#and a blanket on the top/ half on my bookshelf where she can also sleep

[uygfiug]

cat stole my footrest now i cant put my laptop on there to study :(

[apollosgiftofprophecy]

18, 23?

18. Choose a passage from your writing. Tell me about the backstory of this moment. How you came up with it, how it changed from start to end. Spicy addition: Questioner provides the passage.

Xenoclea — or, well, Gaea within his favored priestess’s body — rose to her feet. Apollo remained in the half-kneeling position he took in his panic to help Xenoclea. She examined the body she possessed.  “Hmm,” the primordial deity hummed, gazing at Xenoclea’s nimble fingers, her bronzed skin. “Rather strange, the body of a mortal. Not at all vast like my own…” she sounded wistful, like she missed the sensation of a physical form.

From my fic Shattered Minds

I just. absolutely loved writing Gaea. Imo, she was done dirty by HoO - a not-at-full-power Kronos took an entire book/war to defeat him, with major losses of beloved characters to boot.

Meanwhile, his mother, the frickin primordial goddess of the Earth itself...died in one chapter. #LetDown

Sadly, I cannot edit HoO, but I can give Gaea the justice she deserves and be the manipulative, savvy queen we all know she is :)

And like. it's not just this specific passaged I liked to write! It's was her whole scene! Xenoclea's sudden possession! Because they're in the Delphic cave, and it used to belong to Gaea! It makes sense that she could possess Xenoclea!

Also just. the creepy factor of Xenoclea being possessed. Marie Levesque's whole deal was creepy for Hazel, and it was creepy for Apollo too! Terrifying, in fact!

Also also! She calls Apollo 'Paion' a lot here! 'Paion' literally means 'helper', and later in the fic, she's like 'heehee, thanks for the help~', and Apollo realizes that he was dupped into helping her agenda! again

Gaea is just. so good at manipulation imo. she can play the loooong game. Shattered Minds is basically where she lays the groundwork for HoO, for her eventual comeback!

SHE IS A CUNNING QUEEN AND DESERVED TO BE A BETTER VILLAIN!

23. Describe the physical environment in which you write. Be as detailed as possible. Tell me what’s around you as you work. Paint me a picture.

Okay, so, this got long lmao XD

pale blue walls. my bed is a mess of green sheets, a black comforter, and a white tiger-print soft blanket. i have four pillows staked on top of each other on my bed, with my gray reading pillow propped up against them. no, i don't sleep with the reading pillow. but yes to the four pillows.

also, many stuffed animals. many. and i have no shame in saying so :)

my bed also functions as a dresser/bookshelf. in the three bookshelf slots are all of my Warrior cat books, as well as many of my Star Wars ones (that i have yet to read oop) and on top of it is a special edition cup i got from a Iowa football game as well as a cup I got from a production of Newsies i saw with my grandma and mom. both hold an assortment of pens/pencils/sharpies/ect.

a mini globe sits up there too, with two dreamcatchers i've had since forever hanging off it. one is from a great-aunt who lives in Connecticut, btw! a couple remotes that i barely use anymore are up there too, as well as the current books I'm reading (The Iliad - also packed with the Odyssey - and the first Hunger Games book). My alarm clock is next, with my blue earbuds nearby, and my blue flashlight is next door. more hairties because i am disorganized. a tissue box (green and blue). another book - Star Wars Allegiance - a mini motivational quote my aunt and uncle got me this past Christmas, and three small LEGO sets - Luke Skywalker on a Tauntaun, Ahsoka V Maul, and Mando & Grogu.

also a new blue-green lamp! :D got it in my stepdad's family white elephant gift exchange (pro tip: put what you want in (don't make it obvious it was you) and then do your damnest to get it. has worked the past 2 years for me.)

my computer sits on a computer stand on my very old white desk. i have a coaster i bought from the Branson Belle Showboat with my special edition Queen Ester cup i got from Branson's Show & Lights Theater. I also have a little trinket from my trip to Branson's Titanic museum - one of those clear, long rectangular things filled with blue liquid? with a little floating Titanic in it? with an iceberg? my ADHD loves that thing. also a quartz necklace i bought in Branson is just lying there.

behind my computer is a picture of my graduation class - 11 kids total, 6 girls, 5 boys. we be small. also, it has a picture of me with my principal getting my diploma.

to my left is my desk lamp, a real skinny black one with like. three modes of light. i have a couple rubber ducks sitting by it - one's the statue of liberty, and the other is a Kansas City Royals duck (I am not a KC Royals fan - cough St. Louis Cardinals 4 Life cough - but i have solidarity with the fellow Missouri team. if the Cards aren't in, and the Royals are, I will root for them.

also i have a little cross-stitch thing i did back in Quarantine by my lamp. it has a couple white and red bead necklaces (you know the ones) wrapped around it so that's how the cross-stitch stays up. also, the flower bracelet i wore to my last Homecoming is still kicking and hanging from the lamp in question. it has a white band, with now-crinkled pale green leaves and white flowers - roses, and i think hydrandea? real small white flowers. real small. tiny.

i also have a small foam airplane i got way back in Freshman year of high school from the nearby aerospace administration. the girls where invited to see what they did and we got some free stuff out of it and the squishy plane was one of them.

(I got to do a bit of welding during that lol)

I also have various other things. my wallet and car keys. a fitbit i still need to hookup to my new phone. a yellow sharpie i use to highlight my school books/notes. a couple hairties (white and black). a black pen. a portable charger i should probably charge before this weekend's vacation. also a pale blue turtle decoration my dad bought me. a pair of green earrings i should put away. a couple Senior photos of myself i still need to mail to my dad and paternal grandpa.

also a paper with all of my future college classes on it that i use to write my grades down on.

i have a 3D model of the Eiffel tower i got when I was 8 and didn't put together until Quarantine XD it's down to the left of my desk. directly next door is my closet, one door is usually open revealing the absolute mess within. on the other side of it is my clothing hamper, where clothes go to be forgotten about for a week until i remember hey, laundry's a thing.

FINALLY. the magnus opus of the room - my bookshelves.

This holds the rest of my precious books, as well as various other things - blank notebooks, school books, jewelry box, my diploma, a small telescope made out of metal from my grandpa way back during my astronomy obsession phase, Cardinals stuff, coloring books, space books, multiple binders, my Bible, picture of my sister, fuzzy orange dice, box of a star wars puzzle i got in last year's gift exchange i have yet to put together (we are focusing on out long-forgotten Busch Stadium one shush), GREEK MYTHOLOGY BOOKS, extra sparkly pillows, and my clarinet case.

on top is my TV with a DVD player (i use it. like....twice...a year?) and MORE LEGO SETS.

i have the death star duel. 301st clone troopers. London, New York, and San Fransico CITY sets. mini Slave I. Luke's X-Wing. TIE-Fighter. Grevious's starship. big Slave I. also, 3-in-1 LEGO set. i can make a car, boat, or bike. it's in car mode rn.

my floor is carpet. kinda a soft brown with specks of black. couple school books are on the floor. couple notebooks. a wite-out. and a black pen.

lastly, on my walls: above and around my desk is a black and white bulletin board with purple ribbon. it is completely covered in old photos, things I got from a school trip to Indianapolis (yes i got to see the inside of the Colts Stadium hehe i was like 'COMMODUS USED THIS IN TDP! :D'), ect ect. I also have a old framed picture saying 'Let's Get Lost' that I wanna move to my bathroom. further to the right is a poster of Big Ben from way back during my London obsession (i wanted to visit someday but now Delphi, Delos, Sparta, Rome, ect ect are top priority lmao).

on the next wall is a Ravenclaw banner i've had since i was seven. a window takes up most of the rest of the space (white trim btw).

next wall i have my sports teams pride hung up :D a pennant each of KC Chief's quarterback Patrick Mahomes II, St. Louis Cardinals, and Boston Celtics.

WARNING: SPORTS GEEKING OUT AHEAD

and no. i am not a bandwagon. 4th gen Cardinal fan. my paternal great-grandpa chose the Cardinals (idk the story behind it i will have to ask my grandpa).

I was BORN and RAISED on these teams. I was raised on the tales of backflip-boss Ozzie Smith, the Man the Myth the Legend himself. I HAVE HIS BASEBALL CARD! I STILL HAVE MY MATT HOLIDAY JERSERY WHEN HE USED TO PLAY! I HAVE AN ADAM WAINWRIGHT BASEBALL! AND A HOLIDAY ONE (i am his biggest fan)! I AM IN MOURNING WITH THE REST OF THE FANS FOR YADI'S FINAL YEAR. I CHEERED WHEN PUJOLS RETURNED HOME AND HIT 700 HOME RUNS.

I. WAS. RAISED. ON. THE. DUO. OF. YADIER. MOLINA. AND. ADAM. WRAIN. WRIGHT.

i still have a Matt Carpenter poster. i remember Matt Adams playing first base. I remember Goldschmidt & David Freeze, who received a standing ovation from Busch Stadium when he came up to bat for the Pirates because We Loved Him.

I am determined to get a Tommy Edman jersery. he can hit homers with the right and left AND steal bases.

I am also a 3rd gen Chiefs fan. my paternal grandpa chose the Chiefs when they SUCKED and he is LIVING THE LIFE now that they are back in business <3 I watched the famed Super Bowl Win after a 50-year drought. My family was going nuts in my living room. so nuts my aunt accidently pulled her Achilles's tendon 🫢 dw she's alright now we got a little crazy that night it was INTENSE

I was not able to wear my Chiefs jersery to school the next day (dresscodes eyeroll) but I did wear the reddest sweatshirt i could find, my Chiefs necklace, and a hairtie decorated with red and white ribbons from my middle school volleyball season.

I had a shit-eating grin on the whole day. Everyone knew I was the winner <3 Also pretty sure I was the only Chiefs fan in the high school then. It was an exhilarating feeling <3

(Sidenote: The Kelce Bowl was a 10/10 too lol)

(sidenote sidenote: AFC Championship is this Sunday AHHHHH! We'll be playing the Ravens. i had a classmate who was a Ravens fan. he was supremely annoying. i wanna see them lose. :) to every other Ravens fan out there, sorry but he was that annoying. also racist. and homophobic. and sexist. so. you understand why i want the Ravens to lose to spite him.)

and I became a Celtics fan when I was seven. because my stepdad is one as is my great-uncle/godfather. Larry Bird is The GOAT and #GoCelticsTonight

quench that Heat. :)

END OF SPORTS GEEKING OUT

i want to put up the Hawkeye pennant i have too but haven't gotten around to it. it'll go below the Cardinals one because they are the smallest ones.

and finally, in the small wallspace between my door and my closet, above my hamper, is a small, rectangle picture frame of Patrick Mahomes (yes, again. he is that good.) with his surname printed across it. i bought it during my first trip to Kansas City and first Chiefs game (it was against the Chargers. very good game. we beat them :D sorry any Chargers fans I am a very happy Chiefs fan <3)

welcome to my room lmao it is a humble collection of my past and present obsessions, and my hyped-up love of my teams <3

[micromushroom]

☼ BNHA Dorm Headcanons☼

Synopsis: What I think the dorms of characters would look like 

Genre: Just general headcanons

W.K.: ~1.25k in all

C.W.: none

Characters ft: Bakugou, Tsuyu, & Shinsou

(~450 words)

This could go in so many different directions

My first thought is that if PlanetFitness™ was condensed it would be this man’s room

But honestly I see him more as a person to workout outside and do more active things whilst being productive

It’s canon that he likes hiking, so I feel like a lot of the equipment in his room would be based off of that

If anything, he probably has a few weights (like dumbbells) that are lying around

Has most definitely kicked one on accident at night walking around his room

I feel like it’s relatively plain but over time becomes more clustered

The Bakusquad will start randomly leaving or putting things in Bakugou’s room

It can be anything from Denki leaving little dollar store trinkets on Bakugou’s desk; to Kiri making random things out of garbage in class and putting it on Bakugou’s shelf

He doesn’t strike me as someone to have a lot of pictures or memorabilia, but there’s little pictures on the wall by his bed with sticky tack photos of his friends throughout the years

He’s an All Might fanboy at heart, but I doubt he has as much physical display of this as Midoriya

I headcanon that there’s posters and like some rare collectibles of action figures and merch

Inko made him a throw blanket as a kid for his birthday of All Might and he still has it at the end of his bed

Despite it being relatively clustered with small things in some places (again, courtesy of the Bakusquad), it’s still pretty clean and spacious

His curtains are usually closed, so the only possibility for plants that he could sustain are either fake or don’t survive for long

Since his parents are both fashion designers, his closet is full of clothing that he’ll probably never wear from name brands all over

His desk serves as a multiple purpose space: homework, charging station, and bookshelf

Bakugou’s bed is always made and—as much as I hate to say it—he probably only sleeps with two pillows—three on occasion

He has a speaker that he uses whenever he’s not doing homework, but it’s probably super loud (headcanoning that he’s partly deaf from his quirk)

His closet alone could be an entirely different post

Overall, Bakugou’s room is kind of dark and a tad bit more grunge themed

Kirishima leaves Bakugou lots of little notes saying things like are either:

“Hey Bakubro, can you help with math please? :D” to

“Remember to hydrate and take a break” with a little thumbs up doodle

Lots of self notes too reminding him of what he has to do and his schedule for the day

(~340 words)

Tsu canonically has all of the attributes—strengths and weaknesses—that a frog does

For this reason, I think that she has humidifiers and just temperature regulations throughout her room

Lots of plants and art prints, mainly from friends

Little lily pad shaped fairy lights strung across her room

I picture her room as having a lot of plants like ivy and vines, but also a lot of really exotic plants

Lots of pillows and blankets

Like at least five pillows and her bed is most definitely up against the wall

The blankets range from those really thin 50x50” ones to comforters to really fluffy and warm blankets

Hear me out—stuffed animals

I think that her friends go out with her to like, the mall, and end up coming back with a lot of stuffed animals

Throw pillows and rugs are main staples of Tsu’s room

Super comforting place and relaxing, but it can become kind of humid

Frequent naps at Tsu’s dorm bedroom have become so common that she has little bean bag seats that people sleep on

Color palette of greens and pinks

Think of a pastel version of kid core, with the mixed color fabrics

Her closet is also an entirely different post, but I’m picturing bucket hats and pastel overalls with different colors and patch sizes

You know those framed glass cases of bugs? Yes, those but a lot of them

Like they’re hanging up by pictures of her friends

Butterflies, iridescent winged beetles, etc.

Like the wood around them is an orangish color and honestly I might just draw this up later

I cannot stress this enough, but pictures of her friends both in and out of school as well as pictures of her family and herself growing up

Post cards from all over pinned up on her walls and cork boards

Generic, I know, but frog themed little details that are mainly jokes

Music isn’t as loud or used as Bakugou, but when she does play music, it’s most likely a shared playlist that everyone created

(~490 words)

Straight up, grunge. kid. bedroom.

Gotta put aside my biases for him for the rest of this

Either looks like a vacant room or the pure embodiment of a teenage boy’s room

I’m going with the latter for the rest of this

Clothes and trash are just all over the floor, save for a few spaces

His bed has been made once, maybe twice

But it is the most comfortable shit you would ever sleep in

I speak from experience of my own bed

Posters line the wall so much to the point where there’s very little actual wall space

These range from prints he likes, bands, movies, heroes he admires Aizawa, to joke posters like, “Live, Laugh, Love <3” and, “~Home is where the heart grows fonder~”

The LED lights desperately need a battery change because it’s more of a dim light, but that’s for another time to change

Jackets and hoodies over his chairs

Has a little gaming station beside his desk

I choose to believe his gaming chair and setup itself is the biggest thing that he has splurged on

The side of his monitor and the top of his desk are covered in stickers he’s collected over the years

Tapestry over his bed

Vintage cassette and record albums

As cluttered as everything is, it’s still somewhat spacious because the clutter is grouped together to provide a walkway

Much like myself, his closet is somewhat bare because all of his clothing he wears is from piles of clean and dirty clothing on the floor

Signature purple and black bedding and overall theme

There’s always music, like no matter what, but the difference between Shinsou and Bakugou is that Shinsou’s music is usually quiet

Wide variety of music, but at night it’s his an entirely different playlist of Lofi

He may not sleep at night 9/10, but at least it isn’t as chaotic and exhausting

Collection of bottle caps and tabs by his bed

Water bottles are everywhere, but at least the majority of them are refilled

At this point I’m just naming off how my room is rn

Half of his chargers are broken or living on 1%

Hair ties that are clinging onto life have their own little dish on his desk

Usually the curtains and blinds are closed

On the back of his door there’s a coat rack that’s used exclusively for his bag and also the capture weapon

Weights and overall workout equipment are frequently used but also so easily lost

The Grind Never Stops

I think the only pictures he would have would be of like sneaked pictures of him and Aizawa training

Aizawa’s in the back doing whatever pose and Shinsou’s either hold up a blurry peace sign to the camera or painfully imitating it

They’re a little frayed at the edges most of the time, but it just makes them more sentimental and fit in with the aesthetic

11/10, would recommend vibing in his room

[thegoodgayshit]

Luz’s mother really doesn’t want to send Luz to camp. She knows once she leaves, there is no going back. But Luz has a knack for getting into trouble, and one day she stumbles into the same type of people her mother would have preferred she avoided. After helping Luz dissolve her high school bully into dust, Eda and Lilith know right away that this kid is just like them - a child of the gods. So Luz hops on a Pegasus and heads to Camp Half-blood, where she embarks on a dangerous quest that makes her both friends and enemies... and she might even save Olympus along the way.

Chapter Twenty: I Meet the Mistress of Blight Manor

When Luz woke up to the warm light of the sun, she immediately felt nauseous. Coughing, she leaned to her left and threw up. It must have been some kind of unconscious muscle memory because there was already a bucket waiting there for her.

She heard a collection of loud voices from behind her that she was too nauseous to place as well as the movement of a person, but she couldn’t focus on that right now while she was still heaving over the bucket.

There wasn’t much left in her stomach, but by the time she had finished, she rolled over and collapsed back onto whatever she’d been lying on. It was soft and decently comfortable, so she didn’t really have any complaints. Her head was spinning, and she wondered how long she’d been out.

The last thing she remembered was the prom. She’d been all dressed up, dancing with Amity, and then there were the bronze automatons and running from security….

She forced her eyes open in terror, sitting up way too quickly. She heard someone jump from across the room, and get to their feet.

“Luz, calm down. You’re hurt.”

She looked over to see Willow sitting on the other side of the bed she was in, back in her traveling clothes, and she felt relief wash over her. Willow was here, and everything was going to be fine. Thank the gods, because the movement made her immediately feel sick again, and leaned back over to the bucket, but nothing else was coming out. She was spent.

Willow was leaning over her, rubbing her back comfortingly when Luz eventually just pushed the bucket away. She groaned against the mattress she was on, clutching the sheets and trying to get a grip on her swirling stomach. When she looked down, she realized somebody had changed her. She was no longer wearing the suit, instead, she had been stripped down to the white undershirt she’d had on and a pair of sleeping shorts that definitely weren’t hers.

“Where are we?” She croaked out, looking around the room. It was nowhere Luz had been before, it was way too fancy to be familiar.

The room was massive, with dark hardwood floors and grey walls. The bed she was in was easily at least a queen, with dark magenta bedding and soft sheets. There was a dresser and a nightstand that matched the dark grey bed frame, and for god’s sake, the room had a windowsill nook for sitting, with comfortable looking magenta blankets and pillows. Against the wall where the door was, there was a little wooden desk and chair with a couple of notebooks scattered on top of it, and a bookshelf piled with books, organized by color. Luz guessed it was usually clean on a normal day, but today it was messier, with two sleeping bags scattered on the floor, and all their backpacks and supplies nestled near the windowsill.

Willow didn’t answer her question, so Luz looked back at her, blinking to make sure she wasn’t imagining her. “Willow, what happened?”

Her eyesight was foggy, and when she coughed, her side shot up with pain. She winced, clutching at it, and Willow finally moved, leaning forward to gently push Luz back into the sheets.

“Just take it easy,” she said comfortingly, and when Luz looked back up, a little clearer this time, she could make out Willow’s gentle green eyes and her comforting smile. Exhaling, Luz forced herself to relax, trying to slow down her breathing. When Willow was satisfied, she patted Luz’s arm reassuringly.

“Everything is fine. You got hurt after you pulled that stupid stunt at the university, so we needed to find a place you could rest. We’re in Cherry Hills Village.”

“Why is that name familiar?” Luz groaned, rubbing her head with her hand. “And why does my entire body feel like it’s been run over by the Minotaur?”

“Pasiphae’s son,” Willow gently corrected.

Luz slowly tried to sit up again, despite Willow’s protests. She slowly let herself sit in an upright position, her back resting against the super-soft pillows. Seriously, she felt like a Disney princess.

“Where’s Gus and Amity? Are they alright?”

Willow winced, and Luz’s eyes immediately widened. “What? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing!” Willow said quickly, holding out her hands. “Sorry, that was stupid of me. They’re fine. Everybody is okay. They’re just downstairs grabbing you some food. I’m sure they’ll be back soon.”

Luz nodded slowly, exhaling. Her head was still pounding, and her chest felt like it’d been crushed from the inside out, but she was already feeling a little bit better. She said that much to Willow, who smiled.

“That’s good. The sooner you’re better, the sooner we can get moving. But no rush, take all the time you need.”

She handed Luz a glass of water that had been left for her and some Tylenol. She took them readily, gulping down a couple of sips of water before handing it back to her.

“So, what do you remember?” Willow asked, and Luz furrowed her brow as she tried to put the pieces back together. She recalled the meeting with Aphrodite, getting dressed up and going to prom, the conversation she had with Willow, losing track of time while dancing with Amity, and causing them to lose Gus and Willow…

“Thanks for that by the way,” Willow said with a scowl, and Luz chuckled in embarassment.

“Sorry.”

She recalled the automatons, and the thorn vault, and how she’d thrown the bag at the ground… but then everything else was a blur.

“That’s all you remember?” Willow asked seriously, and Luz frowned.

She felt like her head was fuzzy, and she was missing something important… but that was it. It was a wall of darkness after that.

“What happened after I blacked out?” Luz asked, and Willow shrugged her shoulders.

“Well, we had security looking for us, but thankfully they couldn’t track us after we left. I spoke to this mom who was willing to drive our “intoxicated friend” to the hospital, so we took you there. You were a babbling mess… but when you got to the hospital you just collapsed. It was pretty scary, we weren’t sure if you were going to be alright or not.”

Luz swallowed anxiously. She didn’t remember any of that.

“We sent an Iris message to camp and made Viney tell us what was in that bag. Turns out it was a combination bag… a helium/Hecate powder mix. Once we found out it was non-lethal, she told us it was probably a good idea to get you somewhere to rest and shake off your magic hangover.”

Luz felt her cheeks heat up the more Willow talked. Gods, she hoped she hadn’t said or done anything too embarrassing.

“What about the pain in my chest?”

Willow laughed. “You got launched like, seven feet into the air and straight into the ground. I’m not an Apollo camper, but even I knew you had some kind of broken rib. We’ve been giving you nectar, so hopefully, it’s not broken anymore, but I’m not surprised it still hurts.”

Luz looked around the room again, her vision starting to clear up a little bit. She could see that it was midday outside the window, the sun decently high in the sky. It was also becoming more obvious just how nice the house they were in was (if it could be even called a house). The outside lead down a huge driveway, and into a polished and clean street. It was easily just as, if not more, expensive than Orpheus’ manor.

“You said we’re at… Cherry Hills Village?” Luz asked, doing her best to recall that name. “Who… who lives here again?”

“We’re at my parents’ house.”

Luz’s head snapped to the door at the sound of Amity’s voice, breaking out into a huge grin when she saw her. Amity was standing in the door frame, a huge serving tray of food in her hands. She had changed out of her dress and was back in the long-sleeved black shirt and purple leggings, her hair in its typical half up half down style. She smiled softly when she saw Luz, and the grin on Luz’s face widened.

“Amity!”

From behind her, Gus peeked over her shoulder and waved happily to Luz, also dressed out of his suit and back into his t-shirt and button-up.

“Hey, Luz! How are you feeling?”

Luz lifted one arm to weakly wave back, wincing at the slight pain in her ribs as she did.

“A little sore, but I’ll be alright.” She turned her head back to Amity, who walked in and set the tray of food down at the end of the huge bed. “Amity, did you say we were at your parents’ house?” She lowered her voice, trying not to look too nervous. “Like… you’re parents, parents?”

Amity shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, “yeah, we’ve been here for just over a day and a half. You needed somewhere to rest, and this is the first place I could think of. Mortal police were looking all over the city for us, it’s not like we could go back to the workshop.”

“I’ve been asleep for over a day and a half?” Luz gawked, pulling at her face with her hands. “I’m so sorry guys!”

“Luz, don’t apologize,” Willow insisted, smiling reassuringly.

“Yeah, you saved our bacon back at the prom, we probably wouldn’t have gotten away without your plan,” Gus added, walking up to her and patting the comforter she was under reassuringly. He broke out into a big smile. “That thorn vault? It was awesome!”

“Besides, everything worked out,” Amity said, fiddling with the sleeve of her shirt. “We needed to get off the street anyways, and this is the place to go. Nobody bothers the Blights.” While she had started the sentence reassuringly, the tone of her voice had changed halfway through, and now had a bit of an edge to it.

Luz frowned, discomfort pricking the back of her spine. She sensed that Amity was holding something back from her. “Are… are you alright? I mean… being here? I can get dressed and we can go-”

Amity shook her head and smiled, but Luz could tell it was a little bit forced. “It’s fine, Luz. I spend the school year here, remember? Nothing I can’t handle. Just focus on healing up.”

Amity pushed the tray of food towards her, and Luz’s mouth watered. Now that she was fully waking up, she was feeling a lot less nauseous, and she realized just how hungry she was. There was a sandwich on the table, and she shoveled it into her mouth so quickly she couldn’t even tell what was in it, probably because she was barely chewing. Gus laughed, but Amity and Willow moved forward in concern.

“Luz, slow down,” Willow warned.

“Yeah, you don’t want to be sick again,” Amity added, handing her the cup on the tray. Luz took it gratefully, and this time when she swallowed, she could tell by the sweetness it was apple juice.

“Sorry,” Luz said, not really meaning it, already reaching for one of the cookies on the tray. “I didn’t realize how hungry I was.”

“That’s a good sign,” Willow said with a smile, taking one of the cookies as well. “Gus had also helped himself, though Luz noticed Amity didn’t and felt that discomfort come back. She got the feeling Amity wasn’t letting Luz in on everything that had happened since she passed out. Luz suddenly felt antsy, like she should get up and start trying to move.

The second she pulled the comforter off her body, and the cool air hit her exposed legs and arms, she shivered but still turned to put her feet near the floor. Amity moved right away, catching Luz by the arm.

“What are you doing?” She asked, her eyes narrowing. “You need to be taking it easy.”

“I’m fine, Amity,” Luz insisted, her feet touching the cold hardwood. She turned her head to Gus, who had just finished his cookie. “Would you pass me my backpack? I want to change.”

Gus nodded and went over to it, and Amity’s grip tightened on Luz’s arm. “Are you sure you’re alright? You shouldn’t be pushing yourself too hard.”

“The longer I’m in bed the longer Hestia is in that cage, and Belos is recruiting dead demigods,” Luz said certainly, and while her chest was still aching, it wasn’t nearly a good enough reason to be relaxing. “You still have Peleus’ shield, right?”

Amity nodded, pointing to a new bracelet on her left hand Luz hadn’t noticed before. It was bronze, like Luz’s ring, and was in the shape of an olive branch, wrapping around Amity’s wrist.

“It’s magical, like your ring,” Amity explained, and when she touched it, it shifted into the same bronze shield Luz had used to smack over the head of the automaton.

“I was reading the plaque in the classics building, and it said the shield was just as crucial to Peleus as his sword. He called it Dikē, the pair to Aletheia.” Gus pointed to Luz’s ring, “so disclosure and truth,” and then to Amity’s bracelet, “and justice and law.”

Amity extended the shield out to her. “Here, you should have it, they go together after all.”

Luz shook her head. “Thanks, but I’m no good with a shield. You keep it.”

Amity blinked, looking at Luz like she was crazy. “Really? Are you sure?”

“Positive! Besides, I can’t use a shield and my hand buzzer.” Luz insisted with a smile, and Amity turned to Willow and Gus with a frown.

“Willow, Gus? Do either of you want it?”

“I’ve got my own shield,” Gus said, pointing to his watch.

“I’m with Luz, shields aren’t really my style,” Willow added with a shrug. “Even if we did almost die getting it.”

“I said I was sorry!” Luz exclaimed, and Willow laughed.

Amity grinned, clearly excited she was able to keep the magical item. She touched the shield, and it turned back into the bracelet. Luz chuckled, gesturing to the design.

“The bracelet suits you better than it would suit me anyway. It’s really pretty. Definitely your style.”

Amity’s face flushed a deeper red, and Luz suddenly realized what she had said. Her own cheeks pinked, and Amity took a few steps back from the bed.

“I’ll… I’ll let you change then. Gus, would you help me downstairs with the maps in my father’s study?”

Gus jumped at the offer. “Obviously! Your dad’s war maps are so cool, I could look at them for hours.”

Amity nodded quickly, turning to the door. “You two can join us when you’re ready. Willow, you know the way right?”

Willow nodded, shooting Amity a knowing smile. “Yep! Fourth room on the left.”

Once Amity and Gus left, the door closing behind them, Willow broke out into a series of chuckles, turning to Luz and shaking her head.

“You’re going to kill her, you know that right?”

Luz was suddenly not feeling as cold. She laughed nervously, grabbing her backpack from where Gus had left it on the corner of the bed. She reached in and pulled out her change of clothes, and started pulling socks over her feet.

“I… I don’t know what you mean.”

“Oh, come on Luz,” Willow retorted, rolling her eyes. “I saw you two dancing. Then you were late to the classics building, and then when you hit yourself with that helium bomb you were all over Amity-”

“I was what?” Luz squeaked in horror. She had been halfway done pulling her cat hoodie over her head, and she forced her eyes through the hole just to look at Willow, terrified.

“Right, you don’t remember,” Willow chuckled, shaking her head affectionately. Luz was going to strangle her for being so nonchalant until she continued.

“Don’t worry, it wasn’t anything too embarrassing. But you were leaning on her shoulder the entire ride to the hospital, and then again when we were waiting for a cab. I thought Amity was going to explode, your face was right up against her ear-”

“Alright, I get it, I get it!” Luz squawked, her heart hammering so hard in her chest she was surprised it didn’t break another rib. She pulled her arms through the hoodie and slipped her leggings and shorts on next. While she reached for her shoes, she was painfully aware of Willow watching her, clearly taken aback by her reaction.

“Is everything okay? Honestly, I thought you would be happy. You do like Amity, right?”

Luz’s cheeks flushed, and she finished putting on her shoes and ran a hand through her hair. Her stomach was squirming like she’d just drank a whole glass of milk, and she thought she might be sick again, but it wasn’t from being unconscious.

“Of course I like Amity,” Luz said, and she didn’t miss the excited little smile that passed over Willow’s face. “I like Amity… a lot, actually. I’m just worried I messed things up.”

“What do you mean?” Willow asked, tilting her head.

“When we were at the prom I thought…” Luz’s palms began to swear. “I thought I might kiss her. Then I realized you were gone and I kind of freaked out. ”

“Oh my gods, Luz! Tell me everything.”

So she ran the story by Willow, everything from the dance to the almost kiss, and when she finished, Willow winced.

“Yeah, that… could have gone smoother.”

“I’m just worried that Amity thinks I pulled away on purpose, or chickened out,” Luz explained, wringing her hands together nervously. “And then… what if she didn’t want me to kiss her? I didn’t even ask! For god’s sake, we’re on a quest to save Olympus and here I am trying to kiss one of my quest companions-”

Willow reached out and took Luz’s hand reassuringly, and Luz stopped. When she met Willow’s gaze, the daughter of Demeter was watching her carefully.

“Luz, I’ve known Amity for a long time. I don’t think she would think something like that. But even if she did, you should talk to her about it if it’s really bothering you. Sometimes all a problem needs is a little communication. I think you’d be surprised how understanding she can be.”

Luz slowly felt herself begin to feel better. Willow always had a way with words. Sometimes Luz wondered if she was secretly a child of Aphrodite.

“You’re right,” Luz said, managing a smile. “Thanks, Willow.”

“Anytime!” She said, patting her thigh. “Do you want your toothbrush? There’s a bathroom attached to Amity’s room…”

Luz made quick work of getting ready, brushing her teeth, washing her face, and fixing her hair. When she was feeling presentable, she met Willow back in Amity’s room. Now that she wasn’t just waking up, she was surprised she hadn’t recognized the space as the daughter of Aphrodite’s at first glance.

The room smelt strongly of Amity, the same lavender and mint scent she’d had after her shower in the workshop, and despite the clearly expensive furniture, the posters around the wall of the desk were very much Amity. There was one of the camp posters they sold in the shop, with this one repping Cabin Ten. Luz’s face lit up in delight when she saw posters for both the third and fourth “The Good Witch Azura” books, and she immediately wondered if Amity had read any of the book she’d let her borrow her over the day and a half they’d been here.

The Blight Manor. Luz’s stomach was starting to swirl with worry. She’d heard about the Blight parents from their daughter, and they hadn’t exactly been good things.

“What’s with the face?”

Luz turned to Willow, who was sitting on the sleeping bag on the floor, sorting through her backpack.

“What are Amity’s parents like?” Luz asked, rubbing her arm, hoping for reassurance. Just based on the look Willow shot her in return, Luz had a feeling she wasn’t going to get any.

“They’re… a lot. They haven’t really bothered us since we’ve been here, but I know Amity’s dad wanted to talk to you when you woke up.”

Luz blinked, her eyes widening in surprise. “He wants to talk to me? Why?”

Willow shrugged. “No idea, Amity seemed surprised too. I think she was expecting more of a fight when we showed up the other day. Amity’s mother wasn’t too happy to see us, but her father let us in no problem.”

Luz was now feeling a lot more anxious. What would an experienced half-blood like Mr. Blight want from a newbie like Luz?

“Try not to worry too much,” Willow said, clearly picking up on Luz’s hesitation. “Why don’t we just head down to the office? Amity and Gus are waiting for us. We have to start thinking about our next move.”

“You’re right,” Luz said with a nod, doing her best to push away her insecurities. “Hestia is still trapped, and we’re the only help she’s got. Lead the way.”

Willow and Luz left Amity’s room, walking down the hallways of Blight Manor. The aesthetic was much different in the large home than it was in Amity’s room. There was a lot of homage to Greek-style and architecture, with a variety of expensive-looking sculptures and tapestries lined up. They passed a couple of other rooms, and Luz wondered to herself if any of them belonged to the Blight twins. Eventually, Willow led Luz down a huge marble staircase, with a huge chandelier hanging from the ceiling.  

It looked like Luz had been wrong. This manor was clearly more expensive than Orpheus’.

They passed a huge kitchen, with beautiful finishes, and appliances that were so advanced they could have easily been made by one of the campers from Cabin Nine. Luz remembered Amity saying her parents worked on Olympus. Maybe they were made by the god Hephaestus himself. They passed three separate seating areas, with lavish furniture and décor that made it difficult for Luz to imagine Amity or her older siblings sitting down at any of them. It was only when they passed a glorious white grand piano that Luz realized despite the obvious wealth and beauty that went into the home, nothing about it felt homely.

There was any sign of children growing up or living here. No pictures hanging on the walls, no mess in the kitchens, no cubby’s crammed with stuff like in Luz’s Mami’s apartment. It was like nobody lived here at all.  

She was starting to feel sorry for Amity.  

Luz was so zoned out in thought, she hadn’t even realized Willow had completely stopped, and she accidentally bumped into her, letting out a little “oomph!”

Willow reached behind and steadied her, and that’s when Luz looked up and saw why Willow had stopped.

A woman was standing there, easily towering eight inches over Luz. She had green hair that matched the twins, curled into a tight bun, and she was wearing a regal looking black suit, tapered in all the right professional places, with a crisp dark grey blouse and matching heels.

When Luz met her eyes, she realized with a jolt they were gold, like Amity’s. But there was something… off about them. Luz could tell the difference right away. This woman’s eyes were darker, almost like the color of a wilting dandelion, and they were currently narrowed so she could hardly see her iris'. Amity’s eyes were deeper and much more vibrant. Even when Amity was scowling, Luz could always see the golds of her eyes.

Willow’s grip tightened on her arm. “Good afternoon, Mrs. Blight.”

The woman’s gaze flickered between Willow and Luz, and Luz’s stomach had been swirling so bad at what Willow had said, (this was Amity’s MOTHER) that she forgot to introduce herself, leaving them standing there awkwardly.

“Uh, my apologies,” Luz said quickly, doing her best to recall how to properly introduce herself. Hopefully, her Mami’s training before her work Christmas party was finally going to be useful. She did her best to make eye contact, extending her hand to Mrs. Blight. “My name is Luz Noceda. Thank you for your gracious hospitality over the last two days.”

Mrs. Blight straightened, looking at Luz’s hand for a moment, and Luz began to get more nervous, worried she’d done the wrong thing. Eventually, however, she took it, and the grip was so strong Luz thought her wrist might break. She did her best to disguise her wince.

“It is my pleasure, Miss Noceda,” she said, her voice so smooth it was like velvet. Luz was having a hard time looking at her in the eyes, because the entire time she talked, nothing about her expression gave anything away. “I have heard much about you on Olympus. You are making quite the name for yourself.”

Luz laughed awkwardly. “All good things, I hope?”

Mrs. Blight’s stony expression did not waver. “Yes. Good things. You have done well to make a name for yourself in the short time you’ve been claimed. It is… impressive. I could only dream for Amity and her siblings to do the same.”

Luz fought the frown that was starting to grow on her face. That wasn’t very fair, Amity had been a little kid when she was claimed. How was a seven year old supposed to go on heroic quests to save Olympus? It was only due to Luz’s bad luck she’d manage to get into as much trouble as she already had. And Amity was a hero, she pushed herself harder than any other demigod at camp, and it showed. She wasn’t just well-liked, but well respected too. She opened her mouth to say as much but was stopped when she felt the grip on her arm tighten. She turned her head, and Willow was giving her a pleading look.

Right, this was Amity’s mother. She didn’t want to make more trouble for Amity by calling her out.

So instead, she just cleared her throat and managed a polite smile. “Thank you, Mrs. Blight.”

Amity’s mother paused again, looking Luz up and down. “You are a child of Hermes, is that correct?”

Luz nodded, and Mrs. Blight hummed under her breath.

“His children are frequently resourceful. You were able to arrive in Colorado in half the time as Amity’s first quest, as well as rescue her along the way. You’ve shown great leadership and spared the Blight name a bad reputation. For that, I am grateful, Miss Noceda.”  

Luz blinked, confused. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I understand. How did I spare your family name?”

Mrs. Blight’s nose crinkled, and Luz worried she’d overstepped, but then she just clicked her tongue, looking to the left towards a bronze bust Luz hadn’t noticed until now.

“When Amity first arrived here, Alador and I thought she was going to succeed with her other companions and save Olympus. When we’d learned she’d been captured… this was quite unfortunate news. We work hard to ensure our reputation of Olympus is kept intact, Miss Noceda, and anything that threatens that is… a problem.”

As Luz slowly began to process what Mrs. Blight was saying she felt a new feeling begin to rise up in her chest, and she felt her body begin to get stiff. She was angry.

How could Mrs. Blight blame Amity for what happened in Boulder? It wasn’t her fault! If it wasn’t for the ridiculous standards her parents put on her shoulders, Amity might have actually been able to recognize what the prophecy meant in the first place. She did the best she could in a terrible situation. As she felt her anger grow, Willow’s grip on her arm was starting to get impossibly tight. Thankfully, Mrs. Blight seemed to be unaware of this change in Luz.

“Regardless, now that Amity is back on the right track with you leading the quest, perhaps there is less to be concerned about. You have won the favor of… many gods.” Something in Mrs. Blight’s face changed, and Luz’s anger was temporarily broken as she watched in surprise, but it came rushing back in a flood when she continued. “So with Olympus on your side, I’m sure Amity won’t be able to make a mess of your quest this time.”

Mrs. Blight walked over to the bust, pulling a cloth out of her pocket. She ran it over the head of the figure, polishing it before taking a few steps back, her heels clicking on the marble floor. When she decided it was clear, she turned back to Luz and Willow. She eyed Luz up and down again, and Luz was suddenly reminded of the Caucasian Eagle. She had the same kind of predatory eyes as when the monster had swopped down at them.

“Following that, I want to make it clear that it is in your best interest to succeed, Miss Noceda. Any relief on your mission is a relief to my mother on Olympus. If that were not the case, I would not have let you rest in my home for as long as you have. Do you understand me?

Luz had met a handful of gods, and she was sure that making an enemy out of one would not be pleasant. But at this moment, she was certain that she would rather have an enemy out of a god than an enemy out of Amity’s mother.

“Yes, Mrs. Blight.”

Satisfied, the woman turned and walked away, leaving Luz alone with Willow and the bronze bust of the goddess Hecate.

[catcze]

*the letter arrived today attached to a small box. Within the box you found a large fleece blanket, dark purple in color with a rose insignia emblazened in a violet hue into the center, and smelling faintly of lavender, a scent your mind immediately associated with Lisa*

Darling I'm sorry for the delay in my response, I've just been so busy lately! I've had half a dozen books go missing in the last 2 days, and rounding them up has been a nightmare.. And to top it off, apparently Klee, bless her heart, one of her treasures caused a small shockwave within the Knights' headquarters, knocking an entire bookshelf over. Jean forced her to help clean it up as repentance, but it still took the three of us a few hours I've hardly had any "me" time today...

That being said, while I was running those errands from work I had this wonderful idea. I know you said that you slept better when we were together, so I asked Albedo for some help. This is one of my blankets from home, that I use daily, so my scent was already on it. Albedo was able to enchant it with his alchemy to make it so the scent will never fade out! I know it's still a far cry from being wrapped up in your girlfriend's embrace, but I hope it will make you happy. I can just imagine your smile as you read this letter, and it makes me so so happy 💜

Venting about having to do actual work aside, life has been so good lately. I'm always in such a good mood, especially since we write so frequently these days. I do still miss you, and I wish you were here. If I started crying, would you come back sooner? I'm just teasing, don't worry. I made sure Sucrose knew that too, otherwise you know that girl would worry about me forever. She's sweet like that, but still nowhere near as sweet as you 💜

Jean and Klee both asked me to tell you they miss you(well those were Jean's words. Klee wants you to know she has a new "treasure" to show you). We all miss you.

I hope you're well when you read this letter, and that the blanket will help. If I'm lucky, it'll tempt you to come return it to me in person in exchange for the real deal, hehehe~💜 I'm going to give you so many kisses when you come back to me, probably more than there are stars in the sky. I think that would be fitting, don't you starlight~? Have you ever thought about that actually; how many things we do infrequently, but if you think about it you've probably done them millions of times in your life? It's so fascinating to me honestly. How many times do you think you've inhaled and exhaled in your life? That number must be in the trillions! Hehe... I'm sleepy rambling again. Time to get sappy.

I love you so much. I wasn't even exaggerating about how many kisses I plan to give you. I miss so much about you; the taste of your lips, that look you give me when I press my finger against your lip(you know what I'm talking about~), your hair, your scent... I'm enamored, infatuated... In love with you. Completely and utterly. I just wish you were here with me now. I'm sorry to get all whiny, I just... I miss you, my rose.

Also because I know you'll worry about it, I have plenty of other blankets, so don't think you've stolen my best one(I have two others identical to the one I've sent you). I want you to have this. I care so so deeply about you and I want you to sleep as wonderfully as you can while you can't be wrapped up in bed with me.

Won't you tell me more also about the adventures you're having? What have you been up to? What things have you seen? I hear they sell cameras in Liyue, if you've been you should definitely get one and start sending me pictures! I want to know more about what my babygirl has been doing~ Anyways, I'll call my letter to a close here, before I run onto another sheet of paper, hehe~💜

I love you princess. So so so much~

Yours Always,

- Lisa 🌺💜

[The envelope that arrives this time is bigger by a few inches, and it seems that it’s been spritzed with vanilla perfume. Opening it shows that there’s more than just the letter in there–– there are several glossy photographs as well. They’re a little amateur, with a few being blurred slightly, but the enthusiasm to take the photos and send them back home is evident. They consist of mundane things like the clouds against the blue sky, the lights of a beautiful city at night reflected on a river, or a picture of some sort of foreign dish, still steaming hot. One picture in particular is simple: a figure contrasted by the light of the setting sun in the background, hands curved together to form a heart shape with their palms and fingers. On the back of this particular photo is written ‘Miss you very much. I promise to come back home soon <3′ and a pretty pink lipstick mark.] 

⠀I hope these photos will suffice, dearest. I’ve picked up a camera as you’ve suggested, but I’m unfortunately still getting used to it. Still, I’ve taken some photographs of some of the everyday things that i see here. Everywhere I look, I can’t help but wish you were accompanying me where I went. But! When I come back, I’ll be sure to bring the camera with me, and we can take plenty of pictures together in Mondstadt. 

⠀Honestly, my day was going rather well. A bit slow, and there was a lack of things to do at one point, but I’m grateful for the rest. I’ve actually stopped at Sumeru, and I’ve settled down here for a bit before I go on my way again. I managed to talk my way into observing several lectures at the Sumeru Academy for a bit, since I got curious about how it was for you when you still attended here. I don’t plan to stay for very long, but one of the scholars who agreed to let me watch has a class tomorrow, and rather bright and early as well. Ah, I do hope I manage to wake up on time, I’d hate to take their hospitality for granted. 

⠀Aside from that, the gift you sent me definitely made my day! The blanket you’ve sent is such a comfort–– much better than the ones I’ve been using. It was a lovely surprise, and it brings back so many memories of my home with you. It’s a wonderful gift, one that I’ll keep by me at all times. Send my thanks to Albedo, as well please, and tell everyone back home that I miss them very much as well (But shhh, don’t let them know that I miss you most of all 💞)

⠀You’ve had a busy day, please rest if you’re tired! As much as I adore you when you’re sappy, I’m sure it wasn’t easy dealing with those missing books and the mess in the library. Promise me you’ll get some rest and dream of me, alright? Dearest, I don’t mind if your letters come a little late, as long as I know you’re well-rested and safe. I hope no one got hurt in the little shockwave and in the fall–– promise me you’re all okay? Much like you would come to me the moment I ask, know that I would also do my best to come back sooner if I hear that you’re sad or hurt. I can’t have your smile disappearing now, can I?

⠀When I come home, I’ll be sure to return every kiss and ounce of affection you give me, sweets. Ah, I miss hearing you call me ‘Starlight’ in person. It always used to send butterflies in my stomach, and even now I get a rush just from reading it. I’m very much in love with you too, dearest. I always will be. I miss you more and more each day that we’re apart, but I suppose that distance makes the heart grow fonder? You make me so happy, and merely thinking about you is enough to lift my spirits. Look at that–– even when we’re apart, you’re still affecting me in such good ways.

⠀Haha, and it makes me glad that you’ve still got blankets to spare. I’d hate to have stolen your best one, after all, though it is sooo comfortable. Your gift means the world to me, dear. Thank you again 💞 I have to stop here as well–– I would hate to make you read so much if you haven’t rested yet. I love you so much as well, and know that I dream of you, Lisa. 

⠀––Catte 💞

[victoria-daydreams]

Something’s Gotta Give

Chapter Five: Avoidance

AN: I can’t believe I’ finally finished this chapter! It took me forever to complete it, I thought I would have this chapter out by yesterday or even the day before yesterday, but for some reason I kept getting easily distracted by other things. Also, shout out to everyone who has recently followed this story! Truly, I am thankful, because as I said before I really didn’t think anyone would read it, this story was just a plot bunny that I needed to get out of my head.

Chapter Six: Let’s Try this Again

Summary: Livia and Booker have reconciled with each other, but Livia still feels like she needs to make it to him up and she’s got just the plan.

Slowly, I could feel the heavy fog of sleep lift from my mind as I felt myself waking up. My eyes gently fluttered open, my vision slowly clearing until I could see rays of sunlight peeking through the window. The rays illuminated the room, bathing it in a soft, warm glow. My eyes scanned over the room, my surroundings were incredibly unfamiliar, the walls were painted in a beige color and not in burgundy like I have in my own bedroom. Quickly, I pushed myself up from my sleeping position, knocking off the blanket that was covering me.

I went into a small state of panic as my head turned from left to right before it dawned on me where I was. My eyes had landed on the spines of the antique books that rested on the bookshelf near the bedroom door. Closing my eyes, I found myself being able to breathe a lot easier and reopened my eyes. I swung my feet off the bed and planted them on the carpeted floor before pushing myself off the edge bed. Sliding my shoes back on, I made my way to the en suite bathroom, flipping the lights on as I entered and stopped at the sink.

I groaned internally once I saw the state of my hair, on one side my hair was flat as a pancake and on the other side my hair had shrunk. Not to mention the fact that I didn't sleep with my satin bonnet over my hair. I twisted the knobs and splashed some water onto my face, the water awakening me even further. I cupped my hands together and poured more water over my hair, hoping to rejuvenate it back to its usual state. Using my fingers, I gently fluffed my hair out to restore some of its volume, it was decent enough, but I would have to wait to get back to my apartment to really fix my hair.

I switched the lights off and left the bathroom reentering Booker's bedroom and I opened the door leaving the room. The smell of toast, bacon, and eggs wafted into my nose, bringing a smile to my face. I ran my fingertips along the hallway wall and as I got closer to the kitchen the wonderful aroma of freshly brewed coffee teased my nose.

I leaned against the wall with a smirk on my face, "A girl could get used to this," I stated, folding my arms against my chest.

Booker lifted his eyes from the novel he was reading and flashed me a warm smile. "Good morning Livia," he greeted, placing his book down on the table.

"Morning Booker," I greeted back, pushing myself off the wall and walking to the small kitchen table. "You made breakfast and coffee," I remarked, gesturing towards the table as I slid into the seat across from him.

"Think of it as a thank you gift for all that you did me for yesterday," Booker stated, grabbing his mug.

My lips curved upward, "You're too sweet Booker," I replied, picking up the fork placed next to the plate. "Did you sleep well?" I asked curiously, sticking my fork into the scrambled eggs.

"The best I've slept in days," he answered, mirroring my smile.

I moved some of my hair behind my ear, "Yeah, sorry about falling asleep in your bed," I apologized, with a sheepish grin. "I know I said I would sleep on the sofa," I continued, picking up my own mug of coffee.

"You have nothing to apologize for Livia," Booker assured. "I'm sure the bed was a lot more comfortable than the sofa would've been," he joked, making the grin on my face grow wider.

"You even took the time to tuck me in," I remarked, before sipping some of my coffee, it was made just the way I liked it.

"I wanted to put you underneath the covers," Booker began, sticking his hand out. "But you looked so peaceful asleep that I didn't want to move you and risk you waking up," he explained, shaking his head.

I smiled, "Very considerate of you," I said, before digging my fork back into the food. I lifted the fork to my mouth, but then stopped when I recalled something that happened last night. "Booker?" I called, and he moved his eyes from the page of his book to me. "Why do you have a gun?" I questioned, before taking another bite of my eggs.

"For protection."

I narrowed my eyes, "It's practically to illegal to own a gun in France unless your job requires it," I pointed out.

"How do you know I don't need it for my job?" Booker challenged, and I just raised a skeptical brow. "You're American, your country is very gung-ho about guns, right?" He questioned, and I rolled my eyes. "Shouldn’t you be foaming at the mouth because the government is not allowing you to protect yourself?” He asked again, a smirk on his face.

"Really Booker?"

~~~x~~~

Placing, our dirty dishes down onto the counter, I turned the knob to the sink and water streamed out. I rolled my sleeves up and placed my hand underneath the water waiting for it to warm up.

"Breakfast was delicious Booker, thank you," I stated, looking over to him.

He grinned at me, "Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it," he replied, placing the mugs next to the plates.

I squirted soap into the sink, "Now, I may have imagined this because I was half asleep," I began, scrubbing a plate clean. "But did you mutter something after you wished me a good night?" I asked, turning my attention from the dish to him.

"No," he answered, a little too quickly for my taste.

My eyebrow arched, "Are you sure?" I questioned, handing him the cleaned dish to dry. "I could've sworn you said something in French," I recalled, moving onto the next plate.

Booker shook his head, "You must've of been dreaming Livia," he suggested, glancing over at me.

"You know I have friends that are French right?" I questioned, a playful smile on my lips. "I may butcher the words, but I think they'll able to decipher whatever you said Booker," I teased, smirking at him as I passed him the second plate.

"Livia."

A smile worked its way onto my lips, it was becoming a habit of Booker’s to groan my name in annoyance.

I lifted my hands in the air, "Fine, keep your secret French mutterings to yourself." I joked, dipping my hands back in the water to finish the rest of the dishes. "Will you at least tell me what you wanted to say yesterday?" I asked, cleaning off the forks and knives.

Booker stopped in mid-motion of drying, "I did promise you that yesterday, didn't I?" he responded, sounding hesitant. "Well, I...um...I'm..." he trailed off, seemingly unable to finish his sentence.

I could see the discomfort in his face about whatever he wanted to tell me. I placed my soapy, wet hand on top of his.

"Though you've been leaving me in suspense this whole morning," I quipped. "Whatever it is that you wanted to tell me, I can wait until you're ready," I stated, an understanding smile on my face.

Booker let out a sigh, "God, you have the patience of a saint Livia," he commented, shaking his head.

I chuckled, "I try to," I said, with a slight shrug of my shoulders and removing my hand from his wrist. "This is still a lot for me to take in as well," I added, finishing up with the mugs.

"I know it is,” he agreed, nodding his head. "And you honestly probably deserve to freak out more,” he admitted, looking over at me.

I leaned my head from side to side, "You're not wrong there," I stated, lightly laughing. "I deserve a nice, relaxing night. Maybe I’ll cook to de-stress," I said, nodding to myself. And that’s when an idea popped into my head and a smile formed on my face. "Let's have dinner at my place tonight," I suggested, and the mug that Booker was drying nearly slipped from his hand.

"What?"

"I wanna make it up to you, seeing how I made a muck of things a few days ago," I explained, drying my hands on the hand towel. Booker gave me an uncertain look at the idea of my makeup dinner. I placed one hand on my hip and the other on the sink. "Come on Booker, what's the worse that can happen?" I questioned.

Booker just raised an eyebrow that silently asked 'really?'. Just as he was about to respond, I removed my hand from my hip and placed my finger to his lips.

"You know what, don't answer that question," I stated, shaking my head. Pushing off the sink, I walked over to the armchair where my coat was resting. "An executive decision is being made and the decision is you're going to have dinner with me at my apartment," I ordered, pointing at Booker who just smiled at me.

Booker crossed his arms, "How do you know if I don't have plans already for tonight?" he asked, leaning back against the sink.

I rolled my eyes, "Booker, it's you, we both know you're not doing anything tonight,” I pointed out, walking backwards.

Booker chuckled, "Ouch," he replied, placing a hand against his chest.

"6:00 o'clock tonight Booker," I informed, unlocking the front door. "Be there or be square." I said, looking over at him.

~~~x~~~

For most of the afternoon, I have been running around my apartment like a chicken with its head cut off. The first thing I did when I got back inside my home was start cleaning. My apartment actually wasn't that dirty to begin with, but I just wanted to tidy it up before Booker came over later on tonight. So, I swept the floors of my kitchen and living room, vacuumed the rug, threw the trash out, and other various things. When I was finished frantically cleaning my apartment I was met with the most challenging decision of them all.

What I was going to wear tonight for dinner.

There were so many outfits laid out all over my bed, I paced back and forth on my bedroom floor glancing at the clothes. There were dresses, skirts with a matching top to it, or pants with a top that matched it. I thought about wearing a pair of pants because it's easy to move around in them, but then I questioned myself on if that would be, I don't know, sexy enough. I mean don't get me wrong, I can fill out a pair of jeans very well.

Wait a minute.

"Why am I trying to dress sexy for Booker?" I thought. "We're just having dinner tonight, it's not a date-" I continued. "Oh my god, is this a date?" I wondered.

Leaning my head back, I covered my face with both of my hands and a loud groan escaped from me. I am making this so much harder than it needs to be. I dragged my fingers down my face, wondering if Booker was going through the same thing or if it was just me and my tendency to over analyze things.

I glanced back over to my bed. "It's decided." I stated, clasping my hands together. "I know what I'm going to wear." I declared, scanning over the combination of outfits I put together.

"God, what am I going to make for dinner!" I fretted, scurrying out my room and to the kitchen to look for a cookbook.

After several hours of working myself into a frenzy to make everything perfect, I was finally done. The meal I had prepared was stored in the oven to keep warm, a fresh table cloth was draped over the table along with the utensils, plates, and wine glasses that were neatly arranged on the table. The small fireplace in front of the coffee table was lit, warming up the apartment to the ideal temperature where it wasn't too hot but not too cold.

I was lighting the last candle I pulled out when I heard knocking on my door. I watched as the wick flared to life, emitting a sunset orange glow. Placing my lighter down, I wiped my hands together and made my to the door. Unlocking the door, I pulled it open to see the back of Booker and I placed a hand on the door frame.

"You're not getting cold feet, are you?" I greeted, a smirk pulling on my burgundy painted lips.

Booker spun around, "No, I..." He trailed off, his eyes scanning over my outfit. It was a simple rust colored v-neck jumper that stopped just above my knees and underneath the jumper I wore a plain black long sleeve turtleneck. "Wow, you look stunning," he breathed, returning his gaze back to my own.

I felt my cheeks heat up as a bashful grin made its way on my face, "Thank you Booker," I said, my grin widening. "You're looking rather dashingly handsome yourself," I complimented back.

Booker wore a plain blue button down shirt tucked into his black pants, it was somewhat strange to see him dressed this way. I was used to his casual style of clothes that he usually wore, but yet I liked this change in style. Another thing that was different about Booker tonight was his hair, I've been accustomed to seeing his hair tousled in some sort of fashion, but now it was neatly combed over and parted to the side. I almost wanted to run my hand through it to mess it up a bit.

Booker mirrored my expression, "Thank you," he smiled. "I brought you these," he informed, extending his arms forward revealing a bouquet of blush pink peonies.

"Oh Booker!" I gushed, taking the flowers from him. "These are gorgeous!" I beamed, looking at the flowers and then back at him. "Come in, come in, before we let out all the heat from the apartment," I said, placing my hand on his bicep and gently pulling him inside and closing the door.

"It's nice and toasty in here," Booker commented, pulling his jacket off.

I locked the door, "It's not too much is it?" I asked, a slight panic building up inside me.

"It's perfect Livia," Booker reassured, hanging up his jacket on the coat rack.

A breath of relief escaped me, "Dinner is ready, I just need to take it out the oven." I informed, walking past him. "And the wine has already been uncorked, so we shouldn't have any accidents tonight." I joked, looking over my shoulder as I entered the kitchen.

"Ha ha ha, very funny Livia," Booker deadpanned, following behind me.

I flashed him a smile before squatting down to grab a vase from the island, pushing myself back up, I laid the flowers down and moved over to my sink. Turning the knob, I filled the small vase half full of water before shutting it off, carefully I walked back over to the island and placed the vase down next to the bouquet. My fingers found their way to the ribbon holding the peonies together, I gently pulled it and watched as the flowers released themselves from the brown paper. Gathering them all together, I held up the peonies to my nose and inhaled the sweet fragrance.

I lifted my eyes from the blush colored flowers to see Booker watching me with a satisfied grin.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I laughed, lowering the flowers from my nose to the vase.

Booker shrugged, "I'm just glad that you like the flowers," he replied, before he raised his glass of wine to his lips.

I slightly cocked my head, "Is that really all?" I asked again, now sliding my oven mitts on.

Booker just hummed in response as I opened the oven before bending down and removing the beef stroganoff and placing it on the stove top. The mouthwatering smell of the meal drifts through the entire apartment.

"Whatever that is, its smells delicious," Booker remarked, and my lips curved upwards as I turned the oven off.

"It's beef stroganoff," I answered, pulling the mitts off and grabbing the wooden spoon from the counter. I scooped the pasta out and onto each of plates, placing a moderate amount on them. Plates in hand, I walk over to the table where Booker was sitting and handed him his plate. "Bon appetit!" I cheered, Booker grinned at me and shook his head as I took my seat across from him.

Booker dipped his fork into his stroganoff and raised it to his mouth, I held my breath in anticipation. He slid the fork into his mouth and slowly began to chew, I couldn't tell if he was savoring it or was disgusted by it. Swallowing his food, Booker placed his fork down and I felt my heart beat quicken as he leaned his head against his knuckles.

"This is d-" Booker began, I shut my eyes and clench my fist, preparing for the worst. "Delicious," he finished, and my eyes snapped opened.

"Wait, what?" I asked, furrowing my brows.

Booker just smirked at me, "I got you good, didn't I?" he asked back, picking his fork back up. My mouth opened in shock and Booker laughed at my expression, my leg shot forward and I kicked him in the shin. "Ow!" He exclaimed, still laughing.

"You ass!" I shouted, a smile forming on my lips. "Don't mess with me like that!" I said, joining in with his laughter.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to pull your leg Livia," he explained, before taking another bite of the pasta.

I nodded my head and smiled, "I hate you," I declared, kicking his shin again but this time much softer.

The two of us sat in a comfortable silence as we ate, not feeling the need to fill in the quietness. We had just finished dinner and I was about to stand up to collect our plates when I felt Booker's hand on top of mine.

"Wait," he called, and I gave him a curious look. "I...uh, I'm ready to tell you my secret from last night," he said quietly.

My eyes slightly widened, "Okay," I nodded. "Lay it on me," I said, using my other hand to pick up my wine glass.

Booked looked at me warily, "You won't freak out on me?" he questioned, lifting my hand to his lips and stroking his thumb across my knuckles nervously.

"It's not like I can run out my own apartment," I thought. "Well, I mean can, but it would be pointless to do so,"

"I will not freak out, scout's honor," I promised, and Booker nodded closing his eyes as I lifted my glass to my lips.

"I'm immortal."

I spit my wine back into my glass, nearly raising up out of my seat had not it been for Booker who had a vice like grip on my hand.

Booker stared at me in desperation, "You promised you wouldn't freak out Livia!" He stated, his voice shaking.

I placed my glass back down and lowered myself back into the chair, "I'm..." I trailed off, slowly letting my eyes meet Booker's. "I'm not freaking out Booker," I reassured, trying to catch my breath. "I'm just...processing," I corrected, briefly closing my eyes.

~~~x~~~

After Booker's confession, the two of us moved from my kitchen to the living room. At first, silence consumed us as we sat on my sofa, my mind was racing from what Booker told me. He's immortal. I wanted to say that it wasn't possible, that immortality was a thing of fiction. But deep down, I knew that belief was no longer true, how else could Booker's hand heal itself from such a deep wound and not leave a scar.

Immortality is real, and there's an immortal sitting next to me.

I clutched the pillow against my chest a little tighter as I stared into the reddish yellow flames that burst in front of me. I could feel Booker's eyes on me, they would often bounce from me to the fire as he anxiously played with his hands.

"Please, say something," Booker begged. "Anything," He added.

My eyebrows drew together and my lips curled up into a small frown, I knew that I had no reason to be scared of Booker. He's been nothing but a friend and gentlemen towards me, barring the first time we met each other. God, I probably shared more about myself to Booker in the month and a half that I've known him than I did with ex-boyfriend of six months. Meeting Booker was like a breath of fresh air, it was so refreshing to be able to talk someone who shared the interests and not feel like I was being brushed off. And the thing is, Booker didn't have to speak to me. He could've just turned down my invitation for tea and that would've been the end of it, but he didn’t.

Booker took a huge leap of faith by letting me in, rejecting him now for something he has no control over...would crush him.

I sighed and turned my head to finally face Booker. "So," I began, staring at the apprehensive immortal beside me. "Was Les Miserable anything like the actual French Revolution?" I asked curiously, my lips quirking up into a smile.

A sigh of relief left Booker's lips and his eyes lit up, a wide grin appearing on his face as well.

And that's how we ended up lazily relaxing on the floor in front of the roaring fire inside the fireplace, drinking wine from a freshly opened bottle. My legs had found their way onto Booker's lap which didn't seem to bother Booker too much as he let his fingers softly trail up and down from my knee to my ankle.

"Livia, I'm not teaching you any French countryside dances so you can live out your Pride and Prejudice fantasies,"

I pouted at him. "And why not?" I asked, taking a sip of wine. "It's not everyday you get to talk to a living relic," I pointed out, letting out a giggle and placed my wine glass down onto the coffee table. "I mean, the balls that were thrown in your time, they must've been so majestic," I swooned, placing my hands over my heart and momentarily closing my eyes.

Booker rolled his eyes, "I can't teach you the dances Livia because I don't remember how to do them," he explained, running a hand through his hair. "It's been well over two centuries since I was first taught them," he continued, shaking his head.

"Fine, I'll give you that," I conceded, with a chuckle as another thought crossed my mind.

"I wonder what he looked like before immortality?" I thought.

I tilted my head to the side, my eyes drifting over Booker's figure, trying to envision him in the elaborate fashion of eighteenth century France.

Booker quirked an eyebrow, "Why are you staring at me like that?" he asked, before downing the rest of his wine.

I chuckled, "I was just imagining you in one of those white powdered wigs," I answered, gesturing to my head with an amused expression.

Booker laughed and shook his head. "I wasn't a rich nobleman in the 18th century," he informed. "So, lucky me," he said. "Those wigs smelled quite terrible anyway," he added.

"You weren't some large estate owner?" I questioned, mindlessly playing with my hair.

"I wasn't a Mr. Bingley or a Mr. Darcey, if that's what you're asking," he replied. "Sorry to disappoint."  He added, a smirk on his face.

I grinned at his references. "So, a Mr. Collins then?" I inquired, cocking my head to the side once more.

Booker scoffed playfully, "Not a Mr. Collins either," he answered. "And please don't ever compare me to such a repulsive character," he requested.

"Never again," I swore, placing a hand on my heart. "So, what did you do for a living then? I'm very curious now," I said, aimlessly flexing and extending my feet.

Booker glanced down at the rug., "I was a master forger," he answered, looking back up at me. "Particularly in gold coins." He clarified.

"That takes a great deal of skill,” I remarked, nodding my head, sort of impressed.

"Yeah, well, my forging caught up to me one day. I was convicted of fraud by the French government," Booker stated, a slight frown on his face. "They gave me a choice, I could either hang for my crimes or join the Grand Armee," he explained. "Begrudgingly, I joined the Armee where I would be later hanged for desertion," he finished, with a sardonic chuckle.

I let out a breathy laugh and shook my head, "Wow," I breathed, running my hands over my hair. "I feel like I'm talking to a history textbook." I commented, staring at Booker in awe.

This has to be the coolest day of my life.

I leaned back on my hands, "You're so old Booker," I teased, and he playfully squeezed my calf in retaliation sending me into another flurry of giggles. "So, you were born in 1770, right?" I asked, laying down on my back and gazing into the fireplace.

"That is correct."

"And you died in 1812," I recalled. "By that math, you died at age forty-two," I stated, dragging my hand up and down the rug.

"Where are you going with this?" Booker asked curiously.

I smirked, "That even in your own time, you would be considered an old man," I pointed out, a snicker escaping me, but the snicker soon became a full on giddy laugh that vibrated through my chest.

Out of nowhere, I felt myself being dragged across the plush rug and I let out a yelp that was followed by laughter at the sudden movement. Placing my hands on the floor, I pushed myself up to look at Booker and noticed how close we were to each other. My thighs were covering his lap, one more tug and I would be practically sitting in his lap.

"I wouldn't be completely opposed to that," I thought.

"Then you should respect your elders," Booker retorted, smirking at me.

I rolled my eyes and lifted my legs from his lap. "That sounds like..." I trailed off, sliding my knees up to my chest. "Something," I continued, maneuvering myself around to bring each of my knees on either side of Booker's legs, trapping him between my legs. "An old person would say," I quipped, placing my hands on his broad shoulders. I ducked my head down to his ear, teasing him once more. "Booker," I whispered, my breath tickling his skin.

I pulled my lips away from Booker's ear, grinning ear to ear as a string of giggles bubbled out of my mouth. Booker swallowed thickly as a red flush crawled up his neck. I'm not sure what came over me, it had to been the wine that was making me this bold, I could never see myself actually straddling Booker. In my head, maybe, but physically doing it, no.

Shout out to the wine for the liquid courage, I guess.

"You know that I'm-"

I was cut off mid-sentence by Booker pressing his lips firmly against mine, his hands cupping my cheeks. My heart felt as if it skipped two beats and my eyes widened, I was completely caught off-guard and I felt my body stiffen a bit. It took a moment before my eyes slowly slid shut, my body relaxing into the kiss. My mind went blank as Booker began moving his lips against mine and I responded to the kiss in kind. The kiss deepened and I could feel my head spinning, the lingering taste of wine on his lips caused me to sigh wistfully against Booker.

Booker gently broke the kiss, the two of us catching our breaths. He pressed his forehead against mine, using his thumbs to softly stroke my cheeks. My eyes fluttered opened and his blue eyes looked into my brown one's. And it felt like a thousand butterflies were loose in my stomach.

"I'm sorry," Booker apologized breathlessly. "I just couldn't help myself," he admitted, his voice slightly hoarse.

My lips curled into a grin, "Please, don't apologize," I stated, letting out a breathless laugh. "You don't know how long I wanted you to do that," I confessed, looping my arms around his neck.

His eyes lit up, a smile washing over his face before he placed another soft, chaste kiss on my lips. Just as he went to pull away again, I leaned my head downwards to keep our lips connected. My fingers found their way into Booker's hair, my thumbs stroking his neck as Booker returned the kiss eagerly. His hands traveled down my body, one of them tightly gripping my waist while the other one slipped under my dress, running up and down my thigh, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. He pressed me against him as physically close as possible. My breath caught in my throat and I drew back slightly, my heart hammering wildly in my chest as Booker began nipping at my chin.

Booker pulled back, "Am I moving too fast for you?" he asked, concern painted over his face.

"No," I answered, shaking my head. "You're perfect Booker," I reassured, running my hands down his shirt and over his chest.

"What's wrong then?" Booker asked softly, rubbing the pad of his thumb in a circular motion against my thigh.

"I was just thinking," I began, feeling Booker's nose bump against my jaw as he hummed for me to continue. "That my bed is a lot more comfortable than the floor," I finished, an impish smile forming on my lips.

Booker drew his head back, "God, you're amazing," He breathed.

Chapter Seven: A Sunday Kind of Love

[captaindodson]

Starstruck - Timothée Chalamet 1/??

Disclaimer: This chapter is a bit slow but I promise it will pick up! Updates will be slow, but I will try my best to get parts out as fast as I can! :)

Word Count: 2.7k

Synopsis: Ella is a 20-year-old girl heading off to college in September and her family insists they all go on a week vacation to California before she leaves. Ella is excited to soak up the California sun and her sister’s are determined to meet the man of their dreams. On one fateful afternoon, Ella and this man accidentally meet and from then on they just can’t seem to get away from each other. 

The squeal of my two sisters breaks my train of thought as I crouch in front of the small bookshelf in my living room. The sound of a woman's voice followed by the sound of cameras flashing alerts me to look over my shoulder in the direction of the sound. With the current spot I am in, I cannot see what is going on. So I grab two books blindly and tuck them under my arm as I make my way closer to the source of the noise to get a better view. My younger sisters Lindsey and Jordan sit on my parent's beige love-seat, covered in our thin, grey, cotton blanket, watching the television intensely. 

“Timothee Chalamet stood on the red carpet tonight as the winner of the best actor trophy for his lead role in NightWatch. Timothee played a rookie detective trying to solve the disappearance of the Mona Lisa. During the investigation, the rookie detective is met with people of his past that just come back to haunt him. Timothee Chalamet currently stands outside 71Above posing for pictures as his rumored girlfriend Victoria Belluci parties inside celebrating his win.”

“Isn’t he so dreamy?” Lindsey says. 

Lindsey rests the back of her hand on her forehead with a small smile, leaning her body back into the love-seat. Jordan copies her actions as they both close their eyes in bliss. I turn my attention back to the scene that is unfolding on screen. A man with brown hair, green eyes, pale skin, wears a dark blue suit, and he stands in front of a set of glass doors. 

“Oh my god, move your butt Ella, we can’t see Timothee!”

I’m not even that close to the television but I take a step back just to feel my legs brush up against a small table holding a large object that begins to wobble. I turn quickly to grab a vase filled with fresh tulips from falling and shattering. Screams alert my attention back again to the television. Timothee has now started signing autographs for people outside the restaurant. He smiles as microphones and cameras are pushed into his face and that is when reporters start yelling questions out at him. 

“Timothee, how does it feel to win best actor?”

“Timothee! Look over here Timothee!” 

“Timothee, is it true you and Victoria are hooking up?Are you guys even together?”

“Timothee! How does it feel to be the next Christian Bale?”

“Timothee, tell us, is it true that you’re working on a secret project?”

“Ahah it’s no secret, I’m currently in rehearsals for the play that’s going to start in two weeks in New York. I’m excited for my fans to see what I and many others have been working hard on.”

Timothee answers the final question with a charming smile. He quickly signs another photo and hands back the marker to a fan. A large muscular man, dressed head to toe in black, comes right up behind Timothee and whispers something into his ear. Timothee’s smile drops for just amount as he nods. His smile bounces back and addresses the crowd that has accumulated on the sidewalk in front of this restaurant that he has to leave as his security starts leading him away into a black car. Timothee jumps in the rear door of the car and then it takes off into the streets of Los Angeles as the crowd that was once surrounding the front of this popular restaurant, quickly separates.  The main camera zooms out as we are brought back to the studio where a woman with dark skin, flowing black hair that rests on her collar bone is dressed in a grey suit is sitting on a pink couch in front of a glass window. She smiles brightly into the camera and starts talking about things relating to Timothee Chalamet. 

“Can you believe it Jordan!? In less than 24 hours we are going to be in California, soaking up all that Cali sun but also rubbing shoulders with Timothee Chalamet!”

Lindsey squeals in delight as she and Jordan high-five each other. I cringe ever so slightly to my sister's scream. 

“What makes him so special? He’s just like any other male actor.” I shrug at my sisters and they give me a look of disbelief.  

“Excuse me, what makes him so special? He academy award-wining actor who is extremely talented and hot.” Jordan just glares at me. 

“Okay besides the point,  California is filled with millions of people, the likelihood of meeting him is super slim. How can you be so sure you’ll see him-” I’m cut off mid-sentence by Jordan. 

“We know where he’ll be. If you didn’t know Ella, both of us run very popular Timothee Chalamet fan accounts that follow his every move,” Lindsey jumps into the conversation. 

“We know where he eats, where he hangs out, who he friends with, we’ve got eyes all over the world Ella.”

“Okay, that’s just really creepy. Listen, Lindsey, you’re sixteen and so are you Jordan. Mom and dad will never let you two go out on your own in a different country. We aren’t going to California to chase guys, and that includes Timothee. ” 

I cross my arms at this point and my sisters do the same. 

“Who says we can’t, ” Jordan and Lindsey say at the same time while keeping strong eye contact. A moment of silence occurs and then my dad’s voice breaks through the air. 

“Says me. Girls, Ella is right, we are not going to California to chase boys. We are going to spend some good quality time together before Ella heads off to college.”

Our dad enters the room from the kitchen and pulls me into a half hug, he then continues. 

 “This will be the last time in a while before we get to see our sweet Ella again, so ladies lets make the most of it.”

My dad smiles down at me and I smile back.

“Yeah but dad-!” Lindsey attempts to reason with our dad by pulling out a pout and puppy dog eyes. Jordan copies her actions in an attempt to help persuade my dad. My dad walks towards Lindsey and stops right behind the love-seat. 

“Lindsey, you will have plenty of time for that stuff. This vacation is about spending some quality time with family.”  

He pats the top of the love seat with his hand. “Okay dad, I guess you’re right.”

Lindsey sighs and slumps back against Jordan in defeat. My dad gives her a small smile and turns so he is facing all of us girls. 

“Anyways, girls you better get your things ready, we are leaving first thing tomorrow morning!”

My dad says as he walks with a skip in his step back into the kitchen. Lindsey and Jordan throw off the blanket that was in their lap and start running towards the stairs to their shared bedroom. I take my time walking up the wooden steps and down the hallway into my room. I toss the books I had under my arm into my suitcase laying wide open next to my closet doors.  I stretch my arms up as my green t-shirt rides up on my stomach and then I relax again. I put my hands into the front pockets of my jeans. 

“In less than 24 hours I can enjoy the California sunshine while trying new delicious  food.”

I smile at the thought and as I head towards my dresser to start getting ready for the night. The morning arrives fairly quickly but also soars by in a flash. Everyone wakes up at sunrise and packs into our moms black mini-van and drive about 45 minutes into the city to get to Pearson airport. We go through security and Lindsey and Jordan are skipping ahead of me to get onto the flight while our parents hang back behind me. We make it to our flight on time and all get adjusted in our tiny airplane seats.  Jordan and Lindsey sit on the inside seats next to the window as I sit on the edge, next to the isle, plugging in my headphones to watch whatever movie to pass the time.

~~

By the time we land Jordan and Lindsey and rushing to get their bags out of the luggage and squeezing through people getting their things, while my parents and I take our time getting our carry on’s and head out of the crowded plane.  As we all walk through the bright tunnel on our way to the main body of LAX, the voices of people get louder and louder. Once we exit the tunnel, there’s just hundreds of people, all different nationalities and ages walking around.  

We head to the baggage claim and grab all of our stuff and start heading outside. I yawn into my arm as I drag my large suitcase across the LAX parking lot as follow my family to the car rental place. By the time we make it there, the wait isn’t very long. My dad got us a decent sized car and everyone shoves their luggage in the trunk and slides in. 

I let Lindsey and Jordan jump in first as I slide in after.  Everyone buckles themselves in and we head off towards our rental house for the week. We start driving out of the airport and this is when I pull out my white headphones and turn up my music and admire the Los Angeles landscape. Buildings shine brightly in the California sun, people are walking their dogs, skateboarding, a couple food trucks on the street. It’s almost unreal that I’m here right now.  I rest my head on the window and the smooth ride combined with my music lulls me to sleep.

~~

I don’t know how long I was asleep, but I’m awoken by a large bump in the road and this is when I realize we’ve already made it to our destination. It’s a very modern sized house with a brown tiled roof that tops tan brick walls. The house has a front porch with black metal chairs resting against the front of the house. A small path made up of large stones leads from the house to the driveway. Healthy green grass spreads itself all across the front of the property. 

“Mom, can Jordan and I go to a fro-yo shop down the street? It’s super famous for its pumpkin pie flavor and Jordan and I really, really want to try it.”

Lindsey says this as she and Jordan unbuckle themselves and push the car door open. 

“Sweetheart, as much as we trust you we can’t let you go out by yourself. We have to unpack and figure out what we are going to do for dinner”

My mom tells my sisters. Lindsey and Jordan look at each other before they both speak. 

“Ella said she would be happy to bring us! Right, Ella?!”Jordan pipes in.

 I squint my eyes at them,  “I didn’t agree to anything-” I’m cut off by Lindsey. 

“You told us before we left the house you’d bring us for some sister time since I’ll miss you sooooo much during the school year. ”

Lindsey gives me a puppy dog look and I make eye contact with my parents who are both staring at me. Feeling the pressure from them I cave in.

“Okay, let's go ” I sigh deeply. The girls high five each other as my parents give me a smile.

“Excellent! Be back in a half-hour girls, it’ll give me and your mom time to unpack a few things, and then we can all decide what we want to do for dinner when you girls get back.”

My dad smiles widely at us as he lifts another suitcase out of the rental car. Lindsey and Jordan smile devilishly at each other as I sign deeply and walk back towards the car to retrieve my things. 

I collect my wallet and phone from the car as Jordan and Lindsey scurry down the sidewalk. I stuff my hands in my pockets as I follow my sister and Jordan down the street to this fro-yo place. They seem to talk quietly to themselves as I admire the scene around me. The three of us walk down the sidewalk along a ton of nice houses. Many look like the one my family is renting but just colored differently. Cars also drive back and forth on the road and the echo of car horns and people yelling fill the air. It’s hard to believe that I’m so close to attending the school of my dreams. When I finished high school I didn’t know what I wanted to do so I worked and saved up money until I finally figured it out. 

By the time I reach a crosswalk there are already a few other people waiting so I just stand behind this guy in a yellow beanie and a denim jacket. I tap my foot as I continue to look around soaking in the California sun. Just as the traffic light is about to turn red I notice something. Weren’t Jordan and Lindsey in front of me? I whip my head around to try and spot them, I catch the smallest glimpse of Lindsey’s blonde hair just as she turns the corner at the end of the street. I squeeze in between the people around me, apologizing quickly and now running to catch up with Lindsey and Jordan. I’ve run about a block when Jordan and Lindsey start slowing down. I slow my pace down a little bit to catch my breath. 

“Jordan! Lindsey!” I yell out to them. At this moment they pick up their speed and catch me off guard. By the time I reach the end of another street and turn the corner they’re long gone. 

Shit. I heavily breathe as I lean forward to rest my hands on my knees. 

“Damn, they’re fast,” I mumble to myself. 

I look at the few people who pass me on the sidewalk. Each of them ignoring my presence and continuing with their day.  I stand tall as I try again to try and see if I can spot where Lindsey and Jordan ran off too. My breathing slows to a regular pace as I hear the echo of screaming men and women coming from my right. To my right, conveniently is a relatively large, but clear, ally way. The most prominent object in the ally is a large green dumpster with a black lid. It seems like if I run I’d be able to clear the ally and catch up to Lindsey and Jordan. 

I take a deep breath and start my jog into the ally. My light jog turns into a sprint to quickly get through this. The screaming and chanting of people get louder as I make it closer to the other side. Before I can even react, a tall figure dressed in a navy hoodie and a baseball hat turns quickly into the ally with his head down and I slam right into him  I fall back onto the hard concrete beneath me with a loud thump as he stumbles but catches his footing. His hood has now slipped off his hat and I can his face more clearly. 

 “Oh my god I’m so sorry I-”

I’m cut off mid-sentence as this stranger dives right for me, covering my mouth with his pale hand. My eyes widen as I’m met with a pair of forest green eyes staring deeply into my hazel eyes. 

“I’m not going to hurt you, just please don’t scream my name.”

[ahatintimestorybook]

A Royal Problem Chap.1- Subcon We Have a Problem

So last week while I was at the pool I came up with another AU idea called A Royal Pain AU. Soon enough this little AU idea grew into a big idea and I loved it so much I started writing it! So here it is!

Enjoy!!

Hat Kid panted as she was teleported back to her ship with the Time Pieces in her hands. She went through a bit of a struggle with them thanks to a certain cat who had her collect the Time Pieces and handed them to her. Luckily, she was able to get them back despite the risk that she was about to be blasted away by missiles and chased by cats who planned to have her head on a silver platter.

Now safe on her ship, Hat Kid removed the Nyakuza mask from her face and went back into her regular clothes consisting of a big purple shirt, yellow cape, white pants, brown boots, and her signature purple and yellow top hat.

Hat Kid opened her safe and threw the Time Pieces in. “There!” Hat Kid sighed brushing her hands. “Now that’s over! I can finally spend time on the planet.”

After everything that happened with Mustache Girl and the Time Pieces, Hat Kid did go back home, but because she loved the planet so much, she begged if she could live there. It took some convincing, but the people of her planet agreed and she headed back. Glad she did as she found out there were a few more Time Pieces missing, and she had to collect them before someone decided to use them for their own deeds like Mustache Girl did.

Hat Kid looked around the planet via her telescope to see where on the planet she would go. She could visit her BFF in Subcon, or find Mu in Mafia Town, maybe take a small break at Alpine Skyline. There were so many places to go on this planet.

Soon she saw something glistened in Subcon. “Huh?” Hat Kid wondered. She saw from her telescope a Time Piece was in Subcon. “H-how?” She asked herself. Hat Kid thought she grabbed all the Time Pieces in the area. How was there one more?

Hat Kid sighed. She had to go back to Subcon and grab that Time Piece. She knew if Snatcher or any of the Subcon inhabitants would touch it. She paused shuddering at the thought of a certain ice witch taking hold of the Time Piece would be bad news. Soon Hat Kid set her destination to Subcon and teleports from her room to the forest.

When Hat Kid landed in Subcon, the atmosphere was different. For example one of the trees was coated in ice and snow while the other was burning. Hat Kid gulped and walked around the half ice half fire Subcon Forest.

She wondered what was going on as no Dwellers or Subconites were in the area. “Hello! Snatcher!” Hat Kid called out. “Snatcher! Anyone!” The young child called out again. Sadly no answer from anyone in the forest. It worried her about what had happened here while she was gone in the Metro. A gulp came from Hat Kid’s throat as she looked around for anyone in Subcon that would explain to her what’s going on.

Soon Hat Kid heard something rustle from behind her. She squeaked and turned around seeing no one in sight. “Snatcher is that you?” She asked. Whoever made that noise didn’t respond to her question. “I-If you're trying to scare me. T-Then it's not funny!” She whimpered.

Hat Kid wasn’t really scared of Subcon or Snatcher, which surprised the latter since anyone, especially kids, would go running from the sight of Snatcher. The only thing in Subcon that frightened her was queen ice witch, who just thinking about her made the young child shiver.

The rustling happened again and Hat Kid yelped jumping and falling on her bottom. She saw the one following her was a Subconite. “Newbie? What are you doing here?” They asked.

Hat Kid sighed seeing it was a Subconite following her, and no one else. “I heard a Time Piece was in the area, so I had to come here and grab it before anyone else does.” Hat Kid explained.

“Now! At a time like this?” The Subconite exclaimed.

“Why?” Hat Kid asked.

The Subconite sighed. “This is the time the boss and the ice queen go head to head in a fight. Like always, the boss wins every year, but this year's battle.” The Subconite paused, shaking his head. “It’s tense! The first time it happened in years.” They explained.

Hat Kid then realized why the forest had flames and ice all over it. However, she also knew this was a bad idea if Snatcher and Vanessa are currently fighting and a Time Piece is in the area she knew the worst case scenario can and possibly will happen.

“W-well where are they fighting?” Hat Kid asked.

Near the manor, Queen Vanessa looked around for Snatcher. The two have been fighting for quite awhile and now they’re back where they started. “Where are you hiding my prince?” She asked.

Snatcher was hiding behind one of the trees as he waited for Vanessa to come closer so he could strike her with his attacks. “Just a little closer.” Snatcher whispered. He started to ignite the flames with his claws as he waited on Vanessa for a few more steps and soon he then strikes the former queen with blue fire balls.

The queen screamed when one of the fireballs gazed at her. She growled and soon started to launch ice towards her former prince. Snatcher flew and missed the ice attacks before trying to use his blue potions to stop her.

Vanessa used her ice to shield herself from the blue potions as they hit the ice. Soon afterwards the ice melted leaving a puddle of the blue potion and melted ice on the ground. Vanessa growled and tried to blast Snatcher with more ice, but the ghost was fast and missed the attack

Almost too fast.

Snatcher was about to miss again, but soon collapsed on the snow. He saw that his tail or leg? Was caught in some ice. He struggled to get out, but he was stuck.

Vanessa chuckled as she made her way towards her prince. “Oh my prince. Why do we have to fight? Let’s just be together forever.” She said making her way towards Snatcher.

Snatcher struggled to get out of the ice, and was scared that his former ex was walking near him. “Never.” He growled as he struggled to free himself.

Vanessa giggled as she got closer to her former prince. She lifted his face and put it close to hers. The soul stealing ghost gulped seeing his former ex right in front of them.

“Now now my prince. That’s really rude to say something awful about your princess.” She mocked. Vanessa pulled Snatcher close to her hoping to give him a kiss.

Snatcher struggled to break himself free from the ice not wanting his former princess’s lips on his face. Snatcher and Vanessa heard a crack and turned towards the ice that trapped the soul snatcher.

Snatcher chuckled and tried wagging his ghost tail as the ice cracked and soon he was free. Snatcher pushed Vanessa away from him and was ready to finish the battle. He released his beam attack.

Vanessa retaliated with an ice beam attack and soon the two attacks were pushing one another to see which one was stronger and would defeat which ghostly ruler. Soon they both used all their energy on their attacks, but their attacks stayed in the middle like it's something else.

A crack was heard before a loud shatter and everything froze.

Hat Kid tripped as she made it to where the fight was happening. She saw the trail leading up to the manor was...quiet. Snatcher and Queen Vanessa were not found, just a quiet blanket of snow.

“Snatcher!” Hat Kid called out. Her voice echoing around Subcon. Hat Kid gulped and slowly walked around the snow hoping to find her BFF as well as being cautious around a certain ice queen. As she was walking she saw something familiar stick out of the ground.

Hat Kid kneel down and brushed the snow off the item and saw it was the top or at least the base of the Time Piece. Hat Kid grabbed it from the snow and her mouth dropped seeing how much damage this Time Piece went through.

The entire Time Piece was destroyed and the top or bottom of the Time Piece was the only thing left standing. Hat Kid groaned knowing the worst case scenario did happen: The Time Piece was in the area where Snatcher and his ex were fighting and it got destroyed and badly too.

Now the main problem, where did the two go so Hat Kid could find them before they end up fighting in another time period or worse!

Hat Kid soon heard a groan next to her. She turned and saw a little boy younger than her wearing a red and purple prince’s outfit passed out in the snow. Hat Kid put the Time Piece part away and went over to the little boy.

“Are you okay?” Hat Kid asked. The boy didn’t respond; he was knocked out badly. Hat Kid didn’t want to leave the little boy alone in Subcon especially near Vanessa’s manor. She picked up the young boy and was ready to teleport before hearing a whimper.

Hat Kid turned and saw something green sticking out from the snow and ran towards it. There she saw a little girl around the same age as the boy wearing a green dress. Hat Kid was confused why two little kids were here, passed out in the snow?

Were they lost and ended up caught in the fight?

Did the Time Piece send them here when it broke?

Hat Kid thought of so many questions for where and how these kids came, but as much as she wanted to think about it she forgot she’s in a danger zone.

Quickly, she grabbed the young girl with her other hand and teleport back to her ship and landed in her room. She laid the two kids down on her bed and sighed. “Who are you two?” She asked.

Hat Kid looked closely at the two kids and saw they were familiar. She looked at the young boy and his prince outfit and recognized it somewhere. Same with the little girl’s dress it was green and saw the patterns on the dress. Dark green diamonds.

Hat Kid quickly went to her bookshelf and went through the books she collected when she traveled through the Time Rifts. “There.” She said as she grabbed a black book.

The book was about Queen Vanessa and how she and Snatcher became the creatures they are today. When Hat Kid turned the first page her eyes widen. She looked back at the sleeping kids and back at the book.

“Oh Peck.” She whispered.

These kids weren’t ordinary lost kids. These kids were Snatcher and Vanessa!

[oh-obrien]

Inscrutable {4}

Inscrutable: Impossible to Understand or Interpret 

Masterlist 

Relationships: Stiles Stilinski x Original Female Character

Word Count: 6,224 6,737

Warnings: None

Author’s Note: Part Four!!! Uhh lots of angst and a lot about Finley’s past. Also Scott makes an appearance. 

THIS PART OF INSCRUTABLE HAS BEEN UPDATED WITH MORE CONTENT AND HAS ALSO BEEN EDITED MORE THROUGHLY!

Finley woke up when she felt a body shift underneath her, a small groan slipping past the lips of whoever she had been sleeping on. Whoever she had been sleeping on? Finally, remembering what had happened with Stiles, Finley let out a small gasp and sat up, smacking her knee on the wall in the process.

“Fuck!”

“Oh God are you okay?”

Their voices came out at the same time and Finley sighed, leaning her head against the cool wall of her room. Stiles’ body had felt incredibly warm against her, and while the cool wall helped calm her nerves, she wanted to curl back up on him and fall asleep again “What time is it?” She cleared her throat and tried to find her glasses. She didn’t remember taking them off.

“Like two-thirty?” Stiles squinted as his phone screen lit up, “here,” he handed her the glasses she had been looking for. “You know I haven’t seen you with them before today, yesterday, whatever you want to call it,” he pointed out.

Finley thumbed at a smudge on the lenses and sighed. Her eyesight had been the one werewolf perk she had missed out on. Her dad had passed it off as a human gene she had gotten form her mother somewhere along the way and took Finley to an optometrist when she had been complaining of blurry vision at a young age. “I wear contacts usually,” she yawned, her nose crinkling up while she did. She watched Stiles sink back into the pillows while she climbed over him and off the bed. She quietly shuffled her way across her room to unplug her lights, making sure she set the plug down carefully on the floor.

“Well, they suit you,” Stiles mumbled, staring up at the ceiling while he rubbed at his eyes before yawning. Finley smiled and ran her fingers along the arm of her glasses, a feeling of happiness bubbling up inside her with his words.

Finley turned off the TV also and let the soft glow of the streetlight outside her window guide her back to her bed. “Are you feeling any better?” Stiles asked.

Finley sat at the edge of her bed letting out a yawn herself, “yeah. I’m- I’m sorry about that,” she whispered. “I uhh-” she trailed off, “I’m not usually like that,” she settled on. She looked over to Stiles whose eyes were trained on her figure. Even in the dark she could see him rather clearly, and she knew he had his eyes on her.

“Well, it’s okay to y’know. Have emotions,” he spoke into the darkness of the room. Finley scoffed at his response and closed her eyes, she still felt physically exhausted, and mentally drained. “I was just trying to help,” he added. Finley pulled her socks off and paired them together, putting them on her desk. “And it’s too late for me to leave now,” he added.

Finley sighed and pushed off her bed again. “I’ll take the floor, you can take the bed,” she said walking over to her closet to get an extra blanket.

“Or-” Stiles sat up, “you can come lay here again because I think the whole physical contact thing was really helping both of us sleep better, and all my friends back home know I’m a very touchy person,” he cocked his head to the side.

“But-”

“Lydia wouldn’t care and I’m planning on breaking up with her when she visits anyway,” Stiles ran a hand over his face and rubbed at the stubble on his chin, he had really just said that Finley wasn’t dreaming. “Now that that’s on the table, come lay down.” Stiles didn’t leave much room for Finley to argue, and quite frankly, she wasn’t complaining about that. Finley dropped the extra blanket in her hands and sighed, walking back to her bed, and crawling over Stiles to settle where she had been sleeping earlier.

Stiles watched as Finley climbed back into her bed while he adjusted the pillows so they both had plenty of room. She pulled her glasses off and reached over him to settle them on the dresser next to his phone and their half-eaten food. She let out a small sigh while she settled down next to him. “Before it just, kind of happened, I’ve never like,” she stuttered out.

“Here,” Stiles knew what she had been trying to say and laid down flat, straightening his arm out along the pillows and pulling Finley closer. He felt her head come to rest on his chest and his arm curled around her back, rubbing circles into her side over her shirt.    

She let out a shaky breath and Stiles watched her eyes slip closed while she rested her hand flat on his abdomen. “Thank you, Stiles,” she spoke quietly.

“You have nothing to thank me for,” he replied before closing his eyes.

✧༝┉┉┉┉┉˚*❋ ❋ ❋*˚┉┉┉┉┉༝✧

Finley paced the tiled floors of her dad’s office, her claws digging into her palms and the heel of her Under Armor sneakers squeaking whenever she turned on her left foot. Maxwell sat quietly behind his desk, watching his daughter’s movements, and waiting for her to settle down. Neither party was unfamiliar with this course of actions, and both knew they just had to wait out Finley’s pacing while her brain processed her thoughts. “I don’t understand it dad!” She turned around to face her father, finally sinking into the leather chair that faced his large oakwood desk. She held her palms out and noticed that they were bleeding. Back to old, and bad, habits. Finley rested her palms up on her dad’s desk to show him the already healing cuts.

“What don’t you understand, Finley?” He asked while handing her a small towel. Maxwell and Finley had always been close, Finley had been a typical ‘daddy’s girl’, and once they started working together, they only grew closer. Taking a deep breath and watching her claws retract Finley looked up to her father. “Your eyes are still red, dear,” the statement dripped with sarcasm.

“Yeah, and I’m still full of pent-up anxiety,” she retorted, closing her eyes. When she opened them, she looked in the mirror next to her dad’s desk to see them back to their normal blue. Maxwell laughed lightly while he watched his daughter wipe the blood off her hands off, the claw marks already healed fully and her skin showing no sign that the marks were ever there.

“I can smell it,” he laughed lightly.

“Thanks dad,” Finley glared at him, “but to answer your question, I don’t understand anything right now,” she ran her fingers through her hair, wavy from the tight braids she had in it the night before. She hadn’t wanted to confront Stiles after they woke up that morning and had spent extra time in the bathroom taking her braids out.

Maxwell let out a long sigh while he stood up, walking over to his bookshelf lined wall, running his fingers over the spines of the books, obviously looking for a specific one. He ran his fingers over several incredibly old looking books before his fingers settled on one that was entirely black. Finley watched him wrap her fingers around the top of the book before he pulled it out. “Here,” he set it down on his desk and flipped it open, some dust flying off the pages while he flipped through. “Read it.” He turned the book around to face his daughter. The text had been printed in Latin, but luckily for Finley, her dad had subjected the twins to hours upon hours of Latin lessons when they were younger. Something about being ‘connected with family roots’ and learning Latin being a ‘rite of passage’ in their family.

Finley saw the word at the top of the page, ‘Mates’, printed in the fanciest script she had ever seen. “Nope!” She told her dad, pushing the book back. “Let’s show you all that money you spent on foreign language classes for me, and Cian paid off. Non, Nein, Net, Ne, and again, No.”

“Finley Louella!” Maxwell raised his voice and Finley simply sat back, flashing her red eyes at her father, testing him to actually try and tell her what to do. “I keep forgetting that doesn’t work on you anymore,” he let out a long sigh. “Just please consider it, you know your brother and Clara are-”

“Okay and Cian is the perfect son! Finley replied, “he’s not testy, he listens to whatever you say, he can live in the same house as the rest of the pack, and on top of it he’s planning on getting engaged this year for God’s sake!” She stood you and started pacing the room again, the periodic squeaking from her sneaker filling the room again. “I just! I don’t have a mate, dad! I’m not- I’m not that kind of person.” She looked out the window and noticed how rain still fell outside. If she got lucky practice would be cancelled and she could wallow in her own anxiety and pity for the rest of the day after work.

  Maxwell laughed lightly and closed the book, pushing it to the end of his desk. “You know, your mom was a human too, Finley,” he said quietly. “And I met her my sophomore year of high school, I just felt inexplicably drawn to her.”

“I’ve heard the story before dad,” Finley grumbled and glanced at her parent’s wedding photo that sat on her father’s desk. “I just, I don’t think there’s always a mate made for everyone,” she sighed. Maxwell let out a long sigh of his own, opting to give the topic up for the time being, instead he turned to the files on his desk.

“On another topic,” Maxwell thought shifting to something else may make his daughter happier, “I don’t want to say you’re right,” her dad turned a thick file towards her, the folder open, pictures of a green-ish, wrinkled figure with pointed teeth inside.

“It was a Djinn!” Finley grabbed the file and picked up the pictures. “I had been saying that for months!” She smiled and flipped through the pictures, each one confirming the suspicions she had for months more and more. She closed the folder and noticed the word ‘closed’ stamped across the folder in red ink.

Maxwell watched his daughter’s face drop and sighed, so much for that attempt at cheering her up. “Finely,” he started, “I- you know we couldn’t wait to act on this case.” He told her. Maxwell looked up and offered his daughter an apologetic smile, noticing the disappointment spreading across her face. “We couldn’t wait for you to be able to go back out to Nevada to finish the case and-”

“And this- this right here,” she threw the file on to her dad’s desk. “This is why I didn’t want to go to college!” Finley knew she acted unreasonably on occasion, but it truly had been the only way she could get her feelings across for years now.

Maxwell stood up, and flashed his fangs at his daughter, his look telling her that she should check her tone. It being the only show of power he really had left against his daughter. Early on Maxwell’s family, as well as his late wife’s, had informed the couple that Finley would, with no doubt, eventually present as a True Alpha. The couple had brushed it off for years, just contributing Finley’s actions and mood to her ‘strong willed’ personality type. However, when his daughter had eventually presented as a True Alpha, a couple months short of the twin’s seventeenth birthday, there had been a rift that formed in the family.

Maxwell belonged to his parents’ pack, with his mother being known as one of the most powerful Alphas east of the Rocky Mountains. Maxwell’s wife had taken the bite shortly before they were married, and with luck they had a set of twins, both who proved to be werewolves themselves. Finley had taken on the role of ‘the boss’ in the pack’s home almost as soon as she could speak and eventually all the other children who lived in the house found their place behind her.

Maxwell and his mother had sat down with Finley after her thirteenth birthday and had described in detail the power and responsibility that would come with being an Alpha. Finley had brushed the conversation off at the time, informing her father and grandmother that she ‘didn’t have it in her’ to kill someone else to take their Alpha status and she also decided that True Alphas were too rare for her to become one. She hadn’t considered that her grandmother, eventually, wanted to pass her power down to Finley.

Once she had presented as a True Alpha upon returning home from a particularly dangerous undercover job that her father had allowed her to take the reins on; a rift quickly started to form in the Mannulv Pack’s home. There had been a fight for power between Finley and her grandmother which had resulted in Finley moving into the guest cabin for most of her senior year of high school, deciding it would be the healthiest option for the entire pack.

After Cian had gotten into a fight with his father and one of his uncles about the mistreatment of his sister he decided to announce once they both finished college, he would be joining Finley’s pack with Clara. Splitting a pack obviously hadn’t been Finley’s intention. However, with her grandmother’s temper being so volatile there wasn’t another option. The Mannulv Pack simply couldn’t have two Alpha’s living in the same household without it ending in both verbal and physical fights.

“Finley you know it wasn’t about you being in college,” Maxwell sighed looking at his daughter, who eagerly waited to interject her opinion.

Finley sunk back down into her chair and opted to rip apart the towel her father had given her with her claws instead of ripping up her palms again. “Okay fine, but you could have at least told me after you had closed the case instead of waiting,” she opened the folder and looked for the date it had been closed, “a week and a half for me to find out myself.”

“And you should be more concerned about your education for now,” Maxwell held up a finger to keep his daughter from cutting him off. “But I think the whole mate thing has you a little bit on edge right now. I know you don’t like talking to your grandmother-” Maxwell watched Finley’s lip curl at the mention of her. “If you give me a minute,” he laughed, “I was going to suggest lunch with your uncle.”

“I have like, four uncles on your side, that’s helpful,” Finley gave Maxwell a deadpan look.

“Your uncle Cayden,” Maxwell watched his daughter’s face peak with interest. “And he suggested Quarry House.”

Finley closed the file and shoved it across her father’s desk. “Okay, why are we still sitting here?” She grabbed her dad’s car keys off the ring by his office’s door and threw them to him. “And don’t give me the ‘I’m working’, crap. It’s Saturday you most definitely are working on your own time right now so let’s go!” Maxwell laughed and caught the keys to his own Range Rover, picking up his jacket and following Finley out of his office.

✧༝┉┉┉┉┉˚*❋ ❋ ❋*˚┉┉┉┉┉༝✧

Stiles sat at his desk, a container of food from one of the on-campus dining locations in front of him, and a pencil in his free hand. He had been trying to finish his homework for his statistics class but couldn’t seem to focus on much of anything. Instead, he found himself typing out a message to Scott, asking if his best friend had time to video chat. Not even a minute later Stiles watched as a Skype call from Scott started coming through his laptop.

Feeling a smile pull at his lips, Stiles slid his pencil behind his ear and answered the call. “Hey!” Scott’s face was entirely too close to the screen and Stiles laughed hearing Malia tell him to ‘move back dumbass’ in the background. “Ahh the lady is over, hey Mal!” Stiles spoke while Scott moved back from his computer. Scott sat cross-legged on his bed, looking exhausted but still content, but girls seemed to have that effect on the True Alpha. A dopey smile pulled at his lips and his hair sat tousled on top of his head.

“Full moon was last night, man,” Scott shrugged, “gotta take the energy out somehow.” Stiles fake gagged and he heard Malia laugh loudly from somewhere in Scott’s room.

Stiles shoved another bite of food into his mouth, “I don’t need to know any more about your sex life than I already do,” he mumbled through the food. “That goes for you too, Malia!”

Scott sank back into his pillow and ran his hand over the stubble covering his chin with a guilty smile. “Speaking of sex lives,” Malia climbed into bed with Scott and sat halfway on his lap. She clearly had one of his t-shirts and the couple looked like they had woken up not too long ago. As much as Stiles had loved the time he had been in a relationship with Malia, he was more than glad she and Scott could make each other happy now. “Scott said you were staying with some girl last night,” she raised one of her eyebrows.

“Scott!” Stiles groaned and the werewolf in question just raised his hands in surrender. Letting out a long sigh Stiles set his plastic fork down and picked up his water bottle. “First,” he turned his head, so it appeared as if he faced Malia, “we did not have sex. Second I’m still in a relationship with Lydia-”

“Who you’re planning on breaking up with when me and her come to visit,” Scott cut him off.

Stiles waved his hand to dismiss Scott’s comment. Stiles knew he planned to break up with Lydia soon, and he knew most of his friends knew that already because Scott can’t keep his mouth shut. In his mind though, it still felt wrong to talk about.

Lydia had been his dream girl since third grade, and after the events with the Ghost Riders, he felt more than lucky to have finally gotten to call her his girlfriend. However, the charm of their relationship had worn off quite quickly. Sure, the sex had been great and so had their friendship beforehand, but they were just too intellectually similar to have a stable and long-lasting relationship together.  Stiles knew breaking up with her would be the best decision for them both in the long run, but he still dreaded it.

“Yes, thank you for reminding me Scott,” he sighed. “Can I continue with my train of thought now?” Stiles watched Malia slap a hand over Scott’s mouth and Scott must have licked her hand because she pulled it away and wiped her palm on his cheek. “Ew,” Stiles mumbled.

Scott and Malia both turned back to the computer with guilty smiles. “Sorry, Stiles,” Scott gave his best ‘puppy-dog-pout’, probably hoping that it could somehow get Stiles to ignore his and Malia’s flirting. “You know how it can be sometimes,” he added. Stiles felt a small pull in his chest, but nodded, nonetheless.

“I get it, no worries,” Stiles hoped Scott couldn’t pick up on how upset he felt though the computer. “But yeah, I went over to her dorm, err suite, to work on that project for intro to law,” he held up the folder full of documents he had printed. “And I felt terrible from lacrosse, because they show no mercy here apparently,” he saw Scott crack a smile, “yeah, yeah. Not all of us magically heal!”

Scott started to laugh, and Malia kicked him in the shin. “Jerk, listen to Stiles,” she mumbled.

“Thank you, Malia,” Stiles spoke. “Anyway, she insisted it would be fine if we didn’t work on it, she showed me how amazing a heating pad can be for sore muscles, and then we ordered dinner. Somewhere after that I found out she looks just like her mom, and apparently it’s normal to keep booze in your dorm?” That last part came out as more of a question. “Uhh she’s hot, like H-O-T, hot, found out she’s never had a boyfriend, somehow.  She actually got ditched by the guy she was into at prom for his ex-”

“What an asshole,” Scott interjected. Scott who seemed amused by Stiles’ rambling, and he would let Stiles ramble as long as he needed to if it would help him work out his feelings for this new girl he had found. Although Stiles lived across the country now, he still held his place as a member in Scott’s pack. And as an Alpha, Scott felt partly responsible for the happiness of his packmates.

Stiles nodded, “right?” He ran his hands through his hair and leaned back more in his desk chair. “But then she kinda had a little emotional meltdown and I offered physical comfort, then she wound up dozing off and I felt bad waking her up to leave and I fell asleep too. Somewhere around two-thirty we woke up, I admitted I planned on breaking up with Lydia, she got a little skittish and then we fell asleep again.” Stiles let out a long breath of air from his nose after he finished speaking.  Scott took a moment to process all of what Stiles had just said and looked over at Malia, seeing if she wanted to speak first.

Scott closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose before speaking, knowing he had to speak first. “And you feel this strong for this girl after only a week of knowing her?” Scott asked. He knew there were hook-ups that happened in college, but this, this wasn’t just a hook-up. Scott knew Stiles well enough to understand that much.

“Finley,” Stiles started with. “Her name’s Finley, but yeah. I just feel so drawn to her and I can’t pinpoint why I do.” Stiles knew something just felt right with Finley, he knew it the moment he had sat next to her in class, but he couldn’t figure out the why. Not knowing the why had been driving him crazy since Monday. Stiles didn’t like not knowing the ‘why’ in life. Finley was attractive, that couldn’t be disputed, but it wasn’t just her looks that had Stiles absolutely enthralled with her. When they were together it just felt right, the type of right he can’t explain.

  Malia looked at Scott and took her opportunity to speak, “sometimes you just know when you meet the right person,” she shrugged. “And no one’s denying you that, Stiles,” she looked at Scott who had hooked his chin over her shoulder. “But you haven’t even broken up with Lydia yet. You don’t know how you’re going to feel after you do.”

“I mean, I agree with her Stiles,” Scott interjected. “I’m going to be there when you do break up with Lydia, but I can’t move into your dorm and stay in D.C. afterwards if you get too sad.” Scott was only partly joking; as closed off and reserved Stiles could be, everyone knew that he when he felt he felt deeply.

Stiles sighed but nodded at the same time. He knew that Malia and Scott were right, but he also knew that he didn’t want to let Finley slip through his fingers when she was currently right in front of him, he’d never let that one go if he lost her so quickly. “All I can promise you two is that I’ll try and move slowly. Okay?” Stiles saw a look of disapproval cross Scott’s face, but he quickly switched the topic.

“So there’s this new beta working at the station and-”

✧༝┉┉┉┉┉˚*❋ ❋ ❋*˚┉┉┉┉┉༝✧

Maxwell and Finley walked into The Quarry House Tavern and saw Maxwell’s youngest brother, Cayden, waiting for them in the overflow area. Cayden stood up with a bright simile and walked over to hug Finley, who enthusiastically returned his embrace. Cayden smelled like the pack house, he smelled like home, he smelled like all the relationships she wanted so desperately to rebuild but knew she couldn’t. He had been the uncle Finley was closest to growing up, while he was so much younger than his other siblings, and still in a different stage in life when the twins were born, it allowed them to form more of a relationship with the youngest of their father’s siblings.

“How’s college going, pup?” Cayden asked Finley once they had been seated.

Finley whined in the back of her throat. “I’m eighteen Cay,” she huffed out, flipping the page on her menu. “M’not a pup anymore. But it’s going fine,” she looked at her uncle over the menu.

Maxwell sat silent while he flipped through his own menu. Cayden raised his eyebrows at his niece before setting down his own menu, “and that’s why you smell like a boy?” He asked suspiciously.

“Dad!

“I took you here to talk to Cayden, Finley,” Maxwell still didn’t look up from his menu. “And I hope you’ll do so.” Finley took a deep breath and willed herself to keep her emotions in-check, especially the day after the full moon. She always felt extra emotional in the two days leading up to and after the full moon, and sometimes she found herself acting on feelings she knew she shouldn’t, whether it be with compassion or anger.

Cayden thanked their waiter who set down glasses of water in front of the trio, all three of them putting their orders in also. Finley made sure to order something large and messy so she would be able to limit her time speaking. “So?” Cayden asked again. “Your dad said something about you having met your mate?”

Finley looked at Maxwell and flashed him her fangs as best she could in a public space, assuring him they would be having words on the way back to his office. “I mean,” she shrugged looking at her uncle, “I honestly don’t believe in the whole, mates thing.” She offered her somewhat honest opinion.

“So, you don’t think what your brother and Clara has is genuine?”

“Well, I do, but-”

“Me and your aunt Gina?”

“That’s different, and-

“Your dad and your mom?” Finley felt her breath catch in her throat when her uncle mentioned her parent’s relationship. She also noted the uptick in her father’s heartbeat and the frown his face pulled into. Even with her mom having passed away well over ten years prior, it still tended to be a sore spot for the family; everyone knew not to bring her up unless she needed to be mentions in a conversation. Cayden, of all people, knew that the most; so, Finley recognized that her uncle wasn’t using her mother against her, but was using her to help Finley open her eyes.

Finley pulled her bottom lip between her teeth while Cayden took a sip of his water, trying not to lash out at him for mentioning her mom when she knew his intentions were pure. “You really can’t compare all of those relationships to my situation,” Finley mumbled, drumming her fingers on the table.

Cayden shrugged, “why not? All those relationships are ones where the pairs are mates. Where, at one point, both parties were almost complete strangers who just felt so drawn to the other. There had been no other word able to describe their connection.” Finley knew the story of mates.

Mates were two halves of a soul, separated by the Gods when the souls were given physical bodies to live within. Both halves spent their entire lives looking for the other, and once a soul found their other half they could never again be separated unless death forced them to part. Nearly everyone in the Mannulv pack had found their mate, their pack had been known for their success in finding their mates to the rest of the were-world. The pack had also grown at an exponential rate since most of the children were deemed old enough to officially marry their mate and make them an official member of the pack.

Finley would be the last cousin in her generation to find their mate. However, finding her mate meant that she would also be the first not to make her mate a member of the esteemed Mannulv pack. “I don’t-” Finley closed her eyes. “I just really don’t deserve to have a mate, and they don’t deserve to be dragged into my mess,” she mumbled. “My mate would deserve a stable pack to lean on, not, my mess. I uhh, actually plan to tell Cian he’s no longer welcome to join my pack with Clara,” she told Maxwell and her uncle. “Joining grandma’s pack is safer, it’s guaranteed stability.”

“Finley,” Maxwell said quietly. He hadn’t realized his daughter had been struggling so much with her family issues. He knew she had struggled in the past, but he didn’t realize that it still weighed so heavily on her conscious. Heavily enough to make the decision that years down the line her brother wouldn’t be welcome in her own pack.

“Stiles,” Finley said quietly so her uncle could hear. “His name is Stiles, and his best friend is Scott McCall, he already has a pack, he might be human but that’s his pack,” she saw her uncle look at her dad. “We,” she paused and took a deep breath, “Grandma has humans in her pack, and you see how connected they get,’ Maxwell looked at his brother to make sure he had also picked up on Finley’s slip of her tongue before he looked back to his daughter. “And I’m not planning on breaking up another pack because I couldn’t keep my attitude in-check when I was younger.”

Finley saw Cayden’s eyes soften and he reached out to grab his niece’s hand across the table, but she quickly pulled her hand away. “Finley, you can’t believe what your grandmother told you in the middle of a stupid fight,” he sighed. “Sure, you were strong-willed- to say the least when you were younger, but that’s not why you’re a True Alpha,” he told her. Finley knew the story of True Alphas; that they become an Alpha based solely on the strength of their character, their virtue and sheer willpower, but sometimes Finley didn’t feel like she had truly earned the title.

“I never- I never asked for this,” she dropped her cheek into her palm, watching the ice cubes float around her glass of water. “I never asked to be an Alpha. I never asked to,” she choked up a little bit, “to practically get kicked out of my own pack.” Finley sniffled, wiping away a couple of tears that had run down her cheeks. “I- I didn’t do anything to deserve it. I’ve just been myself. I lost my mom and my pack; do you know how many other wolves would be dead by now if they were in my position?”

Finley watched both her father and her uncle’s gazes soften as she used the sleeve of her hoodie to wipe away the rest of her tears. She didn’t like being emotional, she didn’t like to seem weak or easy to rattle in front of other people. However, she knew that the past week had been testing her emotional boundaries, and she had reached the end of her rope. “It hurt, y’know?” She asked the question not expecting or even wanting an answer. “Moving into the guest cabin it- it really stung. I missed out on a lot living out there, and quite frankly it sent me into a spiral I would never wish on anyone,” she spoke quietly but with purpose. “I’d say that was worse than being flat out rejected by the pack. I would have rather been kicked out completely than live a hundred yards away but not be able to see anyone or really go into the main house.”

“Finley-” Maxwell tried to interrupt his daughter, but she just shook her head.  

She swallowed the lump in her throat and forced herself to keep talking, to lay it all out on the table, just like she had wanted to for over a year now. “Werewolves, we need physical comfort from our pack, their scent. You know that right?” Both her father and Cayden nodded. “Think about it, I haven’t had any of that really for more than a year now,” Finley mumbled. “I felt too awkward at Pack dinners because Grandma wouldn’t let me sit at the same table as her, so I just started cooking for myself in the guest cabin. Grandma never really wanted me at movie nights or anything because the pups would feel the tension, so I tried to make myself scarce.”

The year and three months of no true contact from the pack had taken a large toll on Finley. Two weeks into her isolation of sorts, she had developed severe insomnia. After a month she had dropped nearly thirty pounds and felt mentally and emotionally numb. She had missed a rather large chunk of several her cousin’s children growing up, missed out on really being a part of their life like she wanted to be. She missed engagements and pregnancy announcements. At weddings she had been expected to greet guests then sink back into the shadows. To other packs, her presentation as a True Alpha would been seen as a weakening of her grandmother’s power if they ever found out.

Her problems only started to get slightly better after Cian expressed his concern for his twin. He had started to steal pieces of clothing or bedding from the Pack house for Finley to sleep with and started making sure she cooked properly for herself. He would often sneak away on weekends to go for runs with her, help her to still feel somewhat connected to the pack. He spent full moons with his sister rather than the pack.

“No one intended for that to happen Finley. We just didn’t want-”

“Didn’t want to upset everyone in the Pack more than they already were,” she nodded. “I didn’t want to either, like I said. So again, making myself scarce just seemed easier than forming an even larger rift in the family,” she took a deep breath. Finley wiped away more of her tears and nodded, opening the conversation for her father and uncle.

Cayden looked over to Maxwell, but the two brothers couldn’t determine who should speak first through just looking at each other. Instead, Maxwell waved his hand and motioned for Cayden to speak first. “I still don’t understand what all of this has to do with you having found your mate. Shouldn’t that just help you feel better?”

“In theory yes-” Finley started.

“But,” Maxwell cut her off, “if I’m following correctly without a Pack to bring her mate home to, she doesn’t feel worthy of even having a mate since she doesn’t have anyone to show them off to or gain approval in their relationship from.” He looked to his daughter to make sure he followed her correctly. “Especially since he’s a human.”

Finley just nodded as their food got set in front of them, “ding, ding, ding. We have a winner!” She laughed lightly taking a bite of her sandwich. “And before you ask me why I can’t change that it’s natural instincts, werewolves want a pack, I don’t have a pack at a moment really, therefore I feel like a failure,” she put it into simple terms. “Even if I am an Alpha, I’m not really adjusted enough to function on my own yet.”

“So how can we fix the whole, pack animosity issue?” Cayden asked her. “Because that seems like the root of most of the problems you currently have going on.”

Finley took another bite of her sandwich so she would be able to collect her thoughts while she chewed, wondering what news she should break first. “Well, you see. Last night I kind of fucked up,” she trailed off.

“She had a little moment and her mate,” Finley glared at Maxwell after he said that. “Sorry. Stiles wound up offering her physical comfort because he claimed he’s just a touchy person, and he wound up staying the night.” He used the words his daughter had said when she burst into his office at nine that morning.

Finley saw her uncle’s eyes widen and she shook her head and waved her right hand. “No! No! We didn’t fuck,” she closed her eyes and let out a low growl. “We didn’t have sex,” she corrected herself. “He actually admitted that he’s planning on breaking up with his girlfriend in uhh- a week or two.”

“Now she’s more emotionally attached than she would like to be,” Maxwell added. Cayden nodded and shoved a fry into his mouth, clearly thinking.

He nodded slowly, clearly thinking. “What if we,” he motioned between himself and Maxwell, “talked to your grandmother and finally knocked some sense into her?” He asked, watching Finley’s reactions carefully. She seemed to bristle at the mention of her grandmother, her heart rate increasing and her scent giving off anxiety.

“I really don’t have a choice at this point, do I?” Finley knew that her dad and uncle talking to her grandmother would re-open old wounds and would bring to the surface problems long buried. She realized that also meant sitting down and talking with her grandmother at one point in the near future; trying to explain that she didn’t want her grandmother’s power but only wanted to learn how to harness her own power for when the Pack would be transferred to her.

Maxwell sighed and drummed his fingers on the table, clearly thinking about saying something to his daughter that she wouldn’t want to hear. “Finley, you also need to recognize that presenting as a True Alpha automatically means taking your grandmother’s place once she passes, no one else in the pack can take her place now.” Maxwell watched a look of betrayal pass over his daughter’s face while her heart rate exponentially increased. “I’m not saying that to scare you-”

“Then I should have been told that a year ago!” She raised her voice slightly, but promptly dropped it when both men across from her flashed their own fangs. “I’m serious! I would have tried so much harder to maintain a relationship with that old hag if I knew I would be taking over her pack when she bites it!”

Cayden jumped into the conversation again, “no one thought you were ready for that information back then,” he spoke.

“Oh yeah,” Finley laughed, “because I’m so much more ready now after being emotionally beaten down for over a year now?” She shook her head and took a long sip of her water. “I’m shit at math but, that just really doesn’t add up.” She grabbed her phone off the booth from next to her and stood up, pushing away her half-eaten food.

“Finely if you just-”

However, she didn’t let her father finish speaking. “It’s fine, the rain let up. I- I need to go, I’ll call you later just- I need time right now.” She quickly tried to gather her thoughts. “I’ll call you when I’m ready.” With that Finley quickly found herself on the streets of Washington D.C. feeling lost, only knowing one person she wanted to see in that moment.

She found her fingers flying over the keypad on her phone, scrolling through her contacts before she pressed on the name that she had been looking for. Holding her phone up to her ear while she walked, she listened to the dial tone, trying to control her breathing and push off her oncoming panic attack.

“Hey, everything okay?” She heard the voice on the other line pick up.

“No. Stiles, I- I need to talk to you.”

[the-queer-dungeoneer]

Not Alone (Crowley x Fem! Reader) - Ch. 3/?

Previous / Next

Characters: Reader, Crowley, Aziraphale, Gabriel and likely more once we get into the thick of it.

Relationships: Crowley x Reader, Aziraphale x Reader, Aziraphale x Crowley

POV: First-person

Warnings: Death of a family friend

Tags: @curse-brekker​, @oopstheregoesmysoul13​

*gif is not mine and neither are any of the characters or source material!

Y/N = your name

Y/N/N = your nickname

Y/L/N = your last name

H/C = Hair color

E/C = Eye color

F/C = Favorite color

A/N: Chapter three is here, my loves! Yay for relationship development! Honetly, I think being close friends with Aziraphale would be such a wonderful experience. I hope you enjoy!

Thank you to my lovely editor @aka-ellie ❤️

Lots of love! - TQD

October, 2018

We went to a small Indian restaurant about half a mile from the shop. The food was impeccable, but it was shoved into second place by the lovely conversation.

This time he seemed much more interested in my upbringing. I told him about how I’d grown up with my grandparents, and how I still called my grams every day. I talked about how I had grown up in art and theatre classes, which had helped me with my anxiety and depression. I also explained that this was my motivation for working towards arts as a form of healthcare. I had experienced the benefits upfront, and they could be so helpful for so many people. I left a lot of the more unsavory details of my childhood out because it didn’t seem like the time to bear my uglier scars.

He asked me all kinds of questions about growing up in Seattle. He wanted to know all about if the seafood there was as good as he’d heard (I hate seafood, so I was the wrong person to ask about that) and I told him that I thought it might be. We talked about the interesting bookshops around the city, and I gushed that his was far better than any of them, which made him grin like a schoolboy.  

I was content wandering arm in arm with Aziraphale. I hadn’t had a meal that delicious or filling in weeks. I’d been subsisting off peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and instant noodles because of my limited budget. It was great to not feel hungry, and even better to not feel lonely. I was smiling despite myself, and there are few memories I treasure more than that one.

He walked me to my apartment and cordially held the door open once I’d buzzed myself in. His gentlemanly demeanor never seemed patronizing, always completely genuine. It was sweet.

“Would you like to come in? I have coffee and tea.”

“Oh goodness dear, it’s rather late. I do not want to take up any more of your evening,” he responded. We seemed to be caught in a dance of wanting to spend time together, but not impose. The best part was, it wasn’t just me.

“Really, Aziraphale, it’s no trouble. I stay up this late all the time. If it sweetens the deal at all, I can dig out some hot cocoa? Oh! You can even meet my bunny!”

“Well you didn’t tell me that you have a rabbit! That is all the convincing I need.” He giggled happily and followed me up the stairs.

My living space was quaint, and by quaint, I mean incredibly small. But it was all the space I could possibly need. After all, it was just me and Penelope, and I wasn’t entertaining much.

Penelope had a small hutch with a litter box and a bed, but I never closed the door. She hopped about the apartment most all day and night. I did lock her up when I was sleeping though. I had this nagging fear that she would hop into bed with me and I’d suffocate her by accident. Dark, I know, but real. Also, locking her up at night and covering the cage with a blanket meant she slept when I did, so we were on relatively the same schedule. It made life easier. Penelope had been my best friend for two years. She was a graduation present from my grandfather when I finished high school. I had hidden her in my dorm room secretly during freshman year, and against my family's wishes, I had paid the extra fees to have her travel with me all the way to London. She was more companion than pet. I read her all my papers and textbooks, I let her pee on the papers I’d gotten bad grades on, she cuddled with me on bad days and hopped around my feet in celebratory dance parties. We were inseparable.

I smiled unlocking my little red front door. The number fourteen was crooked. I should have told the landlord by now, but it added character, so I didn’t really mind.

“Where’s my little fluffernutter?” I called in a sing-song voice. I was answered with the skittering sound of bunny feet and Penelope made her way into the kitchen and slid across the tiles to greet me. She jumped straight into my arms and nuzzled against my chest. She often acted more like a dog than a rabbit. I wasn’t sure who was more co-dependent, but I didn’t care. It was nice to be needed. “Oh, hello darling! Mama missed you so much!”

“My goodness! That is the most affectionate rabbit I have ever seen! What is her name?”

“Oh, where are my manners? Aziraphale, this is Penelope,” I said hiking the small furball into the crook of my elbow, “And Penelope, this is Aziraphale,” I finished, grabbing a hold of her paw and extending it in a mock-introductory handshake.”

Aziraphale went right along with my dorky antics and shook Penelope’s paw. “It is lovely to meet such a refined lady as yourself Miss Penelope, I marvel at the pleasure.”

I couldn’t hold back my giggles. I knew I could laugh freely with Aziraphale. However, when I inadvertently snorted I stopped short and my cheeks flushed red.

“Oh well that was simply adorable,” Aziraphale giggled. “Don’t go getting all embarrassed, I have heard centuries worth of embarrassing laughs, and yours doesn’t even come close.”

I exhaled and continued my giggling fit. As I made my way into the apartment kitchen. I slid my shoes off and left them to the right of the door before padding across the outdated linoleum tiles the grab a few mugs. My kitchen, while small, was lovely. The cabinets were all a shade of robin’s egg blue and the countertops were a subtle white tile. It was the first thing when you saw when you entered and added a calming air to the room. It wrapped around into a small bar with matching blue bar stools to the left, and the rest of my studio sprawled out behind that. There was a large window facing north, which my couch (also my bed) sat underneath on the far wall. I had photos and cards from my family and friends back home as well as art pieces I’d collected over the years hung up all around. The coffee table perched in front of my couch/bed - we’ll call it my bouch - was covered in textbooks, papers and highlighters as well as a few empty bowls and a smattering of silverware. Across from the bouch was my television on top of my bookshelf. I didn’t watch much TV, but I had a Gamecube that I liked to play occasionally, to relax. At the far end of the apartment from the kitchen was my small bathroom. It was decorated all in lime green. Definitely a product of the 70’s when these apartments went up. Penelope’s hutch sat on the wall next to the bathroom door. It was just a basic black wire hutch with a hidey hole, a water bottle, food bowl and wood shavings.

I only had enough serving ware for two people, thankfully I had done most of the dishes. Usually, two-people’s-worth just meant I could eat another bowl of soup before I actually had to consider pulling out a sponge. I busied myself with tea while Aziraphale settled down on one of the barstools watching the odd dance I did to prepare everything with one arm occupied by my small rodent best friend. When she got squirmy, I set her down.

“I know it’s past your bedtime you little monster. Give me one second.” I huffed before walking over and grabbing her small blanket from the ground next to the couch. I laid it out in the hutch under the hidey hole cover where she liked to sleep and gestured at it with playful annoyance. “How’s that, your majesty?”

Apparently, it was fine because she hopped right in. I gently latched the door and flipped down the quilt that was folded on top of the hutch. She’d likely be asleep in minutes. She, like her human, loved to sleep. Naps were only second to food.

The kettle started to whistle, causing me to whip around and slide back to the kitchen. I had become an expert in the Olympic sport of sock-on-tile skating in my time, though I did smack my hip on the oven handle during my graceful finish.

“Oh, dear! Are you alright?” Aziraphale winced.

“Yeah, yeah! I am a bit of a klutz. I do stupid stuff all the time. Now! Your tea, sir. Be careful, it’s hot.” I smiled, placing a mug on the counter.

“Oh, thank you! Your apartment is beautiful. You’ve made it very welcoming. There is a lot of love in here.”

I settled down on the barstool next to him, and he started asking about all of my pictures. I pulled one of my favorites off the wall, a glossy 5x7 of myself and my grams in matching skeleton costumes. I was seven, and we went trick-or-treating around the police station where my grandpa worked. One of the officers picked me up shouting “Who left this skeleton out on the floor?! All human remains should be sealed in the evidence locker!” He tossed me over his shoulder and carried me all around the precinct. I laughed until I couldn’t breathe. He slapped an evidence sticker across my forehead and gave me a full-sized Twix bar.

Officer Peterson was a good man. He had passed away in the line of duty two years later. I was too young to really understand that. I remembered though, my grandpa had sat me down and talked to me for a long time about death and how it worked. He told me it wasn’t something bad. A lot of times it meant people weren’t hurting or scared anymore. Grandpa never backed away from the hard conversations. I was lucky for that.

This is how the evening went on. Each picture had so many memories and smiles attached. Aziraphale never ran out of questions to ask. He was so curious, as though domestic life was the most interesting thing in the world. I don’t know when three o’clock rolled around, but that didn’t stop anything. Neither of us considered wrapping things up until well after the sun started to peak through the window and Penelope started to stir in her hutch.

[doctor-apocalypse]

Wildflower// Apocalyptic World

My legs burned and ached as I ran , my arms bleed as I passed through the thick branches of the pine trees, my heart was about to exploded on how fast it was beating against my chest but I pushed myself to run faster as I got a glimpse on the left of me to the reason on why I was running

  The adrenaline was pumping my veins making every inch of my body forget how my feet were aching. The feeling of fear was in the back of my head getting louder and louder but I couldn't let that take over me

"Aria!" my head whipped to where I had been called seeing an exact copy of myself slightly behind me

 Her panicked eyes looking at me as I nodded trying to calm her down -that we we're going to be fine

"come on where almost there!" I yelled my voice coming out horsed as I tried to turn to her direction but the trees only let me run forward , I started to recognize where I was in a few feet we'd be close to a rocky wall where I knew was safe; As we reached it I helped her up before getting myself up , clinging on the wall as I made it up getting help to pull me up the top as I looked down to the pile of moans and decaying bodies trying to get us as they stared up at us with milky dead eyes

  The flesh from their faces slowly rubbing off leaving me to see their bones , some barely had anything. The limbs hanging by thread just dragging along or other who were just a piece of meat crawling down towards the commotion

"God that went better than I thought" my sister laughed laying down on the half dead grass around us before taking her long brown hair from the pony tail it was in , my hands went in her bag she dumped beside her digging in until I found a can of beans

 Risking our lives for a few cans of beans was what what we did everyday -Normal for us

   sometimes it can be fun

"thank God cause I didn't even think it would work" she gave me wide eyed stare before laughing as I popped the lid of the can with my knife holding it to her  -she  did most of the work on stealing them while I just ran around being the carrot on the stick for the corpses

"honestly it was a bit cool"

 See fun. Distracting a bunch of corpses that's what I did everyday to survive

" cool? The end of the world isn't cool Aria" it's been a few months since the world came to shit , a virus plagued the living like we were nothing causing millions to fall dead in matter of weeks before we could even defend ourselves or find a cure the dead came back eating what was left of us.

 To be honest I only thought the zombie type of shit happened in movies, series and books but I was proven wrong when one day my parents got infected and tried to eat me and my twin sister.Fist time killing a creep as well and wasn't the last.

  Anna was always the smartest even in a crises making us pack what we needed and leave our childhood home and bolt from the city to the country side , we hided out for a few months in an old farm house but not only did we have to worry about being killed by those corpses but other humans. The one's you hear in the news. The one's that will try everything to get their hands on

They were worse than the undead

But we survived. We learned how to survive, now everyday we learn how to fight for ourselves. To fed ourselves, to clean ourselves.

 We only had each other -we we're going to survive this together; right?

"it's not the fun cool but it's cool cool" she rolled her honey eyes at me again as she handed me the unfinished can. We were identical twins the only difference separating us was a scar on my nose from when I let a bookshelf land on my face when I was six other than that we had the same brown hair and pale skin and honey eyes making our mom's job of keeping track who was who very hard

But we all knew she was the better then me in every single way

"you are so weird" I gave her a full mouthed smile making her turn away in disgust ,she was on her feet now pacing back and forth on the small clif as she looked around with that old map we found a while ago  "we still have a lot to go but it's gonna be night fall in a few hours"

"we can stay here , were high enough they can't reach us or be above us" I looked around us we had a small patch of rock grass thing , if we were quiet enough during the night the dead would think we left and just wonder off leaving a few for us to kill

"I hate this"

  She looked down before cringing and stepping back , she had a slight fear of heights but she'd rather be here then down there. I took the small blankets from our bags setting it down so we could be more comfortable during our time here

And finally get some sleep after 13 days without a proper night

"how long until we get to Ohio again?" I asked playing with knife as I stabbed the soft patch of grass next to me , the last time I checked we were at the boarder of West Virginia well I still hoped we were since we left our state of Virginia like months ago

Virginia. It was hard to leave our state but there wasn't anything left for us anymore, the radio at the time was planning to destroy the whole city and we didn't want to stay to see it go down

" I don't know maybe a few months to my calculations" Ohio was one of the cities that didn't evacuated during the spread since the Tv crew keep saying it was a safe zone , we didn't hear anything about it after since our radio doesn't work anymore and that was 6 months ago

 We tried to change the battery but it seemed like nobody on the other end was alive to warn us if we should continue or not -we we're headed to eventual death or good people who survived like us

"sometimes I wonder if they were alive they could do what we do" she whispered in a sad tone causing me to hold my laugh in knowing exactly how they would react, I remembered their reaction when they found out about the infection

"we are going to die" I laughed at my mother as my father mumbled if he needed to go to work or not making my mom yell at him for not thinking about the bigger picture

"hell no ....well dad would cause he'd be down for literally anything" she laughed lowly agreeing , that dude ate a spider cause his brother dared him to the apocalypse would be easy for him "mom on the other half would die in 5 second just by seeing us eat that dog food" we were low on food so we ended up finding a supply of dog food that lasted us a month , not good times to remember

"it tasted like dirt , she can't even jump properly imagine killing those things"bless my mom's soul but honestly she'd be a goner in this world now " I miss them"

"I do too" I reached over to her grabbing her hand as we just laid in silence hearing the cracking and moaning from the corpses below us

 The moaning drowing the squeaks of the bats flying around and the commotion of the crickets not letting me forget they would be there when I woke up

it's never a dream

                                                    ---                                                                              

"if we continue rout 250 we'll be there by tomorrow" she looked down the map reading it as I looked at it trying to figure out where I should look at

I never really did good in geography and she loved it so she was responsible for us not getting lost again; since last time we ended up going in a loop since she keep forgetting were we where all the time

"lead the way captain" I saluted her as she just pushed me forwarded , we walked in silence so we didn't attract many dead beats but I still killed the ones that crawled towards me

 The silence was intoxicating, for a lot of reasons. I missed that loud noise of crowds even if I didn't like it I missed the sound of people, I missed people -The feeling of being alone in this world scare me but I knew people survived ;some people trained for these moments for all their lives maybe we should have taught like them

"we should give theses dead beats a name" I couldn't help it , it was too damn quiet and I was bored out of my mind and it was only 2 hours in our walk

Probably my sense of time was bad but the sun wasn't in the middle of the sky anymore.

"they are called zombie like in the movies" she rolled her eyes adjusting her bag

Zombies? We rarely did call them, freaks or creeps were most used between us and also asshole from her side when one spilled it's gut all over her shirt

"yeah I know , but come on we're are literally apart of a movie if you haven't noticed -we need a cool name for them like T-800 and walkers" I whined remembering how I keep joking that would never happen in real life, and boy how I was wrong

 How wrong everyone was for not taking it seriously and staying home like they asked -everything just turned over night without much of a small warning

"okay let me think you baby" I shut my mouth smiling at her waiting for her to think of something , I did call them dead beats but that wasn't like cool enough "cannibals? I don't know"

"we are not naming them Hannibal Lector" I laughed pushing her slightly making her roll her eyes at me

"who cares Aria , their the jaws of our life now we are in their waters now we just have to be careful not to get bitten" I let out a laugh of excitement before shaking her bag as she pushed me off confused

"jaw biters dude , you're a genius" she barked up a laughing on looking how stupid I was acting but I didn't care I was having fun -and even if the name was stupid

it was very stupid but you had to pass the time with stupid shit like this didn't you

"you are so stupid A" Anna yet again rolled her eyes at me turning to look at me with a mocking face as I looked forward smiling a bit seeing a small crowd of creeps coming our way

We'd try to make a break for it in the forest if it were larger but but it was only four of them which could be taken care of

"yeah but now I get to say there are two jaw biters coming our way"

I pulled my knife out as she did too running quickly to them grabbing their full attention as they snapped their jaw at us growling, as I got close to two from our right I kicked  their legs so it would break letting me plung the knife in their skulls feeling the knife crack it's way in until it reached their brains. Pushing them forwards slipping my knife out of it's head seeing them slump down to the ground with their milky eyes roll back into their head

That's when they actually die; pulling limb by limb will never kill them its always the brain that finishes whatever keep them alive

"do I have blood on my face?" I asked as she turned to me with splatters of black blood across her face , it masked well with the rest of the dried blood in her hair and clothes since we haven't showed in the last three months or so

The smell of death was reeking off more from us them the actual corpses

"nah it goes great with the rest of the blood" she joked as I gave her a thumbs up before whipping the knife clean on my old jean which were covered in guts and that were a little loose on me, I had to tie it with a shoe lace so it wouldn't fall

 I was getting more thin everyday my skin was sticking to my muscles showing it much than it should be and I couldn't do anything about it since food was getting more scarse for us

"shut up and walk" I breathed out before following her up the road putting the knife back where I took it as I felt it dig a bit in my heel since the only place it would hold was in my boots.

 The road covered in bloodly feet from injured or dead people who use to pass by here , the destroyed cars were a memory of the people who tried to escape but didn't make it seeing them bang their dead hands agaisnt the window of the cars

 Burned police cars evidence that their helped never helped, their bodies burned with the patrol cars -some were still alive but glued to the car as we passed ignoring their moans and growls

  Mother nature destroyed the human race but the animals propered out of it , as I saw deer in the middle of the trees grazing peacfully making my stomach growl in protest on the hunger strike the world was giving me

"I can't believe we didn't run into a gas station by now" Ana complained again for the 5th time the past half hour as she cursed the map she was reading like it would talk to her back

If she started to speak it to it , we'd have a problem I would know how to help my sister if she went crazy. She was already annoying and bossy in a good state of mind I dont know what she would turn into crazy

"relax, we might be near don't pysch out just yet" the joke didn't really tickle her funny bone as she just gave me a death glare making me shut up as I listened to her mumbled under her breath

My head was driving me crazy as I raked my nails down on it trying to get that feeling of itching out of my system but only made it worse -I probably got flees from that dog kennel we slept three nights ago

"oh god I am going to kill you if you don't stop that" I stopped clicking my tongue as she hit my shoulder rubbing before looking at something that catched my eye

It was heaven. It was art. It was a shell gas station in all it's glory and beauty

 "kill me later cause I can smell the pringles from here" I pushed her aside as I took off running towards the gas stations that had only a few creeps walking around , Ana stopped right behind me taking out her knife as I picked up a broom stick from the ground breaking it in half with my knee

Ouch. Never as cool as in the movies

"avengers assemble" she sighed at my joked before charging at the creeps as I followed plunging the sharp end of the stick in one's eyes and the other's chests keeping them very far away from me, I had two on the end of my stick as I kicked them off before cracking their skulls open with my combat boots soaking the blood in blood once again

I turned around to smack the stick agaisnt a guy's head making him drop but still growling as blood poured out of his mouth , scrunching my nose in disgust I stabbed him in between his eyes

"I bet this one had like 50 cats" Ana joked kicking a creep all in cat shit towards me as I finished it off laughing a little too much , I looked to see only three coming our way which I could handle on my own as I turned to see only two pacing around the covinience store

"get inside clear out call me if you need me , I'll take care of them" she nodded heading inside as I turned to the rest who were heading staright towards me growling as I dodged it grabby hands feeling it limp at the end of my stick as I took care of the rest

I breathed heavily taking my foot out of it's head holding the bile that rose to my throat since the woman seemed to had died in feces or something that I really don't want to know

"yo! Is it clear?" I whipped the blood off my face with my shirt as I looked around so see that the place was almost raided out , Anna was in the corner with her back towards me making me pause for a second before calling her again.The fear made the hair in the back of my hair stand up as I looked at her but then she slowly turned to me looking up with me with a guilty look in her eyes and a can of pringles in her hands

"you son of a bitch, you better hope that is not the last can " I threatened as she gulped audibly since she was eating MY favorite flavor, I almost killed her for eating the last pringle can and for scarying me to death

Just picturing my sister dying I-; she's not gonna die. We we're going to survive this together

"hey, look at this" she told me with a mouth full of doritos as I didn't give her a glance making her sigh loudly rolling her eyes at me with a tired groan

"stop being a pouty baby and look"

"what" I turned about glare before immediately frowned to see a few maps on the floor behind the counter. I kneeled beside her as I looked at the map seeing a few states with crosses out with a big red cross as other with green, yellow or orange , the writing was faded out making it hard to read

"are these places they've been?"

There was so much information on it like the person was in a hurry to write them seeing the writing faded out or it was in possible to read the handwritting. Not to mention the bloody spots all over the brown map

"maybe the red were they have been to? Since looks like it's the majority or" but she looked like even she questioned it but that wasn't the only thing that made a chill run down my spine

 That fear came back as the crunch in my stomach began.

"Ana I don't think it's were they've been but where they avoided" I cleaned a part of the dusty map were there was a red cross to the side with big bold letters 'keep out' , she didn't even have time to talk already on her feet running around the store finding things for us to eat stuffing them in her bag as I stuffed the maps in mine

If she was thinking like me we needed to get out of here fast and now before we get into something we can't fight out of

"we should head to West Virginia we to close to Ohio , whatever they were running from might be close to us" I nodded grabbing a few chips and shoving it in the bag as well , before slamming against her back as I tried to follow her out the door

"Anna?" that's when I heard it , the moaning and the slow and uneven footsteps multiple footsteps.

 The feeling of death was normal for me to feel everyday. To see death and consume it was normal. To see your body finally catch up with reality and slows down your body letting the feeling of being a cold ice bath run throw your veins

 The aches you've ignore are now pouding in your head , the bitter taste in your mouth as you tried to take that dry feeling inside it

 Death...

"Run" she breathed out looking at a sea of jaw biters heading to us

...it was much closer than I thought

I hope you enjoyed my story, I am on wattpad at daddy_kins if you want to read the rest of the chapters I am currently posting. Thank you for reading!

[purplesurveys]

848

Around the House (#4)

Bathroom(s) 1. How many bathrooms are in your house? How many are full and how many are half? We have two, one that’s mainly a guest bathroom downstairs and a main one upstairs for us. They’re both...full bathrooms I guess? Hahaha we don’t really use those terms but our bathrooms are very identical-looking and have the same features. 2. Do you have more than one window in your bathroom? Yeah, each have two. 3. What is/are the wall color(s) of this/these rooms? Light turquoise downstairs, peach upstairs.

4. Does/Do the/these room(s) have hardwood flooring or carpeting? An area rug, perhaps? Linoleum? Both have tile flooring, but we have a rug in each too. 5. What type(s) of lighting fixtures are in this/these rooms? (wall lamps, table lamps, freestanding lamps, or ceiling lamp/fan) Just lightbulbs at the ceiling.

6. Do you have cabinets above or below the sink? The guest bathroom is rather bare because we barely entertain visitors. In the upstairs bathroom, we don’t have a cabinet but we have a couple of racks up on the wall instead that hold everything that would’ve gone inside a cabinet. 7. Do you have a cabinet above the toilet? That’s the above mentioned racks, yes. 8. Do any of your bathrooms have more than one sink? Nope, each just have one. 9. Do you have a bidet in any of your bathrooms? Both bathrooms have one. The guest bathroom used to not have a bidet, but since our family has been spending more and more time downstairs we eventually got my dad to put a bidet there too. 10. Is your linen closet inside your bathroom, or is it in the hallway? Not sure if I’m answering this question right but all blankets, bedsheets, etc. are kept in a certain cabinet in the master bedroom. 11. Do you have any cleaning supplies in your bathroom, or is there a separate utility closet for these items? Yes, they’re in the bathroom. But we also have a separate cabinet for the rest of the cleaning supplies because like I said, my mom is a little bonkers about keeping the house tidy. 12. Do you have anything on the walls of your bathroom? The racks I mentioned, and a mirror. 13. Do you have a full-length mirror on your bathroom door? No, we don’t. 14. Do you have any decorations/items on the back of your toilet? What are they? We have a toilet lid cover. 15. What is on your bathroom countertop? Toothbrushes, toothpastes, and some of my siblings’ face products. 16. Do you do your makeup in the bathroom or in your bedroom? How about getting dressed? I don’t wear makeup. 17. What color is your trash can? Brown upstairs, black downstairs. 18. What is one unique thing you have in your bathroom that hasn’t been mentioned yet? Welp we’re currently using the downstairs bathroom as a potty training area for Cooper. No one ever takes a bath in there so the shower area has since shifted to be a place for him to do his business in, and he’s doing amazing so far :D We’d take him outside but 1) we don’t have a gate, and 2) his digestive system’s not 100% yet and we don’t wanna make it worse by taking him outside where all sorts of tiny creepy crawlies hang out. Bedroom(s) 1. How many bedrooms are there in your house? Are they all currently being used as bedrooms, though? Three, but we turned it into four after we made our balcony into my brother’s room – so that’s mine, my sister’s, my brother’s, and my parents’. Yes, they’re all bedrooms but they’ll probably turn my room into something else once I move out, probably a little movie room. I know for sure my dad’s already got a few ideas haha. 2. What is/are the wall color(s) of this/these rooms? Three of the rooms have white walls, though my parents’ room was green before. The only different-colored walls are in my brother’s room; we couldn’t exactly build up new walls since it used to be the balcony so he mostly has windows around his room. We did retain the lower half of the balcony’s wall which is light cream, same as the outside of the house. 3. Does/Do the/these room(s) have hardwood flooring or carpeting? An area rug, perhaps? Linoleum? Everything is hardwood upstairs. My parents’ room has a rug. 4. What type(s) of lighting fixtures are in this/these rooms? (wall lamps, table lamps, freestanding lamps, or ceiling lamp/fan) Just ceiling lights for all. My parents have wall lamps above their bed, while I think my sister has a night light because she doesn’t like the dark too much. 5. What size bed do you have? What size parents do your parents have? (if you still reside with them) Siblings’ beds? My sister and I have twinbeds, but because my brother’s room is considerably larger than ours my parents opted to get him a queen bed because a twin would look too tiny in his room. My parents have a king bed. 6. Do you have any prints or wall decorations up? I have Audrey Hepburn wall decors on one side. On another section of my room I have a poster of Nam Joo Hyuk up (still, haha) and various paintings that Gabie made and bought for me. 7. Do you have a string of lights somewhere in your room? Nope. I wanted those before but I think it’d be too pressing on our electricity bill and I’d rather be practical for my parents’ benefit.

8. Do you have a desk in your room? What’s on it?     Nah. Okay, story time! It sucks because when we first moved in this house, we did so with the intention that my sister and I would be sharing a room. As someone who shared a room with my family of 5 in our old house, I didn’t want that shit. I wanted my own room. So I called dibs on what was supposed to be my brother’s room instead, thinking that my younger sibs could be the ones to share a room instead. 

Thing was, my 10 year old self could not tell that my brother’s room is actually the smallest one in the house. But I didn’t care about that then; I just wanted my own room. Fast forward to my high school and college years, I started to regret that dumb dibs I made because I couldn’t even have a desk in my own room. Eventually I realized that it was okay, because I feel like I’d fall asleep if I studied in my room haha. I do all my work at the dining room table and it’s worked out very well for me. 9. Do you/did you ever have to share a bedroom with someone else? At some point in high school when my brother was starting to grow bigger, my parents said to switch rooms, which meant that I’d have to share a room with my sister – which was the original plan lol. My sister hated it, I hated it, we all hated the new set-up. We shared a room for like a week, tops. So my parents just completely turned the balcony into a bedroom so that us kids could each have our own room. 10. Do you have a nightstand? What’s on it/in it? I have a bedside drawer and I just use the top of it as my ~nightstand. It has quite a lot of knickknacks – old chargers and wires, an artwork my sister made, high school grad photos of my friends, some DVDs, my wallet, and what was supposed to be my graduation sash. My memory jars for Gab and I which include receipts, old letters, etc. are also there.

11. Do you have a vanity or a mirror in your bedroom? Yes. 12. Do you have a clock in your bedroom, even if you just use your phone as an alarm? Yep, still do. Barely look at it now though lol. 13. Do you have a calendar in your bedroom? Nopes. That’s in my phone now. 14. Is your bedroom neat or messy? How often do you clean it? Oh it’s definitely neat. My mom inspects each room on a daily basis. It internally drives me bonkers but it’s just a tiny adjustment I have to go with so she doesn’t yell at me. Plus it’s much more relaxing to enter a tidy room anyway. 15. Do you make your bed on a daily basis? Not always. Sometimes I’ll feel too lazy folding up my blanket, which is quite large. 16. How many windows are in your bedroom(s)? What sorts of coverings do they have? Two. I dunno what you technically call it but it’s like a pull-down window shade thing. 17. Do you have a bookshelf in your room? Approximately how many books do you own? Nah. Again, it’s that issue of accidentally picking out the smallest room in the house lol. I’ve had to maximize the tiny space I’ve got so my books are grouped in various places...on top of my closet, in the lowest section of my closet, in my bedside storage chest, in one of my drawers, etc. I probably own like 50-60 or so. 18. How many dressers do you have in your room? One. 19. Is your closet “regular” sized, or is it a walk-in? It’s just regular sized. 20. What kinds of things do you do in your bedroom? [trigger warning] I go there mostly to sleep, but during considerably bad breakdowns my room turns into a depression hole. No exaggeration. I’ll go there to cry, starve myself, harm myself, stare at the ceiling or wall for hours, etc. That’s why I don’t really like staying in my room if I’m happy or just not necessarily sad. I’ve associated it too much with negative energy. 21. Do you have any photographs/pictures anywhere in your bedroom? Yeah I have photos of friends on my bedside drawer and I’m sure I have more of them kept in various places. 22. What’s under your bed right now? I have storage boxes for all the collections I used to have when I was still a fangirl haha so inside those boxes are all my WWE and PWI magazines; the WWF magazines my old friend Ellud gave me; various ~fancy~ magazines like Vanity Fair, Vogue, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, etc. where Kristen Stewart or Beyoncé were in the cover, my old issues of K-Zone, etc. 23. Is your hamper overflowing? Do you need to do laundry? No, not at the moment. 24. Do you have anything in your bedroom that you wouldn’t want your parents finding? (even as an adult, if they came over) Honestly my room is already swarming and glaring with hints that I AM IN A SAME-SEX RELATIONSHIP. YOU CAN’T MISS THEM. But they never ask lol. At first I tried to hide the flowers, Post-Its, etc., but then that got boring so I tried to test them through the years by bringing more stuff out for the naked eye to see. They still haven’t asked.

25. What does your comforter look like? How many pillows/blankets do you sleep with? Right now it’s plain royal blue. I have two white pillows and a duvet. 26. Do you have a trash can in this room? Nope, my mom prefers we throw all trash in the bathroom. 27. What is one unique thing in your bedroom that hasn’t been mentioned yet? I used to have this ~artwork that I had made myself put on the wall. It was a quote CM Punk said and each letter was cut from pages from my old magazines. I knew my mom never liked it from day one, and she was never supportive of it, and she ultimately took it down like a year later while I was in school. She had no idea that the quote served as my motivaton to keep going, so it was such a fucking downer. Plus, it was the one time I got really creative??? So for her to put the whole thing down really hurt me because I was actually proud of something I made. I didn’t bother crying about it anymore because she would’ve just told me that my work wasn’t pretty anyway, and that I shouldn’t be so sensitive. For those wondering, the quote is, “"There isn't a person on this planet that should let a past nightmare dictate their future dreams.” [a-zebra-is-a-striped-horse]

[nevervalentines]

13 Supercorp

#13, supercorp 

“following the kiss with a series of kisses down the neck“

Lena gave her the key weeks ago. She’d folded it into Kara’s hand casually, like it didn’t mean anything at all.

“Just in case you get home before I do,” she’d said, blasé. She turned away then, so Kara couldn’t see her face, but she caught the pinking of Lena’s ears anyway. “It’s not a big deal.”

Kara let her lie. Sometimes the best way to put Lena at ease is to let her believe she’s fooling anyone.

(She’d caught Lena up in a kiss regardless, cupping at her jaw, reverent. Cradled the key gentle in her palm, careful not to crush the metal in her hand as Lena tangled both hands in the hem of her shirt.)

But here, now, the act of fitting the key into the lock of Lena’s apartment door is still a quiet thrill of delight, like finding leftover Chinese food in the fridge, or the moment of weightless tension before flight. She pushes open the door slowly, mindful not use her super-hearing to determine if Lena is inside.

“No cheating,” Lena tells her some nights, cupping both palms over Kara’s ears until the world muffles into a conch-shell echo. “Be here with me, Supergirl.”

Kara flicks on the light, and immediately smothers her smile behind her hand. She doesn’t need superpowers to find Lena: she’s in plain view of the parted doorway, surfacing from the couch in a disgruntled daze. Her cheek is creased with the seam of the plush cushions, and her once sleek up-do is a mess of wispy baby hairs and mussed curls.

She blinks into the sudden light, leveling a kittenish glare at Kara on the threshold. “Too bright,” she says, her words sleep-slurred, fist rising to rub hard at her eyes. “Turn it off.”

Kara grins, steps closer, closing the door behind her. “Nuh-uh, sleepy. You have an evening of mandated activities ahead of you.” She sets her armful of bags on the kitchen counter, careful to slip her key back into her pocket before she moves toward the couch. “Or did you forget?”

Lena collapses backward, burrowing into the cushions, pulling a balled-up fleece throw over her face. “Ten more minutes.”

Though Kara only turned on the foyer lights, the open floorplan of the vast penthouse apartment means the light bleeds into the living-room-turned-working-office. It laps gentle at the lip of the couch, shadows rippling off the coffee table, the crook of Lena’s bent knee, like a receding tide. The skyline of National City swallows the wall-to-wall windows, and a pearly dusk diffuses the unlit portions of the apartment into a syrupy liminality.

The couch is an island of calm in a near-fatal explosion of scattered papers, stacks of thick cream-colored manila folders, and textbooks—their spines cracked into an open yawn of diagrams and text. There’s a small pile of dirty mugs and plates at the foot of the coffee table, and a heaping mass of laundry threatens to drown an armchair in blouses and an excess of lacy, unfolded lingerie.

It’s a mess. Kara likes to tease Lena about it sometimes, her absolute domestic disrepair, occasionally verging on slovenly the day before the cleaning crew comes. Lena’s response is always to drape herself over Kara in dramatic repose—“I’m a genius, Kara. What do you expect?”

Kara props herself at the foot of the couch, lifting Lena’s legs into her lap. Lena settles against her automatically, tugging the blanket down to reveal her eyes. “Can I nap now?”

Kara pinches at Lena’s calf over the soft cotton of her L Corp branded sweatpants, soothes it with a stroke of her fingers. “Nope.” She lets her lips pop over the syllable, rubbing her thumb against the jut of Lena’s knee. “You aren’t getting out of it that easy.”

Lena sits up onto her forearms, letting the blanket fall to her lap. She’s pouting, lower lip pooched, eyebrows creased together. “Today’s my first day off in weeks.”

“Exactly.” Kara shuffles Lena’s legs to the side and wiggles her way up the couch, stopping when she is lying half on-top of Lena, chest to chest, her feet dangling off the couch. “And I let you have all day to nap. But now we’re gonna hang lights, and bake cookies and then, and only then, I’m taking you to bed.”

Lena’s face immediately sharpens with interest. She arches into Kara, mouth turning coy, lips pinching to the side. “Oh yeah?”

Kara leans closer until the tips of their noses touch. She runs a hand along Lena’s ribs, feeling the plush-soft of her skin, the rise-fall of her inhale-exhale. She can almost taste Lena’s breath, can smell the memory of her perfume. “Yeah.”

She ducks her head to nip a kiss at Lena’s chin, the hard line of her jaw, the soft skin under her ear. Lena fists a hand in Kara’s hair, groans. “Can we skip the rest of the nonsense?” She rolls her hips once, experimental. “I’m ready to go to bed now.”

Kara pauses for a moment, as though considering, before she grins, all wicked and teeth. She bounces off the couch, sudden. “Nope. Lights first.”

The blanket falls to the floor as Lena rolls into the back of the couch, spewing an expletive against the fabric. She only surfaces to throw a glare over her shoulder. “Tease.”

Kara, back at the kitchen counter, fishes a tangle of fairy lights out of the open mouth of a plastic bag. She straightens her shirt, smiles. “Yeah, but you love it.”

“I hate it.” Lena sits up, rumpled and flushed. “You’re lucky I like you.”

That’s a new development, these open admittances, and Kara is careful not to draw attention to it—she just grins, Cheshire pleased. “I know I am.” She holds up the tangle of lights. “Now come help. Let’s put your brilliant engineering brain to work.”

Lena’s lips curl, haughty. “I can’t even begin to express how graduated I am from Christmas lights, Kara.” She’s all venom, but Kara notices she gets up to help anyway, pulling her hair out of her bun and letting it fall in waves. She runs her fingers through it as she crosses the room, smoothing tangles. Kara tears her eyes away before she forgets her own ultimatum.

“We’re gonna string them around the room. Try to give your apartment some semblance of holiday cheer.”

Lena glares. “You know I hate the holidays.” She leans both elbows on the counter, content to watch Kara wrestle the tangles. “It’s all commercial nonsense. Completely inconsequential.”

“I think your traditions are fun,” Kara says. She glares at the stringed lights.  It’s possible she’s making the knots worse. “Human worship is so interesting.”

“It’s just pointless repetition,” Lena says. She reaches over, absent, takes the lights from Kara’s hands, begins to unwind them. “Purposeless.”

“There’s always purpose to celebration,” Kara says. She cups her chin in her palm, watches Lena’s hands, half-way to mesmerized, her long, slim fingers passing the strands over-under-over-under, brow furrowing as she works. “It brings us together.”

Lena looks up, arches an eyebrow. Amused. “You’re such a sap.”

Kara straightens, defensive. “And you’re a pessimist.”

“Obviously.” Lena hands her the lights, untangled, wound into neat coils. “Also I think the cold weather makes Euripides upset.” She gestures to the far end of the room where the dark, sleek cat is coiled on top of the bookshelf. He turns apathetically from their gaze, licks at a paw. Goes back to sleep.

Kara feels suddenly and hopelessly fond. It bites into her keenly, a physical ache under her collarbone. “Lena, your cat doesn’t have seasonal depression.”

Lena sniffs. “How can anyone really say?”

Kara discards the lights on the counter, side-stepping closer until she can wind an arm around Lena’s waist. Her sweatshirt is riding up, and she strokes two fingers along the exposed skin, curls her hand across Lena’s stomach, dips into the indent of her navel.

Distracted by the excess of plastic bags on the counter, Lena pays her little mind. She fishes through a heap of baking items, wrinkling her nose. “Kara, why are there like four cans of whipped cream in here.”

Kara looks away, guilty. “No reason.” She moves behind her, frames Lena’s waist with both hands, dips her head to leave a kiss at the valley between Lena’s shoulder blades, mouths a brief love-letter against the nape of her neck.

Lena turns in her arms. “Why is it so important I feel your non-denominational holiday cheer?”

“I’m just trying to celebrate with you,” Kara says. She’s barely hearing her own words, desperately distracted now. Heat drops low in the pit of her stomach. Lena’s looking up at her through veiled lashes, all dark-brow and perfect pout. There’s a smudge of lipstick on her bottom lip, and Kara finds herself utterly lost in her study of the dimpled bow of her lip, the hint of tongue caught between teeth. Kara loses her resolve—ducks in for a kiss, pulls back to whisper: “We really should bake those cookies.”

Lena arches to tiptoe, catches her mouth in full, licking into her eagerly, impatient. Their foreheads knock and Lena winds her arms around Kara’s neck, nips hard at her lip. Kara surrenders, boosting her to the counter top, sweeping the lights aside. Lena pulls back, gasping a laugh. Her cheeks are flushed pink, and she brackets Kara’s hips with her legs, nudging her closer with the heels of her bare feet.

“Who needs cookies when we have all of that whipped cream?”

Kara kisses into Lena’s smile, trails her lips to the corner of Lena’s lips, her jaw, the divot of her throat. She murmurs into the crook of her neck, feeling her pulse flutter beneath her tongue. “I just want you to like the holidays.”

She drops slowly to her knees, scratches her fingers along the outside of Lena’s thighs, tugging down her sweatpants as she goes. Lena chokes on her laugh, tangles a hand in Kara’s hair.

“Oh God,” Lena gasps. She slumps lower, splays her free hand over her eyes. “Trust me, I’m starting to.”

On the ground, the lights tangle in a forgotten heap. Lena knocks a box of baking powder to the floor, then a bag of flour. It bursts open, coating the kitchen floor in a light snow-fall of silky granules. Kara pulls back for a moment, regards the white dusting on the hardwood. 

She shrugs. “Close enough.”

“Kara for the love of God—”

Kara’s mouth meets skin. Lena stops talking. They’ll get around to decorating later.

[followmkenziejyl]

Backpacking With The Beckham Boys (Romeo Beckham Imagine)

         Sweating and running around on the field, I accidentally kicked the soccer ball out of the field. Suddenly two elevated boys appeared passing my ball between themselves. "Can I have my ball back please," I asked casually, "Wait, I know who you guys are! You two are the Beckham sons right? Brooklyn and Romeo."

"Yes. Yeah we are," taller boy, Brooklyn answered, "here is your ball. You are?" Reluctantly, he passed the ball back to me.

"Sorry. I'm y/n. I am a huge fan of your dad. Sorry, I know you probably hear that a lot". After saying that, I ran back to resume the game.

"Do you mind if we play," the shorter and younger one questioned. I nodded. Shortly after we started, the two Beckhams were playing like a legend (which I found unbelievable). In the end, my team (with Brooklyn) won against Romeo's team.

Packing my bag for the trip, I sighed because I just didn't know what to pack. A few seconds later, I heard someone knocking the door. "Who is it," I required.

"It's Victoria and David Beckham. You are going to trip right," Victoria asked puzzled, "let us help you. Don't worry about packing. Just have fun." Nodding, I smiled kindly.

Lining up to get into the plane, I suddenly remembered to call my friend Andrea to tell her something. "Hey Poppy. I've heard Ariana Grande is coming to Hong Kong. Are you going to her concert," I said.

"Yup. I am," she answered.

The call lasted for five minutes when I sat down on my comfortable seat. I decided to watch a movie called Creed on my laptop after the take off. Creed was a movie about a man called, Adonis Creed whose father died before he was born. His father was a professional boxer that died in the ring. Adonis's dream was to become like his father but younger and not die. In the end, he did. After the movie I turned off my laptop and out it back into my bag so I wouldn't lose it. Soon, I slowly drifted to sleep.

I suddenly woke up because someone was shaking me wildly. "What? Who is it," I groaned sheepishly.

"It is time to go Y/n," someone said. Quickly sitting up, I grabbed my bag and checked if I left anything. I looked the airport in awe. Wow, I thought. The first thing me and the Beckhams wanted to do was go to the hotel and rest.

We used the Tube (a metro system) to get the hotel. Man, the hotel was as luxurious as Burj Al Arab in Dubai, the most luxurious hotel in the whole entire universe! Bam! The hotel we stayed in was called The Goring! You would not believe the where the hotel was! Just right across the street from the Buckingham Palace. It had a garden with stunning paths, statues, bushes, benches, flowers and trees that provide shade from the sun. In the hotel rooms, there were the cosiest beds, pillows and cushions in the world. In addition, the rooms also consisted two deluxe chairs with armrests. Secondly, there was even a mirror with drawers, a place to put things in from of the mirror and a chair. Third, next to the lovely window was a plant, a beautiful plant resting there and getting all the sunlight it needed. Lastly, there was a couch (or sofa) sitting there with two cushions waiting for someone to sit on it.

"Hey, go you want to hang out. You know have some fun. We can go around," Romeo the younger Beckham asked abruptly.

"Sure. Maybe after lunch," I suggested since it was ten o'clock in the morning and everyone was really drained.

For lunch, we ate at a buffet in the hotel, The Goring. It was fabulous. Apparently, I might have eaten a least a little bit of everything. Stuffed and glutted, we walked back to our room and I took a blanket and slept of the floor using my bag as a pillow.

The following fifty minutes (half – an hour of nap time), Brooklyn, Romeo and I, left the hotel quickly and left for the Tube. We went to some shops to buy a few extra snacks and a few pieces of clothes each. I bought a shirt, pair of pants and jacket from Jeep (not the car brand but its clothes shop). Personally, I thought they were amazing but the guys thought that girls shouldn't be wearing boys' clothes. Why? Because I couldn't resist buying some. At night, we went to the London Eye to look at the beautiful view of London. Kind of scared and frightened, I squeezed the boys' arms tightly so I wouldn't feel as scared. Why was I scared? Sadly, I was always and scared of heights. But I had to admit, the view was superb.

Arriving the hotel at eleven, we established that we were staying in England for a few days before heading off to our next destination, Scotland. If took a shower as quick as I could and grabbed the blanket and my bag and lazily fell asleep.

For the next few days, we basically, fooled around everywhere, made hilarious jokes about each other and did ridiculous things to each other.

"Wait a minute," I bellowed, "who is paying for the hotel? I can do it."

"Don't worry. Our dad already payed for it," Brooklyn explained.

On the way to Scotland, all of us watched the same movie, Mockingjay Part One. It was exciting and violent. But the movie ended with a cliff hanger.

By the time we reached Scotland, we went through the immigration and rushed to the hotel we were going to stay in, The Balmoral. Our room looked really modern. The window was a shape of a circle. There was a bookshelf and a plant on top of it. There were two satisfying chairs. There were a few white lamps. You wouldn't believe this! There was a telescope in the room as well. One if the reasons we went there was because we heard Scotland was remarkable. All of a sudden, I seriously felt like I should be Skyping my family. "Hey guys. I'm in Scotland with 'them'. So how's life in Hong Kong," I greeted.

"Everything is fine. How was London," my dad said sheepishly.

"It was amazing. 'We' rode the London Eye and you should check your Instagram feed. The view was amazing," I exclaimed happily. Me and my family talked for half an hour about London, Scotland and Hong Kong.

Today, we decided to go to the Loch Ness to see how it looked like in person. It was enormous. But it was really pretty. Listening to the waves splashing ashore we stared at the sky's sunset and afar to examine the view. You could see clear water like fresh mountain water, a few clouds here and there. You could also see a huge mountain like a cake covered in green icing. Next to us were some ruins that looked like it belonged to a castle. I wore a few layers because the temperature in Scotland was pretty low.

The next day, Brooklyn, Romeo and I went to the grocery store to buy some food. Again. Weirdly, we bought a little of everything that was food. As we were walking, I accidentally bumped into my old elementary school teacher, Mr Manson. We talked for a while and payed for our food. "How long are you three staying here," Mr Manson said casually.

"I'm not sure," I replied.

"We are staying here for a couple of days," Brooklyn said quickly, "maybe two more days?"

"Sure."

For two days, all we ate ate daily meals, ate junk food, did our daily routines. But that wasn't all. In a convenient store, we were just fooling around and we pranked a man. Quickly and swiftly we threw some realistic looking insects at the man. Screaming and panicking, the man shook the insect off of him at tried to figure out who did it.

Fifteen hours later, we woke up looking tired and all. Took our bags, took a taxi and went of to the airport. During the plane ride, I was so exhausted, I immediately drifted into deep sleep.

All of a sudden, the plane started to shake like there was an earthquake. Coming back to my senses, I realized there was a crazy turbulence. Quickly, I woke Brooklyn and Romeo and started to panic like a madman. "Please remain seated in your seats and buckle up. Please stay calm," the pilot said nervously.

"I don't think I can," I said.

"Well try to," Romeo replied.

Looking around, nervously, I saw the staff looking as calm as they could be but they were failing. Because. Of. Fear. "Probably not."

"Why."

"We are in a midlife crisis Romeo. We are going to die."

"We are not going to die. Just calm down. Calm down."

"I don't think so. Bye France. See you in my next life."

One, two, three. Giants sitting on top of all of us, made us fall quickly. 'Yay! I am so happy. This is the best time of my life. Falling from the edge of the world," I thought as sarcastically as possible. Cringing wildly, I felt my head hitting the overhead compartment hard. Trying to open my eyes, I felt like that was the end of the world. Trying to see what was going on, I could still feel the pressure on everyone as we fell. Things started to blur slowly. My head felt as heavy as a huge boulder. Second by second, things started to blur my sight until I was totally blinded.

"Dude wake up! Wake up! Come on! Please just wake up," Brooklyn yelled worried. Feeling really dizzy, I groaned because my whole body ached. I attempted to force my eyes open but I couldn't see properly. As soon as I gained sighted I stood up quickly.

"Okay fine. I'm okay now. Where the heck are we. Why are you two wearing dresses," I half joked, "now I bet we are in the land where people get the disease of wearing dresses." We looked and looked for hours but we couldn't find out bags until I found them on top of a tree. "Wow isn't that great? Our bags just magically flew. Yay! I am so going to get it," I commented sarcastically.

As we looked through our bags, the only thing we could find were extra clothes, empty bottles, snacks, empty plastic bags and worst of all, our electronic devices were broken! "Guys I think my phone is broken," Romeo exclaimed sadly.

"I think mine's broken too. We are so dead. How about yours Brooklyn?"

"Dead. I'm dead. We are all dead!"

"Stultus populus , qui sunt," a dangerous buff man holding a sharp spear said.

"Ipsi vero consideraverunt et infirmis," cried another.

"Quid hic?"

"Quid illi portantes?"

[underheart-magica2000]

UnderHeart - Roommates

We are now on chapter 17, and by the Stars is it a large chapter! I was going to split it up into two chapters but there just wasn’t a good breaking point so you Loves get a huge chapter. :)

As always the story is below the cut! (Have a wonderful and amazing week Loves!)

At some point while I was trying to figure out how Sans could have endless joke books hidden in quantum physics books, Papyrus and Undyne made up. Which meant Undyne was back to normal, or whatever is considered normal for her.

"When is your lazy brother and weird dad getting home again Papyrus!?!" Undnye yells, as she flops down on the couch next to me, her leather chest plate and boots laying in a pile by the door, but her spear is still strapped to her back, ready for anything.

"They said before nightfall!" Papyrus yells back from the kitchen, where he is making the only dish he ever makes, Monsteroni, though after two days I have now started to truly appreciate the taste, especially since Papyrus manages to make it different each time without even trying.

"Well the sun is setting and I'm tired of-," Undyne gets cut off, as the front door opens and a patch covered skeleton comes inside grumbling to himself about some formula, but I'm just happy that someone not crazy is back. I jump off the couch and practically tackle Sans into his dad who came through the door behind his son.

Gaster scowls at me as Sans laughs at my welcome home hug, ruffling my blond curls in thanks. "Didn't think you where that bonely without me."

A groan echoes from the kitchen and a  round of giggles passes through the room, as Gaster huffs and pointedly ignores me as he marches past Sans and me. He stops at the blue plaid couch Undyne is still sprawled across and stares down at her as she shifts into a more socially acceptable seating posture, "Are you staying the night?"

Undyne looks surprised, as though she's normally not allowed over, but she nods quickly and gives off her biggest, sharp toothed smile. "I would love to Doc!"

Gaster nods and heads up the stairs not once looking back downstairs at us as he disappears into the room on the far end of the upstairs hallway.

Undyne shivers and looks over at Sans her ear fins fully extended, and her yellow eyes wide, like a cat on a hunt. "No offence," She grumbles as her eyes, fins, and posture slowly relax, "but your dad is creepy."

Sans nods, his ever present smile now a thin line of worry. "He's like that," he mutters mostly to himself, but since I'm still clinging to him like my life depends on it I hear it. Sans glances down at me and his smile is soon back in place. "I'm sure Pap is almost done with dinner, let's join him."

I want to protest, I want to demand answers, both from Sans and from Papyrus and Undyne, But I don't really think now is the time. So I puff out my cheeks in a obvious show of my annoyance and follow after a thoroughly amused Sans into the kitchen.

Dinner is uneventful, or I suppose quiet would be a better word. As soon as Gaster takes his seat all conversations stop, and we all just sit there poking at our food as Dr. Gaster takes all the time in the world to eat his. He also decides to fill the silence with all the normal parent questions like, "How was your day?" and "Did the Human cause any trouble?" Papyrus and Undyne both answer with short well worded responses. And after 30 boring and tense minutes Gaster leaves the table, signalling that we can too.

"I can't believe he's letting me stay over!" Undyne exclaims loudly, flexing her arms in excitement as Papyrus and I clean up the dishes. "Though I'm going to miss the rush of sneaking in..." she hums, as Sans rolls his eye lights and starts heading up the stairs. "Guess we will have to just do something else forbidden!"

"No you won't," Sans huffs, glaring at Undyne from the top of the stairs, "It's my room too Fish, and I'm not getting blamed for your stupidity."

"My name isn't Fish, you Lazy Skeleton Nerd!!!" Undyne roars, racing up the steps, her spear drawn.

I turn to Papyrus in a panic, but he just sighs and continues cleaning the Spring themed dishes. "Do not worry Annabell," he says, drying off the last dish with a sunshine yellow towel. "That is just how they are, I have never understood it, but it is best to not question it."

I nod slowly, even though I'm still concerned for Sans's life. Undyne isn't someone to take things not seriously. Even if they are just playing she could still hurt him.

Papyrus must see I'm still worried so he quickly takes off his frilly apron and leads me out of the room where Undyne is standing at the top of the stairs glaring at a smugly smiling Sans. Undyne's white soul is glowing brightly in chest showing a fight, but Sans's own soul is no where to be seen.

Undyne lunges for him, and I can feel my white soul flicker to life for a moment as I'm filled with worry, but Sans just snaps his fingers and with a poof of white light is gone. Undyne growls in annoyance like this is a common occurrence and a moment later Sans reappears with a tiny flash of white light right in front of me, still smiling smugly.

"Sorry Undyne, looks like I still win!" He calls over his shoulder, as Undyne grumbles and seethes her weapon. Sans turns back to us, smile wide and carefree. "So....," he drags out looking between my relived look and Papyrus's annoyed one. "Time to hit the hay?"

"Come along older brother," Papyrus orders with a sigh and shake of his skull, grabbing Sans by the black fluff that lines his jacket hood, and dragging him upstairs. "Good night Annabell." Papyrus calls from the top of the stairs.

Undyne looks down at me confused as me and Sans share a wave, "Where does the human sleep?" She asks, her blue fins wiggling in a manor that shows her uncomfortableness in asking that question.

Papyrus looks down at the floor as Sans lets out a sigh and sends a very obvious glare down the upstairs hallway towards his father's room. "Our dad won't let her upstairs, 'a safety hazard' he said, so she has to sleep on the couch."

Undyne blinks and looks back down at me with her yellow eyes. I smile sheepishly and fidget where I stand, not sure what to do. It would be rude to go to bed with them still in the room, and honestly I'm not that tired.

"Well if you don't mind Sans I'm going to break some more rules," Undyne boasts, heading back down the stairs. "And honestly its only because this rule is stupid."

I stiffen as Undyne stops in front of me, she gives me a wide smile that shows off her pointy teeth, then she's leaning down and swinging me onto her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. I don't really protest because I know Undyne can crush me in two seconds flat, but I have no idea what she's doing.

"Undyne?" Papyrus asks in a confused voice, as Sans just stares at her in amazement, an amused smile slowly working its way across his skull.

"We all know this kid couldn't effectively even hurt a rock, so move aside."

They both do just that, and Undnye kicks in the door, flipping me down in the square middle of room. She stands in front of me, striking a proud heroic pose as Sans and Papyrus come into the room, both smiling happily.

"Well looks like this sleepover just got a little more crowded," Sans jokes, as he turns to the left side of the room where a unmade bed, a pile of clothes, bedside table with skull shaped lamp, a desk covered in papers, a closet door, and a little white dog fast asleep all are.

He moves to the closet as I move to the dog, remembering it from Snowdin when Undyne was trying to kill me. She called it something I think...

"When did he get here?" Undyne asks pointing at the dog, as she flops down on the neatly made bed on the opposite side of the room. The right side is basically a mirror of the left, expect clean, with a lamp of a car, and a over-packed bookshelf instead of a messy desk.

"The Annoying Puppy has been showing up here ever since Sans feed him when we where baby bones," Papyrus explains with an annoyed sigh, "you have just had the luck of not meeting him until now."

Undyne raises an eyebrow at his obvious dislike of the animal as I start to scratch him behind his ears. His tail starts to wag in his sleep, as Sans reappears with an arm full of blankets.

"Well since you are the guest Undyne, would you like my bed?" Sans asks flopping down next to me on the newly formed blanket nest.

"Your pile of filthy sheets?" Undyne asks back with a disgusted look, "never!"

Sans shrugs and pulls me closer to him, "Well I feel sorry for you because I get to sleep with my friend."

Undyne's eyes narrow and she rounds on Papyrus who is mostly asleep by this point and grabs him by the leg, hauling him out of his bed with a startled scream. "I have friends too." She huffs as Papyrus breathes heavily and gives her an incredulous look.

"And what was that for?" He demands, as Undyne starts to take the rest of her armor off.

"Guess your sleeping with the fish Paps," Sans says with chuckle, as he let's go of my shoulder. I let out a giggle of my own as Papyrus glares at us, but Sans ignores him and gets up, going to the closet again.

"Are we going to start this sleepover or not?" Undyne complains as she elbows Papyrus for trying to crawl back into his own bed.

"Yeah, but Papyrus is still wearing his training gear, and as much as I love this jacket I'm not sleeping in it." Sans replies coming back with a few stacks of clothes. One gets tossed at Papyrus who catches it easily and excuses himself to get properly dressed for sleep, and another gets placed in my lap. "No offence kid, but how long have you been wearing that?"

I feel my face flush as I take the clothes, my soul burning in my chest. I mutter some sort of apology and run out of the room. I can hear Undyne laughing from behind the closed door, and thankfully I don't see a half naked Papyrus anywhere, so I quickly take my cloak off along with my dress and slip on the way too big t-shirt and shorts, thankfully the shorts have strings, so at least they aren't falling down. The shorts are a soft blue color and the white shirt has a faded picture of a cute pink bunny like monster on it.

As I'm gathering up my clothes Papyrus appears from down the stairs carrying his own clothes and amor. We look at each for a moment taking in the other's outfit, Papyrus is wearing a onesie, with a race car print, and slippers shaped like dinosaurs.

"Would you like me to wash that?" He asks gesturing towards the clothes in my arms, "I was just about to do mine."

I smile and nod my thanks as Papyrus takes the clothes and disappears into the room in between his and Gaster's. I had thought it was a closet but apparently it's the washer room. I wait till Papyrus comes back out then we both enter back into the bedroom. Sans is already dressed in a ratty white hoodie that's not really white anymore and fuzzy pajama bottoms covered with unicorns, and Undyne has removed all her armor, leaving her in a gray tank-top and black pants, with that sliver locket hanging around her neck.

"So are we going to play party games or-," Sans doesn't even get to finish before Undyne is butting in excitedly.

"Truth or Dare, right now you Nerds!" She demands, slamming her fist onto a pillow and sending white feathers everywhere.

"Chill," Sans pleads, removing a feather from the top of his skull. "Any volunteers that want to go first?"

Papyrus sighs and raises his hand, "I will play, but we have work tomorrow and it's already midnight, so only one round."

"Fine." Undyne agrees, settling herself against the frame Papyrus's bed, "go Rookie."

Papyrus sends her a glare and coughs into his hand as he scans his possible victims. I've never actually played this game, only heard about it from other kids and Waylon. Papyrus hums and the Annoying Puppy climbs his way into my lap with a soft whine. I start scratching him behind the ears again as Papyrus points at Undyne with a glitter in his sockets.

"Truth or Dare Undy-," he starts to ask but Undyne doesn't even let him finish before she answers.

"Dare!"

Papyrus smiles like he expected as much, he puffs out his rib cage and stares defiantly down at the reclining Undyne, "I dare you to apologize to Annabell for your previous behavior and to promise that you will now, from this moment on, treat her with same respect you would any other monster."

I stare at Papyrus, not quite believing the words. Sans looks equally stunned too, but a fond smile rests on his skull as he stares at his twin brother. Undyne shifts her gaze from Papyrus to me, uncertainty clear in her yellow cat like eyes.

"You're not backing out are you Fish?" Sans dares, and that's all the push Undyne needs for her to shoot up and move over to me, eyes glowing and fists clenched.

"From this moment on you are my friend got it?" She orders, staring down at me, "and I'm sorry about trying to kill you."

"That's fine!" I squeak pulling the Annoying Puppy into my arms, as I stare up at Undyne, "And-and I would love to-to be your friend."

Undyne nods, and turns around on her heel, marching back to her seat with a huff. She glares over at Sans and bites out, "Truth or Dare, Nerd?"

"Tough one...," Sans mumbles to himself, as Undyne's fins twitch. "But I'll go Truth."

Undyne looks a little surprised by this, as dose Papyrus, I assume Sans likes to go with Dare normally. Undyne bites her lip and stares at a white feather that's floating in the air, a rather intense look on her face.

"Alright." She announces after 5 minutes of silence, "Why did you decide to befriend a human? You know the laws."

I look over at Sans as he hums and leans back, switching his weight to his arms, as he evaluates Undyne. "Because I didn't want to bother with catching her."

Papyrus snorts, and I hide my giggles in my hand as Undyne stares at Sans in complete horror. "You could have been killed!" She yells, pointing an accusing finger at Sans, "And just because you where too lazy...," she mutters to herself, as Sans shrugs sitting back up.

"Sorry Undyne, I was bone tired," he explains.

Groans echo around the room, as I brake into laughter unable to control my amusement. Undyne cracks a smile even as she glares at Sans.

"To bed!" Papyrus orders, making a shooing motion with his hand, "all of you and no more puns!"

"That's a shame...," Sans sighs, standing up, all his bones popping back into their rightful places. "I had a skel-ton more."

"Sans!" Papyrus complains, as he pulls a blanket over his skull. Sans laughs and starts getting underneath his own covers.

Undyne grumbles at all the noise. Flopping onto the floor and rolling over into a comforter. She wiggles around and settles down only after she's wrapped herself in the blanket like a fish burrito.

I wait till everyone else is ready before I pick myself up and move over to the furthest corner, turning off the light as I do. I snuggle under the blankets, the warmth making me almost instantly fall asleep, but a soft voice pulls me back from the edge of darkness.

"Goodnight Anna."

I smile to myself and mumble back the only logical response, "Night Waylon..."

..........................

<First Chapter>

Next - > 

< - Previous 

[daniellethamasa]

Hey all, Dani here.

Wow, just a couple more days left in November. Now I’ll be completely honest and say that I might scale back my posting schedule a bit in December. There are a lot of books I’d like to read and that is so much easier if I’m not spending so many hours writing up posts. But, as those of you who have followed this blog for awhile might realize, I’m not good at sticking to a scaled back schedule, so it’ll basically be posts whenever I feel inspired. Currently I have posts planned out for roughly half of December, and if the reading goes well then I’ll have a bunch of reviews up as well. I suppose we’ll just see what happens.

Anyway, today I have another tag for all of you. I tagged myself in this one after seeing it on Katie’s blog at Never Not Reading. So thanks Katie for the “tag yourself if you want to do this” and I’m looking forward to answering the questions.

But first: the rules.

thank the person who nominated you and add a link to their blog

answer the ten questions asked on this post

nominate at least five people to do it also

Okay, well let’s dive into the questions.

1. Top 3 Book Pet Hates

I hate it when they change cover designs in the middle of a series. I have to have matching sets and so this drives me crazy

I cannot stand getting a used book and finding writing scribbled in the margins. Or highlighting. It just bothers me so much. There were a couple times in university where one of the books for class was only available in used format through the bookstore, and I would sit there and go through the stack book by book, looking for the one that had no writing, or if that wasn’t possible then the least amount of writing. Actually, my favorite professor (who was also my academic adviser) used to tease me for being a book purist. Her books have so many notes in the margins from the many many times she has read them.

I don’t actually know if this is really a pet peeve/hate on par with the first two, but I don’t like when a cover is misleading. Like if there is a badass looking female holding weapons on the front, I expect some kind of warrior character inside the pages, not an indecisive whiny damsel in distress type.

2. Perfect Reading Spot

Umm…anywhere I can read is a good reading spot, but I guess the perfect reading spot is a big comfy chair with blankets, and a table nearby to hold whatever I’m drinking, a snack, and probably another book or two in case I decide to have a marathon reading day.

3. 3 Book Confessions

I am super picky about who I let borrow my books. I keep a list of who has borrowed books and what books they have, and the standard rule is that if you return the book damaged then you have to buy a replacement copy. I guess I’m like a library that way; I just don’t have due dates/late fees.

I do judge books by their covers. An attractive cover or a catchy title will get me to read the book summary, and that summary lets me know if I’m buying the book or putting it back down.

I sometimes think that I treat books better than I do people, but I’ve been working on that. It’s just that I can trust books to be there when I need them and I know that when life gets tough I know I have my books to help me through. Of course now I get that kind of support from my boyfriend too, but thankfully he understands just how important books are to my life.

4. Last Time You Cried Reading a Book

I mean the last time I teared up a little bit was while reading Kat and Meg Conquer the World by Anna Priemaza. But the last time I full on cried was probably reading Rupi Kaur’s poetry.

5. Number of Books on Your Bedside Table

ZERO. I don’t really get the chance to read in bed right now because my boyfriend goes to sleep a couple hours before I get off work.

6. Favorite Reading Snack

Something easy to grab like pretzels or gummi bears or something. Basically I have to be able to grab at it with only one hand while my face is buried in the book. And I prefer for it not to be greasy or cheese covered, nothing that will risk damaging the pages.

7. 3 Books You’d Recommend to Anyone

Colorworld by Rachel E Kelly

Mistborn: the Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

All Rights Reserved by Gregory Scott Katsoulis

(bonus book) The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

8. A Picture of Your Favorite Bookshelf

I can’t pick a favorite. I love so many books and I have them organized alphabetically so my favorites are scattered all over.

9. How Much Books Mean to You (in 3 words)

My Happy Place

10. Biggest Reading Secret

I don’t know that I actually have reading secrets. I’m pretty much an open book when it comes to reading habits or preferences, etc.

—

Oooh…tag time. I have no idea who all has done this tag already, because I do believe it is an older one. So if you would like to do this tag, then I TAG YOU!

The Book Blogger Test Tag Hey all, Dani here. Wow, just a couple more days left in November. Now I'll be completely honest and say that I might scale back my posting schedule a bit in December.