, "I'll get you both a drink if that's alright?"

"Please," They answer in unison, looking to each other with a laugh.

"Will do. Make yourselves at home." He pats Sloane's shoulder as he goes the opposite way from Ikora. The Deputy Commander lets Amanda drag her the other way, into the living room.

It's not quite a hug, nor is it simply a handshake Sloane shares with Zavala. Not that she can think about the gesture, because the cool blue of his eyes is cut by Amanda screaming chaotically in thankfulness as she tackles Hawthorne beside him.

She hugs Amanda back fiercely, and if Amanda cries a little, the Clan Stewardess doesn't look bothered.

"Nice to see you," Sloane greets her, when Amanda finally steps back, wanting to hug Zavala next. "Sorry your plan went to hell."

"Worked out just fine." Like Devrim, she shakes Sloane's hand. "I'm just glad you got here."

"Me too. It's nice to finally meet you."

"Likewise." She nods toward the rest of the furniture surrounding the fireplace. "I'm sure one of my dads or this one," She motions to Amanda, "Told you, but make yourself at home, okay? Seriously." She rejoins Zavala, letting him pull her down and against him as if to make more sitting room beside her on the oversized sectional.

"Weird, isn't it?" Amanda whispers, dropping beside Suraya and indicating for Sloane to join her. "You'll get used to it."

Devrim appears with champagne - and an extra beer for Sloane, before resuming his position in the armchair. "I was told you might need some extra fortification. And that this was your favorite."

"It is," Sloane agrees, "Though my tolerance isn't what it used to be," She jokes. Amanda nudges up against her side.

"Well," Devrim shrugs, helping himself to his own refreshment, "You'll find you're in good company here. And that you're welcome to overindulge. We're celebrating, after all. No one will fault you."

"Didn't think we'd jump right to the champagne, honestly," Amanda comments dryly. Doesn't stop her from clinking her glass against Sloane's and draining half of it in one go.

"Nothing wrong with celebrating," Zavala intones coolly. His hand covers Suraya's, squeezing once before he rises, waving Devrim off before he can get to his feet. "I've got it," He informs the other man. "You've more than earned yourself some downtime."

"That almost sounded like an order," Ikora muses, that sarcastic edge to her voice. "You might want to-"

"Oh, don't tease him," Marc yells from the kitchen, as if he can see the wide-eyed embarrassment flit across Zavala's face. "He knows his way around." The sound of another bottle of bubbly being popped cuts through the ambient sounds of cooking on the other side of the house. "Take the bottle back with you," Marc says, pushing him out of the kitchen, hot on his heels. "Amanda!"

"Bout time y'came out here to see me!" She launches herself up to standing, accepting the kiss that comes with Marc's hug. She turns to Sloane, who rises beside her to greet their other host, "An' this-"

"Amanda, she is even more beautiful in person! Look at her!" Suraya snorts at Sloane's bashful confusion. "She's gorgeous, built, and that smile, oh." Amanda can't help but beam. "Great taste."

"You're too kind," Sloane says, rubbing the back of her head. "I'm the lucky one, really."

"Modest and charismatic, too," He comments, opening his arms before Sloane can extend a hand to him. "Darling, come here and hug me. Don't let these two-" He gestures to his husband and child respectively, "Fool you. We're a hugging household."

Sloane is surprised, but hugs the smaller man, laughing when he whispers that she can put her back into it.

"Girl, I see it," Marc comments to Amanda when they part. "I totally see it." That, combined with Marc's teasing once-over has Sloane blushing.

"Alright, let the woman rest, Marc. She's had a long trip and she doesn't need you heckling her."

"Darling," Marc quips, hazel eyes narrowing, as his tone takes a playful turn. "Are you jealous?"

"Hardly." Devrim's smirk is wry. "He's all bluster, I assure you. I'd be rolling my eyes if I wasn't so terribly fond of him and his antics. Speaking of," He yanks his husband down so that he can whisper in Marc's ear. Marc squeals, clapping once.

"Okay, okay," Marc agrees, taking the opportunity to lean in for a kiss. "You taste like expensive brandy." He licks his lips, taking a sip from Devrim's glass. "Remind me to have some of this later, when we're out of bubbly. It's good."

"You're funny, Marc. By the time we're out of champagne, you don't know the difference."

"You're sorely underestimating this group," Ikora interjects.

"I don't know how Shaxx does it," Zavala comments, "But I've seen him upend a pub and wake up the next morning like he's had a night in."

"Must be nice," Amanda grumbles. "I'll be nursin' coffee until dinner tomorrow if I get smashed t'night."

Marc waves a hand. "I have enough espresso in that kitchen," He jerks a thumb toward it, To power this City for at least a week."

-/

Shaxx and Saladin don't arrive until later. The skies have begun to darken outside with the coming night, though it's only mid-afternoon. Surprisingly, they are not arguing. Shaxx almost appears cowed.

In fact, he certainly is when he lays eyes on Sloane and she tilts her head in a silent question, as if to ask if he's going to man up and apologize for upsetting her partner. Before he can, Amanda, decidedly gracious - and in a much better mood - yanks him into a hug and tells him he's an idiot, but a lucky one, since Ikora saved the day.

Suraya and Zavala are in the kitchen, Shaxx had breezed by them without so much as a word, blustering into the parlour. Saladin, however, did not, following Shaxx in hesitantly as they did not knock (even if it would be for the best as Shaxx doesn't always do gentle well with inanimate objects) and waiting to be beckoned further. He's met with Marc, who introduces himself without the flare he normally exudes and gestures behind him, as if already sensing the Iron Lord's concern.

"They're in the kitchen. I think they wanted to give you the news without everyone around. Amanda still hasn't cottoned on."

"Really?" The old wolf takes a second to look over at the festivities. It appears everyone is enjoying themselves, even with the addition of Shaxx and his brand of loud nonsense. "Surprising."

"I'll say," Marc replies, amused. "My daughter is not particularly subtle. I'd imagine since Sloane hasn't reacted either that they're too busy making puppy-dog eyes at each other to pay attention to the goings on around them."

"Of course." Not that it's undeserving, Sloane works hard and plays hard, she's a Titan through and through. And Amanda, of course, has always been dear to Saladin, since she'd been a third of her size and taken under Zavala's metaphorical wing.

Saladin would never admit to having a bias, but with Shaxx as he was, it made favoring his younger protege far easier. With Marc's blessing, he allows himself to linger in the doorway leading to the kitchen.

It isn't Zavala that sees him first. Suraya nudges him with a hip, and he turns away from whatever he'd been eating over the counter.

Their collective staring contest lasts all of two seconds.

"Well?" He barks, sounding abrasive out of context.

They look to each other and he sees it: the small, shared smile. Not smug or haughty, it's simply an awed look, as if neither of them can quite believe it's happened.

"I asked," Zavala informs him, "And Suraya accepted."

"Congratulations," He replies, the smile in his tone also lifting the corners of his lips in the real thing. When he holds out his hands, Suraya steps into his embrace. Taller, but just as solid as her fiance, Saladin's version of a hug smells like a campfire and winter winds. It lasts for a moment longer than she's expecting, but in a way it almost feels like a rite of passage.

When he pulls Zavala in, it's with a palm on the back of his neck, and something whispered in that molten rumble that Suraya cannot quite hear even in close quarters. That doesn't matter, though. She can see her partner relax into it and nod, knows that whatever has been said, it's heartfelt and meant for him only.

“There’s a whole lotta huggin’ goin’ on in there,” Amanda drawls from outside the kitchen. She pads in and helps herself to one of the myriad appetizers sprawled out: a little roll-up filled with steamed cabbage and carrots with a sweet-chili sauce. She licks some of the runny sauce off her fingers before she asks them, “We havin’ a moment or…”

Sloane's hushed voice cuts through the silence that follows her partner in, also in the market for appetizers. “Wait," She pauses, leaning against the doorway, stunned. "How long have you two been engaged?"

“What?” Amanda turns to her partner. "They're not-" She looks back, seeing Hawthorne's bashful but excited nodding, Zavala's radiant, confident smile.

"Two, maybe three hours now?" Suraya looks to Zavala. "It must have been-"

"I've been sitting next to you for an hour and you just forgot to tell me you're ENGAGED?!"

"I'll get more champagne," Zavala sighs, turning away, but a lightning-fast grab by Amanda returns him to his previous position.

"Oh no you don't. You're not going anywhere."

"I was only going to the refrigerator," Zavala gestures to the appliance, half a meter away.

"No."

"Okay?"

"Shaxx," Amanda calls over her shoulder. "Get in here."

To the music of thundering steps, Suraya says," We were wondering how long it would take," Her mezzoalto voice dipping in concern. "It wasn't like we were hiding it, I waved this thing," She holds up her hand, "In front of like twice."

"Yeah, I know." Amanda's expression is unreadable, looking to the doorway.

"Wait, what?"

Suraya's confused question is cut short by Shaxx's interruption.

"Oh, bollocks."

The blonde grins. "Pay up."

"You had a bet?" Zavala looks down at her incredulously. "Seriously?"

Laughing, she retorts, "We made this waaay back. You're obvious."

Shaxx growls, "You couldn't have waited for Crimson Days?"

Zavala's reply is resolute. "No."

"Eva was convinced it would happen in the spring," Holliday elaborates, whirling around on the Crucible Handler. "So don't you tell her she's lost. Let these two-" Her hand drops to her side and she spins back in a child-like, dizzying movement, "The hell am I thinkin'." She tackles them in a brief but intense hug, Zavala's hand on Hawthorne's back keeping them from backing into the cabinets. "I'm so happy," She tells them, when she steps back, eyes misty and bright. "Damn champagne shoulda tipped me off." She shrugs, composing herself. "Besides, Sloane’s the more observational one of us, anyway"

"I'm still trying to take it all in, Amanda, you can't put this on me," Sloane holds up her hands, hasty. "I mean- Wow, congratulations," She gestures towards the couple. "I'm just-"

"Me too," Suraya agrees. Sloane is certainly not the only one who is a bit overwhelmed by the day's events. Zavala kisses her temple, and it's as overt as they've ever really been about PDA in the presence of others. So of course, Shaxx erupts in a mocking coo, and Saladin takes joy in dragging him from the room without giving him any liquor.

Zavala takes pity on him and brings him his own bottle of champagne. Shaxx makes a show of throwing back the entire bottle in one go, bubbles be damned, earning both of them Saladin's disapproval and Marc's utter fascination. Suraya perches herself between her parents and watches the chaos unfurl.

[wackygoofball]

you once talked about the parallels between sigurd and jaime I have to point out hat sigurd is a dragonslayer who killed fafnir ( who was a dwarf who became a dragon after killing his own father fafnirAsked his father for gold. tyrion Asked his father for his inheritance (Casterly Rock). fafnir Murdered his father upon refusal. Tyrion Murdered his father in light of multiple grievances. tyrion will end up helping dany with her dragons and/or riding one so what if jaime kills tyrion

Hi megashadowdragon and thanks for the question.

I realized I didn’t meta in quite a while, but ohwell, real life calling and all.

First of all, I am impressed that you still rememberor found a way to dig up that comment I made… years ago. Anyway, I had to revisit my own post to check, butreally, the main intention of that post was to point out the many similarities thatcan be drawn between Jaime and Brienne and Sigurd and Brynhild, less so aboutmaking predictions about how those similarities may foretell the outcome of thestory. I hope that this came across and that I didn’t make it seem like I wasfirmly believing in Jaime and Brienne fulfilling the Sigurd/Brynhild saga frombeginning to end.

After all, GRRM uses tropes and themes rather thancopying word-for-word the narrative upshots of the story he takes from. Like,JB builds on the Beauty and the Beast trope in order to subvert it, but thatdoesn’t mean it’s going exactly congruent to the original tale in terms oftrajectory (I can’t seem to recall zombie!Cat to have been amongst the ensembleof Beauty and the Beast, LOL). So Itry to be cautious when it comes to making predictions based on mythologyparallels I can spot in a narrative. After all, GRRM mixed in a lot of mythology, Norse mythology *atlarge* being the first idea that comes to my mind, wherein Jaime fits multiplecharacters. Like, you can easily parallel Jaime with Norse gods like Tyr, amongothers. Or Christian mythology with the Jacob parallels. So… I am very carefulon that territory, which is why I dare not predict future outcomes based onother story’s equivalents. It’s far too tempting to just go down the rabbithole because every story parallel you choose will give you a potentiallydifferent outcome based on the trajectory of the story itself. I am much moresold on the BatB trope and trajectory because a) GRRM has affirmed that hebased JB on that trope, and b) tropes are not the same as following a storyfrom beginning to end along the exact same lines.

However, as you rightly point out, there are greatparallels to be drawn between Tyrion and Fafnir, both taking part in patricideand developing a certain greed (hence the dwarf turning into a serpent as they aresymbols for greed) for gold, which again plays well into the Lannister gold andred theme. And I am thankful that you brought it to my attention because – alsodue to my clear JB focus – did not even think about how Tyrion very well fitsinto the Volsunga Saga in that regard, and it may well be that GRRM drewinspiration from Fafnir when creating Tyrion’s character.

Yet, strictly following that analogy (for the sakeof the argument here), Regin is the brother of Fafnir who orders for hiskilling and enlists someone else to do it (Sigurd). Now of course, we caneither substitute Regin for someone to fill into that role and order Jaime todo it or we cut out the middleman for the sake of maintaining that parallel.  

But anyway, perhaps we ought to see it not so strictin terms of how the characters are related and more in terms of what they doinstead. Again, the trajectory for Tyrion maps neatly on Fafnir, as you assert,even more so in the books wherein he has embarked on a much darker route thanin the show (I won’t dig too deeply into the matter as my knowledge remainslimited on book!Tyrion, not having read those chapters in their entirety justyet).

Though that in itself should be telling, I think, withregards to Tyrion’s outcome in the overall series. I think the general themewill be that most characters will move into a gray area in terms of morality(safe for the clear villains that we have… like, Euron won’t become a graycharacter, Cersei won’t either, I daresay). Characters like Jaime are movingtowards the lighter spots whereas supposed heroes have become/are becomingmorally corrupted or at the very least tested in their morality and balancingit with the need to maybe do acts of dishonor for the sake of the people atlarge. The show did away with the dark tidbits of book!Tyrion’s journey why? We will only know once the finalseason airs, of course, but as others have put forward before me (and far moreeloquently than I do here), it may well be that show!Tyrion will move into moremoral grayness towards the end, whereas book!Tyrion may well get a redemptivemoment of some kind to move him back towards gray.

I tend to think that the show wants to link Tyrion’shaving to make tough choices between his family (Jaime) and the woman of nametitles to the grayness of his character. This has already been party exploredin season 7 wherein Tyrion was kind of hoping for Jaime not to be offed byHighgarden and looking completely devastated when he had to see what the womanwith many titles could do with a flying nuke and a bunch of Dothraki in an openfield. It was surely not without purpose that a) she questioned his loyalties beforeand after that and that b) Tyrion looked so clearly devastated and was made tobear witness of the apparent horror that the woman he chose as the one he meansto support can cause to see the overall goal of her ascending to the IronThrone being achieved. They also could have chosen to have Tyrion stay atDragonstone to await the news, but the fact that he bore witness to both thehavoc a dragon can cause on a battlefield plus the barbecuing of the Tarlys wassurely not without purpose. Which was now a long way of saying that I wouldn’tfind it farfetched if his loyalties were to become ultimately tested in season8, and further, that he will ultimately have to choose between his brother andthe mother of nukes.

While characters are supposedly uniting for thegreater purpose of fighting against the White Walkers now, I am by no meansconvinced that this is smooth transition from war to the Star.garyenRestoration Period towards the end of the series, which is to say that it maywell be that we are headed for conflict among the factions and that maincharacters who offered their support last season may still find their loyaltiesquestioned in their wish to seek power and may or may not ditch the groupeffort at least for a certain amount of time. Now, I don’t want to dig intothat whole matter because that is something people have sent plenty about and Ihonestly can’t be bothered too much about either the fandom-favorite theoriesregarding the restoration period or the hype of the characters mostlyassociated with said theories. I don’t discount their overall importance to thenarrative, I am just saying that I personally have zero shits to give besidethe plot purpose they fulfill for the overall narrative, but I have no personalinvestment in the lady with many names beyond her arc contributing to theoverall series.

But I derailed now again, sorry, I suppose I justwanted to position myself so that I don’t then get questions about a character Iam not invested in and don’t want to be bothered to bash on because, really, Ijust don’t care. The point I was heading for but kind of got away from is thatI am not entirely sure whether Tyrion *will* remain Team Lady of Many Names bythe end of the series. The fact that Tyrion’s and Jaime’s conflict has not beenwholly resolved just yet (while they wereon friendlier terms again, Tyrion did only so much as dodge the big questionsstill standing between the two – namely the consequences of his killing Tywinthat had direct impact on people Tyrion did not intend to harm with that, e.g.Jaime, Tommen, etc., for his own purposes of getting revenge on his father andI think the narrative set it up in such a way that when they met again for thefirst time in the vaults of the Red Keep that it was meant to show that Tyrionwas giving Jaime the same old argument as always instead of owning up to it)has me sold on the idea that something else is still coming with regards to thequestion of where his loyalties will eventually lie.

Now, to come back to the Volsunga Saga and theparallels to GoT/ASoIaF: I would also suggest another thought experiment justto explore the many ways of looking at it: Trade in Fafnir for the woman ofmany names (undeniable, the dragon connection is strong with her… and while sheis certainly no dwarf… she is not exceptionally tall, LOL, but now I digressfor sure). She had Khal Drogo kill Viserys with gold (hence, arguably, substituting Hreidmar, the father of Reginand Fafnir, for it), hence also having the gold aspect on her side and the ideaof greed being potentially subsumed in her ongoing quest for power even aftershe achieved to establish herself as Boss in Essos. Now fast-forward to (forthe show here) season 7 and Spoils of Warand have Sigurd (Jaime) go up against Fafnir (the woman of many names) afterreceiving orders from Regin who wants to see Fafnir gone (Cersei). Yet again,gold also plays a large role, and while Jaime is not successful in killing her,he was definitely going for it right there.

So, you see, I think that you can spin this manydifferent ways (which is the wonderful thing about literary analysis that Ilove so very much) and arrive at similar results. It neatly fits with GRRM’smode of paralleling and mirror characters. So the woman of many names does wellfit Fafnir the same way you can find reasons to see Tyrion being paralleledwith the serpent/dragon.

Now, to go back to the suggestion that Jaime may killTyrion… within the narrative, I just fail to see how he would pose such a*threat* that would make it necessary for Jaime to kill him. Tyrion… is only asdangerous as is the power he is granted. If Tyrion were to go completely rogue,hotwire a dragon and ride it into battle against his brother et al., then thatwould require some… serious turnaround and it would still make the dragon the more immediate threat to get outof the way.

Now, he could use wildfire to trigger Jaime into goingagainst Tyrion and make an attempt on his life, but I have my doubts regardingthe matter. I think wildfire will be vital to the plot in defeating the WhiteWalkers, and that it won’t be only limited to being at Cersei’s disposal,because let’s be real, it kind of loses effect and is in itself a gun she issitting on, waiting to be fired. And while Jaime will certainly be triggered byit, I think it makes much more sense for him to either then help evacuate thecity or help set up the trap for the White Walkers to walk into, seeing thenecessity. Now, if we spin this into the woman of many names going rogue andwanting to torch the capitol to thus blow shit up in red and green, then Jaimewould still have more incentive to be mad at her than at Tyrion.

If we spin it in such a way that Tyrion commits utterbetrayal towards Jaime a second time and Jaime found himself in a position ofauthority in the post-war times, then this would come close to Jaime having tosentence Tyrion to death, which I don’t really see happening, to be honest. Atleast I can’t come up with scenarios that would map with what we have been setup for in terms of character development over the past few seasons. While Jaimesaid that he would kill him, he evidently did not whenever he had a chance forit (if he was serious, he could have offed Tyrion in that vault with even justone hand and a tourney sword). Because just as evidently, Jaime loves hisbrother still, which made Tyrion’s betrayal burn ever the harder for Jaime, butthe more organic conclusion to such a conflict is that they talk it out or that Tyrion makes good onhis promise of when Jaime freed him from the prison where he said that he owedJaime his life, which makes him indebted to Jaime.

So I can actually see self-sacrifice to a certainextent far more prominently being one possible upshot of Tyrion’s arc than himgoing rogue on a dragon to require Jaime to slay his own brother instead ofhaving Jaime go through the motions of committing an additional act ofkinslaying. Generally speaking, I just don’t see Jaime offing any more of hisfamily members (and yes, that includes Cersei, the whole valonqar thing beingJaime and then going into suicide for *reasons* is nothing I am getting behind,but yet again, I digress and, yet again, I think people have written enoughabout that by now, so I would much rather focus on literally anything else). Because it would be sovery repetitive for Jaime and the Lannister clan at large. Cersei killed Lanceland Kevan and the in-laws Margaery, Loras, Mace… and kind of gave rise toTommen’s fall by making him watch that shit show *ahem*… Tyrion killed Tywin. Jaime(at least for the show… for *reasons*) killed a cousin and in-law Olenna uponCersei’s order. Like, honest to the Seven above, I don’t see the Lannistersdoing any more internal family murder. I think another family can well take aturn now.

So… to somehow tie those loose threads of thought togetherthat I have been spewing out now, anon… I think the parallel of Fafnir andTyrion most definitely fits, and I think there is a lot to be said about thesymbolism and even potential trajectory of the overall story, especially if youlook at book!Tyrion and his dark journey which neatly maps on Fafnir’s fallingfor the gold/greed. However, such analysis only ever takes us so and so farbecause, as I hope to have highlighted, we can recreate similar parallels byexchanging the players and it still matches. Because that just correlates withGRRM’s way of writing, which heavily builds on involving themes andpre-existing tropes, mythology, and narratives. That doesn’t mean we can takeone narrative and go to the end to determine future outcomes for GRRM’scharacters, though. It may well be that it will turn out eventually to be truefor one case, but at this point of time, it is simply too hard to guess whichone he may pick or subvert or abandon.

Though more on a sidenote, I will say that I would notfind it entirely unlikely if Tyrion ended up riding a dragon, as you pointed toin your ask. In fact, I would find that muchbetter than Jesus I mean King in the North riding one because Tyrion has builtup a significant relationship with those scaly nukes and I would much rathersee the dragons being okay with being ridden by a guy they learned to trustthan one that has the right Targ smell to him. But then again, I think dragonsare dicks, so maybe that is why they are more sold on the King in the North orthey just really want their mom to bang her nephew… so, who knows?

Now, speaking more in terms of *just* the show/books,I don’t think Jaime will kill Tyrion because I just don’t see where they would getthe conflict if the show has already hinted at it that there is more things toconnect them than keep them apart. If the woman of many names is supposed to bethe reason why, then Jaime should direct his anger towards *her* rather thanTyrion, and I do think that Jaime canmake that kind of rational decision, even with all those feelings involved. Thenarrative would have to make some true 180° to go back to where we basicallywere in season 5 to have Jaime be again all “I will murder him first chance Isee him.” And all atrocities I can come up that may trigger Jaime would almostalways relate to the woman of many names instead of his brother.

So, in sum: Tyrion and Fafnir parallels are awesome and I am grateful that you brought it to my attention because I missed the connection before. Ithink Jaime and Tyrion will pull themselves back together. I hope that Tyriongets to ride a dragon to prove that you don’t have to smell of Targ in order toearn yourself a ride on a nuke. And I most certainly hope that Jaime’s andBrienne’s narrative will end on an entirely different note than that of Sigurdand Brynhild because I remain sold on the idea that they are, against whatseems to be commonly believed by many people, headed towards a happier endingthan most will have in mind. Naturally, I may be totally proven wrong on thematter, but for now I reserve for myself the luxury of being in the hiatus ofsweet, sweet oblivion, wherein I can imagine all kinds of scenarios where Jaimeand Brienne live happily ever after, to finally get started on the Braime Bunch™,and that if Tyrion is meant to live till the end of the series, will spend his daysin good companionship with his brother.

*flies away*

[aarontap]

19 Years Later... It’s Betty Goo!

In case you were unaware, I fronted a band in the 1990s called Betty Goo. We came about as my previous band started falling apart and I realized that I’d wanted to write quick and tuneful songs, in stark contrast growing prevalence of the jammy (or worse, nu-metal) side of “alternative rock” that had begaun to take hold in the wake of Kurt Cobain’s death. So I grabbed longtime drummer compatriot Chad MacDonald and friend-since-age-three Doug Fraim and formed Betty Goo. We released a dreadful eponymous debut cassette tape but then started to get our heads on straight and found some like-minded melody-and-rock-focused bands in Boston and we hit our stride. In 1997 we released the quasi-conceptual ‘gooicide’ and had planned to break up in its wake. Unfortunately, the record garnered us a modicum of attention that had hitherto been lacking, and so I vowed to soldier on. Chad preferred the original plan and went back to school to start the journey to his now very successful career. On the verge of destruction, in stepped Doug’s friend Jeff Norcross. And Betty Goo was re-born. We had a good run for a couple more years, playing some pretty fantastic shows, and making some good friends along the way. Hell, you could say that I’d never have met my awesome partner in life, music, and otherwise, Paula Kelley, were it not for Goo having continued on. 

But all Goo things must come to an end and for us, it was pretty anticlimactic. In 1999, after a great show supporting our friends Permafrost in their final show, we spent the rest of the weekend in a recording studio in Boston, tracking a dozen songs for what would have been the follow-up to gooicide. Upon reviewing the rough mixes on Monday, I called Doug and Jeff, saying, “this isn’t very good, should we break up?” They both agreed. And that was the end.

Or so we’d thought! Fast-forward a couple decades and I start fucking around with Garageband’s iPhone app. I do a bunch of #instamusic creations, the idea being ‘conceive and record a 30-second-ish soundtrack to a random video/image in less than an hour and post it.’ Most of them are ambient and rambling. But then later in 2016 there’s a presidential election. And this chorus hits me. “Don’t cast your eyes on the emperor’s new clothes…” I followed through and made it into a kinda good, kinda shitty 2000s fakepunk song snippet and posted it. People seemed to dig it. And here’s the thing: it was catchy as hell. I kept revisiting it and thinking, maybe I could make it into something. I tried for about ten minutes to see if it could fit on The Architect’s Daughter but quickly realized, nope. And so I forgot about it.

But when TAD was finally completed and out in the world I got an idea. Maybe a crazzzzzy idea. This was never a Frank Shirts song. It sounds way more like a Betty Goo song. And, know what? There are a couple other Goo songs that I wouldn’t mind revisiting. I emailed Doug (who basically hadn’t played since our last show) and Jeff (who now primarily plays guitar, in The Weisstronauts and The I Want You) and asked if they might be interested in reconvening. To my great joy, they each replied with an enthusiastic yes! So now I had to make it happen. After all, they are both still based in Massachusetts and I’m here in L.A. A few months passed and I played around with turning the chorus into an actual song, but honestly, I was otherwise preoccupied. But then a Nathanson gig in NY presents an opportunity. I check in with the boys and book a session at Zippah in Brighton, MA and we are well and truly on our way. Oh, shit. Now I have to actually write the song. Thankfully, I am not alone. Jeff kicks in a couple ideas over the internet. And then we convene in Somerville, not two blocks from where PK and I first started living in sin, and Doug throws his ideas in. By the end of the afternoon we have a song, and some fine reimagining of two very brief old tunes from Goo days gone by.

It was both very familiar and kinda strange to get in a room with these guys after such a long break. We ran through a couple old timey songs - Buzz and Handbag - to grease the wheels but it was startlingly easy and took no time at all to just get to work as if no time had passed at all. Those guys are great.

That night, after a very long three days, I crashed very early at a quaint B&B in Brookline and before I knew it, it was Sunday morning and the session loomed. We loaded in and it was like stepping in to a time machine (see video). Zippah has undergone numerous upgrades to its gear but the building and the live room remain much the same. What an inspiring place! gooicide, PK’s Nothing/Everything, the Monsters of Id, numerous Weisstronauts recordings, a harp session for The Trouble With Success in the midst of a fierce nor’easter, and so much more. But we had work to do. In the able hands of both Brian Charles (who recorded gooicide and MOI) and Pete Weiss (of the Weisstronauts, who recorded both PK solo albums and so much more) we were under way in no time.

Here’s where, to me, it gets interesting. I knew we would have a ball but I didn’t expect to learn (or re-learn) stuff that day. We recorded three songs (most everything aside from vocals) in an easy-going 8-hour session, just like we used to do “back in the day,” though truth be told we would get double or more that done in one day by necessity.

Being “in a band” is distinct from “playing music with other people.” And I’ve been doing the latter for so long now that I had maybe forgotten what a band was like. Even Frank Shirts hasn’t been a band in the traditional sense, as I do most of the song arranging alone in my studio before bashing the songs out with Eric and Paula - and later with Rick. With Betty Goo, the difference became apparent in the studio. We wanted to record the songs live, with no click track, and so, even though we had rehearsed for a whopping three hours, we knew we were going to have to play the songs a bunch. And play we did. We would run a song a few times, work out some kinks, then go listen in the control room, pick out a few moments that need further work and go back and do it again. And everyone fell into their role with ease. It was fantastic, really. No egos, all creativity, and a healthy work ethic without being businesslike.

The next morning I awoke feeling kinda high from the experience. It had been years since I worked like that and back then I a) think I took it for granted and b) was psychologically a bit of a mess and didn’t really feel connected to much in the way of my own agency. One of the great things about taking stock of one’s privilege is that rather than it limiting you or locking you in some kind of prison of guilt, it actually frees you to look realistically at yourself and in so doing you can assess your actual strengths along with weaknesses and areas where the leg-ups you’ve been handed has been more of a hinderance than an asset. Working with Jeff & Doug on those three songs reminded me of part of music-making that I’d maybe lost touch with over the years and also reminded me of how lucky I am to be doing what I’m doing. I’ve resolved to make sure I make the most of it and also to make sure that the music is always the thing, no matter how much business needs to be taken care of.

Anyway, the whole experience was pretty great and I finished up the mixes this week. I think the results speak for themselves. Judge for yourself on July 4th* when the NEW BETTY GOO LIMITED EDITION HAND-CUT 7” SINGLE goes up for sale on Bandcamp!

* Vinyl Singles (w/ fab Deluxe Edition merch) will ship in September. Instant downloads are de rigueur.

[skygemspeaks]

My family is going to be moving houses at the end of June, and since I’ve started packing away my books, I thought I might as well share some of my books with y’all and give some book recs while I’m at it!

First up is the LGBTQ+ books I own. Unfortunately, I don’t have very many given it’s kinda difficult to find ones with plots that I like. (I contemplated whether or not to include the wtnv novel in this one, but seeing as it’s not centered around Cecil and Carlos, I decided to leave it out for now).

But anyways, here they are:

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz - A coming-of-age story about two young Mexican boys, Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza and Dante Quintana, who are as different as can be, but who somehow manage to forge an unbreakable connection that spans from childhood to adolescence, and beyond. Ari is angry and confused and from a broken family. Dante is gentle, and emotional, and is “crazy about his parents”. Dante knows he’s gay. And Ari has no idea what to make of his relationship with his best friend.

This one is super sweet and isn’t in the picture because it’s with Natsu at the moment. But it’s really thoughtful and adorable, and I just love Ari and Dante to bits and pieces. Definitely a must-read, guys!

Beautiful Music For Ugly Children by Kirstin Cronn-Mills -  About a young trans teen named Gabe who recently came out to his best friend and parents. The book is about him trying to make peace with who he is. Mostly, he does this through his love of music, and his bond with his next door neighbour, an old man who helps him get his first radio show, where he quickly develops a following of fans who fall for his unique taste in music and his quirky personality. 

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell - A Harry Potter-inspired fantasy book with an absolutely fascinating magic system. We follow an orphaned chosen one who’s just trying to get through the his last school year at his magic boarding school, the Watford School of Magicks, while the entire magical community somehow expects him to save them from the villain who’s been stealing their magic. And not to mention having to deal with his archnemesis vampire roommate who has probably been trying to kill him since the moment they met in first year. But after being broken up with by his girlfriend, and invited to his aforementioned archnemesis’ house over Christmas break, needless to say nothing is going as he would have expected. This entire book reads like some kind of strange, drarry roommates au fanfiction, and it’s absolutely GLORIOUS.

every day by David Levithan -  “A” doesn’t have a body of their own. For every single morning of their life, they’ve woken up in a different person’s body, with no friends or family or life to call their own. And it’s all fine. A’s gotten used to it, made peace with their fate. They’ve learned not to get too attached to anyone, learned not to attract too much attention or interfere too much with the life of the body they wake up in. That is, until they somehow find themselves falling in love with the girlfriend of one of the guys whose body they’re borrowing one day. I actually had to consider for a while whether or not to include this book, because a lot of the most important bodies A inhabits throughout this book are male bodies, and the main female lead is straight. But A themself is nonbinary and pan. They identify as whatever gender the body they’re in is, and are attracted to people regardless of their gender. Loved this book to bits and pieces, really bittersweet. It has a sequel called “Another Day” which is focused mainly on the Rhiannon, the female love interest, but I haven’t read that one yet since I’m not terribly interested in her.

Fan Art by Sarah Tregay - This one is....very juvenile. And by that, I mean it’s one of those idyllic, clichéd ya romances that we all like to pretend we don’t like, but that has all the tropes that we just adore in fanfiction and that we inevitably end up finishing in one sitting. It’s about a high schooler named Jamie who’s recently realized he’s head over heels for his (seemingly) straight best friend, Mason. Cue teen drama and angst and mutual pining. A really cute, light read with an adorable little comic near the beginning.

More Than This by Patrick Ness - Seth attempts suicide by trying to drown himself, and is pretty sure he succeeded. He felt his skull bash against the rocks after all. Only...he wakes up, naked, thirsty, starving, and utterly alone. He has absolutely no clue where he is, but the abandoned, crumbling, overgrown streets seem somehow vaguely familiar to him.

A suspenseful, thrilling, heartbreaking post-apocalypse with a gay protag that absolutely definitely has room for a sequel, though I don’t think the author has any plans to write one.

Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg - Rafe Goldberg is openly gay, and has a pretty good life. His parents are super supportive, he’s popular at school and has lots of friends, and no one really cares that he’s gay. But he’s getting tired of always being labelled as “the gay friend”. He just wants to be a “regular guy” and not “the gay guy.” So when he transfers to an all-boys’ boarding school, he decides to become “openly straight” instead. But just when everything was going perfectly for him, it all starts unravelling when he finds himself falling for one of his new friends.

I have mixed feelings about this one. I enjoyed it quite a bit while I was reading it, but the ending left me quite unsatisfied, and after having some time away to think about it, I’m not entirely sure I like the main character very much. He’s kinda really manipulative. Read at your own risk.

Proxy by Alex London - Sydney “Syd” Carton is a proxy. Rescued from the wastelands as an infant, his debt to the city was bought by a huge corporation that sells the lives of orphans like him to various rich and powerful people, who buy them as scapegoats for their own children. Syd’s patron, Knox Brindle, is exactly the rebellious, asshole bad boy that every proxy dreads. When Knox breaks an expensive vase, Syd is beaten. When Knox crashes a car, Syd is forced to donate a dangerous amount of blood to keep him alive. When a girl dies because of Knox’s aforementioned car crash...Syd gets the death penalty. His mad attempt to flee his fate leads to the accidental kidnapping of his patron and has the two of them branded as terrorists, leading to a crazy, cross-country chase that will change their entire world as they know it.

This book. Is literally one of my favourite books in the entire fucking world. Hands down the best dystopia book I’ve ever read. The characters are absolutely fantastic, the character development is fucking amazing (Knox somehow ended up becoming my fav character???), the world is rich and vibrant, and the book is beautiful and thrilling and utterly heartbreaking. If you read just one book from this entire list, let it be this one. It also has a sequel, for those of you interested, though I haven’t read it (and don’t plan on it either), so I can’t really vouch for it.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan - When two boys from completely different social circles and personalities somehow stumble across each other on one mutually crappy night, their shared name brings both their lives careening together in a strange, complicated, and downright frustrating way.

This one....was kinda dark. It was funny, because one of the Will Graysons is an edgy lil emo kid who thinks strictly in lowercase and writes angsty poetry and he’s absolutely adorable. But it also addresses some very real hardships and struggles that both gay and straight teens have to face. 

[violecentstrs]

Meaningful Friendship

A/N: Hey guys. Just a heads up, this is NOT a Sebastian Stan x Reader story. I wrote this after I had finished with Our True Love a few months ago and had finally decided to post this now. This is more of my appreciation towards Sebastian Stan as an actor and human being. His amazing personality really inspired me to write this. So, I want to share this with you guys. I truly hope you enjoy it! 

Warning(s): Discomfort, sweet, appreciation Word Count: 3,030

Disclaimer: There is a reference I made about a “crazy” fan and it is not meant to offend anyone. I have heard stories from different celebrities about their crazy fans and what not, so I thought I could just write it here for the bit of thrill. Please do not think that I am bashing on anyone if they show their love and support for Sebastian in such a way. You are entitled to your own opinions and thoughts. I just want to remind you that this is fictional and meant to be for the bit of drama. Nothing more. Thank you and enjoy! 

★ ★ ★

I dash through the crowd of people in the streets. I look at the watch on my wrist. 9:35AM. Shit. I was so late. Sebastian had already texted me that he arrived at around 8:39AM.

I stumble into Starbucks after my satchel got caught on the door handle. I can feel eyes staring right at me from inside the shop. So much for major embarrassment.

I attempt to ignore their stares and look through the faces to find Sebastian’s. Sure enough, there he was, sitting in one of the small couches in a corner of the shop. He is wearing reflective sunglasses and a navy blue sweater. He didn’t seem to notice me yet.

“Bassy! I’m so sorry! I had to run extra errands.” I say regretfully as I sit down in front of him. I sink into the couch, trying to catch my breath. Sebastian looks at me surprised.

“Y/N! Oh no. It’s okay.” He says kindly. Such a sweetheart. I take a deep breath before sitting up straight. He takes the shades off and let them hang on the neck of his sweater.

“So, how have you been?” I ask while setting my satchel down next to the table. Sebastian brushes through his blonde hair while taking a sip of the cappuccino.

“It’s been good. I’m getting some rest after filming. Then I’ll be back on set next week.” He answers while resting his back at the back of the couch. He crosses his arms over his chest. I forgot how handsome this guy really was, especially with that pose of his.

“Sweet! I can’t wait. I’m sure Bucky Barnes is greatly anticipated once again after Civil War.” I nudge him. He laughs quietly.

“I’m filming another movie actually. The one I told you about. ‘I’m Not Here’.” He answers stirring his cup. I slap my forehead.

“Of course! Silly of me. Explains the blonde hair.” I say while laughing.

“Anyways, I wanted to see you. It’s been a while since we last saw each other with your busy schedule and what not.” I continue. Sebastian gives me a sweet chuckle.

“Yeah. It has been a while. I assume now you understand that being an actor is not that easy, huh?” He asks, lacing his fingers together in front of him. I slump further into the couch. I nod.

I started off as his fan. Sebastian came to my university to watch a play my club had written. He was intrigued by it and went back stage to meet us. He was so impressed by my character that he said he wants to help me succeed in the cinematic world in the future. I think I screamed in excitement all the way back home that day. What are the odds that your celebrity crush came up to you and said that they like what you’ve done? I swear, I was more than happy.

We became friends after that point. Even with Sebastian’s success and involvements in many different movies and shows, he never forgot about me.

“Uh-huh. But I love it nonetheless. The thrill of being another person and have a different life is quite satisfying. Of course, I’m starting slow.” I say while fishing my phone out of my satchel.

“Oh hey! How’s things with Margarita?” I ask. Sebastian’s face shows little tints of red before his smile widens.

“Great. We are doing wonderful really. She’s out filming today.” He answers happily. He’s literally like a Golden Retriever puppy. Especially with that blonde hair of his now.

“Awwh, look at you. Getting all shy just talking about her.” I tease his reddening face.

“Oh gosh. Like you wouldn’t if you talk about your boyfriend.” He teases back. I laugh.

“If I had one. Hey, so after this should we go take a walk around if you have nothing else to do?” I ask while unlocking my phone to check my messages. 5 messages, but none from the person I want to hear. Sebastian is about to reply when we heard a voice.

“Excuse me.”

I turn to look over at the voice. Sebastian looks up at the girl standing next to his couch.

“Do you happen to be Sebastian Stan?” The girl asks hesitantly. Ah. A fan. Sebastian smiles at her.

“Yes I am.” He answers cheerfully. The girl lets out an excited yelp. I can feel eyes staring at us again.

“I’m a huge fan! I love you as Mad Hatter in Once Upon a Time. You were so perfect!” The girl says while stepping even closer to Sebastian. He laughs and thanks the girl for her support.

“I have posters of you plastered all around my room. Even all of my items in my room is covered in your face. I even printed your picture on my bed sheets so it feels like I’m sleeping with you! I am crazy in love with you. I think of you as my boyfriend, really!” The girl says again with such an excited tone. I don’t even know if this girl knows that I am here. But the things she said made me a tad bit uncomfortable.

“Ah. That’s really cool.” Sebastian answers, still keeping a kind smile on his face. Amazing. Truly. How is he still smiling after what she said?

“I was wondering if you’d like to come and see them at my home.” I blink. That’s worrying.

“That’s very sweet of you, but I have a meeting with a friend right now.” He says while still keeping on that smile. The girl pouts.

“Please? It will only be for a few hours! I’d like you to meet my parents as well! They also want to meet my boyfriend!” The girl grabs Sebastian’s arm. He didn’t jerk away, but I can see the discomfort in his eyes. Alarms are blaring through my head now. I need to save Sebastian from this.

“Excuse me, but we have work to attend to now. Sebastian, shall we?” I say picking up my satchel. Sebastian looks over at me and nods silently.

“Sorry. I do really have to go now.” Sebastian says while trying to pull his arm away from her. But she had a good grip on him.

“Please! I promise, an hour then!” She insists again. I stand up, wedging myself between the girl and Sebastian. It surprised her enough to loosen her grip on him. I grab Sebastian’s hand immediately and lead him out of there as quick as I can.

“Wait! Sebastian, please!” The girl runs through. She bumps into a man, causing him to spill his drink. I pull Sebastian out of the shop and right into the crowded street while still holding his hand. My heart is beating fast. That was rather unpleasant.

“Thanks, Y/N.” He finally says after we are at a safe distance from the shop. I never knew that there can be genuine crazy fans like her. Yes, fantasies and jokes are fine, but to the point of believing that your celebrity crushes are your actual real life lovers is a little too much.

His hand is shaking in mine. I look at him, feeling sorry for him. The price to pay for being known in the entertainment world. I let his hand free while slowing down our pace.

“That was really something else.” I say. He is hugging his body, walking quietly next to me. I look up at him before wrapping my arm around his. He looks down at me.

“Come, Bassy. Let’s get you out of those troubling thoughts. I know! Let’s go to a museum!” I say while stepping out towards the street for a taxi. Sebastian keeps close behind me.

“Where are we going?” I grin at him.

“You’ll see.”

~

We walk side by side, watching in awe at the rockets exhibited on the ceiling of the museum. We follow the tour at the back of the crowd, taking our own time at admiring the beautifully designed walls and exhibits. The scene matching exactly that of an outer space.

Sebastian’s eyes are glimmering like the stars themselves. But I know, at the back of his mind, he is still thinking about that girl just now. He won’t forget that event all too easily. I stop at the glass box where it shows a sample of rocks from Mars, only that they were replicas. It looked real enough though, I suppose.

“You just know I’m a geek for these things, huh?” He says. I look up at him, smiling.

“Yeah, well you are a geek. Period.” I say back, looking around the place. Amazing at how much effort they put into these things, really. I check my phone again for the message. Nothing.

Sebastian listens carefully to the tour guide as he explains the space suits arranged next to each other in a large glass box. I nudge him a little.

“I bet you know all about that from ‘Martian’, huh?” I tease. He chuckles.

“More or less. I know enough. I have been interested in space ever since I was a child, anyways.” He answers.

“No wonder you like to stare off into one.” I joke. He looks at me confused.

“Cause, you know, you like space. Stare off into spa— Ach, you’re ruining my joke, Bassy!” I yell at him quietly. He blinks before letting out a hearty laugh.

“You’re never good at making jokes.” He pets my head. I turn away embarrassed.

“Don’t pull that face, Y/N!” He says while pulling me into a quick hug. I laugh before shoving him aside playfully. Sometimes, Sebastian makes me feel like his little sister.

I smile, watching him continue to observe the rockets on the ceiling. He is a wonderful person after all. Not many actors are as kind and sweet as he can be. Sebastian is truly one and only.

~

“What does your therapist say?” I ask while kicking another dried leaf out of the way. Sebastian slides his hands in his pocket after adjusting his shades.

“He said to always destress. To not be afraid to share with others how I feel at times.” He answers quietly. I look up at him.

“Well, do you agree?” I ask. Sebastian lets out a sigh.

“He’s the expert. I suppose he is right. I can handle most of my problems by myself, really. No big deal.” He says. I furrow my eyebrows before giving his arm a light punch. He looks at me surprised.

“I know you are a tough and cool guy who seems to always be cheerful and optimistic. But shed that outer layer around people you trust. If something is troubling you, then talk about it. Margarita is there for you, no?” I say. He blinks before rubbing the spot on his arm where I punched.

“I’m sorry, did that hurt?” I ask, feeling guilty now. He smiles and shakes his head.

“No. I do talk about different things with her. It’s embarrassing to even cry in front of her sometimes. But filming can be very stressful. Especially when you play characters who had some tragic history.” He answers truthfully. I smile.

“Well the reason why you are able to play them well is because you channel a lot of yourself in them. Only that, you need to remember to separate yourself from these characters. You may be Jefferson, Lance, Will, Bucky or others, but you are still the one and only Sebastian Stan. Remember that.” I say, kicking up another dried leaf into the air. He remains quiet for a moment.

“Right.”

I gasp when I see a small kitten hiding underneath the bench. I yelp.

“Bassy look! A kitten!” I say pointing at it. I try to approach it but it scurries away. I pout, but then I remembered back to what we were talking about. Ugh, I get distracted too easily. When I look back at him, I see a very sweet smile.

“You scared it away with your enthusiasm.” He says while laughing. I blush slightly. I smile at him before petting his shoulders.

“Remember what I said, Sebastian. You can rely on others too. Even me if you want. Don’t worry about others looking down on you if you end up showing them how you feel. They really won’t because they still think you as the cheerful and funny Sebastian Stan no matter what!” I say while spreading my arms open. He laughs.

“All right, mom.” He jokes. I blush before clearing my throat.

“You’re leaving me hanging man.” I say, waiting for him to accept my hug. He laughs again before wrapping his arms around me, giving me a solid hug.

“Thanks, Y/N.”

~

My phone vibrates in my satchel as we finish up lunch at Subway. I quickly go and check it. I smile happily.

“Mission complete. Bring our Martian home.”

“Who is it?” He asks while crumpling up the papers together.

“Oh, just my boss wanting to know where I am.” I lie while putting the phone away. I finish off the drink in the cup.

“Say, Bassy. Remember that sweater I lend to Margarita? I was wondering if I can go and pick it up from your apartment. I need it for filming on Monday.” I ask, watching him while still sipping on my drink. Sebastian nods.

“Yeah, sure. Of course.” He says while getting up. We called a taxi over and head straight for his apartment.

“Thanks for today. I had fun, Y/N.” Sebastian says while looking at me. I give him a childish grin.

“Of course! I wanted to see you! It’s been a while. We should find another time to hang out. Next time if I have a boyfriend, we should have a double date.” I say cheerfully. Sebastian laughs.

“Sounds like a good plan.”

We reach up to the floor of his apartment. I text someone on my phone.

“Martian is arriving in T-minus 2 minutes.”

As he approaches the door of his apartment. I grab his arm.

“Bassy, wait.” I say. He looks back at me. I reach into the satchel and give him the wrapped up package I had in there. He looks at me surprised.

“What’s this for?” He asks curiously.

“Happy birthday, geek.” I say cheerfully. Did that made his face light up.

“You remembered?” He says, eyes sparkling. I nod before punching his arm gently again.

“Of course! How can I forget?” I laugh while pushing him to the front of his door. “Open it when you get inside!” I say. He laughs and opens the door with his keys.

When he entered, there was a flash of light followed by a rain of confetti.

“SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SEBASTIAN!” A group of people yell from inside of his apartment. A music starts to play followed by laughter. Sebastian had backed away in shock from the sudden surprise before laughing.

Margarita runs over towards him and give him a sweet loving kiss. He returns it back happily before looking around.

“I thought you were out!” Sebastian says looking at her. She giggles.

“I wouldn’t leave my boyfriend alone on his birthday!” She answers back.

“Madame, the Martian has been delivered with success.” I say teasingly.

“Thank you, Odyssey. Your mission is complete!” Margarita answers back, saluting at me playfully.

“You knew about this?” Sebastian asks blinking. Margarita and I exchange hugs before giving him childish smiles. She leads him inside of the apartment to greet others that came.

~

I stand outside on the balcony to get some air. It has been a tiring day today, but I’m glad it went good. The night is creeping up slowly. I should probably get home soon.

Sebastian leans on the railings next to me, catching me by surprise. I smile at him before punching his arm again. He chuckles.

“Thank you again for today, Y/N.” He starts saying while looking up at the emerging stars.

“Of course. I did want to meet you. When Margarita said she needed someone to help take you out, I stepped in immediately. I wanted to spend the day with you.” I say before taking a sip from the soda can.

“I’m glad you did. Even though we aren’t that close, you still care about me very much.” He says keeping his eyes at the sky. It is true. I do care about Sebastian very much. More than a mere friend.

“Of course, Bassy. That’s what friends are for. Besides, you’re an inspiration for a lot of people. Your charm, kindness and sweetness always leave a mark in people’s lives. Not to mention your drop dead handsome looks too.” I wink at him, finishing the can of soda. He chuckles.

“Well, I appreciate everything you have helped me with.” I shake my head.

“You’re giving me too much credit. Save some for yourself.” I smile before looking back inside.

“Come on. You don’t want to miss your birthday party, right?” I say, leading him back inside to the party.

It still feels odd to be friends with Sebastian, thinking that he is the object of a lot of people’s desire out there. Even mine at one point. But, after meeting him in person and discovering more about the different sides to him, I start to think differently of him. Mostly out of respect for him.

Even if my fantasies were of him and me together, I am completely content of being a friend for him. Being there for him to vent out any frustrations he has, to give him gifts on his special days, to share laughter with him, to congratulate him on all of his successes and many others.

The man is both unique on the inside and outside, who will smile even for the craziest fans out there. Someone who accepts people with an open heart and open mind. Someone who knows how to appreciate every kind of support given to him. Someone who understands the importance of humour in everyday life. Someone who doesn’t hesitate in providing the right help for anyone who asks him. Someone who is very charming and sweet. And many other wonderful qualities.

That someone is Sebastian Stan.

★ ★ ★

A/N: Annnnddd, that’s it! I hope you guys enjoy this one shot. I know it’s not a Sebastian Stan x Reader pairing, but I promise you, I have one in the process of being written now, so hang tight for that next week (hopefully). I am going to be travelling once again so my schedule will be all over the place, but I will continue to try and post as soon as I can. 

I know a lot of you guys share this kind of view of how much Sebastian Stan is truly an amazing human being. I just want to write it out since I haven’t seen much of these kinds of one shots of purely appreciation for the actor. I know they are out there, I just haven’t read them. But yeah. 

Please like and reblog if you’d like and think my story is worthy of either. I appreciate every single of your support and it means the world to me. Thank you so much for reading and much love! <3

~~~

P/S: I am close to reaching 500 followers (WHHAATT??? *author’s mind is blown*) so I want to say thank you so much to each and every one of you for the lovely support and I do hope I continue to amaze you with my stories. <3

If we reach to 500 followers, I will ask for your opinions on what kind of one shot would you like to read as a celebration. Tragedy, action, pure romance, maybe smut? Either way, we shall wait for that day to come first before I put the post out asking for what kind of one shot you guys would like. 

Okay, I babble too much. Sorry and have a cookie as my appreciation of you reading all the way down here. 🍪

Tag(s): @shamvictoria11 @munsureiya @ninjayjumper  @elaacreditava

[talentless-bunny]

An High School Abusive Boyfriend #1

Summary: The RFA+V+Saeran are in high school and they have a crush on MC, however, she has a ‘perfect’ boyfriend, only one day they find out the abuse behind it all.

This contains; Physical Abuse, drug use, emotional abuse, manipulation, broken RFA hearts, a lot of hugging, crying, cussing, and angst.

POSSIBLE TRIGGER WARNING

Zen

Zen was no doubt the popular one, everyone knew him. Everyone seemed to want to date him. Well, almost everyone did at least.

The one Zen was in love with, MC, was already taken. She was in a perfect relationship with some… guy. God, it pained Zen to see them together. He was selfish when it came to her. He wanted her smile, her laugh, just her all to himself. But, he couldn’t have any of that, she gave it all to him, Jin Soo. Being the actor Zen was, he buried all of his feelings he was. He played the role of the supportive guy friend for MC. He acted out all of his support for MC’s relationship. He acted that his feelings weren’t there. Maybe, if he acted it out long enough, it would come true. If he just lied to himself, he would start believing it. Right?

Wrong.

He couldn’t ever get over MC. It was like a curse. Every time he thought he was finally getting over her, she would smile at him or laugh and he would be in love all over again. It was so painful to his heart to be so in love with her, only for her to be in love with Jin Soo. He even tried dating other people, only for him to break up with them. Fuck, was he turning into a masochist?

Dropping his script on his bed, Zen rubbed his eyes. He couldn’t focus on his script.

“Shit…” Zen muttered, running his hand through is bangs. Zen starts looking around his room, from his ceiling to his bed to the clock.

9:32 pm… 

Stretching, Zen sighed. He should go on a walk to take his mind off of things. Grabbing his jacket and putting it on, Zen headed for the door.

/

It was quite chilly outside. Zen could feel his nose freezing from the cold, to attempt to keep in warm, Zen snuggled the half of his face into his jacket. Shoving his hands into his pockets, Zen continued his walk.

After a while of almost pure silence, Zen heard a faint noise. Was someone…crying?

Looking around, Zen’s eyes quickly landed on..her, MC. She was just… sitting there on the edge of the sidewalk. Holding her legs to herself with her face buried in her legs. Something was wrong.

Quickly, Zen walked up to her. Looming over her, hearing her sobs just broke his heart.

“Hey,” he said, scaring her. She quickly looked up at him, with fear written all over her face. Her cheeks were soaked from the tears and her eyes red from crying so hard. But what got Zen’s attention the most was the hand print on her cheek. Oh, fuck no. MC quickly stood up and covered the mark, looking at her feet. 

“H-hello Zen… I-I need to g-go” she manages to stutter out, attempting to turn around and leave, only for Zen to grab her arm.

“No, you’re not going anywhere until you tell me what happened.” Zen proclaimed, showing his stubborn side.

“I…”

“Yes, jagi?”

MC slowly turns around to face Zen, only for her to start crying again. Zen springs into action, he pulls her into a hug and in an attempt in calm her down, he rocks her back and forth.

“Shhh… It’s ok… I’m here now… I’m here for you..”

MC pulls back to look Zen in the eyes and roughly rubs her eyes, then she takes a deep breath.

“Jin Soo… hit me." 

Zen felt his heart stop.

"I caught h-him doing drugs a-and I tried stopping him…”

“And?”

“He s-started yelling at me, saying it was my fault that he w-was like this an-and… he hit me…” MC takes a shaky breath and very quietly mumbles “..again.”

“Again? You mean this isn’t the first time?" 

MC looked down at her feet and slowly nodded. Zen felt his blood boil. Zen stared at MC for a moment, then he nodded. Zen needed to bash his face in. "Where is he?”

MC looked back up, looking confused for a second only to come to the realization on Zen’s intentions.

“…I won’t tell you”

Zen sighs, rubbing his face, he starts walking away.

“I know where he lives anyways. Since I dropped you off there before.”

Shit. MC starts panicking, quickly she ran in front of Zen and grabbed onto his arm.

“Zen! Please don’t! It’s not his fault!”

Zen stops dead in his tracks. Not his fault? Who’s was it then? Zen looks down at her, she looked so weak, he felt his heart break into two. He couldn’t leave her like this. Zen pulls her into a hug.

“…It’s not your fault MC.”

MC slowly wraps her arms around Zen, feeling the tears following again, but this time she is with Zen. The thoughts of what happened to MC truly shattered his heart, he felt his own eyes produce tears. 

The two just stood there, in each other arms, in tears. Enjoying each others warmth. Breathing in each others warmth, feeling the hair of the other on their faces. 

/

After what seemed like hours, they pull apart. Sniffling, MC smiles weakly at Zen as she rubs her eyes.

“I’ll go home now…” she mutters.

“I’ll walk you home.”

“Ah, no no. It’s ok, I already caused you enough problems tonight.”

“Jagiya, it okay. I’ll feel better to know that you got home safe.”

Offering a warm smile, Zen took off his coat and slid it on MC. She looked up at him, giving a confused face. “Don’t want you getting a cold now.” Zen smiled once more before following MC home.

…

“Well, here it is,” MC muttered as she stopped walking by a small house. She started taking off his jacket. “Thank you for.. everything you did tonight. Thank you.” MC gave a stronger smile than before and handed Zen his jacket.

“Ah, your welcome. Though, it really wasn’t anything much.”

“Well, good-bye Zen” MC started walking towards the front door and walking away from him.

What the fuck was going on? This is the time to say something, the time to confess. Just say it. Say those three damn words. 

“Um, MC?”

Turning around, MC looked Zen straight in the eyes. “Yes?”

I love you.

“Have a good night.” Zen was truly a masochist.

Author’s Note; This was my first fanfic that I am ever putting online, so I apologize if there are any errors in my writing. I’ll accept any constructive criticism. 

Tagging @serensama for inspiring me to write this, also because she wanted to be tagged.

I’ll write and post the others later since this will be a series. If anyone wants, I’ll write a happy ending for any of them since I already have ideas.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed!

[punkscowardschampions]

Janis & Jimmy

After smacking Mia one (and Jim).

Janis: Soz about the shiner, like Janis: Dunna how to dodge like a decent ref should obvs...you should work on that Janis: But forreal, you're welcome for the time you got to spend in the head's office with a cold press on #schoolboyfantasiesaremadeofthis Jimmy: 🤔 You mean this tiny insignificant scratch like Jimmy: I'd say get the pads out but between you and your nan lately I'm not sure my ego's up for that Jimmy: Your plan all along was it? 👌 she's no type of mine but I appreciate you trying to be a mate 😉 Jimmy: Best bit was Gracie doing her bit to defend my honor at the end there. Maybe I DO owe her one 😂 Janis: Alright, monty python 😂 don't be a hero on my account...oh wait, advice coming too late, my bad 😉 Janis: Ah well, if you're not fancying it like, pal, good thing I'll have her to myself all this week AND next 🙄 thanks mia... now THAT was the real plan all along 😏 Janis: At least you know what her shout is already 👍 though if you could spit in Mia's next, I think she'd take that and call it quits Janis: If you make like Rocky and get steak up on your bruises, I'll get my Da to cook it for ya after, we settled too then, yeah? 😘 Jimmy: Mia's plan 100% 🙄 Am I meant to be offended that she thinks you're a lesbian still? Because I'm taking it as a compliment #prettyboy 😂 Jimmy: Shame I've got too many disciplinaries to have her banned it'd be one less skinny latte to have to expertly craft Jimmy: Maybe. What sides are we talking about? I think one more smack down and I'll be demanding my chips triple cooked Jimmy: Warn your relatives Janis: Assumedly, pretending here her stinging text slams had her intended effect, and didn't just make me fall about, like #facesoprettyyoudontseeascar 🤞 Janis: Ugh, tell your boss to do one, 'cos they'd lose half their business if you did, think on, dickhead 😒 Janis: Know your worth, babe Janis: Gotta respect that Janis: At least my Brother doesn't need to bother fighting you now I beat him to it, ay? Jimmy: Who'd you wanna be, princess (bless Gracie Lou) and basketcase already taken and athlete being the obvious choice 💪 Jimmy: Tempting offer but you can do better Jimmy: Of course that was 1 of the 10! Should've seen that coming Jimmy: Can't lie I'd much rather take you on 😉 Janis: Never seen it 🤷 but boy is Charlie Sheen's bro, yeah? So sounds legit for the family I have to endure 😏 Janis: You're not gonna end up with Grace in the end are ya? 😤 just 'cos you wanna rock the leather fingerless gloves #lewk Janis: I'll never tell 😉 his ego definitely ain't up for that Janis: we can have a rematch any time any place Janis: i'm ready 💪 Jimmy: Me either. Still break you out though. Isn't that what they do? 🤔 I'll ask your sister but not before she gives me of precious bling to take down cash converters Jimmy: My bad boy image has taken too much of a battering, literal, for me to refuse the fashion 😎 Jimmy: Let's go then. There isn't a nurse but I can still play the concussed care and run. Say when. Janis: Probs after some cringe bonding and bants, thank GOD we got that outta the way, mate 😜 Janis: Most of her jewels are from Primark so I dunna how golden your chances are, don't tell anyone like #banginonabudget Janis: What lesson you in anyway? In PE rn so usually you wouldn't get a look-in (you ain't that special, babe) but they got me coaching the first years girls for a fucking team management module and...Give me strength Janis: we talking screaming when the ball comes their way levels Janis: so I'm making them do laps whilst I shout encouragements about how it ain't that cold from my warm as shit coat, like any gym teach worth their salt 😉 Janis: Gonna get an A, like Jimmy: Oh I dunno, you and Mia still need to hug it out 😉 bet she'd love it too 💘 Jimmy: I'm in art of course #tortured soul and everyone knows you're my muse so done deal there. Jimmy: I'd come snapping but I don't need the rep that'd come with background first years in their shorts Janis: I'd sooner watch a thousand chick flicks with Gracie Janis: amongst other fates worse than death Janis: but honestly #whyareyousoobsessedwithmehun? #toolittletoolateforthisloveaffair Janis: That's probably why you're so tortured 😉 Edie Sedgewick I ain't Janis: Nah, that wouldn't help your case, there's only so much bashing that I can be a party to in a day... Janis: I get to swap with Kayleigh Dwyer next period, meant to go write up about my experience but sure I can as easily do that wherever you need to get your inspiration from, like Jimmy: 😂 it's the curse of being so #goals, hun Jimmy: I don't have a clue who that is but like I've said before you take a decent picture. Now don't get a big head (it'd fuck with my framing terrible) but it isn't half bad being stuck with you Jimmy: There is always Mia's 🦆 pout if you're really busy but like Jimmy: Since you aren't I'm thinking back to mine? Twix will happily hear about any of your running or ball based experiences Janis: Kayleigh? Rude, she sits next to you in English, the one drooling all over you and the desk? Bless her, she'll be devvo 😂 Janis: I forgot you haven't had an Ali McKenna education, she was Andy Warhol's main bitch (aside from Basquiat, tea) in all his shit films, Bob Dylan was hard for her too but she weren't really arsed so he wrote Like A Rolling Stone about her Janis: At least you didn't come for my life that hard post-bath Janis: Bad enough like, I'd have to fake my own death forreal then Janis: She'd fucking love that...do her dirty in the edit, boo, no facetune 😂 Janis: A girl after my own heart that dog, kindred spirts 😍 Janis: sounds good, always down for being out of this dump Janis: your Da's unlikely to pop back for lunch, yeah? Jimmy: I've been calling her Kourtney #awkward Jimmy: Bet she loves it anyway Jimmy: Speaking of, I still have that project to finish up (deadlines long enough to hang yourself with cheers ms sheppard) might dedicate some space on that edit to the lot of them. Fancy helping as well as inspiring? 😈 Jimmy: #satireorshadeisit? Jimmy: Good. Keep the lovefest away from me. Last thing I need is Twix licking my wounds Jimmy: Packed up his sarnies myself so we're set Janis: The KardashiKlan clout, everyone knows she's the CLASSIEST sister, SO fitting 😂 Janis: Can't be anything but a sweetheart, can you? N'awwh! Janis: Hell yeah, you clearly need my talents for cuntery, you bring the skillz, I'll bring my winning personality and large head, like Janis: How fucking rude though, tell her to keep her antiseptic spit to herself 💅 #menaintshitbabygirl #imsorryyouhadtolearnthislessonsosoon Janis: Like I said, you're just too good for this world 😇 Janis: Maybe I'll find the time between being a muse and bad influence to make you one Janis: Its no steak apology but Jimmy: 👍 Too right Jimmy: Maybe if we take the mad bitch out she won't chew a hole in anyone's face (tempting as that'd be if it was any of Mia's squad) been enough facial damages sustained for one day Jimmy: Get some very #aesthetic shots for my A Jimmy: 😇 Always on that good boy track Jimmy: Maybe I can shout you a pie and pint in that spirit Janis: Goes without saying, need the skirting and your Da's shoes to be safe for another day Janis: Should bin off the rest of the day altogether, then you could take Twix to pick the kiddo's up, Cass would be made up getting to show her off Janis: you always after those best big bro points, I know Janis: and I know it, you always want me to protest too much the other way like 😈 Janis: wholesome afternoon of dog walking and homework with bae, no wonder the entire female population of the school is so jealous 😉😘 Jimmy: Did you just have a good idea? 😮 Jimmy: But yeah world's most bog standard bro coming through 🏆💪 get that middleschool clout cass 😎 Jimmy: We just can't stop being #goals however hard we try. Damn 😘 Janis: Don't sound so surprised dickhead! I'm a wealth of cunning plans or have you forgotten Janis: Didn't hit you that hard Janis: Now who's being modest Jimothy 😊 you know you're bestest Janis: whoda thunk it, bitch, not I Jimmy: Been a while can't blame me 😏 Jimmy: 💕 Cute Jimmy: How will I survive the aft? Janis: We can go back there if you really pining Janis: and I'M the one who's sexuality is always in question Janis: #fakebaebetterthanarealone Janis: Ha ha, keep testing me and you might not Jimmy: You'd never make it. Can't get enough of me 💋 Jimmy: If you'd rather be in school doing their tests don't let me stop you 😏 Jimmy: 😎 Jimmy: Told you i'm bad Janis: 😑 Janis: bet you break before i do Janis: we'll see how bad you are, won't we Jimmy: Last shift's 💶 on it Janis: Done Janis: I've got my eye on some new kicks Janis: At least even when you lose you can still pretend you treated me 😜 Jimmy: When you lose you can pretend you don't need a man to treat you Jimmy: so many #s in that for you Janis: Imma win when I PROVE I don't need you to treat me as much as you need me to treat you, sucka! Janis: and there ain't no point in nothing if it doesn't make your 'gram captions pop off #truerwordsneverspoken Jimmy: We'll see Jimmy: so soon too ⏲ Janis: you started your countdown already, boy? Janis: keeeeeeeen Jimmy: Not ready? Shame Janis: Born ready Janis: Admittedly, got the upper hand, nothing sexy about first year girls, despite what some fourth year boys might believe Janis: you surrounded by all them loose af art hoes Jimmy: How rude of me not to pull all your focus Jimmy: yep, those blunt fringes really get me goin Janis: Well s'why I know I got the W in the bag 🤷 Janis: Called that in the air Janis: whip off those unnecessary nerd glasses and there's real beauty under there Janis: #hotdamn Jimmy: For a rom com hater you've got all the cliches down 😂 Jimmy: Quietly confident now. That shit won't help you off screen 🏆💪 Janis: Oh, you don't recall how pushy my sister is? Janis: Let's call this off rn and she'd be happy to remind you herself I'm sure 😏 Janis: I'm sure you've learnt PLENTY off a whole different typa romcom that is all types of fucked IRL Jimmy: Only if she promises to bring Tam too. I need that model height for my shoot naturally Janis: You really wanna be that letchy photographer stereotype, huh? Janis: Get the whole squad 'round for a sesh Janis: Just know they'll start a # Jimmy: #rolloutladies Jimmy: 😂 Jimmy: I'll #bowout of that one thanks Janis: Sure? It'll give you a better chance of winning the bet Janis: #knackered Jimmy: I'd rather lose Jimmy: #takemymoneyandrunaslongasIcancomewith Janis: Sweet talker. Janis: Meant to be me with the gift of the gab 🍀 Jimmy: nope, real talker Jimmy: Got up close and personal enough with Mia today thanks. Still washing these hands Janis: Same, despite what she might think, not something I fancy repeating either Janis: Though I will if she talks shit one more time Janis: So watch out if you don't want the other side to match, like Jimmy: Don't make me say I'll do it all again Jimmy: so many stereotypes already in this chat Jimmy: 💕 Janis: Ew. 💋 Janis: Best get your chat to as high a standard as poss tho, as all the guards and other inmates will be listening in Janis: Reckon's her Da can actually get me done Janis: Bitch be serious Jimmy: Doesn't he sell cars? Janis: Lmao, no Janis: Though he is 100% a used car salesman in aesthetic, you're spot on Janis: He is a lawyer or some shit so he knows realistically who gives a shit about a playground scrap but he'll try and scare my parents like they're fucking idiots so no one is ever mean to his little princess again Janis: That type 🙄 Jimmy: She wants to be a yank so bad it must hurt Jimmy: Remind me to cut my pops so slack next time he's pissing me off Jimmy: could be so much worse Janis: Too bad she's a few hundred years late for the mass migration to the states Janis: Only looking famished, like Janis: Same, wouldn't hate being as spoilt as she is but you know Jimmy: Yep, too bad you'll be waiting for those kicks Jimmy: 🎅's your best bet Jimmy: Not too late to back out 😏 Jimmy: Keep on his good side Janis: No chance Janis: I can keep him on side by keeping away from yours, simple 😜 Jimmy: You sure? There's literally songs about how much he loves 💋 Jimmy: I think he'll be mad if you don't cave Janis: 💋 for him from MILFs maybe Janis: I don't think it'll pain him to see you go without Janis: I see no mistletoe, like #demstherules Jimmy: 👌 Bet stays on Jimmy: Take your chances Janis: Way to make me sound more predatory than the big man 😲😂 Janis: If you're that scared, we can mark it down to a lose for you by default 😉 Jimmy: Not when I'll have you begging for a draw in a bit. Easy Jimmy: Just get ready to accept your loss, not reason we should both be sore Jimmy: #bruisedandbattered Janis: Pretty cocky for a boy who can't even promise A FEW bruises, like 😜 Jimmy: Waste of a 🤞 Jimmy: why talk about it when I can just do it Janis: As long as you start it, I'm allowed to finish it Janis: win win for me 😊 Jimmy: Cocky for a lass who hasn't won anything against me yet Janis: 😡 Janis: it wasn't a fair fight all those other times, thank you very much Jimmy: Maybe you were faking the skills as well as the 💕 Jimmy: awwh Janis: You won't be finding out any time soon Janis: ✌ Jimmy: So you keep saying, all talk I think 😂 Janis: All talk no action is right Janis: Prick 🖕😂 Jimmy: 😘 Jimmy: You're about me Jimmy: unlucky ☘ Janis: Shh Janis: Not all bad, I suppose, at least you've got a cute dog 😘 Jimmy: good point, what a you offering? first year having an asthma attack? 😂 #goals Janis: I never said I had anything worth sticking 'round for Janis: More fool ye for your 😍 Jimmy: Secret's safe. I won't tell Mia Janis: I think she's pretty confident she knows where she and I lie on the pecking order already 😂 Janis: not coming for her 👑 Jimmy: just her 👃 Janis: What can I say? Save daddy the surgery fees Jimmy: you're the 😇 you think I am Janis: it has been said Janis: oh wait, no it hasn't, ever 😂 Jimmy: Only because 🐶 can't speak Janis: The love is so real Janis: Its all the treats and walkies, maybe I'll have to employ the same technique on you when the bet is up Janis: Worth a shot 🎯 Jimmy: Start now #worthashot #haveyoubeentricked? 😂 Janis: I'm not quite as easy to distract as Twix Janis: All these dog comparisons, bit rude tbh, don't think I appreciate Janis: Will piss on your boots tho Jimmy: Unless we're playing pool or darts Jimmy: Make sure they're mine. My dad has only just replaced his Janis: Wasn't even you, it was pub lighting and a prick munching on his crisps too loud at the bar #dontflatterlike Janis: Will do 👍 I'm not looking to make him dislike me anymore than I already have lol Jimmy: #surejan Jimmy: least he's never about so no drama there. Been enough for one day Janis: #ihateu Janis: what's he even do, like? dead busy Jimmy: 💕 Jimmy: Warehouse Jimmy: Very much #goals Janis: Ah fun, lots of shitty shifts and long days like, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt too for being such a prick about poor Twix then Jimmy: Probably shouldn't. He bought her Janis: True...People never think how big a commitment a dog is though Janis: Twix be giving them puppy dog eyes like a pro Jimmy: before 🎄 too though what a prick Jimmy: can't even use the excuse Janis: Bleh Janis: Shoulda clued him in like 😉 #cuffed Jimmy: if I'd known he was going to do it I would've Jimmy: done now though Janis: Yeah, its just another stress you don't need, like? 😕 Jimmy: Snagged me you so maybe she's worth keeping about 😏 Jimmy: Because yeah she does take all the credit Janis: Smooth 😋 Janis: Can't go breaking my heart now, nor the kiddo's for that Janis: I can start taking her out again in the mornings, don't miss much 'bout dem days but it was decent having a running buddy Jimmy: Fancy some company or you wanna be alone with your true love? Janis: You reckon you can keep up, yeah? Janis: Not having you slowing me down 😉 Jimmy: Can't be using me as your excuse thanks 💪 Jimmy: maybe I'll come with then when I'm not working, leave you in no doubt Janis: Its a date, mate Jimmy: 💕 Janis: That's probably them more than sufficiently warmed up Janis: Get back to work, slacker 💚 Jimmy: 🎨📷 will do Jimmy: not too hard though, gotta keep my 💪 up for the victory party you'll owe me Janis: In your dreams, baby 💋 Jimmy: see you there 😘