#WHAT DO YOU MEAN LET'S GO PLAY POR WE SHOULD PLAY POR POR SOUNDS FUN

[spookysmujer]

‘03 Bonnie & Clyde, O.Diaz

Summary: After hearing many stories of the infamous Santo, Oscar Diaz, you have your first encounter with him at a block party.

warnings: cute s h e t 🥺

word count: 1.2K

a/n: All we need in this life of sin is Oscar’s fine ass 🥵 thank you for requesting babes!  Please consider: following my blog, heart/comment/reblog my content as well as turning on the notifs for when I post new content, much appreciated :)

requested by: @justatiredfool​

(gif belongs to @goldscoyne​ ✨)

You weren’t one to go to parties. In fact you can count on one hand how many parties you had been to since the end of high school. It’s sad but it’s who you are. You prefer the comfort of your own home along with a good book and some red wine. But after the many mentions of the party from a friend, you felt you had no choice but to say yes. 

“I am so happy you are here! Go mingle!” 

Another cup beer is placed in your hand. Your friend is gone just as soon as she appeared. You shake your head with a small smile on your lips while taking a sip of the bitter liquid. There are a bunch of familiar faces here along with some you don’t know. No harm in making new friends?

The first summer party since graduating high school a few weeks ago. It’ll be fun, you’ll drink and enjoy some good company. It’s a time to celebrate! You’re in the corner, watching guys play beer pong and girls ogling over them. Soon enough the house piles with more bodies and it feels overly clustered.

Out in the backyard, it’s nearly as packed but there is more free flowing air. You scan the crowd and see a bunch of classmates, lower classmen and the town’s up-to-no good gang, the Santos. The older group of guys have girls surrounding them. It’s pathetic to see how they are flinging themselves at them for attention that will probably only last one night. 

For a moment you watch the one they call ‘Spooky’. How is it they get their names when joining a gang? Is it given to them? Do they do something that determines it? You are so lost in trying to figure it out, you find he is staring back at you. Some of the other Santos taking notice as well. The smug looks on their faces make you step away, bumping into someone and spilling your drink all over your top. You groan and make your way to the bathroom.

The fabric of your halter top is soaked and there is no way you plan on spending the night like this. You send a quick text to your friend that you have to leave. But she doesn’t respond at all and you remember quickly that she was your ride to the party. You are standing near the street, cursing to yourself, “You’re Y/S/N’s little sister, right?” 

The voice makes you jump as you swivel on your heel to see Spooky standing behind you. You clutch your chest and look around if there is anyone else he could be talking to. Though it’s dumb to think so considering he just asked about your older sister. “Um, yeah I am. How do you know her?” He cracks a small smile.

“Went to school with her. Though she stayed behind a grade due to getting knocked up, she was a cool ass chick.” He explains and you nod, intrigued that he was never mentioned in any conversations you had with Y/S/N. “What’s your name?”

You take a second before answering, “Y/N.”

He nods, stepping away from you to light a blunt. You watch as he fires it up and takes a big hit, holding out to you as an offer. You politely decline, trying to not make things awkward but you’ve never talked with a gang member before. Or an older guy at that. Your sister is nearly 7 years older than you.

“Cool. Y/N.” You smile and look away. Something about how he is painted as this badass guy but the more you keep looking at him, his features seem so soft. And he speaks respectfully towards you. “Trying to get home. Soaked my top.” 

“I can give you a ride, party is lame and half these hynas can’t take a hint.” That makes you laugh and you ponder the offer of a ride home. And though you were always told to never jump in with strangers, you don’t feel entirely uncomfortable around him.

You look around and notice your low battery on your phone. It would die soon and you’d really be stranded not being able to call an uber or lyft. With your sister no longer living in Freeridge, parents divorced with your dad out of the picture and mom an ER nurse currently working a graveyard shift, the Santo leader is your next best option.

He waits for a response, “You sure? I mean… it won’t be bad for your reputation to be seen driving around a fresh outta high school hyna?” It’s his turn to laugh. “On the contrary.”

After sometime you nod your head and he leads his way to his ride. It's a beautiful 1963 Chevy Impala in a gleaming red color. You admire it as you approach it. He notices you looking at it with big interest, most girls exaggerated how much of a sexy car it is just to get in it and make out with him. But you are different with it and he admires that about you.

You run your hand along the hood of it. It’s nothing new to see these old school rides in California but for a place like Freeridge with all the goes down, his car is in mint condition, “You into cars?” He asks as you straighten up after leaning down to take a look at his trims. “Not really, but my dad used to always check out those car shows a couple of towns over, I remember him talking about Impalas a lot.”

“What kind of ride does he have?” You chuckle, “I wouldn’t know, he left when I was 7.” He watches as you get in through the passenger side. Turns out there are more similarities between the two of you than meets the eye.

“Are you sure you are okay with driving me home,Spooky? Aren’t your friends gonna think something?” Oscar always preferred that the ladies call him by his street name. He internally cringed hearing you call him that as he turned on the engine. “ Call me Oscar, they ain’t gonna think of nothing. I’m just giving you a ride home.” 

You look over at him and watch him for a brief moment. Truly how the saying goes that there is more beneath the surface. Your first thoughts of him were of a gangster that could never be up to no good. But turns out, he isn’t half as bad.

After giving him directions to your place, he’s pulling onto the street no longer than 15 minutes later. And within that time, you two chatted up about all kinds of things. Cars, school, even some hopes and dreams. You hadn’t noticed the time that passed by til you checked the time on his dash.

“Geez, it’s nearly 4AM. My bad.” You apologize knowing you can be quite chatty, he brushes it off, thanking you for the company you gave him. “I should get in. My mom will be home in half an hour and well, she has a mean throwing arm with range.”

Oscar laughs wholeheartedly at your comment, making you laugh as well. “Gracias por todo, Oscar. Um, there’s a car show outside of LA next week. I don’t know much about rides but I’m sure you’d like it.”

Are these butterflies? Oscar thinks as you wait for an answer, “Sounds dope. I’ll pick you. Um, should I call?” He asks you as the feeling of butterflies begins to fill your stomach. You nod and pull out your eyeliner from your purse to scribble on his arm, he looks at it then to you as you exit his car. A smile stuck on his face.

How eventful tonight has been.

taglist: @clemmingstylins0n @fairygardenss@princesstiffxoxo@firebenderwolf @spookysnena @mbaku-babygirl @chellybear98@multiyfandomgirl40 @i-just-wanna-live-gc @roury66 @lillict @tinylumpiaa @prettymya3@starrynite7114 @onmyspookysblock @aneitii​ @b3mybunnybaby​  @angelxfics​  @spookysbabymama​ @kkim120​ @ladylj​ @vayagrxce​ @irenne-stans​ @boujee-bitches​ (please let me know if you want to be added or removed!)

[aficwhore]

Truth Is (Chapter 2)

Chapter 2: In the Moonlight

Frankie “Catfish” Morales x F!reader

Summary: After Benny’s fight, Chipmunk and Frankie bicker and have a heated argument, leading to something unexpected. When the moment passes the gang goes back to ‘Chip’s’ place to prepare for Colombia in the morning. Fish and ‘Chip’ reunite in the moonlight, but not for long. 

Word count: 4.9K

Warnings: explicit language, blood, violence, guns/weapons, lots of angst and emotions, infidelity, smut, sexual innuendos, drinking, mentions of drugs, talk of death, and talk of mental health(PTSD and depression).

A/N: I was so excited to start this new part, I had no exact plan on how I want it to go, but I went with what I was feeling in the moment. On a Side note THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 100 FOLLOWERS, you all are so special to me <3.

“And the winner is!” The announcer yelled, his voice echoing through the arena, pausing just enough to make us anxious, “Ben Miller!” He then raised the hand which held Benny’s arm, to showcase the successor.

In seconds you could hear Will, “Yeah! That’s my baby brother!” followed by proud roars, ours being the loudest in the crowd. I jumped from my seat and started jumping up and down. Too distracted by my glee, I didn’t notice Frankie had stood up from next to me. Once I saw him from the corner of my eye, he picked me up, jumping with me pressed to him, Santi and Tom cheering and playfully slapping each other and Will. 

Though the whole room was bursting with noise and people, when I made eye contact with Francisco, it felt like the whole world stopped. As if we were the only ones here. His smile slowly dropped into a face conflicted with lust and other emotions, I guess mine did the same. He slowly released me, placing me back on my feet, his eyes still bore into mine. 

After a few seconds, his eyes flickered down to my lips. He leaned closer to me, attempting to bring his lips to mine. Feeling my heart stop when his lips lightly brushed mine, I quickly pull away, before our lips could fully meet. Clearing my throat, “We should hurry up and congratulate Benny, then we can all go rest at my house.” 

Fish’s expression read nothing but confusion and sadness. “I-uh, yeah sure.” I swiftly turned to find the boys, but they had already started to make their way through the crowd and back to the locker room. 

My body began to buzz with emotions, not knowing how to feel in this moment. I didn't quite understand why I pulled away, I wanted nothing more than to kiss him, but something didn’t feel right. The timing maybe, or even just the setting, or maybe the fact that I haven’t had closure from that one night many months ago. 

Trying to snap out of my thoughts, I walked a little faster to catch up, hopefully leaving Frankie behind so I could shake this feeling. As I swiftly made it back into the locker room I saw the rest of them surrounding Benny on the bench and making jokes, while Will held a towel to his face, collecting the blood dripping from his split eyebrow.

“Chippy!” the younger Miller exclaimed when his eyes made contact with mine. “Sad to see I didn’t lose?” he questioned with a smirk playing on his lips. 

Shaking my head and laughing, I glided over to him, taking over for Will, and pulling the towel away, examining the cut. “You may have won, but this sure does look nasty Benny Boy.” I light heartedly explained.

“Then it’s a good thing you’re here to patch me up.” He chuckled, a small pleading look in his eyes.

I quickly turned to Will “If I’m gonna fix this, I’m gonna need a first aid kit.” All he did was nod before trailing off the grab one. 

Before I could realize Frankie was in the room with us I heard, “You did great out there kid.” He gave him a nod of approval. “Honestly was surprised, the other guy was a lot bigger than you, which I didn’t think was possible.” 

Benny burst into laughter, Frankie, Santi, and Tom joining in as Will came back and handed me the kit. “Alright boys, I think we should give Mr. BigShot here, a break.” I suggested, opening the kit and pulling out some alcohol pads, gauze, and some bandaids. They all nodded and filed out the back door into the parking lot.

As I began to dab at Benny’s eyebrow, he flinched. “So, you gonna finally tell Fish about everything? You know, since now you guys are kinda talking again?”

“Ben...No, I can’t. You know that. Only you and your brother know.” I explained, attempting to use butterfly tape to seal the cut closed. Carefully, I secured the tape with a bandaid over it, making sure to be gentle as Benny sat perfectly still in front of me, staring at me.

“Fish would be understanding, maybe even regretful with how he acted. If you just told him, he would realize how dumb everything was!” The kid chirped in a hopeful tone.

With a frustrated sigh, I spoke. “No Benny, I don’t think it’s worth it, because I’m not over how he handled it all.” I turned away from him, picking up the trash from the first aid kit.

He tried to convince me again, reaching up for my shoulder. “But you won't even give it a chance, what if-” 

“No! I already said no! Leave it alone! If I want to, then I will do it when I want to!” I shouted, letting my anger out. I yanked out of his grip, causing a sad look to appear on his slightly tattered face. He stayed silent, making me feel quite bad for raising my voice. “Look hun, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap. Just so many emotions were awoken today. You can’t blame me.”

He quietly shook his head and stood up. Towering over me, he stepped towards me and wrapped his big and long arms around me, securing me in a well-needed hug. “I’m sorry, I pushed it, I shouldn’t have. I get it, you need time to process and heal. Don’t apologize, I love you Chip.” 

“I love you too B.” I hugged him back for a brief moment. “But please, for the love of all things holy, go take a shower.” I tilted back smiling up at him, reaching up and pinching my nose shut to make fun of him.

“That’s rude.” He scoffed with a smile on his lips. “I’ll see you tonight at your’s, right?” He asked as he gathered his things, heading off to the showers.

I nodded, waving and spinning around to leave out the back. When I walked through the door, I was greeted with Frankie. He was leaning against the wall next to the door. I glanced around, in hopes to find the others, but they all had vanished.

“Hey, I wanted to talk to you.” He spoke, pushing himself off the wall and towards me. I nonchalantly crossed my arms, still looking around.

“What about the others?” I inquired, wanting to avoid this conversation.

“They left, I told them I would drive you home and meet them there after they grab everything.” He revealed, taking in an encouraging breath. “But I wanted to talk to you about something, about us. To be exact.” He paused, stretching his hand out, behind his neck. As he began to sheepishly rub the back of his neck, he continued. “Look, I know things happened very badly, and I could’ve listened. And if I did, maybe we would- I don’t know, maybe we would still be together. But if you just told me the truth-”

“Excuse me? I know you are not trying to apologize and then still say its my fault I didn’t tell you everything?” I interrupted angrily. 

His body tensed, I could physically see the anger arising in him. “Would you just shut up and let me talk?” He spat, making me slightly jump in my skin. “This is another reason why things happened the way they did, you don’t know when to stop and be quiet.”

“You know what, fuck you.” I reacted, “Want to know what I was keeping from you? Want to finally know the goddamned truth? Well Dr. Philips is my fucking therapist.” His face contorted with confusion. “I was getting help, because I was getting worse again. The nightmares came back, and so did the depression, but I was too ashamed of telling anyone. So Fuck off Frankie.” 

Twisting around, I began to make my way out to the street. “Nena (babygirl), damn it, please, I’m sorry. I-I didn’t know.” He pleaded from behind me. 

Completely ignoring him, I kept walking in the direction of my apartment, even though it was blocks, maybe even miles away. When I heard his footsteps get closer, I sped up, trying to lose him once again. Then finally, it was quiet, except the sound of my own feet on the sidewalk and the bustle of the city.

After walking for a few more minutes, my anger calmed, until I heard a car pull up and drive slowly next to me. 

“Por favor (please), get in the car.” Francisco’s voice came from the window of the car. I acted as if I didn’t hear anyone and kept walking, facing straight ahead. “Stop being stubborn and get in! You can’t walk all the way home, it’s going to get dark!”

I rolled my eyes, still ignoring him. Then I no longer could hear the car, which piqued my curiosity, had he really given up that easily? I slowed my pace and as I turned my head to glance behind me, I was lifted into the air. “Hey! Put me down! Help! Help!” I screamed.

“Would you cut it out!” Frankie shouted, struggling to hold on to me as I swung and flailed in his arms. 

“I’m being kidnapped! Someone help!” I kept yelling. “Save me-” My voice being muted as he clamped a firm hand over my mouth, continuing to drag me into his car. As he was forcing me to sit in the passenger side, he yelped. “I know you did not just bite me!”

I huffed, “Well if you weren't trying to abduct me, I wouldn't have to!” His hand reached over me to buckle the seat belt around me, I leaned forward, attempting to bite him again. 

“What are you?! A fucking piranha?!” He screeched, yanking back.

Though he pulled back, his face was still inches away from mine. Our eyes met again. Our feud seemed to melt away with each passing second that his eyes bore into mine. I no longer wanted to put up a fight. Every inch of me ached for me to forgive him and make up, but I couldn’t. No matter how badly I wished to, I knew that our split wasn’t my fault, nor his, but its both of our faults for being so stubborn. 

“Baby,” He spoke softly, pulling me back to reality. His gorgeous brown eyes still locked on mine. His lips lay slightly open, fanning his breath across my face. His breath smelled like mint, it mixed with his scent. He always smelled woodsy, like pine and bergamot. I had missed his intoxicating smell for so long, that I wanted to revel in it, even just for a few seconds. 

I reached out my hand, letting it carefully caress his cheek, his stubble rough against my palm. He didn’t move, he stayed just a hand’s length away, allowing me to sweep my fingers along his cheek, down his neck, and to the collar of the shirt he wore. I gripped the ring of fabric and tugged him forward, crashing his pillowy lips against mine. 

It wasn’t a sweet kiss, it was a needy, rough kiss. Our teeth clashed as our lips parted, inviting each other in. Our tongues swept across each other as one of his hands tangled into my hair and the other gripping my jaw, coaxing me to open up more for him.

It felt like sweet relief, longing and pining had been all forgotten. The man I missed so much, was right in front of me, touching me, kissing me, which I dreamed of for nights on end. 

When I let go of his shirt and began to trail my hand lower, Frankie released my jaw and stopped my hand. He broke the kiss, offering a light chuckle when I whined at the loss of contact. 

“You have no idea how much I missed that. How much I missed you. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I didn’t respect your boundaries and that you weren’t ready to tell me.” He whispered with worry, placing his forehead on mine, rubbing his nose against my nose. I closed my eyes taking in the feeling. He laced his fingers with mine, with the hand that still held it to his chest. 

“I know Francisco, I’m sorry too. I should’ve told you, I could've still had you all these past months if I just got over myself and came clean.” I choked out, trying to keep calm.

He squeezed my hand, “Its okay, it’s over now. Please tell me its over.” It sounded like he was close to crying.

I nodded quickly, not wanting to speak, because if I did, I know my voice would crack with emotion. 

He remained crouched halfway into the passenger side, forehead to forehead with me. “Amor (love), they're going to make it to my house before I do.” I giggled, regretting my words moments later when we split. He nodded with a smile, stepped back and shut my door. He hurried around and got back in, starting the engine and making his way to my apartment. 

During the drive he reached over, taking my hand in his, and glancing over every once in a while to make sure I was okay. 

We sat in comfortable silence, until he spoke up. “I still have to run by my place and grab my things, do you mind if we stop on the way?” 

“Not at all.” I responded, bringing up our joined hands, to kiss the back of his. 

We rushed to his place, I stayed in the car as he ran in and gathered what he needed. It all seemed a blur, the euphoria from the event minutes before clouding my brain. 

When we made it back to my place it was dark and everyone was already inside, I guess one of the Miller’s used their spare key to get in. I helped Frankie grab his bags and head inside with them. As we walked through the door, the rest of the team was huddled on my couch, scarfing down pizza which I assume Benny bought. They glanced up and waved quickly before going back to eating and watching whatever they were playing on the TV. I set Fish’s stuff down with the other’s and walked further into the living room to find that the boys had laid out their blankets and pillows for the night already. 

I sat on the floor in front of the boys and grabbed a slice of pizza while Frankie set up his own area to sleep. When he finished, he strolled over and sat next to me. 

For the rest of the movie they guys were watching, we ate and chatted until we got tired and were ready for bed. I made sure to pick up the mess we made and helped the boys get comfy. When they were all laid down and falling fast asleep like children, I smiled to myself as I turned off the lights and headed to my room to turn in for the night. 

I tiptoed quietly, careful not to wake them as I walked to the laundry room and changed into my sleep clothes. Right as I made it back to my room, a hand reached out and covered my mouth to muffle the startled scream I was about to let out. 

“Its me, its just me.” Frankie’s voice contrasted with the silence of the room. I relaxed, turning around to face him. It was dark but I could still see some of his features with the help of the moonlight coming through the windows. 

His eyes crinkled with a smile, his teeth shining brightly. I couldn’t help but lean forward and kiss him. This kiss was loving and gentle. His lips moved against mine as I let my arms wrap around his neck, pulling him closer. Feeling him flush against me, made my skin become hot with want and need. 

He seemed to notice because he deepened the kiss, pushing me further into my room and shutting the door behind us. In seconds he spun us around and pressed me against the wall. He tilted his head back to look at me, not daring to move, except his arm.

His cool hand trailed up my thigh, dragging my sleepshirt with it. His fingers leave goosebumps in their wake. The material bunching on my hip, revealing the shorts I had on. I felt breathless from his touch as his index finger dipped into the waistband, lightly tugging on it. “Please tell me you need this as much as I do cariño.” He pauses with his nose nudging the side of my jaw, waiting for a response.

“Yes, pl-please, just touch me Frankie.” I stuttered, feeling my heart beat harder for him. In an instant, he drug the shorts down my legs, following them, and kissing the skin they surpassed. Once they were off and tossed away, he began his journey back up, but stopping at my stomach. I gasped as he kissed and licked at the hem of my panties, tasting the fabric and soft tummy underneath.

Through his eyelashes, he looked up and met my admiring gaze. My skin burned with desire, as if his touch was the only cure.

With little effort he wrapped one of his hands around my calf, pulling it up, and placing it over his shoulder, causing me to push my weight against the wall behind me. A small smirk finds its way to his face as he moves my panties to the side. Feeling vulnerable and exposed, I carded my hand through his hair, silently begging him to touch me.

“Paciencia mi amor (Patience my love).” his breath ghosted over my wet core, making me whimper with need. And at that moment he dipped down, placing a sloppy kiss where I wanted him most.

He placed another open mouth kiss on my mound, letting his tongue peak out and part me. My breath hitched when I felt his warm tongue flick at my aching clit. He did it again, causing me to buck my hips, asking for more friction. As he continued, slowly beginning to roll and suck on the bundle of nerves, he ran his hands up the back of my thighs, gripping my ass and pulling more of my weight onto his shoulders. 

He sucked harder, bringing a hand forward, and dipping his fingers into my wetness. “Fuck, I missed your sweet taste.” He murmured from between my legs, scissoring me open with his fingers. A moan escaped my lips, not loud, but enough to spur Frankie on. He started to go faster, working me closer and closer to the edge. His hot breath encompassing my wet heat when he would open his mouth to lick a broad stripe up my slit.

Losing focus on all things other than the man situated at my cunt, I could feel him swiping his tongue across my lips, as if he was spelling something. His movements were too intricate for me to understand, if he was spelling. 

I could feel a mix of my arousal and his spit start to drip down my thigh, sending a shiver up my spine. He broke away from my wetness, and chased the leaking fluid, catching it with his tongue, licking and sucking up the trail slowly, teasing me, making me wait longer for a release. 

My head started to spin with lust, nothing but quiet whimpers and his name leaving my mouth. “Please, stop teasing m-” I was cut off by him curling his fingers and speeding up. He placed his mouth back on me, determined to make me finish. I tugged his hair on accident, the pleasure surging through my body.

He moaned into me from my actions, vibrations radiating through me, allowing the coil in my stomach to tighten quickly. “Yes, don’t stop,” I moaned, trying to keep my voice low. Even though my body burned for me to scream in ecstasy, there were four other men in my living room asleep.

He curled his fingers again, hitting my g-spot. A loud moan eludes me, I quickly bring my hand, free of his hair, up to my lips, biting the skin on the back, in hopes of muffling my noises.

Just as I thought I had it under control, the coil tightened to its max, and snapped. I felt my legs rush with heat and wetness. MY legs threatened to give out as Frankie kept going, prolonging the white, hot, orgasm ripping through me. He gripped my ass again, holding me up, he could feel my legs tremble around him. 

Feeling a little too sensitive I slightly jerked away, slowing coming down from cloud nine. He took this as a sign to stop, he pulled back, placed a gentle kiss to my lips for the last time. He peered up at me, watching my relaxed face come back to reality, and stroking my thighs. 

As my breathing calmed, I looked down, finding my handsome Frankie, staring at me with adoration in his eyes and a smile on his face. I picked my leg off his shoulder, leaned over and grabbed his face in my hands, tugging him up to meet me, embracing him in a passionate and strong kiss. 

I could taste myself on his lips, his face wet with my slick, letting our lips glide smoothly against each other. He placed his hands back on my ass, walking back towards the bed, and me still pressed to him.

His knees backed into the edge of the frame, but he still stood tall. I broke the kiss, a seductive smile on my lips. I grabbed the hem of my shirt, pulling it up and over my head, showing my bare chest to him. I tossed the shirt away and stepped out of my soaked panties, kicking them into the abyss of the dark room.

Frankie watched me intently, never taking his eyes off my frame. I came close to him, my fingers playing with this shirt. In seconds he tore off his shirt and began to yank his shorts and underwear down. Once they pooled at his feet, I leaned into him, kissing his jaw, nipping at the skin while my hand found his naked member, hard and leaking. His breath caught in his throat when I lightly stroked him. 

“I’m not go-going to last long baby, its been too long.” He choked out, struggling to keep his cool. I nodded, placing one last kiss to his neck. I stepped next to him, to get on the bed. I got on my knees, looking back to make sure he was watching me. As we made eye contact, I slowly bent forward, stretching my arms out straight in front of me. I guided my chest down and into the mattress, leaving my ass in the air and on display for him. 

I relaxed my face into the covers, feeling him touching my thighs and ass, lightly pinching the skin as he traveled up the skin. 

“Mierda (shit), all for me?” he questioned with a playful slap to my right cheek, luring a soft moan from me.

“Yes, all for you Frankie, always.” I responded, shaking my ass, hoping he would fuck me soon. The bed dipped behind my knees as he joined me. Thats when I felt his hard cock pressed to my cunt. He tapped himself on my clit, causing me to surge forward at the contact. 

He chuckled, “Are you sure princesa?” as he ran his head through my folds, eliciting a moan from me.

“Yes, Jesus Frankie, just fuck me already.” I growled frustratedly.

At my command, he lined himself up at my entrance and pushed into me. The stretch was borderline painful, it had been months since I'd taken him, and he was already bigger than all my exes.

Once he bottomed out, he gripped my hip and snaked his free arm around me, pulling me up and flush against his chest. He began to kiss and suck my neck, slowly rocking into me. His hand stayed at the base of my neck, splayed across my collarbones, pressing me into him. 

“Faster,” I whined, feeling him move quicker and more deliberately. His breath tickled my ear as he groaned, feeling me tightly wrapped around him.

As his pace quickened, I reached a hand behind me and braced it on his upper thigh, attempting to meet his hips. With a particularly aimed thrust, I moaned fairly loud, being consumed by the pleasure.

“Shh,” He spoke between grunts, “Unless you want the boys to know that I'm balls deep in you, filling you up with my cock.” He gave a hard thrust, never losing his pace. My free hand slapped my mouth, covering my cries.

Our hips sped up, meeting more passionately, with more meaning. With every thrust, all problems between us seemed to dissipate. I no longer cared about all things before tonight. All that mattered was him, us, and this moment. Being connected to him again never felt so good.

All that could be heard in the silence was the snap of his hips against mine, the small noises we let escape us, and the quiet creak of the bed below us. The moonlight illuminated our entangled bodies, the sweat gleaming in the night. 

The coil in my stomach tightening again, the waves of pleasure threatening to spill over the edge. Frankie had to be getting close, his thrusts became more erratic. He reached his hand from hip, down to my clit, rubbing in tight circles, trying to bring me to the brink with him.

“Fuck you're so tight, w-where do you-” He questioned until I cut him off.

“Cum in me baby.” I moaned, feeling my orgasm take over, the waves of bliss crashing down, taking me with it. Whiteness blinded my vision as my body convulsed against his chest. 

He thrusted a few more times before he let out a broken grunt, pumping his load into me, mixing our hot releases together, letting them seep out and down our legs. 

I turned my head to the side, reaching back and grabbing the back of Frankie’s head, pulling him into a kiss as we calmed down. The smell of sex filling our senses. He slowly pulled out causing me to whine at the loss of him. 

When we finally recovered, he got off the bed, taking me with him to the bathroom. He sat me on the sink, opened the cabinet underneath and grabbed a cloth, coming back up to wet it. Then he gently spread my thighs apart, cleaning up the remnants of the act. He then cleaned himself.

“You should go to the bathroom while I grab our pajamas.” He spoke softly, pressing a kiss to my lips and turned to scavenge for our clothes we had lost in the dark corners of my room. 

I hopped off the counter and sat on the toilet. I went to the bathroom, but began to feel exhausted. My eyelids felt heavy, drooping over my eyes.

Frankie came back in, only dressed in his boxers, my clothes in his hand. “I know love, let’s get you dressed so we can sleep.” He whispered, helping me up and helped me get dressed. His face had an unreadable expression, what could he be thinking? All was forgotten when he picked me up bridal style and led us to my bed, he pulled the covers back and laid me down, tucking me in. 

He wondered around the bed and got in behind me. He pulled me to his chest as sleep began to drag me under. His arm laid across my body and his hand splayed across my chest, feeling my heartbeat. Thats all I could process as I fell more deeply into slumber.

It may have been a dream but I felt him lean over, kiss my temple and whisper “I’m sorry for everything.” And everything went peacefully dark.

I couldn't tell how long I was asleep until someone began to shake me. “Chip, get up, it’s time to leave.” I groaned, not wanting to get out of the comfort of my bed and the comfort of Frankie next to me, or so I thought. 

My eyes snapped open to find Ben crouched next to the bed, face to face with me. I jolted up with surprise, quickly looking around to find Frankie, only to be disappointed. 

“Woah woah! Calm down, it’s Benny.” The man child looked frightened. 

I sighed, maybe it was a good thing Fish wasn’t in here, it could make a lot of questions amongst the team arise. But when did he leave? 

“Oh sorry Ben, I-I was sleeping too hard,” I lied. 

“It seems so,” he chuckled “Breakfast is ready, everyone is up and ready.” He explained. I nodded and he left, allowing me privacy to change. I quickly threw on my cargo pants and shirt, rushing to grab my packed bags. I brushed my teeth and hair in a hurry. I headed straight past everyone in the kitchen, out the door to throw my things in the truck.

When I came back in, everyone was staring at me. But I only made eye contact with one of them, Frankie. And the look on his face pained me, his expression was full of regret.

TAGLIST

@tanyaherondale​

@winter-fox-queen​

@supernaturalgirl​

@actual-spawn-of-satan​

@hnt-escape

@toomanystoriessolittletime​

*if your user has a strike through, it wouldn’t let me tag you*

[everyhowlmarksthedead]

ANGEL REYES x READER ⨟ PROMPT

Anon #1 asked: heyyyy, im so happy to see that you’re back, i missed u a lot❤️ i wanted to request 52 and 71 with angel reyes

@aquamento asked: hey hey miss arizaaaa i could i request prompt random 4 and prompt fluffy 73 with angel reyes?❤️

Anon #3 asked: just saw that you’re taking prompts again !!!!!!!! yaaaaay i wanted to request 58 & 65 with angel thank youuuuuuuuuuuuu💖

Prompts:

71. “Yuw butiful”. “Are you drunk?”

52. “Let me take care of you”.

73. “Want to share an ice cream?”

4. “Where the fuck is my shirt?”

58. “It’s cold, hold me”.

65. “Read for me, I love your voice”.

Word Count: 1.4k

Author comments: This work wasn't re-edited, so I'm sorry if you find grammar mistakes! I hope you all enjoy. Gif credits: @angels-reyes.

Tag list: @starrynite7114 ​ @chibsytelford ​ @dazzledamazon ​ @mara-mpou ​ @sammskellington ​ @gemini0410 ​ @1-800-imagines ​ @briana-mishell24 ​@sassymox @whyisgmora @aquamento @sadeyesgf @viviansafizada @samcrobae @jade770 @witchy-wish @rebel-without-cause-x @xx--day-dreamer--xx @spiced-reads @tita127 @ifoundmyhappythought @enamouravecleslivresetlechocolat @angelxshiba @destynelseclipsa @sheeshgivemeabreak @abbiesthings @knowles-morgan ✨ (if you wanna be tagged, send me a message!)

Someone starts to hit your door angrily and with some kind of desperation, using the palm of a hand and not the knuckles. Placing the bowl of ice cream on the table, you walk towards the entrance, unlocking the door to open it. Angel is there, staggering and carrying a bottle of tequila in his right hand. He smirks at you, brushing back his hair with the ringed fingers, resting his body against the frame.

“Yuw butiful”.

His voice sounds proud, pointing you with the right forefinger, about to let the bottle fall down but holding it up masterfully before spilling it to your feet.

“Ain't gonna be a cowboy anymo'”.

“You mean… a coward?”

“Ya', that's wha' I said. A cowboy”.

“Are you drunk?”

“Who knus, querrrida?” Angel hiccups, covering his lips with a fist for a second.

“Okay, big guy… Let me take care of you, ain't gonna let you drive back home”.

“Yu ma hom, mami”.

“Sure…” Rolling your eyes, you palm his back as he comes into the house.

After closing the door, you take out of his hands the tequila, leaving it over the auxiliary table in the hall. Then, you proceed to take off the kutte, until he grabs your wrists.

“Wo, mami, tak'it'slowwww… Guv me a kiss fir—first”.

“If you don' let me go, Angel, I'll kick your ass into a cold shower”.

“Da'ya like ma ass?”

“Do you want me to call Bishop?”

“NO, NO, NO, NO. SHHHHH… no”. He places a finger on your lips, pressing them to make you shut up.

“Good. Now, give me the kutte”. You demand pulling away his hand from your face.

He obeys like the good boy he really is. Then, he takes off his boots using his heels and supporting his body against the wall. Angel is drunk. Too drunk that he can't even speak well. And looks so funny and adorable trying to flirt with you. You are finding it too difficult not to tease him, when you watch him walking, stumbling over his own feet, to the sofa before falling down on it with a heavy sigh.

Raising up both eyebrows, containing a loud laugh, you come closer palming his back.

“Hey, make me some space… You're bigger than my sofa”.

“Da'ya wanna know wha mo es' bigge?”

“Fuck, no, Angel”. You can't help but break in laughs finally, sitting in a corner of it when he decides to rest his head on your lap.

“Wha ya wa doen?”

“Watching a movie. Want to share an ice cream?” You ask, taking the bowl with both hands.

“Wa flivo?”

“Pistachio”.

“Foc is tha?”

“Ok, try it”.

You offer him the spoon right to his mouth. He licks it, like a dog, before spitting it over his shirt with a disgusted sob. You laugh again while he complains and curses in a drunk spanish, until your neighbor hits your wall.

“Di ya col Bichop?”

“No, Angel. I didn't call Bishop”. You chuckle putting down the bowl over the floor to get up. “You look like a baby”.

“I can be whatava ya wan, mami”.

“Take off your shirt, before you… stain it all”.

“Ef ya wanna see ma nakid jast tell me”.

“Por Dios, stop talking, Angel”.

“Shot ma ap”.

“Yeah, I wish I could really shoot you right now”.

Having to help him, you undress the old Reyes, throwing down the shirt. And before you can press the play to continue with the movie, he grabs your arms to hug himself with them.

“It's cold, hold me”.

You try to get comfy by lying your body down under Angel's, and resting his back on your stomach. He has his eyes closed, with his callous hands touring your knees and your legs from top to bottom. You know how drunk he is, and you're not going to take any advantage, but you like him too much just to not feel anything right now. Your fingers do their work too, watching the film oblivious on the TV, stroking his bare chest with ephemeral caresses.

Under his warm skin you can feel his heart beating quietly, just like his breath. You're not sure if he's sleeping or if he's resting his mind, but he jumps a little between your arms when your phone dings.

“Wasap? Wha's tha'? Where the fuck is ma shirt?”

“Oh, Jesus Christ…” You're laughing again, bowing on the table to take your phone.

“Who is? Ya bofren? Lemme fack hem up”.

Angel begins to throw up some punches to the air, as if he was boxing, making you frown and wrinkle the nose. Bishop is asking you if Angel is there, because he spent the night telling them that he was going to propose to you. You're blushing so fast that even the drunk man notices it.

“Tall ya bofren to fack hem, am ya bofren now”.

“Is your jefe, asking for you”.

“Read da text. Read fo me, I luv ya voice”.

“No, Angel. You should sleep”.

“Bu here with ya”.

“Angel, you weigh a lot”.

“Da'ya wan—”.

“Fuck, no. Stop”. You laugh again, trying to get up while he clings onto your body like an octopus. “Angel, please… Let me go”.

“No…” He sobs once and again, grabbing you stronger. “I came wolken from da club, don' go, plez”.

“Oh, shit… Let me… lie a little comfy at least”.

And he does. Of course he does, after walking for almost one hour to your house, even if it is no more than ten minutes away. Molding your body to his, you turn off the TV, placing your head over a cushion. You fall asleep sooner than you thought you could do it, with Angel resting peacefully on your stomach.

But when your eyes open up again, he's not there anymore. Not even his boots. Not even his kutte. For a second you think that maybe it was a dream, but your shirt smells like him too much. You sigh heavily putting your gaze on the rooftop. He was so close. So close of asking you out that it hurts a little to know that he probably won't remember what happened.

The doorbell ringing pushes you back to reality, getting up from the sofa and having to stretch your back and arms, before starting to walk towards the hall. Somewhat upset you open it, having a flashback of last night. Angel is there again, holding two cardboard glasses of coffee and a small bag.

“I think I owe you an apology”. He's trying to not sound ashamed, but he looks too adorable to think about it.

“Yeah, maybe…”

“I shouldn't have come… drunk. I just…” He purses his lips wrapped in a bundle of nerves, offering you what seems to be breakfast.

“You just what?” You ask then, holding it and leaving him enough space to come in.

“I like you”.

“Should I say that I didn't notice it?” You're holding a sarcastic laugh in your throat, closing the door and leading your feet to the living room.

Angel shakes his head following you, until he's finally in front of you again.

“Listen… I don't know what I said last night, I don't know what I did. I just… woke up without my shirt and betwe—”.

“You spit my ice cream all over your shirt like a fucking five years old eating… baby food”.

“Oh, shit…”

Now, he's more ashamed. Angel covers his face with both hands, drowning there a growl. And you can't help but break in laughs shaking your head.

“Then you… begin to… punch the air 'cause you thought my boyfriend texted me. I don' know, maybe you were feeling like the fucking Conor McGregor”.

“Oh, shit…” He repeats, looking at you between his fingers. “I'm so fucking sorry, I swear”.

“Was a… curious night. I had so much fun”.

“Fuck, I swear I'm so sorry, (Y/N). I only... remember to tell Bishop that I wanted to propose to you”.

“Yeah, he texted me. I just hope you won't do it”.

“Wh—Wha—Why?”

“Angel, the only night we have spent together, you were drunk. I'm not gonna marry you”.

“Not now, but one day”.

“Ahm… yeah, Angel. Not now”.

“But you want to marry me”.

“Maybe. One day. But we can start for a date”.

[outerbonks]

the best 5 months - jj maybank

hi! this is my first time writing for JJ so please be nice! hope you like it! Please let me know what you think!!

pairing: JJ Maybank x reader, platonic John B, Pope, Kie,Sarah x reader in there too

Summary: you find out you’re getting moved away from the OBX and JJ realizes how much you mean to him. (that’s a bad summary oops)

word count: +7k

warning(S): fluffy angst, swearing, smoking

(gif isn’t mine!)

Living on The Cut hadn't been so bad, in fact you loved it there. There was just so much there to love, that was until you found out that your days on, not only The Cut, but the entire island were numbered.

Your father had gotten an incredible job offer on the mainland, out of state, that there was absolutely no way he could refuse.

Being a single father was hard on him, you knew that, you always tried your best to be the best daughter possible in an attempt to make his life easier. He worked really hard to keep your two person household afloat and you appreciate it immensely.

However, your appreciation was now overshadowed by anger. Anger that he was moving you away from everything and everyone you'd ever known. 

"This is going to be good for us, Y/n!" Your father shouted, following you out of your tiny house into the cold night time air.

Snapping your body around to face him, jaw clenched and with your eyebrows furrowed you shouted back at him, "No, this is going to be good for you!"

You ignored his calls as you stormed off down the streets of the shitty neighborhood that you knew like the back of your hand.

With no clue of where you were heading you simply allowed your feet to carry you until you were met with the familiar sight of your favorite spot on the island: John B's chateau.

John B met you way back when you were both in the third grade, it had taken you a while to warm up to each other but you stood with each other through thick and thin. He was your family and looking at the run-down brown cabin in front of you, you couldn't help the tears that slid down your cheeks as you realized just how much you'd be leaving behind when you moved.

It wasn't just John B you didn't want to leave, no, he was only ¼ of the reason. Leaving the pogues was never something that was ever going to be in the cards for you, yet it looked like leaving them was something you were going to be forced to do in the next few months. But how could you?

Each of them meant the absolute world to you. There was Kiara, your best girlfriend since she joined your little group. She is one of the sweetest, kindest and most badass girls you'd ever met in your life, she was loyal to a fault and never shyed away from sharing her opinion. You knew that there wasn't any chance you'd meet anyone like her on the mainland, girls from the OBX were a whole different breed in the best way imaginable.

Then there's Pope, he's the brains of your little gang. He never failed to make you giggle with his weird facts and badly timed jokes and when he wanted to, he could give a really great hug. He has so much going for him and not that you'd ever tell him but he definitely inspired you to try harder.

Last but definitely not least, we have JJ. Where to even start? You met him a few days after you became friends with John B, so sometime in third grade. JJ was the kind of person that could charm his way out of hell if he needed to, he was fun to be around and he was hands down your best friend in the entire world.

You found yourself at John B's door with a red nose and puffy eyes, goosebumps covered your arms and your frame shook ever so slightly, not that you had noticed. 

It had slipped your mind entirely that the group had planned to meet up tonight, originally you told them you couldn't go as your dad had something to tell you but yet there you were anyway.

You didn't bother knocking when you walked in, John B never had a problem with you letting yourself in and as you walked in, sniffling and hiccuping, the group paused their movie night to look at you, worry filling all of them when they took in your state.

"What happened?" Kie was the first to ask, her question sounding urgent as she got up and stood in front of you, grabbing your forearms. 

"You're freezing." She stated to which JJ immediately pulled his sweatshirt off and made his way to you, "Here." He helped pull the hoodie over your head and then led you gently to sit on the pull out couch everyone had been sitting on before you arrived.

"C'mere…" John B muttered with furrowed eyebrows, stretching his arm out and pulling you in to rest against his side.

"I'm gonna make you some tea ok?" Pope stated, scurrying to the kitchen while the others shared looks of confusion as you continued to cry into John B's shoulder, only stopping when Pope returned with a hot cup of tea a few minutes later.

After taking the warm cup from Pope you pulled away from John B and sat up, cradling the cup in both hands in an attempt to warm them up.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Pope asked gently, afraid to upset you again, you weren't one to completely break down often and if he was being honest with himself you were usually the one who handled group breakdowns and when you were the one breaking down he had absolutely no clue what to do.

"Yeah tell us who made you cry so I can punch them in the throat." JJ chimed in from beside you, his hand was rubbing your back soothingly despite his somewhat threatening words.

Sniffling again you looked around at the people you loved so much, your family, Kie kneeling down on the floor beside you with a comforting hand on your knee, Pope sitting in front of you on John B's coffee table and John B and JJ sat either side of you.

Shaking your head, you swallowed the lump in your throat and decided to look down into the liquid of your steaming cup when you delivered the news.

"My dad got offered a job on the mainland." Was all you muttered, before looking up from your cup and answering the silent question that you could feel floating around the air, "And he's taking it."

The tension in the air was suffocating and the group had become silent.

"So you're moving?" Kie was the first to break the shocked silence, asking the question that none of your friends were ready to hear the answer to, her voice cracking as the words left her mouth.

Looking at her with teary eyes you choked out a pathetic "Yep." Before you began to breakdown again, John B wasted no time in pulling you back into him, this time holding you tighter, afraid you'd disappear.

"Nah fuck that!" JJ exclaimed, panic swirling in his eyes at the image of you leaving and possibly never coming back. 

The blond boy stood up from his place on the couch and began pacing the living room, "You can't leave! You're a pogue, you can't just… you can't just leave us." 

Separating yourself from John B, you made your way over to JJ and grabbed his hands, forcing him to halt his movements. When his blue eyes met yours he shook his head softly, sadly.

"You can't go." He almost whimpered and you tried your best not to sob when you noticed the water building in his eyes. 

With a heavy sigh you pulled him close to you, your arms wrapping around his shoulders tightly as his came around your torso keeping you as close as physically possible.

Before long the rest of the pogues joined in on the group hug, Kie crying almost as much as you and the boys hugging you with all their might that you thought you might pass out.

After a while you were all snuggled together on John B's pull out couch, JJ was sitting behind you his chin resting on your shoulder with his arms around your middle, the blond had pulled you between his legs the second you sat back down which to be fair was common practice, he was needier than he let on but you never minded.

 "When are you leaving?" John B broke the silence this time and you shrugged gently, careful not to displace JJ.

Sinking against the boy behind you you let out a scoff, "I don't even know, man. All he told me was he was moving us to the mainland and then I flipped out and came here."

John B nodded in understanding as he watched you play anxiously with the rings on JJ's fingers and he shuddered at the thought of dealing with a JJ who didn't have you to help calm him down when he went apeshit.

"He's probably worried…" You spoke quietly, worry in your tone as you continued to fidget with the metal around your blonde best friend's fingers. He got as much comfort out of it as you did if he was being perfectly honest, ever since you'd both turned 14 you'd picked up the habit of messing around with your own rings until one day your favourite silver band fell off your finger and got lost to the marsh, after that JJ always offered you his ring clad hands to distract yourself with since most of his rings were, in his words, “stolen anyway”. Plus, he liked it when you played with his fingers, it calmed him down.

"I should go back." Feeling a nod against your shoulder, JJ gave you a squeeze before releasing you from his grip, "Can I drop you back?" Nodding in agreement you detangled yourself from your friends, giving each of them a hug before you left.

"Try not to worry too much, kid" John B spoke into your hair while he hugged you tightly, pecking your forehead before sending you off with JJ.

The pair of you rode home on JJ's bike, it didn't take long to get to your house from the chateau on the bike and you were met by your father who had been waiting patiently for your return.

JJ dismounted the bike along with you, walking towards your father with a less than satisfied look on his face.

Your father always loved JJ and John B, ever since the first time they'd ever come over to play when you were all kids. He had a soft spot for JJ considering he used to work with the boy's father, although they spent more time squaring up to each other than they did actually working together. Your father hated Luke Maybank but loved JJ Maybank. 

Which is why he couldn't meet the blonde's eyes when he walked you to the porch steps.

JJ cleared his throat, shifting his weight from foot to foot before he asked what had been gnawing at him the entire ride to your house.

"So, uh… when do you start?" He asked referring to your dad's new job somewhere a thousand miles away.

"As soon as my contract here ends in November." A gasp left your lips as you gaped at the words that left his mouth.

"November? That's only five months from now! What about Christmas?" You fretted, voice desperate, almost pleading for him to see how messed up it was to be leaving the OBX right before Christmas.

You had already made plans with the pogues to all spend Christmas Eve at John B's this year and then he and JJ would come and spend Christmas day with you at your house.

The thought of leaving John B right before his first Christmas without his father brought tears to your eyes again and when JJ took your hand in an attempt to comfort you dread shot up your spine at the thought of leaving him alone with his father on Christmas.

"I'm sorry, but you know we're barely getting by. The sooner we go, the better." Your father spoke softly, watching carefully how you gravitated to the blond beside you, who immediately wrapped his arm around your shoulder.

 The older man sighed for what felt like the millionth time that night, looking at his daughter and her best friend broke his heart, these people got you, they understood you and you were so happily integrated into the pogue community, you'd never fit in as well as you did here on the mainland- you and your father both knew it.

He was dreading ripping you away from everything and everyone you loved so much but he couldn't turn up the opportunity presented to him, the pay was miles better and maybe on the mainland you yourself would find yourself with more possibilities for your future. He wanted what was best for the both of you.

"Why can't she just move in with John B?" JJ questioned with a fake optimism lacing his voice as he gave your father a crooked grin.

Letting out a laugh your dad only shook his head, not bothering to answer the question.

"Look, five months is a long time, just make the most of it while you can and I promise from now till November I'll overlook all of your little adventures." He told the both of you, taking into consideration the amount of times you'd stumbled home drunk in the middle of the night with one of your friends in tow. 

JJ's grin turned genuine at your father's words, the boy leaned down to you slightly, his blue eyes glinting with mischief as he brought his lips close to your ear, "Get ready for the best five months of your life."

And that's what you did. From that moment you were absolutely determined to make the most of the time you had left with your friends and your island.

5 MONTHS LEFT - JUNE

The morning after talking with your dad, JJ was waiting at your door at the crack of dawn ready to bring you to the rest of the pogues for a day out on the boat.

Sure enough the day was spent laughing, drinking and getting high with your friends on John B's boat, although it was hard to ignore the drastic change in atmosphere now that the knowledge of you moving was out in the air.

It was when the day started nearing to a close that you noticed things started to take an unusual turn.

JJ had been smoking like a chimney the entire day, way more than usual. He'd barely left your side the entire time either and he'd shoved his hands into yours several times claiming that, "you looked anxious."

But by the end of the day his mood had done a 180° from clingy to cranky and none of you knew what the fuck was going on. He had gone from showering you in attention to refusing to talk to you within the space of an hour, you wouldn't lie you definitely preferred the attention.

Everything became clear when he scoffed at a joke that Pope made about you drinking the boneyard dry at the next kegger. You all turned to face him with questioning expressions, "If she's even still here for it." He'd muttered bitterly, not sparing any of you even a glance.

"The party is in three days JJ, she's going to be there." Kie told him, annoyed that he'd brought down the mood.

JJ gave her an irritated look before going back to ignoring you all, John B gave you a pleading look causing you to sigh and let out an exhausted, "I've got it." Before moving seats so you could be beside the pouty blond.

He refused to look at you as you placed your chin on his shoulder and stared up at his face expectantly, hand finding his so you could mess with his fingers and hopefully chill him out a bit.

You kept your chin on his shoulder until he eventually turned his face to look at you, "What's up, buttercup?" 

His fingers fidgeted with yours while he shook his head staring off into the water of the marsh.

"Well my best friend is leaving me so sorry if I seem like I'm in a crappy mood." He spit out bitterly, not daring to look at you.

"J…" You sighed, "You know if I had any choice I wouldn't be leaving you." You told him gently, intertwining your hand with his.

JJ scoffed again, "You're still gonna be gone come November so why does it matter." JJ had abandonment issues, he knew that, the pogues knew that, you knew that. It hurt you to know that you were the one bringing that anxiety up in him, especially since you'd promised him that you'd never under any circumstances walk out on him.

Turning his chin towards you with your free hand he stepped down slightly at the hard look you were giving him, "No, J. You know it's not like that. I might not physically be here but I'm never going to stop being your best friend. You got that?"

Sighing, JJ let his head fall to rest against yours, his forehead pressing to the crown of your head where he placed a small peck before muttering a weak, "Sorry."

"It's ok, now come on you promised me the best five months of my life." You smiled and so did he. The rest of the group stared at you in amazement, pulling JJ out of a mood was a skill only few possessed and as if he was reading everyone's mind Pope spoke.

"I have to say, I really have no clue how we're going to deal with this once Y/ns gone."

4 MONTHS LEFT - JULY

July in Outer Banks was hot this year and your preferred method of keeping cool was of course; surfing.

On this particular day it had just been you and JJ, the others working their summer jobs so they couldn't join.

You'd surfed for a few hours before the tide had calmed down and left the pair of you just floating gently as you sat up on your boards. 

"Do you think the guys are gonna be as hot as me in Oklahoma, or wherever the hell it is you're going?" JJ asked light-heartedly, bumping your leg with his under the water.

You threw your head back as you laughed, not noticing the way his eyes sparkled when he looked at you, "First off, I'm going to California not Oklahoma and to answer your question, I dunno I've heard they've got some hotties up there."

There definitely wasn't going to be anyone like JJ.

He groaned giving you a hurt look and pressed his hand against his heart, "Damn, woman. There goes my self confidence."

Shaking your head you nudged his board away from you, "Of course I'm joking, there's absolutely nobody in the whole entire universe who could possibly be hotter than you." You declared over-dramatically, exaggerating almost every word you said, basking in the sound of his laughter.

"That's more like it." He replied, splashing you slightly before clearing his throat.

"Do you still have that old Polaroid your dad got you?" He inquired, scratching the back of his neck nervously.

Furrowing your eyebrows together in thought, you shrugged, "Yeah… I think it's in the attic somewhere, why?" 

Nodding with determination the sun kissed boy splashed you again and then began to paddle his board towards the shore, "That's it, come on."

"Where are we going?" You called out, paddling behind him while he turned his head to look at you from over his shoulder, smiling the cheekiest grin you'd ever seen, his dimple showing and his eyes gleaming.

"To dig out that camera so you can have tiny little pictures of me to take with you when you go."

You couldn't help but laugh at him as you followed your favourite boy to the shore.

3 MONTHS LEFT - AUGUST

"Guys!" Kie shouted excitedly running into John B's living room where you, JJ and John B were sitting watching shitty daytime tv, bored out of your minds.

Pope trailed in behind Kie with a bright smile on his face as the pair of them stood in front of the TV blocking it from your views.

"Come on, Kie! You're blocking Storage Hunters." John B groaned.

"Doesn't matter cause guess what we're doing today!" She squealed looking between the three of you, waiting for a guess.

"Not watching Storage Hunters." You grumbled under your breath, JJ snorted and bumped his fist against yours, "Nice one."

"No guys! Come on! Just guess!" The excitement in her tone caused you to smile and humor her, "Umm, I don't know? Are we going surfing?" 

"Kind of a lame guess." JJ teased from beside you before leaning forward on the couch, "Are we going to rob somewhere?" He offered up as his guess, getting an annoyed look from Kie and Pope and a jab in the ribs from you.

"Hey…" he whined quietly, jutting his lower lip out at you cutely when you stuck your tongue out at him.

"You're both wrong! John B any idea?" Kie informed you and JJ who were playfully glaring at each other before looking at John B expectantly.

The boy in question let out a disgruntled noise, throwing his hands up in defeat, "I got nothin'."

"You guys all suck at guessing." Pope chimed in from beside Kie with a grin on his face to match her's.

You flipped him off and looked at Kie, "Alright babe, tell us what we’re dong today."

"There's an end of summer fair happening in Chapel Hill and we're going!" Kie explained excitedly and you all smiled.

"Sounds like a plan." John B confirmed, chewing his lip nervously before adding, "Can I invite Sarah?"

Kie groaned but couldn't hide her smile, "Fine but no macking on each other in front of us."

Laughing you leaned in close to JJ, "JB and Sarah sitting in a tree…" you whispered in a singsong tune while JJ laughed and continued the song while you made kissy faces at John B from across the couch.

"Shut up you two." He groaned while throwing a pillow at you.

"Hurry up and get ready the ferry leaves in an hour." 

The group had all reconnected at the dock in time for the ferry after you all separated to get ready for your day trip to Chapel Hill.

"Oh thank God you're here!" JJ exclaimed dramatically, pulling you into a tight hug.

"JB and Sarah have been all over each other for the past ten minutes and I just saw Pope and Kie kiss!" The blonde explained with annoyance lacing his voice as he his his face in the crook of your neck.

"Awh, were you feeling left out?" You asked mockingly, still hugging him back with all your strength.

You let out a surprised yelp when you felt your feet lift off the ground as JJ spun you around.

"They wish! I was just bored waiting for your slow ass to show up." He teased you, placing you back on the ground while you giggled, pushing his chest away and giving him a playful, "Fuck off." Before you both made your way onto the ferry, JJ's arm staying wrapped around your shoulder for the duration of the boat ride.

When you arrived at the fair you allowed your excitement to take over, immediately whipping out the Polaroid that JJ had helped you dig up last month and you'd been using it to its full potential since.

"Oh get me in!" Kie squealed, posing in front of the white mini Polaroid.

"Sarah you get in too!" You called over to the girl you'd only become friends with since she started dated John B but she'd grown on you pretty quickly.

"You too." JJ declared, taking the camera from your hands and pushing you towards the two girls.

The three of you posed together, smiling brightly as JJ snapped the picture.

After a few more photos in front of the carousel you all decided to split up, John B and Sarah went to ride the rides, Pope and Kie went to play the games and yourself and JJ both really wanted some cotton candy.

The pair of you were sat on a bench enjoying your cotton candy and admiring the string lights that decorated the entire area.

"Remember when your dad brought us out here when we were like nine?" JJ asked, staring at you with a soft smile as you nodded.

"I remember. You won one of those beany babies." You reminisced with a laugh, shaking your head at the memory.

JJ let of an excited gasp, "Fuck you're right! Damn I forgot about that thing." He started off into the crowd dreamily and you giggled at his facial expression.

"I'm gonna miss all this." You sighed out, looking around and letting the nostalgia take over as you leaned your head on JJ's shoulder.

"Me too. I mean, I'm still gonna have it all… but I'm gonna miss having it with you."  He confessed, resting his head on top of yours. 

"You'll still have John B. And Kie. And Pope. And Sarah now too." You tried to comfort, listing off your friends but only making yourself sad as the list went on.

"Come on, Y/n. We both know it's not the same. It's different with you." He explained sadly, nuzzling his nose into your hair slightly.

Sighing you wrapped your arms around your best friend, you knew what he meant when he said it was different with you. Well you didn't completely understand what it meant but you did because he was different to you too. It felt kind of bad to say but you had a strong feeling that JJ would be the one that you missed the most when you left.

"Yeah, I know." You muttered sadly.

Sighing heavily, JJ pulled you into him and kissed the top of your head. 

"Fuck it, I'm just gonna say it." He pulled away from you slightly and his blue eyes met yours and he shook his head in what looked like disbelief before the words fell from his mouth.

"I'm going to miss you so fucking much." He told you, lips tilting downward before he pulled his lower lip between his teeth.

Nodding at him with an understanding expression you absentmindedly grabbed his hand and began twisting his rings gently.

"I bet I'll miss you more." You told him half-heartedly, a sad smile making its way onto your face.

"No, Y/n, I'm serious. I don't even know what I'm supposed to do without you." He admitted and you lost all resolve, moving from your spot beside him to plopping yourself right down onto his lap, nothing you hadn't done before.

"I know, J. I don't wanna go without you either." You told him, before perking up and giving him a cheeky smile.

"Hey, maybe I could sneak you in my suitcase!" You half joked, but their was an air of seriousness in your voice to go with your suggestion.

JJ threw his head back, securing his arm tightly around your waist while he laughed and nodded his head.

"Seems legit." 

2 MONTHS LEFT - SEPTEMBER

Summer came and went and before any of you knew it, it was midway through September.

On a Friday night after school the whole group were chilling together at John B's, as usual.

Kie and Pope were snuggled up on the armchair in the corner of the room while John B and Sarah occupied the pull out couch.

Yourself and JJ were sat on the wooden floor mindlessly watching the movie that played on the screen like wide eyed children while the other four macked on each other.

JJ's head was resting on your lap and your fingers were running through his hair before he turned his head to look up at you and presented the joint he'd been rolling while your attention was on the TV.

"Wanna share?" He whispered so the others didn't hear and want a hit.

Nodding your head you both got up and made your way out to the hammocks as non conspicuously as possible and luckily for both of you none of them seemed to notice.

"God seeing them all all over each other is starting to gross me out." JJ complained, taking a hit of the blunt before passing it to you, the pair of you sitting beside each other on the swinging hammock.

Shrugging you took a hit, exhaling the smoke before adding to the conversation, "I think they're cute."

"You're not the one who's about to be stuck with them." He muttered, shoving your shoulder playfully and taking the joint back.

"Yeah, yeah. You're just jealous because nobody is macking on you." You said, laughing at the offended face he made at your statement.

"If I wanted someone all up in my shit I'd have someone all up in my shit, ok? I'm a catch." He told you, his cocky attitude bringing a small smile to your face as you leaned closer to him with the same smile and narrowed eyes.

"Oh is that so?" You challenged, quirking an eyebrow at him as he blew smoke into your face.

"Yep." Snatching the joint from his ring clad fingers you took a drag before prepaying the favor and blowing the smoke back at him.

"Alright, if you're such a catch why are you out here smoking with me and not out macking on some touron?" To be honest, you didn't know why you were asking, you loved smoking with him and the thought of him leaving to go prove his point (which he'd been known to do in the past) made your heart drop. But you guessed you were feeling ballsy.

The blond looked at you thoughtfully, weighing his options up of whether he should tell you the truth or just make up some bullshit.

Taking the last drag of the joint he let it soak in before exhaling and meeting your eyes, "You wanna know the truth?"

Immediately you nodded your head, waiting for him to go on.

"I'm out here smoking with you because you're the girl that I want to be macking on. But not just to like to fuck around with or whatever, I-" JJ let out a heavy sigh before finishing, "I love you. Like a lot. Like a fuck ton." 

You couldn't stop the giggle that left your throat as he rambled, your palm found his cheek as you rested it there gently, he couldn't take his eyes off the smile on your face.

"You're being for real?" You asked, just to make sure and he nodded, still filled with nerves, "Deadly serious."

If it was even possible your smile widened and you brought your forehead to rest against his as his arms snaked around your waist.

"I love you a fuck ton too." You confessed, giggling as he let out a sigh of relief, muttering "Thank fuck." Under his breath.

Without even thinking about it, his lips were on yours and your hands were in his hair, the kiss was everything you hoped it would be and when his lips moved against yours you couldn't help but smile.

The fact that it was about to be entirely harder to leave was at the very back of your mind.

The others had been excited about you and JJ finally acknowledging your feelings for each other but now that the whole group was paired off, nobody really knew how to act.

1 MONTH LEFT - OCTOBER

You were helping Kie at The Wreck when John B and JJ walked in, John B looking exhausted and JJ looking pissed.

You sighed knowing you'd have to handle whatever it was that was happening when John B walked up to where you were standing and grumbled, "Please talk to your boyfriend."

Accepting the task, you walked over to your best friend/boyfriend and sat in the seat next to him with a small pout of concern on your lips, "What's up, buttercup?"

"Nothing." He responded glumly and you tilted your head to the side, "Doesn't seem like nothing."

JJ scoffed, staring into the distance, "Doesn't matter."

"If it doesn't matter why are you so upset?" You asked softly and his eyes met yours briefly before focusing on the floor.

"Just forget it." He told you, his voice sounded more irritated that time and you decided you wouldn't press any further as Kie and John B joined you at the table, shooting you a questioning look to which you just gave them a shrug looking at JJ with concern.

Kie's father brought you all something to eat and you all took into account the fact JJ had barely touched anything, which was an obvious red flag since that kid was always hungry.

"You not hungry?" You inquired, bumping his shoulder with yours gently, he didn't answer you, only shook his head.

Sighing you took his hand in yours but flinched when he pulled it from your grasp, quickly standing from his chair and stormed towards the exist of the restaurant as you all watched with confused faces.

You couldn't lie, that had hurt a little. He'd never once pulled his hand away from you, let alone done it so aggressively.

Clicking your tongue, you mentally prepared yourself for a mentally draining conversation as you followed your usually zen boyfriend onto the beach. 

"JJ! What the hell?" You called out to him, jogging to catch up.

He didn't look at you, "Leave me alone, Y/n." 

"Not until you tell me what's wrong." You managed to grab his arm to get him to stop his fast paced walking and look at you.

"You wouldn't get it." He told you angrily and you couldn't stop your eyes from rolling.

"Well maybe I'd get it if your told me what it is." You countered growing tired of the argument already.

JJ let out a sarcastic laugh and ran his hands through his hair before looking at the ocean with his lips pursed, "What's the point? You're just going to leave in three weeks anyway so why tell you anything anymore?" He yelled at you and it finally all clicked together in your mind, he was upset with you.

Gaping at him in disbelief you furrowed your brows trying to wrap your head around it.

"So, what? You're just going to pretend I'm already gone?" You asked, your own voice rising in volume as the words came out angrily.

JJ shrugged his shoulders and crossed his arms across his chest, "Might as well." He stated bitterly and you threw your hands up with exhaustion, he had managed to strike a chord despite not saying much at all.

"And that's how you feel?" You asked, giving him a chance to change his attitude before you got petty and called your father to tell him to reconsider the early start date he'd been offered.

Not letting up JJ nodded in confirmation, "That's how I feel."

Laughing in disbelief you turned away from him and began walking, "Fine! That's fine, JJ. If you want me gone I'll go."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He called out from behind you, grabbing your arm and spinning you around to face him, a nervous look on his face.

"Dad got offered an early referral, asked me what I thought and I straight up told him no but if my best friend wants to pretend like I don't exist I'm going to tell him to reevaluate that offer!" You told him angrily, tears filling your eyes when your repeated that he was already pretending you were gone.

Panic took over his face, similar to the night he'd first found out you were moving, "What do you mean early referral? How early?" He asked frantically.

Sniffling you wiped your eyes, "Next week." 

To which the broken boy in front of you quickly grabbed your hand in his and let out a hurried, "No!"

You didn't say anything, you waited for him to figure out what he wanted to let out. 

"Don't go early. I'm sorry, okay? I was trying to come to terms with the idea of you leaving but now that we're together I can't think about it without putting myself in a mood." He explained, squeezing your hand before going on, not breaking eye contact.

"I'm not ready to lose you, alright?" He told you, his words genuine and his voice raw.

 You wrapped your arms around his shoulders and pulled him into you, kissing him softly and using one hand to wipe away the few tears he'd let slip.

"You're not losing me." You tried to reassure him but your voice didn't do much to convince either of you.

The boy in your arms just held you tightly, he didn't want you anymore upset than he had already made you so he didn't say anything more.

You both knew that at the end of next month everything you'd built in the last two would most likely crumble to nothing.

0 MONTHS LEFT - NOVEMBER

It had been the fastest five months of your life, and true to JJ's word, they were the best five months of your life. You just wished they hadn't gone by so quickly.

It was your last day on the OBX and your heart was breaking at the thought of actually having to leave, sure, you knew this day was coming but you wished it wasn't real. You really didn't want to go.

The time was 8am when you and your dad finished packing up your childhood house, which was now just an empty shell.

The pouges were all waiting for you at John B's to say goodbye, your dad insisted on taking an early ferry out but agreed to let you spend a few hours with your friends until it was time to leave, promising to pick you up from the chateau to ensure that you'd actually be on the boat.

You arrived at your favourite little shake at 8:30am, not wasting any time before bursting into tears at the sight of your friends all gathered around a tacky banner with the words "bon voyage" written across it.

The goodbyes were emotional and nobody had a dry eye, not even Pope.

"Okay guys, I'm sorry but I'm about to get mushy on you." You informed them before taking a deep breath and trying to compose yourself from your spot on the couch and JJ gave your arm a comforting squeeze.

"You guys are my best friends, and I'm really sorry that I have to go." You told them, tears slipping from your eyes again as your voice began to waver.

"John B. You're my oldest friend and the closest thing I've ever had to a brother and I fucking love you so much." You told him trying not to lose it completely when you noticed him tearing up, "Love you, kid."

"Sarah." You turned to the newest addition to the group next, "I know we haven't known each other that long but you've been so great to me and I think you're wonderful. So I love you and please take care of JB okay?" Sarah nodded quietly and wiped tears off her face before crawling over to where you sat on the couch and hugging you tightly.

"I'm gonna miss you." She mummered into your stomach and you pecked her head before she made her way back to John B who was now silently crying.

"Pope." You smiled at him as he rested his head on Kie's shoulder as she cried her eyes out.

"You're hands down the funniest guy I know and I know for a fact that you're going to absolutely kill those college interviews this year, I'm so proud of you, I love you and you deserve all the good things." You told him, voice cracking up at the end when you noticed him tearing up, he nodded his head and saluted you, "You know I love you." He told you, sniffling heavily.

"Alright I'm gonna need to be hugging you for this one." You cried, standing up and making grabby hands towards Kie who basically threw herself into your arms, sobbing into your shoulder.

"I don't even know what to say to you." You cried, your chest felt so heavy as you felt her tears hitting your shoulders, "me neither." Kie replied.

"I just love you so much ok?" You told her, lower lip quivering and she nodded profusely, the same look on her face as she managed to choke out an, "I love you too."

"Take care of these idiots." You told her, an airy laugh leaving your mouth as you sent her to sit back down with Pope.

"JJ." You said and the boy swallowed thickly, he didn't want to say goodbye but he knew it was time.

"Come outside with me for a bit?" You asked gently, he nodded his head and followed you out to the hammocks.

The two of you sat there in silence for a few minutes, before the blond boy cleared his throat and handed you a little box, "Going away present." Was all he said as he shoved the box into your hand.

Curiously, you opened the makeshift box and smiled at the sight of one of JJ's rings.

"For when you get anxious." He told you, his voice threatening to crack at any moment.

"I love it, J. Thank you." You said sincerely, placing your lips against his.

His hand was quick to find your waist as he moved his lips against yours, "Don't wanna say goodbye." He murmured against your lips once you parted ever so slightly.

"Me neither. But I think we have to." You said quietly, noticing your dad's car pulling up to the drive way.

Sighing JJ pulled you in for one last kiss before taking a minute to study your face, committing it to his memory.

"I love you." He told you, running his thumb over your cheek.

"I love you too." Letting out a heavy sigh you stood up from the hammock and helped him up too.

Walking hand in hand with JJ to John B's porch steps, where all your friends were now waiting, you all shared one last group hug before you needed to leave.

Looking at JJ with a sad smile, you pecked his lips for the final time, letting them linger for a moment too long before letting out a small, "Bye…"

JJ nodded at you sadly as he watched you get into the car, "Bye, Y/n." He whispered, trying not to cry as the car drove further and further away until he couldn't see you anymore.

[dprwolfgang]

Amigos Na’ Mas// Richard Camacho

Credits to @cncodrip​ for the gif

I’m supposed to be doing pieces of my final year project but Yashel has been running circles in my mind and I’m really unmotivated to do school work so y’all enjoy my word vomit.

Richard Camacho x Niana (Reader)

In which Rich’s girlfriend calls him ‘a friend’ while doing a video for their Youtube channel and he gets pressed.

“This is gonna start a war and I don’t want any part of it.” Zabdiel says quickly dismissing her attempt at dragging him into the situation she was about to cause.

Giving up on Zabdiel she turns to her resident partner in crime who’s already sporting a devious smirk letting her know that he’s in on whatever she has planned.

+

“Rich, hurry up or I’m starting without you.” She yells at Richard who’s currently fixing his hair in the hallway mirror.

“Un momento mami.” He yells back and she playfully rolls her eyes at the camera that has already started recording.

It takes another ten minutes before the Dominican drops onto the seat beside her to get the video started. They do the intro to their video before Richard takes the lead.

“We’re gonna be doing a Q&A video today and let’s just say shit’s gonna get deep.”

Niana’s phone starts ringing before they even start answering any questions. She answers leaving Richard swaying left to right in his own little world.

“Hola, qué lo qué ? Nah I’m not doing anything too important right now. I’m just filming a video for my channel.” He doesn’t hear what the other person says but he just keeps making silly faces at the camera knowing they’d just edit it out later.  

“We can hang out later ‘cause I’m kinda with somebody right now…I’m with a friend.” When the last word clicks in Richard’s head, he pauses not thinking he heard her right before she repeats the phrase and his head snaps in her direction.  

“You know the one that I make YouTube videos with.” He sits up in his seat lightly tapping her shoulders to get her attention and gestures to himself. “Amigos?” He mouths at her.  

“Sí, estoy con uno de mis amigos.” She ignores him. He gestures for her to end the call but she carries on like he’s invisible.

“Lemme call you back later…no it’s not that big of a deal, my friend just wants to get on with the video…alright then, I’ll call you back later.”

“Quién era eso? Qué quieres decir con amigo?” He’s asking as soon as she hangs up.

“A friend.”

“Estás hablando de mí y de YouTube. No soy tu amigo, soy tu marido.” He says seriously.

“You’re my friend.” She replies pushing at his chest lightly but he isn’t amused.

“You could’ve said boyfriend or husband but I’m not your friend. El orden en el que usted ha dicho eso es erróneo. You’re supposed to say he’s my husband who’s also my friend. You’re not supposed to say he’s a friend.” He explains to her.

��Pero eso es lo quería decir. No creo que sea tan serio.We friends aren’t we?” She replies laughing lightly.

“What the fuck do you mean? Don’t play dumb with me. Who was that for you to even be calling me a friend?”  

“Before anything Yashel we’re friends,”

“See but what I’m saying is that’s that typical flirting line and don’t tell me it’s not cause I used to do that shit before we met.”

“But I wasn’t flirting though.” She counters.

“Yeah but you called me a friend so you clearly don’t want that individual to know that you have a man.”

“Are you hearing yourself?” She laughs. “We have a whole ass YouTube channel together and you think nobody don’t know I have a man?”

“Everybody don’t be watching YouTube much less our channel and not everyone that knows us watches our YouTube channel.” He retorts.

“I don’t get why you’re freaking out, you’re my friend and I have a bunch of other guy friends…”

“You can have your bunch of guy friends but you don’t put me in that category. I’m not your friend, I’m your fucking husband.” He’s trying his best to remain calm but her nonchalant attitude is agitating him.

“You are my husband but you’re also my best friend- ”

“What’s priority then?” He cuts her off. “I’m your husband first and your friend second.”

“Technically you were my friend before you became my husband.” She retorts leaning back in her seat.

“What’s the point in telling that person that I’m your friend?” He says with a bit of attitude.

“What’s the point in telling them that you my husband?” She replies with the same attitude and little neck roll.  

Richard pauses and looks at her. “Don’t look at me like that, answer the question.Because your intentions sound like you don’t want that person to know that you have a significant other and-”

“That is not my intention and you know it, you’re thinking way too into it.” Niana cuts him off scooting closer to him. “You thinking too much and we supposed to be doing a Q&A but you wanna be accusing me of shit.”

“We would be doing that Q&A if you weren’t out here getting calls and calling me a friend. That’s fucking suspicious Niana.”

“Why is that suspect?”

“Cause you’re acting guilty.”  

“Your eyes look suspect.” She claps her hands together then points at him. “The ones that be quick to accuse be the ones with shit to hide. Who are you to accuse people? Unless you’re Jesus baby don’t be judging nobody.”

“Stop tryna be funny and don’t be tryna swerve your way out of this. I’m serious, who the fuck was that?” Niana knows she’s probably taking it a little far but his reaction was funny to her.

“I’m not even tryna be funny Yashel, what’s funny about the situation?”

“It’s not funny but you’re acting guilty though.”  

“You’re being a bit ridiculous right now.”

“I’m not being ridiculous.”

“You are.”

They both go back and forth like little kids until Niana starts laughing.

“Why’d you say it like that though?” She asks referring to the way he told her she’s behaving ridiculous.

“Stop tryna make me laugh.”

“Por qué?” She pouts at him.

“Don’t look at me like that. No cute shit, it’s not gonna work.”  

“Beso.” She says leaning towards him smiling.

“No.”

“Beso, Beso Beso,” she chants moving closer to him.  

“No! Qué sentido tenía casarte conmigo si vas a decirle a la gente que soy amigo?” Richard questions feeling a bit insecure which was something he rarely ever felt with her.She never gave him reason to feel that way or to doubt her.

“You asked me to marry you.”

“Then why’d you accept?”

“For fun?” she laughs leaning on him.

“Fun? What the fuck?” He pushes her back by her shoulders lightly and stares at her.“I’m not playing with you…” he says as she picks up her phone.

“Call that person back and let them know that you have a husband.”  

“You’re so annoying.” She dials back the number and puts her phone  on loudspeaker as he speaks.  

“Hello.” The person answers and if he wasn’t feeling the way he was he would’ve immediately recognized the voice on the line but he doesn’t.

“Can you please get homie out of his feelings?” She asks laughing.

“Who’s homie?”

“Richard.”  

“Yo who the fuck is that?” Richard questions just as the person on the phone asks,“Who’s Richard?”

“Who do you think it is pendejo?” She laughs asking Richard.He takes her phone as the person asks who’s Richard again and it’s only then that the voice clicks in his head.

“Really? Erick?? Fuck you bro.”

“Yooo E, he got so pressed.” She laughs as Richard just keeps saying fuck you Erick.

“Ohh, you wanna say that in my house?” Erick questions and Richard suddenly remembers that they’re at his house.In less than ten seconds Erick’s standing in the doorway telling Richard to square up.

“Erick bro, I forgive you.”  

“You say fuck me but you forgive me? I didn’t even say anything.A formal apology should do, I’ll take twenty thousand dollars.” He laughs.

“I forgive you for the prank, you didn’t say anything but you willingly participated in her antics.” Erick just shakes his head laughing and goes back to the living room with Chris.

“So that was the content for the Q&A?” She turns to her.

“There was no Q&A baby,” she smiles kissing his cheek. “I just needed you here as payback for that last prank you pulled on me.

“Oh thank god, ain’t no way I was sitting through a Q&A video after that shit.” He sighs. “Thank you guys for watching this damned video, hope y’all had a good laugh,” he leans in close to Niana “and I hope you know that this means war.” He kisses her chastely before hopping up out his seat and out the door already plotting his revenge prank on her.

“Bring it on.” She says to the camera as she ends the video.

[thelastdragneel6417]

𝗗𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗧𝘂𝗯𝗲 𝗝𝗔𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 part 1

(Ok sooo here’s my first time trying to write something original and good god am I nervous soo I hope you all enjoy)

The sun has now just rose above beacon academy signaling the start of a new day, while many would view this day to train or study to improve themselves as huntsmen and huntresses. For the (SUPER AWESOME AMAZING AND SERIOUS) team called team RWBY their is only one word that they would call this day

...

...

𝗕𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚

*At Team RWBY’s dorm room*

Yang: *laying on her bed looking throw her scroll before tossing it next to her* uggg I’m booored.

Weiss: * gruntingas she stops working on next weeks homework* normally I would scold you on your bluntness I agree it is quite boring today.

Blake: * siting on her bed reading her por - u mm I mean Um her “high class literature” yeah I agree but what do you ya think we should do?

Yang: *in a thinking pose* ummm how about we got the club?

Blake: *shaking her head* seriously is that all you can think of?

Yang: *in a hurt tone* HEY!!!

Weiss: besides we can’t the bullhead terminals are shut down for repairs after YOU AND NORA ALMOST DESTROYED IT BECAUSE OF YOUR IDIOTIC FIGHT *glaring at Yang*

Yang: *waving her hand defensively* hey in my defense Nora started it server her right for saying that pancakes are better that wallfls and besides I won it in the end.

Blake: no you didn’t Nora clobbered you into the ground.

Yang: *angry* hey whose side are you on anyway!?!?

Blake: *rolling her eyes* anyway how about we head to the library?

Weiss: that’s an excellent idea Blake. I think some time in the library would do us all some good.

Yang: ugggg no not the library I though we decided to kill our boredom not to kill me!!!

Weiss: you can stand to improve your book smart you barbaric bimbo *glareing at Yang knowing fill well that she probably a single second in the library during the new semester*

Yang: hey I’ll have you know that physical strength and training are more valuable than reading a few book right sis?

*silence*

Yang: *confused* umm sis???

*yang and the girls all turn to look at Ruby’s bunk to see that she’s laying on her stomach kicking her feet in the air in a childish manner headphones on her head humming along to a song not paying attention to the argument going on*

Yang: Ruby? *no answer* hey Ruby?? *still no answer frustrated Yang walks over to Ruby lifts one side of her headphones and screams in her ear* RUBY!?!?!

Ruby: *leaps I. The air in shock before landing on her butt in shock* owww *rubbing her butt to suve the pain before glaring at Yang* why would you do that?

Yang: sorry sis but I could get your attention what were you doing anyway?

Weiss: yes I would like to know too? *internaly* probably reading on of her childish comic books uggg what a dolt?

Ruby: ohh I was just listening to JAGames *ploping herself off the ground before jumping back on top of her bunk*

Weiss: *confused having never heard of what that dolt they called a leader was talking about* JA who???

Ruby: *gasping in shock before using her semblance to bolt over to Weiss getting right up to her face* YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF JAGAMES!?!?

Blake: *anoyingly picking rose petals out of her hair and book* let’s assume we haven’t who are you talking about?

Ruby: *wipping her head around to Blake before screeching* HE’S ONLY THE GREATEST DUSTTUBE SINGER OF ALL TIME!!!!

Weiss: DustTube??? You mean that stupid website where people post those idiotic videos of themselves???

Blake: I wouldn’t say that DustTube it that bad you can make some serious money if you’re committed to it.

Yang: yeah but a DustTube singer is not a good thing to hear cause most of them are absolutely horrible *cringing as she remembers that Oum awful rap named “It’s Just Today Mate” by Ten Team*

Ruby *scoffs like she’s offended* ugh JAGames is nothing like them he’s a thousand times better than them his singing, his rhythm, and his music makes it look like all those other wanna bees are just babies playing with a baby piano.

Blake: huh seems like you know this guy a lot?

Ruby: of course I do I’m his number one fan after all I’ve listened to all of his music and bought all of his merch and all his albums JAGames’ music have gotten me through some tough times so I will always love him even though he has never shown his face.

Yang: huh soo that’s where all that stuff came from I’ve always wondered about that also *grinning* aren’t you already dating a certain noodle boy right now for shame Ruby how could you break jaunes heart by having an affair?

Weiss: I still don’t know what you see in that dolt *rolling her eyes back not truly understanding why ruby would want to date that idiot but nether the less grateful that he has stop relentlessly trying to ask her out*

Ruby: *beet red embarrassed* Yannng stop that it’s not like that all *blushing* even though I really like him and his music I will always love my sweet knight more.

Ruby: anyway I’ve got an idea since I’ve talked about JAGames this long *an ear to ear smile creeps up on her lips before shouting* WOULD YOU LIKE TO LISTEN TO SOME OF HIS MUSIC WITH ME!?!?

Weiss: *appoled* are you crazy!?!? No why would we ever want to listen to your stupid music!?!?

Yang: I’m in sounds like fun

Weiss: *shocked* WHAT WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO DO THAT?

Yang: it sounds fun anything to beat this boredom and besides I’ve been trying to find some new music for a while now.

Weiss: fine then be that way but know that Blake and I won’t be bothered to listen to your childish music.

Blake: actually I’ll join in too.

Weiss: *absolutly shocked* WHYYYYYYYYY!?!?!?!

Blake: same as Yang seems like fun also I’ve just finished reading my book so I e got nothing else better to do.

Yang: see even kitty cat wants to watch with us *blake glares at Yang for saying that* so whatcha say I’ve queen care to join us?

Ruby: *giving Weiss the worlds most dangerous weapon known to man the dreaded puppy dog eyes* plweeessszzzzzzzzzz?????

Weiss: *unable to resist the deadly powers of the puppy dog eyes* I— umm I ohhh alright I’ll listen to your stupid music what kind of music does he make anyway?

Ruby: *jumping up and down excited* yay thank you bestie ohh he mostly makes rock -metal songs some time a little bit of pop and always follows a certain theme.

Weiss: *annoyed by knowing that she’s going to be listening to that barbaric type of music* and that I is???

Ruby: *embarrassed* umm video games?

Weiss: WHAT THOSE STUPID IDIOTIC CHILDISH GAMES THAT ARE A WASTE OF TIME WHY DID I EVER AGREE TO THIS *exclaimed loudly but secretly at the same happy because deep down she is a HUGE gamer a secret that she will take to the grave* AND YOU *pointing to Blake* ARE OK WITH IT!?!?!

Blake: why not? I don’t have a problem with video games sometimes they can tell a story better that a book.

Yang: welp too late to turn back know soo sis what song are we listening to today?

Ruby: *excitedly grabs her scroll unplugs her headphones and sets her scroll near her freinds* how about his newest one it’s a remake of one of my favorites I’m sure y’all will love it!!!

https://youtu.be/wNI0VCRmQ0c

(Here’s the song if you want to sing along)

🎶following total atomic anihilation🎶

🎶the rebuilding our this great nation our ours my fall to you🎶

🎶that’s why we at vault-tech have prepared these educational materials🎶

🎶for you to better understand the seven defining attributes that make you🎶

🎶special🎶

🎶the future fotells a tale of when the world goes🎶

🎶BOOM🎶

🎶BOOM🎶 (when the world goes BOOM BOOM)🎶

🎶nobody prepared🎶

🎶don’t think anybody cared about the🎶

🎶SOLE TRUTH (nobody cared about the SOLE TRUTH)🎶

🎶oh the bombs🎶

🎶they rose🎶

🎶 now everybody knows the🎶

🎶DOOMS DAY DEVICE(DOOMS DAY DEVICE)🎶

🎶claustrophobia🎶

🎶autotrophic🎶

🎶catostrophic hell🎶

🎶will be soo🎶

🎶and be up in the sky🎶

🎶even when the world feels🎶

🎶lonely and cold inside🎶

🎶even when the heart feels🎶

🎶BLISTERED FORM THE SCENES🎶

🎶for they will fall🎶

🎶For they will rise🎶

🎶for they would tear apart the view 🎶

🎶from your very eyes🎶

🎶take your hindsight and Change the world🎶

🎶FOR A NEW BEGINNING🎶

🎶for its now your chance🎶

🎶to use your hands🎶

🎶descend through the cracked in the dirt🎶

🎶WHERE YOU STAND🎶

🎶take on the vast open🎶

🎶MASQUERADE🎶

🎶THIS IS ATOMIC RENEGADE🎶

🎶following total atomic anihilation🎶

🎶the rebuilding our this great nation our ours my fall to you🎶

🎶that’s why we at vault-tech have prepared these educational materials🎶

🎶for you to better understand the seven defining attributes that make you🎶

🎶resources are scarce prepare yourself for homicidal🎶

🎶RAMPAGE (HOMICIDAL RAMPAGE)🎶

🎶 claim you’re rightful place🎶

🎶mark the writing on your face turn a🎶

🎶NEW PAGE (WRITING ON YPUR FACE TURN A NEW AGE)🎶

🎶well the bomb🎶

🎶they took🎶

🎶your land and now you’re🎶

🎶LEFT ALL ALONE (LEFT ALL ALONE)🎶

🎶Thers masses of🎶

🎶rebellious🎶

🎶proposterous, demonical🎶

🎶CARNAGE READY FOR YOUR BONES🎶

🎶use your senses and you’ll🎶

🎶PROVE YOU’RE WHOLE AGAIN🎶

🎶you’re the hero of this🎶

🎶LAND DEMISED WITH PAIN🎶

🎶for they will fall🎶

🎶For they will rise🎶

🎶for they would tear apart the view 🎶

🎶from your very eyes🎶

🎶take your hindsight and Change the world🎶

🎶FOR A NEW BEGINNING🎶

🎶for its now your chance🎶

🎶to use your hands🎶

🎶descend through the cracked in the dirt🎶

🎶WHERE YOU STAND🎶

🎶take on the vast open🎶

🎶MASQUERADE🎶

🎶THIS IS ATOMIC RENEGADE🎶

🎶now let’s begin with some simple instructions on what makes you a

SPECIAL 🎶

🎶strength🎶

🎶build your ability’s to carry more🎶

🎶persecution🎶

🎶will keep your aim right where you want it to be🎶

🎶endurance🎶

🎶bronze will tackle foes but how long for?🎶

🎶charisma🎶

🎶socialize enemies are closer than you think🎶

🎶intelligence🎶

🎶outsmart your foes with gadgets capable of removing harm🎶

🎶agilety 🎶

🎶build your reflexes to defend from approaching scum🎶

🎶luck🎶

🎶Tatic and strength is one thing🎶

🎶but some times all it takes is good luck🎶

🎶now take your world and throw it upside down🎶

🎶one man pushes through🎶

🎶ONE🎶

🎶MUTANT🎶

🎶AT🎶

🎶A🎶

🎶TIME🎶

*insert guttiar solo*

🎶for you will rise🎶

🎶through hell and back🎶

🎶you fortell of time when you were under attack🎶

🎶put your hindsight and change the world🎶

🎶for they will fall🎶

🎶For they will rise🎶

🎶for they would tear apart the view 🎶

🎶from your very eyes🎶

🎶take your hindsight and Change the world🎶

🎶FOR A NEW BEGINNING🎶

🎶for its now your chance🎶

🎶descend through the cracked in the dirt🎶

🎶WHERE YOU STAND🎶

🎶take on the vast open🎶

🎶MASQUERADE🎶

🎶THIS IS ATOMIC RENEGADE🎶

🎶TAKE THE WORLD AND BEGIN🎶

🎶THE CHARGE OF THE DAMNED🎶

🎶BE SURE TO DEFENS🎶

🎶YOUR BRETHREN FRIEND🎶

🎶YOUR ARMY DECENDS🎶

🎶YOU SAVE ANEW RACE 🎶

🎶UNTILL THE END🎶

Ruby: *nervous* sooo what do you girls think???

Yang:That. Was. Awesome Sis that has got to be one of the best songs I’ve ever heard it was soo action packed.

Blake: I have to agree that was a very good song not my cup of tea but still very good nonetheless.

Ruby: YAY that two for three sooo bestie did you like it???

Weiss: *quiet as a mouse and as stiff as a board before throwing her hands up in the air and screaming*HATED IT THAT WAS THE WORST SONG IVE EVER HEARD

RUBY: *almost as pale as a ghost and on the verge of tear* W-w WHAT!?!?!?

(That’s all I can type was it good or shit (sorry if it was) this is the longest thing I’ve ever typed here I hope you all enjoy) (don’t worry jaune comes in next part with a secret)

[v-t-holmes]

MCR songs rated by how many of the Bandori bands could and/or should cover them

romance: no lyrics, but it has roselia vibes 1/5

honey: afterglow vibes, but also popipa (and also I want Rimi for the screaming parts), they might be kira kira doki doki but they also covered a song entirely about sex and god knows ... is pretty dark too, 2/5

vampires: roselia and afterglow both seem like the type to cover this, 3/5 for the third possibility of yukina and ran covering it together

drowning lessons: once again, afterglow and roselia or a yukina and ran cover vibe, but also RAS, 3/5 + 1

sorrows: afterglow, and RAS and glitter*green vibes and also ran, layer and yuri deserve to say fuck 1/5 + 2

halos: lets just go ahead and say that most of the bullets album has afterglow vibes, but this one also has hello happy world! vibes, harohapi is the kind of band to cover stuff you wouldn't expect them to 2/5

turnstiles: it does have afterglow vibes but should any of them really be covering this song 0/5 + 1 bc I trust yukina's dad with it (also i googled him after writing this, why is he so pretty excuse me)

monroeville: afterglow/5, ran has the range

best day ever: clearly, afterglow, 1/5

cubicles: just like approximately 100 times previously, this has clear afterglow vibes, but also roselia, maybe glitter*green too, 2/5 + 1

demolition lovers: everything but screaming in this song says roselia bc screaming is very un-yukina-esque, 1/5 + ran would totaly scream

helena: fits roselia the best, but it also has afterglow or glitter*green vibes, maybe even RAS, but at the moment they don't have the emotional depth for that yet, 2/5 + 1.5

give ‘em hell kid: realized that bullets and three cheers have afterglow and roselia vibes respectively, but their imagery is exactly the opposite. that being said, both roselia and afterglow could do a great cover of this song, 2/5

to the end: just like a bunch of times before, roselia and afterglow, 3/5 for a possibility of yukina and ran cover

prison: Hello!!!! Happy!!!! World!!!!! I do not take constructive criticism on this one, 1/5 let kokoro tsurumaki say motherfucker

i’m not okay: guess the band it starts with a and ends with fterglow (also can somebody put this song over the tied to the skies mv i have a theory they fit together), also roselia, but only for the 'i'm okay (trust me)' part bc i want ako to have the 'trust me' line, 3/5, popipa, harohapi and pasupare together give the song another point

ghost of you: it could very easily be a roselia song, 1/5

jetset life: una otra cancion para roselia to cover por favor 1/5

interlude: it may be a short song but yukina's vocals and roselia's sound would fit it way too well 1/5

venom: realistically, afterglow and roselia would be most likely to cover it, but someting about it says 'cutesy idols should get away with singing it', so I'd want pasupare to cover it, but also popipa or harohapi, 5/5, *please*

hang ‘em high: oh yeah afterglow totaly, but more importantly, harohapi, 2/5

deathwish: nobody will be surprised if I say Roselia and Afterglow would cover this, right? also I just noticed there's lots of christian motives in the three cheers songs, 2/5 + Jesus

cemetery drive: why are most of the songs so fitting for Roselia and/or Afterglow (i mean it's fitting but please give me more to work with mcr), 3/5

never told you: it has strangely popipa and harohapi vibes, and I'd fear for my thumbs if it was a harohapi song and was added to the game, also afterglow 3/5

desert song: this song is too sad. -9293838382/5, or I'll cry

the end.: I mean yeah, afterglow and roselia, but it has Poppin'Party vibes but Dark 3/5

dead!: well since the end. transitions to this one, afterglow, roselia and popipa already have this song rights, but this one also has pasupare and harohapi vibes, and maybe even glitter*green, 5/5 + 1

how i disappear: the intro alone says roselia and the rest of the song keeps and keeps saying roselia. roselia. did i mention roselia? 1/5

sharpest lives: afterglow for this one, and maybe harohapi, 2/5

wttbp: hello happy world is legally required to cover this song, 1/5

i don’t love you: idk this song made me think of pasupare, but more realistically, afterglow or popipa, 3/5

house of wolves: the vibes say pasupare and popipa, the song says afterglow, 3/5 + i spent about 5 minutes trying to roll that R in 'i said ashes to ashes'

cancer: pasupare or roselia but please no. -2/5 I would cry and miss all my notes on the easy difficulty

mama: god. please. hello happy world. 3/5 bc pasupare and popipa also seem like they'd make a great cover

sleep: something about it just say afterglow and nobody else, 1/5

teenagers: there's something about imagining kokoro singing the chorus ... but really any of the bands could do it Well so 5/5 + 2, please

disenchanted: yukina's voice. it's made for this song. please. bushiroad do something about this. roselia/5

famous last words: yes. feels like one for all the vocalists to get together and sing, all/5

blood: fun! hello happy world! 1/5

kill all your friends: it has the afterglow vibes, but I can also see harohapi and popipa cover it what else can I say, 3/5

heaven help us: saying roselia and afterglow gets boring, popipa and harohapi is in, 4/5

my way home is through you: Poppin' Party (also afterglow but really they already have enough songs on this list) 2/5

emily: i got so focused on the comment section on youtube that I almost forgot to think of which band this would fit. most likely pasupare or harohapi, 2/5

party at the end of the world: finally we're getting to the more popipa/pasupare/harohapi vibe songs, also afterglow 4/5

not that kind of girl: i spoke too soon, this clearly has ran vibes, 1/5, afteeglow type of song through and through

all the angels: uh tough one. it sounds nice but has Very Dark lyrics, so popipa and harohapi could both cover it, but like, also roselia vibes? and maybe even pasupare, 4/5

na na na: out of the main bands, harohapi, but really, it has more RAS vibes, 1/5 + 1, let layer say fuck

bulletproof heart: it even has roselia-esque song title, what else is there to say, 1/5 + 1 actually, i feel like it also has guriguri vibe

sing: this has very uplifting vibes actually, and popipa, pasupare and harohapi have very uplifting vibes, ran is made to sing songs like that too, and god knows yukina could sing this so well, another one for all the main bands 5/5 + 2 because also RAS and guriguri

planetary (go!): HELLO HAPPY WORLD/5 AND NOBODY ELSE

the only hope for me is you: definitely a roselia type of song, 1/5

party poison: oh this simply has afterglow + aya vibes, 1.2/5

save yourself, i’ll hold them back: same as the previous one, but yukina instead of aya, 1.2/5

scarecrow: pasupare seem like the band for this song. it also has popipa vibes. maybe collab with ran? ran could honestly sing all the mcr songs. 2.2/5

summertime: the only of the main bands i can't see singing this song is harohapi, 4/5

destroya: just saying afterglow would be boring. it's popipa and harohapi you should worry about. 3/5

kids from yesterday: i mean it would be a good song for roselia or pasupare to cover, but the emotional toll this song would take on me if it was chosen on multi live is not worth it, -2/5

vampire money: listen it has kira kira doki doki vibes of popipa, and cute idols should be allowed to say fuck, and afterglow would clearly do a cover, but really, the best one for this song would be harohapi, but even more really, a 5-way collab between the five bands would be the best, all/5

we don’t need another song about california: my first thought with it was popipa, but it also has pasupare and roselia vibes, 3/5

black dragon fighting society: this song is clearly a job for harohapi and nobody else/5

f.t.w.w.w.: roselia and afterglow and harohapi show up a lot huh, 4/5 for a possible collab between ran, yukina and kokoro

mastas of ravenkroft: well, considering what this song is about, the only band who should do it is popipa, 1/5, kira kira doki doki vibes didn't stop them from covering romeo&cinderella, it won't stop them from covering this song

boy division: another one with harohapi vibes, but also more afterglow vibes (i mean look at them, they're the most emo band in the game), 2/5

tomorrow’s money: afterglow and roselia would definitely cover it, but who i really want to cover it is pasupare, 3/5

ambulance: really any of the main bands could cover this, but especially pasupare or popipa, 5/5

gun.: it has the vibes of every band honestly, and all the bands could make it sound good, 5/5 + 2 for RAS and glitter*green

the world is ugly: i mean they all could, and the covers would be nice, but is crying and eventually dying while playing a live really worth it? -5/5

the light behind your eyes: what is this, songs that would make me die before the fever chance bar showed up from making me cry? -728282/5 I don't want to die in a multi live just bc of crying

kiss the ring: can't see roselia or pasupare cover it, but popipa, afterglow and harohapi definitely could, it has them vibe, 3/5

make room!!!: it doesn't have roselia vibes, but it does have RAS vibes, 4/5 + 1

surrender the night: clearly a roselia vibes song, although afterglow and popipa have a similar vibe too, 3/5

burn bright: can't decide if roselia or afterglow would make a better cover, 3/5, maybe they should do it together

fake your death: 6/5 bc the special band should be the one covering that, even if all the main bands could do it well separately

[ella-se-vuelve-loca]

Last One, I Swear! | Erick Brian Colón

Sooo I noticed I haven’t done any stories for Erick yet lol for now, the stories I write for him won’t have any of that dirty stuff y’all like lmaooo sorry x

Warnings: None lol just pure fluff

Masterlist

Wanna be tagged for future fics?

**

“Alright, one more!” Erick yelled as he lost another game of Mario Kart, again. “C’mon, I’ve - I’ve got it this time. I can feel it.” He went to start another match, but I stopped him. “Erick, let’s just turn off the game.” I said. “No, I refuse to accept defeat.” He got comfortable on the floor and had a frown sketched on his face. “Estas bien, mi amor?” I asked him. “No, it’s fine. It’s - it’s all good. Everything’s great.” Yeah, that wasn’t sarcastic at all. I looked at the time and realized how late it was. Yikes! The boys have to wake up early tomorrow for an interview. We were in his hotel room playing video games and ordered in some food to eat. We didn’t realize how late it was getting. “Erick, mira.” I showed him the time on my phone.

“I just.. oh.. ya son las 2:25 de la mañana?” He realized. I nodded and his head dropped. “We should head to sleep. I don’t want you to be grumpy when I come back to wake you up.” He sighed and slowly started to get up. “Yeah, I guess we do have to wake up early tomorrow..” I kept a smile on my face as I thought about how much Erick gets involved in this game and can never beat me. What can I say? I’m pretty damn good at it.

“Okay, fine let’s go to… porqué estas sonriendo asi?” I just shook my head and stood up. “Nothing, why?” I asked him and chuckled. I went to go and grab my hotel key card. “Crees que no puedo hacerlo, ¿verdad?” He accused and I just laughed, not being able to hold it in. “How dare you.” He had a small smile on his face. “It’s not my fault you keep losing. You’re just not that good as I am.” I flipped my hair and laughed. “Alright, grab your controller. We’re doing this right now.” I raised an eyebrow and looked at the time once again. “Are you sure you want to do this? I don’t wanna hear you complain that you didn’t win against me again.” I laughed. “No, don’t give me that. I’ll show you that I can win at least one race.” He looked determined. Then again, so did the other times.

“C’mon mi amor, just one more. I’ll prove myself! I know you’re tired y quiero ir a dormir, but this is it. I promise.” I looked at him and his eyes bore into my own. I know I shouldn’t, but I can’t say no to him. I mean, have you seen his eyes? They’re way to pretty to say no to. “Okay, fine. Let’s do it.” I grabbed my controller and sat back down next to him. He went to look for a new map to start the race. “How about a little wager? To keep things interesting.” He suggested and raised his eyebrow. I sat up and smiled. “Oh, you like that sound of that, don’t you? Alright, loser has to.. eat a tablespoon of coffee.” I just scoffed. “Is that it?”

“What do you mean that’s it? It’s a pretty fair bet, if you ask me.” Erick defended himself. I just sat there next to him thinking about my options. I could just go to my room and sleep, like we’re supposed to be doing right at this moment. Or, I could just beat him and call it a night. Decisions, decisions. “Princesa, por favor. I just wanna play.” Erick whined. “Okay okay! I’ll play.” I said as he clicked on to start the race. I leaned in and gave him a quick kiss. “Good luck.” I smiled and looked at the screen, getting ready to start. “You’re smiling now, just wait until I win this game. Let’s do this.” The intro to the track started and we both got ready. 

“I’m ready. Are you ready to eat my dust? I’ll be so fast, Sonic can’t keep up with my speeds. I’ll be sorry to even - .. oh shit.” By the time Erick looked back at the screen, the race was literally 3 seconds away from starting. “You should’ve been paying attention.” I comment. “Yeah, whatever. Shut up.” And we were off. I noticed him behind already as the rest of the racers passed him up. “You know you need to - ”

“Yes, I know I need to accelerate at the start.“ He frowned. “I can see someone is not enjoying this round as much.” I laughed. 

“Well, you were distracting me!”

“No I was not!”

“You did too!” 

This is so childish. I love moments like this with him though. “Alright, focus. You’re trying to psych me out right now, aren’t you? Well, it’s not gonna - don’t laugh at me like that.” He laughed. I can’t hold it in! This is too funny! “I’m sorry, babe. I told you this would happen.” He leaned in closer to the tv as I continued to win this race. “Okay, you asked for it now.” 

A few seconds of silence filled the air between us, until I heard him mumble. “Where did everyone go?” I could see his body moving side to side as he made turns. “Are you in last place?” I asked him, smiling. “No! I’m just.. trailing behind, that’s all. It’s all part of the technique.” Okay… now I’m starting to feel bad. I mean, sure it’s fun to beat him and win, but he seriously hasn’t won a single game against me and it’s starting to become sad. Hmm… maybe just this once.

“Yes, when I.. oh! Oh yeah! I’m coming for you now, mi amor.” I quickly looked over to his side of the screen and noticed that he got a golden mushroom. “See, look at that. Look at that! I told you, all part of the - ”

“Oh please! That mushroom must have felt bad and gave pity on you.” I joked.

“No, it wasn’t a pity mushroom!” He chuckled. Alright, time to slow down my movements. I started going a little more slower, not that he would notice, so he could catch up to me. “You’re laughing now nena, pero no vengas a llorar cuando pierdas.” I glanced at the map to see where each player is and noticed him coming close. Now I just gotta not pass him up. “Yes! C’mon, Mario keep going!” Did I forget to mention that he picked baby Mario as his character?

“Finally! 1st place!” He quickly passed me and I stayed behind. “No!” I joked along. He deserves a win anyways. He looks so excited. “Ay Díos mio it’s right there! I believe in you - “ He gasped and moved his body to the right. Peach was trying to pass him up and he wasn’t having it. “No. no, don’t you dare! Go go go!” He continued to try and block her so she won’t pass him up. “How am I in 8th place?” I asked out loud, just now realizing that I haven’t really been paying attention to my side of the screen because I couldn’t stop staring at Erick’s reaction to finally being in first. 

I could easily pass him up with the 3 mushrooms I just got, but I can’t do that to him right now. He’s probably dreamed about this moment of beating me. I don’t wanna take that away from him right now.

“Aww 8th place, is that right? It is over! It is over (Y/N)! Forget it! Don’t say I didn’t warn you!” He’s almost there! Just a few more seconds… oh my God.. he actually did it. Erick got first place!

“I finally did it! I finally beat you!” He cheered. I just chuckled and continued on racing. “Aww you’re still racing. Oh, it’s alright! You just go as fast as you can, okay?” He teased until I made it passed the finish line. “Hey, there you go! Look at you! You finished the race.” He smiled as he looked at the screen as his character received the trophy. “Oh, look at that. Baby Mario takes home the gold.” I raised an eyebrow and chuckled. “Are you happy?” I asked him.

“Well, of course I’m happy now, are you kidding me?” He started gloating in my face and I couldn’t help but feel happy for him. “Are you done?” I laughed and he shook his head. “No, I’m not quite done yet. First I have to..” He stood up and starting dancing all over his room. “Do my victory dance!” He jumped up and down, waved his hands in the air and did any silly dance he could think of on the spot. 

“I believe that a certain someone has to eat a teaspoon of coffee because that was part of the deal.” He said as he went to sit back down next to me. I rolled my eyes and went to get up, but he grabbed my hand. I looked at him in confusion. “Wait wait wait… not yet. Real quick, let’s watch the playback.” Oh this little fucker. “Why?”

“Why? So I can rewatch my victory over and over again, of course!” He quickly pressed replay and the video started. “See? Technique. What did I tell.. oh yeah, beautiful. Did you see that comeback? I went from 12th to 3rd just like that.” He snapped his fingers. “I have to admit, good job on your part princesa. Good job.” 

“Hey, this is only your first win. I’ve won so much more than you.” I chuckled. “Alright, let’s not forget who won here, okay? Let’s not lose sight of the big picture here.” He smiled and continued watching the playback. “Oh amor, that’s brutal. They just kept coming at you, huh?” Other characters keep hitting me with shells, so that’s how I ended up in 8th. “Yes! Look at that.” Baby Mario was about to pass my character up. “Admit it. There was no chance you could have.. ” He stopped, now realizing that I 3 mushrooms and I didn’t bother to use them. 

“Amor? Is that a.. wait a minute. You could’ve totally used it by..” Realization now dawning on his face as he looked at me. “Nena?” I didn’t meet his eyes and I started to back away from him. A laugh wanting to escape my mouth. “No no no, mirame. Look me in the eye and tell - don’t cover your mouth like that! No, ven aquí.” He held onto my shoulders and tried to hold me against him.

“Don’t back away from me like that, tell me the truth!” He turned my face so I could look at him. “Did you.. let me..” I cut him off with a quick kiss, catching him off guard and pulled myself away from him laughing. I ran to go grab my hotel key card and towards the door. 

“Hey, come back here! Oh, you’re gonna get it!” He laughed chasing after me.

**

Hey! It’s the end of the story! Lmao I hope y’all enjoyed! If you liked it, please make sure to send some love to my writing! Comment, reblog, and or like please! I love reading what you have to say!

[genaleah]

I can give the full context! It's going under a cut though because there's a lot to it 👍

So here we go....

TMA!AU

Aka AU², the Nightmare Boogaloo!

So right off the bat, this an AU-within-an-AU of the Wildcards becoming living embodiments of fear ala The Magnus Archives podcast. Here's a list of the Entities on the wiki, though obvious warning for spoilers. (Granted, I've only just started season 4!)

In this AU offshoot, each character becomes a monster tied to a different entity of fear. Nelson with The Eye, Guybrush with The Spiral, Eddie with The Desolation, Manny with The End, and Sam and Max with The Hunt.

Guybrush gets hit first + worst. It starts off very slowly, at first he just feels a little confused/dissociated, but then he starts to have increasing difficulty figuring out when he's asleep or awake, and whether he's in reality or the mindscape. Doorways that exist in reality will suddenly lead him into his dreams with no way out, and then suddenly he's back in reality with no warning. Eventually this crescendos to a point in which he can't find his way OUT of his mind at all, and it all starts warping more and more into something unrecognizable. What feels like months of sleepless, ceaseless wandering is only a single day that he's gone missing. This slip through reality is also what ends up transforming his own body, he changes himself into a reflection of his own state of mind.

When he comes back out, he unwittingly transforms the Motherlobe into another maze. Not everyone experiences this or even realizes that anything is wrong. The victims who get trapped in it become fellow reflections of The Spiral, albeit with their own fears/nightmares influencing how they turn out. The Psychonauts as a whole is being purposefully targeted as a breeding ground of fear & new avatars for the Spiral, and Guybrush was chosen as its architect against his will. He just had the right combination of powers and pain to create a smooth, seamless transition.

Simultaneously, other agents who don't encounter this are being changed by other Fears who don't want to lose their share of influence in the world. Psychics are PRIME fodder.

Manny and Eddie get infected by their respective Fears while they're away from the Motherlobe, just out and about doing their own things.

Manny doesn't even engage with his directly to begin with, other people start becoming increasingly fearful of him until the change in role suddenly overtakes him. People try to make bids for their own immortality, and whoop, suddenly he's got the dice or playing cards or what-have-you, and he always knows that he's going to win in the end. The losers die immediately in front of him. Sometimes he can be more of a direct reaper and make the offer first, but he's not totally comfortable doing that unless he REALLY thinks someone/something deserves it.

Eddie has probably the worst situation. If he touches anybody they will die a painful burning death. A single touch can cause 2nd or 3rd degree burns, prolonged contact will set the victim in flames. But worse than that is the fact that his alignment with the Desolation makes him want to destroy things and people of worth- so that he creates an acute fear of loss and pain to those who would miss them. He’s the most physically dangerous to be around, so he’s taken to wearing a full-body motorcycle get up so that no one can touch him accidentally. He's safe to the touch now, technically, but it doesn't stop him from being ultra careful. He’s trying to abide by some ghost-rider morals here and primarily target bad people or other monsters, but there’s always going to be some collateral damage.

As for Sam & Max... They take a while to really notice the shift happening, but their final stage can best be described as this: Imagine if Noir Sam enjoyed it. That's basically how both of them would behave. They've always loved hunting down perps, but now their chases are a little more... intense. Frantic. If they've had a good one they're satiated for a while, but going too long without it makes them more antsy and violent. The hunting is fun and fulfilling for them!

Sometimes it can ramp up into killing, but considering that the whole gang is out looking for answers, that means a lot of capture and kidnapping instead, with the intent of interrogation (thanks to Nelson). And some monster hunting on the side!

Nelson is one of the last to change, but he gets caught up in the shenanigans pretty early on after first finding Guybrush in his noodley eldritch state. He starts trying to figure out some way to undo all of their conditions and bring them back to normal. Well, "normal".

But slowly he shifts from "I need to know how to help my friends" to "I need to understand what's happening" to "I NEED to know as many deep dark secrets as possible in order to live". With the change in his behavior, he basically becomes a textbook supernatural Man in Black entity, and his clothing starts reflecting that. His eyes become bloodshot and light-sensitive, so he takes to wearing shades while trying to appear normal.

Which also brings me to the next character! @zeroodd​ came up with a great story for Elaine, so I will c/p it here :

What if her and Nelson had teamed up in the beginning for a solution.

Just one night they're both working hard on it and Nelson starts asking about what they've found so far

but then he

keeps asking questions

and Elaine looks over and he's just got a tape recorder right up to her face

"Do you know he's gone for good?"

Course he'd try to backtrack and apologize but Elaine has to face facts that Nelson is as much of a threat as any of them now.

She leaves the group for a while in order to study this fear stuff on her own, and comes to the conclusion that she needs to willingly get in on it if she wants any hope of surviving this increasingly dangerous world. She eventually joins The Web. She starts out feeling nervous about things being out of her control and scary, which suddenly shifts to her wanting to control more things and oh cool, these spiders help me do that! By the time she rejoins with the group everyone is full-blown monster mash so there’s very little to hide from anyone. (Manny still HATES bugs though, and would like the spiders far far away from him, por favor.)

So, how do they all go back to normal? Well... They don't. After hitting dead end after dead end, realizing they're definitely not human anymore, and learning the true nature of the fears as a whole, they're forced to accept it and try to maintain themselves as best they can.

The thing that would make the changes so insidious is that it would all gel with who they are as people. By the time they're at that final point, it would feel like fate that they wound up that way, like it's everything they're supposed to be.

The power of friendship possibly even added to this, because rather than struggling alone and possibly fighting back against it, they understood and cared for each other through the worst of it, which made accepting their new selves a lot easier.

BUT WAIT! There are a few more links left in this story:

How did all of this start, really? Well, consider the fact that in the normal Wildcard AU (???), LeChuck is responsible for a lot of trauma in Guybrush’s past that make his hold on reality a little rough. Add to that his ability to create very life-like illusions, and the poor pirate becomes the perfect conduit for the Spiral to take hold. In this AU, LeChuck was the one who got the ball rolling on his transformation out of hopes that he could control the Spiral itself by making his brother the primary avatar, and then bringing about a new world of madness in which he is the sole, sane ruler. Guybrush hasn’t lost his sense of self yet, but as more and more chaos and fear builds throughout the world as a whole, he’s losing track of himself more often. 

After all of his work and research, Nelson decides to try and bargain with the Fears directly. Dealing with supernatural forces hands-on has worked so far! (I'm not sure if he would have to find other fear avatars to work this out with, or if he could try to ritualistically communicate with the fear entity as a whole, but he figures something out.) His bargain is this:

He offers to lessen the burden of the Spiral off of Guybrush a bit. In exchange for LeChuck being removed as a threat, Nelson will let go of the last vestiges of humanity, and become a full-on fear entity to work for both The Eye AND The Spiral. The Spiral gets all of the knowledge he collects as a watcher for the Eye, The Eye gets to know that someone reasonable is helping to keep the Spiral in check a bit. Diplomacy!

The deal works out, Lechuck gets trapped in the PUZZLE ZONE and Guybrush gets to reclaim a bit of his sanity/sense of self again. In the aftermath, Nelson's got a permanent tape-recorder effect to his voice, but on actual recordings he sounds as clear as if he were right there, with little or no effect where it should be. The pupil of his left eye has become a spiral, while Guybrush's solidified into a round one. Nelson's blending of roles works even better as a MIB: He creates the uncanny feeling of being monitored, and you get the sense that he's always lying about his motives.

This new situation works out even better than expected, and he tries it again in order to help Eddie. Not that he could possibly take on a third fear responsibility, but at least he's living proof that giving the avatars of fear what they want can work out for the best, and make them more effective at being monsters!

Essentially: Give👏us👏work👏benefits👏

The deal between the Desolation and The End gives these boons: Manny can sometimes take a human form (better for targeting victims), and Eddie gets a lot more control over the heat and can turn it down to a low simmer. They get to work in tandem to create a NEW kind of fear, the burning loss of everything you've ever cared about, and the knowledge that at the end of all that suffering is an infinite, inescapable end.

Now the gang lives on a haunted ship (Philadelphia Experiment??) that they use to travel around the world and hunt down worse monsters / evil humans. And maybe save the world if need be? But mostly they just terrorize people and feed off their fear.

In summary: everybody's awful monsters but it worked out fine in the end. For some reason the Magnus Archives made me go "But what if this was a found family story and they unionized and lived on a boat??" I can't do aus normally anymore, maybe I never could.

[halfgclden]

Anytime | Graves&Cleo (& L)

Date: May 9th, 2020

Summary: Graves needs physical and spiritual healing after Fight Night. That is provided by a child of Apollo and a child of Dionysus respectively.

The sun had just begun to set as Graves had walked up to the Apollo cabin and lightly knocked on the door. The cabin almost seemed to be surrounded by a faint gold aura; whether that was from the setting sun or a result of the cabin's patron, Graves wasn't sure but he loved it all the same.  He rubbed his shoulder, waiting for the door to open and thought about the events of the weekend thus far. The third round of 'fight night' had concluded a few hours ago, and though he hadn't won, Cam had had the time of his life. Now, showered and dressed, with the last of an ambrosia high leaving his system, he had texted L, requesting their healing expertise before he set out on the excursion he had in mind for that night. He knocked again, just in case his first attempt had been inaudible. "Hey, it's Graves."

L answered the door after the second knock, having to step over a sleeping dog to get to it. They'd spent the earlier part of the evening with their girlfriends in celebration, but they told them that they'd go to their cabin for an hour and then reconvene, in order to give people time to stop by and get any healing that they needed. They flashed a smile at Graves and stepped back so that he could step in, shoving a cat back with their foot as they did. "Hey! How's the shoulder doing?"

Graves' face lit up into a smile, first at the sight of L, then at the hairless cat trying to sneak around their leg to greet him. "George Caramel! Hey kitty!" He made the pspspspsps sound in the direction of the feline before stepping into the cabin. "Hey, long time no see," he joked. "It's doin' alright. Miranda demanded I get it checked out or - and this is a direct quote - juro que haré que te arrepientas por el resto de tu vida. I'm not entirely positive on what she said but it sounded violent. And so, here I am, at your doorstep, beggin' for your magic touch.” Graves grinned at L, "Would you be able to help me?"

L closed the door behind Graves and turned to see their cat, up on his hind legs, staring at Graves because of the sound he was making. “I don’t know what that means, but it sounds ominous, so I’ll heal you right up!” They grinned. “Do you want to sit for it? Or are you in a hurry? It’ll take, like, a minute, tops. I told my geefs I wouldn’t wear myself our before we went hard tonight.” L blinked. “Went hard in celebration,” they clarified.

"I'm headed somewhere but I'm not in a hurry. Sittin' works." Graves blinked for a second, then L's explanation sunk in and he chuckled. "Of course, don't tire yourself out on my account. Rosie would kill me." He turned to find a suitable place to take a seat. "What do I have to do?"

L took a seat on the arm of the couch and beckoned Graves over. “You don’t need to do anything, just sit there and look pretty.” They smiled. “You’re gonna feel really warm, then kinda sore, but you’ll maybe be able to move it once I’m done with you. Have you had any ambrosia yet?”

He made his way to the couch and took a seat next to L. "Lookin' pretty is my specialty," Graves smiled. His face was still bruised from the previous night's fighting but a few doses of ambrosia had healed up the cuts on his face fairly well. "I'm always warm, so I'm prepared. Yeah, Miranda made me take some right after we finished the round earlier. I feel great!"

“I know,” L said affectionately as they pat his head. “And yeah, you should have that moving real soon, but make sure you actually come to me every day until I tell you to stop.” They wagged a finger at him. “Not just when you feel okay, because then you might aggravate it and get muscle damage and I really don’t want to have to deal with that.” They pressed a hand into his shoulder and let the warmth pass from them into his arm, muttering a small prayer to Apollo as they did.

Graves looked chastised for a moment; if not for Miranda and L, he probably would've accidentally injured himself further. "I'm really not tryin' to damage any muscles so I'll be back tomorrow," he promised, closing his eyes as he felt the warmth emanating from L's hand. When it stopped, he was tempted to poke his shoulder and test how it felt. Instead, he looked at L. "Am I good to go, Nurse L?"

L nodded, happy that Graves was following their advice. They went from their stern, nurse face to their usual sunny one. After a moment, they pulled their hand away, feeling a bit tired but not fully drained. “Yeah, I’m gonna hold out a bit on ya in case someone else comes by, but make sure you do your best not to move it much, at least not until you see me tomorrow.”

"I'll be careful, swear." He stood and gave L a one-armed hug. "Thank you, thank you! You're amazin', you're wonderful, you're a ray of sunshine! Make sure you eat somethin', keep up your energy!" Graves moved to the door, stopping to wave goodbye to another one of L's cats on his way out. "See you tomorrow! Don't go too hard tonight!" He laughed and slipped out the door.

⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠  

Cleo sat in her room, playing music as she painted her nails. She sang along under her breath, blowing on her left hand as she painted the right. Between each nail, she took a moment to spin and dance around the room, changing each song just before it ended. She hadn’t thought that she was playing it very loudly, but she also didn’t notice any knocking until she was very sure that there was knocking, and she ran out to go check the door, opening it carefully so as not to smudge her nails. “Cam.” She smiled for but a moment before her face dropped, taking in his cut up face and shoulder in a sling. “What happened?” She stepped back to let him in.

Graves couldn't help but laugh; here he was, standing outside the Dionysus cabin on a whim, just knocking repeatedly. He tried not to feel too ridiculous; he wasn't even positive if the person he was looking for was here. Then again, he could hear music blasting inside and from the sound of it, she was. Graves was torn between keeping his arrival a surprise or sending Cleo a text to let him in already. When she opened the door and her expression turned to one of worry, Cam's smile faltered but only for a second before he beamed at her brightly. "Bancroft, hey." He stepped inside, closing the door behind him. "Oh this?" He asked, looking at his immobilized arm as if seeing it for the first time. "I forgot to bring my good luck charm to fight night apparently."

“My gods.” Cleo exhaled a breath and raised her hand as though to touch him, then dropped it again. “I should have figured you went to that stupid thing.” She’d heard about the fight night, but being that she wasn’t a fighter, none of her friends were going, and she didn’t want to see people get maimed, she hadn’t gone herself. Zoe mentioned that there was a second part to it earlier in the day, but she took the time to herself instead, which meant that she missed out on whatever it was that caused Cameron his scuffled appearance. “Are you okay?” She drew her brows together and watched him.

He watched Cleo's hand hover for a moment before she dropped it. Graves' fingers twitched, almost tempted to- he sent the thought away, raising an eyebrow instead. "Woah, hey. It wasn't stupid, it was actually a lot of fun." Graves ran his fingers through his hair, noticing the concern etched into her features. He tried to lighten the mood, "I'm better now." He winked at her with his blackened eye.

Cleo crossed her arms, thankful that Len was at a sleepover and not watching their sister lecture a half-beaten boy in their cabin. "Just because it was fun does not negate the fact that it was stupid, Cam." She frowned at him, though she didn't see anything that she could do for him. "Do you want ice? Have you been to the healers?"

"C'mon Bancroft, I don't look that bad, do I?" A small voice in his head told him that yes, he looked like hell and should go home and rest but he was already here. It would take a little more than a frown from Cleo to send him home right now. "I stopped by the Apollo cabin on my way here." Graves chewed his lip, trying not to smile as she told him off. "Okay, maybe it was a little stupid. Was showing up here also stupid?"

Cleo wiped her hands down her face and sighed. "Ugh, Cameron, you look hurt." She looked back at him, pouting slightly, taking in the bruises that lined his jaw and collarbone. If she was honest, it was the sling that was the worrying part, and had he just shown up with a few cuts and bruises she probably would've stopped lecturing him after she made sure he was okay. She pursed her lips and took his left hand, sighing as she noticed bruising there too. "No, it wasn't stupid. I can't really do much for you." She pulled him towards the kitchen. "But I always have ice. Or at the very least something cold to press to a black eye."

Graves scrunched his nose and frowned, seeing Cleo's expression shift into a pout as she took in all his bruises. "It, um, it's not that bad. Looks a lot worse than it is, swear." He exhaled through his nose when she took his hand and watched her examine the bruises on his knuckles with her slender fingers. Graves let himself be pulled towards the kitchen; it took a moment for her words to sink in. "Oh, Bancroft, no no. I didn't- I didn't come for ice. I just came to see you." He offered her a soft smile.

Cleo looked up at Graves when he spoke and squinted at him slightly, biting her lip. She shook her head at him but couldn’t help but smile at his words. “You’re so...” She didn’t really know how to finish the sentence. She dropped his hand so that she could tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear and move to her fridge. “Well, you’re getting both. Did you want anything to drink?” She opened the freezer and pulled out a half-empty ice tray.

He quirked an eyebrow at Cleo, wondering how that sentence might have ended. But she dropped it, and his hand, so he let it be. “Both is good,” Graves laughed. “And um, water would be great. Thanks.”

Cleo grabbed a hand towel and dumped the ice into it, then handed the bundle over to him. She took two remaining cubes of ice and put them in a glass, then filled it with water from the sink. She frowned when she realized he couldn’t hold both the ice pack and the water. “Okay, I can... ice your face while you drink?”

Graves held out his hand to accept the bundle of ice from Cleo but faltered, realizing she had a point. “Hmm, uh, yeah. That works, hang on.” He hopped onto the counter with surprising grace for someone with his injuries. Graves flashed Cleo a cocky grin and tapped his ring against the edge of the counter. “Lucky jump.”

Cleo opened and closed her mouth, somewhat incredulously, when Graves jumped onto the counter. She shook her head. "Now you're gonna have to bend down more for me to ice your face, doofus." She rolled her eyes at him, but smiled and stood in front of him. She held out the water. "How'd you break your arm?"

“Didn’t think of that, oops.” He clicked his tongue, then leaned down enough to make it easier for Cleo to reach his face. Graves accepted the glass of water and took a sip. He shook his head, his smile rueful. “Not broken. I...dislocated my shoulder.”

She pressed the makeshift ice pack into his jaw carefully and frowned, sucking in a breath sympathetically. "Should I ice that instead? Is that what you're supposed to do for it?"

Graves closed his eyes as Cleo pressed the ice to his jaw, feeling the chill spread. “No no, L worked their magic on it right before I got here and I’m still cruisin’ from some ambrosia earlier. I just have to try not to move it, hence the sling. Really, Bancroft, I’m okay. You’re lookin’ at me like I might fall apart.”

Cleo huffed. "I wouldn't be looking at you like that if you didn't come to me in pieces." She shook her head and chewed her lip, raising one shoulder in a small shrug. "But, you know, you're tougher than I realize, I guess." She pursed her lips again. "Who'd you fight?"

Graves was about to protest that he wasn't in pieces anymore; Ime had seen to that when they'd popped his shoulder back in. He wrinkled his nose at the memory. "You think I'm tough?" His face lit up in a goofy smile, but he tried to play it cool. "That's good. You're right. I am." He tried not to move too much while Cleo was icing his jaw, but found he was having a hard time sitting still. He set his glass down beside him and started tapping the edge of the counter with his hand. "First round, Rosie. She climbed me like a fuckin' monkey, I threw her off the platform. Second round, Ramona and Tai. Blue and I were a team. It was a heated fight." He wondered if Cleo had heard anything about fight night and would disapprove of his word choice. "My shoulder was from fightin' Tai. Not his fault though! He got me good, I dropped my sword, I fell and landed....wrong."

"Of course I think you're tough." Cleo shook her head and resisted the urge to roll her eyes again. "Coming to me with a busted arm and jaw. The bruised knuckles are what really drove me from feeling bad to being impressed, though, honestly." She smiled at him softly and then looked to his hand, tapping against the counter. "That's... a lot of people." She tilted her head and grimaced. "Fell so wrong it took your arm out? That's disgusting, Cam."

"Impressed, huh?" Graves bit his lip, suppressing an even larger smile. "Maybe I have to win fights more often," he mused, deciding not to mention he technically hadn't won last night's fight. "I'd say I wish you were there, so you could've seen the action but...yeah, gods." He shook his head. "Fuck, Bancroft. I fell very wrong. The sound..." Graves winced. "Shoulders should not sound like that. I'm glad you didn't hear it. Or hear me when it happened." He looked away, suddenly fascinated with a vine on the wall.

Cleo dipped her head as she shook it again. "Gods, you're just..." She sighed and didn't finish her sentence again, then looked back up at him, scrunching her face in disgust. "Oh, gods, ew. Please don't tell me any more about it." She frowned, then rested a hand on his knee. "I'm really glad you're okay."

Cleo's growing habit of leaving her sentences unfinished was only making Graves more and more curious about those unsaid words. But she didn't offer them up, and again he didn't ask. He stopped tapping on the counter to hold his hand up in surrender. "I won't, you don't want to hear them. I don't want to have heard it," he tried to joke. Graves' eyes flickered down to her hand on his knee. "Bancroft, you worried about me?"

Cleo stuck out her lower lip a bit. "If you have a less scary fight, tell me about it, and maybe I'll come. I've never seen you in action." She smiled and shook her head again. "Um, duh? Wouldn't you be worried if your friend showed up to your doorstep unannounced with a black eye and a cast?"

"Next time, maybe." He winked at her. "Ah, we'll have to change that. Did you know I fight with two swords? I don't know if I ever mentioned it. It's fuckin' fun. Okay, if you put it like that, I guess I'd be a little worried." Graves gave Cleo's hand a little squeeze and smiled, before tapping a rhythm with his ring this time. "And if you showed up on my doorstep like that, I'd ask who's ass I needed to kick."

Cleo smiled slightly, tapping his knee lightly with her fingers. “I think you’ve mentioned them before, and I’m pretty sure I was as impressed by the idea of the visual as I am now.” She looked down at their hands, watching his as he tapped his rings against her counter. She wasn’t sure if she’d ever asked what prompted the skull on his hand, but was pretty sure that it was something along the lines of ‘it was fucking cool’, as his others were. She smiled and shook her head. “I won’t show up on your doorstep like that.” Cleo didn’t get into many physical fights, if any at all, and if she did get into one, it was likely not going to be someone who’s ass Graves would be willing to kick.

Graves pressed his lips together; he assumed that the only altercations Cleo might get in were ones he really should stay out of, so he changed the subject. "Did I tell you that my swords are my rings?" Graves held his hand out for Cleo's inspection. He'd caught her looking at his hands often enough; whether she was looking at his assortment of jewelry or the tattoo on his left hand, he could never be sure. He leaned closer, resting his forehead on hers. "The ones I wear on my middle fingers," he explained.

Cleo kept watching his hand as he raised his, biting her lip as she picked up the hand not pressed against the slowly melting ice pack. She shook her head slowly. “I didn’t know that,” she said, lowering her voice. Something about the proximity made her feel less as though she had to compete with the music still playing in her room for volume. She glanced up again as his forehead met hers and swallowed. “You’re always prepared to fight, then? I never see you without them.” Water slid down her arm and she looked at the bundle, then put it down on the counter at his side, doing her best not to break contact with him.

He hummed softly, watching Cleo take his hand in her own for the second time that night. "They're enchanted. I can't lose them. So I guess, yes. Can't ever be caught without a way to defend myself." He glanced at the bundle of melted ice on the counter next to him. Graves could feel a few drops of water lazily trailing along his jaw and down his neck. He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, staying as still as he could.

She ran her thumb over his knuckles as softly as she could, resting it against his ring. “They’re really pretty, so it’s nice that you don’t lose them,” she murmured. Cleo looked up, scanning his face as he closed his eyes, then reached up to brush the water from his neck. “Oh, you have...”

"They were a gift," he said, his voice low. Graves' eyes were still closed, unaware of her movement. When Cleo's fingers brushed his neck, he jolted back in surprise, knocking the glass of water over in the process. As water poured over the edge of the counter, it seemed as if a spell had been broken. Graves grimaced, "Sorry, I'll clean that up." He moved to hop off the counter, looking embarrassed and feeling strange.

Cleo moved back with a start when Gaves jolted, shocked by the sudden movement. She shook her head and grabbed another hand towel to wipe up the spill. "No, don't worry about it, I shouldn't have..." She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and put the towel down on the counter. "Did you, um, want something to eat? I have a few snacks."

Graves moved for the hand towel the same time Cleo did and their hands bumped together. “Sorry,” he repeated, feeling heat rise on his cheeks. He leaned against the counter, pondering food options. “You’re hungry? You’ve got a snack right here.” He flicked his eyebrows upward, looking at Cleo playfully.

Cleo picked up the half-melted ice bundle as well and tossed it into her sink as she laughed, shaking her head at him. Even still, she let her eyes scan over him, noting where his cropped shirt ended and his midriff began. She bit her lip, then looked up, meeting his eyes instead of staring at his torso. "Shut up. I'm surprised you didn't call yourself a meal."

"Is that your way of callin' me one?" He watched Cleo's eyes sweep over his body, catching at the hem of his shirt. Graves ran his thumb over his bottom lip, trying to hide a smile. He met her gaze and held it, expression saying caught you.

Cleo pressed her lips together and shook her head at Graves, blushing slightly. "Um, no. I was just saying that that's something you'd say." She shook her head and went back to occupying herself with wiping up the spill again, though it was already mostly soaked up by the towel.

Graves' smile widened, "Well, y'would've been right. I am a meal. But, uh, if you're actually hungry, yeah I could eat. I think you've got all the water, ma'am." He took a step closer to Cleo and was about to place his hand on her arm but thought better of it.

Cleo looked up at Graves and set her jaw, dropping the towel into the sink next to the other one. "I'm not too hungry, I was just offering because I don't know what else to do," she admitted with a laugh. She pressed her hand to her forehead and shook her head. "Um, I think I have leftover dumplings and then, like, Redvines? I have a stash of mini Snickers too, but I'll only let you take one, two if you're really nice."

"I'd take a Redvine, if you're willin' to part with them. I'll let you keep your Snickers, because I'm that nice. And I don't...really know what else to do either," Graves smiled slightly before looking away. "We could..." He mused. "Stand here and talk about how stupid I am for signin' up for fight night. Or watch a movie. Or sing along to whatever you were listening to. Or I could tell you how cute your pajamas are. Or go for a walk. Any of those sound appealin', Bancroft?"

Cleo laughed quietly. "A single Redvine? How polite." She smiled, looking down at herself when he commented on her pajamas, then looked back up at him, taking a step forward, but leaned against the counter. "I would like nothing more than to sing along to music or go for a walk right now."

Graves gave a little half-shrug, the best he could do right now. Still, he winced a little and grit his teeth to hide it. He raised an eyebrow as she stepped closer, leaning casually into the conversation. "Walk first? Dramatic karaoke after?"

Cleo reached into her cabinet and grabbed a pack of Redvines, then held one out to Graves, and took two for herself. "Sounds amazing. I should probably shut my music off first, unless it makes people think I'm home, keeps me from getting robbed."

Accepting the Redvine from Cleo, Graves laughed. "I doubt you'll get robbed. Maybe the music will drive people away." He took a bite of the candy, smiling innocently.

Cleo chewed her candy and shrugged one shoulder at Graves. "It's a good strategy, no?" She laughed and took his good hand carefully. "Where do you want to walk to? Woods, beach, lake?"

"An excellent strategy. You claim to know every inch of the woods, if I recall correctly." He finished his Redvine, letting Cleo take his hand. He ran his thumb over her hand. "I'm ready when you are. You can borrow my flannel if you're not warm enough."

"Every inch," Cleo repeated incredulously as she rolled her eyes, still smiling. "I know the woods super well, yeah, so I can acquaint you with it." She looked down at his hand, then to the flannel at his waist, and then back up to him. "Would you need a sweater from me then?"

Graves couldn't help but grin as Cleo rolled her eyes. His gaze drifted down to their hands, fingers laced together. The flowers inked on her skin caught his eye and he tried to trace the one on her thumb. He looked up, "Oh, no. Thanks, but I run warm. I'll be okay."

Cleo kept an eye on their hands, looking up so that she could smile at him. "Fine, then we should go, because I'm okay too." She tugged him slightly as she led them out of her kitchen, but dropped his hand so that she could run into her room and turn off her music. "I don't want my speaker to die," she explained as she returned to his side.

He tilted his head, waiting for Cleo to reappear from her room. "Makes sense," Graves nodded. He held out his hand, almost shyly, for her to take. "Lead the way, Bancroft."

Cleo took his hand, not really expecting him to offer his hand up when she returned. She led him out of the cabin and into the twilight. She inhaled and closed her eyes, smiling. "This is my favourite time of day. Dusk."

Graves followed Cleo outside, looking up at the sky. "I think I like golden hour best. But this is real decent." He smiled, letting her pull him onto a path that led to the woods. "D'you spend a lot of time out here?"

“How else do you think I know every inch?” Cleo asked with a smile. She ran her thumb over Graves’s knuckles softly. “You spend more time at the lava wall than in the woods?”

“Ah, duh. Stupid question.” He mentally smacked himself and hoped he wasn’t blushing in embarrassment. He flicked his eyes down at their hands, watching Cleo run her thumb over his knuckles. Graves trusted her to lead him while he wasn’t paying attention, knowing she wouldn’t let him trip or fall. “I spend more time at the lake or river I think. Although you know I love the lava wall.”

Cleo smiled at him, then pulled him off of the path to a section of trees that were fairly close together. There was a sort of man-made path there, only indicated by the trampled grass and other markers, if you looked closely. “Always need to be close to the water?”

Graves couldn’t tell where they were going on the fading light but Cleo moved with such ease, it was clear she’d walked this trail often. He stepped over a raised tree root, careful not to trip. “Mhm, yeah. I always feel more grounded when I can hear the waves.” He avoided another root. “Ma’am where are you taking me?”

Cleo walked slowly, aware of the fact that Graves wasn't as used to this part of the woods as she was. "Ah." She nodded in understanding. "Ocean boy." She flashed a small smile at him. "Do you like surprises?"

“Bancroft. Who doesn’t like surprises?” He tapped her knuckles with his thumb. “Of course I do. I’m just impatient is all.”

Cleo laughed and pulled him further into the forest, past gnarled roots, which she stepped over carefully, and around large trees, which she skirted around. She obviously knew this path well, with the way she was walking it in the fading light, and she pointed out a few tricky spots to get over to Graves. Eventually, they emerged into a clearing, which was fairly well-lit, due to the clear sky and waning but near-full moon. Fireflies dotted the clearing, and floated in patterns around the center of it. As they stepped out, Cleo smiled up at Graves. "Surprise?"

Graves felt like they’d stepped into the labyrinth with all the twists and turns their path took. With help from Cleo, he managed not to stumble at all on their way to the clearing. When they stepped into the open, Graves blinked in surprise, his eyes adjusting to the light. The moon was big and the sky glittered with stars. “Woah...this, this is awesome.” He let go of Cleo’s hand, reaching out to catch a firefly. With a soft smile, Graves held his hand out to her, firefly faintly glowing in his palm.

Cleo beamed at him, happy that he seemed so pleased with their destination. She stepped further into the clearing as he let go of her hand, but turned so that she was still facing him. "Gods, I remember when I first found this place. I thought it was, like, enchanted or something. Now I know it is."

The firefly took off, light flickering as it left Graves’ palm. He took a few steps forward, following Cleo into the heart of the clearing. “Enchanted?” He asked. He held out his hand, trying to scoop another firefly out of the air.

Cleo caught a firefly and opened her hands to examine the blinking bug. "Yeah. Isn't it magical? I legitimately thought these were, like, floating lights or fairies or something."

"I love that," Graves said. He looked over at Cleo, grinning proudly to show her the two fireflies he'd caught. "I definitely thought fireflies were fairies as a kid." He took another step towards her before moving to sit in the grass. He patted the spot next to him, looking up at her.

Cleo grinned approvingly at Graves's catch, then took a seat next to him. "I was fourteen, but I'd never seen them before, so that's my excuse."

Graves stuck his tongue out at Cleo. "I grew up hearing all these wild stories about gods and monsters and prophecies from my grandma. That is my excuse." He leaned back in the grass, propping himself up with his good arm and looked up at the sky. "The stars are so bright," he said quietly.

Cleo laughed. "I wasn't making fun of you! I was just saying I wasn't a kid. Or, I guess I was. Fourteen is still a kid." She tipped her head back and leaned back on her hands, then her elbows. "Yeah. The moon was full two nights ago."

He scooted a little closer to Cleo, then laid down fully, the soft ground comfortable beneath his back. Graves raised his arm, pointing to a cluster of stars in the sky. "There's the Big Dipper," he smiled.

Cleo smiled as she noticed him move closer, then laid down fully. She moved his arm over so that he was pointing elsewhere in the sky. "And there's Orion."

Keeping their hands together, Graves steered their pointed fingers to another constellation. He squinted. "That's Leo." He turned his head to look at Cleo, "Do you have a favorite?"

Cleo smiled as her hand was taken in Graves’s and turned her head to look at him. “Gemini.” She watched him through blades of grass. “I like the story. What about you?”

"Draco. I've always liked the story too." He looked back up at the sky and sighed contentedly. "I didn't expect my day to go like this."

"Do you like dragons?" Cleo felt her arm growing tired but did not want to let go of his hand, and left it. She watched him as he watched the sky. "How were you expecting it to go?"

“Who doesn’t like dragons? They’re so cool. I can’t believe they’re real, honestly. The gods? No problem. Dragons? Mind-blowing.” Graves pointed out another constellation, the Big Dipper, before lowering his arm. He didn’t let go of Cleo’s hand, resting their arms in the grass between them. “I don’t know. No brainer that I lost round 3 today, like this. But I didn’t even know if you’d be home. Or want to hang out, I just kinda, showed up.” He laughed a little.

Cleo laughed. “Was that a byproduct of being raised by a psychic? Like, ‘oh yeah, gods and that– wait, did you say dragons?’” She smiled and looked up finally as he lowered their hands. “The fact that you even competed is impressive, honestly.” She scanned the sky, almost in disbelief of how clear the night was. “Why wouldn’t I want to hang out?” She turned to look at him again, running her thumb over the back of his hand. “I’m glad you showed up.”

Graves smiled, shaking his head slightly. "Maybe. My gran used to tell me the craziest stories." His smile widened, and he bumped her shoulder gently, moving a little closer to her. "Impressive, mhm. That's twice tonight you've said that." He turned his head to look and Cleo and winked before looking back up at the sky. "I dunno, maybe you had other plans." He laughed. Graves turned to look at her again, running his thumb over her hand as well, "I'm glad you brought me here."

Cleo looked at him again when he bumped her shoulder and smiled at him. "Keeping track? Should I say it more?" She laughed. "Am I lame for not doing anything but sit in my room doing my nails on a Saturday night?" She smiled and checked the hand that wasn't holding Graves's. The polish was smudged, but she didn't care. She dropped her hand again and turned onto her side, facing him. "I'm glad too. This is one of my favourite places in the world."

"Actually, you've said it three times, but one of them you were referrin' to my swords so..." He gave her hand a little squeeze then rolled onto his side to face her. "Y'can say it as many time as you like. Nah, nah that's not lame at all. Maybe I should paint my nails." Graves laughed a little. "In the world? And you brought me here?" He raised an eyebrow at Cleo, teasing her.

Cleo smiled as Graves turned to face her. “Maybe I won’t say it at all, now that I know you like it so much.” She glanced down, as though she would be able to see his hand in the dim lighting, then looked back up. “I can do your nails for you. Not now, obvi, but sometime.” She pressed her cheek into the earth, obscuring her face slightly behind the grass. “Yeah, but only because you looked so hapless. I guess I won’t make a habit of it, if you don’t like it.”

Graves exhaled through his nose. "I knew I shouldn't've said a thing." He peered at Cleo through the blades of grass between them. "That would be fun. I could...try to do yours? No promises on how they turn out." He scoffed. "Hapless?" He shook his head. "Nah, nah I love it. I could come here every day and it would be just as enchanting."

Cleo found that she had a hard time not smiling at him. "Maybe so." She ran her thumb over his. "I'd like that. Maybe it's your hidden talent." She moved her legs so that her knee was against his. "Yeah, like, you look all sad and unfortunate, so I needed to take you somewhere to cheer you up." She smiled somehow wider and turned her head to try to look up out of the clearing at the stars again. "Yeah," she exhaled the word with a breath. "It's... near perfect. Maybe just perfect."

"Yeah," he snorted. "With my luck, it might be." Graves was very aware of Cleo's knee pressed against his; he edged a little closer, pressing more of his leg against her own. Reluctantly, he let go of her hand and propped himself up on his elbow, trying to get more comfortable. He rested the side of his head in his hand and studied Cleo's face as she looked at the stars, a faint smile on his lips. A lock of hair was curled against her neck and Graves wished his arm wasn't in a sling, wished that he could reach out and tuck her hair behind her ear. He blinked a few times and swallowed, surprised at himself, then glanced up at the sky. "Near perfect?" Graves turned to look at Cleo, a gleam in his eye. His voice was low as he spoke. "And how, ma'am, can I make this night perfect?"

"With your luck." Cleo smiled. "You're saying that like you aren't lucky. Aren't you supposed to be my good luck charm? If you're defective, I might have to send you back." When he let go of her hand, she turned over a bit more, resting her hand on her stomach as she scanned over constellations. As he spoke, she looked at him again, then propped herself up on an elbow to bring herself to his level. She smiled slightly, somewhat sadly, and reached out to brush her fingertips over his cheek, down across his jaw, then dropped her hand. "Don't be so hurt?" She sighed and then sat up, tilting her head back to observe the sky fully. "Bring me back to Portland?"

"Dislocated shoulder certainly sounds defective, you better ship me back," he joked. Graves closed his eyes, exhaling softly as he felt Cleo's fingertips on his jaw. He tilted his head into her touch without realizing it, but as quickly as her touch had come, it was gone. "Bancroft..." he breathed, but even as he started his sentence, he knew it had no end. He opened his eyes and frowned a little as she leaned away, then looked up at the sky again. Graves found the moon and focused on it, trying to ground himself. "I'll be better in a few days. L said I can probably use my arm again by the weekend. It's not too bad." He glanced at Cleo before looking back at the moon. "I would drive you to Portland if you really wanted. You miss it?"

When Graves said her name, Cleo glanced back over to him, but it didn’t look as though he had any intention of finishing his sentence. She wrapped her arms around her bare legs, suddenly noticing that she was cold out in the woods in pajama shorts and a big shirt. “That’s good,” she said as she looked back at him, happy that magic would be able to help her friend. She rested her chin on her knees. “Yeah,” she confirmed with a small sigh. “A drive might be pretty long though.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Graves saw Cleo wrap her arms around herself and he realized she was cold. Without much difficulty, he pushed himself into a sitting position and untied the flannel from around his waist with his good hand. "Hey, here. Put this on," he held it out to her before turning back to the sky. His eyes fell on the mermaid on her leg and Graves quickly looked away. "Yeah," he nodded, in response to her earlier comment. "I can't wait to be out of this sling. And it would be a long drive, but who doesn't like a roadtrip?" He drew his knees up to his chest and rested his chin on them, looking at Cleo again. "Are you warm enough now?"

Cleo noticed the movement behind her, but didn’t turn around until he was holding his flannel out for her. She accepted it with a soft smile and pulled it on, noticing his glance at her leg, but choosing not to comment on it. “Do you like me enough to go on a roadtrip with me?” she teased, then pulled her shirt up a bit so that she could shove her knees into it. “Um, yeah. Are you?”

"Fuck no, Bancroft. I'd get sick of you after a day." Graves stuck his tongue out at Cleo and laughed lightly, making sure she knew he was teasing as well. When she tucked her knees into her shirt, his playful expression turned soft. He scrubbed his face with his hand, mumbling, "oh my gods." He shook his head. "Huh? Oh yeah, I run warm. I'm like a furnace. See?" He held out his arm to her.

“A day?” Cleo asked, somewhat incredulous as she laughed. She tilted her head at him when he rubbed his face, then rested her cheek on her knees. “What?” She scooted a bit closer to him and took his hand, then pressed it to her cheek. “Very warm. Why do boys run so hot?”

"Nah, I take it back. Maybe after a week." He smiled, then shook his head before burying his face in his knees. "You're adorable Bancroft," Graves' voice came out muffled. He didn't raise his head until she took his hand. His bashful expression was gone, replaced with a cocky grin. He arched an eyebrow. "I don't know about other boys, but I run hot because I am hot." He winked.

“Okay, a week I can work with.” She laughed, then bit her lip when he called her adorable. Cleo felt the heat in her cheeks begin to rise slightly, but didn’t drop his hand until after she turned her face and kissed his palm. “You’re the one who says things like ‘ma’am’ and gives me his sweater.” She exhaled a small laugh. “Let’s go with that. So can you be my good luck charm and my personal space heater?”

Graves was surprised when Cleo kissed his palm, the feel of her lips sending a shiver across his skin. It took everything he had to keep his expression neutral as she dropped his hand. He fidgeted with the cropped hem of his shirt. "I was raised in the south! 'Course I say 'ma'am'." He shook his head, exhaling. "I'll always offer you my sweater when you're cold, Bancroft." The way he said it, it sounded like a promise. He held his arm out and nodded his head with a laugh. "Yeah, I think I can do that. C'mere."

Cleo let her eyes drop to his midriff again and she balled her hands around the fabric of his sweater, letting the sleeves cover her hands. She smiled, looking back up at his face. "And that makes you adorable, Cameron." She hadn't expected him to offer her a hug, but she tried to scoot over when he held his arm out. With the way her legs were tucked into her shirt, she ended up flopping over next to him instead, and looked up at him, laughing. "Oh my gods." She wiggled her legs free and then sat up again, this time to lean against him. "This is amazing. I'm hijacking your heat."

Normally, Graves would’ve protested at being called ‘adorable’ but between the sight of Cleo wrapped in his too-large flannel and the glances she kept stealing at him as if he wouldn’t notice, he found that he didn’t really mind. When Cleo toppled over, he put his hand out to help her back up, laughing. He pulled her into his side and after a moment, rested his head on hers. “Take as much of it as you need, I’ve got warmth to spare.”

Cleo wiggled ever closer to Graves, resting her head back against his shoulder. She pulled her hands out from the sleeves finally and pressed one up his shirt, against his back, partially for the shock, but also to see if he was being serious about letting her take as much heat as she wanted. "What if I need it all?"

Graves jolted when Cleo pressed her icy hand against his back, his eyes wide. He never thought someone’s hands could get so cold. “Oh my gods! Bancroft!” He laughed, dodging to the side to escape the chill of her touch. He leaned a little too far to the right, and without his arm to steady himself, started to fall over. “Shit!” He twisted, tipping backwards with a laugh and pulling Cleo down into the grass with him. “How are you that cold?”

Cleo squeaked as she fell beside Graves, but laughed once she was on the ground. “Um, because I’m not wearing pants out in the middle of the woods? You should feel my legs right now, I sure can’t.” She sighed and rolled over to look at the sky again. “Speaking of, I know we haven’t been here long, but would you mind if we headed back to camp soon? Before I turn into a human icicle.”

"Shit, if your hands are that cold, I bet your legs are freezing. I can't have a Croftsicle on my hands." Graves slowly climbed to his feet and reached his hand out to help Cleo up. "C'mon, let's get you home before you're frozen solid. I can't carry you right now," he laughed and flashed her a grin.

Cleo laughed and pushed herself up, taking his hand once she was sitting, and not dropping it once she was standing. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you tried, honestly.” She smiled back at him and pulled him back the way they came, pulling out her phone to use the flashlight this time.

Graves followed Cleo down the path back to the cabins. “I’d be lyin’ if I said I didn’t think about tryin’.” He smiled, even though she couldn’t see that he had, and gave her hand a squeeze. “I promised L I wouldn’t do anythin’ that could make my shoulder worse though.” His foot caught on a tree root and he stumbled for a second but quickly righted himself.(edited)

“You dope,” Cleo chastised with a shake of her head, clearly amused. She squeezed his hand back when he almost fell, stopping so that she might be able to help him up. “Oh my gods. You’re gonna have L find me and kill me herself if you fall.” She slowed down a bit so that they could step over roots and branches more easily, eventually finding themselves back out on the path. Once back to her cabin, she kissed his knuckles before dropping his hand so that she could unlock and open the door. “Did you leave anything inside?”

"I'll be fine, I'm fine! L won't come hunt you down," Graves swallowed a laugh, being extra careful not to trip for the remainder of their walk. He bit his lip as Cleo kissed his knuckles, looking away, trying to hide the smile tugging at his the corner of his lips. He looked back at her as she opened the door. "Hmm, I can't remember what I had, other than my flannel."

Cleo tilted her head as she smiled at him and stepped inside. "Huh, that's funny. I don't remember you having a flannel at all."

He stepped inside, right behind her and caught her hand. A grin was plastered to his face. "Ma'am, am I, the son of the god of thieves, bein' robbed right now?"

Cleo turned to look at Graves, grinning mischievously. "Are you? That'd be such a shame."

Graves tugged on Cleo’s hand, pulling her closer. He raised an eyebrow. “That’d be a damn shame, considering that’s my favorite flannel.”

"Oh my gods," Cleo smiled up at Graves as she was pulled in. "You lost your favourite flannel? That's so sad."

“Heartbreakin', really.” He couldn’t stop smiling at her.

"Heartbreaking?" Cleo asked dramatically, touching her hand to her cheek as she gasped softly. "What will we ever do about this?"

"Heartbreakin'," Graves repeated, his expression mournful. He squeezed her hand then tilted his head. "Did you hear that? That, darlin', was the sound of my heart, just shatterin'. It's in a million pieces now." He looked at her with his best puppy dog eyes and sighed dramatically. "I don't know how I'll ever put it back together."

Cleo tried to keep up with the playful energy, but upon being called darlin’ and then immediately being flashed puppy dog eyes, she melted. “Oh my gods, Cameron, don’t look at me like that.” She laughed as she spoked, then stepped backwards, pulling him along by his hand toward her room. “I know about heartbreak, and if there’s anything that can put it back together, it’s ABBA.”

"Like what?! I don't know what you're talkin' about," he laughed, following Cleo as she pulled him into her room. Once inside, he dramatically sank to his knees, still clutching her hand. "Yes, please. I'm beggin' you, Bancroft. Put my heart back together before I just die."

“You know what I’m talking about,” Cleo scoffed. She shook her head at him, then laughed as he dropped down to his knees. “You, Cameron middle name Graves, are too much.” She laughed and pulled her hand free to grab her phone, then pulled up the ABBA radio, put it on shuffle, and pressed a hand to her chest as SOS began to play. She reached for him dramatically and then put a hand to her head as though feeling faint, acting out the lyrics.

"Alexander," he offered simply. Still on his knees, Graves looked up as Cleo put on some music. He ran his hand through his hair and smirked at her, "Cameron Alexander Graves. For future reference." When she began to sing, his expression morphed into one of delight and he burst into laughter, reaching for her just as dramatically.

“Okay,” Cleo answered. “Cameron Alexander Graves, you are too much.” She grabbed his cheeks. “So when you’re near me, darling can’t you hear me S.O.S” She laughed as she sang and then backed up. “Do you not know this song? Should I change it to another?”

Graves smiled and his nose crinkled as Cleo grabbed his face. He watched her act out the performance, his smile growing as she sang to him. "I've heard it? But I don't know the words. It's a crime, I know." He reached his hand out when she backed up to change the song, "Help me up?"

“You don’t know the words?” Cleo gasped dramatically and reached out to take his hand to help him up. “It is a crime!”

“I know this one!” Once he was on his feet, Graves dramatically clutched his heart and spun around Cleo, acting out the song as he sang. “I've been cheated by you since you know when.”

Cleo laughed at Graves's dramatization. "You should have stayed on your knees for this!" She picked up a hairbrush from her desk and sang into it as though it was a microphone.

"You prefer that?" He raised his eyebrows at her and sunk to his knees again with a smirk, still singing along. Cleo's makeshift microphone made him laugh and he stopped singing for a moment, smiling up at her.

Cleo laughed harder and touched her hand to his cheek as she sang. When the song was over, she smiled, then dropped down to her knees as well so that she could press a palm to his chest. “How’s the heart?”

"It's doin' a little better. Not quite repaired yet, though." Graves covered her hand with his own. "That thief really did a number on me, ma'am. A shame we'll never catch her."

Cleo tossed her hairbrush onto her bed and smiled at him, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “Can I do anything to help?”

"Hmm..." He dropped Cleo's hand and stood, walking over to her desk chair. Before he sat down, he tapped the flannel draped along the back of the chair and raised an eyebrow at her. It was another one of his; he recognized it immediately but didn't say a word as he their eyes met. Graves sat down in the chair and spun to face Cleo. "Serenade me some more maybe?"

As Graves stood, Cleo pretended not to notice the fact that there was another stolen flannel on her chair. She got to her feet once he was sitting and grinned at him. As the next song began, she clasped her hands. “Ugh, okay, perfect timing. This is my favourite one.” She danced around the room at the intro to Voulez-Vous. She sang along to the song and eventually rested a hand on his shoulder to sing directly to him, taking a break only to laugh.

"Your favorite? Okay, okay." He listened to the song for a moment and realization dawned; she had the title of the song tattooed on her inner elbow, Graves had seen it a few times. He watched her dance and sing along with the song, unable to keep a smile off his face. When Cleo placed her hand on his shoulder, he bit his lip to stifle a laugh and shook his head lightly. "And you say I'm too much, Bancroft."

"You are too much!" She grinned widely at him. "But that doesn't mean that I am not also too much." Cleo pressed her hand into the side of Graves's neck and took a seat on his left leg. "It makes us a good pair, yeah?"

"I- yeah," Graves faltered at her touch. He tilted his chin upward slightly, the movement automatic. "Too much, " he inhaled as she sat down. He felt his cheeks get hot and gave Cleo a curious look. "Debatable," he hummed, wrapping his arm around her waist to make sure she didn't fall if he moved. "Who's askin'?"

Cleo tilted her head at him, pleased as he moved his arm around her. She ran her thumb over his jaw. "I just did, didn't you hear me?" she joked.

Graves closed his eyes, leaning into her touch for a moment. After Cleo's comment, he tried to come up with a clever retort, but found himself to flustered to say anything at all. Not wanting to ignore her completely, Graves made a sound in acknowledgement. He opened his eyes and stared at her in a daze, chin still tilted upward, feeling her fingers trace their way across his jaw.

Cleo was glad that the music was still playing, since the moment of silence between them was enough to make her stomach flip. She lifted her hand to rest in her lap instead and looked away from him, but didn't move. "What's your favourite ABBA song?"

When Cleo dropped her hand from his jaw, a small frown flashed across Graves' face, but as quick as it had appeared, it vanished. Since she made no move to get up, he kept his arm around her waist, reclining slightly in the chair. "Hmm...'Does Your Mother Know?' is a good one. But 'Waterloo' and 'Andante' are also great." He smiled at her. "I assume your favorites are the two inked on your arms?" His gaze drifted from her eyes, across her lips, and finally arrived at the words tattooed to her inner elbows.

Cleo looked back at him as he leaned back, and rested a hand on his chest with a small smile. "Those are all amazing songs. I think they're in my top five more often than not." She turned a bit to face him as she flipped her arms out to show them off, as though they were visible under the flannel she was wearing. "Sure are. It'd be kinda silly otherwise." She laughed.

"Did you doubt my taste in music?" Graves asked, willfully ignoring the accelerated pace of his heart. He silently prayed to the gods that Cleo couldn't feel it racing through his chest. He grinned, "I love that. I don't have any musical tattoos...yet."

"Not too much, but not knowing the words earlier knocked you down a peg." Cleo smiled as she shook her head. "Do you know what you'd get, and where?" She leaned against him and tilted her head, looking down at him as if surveying where she'd put a tattoo on his body.

He laughed at that and gave her a one-shoulder shrug. “I’m not sure, but...” Graves paused, shifting so Cleo could lean against him without pressing again his injured arm. He followed her gaze and smiled, continuing his train of thought. “Maybe you could help me decide.”

Cleo made sure not to put too much of her weight down into Graves, pushing some of the weight into where her toes met the ground. “Hm.” She pressed her lips together and ran her fingers along the collar of her shirt, running them from his collarbone to the nape of his neck. She met his eyes once more. “Both? What’s your favorite song? One you could never get sick of?”

Cleo’s fingers on his neck tickled and Graves tried not to squirm beneath her touch. He closed his eyes briefly, breathing in through his nose. When he opened them again, he met Cleo’s brown eyes with his hazel ones and smiled softly. “Both, why not? That’s your thing right?” Graves dropped his arm for a second, so that he could tap two fingers to the tattoos on her leg. Tapping turned into lightly tracing one of her tattoos and he quickly stopped himself, feeling heat rise in his cheeks. “My favorite song? Bancroft, gods.” He hooked his arm around her waist again, this time pulling her slightly closer, humming as he thought of a song. “Fuck, I dunno. Something by the Front Bottoms probably,” he paused, then mumbled. “Can’t think...um...maybe ‘Twin Sized Mattress’? Have you, um, heard of them?”

As she reached the nape of his neck, Cleo rested her arm on Graves’s shoulder and played with the hair at the back of his head idly, glancing down as he touched her leg. She bit her lip, smiling slightly when he started tracing over her tattoos, goosebumps prickling her arms as he did. She leaned into him as he pulled her closer, and tilted her head to scan his face. “I, uh, no, I don’t think so. Maybe if you played one of their songs?” She checked the front pocket of the flannel and pulled out her phone with the hand not playing with Graves’s hair. “What were they called?”

Graves relaxed, feeling Cleo run her fingers through his hair. Even though his hair was  trimmed shorter in the back than on top, his waves were still long enough for her fingers to twine through. He smiled and bit his lip as Cleo tilted her head towards him. “The Front Bottoms, thought I’m not sure if you’ll like ‘em.”

Cleo turned on the song once she found it, and leaned against Graves as she listened, letting her hand travel further up the back of his head through his hair. She waited until the song was over to speak again, looking at him seriously. "They're not really my kind of music, but... they seem very you." She nodded. "I don't think I got all the lyrics, but it seems potent. You should get the words jaws theme song tattooed onto you."

He tipped his head back so Cleo didn’t have to reach very far to play with his hair. As the song played, Graves was hit with a wave of nostalgia. The song reminded him of summers back home, spent driving his friends around in his beat-up pickup truck: windows down, music blasting. The song ended and the weight of Cleo’s look dragged him out of his memory. “I love them, they make me think of summer.” Graves grinned, trying not to laugh. “I dunno about that phrase, but I’d let you give me a tiny shark tooth tattoo. Maybe. As for lyrics I’d want tattooed? I’ve always liked contribute to the chaos - what do you think?” He nudged her with his shoulder. “Put on ‘Peach’, you’ll like that one better.”

"I love things like that." She smiled, thinking about things that reminded her of home, of a certain feeling. "It's like how a smell can whip you straight back into a classroom when you were in third grade." Cleo grinned. "You'd let me give you a shark tooth tattoo? I'll absolutely hold you to that, you know. I think that phrase is pretty perfect for you, though," she said, still carding her fingers through his hair. She nodded and changed the song, slowly untangling herself from him so that she could sit up and press her hand to her hot cheek. "Gods," she exhaled the word. "This song is really cute."

“What smell takes you back to your third grade classroom?” Graves pressed his cheek to his shoulder, hiding his laughter. He turned back to face her. “Absolutely, yeah. I love that line. Honestly, Bancroft, I’d let you give me a few tattoos.” He nuzzled his head into her hand, enjoying the feeling of her fingers in his unruly hair. When she changed the song, he turned to watch her face, humming softly along. “Cute, yeah. I love that one. I don’t know if they have any other songs you’d like, though. What’s your favorite non-ABBA song?”

“Hush up, I was talking figuratively.” Cleo laughed, trying not to sound too embarrassed. “Like you know when you hear a song or smell something and it takes you right back to a specific moment and it’s just so... whatever.” She shook her head and then smiled at him again. “Good. Once you’re healed up, come to me and I can give you one. It’ll be hand-poked so make sure you want something small or are prepared for it to hurt a bit.” She squinted as she tried to think, though it seemed like all the songs she knew left her head the moment he asked. “At the moment? Do you know Tegan and Sara?”

"Hey, I knew what you were talkin' about! There's a lot of songs that do that for me." He nudged her again and smiled, reassuring her that he hadn't been making fun of her. As she talked about tattoos, Graves' eyes glinted with mischief. "Only one? Well, alright. I think I can handle one hand-poke. Haven't you seen how many tattoos I have?" He laughed, pausing for a moment to think of the artist Cleo had named. "I don't think so? Play me your favorite of their songs?" With a soft smile, he quietly added, "Please?"

Cleo pouted down at Graves but smiled at him after a moment. "Okay, tough guy, in that case, I'll give you ten." She pressed her lips together and flushed, ducking her face away from him as he asked for her to play the song. She played it and stood, shaking her head at him. "You asked for this song without knowing... but it's impossible not to dance to." She laughed and started swaying around, then started jumping around as the beat picked up, laughing as she spun and held out a hand to him.

Graves scrunched his nose and laughed. "Ten? I can handle it, bring it on." He grinned and flexed his bicep, as if that would prove just how tough he was. He bopped his head along to the first few notes of the song, standing to take Cleo's hand with a bright smile. They danced for a few minutes, Graves laughing as he tried to keep up with her. He lifted his arm to twirl Cleo and pulled her close to him just before the song ended. His cheeks flushed and he looked away, breathless from dancing.

Cleo laughed, dancing along with him as she sang a few parts of the song. She took a moment to catch her breath and then grinned up at him and pulled away. “So that’s walk, check, dramatic karaoke, check. Anything else on the agenda?”

“Nah, I think we just about covered it all.” Graves stifled a yawn with the back of his hand. “Sorry,” he mumbled, flashing Cleo a sheepish grin.

“How dare you yawn.” Cleo laughed, stifling her own yawn as she took a seat on her bed. “It’s cool, I’m getting tired too. Gods, what an exciting Saturday night. Karaoke and in bed before midnight.”

Graves yawned again, trying not to laugh. "Don't forget hiking and stargazing. Ma'am you've had too much excitement for one night. I should- um," he gestured vaguely in the direction of the door.

Cleo smiled and watched him from where she sat on her bed. “Yeah.” She bit her lip. “Is it, um, hard to sleep with your shoulder like that?”

Graves blinked, “Oh, um. Yeah, I‘m supposed to keep the sling on and try sleep on my back but it’s not...that easy.”

She pursed her lips. “Would it be easier if, like, someone slept with you to make sure you stayed on your back? I mean, maybe you’re just a back sleeper, but, I dunno, I was just... thinking, I guess.”

His ears pinked as Graves tried not to smile. “It...would definitely be easier. I usually, um, sleep on my side.” He raised an eyebrow, “Is that, like, are you asking me to stay?”

Cleo half-rolled her eyes but stopped herself because yes, that was indeed what she was asking him. “Not if you don’t want to. Just, like, if you wanted to.” She felt her face grow hot.

“Really?” Graves looked away, hiding his goofy smile. “Yeah, I want to. You sure that’s okay?” He glanced back up at her, grinning from ear to ear.

Cleo pulled her shirt collar up over her nose so that he couldn’t see her smile. “Um, yeah, so long as you don’t mind a twin-point-five,” she said, letting her shirt drop back down as she patted her bed. “And do you need to borrow some sort of toothbrush? Or a shirt to sleep in?”

“Nah, I don’t- I don’t mind at all. A toothbrush would be great.” Graves rubbed his eye, a wave of exhaustion settling in now that they were talking about sleep. “Um, I can just? Sleep in this, I guess.”

"Okay." Cleo nodded and stood. She walked through her door and motioned for him to follow, leading them to her bathroom. She squatted down to look below the sink and pulled out a pack of cheap toothbrushes, then handed him one. "Got these a while back. So handy when your friends need to stay over because they're too drunk." She glanced up at him. "Or just cause." She smiled a bit and picked up her own toothbrush so that she could brush her teeth.

He followed Cleo into the bathroom, accepting the toothbrush with a quiet, “Thanks.” Graves brushed his teeth in silence, standing shoulder to shoulder with Cleo. He met her eyes in the bathroom mirror and winked, smiling around the toothbrush.

As she brushed her teeth, Cleo tried not to think about Bring it On, and instead tried to think about dental hygiene. She exhaled a small laugh through her nose, then spit, rinsed, and raised her eyebrows at him as she continues to brush her teeth.

Graves raised his eyebrows in return, spit, rinsed, and continued to brush his teeth, trying all the while not to laugh.

Cleo spit again and snorted as she rinsed out her mouth, leaning against the sink as she descended into a fit of giggles.

Graves finished brushing his teeth, looking at Cleo as he rinsed his toothbrush. "What? Do I have toothpaste on my face?"

“No.” She laughed, not quite sure as to why she was laughing. “You were giving me a look.”

Graves squinted, smirking. "Was I? Maybe it was just my normal expression."

Cleo shook her head, still grinning, as she clipped her hair back. “Well I guess you just have a funny normal expression, then.” She splashed water on her face.

"Harsh, Bancroft," he laughed, running a hand through his hair and moving to lean against the doorframe.

After Cleo washed her face, she turned to Graves, flushed, and led him back to her room, where she took off his flannel and draped it over his other flannel on the back of her chair. She looked from her bed to him and tilted her head. “I guess you can sleep on the outside and I’ll weigh you down on your left side? So you can’t roll over.”

Graves eyed Cleo's desk chair, shaking his head. "Are you just collectin' my flannels? Is that the fee to be graced with your presence?" He eyed her bed. "Um, yeah. That works, I guess." He blushed.

Cleo exhaled a laugh and climbed into bed. “Fee for being graced with my presence. I like that, yeah, let’s call it that.” She patted the space beside her. “If you wanna just walk home and not have me wrapped around you like an anchor that cool too.”

"Oh, no. Please. No, I'm stayin'." Graves blinked a few times, feeling his contacts still in his eyes. He knew he was going to regret sleeping in them come morning, but right now, he couldn't give a damn. He adjusted the strap of his sling and got into bed, taking the spot beside Cleo a little hesitantly.

Cleo shifted over as he got into bed and leaned over to turn her lamp off. She waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness to adjust her position against him. She rested her head on his shoulder but didn’t immediately wrap around him. “Comfy?”

Graves blinked in the darkness, then stretched out his arm so Cleo could rest more comfortably on him. He took a deep breath, feeling his cheeks get hot. "Um, yeah. Yes. Are you?"

Cleo cuddled closer to him, shifting a bit so that she was more comfortable. She hummed, then rolled over, still against him, and wrapped both of her arms around his, hugging it to her chest. “Yeah.”

"Okay, good," he answered, his voice low. Graves smiled as Cleo wrapped herself around his arm and pulled her a tiny bit closer. "Thanks for letting me stay," he whispered.

Cleo pressed her cheek against his arm and hooked her foot around his ankle. “Thanks for being my body pillow space heater,” she whispered back.

Graves let his eyes drift closed. "Anytime, Bancroft," he mumbled, voice heavy with sleep now that his head was on a pillow.

[pengychan]

[Coco] Chica

Title: Chica Summary: Coco has learned this nice skeleton man she's with doesn't have a family - in the sense she does. And midway through the night she quietly offers, "You can be in mine." [Protagonist Swap AU.] Characters: Héctor Rivera, Coco Rivera Rating: K

A/N: This fic was written for @twinklecupcake -  they asked for a scene from their AU where Coco is the one who winds up in the LotD, thinking Ernesto is her father, and of course Héctor helps her. I had a lot of fun writing this - hope you like it!

***  

“All right, Chica, here’s the plan,” Héctor says, glancing around to make sure the way - the skies especially, what has this little girl done to piss off Pepita so much? - are clear. He supposes that the girl has a name, but chica will do. She has apparently decided not to share her name and Héctor doesn’t really mind: he knows better than he’d like that, sometimes, it’s best to keep quiet about who you are.

Granted, it’s odd to imagine a kid that young on the ran from border officers and occasionally a couple of loan sharks, but then again she does have Pepita at her heels; this is the second time she’s tried to corner them, too. Not that it matters: whatever she may have done, she’s just a kid. Far too young to be trapped there, far too young to die. She has to go home tonight… and possibly with his photo, so that he can cross the bridge too.

See his little girl.

The thought makes him feel like something has grasped a phantom heart in his chest cavity and squeezed. The thought of the glimmer, that sensation earlier by the bridge - something is going on, it’s Coco, Coco is in trouble and I must go to her - stings, but he forces himself to push it in the back of his mind.

Chica frowns up at him. “Yes?” she asks, and Héctor realizes he just fell silent after going ‘here’s the plan’. Not very reassuring to a kid whose life is literally at stake, and he smiles. When he speaks again, his voice is upbeat as it can get.

“The way into your papá’s mansion is to win the contest, sí? We’ll go to a good friend of mine to borrow a guitar, and then we’re off,” Héctor says, “We’ll take part, win, get to the party - you meet and greet, and you get your blessing. A child’s play.”

Chica’s excited grin wavers, and she looks down. “I don’t know how to play a guitar. And I’m… not very good at singing. I can’t really do that at home.”

Ay, what a family of killjoys this kid has got. Still, better than no family at all; Héctor will drop anything musical in a heartbeat to have them back for just one hour. “But you can dance, no? Let me do the playing and singing, and just dance.”

“I don’t know…”

“Come on, you can do it! I’ve seen you back there with the Fridas. Almost stole the scene,” he adds with a grin, kneeling down to be at her same eye level. And he means it: it was almost mesmerizing to watch her dance. She was quick on her feet, full of life, and seemed almost weightless while she twirled. What she may lack in technique, she made up for with the sheer joy that shone through each  movement, each bounce of her little braids and the smile on her face.

Coco tried to dance, when I left. Jumped around like a crazed cricket whenever she heard music. I wonder if she still does it - she must have gotten so much better. Does she think of me when she dances?

“Really?” Chica looks up, entirely unaware of Héctor’s thoughts. She seems taken aback; it is clear that she was never before praised for her dancing.

Héctor nods so fast his teeth almost chatter. “Really! Hey, you got the right genes, you know? Your papá can dance. Mistreated the strings of his guitar and wrote some songs that would have got him killed if he ever sang them to a girl, but hey, he is a good dancer.”

That makes Chica roll her eyes. Later on - at the bottom of a cenote - he will realize what is so familiar about that gesture, about the way she tilts back her head. It’s how Imelda always did it. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she mutters, but any trace of annoyance fades quickly into excitement. “Maybe he’ll give me a few tips,” she says, sounding so hopeful. “He left before he could teach me.”

And I can’t understand how could he, Héctor thinks, but of course he has no high ground to stand on. He left, too. Always meant to come back, but… well. He died, and the bottom line was that he had left and never returned. Did Coco wish for dance lessons, too?

The thought stings, and he reaches to ruffle Chica’s hair before he stands up. “Of course he’ll teach you. It’s what a papá does,” he says. He tries to sound cheery, but this time the act doesn’t come as easy… and the bitter remark that leaves him the next moment comes without any thought at all. “Not that I’d know much about being a good papá. I sort of… messed up the entire ‘family’ thing.”

That causes the girl to frown, and reach into the pocket of her dress to pull out his picture. She looks at it, and her frown turns into something sadder. “... Is that why they don’t put up your picture?” she asks. Héctor sighs.

“Yes. There was… a bad decision, some miscommunication, a bad choice of meal - should have known, that place looked seedy - and I just… wound up here. And I can’t really set things right on this end. But that will change once you put up that photo on an ofrenda! I’ll cross over and--”

“But they won’t see you,” Chica says. She means nothing by it, of course, and he knows it is true - he can only hope she will somehow sense him there - but it stings nonetheless. His flinch doesn’t escape her, and she immediately looks terribly sorry. “Lo siento, I didn’t mean-- I--”

Héctor sighs, and turns. “It’s all right, gordita. We’ve got to get going to get that guitar, and then--” a sudden pull at his sleeve causes him to pause, and he looks down to see a small skeletal hand holding onto it. His eyes shift slowly to her little face, to the large eyes looking up at him. She looks so sad, and her voice is little more than a whisper.

“You can be in mine.”

Qué?

For a moment or two, Héctor can only stare. He knows it wasn’t meant to be a blow, but it sure feels like one, the kind that would blow all air out of his lungs if he had any. He opens his mouth to speak and then he… doesn't. Within him, an ache that never leaves him fades for a few moments before flaring up again, worse than it’s been in years.

Last time it hurt like this was when Imelda had died of a fever and he found out, in the worst way, why he could never cross over.

“Go away!” “Imelda, I--” “Leave! Now!” “I tried to cross-- my photo, it was never--” “Why would we put it up? You left us!” “I… I did, but-- our family--” “My family! Not yours! Never yours!”

“My family,” Chica is saying, her grip tightening on his sleeve. “It’s small, and my uncles don’t like music, but it’s nice. I think you would like them. I can put your picture up every year, and you can visit us. I’ll leave you food, and nice shoes. We make the best shoes,” she adds. Later on, that is something he’ll think he should have picked up; Imelda sounded like that, too.

But right now, he doesn’t notice; he only blinks quickly, trying to ignore the ache in his ribcage.

Part of him wishes to say yes, so much. To know that somewhere in the living world there will be a family for him - one that cannot pass on his story, as none of them met him in life, but that will still put up his photo. A little girl who will make an ofrenda for him, give him offerings, excitedly wait for his visit and smile in the knowledge he’ll be there, even if she cannot see him.

It is a wonderful thought.  She is a wonderful little girl.

But she is not his little girl.

I already have a family to go back to.

“My family! Not yours! Never yours!”

“Chica, that--” he pauses, and swallows before crouching down. “That is really sweet of you.”

Her gaze - almost hopeful, por Dios, she truly wants him in her family and it is so odd, being wanted - clouds with something that is sadness, hurt and disappointment all at once. “But…?”

“I already have a family to get back to, gordita,” he says, and ruffles her hair. “And you already have--” A papá. “... You don’t need me.”

“But I want you to stay with us,” she says, her voice thin. “You’re nice, and your family… if they…” Don’t want you. “... It’s like not having one at all, and it’s not fair!” She sniffles, but her eyes stay dry as she lifts her chin.

Héctor stares right back into those eyes, so large and kind and stubborn, and he finds himself thinking that wherever his Coco his, however she is doing, he truly hopes she’s growing up just like this little chica. She really is everything he hoped to see Coco become.

But I will know. I will find out. I need to cross the bridge.

“Ay, Chica, come here,” he mutters, and pulls her in a hug - or tries to. She resists, pulling away and shaking her head.

“No! Why is it… what is it that-- what is it that people don’t want to be my family?” Chica chokes out, and rubs her eyes furiously. Héctor stares, mouth agape.

“What…?”

“My papá left! I can barely remember him singing - I didn’t even know who he was until I found that ripped photo! He left and-- and he never came back-- he never wrote again, and then he died, and--!”

“Oye, oye,” Héctor murmurs, and pulls the child close. She sniffles and clings back to him, the hand that isn’t holding his photo clenching on his jacket. “It’s all right, I… I am sure your papá wanted to come back,” he manages. “He must have really wanted to come back, but you know… performing takes you far away from home. Before you know it it’s been a long time, and… well. You know, you eat the wrong thing, and that is it,” he adds.

Food poisoning of all things, doing us both in less than ten years apart. Fate has the worst sense of humor.

That is another piece of the puzzle he will put together only later - how this chica seemed just a bit too old to have been born after his death, which should bring the question of how come he’d never known his best friend had a daughter of his own - but right now, he’s not thinking of it. After all, given how said best friend went on to take all credit for his songs, he may have never known him as well as he thought he did.

The only thing that matters is that there is a child, a little girl just like his little girl, who needs his help.

Does Coco feel like this, too? God, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.

“I’m sure your papá will be overjoyed to meet you,” he says, rubbing her back. “I mean, who wouldn’t be?” he adds, and pulls back just enough to smile at her. “You know, I hope my daughter turned out like you.”

That causes Chica to blink, and maybe Héctor has said too much, but he’ll take the dawning comprehension on her face over her tears any day. “You’re a papá, too?”

“Sí. So, you see, I really need to go back to her. She’s about your age, you know,” he says, and he’s about to add something - but then a clock chimes in the distance, and he recoils.

What are we still doing here? We need to go. We need to get to Ernesto before it’s too late.

“... You know what, I’ll tell you about her before you go,” he says, and pats her shoulder. “Maybe you can find her, sí? I’m sure you’d be good friends. And then I’d be, say, your honorary tío, no?”

The idea makes her laugh a little. “A third tío?” she asks, making a face, and he laughs as well.

“The weird tío.”

“You don’t know how weird my uncles are.”

“The fun one, then?”

“... That sounds good,” Chica concedes, and they share another laugh before she turns serious. “I will put your photo up, and find your daughter, and tell her…” a pause. “What should I tell her?”

That her papá loves her so much. That I’m so sorry. That I really tried to go home.

With a long sigh, Héctor stands. “We’ll talk about it once we get to Ernesto. Come on, nenita - we’re off to get us a guitar.”

As he sets out walking and she follows, a spring in her step, Héctor thinks that it would be nice if she did meet Coco. Maybe they would be good friends.

And maybe she would teach her to dance all the dances they could never have.

[childishadultperson]

Our Final Goodbye

So a majority of this I wrote late at night on my phone. So pardon any mistakes. Also there is swearing. So for those who care or read this part, be warned.

I angrily wiped away the burning tears from my eyes as I nodded to the lecturing voice. My chest tightened and loud sobs threatened to break free. After almost two years of dating Chris, he was finally breaking up with me. He tried comforting me with those cliche sayings, but my brain just wouldn’t comprehend them. Where did I go wrong? Did I upset him? All those questions wouldn’t come out. I just obediently listened and didn’t say a peep. After a while he finished rambling and left. I just sank to the floor and finally let everything out. I screamed as loud as I could, not quite caring who heard. I was heartbroken and alone. No answers to the questions that never left my lips. How could he be so calm? Did he no longer care about me? My phone was buzzing on the table across from me, but I felt so heavy. Even my eyelids became too much and finally shut. With a tear stained face I curled up in a ball and fell asleep by the door.

“Y/N, please, just for tonight come out with us,” my friend, Ally, begged. “It’s been over a month hun. You really need to go out.” I sighed and rolled over trying to avoid talking. Everyday since Chris and I broke up my friends have been trying to get me to leave the house. I know I should, but the thought makes me sick.

“Come on. It’ll be me and you and a nice hotel outside of the city. We can go to that new club and get pizza. Doesn’t that sound fun?”

“I should leave the house,” I mumbled turning towards her. “Plus pizza sounds really good.”

“How did I know that would be the thing that would get you,” Ally laughed. “Why don’t you go shower and get dressed up.” I nodded finally moving off the couch for what seemed like days. I grabbed my phone, but Ally instantly grabbed it out of my hand.

“Leave your phone. I don’t want you to even look at it once,” Ally warned. I gave her a questioning look, but she dismissed it. “Now go and hurry up. I gotta call Jay quick. “I nodded and started to talk to the bathroom. Right as I turned the water on I realized I had forgotten to grab clothes from my room and started to walk back, until I heard Ally talking.

“Sure, I can’t have my phone, but you can,” I mumbled staring at my unsuspecting friend.

“Whatever you do, don’t tell her about the new girl,” Ally warned the person on the phone. “I could barely get her off the couch today. I had to bribe her with food.” I paused instantly when I found out I was the topic. My heart leaped in my chest fearing the worst. The other girl? Did Chris have another girl? No. It’s only been a little over a month. We must have another girl joining our group. That’s all. I forcefully pulled myself away from the conversation fearing the unknown. On one hand I could be overreacting and overthinking. On the other hand I could be right and even more hurt. Sighing I just went to shower.

Jay met Ally and I at the club. I pulled at my dress which was pretty short compared to my normal clothing choice. Although Ally thought I looked perfect, I felt a bit uncomfortable. She told me it was because I wasn’t used to wearing normal clothes due to all the pajamas I’ve been wearing lately. Jay looked me up and down once before giving me a thumbs up.

“Now you look like your old self,” Jay commented. He untucked the hair behind my ear and gave me a smirk. “Looking fabulous today. Don’t worry about a thing doll. We’ll take care of you. Now, let’s hope the line doesn’t take too long.”

It didn't take too long to get into the club amazingly. Jay went to go get some drinks while Ally and I tried to find some place to relax for a moment. I scanned the club and only managed to see a big entanglement of bodies. The music pounded in my head giving me a slight headache. I guess it's been a while since I've been to a club. I sat down on a nearby chair. Jay eventually found us and handed us our drinks.

"Can I have this dance?" Jay asked me as the song changed. I nodded my head and slammed my drink, causing my friends to cheer for me. "Doesn't this feel better than being at home?" Honestly, no. I hate how random strangers think it's okay to grind on you. The lack of personal space, the expensive drinks, and they never play one full song.

"Yes," I lied mustering the best smile I could do. Although Jay seemed a little suspicious of it, he gave up. Must've figured something as better than nothing. After a few songs my feet began to feel sore. I slowly leaned into Jay as a hint that I wanted to sit down.

"Why don't you sit down and I'll go get Ally. I need a wing woman right now. I'm pretty sure that guy at the bar has been staring at me," Jay said. I laughed and walked over to an empty table. It wasn't long before a stranger tapped my shoulder.

"That's my table," some drunk girl slurred. I looked at her confused. The table was vacant when I got here, but is it worth the fight. "Did you hear me? Or are you just dumb?" Yes. Now it is.

"Actually, you don't own the club, so it doesn't matter. I'll sit where I choose. Now go bother someone else." I waved my hand and went back to sipping on a drink.

"Listen here you b-"

"This was the worst choice I ever made," a deep voice growled behind the girl. "You need a constant babysitter. Grown adult my ass. You act like a child. I can't even leave you alone for five minutes before you get yourself in trouble. Why did I ever agree to this?" My heart sank as I slowly began to recognize the voice. I dipped my head trying to hide the tears that were about to spill. Without saying anything I got up and tried to get away, but fate refused to let me leave. I ended up tripping over my feet and falling towards the ground. Although the girl laughed, Chris was quick to act. He just managed to save me from hitting the ground.

"Y/N!" Ally screamed rushing over towards me. "Are you okay? I should've gave you shorter heels like you asked. I'm sorry." My friend wrapped me in her arms. Once she saw who saved me, her arms tightened around me. I buried my head in my friend's shoulder as silent tears began to fall.

"Is Y/N okay?" Jay asked rubbing my back. "Did she hurt herself?"

"Who are you?" Chris asked, venom in his words. I looked up concerned on what was happening around me. Although I was at a lost of words, my friends weren’t.

“None of your damn business,” Jay spat pulling me away from Ally. “Let’s go Y/N. Ally can you grab her things. Pizza is calling our names. Plus, I’m sure that hotel will be pissed if we show up too late.” Jay smirked and I felt the tension get thicker around me.

“What do you mean?” Chris questioned slowly losing the fire in his voice earlier. His eyes softened and looked down at me. “Hotel room?” Confusion, hurt, and anger were trying to fight for dominance as he stared. “Are you really over it?” It was my time to be angry now.

“What the hell does that mean?” I broke free of Jay’s grip and pulled Chris away from everyone. Once we were in a quiet place I looked around to make sure we were alone. “Am I over it? I’ve been sitting in my room for a month straight. I’ve avoid people and I barely ate. I was heartbroken and here you are parading around with another girl. You had no emotion when you broke up with me. So why do I need to be the sad one? Why can’t I have fun and do things I want to do. Do I really mean nothing to you. It was two years Christopher. Two, fucking years. Then you toss it all away with no explanation.” Tears were now flowing down my face and I couldn’t even care. I slowly crouched to the ground in hopes that if I became small enough, I wouldn’t exist. I should’ve never left my bed.

“This is not what I wanted,” Chris mumbled. I looked at him confused. He slowly grabbed me and brought me back up. “I never wanted you hurt, but I never thought about you being with someone else.”

“What the hell does that mean?” I asked. My hands began to ball into a fist. Anger was welling up inside me. “Never wanted me hurt?” I hit Chris on his chest, slowly getting harder. After a while Chris got annoyed and pulled me into a hug. I tried to pull away, but his grip just got stronger. “Please. Tell me why.”

“No llores por favor,” Chris whimpered. “I did a terrible job explain the first time. So let me explain again. I had to leave you. I knew that you didn’t want to be apart of what was going to happen and management needed this to happen. The only reason I am with her is because I had to be. It’s the only way people would believe that we were together. I hate her. She is not what I want. What I want is you.”

“Bullshit Chris. You say you want me, but you leave me. You never gave me a chance either. You could’ve talked to me about it. I don’t care who you have to fake date. All I ever wanted was you. I loved you Chris. I would’ve went to the end of the world for you. Sure, everyone would’ve thought it was real, but when you got home I would know that you were mine.”

“You say that now, but down the road things could’ve been different.”

“You’re right. Maybe they would’ve been different, but shouldn’t we have tried. Did we really mean nothing. You didn’t have any trust that I would’ve wanted you. That even though I would’ve gotten jealous, you thought I would’ve left you. You know how many times I did get jealous. Seeing all those girls throw themselves at you. It hurt like hell, but at the end of the day I knew that you were mine. I knew that you would come home to me, but with that one girl. That’s when you decide to end it. I don’t care how hard it would’ve been, I would’ve stayed. Yet you were so willing to give up on us Chris.”

“I’m sorry Y/N.” Chris kissed my lips and part of me wanted to kiss him back. Part of me wanted to say it was okay, because deep down I did want this to happen. I wanted his lips back on mine, but now that I have it. I felt sick. I pushed him away and he seemed confused. “Y/N?”

“You should’ve said that a long time ago. I’m done waiting for you. Sure it’s going to hurt, but I’m done with you. Have a good life Chris. I don’t want to worry about you anymore.”

“So you’re going to give up on us?”

“You already did Chris. It’s time I finally catch up and look at reality.”

“I still love you.”

“I know.”

[emotionsofthesoul]

Chapter 21 _ Feliz Navidad

December felt like it flew by. Juliana was settled into her apartment. She had a queen sized bed in her room and very comfortable couches in the living room. She and Valentina painted the entire apartment white once she received permission from the management. The white allowed the lights to bounce off the wall creating a brighter effect to the usually dim rooms. The spare room was used as Juliana’s office for any and all of her fashion work. 

Christmas season had arrived and the Valdes family was going to celebrate Christmas Eve together at Juliana’s apartment. The Carvajal family were going to celebrate in the Sacramento loft per Leon’s request. He said it would be easier for Valentina to get to Juliana’s before midnight and much safer to make the 15 minute drive than the hour drive.

Valentina had returned back to the Carvajal mansion officially but spent many nights with Juliana instead of heading home. Alirio takes ever December off so Valentina had been driving herself to and from Sacramento. Mid December was finals season and Valentina had been stressing about her general ed finals so Juliana volunteered to help her practice and memorize things before the finals. They would stay up studying after she got off work and if it was passed 10pm, Juliana didn’t allow Valentina to drive home so late so she convinced her multiple times to stay over. The first few nights Valentina protested but eventually it became their favorite routine. Valentina and Juliana were a great team especially in the art department. Their collaborative photos had come out amazing earning a spot on the RS Gallery at the University for the following semester. Once the semester was over Valentina spent many week nights at Juliana’s and went to work with her with Renata’s approval.

Now that it was Christmas time the girls decided they would spend the dinner with their respective families and once the clock struck 11 they would meet at Juliana’s to exchange their gifts.

The Valdes family did not usually do gifts for Christmas. It was just a family dinner and a movie marathon before midnight and once midnight arrived everyone called it a night. But tonight would be different. Juliana’s parents had been invited to the Grupo Carvajal company party so once the dinner ended they headed over to the party knowing Valentina would soon arrive to keep Juliana company.

The Carvajals on the other hand were used to having dinner, play board games afterwards and once the clock stuck 12 exchange half of their gifts. They were a very competitive family and always had intense game nights. This particular Christmas they decided to play Sequence with a twist, for every game Valentina won she would be able to open one of her gifts and for every game she lost she had to drink a shot of the eggnog that she hated. It would be the first Christmas Eve without her there to open gifts so they wanted to be together when she did open them and this was a fun way to do it.

While she waited for Valentina, Juliana started her own movie marathon, she started with Anastasia because that was always a must-watch since it was her favorite movie. Followed up by How The Grinch Stole Christmas and when Valentina finally arrived she was halfway through Home Alone.

“Wow. That top looks beautiful on you…” Juliana said as she opened the door and found Valentina in a blouse she made for her. “You look beautiful.”

Valentina let out a small giggle as her grin grew. “Can I come in? I come bearing gifts.” She said holding a few bags and gift boxes.

“That beautiful smile is the only gift I need tonight. You are breathtaking.” Juliana said opening the door wide enough to let Valentina through.

A blush began to spread across Valentina’s face at the way Juliana was looking at her. It was a look of love, adoration, and something else she wasn’t quite used to yet but loved nonetheless.

“So what are we watching, chiquita.” Valentina said sinking into the couch that she loved so much.

“You.” Juliana whispered before snapping out of her trance. “I mean, uh… I’m watching Home Alone but it’s basically over so we can watch whatever you want now.” She said handing Valentina the remote control.

Valentina smirked at Juliana’s ‘you’ and decided to see where that avenue could go. “I have a better idea.” She said as she bit her bottom lip knowing the effect it had on the girl next to her.

“Don’t do that, Val.” Juliana said closing her eyes for a quick second and opening them to see Valentina smirking. “What’s your idea?”

“It’s almost midnight, how about we exchange our gifts now?” Valentina said as a playful smile spread across her lips knowing full well what a tease she was being and liking having Juliana all flustered.

“Oh okay that sounds like… an idea. Then we’ll start with mine.” Juliana said as she walked over to the Christmas tree to grab Valentina’s gifts nodding her head trying to get her mind off Valentina’s beauty.

“Here, open this first.” Juliana handed a small box to Valentina.

Valentina carefully unwrapped the present and as she opened the box she found a beautiful gold necklace that had a small red wooden carved heart with a note that read, “Te entrego mi corazón, keep it safe.”

“Thank you Juls I love it!” Valentina said as she reached over to give Juliana a quick kiss and turning around so Juliana could put it around her neck. “Okay open this one now.” She said as she handed Juliana one of the gift bags.

It was a handmade notebook with the world map on the front cover and an phrase on the back cover that read, “YOU ARE MY WORLD” and on the first page Valentina wrote a note that said:

Juliana,

Gracias por ser mi mejor amiga. Por darme tu amor. Thank you for loving me the way that you do. I am the luckiest girl in the world. You make me the happiest I’ve ever been. I want to show you and give you the world. Forever. Te amo.

Yours Always,

Val 

“Valentina thank you, I love you.” Juliana said placing the notebook on her coffee table as she leaned in to kiss Valentina. A kiss that made Valentina lose track of where or who she was. One hand was placed behind Valentina’s head and the other on her waist as Juliana leaned her back onto the couch.

After a while Juliana pulled away leaving the girl beneath her all flustered and told her, “I think we still have a few gifts to exchange.” She said as she sat back up with a smirk as she got another present to hand over to Valentina.

“Neta? You’re just gonna leave me like that?” Valentina said trying to catch her breath.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Juliana giggled as she looked away.

They continued exchanging gifts for another hour and eventually Juliana gave Valentina a custom made summer dress and Valentina gave her a framed picture of the two of them at the park.

“Okay babe that’s it, do you wanna watch a movie and eat Oreos with milk? We’ll make homemade cookies tomorrow with Guille & Natty so that’s why I didn’t bring any but you love Oreos so we can totally eat those.” Valentina said cuddling into Juliana.

Juliana looked down at Valentina with a sly smile. “I have a better idea.”

Valentina looked up at Juliana who got up and offered her a hand, which she took as Juliana walked the two of them towards the bedroom.

“Best. Christmas. Ever.” Valentina exhaled quietly as she followed Juliana.

-

The following morning the girls awoke to a knock on the door.

It was Renata and Guillermo. They were dressed up as Mr. & Mrs. Clause and had a red bag as a good Santa should. They had different ingredients and boxes to make their yearly Christmas cookies and cupcakes. This time it would only be the four of them preparing the cookies. Juliana had yet to use her oven so this was the perfect occasion.

“Here love birds, go get ready while we set up the mixers, we brought you elf costumes. Now go go cuties!” Renata smiled excitedly as she handed each girl their outfits.

“Es neta?” Juliana said letting out a chuckle.

“Babe, you better listen to Renata, homegirl is serious about her Christmas-cookie-making outfits. It’s actually pretty hilarious, but don’t try to fight her on it, just let it happen.” Valentina said laughing as she placed her arm around Juliana’s shoulders walking them back to the room.

They took turns taking a shower and getting ready. By the time they returned to the kitchen Guille had already set up all their equipment and Renata was connecting her phone to Juliana’s speakers in order to play her Christmas playlist.

“You weren’t kidding, this is serious business to her.” Juliana whispered at Valentina with a loving playful smile. She truly adored Renata like big sister; she has easily become one of her best friends and mentors.

“Oh good! You’re ready my little elves! We’re all set up. First competition will be the gingerbread. We can opt for cookies or cupcakes. I think for this first round it’ll be the designers against the siblings to make it fair.” Renata said cheerfully.

Valentina groaned. “Fair?! How is that fair! You two design for a living. I’m stuck with the lawyer! And you have my girlfriend. How dare you Renata Isabel Carvajal!”

Everyone laughed at Valentina’s complaints.

Juliana leaned over to give Valentina a quick kiss. “It’s okay babygirl. I’ll go easy on you.” She finished with a wink.

“Oh so it’s like that? Okay, I see you. May the best member of Juliantina win then!” Valentina said stretching out her pinky to make the bet official.

“Juliantina?” Guille asked confused.

“Yeah it’s what people have been calling us since they found out and it’s kinda cute.” Valentina said still challenging Juliana, who simply lifted her eyebrow and decided to take on the challenge by wrapping her pinky around Valentina’s.

“Oo I like this already! Good luck babe, we’re gonna kick your butts!” Renata told her husband while giving Juliana a high five.

Both teams chose to make gingerbread cookies. Once finished it was clear who the winners were, the designers. Guille and Val weren’t that great at decoration their cookies. The remainder of the afternoon they made and ate their baked goodies. By noon Juliana’s parents along with Leon & Lucia arrived at the apartment to have lunch and enjoy the baked goods. They spent the rest of the day dancing, playing boardgames, and watching movies. Valentina had Eva in the back of her mind but she knew not inviting her was for the best after how she’d treated Juliana at every chance she’d gotten. Little did she know her sister had been coming up with what she considered a definitive plan.

[ghostmartyr]

Pokémon FireRed Nuzlocke [Part 13]

Once again back at the Bill Gaiden, we continue our quest to beat the game without any grinding.

The current take on this problem is to focus on only three members of the team in the final chapter. Plus prayer and possibly lots of X items I haven’t bought yet.

I believe in you, my precious team.

...Sort of.

On whatever route I’m on, a Persian shows up. I guess I will try to catch it.

I did catch it.

Its name is Oak.

Rock Smash get, and Oak is gonna learn it for us. As our last real run taught us, Krabby is the best for HMs. Nom nom.

Sap is handling all of the Fighting trainers on this first island here. Seems prudent, given the choices involved. Plus my expectations of Sap. Sap has, by far, the largest role in my eventual plans. My child. You must take your amazing moves. Use them. And sweep all the things.

My Mt. Ember option is a Fearow, and I just can’t. I have two things that aren’t a Master Ball, I think. Sorry, Fearow. We were not meant to be.

Except Trunk can’t run from you. So I might be considering catching you.

Aha, flee accepted.

These are still dopey names.

-sigh- I tried to skip into Three Island, but it looks like you have to talk to NPCs to hit off the Biker Gang part of the Bill Gaiden. This run, having been a shrine to defeatism, didn’t bother with talking with most everyone. The cost is island hopping. Much sad. Very annoy.

“I am a video game character and my child is missing. Her name

is Lostelle.”

Video games are good.

Okay, Biker Gang subplot. Give me my exp.

GIVE ME MY EXP IN A LESS TRAUMATIZING FASHION POR FAVOR.

Later on the island, we are in the berry forest and encounter a Psyduck. With luck, it will be our box friend in the very near future.

Caught! Its name is Oak.

Don’t worry, little girl. I am the protagonist. I will save you.

By running away from the wild Hypno. Because that’s what heroes do.

Kid returned, and I think that means. I think I get to go fight Giovanni’s Gym.

Delightful.

Oak is level 50, Trunk and Sap are both 49. Bark, should she be required, is level 47.

Not a bad place to be in. Not close enough to feeling safe, but I think this has the potential to go better than Heero’s term.

Final badge. Let’s go. For added fun, I won’t even follow my map of the trainers inside the Gym. I’ll just go by guessing based on the trainer type.

Oak is level 52, Sap and Trunk are level 50. Good show, guys.

Aaaaaaand final badge! Magnificent.

Rival, Victory Road, then Elite Four, right?

That sounds doable?

Please?

I’m going to miss not having an Electric type available for the Pidgeot. And for the Gyarados. Acorn, Zaft. Your presence would be so valuable here.

I think I’m going to put Oak in front for that. Rival has enough to respond to Oak that any Sand Attacks can be swapped out. Wanting Oak for two fights in a row probably won’t happen. Hopefully.

My amusement is slowly being replaced by existential dread.

Oh, neat. The Pidgeot goes for Wing Attack instead of the awful sand. Thank you, Rival-san’s Pidgeot. I hate you and everything, but you’re a class act.

Trunk goes in for the Venusaur. It of level 53.

We get through.

I’ll actually send Sap out to (hopefully) handle the Gyarados.

Oak back in for the Alakazam. Stays in for the Growlithe.

Bloodless victory.

Hell, though. That is not a confidence boost. The levels keep reminding me how tight this really is, and I’m very short on Type variety. I know my main strategy, which I didn’t use here, is going to be massively setting up before anything else, but aaaaaaaaa.

I don’t want to go through all of this again. I’m not good enough at the game to reliably improve.

On the side of things I can do, I’m going to teach Trunk Earthquake.

And it looks very much like it makes sense for Oak to learn Ice Beam. He still has Tackle, for crying out loud. There’s room for improvement. The only problem is that hey, I still want Shadow Ball for Trunk, and guess what other TM is also a Game Corner thing?

In the spirit of bad things not happening maybe, I’m going to grab those TMs before Victory Road. No point limiting myself. I am also going to look up if I can get the Amulet coin and make some extra money, because the money situation ended up making me sad by the end of Heero and friends.

...

To. the slots.

I need 8500 coins.

Sigh.

SIGH.

170,000, is it?

Actual depiction of life’s traumas.

If I want to mess with their moves some more, I’ll do it after Victory Road. For now, this works.

Welp, no Amulet Coin for me.

There isn’t going to be much typing from here on out. Just picture a lot of screaming and crying. Because that’s pretty much what’s going on behind the scenes.

...Also I’m going to use Max Repels and the Master Ball on anything I come across. For maximum chance.

The Repel strat didn’t work out.

So I throw my Master Ball at a Machop.

Its name is Oak.

And every single time I leave the cave to heal, the switches require me to repeat their process. They fill me with hate. The smaller my team gets, the more often I have to head back to a Pokemon Center for PP aid.

BUT WE MAKE IT.

...

.

Fuck.

What do ya think?

I’m about to spend all my cash, so this is my last chance for move decisions.

I usually like something to know Toxic. Oak’s the best candidate for that in terms of an incomplete moveset, but I have a Dragon Claw TM that has similar value and can’t be wasted on Trunk or Sap.

I think this works, honestly. Oak for all things turtle, Sap for all things stall, and Trunk for miscellaneous everything. I can adjust after each one I beat. I have some interesting TMs I can play with, but for now, I think this is good.

What I need to think through is what X items I want. Then the rest goes into Full Restores. ...Oh. The X items are cheap, so I just buy a bunch without thinking it through.

Yep.

Elite Four.

Grindlocke, Take 2.

Okay, looking back over my records, I think I’m going to teach Trunk Brick Break over Yawn, use an X Attack, and go for the sweep.

Last chance to back out.

I hate this.

Two X Attacks, because I’m greedy. Dewgong down. It’s now Hailing. Have fun countering, Leftovers.

The Cloyster gets to the red with one Brick Break. Lorelei uses a Full Restore. Many stall tactics later, the Cloyster is downed with not much more of a mark on Trunk.

Slowbro next, but Shadow Ball should make that work. The hail stops, too, which is nice.

Yeesh, these things have high Defense. Slowbro’s in the red, uses Surf. Trunk is still green, but nearing half steadily. One more Shadow Ball, and the Slowbro’s gone. No Full Restore for it.

Lapras.

Brick Break puts it in the red, but it has a Sitrus Berry. I probably knew that from last time, but we’re really all about living in the moment, this run.

Lapras leaves Trunk in the high orange, but it’s out. Just the Jynx left. Going to spend a turn on a Potion just to keep things stable, then a Shadow Ball should mark the end of this.

And now Trunk is in love with it. In between being put to sleep.

...Okay, fuck you, game. What is Lovely Kiss’ accuracy?

..

75????

AND THEN TRUNK WAS FROZEN.

I knew these fights would be a bit of a stall game.

It wasn’t supposed to be in this direction.

LOVELY KISS CAN’T KEEP FUCKING HITTING YOU FUCKING AAAAAGH.

This Jynx is going to run out of Ice Punch PP before I get a hit in.

Oh thank fuck.

Would you look at that. It’s dead.

Oak’s going to be first for Bruno’s Onix, so Oak gets a Sitrus Berry for luck. Trunk’s healed back to full HP, and. Round two, get ready.

I gotta say, after everything I just went to, the sight of that Onix is a damn relief.

Only with that dealt with, the Hitmonchan’s prepped to come out.

Sap’s up. Because this is going to take a bunch of switching, I think I’ll try to stick with straight Sludge Bombing for as long as I can. Sap’s got a better Attack stat than Trunk at the moment (I think), so it shouldn’t be too rough.

Yeah, one Sludge Bomb puts Hitmonchan practically in the red, and Sky Uppercut doesn’t move Sap anywhere near orange.

?

Hello.

Bruno took out Hitmonchan to put in Onix.

Yeah. Switching. Oak, you’re up again.

Bye, Onix. And I’m going to leave Oak in to mop up the Hitmonchan to conserve PP. Bruno Full Restores it, but Surf puts it in the orange, so... eh, good enough. Oak takes an extra hit, but Oak’s time in this room is up anyway.

Hitmonlee.

Uh oh.

Also, bullshit, I had just used Minimize and Mega Kick’s accuracy sucks starting out, but. primarily. uh oh.

Ummmmmm.

Bad news, Oak.

I am so sorry.

Yeah, so Oak died, and now Oak is out at full health.

X Defend time.

OH SO NOW MEGA KICK CAN MISS, HUH.

Throw an X Special on the pile.

Oak uses up his Sitrus Berry, Bruno uses another Full Restore.

Hitmonlee goes down after far too long, and the Machamp comes out to play.

Surf gets it to deep orange. I’m going to use a Full Restore to be careful.

That there is a partially happy sight.

This, on the other hand...

Sap, I can give you a proper sendoff later, when my brain is doing something besides screaming. Suffice to say, you did nothing wrong, and this game hates me. Thanks for the fun, sorry you didn’t get to live longer or for your entire purpose.

I’m also looting your corpse for your Leftovers for Oak.

So Agatha’s next, right?

I finally get to see what a Snorlax with Shadow Ball can do about that.

I’m very much hoping the answer is, “something.”

Let’s dance, grandma.

First out is a level 54 Gengar. It knows Double Team, because this game really doesn’t actually want me to be happy. But Shadow Ball hits and gets it into the red. Agatha uses a Full Restore, and the next Shadow Ball actually hits too.

And now Trunk is confused.

Trunk.

Buddy.

Stop hitting yourself.

Fantastic, he does.

...Agatha has a Golbat? Ew. It’s level 54 too. It faints semi-easily, and then there was a level 56 Arbok. I’m just gonna spend a second on an X Attack, don’t mind me... Then a Full Restore so Trunk doesn’t fucking die...

Problems. We have them.

The level 58 Gengar coming out does not solve enough of them. Or any. It’s pretty much universally bad, actually.

That sound you hear is the snap of my fragile, innocent, sanity. I use a couple of X Defends instead of waking Trunk up. Then health becomes a slight issue, so you know what, Full Restore time!

Okay, great! Second Gengar dead! All that’s left is a level 53 Haunter. For. Reasons of who knows.

Okay.

I have never used the Poke Flute this much in my life.

And then it uses Hypnosis again, and it hits, again, and we do the whole dance over again, as you do.

IN A STUNNING TURN OF EVENTS, HAUNTER CURSING ME PUTS AN END TO ITS FUCKING CURSE, AND EVERYTHING IS IMMEDIATELY BETTER.

NO ONE ASKED YOU, YOU DAMN OLD LADY. YOU AREN’T A GENKAI. YOU’RE NOT EVEN CLOSE TO A GENKAI. FUCK YOU.

Hell, let me think.

Lance.

Dragons.

He has... two Dragonites, one Dragonair, a Charizard, and an Aerodactyl? Maybe?

I’m not banned from looking things up, but it hasn’t felt sporting to check up ahead of time. And no matter what, I think the best strategy I have here is to throw Oak in, toss on a ton of X Defends, and pray. So it doesn’t really matter what he has.

But Oak’s learning Toxic.

As a kid, I always thought Lance was just the coolest. Lance is a bitching name, and he has a dragon theme, and then he has a fucking cape. Top ten video game heroes.

As an adult, I hate Lance so much. Even the dope cape can’t spare him.

Oh hey, it’s a level 56 Gyarados. With my favorite move. Dragon Rage. That’s actually great, and it should feel free to keep using it. Dragon Rage doesn’t get critical hits. Yeah, actually, this is perfect. I’m just going to stack Oak with everything and not switch.

All of Dragon Rage’s PP later, Toxic can’t hit anything apparently, and it’s a contest of Biting. Cute.

THEN IT USES HYPER BEAM AND THE HYPER BEAM, NATURALLY, GETS A CRITICAL HIT, AND OAK HAS 15 HP AS HE LANDS THE FINAL BITE TO KILL THE FUCKER.

...Well. The poison kills it. But the feeling is there.

Look, there’s the Dragonair.

Look, it’s using Outrage.

Look, Outrage got a critical hit.

Look, it’s me crying from sheer stress.

Look, it’s the miracle of me getting a critical hit for once. It dies.

...Then out comes a second Dragonair.

Level 54s, btw. I forgot. Too many other horrible things were going on.

Oak takes that one out too, then it’s the Dragonite.

I think you just need to not die, Oak.

That works.

Aerodactyl last. Level 58.

Surf gets it.

Hate you so much, Lance.

I think the main problem here is that if I open with Oak, the Venusaur pops out, and any preparation I do during the Pidgeot round will vanish. That makes Trunk that more appealing option for an opener.

Pidgeot, Gyarados, Arcanine, Alakazam, Rhydon (?), Venusaur.

If it wouldn’t mean the Venusaur coming out, I’d just let Oak handle everything. Maybe I ought to do that anyway, and just accept that I’ll be bleeding more X Defends than I want in this fight.

Actually, wait.

Okay, no... I don’t think that’s a good move. I was thinking I could teach Oak Calm Mind for some extra boosting, and it’s not a bad thought, but.

...Actually, yeah?

Gyarados and Arcanine both have Intimidate, but Oak has Special Attack as its primaries. If I use up some X Defends on the Pidgeot to leave room for Calm Mind... the only problem would be if the Pidgeot has Whirlwind. But if it did, that would be a separate issue anyway. I can’t smash through without setup.

Max Calm Minding should make it possible for Oak to survive long enough to nail the Venusaur with Ice Beam. Barring critical hit problems. That limits the pain of removing Bite, too. If Oak’s Special is all maxed, the particular move matters less.

Done, do it.

Oh.

NEVER MIND. Blastoise doesn’t learn it. Damn.

I think I’m thinking too hard. I’ll let Oak take the Pidgeot, then Trunk can set up against the Venusaur, then I’ll just let the nightmare of switching back and for be what it will. I guess. ...

How fast is Venusaur?

Faster than Blastoise, and my Blastoise has a nature impairing Speed.

Well, I can already feel how badly this is about to go.

Sorry in advance, Oak.

Hey.

So the Pidgeot is level 59.

And it still knows Sand-Attack.

AND WHIRLWIND, OKAY.

Sorry, little gal. This one wasn’t wholly my fault.

Trunk’s going out. If I can’t have Oak kill all the things, we’ll just. Yeah.

Featherdance. Featherdance, Whirlwind, Sand-Attack, and Aerial Ace. Fuck this thing, tbqh.

Alakazam’s next.

Featherdance really can’t stand, and the Sand-Attack severely impacts Trunk’s effectiveness as well.

Ooooooh I’m not going to like myself for what I do next.

Dig like your life depends on it, girl, because it does because I am awful.

Level 57 Alakazam v level 47 Dugtrio.

But my kid’s faster. All those EVs were good for something. Bark dodges a Psychic, and since Alakazam chose Future Sight, hopefully her next Dig will spare her that as well. Too stressed. Can’t count.

Okay, how bad...

She lived.

Bark, I do not deserve you.

You did so good, Bark. Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Oak out to hopefully bait the Venusaur into showing up.

Alakazam’s Psychic packs a punch, but still a green one, and Oak’s Bite settles the matter.

Yes, the Venusaur is coming out.

The. Level 63 Venusaur. Hell.

And Earthquake isn’t super effective like I thought/hoped.

Two Growths, and Sunny Day. Oh fuck this can’t end well.

But Body Slam paralyzed it? So maybe?

Trunk outspeeds it.

It’s dead.

Oak swaps in on Rhydon because Trunk is going to be done the second he’s up against the Intimidate friends, so I need some time to set Oak up for the sweep.

It’s level 59.

This should be okay.

Sunlight faded. Want to use a Full Restore to heal up Oak in case of critical hits.

A couple of X Specials.

Should be good to go.

Rhydon down. Gyarados coming out. It’s level 59. It uses Hydro Pump, thankfully it doesn’t do much. Oak uses Toxic, and it actually hits.

Gyarados fainted.

Arcanine is up. Level 61. Need to Full Restore for caution. It uses Flamethrower. Doesn’t move Oak out of the green. Uses Flamethrower again, since it’s faster.

Oak uses Surf.

Oh.

Oh.

This. This was what this was all for, in the end.

I win.

Holy heck I win.

Pidgey-Oak, Krabby-Oak... you guys did great. Thanks. ...Many, many apologies.

Sap, we never got to see you shine the way I meant you to, but you were a valued member of the team, and made a lot of things so much simpler. If nothing else, you were an inspiration to try things a little more cerebrally, and that was the only approach that was going to make a dent.

Bark...

Bark. You were the linchpin. I brought you back into a fight you had to rely on luck for, and you brought in so much of that and just... I wish it made sense to use you more.

Oak.

Trunk.

You did it.

You really did it.

I’M DONE.

MANY FAILURES, MANY SADNESSES LATER. IT’S DONE. IT IS FINISHED. IT IS WON.

HEERO. PO. SPRINKLE. ZAFT. ALLENBY.

OAK AND TRUNK STAND ON THE BONES OF YOUR PROGRESS. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR HARD WORK.

I AM NEVER DOING THIS TO MYSELF AGAIN.

Though I might come back to another Nuzlocke, in a while. Not now. Definitely not now. But except for this being horrific, it was a lot of taxing fun. So I’m sure I’ll come up with something else to do. Maybe not in this format. I’ve been trying to learn how to make Twitch do stuff, and playing and talking takes less time than playing and typing.

Who knows.

For now, though, it’s over. Thank you to anyone who’s read these.

[lilaflyy]

Fictober Day 1 - “Can you feel this?”

I really wanted to participate in Inktober this year, but I’m more in a writing mood lately, so I’m gonna participate in Fictober instead. I’m gonna try to drabble something every day with each prompt being something from my original story “Unseen” which has yet to properly been written. Just to switch things up from fanfiction for a bit and maybe even make a character story out of it. I’ve had my babies for a long while already and so it’s about time to feature them in at least a few snippets of their world.

Enjoy reading! :D

Little extra info about the setting and characters: The story takes place in the UK and Sunny is half British, half German, so she speaks both languages. Drako, on the other hand, is a mix of a lot and next to English also speaks Spanish and Italian (his parents are from Spain and Italy respectively). Just so you know where the random foreign language parts come from.

Thanks to Queenie for the help with the Spanish one, because I don’t speak a single word of Spanish myself XD

Sunny

“Can you feel this?” Phoenix asked but we both knew the question was rhetorical. Of course, I didn’t feel anything. After all, I was the human among fae and it sounded as weird as it actually was. To live in a world populated by humans and still somehow be a minority in my choice group of company had tilted my world view recently. Up until this summer it had just been Hayden and me and in that scenario, my brother had been the odd one out.

“No,” I still replied grumpily and threw the black-haired boy a glare. He still was not to be trusted in my book and I would not start with it now. Dragging me out of the house and into the woods in the middle of the day had me in a sour mood anyway and his stupid secretive ways did not help either.

“There is something in this area. Like a place of power,” he explained, but that did not surprise me in the slightest.

“If you’re talking about the hill that might be a sídhe, then that is about half a kilometre that way,” I said and pointed straight ahead. His look, as if I had just solved the mystery of the universe, was extremely amusing and I could not hold back a small victorious smirk. He probably had not thought that I could contribute anything to this surprise adventure of his besides a knowledge of the lay of the land.

“What? Do you think I just locked myself in my room in the last three years? I may have spent a lot of time doing research, but anyone would get crazy without going outside at all. Besides, I already went to that hill plenty of times without anything happening. A couple more times didn’t hurt.”

“Wait, you went there on your own!?”

“With Hayden,” I replied with a roll of my eyes. Did he think I was stupid? Probably, judging by the way he was treating me.

“Now, would you kindly explain to me why we are out in the woods in the first place? You want to find a place of power? Congrats, the sídhe is that way. Have fun! I don’t see what you need me here for. And you better not gonna say that I’m bait or something like that!”

“I…err…ah por todos los dioses…” The Spanish stammering did not help, especially since I did not understand a single word of it. It sounded more like a helpless exclamation than anything though, so I probably was not meant to understand it anyway.

“Are we playing the ‘let’s speak the language you don’t understand’ game now? Schön, unfair spielen kann ich auch.”

I swore to god, if he was not going to tell me what exactly we were out here for, I would stab him in the calf with the iron knife I kept at my belt—in case of fae emergencies.  

“Well, I could say that I need you for directions, but that would be a lie—even though you’re being surprisingly helpful.”

I crossed my arms and threw him my best scowl, getting impatient. He might think that he was dragging me away from a boring life—his words, not mine—but I honestly had things to do. Things that had a deadline and which I wanted to have finished.

“Can I be helpful at another time or preferably never again? This might be hard for you to comprehend, but I have things to do. Things that have nothing to do with sídhes or small dragons that aren’t actually dragons and that have a deadline. So, if that was all, then I’ll be on my way now.”

“Wait! I…uhm…”

Seeing him squirm and fight for words was probably going into my records of my favourite moments of this year. After all, this was the same boy that had broken into my room through the balcony door last Friday and threatened to kill my brother with an honest to god sword.

“Listen, I…don’t know how to handle this, okay? I have people involved in this, but the only connection they have to the fae is me, so I can manage to keep them out of it as much as possible. You though—”

“I have Hayden as a connection and not you, so I’m the first human person you meet that you don’t have a control over. Get used to it.”

“That’s not what I meant. I mean, it is, but what I was actually trying to say is that if I can’t keep you from doing reckless things anyway, I can at least do them with you and keep you safe.”

His blush would have been amusing—reminder: this was still the same sword wielding lunatic that broke into my room—if it wouldn’t be for the fact that he was looking at me like a kicked puppy. Also, his blush was contagious. Curse him more than he already was!

“Oh, okay then,” I replied little intelligently. A moment of awkward silence passed and then I found my composure again.

“Good to know. I’m not up for reckless adventures today though. If I ever feel like risking my life again, I will be sure to give you a call so you can kill everything in sight.” My view travelled to the swords on his back and I asked myself not for the first time how in hell he could walk around with those in public and not get weird looks. Then again, he could probably just use a glamour and not be noticed by anyone at all. I just had the foresight to wear a necklace of dried rowan berries and wear my socks inside out.

“I did not really think this through, did I?” he said and blushed again. This time it was funny because he was embarrassed in the socially awkward way that was way too familiar to me.

“Nope, you certainly did not. A word of advice: Don’t randomly kidnap girls and drag them into the woods without further explanation. It’s as shady as it sounds.” Now he was blushing for real.

“I didn’t mean to…I wasn’t…this is not what—”

I snorted at his obvious distress.

“I’m just teasing you.”

He pouted and by the gods, why did he have to look so cute while doing that?! Faeries should not be allowed to look cute, especially not boys that were cursed to be fae. How dare he…

[ladylike-foxes]

All Soul’s, Pt. 1

My beloved @joufancyhuh​ (❤️😍❤️😍❤️) sent me an ask that read, “How Halesta celebrates Halloween or its equivalent in fic form por favor.”, and when I went to post it, I somehow managed to mess it up and now I can’t find the original ask. So instead, I’m posting the first of what is essentially a two-parter (though I haven’t quite decided how pt. 2 is gonna go yet) here, for @dadrunkwriting​ ❤️

          Autumn air holds something distinct, something that stirs the fluttering in one’s stomach with some unnamed anticipation. Those devout Andrastian around her seemed to take this as a sign for them to chastise themselves: prayer hour lengthened double both morning and night, the Canticle of Trials seeming to echo throughout Skyhold at all hours. Asking Cassandra about this, the Seeker nearly rolled her eyes, taking a moment to visibly reign in her tongue before answering.

“It is due to the approach of All Soul’s Day, Inquisitor,” Delicately folding her gloved hands over the leather-bound Swords and Shields in her lap.

“The event is to be spent in somber remembrance of our dead, and of Andraste’s sacrifice for our souls. In most cities, there are plays depicting her last moments, with public fires at night.”

          Halesta pouted thoughtfully, sitting beside the Seeker in the sparse grass with legs crossed beneath her. Cassandra glanced around for any Mothers or Sisters before making a face.

“To be honest, it is all a bit too morbidly reminiscent of home for my taste,” Voice lowered conspiratorially, “After midnight in my native Nevarra, the people dress as spirits and walk the streets in silent parades.”

“That sounds like an incredibly dull disservice to the dead,” Halesta laughed.

          She caught Solas’s eye as he walked down the main stairs with Cole, but only held his gaze momentarily. Cole’s head swiveled to peek at her from beneath his hat. She turned her attention back to Cassandra, the cool breeze disheveling her short hair while she picked apprehensively at the fraying corner of her book.

“Do the Dalish not observe commemoration of their dead?” Bashful and embarrassed, as if asking about the Dalish was somehow disrespectful, “Aside from their burial rites, I mean.”

“Oh, we do. We have actually adopted your All Soul’s Day—only we’ve, ah, altered the festivities somewhat.” It was her turn to duck and blush.

“The Dalish make it fun.”

          Cole appeared at the Seeker’s other side, posture mirroring the Inquisitor’s. She smiled to herself, noticing Cassandra no longer started when the boy appeared at random, nor did she behave as edgy or threatened. Solas meandered toward them in long, languid strides, shoulders broad and hands clasped behind him. The Seeker had turned to her, brow arched curiously; Halie offered up her hands in apology.

“Typical Hedonic elves, right?” Giggling nervously and tugging on a loose lock of hair, “We just treat it more as a, er, celebration?”

“They dance and feast, wearing masks and paint to mimic animals,” Contributing this unsolicited clarification, Solas came to stand before them, “Some even carry balls of twine all night, to mimic the tale of Fate.”

           She shot him a threatening squint, but the Apostate smirked right back. Cassandra seemed to consider this information as though sampling one of Dorian’s mulled ciders; Halie could see the Seeker run her tongue along her lower teeth. She found herself worrying her fingertips along the hem of her breeches, waiting for confirmation that she had offended her friend’s devout sensibilities.

“Perhaps we should hold a Dalish celebration at Skyhold this year,” Cass glanced at her sidelong, a wicked curl playing at the corner of her lips.

“And offend the Clergy?” Halesta laughed tensely, shaking her head so her hair nearly fell from atop her head, “That seems unwise.”

“Pfft,” The Seeker waved her hand dismissively, “They have the rest of the month for their morose prayers.

“Cassanda Allegra Portia Calogera—” She shifted to look directly at her friend, “I forget the rest, but you are definitely messing with me.”

“Perhaps,” Cass laughed, handing her book to Cole as she stood, “Or perhaps, I’m going to speak to Josephine about it right now.”

“Creators, the Chantry will have me strung up by my ears!” “They will have to go through a small army first, my friend.”

~~~           ~~~           ~~~           ~~~           ~~~

          Two weeks later, Halesta was nearly in shock to find the Hall abuzz with preparation, a vision reaching back to her childhood. The smell of cloves and spiced citrus mixed with laughter in the air as Inquisition soldiers and scouts cheerfully busied themselves making masks of different creatures, or emptying gourds of every shape and size. Even some Chantry Sisters, led by Mother Giselle, were carefully placing a candle in each, before stringing the smallest of the hollowed vegetables onto long ropes, later to be hung in the courtyard out front.

“Almost like home, isn’t it?” Laleal sidled up, draping a long, brown arm over her shoulder, “I did my best to tell them the most important bits.”

“You did this?”

“Oh, let’s not pretend I have that much pull, Hal,” Winking as she bumped her hip, “No, this was your Seeker. Well, okay, it was mostly Josephine. But your Seeker and the Nightingale played no small part.”

          She could feel her sister’s eyes on her as she wrung her hands, anxious bile turning in her stomach. Even if everyone seemed to be enjoying it, this would all certainly turn out to be a terrible idea. Laleal smoothed her hair back from her face, twisting it gently and placing it over her shoulder before knuckling firm little circles into the muscles at the base of her neck. She could hear Lala’s voice in her mind, melancholy harpsichord and soft summer rain, Relax, Da’halevune.

“Inquisitor!! Do you like it?” Josie grasped her arm excitedly as she, Vivienne, and Leliana all came over to join them.

“She’s terrified,” Lal replied for her, “She’s certain all of Thedas will be at our gates to draw and quarter her.”

“I’d love to see them try, darling,” Vivienne tucked a coil behind her ear, placing a dainty kiss to her forehead. “It’s already a massive boost to morale,” Leliana offered comfortingly.

“And just wait until everyone sees you in your costume!” Josie’s voice was actually shivering with excitement, “No one will be capable of being angry at you.” “Dorian and I took the liberty,” The Enchanter smiled smugly, “With help from your charming sister, of course.” “You know, I like her a lot more than I thought I would,” Laleal winked again, blowing a kiss to Viv.

          Halesta chuckled a sigh, letting her shoulders fall back with defeat. Glancing at Mother Giselle again, she felt a small sense of calm. She might as well resign herself to her fate, if only for the sake of the Inquisition. Maybe, she lied to herself, they needed this more than she did.