#a few playlists made using set lists from concerts i went to

[cowgremlin]

main playlist ==> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/57swoKUDMJi7U59zC8GdRI?si=2441cdfd36c44a2b

explanation for the rest of whats wrong with me in tags

I've recently had friends tell me they use spotify/apple music/whatever by just liking songs and hitting shuffle, which is an alien concept to my has-well-over-100-playlists-and-chooses-which-to-play-based-on-mood sensibilities. so now I must know...

[dovenymph]

a film by peter parker

authors note: this was inspired by another thinkerpete tweet that read "peter probably watches the bit from "a film by peter parker" where he's in the car with tony over and over when he misses him" and@peterparkers-bad-youtube-apology’s summer of love prompt list💛💛 also the video edit was made by me so please do not screen record/save and repost it even if you do credit me (also this is unedited so sorry for any typos, i’ll probably go through it sometime this week, i just wanted to post it first)

prompts used: 2. making the backyard/rooftop into a movie theater

my masterlist

warnings: mentions of tony’s death, other than that, nothing but fluff

word count: 3.9k

Peter hated the summer.

Peter hated not having anything to busy himself with; no homework, or academic decathlon, or seeing Ned everyday who could wrap him up in his graphic novel fan theories or the drama in his on and off relationship with Betty. It was petty drama and minor stimulation, but it was something to distract him momentarily. But now Ned was in Aruba with his parents for the entire month which meant Peter had to suffer through the scorching heat of Juy all by himself.

Peter knew he didn’t have to be alone each day, -Aunt May had spent many dinners trying to get him to join her at the movies or the mall, even offering to let him have free reign of the lego store (when he said no to that, she knew he was in worse shape than she thought)- he had a handful of trustworthy and dependable friends he could hang out with for the afternoon like MJ and Betty, or even Flash who had been uncharacteristically nice to Peter ever since he found out he was Spiderman; this having happened only a few weeks after Tony had died and Peter had let him in on his secret to console a sobbing Eugene who, honestly, seemed to be more broken up about the news than Peter was. But even with his expanding friend group, Peter had found the most his body could endure was the contents of his bedroom.

He tried to get back out there after Tony’s passing, he really did, but at the first Iron Man tribute he admired on patrol, his body completely shut down and he swung back home, tears dampening the material of the mask.

So a lonely summer was what Peter submitted himself too, and he’s come to terms with it. He’s rewatched his favorite old shows, started binging some new ones. He’s taken apart and put together his lego death star four times now, each time faster than the last. But he’s been particularly fond of staring out the window. His apartment complex was quite close to the building besides his and he could look down into the backyard everyone had to share. Peter’s building had one as well, but since he was pretty sure he was the only person under 35 who lived there, it went unused.

Next door, there was always a different activity occurring in order for the patrons to beat the heat, and Peter often thought about how easy it would be for him to just go downstairs and introduce himself, and ask to join. It’d really be as simple as that and he’d meet some new people, get a free lunch and a chance to swim in the plastic pool they set up; maybe they’d laugh at his jokes and clap when he did flips, but it was all just a maybe, just in his imagination because his brain never let him wander to far before squandering the idea of getting close to someone again, for if history has taught Peter anything, it's that anything he gets close to, is not meant to stay for long and will be soon snatched away from him in the cruelest of ways.

And this thought is what resigns him to slink back behind his window and pout the day away, as he was doing now, vision blurring as he stared at nothing.

“Hey!”

Peter jumped, his eyes focusing on the target of whoever pelted his window and they landed on your form, slumped against your open windowsill, chin resting on your hand as you gazed back at him.

“Can I help you?” Peter bit back after lifting his window half way, his tone unconsciously laced with annoyance. He really didn’t even notice it anymore since that’s how he’s been speaking to everyone in his life for months now, but when you flinched at his tone, guilt started to creep up his spine.

Before he could ever begin to stumble out an apology, you cut him off “Yeah, is there a reason you stare into my room everyday?”

Peter's face flushed red and he opened and closed his mouth like a fish. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had spoken so bluntly towards him, and honestly, he liked it. He was getting tired of everyone walking on tiptoes around him, he just wanted things to go back to how they were, where he was just Peter Parker, your friendly neighborhood student.

“Or could you at least give me some money for some curtains if you just can’t give up the beautiful view of a concrete wall?”

“S-sorry, I- I didn’t even know you were there.”

Lie.

Peter knew you were there, he always knew when you were there.

Peter Parker isn’t a stalker, though! Sure, he’s gone through some fucked up shit on Earth and in space, so yeah, he wouldn’t call himself the most …sane person he knows, but he really wasn’t a creep. With your buildings being so close and your rooms directly across from one anothers, he was bound to notice you at some point.

And at some point he did. It was the first day of summer and Midtown let out at 12 instead of 3 to mark the occasion, so Peter had been mulling about in his room for quite some time already, thinking about how he heard all his classmates amazing summer plans and how the farthest he was going to go was probably the Thai restaurant down the street, and even that was a maybe. Peter sulked in silence until a couple hours later he heard a door slam closed, thumps from things being tossed on the ground, and a loud groan as he peeked through his windowsill at you who was currently flopped on the bed, window wide open without a care, scrolling on your phone.

At first, he was taken aback by your beauty, a small, small feeling of intrigue spiked his system, but it flew under the radar due to the seemingly everlasting dread that’s been weighing down on Peter's shoulders for months. But he couldn’t look away. You’d been doing nothing but looking at tiktoks mindlessly, occasionally cracking a half smile if a video was particularly amusing, but you still remained cemented to your mattress with no plans on moving anytime soon.

This brought comfort to Peter as he fished his phone out from the bottom of his bag and pulled up Ned’s messages and started to look through the media he sent him, almost two months worth of funny memes and videos that he hadn’t been bothered to look at, and he sat there along with you, aimlessly letting the time pass by. He enjoyed it, knowing he wasn’t really alone in his lazy and distracting behaviors because the pretty neighbor girl was doing just the same.

Ever since then, he’s just been …aware… of your coming and goings. He figured you had a summer job as every other day you were gone for a few hours, a solid shift. But on the days you were home, you also spent it mainly up in your room, every now and then, playing music from your record player, and if he was really lucky, you’d, unknowingly, give him a private concert as you sung out whichever niall horan or ariana grande song struck your fancy that day. He grew quite fond of the music, having added some of the regulars to his own playlist. And he enjoyed knowing you were right there, and he was right here; each of you living your lives, as uneventful as they may be, but you were together in some sort of way.

He’d never spoken to you, the ability of being able to just push his window up and call out to you at any time was what he liked, and each day he thought he’d do it but chickened out, and now it seemed like he’d have to make introductions whether he was ready or not.

“Mmm, right, so you haven’t seen me change or anything like that?” You asked and the content of your question and the inquisitive tone brought a flush to his cheeks.

“N-no! Of course not! I-I’d never do that, why would I even want to look at you? I mean! I don’t think you’re ugly or anything I… I just…”

Peter’s ramblings were cut off with your laugh as it bounced off the summer air and into his room. You were fully leaning out your open window now, and Peter had found himself in the same position, as if he was drawn to you.

“I was only joking with ya, but it's still nice to have the confirmation. I’m Y/N, your neighbor! Obviously.” You trailed off at the end, knowing that information was unnecessary since the boy next door obviously already knew that.

He was like no boy you’d ever seen before, only read about in books. He had a sweet disposition and inviting brown eyes that matched his soft chestnut hair. But he was built like a man, a strong jaw and strong arms. You’d seen him leaving his building everyday on your way to school, and when he’d get dropped off in a big black SUV during the late hours of the night, but he walked in the opposite direction or darted inside so fast,you never really got a chance to take him in.

“…Peter?” His tentative tone snapped you out of your daze and you realized he was introducing himself.

“Sorry, Peter! I- I… got distracted… by your… death star!” You let out, eyes focusing on the black and grey figure resting on his bed.

Peter felt his cheeks heat up as he moved to push it to the ground.

“That’s pretty cool! I finished the star wars series last summer.”

Peter’s eyes snapped up to yours and the friendly smile you were giving him along with the genuine interest in your tone seemed to break something inside him, snapped the band of hesitation that wrapped around his heart. “You did? For the first time?”

“Yeah! I know I’m like super late, but there’s like nine movies!”

Your laughs melded into one as you leaned out your respective windows and began talking about your favorite movie series. Peter was aware that this was unnatural for him. He had been more open to this stranger in the past few minutes than he had to his own Aunt in months and the same guilt from earlier crept up on him. But Peter was having a good time talking to you and he felt his insides turn in excitement when he realized you really had no idea who he was. He had a clean slate with you and he could make any first impression he wanted, well he hoped your first impression of him wasn’t that he was a peeping pervert, but we move, as MJ would say.

You were about to start telling Peter about this new dystopian novel you began reading when you heard a woman call out to him.

“Oh, that’s my Aunt May. She must be home from work. I- I should go say hello.” He explained, a sad look crossing his face that you didn’t quite understand.

You felt your own sadness wash over you, though. You didn’t want to stop talking to Peter either. “Yeah, of course!”

“But we can talk tomorrow right?” Peter asked, his tone laced with uncertainty.

“Oh well, I work double tomorrow… so I probably won’t be home ‘til late.” You said and the way the brown haired boys face visibly fell felt like a punch in the gut and you were scrambling for a reason to make him smile.

“B-but hey! I also get paid tomorrow so if you want, you can come over on saturday and we can have a movie night and we can order a shit ton of take out?”

“Come over to your place?” Peter asked, and he felt himsef involuntarily tense at the idea of leaving his room for the first time in weeks. It was safe in his room. But the pleading look on your face and hopefulness in your tone encouraged him to take the chance.

“I’d love to y/n.” Peter said with a soft smile and you smiled back shyly at him before closing your window and making your way out your room, making sure you were safe in the hall, away from his prying eyes to do a little happy dance.

Peter was unable to wipe the grin off his face as he walked out his room to greet his Aunt.

She heard his feet padding down the hall as she was setting out dinner, “Sorry its not ready yet, Petey, today’s been crazy, but I’ll get started now.” She rushed. Recently, she’s been hoping food’s the key to lift her poor nephews spirits, so each night she’ll either order or make something more fattening, cheesy, and delicious than the last.

“It’s alright May,” Peter let out easily as he turned the counter and placed a kiss on her cheek, “why don’t you let me cook tonight?”

May’s jaw dropped and she blinked a couple times. She could barely get two words out of Peter recently, and they were always either a meak thank you for dinner or an it was good when she asked about his day. She felt her eyes tear up at the slight sliver of her old Petey back.

“O-oh, really, you wanna cook?”

Peter ducked his head down at the ingredients in front of him to avoid looking in her eyes, his heart dropping at the glossiness that overtook them. He truly hadn’t realized how closed off he’d been. “Well, how about we do it together?” He began and the face splitting grin that spread across May’s face was all he needed to know he was taking a step in the right direction.

“G-good idea, honey. Can’t have the house burn down, can we?”

“Hey!”

May laughed and kissed Peter’s head as they began winding through the kitchen, making casual conversation. It was just like the old days, May thought. Before the wave of devastation drowned Peter as he lost a father figure, once again.

“So what did you do today, P? Do you know when Ned get’s back? I’m sure you’re both excited to see each other.”

“Oh, uh, yeah, I am. I don’t know when he get’s back actually, but that’s okay-“

“I know you like your peace and quiet, I really do, but I do think it’ll be good for you to get out of the apartment for a little bit, see if Michelle is available. Oh! Or maybe that Lisa, Liz! I liked Liz, see if she’s available-“

“May! Its okay. I don’t need to hang out with Liz Allen,” Peter grumbled, “I- I made a new friend actually.”

May looked over at Peter in confusion since he hadn’t gone out or had anyone over in weeks, that she could remember; and Peter took her silence as an opportunity to continue.

“The neighbor.”

“Mrs. Wozniak?”

“No! Y/n, she lives in the next building over. And my room is right across from hers. We’re gonna hang out on saturday.”

“Oh?” May raised her brows at her nephew and bit back a smile, much to Peter’s chagrin. “Is she pretty?”

“And that’s relevant why?”

“I don’t know!!” May drawled and Peter just rolled his eyes and kept chopping the vegetables in front of him, the blush adorning his cheeks refusing to go down as he thought yes, yes she is.

.・゜゜・　　・゜゜・．

You yanked the door open as soon as you heard Peter’s knocks against it. He jumped back a bit, his arm still partially raised from when he knocked and you silently berated yourself for being so eager, but the spreading smile across his face made you feel not so bad.

“Oh, sorry, I was just-“

“It’s alright.” Peter replied with a soft smile, and you let yourself trace the golden flecks in his eyes before he cleared his throat, once again, snapping you out of a daze. You seemed to be in a dreamy state around him alot.

“Can I come in? I brought my Star Wars DVD collection by the way, I know you’ve seen them, but this one has the director's cut which I thought totally changed the course of the first trilogy!” Peter explained, rocking on the balls of his feet in excitement.

You bit your lip at the sight, his cuteness was rubbing off on you. “Yeah, that sounds great, but actually we aren’t gonna be watching in here.” You said, grabbing the bag of Chinese food and snacks and stepping out.

Peter’s face sputtered as you both walked to the stairs. He’d spent all day building up his courage to just go six feet from his building, there was no way he’d be able to go around the city with you for the fear of seeing something that’ll remind him of the avengers or crime.

“Y’alright?” You asked, noticing Peter’s stony silence as you walked down the last flight and made your way to the back gate.

“Yeah, sorry, I guess I’m just nervous. I haven’t really hung out with anyone new in a while, well, with anyone at all really.”

You smiled in sympathy, “I get you, I haven’t either. All my friends are out of town, so I’ve mostly just hung out in my room, too.”

“But you already knew that, don’t ya stalker?”

Peter rolled his eyes and shoved your arm as you laughed, glad you got his nerves out of his system. You unlocked the gate and lef Peter to the back garden.

“Woah..” Peter let out. There was a large white sheet hung up between two trees, and a projector set up on the table behind where a blanket lay, covered in a mess of pillows. The setting sun lit up by strung lightbulbs.

“You like? I figured since we both seemed to be home bodies, we could have the fun of the movie theatre, but here!”

Peter felt his heart swell at your words. You’d only known him for two days, and you already treated him with so much consideration and kindness. “I- I love it, y/n. This is amazing.”

He saw how you tucked your cheek into your shoulder in bashfulness and felt his spirits raise even higher. You were adorable.

“I’m glad you like it. I hope the projector works though, it took me forever to translate the instructions.”

Peter walked over to it and gave it a once over. “It seems fine to me, but I can always look at it if you want.”

“Oh yeah? You good with tech?”

“Good enough to get by. I needed it a lot while working with Mr. Stark” Peter began, forgetting that he wasn’t talking to an old friend.

“You worked with Tony Stark?!?”

“Oh.. oh yeah, only for a little! I was an intern.” He said quietly, beating himself up for even bringing up the topic of Tony. The last thing he wanted to do was cry in front of a pretty girl.

“Wow, that must’ve been amazing. You, you must miss him a lot then, huh?”

“Yeah,” he chuckled lifelessly. “Yeah I do.”

“But no matter, we’re here to have a good time right?”

“Yeah, yeah we are!” You grasped his hand and gave him a sympathetic squeeze -neither of you blind to the sparks that shot from the place your hands met- and got settled on the blanket.

Two and a half moves later, the sun had set and the two of you were sitting in the darkness, the only light coming from the flickering of the projector as the abandoned movie played. You and Peter were sitting cross legged, facing each other as he told you another story about working with the Avengers.

“Yeah, it was so crazy!! We were in this airport and he went from being like two inches tall to two hundred feet, it blew my mind. But it was okay though, because I had this idea-“

“Wait, wait, wait. You were there? Why?” You asked, loving every adventure filled anecdote he told you, but it wasn’t all adding up. For just an intern, he seemed incredibly close to Mr. Stark himself, but then again, you’d only known him for less than a week and you also wanted to go everywhere with him.

Peter worried his lip, thinking about how he could worm his way out of this one. Why would a teenage intern be at the Avengers civil war? He figured he could lie, or even just run away and buy black out curtains. Maybe he could convince Aunt May to switch rooms with him even. But you’d already brought so much light to his life in multiple aspects, and he thought, just maybe, you’d be able to bring light to that aspect of his life too.

“You know what, lemme just show you! Wait here, I’ll be back!”

Peter ran back down, his Chewbacca flash drive in hand, adrenaline running through his veins. He plugged it into your laptop and dug up a folder he hadn’t touched in almost eight months.

“What’s this?” You asked as he sat back down next to you.

“You’ll see.” He said, eyes glued to the screen in front of him.

A Film by Peter Parker, read the title as a compilation of videos featuring Peter, Happy, Aunt May, the Avengers, and Tony projected before you both.

Peter heard you gasp as the camera flashed to the suit, and saw, from the corner of his eye, how your head snapped towards his as he backspringed across the battleground. The film continued and neither of you could tear your eyes from the screen. Peter felt his eyes well up with tears as a scene with him and Tony talking to the camera began and he thought that watching this was a bad idea and he was about to turn around and turn it off when he felt your fingers intertwine with his.

He sucked in a sharp breath at the warmth you brought him and he squeezed back, his brain nearly malfunctioning at the speed in which he tried to memorize the feel of your hand in his. But his senses were overloaded as he picked up on your accelerated heartbeat.

The two of you continued to watch the video, neither moving even when it autostarted from the beginning, and this time you laughed outwardly at the funny parts, and asked him questions about why Happy didn’t seem to like him.

“What did you do to him Peter?”

“Nothing I swear!”

“Likely story.”

And he felt the steel blanket of grief fall off his shoulders. The feeling of intrigue and excitement for going back to life was no longer a small trail buried deep within him, but now a firecracker that ignited his insides and aurated off of him. Things were going to be alright, he was going to make it out this summer with more than just the memories from his bedroom, and he’d make it through whatever else life would throw at him, as long as he had you by his side.

Because you didn’t make his heart beat faster out of fear, you made him feel flustered and full of affection.

And you didn’t hold him roughly, with the intent to harm him; you held him delicately, and he could only wait to be able to hold your heart the same way.

[jstlikemagic]

It’s An Everything Thing. - Jeff Wittek Smut

Title: It’s An Everything Thing.

Pairing: Jeff Wittek/Reader

Rating: R (NSFW/Swearing) | Doggystyle, missionary, oral sex, protected sex.

TW: Hints at a small sexual assault situation but doesn’t surround the plot if that makes sense.

Summary: Y/N and Jeff don’t like each other... oh wait.

A/N: So, this contains smut and angst which is exciting! Please reblog and/or like if you enjoyed this! 

Looking around the party, you lost sight of your friend David. He invited you out to his party at his house. Which meant Jeff was going to be there. You and Jeff hadn’t talked since the fight you two had a few months ago that ended up in you two blocking each other on all social media and avoiding each other at all costs. Knowing he was going to be there made you so anxious but also ready to get fucked up.

Walking around, you started to look for the open bar. Your eyes lit up like a Christmas tree when you spotted it with it’s beautiful Grey Goose bottles and a 750 of Fireball sitting on the bar cart. Stumbling upon the bar cart, you made yourself a mixed drink and walked away to find some place to chill and sit for a while. As soon as you turned into the living room, there was just crowded space and nowhere to breathe. As you tried to navigate your way through the living room someone had accidentally tripped you while they were dancing. All of the sudden, your drink spilled on you as you fell on top of a stranger on the couch.

“You fainted straight into my arms. You know, if you wanted my attention you didn’t have to go to such extremes,” Jeff scoffed. Looking up at him and realizing who it was, you quickly stood up.

“Piss off,” you spatted back. You walked away in a hurry to the bathroom, hoping no one would notice that you spilled your drink and it was completely soaking your clothes. Making it to the bathroom, you placed both hands on the side of the sink, looked in the mirror, and sighed deeply. You weren’t sure if you were mad at the person who tripped you, the fact that the drink you had was all over you, or the person you fell on was Jeff. 

“Ya know, I can get you a tide stick or something or I can give you a change of clothes or I can let you go home naked,” Jeff offered while peeking into the bathroom while winking at you.

“Nope, I’m fine. Goodbye,” you tried to shut the door but he stuck his body through the opening, enabling him to slide through.

“Are you really fine though? It looks like ya pissed your dress!” he laughed. You sat down on the toilet lid and put your head in your hands. You started to cry due to the anxiety and frustration of his presence. “Oh no, Y/N. I didn’t mean to make you-”

“Jeff, go fuck yourself. You’re a fucking dick and I’m not sure why. Even in my times of need, you still manage to make me miserable. Now, can you please leave me the fuck alone,” you screamed at him through tears. This was it. This was the breaking point. You were done with his egotistical, obnoxious, and annoying personality. He was just too much, especially right now.

“I like to joke around with you. I know you don’t think it’s funny but I always used humor and shit to hide that I was into you. At least twice a week, I watched guys hit on you, my friends ogled over you. I just need you. I know you’ve heard me say it before but I mean it,” he confessed. You just stood there in shock. 

“Funny way of showing you’re into someone, huh?,” you pushed past him and walked out the bathroom while wiping your tears. And there was your answer.

[A week later…]

Scotty was performing at the House of Blues and he invited you to come as a guest and celebrate with the Vlog Squad. Your mindset coming to the concert was that you were just gonna ignore Jeff so it seems like nothing's changed. The other guys had no idea what went down at the party because you told them you had to leave for “girl stuff.” That was enough for them to not question anything. Still, it was irritating to even think about spending at least four hours in a dressing room with a man who had the nerve to make fun of you and then cover it up with some bullshit.

“Y/N, can you hand me another water please,” Scott asked sweetly. Responding with just a smile, you walked to the mini fridge and gave him his water. What you didn’t see though because your back was turned, was that Scott eyed you the whole time. From the point of you swaying your hips as you walked over to the fridge and all the way to you bending down to grab the water. He licked his lips at the sight of you but specifically your ass. Sitting on the other side of the room was Jeff who eyed Scott. There was rage building up in Jeff. Even though you weren’t his anything, he still had this duty in the back of his head to be yours. “Thank you, babe,” Scott said as you handed him his water.

“No problem, Scott. Anything for you,” you dautingly said while shooting a glare towards Jeff’s direction. “Actually, I have a request. Can I have aux, guys? I have a song I really wanna dance to!”

“Sure, take it over!” Todd yelled from the bathroom. Why he was still controlling the music while taking a shit was beyond you but it was whatever. Connecting to the bluetooth of the speaker, you furiously scrolled through your playlists. You came across the “i like to drink and turn up” playlist and found the perfect song to fuck with Jeff. If he actually meant what he said to you a week ago, this might be the perfect revenge. You weren’t normally about the whole revenge thing but Jeff basically made you feel awful about yourself so why the fuck not.

Pressing play, everyone recognized the first few seconds of the song. It was “Or Nah” by Ty Dolla $ign, a very sensual and raunchy song but still loved very much by all of those in the room. With your red solo cup in your hand, you stepped up on the coffee table set up in the middle of the dressing room with your back facing Jeff. Making sure to flaunt your back side, you hiked up your shorts just a little bit so your ass was hanging out just a tad bit but enough to make Jeff go wild. Swaying your hips and dropping low every few seconds, it looked like you were dancing to “Come Get Her” by Rae Sremmurd instead. You knew you got the reaction from Jeff because he just looked up at you in awe, he looked like he wanted to jump your bones.

“Jeff, are you okay?” you heard David scream over the music. You turned around to see Jeff’s knuckles completely white from gripping his cup so hard. He had a straight edge face which brought out his perfectly sculpted jawline. Pausing the music, you just stared at him and he stared at you back.

“No, I’m not fucking okay. Y/N is a fucking bitch and I can’t stand her right now. God damn it,” he raised his voice. In one swift moment, he got up and walked out the door with it slamming right behind him. 

As he walked out the door, all you saw was Todd walk out of the bathroom while saying “Is there something I missed? Why do we look genuinely confused and spaceshot?” Nodding your head, you got up and decided to look for Jeff. Where would Jeff be? Where would Jeff be?

Turning the corner, you saw a little bit more of a private patio with plants peeking out in the back. You saw the back of his head but he was slumped over with his head burrowed in between his forearms. Debating if you should say anything, you kept your distance and mustered up the courage to say “Hey, um- I’m sorry. I don’t know why you’re upset but-”

“You don’t know why I’m upset?” he interrupted. “Y/N, I fucking told you how I felt about you, it was like you were gloating it in my face that I could see you, I just couldn’t touch you or have you. It’s not even a sexual thing. It’s an everything thing.” You could see how frustrated he was. His eyes were bloodshot and his face was so red. In the back of your head, you hoped he hadn’t been crying. You know that you meant to be malicious and wanted a response but you thought that it would’ve been more of a banter rather than the situation now at hand.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I don’t feel the same way. I’m sorry that I made you upset. But to make things clear, I’m not yours and probably will never be. With that being said, get that through your head. You can fuck any girl you want within reason so it’s best of you to stick with that route,” you pleaded. You never actually thought of what it would be like to be with him whether it be platonic or sexual. You for sure didn’t want your mind to go there. Stubbornly, you didn’t want anything to do with him. He treated you wrong all these years and you weren’t sure of where your future even stood with him now after the dancing escapade. 

The truth was that you were scared. Scared of liking, or loving for that matter, anyone because of the trust issues you developed. Many people in your life had fucked you over and Jeff was already on that list. That is why your walls were up completely when it came to him. Maybe I should give him another chance? No, no. I can’t do that. He’s an asshole, Y/N. He’ll always be one. 

“Y/N, I guess it’s whatever right? I’ll just try to move on. Won’t think about you, won’t speak about you. Y/N, who? I just want to let you know that I may never be able to move on but I still hope maybe one day, you turn around, and at least wanna try being friends,” he spoke with sadness dripping from his voice with every word. 

[A year later...]

Sitting in a lawn chair by a firepit, you were just scrolling on your phone. You were at David’s house party and just felt lost. Feeling out a place and out of loop because you hadn’t seen the Vlog Squad in a year and didn't bother to. After the whole Jeff incident at the House of Blues, you thought it was best to give the guy some space. 

“Y/N! Is that you?” you heard David scream from across the backyard. Watching him run over, you laughed at him almost tripping over a rock. He was alway so fucking clumsy when he was drunk. Iyt only took one drink but boy was he hammered  As he made his way over to where you were sitting, he pulled up a chair right next to you. “How have you been?” he asked. 

Biting your lip, you just looked at him and shrugged. You weren’t fine. Not at all. Ever since the Jeff incident, everything played in your head. Every possibility did. Would you two have been dating by now? Would you two have been civil and friends? You wouldn’t know. You obviously couldn’t tell David any of that either. Hearing someone scream his name from inside the house, he quickly got up, said goodbye, and escaped the awkward moment you two were having.

Realizing you were alone again, you decided to get up and actually assert yourself. As you walked through crowds of people you spotted your best friend, the bar. Getting yourself a beer, you settled on one of the breakfast bar stools that sat right in front of the kitchen island. The kitchen was basically empty since the actual party was outside and in the living room. Taking a swig of the beer, you felt a pair of hands on your shoulders. “Hey sweetheart. Any reason you’re alone tonight?” the stranger asked while rubbing your shoulders. 

Taking another swig, you turned around. You didn’t recognize the guy at all and he wasn’t the least bit attractive. “Yeah, I’m waiting for someone. Thanks though,” you said nervously.

“Well, why don’t I make friends with you while you wait,” he said while placing his hands on the top of your thighs. Not knowing what to say, your mouth was left agape. You hoped that in this moment someone would fucking save you from this creep. Placing your hands on top of his, you tried to remove his hands off of you. But they were glued onto you and he squeezed your thighs. “Baby, I just want to have some fun. Is that too much to ask?” he whispered in your ear. 

Clearly uncomfortable, you just let him start caressing your thighs. As he started kissing your neck, you felt yourself get nervous and wanted to scream. Not wanting to cause a scene, you just remained silent and froze up. As you looked out into the living room to see if anyone would notice, you spotted him. He was wearing a black Carhartt shirt and khakis. He looked like an angel in the crowd of people. Hoping he would catch your attention, you just stared at him with this sad look on your face. 

When he finally caught your gaze, it felt like when you see someone after a breakup. Shocking but also familiar. He furrowed his eyebrows and right after that you mouthed “help me.” Getting up from his spot, he walked over to where you were sitting. “Hey, man. Get the fuck outta here alright. I’m her boyfriend so I’m the only one who should be touching her like that,” he threatened. Throwing his hands up, the guy slowly backed out of the room.

Both of you had no idea what to even say to each other. Do you say “thank you” or “hi” or should you just walk away and pretend that this never happened. Contemplating in your head, you just got out a “Thank you. Like a lot. I appreciate it.”

With his eyes darting over the place, he contemplated what to say. “Y/N, can we please go somewhere private?” he asked while fiddling his long fingers. Nodding to him, he grabbed your hand and led you to the guest bedroom. Sitting on the bed, Jeff pulled up a chair to sit right in front of you, giving that space that the both of you needed. “Now, I’m not gonna sit here and tell you what I’ve told you before. But I wanna ask if you’re willing to even try being frie-”

“I don’t wanna be your fucking friend,” you spatted out. Suddenly, his face dropped to the ground and you could see the sadness forming. “Jeff, I wanna fucking be with you. I wanna be the only girl you have in the world. I wanna be the one who you wake up to, fuck with, sleep with. Everything.” Realizing that the liquid courage overshot this one, you just stared down at the ground and waited for him to say something.

“Alright, so where has this come from? Last year, I’m pretty sure you wanted to kill me. This year it’s ‘Oh Jeff! I wanna be with you.’ Y/N, did you think I was gonna wait forever for you?” he threw back at you. He had a point. You waited a year to figure out maybe there was something there. I mean tonight he struck something within you because of how he was the only one in the crowd of people that actually helped you in that uncomfortable encounter. He seemed to be the only that cared for you at this point.

Looking up at him with tears in your eyes, you just shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you then. Maybe I actually realized that we could be great together? Maybe love wouldn’t be scary if it was with you? I don’t know,” you muttered. Folding your arms, you fell back on the bed. Grabbing a pillow, you used it to cover your face because you could just feel the sobbing about to start. Feeling his eyes burning through you, you just sighed.

“Well, I know I could cover one of those tasks you want with me,” he said with a smirk on his face. Crawling up to your body, he just smiled at you. Caressing his hair, you pulled his neck closer so your lips met. As corny as this sounds, the kiss was more passionate than you could ever imagine. Wrapping your legs around his waist, his hips lightly ground into yours which made you moan uncontrollably. “You’re gonna let me make you mine tonight?” he asked while you caught your breath.

“Make me yours, baby,” you provoked. With that, he pulled himself off of you, and attempted to pull off your skinny jeans. Seeing that he was struggling to get them off, you laughed. Hearing him mutter something under his breath, he finally got them off your ankles and onto the floor. Looking at your underwear, he could see a wet spot.

“Wow, already wet for me? Just like at the party last year?” he joked. You rolled your eyes. 

“Will you just shut the fuck up and fuck me? God, stop being annoying,” you whined as you threw your head back. Slowly peeling off your underwear, he took in the view. This is what he had been waiting for. All those years, he had been waiting for a moment to get you alone and see this side of you. Not the naked side, he enjoyed that, but an intimate side that the two of you could share.

Moving his face up to your pussy, he just breathed and it sent shivers down your spine. You might've been waiting for this moment all year but you had waited what felt like a longtime for someone like Jeff in your life. Someone you knew that would protect you and treat you like the goddess you are. 

Sticking his tongue, you gripped the sheets in tight handfuls. Moaning through your gritted teeth, you felt his tongue doing circles around your g-spot. Wanting him to delve more into your pussy, you grabbed his hair and brought him closer. Soon enough, he was hitting the right spot and you couldn’t keep back your shrieked breaths and moans. Darting his tongue back and forth, you could feel a knot in your stomach forming. 

It wasn’t a familiar feeling because you had never been satisfied like this before. No guy had ever actually wanted to eat you out unless you asked for it. His first move was to eat your sweet pussy because he wanted to show you that this was all about you and your comfortability. 

Feeling the knot in your stomach tighten, you gripped his hair and tugged it hard. Feeling yourself tighten around his tongue, you let out on him. Licking up your cum, he took a step back to admire what was in front of him. An attractive, vulnerable, and sweet, Y/N. Throwing yourself up from the bed, you whipped off your shirt and unclasped your bra. Reaching for his shirt you tossed it over his head and to the corner of his room. Unbuckling his jeans, he stopped you. “Y/N, I wanna show you what you’ve missed out all this year. No need to pleasure me. Looking at you unfold for me is enough,” he smirked.

“Okay, then how do you want me?” you asked sweetly. Hearing that was enough for Jeff to cum right on the spot. He didn’t know why but the innocence in your voice flipped a switch in him. It made him feel bad about how he was gonna wreck your pussy for the next ten minutes. 

“I want you on all fours. Right now,” he demanded. Taking his belt off, then his pants, and boxers, you groaned at the sight of his cock. It was already dripping precum. Grabbing a condom from his dresser drawer, he opened the package and slid the condom on his hard cock. With your ass in the air, he lined his cock up to your wet pussy. Placing a hand on your back, he slowly pushed in. Hissing at the sensation, he pulled back and said “Y/N, are you okay? I’m not hurting you am I?”

“Nope, I’m fine. Just need to get used to it,” you replied. Trying again, he slowly entered you while making sure to not put all of himself in just yet. After inching in every time, he put himself inside of you. He found his rhythm and was fitting himself completely in your tight pussy. Gripping on your hips, every once in a while he’d smack your ass. 

Grabbing your ass and smacking it, he said “Oh, you like it when I fuck you like that? You like it when I smack your ass, baby?” Nodding your head, you managed to pant out a ‘yes.’ Suddenly, he removed himself from you. Feeling empty, you whined at the awful sensation. He took you by your hips and turned you on your back. 

“Sorry, baby. I want to take you this way. I want to look at you while I cum,” he breathed. Instinctively wrapping your legs around his hips, he inserted himself again. Only this time, he placed his lips on yours which earned him a moan from you. His face then found himself in the crook of your neck and his lips on your neck. Holding on to the back of his neck, you needed the support from him completely fucking you into tomorrow. Every thrust was hard and fast and it was perfect. 

Even though it didn’t seem like the typical intimate and romantic moment, it was. There was a certain closeness you two felt with each other during this moment. He was giving himself to you and you were giving yourself to him and it was perfect. 

Feeling him slow down, you took that moment to catch your breath a little bit and refocus on what was happening. Jeff lifted himself up and supported himself with his elbows. Looking up at him, you could tell he was very close. His face was scrunched up and his mouth was agape. “I’m gonna cum. Fuck,” he muttered. As he looked down at you, you could see the lust and passion in his eyes. As he intently was locking eyes with you, he let out a low moan and came into the condom. 

Rolling off of the bed, he took the condom off and threw it in the trash. Laying next to you in bed, you were just heavily breathing while looking up at the ceiling. “Did you cum by any chance,” he asked.

“No but I don’t think that really matters right now,” you responded. Turning towards him, you moved yourself closer to him. “What matters is, what do we do now? I mean we fucked and I told you how I felt so,” you pondered.

Pulling you into his chest, he sighed. “Well, we have one of two options. Option one is that we never speak of tonight and we pretend we still hate each other. Or we could do the better option, which is to maybe see where things go between us?” he noted. Looking at him and his arms that were wrapped around you, you smiled.

“Ya know, I’m really liking option number two but can we add an option three to this?” you questioned.

“Which option would that be?” he asked.

Growing a huge smirk on your face, you pulled yourself on top of him and placed your hands on his chest. “I was thinking we see where things go but we also have round two.”

[commander-hanji-zoe]

Do you have any headcanons on veterans x reader on quarantine lockdown headcanons. Baking, Reading, Exercising?

Ohhhh I have so many! Thank you for this ask ❤️ One of these days I’ll master the art of answering a head canon question quickly and with shorter answers. But today is not the day! There’s a few nsfw bits under the cut. This is over 3k words....how?? 

Mike 

Mike is fond of long lay-ins, it’s what he lives for at the weekend. He loves you so much and enjoys nothing more than being comfy and snuggly under a duvet with you. Eating breakfast, watching Netflix, just chilling and enjoying one another’s company. So during lock down there’s gonna be a lot of time in comfy PJ’s lazing around in bed.

Mike loves cooking and cooking shows! The two of you have a date night once a week where you cook together. You always light some candles, listen to jazz and have a glass of wine or two while cooking. One week you try making your own sushi, the next it’s Jamaican curry, then it’s pizza night! Trying new things is something you both love (both in and out of the bedroom *cough* more on that later. 

When restrictions are eased a little and you’re allowed to sit outside/drive for exercise, the two of you take a long countryside drive together and find a quiet secluded spot where you can sit and have a picnic and watch the clouds go by. 

I see Mike as a guitar kinda guy, so he’ll teach you if you don’t play and if you do, the two of you will enjoy spending some time writing songs together and playing along to your favourite rock and indie tunes. 

You enjoy watching live acoustic gigs and concerts which are being streamed by artists and comedians etc. Mike encourages you to get dressed up with him, you have drinks while watching and often end up dancing as if you were at a gig in person. 

Binge listening to podcasts together ‘The Magnus Archive,’ ‘Welcome to Nightvale’ and ‘MaMbBam’ being favourites. 

Star-gazing. Sitting outdoors at night, during the day the two of you will spend time in your garden but it’s night time you really enjoy it the most. Sitting outside on a blanket and with another over you, you make sure all the lights inside are turned off so you can enjoy watching the stars, moon, planets, satellites etc above you. You often have a glass of wine or a cocktail as you sit out there, sometimes you fall asleep in Mike’s arms so he’ll carry you up to bed. 

Finally Mike is very good at giving you personal space, while he loves taking up new hobbies with you and spending time doing things you love together, he also knows you both need your space. It makes the time you do spend together so much sweeter. 

Erwin

Even though you don’t need to go out to work, Erwin is still up early. When he wakes he showers and then prepares for the day by making you both a delicious breakfast. Think poached eggs, grapefruit, french toast, yoghurt and fruit etc. He likes listening to the radio over watching TV first thing in the morning so you have that on for a bit. 

You enjoy daily workouts together (with Saturday or Sunday off). Erwin takes them unsurprisingly seriously, however, he does make them fun. The two of you will have little competitions with one another and Erwin creates a workout playlist for you - it’s an eclectic mix and includes songs that you both end up singing along to. 

Erwin loves to play the Piano but due to his work he only usually touches it a few times a month if that. With lockdown he starts playing daily, there’s a few times when you wake up and he’s already practising - it really is beautiful. Sometimes if he knows you’re watching he may stop playing, or at least change what he’s playing to something you know so you can sing along or join in. If you’re quiet though you can stand in the door for 5-10 minutes without him realising and he’ll continue to play classical music. 

As well as the home workouts you try to go out once a week for a run, as much as Erwin just wants to get on he would never leave you behind if you’re struggling to keep up and will wait for you (he’s a gentleman after all). 

Canvas painting, sometimes Erwin struggles with getting out or showing his emotions, after doing virtual tours of art galleries online you suggest ordering a canvas, some acrylic paint and palette knives. It’s amazing the level of emotion you see pour out of yourself and Erwin onto the canvas, it’s incredibly therapeutic so you order more canvasses. 

The two of you really enjoy binge watching documentary shows - you know the second Tiger King came out Erwin was all over that. There’s this side to Erwin that not everyone gets to see, or at least when they do it’s very rare. But during lockdown you get to experience it more frequently, he really does have a great sense of human and likes to have fun. While he enjoys documentaries about WW2, science (Unabomber: in his own words is also on the list) things like Tiger King, Dark Tourist and Louis Theroux docs are also a guilty pleasure. 

The two of you will spend some evenings laying chess by candle light with a glass of whiskey. 

Levi 

I feel to say that you’ll be cleaning a lot is a little obvious and I actually think that for the most part Levi would prefer to crack on with that on his own - it gives him peace of mind and it’s something he has control over. He enjoys it 

Together however, expect DIY Projects or painting/decorating. There’s things the two of you have talked about doing for ages and never gotten round to, now you have the perfect excuse. From painting a feature wall in your living quarters to making a little step wooden step ladder for the garden that you can put potted plants on. The two of you use your time to get creative around the home.

Dancing - the form of fitness you decide to take up is dance. At first Levi scoffs at the idea but then when he realises what a work out it actually is and how much strength and flexibility is required for some of the tutorials you’re following, he’s game. The two of you end up choreographing a dance together - it’s super cute (and hot in places - oops) 

You’re the kind of couple others are jealous of because you just work so well together, spending the perfect amount of time doing things together and apart. 

Being a lover of tea, Levi decides to educate you on the many different types by subscribing to a ‘tea lovers’ subscription box. You take the time to sit with him and really enjoy each tea, just talking with no noise from the radio or TV.

Levi likes to put together tapas or cheese tasting boards, he chooses the food for the main, you put together a starter or dessert and pick the wine that goes with the flavours he’s mixing. Together it’s like a perfect harmony. You set the table, light candles, listen to jazz and it’s almost as if you’re at one of your favourite restaurants. 

Watching Horror movies, you’ve probably seen every horror movie on Netflix, Amazon Prime etc. which is available to stream come the end of lockdown. Horror was actually how you met, you were at the cinema to see ‘Hereditary’ and none of your friends wanted to come with you so you went alone. Levi and his friends (the other vets) were in the same screen and sat next to you. So now Levi is strangely sentimental about horror movies. There’s cuddling up under blankets in the living room and plenty of popcorn along with movie themed cocktails. 

Video calls to your friends, you do more of the talking but Levi sits by you throughout and occasionally joins in. He’s loathed to admit it but he really likes seeing everyone’s faces and hearing their voices. 

Moblit

Moblit has a large collection of puzzles, a few were completed when he was younger but a lot of them aren’t. He used to get frustrated with them but always wanted to finish them so he could frame them and put them up around the house. When lockdown happened you think it’s the perfect opportunity for the two of you to work on them together and help him out. Turns out it’s actually a lot of fun and a pretty good was

Baking! You both love the Great British Bake Off, before lock-down you were always talking about how you wanted to give the recipes a try but of course something else always came along. Now lockdown is the perfect excuse to order some ingredients online and get baking! The kitchen often looks like a mess, Moblit gets flour on his face and even in his hair? You don’t know how it happens but you have a lot of fun doing it and hey what you bake usually turns out pretty good. 

Subscribes to Disney+ the second it comes out - and the two of you binge watch your favourite Disney movies singing along to them (I get the impression Moblit would be a huge Hercules and Moana fan). 

Watching Avengers Infinity War together and later on in the evening he turns to you and just says, “I love you 3000.”

Bike rides through the countryside (as long as it’s close to home of course and you can stay safe!) 

You watch art shows together (like the still life drawing classes on TV or Grayson Perry’s art class). Shows which have been made specifically now for lockdown to help inspire people to take up new hobbies. Both of you are pretty inexperienced at art or drawing so you have a lot of fun watching the shows, following the instructions and seeing where your hand and pencil lead you. You both end up discovering your own unique style of drawing - this inevitably ends up doing a still life of one another (more on this later). 

Hange 

Hange really struggles with lockdown, it makes them feel pretty anxious and they hate not being able to be out and about exploring/doing their job/learning new things etc. So Hanji needs quite a bit of love and looking after, care packages for the two of you go a long way so you order nice things in the early days of lock down. Hanji’s eyes light up when you hand them what you’ve ordered. 

Loads of gaming, you both enjoying exploring other worlds along with fantasy so everything from World of Warcraft, Skyrim, The Outer Worlds, Outer Wilds to the Final Fantasy games, The Witcher and Assassin’s Creed are all up your street. Sometimes you play alone, sometimes you watch one another play while reading magazines. Often when playing WOW you play together and share a mount, heading into raids together and working as a team. It’s not as good as being outside and exploring the world for real but it’s pretty close. 

Loads of movie marathons with enough sweets to make you sick, especially the gummy kind like Haribo. 

Hange - Arguments over who loves who more, it’s usually in the middle of a TV show that you’ve been really invested in but now with the impending end of the world, it’s so easy to get distracted. The ‘arguments’ usually end up in pillow fights and just laying in one another’s arms in silence. 

Home made science experiments - yup, you knew this was coming. There’s so much you can try at home with simple house hold ingredients. Hange also orders kits online so you end up growing your own crystals (not the drug kind lol), making your own ‘volcano’, making slime, dying flowers etc. At first you rolled your eyes when Hanji suggested it but actually it turns out to be a lot of fun and it’s pretty interesting, so you end up learning something. Hanji also orders DIY Sweet kits which are as fun to make as they are to eat. 

When it comes to heading outside to clap for key workers the two of you are gonna be dressed up to make the children smile. You’ll be banging pots and pans or possibly have a kazoo or tambourine. 

Nanaba

There’s loads of Gardening, it’s something the two of you always liked but found you didn’t have the time you needed to commit to it as much as you’d have liked. 

Cuddling on the grass in your garden, rolling around enjoying the sunshine and sun-bathing side by side.

The work out of choice for the two of you is yoga. You light incense and some candles as well as listening to mediation music and just take some time out to be alone with your thoughts - together. You both agree that stretching really helps you especially where you’re working from home, it’s so easy to get back ache! 

The two of you love dancing 

Nanaba decides to take up quilting and crochet. It’s something her mother and elder sister taught her how to do but is practically a forgotten hobby. You help one another to remember the basics and decide to make a giant patchwork quilt for your sofa. You work on it together so that there’s a part of both of you in it, you take inspiration from your garden and the world around you, even though it’s a lot smaller than it was before. If either of you prick your finger the other is there to kiss it better.

Preparing relaxing baths for one another, you enjoy much of the bath on your own but sometimes the other will sit on the toilet and read aloud or just come in for a chat. Lockdown makes you more open with one another than you were before. 

Getting into bed early before the sun has set, you keep the curtains open so you can watch the sky turn orange. Plenty of time in bed means you have time to binge watch the latest TV shows and not feel guilty about it if you have work the next day.

Witchy things - tarot card readings, candle magic, little rituals in the garden and kitchen witch magic like making dandelion honey or moon spell cookies. 

Below are a few nsfw thoughts (I didn’t write many but a couple kept bouncing around in my mind).

Erwin - 

Sex first thing in the morning, the kind of lazy, sleepy sex that the two of you dream of having but never have time before work. Now, you do and Erwin intends to make the most of it. 

Also shower sex, sometimes this follows the sex in the morning so by the time you finish work you’re already feeling tired. Often it follows the workouts you do and it doesn’t take either of you long to cum seeing as watching one another get sweaty and flex muscles - the tension is unbelievable. 

If you get too distracted during the work day, either by Erwin or TV (or if you distract Erwin too much) they’ll be punishments in the form of spanking and rough sex from behind, hair pulling and all. It’s the first time you find yourself wanting to be punished. 

Levi 

Sex in spaces you’ve just cleaned, it’s sort of a punishment if you back-talk him as he’ll make you clean up afterwards. Secretly he loves dirtying the sheets, it’s almost like an ultimate fantasy for someone who is so clean and neat, but he really has to be in the right mood for that. 

Lockdown is a chance for the two of you to explore some of the sexual fantasies you’ve discussed but never tried from light bondage (to start) and role-play. 

Switching, in your relationship neither one of you is particularly the dominant or submissive one continuously, rather you enjoy switching, but when you are in the role you both take it seriously. Now you’re in lockdown and it’s easy to get bored, you both agree to really extent the roles on the day you’re both in the mood, you could lead Levi round on a leash and collar all afternoon and he won’t complain. 

Mike 

Checking in on you as you’re working and trying to convince you lunch break sex is definitely a thing that will help you concentrate on your important presentation in your afternoon video conference. But of course he leaves you a bit of a mess and without a minute to spare so you appear on camera looking like you’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards. 

With Mike there’s also a lot of time to get creative in the bedroom, you have longer in the evening to take your time exploring one another and discovering new positions you’d never have thought possible.

When lockdown goes on much longer than anticipated Mike decides to turn up the creativity a notch. A rather large unmarked parcel arrives containing a latex bed sheet and sex swing, so you know you’re not going to be getting a lot of sleep for a while. 

Moblit 

Kisses that last for hours, the kind that start innocently and slowly you find yourself getting worked up and wanting more but Moblit continues to tease with those kisses and will pretend he has no idea why you’re worked up. However he does go weak at the knees if you praise him so that’s usually the way to get what you want. 

The still life drawings of one another start off fully clothed and very quickly become nude studies. You can only take it seriously for so long before he pounces on you or you on him and it’s like ‘that’ scene from Titanic within minutes. 

Endless, almost excruciating foreplay. 

Hanji 

Has always liked to have fun in bedroom, with lockdown it’s more of an excuse to dress up and play around, I’m thinking teacher & student or Doctor/nurse & patient. Hanji really gets into the role. 

Science experiments continue to the bedroom, you decide to give the whole electro-stim thing a go. 

Also with the DIY sweet kits there’s also a little left, so popping candy, expanding foam candy and more are used to adorn your bodies - it doesn’t stay on long as the combination of candy and sex is too irresistible to leave alone. 

Nanaba 

Sex outdoors, your garden is pretty secluded. It was something you talked about doing a lot but always found your weekends were too busy with friends and others that you just never got round to it. There’s grass stains on your knees and your clothes and you’d both wear them with pride outside the house if you could.

Bath tub sex, even if it’s a little uncomfortable it’s so intimate and personal that you don’t care how much of a mess you make or how many bruises you end up with. Lockdown hits you both hard mentally and bath tub sex is a way of feeling better and cleansed. 

There’s also a chance for some sex magic which involves wax play, again, something new you’d thought about for a while and now you both just wanted something to make you feel alive. 

[alice-beaumont-ravenclaw]

A Momentary Lapse of Duty

A/N #1: Finally, the concert fic is out! So, this author’s note will mostly be links to things that will make the fic more enjoyable.

Luna Silver headcanons: Hat | Car | Watch 

Pink Floyd Concert: Set List | Concert recording | Playlist of the studio recording of the songs | Venice Concert broadcast (a shorter version of the same concert that was broadcasted)

Outfits: Alice | Luna (basically)

Alice was standing in the entryway of her house, looking out the window of the door. She glanced at her watch, which had a black strap and a gold-coloured case, before looking out the window again, clearly waiting for something. She was wearing a black psychedelic Pink Floyd t-shirt with a design inspired by the cover of “Wish You Were Here” at the front and the dates and locations of the 1975 tour at the back. She had paired it with a relaxed boyfriend fit denim shorts that had some abrasions, and a blue flannel checked long-sleeve shirt that used to belong to her brother Jacob. Her black Dr. Martens, black handbag, and light grey striped socks peeking out of her boots completed her look. 

She was fiddling with the tip of her braid when she saw a car parking in front of her house. A blond girl emerged from the turquoise Ford Escort MK1 1973, but before she could open the front gate, Alice opened her front door, waving at her.

“Finally! I was about to think we were going to miss the concert!” exclaimed Alice as she made her way to her friend.

Luna Silver, one of Ravenclaw’s beaters, had gotten two tickets to the Pink Floyd concert and had invited Alice to join her as they had gotten along during the short time Alice had been part of the Quidditch team. Not to mention Luna’s best friend Rohan was not interested in going to a Pink Floyd concert. 

As her former teammate approached her, her eyes widened when she noticed what Alice was wearing. It was eerily similar to her outfit, which was a blue flannel checked long-sleeve shirt, a Pink Floyd tee inspired by their “Dark Side of the Moon” album, brown ankle grazer trousers, and tan Timberland boots. Luna’s surprise faded when she noticed that the resemblance stopped there, as Alice was bare-faced, and her only accessory was her watch. On the other hand, Luna had a full face of makeup, with gold eyeshadow, black eyeliner on the upper lash line, mascara, and dark purple lips. She was wearing a choker and multiple layers of necklaces around her neck, a few bracelets of various sizes and colours and a watch on her right arm and a black leather bracelet on her left, not to mention the rings she was wearing. Alice was sure she had seen one of the rings Luna was wearing on Barnaby’s fingers.

“Nice outfit,” said Luna as Alice passed in front of her to get in the car. “Was partly expecting you to turn up in a cute summer dress or something.”

“For a Pink Floyd concert? Sure, if I wanted to stick out like a sore thumb. Anyway, you’ve seen what I wear during Quidditch practice, so you know I don’t always wear girly clothes,” pointed out Alice as she opened the door of the car. “Anyway, do you think this car will last long enough to get us to the Docklands and back?” she added looking at the vehicle.

“Oliver is an excellent car! Did a road trip one summer with it a few years back, and had no problems whatsoever,” pointed out Luna, getting in the driver’s side of the car.

“Oliver? You named your car?” asked Alice, staring at her as Luna started the engine and pulled onto the street.

“Wouldn’t you?”

“No… Anyway, you said you got the car a few years back and went on a road trip, right?”

“Yeah,” replied Luna, wondering what she was getting at.

“You went on a road trip while illegally driving a car… That takes guts,” simply observed Alice. “Not surprising you dated Rath and Barnaby at the same time then. Rath seems like the jealous type…”

“We never actually dated… And how do you know about Rath, we kept our relationship a secret?” asked Luna, briefly glancing at her.

“You really think you can hide that kind of stuff from Penny and Andre?” replied Alice smirking.

“Well, I guess not,” said Luna, shaking her head with a small smile.

“You also dated Bill, right?”

“Again, we never actually dated…”

“Semantics. The point is… How is it to be romantically involved with a Weasley?”

“Which one?”

“Do you mean…? Well, hum, I guess in that case…” started saying Alice, flustered.

“I’m messin’ with you,” replied Luna, laughing.

“Oh! I was starting to think I had missed something…”

“Anyway, aren’t you going to tell me how I shouldn’t have broken Barnaby’s heart or something?” 

“Why? Love is a fickle thing. I’m actually more impressed that you broke up with Rath and survived to tell the tale.”

“She’s not that bad.”

“I’ve seen her wielding that bat. If she wanted, she could crack your skull open.”

“As much as imagining me being murdered by someone is fun, let’s return to the Weasley question. While being involved with Bill, he is different from Charlie, so I don’t think you can use my experience as a reference. Anyway, I wouldn’t be worried about your budding romance with Dragon Boy. That snog you shared in front of everyone…”

“It was just a kiss,” grumbled Alice, her face turning red.

“Sure. A kiss that lasted more than ten seconds,” replied Luna as she drove around looking for a parking spot. 

“Well, whatever it was, doesn’t mean anything for the future. While I do love him, I can’t predict the future. We are two in this relationship. He could lose interest in me now that he has me,” pondered Alice.

“Wow. You just started dating, and you already think like that? Cheer up, Alice. Dragon Boy has been gaga for you for some time now. Highly doubt he’s just going to drop you out of nowhere,” said Luna as she pulled on the hand brake.

Alice got out of the car and noticed a sign. “Luna, this says ‘Residents Only.’”

“Don’t worry. Jae hooked me up with this magical permit that’s good for everywhere,” said Luna as she placed a piece of paper on her windshield.

“How did…” started asking Alice.

“He didn’t tell, and I didn’t ask,” interrupted Luna, locking her car.

“Oh…”

“Now, come on, we don’t want to be late for the concert,” said Luna as she grabbed Alice’s wrist and started walking.

They made their way to the Docklands Arena, where a line had already formed, full of people waiting to get in.

“You have the tickets?” asked Alice as they went to the back of the line.

“Yup,” said Luna, turning her back to the Muggles in front of them. She discreetly took out her wand and waved it over her watch, the case opening up to reveal a small compartment. She took the tickets from said compartment, resulting in Alice furtively looking around.

“Did you seriously take those tickets out of your tiny watch in front of Muggles?” whispered Alice. “This goes against the Statute of Secrecy!”

“First of all, the Muggles are in front of us, and I turned my back, so don’t think they saw anything. Second, what do you care about the Statute? You broke so many rules at Hogwarts; I thought you would be the last person to care,” pointed out Luna.

“A plan my rule-breaking to reduce the risk of being caught. Call it a calculated risk,” explained Alice, looking around to make sure no Ministry employees had suddenly appeared to arrest them and bring them to Azkaban.

“Calm down, Alice, the Ministry won’t send us to Azkaban over a watch with an ancient Extension Charm,” said Luna, laughing as she patted Alice’s back.

They finally entered the arena, their eyes adjusting to the bright lights. They quickly found their seats and settled in before the concert began. Alice looked around, out of curiosity, at the audience. Some were young, about 20 years old, probably some of Pink Floyd more recent fans, while others were old enough to remember Pink Floyd at the time of Syd Barrett. There were some teenagers, but not that many. She raised her eyes toward the arena’s lights, thinking they ruined the whole rock mood a concert like this should have.

“The lights are awfully bright,” Alice remarked out loud.

“They’ll probably turn them off when the concert starts,” replied Luna as she tried to tighten her loose high ponytail, her tongue sticking out between her lips.

Alice kept looking around, not sure what else to say. She mostly interacted with Luna during Quidditch practice, so conversations had never really been part of their interactions. They talked, but never had extremely long conversations like she had with some of her other friends. 

Lost in these thoughts, she didn’t notice when the lights dimmed a little, and the music started playing softly as the crowd cheered. The guitar playing, as well as the crowds erupting cheers that followed, caught her attention and she looked around, noticing the lights had barely dimmed.

“Ugh,” she heard Luna grunt. “Are you telling me they won’t turn off the lights?”

“Maybe later?” suggested Alice.

“David Gilmour has started playing. The ideal time to turn them off has passed,” explained Luna.

Alice looked around, noticing that while many were glaring at the lights above them, all were enjoying the music. When the other band members appeared on the stage and started playing, the audience erupted into cheers again. 

Alice bit her thumb, concentrating on the music, her brows furrowed. She wasn’t that familiar with Pink Floyd. She had read about them after Luna had invited her to the concert and had listened to some of their records, but she wasn’t a longtime fan like Luna seemed to be. 

“What song is this?” whispered Alice, a few minutes into the song.

“Don’t you recognize it? It’s ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’!” replied Luna, just as Gilmour started to sing.

“Oh… right… The one written as a tribute to Syd Barrett…” said Alice, trying her best to hide that her knowledge of Pink Floyd was recent.

Luna looked at her with a raised eyebrow, staring at her awkward smile before returning her attention to the concert. She had no idea Alice had accepted her invite partly because she was curious to see what a rock concert was like, partly because Luna was so cool, you can’t say no to someone who is at that level of cool. She couldn’t just admit she had no idea who Pink Floyd was. 

Alice was lost in these thoughts when the saxophone made a high pitch sound at the end of the first song, which made her wince while the crowd was cheering. The cheers quieted down as the second song started. It was very calm, somewhat extraterrestrial. A few minutes in, the tempo completely changed and Gilmour began to sing again. Alice thought that the song’s intro didn’t match with its current beat. 

A soul in tension that's learning to fly

Condition grounded but determined to try

Alice glanced at Luna, who was enthralled by the concert. She turned her gaze back to the stage. She figured the sound of Pink Floyd was something you got used to, as she was mostly feeling confused.

At the end of the song, the group stopped playing as people cheered. David Gilmour waved a bit at the crowd before starting to speak.

“Thank you very much, indeed!” he said before the crowd cheered. 

“We’re going to play songs from the Momentary Lapse of Reason album for the first half of tonight,” he managed to say over the crowd’s clamour. “Are you ready, Guy?”

Guy Pratt nodded and started playing the beginning of the next song. 

Alice enjoyed the repetitive beat of that song and the echoey sound of their voices and the instruments. While she still looked pensive, she was tapping her feet to the beat. She couldn’t help but smile when she heard Humphrey Bogart’s distinctive voice over the music.

“You're getting on that plane with Victor where you belong,” she heard him say.

“Merlin! It’s a scene from Casablanca,” she whispered to herself.

“Nine chances out of ten, we'd both wind up in a concentration camp,” said Humphrey Bogart.

“It’s the ‘We’ll always have Paris’ scene!” said Alice, beaming.

“You seem more excited about that than the concert,” pointed out Luna, staring at her friend, bemused.

“Ah, hum… Well, it is one of my favourite movies,” explained Alice, blushing.

“If that plane leaves the ground and you're not with him, you'll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life,” said Bogart.

“But what about us,” said Alice, along with the voice of Ingrid Bergman, a line that the voice of the actress repeated a few times until only the music was playing.

“Wait... They didn’t include ‘We’ll always have Paris’ or ‘Here’s looking at you, kid’? What’s the point of including that scene if you won’t use the iconic lines from it?” complained Alice, to Luna’s amusement.

“Just enjoy the show. You can watch the movie tomorrow if you want, and you’ll get all the iconic lines,” teased Luna, patting her friend’s back.

Pink Floyd’s voice sounded robotic in the song after. She had a hard time understanding what they were saying or singing. Eventually, they started to play a calm song with a recurrent melody. As they weren’t singing, Alice closed her eyes, trying to envision something, to see what story the music was trying to tell, but the only thing that came to her mind was outer-space. She suddenly imagined herself wearing a Star Trek uniform and walking around the USS Enterprise. At least she thought it was the USS Enterprise. Her knowledge of Star Trek was limited to the two or three episodes she had seen on TV, which she had watched because the captain had a French name, yet spoke with a British accent. Alice was suddenly taken out of her reveries when the robotic voices returned. She thought this was a bizarre and very long song intro. 

The robotic voices stopped as suddenly as they started and were followed by the sound of a guitar and a bass. Alice had an expression of total confusion on her face. When the drums began to play, she couldn’t help but beat the rhythm by tapping her feet again. She was relieved when Gilmour started singing again. Pink Floyd songs seemed to have very disparate song intros. She didn’t remember them to be so all over the place when she listened to the records back home. Maybe she had listened to songs they had not played yet. As the song ended, at least, she thought it ended, as the instrumental parts were so heterogeneous, dogs or wolves appeared on a round screen behind the band, growling. 

“What the…?” mumbled Alice, staring at the screen.

“It’s because the song is Dogs Of War,” explained Luna.

“Why do we have visuals for that one song? Why couldn’t they show the Casablanca scene?”

“Still going on about that movie? They probably didn’t show the scene because of copyrights.”

Alice let out a sigh, tapping her fingers on her arm to the tempo of the music. The song was good, and the beat was catchy. She still would have rather seen Humphrey Bogarts’ face on that screen than a bunch of angry wolves. Those wolves reminded her too much of her encounter with Fenrir Greyback. A sense of relief washed over her when the song ended and the wolves disappeared.

“Thank you very much, indeed,” said David Gilmour as the crowd cheered. “We’ll do one more song, and then we’ll do the shit. This is On The Turning Way.”

The crowd clapped and whistled as Gilmour started to sing again. Alice was mostly surprised there wasn’t a long song intro. It was a smooth song, even when the music got more intense, it maintained its relative serene vibe. Alice closed her eyes, trying to absorb the music, to visualize it. It felt dramatic and self-assured. Luna and other people around her started to get up to dance to the music, but they were quickly told by security to sit down. At the end of the song, everyone got up to applaud them.

The lights got a bit brighter, indicating the beginning of the intermission. 

“Want anything?” asked Luna, as she got up.

“Hum, bottled water, if it’s not too much to ask,” replied Alice.

“Coming right up,” said Luna with a smile as she walked towards the exit.

Alice got up to stretch a bit, looking at her watch as she did so. The concert had started about an hour ago. She still had about an hour and a half to go, at least based on the review she had read in the paper. Another hour and thirty minutes of confusion with some moments of enjoyment… 

“Here you go!” said Luna with a grin, holding the bottle of water in front of Alice’s face.

“Oh, thanks,” replied Alice, blinking as she was coming out of her thoughts. She looked at Luna who was sipping a glass full of a golden liquid. “Is that… beer?” 

“Hmmm? Oh! Yeah, they didn’t have anything stronger. If there weren’t so many Muggles around, I’d take some from my watch… Want any?” offered Luna.

“Hum, no, I don’t drink.”

“Suit yourself.”

“But… the legal age of drinking in the UK is 18. You’re 17,” pointed out Alice.

“Technically, you have to be 18 to buy alcohol. You can drink beer and wine when you’re 16. Anyway, what are you? Some junior copper or something?”

“No, but what if they had asked for your ID? They might have thrown you out and you would have missed the rest of the concert.”

“They didn ask for it, and I had my fake ID with me, just in case,” replied Luna, taking it out of her pocket. “Honestly, Beaumont, you need to learn to relax. No wonder you always looked so tense every time I saw you. You carry the weight of the world on your shoulders: the cursed vaults, Rakepick’s betrayal, your brother’s disappearance, getting good grades, playing Quidditch, solving your friends’ problems, being a Prefect… Honestly Alice, you need to let go. You don’t have to worry about everything and everyone,” said Luna, squeezing Alice’s shoulder with her free hand.

“Easier said than done… Every time a new vault releases its curse, everyone looks at me to solve it. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy solving the mystery of the vaults, and I’ve learned so much in the process, but it’s just so much pressure when everyone waits for you to deal with the vaults. Sure, Dumbledore is all about me leaving it to the professors, but I’m the one who’s seen as the ‘Curse-Breaker,’ and everyone expects me to end the curse. And with the whole Rakepick betrayal…” said Alice, holding her head, her fingers entangled in her hair. “Ugh, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be bothering you with all this.”

“Hey, don’t worry. You clearly need to talk, and whenever you’re ready, I’m right here,” said Luna, smiling at Alice as she ruffled her hair. 

“Thanks,” said Alice with a small smile, briefly looking up as the lights dimmed a little. “Oh, looks like the concert is about to resume.”

“Better sit down then,” said Luna as they both sat in their seats.

The crowd cheered and whistled loudly as David Gilmour started to play the guitar. People were clapping to the beat of the music. Alice was tapping her heel to the ground as she began to once again wonder when they would start to sing. It eventually dawned on her, as she was pensively staring in front of her, that maybe some of Pink Floyd’s “songs” were actually instrumental tracks. It would make sense that some of the instrumental bits she thought were freakishly long song intros were actually stand-alone instrumental songs. But with multiple instrumental songs following one another, it was hard to tell them apart. Just as she was thinking that, the group started to sing. She slightly nodded her head to the music’s rhythm, her arms crossed, staring blankly in front of her.

Luna glanced at her briefly, before staring at her as she realized Alice looked more like someone who was there to write a dissertation on rock music or on Pink Floyd than someone who was there to simply enjoy themselves. Her slight bobbing of the head might have been a sign she was enjoying herself, but her blank expression worried Luna.

“Hey, are you ok?” she asked her fellow Ravenclaw when Pink Floyd had started another of their instrumental songs.

“Yeah, why?” said Alice, raising her eyebrows.

“You just don’t look like you are enjoying yourself,” pointed out Luna.

“I am. Admittedly, it’s not what I usually listen to, and I did think their song intros were odd until I realized they probably were instrumental ‘songs,’ and it made much more sense.”

“Wait, weren’t you familiar with Pink Floyd before coming?”

“Honestly… I might have done a quick research before coming to the concert to be a bit more familiar with them, but that’s pretty much it,” admitted Alice, looking away.

“But why did you accept when I invited you?”

“Well, part of me was curious to see what a real rock concert was like, though based on your reaction, bright lights and not being allowed to stand are not the norm. And I knew Pink Floyd by name… And what am I supposed to say to one of the coolest girls at school? That I only know the name but couldn’t name you one of their songs?”

“Coolest? Not sure about that,” said Luna, remembering her beloved hat from her 3rd year. She then shook her head with a smile. “And I thought you were a Pink Floyd fan because of that t-shirt you once wore at Quidditch practice.”

“T-shirt? What t-shirt?”

“The one with the Dark Side of the Moon album cover… Basically like the one I’m wearing right now.”

Alice looked at Luna’s t-shirt. “I thought it was a science t-shirt.”

“Science?”

“Yes, the dispersion of light by prisms because of refraction and Snell's law, first observed by Sir Isaac Newton.”

“A science lesson at a Pink Floyd concert? You are full of surprises, Alice,” said Luna with a side smile.

“Thanks, I guess,” replied Alice, furrowing her brows.

“What about the Pink Floyd tee you’re wearing now?”

“Bought it in Camden for the occasion.”

“You planned your outfit? I think Andre has an influence on you,” said Luna, laughing as she patted Alice’s head.

“Don’t tell him. I’ll never hear the end of it. Anyway, he’d probably say I needed more accessories,” said Alice, looking at Luna’s outfit.

“That style takes years to develop,” said Luna proudly. 

“Years?”

“Yup… Though I’ll admit the septum ring does a lot to create the right vibe. Oh! Maybe…”

“Don’t even think about it! I’m still overcoming the trauma of getting my ears pierced, and it was, like, 10 years ago.”

“Oof! You are such an angel!” exclaimed Luna, pinching her friend’s cheek.

“Ouch!” winced Alice as they heard a woman singing. “Wait? Why is a woman singing?”

“Oh, that’s The Great Gig In The Sky. It’s a song without any lyrics, the woman will just sing sounds,” explained Luna.

“That’s... original?” said Alice, raising her eyebrows as she looked at the stage.

Alice stared at the scene as she heard the woman singing. She clearly was vocally gifted, but it sometimes felt more like screaming than singing to Alice’s ears. Alice did think that using the human voice like that was clever, even if it wasn’t to her taste. It was as if the voice was like the other instruments, just producing notes. The crowd around her seemed to enjoy it as they loudly clapped as the song ended. 

The clapping turned into cheers as Pink Floyd started to play the next song, which Alice remembered hearing on the record she had bought: Wish You Were Here. She clapped along with the audience to the beat. When David Gilmour started singing, everyone sang along with him. Alice wasn’t familiar enough with the song to actually sing along, only swaying along to the rhythm. Still, she did think it gave the concert a pleasant atmosphere to hear the crowd singing a song they clearly loved.

The next song started off with a strange instrumental bit, making Alice wonder if it was another instrumental song until the bass started playing and everyone started clapping to the beat. Alice nodded her head to the tempo of the song. The clapping faded when the group began to sing, but the song and the beat enthralled everyone. Alice noticed Luna tapping her foot to the rhythm, and many around her were either nodding or swaying their body to the beat. She saw some people trying to get up before security quickly told them to sit.

The song ended, some people showing their appreciation by whistling before the cheering started again when the next song started. The beginning was very soft, which Alice found pleasant. As she could clearly hear the drums, she couldn’t help herself to air drum along with the beat. The saxophone gave the song a completely different vibe from the other songs. It felt more like jazz than rock, which was probably why Alice liked it and had a smile on her face. 

Her smile didn’t fade away during the next songs, the beat being very catchy. She even caught herself tapping her heel to the rhythm of the songs. The crowd started to sing again during “Another Brick In The Wall” and cheered as the music started to fade. David Gilmour approached the microphone to talk to the crowd.

“Yeah!” he shouted to the crowd’s cheer. “One more song before we go,” he said, making the crowd boo him. He laughed before adding, “We’re gonna do one last song for tonight. Thank you all very much for coming tonight. This is Comfortably Numb.”

The crowd once again cheered as he announced the song, while Alice thought the song’s name was appropriate to the way she was starting to feel. It was getting late, and her eyelid felt heavy. She sat back as they started playing, her elbow resting on the armrest and her cheek resting on her fist. It was a song with a slow pace that made Alice comfortably numb, to the point where she closed her eyes. She listened to the music, letting herself drift away. People cheering at the end took Alice out of her sleepy trance, and she clapped along with everyone else. The band bowed and waved as they left the stage, but the crowd kept on cheering, clearly wanting an encore. 

After about a minute or so of clapping, shouting, and cheering, the band reappeared on the stage, resulting in the cheers becoming louder. The songs of the encore were catchy with a fast beat, making Alice anything but sleepy. Luna even got up at some point to dance, but even if it was the encore, security quickly told her to sit down, or she would be kicked out. So everyone was limited to dance in their seats while clapping. Luna couldn’t help but smile when she noticed Alice moving her body and snapping her fingers to the music. At the end of the encore’s second song, the crowd got up to cheer and clap, showing their appreciation to the band. David Gilmour thanked the crowd before leaving the stage.

“So, did you enjoy the show?” asked Luna as they made their way toward the exit.

“Well, once I figured out that some songs were instrumental pieces, I did enjoy it more. Before that, I was a bit… befuddled.”

“Why didn’t you ask me about it sooner?”

“Well, I didn’t really want to admit I wasn’t familiar with Pink Floyd…”

“Am I really that intimidating?”

“I wouldn’t say intimidating… Just like one of the cool kids no one wants to disappoint.”

“How sweet of you,” said Luna, pinching Alice’s cheek. “Honestly though, I’m really not that cool. My roommates don’t think all the animals that hang out with me are so cool.”

“So that’s the smell that comes from your floor…” said Alice, rubbing her cheek.

“Hey! They do not smell!” replied Luna, lightly punching Alice’s shoulder.

“Joking! Bill mentioned how talented you are with animals, so for someone who has a hard time just petting some creatures in Care of Magical Creatures, that’s cool.”

“Meh, I’ll take it. Now get in the car,” said Luna shaking her head and smiling as she unlocked it.

They got into the car, and Luna turned on the radio as she drove. The late hour and the slight movements of the vehicle caused Alice to fall asleep. Noticing Alice had dozed off, Luna turned off the radio, a light smile on her lips. Parking in front of Alice’s house, she gently tapped her friend’s shoulder.

“Angel… Angel…” she softly said while tapping her shoulder.

“Jacob… No… Niffler…” mumbled Alice.

“Alice…”

“Mmm?” muttered Alice as she opened her eyes.

“You’re home,” said Luna, nodding toward the terraced house.

“Oh… Thanks. Wait, did I fall asleep?”

“It’s ok. It is pretty late.”

“Well, thanks again for tonight. I really enjoyed it,” said Alice as she left the car.

“Glad to hear. Goodnight,” said Luna, waving as she started to drive away.

Alice waved back, “‘Night!”

Alice kept waving until the car turned a corner.

A/N #2: I hope you enjoyed this fic! I would like to thank @lunasilvermorny​ for allowing me to write a fic with her precious MC (and for reading and commenting my fic to make sure I didn’t screw up her character). Here’s one additional link: London Arena atmosphere. If you are wondering why I wrote this concert with an atmosphere which is very far from the average rock concert, it’s because of the comments in that article of people who actually went to the Pink Floyd concert. Let me know what you thought in the comments! (Oh, and I kinda answer the question associated with the letter A in the 30 Day Alphabet OTP challenge.)

[purplesurveys]

1195

survey by n0b0dysp3rf3ct

—:: Who ::—

... was the last person you saw face to face? I passed by my brother last night when I had to go to the kitchen to fill up my tumbler.

... was the last person you texted or messaged online? Angela; I was just asking her for the difference among A4/A5/A6 since I’m now planning to buy a binder and sleeves for my rapidly increasing collection of photocards and postcards. It really frustrates me that A4 is the biggest one and A6 the smallest :((((

... was the last person who asked you for a favour? Kata, my manager. She filed a half-day leave last Friday to get herself and her family vaccinated in her town, so she had sent me over a very long to-do list of deliverables that she asked me to fulfill while she was out. Eventually she ended up filing a whole-day leave since she felt feverish after being under the sun all day, and also possibly from side effects of the vaccine, so I ended up carrying the entire workload for the day. I like Kata and she’s a very easy person and superior to work with, so I honestly couldn’t complain about it.

... was the last person you lent something to? Ooh, I don’t remember. I don’t really lend people things.

... was the last person who told you a secret/confided in you? Andi was just sharing to me their worries about taking the LAE (scheduled for today) and how they’ll be okay if they don’t pass.

... is the tallest person you know? Jo is like 5′7″ and we all look like beans when standing next to her. One of my uncles is also very tall; around 5′10″ or 5′11″ if I’m not mistaken.

... the shortest person you know? I think Aya? That’s just a smart guess, though; I haven’t seen most of my friends in more than a year.

... your oldest (in years) friend? Mik is turning 28 this year. Sometimes I forget just how much older he is than me since we vibe really well together during the rare times we did get to hang out. I’m still bummed we never got that smoke break we wanted to have.

... is the oldest (in length of time) friend? Angela.

... is your youngest friend? Hannah was born in 2000. Peter was born in 2001 but we aren’t that close yet.

... is your newest friend? I haven’t made any new friends recently. Stan Twitter is lonelier than I thought it would be; everyone is already friends with everyone so it’s hard to break that space. Not to mention everyone is also grossly younger than I am – I keep seeing profiles with ‘2004′ on their bio :/ I should start making an effort to look for older ARMYs lol, I definitely feel like I’d have more fun that way.

... is your closest relative? My eldest cousin on my mom’s side, my Kuya.

... was your favourite teacher? My music teacher from high school. I neeeeeever liked music as a subject and it was never a priority of mine, but she always kept our classes something for me to look forward with her advice and the way she was always able to make lessons interesting.

... was your least favourite teacher? Those who made it clear they didn’t like me, even though I didn’t do anything to deserve such hostility.

... did you spend the most time with when growing up? My siblings and cousins since we all lived together at one point.

... knows you the best? My two best friends.

... always beats you in games or sports? Andi would probably be able to beat me in any game. They just let me win because they know I can be a sore loser.

... who is the most creative of the people you know? My family is pretty artistic and I have a lot of talented relatives - my sister and my cousin Maggie paint and draw; my mom can make any kind of craft she wants, with her hnds; and one of my grand-aunts regularly does paintings. I think all of them are amazingly creative in their own way.

... is the funniest person you know? Probably Andi. Hans makes me crack up too.

... is the most organised that you know? My mom.

... that you know has travelled the most? My dad. Both our fridge doors are filled from top to bottom with magnets from places he’s travelled in due to his line of work. He’s toned down quite a bit in the last few years and has taken to staying within Asia, but back then his traveling history was super expansive – Germany, Jamaica, Italy, Belize, Aruba, Italy, France, Monaco, Denmark, Norway, the UK, US, Estonia, Portugal, etc.

... has always been there for you? Angela never left my side.

... has given you the most personal gift? I can’t possibly pick, my friends are pretty good at giving me gifts...like Andi getting me a Petals For Armor CD and a Punk shirt that hasn’t been produced in a while, and Angela giving me a personalized Friends mug because she knows I like my coffee and she knows I like Friends.

... has an annoying laugh? I don’t think anyone I know has an annoying laugh.

... never forgets a birthday? That would be me.

... do you live with? My parents, my two siblings, and our two dogs.

...,do you have the most in common with? I’m not so sure about this one, actually. I share bits of my personality with a lot of people - like me and Jo liking BTS, me and Andi liking wrestling, Blanch and I having similar personalities, me and Laurice being super meticulous when it comes to our work, etc. - but I haven’t met anyone who’s virtually a duplicate of mine when it comes to my traits and interests.

...is the sportiest person you know? I’m also not sure. Most people I know are into watching a bunch of sports, but none of them actually play.

...was your last missed call? It was an unknown number that I kept ignoring because THEY WOULDN’T TEXT WHO THEY WERE. If you have enough load credits to call me multiple times, then surely you can text me and introduce yourself first, and maybe then I can pick up the phone.

...did you last open your door for? My sister knocked last Friday because someone wanted to talk to me via landline. It was weird since no one calls via the phone anymore, but I have a gut feeling it was that ^ same person who had been trying to call me through my phone but never texted me. Eventually I learned it was one of the bloggers I’m talking to for work who just wanted to ask a few questions about our ongoing engagement.

... has your heart? Kim Taehyung. Expect the same answer for this type of question moving forward.

... has your respect? I gotta hand it to Tina for consistently doing well in her studies and excelling in every subject while doing photo and video editing for two orgs, working on her thesis, and being a board member in our mutual org, all while living alone. She does so well I wish I can tell her to give herself the occasional break to avoid burnout.

...do you share a special song with? I don’t think I have that with anyone.

...do you miss right now? Literally allllllll my friends.

...last made you angry? It’s been a while since I’ve directed my anger towards another person. When I get pissed off these days it’s usually over a situation that goes awry or out of my control.

...did you last buy a gift for? So this was not technically meant to be a gift, but what happened was I accidentally secured two orders of the same poster set, which was a part of this new BTS photobook coming out later this month, from two different shops. One of the shops merely posted an ‘interest check’ for the poster set so I signed up for it thinking it was harmless, but when they got back to me they already attached an invoice :/ I ended up having to pay for it just so things won’t get complicated between myself and the shop anymore; and I told Angela she can just keep the extra set I bought and that she can consider it a gift.

...did you celebrate your last birthday with? My family and technically my workmates since I didn’t file a leave that day. I also had food delivered to their house so I guess that can count as my ‘celebration’ with them.

...have you gone to a concert with? I went with Angela for my first Paramore show.

...can make you laugh? Anyone can tbh. It’s not very hard to make me laugh.

...has taught you how to do something? Nina taught me how to embroider and do basic needle/thread skills back when I was still getting into the hobby.

...has lost something of yours? I am almost certain my ex never kept the handwritten letters I used to write her. She never seemed to remember or bring up the things I wrote.

...has broke your heart? Gabie but I’m over it.

...has stood you up? Hasn’t happened to me before.

:: What ::

Is your favourite colour? Pastel pink.

Can you do that most your friends can’t? Type fast, apparently.

Is your birthday? April 21.

Colour eyes do you have? Dark brown/black.

Form of transport do you take to work/school? I work from home. But under normal circumstances I would drive my car.

Music do you like to listen to in the car? I connect my Spotify to the car’s Bluetooth and listen to whatever artist or playlist I’m into at the moment. The music I put on could also depend on my current mood for the day.

Languages can you speak? Filipino and English. I’ve also been able to pick up looooots of Korean phrases and expressions because of the amount of content I watch. I’m nowhere near fluent, of course, but I’m increasingly able to pick up what people say based off a few Korean words I’ll hear in a sentence.

Was the last thing you drank? Continued from idk. I finished off my glass of water from dinner.

Was the last thing you ate? My mom made pasta.

Time did you wake up this morning? Depends on how late I slept the night before and how tired I was, but it usually ranges between 5:45–7:30 AM.

Colour are your bedroom walls? They’re white.

Drink do you usually order when eating out? I never order drinks unless I’m at La Creperie, in which case I always get their San Gines hot chocolate; for everywhere else that isn’t a bar, I just get water.

Food can you cook well? ...I can’t cook.

Animals have you had for a pet? Dogs, rabbit, lovebirds, goldfish, and technically a cat but she was mostly Nina’s.

Are your initials? RC.

Kind of activities do you like to do on the weekends? I’m still kind of stuck at home during the weekends :/ so I can’t do much, but I’m not complaining since I actually prefer staying in these days. Anyway, most recently I’ve taken to catching up on BTS content I’ve missed over the last 8 years, so I like watching shows they’ve done like Bon Voyage, Run BTS, etc.

Movie do you know line by line? Two for the Road, TITANIC, and probably most of White Chicks.

Band(s) have you seen in concert? Paramore, One Direction, a bunch of local bands.

Do you buy/get to treat yourself? It’s usually food - I like giving myself a feast every Friday night - but I’m putting that in the backseat for now as I’ve realigned my money to be spent on BTS merch. My big purchases are saved for the albums for now, but every now and then I’ll see a postcard or photocard I like and buy them. Once I complete the albums I’ll be moving on to the concert DVDs, then the special packages, then probably BT21 plushies. Needless to say I have a longggggg way to go haha.

Colours your phone cover? I have a clear case.

Part of the world would you love to visit? Another continent would be nice.

Question do you dislike being asked? Even though I know people mean well, I don’t like being asked “How are you?” but tbh it’s more of a me thing because I just never really know what to say.

Subject were you good at in school? History.

Careers do your parents have? They both work in the hospitality industry.

Brand of clothing do you buy most often? For clothes clothes I’m not really loyal to a particular brand; I buy from different brands and shops all the time. But for shoes, I like sticking to Nikes.

Chocolate bar is your favourite? Not a big fan of chocolate bars. I love Reese’s Cups, though.

TV show have you watched every series of? Friends, Perfect Strangers, Breaking Bad.

Radio station do you listen to the most? It’s a little hard to tell at this point considering I haven’t driven regularly in over a year. But back when I used to do it, I usually flipped among 93.1, 99.5, and 87.5.

Podcasts are you subscribed to? I’m not the biggest fan of podcasts. Find them a tad bit boring.

Is your favourite dessert? Macarons or cheesecake.

Can’t you do that most around you seem to? Ride a bike.

Are 5 qualities you value in a friend? Loyalty, thoughtfulness, honest, sensitive to my needs and those of others, and intelligent.

Are 5 qualities you value in a partner? ^ Pretty much the same thing.

Size pizza do you usually order? Family size usually.

Cuisine do you like to order or cook? I’ve been getting Japanese so many times recently. I rarely go outside sushi.

Colour(s) dominate your wardrobe? Black and white, and colors that were in at one point like mustard yellow and pastel pink.

Toothpaste brand do you use? Colgate.

Sounds can you hear right now? My insanely loud aircon.

Is the weather like today? Like hell. I believe we’re reaching a heat index of over 50ºC every day now, so...that’s fun. It gets absolutely difficult to work in the afternoon when the temperature is at its most brutal, and its times like this I wish I got to work in the office so that there’s aircon and I could at least work comfortably :/

Are your plans for tomorrow? Just work and have tons of meetings, the usual.

:: Where ::

Do you keep your phone when not using it? I keep my phone near me even when I’m not using it since I could always get an important notification.

Were you born? Manila.

Do you go to unwind? Most days it would be the rooftop, but under normal circumstances I like staying at a coffee shop somewhere to escape life and my responsibilities for a short while.

Is your best friend right now? I believe they’re both at home since they have no reason to be out anyway.

Can you go nearby to have a good time? Personally, I would just go to the Starbucks near our village lol. If I’m feeling a bit more adventurous I’d head to Katip, which is prrrretty close by but not quite.

Is the nearest restaurant? We have a McDonald’s literally right beside the village. Then besides that is a Shakey’s, and right across that is a Burger King, then the aforementioned neaby Starbucks. Just makes me realize how urbanized my town has gotten in the last few years.

Is the nearest beach? If I had to guess, the nearest beaches would be in Batangas which is 2-3 hours away, but it really depends on how fast you can drive lol. I’m not too good with long car rides so in both times I’ve driven there I had always taken 4 hours.

Did you meet your closest friend? I met Angela in grade school, and I met Andi at a local rally in my university.

Did you go for your last vacation? Tagaytay, though it was a staycation more than anything else.

Is the nearest mall or superstore? It’s like a 3-minute drive away from the village.

Did you last get an injury? I have loadsssssss of new scratches and gashes all around my wrists from playing with Cooper.

Is the most extravagant place you’ve stayed at? It’s a toss-up between Aids’ or Gian’s house. Gian would probably win since I never actually got to go inside Aids’ place, and his was the first house I’ve been to that was able to literally take my breath away. OH and Shaun’s house was pretty fucking swanky as well.

Do most the local kids play? I would have no idea since I’m neither a kid nor a parent.

Have you been with your family? This is a very vague question lol...what do you mean where have we been? We’ve been to different towns around the country and several countries together, if that’s what you’ve been asking.

Did you spend Christmas last year? We visited a couple of relatives, and we also spent it at home.

Did your parents grow up? My mom grew up within Metro Manila; my dad in a city a little outside of it.

Did you buy the shoes you’re wearing? I’m barefoot at the moment and always am at home.

Would you like to go right now if you could? If life had still been normal I would probably be having after-work drinks at a bar near the office.

Do you miss the most from your childhood? I’m not sure how to answer this with where.

Is the best restaurant you know? I’m still searching for it.

Will you never go again as it was so bad? It’s not that it was bad, but I’d probably never dine at 8Cuts again because their burgers are not worth the hype and are very overpriced for their size.

:: When ::

...was your last vacation? My family’s last legit vacation was in August 2019; but we did have a quick escape to Tagaytay in January of this year.

...did you graduate? I officially ‘graduated’ from college in August, if you could even call it that.

...did you decide what career you wanted? Somewhere between my 2nd and 3rd year of college. That was when I decided I hated journalism and preferred PR, but since PR is under journalism’s umbrella there was no need for me to shift courses.

...did you have your first kiss? Continued. Like WHEN when or how old was I when? In any case, it was in January 2015 and I ws 16.

...did you learn how to swim? Idk, pretty early on. My parents liked taking us to water parks when we were younger, so we had a lot of exposure. I’m not sure if there was ever a time where something just clicked and I learned how to swim; I believe it had just come naturally.

...did you have your first relationship? By the end of 2014.

...did you meet your best friend? I met both of them in school, but at different points.

...do you feel the most at peace? Probably when I’m able to stay at the rooftop all alone.

...do you usually fall asleep? I’ve readjusted my body clock now (I used to want to be in bed by 9 or 10 PM, lmao) and I stay up until anywhere between 12-2 AM on weekdays.

...do you usually wake up? Ranges between 6-7:30 AM.

...did you last watch a movie? September.

...did you last go to a party? Around Februaryish, 2020.

...did you last cry? I can’t really recall. The last moment I can remember was crying over Life Goes On sometime last month, when I heard it for the first time. I’m just not sure if that’s accurate or when exactly in April that happened.

...did you laugh really hard? I always have a good laugh at least once a day.

...did you buy something pricey last? Idk what you would count as pricey but I bought the new BTS photobook set when it dropped back in April. Cost me around ₱3750. I wasn’t able to buy from the first press (it sold out in like 7 minutes lol) which included an exclusive poster set, so I had to look for a local shop that was already offering the poster set separately, and ended up shelling out another ₱2200 for it...which means all in all I spent around ₱5950 for it or roughly $125.

...did you have an argument last? Earlier this evening but I don’t want to get into it as it made me cry from sadness and frustration for the first time in months.

...did you last have a sick day? May last year.

...did you last recieve a hug? I have no idea. February, I think? when I hung out with my friends.

...when is your best friend’s birthday? July 22 or September 15, depends on which best friend.

...did you learn how to drive? I started getting lessons when I was 17, but I didn’t start feeling comfortable with it until I turned 18.

...did you last receive a surprise? Around a couple of weeks ago when my dad came home with Jollibee for us.

:: How ::

Many pets do you have? Two.

Many houses have you lived in? Three that I can remember, but I know my parents moved around a bit when I was a newborn.

Often do you shower? Every morning before my shift. I hate feeling sweaty and icky when I report for work.

Well can you cook? I can’t at all.

Many close friends do you have? I have two people I count as my absolute best friends, but I have a handful of close friends as well.

Many Brothers or sisters do you have? One of each.

Often do you go swimming? I don’t swim much at all, really...I haven’t done it since 2019, so that should say enough. As relaxing as it is, I feel like the clean-up afterwards can be such a challenge lol. Like if you swim in a pool you have to rigorously wash the chlorine off of you; and if you swim in the sea you have to also be thorough about making sure you’ve removed all the sand from your body.

Many times have you texted today? I don’t think I texted today but I did spend my whole day on chat platforms.

Do you like your toast (colour, topping)? I don’t have super particular preferences; I just like mine on the burnt side.

Do you like your tea and/or coffee? My coffee has to be sweet for me to enjoy it. I can take black coffee/Americano; I’ll just wince a lot with every sip. No tea for me thanks.

Do you like to celebrate your birthdays? With a lot of food.

Are you feeling today? A little frustrated because of an argument incident this evening. But I’m shaking it off and just focusing on the release of Butter tomorrow. My first BTS comeback!!!

Serious are you about your career goals? Very.

Many rooms are in your house? In total, 9.

Many bedrooms in your house? 4.

Did you do in your school exams? I was never consistent. I slacked off a looooooot in grade school; couldn’t give less of a shit about my classes then. I got a bit more hardworking in high school, but I still was a bit lax and I allowed myself to not put a lot of effort in subjects I didn’t care a lot for and that I know I would never have to use in real life, like chemistry or accounting, so there were exams I really excelled in and others that I would fail. It was only in college I started taking my studies incredibly seriously and I believe that showed in the grades I eventually got.

Close do you live to your parents? They’re like, five steps away.

Close do you live to your siblings? My sister’s literally in the room next to mine.

Sensitive to criticism are you? I know it’s something that can never be avoided, so I’m always open to hearing them, especially if it’s meant to help me. It doesn’t mean I enjoy it as it is being given.

Motivated to make changes are you? Depends on my mood and mindset. 

Creative are you (1-10): -0.5.

Hard working are you (1-10): Probably a 22 if I really put my head into a task.

Sporty are you (1-10): I dunno, maybe a 6? I do like playing table tennis, but I’m pretty meh at any other sport.

Musical are you (1-10): 0.

Do you prefer your eggs? Runny yolk; scrambled; or a really packed omelette.

Often do you go out to eat? Before the pandemic, I liked eating out 2-3 times a week.

Would your best friend describe you? Not sure, I never tried asking them this. I hope it’s all nice things, though.

Can someone cheer you up if you’re sad? Send me photos of V. Hahahaha

Often do you meet up with your friends? ...What do you think? D:

Important is religion to you? It is not a part of my life whatsoever.

Old were you when you first stayed overnight from home? 15 or 16, I can’t really remember.

Old were you when you got your first pet? I was maybe 6.

Tech savvy are you? I know enough to survive my own, but I obviously can’t hack into other computers or things like that.

Do you show you appreciate those you care for? Buying them food.

Often do you cut your hair? I only take a trip to the salon once a year.

Often do you paint your nails? Never.

Many countries have you visited? Six.

Boyfriends/girlfriends have you had? Just one.

:: Why ::

... did you choose your username? Because it was straightforward.

... did you take this survey? I like surveys made in categories, and this seemed interesting and varied enough.

... did you choose the career you did? I found that I enjoyed it MILES more than journalism.

...did you last leave the house? I had to go to a local LBC for a work errand.

...did you last give up on something? She wasn’t worth the effort anymore. She hadn’t been for a while, but it took me forever to realize.

...did you search the last thing you searched? I wanted to sing along to the song but it was in Japanese, so I had to look up its lyrics.

...would you give up on someone completely? Oof, I guess you can refer to one of the previous questions. ^

:: If...::

You could live in any country which would you choose? Canada.

You could choose any animal as a pet which one? I’m perfectly content with dogs.

You could be famous for something what would you like? Being known for a funny tweet would probably be enough lol. I have no desire to be famous.

You are sad, how do you combat it? I don’t really get sad anymore these days, so I can’t super remember the go-to tactics I depend on...I guess I like listening to sad songs and allowing myself to wallow in the sadness, because I know I have to accept and process my feelings first before I can be able to calm down.  

You can drive when did you learn? I learned shortly before I started college, when I was 18, because no one was going to be able to take me to university when the school year started.

You could have any job what would it be? Idk, I like the one I have now.

You could go anywhere for a vacation where would you go? Somewhere with a completely different feel and atmosphere, like Norway, Sweden, Finland...that part of Europe, basically.

You could eat anything right now what would it be? Samgak gimbap :/

You wrote a book what genre/topic would it be? It would be a book of essays or maybe a memoir.

You had a theme song what would it be? Idk I don’t really think about this.

You could meet any band/singer in person which one? Billie Eilish seems awesome and easy and fun to talk to.

You could act in any movie which would it be? No thanks.

You get married what venue would you like? Hotel.

If you have kids do you have names picked out? I have one name picked out for a girl but that’s it.

Could describe your dream home what would it be like? Brutalist and minimalist, with large windows, cove lights, and a lot of white space.

You could go back in time what would you change? Break up with Gab earlier.

Could use 3 words to describe your childhood which ones? Could’ve been better.

Could get the answer to any question which question would you choose? When I would die and how, just so I can have peace of mind.

You could have an endless supply of something what would it be? Money, because of course.

Meet anyone who no longer lives who’d you choose? My great-grandfather, mom’s side.

:: Can ::

... you ride a bike? No, never learned.

... you ski? I’ve never even seen snow, so no.

... you bake a cake? I can try but it will probably be very clumsily made as I don’t bake.

... you sing well? I wouldn’t say that. I like singing when I’m alone, but it doesn’t mean I’m any good.

... you do your own taxes? I’ve never tried haha so I guess not.

... you remain calm in a crisis? Depends on how serious it is.

... you do first aid? Let’s just say I wouldn’t volunteer if it comes down to it because I feel like I’d commit one fatal mistake that would make the situation graver. 

... remember your best friend’s family members’ names? Both of their families, yes.

... you fire a gun? I’ve never tried so I doubt it.

... your parents drive? Yep.

...your best friend dance well? They’re not ‘dancers’ per se but sure, they can bust out a move or two.

...you make people laugh easily? Not everyone, but sure.

...stand up for yourself? That’s what I’m trying to learn these days.

...you do a martial art? No.

:: Would ::

You like to learn a new language? That’s always a welcome opportunity.

Save the life of a stray animal? Absolutely.

Know what to do if there was a hurricane? We have several ones come in the country every year so yeah, I can definitely say we’ve long been well-prepared for them.

Try a new cuisine? I do this as often as I can.

Risk your life for anyone? Yes.

You like to get back in touch with someone? No, I’m good now.

You drive in the middle of the night to get a stuck friend? Ina heartbeat.

You Know how to perform CPR? In relation to the first aid question, I wouldn’t volunteer myself in case I make a wrong move.

You likely win in a game of chess? I don’t even know how it works, so no.

You stop talking for a day for $100? Easily.

[twilightfan02]

The Storm Coming In / Jasper Hale Imagine

A/N - Hi everyone! This is the first imagine I have posted and I am very excited! Don’t be afraid to send in any requests for Twilight characters. I would love to see them. 

Jasper leaves with family when Edward leaves, reader struggles to stick to a routine. Jasper shows up to watch her sing in a diner after a month and they figure out how to go on from there.

Word Count- 4.2k

Warnings- Cursing

Enjoy!

It had been almost a month since any trace of your boyfriend Jasper disappeared with the rest of the Cullen's and as much as you would love to remain in your bed for the rest of your days, you saw the world changing around you, you knew you had to adapt to survive. You didn’t seem to know what adapting meant at this point, but you knew you couldn’t keep doing what you were doing. You finally found yourself being able to stand in the outside world and you knew that you had a show tonight at the diner in your hometown of Forks. You could not have called out of this again. Ever since you were little you’d find yourself on the small, dinky stage at the secluded diner, performing every Saturday night. You had always loved to sing, nothing had ever intervened with your love of performing before, Jasper seemed to have taken your passion with him when he left. There was not a show you had done since meeting the boy that hadn’t had a song dedicated to the love of your life since you met him, he hadn’t missed one yet, neither of you ever thought he really would. You shook your head trying to void yourself of any thoughts of the guilt-ridden empath. It was currently 4pm and you had to be at the diner by 6:45pm to do a quick mic check before the show would start at 7pm. It seemed that everyone in town had known what had happened to you. Everyone had thought you and Jasper would be together for the rest of your lives, it wasn’t a question. You think people expected you to act differently, you had spent your whole life making sure your reputation stayed squeaky clean and no one thought it would be easy for you to get over this, no one expected you to completely shut down as you did.

You stepped into the shower and you let the scalding water pour over you, you stood there for as long as you could before going on with your normal show routine. Everything in your life had a routine. You never realized how controlled to the clock you were before a month of forcing yourself into isolation, it almost made you laugh. You couldn’t care less anymore. Once you finished, you stepped out of the shower, towel drying your hair and body before getting dressed. You wore a simple white knit sweater, black mom jeans and your favorite pair of doc martens. After your hair finished drying you french braided the (Y/H/C) pieces into a low curled ponytail. You put on just enough makeup so you didn’t look completely dead and called it quits. You couldn’t eat on show days. No matter how many times you had performed, nervous or not, you couldn’t bring yourself to eat anything. You knew the sweet owners of the diner, Don and Barb, would have a to-go box waiting for you once you had finished. Barb had texted you a few days after word had gotten around that the Cullens had left telling you to take your time, to call in if you needed and she had dropped off your favorite soup at least twice throughout every week of him being gone. When you had asked to take a month off from your Saturday nights at the diner, she had been so kind and when you told her you were ready to come back she was more than ecstatic. You walked past your mother when exiting your house towards your car, who informed you that she and your father would be there tonight to support your first night back. You bid a quick thank you and continued the walk to your car. Your parents had been so amazing through this break-up, they followed your lead the best they could. Neither of them had expected this either, they had nothing, but love for yours and Jaspers relationship. Your mother was so heart-broken that this was how you were doomed to spend your junior year, she didn’t know how you would come back from this. They knew that Jasper was the one for you, your father had done his best to get a hold of Carlisle who didn’t offer much of an explanation at all. No one knew what to tell you anymore. No one knew how to comfort you or how to approach you when you ate lunch alone at the Cullens table. The people around you really struggled when it came to seeing you so down and out, you were a walking ray of human sunshine, seeing you upset was never something they had prepared themselves for. 

You drove the familiar road to the small diner and you were there in under ten minutes, you sat in the car for a little while, preparing to go into the public willingly again. You made sure you had all of your stuff, checked your reflection quickly, took a deep breath and proceeded to leave the safety of your car. You walked through the doors and began your path to the little sound system next to the small stage. As you were walking, you caught Barb's eye as she was putting some money in the register, she looked up and sent you a wave and a smile. She shook her finger at you signaling that she would be over there in a second, you sent her a tight lipped smile and a nod in response. Once you arrived at the stage you pulled up the karaoke playlist you had made earlier that day to make your transitions between songs easier. Before you knew it you had been spun around and pulled into a firm hug. The familiar scent of Barb and apple pie filled your nose and for the first time in a while you had a genuine smile.

“Oh my dear, it is so good to have you back,” You could tell she was being honest. 

“It is good to be back, I have a good set list tonight. I am bringing back some old stuff, I have something new too that I really think will be fun.” You were trying your best to carry on a normal conversation.

“I am so glad to hear that. How are you doing? Have you heard from him at all?” There it was. The inevitable Jasper question. The second you heard it your mouth went dry, you shook your head and gave a quick answer, obviously trying to end this portion of the conversation.

“I am so sorry, love. We sure will miss seeing the two of you around here.”

“I will miss it too, I just wish I knew anything at all. I have no way to gain closure and I feel like I am just stuck in this weird limbo.” This may have been the most open statement you had made about the situation so far. You and Bella had spent a lot of time trying to figure out why they had left, Bella knows Edward left to protect her from Victoria, but that doesn’t explain why Jas would leave you with no explanation. You had tried to text and call him nearly everyday, but it was radio silence. Eventually you and Bella fell out of touch, you were painful reminders of each other's missing half. You knew her father, Charlie and her would be at the diner tonight. Everyone was trying to be as supportive as they could. 

Barbra interrupted your thoughts after letting the information you gave her sink in for a short while, “I am sorry, dear. I should not have brought it up.”

You responded honestly, “I have to talk about it eventually.” You didn't mean to sound as bitter as you did when you said this, but the poison behind your words were a given when discussing him.

Barb shifted a bit before saying, “Well, it's seven. Are you ready to start?” You took a deep breath and muttered a “Yes, of course.” Barb made her way up the steps of the hip-length, black stage, she took the mic in her hand and gave it a quick tap, gaining the attention of the usual Saturday customers, lots of which came for your little shows. It was as close as they could get to a concert in a town like Forks, seeing as the diner was a teen hangout it tended to be pretty packed on nights like this. You saw the door open and you caught Bella’s eye as she walked in with Charlie following behind her. You sent a quick wave and she sent one back. 

“Hey! How is everyone doing?” Barb spoke clearly into the microphone as everyone gave a small cheer. She continued, “We are so blessed to have our own (Y/N) back to sing for us after a small break! I do not have to tell any of you new-comers how amazing this girl is, the turn out every Saturday night and her voice speaks for themselves. Give her a warm welcome everyone,” You walked up the steps taking this time to look into the crowd and register who was here You saw quite a few people from school, you saw your parents smiling wide as ever, you caught sight of your best friend Paul and the rest of his pack, you sent him a small smile which he returned with a bigger one and two thumbs up. 

One you reached Barb, she handed you the mic and you sent her a grateful look, you loved her introductions. “Hey everyone! I have missed this a lot, I am so glad to go back at it again. For those of you who don’t know, I have sung here almost every Saturday night since I was 8 years old and it is my favorite thing to do,” You weren’t lying, but you sure as hell aren't telling the whole truth. Your first night out after Jasper leaving was becoming a little overwhelming, but you had to push through. 

“I am going to throw it back with some of my old favorites to perform and then we will try some new stuff, does that sound alright with you?” The small crowd sent out a quick cheer and you smiled back at them.

“Alright! Here is, I Got Stripes by Johnny Cash!” You tried to do music to please the crowd which led you to do a mix of music that was older.

The music starts up and you see your dads head start bopping, this was always his favorite to hear you sing.

“I hear the train coming

Its rolling round the bend 

And I aint seen the sunshine since, I don’t know when

I’ve been stuck in Folsom Prison and time keeps dragging on,”

You do your best to connect with people in the audience throughout your set, but all your mind could keep going back to was the Cullen family. You had always told yourself that your art would come first and if your 10 year-old self could see you right now she would slap the shit out of you. You were letting your career be interrupted for a boy, but you couldn’t help it. You felt completely numb, you couldn’t enjoy what you were doing at all. You thought back to seeing Jasper after every show. He always let you see everyone else first and then he would meet you in your guys booth in the back with a quick kiss and a bouquet of flowers. You always told him he didn’t have to do that. You’ve performed so many times that it wasn’t anything special anymore. He would always reply with a smug smile and say “Anything you do is special, Sugar.” That boy made you weak in the knees, but he was gone. He left you, with no explanation, after three years together. You knew all of his secrets, his family's secrets. He knew yours. You tried to push the thought of him out of your head again. Eventually you found yourself at the last song of your set, this was always a song you would dedicate to Jasper, you found your heart in your throat as you spoke.

“You have been such a wonderful audience, I am so happy to be back up here. The last song of the night is one I never thought I would perform. This song has always been my safe space and something that meant a lot to someone who I loved dearly. Hopefully you love it as much as I do. Here is Maybe This Time from Cabaret.” The second you finished speaking you saw the back door of the diner open and a man in a hoodie slide into the booth closest to the door. The second the music started you saw him stiffen and you knew immediately who it was. You wanted to stop the music, start a scene, but you knew you couldn’t do that. You had the wind knocked out of you as you saw Paul rise and slowly saunter to the booth that Jasper was sitting in, you had almost missed your entrance to the song, but quickly picked it back up in order to keep the audience's eyes on you and not on the back of the diner. You didn’t know what Paul would do to Jasper. You and Paul had grown up together, from chubby little toddlers in diapers to teen with intense hormonal acne, he had done his best to be there for you once Jasper had left, but between you pushing him away and the duties of the pack he couldn’t do much. You opened up your mouth and for some reason the words came out,

“Maybe this time, I'll be lucky

Maybe this time he’ll stay

Maybe this time, for the first time, love won't hurry away

He will hold me fast, I’ll be home at last

Not a loser anymore, like the last time and the time before,”

You finally brought your eyes up off the ground and looked at everyone except him, you couldn’t look at him and sing this song. You loved musical theatre, Jasper did his best to tolerate it. The only show he ever really loved was Cabaret, he would never tell you why when you asked. You just reminded him so much of Sally Bowles. She was a performer, hopeful, loud and opinionated, he loved that about you. When you had sung this song for him, it was the first time he had ever heard you sing. You were sitting in his bedroom and were playing Truth or Dare. He had asked if you had any talents and you said you could sing a bit, when he asked you to sing for him you clammed up. You loved to sing so much, but you had a huge crush on the boy and did not want to embarrass yourself. You were supposed to save this song for the weekend at the diner, but he loved it so much you never wanted to share it with anyone else. This song showed exactly how he felt towards you. He wanted to stay so badly, but he was always scared as to what would happen if he did. He thought, maybe this time, it would be different and he could. You found yourself reaching the end of the song and at this point you had looked at everyone except Jasper. When you finally willed yourself to look at him you saw Paul sitting next to him, completely, maybe he was trying to keep him from leaving, maybe he was trying to make sure he stayed close so he could kick his ass after they left the diner, you had no idea. Jasper looked up and you willed yourself to move your eyes off of Paul and onto Jasper. Meeting his eyes took everything out of you, every bit of energy and willingness to go on that you had in you completely disappeared. 

“All the odds are, they're in my favor

Something's bound to begin

It's gotta happen, happen sometime

Maybe this time I'll win

Cause everybody, they love a winner

So nobody loved me

'Lady Peaceful', 'Lady Happy'

That's what I long to be

Well, all the odds are, they're in my favor

Something's bound to begin

It's gotta happen, happen sometime

Maybe this time

Maybe this time I'll win,” once you finished the last word everyone in the diner was on their feet. You stood, forcing a smile, glaring a hole into Jasper's head. Jasper stopped making eye contact with you towards the very end of the song. He could feel what you were feeling, he felt it over everyone else in the small space. Your pain was loud, it wanted to be felt. Your anguish nearly took him off his feet, he didn’t know how you were standing and smiling, even as unconvincingly as you were. You gave the audience a quick wave and walked down the steps after you thanked everyone for coming out tonight, the second you got down the stairs you were saying your hellos as fast as you could so you could leave immediately. You loved Jasper more than anything, but you weren’t ready for this, it was all too much. You finally got in your car, after Barb forced a to-go box on you. The second you got in your car you lost it, sobbing harder than ever into your hands. Why was this all so overwhelming? You knew Bella had Jasper hostage questioning him about Edward and such. He was grateful that you hadn't been pulling the stuff that Bella had been pulling, the dangerous stunts to get a glimpse of him. He didn’t know what he would have done if you were trying to injure yourself. He left to prevent that, he knew he was in the wrong , but he had the right intentions. The Cullens had come up to collect the last of their things when Jasper caught a glimpse of you through the window of the diner. It was almost eight so he knew you would be about finished, but he wanted to see you perform for the last time. He needed it, and when he heard you singing your guy's song, he knew he had made a mistake. When he felt what you had felt, he knew he had to stay. He couldn’t leave you feeling like this. He thought you would be okay, even better without him. You would find someone who could give you a good normal life, a normal marriage, four kids playing in the backyard, you could have grandchildren, and grow old and grey with whoever you honored with that job. He knew you were it for him, he had one great love and he was determined to do what was best for you even though it was slowly killing him. It seemed that he had underestimated your love for him, he would never make that mistake again. You were right that Bella had found him and begun to question him to death, what you didn’t know was that she had dragged him outside of the diner to interrogate him. You wiped your eyes with your sleeve before fumbling to find your keys to start your car, as soon as you had put your key in the ignition you made eye contact with him. The love of your life standing twenty feet away from you and all you could do was put your car in reverse and exit the parking lot, or at least try, but before you could even attempt it, Jasper was standing beside your car window tapping lightly. You could see that his mouth was moving, but you couldn’t register a sound that came out. You were blank, before you were pulled out of it by hearing Paul's voice, booming like thunder.

“Jasper, she obviously doesn’t want to talk to you. I told you I’d let you try. She’s not re-” You couldn’t hear the rest of it. You sped out of the parking lot nearly knocking Jasper over in the process. You turned off everything you were feeling and you just drove. You drove for hours it seemed, you didn’t go anywhere, you just drove in circles. Once you started to come to reality again, you took a brief look at the clock, and you genuinely laughed so hard you had to pull over. You had been driving for hours, 3 hours to be exact. It was almost 11:30. You laughed until you couldn’t anymore and that’s when the tears came. Stupid Jasper. Stupid Cullens. Stupid diner. Stupid Bella. Stupid Edward. Stupid you. You let yourself cry it out until the tears stopped, you saw Barb closing down the diner through the window as it approached midnight. You knew you had to go home, your parents were easy on you as you grieved this lost relationship, but there was no way they would be okay with you missing curfew. 

After you went home, you heated up to go box from the diner as you hadn’t eaten at all today resulting in a nasty headache. As you ate your food you checked your phone for the first time in hours. You had quite a few messages from people who were at the diner, congratulating you on a stellar show. You had a message from Bella wanting to check in, and you had at least ten messages from Paul asking where you were and letting you know that he “dealt with the Cullen problem,” you found yourself overwhelmed again especially when you heard the voicemail that Jasper had left. You could hear the pain in his voice, 

“(Y/N), I know what I did was horrible. I am so sorry Darlin’. I wish I could take it back, I wish I never left and that you never had to feel the way that you do. Paul told me everything about how bad it was and I am so sorry. I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself for making you feel that way. I’m going to stay, we are all going to stay. Edward needs a little more time, but we are back. Please let me make this up to you, I will do anythi-,” His voice cut out as you stopped the voicemail. You couldn’t handle anymore. You turned your phone off, walked up to your room, took your make-up off, undressed, redressed in pajamas, laid down and lit your favorite candle, you were a robot. You were stuck in your routine, letting the clock rule you again. You were doing the only thing you knew how to do anymore. Everything else had gone to shit, but you could save your routine. You had done everything so effortlessly you forced yourself to check out. You were only brought back again by the loud thump of something landing on the side of your house. You hear your window open and you hear the sounds of Jasper entering. You felt the bed dip next to you and you felt his hand rub the side of your face. You kept your eyes closed the whole time. You both knew you weren’t asleep, but neither of you were ready for this moment to be interrupted by the reality that he had left you. The love of your life had left you without so much as a goodbye and here he was stroking your face.

“I am so sorry,” he choked out

“I don’t know what happened, I don’t know why it happened and I don’t know what you were thinking. I don't want to know right now. I just can’t talk about this tonight. I love you, Jasper. I love you so much and I don’t know how I will continue to breathe if you ever pull this shit again. I swear to God, I will kill you. For right now I just want to lay here. I want you to hold me and I want to talk about the weather, I want to talk about school, I want to talk about our families and our siblings and homework, but I will not talk about you leaving me, you understand? We can start rebuilding in the morning. We can fix this, it’ll just take time. I need time. Are you in or are you out?” Neither of you had expected you to say that much or speak at all. All of the words came out before you even knew what you were doing. He looked at you with wide eyes and nodded. He sat himself down and wiggled his body so it was slightly underneath yours, You rolled over to put your head on his chest and his arm fell into place on your back. It was as if nothing had changed.

“So, how are you enjoying the rain?” The pale boy spoke with a hint of his accent peaking through. You could hear the smile on his face when he talked. You softly replied,

“It isn’t too bad, I am a bit worried about the storm that’s coming through.”

[fmdtaeyongarchive]

↬ not yet.

date: morning of september 24, 2020.

location: bc ent hq.

word count: 988 words.

summary: ash’s album still isn’t there yet.

triggers: passing mention of alcohol.

notes: n/a.

the meeting comes back to him afterward mostly in the words exchanged.

“it’s just not where we need it to be to give it the green light without some help from the company. it’s not that we think your songs are bad, but they’re all over the place still. what you’ve given us is more a collection of tracks than an album. playlists, song collections, mixtapes, those are all the rage these days on the music scene, but it’s not what we need from you. you’ve topped the charts this year multiple times, “so long”, “how can i love the heartbreak, you’re the one i love”, and even “aloha’s” gotten up there now. the consumers are making it clear what they want from you, and it’s our job to listen and reflect that. a messy album will throw away all the work we’ve been doing to get you here. you’re on the verge of something great, and you don’t want to waste that.”

ash’s lips had twitched in a momentary lapse of keeping his cool. there they went, deciding what it was ash wanted again. he’d wanted to have his album released already. he’d wanted to show he could make an album good with his hands, and only his hands, in every piece of the song creation process. what he didn’t care about was catapulting himself into greatness, not the kind bc wanted him to have. he was never going to be the most beloved man in south korea. he’d already made sure of that and he could be told over and over again by the company that his favorability and positive correlation in market research was improving every quarter, he saw firsthand the hate he still got. people like you more now didn’t mean much when he was faced with those who clearly didn’t each rare time he took to social media.

“i’m sorry. i’vd gotten positive feedback on several of the demos i’ve sent in since our last meeting about the release date. i guess i’m confused…” that was an understatement. only a few nights before ash had treated himself to some of the best wine in his liquor cabinet in celebration of the deadline for song submissions for his album passing.

“and they were good! we have some other demos we’d like you to check out and record, though, to pad out the track list from what we’ve approved of yours. we think they’d make a…. how should i put it? a bigger impact than a few of the ones you submitted. even combining it with your fall single, we’re lacking in big concert moments from what you’ve given us. we have to get this album out before the end of the year. there’s no way around that. we’ll talk to your manager and schedule you to go into the studio with some producers and lay your voice down on our options so that the track list is set to send out to distributors at the end of the month. the only other option is to push the entire album back to right before the new year, and you’ll get shafted as a low priority then.”

the a&r department never gave up.

“no, i’m —” ash’s manager, who had been sitting next to him silently until then reached up to grab his shoulder, interrupting him before he could say anything in his exhausted irritation to the a&r rep he might regret later. she didn’t have any real say in what she was telling him, after all. she was low on the company ladder and unlikely to be making these decisions herself and letting his frustrations out on her would have surely only put her between a rock and a hard place.

“i’m sorry to interrupt, but taeyong has to be at the salon to prepare to film our songs in less than half an hour and he has a flight out to japan after that. thank you for your time. we should get going. i was told you could email us any information that would be important following the meeting?”

the mention of ash having other profit-earning ventures to be doing had been the only thing that had saved him from another hour of arguing, and he had silently thanked his manager with a glance for being better at the bureaucratic talk than he was. ash remained silent for the short remainder of the meeting, and when they’d left and were alone in the elevator down to the main floor ash spoke to his manager. “can you see if they’ll extend my deadline one more time? i can make this album great, i swear.” that was what the a&r rep had said they wanted: greatness. bc’s definition and ash’s own might vary, but all he needed to do was work a little harder to bring them around to his vision. he’d given in too easily and too quickly too many times before. not again. “ two weeks. tell them i’ll have a them a fully recorded track list in two weeks. that’s all i need. i have songs i haven’t shown them yet and i can write and record more in that time. the day after knight’s album release, that’s a month before my album date. tell them i’ll have it by then.”

the silence he’d first received in response had set ash’s stomach on edge, but it’d eased when his manager had finally spoken. “a month isn’t a lot of time. an album is almost always out to distributors with music videos filmed by then.”

ash looks at him and a blaze burns bright in his eyes, the look that says he won’t easily take no for an answer.

“i’ll see what i can do,” his manager concedes. “but you do know a fire can only consume so much before it burns itself out, don’t you?”

“i’m not burning out yet. trust me.”

[p-artsypants]

Longest Night (23) Rocking

And Marinette had thought Highschool had been hard. Right now, in this moment, she'd give anything to go back to those petty arguments and gossip fueled drama. But she couldn't. Instead, she and Adrien were trapped here, being punished, humiliated, tortured, for being heroes, all broadcasted for the world to see. At least she and her kitty were in this together. For now. Whump!Fic

Ao3 | FF.net

I’m very musically minded. I was voted ‘Most Likely to Break Out Into Song’ in Highschool. So it’s no surprise when I have a songfic chapter. I had a similar chapter in my previous ML fic ‘Nine Lives’ where Jagged performs. I’ve always thought Jagged Stone’s music would sound a lot like Radiohead, despite his name being a pun on the Rolling Stones.

Song list and link to playlist at the end of the chapter.

—

Four weeks earlier

Luka was four hours late coming home from work. As a delivery driver, work was often impeded by akuma attacks. As it was, Paris had yet to be given the all clear from the newest akuma, a wreck ball man who was causing absolute chaos through the town. As it grew later and later, Luka’s boss decidedly sent him home, with the warning to be careful.

So Luka biked home. In a city as big as Paris, as accustomed it was to Akumas, people were still out and about, rushing to get where they needed to go. There was no slowing down.

It helped keep life to some sort of normality.

When Luka arrived back home, he parked his bike and headed inside.

“Home, ma!” He called.

“Aye laddie! About time! I’ll warm up yer dinner.”

Luka sat on the couch, catching his breath from his rushed trip home. “Where’s Jules?”

“Oh!” called Anarka, with a gasp. “Her and Rose went off with their classmates! Seems Marinette’s gone missing!”

Luka was back on his feet and hurrying into his shoes. “Where did they go? I’ll catch up with them!”

“You’ll do no such thing! You’re going to eat your dinner, and then you’ll wait here. I was worried sick having you both out there with that akuma still on the loose!”

“The akuma hasn’t been seen in several hours,” he pleaded. “Come on ma, you know how much I like Marinette!”

“Butt! Chair! Now!”

Luka did as his mother instructed, but not without crossing his arms in protest.

As he waited, he flicked on the TV. The cooking channel was on. He didn’t much care about cooking, but he didn’t feel like watching anything else.

Any news about Marinette? He texted his sister.

Then it was back to waiting, his foot tapping too quickly, and his eyes darting between the TV and his phone.

Five minutes passed before Juleka texted back, ‘No, Adrien is missing too.’

He was already feeling sick to his stomach, but a knot coiled in his gut. He couldn’t help but feel like their disappearance wasn’t just a coincidence.

Think positive. He told himself. Maybe Adrien finally opened his eyes, and they’re together, and just lost track of time.

Luka knew what was going on at school. Juleka had told him, confessing that Lila’s story didn’t sit right with her. It sure as hell sounded like utter garbage to him. Marinette had been forced to confess her crush in front of her class, in front of Adrien.

That had to have been painful, and Luka bemoaned the fact he wasn’t in her grade. He would have protected her from this! He would have done something!

“Here ya go, boy-o. Hot soup!” Anarka handed him a tray with a bowl and a baguette.

“Thanks ma.”

Still not hungry, Luka stirred the soup with his spoon, unable to do anything else.

He felt useless. Utterly useless.

Suddenly, the TV turned to static, the show cutting out.

“Damn antenna…” he muttered as he lifted the tray off his lap.

The picture came back, but there was a woman with reflective sunglasses instead.

“Good evening Paris. Please excuse me for interrupting whatever pointless drivel you were consumed with. My name is Salo. I’m not an akuma, but you’ll soon wish I was. I have succeeded where all the others have failed.” She stepped back to show Ladybug and Chat Noir, bound and gagged.

That had been nearly a month ago, and the truth that Ladybug and Chat noir were Marinette and Adrien still hadn’t sunk all the way in.

Yes, Luka acknowledged it. Yes, he believed they were both more than capable.

But he didn’t want it to be true.

Because that meant he didn’t stand a chance.

And that was a very selfish thought.

Ladybug, Marinette, had entrusted him with a Miraculous of his own (on loan of course) a couple of times. That had to mean something, right?

If she trusted him enough for that, then that was enough. She did care about him.

But now it was time to move on from liking her, to supporting her. Things would get rough once they got out. And he was absolutely confident that they would! Ladybug and Chat Noir! Heroes!

Still, as he sat back stage, there a flash of anger that course through his veins.

How did he not notice earlier? Surely, Chat Noir was pretty different from Adrien, but he should have at least had a hunch about Ladybug. He was usually pretty good about reading people.

And yet, the girl he cared about the most…he hadn’t even suspected it.

He shook his head in frustration.

“Nervous?” A voice cut into his thoughts.

Looking up, Luka made eye-contact with Jagged Stone, who was wearing an outfit Gabriel designed to match their costumes.  Another fact that he hadn’t quite gotten over yet. He was playing a concert with Jagged Stone tonight!

In front of millions of people.

“No…well, yeah, of course, but…I was just thinking about Marinette.”

“Ah, a young heart in love. A lot of pain, a lot of joy…a pain in the arse.”

Luka chuckled at that.

“Look kid, you’re not gonna be alone out there…for the most part. That solo was your idea.”

“I won’t even be alone for that,” Luka smirked. “I’ll have Adrien with me.”

Jagged gave a hard pat to his shoulder. “I know it’s a somber occasion, but try to have some fun, huh? I know they’d really want it.”

“Yeah, I’ll do my best.”

The city had set up a stage under the Eiffel Tower, one that had no curtains, so the crowd could surround it on all sides. Technically, the band was under the stage, until it was time to begin.

Luka was all ready to go, having tuned his guitars, one electric, one acoustic. He glanced around the space watching people scurry about. Jagged’s band, Kitty Section, Clara Nightingale, Alya and Nino, and a handful of staff. There were some other people he didn’t know.

When he was approached about the concert, he had enthusiastically agreed, though he was warned what could happen if the people who took Marinette found out he was close to them.

They hadn’t taken anyone else yet, but it was just a matter of time.

Still, Luka wasn’t afraid, and he wanted to do this for them.

“Luka?” A girl asked.

He blinked out of his reverie again. “Uh…Kagami, right?”

“Yeah, it’s been a while.”

“Yeah.”

She sat next to him, without another word.

Without much thought, he started to pick at his strings, a soft little melody hanging in the air.

“That’s nice,” said Kagami.

“Thanks…it’s not much.”

“You’re playing tonight, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Nervous?”

“Who wouldn’t be?” He shrugged. He really hoped he wasn’t coming off as short. He just didn’t feel much like talking. That was something Marinette was good about, just willing share her presence and allow herself to get lost in the music with him.

But now she was lost in silence. And even after all was said and done, she’d probably be listening for a piano.

He hit a bad chord, and winced. Then he sighed, and stopped.

“You are fond of her, aren’t you? You went on that double date with us, after all.”

He began to play again. “Yeah, you could say I was fond of her.”

“Did you love her?”

He paused. And then continued to strum. “You know, for all the love songs I’ve ever played and ever wrote…I don’t think I’ve ever been in love before. I think I liked her, a lot. But…”

“Knowing who she is, and seeing it in comparison…it’s not love, right?” She finished for him.

“Yeah…you—you got it right on the head. What about you? Did you love Adrien?”

She shook her head. “Same as you. Thought I did…but…Adrien was my first real friend. I think I assumed the admiration I felt for him was love, when it was just…well, love. But not in the way that I thought. I’m sorry, I’m not great at explaining my feelings. I didn’t mean to heap this on you. You’re about to perform and I’m bothering you—“ She stood.

“Hey, no, Kagami…you’re not bothering me at all.” And she wasn’t. Not anymore. “You put what I’ve been feeling into words, and I’m really thankful for that.”

“Really?” She asked, sitting back down.

“For sure! I’ve felt…kind of selfish lately. Like…really really selfish. I should be worried sick for both of them, and I am! Believe me! But…I’m also hurting. Knowing the feelings I had for her are nothing in comparison for how Adrien feels for her…”

“Hey.” She said sternly. “You felt for her. That’s enough. You’re allowed to be upset. Everyone in this whole darn city is upset. No one will judge your reasoning.”

His lip twitched in a smile. “Darn?”

“I’m not allowed to swear.”

“Well, I won’t tell.”

She glanced around and then finally uttered a soft, “…damn.”

Luka snickered. “That’s the spirit.”

“Thanks for talking with me, Luka.”

“Of course, any time.” And when she stood, he gently grasped her wrist. “I mean it. Any time. We broken hearts have to stick together, right?”

She smirked at him. “Just don’t expect me to fall for you right away.”

His eyes widened. “Right away?”

“Uh—“ She blushed. “Or at all.” She cleared her throat. “Well, break a leg.”

Luka felt himself missing her once she had left, even though she’d only been here for a moment.

Maybe he was just lonely. Despite his still conflicted heart.

“Five minutes!” The stage manager shouted.  

And just like that, all of Luka’s frustrations and sadness disappeared to be replaced with total and complete nervousness.

He exhaled slowly, and put on his mask—the one Marinette had made—and got into position.

He was a few steps behind Jagged, surrounded by other band members, waiting on a hydraulic lift. Any minute now, it would raise up and he’d see the thousands and thousands of people that had come out.

He could already hear them. The crowd was talking, voices muddled together in waves and waves of humming garbage.

His heart pounded in his chest as he swallowed thickly.

Jagged looked over to Clara and nodded. Then they both looked to Luka, who nodded too.

He wanted to do this. For Adrien. For Marinette.

The floor started to move.

Oh god

Oh god

Oh god

Jagged strummed his guitar, beginning the first song. A favorite of Adrien’s, he was told. The whole set list was made up of their favorite songs from the three bands.

Including one that Luka wrote.

Jagged started to sing.

I do not

Understand

What it is

I've done wrong

Full of holes

Check for pulse

Blink your eyes

One for yes

Two for no

I have no idea what I am talking about

I'm trapped in this body and can't get out

Oh, oh

Now that the music started, it was a lot easier to breathe. If he just focused on his guitar and on Jagged and Clara, he’d be fine, totally fine.

Make a sound

Move back home

Pale imitation

With the edges

Sawn off

I have no idea what you are talking about

I'm trapped in this body and can't get out

Oh, oh

Feeling braver, Luka looked up and out into the audience. He almost stopped playing completely. It was an ocean of people, jumping up and down, cheering and singing along. They flooded the entirety of Champ de Mars, so far back he couldn’t see the end of the crowd. Speakers dotted the edge of the park, assuring that everyone could hear the music.

The concert of the century.

Has the light gone out for you?

'Cause the light's gone for me

It is the 21st century

It is the 21st century

You can fight it like a dog

And they brought me to my knees

They got scared and they put me in

They got scared and they put me in

All the lies run around my face

All the lies run around my face

And for anyone else to see

And for anyone else to see

I'm alive

I've seen it coming

The roar of the crowd was incredible. Thousands and thousands of people gathering together, to support his friends. It made Luka nearly weak in the knees.

“Thank you!” Jagged called, the crowd quieting down more. “Thank you all for coming out tonight. It is my esteemed honor to play tribute to the heroes of Paris…Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste…that’s Ladybug and Chat Noir, if you didn’t already know.”  

More cheering, a sonic boom of devotion and praise.

It was touching to hear Jagged refer to them by their real names first, and not their titles.

“The first time I encountered Marinette was not too many months after she debuted as a superhero. She was helping out at Le Grand Hotel where I was staying, and she was assigned as my gopher. I tasked her with finding a pair of glasses with Eiffel Towers on them, nice and big and totally rock and roll. The first pair she brought back weren’t what I wanted, and I told her as much. She went away and returned an hour later with these glasses,” he gestured to his face. “She couldn’t find the ones I wanted, so she decided to make them herself. I was so thrilled with them! They’re still my favorite accessory! Of course, that same day, Ladybug and Chat Noir both saved my butt from an akuma. Since then, Marinette has designed two of my album covers, and Ladybug and Chat Noir have saved me from akumas, and from akumatization. The moment I saw what happened…I was devastated. Marinette’s become like a little sister to me. I appreciate all the things that she and Adrien do for Paris. And tonight I want to give back. I want to let the world know that we’re not giving up! We are looking! And eventually, we will find them!”

Again, the roar of the crowd was incredible. The sound made the strings of his guitar vibrate against his fingers. It almost hurt!

“This is a song—This song is called Lucky, and I wrote it for Ladybug the first time she saved me.”

The bass guitar started in, a rolling chord setting the tone.

I'm on a roll

I'm on a roll this time

I feel my luck could change

Kill me, cera

Kill me again with love

It's gonna be a glorious day

Pull me out of the aircrash

Pull me out of the lake

'Cause I'm your superhero

We are standing on the edge

The sun hadn’t quite set yet, but the light in the park was rapidly dimming. As the crowd sang along with Jagged and Clara, little lights flickered on in the throng of people. Lighters, cell phones, and candles were raised and swayed in time with the beat.

The head of state has called for me by name

But I don't have time for him

It's gonna be a glorious day

I feel my luck could change

Pull me out of the aircrash

Pull me out of the lake

'Cause I'm your superhero

We are standing on the edge

We are standing on the edge

When the song ended, Luka had to take a steadying breath as he was overwhelmed with emotion. It was just too much.

Above them was a giant screen. Several others were on the edges of the park, with the speakers, assuring that everyone could see the band and the footage that was shown.

What followed was Clara Nightingale’s music video she had created for Ladybug and Chat Noir back when they started out. It was an edited version, instead of shots of Clara, it was B-Roll footage that was taken while Adrien and Marinette were auditioning for Ladybug and Chat Noir. It was almost startling to see them in the costumes without the masks.

Because it was so painfully obvious at that point, and yet no one had noticed.

Luka had gotten to be in the final product, wearing a Ladybug mask and dancing with Marinette and Adrien. That was an incredible experience, one he treasured.

He watched as there were pictures of Adrien and Marinette posing together in costume, looking to all the world like the happiest couple.

The ache in his heart started to subside the longer he watched.

Clara spoke as the video ended. “Such wonderful heroes, together they make,

Marinette and Adrien are truly the best.

To raise awareness for both of their sake,

And so with this concert, I just couldn’t rest!

I met them first one warm November,

Adrien was naturally the perfect cat.

Nervous at first, but his eyes full of ember,

he picked up the role in no time flat!

Ladybug was hard to cast,

My blue eyed, black haired beauty missing,

And Marinette auditioned next to last.

I was becoming dismayed spending the whole day dismissing.

Marinette wasn’t even auditioning for the role,

But Adrien batted his eyes big and green,

And tickled something deep inside her soul.

She was whisked off to makeup and we started the scene!

But alas, what a shame!

Both of their masks had completely disappeared!

It was hard to know who was to blame,

But in the end the video wasn’t even cleared!

How sad I was, and angry too,

For my tribute to be shattered.

My heroes then came to push through,  

And finished the battle only slightly battered!

I’m thankful for them every single day,

And hope they come home soon.

But their trials have inspired me in a new way,

So I’ll say it all with a brand new tune.”

She had a ukulele, plucked out a little melody, and started to sing.

When I am with you

I feel naked

I can't hide my scars

Piece by piece

You put me together

Till I am no longer

Broken

In between shots of Clara singing, there were photos of Marinette and Adrien together, with friends, in costume, anywhere together. One such was them asleep together on the train to London, looking absolutely adorable.

When I am with you

I can be myself

I don't have to wear a mask anymore

You see who I am

Deep down inside

I grow by the light of your gaze

You fill me with wonder

Fill me with hope

You have opened up my mind

I see eternity in every little thing

When you're by my side

Luka took more calming breaths and tried to think about the concert, rather than his suffering friends. He had two songs coming up, and it wouldn’t do them justice if he burst out into tears in the middle of them.

He glanced over at his band mates for Kitty Section. Rose was standing by Juleka, and she looked like she was shaking like a leaf. Quietly, he went over and rested a hand on her shoulder. “You okay?”

“Yeah…just nervous, and I miss Marinette and Adrien. They were both really good at comforting.”

Luka sighed softly, noting that Rose had said ‘were’ and not ‘are’. Past tense.

“There’s nothing to be nervous about. Everyone here is here to support them. If you get emotional, they’ll understand.”

Rose nodded.

“Besides, this is a battle song. We’re waging a war! We’re fighting back.”

Rose nodded harder. “Yeah!” She said a bit too loudly, though the mics didn’t pick her up.  

When I am with you

I don't fear silence

The voices in my head

Leave me peace

Piece by piece

You put me together

And now

I am no longer

Broken.

The song ended and the applause was much more subdued from Jagged’s songs. It was obvious that people had been moved, and not hyped. Still there were whistles and tearful cheers.

A video began to play on the screen, one that Alya had shot a while ago. It showed Marinette outside of school, a bright blush on her face as she clenched the bottom of her shirt.

Alya’s voice spoke from behind the camera, in a nature documenter’s voice. “Here we see the nervousous pigtailious, commonly known as a Marinette, as she prepares to attract a mate.”

Marinette’s head swiveled over to look at her. “Are you seriously recording me right now?”

“A Marinette cannot detect our camera’s if we stay still. Perhaps we can capture the Marinette’s mating ritual for the first time.”

“You are mean and unhelpful.” Marinette said flatly.

“The Marinette is not typically a hostile creature, but will, on occasion, protect itself with a verbal lashing.”

“Well, I’m officially not nervous anymore, but I am annoyed. At you. If this blows up in my face, purge the evidence. If I succeed…play this at my wedding.”

Alya giggled as she said, “The Marinette has targeted her perspective mate,” she turned the camera to lock onto Adrien and Nino, who were a few feet away, chatting by the stairs of the school. “Her target is the sunshinious handsomous, a gentle and docile creature, most commonly known as an Adrien. Here, we see him interacting with a dorkus maximus.”

“I’m telling Nino you said that.”

“The Marinette gathers her courage to approach.”

Marinette glared back, and then inhaled deeply, her shoulders heaving. Then she stormed over to Adrien and Nino, who both beamed at her approach. From this distance, it wasn’t possible to hear what Marinette was saying.

“And thus begins the dance,” said Alya. “The Marinette is a creature of vast ingenuity, and capable of many surprises, but when it comes to finding a mate, she has had no such luck this season.”

The shot showed Marinette flailing her arms, as she backpedalled over her words. She was now shouting. “Not falling for you! Falling here! I fell!”

“And now the Marinette begins her mating call. A different one to be sure, unlike any other in nature. The Adrien has responded to it, but not with a mating call of his own…”

Adrien had taken his bag off his shoulder, digging through it before he took out a little white bottle, and a bottle of water. He tapped the white bottle on her hand, and then gave her the water.

“It seems the Adrien has misunderstood the call, and has determined the Marinette is in distress. A common miscommunication between the Marinette and the Adrien.”

Adrien patted her shoulder warmly, waved to Nino and walked over to his car.

“Once the situation is rectified, the Adrien takes his leave.”

Marinette stomped back over to Alya, her face red and shoulders hunched, as Nino followed behind, laughing uproariously.

“I tried to do the old, ‘did it hurt when you fell from heaven?’ schtick, but instead I said, ‘it hurt when I fell for you. No, when I fell down the stairs, not falling for you. Falling here. I fell. I think I hit my head, and I’m loosing my mind.’ Then he gave me some ibuprofen from his bag and I love him so much!”

After Alya stopped laughing so hard, she finished the recording by saying, “Nature is beautiful.”  

Luka watched the video fondly, having seen it earlier in rehearsal. But now it was his turn. Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale both nodded him on.

Oh god

Oh god

Oh god

Rose cleared her throat and spoke into the mic, with her incredibly sweet voice, “It’s been said a dozen times already, but thank you all for coming out tonight. We’re Kitty Section. Adrien played the piano for us on occasion, and Marinette designed our costumes. Tonight we’ll be performing a song called ‘Take Me to War’. It wasn’t originally written with Adrien or Marinette in mind, but I think it certainly fits. And they both really liked it too.”

Luka had originally written the song as a response to all the negative feedback they were receiving online. Metal heads didn’t take kindly to metal about glitter and unicorns.

But after watching the stream, Luka had tweaked the lyrics ever so slightly, and found it was a perfect fit.

He started out with a funky beat, before Rose came in on vocals.

I've earned myself a reputation

That my bark is much worse than my bite

But I keep snapping at Goliath's hands

With all of my tiny might

There are no stones at my disposal

There's no God to award me a crown

But I am always swinging at

Somebody I can't knock down

All of the fire I've swallowed

All of the sparks that went dark in my gut

I am always burning up

Luka tried to focus on the music, as his heart thundered in his ears. The sun had set now, and all he could see was an ocean of glittering stars, swaying in time with the music.

Dress me in red and throw your roses

And I'll rankle the beasts with words

It's a graceless dance of epithets

We learn to make someone hurt

They will consume your sweet resistance

And they'll carry your heart in their teeth

But I am always feeding them

The ugliest parts of me

All of the words I've swallowed

All of the sharp things I've kept in my mouth

I am always bleeding out

Up on the screen, between shots of the band members, there were photos and short videos of Ladybug and Chat Noir, fighting their battles. Whether it was akumas or the media, Paris was getting another reminder of the hard work and dedication the heroes always put forward.

Take me to war

Honey, I dare you

I'll be the sweetest thing

To ever scare you

Give me a fight I can't resist

Give me something to break with my fists

Take me to war

Oh, honey, I dare you

Distantly, Luka thought about the parents. Alya had told them that Tom, Sabine, and Gabriel wouldn’t be at the concert, for their own safety, but he at least hoped they were watching. He had seen Nadja Chamack somewhere under the stage, right? They were broadcasting this, right?

Oh god he was on TV!

I watched a weed usurp the garden

And it poisoned the rest of the crops

It would take days of fighting stubborn roots

To tear the whole damn thing out

So I will leave it where it's standing

And instead I will find me a match

I'll turn it all to kindling

I'll burn it all down to ash

All of the ire I've swallowed

All of the coals that still sit in my gut

I am always burning up

As they came back to the chorus, Luka pushed all other thoughts out of his head, and played his heart out. This was for Marinette!

Take me to war

Honey, I dare you

I'll be the sweetest thing

To ever scare you

Give me a fight I can't resist

Give me something to break with my fists

Take me to war

Oh, honey, I dare you

The applause this time was breathtaking. Maybe it was a little selfish, but he reveled in the praise, savoring it. He worked hard, practiced day after day, and wrote the words in his heart. This concert was for Adrien and Marinette, but the applause was for him, for his sister, for all of Kitty Section. It felt nice.

Another video began to play. One of a young Ladybug, right at the beginning of their run during Stoneheart. She stood on the beams of the Eiffel Tower, proclaiming to all of Paris:

“Nice try, Hawkmoth, but we know who the bad guy is. Let's not reverse the roles here. Without you, none of these innocent victims would be transformed into villains. Hawkmoth, no matter how long it takes, we will find you, and you will hand us your Miraculous!” Using amazing acrobatics, Ladybug proceeded to capture every akuma that had appeared, destroying the hideous mask that Hawkmoth had conjured. “Let me make this promise to you. No matter who wants to harm you, Ladybug and Cat Noir will do everything in our power to keep you safe!” She opened her yo-yo, a cloud of Butterflies bursting forth and disappearing into the sky, the video transitioning to black.

While the video played, Luka had switched out his electric guitar with an acoustic, and took a seat on a stool. The lights on the rest of the stage went out, bringing the focus to Luka.

The crowd settled down, to a small murmur.

Luka swallowed, and spoke. “I…I’m not much of gamer.” He began. “Of course, I like a round or two of UMS, but, I’m not the dedicated fan that Adrien apparently is.” He licked his lips as his mouth felt incredibly dry with ten thousand eyes staring at him. “I was watching the stream really late one night, just checking up on them, since I couldn’t sleep, and I saw this moment…well, you’ll see.”

Up on the screen, there was a clip of Adrien from the stream, in his dark cage. The film was green, being shot with night vision. He had his head rested against the wall, and looked up towards the ceiling. The word ‘chatte’ was perfectly visible on the side of his head.

Luka picked out the notes, before Adrien began to sing.

Alduin's wings, they did darken the sky.

His roar fury's fire and his scales sharpened scythes.

Men ran and they cowered and they fought and they died.

They burned and they bled as they issued their cries.

Immediately, people recognized the song, as Luka could hear little gasps. But no one sang along right away, just listening to Adrien. When the chorus broke, a murmur of voices rolled over the stage, in a cloud of harmony, as kindred spirits sang together.

Dovahkiin Dovahkiin naal ok zin los vahriin

Wah dein vokul mahfaeraak ahst vaal

Ahrk fin norok paal graan fod nust hon zindro zaan

Dovahkiin fah hin kogaan mu draal

As Adrien sang, he became a little more triumphant in tune, as his notes filled the silence he was suffocating with.

The crowd fell silent again, listening to Adrien’s tale.

We need saviors to free us from Alduin's rage.

Heroes on the field of this new war to wage.

And if Alduin wins, man is gone from this world.

Lost in the shadow of the black wings unfurled.

Adrien closed his eyes, rocking back and forth, letting the music transport him out and away. To a land of dragons and warriors. It was the best thing for him, pretending to be somewhere where he wasn’t.

But then came the Tongues on that terrible day.

Steadfast as winter, they entered the fray.

And all heard the music of Alduin's doom.

The sweet song of Skyrim, sky-shattering Thu'um.

And so the Tongues freed us from Alduin's rage.

Gave the gift of the Voice, ushered in a new Age.

If Alduin is eternal, then eternity's done.

For his story is over and the dragons... are gone.

When the song was over, and the video cut out, the cheers were deafening. People were crying and sobbing. Adrien was the least prepared to sing in front of an audience. His voice was raw and breaking, some of his notes a little sour. The mic he had wasn’t great, and his throat was dry. He was singing for himself only.

But it was him. He was here with them all. It was his voice.  

And that was enough to make everyone that felt completely useless to feel just a little bit better.

“One last song,” said Jagged, with his own acoustic. “A favorite of Adrien’s…and a bit ironic, if I’m being honest.”

Wake from your sleep

The drying of your tears

Today we escape

We escape

Pack and get dressed

Before your father hears us

Before all hell breaks loose

Breathe

Keep breathing

Don't loose your nerve

Breathe

Keep breathing

I can't do this alone

Sing us a song

A song to keep us warm

There's such a chill

Such a chill

You can laugh

A spineless laugh

We hope your rules and wisdom choke you

Now

We are one

In everlasting peace

We hope that you choke

That you choke

We hope that you choke

That you choke

We hope

That you choke

That you choke

—

Radiohead songs in order:

‘Bodysnatchers’

‘Lucky’

‘Exit Music’

Then I used ‘Piece by Piece’ by Eivør for Clara’s song.

Kitty Section’s song was ‘Take Me To War’ by the Crane Wives.

Then the song that Adrien sang was ‘Song of the Tongues’ from Skyrim.

I made a playlist of all the songs that are (or will be) in this fic, and those that inspired it at on youtube

[momentsinsong]

Moments In Song No. 022 - Ola

“Moments In Song” asks people one simple question, “What are you listening to?” For every installment we ask someone to make a playlist of 10 songs they’re listening to, whether it be something new they stumbled upon, or a song they’ve always loved, and explain the story behind their choices. We aim to show that no matter where we come from, what we do, or what we look like, music has the ability to bring us together.

With a playlist full of emotions, Ola talks to us about favorite hard hitting songs, how his father and brother introduced him to new music, and gives us a crash course on African Music.

Listen to Ola’s playlist on Apple Music and Spotify. 

Words and photos by Julian.

__________________________________________________________

Can you tell me about the thought process behind picking these 10 songs?

So like, just things I listen to everyday on my ride to work. I throw on my long playlist, and these are the songs that always hit extra hard. Like “Runaway” is my favorite song ever. “They Don’t Really Care About Us” is like the first song I memorized as a kid so it’s a hard hitting song. And “Tricky Bailey,” I remember when we crafted that in the Denny’s the day after a party (laughs). It things like that that inspired this playlist.

How difficult was it to pick 10 songs? Did they come easy to you, or did you have to take some time to think and pick the 10 you wanted?

I started with like fifty (laughs).

Fifty?!

And then I had to narrow it down. Because there’s a lot of songs that I listen to daily that I like that should’ve hit this list, but you have to take out the stuff that people may not understand, or won’t make sense. You have to take out the stuff that’s not on Apple Music (laughs). And then you have to find a good set that really speaks of who you are. You should be able to know that is the shit that Ola listens to when you pull this up.

What would you say this playlist explains about you?

It shows a bit of my style and what I like. It shows my mood and the different facets of myself. It’s not just always super rap, it’s not always super trap either. You can be lyrical, but you can be experimental, you can have fun and you can be sad. And it’s all cool.

What songs on your playlist would you say fit that experimental lane?

I mean for it’s time “Runaway” was considered experimental because Kanye was crying on autotune and nobody had really done that before. The joint with SAINt JHN is experimental because you can’t really put it in a lane. It’s not a rap song, it’s not R&B, it’s one of those little pop techno type because of how the beat goes. “Xanax Damage” is Future playing with the trap banger and being more emotional, which I don’t think a lot of people are big fans of but I love that shit. Emotional Future is the best.  

I know from just knowing you as a person, Kanye and Future are two of your favorites. What about them make them your favorites?

Because the make music that makes you feel. It’s all their rawest emotions, for better or for worse. Even when Future says things that are considered disrespectful, it’s how he feels raw and he doesn’t apologize for that. I appreciate that in artists. Same thing with Kanye, storming the stage to take that mic from Taylor Swift, it’s unapologetic, it’s raw. It’s ok to feel feelings. Everybody only talks about feelings when you’re winning. It’s ok when it sucks. If you’re not happy with yourself it’s ok to talk about how you’re not happy with yourself. It’s an emotion. That’s what I like about them, they’re very raw about their feelings. 

Also just be knowing you, I’m surprised I didn’t see any Fela Kuti on the playlist. I know he’s one of your favorites. Did you have any songs from him that didn’t make it on here?

I did but the problem is, how am I gonna fit a 32 minute song…(laughs) because I don’t like the way they do his singles. Some of the songs progress very interestingly, like from the way the bass comes in, some songs have 2 basses in them, one will abruptly come in when he calls for it, so it’s hard to fit those 20 minute, 14 minute, 35 minute long songs. 

Are they really that long?

Yeah. One of my favorites is like 36 minutes long.

What’s is called?

O.D.O.O. (Overtake Don Overtake Overtake). He used to call it African Classical Music. 

I don’t know much about him and his music, but are most of his songs live performance recordings? Is that why they’re so long?

Yeah a good amount of them. There’s “Just Like That” which I think was done in Detroit. The Berlin show was live and that was recorded into an album. There’s one he played Glastonbury in the UK too that became an album as well. A lot if it is live instruments, a live band. If any song would have made it, probably “Zombie” would’ve been the easiest to fit in because it’s very common so people would catch it faster. And it’s not too long, it’s about 12, 14 minutes.

I feel like with Future and Kanye, those are artists you listened to because of the time period you grew up. How’d you pick up on Fela, who’s an older act before your time?

My dad is an older guy, so he listens to older music. So I would listen to his music when he would drop me off to school, my older too he’s a music head and listens to a lot of older acts. When you start getting older, you start to look for things you like, so I started searching on YouTube and found one of his songs. That lead to clips of his concerts where he would say things that would resonate with me outside of the music. From his view on Africa, Black nationalism, how you should love your blackness, all of that. It was from there that he became my guy. I even wrote my college applications on him. He’s the man. Rest in peace to a real one. 

Building off of that, when did you start finding the music and artists you wanted to listen to, and developing your taste. 

When my brother first visited after we moved here, When I was a kid he would always play music and I would always remember songs and have it stuck in my head. There’s this one Micheal Jackson song actually, and not a lot of people know this but Michael Jackson is one of my favorites. He has this one song “Whatever Happens” and the only reason I remember it to this day is because I used to steal that CD out of his room and play it every night before I went to sleep. It’s little things like that that helped me pick what I like. And then from there you get YouTube, Limewire, all that good stuff, word of mouth with your friends too. Shout out to my boys who got me hip to Gucci when I was younger in High School. That’s how you start developing what you like. And then the sound evolves. I like Gucci, that’s why I like Future, because Gucci was the first trap god. And it goes from there, from Future you have a little bit of Travis Scott, Playboi Carti, you have different sounds. You branch off from one mumble to multiple mumbles. 

Would you say your brother and dad are two big influences as far as where you get your music from?

Hell yeah. I still remember I stole a CD from my dad in 2011 when I went back home for the summer. I still have it to this day even though I don’t have anything to play it on. 

What CD?

It’s Fuji Music in Nigeria. It’s this old CD from like 1987. It’s almost religious music but not really, in the sense that it started from religion. He’s talking about some foul shit because he can talk about foul shit, but another musician died so he’s talking about how we was a great guy and how everyone should remember him. He also talked about the politics at the time, and how the military was in charge of everything. And it’s all in Yoruba, so it’s how I remember my language as well.

Who’s the artist?

Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister.

Wow that’s a mouthful. Is Fuji Music a genre of music?

Correct. That’s why what they call “Afrobeats” today I personally don’t like calling it Afrobeats, because it’s not pure Afrobeats. The original Afrobeats is Fela’s music, and from Fela’s music there’s Juju music, there’s Fuji music, there’s music from the North, and also Highlife music, which are all subgenres of everything. So this new Afrobeats they’re playing is like taking bits and pieces for everything from above. When you call it Afrobeats it takes away from the original Afrobeats which is Fela’s lane, and it also kills everybody else’s music because when you Google Afrobeats once you get past the new guys, the first thing that comes up is Fela. You never really hear about the other ones.

So you’re saying Fuji Music is a branch of the original Afrobeat stuff? A subgenre?

It’s not even a subgenre. It developed around the same time almost. It just never blew up.

Oh so it ran parallel to Afrobeat?

Correct. It just never blew like it should.

Are you saying what people call Afrobeats now is more similar to Fuji Music?

It’s like a combination of all three. I don’t necessarily want to say it’s closer because it’s the same effect. The call, the rhythm. Sometimes there’s a lot of instruments in the background. Fuji has a certain style. You’re just talking shit sometimes. They all have it in them too. It’s not necessarily devoted to one lane like they call it. Afrobeat was the one to blow up first, so that’s why the name was sticking and that’s why it’s easier to call everything that’s come after Afrobeat. Fuji never really escaped the borders, because it’s also tied to the language. If you don’t understand the language you’ll never be able to understand the songs. 

Are there any current Afrobeats artists that match the original sound of Afrobeat?

Yeah Fela’s sons still play. Like 2 of his sons play. Even his grandons play.There’s also a few bands that sound like his stuff. There’s a band in America, Antibalas, that sounds like the original Afrobeat with the big band feel. You have different horns, the basses, everything coming into it. There’s a few of them out there. But everything’s gone pop. Everything that they call Afrobeats I’d rather call it Afro-pop music. Because it’s popular music. It’s taking from everybody. Not just even Nigrean Afrobeats, but they’re taking things from other countries in West Africa. The French speakers for example, Southern African music is coming into it now. It’s only a matter of time till we take from East Africa. 

Yeah I feel that. I feel like the same thing could be said for some Reggaeton now. A lot of it is heavily pop influenced, and has some electronic sounds in it. You got like DJ Snake making songs with J. Balvin and calling it Reggaeton now. 

And that doesn’t make it bad because some of the music is fire. 

Yeah definitely.

Let’s just not kid ourselves on what we’re calling it. There’s nothing wrong with Pop music, Pop music is fine. It’s not a derogatory term.   

What would you want people to take away from this playlist?

Future is the best rapper of all time. 

Ok (Laughs).

But nah seriously, music is cool. Music has different feels to it. There’s happy songs here that have you going. There’s sad songs. That song “Descent” at the end, when I get married I’m gonna play that joint when my wife is walking up to me and I will cry real tears. That is one of the most beautiful songs of my life. Music is feels and it's cool.

Connect with Ola:

https://twitter.com/doflamxngo

https://www.instagram.com/doflamxngo/

Connect with Moments In Song:

https://www.instagram.com/momentsinsong/

https://twitter.com/moments_in_song

https://tinyurl.com/MISAppleMusic

https://tinyurl.com/MISSpotify

[prettywordsyouleft]

50 Questions Tag

Tagged by @g-exo Thank you sweetie! <3

1. What takes too much of your time?

Working and writing. 

2. What makes your day better?

Writing, k-dramas, crafting, bullet journalling, chocolate lol.

3. What’s the best thing that happened to you today?

This is going to sound odd, but we have 3 little kittens (and their mama) who we rescued from our horses’ hay shed a few weeks ago. The kittens started on solids like two days ago and one of them hadn’t pooped and was pretty full. After some assistance from me, she went and pooped. I could have cried with pure happiness. Poor thing was so uncomfortable.

4. What fictional place would you like to go to?

The world of Howl’s Moving Castle. To be able to use the door in Howl’s Castle to go to different realms and places would be truly magical.

5. Are you good at giving advice?

I believe so. Not so good at taking the same said advice though >_<

6. Do you have any mental illness?

Generalised Anxiety.

7. Have you ever experienced sleep paralysis?

Nope and I’m grateful that I haven’t :/ << same.

8. What musician inspired you the most?

SHINee as a group. I was in a hard place when I got into kpop with being unable to walk. I was entirely depressed from my accident and thought I would never get anywhere again. Their music gave me an escapism that I needed at first, and then I found the confidence in myself to get back up and try again. 

9. Have you ever fallen in love?

I don’t think I truly know what love is aside from familial love. I’ve not had the opportunity to fall in love. 

10. What’s your dream date?

I don’t think I have one. Something simple yet fulfilling with a person who is actually engaged in the date happenings and wanting to be in my company would be enough for me!

11. What do others notice about you?

I like to give. Everyone who has come across me - whether in passing or actually get to know me, all say that I have this ability to share with others and make their lives brighter by doing so. 

The ones who know me well complain that I don’t know when to stop and rest because I’m so focused on completing my tasks/ giving to others lol. 

12. What is an annoying habit you have?

I guess the above - being too stubborn to know when I need to rest. I’m pretty bad about it. I overload myself and then get too stressed out. It’s something I’m working on!

13. Do you still talk to your first love?

Not applicable to me.

14. How many ex’s do you have?

Zero.

15. How many songs are in your playlist?

6456 is the amount I have on itunes. I have various playlists that I listen to despite my mood though.

16. What instruments can you play?

None.

17. Who do you have the most pictures of?

Uhhhh on my phone it’s Mark Tuan. Followed by Kyungsoo and both Jung/Park Jinyoung’s.

18. Where would you like to go before you die?

Italian Peninsula is my top pick. Other places would be Greece, Japan, Korea and England.

19. What is your zodiac?

Gemini technically.

20. Do you relate to it?

I fall on the Gemini-Cancer cusp and relate to articles I’ve read of Gemini-Cancer cusp people than pure Gemini traits. I’m definitely not an outgoing, carefree person as Gem’s are describe to be lol.

21. What is happiness to you?

My family, friends and even our pets succeeding in life. Seeing their happiness makes me feel good.

22. Are you going through anything right now?

This whole year has been a “going through” kind of year. Every time I think things are settling, another thing is thrown my way. But I’m optimistic it means I’m getting stronger with this testing period. 

23. What’s the worst decision you’ve ever made?

Not buying VIP tickets when B.A.P came here for their L.O.E tour. I chose Gold tickets because they had seats and as a partially disabled person through my right leg, I didn’t think I could stand for the duration of the concert. It’s something I’ve regretted for years - they were so amazing to everyone, but those in VIP were so darn lucky with all the interactions they had!  

24. What’s your favourite store?

I guess Gordon Harris, the local art store, because I am always there picking up new stationery supplies for bullet journalling. 

25. What’s your opinion on abortion?

It’s a very personal choice. As a person who wants to be a mother one day, it’s an option I could never ever bring myself to do. However, it’s not my place to judge, condemn or preach at those who feel it’s their only choice at the time. 

26. Do you keep a bucket list?

Kind of? In my bullet journal for the past 2 years I’ve done the whole “19/20 things to do before 2019/2020″ but I don’t have an official bucket list or anything.

27. Do you have a favourite album?

Probably Verse 2 - JJ Project because I listen to it all the time. Otherwise, Good Timing - B1A4 is probably another long time favourite.

28. What do you want for your birthday?

Not really sure... my birthday is hard because it’s ten days before my Dad’s death anniversary. So I just try to do something to smile each year. Maybe go out for dinner to celebrate mine and Mum’s birthday (she’s a week exactly after my birthday)

29. What are most people’s first impression of you?

I’ve been told most people think I’m shy and awkward but once I talk, they are surprised with how engaging I can be in conversation. Which makes me laugh because generally on the inside I’m panicking as I have social anxiety issues. 

30. What age do you seem according to most people?

I’m 32 but people never seem to think it. When I was at university, I was older than everyone else as an adult student but they all thought I was around 20-21 when I was 24+ hahah. 

31. Where do you keep your phone while you’re sleeping?

On top of Octavia’s crate which is next to my bed. Or if I need to charge it, I leave it on my desk. I’m a very light sleeper so when my alarm goes off, it doesn’t need to be next to me to wake me up.

32. what word do you say the most?

When I’m talking - “like” (which really annoys me). When I’m writing - “but”.

33. What’s the oldest age you would date?

I try to believe I would date anyone regardless of age. But I’ve been known to have put an age limit of no more than 8 years older when I was feebly using dating websites. I don’t actively search for someone anymore, so if they came into my world and matched me well in a natural way, then I don’t think age would deter me. 

34. What’s the youngest age you would date?

I’m a bit more carefree on this one... I think it comes from being an older kpop fan and liking on younger idols because there’s hardly any idols left that are my age/older lol. Again as above, I wouldn’t let a younger age deter me in the right setting.

35. What job/career do most people say would suit you?

Author. I’ve even done those career quizzes on multiple occasions and the first choice is always Author/Writer. 

The second choice people say is teacher. Which I was training to be until my injury. 

36. What’s your favourite music genre?

K-Pop. 

37. If you could live in any country in the world, where would it be?

I’m happy where I live. I’ve never thought of being able to live elsewhere.

38. What is your current favourite song?

White or Feeling - both by Jeong Sewoon. 

39. How long have you had this blog for?

I started it on July 2nd, 2018.

40. What are you excited for?

Uh, I’m not really excited for anything? 

41. Are you a better talker or listener?

A bit of both.

42. What is the last productive thing you did?

Yesterday I made a new paddock up for our horses, cleaned out my guinea pig’s house, cleaned out the entire bathroom where Byul and her kittens are staying. And then last night I did Chelle Chats which was pretty busy! 

Today I’ve been pretty chill compared so far. 

43. What do you want for Christmas?

I’m not sure. I’m never good at knowing what I want. Better at knowing what to buy others.

44. What class do you get the best grades in?

In high school, it was English and Biology. In university, it was Classics/Ancient History.

45. On a scale of 1-10, how are you feeling right now?

6

46. What can you see yourself doing in 10 years?  

Not sure. I had an image of how I hoped to be a mother, and continuing on with my art business, but with puberty rocking our house with my sister and my finances taking a nose dive, fertility treatment is long gone sadly. I’ll just think I’ll focus on the now and improve/appreciate what I have! 

47. When did you first get your heartbreak?

I’m sure this question is related to dating but for me, when I was 14 my heart broke when my Nana died. And in 2012, when my Dad was killed was when I gained another ball in my box of grief. Last year was tough losing my dog of 15.5 years too. Got three balls in that box now :( 

As for dating, sure, I’ve hurt from limited attempts to confess and being rejected... but I’ve never had real opportunity for heartbreak like that.

48. At what age do you want to get married?

Lmfao. I’ll probably be single for my whole life. Marriage is so far from the cards for me, I can’t imagine it. 

49. What career did you want to have as a child?

I wanted to be a Veterinarian or Teacher.

50. What do you crave right now?

Food cos it’s 1.34pm and I’ve not eaten yet oops.

Tagging: @this-song-thats-only-for-you @mark-tuan-and-namjoon-lover @katdefbeom @listlessmaenads @tuanyiems @peachyparkjinyoung @jinyoungmoans @ahgase55g7 @itsallabigmess and anyone else who wants to do this! 

[kaychawrites]

The Right Partner

My Hero Academia Fanfic

Characters: Katsuki Bakugou, Kia Hales (OC)

Rating: Mature

Tag List: @cobblepottantrum @rageyoudamnednerd @fourth-best-jeanist @frenlysnek666 @luxlunaestrellita

Chapter 18

Kirishima stretched as he finished submitting the paperwork from the hostage situation he and Kaminari had helped with earlier that day. Looking at the clock, he realized it was late in the evening. His partner, Kaminari, was laid back in his own chair, dozing with his feet on his desk. Kirishima let out a big yawn as Mina Ashido cam walking around the corner.

“Hey, Eijiro!” Mina said as she walked up to his desk. “Heard you guys did an awesome job today!”

“Sure did,” Kirishima replied, “We helped catch a group of robbers that were holding a bunch of people hostage. I just finished all the paperwork.”

“I’ve been messaging Ochaco and Kyoka. We are going to meet up for a drink later. I was wondering if you and Kaminari would want to come too?” she asked.

“I’m game. Hey, Kaminari wake up!” Kirishima yelled, throwing a balled up piece of paper at his partner.

“What?” Kaminari babbled as he woke.

“You want to go out for drinks later?” Mina asked him.

“Heck yeah! I could go for a drink,” Kaminari cheered.

“Well then, we will see you guys at the usual place at 11:00 pm,” Mina said as she walked away.

“We will see you there,” Kirishima replied. Turning to his partner, he asked, “Denki, did you finish your report on the robbery today?”

“Uh, almost,” Kaminari said, rubbing the back of his head. “I wasn’t sure what all I’m supposed to fill in since we worked with Bakugou and Hales. They were the main heroes that fought against the villains. Shouldn’t they do most of the paperwork?”

“Jeez, Dude,” Kirishima sighed. “You are a pro now, you should at least try and do the paperwork.”

“Sorry, I just can’t help it! I’ve had Bakugou’s hot partner on my mind,” Kaminari said, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Not cool. You really need to treat women better. Then maybe you would be able to keep a girlfriend.” Kirishima chided.

“Hey, I can’t help it. I’m a man who appreciates a beautiful woman,” Kaminari defended himself.

“I don’t think Kia is interested in you, anyway,” Kirishima said.

“You are probably right,” Kaminari said. “Besides, I’m not the one who has a date with her.”

Kirishima blushed. “I don’t think it is that kind of date.”

“Dude, you got her number and you get to call her by her first name,” Kaminari teased.

“Yeah, but she is paying for dinner. Plus, she said it was a thank you for catching her in the stairwell,” Kirishima countered.

“Come on, Eijiro! She is easily a ten or better. You are telling me that you aren’t even going to try?” Kaminari said in disbelief.

“With how Bakugou was looking at me when I got her number, no way!” Kirishima shook his head.

“Bakugou? Wait, are you telling me he really was jealous?” Kaminari exclaimed.

“I’m not sure. I’ve never seen Bakugou interested in a girl before, so it is hard to tell,” Kirishima said, “She sure is interesting, and it seems that she works really well with him and understands his personality.”

“You think he will have any luck with a short temper and crappy personality?” Kaminari asked skeptically.

“I think she might be able to see through him. Bakugou isn’t as bad as he was in high school,” Kirishima said. “He seems to accept her as his partner. It will be interesting getting to know her.”

“Bakugou has amazing skills, smarts, and looks. It would only be fair that he has trouble getting the girl,” Kaminari whined.

“With how focused he is about becoming the number one hero, I’m pretty sure the girl is going to have trouble getting him,” Kirishima chuckled.

%%%%%

Kia made her way to the foyer after changing into her regular clothes. Bakugou had told her to meet him there. Shouldering her pack, she stepped out of the elevator. Glancing at her phone, she saw it was almost 11:00 pm. Looking up, she could see Bakugou leaning against the counter looking at his own phone. He wore baggy jeans and a t-shirt. Kia couldn’t help but admire how good he looked. His eyes were softer instead of the usual scowl he always wore.

Shaking her head to clear the thought from her mind, she walked up to her partner. “Hey, I’m ready to go.” She smiled.

Bakugou looked up at his partner as she approached. She was wearing a pair of blue jeans that hugged her hips and a tight tank top with a jacket. She was showing a lot more skin than she usually did, and he could see the end of a scar along her collarbone.

“It is about damn time,” he growled.

“Oh, please… like you have been waiting long,” Kia rolled her eyes. “Better be nice, or I might take back my offer of buying you a drink,” she smirked.

“Just hurry up,” Bakugou said as he picked up his own bag and turned to walk out the door.

Bakugou led her to a bus stop and they didn’t have to wait long before one pulled up. Bakugou stepped aside to let Kia get on first. Moving down the aisle, Kia sat in a window seat and Bakugou sat next to her.

“So, where are we going?” Kia asked.

“Just my usual place,” Bakugou said before pulling out a set of ear buds and plugging them into his phone. Kia was searching her own bag for her earbuds when Bakugou held out one of his for her. Kia looked up at him in surprise and smiled as she took the offered earbud. Putting it in, she sat back in the seat. Bakugou hit play and they both sat in silence listening to his playlist.

After about 15 minutes, Bakugou nudged Kia to let her know they had reached their stop. Getting off the bus, they walked a couple blocks before coming to a decent looking bar. Stepping forward, Bakugou opened the door and stepped aside so Kia could go in first.

She was starting to realize that despite his rough attitude and yelling, Bakugou was actually very respectful towards her. She wondered if maybe his mother had something to do with that.

She made her way to the bar, sitting on a stool as Bakugou sat in the one next to her. The bartender came straight over as they both sat down.

“Well, well… I never thought I would see the day that Bakugou brings a woman in for a drink.” the bartender teased.

“Shut up,” Bakugou snapped.

Laughing, Kia bowed her head to the bartender. “Hi, I’m Kia, his partner.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Minoru.” The bartender bowed back, “So, what has you drinking with this hot head?” Bakugou glared at the bartender.

“It has been a long day,” Kia replied.

Minoru chuckled as he pulled a couple of glasses out from under the counter. Putting some ice in the cups, he asked, “How long of a day?”

“It’s been more like a long couple of weeks,” Kia grinned.

“Alright, then! I’ve got just the stuff,” Minoru said as he poured.

He passed them each a glass. Kia picked hers up, taking a small sniff at the glass before sipping it. The alcohol was smooth as she swallowed. “This is good. Thank you,” she said, taking another drink.

“I’m glad. Just let me know if there is anything else I can get for you,” Minoru said before moving down the bar to help another customer.

“You must come here often?” Kia asked looking over at Bakugou.

“Sometimes,” he replied, taking another drink from his glass. “Kirishima and I come here.”

“So he really is your best friend?” Kia said taking another drink.

“Yeah,” Bakugou replied.

“He seems like a really cool guy. I think a person should cherish their friends. You never know when you might lose one,” Kia added, looking solemnly at her glass.

Bakugou watched as she took another drink. He could tell there was something more behind her words. “Do you have a lot of friends back in America?” he asked.

“Yeah, and they are all really great,” Kia replied, smiling fondly, “What about you? I’ve met Kirishima and Kaminari but do you have more friends?”

“There are a few more from High School,” Bakugou admitted.

“You went to school at U.A., right? What was it like?” Kia asked. “Attending Hero High was crazy. The teachers really put us through the ringer teaching us how to be heroes.”

“I know what you mean,” Bakugou said, taking another drink.

“I hear your sports festival is really something else,” Kia said, “Hero High had something similar, but I don’t think it got nearly the ratings that U.A.’s did.”

“You had a sports festival?” Bakugou asked.

“It’s not called a sports festival, but they did hold tournaments so students could show off their skills to potential employers,” Kia explained.

“Tournaments… that sounds better than the sports festival,” Bakugou said.

“The tournaments were a lot of fun. There was even a talent competition, too. My class put on a concert once for it,” Kia recalled.

“Ours did something like that too,” Bakugou said.

“A concert, huh? Did you play or sing?” Kia asked.

“Played the drums,” Bakugou stated.

“Well, tell me about the concert. Did you guys kill it, or what?” Kia pried.

“Hell yeah, we did!” Bakugou said with pride.

He started telling her all about how he and his classmates killed the other departments with music and Kia told him about her own classes’ musical debut. Little did the two of them realize but they were being watched.

%%%%%

“Come on, Kaminari! We are already late,” Kirishima said.

“Hey, I just wanted to make sure that I looked good!” Kaminari replied as they made their way to the bar.

They were meeting up with Mina and some other classmates at one of their favorite bars. Kirishima walked through the door and instantly recognized Mina’s pink hair and horns. Moving over to the booth, he could see Kyoka Jiro, Ochaco Uraraka, and Izuku Midoriya were also sitting there.

“Sorry we are late guys, but Kaminari took forever to get his paperwork done,” Kirishima said as they both sat down. When no one responded, he looked up to see all four of them staring at something across the room. “What is up with all of you?” he asked.

“I never thought I would see it,” Jiro said with wide eyes.

“Never thought you would see what?” Kaminari asked confused.

“Kacchan is here...” Midoriya replied.

“With a woman!” Uraraka finished.

“What?” Kirishima said, turning around. Sure enough, he could see his best friend sitting at the bar having a drink with his new partner. They seemed to be deep in conversation. Bakugou said something they couldn’t hear that made Kia laugh. “Oh, that is his new partner.”  

“Wait, his new partner?” Uraraka asked.

“Yeah, she is a total babe!” Kaminari interjected.

“We should go see if they want to join us.” Kirishima turned to walk over to them but was stopped by Mina.

“Wait a minute. I totally want to watch them for a little bit,” Mina hissed.

“Why would you do that?” Kirishima asked.

“Because it might happen again!” Mina replied.

“What might happen again?” Kirishima asked completely confused. Just then he heard a deep chuckle from across the bar. He looked over to see Bakugou laughing at something Kia was telling him.

“I didn’t know Bakugou could actually smile and laugh in a way that wasn’t… you know… Bakugou,” Uraraka said in awe.

“I haven’t heard Kacchan laugh like that since we were kids,” Midoriya added.

“You guys are being weird,” Kirishima told them. Looking back at the two, he had to admit that he had only ever seen that kind of expression on Bakugou’s face when Kia was around. “I’m gonna go invite them over,” he said, walking off.

Kia saw Kirishima as he made his way over to them. “Hey, Eijiro! What brings you here?” Kia asked.

“I actually met some of our friends here for a drink. I came over to invite you two to sit with us,” Kirishima explained.

“Sure, why not?” Kia replied. Standing up, she grabbed Bakugou’s hand and followed Kirishima to the booth while dragging her reluctant partner the whole way.

When they got to the booth Kirishima introduced everyone. “Hey, guys! This is Kia Hales, she is Bakugou’s new partner. You’ve met Kaminari, and next to him are Jiro, Uraraka, Midoriya, and Mina,” he explained as he sat down next to Mina.

“It is nice to meet you all,” Kia said.

Bakugou sat down next to Kirishima on one end of the long U shaped booth. He figured Kia would sit at the other end where there was more room, so he was surprised when she sat down right next to him.

“You all can call me Kia if you want,” Kia said. “What are your names again?”

“I’m Ochaco Uraraka, and my hero name is Uravity,” Uraraka replied.

“I’m Izuku Midoriya, but you can call me Deku,” Midoriya smiled.

“I’m Kyoka Jiro, and they call me Earphone Jack,” Jiro replied.

“And I’m Mina Ashido! They can me Pinky!” Mina bubbled.

“My hero name is Wildside. How do you all know each other?” Kia asked.

“We are classmates. We went to U.A. together.” Kirishima told her.

“So, that is how you all know B?” Kia inquired.

“Well, Kacchan and I grew up in the same neighborhood, so we have known each other since we were kids,” Midoriya clarified.

“Kacchan? Why do you call him that?” Kia asked.

“Adding chan to someone’s name is one way to show familiarity. It is common for childhood friends to call each other something like that,” Mina explained.

“Kinda like how you call Bakugou B, which is short for his last name, right?” Uraraka asked.

“Well, not a first,” Kia laughed.

“Why do you call him B, then?” Jiro asked.

“He told me I couldn’t call him butthead so I figured I would shorten it to B,” Kia replied, taking a drink from her glass.

Bakugou, who had been taking a drink of his own, almost spit a mouthful all over the table. “What the hell!” he yelled.

“Relax, B, of course it is short for Bakugou now… depending on how big of an ass you are being, anyway.” Kia shrugged. The others at the table burst out laughing at Kia’s confession and Bakugou’s rage. “Besides, you call me Sunshine and I know you aren’t meaning it as a complement,” she continued.

“I don’t mean it as an insult,” Bakugou grumbled.

“Well, if you want, I could call you Kacchan or something,” Kia offered.

“Hell no, it is bad enough that fucking Deku says it!” Bakugou snapped.

“So, you call Midoriya Deku… does that mean you to were close childhood friends?” Kia asked.

“Actually, Deku is what Kacchan called me to make fun of me,” Midoriya replied, rubbing the back of his head. “But it ended up being my hero name, so I like it.”

“You were a bully?” Kia turned to her partner. “You know, I don’t think I’m surprised, honestly.”

“Go to hell!” Bakugou crossed his arms. The other six sat there watching the two of them bicker back and forth.

“So, Kia, how do you like Japan?” Uraraka interrupted.

“So far, so good! I’ve been so busy working that I haven’t really got to explore much,” Kia admitted.

“We should all go out and show you around sometime!” Mina said excitedly.

“Sounds like fun!” Kia replied. “I would really like to see some of the festivals you have over here. One day, I hope I can travel around and see more.”

Bakugou sat there listening to them all discuss when they would have time to make a road trip. Looking up at the clock, he realized it was starting to get pretty late. He nudged Kia to get her attention, “We should be heading out. We still have to be at the agency in the morning,” he said.

“We need to get going too,” Midoriya said, looking at Uraraka.

Everyone got up and started making their way over to pay for their drinks before heading out. Kirishima put a hand on Bakugou’s shoulder, stopping him and whispering something to him. Kia was standing at the bar talking to Mina. She turned to pay for her and Bakugou’s drinks, but he had already laid money down.

“Hey, I told you I would buy,” Kia reminded him.

Bakugou grumbled something that sounded a lot like a real man would pay for the drinks. Kia snickered as she followed everyone out of the bar. They all said their goodbyes and headed off into the darkness. Bakugou and Kia walked back to the bus stop where they had gotten off. Hopping on the next bus, they made their way back to the agency.

When the bus dropped them off, Kia told Bakugou goodnight and headed in the direction of the hotel she was staying at. Bakugou fell into step right next to her as they made their way down the street.

“Do you live this way?” Kia asked.

“No,” Bakugou replied.

“Then why are you following me?” she asked.

“You shouldn’t walk back on your own in the dark,” he replied.

“You do remember I’m a hero too? Anyone who tried to mug me would be in for a surprise,” Kia pointed out.

“Kirishima told me I should walk you back,” Bakugou grumbled.

“Alright, it isn’t too far.” Kia rolled her eyes. They walked in silence for a couple of blocks before Kia spoke up. “They all seem to be really good friends,” She said.

“Yeah,” Bakugou replied.

“I meant good friends for you,” Kia clarified.

“Tch, shut up.” Bakugou stomped forward.

Laughing to herself, Kia followed after him. All of the a sudden, something jumped out of the shadows at her. Kia was surprised since she hadn’t even sensed anyone nearby. The figure grabbed her hand and held it behind her back while pressing a blade to her throat. “You have to be kidding me,” Kia said in disbelief.

“Just hand over your money, and this pretty little bitch won’t get hurt,” the mugger demanded.

“Dude, your night is just about to go to hell,” Kia warned as her scales started to cover her skin.

“What are you…?” The mugger started only to be cut short by Bakugou’s fist.

Cracking his knuckles, Bakugou stood next to Kia, sneering at the mugger on the ground. “And now you die,” he said. Walking forward, he grabbed the mugger by the collar and lifted him up to see that the man was already knocked out cold. “What the hell? Is that all this loser’s got?” he said, dropping him and standing up.

Kia walked up next to him, handing him a pair of cuffs. When Bakugou turned to take them from her, she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.

“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!” Bakugou sputtered in surprise.

“A thanks for being my hero,” Kia replied dramatically, “It doesn’t happen very often that someone saves me for a change,” she laughed.

Bakugou bent over to cuff the mugger and to hide the blush on his cheeks. His heart was thundering so loud he swore Kia could hear it. Shaking off the feeling, he stood up and threw the mugger over his shoulder.

“Want me to walk with you to the police station?” Kia asked.

“No, I’ve got it,” Bakugou replied.

“Alright then, thanks for walking me this far. I will see you in the morning and I promise to bring coffee. Goodnight, B,” she said as she headed for her hotel once again.

“Goodnight,” Bakugou replied quietly. He watched as she walked away, still confused as to what his new partner was doing to his head and his heart.

Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Ch 7 | Ch 8 | Ch 9 | Ch 10 | Ch 11

CH 12 | Ch 13 | Ch 14 | Ch 15 | Ch 16 | Ch 17 | Ch 18 | Ch 19 | Ch 20

[jeongjaehyuns]

ok since kellie posted her fancam i thought i’d finally stop being lazy and do the same too :’)

i mentioned this a little bit before but earlier this month, i was lucky enough to get tickets to see nct 127 at the apple music event in la and was able to see them perform! this was by far one of the most amazing and intimate experiences i’ve ever been able to be apart of and being able to see nct 127 doing what they do best together is something i’m going to cherish in my heart for a very long time! here is the link to the full playlist of all their performances!! 

underneath the cut will be a much more detailed and in depth account of everything that happened at the event if anyone is interested in reading more about it! ♡

ok hello if there are people who actually decided to keep reading thank u so much and buckle up bc u are in for a riiiiiiiiiide (ridin on that VAAaaaaAAAAan, KEEP dRIVINGGGggGGG) ok anyways! HERE WE GO!

[ ! ] btw the first part is just me talking about everything that happened before the concert so pls feel free to just skip to the last paragraph instead LOL

so when news came out that nct 127 was going to be coming back to the u.s. and perform on jimmy kimmel and that tickets were FREE, my friends and i hi kellie, hi tracey all tried to get some tickets for both the taping and the concert and was able to make it on the waitlist! i don’t live in california but both of my friends do so i told them that if any of us got confirmed tickets, i’d be flying over there for the weekend to attend the show! it’s kind of all a blur now bc the only thing i can remember within that week was stressing out so hard over tickets because the way the whole thing was set up was just SO STRESSFUL because despite being on the waitlist, there is no 100% guarantee that you’d get tickets and they start giving out tickets to people from within a week before the taping to the day of the actual event so really, it was just one massive waiting game. but a week went by and none of us saw any signs of getting tickets and flight ticket prices kept fluctuating for me so i just went ahead and booked my flight anyways without a confirmed ticket pls don’t ever do this omfg please please PLEASE don’t ever do this!!! and PRAYED that one of us would be able to get tickets ;; a few days went by and then nct kept releasing more news and how they’d be performing at mickey mouse’s 90th birthday celebration so tickets for that were also available too and once again, we made it on the waitlist!!! and played not one but now two (2) waiting games!!!! :-)))

honestly i rly don’t remember much that happened during this small time frame bc i was so stressed and anxious over these tickets that it rly took a toll on me physically and mentally LOL but yeah so on wednesday the 3rd, nct 127 posted on their instagram about how they’d be having a special performance partnered with apple music and i was about to start my math exam but the moment i read their post, i ran to the bathroom faster than i’ve ever ran before and of course, i requested tickets and made it on the waitlist again!!!! SO NOW IN TOTAL, IT WAS NOT ONE, BUT THREE (3) WAITING GAMES!!! GAMES THAT I WAS STARTING TO GET SICK OF PLAYING!!! anyways yeah so basically my friends and i made it onto all 3 waiting lists and at this point we really just wanted to be able to make it to at least one event ;;;

fast forward to friday, aka 1 day before mickey mouse and 3 days before kimmel and apple music and also the day my flight leaves for la!!! my friends and i all got a big fat no from mickey mouse saying they wouldn’t be able to accommodate our ticket requests bc they were full so we we re like ok!!! whatevs!!! we still have kimmel and apple to try for!!! so here i am… at the airport… getting ready to leave with no!!! confirmed!!! ticket!!! my flight was quite early in the morning so i was at the airport overnight and it was like around 11:30pm when i was doing homework and i got a notification on my phone… thinking it was just some random notification when in reality, I GOT MY CONFIRMED TICKET FOR THE APPLE MUSIC EVENT :’) it’s a blur to me bc it happened so fast and so suddenly but all i remember was that my jaw literally dropped for the longest time and my hands were shaking so badly bc i cOULDN’T BELIEVE IT??? i wasn’t able to sleep that entire night nor was i able to sleep on the plane from all the adrenaline so that saturday really was an interesting day for me LOL anywho i made it to la safe and sound and spent saturday and sunday hanging out with my friends while we prepared for monday :’)

ok so then despite getting tickets, we had no idea where the location of this event was going to be bc 1iota (the event organizer) wasn’t going to release the information until 10am monday morning and we were planning on waiting in line like early early to get a good spot so we had to be ready and out of the house by 9am!!! bUT WAIT!!! 9am was also when the english version of the mv was going to be released so me and kellie were both !!! bc we wanted to gif the mv so bad!!! so now at this point it’s like 7am and we’re all like half awake trying frantically to get ready and i’m over here trying to stream nct on the radio and listen to the world release of regular eng ver and then somewhere in between all of this, both kellie and tracey ended up getting their emails for confirmed tickets too??? so yeah at this point all three of us are running around like crazy ppl bc we weren’t expecting all of us to go but now all 3 of us get to go!!! so yeah i brought my laptop with me and tried to gif in the car but the connection from my hotspot was so slow so i just sat and cried instead :-) ALSO!!! remember how information about the location was supposed to be released at 10am? yeah well they changed it on us again!!! they delayed it to 2pm so at this point me and kellie rly wanted to d*e bc we did all of that rushing for nothing omfg but fast forward to 2pm, they released the information for the location and since we were already in the hollywood area we went there right away so when we lined up, we were like number 10 in line!!! :D

i wasn’t able to eat at all that entire day just bc i was so stressed and so nervous from everything that the hunger didn’t hit me til like 20 mins before the actual event omg ;;;; i remember saying “omg i’m so hungry” and the girl beside me was like “well sweetie, you’re about to be fed real good rn” and i just died laughing oh my god but yeah i had a priority ticket so i was let in around 7:30pm-ish and the event started at 8! i got barricade again just like last time at kcon ny, my view was reeeeeeally good!! ! i would say even better than kcon’s even tho i was front and center for kcon ;;; back when we were in line, the event organizers kept asking us how we were doing and each time i would tell them that i was super nervous and they’d ask why and i would explain that i just get super nervous before seeing nct omg it’s really true tho idk what it is but i just feel so QUEASY before seeing them… like the fact that you go from seeing them from your screen to seeing them in front of you is just a very STRANGE FEELING FOR ME OK but they kept repeating how we were all going to have a good time and that the space inside was super small so it’s going to be nice and intimate with them and they said how no matter what spot you get, you’re still going to be super close to them… one of the staff members was like “you’re going to be so close to them they’re going to sweat on you” AND GOD THIS JUST MADE ME EVEN MORE NERVOUS KASDJKSAJDKAJDKA

OK ANYWAYS ENOUGH OF THAT, ONTO THE ACTUAL CONCERT! when we got in, the event was actually on a rooftop and so the scenery behind the stage was just soooooo pretty and then they had a playlist of their songs playing in the bg and it was just really nice to listen and enjoy while we waited for them to come out :’) the members kept hiding behind this door and some of them started waving and they were all teasing us so hard bc the moment we saw someone there, we would all start screaming and they just wouldn’t stop :’) then they finally played the apple music documentary video for us and i just remember all of us screaming a lot LOL but then the lights went off again and then we all watched them walk onto the stage one by one and oh my GOD the wait for them to finally start just felt like forever and then next thing i know, the sirens went off and all i hear is “GET IT LIFTED” and then firetruck started omg i was trying to get jaehyun’s attention but then mr. nakamoto yuta… YUTA… looked over on our side and me and him made eye contact for a good solid 3 seconds and i just about lost my shit omg… HE IS SO INSANELY GORGEOUS IN REAL LIFE I WAS RLY GOIN THRU IT… JAEHYUN WHO??? AND THEN HAECHAN OMG… haechan came over to our side like 75% of the time and he is the cutest, most adorable person on this planet!!! he was always smiling and waving and i really can’t think of anything else to describe him other than the sun bc he quite literally was shining that night!!! i think it was halfway through firetruck that we started to realize that the stage was like… a little slippery??? but it wasn’t until limitless started where we really noticed the members starting to slip and stumble here and there ;; also there’s this one part where jaehyun went up super close to me during limitless and i about died… i’ve said this before and i’ll say it again but even after seeing him irl, HE IS SO HANDSOME IT’S UNREAL… HIS VISUALS ARE OUT OF THIS WORLD I CAN’T GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD but yeah the staff members would go on stage after each song to try their best to dry the stage but for some reason that wasn’t enough ;; i have no idea why the stage was so slippery but my guess was that it was pretty cool up on the rooftop and with the amount of people there, there was so much body heat in the air and then that mixed with the cool air = condensation??? i also think the shoes the members were wearing had like absolutely no friction at the bottom so it made them slip even more ;; they were also using a fog machine too but idk if that was actually the reason why the stage was so slipper omg but yeah after firetruck, they performed limitless and then they had a small ment here and mark talked about how it was a very special day for them (bc they just came straight from performing at jimmy kimmel too) and then johnny screamed something along the words of being apple music’s next up next artist and he was just so happy!!!! and then mark said that they’ve got october all to themselves and they were so happy to be able to be here with all of the fans! jaehyun also said that the place was so wonderful and said all the fans there were so wonderful and johnny came in to say that they had rehearsals the night before but being there with all the fans, it was a totally different feeling ;~; after that they performed touch and then when it came to cherry bomb (OT10 VER WITH JUNGWOO BTW), this was when things started to look a little :/// bc taeyong had already fell back during touch and at this point i was already beyond worried bc i would rather have them stop the whole thing all together rather than have them risk getting injured just to perform for us??? i shouted so many times to “be careful” in both korean and english T________T IT WAS LIKE THE DREAM CONCERT ALL OVER AGAIN WHEN THEY PERFORMED IN THE RAIN not to mention they had comeback promotions to do once they back to korea too so i rly just wanted them to stop ;;; i also think the members were all starting to get a little discouraged from all the slipping and stumbling during each performance and it kinda just looked like they were all really sad that they couldn’t put on a perfect performance ;; at this point the stage was soooooo slippery and i think they were more focused on not falling rather than performing and my heart rly just was in pieces ;;; taeyong fell again in cherry bomb during the leg split dance and it looked so painful oh my god i was just so WORRIED and i wanted it all to stop so bad ;~; but after cherry bomb ended, i think the members went back down to talk to the staff and then they came back up with different shoes! but finally!!! alas, they performed regular!!! since they switched shoes, the performance went pretty smoothly so i felt a little at ease! taeil, doyoung and mark were still wearing their original shoes so there were a few times when they slipped a little but thank god none of them actually fell ;; despite the song being a released earlier that morning, a lot of the fans did really well in learning the fanchants and singing along with the boys so i think it really helped in boosting the members’ confidence after the prior performances ;; there was a small ment here and doyoung talked and johnny translated it saying how basically the members felt really apologetic that they couldn’t put on good performances bc of the slippery stage and i was yelling with all the energy i had left in my that it was ok!!! that they were doing amazing and that they shouldn’t feel sorry!!! IT WAS KILLING ME INSIDE THAT THEY FELT THIS ASKDJKASDJAKJSDKD I WANTED TO ACTUALLY D*E but then they promised they’d come back to show an even better performance and doyoung held up his lil pinky!!! and then johnny asked how taeyong was doing and he answered back “i’m okay!!!” IN THE CUTEST WAY POSSIBLE… I JUST WANTED TO GIVE HIM ONE BIG FAT HUG T________________T and then taeyong said the last mission they had left was to take a picture with the fans and took out the selfie stick to take a picture with everyone! it was so cute TwT 

but yeah, overall the whole experience was really really amazing minus the slippery stage and for the most part, i was really impressed with how organized 1iota was! i’m really grateful i got to be apart of it and it still feels like a dream that i got to attend the event and see them perform and promote their new album here in america!!! they were amazing performers and did so well despite everything! i was really really proud of them ;; anyways, thank you to everyone that made it this far!!! i hope you enjoyed this fan account! i know it’s a super long post but if i don’t write it all out now while it’s still somewhat fresh in my mind, i’m going to forget it by the end of the month so i hope you all understand! thank you so much! ♡

[avaliveradio]

Javiere Inniss New Music Release 'Away' Talks about an Od Friend

Artist: Javiere Inniss

New Release: Away

Genre: Pop

Sounds like: : Lewis Capaldi, Dean Lewis, Ed Sheeran, and Jens Lenkman

Located in: : Naples, Florida

Florida based Indie Artist and Musician Javiere Inniss has released a single called “Away” that tells story from a few years ago that explains how he misses an old friend of his and how things have changed. In the song, the lyrics tell those times simple and easy for him but became difficult as time went on. During this time, he stressed a lot about the future and what will happen. He wrote the song in 2018 along with many others before his first release “Abbie”. However, it took him 3 years after the written music to finally complete the song. Luckily, Inniss wasn’t completely on his own. The chords were inspired by Guitarist Paul Davids in a YouTube lesson he watched. Music Producer Jonesy B gave him some ideas, feedback, and even a few samples by him that were added on to the release. Inniss originally wanted to play on his guitar but felt that playing on piano felt better for the song. Unfortunately, he found playing the piano quite difficult at first. So, he decided to step it up and practice the song and make sure he can play it well. Inniss also recorded an acoustic guitar, bass guitar, and background vocals from ideas he had in the studio.

The music we are creating is...

away is a start of something new from the previous music I made. It doesn't have distorted guitars or a catchy drum beat, but it brings more emotion which I don't do so often. The music from this point and in the future will have more effort and feel into it.  This song is meant to be for anyone who feels like they're going through a rough time that they're not alone and not to worry so much about the future.

Right now we are...

Currently, I'm recording a music video to be set on Friday and doing a virtual live concert on Saturday at 2pm. In November, I'll be releasing my first album

About the Artist…

My name is Javiere Inniss, I'm an 18-year-old from Florida and I became a musician when I first picked up my very first guitar at 11 years old. I listened to many songs growing up and wondered how they were made. I used to sing and dance along to the radio in the car and in the house whenever the family had time or is on a road trip. When I 13, my mother abandoned the household with me, my step-father, and little brother. It wasn't easy going through what I did years ago, but after overcoming it last year, I'm determined not only to purse music but to inspire people around me who feel the same way. Music has been part of me ever since. The more I listen to music, whether new or old, it gets better and more exciting.

LINKS: 

Spotify song: https://open.spotify.com/track/3De50UaOPRXrnTeWQkHxWt?si=0b68358a69be42dc : https://open.spotify.com/track/3De50UaOPRXrnTeWQkHxWt?si=0b68358a69be42dc

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JaviereInniss Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/javieresmusic Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/javiere_inniss/

News:

New Music Friday | Indie artists you need to hear

http://indiemusicspin.com/new-music-friday-indie-artists-you-need-to-hear/

2.15: This single aired on New Music Release Radar :

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1qMhm2vDsKsMRue5UxRcRA?si=2e27ad7bda1445d0

Featuring your single on New Music Release Radar

2.15: This single was featured : AVA Live Radio Best New Indie Music Reviews :

Playlists:

NEW: Fresh New Indie Music Spin Friday

Every week we go on the hunt for new music to grace our Fresh Picks Friday list. With literally thousands of songs to listen to, we try to find songs that are in the moment reflecting a mix of current culture and sound that inspires through its message.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0aWul48vI0Zho4iaXYDOV4?si=207a83b4073c4afe

New Indie Music Release Radar

Take all the newest Indie music singles from our broadcast with you on the go. This list updates daily with brand new releases. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/56otky5R0otGcyVdIBt4jx?si=d60751452f004e66

The 100 | Fresh New Indie Songs 

The indie music scene is overflowing with fresh new music, follow our daily updates to discover what's happening on the Indie Music Scene.  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3beDUCLBnklkqoe4scKjY9?si=50c145efaa584eeb

Top 50 Indie Music Songwriters 

Indie musicians offer honesty in their lyrics speaking on a wide range of topics. Discover some brand new songwriters from all over the world on this ever evolving playlist.  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4eSH6u0694MwgpParnXp0G?si=2f7f050ad2d84715

New Music Monday Reviews:

Every Monday music curator Jacqueline Jax reviews new music for her playlists. Listen to who made the first cut. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1yvjvUqKQvk3Wtq0Lb14gD?si=d60cd46df3a14d57

Fresh New Indie Pop Picks 

Get out of that mid-day rut with music that will inspire movement and boost your energy from the Indie Pop Fresh Finds Playlist. Discover new singles daily. 

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7dzuA8pi7dTNiToCP1rWhX?si=fd80fcc0e2714abd

[missaureus]

ElyXiOn in Manila Pt. 2

I left home feeling unsure if I had some forgotten baggage from my less-than-an-hour-pack-up and drove away towards the east following the light of the streetlamps. But one thing was sure, I was leaving my academic-induced stresses. But, to have that sense of relief, I still brought a few reading materials with me, which were left unbothered throughout my secret trip.

Past 8 PM, the car was already swerving the road towards the airport from the highway. It was the boundary which felt that I was not home already. I was leaving home, temporarily. To be exact, less than 36 hours. I jumped off from the backseat and bid farewell to my family by the time we reached the entrance of the departure area, as if they were giving it to me as my well-deserved break from reality.

The airport was tranquil the moment I checked in, no hustle at all. No one was forming a line, so I directly went to the counter. I asked the staff in-charge if I can get into the flight prior to mine. My flight was still at 11:20 PM but I decided to be at the airport before 9 PM, gathering all my luck to be able to have a seat in my friends’ flight to Manila. Sadly, he turned me down and said that a few were also trying to get into early schedules but most of the passengers had checked in already. He gave me my ticket and directed me to the boarding area.

Honestly, I expected it to happen since flight fares at these times were super expensive, who would have ditch their flight schedule? I rode the escalator up and looked for my friends who were already waiting for their boarding time by past 9 PM. 

I have my two concert buddies, Anne and Alisha, who were also my companion last EXOrDium. I regretfully informed them that I was not able to have the chance of getting into their flight. I was not able to avail the same flight schedule beforehand since I had no concrete school schedule and just waited for the safe zone to get one. We just chatted for a few minutes and the next thing was, they were already on board. 

I waited in the first row while busily watching The Miracle We Met. Guess what? I failed to sense that the line forming in front of me was already my flight after an hour of watching, my bad! I hurriedly pulled out my earphones and stuffed my gadgets inside my sling bag. After picking up all of my stuff, I went to the back of the line. I was shocked that the boarding time was an hour earlier than what was indicated on my ticket!

 It did not feel any difference at all that it was my first air travel alone. Sometimes, being solitary is the best feeling in the world. It took an hour before the plane finally took off but I was already half asleep during that time. Imagine the energy I spent the whole day in school, what a suicide. My eyebags do not lie even.

Almost 1 AM, the plane arrived in Manila. I realized at that point while riding the bus to the arrival area that night travels are such a beauty. Peaceful. I fell in love with the idea. I walked together with the surge of people to the exit of the arrival area where lots of people were waiting and waving for their loved ones.

I am never familiar of the place but I trusted my instincts so much. I trusted on where my feet would bring me. Terminal 3 of the airport was ridiculously silent! I could not believe I missed CBX in there with just hours apart. How does it feel?  

I directly went to the Grab-Taxi lane. I was honestly nervous. I am a baby to this monstrous city. Despite the uncertainty, I acted stoic. But how crazy love would make you do. My first step in Manila 3 years ago was also due to an EXO concert. EXO did that to me, to act independent for a day. Away from my comfort zone. I was glad to fake an act of bravery. You will never know what to do in a difficult situation until that situation is right in front of you. 

A staff in the counter booked my driver and waited for him a few minutes. I was just quiet at the backseat trying to enjoy the city lights. I navigated with my Google Maps to arrive safely in my destination. I stayed with my other group of friends who were also concert goers since my concert buddies were staying somewhere else far from the airport. 

At almost 2 AM, my friends fetch me in the lobby of the condominium building but before getting into the unit we went to the nearest convenient store to buy some food and drinks. We directly went back to the residence.

My body was so beaten. I could hardly move. I placed my things on the corner and admired the aerial view for a second. I was conflicted if I would sleep right away or fix my mini-giveaways which I was not able to work on days ago. My housemates were already asleep but I decided to work on that thing. Even if I was tired, I was not sleepy yet. 

Past 3 AM I already rolled over my sleeping space. One of my housemates was playing her EXO playlist overnight. Wow. The last song I could recall before dozing off was She’s Dreaming. I can clearly remember.

I got little sleep. Three hours of it. But my body was hyped since I could not waste time on sleep. My housemates left me by 10 AM since they needed to post near the venue to distribute their prepared giveaways. They are admins of one of the fanbases under EXO Worldwide Union. Big responsibility, huh? I chose to stay in the unit since I was still waiting for Anne and Alisha to arrive.

 Almost 12 noon, we left the condo unit. I booked for our Grab driver which surprisingly knew how to speak Bisaya and that gave me relief! Undeniably, riding taxis is a horrifying experience unless you could assure that the driver is not taking any advantage of you! We chatted with him, like you gotta befriend people and gain their trust, haha. 

The air was crazily humid. If I am not mistaken, the temperature went up to 34 degrees C. I was afraid to walk around so much because, again, the pit was calling me! I tried so bad not to expend so much energy prior to the concert.  

The crowd was unbelievable also! It was the same situation last EXOluXion. There were shouting in every corner that would give you frequent heart attacks! You get afraid that they might see some of the members(?) while you miss that chance, haha! It was never like this around Araneta during EXOrDium. I swear it was so frustrating. Like every big buses that would pass by towards the backstage entrance, those crazy fangirls would run into for nothing. I chose to stay away from the arena. We eventually looked for the desk to have our VIP straps on and went to the mall area right away to look for vacant food stores. Most of it with nearer proximity to the arena were full, mostly on standby and meetups. We luckily found a resto with a vacant table with an outlet to recharge our phones! We were so happy to find an outlet lmao! Fully-charged phones is a must! So we decided not to let go of that post and stayed there until 3:30 PM. I met a few of my internet friends but sadly was not able to meet all since the temperature was pretty energy-draining and also the mobile network service was down. 

After freshening up, we went to our sequence line by past 3 PM. We were honestly disappointed with our sequence numbers, 230-232, since my friends had 66-67 last year! However, when we were following our line in the sequence, our numbers were right after those foreigners or those who availed the Global Package, which somehow gave us an assurance that 200 plus was still a good number to have better view in the pit. 

A few were wearing killer platforms and it made me regret on why I only added over 1 inch of my height, I could have worn higher ones! I stand 5 feet 4 inches plus 1.18 inches but I felt so smol! I was starting to get tired and rested near the railings. I refused to used my phone to preserve my battery. So, I just killed time on resting. There was also one thing that happened! The girl before us in the line started crying because her ticket went missing! Some staffs were roaming around announcing a lost ticket but only to find out it was not it. There was a moment of panic around  because OMG that was a huge problem! Eventually, she found it in some i-did-not-bother-to-know corner. Thank God! If it happened to me, I do not know what to do too but cry.

Almost 5 PM, we were already in front of the entrance of the arena. I still could not feel any tension! I was so numb at that moment. We went through the metal detector and our bags were checked as well as our tickets. I directly went straight to the line being held in front of W standing pit entrance, only to find out that my buddies were not behind me! I went back to the first entrance and my friend was being confined by the officer due to her instax camera. What were they so pressed for? It was not even a professional camera! A few moments later, he gave it back because it was not on the list of the prohibited things inside the arena. Sadly, a few people already overtook the lane and that made me so pissed off! On a brighter side, the number of people allowed to get inside the pit was grouped  which was good. What happened last year was that, the line from the outside to the pit was continuous and it was not being held by the staffs, thus, the fans had a chance to run inside the pit and overtake those with lesser sequences numbers. 

I was awed the moment I set foot in the pit! The first thing that came in my mind was questioning my past self on why I did not take standing tickets back then! The three of us were in chaos! We already strategized on where to run and stand when we get inside but yes, planned moments mostly never happen. My buddies wanted the barricade so bad in the left side. It is every fangirl’s dream: to hold that barricade. But we have a rule to follow too! Follow your bias, not your friends. Thou shall not break the rule. I had to think straight and fast and cut off my indecisive self. I went in the center part of the pit. 2-3 rows were already formed and mostly foreigners were still inside. I ran back to my friends saying firmly that I would stay in the center part! After acknowledging my decision, I went back to my post. I will never regret this spot. I assured myself. Come what may. The surge of fans was only minimal. Thank God there was no need to panic. 

A few minutes later, one of my buddies, who is also a Jongin stan, came to me and checked the area! She went back to the barricade and went back again to my post saying she also decided to stand in the center part with me! I was happy because we have studied the map of the whole setlist long ago and we, Kai stans, knew by heart on where he positions in a certain song! He is not put in the center part for no reason at all, Kai is the center. The center belongs to Kai! 

Eventually the arena was being filled with fans. I just observed the people around me. Most foreigner fans were quite aggressive and knew the pit game so well. They guarded their post as if they already mastered the dirty game. Diversity in language was an advantage for all! You get to talk with your co-nationality EXOLs on how to safeguard your position since some were really pain in the arse. They would push you so bad. Some would even swear at you. Stressful. I did not mind them and gave not a single cent of care. 

I had regrets in bringing my doll inside the arena. I just took a photo of my baby once and placed it back inside the bag. But eventually, it served its purpose well since I place my bag in front of me, it became a cushion from the people in front row. It was such a relief for me. 

Everyone waited patiently for an hour while singing along with the background music being played. Finally, the lights went off! My heart was banging against the rib cage. I cannot contain the fact that THIS IS IT! A year of waiting. I am going to see my artists again.

[aggresivelyfriendly]

~Meet Me In The Hallway~

Chapter 22-Turbulence

“Get up!” Michael kicked the end of my bed and the shake was enough to rouse me from my slumber. I’d stayed up late, hoping that Harry would call me. But, just like all the nights this week, my phone had not rang, and the lack of that sound was deafening. His texting had fallen away too; it had been several days since we had had any form of communication at all. His answers to my mundane questions, a line with a dead worm on the end for all their usefulness as bait, were one word often, and his most common sentiment was that he was tired, not that he missed me. When I first made it home, after my two day coma, he was full of rings and tings. My phone went off a lot I thought, so much that my mom actually seemed really irritated by its interruptions of family dinners. “You two have been running around the world for months, the least you could give me is a few meals with your cell phones safely away in your bloody rooms!” She’d griped as she loaded up my plate with grilled meat. I could tell she had went to trouble with this meal. The pineapple salsa she had on the side was my favorite. So I didn’t answer the phone. It pained me, but it was one of the few calls that I missed. Harry, I tried to understand, had to press the shady button more often. With the time zones and their scheduled I got it. Then the calls started to dwindle. And self doubt crept in. As time wore me out, I wasn’t sure if he was avoiding me, or just didn’t really want to talk to me. Over the weeks, my urge to press his contact name and hear his voice was overrun with anxiety. When I stopped calling, he did too. Or maybe I had done most of the calling and was just too excited and enamored to notice it. He did text me back, though I was sick to death of waiting until he could send me short responses. I was sick to death of waiting. I just, I missed him. And he didn’t seem to miss me.

I sat in my room with an empty journal on my lap the night before my rude awakening and just wondered if I had imagined his interest. He had all but said it. And he had shown me that he cared for me, wanted me, implied he loved me. A world away though all I could ask was why. He had the world, and its female population, with a hearty dose of the male too, at his feet. What would he want with one girl? What would he want with me? The seesaw we were on was as dizzying as the tilt a whirl, and I had promised myself that if I didn’t hear from him soon, I’d let it go. I’d let him go. I didn’t want to be a burden. I must be, if the weight of calling me was too heavy, how would all of the massive things that I dreamed about feel across his shoulders, no matter how broad. I wanted more than morning cuddles. I wanted more than him calling me baby. I wanted more than shared meals. I wanted the shared life he had mentioned. I wanted more. I wanted. But maybe he didn’t. In the moments where he had a willing girl, increasingly naked and eager in his bed, no wonder he had imagined his interest in me. Or worse feigned it. And he, a very red blooded male, who was very active I knew for a fact before I invaded his bed, of course availed himself of my offer. Though in the waning hours of the night, when the world and my thoughts were darkest I wished he had been a little more selfless and given a care before he took–before he took me. I felt like I’d been taken. Like he owned me, body and soul, and I had been a distraction at best. A warm body at worst. It was wretched. So, in the interest of self preservation and fear, I decided I’d make myself scarce. Stay away for this final little leg of Oceania, and resurrect all those plans I had for my life before I was monogrammed HS. I’d made a plan. I’d written it all down last night. Hair at the hotel, come home and sleep here when possible. Do not watch the concerts, avoid all mentions of Harry Styles. Make a female friend. Learn to date boys who didn’t set me and the world on fire. Actually find a boy to who wanted to date me, instead of have me secretly warm his bed. This list became very useful when I actually implemented it years later, though it went to waste upon its initial creation, because my brother had other ideas for my day and the Aus section of the tour. "Wake up Melly!” This time he was not having my grogginess as he yelled at me. “Jeezus!” I kicked at him as he started pulling the blankets off the bed. “What do you want, ass face?” “I want you to come with me! The boys asked for you and you have been even more of a hermit than usual, so you are going to come with me and act like a human and see people!” He widened his eyes at me. “Now, go shower, you look like shit!” “Stop trying to pull my blankets off! I’m naked under here!” I squealed when I threw myself over the blanket about to be coldly removed from my body. My bare ass on display was better than a full frontal shot I figured. And he was a irritation I wanted gone. Maybe I’d fall back to sleep. “Since when do you sleep naked, prude?” he questioned. Since Harry I thought. It simplified things in the mornings. And I loved those mornings in LA. I’d adopted the habit and learned to love the feeling of crisp sheets over my bare body. The few times a video chat had happened, my naked state had been expedient. Maybe I did it out of hope. I figured I was safe then as he’d stopped pulling my shelter away. But he ripped it off me this time. “I don’t care about your ass, I’ve seen it before, though it as a lot smaller then! You are coming with! If I have to drag you! So make yourself presentable.” Looking back maybe Michael wasn’t as clueless as Harry and I thought. He was dead set on me going with and it was Harry who had asked for me, I guess. I was so wrapped in my thoughts I had missed a few key facts in my stripping though. "Oi,” I called  after him, “where are we going!” Making my way with a towel wrapped around me to the shower. Michael came out of nowhere then, and shoved me into the bathroom. “The 1D boys have made it! I want to see everybody, and they asked for you, lord knows why, so shower, stank!” “Don’t call me that!” I shouted. I’d hated that when I was little. He gave me such a complex about the way I smelled at one point that I developed a rash from too frequent bathing. I lingered so long over my ablutions trying to put off the inevitable and squelch my hope in the face of expected heartbreak, that Michael basically banged in the door until I came out and kept juggling my door knob until I got dressed. “Fuck off, I’m ready now, ass!” I seethed! I had no idea how I was going to handle being in a car with him for half hour at least. “Finally!” He about faced and expected me to trail after him. I did. “No idea why Harry asked for you! Unpleasant snatch!” “Language!”’ my mom said while Michael grabbed the keys to his brand new car. “Don’t talk to your sister like that. "Thank Mummy,” I played my baby sister role up while my brother apologized, to mum, not me, and we headed down the drive. The ride was not as bad as it could have been. My brother immediately put on a playlist and turned it up. So I was free to go over all of my mistakes with Harry and personal flaws in peace.  I even nodded off once we got past the traffic and I was shaken awake, though this time more gently. Another beautiful hotel, made plain by comparison to so many others, greeted us. The lobby was expansive and I felt like we were in a convention center type place by the time we reached the damask wallpapered elevator. My feet were aching even in my trainers, but not as much as my belly. With each floor up, my heart sunk a little deeper. It was surely in the subterranean parking garage by the time we got off the elevator, to Niall riding a segue down the hallway with a beer in each hand. “Nialler!” Michael shouted and Niall stood straight up and hit a button with his elbow without spilling a drink. The momentary distraction from my downward spiral was welcome. I partook in the high fives he doled out at our awe. He’d handed us each a beer. I handed mine back. “Michael and Melly! I love that you all make me say mmmmm!! Come on,“ he lead us away, "everybody but Harry is in here,” he shoved open a door and music floated out. “Let me text him, he made a big stink about me letting him know when the big red dogs arrived!” He drunkenly laughed at his own joke and pulled the hair on Michael’s head I had dyed red recently. I loved how merry he was. It was hard to be angsty around Niall. I figured I’d have to bask in sunshine if Harry shut me in the dark. It might be the only way I was gonna survive this party, and apparently it was a party. There were drinks flowing and I made my way over to where Niall had plopped down and grabbed an acoustic guitar with yet another beer by his side. He hugged my head. A couple people had wandered over to say hello and I was chatting with Lottie about a new strobing technique she had learned when I felt him come in. All the hairs on my arms were stood up and I wasn’t sure if I was in the middle of a romance novel or horror film. I kept myself turned away, I wasn’t eager to find out what tropes I’d be party to. Would I my find myself watching the sunset from a balcony or have my heart ripped out? Would Harry be my romantic lead or my nightmare? When I heard his voice nearby me, saying Michael’s name, I couldn’t help but look up. He was locked in some bro hug type thing with my brother. But he was looking at me. He looked like shit. His eyes were red and bleary and his nose was swollen and his skin was pasty, patchy and pale. I’d never seen him look so unhealthy. “Harry!” I called before I got ahold of myself. Even if I was hurt by his casual disregard, I was so concerned about how miserable he looked I just couldn’t keep the edge out of my voice. No one seemed to notice my solicitude, save Niall who gave me a curious look. And Harry, whose face brightened and tried to smile before he grimaced and had a coughing fit. Once he was done hacking up a lung, he came over to me and I nearly tripped over my own feet to stand when he got close enough. I leaned forward immediately and his hand caught my shoulder before I could wrap my arms around him. My face must have fallen. “Don’t hug me, I’m poorly!” he cautioned. I threw that caution at the wind and wound my arms around his neck and buried my nose into his neck and sniffed until I could smell him under the Mentholatum and tea. “You let Michael hug you,” I chided into his neck. “I don’t care if Michael gets sick.” He clinched me a little tighter and whispered “missed you,” before pulling back mouthing ‘so much’ at me. My belly warmed, and I smiled big at him. He grinned back at me and I was willing to forgive his silence, so soon, forgive him even indifference if he stayed near me. Our staring contest was going a little long and I’m sure my eyes had stars in them. Harry seemed to catch himself, and he averted his gaze and sent a knee in Niall’s direction and they started to talk about plans. “You going to the beach?” Harry scraped out over the gravel in his throat while Niall pretended to be a Jedi for having blocked his knee. “Yeah, sounds like good craic and Ashton insists you can’t come to Australia and not do beach stuff. That true?” He directed at me and it took me a moment to realize he was addressing me. He was looking at me, but I was looking at Harry. “What?” I glanced at Niall. “I asked if you were coming to the beach with us?” That didn’t sound quite right, but I could see a knowledge around the edges of his smile that I didn’t like. Niall either suspected us or thought I, like so many others, had developed a bit of a crush on Mr. Styles. Which I guess had a grain of truth in it at least. But, even someone’s uninformed opinion qualifying our relationship in such a simplistic way was insulting to me. I didn’t have a crush and whatever it was that I had was requited. I thought. I hoped. “Um, no yeah?” I answered and the distraction in my voice was so obvious I might as well have been a small child licking an ice cream instead of listening to a calling parent. I shook myself slightly. “Yeah, I’m always up for the beach,” kind of a lie. “When are we going?” I looked at both of them. “Whenever this arseface gets better!” Niall mock punched Harry’s stomach. “You are the weakest wanker, been sick for at least a week and almost didn’t make the plane here.” “Heeeey!” Harry whined. “How sick are you?” I looked at his red rimmed eyes while he picked his chapped lower lip. “I’m better!” He protested and Niall coughed. “Yeah, in that you are upright, doc almost didn’t let him on the plane. Never seen you raise hell like that before Harry! Guess you really wanted to make it to Oz.” Niall looked at both of us and I wanted to be embarrassed, but I was so hopeful that I was why he wanted to make it on that plane and he was so sick he couldn’t get ahold of me, or didn’t want to worry me, or…. I needed to stop making excuses for him, but I just wanted to wrap him up in blankets and make him tea and toast. “I need another beer,” Niall got up and I noticed his glass was half full and quirked a brow, but Harry just smiled and shook his head before taking Niall’s spot, moving like a man of 80 not a boy not yet 20. “Ughhh,” he blew out and rested his head against the back of the couch. I raked my eyes over him, I’d missed looking at him, and I knew my gaze lingered entirely to long, someone would notice, but I wanted to drink him in from a fire hydrant, even when he looked like- “You look like shit!” I said and was surprised by the tinge of anger present in my voice. Good, I still had a backbone somewhere. He rolled his head my way, “Yeah, cheers, feel like it too.” He coughed suddenly. “What’s wrong with you?” I started to move my idle hands from my lap, but caught them and looked around the crowded hotel room. “You should be in bed.” “Have been, for days, I think I slept most of this week. Doctor said flu,” he looked at me regretfully and I wondered if words of apology would cross his downturned mouth too. “Go back to bed, Harry.” I decided to flex my vertebrae and went to stand, but he caught my hand, quickly, and I looked back at him. His mouth was pursed, lips thin and he looked peaky and pitiful, and my spine compressed. “Will you come with me? Meet me?” He inclined his head to the hallway. “Missed you, um, would really like a cuddle.” He forced a dimple and dissolved into another coughing fit. I sat back down and angled my body to hide the hands we still had joined. “Were you too sick to call me?” Slipped out weakly and I wanted to bite my tongue off and spit it out, traitorous slip. He nodded, “I have been, before that, we were just so crazy just, with the movie and like interviews—” “Too busy to even say hi?” I stared at our hands where he was rubbing my knuckles. “Please come back to our room,” my head jumped up, “and let me explain! I feel shit and just could, look,” he coughed again, “please, cuddle me.” God, I hated that I loved him right then. But, I nodded and raised my eyebrows. His lips quirked gratefully, maybe in triumph and I wanted to leave him alone in that hallway, but I knew I wouldn’t. “Five minutes?” I hated how little it took for me to give in, just the happy look on his poor little face turned me inside out. I was a jellyfish, no bones to speak of at all. I nodded and bit my lip and he got up, looking at me for a long moment before he left me alone on the couch, trusting that I would follow. The last time I had followed him out of a hotel room congregation had been with light feet and a hopeful heart. This time, I could feel a seed of resentment sprouting in my heart, but I went, because i was only aware the thing was beating when he helped me remember it was present in my chest. After some furtive glances and a surety that no one was watching, I made it to the door, and down the corridor, this one with more of the textured wall paper from the lobby. The walls were red and black and lush. As overwrought and baroque as my little feelings. Big feelings, really. All of my feeling surrounding Harry were huge-tidal, and weighty, apparently even my disappointment. This time, he wasn’t hiding out in a room to pull me into his arms and a celebratory kiss. Harry was waiting in the hallway, proverbial hat in his hands. He’d even clasped them together in front of him, like he was waiting for the rap of my ruler over his knuckles. If that had made me feel better, I might have done it, if it were on the table. He would have let me. I could tell he felt guilty just looking at his snotty face. But I didn’t want him hurting, which he clearly was with his sickness, and I had no desire to do the hurting. “Baby–” he started and I held up my hand. “Baby? Really?” I scoffed a little, some sass was left in me yet. He narrowed his eyes a moment, “I’m not allowed to call you baby when you are mad at me? I’m also not allowed to say your name I think, when I’ve hurt you, if I remember correctly. So what am I supposed to call you?” People in New Zealand could hear my eye roll. "don’t be petulant, Harry. Let’s go back to your room, unless you want to do this in the hallway?” “Do what? Are you breaking up with me?” He extended his hand and flashed them out, like magician showing he didn’t have a magical object. “Breaking up what? We aren’t together, even!” My voice went up an octave on that one. He drew his neck back and squinted at me, “We’re not? You sleep with boys you aren’t with, Mel?” Oh I was gonna kill him. “Not your business if I do.” His jaw expanded at that and he started walking and all the air went out of me faster than an unplugged bounce house. He caught my hand on his way and pulled me, quickly swiping his key across the sensor until it said go and he pushed in with me trailing behind him. He turned then, his face a little red, not from rough tissue. “We!” He motioned between us. “Are together, ok?” It was somewhere between a question and a command and my head spun like a top. “Huh?” I stared at him slack jawed. “Melody,” his voice softened considerably, but he still has a tinge of red in his voice. “I’m sorry I didn’t call, but like, I was overwhelmed, and tired, and then sick. I got on that plane, um, even though the doctor said my eardrum may burst, because I couldn’t go another day without seeing your face.”He cupped my jaw then and pressed his forehead to me. “We, baby,” he said in capitals letters, “are together. I only sleep with you and you only sleep with me! Ok?” He looked at me like he was convincing a jury against falsified evidence. “Ok, Melody can we be ok?” All the fight was going out of him. "Ok,” I agreed and he deflated against me. “But, H,” he sighed. “People who are together call

each other.”

“Ok, I’ll be better Melly, I’ll get better, ok?” he sighed and wrapped his arms around my waist so I was supporting more of his weight. “Can I please have my cuddles now?” He said against my lips but still not kissing me hello.

“No!” I shook my head, effectively rubbing our lips together. “No?” He pulled back to look at me. “Gotta pay the toll.” I tapped my lips. “Baby, I’m sick!” He half heartedly protested, pressing lips to mine and walking backwards to the bedroom. So was I, I thought, lovesick.

All The Love as always to my darling beta @nocontrolforlouis and to my readers and responders!!

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