#So i went all out. got my fanciest LA clothes

[freebooter4ever]

What do you miss most about Pittsburgh?

Oh gosh, that's a question! I mean aside from the obvious answer of my old dance buddy lettia or naeem.

I miss pittsburgh's community, specifically the very music and art oriented one i was in. There's community here in LA but its all about fame, and money, and celebrity, and how you can use other people to get ahead. Just the other day i saw an influencer i actually kinda admired brag about meeting someone who out of respect for them + their privacy i have never never mentioned because i met them as a friend first. And it felt so weird seeing this person i know be used as click bait for the influencer's hits/likes/subscriptions. It kind of jolted some reality into me about how this city operates even in the smaller circles i run in. Its like the vibes in LA are all about 'being someone' and self importance. If someone is only going to respect me for my money (or disrespect me for my lack of money), or who i know, or credits to my name, i dont think i want their respect anyway.

Pittsburgh though - nobody was anybody in pittsburgh so we didnt fucking care, lol. It was a lot easier to go to things, to feel connected. There was an emphasis on diy, where it didnt matter who you were or who you knew if you had a good idea there was a chance it could happen. There were things like Art All Night and the various music festivals in the different neighborhoods. I was most connected to the music scene so i miss the casual afternoon concerts in someone's tiny apartment with everyone crowded around the band. The basement parties, the dancing. Ted's rowhouse was on fisk street so when i lived there with friends i really enjoyed how much of a community space it was - people were always coming and going off of butler street, movie nights, human chess parties. It definitely could feel too small sometimes - literally everybody knew everyone and everybody dated everyone. The year i left two of my ex boyfriends were living in the same house and i cant tell you the number of 'male harem' jokes i got about that one. Or the number of times a dude wanted to date me and when i said 'no' i immediately got excluded from an entire friend group. But no matter how frustrating the smallness got, i still was also aware of how special it was. Its also mostly over - a lot of my friends from that time have since dispersed to other cities. I think moments like that are fleeting, but thats what makes them unique.

But even with all that said, you know what my favorite thing to do in pittsburgh was?

Driving

and ok ok that probably sounds stupid. And it probably does not help that im in LA where driving is now the second level of hell. But even compared to seattle or nyc or other places i lived, driving in pittsburgh was just so much fun and you cant recreate that anywhere else. I once saw a data visualization of the main cities of the US and places like LA and even NYC were nicely laid out squares but pittsburgh was just this insane clusterfuck pencil scribble, and thats truly it. Cause not only do you have over 100 bridges and lots of one way roads that will funnel you onto a bridge you absolutely dont want to go over but whoops guess you're going anyway, but this city was also built on a cluster of hills. Thats what makes up the various neighborhoods - and the roads that connect these hills through hollows and over forests - are the most confusing rat maze you can imagine. For every one way to go there's also probably a dozen other options and mentally calculating which route will be fastest taking into account traffic and distance and 'speed limit' is a skill only acquired after years of living in the city. And if you have a tiny car and nasc*ar level driving skills thanks to the multiple generations of engineers in your family....driving up and down those hills is just a joy. It also, uh, helped that I made my own hours so worked from 11am - 3am most days and avoided all traffic. And in the city proper the pigs arent allowed to r*adar so as long as you knew where the speed traps were you could...uhhh... Be lenient. I only ever got pulled over once and that was because one time in the spring of 2016 i went home from work early one night and these asshole hockey fans were taking up the entire street around the rink that would get me onto bigelow and connect me to lawrenceville. And since i couldnt go down that one street, becaues its pittsburgh, i had to go in the complete opposite direction to find another route home which took like an extra fifteen minutes. And yeah i got pulled over, started crying and explaining i was just trying to get home from work, and they let me go. But damn those hockey fans. :P (but also had i realized you could go hangout outside and watch the hockey game on giant screens with a huge crowd of fellow broke but dedicated weirdos, i totally would have loved that. Thats what pittsburgh is all about lmao)

Anyway one of my old friends moved from pitt to LA, and then he moved from LA to shanghai. And i once asked him would he move back to LA and his response was that he couldn't imagine living in LA again after living in a Proper City like shanghai. And he made it clear that he saw being able to 'make it' in larger and larger cities as like...a mark of his personal progress. But me? Im a small town girl unfortunately. I still dream about the day i can fuck off to live in a cabin in the woods somewhere.

[peanutbutterjelly-pie]

prompt: Undercover

hosts: @bend-me-shape-me, @helianthus21, @pray4jensen

Dean has been undercover for many times in his life.

FBI agent, Homeland Security officer, reporter, janitor, gym teacher, lunch lady, maintenance guy, minister, private detective, and so on and so on. The list is so long that he's actually more familiar with playing a role when interacting with strangers than being himself.

So when they're on yet another case again and Sam calls him from the local library and tells him to dress up Dean doesn't even think about questioning it.

“Your fanciest clothes,” Sam orders, making it pretty clear there should be no discussion about it. “Designer suit, shiny shoes. And a shave because you're starting to look like a hobo.”

Dean barely lifts an eyebrow. “What do you need me to be? A snobby multimillionaire too good for this world.”

“The snobbiest,” Sam agrees. “It needs to look like the stench of money is following you everywhere.”

And so Dean does as he's told.

A while ago he got himself one of those super expensive Armani or whatever outfits for a case (thanks to Charlie's unlimited credit card no problem at all) and has it stashed in the depths of Baby's trunk ever since. It's only been used once so far considering fake FBI agents or journalists are rarely dressed in designer suits. At least not if they don't want to draw too much unwanted attention to them.

Dean isn't exactly sure the damned thing still fits after all that time, but after a quick shower and shave he gives it a try and finds himself pleasantly surprised when the suit still wraps itself over his body like a glove. Only around the hips it got a bit tight, but if he'd refrain from bending over it should be fine.

And it actually makes his ass look extra great, Dean has to admit. He snaps a quick picture of it and sends it to Cas because he can't help himself. Cas answers immediately with a long string of enthusiastic emojis that are both incredibly sweet, involving lots of hearts, as well as highly inappropriate and Dean loves him even more for it.

He makes a mental note to wear that suit the next time they'll be alone to see how fast the angel would be able to rip the clothes off his body and then he heads out to meet with Sam.

Soon enough he finds himself in front of a jewelry store, with his tall mountain of a brother waiting at the entrance. He is dressed in fancy clothes as well and considering he left their motel room a few hours ago just with his usual plaid attire he obviously went shopping in the meantime. The suit doesn't fit a hundred percent in some places, making it obvious this was a rather quick shopping trip with no time for a proper fitting, but it makes him nonetheless look extra posh too.

“We look good,” Dean remarks with a grin as he stops next to Sam. “Like we could buy all of the world in a heartbeat and still have a couple of millions left as pocket money.”

Sam merely huffs with a fond smile. “If you say so.”

“So what is the situation?” Dean asks, pointing at the store.

“I just got a lead that our annoying spirit might have a connection to a wristband that's on display here,” Sam tells him. “It had belonged to her before she died. And I know it's not much, but I wanna check it out anyway.”

That specific spirit had been annoying them for days now because they were unable to figure out what kept her here in the first place. So Dean will take any lead they can get, no matter how small.

“I'm actually not very optimistic,” Sam explains with a sigh. “But our ghost is showing up here in the area, so it's not a total longshot. We just need to get inside and distract the employees a little.”

“Hence the fancy clothes.” Dean nods in understanding. He highly doubts they would've even gotten past the security guard on the door in their usual jeans. Most likely even their regular FBI suits wouldn't have been good enough.

“So we just go inside and one of us pretends to be a customer while the other subtly checks out that wristband?” Dean asks nonetheless.

Sam nods. “Don't worry, I have a plan.”

Dean blinks, but has no time for further questioning since Sam's already shoving him through the gigantic front door. He's instantly greeted with lots of bling and bright lights and the absolute perfect room temperature (like seriously, did they hire a guy just to keep a close eye on that the entire time?) before getting pushed to the main counter where a blonde woman with a way too wide smile happily waits to bury her flawlessly manicured nails into those new  potential buyers.

“Welcome,” she says, her voice as melodic and perfect as the air in the store. “How can I be of assistance?”

“Well, we've got an important purchase to make,” Sam announces, sounding all kinds of pompous. “Because you see, my brother here,” he grabs Dean's shoulders and grins at him with such an intensity Dean can't help feeling wary all of a sudden, “he intends to propose to his boyfriend.”

Dean blinks rapidly.

What?

Okay, Dean certainly didn't expect that.

The woman – Marlene, as her name tag tells them – seems taken aback by that for a moment as well, but she picks herself up much quicker than Dean. Her smile increases a few thousand watt while she turns toward the groom-to-be. “This is wonderful. Congratulations!”

Dean feels a bit like he's been hit right in the face, out of nowhere.

Thankfully he is actually used to unexpected violent attacks and has learned fairly early to deal with them.

“Um … thanks,” he mumbles, feeling his cheeks heating up.

Marlene apparently misinterprets his awkward fumbling for adorable shyness or whatever and looks at him like she's ready to adopt him right here on the spot.

“You have to excuse him, this is still a bit much for him,” Sam leaps back into the conversation. “He's been thinking about this moment for years and I guess it might be a tad surreal that it's finally happening.”

��Really?” Marlene seems truly intrigued hearing that.

“Yeah,” Sam sighs way too dramatically, “Dean's basically been thinking about marrying Cas since the first moment they met.”

Well.

Actually his first meeting with Cas was more like Dean having a sudden realization á la, “Wow, he's hot!” and then stabbing the guy in the chest.

But Dean refrains from pointing that one out.

It might have ended in those people declaring them insane and kicking them out of the store. And though Dean is used to the first, he doesn't need the latter right now.

“Dean just wants everything to be perfect,” Sam points out, sounding exactly like a guy who is used to getting what he wants. “It's a big day.”

“It most certainly is,” Marlene agrees, dollar signs already flashing up in her eyes. “We have a vast collection of engagement rings and I'm sure we will find something to your liking.”

“Money is not the issue,” Sam says those magic words that make Marlene even more excited, so it seems. “The bigger and more extravagant, the better.”

Marlene smiles widens, appearing incredibly sweet and harmless on the surface. But Dean knows a predator focusing on its prey when he sees it.

On instinct he actually wants to take a step back and hide, but instead he gathers enough courage to meet her smile. It's still somewhat wobbly, but she probably blames it on his alleged nervousness about that big change in his life.

“Why don't you tell me a little bit about your Cas?” she prods him. “What is he like?”

Dean shoots a quick glance at his brother, cursing him for having to endure this in the first place, before clearing his throat and responding, “He's … um, awesome.”

Way to go, Winchester.

She is certainly swooning on the spot.

Dean winces inwardly and forces himself to get a little bit more into his role. After all, he is used to the undercover life, so this shouldn't be too hard.

For a minute there he even considers to lie about Cas' personality, wondering whether that would make it easier to talk about him to a total stranger, but as he's just about to come up with some made-up character traits, he hears himself saying, “Well, to be fair, he's an asshole.”

Marlene looks at him in surprise while Sam in the background rolls his eyes.

“Uh … okay?” Marlene answers, clearly not sure how to reply to that.

“Cas is grumpy,” Dean goes on, now a fond smile flickering over his features. “I'm quite certain he is the biggest grump in the history of mankind, to be honest. And he's way too sassy for his own good. Also he has no idea how to clean up after himself and he always hums those annoying jingles he heard on the radio or whatever. All day. I'm actually surprised I haven't gone mad many years ago.”

Or maybe he has.

With his life, who could tell?

“But he's also a badass,” Dean continues, registering the only other employee who's been lacking any customers at the moment sliding closer with clear interest in her eyes. “No one should dare to screw around with him. And the few that actually did regretted it pretty quickly.”

That's, of course, an understatement actually, but he won't go into much detail now. For those poor women's sanity.

“And he cares, so much,” Dean goes on, an affectionate smile settling on his face when his thoughts drift closer to Cas. It's an automatic response at this point and he's pretty sure it'll stay like that for the rest of his life. “Even about that stupid little fly that got lost into our room a couple of weeks ago. It feels like we spent hours catching that thing and releasing it back into the wild. But what could you have done, you know? Cas would've been miserable if that fly would've died inside and that's something nobody wants to see. Believe me. He looks like a kicked puppy when he's sad.”

The salesladies scoots even closer, captivated by Dean gushing over his boyfriend. While Sam subtly starts to step back a little and check out the rest of the display, trying to locate the wristband of their obnoxious ghost.

Dean clears his throat, despite still feeling like he's been thrown into icy water without any warning whatsoever by his traitorous brother more than determined to play this role like their lives depend on it. After all, there here and they might not get a second chance.

So Dean gives it all he's got.

“So yes, Cas, he's great,” he says. “He's been my best friend for such a long time now and I … I guess I want him at my side for the rest of my life. And even beyond that.”

Dean smiles at the image of sharing his Heaven with Cas one day. It might be a hassle to get there at first – after all, Cas' relationship with his brethren is still not the best –, but Dean has no doubt that it'll come true eventually. Cas is way too much of a stubborn son of a bitch to not see this through.

Dean blinks as he suddenly realizes that he is in fact beginning to fantasize about Cas by his side forever as a real possibility.

Huh.

“As mentioned, we have a vast collection of engagement rings to help you start this new chapter of your life,” Marlene says with a happy sigh. “We would be more than happy to help you with your endeavor.”

Dean stares at her for a moment.

Oh right. Rings. The case.

“Yes, right,” he mutters, a slight blush on his face now. “It … it needs to be perfect.”

Marlene and her colleague – Amanda, as her name tag tells him – immediately spur into action and for the next ten minutes Dean sees himself confronted with a huge variety of different rings in all shapes and forms. A few are actually quite simple and elegant – silver bands with a couple of nice highlights – and some are seriously so over-the-top pompous and big Dean has no idea how a normal human being should be able to wear that on their hand.

But he smiles at them all and fakes such exaggerated interest both Marlene and Amanda seem to believe they're in Heaven themselves.

And it seems like a freaking eternity until Sam pops up next to him again.

“I'm so sorry to interrupt, ladies,” he jumps right into their enthusiastic conversation. “My girlfriend just texted me. Her doctor's appointment ended way earlier than expected and I need to pick her up.”

A blatant lie, of course, considering Eileen is back at the bunker with Cas, probably getting her ass beaten in every single board game invented by the best of all strategists Heaven has ever produced.

“But don't worry, Dean will be back shortly,” Sam promises right away as both Marlene and Amanda look rather crestfallen at those news. “After all, Dean can't wait to get married.”

They bid hasty goodbyes and are soon enough back on the streets again.

“So, any luck?” Dean asks when he's starting to remember the real reason why they went into the store in the first place.

“I found the wristband,” Sam admits. “But there's no suspicious energy to it. It's just jewelry.”

“Damn,” Dean sighs. “Well, it was worth a shot, at least.”

“Yeah …”

“And that was one hell of a cover story, Sammy,” Dean can't help pointing out for some reason.

Sam shoots him a quick glance, something intense flickering over his features.

“It wasn't though, right?” he asks in the end. “A cover story, I mean. Not really, at least.”

Dean frowns. On first instinct he wants to deny that, just wants to scoff at his brother's face and get on with his life, but then he thinks about Cas and how nice he would look with a ring on his finger and he finds himself lowering his gaze to cover up the flush on his cheeks.

“Uh … well, maybe it wasn't really a cover story after all,” he admits, his voice low, yet steady.

“So you want to go back?” Sam wonders, a smile on his lips. “ Look at those rings again? When this case is over and everything.”

Dean blinks. A few of those rings actually did look kind of awesome, if he's honest with himself. And sure, they're pretty expensive, but also very durable (an important feature in their line of work), and Dean surely didn't lie when he said that Cas only deserves the best.

So he finds himself muttering, “Yeah, I guess I wouldn't mind going back” and feels rather good about it.

Seems like Dean seriously has an important purchase to make after all.

[profitinaecho]

Liz Week Day 2- Wanderlust

Liz had been in Roswell for three years and was becoming restless. She hadn’t lived in one place this long in her entire adult life. Not since Rosa had died. But Rosa was alive and thriving. She had been reintegrated into life with only a few bumps. And she and Max lived together and were building a life together. Everyone she loved was here in Roswell. And yet, her heart was begging her to run.

She stared out at the desert and mountains just outside of her and Max’s house while lounging in her chair by the fire pit. This is where they had breakfast together every morning, unless it was too cold. “Lizzie, you look like you’re upset about something and you’ve been out here all morning.” Max commented, handing her a fresh cup of coffee. He didn’t touch coffee himself because it made him tweak out.

“My heart wants me to run. It doesn’t make sense because I am so happy and everyone I love is here. I truly love my life with you. I don’t get it.” She quietly confessed to him.

“What if we went on a road trip before you start your new research project? I could take a week and a half off work and run away with you.” Max suggested. It’d be a tight schedule but he bet they could kiss on monuments all across the country in that time.

“Really?! Oh, Max. You’re going to love the ocean.” Liz automatically went into planning mode. If they stopped somewhere different each night, they could totally see the ocean in 10 days and make it back home before they got too far behind at work.

“I’ve never seen the ocean. I never wanted to do it without you.” Max admitted.

——————————————-

On the first day, they stopped in Flagstaff, Arizona not too far from the Grand Canyon. Liz got to pick the music and much to Max’s dismay, spent the drive singing and dancing to boy bands. They chose a supposedly haunted hotel because they figured at the very least it would be whimsical. It was old and creepy but it would do for the night. They fell asleep after making love, with Liz pulled close to Max and one leg hanging out of the covers. Max was woken up in the middle of the night by Liz screaming. He went to bolt upright, but she was practically climbing his chest and shaking in fear. “Max, something touched my foot!” Liz insisted. Max turned on the light and looked around, but nothing was there. “I know ghosts aren’t real but this place is creepy. I can’t sleep here.”  

Since it was almost dawn, they packed their things and checked out of the hotel. Max chose classic rock for his turn for the radio all the way to the Grand Canyon. It was bigger and more beautiful than anything a photo could have prepared him for. It looked like it had been painted desert colors instead of made over a million years by nature. It made them feel small and connected to nature. A ground squirrel stole their trail mix right out of their backpack but it was okay. They could buy more and the giggle snort it elicited from Liz was worth it. He kissed her overlooking the canyon and took photos that Isobel would later tease them looked “So basic. Like Instagram models.”

They arrive in Las Vegas at dusk, dazzled by all the lights. Max surprises her by getting a room at Cesar’s Palace, even though Liz tells him it's a road trip tradition to stay in crappy motels. The look of horror on his face when he asks her “But what about bedbugs?” Has Liz giggling all the way up to their room. They put on the fanciest clothes they brought with them and go to dinner and a show at the hotel. Max points out that they’ve been engaged for a year and if she wants to get married while they’re there, he’s all in. Liz insists she can’t walk down the aisle without their friends and family. Besides, they already have a date set at the Catholic Church back in Roswell and everything is planned. They gamble some in the casino after dinner but with their early start, they’re ready for bed by 10.

They wake up early and head towards Death Valley National park. Max teases her that they have desert and sage brush at home and Liz shushes him. Their ears pop as the terrain drops below sea level and Max insists they load up on water, just in case. He’s gone through too much desert safety training on the police force to be bested by the heat now. Besides, his natural body temperature is warm. They hike through the beginners trail, marveling at the canyons and desert as far as you can see. There’s so much more diversity of life than he expected in the hottest place in the United States.

Back in the car, they cheer when they cross from Nevada to California. The desert gives way to Joshua trees and Max humors Liz by stopping at some random roadside motel that doesn’t look too scary to check in for the night. Their room has an old bed that vibrates if you put a quarter in it and Max is horrified thinking of the probably decades of germs from people banging on it. To his dismay, Liz flops on it excitedly and stares at him with her doe eyes until he agrees to stay. She rewards him by doing an act they usually reserve for special occasions while the old bed vibrates away under them.

The next morning, they keep driving until they reach Sequoia National Park. They take the cliche photos of each other next to the giant redwoods. An older couple see them trying to get a photo with both of them and one of the giant trees in it and insist on taking it for them. Max spends all day teasing Liz that she’s so tiny, she looks like a fairy next to the massive trees. She gets even by choosing a clown theme hotel that Max swears doesn’t freak him out. He’s a manly man and definitely isn’t awake at dawn already packed and ready to go because he can’t take being stared at by clowns anymore.

They head south towards Los Angeles and spend the afternoon on Hollywood Boulevard doing tourist things. They take photos next to their favorite celebrities stars on the Walk of Fame. Liz swears she sees her favorite actor from Grey's Anatomy and stands dumbstruck staring at him on the sidewalk while people weave around her. Laughing, Max takes her hand and leads her out of the way. He kisses her in a way they usually reserve for the bedroom but they don’t know any of the people around them. He doesn’t care if they are judging them. She was being adorable and he had to. They compromise and agree to stay at a basic Holiday Inn.

They spend 4 hours in traffic the next morning heading southwest to Long Beach. When he sees his first palm tree, Max is so excited he asks Liz to pull over and take his picture with it. The beaches are pristine with white sands and turquoise water. Beautiful people that definitely might be famous are everywhere, along with the occasional paparazzi. Liz throws down the blanket they brought for the beach and their bag with their towels, sun screen and phones. They strip down to their bathing suits and head for the waves. Max wiggles his toes in the wet sand experimentally, laughing when the waves rush over his feet. They wade out into the water, Liz clinging to Max like a koala when the water starts to get too high for her.

“Thank you for going on an adventure with me, Max” Liz hugged him, bobbing in the water as waves came past them.

Max kissed her nose, stunned by how beautiful she looked with golden sunbeams lighting up her face surrounded by the water. “Any time, my love. We’ll run away together.”

[takenbyheartstrings]

Over The Top | grayson dolan x reader

request: Can I request something along the lines of the reader and Grayson Dolan being in a relationship but Grayson wants to ask her to marry him so in true over the top fashion he and E enlist the help of the readers life long friend David Dobrik to help create a massive video detailing every detail that went on behind the scenes of the proposal. (She freaks out and says yes of course)

warnings: language, fluff, lowercase intended, featuring the whole vlog squad

a/n: this is so cute, this imagine took all my uwu’s.

of course this motherfucker went over the top for his long time girlfriend of 7 years, y/n l/n. of course, he was only 19 and so was she, but they’ve supported each other through everything. especially moving to LA. so grayson rang his also long time friend david dobrik to help him in the task of proposing to his best friend and girlfriend.

now this is where it got tricky. planning it behind her back and with this you also noticed david was coming around a lot. and you had your suspicions. grayson told you they were working on some sort of really big collab with the whole vlog squad and he secluded all the details, and of course you turned to ethan but so did he. james wouldn’t tell you what was happening and neither would emma. you were apart of the sister squad, but it seemed like everyone else was in on it. even zane (or matt) with their big mouths wouldn’t tell you.

so you were left with conspiracies, but you decided to put your thoughts away, meanwhile james was finding clothes stores with erin, carly, liza, corinna, kristen and emma to take you shopping and to distract you (which worked).

while the james and the girls were busy doing that, david was helping ethan and grayson get connections to the fanciest restaurants out there and talking to kristen jenner to help you get a nice fitted dress for the night. and the ring? the ring was beautiful.

and when it was all set in place, everything and i mean everything was recorded and kept on david’s sd card. all the stress and tears, the sad moments and the difficult all kept and documented.

and so it came the night, where grayson took you out to dinner, with an overview of the beach and a rose sitting on the table. you loved the dress as well and james did your make up.

you were sat at the table when grayson pulled out his laptop.

“why the fuck do you have your laptop here?” you asked with a slight chuckle. “i need to show you something,” he opened the edited file david had put together and sent to grayson.

he played the video, you saw grayson crying, emma crying, stress getting to them. james litterally planning out everything. the vlog squad making plans and finding the best places for you to eat and at the end, you looked beside you to see grayson on one knee.

“y/n l/n, where do i begin? perfect? that isn’t the word, amazing? that isn’t the word. precious? that isn’t the word. my everything. that’s what you are, my everything. my world. my heart. the source of love that makes me smile everyday, that makes me happy, that makes me who i am. for 6 years you’ve been beside me doing nothing but love and care for me. even if this thing started as a joke to impress our friends when we were 12, but it became so much more. you became so much more. and i’m glad that i was there for everything.” grayson smiled, “will you marry me?”

“oh my fucking god.” you smiled covering your mouth, “of course i will!” you smiled jumping into his arms. “now stop making me cry, i’m gonna ruin james’ makeup look.”

he smiled, “you’d look beautiful without it anyway.”

[luciana-galvez]

rockstars & runaways | part 2

Nikki and Kat go way back, but with his issues and her family history, finding their way back together is a long and rocky road. And with the rockstar life, what’s the hurry anyway?

Fandom: The Dirt

Words: 1.5k

Pairing: Nikki Sixx x OC

Warnings: none

Note: feedback is always welcome! :)

1980

“You missed a spot.”

“Excuse me?” Kat looked up at Nikki, who had propped himself up at the bar, eyeing her with a mischievous look.

“Right there,” Nikki pointed theatrically at a spot behind her, which looked just as dirty as the rest of the floor in the concert room.

“You are insufferable,” Kat answered, rolling her eyes.

Nikki feigned innocence and lifted his arms in the air. “I’m just trying to help you keep your job.”

“You’re trying to get me to punch you in the face is what you’re trying to do,” Kat answered dryly. “Don’t you have anything better to do?”

“I really don’t,” Nikki answered cheerfully.

Kat had been at the Starwood for four weeks now. Gary had given her privileges to work behind the bar on particularly busy nights (which made really good extra money thanks to the tips), but other than that she had been stuck at the cleaning job.

Not that she minded cleaning, it was just particularity annoying when a certain raven-haired guy was working as well.

Kat didn’t like people. She’s never liked people. Of course, she had met people whose company she enjoyed, and she’s met people that she was attracted to, but she’s never met anyone that she sought out to be around.

Which is why it was all the more surprising that she always perked up a little when she showed up to work and Nikki was there too. It was downright annoying to be working the same shift as him, but at the same time she was also sort of disappointed when he didn’t show when she started her shift. There was something about him that intrigued her, something that she couldn’t quite identify.

And, if she was honest, it scared the shit out of her. She knew she shouldn’t feed into it, but somehow she couldn’t quite manage to stay away from him either. Arguing with him was just so easy.

Kat watched as Nikki got up from his place at the bar and moved around it to pour himself a drink. They weren’t technically allowed to, but when Gary wasn’t there, who really noticed?

“Don’t you have any preparing to do?” she asked, referring to the fact that London was set to play tonight.

“I am,” Nikki said matter-of-factly as he poured himself another shot and downed it right away.

Kat rolled her eyes and went back to her daily task of mopping an un-moppable floor. She gave up five minutes later and went about emptying the dirty bucket and replacing it for a clean cloth to get started on cleaning the bar.

When she tried to, she found Nikki blocking her way. What else is new?

“I’m trying to work here,” she said.

“I know,” Nikki grinned. It took a moment before he finally moved to let her pass. “I need to go home and change anyway.”

“Smart man,” Kat replied as Nikki started walking away.

“You know me.”

“That’s why I’m surprised.”

Nikki turned around and grabbed his chest in feigned hurt. “Ouch,” he replied, not quite managing to suppress his grin. “Remind me to never let my guard down around you.”

Kat smirked and watched him walk away. She really was in big trouble.

The remaining hour until opening seemed to stretch to infinity. Kat busied herself with stocking up at the bar, but there was only so much to do until she eventually resigned herself to just sitting and waiting.

Unlike most days, she wouldn’t be able to enjoy the show from the crowd tonight. London had started attracting a crowd and Gary needed her behind the bar. She was happy about the extra cash, and she would still be able to see them play, so she didn’t really mind too much.

“Okay, let’s open her up,” Michelle announced as a way of saying hello as she peeked into the room not long after. Michelle was dark and tall and gorgeous, and she was one the Starwood’s most popular bartenders.

Kat nodded and hopped down from her seat of the bar, making her way through the room, into the hallway to find the bouncers and let them know it was time to open up and start admitting people.

It didn’t take long for the first people to file into the concert room, which was the larger of the two rooms in the Starwood, and soon Michelle and Kat were busy pouring drinks and watching the room fill up in anticipation of the show.

“They really are starting to attract a crowd, aren’t they?” Michelle mentioned eventually.

“Yeah,” Kat agreed while pouring another been. “What kind of crowd though?” she added, nodding her head in the direction of a group of girls that had just entered the room. All of them were exclusively in high heels and short skirts.

Michelle laughed. “Oh, come on. You’ve never seen a groupie?”

Kat simply raised an eyebrow at her in response, and Michelle smirked. “Do you wanna tell me there’s not a single musician you would dress up like that for?”

Kat’s eyebrow shot up even further. She turned to face Michelle and theatrically pointed at herself, gesturing from her worn out sneakers over her ripped jeans that might pass as stylish but were, in fact, simply torn, to her plain black tank top. “These are the fanciest clothes I own.”

“Girl, you need a makeover.”

“Tell me about it.”

But before they could continue their conversation, they were interrupted by the crowd starting to cheer as the band showed up on stage. Kat watched as all of them made their way across to their instruments, and she didn’t miss the way Nikki and the lead singer bumped into each other with what could only be described as mutual aggression.

It didn’t get better during the concert. There was no actual fighting, but the animosity between them radiated all the way to the bar. London was good, they really were, but Kat assumed they wouldn’t get anywhere with that kind of attitude toward each other.

After the concert, the Starwood started emptying out, and when Kat looked up from moving crates around, she found Nikki seated at the bar.

“Whisky,” he said.

Kat poured him a glass. “Good show.”

“Whatever.”

There was nothing left of the good mood that he was in earlier, and Kat watched as Nikki threw the singer a nasty look as he passed the bar, one girl in each arm.

“You really can’t stand him, can you?” Kat asked.

“He’s a prick.”

Kat huffed and poured him another drink, and then disappeared into the backroom to get fresh supplies. When she came back, she found one of the blonde girls from before seated next to Nikki, one hand on his arm, leaning forward so he could get a good look at her cleavage as they were talking.

Kat raised an eyebrow to no one in particular and tried not to seem irritated. But as it turned out, she didn’t have to try for too long, because just a moment later both Nikki and the girl got up.

“A few people are heading back to my place for an afterparty,” Nikki announced. “You wanna come?”

“I’m working,” Kat replied matter-of-factly.

“There’s barely anything left to do.”

Kat looked up, and her eyes darted between Nikki and the girl, who was now impatiently tugging at his sleeve. “I think I’m good.”

“Suit yourself,” Nikki shrugged. And with that, he turned around, put his arm around the girl’s shoulders, and both of them left.

Kat stared after them for a moment before going back to work, but when she turned, she found Michelle staring at her.

“What?” Kat asked.

“I think there might be someone you’d dress up for after all,” Michelle grinned.

“What, Nikki?” Kat asked incredulously. “Oh God, no.”

“Mhm mhm,” Michelle hummed, but Kat could tell by the expression on her face that she didn’t believe a word.

“Seriously,” Kat emphasized.

“I believe you,” Michelle said, clearly not believing her.

Michelle’s comment stayed with Kat until she was back in her car, driving down LA’s streets without paying as much attention as she should. The other girl’s implication bothered her, but she couldn’t put her finger on why.

There was nothing more between Nikki and her than a bit of cheerful banter. And even if she wanted to, emotional attachment was the last thing she needed. She would have to leave in a few weeks anyway, so she really couldn’t afford to. There was no reason to complicate things more than they already were.

She absentmindedly pulled into an empty parking lot away from the busy streets of downtown LA and parked her car at the lot’s far end, away from intruding eyes. She kept telling herself that she was not interested in Nikki as she brushed her teeth with a bottle of water over one of the parking lot’s drains, and as she put on another shirt from her trunk she thought Nikki was really nothing more than a pretty but annoying co-worker.

But when she laid down in the backseat and closed her eyes, the picture that kept replaying in her mind was that of Nikki putting his arm around the blonde girl and leaving with her.

tags: @supernaturalvikingwhore @sighsophiia @fandomshit6000 @flizaa @hi-my-name-is-riley

[secretagentspydetectiveninja]

The Misadventures of Prince Kim - chapter 37

Yeah, finally!! I think my motto in life right now is “when in doubt, write more Kimax”. It’s a good motto. And this is a pretty darn long chapter compared to the rest. That might have something to do with the Kimax...

Also on AO3 as usual

When Max had said that there was a surprise in store for Kim, he had assumed that the surprise must be Alix coming to visit. And then after she had given him that portable telephone present, he had guessed that must be part of it. He couldn’t have been more wrong.

“KIM!” Prince Nino screeched from the entrance hall, running over and practically knocking him down with a hug. “What’s up, dude?”

“Nino?! What are you doing here?” Kim just hugged him back, confused, while Max chuckled away next to him. Most of the surrounding servants looked rather confused too. Usually royalty behaved much more respectably than yelling gleefully and tackle-hugging people.

“Lahiffe is one of the countries in the International Alliance so we get invited to the Peace Ball every year. I decided to come along since it’s in Max’s kingdom this time and I’ll get to see all you lot again. And I’ve brought someone else with me too!”

Princess Alya walked into view, grinning and waving. “Hi everyone! I was staying in Lahiffe for the holidays anyway so I thought, why not come along?”

“This is awesome!” Kim said. “With all of us here there’s no way the Peace Ball’s gonna be boring!”

“So wait, how many people from our class are here?” Nino asked.

“There’s me, Kim, Alix, and the two of you,” Max said, counting off on his fingers. “Five of us. Unless someone else we know just happens to randomly pop up. I hadn’t even realized Alya would be here. It really is good to have more people though.”

“Anyway, we’d better go get sorted before the ball starts later,” Alya said, putting an arm around Nino. “I’ve never been to a ball this prestigious before. It’ll be very interesting.”

“Alright, well see you guys again later!” Kim waved at them and then went back off towards his room, with Max heading in the same direction.

Alya turned straight to Nino and said, “This kingdom. It’s so advanced. How is it so advanced??? They have posh cars and maglev trains and aeroplanes and portable phones and plastics and–”

“I know, right?” Nino said. “I’ve only been here a few times but it’s just the coolest place ever. No wonder Max is so smart. But like… you’re really smart too, and I bet your kingdom’s awesome too…”

Alya poked the tip of his nose. “Of course my kingdom’s awesome. But not like this. And oh boy, they have the best painkillers here, that’s what I was buying back at the train station shop. ‘Cause, er, period pains are not fun. I hate them so much.”

Dare he say what he was thinking? He had been meaning to for a while now, since he was getting so much closer with Alya, but it just never felt like the right time. Maybe it would be better to get it out of the way quickly, nonchalantly. No need to make a big deal of it. Alya was chill, she wouldn’t care.

He took a deep breath and said quietly, “Me too.”

For a few seconds she just looked at him, a puzzled frown on her face. He held his breath, wondering if it had been a bad idea to say that. But then she smiled again, taking his hand in hers and holding it tight.

“You hate period pains too?”

“Yeah. They suck. So much. It was worst during quarantine when I was dying of the flu anyway.”

“I know, right?” She laughed. “At least we know that the painkillers here work wonders, so it’ll be easier to deal with.”

“Yeah…”

Oh, thank goodness. She hadn’t freaked out. To be fair, he had been wondering if she already knew somehow. She had a spy network, she was smart and observant, maybe she had figured it out. After all, Nino had once come across an outdated royalty census book in the school library that had still referred to the heir to the throne of Lahiffe as “Princess Nina”, so it was possible that there were other students who knew or had guessed.

Nina… he hadn’t been called that name in a long time. Thankfully his family had always been supportive, and the rich and friendly neighbouring countries were a great place to order the relevant elixirs from – the ones that stopped his voice from staying too high, or his chest getting too big. If only there was one that could permanently stop periods too.

Anyway, at least now that Alya knew, he would have someone to complain about the suckiness of periods with! Hopefully nothing else would change between them. Nino was still Nino, no matter what, and he trusted that she would respect that.

Back in his room, Kim put on the best áo dài he had – a bright red one with golden patterns adorning the fabric. He slicked his hair up with hair gel and put on some cologne. Then he stood in front of the mirror for at least 10 minutes, admiring himself from every angle, secretly wishing he could be someone else so that he could just date himself. Oh yes. He looked absolutely smoking, and he knew it. Finger guns out, dazzling smile on. There was no way Max would be able to resist his charms!

The cuckoo clock in the corner of the room started chiming. He glanced towards it to see…

What?! 8 o clock already? He was late! How had no one come to get him? Had he really spent that long checking out his own reflection? Yikes. He rushed out of the room and towards the great hall, ignoring the guards and servants snickering away behind their hands as they watched him run.

He was slightly out of breath when he reached the entrance to the hall. The servant outside had what looked like an electric microphone in one hand and a long scroll of paper in the other.

“What is your name and title?” the servant asked, sounding bored.

Seriously? Did he not know Kim’s name and title already? Kim had seen this servant plenty of times before – heck, he had even spoken to him on the odd occasion. There was no way he didn’t know.

“Emperor Palpatine of Narnia,” he snapped.

“Huh… I can’t see that name on here…” The servant was looking down the scroll of paper, eyebrows furrowed.

“I was kidding, oh my gosh, my name is Kim and you know it!”

“Yes, but I was just checking that you’re not an imposter or something! You have to know your own name and title!”

Kim didn’t believe it, since the servant was smirking. He was messing with him!

“I am Prince Kim of Lê Chiến, and I’m not an imposter. No imposter could possibly look this good.” He ran a hand through his hair.

The servant gulped down a laugh. “Okay, yes, I see your name here now. Great. Now before you go in I have to announce you to the hall.”

“Is that really necessary?”

“This is the annual Peace Ball, of course it’s necessary.”

The servant opened the doors to reveal that the great hall had been transformed, with decorations everywhere, beautiful mood lighting, and was filled with hundreds of people. Some nearer the door had turned to look at Kim, frowning a little. Ugh, they were probably annoyed that he was late.

Tapping the microphone a few times, the servant grinned and said into it, “Welcoming to the Peace Ball our honoured guest from afar, the most esteemed Emperor Palpatine of N–”

Kim grabbed the microphone and yanked it off him, hastily saying, “Prince Kim of Lê Chiến! Prince Kim. Yeah. That’s my name.”

The servant grabbed the microphone back, still grinning. The royal guests were watching with expressions varying between amusement and distaste. How embarrassing. And if this was an electric microphone then surely the whole hall must have heard that? Curse this stupid servant!

“You’d better go in now,” the servant said to him, looking so smug that Kim wanted to smash his head in.

“You! What’s your name?”

“Just call me Adam.”

“Adam, huh? Well don’t think you’ve got away with this. I challenge you to a… a…”

“A sword duel?” Adam yawned. “How typically royal of you.”

Oh, a snarky servant, huh? Kim had to stop himself from smiling. Most of the servants back at his home palace were like this. They weren’t afraid to say what was on their mind (as long as it wasn’t anything treasonous), not really caring if the person they were talking to was royalty or not. Kim had been in the Bourgeois Empire for so long that he had forgotten that not all servants were just suck-ups. In some ways, Adam wasn’t so bad after all.

But still. The guy had to be knocked down a peg.

“I challenge you to a sports match,” Kim said, folding his arms. “You get to decide which sport. I’m good at all of them.”

“Hmm… how about lacrosse?”

“La what?”

Adam chuckled. “Oh, so you don’t know what that even is? In that case, yeah. Lacrosse. You pick your team, I’ll pick mine. If I win, you have to give me that robe thing you’re wearing.”

“It’s called an áo dài, and there’s no way you’re gonna win anyway. If you lose then you have to… um…”

For once he couldn’t think of a consequence. The only thing coming to mind, surprisingly, was “if you lose then you have to kiss me” but he quickly squashed that thought. Why was he always such a hopeless romantic? It was stupid. And plus, this guy was annoying.

“If I lose I’ll wear a dunce hat for a week, is that good enough?” Adam asked.

“Yeah,” Kim said. “That’s good.”

“Nice. Let me know when you’ve picked your team and we can decide when to have the match.”

“Oh, I can’t wait.”

Kim turned around and walked into the hall, leaving Adam behind him at the door. Lacrosse? Seriously, what was that?

Anyway, he could think about that later. For now he had to find his friends. That was going to be a difficult feat in a hall this size, with so many people everywhere in their fanciest clothing. No one at school had bothered dressing up so formally for the events, even for the autumn ball and spring dance. This was totally new.

He stopped dead when he saw Max standing in the middle of the hall with his family, greeting some other royal guests.

Max… okay wow. He looked good. He looked really, really good. Those deep green robes…

Kim hadn’t even realized he had stopped breathing. Alright, so Max looked good. Of course he did. Kim already knew how cute Max was. He tried to shake himself out of it, only to see that Max had noticed him and was giving him a smile and a sneaky little wave. Kim waved back. More than anything he wanted to go and talk to Max, but it looked like Max was quite busy right now. Maybe a bit later.

He headed down the swirling staircase towards where the food tables were, hoping he would find someone else he knew. Nino and Alya had to be around here somewhere, right? And he also needed to find…

Oh, there she was! Pharaoh Alix, standing over by the drinks table with her pet snake wrapped around her sceptre, as usual, and her brother by her side. It looked like most of the surrounding people were too wary of the snake to come very close.

Kim was about to say hello when she noticed him first and said rather loudly, “Oh hey Emperor Palpatine, what’s up?”

“Be quiet!” he said, trying not to laugh. “If you call me that again I will pick you up and chuck you off the top of the staircase, okay?”

“Okay. So what’s the story behind that, huh?”

“Just some servant being really sassy.”

“Nice. Sassy servants are good. We’ve got none of those back home.”

“And a good thing too,” Jalil muttered. “I can’t imagine how much trouble you would get into otherwise…”

“Speaking of trouble,” Alix said, holding a tall juice glass out at Kim, “I’ve already had enough juice to be on a massive sugar rush right now, so it’s your turn. Go on!”

Part of Kim’s brain was telling him not to, knowing that sugar rushes made him more impulsive than he usually was, but he ignored it and took the glass. “Thanks. Hey, what flavour is this juice?”

“Why don’t you taste it and find out? You’re not allergic to anything so I’m not gonna ruin the surprise…”

She was smirking. Why was she smirking? And Jalil too for some reason, even though usually he was such a sour grape. Oh well, whatever. Kim lifted the glass to his lips and took a sip…

YUCK!

He spat it straight back into the glass again, trying not to gag. This was not fruit juice, whatever it was! It was like bleach, mixed with ketchup, and poison, and spiders, and –!

“What the heck is this stuff?!” he managed to say, noticing that the other two had started laughing.

“A mix of pretty much everything,” Jalil said, shrugging, since Alix was too busy laughing to reply. “There’s mango juice, apple juice, orange juice, a lot of salt and pepper, and also sugar, and we put some of the garlic dip in it too–”

“You tricked me?!”

“We’re always doing this at formal events. It’s the only way to have a little fun here without causing an international incident. Though I suppose it possibly could cause an international incident if we did this to someone who doesn’t have a sense of humour.”

“Oh, you mean like you?” Kim snapped.

“I know you think I’m a stick-in-the-mud, but why would I play a practical joke on you if I didn’t think it was absolutely hilarious?”

Really? So when Jalil wasn’t busy insulting Kim to the moon and back, he found it funny to play jokes on him? Alright, he had a sense of humour. Just a bad one.

“Now I can see how you’re related to Alix,” he said, putting the drink back down on the table. He was very tempted to just throw it right at Jalil’s face but that probably really would cause an international incident, which would not be a good idea.

“See?” Alix said, finally having got her laughter under control. “I told you he’s a troublemaker too. Anyway, you would totally have helped me pull the same kind of prank on someone, wouldn’t you? It was pretty funny, you have to admit…”

Well okay – it was kind of funny. It was just annoying that Jalil, of all people, had to be in on it. In that case there was only one thing for it.

“Jalil, you’re going to help me pull a prank on someone,” he said.

Jalil looked unamused. “Am I?”

“Yes. There’s this really annoying servant guy who I need to get back at for something–”

“The Emperor Palpatine thing?”

Kim rolled his eyes. “Yes, that. Anyway, I challenged the guy to a lacrosse match but I don’t actually know what lacrosse is. You’re gonna help me think of a way to win the match and also make a fool out of him.”

“Can I help with this?” Alix asked.

“Sure. But mostly I want Jalil to help so that he stops making fun of me and starts making fun of other people for a change.”

Jalil sighed. “Fine, I suppose I could lend a hand in your childish pranks…”

“Good.”

Alix lowered her voice suddenly. “Hey Kim! Psst! Max is over there!”

Kim glanced over his shoulder to see that Max was indeed greeting some guests not too far away. His heart skipped a beat. Max just looked so good! Kim had never really thought about how Max looked before, but there was no denying it now. He looked good. Was that just because Kim was already in love with him or was Max actually that gorgeous? He couldn’t even tell.

“You should ask him to dance,” Alix continued, poking Kim’s arm with her sceptre.

“I agree that it would be a good idea,” Jalil added. “Not that I care.”

Kim just looked between the two of them, with their encouraging expressions that didn’t fully understand anything. “I can’t do that.”

“Yes you can!” Alix said. “You’re Prince Kim, you can do anything!”

“Well yeah, I’m not scared, of course not, just…”

“It won’t be weird. People in this kingdom don’t care if a guy dances with a guy. Heck, most countries in the International Alliance don’t care. It’ll be fine.”

That was a little more reassuring. But not enough.

“I don’t even know how to do any of the royal posh formal dances.”

“Just hold his hands and step forwards and backwards a bit, how hard can it be?”

“I don’t know, I…”

“Kim.” Alix grabbed the front of his áo dài and pulled him down to her level. “Do you want to dance with Max or not?”

“Yes!”

“Then I dare you to do it.”

Drat. She knew exactly what she was doing, didn’t she? Her pet snake was hissing in a way that sounded almost like taunting. If there was one thing Alix knew, it was that Kim could not turn down a dare.

“Alright, fine!” he said, putting his hands on his hips. “I will definitely do it. And I’m definitely not scared, so don’t get the wrong idea.”

“That’s the spirit! Go for it!”

Kim turned around and marched off, trying to ignore how much adrenaline was hitting him all of a sudden.

This wouldn’t be weird, right? It would be fine. Max wouldn’t be weirded out. It was just a dance. No need to make it a big deal.

But then again… what if Kim wanted it to be a big deal? It wasn’t like he hadn’t already been imagining dancing with Max, imagining some stupid sappy outcome where they declared their love for each other…

Actually maybe it was a bad idea to think about that right now.

“Kim!” Max had finished speaking to the guests and was now rushing over as quickly as he could. “It’s good to see you, Emperor Palpatine!”

“Not you too,” Kim muttered, though he couldn’t hide a smile.

“Anyway, you look fantastic – not that it’s unusual for you, of course, and you know it.”

Was he blushing? He already knew that compliments from Max made him blush. He just ran a hand through his hair and said, “You look great too. I mean yeah, you always do… I mean…”

Max was looking up at him expectantly. What was Kim supposed to ask him again? It was hard to think when all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around Max and squeeze him so tight, like he was the last person left in the world.

Alix’s words of encouragement came back to him. You’re Prince Kim, you can do anything! Huh, that was pretty nice of her to say. And she was right, wasn’t she? Kim could do anything!

“Max, would you like to dance with me?”

Oh great, he had actually said it now. There was no backing out. Hopefully Max wouldn’t flip out and realize that Kim liked him and be annoyed about it or–

“Kim, I would love to!”

It took a few seconds to register. Max was smiling at him, nothing having gone wrong at all. Thank goodness.

“Cool! Uh, I have no idea what I’m doing though, so hopefully this isn’t gonna be a disaster…”

Not exactly knowing how he should go about this, he just grabbed Max’s hand and pulled him over to the area that had been designated as the place to dance. The music was fairly slow and dreary, just like it had been at the spring dance at school, but still. A dance with Max was better than no dance at all, right?

“I’m not entirely sure what I’m doing either, so I presume we should just copy everyone else,” Max said, turning around to face Kim, before holding his hand a little tighter and putting his other hand on his shoulder. “I think it’s something like this.”

Kim just nodded, trying not to freak out. He had hugged Max plenty of times before, even picked him up, but being close to him… it never felt like this. Something was different. In a good way.

Thank goodness the music was slow. Kim was sure he would have tripped over his own feet otherwise, and Max might have done the same. Neither of them had any clue how to ballroom dance. Kim could feel the rather judgmental eyes of the other royalty guests pressing into him, making him even more nervous. Fine, he was bad at formal dancing! Was that really such a crime?

He didn’t know how long it was until he felt a buzzing in his pocket. Oh, that must be his new phone!

“I have a message!” he said to Max, probably sounding far too excited for something that this kingdom would consider fairly mundane.

“It must be from Alix, since I clearly haven’t been messaging you in the past few minutes,” Max said.

“Yeah, you’re probably right…” Kim rather reluctantly let go of Max and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He looked at the message for a split second before blushing and quickly putting it back in his pocket.

“What was it?” Max asked.

“Oh, just her and Jalil bragging about like… pulling some pranks…”

That was a lie. Max had been right about one thing, though – the message was indeed from Alix.

Hey Kim, there’s no way you can make a move with all these boring royal people watching you. Why don’t you take Max out into the palace gardens with you and then tell him how much you love him?

It certainly was nice that she was trying to be a helpful winggirl. But still! Kim had already decided that he would confess to Max on the day of the Cupid Festival, not today!

Well, surely taking Max out into the gardens couldn’t hurt. It would be more fun than dancing anyway.

“Hey Max?” Kim took Max’s hand again, feeling flustered. “It’s kinda hot in here with a million people, and noisy too, and boring… should we go in the gardens or something?”

Max looked surprised for a few seconds and didn’t say anything. Then he shook himself out of it and said, “That sounds like an excellent idea.”

“Awesome!”

Kim pulled Max along towards the doors that led outside. He couldn’t help thinking about Max’s pause just now – what did it mean? He already suspected that Max might like him back, but it seemed like an idea too good to be true. He didn’t want to read too much into everything. Maybe Max was just… tired? He’d been greeting guests all evening, he must be.

The gardens were beautiful at this time of night. They stretched off far into the distance, with all kinds of different flowers growing in each little patch between the walkways. A large marble terrace was overlooking the entire thing. Kim and Max sat down on one of the benches on the terrace, a perfect view of the gardens in front of them.

“These gardens kind of remind me of the ones at school,” Kim said, being the first one to break the cool silence between them. “Now if only there was a thinking fountain like our one.”

“There are indeed fountains here, though none will ever be as special as the thinking fountain.”

That was just so sweet! How was Max so sweet? Kim took a deep breath and said, “You know, the moon looks so big tonight…”

“Well yes. It’s a full moon.”

“And like, it looks different here.” He wasn’t lying – it was true. He stared up at the moon, trying to figure out what it was. “It looks different at school too. Back at home it was always the right way up, but everywhere I go it seems to change angle.”

“That’s because you’re viewing the moon at different latitudes. Right now we’re further north than your kingdom, and the school is further north still. It makes the moon look somewhat tilted. And if you saw it from the southern hemisphere, it would look upside-down.”

Wow. Max knew so many things. Kim tried not to stare, he really did. But seeing Max talk was just so mesmerizing somehow. Had it always been like this? Kim remembered always having liked listening to Max nerd out, even if he didn’t understand it all. Now it was making his heart beat much faster in his chest, his palms sweaty, his thoughts racing…

“Max, you’re so cool,” he managed to say, hoping he didn’t sound too lovestruck. “I mean not just ‘cause you’re so smart but in general, you’re just–”

“Shhhh. You’re too nice about me all the time.”

“But that’s because it’s true!”

Max grinned, somewhat nervously. “You’re always gushing about me. Now it’s my turn to gush about you.”

“Aw Max, you don’t have to–”

“Shush!” Max swung his legs up on the bench and turned to face Kim. “You are, quite honestly, one of the most inspirational people I know in my life. The motivation, the energy, everything! You have all the confidence I could never muster myself. And… you’re always so nice to me. Always supporting me, telling me how much you care about me, all that. I don’t think you know how much your encouragement really means to me.”

Kim could barely move, he was so overwhelmed by Max’s kind words. “Th-thank you…”

“Well thank you!” Max was on a roll now. “Most people only care about how smart I am, or they just assume that because I’m a nerd I’m probably fairly emotionless. But you never did that. You’ve always been there for me and your constant emotional support is something that always keeps me going. I know you feel like you don’t do enough for me, but trust me. You do more than enough. I don’t know what I’d do without you, Kim.”

“Oh… M-Max…”

Kim wouldn’t be surprised if he had a heart attack and died on the spot. It was a combination of everything – Max telling him how much he cared about him, the beautiful atmosphere the moonlight created, the exquisite gardens, the peace of it all…

His phone buzzed again. He snapped himself out of whatever stupor he had been in and had a quick look at it while Max just smiled and started looking back up at the moon. It was another message from Alix.

Have you kissed him yet??? If not then get a move on!!!

What?! Kiss Max??? He couldn’t just do that!! Max didn’t even know that Kim liked him yet!!!

Well… there was always that high possibility that Max liked him back, right? And Max was just so… so cute… and maybe… kissing him… might be nice…

Kim could feel himself blushing. Yeah, fine, okay. He wanted to kiss Max. That made sense, right? Not only was he in love with Max, but he also knew thanks to the winter party that kissing was fun. And he hadn’t ever had a proper kiss, had he? Well he had, but not like this. The one with Adrien was too quick to remember, same with that platonic one from Alix, and whatever nonsense that had gone on at the winter party had been so superficial and didn’t feel like anything special, so maybe now… with Max… it might be better…

Without thinking he put his arm around Max’s waist and pulled him closer. A second later his brain finally kicked into action and he chickened out, looking back up at the moon and trying not to act as flustered as he felt.

“Your constant hugs are also much appreciated,” Max said, “so if that was you hinting at wanting another one then sure!”

With that, Max put his arms around Kim’s shoulders and hugged him. Of course it wasn’t the first time he had done that, far from it. So why did things feel so new?

When Max pulled away he didn’t quite let go, instead just sitting there rather close to Kim with his arms still around him. When he spoke his voice was a lot quieter. “I’ve always been surprised at how well the two of us get along, considering how different we are, but it’s like you said once – it’s a good balance, isn’t it? And… I’ve never had anyone I was so close to before…”

Did he mean that literally? Because they certainly were very close, there was such little distance between them. And why was Max still holding onto him like that? Could that be considered as friendship?

Kim knew he should say something, confess his feelings, anything! But he just couldn’t bring himself to. Not right now. Not when everything felt so beautiful. He didn’t want to be rejected on a night like this, even if that rejection was unlikely.

But this night shouldn’t go to waste either. Especially not when Max was being so overly kind and sweet, and Kim just didn’t know what to do with himself. Should he kiss Max? Should he not do it? If he did, that would make it clear how he felt. But he couldn’t just kiss someone like that! There wasn’t even mistletoe or anything – what excuse would he have? And what if Max didn’t like him back? In that case kissing him would be a very bad idea indeed!

Not knowing what to do, Kim just settled for pulling Max a little closer, feeling another rush of adrenaline. He tried to suppress it – maybe thinking about something boring like schoolwork would help – but it wasn’t working. Being this close to Max was overwhelming him.

Was there any point in fighting it? No, there wasn’t! Forget boring schoolwork. Kim wouldn’t be able to focus on anything but Max anyway. He let his thoughts run, his feelings flow – it was all Max! He couldn’t think about anything else, didn’t want to think about anything else. He was in love. So, very, in love. There was no denying it now.

Max seemed a little startled for a few seconds, but then he just looked up at Kim with such a warm, starry expression, it rivalled all the stars in the night sky. Surely that kind of expression wasn’t platonic, was it? Of course it was possible to platonically care about someone this much. Alix existed, after all. But this expression…

Kim took a deep breath to calm his nerves, then pulled Max even closer, so close their foreheads were almost touching, so close they were sharing breaths, so close that it didn’t even feel unnatural when Kim gently laid a hand on the side of Max’s face.

Could this still be platonic? Who even knew. It was so overwhelming that Kim barely trusted himself to move a muscle now. He was so dizzy, so lovesick – had he ever felt this way before in his life? Had he ever felt this good before in his life?

He could have stayed there forever, had Max not awkwardly pulled away and said, “I just realized I still have some guests to greet and I’d better get round to it and–”

He ran off without even saying anything else. Kim simply sat still for the next several minutes, feeling something shattering inside his chest. Oh, he’d been heartbroken before. The problem was that this didn’t really count as heartbreak, did it? He just couldn’t help wishing that Max hadn’t run away – why had he done that? Was he weirded out? Had Kim messed up?

He was surprised to feel his eyes burning with tears. No – he couldn’t cry! Not over something as stupid as Max needing to suddenly go back inside to do his royal duties. It shouldn’t be a big deal. They just hugged, that was all. And he hadn’t been planning to tell Max his true feelings until the Cupid Festival anyway. None of this should be affecting him at all.

Then why were the tears starting to roll down his cheeks? He wiped them away furiously. No crying! He never used to cry very much, it was only after starting at this school that his emotions would get the better of him like this. But he wouldn’t let them! No crying, no tears, no silliness. It wasn’t a big deal. He just had to keep telling himself that.

Oh… what was the use? No one else was out here anyway, there was no one to see him cry. He just put his head in his hands and let the waterworks continue. It wasn’t just Max that he was crying over – it was everything. The pressure of being royalty, the looming war that seemed inevitable, the fact that he would be crowned king in a year and a half, feeling so inadequate and wondering whether he would ever be able to live up to expectations, and how would he be able to be with a boy anyway even if Max loved him back, and why did Max just run away like that–

“Uh, Kim? Do you want me to like… stay here for support? Or do you want to be left alone for a while?”

Kim didn’t need to remove his face from his hands to recognize the voice of Pharaoh Alix.

“Is Jalil with you?” he asked, his voice sounding muffled through his hands.

“Nope. Just me.”

Oh thank goodness, that was okay. He would be grateful for the support of his best friend as long as her annoying, snarky brother wasn’t around to ruin things.

“G-good. Then you can s-stay here.”

“Okay. But for the record I have no idea how to comfort people who are upset so uh… let me know if I do something stupid.”

Doing something stupid? That was a Kim thing to do. Like crying over the fact that Max had just left, even though it didn’t matter, and of course Max left, he was royalty and he had a job to do.

“I didn’t k-kiss him, by the way,” Kim said, his tears finally starting to subside enough that he could put his hands down again.

“Yeah. I guessed.” Alix sat down beside him. “I don’t think you’d be crying otherwise. You’d be in that hall bragging to everyone about having a new sweetheart who’s smarter than anyone else.”

Kim couldn’t help but giggle a little. That was exactly the kind of thing he would have done. “I didn’t mean to cry. I’m just…”

“You’re just a hopeless romantic who has a lot of strong emotions, that’s all. That’s not a bad thing, you know. In fact,” she muttered, sounding a little wistful, “sometimes I wish I could know what that’s like.”

“Having crushes on people is overrated. Trust me.”

“Oh good, so I’m not missing anything.”

“Definitely not.”

“Still.” She looked more serious now. “I think you should tell Max how you feel.”

“I told you, I’m gonna do it during the Cupid Festival.”

“Fine, if that’ll make you feel better. But trust me. You should definitely do it.”

Kim sighed. “How do you know it’ll all work out?”

“It can’t go any worse than the mess of the other timelines, I can tell you that. And I just have a good feeling about you and Max. Like, a really, really good feeling.”

“Do you think he likes me back?”

She hesitated for a few seconds before answering, “Do you think so?”

“I don’t know! He seemed like he was being romantic with me just now, but then… he just left…”

Kim could feel the tears coming back so he just stopped talking. Alix gave his arm a gentle punch.

“He cares about you, don’t worry. I’m sure you didn’t scare him off. He’s just got a lot of boring royal stuff to get back to. Peace Balls are always a lot of work, especially if you’re the country hosting it, trust me.”

“Yeah… you’re right…”

“Anyway, maybe you should get your mind off Max for a while. Do you want me to tell you about lacrosse so that this match with the servant won’t be a total loss?”

Kim nodded. “Yes please.”

“Alright, well, it’s this sport that’s usually played in stuffy boarding schools in Anglia, with these stick things which kind of have nets on them – well I’m not explaining this very well but you’ll see what I mean – and there’s two teams of people…”

She wasn’t very good at explaining, but he was grateful anyway for keeping his mind away from things that were painful to think about. Lacrosse sounded weird. He was starting to regret challenging Adam about it earlier. Why did he always do things like that? He was probably going to lose!

“Do you want me to be on your lacrosse team?” Alix asked.

Wait – this was good! This was very good! She actually knew what lacrosse was and much like Kim, she was fairly good at sporty things in general. Maybe with her on the team, they could actually win!

“Oh yes, you are definitely on my team,” he said. “I can’t have a team without my super cool best friend on it, can I?”

She grinned and punched his arm again. “Good, ‘cause if you didn’t let me on your team then I’d trick you into having one of those gross mixed up drinks again.”

He ruffled the bit of hair that was sticking out from under her headdress. “I wouldn’t blame you.”

“Anyway,” she said, her grin turning rather more evil now, “have you got socks on? Because this marble terrace seems like it would be great for sock-sliding on, y’know… and that way we won’t have to go back inside to the boringness…”

Oh, that sounded like so much fun! It was weird how quickly Kim’s mood was changing to something much more positive. How was that happening? The “power of friendship” …?

Nah, that was way too cheesy, such a magical power surely didn’t exist, even if friendship was pretty awesome…

Whatever. He took his shoes off and then stood up, socks on and ready to go. “Heck yeah, let’s go sock-sliding!”

“Nice!”

This was going to be great. And hopefully it would keep his mind off Max until he could sort out his emotions…

[kmalexander]

Trip Report – Santa Fe

The decision was made immediately after Kari-Lise and I got our first dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine back in May. TRAVEL. Travel was calling. Call it a spontaneous trip or revenge travel, we were hungry for the world. Like everyone else, we’d spent last year social distancing and sticking close to home, doing our part to stop the spread. Now, on our way to being fully inoculated and assured we wouldn’t unknowingly spread the virus to others, we craved a change of scenery—something opposite from the verdant mountains of Western Washington. We plotted our vaccine schedule, figured out the timeline, and booked a trip.

It’s been a decade since we visited Santa Fe, and it’s no surprise the city called to us once again. It’s an easy trip in non-pandemic times and was a place we both wanted to revisit. In May we weren’t sure how everything would play out, but we decided to roll the dice and plan for a trip of a few days exploring the town and the surrounding landscape. It was well worth it. Like any instance of travel, I came away feeling invigorated and creatively inspired. After a year at home, it was good to get away, breathe the thin desert air, and visit a place so unlike my daily experience. As the pandemic recedes in here America, everyone is still feeling out public behavior. But even with the mild awkwardness, the results were a trip comprised of fantastic food, incredible art, and surprising exploration.

The Food

It’s not going to be possible to share this trip without hitting on the copious amounts of delicious food we devoured. New Mexico is the land of the chile, and red and green varieties show up in every menu across the state, no matter what cuisine. When ordering, one is often asked if you want red or green chile—you can also opt for both by ordering your meal “Christmas.” (Yeah, it sounded corny the first time I said it as well. But the place is called Santa Fe. *rimshot*) Neither are particularly spicy despite the many warnings for tourists, but both are complex and flavorful. Trying different combos is worth the effort there’s no wrong choice here. Choose what works for you and enjoy.

Standout meals include the tacos from El Chile Toreado (arguably some of the best tacos I’ve ever had). The Short Rib Birria from Paloma, probably the fanciest dining we experienced on the trip. Solid enchiladas from The Shed (a return visit). And a strange little chile dog from the Taos Ale House; a mess to eat but incredibly delicious.

The Art

The third-largest art market in the United States is an artery running through the heart of Santa Fe along a street known as Canyon Road. (At this point it has spread well beyond Canyon Road, but posterity likes a metaphor.) The narrow lane is lined with over a hundred art galleries and studio spaces full of a variety of art. Everything from contemporary to traditional art, sculpture to jewelry, couture clothing to leather goods is offered somewhere along the route, and it’s easy to lose yourself for half a day or more.

These wind sculptures were quite relaxing.

Much had changed in the decade since our last visit, as one would suspect. Couple that with a receding pandemic and Canyon Road felt like a place awakening from a long slumber. In some spots, masks were optional for the fully vaccinated. Others were still being cautious and requiring masks and social distancing for all guests. We were happy to oblige and spent many hours wandering through the galleries discussing art and finding new favorites.

The standout for me was discovering the work of Grant Hayunga at his own recently opened gallery. His work varies but what stood out were his mixed media pieces that sat somewhere between paintings and relief sculpture. Made of various materials, calcium carbonate, crushed marble, beeswax, Hayunga creates fascinating pieces that explore humanity and our relationship with nature. My favorite from this series is fur trapper a recent piece from this year. He also creates these stunning neo-traditional landscapes, one of which—2016’s Asleep—enthralled both Kari-Lise and me. It’s all beautiful work, easily my favorite of the whole Canyon Road experience. You all need to buy more books from me so I can get one of his pieces.

“fur trapper” 2021, hanging in the Grant Hayunga Gallery

Meow Wolf

Canyon Road wasn’t the only artistic experience of the trip. When we last visited Santa Fe, the art collective known as Meow Wolf was still in its infancy. In the decade since our visit, they have experienced significant growth. Their permanent home in Santa Fe is a former-bowling alley funded by some local guy named George R. R. Martin. It sits near the southwestern edge of the city as is home to their first large-scale interactive art experience House of Eternal Return. It’s amazing. The whole thing plays out like an interactive X-Files episode.

I can write a thousand words on what is inside, but it’ll never do it justice. Even photos don’t really capture the magic. You begin outside a modest home oddly enclosed in a warehouse (the reason why is eventually explained). After you pass through the front door (it’s open), you’ll soon discover a rich story told through journals, newspaper articles, videos, and photo albums, pictures on the wall, toys in the bedroom, and much much more. It all ties the family that resided there and their experiences to the surreal worlds you’ll interact with as you move beyond the House itself. I don’t want to go into too much detail on the experience since the House gives back what you bring, and spoilers remove that sense of wonder. (I even consider not sharing pics.)

I came away feeling inspired by the whole thing and thought it’d be great to someday recreate a corner of Lovat for readers to explore in person. Will it ever happen? I don’t know. My “Old Haunts” project is a small attempt at capturing some of that, and while I love them, being able to do it in person would be so rich and satisfying. Imagine standing outside Russel & Sons with rain dropping down around you, muffled jazz blaring from somewhere above, and the smell of spicy noodles cooking from a push cart down the street. Rad idea, right?

House of Eternal Return isn’t Meow Wolf’s only project. They have another installation that went live this year, and more experiences are planned for the future (Denver and eventually Washington D.C.). We’re already looking at a trip to Las Vegas for one reason: visit Omega Mart. Think cosmic horror as a grocery store chain, and you’d be on track. (Check out some of their ads.) It all sounds as creepy and weird and wonderful as I’d hope. I am excited to explore its aisles in the future.

New Mexico Highlands

On a whim, we decided to leave Santa Fe behind and head out into the country. We did this a decade ago, heading northwest toward Abiquiú and the Ghost Ranch. This time we headed northeast toward Taos. Early-summer storms were sweeping across the land, and you could watch enormous dark clouds trailing tails of rain and shadow for miles. For some reason, I expected more of the high desert environment like what I saw ten years previous. But the land toward the northeast was very different to that of the west, it rose suddenly. As we left the desert behind, we found ourselves in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Range of the Southern Rocky Mountains. I’ve grown up among the Rocky’s most of my life. But driving north along highway 68 and looking across the vast Taos plateau and seeing the gorge carved by the Rio Grande was utterly breathtaking. I’ve seen deep valleys before, but never one carved in such flat and open land and from such a height. I still find myself reflecting on that view. Seeing the ground opened up that way was like staring into the vastness of time.

The Río Grande Gorge from the Taos Overlook, off State Road 68 near the “horseshoe.” Photo from the Taos News.

Instead of continuing East across the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, we decided to loop up into the mountains. We found ourselves in Carson National Forest, taking the High Road to Taos scenic byway back to Santa Fe. This is proper mountain country, think tall trees, deep valleys, tiny communities tucked away into hollows, and vast untouched stretches of forest for miles and miles. It all felt closer to home. Beautiful, but not at all what I anticipated.

So Much More

Santa Fe and the surrounding land can be a bit surreal at times. Modern art and interactive art experiences exist alongside deep history. The Palace of the Governors, erected in 1610, is the oldest public building in continuous use in America. Just down the street is the San Miguel Mission, the oldest church in the United States. Outside of Taos is the Taos Pueblo, the oldest continuously inhabited community in the United States, originating sometime between 1000–1450 A.D. and not discovered by Europeans until the sixteenth century. And that only scratches the surface of what you can find in this small section of the state. This doesn’t even begin to cover other places in New Mexico we were unable to visit, locations like White Sands, Roswell, Carlsbad Caverns, Shiprock, Trinity, the burning of Zozobra, Los Alamos, and so much more. There is a density of wonder here and New Mexico doesn’t hold back and is very much worth your attention.

Advice & Tips

You’re going to want to rent a car, this is big country. That said when in town, be willing to walk. There’s so much to see in Santa Fe, and unexpected places are often found on foot.

Eat everything. Try new dishes. Explore New Mexican cuisine. Fear no chile. Don’t be put off by location. Sometimes the smallest trucks tucked into the quietest corners can have the best tacos.

Scenic byways are your friend in Western States and New Mexico is full of them (High Road to Taos, Turquoise Trail, Santa Fe Trail, among many many others). While slower than major freeways, these routes will give travelers glimpses into a New Mexico easily missed by tourists. The extra time is worth it.

This was my fourth trip into New Mexico, my second to Santa Fe, and easily my favorite of the bunch. Each time I visit, the trips get a little longer, and each time I return I wish I had stayed a few more days. The name “Land of Enchantment” is a fitting one. The terrain there is haunting, rich in history and legend, and it calls to the traveler to take time and explore its wonders.

I’m not going to lie, it’s weird to travel right now, even fully vaccinated. People are rightly nervous, business hours are funky, and what we thought of as “normal” has changed significantly. Traveling at the end of a pandemic requires a lot of patience and copious amounts of kindness and empathy. We’re in a transitional period, and those can be both interesting and weird to navigate. However, it’s still worth it to get away for a time, and allow oneself to experience the world again. It was good to return to New Mexico, and a shame to have waited so long to return. Here’s hoping our next visit comes sooner rather than later.

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[amazingviralinfo]

OK, OK, OK.

Kim Kardashians right-hand woman Stephanie Shepherd broke down what its like working for the royal family in an interview, and its almost too much to take in.

Whatever you its like, it 100 percent and also 100 percent is

If you think being Kim Ks assistant is jet-setting around the world, wearing expensive clothing and eating nice meals you are right.

But if you think its a nightmare of logistics, keeping track of the worlds craziest calendars and carrying piles and piles of heavy luggage while taking the fall for everything that goes wrong you are also right.

Shepherd, who is in her late 20s, recentlysat down with Refinery29 and laid it all out there. Here are a few tidbits from the crazy life of a Kardashian assistant.

She was first an assistant to Erika Girardi.

Shepherd explained when she first came to LA, it was a real culture shock. Coming from a small rural town, the fanciest restaurant Steph had at the time was Olive Garden. She said,

When I came out here, it was a whole different thing. I had never seen a Range Rover. I hadnt really traveled, I didnt know what Givenchy was or how to pronounce it. Mikey and Erika took me under their wing and taught me . We traveled the world together. They both opened my eyes to so much, about being a hard-working, meticulous assistant, yes, but also just all the things life can offer.

When she met Kim Kardashian, they both were wearing french braids.

In 2013, aftera quick interview with Kris Jenners assistant, Stephanie was immediately introduced to Kim. At the time, Kim was very pregnant with North.

She was just like, Look, I need help, Robin loves you and says great things about you; this is what I need. Can you do it? And I was like, OK, sure, I can do that and if I cant, Ill figure it out! Meanwhile in my head, I was nervous. Coincidentally we were both wearing French braids Kim later told me she was thinking, This girl has good vibes a braid, Im into her!

She started the very next day.

She drives around with Kimoji merchandise in her trunk, just in case.

Shepherd was recently promoted from assistant to COO of Kardashian West Brands, and a huge part of that is helping Kim keep track of her app, Kimoji. Steph even has a hand in helping design the latest emojis, and takes meetings on behalf of Kim.

For one thing, they are working on adding an asstray. Steph explained, Kim doesnt smoke, but I try to get the weed paraphernalia in there you know, for the youth.

She also drives aroundwith a trunk full of wrapped Kimoji merchandise, saying, With Kim, you never know when you might need to gift some merch!

Kris Jenner really does run the whole world.

Stephanie cant say enough wonderful things about the matriarch of the family, explaining that Kris is both a badass boss and a wonderful mother.

Kris Jenner is a f*cking G. The biggest lesson shes taught me is to not procrastinate. When you want something done, get it done. If youre a procrastinator, this is not the world for you. If someone tells her no, she has no problem standing her ground and saying, Were not accepting that, get someone on the phone and make it happen.

That woman can literally get on the phone and change the world. And somehow, she juggles all of these kids, all of their careers, and still makes sure that every assistant, every staff member, has a Christmas present, delivered to us by Christmas, with a thoughtful card. And its a ass Christmas present. Thats the kind of person I aspire to be one day.

Her biggest advice to other assistants is to write everything down.

Steph doesnt pretend shes superhuman, and admits shes made mistakes. However, her biggest piece of advice to share with any assistant is to take notes. Lots and lots of notes.

Every time I see an intern not taking notes when theyre getting instructions, Im like, youre gonna fuck this up! Just write it down its not that hard!

She was there for the infamous Paris robbery.

Steph was out at a nightclub with Kims sister Kourtney when she got the call. Immediately, she went into crisis management mode.

It was terrifying. At the time, I had to hold it together and make sure everything was getting handled, and that we could get Kim home as quickly and safely as possible

Wherever we are, my instinct is just to protect her. I would truly take a bullet for her.

The Kardashian sisters really DO work out as much as you think they do.

Steph, who used to be a professional dancer, works out because of the sisters.

She said, Being around Kim and Kourtney and Khlo, Im always working out. I never was a big exercise person before, but they work out religiously.

She and Kim talk more than any other two people on the planet.

she has an independent relationship with all of her sisters.

Being a Kardashian employee means constant communication and accessibility. She said, I dont think its possible for any person to talk to anyone more than I talk to Kim.

Apparently, Kanye West is actually very funny.

Which, I guess, makes sense? Stephanie explains most people think he is very serious, dramatic, and mooddy but apparently Yeezy can lay on some great one-liners.

I think people would be surprised to know how funny Kanye is. Do people know that hes funny? I know everyone thinks hes so deep and serious, but hes also funny, like he has me rolling laughing, and sometimes Im like, Is this inappropriate that Im laughing so hard? But hes just so f*cking hilarious, he has these one-liners, and hes just so unfiltered.

She can also work a camera, and often films for during more private moments.

For example, shewasnt even part of the wedding ceremony for Kim and Kanyes wedding, because she was busy filming from the roof.

I didnt even get to watch the ceremony because I was also filming I often producer-cam the more personal moments for the show, when they dont want full-on cameras around

I was in Adidas sweatpants and a T-shirt and hadnt showered that day! And then I walked her down to the elevator so she could walk down that really long stone aisle, and then I ran back up and started filming her from the roof! That was the money shot for the show. Meanwhile, there was some security guy yelling at me, You cant film here!

For now, this is all she wants to do.

As an assistant, people often ask her Whats next?, and to Shepherd, that doesnt quite make sense. Im just like, what do you ? She adds,Honestly, Im just going to see where it takes me. Im learning. Im helping Kim Kardashian run her empire. Im also building something for myself. I think thats a pretty f*cking great gig.

You said it, Steph. You said it.