#WOW he sure came out of left field

[fbfh]

fuck fuck fuckity fuck fuck fuck theo engler motherFUCKER he got me bad.

this one.

you know, the 19 year old feminism and gender studies major who's a little too charming for his own good and a habit of falling way too hard for married women???? the one who's a little too charming and a little too prone to trying to drunk text you on a regular basis because he can't quite muster up the will power to give up on you????? the one who looks you dead in the eyes and says "the real reason I'm flunking out is because I can't stop thinking about you"?????? YEAH. THAT ONE.

[stsgooo]

Look at Him.

✩࿐ summary: your attempts at reentering the dating scene is foiled by your ex-husband.

warning(s): past relationship, clingy!gojo, ex-husband!gojo, co-parenting situation, crack fic. wc; 1.6k

pairing(s): gojo satoru x fem!reader

a/n: this is purely just a goof fic because i've put nothing but angst out there so far sooo have a laugh. hope yall enjoy :3

“So, what do you do for a living?”

"A teacher."

"Oh, wow! What grade, subject?"

"Uh, highschoolers and the subject kinda varies on the day."

"Like a substitute teacher?"

"Um....sure, yeah! Substitute teacher."

"That's awesome. Mad respect, kids can be demons."

You were quickly discovering that the dating field had changed in the five years that you had been married. An endless back and forth about what someone did, what's their favorite color, what's their hobbies. Boring questions that you would ask your students on the first day was used in over the table date conversation. Until, until, they got to that question they so desperately wanted to ask.

Would you want to take this back to my—

There was a vibration against your thigh as your date started to go onto a monologue about how much he disliked kids. In all honesty, you couldn't really remember his name. The introductions had been awkward and a little nerve wracking— you were almost sure he had no idea who you were either.

You tugged your phone out of your pocket and resisted the audible sigh that threatened to leave you when you saw the notification.

Satoru please tell me why my beautiful, radiant, amazing, intelligent daughter just said her mommy is on a date. feeling sick to my stomach, don't tell me this is true.

You rolled your eyes. Your ex-husband had always been so overdramatic. His main focus was always on the bit that could come from a situation. However, this was a quality you do used to admire about him. His ability to make any situation seem like it was a funny happenstance that you'd never encounter again.

Now, it was nothing more than a nuisance.

Satoru oh my god, you left me on read. it's true. it's true. i hope you know i just threw up. i threw up everywhere. i might die. at least, tell me he's ugly. please god let him to be ugly.

A sigh, you typed out the quickest message you could without your date asking what's wrong.

You I hope you're not ignoring said daughter to ask me about some date. I'll be home later, please refrain from texting me.

You were about to set your phone down when another text came through. This one appeared to more distraught than the last.

Satoru o h your tone. it's over. it's really over. i might just kill myself this is the worst night of my life. y/n, i'm genuinely feeling sick. please, is he ugly? he must be boring because you're texting back.

You were almost inclined to remind Satoru you both had been divorced for a year already. That this was bound to happen and you two had, in fact, spoken about it months into the divorce. You had played with some 'what if's and there was a mutual agreement that the other wouldn't get jealous and be dramatic about the other getting in a relationship whenever the time comes. It was a surprisingly adult conversation.

You should've known better when Satoru proudly proclaimed he didn't care who you got involved with.

You Satoru, we talked about this. We're adults and we're divorced. Please bother someone else, like Suguru.

Satoru i don't wanna talk to suguru. i wanna talk to youuu (;﹏;) i can't believe you've done this. ten years. ten years of loyalty. im sick to my stomach.

You You asked for the divorce.

"Is everything okay?"

You eyes snapped up from your phone and towards your date. He had the good grace to be wearing a relatively concerned expression, eyeing you wearily.

You quickly tucked your phone back into your pocket, ignoring the insistent vibrations it gave to smile apologetically. "I'm sorry, my daughter had an accident and I had to, you know, send a quick text to her babysitter." It was easier to explain away a daughter than it was a clingy ex-husband who was well in his dissent into insanity. Really, you were doing this guy a favor keeping him in the dark.

However, his face still paled and he straightened. "You have a kidI'm so, so sorry. I just went on a two minute rant about how much kids are equivalent to demons." He seemed to spiral as he pressed his hands against his face, uttering curses to himself. "I get so nervous with these dates. I truly meant nothing by it."

You smiled in amusement, "It's no problem, really. I'm not exactly disagreeing." He peeked from between his fingers and blinked at you dumbly. "Just because I'm a parent doesn't mean I don't agree. I mean, my kid can be a bit much sometimes. I love her, but she's a lot like her dad in that way."

It always made your chest blossom. The way Saori was a carbon copy of Satoru. From the rambunctious personality, to the piercing blue eyes, and white hair. Your genes hadn't won in the battle, but you were almost grateful. Satoru tried to tell you that she had your smile and your wit, but you weren't entirely convinced. She was Satoru and Satoru was her.

You were extremely lucky that he was a good dad.

"Oh? Do you mind me asking if her dad's still around?" His tone was indication enough: a daughter and an ex of some kind was pushing it for him.

You tensed up, feeling deep regret already. "Uh, yeah." His eyes shifted away and you reached forward, taking his hand. "But, he's not, like, crazy or anything! He's just a good dad."

Your date chuckled nervously. "I-I just don't want to get involved in some, um, some family dynamic."

You thought it was a little presumptuous of him to think this would go that far, or he'd get in the way. But you were too focused on defusing the situation.

"Oh, no, it's not like that! We've got a healthy balance, y'know? He does his piece, I do mine— that's it!"

He scrunched his face. "So... an open relationship?"

"No!" You press your hands against your face with a huff. "No, we're not together anymore. We just co-parent."

He opened his mouth to further question you when your phone vibrated very audibly. His eyebrows raising. "Your daughter?"

You sighed. "Please give me one moment."

With jerky movements, you pull your phone from your pocket. The assortment of messages that came where spread over the ten minutes you decided to ignore him.

Satoru okay, you've got me there. but my big heart is breaking. i hope he's ugly and he smells. okay, i spoke with suguru and he said i'm an idiot who should apologize. in my defense, i'm a little itty bitty drunk. and no, saori is not awake. papa put her to bed before bringing out the whiskey. im so sorry my beautiful deity. that not ugly, not smelly man is so lucky to be in your presence and i hope you have a good date. also i hope he gets hit my a car. (＾▽＾)

You I'm going to kill you with my bare hands. Genuinely, count your days, Gojo Satoru.

Satoru hot, hot, hot!!! (●´□`)♡ did he actually get hit by a car?

You Is there something you want?

Satoru him dead. and you home :((((

You You don't want me home. I swear to god, if you're on my couch, drinking when I get home, I will ruin your life.

Satoru promise??? ╰(✿´⌣`✿)╯♡ but, actually, i wanted to ask your opinion on something

You For real?

Satoru for realsies. [Image Attachment]

Completely blinded by your irritation, you don't even hesitate to open the picture as it loads. Although you regret it the moment it does.

It's a picture of Satoru. He's at what seems to be the beach (must've been the fun activity him and Saori were going to join Suguru for), his sunglasses were on the top of his head, and he was grinning at the picture. One hand was resting against his pectoral and the veins in his hand was prominent. An obvious attempt at being charming and flirtatious. It was working too.

If it weren't for the fact that you knew him and were his ex, you might've just swooned.

"Oh, my god, is that him?" Your date was staring at your phone with wide eyes. His face even more pale than before. He started to shake his head as he stood, snatching his jacket from the back of his chair. "No way. I am not getting involved! I'm sorry, you're a nice woman, but I know when I'm not winning. And I'm definitely not winning against that."

Your eyes widened considerably, "What? No! Please don't leave. He's an idiot, I swear there's nothing—"

"He is... a hunk. I am not. In no shape or form am I at all comparable to that. Look—" He reached forward, grabbing your phone and holding the picture up to be beside his face. "Look at the difference! Model who has won Japan's hottest man at least eight times before he's 30 to me— Look at him!"

"It's not even like that!" You snatched your phone back and stared at him in frustration. "He's my ex, I do not want him!"

He waved his hands in front of your face. "I know how this will go. You think you like me and then your super hot and super sexy ex-whatever makes you realize the familiarity is good. Then I get dumped." He straightened, latching his hands onto the lapels of his jacket. "I just realized I am a side character. In my own life. Goddammit."

He barely glanced at you as he paid for the dinner, then left as quickly as he could. Still, you didn't even know his name.

Satoru oooo taking you awhile to respondddd still in love with me? (人◕ω◕)

[lowkeyremi]

Haikyuu men as fathers pt. 5

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Ft. Ushijima, Kita, Kyotani and Asahi

Note: The age range of the kids will differ for each character but it’s from babies up til like 17 or 18. Bringing this series back for someone who requested Kita :3 @warriordemigosworld

content: Indication of pregnancy, relationships, marriage, certain styles of parenting, etc

Ushijima Wakatoshi

When you arrive home you're met with the sight of both your husband and your baby girl knocked out on the couch. Her little head is resting upon his chest, her small hand curled up in a fist too.

You can see the drool on his shirt from her little lips. She's just so tiny and he's so big. Whenever you'd post them on your social media the first thing people comment on is the size difference. They always talk about how soft and gentle he is with his baby girl for such a big man.

Wakatoshi seems to notice your staring because his olive eyes open looking around for a second before they meet yours.

"Looks like you two had a good time." A smirk graces your lips. He chuckles quietly, rubbing her back when she starts to stir awake.

"She wanted to play animals so I dressed up as a tiger for her. She insisted that she should paint my face to make me look the part." Oh. So that's why his face is orange with smears of black on it.

"I'm guessing she was a baby tiger?" Your little girl's face was also colored in orange and black face paint.

"Precisely." Wakatoshi watches as you pull out your phone and snap a few pics.

"I'm sure Grandma and Papa would want to see what you two were up to today." He nods, a small smile gracing his face.

Wakatoshi is the kind of parent to let his child experience little moments that make them happy

He doesn't limit their imagination as his mother tried too when he was younger because of his left-handedness

GENTLE GIANTTTTTTT

He doesn't enjoy singing but he will hum his baby to sleep

When his baby was little he would always have her sleep on his chest which is why she's so used to it (i love his chest....)

all in all ushi is such a good dad

Kita Shinsuke

You were watching as Shinsuke and your little boy were out in the rice fields. There were two cold glasses of water waiting for them when they came back.

They had matching hats and overalls; the whole thing. Shinsuke insisted his six year old should be interested in little boy stuff like playing and discovering the world, but your little boy wanted to help his daddy out in the fields.

So of course, Shinsuke would show him how to do basic things around the rice fields. He made his son a mini bag of rice to carry since the normal bags are way too heavy for a six year old.

Little giggles escape your lips watching the two of them haul the bags of rice toward his truck.

"Are you helping daddy out?" You ask recording him.

"Yep! I'm almost as strong as daddy is!" To prove his point he flexes his little muscles.

"Oh wow!! You are super strong." Shinsuke chuckles too. He's sweating up a storm, wiping his forehead every few minutes.

"Do my two favorite boys want to come take a water break?" Your husband is grateful for your observation skills, he could use some water.

Your son looks to his father waiting to see what he says. The little boy admires his father with his life.

"Yeah let's get some water, bud." Shinsuke scoops up his son causing the little boy much joy.

Kita is very stern with his kids, he likes order (which is why they have so much respect for him)

Almost never breaks the rules like if there's not supposed to be any sweets before bed he'll listen to the rules even if his kids beg and beg

He teaches them to be honest hard working children (just like how he was when he used to help his grandma clean)

There are fun days too, he'll take them to amusement parks and such.. only for good behavior though

lmaoo I think he looks a little scary to other kids, so when he's chaperoning at field trips and stuff none of the kids (even the most mischievous ones) dare to act up

he's always taking his kiddos to onigiri miya because they always talk about how much they "love their uncle samu's food!!"

if they show any interest in volleyball he takes them to see the red falcons (aran) or the black jackals (atsumu) they always think it's the coolest thing ever

Kyotani Kentaro

The screaming match going on downstairs didn't concern you in the slightest.

Your husband and your daughters do this at least once a day, which is why you're still laying in bed minding your own business.

"IF YOU DON'T DO YOUR PROJECT YOU'LL FAIL!" Kentaro yelled at his ten year old daughter. She was; in your opinion a carbon copy of her father.

"I DON'T WANT TO!!! IT'S BORING-UHHHHHH." She drags out the last syllable, causing a giggle to leave your lips.

"WELL LET'S GO SEE WHAT YOUR MOM HAS TO SAY ABOUT IT." You pretend to sleep as the three of them stomp up the stairs to see what you have to say.

"[name], your child won't-" when he notices that you're "sleeping" he shushes his children and walks them out of the room.

You hear a mumbled, "Will you do it if I help you?"

The older daughter of yours agrees with her father's suggestion. The younger one has no clue what's going on but she wants to be included too. So, she also hums in agreement.

He communicates his love through snarky comments and eye rolls

Doesn't find them annoying, just could use a break sometimes

He thought being a dad would be a piece of cake.. imagine his surprise when he changes his first poopy diaper

Scary dog privileges still apply; no one dares to look at his kids wrong, much less try to hurt them

He girls think it's funny that he's "bald"

Will NEVER admit it but he is a girl dad

Azumane Asahi

"I think I'm gonna be sick, babe, what if we don't find him?" Asahi asks tugging in your shirt sleeve. This isn't your best parenting moment; your little boy is lost somewhere inside this huge Costco. Your son who's eight insisted he'd go grocery shopping with you even though he was probably gonna complain after ten minutes about his legs hurting.

Of course your husband wanted to tag along. He enjoys family bonding and he saw this grocery trip as an opportunity to execute it. The two of you had gotten so caught up in conversation that you didn't even realize your son went missing for maybe four or five minutes? You hope it was only that long.

"Ren! Where are you honey?!" You yell out, not too loud so it's not fairly obvious of your failure as a parent but loud enough that he could hear you and follow the sound of your voice.

To make matters worse he has his nintendo switch that his eyes are probably glued to.

"Oh baby, what.. what if someone takes him?" Asahi's voice sounds horrified. Little seeds of insecurity make their way into your brain, but you must keep strong because your husband is absolutely losing his shit.

"Management on aisle twenty-seven, we have a child climbing the racks." You two give each other a knowing look. That sounds 100% like something your son would do.

"You stay here with the basket, I'll go get him." Asahi says leaving no room for argument when he runs off to get his child.

Within a few minutes he returns with Ren. Asahi's confused by the way you giggle, but you find it cute how his man bun was undone, most likely from running fast.

"Man, I haven't ran that fast since high scho-"

"Dad you need to work out more!!" Naive little Ren says, causing his father to sigh loudly with a cheeky smile.

"And you," you say pointing to the little boy in question, "need to stay where mom and dad can see you. Are we clear?"

He nods in a respectful manner.

"Now let's finish shopping.. as a family."

[gh0stsp1d3r]

Ooo hiya!! (I ranted a lot lol)🥰🍊💜

Can I please request a Tangerine x fem!civilian/innocent!reader where she was on the Bullet Train. She was walking to her seat, and when Kimura ran into the snack cart, he also ran into her, causing her to trip, falling onto Tangerine’s lap and him catching her (oh he would have a field day lol). Y/n being like 😳 as she realizes she’s been sitting on his lap for a good 10 seconds staring at him with wide eyes, her hands on his chest (once again, he’d have a field day lol, soo much flirting would ensue, he’d enjoy how flustered she’d get). Her stuttering, apologizing, and jumping up out of his arms and scurrying to her seat, which happens to be right across from Tan and Lemon’s.😂 He then spends the whole time on that train protecting (and flirting with) Y/n and when Lemon, Tangerine, and Y/n escape the train (Tan carrying a very scared Y/n), Y/n doesn’t want to leave Tan + they bring her to their safe house with them🥺

I love this.

Flustered

This was the last situation that tangerine had been worried about while on any mission.

You had been walking, and a nice lady with a snack cart was behind you. But suddenly, you didn’t hear or see a man behind you. He pushed you aside.

“Oi! Watch where you’re goin’.” Another man said. Except the voice was much closer. You didn’t even realize you were in his lap until you looked and opened your eyes.

“S- sorry.” The other man apologized and quickly walked away.

“You alright, love?” The man asked, he had a hand on your back and tried to help you get up. You stared at his eyes, trying to find words.

“I- uh- I- yeah! I’m fine. Thanks uh, for catching me. Sorry, for the…” You laughed nervously after a little and quickly stood up.you looked around and sat back down at your seat. Which was right across from him and some other guy.

He smiled. He noticed that you seemed flustered, and decided to use it to his advantage.

“It’s quite alright, no worries, darling. I would say it’s more lucky to have a pretty girl fall into your lap, wouldn’t you think?”

Pretty? You thought. And Lemon scoffed at him.

“I- well- uh- thanks. Your also pretty.” You mentally winced as the words came out your mouth.

“You seriously trying to pick up a girl while on a job?” Lemon asked him quietly, quiet enough that you didn’t hear. You looked out the window and had your headphones in.

“I’m not. They just happen to fall in my lap.” He glanced at you.

“Wow, that was surprisingly clever.” Lemon rolled his eyes, And tangerine just sent him a scowl.

“Just sayin’, mate.” He laughed at his anger.

“Whatever. Can we get back on task?”

“Sure, sure, sure.”

✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿

After some talking between you and tangerine, he learned your name and you learned his. Yoh even learned that the guy next to him was his brother, Lemon. You both said your stops were Kyoto station.

Some man pointed a gun at Lemon, and another man sat next the both of them. That man died, and you were left confused and scared.

You decided to sleep it off, and getting off at the next station. Maybe you were dreaming, and you would wake up when you went to sleep in the dream.

(Let’s just say in this that Lemon, Ladybug, and Tangerine left early like Ladybug suggested)

“Hey. Wake up.” Someone shook you, and you looked confused, until you saw tangerine.

“Tangerine?” You muttered.

“Yeah, uh, we should get off. Like right now.”

“We’re there already?”

“Uh… yeah. So, c’mon, hurry.” He grabbed your hand and tan quickly, and the doors started to close but you guys luckily beat it.

“That was a close one, mate.” Lemon said.

“Aren’t you the same guy that pulled a gun on him?” You mumbled, and pointed to ladybug.

“Oh. Yeah. But we’re all good now.”

“So now what the fuck do we do?” You asked.

“I have a safehouse nearby.” Ladybug said.

“I’m sorry, who are you again?” You asked.

“I’m.. ladybug.”

“What’s with all the weird names? Lemon, tangerine and ladybug?”

“We’re contract killers. They’re just nicknames.” Lemon said plainly.

“What..? Seriously?”

“Not me. I just usually do snatch and grabs, Y’Know, steal things, but I’m covering someone.” Ladybug said.

“Why’d you take me out the train early?” You asked Tangerine as all of you walked to the house.

“Cause the rest of the train is full of murderous bastards that are all about to die. You seemed like the only trustworthy person on there.”

“Nah, he just wants to take you on a date.” Lemon said, laughing as his brother hit him in the arm.

“That too, I guess.” Tangerine said.

“Okay, so let me get this straight, first I somehow run into you because some guy ran into me and I fell in your lap, Ladybug pointed a gun at your brother and it’s all good now, some guy was dead next to you, you all are contract killers, and the train was full of murderers?”

“Yeah. Basically.”

“And now you wanna take me on a date.”

“Yeah.”

“Weird.. but Sure, why not.” You shrugged.

Sure, maybe you were going out with somewhat of a stranger, but it was a cute stranger, and he just saved you. You were glad you fell into his lap.

(I don’t like this that much but hopefully it’s not terrible)

[alicechess]

Art x reader part 2

Note: This hasn't been proof read, so my bad if it's not the greatest I smashed this out in like 4 hours. So not the highest quality chapter. I might fix this up at one point, heavy maybe.

@ch1hvro

--------

--------

You felt ill after the shift, it could be explained, it absolutely could be, right? Just a coincidence, a man dressing up to be a dick, then point at the plastic ring on your hand because he thought it was amusing, and joked that it was him who gave it. Yeah, just a joke, coincidence. You settled on it being a coincidence. 

As soon as you got home, you took the ring of and but it on your bedside table, you didn't want to wear it, you were meant to Halloween night, but it completely slipped your mind. 

However, that night, you heard on the news he somehow escaped the morgue today, in the morning. The news reporters stated the injuries, and allegedly a few people who work in the medical field said how unlikely it would've been for him to survive. They then stated that the poor mortician was brutally murdered too from him, because of course he had to do it. Does that mean it is possible he came to your work today? If that was him, why? He didn't have any blood, or any visible injuries at least. He moved perfectly fine. 

You shook your head, there was no point in thinking about it. If you saw him again, then it absolutely wasn't a coincidence, as there would be no way to justify it. You then turned the TV off, then went to bed. The thoughts of him stuck in your mind as you laid there, the whole day repeating over in your head. How his attention was stuck on you, why that specific Cafe, and although again, the ring may just be him being a dick and not knowing. It still bothered you, all of that happening within the span of an hour. Eventually you fell asleep, your dreams, of course, had him there too. 

The next morning you awoke in a cold sweat, your heart racing rapidly. Once you glanced around and noticed you were in your room, you felt relief.

Just a dream

Maybe you needed to ignore the news, take a break from social media for a few days or even a week. You had no doubt some people would be talking about stuff, but you just had to hope you wouldn't overhear anything. Maybe it'd be good to take a day off, though you knew your boss would be pissed and so as your co-workers. You've barely taken days off the whole year, maybe 3 at most. 

You decided to send a message to your boss, explaining that you have some family stuff going on, and if you could take the day off tomorrow. 

Hopefully he'd be fine with it.

You started getting ready, after showering

--------

You walked into the door of the Café, the ringing bell irritated your ears. You walked into the back, you had to do a bunch of dishes from last night since one of the other workers had to leave early. Your co-worker spotted then greeted you, "Hey, you look like shit."

You rolled your eyes, "Wow, what a nice way to say good morning Charlie." 

They gave you a cocky smile, "I know I know, I'm wonderful aren't I?"

That damn smile was contagious, "Aww, and I've got you smiling too."

A small chuckle left you, "Yeah yeah, anyway, how longs your shift today? Anyone else in?"

"Uhh, till about 4. I have another job on the side to earn extra. And no, Laurie left about 10 minute ago, she had to leave early as she had an appointment."

"Ew, that's gotta be painful, and god damn it, it would've been nice having a third for today.

"It's painful, but moneys money, world can't go on without it." They sighed, "And I'm trying to save for a new car, the shitbox out there ain't gonna last much longer." They said, taking the eggs out the frypan. "Anyway, can we talk more during our break? Can't have customers complaining."

"Yeah sure, that'd be great actually." They then walked out with the plate of food. 

Your morning was a lot easier to deal with after that interaction, although you hated to admit it, they were annoying at times but you loved them. They were a great friend, and made working a lot easier to tolerate.

You filled the sink and placed the dishes in there, cleaning the least dirty to the most. More and more dishes came, but you tried your best to stay ahead. The dishwasher was going to take forever and only could do a small amount at a time, so this is unfortunately a job that had to be done.

After about an hour, you were close to being finished, and so was the dishwasher. After, you put the dishes away, then went up to your Charlie to check if they needed help with anything.

"To be honest, not really, business is slower than normal, which is a fucking relief." They whispered, so none of the customers could hear. 

"Nice, is Chloe gonna be here soon? It would be nice if she could cover the register, and we can chill in the back."

They shrugged, "Not sure, she's meant to be here at some point today but that's all I know."

You groaned, "Alright, since business is slow should I just sweep and mop now?" 

You heard that cursed bell ring, and you heard a honk. You instantly turned around, wondering what that noise was. 

"What the fuck..." Charlie muttered under their breath.

Your eyes widened, bile rose up in your throat. You stood still for a few moments as you locked eyes with that fucker, then you sprinted towards the staff toilet. You leaned over, the breakfast you ate not longer ago instantly came up. Your throat burned as acid tore at your throat. You clenched the toilet bowl as it kept going. You body shook rapidly from fear and shock.

What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck

Why is he here, it was meant to be a fucking coincidence. Do I have a murderer stalking me?

You weren't sure what to do, but after about a minute you heard your Charlie running over.

"Hey, hey!" They said crouching down, rubbing your back. "What the hell was that? Are you okay?"

You nodded, "Yeah...." You croakily mumbled, your legs wobbling as you slowly stood up.

"Stay there if you need to, I can handle the front for a bit." 

You shook your head, "I'll be fine, it's fine. Just give me a minute and I'll clean up."

"Look Chloe should be here soon, when she gets here I'll explain you were sick so you had to leave. Got it?"

You rolled your eyes, "I'll be okay, I just got nauseous.-"

"No, you're heading home when she gets here."

You wanted to argue, but you knew it was probably a good idea. You didn't want to see... it again. 

"Fine, can I help just till she gets here?"

"Yeah sure, just don't overwork yourself and let me know if you feel ill again."

You nodded, moving towards the sink to splash water on your face. "Alright, I'm gonna head back, don't rush yourself I can handle it." They patted your back again, then walked off.

You looked down at your shirt, and thankfully there was no vomit. So, you went back to helping Charlie. As soon as you were in the doorway you spotted him, sitting down. "Hey, is it okay if you could pass this to the customer in the clown suit real quick? I just need to prepare another order."

You nodded, trying to not show your fear to them. "Yeah, of course!"

While you walked over, you noticed his eyes were on you. You looked at the floor, knowing it was rude but you were so afraid. You put the pancakes down in front of the clown. "Here's your order... sir." You mumbled, giving a forced smile. As you starting walking away, he beeped the horn. 

"Did you need something?" 

He nodded, gesturing you to come closer.

He looked at your hand, a frown forming on his face. But not a second later is was replaced with that eerie smile. He stared at you as he purposely knocked the plate down onto the floor. It shattered onto the ground. He covered his mouth, giving an exaggerated 'Oops' face. A few customers looked over giving a confused and concerned expression.

Your face turned into a thin line, what the fuck "I'm sorry sir, I'll be back." You quickly muttered, walking to Charlie, "Hey, look I can't do this right now, can you please talk to the clown? I'll do whatever you were doing before. I'm just really uncomfortable around him."

They nodded, noticing you were shaken up. "Yeah that's fine, but what's going on? You look horrified, did something happen?"

You shook your head, "It's nothing, just can you help him?"

"Okay, I'll do that now, you just need to make a strawberry milkshake for table 5 while I deal with the clown."

"Easy." You immediately started to work on it, you scooped the ice-cream, poured the milk and strawberry-flavoured syrup and then blended it. You occasionally heard words from your Charlie while they were trying to communicate with the clown. But of course it went nowhere. As you were pouring the milkshake into a plastic cup, they came up to you. "I have no idea what he wants, he's not responding at all to me. I clean up the mess, but I don't know what else to do. Was he at least responding to you?"

"Yeah, I guess, but I really, really don't want to talk to him. He's... scaring me." You glanced at the floor, feeling embarrassed. 

"It's okay, I'll figure something out. Other customers are starting to feel uncomfortable as well. Fuck, Chloe needs to get here soon."

"Yeah, hopefully, should I contact the boss?" 

They nodded, "Can you contact Chloe first? We need her here soon."

"I'll do that now, I'll try and make it quick." You hurried out to the back again, pulling out your phone. You dialled her number, but it immediately when to voice mail. "What the fuck..." You murmured, trying again. And again. You groaned, then decided to send her a quick message.

Y/n: Hey, are you still coming into work today? 

You hoped she'd read it soon, then you dialled your bosses number. Thankfully, you heard her voice on the other end. 

"Hello?"

"Hey, I heard from Charlie that Chloe would be coming in today at some point. What time would she be here? She isn't picking up any of my calls. "

You heard a sigh on the other end, "Give me a moment."

After 15 seconds of rustling sounds, she answered. "Alright, it says she'd be on around 2pm till 8pm. Is she not there?"

"No, she's not. It's 2:30."

You heard another sigh from your boss, "I'll try and contact her, that's all I can do. Is that all you needed?"

"No, I was wondering what to do about a customer. One of them is making me and Charlie uncomfortable. He keeps.... just doing stuff."

"If you want advice I need more details." 

You took a deep breath in, "For one he's in a clown outfit, which in itself isn't bad but it's just how he's acting doing it too. If that makes sense, and he purposely broke one of our plates, and acted like it was all funny. He then wouldn't talk to Charlie, only me. It's just such bizarre behaviour."

"Normally threatening them with the police will cause them to stop, but if he continues call the non-emergency line for the police. That's it."

"Alright, thank you."

"Bye." She said, the line ending.

You walked back to the register to talk to your Charlie. "Chloe was meant to be here at 2. What the fuck do we do? She isn't picking up my calls, she's not answering my messages and the boss just told us to threaten the clown with the police but fuck that I'm not comfortable with it I don't know him and he's scaring-"

"Calm down, you're gonna be okay. This isn't a big deal you'll be fine we can figure this out. I'll talk to him."

You glanced over your shoulder to look at the clown. He was sitting there, his chin resting on his hands, giving you a wink. 

"God fucking damn it." Your muttered under your breath, he waved at you, then gesturing for him to come over again. "He wants me to go over again, what do I do? What the fuck do I do?"

Charlie bit their bottom lip, "I can go over if you like and try again, but I doubt he'll listen."

"Fuck, fine, I'll fucking doing it." You whisper-yelled, immediately going over towards the clown. You noticed most of the customers had left. How had no one called the police yet? Maybe they thought it was someone trying to be funny? 

"Hello sir, is there anything I can help you with?"

The clown told you to stop, raising his pointer-finger. He then went through the garbage bag next to him. You heard the sounds of metal hitting metal, making you feeling almost as sick as before. He pulled out an envelope. You stared at it for a moment, noticing brown splotches over it. It looked like dried blood. You also noticed how there was a bump inside. You were about to place it down, but he gestured for you to open it.

You stared with widened eyes, really not wanting to. "I'm sorry sir... I-"

The clown gestured one more time, a deep frown on his face. You were afraid, so begrudgingly, you open it. And inside was a chunk of blonde hair, with a small amount of dyed-blue strands. You pulled it out and saw a piece of someone's scalp was attached. The blonde hair looked identical to Chloe's. You placed it back down onto the table, stepping back. 

"Why.... what did she do to you?"

You knew what he did. It was obvious. But all you wanted to know is why. Yeah she could be bitchy at times, but she never had bad intentions. Not anything worthy of her fucking dying.

The Clown silently giggled, slapping his knee like it was the funniest joke in the world. He pointed at you, mimicking a horrified look and then continued laughing. 

"Oh fuck this." You muttered, Charlie looked over and saw the terrified look on your face. "Charlie we need to get the fuck out now!" You yelled, grabbing their arm, dragging them into the kitchen. To get out through the front, you would've had to walk past him again, and that was not something that you wanted. 

You shoved them inside and slammed the door shut, locking it. "Grab a knife Charlie." They didn't ask questions, just grabbing it off the bench. The clown was walking over towards the counter, where you'd pass food through to the person at the register. He stood there smiling. 

"Nope, don't look just fucking get out." You urgently said to Charlie, grabbing their arm and leading them to the back door. You unlocked it ran out with them. You rummaged through your pockets and grabbed your keys, your hands shaking as you tried to open the car door. 

"Y/n your tires have been fucking slashed!" 

"Oh for fuck sake!" You yelled, this time they dragged you. You dropped your keys while they pulled you, "My keys!"

"It doesn't matter Y/n! There's a fucking psycho chasing us." 

You followed them, running to the nearest store. You looked behind, noticing the clown was behind, with that fucking garbage bag thrown on it's shoulder. 

As Charlie ran into the store, they yelled to call the police. They didn't care about scaring the workers, they just needed to make sure the both of you were safe. The woman at the register looked confused. They ran into the bathroom, locking the door behind the both of you. They fumbled with their phone, dialling the emergency number. 

"What's your emergency?"

"There's a fucking psycho chasing after us! He's trying to fucking kill us!" They yelled, sounding hysterical. 

"Okay, calm down. Are you safe right now?"

"I think so, we've locked ourselves in a random stores bathroom. We don't know where he is right now."

"Okay, what did he look like?"

"He-he was wearing a black and white clown outfit, like the one from the news!"

"Alright...." The operator said, sounding like they thought it was a prank call, but they still continued.

"What store are you in right now?" 

Charlie turned to you, "Do you know where we ran to?"

You shook your head, "I-I wasn't paying attention, I'm sorry!"

"It's fine." Charlie murmured, "We don't know, but can you guys track the phone?"

The woman sighed, "Yes we can, but if this is a prank call you will be in serious trouble."

"We aren't fucking lying, my fucking car tires were slashed and this fucker gave me an envelope with co-workers scalp in it! Get the damn police here right now or we could get brutally murdered!" You screamed at the operator.

"Please calm down, the police are on their way." The operator said, "Please stay on the line, are you hearing anything outside of the bathroom?"

Charlie spoke up, "No, it's oddly quiet out there, I... I don't know where he is. I don't know if he followed us in or not. We didn't look around."

The only thing you could hear was cars driving by, it was otherwise painfully silent.

"Fuck what happened to Chloe, oh god I hope she's okay. Please Chloe be okay." You whimpered, dropping to the ground. "Fuck I'm sorry Chloe, I'm so sorry." Tears welled up in your eyes, then started streaming down your face.

Charlie knelt down, placing their phone on the tiled floor, "Hey, it's okay, Chloe might still be out there. Probably not in the best condition but still maybe out there." They gently hugged you.

You sniffled, "What if that psycho grabbed my keys, I'm not even going to be safe in my own fucking home." You sobbed, "I didn't even do anything to him!" 

"I know, some people are just messed up, but you'll be okay, I'll make sure of it. No ones going to hurt you." 

Eventually, you heard the police sirens and them shouting. After a few moments they knocked on the bathroom door. You immediately unlocked it, running out. "Did you find him?" You asked, your eyes showing the hope in this being simple, like maybe he was waiting outside or something stupid. But of course, reality didn't work that way. 

"The only people we found were the workers here, I'm sorry." One of the officers said, "Do you have any injuries?"

You and Charlie shook your head.

"Alright, we're going to need to take you in for questioning."

--------

[thealtoduck]

Being a waterbender living in the Earth Kingdom and meeting Team Avatar…

Sokka x Male Waterbender!Reader

Warnings: None

Summary: While stocking up on supplies in a small village, team avatar finds a waterbender in an unlikely place…

——

Sokka’s pov:

Appa landed deep in the forest and Aang, Katara and Sokka started setting up camp for the night. Katara prepared their dinner as Aang and Sokka set up the tent and fed Appa and Momo.

”We’ll need to go to that village and stock up on more food we’re almost out, there’s barely enough for the three of us” Katara told the other two. ”There was a farm on the outskirts of town, I could go see if they have anything we could take” Sokka suggested.

”Sokka, you can’t just steal food, it’s for the towns people” Aang told him. ”Oh please, you saw how big the fields were, what’s a couple of vegetables? There will be plenty left, plus we need this food to get to the Northern Water Tribe so you can learn waterbending to save the world, I’m sure they’d want us to have their food” Sokka said standing up.

”I’ll be back soon” he said grabbing a small basket, walking in the direction of the farm. Once he reached it he stumbled over the fence on to the fields. Using a dagger to cut free a couple of vegetables and put them in the basket.

All of a sudden out of nowhere a blast of water knocked Sokka to the the ground making him drop the food basket. ”Katara?!” Sokka yelled but when he looked up he didn’t see Katara.

He was met with a pretty boy his own age with y/h/c hair and y/c/s skin, in a set of light jade green robes, that had water lilies embroided on them. He looked mad.

”What are you doing?” he asked in a dangerous tone. ”I-I-” Sokka tried but his voice got caught in his throat, he didn’t know what was more shocking that he found a waterbender in the northern parts of the Earth Kingdom or that he found him really attractive.

The boys face turned from stern annoyance, to a studying look as he looked Sokka up and down. ”Are-Are you from the Water Tribe?” the boy asked curiously. ”Yes” Sokka answered. ”Wow… I’ve never met anyone apart from mom from the Water Tribe…” the boy uttered.

”Are you from the North or South?” he asked. ”Southern Water Tribe” he answered more relaxed now that the look on you face wasn’t dripping with venom. Sokka then found some more courage to say ”Look, I’m sorry for stealing your crops, me, my sister and my friend are traveling and we’re almost completely out of food, if you want I can pay you for all this”.

The boy considered for a moment and then said ”Come with me, grab the basket”. Sokka did as told and followed the boy as he led him towards the farmer’s house, the two stopped outside and said ”Wait here”. As he went inside.

A few minutes later the boy came back out and put something in Sokka’s basket. A loaf of bread, some herbs, and a bottle of fruit juice. ”There you go, should make a nice meal” the boy said.

Sokka got confused but the boy spoke up again saying ”You know, me and my family like to house travelers when they pass through and it’s gonna get cold tonight, so if you need a place to sleep tonight just knock, okay?”.

Sokka was stunned, a couple of minutes ago he had just tried to steal from this family and now he was being offered a place to spend the night. ”Thank you” he found himself saying warmly. ”No worries” the boy said turning back towards the house.

”I’m Sokka” Sokka blurted not wanting the interaction to end just yet. The boy turned to him with a smile. ”I’m Y/n, hope to see you later, Sokka” he said and rentered the house.

”Wow” Sokka uttered quietly turning around making his way back to Katara and Aang. As they cooked the food they’d been given he explained eagerly to them about the boy. ”Are you sure he’s a waterbender and that he didn’t just throw a bucket of water at you?” Katare asked skeptical that there’d be a waterbender in this town.

”Yeah, he said his Mother was from the Water Tribe” Sokka insisted. Aang wrapped himself in a blanket. ”Maybe we should take him up on the offer, it’s starting to get chilly out here” Aang recommeded. Sokka agreed eagerly and Katara seemed curious about the idea of meeting another water bender.

Your pov:

There was a knock on the door and you went to open, being met with Sokka followed by another boy, a girl and a lemur. ”Glad you could make it, come in my mom just made some tea” you said and were introduced to Aang and Katara. And of course the lemur Momo.

You helped them get Appa in to the barn and they joined you inside. You sat down around the table as your mother served tea to you and your guests. ”Y/n? Sokka told us your a water bender, is that true?” Katara asked.

”Yeah, I am” you said showing her by lifting the tea out of your cup, before putting it back in. ”I’m not that good though, I don’t get much practice since the fire nation is always snooping around” you explained.

”Good enough to knock Sokka of his feet” Aang commented. ”It was a suprise attack!” Sokka defended himself making you, Aang and Katara laugh.

You conversed with the three for well over an hour, they had so many stories, Aang being the Avatar, how he met Sokka and Katara, them running from the Fire Nation multiple times. They’d had quite the long journey.

Your Father and Aang ended up in the barn as Aang wanted to see the farm animals, your Mother and Katara sat and discussed the Water Tribe. Leaving only you and Sokka…

”Would you like to see where you’ll be staying?” you asked him. ”Yeah, sure” he said. You led him to the guest room and told him ”This is the guest room, hope you’ll find it comfortable, if you need anything my room is right across”.

”If you don’t mind, I think I’m gonna get ready for bed” you said yawning and turned to your room but Sokka grabbed your hand and you turned back around. ”Thank you, for doing so much for us, it means a lot” Sokka said with a grateful smile.

”Anything for our fellow Water Tribe folk and the Avatar, Of course” you told him. You then said ”Goodnight” and opened the door to your room. ”Goodnight” Sokka said as you then disappeared in to your room.

He wanted to find a way to repay your kindness.

Next morning when you woke up you helped your mother in the kitchen with the breakfast. When you brought out the servings of food to the others you saw your father was eagerly conversing with Sokka.

Your father then spoke up and asked ”Y/n? Could you please show Aang and Katara around the village?”. ”Don’t you need me around the farm?” you questioned. Your father shook his head and said ”No, Sokka offered to do your work for today so you’d be able to take the day off and relax”.

”Oh! Well then I’d be honored to show you the village” you said with a smile and a small bow.

Once breakfast was finished you waited for Aang and Katara so you could leave for the village. You saw Sokka prepare for the days work at the farm.

”Thank you for taking over my work” you told him gratefully. ”It’s the least i could do after everything you and your family has done for us” Sokka said. You smiled as you looked in to Sokka’s eyes, it was like it only now dawned on you how handsome he was.

”You’re so pretty” Sokka uttered, catching you off guard making you think you’d heard him wrong. ”What?” you questioned. ”I-I mean… your robes are so pretty, you know, such a nice color and what are those? Water lilies? So nicely detailed” Sokka blabbed gesturing to the embroidered flowers on the bottom of your robes.

”Uhm… Thanks” you said still a bit stunned at the interaction.

Soon Katara and Aang arrived and you made your way to the village. You showed them around the different market stands, as they filled their baskets with food and supplies for their travels.

You even bought some treats that you snacked on in the middle of the town square, watching people at work and as they greeted they interacted with each other.

But soon the peace was broken as Fire Nation soldiers entered the village, Aang and Katara were quick to grab you and pull you in to an alley between two houses.

The leader of the Fire Nation soldiers moved to the front ”Where is the Avatar?! We’ve gotten word that last time he was spotted he was heading in the direction of this village”. The crowd stood silent.

”Well then if you don’t want to talk, then maybe we’ll have to show you what happens when you hold the truth from the Fire Nation” the leader said and his soldiers surrounded one of the market stands.

You could see Aang and Katara readying themselves for battle but you held up your hand to them and said ”Don’t”. Before you could explain the Fire Nation soldiers set the market stand a blaze.

Katara and Aang started running out of the alley but you grabbed them and pulled them both back. ”Don’t! We need to get you two back to the farm”.

”But they’ll destroy your village” Aang pleaded. ”No, they’re only trying to scare information out of us, they don’t know you were actually here” you told them and they gave you a questioning look.

”They’ll only want to destroy us if they knew you guys were here and we’ve been hiding it from them, but if they think you were never here then they’ll leave us alone” you explained.

You turned back to look at the leader of the soldiers as he told the crowd ”Tonight, after the assigned curfew we’ll search your houses and if we find a single sign the Avatar was here your village will suffer the wrath of the Fire Nation”. He then turned his back and he and his soldiers left the village.

You turned to Katara and Aang and said ”Go back to the farm, get Sokka and hide in the barn, we’ll have to figure out a way to smuggle you out without the Fire Nation seeing you” you said.

You then walked out to the village square and water bended some of the water out of a fountain to help put out the market stand.

When you got back to the farm you went in to the barn where the Avatar and his friends were waiting as instructed. ”Were everybody in village, alright?” Aang asked. ”Yes, they’re fine just a bit shaken” you told him.

”But we need to figure out how to get you guys out of here before the Fire Nation comes back” you stated. There was a moment of silence before Sokka said ”I have a plan”.

His plan was that when it turned dark he and the others would sneak deep in to forest with Appa, before taking off so that you and your family would not be found out with hiding them from the Fire Nation.

”Can I do anything to help?” you asked them. Sokka looked at you with a grateful smile and said ”You’ve already done more than enough for us, you should make sure to stay inside so you’re not seen, to keep you safe” he explained.

”Alright. It’s been really nice meeting you all. Good luck on your journey. I hope I’ll see you again sometime” you said giving them a polite bow, you then left them and made your way back to the house.

As the sun started to set you grew more and more worried the trio, what if they were caught by the Fire Nation, what would happen to them…

Once it was finally dark outside your heart was pounding all through dinner with your parents. You couldn’t take it anymore and as soon as you finished your dinner you went back to your room.

Only to almost scream when you opened the door, finding Sokka climbing through your window. ”Sokka?! What are you doing here?” you panicked. ”Don’t worry, we’re just about to leave, I just quickly wanted to stop by and talk to you” he said.

”About what?” you asked. ”I just needed to thank you again for what you’ve done for us and I wish I had more time to get to know you better cause you seem great” Sokka confessed taking your hand in his. You smiled.

”I wish we had more time too” you said making Sokka smile brightly too. ”Well then, why don’t you come with us, you can learn Waterbending with Aang and Katara up in the Northern Water Tribe too?” Sokka suggested impulsively.

”Sokka, I can’t, I’m needed here with my family and my village, at least for now” you told him, he looked down disappointment.

You then decided on impulse ”But I tell you what, when you guys are done up in the Northern Water Tribe and start traveling the Earth Kingdom, I’d love to join you guys, if you’ll have me”. Sokka frown then turned in to a small smile and he said ”It’s a deal”.

”You should get going now, the Fire Nation will be here soon” you told him. ”Right” Sokka remembered and turned back to climb out of your window. ”Oh and Sokka, one last thing” you said making him turn around. ”Yeah?” he asked and was answered as you placed a kiss on his cheek.

”Stay safe” you added. ”You too” he said planting a kiss on your cheek. He then climbed out of the window and ran off towards Aang and Katara who were trying to stealthily lead Appa in to the woods, hard as it might be. ”How’d it go?” Aang asked. To which Sokka could only reply ”He’s amazing”.

[stubz]

"You said you'd be better after the Tri-Eclipse festival, when we all come back from vacation."

"Yeah that's right."

"Will you promise me that you'll run with me when we get back?"

"...I'll do my best. Yeah. I'll do my best buddy."

.

"Max when we get back after the holidays will you run with me?"

"Yeah. I'll start training, practice running."

"Oh yeah, cause it's been a long time since you ran."

"Yeah...almost 2 months...wow."

..

"Got any plans for the 2 weeks we get off?"

"Yeah I'm gonna train."

"Train for what?"

"Running. I told the kids I'd run with them when we get back."

"Aww that's cute. But yeah you need to test things out right? Start off slow so as to not overdue it when you play with them again."

"Yeah...wanna hear something funny?"

"Sure."

"I, I miss running. I know I said I hate running and that I only ran with the kids because it's good exercise but...I miss it." he puts down his fork. Staring at his plate of food from the ship's cafeteria. He continues.

"I had a dream last night. I was on Earth, in a field of tall grass and flowers, it was summer. The sun was shining, a beautiful warmth on my skin, with a cool gentle breeze on my skin. I was barefoot. I could run and I ran for miles. I ran even after my lungs were on fire, even when the sun went down...I miss running."

"Mmm"

...

Going on field trip. Yanosh came early so we took the noon shuttle. Come as soon as you can. Shuttle A-11.

'I didn't know we had a field trip today.' he thought after reading the text Kim sent.

He grabbed his hoodie and the other emergency bag and made his way to the shuttles. Luckily the A-11 was an express and he would be wherever it was going in 20 minutes.

12 minutes into the ride he noticed that they were approaching Earth.

....

Turn left in 200 meters...You have reached your destination.

"...ha haha hahahahaha! Are you guys serious?!"

"Surprise Max!!"

In front of the young man was his class of youngling alien children (with a handful of humans ones), co-worker and friend. Standing in a field of tall grass and flowers. Yanosh and Kim held a banner saying congratulations.

"I know you've been training in the gym but I thought you'd want your first real run to be somewhere...special."

He scooped his friend into a hug. Then pulled in the children until they were all sent crashing down into a pile full of laughter and giggles.

"You ready?"

"Yeah, yeah definitely!"

"READY KIDS?!"

"YEAH!"

"LET'S GOOO!"

And for the first time in 2 months human Max ran. Past the slowest ones first. He tried to pat every one of them on the head as he flew bye. Broke through the pack of the average runners. A laugh trailed behind him. One by one surpassed the faster one's. His unused lungs somehow allowing him to whoop in-between pants.

He raced every child. Played every game he could not play before. Carried those who longed to be carried again. He ran despite the burning in his lungs and the sweat in his eyes. He ran through the pain in his feet and the exhaustion in his body until he collapsed.

Laying there in the dirt surrounded by the children and his friend he smiled. And he wore that smile in his sleep on the way back to the centre.

[alexanderwales]

Castle Solutions was the only time travel company in the world. They had a giant corporate headquarters in downtown Chicago, which was the only place in the entire world with a time machine, at least as far as anyone knew. They were worth hundreds of billions, and the only reason they weren't worth more seemed to be that they didn't care all that much about money. The time machines were used for everything: reporting, media, market corrections, the surveillance state, and industry. Castle Solutions was the lynchpin of the modern world.

Daniel had thought the waiting room would be nicer.

He sat in a blue-gray chair that would have been at home in any waiting room anywhere else in Chicago. Slightly tinny music played over speakers from the ceiling. A fake potted plant sat in one corner, failing to look lively. There were no windows, because the waiting room was deep in the heart of the building, close to the machine itself.

Daniel was the only one in the waiting room. He'd come half an hour early, lugging all his gear, and now the only thing left was for the clock to run down. A bored-looking woman had come in to tell him that it might be awhile, that they were running behind schedule — the time travel company, running behind schedule. So there had been more waiting than expected.

A man in a charcoal gray suit with a simple blue backpack came in. He slung the backpack down onto the ground with a sigh and rubbed his face. He had stubble there, but an artful amount of it, like he'd spent some time in the mirror making sure that it was the right amount of scruff to offset his expensive suit.

Daniel looked straight ahead, trying not to look, keeping his face blank, like he was passing by a homeless person who might ask him for money he didn't have.

"Wow, you've got a lot of stuff," said the man. "Is that a sword?"

"It's a katana," said Daniel. He didn't match the eye contact the man was giving him.

"Oh, cool," said the man. "You're going to ... katana times?"

"Edo Japan, yeah," said Daniel.

Daniel was trying his best not to engage, to get this conversation over as quickly as possible. He wasn't making eye contact.

The man picked up his backpack and moved across the waiting room to be closer to Daniel.

"You speak Japanese?" the man asked.

"Hai, watashi wa nihongo o hanashimasu," replied Daniel. He wished that he were more fluent, that the words had come out less rote.

"Cool," said the man. He had apparently also come closer to get a look at all of Daniel's stuff. His eyes moved over the duffel bags. There wasn't much to see, everything had been carefully packed away. "Wow, you sure are prepared, huh?"

"It's a different time and place," said Daniel with a shrug. It represented five years of planning, five years of training, learning, honing himself.

"Personally, I'm going to 1946," said the man, though Daniel hadn't asked. He held out his hand. "Archie Vedder."

Daniel reluctantly took the hand. "Daniel Strom." He had never really gotten the hang of shaking hands. He worried that his hands were too clammy, a worry that proved founded when Archie wiped his hand on that expensive charcoal suit.

"I went with the kit," said Archie, pointing to his backpack. "I've got papers, I've got a computer with a backup, I've got a projector, a media library, a science library, the whole works, plus some forged bonds and a stack of cash. I got a sweet deal on it, they're overstocked now."

Retreating into the past had seen its heyday. Now most of the people who had been most enthusiastic were gone, and there were only the dissenters left. Everyone agreed with using the machine for the mundane stuff, but simply leaving, never to return, rubbed people the wrong way.

"I guess they don't sell kits for Edo," Archie ventured.

"They do," said Daniel. "They're trash."

"Ah," said Archie.

"This is all custom," said Daniel. "Higher quality, field tested, everything I'll need to set myself up there." Only some of it was stock. He had two computers, three smartphones, chargers and plugs, solar panels, replacement batteries, and redundant media libraries and science libraries.

Archie raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean, field tested? Because people don't come back. You're there for good, right?"

What it actually meant was that Daniel had gone out into a field and tested it, made sure that it worked under various conditions, set himself up like he might be explaining all this to a carefully chosen daimyo. There was only so much that camping in the woods and taking dry run vacations could tell him though.

"Some of it is theory," said Daniel. "Research."

"Yeah, see, that's why I went with 1946," said Archie. "It's really well-trod. You know, I was reading an article the other day that maybe the Baby Boom was a little overstated? Like, we're obviously living in the wake of time travelers, but that's the prime time to come back, anywhere from 1946 to 1960. The economy is doing well, tech is advancing, it's familiar enough. The culture is so close you can sell some stuff from a media library, it's brilliant. You're five steps away from becoming a multimillionaire in a time when that meant something."

"Sure," said Daniel.

"Any reason you're doing hard mode?" asked Archie. "I mean, samurai and ninjas are cool, sure, but —"

"It's not about that," said Daniel.

"Alright, sure," shrugged Archie.

Daniel looked over at the waiting room's lone clock. You would think that a waiting room for a time travel company would have better clocks, but it was a cheap utilitarian design, thin plastic and wobbly hands.

"What's it about then?" asked Archie.

"I was going to go with a friend," said Daniel. "We had practiced together, trained together. Then he got cancer."

"Ah, shit," said Archie.

"He lived," said Daniel. "He's fine. But he's on medications now, and will be for the rest of his life, and he can't go anymore."

"Huh," said Archie. "So there's a friend who you're leaving behind?"

"No," said Daniel. "I mean ... this was what we did together. We talked about it a lot. We read history books and practiced crafts and skills. At the start, I didn't really take it that seriously, it was just a hobby, but I got invested, and I guess I kept seeing it as — I don't know."

"I mean for me, it's a way out," said Archie. "Most people feel that way, yeah? My wife filed for divorce, I got fired from my job, so hey, time to start over in 1946, pretend I'm part of the Greatest Generation, ride the waves I know are coming. Exploit it."

Daniel grimaced. The Vietnam War, segregation, the Red Scare? People had a rosy view of that time. He'd never felt particularly aligned with people like Archie who were just looking to make a quick buck.

"Oh come on," said Archie. "You think you're better than me? You're a, you know, what's the word. Colonizer."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "No."

"What, just 'no', it's not, you know, what we did to the Native Americans?" asked Archie. "The whole 'conquer the past' thing?"

"I'm a single person," said Daniel. "I'm bringing back things that will change their culture forever, but I'm not an agent of my country, and even if I were, I think those people who want to be a god king are morons. And sorry, I'm not spending my last minutes in the present on badly rehashing a debate I've had a thousand times already."

"Why not?" asked Archie. "See, I think having arguments right before you go is great. You can leave on a high note. I've spent the last few days saying whatever the hell I wanted to people. It's great. I went to my dad and said 'hey, you were a terrible father, I never liked you, and it's sad that you thought I needed your approval'. And then you know what's hilarious? I get to just walk away and never be seen again. How's that for a power move? How's that for a mic drop?"

"Seems immature," said Daniel.

"Well, see, I'm actually fine being immature," said Archie with a little laugh. "And when this conversation is done, one or both of us is going into the past, never to be seen nor heard from again, and isn't that great? You don't like me, I don't like you, and then we're strangers again."

Daniel had been looking straight ahead, but he turned to Archie after that. "You don't like me?" he asked. "You don't know me."

"I know your type," said Archie. He leaned back. "You spent what, three years cooking up a plan, making this trip back in time your entire personality, and now you think you're better than me, better than everyone, like you've got it all figured out. You talked yourself into throwing away everything you've got going on here. You got dreams of a future in the past. It's quitter talk, is what it is."

"Fuck off," said Daniel. In his normal life he'd have never said it, but he was on the precipice.

"You think going into the past is going to transform you?" asked Archie. "That another world, a second chance, you'll somehow become the man you think you were supposed to be? Well let me tell you, if you were a loser here, you'll be a loser there."

Daniel stood up and drew his sword. He'd practiced the draw a thousand times. The sword gleamed, even under the ugly fluorescent lighting of the waiting room. "Fuck off, or you'll be going back to the 50s missing a hand."

"Bah," said Archie. "Fine." He stood up and took a seat further away, the same one he'd taken when he first came in. He was bouncing his leg and reading something on his phone.

Daniel was putting his sword back in its sheath when the receptionist came into the room.

"Daniel?" she asked, glancing only briefly at the sword. "They're ready for you."

"Finally," Daniel thought but didn't say, because even though he wasn't going to be around anymore, he believed in basic politeness.

He gathered his things and left the waiting room, ready to leave.

~~~~

Archie sat outside Castle Solutions, in their little courtyard, vaping.

It wasn't long before the receptionist, Lydia, came to sit next to him.

"It didn't really seem like you wanted to convince that one," she said.

"Yeah," he said. "Sorry."

She shrugged and pulled out a vape pen of her own. "Sometimes you just want to yell at someone. I get that. But you're risking us getting caught. And if we get caught in the future, we probably get caught in the present."

"Yup," he said. "Won't happen again."

"Give it a few days before you come back," she said. "Three, let's say. He didn't file a complaint, so there's nothing in the system."

"Mmm," said Archie. He made a long, slow drag of the pen. They sat there vaping together for a while. It had often occurred to him that vaping was impossibly lame, but it felt less lame when done with someone else. He watched as the vapor left her mouth in a thin, concentrated stream. "You wanna go out sometime?"

"On a date?" she asked. She gave the tip of her vape pen a casual look. "No, not really."

"Alright," said Archie.

"I don't really know what your deal is," she said. "Why this is important to you. Why you want to talk people back from the brink, or yell at them."

"Mmm," said Archie. "You want to tragic backstory?"

"Meh," Lydia replied. "I'm not going on a date with someone who has a tragic backstory. That's all. Sorry. I've got my own tragic backstory, thanks very much."

"Fair," said Archie. "It was my kid brother, that's the short version. He up and left one day, left us a note that read like ... well, you know." He drew a finger across his neck.

"Where'd he go?" asked Lydia.

"England, 16th century," said Archie. "He thought he was going to take Shakespeare's place." He shook his head. "Only eighteen, you know? Unconscionable that they let kids that young through. He had his whole life ahead of him and he just ... disappeared."

Lydia sighed. "Yeah."

She turned off her vape pen, then mimed stubbing it out on the bench like a cigarette before slipping it into her purse. He felt a surge of attraction for her.

"Alright, I'll go on the date," said Lydia. "But if we're going to be dating, you've gotta stop this."

"Vaping?" asked Archie.

"You know what I mean," said Lydia. "You going in there trying to convince them to back out, that's one thing. It's noble, almost. But if it's going to be fighting, if it's you trying to work through some shit, then I'm not sticking my neck out for you. Doubly so if you want to get together. You process your trauma some other way, or repress it like the rest of us, alright?"

Archie thought about that for a moment. "Alright. Sure."

"I've got to get back to work," said Lydia as she rose from the bench. "You have my number."

Archie nodded, and after she had left, he stayed, looking out at the courtyard.

He wondered how Daniel was doing out there, in that other timeline, but he supposed that he would never know.

[bunny-extract]

Tell us more about cocky könig we really need a refresh in the fandom

He named himself King, your honor. Of course i'm obsessed with him.

— The Growth Spurt (tm) came on early, and ostracized him from his peers. His social pools leaned much older than him, which meant the resulting traumatic themes associated came to him pretty young. Fully adopt the party boy König hc, and firmly believe he entered the forces with his screws already stripped.

— Was bullied into joining a rugby team when he was in school. Hated it, hated it, hated it, and then one day he smacked into a kid that was several grades ahead, knocked him on his ass and was like wow. Haha. Oh.

— As soon as König learned his anxieties could be overshadowed by aptitude, that became a pretty big crutch. If you're not the best then you're being laughed at. solution: Be the fucking best?

— In his eyes, his military career was a failure. The blow to his ego when he was rejected as a sniper really left him sore, and being reduced to a battering ram seemed like a waste of his his assets. When KorTac contacted him he left the services as soon as he could. The switch was not for any noble reasons (Not that he joined with any in mind, either)

— Insufferable ego driven by crippling anxiety means he comes off as really hot and cold. Sometimes when he’s avoiding eye contact it’s shy, disarming, and then other times it’s curt, uninterested

— That makes his attention kind of covetous, because when he is interested in someone, if he respects them, he has this boyish 'look at me, look at what I can do for you' that makes him seem soft and charming, but it can quickly turn into ‘did you see what I did? Did you like it? I can do more.’

— He is as attentive and loyal as a dog, but mean and jealous as one too.

NSFW

— The natural second step to this is an unbearable praise kink. Adoration, worship, acts of service, he falls for any of the above... This is literally the only normal turn on he has, I'm afraid.

— Plenty to go unsaid about his sexuality. Took the kink test curiously once, but half of what really gets him going wasn't listed in the prompts.

If he weren't so fucked up this would be fine, but he is, and so it isn't.

— Scared of sex because of this. He isn't sure what he's capable of, and when you've taken someone's life before and know that's nowhere near your cap it complicates things for you! Just smack a big old 'CONFIDENTIAL' over what actually comes up.

— (Out in the field, the air taste like adrenaline and testosterone and whatever other chemicals that creep up when your head is a bullseye. They all coalesce into a raging, disgusting hard on that he doesn't even try to hide anymore. Tucks himself into his waistband and uses that pent up energy to beat into people like he's fucking them. Nobody talks about it, not because they don't all notice it, but because könig has always deserved the title 'freak'. They can just be grateful they're on the same side of him.)

[generalidiocy]

Escape From The Vault thoughts

I know I'm a couple days late, but I'm gonna try and recreate my thought processes watching the dnd stream cause I need to yell into the void (please yell back I love conversations)

basslines basslines basslines! I knew Luke played bass but didn't know he was that good, wow

yay jockey boy! oh no... oh no jockey boy!

wap tentacle... great

"i used to have doors in my house... back when I lived" - there's so many instances of Fullset being bizarre, but this one tickles me

"how do you know my name" "it says SNAKEHIPS in giant letters across the door" - classic joke, perfect, no notes

Juliet Caesar cameo! I think...

she does magic for a fee, old lady margery

sam just playing all his classics this time around - @.meneatyoghurt made the same point but she's right

the unrelenting aubergine is the best name for a warhammer

royal andre - let's not call him prince andre though, that name just sounds wrong to me now /lh

"i bought these in a shop :-] :-] :-]"

"you've always wanted to be capteeeuuuurrreeedd"

tom knows what a skylight is, sam does not

why are these title cards so eerie

round of applause to Teo and Sam for the music and visuals, fucking brilliant

"things are heating up" "press A"

Love/Brother Face Eldritch Blast

"Tell me how you feel about the Jews!!!"

Andre and Andrew are the sweetest, if we see Andre again I hope he has his Andrew with him, too

"I used to be a trapeze artist"

that description of a dead hare made me so sad...

also leftenmost mc and david being dead in this hurt me a lot more than it should have

fullset beating the other two to the second body lol

"entering the astral plane" - in case you didn't get the reference

"are you having a non-canon adventure?"

sam knew what he was doing ending the first half with "Where's Jeremiah"

also why didn't bubba die from the fall? i don't want him to be dead, but he seemed absolutely fine considering he just fell 60 feet

andre beetroot being friends with bubba was a nice combo

"ok that's a different thing" i really hoped they wouldn't make "pressing A" an innuendo... but ofc they did /aff

yes, homosexuality is the link between these characters (twas funny, but came out of left field for me lol)

again, what's with the creepy title cards?

andre and bubba again!

"are you saying that you weigh less than 10 pounds?"

andre can't fight but we love him

snakehips being badass as usual

"RUN" followed up with a highly non-threatening "flee :-)" took me out

"the gm should've given these characters higher armour classes"

"tell me how you feel about the Jews!" the sequel

Troll Son!

"a dock, as in, boat boat" - perfect definition, well done margery

"that's *strictly* non- canon"

goddammit I got really excited to see Persephone then we ran out of time

sweethearts sweethearts sweethearts!

this was such a great tribute to the iconic characters we know and love, and we all had fun watching it I'm sure. Sam was an amazing DM, and AJ, Tom, Luke and Teo all did phenomenally as usual

anyway, ramblings over, just needed to scream about this for a bit

[joeytime]

Maxiel Hogwarts Au...

If you asked Max what he thought of Hogwarts, he would likely make a joke about pigs and insult their quidditch teams.

He isn't sure it's smart to do that now, in the middle of the Hogwarts' grand hall, completely surrounded by Hogwarts' students and staff. He isn't sure he could escape even if he had his broom.

"Wow, you really hate Hogwarts." The dreaded hat says atop his hair.

Shut up! Max thinks furiously at it. Get out of my head!

Everyone stares intensely at Max, not daring to breathe while the fate of the member of the national quidditch team is being decided. Even the teachers are at the edge of their seats, other than Dumbledore, he seems to know where Max will inevitably end up.

"Little quidditch champion. Everyone is expecting" The hat says, as if it's life of forever moving from head to head to call one of four words is somehow a greater destiny than Max's.

It's not. Max knows he will go on to succeed in life, and win as many quidditch championships as he wants and then retire on an island in The Maldives with a butt load of cash while the hat is left in a dusty room, waiting for it's yearly use. Max wants to reach to rip it up but it would not be wise to do so in front of Dumbledore himself. His hands stay in his lap, frown etched on his face.

"Impatient. Immature." Max's fingers twitch slightly. There is only so much backtalk one can take from a hat.

"Violent and uncaring, wherever will I put you?" Max doesn't agree with that description, he cares plenty, about winning that is.

"Foolish. Foolish boy." It doesn't hurt, Max has heard those words plenty of times.

Max sulks.

It's a beat of silence before the suspense reaches its climax. "Hufflepuff! " The hat hollers, not bothering to consult Max on it's decision. Which is very rude and impolite.

The entire room erupts into chaos, screams of "What! " and "No way! No way!" echo throughout the hall.

Max can't help but agree, he thought he might end up in Gryffindor or Slytherin, maybe Ravenclaw if he was super unlucky. But Hufflepuff? His father was going to disown him. The media are going to have a field day. Well they were going to already, regardless of which house Max was put in.

Dumbledore moves to pull the hat off of Max, the treacherous thing whispers one last time: "Things will make sense in time. Be patient. Do not mope."

Max doesn't mope. Verstappens can't mope, so he doesn't.

Dumbledore gently guides a slightly speechless Max to the Hufflepuff table, pushing him into the seat before winking and walking off.

Max wants to burn down this school.

Cheers erupt from the Hufflepuff table, hands coming to pat him on the back and fawn over him.

The other tables seem miserable at the prospect of losing out on a quidditch champion.

"Oh my god! Hi! Hi! Oh my god! It's you!" A boy excitedly chatters to his left, other students crowd around him and Max suddenly finds that he can't breathe. It's like he's small again, after being knocked off his broom by an overly excited big kid. He had fallen to the ground, too exhausted and overwhelmed to get back up.

His father had been mad, really mad. He hadn't slept well again after that.

"Guys! Guys! He doesn't look so good. " Whoever that is, is definitely right, Max can hardly breathe, he tries to use the breathing technique his father taught him after his first match, control his breathing. It doesn't work, it only causes the panic and urgency in his veins to surge. It did work, it's purpose was to put him on guard, not calm down.

He curls into himself, hands around his ears to protect from the deafening sound of crowds cheering. His bubble of personal space is of course pried and poked at. Fans never had any self awareness when it came to these matters and his father never did have sympathy for personal space.

Hands are pried away from him, he can hear outraged screeching at the action. His own quidditch team's screams when he was 6 years old and pulled away to join the older kids. They thought it wasn't fair that a small boy climbed the ranks faster than they did.

"Hey! Hey! Everyone back up right now!" The entire opposing team bombarding him in an attempt to stop him. The referee's reprimand that fell on deaf ears.

The people at his sides are replaced and gentle hands hold him back up, out of the ball he curled himself into.

Max doesn't dare look up, too afraid at the thought of seeing his father's judgemental look.

"Hey, are you okay? " Max turns his head, soft, gentle, warm eyes, concerned. Jos was never concerned, he was the uncaring one! Not Max!

"I'm fine. " A repeated response, practiced again and again every time he came home to his mother.

The teen with the soft eyes gestures for another boy to sit on Max's other side. The boy opposite Max looks on in concern.

"Hello. I'm Daniel Riccardo, I'm a prefect of Hufflepuff, it's nice to meet you." The gentle boy says, eyes still filled with concern.

"Max Verstappen. " Max manages to choke out.

"The boy on your left is Yuki Tsunoda and that's Lando Norris." Daniel gestures to the boy sitting opposite Max, who waves shyly.

The ruckus Max's sorting caused calms down and everyone settles down to listen to Dumbledore's welcome back speech which luckily does not mention Max.

Max feels strange between Riccardo and Tsunoda, like dread wrapped in false cotton. Norris also peers at him from time to time, creep.

They're sent back to their dorms. Max tells Riccardo that he can get there on his own but the older boy frowns and insists that he takes Max. Max thinks his father would be disappointed at his complacency but he doesn't have the strength to fight it.

Riccardo leads him to the kitchen, Max wants to snap some insult about him being a goody two shoes and how this is none of his business. He holds his tongue.

Riccardo gestures to a specific barrel, looking more worn out than the ones around it. He taps a certain beat, perhaps it's a secret code. That's childish, Max decides, they are not children playing in a fort.

The barrel swings open.

Max grimaces at the small tunnel.

"Here, you try tapping it." Riccardo puts Max's hand to the barrel.

Max repeats the rhythm perfectly. Memory exercises were part of his training.

Once Riccardo is satisfied, he points at the tunnel, almost as if he wants Max to crawl through it.

Max scrunches his nose, seriously? The older boy points more urgently and Max relents, shoving himself through the tunnel.

Well, not shoving, he's not really big, a fact his father loathed, putting him on diets with large sums of proteins and even attempting to use transfiguration spells before it was put to a stop by his mother.

Max wished his mother had not stopped his father. Maybe he would have an excuse not to join this god forsaken house.

It's an agonizing 5 second crawl before he pops out the other end right in front of Lando Norris, the boy before.

Daniel appears behind him, putting a hand on Max's shoulder.

"So Max, this is the Hufflepuff house. You know Yuki and Lando. That's Oscar, Nico and Valtteri." Riccardo urges the boys to come forward.

"It's Verstappen. " Max declares, Riccardo quirks an eyebrow and the rest of the boys look equally confused.

"Hi! I'm Lando! I'm like a huge fan, do you mind signing this for me? " The boy's yellow robes are somehow orange.

Max's PR training kicks in and he smiles one of those sickly sweet smiles that his father loves to wipe off his face before ordering him to smile again. His posture straightens and he reaches a hand around the younger boy's shoulders, patting him on his back once, twice. Just like he rehearsed.

"Sure! " His tone is so obviously a faux sweet as he reaches to retrieve the black marker from his back pocket. The boy has stars in his eyes and Max feels guilty, he always does. He's a fraud.

He signs the hat from his national team, the one he left behind.

He wishes he didn't.

"Hey, are you okay Max? " Riccardo asks, looking weird again.

"I'm doing great, how are you? " His PR trainer said asking back these questions were endearing, cute. Max's father had mocked him for that act, his trainer had been fired after that.

"How about I bring you to your room? Would you like that?" Riccardo asks, Max smiles again, nodding.

"Sure." Norris waves enthusiastically as Riccardo leads him out of the common room and into his private room.

"Are you alright? Max?"

"Call me Verstappen."

"Verstappen. Are you alright?"

"You can go, Riccardo. "

"... Call if you need anything."

When the prefect leaves, Max wants nothing but to burst into tears. He flops onto the bed.

The next day he drags himself out of bed. Even if classes don't start till 9 and the sun hasn't risen yet.

Jos expected him to continue his strict training regime. He was almost tempted to skip it and lie to his father but he thought he better not after his humiliating sorting from yesterday.

Now, alone, Max can see the Hufflepuff room properly. It's... It's all gentle lighting, none of the bright fluorescent lights his room had. The chairs looked comfy and the many plants lazing around the common room tempts him to join them.

Perhaps that would be a better fate, turning into a plant to live the rest of his life in the common room. His hand lingers on his wand, mind on a spell his professor taught him when he was just 9. He didn't.

When he had crawled out of the Hufflepuff room, fully dressed, broom in hand, the sun was just peaking from the horizon.

The halls are empty, some portraits mutter as he walks by. His father's portraits never moved, other than those instructed to. For example, a painter that never stopped moving his brush or a surfer never to take a break from the sea.

Making his way to the Hogwarts field, he stretched, slow and patient. His bones crack from the exhausting day he had before.

The field is decent sized, not as big as the one he played in during national championships, bigger than the one his father made him run laps around till he fainted.

He glides through the air easily, flying comes easily to him. If he were to be given his own time and freedom he thinks he would likely still be a top player in the school leagues.

It's better that he was hurled up though. Better to have reached the top by sheer force of his father's training.

He thinks about his national team, he's a reserve, too young to play officially but the team has him in some practices and he attends smaller competitions for them. Max suspects it's more about having a claim on Max when he comes of age.

He's 15, he still has 3 years to choose which team he wants to go to. By then, he will make his own choice. He will not do whatever pleases his father anymore.

The golden snitch twinkles near the end of the field. Max pretends not to see it.

It is fun, sometimes, tricking the golden snitch, allowing it a false sense of security. Like a tiger cub playing with a cricket.

His father would get mad at him if he did it for too long, he was upset his son couldn't catch it at once. Which Max could, he just didn't see the fun of it.

The fluttering golden ball is in his hands before it can even think of escaping.

Max briefly wonders if the snitch can possibly think, he lets it flutter away, repeating his game once again.

In the golden light of the sun and shaded path of the clouds, the wind whizzes past his ears, he falls into the familiar rhythm of flying, sometimes he makes his own obstacle courses, weaving through imaginary hoops.

By the time the sun reveals itself fully to watch Max fly, he realizes that a crowd has gathered around under him, star-struck Hogwarts students watching, mouths open and everything.

He flushes slightly, he may have had many adoring fans due to his membership in the national team and young age but come on! These were his peers.

Max lowers down, checking his watch to see that it is indeed 8.30am and he has to run if he wants to get to class not drenched in sweat.

He waves slightly to the crowd, zipping to the house dorm even though he's probably breaking several school rules.

He knocks the tune and enters quickly, still high from the adrenaline of flying.

He climbs out of the tunnel only to come face to face with Daniel Riccardo, his face stern and stony.

"Verstappen! You can't just sneak out like that!" Daniel's expression softens when he sees Max.

Max knows he feels pity even if Riccardo knows nothing about his life.

"I of course did not sneak out, I left my room and went to the field." Max doesn't think early hour training counts as sneaking out, going to parties in the dead of the night is sneaking out.

"Max, we were worried. I went into your room and you weren't there. Thought you'd been kidnapped by the other houses to play quidditch for them or something... "

Max considers this briefly, Riccardo knocking on his door gleefully, freezing when he doesn't get an answer. Did his blood pressure spike? Did he throw Max's door open in desperation only to find the room empty?

Max grimaces.

"I went to go training... Sorry..." Max stands awkwardly, hands by his side like a child being punished by a parent.

Riccardo sighs. Max wants to cry.

"Please forgive me, I'm of course sorry, I will do anything!" Max cringes inside, begging with someone other than his father is a foreign concept.

Riccardo has a cheeky smile on his face, Max is almost scared.

"I'll forgive you... Only if you call me Daniel!"

Max groans inwardly, well he's also partly relieved but Daniel doesn't need to know that.

"What will it be Max? Will you call me the d word? Or will you suffer in my never ending spite! "Daniel's grin grows.

" Fine. "

" Fine, who? "

"Fine. Daniel."

Max flushes, weird.

Daniel looks elated.

[cakerybakery]

It took all morning but Adam tracked the hellish bear down. Adam was always a large man, he was created that way and death made him even taller. So when the bear stood on its hide legs and towered over him by a good three feet Adam nearly shit himself.

He steadied his nerves and thrusted his spear into the monster’s chest. Oh the bear did not like that. Adam found himself holding back the large and deadly venomous claws from scratching at his flesh. The beast’s jaws snapping at his head, just about reaching.

The ridge under Adam feet was crumbling. He pushed with all his might to turn them, to force the great beast to the edge and let gravity do Adam’s work for him.

There was a deafening roar as the side of the mountain slid away, taking the bear with it.

Adam barely stepped back in time and waited for the ground to settle a bit before taking up his spear once more and sliding down the cliff side on his own.

The beast was not dead but stunned. Adam made short work of burying the spearhead into the demon bear’s neck. Letting it bleed out.

Then he got to work proper.

He cut the skin from the base of the tail up to near the mouth, then from the paws to the cut in the abdomen. He gutted the creature carefully first. Then Adam severed the feet from the carcass but left them attached to the hide, then worked on peeling the skin off the hind legs and worked going forward.

Wrapping to keep clean and hanging the meat to cool, Adam went back to the skin. Scraping off the fat.

Back on earth he would have kept it. But it was useless these days. He salted the hide.

His work for now being done. The imps he hired to help transport everything came when he radioed for them. They carried the meat but Adam took the hide. It was special. It was nice in these modern times that he could hire a butcher and a taxidermist for the next part of the job.

A few days later he and a delivery imp were back at the hotel.

“Oh you’re back. How was the trip?” Charlie looked up from her conversation with Lucifer at the dinning table.

“Successful. I killed the problem bear. Brought some of the meat back for you.” The imp hefted it onto the table and Adam signed that the job was complete so the imp could leave.

“I left most of it with the town and the farmer the bear injured. It’s not the best meat but meat is meat. It’ll help replace some of what the bear took in livestock.” Adam dropped the cape of the bear into Lucifer’s lap. “For you.”

“Oh! Umm. Thank you. Wow this sure is a lot of bear.” Lucifer tried grabbing at the skin but there was just so much and he was rather small.

Adam had been right, Lucifer did look cute when he was flustered. “It was no big deal.”

He didn’t know what people complained about. Flirting was easy. Kill a bear, save a village, field dress the animal, present the skin as a gift to your chosen mate and meat to his child to prove you’re a good provider who can keep them safe and fed. Easy.

[lfc21]

Parent's evening at school

Player: Trent Alexander Arnold

TW: school, children, Fluff

Promptlist: Children

"Mr and Mrs Alexander Arnold" You heard being called out from the room you were waiting outside off. You felt as if you were right back at school, sat staring at the walls constantly wondering when the bell would ring.

"Hi nice to meet you" You politely said with a smile as you both sat down in front of the wooden desk. Trent couldn't help but take his old school in, he remembered being stuck in the very same four walls. Nostalgia was the only thing he could feel.

"So I am Mrs Smith, I am Tyrone's teacher" She started with a smile as she admired the notes written on her screen. You hoped your son was as well-behaved as he made you believe but you weren't one hundred per cent sure. "He so far has 100% attendance and is reaching his targets in every subject which is incredible." She added bursting with pride.

"Even maths?" You quickly asked with a laugh as you couldn't quite believe her words.

"Yes, miss even his maths" She quickly replied with a laugh. You couldn't have been prouder. Maths was not your strong point, and every time Tyrone came to you for help you were doing more learning than teaching.

"Oh wow, I only ask as I am shocked at maths and can never help him" You explained as Trent sniggered next to you, you quickly nudged his arm with a laugh due to his childish actions.

"I would be proud of Tyrone and he admires you sir," The teacher said looking at Trent with a smile at how similar they both were.

"He is obsessed" Trent replied "I am surprised he hasn't been playing football in here" He added with a laugh knowing how naughty and playful he can be at home. You all laughed in unison. You quickly thanked the teacher for her time and wandered out of the classroom.

"I used to play football over there," Trent said to you as he pointed over to a large green field as his hand slipped into yours. You loved hearing about Trent's past stories it always sent a smile to your face. "And that was where my mum used to drop me off and pick me up" He quickly added with a large smile as he started to feel the excitement run through his body.

"You are so cute baby" You explained with a giggle as you snaked your arm around his waist with a smile. You both made your way to the car with huge beaming smiles and a son to be extremely proud of.

Hey guys 👋🏻 I hope you enjoyed this imagine 😀 there are still a few prompts left if anyone is interested 😊 I am currently taking requests 🥰 feedback is greatly appreciated ❤️ have a good day 🙏 masterlist 2022 💌 masterlist 2023 💌

@prettylittletrent @cornertakenquicklyyyy @trentalexanderarnold @robbo38 @robbothegoat @kostasstsimikass @chelseamount @chloereddy @tsimikasfamily @avenirdelight @blueathens @jordanhendersunshine @mrs-henderson @thatonesexycancerian @hendersons1truelover @nyctophilic0vitnir @peekapeaches @tsimikxs @tsimikostas @trentalexarnofan @leddows @moneymasnn @superkittywonderland @virgilvansike @virgilvandickmedown @hopefulromantic1 @robbo-trent-fanfiction26

[giggly-squiggily]

Hi Squiggily I hope your having a nice day so far, can I please request ler! Shoko and Suguru lee! Satoru. I love these three so much and I wish we got to see more of them in the anime/manga.

But of course anon! :D I've gotcha covered- these three give me utter LIFE! (Honestly same- I wanted more! T-T) I hope you like it!

Cloud 9 (Taglist Peeps):

@thatbigbisexual29 @duckymcdoorknob @gladdygirl18 @baby-tickles2022 @cupcake-spice13 @rachi-roo @chibisstuff

“Hit me!” Gojo’s declared, grinning.

“Bet!” Geto winded his arm, ready to do so.

“....hm.” Geto lowered his arm, suspicious. “What happens if I do?”

“You won’t be able to.”

The green haired student raised a brow. Then he reached into his pocket, pulling out an eraser. Without any warning- he chucked it at Gojo’s head.

Boink!

“Gah! Okay- bad example.” Gojo rubbed his forehead, cheeks dusted pink as Geto and Shoko laughed. “Try to punch me! I need to be in immediate danger!”

“No way- what if your new technique doesn’t work?” Geto’s brows furrowed as he looked upon his friend. Sure, he wanted to strangle Gojo from time to time, but to really punch him out…”I’m heavy handed- you might die.”

“I’ll be fine! Trust me!” Gojo grinned, eyes dancing behind his glasses. “What- scared you’re gonna look like a wimp?”

Geto’s eye twitched, smile dangerous. “Very well.”

A fist was raised. Gojo raised his chin, closing his eyes.

“Ehehe!”

What came wasn’t the stinging pain of a fist, but rather a sudden jab to his ribs. Twisting around, he found Shoko standing behind him with a cheeky grin. “What- Shoko!”

Another poke- then another. “Come on- block me. You said you need to be in danger, yeah?” She snickered as he squirmed, giggles pushing past his lips with little resistance. “This counts as danger, yeah? Or this? Or this?”

“Ahehheheahha! S-Shohohohoko, you suuhuhuhuck! Gehahahhahaha stahhahahap!” Gojo pressed his arms into his sides, trying to block out her hands. “Suuhuhuhuhuguru, heheheehhelp!”

“Help huh? I suppose I could.” Geto grinned as he walked over, fingers poised and wiggling. “Come here, Satoru.” “Oohoho no! Dohoohohn’t you dare!” Gojo tried to run, darting left and narrowly avoiding their grasp. He was running now, flying down the path with Geto hot on his trail. “No! No stay away-AH!”

A curse formed at his feet, tripping him and sending him tumbling. Geto was on him seconds later, fingers finding his ribs once more and drawing out even more laughs from the pale haired teen. “Suhuhuhuhuguru dohohohohoohn’t!”

“Don’t what?”

“Tihihiihihihickle mehehhehehehe!”

“Tickle you? Okay! Shoko you hear that? Satoru wants us to tickle him!” Geto called over his shoulder to their friend, still tickling. “Come help me!”

“Okay.” Shoko tossed the but of her cigarette to the ground, crushing it beneath her foot before bouncing over.

“Nohohoho! Nohohoho, not you TOHOOHHOOHOHO!” Gojo all but squealed when two extra hands came down upon him, pinching along his knees. “NOHOHOHOHO NOT THE KNEHEHEHHEHEES!”

“Oo, bad spot? And I thought his ribs were bad!” Geto laughed, adjusting himself so Shoko had more room. “Do you think his hips are too?”

“Only one way to find out.” Shoko reached down, squeezing his hip with delicate fingers.

The noise Gojo let out couldn't be described as human.

“AHEAHAHHAHHA! STHAHAHAHAP IIHIHIHIHIHIT!” Gojo cried through his mirth, tears forming behind his sunglasses as he swatted at their ever present hands. No matter where he blocked- something on him was ticklish! “PLEAHHAHAHAHSE ENOOHOHOOHUGH!”

The tickles came to an immediate halt. Gojo gasped for air, lying across the ground as he weakly curled his arms around himself. “Ahehehe…hehehe..thihihis suchks. It dihihihdn’t work…”

“What, your so-called force field?” Geto raised a brow. “Maybe you need to work on it more.”

Shoko was quiet. Then she scooted up to Gojo’s face. Without warning, she brought down her raised arm, pen in hand. Gojo’s eyes widened-

The pen stopped inches from his nose, suspended by an invisible force.

“Wow. It worked.” She mused, pulling her hand away and watching the pen hover over Gojo’s gaping face. “Guess you need to be in true danger for it to work.”

“Wow…HA! I KNEW IT!” Gojo cheered, yelping when the pen dropped, bouncing off his sunglasses. “I knew my limitless technique would work!”

“You're truly getting stronger by the day.” Geto spoke softly as Shoko and Gojo laughed, trying to stab him again with the pen. “Hey- does that mean what I think it means?”

“What?” Gojo and Shoko asked, pen halfway down to his face.

“If you can recognize you’re not in immediate danger, your limitless technique won’t activate. Or that what’s to come isn’t all that unpleasant.” Geto started to grin, enjoying the look of shock and embarrassment spreading over Gojo’s face. “Does that mean you like us tickling you?”

Shoko perked up, equally amused. Gojo flushed as he backed away, looking anywhere but them. 

“Oh what do you know- my little test worked! Hehe- I better go report it to the Masa-Sensei; gotta go- BYE!” Gojo all but scrambled to his feet, running for the hills and his friends laughed themselves silly.

Thanks for reading!

[call-me-little-sunshine84]

Slow Heat

SSA Matt Simmons x female reader

Rating: explicit - minors DNI

Word count: 1.5k

Summary: After wanting Matt for so long, what will you do when you finally get him?

Warnings: smut! - mentioned masturbation - oral sex (m receiving) - unprotected sex - multiple orgasms - canon divergence

A/N: this is set in an AU where he is divorced - there is a horrible lack of Matt smut and I don't think I would do justice to the husband/wife vibe but didn't want to make him a cheater

“Morning Matt,” you said cheerily as he entered the office. “Good morning,” he replied tersely, juggling his bag and a cup of coffee. He hadn’t been the same since telling everyone about the divorce. You couldn’t imagine what he was going through, trying to get used to his new reality, and learning to coparent with that many kids. 

A small, awful part of you was secretly glad he was getting divorced. It made the way you felt about him, and had felt ever since you met, a little more acceptable. Married man = giant no in your book. Divorced man = okay to fantasize about, which you did more often than was probably normal. There was also the small fact that you worked together. Sure, you worked in tech, it’s not like you went out in the field with the team, but they still treated you like one of their own - probably thanks to your friendship with Garcia. Office romances hardly ever worked out. Still…you couldn’t help but watch him every time he walked past, your heart skipping a beat when he smiled at you. 

Wanting to be respectful to what he was going through, you kept all your feelings to yourself. It was so hard when all you wanted to do was spend one night with him, showing him how eager you were to please him. Instead, you just ended up pleasing yourself while thinking about what he must look like underneath his clothes. It went on like that for months, you lusting after him from the sidelines, until one night after a particularly bad case.

The team had returned to the office, looks of defeat and anger plainly written on their faces. You just happened to still be there, finishing up a last-minute assignment. Your heart sank when you looked up at them getting off the elevator. “Oh no, what happened?” you asked, concerned. “The perp got away,” Rossi replied, shaking his head. “Damn, I’m sorry,” you said sincerely. “We’re going to go get a drink, need to shake this off. Do you want to join us?” he asked. “Sure, why not,” you replied, happy for the break. You were stiff and sore from sitting in a chair all day. 

Everyone grabbed their things, and you walked around the block to the nearby tavern. Thanks to Penelope switching seats with you - after a less than subtle wink and shoulder nudge - you ended up sitting next to Matt. At first you were extremely nervous, but you were surprised to find that talking to him came easily. The conversation stayed steady, both of you talking about your families, hobbies, favorite movies, everything. The others slowly began to say their goodbyes, and before long you realized it was just the two of you left. 

“Oh wow, I guess I need to get back home,” you said, looking at the time on your phone. “I’ll go with you, make sure you get there okay,” Matt offered with a smile. “You really don’t have to, it’s not like either of us drank that much,” you replied. And it was true, you switched to coke after a few shots, and he had been sipping the same beer all night. “Really, I insist,” he told you. Pretty sure that your face had turned several unflattering shades of red, you relented, grabbing your purse. The walk back to the office to get his car as well as the ride back to your apartment, were filled with awkward silence. What happened to the way you had been at the bar?

Pulling into the parking lot, he offered to walk you to the door. You took him up on it, not knowing what would come next. Standing at your doorway, you looked at him, wishing the night wasn’t over. “Want to come in for some coffee?” you asked, holding your breath until he replied. “Sure,” he said, and you unlocked your door with trembling hands. Throwing your bag down on the counter, you picked up two coffee mugs and were about to begin making the first one when Matt walked up behind you. 

Standing so close you could feel the heat coming off of his body, smell the cologne he was wearing, you resisted the urge to lean back against him. Instead, you stiffened, unsure of what to do or say. Suddenly you felt his hands on your hips, turning you around to face him. Looking up at him questioningly, his face so close to yours, you gasped as he ran his hand gently across your jawline, sending sparks through your body. “Matt, what are you doing?” you ask breathlessly, your body on edge just from that little bit of contact. Instead of answering, he leaned down and kissed you slowly and sweetly. “I think we could both use this, don’t you?” he asked, moving his body even closer to you. It was true, it had been a long time since anything but your vibrator had brought you to paradise.

“If you had any idea of how many times I had fantasized about this, you wouldn’t even have to ask,” you replied in a surprising burst of boldness. Never in your wildest dreams did you think any of this would actually be happening. He growled at your response and moved in to kiss you again, this time fast and hard. His hands roamed your body slowly in contrast, exploring every inch of you. 

Dragging him into your bedroom, you pulled his shirt off and tossed it to the floor. Holy shit you thought, running your hands over his muscled abs, practically drooling at the sight of him. Pushing him back onto the bed, you undid his belt and removed his pants. He was already hard, and just the outline of him straining against his boxers had you practically dripping. You kissed and licked a slow trail down his perfect body, working your way down to what you wanted most. Your eyes widened when you freed his dick from his underwear and the smirk on his face made you want to climb on him right that second, but you somehow controlled yourself, deciding to make this last as long as possible. 

Taking him in your mouth, you flattened your tongue and ran it up and down his shaft while sucking gently, and he groaned deeply in appreciation. One hand around his base and the other gripping his muscular thigh, you worked your magic on him, bringing him right to the edge before he pushed you back, not wanting to finish too soon. 

Eagerly shedding your clothes, you rejoined him on the bed. He wrapped his arms around you, kissing your neck, raising goosebumps all over. Going lower, he cupped your breasts, wrapping his lips around one hardened nipple while gently massaging the other. Moaning, feeling like your body would ignite at any moment, you almost jumped off the bed when he reached a hand down and ran his fingers through your slick folds. 

“Damn, you really did want this, didn’t you?” he grinned, feeling just how excited you were for him. All you could do was groan his name as he dragged his fingers through your walls, hitting that sweet spot that you always had trouble finding yourself. Two fingers worked inside you while his thumb made sweet circles on your clit. You looked up at him, his already dark eyes almost black, clouded with lust. It was enough, just knowing you were the cause of that look of absolute desire on his face, to push you over the edge. You climaxed, thighs trembling against his hand. 

Giving yourself no time to ride out your high, you pushed him back against the bed and climbed on top of him, straddling his thighs. “Oh my God,” he grunted, a look of absolute devotion on his face as you lowered yourself down onto him slowly. 

The stretch and slight burn went away quickly as you adjusted to his size, and you found a steady pace. He gripped your hips hard enough to bruise, and you ground down on him eagerly. Who knew sex could feel this good you thought to yourself. After all the months of longing for Matt, this was actually happening. He moved his hands up to grasp your breasts, bringing you back to reality. You rolled your hips even harder and faster, that invisible coil in your belly growing tighter, threatening to snap again. Your nails digging crescent shaped marks into his chest, you felt your second orgasm sweep through you. Squeezing down around him as you continued to ride him, Matt groaned your name as he also found release. Collapsing against him on the bed, your sweat slicked bodies sticking together, you sighed contentedly. Slowly tracing the tattoo on his bicep, he asked if you were okay. “Of course. I told you; I’ve wanted that for a long time now,” you replied. He cocked an eyebrow. “Really?” 

“You know, for a profiler you really missed all the signs, didn’t you?” you said with a laugh.

[hailthegodsong]

OUR LOVE IS BORN

Masterlist

Chapter 1 ~ Better Twin

Content Warnings: Fluff, angst, flirting, typical embarrassing teenage stuff, swearing, mentions of car accident, mentions of medical procedures, brief nudity (nothing crazy).

The trees blurred as our car whizzed past, piling down some highway. I wasn't sure. In fact, I had no idea where we were at all, other than the fact that it was somewhere in Michigan.

The trees were different, as well as the bird song and the grass which crept up upon the edges of the tarred road we drove upon.

Even in the heated car I could feel an isolated chill run up my arms, and effectively reaching my now very cold core. A thin layer of dirtied snow lay on the grass beside the long road, and I tried to think back to the last time I had seen snow.

It must have been when I was before 5, some ski trip maybe? I wasn't sure but it definitely was long enough ago that I couldn't remember much about it, and a small spark of excitement grew in me at the thought of seeing snowfall for the first time.

I shuffled further into the corner of my seat in attempt to relieve the uncomfortable dig of one of cardboard boxes shoved beside me in the back seat.

"How much longer, Dad?" I asked, interrupting the music softly blowing through the cars speakers.

"Nearly there Sweets, 'bout five more minutes," He looked at me through the rearview mirror, smiling sincerely but not without an angle of guilt. 

I knew they felt bad about making me leave home, and don't get me wrong, the news that we were leaving for Mums job was not on my Top Ten Best Moments of 2024, but I understood. 

Living prices were shooting and it only made sense for Mum to relocate closer to the project execution which she was formerly managing remotely.

A heavy weight of nerves set in at the thought of pulling up to my new home. My mind rushed with the copious amounts of unpacking I had to do, alongside the draining idea of starting Year 11- or Junior Year, at Frankenmuths' local High School.

Once my surroundings drifted from farms and empty fields into a standard suburban town, I knew we were here.

"Why does everything look German?" I asked, trying to shield the judgement from my voice as I analysed the traditional German architecture. 

Is this seriously where I was going to grow out my remaining teenage years? I could already miss the smell of sea salt in the air, and the heat of a humid wind, cooling the sweat on my skin.

"The town was founded by Germans, or something like that, I'm not really sure. But it definitely adds a bit of interest, hey?" My dad responded, his words laced with false excitement. 

I was sure he didn't want to be here any more than I did, but he had no choice.

After a few more minutes of mundane silence and repetitive buildings, our rental car finally pulled up a short stoned driveway, crunching the gravel beneath until we came to a complete stop. I quickly checked the time on my phone, which read 2:34pm, before unclipping my seatbelt and swinging the car door open.

I was immediately hit with a piercing cold that stung the wetness on my lips. 

Hugging my torso tightly, I rounded the car to wait for my parents to find the keys to our new house.

Stretching my legs after a twenty hour flight and an hour long drive was positively the best feeling I had ever felt in my life. The stiffness ached in my hamstrings but spread a comforting heat throughout my body when I reached down to touch my toes. 

Quickly shaking any remaining stale blood in my arms and legs, I turned and had a look over at my new house.

"Wow guys this place is massive," I gawked. It was double storied and had a long wooden patio out the front.

"Not really Sweets, you're just used to living in a tiny complex all your life," Dad chucked before wrapping his left arm around my shoulder, and his right around Mum before kissing my temple. "Welcome to our new home."

After we loaded all of our boxes out the car, I sorted through the pile to find my things and take them to my room. 

As the U-Haul wasn't arriving until the next morning with our furniture and belongings, we begrudgingly had to stay at a local inn overnight, and I couldn't be any more annoyed. 

I would never let it show because I knew my parents had been through a lot during the move, but the heavy tire in my muscles paired with my inability to sleep on the flight over made me incapable of thinking of anything other than sleep in my own bed.

Dropping my boxes of clutter on the soft white carpet of my new room, I collapsed on my back, arms sprawled out by my sides, as I stared at the plain white ceiling, adorned with a single hanging light.

As I lay there, I thought about my friends, my school, my new school, my hobbies, my running, my music, what if I'm too different? What if I can't adapt to the culture? What if I'm outcast? What if-

"Hi Honey, its getting late, we should starting thinking about leaving for the Inn in about 10, okay?" Mums voice interrupted.

"Mmm," I grunted back, before rolling over and reaching across the plush white carpet for my phone which had been chucked somewhere on the floor not long ago. 

The time on my screen read 5:52 as I swiftly sat up and grabbed my backpack, already full with everything I had needed on the flight including chargers, a water bottle and some headphones.

Hopping down the stairs, I jumped to the kitchen to refill my water bottle with fresh water. The house was silent, and all I could hear were the sounds of the water streaming from the tap, and the hushed voices of my parents. 

I turned off the tap, leaving my water bottle only halfway full and tiptoed towards the wall, effectively hiding me from view but giving me the perfect spot to eavesdrop my parents in the living room.

"I know that its what you want to do, but we have to be considerate of Layla. This is all new to her and I feel terrible for pulling her away from everything she knows. We need to be there for her," I heard my dad say in a feeble attempt to whisper.

"You're right. Maybe we should just put a few things on hold so that we can be there for her. Help her to adjust." Mum said. There was a moment of silence between them as I felt the familiar vice of guilt creep up the back of my spine.

"Okay so are we agreed then, no date nights until we are sure she is comfortable in the house alone, and no work trips at least for the first month, just to make things as familiar as we can." Dad said.

Mum let out a lengthy sigh, "Yeah. Yes. Yes, okay. But that also means no golfing for you. I know you love it and will want to meet the local golfers soon but I can't have you gone for days at a time either. Layla can't have that".

I quickly rounded the corner into the living room to see my parents sitting parallel to each other leant against the wall on the floor. I clapped my hands together and put on a bright smile.

"Alright guy are you both ready to go?" I beamed as they both turned to look at me. 

I knew I couldn't be selfish. I could adapt. I could cope. It really wasn't that big of a deal to move houses, hundreds of people did it everyday and it was pathetic of me to act like it was some big issue. 

From here on out, no matter how hard I was struggling, I pledged to myself that I would keep my issues to myself. Mum and Dad were amazing to me and the least I could do in return was to tolerate a slight inconvenience in my life.

"Yes Sweets let me just grab my bag," Dad smiled back as they both rose from the floor. Mum made her way towards me as we both waited by the front door for Dad to get his things. 

The last lights of the day were shining in through the fogged glass in our front door, and illuminating the living room through the expansive windows too. However, the lack of heating still made me feel uneasy in the new house. I'm sure Mum and Dad would get that sorted out once all of the furniture was in too.

As Dad made his way towards us, bag in tow, the front door sounded 3 polite knocks.

I whipped my head towards my mum who was already reaching for the door handle and swinging it open, revealing a woman around my parents age, wrapped in a thick cream sweater, with a deep red scarf wrapped around her neck.

"Hello! It's lovely to meet you, I'm your neighbour, Karen!" She beamed, opening her arms widely and stepping towards my mum before embracing her in a hug. 

Her voice was soft, yet full as she spoke to my parents, who exchanged 'hellos' and other introductions. I stood awkwardly to the side as the three of them moved in a blur before Karens focus was on me.

"Hi I'm Layla," I spoke politely. She seemed kind and motherly, and as if to confirm my thoughts she wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tight, squeezing before she let me go.

"Its lovely to meet you all. I have 4 kids who might be around your age actually Layla. Are you starting school at Frankenmuth High next week? Maybe you will be in some of my boys classes! Oh how wonderful that would be!" She exclaimed, clapping her hands excitedly.

I laughed a little, "Yeah I am starting Year 11- I mean, um.. junior year next week".

"Oh how wonderful you must be the same age as Josh and Jake then! They can show you around and help you find your bearings," she said sincerely. 

As much as I wanted some help in this new town, I couldn't help but dread the thought of two teenage boys showing me around a town and inevitably making me feel more socially awkward than I already was. Nevertheless, I didn't want my parents to worry. I promised.

"Yeah that would be great!" I said, the same smile still plastered on my face, almost getting painful to maintain. I just wanted to go to sleep. Karens face lit up in surprise as she clearly came to a thought.

"Maybe I could take you guys over to our place now to introduce you all? It wouldn't be a bother truly."

"We really shouldn't..." My dad started.

"I can make you all some supper too! Dinner shouldn't be too much longer from now and I'm sure you’re all starving from your travels," she continued, and as if on cue, my stomach let out a low grumble. 

I felt my cheeks heat up in embarrassment as Karen opened up her mouth to speak again, most likely to coerce us into coming in for dinner.

"We really should get going, we have a booking at an inn tonight, but thank you for your kindness, Karen," Mum interrupted. Karen only furrowed her eyebrows and I got the feeling that her sons never won arguments against her.

"Oh now don't be ridiculous, stay at an inn? How outrageous. You can stay at our house tonight. We have space for you all and I cannot, in good conscious, let our new neighbours stay in an inn on their first night here now, can I?" She questioned with a look of disbelief.

"We don't want to intrude.."

"It would be our pleasure to have you all over, plus, you must tell us about Australia, your accents sound so exotic already I'm sure your stories are even more interesting," she said, spinning on her heel and walking down the front porch steps. 

I turned to Dad who merely shrugged to me and followed Karen down the steps, with Mum and I following closely behind.

With only a short distance of grass to cross to make it to their home, I quickly found myself rushing through their front door as Karen frantically ushered us inside otherwise we'd "catch a cold".

Warm orange lights adorned the living room as we entered the home, with warm wooden furniture and rugs, yet the feature that grabbed my attention was the smell. It smelt like home. My home. In fact, it absolutely reeked of it. 

I took a deep breath in and my eyes fluttered closed for a moment, basking in the smell of warmth with a hint of cinnamon, and despite the warmth surrounding us, the air was fresh and reminded me of the salty spray of the sea at the nearby cliffs.

Though, my comfort was short lived when a dirty sock came flying to the side of my face, followed by very loud, very angsty yelling.

"Fuck of Jake! It's your week not mine!"

"Can't you just do one thing for me Josh oh my GOD!"

Turning, I caught sight of two teenage boys, who looked my age, standing up in each others faces, once of which held a pile of dirty laundry in his arms and the other with his arms frantically waving them around the air.

One of the boys had long, silky, brown hair with subtle waves, while the other, who had his back to me, had a wild nest of curly brown hair.

"Are you serious?! I-" The curly haired boy screamed, charging forward before Karen grabbed the back of his shirt.

"Boys! Stop it right now! We have guests." She muttered the last part through clenched teeth at a volume I assumed we weren't meant to hear. Both boys dropped their arms and their faces went slack as they turned to face us. 

I stood awkwardly in my spot shuffling my feet slightly and offering them a small smile. The long haired boy cleared his voice and dropped his pile of dirty laundry next to the wall before making his way over to us while scratching the back of his neck. 

The curly haired one followed closely behind before filing next to him, wearing a very red and apologetic expression.

"Boys, these are our new neighbours from Australia!" Karen said excitedly, as if the whole previous interaction never happened.

"Hi I'm Jake," the long haired boy said politely, reaching his hand out for me to shake. It was slightly calloused and rough, but his hold was gentle on mine. He sent me a shy tight lipped smile and I offered a similar one back.

"And I'm the better twin, Josh," the curly haired boy beamed, throwing me a wink before wrapping his arms around me in a hug. 

I could hear Jake introducing himself to my parents while I breathed in his very earthy scent. His hold was softer than his mums, but still held that comforting feel. 

All this hugging and warmth and good smelling home made me even more tired than I thought I was.

After all were introduced Jake turned to me, "Sorry I didn't get your name?"

"Oh sorry! I'm Layla, it's lovely to meet you all."

Sitting stiffly in the Kiszkas' living room, I silently watched as the siblings bickered, having been introduced to their sister, Ronnie shortly after I met the twins.

Their conversations were funny, and I couldn't help but crack a small smile or giggle at some of their antics. Soon, the focus of the kids in the living room turned to me, much to my dismay.

"So what part of Australia are you from?" Jake turned to me. I quickly glanced up to my parents who were lost in their own conversation with Karen and the boys dad, Kelly.

Refocusing on the conversation, I nervously tangled my fingers together, "Umm I'm from Sydney.. right by the beach actually."

"Cool! So how hot is it over there?" Ronnie asked from beside me.

"Well it's summer right now so its like, 25 degrees to maybe 37 on a hot day?" I replied. "It can get to around 45 degrees sometimes but thats rare."

All 3 of them looked at me, baffled with their mouths hung open.

"25 degrees in the summer?! Thats freezing are you serious I thought Australia was meant to be really hot or something?" Ronnie exclaimed loudly, her arms waving in the air similarly to her brothers actions earlier.

I quickly realised my mistake and went a bit red in the cheeks at my inability to adapt to this new culture. I looked down at the peeling leather of the couch I was curled up on.

"Oh! Right I'm sorry thats in celsius not farenhieght... I don't really know how hot that is for you guys," I said bashfully, while my nails subconsciously dug into the soft flesh of my palms.

I looked back up from the couch and sawJake smiling at me softly, before Ronnies hand gently held the top of mine and squeezed lightly as she smiled. "Don't worry we'll help you figure it all out."

I looked down to Josh, to find him nervously picking at the carpet beneath his legs, a light pink tint on his cheeks. He looked up to Jake who seemed to already be watching him, and they both gave each other an indescribable look.

Confused and slightly embarrassed at the prospect of them silently judging me, I opened my mouth to break a bit of the silent awkwardness, but was quickly interrupted by Karens bellowing voice.

"Kids! Dinners ready!"

Josh bounced from the floor and took a step towards me before reaching his hand out for me to take, and helping me rise from the couch. His hand was very warm and soft, and I couldn't help but feel a bit colder when he let go quickly once I was standing, rubbing his fingers in his palm shortly after, strange. I followed his back as he made his way to the dining room, Ronnie and Jake close behind me.

"Ronnie go get you brother for dinner" Karen said, as Ronnie huffed in frustration and hopped up the steps, skipping every second one before shouting, "SAM! COME GET DINNER!"

We all found our seats at the table, my parents next to each other on my left, Jake on my right, and Josh directly in front of me. The smell of the feast before us was mouth watering, as I dragged my eyes across the roast chicken, vegetables and some kind of casserole, all piping hot with steam.

Shortly after I was seated, a tall, lanky boy, with similar hair to Jakes but a bit younger bounded down the stairs, smiling sheepishly while scanning his eyes across my parents and lingering slightly on me.

"Hi, I'm Sam it’s nice to meet you all," he said loudly. I wasn't sure if it was my lack of sleep, or maybe my extreme hunger, but the loud noises were starting to pierce my head, egging on a throbbing headache.

Consequently, throughout the whole meal, which was delicious as expected, all I could get my brain to focus on was the idea of sleep, occasionally offering a nod or smile, and the occasional "yep" here and there to ride me through the conversation.

Before I knew it, we were picking up our plates and bringing them to the kitchen to have them all cleaned up.

Reaching for the sponge, I was stopped by the familiar warmth of Josh's hand. He smiled kindly at me when I looked at him, to find his face mere inches from mine.

"Don't worry about dishes I'll do them. Plus, you're our guest. Go, Mom will help get you set up for tonight". Tucking my hair behind my ear and wiping my sweaty palms on the fronts of my jeans I muttered a quiet 'thanks' before wandering off to find Karen.

"Okay honey, you can sleep in Josh's room as his sheets were just cleaned and he'll stay with Jake tonight, and your parents will take the guest room, does that sound alright?" Karen looked at me expectantly.

"I can sleep on the couch, it's no bother really... I don't want to kick anyone out of their room.." I responded, truly feeling guilty. I was always such a burden nowadays.

She scoffed, "Oh nonsense he'll survive. Now, off you go, the room is yours." She shooed me down the hall to the direction of an open door.

Peeking in, I inhaled a stronger version of the familiar smell of home. I took a look around at the dark grey bedsheets, observing a small desk in the corner with papers scattered all over, writing scribbled all around them, like a flurry of thoughts literally spewed onto his table.

I placed my bag down against the wall and wandered over to his shelving unit which caught my eye, adorned with vinyl.

Flicking through many familiar albums, I reached one I knew I had myself, A Space in Time by Ten Years After. I smiled fondly at the memory of me dancing endlessly to the album at home.

"Space in Time, 's a great album...classic," Josh said, startling me enough to make me jump on the spot. I could feel my cheeks heat up as I realised I'd been caught snooping, warming even more when I saw him standing leant against his door frame with a smug smile on his face. He was... very attractive.

"I'm so, so sorry, I..I was just..umm..." I stuttered out while fumbling the record in my hand to slide back into its place. The sound of his laughter filled my ears as he stepped towards me and putting his hand on the side of my arm.

"Don't worry about it, you can listen to any of them if you like, my record player is just over there," he said gesturing to the corner of his room with his record player in it with a nod of his head.

"In fact..." he drawled out, before reaching into his collection and pulling out A Space in Time, slipping it from its casing and sheet before plopping it onto the turntable and delicately placing the needle on its outer rings.

He looked back up at me as the sound of music filled the room, followed by the light cracking of the vinyl. He smiled at me shyly again before wandering over to his chester drawers.

"I'm just grabbing some stuff for the night and then I'll be out of your hair," he said, reaching into his drawers, picking out a cream shirt and some long flannel pyjama bottoms.

He walked past me as I stood awkwardly near the foot of his bed in the room, heading straight for the door before turning to look back at me over his shoulder.

"Feel free to play anything else if you want, I don't mind," he winked, before wandering out the door and closing it gently behind him.

I let out a deep sigh, a breath I didn't really know I was holding. There wasn't a lock on the door, so I decided I would change into my pyjamas in the bathroom, after a much needed warm shower.

I grabbed my fluffy white pyjama pants and a matching singlet, with a deep red sweater and some warm, grey, fluffy socks along with my toiletry bag and padded towards the bathroom.

Once I made my way over, I could see the light peeking through under the door, and could hear the shower running and the sound of someone humming to an unfamiliar tune. I huffed out a frustrated breath. I just wanted to go to sleep.

Sliding my back down the wall beside the bathroom, I sat on the carpet, curling my legs into my body for warmth and waited patiently for whoever was occupying the bathroom to finish.

I briefly contemplated skipping the shower, but I felt absolutely disgusting after the day of travel I had sustained without one.

Sleep deprivation was starting to notably affect me as my mind began to explore unopened memories and the most abstract thoughts I could come up with, until the exhaustion took over completely.

As I sat, I fought the dark temptations of sleep, prying my eyes open to refocus on the carpet I was sitting on, forcing myself to think about the feeling of the cold wall behind me, but to no prevail.

I would catch my head from falling down to nothing a number of times, shaking it furiously and blinking the blurriness out of my eyes to keep myself awake.

Maybe if I closed my eyes for just 5 seconds I could rid some of the tiredness from my head? Yeah that should work. Just a short little reboot. Letting my eyes slip shut, I reluctantly let sleep overtake me, only for a moment. Just one minute. Just...

"No just let her...yes on the floor...shhh you'll wake....just leave her to...yes...yep okay".

Who in the hell? Groaning I rolled over in bed. A few footsteps and whispers further drawing me out of my slumber.

"Shut up oh my god Sam. Look she's- fucking hell she's awake now well done Sammy," the voice, which I now recognised as Josh's, scolded in a whisper. Forcing my eyes open, I breathed in the homey scent. Far out that was such a good sleep.

Sitting up in bed as I rubbed my eyes with the back of my curled hand I peeked up to see Josh and Sam standing awkwardly in the room, looking down at me sheepishly. What were they doing in here?

"What time is it?" I asked, praying for a jet lag-less start to my new life.

Sam and Josh exchanged looks before Josh spoke, "Ahh it doesn't matter, go back to sleep, I know you're tired".

"No..no I'm awake now its fine, what time is it?" I asked again, sitting up fully in bed and pulling the duvet off my body, only to be met with the same jeans I was wearing last night, and my cream quater-zip sweater. Why was I not changed? I thought back to the night before and retraced my steps. Getting my clothes and toiletries, going to the bathroom, sitting outside and waiting, and then.. oh crap.

Heat pooled up in my face as I realised I must have fallen asleep on the floor outside the bathroom.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep last night, I don't know what came over me I-" I rambled on not looking to either of them in particular, unsure of which one found me on the floor, or if it was either of them in the first place.

Josh cracked a little giggle while Sam smiled down at me, "It's fine, truly," Josh said smiling at me sweetly. I opened my mouth to ask how I had gotten to his bed but Josh beat me to it.

"When I came out of the bathroom, and I saw you..you know, asleep...on the floor," he started, and I covered my face with my hands in embarrassment.

"Ughhh I'm sorry, how do I not remember you waking me up and taking me in here?" I must have been so exhausted.

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "Oh, no I just carried you in here, slept like a baby the whole time," he said the last part with a smug smirk on his face. An ugly image of me passed out and being carried into this room flashed in my mind, making me cringe.

"Oh that’s… embarrasing. I’m sorry about that. And thanks for.." I gestured with my hand to the bed explaining myself without words.

"It's fine, now stop apologising," He chuckled. "Come on, Mom can make you some lunch," he reached his hand out to help me up. Taking it, I felt the familiar warmth as yesterday, something about his touch that comforted me deeply. With a tinge of pink still warming my face, I glanced at Sam as we walked past to leave Josh's room, who was staring at me with an unreadable expression on his face, but I was certain he was frowning slightly.

Making our way downstairs, I was met with the sight of my parents both cradling a cup of hot coffee, looking very tired and conversing with Karen and Kelly.

"There she is!" Dad exclaimed happily, setting his mug down and standing up. "C'mon Sweets, we have to get to setting the house up, I heard the U-Haul pull up about twenty minutes ago." Mum stood soon after, grabbing her and dads bags.

"Its already 3:30 how are you guys going to move all your things in on time? Josh and Jake won't you both go and help the Kings move their furniture into their new house?" Karen demanded more than asked. Wow, 3:30? I slept in really late.

I looked over to Jake, who I hadn't realised was loitering in the kitchen until now, sporting only a pair of sweatpants and a bare chest. I hurriedly looked away, embarrassed. Far out Layla, get it together.

"Yeah we could do that," Josh said before either of my parents could humbly decline.

Next thing I knew, all the furniture for the house had been lifted haphazardly into the main room, and only needed organising into each room.

A sheen layer of sweat lay on the back of my neck sticking to some stray hairs falling from my messy bun. I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand and began bringing up boxes of things up to my room, followed by Josh and Jake.

Once everything was inside, Jake and Josh had full rights to leave and relax at home, but instead they stayed and offered to help me unpack everything for my room. So, for the next two hours or so, we lugged my bed frame, mattress, wardrobe and vanity all throughout my room before starting on my small boxes of belongings.

I quickly learnt that Jake was a man of few words. Kind and gentle, but reserved and his presence didn’t demand too much attention. I could see girls being attracted to him for sure. Looking good was definitely a bonus, but he easily fell into the dark and mysterious category.

Josh however, was loud and boisterous. Not that I minded, but learning that they were twins was surprising to say the least. His personality was certainly flirty and somewhat overbearing, but it only made him more alluring.

We each assigned ourselves a box to store away to be more time efficient.

"Wow these are great!" Jake exclaimed sorting through my vinyl collection. "Do you have a record player?" He asked and I nodded, searching through several of my the unopened boxes on my floor before pulling it out and removing the bubble wrap around it. I plugged it into the nearest powerpoint and set it onto my vanity.

"Choose one to listen to, I don't mind" I said, sneaking a glance at Josh to see if he caught the reference, seeing him smirking back and me cheekily. Jake put on the Fleet Foxes self titled, and I hummed along to Sun it Rises as I put my shirts and jumpers on coat hangers.

We all organised in silence for a while until Josh spoke up, "Alrighty I think thats all your books put away now, next box please!" He beamed at me as I observed my book collection, neatly stacked away next to my vinyl collection that Jake had sorted through earlier.

"Looks great, thanks Josh," I replied while grabbing a random box and sliding it across the carpet his way. Turning back to what I was doing, I listened as Josh hummed along to Ragged Wood while ripping the cardboard box open.

Suddenly his voice was cut short mid-hum and I saw his movements freeze in the corner of my eye. I glanced up at him, my hair falling over my face and I saw his whole face beam red and he swallowed thickly. He hesitantly pushed the box away with one finger, as if afraid to touch it and looked up at me.

"Could you umm.. grab me another box actually Layla?" He asked quietly. Jakes head perked up out at the nervousness in Josh's voice as I crawled over to the box to see what had him so embarrassed.

Looking down, I was met with my white lacy nickers, surrounded by pinks and reds and blues. The contents of my underwear collection. My face went hot and I'm sure resembled a very similar colour to Josh's.

Jake crawled over curiously and peeked inside before I could slam the folds of the box shut, and broke the embarrassing silence with a loud snort of suppressed laughter before rolling onto his side and letting out a howl of laughter.

I couldn't help but giggle at the sight of him, and soon after, Josh was also laughing. It didn't take long before all three of us were out of breath from laughing so hard, Josh choking on his spit at one point, fuelling out giggles even more.

Josh's hand was on my knee, stabilising himself as he came down from his high, as we all sat, letting the music break any silence apart from our occasional giggles.

"I need to pee," Jake said while climbing up off the floor.

I braced myself to stand too, "Oh do you need me to show you where the bathroom is?" I asked.

"No it's alright I'll find it," he smiled back before walking out the room.

Josh stood from his spot and wandered over to the record player, reaching out to twist the volume nozzle and holding his hand out for me to take, already letting his body wiggle behind him as He Doesn't Know Why played loudly from the speakers.

Once I was stood, Josh twirled me around before grabbing both my hands and holding me out at arms length, singing the music dramatically to me. He acted out each lyric as he pranced around the room with me, twisting and contorting my body with him.

Then, he got down on one knee and grabbed onto the sides of my waist looking up at me and bellowing the lyrics.

"There's nothinggggg I can dooooo," he sung, while shaking my body lightly. I threw my head back in laughter at the sight of him.

"There's nothingggg, I can doooo." His voice was beautiful, as it held a firm husk, but still warmed me deeply.

Then his hands left my hips and he clasped them tightly together as if he was begging, "There's nothinggg I can sayyy". His dramatics were hilarious and I couldn't stop myself from pulling him up and dancing the rest of the song out with him, bellowing the lyrics out alongside him.

Once the song ended, we both collapsed onto the floor, puffed and panting heavily, before Jake walked in with a puzzled look on his face as he wandered over to the record player to turn it down back to a respectable volume.

Looking at us quizzically, he pulled his phone out and frowned, "Josh we have to go back home Mom says we still have yesterdays washing to do." Josh let out a long, dramatic groan as Jake turned to look at me, "It was lovely to meet you Layla, I'm sorry we didn't get through all of your unpacking," he said, with a charming smile on his face.

"No worries thanks for all your help!" I replied. He offered a last smile before turning and walking out my bedroom door.

Josh sighed and turned to look at me, his eyes lingering on mine for a second too long. "Are you free tomorrow?" He asked.

"Umm yeah I just need to buy some school supplies but that’s about it," I answered, already feeling exited with the possibility of spending more time with them. He stared at me again with a small smile creeping up onto his face, the little gap in his two front teeth peeking out between his lips.

"I love your accent," he said suddenly. I laughed nervously.

“Oh, um. Thanks,” I said awkwardly, scratching the back of my neck in embarrassment.

His smile grew impossibly lager as he observed my reaction and he jumped up from his spot, grabbing his phone and house keys, "Don't be embarrassed, I think it sounds.. beautiful, it definitely suits you," he winced at himself as he said the last words, realising what he implied before licking his lips nervously and scratching his head.

I giggled, "Thanks Josh."

He furrowed his eyebrows, as if in deep thought before he smiled and turned around, quickly looking over his shoulder, similarly to last night in his bedroom, "Goodbye Layla, I'll come by tomorrow to pick you up at 12?" He asked. I nodded and he disappeared down the hallway from my room.

He was a strange boy, that was for sure. A bit quirky and a bit weird. But why wasn’t that putting me off? His charismatic persona was drawing me in like a heavy anchor and I was already sinking.

I lay back onto my now made bed, listening to the crackle of the finished vinyl on my vanity, letting my mind recap everything that had happened in the past few days, before finally lulling me to sleep, my last thoughts on Josh.

I awoke to a golden glow bleeding through my thin curtains into my bedroom, effectively lighting up the whole room. Groaning, I rolled onto my side and reached onto my bedside table, blindly fumbling for my phone with my eyes still glued shut. 

After many failed attempts, I huffed in frustration and peeled my eyes open, face still buried in my pillows, only to find my bedside table empty, apart from a lamp that I remembered Jake setting up for me.

Propping myself on my elbows and twisting my head uncomfortably, I spotted my phone across the room on the floor, next to a pile of empty boxes.

"Ugghh," I groaned again, dropping my face back into the pile of pillows below me, and after a few seconds of self pity, I forced myself out of bed and wandered over to my phone.

The time on my lock screen read 9:08, and I suddenly became very aware of the fact that I had skipped dinner last night in my exhausted state.

Wandering down the stairs towards the kitchen, I kept my eyes glued to my phone, scrolling through different social media platforms and checking for any unopened messages. 

There were only a few, a message from my closest friend back home telling me that she missed me, and one from a group chat asking if anyone wanted to hang out.

I didn't usually have a fear of missing out with my friends, and liked to think that I was much more relaxed than that, but I couldn't help the pit of sadness in my belly from dwelling after reading everyones messages, making plans that I wouldn’t ever be a part of. 

It didn't take me much more contemplation to go into the group chat settings before taping the 'Leave Conversation' option.

Soon I found myself at the kitchen island, scooping spoons full of cheerios into my mouth, while scrolling through photos that my friends had posted on instagram only a day after I left. Was I that easy to forget?

"Hi Honey, any plans for today?" Mum asked, strolling into the kitchen and filling the kettle with water before switching it on to boil.

I placed my phone face down on the counter. "I was gonna go to the store to get some stuff for school. Oh, and Josh asked if I wanted to do something around 12," I frowned, wondering what he had planned and now suddenly very conscious of the time I had to get ready.

Mum smirked at me while pouring her instant coffee into her mug of hot water, "Josh, huh?"

I groaned and dropped my head backwards, "Please don't go there Mum its far too early in the morning," I begged. She brought he mug up to her lips and raised her eyebrows at me before walking out, a smug look adoring her features.

I tipped the rest of the milk in my bowl back before walking over to the sink and washing it. I looked out the window in front of the sink while I dried the bowl off, noticing that our kitchen window looked right into the Kiszkas' living room and kitchen.

Walking out of my spot hastily in fear of being seen, I climbed the stairs and checked my phone again, which now read 9:36, before grabbing a change of clothes and a towel to shower.

I had been so busy with travelling and moving in the past day, that I found no spare time to shower, apart from my hallway incident at the Kiszkas' house. 

I felt positively disgusting, the plane air still lingering on my skin, and the sweat from lifting heavy furniture still ghosted the back of my neck. 

After I made my way to the bathroom, I turned on the water and peeled off my clothes, chucking them haphazardly onto the floor while waiting for the stream to warm up. Once a thin layer of steam clouded the air, I stepped under the water and sighed deeply, letting the stream run over my head and down my face, coating my skin and warming me to my bones.

I basked in the refreshing feel of lathering the soapy products through my hair, and over my body, and as if to reverse my lack of shower the past days, I used my most expensive products, exfoliating, cleansing and all the works. 

Lastly, I gave myself an all inclusive shave before twisting the heat off fully and forcing myself to stand under the freezing cold water for at least a minute.

The water shocked my body and caught my breath, while goosebumps erupted across my skin, as I rolled my shoulders to try and loosen up my now very tense muscles.

"Jesus, that's cold," I whispered before turning the water off completely and stepping out of the shower and wrapping my shivering body in my white, fluffy towel. 

After lathering my body in lotion and putting on my underwear, I stepped into my wide legged jeans and a tight, long sleeved crimson top, finishing the outfit with an off-white sweater. I let my damp hair fall back over my shoulders to dry naturally, giving it room to curl on its own.

I walked back down the hallway and into my room before searching through my vinyl collection and choosing George Harrisons, All Things Must Pass. I placed it on my record player and shut my eyes for a moment, letting I'd Have You Anytime fill the silence in the room. 

Wandering over to my vanity, I put on a bit of concealer under my eyes, followed by mascara on my eyelashes before inspecting myself in my body length mirror.

Other than having to adjust the collar of my sweater, I looked good. My jeans gave my legs the illusion that they were longer than they were, and my sweater had enough bag that covered my figure, but complimented my frame just the same.

It was still a while before Josh was coming to pick me up to take me to whatever plans he had for us today, so I grabbed a handbag and filled it with essentials, before slipping on some white adidas sneakers with red accents and wrapping a red scarf around my neck.

I found my parents doing some final decorations in the living room when I approached them, "Hey guys I'm just off to the store to buy some books and stuff for school, I won't be long," I said with a smile.

"Okay be safe, we love you!" Dad replied.

"I love you too," I bellowed as I slipped out the front door and onto the patio. The weather was considerably colder outside and I rubbed my hands together furiously to create some much needed heat.

It wasn't until I had hopped down the steps off the porch, and was standing on the pavement that I realised I had no idea where I was going. I looked up and down each length of the street, contemplating which way to go. I definitely should have thought this out before leaving.

I twisted my handbag round to my front, pulling on its zipper to take out my phone and the route to town on Google Maps. Just to my luck, the zipper was caught on something inside, and would not budge. I took the handbag off my shoulder before pulling the zipper with more force and leverage.

"Come on," I breathed out, pulling the zipper with as much strength as I could muster, my knuckles turning white at the stronghold I had on my bag. Then, as if my luck couldn't get any worse, the pull on the zipper snapped off completely.

Huffing in defeat, I threw the bag back over my shoulder angrily and began to walk down the street, mumbling profanities under my breath in annoyance.

"Hey! Where are you going?"

I whipped my head around at the voice before spotting Josh, who stood on his driveway in khaki pants and a large white jumper, mala beads hanging down across his chest.

"Oh hey, I'm just going to town to buy some things for school," I smiled sheepishly at him as if I had any idea which direction 'town' was in.

He looked at me strangely, "If you keep going that way you'll end up in Mr. Fables wheat field," he chuckled and my face burned red at my incompetence.

"Oh, um, whoops," I laughed dryly, sending him a dismissive smile and making my way past him. "Am I still seeing you at 12 today?" I asked.

He broke out in a one-sided smile, "How about I come with you? To the school shopping stuff I mean. We could just take off from there?" He asked, scratching the side of his forearm, with a nervous look on his face.

"I don't want to be a bother...but..." I droned out while Josh stared at me expectantly.

"But?" He asked.

"...But.. it would help to, you know, have someone there to show me around," my hands found my necklace as I fiddled wth it nervously, twirling it between my thumb and forefinger. A small smile crept onto my face as he beamed at me.

It wasn't long before Josh and I were walking through the town centre, conversation flowing freely and comfortably. 

His giggles were loud and boisterous, much like the ones in my room after finding my box of underwear, and the looks we received from passerbys weren't the kindest. He was very easy to be around, and I felt comfort in his small touches, whether it be a playful shove, or a small touch on my arm.

Once we reached Krogers, Josh lead me towards the stationary isles. We picked out books, pens and other necessities that he said were 'vital for a true Frankenmuth experience', whatever the hell that meant.

"You know, you'll have a lot of work to catch up on when you start... it's the middle of the school year," Josh pointed out, throwing packets of Lays into out shopping cart mindlessly. I groaned, of course I knew this, and it was plaguing my thoughts, weighing me down with stress and pressure.

"I know, I know. I finished Year 11 in December back home, so I should have a bit of background information. But I'm sure the syllabus is totally different over here," I ran my hands through my hair, tucking it behind my ears stressfully.

He studied me for a minute, watching my hands as they ran through my hair again, before I settled hands to my mouth, nibbling on my nails. 

"You can borrow my notes," he offered. "I don't know what electives you chose but you can use mine for whatever we have together, and Jake can give you anything else too." I looked up at him, pride written all over his face.

"I don't know.. I can't just use your work, that's hardly fair," I said, as the familiar vice of guilt warmed the back of my neck.

"Of course you can," he chirped back, before speeding off down the isle, subsequently ending the conversation there. I sucked in a breath and hurried down after him to the self checkout, where he was already scanning through my schoolbooks.

I reached to my bag to grab my card, feeling for the the zipper clasp to take my card out.

"Shit," I breathed under my breath, tugging at the metal contraption with my nails, trying to shove my finger in to open the zip.

"Please Insert Card," the machine demanded, as I frantically pulled at the broken zipper.

The machine beeped.

Whipping my head up I saw Josh quickly putting his card back into his wallet as the machine printed out a receipt.

"What- what are you doing?" I rushed out. He only shrugged at me with a sheepish smile on his face. "That was like $30 worth of stuff Josh! I don't even know how much thats worth in Australian currency. Don't worry, I'll pay you back once I can get my bag open. I just need to get some cash first. My God Josh you didn't need to do that-" I ranted.

Josh placed his hand on my shoulder, "Don't worry about it," he searched my face for a second longer, "Seriously, just...it's okay." He let out a breathy chuckle and turned back to the register.

"Okay, well thank you," I said quietly as he began carelessly scanning through the copious amounts of snacks he bought, while I stood to the side like an idiot, nibbling the side of my cheek.

Once he finished up with his own shopping, we wandered out of the shops, as he pulled out his phone, glancing at the time before sliding it back into his pocket.

"It's nearly twelve, want to come back to mine now?" He asked.

"Yeah sure, I'll just go home to drop this stuff off first," I replied, holding the plastic bag up in front of us. He nodded before delving into an obscure topic of interest, holding the conversation the remainder of the walk home. 

His extroverted and dramatic actions didn't fail to make me laugh, and even pulled an ugly snort out of me occasionally.

Once had made our way back to our houses, we walked past Josh's house to mine, as he insisted on walking me the whole way. I caught sight of Sam and Jake on their porch with a boy I didn't recognise, as all three of them sported acoustic guitars, and were strumming a soft tune. Sam gave me a short wave and Jake offered me a smile.

I ran through my house, quickly throwing the bags from the store on my bedroom floor, next to the boxes which had yet to be organised, before hopping back down the steps to Josh who was sat waiting for me on the porch steps.

Hearing the front door shut, he looked at me over his shoulder before standing and motioning for me to follow him with a nod of his head.

Jake, Sam and the other boy stopped their playing when Josh and I made our way to their porch and walked up the steps.

"Hey Layla. Oh, this is our friend, Danny. He lives on the block over," Sam told me. He smiled at me warmly as I observed his long black curly hair and sharp bone structure. He looked like a Greek God.

"Hi it's nice to meet you, I'm Layla," I said to him.

"Nice to meet you too."

"Alrighty boys, are we ready?" Josh clapped his hands together, walking back down the steps of the porch towards the garage door, Sam, Jake and Danny all following closely behind. I trailed after them curiously, as they pulled up the garage door latch and pushed the heavy metal up halfway, ducking slightly as they entered. 

I stood by the door, suddenly feeling a bit forgotten and wondering if I was allowed to come in.

Sam poked his head out from under the door and smiled at me, "You coming?" He asked.

"Uh yeah sorry," I said, not having to duck nearly as much as the other boys due to my short stature.

Inside stood a shiny, silver drum kit with a bass guitar and electric guitar on either side. In the middle was a microphone on a long metal stand, wires tangled left and right over the floor. 

Jake wandered over to the guitar, crossing Sam who picked up the sea foam green bass guitar on the left side of Danny, who was already climbing onto the seat of his kit.

With everyone concentrated on their instruments, Josh wandered over to me with a smirk on his face, "So, whatcha think?" Biting his lip now, I couldn't take my eyes off him, his skin had a warm glow to it, and I could see the faint outline of a scar on the soft skin of his cheek. 

Up close, I could also see the scatter of hairs above his upper lip, and the wrinkles beside his lips from smiling too much. "Um..Layla?"

"Yeah?" I responded, furrowing my eyebrows.

"I said, what do you think?" He asked again, this time waving his arm around to the instruments behind him.

"Oh! Yeah, this is really cool," I replied quickly, looking around the room again to catch Jake leant over Dannys kit, whispering in his ear before Danny let out a low chuckle.

I could feel the undeniable bond that all these boys had together, and couldn't help but feel displaced from only knowing them all for a day or less and interrupting their peace.

Josh rushed over to a pile of clothes, blankets, wires and other unnamable items and threw them onto the floor, revealing an old tattered couch underneath.

He twirled his hand in the direction, bowing slightly, "Only the best quality for M'Lady."

I giggled before plopping myself on the couch, which I found to be surprisingly bouncy. I curled my knees up to my chest, rested my elbow on the arm of the couch and plopped my face on the heel of my palm.

After a bit of tuning, the boys had set everything up and began choosing which song to play, and it wasn't long before Josh spoke into the microphone, "Ladies and gentlemen," he looked me in the eye as their only member of audience causing me to giggle, "I present to you, Thunderstomp."

Jakes guitar rung out through the room for a moment, isolated in the silence of the room, before the room exploded with sound. Jakes body contorted around the guitar, lost in the music, Dannys mouth hung open in concentration as he swung at his kit, and Sam blinked furiously in time with the music, his feet flicking up behind him as he paced on the spot.

It wasn't long before Josh's voice rang out through the microphone. I was mesmerised by his voice, hitting notes so high that his voice would husk, before lowering, deeper than I had heard him speak.

Awestruck, I sat in awe as the boys finished the song, the last few notes lingering in the air as I gawked like an idiot.

"I- wow," is all I managed to stutter out and all four of them smiled at me.

"We only finished writing it about a week ago, but we've been trying to perfect it for months," Sam said to me.

"Writing?" I asked confused. "You mean you guys wrote that?" My voice raising slightly as I returned from whatever trance I was in.

Jake chuckled, "Yeah, you liked that?"

Blushing at the question, I nodded eagerly. "So do you guys have a name?"

"Yep. Greta Van Fleet" Josh replied, setting down a bottle of water after taking a large swing.

I raised my eyebrows, "Oh thats cool, you guys sound great," I said, trying to mask the nervousness in my voice incase it is taken as ingenuity. With all four pairs of eyes on me, I shuffled uncomfortable in my seat, before scanning the room once more.

"Is that a keyboard?" I asked, perking up slightly.

"Yeah Sammy plays bass and keys. You play?" Danny replied, sounding genuinely interested.

"Yeah, a little. I used to take lessons when I was a kid and I had a piano in my room for a while," I answered, my fingers suddenly aching to press the keys.

"Thats cool, how come you didn't bring it when you moved? I didn't see it in the U-Haul?" Jake questioned.

I stiffened slightly. Now definitely wasn't the time to tell them that I had to sell most of my things because we were struggling so much financially. 

Dad had just been let go from his job, leaving us with one source of income, and to top it off, the medical expenses from my car accident were heavy. 

Luckily I was the only one hurt; Mum and Dad weren't even in the car, but the metal rod placed in my thigh came at a high price. 

The whole healing process was pretty much a joke to me, costing us everything we had, but leaving me with a lingering pain in my thigh, and if inspected closely enough, a slightly lopsided walk from the irked way that it healed. 

"Ahh I don't know, just grew bored of it I guess," I lied.

"Well come up, play us something then," Sam said excitedly.

The boys all enjoyed hearing me play, and even took turns requesting songs like Suite: Judy Blue Eyes, which Sam claimed was from his favourite album.

"I have it on vinyl if you ever wanna borrow it," I offered. His smile grew tenfold, "Fuck yeah that'd be great, thanks," he replied with a light tinge of pink on his cheeks.

We spent the rest of the day messing around on the instruments, Danny trying to teach Jake polyrhythms on the drums, Jake trying to teach me to play simple chords, only for my hand to cramp up in pain, time and time again, and Josh and Sam screeching around the room like lunatics, jumping on the couch and throwing pillows at each other.

Reaching for my phone to check the time, I remembered my bag zipper predicament, "Hey um.. do any of you think you could help me fix this? My zipper broke off and all my stuff is in here." I asked and they all made their way over, snatching my bag from my grasp, discussing silently between themselves before running around the room to get several tools.

Jake ended up using his string cutters to cut a small part of the fabric which was stuck in the zip, and Sam tied a string to the zipper loop to help me open it. Smiling proudly, they handed me back the fixed up bag and resumed their spots at their instruments, messing around with different chord progressions and bickering between themselves.

I pulled my phone out of my bag, comforted to know I didn't have to ruin the whole bag to cut it out, before switching the power button on and seeing 3 missed calls from Mum and 5 missed calls from Dad.

"Shit," I whispered before looking at the time; 6:12pm.

"Whats wrong, is everything okay?" Josh asked. How did I lose track of time so badly?

"Uh yeah sorry my parents are worried about me, I have to head home," I rushed out, gathering my things and checking over my spot to ensure I hadn't forgotten anything.

Josh pulled up the garage door for me, a look of concern painted on his face as I hurried out into the piercing cold. The sun had set, leaving the dusk atmosphere with a dark hue of blue, lingering in the depth of the sky.

"Thanks for everything guys I had a really fun time!" I said looking back and smiling at all four boys, who returned smiles, waves and goodbyes.

"I'll walk you home," Josh said, following me closely as I sped down the pavement.

"You don't have to do that, I'm only like ten steps away," I replied nervously. He only shrugged in response, burying his hands into his coat pockets.

Once I made my way up the front porch step, I searched my bag for my house keys, ripping them out and fumbling with them to find the front door key. My keys from Australia still hung from the keychains as I filtered through them for the right one and made a mental note to take them off when I had the time.

Suddenly, the door swung open to reveal both of my parents standing at the threshold with worried looks on their faces.

"Where have you been?" Dad asked with an unreadable expression painted on his face.

"Is your phone not working? We've been trying to get a hold of you for hours," Mum asked with a tinge of anger in her tone.

"I'm so sorry, the zip on my bag was broken so I couldn't open it and my phone was in there, and I just totally lost track of time, it wont happen again I promise it was a total mistake.." I trailed off as I realised my parents attention wasn't on me, but the short, curly haired boy behind me.

I turned to see him shifting his weight between his legs and shuffling his feet nervously on the floor, "Umm it was nice to see you Mr and Mrs King, I uh, was just walking Layla home."

He smiled awkwardly, "I'm.. gonna go," he muttered before turning to me, "Bye Layla."

After a long lecture about safety and communication with my parents, I stalked off to my bedroom, shutting the door closed gently behind me. I wandered over to my window to pull my curtains shut, bus as I grabbed onto the fabric, I could see the light of a window inside the Kiszkas' house. In fact, the room was directly across from mine, about 5 metres away.

I knew it was Josh’s room by the furniture.

I could see the details of his desk and bed, just as I remembered it, and I scanned my eyes across his vinyl collection, admiring its length, before the back-end of a very naked boy blocked my view.

He was hopping around in his room trying to shimmy on a pair of boxers, one leg bent awkwardly in the air as he stumbled around mindlessly.

Blushing like a maniac, I quickly looked away and ripped the curtains closed. I huffed out a breath before grabbing my own pyjamas to put on, cursing my nosiness and swearing to never change with the curtains open like that idiot.