#also i changed the style of her dress collar just slightly for fun

[narsh-poptarts]

When all of this is over, will you come to wake me up?

Do you promise?

... I'll be waiting.

closeup under cut

[lamaery]

Looking for a stormy or colorful summer beach read? @priscellie and Ihad way too much fun creating some romance novel versions of Rhythm of War and Warbreaker. I made the illustrations and Priscillie made them look like actual books – beautifully ridiculous, curly typography, mock-up and all. I hope that there will be more :D

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Image description: (by Priscillie) Photomanipulation of two battered paperback pulp romance novels that look straight out of a thrift store bargain bin in the 1980s. The books are RHYTHM OF WAR and WARBREAKER by Sandra Branderson. RHYTHM OF WAR features an illustration of Navani and Raboniel experimenting with light, Raboniel looming behind Navani and leaning in, their faces almost touching. Raboniel streams voidlight from her image-left hand, which travels like lightning through Navani's tuning fork and into the sphere in Navani's gloved safehand. It's the primary source of light in the scene, and the background is nothing but murky darkness. Raboniel focuses intently, her red eyes alien and unknowable, as she focuses on her work. One of Navani's unkempt locks of hair just brushes the corner of Raboniel's mouth, and I'm not normal about it. Navani looks like she's gone three days without changing clothes and that she's slept in her hairstyle a similar number of nights. The collar of her havah is open, revealing her collarbones. Her expression is a mix of amazement, fear, and exhaustion, her mouth slightly open and her head tilted back slightly. Her face is lit from below by their experiment. The title and author's name are angled at a sharp diagonal, with strong capital letters and the occasional flourish. At the top is the tagline "In the Heart of War... Passion and Honor are Fused!" In one corner is some publication information, with a little logo of a seal and the words "A 'Sealed With a Kiss' Paperback," the fake ISBN 17S-631-1123-1210 (the last two sets of numbers being our birthdays), and prices in America and Canada. The other book is Warbreaker, also by Sandra Branderson. The illustration depicts Susebron and Siri in a ridiculously overblown, windswept Fabio-style cover, with a shirtless Susebron holding Siri so she's half sitting on his chest, one knee up with her thigh along his chest, her legs off to one side, and with her body twisted so she's facing him with her upper body, leaning down to him, a breath away from kissing him. She's wearing a teal dress with a Mesoamerican vibe that reveals her midriff and leaves her shoulders bare, but with a long train that blows off to the side. Her arms are painted in looping gold shapes. Her hair is blonde for most of its length, but it's beginning to change to a vivid red at the scalp. It's wrapped in teal ribbon to match her dress. Susebron has long, sleek black hair caught by the wind, chunky gold earrings and a slim gold cuff at his upper arm, and is wrapped in long white strips of awakened cloth that snake through the image in an energetic explosion of fabric. He gazes at her in handsome adoration and abandon, and she gazes back in love tempered by concern. The title has the same diagonal and italicized design with the same typeface and flourishes, but the title is jazzed up with shimmery, iridescent type. At the top is the tagling "She was forced to marry a god... Then she took his breath away!"

[mysteriousdoll]

I’ve been working on redesigns for a while now, and here’s the first batch! Rather than doing them in a specific order, I had people on insta drop characters into an ask box and went down the line! This wound up being a really, really fun practice! Going with a chibi-ish style helped a lot in trying to just get the base idea down and worry about tiny details later on. Explanations/notes under the cut!

Edit: Changed Kork’s uniform to a deep navy blue as opposed to the original green after being informed of the ill origins of that green. Also changed Kyoko’s hair slightly

Reblogs are appreciated!! They help a lot!!

Notes on photos in text form...

Korekiyo - Cut hair shorter, emblem replaces armband, shirt no longer hanging out; tucked in.

Chihiro - Hair pin from Junko, Ibuki dyed her tipes, new ribbon from Taka

Mikan - Kokichi cut her hair (for her, dw), leggings for coverage, longer sleeves, non-slip shoes. (for reference, i asked my mom just to make sure... and mikan's outfit does not at all suit a nurse, so i gave her more coverage while still keeping the fit there in a certain fashion)

Ibuki - Pigtails!!, they actually wear (part of) the school uniform, dyed their romper, white and black hair like hers would not go well as the black would quickly bleed into such small streaks of white. So i had their bangs and two sections in the front white with pink and blue streaks, while the rest of her hair is black with pink and blue streaks. Her horns are completely fake and are just attached to a headband.

Mondo - Emblem on the right jacket breast, overall just simplified certain things and gave him longer hair.

Kyoko - Butchered CUT her hair, pants for their own comfort, bracelet is smaller in actuality, it was a gift from Taka shortly after she was taken in by the Ishimarus (it's a whole thing), they got sneakers because their boots wound up not working as something to wear for long periods of time.

Hajime - Scar from surgery is there, just not shown due to simplified style (and not at all because i forgot), pride flag button, Usami keychain from Chiaki.

Chiaki - She's chubbier now :), gave her HP's uniform top and ribbon, hair color brightened to be a bit more pink, shorts under her skirt, tries to eat things she shouldn't.

Hina - Heterochromia (she's afraid of straight people), barrette is now heart shaped, swim club leader, she's got a bra because... her back would hurt hello?, i'm sorry- her shoes were tacky imo so I changed them

Sonia - Glittery bow, emblem on left arm--student council, 'dress' based on beta design, boots act as Kaz defense

Nekomaru - Uniform sleeves always rip, baggier pants because... reasons.

Makoto - His hair almost makes sense!, bro is falling constantly, ONE jacket, no doubling up... bland, but not too bland

Taka - Public Morals Committee chairperson, student council president, debate club leader, taller collar, more gold accents, NO arm band--it's replaced with the eye shown next to him, got matching boots from Junko after their original boots were ruined by bullies

Celeste - Her and Taka do one another's eyebrows, hair is curly--drills still fake, beta fit is superior, bunny from Hifumi (they're actually close, an attempt to give her more humanization was made), monster high esc shoes (she wears her canon shoes to most events, but the monster high esc shoes mix tennis shoes and heels for ease of movement and comfort)

Gundham - Oldest Ishimaru sibling, leader of the animal raising committee, partially blind, less layers

Mahiru - Still has her camera, it was just excluded here to focus on her design, romper with flowy shorts, matching bracelets with Hiyoko

Regarding the Hopes Peak emblem; I thought it may be interesting to change up the way uniforms are implemented into it... In that, there are basic uniform options, but students are relatively allowed to wear what they wish provided it followed guidelines (example being Miu's uh.. garters?? I think that's what they are? they wouldn't be allowed), and had the Hopes Peak insignia somewhere on the outfit. Following that, while the insignia can be somewhat customized in that students could change the white to be a different color, but students who lead clubs, committees, student council, etc., have the black part replaced.

(Note: assuming Nidai doesn't directly manage any teams at HP, he does not have an insignia implying such; subject to change.)

An interesting little fun fact here... well, to me... some of these actually called back to the beta designs! Mainly, with Sonia and Celeste! Admittedly a few characters got little to no changes, mostly because I just found that their designs already fit pretty well. Others, such as Taka, Makoto, or Mahiru, took the basic idea of their outfits and spruced them up. I'm not entirely sure when I originally implemented the Amy Rose rings on Taka's sleeves, but I felt it added a bit more of a dynamic pallet to his design. Or like, Makoto, a mix of simplification and sprucing up... I've never enjoyed the excessive layers he's got (lookin at you, gundham), wearing his school jacket over his hoodie always seemed... strange to me. So I figured with the change to HP dress code (considering these students don't even wear the uniform in school modes or anything), it allowed for him to just wear the hoodie with a HP insignia embroidered onto it. He's also got bandages given his canonically clumsy nature. Mahiru is someone else whose design I like but I wanted to change up somewhat, so I changed her dress to a romper with a flared bottom and a flannel pattern.

If you've got any questions regarding changes, feel free to ask!

[theamityelf]

A sort of random question but do you think the Kamukuras would get varied clothes? Or just the same regular ol’ black suits for each of them

I was absolutely thinking about this, too, so we are on the same page! 😁

I think when they first emerge from the labs, Izuru and Byakuya are in black suits (Hajime's reserve course uniform and Byakuya's expensive clothes) and Makoto is in a hospital gown. Nagito was given his original main course uniform once he no longer needed the hospital gown, but he's modified it over the course of his time in the labs because he was bored, so now it no longer really looks like the main course uniform. And Mahiru might still be in the hospital gown, timing-wise, since she's the most recent, but instead I'll say that her outfit is more like pajamas; not the disposable hospital gown she'd be wearing if she were still regularly being operated on, but not the cohesive outfit she'd be wearing if she were considered "complete" as an experiment. She was still being reviewed and approved when they broke out; she was in the final stages of being considered "finished", whereas Izuru, Nagito, and Byakuya were done and Makoto was going to be taken in for more work.

After they leave, they all have different ideas of what they're supposed to be doing. Byakuya still just thinks his job is to be the Togami heir, Makoto wants to learn about Makoto Naegi and his friends (At least, that's the surface level; the underlying thing is that he needs to become his own person and develop wants and feelings of his own.), Nagito wants to just continually be doing stuff, Izuru just vaguely wants to keep a handle on all his successors and be in control so nothing bad happens to any of them, and Mahiru is almost on a superhero arc where she wants to right the world's wrongs in ways only a Kamukura can.

Byakuya sticks with the suit because it's his, he's Byakuya Togami, etc. To be more specific, he can still make use of his entire wardrobe. Like, he could just straight up go home, sleep in his own bed, and all that. This genuinely could just become the wacky story of all the Kamukuras living in one of Byakuya's mansions. Byakuya also cuts his hair. It won't be the same style he had before; it's slightly longer, since he has a more precise sense of what look favors his face the best. But basically, he still sees himself as the Togami heir and puts effort into his appearance.

Izuru sticks with his suit and his long, unkempt hair because he can't be bothered to change it. He doesn't find clothes terribly interesting, but he does care about what he, Nagito, and Makoto are wearing, collectively. By which I mean, he would care if Nagito and Makoto were dressed similarly and he wasn't, so I'm thinking when he is finding Makoto something else to wear besides the hospital gown, he would specifically opt not to get him a main course uniform for that reason. He also doesn't want Makoto wearing what he used to before the project. I'm thinking he would find Makoto something fairly neutral to wear, and it would coincidentally look a lot like Hajime's casual outfit (like, collared shirt and necktie). As Makoto gradually gains his own identity, he starts to choose not to wear the necktie, maybe one of his old friends gives him a hoodie, etc. (It might even be Junko, as an attempt to provoke Izuru's possessiveness while also doing a nice thing for Makoto.)

Nagito I think would be the most into clothes. He's the one who would get excited by new clothes, by trying out a new style, etc. He would regularly acquire new clothes just to combine them in fun ways. He likes to style Makoto's hair and dress him in new accessories. I'm just picturing him walking Makoto into some sitting room at Byakuya's house to show the others the new outfit he put together for him, and they all just have an extended conversation about it. Byakuya thinks the outfit is ugly, Izuru just shrugs that it's fine, and Mahiru flatly asks Makoto if he likes it. Makoto just says, "My hair feels crunchy."

Nagito might give Makoto or himself a new hair color on a whim.

Mahiru I think would be the one to wear normal clothes. Not her outfit from before, but still a regular casual outfit. Like, t-shirt and shorts, t-shirt and skirt, t-shirt and jeans. That type of thing. Something that won't draw a lot of notice or get in her way. She would cut her hair, but she'd deliberately avoid emulating the bob she used to have, since she thinks it would be disrespectful to the person who lived in this body before. She leaves it at just past shoulder-length. Maybe she gives herself bangs. Her objective is to be someone who can blend into a crowd, kill a killer, and then blend into a crowd again.

[animationstarlover1983]

Five Nights At Freddy’s: System Reboot AU.

Vanny/VANNI rewritten Headcanon Story.

Description: A Newly rewritten Headcanon for the character and story of the infamous white dancing rabbit lady known as Vanny in this AU Story.

Vanny: A Twisted and Unstable Women and the Main Antagonist of the AU Story.

Info: Vanny is one of the new modern day fnaf Villain and one of if not the most dangerous one out of all of them.

Quotes: It will be Fun. It was just a Glitch. Are you having Fun yet. What makes you so Special.

Alias: Reluctant Follower (Unknown), V•A•N•N•I (Fazbear Entertainment LLC/Silver Parasol Games), The White Rabbit Mascot (Fazbear Funtime Service), The Dancing Rabbit Lady (Gregory), The Evil Queen (Herself/Princess Quest).

Full Name: Giovanni Valentine.

Species: Thought Form/Inner Demon/Shadow Self (Formerly). Glitch/Digital Consciousness-Persona (Made from Vanessa’s Agony), Agony Being (Currently).

D.O.B: May - 28th - 20xx.

Skin Tone: Fairly Light.

Color Scheme: White/Brown (Costume).

Hair Color/Hairstyle: Blonde - Brown Roots/Pigtails (Hairstyle Inspired by Nicole Demara from Zenless Zone Zero).

Eye Color: Red (Average), Purple (Left Eye/Glitchtrap).

Appearance: Psychological: When appearing in someone’s Mind she looks like a Smug - Dark and Twisted version of Vanessa with Red Glowing Eyes and Blonde/Brown Hair, while wearing the Vanny Mask. Costume: Giovanni’s Costume looks like a more Cuter and Cartoonish Mascot Character (kinda like the Animatronics), her Rabbit costume has Brown Spots a Cartoony Hair on the Mask, She Wears a Red/Black Sweater under a Dark Blue Overall Dress along with Yellow Pants, she also wears Poker and Chess Themed Accessories along with a Yellow Sun Bracelet and Blue Moon Bracelet along with Pizzaplex Stickers - Badgers and Patches. Agony: Due to Agony Giovanni is able to Manifest a Organic/Humanoid Body that looks somewhat like Vanessa, she’s Slightly Taller and she has Red Eyes and Blonde Hair with Brown Patches/Roots in Sided Pigtails with Hair Dye, she has Red Eyes- Black and White Poker and Chess themed Nail Polish Styles, Giovanni wears a Variety of Different Outfits but She normally wears a White - Brown Collar Shirt with Black/White Pants with a Makeshift Poker/Chess Themed Varsity Jacket.

Personality: Vanny is Extremely Vainglorious, Vibrant, Vivacious, Vindictive, Violent, Hostile, Passionate, Playful, Fun Loving, Sadistic, Furious, UnstableC Obsessive, Curious, Selfish, Smart, Deceptive, Manipulative, Irresponsible, Disrespectful, Insecure, Persistent, Rebellious and Borderline Sociopathic.

Characterization: Giovanni was Manifested from the Most Negative and Darkest Aspects of Vanessas Psyche so it only makes sense that she would be Vanessa’s Polar Opposite while still sharing a few Similar Traits and Qualities, Giovanni was trapped inside Vanessa’s Subconscious for 7 years which resulted in Giovanni developing a Strong - Toxic and Hostile Obsession over Vanessa and those close to her. Once Giovanni is able to take over Vanessa’s Mind and Body she does everything in her Power to make Vanessa’s Existence as Horrible as possible by Tormenting her to her Hearts Content all for the Petty Sake of Watching her Suffer. While Giovanni is not above Killing People for her own Wicked Pleasures she prefers to keep her Victims alive as to either keep them as Toys or to put them through Life Changing Situations that effect them (Both Physically and Psychologically). Giovanni thinks very Highly of herself and Believes she is above both Rules and Consequences, Meanwhile she thinks very Lowly of others but Especially Animatronics or AI’s and seems to enjoy either Using them or Terrorizing them. While Giovanni may act all Confident and Disrespectful deep down she holds many Dark Insecurities about herself that she hates, deep down she Constantly feels Unappreciated and Furious, Giovanni seems to have some form of Attachment/Abandonment Issues which is why she latches on to certain People, Giovanni does seem to want to have Genuine Relationships with Others but is always Overtaken by her Dark and Twisted Impulses.

Story: After the Disappearance/Supposed Deaths of Vanessa’s Parents this caused her major Childhood Trauma which caused her to develop a Inner Demon/Thought Form called Giovanni (Born from her Psyches most Negative and Darkest Aspects) however Vanessas mind managed to compartmentalize Giovanni and so for many years she was just locked away in the back on Vanessa’s mind but all this changed once Vanessa Acquired a VANNI Mask Unit, this mask’s Neural Network combined with Agony allowed Giovanni to go from being a simple Aspect of Vanessas Mind to a fully Independent Digital Consciousness/Persona she also took the identity of the Mask and nicknamed herself Vanny, this allowed her to Possess Vanessa’s Mind and Body (For 6 Months), once she made contact with glitchtrap the 2 of them began working together to spread his virus but Giovanni had her own agenda, for the next 6 months Vanny made it her mission to Psychologically Torment Vanessa for the sake of her not regaining control and purely just to make her Suffer, however her plans were foiled once Gregory came in the picture and he along with Freddy and others attempted to stop her, Vanny made an attempt to stop this but Vanessa managed to wrestle back a little bit of control and sacrifice herself to protect Gregory and so she stabbed herself with Vannys knife in order to prevent her from being used any further, Gregory soon discovered 3 arcade games and once he played them he managed to Save/Free Vanessa, but rather than destroying Vanny as intended all Gregory managed to was simply Separate her Consciousness/Persona from Vanessa’s Mind and Body and placed in the VANNI mask, Vanny was then left for many months and glitchtrap wanted revenge on her for failing but then a Class V Technician: Jeremy Fitzgerald came to investigate the going ons at the pizzaplex and Sinkhole, he soon found the Mask and Vanny had managed to Influence/Manipulate Jeremy into helping her Overcome and get rid of Glitchtrap and then she just left him to rot in the Digital Aether, some time would pass and eventually Jeremy’s Daughter Cassie came to look for Gregory but instead found the Vanny Mask and soon Vanny began Influencing/Manipulating her mind in order to get revenge on Gregory, Vanessa and Glamrock Freddy, Eventually Cassie finds the 3 of them but things don’t go exactly as Vanny plans, they are able to win over Cassie and regain her trust, Cassie them gets rid of the Vanny mask and is able to get rid of the Occipital Transponder, however Vanny now using an animatronic body tries to get her revenge but they are able to outsmart her and destroy her, at some point thanks to agony Giovanni is able to manifest a Humanoid and Organic body and starts a new plan.

Powers/Abilities: Psychological/Digital: Digital Consciousness Physiology (Digital Consciousness Transference, Nightmare/Hallucination Inducement/Mental/Emotional Influence/Advance AI/Inbuilt E-Manual/Safety-Security Features/Technician Features), Digital Interaction, Reality Hacking/Warping (Via Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, Via V•A•N•N•I Mask), Simulation Manipulation, Technological Distortion/Disruption, Invisibility. Agony: Agony Physiology (Strength/Speed/Agility/Flexibility/Durability/Endurance/Resilience), Supernatural Awareness, Regeneration.

Skills: Bravery, Genius Level Intelligence, Raw Cunning, Strategic Mastery, Adept Learning, Quick Thinking, Intuition, Leadership, Coordination, Cooperation, Multitasking, Emotional Intelligence, Great Judge of Character, Psychological Conditioning, Intimidation, Role Playing, Deception, Manipulation, Gaslighting, Stealth, Master of Disguise, Survival Instincts, Hunting/Tracking Expertise, Gadget Expertise, IT Expertise, Technology Expertise, Torture Device Expertise, Physical Torture, Psychological Torment, Parkour, Gymnastics/Acrobatics.

Methods: Giovanni is able to Trick people by giving them a false sense of Safety and Security, she comes off as being Helpful and Supportive and she uses that to slowly get into her victims head, Giovanni also is able to Manipulate and Deceive others by promising to bring there most wanted Fantasy’s into Reality, Giovanni loves Stalking/Hunting her Prey by using Hide and Seek Tactics as well as play Mind Games with them, while she is not above killing people for her own Twisted and Sadistic Pleasures or Benefits Giovanni’s preferred method is Physical Torture and Psychological Torment, she also loves using Robots and Gadgets to get the job done Quicker.

Weapons/Gadgets: V•A•N•N•I Mask Unit, Fine-Tuned Fazwrench, Makeshift Kitchen Knife/Blade, Makeshift Pizza Slicer, Specialized Virtual Reality Headset and Gloves, Augmented Reality Controller.

Crimes: Psychological Torment/Abuse, Possession/Body Snatching, Identity Theft, Impersonation, Multiple Cybercrimes/Cyber Attacks, Conspiracy, Forgery, Multiple Breaking and Enterings, Home Invasion, by Proxy, Property Theft, Vandalism/Property Damage, Sabotage, Misuse of Power/Authority, Coercion, Blackmail, Stalking, Multiple Kidnappings, Enforced Work/Labor, Enforced Self Harm, Staff Endangerment, Child Endangerment, Assault, Child Abuse, Physical Torture, Serial Murder, Indirect Murder, Murder by Proxy, Mass Murder.

Murder Victims: 9 Serial Murders (8 Faz-Ent LLC Staff and 1 Child, all while in possession of Vanessa).

Victims in Total: Unknown Number.

Family: REDACTED.

Friends/Subjects: Moon (Accomplice), Mystic Hippo (Accomplice), Nightmarionne (Tormentor Tool), Carnie (Animatronic Lackey), J_B (Accomplice), A_L (Accomplice), Tutorial-Unit (Underling), Mask-Bot (Underling).

Enemies: Gregory (Attempted Pawn/Victim), Vanessa Arrington (Former Plaything/Victim), Glamrock Freddy Fazbear (Enemy/Victim), Jeremy Fitzgerald (Former Pawn/Victim), Cassie Fitzgerald (Former Partner in Crime/Victim), Roxanne Delwolf (Former Pawn/Enemy), Glitchtrap (Former Manipulator/Abuser), Mimic1 Program (Adversary),

Likes: Herself, Rabbits, Carrot Related Foods, Video Games (Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality and RPG’s), Trading/Battle Cards, Playing/Poker Cards, Chess Pieces, Checkers, Domino Boards, Roulette Wheels, Darts, Magic 8 Balls, Slot Machines, Keys, Locks, Puzzles, Challenges, Cheating, Music, Fashion, Spray Painting, Fairytales, Medieval Fantasy, Drama/Horror/Thriller Genres, Terrorizing her Victims (Via Physical and Psychological), Mistreating and Destroying Animatronics, Violence, Finding New Hobbies, Being the Center of Attention, Feeling Important, Hanging with Dockley.

Favorite Animatronic: Moon.

Dislikes: Authority, Following Rules, Abandonment, Loneliness, Boredom, Being Ignored/Overlooked/Forgotten, Being Tricked/Mislead, Failure/Losing, Children/Teenagers, Bears, Waiting for too long, The Quiet.

Occupation: Pizzaplex Intruder.

Alignment: Evil.

Affiliation: Pizzaplex Insecurity’s.

Goals: Take Over Vanessa’s Life and make her Existence as Terrible as Possible, Antagonize/Terrorize all her Enemies/Vicitms.

Prime Goal: Turn Reality into her own Twisted Fantasy’s.

Status/Fate: Alive.

Whereabouts: Unknown.

Character Inspirations.

1. Silvie/S•1•L•V•1•3 (The Bunny Graveyard).

2. Giffany (Gravity Falls).

3. Badeline (Celeste).

4. Azula (Avatar: The Last Airbender).

5. Abigail (Magical Girls Specs Ops Asuka).

6. Juri Hang (Street Fighter).

7. Velvette (The Hazbin Hotel).

8. Powder/Jinx (Arcane/League of Legends).

9. Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn (DC/Batman).

10. The Queen of Hearts/Red Queen (American McGee’s Alice).

Villain Wiki Category Inspiration.

1. Thought Form

2. Artificial Intelligence

3. Psychopath

4. Sadists

5. Obsessed

6. Stalker

7. Psychological Abuser

Role: Obsessive Sociopath.

[kimyoonmiauthor]

Hanbok design--mix of European, Contemporary, Korean and gender fluid to Korean standards.

I technically have the cloth to do this and the tailoring skills. Not the boots, but ya know, sometimes...

So the basics for those that are not sighted/low vision is an Audrey Hepburn dress with an added bow on our left and empire waistline with pinstripes and a black ruffle at the bottom. And it has.... pockets. This mixes business dress attire, Korean chima, with a classic style that won't go out of fashion easily. The dress overlaps in the back, but ties in the front. I think the skirt will be sewn up. In terms of flexibility the top can also be made into a longer skirt by simply folding down the top section into skirt section, making for an elegant black tie.

The pinstripes I'm envisioning in white on a black background.

Over the top of that is a business jacket that's styled like a durumagi, though shortened to business jacket length. It's tied with a otkoreum and has a button underneath. I added the button so it doesn't depend solely on the ties. The ties are short because toilet+ ties is not fun.

There are of course added pockets on the pinstripe jacket. 'cause NBs and women deserve pockets.

Below the skirt are trouser/pants which mimic sokpaji/paji. Which were both worn by women and men.

I changed the collar from the traditional collar to a lapel collar, because I wanted to make it feel like a business suit situation. I was told by a relative that there is no way one could make hanbok look "formal" business attire and this is my way to say, "yes, it can."

But the sleeves will be Korean with the original curve, rather than the straight ones... 'cause I think it's a travesty that they are being made into Western sleeves to fit Western clothing.

As for the other set dressing? Boots in traditional Korean wear was for men. The reason the paji were designed as they were were so they could fit into boots.

And the top knot is obvious.

So I think this is NB-ish, gender fluid, celebrates European clothes (granted from the 19th century and 1950-1960's-ish), has traditional elements of hanbok, so it still reads as one. But not too masculine that it reads "woman tries to look like she's trying to imitate men." type of fashion. Just that little bit of a ruffle for a throw back in history to remind people that men loved ruff(le)s too.

I also designed it so it's not male-gaze centric. 'cause screw that.

One can also remove the dress and wear the jacket with a shirt and just the pants too. ^_^

BTW, I had a thread a while back on Twitter about Lois Lane and the hanbok she wore being odd...

While I know pinstripes are hard to animate for a number of reasons, though it's slightly easier with the current tech, this is closer to what I would have envisioned for Lois. All at once masculine and feminine in both a US throwback style and a tip off for Korean. (granted maybe not the hair, but a ribbon could be added that's similar. Or she could go and don one of those wigs/do a clip on.. though that might be a stretch) It's formal for a party--it screams reporter who can't quite quit being off the job, and it celebrates both shores without compromising anything.

While I didn't originally design this for her, because I drew it sometime last year, this is probably the best rep of Korean American-ish feels I could pull. 'cause Korean women love Audrey Hepburn who had that mix of masculine and feminine and tomboy which usually looks good on smaller frames.

I suppose, too, me knowing a bunch of hanbok and how they've bent, not bent, and how they work, their symbolism, and having physically made some... I understand how to flex it like this.

I also kind of have a history of fashion in my head... so I know what to pull to make it feel timeless and I understand the types of clothes that has traditionally been on Lois Lane.

So this is my strongest suggestion for design.

[seriouslysnape]

Could you write Sev taking the woman he’s been in love with for months on a first date in London, and he goes all out for it? Like he even went out and bought muggle clothes to blend in and he’s planned out the whole night. He’s of course nervous af but at the end of the night, he finally kisses her.

Also, your writing is so fucking good! Can’t wait for more!

THANK YOU. This is an amazing prompt. I had so much fun with this one! 

Here ya go! :) (Below the cut!)

A New Beginning

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Severus Snape x Fem. Reader

Warnings: None.

A/N: Quick self promo - for all my Wattpad readers, I have a Severus Snape x Reader story that is currently in the works! Please note, it has been a long time since I’ve written a continuous story so my skills are a little rusty. The first 11 chapters are up now and I update frequently. The title is “The Assistant” and my Wattpad username is @ hufflehotch (great username, I know). If you’re interested, feel free to give it a read! I encourage comments (on any of my works) because I always like to hear feedback!

Word Count: 2,000

“Not at all...but you look too much like a wizard,”

__

Severus Snape: firm, collected, cold, stoic, urgent. These are just a few words that would come to mind when describing the half-blood prince. He kept his guard up at all times. He infrequently allowed others to get too close to him. He kept his heart, his mind, and his feelings protected by having a hard exterior that no one could crack. He never wanted to feel the pain of a heartbreak again. He didn’t think he’d ever find love again.

That was before he met you.

The moment he laid his eyes on you, he knew he was in trouble. He knew the unmistakable skip in his chest all too well when his gaze found yours. He denied it at first. He didn’t dare get near you or engage in conversation for fear of falling for you. However, he found himself constantly in your presence and constantly trying to get away. He didn’t want to hurt your feelings in any way, for you hadn’t done anything wrong. You were so kind to him in the interactions you did have that he felt guilty for pushing you away. Eventually, he gave in. Once he did finally give in, he slowly felt the icy, cold block around his heart begin to melt away.

He began to change quickly. Suddenly, he looked forward to waking up every morning to have a conversation with you over a cup of coffee or tea. He was less stern in all of his Potions classes and actually offered his more pleasant teaching abilities (which had caused a bit of a puzzled stir amongst his students). He found himself enjoying his life again. He wasn’t just existing anymore.

The longer he was around you and the more he got to know you, the more difficult it became to ignore his feelings. He had undeniably fallen in love with you and he couldn’t wait any longer.

He was relieved when you happily agreed to go on a date with him. As exciting as it was, a new sense of nervousness began to creep over him. It had been a long, long time since he had been on a date (if he had even ever been on what was considered a real date). What would you two do? What should he wear? Should he bring flowers? He had a million things he had to work out, and he wanted to make it perfect.

He didn’t want to miss this chance.

He was so desperate to make it perfect that he even invested in some outside help. It wasn’t a super well known fact, but Professor Remus Lupin was a pure romantic. He knew all the ins and outs of how to have a nice date, so he was more than willing to give his colleague some tips. Keep it simple, but sweet.

The day came around and Severus felt like he was walking on pins and needles all day. He could barely get through his Friday classes because he was so overwhelmed with nerves and anticipation.

He had decided on taking you to London. The beautiful Muggle city with endless shops and restaurants to entertain even the most high maintenance of people. Usually, he wouldn’t be too keen on blending with the Muggle world, but you were a dazzling woman who deserved an even more stunning place for a date.

He had to prepare in advance for this. He had to purchase clothes that wouldn’t totally give away that he was an expertly trained wizard. He felt strange being in such foreign clothes, but (even though he’d never admit it) it was nice to wear something other than his black robes.

The white collared shirt was finely fitted over his frame, along with the tan pants and shoes to accompany it. He looked handsome and more put together than he had been in a while. He had even taken the time to keep his long hair from being completely out of control. He had taken a few more moments to ease his nerves. His hands were shaking profusely. He did NOT want to mess this up.

He managed to settle himself enough to where he wasn’t completely frazzled. He took a deep breath and went on his way to pick you up. He was confident. He had this under control.

That was, until he saw you.

All the butterflies in his belly and the rosy heat in his cheeks all came crashing back over him when he saw you clad in a Muggle style sweater and jeans. You looked so perfect that he wasn’t sure you were real.

“Severus,” You greeted with a friendly smile; “I have to say, I never thought I’d see the day where you were dressed in something other than your robes.”

Severus suddenly felt self conscious. Had he gone a little overboard with his attire?

“Is it...too much?” He asked as casually as possible.

Your smile faded into a reassuring expression. It was your turn to get butterflies now that you were really looking at him. You carefully reached for the collar of his shirt. He had buttoned it all the way to the top, just below his neck. You unbuttoned the first few buttons and adjusted his collar.

“Not at all...but you look too much like a wizard,” You explained; “Muggles usually are much more laid back.” You noted.

The tips of Severus’ ears went beet red at the feel of your fingertips just barely brushing against the skin of his neck. He was grateful that his hair kept them hidden. You were so close that he could smell your perfume. It was heavenly and accented you well. He racked his brain of something to say.

“You look terrific.” He complimented.

A certain glow dusted your cheeks. You smiled sheepishly at his words and thanked him. After a few more attire adjustments, you were well on your way into London with the help of a little magic. Severus had forgotten just how amazing London really was. He had a bit of a soft spot for the city.

He had the entire evening planned out in his head. He figured dinner would be first. There was a quaint, yet elegant place that he knew about and had been to a few times before. After that, he thought that St. James Park would be a nice place to wind down for the evening. St. James was likely one of London’s most famous parks, but he had a feeling it wouldn’t be super crowded.

The two of you strolled side by side through the streets of London, casually conversing about the things they usually did. Potions, professional Quidditch, Hogwarts in general. At one point, your hand brushed against his as you drew nearer to your first destination. Before he could comprehend it, your hand had entwined in his. He slightly squeezed your hand in surprise, to which you squeezed back lightly with a grin.

Dinner was wonderful. Severus was so antsy and jittery that he could barely sit still longer than a few minutes. His leg bounced nervously under the table and his fingers drummed on the white tablecloth. You kept catching him staring longingly at you. He just couldn’t believe that he had finally caught this moment with you.

“Severus, it’s just me,” You said sweetly, hiding a knowing smirk from behind the rim of your wine glass; “We’ve had dinner together plenty of times.”

That seemed to settle him once more. His tense shoulders suddenly released and he let out an uptight breath. You were right. He didn’t need to try to outdo himself.

“I know. You’re just so beautiful,” He spoke softly, feeling confident again; “[Y/N], I lov-”

His sudden confession was cut off when the waiter approached with your respective meals. Severus thanked his lucky stars for that. He knew now wasn’t the right time yet. A busy restaurant with a bunch of people around wasn’t how he wanted it to go. He wanted to wait for the right moment. He just hoped he’d know it when he saw it.

After dinner, you led him back into the streets of London, still hand in hand. It was well past nightfall by now, the city lights had created a bubble of illumination over the immediate area. You were all over the idea of going to the park before it closed, considering it was your favorite place in the city. It turned out that Severus’ suspicions were correct. The park was shockingly empty for a Friday night. The two of you walked on the dimly lit walkways, soaking up every second.

Maybe it was his sudden serenity and content aura, but the two of you suddenly fell into a conversation that was something other than work related. He didn’t know it yet, but the walls that he had spent so much of his energy on building were quickly tumbling down. He was sharing details of his life that he never thought he’d bring to light again. You weren’t surprised to hear that his childhood had been less than gratifying.

“You didn’t like Hogwarts?” You questioned after hearing that he had a bad experience with the school.

“Well, I was skilled when it came to my classes. I enjoyed learning about the wizarding world, but I was the runt of the litter I suppose. I wasn’t well liked.”He told you, who was on edge with interest; “I didn’t have a single friend. That was until...”

He let himself trail off. He refused to finish the thought.

No. For once, this wasn’t about Lily. He wasn’t mourning over something that was never reality. He wasn’t going to let his life be dictated by one wish that never came true for him. When the time was right, he’d tell you about Lily. You deserved to know when that day came. But it wasn’t about her anymore.

It was about you.

Before you could urge him to finish his sentence, he had stopped your walk just over a small bridge. He held your hands in front of him, his thumbs stroking your supple skin on the back of your hand. His nerves had completely fizzled away now. He knew he was right where he was supposed to be. Right now, this moment was the only thing that mattered in the world.

Your tender eyes looked into his. He had a sight deep within his dark eyes that you couldn’t identify. Had he always looked at you this way? It was such an extensive adoration that it made you weak in the knees. The moon was full in the black, inky sky that was sprinkled with twinkling stars. The moon was cascading a crisp, dull light over the both of you.

This was almost too flawless.

“[Y/N], I’m having a difficult time finding the right words to say.” He admitted, his voice thick with depth.

You took a half step to press yourself against him, allowing this to happen the way it needed to.

“Then show me.” You breathed, bracing for what was inevitably about to happen.

That’s when he kissed you. It was a passionate, temperate kiss that was just borderline needy. It sent waves of emotion over both of you that was too complex to understand. The rest of Severus’ walls were crumbled now. He was vulnerable and open again. It was a huge pressure off of him.

You pulled away from each other just slightly, your lips just hardly touching. You didn’t want to stop touching him. Your hands traveled and rested on his shoulders, his hands on your waist.

“I love you.” He finally declared.

It was like the floodgates had opened. The contents of his heart were spilling all within himself. He could love again.

“Oh, Severus...I love you.” You returned.

Instantly, you kissed again. His new refreshing outlook was very clear in his demeanor. It was the perfect way to end the perfect night.

It was a perfect new beginning.

[feeling--pink]

My Sweet Ride is an amazing episode of Phineas and Ferb and the only thing bad about it I that I wish we could have seen more people in full out 1950s clothes!! So I did that!! (Also including some MML kids because I love them and don’t draw them enough!)

Anyways!! If y’all want to see me rant about 1950s stuff for a very long time because I had a blast doing research for this project you should click the keep reading!! :D

Okay a quick prelude!! Not only am I going to talk about outfits I designed, but while doing research I was blown away about the attention to detail the original designers had for these outfits and characters so I’m going to talk about their outfits too! :D

Here are my sources if you want to look into this btw!! :D

https://vintagedancer.com/1950s/1950s-teenager-fashions-girls-fashion-trends-and-clothing-styles/ 

https://vintagedancer.com/1950s/1950s-teen-boys-clothing/ 

https://vintagedancer.com/1950s/1950s-hairstyles/ 

https://vintagedancer.com/1950s/1950s-dress-styles/ 

https://vintagedancer.com/1950s/1950s-womens-hats-by-style/ 

https://vintagedancer.com/1950s/1950s-womens-shoes-style/ 

Candace

Okay I’m going to start out by saying I just adore this outfit

That has nothing to do with anything I just really love it!!

I’m thinking I might make one of my own for Halloween but that’s off-topic

Okay- 1950s clothing!!

Candace is wearing a blouse (?) with a cardigan over the top, and a pleated swing skirt.

This is a classic 1950s girl’s style

More specifically its also a classic “preppy good kid” look

Which Candace absolutely is!!

Y’all should notice that all the skirts are past knee-length, which was standard of the time.

Candace also has a neck scarf, a common accessory, and a headband.

Ribbon headbands were still a thing in the 50s but the hard plastic headband was also coming into style in the later 1950s.

She’s wearing a pair of saddle shoes which were one of the popular options of the time among boys and girls

Her hair is long with curls at the end, another classic teenager look in the 50s!

While short hair was more popular among adult women, teenage girls often kept theirs long with slight curls on the end!

Bangs were also standard, but usually shorter than how I drew them

Sorry that bit’s inaccurate through all of them, it’s just easier for me to draw long!

Finally, in case you had any doubt about Candace’s outfit being time period, here’s an advertisement from the article I read:

Vanessa

To start off we have a blouse and pencil shirt for Vanessa

Pencil and swing skirts were the two most common skirts of the time

She’s also wearing a belt, which I modified slightly to look like-

The wide contour belt on the bottom right!

She’s also wearing a pillbox hat, one of the popular hats of the time!

Hats were generally not worn by teenagers because they were seen as “mature” 

But that fits pretty well with Vanessa’s character

It’s the same story with the pumps, which I also changed lightly to match time period ones a bit more

Now what made me make my original post about the outfits in My Sweet Ride was actually the hair

Specifically, Vanessa’s hair is modeled after the Bettie Page style

This hair wasn’t actually that popular with the masses because it was seen as too simple, not classy, etc.

BUT it was popular among rebel girls in the USA

And like!!!!!! Y’all the designers did SUCH a good job to get down into details like that!!!!!!!!

But yeah her outfit’s great!! Next one!

Stacy

For Stacy, I decided to change things up slightly and give her a dress!

Specifically, it’s a shirtwaist dress, which I modeled after the reference below

Why the shirtwaist dress you may ask? Idk I think they’re neat

I thought it fit the vibe I was going for so I did that one I don’t know what to tell you jkdshsf-

Okay so generally, the belt wouldn’t have been a different color but I wanted to tie the green I used in a little more

Btw sorry I changed her color scheme a bit

I honestly haven’t fully figured out her original color scheme so I modified it a bit so it would look nice for this!

Pastels were very popular in the summer after all

I tried to stick to everyone else’s original color scheme though!

Stacy also has a headband tied up into a bow, which was standard

And to change things up I put her in a ponytail (with the end curled) which was popular with the teens!

Sklsdjhdkj I sound very “how do you do fellow teens“ while writing this that’s unintentional sorry

Shoes are penny loafers, another popular shoe at the time

I liked the little bows on the ends of some of the ones I saw and thought it was very Stacy!

That’s about it for her!

Phineas

This has nothing to do with anything but I love drawing Phineas

He’s just a funky little triangle!! I love him!

I’ll admit here that I didn’t look into men’s hairstyles, so you won’t hear about that from me sorry!

Phineas is wearing a black button-up, standard. 

Black and white matched everything so they were the most common undershirt colors

Over that, he has a jacket that looks to be varsity jacket inspired, which was seen as super cool!

Full jeans were coming into popularity in the 50s but only with the younger generations

Finally, he also has saddle shoes like Candace does

So yeah it’s a solid 1950s outfit!!

Ferb

Ferb’s a greaser, need I say more?

No, really he has everything

The white t-shirt and jeans combo is exactly the greaser look, so much so that most teenagers avoided it to not fall into stereotypes

Tighter fit jeans were coming into style in the later 50s, so that’s also accurate

The leather jacket just amplifies the greaser look

The one thing is that for the life of me I couldn’t figure out what shoes he was wearing

So I gave him a pair of sho-loks and called it a day!

More about sho-loks in Milo’s portion!

Isabella

Isabella makes an appearance with the first (and only) poodle skirt of the group!!

Poodle skirts, while definitely what most people think about when you say the 50s, actually weren’t that popular among teenagers

The embroidered designs were seen as childish, so children and preteens wore them the most

But here’s a fun tidbit you may not have caught from the show, Isabella is, in fact, a child

(I don’t know why I built that up so much sorry ldksjfhkds)

Anyways I decided if I was going to give anyone a classic poodle skirt it might as well be Isabella!

I modeled it after this poodle skirt:

She’s also wearing a blouse with a peter pan collar, the most popular collar of the time

Another headband tied into a bow because it’s Isabella I had to give her a bow

Standard belt (nothing really to say about that)

And another pair of penny loafers with little bows because they’re cute gosh darn it!

Milo

Okay, I’ve been writing for a while but honestly a lot of the rest of these I just drew directly from reference so…

I did say I would talk about shu-loks here though and I will!!!

Now we know Milo is shoelace-adverse

And while there are plenty of slip-on options I found the shu-lok to be fascinating!!

As you can see above, the tongue snaps down to keep the shoe on your foot!! Isn’t that cool? :D

So yeah I gave Milo those!!  

Zack

We know Zack plays football so I gave him your standard sporty outfit

Sorry I just find girls outfits infinitely more interesting so I kinda focused on those skjhgfdss

Oh! I do have something to say here!!

Converse were your typical sports shoe for the 50s so he has those!! Almost forgot that tidbit!!

Yeah, thick soles with wrinkles and stuff were seen as cool among teens so they got popular!

Melissa

Finally, we have some patterned pants!!

Yeah- checkers, plaid, stripes, polka dots, etc. were all very popular!!

I just didn’t want to draw them a lot ‘cause it’s hard sksfjdhgs-

But I gave Melissa checkers because it would get the black and white of her color scheme and I liked the way the checkered pants looked!!

Girls did wear pants at the time by the way!!

During summer and weekends mostly since they weren’t allowed to wear them to school

Short-sleeved turtle necks were also a thing and I thought that combo would look neat!!

Also, converse because it went with the outfit and that’s kinda what she’s wearing in the show!

Hair in a ponytail and side part bangs, both popular!

Yeah okay, that’s about it for Melissa!

Amanda

By this point, y’all are hopefully getting the gist of 50s fashion so we’re going fast now

Blouse, swing skirt, penny loafers (different style but still penny loafers), headband

(here’s what I modeled the whole thing after:)

I do want to mention the pullover sweater because I thought I should include one and I really like the flower embroidery on them

Then finally we come to her hair!! I already mentioned the headband but I was specifically modeling her hair in the pageboy style which looks like this:

Obviously, it looks a little stylized but what can you do?

And that’s it!! I had so much fun doing research and designing this and I think they all turned out pretty good!! I’m going to do more go this in the futures so if there's someone in particular you’d like to see let me know!! I’m planning on doing Cavendish, Dakota, and Sara at least in the next batch!! 

[wordynerdygurl]

Seven Minutes in Heaven

Author’s Note:  Well hello my friends!  Since hitting 1000 Followers in July (WHAT?!  STILL UNBELIEVABLE!!!) I’ve been working on the requests sent in by my amazing troop of readers!  This is another one of those stories which I’m pleased to share.   As always, help my unending need for validation but re-blogging or liking the story!  Also, you can send asks, make your own request, follow me, or be added to my tag-list! Last, @sammy-jo1977 is my beta... and my ride or die home girl!  Thanks lady! Pairing:  Loki x Female Reader, appearances from most of the Avengers

Summary/ Request:  @queenofmischief asked for a story where “Loki and you guys are friends growing up and you realize you like him and try to hide it but somehow at a party or something or another, maybe Seven Minutes in Heaven is involved, it comes out and really hot smut ensues?”

I used some of the ideas you gave me, dear reader, but made it a little more mature, so I sincerely hope you enjoy!

Warnings:  Lots of 80′s references... music, movies, clothes, etc.  References of smut, heavy petting and kissing

ENJOY!

"But, like, I really don't want to go."  Your cellphone, pinned between your ear and shoulder, pushed your earring into the tender flesh behind your lobe.  It probably didn't help that the jewelry in question was a pair of huge hoops, fluorescent in color and hard plastic.

You heard Wanda sigh, "Yea… I know.  It's just, we all are… and you know it'll be worse if you don't show up."

"I really hate it."  Using a sing-song voice didn't change the feelings behind your words.  Going up to the main floor of The Avengers Tower for a theme party was not a thrilling idea.

"I know you do-", pulling open the door between your room and hers, you palmed your phone, frowning at your friend, "-But you look great!"

"Radical… or wicked… or tubular would be more 80's appropriate."  Still, her compliment made you smile.  It really was a great outfit, totally encapsulating the MTV generation's vibe, complete with hot lime colored leg warmers. 

 Your cropped REO Speedwagon t-shirt was cut off at the neck, dripping low enough to expose one whole shoulder, and a wide stripe of the magenta colored tank top underneath.  Having tucked the camisole into your acid washed denim micro miniskirt, you finished the ensemble with a pair of black pumps, and the obligatory scrunchie of cheap yellow satin.  It pulled your hair into a low, side ponytail.

For makeup you'd painted your eye-shadow on, bright turquoise with pink under your brows.  Lipstick in a shimmery rosy hue brought extra attention to your lips.  And you stored your cell phone, lip gloss and keys in your iridescent fanny pack.

Wanda couldn't help giggling at the sight of you and your collection of clashing colors.  For her look tonight she'd dawned a pair of skin tight leggings, an over-sized button down shirt with a stretchy black belt that was about four inches wide.  Ballet flats, teased out hair and stark makeup had Wanda looking like a video vixen.  It was impressive.

"See, you went sexy… and I went silly."  Pouting now, you flopped onto your bed, "Can I just not?"

Sitting down next to you, patting your knee, "You don���t look silly, but you do look like you could be a hair band groupie!  That’s sexy!” Shrugging your shoulders, unconvinced, Wanda added, “Besides, tonight… It may be fun.  And, worse case?  You get blitzed like a teenager on prom night."

"No… that's not the worst case.  Worst case?  He's there."

Sighing, Wanda shook her head, "He does still rub you the wrong way, huh?  And, yes, he may be there… but-" standing, taking you with her, "-it would be a shame to waste all your wicked cool work!"

Hearing her use the dated vernacular made you grin.  She was right.  Tonight could be a blast, if you were able to get out of your head.  Jumping off the bed, unsettling one of those fashionable leg warmers, you hugged your friend tightly.  You could do this.  You wouldn't be alone.  And if Loki was there, he'd just have to get over it.  You weren't going to pay him any attention.

---

"Mr. Loki… can we please go?  We're already stupid late."  

Bending to straighten his red suspenders, Loki smirked at himself, "Greed is good."

Sighing, exasperated and edging into anger, Peter pulled open the front door, "I don't know what that means, but you look… greasy."

"Like I could steal your company in a corporate take over?  Maybe steal your woman too", Loki questioned, excited at the idea.

Crossing his arms over the red puffy vest he had bought specifically for tonight, Peter grunted, "Uh… I… I guess.  I meant more like one of the assholes in Wolf of Wall Street."

God, you had better be there tonight.  Loki was putting a lot of hope on Stark’s little shindig and he wanted to make sure that all of the little details were absolutely perfect, giving him every advantage.  Standing now, slicking back his long dark hair, "That, my young spider friend, is exactly what I am going for… Evil 80′s CEO."

"Great."

Loki heard the frustration in the young man’s voice.  Someday he would understand, Loki thought, turning to the youthful Avenger beside him, "You certainly make a dashing Marty McFly, Peter.  Truly."

"Aw!  Really, Mr. Loki?  Ya mean it?"  That made the Spider Boy preen, popping his collar, and standing a little straighter.

"I do!  Now-" flashing a rakish smile to his reflection as he passed, "-let's get upstairs and see how everyone else is doing!"

---

Everyone else was ready to party.  The last mission, a particularly difficult one, involved Hydra agents banging it out against our heroes along the rough terrain of the polar ice cap.  Draining the physical and emotional resources of everyone, including you and Loki, Tony had planned a little party to kick off a period of rest and relaxation.

As soon as the elevator opened you knew it was going to be an insane night.  Everything was brightly lit.  Paper streamers were strung up haphazardly along the walls and ceiling.  Big plastic buckets of chips and cheese curls were put out on the counter along with a huge punch bowl that reeked of rum and sugary fruit juice.  On the floor in the kitchenette was a garbage can, freezing, full of ice, only the keg tap visible.  A stack of red plastic cups was at the ready.

Someone had ordered pizza.  Well, dozens of pizzas.  The boxes were piled along the table already crammed with pretzel bags and Doritos.  

Steve was being instructed on the basics of Beer Pong and, you decided, definitely being hustled by Sam.  Bucky looked on with curiosity, quietly sneaking closer to the chips and dip, hoping no one would notice.  Rhodey was watching them both through the reflective lenses of his aviator shades, doing a great job of looking like a Top Gun cadet, including the tight jeans and broken-in bomber jacket.  Grinning as he drank down a bottle of beer, Rhodes shouted, "Hey Stank!  Is all of this really necessary?"

"Don't come for me Rhodey!"  Wearing a pair of neon leopard spotted knit pants, a green polo shirt and white sneakers, Tony was clutching a glass bowl filled with little slips of paper to his chest.  No one had managed to figure out what they were or why he held them.  Drinking two beers from his plastic, can holding helmet, Tony would answer only with a slightly slurred, "It's my trashy 80′s party and I do what I want!"

And Tony had thought of everything.  Sounding like a mixed tape pulled from the radio, the tunes didn't let up!  Ratt, Foreigner, Cindi Lauper, Madonna and Tom Petty all took turns blasting through the room.  So many hits from the past pumped through the sound system, getting people on their feet and keeping them there.  You were swinging and swaying along, having a blast, but when Bon Jovi hit the group of Intergalactic Warriors went wild.

Clint, rocking a mullet wig and a vest with no shirt, jumped onto a table making the motions of an air guitar champion.  Singing into a beer bottle like it was his microphone, "Whoooooaaaa we're halfway there…"

Guffawing, you hid behind your Bud Light filled cup, already red cheeked from the non-stop laughing and alcohol in your system.  At some point you had given up Wanda to Vision in a varsity jacket, doing his best jerk-off jock impression, and not quite pulling it off.  It wasn't his fault that he was too polite to put people down in the way of Eighties movie bad guys. Alone, feeling flushed, but happy, you needed a break and some quiet.  Flinging yourself onto the soft sofa, watching the frat house style antics unfold all around, you couldn’t help laughing.  Tony always found a way to knock the group out of their post mission funk.  Sometimes that meant week long Caribbean vacations and sometimes that meant dressing up in retro attire and scream singing with a cold beer in your hands.  Either way, it seemed to bring everyone closer together, and the pictures were certainly worth framing. The couch dipped as someone joined you.  Swiveling, not quite drunk but not quite sober, you couldn’t help the groan that left you.  “Oh.  It’s you.”

Not exactly the response Loki wanted, he was just grateful that you spoke to him at all.  Lately you seemed to flee any room he entered, a hurt and heavy sigh escaping you before you'd make your exit, never looking back.  Loki couldn't understand why.

After all, it had been two months since that night.  The one where he'd stumbled on you, glowing blue in the light of the television set, alone and in the darkness.  You asked him to join you, he had accepted.

The movie was called "Say Anything" and Loki had to admit, as far as romance on film went, this story was very moving.  But that was an unexpected bonus to being so near to you.  Before the credits rolled, you had burrowed against him, snuggled under his arm with your head on his chest.  

Stroking your hair, Loki pressed a kiss to your forehead, thoughtlessly, naturally.  Pushing away, looking up at him through hooded lashes, "You… you kissed me?"

Words failed the silver tongued devil, something he still pondered all these weeks later, so a nod was all you got for a response.  Kneeling, your sleep shirt riding over your thighs, Loki watched your small hand rising to cup his cheek.  Feeling your lips against his own was the beginning of the best night of his life.

And then, nothing.  It was like a switch had been thrown and no matter how many ways he tried to reach out for you, Loki wasn't able to connect.  Not like that night.

So, he was going against his nature tonight.  Joining the group, drinking a bit of his brother's mead, wearing a dated but pristine business suit.  All done in the vain hope that something would shift in his favor.

He had already lost too many nights to memories of you.  Soft, full skin under his broad palms.  The tiny moan you exhaled when Loki’s tongue met your own.  How your wet, willing body accepted him, without question or stipulation.  And in the afterglow, when your head rested in the crook of his neck and your cherry cola scented breath circled him, you let Loki hold you close.

But he buried it all.  Tonight he was the embodiment of all things slick.  Nothing could stick to him; not when he had a goal in mind and this much gel in his hair.  Loki Odinson would be taking you home tonight, come hell or high water. Wolfish, Loki’s grin was wicked, “Yes.  Your dream has come true.”  Sitting back, he crossed his designer suit covered knee at the ankle, exposing socks with little golfers on them.  He let his right arm rest along the back of the sofa, not around you… not yet, but inching closer. “What is that cologne you’re wearing?” “Don’t you like it?  I’m told Drakkar Noir was quite the scent of the 80′s.  I did my research.” Twisting, you looked him over, impressed despite yourself.  The suit was totally of its time.  Black, pinstriped and you were sure the jacket that came with it was draped somewhere safe.  His shirt was shiny but soft and bright, blinding white.  Suspenders of red matched the tie that draped down the center of his chest. With his hair combed straight back and held in place with some kind of product, Loki looked like he was capable of eating a six course lunch at Sardi’s, complete with dirty martinis, then jetting back to the office in time to defraud a corporate spending account.  The kind of executive that blackmails a co-worker with pictures of a mistress.  The kind of douche bag that tries to take over a rec center to build a mall.  In short, an avarice little asshole.  So, why was it so hot? “It’s… overpowering.”, boy, was that an understatement.  Loki’s whole aesthetic was overpowering right now.  And, was he moving closer? His bent knee brushed against your own as he leaned near enough to be heard at a whisper, “You look adorable, you know that?” Scrunching into the corner of the couch, eyeing him suspiciously, “Oh?  Really?” “Really.”, his hand brushed over your exposed shoulder, making you jump at his touch.

Uh uh.  No way.  You would not be so easy to seduce this time around.  Even if those wide hands sent goosebumps growing all over your body, Loki would not charm his way into your panties again.  Not like last time.

It had been spontaneous.  Genuine, at least for you.  And in the moment, it felt like Loki had given you a little piece of himself, a tenderness that no one else ever saw in the far flung Frost Giant.  

Maybe that's why Clint's words hurt so much.  He had told you so casually, holding up a spoonful of Cheerios, "Loki said his last girl was a drag.  Basic bitch?  Is that what the kids say?"

Thinking about it now made your heart hurt.  You had given yourself to someone who thought you were beneath him.  Loki couldn't want you.  You would never be good enough.

But that night haunted you.  His soulful kisses that stole your breath.  The drag of Loki’s hands over the swell of your bottom as you straddled his hips.  His solid chest under your own hands, dark head curved against the couch cushion, but those burning eyes never leaving your face.  “I thought you said I was plain.  Simple.  Boring.”  

Leveling his own words back at him made Loki straighten in his seat.  How could you think that?  Unbalanced, stammering, “Uh… I… I’d never…” “Never expected me to find out?  I believe that.  And, let me tell you this-”  Pushing yourself up with the help of the couch’s arm, you rose on unsteady legs, “-I’m not nearly drunk enough to fall into your arms again.”  Spinning away, you made a dash towards the people in the kitchen, without looking back. Watching you go, Loki could do nothing but stare after your retreating form, flummoxed.

“That was… painful.”

He knew that voice well enough, frustrated, confused and unfit for company, “Go away, Tony.”

“I don’t think I will.  In fact-” sitting down in your empty spot, patting Loki’s knee, “-I’m going to make myself comfortable.  Now, tell Uncle Tony all about it.”

Rolling his eyes, unable to find you in the crowd, Loki risked a sideways glance at his replacement companion.  Was he really going to indulge in this?  Tell his almost friend about you… about your one night together?  Loki raked his hands through the pomade in his hair, growling low, “If you breathe a word of it Tony, I’ll-” Lowering his wrap around sunglasses, peering at Loki, Tony smiled, “Your secret is safe with me.” ---

Thinking less and less about Loki as the night went on should have been a relief but it seemed like the scent of him followed you everywhere.  Unable to get free of him, you busied yourself with drinks, dancing, and munching like you were a kid again.  Anything to keep your mind from wandering.

It's not like the party was boring.  Not at all!  There was plenty to distract you and you let it.  Natasha made you her partner for beer pong and somehow you successfully won against Rhodey and Sam.  

Next, Wanda needed you, which is how you wound up sitting on the bathroom sink listening to her go on about Vision in that wistful, loving way that made your own heart ache.  Being a little drunk, you had to fight the urge to cry because you were lonely and hurting. “I saw you talking to Loki… what was that about?”  She was reapplying ruby red lipstick, studying herself in the mirror, not looking directly at you.  

Wanda's voice cut through your self doubt spiral though, something you were thankful for, and with a casual tone you countered, “He was trying to get something started, I think.” Eyebrows lifting, Wanda’s interested piqued,  “Really?  Loki was hitting on you?” “Yea… I mean, I think so.  Was coming on awfully strong too.  But… he’s been a jerk, right?”  

Wanda cleaned up her eye make-up taking a minute, after washing her hands she looked at you, “I mean, he is here.” “So?” “So, you know he’s not really a joiner.  More of a lone wolf.  In fact, I think this may be the first of these little parties he’s come to.  Maybe he’s changed… grown a bit?  And, honestly, you never asked him about-”

Hopping off the counter, cutting her off, more than a little huffy at her good sense, “No, I didn’t and I don’t plan to.  Loki thinks I’m a bore?  Too basic for him?  Fine.  I have better things to do with my time.” Laying her hand on your shoulder, Wanda stopped you, eyeing you in the mirror once more, “I know his words hurt… but you’re going to have to clear the air eventually.  Especially if we’re all going to work together.”

Shrugging, you offered your friend a small smile.  There was truth in her sentiment, even if your slightly drunken brain rebelled against hearing it, “Yea, you're right… plus-” looking around the small washroom, just to make sure no one could hear the pair of you, “- he looks really hot tonight!”

Giggling, Wanda hugged you close, “I didn’t want to say anything, but… yea he does!” The pair of you were still laughing together, standing at the back of the crowd as Tony turned down the music, announcing, “Gather round children, Uncle Tony needs your attention!”  There were a few groans, mostly from the beer pong table, as apparently Bucky was unhappy about forfeiting his winning match.  Everyone else, in all their high haired glory, were congregating near their host, curious and more than a little drunk.

“Tony, what the hell, man?  You killed the tunes!”, Clint shouted, spilling Bud Light foam as he joined the tightening circle. “Patience, my drunk friend.  You all remember this?”  From the table nearby, Tony picked up his glass bowl, triumphant, “Our Destiny!”

Pepper, sighing with a smile, “So dramatic!” Shaking the bowl in her direction Tony smirked, “Ok smarty, then you pick first.  Go on… Pick!” There were oohs and ahhs from the assembled Avengers.  Rolling her eyes, Pepper reached in, grabbing the first slip her fingers found.  Pulling it free, she grinned, eyeing Tony, “It says ‘Loki’...” Hearing his name, Loki snapped his head up, surprise registering on his face, “Excuse me?” Holding it up for his examination, Pepper waved the slip under the regal nose of the junior Odinson, “See… your name.” “Yes, but why?”

Butting in, Tony snatched the scrap from the hand of his lovely fiance, practically dancing with glee.  Turning to Loki, “Now you, Gordon Gecko, pull a slip.” Aware of all eyes locked on him, Loki reached into the jar, digging around a little more than necessary.  Finally satisfied, the thin paper pinched between his fingers, Loki opened the folded note.  When his fierce gaze met yours, you knew without a doubt.  It was your name he had grabbed. Throwing a thick arm across Loki’s broad shoulders, Tony hugged him close, “Well?  What’s it say?” It all made sense in that moment.  The tacky costumes, flat beer and endless music.  A drunken moment of clarity had descended.  Tony, waving his arms, eating up the crowd’s reactions, heads turning to gauge your response.  Swallowing hard, your hearing failing you, you just faked a smile. You and Loki were going into the closet for Seven Minutes in Heaven. Only there was no way you were going to do that.  Not after what he’d said.  Not after your one night together, right?  But you felt a gentle hand pushing your forward, into the center of your circle of friends and for some reason, your feet followed.  

Refusing didn't enter your mind.  With everyone ogling you and Loki, making a scene would only cause more speculation, something you weren't keen to do.  Instead, you stepped next to Tony, outwardly eager to play along.  

You just shouldn't have dared to look at your proposed make out partner.  Laser focused, Loki’s lusty look hadn’t wavered.  No, the light in those thundering blue eyes was carnal, darker than you had ever seen, matching your own.  Against your better judgement, you wanted Loki, too.

Whatever Tony was saying was a blur, merely sounds, because you were utterly stunned by the nearness of Loki.  The roaring laughs of the rest of the group were drowned out by your pounding heart.  A door opened to a dim room, the pantry maybe?  You didn’t know and in that moment you didn’t really care. 

With a small smile, Loki ducked into the cupboard, lacing his fingers with yours, offering a bit of his strength.  Dragging you inside, your body pinned between a shelf of snacks and the hard body of your frenemy, a whimper of want passed your lips.  Loki still smelled so good and now he was so close.  “Have fun you two!”, Tony’s words were accompanied by the door shutting you and Loki inside, in the dark.  Surrounded by silence, Loki’s sharp pants were the only sound louder than your racing pulse, which was saying something. Afraid to move, afraid of spooking you, Loki struggled to search your stare in the low light.  He had already experienced your angry dismissal of his attention tonight.  It wasn't something he wanted to relive, not when you were so close with sweet and speedy breath, your chest brushing against his own at each exhale.

Lifting a hand, grazing over your uncovered shoulder, Loki's touch was electric.  You moved towards it, towards him, needing more of his energy.  Craving it.

Bold in the dark, you grabbed at Loki’s suspenders, tugging him closer.  Rising on your toes, covering some of the distance between your mouth and his, you pressed a hot kiss to those soft, pink lips.  Under your fluttering fingers Loki shivered, "Darling-"

"Shut up.  I… I don't care."

"But I never…"

"I told you.  I don't care.  Now kiss me like you mean it, because we only have about six more minutes!"

Not needing any more encouragement, Loki found the flare of your hips in the shadows, molding your curves to the rigid planes of his body.  Desperate, needy, you felt his tongue move against your own.  Want, plain and simple, led your own fingers to the collar of Loki’s starched shirt and the tangle of his raven hair. Fisting it, tugging against those luscious locks, you couldn’t seem to get close enough to the tall God sharing your cupboard.  Whining, his name on your lips, you drew Loki tight enough that the press of your breasts was edging towards pain.  Demanding, true to your word, with every pass of Loki’s magical mouth over your own the last few weeks were forgotten. Hungry for more, Loki roughly squeezed the flesh of your ass, grinding you against his wool blend covered crotch.  Stuttering, his arousal was so stiff, for a minute Loki worried about making a mess.  But that feeling was replaced with unbridled ecstasy when your lips found the tender skin below his ear.  

A nip, enough to make Loki hiss, was soon soothed by your sucking on the same spot.  Resting your butt on the nearest shelf, you didn’t have to stand on tip-toe to reach the soft, sweet sections of Loki where you longed to lavish attention.  He took advantage of your new position by sliding a free hand along the swell of your separated thighs.  “I just need to feel you, dove.  I need to know that you want me as much as I want you.”  It was a husky whisper, directly into your ear, and it sent an arc of icy fire to your core.  When his long fingers skimmed over the silky slick of your panties you moaned in unison, bucking into Loki’s touch, lost in the moment. Stepping between your legs, Loki took one of your hands into each of his own, pinning you wide open against the boxes of cereal and granola bars that lined the pantry walls.  Devouring you slowly, Loki kissed along the column of muscles at your throat, across the exposed line of your clavicle.  You could do little more than take his delicious torment as more and more of your sweat dappled skin was serviced by his silver tongue. “Yes… Loki…”, tumbling out of you, just like the night when you first came together, you crooned his name in delight.  Breathless, boneless and broken with need. CLICK!  The sound made you both freeze.  Snapping swiftly, Loki’s head swung towards the door where the bright light and noisy crowd of the party was intruding into your private pantry. “WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!  What do we have here?”  Swinging into the tight space, Tony’s shrewd look took in the scene in seconds, “What were you two doing in here?  It was a very quiet seven minutes!” Straightening to standing, Loki stood, blocking you from sight as you readjusted your clothes.  Smoothing down his tangled strands, sarcasm dripping, “Talking.  Very quietly.”  When he was sure you were decent, Loki offered you his hand, and blinking you stepped back into the wild and raucous party still in full swing.  Tony, flashing a knowing grin your way, nodded, “I hope you didn’t smush the chips!  We still need those!” Giggling, you locked onto Loki’s arm, letting him lead you towards the keg and away from the shouted questions of your friends.  You knew there was no mystery about what happened in those seven minutes.  Hair mused, makeup smudged, lips swollen and shirts twisted, the pair of you were walking neon signs for getting to third base.

Silently Loki poured you a beer, taking a small glass of Asgardian mead for himself, before raising his glass your way.  Returning his gesture, you downed the frothy ale fast, feeling a little parched after your spit swapping time in the hall closet.  Boring into you, his eyes followed each of your movements, searching for a sign of your feelings. Dropping your empty cup on the counter, you turned and jumped onto the marble ledge, feet dangling.  “Loki?” Placing his own glass down gently, Loki took his position between your bent knees, looking down at your darling face, “Yes?” “Did you say those things?  That I was… boring?  Basic?” Shaking his dark waves no, Loki bit into his bottom lip, “Never.  What I said was, my last girl, ages ago, was those things… but my new lady-” tracing along your jaw, tipping your chin his way, “-she is everything I could ever want.”

“Am I… am I your new lady, then?” With a fierce flicker of fire in his eyes, Loki nodded yes this time, “Absolutely.” Leaning into him, arms around his neck, you tugged him down to meet your waiting lips.  “Good.  Good to know.  Because I think I’m going to watch a movie tonight.” “Really?  I recall really enjoying the last one.” “Hmm… me too.”  Sliding off the counter, ducking under Loki’s long arms, you turned back to face him, “My room… say, an hour?”

Snapping his suspenders, smirking, “I’ll be there.”  Watching you skip away made Loki’s pulse pound in anticipation.  Pouring himself another glass of clear liquor, he chuckled, amazed at the change seven minutes had created.  

“You’re welcome.” “Ah!  Yes, many thanks Tony.”  

Leaning against the counter, Tony knocked into Loki’s shoulder, “You’re cute together, Rock of Ages, but don’t make me regret helping you tonight!  Treat her right.”

“Of course.  I... truly, thank you.”, sincerity seeped from Loki at the favor from Tony. “No worries!  No worries!”  Waving away any additional gratitude, Tony looked over the group of half cocked, and totally cocked heroes before him, “Of course the real bitch was getting Pepper to pull your name from the bowl…”

My Marvelous Minxes tag-list:  @queenofmischief @vodka-and-some-sass @just-random-obsessions @brokenthelovely @lots-of-loki @thefallenbibliophilequote @iamverity @iluvsumbucky @unadulteratedwizardlove @wolfsmom1 @procrastinatinglikeabitch @mizfit2 @shxdowofdarkness @nonsensicalobsessions @ahintofkiwistrawberry @jessiejunebug @rorybutnotgilmore @crystalizedcaramel @lokislittlecorner @scrumptious-finicky-illusion @capcapcapsicle @jamielea81 @caffiend-queen @thenatalie @sammy-jo1977 @otakumultimuse-hiddlewhore @is-it-madness @jenjen8675309 @alexakeyloveloki @poetic-fiasco​

[kumeko]

A/N: For the Hold On @tokkazine! I love how these two banter and play off each other.

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Every time Sokka came to Republic City, it felt like a brand-new place. Fields turned into houses turned into buildings until he could hardly recognize the place. The way people travelled, the businesses opened, even the fashion styles changed with the blink of an eye. It was almost impossible to keep up with and there was little wonder that the rest of the world could hardly keep up with the city’s innovations.

Even the people living in the city had a hard time keeping track of it all.

Still, despite how the roads changed, Sokka never once got lost when he headed to Toph’s office at the police headquarters. His body had long memorized the route, even as the sights around him changed. Including, it seemed, the actual headquarters: the building in front of him was twice the size of the old one and fancier too. Sokka stared up at the imposing brick building, bemused.

“When did they even find the time to make this?” he muttered, feeling awkward as he stepped inside. Sometimes, he missed when the department was a small, two-room affair. Toph had only one or two assistants at the time, and her title hadn’t so much been Chief of Police as it had just been The Only Police.

Now there were a dozen people looking at him as he stood in the lobby. They were all dressed in a grey uniform that looked a little like an overcoat with armoured shoulder pads. Recognizing a few faces, he waved as he quickly trotted along the long carpet to back. Toph’s office was always the biggest room in the place, and he scanned the ids next to the offices as he passed. There were two plaques labelling each room, the second in braille, and he smiles as he finally found an open door with her name on it.

Sokka poked his head in to find Toph standing next to a table, her brow furrowed in concentration as she manipulated a metal ball. As usual, when she focused, it was like the rest of the world stopped existing.

Which meant it was the perfect time to surprise her.

Slowly, he tip-toed in, the plush carpet muffling his steps. The best thing about her office was how plain it was—the blank walls were a bright white, the furniture limited to her desk, chair, and one super comfy couch. There was nothing around for him to bump into, nothing to navigate around.

One, two—

“Hey, Snoozles!” Toph chirped, smirking as she set down the metal ball. “You got to do better than that.”

Sokka pouted, crossing his arms as he gave up the jig. “How do you always know when I’m here?”

“My radar, duh?” How Toph ever learned to roll her eyes despite being blind, he had no idea. He was half certain she’d learn it specifically to make fun of him and Aang, but he could never be certain. “Come on, you’ve known that for years.”

“Not that.” Sokka snorted, slightly insulted. “I meant, how do you know it’s me? I didn’t even say anything.”

“It’s…it’s obvious it’s you.” He wasn’t sure if it was the lights or if he was imagining it, but her cheeks looked rosy pink as she dug her fingers in her thighs. “When’d you get back?”

She was the changing the subject. He would have glowered at her, but there was no point. “Fine, keep your secrets.” Maybe it was another Earth-bending skill she was developing. Grinning, he padded over to her, wrapping arm around her back for a tight side hug. “Just now! I dropped my stuff at the temple and bam! Came to see you!”

Toph wrinkled her nose, though she didn’t step away. “You smell like it too.”

“Hey, that’s the sky bison, not me.” Discretely, he sniffed himself. It wasn’t that bad.

Then again, he’d been smelling sky bison for the past few days; maybe he wasn’t the best judge. Pulling away, he sheepishly rubbed his neck. “Maybe I should have taken that bath first.”

‘You think?” Toph chuckled. Heading over to the sofa, she picked up her grey coat. He could just make out a small badge at the front as she draped it over her arm. “Let’s get dinner.”

“Didn’t you just say I smelled bad?” Sokka frowned, confused.

“Didn’t say I couldn’t handle it, did I?” Toph raised a brow, looking more amused than annoyed. “’sides, I’ve handled criminals all day. You’re the least fishy thing I’ve handled.”

Sokka guffawed, loving the duel meaning. God, he’d missed this—there were so few people who got his sense of humour. Even fewer who could make jokes. Sometimes, he dealt with Katara for so long he forgot that not everyone else was a humourless worrywart.

Hands in his pockets, he waited outside as she closed the door. “You good to go now?”

“Yep.” Toph grinned slyly, her voice lowering to a whisper as she leaned closer. “You know what’s the best part of being blind?”

He felt a little like a giant as he bent over, lowering his head so they were at the same level. Despite getting a growth spurt over the years, Toph was still the smallest person he knew. “What?” he whispered back playfully.

“I never have to handle the paperwork.” She winked at him devilishly before humming as she headed toward the doors.

Sokka laughed again as he walked apace with her. Her poor subordinates.

As they slipped out the police station, he asked, “So why the new uniforms?”

“Blame Twinkle toes.” Toph shrugged. Fortunately, despite it being mid-September already, the weather was warm tonight. It was comfortable walking around in his usual sleeveless vest, and Toph even unbuttoned the top two buttons of her dress shirt. She scrunched her nose. “He wanted us to look the same or something. I think it’s stupid.”

“Why? Uniforms are cool.” Sokka pulled the collar of his vest and stood up a little straighter. “I happen to look very good at them.”

Toph shot him a disgusted look. “I’m sure if I could see, I’d gouge my eyes out.”

“Hey!”

“Besides, if Katara or Zuko picked them, sure, but Aang?” She stopped walking and unfolded her coat. Tugging it on, Toph rested her hands on her hips as she turned to him. “Does this look good to you? I can tell just by feeling them they’re ugly.”

“They’re…” Sokka stared at it as the slightly big coat hung loosely off her shoulders. Aang hadn’t even gotten the size right. He’d seen it on the rest of her coworkers but seeing it like this—it wasn’t great. The shoulder pads were too big. The coat was really plain and out of place. “It has…a nice badge?”

“See?” Toph shrugged out of the coat before he could say anything else. Hanging it off her arm, she continued walking. “Everyone hates them except for Aang.”

“I can talk to him,” Sokka suggested, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as they walked. “It’s not like they’re completely terrible, maybe if we…”

“If you find a solution, I’m all ears.” She kicked a pebble and it skittered across the road. “How was the trip?”

Sokka brightened immediately. It was hard not to, considering the past few weeks he’d had. If there was one thing he liked about his job as an ambassador of sorts, it was the travelling. Maybe it was their journey to save the world, but he’d gained a sense of wanderlust from it all, an inability to stay still. Grinning, he started to tick off his mini adventures. “Awesome, I got to go to the Earth Kindgom again, ate the bestdumplings, save the Lettuce-man’s stall for once—”

“He’s still in business?” Toph’s jaw dropped in surprise, an utterly rare sight that he immediately committed to memory. She moved her hands rapidly as she tried to articulate as a proper sentence. “But his cart—didn’t we burn it down once?—I thought he wanted to—he’s still in business?”

“Yes, yes, I don’t remember if we did that, yes, yes,” Sokka replied easily, not bothering to hide his amused laugh. “I guess if we’re not near him, he actually does good business.”

“You just said you saved his stall,” Toph pointed out, raising a brow. She still had a look of utter disbelief, as though he had just destroyed her worldview like they had destroyed cabbage all those years ago.

“Kinda?” Sokka admitted sheepishly, rubbing his neck. “I was kinda the reason it got in trouble in the first place.”

Toph snorted, shoulders shaking with silent laughter. “That sounds about right.”

“Hey!” he protested, shooting her an ineffective glare. Now that he was older and his voice deeper, he could actually growl properly, but she still never took him seriously. Despite her jokes and how childish she acted at times, Toph was very much an old soul, as steady as the earth itself.

“Anything else happen?” she asked, ignoring his objections as usual.

There was no point in arguing. With a sigh, he shrugged. “Lots of ambassador paperwork—”

“Which is why I never want to go.”

“—and Uncle Iroh looked fine.” Sokka frowned, processing her last sentence. “I thought you couldn’t do paperwork?”

“Nah, I won’t want to.” Toph smirked mischievously, and he felt sorrier for her assistants. “Also, Uncle Iroh?”

“Look, it’s really weird calling him just Iroh, okay?” At the memory, a shiver ran through his spine. “I don’t even call our village elders by their name, and they’re like half his age.”

Toph scoffed. “I don’t think he’s that old.”

“Well, okay, maybe, but he feels like it. I tried calling something else and then he got weird about it so we just…settled for Uncle.” Sokka sighed. “And that’s not even going into how weird it is to workwith all of these firebenders. We fought them for so long, and now I have to ride with them on Appa. Like, we all had a little adventure with Zuko, right? How am I supposed to do that with a thousand people?”

“Sounds rough, buddy,” Toph agreed, roughly mimicking Zuko’s voice as she reassuringly patted his arm.

Sokka exploded in laughter; Toph’s imitations had only gotten better with time. “You should have heard Zuko whenever I call him Emperor.” He made a strangled cry; his imitations weren’t too shabby if he said so himself. “I thought I accidentally killed him.”

Toph howled with laughter. “I’m doing that next council meeting.”

He blinked. Now that she mentioned it, she did meet with Aang and Zuko on a regular basis. She was the chief of police for a city they both had founded. Curious, he asked, “Wait, then what do you call him?”

“Sparky and Twinkletoes,” she replied bluntly, without an ounce of hesitation. “What, you think I’d actually call Aang ‘respected avatar’?”

“Even in front of the council?” Now it was his turn to gape, and he almost tripped over a pothole.

“Especially in front of the council.” Utterly unrepentant about it all, she grinned devilishly. “Man, if you could have heard their gasps…”

“I’d try it, but I think Zuko would kick me out.” Sokka laughed. It was ridiculously easy talking to Toph, even for something inane as this. A cool evening breeze wafted by as they walked down a narrow street infested with potholes, but he didn’t mind it. Hell, he didn’t even mind the smell that came from the nearby developments. They could have been walking through Zuko’s palace, the way he felt.

Humming, he squeezed her hand.

Her hand.

Sokka glanced down. They were holding hands. When had that happened? Somehow, he hadn’t noticed, and even now all he could say was how comfortable it felt. Her sly insults, her warm hand, the way she walked as though she ruled the place; every part of it felt like an integral part of him coming home.

“Sokka?” Toph asked as she stopped in front of a brightly lit restaurant.

She’d laugh. No, she’d tease him about this for the rest of his life. That he was the densest person on the planet, to realize like thisthe reason he always looked for her the second he came to the city, how he kept finding her in the corner of his eyes whenever he travelled away. But he’d always been some flavour of an idiot. Suki had told him as much when they’d started dating, and Katara never failed to mention it when he’d missed the signs of her pregnancy.

He liked Toph.

Everything felt so simple the second he’d thought the words, all the pieces falling into place. Elated, he blurted out, “Wanna go out with me?”

“Wha—?” Toph blushed, her cheeks tinged an adorable pink as she gaped at him.

Sokka stared at her for a minute before realizing that he hadn’t actually explained anything out loud. “Er, I mean, you’re—”

Toph snorted. She actually snorted at his confession, letting go of his hand as she headed into the restaurant. “We’ve been dating for months now, Snoozles. What are you talking about?”

“Yeah—” He let out a strangled cry. Sokka shouted at her retreating back, “WHAT?”

Sticking a finger in her ear, she turned to him. “We’re at a restaurant, have some manners.”

It was utterly rich, coming from her, but he couldn’t deny she had a point. Already, strangers around them were gawking at them curiously, twittering softly about the Chief of the Police and one of the Avatar’s Ambassadors. Hunching slightly, he quickly stalked after Toph. “Right.”

“Good.” Her hands were in her pockets now as she entered the small restaurant. It smelled lightly of sizzling meat and spice, a strange aroma that reminded him of that firebender town in the Earth Nation. A small shop, it only had about a dozen or so tables, most of them packed with couples or small families.

Raising her voice, she called out, “Two.”

“Two?” A middle-aged woman turned away from the table she was waiting on. Recognizing Toph, she smiled brightly. “Chief Toph! Your usual spot’s open.”

“Nice!” Toph grinned as she headed further into the restaurant, to a table just outside the kitchen doors. “We’ll have the usual.”

“You have a usual spot?” he asked, momentarily forgetting about their discussion. “And a usual?”

“I’m their number one customer,” Toph added cheekily, slipping into a seat. “I swear this place changes hands like every five months, but the food’s always good so whatever.”

“Isn’t that a bad thing?” Sokka muttered, wondering just how good a place could be if they kept getting shut down. Still, it smelled good at least, and his belly rumbled in anticipation. “The food here…”

Toph’s smile grew wider. “Recognize it? It’s some sort of Fire Nation/Earth Nation fusion thing.”

“Fusion?” Considering Republic City’s purpose, he should have expected that earlier, but still. He looked around curiously. Now that she’d mentioned it, he recognized the decorations—the stone badgermoles, the copper dragons, even the fans had different styles of decorations. “No wonder it smells familiar—it’s like that town we visited.”

She hummed her agreement. Leaning back in her chair, she clasped her hands behind her head. “If you’d come like three weeks ago, you could have had the Water/Fire one.”

“Whaaat?” Sokka slumped over, put out. “Why didn’t you tell me this? We could have eaten there the last time I came!”

“You didn’t ask.” She shrugged nonchalantly.

Grounding his teeth, he crossed his arms. “Is that also how we’re dating? Cause I didn’t ask?”

“No, that’s…” she trailed off, her cheeks tinged an adorable shade of pink. “You did ask.”

“Huh?” Sokka struggled not to shout again, using all of his willpower and self-restraint to keep his tone at a neutral level. “When?”

“Months ago.” Despite her obvious embarrassment at it all, she didn’t shy away from conversation. “You asked me to go out with you.”

“I did?” He clasped his face, his fingers digging into his cheeks as he struggled to remember. What had they been doing months ago? God, he couldn’t remember, it felt like years ago. Hazarding a guess, he replied, “I think I just meant go out? Like going out to eat or going out to do something?”

“Who tells someone let’s go out when you just want to eat?” Toph hissed, daggers in her voice. He flinched.

“If we were inside, then we had to go out to eat. Besides, we both know I’m bad with words,” Sokka hotly defended himself, willing to even throw himself under a bridge to get out of this mess.

“But that bad?” Toph growled, irate. She knitted her brow as she asked, “Then why do we keep going out for dinner?”

“Because we’re friends?” Sokka held his hands up, not sure how to explain this better. “I eat with the others too sometimes.”

“Not like you eat with me,” she argued, her fingers digging into the table. “I’ve asked and Zuko and Aang said you don’t eat with them as much as you eat with me.” When he opened his mouth, she added, “And you travel with Katara, so that doesn’t count.”

He snapped his jaw shut. “It’s not that much,” he muttered under his breath, averting his gaze.

“Twice as much,” she pointed out, raising a brow.

“Oh.” Now that she mentioned it, he had been seeing her a lot recently. “I like your company?”

“You’ve given me hairpins and random gifts,” she said flatly. “You just held my hand.”

“That’s…” Sokka couldn’t deny it. His hand clenched involuntarily, remembering how firm her grip had been, the callouses on her fingertips.

“That?” she repeated.

There really wasn’t another word for it. “You’re right. That does sound like dating.”

God, no one was going to let him live this down. Anyone could do anything, and it wouldn’t match the stupidity levels of this.

“Like I’m ever wrong,” Toph derided. She leaned back slightly away from the table as the middle-aged woman from before walked by, her arms laden with dishes.

“Here you go, your usual,” the woman chirped as she set down two plates in front of them. A curried chicken sat on a bed of rice. Despite how dark brown the curry looked, it smelled faintly of pepper. “Have fun!”

Before he could say anything, the woman gave them a wink and disappeared into the kitchen. Now that he thought about it, that happened a lot whenever they went out to eat. Sokka couldn’t even explain that away, there was no good reason for him to miss that. He really was an idiot.

Gleefully, Toph dug in. “They cook so quickly.”

“What’s this?” Sokka poked the chicken gingerly, a little suspicious. Toph had unusual tastes sometimes, though he hadn’t yet determined if she genuinely liked strange food or was just messing with him. Either way, it did smell nice, so maybe she wasn’t pulling his leg this time.

“The usual,” Toph replied, mouth full. “Trust me, you’ll like it.”

If there was one thing his journeys had taught him, it was to never question food too hard. It was meat, something he couldn’t have at Aang’s, and that was good enough for him now. Hesitantly, he swallowed a spoonful. Despite the spice, he only felt a mild heat as he chewed. More than that, he felt the Earth Kingdom’s more earthy flavours blending in with the Fire Nation’s sharp ones. It was a strange sensation. His tongue felt a little numb from it.

All in all, though, surprisingly good. He took another bite, praising, “I’d eat this all the time too.”

“Right?” Toph grinned at him cheerfully, as she shoveled yet another spoonful. She looked like a chipmunk, with her puffed up cheeks. “Told you.”

It was silly, really, how bubbly he felt just watching her smile. She looked utterly ridiculous, a police chief acting like a little kid over a meal, but there was something utterly endearing about it all. His courage swelling up, Sokka boldly grabbed her hand. “Let’s go out.”

Toph almost choked on her food. Grabbing a glass of water, she forced it down before kicking him. “We’re already going out.”

“Kinda?” He didn’t bother to refute it this time. Even he had to admit the signs didn’t look good. “But I wanted to ask you properly this time.”

She flushed lightly. “Do you now?”

“Yes.” He reached over, covered her hand in his. It felt right. It had always felt right. “Hey, Toph, I really, really like you. Want to see what happens?”

“Really, really like?” she repeated, scoffing. “What are you, five?”

Despite her words, though, her cheeks were as red as flames. He wanted to kiss her. Leaning closer, he asked, “So?”

“Do I need to answer?” she mumbled. For all her cool before, she was a mess now, unravelling with every honest word. “You think I would have pretend-dated you for months otherwise?”

Sokka laughed, almost at her lips now. “No, I guess not.”

Realizing what he was after, the blush spread to her ears and neck as she angled herself for the kiss. They ended up bumping noses and he laughed again. That was just like them. “Oops.”

“You’re so bad at this,” Toph grumbled, grabbing his collar and pulling him down for a proper kiss.

[chilling-seavey]

When Universes Collide - The AU Mini Series

The Lotus Inn is a place we all know well; and a place where all universes collide in a small ripple of the time space continuum. It’s the spot for characters of alternate universes to meet and interact – even those who are from vastly different worlds and timelines. In this one-shot, the characters from the universes of this blog gather for lunch at the Lotus Inn restaurant and discuss their similarities and differences.

Warning: This does contain spoilers to any and all fics on my blog so read with caution if you haven’t read all of them!

A/N This obviously isn’t part of any timeline and is just something I wrote for fun with a bit of help from T-Anon and @randomlimelightxxx​! To tell each Daniel apart, they will be called by their fic name as their formal title…it might be a bit awkward at first but it would be the only way to not confuse the heck out of you since there are five nearly identical looking Daniel’s sitting around one table. (Also, I see this play out like a stage performance in my head which is weird).

A/N2 Let’s see how many times the word ‘Daniel’ is used in this story

The Lotus Inn – 11:54am

A table for five sat empty in the corner of the restaurant. The room was trimmed in purple neon lights and decorated in floral pictures with an old brick wall supporting the large bar along the back. It wasn’t busy as the crowd usually came in for the daily after-dinner partying and the quietness of the restaurant was only filled with the bar tender wiping down the glasses to stock.

The door to the restaurant opened and a stream of bright light pooled into the room from the outside, nearly brightening the space more than what the large paned windows along the from wall allowed. In stepped a young man, his hesitation obvious as he stepped over the threshold and his blue eyes scanned his surroundings. He wore a military uniform that was ironed to perfection, donned in two well dressed medals on his left breast, and he took off his matching cap when he stepped inside, offering a stiff nod in greeting to the bartender.

Passchendaele Daniel

Age 22

He was the first to arrive and he made his way over to the reserved table in the corner, sitting on the chair closest to the door. Habit. Made for an easy getaway if it was ever needed. He held his hands together on his lap, back straight, and his flat expression starting to fall into space.

The restaurant stayed silent. The bartender kept to himself and the few other patrons sat on the far side of the room, minding their own business.

The door opened again and a voice fell inside along with another pool of light.

“She’s a one-year-old, Jack, give her a cookie and sing her a song and she’ll go right to sleep. Ask the other two for help; they’re great with her. I can’t come back now, my meeting has barely even started. I’ll be an hour, tops. I think you can survive that long.”

The slightly older man who just came in had his cellphone pressed to his ear and closed the door calmly behind him. He looked a bit flustered and definitely tired; his dyed blonde hair was faded to mostly its natural brown tones again and he shoved his car keys in his pocket messily as he listened to whatever his friend was saying through the line.

Anything But Mine Daniel

Age 25

His blue eyes landed on the young man already at the table and he paused in spot for a moment before saying much quieter into his cell phone, “I gotta go. I’ll call you after.”

He hung the phone and headed slowly over to the table, holding out his hand to the man in front of him.

“Hey. Nice to meet you. I’m Daniel.”

Passchendaele Daniel glanced up at him and then to his out stretched hand and pulled a tight smile before taking his handshake, “Myself as well.”

They shared soft smiles as Anything But Mine Daniel sat down in the chair on his other side. They fell into a momentary silence, not quite knowing what to say at first. It was a strange situation to be in: staring at yourself from another universe and entirely different timeline.

Gentle music filled the restaurant and the two young men glanced across the room to the jukebox. A third stood in front of it, having just slid in a quarter to select a record, and the gentle voice of Elvis brought liveliness to the restaurant. He turned with a pleasant smile, his hair slicked back in a soft wave, and startled slightly by the older two staring back at him.

Heartbreak Hotel Daniel

Age 18

He offered them a crooked smile and headed over to join them, “Hi.”

They shared their introductions – being easy since they all shared the same name and nearly the same face – and Heartbreak Hotel Daniel took his spot across from Anything But Mine Daniel. He glanced over at the man in his old military uniform beside the oldest but looked away against before he could be caught staring. He adjusted the collar of his button-up shirt and dropped his shy gaze to the wood table top.

“What desserts do you offer here?”

The three men all looked towards the bar where another was stood on the bottom brass foot rest of the bar counter to stand higher, holding himself up on the marble top as he spoke to the bartender. He wore a Georgian style suit, dressed poshly down to the puffed tie in the collar of his pale blue jacket and shiny black shoes, his soft brown hair brushed pristinely over his forehead.

Amoureux Daniel

Age 17

The bartender eyed the young prince for a moment and then simply gestured to the menu hung on the brick wall behind him.

“I’ll just take the lot of it.”

He slid a few paper bills across the counter before heading over to the reserved table. His smile was wide and infectious and he offered firm handshakes around the table.

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Prince Daniel of York. Second in line to the British throne.”

“Royalty at our table? That’s unbelievable.” ABM Daniel gaped, eyeing the youngest’s clothes as he plopped himself down in the free chair across from Passchendaele Daniel.

“Forget Royalty. I’m going to be a composer.” Amoureux Daniel tisked as he leaned back and loosened his tie around his neck to let himself breathe before rolling up his sleeves too.

“A composer? I’m in music professionally. What do you play? Piano?” ABM Daniel asked.

“Piano and cello. Piano’s my favourite though.” Amoureux Daniel grinned.

“Mine as well.” Passchendaele Daniel smiled shyly.

“You as well? Oh, splendid.” Amoureux Daniel clapped excitedly. “I was worried you lot would be as lame as my older brother honestly.”

Passchendaele Daniel’s smile fell as fast as it was formed and he dropped his head down. The other three easily saw this change and the youngest two from across the table habitually looked the eldest for guidance. ABM Daniel’s eyes were wide with surprise and he set a gentle hand on Passchendaele Daniel’s shoulder.

He spoke softly, “Are you okay?”

“I…” Passchendaele Daniel took a moment to compose himself before looking up into the friendly eyes of his older counterpart, “I lost my brother in the war. He was my best friend.”

“Shit.” Amoureux Daniel breathed from across from him.

Heartbreak Hotel Daniel slowly pressed his hand to his mouth in shock.

ABM Daniel hesitated a moment but gave his shoulder a friendly squeeze, “I’m really sorry.”

Passchendaele Daniel only shrugged lightly, “It is what it is, I suppose.”

“What war were you in? The First World War or the Second?” Heartbreak Hotel Daniel asked as gently as he could around the obviously traumatised man.

Passchendaele Daniel’s eyes went wide in fear suddenly and he looked between the other three guys, “There is a second?!”

“I didn’t even know there was one in the first place.” Amoureux Daniel said in defence as he reached for one of the desserts before the bartender could even set the plate down at their table.

ABM Daniel and HH Daniel exchanged wide eyed glances before looking back at the frightened soldier. ABM Daniel rubbed his hand over his back soothingly, offering the best reassurance he could, “Not in your time, don’t worry. But I think we need a new topic to talk about now.”

“Please.” Passchendaele Daniel mumbled thankfully.

“Isn’t there supposed to be a fifth one of us here too?” HH Daniel asked.

“I thought so too.” ABM Daniel pulled out his cell phone to check the time.

“What is that?” the other three young men asked him at the same time.

ABM Daniel glanced up at them and looked between their mirrored confused expressions like he was sitting at a table with triplets. Different brunette hair styles and different clothing but all with the same light blue eyes and youthful faces. He looked back down at his iPhone and held it up slightly, “This?”

They all nodded.

“It’s my cell phone.”

“It’s a telephone? Where’s the chord?” HH Daniel asked, leaning over the table to lift it up as if to look for the chord that should have somehow attached him to the wall.

“Where is the handset?” Passchendaele Daniel added. “If there is no handset, how do you hear your friends?”

“I have no bloody clue what the hell any of you are talking about.” Amoureux Daniel laughed through a mouthful of cake.

ABM Daniel smiled and looked between the other three, “I guess that’s right since you are all from the past, huh? Well in my time they make telephones that can go in your pocket. They don’t need chords.”

“That’s brilliant.” Passchendaele Daniel breathed. “And you can talk to your friends into that little box?”

“Yeah. Wanna hold it?” ABM Daniel offered.

HH Daniel leaned over the table to get a look as Passchendaele Daniel carefully took the iPhone from ABM Daniel and cradled it in his two hands like it would break if the wind blew too hard. The screen lit up as a text message came through and Passchendaele Daniel gasped in surprise, staring down at the lit-up screen and the little box that read words.

ABM Daniel reached over to swipe away the notification, revealing his lockscreen wallpaper: a photograph of his family from the day his youngest was born, all cuddled up together on the couch.

“Is that your family?” HH Daniel asked, still leaning over the table.

“Yeah. It is.” ABM Daniel smiled widely, taking his phone to set it on the table for all of them to see, “That’s my wife, Florence, and our girls; Clementine, Penelope, and Lucy.”

“That’s so sweet.” Amoureux Daniel said, “I just had a son a few months back.”

“You have a child?” HH Daniel gaped over at him. “How old are you?”

“Seventeen.”

“You have a kid at seventeen?”

“Yes. Ran off and got married young. He’s just born so no need to have a fit.” Amoureux Daniel snickered teasingly. He picked up the plate of desserts and held it out to him. HH Daniel stared down at the desserts for a beat but then shook his head politely.

“My wife is expecting our first child.” Passchendaele Daniel spoke gently.

“Oh, congratulations!” ABM Daniel said, helping himself to a dessert from the spread.

“Yes, thank you.” Passchendaele Daniel mumbled. “I am a bit frightened; I must admit.”

“Parenthood is a scary thing but it’s also the most amazing thing you could ever experience.” ABM Daniel assured him as he slid his phone back into his pocket. “I am sure you will be a great dad.”

Before anyone else could speak, loud muffled music could be heard from outside the restaurant and they all turned to looked out the large front windows; watching as a shiny white Tesla pulled up to the curb. The music cut off as the drivers side door opened and their fifth guest stepped out. His hair was dyed blonde and hair sprayed to messy perfection and the sunglasses perched on his nose were designer, his whole outfit dripping in expensive pieces, down to his leather pants and black boots and silver chain hung around his neck.

He came inside the restaurant and everyone’s eyes were on him – even the bar tender – as he slid off his sunglasses and offered a cool smile to the room.

Qui Totum Vult Totum Perdit Daniel

Age 23

He caught the glance of the other four young men at the table in the corner and he sauntered over to greet them. He offered a handshake to all of them before sitting at the far head of the table, “Sorry I’m so late. Promo ran later than expected.”

He glanced around the table at the four pairs of wide blue eyes staring back at him. There was a beat of silence.

“Wow, this is sick. It’s like I’m looking in four mirrors.” QTVTP Daniel chuckled. He set his sunglasses on the table. The other four pairs of eyes followed the action but they didn’t speak. “You’re right. Need to at least make up for my lateness. Hey, bartender?”

The man looked over to the table as QTVTP Daniel raised his hand up to get his attention, “Pitcher of water, round of beers, and let’s get some appetizers? Give us your top…six sellers. All on my card.”

“You don’t have to pay for all of us.” ABM Daniel said.

“Let me. It’s the least I could do. You come all the way out here to this shabby hotel and I’m thirty minutes late.”

The bartender brought over the pitcher of water, five glasses, and five bottles of beer, setting them all on the table. QTVTP Daniel took out his OffWhite wallet and pulled out his credit card, passing it over to the man with a smooth thanks.

“Let’s drink, boys.” he smiled, rubbing his hands together before reaching for one of the bottles.

“I’m not of age.” HH Daniel mumbled.

“Neither am I.” Amoureux Daniel added.

“I don’t drink anymore.” Passchendaele Daniel said.

“I have to pick up my daughters after this so no alcohol for me either, thanks.” ABM Daniel finished.

QTVTP Daniel looked between the four sitting around him, “Wow. Alright. More for me then.”

ABM Daniel took the initiative to pour the others their glasses of water as he offered a casual question to the late arrival, “What promo were you at?”

“For my record company.”

All four heads snapped back up to look at him.

“You work at a record company?” HH Daniel gaped.

“Own it. Yeah.” QTVTP Daniel chuckled. “My best friend and I have owned our own company for the last…two or so years? We’ve travelled the world together. Made some music. Made a name for ourselves. It’s amazing.”

“Wow. It’s always been my dream to be a signed artist but my parents convinced me to go to university instead.” ABM Daniel said.

“It’s pretty sick.” QTVTP Daniel smirked. “You meet a lot of cool people.”

“Are you well known?” Amoureux Daniel asked. “Do you work with people such as Bach? Or Mozart?”

“Bach or Mozart? Nah. Not yet at least. But we just signed a band that dropped their second album and it went number one worldwide.”

“Good God.” HH Daniel gasped. “You’re like Elvis.”

“I guess.” QTVTP Daniel laughed lightly, taking a sip of his drink as he leaned back in his chair.

“Do you produce too?” ABM Daniel asked.

“Yeah. We do most of the producing but we write and manage too. I have an eye for the industry.”

“That’s so cool. I’m working at a production studio myself. I’d love to run some demos by you…get your professional opinion…bounce some ideas around.”

“Yeah, for sure, bro! That’d be awesome. We can do that later.”

The other three young men stayed in momentary silence, sipping their water with Amoureux Daniel nursing the plate of desserts. He glanced over at HH Daniel on his right, staring at him for a moment, especially the remanence of a bruise that was colouring just under his left eye.

“Did you get in a fight?” Amoureux Daniel asked bluntly.

HH Daniel looked over at him, watching the youngest bite into a truffle, “Yeah. Corbyn beat me up.”

That caught the table’s attention and they all looked at him in surprise.

“Corbyn hit you?” ABM Daniel gaped.

“Mhm.” HH Daniel nodded shyly. “I was trying to stick up for my soulmate and he didn’t like that I was trying to take her from him so he beat me up.”

He stood up and lifted up the bottom of his shirt to show off the fading bruise over his stomach as well. The men groaned pitifully at how obviously it must have hurt.

“My Corbyn is so nice.” Passchendaele Daniel frowned.

“Mine too.” ABM Daniel added.

“Mine’s kind of lame. Everyone in my life is lame.” Amoureux Daniel tisked.

“What? You think you’re better than everyone?” QTVTP Daniel chuckled, taking a sip from his glass bottle.

“Not necessarily. I just don’t want to have to live the same boring life that they think I need to.”

“I’ll drink to that.” QTVTP Daniel agreed.

“Here, here.” Passchendaele Daniel raised his water cup and they all held out their glasses into the middle of the table to cheers through soft laughter.

Their conversation paused a moment as they drank. HH Daniel shifted in his seat slightly, tossing back the rest of his glass of water is he had been deprived for days and set the empty glass back on the table with a loud clunk. QTVTP Daniel slid over a bottle of beer and none of them spoke as they watched him unscrew the cap and take a long sip. The eighteen-year-old grimaced through the drink and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“You’re really going through it, bro.” QTVTP Daniel stated.

“Yeah, I suppose.” HH Daniel grumbled, pushing a hand through his hair.

“Well obviously since he got punched in the face.” Amoureux Daniel added.

“I just…” HH Daniel sighed, staring at the table top, “We have soulmates in my universe and even though I found mine…she doesn’t want me so I’m suck tasting everything she tastes and it being a constant brutal reminder of her.”

“Why doesn’t she want you?” ABM Daniel frowned.

“I’m a loser? Hell if I know.” HH Daniel scoffed, he took another long sip of the beer no matter how disgusting he thought it tasted. At least it overpowered the taste of tea that was grazing his tongue.

“There’s a girl you’re in love with who has a trashy boyfriend? Well, take it from me who has literally been in your shoes,” ABM Daniel reached across the table to grab the beer from the eighteen-year-old, “You get nowhere from drinking away the pain or hating yourself.”

“You had this happen too?” HH Daniel asked softly, hopefully.

“Yeah; was best friends with this girl I was hopelessly in love with and I had to see her go from boyfriend to boyfriend no matter how often I was there for her.”

“So what happened?”

“She became my wife eventually.” ABM Daniel smiled softly, “Just give it time. Don’t push her because she’ll just feel suffocated. Let her come to you. She’ll see what she’s missing.”

Amoureux Daniel held out the half empty plate of desserts to HH Daniel and he finally took a small pastry as the youngest said, “In addition, you are in a universe where you can taste what she tastes and, from my experience, the way to a woman’s heart – and up her skirt – is through her stomach.”

Passchendaele Daniel choked on his water while laughter rose over the rest of the table.

“What do you know about ‘going up skirts’? You’re, like, barely fifteen.” QTVTP Daniel scoffed through his disbelieving laughter.

“I am seventeen, thank you very much, and I have a baby.” Amoureux Daniel corrected, nearly boastfully. “I know just plenty about going up skirts.”

Of course, that was right when the bartender came over with their food and his confused expression had the five young men smothering back their nervous laughter. ABM Daniel and Passchendaele Daniel cleared a space on the table for the food to be set down and all five of them thanked the man before he headed back behind the bar. With a full spread in front of them, they all dug in and piled up a small plate each to start to eat. It was quiet for a moment as they got settled and started to eat, passing the salt and pepper and various plates to each other when asked. It was comfortable.

“So,” ABM Daniel broke their silence first, directing his question to Amoureux Daniel, “how did you and your wife meet?”

Amoureux Daniel cracked a cheeky smile, “Well, she came to England to marry my older brother, but she liked me better, to be blunt. We would sneak around the castle and a few times at night…you know…”

There were two ‘oo’s from ABM Daniel and QTVTP Daniel, while Passchendaele Daniel looked between them all with wide eyes.

“You…You were involved with her before you were married?” he stammered.

“While she was engaged to my brother too.” Amoureux Daniel hid his smirk behind a bite of a mozzarella stick. “My most thrilling and incredible few months, I must say.”

“Oh my gosh.” Passchendaele Daniel’s cheeks flushed a slight pink and he tugged at the collar of his uniform. “That’s…ahem…”

“Did you not go near your wife before your wedding night?” Amoureux Daniel asked bluntly.

“Let’s not go nosing into everyone’s private business.” ABM Daniel said strongly.

“Wait, I’m still confused. Where did you sneak off to?” HH Daniel asked shyly.

The table chuckled lightly – even Passchendaele Daniel cracked a nervous smile – and HH Daniel looked between all of them, waiting for an answer.

“To bed.” Amoureux Daniel laughed, patting him on the shoulder. “You’ll understand one day.”

“I…you…I-I understand perfectly well.” HH Daniel blushed furiously, turning quickly down to his plate and shoveled a nacho in his mouth to avoid continuing the conversation.

“To answer your question,” Passchendaele Daniel continued, trying to keep himself a bit brave and a bit interesting to the four other men, “No, I did not go to bed with Elizabeth until our wedding night. It did not feel right to deflower her until our union was official.”

“Deflower her.” QTVTP Daniel repeated slowly, biting back his smile as he took a sip of his beer.

“Well that’s what it is, is it not?” Passchendaele Daniel said sternly, narrowing his eyes at him. “I like to think that making love is the most sacred act and shouldn’t be just thrown around to anyone.”

“I agree.” HH Daniel mumbled, earning a thankful smile from the soldier.

“Jeez, then I’m quite the sinner.” QTVTP Daniel chuckled to himself. “I slept with my girlfriend on our first date.”

Passchendaele Daniel huffed softly and turned down to his plate. Amoureux Daniel and HH Daniel glanced at each other through the awkward tension that seemed to settle.

ABM Daniel cleared his throat, “Let’s maybe change the topic. This isn’t really lunch appropriate.”

“Wow…you are such a dad.” QTVTP Daniel snorted, shaking his head in near disbelief.

“What’s wrong with that?” ABM Daniel frowned at him. He couldn’t get much of an argument out before his phone was ringing in his pocket and he pulled it out, sighing when he read the caller ID, “Sorry, I gotta take this.”

The other four watched him get up from the table and head across the restaurant as he answered the call,

“What is it now, Jack?”

The table fell into a momentary silence.

Passchendaele Daniel broke it first with a mumble of, “Jack in my universe is dead.”

The other three looked between themselves nervously. They didn’t answer, ducking their heads down to their plates to focus on eating their lunches. No one spoke until ABM Daniel returned and he sat back down with a heavy exhale.

“Sorry, being a dad is a job that is never done. What did I miss?”

Amoureux Daniel, HH Daniel, and QTVTP Daniel just looked at him and shook their heads ever so slightly. Passchendaele Daniel sniffled, keeping his head down, and took a sip of his water.

“Everything alright back home?” HH Daniel asked softly over to ABM Daniel.

“Oh, yeah. My youngest just hates when I’m not within arm’s reach so she’s been giving Jack some trouble. She’s only one so…doesn’t know much better.” ABM Daniel smiled at only the mention of his daughters. “I have pictures…if you want to see.”

“Of course.” HH Daniel beamed.

ABM Daniel took out his phone again and opened up his photos app to swipe through a few and he passed the phone across the table. Amoureux Daniel and HH Daniel shifted closer together to see and QTVTP Daniel leaned over the side of the table to look at the pictures too. QTVTP Daniel took control of the swiping since he was the only one who knew how cell phones worked and they all smiled at the pictures on the screen, ‘awe’ing at the cutest ones.

“The baby looks just like you.” HH Daniel said. “Well…like us, I suppose.”

“Yeah.” ABM Daniel chuckled. “I get that a lot.”

Passchendaele Daniel stayed quiet on his right, eating in silence, and unbothered. He sat as if he didn’t want to draw any more attention to himself. ABM Daniel looked over at him as the other three kept scrolling through his pictures and he reached a hand onto the table to gently get his attention. Passchendaele Daniel looked up at him with a flat expression and almost tearful eyes.

“Are you alright?” ABM Daniel asked softly.

“I don’t do well without my Elizabeth.” Passchendaele Daniel whispered for only him to hear. ABM Daniel was always the best listener and the easiest to talk to and it was obvious to the struggling soldier that he was someone he could trust.

“Do you have a picture of her?” ABM Daniel offered, as some way to keep his mind busy but happy.

A small smile perked at the side of Passchendaele Daniel’s lips and he nodded, reaching into his uniform jacket and he pulled out a small sepia photograph and held it out to his new acquaintance. ABM Daniel smiled thankfully at him and took the photograph, looking down at the old fashion photograph of the gentle young blonde woman.

“She’s beautiful.” ABM Daniel said politely.

“She is. I’m the luckiest man in the whole world to have her. She saves my life every day.” Passchendaele Daniel breathed, his gentle smile grazing his lips ever so delicately as if he was in deep thought.

Three teasing exclaims from across the table caught their attention and ABM Daniel quickly reached over to snatch his phone back. The picture they had swiped to was of Florence in nothing but a small towel blow-drying her hair in the bathroom mirror; a simple moment that ABM Daniel couldn’t help but capture with her in all her natural beauty.

“No more of that.” he blushed furiously as he pocketed his phone again.

Passchendaele Daniel offered his photograph of Elizabeth to the table and the three young men on the other side gladly took it. She was effortlessly beautiful and the three youngest at the table stared at her for a bit longer than was honestly necessary. Passchendaele Daniel bit back a proud grin at their obvious interest.

“I don’t have a photograph of Loretta.” HH Daniel mumbled. “If I did, that would be considered extremely creepy on my part.”

The photograph was passed back to Passchendaele Daniel who pocketed it again and HH Daniel reached to grab another serving from the platters in the middle of the table. A small corner of paper poking out under the dish caught his attention and he wiped his hand on his jeans before pulling it out from under the plate. His eyes went wide at the photograph of Loretta that stared back at him from his hand.

“What’s that?” Amoureux Daniel asked, leaning over his shoulder to take a look.

Surprised, HH Daniel couldn’t find his words for a moment, “I-It’s Loretta.”

The Lotus Inn works in almost magical ways through this ripple in the time space continuum. HH Daniel pulled the picture closer, his heart only aching slightly at simply the sight of her.

“She is hot.” QTVTP Daniel broke the momentary silence.

The four other Daniel’s glared at his bluntness and he put his hands up in defence as he sat back in his chair.

“You can’t have her so don’t even try.” HH Daniel scolded softly before turning back to the photograph. 

“I don’t want her. I have my own girlfriend.”

HH Daniel glared warningly at him as he passed the photograph across the table to ABM Daniel and Passchendaele Daniel to take a look at too.

Amoureux Daniel shifted in his chair and reached into his pocket, sure enough to pull out his own picture of Louisa and their brand-new baby son. He stayed perfectly quiet for a moment as he stared at the image himself, disbelieving.

“Oh wow.” he breathed. “It looks so real.”

HH Daniel looked over his shoulder and smiled at the sweet photograph of the young mother holding her baby, “That’s adorable.”

Amoureux Daniel smiled over at him, “That’s my Louisa. And our little prince.”

“Let’s see!” ABM Daniel excitedly held his hand out to take a look at the photograph.

QTVTP Daniel and Passchendaele Daniel glanced over his shoulder with mirrored smiles.

“Damn,” QTVTP Daniel said as he sat down again, “Glad to know we have taste.”

Their pictures were passed around and stories were shared – QTVTP Daniel offering up his phone to show off pictures of his girlfriend and he shared his excited plans to propose to her. 

The five young men seemed to find their comfort with each other. Laughter soon filled their table between words of advice and guidance and comfort and soon the food was gone and the drinks were finished and they were all resting back in their chairs through their conversation.

“Is your hair naturally that colour?” Amoureux Daniel asked QTVTP Daniel.

QTVTP Daniel habitually ran his hand through it, fluffing it up a little at the sides, “No, it’s dyed. I kinda like it like this though so I might keep it.”

“It looks cool. Maybe I should go blonde too. Loretta seems to like blondes better anyway.” HH Daniel said.

“No!” The other three at the table said quickly.

HH Daniel looked between all of them in confusion, “Why not?”

“Florence cried her eyes out when I went blonde.” ABM Daniel said. “I swear she was ready to divorce me. It’s not worth it.”

“You look just fine the way you are.” Passchendaele Daniel agreed. “Don’t change just because her boyfriend looks a certain way.”

“Yeah. You’ll regret that.” ABM Daniel nodded.

“I dunno. I don’t regret it.” QTVTP Daniel said coolly.

“You’re not helping.” ABM Daniel snapped lightly, making the rest of the table laugh.

A momentary silence fell over the group, all of them staring into space with content smiles and full stomachs, most topics of conversation well used. The bartender came over to clear the empty plates and they all thanked him once more. ABM Daniel took out his phone to check the time again.

“Well, it’s been over an hour. Maybe we should say our goodbyes. I have little ones to pick up.”

“Yeah.” HH Daniel sighed, setting his napkin back on the tabletop. “I have to pack for college.”

“I have a meeting...” QTVTP checked his watch, “5 minutes ago. Shit. Jonah’s gonna kill me.”

He got up quickly from the table and put his sunglasses back on before taking one last sip of his beer. They all stood up after him and started to gather their things to go.

“Can we take a selfie before we leave?” ABM Daniel offered.

“A what?” HH Daniel laughed.

“A selfie.” Amoureux Daniel breathed. “That’s a ridiculous word.”

“A picture of yourself.” QTVTP Daniel explained.

“Yeah! Come over here.” ABM Daniel took out his phone again and opened up the camera.

“You can take photographs on your telephone? Incredible…” Passcehndaele Daniel breathed as the group gathered behind ABM Daniel and they all leaned in close.

The picture was taken, framing five exact smiles, five exact pairs of light blue eyes, and yet five slightly different hair styles and fashion choices. All their own individual but yet all one in the same.

They shared handshakes that turned into friendly embraces with pats on the back, well wishes, and final goodbyes as they headed their own ways home to once again be seperated by the division of space and time between alternate universes.

ABM Daniel lingered back in the restaurant for a moment, grazing his finger over the table he stood beside with a calm smile. He approached the bartender and ordered a plate of desserts to go – he didn’t get much since Amoureux Daniel seemed to hog them all for himself – and he wanted to bring home his girls a treat. He paid for the cakes and thanked the bar tender before heading out of the restaurant and into the bright sunlit street. His car was parked farther down and he waited in the drivers seat for Florence.

She came quickly out of the Lotus Inn as well, the heavy wind blowing urging her to hold her jacket closed as she rushed down the sidewalk, her dark blonde hair billowing around her head messily and she helped herself into the passenger seat of their car. With the door closed and the wind kept out, she sighed deeply with a content smile and smoothed her messy hair down.

“Hey, baby.”

“Hi, sweetheart.”

They both leaned in for a quick kiss.

“How was lunch?” she asked.

ABM Daniel thought for a moment as he took the car out of park and pulled out onto the street, “It was strange at first but really nice. How was yours?”

“Super fun.” Florence giggled.

“Great! Oh! We took a selfie. I wanted to show you how similar we all looked.” Daniel pulled his phone from his pocket and blindly passed it over to her as he drove through the streets of their city.

Florence took it and typed in his passcode with an excited smile. She opened up his pictures and tapped the most recent one, her smile falling, “Dani, this is only a picture of you.”

“I know!” Daniel laughed. “We looked like quintuplets or something!”

“No…I mean you are the only person in this picture.”

Daniel stopped the car at a red light and glanced over at his phone in her hand. His smile fell as well as he stared at the selfie he had taken before they all parted ways, only his own face captured in the frame, his four new friends missing as if they never existed in the first place.

[suspiciouslypinkrosegarden]

Pairing: Unknown x CMC Uyu (hey 2 ‘U’s 💗)

This lil piece was written for @official-rfa ‘s request for some Unknown lap kissies, which I just had to do because that is already such a solid chunk of my brainrot

It’s still the 25th for me TT my time zone is just wacky and behind so I promise this addition is on time! I apologize for portions where my writing abilities fall through as it’s late and I’m falling asleep while writing jfjfjd

Unknown was the type of man Uyu could easily say she’d never let herself care for, let alone fall for, at least initially.

It wasn’t that she found his looks unappealing, being as gaunt and lacking in strength as he was, unlike the conventional standard most held for a man. It also wasn’t because of a lack of intelligence or his style of dress, nor was it necessarily about personality.

It was simply because he was nothing more than her kidnapper day one, which to those with sanity, does not equal the perfect spark for a new relationship.

Letting the ‘Stockholm syndrome’ take over took its time, but eventually it won that battle over her screaming consciousness.

To her, Unknown is undeniably dangerously attractive. He’s as alluring as the cheesy myth of a beautiful vampire: tempting. Tempting you to join him and leave your world far behind you to live in his paradise for all eternity. And well, with the way he lets himself live, he may as well be a member of the undead.

Those mint eyes are the secret to his trance, a shivery coolness washing over her second she feels them lurking. When they capture hers, that’s when she’s done for, swallowing what feels like her entire heart caught in her throat.

And that’s not even mentioning the touches.

Uyu knows he does it all more frequently now to have his fun provoking a reaction, feeling cocky enough to test her now that she won’t get violent and swat him away. It can be something as simple as brushing her hair away to expose one side of her neck, and then lightly putting his fingertips to it, tracing up and down.

His hands are always cold without fail, but when one simply does as much as caress her cheek, she knows her body temperature is the perfect contrast to his.

He has her caught right where he wants her, but in some ways, she’s got him too. She’s not blind to his reactions when her warm hands massage his aching shoulders or fiddle with his coarse hair, feeling him lean into the sensation and soon expect more doting. The secret to getting “back at him” is affection he doesn’t ask for, being quite obviously touch starved.

Unknown, who very much like herself was so closed off at first, has grown used to a new presence in the dismal work room. That tiny woman’s existence now fills up the silence which previously engulfed his; from the sounds of her breathing, to her nagging, to her lips casually brushing against his skin for a soft peck. He rationalizes that Uyu is useful to him like this, since she can’t code worth a darn and refuses to, she can at least keep him going. As annoying as his assistant can be, forcing him to break from his many duties, he’ll admit he feels less lethargic now, although never aloud.

He’s survived on so little everything for so long, it’s irritating that she can’t understand him from her point of view, being so much weaker than he is. Quite frankly, with how strong he’s become in the powerful position he holds, he lets her get away with too much.

Almost daily, he’ll catch himself wondering why he does so.

She’s allowed to be so close to him, touching him and speaking to him without the same terror held in the lusterless eyes of the believers. Perhaps this is where the biggest shake up in his life lies, fear seeming to be the only thing those around him are capable of, unlike her. They all equally tremble in wake of the bark and bite of the savior’s guard dog.

Even now, as his lovely assistant rests in his lap, melatonin pouring from within her hands hard at work on getting out the knots in his back; she touches him with comfort and familiarity.

Uyu earlier shifted positions to sort of awkwardly wrap around facing him, head down resting on him to keep from blocking his vision of the monitor. In response to this, Unknown untensed and slumped forwards with his chin on her small shoulder, snaking his arms past her to type.

Dan understands she’s doing a decent job acting as his masseuse, not because he verbally praises her, but instead because when she finds a good spot, she’ll earn a gentle grunt from him.

Her ‘boss’ isn’t much for words, but actions and reactions make his truths readable. That is how she knows he likes it when she sits with him in the dead of night like this, even if she nods off doing so, which she’s already beginning to do.

If she can just get him to relax a bit more, perhaps dragging him to bed won’t be a challenge today.

She picked up her head and arms slightly, fingers finding their way to the back of his head to tangle in his locks and pet him with a soothing rhythm. She spoke in a whisper by his ear.

“Come now, let’s get some rest.”

No response.

“Unknown…?”

Calling his “name” (which he still refused to tell her, thinking it was so cute that she’d refer to him by a silly unchanged username in the first place), earned a low grumble this time. He was actively ignoring her, as well as his need for rest, which just wouldn’t do.

If he wanted to play stubborn, so be it.

She moved in to bring herself down to his throat, this time calling for his attention in a hush he could warmly feel against his skin.

“Unknown..”

He shifted in his seat, but Uyu wouldn’t stop there. Next came a kiss to his sensitive skin, and then another, and another, trailing from his throat up to the side of his neck and back down momentarily to go over spots that made him shiver, including his collar bones.

She wasn’t stopping her game of testing and he wasn’t ending his silence, although he was stiffening up a lot. This man surely was damn headstrong.

“Unknown..”

The next brush of her lips came to his earlobe, then moving to string along his jawline, soft and delicate as butterfly wings fluttering on each part of his cool skin. This time she finally earned a flinch.

“Feeling a bit kissy now, are we?”

He pulled away a tad, ending the little contest by taking her cheeks in one hand with a small squish, forcing her to meet his eyes.

“If your goal is to wind me down or seduce me into falling asleep, it’s not working.”

He smirked witnessing the red tinge he brought to her face now giving her the time of day. Without fail, she could act confident until he stepped in to change that, and Unknown quite liked the feeling of control over situations it gave him.

“If this isn’t working, then what will?”

“Not teasing me, that’s for sure.”

She gave him a fake pout.

“So you’re telling me just go straight for the lips next time, then?”

“Next time?”

His gaze changed to linger on her lips as he released her cheeks.

“Correct the mistake now, doll. Then we’ll talk.”

And with that, Dan went red as a ripe strawberry on a sunny day, but no amount of stuttering and stammering would wipe away his smug look. Knowing her awkwardness, she’d just make a fool of herself trying to stay calm and collected.

With no room for arguments, she just captured his sugary tasting lips as he had asked within a pleasurable kiss, hoping the oxytocin would do the trick and knock him down a peg.

Their kiss was tender and long, him moving his hands down to hold her by the waist with her legs straddling him to his rolly office chair. He was the one to pull her in deeper, making it more intense as his round cheeks flushed up to his ears with a burning heat. It felt more natural to do now, their eyes both shut as they untensed and melted together. Uyu pressed into his chest to feel closer, winning an escaped muffled groan from him.

He felt tense at first, maybe not 100% expecting the collision to happen so immediately, solid before he warmed up like butter in a microwave. She too let out a soft “mm”, hands then working down his arms with a ticklish motion to fuss with the clasp of one of his spiked bracelets, removing it from his wrist. This made him pull away gently, catching his breath before speaking.

“And what are you doing now, princess?”

“Well you can’t sleep with that on, can you? It might poke you when you roll over in bed…and now that I’ve corrected my mishap, that’s exactly where I’m dragging you. You need to get some sleep.”

For now, Unknown will let his good little helper believe she’s in the clear for taunting him and pulling him away from his duties. For now.

[forever--darling]

the frat boy’s boxers - s.m.

college frat au

warnings: 5.7k words of new beginnings, first day jitters, and the meeting of the roommate

prologue

It was late, dark, and the sun was no longer looming over campus. Your pulse quickened and your palms were dripping in sweat as you stared up at the three story house. The window was left cracked open and you watched as the breeze swayed the white curtains from side to side. This was insane and beyond anything you had ever done but you knew it was unavoidable. If you wanted to get into Alpha Delta Pi, it had to be done. 

You could feel the lingering eyes of the sorority girls as they crouched behind a line of bushes and internally cursed. Emily had to set up a car wash by herself, Maggie had to teepee another sorority house, and those both sounded better than this; standing in front of frat boy central, forced to steal sophomore and hockey player Shawn Mendes’ boxers.

2 weeks ago

As you drove down the winding road, you couldn’t help but come to a stop in front of the entrance. The large stone sign stood proudly for all to see as they drove by and into the start of the next chapter of their lives. Tan bricks and copper letters stuck out from the sign marked the beginning of everything. In your packed black Volkswagen golf, you twisted your neck down as you stared out the window towards the sign. You blinked at it, hardly believing it was real and with a small uneven breath, you pushed your foot back on the gas and surged forward. Within seconds, you were back driving on the road, hands tightly around the steering wheel as your eyes scanned the newfound area.

Two years ago, no one ever expected that you would venture more than a few miles away from your house. That you would settle into the local university because that’s what your parents wanted. Or more specifically what your mom wanted. No one ever thought after what happened in the winter of 2016, you would have left your hometown in exchange for another state entirely. It was two years of being locked away in your house with little access to anywhere except school or your bedroom, and you had quickly gotten sick of its light yellow walls.

Your junior and senior year were spent bent over your homework and college prepping. You were doing anything to get you as far away from that place you used to call home. You needed to get away for a while, from your overprotective and over loving parents and your twenty-four-year old sister who had moved back home. 

You used to love high school. With so many friends and guys wanting your attention, it was a fun two years then somehow the other two went down the drain by the two people who procreated you. Junior and senior you worked your ass off and above all else, obeyed your parents and clearly it paid off when you finished third in your class. You obeyed your parents, so it came much of a surprise when you told your family that instead of the local university that only stood ten minutes away, you would be attending the University of Washington. 

It came to quite a shock, not only was the college in another state but on the other side of the country. Thousands of miles away from the only place you had ever known. It became even worse when you had packed up your car and refused to let your parents drive you. They were so shocked and so heartbroken that they barely were able to protest when you gave them a faint goodbye, long bone crushing hugs, and pulled out of the driveway.

Maybe, they were so certain that you relied on them and that town so much that you would never leave their sides. Or maybe they felt like they didn’t need a large goodbye and that you would be back in their arms within months of being away. That the thought of being alone in a foreign place would send your anxiety through the roof and ultimately drive you back home after what happened when you were just sixteen. 

You had thought about the incident plenty of times. It was what changed your family and ultimately broke it. It was that very terrifying memory that drove the scary thoughts that you would be back in that small town in records time. And throughout the whole drive that took days to get to your destination, the reality hadn’t set in until you saw that sign. It was then as you stared at the letters, that you knew that if you didn’t want to run then, you weren’t going to want to run back home maybe ever. 

Some time between graduation and driving onto campus, things changed in you. You felt like you when you were sixteen again except this time more free. Changing that obedient student who stayed in on the weekends to study for tests weeks in advance, to someone who wanted to go out and do all of the things she missed out on. She became someone that wanted to be the one who went out with friends and got drunk at parties on the weekends. 

She wanted to be the girl that went on dates with random college guys on campus. She wanted to sleep with a boy and then kick him out of her dorm room the next morning. Somewhere between being eighteen to nineteen, the old you resurfaced. Like your parents weren’t there, trying to hide the world from you anymore. You were now a young adult who was capable of taking care of herself. In fact you were a college student who had no intentions of returning home to just sit back in that sad house and stare at those walls all day, separating you from the world that you had yet to know anything about. 

Now here you were no longer dressed in those baggy grey sweatpants and holey oversized hoodies, face bare, with your hair pulled out of your face. Instead, hair flowing freely down your back, makeup gracing across your features as you wore a pair of tight fitted blue jeans with a white long sleeve t-shirt and a red flannel. Bunny slippers left lazily behind in the closet that was filled with your brother’s t-shirts and cozy socks. In their place was a pair of white converse laced tightly against your feet providing comfort and style. This was who you were at the moment and you couldn’t wait to go and have some fun. 

As you were pulling into a parking lot near the hall that supposedly housed your dorm, you had caught a glimpse out of your window at the quad. A vast green area filled with small paths and large cherry blossom trees. They scattered the lawn providing shade and comfort away from the raging halls and campus parties. There was a part of you that wanted to just pull the car over and run to get a better look at the area, but knew that you had other things to do like eat and unpack. Maybe sleep. You had been in this car for far too long and now that you were here, there would be plenty of time to explore later. 

Pulling the car into an empty parking spot, you turned it off and took the keys from the ignition, stuffing them into the pocket of your jeans. You opened the door and climbed out, stretching your arms over your head as you did so. Looking around, you could only see a few students hugging their parents goodbye all having tears in their eyes or traveling down their faces. You knew if you had successfully found the main hall to ask someone about where the keys to your dorm and schedule were that you would no doubt see the same thing but to a higher level. 

You could have easily stopped and asked the many students that had been walking around the campus, especially the ones that were dressed in purple school tee shirts, bright smiles pulled across their faces about where to go. But for some unknown reason, you kept driving towards Parker Hall, thinking that your roommate was probably already settled into your sharing room and could just escort you to get your keys and your schedule. It was the best idea you had at the time since you were a freshman and didn’t know where anything was. Also considering, you were there without your parents, your roommate was the only option you thought you had at the moment. 

You convinced yourself so much that you wandered into the building and up the stairs already gaining a sniff of the musty hallways that were coated in white paint. Your eyes scanned the hall that seemed to be empty with doors closed and already decorated with pictures and names of the girls that resided with them. Suddenly at the sound of a small hiss, your eyes directed towards the end of the hall and felt relieved at the sight of one door open on the end where a blonde girl was struggling to pull in a large mattress. Were we supposed to bring our own mattresses? You thought to yourself as you approached the girl trying to wipe off the confused and slightly frustrated look on your face. 

“Need some help?” you asked, your voice gaining the attention of the girl. 

Her head lifted revealing her smooth pale skin and large green doe eyes. Her blonde hair was pulled into a tight ponytail at the top of her head, curling at the end. She was around the same height as you dressed in a pastel pink sweater with a white collar and a pair of jeans to go with her squeaky clean white sneakers. Realizing you were talking to her, she nodded with a soft smile as you proceeded forward and grabbed the other end of the mattress. You began to push as she pulled, already feeling the mattress slowly shift forward through the door. 

“Were we supposed to bring our own mattresses or something?” you asked, glancing at the stainless plush padding in your hand as your grip on the corner tightened, feeling your nails sink into it. 

“No,” the girl replied, yanking at the mattress as her cheeks puffed out in discontent, “I just prefer it more than the ones they provide.” 

“So, is there a reason you are trying to pull it into your room by yourself then?” 

“Oh, yeah well I told my mom that I could handle it so she left and as soon as my roommate laid eyes on it she stormed out of the room,” she explained as the mattress moved forward about halfway into the room. “I’m Emily, by the way. Emily Willard.” 

“Y/N Y/L/N,” you chuckled at her attempts to make introductions now of all times. 

After that, silence consumed the both of you besides the casual grunt or hiss as your muscles burned from pushing and lifting at the mattress. Minutes later, you had managed to get it all the way into the small quaint room and nestled into the wooden bed-frame that sat up against the wall of the room. It was opposite of the other bed that was already made and full of decorative pillows. You let out a loud sigh after the mattress fell into its place onto the frame and ran your fingers through your hair, feeling the small beads of sweat that had gathered at your hairline. 

“Thank you,” Emily smiled while bending over and holding onto her knees. 

“Yeah, no problem,” you laughed, smiling back at the blonde. 

As another minute passed, she finally stood back up seeming to have recovered from the lifting. She began to put a few boxes onto the mattress as she made conversation, “So have you gotten moved in yet?” 

“Actually, no.” you admitted, causing her movements to stop and look over her shoulder towards you, “I was wondering if you knew which room was Maggie… Harting’s. I’m her roommate.” 

“Oh, yeah. I met her. Dressed in leather. Total badass. She’s actually just across the hall, met her when my mom and I were unloading boxes,” Emily said, gesturing towards the hallway. 

“Cool. Thanks.” the words were short as your attention now was drawn to the hallway and your new roommate that you had yet to meet but now were intrigued by. 

“Not have your keys yet?” Emily’s voice perked up causing you to turn back towards her. 

You shook your head as your hand found its way into your jean pocket fiddling with the material on the inside, “No, I don’t know where to get them. Just thought it would be easier to find the roommate and ask her instead of question one of the purple greeters.” 

Emily laughed as you referred to the upperclassmen that were sprawled across campus ready to help and answer any questions to settle in the freshman or new students. “I completely understand. Well, if your roommate turns out to be anything like mine. Feel free to wander across the hall and I’ll be more than happy to show you where to go or help you move in.” 

“Thanks, that sounds great. I’m sure I’ll see you around,” you waved, stepping out into the hallway with a small smile on your lips. 

“Yeah, of course,” she replied reciprocating the wave before her door slowly clicked shut, leaving her to unpack and settle into the small room. 

You took a deep breath as you walked over towards the door that held where you supposedly were going to spend the next, however, months of your life with a stranger as your roommate. Staring at the empty wooden door, one that wasn’t covered in pictures or had a name written across a white board, you lifted your hand and knocked softly. Your heart was beating loudly in the base of your chest at the sound of footsteps on the other side of the door. Before you could even think it was pulled open quickly and you were met with exactly what Emily had described.

 Badass dressed in leather. A girl who was a few inches shorter than you stood on the other side of the door with dark black hair that had pink ends pulled into a messy bun at the top of her head. She had olive skin and dark brown eyes that supported a black liner drawn with a wing. With black studded earrings that matched the black choker around her neck, she was wearing ripped jeans and a leather jacket that hung over the blue tank top she wore underneath. As your gaze fell towards the ground, they fell on a pair of chunky black boots that had safety pins sticking out of the shoes’ flaps. Slowly, as your eyes lifted back up towards her face, you were met with a smirk etched across her mouth, the corners of her lips lifting ever so slightly. 

“You must be Y/N Y/L/N. I was beginning to think you were dead or lost or not going to show up at all.”

You smiled sheepishly at how she was right with one simple glance at you, “Yeah and you must be Maggie.” 

“You bet your ass I am,” she grinned, throwing the door open to reveal her -- well your room to you. “So what did you lose your key already?” 

You stepped in slowly and shook your head as she closed the door behind you. Scanning the room, you took in the small space. On either side of the room, there were two twin size beds pushed up against the walls, one of which was still left bare. In between the two beds were two nightstands that sat under the only window. Just below each of the beds there were two desks sat up at the wall, yours being the one that sat really close to the door. 

Over towards the bed that Maggie had obviously claimed was two closets one that was probably already filled with her black leather and jeans. With just being in Emily’s room, it looked almost identical to hers except it was in the opposite direction, but you were too focused on trying to drag a mattress through her front door to actually take the time to really look at it. The room still looked not all the way settled though Maggie’s black bedspread was wrinkled and there were clothes thrown over the chair at her desk. She was already settled but with your side still untouched and completely bare, the room overall looked incomplete. 

Realizing that you had yet to answer Maggie’s question, you turned on your heels to see her leaning up against the door looking at you with a raised eyebrow. “Oh, no. I haven’t gone to get them yet. I was hoping you would show me where I’m supposed to get them and my schedule if you’re not busy.” 

She snorted out a small laugh as she pushed herself up and off the door, “Please, I’ve been here since this morning practically waiting for you to get here so I’d be more than welcome to escort you to your keys.” 

With that, she pulled open the door and strode out in the hallway giving you a view of the shave at the back of her head that was right above her neck. You stared at it for a second before you followed, closing the door behind you. From there you walked alongside her down the stairs and out of Parker Hall. She led you past the parking lot where your car sat, abandoned, and full of your shit towards who knows where. 

For the next seven minutes, Maggie walked you down towards the main hall passed the groups of settling students and towering pine trees. All while making conversation of her home. She lived around an hour and a half away with her parents, younger sister, and Nana. Her dad was a huge business man and had a lot of money which was partly the reason she was able to get into this college. Not once had she seemed bothered by her father’s money and was rather comfortable explaining to you what her relationship was like with him and back at home. She also talked about what high school was like and how she had broken off things with her hot boyfriend of four years that drove a motorcycle. 

Your favorite part was when she talked about her old friends and though people thought that they were bad news because they wore leather, they really were just hilarious outcasts that pulled pranks on each other all day. Just as you gained sight of the main hall that was lined with college students and parents all signing in and getting their own keys and schedules, you were pulled aside by Maggie’s arm gripping your elbow. 

“What?” you asked, eyeing her raised eyebrows and curious smile. 

You may have not picked up on it because you were pulled into her stories of home but she had easily noticed that you hadn’t said anything about yourself or your family. “You haven’t said anything about what it’s like where you’re from. Why aren’t your parents here dropping you off?” 

Sighing at the question, only made her raise her eyebrows higher and you knew that because you would be living with her for the school year that you wouldn’t be able to keep everything from her forever. “It’s a long story. Simple answer, I didn’t want them to so instead I just packed up my car and drove here myself.” 

You went to turn back towards the line but Maggie’s hand refused to fall from your arm and instead tightened causing you to look back at her, getting a little annoyed. “Wait, where are you from?” 

Taking a deep breath, you muttered the name of the small town and watched as no recognition passed over her face but only scrunched up further into confusion. “Where’s that?” she asked. 

“It’s across the country. Twenty-six hours across the country,” you replied, rolling your eyes lightly as hers widened, causing her brown orbs to broaden and her mouth to fall open. “Look I’ll explain as soon as we get my keys and schedule okay?” 

Her confusion instantly fell away and in its place was pure determination. She smirked and her head tilted to the side as a glint filled her eyes. Her hand that had still yet to fall from your arm yanked as she turned around and began to drag you up towards the tables that sat in front of the main hall. She pulled you behind her as she passed fellow new students and parents resulting in some to gasp or call out the fact that you were cutting. 

As you made it to the front, Maggie pushed aside a tall raven haired boy who was in the middle of asking the girl sitting at the table something, who was dressed in the same purple shirt you had seen on many people by now. He hissed as he stood off to the side feeling his mother placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. He glared daggers towards Maggie and your eyes widened as his arm reached out to grab a hold of her leather jacket. 

“Hey, don’t you know it’s rude to cut. We all want to get settled in as much as you do, alright,” he hissed again, his chest rising up and down as he spat the words. 

Maggie finally turned to look at him, seeming unbothered by his killing glare so much that she sent a smug grin instead. “Oh, put a sock in it. It’s not like we’re going to stand around asking questions to stall having to say goodbye to mommy and daddy. We just need our keys and schedules then we’ll be on our way.” 

You could hear the gasp came from the boy’s mother at his side, causing his face to swell and turn red in anger but instead of stepping forward to spit more insults at your roommate, he looked away from her and began to tap his foot impatiently on the concrete ground. Maggie rolled her eyes at his childish antics before turning back towards the upperclassman that stood silent watching the scene play out. She was tall with straight honey colored hair and pale skin, her award-winning smile now vanished. Though looking like she was about to protest, she was silenced by Maggie’s piercing glare.

“Okay, we’re here to get keys and a schedule,” she said calmly, leaning down with her hands grabbing at the end of the table. 

“What hall?” the girl asked, her voice soft, still refusing to look up. 

Maggie bit onto her bottom lip as her index finger began to scrape against the table, “Parker Hall, Y/N Y/L/N.” 

Silently the upperclassman began to push through the files sat on the table and after about a minute or so pulled out a cream colored folder along with a key hung around a dark purple spiral wrist key chain. Holding out the folder and wrist band, Maggie plucked it from her hands and smiled sweetly, “Pleasure doing business with you.” 

She then took a hold of your elbow again and led you away from the table making sure to send a shit eating grin towards the boy and his parents. You were still shocked by the whole thing even as you were walking back towards your hall folder and key in hand. 

You began to thumb through the folder, locating your schedule that had your classes and where they were located but were pulled away from the wristband in your hand. The silver whistle was colliding with the set of keys causing a small clink as you walked. Your eyebrows furrowed on it and as you looked up towards Maggie, who was walking eyes glancing from the sidewalk to her phone, you spoke up to ask. 

“What’s with the whistle?” you asked, causing Maggie to look over towards you and the wristband in your hand. 

“U.W. rape whistle.”

“What?” you asked, surprised by the answer but realizing that it could have made sense with that it was a much bigger campus smacked in the middle of a city.

She looked back over towards you and perked up before opening her mouth for a high pitch voice to replace her own. “Blow it only if it’s actually happening.” 

You quickly caught on that she was imitating the upperclassmen or whoever clearly gave her the set of her keys and schedule. Chuckling, you shake your head and move the spiral wristband around your wrist putting the whistle aside from your thoughts. You didn’t talk again until you got back to the hall and as Maggie went to head towards the door she stopped upon noticing you walk into a different direction. She followed to finally lay eyes on your Volkswagen golf that was all the way filled from the trunk all the way to the passenger seat with boxes and suitcases. 

“Okay, wow,” she said, shoving her phone back into the pocket of her jeans as she watched you pull open the passenger door and grab a cardboard box. 

“What, didn’t I say that I drove here?” 

“Yeah, but I never expected this,” Maggie shrugged as you grabbed a backpack and swung it on your shoulders while taking another smaller box for her.

“Well, I did drive twenty-six hours and I don’t plan on driving back any time soon,” you admitted, closing the passenger door and heading towards the door of the hall. 

Maggie followed all the way in and up the stairs towards the hall. You stopped in front of your door as you noticed a blonde ponytail in the hall writing on a whiteboard with a pink dry erase marker. At the sound of your steps, she turned a smile instantly falling on her face as she saw it’s you. 

“Hey,” she said, moving away to reveal the door to her room. It was decorated with pink cut out hearts and flowers all surrounding a whiteboard that had ‘Lindsey & Emily’ written across in perfect cursive with the color pink. 

“Hey, nice job on the door!”

“We are so not doing that to our door,” Maggie leaned over to you, mumbling underneath her breath. 

Emily ignored Maggie’s comment, “Thanks, need some help?” 

You nodded, moving to open the door to your room, “Yes, please.” 

Once you unlocked the door, Emily held it open for you as you walked in and dropped the box that happened to be filled with books onto your bed, a sigh leaving your lips as you did. You turned back to the door to see Maggie following and setting the box at the end of the bed just as she a glance towards the blonde in the doorway. “Maggie, you’ve met Emily right? She’s just across the hall.” 

“Yeah we have,” Maggie smiled, sending a short wave, “Hey!”

 Emily smiled as you exited back out of the room and began to head down the stairs towards your car. They both followed you, hot on your heels when Maggie’s voice broke the silence as your vehicle came back into view. “So, can I ask questions now or do you need to wait until Em is out of ear shot?” 

You rolled your eyes playfully as you popped open the trunk and began to look at what had been stuffed in a day or so prior. “You can ask.” 

“What are you asking about?” Emily voiced, curious at her name being brought up by Maggie. 

“Oh, Y/N here lives in a small town twenty-six hours away and drove here by herself without her parents,” Maggie replied looking over towards Emily, who’s eyes had widened into saucers. 

“Maggie!”

“What? I have a feeling that she is going to be around with us for a while. She’s cool so she can probably know.”

You nodded as you picked up some boxes and began to place them on the ground for them to pick up, “Alright fair enough. You can ask two questions, that’s it. Then once everything is unloaded out of the car and into our room, I will allow you to ask more as I unpack. Okay?” 

They both nodded in agreement as they went to pick up the boxes. Maggie being the first to ask a question. “So why didn’t you want your parents to come?” 

Picking up another box full of clothes, you followed them as they turned towards the hall, “It’s complicated but basically I wanted to do this on my own. Prove a point, plus I didn’t want them to have to drive all the way over here and then drive back.” 

“Fair enough,” Maggie said, beginning to climb up the brown dirt covered stairs. 

“One more,” you stated voice sharp, “Better make it good because it will be at least twenty minutes before I answer any more.” 

“Why here?” Emily asked cutting off Maggie before she could get the chance, “I mean I can barely stand that I’m two hours away but twenty-six. Why choose Washington?” 

You were about to walk through the door of your room but stopped in the doorway, looking over your shoulder towards the two girls you had a feeling were going to become close friends of yours. You sighed, your eyes falling to the floor as you spoke, “It’s far away that no one knows who I am and I can get a fresh start, plus it’s so far away that I won’t have to go back.” 

*

After you gave two curt replies to the questions asked, the next twenty minutes unloading the car was spent talking about what the school year was probably going to be like, since they couldn’t ask any follow up questions until after everything was unloaded out of the car and up into your dorm room. You could tell that even though they were enjoying the casual conversation, Maggie and Emily were still well intrigued about your intentions of leaving home and coming here. You knew from just looking at them and hearing their lame jokes about the upperclassmen and the purple shirts, that by the time you were upstairs and in your room they would be jumping you with their questions. 

So much so that the second the door slammed shut behind you, leaving the three of you enclosed in the room filled with unemptied boxes and cases, they were basically screaming. After they calmed down, you stuck to your word and told them basically everything. Well most of it. 

The tragedy in your family and the secret with it, you couldn’t mumble out because they were basically still strangers and this was too important. Instead, you told them of what you were like as a kid and why your parents were so set on the idea of you going to local university or taking online classes. You explained the anxiety that had formed in your stomach as a teenager and why you had grown to be so used to blending in with everyone else. By the time you had said that you were here to start fresh and resign from your spot on the sidelines watching, there were smiles spread across both of their faces. 

The first one to speak was Maggie who had expressed her opinion by sending you a solute and yelling out, “you’re a doer not a watcher.” 

They obviously felt that it must be hard being so far away but admired your efforts to break out of your shell and flourish out in the real world. So much that within the next three hours, you all spent time in the dorm room unpacking and talking about everything about one another desperate to gain any information about the new friends you all had made. 

You were straightening out the grey comforter on your bed and fluffing out the pillows when you heard a gasp come from the other side of the room. You turned at the sound towards Maggie’s bed where she sat criss-cross-applesauce, leaning against the wall with Emily’s legs swung over her lap. Her eyes were wide in excitement as her mouth was left slightly parted showing the smile that had formed. You and Emily shared a glance before looking back towards Maggie. 

“What?” Emily asked leaning up on her elbows as Maggie sent a smirk from her towards you. 

“Oh, no. What is it?” you questioned, already having a feeling that whatever was going to come out of her mouth was bound to be trouble. 

Maggie was practically glowing as she moved from the bed and stood up causing Emily’s legs to fall from the bed in the process. “We are now college students and I say it’s time for us to celebrate.” 

“Celebrate, exactly how?” you asked cautiously as she crossed her arms over her chest and popped out a hip. 

“It’s the first day of everyone being back on campus there is bound to be a party somewhere,” she said, raising an eyebrow. 

That’s when you noticed Emily sit up from the bed raising a hand to interject, “Yeah there’s one at the sorority house. Alpha Delta Pi, I think. Usually their parties are for sororities and fraternities only but my roommate said that because it’s the first official day of everyone being back that it’s open for everyone on campus.” 

“I knew that I liked you for a reason,” Maggie stated proudly, “So what do you say, Y/L/N?” 

“A party?” you asked, getting a nod from her causing her bun to bounce a little, “No, I don’t think so I haven’t even finished unpacking yet.” 

“So, you can do that tomorrow,” Maggie persuaded, moving towards your closet that held half of your clothes so far. She thumbed through it before stopping at one hanger that held an off the shoulder black long sleeve shirt that still had the tag on it, “Besides, didn’t you say you wanted to have fun.” 

At her smooth words and the hanger she plucked from within the rack, you felt your heart flutter with nerves. As your eyes scanned from the smug look on her face towards the shirt, and then to Emily who sat with a raised eyebrow and sweet smile, a smirk fell onto your lips with ease. “Yeah, I guess I did. So where’s this sorority house located?”

a/n: hey! here’s the first party of my new series and sorry if it’s a little boring but I wanted to get introductions and the reader’s backstory out of the way. don’t worry shawn will be in the next part! :)

next part

[pinejayy]

Cheater Cheater ( Dr. Robotnik x Reader )

Prompt: Robotnik cheats on you, and when you leave him something snaps inside of him.

Word count: +1.7k

Warnings: Cuss words, angst, a little bit of yandere Robotnik, and some mature content. A bit of a dark Fic!!

Working as a nurse was hard work okay, you always had long shifts and sometimes you were dealing with entitled people or parents. But as you were currently in bed with your boyfriend arms wrapped around your waist he was placing small kisses against the skin of your neck.

Moaning slightly, as you threw your head back. Ivo has been really needy lately but you understood why. You guys really didn't see each as much but still managed to keep your relationship great. "Mm sweetheart."

He didn't stop with his kisses and smiled. After awhile he pulled away looking at you "I can't wait until you're Mrs. Robotnik or More like Nurse Robotnik." He said, taking a hand of yours and holding it. Rubbing his thumb over your engagement ring, the guy also got himself a ring because he wanted to match with you. He proposed to you a few weeks ago and of course you said yes! Blushing you nodded leaning in about to kiss the man you loved but was cut off with your phone ringing. Groaning you grabbed it.

"Hello?...... Uh huh, okay Yes boss I will be there in a few." You said quickly, hanging up to look at Robotnik frowning.

"What was that." He said, sitting up.

"I have to go to work, Even though it's my day off but it's gonna be a short shift." You say getting up, quickly getting dressed up and ready. Your boyfriend just looked at you with a huge frown across his face, he always felt as if you put your work first rather than your relationship. He just turned away, looking away from you.

"Can't you tell him no, it's your day off." He snapped.

You sigh knowing he was upset making you sigh. "I'm sorry sweetie but he said it's going to be a short shift so maybe like 5 hours." You say, grabbing everything you needed and giving him a quick kiss on the lips. "I promise 5 hours Ivo okay, then when I come back we can do anything you'd like."

He sighed and retuned the kiss "Okay five hours sweetheart." As you pulled away you smile. He returned the smile.

Walking out but before leaving you guys said your "I love you's" Walking out of your shared house with soon to be husband you sighed, you had to make it up to him.

Robotink watched you leave, making sure you were gone he sighed and sat on the bed. Grabbing his phone and started sending a message to a other girl he was seeing behind your back, he felt bad but you weren't there to satisfy his needs so he just needed someone. As he sent her a text saying she could come over since your not here. Putting his phone down he made sure he took a quick shower and made himself look presentable. Looking himself in the mirror, hearing the door bell ring. He couldn't help but smile a bit, looking himself one more time in the mirror but before he could walk away he took off his ring before putting it away in a nightstand, and off he walked to the door to answer this girl at the door. He had to remember he only had five hours.

Time Skip

As you were done an hour early you could finally head home, all you wanted to do was go home and cuddle your boyfriend and of course do whatever he wanted. As you got in your car, you grabbed your phone and called Robotnik. Waiting for him to pick up but he didn't, that was strange he always answered your calls. Maybe he's in the lab he had at home. Starting to drive off and heading home.

As you got home and pulled up your car to the driveway you saw a car that you've never seen. Was that Agent Stone's car? Hm probably, maybe that's why he wasn't answering his calls he is working. You got off the car and grabbed your bag. Walking inside you smile. You were going to change and then go downstairs to the lab. As you were walking to the room you heard some strange noises. Was Ivo hurt?! Quickly opening the door ready to help him but saw something your never imagined. Him with a other girl. You just stood there, tears in your eyes. Neither one of them noticing you, too busy with their satisfaction. Just standing there you dropped your bag making them stop, Robotnik just stopped in his tracks, they both saw you. The girl screaming and covering herself. Robotnik quickly got off and started to change.

You just looked away, sobbing and walking out of the room. "Wait! Y/N! Please it's not what it looks!" He yelled running after you.

Running off to the living room, ready to leave the house. You were heart broken okay, never in your life you would think Ivo would cheat on you. About to open the door Robotink quickly grabbed your arm and held you close to his body. He smelled like sex and that girl.

"Let go of me." You cry out, struggling. Seeing the girl he was with walk out, a smirk up her face. You just looked at her, she looked prettier than you, your dream body you wanted. Making you feel like shit about yourself. Weren't you good enough for Ivo?

"I had a good time Doctor, like the other times." She said before walking off like nothing happened.

Robotnik groaned softly, he turned you around and holding you close. "Please! It's not what it looks!"

You pushed him away, wiping your tears away. "NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE? YOU WERE FUCKING THAT STUPID SLUT! YOU CHEATED!"

He was taken back by your tone of voice, he bite his lip and looked down he began crying. "I'm sorry please! It was a dumb thing to do!" He said, crying harder.

Seeing him cry really did break your heart but you just made a face. "How long have you been seeing her?"

"Baby that doesn't matter, she was nothing please."

"How Long Robotnik." You said in a cold tone of voice.

"Two months." He whispered softly. "But please she was nothing you mean everything to me." He said taking a step towards you but you took one back, breaking his heart.

"You stupid pig, you shouldn't have sticked your dick into that whore then." You hissed. You've never had a good realtionship since everyone you were with cheated on you with someone "better" and everyone seemed to break your heart. You just never thought Ivo would have done the same too.

"Well I wouldn't have cheated if you always put your work first rather than our realtionship!" He snapped back.

"Me!? You know work is also important! And look at yourself! You still have this Hedgehog obsession and spend most of your time in the lab or either losing terribly against the Hedgehog!"

You guys stay quite, crying softly. Until he spoke up "I'm sorry, this is my fault how can I make it up to you sweetheart."

"By staying away from me, pig." You said, you took off your ring and threw it at his face. "Because we are done. We are over Ivo Robotnik!"

The ring feel to the floor, Robotnik quickly picked it up holding it. You couldn't leave him, no no! He couldn't lose you. Something snapped inside of him he just looked at you. Saying nothing. As you were about to walk out of the door he quickly pinned you down to the wall. "Your not leaving me, no no sweetheart. We are going to get married and be a happy couple." He whispered against your neck. Forcing the ring back to your finger, making you whimper. You tried pushing him back but he grabbed your arms and pinned them to the wall. He just looked at you, before he threw you over his shoulder and took you to the lab.

You were crying and kicking him but it seemed like it did nothing to him. "Ivo please."

He didn't pay attention to you, once he was in the lab he threw you on a cold silver lab tables. You were about to make a run for it but he wrapped a hand around your neck. "Don't run sweetheart, it will only make things harder for you. Now be a good girl for daddy and stay put." He said, giving you a kiss on the lips before moving his hand away. He backed up and looked at you, pressing buttons making drones appear and point at your direction. "If you make a run for it I will make sure they put a bullet through your head."

He then walked off to a other part of the lab, it looks like he was looking for something. You were shocked were did this attitude of his come from? As you stay still, afraid to move. He then retuned with a collar. "Now this is something I had, but I suppose it can be yours now."

He then put the collar around your neck, snapping it close. "Ah look at how beautiful you are."

You began tugging on the collar only to be zapped making you cry out in the pain, looking over at the man. He was holding a small remote.

"I suggest you stop that. Now babygirl let's have some fun. Follow me to the bedroom."

"Fuck you." You hissed out.

Making Robotnik just smirk, pressing on the remote again shocking you. Crying out in pain. He just watched you "Hm fuck you? Don't worry about that baby we are going to do a lot of that." Stopping the shocking.

You breath and just look down, crying. Robotnik looked at you and picked you up Bride style and carried you to the room, once in the room he threw you to the bed. He pinned you to the bed kissing your neck and already grinding on you.

"Daddy needs his babygirl. Will you be a good girl for me?" He whispered, biting your neck.

You bite your lip and whimper. "Yes.."

Making him growl, he was about to reach for the remote control. "Yes Daddy." You quickly say. He just smirked at you and placed a small kiss on your lips.

He just looked at you, you weren't going to leave him. He loved you too much, even though he cheated but he couldn't lose you.

"You're gonna be mine forever."

Tagged Robotnik list: @misskirsti @flutterskies @hs-killjam @xxcherry-killerxx @doctor-rothotnik @iclown69 @arvadswife @along-the-lines-of-space ​ @jimbotniks @read-me-to-pieces @agent-catarina-glenn @penelope-potter @ssdarlin @shiniapples @smokindoinksinthejungle @a-frozen-bag-of-corn ​ @beeetleejuicee @enaelyork @baerura @namus-things @icrackunderanysocialpressure @needyjayhawk13  @jasminerobotnik @verdonafrost @thejokesonyou-harleyquinn

[court-queen]

Otome characters you might like according to your OM! favourite (Lucifer, Asmo and Belphie)

I'm going to include both paid and free otome games. I'm also going to mention some games that aren’t otomes but have dating sim stuff (i.e Fire Emblem). This post is only my opinion and based on the games I've played. I hope these work as recommendations for you!

Lucifer

Hijikata Toshizo (Hakuouki): Hijikata is the first commander of the Shinsengumi, a short-tempred, but intelligent man. He is the most mature character from the main cast. Hijikata is very strict with the other commanders, who are very chaotic just like the demon brothers, and the protagonist, whom he distrusts at first. He also has a close relationship (though without any implications) with the Shinsengumi leader, similar to Diavolo. He lacks some of the kinky stuff Luci has, but leaving that aside, Hijikata might be a good route to play.

Jumin Han (Mystic Messenger): Jumin is a CEO who likes cats a bit too much. He is cold and centered on his work. The only close relationship he has is with the leader of the charity organization he belongs to, who is his best friend, and lacks any romantic experience. I would say Jumin is much less developed than Lucifer regarding to social interactions. Also, one of the characters has a strong distaste (which seems to be one-sided) for him. When you enter into his route, he is possesive, but in a slightly different way than Lucifer, more...over-protective. However, in some instances, he can have the same style of possesiveness as Lucifer. If you don’t mind he is less assertive, Jumin could be a very decent alternative.

Xander (Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest): Xander isn’t from an otome, so he  doesn’t have as much romantic stuff, but he is the most similar character to Lucifer, story and character-wise imo. Xander is the crown prince of the country of Nohr, a stoic and wise man. He is the older brother of the royal family, so he has to assume all the responsabilities, taking questionable decisions and pushing away his own feelings in order to maintain peace and protect his family. The relationship with one of his siblings, Leo, is similar to the one Lucifer has with Satan (post Satan arc). Xander has also a very complicated relationship with his father: to keep it spoiler-free, let’s just say he is what would have happened if Lucifer hadn’t rebelled against God. 

Nobunaga Oda (Ikemen Sengoku): A charismatic and intelligent warlord who is trying to unify Japan.  Very bold with the MC. He basically wants to own her, winning Go matches and claiming a part of her body with each victory. It sounds somewhat fucked up at first, but tbf it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Nobunaga isn’t as strict as Lucifer, but when the moment comes he can be very serious. 

I haven’t played it, but...I’ve been told that Victor from My Love’s Queen Choice, Jumin and Lucifer form the holy trinity of sugar daddies in mobile otomes. Chikage Kazama from Hakuouki isn't that similar to Luci, but he has some points his fans could enjoy a lot (he is one of my favourite LIs)

Asmodeus

None of these recommendations are as kinky as Asmo, sorry I don't play many +18 otomes. I still hope you like them Dx

Karma and Rumpel (Cinderella Phenomenon): I think both might work for someone who likes Asmo. First, Rumpel is quite a flirt. He has a curse that provokes him amnesia, but that doesn't stop him from trying to charm beautiful women. Then we have Karma, who has a curse that makes women fall in love with him, so he usually dresses as one to not attract them. He isn't that much of a flirt, but he is quite narcissistic. Put both in the same room, what could go wrong? Both characters end up having a decent depth and growth, so if you are one of those people who wants Asmo to be more than his quirks, you are probably going to enjoy them a lot.

Zen (Mystic Messenger): At first a narcissistic actor, then the most supportive and sweet character from all Mystic Messenger (and also the most stable). I would say he subverts the archetype of the flirt/narcissist in otomes. He has a past and context explaining why is he like that, and his route makes a twist with the rival in love with him. If you want a different focus of the archetype Zen is a really good option for you.

Ikki (Amnesia):  Ikki has a special charm that attracts women. This charm will cause the protagonist in Amnesia to get into lots of problems with people who are totally in love with him. He isn’t narcissistic nor a flirt, but if you are interested in a story about how might be dating Asmo with the consequences of his powers in other people, Ikki's route could interest you.

Yuri (Nameless): Yuri has also a charm that makes people being attracted to him. However, it isn't as exaggerated as Ikki or Asmo especially because all the main characters in Nameless attract a lot of people. He is a flirt and narcissist, practically at the same level as Asmo (I had a lot of fun with his moments). Imo, he is the most intelligent person in the game, and reads quite well the other characters. In his route we will learn more about his behavior, and he will be forced to grow and leave behind his attitude.

Sylvain from Fire Emblem Three Houses and Jiyeon from Dandelion  might also be good recommendations, it’s just that they are a bit more...controversial.

Belphie

These characters are very spoilery, I'll try my best to explain why you might like them.

Unknown (Mystic Messenger): A twin, just like Belphie. Both have violent episodes, even trying to hurt the protagonist. They direct their hate to certain characters, whom they consider responsibles of their miserable situation. At heart, they are really kind and sensitive, but have changed because of their circunstances. I would say Unknown's route doesn't portray him as well as the rest of the game, but regardless you might enjoy it if you like Belphie.

“Nameless” (Nameless): Okay, this one quite spoilery, I'll try to explain it without saying much. Belphie's situation? Imagine it but worse, with nobody knowing where you are and not being able to try anything to escape. Then combine his hate for humans and his love for Lilith, and you'll have the complicated feelings this character has towards the protagonist of Nameless. For me, he is literally Belphie, just much more dramatic and dark...

Monshiro (Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly): if the character before is a darker Belphie, this is a lighter Belphie. All the characters in Psychedelica are trapped in a mansion with monsters inside. This mysterious man appears to help the protagonist to fight them at certain times. Even if the rest of characters are very suspicious of him, he seems to be kind and calm, to the point he doesn't appear to know much about the situation the main characrers are involved in. When we continue advancing through the story, we will learn his real identity, and the sad truth about him. There is also another important similarity with Belph, but, spoilers.

Yeonho (Nameless): Like you can guess from the other character, Nameless is darker than other otomes. Yeonho is a sweet boy, very dependant on the protagonist. He is shy, and doesn't like to socialize with people, even if he is quite popular in his class. When you enter into his route, he becomes a little bit obssesive, and some of his endings are terrifying. If you are a masochist like me enjoy being alert with a sweet character that could break in any moment, Yeonho's route is for you.

I would want to recommend another character from Nameless, who I think has some points that could remind of Belphie, but given that this is not apparent at first, I'll let you discover by yourselves if you play the game.

I wouldn't consider them that similar, but Ukyo from Amnesia is quite the Belphie experience. If I had to pick an only route among otome games I would pick this one. Totally recommended. Kei Okazaki from Collar x Malice has also some quirks Belphie fans might enjoy.

[c-atm]

Hometown and City

Hometown & City

"I should really get a car." HB muttered to herself as she jogged towards LHW R&D. A look of determination and concern as she did. Peridot text was usually long winded speeches of how great she was because of their current achievement in whatever project they were working on, but there were exceptions when Peridot words were straight to the point..or even cryptic. Usually, when something was about to go down. She looked down at her phone again, at Peri's text…

P-dottie: Something's coming through. Assault spheres on standy. Get here now.

There was definitely something going down tonight. Part of her thought she should call Lion back with the younger duo and she mentally kicked herself for it. 

"Come on, Maheswaran. We don't even know if the thing is an enemy...Don't ruin their fun for a possibility" 

Demon hunters or whatever they may be, they were still teens, her 'younger siblings' and they still deserve to have a time out to enjoy themselves. 

"Still.. better safe than sorry."  

She smirked as she turned the phone to her home screen. The background which was once a picture of Mister in costume during their empire excursion, her new save screen; were replaced by a picture of Witchy, Dapper, and Mister each snoring on her couch after a long winded night of gaming. She happened to walk in on them after returning from R&D and almost giggled at the sight.

Dapper and Mister slept in almost the exact same  position ; head tipped back, eyes closed, mouth slightly opened, controllers on the table. 

The difference?

Mister hands being in the playing position while Dappers right hand rested on the waist of Witchy intertwined with her own hand. Witchy was curled up, using Dapper thigh as a head pillow. Her feet were lightly pressed against Mister's leg. 

She remembered she changed into her houseware before snuggling next to Mister, only for him to wake up and sit her on his lap, holding her around her midsection, before welcoming her home, leaning her head on the crook of his neck and falling back to sleep after kissing her temple. Such a homey feeling  it was.

She shook her head to focus on the task at hand, pressing the diamond Icon bring up the insignia the diamonds, she pressed on the pink diamond at the top of the screen. The diamond communicator app, only available to phones jailbroken or made by Little Homeworld R&D or Homeworld R&D.

She waited for his phone to ring as she continued her way about to turn on to the street LHWR&D stayed, when she saw Garnet and Pearl chasing someone little gem in a cloak out of the building, weapons drawn.

"Come back here!" Pearl ordered to no avail. 

"No, I didn't do anything!"

The lilith gem, in annoyance, readied her spear before launching a concentrated blast of energy, with all intentions of poofing the gem.

The gem looked as the blast got closer before her reflexes kicked in, leaping out of the way in the last moment. Grimacing as the blast licked her arm, a glancing blow. She growled but turned to run only to  feel her legs slipped from under her and land on her back. She didn't even get to grimace when she felt a weight on her chest. Opening her eyes to see Connie and the gems glaring down at her, the human straddling her stomach and her blade in her face. A steady cold eyes meeting her own.

"That's enough, stand dow-"

"Bi..Big sis."

Connie stopped when she heard whimpering from the gem. Removing the hood of her cloak, the three crystal gems gasp at the oh-so familiar purple face staring back at them.

"Amethyst?" Connie glanced at the purple on black eyes, the purple circular marking on her cheeks and the horns on her head...Things that place Dapper in her head. "You're a demon… You're Dapper's and Witchy's Amethyst."

Connie climbed to her feet almost instantly sheathing her blade. She held out a hand to the demoness and an apologetic and shameful smile on her face. " We have some things to discuss."

"Like, why'd you're so much taller, scarier and filled out?" The demoness looked up at her as she took her hand.

"Among other things.." Connie joked as she helped Amethyst up, just as she was about to introduce herself two things happened. Steven returned her call finally, and….

"Well, little witch. Sorry, I guess you aren't so  little now huh?.. How long have you been here?" The four turned to a figure on the roof of the R&D building perring down. 

He was a fine dressed gentleman, admittedly. Nice white and red checkered collar shirt, white jeans, black heeled pointed toe flats. He also had reptilian green teeth, yellow beady eyes, tan skin and was boney; near skeletal. The way he looked at Connie put her on edge.

He spoke in a slick and almost adoringly voice. "You look like you aged a bit, but for me..not even a half-hour passed since we met…"  Anger slipped in his voice as he grabbed his collar revealing his third degree burnt collarbone, and slashed throat. " Lucky me, that spell casted us away before you finished the job.."

'Good going you two.' Connie thought in pride as  she arched an eyebrow at the supposed demon. "Maybe you should have stayed in your hole then." 

"So spunky even now, even without your partner. Where is your little demon?  Did he get lost in the streams of time? Maybe crying over your grave in the future as we speak."  

Connie did not like this person at all. His conceit reminded her too much of Kevin of the past. Before she could say anything, Garnet interjected, taking a step forward, her fist tight.

"Who are you? What's your business here?!"

"You golems are so aggressive.." He shrugged  playfully " You know when I finally to this.." He paused to take a deep almost euphoric breath of air. "Realm...The other golems asked me the same thing with weapons towards me. All I said was the truth, I was here to kill a half-demon and his witch harlot..and they attacked."

He smirked as he took a pouch from his pocket opening it upside down as the uncracked but dimmed gems of Peridot, Bismuth, Amethyst  and Lapis, fell towards the street. Garnet caught them giving the two a reassuring smile, before turning to the demon with rage.

"Though they were so grateful to help me recover a bit.. Draining their essence in all, though inorganic energy are never as good as demon or human magical energies. It always leaves me empty...Help me out huh?"

The demoness Amethyst kept her eyes on the demon growling standing behind Connie's leg, only to be surprised by the human's palm on her head comforting her as she kept her eyes on the opponent in front of her, sword in hand.

"Don't worry." Connie looked back at the knee high demoness.  " We got this."

"Confident aren't we.. That's fine." The demon crouched low growling as he did. Black wisps of magic seeped off his body and surrounded Crystal Gems.  "I'll just break your confidence with your body."

While HB was fighting within her hometown, A pink portal was opening up on top of an Empire city roof and through it came the laughter of two teens, who slid out of and almost off it, on a pink lion; Dapper and Witchy. In Witchy's hand was a giant strawberry and on Dapper's back was a couple of Homeworld style sais. 

Woah Boy!" Dapper exclaimed as He wrapped his  hands around his lady's waist keeping her close, as they nearly tipped over. "I'm starting to think Bro was right and you do need parking practice."

Lion responded with an annoyed stare. only for it to turn to a pleased mewling as Witch scratched his head.

"Lion's perfect as he is. Don't listen to those jealous Steven's" She praised as she kissed the jungle cat head.

Dapper just shook his head with a smirk as he climbed down. He walked to the edge of the roof and sat down taking a look at the city below. A bit of a serene look on his face. Wordlessly, he held his hand towards his lady, asking for her company.

"Sheesh." Witchy gave her partner a gentle smile as she joined him, strawberry in her left hand. "You're  so starved for my attention, Steven." Witchy teased as she took a bite of the strawberry, humming in sweet surprise as the juice shot down her throat.  She blushed as she heard him chuckle giving him a small glare.

"What?" 

Dapper shook his head before wiping her  strawberry covered lips with his thumb. "You're a mess, my lady." He slurped up the residue from his thumb with a smirk. "Almost as sweet as you."

Face a beautiful maroon half pout, Witchy wrapped her right arm around Dapper and leaned her head on his shoulders. "I swear. Is every Steven a flirt, tasked with making every Connie a flustered mess."

"I'm sure it's the reverse a good amount of the time as well... if bro and sis is an example of the norm." Dapper chuckled. "Maybe it's an undeniable truth of existence."

Witchy looked up, intrigued but also smugly."What, that you were put on earth to raise my blood pressure?"

"I was put on earth to make your heart race, my lady." Dapper joked flirtatiously, getting a half hearted groan from Witchy. "Jokes aside..I'm starting to think for every 'Steven', there's a 'Connie'."

"Really now?" A relaxed smile graced her face. "It's almost like you're saying our lives are intertwined.. Like we're fated to be with each other or something like soulmates?"

"You jest but there's an older version of us who's the embodiment of 'honeymoon' phase."

"Despite not being 'together'."Witchy added with a knowing smirk.

Dapper nodded in agreement a chuckle of his own before settling to a smile. " Then there's us…"

"Please don't say we're soulmates." Witchy bemoaned.

"But we are!" Dapper announced as he took a bite of the strawberry. "Mmm! That's dang good"

"Hey, get your own, greedy demon." Witchy ordered as she pulled the berry away.

"You're so mean, my lady. Just one more bite." Dapper reached towards the fruit.

 Witchy leaned back trying to keep the fruit away. "Oh, yeah right! I know what a bite from you is like."

"You do, don't you."Dapper stated as he leaned closer to her, his smile falling to a sly grin and his attention on her alone.

Blushing as she was, she didn't back down, deciding  to take a page from HB's book. She cupped his chin and gave him a small coaxing smile. "Of course, I do. I have your mark to prove it, 'soulmate'. "

She chuckled when she saw Dapper, blushed and turned away. "That was smooth, my lady." He looked back at her teasing grin.

"You're adorable when you're flustered. It actually feels good to be on the other side." Witchy impishly poked the demon nose as she giggled.

"Oh role reversal is it?" Dapper gave his lady a dangerous smile as his fingers went to her sides. "then I guess I get to punish you as you would do me."

"Steven, don't you daaaaAhahahaha."

Witchy squirmed and laughed as she succumbed to his tickling. She kicked  and tried to block his careful claws, but it was to no avail. 

"Such a beautiful laugh, my lady. Maybe it's a traif of being a Connie. " Dapper half-joked, he really did love his lady's laugh and preferred it over HB's

"Ahhhhaha,,Like schmaltzy...haha! flirting..Is a Steven trait." Witchy said between laughing and catching her breath.

"You like it!" Dapper stated as he tickled more vigorously getting more laughter from the Witchy.. "Give..Give...Give."

"Nooohahaha! We...Connie's...dohahahaha...don't  falter!" 

"Neither do us Steven's! I guess we're at an impasse, then."

"Wait..I'll give you the..Hahaha..Behahah. The berry!"

Dapper paused for a moment."Tempting…"

Witchy used this moment to catch her breath and try to slip from under him  when he stroked her sides with his claws. 

"But I rather, your laughter." 

"Nohahaha! Wait Lion help!" 

Lion looked at the two antic before walking over and nuzzling Witchy neck as if he was trying to tickle her as well making her laugh even more.

"Nohoho! I've been forsaken, betrayed, and cheated!" Witchy yelled through their affectionate assault. "Ok ok! ..I can't breath...You got it!"

"What was that?" 

"You win!"

Dapper looked at Lion for a moment before grinning at the beast and pressing his skull to him. He rolled over laying next to the tired and still giggling Witchy.

"Connie's never falter huh?"

"You had help." She laughed again, getting a lick from Lion. She turned to the pink cat with  a side smirk. "How are you going to betray your aunt?"

Lion yawned before going to the center of the roof to give them privacy.

The two layed there looking up, hands instinctively  interlocked.

"I'm going to miss this world. It's so fun and peaceful. It's relaxing."

Dapper looked over at his lady, her face was reflective as she stared up at the night sky, stars in her black eyes..

"I mean..it's been awhile since we felt like...Teens..No hunts or anything..It's nice."

"But…"

"I'm ready. I want to go back." Witchy said with conviction. "I miss our world. Miss studying with our Pearl and Garnet, walking around our city with AAmethyst. Miss our garden, our living room, our kitchen. My bedroom..I miss our home."

Dapper watched as his lady wiped her eyes to keep from crying. 

She gave a strained chuckled before continuing  "Strange, I miss our adventurous and comparatively dangerous lives?"

Dapper shook his head. "No I feel the same." 

If you asked Dapper about his opinion on the matter of worlds,  he'd tell you he'd rather be wherever his lady was..Truthly he could see them settling and getting caught in the go with the flow aura of Beach City and Little Homeworld...But it wasn't their world to enjoy.

They didn't put in the work or battle the enemies their older counterparts did and still are if what Mister and HB stated about the peace being 'relative'. They themselves didn't see the relative part of the peace, but there's a reason for LHWR&D and for Mister to still engage in ambassador duties

Still his main concern was staring at him  looking for him to continue. He gave his lady hand a gentle squeeze. "I'm in the same mind as you...but I think part of me wishes you wanted to stay here. Would be easier to keep you safe here."

"So you want to slack on your responsibilities?" She teased the demon turning to him.

"Perish the thought, my lady." Dapper retorted with. grin before facing her. Stroking her chin with the back of his hand. "Just mean I could focus more on making you happy than keeping you safe."

Witchy blushed bright as she looked down " You do both, Steven.  No matter what world we're in. I only feel this safe and happy knowing you're with me." She looked up into his demon eyes and only felt affection from and for them. 

"I'm grateful for it. For entering a contract..for being best friends..for having such a loving and loveable dapper demon as a 'soulmate'." 

"Only for you, my lady." 

It was inevitable. The pull of affection, the city light below them and the natural ones above. The serene silence and their shy and excited smile. They instinctively moved closer. their breath brushing against each other. 

"My lady?"

"Please."

He nodded feeling nervous as he moved in eyes closed lips a thread apart from his lady's…

"Guys!"

The two broke apart as if they were burned  and looked toward Mister..Who was half way out of Lion's mane.. Before either could say anything Mister interrupted..

"Connie's fighting a demon."

That's all they needed to hear.