#WOW uhh this got. a little longer than i intended.

[enviral]

@ubcs​  sent  💬  for a randomized dialogue starter. 

          THIS  NIGHT'S  LASTED  FOREVER.    i  can't  remember  the  last  time  i  had  a  chance  to  really    stop  and  think.    in  the  chaos  ,    my  mind's  only  been  able  to  repeat  the    same  words  ,    over  and  over  ,    like  some  kind  of  manic  mantra  :    i  should've  just  stayed  home.    driving  in  with  a  hangover  had  been    bad  enough  ,    halogen  headlights  nearly    dizzying    in  their  brightness  ,    an  affront  to  already  sensitive  eyes  and  a  catalyst  to  the  way  my  head  continued  to    pound  and  throb    with  pain.    i  should've  just  turned  around  and  headed  back  to  my  apartment  ,    chock  full  of  memories  i'd  been  working  to  forget  with  liquid  amnesia.  

          at  this  point  ,    it  wasn't  going  to  be  an  issue  much  longer.  

          they  weren't  bites  ,    i  don't  think  ,    but  some  of  those  things  had  managed  to  take  some  pretty  decent  chunks  out  of  me  ,    and  between  the  blood  loss  ,    pain  ,    and  the  darkness  encroaching  on  the  edges  of  my  unsteady  vision  ,    i  don't  think  i'm  long  for  this  world.    my  hand  presses  shakily  against  the  wound  at  my  midriff  ,    fingers  slick  with  blood  that  seeps  between  them  in  lazy  pulses.  

          it's  funny    —    they  talk  about  how  being  surrounded  by  death  ,    or  being  close  to  it  yourself  ,    makes  you  think    that  much  harder    about  life  ,    and  it  sounds  like  such  a    cliche.    but  they're  right.    all  these  years  ,    and  what  do  i  have  to  show  for  it?    a  badge  i  wore  for  a  single  day  ,    and  not  one  person  to  show  it  to.    no  family  ,    no  real  friends.    my  whole  life  ,    i've  wanted  nothing  more  than  to    help  others  ,    and  yet  ,    when  it  comes  to  the  end  ,    i  have  no  one.    i  almost  laugh.    instead  ,    i  turn  to  the  one  person  who's  stuck  by  me  since  our  fateful  encounter  downtown  ,    and  briefly  hesitate  before  speaking  ,    in  a  voice  i  find    unbefitting    of  a  police  officer.    i  sound  weak.    small.  

          ❛❛    would  you  come  to  my  funeral?    ❜❜  

[hearts401]

Honestly idk why l'm telling you this and sorry for bothering you with Michael afton but I used to be pretty neutral on him I until I found your blog. Then he just. Infected my brain like a disease. He's now a huge comfort character like what. Seriously, I think about this dumb little guy literally EVERY SECOND OF MY LIFE IM NOT EVEN JOKING HES TAKING OVER IM SOMEWHAT CONCERNED FOR MY OWN WELLBEING AT THIS POINT. what have you done.

This whole thing is /pos btw I just like the theatrics of it

Also ra question for the sweet tooth au, what animal are the hybrids like. Hybrids of? Like since you kinda compared Gregory to gus in the au is Gregory a deer hybrid? And what about everyone else?

Woah this ended up being wayyy longer than I intended I am so sorry

YIPPEE WE GOT ONE BOYS!!!!! I'M HAPPY I CHANGED UR BRAIN CHEMISTRY HEHEHEH

its kinda nuts that thats because of my posts tho wow...

heheheehehe hes like a little worm he crawls into ur brain and makes a home

also it depends!

Cassidy is a caracal for example, because i had too many bears and she gives cat vibes to me. But greg is a Hare!! (bc malhare and i had a bunny already)

uhh ill just list em

Gregory: Hare

Cassidy: Caracal

Evan: Bear

Susie: Chicken

Fritz MCI: Fox

Jeremy MCI: Bunny

gabriel: not sure yet idk if i want two bears but for now, bear be upon ye!

Cassie: Wolf (IF shes a hybrid im torn on it still)

everyone else is human!!

[gohnnyjuitar]

20 OTP Questions

tagged by @sunset-cassaparilla ( i am in love with myra & danse’s dynamic btw wow) this took me so long bc my little brain was like Hm.. make pic for them........

i’ll tag uhh @benny-gecko-official, @saddeniq, @theartofblossoming if you haven’t already!! otherwise i mean if you see this just pretend i tagged you bc i’m bad at tagging hlhlfh

anyway, here’s Anthony and Deacon bc i’m Hopeless!! under the cut this time bc i talk a lot jfkgfj

1. Who can out-drink the other?

Deacon’s by no means a light weight, but Anthony’s got that patented Prewar Liver™ and some fancy Vault Tex nanites cleaning up his blood.That being said, they’ve never actually attempted to get drunk together; they’ve had a few beers together, sure, but they’re usually too busy or too antsy to get drunk.

2. Who says “i love you” more?

Deacon, and usually in private. They both know all too well that the Wasteland can take just about anything from you if you aren’t careful, but Deacon especially. After Barbara and working with the Railroad- the Switchboard- he wasn’t even expecting to get close to anyone like that again. Now, he won’t let himself take that for granted. They do pick up kind of a “code” when it comes to wanting to say it in public.

3. Who has trouble sleeping alone?

Anthony’s had issue with this since leaving the Vault. Not only was he used to sleeping next to someone, he was used to sleeping in a room with three other people.Travelling on his own is the only time it gets really bad. Nightmares come more often and, at its worst, insomnia. If he’s having a particularly bad day, he likes to tuck his head under Deacon’s chin and press his face into his shirt as if to reassure himself that there is another presence there.

4. Who swears more?

Deacon does. Anthony was usually in sight of a camera prewar so usually had to watch how he acted and what he said. He’s so used to it, that when he does swear, it catches him off guard a little. Always gets a good chuckle out of Deacon, too, who usually threatens with a swear jar.

5. Who does more of the housework?

Got me thinking of them settling down now oof.. I think it would end up being both of them pretty equally. Anthony did his own housework when he lived in his own apartment prewar and Deacon just doesn’t like Mess.

6. Who forgets their anniversary?

Deacon takes pride in being able to remember, well, a lot. Anthony insists he’s been around long enough that things tend to blur together. Deacon will tease Anthony about it on different days, but they don’t really take the whole ‘anniversary’ thing too seriously. What’s one day matter when the next could be your last in the Wasteland?

7. Who steals the duvet in their sleep?

Deacon, absolutely. Anthony’s always run pretty warm and doesn’t usually go for a blanket unless he’s sick or it’s actually cold out. When winter rolls around, it wouldn’t be uncommon to see Deacon wrapped up in whatever blanket he could find with Anthony all but draped over him.

8. Who keeps the other awake at night with their snoring?

Deacon will never admit it- and Anthony will never tell him- but he snores whenever he’s actually sound asleep. Anthony thinks it’s endearing, not to mention he lives for when Deacon gets some actual sleep. He’ll take watch all night if it means the poor man gets some rest.

9. Who finds stray animals and begs the other to let them keep them?

Anthony is, unfortunately, allergic to pet dander so Deacon knows better than to hold onto a stray dog or cat. That definitely didn’t stop him from presenting Anthony with a pristine Deathclaw egg and nearly killing him on the spot.

10. Who usually makes dinner?

They take turns! When they can remember whose turn it is, anyway. Sometimes it’s decided with some good ol’ fashion rock paper scissors. Neither of them are terrible cooks, but it’s always better than some of the prewar food left behind.

11. Who plays their music out loud?

Anthony carries around an Elvis holotape that he likes to play whenever he finds an intact holotape player. Otherwise, it’s not uncommon for him to end up humming a song that might’ve gotten stuck in his head when visiting say Diamond City. Deacon doesn’t mind. In fact, sometimes it helps lull him to sleep at night.

12. Who hogs the bathroom?

Listen, a man’s got to know just how well a disguise works. Deacon only hogs the mirror whenever he’s putting on a disguise and Anthony usually couldn’t care less. He likes to make sure his hair doesn't look absolutely disgusting, but he can usually get enough space to do that while Deacon’s changing. It has ended with an elbow to the ribs or stepping on feet in smaller bathrooms, but they end up with a good laugh if that’s the case.

13. Who gives the most compliments?

Oh, they’re obnoxious. They like to shoot increasingly dramatic or outrageous compliments at each other whenever they’re somewhere safe and around others. Especially at HQ. It grinds Carrington’s gears and they think it’s hilarious. The more sincere compliments are said only when it’s just the two of them. They’re said with soft smiles and gentle voices and they’re as sincere as could be do not attempt to fight me on this.

14. Who usually starts/causes arguments between them?

That definitely depends on the argument. They’re both generally pretty laid back dudes so not a lot gets them really heated like that. When they do argue it’s usually a brief, angry thing. They have to find separate corners of HQ or even go a couple days with radio silence before they come back together and apologize. It’s never words intended on hurting, it’s usually concerning the other’s well being.

15. Who isn’t afraid to embarrass the other in public?

Deacon is really good at that. He can do something completely asinine and still keep a straight face. His favorite thing is to say something incredibly specific and a reference to something only Anthony would understand in front of him and whoever he’s talking to. Anthony will embarrass unintentionally, usually by way of complimenting Deacon to someone else like Desdemona or Carrington while he’s in earshot.

16. Who gives the other cringe-worthy pet names?

File this under one of the things they do to get on Carrington’s nerves.’Stars’ and ‘Deeks’ are the go-to nicknames, but man can they get creative if they’re bored enough. Deacon leans towards the more outrageous, ‘that’s not even a real word’ names while Anthony will absolutely break out the prewar slang. If Carrington has to hear Deacon be called ‘one chrome-plated pussycat’ one more time, he’ll lose it.

17. Who fusses over the other when they get sick?

Anthony doesn’t get sick often at all, so when he does it’s usually pretty bad. The  Vault Tec nanites in his blood can work to clean out his system, but that can mean Anthony’s body going comatose while they do their job. The first time that happened since coming back to the Commonwealth, he’d contracted Vault 81′s Molerat disease and given the cure to Austin. Deacon, who didn’t know much about his nanites at the time, was absolutely beside himself when Anthony suddenly just dropped.

18. Who finds it impossible to stay angry at the other for long?

They’re both, as mentioned, incredibly laid back about most things. Deacon can manage to stay ‘angry’ longer than Anthony, given the reason. Anthony’s attitude leans towards ‘I don’t know what’ll happen tomorrow, so let’s fix this before then’. Deacon has the potential to ‘stay angry’ longer simply because he can avoid and throw himself into work if he really wants to.

19. Who clings to the other for comfort when they’re sad or scared?

Anthony’s more likely to actively seek out comfort when he’s upset. He’ll end up in a funk for a day or two, realize he’s Upset, then go find Deacon and pull him away for a hug. Sometimes he can get away with just being near Deacon and listening to him just talk, other times he likes to be Held.

20. Who is more ‘physically passionate’? (hugs, kisses, or maybe more…)

Probablyyy Anthony, if only because Deacon’s more of a private guy so only displays affection when there aren’t any prying eyes. I like to think that eventually, in places they’re both comfortable, they’re more likely to be seen holding hands or lingering touches. In times of celebration, Anthony has the potential to get carried away and Scoop Deacon up into a big ol’ hug.

[sebaekberry]

tag game 🌿

Rules are: answer the questions given by the tagger. write 11 questions of your own. tag 11 people.

thanks @cottonhyun for tagging me. I loved your questions, so creative!! might steal some of them for my questions too. I didn’t tag 11 people but if you want to do this, go nuts. tag me in it, too and I’ll happily read it. and if you don’t want to do it, no worries. 

your questions:

1. Least favourite fruit

huh I don't think anyone has ever asked me this?? it took some thought ngl. I like almost all fruits, I'm not at all picky. ok maybe except for green grapes. they leave a chalky after-taste. 

2. How would you achieve your own ultimate goal in life?

maybe this sounds sappy, but my ultimate goal in life is just to be happy. I've been spending a lot of time lately just figuring out what I want my life to be and how to achieve it and I keep coming up blank. but I've realised that I kept planning for ten and twenty years into the future instead of living in the present and focusing on what makes me happy right now where I'm at. and I think it's important to keep in mind that the future will happen whether you want it to or not so try to make the most of it in the moment. uh rant over, my bad

3. Describe the perfect day

oof it's missing the homies hours rn, big time. I want to be outside, having chill picnics with friends, playing games, and going swimming. or even just the little things, like going to my favourite reading spots, biking through the city, going to the movies, to the shops, to the museums !! if I could do any of those things freely, I'd be super happy.

4. Still or carbonated water?

oh still water for sure. carbonated water is like static in your mouth, don’t come at me 

5. Best childhood memory?

is it weird that I don't actually have one? like it's not that I had a bad childhood, not at all. I just...feel so disconnected from my childhood. I know there were things I enjoyed like swimming, picking wild strawberries, greek mythology, painting and climbing, etc but there is no one specific memory that I can think of.

6. If someone is visiting your country for the first time, what kind of activities / sightseeing would you recommend them? 

restaurants!! I live in stockholm and we have such a wide selection of food places, literally every type of cuisine you could imagine. a stroll through Gamla Stan is nice any time of year, maybe stop for some ice-cream, waffles or afternoon tea, a quick look inside the sci-fi bookstore there is always nice. there are waterways everywhere so I really recommend a walk somewhere along the water. stockholm is pretty small compared to other cities, so maybe bike around as many places as you can? part of our public transport is also by boat. museums and outside exhibits! bergianska trädgården. so many amazing cafés to get cozy in. late evenings on rooftop bars. the only con here is that everything closes pretty early. so if you’re touristing, keep check of the opening hours 

7. What’s your favourite song from the year you were born?

ok imma be honest and say I had to look up what songs were released in 1997 and bro..all the legendary songs: barbie girl, bitter sweet symphony, I’ll be missing you, candle in the wind, TORN. I mean the nineties isn’t even my favourite decade of music but damn...the bops. men in black came out in 1997, ain’t that iconic? and the spice girls wow “slam it to the left, if you’re havin’ a good time, shake it to the right, if ya know that you feel fine” indEED. don’t think I even can pick a favourite but everybody by backstreet boys is real contender, huh? 

8. Are you happy right now?

hoo boy, ain't that a loaded question...uhh not really? I mean there's a lot to be said about the issues currently surrounding us that are fucking miserable to think about as well as the future impacts but we're not gonna unpack all of that now...ahem. but as for myself, it's not that I'm unhappy with where I am, it just feels like I'm at a standstill. like am I on the right path, is it leading me where I want to go, should I pick another one? actually, this could get real ranty so imma just stop right here lol.

9. Who is your role model?

I don't really have one role model above others, but more of a list of people who I admire (family, friends, musicians, writers, artists and craftsmen), whose qualities all combined inspire me to better myself.

10. Ice cream or ice lollies?

I...would die for ice-cream. sweden and our ice-cream selection, a solid 9/10. it would be 10/10 but there are so few brands that sell mint chocolate. yes I am bitter about it

11. An item you value the most?

about two years ago, I made my own journal out of some fabric, sewed in all the pages and everything myself, and I think that’s probably the most valuable thing I own. I've only filled 15 or so pages in it but I plan on using it for a long time and maybe passing it on to someone else some day.

okayyyy this got way longer than I intended it to, uh sorry lol. if you read all of that, I am half grateful and half apologetic. dunno who I should tag tbh, I haven’t done tag games on here for ages, and usually not on this blog, but I’ll steal some people from my activity feed and tag: @younglingyoda, @bunny-jungkook, @zhangzjs, @fluffyhunnie, @chaichanyeol, @vroomvroombaek 💞💞

my questions: 

1. if you could be in any other place, where would you go? 

2. drop your skincare routine

3. describe your aesthetic, use images if you want!  

4. what’s your favourite song from the year you were born? 

5. sour or sweet candy? 

6. tell me your favourite story, myth or fairytale

7. what is your favourite sound? 

8. a quote, lyric, or piece of advice that sits with you? 

9. pick two scoops of ice-cream: chocolate brownie, salted caramel, vanilla, mango swirl, strawberry cheesecake, mint chocolate, salty licorice, pistacchio

10. what motivates you, what keeps you going? 

11. if you could live in any fictional universe, which would it be?

[amydancepants-peralta]

Cliche prompts - 1, 27, 36 or 49 (i really wanted to narrow it down but this list is gold and i'm indecisive so i leave the choice to you :D )

Prompt time!  For this one I decided to combine two of my favourite options - 27 for ‘Help me I’m being hit on at a bar please be my fake boyfriend for a second’, and 16 for ‘I need a date for this wedding’. 

It’s a little longer than I’d intended for a one-shot, but I hope you enjoy!  It’s also on AO3 if you’d prefer to read longer fics there :D 

Kasia & Anon, I hope you enjoy! xx

Suddenly (I’m in love with a stranger) 

There was nothing about this particular Friday night that seemed to set it apart from all the others.  Jake had met Charles at their favourite bar, Shaw’s, and over the course of the night had managed to confirm his title as the Dartboard King of Brooklyn (Shaw’s Edition).  

He had been on his way to the bar, a spring in his step from his newfound title when a cloud of dark hair, brown eyes and curves had run up to him, throwing her hands around his neck and shouting “BABE!  I’M SO GLAD YOU’RE HERE!”.

Arms wrapping around her as he absorbed the impact of her body crashing into his, Jake’s brows had furrowed in confusion as the Mystery Woman twisted her head towards his, whispering into his ear - “There’s a guy over there that won’t stop hitting on me and I told him you were my boyfriend, please please PLEASE go along with it!”   

Her breath had felt warm against his skin, and her body fit perfectly against his.  And without a second thought, Jake had tightened his grip around her, loudly answering, “Uhh .. hey babe, hey!  So glad you found me!”  In an instant, he can feel the tension leave her body.

She tucks her head into the base of his neck, giving the illusion of a tender kiss to his shoulder, and Jake turns his gaze to the bar in front of them.   A greasy skinned man with overlong hair is watching the two of them, lips curled in contempt as he stared.  Jake takes the opportunity to glare back, narrowing his eyes in a silent threat as he tightens his grip again, turning his head to whisper into the woman’s ear - “Just stay where you are - I’ll give you the all-clear when he’s gone.”

He feels her nod against his shoulder, and Jake pulls his eyes back to Mr Creep.  He’s shaking his head this time, the eye-roll obvious even through the crowded bar, and he skulks off in search for the next prey.

Jake’s hands move to the woman’s waist, pulling away slightly as he speaks, eyes still trained on the room.  “Okay, you’re good.  He’s moved on.”

A voice filled with gratitude cuts through the white noise of the bar, louder now that she isn’t tucked into his neck.  “Thank you so much, you’re a lifesaver.”  His eyes turn to the woman still in his arms, and in an instant, he feels his heart stop.  She was beautiful.  

When he was younger, Jake had picked up a book that once belonged to his mother, long since ‘borrowed’ by Gina. The cover had been adorned with a vivid illustration of a muscle-bound man clad in a ripped shirt, hovering next to a woman that, even years later, could only be described in his memory as a siren.  Dark flowing hair, soft supple lips, and eyes that pierced through the cover.  To the teenage minded Jake, this character had become the Ultimate Example of the perfect woman - the kind of beauty drawn only from the imagination of an author - never to be discovered in real life.

(The book’s contents, on the other hand, had made him gag with its overly sappy words.  How Gina read them, he would never understand.)

There had never been the expectation that one day Jake would meet such a woman.  But, hand on heart, he would swear on his life that such a woman had appeared in front of him tonight.

And he was definitely staring.  

She raises her brows, eyes beginning to turn wary, and he realises that his arms are still around her.  He can feel the heat begin to burn his skin as he flushes, pulling away with a start and running his hand across the back of his neck in embarrassment.  Part of him can still feel her tucked into his side, and he feels strangely empty now without her there.

“Uh, sorry … I just … ahh … are you okay?”  Why is talking suddenly outside of his grasp?

She smiles, revealing a row of perfectly white teeth, and Jake’s heart skips a beat.  “Yeah.  I’m fine.  Seriously, thank you.  I don’t normally do that, but he wouldn’t stop talking to me.  I could feel him watching me when I got up and I saw you and I just … “ her hands flail in the air, trying to find the words to describe her situation.  He nods, and her hands lower again.  

“Anyway.  I’m sorry if I startled you.  You were really good, though.  At playing the boyfriend.  I hope I haven’t disrupted your night too much.”

“Not at all.  I just hope your actual boyfriend won’t mind me walking in his shoes for a minute there.”

She shakes her head in a rapid motion.  “No, no boyfriend.  I’m not here with anyone tonight.”

Jake’s heart skips another beat.

“Wow.  I answered that really quickly, didn’t I?” she continues, pulling back her hair as her face begins to blush.  “I just meant that I was supposed to be meeting my friend Kylie here but I think she’s flaking on me, and I was watching this thing on Dateline the other day about how there are some men who seek out the single woman at the bar as their ultimate prize only the prize isn’t anything except the woman’s naked body being dumped in the woods somewhere so you’ve probably just saved my life for real and oh god I’m rambling aren’t I?”

He laughs, instantly terrified that he’s hurt her feelings, and visibly relaxes when she begins to laugh with him.  It was an amazing laugh, too.  The kind he could listen to forever.

(Wait …. when did FOREVER come into the picture, Peralta?  Who’s the creepy guy now?)

Clearing his throat, Jake runs a hand through his hair before speaking.  “Listen, you’re more than welcome to come and hang out with me and my buddy Charles for the night.  No strings, I promise -” he interjects as he watches the hesitation form in her eyes.  “We’re just two guys playing dartboard.  We’re both detectives for the 99th precinct, shooting off some steam from a case, and to the best of our knowledge we’ve never been put in the Creepy Guy Category.”

Her eyes light up, and it’s his new favourite thing to watch.  “You’re a detective?  I’ve just joined the academy.  I’d love to hear some pointers!”

He beams.  “Right this way, m’lady.”

* * *

The Mystery Woman, as it turned out, was called Amy.  (Amy.  How had he never noticed how beautiful the name AMY was before?!)  And she had just completely robbed him of his title of Dartboard King.  

And the thing is - she hadn’t just beat him at the game.  She’d annihilated him.  Completely kicked his ass.  And he’d be lying if he’d said that he didn’t find it incredibly sexy.

“Alright Jake, hand over the title!” Amy declared, hands raised in victory as she smiled over at him.

Slumping his shoulders, Jake hung his head briefly, trying to hide his smile as he reached towards the nearby booth.  Quickly grabbing something and hiding it behind his back, he returned to Amy, no longer attempting to conceal his joy.

“Wait a minute, I just beat you.  You shouldn’t be smiling.  Why are you smiling?  Charles, why is he smiling?”

“Your majesty,” Jake announced before Charles could interrupt, “I present to you … your crown.”  He releases his hands with a flourish, revealing a gaudy gold toy crown.

“Wait … what?  How?  You actually had a crown this whole time?”

“Nah.  Those guys over there are having a bucks night, and I managed to convince one of them to give me theirs.”

She looks over at him, eyes wide with wonder, and for a moment he forgets his own name.  “Still.  That was really sweet of you.”

Truth be told, he’d been hoping to wear it when he’d beat her at the game, to take a victory lap and remind her of the rightful King.  Turns out, it had belonged to the Queen this whole time.  He shrugs his shoulders, not ready to admit how happy it made him to see her so happy, holding out the crown with two hands as he places it onto her head.

Amy beams up at him, proud in all her splendour, and Jake never wants the night to end.  He never thought he’d be grateful for the presence of a creepy guy at a bar, and yet … here he was.  

It didn’t help that she had the kind of warm brown eyes that drew him in, regardless of the conversation.  It didn’t help, that her smile always seemed to settle in the surprise location of right beside his heart.  And it certainly didn’t help that within twenty minutes of them hanging out, Charles had leaned over to Jake and loudly whispered - “This is it, Jakey!  She’s the one!  Your dream girl!  I can tell!”

He’d shrugged his best friend off with a vehement shake of his head, because everything that he had said was completely insane (except that maybe it wasn’t).  She was beautiful, yes, and incredibly intelligent.  In the last hour she had repeated more NYPD codes than he and Charles, the actual cops, knew put together.  They talked and laughed and drank and danced as though they had known each other for years, not hours, and he found himself watching her lips as she spoke, wondering if they would feel as soft as they looked.  Or if her hands would curl perfectly against his own.

But still, he hesitated.  The whole reason they’d even met was so that she could escape being hit on by another guy.  Hitting on her now would be a total douche move.  

“This has turned into the BEST night, you guys.  Seriously, I can’t thank you enough.”  She smiled over at him, crown slightly askew as she takes another sip of her drink, and Jake looks at the tiny flowers that run along her blouse.  He would find a garden filled with the same, and pick them all for her, if it meant he’d see that smile again.  

She continues, unaware of Jake’s musings.  “You totally saved me from that dude.  If there’s anything I can ever do to return the favour, you name it and I’ll be there.”

He’s already in the process of shaking his head at Amy’s kind offer when Charles interjects, putting on a coy smile as he calmly states - “I have an idea.”  He turns his head sharply to his best friend, eyes wide with concern at what kind of hare-brained scheme was about to be unleashed.

“Wait … this isn’t going to be some weird dare situation, is it?  Because I swore to myself that I would never streak through the bar.  Not after last time.”

Jake’s head turns back towards Amy, picking up on what she’d just admitted, but before he can even begin the line of questions forming, Charles pipes up again, this time announcing “No, nothing like that.  Jake is going to a wedding next Thursday, and he doesn’t have a date.  You should do it.  You should be his date.”

Swinging his whole body back to Charles, Jake nearly ends up with whiplash as he stares his friend down.  “Charles.  Don’t be crazy.  Amy, you don’t have to do that.”

“But … I want to do it.”

He turns back towards Amy, starting to feel like a spectator in a tennis match, and sets his gaze solely on her.  “Seriously.  You don’t owe me anything.”

Her eyes widen, and the tips of her ears begin to turn read as she takes a step back.  “Unless you don’t want me there …”

“No.  Wait.  That’s not what I meant.”

“It’s okay, Jake.  I get it.  You’ve probably got someone …”

“He doesn’t!  He’s totally single.”

“Charles!”

His heart begins pounding, and tries not to take hope from the smile that has returned to her face.  Biting her lip, she shrugs.  “Jake, let me help you.  It’s just a wedding.  It kinda sounds like fun.  If all else fails, there’s always the open bar.”

He watches her intently, trying to determine if she was still offering only out of obligation.  Truth be told, the idea of spending another night with her, regardless of the circumstance, was incredibly appealing.  

“So, it’s decided!”  Charles interrupts, stepping between them and throwing one around each of their shoulders.  “Dianetti wedding, here we come!”  

“CHARLES!”

* * *

Amy pulls in another breath, wincing as her ribs groan in protest.  She honestly couldn’t remember another night where she had laughed as much as she had tonight.  And it was entirely Jake Peralta’s fault.

Okay, technically, it was probably hers.  She had been the one, after all, that had run all batshit crazy into his unsuspecting arms, babbling about creepy guys and fake boyfriends.  Without that, their paths probably wouldn’t have ever crossed.  But oh, how glad she was that they had. 

As they had left the bar she had been complaining about her shoes – still too new to be worn all night (a rookie error on her end) - and Jake’s offer of a piggyback ride home had been met with more laughter.  Until he had lifted her, and that feeling of safe and home washed over her again, and before she knew it she was being carried home in her very own chariot.  His hands never strayed from the back of her knees, ever the gentleman holding her tight as he walked down the street, and when he laughed the vibrations ran through his back and straight to her heart.

He had just been such a shiny beacon of hope in that seedy bar, and his arms had felt so warm around her.  So willing to help a stranger, and so welcoming afterwards.  He was handsome, with his distinctive profile, and had a smile that made her a little weak.  And for the past hour, she had been trying desperately not to think about what it would be like to kiss him.  They had talked all night, about everything and nothing, and Amy couldn’t shake the feeling that this was the start of something much bigger than themselves.  She wanted to get to know him, in any way that he would let her, and the sheer insanity of going to a wedding of two people she didn’t even know, just to spend another night with him, didn’t escape her.  

He’s nearing her apartment now and she leans down to him, cheek brushing against his as she moves.  A countless number of tingles run straight down her spine, and she takes a deep breath in, absorbing his cologne with a soft sigh.  She was starting to feel more than a little bit smitten with this stranger.  Mistaking her sigh as one of disapproval, he cranes his neck slightly to catch her from the corner of his eye.  “Oh, my cologne is probably a little too strong.  Sorry.” His hands lower slightly, releasing his grip as he squats down, letting her feet hit the pavement before straightening.

“No!  Don’t be.  It’s good.” She stammered, averting her eyes as she fights the urge to blush.  Again.  Really good, actually.  Amy rests her hand on his arm as she steadies herself, and as she turns back to him she can see him take in a deep breath.  In a moment of confidence, she keeps her hand there.  “I know I’ve said this already, but thank you for tonight.  You made it so much better than I could ever have planned.”  

He nods, smiling so softly that all the other thoughts she’d been trying to cloud her mind with disappeared.  She feels the mood shift, and finds herself shuffling closer to him.  It’s moments like these that make her grateful that telepathy isn’t a thing, because if it was, all he would be able to hear right now was kiss me kiss me kiss me … oh please, kiss me.

“Hey listen, you need to know - I didn’t mean to sound like I didn’t want you to come with me to the wedding back there.  I want you to be there.  If you do, that is.”

She nods, not trusting herself to speak, and he smiles down at her (she doesn’t even mind the height difference, she’s such a goner).  Amy cranes her neck upwards, mirroring his smile with her own.  Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me.   They draw closer.

A car carrying drunk guys (that sound suspiciously like the group of bucks they just left behind at the bar) drive past, honking the horn as two lean out the window, singing Bohemian Rhapsody at the top of their lungs.  Jake pulls back with a start, and just like that the moment is gone.

No!

The regret is obvious in his eyes, but still Jake takes another step away from her.  “Ah, I guess this is goodnight, Amy.  I’ll text you about the wedding, okay?”  Before she can even speak, he’s turned in the other direction, and she remains standing on the sidewalk with only her confusion for company.

What the hell just happened?

* * * 

It had been six days since that evening at the bar, and Amy sat at a well-decorated table at the wedding reception, hands fiddling with the handmade jewellery each guest had received as favours.  

She was fairly certain that she had just born witness to one of the most elaborate - and fabulous - weddings in history.  A perfect combination of sugar and spice, which appeared to be the best way to describe the newlyweds Gina and Rosa.  Jake had given her a quick rundown of their history as they had made their way to the ceremony earlier today, and Amy could tell from the pride on his face as he spoke that these two women were very important to him.  

Dropping the jewellery, her hands reached for her cellphone, swiping through to her photo album and stopping on the selfie that her and Jake had taken earlier that evening.  Her intention was to post it, adhering to the ‘Don’t Forget To Tag #dianetti In All Your Pics’ rule that had been posted at every table.  Instead, she found herself staring at the photo of the two of them, eyes raking over Jake’s smiling face.

Over the last few days, her phone had become filled with endless conversations between her and Jake.  She had been relieved, to say the least, that the ease between them had not been a result of alcohol.  Instead, they were fast becoming friends.  

The thing was … she didn’t want to just be friends.  Not with Jake.  His handsome face filled her thoughts whenever her day grew quiet, and when she closed her eyes, she could still remember the feeling of his warm arms around hers.  He made sense to her, which was completely insane.  He made her laugh.  But the craziest part, out of all of this, was how much she could feel herself falling for him already.

A now familiar voice breaks into her thoughts, calling out “Ames!” and she looks up with a bright smile.  Ames.  His nickname for her, born somewhere between day three and day five, and absolutely her new favourite way to hear her name.  

His face was flushed, fresh from giving each bride a turn on the dance floor.  His smile, as bright as hers, made her heart skip several beats, and she wondered if her infatuation was as obvious as it felt.    

“I’m going to grab a drinks for the both of us, and then you and I are going to tear apart that dance floor.  Sound like a plan?”

She nods quickly, praying that her makeup holds strong against the blush that was beginning to spread across her face, and throws him a steady smile.  Oh god, he was going to see her dance.  This was going to be over before it even begun.

Somehow, he reads her reaction, casting a dismissive hand towards the crowd.  “Don’t worry about them, Ames.  You and I are going to DANCE.”

Okay, yeah.  She was definitely falling for him.

* * *

Jake waits patiently at the bar, fingers tapping absentmindedly against the wood panelling as he waits for the bartender to fill his order.  He was beyond impatient to head back to Amy.  There hadn’t been any mention of another night after this (hell, he wasn’t even sure if this was a date or not), and he wanted to spend every possible moment with her.

Out of his peripheral, Jake watches Charles approach.  Work commitments had reduced their chances to speak to each other for the past week, and Jake knew that his friend had been dying to know the details of him and Amy.

“So?  Did you guys kiss, or what?”  Good old Charles, always known for his tact.

Already regretting his answer, Jake looks over at Charles before shaking his head.

“What!?  Jacob!”  he shouts, slapping a heavy hand against his chest bone.

“Ow!  What was that for?”

“You save a beautiful woman, a literal damsel in distress, flirt with each other all night then walk her home, and you DON’T end up kissing her?  You’re a lost cause, Jake.”  This time a punch to the shoulder.

“This feels a little uncalled for.  And for what it’s worth, Amy has never been a damsel in distress.”

“No way.  You’ve got something amazing in the palm of your hands, and you know it.  And I’m not going to stand by and watch you let it slip away.  Not a chance.”

Jake rolls his eyes, shaking his head as he turns his attention to the glasses the bartender had just placed on the bar in front of him.  He had no idea why he’d run away so quickly the other night.  He’d wanted to kiss her, more than anything.  Heck, it was almost a week later, and he was still dreaming about kissing her.  She was everything that he could hope for in a woman, and for some inexplicable reason she wanted to hang out with him.  

He turns, leaning his weight against the bar as he faces the reception hall, zeroing in on the woman in question.  Watching her walk towards him earlier today, in that little red dress of hers, had nearly given him a coronary.  She was literally the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and he’d been so proud to walk into the wedding with her beside him.  His arms itched to hold her, and he’d daydreamed doing so several times already today.  He was definitely falling for her.  And it completely terrified him.

“The stakes are through the roof for me on this one, Boyle.”  It was the truth.  She made him feel things.  And not just sexually (although, those feelings were definitely there).  It was more than that.  She was kind, and brilliant, and made him feel like even his most baseless conversations were worth listening to.  He felt important with her - and even though she was still technically just a line above a stranger to him, he was finding it difficult to imagine a life without her in it.  It sounded insane, but he simply didn’t care.   

“It’s just … what if I screw this up?  This girl is amazing.  And if I end up doing something stupid …”

“Jake.  You have to stop assuming that everything is going to fail.  Sometimes, things just work out.  And you’re never going to find out, if you don’t give this thing a try.  She looks at you like you hung the moon.  Trust me.”

Jake nods, heart somewhere up near his throat as he takes in Boyle’s words.  Maybe he was right.  Maybe, this time it was his turn to find happiness.

* * * 

The lights are soft, and an inexplicable cloud of smoke begins to surround the two of them as they circle the dance floor.  Jake smiles as his eyes take in the scene - it wouldn’t be Gina Linetti’s wedding if there weren’t several smoke machines involved.

A hand shifts on his shoulder, and Jake turns back to the woman in front of him.  The woman whom (no offence to the two brides, but facts were facts) was easily the most beautiful woman in the room.  

Amy smiles at him, that soft shy smile he’d been greeted with the night they met.  His heart was beginning to feel like a hummingbird’s wings, and he had no interest in slowing it down anymore.  

“You know, standing here, dancing to all these songs … I can’t help but feel like I’m a character in every rom-com I’ve ever seen.”

“Ah.  Yes, that would be Rosa’s doing.  She has a not-so-secret love for all things Nancy Meyers.”

“Rosa, my love for you is sharper than my favourite knife, Rosa?”

He laughs as Amy quotes the woman’s vows verbatim.  “Yep, that’s her.”

She giggles, a sweet sound that he wants to hear forever, and it occurs to Jake that the risk of losing her was greater than any risk that came with taking a chance.  

His forehead drops to hers, both of their feet simply shuffling against the beat of the music as the act of dancing becomes second priority.  Her arms, now looped around his neck, tighten imperceptibly and he reciprocates by pulling her waist just that little bit closer to his.  She hums, taking in a deep breath, and whispers within their close proximity,  “I’m really glad I came tonight.”

“I’m really glad I came tonight, title of your sex tape.”

She laughs, tucking her head into his neck as her shoulders continue to shake.  “Oh, how you make me laugh, Jake.”

He rests his cheek against the side of her head, closing his eyes in contentment for a moment before breaking the silence.  “Hey, Ames?”

“Hmm?”

“I’m really glad you came tonight, too.”

She raises her head, skin brushing against his as she refuses to widen the gap between them.  Her gaze looks onto his, eyes big and bright, and if it wasn’t for his steady breaths Jake would be certain that his heart had completely stopped beating.

Moving one hand from her waist, Jake cups her face in his palm, keeping the touch feather light as his thumb brushes along her jawline, tipping her mouth towards his.  Her breath hitches, and before he can scare himself away, he leans in to brush his lips against hers.

She sighs softly against him, breath warm against his lips, and when he begins to pull away she pushes her face towards him again, capturing him in a kiss that threw all doubts out the window.

This was The Kiss.  The kind of kiss that people wrote songs about, or wrote about in fairytales.  It was the kind of kiss that you held onto, for years to come, the memory of it never fading.  It was the kind of kiss that spelled out forever, and it was killing him that he could have had this six whole days ago, if he hadn’t been so damned chicken.  

Her fingers card into his hair, feeling as though they’ve belonged there the entire time, and he moans softly into her mouth as their tongues begin to tangle together, both still so shy but so very eager for more.  

His hands begin to roam, sliding up and down her back as he pulls her impossibly closer, breathing in her perfume as the feeling of Amy in his arms settles all the nerves that had been building inside.  This was it for him.  He can’t explain how he knew, but he knew.  

“I swear to God herself Jacob, if you upstage me at my own wedding with a porno on the dance floor, I will never forgive you.”  The unmistakeable voice of Gina Linetti pulls him from the trance of Amy’s kiss, and Jake pulls away reluctantly, rolling his eyes at his oldest friend as she glares over at him.  

“Not one for the dramatics are you, Gina?  Relax,” he continues as she stares him down.  “No porn on the dance floor.  Got it.”  His tone is dripping with sarcasm, one arm wrapped around the back of Amy’s neck as her face remains tucked into his shoulder, clearly mortified at being caught mid-makeout.  Gina throws him another withering stare, raising her eyebrows before being pulled away by her newly-wedded wife.  

“The coast is clear,” Jake whispers into Amy’s ear, fingers tangling into the curls at the base of her neck as she stays tucked into his side.

“Hmm, this feels a little bit like deja-vu,” she answers, leaning forward to land a soft kiss on his lips before pulling back with a smile.  Her arms drop from Jake’s neck, sliding against his jacket until her hands are resting on the lapels, toying with the button on one side.  She looks up at him with a coy smile, and if Jake wasn’t already in deep, it would have sunk him completely.  

“So, given the rules just laid out to us …”

“Wanna get out of here?”

She nods, a cascade of giggles bubbling out of her chest, and Jake leans in for another kiss.

“Absolutely.” 

[porkchop-ao3]

A Thrill I’ve Never Known (Chapter 15)

Slow

We’re 15 chapters in; here’s a sprinkling of action... a very fine, stingy sprinkling. I did say this story was going to be slow burn lmao :’) 

(All chapters tagged with #ATINK and also posted on Ao3, username PorkChop)

 -

Arthur and I had sat ourselves down underneath a tree, he was leaning up against it and had taken his hat off to give me a good view of his face. I sat a few feet away in front of him, holding the paper he'd given me from his journal and a book about wildflowers and herbs that he'd given me to lean on. I observed him for a while as he settled, getting comfortable. He looked a little shy all of a sudden with my eyes on him, but he didn't say anything and just looked out towards where Rayna and Jet were grazing. 

When he was ready and seemed to have relaxed, I started sketching out some guidelines. I started with a light oval shape and a few lines to place his eyes, nose and mouth, then worked lightly as I started mapping out his features. I went over the same place a few times until I got the shapes as close as I could, slowly warming my wrist up and getting my artist's eyes back. When I drew for a while I would start to see things differently. Back when I'd draw myself the image in the mirror would turn into a collection of lines and shapes that could be more easily replicated than a face, but when I was drawing Arthur I could not lose his image. I was constantly reminded of who I was drawing; it required a little more effort and focus, but it was good practice. 

It certainly threw me back into the water when it came to drawing again. 

It was an interesting experience being able to really stare at him in a context where it was entirely appropriate to do so. I noticed things about him that I hadn't before; the scar on his chin, the dimple on the tip of his nose, the slight signs of his age in the form of creases around his eyes. All it served to do was make him even more attractive to me, and my hand would shake a little each time he met my eyes. 

My drawing certainly wasn't anything to write home about. I supposed you could tell that it was him but things were a little off; his eyes were definitely too big, his chin was too small, he was certainly better looking in the flesh, but it wasn't a terrible drawing. I worked on the shading, darkening the side of his face furthest from me where it was in shadow and put a little more detail into his eyes. Gosh, his eyes. I'd never be able to do them justice with a stick of graphite but I sure did enjoy trying. The longer I drew for, the more relaxed Arthur seemed to become and he kept his eyes on me more often than not. 

If felt strangely intimate, just sitting and drawing him, sharing eye contact as a breeze rolled through the grass. It was peaceful, too, with the sounds of tree branches rustling and songbirds flying overhead. It was lovely, really, and I found myself threatening to overwork my drawing simply so I could drag it out for longer. With a soft sigh I looked between Arthur and his graphite impression, pursing my lips. 

"I think I've worked on this all I can," I told him. "I guess it's okay, though it's not going to hang on anyone's wall."

"Did you enjoy making it?" He asked me and I nodded without hesitation.

"I really did," I grinned. 

"If you enjoyed it, that's all that matters," he said, putting his hat back on. 

"Thank you for sitting for me, you're an excellent model," I told him, resulting in a bashful chuckle. 

"If you say so."

I paused for a moment, looking down at my drawing and thinking about my next words. 

"Do you wanna see it?" I finally asked, nervous to see his reaction but wanting to share it all the same. 

"Really? I'd love to. Only if you're happy to share," he said. I turned the drawing around and tilted it towards him. Arthur looked at it, then moved away from the tree to scoot closer to me. 

Arthur studied the drawing for a moment, an unreadable expression on his face. 

"Wow, I ain't never seen a drawing of myself before," he noted, leaning in closer. With how I was holding the drawing it meant his head was above my lap, so close to me. "You did a good job, looks like me!"

"You think? I reckon I did you a little injustice," I snorted, flushing a little. 

"What'chu mean? Looks fine to me."

"You're better looking than that," I assured him and he glanced up at me. He only leaned back just a little when he noticed how close he was. He looked a little stunned, like he didn't know how to respond; so I saved him the trouble. "You got any tips for me?"

"Oh, I don't think it's my place. I'm hardly an expert," he said, looking back down at the drawing. 

"You're more skilled than I am, I'd say that makes you qualified enough. I'd appreciate the advice, since I'd like to draw more often," I said, watching Arthur run his thumb along his bottom lip. "Please?”

"Alright. I'm not really sure what to say, you've clearly got skill already but I guess if I was gonna give you some advice…” he trailed off and paused for just a moment. 

"I noticed as you were drawing, you tend to go over the same place over and over, I see what you're doing, I do it myself. You're feeling out the line," he pointed out the edge of his nose in the drawing as an example. "But you do it real quick every time, trying to get the line right in one quick stroke. Sometimes you gotta slow down a little, guide the pencil down slow as you look at what you're trying to draw. Either that or you do a series of shorter strokes, go in stages. Take a little pressure off yourself, take your time."

"Oh, I see what you mean," I nodded, turning the drawing to have a look at it myself. "That's definitely something I tend to do, the quick lines. It's sort of like I'm taking a stab in the dark and hoping it looks right," I laughed. 

"There's nothing wrong with it, it just might save you some hassle if you slow it down."

"Right," I agreed, absorbing his words. "Thank you, Arthur. Anything else?"

"Just keep at it," he shrugged his shoulders and looked up at me. "I'll keep my eye out for a sketchbook for you. Then maybe we can do this more often; come out and do some drawing together.”

"I'd really like that," I told him, failing to keep the grin from spreading across my face. Arthur was still so close, his eyes studied my face for a while, a certain warmth appearing in them.

"Yeah, me too," his voice was quiet and smooth, and he wasn't moving away. He was close enough for me to hear his breath and feel it too, and I was a little embarrassed to realise that must mean he'd notice my own breath pick up. 

Arthur licked his lips, glanced down at my mouth and a spike of hot, bright anticipation lit up my body. I was frozen still and yet he tilted his head and edged forwards. Something was about to happen, something that'd never happened to me and all I could do was sit there and panic on the inside. From my lips, his eyes moved back up to my eyes and he seemed to see something in them – probably the panic – because just like that, his head tilted back down to my drawing. He let out a breath, sort of like an awkward laugh mixed with a sigh, then he sat back to give me some space. 

What? No! No, no, no!

Had I imagined all of that? Was he actually just looking at a chunk of something stuck in my teeth? Probably. 

Idiot.

"I'm sorry, I–” he started, pausing to take out the pocket watch I'd gifted him. "I should be heading towards Valentine, I reckon." 

"Oh, of course. I'm sorry to have kept you," I said, clearing my throat and holding out his pencil and book. He took them from me very carefully, like he was conscious of avoiding contact with my skin.

"Nonsense, this was nice," he told me, then rose to his feet. I stood up too, quickly, so that he wouldn't feel obligated to offer his hand to help me up. "I'm sorry we never got to find that oleander."

"It's okay, I'll probably stick around here and look for some, since I'm already here." 

"You sure? And you'll be okay on your own?" He queried and I gave him a look. He remembered he was speaking to little miss lone wolf and chuckled. "That was dumb, I'm sorry."

I dismissed his concerns with a shake of my head. "Thank you for riding out with me, and for the paper and the art lesson."

"The pleasure's all mine, my lady," he dipped his head a little.

We stood facing each other for a few moments, not quite meeting each other's eyes. Something hung in the air and I was starting to think that perhaps I wasn't just imagining things; in which case, how disappointing that things hadn't unfolded in the way they seemed to have been going. He and I could've been rolling around in the grass together, his lips on mine, by now. 

"Uhh, anyway. I best be getting back to it. I'll see you back at camp," he eventually said, reaching out to give my upper arm a gentle squeeze and caress. I certainly didn't mind those little touches of his.

"Sure, see you later," I replied, my voice sounding much sadder than intended.

"You look after yourself, alright?"

"Will do. You too," I nodded. He gave me a little smile before slowly making his way over to the horses. He walked oddly, like he wasn't certain he was going in the direction he wanted; each foot being placed awkwardly and hesitantly. He turned and looked back at me as he went, and for lack of knowing what to do I gave him a silly wave, which he returned. 

He mounted Jet, giving me a final nod before setting off, leaving me to stand there watching him go… feeling like I wanted to punch something; preferably my own face. How could something have come so close and yet crumbled to dust so easily? Maybe if I had looked a little less terrified, maybe if I had leaned in too, maybe if I had said something when he looked back at me just then, maybe, maybe, maybe. 

With a quiet whine I stomped over to Rayna, putting my drawing of Arthur away in the saddlebag before mounting up. 

"How awkward did that look from over here, girl?" I whispered to her, patting her neck. She shook out her mane, and I wasn't sure what to make of that. 

With a wistful sigh I headed back to the trail, going in the opposite direction to Arthur to head towards Bayou Nwa, on a quest to find some oleander. 

-

When I rode back into camp that evening, saddlebags stocked with Charles' oleander, I noticed things looked sparse. Bedrolls were packed up, fires were out, some tents were already gone and others in the process of being pulled down. I dismounted my horse and jogged over to Dutch who was in his tent, speaking with Hosea. 

"What's happening, Dutch? Where's Arthur?" I asked him, worry creeping into my tone. Dutch looked up at me and sighed like I was an inconvenience, though perhaps that's all I was.

"Arthur has gone with Charles to scout out our new camp. We're moving."

"Why? Did something happen?"

"Of course something happened, now, I ain't got time for this so you can either clear off on your nag, or stick around and help us! It's time for you to choose your loyalties, I don't care either way," he snapped at me, clearly extremely stressed out, before getting up and stomping past me. 

I watched him go with widened eyes before turning back to Hosea who had a sad look about him.

"Don't take it personally, my dear, he's had a lot on his plate as of late," he told me wearily. I glanced in Dutch's direction before meeting Hosea's eyes again. "Though, he has a point. If you're going to leave us, now's the time to do it. No one'll be counting heads."

"And no one'll miss me, huh?" I chuckled, not taking it to heart. Hosea gave me a look, one that said that wasn't what he meant and I knew it.

"You're more than welcome to come with us. You've been a hard worker, but it's entirely up to you. I won't try to convince you either way," he continued, speaking through a sigh before rising to his feet and moving past me.

"Thanks, Hosea," I spoke after him. He paused to look over his shoulder at me and we shared a look for a few moments, a comforting smile passed between us before he left. 

I took a deep breath and turned, marching towards Susan. 

"Miss Grimshaw? Point me towards someone who needs my help."

[rpausandwhatifs]

Bastards of the Perfect|| Persephone and Isla

 @ledabunnie-rp @danhowell-rp

“Mom?! What are talking about?” Isla said when her mother walked by with bags.

“Don’t ask me that! You know we have to go! When it’s time to go, it’s time to go. Your father gets it. I dunno how many times I have to tell you this-”

“I DON’T WANNA GO!”

“You WHAT?”

“Mommy, come here. Stop this. I don’t wanna leave again. I like living with my dad as a family. Why do have to leave?”

“You know why, Isla! Why are you being so difficult? I thought you like going on trips with mommy-”

“NO! I hate it just as much as I like it. You don’t plan them. You just pack our bags and we go. We’ve lived on the street. Daddy’s paid for hotel after hotel- and you still wanna live in these cheap motel-”

“Because he’ll find us-”

“WHO MOM?! Who the fuck are you running from? Dad told me that he’s dead. Like really dead. Like took me to his grave dead. Like we don’t have to run anymore dead.”

“Watch your mouth. Pack your bags...I need to know you’re safe..”

“I’m safe right here with Daddy and in this loft with you! I’m not going!”

“Isla Artemis Muir-Cyr...you know what?! Fuck it! You don’t wanna leave? Fine! I just better see you here when I get back! All I’ve ever done is keep you safe! All I’ve done is show you love and protect you and this is what you do?!”

“Leda, don’t try to guilt-trip me when you’re the one who refuses to go to therapy for your PTSD. I’m tired of this-”

“What the fuck? Isla!” Cyr called from the living room as he walked into the house, “What’s going on?” 

“*gasp* Vincent...Finally, he’ll talk some sense into you-”

“TALK SOME SENSE INTO ME?! Fuck you!” she blurted, getting her backpack and stuffing some clothes and putting on some clothes and storming into the living room into her father.

“Hey, hey. Honey bunch, what’s wr- woahh woah! Where’s the fire? Hey! Stop! Talk to me!” Cyr said as he grabbed her but spun them around gripped her harder and gave her a small shake to get her into the moment.

“Mom wants to leave again and I just can’t do it again. Especially since it’s for no reason,” Isla began, still huffing, “I’m not a kid anymore. Why does she do this? Why doesn’t she get treatment? Why do you let her go? Don’t you love her? Why won’t you make her stay?! Dad, she fucks people to get a place to sleep! She gambles, she steals! Moms aren’t supposed to do those things! I’m not supposed to see those things!”

“Isla...come here. It’s not her fault. That guy whose grave I took you to, right? He did a lot of fucked-up things to her and it’s hard for her to come to terms with all of it. You don’t have to go, it’s okay. She did protect you, and she took care of you as best she could. She loves you and she loves the company. Look. Don’t go anywhere. I’ll see if I can talk to her out of this episode.” The lanky man embraced his daughter, rubbing her back and kissing her cheek and forehead as he walked back into what is their bedroom. 

Isla sat and waited for a few minutes through the screams and yells back and forth. The usual thrashing and breaking of items in their room because Leda’s manic energy was so high. Then it died down a little and she heard little cries of her mother supposedly accepting that it’s over and that it’s ok. The walls in this loft are even walls. They’re like paper partitions with soundproofing and heavy curtains. She soon heard her mother, she heard the bed, and slapping noises and her father’s name...well let’s just say her parents are making up. Gross. She got up, wrote a note on the fridge and took something to drink and a snack before she grabbed her dad’s keys and left. 

----------------------------------------------------

Persephone/Persi had been at home and once again she was grounded. Go figure. She packed a bag because she knew she needed more time and space away from her family. They’d understand even though they don’t understand her as a person. Eh, maybe one day. Right now, she’s going to make the most of her 17 years of life so far and her underlying mental illness. She took her stash out and the prepaid card her grandparents loaded for her and used Dan’s ZipCar account to drive from Vegas to LA. 

She looked around to see where the other kids a little older than her were doing and she settled on the Santa Monica Pier. She walked the boardwalk and scored some weed and cigarettes from the other kids because she looked like them. She was having fun and drinking a little until she felt like she was no longer the kid with two gay parents and a twerp for a little gay brother with a hard-on for their oldest cousin. 

She was flying on the beach at the bonfire with everyone having fun. Her new friends were being awfully cool and they were just sharing weed and stories and bottles of various alcohols that she could get her hands on. Tonight it felt like her last night being in high school, her last night being this young. She wondered what would come of this experience until they said that they were going to the Sunken City.

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The red haired girl offered to let her catch a ride to the Sunken City with her for no charge. The car felt and smelled like a rental. They shared cigarettes on the drive up and some stories about their lives. The brown haired girl felt something different about the girl driving, it didn’t feel creepy and it didn’t feel like they should be friends, either. She had feelings for a girl she just met and was giving her a free Uber to this location on a school night and they were both floating  

“Where do you go to school?” Persephone asked, “Just like location and if you like it. I hate school”

“Uhh..oh,uhh I got to someplace in the valley. Real casual shit. I hate everyone there and I hate school in general because I don’t like how they teach it’s so lazy and not personal to what I wanna do when I leave. Especially when I was in and out of school for as fucking long as I was-”

“You too?! Fuck I’ve transferred outta like 5 schools across 2 countries for fighting.”

“Woah..I just don’t be at school. I’m most of the time on the road, but it sounds way more badass to move schools for fighting..What happened?”

“No, no. You first, babe. I don’t like talking about something that I can’t explain myself...” Persi kept her eyes on the road.

Isla blushed at the endearment, and it that feeling wasn’t going away. Strange. “My mom is fucking trash. See? When she was a kid, she dated this guy and he was crazy and she got away from him and got kidnapped again so she got away from him again and then my dad said that she was there when one of her friends killed him for her when he found her again, but she’s used to being on the move and on the road, which was fun when I was a kid, then my dad forced us to settle down and I’ve been living in LA and tonight she was trying to leave again..I couldn’t listen to my parents fight and makeup again so I heard that some kids were going to hang out at the pier tonight and here I am.”

“Wow..that’s fucking deep. And gross. You’ve had to hear your parents fuck?” she asked, her American accent slipping, “I get that. My parents fight about what to do with me and my dad was quite the man’s man in their day so my pussy of a dad needs talking down because my mom’s crazy. I was basically planned by her but not by my dad. It’s mental. Like really, this apparently had to do with his mental and Daniel is so vetted about it but then again he went and fucked Bryonny and she had my baby brother..ugh..you’d think they’d learn but nooo! They fuckin fight and so I fuckin fight bitch boys at school and birds who try me.”

“How are you in school but you’re driving a rental? Don’t you have to like..be older to drive these?” Isla asked, deflecting from the drama. She really didn’t want to ruin a great night.

“I snuck out, got a hotel room with my money from my grands, and rented the car in Dan’s name. I still got money for like four days, so I’ll go back when that money runs out or I feel like going home, but I just can’t stand it,” Persi explained, “You sound like you’re not trying to see the sunrise in your bedroom either.”

“Damn, how long have you been English? I thought you were-”

“My mum is American. My dad’s from Northern England, Dan’s from like London, I think? And Bryonny’s from Brighton. I have dual citizenship. Hence, being kicked out of primary and secondary school as well as elementary and middle schools around here. I didn’t want to do Sixth Form. So I came to high school in the states. I live in Vegas,” Persi explained, “I hid my accent as best I could because..I didn’t want all the hard-ons and wet panties simply off of my accent. It’s so northern and rough and mixed up. I don’t see how anyone would like it, and it slips...”

“I like your accent..” Isla says, a little quieter, not intending to stare at the girl so long, but she smiled when she saw the girl smile a little. 

They parked a little further up on the beach and followed the crowd to the water. Both Isla and Persephone stripped to their underwear and splashed in the moonlight. They settled as they lit the bonfire and broke out the entertainment of sparklers, weed, and little games of touch football. Persi had gone to use the bathroom and left Isla for a few minutes, claiming that she could hold her own. While the redhead was coming back from the port-a-potties, she spotted her new friend being shuffled off and accosted by some chad and she didn’t know what came over her. 

“Yo!” Persi called as she saw the girl trying to fight the man off from touching her. When nothing happened she started running and felt herself slipping away even though she had been drinking. On the way she grabbed an empty bottle out of the trash and came crashing into the two, bashing the big bottle against his head and yanking him back, throwing him to the sand and stomped on his head. “Stay away from her, you fucking creep!” she yelled and then realized she had knocked him clean out. It was a fairly large guy, and Isla was stunned. She hadn’t really been in too many situations like this, which is something she can be thankful her mom did, but it was so unlike her to not react to something she felt was coming out of her control. When Persi came up, Isla looked at the girl and their panting matched. Persi couldn’t see the girl, but the girl who stood in front of her liked what she saw. 

“I know this is creepy as fuck but you look kinda cute when you’re scared,” she said with an unwavering English accent, “Persi tell you about me?”

Isla was so confused a little scared, “Uhh I don’t even know her name...and thanks?” 

“Ah, she’s bad at that sometimes. I’m- well we’re Persephone. I like being called Persephone. Ya know, like the greek person. The one that made a deal with Hades to save her boyfriend and he straight left her and she ended up fucking Hades anyway. That one,” Persephone said, putting her hands in her pockets and flipping her hair over one shoulder, “She usually goes by Persi, like Percy Jackson, like the books? It’s nutted, anyway. I think she likes Greek Mythology or gender-neutral naming, but eh..Either way it’s nice to meet you sweetie.”

Isla was shocked, but she wasn’t too concerned. She had a mother who would just phase out, and she remembers her talking about a guy she went to school with who had a condition like this. Her father backed this up, so it’s gotta be true. She liked how the shift in her accent and her hair placement presented a completely different girl, who she had a harder crush on. Her legs rubbed together and she bit her lip, trying not to smile to big, “Uhmm..I’m Isla..Not Lila, Isla...Like Isla Fisher, like that crazy red-he-oh...sorry.” The girl blushed so hard and played with the dirt with her shoes.

“None taken, cutie! Isla is such a cute name. And yes I know she was the girl Shaggy liked in Scooby Doo, and yeah the crazy chick from Wedding Crashers. Gingers don’t get a good wrap, but it is true we’re amazing in the sack,” Persephone explained, smiling and giggling watching the other girl trying not to meet her gaze. She knew she was fighting with herself, but Persephone was willing to play ball, “So..you wanna get outta here? I think they’re bouta go home or something. I’ve already smuggled enough hooch, grass, and drugs that we can hit up a hotel now.”

“Can we go to a Wal-Mart, first? I wanna pick up some provisions,” Isla explained, “Is there a pool or a spa at the hotel?”

“Yeah I think so. It’s a homestay suite, so I guess I’m gonna cook for the next few days,” Persephone said, pulling the car keys out of her pocket and walking towards the car.

Isla was now very concerned, “Wait, cook for us? That’s romantic, and efficient...how..how old are you?”

“We’re 17. We turn 18 in a few months. I didn’t think it woulda mattered cus you look as old as me. Also I think I have some clothes that might fit you, we look about the same size, as cute as your outfit is, those desert nights aren’t kind,” she said, unlocking the car and opening the door for the girl. She takes some time to get her duffle bag out of the back and brought it to the back seat, pulling out a large heavy hoodie she had from Reiner- which is funny he hadn’t asked for it back yet after their rather interesting night on their field trip- and tossed it to the girl. She pulled about $100 and handed it to Isla to put it to the side for gas. 

“Wow..you’re so organized..Have..have you done this before?” she asked, putting on the hoodie and smelled it, catching the tones of cologne and sweat and her body spray and deodorant. It made her melt into the passenger seat, but she wondered who’s cologne she smelled in the fabric of this comfy garment.

“Eh, sorta..I’ve thought about putting this little getaway together for about 6 months. You’re a nice add-on. I’m gonna go back after about 4 or 5 days, because..I just felt so trapped and I needed space to calm down. My parents are usually too busy with work and their own infidelity to give me time and attention like I should get, especially with..ya know..this..” she said, getting in the car and starting it, pulling out, “Where am I dropping you off when this is over, babe?”

Isla’s chest had a resounding bang again and she looked at Persephone. Why does she like this? She doesn’t even know if she likes girls. The GPS on the screen and the soft music in the background gave her time to think. She looked at her phone and saw a few missed calls from her dad then a simple message telling her to be safe and be careful, and that they love her. She swiped away the notifications and opened her phone, playing some game to take her mind off of abandoning her parents. She didn’t feel like a bad kid, she just felt like her mother steals her spotlight. This sweatshirt around her made her think of all the casual relationships she had on the road and how if they would have lasted, maybe she wouldn’t be so unfamiliar to love. Maybe she wouldn’t be so hesitant with her feelings for the girl driving them to a getaway. Even when the guy was simply a jerk, it felt like it was her fault. Watching her parents were no help either. It caused her to panic that she possibly didn’t know how to love or what good love looked like. She was a broken girl and never fit in anywhere. She blanked out when that guy grabbed her, her body barely fought him when his hand snaked up her torso while he pressed together. Coming to and seeing the ginger girl beating him down was so relieving. She’d usually come back and she’d be sore, emotionless, and alone. There, she wasn’t alone. The same girl who gave her a ride had saved her from something she didn’t know about. Her own mother had the same problem and couldn’t explain. Why can’t she fight? Isla now felt like she owed Persi. However, she’s not making it seem that way. She hasn’t even asked for any money; if anything, she gave her cash. What kinda rich kid reject is she, anyway? “You said your parents are gay, right?’ she asked, looking at her, “That’s still a new thing.”

“Yeah, gay. Two different surrogate mothers, AAND English immigrants. Well, I’m actually American. My brother isn’t. I was born in the States and my brother’s mum had her across the pond in Camden. My dad and Dan went to school in Montana, then they wanted two places for us to live-”

“Wait you said Montana?!” Isla jumped up, leaning over the center console “As in the high school and college in the Montana mountains, Montana?”

“Yeah..for YouTubers,” Persi looked at the girl while they stopped at a red light, a little wide-eyed and very surprised that she met someone who knew what she was talking about, “Wait..”

“My parents are Vincent Cyr and Leda Muir...who in the hell are your parents?” she asked, tilting her head.

“Dan Howell and Phil Lester-”

“yOUR pARENTS...Wait wait wait...Hang on. You share biological DNA with Amazing Phil? The Amazing Phil?! Who the fuck is your mom?”

“Cat Valdez...”

“Catrific?! Wow..you’re the heiress of YouTube royalty!”

“And you’re the heiress of YouTube controversy...As am I...So that means-”

“That we both have a base level of a fucked up family. I’ve heard stories about Phan being super toxic and so crazy!”

“Same..I remember when..uh..Cameron? Right? He stormed the campus and someone fucking took him out. It was amazing. Everybody thinks it fucked her up more-”

“It did. It really did. She’s still in denial.”

“She still move around a lot? They used to tell me that they never knew when she was on campus because she would run-”

“Uhh well, when my dad got her pregnant with me she was still running around and then around the time when she had me my parents lived together in the valley in a loft- we still live there now, but my mom would still leave and for a few years and sometimes I’d stay with my grandparents and sometimes I went with her until my dad put his foot down and I said I didn’t wanna move around anymore. So I’ve lived in Carmel Valley for the past 7 years going to school and shit, then tonight happened. My mom just snapped and told me to pack because we’re leaving. I didn’t wanna leave and we fought and I left.”

“..So, fuck I’m sorry, I’m Persi, by the way I forgot to introduc-”

“Persephone filled me in already. You have the same personality disorder your dad did...My mom told me about it before. Phil didn’t use to be the best guy in the world and Dan is dumb enough to be with him this whole time,” Isla said, not moving from the center console as they started on the road again, “No offense but I didn’t know they had kids in the mix.”

“I was a wedding gift, my mom says..then again my mum turned out to be a real psycho when it came to my dad. So yeah, like Persephone graciously explained, my dad does have the same thing, but it went away once he got my mum preggos. She told me his name was Zack. And it will usually tell you how they want to be addressed, but she usually doesn’t talk when she’s around...she just screams and causes havoc which leaves me in trouble..” Persi explained, “My baby brother only came around because Dan was being petty and got Bryonny knocked up. However, it’s way sweeter of a time being around her than Dan or my mom.”

“Oh, then the holidays must suck for you, huh,” Isla commented, “My parents were young and dumb and my mom had this crazy delusion that she couldn’t have kids because of what Cameron did to her or something..When in all reality her reproductive system had healed enough for me to be born. My dad tells me all of the time how she would freak out and stop taking care of herself because she was ‘scared to death of having to stay in one place in case he found her.’ And I’m just like-”

It just sounds like a fucked up way of saying they couldn’t get rid of me.

Persi and Isla had arrived at the store and looked at each other when they had said the sentence, they had looked away into their respective windows, but quickly turned heads to see they felt the same way. They were mistakes. Tactfully set upon this earth to make things worse for their parents regardless of their feelings. They didn’t feel like they belonged, and at the end of the day they didn’t even have the loving comfort of their parents. Just themselves. 

“Let’s hurry up and get what we need so we can get to this room,” Persi said quickly, backing off and getting out of the car. 

Isla was still frozen. She felt so much at once from once sentence than she ever had with anyone else. Someone who understood. Someone she could stay close to and trust because they were all they had. It made the pang in her chest take her breath away and she sat staring into the center console until Persi jolted her out of it with a hand on her shoulder, “Earth to Isla...Come on!” She hurried along, holding the girl’s hand. They were around the same height, Persi maybe a little taller. She wasn’t sure that the ginger even noticed that they had linked until they walked into the automatic doors and saw that she meant to do it, “Uhh, why are you holding my hand?”

“Because this is like the second time you’ve just spaced out on me. I can’t afford to bring you back to your family if I lose you. Also, remember I am somebody’s older sister, so habit I guess?” she said quickly, then let go but walked close to the girl.

Isla looked ahead again and blushed, snaking her hand into Persi’s again, and feeling a squeeze. 

“Did you wanna ride in the cart?” Persi asked with a playful smile, “It is weird Wal-Mart hours, so nobody’s gonna care.”

“Actually, I don’t think we need that much stuff, let’s go for the scooter!” she jumped up and ran to the station, unattached one and hit the horn for Persi to hop on. 

“Uh-uh, you sit in my lap and steer!” she blurted, pushing her and fixing it as they traversed the store.

They fooled around and had their fun, grabbing their essentials and some supplies for the room so they can eat and live from the suite for at least the first two days. The staff at the store gave them weird looks and didn’t say much, but told them to make sure to put the scooter back when they were done and let them know if it ran out of battery. They didn’t spend too long in the store and bought (almost) everything and left.

They finally pulled into the suite and went to the front desk where Persi gave the receptionist Dan’s name and remembered the hotel had his card on file from previous travel. This was a bonus. She could stay out longer on her parents’ dime. Only thing is that he would see that she went here and stayed so he’d be tempted to track her down. She sneaks out enough they know she’s coming back. 

Once inside, she was pretty impressed with how homey the suite was, complete with all the works and one sofa bed and a large California king sized bed in the other room. Fits because her Dads’ are both 6 feet tall and over. “Fun fact: I almost never travel with my parents unless it’s the mandatory trips to see my grands. When they’re on tour they don’t even fly us out to a certain cluster of cities to watch them work. Given, it is a lot to fly your family around and worry about our safety and shit, but whatever,” Persi said as she put everything down and started to unpack.

“Wow..I’ve never been in a hotel room this nice,” Isla said, doing laps around the suite and checking everything out. She could hear what the girl was saying and felt for her. Even though she wanted to stay and have a more stable life like hers, but she could get used to these trips. She caught herself thinking about seeing her again and planning how their about to spend their summers and maybe even do more getaways with just them. She would love the air and the space- well the individualized attention. She remembered and thought of the first times she would run away with her mom and how this would feel. It feels more like the times they would all go as a family, instead of just her mother. Mostly because of how much fun she was having with the both of them and no tension of the constant worry of someone going to find them or even her mom’s manic energy. Those are the moments where her parent’s love doesn’t bother her and it feels like the love that she was made from. 

“You want the soup first or do you want the spaghetti? Or do you wanna just pop one of these pizzas in the oven?” Persi called to the girl, where she had heard her loading up the dressers but didn’t know what she was doing. She waited and still didn’t hear anything, deciding to put the cheese pizza in the oven and started sifting thru the drinks they put in the refrigerator, cracking open a fresh bottle of whiskey and grabbed the cola and a glass with some ice, making the drink and sitting over in the common area to set up her PlayStation so that she can watch TV. 

Isla strolled out of the bedroom, wearing some clothes that Persi recognized from her own duffle bag. She looked at Persi setting up the television on the couch and sat with her, taking a sip of her drink, “Mmmh! What is this?”

“Jack and Coke. I’m sorry if I drink a bit, I’m used to being able to drink in the UK, and I know the age to drink is 21 over here.”

“Wait, seriously? You can drink at 17 there?”

“Yeah in some places they let you at 16. But 17-18 is the age where you develop a drinking problem around there. Especially if you look like you’re old enough they don’t even card you-”

“Oh my god,” she gasped, curling up and crossing her legs on the couch, “That’s absolutely insane to me.”

“Well tonight we’re gonna drink like English sailors, love,” Persi said as she took the glass from the girl and sipped it again. She looked at the girl who was staring at her lips while she drank and took down the glass, “What’s your type?”

Isla blushed faster than the alcohol allowed her, “My what?!” she sputtered and before she could try to blubber her way out of the question, her face had a finger in front of it.

“I’m out, hold that thought and follow me into the kitchen, I’ll make you one of these too,” Persi interrupted, getting up and taking the girl’s hand with the glass in the other and then continued, “I don’t mean to be that gal, but you’ve been giving me stares all night and your face loses colour every time I called you out of your name out of respect for not knowing it. So is it your first time liking a girl or is it just unprecedented?”

“Uhh well when you put it that way, unprecedented, I guess,” Isla shrugged, “I think I just had stronger feelings cus I’m like plastered and here I am still drinking,” she giggled.

“It’s called a nightcap, but I’ll put Bailey’s in yours instead Coke, but if you want a smoother drink, remember creme is key so you can use vanilla flavours and coffee flavours. It softens alchy burn but keeps the potency, even masking it,” Persi said, dropping cubes into another glass and starting on the other girl’s glass, “Also the caffeine in Bailey’s or Kahlua liqueurs will help you sleep and regulate dehydration when you get up, staying off a monstrous hangover.”

“Wow I never thought about how drinks work because I usually am just grabbing what I can. It sounds like you’ve like sat down and thought about it,” Isla said, relaxing a little and taking the drink when it was complete, sipping it lightly and loving the taste, but tried to focus on the topic at hand, “Why’d you ask me about my sexuality?”

“Conversation mostly, but honestly I’m bi and I don’t want you to be uncomfortable and I can give you the option of sleeping on the bed bed, and I just pass out on the sofa,” Persi said leaning against the counter, making light gestures, “I know I like took you along with me on this adventure, but from what I saw, I’d just want to make sure you know I’m not some creep or something.”

“Uhh oh wow..I don’t mind! T-The bed looks big enough for the both of us to sleep comfortably. I like how...old fashioned you are, and you’re not afraid to share your wealth. I think that’s really cool, but I think I had never heard of someone in our day and age doing stuff like this. And- I’m just realizing that you have freckles on your cheeks. That’s really cute oh my god I’m sorry I’m so distracted. And it’s not your fault I think I might have had too much-” Isla’s rambling was halted by Persephone’s lips

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After their first night of kisses and cuddles, games, and Isla actually getting too drunk and throwing up most of her pizza, they woke holding one another on the gigantic bed, the TV blaring in the background. Persi stretched pulling her hair back with a hair tie and felt something hug her torso tighter. She looked down and saw the brunette, smiled and started to slide out of her grip. 

Isla stirred, feeling a little lost, but watched the girl walk into the bathroom. She was so confused. What happened last night? Where was she? Why was this feeling like she went along with her mother anyway? But it wasn’t? She sat up in the comfortable bed and saw how ornate the room was and could hear that the room didn’t just end in those walls. She was so hungover. The sun was being blocked by the curtains, which helped her sensitivity to light. The girl in the bathroom was still foreign to her, but familiar as she looked through their social media. Clearly, she and the girl had hit it off. That’s a relief. She had seen her phone was fully charged, meaning that she had blacked out well before the other girl, who had been smart enough to charge it for her. She usually doesn’t use her phone or post when on the run just because her mother taught her about vigilance and stopping to look down at her phone means you’re giving someone an opportunity to sneak up on you and take your shit. Also, the mother feared the man who was no longer after her, meaning she had to reduce her presence in the one area where he could track her down or use a lot of sourcing to track her location. Her father, bless his heart, allowed her to have a phone. On her birthday a few years ago, the man had hidden the device in her suitcase, and left her some money for a case and a note informing her not to let her mother know he had given it to her, to take a picture of the case she chose, and send it to him. It allowed her and him to remain connected to his not-so-little girl anymore.

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Cyr had seen her posts that night and smiled: she was having fun. Leda was still an entire mess that her little girl wasn’t home. She had barely remembered her (almost) husband had given their daughter a cellphone until she remembered seeing the girl use it once before, she took a picture of the motel they were staying at. The girl rose from the bed and walked into the large room and was greeted by Cyr playing a video game. She didn’t really want to bother him but she had to make sure. “Vincent,” her voice was unable to reverberate through the loft, but the man looked up and paused the game.

“Yes honey bear, what’s up? You hungry or something? Do I gotta turn down the TV?” he started, pulling his headphones all the way off. The woman cringed at how much he still guesses what she wants and is right about 85% of the time.

“N-no...Vincent, do you know where Isla is?” she asked, staring at him carefully because the man she loved had a way with lying, it was almost pathological and giving him this look usually worked.

“Maybe I do...maybe I don’t. All I know is that she’s a smart girl, she can handle herself. She’ll be back. She wouldn’t leave us forever like that,” he explained carefully folding his hands and then spreading them, palms up. He’s not lying, he’s gas lighting. She felt her body heat up, rage building from his dismissal. She was Isla’s parent, too, goddammit, she had a right to know! He knew exactly where she was and he wasn’t going to tell her that easily.

“I remember seeing her with a phone. Don’t fucking talk to me like a fucking mental patient, Vincent! You went behind my back and gave her a phone, didn’t you?! She never had any money for her own and I barely had one so I know it had to be you. Where is our daughter?!” Leda asking more seriously, her cheeks going pink. Cyr was cornered, he had to let her baby she never knew she could have was alright. The man motioned the woman over and pulled her daughter’s Instagram and showed her story and all posts since the account was created. “The-These...These are so beautiful,” she referenced the pictures and cracked a warm smile at her daughter’s story of her prancing through a Wal-Mart, the bonfire, and the girl. That girl looked so familiar. She recognised the bright orange hair and little freckles. “Who’s phony.persi?” she asked towards the man, who shrugged.

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Phil had gotten smart about his daughter running off over the years. He follows her on social media just in case they have cute father-daughter time or people don’t believe that he’s her father. He went to her story and saw that she had been reposted in someone else’s story by the name of earth-name-isla. He didn’t want to pry, but he had a feeling about the girl that was pictured with his daughter was familiar. He got up and went to his husband, who would know which one of their ex-classmates this girl looked like. “Hey babe..can you come here for a second?” he asked into his ear, running a hand down his arm. 

“What?! What’s going on? You know where Persephone is?” the other asked quickly, whipping his head around and followed his husband back into the office. 

“Yes, but something is weird,” Phil said, handing him the phone and looked at the story and the pictures with her daughter and the mystery girl, “The girl she’s with...does she look familiar to you?”

Dan took a few moments and went through the girl’s profile and happened to find a little rare picture of a hard copy of a picture of Cyr and Leda when their daughter was a child and they had taken her to Universal Studios. He squinted a little so that he could see her parents and upon recognizing the girl’s father, his cheeks flushed. “Oh my god...Phillip,” he gasped and quietly called for his husband, “Look at this! Look who her dad is!”

Phil looked on and raised his eyebrows at the man he hadn’t seen in years, next to a girl he equally hadn’t seen in a long time. The memories flooding back to their days at the Institute and few in the Youniversity and how their relationship- similar to their own- was akin to that of a firecracker. “Her mom is Leda Muir..And that’s-”

“Vincent Cyr- yes! I didn’t know they had a daughter! And that she’s...she’s..! Making out with Persephone?! I c-can’t! Babe, I’m literally done! Bring her home. Right now. Where is she?!” Dan fussed and shoved the phone back into Phil’s chest and he began to pace in the office.

“She’s in LA. It must be where she lives,” he explained calmly, setting the device down on his desk.

“Yo-you-you don’t think that-”

“I doubt it. There’s no way that she would have known who she was.”

“You hope,” Dan said, “How did she even get all the way to LA from here?”

“Persi is a resourceful and smart girl. I’m surprised she’s not alone. When I find her, she’s usually been by herself for a few days..She’ll be back. Especially if she took a trip,” Phil said before hearing their son come up to the door to the office and saw their son looking a little worse for wear. 

“Oh my god! Elliot, baby, what happened?! Come here,” Dan shrieked, running to embrace his son and gave him excessive love, only to be pushed back and Dan could feel tears forming.

“Otosan, I’m fine..really..Jareth and I-”

“Jareth had something to do with this? Did he hit you?! Oh, I knew I should have sent Harlan to go-”

“Otosaan! Stop! I’m fine. Harlan didn’t need to be there. We fought them off ourselves. They were these huge sophomores and they almost broke his camera, and I jumped two of them and then he helped me out...We took out 4 of them dad! I’m just like Persi!” the boy beamed as his fathers looked over his body, “We ended up rolling down the hill and...I got dirty, but I hope you don’t mind, I told Jareth he could clean up here..so..”

The men were so distraught to hear the words that came from his mouth. They looked at one another, sharing a soft chuckle at their fierce family. Phil pushed the boy’s hair back so he could check for anymore injury and seen all of the hickies on his skin, which he quickly let go of his hair and put a hand over his mouth and grabbing Dan, “You should call Sean or Charlie, let them know where their kid is,” he says to him, “Ellie, go ahead...is he staying for dinner?” When the boy nods, Dan gets up and returns to the kitchen to finish cooking.

“Awh, Otosan is cooking?!” Elliot whined, “Why didn’t you cook, Papa?!” 

“I was busy with locating your sister and meetings until the time for dinner, so I trusted Otosan with some fish and shrimp noodle dish. It cooks too fast so it’ll work with his short attention span. Now...I know he can be dramatic, but can I inquire about those blotches on your neck?” Elliot had gotten nervous, “Look, I don’t mind you growing up and dating, but I just need to know you’re safe, okay? I don’t need you growing up too fast...Now go on, tend to your guest..And also, for next time: Ice seals up those bursted capillaries faster and prevents blood from staying in the dermis.”

------------------------------------------------------------------

“Ugh..I don’t think it’s working!” Isla whined, holding the paper towel full of ice to her neck while Persi hung out on the counter, who also was holding ice to her own body.

“You kinda have to freeze that part of your skin,” Persi said, patiently holding ice to her own neck, “Why are we doing this again? I don’t really think it’s all that necessary.”

“Because, I feel better and I’m ready to go home and I don’t wanna show up with hickies on my neck and an older girl that I found in the desert. My parents will flip. They’ll think I purposely left for two days to go and party and be gay I guess. I wanna make a good first impression,” Isla said.

“Isla, I think I’m the least of your worries. Your dad and my Dan used to fuck, so if they have to speak to each other after such a long time I think they’ll be more worried about that, or when they realize that my baby brother is definitely fucking that rugged bad boy loner he found in the woods.”

“Ew,” Isla said, dropping the cloth and playing with it, listening to the ice clack, “You have a point. I did this to show that I’m growing up, but I guess if I’m gonna go for it, I should commit.”

“Also, you’re an only child, it’s not like you can avoid it. I’m not an only child, so I can always point out what goes on with Ellie,” she mentioned, throwing her ice in the sink.

“You call your brother Ellie?”

“Short for Elliot, duh,” she looks at her sitting on the counter when Isla touches her arm.

“You’re so mean...” Isla cooed, trying to hide her smile.

“That doesn’t sound like you hate it,” she looked bit her lip and nudged closer, pulling her in for a kiss then pulled away quick, “But for real? Like real shit? Only I can call him that. He’s Elliot to you at all times. Got me?”

“Yeah, I gotchu, babe,” she nods.

“Good!”

------------------------------------------------

*phone rings*

“Babe answer it!” Phil exclaims from downstairs.

“Do I have to do it?”

“Yes! It might be our daughter and my hands are wet, just hurry up before it goes to voicemail!” 

“Fine!” Dan goes to the phone in the studio and picks up the phone, “Hello?”

“Daniel James Howell...As I live and fucking breathe,” Vincent laughed, sounding mature and relaxed with age, “Uhh, so your daughter brought my daughter to me and I just...wanted to thank you for raising her so well..She is so sweet and generous.”

“Are you...wait..Cyr, you talking about my daughter? Persephone?”

“That’s her whole name? She told me it was Persi. That’s a beautiful name-”

“Enough! Where are you? Where is she?!” Dan snapped, “Also my last name is Howell-Lester nowadays. I haven’t been just Howell in a while..”

“She’s with Leda and I at my place in the valley. Carmel Valley. I can have her send you the address. The girls wanted to hang out, so we all thought we can take the time and catch up,” Vincent said a soft wind blowing into his phone, “Uhh yeah I figured, but you’re still a howler nonetheless-”

“Cyr I’m fucking married!” he snapped.

“I’m kidding, kidding. You have a whole family and I just want to show you how our little girls are having so much fun together. They’re inseparable. So yes I called to invite you up here, but to also thank you because I haven’t seen my little angel this happy in years. She made a real friend in her-”

“Hmph don’t speak so soon, she’s a force. She’s only like that now from therapy and her father being here. I couldn’t raise her on my own if I tried,” Dan replied, leaning against the desk.

“Daniel, is it her?” Phil asked in the doorway, causing Dan’s body to heat up a little as though he had been engaging in something wrong, but they were just talking about being dads.

“Yeah, it’s the girl’s father. I’ll put it on speaker,” he moved the phone from his face and pressed the button, “Say hi, Cyr.”

“Cyr? As in, Vincent Cyr? I haven’t heard that name in ages, how you been, sir?” Phil asks.

“I’ve been well, I’ve been well. I was just thanking Dan here about your daughter bringing my Isla back in one piece and they’re really good friends. Like it’s like she brought back a different girl. She’s so happy and they get along so well!” Vincent said, blowing smoke from his cigarette, “Leda and I are inviting you down to our place to come and get her, but why don’t we all go out to lunch or something? My treat.”

“Oh that sounds amazing! I’d like that just tell Persi to send me the address and we’ll be out tute-suite!” Phil beamed, looking at Dan with a playful smirk, which caused him to smile more comfortably.

“Alright, we’ll see you then!” Vincent said before hanging up.

“Only you Daniel. Only our daughter would seek out a girl who just so happens to be the spawn of your old flame,” Phil teased.

“Shut the fuck up, Phillip! That was really fucked up for me~” Dan whined, “Like I’m actually, literally sweating all over the fucking place!”

“Ooh sexy,” Phil said, then heard the notification on his phone and looked at it, “Oh wow we gotta buy these tickets...Elliot!” He exclaimed walking out of the room, “Sweetie you wanna go to LA for a day? We gotta go get your sister!” 

-----------------------------------------------

Elliot was startled by his father’s raised voice and quirked an eyebrow, “Why is she in LA?”

Jareth looks over at him and shakes his head, pointing at his bed and Elliot gives him a look, “My sister would tear up a town if I went missing. I wanna see that she’s safe...” The other boy sighed and shrugged, gathering his bag and putting on his shirt slowly, wincing quietly, causing Elliot rushed to him and helped him put his shirt on but gave him very pleading eyes, trying to bring the other boy closer to him and he didn’t respond. He winced again when the boy was touched in an area where it hurt and he swiftly, yet gently, firmly grasped his boy and looked in his eyes, cupping his jaw. He laid a soft, long and deep kiss on his lips biting his lip a little as he pulled away as he struggled to get out the room through the window. 

“Elliot!” the voice came from behind him and caused him to whip around and he gasped, “Did you hear me?”

“Y-Yeah..LA..we leaving soon?” he asked, his body tingling at the boy’s kiss.

“Uh huh..Pack a bag for like a night just in case. You get to see who your parents grew up with.”

-----------------------------------------------

[septic-dr-schneep]

JSE Fanfiction - To Accept Defeat

Summary: Jameson doesn’t appreciate how Chase is treated by Stacy and while it’s in the nature of a gentleman to keep his nose out of other people’s business, there comes a point where he can’t stay silent anymore.

Jameson wasn’t one to get angry—or if he was, he was adept at hiding it. The ability to internalize was something he had apparently inherited from Jack but even if that hadn’t been the case, he was almost entirely confident that he would have done it anyway. A gentleman maintained a sense of dignity and composure where no one else could. When anger got the better of a man, it brought out the worst in him and frankly, Jameson didn’t want that for himself.

The situation with Stacy, however, was making it increasingly difficult to remember that.

While Jameson had been informed by Chase himself about his broken family, he had never actually gotten to see it for himself until recently. Usually when Chase got an opportunity to see the kids, he would drive to Stacy’s house to pick them up and bring them back here. A scheduling conflict, however, had forced a change, bringing Stacy to Egos Incorporated for the first time since Jameson had been created. It would be this way for the next three months and by all accounts, Stacy wasn’t particularly pleased about it.

Jameson had been somewhat puzzled to see Chase bolting around the house, sweeping scattered magazines into a perfectly square pile on the edge of the coffee table and frenziedly scrubbing the dishes in the sink that just yesterday he had said he didn’t care about. By the time the older Ego started adjusting the dining room chairs so each of them were exactly one foot apart, Jameson’s curiosity had become too great.

“Whyfor…?” he began, leaning forward to grab his attention and gesturing vaguely at the chairs.

“Oh, it’s just—” Chase paused for only a moment, flashing him a hurried, strained smile. “Stacy just wants to know things look fine for the kids. Speakin’ of which, I better freshen up! If the doorbell rings while I’m in the bathroom, let me grab it, okay? Well, actually, she won’t wanna be kept waiting, so maybe—Uhh—just come and get me if you hear them!” With that he rushed away, leaving a thoroughly perplexed Jameson in his wake as he dashed to the bathroom and slammed the door.

Chase wasn’t one to fuss over the small details and it wasn’t as if Stacy intended to stay. Why would he go to so much trouble for an interaction that would likely only last moments?

Ever so peculiar! As soon as the bell rang and Chase burst out of the bathroom to answer it, however, Jameson didn’t have any time to think about it. Chase realized halfway to the door that he still had his comb clutched in one hand and he glanced hurriedly around, tossing it onto the table before pulling the door open.

“Hey, you two!” he exclaimed, scooping up Connor and Brianna in a hug that Jameson knew could never properly tell them how much he loved them. “Wow, you’re getting so big! Have you grown half a foot since I last saw you?!”

“You saw us last month, Daddy,” Connor laughed, to which Chase tutted and kissed his head.

“Yeah, well, a lot can happen in a month! You and your sister go say hi to Jameson while I talk with your mom, okay?”

Just as they should, Jameson and the kids exchanged brief, polite greetings, making small talk for a few moments before they ran down the hall to go play. It was then that JJ caught the last of Stacy and Chase’s conversation.

“…and remember to make Connor wear his allergy wristband if you go out to eat,” Stacy was saying. “Actually, no. If you have Schneeplestein cooking like you did last time, you should probably have him wearing it at all times. And…” There she looked past him, hazel eyes narrowing at the dining room table. “Well. I guess I should’ve expected you to leave your comb where you eat, but try to make sure neither of them get into the habit.”

Chase flinched at that, almost imperceptibly, and gave her nothing but a tight nod. As soon as the door closed, the vlogger heaved a deep sigh, tousling his freshly combed hair back to its natural state, and Jameson felt something crestfallen turn in his chest at the sight.

“You…you did some handy work in record time, Da,” he ventured as Chase trudged back to the table, snatching up his wayward comb. “You made the place spick-and-span, for the most part!”

“Yeah…‘for the most part’ doesn’t really cut it for her,” Chase muttered resignedly.

The second time they visited, Jameson did his best to help Chase as he scrambled around the house for his cleanup. The two of them were able to tackle much more than Chase would have alone; given that last night had been movie night, there was a more substantial mess for them to take care of. As they worked, Jameson could feel his own stress peaking as he thought of what Stacy had said to Chase last time. Out of all the clean and presentable area, she had pinpointed that one small detail that would leave Chase at fault! He didn’t want that to happen again.

He was certain, however, that if it did, the others would be able to speak up for him. They were all home this time and Jameson already had a sense that Marvin and Dr. Schneeplestein were on less than savory terms with Stacy. Neither of them were prone to keeping quiet when something displeased them, so if she tried any funny business, they would be there.

Jameson was relieved to see that the kids were just as excited to visit Chase again as he was to have them. He had a feeling they missed him more than they would say—or were allowed to say—in front of their mom and the hugs they shared with their dad at the door did all three of them good.

As he’d expected, Jackieboy got the privilege of the next hug, hefting them both up in his arms at once and spinning them around, earning gleeful whoops from the both of them before Brianna wriggled away and lunged at the doctor, latching onto him around the waist and already chattering excitedly about watching him work. Jameson smiled distractedly at the sight, but he was more preoccupied with glancing sideways to see what Chase and Stacy where doing. Marvin too was watching them intently.

“Alright, just try not to crowd them! You’ll have them burnt out and asking to come home within the first ten minutes if you keep suffocating them like that,” Stacy was protesting as she gestured to Jackieboy and Schneep. The older two Egos looked up at that and the kids quieted, uncertainly sliding onto the floor. Jameson swallowed hard to see them glancing between their parents, already watching for the signs of a fight.

“We’re not crowding them, okay? We’re just happy to see them,” Chase explained evenly, though there was an edge to his voice that was simultaneously comprised of annoyance and pleading.

“Well, don’t get too excited,” Stacy shot back. “It’s only for three nights.”

“Don’t you think I know that?! You don’t have to tell me, I’m more than aware!” Chase snapped, glancing down and to the side only a moment after the words left his mouth, as if he already regretted them. Stacy simply shifted her weight back, raising her eyebrows and tsking wordlessly. She didn’t need words; her disapproval and self-righteousness were made more than clear in that one gesture.

Wide-eyed, Jameson glanced around at the others, expecting one of them—any of them to speak up. Jackieboy pressed his lips tightly together, carding a hand through Connor’s hair, and Schneep kept his eyes low, squeezing Brianna’s shoulder and suggesting in a soft voice that they go to his lab and see what work had to be done. As they made a hurried exit, Jameson looked past them to Marvin. He of all people would—

He wouldn’t? Beneath his mask, the magician’s face was flushed with anger and his jaw was working up a storm, but he said nothing. How could that be? Jameson wondered, aghast, as Chase managed an uncomfortable goodbye and shut the door with more force than was strictly necessary, turning on his heel and forcing a wan smile at Connor, who stayed at Jackieboy’s side even as Chase approached.

“S-Sorry about that, buddy,” he offered tentatively. “Your mom’s a little stressed, I think. But, uh, I think Jackieboy’s got some new action figures. You wanna check ’em out?” Connor nodded apprehensively, though at the very least Jameson was glad that he didn’t hesitate to take Chase’s hand when he held it out. As they ducked into Jackieboy’s room, Jameson caught the hero’s arm before he could follow.

“Jackieboy! I—I can’t say I understand,” he stammered. “Why does Chase allow Ms. Sullivan to speak to him that way? Why did none of you—?”

“Well…I don’t know, it’s kind of hard to explain,” Jackieboy admitted, hesitating for a moment or two as if to find the right words. “The short answer is that it’s not our place, and if we try to argue with Stacy she’ll be more than happy to. She always has to have the last word and won’t stop until she has it, so it’s useless to try reasoning with her. More importantly, it hurts Chase to see us fighting with her.”

“But for her to do it in front of the little ones!” Jameson protested, planting his hands on his hips incredulously. “What’s to happen when they’re no longer little britches, when they reach that nasty stage of rebellion, and they believe it’s alright to treat their father this way because their mum has modeled it for them? It’s not right, not in the least!”

“We know, Jameson, but Chase has to choose to stand up for himself when he’s ready. It’s his job to decide what he tells his kids about the situation,” the older Ego stated. “We can’t do it for him. They are the parents and what they model for their kids is what they choose to.”

Glowering, Jameson moved his hands from his hips to his chest, folding them tightly as he countered sharply, “It wasn’t Chase’s choice to model divorce for them.”

He could only be slightly satisfied at the startled expression that came over Jackieboy’s face; it only lasted for a few seconds before he wordlessly shook his head and drifted toward the other room to join Chase and Connor.

Left on his own to think, Jameson fretted and simmered.

He had truly done his best to forget about it, to process through it, to convince himself that it was for the best if he didn’t interfere. He had repeated Jackieboy’s words to himself more times than he could count, trying to reason with them—trying to tell himself that they were the truth. Every single time, he failed with the simple realization that it just wasn’t right.

The divorce itself wasn’t right. Perhaps the marriage hadn’t been right, but the divorce certainly wasn’t. In Jameson’s mind, it was black and white: women were meant to respect their husbands and men were meant to cherish their wives. They were meant to communicate, acknowledge differences and discover similarities. Where had Chase and Stacy gone wrong? If they were ever really in love, shouldn’t they have found it easy to respect, support and cherish each other?

Had they ever been in love?

Jameson couldn’t speak for that. He was young, too young. He had never gotten the chance to see them when they were together; all he could see was the aftereffect, the damage it had done to Chase’s heart, and it broke his own.

He didn’t know Stacy’s side of the story. Perhaps he was judging her too harshly when it came to the terms and circumstances of the divorce, but whatever they were, they couldn’t have been any excuse for treating Chase the way she did now.

In front of the children, no less! He just couldn’t get it out of his mind. Connor and Brianna were sweet children; every time Jameson looked at them, he could see Chase in their smiles and their eyes. The thought of them ever treating someone the way their mother treated Chase made him feel sick.

That same stomach-turning dread was pooling thick in his stomach as he watched Chase allow the children past him. He hadn’t hugged them for quite as long this time, Jameson noted, resisting the urge to chew on his lower lip. Was it because he wanted to get rid of Stacy sooner, so he couldn’t spare more time for it?

“So I heard you and Connor had a lot of fun playing in the backyard last time,” Stacy remarked to Chase with a lightness in her tone that Jameson wasn’t used to hearing from her. It only made him tense. Chase managed to keep his composure better than Jameson did, leaning against the doorframe and loosely folding his arms.

“Yeah, we did,” he concurred warily. “What’s that got to do with—?”

“I just want to remind you, Chase, that we can afford better things now than we could when you were working for us. I didn’t appreciate having him come home with his thirty-dollar pair of jeans muddy and torn up in the knees!”

“Look, I did my best to wash them, but the stains wouldn’t come out,” Chase complained.

“Your best? What exactly is your best?” Stacy demanded. “Did you only put them through the wash once because you were busy with other things? When they’re with you, it seems like you’re only willing to get your hands dirty when you’re having fun! That hasn’t changed a bit!”

“I said I was sorry, Mama,” Connor piped up weakly, going unheard as he shrank close to his sister. Brianna simply kept her head ducked, tugging on her brother’s hand to drag him down the hall and find some kind of escape.

“Look, this is stupid,” Chase huffed. “I’ll put ’em through twice if that’s what you want—”

“I want to know that you’re actually taking care of them! I mean, let’s hope you’re not taking care of them the way you take care of yourself!” Stacy scoffed, throwing up her hands. “Look at you! At the very least, the house is clean but you look like you haven’t showered in four days and just standing here for three minutes, I can already smell the whiskey on you!”

“Stacy—” Chase’s voice hitched on her name and he took a hurried breath, taking a few steps back and gripping the edge of the door so he could swing it shut more easily. “Stacy, I don’t want to argue with you, okay? I just want—”

“You want to pretend that everything’s perfect, like you used to?” Stacy spat. “Well, fine, I’ll let you live in your little fantasy but you’re nowhere near perfect, Chase. Try to actually be responsible with them this time!”

“Enough!”

The outburst was silent, so it didn’t have the thunder behind it that commanded respect, but both Chase and Stacy fell back a step when the speech slide burst into view between them. The rush of anger that went straight to Jameson’s chest was so hot and so fast that it was enough to make him lightheaded as he stalked onto the scene, steering Chase back a few more feet so he could stand in his place.

“I have done my best to be an appropriate bystander and hold my tongue the past few times you’ve come here,” he growled, bristling at her. “I’m not one to insult the fairer sex but I simply—I can’t stand for this! Chase may take your insults quietly but I have a few of my own for you! You are the most impetuous, incorrigible, and immature woman I’ve ever had the displeasure of seeing and you have absolutely no right to treat him as you do. You’re a fribble and a fussbudget! I understand now why you and Chase were incompatible—it’s because you can’t see the good in anything. You’re superficial and petty!”

“Jem, stop!” Chase gasped, pulling on his shoulder to get his attention and promptly being smacked off.

“I’ve known Chase for less than a year and I already know far more of him than you ever could! You make it out to be as if he left you! Since you left, he’s wanted nothing more than a second chance to prove that he could be a good husband and father, that he could do better than he did, but you never give him that chance! You tear him down every time you see him because you’re afraid that sometime you might come and he might meet your standards! You might realize that you made a mistake! Oh, but you could never admit that. You always find something else to natter about because you’ll never be content!

“To put it plainly, madam, I hope you’re never content. I hope you continue to be unhappy, making the world around you unhappy and wondering why nothing works out as you want it to, and I hope you come to realize far too late that it’s because you didn’t keep a loving, loyal, honorable man when you had the chance!” Tugging shortly on the hem of his vest, Jameson shifted his weight back and forth testily, staring her down under the brim of his hat. “You’re nowhere near perfect either, you unreasonable biddy, and that’s why you don’t deserve him. You never did.”

The room behind him had fallen into silence during his rant, which made Chase’s shaky “Jameson…” all the louder to his ears. He shifted, glanced sternly and unrepentantly at his father-figure and then nearly stumbled backward into him as the force of Stacy’s hand caught him across the face. Cursing, Chase automatically lunged to catch him as he pressed a hand to his stinging cheek, gripping his shoulders tightly in a simultaneous attempt to hold him steady and hold him back.

“What d’you know?” Stacy spat, shaking her hand and then clenching it with the other at her sides. “I guess even the dumb can’t shut up sometimes. Try translating that to him, Chase.”

“You are poisonous,” Jameson hissed, breaking free of Chase’s arms just long enough to slam the door in her face.

[echodrops]

The Promises I Made (2018)

For the past twelve years, I’ve spent every New Year’s Eve compiling a list of fifty promises I intend to keep or fulfill over the next twelve months. The results have been truly amazing, and I have kept some promises I never thought I could. Although this year was really, really bad, oh lord... This year, for New Year’s, there will be a new set of promises for to me keep, but here are the old ones, for review!

 The Promises I Made (2018 edition)

1) I will be less anxious at work and not let passing comments from students or passive rudeness get under my skin as much. Status: Somewhat kept; I feel like I wasn’t as upset by students being rude this year as last year, but then again that might just be because I had better students. XD

2) I will be more proactive about my responsibilities for the college newspaper committee so we can make a great product. Status: Uhh… Can I count this as kept if the newspaper committee was put on hold due to decisions from the higher administration, so I didn’t have to be proactive about these responsibilities?

3) I will actually visit Mexico, not just accidentally take a wrong turn and end up there... Status: Broken. You know how some people like live next door to a restaurant for years but somehow never get around to trying it? Yeah that’s me, with the entire country of Mexico. Like, I literally live less than a mile from the border… I really should just go get lunch one day or something…

4) I will actually decorate my office with all the stuff I have had sitting around at my house for months. Status: Actually kept. I don’t feel like the decorating is really done in the office, but the decorations are no longer cluttering up my actual home instead of the office!

5) I will be better about focusing so that I can grade quickly and feel less overwhelmed throughout the course of the semester. Status: You know, it’s hard to say whether or not I did grade more quickly because spring semester I took on a really annoying class schedule and it screwed me over hard. I feel like I was a little faster this year, but I felt more overwhelmed than ever.

6) I will get the scratch on my Camaro buffed a bit to clear up the parts that can be cleared. Status: I just… didn’t do this. Broken.

7) I will repair the mortar on the fence outside the Utah house and seal the bricks on the window sills. Status: Somewhat kept/broken. I fixed the mortar on the fence outside but did not seal the windowsill bricks.

8) I will finish at least 26 books over the course of this year. Status: Look man. If my promise had been “Finish 26 fanfics longer than 100,000 words,” I would have blown this promise out of the water. But as it stands, I think I only made it to 10-ish printed books. I’m naughty. 9) I will retrim the grape vine at the Utah house and also spray/get someone to spray to kill the wasps. Status: Broken. I don’t know why I thought it would be smart to make a promise about trimming the grape vine, since that’s something you do in fall… when I’m not even in Utah… Hrmmmm… 10) I will get the mail man to stop delivering the wrong mail to my box because I’m getting ten times more mail for other people than for myself. Status: I had so many opportunities to do this, and I just didn’t. RIP.

11) I will have the fire escape window installed on the Utah house to make it legal to rent. Status: Broken. That’s a lotta money fam.

12) I will update Home and a Half at least four times (and no more double posts, just be chill Yehn, be chill for once…) Status: WOW. I was so, so optimistic, wasn’t I? 13) I will actually build all the furniture I bought for the Texas house and never assembled. Status: Mostly kept? I think there’s like one more thing I haven’t assembled (the spare futon), but up to this point I haven’t needed it, so...

14) I will actually watch Stranger Things since everyone keeps nagging me about it. Status: Broken. I just didn’t do this at all.

15) I will go to a dentist and get this annoying wisdom tooth removed and also see what can be done for my front tooth that got pushed out of alignment by said wisdom tooth. This really needs to happen ‘cause the partially erupted tooth is killing me. D; Status: Wisdom tooth is still hurting me… I am the worst at taking care of myself… 2019… the year of self-care?

16) I will take a road trip with my friend Karen like we’ve been talking about for a while. Status: Actually did this! Finally something completely kept. It was a great trip too.  

17) I will continue to serve as the video game club’s faculty sponsor. Status: I was too busy… T_T Broken.

18) I will lower my credit card debt by at least $2000. Moving is so expensive. T_T Status: I ended up having major set-backs this year in the form of having to pay out of pocket for a new windshield in my car and also my Playstation flat out dying on me, so this goal did not get satisfied. But now that my car is completely paid off (hell yeah!), I’ll finally be able to start making big payments on this sucker.

19) I will have ALL my lesson plans planned out in advance for Fall 2018 so that I can just chill next fall. Status: YO THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED. There were still some instances of needing to fix things, but overall I did actually have all the lessons done in advance, and that was probably the only reason I survived fall at all lol.

20) I will finish painting the living room in the Utah house, finally. Status: I… forgot I even made this promise. Yikes.

21) I will be better about walking my dog because I have been slacking lately. Status: I wanted to be better, but every fucking time I go to walk my dog, the neighbor’s Chihuahua runs through their fence and tries to attack my dog, so literally every walk becomes a nightmare and there were a lot of days when I just didn’t want to deal with that stress… :/

22) I will finish a game other than FFXIV this year. Man, so many games have been piling up… Status: I couldn’t even find time to play FFXIV this year, let alone another game… 23) I will write a new, original short story. Status: I… did not write like at all this year. 2018 was just really hard for me. T_T

24) I will get my black glasses fixed this year, finally. Status: Uh… Kept… I think? At least I think this promise was referring to the damage to the frames of my black glasses, which I did get fixed. But now the lens has a scratch… V_V

25) I will attend more professional development/on-campus events and trainings to bolster my evaluation. Status: Eh, kept? I’m signed up for a conference and did some extra training thing that I can throw on the sheet, so I’m calling it good.

26) I will ink and color at least the one drawing of Yehn’zi that I finished sketching a while ago and did absolutely nothing with. Status: A whole lot of nope on this one.

27) I will really finish moving in to my Texas house, no more “I’ll fish out the clothes from the Space Bag when I need them but never actually hang them up.” Status: I’m counting this as kept, since the only thing that didn’t happen is that I never took the plastic wrap off the top of my nightstand, but like… hey that’s a really convenient way to avoid water spots so…

28) I will volunteer at a non-profit organization to fulfill my “service to the community” work requirement. I mean, I will volunteer from the goodness of my heart… yeah… Status: Shitttt this didn’t happen and it really needed to… Oh dear…

29) I will level ALL my classes to 70 in Stormblood. Status: This also did not happen. No time to play.

30) I will reach 1000 followers on tumblr. You should follow me. I’m only marginally a waste of time and space. Status: Kept and exceeded! I’m at like… 1540-ish right now I believe.

31) I will find a salon so I can get my hair dyed consistently instead of looking like a shabby blob half way through each semester. Status: Well, the good news is that my hair color fades so nicely that one of my students actually asked if the strawberry blonde was my natural color. But uh… no… it’s not… so…

32) I will find some way to pay back my coworker for all the incredibly nice things she has done for me already. Status: I mean, I took her out to lunch a lot but I don’t know if I really managed to feel “equal” on the debts I owe her for helping me out.

33) I will see an Anhinga (it’s a kind of bird!) in Texas. Status: Kept! The very first time I went looking for it, I found it, so score.

34) I will win Camp NaNoWriMo this year (because November might never be a possibility for me again, given how much grading I seem to end up doing during that month). T_T Status: Broken. Again, I wrote almost nothing this year. Too much stress. T_T

35) I will scout for new neighborhoods to move to with better internet access and closer to my work. Status: Kept. It’s still a bit too early for me to be looking for specific places, but I have a better sense of where I’ll be aiming for when I do go to buy something.

36) I will try to get better at Spanish, possibly by using my DuoLingo app more. Status: …Broken.

37) I will buy sod for the front part of the Utah house so that my house actually looks decent from the curb. Status: I COULD HAVE… But I didn’t.

38) I will be more proactive about commenting, reccing, and reblogging content I appreciate online because I find so many wonderful things but I rarely say as much about them as I should. Status: I think I was worse about this than last year. I miss the days when I didn’t feel like every five minutes taken to myself was stealing from my work responsibilities…

39) I will actually use my Instagram account to upload my photography somewhere public. Status: I forgot I made this promise too. Oops…

40) I will go dolphin-watching in the Gulf. Status: Somewhat kept? I mean… I stood on the pier… And saw dolphins in the Gulf. That counts, right???

41) I will clear all the photos and videos off my phone and camera SD cards because they are overflowing. Status: Kept but now they’re just sitting on the hard drive unsorted and in a confusing jumble of unnamed folders...

42) I will update my calendar with important dates—holidays, birthdays, etc.—and be productive about sending cards and well-wishes. Status: Broken, just totally broken.

43) I will complete my series of posts about Yato/Hiyori. Really. Status: >___> One day…

44) I will not work later than 10pm on any given work night. I can’t keep running myself ragged. I need to brake sometimes. Status: HA. I was really hopeful. More broken promises…

45) I will explore some new places/cities in Texas that I have not been before. Status: I… did not do this. I had a chance to do this and I didn’t. D;

46) I will get a gardener for the Texas house because the lawn is basically unmanageable by myself. Status: Kept. Because… the lawn really was unmanageable by myself so…

47) I will clean out the fridge more often. No expired milk or ancient leftovers this year please… Status: >_____> Ooopppssss.

48) I will get some sort of watering system set up so that the lawn at the Texas house isn’t a total disaster anymore. Status: Somewhat kept. I did buy hoses and sprinklers to water the lawn but mostly it’s just been raining a lot and that made the grass greener on its own.

49) I will help make one of the super complicated cookies from the new cookie cookbook I bought for Karen. Status: Actually kept! We learned much about the workings of cookie guns.

50) I will keep these promises. Status: Ouch, this one hurts a little.

Totals Kept promises: 12 Broken promises: 29 Somewhat kept/broken promises: 9

Y I K E S ™. I thought last year was crazy and was so hopeful for this year… I had NO IDEA how hard this last year was going to be. So many broken promises; I feel so guiltyyyyy. DDDD; Although I’m still at the same job and not planning on dramatically swapping entire career fields again, things are still in the process of settling and there’s still SO much more I feel like I need to work on. 2018 was the year of being constantly overwhelmed. Unfortunately, 2019 doesn’t seem like it’s going to be much calmer because I’m still working on designing classes and getting my lessons ironed out, but I at least no longer feel like I’m at rock bottom… So, I’m cautiously, very cautiously, feeling the tiniest bit optimistic?

  Let’s do this, 2019! The new set of promises will be up by tomorrow.

[vickypoochoices]

Christmas Countdown part 3.

[MASTERLIST.]

Days 6-10.

Day 11.

She huddled closer to Kaitlyn and Zack, a wave of warmth enveloping them as they remained under the covers of her bed. Flicking the switch of a flash light, Zack held it up to his chin, pulling his mouth into a gurn and making a strange wailing sound.

"Remind me what exactly you're doing Zack."

"Uhh, setting the mood?"

"You said you wanted to help me 'talk tactics', not tell ghost stories. Why are you always like this?" She queried, but she couldn't stop a small smile from slipping.

"Just so you know Zack, I appreciated it." Kaitlyn nudged him with her shoulder.

"Of course you did." She rolled her eyes at the pair of them, both looking back at her with innocent smiles on their faces.

"Okay, we've played with you enough tonight. Just FYI, winding you up is so much fun, you always bite. So then, where's today's message from Mr Lover Lover? Cutting it a bit fine today isn't he? It is almost 10pm. Hey, wait! Did we ever even establish if this is a guy or what?"

"Zack. We've established nothing." She jabbed him in the arm, hard, to emphasize her point.

"Wow...Owww."

"He's never missed a day, something will show up soon. I don't know what it is, I just have a feeling it's a guy."

"Are we gonna do this? Put money on it? What odds can I get on this being a chick?" Kaitlyn enquired, eyes seeming to light up in excitement.

Forcefully, she shoved Kaitlyn out the bed, squaring her shoulders and fixing Zack with a hard stare.

"You're next Zilberg"

He raised his hands and quietly hopped out.

"Okay, we're out of here. Don't worry, I fully intend to give it my all tomorrow. Secret admirer is going dowwwnn."

Barely a minute had passed since Zack and Kaitlyn's departure, and as she lowered herself back into bed, a quiet vibration gained her attention.

Day Eleven - You are, and always have been my dream x.

A small smile teased her lips. She'd been waiting all day for this, he could do better than that.

You're sweet, but I need more tonight!

She lay back, watching the screen intently. After a few minutes of nothing, she huffed out an irritated breath, rolling onto her side.

And then her phone buzzed.

You are the answer to every prayer I've offered. You are a song, a dream, a whisper, and I don't know how I could have lived without you for as long as I have x.

Her ears started ringing and her heart felt like it was thrashing against her chest. His words were beautiful, yet familiar, although she couldn't think why.

Why does this sound so familiar?

So it's not gonna be easy, it's going to be really hard; We're gonna have to work at this every day, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you forever, every day x.

Something inside her head clicked instantly as she took in the words. He was quoting from The Notebook. Her all time favourite romance film. It was beautiful, it made her cry without fail every time she watched it, and Ryan Gosling was in it, and that was reason enough.

I'm impressed! First you woo me with Love Actually, and now you're telling me you've watched The Notebook? I'm in love!

I love you. I am who I am because of you. You are every reason, every hope, and every dream I've ever had x.

Her stomach flipped as she poured over the words. He wasn't messing around anymore, his words carried more meaning now than any of the previous days. At a loss with what to reply back, she stared dumbfounded at the screen, before it vibrated in her hand one final time.

If you're a bird, I'm a bird x.

If there was one thing she was certain of, it was that Zack had to find out who was behind this. Quickly.

Day 12.

Zack paced up and down the empty hallway for the umpteenth time, pointlessly batting at his face in frustration. It had been two hours. Two very lonely, extremely boring hours keeping watch outside their apartment. Checking his watch, he made a mental vow to stick it out at least another twenty minutes before throwing the towel in. As he straightened his aching back, he suddenly noticed a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye, followed by the sound of hurried movement.

Whirling around on the spot, Zack broke into a fast paced jog. Catching sight of his target, his attention momentarily slipped as a post it note fluttered towards him. Reaching out to catch it before it fell, he managed to read the small scrawl 'Day Twelve - Je t'aime x.' before scrunching it up roughly.

Eyes focused ahead, a smirk creeped on to Zack's face as he realised his patience was about to pay off. This was his apartment building, and he knew they were heading towards a dead end, with nothing but a cleaning cupboard to run towards. The figure slowed, realising the error, back still facing Zack.

"You've played a good game Sir, but it's time to find out who you really are." Placing an encouraging hand on his shoulder, he slowly turned.

Zack's mouth flew open.

Day 13.

"Edgar? As in Edgar Edgar? That doesn't make any sense!" Kaitlyn shrieked as Zack filled them in the next day.

"Why? We always knew it could be anyone."

"But, it's Edgar! He really watched The Notebook? And liked it enough to quote it?" Kaitlyn squeaked, clearly having a hard time accepting all of this.

"Actually, I wasn't quite done. Edgar insisted he'd been getting emails from an unknown source asking for his help. He confessed to leaving the flowers after class. But he was pretty adamant that was the only part he played."

"But why would Edgar agree to this? What's he getting out of it?" She asked, confusion etched across her face.

"Whoever this unknown source is, they've been hyping up D and D everywhere. Apparently so many people are interested now, they've had to set a waiting list up to cope with the demand."

"No wonder Edgar was game! Hey, you know Tyler could probably crack this. I bet he could track this unknown source with his eyes closed." Zack enthused.

"Actually I...I don't think I want to."

"WHAT?!" Zack and Kaitlyn complained loudly in unison.

Ringing her hands distractedly, she was unable to meet the steely gaze she felt bearing down on her.

"It's just, he's gone to a lot of trouble to not be found. He's gone as far as to recruit Edgar as his minion for Christ's sake! That's dedication. I don't want to ruin this for him. It's not like he can hide forever, what would be the point to all of this then?"

Kaitlyn and Zack exchanged a look.

"And you couldn't have said all this before I went all badass yesterday?" Zack questioned, eyebrows raised slightly.

"Oh shhh. I'm sure you got a kick out of it."

"James Bond better watch out." Zack winked.

***

A few hours later she was slowly sinking under a pile of books, studying hard after slacking so much recently.

Her laptop chimed in front of her, notifying her of a new email. Her pulse quickened as she noted that she now had her very own unknown source, patiently waiting in her inbox. Her finger hovered over the cursor for a brief second, before she relented and clicked away.

Day Thirteen - You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending x.

Day 14.

As she made her way home that afternoon after a long day, she couldn't think of anything better than curling up in bed for a cozy little afternoon nap. Entering the building, she could hear music playing loudly from one of the apartments. With every step she took closer to her apartment, the louder the music became. She couldn't stop herself from humming along, recognising the song as That's How You Know from the film Enchanted. Weird choice of song to be blasting so loud. When she finally reached the front door, it was clear that one of her roommates must have gone deaf over night. Because if that wasn't the reason, she was about to give them a piece of her mind.

Unlocking the door, she stormed in, ready to yell, only to be met by an empty room.

"Okay, which one of you is it? Come on, out you come. I promise I won't lay into you that badly!" She called out, making her way down the hallway, opening each bedroom door she passed. They were all empty. No one was here.

Racing back to the living room, she located the source of the music. Kaitlyn's ancient music system stood in the kitchen. Everyone always poked fun at her for being stuck in the 90's, but she insisted on keeping it in the kitchen, songs from their childhood constantly played as she did the dishes or cleaned up. On top of the CD player, was a case she didn't recognize. Picking it up, she found a post it note slipped inside the cover of the otherwise empty case. Day Fourteen - He'll find a new way to show you, a little bit every day. That's how you know, that's how you know he is your love x.

As the song repeated itself over and over, she did nothing but take a seat, listening to the lyrics intently. She knew he'd been ramping up the affection recently, and becoming bolder with his words. It was becoming clear that this wasn't a game anymore, his feelings were stronger than that. He was in love with her, yet she didn't even know his name. Could she go on like this, or was it time to ask Tyler for a favour?

Day 15.

"Yo, sweet cheeks! Party planning is about to start, get your ass out here!" Zack yelled from the other side of her bedroom door.

"I'll be right there!" She chirped back, picking up her phone and standing to join everyone. She stopped in her tracks as the phone beeped in her hand.

Day fifteen is a choice x.

Well this was different. Plopping back on the bed, her fingers hurriedly got to work with a response.

What kind of choice?

I'm giving you the choice to end all of this now. Say the word, ask me outright who I am, and this will all be over x.

And the other option?

Indulge me a little longer. Things stay as they are for now, we'll continue the fun. Make a little time for me on Christmas Day and I'll tell you everything you want to know. From that point on, whatever happens next is up to you x.

Okay... Before she could finish tapping out a reply, her bedroom door flung open, Chris grinning at her widely. Her hand slipped in surprise, and she quietly groaned as she realised she'd accidentally sent the message.

"People are getting impatient out there, I've been elected to come and get you."

She raised her eyebrows at him, folding her arms across her chest.

"When you say people I know you mean Zack. And when you say elected I know you mean you were forced to do his dirty work for him."

Chris laughed, rubbing the back of his head as he tried and failed to think of a lie on the spot.

"Don't even think about it Powell. I see right through you."

"Okay, okay. Do me a favour and come join everyone please?"

She smiled sweetly at him and clambered off her bed whilst Chris reached into his jeans pocket, pulling his phone out.

Taking in the look of delight flash across his face, she couldn't help but question him.

"Hmm I know that look. Who's the lucky girl then?"

"What? Nothing. No one." Chris fumbled, cheeks glowing.

She eyed him suspiciously, maintaining eye contact for a moment, prompting him to shift nervously from one foot to the other.

"Whatever you say Christopher. I'm watching you!" She tried to make light of the situation, but deep down she was desperate for answers. Was Chris the one behind all of this? And if he was, how did she feel about that? They were just friends right?

Days 16-17.

Tagging: @zigortega4life @emerald-bijou @krsnlove @darley1101

[heryellowcup]

Beca and Chloe meet at a wedding?? pleaase? love your writing.

for some reason yesterday’s one shot got deleted, but that gave me some time to add a lot of depth and make it more fun, somewhat smutty-ish (yes, that’s a word now) towards the end as well? it’s also a lot longer so that’s always fun. enjoy!

“You’re…alone,” Jesse states simply, eyebrows furrowed questioningly as he points at Beca who can’t help but roll her eyes dramatically. She knows, and he doesn’t have to remind her.

“Wow, Jess, thanks. That’s the first thing you tell your best friend when she shows up at your wedding? Really?” Her comment is snarky and sarcastic and Jesse laughs, then, shaking his head in amusement as a rather apologetic expression starts to slowly settle on his face.

“You know I didn’t mean it like that!” It’s his turn to roll his eyes when Beca playfully punches his chest in response and yep, he definitely deserved that. “But I mean, you told me you were going to-”

“Yeah, I know what I said.” It’s Beca’s signature ‘I don’t want to talk about it’ voice and Jesse knows better than to not respect that, drops the subject immediately.

Though Beca knows she can’t really blame him. She did tell him that she’d bring a date, after all, but then again, it hadn’t been her fault. Luke was the one who had cancelled, not her, he was the one who had called two days ago to tell her that he couldn’t show up. And Beca hadn’t really minded, still didn’t, considering there definitely hadn’t been any feelings involved. Not the romantic kind, at least, and apparently he had picked up on that.

And it’s only when Jesse grins at her, excitedly pulling her towards the other side of the room were Benji is waiting, bright grin matching Jesse’s, that she realizes how big of a deal it is that she hadn’t followed her friends advice and quickly looked for another date instead, replacing Luke simply so she wouldn’t have to show up alone. She hadn’t understood that mentality in the slightest but, looking around now, she realizes that Jesse hadn’t been lying, hadn’t been exaggerating when he had told her that everyone else was bringing a date, and that she was probably going to want to do the same.

And it’s not like she actually wants to date someone, not like that’s actually something she’s actively looking for at that moment in her life, but she kinda wishes she had brought someone anyways, just for the sake of not being alone, surrounded by happy couples that she can tell are already shooting her pitying looks.

She’s not surprised to see that Emily and Aubrey are there together, talking to Benji who they are still approaching at a fast pace and who is, just a few seconds later, almost tackled to the ground by his soon to be husband.

Beca watches them adoringly, can’t believe how incredibly lucky they are, but she also can’t help but laugh when she hears Aubrey mumble a quiet ‘children’ under her breath and her girlfriend proceeds to chastice her in a playful manner.

“I see you’re as mean as ever, Posen,” Beca grins teasingly, for once accepting both of their hugs.

She decides just to ignore their questions about why she’s there alone.

She notices her immediately, though she’s pretty sure everyone does, heads turning when she enters the room. Beca doesn’t know her, thinks she must be one of Benji’s friends that she just hasn’t met yet. And she can’t help but wish that he’d introduce them, drawn in by the woman who’s all dimples and bright smiles, the woman in the gorgeous red dress in between the countless of black ones, the whole crowd monotone.

There are so many thoughts running through Beca’s mind, some less inappropriate than others, but her heart stops at once when the stranger’s bright blue eyes meet her own from the other side of the room. There’s a playful twinkle in them, one that matches the redhead’s smirk.

“Uhhh earth to Beca?” It’s Stacie who makes her break eye contact and look away, finally able to breathe again when the other woman is nothing more but red, blurry as she focuses on the brunette in front of her instead. Though her friend’s expression isn’t any less playful, teasing, and Beca already knows what’s coming when Stacie opens her mouth again. “Mhh I think someone’s got a crush.”

Beca wants to protest, she really does, but words are hard when you can’t even think straight. Not that Beca ever does. “I-I…she-”

“She’s hot, yeah,” Stacie grins and Beca is pretty sure that she’s already blushing hard, her cheeks having adapted the color of a certain dress she wouldn’t mind seeing up close. Or on her floor. And Stacie knows, simply keeps talking when Beca doesn’t make any effort to do the same, her voice laced with smugness as she teases the other girl. “Like, really hot. You know, I might go for it if you’re not interes-”

“I thought you’re here with someone?!” Beca asks, perhaps a bit too fast, biting the insides of her cheeks to keep herself from being even more obvious.

“God, jealousy is such a fun-”

“I’m not jealous!!” Beca’s, again, a bit too fast, a bit too loud, and it makes Stacie laugh just a bit too much.

“Sure, Mitchell. Whatever makes you sleep at night.” She winks at Beca then, earning herself an eyeroll and a glare that just makes her smirk even harder.

“She’s probably here with someone anyways,” the smaller girl’s voice is barely above a whisper now, as if she’s scared the beautiful stranger might be able to hear her from the other side of the room. It’s ridiculous, but Stacie understands. “I mean, there’s no way she’s here alone…”

“You’d still do her though.”

Beca wants to punch Stacie, but a chuckle escapes her lips instead. There’s no way of denying it and they both know it.

“Shut up.”

Beca keeps watching her all night. She doesn’t approach her, even though she never sees her with someone who could possibly be her date, still doesn’t believe that a woman as captivating as her came alone. Their eyes keep meeting, too, even when Beca’s friends keep her distracted with conversations and food and all the fun things the brunette would usually enjoy more than anything. But now all she can think is about a certain pair of bright, blue eyes and she keeps looking for them as she skims the crowd. She finds them, more than once that night.

And there are smiles, too. Friendly ones at first, the redhead’s lips curving upwards ever so slightly whenever they look at each other, but they soon broaden and then turn into something else entirely. They’re teasing, now, the other woman smirking at her in the most suggestive way that eventually makes the tension between the two of them become unbearable.

Beca eventually finds herself at the bar and it’s not too long after that, that she finds herself having had a few more drinks than intended. She’s not drunk, by any means, but definitely tipsy.

It’s what she later uses as an excuse for the way her heart speeds up when the redhead occupies the seat next to her, casually ordering some cocktail before she turns around to face her. Beca stops breathing again all at once, thinks that the woman is impossibly more gorgeous up close, the cocktail she ordered probably almost as sweet as her.

It makes Beca nervous, the way she’s looking at her. It’s predatory, in a way, but Beca welcomes the rush of excitement she gets out of it.

“Do you not like dancing?”

It takes Beca a few too many seconds to realize that the question is directed towards her and she has to turn around and see that pretty much everyone else is dancing to get what the other woman is hinting at.

“Not necessarily, no,” Beca chuckles, without thinking, and it’s only when she sees the redhead’s smile falter the tiniest bit that she shakes her head, reconsiders her answer and changes it. It’s awkward and she’s sure she’s blushing hard, still, but it’s making the redhead’s lips curve upwards again and she decides that perhaps a little bit of embarrassment is worth it. “I mean, it’s not like I have someone to dance wit- I mean…uhh, I’m-”

“You’re alone here?” the other woman asks and Beca grins. It’s all the brunette heard all evening, everyone suddenly so concerned about her dating life as if the meaningless people most of them brought were any better. But this time, the question is not pitying or judging, it’s an exclaim of surprise and hope and Beca takes it gladly.

“Yup, guess I’m the only one,” she chuckles and it’s then that her eyebrows furrow questioningly, silently asking a question she’s sure she should’ve asked herself earlier than this, before she voices it out loud. “Wait, you too?”

The other woman confirms her assumption with a happy nod and a bright smile before she extends her hand so Beca can shake it. And she does, all while looking into the other girl’s eyes and mimicking that smug smirk of hers. “I’m Chloe.”

“Well, Chloe with that gorgeous red dress, I’m Beca.” The brunette swears it’s the alcohol that’s making her do this, but she’s suddenly even more confident than she’s used to and the redhead’s blush is just spurring her on even more. The fact that the other woman is, indeed, alone here, finally catching up with her, too.

But then Chloe’s laughing, loudly, and Beca, again, realizes why her heart had sped up earlier. It’s happening again, too, and she feels kind of helpless in the best possible way when Chloe can’t stop grinning, her nose scrunched up cutely as she speaks. “Well, everyone else seems to think they’ve been invited to a funeral, not a wedding.”

Beca looks down at her own clothing and she wants to laugh with Chloe, but instead settles on a scandalized look. “Damn, I guess I’m one of those people.”

“No, you’re-I mean… you’re kind of hot so uh, I don’t mind…?” Chloe had gone from being cheeky to being a seemingly nervous mess and Beca is smirking smugly as she takes a sip from her beer. She sets the bottle down again when Chloe seems to be struggling to find the words she’s looking for and waits for her to speak. “You know, I was actually… well, I was feeling kind of upset about coming here alone. Like, everyone else is here with someone and then there’s just…just me.”

Beca stands up, then, and Chloe’s not quite sure what is happening until the brunette suddenly pulls her to the dance floor. And Beca simply grins when the redhead’s cheeks adapt a dark shade of red once again. She’s usually not this forward, usually doesn’t even like to dance, but for some reason she wants to impress Chloe.

And Chloe definitely doesn’t object, immediately wrapping her arms around the smaller girl.

“I think I changed my mind. I’m glad I didn’t bring anyone.”

Beca’s not quite sure for how long they danced, not quite sure how many smirks have been thrown their way that night, mostly by her friends who seemed to enjoy this whole situation almost as much as they did themselves.

The two of them had started slow, rather shy as they moved their bodies to the beat of the music. They mostly just talked, got to know each other, only stopped for giggles and shared laughs.

Beca’s not quite sure when their hands had started wandering, not quite sure when Chloe’s had ended up on her butt, not quite sure when their slow dancing had turned into heated grinding.

She can’t think, Chloe’s lips against her own all she can focus on.

Beca’s not quite sure how they got there, either, but it’s not like she actually cares all that much, especially when Chloe’s hands start entering dangerous territory. At least one of them, now in Beca’s pants, the other one cupping her cheek as they share messy kisses.

She knows that, at some point, their grinding, flirting and general inappropriate behavior had started to get out of hand, had started to make them feel hot all over. It had even caused Amy to tell them that they should ‘get a room’ and, well, apparently they did.

She remembers Chloe excusing herself to the bathroom, remembers the redhead turning around right before she went around the corner, knowing that Beca was watching her leave, and shooting the brunette a look that was an invitation if she had ever seen one.

Beca didn’t hesitate one second before she followed the other woman, ignoring her friend’s teasing comments, ignoring Stacie whistling and slapping her ass playfully.

The next thing she remembers is this.

She’s being pressed against the wall of the bathroom, their kisses needy, desperate, their breathing shallow. Beca can feel Chloe everywhere, still wants her closer, and she wishes there weren’t as many layers of clothes between them, wishes she’d worn a dress instead of a suit that, admittedly, Chloe seems to like.

She snaps her eyes open, then, and when their eyes meet, everything stands still. Just for one second as they breathe heavily, Chloe’s forehead resting against Beca’s. Beca, who is grinning brightly now, her cheeks red, her eyes hooded, hungry and loving at the same time. She almost laughs, too, when she realizes what they’re doing. Of all the things she had imagined happening that night, doing this in the bathroom hadn’t even been on her mind.

And she does laugh, then curses under her breath when Chloe finally touches her where she needs it most and the door opens at the same time.

Beca doesn’t understand what Amy’s saying, the only thing she’s capable of hearing being the loud beating of her own heart, but the blonde looks very amused, somewhat chastising as well, before she closes the door behind her again and tells them to ‘fucking lock it this time’.

“Oops?” is all Chloe says, using her free hand to do as Amy as told her.

And Beca can’t find it in herself to feel embarrassed, like she usually would have. She blames it on the alcohol or thinks that maybe it’s Chloe’s fault, that she suddenly feels this bold. She wants to say something, wants to tease, but then she remembers, feels, that Chloe’s hand is still in her pants and suddenly she’s in heaven, before she can even complain about getting caught doing this at her best friend’s wedding.

[crimsondomingo]

Day 31: Mash up any two

Thank you to everyone who followed my AU a day challenge this month. Today’s ended up so long, I have to put a cut for once, because it’s over 3k! Totally on accident, I guess I just got carried away.

Big thank you to @a-redharlequin for helping me headcanon last night!

And thank you to everyone who submitted ideas for the mashup. I’m going to keep your prompts in my ask and might respond later with drabbles.

Now for what I did choose: Supernatural / High School

For my July AU a Day Challenge

“You know it’s impolite to stare, right?”

Barry blinked. He hadn’t meant to stare. He’d just never seen someone so gorgeous in real life before. And now he was talking to him. “Um…” And his eloquence was living up to its usual level of why me?

“Hi,” the gorgeous boy saved him. “I’m Len. You’re new, huh? Can’t be easy transferring at the start of senior year, no matter where you’re from.” He smiled at Barry like all the world existed only to be his backdrop.

“You too. I mean thanks!” Why was Barry ever allowed to speak? “Sorry, I’m just nervous. I’m Barry. And yeah, it is hard transferring like this, but…well it’s sort of a long story—”

“Say no more.” Len held up a hand as they headed toward the school together. “Like, really, say no more, because we’re on school grounds. Any tough stuff about where you came from, who you are, you don’t have to say anything. We’re all pretty much ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ around here, unless a teacher brings it up. Don’t feel pressured. Here, we’re all normal—even if we’re not.” He winked.

Barry felt a wave of relief at the joke. He’d been expecting to be asked to get up in front of everyone and tell the long, difficult story of how his father died when he was a baby, then his mother when he was ten, being raised by a man he no longer trusted.

Not after getting that telegram on his birthday only a few days ago, explaining that he was enrolled at this school, something his mother had wanted for him and that everything would make sense eventually as long as he got there in time for orientation. He’d run away that moment and never looked back.  

The telegram had included a package with a uniform, which Barry wore now, just his size too. He wasn’t sure he liked being stuffed into a suitcoat and tie, skinny and awkward as he was, but Len filled out the uniform beautifully.

“Oh and ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ doesn’t apply to other things,” Len said with a wink, before pushing the doors open for them.

Barry tried not to trip his way inside. He definitely hadn’t been around anyone that open in his last school. People were fine with him being bi, they just didn’t really care. About him. At all. It was like he’d had this cone of avoidance around him all his life, everyone just sort of overlooked him. But here, now, only days after turning eighteen at a brand-new school far from home, Barry could finally start over and stop being invisible.

He’d already dropped his things off at the dorms—what little he’d brought along when he ran away, with barely any money to his name. He just couldn’t trust Uncle Eobard enough to tell him what he was up to. If he could trust him, why had Eo told him not to go anywhere on his birthday? Why hadn’t he known that the final pieces of his mother’s will would arrive that morning?

Barry didn’t want to think about it, so he followed Len inside. They were in the same class—Class A, which was only made up of twelve people, given the number of chairs. Everyone appeared to be there already, but they were chatting, hovering together in clumps around different desks. Not knowing what to do with himself, Barry headed for a desk in the corner.

“Oh no, you sit by me,” Len said, taking Barry’s elbow to guide him to a seat. Then he got strangely close as he sniffed along Barry’s neck. “You smell amazing, by the way. What is that?”

“U-um…me?” Barry said, since he didn’t wear cologne.

“Well you, Barry, smell delicious.”

“Lenny,” a girl’s voice interrupted Barry's forthcoming squeak, “don’t hog the new kid.” She was gorgeous too, with long wavy brunette hair and the same striking blue eyes as Len.

“Are you two…?”

“Twins? Yep. Aren’t you a lucky one. I’m Lisa.” She held out a perfectly manicured hand.

Barry noticed the other students starting to gather around too. “Uh…hi. I’m Barry,” he said, shaking Lisa's hand and glancing around at the others.

“Wow, you smell great,” a pretty blond boy said with a similar sniff at Barry like Len had.

“Eddie,” a gorgeous, dark-skinned girl giggled. “I’m Iris. Nice to meet you.”

“A new rookie in town, huh?” a brunette boy even taller and ganglier than Barry called. “Finally!”

“Ralph was the new kid before you,” a blonde girl with a dazzling smile offered next. “I’m Kara, student council president.”

Another blond girl who looked a little scary like she could easily beat Barry up, with another girl at her side equally scary but with darker skin and hair—like night and day, Barry thought admiringly—came forward. “You don’t have to tell everyone you meet that you’re student council president, Kara. I’m Sara. This is Nyssa.”

“Hi!” Barry nodded around at everyone, none of whom seemed unfriendly, not even the scary girls.

Scratch that, he thought, when the biggest boy yet came over, crazy muscly, and unabashedly sniffed Barry like the others. “He doesn’t smell that great.”

“This is Mick,” Len explained.

A very kind looking brunette put a hand on Mick's arm, and he seemed to instantly sag out of his standoffish posture. “I’m Caitlin. Mick doesn’t like anything new,” she said. “But if you have anything shiny, he'll love you forever.”

“Hey. I ain’t that easy, doll,” Mick said, then snapped his attention back to Barry. “You got anything shiny?”

“Uhh…” Barry was hesitant to lift his wrist but didn’t want to lie. “Just my watch. But I need it. I’m always late otherwise.”

“You have a watch?” a new voice called, though Barry couldn’t see who it came from initially. “Come on, guys, let the little guy through!”

When he appeared, he wasn’t that little, just shorter than everyone else, but he had the loveliest hair Barry had ever seen.

Why was everyone, scary or not, so attractive here? Barry felt like the only dull stone on the beach.

“I'm Cisco! Can I see it?” The boy indicated Barry’s watch. “I’m kinda a collector.”

“Of watches?”

“Well, really anything that's—”

The bell rang and everyone hopped to attention, quickly taking their seats. Floundering for a few seconds, Barry scrambled into the desk Len had chosen for him, second row with Cisco on his other side, Kara in front of him, and Eddie behind.

Just as the bell made its final trill, a severe—but still attractive, damn it—man with dark hair and a quick gait entered.

“Good to see none of you forgot your manners over the summer,” he said as he set a briefcase on his desk and perused the class. His eyes landed on Barry sharp enough to make him tense. “Ah yes, our transfer. You were intended to meet with the principal before class, Mr…” he opened his briefcase and started paging through papers.

“Barry?” Barry said too much like a question; he should know his own name! The severe man’s eyes flicked up as if annoyed he’d spoken without permission. “Sorry! I didn’t realize I was supposed to—"

“It's fine. I am the instructor for Class A, Mr. Wells. Since you’re here, Barry, why don’t you tell us about yourself.”

Okay, maybe he was being asked to get up in front of the class to spill his life story like he’d feared.

“Relax,” Wells said. “Short, sweet, and only what you want to share. Remember, first and foremost here, pretend you’re in Anywhere, America, and you are a normal student moving to a normal town.”

Pretend? That was the truth, though the strange directive did help calm Barry’s nerves. He stood to address the class.

“Okay, umm…I’m Barry. I turned eighteen a few days ago. I um…I’m just me, no parents. I grew up with my uncle. And I’m excited to be here because…because I needed something new and this seems like everything I could hope for.” He really didn’t mean for his eyes to land on Len as he said that, but the alluring smirk that aimed back at him made him forget who he was for a moment. “I-I like science and sci-fi movies and far too many types of junk food. That’s all.” He sat like a total goon, wishing he could hide.

A few of the kids snickered, but not in a mean way. Everyone still looked welcoming, so Barry tried to relax.

“Very good,” Wells said. “Why don’t we break the ice a bit more with everyone and then you can go check in with the principal for housekeeping. Students, as you know, you are seniors this year. After graduation, you go out into the world. That means a certain level of professionalism is expected on school grounds at all times. However…” he smiled subtly, “why don’t we let you get any last minute tomfoolery out of your systems now. For the next fifteen minutes, and not again for the rest of the year unless in your dorms…everyone can take on their true form.”

A smattering of laughter and cheers filtered through the students, while Barry blinked confusion.

“Um…what?”

He should have gone to see the principal first, he really should have, because mere moments after that, he was in the middle of a nightmare.

Kara was the first he noticed since she was in front of him, the way she seemed to fade until she was a mere shadow of herself like an apparition. Barry thought he must be imagining it, until he looked around at everyone else.

Cisco at his left had got up to stretch his legs, making him slightly taller now because his legs resembled those of a goat with hooves, and horns had sprouted from out of his hair like little nubs.

Lisa, kiddy-corner from Barry, grew taller too, her feet like a raptor’s, hands monstrous claws, and bat-like wings grew from her back along with a tail and pointed longer horns, all in shades of glittering bronze and gold.

Caitlin, kiddy-corner the other way, was no longer brunette but had almost white hair, with ice hugging her strikingly paler skin that contained a tinge of blue.

Whirling around, Barry looked at Iris behind Cisco, her legs completely gone as tentacles spread out black beneath her.

Then he made a slow circle as his heartrate began to skyrocket and the visions didn’t go away.

Eddie next to Iris, eyes glowing like an animal with fangs in his mouth.

Sara beside Eddie, with even more animalistic eyes, deadly claws, and fur spouting around her body.

Nyssa, beside her, slithered up taller because her bottom half had become a snake, eyes slit and tongue forked as it hissed out between her lips.

Mick in front of Nyssa was like Lisa but different, body covered in red scales around his horns, wings, and clawed hands and feet, with fire snorting from his nostrils.

And Ralph—okay, Ralph was less scary, since at first Barry couldn’t even see him, until he hopped up onto the top of his desk, a little green goblin much shorter than the tall boy Barry had met.

Finally, his eyes rested on the person beside him, not just sitting nearby, but right at the edge of his desk as Len stood there looking down at Barry, very much like his twin, the same creature as Lisa, but his coloring was navy and silver. That did nothing to dim the glow of his eyes or glint of his fangs.

And it didn’t help that everyone’s clothes had disappeared, and no one seemed to care that they were naked!

“Wh-what…?”

“Mr. Wells, I think we're freaking him out,” Len said as matter-of-factly as any student addressing their teacher. “I promised he wouldn't have to divulge everything the first day. I think he’s shy. It’s actually kinda cute.” He winked at Barry with his fanged smile.

Even Wells at the front of the class had glowing red eyes now and symbols on his skin with strange items floating out of his briefcase to hover around him.

Barry couldn’t breathe. He had to be dreaming. He had to be dreaming.

“Are you okay?” Iris's asked kindly, but when he looked down at her hand on his arm, it wasn’t a hand, it was a tentacle!

Barry pushed so hard out of his chair, he knocked it over and fell onto his back, trying to scramble for a safe corner.

“Barry!” Mr. Wells called menacingly. “I highly doubt revealing your true form is cause for such behavior.”

“I-I don’t have a true form!” Barry clambered to his feet, wishing he was backing toward the door instead of the window. “I only have this form! Just me!”

“You mean you’re a wizard like Mr. Wells?” Kara floated closer to him.

“No,” Eddie answered for Barry, tongue running over his fangs as he drew closer too, “he’s human. He must be. That’s why he smells so good.”

Barry was going to die, right here on the first day of school.

“Nonsense,” Wells said. “A human could never find our grounds.”

“He is though,” Len pushed through the others, perhaps scariest of all, other than maybe Mick, with his gargoyle wings and horns and…well, it was all strangely enticing too, which meant he must be some sort of sex demon and was messing with Barry’s mind! Barry should not find claws and fangs attractive!

But that grin coming closer and the glow of his eyes froze Barry to the spot.

“You are human,” Len said, with a clawed hand reaching for Barry’s face.

“Enough!” Wells yelled, and everyone but Barry had a glowing red string around them that yanked them back to their seats without so much as disrupting a chair.

Wells walked briskly over to Barry, did a complicated gesture, creating a glowing sigil in the air that shot forward at Barry’s face.

“Now you’ll all see that he’s actually…” Wells trailed, blinking his red eyes in incomprehension at whatever his symbol throwing was causing him to see on Barry’s face. “Human,” he whispered with a frown. “You are human. That’s impossible. I need to see Principal Singh about this.

“Everyone!” he whirled back around to face the class. “Behave yourselves while I’m gone.” Turning back to Barry with another complicated hand gesture, this time the glowing light was green, several rune-like symbols forming a square that shifted forward and then down at Barry’s feet, like a cage that shot light up toward the ceiling all around him.

When he tried to move forward, he discovered it was a cage because he couldn’t get past the barrier. “Hey! Wait, I—”

“I will be right back,” Wells said and hurried from the room.

Leaving Barry with his…classmates, utterly trapped.

Every single one of them got out of their chairs once Wells was gone.

“P-p-please…”

“Barry, don’t be scared,” Kara said, floating still, mostly translucent like a beautiful blue fairy or wind spirit. Maybe that’s what she was, and as she came closer, part of her became more tangible, or maybe Barry was just getting used to looking at her like that. “None of us would eat you or anything. Well…I suppose Eddie would,” she nodded at Eddie, the vampire, who was looking at Barry hungrily. “And maybe Mick. And I suppose Iris could—”

“Please stop trying to make me feel better,” Barry said miserably as he looked at each of the creatures before him, Len last, who pushed his way to the front again. “You’d eat me too, wouldn’t you? You said I smell good.”

“You do,” Len said. “Like the best meal I could ever imagine. But I’m a Cubi.”

Barry’s eyes bulged, recognizing that the hunger from Len was definitely unique from anyone else’s—well, besides his sister, though she seemed more interested in Cisco, thank goodness. Still, he knew Len was a sex demon “L-like an incubus?”

“I’m more of a switch, I think. I haven’t decided yet. Lisa and I only just had our sexual awakening, so we haven’t fed from a human before.”

“A…switch?”

Lisa smiled at Barry like he was oh so quaint. “Incubus means to lie upon, succubus to lie beneath, no gender involved, honey, just…preference.”

Barry understood with a vivid picture in his mind of Len first above and then beneath him. “O-oh.”

“But the point is,” Kara pressed on as self-appointed ambassador of the group, “no one’s going to hurt you. If there was some sort of mistake, they’ll just erase your memories and send you back to the human realm.”

“I’m not in the human realm now?!” Barry exclaimed.

The others laughed.

“Not anymore, Rookie,” Ralph said, startling Barry with his same voice coming out of that little goblin.

“The whole point of this school is so we can blend in with humans without drawing attention,” Caitlin explained, frost emanating off her in lovely waves.

“Really?” Barry said meekly. “But no…no, I can’t go home either. My uncle, he’s not really my uncle, and I don’t trust him anymore. I think my mother sent me here to protect me from him.”

That had everyone looking at each other in concern.

Nyssa spoke for the first time, her voice a sultry hiss, “And who was your mother?”

“Children!” Wells barged back in, though no one rushed back to their seats this time. “Give me room at least,” he said as he pushed through them, looking startled now and…wary? Of Barry?

He seemed almost hesitant when he waved his hand to dissipate the green barrier, then did one more gesture that drew a glowing red symbol that resembled an upside-down pentagram.

“Apparently, he only seems human because the spell I used before couldn’t detect…this.”

The pentagram flew at Barry like the previous symbol had, and almost instantly, everyone, Wells included, backed up a step, looking fearful.

No…in awe.

“What? What is it?” Barry asked, turning around to look at himself in the reflection of the window. The red pentagram was still glowing in front of his forehead, but it soon faded and was not what caused Barry to stare.

When he was a little boy, he loved books on mythology and monsters and fantastical creatures. What he saw around his otherwise familiar face was an amalgamation of so many of those things that he almost thought he must be looking at someone else.

His eyes were gold and shimmering, the faintest of fangs in his mouth like so many of the others, with red ram-like horns coiling from his head, ending in golden points. His skin had a rosy glow to it, and there was much more of his skin on display because his uniform had disappeared like the others, forming a red sash at his waist to cover him.

His hands had fairly small claws instead of nails, but they were also gold, his feet far more changed since they were almost like lion paws with reddish fur and gold claws there as well. The fur gave way to his skin up his legs, but there were red and gold scales at various places all over him, framing his body like glittering jewels.

From his lower back sprouted a long plume of red and gold feathers, and just beneath that was a long lion’s tail, like he was a griffin, bird and beast and scaled lizard all in one.

Most impressive though was his wings, both feathered and scaled, red and gold like all the rest with clawed hooks at the top and very ends.

When he turned around, everyone but Len was on their knees. Then Len too lowered himself with a whispered, “It’s you. The lost prince.”

“…what?”

Len bowed his head. “You’re the Demon Lord, Barry.”

[bluerosesburnblue]

Liz Liveblogs Bravely Second: Chapter 5, Part 1/2

The final stretch is here. Welcome to Chapter 5: This is Our Coup de Gravy!

I’m splitting Chapter 5 into two parts due to length. This part features an amazing climax boss, and is then followed up by the Sidequest Roundup, which ended up longer than I expected! We’ll resume with the plot next go around. I understand if anyone wants to skip this one, since it is mostly sidequests, but at least read the beginning because reveals abound and the plot starts to really kick into gear. No more messing around this time!

No introduction is needed. It’s time to end this before it begins. Let’s make sure the Kaiser rests in oblivion

“I deny you all” you know, Oblivion. Buddy. Synonyms exist. Try them sometime

Between the start of the scene and actually attempting the fight I started drinking some hard cider. So if the team members are siblings, I’m the tipsy extradimensional aunt at the reunion. Let’s punch Kaiser’s blond chinstrap beard in

Aw, damn. They switched Magnolia’s and Edea’s positions in my party. Muscle memory is gonna smack me down in this fight

Edea took out about half of Kaiser’s health in one full BP volley. Not so tough now, huh? Really should be buffing your defense, instead of the attack power of everyone on the field

Oh no. The magical domino mask that everyone seems to think hides your identity but really, REALLY doesn’t fell off

Kaiser is Yew’s missing big brother. I’ll... get into why that doesn’t surprise me in a minute

...that’s not the pronunciation I expected. Denys Geneolgia. I read the name as “Dennis.” Yew just pronounced it “Denny.” It’s... uhh... I can see why he went with “Oblivion,” even if it does make him sound like an edgy 13-year-old trying too hard

So. Yeah. One of the few things I was spoiled on was that Kaiser’s real name was “Denys Geneolgia,” and after Yōko’s prank with the Danzaburō illusion and the zoom-in on Kaiser’s prosthetic hand... I kinda figured he had to be Yew’s brother. I’m sure there was probably some foreshadowing that I missed, but I feel like I caught a fair amount of it

Fuck, I can’t believe Yew’s brother is the restaurant chain Denny’s

I can’t believe Denny just got arrested before he could give us exposition. That’s totally unexpected for a JRPG. Wow.

GOOD NEWS THOUGH. Tiz and Agnès are finally in the same room as each other. I... perhaps should not have made him a ghost knight for this reunion, but she’s seen him wear worse. It’s fine

AAAAAAHHHHHH that hug was so cute. “...You came for me!” HE SURE DID. ACROSS TIME. All for you, Agnès! Tiz will never let you down!

And from her perspective, Tiz is still in a coma. It’s like he came back to life miraculously just because she needed him

AND EDEA’S MADE IT A GROUP HUG. AHHHHHH. WHERE’S RINGABEL GET HIM IN HERE FOR THIS

Nevermind, Magnolia and Yew are joining in and that’s cuter. But still. We’re missing our sixth teammate, Ringabel~

Time to give Alternis, Braev, and Agnès the low down on the end layer, and how we sent player with the Bravely Second

Agnès can actually remember parts of it because she’s also synced up to the hourglass, but since she didn’t travel through time with the party, it’s more of a dreamlike recollection

One last job. Kaiser’s in jail, but his soldiers aren’t. We need to take them down and extract or destroy the Ba’al locked in Skyhold. But this time, we complete the ceremony and join the Orthodoxy and Duchy. Two forces once at war with each other, now at each other’s backs to save the world

Ag... Agnès maybe don’t base your speech on events that now no longer happen because I changed the past?

Apparently there was quite a bit of time looping for her. She was whisked away to the edge of time “over and over” again? Was that the result of being in a timeless space, or is she referring to various new games on the cartridge, of which there are none because I only have the one (now two due to New Game+), so...

This speech almost doesn’t work because they don’t make the player go through several meaningless loops this time, so even from a meta perspective, she was only kidnapped once. So unless Agnès has lived through save files I never made, I don’t know what she’s going on about

Didn’t take the Empire long to bust Denny out of prison

Altair didn’t even help with Anne’s bestiary entry! Why couldn’t it have been written without him?!

...glad the chest key for blue chests was just sitting out on the floor of the church there

Yeah, of course it was Janne and Nikolai who broke him out. We can’t have pancake night without Denny’s!

“Does the name Jerome Balestra mean anything to you!?” Janne... Janne you fucking idiot. Mook #4 didn’t kill your dad. None of these guys know what you’re talking about. But no, kill them. Fine. You useless brat

I DON’T THINK THESE GUYS, SPECIFICALLY, KILLED YOUR DAD, JANNE! They all look the same! How can you tell?!?!?!?

You. Are. SUCH a child. Get over yourself

Nikolai should not be that acrobatic

Oh good. Bella and Cú are back. Hey, Bella, is it awkward that Yew’s rocking your getup right now? It is, right?

Denys, why are you enabling the use of “coup de gravy”? No self respecting older sibling would let him get away without some serious teasing for something so cringey. I’m an oldest sibling. I’m speaking from experience here

After Bella’s speech, I can’t tell if the Empire is just Denys accidentally adopting people who need help, or a cult

Bella mentions crimes against “her sister.” She’s a “Dark Vestal” with black hair and seems to give prophecies of doom. Is Sylvie her sister? Did Bella do something to make her mute? Sylvie was one of the big mysteries from last “arc” that never got answered, so I’m hoping for payoff here in some fashion

Not even a moment to breathe (or save). Time to battle Bella and Cú once more!

Okay, so Bella’s sister was killed on the night Eternia was founded, by the “witch” who began the Plague, mentioned in the last game. Seems that may have been started by the Crystalguard

She tried to revive her sister, much as Geist tried to revive his son. But all she made were monsters. And Cú, whose resurrection she messed up. But none of them were Donna. (So, not Sylvie. Should’ve just given her a minute to monologue). She named her doll after her sister

Cú wasn’t even technically resurrected. He’s just a statue that she managed to animate

My Spirit Magic is so much stronger than Bella’s at this point it’s comical

Cú. You’re using up Edea’s special. Hurry this monologue up

Dammit Cú. I had Critical up by 300%. Thanks for wasting that

We spared them. Of course we did! This is the Best Timeline™, guys! No one dies, no one gets to economically ruin a nation!

Yew’s determined to show Denys’s people that the word can change so long as people are willing to work for it. Stop living in the past and wishing you could undo mistakes. Time to start working for a better future. And I can’t think of anyone better to show them than Agnès

“We can’t risk her Holiness...!” Othar, Agnès killed Ouroboros, the Devourer of Worlds. I think she can handle Sad Bella and her horse man without her useless bodyguards

I like Cú. He’s a man... horse of honor

And Agnès let Bella keep Donna, her doll. So sweet

Oh just let me save the game already!

We called in Braev, Alternis, Norzen, Kamiizumi, Goodman, and Lotus to hear our story. Lotus... has no idea who we are, unless we either called him from Sagitta and told him offscreen, or he somehow also had his memories hooked up to the Second

At least Norzen won’t arbitrarily attempt to kill us this timeline

Eisen and Eternia are teaming up to make sure Agnès can’t be kidnapped to use to awaken the Crystals

Magnolia’s got a plan to take the Skyhold. “Lord Arima and Sakura remember you well. Together, we’ve been preparing for this day.” Is this Kingdom Hearts logic, where all memories are connected, so as long as we remember the last timeline, so does everyone we befriended? Who, exactly, was memory synced to the hourglass?

...is it me? It uses the player’s SP, so as long as I remember the events of the story, so do they? Lucky for you guys I’ve been doing a liveblog, huh?

...that’s actually gonna suck if the sidequests remember Bad Timeline events, because now it’s a betrayal

Agnès has given everyone pendant pieces, so we’ve got a group call with the team now

“Take back the compass”? I don’t believe they’ve stolen it yet, Magnolia

Thank GOD. I can finally save and take a break

Denny’s got the team together to recoup after having his little brother time travel just to punch his face in. Understandable

He does genuinely seem to care about his underlings, so I’m pretty sure “savior of the lost” is the kind of person we’re dealing with here

“They went down fighting for the cause.” Janne, stop. They’re not dead. Best Timeline™

So Denys, Nikolai, and Janne all remember the past timeline, too. Who... who does and does not remember? Someone needs to get me a comprehensive list. Alternis may or may not get super pissed that I intend to “betray” the orphans this go around if he remembers

I like the fact that the villains in this game are as perceptive as they are. “If we remember, then I’m sure they do, too. No element of surprise with our plans, so we need a change of course”

“My friend...” Denys is the same as Yew. He adopts people. The empire is to him what the party has become to his brother: a second family to make up for the one they botched

They’re sending Geist to claim the compass instead of Minette this time. If the catsassin ain’t a secret, may as well go with our strongest operatives

New Game+ means both New Enemies+ and all sidequests from past chapters are open, so let’s go clear out some Catmancy skills, then fix the mess I made of the last timeline and see if I like the quests any better when I like the ending. We’re leaving the Bestiary until I get the Yōkai job’s Obliterate skill to make it easier on me

I’m gonna take the quests in order of appearance, so first up is Jackal vs. deRosa, where we side with Jackal instead of letting deRosa maybe accidentally start a Cold War for the sake of making some kid happy about his thesis project

Okay, they did exactly what I was hoping they would when I realized that everyone retained their memories. Event scenes are heavily abridged, but it seems like only the party remembers everything. So they go “hey, is this what’s happening? Okay, we can help let us fix this.” instead of having the situation explained. That’ll make it easy to collect the rest of the jobs

deRosa may remember. He knew everyone’s noodle orders, but doesn’t seem like he remembers anything about the Wellspring Gem. So... I dunno

Also, WHY DID YOU TELL HIM. You know it just causes a fight with Jackal!

“For every five years our research is delayed, the world suffers a decade of sorrow...” Okay, kid. Stop being dramatic. Your thesis project is not some high-end deal and not worth destroying at least one, maybe several towns over. He isn’t even a high ranking Al-Khampis student. Sorry, dumbass, I’m not letting you make a fantasy nuke

At least he’s got his heart in the right place. He’s gonna find a solution that doesn’t need the Gem, so that everyone benefits and they don’t have to destroy a city to do it. G... good job? You should’ve considered that from the start

Hey, I’ve got an idea. Let’s find Gho Gettar and slyly whisper to him that there MAY be an owl-man hanging out in the Northeast of Eternia that MAY have what he’s looking for ;)

Weird that the Gho sidequest starts up with meeting him and Mephilia in the woods to deliver Kamiizumi’s letter when the event we got the letter from didn’t happen in this timeline. Maybe he handed it off to us during the big peace talks in Gathelatio?

I’ve been listening to Critical Role too much, because when I heard the voiceover for Kamiizumi’s letter, I couldn’t picture the character, just Liam O’Brien’s goofy smile

Follow your dreams, Gho. I promise, Amaterasu is just a (very long) boat ride away

Kamiizumi thinks we’re being naive, because being a low-ranking worker isn’t anything shameful, and we’re encouraging Gho to be a quitter. And I agree, yeah, there’s nothing wrong with being a labor worker. BUT! It’s also not for everyone. Some people are AMAZING at those kinds of jobs, and some people shine in other areas. I don’t see Gho shining as a factory worker. I just see it crushing his spirit. And his sense of dedication is not an issue, because he is putting in just as much effort into summoning Amaterasu as he did working in that factory, but the summoning work makes him happier. He’s no less a hard worker for focusing his efforts on a strenuous process that makes him happy than one he doesn’t care about

“You counsel a guileless youth, still ignorant of the world, to throw up his hands at the first hint of hardship.” But we aren’t, though. You think there are no hardships on the path to his dream? That it won’t be difficult? No, we just refocused his efforts on something he cares about. He’ll struggle through just as many hardships, but with this he’ll want to go through them, want to make it through because they’ll be for something he’s passionate about. He’ll actually have the motivation to get through those hardships, and he’ll be more pleased with the results. Sorry, Kamiizumi. Just because it’s not for a job you particularly find tasteful doesn’t mean he’s not working just as hard. Maybe even harder, since he’ll be more excited to do it

The Kamiizumi fight is much easier once you remember that your Hawkeye has the Condor ability that can pierce default

And this is what I’m talking about. Gho is getting frustrated that he still can’t summon Amaterasu, he’s putting in so much effort, but now it’s for something he’s passionate about. It might not be as fast as he accomplished something of note as he did in the vs. Mephilia ending, but he’s accomplishing just as much, and I’m proud of him. Sometimes it takes just a little longer to do something truly great, as opposed to just something good

Oh, wow, I forgot about Sage Yulyana. Not his existence, but the fact that he hasn’t been relevant to this game. We still haven’t been to the Yulyana region

According to Mephilia he fought a Ba’al about a year ago, told her about Amaterasu and one other summon (Susano-o, the one she was searching for last game, or Charybdis, the other new one from this game?) and then either left this world to hunt down the Ba’al... or just died. Honestly, either would be pretty in-keeping with the good old sage. Just as well we probably won’t be seeing him, though; I only ever used Conjurer for Obliterate

Yeah, I’m happier having Gho follow his dreams than slave away at a job he hates, even if he managed to make that job more efficient. I’ve got faith he can do just as much, if not more good like this

Well, on to the next... oh. Oh god no not Holly vs. Profiteur again oh good lord come on, let’s try to stop this economic disaster before a child gets lost in the freaking mines again

Huh. This timeline they’re all just... talking it over like mature, responsible adults. And while Profiteur is going to make sure his economic argument is sound, Holly is... going to gorge herself in Heartschild. Great. Just go to Barras in Florem and leave the rest of us alone, you loon

And even the girl is more sympathetic. She still wants to stay, but she’s scared of her granddad having to go out and fish on the open water every day if they do stay there. And, kid, I got wrecked by a Monoceros out there and this party is TRAINED to fight, that is a very good fear to have

Oh thank GOD it’s not making me chase Profiteur down again

Greater good! GREATER. GOOD!

Oh, cool, Holly’s fucking drunk. Really making a good argument for yourself there, hon

Profiteur’s plans will “only help the few?” How so? Seems to me a flourishing economy benefits EVERYONE. Besides, I’d rather side with someone taking the situation seriously than one drunk madwoman

I’m almost happy that they made Holly so unsympathetic this go-around

But... now the kid’s back to being a brat. She’s throwing a tantrum because she doesn’t want the house sold. Too fucking bad? How many kids do you think would end up homeless if they didn’t sell? I don’t think an eight-year-old should be making the financial decisions in this family. They’re not good big-picture thinkers

Also, no need to be so hostile to Profiteur, Edea! Holly’s feelings aren’t the benchmark of morality, either!

I still have so many problems with the way this quest is written, as though the conflict is modest-but-happy lifestyle vs. lavish-but-empty lifestyle, when it’s really a needs of the many vs. needs of the few scenario. As though someone being sad is a decent argument for a large decision like this. As though kids are good at making rational decisions. Sometimes families move, sometimes things change, and it’s hard and sad and difficult to adapt to, but you need to. And this opens up so many possibilities for her that she can’t even see yet. Better schooling, a better home, good jobs, heck, she’ll be able to spend even more time with her grandpa if he doesn’t have to work all the time to get her food!

The one thing this quest has going for it is that I totally buy Profiteur’s redemption from the last game. He’s still a moneygrubber, but he’s a moneygrubber who’s genuinely looking to open up some honest jobs and help a country out

“You can trust in Erutus Profiteur! If you think I am taking too long [making this country a better place], you may come to blast me away at anytime!” God speed, good sir. He sounds so excited to make this work, and I’m glad to make it happen

Sidequest still wan’t great, but much more bearable than the first time. A kid didn’t even have to almost die this time around!

Well, now it’s time to go get stuck in Grapp Keep. If we were smart, we’d tell everyone to get out before the place collapsed, but then we wouldn’t have a conflict? Oh well. Let’s go kick Ominas and his baby dragon’s asses

I don’t foresee that fight being a problem, since I have Magnolia as an Astrologian with Elemental Barrier

...at least Edea tried to avoid slamming into that guy this time

The saga of Magnolia’s cooking continues. Seems she’s gotten to be a much better chef

Oh god it just hit me. The Edea punching the wall scene happened again. We caused the damn cave-in

And they tried to warn them of the cave-in, but we still got trapped. But of course

And Artemia and Ominas definitely don’t remember the last timeline. This time, though, we’ve told Risotto’s father to form a rescue party in advance. No worry about a search party not showing up. Now we have even less reason to side with Ominas! Food for everyone! Femto Flare later, when not under threat of hunger

Ominas, dude, just learn Femto Flare when we get out of here. World isn’t screwed because a tiny dragon didn’t learn it this second. Besides, the way this is going, it ain’t gonna matter much this timeline, anyway

Man, that is such a nothing quest. No real stakes, no real emotional involvement. Nothing. Cool. Moving on

...why does the Bestiary make it sound like Bahamut is dead when the actual epilogue says he’s fine?

Kikyo vs. Heinkel was enjoyable. Let’s hope it is again, yeah?

I like the premise of “oh we already know who did it, let’s set up a trap to catch the culprit”

And they aren’t even pretending it wasn’t Whitson. Hell, Edea’s blatantly guilting him, without actually saying his name

Let’s get Sholmes in on the police force. He needs to learn a little temperance. His big problem is jumping the gun with his intuitive responses. Putting him in a position that encourages him to think more logically and put together better evidence for his reasoning can only benefit him. Intuition is best used when you understand why you’re having that gut reaction in the first place, and it’s not the only thing that makes a good investigator

Kikyo’s still an annoying fight what with her constant evading and Transience skill, but Ninja was one of my top classes last game so it’s good to have it back

Yes, yes, we know what the truth of this incident was. I don’t need to hear it again, game

And you know, I’m liking this new, mature Sholmes. Good. I’m glad he’s finally wising up

Still a decent quest, I just almost wish the stakes were higher. ...then again, this game has proven that higher stakes in these quests tends to lead to higher stupidity from Edea, so maybe it’s for the best this stays low-scale

Who feels like opening up the first co-ed school in Florem. I do! Equality of the sexes!

Straight to the fight! This one was pretty straightforward

A co-ed school with optional enrollment is moving too fast? Really Einheria? Shut the fuck up. Both of your sisters are smarter than you right now, and one’s a psycho summoner and the other grew up in the woods

I just Summoned a Friend. He named his attack “Shot thru the <3″ and had Yew’s finishing line be “You’re to blame.”  What a freaking legend

Oh no Rhea’s crying. What a shame

Einheria can’t even remember her name while proclaiming her loyalty to her. God, how could you forget a name like Rhea Veeling

And Swetti’s crush is still a thing. Great

Barras has licenses to teach various forms of martial arts and 22 fields of medicine? Dude, hey, go down to Eisen, find your drunk girlfriend, and go settle down yeah? Keep her out of trouble because you’re clearly the responsible one in this relationship

Eugh. Rhea’s Bestiary entry says she only joined the Bloodrose Legion after they ruined Florem, and her whole “making up for the sins of the past” shtick was an act to get the teaching job. Wow. Fuck her, glad this is Best Timeline ending

“Regardless, she is probably the most rational of the three Venus sister...” Not in this scenario, Tiz. Not at all

Back to Florem to respect the wishes of a deceased artist. Arca Pellar’s song will see the light of day. And then eventually Praline can remix it, but I don’t think she’s gonna have the patience to, honestly

So Pellar... remembers the last timeline? But Praline and Barbarossa don’t? What... why??? What are the rules for cross-timeline memory!?

At least it doesn’t seem like we have to trek through the Witherwood again. Good

And our plan is scream our answer into a microphone so that Praline and Barbarossa hear it and the loser challenges us to a fight. We’re just provoking the boss at this point! Why???

*mic voice* FUCK PRALINE. SHE AIN’T SHIT

I still can’t hear her over her background music

“Why not recreate that song as something people today will be able to enjoy?” Why not make your own freaking song!? There’s market for both genres! It’s not like the freaking Beatles are any less popular because their stuff’s old, you know?

Praline I am far too cynical to fall for false tears. I didn’t even cave to a child’s real tears. You think that’s gonna stop me?

Oh lord her awful song’s the boss music. You know, I like Jpop every once in a while. It’s a decent genre! This... this is not a good song

See? Barbarossa just handed Praline a commission to do a song for them. It... was for Arca’s song, though, invalidating everything I’ve done. At least this time the sailors are working with her to keep true to the original spirit of the song

Well, that totally invalidated my entire choice, but at least everyone’s happy?

The Bestiary has a few interesting tidbits. Rabbits are sacred on the moon (because this game was made in Japan, of course they are), Praline has been lying about being 17 for a long freaking time, and Nikolai was apparently a fan. I... Nikolai, buddy, really? Never would’ve thought

Time for one last diversion: solving the economic crisis of Grandship. Alternis may have his heart in the right place, but his clouded judgement will wreck Grandship in the long run. Let make the Best Timeline one worth living in, where everyone’s happy

It just occurred to me that there’s over 30 Jobs. That’s nuts

Just heading straight to the council meeting, huh? Just as well, we already know who we’re here to support. Though I wouldn’t have objected to hanging out with Datz, Zatz, Alternis, and the Proprietress for lunch again

(Also, side note: The salted caramel tea I’m drinking right now is ~amaaaaaazing~. I’m not even really a salted caramel person. Bigelow teas are a gift to this earth. Alternis is gonna get a beating while I sip tea dramatically)

Shoot. The elevator’s still locked. Guess I’m dungeon running with encounters off again. Teeeeediuuuuum~

(I get the point is probably new encounters but: I don’t have Obliterate yet and I’m still overleveled. So!)

We aren’t abandoning the orphans, you overdramatic dork!

Wow. That might be the first boss I’ve lost to.

Alternis, you’re proposing now!? In the middle of combat over the economic security of orphans!? Learn some tact, doofus!

Minus Strike is complete bullshit when Alternis has 100x the max health we do. That’s just an instant kill

And Khamer seems really devoted to helping the poor despite all this. “Maybe we can have our cake and eat it, too.” Yeah, I like it!

Oh, sure, cut to starving orphans to make me feel bad

Oh, I love the Proprietress. Now that people have money to spend, they’re spending it on helping the poor! And the kids are being offered an apprenticeship and schooling! Exactly how it should be. I was worried they were gonna vilify my choice for a second there

I forgot Edea was only 18. These kids really are all younger than me

Ah, that’s cute. Magnolia wonders how terrifying Alternis’s face must be in the Bestiary and Edea can only reply with “...” Yeah, mmmhmm. Good response to the pretty-boy pompadour guy

Thank God those are over. I love this game, but that was basically an hours-long boss rush. Most of those were a bit more tolerable than the Bad Timeline runs, but I still don’t think they were written well. The flaw is in the fundamental conflict setup... but I think I’ve talked enough about my problems with them in previous entries, so let’s make like a New Timeline and cut the chit chat because we already know what’s up

I’ve finally escaped Morality Sidequest Hell. Now, there’s at least two more sidequests in the game, but I have high hopes for them. Mostly because they won’t be confined to the Choice structure that all of the others have been stuck in which means: 1. no moralizing (probably) and 2. development for party members other than Edea, because the Tiz, Yew, and Magnolia might as well have not been there at all for all they contributed to these quests

Wow, that ended up being way longer than expected. I was hoping to get right into the story this liveblog, but I guess that’s not gonna happen. Well, check back next time when I go race Geist to the spacetime compass. He... unfortunately has a good headstart considering I just did eight sidequests, but now the whole party’s level 60 and ready to go! He doesn’t stand a... geist of a chance

[dwtspd]

SYTYCD14 - top 8 perform

I have no idea who Rupaul is even though everyone keeps mentioning the name. I still love this opening no less.

Contestants finally danced with each other! Took them long enough. Nigel took every opportunity to not-so-subtly hint that he thinks a top 20 format is better HA.

Whoa what happened to Vanessa. She doesn’t look bad, but I got a shock when I saw her.

Koine and Marko - Jazz - Gosh Marko’s hair. Saw one or two out of sync moments and a very slight wobble from Koine in those stilletto heels. Love the energy and the fun.

“Tay-lo” and “Bob” - Hip hop - Uhh I think Taylor did a pretty good job but the giant coat kind of drowned her movements. The dance and choreo as a whole didn’t interest me too.

Lex and Gaby - Contemporary - I kinda forgot that contemporary was Lex’s home style oops. His elevation is off the charts. Didn’t really see the story Mandy Moore wanted but I thought Lex put some good emotional moments in the dance. The ending where he leaned onto Gaby and slowly lowered himself to the floor.

Kaylee and Cyrus - Cha cha - Regular blog readers will know I’m not the biggest fan of Val or his choreography, but most of my favourite dances of his are his cha chas. I was skeptical about this dance because the cha cha he gave Sydney was so bland, but this number was fun. I found some of Kaylee and Cyrus’ attempts at hip movement very herky-jerky but otherwise they performed well. Plus, we got to see Cyrus wearing an apron and wielding a vacuum cleaner.

Mark and Comfort - Broadway - Why does everyone want Mark and Comfort to play some kind of dysfunctional dancer. Comfort rocked her character. Mark had some great lines and good technique. Lots of nice soft accents here and there. Did they take off the handcuffs though...

Kiki and Jenna - Jazz - The set design!!! The makeup!!! The lines on the costumes!!! It really looked 2D. The music choice and choreography also added to the effect, because they kept pausing, so it’s like looking at a series of static frames. But at the same time, there’s still dancing, and the movements still link up. Amazing work by Travis Wall.

Dassy and Fik-shun - Contemporary - This is an interesting concept and the choreography was good. I feel like they held back a bit when Fik-shun was swinging her around by the legs, but otherwise, decent job. I hate full-red costumes though, and the satin and lace combination is bad taste too. Who tf designed that??

Logan and Allison - Hip hop - Oh my god this dance is so cute. Chris Scott!! I love Chris Scott. I can definitely see Logan as a pesky younger brother though, he has that kind of face. Amazing dance, very simple and sweet, still showing off how good dancers Allison and Logan are.

All-star dance by Jaci Royal. Brilliant use of those transparent boards. Can we have a non-contemp soon?

Taylor and Lex - Jazz - Star-crossed love birds...literally. Great, somewhat quirky choreography by Spencer Liff. Good characterisation by Lex and Taylor. Lex looked a bit uncomfortable lifting Taylor but they pulled it off. I could watch this again and again and again.

#Kikikoko - Salsa - I wasn’t aware of the #daddykiki hashtag. Koine was fantastic keeping up with Kiki. No one gets on his level in terms of how swift and sharp his turns and head flicks are though. “Wow what’s going on with this show?” - Mary on all the kissing happening on the SYTYCD. Lmao. It was quite obvious from the shape of their silhouettes that their mouths weren’t even near each other.

Logan and Kaylee - Contemporary - Kaylee was supposed to be Logan’s shadow, but her shirt didn’t have to cover her chin like that, did it? Interesting concept by Travis Wall. Saw a bit of sync issues in the middle.

Dassy and Mark - Hip hop - wait so they are pieces of trash, right? The costume is still kinda weird. Fun quirky little number. There were some times where they were out of sync in the sense that Mark has longer arms so it looked like he and Dassy had different lines. Dancing with a prop is always tricky so props (pun intended) to them. Apparently Dassy is more notorious than Charlie White at destroying umbrellas.

Bottom 3: Kaylee, Dassy and Koine. Nigel goes around and around and finally tells Koine she is safe. Marko looks so relieved. Going home is Dassy. I feel like the eliminations this season are turning into a two-strikes and you’re out thing. Then again, there have been contestants who were repeatedly in the bottom 2/3 but always got saved by the judges, so we’ll see how this plays out.

[porkchop-ao3]

J19Z7 trying pegging?

Wooo boy. At first I didn’t know how to tackle this, I wasn’t sure if Zeta-7 was the kind of Rick to want to try this… But my pegging-loving ass simply couldn’t let this one slip. Lots of embarrassed Doofus Rick in this one, but don’t worry, he enjoys himself in the end ;3

5k+ words! Of course, there’s butt stuff and pegging. Also oral. The reader is the same character who works at a strip club on the citadel, who’s appeared in a couple of my fics with Zeta-7 in the past :)

Enjoy!

-

“Would you mind passing me my red corset? It’s in the middle drawer.” I asked Rick. I was getting ready to go to work, and he was sat at my dressing table having spent the day with me, and was making the most of every minute by sticking around to watch me get ready. I’d done my makeup, and now I was packing tonight’s ‘uniform’ ready to change into at work.

“Of course.” He said cheerily as he walked over to my dresser and pulled open the specified drawer. “Oh!” He gasped in surprise, and I immediately felt guilty.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I should’ve warned you. I didn’t think.” I shook my head and walked over to him, reaching past him to pick up the garment in mind before reaching to shut the drawer. Rick caught my wrist.

“I-i-it’s okay. I was j-just surprised.” He assured me, though his cheeks were pink as he stared down at the contents of the drawer. The knowledge had escaped me at the time, but it was where I kept my sex toys as well as some of my racier underwear; the type I mostly wore at work. I noticed his eyes were homed in on one particular toy, though, and I couldn’t pretend to not know why.

“You’re probably wondering why I have that, huh?” I asked, and Rick looked up at me, a curious frown on his face.

“Well, forgive me, I-I-I don’t have an awful lot of knowledge within this subject. Those straps, it looks as if it’s intended to be worn.” He pointed out, and I nodded my head. I picked it up to show him. It was my strap-on dildo.

“That’s right. I would wear this if I- well, I’ve had a few female partners in the past, and so… you get the idea.” I laughed, flushing.

“Oh! Yes… I-I do.” He laughed too, going even redder than I was. “You, um, you are interested in women?” He asked quietly, looking up at me.

“Yeah… sometimes.” I smiled. “I like both.”

“Wow, I never knew that about you.” He smiled at me, and I was happy to see him so accepting of the new information; though I never once doubted that he would be. He was far too sweet to hold any prejudice.

“Well, you learn something new everyday.” I said, putting the toy away and closing the drawer. “I’m sorry to expose you to all my… phalluses.” I snorted, then wandered back over to where my work bag laid on the bed. Rick laughed at my choice of words and shook his head.

“It’s okay! I think that you and I… well, I like to think we’re very close. W-we can share these things with each other, you know?” He said, sounding almost nervous. When I looked at him, he was chewing on his bottom lip and looking at the ground.

“Close? Yes. I like to think so too.” I chuckled. We’d been together for a number of months, and our sex lives had progressively gotten better and better since the first time we’d slept together and Rick had been extremely nervous. He seemed to be getting more and more comfortable with intimacy, beginning to suggest things more often, expressing curiosity in trying new things. It was an exciting process that only made me fall deeper and deeper for him. “Something on your mind?” I asked, noting his sudden sheepishness.

“Nothing! I-I-I’m just thinking about things. Not to worry, you will be leaving for work soon, I don’t want to make you late.” He smiled, looking up at me. I finished putting my things in my bag and walked back over to him, cupping his cheeks and pulling him in for a soft kiss. His hands found my waist, holding on gently as I led the kiss, tilting my head to deepen it.

“Okay. But, you can talk to me about things on your mind, remember? My shift is a short one tonight, I’ll be back sometime after eleven. If you want to, you can hang out here, stay the night with me. Don’t worry about waiting up, either.” I said to him, and he nodded his head.

“Th-that sounds nice.” He nodded eagerly, and leaned in to kiss me again. It was always nice when he was the one to initiate a kiss. “Y-you’d better get going. I will be here when you get back.”

“Love you.” I whispered as I pulled him into a short embrace. He laughed giddily at my words.

“Love you too!” He said back.

My shift at Spearmint Rick’s dragged. It was mid-week, so it wasn’t as busy as it usually was, and my favourite regulars were nowhere to be seen. It was funny, everyone in the place was a Rick, but I still had my favourites; the ones who made me laugh, that I got along with the most. It was rather dull when they weren’t around, and I found myself going through the motions almost robotically. I usually enjoyed my work, there was a fun social aspect that I missed on quiet evenings. I was glad to reach the end of my shift, hurrying to the dressing rooms as soon as the clock hit eleven to get changed back into my comfy clothes. I realised as I rushed out to my car that one of the reasons why I was so eager to get home, was because I was missing Rick. Even after spending the whole day together, being separated from him for the few hours of my shift had been an unwelcome thing. Perhaps it was because we’d spent the day cuddled up on the sofa binge watching a funny little TV show that he’d picked out, and it’d been so relaxing and comforting. I hadn’t quite been ready to give that up when I had to start getting ready for work, and I was looking forward to climbing back into my nice little bubble with him.

When I let myself into my apartment, I noticed that the TV was on and showing a late night rerun of a nature documentary. Shots of penguins sliding around on their bellies into water lit up the dark room; the lights were all off, and when I approached the sofa, I noticed that Rick was asleep. He was sat upright with his arms crossed, and his head slumped down, telling me he’d unintentionally nodded off. I made my way over to him and reached out to stroke my fingers through his hair, softly repeating his name in a bid to wake him up. He couldn’t sleep like that all night; his neck would be sore in the morning. He slowly lifted his head to look at me, appearing dazed and groggy.

“Ohh, I’m sorry. I-I-I didn’t mean to fall asleep, I wanted to be awake for you when you got back.” He said quietly, rubbing the back of his neck to work out some of the stiffness.

“I said not to worry about waiting up.” I said, smiling at his adorable, tired eyes. “Come on. Let’s get you to bed.” I laughed, holding my hand out to him in order to help him up. I led him into my bedroom, dropping my work bag on the floor by the door before I walked into the ensuite to get ready for bed. Eleven generally was an early night for me, and I was looking forward to curling up next to Rick. He joined me as I brushed my teeth; he stayed at my house so often that he had his own toothbrush that lived in the pot next to mine, and we stood side by side as we brushed our teeth.

“How was work?” He asked, his voice muffled by the toothbrush in his mouth.

“A little boring. Middle of the week; always the same.” I admitted, spitting out some excess toothpaste froth. “It’s nice to be home.” I smiled at him.

I rinsed my mouth out then turned and changed into my pyjamas, and was pleased to see that Rick no longer awkwardly averted his eyes when I undressed in front of him. By now he knew that I didn’t mind him seeing my body, and he was close enough to me that he was comfortable watching.

“That documentary on TV was very in-interesting, I wish you could’ve watched it with me. It was all about Antarctica, i-it showed you a momma polar bear and her babies. I think you’d have liked it.” He said after rinsing his mouth and turning to look at me. “Perhaps they’ll show it again s-soon.”

“That does sound like something I’d like.” I agreed, pulling my top over my head and unhooking my bra. Rick didn’t look down right away, focusing on my eyes for a moment before the urge got the better of him. “If they do show it again, I’ll gladly watch it with you.”

“Th-they- um, they also had seals and things, they were… they were very sweet.” He added distractedly, watching as I bent down to grab the oversized t-shirt that I wore to bed from where I’d left it on the floor that morning. I pulled it on and shuffled out of my pants. Rick’s cheeks were pink, and I closed the gap between us and cupped his cheeks. I was going in for a kiss when he spoke. “I would like to- uhh, I would v-very much like to make love to you, tonight. I-i-if you would like that.” He said, surprising me. Rick didn’t often ask for these kinds of things so straightforwardly.

My answer was non-verbal; I kissed him, entering my tongue into his mouth and playfully flicking the tip of his own. He moaned softly, wrapping his arms around me, his hands soon slipping under my shirt to touch my skin. I reached for his lab coat, pushing it off of his shoulders and leaving it to lay across the counter he was leaning against, then moved to his belt next, not breaking the kiss as I deftly unbuckled it and pulled open his pants. He made a sound, and I broke the kiss to look at him, to make sure he was okay. He was a little out of breath, looking down at me with need in his eyes. I continued to look at those eyes as I pushed my hand under the waistband of his underwear, my fingertips brushing over his hardening cock. I took him in my hand and stroked him, feeling him grow and stiffen at my touch.

“What would you like to do? How… how do you wanna do this, baby?” I asked him as I jerked his length, hearing soft little sighs surface as he became fully erect.

“I-I-I don’t mind. Any- any way you like.” Came his answer, and I let go of him and led him through to my bedroom. I pushed him down onto my bed and climbed on after him, pulling his sweater over his head and feeling the smooth planes of his chest.  

“I want to please you, Rick. We always do what I want. Please, you can tell me; I’ll try anything.” I said, scooting further up his body to grind against his crotch, readjusting him so his cock emerged from within his pants, and I could trap it between my pussy and his belly as I rocked back and forth.

“I-I-I couldn’t say… I like what we normally do, a lot.” He said, though his eyes wandered across the room with purpose. I followed his gaze, finding my dresser at the end of it; specifically, the middle drawer.

“Something in there? You want me to, umm, dress up in something nice for you?” I assumed, and Rick looked back up at me and shook his head, an expression on his face like he’d been caught out.

“No. I-I mean, n-not that that would be bad. I think I would like that… but that’s not what I’m thinking about.” He said, closing his eyes and rolling his head back as I increased my pace. He groaned pretty loudly, and I giggled at how vocal he could be when I worked him up just right.

“One of my toys then? You wanna see me use one of them?” I asked, getting ready to get up. He grabbed my thighs to keep me in place, opening his eyes to look at me.

“Y-you don’t have to do that. I… it’s okay, I want to do what we normally do, w-w-we can both enjoy that, right?” He said, laughing a little uncomfortably.

“There’s something on your mind. I can tell.” I said, stilling my hips and thinking back to before I’d left for work, and how it’d seemed like he was holding something back then. “If you want to ask me something, ask me. I won’t bite.”

“I won’t- I can’t say it.” He admitted after a fair amount of lip chewing.

“Why not, sweetie?”

“It’s something that's… I don’t know if you’ll like it. It’s not- it’s a little s-strange.” He sighed, covering his face with his hands. I didn’t try to pull them away, I’d let him hide himself if it would bring him comfort.

“I’m all for trying something strange.” I giggled, running my fingertips over his nipples. “What if I guess; will you tell me if I get it right?” I asked.

“O-okay.” He nodded.

“Hmm, alright. It’s definitely something to do with what’s in that drawer, right?” I asked, and he nodded again. “Okay. You want me to… dress up in one of my work things and give you a dance?” I asked.

“N-no.” He shook his head. I pursed my lips in thought.

“You want to dress up in my work clothes and give me a da-”

“No!” He said more harshly, pulling his hands away from his face and staring at me with wide eyes. “I-I-I don’t think they’d fit me, anyway…” He added. I laughed, shaking my head.

“Stab in the dark. You said it was strange…” I trailed off with a shrug. “Hmm, you wanna play with my toys then, surely.” I shrugged, and he gave me an expression that indicated that I was kind of right.

“You aren’t wr-wrong.”

“Okay. Wanna borrow one, try it for yourself?” I guessed, and Rick pressed his lips together, not saying anything. “You do. Which one? Oh, wait. I think I’ve got it.” I said, my eyes widening slightly. Rick groaned a little in embarrassment, covering his face again.

“I don’t wanna play this game anymore. N-nevermind.” He said, is voice thick with shame. I bent down and kissed the backs of his hands until he parted them, and then I kissed his lips.

“Do you want me to use my strap-on, is that it?” I asked, and Rick didn’t respond at all. “It’s okay. You can be honest. If that’s what you would like, I’m more than happy to oblige. It sounds like a lot of fun.” I smiled widely.

“Y-y-you’d actually enjoy that?” He asked me, and I nodded.

“Yeah. Trying new things in the bedroom is almost always fun.” I told him, rocking my hips a little again. “And I love making you feel good. I’m down to discover new ways of doing that, baby.”

“I-I-I’m just very curious, that’s all… I’ve never seen one and I- I’m just curious.” He shook his head at himself, looking down through the gap between our bodies.

“Of course. You’re a man of science, curiosity is in your nature. I’m sure it’d be very interesting for you to, ahh, experiment a little bit. Yes?” I asked, and Rick nodded eagerly.

“Oh, yes. Y-you know me very well.”

“Alright. In the name of science, then…” I grinned cheekily at him before getting up and running over to the drawer. I pulled out the object in question as well as my bottle of lube and made my way back over to him; the toy attached to the harness was fairly small, I felt confident that it would be suitable for a beginner so Rick would be able to handle it.

He looked between me and the toy nervously, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down as he swallowed hard. I tossed it onto the bed before climbing back on top of him, leaning down to cup his face. I kissed him once, twice, before stroking my thumbs over his cheeks.

“You okay?” I asked, and he nodded his head; though he was hesitant to do so. “We can stop any time. I don’t wanna make you uncomfortable.”

“I-I-I’m not uncomfortable! I’m just… I’m nervous. Don’t worry about me.” He shook his head, and I offered him a smile.

“It’s okay. No need to be nervous, we’re gonna go nice and slow.” I whispered, then crawled down his body, climbing off of him so I could pull his pants down and off, so he was completely naked before me. I was quick to pull my t-shirt off, exposing my breasts so he wouldn’t feel so alone in his vulnerability. I reached for his cock again, jerking him back to hardness since lack of stimulation and nervousness had him flagging. It didn’t take long, and I was soon taking him into my mouth, eliciting a shaky sigh from him.

“Ughhh, yeah, th-that always feels so incredible.” He breathed, sitting up on his elbow and reaching down to stroke my hair. I slowly glided my lips up and down his length, rolling my tongue around the head when I pulled back, humming around him when I pushed down. I worked on him with my mouth for a while before pulling off and replacing my mouth with my hand. I looked up at him, licking my lips.

“I’m gonna use my fingers on you, okay? Can you keep relaxed for me?” I said softly, and his eyes widened. He looked mortified by what I was saying, and began to protest.

“N-no, it’s okay. I can do that to myself s-so that I'm… ready. You don’t have to put your fingers there.” He assured me, and I stroked my hand up and down his inner thigh, coaxing his legs open wider.

“Are you suggesting that for your sake, or mine?” I asked, and when he didn’t respond, I sighed softly, pressing kisses to his hip bone. “I’m not forcing myself to do this, Rick. You aren’t putting me out. I’m into this, don’t you see that?”

“It’s not… it can’t be pleasant for you, touching me there. Can it? It's… well, you know what it’s for. Doesn’t that m-make you feel uncomfortable?” He asked, looking away from me in embarrassment.

“Relax. This doesn’t have to be a big deal, if I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t have agreed. Trust me, Rick. Open your legs for me baby, if you wanna do this I gotta make sure you’re ready.” I said, and he did what I said with a little whine. “Would you enjoy fingering my asshole, if it made me feel good?” I asked him, and he covered his face with his hands again, leaning his head back into the mattress.

“Oh, um… yes.” He admitted bashfully.

“See? I wanna make you feel good. That’s all I want.” I told him, then reached for the lube and squirted some out onto my fingers. I rubbed the lube between my fingers to warm it up a little, before gently pressing my index and middle finger to his back passage, feeling him flinch. I stroked the two digits over the pucker, circling it and coating it in the lube. Rick’s breath was shaky, and he pulled his hands away from his face so he could look down at me.

“Th-that’s nice.” He whispered, biting on his bottom lip.

“Yeah? You ever do this to yourself, Rick?” I asked him, then gently pressed my middle finger to his entrance, breaching slowly. Rick’s breath caught, and he rolled his head back against the bed again.

“S-sometimes.” He admitted, to my surprise. I pushed in to the second knuckle, and gently massaged his inner walls, hearing him whimper as I did.

“Mm, that’s a mental image to commit to memory.” I giggled, and Rick moaned softly. I took his cock in my free hand, giving him slow, loose strokes, just to keep him going.

“You can, uhh, y-y-you can add another.” He said quietly, and I bit my lip hard, a rush of arousal flooding my loins at the way he was warming up to me. I gave him what he needed, pushing my index finger in to join the other. Rick moaned, getting louder when I started pumping my fingers in and out, feeling him loosen up as he relaxed into the sensations. “D-deeper.” He breathed, wriggling on my bed. I complied, sinking in as deep as I could, rocking my fingertips against a spot that had Rick groaning louder than he had been all evening.

“Is that nice, Rick?” I asked him, shuffling on the bed to get closer to him, focusing my finger on the spot that got such a strong reaction.

“Y-yes!” He gasped, rocking his hips a little. “Oh, gosh. That feels so good! I need- I want-” he was panting, groaning between words.

“What do you want, baby?” I asked him, rubbing my thumb over the head of his cock, a guttural grunt came from him, and I pulled my thumb away to watch a string of precum stretch between us. I felt myself becoming increasingly damp, it wouldn’t belong before there was a wet spot on my underwear.

“Another; I-I-I’m ready.” He told me, and I smiled as I pulled my fingers out almost all the way, pushing back in with three this time. “F-fuh- oh gosh.” He whined, rolling his hips up into my hand, effectively fucking my fist as I thrust my fingers in and out of him.

“God, you look hot like this.” I breathed, the words coming out without my permission. Rick opened his eyes to look at me at this, licking his lips and lowering his eyelids; I didn’t doubt that it was unintentional, but the expression only made him look sexier.

“I feel… oh God. I feel so good.” He whispered, his eyes glazing over a little with pleasure. I studied his face, making sure to lock that image away in my mind for later. His cock oozed precum onto my knuckles at an impressive rate, and I couldn’t resist bending down to lick it away, tasting him with a groan. “P-please, we can- I need you to…” he trailed off, reaching his hand out and patting the bed next to him until he found the strap-on. He picked it up, looking it over once and inspecting its size before thrusting it at me.

I gently removed my fingers and let go of him, taking the toy from him. I watched him with an excited smile as I put it on, fastening the straps snugly around my hips. I still had my panties on, and with a flash of inspiration I quickly darted over to the dresser again, pulling a small bullet vibrator out before making my way back to him. I crawled onto the bed between his legs, pushing them wide for me as I nudged closer to him. Rick watched me with interest as I turned on the vibrator and pressed it between my legs, rubbing it up and down over my slit through my panties, moaning at the sensations. Not wanting to keep Rick waiting, I slipped the vibrator into my underwear, nestling it between my folds and pulling my panties up tight to hold it in place. I shuddered at the constant stimulation at my clit, clenching and twitching as it slid around in my wetness with my every move.

“Ready baby?” I asked, and Rick nodded his head with certainty. I picked up the lube, smothering a generous amount onto my strap-on, stroking it from base to tip as Rick watched with pink cheeks and parted lips. The remaining lube, I swiped over his cock, jacking him nice and slow as I lined up with his ass. I stroked the tip of the toy against his entrance for a while, feeling the resistance melt away by the time I pushed forwards. The toy was very slim, not much more of a stretch than three fingers, but I still went slowly, pausing every inch or so giving Rick time to adjust. When I was buried so far, the base of the strap on pressed against the tip of my vibrator and I whined at the added pressure.

“So good. Oh God, b-beautiful. F-” he hesitated, squeezing his eyes shut and grabbing hold of the sheets below him for dear life. “Fuck me, p-please.” He whispered, his words contributing to the ever growing wet spot on my panties. I thrusting out and back into him immediately, starting off slow, and quickly noticing the way Rick was trying to rock back against me much faster than I was going.

“You want me to go faster, baby?” I asked, voice shaky and breathless; not yet with exertion, just pure arousal.

“Yes! Please, I-I-I need it… it feels better when it’s faster.” He told me, and I grinned. I wondered just how much he’d experimented on his own… and I couldn’t help but also wonder if he’d experimented with someone else. Perhaps this wasn’t the first time he’d experienced this kind of intercourse. The thought spurred me on, and suddenly I was more eager than ever to please him. I tightened my grip on his cock, pumping him in time with my thrusts, he was bouncing back and forth on the bed, mouth hanging open. Moans rolled from him in waves, increasing in intensity when I angled my hips just so.

“Ughh, this is so fucking fun.” I said, laughing with something close to joy radiating from every huff. An amused grin formed on Rick’s face.

“Y-you’re telling m-me.” He stammered, his back arching as he tilted his hips, grunting loudly as he chased an angle that obviously worked for him.

“Mmh, my pussy’s so wet because of you, Rick. I’m gonna cum in my panties from fucking you. How’d you like that?” I asked, clenching my teeth as my vibrator bumped against my clit with each thrust. It felt incredible.

“Ohh, p-please. I like to w-watch your face when you climax.” He admitted, looking down at where we were joined at the pelvis, his eyes slowly tracing up my body; over my breasts before finally settling on my face again. “I feel like- like I won’t be able to control m-myself much longer.”

“Don’t even try, baby. I wanna push you over the edge. Watch you cum all over yourself.” I growled, feeling less and less in control of my words as I tiptoed closer to my climax. Rick whined and squeezed his eyes shut, flushing at my vulgar language. I stroked my free hand up to his chest, rolling his nipples under my fingers one by one. I wanted to surround him with stimulation, completely overwhelm him so he couldn’t help but let go, I wanted him to feel better than he ever had before. I buried myself deep inside Rick, rubbing my hips in an upward motion so the strap-on pressed firmly against his prostate; grinding and supplying unrelenting stimulation. Rick gasped, throwing his head back, and in seconds he was shooting his load over his stomach and my hand. I groaned lewdly as I watched him spurt, his cum shooting high with an impressive arch while his body shook beneath me.

“Ohh fuck! Fuck yeah, ughh.” He groaned, pushing his hips down on me, pressing the vibrator firmly against my clit. I continued to grind against him as my pleasure crested, tumbling over a precipice and having me panting and drenching my underwear.

The two of us took a while to recover from our climaxes, but soon enough I was whimpering and fumbling to pull the vibrator out of my underwear, eager to get it away from my painfully engorged clit. The slick thing slipped out of my grip, but I managed to hold it long enough to turn it off before I let it drop onto the mattress. I pulled out of Rick carefully, not bothering to detangle myself from the strap-on before I threw myself down on the bed next to Rick. He had his eyes closed, panting heavily beside me. I waited patiently for some sort of reaction from him, perhaps reassurance that he was okay. After a few long moments, I realised he wasn’t speaking any time soon.

“Are you… are you okay?” I asked, still embarrassingly out of breath.

“Y-yes.” He replied, slowly sitting upright. I watched him as he glanced down at himself; at the white streaks he’d painted across his chest. “That, um, that was… I’ve never experienced anything like that before.” He told me, looking at me over his shoulder.

“Did you like it?” I asked, unable to keep the concern from etching itself into my features. Rick smiled, breathing a quiet laugh.

“V-very much.” He nodded. I smiled in relief, sitting up and crawling up behind him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders; apologising when I accidentally poked him in the back with my strap-on. We shared a laugh and I removed it before going back to him.

“So did I. I’ve never done anything like that with a man. It was different, exciting.” I whispered, pressing a number of kisses into his shoulder. “Thank you for being honest with me about wanting to try something new. I know it’s not always easy.”

“Th-thank you for being so nice.” He laughed sheepishly. I looked over his shoulder down at his front, humming out a pleased little sound when I looked at his chest. I didn’t know what possessed me to do it, but I found myself reaching down, dragging my hand over his ejaculate, a little moan escaping me. Rick turned his head to look at me; well, as much as he could with our proximity. “I-I know that it’s late, and you probably want to go to sleep… but I need to c-clean myself up. I, um, I don’t suppose you’d l-like to take a bath with me?”

“I’d love to.” I grinned at him, kissing his cheek before releasing him and getting up; heading off to run us a nice hot bath. I couldn’t think of a better reason to stay up late.