#and cheating.... i would too if i was up against kimi

[httpiastri]

paul is a 100% a boob man OMG

and, also, WHYYY do I think he's the type that whines . theres a prema video where they're trying to guess the circuit blindfolded and when they ask paul to confess to kimi that hes been cheating he starts to literally WHINEEEEEEEEE those 30s lives in my mind rent free and im not kidding

!!!!!! im HOLLERING!!!!!!!!!!!! that's one of my fave vids ever omg and paul freaking whining is like music to my ears istg. it's so on point for him too.... i wrote a little about that in the paul nsfw alphabet that i never finished 🫠🫠 but yeah like we've been through, i think he has a slightly submissive streak and he enjoys being teased. and to hear those sweet sounds as rewards when you tease him, or kiss him with a bit of force, or roll your hips on his.... 😶

[jacs33]

The Bet Part 2

Words: 1.6k

Pairings: Pierre Gasly x Female Oc

Aurora did the not so smart thing by leaving the restaurant and going to the bar, unlike her original plans of going back to her room and eating her feelings in ice cream. Her, a broken heart, and alcohol have never mixed well, as she had a habit of drinking way too much, more than she normally did.

Which brought her stumbling to her godfathers hotel room almost black out drunk and crying. She was mad at herself for even crying over Pierre, as he didn’t deserve her tears.

No, he deserved her anger the most. Being the one to stand her up and then bring another girl to that same restaurant, knowing that she’d be there was a low blow.

Not only had he hurt her, but he also humiliated her tonight. Although she doubts the girl knew, or anyone for that matter. But it was still the fact that she found herself insanely happy for the date.

She felt something for Pierre, which doesn’t happen often for her.

It was hard for Aurora to love or to let people in as her own parents were in and out of her life, only appearing when they wanted something from her.

Relationships were the same story almost, boyfriends would always tell lies about loving her then going off to cheat on her, only wanting her around when there was something that involved having a plus one.

There was only one person that was a constant in her life, that was there through every heartbreak, rather from her parents or boyfriends.

Kimi Raikkonen treated his goddaughter as if she were his actual child, because to him she was, as he had raised her since she was one, after finding her alone in her crib while his best friend was out partying along with his wife.

So when he woke up to loud sobs outside his hotel door in the middle of night and found the sole person those sobs belonged to, he swore that he would hurt whoever caused them.

“Let’s get you inside.” He whispered while picking her up and bringing her into the room, kissing her head as she snuggled into his chest like when she was younger.

“I-it hurts uncle Kimi.” She sobbed into his chest, while he rubbed her back, getting into the bed and leaning his back against the headboard.

“What does Aurora? What happened?” He questioned softly.

“He stood me up.” She said, crying. “But that’s not all, he brought another date to the restaurant that he was supposed to be meeting me at.”

“Who, sweetheart?” He questioned, pissed, whoever he is would have to face him, how could someone be that heartless to stand someone up and take their next date to the same place, to rub it into an innocent girl's face.

“Pierre Gasly”

“Fucking asshole.” He grumbled. “Just get some sleep sweetheart, okay?”

“Okay, goodnight uncle Kimi.” She whispered, crawling into the other side of the bed and falling asleep almost immediately.

The next morning Pierre, Max, Daniel, Charles and Daniil were standing around outside Charles’s garage.

The other four wanted to know what exactly happened last night and to see if the bet was completed.

Which to them it was Pierre, one of the biggest fuck boys in the paddock, if anyone would’ve completed that bet, it would have been him, unless he fully liked the person.

Even then it was unlikely that he’s stay with them very long before getting bored with the relationship.

“So how did last night go?” Daniel was the first one to ask, curiosity getting the best of him.

“Easy, I stood her up.” Pierre shrugged. “I did it in a less easy way on her though.”

“Oh?” Max questioned.

“I just bought another date to the same restaurant five minutes later, my whole plan was to walk by her and rub it in her face but we ended up sitting by her.”

“How’d she take it?” Charles asked.

“Surprisingly well. I expected her to walk out in a crying mess but she just sat there and ate, didn’t even look over at us at all, didn’t even say anything either. She had the perfect opportunity to ruin my date but left it. It confused me honestly.”

“Weird.” Daniil said. “I would’ve punched you in her shoes.” He added with a chuckle.

“Guess she just didn’t care.” Pierre shrugged, watching Kimi walk in with a girl, before catching a glimpse of her. “Oh fuck.” He muttered.

He couldn’t believe that she was here right now, with the proclaimed Iceman of F1, he wasn’t supposed to see her again.

She was someone that was supposed to just disappear from his life like the others.

But now she's standing here in the place of his work, walking with the one guy no one wants to mess with, Kimi Raikkonen.

Daniel caught where he was looking at mumbles with a gulp. “Please tell me she is the one we bet on…”

Pierre found himself unable to reply and just nodded at his Australian friend.

“Fucking hell.” Daniel mumbled. “Kimi’s god daughter out of all people?!” He whispered yelled.

“Your the one that pointed her out.” He found himself also whispering harshly. “Why didn’t you tell me that she was Kimi’s god daughter!”

“Kimi has a god daughter?” Charles whispers.

“Yes, and why are you all freaking out about Aurora?” Sebastian said, appearing in the conversation after walking passed.

All the boys seemed panicked and worried about this and that itself worried the German.

“What did you do?” He added before anyone could speak, just having a gut feeling.

“Umm” Charles mumbled quietly.

“Tell me, because whatever it is, if Kimi finds out, you're all likely to be dead. He’s insanely protective of her as she’s had a rough past. So please just spit it out so I can decide whether my help is warranted or not.”

“We dared Pierre to sleep with a girl from the bar and then to take her out on a date the next night, only to stand her up when it came time for the actual date.” Daniil explained to Seb. “It was just supposed to be harmless.”

“Are you fucking serious?!”

“Look we didn’t know she was like a family member to a driver I swear. We just thought she was a random stranger.”

“Daniel should’ve known! He’s seen her around before.”

“I was drunk and couldn’t see straight, she also changed a lot from the last time I saw her.”

“Can we please just figure out how to get me to survive throughout the day? He looks ready to kill me.” Pierre whispers with a gulp now realizing that Kimi was indeed glaring at the group from his garage, with Aurora’s back turned away from them.

“Nope, you five are on your own, I’m not about to stand in his way for killing you Pierre. You don’t fuck with Aurora at all.” Seb told them while walking off towards the duo.

Pierre froze in his place when she turned to face Sebastian and hug him with a smile, it was then that he actually saw the effects of his actions.

While she was trying to be strong in front of everyone, not liking to show people that she’s not okay, he could see the puffy eyes and even the dull look that her beautiful eyes now show.

He never regretted his actions more than he does right now.

It wasn’t just because he might die at the hands of Kimi, but because he hurt the most gorgeous woman in the world just to win a stupid bet.

A bet that could have possibly ruined what could be the best thing in his life after the rough patch he was in these past few days.

And he had no idea how to fix it or if he even could.

But if taking a good beating from Kimi to make her happy or feel better, he'll take it without hesitation.

Because he deserves it after that, after hurting her like that.

“Yeah, we better run.” Max said cutting him out of his thoughts seeing Kimi storming their way after he had someone near Aurora to keep an eye on her.

While everyone nodded and ran off as fast as they could to their garages, Charles went to his drivers room to hide out, Pierre just stood there facing it head on.

In what could have been the second most stupid thing to do in one weekend.

“Pierre fucking Gasly.” Kimi growls out when he reaches him, caught the attention of those around them in the paddock.

“Hey, Kimi.” Pierre gulped. “How are you?”

“Shut it. I know what you did last night and it was fucked up.”

“Kimi, I feel guilty about it.”

“Bullshit, you wouldn’t have done it if you actually cared about Aurora.” Kimi glared at him. “You leave her alone, I haven’t seen her like that in awhile, and I refuse to let see her back to the way she was before because of a stupid fuck boy who can’t keep it in their pants and doesn’t care about their feelings.”

“I didn’t know.”

“I didn’t ask if you knew, this is the last thing you’ll do to her, I know about the bet, Sebastian filled me and her in on it. Come around her again and I’ll give you something to feel guilty about. Right now I’m not doing anything because she asked me not to, so you can thank her for protecting your ass for some reason.” He told the Frenchman with a deadly glare before walking off and back to his god daughter, leaving Pierre in a stunned silence.

Pierre couldn’t rack his brain over the fact that she basically protected him from the dangers of Kimi’s wrath, not that Kimi could also believe that he was following through with his goddaughter’s request.

[alianoralacanta]

It's possible to do some junior series (low-powered ones like the Ginetta Juniors) at age 14 and others (like F2-F4) at age 16, so requiring drivers to be 18 still gives them up to 4 years of experience in single-seaters, including up to 2 years in more powerful machines such as F4, F3 and/or F2. The ability to get the experience necessary to hit minimum skill limits is there. The readiness of drivers to benefit from it 100% apparently is not, if the low driving standards in this year's F2 are any measure. This, for me, is because of too much emphasis on the belief that "If you're good enough, you're old enough".

I think that the right 17-year-old is capable of doing an adequate job in F1, and that quite a few "right" 17-year-olds are out there racing and potentially interested. Nonetheless, I believe that hardly any 17-year-olds should attempt the feat anyway. Even Max Verstappen would have benefitted from another year in the junior series (he'd have started winning titles earlier and, in my belief, ended up with a higher peak performance). No number of titles is going to make Max being cheated out of his true potential by being rushed through the system sting less. Max is the person most people who defend below-18 appointments cite, and it's hard to come up with a better example of an under-18 who might have been more ready for F1. Potential F1 drivers need to get the best preparation they can first, and not be pressured by teams to short-circuit the process to please a F1 team. (There are drivers who went through the system quickly and would not have gained more from staying in it longer. However, people like Jenson Button and Kimi Raikkonen are a) starting the latter part of their ascent after their 18th birthday and b) have certain personality traits that allow them to continue the learning process smoothly in F1, in a way that the majority of drivers (of any quality level - no skill level appears to protect against this) simply cannot. F1 should be about encouraging drivers to be the best drivers they can be. How else can it be the pinnacle of single-seater racing? The "if you're young enough, you're good enough" simply ends up lending weight to Formula E getting better drivers (because they've had time to improve more before joining, and for the most part get the time to continue improving) and eventually taking the "pinnacle" crown from F1 in terms of driver skill (if not in other respects). When the under-18 restriction was due to insurance (which I understand was why it was imposed in the first place - no point telling a driver "you're old enough for F1" only to find the race cancelled through lack of insurance owing to that driver's inclusion), it made sense on the grounds of sheer pragmatism. Now, since it appears at least one insurer is willing to insure under-18s in F1 again, the proper reason is to let F1 be what it is supposed to be - a place for the drivers to be their best. Not merely "good enough". (Voting is as bad an example as the age restriction on driving for the same reason: Iran has been trying to lower its voting age to 15 since 2007 (the only reason it's at 18 now is because of prime ministerial decree). The voting age in Austria, Brazil, Cuba, Malta is 16 for all elections. - Scotland and Wales allow 16-year-olds to vote in some elections (the rest are set to 18 only to prevent age inconsistency with the rest of the UK). - Greece and East Timor set the minimum age at 17. - There are campaigns - albeit not ones that have gained much traction - to reduce it there to various ages as low as 14. - On the other hand, the Solomon Islands requires voters to be at least 19. - Bahrain, Cameroon and Nauru restrict voting to over-20s. - Kuwait, Lebanon, Samoa and Singapore, among others, restrict voting to over-21s. - The UAE has a minimum voting age of 25, further complicated because each Emirate's ruler may set other conditions that raise the actual or effective minimum age above this. (Apart from Scotland/Wales and the UAE, I have not included examples where special conditions change the permitted age. Italy was in this category until 2021 - some elections required voters to be 18 and others 21. It underlines how arbitrary both voting age, and notions of a fixed age of adulthood, are).

Having a 9-year eligibility gap depending on passport would not be viable. It was bad enough when the driving licence rule applied and the range was 14 years and 3 months (North Dakota) to 18 years (Italy and much of Europe).

i think drivers should be 20 MINIMUM to drive for formula 1. 21 is honestly preferred. let them do their first couple years in the junior tiers. the difference between 17/18/19 is truly nothing

Hi anon, I think you may have a point! However, line-drawing is ultimately an arbitrary exercise— maturity and development vary so much from person to person. Is an immature 21 year old that much less likely to crash than a mature 19 year old? And, importantly, if something terrible were to happen do we think that’s for some reason Less Sad?

The reason the 18 rule makes (made 😐) sense to me is that as a society we have (largely) selected 18 as the age at which you are considered an adult. The number is completely arbitrary! But it is accepted and we have built laws around it. For better or for worse, Kimi Antonelli is legally a child right now, and Ollie Bearman is not.

This is all an exercise in me, a person with little expertise, yapping futilely on tumblr.com! The FIA has made its decision. And while I do wish that drivers would be signed a little older, I don’t think I know enough to say where the line should be, if there should be a hard line beyond 18. But I do feel pretty strongly that if you are age-restricted from voting you shouldn’t be driving an f1 car.

Lol sorry this is so long hdhdjjdjdj

[tiaragqueen]

Absolution

✂ Pairing: Yandere! Zen x Reader

✂ Word Count: 1,1k+

✂ Trigger Warnings: Cheating, blood, implied violence

[Edited]

***

If you like my writing, please support me on ko-fi!

“That day, even if you did something with someone. I won't blame you. Finding out how much I could forgive you for, confirmed to me that I love you.” - Kimi no Uso wo Shitteita [AKB48]

When you approached him on one night with tears cascaded down your cheeks, hair disheveled, and clothes rumpled, Zen knew that something was wrong. You were someone who usually took good care of yourself, even during weekends, so to see you in such a state was disturbing at best.

“[N-Name]? Why are you crying? Come here.” He beckoned you to sit on his lap and immediately stroked your hair once he held you in his arms. Wiping away the persistent tears, he rocked you back and forth in hopes of calming you down somewhat. “It’s okay, [Name]. I’m here now. You can tell me anything.”

You shook your head and buried your face on to his chest, refusing to spare him a glance. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Your croak went muffled against his soaked shirt, but Zen heard it loud and clear. Too clear, in fact.

“What are you sorry for?” His pale brows creased when you kept dodging his hand and merely hid further. It almost felt like looking at him caused you more pain than relief, a thought that perturbed him. “[Name], I can’t help you if you refuse to talk.”

Zen knew that impatience would make you feel pressured, but he just wanted to get into the heart of the problem. Why did you apologize? Was it because you didn’t answer his texts last night? Sure, he was worried about you, but he rationalized that you were being too busy to reply. There were times when he’d forgotten to text you, either. However, Zen hadn’t expected you to have a complete meltdown.

What did you even do yesterday?

“I-I’ve done something… horrible to you.” The sound of your hoarse whisper wrenched his heart, but Zen forced himself to listen. It wouldn’t do him any good to zone out, in fear that you’d shut down again. Zen didn’t think he could sleep peacefully at night without solving your problem first, or at least, trying to. What kind of a boyfriend he’d be if he let his girlfriend wallow in misery?

“What is it?” He tried to soften his voice, to coax you out of the shell that you unknowingly put around yourself, and yet the slight eagerness didn’t go unnoticed. Thankfully, you didn’t retreat into the darkness.

“I…” you hiccupped, bloodshot eyes stared distantly despite his laser gaze boring holes on to your head. “I’ve slept with someone.”

When Zen fell silent, you hurriedly added. “My friends and I were spending time in a bar and–” you released another hiccup through your trembling lips. “and I got drunk. I-I couldn���t remember much, but the next morning I…” You frowned, desperately trying to contain the upcoming wave of tears. “I woke in up my friend’s bed, naked.”

“You… went out with a guy?” he drawled somewhat dazedly, his vacant stare went through you as though you were a ghost. Shock extinguished every trace of concern and confusion from his eyes, and you weren’t sure if you preferred this over the anticipated rage.

At the very least, if the latter occurred, you’d know that you’d hurt him deeply.

“I-I wasn’t the only woman in there!” you shouted, half desperate to convince him of your innocence yet felt undeserving at the same time. How could you feel that way when you’d betrayed his trust? You should be happy that he didn’t even push you from his lap and spit on your face. “Some of my girlfriends were there, too! He just decided to tag along!”

“And you let him?”

You bit your bottom lip and bowed, trying to avoid his penetrating eyes. What else should you say now? It wasn’t your fault that this happened, but it still was. Your confession proved everything.

“I… I didn’t know.” you murmured resignedly. “I didn’t know it’d end that way. I didn’t know that he liked me, either. I thought it’d be a normal hangout. It’s been a long time since we met each other.”

“What about you?” You tentatively looked up, fearing his reaction. “Do you like him too?”

Your eyes nearly popped off at his question. “W-what? No, of course not! I only love you! You–” you paused as you silently wondered if you even still had the right to call him your boyfriend. However, a pointed look from him burned all self-doubt. “You’re… the only I truly love in my life.”

For a moment, everything went quiet. You were busy stewing in regret, while Zen was just… you didn’t know what he was doing, either. And frankly, you couldn’t bring yourself to find out.

Why was he silent? Why didn’t he get angry? It’d be much better if he blamed you instead of giving you a silent treatment. The silence was killing you, but you were too scared to ruin it.

A tiny voice within you said that you were hoping for him to take your side, and you couldn’t deny it.

Right when you opened your mouth to say something, anything at all, he beat you to it.

“At the very least, you still love me. So that’s a plus, right?”

You snapped your head towards him, discerning his gentle face with dilated eyes. Why was he smiling? Tears began to prick your pupils the longer you stared. No, he shouldn’t… he shouldn’t be like this. He shouldn’t be patting your head contentedly or humming that soundtrack you often heard him as though you hadn’t dropped a bombshell on him earlier. He shouldn’t be giving you affection.

He… he was supposed to hate you. That was only fair, right? You were a scum to sleep with another man when you already had a loyal and doting boyfriend waiting for you.

And yet, on the other hand, that was what you wanted, wasn’t it?

“… Why?” He cocked his head, and you couldn’t help but thought he was pretending to be confused. “Why do you… do this? I… I don’t understand. What is happening? Why aren’t you mad?”

Zen chuckled and ruffled your hair; a gesture that only served to increase your frustration. “Silly. It’s because I love you, of course.” he beamed. “And besides, it wasn’t really your fault, to begin with. You were drunk, and drunk people tend to make stupid mistakes.”

“Does… does that mean you forgave me?”

“Of course.”

Despite his answer, you remained unconvinced. However, you reluctantly allowed him to dote on you like he always did. And although the questions still hadn’t left your head, you convinced yourself that it was okay. He’d forgiven you, that was what mattered even if it felt strange to receive his pardon so easily.

And when you spotted him changing his bloody shirt to a clean one, or tending to his swelling knuckles on one morning, you forced yourself to believe that everything was okay.

[youandi29]

21 and 30 from the F1 questions? They seem intereating 😄

Oh ahaha not the most simple ones soooo :

21 - Who is the no-F1 driver you would love seen succeed ?

Honestly is it any doubt on that ? I mean I think everyone know I love Mick Schumacher no ? So yeah I would said Mick because I think he is such a sweet and passionate boy. He is been under so much pressure for years because people want him being like his dad. Yeah I would love seen him succeed and shut them up.

(I’m going to cheat on this one because come on there are so many 😭 like I want so badly to see Nico Hulkenberg on that podium, oh and Callum Ilott, he need to succeed too)

30 - What would you change in F1 ?

This is going to be long because I would change soooooo many thing in F1, let’s begin.

First of all I would change the budget for the teams. Or I would give to the small team more money or I would just put a limit to teams budget. Like every team can not spend more than 300 millions we year (don’t mind the number is randomly but you got the ideia). I think this would, first of all give a challenge to the teams because the biggest teams can’t not spend all the money they wanted and it would make the teams more equal.

Second, I would change free practice. I would impose to all the teams to have at least to different drivers to FP1. Let’s illustrate this one with Ferrari because of the FDA. The drivers of Ferrari are Charles and Sebastian so for Free Practice 1, Charles and Seb can’t drive the car. Ferrari need to put 2 other drivers, like Callum Illot and Robert Shwartzman to drive in FP1. I think this would be helpful for all the youngest drivers because before jumping in F1, they would have all a year of training in FP1 and this would be great for them. A little bit of a challenge for the F1 drivers but they’re in F1 for that no ?

Ok third one, I would change qualifying. The way qualifying is today make everything so easy for people who are winning and the biggest teams like Mercedes or Redbull (don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against theses teams, let’s just make F1 more fun). So I would put in place something like the reverse grid but not so simple.

Let’s take the EifelGP for exemple : the race before the German GP was Sochi, so let’s take the final resultas that was :

1 - Valtteri Bottas

2 - Max Verstappen

3 - Lewis Hamilton

4 - Sérgio Pérez

5 - Daniel Ricciardo

6 - Charles Leclerc

7 - Esteban Ocon

8 - Daniil Kvyat

9 - Pierre Gasly

10 - Alex Albon

11 - António Giovinazzi

12 - Kevin Magnussen

13 - Sebastian Vettel

14 - Kimi Räikkönen

15 - Lando Norris

16 - Nicholas Latifi

17 -Romain Grosjean

18 - George Russell

19 - Lance Stroll

20 - Carlos Sainz

So on Saturday you take this results and reverse them, it would but Carlos Sainz and Lance Stroll in the front row. We do a qualifying like a mini race, we have them like 30 minutes to race, overtake allow, DRS if you are in the second behind the next car, pit stop allowed if they want ( no one would pit in a 30 minutes race but okay)

They would start the eifel GP qualifying race in this order (reverse grid for the Sochi GP, the last race)

1 - Carlos Sainz

2 - Lance Stroll

3 - George Russell

4 - Romain Grosjean

5 - Nicholas Latifi

6 - Lando Norris

7 - Kimi Raikkonen

8 - Sebastian Vettel

9 - Kevin Magnussen

10 - António Giovinazzi

11 - Alex Albon

12 - Pierre Gasly

13 - Daniil Kvyat

14 - Esteban Ocon

15 - Charles Leclerc

16 - Daniel Ricciardo

17 - Sérgio Pérez

18 - Lewis Hamilton

19 - Max Verstappen

20 - Valtteri Bottas

I think this would make F1 so much excited, it would create so much overtake, battles and adrenaline for who is whatching. If you are quick and good at overtake you would overtake and finish on top. And teams would need to work on a strategy for Saturday too ( sorry Ferrari). So the order the drivers finish on Saturday would be the grid of Sunday race.

I, wouldn’t, change anything about the Sunday races, for me the 2 pits mandatory are not the solution. Managing the tyres is part of the things a driver need to know, if you make 2 pits stop what the purpose on managing the tyres ?

So yeah this is what I would change in F1. Thanks @krasnajawdowa for the questions, they are, indeed very interesting!

So there you have all my F1 changes, I’m going to present them to the FIA 😂

[dimensiontripperhibiki]

Threading My Path to You (6/?)

Thanks for the messages and reblogs etc guys. Hope you enjoy the chapter. Warning(s): Angst, cheating (HonoEli), violence.

Eli woke to the feeling of movement next to her and sleepily turned over. She blinked against the dim light of the lamp on the bedside table only to find Honoka shuffling off the bed. “Leaving without saying goodbye?” Honoka looked over her shoulder at the sound of Eli’s voice, having been reaching for her shorts next to the bed. Eli had let her borrow a long shirt the previous night thankfully so she hadn’t had to sleep without anything on. She was sure it would feel odd to spend the night like that in the apartment Eli shared with Nozomi. “I have to get back to reality sometime.” Honoka said with a small smile. “Umi-chan’s going to be wondering where I am. I told her I was staying with Kotori-chan last night but...I should get back.” Eli pushed herself into a sitting position, crossing her legs under her as she watched Honoka. “Do you love her that way?”

“I don’t know anymore…” Honoka said with a slight frown. “All I know is I love you more. I don’t know what to do…” She trailed off, shaking her head. She could hardly think about that right now. “Can I see you later? After work?” “The answer is always yes, Honoka. I can pick you up later if you want me to.” Eli offered hopefully. “After you finish you could call me to let me know.” Honoka nodded as she slowly pulled on her shorts. “I have a TV drama role coming up soon. It’s an adaptation of a popular novel called Haru wa Kimi no Uso. I got the leading role for the female. It’s pretty dramatic. And yes, I’ll be partnered up with a boy.” “What’s it about?” Eli asked curiously, leaning back against her pillows. “Music.” Honoka answered, tugging off the shirt Eli had let her borrow. She quickly changed back into her own clothes. “But in a different genre. More classical. My character’s gonna die.” “What?” “She has ALS. She used to play the piano. The boy is a newcomer with a sad past. He inspires her to play again but she decides to lie about her illness in order to play against him in the music competition.” Eli blinked at Honoka. She supposed she should have realized Honoka would be taking on major roles. “Oh. Well if you need to study I can help you with the history side and Maki can teach you about piano. So there’s Bach, Mozart, Chopin...” “Wait, that’s the one I need to learn the most of!” “Chopin? His work is pretty depressing…” “Really?” Eli nodded in response. “As I said, I can teach you the history. I used to play violin too, remember? And Maki can help you too.” “Yeah.” Honoka finished dressing and moved to sit down on the bed next to Eli. “Are you going to be okay? After what happened with Nozomi-chan…” Eli’s eyes flickered with sadness at the mention of Nozomi’s name but she nodded her head. “It had to happen. I didn’t want it to be like that but we couldn’t have stayed together. I’ll give her some time and then I’ll try to speak to her again…” Honoka nodded and leaned back against the pillows next to Eli, resting her head against her shoulder. “I love you.” She whispered, allowing her eyes to close. As much as she wanted to fall asleep right there and forget about going home she had to get back to Umi. “You know...I kinda imagine kissing you every time I have a romantic acting partner.” “Not Umi?” “Yeah…” Honoka sighed softly. “I’m horrible.” “No, you’re not.” Eli soothed gently. She wrapped her arm around Honoka’s shoulders and kissed the top of her head. “I only think about you like that.” Honoka smiled meekly at the reassurance and pressed closer to Eli, deciding that another five minutes or so in bed wouldn’t be so bad after all. ----

Kotori stared straight ahead at the blank television screen, a frown flitting across her face as she listened to her mother opening and closing cupboards in the kitchen. Her mom had insisted that they make sure Kotori was stocked up on groceries when she got back from the hospital and she had opted to stay until the evening so that Kotori wouldn’t be alone. Kotori sighed heavily. It had been fifteen minutes already. “Mom, what are you doing?” There was no answer for a moment and she frowned in confusion. “Mom?!” “I’m making lunch.” Yume answered as she stepped back into the living room. “Can I get you anything?” Kotori shook her head. “You don’t have to stay. I’ll be fine by myself.” Yume fixed Kotori with a skeptical look. “I’ll stay until Nishikino-sensei gets here at least. It’s your first day back from the hospital.” Kotori rolled her eyes. “She’ll be here in a minute, mom. She was just calling her dad outside. And you can call her Maki.” “But honey, you might marry a doctor. I don’t want to be informal.” Kotori’s eyes widened. “Moooom!” Maki stepped into the living room at that exact moment, her brow furrowing as she glanced between the two of them. “Sorry, am I interrupting something?”

“Not at all.” Yume answered brightly while Kotori blushed and looked away. Kotori finally met Maki’s eyes, smiling softly at the sight of her. “You look pretty.” Maki looked down at her hoodie and scrubs. “Thanks? I haven’t changed yet though.” Yume beamed as she watched the two of them interact. “Ah, I’ll get back to making lunch and give you two some time alone. Oh, Nishikino-sensei, have you thought any more about what I suggested?” “You mean…” Maki’s eyes widened slightly. “Oh um...no. Not really. I-I figured it would be too soon to think about that. I-I mean we only just got together and…” Kotori groaned at the comment. “Mom, what did you ask her?” “I asked her if she was planning to move in with you.” Yume answered with an innocent shrug of her shoulders. “You just got out of the hospital and you need someone around, at least for a while.” “I-I still think it’s too soon.” Maki said warily. Yume gave a heavy sigh. “If that’s how you feel. I suppose I could always stay with you for a short while. At least until we’re sure it’s safe.” Kotori grimaced at the thought of having her mom fuss over her for the next few weeks. She knew there wasn’t anything that could change her mom’s mind though. “I guess. Just for a few days. I’ll set up the bed in the spare room.” “I’ll do it.” Maki said quickly, not wanting Kotori to injure herself further. “Don’t worry, I’ll stay out of your way when Nishikino-sensei is staying over.” Yume advised teasingly before she turned and walked back into the kitchen. “MOM!” “I know you, Kotori. If you’re anything like me you’re insatiable.” “Gross, mom!” Kotori scowled, cringing slightly. Maki cracked a smile. “You kind of are though…” “Maki-chan, that’s not the point!” Kotori hissed, blushing. “Besides, you can be just as bad as me.” “Only when you’re involved.” Maki sat down next to Kotori on the couch and slid closer to her. “I can stay over tonight if you want me to.” “I would like that.” Kotori leaned in to kiss Maki only to notice movement out of the corner of her eye. She glanced to the kitchen doorway in time to see her mother appear. “Oh, sorry.” Yume smiled knowingly. “Lunch is ready. I’ve taken your pills out for you too, Kotori.” “Thanks.” Kotori grumbled. She accepted Maki’s help to get to her feet and flashed her girlfriend a small smile as she helped her lean against her shoulder so she could hobble to the kitchen. ---- Honoka cautiously let herself into the apartment she shared with Umi, wondering if her girlfriend would even be there. She had wound up falling asleep with Eli for another couple of hours before she had finally left. “Honoka?” “It’s just me.” Honoka called back, dropping her keys on the small table near the door. She slid off her shoes and walked into the apartment, following the sound of Umi’s voice to her girlfriend’s study. The door was ajar so she let herself in. She found Umi sitting at her desk, her laptop open in front of her. “Hey. Working from home today?” Umi nodded silently. They were both quiet for a moment before they spoke in unison. “I need to tell you something.” “Let me go first.” Umi said hopefully. “Please. I don’t know what you’re going to say and I don’t want you to accidentally talk me out of what I’m going to say.” “I feel like I should be the one saying that.” Honoka mumbled under her breath. Nevertheless she nodded for Umi to go ahead. Umi stood from her seat and walked around the table to stand in front of Honoka. “Um...I know you haven’t been very happy lately. With me. I know I’ve been difficult to be in a relationship with and I’m sorry.” Honoka frowned at the comment. She almost interjected but seeing that Umi was going to continue speaking she stayed silent. “I don’t think…” Umi took a deep breath. She hoped this wasn’t going to hurt Honoka as much as she had imagined it would. “I don’t think this is working between us, Honoka. I think we want different things from a relationship a-and I think we should break up.” Honoka’s eyes widened in surprise. “Huh?” “I still want to be your friend!” Umi said quickly, not wanting Honoka to leave before she said that. “I do love you. And I still want us to be close, just...not romantically.” “Oh.” Honoka was silent for a moment before she gave a slight laugh. Noticing Umi’s gaze snap toward her she shook her head. “I’m sorry, I just...I was going to say the same thing.” “You were?” Umi asked in shock. “So you’re okay with it? With us just being friends?” Honoka nodded in response only to pause after a moment. “Umi-chan, I-I have to tell you something else.” She bit her lip, hesitantly but when Umi reached out and squeezed her hand she finally spoke. “I want to be honest with you. I’m...I’m in love with Eli-senpai. I want to be with her and I...I slept with her. Twice. Recently, after Kotori was attacked…” Umi frowned slightly at that. “I can’t say that doesn’t hurt but at least you’re being honest. Actually, I’ve um...been kissed.” “Huh?!” Umi blushed. “We were drunk. She mostly...but I liked it.” Honoka was surprised but she pushed past it to flash Umi a small smile. “It’s Maki’s ex, right? “Shhh!” Umi exclaimed quickly despite there being nobody around. “Yes and she doesn’t remember. But I think I like her. I don’t know…” “Don’t worry, Umi-chan.” Honoka squeezed Umi’s hand back. “I’ll help you win her over.” “Honoka…” “So unlike with me, do you want to, you know...do it with her?” Umi blushed, mental images creeping into her mind. “HONOKA!” Honoka smirked at the reaction. “Fine, I’ll stop. But if you need any tips…” “HONOKA!” Honoka chuckled softly to herself, amused by Umi’s response. After a moment she turned serious once more. “Um...I want to date Eli-senpai again. Officially. And I wanted to ask you something…” She waited for a nod from Umi to tell her to go ahead before she spoke up. “Why did you kiss me even when I was with her?” Umi sighed softly. “Because I was clinging to my crush on you from when I was younger. And...I saw you as the prince to rescue me from my father, I guess…” Honoka dropped Umi’s hand, sucking in a sharp breath as she stepped back. “I’m such an idiot. I can’t believe I broke up with her.” “Honoka…” “Leave me alone for a bit, okay?” Honoka drew away as Umi reached for her. She blinked away tears that prickled at her eyes. She had been so stupid. “I-I need to see Eli-senpai.” Umi swallowed hard. “Okay. Honoka, I really am sorry. I didn’t meant to use you or…” “But you did. I let you. It’s…” Honoka lifted her hand to her mouth, tears slipping from her eyes. “I have to go. I’m sorry.” Umi opened her mouth to protest but Honoka had already turned and left. Sighing loudly she leaned back against her desk. She deserved Honoka’s anger but she hated seeing her best friend upset, especially when she was the reason for her being upset. ---- Eli was sitting at her computer reading up on her new case when she heard a disturbance outside of her office. Frowning, she tried to ignore it but it seemed that it was getting closer and closer as the seconds passed by. She got up from her desk and crossed to the door, opening it in time to see Honoka trying to push past Kyo, one of the other attorneys in the office. “You can let her pass, Kyo.” Eli advised him, earning herself a confused look from the young man. Nevertheless he let Honoka pass him. “Honoka…” Honoka rushed toward Eli, falling into her arms. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” She said tearfully, holding onto Eli as tightly as she could. “I’m such an idiot. I should have never broken up with you. It was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. I love you so much. If I could undo it, I would. I’m sorry.” Eli pushed the door closed behind Honoka, figuring the rest of her office shouldn’t hear the conversation. “It’s okay.” She soothed gently, hugging Honoka back even as tears pricked at her own eyes. She had hoped to hear those words from Honoka for a long time. She hadn’t thought she would actually ever get to hear them. Honoka sniffled softly and slowly eased away from Eli after a moment. “I-I told Umi-chan that I want to be with you. She broke up with me first, she...she said it wasn’t working between us. But I was about to break up with her and I told her that! I…” “Slow down, Honoka.” Eli gently guided Honoka over to one of the chairs in front of her desk, helping her sit down on one of them. “You broke up with Umi?” Honoka nodded in response. “I asked her why she kissed me b-back then and she said she was acting on a crush.” Eli let out an annoyed sigh at that. She had lost the past couple of years with Honoka just because Umi was acting on a crush. She left Honoka for a moment, crossing the room to lock the door before she returned to her side once more. “Umi is an idiot.” Eli said honestly, sitting on the desk in front of Honoka. “And...you did what you thought was right by leaving me. You didn’t want to hurt her.” “I shouldn’t have wanted to hurt you!” Honoka exclaimed bitterly, looking up at Eli. “But I did. And now I don’t know if…” She trailed off, choking on her words. “Do you really love me? This...isn’t a fling to you, right?” Eli pulled Honoka toward her, kissing her soundly. She felt Honoka stand up and move closer to her instinctively and smiled softly against Honoka’s lips. It had always been like that for them. Gravitating toward each other without thought. “I told you at the hospital.” Eli whispered, pulling away by a fraction. “This was always serious to me. I love you, I alway-” Honoka cut Eli off by kissing her hard. She pushed against the blonde’s shoulders and gently eased her down onto the desk as she climbed up onto it to straddle the surprised blonde. “I won’t leave you again.” Honoka murmured, briefly meeting Eli’s eyes. Eli barely had time to nod before Honoka was kissing her again. She closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around Honoka’s torso to pull her close as she felt nimble fingers tug her hair out of the bun she’d put her hair up into. She was going to have to speak with Umi, she decided, but before she did that she was going to relish in having Honoka back. ---- “What are you doing?” Nico asked curiously as she glanced over at Hisa who was flicking idly through her cell phone. The redhead was at the other end of the couch so Nico couldn’t lean over to see what she was doing. “Figuring out where to order food from.” Hisa said with a smirk as she glanced over at Nico. “You’re meant to be figuring out the movie we’re going to watch, remember? You deal with the movie, I deal with the food.” Nico narrowed her eyes. “I can just cook something. You don’t have to order anything.” “Ordering is faster.” Hisa retorted with a roll of her eyes. She moved her phone out of the way when Nico reached over, trying to take it from her. She couldn’t help but laugh at the disgruntled look on Nico’s face. “You’re too slow.” Nico huffed and clambered over to Hisa who held the phone out of reach from her. Hisa growled and pushed lightly against Nico’s shoulders, easily reversing their positions so that she was hovering over Nico instead. Nico noticed Hisa’s loose shirt dipping down and her eyes widened slightly in surprise when she realized that Hisa had a fair sized bust. She looked up to see Hisa staring down at her, her red hair messy and covering one eye. Her lips parted slightly. Nico’s heartbeat sped up and she swallowed thickly. She had noticed before that Hisa was attractive but she hadn’t realized just how attractive she was. She reached up, grasping the front of Hisa’s shirt and was about to pull her down when the door across the room sprung open. “Onee-chaaaaan!” Hisa let out a girlish yelp and jumped back, her face turning bright red. “Itsuki!” Nico cursed as she pushed herself up only for her eyes to widen slightly. Had she been about to kiss Hisa? Had she actually wanted to? “I-I have to use the bathroom.” “That’s fine.” Hisa said, glancing at Nico before she turned back to Itsuki. She awkwardly cleared her throat, hoping that Itsuki hadn’t noticed the position she had been in with Nico “W-What’s up, Itsuki?” “I did something you would do.” Itsuki said in a panic, running her fingers through her hair as she paced. “Huh? Wait, why do you make that sound like a bad thing?” Itsuki paused to fix Hisa with a look. “Onee-chan.” “Fine, I get the point. What did you do?” Hisa sighed, her gaze shifting to the hallway Nico had walked down. “I acted as if I didn’t remember something but I do remember and I want to do it again and I-” “Whow, whoa. Slow down.” Hisa interjected quickly, sensing Itsuki was about to start ranting. “What did you do?” Itsuki took a deep breath to calm herself down. “I kissed Umi-san!” “Who?” “Hanayo-chan’s friend. The one we met at the hospital, with blue hair? I’m friends with her now.” Itsuki frowned when Hisa still looked confused. “I told you this already. Weren’t you listening?” “Uh...I don’t remember.” Hisa said sheepishly. “So you kissed her then pretended you didn’t remember it? Are you worried about how she might react.” “K-Kind of. She has a girlfriend.” Hisa groaned in exasperation. “Itsuki! Why would you do something I would do? Ugh, why couldn’t you do something Raven would do? He’s such a little…” “Onee-chan!” “A good role model.” Hisa smiled innocently. Both she and Itsuki knew she wouldn’t say anything about their brother but it did bother her that he seemed so perfect in comparison to her. “That’s all I was going to say.” “I was drunk.” Itsuki frowned, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “Why did you DRINK?! I thought Raven told you not to!” “I’m twenty five, damn it! It’s not like I get carded, Onee-chan!” Itsuki huffed out a sigh. “I just wanted to tell someone and I knew Onii-san would be worried about me.” “Okay, okay. I get it. So do you like her?” Hisa asked, raising an eyebrow at Itsuki. “W-Well I haven’t known her for long but I think so. I guess I’m...attracted to her.” Itsuki said, shifting nervously from foot to foot. “And she’s really easy to talk to.” “If she didn’t have a girlfriend I would tell you to go for it.” Hisa said with a slight smile. “But I don’t want you to get hurt again.” “I know.” Itsuki mumbled, looking down at the floor. “I can be friends with her at least.” “Just be careful.” Hisa advised before she heard the click of a lock. She looked toward the hallway a moment before Nico appeared, looking slightly flushed. “Oh, Nico. Um...this is my sister. Itsuki.” “Yeah, we’ve met.” Nico said, nodding toward Itsuki. “I didn’t know you had anyone over. You don’t usually…” Itsuki trailed off in realisation as she looked to Hisa. “Oh! Oh, I-I didn’t mean to interrupt. I’ll see you tomorrow, Onee-chan!” “Wait, it’s not…” Hisa began to protest only for Itsuki to hurry away to the front door. She heard it open and close as Itsuki left. She smiled sheepishly, turning back to Nico. “Sorry about that. So where were we?” “Um...movie and food.” Nico answered, trying not to think of the position they had actually been in. She moved over to the couch, sitting back down. A moment later Hisa sat down right next to her, their arms brushing. Nico bit her lip but didn’t move. She cleared her throat. “Um...ordering food is fine. You’ll just find out the hard way that my cooking is way better.” Hisa smiled broadly as she pulled out her phone to place the order. “I look forward to it. What kind of food are you in the mood for?” “I don’t know, surprise me.” Nico darily inched closer to Hisa until she could rest her head against the girl’s shoulder. She didn’t bother to feign looking at the phone, her arm going around Hisa’s waist instead. Hisa blushed furiously and shifted her arm to put it around Nico’s shoulders as she shakily placed the order. ---- Nico’s gaze flitted to the kitchen for a brief moment as she tried to decide whether she should try to get up to make some coffee. She had woken up a short while ago but she had stayed where she was, fascinated by the subtle play of muscles under her fingers. She wasn’t sure how but near the end of the movie she’d been watching with Hisa she had fallen asleep and had wound up mostly on top of the girl. She was just dozing off again when her phone vibrated on the table. She flinched in response to the sound and quickly moved off of Hisa to pick her phone up. She sighed, noticing she had an incoming video call from Kei. She knew better than to ignore it so she answered after a moment. “Yeah?” “Nico, are y...oh, who is that?!” Kei’s eyes widened on the screen. “She would look gorgeous in a dress!” “Kei!” Nico hissed, noticing Hisa stir out of the corner of her eye. “All I’m saying is she would look great. Maybe you should bring her in someti-” “No. Definitely not.” Nico ran a hand through her hair, figuring it was messy. “You want to jump her bones, don’t you?” “KEI!” Nico exclaimed loudly. She glanced back at Hisa for a moment before she stood up from the couch and walked a short distance away to keep from waking the sleeping girl up. “Did you actually want something?” “Big TV drama role for you.” Kei replied, smoothly shifting into professional mode. “You can play an instrument, right? Violin, isn’t it?” “Yeah, why?” “Your audition is tomorrow. Knowing you you’ll get the role.” Kei answered brightly. “This is a big break for you, Nico. Remember I’m not just your model agent, I’m your legit agent.” “R-Right.” Nico stuttered, still shocked by the news that Kei had managed to find such a promising role for her. “You’ll email me the details?” “Of course. I’ll let you get back to what you were doing.”  Kei said with a teasing grin. She didn’t give Nico a chance to reply before she ended the call. Nico sighed, disgruntled by the conversation despite how happy she was about the audition. “You okay?” Nico turned to see Hisa staring at her from the couch, her messy red hair falling in waves around her shoulder. “Um…” She cleared her throat before she spoke again. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. Just work.” She walked over to Hisa, pausing in front of her. She bit her lip as Hisa looked up and reached out, running her fingers over soft red hair before she let her hand fall to Hisa’s cheek, gently caressing it. “You would look great in a dress, you know?” Hisa felt her face warm under Nico’s light touch. “Well...I’m not usually the type to wear dresses.” “You should.” Nico let her hand fall back to her side. “We should go shopping together.” “What? Now?” “Sure. I don’t have work today.” Nico replied with a nod of her head. “I need a break before my audition tomorrow anyway.” “You have an audition tomorrow?” Hisa stood up from the couch, stretching her arms above her head. “Yeah. Some big tv drama apparently.” Nico replied, taking a step back when she realized how close she was standing. “Do you um...mind if I use your shower?” “Sure. I’ll make coffee. Oh, you can borrow some clothes if you want.” “Thanks.” Nico smiled warmly at Hisa before she turned and left the room, feeling a bit flustered. She didn’t know what was wrong with her but she couldn’t help but notice how attractive Hisa was. She had noticed as soon as she met her of course but she hadn’t been interested then. She couldn’t help but wonder if the redhead really had piqued her interest now. ---- “You shouldn’t have to stay off from work just for me.” Kotori fretted as she watched Maki set a glass of water for her. “It’s bad enough that I can’t work with...this.” She raised her wrist, showing the bandage around her wrist. According to the doctors it wasn’t broken but it was badly sprained. Still, it hurt enough that she couldn’t work on anything. “I don’t mind.” Maki said hastily as she moved to sit down on the couch. “It’s not every day I’m allowed time off work to spend with my girlfriend. I want to be here, trust me.” Kotori took a deep breath to calm herself and closed her eyes. She knew she had to take Maki’s word that she wasn’t bothering her. “Right. Sorry.” “Stop apologizing. It’s fine.” Maki gently cupped Kotori’s face in her hands and kissed her gently. “I’m here for you. Just like you are for me.” Kotori opened her eyes, flashing Maki a watery smile. She was about to kiss Maki back when she heard a knock at the door. Instinctively she tensed, her eyes going wide. “It’s okay.” Maki soothed gently as Kotori grasped onto her arm. She recognized fear in her girlfriend’s eyes. “I’m here. I’ll go and check who it is, okay?” “No, I...I want to go with you.” Kotori stuttered nervously as Maki got to her feet. She shakily stood with her, still grasping onto Maki’s sleeve. She felt Maki take her hand and together they walked toward the front door. Maki checked through the peephole in the door, breathing a sigh of relief when she didn’t find Niima standing there. “It’s Toshiro.” “Toshiro?” Kotori echoed in confusion. She let go of Maki’s hand and stepped forward to unlock the door. She opened it to reveal her ex standing there, a worried look on his face. “Kotori!” Toshiro exclaimed when he saw her. He stepped forward, hugging her in relief. “I just heard what happened. Are you okay?” “I’m fine.” Kotori winced slightly as she hugged him back. She felt guilt niggle at her. She had completely forgotten to call him. “Just a little roughed up. Nothing too serious.” Toshiro pulled back slightly to look at her but settled his hand on her shoulder instead, concern etched across his face. “Why didn’t you call me? I would have come right away.” “Because you would have come right away?” Kotori offered with a small smile. She noticed Maki step forward to close the door out of the corner of her eye and felt a rush of gratitude. “We’re not together anymore.” Toshiro frowned slightly, his gaze straying toward Maki as she went to stand behind Kotori again. “You’re that Sensei, right? From the hospital?” Maki looked away, her hands in her pockets and she shrugged listlessly in response. “I thought you were okay?” Toshiro asked nervously as he looked back toward Kotori. “Why would you need a doctor here if you’re fine?” “Um, actually Toshiro-kun…” Kotori glanced at Maki for a moment before she continued. “Nishikino-sensei is my girlfriend.” “Your...oh. Right.” Toshiro paused, his brow furrowing. “But wait, I thought you liked Nico-san?” “Um...as a friend, yes.” Kotori glanced at Maki, noticing Maki was glaring at Toshiro. She gave her a light nudge to the side. “Nice to meet you.” Maki said with a thin lipped smile. “Uh...you too.” Toshiro replied, slightly intimidated by the redhead. He remembered not feeling comfortable around her when she was his doctor too. Kotori sighed loudly at the rather cold greeting. ���Maki-chan, he’s not him. You don’t have to dislike all men.” Maki frowned before looking up indignantly, her nose in the air. Kotori rolled her eyes. “Don’t be a brat, Maki-chan.” Maki tensed at the accusation before her shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry.” She glanced at Toshiro. “I didn’t mean to be rude.” Kotori smiled warmly and grasped Maki’s hand. “Maki-chan is like a cat. She’s not good with people she doesn’t know well. Just let her warm up to you.” Maki’s face turned red. “Kotori!” “Yes?” Kotori smirked. Maki sighed and shook her head. “Nevermind. I’ll make some tea.” Toshiro blinked at the interaction. “Boy you have her whipped.” He muttered as he watched Maki leave for the kitchen. “Obviously.” Kotori replied smugly. “Who do you think is on top during it?” “Her.” “Hey!” Kotori lightly swatted Toshiro’s arm, earning herself a grin. “I am. Since I’m more experienced.” She winked at him before she turned and followed Maki into the kitchen. Toshiro trailed behind them, figuring he would stay for a few minutes. “Do you need me to do anything? I could check in on your studio if you want?” Kotori snorted in amusement. “Really? What would you be checking?” “Um…” Toshiro shrugged sheepishly. “Whatever you ask me to.” Kotori shook her head. “You don’t have to do that.” “I want to. We’re still friends, right? I’m just helping out.” ---- “You’re not gonna let me out of here until I try it on, are you?” Nico smirked at Hisa’s question. She was currently standing outside of the changing room Hisa was in, having pushed her in there a few minutes earlier. “Nope.” She heard Hisa grumble something ineligible before the sound of rustling clothes caught her attention. There was a moment of silence before she heard a thud. “You okay?” Hisa let out an irritated growl of annoyance. “I can’t zip it!” Nico glanced around, hesitating for a moment before she turned and opened the door to the changing room. She slipped inside, her eyes widening. Hisa looked more vulnerable than she had ever seen her. Sexy even. She noticed, as Hisa turned to her, the sheen of lip gloss she’d placed on her lips. Red hair once more covered one of girl’s green eyes. “Are you gonna help or stand there gawking?” “S-Sorry. Turn around. Let me see the zipper.” Nico stuttered, blushing. She felt like a teenage boy just hitting puberty. Even Kotori hadn’t caused her to act like that. She bit her lip as Hisa turned her back to her. The girl had a nice back, she noticed as she inched closer to her. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes briefly in an attempt to control herself before she slowly reached forward. She pinched the zipper between her thumb and forefinger before she slowly tugged it up until the zip was closed completely. She let the zipper go and considered stepping away. She didn’t though. She couldn’t tear herself away from the redhead. She stepped forward instead, her arms sliding around Hisa’s waist. She felt rather than heard a sharp intake of breath from Hisa. “Nico?” Nico barely heard Hisa, her mind hazed over. She had thought she wouldn’t be attracted to Hisa but she was. Undeniably. She brushed her lips against Hisa’s shoulder only for Hisa to turn and gently push her away. “Nico.” Hisa held Nico by her shoulders, a frown flitting across her face. “What are you doing?” “I’m...um…” Nico blinked at Hisa, surprised by the look on her face. She felt her stomach sink as she realized her mistake. “Fuck, what is with me and sexually harassing people?! I’m no better than Nijima. Fuck. I’m such an idiot.” Hisa sucked in a sharp breath as Nico’s eyes filled with tears and the model slipped away from her, walking backwards until her back hit the wall. She slid down it so that she was crouching with her back against the wall.

“I’m sorry…” “No, I mean I liked it! It’s just...slow, remember? Just friends...with no benefits. Ugh, damn it. Come here.” She moved toward Nico and crouched down with some difficulty, tugging her forward into a gentle embrace. “I’m not scared of you. Trust me.” Nico sniffled softly, nodding against Hisa’s shoulder. “You look beautiful.” She whispered, her eyes closed as she leaned into Hisa’s embrace. “Thanks.” Hisa drew away from Nico and pressed a light kiss to her forehead. Nico shivered at the touch. “You’re not helping my resolve to not jump you.” Hisa smirked at the comment. “You’d be flipped the moment you tried.” Nico looked down, noticing the tattoo on Hisa’s wrist. She reached out, gently tracing the anchor with her fingertips. She was relieved at the fact that Hisa made no attempt to draw away from her. Hisa cleared her throat after a moment. “Maybe I should get out of this dress. It’s not exactly comfortable. Unzip me?” Nico smiled at the statement. Hisa had mentioned that she wasn’t exactly comfortable in dresses. She reached around, unzipping the dress with little difficulty. It was reassuring that Hisa was still comfortable enough with her to allow that. She was surprised though when Hisa pulled away from here and tugged the dress down with little hesitation. She stepped out of it and Nico’s eyes widened as she took in the skin on display. She had figured Hisa would be toned but seeing exactly how toned she was surpassed her imagination. She swallowed hard, her eyes slipping to Hisa’s thighs. “W-What are you doing?” “What?” Hisa grinned over at Nico. “Told you I wasn’t scared of you.” Nico felt her face heat up. “I need a cold shower…” “Oh? To screw yourself.” “Shut up.” Hisa raised an eyebrow as she tugged on her pants. “I never really met someone with an insatiable need. How do you like it?” “Rough.” Nico answered bluntly, staring at Hisa through darkened eyes. “I also like toys.” Hisa turned red at the comment. “Holy shit, you’re a freak between the sheets. Slow, remember?” “Yeah, yeah.” Nico grumbled, pouting at the reminder. She waited until Hisa finished dressing before she nodded toward the door. “Let’s go. We still have to shop.” “Just so long as you don’t make me try on more dresses.” Hisa grumbled, following Nico out of the changing room with the dress slung over her arm. Nico grinned at her. “No promises.” ----- Nozomi walked down the hallway to the interns’ lounge, trying without much look to keep her mind off of Eli. It had only been two days since Eli had left her and despite work being one of the reasons for the split, Nozomi had thrown herself completely into her work. She had barely stopped besides when she had paused to sleep. Which she had been doing in her office. She couldn’t go back to the apartment she had shared with Eli after what had happened, after all. She hoped that Maki would in in the lounge, if only to take her mind off of Eli again. Working helped, surprisingly, so when Maki had called requesting a consult on behalf of the doctor on the case, Nozomi had leapt at the chance. As she neared the open doorway to the room she was looking for she caught the sound of voices from inside of the room and her brow furrowed slightly as she slowed. She didn’t want to interrupted anything that might be going on in there. While she had authority over the attendings she wasn’t a doctor at that hospital and wanted to make sure that she didn’t overstep. “So you are, right?” A voice snickered. “Like Nishikino? You like girls, don’t you? You didn’t even give us a straight answer before.” “Seiko-san.” Another voice, which Nozomi recognized as belonging to Fumiko, one of the other interns at the hospital, replied wearily. “I don’t want to talk about it.” “Come on, you can tell me. It doesn’t matter. Everyone knows after what you said in the locker room. Do you really think you would have a chance though? I mean she’s way out of your league. Her status is higher than yours and she’s friends with Nishikino too.” Seiko said in a mockingly concerned tone of voice. “Besides she has a girlfriend or whatever, doesn’t she?” “I-I guess but...I don’t know her that well. I-It’s not like I think I have a chance or anything like that. It’s just...a crush. Nothing really.” “I KNEW you were like Nishikino! No wonder you keep trying to be friends with her. People like you have to stick together, right? Rezu…” Nozomi decided that she had heard enough and stepped into the room, loudly clearing her throat. “Seiko-san, don’t you have some work you need to be doing elsewhere rather than having inappropriately personal conversation at work?” Seiko’s eyes widened. “I-I was just…” “I know what you were doing.” Nozomi interrupted sharply. She kept her tone professional though. “And I don’t appreciate it for obvious reasons. If this happens again I’ll have to report you. Now get back to work.” Seiko’s face reddened as she glanced between Nozomi and Fumiko. She couldn’t argue though. Nozomi was her superior. “Yes, Sensei.” She muttered before she left the room as quickly as she could. Nozomi waited until Seiko had left before she allowed herself to relax. She smiled warmly at Fumiko. “Sorry to interrupt. I figured you might want to put a stop to...whatever that was about.” “Y-Yeah.” Fumiko said, slightly in awe. “Thank you for um...doing that.”

“Are you okay?” Nozomi asked in concern. Fumiko nodded quickly and glanced away. She noticed Nozomi inching closer to her and felt herself begin to blush. “You sure?” Nozomi teased lightly. “You don’t need a dose of Nozomi healing power?” “I-I’m fine. Really…” “Alright then.” Nozomi stopped a few steps away from Fumiko, her smile slipping just slightly. The girl seemed to be genuinely troubled by something. “Do you want to talk about what Seiko-san was talking about?” “NO. Definitely not!” Fumiko exclaimed, her eyes widening. She winced at the shocked look on Nozomi’s face. “Wait, um...how about coffee?! I mean...you have a girlfriend and I...I’m really confused about what I am.” “Sure.” “HUH?!” “Sure.” Nozomi repeated with an easygoing smile. “I would like that. Maybe you can tell me about this girl you like? I have a sneaking suspicion of who it might be but...you can tell me whenever you want.” Fumiko twitched at the comment. “Um...okay. Maybe.” “I get patients like you all of the time. It’s my job, really.” Nozomi explained, hoping to set Fumiko at ease. “But I want to be more like friends then colleagues.” “R-Right. Just...don’t treat me like I’m sick. I’m not sick.” “Of course not.” Nozomi said sincerely. “I never treat any of my patients like that. What do you say we meet up tomorrow for coffee? You can give me a call when you’re available but my schedule is fairly free for tomorrow...unfortunately.” “Huh?” “Nothing.” Nozomi pasted a smile to her lips, trying to block out the fact that she would have almost a whole day to think about how she had ruined things with Eli. Fumiko easily saw through the fake smile. “You okay?” “Fine. Just...I recently broke up with my girlfriend. Actually I caught her with a friend. Honoka. She’s um...one of my closest friends and…” “KOUSAKA HONOKA IS GAY?!” “Shhh!” Nozomi exclaimed, her eyes widened. “You don’t need to say it so loud. Nobody is meant to know and I don’t want to be responsible for outing her even if she did steal my girlfriend.” “Right, sorry.” Fumiko lowered her voice to just above a whisper. “Maybe...your girlfriend wasn't the right person for you.” Nozomi shrugged her shoulders. She disagreed about that. Noticed movement out of the corner of her eye she glanced toward the doorway as Maki walked into the room. “Maki-chan! You’re late for our consult. Are you ready?” “Sorry. I got stuck in surgery.” Maki apologized with a slight wince. “I’m ready. I’ll introduce you to the patient and run though the history with you, okay?” “That’s fine. But you got out of surgery an hour ago. You were texting Kotori, weren’t you?” Nozomi narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Maki flushed red with embarrassment. “Let’s just go. Oh...hi Fumiko.” She waved briefly at the intern before she turned and left the room. “Work calls.” Nozomi smiled apologetically at Fumiko. “I’ll leave my number with Maki-chan and you can call me tomorrow. See you later, Fumiko-chan.” “R-Right.” Fumiko stuttered, barely able to comprehend what was happening. She watched Nozomi go in stunned silence. She was going on a coffee date with Nozomi, albeit Nozomi didn’t know it was a date. That was besides the point. She was actually going out with Tojo Nozomi. ----- Umi bit her lip, staring at the open word document in exasperation. The page was completely blank and she had no idea where to start. No matter how hard she tried she couldn’t even put together a plan of what she wanted to write about for her latest article. She supposed it was a good thing she was working freelance at the moment otherwise she’d be in trouble. She was almost relieved when she heard a knock at her front door. At least it was a distraction from what she had been doing. She rolled her chair back and stood up with a resigned sigh, making her way out of the room and down the hallway. She couldn’t help but wonder who could be there though. Honoka had said she wanted to keep her distance for a while though Umi hoped that it would be her. She really didn’t want to lose Honoka as a friend. She opened the door, her blood running cold when she saw Eli standing there. “Eli…” “I want to talk to you about Honoka.” Eli said bluntly, seeing no reason in skirting around the subject. “Can I come in?” “Actually I’m kind of busy right…” “Great, thanks.” Eli stepped inside, nudging Umi out of the way. She closed the door behind her. “What the hell did you say to Honoka?” Umi sighed heavily. “Look Eli, I don’t...think I need to talk about this with you. What happened is between me and Honoka. It’s none of your business.” “It IS my damn business! Honoka is MY BUSINESS!” Eli exclaimed loudly, her eyes blazing with anger. “She thinks you never loved her. Did you say that to her?” Umi frowned slightly at that. “I told her I don’t anymore. That I...might have just had a crush on her that I didn’t understand back then.” “You dated her for two fucking years and you only just realized that?!” Eli growled angrily. “She was in love with you! She threw away everything we had together for you!” Umi guiltily looked away. “I-I know, I just...I didn’t know how I felt. All I knew was that it didn’t feel like a real relationship. I didn’t look at her and want to kiss her or want...anything physical with her. I do love her but I know now it’s platonic.” “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” Eli yelled, red hot anger flooding through her. “I HAD TO LIVE IN MISERY BECAUSE YOU DIDN’T UNDERSTAND YOUR GAY FEELINGS?! I could have been happy. She could have been happy but we wasted two years because of you and now she’s questioning whether ANYONE will love her. But you didn’t think about how this would affect her, did you?” Umi’s eyes widened slightly. “I-I didn’t know. I thought she was okay, she even...she even said she’d help me with a girl I like. I didn’t realize…” “A GIRL you like?! Are you...are you serious right now?!” Eli took a step back and turned away, trying to calm herself. “You’re terrible at relationships. How can you be so bad at this?” “I ONLY CAME OUT TWO YEARS AGO, ELI!” Umi yelled back, her eyes brimming with panicked tears. “I didn’t know what I was doing!” “So you decided to break up a relationship?!” Eli swung around to face Umi again, her hands balling into fists. “Do you know how much time you took away from us?! We could’ve been HAPPY! Now we’re just stuck trying to rebuild what you took away from us!” “I-I’m sorry…” Umi muttered, shaking her head. She didn’t know what else to say. “I-I needed someone and Honoka was just there and I thought…” “That’s the problem! You didn’t think, did you?!” Eli paused for a moment, closing her eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry if I...upset you. But you needed to know the truth. Just so you know, she did love you, Umi. She just loves me more.” With that said she turned back toward the door and opened it to let herself out. When the door closed behind her, her shoulders slumped and she gritted her teeth in annoyance. She headed toward her car, walking a little faster than usual. Honoka would be waiting for her at her apartment, she was sure. She had given the girl a spare key which was gratefully accepted. Eli was relieved about that at least. She had worried Honoka would think she was moving too fast. She didn’t see any reason they shouldn’t do things they had been comfortable with before, even if they couldn’t just pick up where they left off. The thought sent another rush of anger through her and she slammed the car door behind her. TBC.

[jumpingpools]

KDramas, A review

Hi friends, I watch a lot of kdramas so I thought i would review them if anyone was interested in watching some. (These are my opinions plz don’t destroy me)

She Was Pretty

Main girl used to be pretty and knew a fat boi when they were younger. They meet up later in life when she is ugly and he’s hot, so she has her hot bff pretend to be her to meet him. Things get complicated. Love triangles everywhere.

Took like 9 fucking episodes to get main girl to not act like an idiot. Plot line and main girl was kinda annoying. Couldn’t finish it. Decent but not my fave.

Chicago Typewriter

The plot alternates between modern day and the 1930s when Korea was colonized by Japan. It follows a group of liberation fighters in the 1930s, and in modern time a famous/grouchy writer, his number one fan and a hot ghost from the past. The modern day group is the reincarnation of the freedom fighter group. Travel through time with them as they discover their past together and how they died.

WOW this one was amazing. Has a lot of literary references, especially with Stephen King. Discusses the nuances of what it means to be a writer. Discusses plagiarism, censorship, mental health and freedom. Has a love triangle, but the love plot isn’t exactly the whole plot of the story. Main girl is kind of a call back to the other characters of the right thing to do and represents many things throughout the show. A must watch.

Weightlifting Fairy

YAS QUEEN! A girl struggles with society’s ideals of what makes a woman beautiful, her career as a weightlifter, and a one-sided love affair. REALLY REALLY cute romance. A very healthy romantic relationship. A must watch. SO CUTE. SO GOOD. WATCH IT.

The Man in our House

Vastly underrated. Main gurl comes home after her mother dies to find a dude younger than her saying he was married to her mom and owns the house/property. She must figure out his intentions. Cute story about redemption, grief, supporting loved ones and romance. Has action moments, romance and legal elements.

Kill Me, Heal Me

A man struggling with dissociative identity disorder (multiple personality disorder) tries to keep his mental health struggles a secret and meets a cute/smart Lady who happens to be a psychiatrist and has her help him. The history between these characters and personalities are more complex than any of them can imagine.

OMG this drama gave me so many feels. It made me laugh out loud and cry for days. It talks about mental health in a beautiful and intelligent way. All the little things in this drama matter and come back later on. Mystery, mental health, family, and love are the major themes of this one. A MUST WATCH.

Fight My Way

A group of four friends slowly realize that they haven’t fought hard enough to realize their dreams, and work towards their life goals even though they are older now. Inspirational and cute. Some moments are a little annoying but a solid ok drama.

You’re All Surrounded

Follows a group of detectives solving an old case that has to do with one of the detective’s dark childhood (mom got murdered in front of him). Great. Unpredictable in the best way. Keeps you on your toes. Cute romance. (The main girl is homeless???) but it’s chill. Would watch again. A solid drama. Crime thriller, romance, melodrama.

Hyde Jekyll, Me

Another dissociative identity disorder one. Kill me heal me is better. A rich Boi was traumatized as a kid and has DID. A cute GURL falls in love with one of his personalities. Mystery, romance and such. I’d give it a 5 out of 10. I did cry.

Bromance

(Taiwanese) Dear baby Jesus this one was so cheesy and awful but I LOVE IT. Gender bender. Gurl has to pretend to be a boi and falls in love with her friend-bro (a rich BOI). But rich Boi isn’t a jerk in this one (surprising right? His fam is nice too). The side character plot story is REALLY REALLY good. Like they should have been their own show. Bff of rich boi falls in love with a girl with cancer in remission, you can see where this is going… Gender bender, cute, so cheesy that you’ll laugh, gets you with the feels, romance.

Absolute Boyfriend

(Taiwanese) HOLY HELL THIS ONE IS BAD. Like so bad. Gurl makes a robot boyfriend as a joke but ends up actually receiving the robot boyfriend. Neighbor boi is in love with her. She has to hide the fact that robot boyfriend is a robot. It’s bad fam. I still cried at the end though. If you’re looking for a gawd awful drama to watch to make you laugh at how bad it is, watch this one… but also I did cry…

Coffee Prince

Oh man. Genderbender. Poor Gurl pretends to be a boi to get jobs that pay better (I feel you gurl), ends up working with a rich BOI in an all-male coffee shop. Rich BOI falls in love with male her and has a panic attack. Lots of love triangles. The beginning is slow, but worth it to get to the good stuff. Cheesy but really enjoyed this one. SOBBED LIKE A BABY at one point. Worth it watching.

(did i mention the main boi is in goblin??)

Secret Garden

Jerky rich Boi and stunt woman Gurl switch bodies. Gurl is a badass bitch I love her. Takes a while to get to the main plot. Love triangles (what drama doesn’t have one). A solid drama. Cute.

Descendants of the Sun

OMG SO SO SO GOOD. My absolute favorite!!! Doctor Lady and Special operations military Boi fall in love. Often separated b/c of their jobs. Both end up in a (fictional) war-torn place called Erk. Very seriously discusses what it means to be/the morality of a soldier and a doctor. CRIED SO HARD OMG. This drama will change your life. Really well made, writing was amazing. OST is amazing! One of those dramas where the little things come back later on. Everything has purpose and meaning. The two main characters got married in real life!!! 10/10. SO good.

(the main boi legit broke his arm during filming)

Boys over Flowers

Why has everyone seen this one? This is a trash can disguised as a drama. Cheesy, stupid plots, poor communication between the characters that makes you want to scream at them. Yet I couldn’t stop watching it??

Four rich BOIs are the rich SKOOL hot bullies. Poor Gurl comes and ~changes everything~. Leader of the Bois is a jerk-face and of course they fall in love. Love triangles of course. A trash can. An actual trash can. Strangely really long. You must have will power to make it to the end. Watch it, it is a rite of passage.

To the Beautiful You

Korean Hana Kimi for those familiar with the books. Doesn’t follow the books super well but still really good. (So much better than the mess that was the Japanese and Taiwanese versions). It’s really cute and lovely just like the books. Min Ho from Shinee is Sano. He’s a cutie.

Gurl pretends to be a boi and goes to an all bois (college I think? might be high school) to meet her high jumping idol. They end up being roommates and then good friends (and maybe more????). Love triangles. The real OG genderbender. Gay panics. Gay acceptance. An aloof doctor. A cute dog. One of my faves. Plz watch.

You’re Beautiful

Both the Taiwanese and the Korean versions are literally the same scene for scene line for line so just pick one. Gender bender, love triangles. A nun (yes a fucking NUN) Gurl has to pretend to be her twin brother in a band with 3 bois. Can she keep her secret? Will she fall in love with the jerk leader boi and not the other nice boi? Watch to find out. Not the best. Cheesy. Watch if you have nothing else to do or want to laugh at something. Entertaining though.

Moon River

I had such high hopes for this one but it was more of a trash can than Boys over Flowers. Basically the same plot as Boys over Flowers. SO SO BAD. A few redeeming scenes. Not even bad in the way that it’s funny to watch, just bad. Don’t waste your time. I couldn’t even finish this one. 3/10 don’t watch.

Crossing Hero

(Taiwanese) I had a Jiro Wang phase and he directed this one. It’s quirky and cheesy and terrible but I love it. Main boi travels through time to modern day. The two side heroes follow after him into modern day and don’t know how to cope with modern day. The squad gets involved with a reporter and a detective and solve a ~huge~ crime plot. Jiro, our main BOI, just stops showing up in his own drama like halfway through it?? and the side characters become the main characters, which is weird but fine b/c they’re cool.

Horrendously cheesy. Weird. But still good, especially once Jiro stops showing up. Wouldn’t put it anywhere near the top of the To Watch List though. Watch it if you want something totally out of the ordinary.

Oh my Ghostess!

A young virgin ghost possess the body of an extremely shy chef girl to try to bang the head chef and go to Nirvana. The main Gurl getting possessed can actually see ghosts so things get complicated. What happens when main Gurl and main ghost gurl both get the feels for head chef? Will ghost gurl figure out how she died?

Has mystery/crime thriller, spoopy/supernatural, sweet, romance, family, grief and friendship element/themes. Thought this one would be bad but was really surprised at how good it was. Solid drama.

Bring it on Ghost! / Let’s Fight Ghost!

A friend-less boi can see ghosts and fights off ghosts for people for money. Meets a cute high schooler ghost that ends up helping him. Gains two weird ghost obsessed friends (against his will). Will the budding romance between a living boi and a cute ghost gurl ever work out?

Strong Woman Do Bong Soon

YAS QUEEN! A gurl born with super strength is wary of losing her powers and hides them. A serial kidnapper/killer with a creepy baby mask. Crime and mystery drama. A really cute drama. A sweet romance, funny mixed with some sad, decently feministic drama. Great. Watch it.

Suspicious Partner

A lawyer gurl is framed for murdering her ex. A cute prosecutor is caught between doing what is right and trying to not get fired. An unlikely alliance/romance between two people who understand how it feels to be cheated on. Discussion about when the justice system fails, at what point and extent should you take matters into your own hands. Crime thriller, mystery, revenge, law and justice, heartbreak, romance and forgiveness.This one is full of twists and turns. Really good one! Watch it!

ok fam, that’s all of my reviews! Thanks for reading!!!

[mysterybustershq]

cristian’s birthday » event.

we forgot to post it so here it is!

kimi

kimberly didn’t want to be here. while she was fully in support of celebrating the birth of a god, she knew the chances of spending any time alone with him were slim to none. she watched as the mysterybusters tolerated each other, leaning against the wall with her phone in hand. she was considering faking an excuse to leave, but the idea of leaving without saying anything to cristian was too much. but she couldn’t talk to him directly. struck with an idea, she pushed off of the wall. “hey, guys,” she called, loud enough to get their attention. “who’s up for a game?”

isaiah

isaiah had been talking to ashley, when of course kimi interrupted, by calling out about wanting to play a game. isaiah couldn’t help but already get a bad feeling about said game, whatever it may be. he still didnt feel entirely right about being at a party since gina, and he honestly didn’t care about cristian or his birthday (in fact, he couldnt think of something worse to celebrate). but ashley had wanted to come, so of course… isaiah had too. isaiah took  a sip from his bottle of beer, glancing around. “what kinda game? you sound like the guy from saw when you say that.”

blair (rip!)

“i’m sorry i didn’t know we were all in middle school,” blair speaks up from her spot in the room,  eyeing everyone. she didn’t want to be here, celebrating the birthday of her best friend’s ex who, by the way, had cheated on her. it felt wrong but blair hated being left out of things and damaris was here too so that made it more tolerable.

julian

truthfully, the only reason julian tagged along with kimi was to make sure she didn’t end up sleeping with the birthday boy by the end of the night. he sat with a half-empty beer bottle, waiting for someone to pick a game. “spin the bottle is not happening.”

bryce

“but spin the bottle would be so fun!” bryce replied, his words slurred as he finished off his beer- tossing the can over his shoulder. lately he had been drinking more than usual but he didn’t care- it was relaxing.

vanessa

“we have enough drama without whatever spin the bottle would bring.” vanessa deadpanned, eyeing everyone in the group and lingering a little on bryce with a degree of exasperation, not quite able to believe her ears. like they needed THAT on top of everything else. on the other hand… “we could break out the ouija board,” was her suggestion, said with a small shrug as she sat back in her chair, “see if anyone wants to give some birthday wishes from the other side.”

sofia

sofia took a sip of her beer. she was happy to be at crisitian’s party, even if some of the other were not. she grinned when vanessa mentioned the ouija board, nodding. “ouija board? i’m totally down.”

daniel (rip!)

“absolutely not,” daniel said immediately, before the rest of the group got too behind the idea. it was the weekend; it was a party, they needed one night where they were just normal kids without all of the ghost bullshit. “no ouija board. what game do you guys wanna play?”

isaiah

isaiah held up his hands. “no. no. no board.” he said, exasperated, as he so often was whenever vanessa spoke. “i hate to agree with daniel. ” in fact, he hated daniel in general

bryce

reaching for a new beer can, bryce began to chant ouija board over and over again- not really stopping to think that, he wouldn’t enjoy that.

naomi

“yeah, no board. that’s why weird shit always happens to us— we fuck with the dead too much.” naomi commented, as if her opinion mattered. “let’s just play something dumb like truth or dare… or pictionary! better yet, let the birthday boy choose.”

cristian

“uh, yeah, that’s a big no,” cristian exclaimed, following along with the others’ protests, before he sipped the drink in his hand. he had been trying for so long to fight the demon on his back,  using a ouija board at his birthday party would just be asking for it. could he just have a day where it wasn’t brought up ? upon hearing naomi’s suggestion, cristian shrugged. “i don’t really care. just something that doesn’t get in the way of me drinking.” his focus went back to the drink in his hand, but their blank stares egged him on, forcing him to speak up again a bit reluctantly. “or  . . truth or dare, i guess? that sounds as good as anything.” he shrugged again, nonchalantly.

naomi

“truth or dare it is! who goes first?” naomi looks around at the group, raising her eyebrows. “that’s how it goes, right? i haven’t played this game in so long i literally forgot how to play it. well not forgot but just very iffy on how it’s supposed to be played.” this was the first time since the halloween party since naomi had been excited to have some real, non-threatning fun. no ghosts or demons, just her and her friends.

bryce

“i want to go first!” bryce cried as soon as he heard that they’d settled on truth or dare, nearly falling off of the couch in the process. he loved truth or dare- or well, he loved games.

isaiah

isaiah pinched the bridge of his nose, taking another long drag of his beer before deciding to just go with this inevitable disaster for now. he glanced over to where damaris was, and patted the spot next to him, for her to come sit. “i haven’t played truth or dare in like 80 years.”

blair

blair takes damaris’ hand and drags her to where everyone else is, sitting on the other side of her brother. “you ask someone truth or dare, if they answer truth then you ask them a question and if they answer with dare then you dare them to do something. not that hard… idiots,” she mumbles the last part, “so okay, i’ll ask bryce. truth or dare?”

bryce

“oh oh oh,” bryce responded, his eyes lighting up in excitement as he looked at naomi. he was so excited that was getting to start- this was just amazing, his dream come true. “uh- dare! wait no truth,” he responded, “wait no dare! okay that’s my final answer!”

damaris

damaris didn’t really care what they did, or where she was, so long as they could have just One quiet night. getting pulled around by blair was all well and good provided that it was done in a calm environment, though she was considerably happier when she was able to sit in place beside isaiah - best friend one side and about the only person in the group she felt happy and safe around, at this point, on the other. she watched bryce try choose with only vague interest, murmuring to isaiah as he struggled, “to think we coulda been finishing brooklyn 99 instead of being here.”

blair

“i dare you to… not say anything for the next three rounds. vanessa and naomi are already here, we don’t need another chatterbox in the group.” blair flashes him a fake smile, “who’s next?”

sofia

“oh, that’s such a lame dare!” sofia protested,  shooting blair a look. “truth or dare is already less exciting than the ouija board, don’t make it stupid.”

bryce

a frown spread across bryce’s face as he heard blair’s comment, “b-but,” he stammered as he slowly sunk back on the couch, his arms folded across his chest. this sucked. blair was mean.

isaiah

isaiah couldn’t help barking out a small laugh at blairs ‘dare’. “alright. anyways. moving on.” isaiah said, wondering how he always ended up being the one moderating this. “somebody ask blair, or whatever. im getting another drink. anyone want one?”

alex

alex said plainly next to sofia, a smile resting lightly on her face, for once in her life content to be quiet ― half out of general distaste on being called on. “cariña, chill out, it’s not… that bad,” she told her friend. “i mean, truth or dare? not good. but not… that bad.”

naomi

naomi wasn’t even phased by her comment, “i— okay go off i guess…” she shoots bryce a sympathetic smile, looking at isaiah. “i’d like one if you don’t mind!”

julian

“yes,” julian called out, taking isaiah up on his offer. he hadn’t finished his, but worked quickly, chugging the last of it down. “bryce can’t even ask the next person,” he laughed, realizing that the game was now stopped. “who’s next?”

damaris

“do you want a hand?” damaris asked after two people had piled onto his offer, taking any opportunity to exit the game she didn’t have much desire to take part in.

isaiah

isaiah nodded, pointing to naomi and julian to show he’d get their drinks before looking at damaris. she definitely looked like she needed a drink. “i’ll get you one too.” he said, already shuffling off to the kitchen to see what he could grab up. he looked back as damaris called out, and hesitated, before realising she probably just wanted out. “uh yeah, sure. i can’t carry all these drinks myself.” he lied, with a nod.

sofia

sofia made a face and took another sip of her drink.  "still–you know what? tonight’s for cristian. this is what he wanted.“ there was something about alex’s use of cariña that made her heart melt a little, but she ignored that feeling for now. "i’ll go next. somebody ask me?”

blair

blair smirked at everyone’s reactions and leaned back on her hands, waiting for someone to go. “okay! uh… truth or dare sof?” naomi spoke up, hoping to lighten the mood after the rude dare blair had given bryce.

damaris

“don’t want you spilling any!” she was already up and off her feet, stepping carefully around everyone else to join him in the search for more drinks, and more than happy to have even the briefest of escapes. “you as big a fan of the game as i am?” she asked him with a smile as she joined him in the kitchen, naomi’s voice carrying through from the other room. the sarcasm to it was obvious.

sofia

“dare,” sofia replied, leaning towards naomi expectantly, smiling. “always dare.”

naomi

“hm…” naomi tried to think of something good before an idea popped into her head. “i dare you to prank call nathan and act like you’re asking for a booty call.” she clapped her hands together excitedly, proud of herself for thinking that up.

isaiah

isaiah chuckled at damaris’ clear sarcasm. “yeah, i mean … if it makes the others happy, i guess we can both mutually suffer.” he nudged her gently. “plus side is, if we’re gone long enough i doubt anyone will even notice. i doubt we were prime truth or darers anyways.” he joked. he glanced around the kitchen before finding a stray bottle of vodka. “here, let me make you a cocktail. it’ll be good. promise.”

sofia

sofia laughed. “easy.” she pulled her phone out of her pocket, flipping through it for a moment to search for nathan’s number. “let’s see…ah, got it!”  she put it up to her ear, finishing off the end of the beer as it rang on the other line. “nathan?  it’s me, sofia. i was feeling really lonely, and i started thinking about you, and how guys in sweaters are just super sexy. and i know i complain about you telling me what to do all the time, but i can think of one place where i’d be happy to let you…call me back.”

julian

julian sat with his head in his hands, really hoping that isaiah would be coming back with another beer soon. or a gun.

damaris

“so long as my suffering doesn’t become me having to do one of blair’s dares… or truths. they’re probably just as bad,” she chuckled, softly, her affection for the friend she’d left sat inside obvious as her distaste for everything, as a whole. “i don’t know about you not being a prime candidate for it all, though- at least… two of the girls in there, wouldn’t mind getting dared to 7 minutes in heaven with you,” she teased, knowing he was a taken fella ( side eyes at verena ), and also knowing the group. if they had eyes, then they’d thought about isaiah in that way. she grinned and nodded, happily, trusting him totally with whatever it was he was about to make. “i’ll get julian and all their not-amazing-and-specially-made-by-isaiah-maxwell drinks, while you do!”

isaiah

isaiah couldn’t help grinning, as he so often did, just around damaris. he couldn’t help looking at her, even leaning in closer to drop his voice, in faux-flirtatiousness. “what about any of the girls in here?” he couldn’t help tease, before straightening back up, still grinning. “well, know that if i get to pick someone for truth or dare- you’re my prime candidate.” he wasn’t even joking either, he liked doing dumb stuff to and for damaris. he nodded, chuckling. “good idea. now what are you in the mood for? something strong, fruity, sweet, orr… ?” he asked, already grabbing up a few other bottles and inspecting them

nate

Nathan (who was enjoying a glass of wine he got in the clearance basket of Bottle King) was interrupted by the sound of his voicemail inbox pinging. He opened the message, listened, and promptly put his drink down to text the girl back. He had already gone into uncharted territory by going balls deep into Ash, he certainly was not going to try and frickle frack Julian’s cousin.

sofia

sofia blinked in surprise as his quick response. "oh my god,” she said, tilting her phone screen to show alex what nathan had said. she wasn’t that worried about it. who cares what the babysitter thought of her? she sent him a text back and she laughed, shaking her head. “he’s not gonna be able to look me in the eye on monday. amazing–okay, who’s next?”

damaris

she couldn’t even help it- she let out what could only be called a hoot of quiet laughter, struggling to try and sober herself for a play along and a, “oh, i’d definitely be the third girl,” before dissolving into her giggles for a minute. it was absolutely true that she’d once had a tiny ( maybe not so tiny ) crush on the boy before her, and back when he was a relative stranger, she certainly wouldn’t have minded being dared to anything with isaiah - but he was so much MORE to her than just someone nice to look at. he’d maybe become her best friend in the time they’d been rooming together ( sorry blair ) and that was, as they say, that. “consider yourself mine too,” she managed, finally, her mood well and truly upped as she moved about the kitchen, making the others some basic drinks, “why don’t you surprise me? anything isaiah maxwell approved is good by me.” and for once, she really wasn’t saying that to be her eager to please, always-willing-to-let-others-take-the-easy-route self - she trusted him, without rhyme nor reason.

naomi

“good job, sofia. didn’t think you’d go through with it.” naomi crosses her legs and rests her head on daniel’s shoulder. “you can ask anyone in the group now.” she answers.

blair

blair glares at naomi and daniel but says nothing, looking away and waiting for someone to hurry up and ask something so they can finish the dumb game.

isaiah

isaiah grinned, even bigger, as he got the desired reaction from damaris. he had to admit - he had fun with the girl. even when they were doing nothing. she was just so easy to talk to. “stop, you’ll flatter me. i might even blush, mari.” he said playfully.  "damaris lennox wanting me? wait til the rest of the lacrosse team hears. they’ll lose their shit. .also, blairs truth or dares arent that bad. she .. as a whole actually … i dont know. shes different, kinda.“ he shrugged, not knowing how to explain it. "kinda feels like we’re actually family these days instead of two people arguing over a credit card.” he added, as a joke.  isaiah glanced over at damaris once again, before nodding slowly. “sure.” isaiah said, already putting way too much vodka in the drink because he hadn’t seen damaris have fun in ages. he even carefully lined the rim of the drink with sugar crystals, to give her the full cocktail experience. “and you gotta drink the whole thing!” he added, hoping she hadn’t seen how much vodka he’d put in

daniel

as naomi rested her head on his shoulder, daniel was overcome with a wave of affection, not just for naomi but for the whole team. it made him so happy to see them all getting along (kind of). he wrapped his arms around the girls on either side of him, pulling both naomi and ashley closer. “sof, who’re you asking?”

sofia

“me? not go through with a dare? who do you think i am?” sofia scanned the group around her, tapping her finger on her chin as she considered her options.  she raised an eyebrow at daniel, then crossed her arms. “since you interrupted my thinking, daniel: truth or dare?”

daniel

daniel raised his eyebrows and nodded as sofia spoke. “dare,” he answered, not wanting to risk any questions about him and naomi.

sofia

“alright. dare it is. i dare you…” she trailed off, leaving a dramatic pause. in truth, she was trying to find something to get him to do. “uh…take off your shirt. for the rest of the game. y'know. for science.”

damaris

“no one will ever believe you,” she replied with an easy smile, pausing in the pouring of julian’s drink to look over her shoulder at him, “and if i’m asked, i’ll play dumb.” ( writers note: “she’d watched ashley so much, it wouldn’t be hard” would be included here, if damaris was that Type of Character ). “blair’s not bad. not really,” was her swift response, her need to gas up the other girl at a time where it seemed almost right to, too much. it was nice to hear that they were getting on better - it’d always felt like she was friends with blair and then, separately, friends with her brother, and it wasn’t hard to see from either side the divide that had sort of existed there. “i’m glad to hear that,” she said, very genuinely, “i know she cares. about you, i mean- she cares about a lot of people, and things, more than she ever really lets on. it’s good that you two are doing better.” and then, because that was sappy and i, as a writer, shy from anything remotely so, she moved on again. “oof, the whole thing?” she was a little skeptic, of course, but always willing. “i promise i will, soon as we’ve got these back to the others- if they haven’t forgotten, they’re probably wondering what’s taking so long!”

julian

“maris! beers?!” he needed another before daniel’s shirt came off. for sure.

sofia

“ooh, bring me one too!” sofia called, waving her empty beer bottle in the air.

alex

alex pointedly looked away from sofia, nope, nope nope, that is NOT my friend she thought at a giggly loop. she also avoided looking at daniel (lest she not be able to look away) as she completely downed the rest of her drink. “do we have any more wine?!?” she called out towards them.

daniel

“alright, alright,” daniel said with a laugh. removing his arms from the girls’ shoulders, he used his newly freed hands to pull his shirt off. dropping it in ashley’s lap, his eyes scanned the room, deciding who to ask. “alex. truth or dare?”

alex

alex slowly dragged her eyes towards him, “you need jesus,” she murmured to herself. half the idea of not talking was not getting called on, and yet here she was, talking and getting called on. fucking god. “… truth. if i MUST, you profound scoundrel.”

daniel

“truth. truth, truth, truth, truth, truth,” daniel said, tapping his finger tips together mischievously as he considered what he could ask alex. “alright.” his eyes lit up as he decided, shooting her a smile. “are you and sof hooking up?”

isaiah

as more people called out for drinks now, isaiah realised they had been gone for a while. “shit. looks like people are missing us. julian seems to be missing you.” isaiah wiggled his eyebrows. “maybe you and julian could date. think of that! my two best buds. plus, julians handsome. and sweet.” isaiah couldnt help but always want to set up damaris with ANYONE so long as she stayed away from that demon (cristian). isaiah smiled then, warmly, because as always- damaris was just kind, and always willing to talk to him about anything, any time. “yeah, i agree. i mean.. i know she puts on this .. act. or show. but she’s not always like that. and its good to be reminded of that sometimes.” isaiah said, “you’re a really good friend, mari. not just to me.” isaiah poured lemonade now, as well as a splash of orange juice, and cranberry juice. he rummaged for a second, before topping the drink off with an umbrella. “ta daaaaa!” he presented the bright red drink to her. “WE’LL BE THERE IN A SEC!” isaiah called out, as he heard more people wonder about the drinks. “okay, how’d you go? find beer and wine and whatnot? gotta keep the people happy, huh?”

alex

alex slapped her hand on her knee, cheeks heating up at an absurdly quick rate and, with all her being, avoiding even thinking about sofia, looking at sofia, or answering that question. “DARE! i mean dare!” she coped out, like the coward her momma raised her to be. “dare!” where was that wine????

blair

“do you even know how the game works?” blair looks at alex, “you can’t change it once you’ve said it. now answer his question.”

sofia

sofia’s eyes widened, and she felt her face turning pink. she fell uncharacteristically silent. she stared at her empty beer bottle, as if she could will more alcohol into existence.

alex

alex decided to glare at blair firstly, and then turn to daniel. she went with her same flair, and replied evenly, “wouldn’t you just love that?” with that, she kissed sofia harshly on the cheek, leaving a dark red stain, before standing, “i have to use the ladies room!”

ashley

“wait!” ashley called out, not picking up on the awkward tension. “before you pee, ask someone else.”

alex

she, quite commonly, stomped her foot - way for ash to ruin a dramatic exit. “uh, you, go, my young padawan. t or d?” with that she continued her way out.

damaris

“his drink. he’s missing his drink,” she corrected, very, very quick to respond to isaiah’s matchmaking ( which was sweet, but very much unneccessory - in a way that was  a very 'reality star after her 5th breakup of the year, in february’ way, she had long since resigned herself to a period of lonesomeness in aid of 'finding herself’, and it was going very well, she’d have you know ), “i think julian has eyes on someone else, 'zay. but he is very sweet, and definitely the top notch kinda guy i’ll look for some time in the future.” they were having such a wholesome moment, it was very easy forget that they’d left the main party for a REASON, and everyone elses shouts really put a damper on the wholesomeness. maris smiled back at him, kindly, taking the compliment that she was sure she didn’t deserve ( she hadn’t been a great friend of late to ANYONE, but it was nice he thought so ), maris very gratefully took her own drink from him with a 'thank you, isaiah. for everything! not just the drink.’ another smile ( because as a writer, i feel i haven’t yet exhausted my 'she smiled’’s), and grabbed what she could for the others that were yelling. “you grab that wine-” she nodded her head towards the bottle on the top, “and i’ll bring the beers-” they were already in her arms, and she finally made her way back through the door, handing off the nearest one to whoever it was close by.

ashley

“dare.” ashley answered, before leaning over to daniel. “what’s a padawan? should i be offended?” she whispered.

sofia

sofia stood statue-still, watching alex as she stood up with wide eyes. if this were a cartoon, she probably would have little hearts flying around her head. she un-froze, reaching up and touching her cheek lightly before clearing her throat. she made a point to not look at julian. or anyone else. “ISAIAH. BEER. PLEASE.”

bryce

Bryce had honestly lost track of how many rounds it had been- but he was still silent, instead choosing to spend his time throwing things at Micah.

naomi

“it’s something from star wars, i think.” naomi hears ashley’s question and decides to answer before daniel does, “i don’t know. nerd shit.”

micah

micah swatted the object from the air, sticking his tongue out at bryce. he wasn’t paying attention to anyone here, but he was very focused on not being hit. 

kimi

“it’s from star wars,” kimi supplied, watching the two idiots, with her most pleasant voice. was it time for her to go yet? “actually, um, i think i left something in my car, is it cool if i step out to get it?” and never come back?

ashley

“ooooooooh,” ashley nodded, drawing out the word in exaggerated understanding. “i hope it’s not that ugly bear guy.” shrugging it off, she turned back to the rest of the group. “someone dare me.” alex had left, and ashley was too impatient to let the game stall.

cristian

cristian continues drinking, not keeping track of how much, already starting to feel a bit tipsy as he listened on with a curious brow., things getting a bit interesting.

isaiah

it had been hard of late, for isaiah to talk to damaris. she’d been distant, or just unaviailable since the halloween party. isaiah hadn’t felt like they were them for a while. until now. “julian has his eyes on someone?” isaiah couldn’t help repeating, surprised. julian hadn’t ever said anything to him. “you know.. i have a few guys on the lacrosse team. just say the word and you know they’d line up for you. court you even. it’d be like an episode of the bachelorette.” isaiah paused. “not that i watch that.” he added. fake bitch. he smiled, pleased when damaris took the drink. sofia joining in the yelling now. with a small sigh, he turned back, walking with damaris into the room. ( enter gif from community of troy entering with pizza and the place is on fire). “what the… where’d daniel’s shirt go? where’s alex?” he handed the drinks off to julian and sofia and naomi and whoever tf else wanted one. “you guys are all so damn impatient.” he said, with a shake of his head, sitting back down with them though.

julian

happily taking the next beer, julian popped it open, taking a good swig before pointing to ashley. “i dare you to watch a single star wars movie. once in your life,” he said, jokingly, laughing.

sofia

sofia opened her drink up and took a sip as quickly as she could, then headed over and sat next to cristian. there was still a giant lipstick stain on her face. “fuck this game, man,” she mumbled. she looked over at him, leaning forward and resting her chin in her hand. “are you having fun? it’s your party, after all.”

ashley

“i can’t do that,” ashley shook her head. “they look bad. okay, who hasn’t gone yet?”  her eyes settled on the person that had dared her. “julian! truth or dare?”

isaiah

isaiah’s eyebrows raised, unsure as to why they asked julian how he felt about verena. this game was making less and less sense to him. “julian, do you ever pick dare?” isaiah couldnt help asking, genuinely curious.

sofia

“ah, well,” sofia replied with a shrug. “there’s always next year. and the year after that. and the year after that. and the year after…well, y'know.” she hit him softly with the back of her hand, trying in vain to rub the lipstick mark off of her cheek. despite her efforts, she just ended up with a big red mark. “shut up. probably more action than you’ve gotten lately.” she turned to the room, and yelled: “julian never picks dare 'cause he’s a wuss!”

julian

“i pick–” interrupted by sofia, julian frowned. “i do too pick dare! sober julian picks dare. after three beers, julian picks truth.” he raised his beer, taking another swig.

cristian

“the best reporter on the team ?” cristian mocked, glancing at julian with a confused look, finding his answer uninteresting, “weak. we all know you want to bone her, man. just admit it.” he rolled his eyes slightly, shrugging. then, as sofia hit him with the back of her hand, cristian let out a light laugh, which only continued as she tried to wipe the red off her cheek. “ more action than me ? please, ” he poked back smugly, shaking his head.

isaiah

“wait what?” isaiah’s voice was loud, cutting across every other conversation as he looked over at julian and nobody else. “what?” he repeated, and he felt this awful, awful swooping sensation in his stomach. “you… and vee?” isaiah wasn’t sure if it was just cristian being cristian, or if it was true- but isaiah felt terrible suddenly. mainly because he hadn’t thought about vee once that entire night, but also because he truly had never known anything about julian and verena. other then that .. isaiah had to admit he didn’t actually feel … anything, except for surprise.

blair

“yeah… vee your girlfriend. c'mon 'saiah, she and julian have been all heart eyes over each other for months.” blair figured her already knew that but alas.

isaiah

isaiah was nonplussed, “why didn’t anyone tell me ?” he couldn’t help ask finally, still looking at julian for confirmation. “y'all just let me date my best bro’s crush? that’s so uncool of me.”

sofia

“cristian…” sofia said, a warning tone creeping into her voice. she didn’t often find herself in this situation. still, she’d had enough to drink that she couldn’t quite verbalize what she wanted to say. “wait julian, is that true?” she just looked between her cousin and her friend a few times. she scoffed at cristian’s comment. “definitely more action than you. what can i say? the ladies love me.” she was starting to calm down, brush the kiss on the cheek off as a bit. something to tell daniel off. alex didn’t really like her like that…did she?

julian

“i don’t want to–no, hey–” julians voice was drowned out by all the other comments being thrown around. he put his beer to the side, sinking into his seat more, trying to avoid isaiah’s eyes. “he’s just talking shit,” julian said, refering to cristian’s unwanted comment.

bryce

bryce perked up at the sound of his friend’s name, eagerly looking around for her. once he realized that she wasnt there, he sunk back into the couch, as he took a sip of his beer.

isaiah

isaiah still looked unsure, especially because julian wasn’t meeting his eyes. “but blair said it too.” he couldn’t help pointing out, glancing over at cristian briefly. isaiah drank more of his beer down, trying to think of what to say or do now.

blair

“i sure did.” she crosses her arms against her chest and looks over at julian.

cristian

cristian wasn’t even phased. “what?” he declared, looking from julian to sofia and back, unmindful of the sensitive subject he had exposed and not really finding the awkwardness in the situation. “no shame, julian,” he shrugged, “forgot she was your girlfriend though, maxwell. oh well.” his tone came through with a carelessness.

julian

julian chose to ignore cristian, leaving sofia to deal with him. “blair, isn’t it your turn, anyways? come on, back to the game. truth or dare, blair?” he was quick to change the subject.

isaiah

isaiah shot cristian an unimpressed look, before looking back at julian. he still didn’t really want to let this go. “you’d tell me though, right? if you liked her. if you didn’t want me to date her.” isaiah repeated. he didn’t entirely believe julian right now.

blair

“yeah i’m not participating in this game. i only told bryce to shut up to save me from a headache.”  blair shrugs her shoulders,  "so find another contestant.“

bill nye-12/08/2017

bryce narrowed his eyes, his grip on his can tightening as he heard blair’s comment. sure he was probably being annoying, but did she have to be so mean? her words kind of hurt. "s-shut up blair,” he mumbled

daniel

“i’ll go,” daniel volunteered, just wanting to get the attention off the topic at hand and back on something slightly lighter. “do your worst, vega.”

julian

“yeah, i would tell you, man,” julian said, quietly to isaiah, aside from the group. more drunk than sober, julian really thought he was being convincing. “ah, yeah okay. truth or dare, daniel?”

sofia

“you…are trouble,” sofia said, not un-affectionately. “big trouble. like i said before, fuuuuck this game.” she became very interested in her beer again, then found herself staring at the door alex had left from.  at the mention of  the name, vega, she started paying attention to the game again. “ha, daniel is getting dared by both vegas.”

daniel

“dare, i guess,” he nodded as sofia made the decision for him.

julian

“you got the first one, i get this one,” he said, pointing over to his cousin. he then looked at daniel, shirtless, and laughed. “i mean, you’re already halfway there. take your pants off, dude. that’s your dare.” julian was desperate for any distraction he could make to turn the focus off of him.

daniel

with a sigh, daniel stood up, undoing his belt and pulling of his jeans, leaving him in just a bair of boxers. “next time i’ll have to pick truth, gotta keep some of my dignity.” his gaze darted around the circle, settling on cris. “birthday boy. truth or dare?”

naomi

naomi’s cheeks reddened as daniel undressed and she made sure to divert her gaze somewhere else to keep herself from drooling. x

bryce

bryce finds himself drawn to daniel, but after a few seconds of staring he adverts his gaze. 

cristian

almost forgetting he hadn’t gone,  cristian looked up from his drink when daniel called him out and gave the other a bold look, eyes unworried. “dare,” he said as if his response were obvious.

blair

as soon as blair heard daniel call cristian out, she knew what she had to do. “i dare you to tell us who you cheated on damaris with.” at this point, blair does not give (1) fuck about anything.

isaiah

isaiah glanced at damaris, who suddenly looked extremely, extremely sad. he felt a rush of anger, yet again, at cristian, and then looked at blair. “blair… come on, maybe we shouldn’t talk about this.” he couldn’t help putting a protective hand on top of damaris’, offering it a small squeeze and hoping to god they’d change the damn subject

cristian

cristian definitely wasn’t expecting that, his eyes widening as blair finished speaking. he knew that information was bound to get out eventually, but he didn’t think for a second that it’d be like this. part of him wanted to whine and complain about blair’s dare, and maybe it was the alcohol taking over, but he wasn’t the type to just give up defeat. especially when he had just called julian out for not being truthful. cristian gave ashley a subtle, sorry look before speaking, “well, she’s in this room,” he started vaguely, avoiding eye contact with damaris and taking as long as he could to answer the question.

blair

blair glares at naomi.

damaris

in the same way that she had never been able to avert her eyes from horrible events before her, like crashes on the freeway that were impossible not to look at as she drove by, there was some kind of morbid interest in what he had to say. she couldn’t help but WANT to hear the answer she hadn’t had in all the time since, even though her heartbeat was drumming hard and fast and isaiah’s hand on hers, suddenly, was urging her to want anything but. keep the peace. it’d be easy to do, like always - all she had to do was agree with him, shoot down blair’s idea, and let what cristian said fall on deaf ears. let the night go by, without incident. they could have one, NICE night, if she just choked back her words and let someone else change the subject. but she was so sick of it - she was so sick of being nice, and of letting things go by unsaid because she didn’t want to cause a fuss, of letting her feelings fester and mold instead of acting on them. and in spite of better judgement, of knowing that it wouldn’t lead anywhere good, she cleared her throat and said directly to cris, after a long moment had passed, “you don’t see how that’s… worse than not saying anything at all, do you?- because…- because if you hadn’t said THAT, then i wouldn’t be sat here looking at ALL of my so called friends, and wondering if they…- if they were part of ruining what we HAD. instead of just… being honest, and decent, for once in your life, you’re dodging the question, and making everything WORSE, like… like you always do.” a pause, to catch her breath, and then she wa piggy backing on blair’s dare- “who WAS it, cristian?- which one of our friends did you screw on the side?”

isaiah

isaiah kept his eyes on damaris, feeling his own heart twist in pain for her. damaris was the last person who deserved to be treated like this, and seeing her this upset made isaiah want to truly whisk her away, back to the safety of their flat, and watch brooklyn nine nine. suddenly, he really regretted bringing her with him, and playing this dumb game. maybe they should have just stayed in the kitchen. “mari.” he said softly, but he didn’t know what else to say, or do. it was just painful  to see her like this. “blair, why’d you have to bring that up?” isaiah couldn’t help adding, before looking over at cristian. “and you’re a real asshole, dude.”

bryce

bryce chewed on his lip as he noticed the tension in the room, his eyes immediately going towards damaris, to see if she was okay. she wasn’t- but he wasn’t sure what much he could do. she probably wouldn’t want his drunkass trying to hug her, so he settled for a small, sympathetic smile.

blair

“why? because i’m tired of having liars and backstabbers in this group.” blair replies, “and damaris doesn’t deserve to have the truth being hid from her. so, cristian, grow some fucking balls and tell us who you slept with.”

ashley

ashley could feel her heart pounding against her chest as cris answered, her eyes dropping to daniel’s shirt that was still in her lap, her fingers wrapping around a loose thread. her heart broke as damaris spoke, knowing how she felt. she didn’t know if cris would say it was her or not, but she didn’t even give him the chance. “it was me,” ashley blurted out, finally looking up and meeting damaris’ eyes. “i’m sorry damaris, i didn’t know you, or even that you existed. i was gonna say something as soon as i found out, but,” her voice trailed off, not wanting to put that blame on cris.

cristian

ashley spoke up before cristian had the chance, his mouth half open as if it were about to speak but then, with the secret coming to light, his face froze at the blonde’s confession. there wasn’t many times in his life where he was left speechless, but he honestly didn’t really know what to say. “yeah, well,” he mumbled to no one in particular, “there ya’ go.” cristian knew it had to be awful for damaris to have to hear that, especially after all this time– but it had to come out eventually, and at this point, there was not much he could do but accept the consequences. his eyes diverted to the floor for a moment before glancing at damaris with a mix of uneasiness and guilt. “i’m uh– sorry too,” he decided to add, nodding awkwardly, his voice low as he dug his teeth into the bottom of his lip, “sorry you had to find out like this.” his jaw clenched stiffly, uneasy with the vulnerability of the situation, but a part of him did actually feel bad.

blair

blair let out a laugh as ashley spoke up. OF COURSE she was the mystery girl.  and to top it off, cristian confirmed it. “you’re literally such a moron. why are you on the team? let me guess you spread them open for daniel too.” she glares at naomi and daniel before her gaze is back on ashley, “and the fact that you never told damaris… why? to keep cristian from not talking to you or what? my god you’re like a free for all, ashley. is there anyone you haven’t slept with? i’m sure that list is as small as your brain.”

isaiah

the stilted 'im sorry’ from cristian had isaiah glaring even more so at the boy now. isaiah tried not to groan at ashley’s admission. he closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. couldn’t they all just have one night? one night without this crap? without someone sleeping with someone, or somebody kissing somebody else? isaiah didn’t look at ashley, instead fixing his gaze on cristian. “you’re sorry ? wow, that sounds so genuine dude. and you know what? you’ve totally fixed it. damaris is the nicest girl any of us have ever fuckin’ met and you destroyed her. do you think about that? or anything other then yourself?” isaiah couldn’t help snapping. as blair began speaking, isaiah’s eyes closed once again. “blair” he said, sharply.

blair

blair hummed and pointed to isaiah as he spoke, “he’s right. a half assed sorry isn’t going to fix everything, you fucking idiot.” she rolled her eyes as isaiah said her name, “what, isaiah? you’re mad because ashley’s given it to everyone except you? jesus christ you deserve better than someone who has an open twenty four hours sign in between her legs and knows how to count to four.”

isaiah

“blair, for once in your life: shut the fuck up.” isaiah sniped, “ashley can do whatever she wants, its her fuckin’ body.” his eyes finally went to ashley. “so long as it doesnt hurt people.” but it had. it had destroyed damaris, and neither her or cristian had ever said anything. isaiah knew ashley probably didnt intentionally hurt damaris, but it was still awful news, all around

blair

“how about you—” blair doesn’t reply, instead she gets really quiet and sighs. “fine.” she’ll remember this like a true scorpio.

naomi

as soon as the insults began to leave blair’s lips, naomi went to sit next to ashley and wrapped her arm over her shoulder. “don’t listen to her.”  she gives the blonde a reassuring smile. she’s been the target of blair’s wrath before and it was never pretty so the only thing naomi could suggest ashley to do was to just stay quiet.

micah

“fuck off, blair.” it was the first thing micah had said all night. usually, he and blair didn’t butt heads. they were similar, in some ways, and it was why he kind of liked her. but he liked ashley more, and he wasn’t gonna let her be talked about. “it’s her body, and she can do what she wants with it. she doesn’t owe anyone shit.”

cristian

having been initially stunned by it all, cristian was suddenly shot back into reality once blair started to go off. “ hey, hey! no need to attack ashley like that, okay ? just quit it, blair,” he spoke up, his brows drawn in frustration, the intensity of the sitation pushing him to intervene. “ it’s not all on her. i’m definitely more at fault than she is. so just–“  he ran a hand across his face, sighing deeply, evidently annoyed with how shit had gone down hill. cristian rolled his eyes at the maxwells now turning to him with the harsh words, having had enough with people messing in his business. "yes, i’m fucking sorry. what ? i can’t say sorry ?” he spat back, palms out, getting heated, “ i’m well fucking aware that’s it’s not going to fix everything, dude.” eyes narrowed at isaiah.  "and i rather not have to explain myself or plead for fucking forgiveness in front of all of you, when there’s really only one person it concerns.“ he took another heavy sigh, his anger rising.

julian

he didn’t want to draw any attention to himself, but julian had reached the bottom of his beer three blair-drags ago. he quickly rose out of his chair and practically ran away to the kitchen.

damaris

she’d been at peace with it. that was the WORST part - damaris had, in one sense of the words, let it go. her heart still ached when she thought back to what they’d lost, and there were times that she had caught herself looking towards cristian with a crushing sort of sadness at what he’d done ( her mind straying more than she’d admit to the other party, and who she was… question now answered ), but she’d done what she could to move on, and it had shown. ask anyone - they were getting on, now, better than ever. if she closed her eyes then and there instead of wasting all her time staring across at cris, eyes tearful, then she could even conjure up the image of him bending his head over the birthday cake she’d made, and hear their easy back and forth. easy. that’s what it had become, to be around him, to talk to him, or at least… what it was getting to. her heart was MENDING and she was better for it - and then blair had brought it up. she knew her friend had, in her heart of hearts, meant well. whatever her motivations, she had, in a way, meant to do good. but the road to hell was paved in good intentions, and knowing that it was ashley - the girl she’d smiled across the room to every morning since she’d joined, the blonde she’d been so HOPING would end up with the very boy who’s hand she now tore her own from, didn’t make it any better. it didn’t make her feel RELIEVED, to know, and to not have to look at naomi, and kimberly, and vanessa, and the others, and wonder who it was. no - knowing didn’t make ANYTHING better. it just brought it all back again, everything she’d felt when it had first happened. it reopened the wound she’d managed to close, and standing up, damaris was done. she’d gotten what she wanted and she was DONE, with cristian, with ashley, with the whole entire group of people who had until then been sat around celebrating her ex boyfriends birthday."thank you, for your apologies,” her words were stiff and stilted, the lack of emotion behind them startling considering that at current moment, her hands were shaking violently and her heart seemed fit to burst from her chest, “they mean a lot.” they didn’t. it was obvious, they didn’t, but she didn’t care. damaris’ gaze leveled with blair, and she added before anything more could be said, “don’t, blair. DON’T DO THAT. i…- i- you being nasty is just… it’s so uncalled for, right now. don’t pick on her, and insult her, and… and belittle her choices, because you think you’re standing up for me, because you’re NOT. nothing you just said to ashley has made me feel ANY better, and nothing else that comes out of your mouth WILL, so for once just shut up, and stay out of it.” it hurt her, to be so blunt to blair, but it was so important for her to know - for her to let her know, that ripping into another girl didn’t make damaris feel any better at current moment. it took two to tango. they could say all they wanted about ashley, and cristian, but it didnt’ change what they’d done, and it didn’t help. what would help, she knew, was getting herself out of a situation that was making it difficult for her to breathe - and with one final look around ( mostly for dramatic effect by me ), damaris carefully stepped around them all, and made her much needed exit with a softly spoken, “night.” over her shoulder.

ashley

ashley nodded, leaning into naomi’s touch. she wasn’t planning on saying anything; what could she say? blair was right, except for the sleeping with daniel part. and blair should be defending her friend. she shot both micah, cris, and isaiah a small smile, thanking them for defending her.

blair

“oh you guys don’t piss cristian off too much because then he’s going to go off on another killing spree and blame it on the ghosts!” she says sarcastically, still not over the silverwood thing. however as damaris started talking and directed all that attitude at her, blair had just about enough. “oh whatever damaris. i’m tired of you acting like such a weak and soft person and for what? only to be walked all over? cheated on? you’re a mess and trust me when i say that i don’t want to get involved with you or your dumbass drama again. so consider me staying out of it, forever.” she glares at damaris as she leaves and waits a few minutes before gathering her things and leaving as well.

isaiah

there was a beat of silence after damaris spoke, and then stood and walked away. isaiah was speechless. he’d known damaris for a while now and he’d never, ever, ever seen her so heartbroken. he’d never seen her look so destroyed and upset, and he couldn’t help it. isaiah’s attention turned back to cristian, as he stood up now too. “mari-” he called out, knowing it was too late and she’d gone. she probably needed alone time, but that didn’t mean isaiah couldn’t at least try. he turned, to face cristian properly, his palms balling into fists as he glared at the stupid male. “man, you aren’t trying to fuckin’ fix anything. stop pretending like you have some redeeming quality to you, the only reason half of us are here is because of the free alcohol. nobody gives a shit its your birthday because nobody gives a shit about you.” isaiah couldn’t stop, he was on a roll as he walked right over to cristian, for no discernible reason. he thought of this asshole with slimy gross hands touching ashley of all people, and that was what pushed him over the edge. isaiah didn’t realise he’d lifted his arm until it was too late, and then … he was punching cristian right across the jaw.

naomi

“daniel put your clothes on you look like an imbecile.” naomi mutters, grabbing the shirt from ashley’s lap and throwing it in his direction. “you wanna go get something to drink? i know julian’s in the kitchen!”

julian

even though he had ran away, julian kept an ear to the room where the team was, hearing mostly everything that was being yelled at each other. it wasn’t until he heard the sound of the fight beginning that he actually did anything about it. “whoa!” he called out, rushing out of the kitchen. “two fucking seconds–god dammit,” he muttered, looking to daniel. “ah, you get cris?” he said, figuring he would grab isaiah.

cristian

“oh, fucking save it, ma–” cristian started to say, waving off isaiah who was now standing above him, but before he could even finish his sentance, he felt a heated force collide with the side of his jaw, sending cristian through a whiplash of emotions. and just like that, that was all it took. as cristian brought his head back to look isaiah square in the face with such irritation, he almost wanted to laugh. “wrong move, maxwell,” he hissed between his teeth, still soaking up the pain of the punch to the face. it was as if he had been waiting so long for this moment. all the tension and hate had finally built up between the two, and it was all coming to light. almost immediately following, cristian got up with the same force as isaiah had and immediately reciprocated the other’s punch, his body clashing with his opponent’s as the two began to entangle themselves in a brawl.

daniel

daniel had just finished putting his clothes back on and was already on his way over to isaiah and cris when julian returned. he nodded silently at him, moving over to cris as quickly as he could, but was a few seconds too late. flinching as cris threw a punch, daniel gabbed on to him and tried to pull him off of isaiah. “dude, c'mon. let it go. you guys are even now.” couldn’t they just have one night?

julian

julian entered into the fray at the same time daniel did, pulling isaiah back away from cristian, trying not to get hit himself. “you’ve made your fucking points,” he groaned.

micah

“shit. cris, dude–” he tried to grab his best friend, in hopes of pulling him off of isaiah. while micah liked isaiah, and had the confidence that he could take just about anyone else, cristian would eat him alive. “dude, stop. both of you.”

vanessa

“Well,” from her place sat in the corner, clutching her drink like she’d just been on a wild rollercoaster and had to keep it safe ( which is what the past ten minutes had felt like ), Nessa let out a low whistle under her breath announcing to them all, “Your display of testosterone is really, really cool and all- really, I think Naom.. some very eager beaver might just PEE herself … or himself, with all these hot men bickering right in front of her, or him, but- maybe you should both ask yourselves very carefully, 'does it solve anything to punch my foe again and again’? And if the answer is no, then.. don’t.” She paused, considered, and then clarified ( though she didn’t expect her words to do any kind of good ), “this isn’t a test, the answer is very much NO, so quit it and drink your problems away like normal people.”

kimi

kimberly… well, she planned on leaving. and she wanted to, really. then the game got interesting, and she wasn’t the type to miss a good show. it wasn’t like she didn’t already know cristian and ashley were fucking. it was how she and cristian met, really. but she did feel a sting in her chest, having to hear it announced to the whole group. she hated it. but, apparently, not as much as everyone else. she sat back and watched as the group imploded. she wasn’t surprised by that either; any “pure, wholesome night of good, pure fun” was bound to be ruined by either ashley’s stupidity or someone else’s big, fat mouth. (or lana’s dramatic ass passing out. whatever.) as fun as that was to watch, nothing quite compared to watching cristian attack isaiah. she bit her lower lip, suppressing a smile. oh, she’d be having good dreams tonight. she listened to what nessa said, giving her a small fraction of her attention, as her eyes followed cristian’s form. “drinks would be good,” she commented in response to vanessa. her voice might’ve been a little high pitched, but she could blame that on nerves. and not the fact that this fight was turning her on a little.

cristian

chest heaving with adrenaline, cristian eventually allowed himself to be pulled from isaiah, his eyes still rushing with fury as his two friends stopped him. he didn’t say anything – just gave isaiah a dirty look as their fight came to an end, and nodded reluctantly to micah and daniel at his sides, his arms settling. he wasn’t one to give in easily, so his chin still held up superiorly as he turned away.

[thedeliverygod]

I have time to kill before work sooo

tagged by @twilightown

LAST: 1. Drink: water 2. Phone call: probably with my mom on the way to get Roxy 3. Text message: I sent one to dad saying one of his cats had a spot of fur missing 4. Song you listened to: ummm not sure actually 5. Time you cried: also not sure on that one unless it was after I got denied time off for Animazement but it ended up working out anyway so it’s alright

HAVE YOU: 6. Dated someone twice: uhhhhh I guess no. we never officially broke up the first time, just went on a break. but we’re broken up for real now 7. Kissed someone and regretted it: No 8. Been cheated on: No 9. Lost someone special: yeah 10. Been depressed: a lot in my adult years lol anxiety and depression tries really hard to kick my ass and it’s only with medication and therapy that I’m standing a fighting chance against them 11. Gotten drunk and thrown up: I haven’t ever drank that much, it tastes too gross to me.

LIST 3 FAVORITE COLORS: 12-14: lavender, sky blue, and light pink

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU: 15. Made new friends: yes 16. Fallen out of love: um.. I guess so. I miss the good times but I know how bad the end of the relationship was and I know I can’t risk getting into that again. 17. Laughed until you cried: I think so 18. Found out someone was talking about you: not really 19. Met someone who changed you: suppose so 20. Found out who your friends are: eh I guess 21. Kissed someone on your Facebook list: friend list? my ex-boyfriend when we were still in a relationship, yeah

GENERAL: 22. How many of your Facebook friends do you know in real life: most I would say but some I’ve only seen at conventions for like 5 mins lol 23. Do you have any pets: quite a few yes. 24. Do you want to change your name: kind of but I don’t know what I would change it to.  25. What did you do for your last Birthday: went out to eat Japanese food and watched movies at home 27. What were you doing at midnight last night: sleeping 28. Name something you can’t wait for: Kingdom Hearts III trailer coming next week and EXP con! 29. When was the last time you saw your mom: this past Monday 30. What is one thing you wish you could change in your life: I wish I could financially support myself on my own 31. What are you listening right now: Nothing but the clicks of my dad’s wife’s mouse and my own typing lol 32. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: I’m sure 33. Something that is getting on your nerves: idk lots of life issues lol 34. Most visited website: Tumblr 

LOST QUESTIONS. I JUST PUT IN RANDOM INFO ABOUT ME 35. Mole/s: nope 36. Mark/s: yeahh, a few scars and definitely stretch marks 37. Childhood dream: first I wanted to be a vet, then I wanted to be a novelist. Then in high school I wanted to be a sound designer and then in college I switched to video editor and yeah idk what I’m doing with my life now lol. 38. Hair color: it’s red but my roots (brown) are getting pretty bad 39. Long or short hair: short 40. Do you have a crush on someone: Nah. I kinda wish I would meet someone but idk my situation kinda sucks anyway lol 41. What do you like about yourself: that I’m generally a happy person and I seem to get along with most people relatively easily. 42. Piercings: none. 43. Blood type: I don’t know actually. 44. Nickname: FedEx, Yat. 45. Relationship status: Single 46. Zodiac: Aries 47. Pronouns: She/her/he/him. honestly I’ll take whatever but I’m usually flattered when I get male pronouns 48. Favorite TV Show: Noragami anime wise, Prison Break & Scrubs regular TV wise. 

49. Tattoos: I’m really considering getting a tiny crown that would represent both Kingdom Hearts and Noragami but idk. 50. Right or left hand: Right 51. Surgery: I haven’t had any. 52. Hair dyed in different color: yeah I’ve been dying it red since I turned 18 53. Sport: hockey is my favorite sport, big fan of the Carolina Hurricanes (I also work for them) 55. Vacation: I haven’t been on one in a while 56. Pair of trainers: I only have 1 pair of tennis shoes but tbh I need new ones MORE GENERAL:

57. Eating: nothing 58. Drinking: also nothing really. 59. I’m about to: get ready for work :( <-same lol 61. Waiting for: KH3 trailer next week, payday tomorrow, day off on Saturday 62. Want: my life back lol I feel like I don’t have enough time to do anything 63. Get married: eventually~ 64. Career: not sure anymore but I’m really hoping to get into the JET program and go teach English in Japan.

WHICH IS BETTER 65. Hugs or kisses: Hugs  66. Lips or eyes: Eyes 67. Shorter or taller: I like when people are the same height as me 70. Nice arms or nice stomach: arms 71. Sensitive or loud: Sensitive 72. Hook up or relationship: Relationship 73. Troublemaker or hesitant: Hesitant

HAVE YOU EVER: 74. Kissed a Stranger: definitely not 75. Drank hard liquor: I guess yeah but its gross 76. Lost glasses/contact lenses: no 77. Turned someone down: Yeah 78. Sex on the first date: nooo 79. Broken someone’s heart: I guess 80. Had your heart broken: Yeah 81. Been arrested: no 82. Cried when someone died: yeah 83. Fallen for a friend: yeah

DO YOU BELIEVE IN: 84. Yourself: sometimes it depends on the thing though lol 85. Miracles: idk but I always hope for them 86. Love at first sight: No 87. Santa Claus: not anymore lol 88. Kiss on the first date: idk depends I suppose 

OTHER: 90. Current best friend name: uuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh idk.. tbh. 91. Eye color: hazel 92. Favorite movie: The Lion King, Titanic, and honestly Kimi No Na Wa aka Your Name is so freaking amazing and I need it on blu ray ASAP. 

tagging whoever to take this cuz yeaahh~

[elvendara]

Dr. Yoosung Kim (4)

“MC!...MC!” Saeran screamed as he rummaged through his closet and drawers. He had built a nice mountain of discarded clothes around him. Nothing was right. He dug his fingers into his hair and pulled in frustration. He stalked to his door and flung it open.

“MC!” he screamed again, right into her face.

She’d been running to his room, Saeyoung right behind her.

She reeled backwards, startled, and bumped into Saeyoung, who grunted from the impact.

“Oh, sorry.” Saeran said. He grabbed MC’s wrist and pulled her into his room. Saeyoung stepped in as well.

“I…I have nothing to wear!” Saeran moaned.

“Uh, what the hell Saeran?” Saeyoung stated. Saeran’s room looked like a clothes tornado had hit it.

“Saeran, honey, what’s wrong?” MC encircled his wrists, pulling his fingers out of his hair. He looked positively wretched.

“I have a…a…well…a date.”

MC and Saeyoung exchanged a glance, Saeyoung’s face splitting into a grin.

“With?” he asked, Saeran had rarely left his room the past three weeks, let alone the house.

“Yoosung. He called me. He wants me to meet him after work. And, I…I have nothing but this!” he gestured to the myriad of T-shirts and jeans ranging from blue to black, most with tears in them.

“He’s a doctor! I…I can’t wear this!” MC laughed. “It isn’t funny! What am I going to do?”

“Where are you meeting him?” MC asked, trying to calm him down. Saeyoung pushed a pile of clothes off the bed and sat, pulling his left leg up, tucking his foot against him. He placed his elbow on his knee and his chin on his fist, watching the unfolding drama with amusement.

“The ice cream shop. Kimi’s.” Saeran’s heart was beginning to slow down, he stared into MC’s brown eyes and her stillness helped his anxiety.

“I don’t think he expects you to dress up for that Saeran. Why don’t you just find a clean shirt, something without a logo on it, your pants are fine, there’s only one tear in it. You’ll look nice! You should wear your choker too.”

“What? No. He’s a successful man. He wounl’t want to date someone like me. Why am I even thinking about this? He isn’t going to like me.” Saeran tried to run his fingers through his hair again but MC still had his wrists in her hands.

Saeyoung threw a pillow at Saeran’s head.

“Hey!” Saeran pulled away from MC, picked up the pillow and threw it back at Saeyoung. He caught it and threw it back, rising from the bed. He slapped Saeran’s arms before he attempted to pick up the pillow again.

“Don’t be an idiot Saeran. If he didn’t like you he wouldn’t have called. MC’s right. The collar is you. Don’t change for anyone!” he embraced Saeran. Saeran resisted at first but then relented and wrapped his arms around his brother. MC joined them.

“Thank you.” Saeran whispered.

………………………………………………….

Saeran, dressed in a black T-shirt, blue jeans, leather jacket, and black biker boots, walked towards Kimi’s. He’d even decided to put his eyeliner on. He worried that it would be too much, but Saeyoung was right, if Yoosung didn’t like the way he dressed, then he didn’t really like him. He would be early, but he’d been too anxious to wait any longer. He opened the door and walked in. The 80’s pop streaming through the speaker grated his teeth. He scanned the room, there were two couples, and Saeran stared a little too long at their body language. He blushed when he realized he was thinking of having that with Yoosung. He made his way to the corner table and sat down. He lowered his head, his hands fidgeting on the table. After a few seconds, he couldn’t stand it so he took his phone out and texted Saeyoung, just to waste time, and take his mind off his nervousness.

Saeran: I’m here, still have 20 min. to wait.

Saeyoung: Don’t worry, he’s gonna love you.

Saeran smiled, hoping it was true.

Saeyoung: MC wants me to tell you to remember to smile. It’s a date, not a funeral.

Saeran rolled his eyes. But tucked that info into the back of his mind. He did have a tendency to frown, even when he was happy.

Saeran: I’ll remember.

“Saeran?” Saeran was startled and dropped his phone on the table. It clattered loudly and Saeran was mortified.

Yoosung smiled as Saeran stood. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to surprise you.” He was slightly flushed. He looked beautiful. He wore his work clothes. A pink button down shirt, a darker pink tie, and khaki pants. His blonde hair was well groomed, but he’d clearly run his fingers through it, there were some wisps that stood out and were misbehaving.

“It’s fine. I just wasn’t expecting you yet.” Saeran’s hands were sweating, he ran them down his pants to dry them.

“Nora offered to close up for me, I was a little anxious. I guess she just wanted me out of the clinic.” He laughed.

“You were anxious?” Saeran asked.

“Yes.” He looked into Saearn’s mint eyes and they just stared at each other, the silence easy. Saeran broke the stare and looked down, scuffling his feet and running his finger beneath his collar, suddenly it was very hard to breath.

Yoosung brought his hand up and ran a finger across the collar. “That looks good on you.” He said. Saeran snapped his eyes up, wondering if Yoosung was mocking him, but the grin on his face said otherwise.

“Should we get some ice cream?” Yoosung asked, looking away, suddenly shy again.

Saeran nodded, not trusting his voice. He picked up his phone and stashed it in his back pocket. It vibrated but he ignored it.

They stood in line behind a married couple with two children who excitedly scanned the ice cream flavors, changing their minds constantly. Yoosung smiled at the children, his eyes glittering.

“Do you like children?” Saeran asked, not really sure why, he just wanted to hear Yoosung’s voice again.

“I never really thought about it, but yes, I guess, I do. You?” he asked in return.

Saeran shrugged. “I’ve never really thought about it either. I guess they’re ok. I haven’t had much interaction with children.”

“Are you an only child?” Yoosung questioned.

“No.” Saeran shook his head. “I have a brother, we’re twins actually.”

Yoosung’s smile brightened his face. “Oh, that must be nice!” he exclaimed.

Saeran quirked an eyebrow and scowled.

Yoosung’s smile faded. “Or not?”

Saeran shrugged again. “It has its moments I guess. Saeyoung, that’s my brother, can be a bit much sometimes. He likes to play pranks on us, sometimes they go overboard.”

“Us?” Yoosung asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

“Me and my sister-in-law, MC. I don’t know how she can stand him. But she gives as good as she gets I guess, they were made for each other.” Saeran sighed. Yoosung giggled and it made Saeran’s cheeks blush. He liked the sound. He wanted to illicit it again.

The family, having finished paying, moved on and it was their turn.

“Want to share a banana split?” Yoosung asked.

“Sure, that sounds great.”

“Um, what flavors do you like?”

“Strawberry, and anything else really. I love ice cream.” Saeran tried to keep the glee out of his voice, but he did indeed love ice cream.

Yoosung smiled at the look in Saeran’s eyes, enjoying his time with him.

They ended up with Strawberry, Mint chocolate chip (because it reminded Yoosung of Saeran’s eyes), and Vanilla. They grabbed a spoon each and headed back to the table Saeran had been sitting.

Yoosung placed the dish in the center of the round table and they took seats opposite each other. Saeran’s phone vibrated again, and he impatiently took it out of his pocket.

“I’m sorry, it’s my brother.”

“Go ahead.” Yoosung told him, scooping out some mint chocolate chip ice cream and placing it in his mouth. Saeran was hypnotized by those lips, how they surrounded the spoon, a flicker of tongue around it. He had to close his eyes and focused on the phone. He had five messages from Saeyoung and one from MC.

Saeyoung: Ok, good, good luck!

Saeyoung: We’re rooting for you!

Saeyoung: Why aren’t you answering?

Saeyoung: Is he there already?

Saeyoung: MC wants to know what he’s wearing!

MC: No I don’t! Just be yourself Saeran, he’s going to love you!

Saeran: Shut up!

Saeran: Thanks MC…

The first text he sent to Saeyoung and the second to MC, with a smile. He looked up as he put his phone away and saw that Yoosung was staring at him.

“Good news?” he asked.

“Huh?”

“You were smiling. I assumed it was good news.” Yoosung said, taking another scoop of ice cream.

Saeran grabbed his spoon and took a scoop himself. “My sister-in-law, just, wishing me luck.”

“Oh? What did she say?” Yoosung prodded.

“Do you really want to know?” Saeran asked, blushing, the ice cream melting at an alarming rate inside his mouth because his body temperature seemed to be skyrocketing.

“Mmhm.” Yoosung answered, around another spoonful of ice cream.

“She…she said that you were going to love me.” He couldn’t believe he’d actually told Yoosung. His ears felt like they were on fire.

“I think she’s right.” Yoosung said softly and reached to place his hand on Saeran’s on the table. Saeran glanced up at Yoosung and just fell into his lavender eyes. His heart raced and his skin tingled at his touch. He laced his fingers through Yoosung’s and the other man smiled, flushed once more.

An arm reached between them and sent the ice cream splattering to the floor. Yoosung and Saeran let go of each other and stood. Bethany stood there, glaring at Yoosung, her mouth hanging open, her fists at her side.

“So, this is why you broke up with me?!” she screeched into Yoosung’s face. “Because you’re a faggot? !” she pushed Yoosung, who stumbled over his chair and landed on the ground. Saeran ran around the table and helped him up.

Yoosung held his hands up in front of him. “Bethany, stop.”

“How long were you cheating on me with this emo-wanna-be?!” she screamed. The few people who were in the shop stared openly, Saeran was thankful the family had taken their ice cream to go. Children should not watch this.

“I never cheated on you.” Yoosung whispered, he looked like he wanted to crawl under the table and hide. There were tears in his eyes, and he rubbed at them fiercely. Saeran’s chest felt crushed. Yoosung didn’t deserve this.

“Are you going to cry again? Oh my god! I’m the one who was wronged here, don’t stand there and act like the victim! No wonder you never wanted to touch me, you fag! I guess you’d rather suck dick than….”

“That’s enough!” Saeran stepped between them and grabbed her wrist. She pulled away from him and stepped around him, slamming her fist into Yoosung’s face. There was an audible gasp from the other patrons and workers in the shop. Saeran saw red. He grabbed her wrist again and yanked her outside. She protested but he wouldn’t let go. Once outside he flung her down the sidewalk, clenching his jaw, he stalked slowly towards her. His khol framed eyes making his minty green irises bright and striking. Bethany took a step back, her eyes large and frightened. He stopped, inches away from her face and growled, “Stay away from him you gold digging piece of shit! Find yourself another mark, he’s mine now.”

“You…you can’t threaten me! I’ll call the police!” she tried to back away, but she was rooted in place by his piercing eyes.

“Go ahead. They can’t protect you from me. If you ever, EVER, hurt Yoosung again, I will track you down, and I will hurt you right back! Do I make myself clear?”

Bethany gulped and nodded.

“Go the FUCK away now.” He grated through clenched teeth.

Without another word, Bethany turned and ran. Saeran straightened up and once she was out of his sight, he turned back towards the shop door. Yoosung stood right behind him, everyone else was glued to the windows inside the shop.

Suddenly he felt ashamed at how he had reacted and looked down. “I…I’m sorr…” he didn’t finish before Yoosung had stepped into him, grabbed his face in his hands and kissed him passionately. Saeran could taste blood, where his lip had been split by Bethany’s blow. He sucked on it lightly, not wanting to hurt Yoosung. Yoosung moaned and his mouth opened in invitation. Saeran slid his tongue inside and twisted it around Yoosung’s. He placed his hands on his hips and pulled him against his chest. Yoosung responded with another moan and a whimper, which sent fire through Saeran’s body. They pulled apart reluctantly.

“I…I hadn’t meant to do that just yet.” Yoosung said with crimson cheeks.

“I’m glad you did.” Saeran grinned.

“No one’s ever stood up for me like that before. Thank you.”

“I didn’t like that she hurt you. You don’t deserve that. You’re a good man.”

Yoosung wrapped his arms around Saeran’s shoulders. He couldn’t stop the tears, he was so happy.

Saeran clutched at Yoosung. The people in the shop still watched them, but now they had smiles on their faces, some of them even gave Saeran a thumbs up when they saw he had noticed them. Saeran closed his eyes and grinned even wider. All things considered, this hadn’t been such a bad first date at all.

Yooran Fanfic List

[makochosena]

‽

Send me a ‽ … | @longlocked | always accepting !!

And I’ll how you a glimpse of an ORIGINAL CHARACTER I have played/considered playing!

❝ Hey, dad. ❞ Mizuki smoothed her ruby robes before kneeling on the grass. A strand of hair came loose from the gold crown atop her head, which she tucked behind her ear. The young woman shifted her cat-like, golden gaze from the ground to what she was kneeling before–a grave. If one didn’t bother to read the inscription, anyone who saw this grave without context would assume it was a monument of sorts made from the finest marbles. Engraved in gold read: “Here lies Prince Li,” “husband, father, hero,” “died 158 AG,” along with a longer description. 

Mizuki took a deep breath and continued, pretending she was truly talking with her father this warm and cloudless afternoon. 

❝ Everything’s good…I guess. I mean, it’s still the same since I last saw you. The Nation is doing fine. Mother’s handling everything very well–but it is very stressful work and she’s doing it all by herself. I haven’t seen Ro in some time but he calls every so often to check in. I do wish he’d come home and visit sometime. He has much to do if he wants to become the next commander. But everyone is positive he will do just fine. ❞

The princess paused and adjusted herself slightly. 

❝ Mother’s doing okay. She still misses you, even after all this time and even though she would never outright say it. You know how she is. She dislikes worrying others. And she has Grandfather–he has been helping her very much. And she has me… ❞

Another pause.

❝ Oh, me? I’m… ❞ Mizuki sighed.  ❝ I’m still the same, dad. I’m still in the exact same place as I was last year…and the year before. I’m still here, doing nothing but being a burden for Mother and Grandfather. I’m far too inadequate to do anything. I hate it. I hate myself. I feel like I’m just going to rot in the palace and I…I don’t know what to do…I wish you were here, dad. I still miss you so very much. I wish I could talk to you face to face…not like this. Not like talking to a hunk of rock. ❞

Meet Mizuki, Crown Fire Princess of the Fire Nation, my OC for L.egend of Korr.a. 

I read once somewhere that F.ire Lord Izu.mi had a daughter that was to be introduced in Book Four but the idea was eventually scrapped. And I was disappointed with the lack of Fire Nati.on overall in l.ok and bam! Mizuki was born. I’ve been heavily debating on making a blog for Mizuki on here, but decided against it because I wouldn’t really be able to make her a fandomless OC that I’ve done with all my others. The canon of atl.a/lo.k heavily influences her character and just overall didn’t want to go for it. I am writing a quick lil fic about her though!

Quick facts under the cut:

Hair color: very dark brown. Eye color: gold. Skin: extremely pale. Height: 5′3″. Weight: 110 lbs. Age: 23 at Book One (younger sister to Iro.h II). 

Firebender. Can generate lightning. 

Alias: Kimi (when she goes undercover)

Mizuki is cool, calm, and reserved. She can even come off as cold and rude initially. She’ll never truly show her feelings, will never expose weakness, and will never ask for help. She’s extremely stubborn and prideful, to the point where it gets her into trouble. She is diplomatic and a pacifist when it comes to war but at the same time is literally always down to fight (physically and with words). 

However, Mizuki is also very kind, caring, and gentle with those that she trusts. She loves deeply and will go to the ends of the earth for her loved ones. She’s quite curious and adores meeting new people. She has a strong sense of justice, always does what is right. It’s very hard for her to do something bad, like lie, steal or cheat. Mizuki is book-smart and dislikes stupidity. However, she is the farthest thing from street-smart. She’s extremely spoiled (grew up a princess, after all!) and fiercely independent. 

Mizuki does not have the best mental health. She suffers from depression, low self-esteem, and has a great inferiority complex. This inferiority complex has led to Mizuki constantly try to win the approval of others and prove that she is more than capable of whatever you throw at her. 

Growing up, Mizuki was a very sickly child. As a result, she spent most of her time in the palace and out from the public eye. She didn’t have many friends and sometimes she spent more time with doctors than with her family. Not because the royal family didn’t love her, but because they believed her health had to come first. 

The type of environment Mizuki grew up in is drastically different than from what we’ve seen Zuk.o grow up in. There is a strong de-emphasis on becoming the best firebender ever. Children learned how to firebend if they wanted to, not because they had to. Due to Mizuki’s poor health and lack of natural talent with the element, she was never really trained to firebend. She could produce a flame but not much else. Iro.h, on the other hand, was a natural prodigy and excelled at the art. Mizuki felt like she grew up in her older brother’s shadow and desperately wanted to firebend so she could prove herself to her family. She felt a dire need to live up to being “Zuko’s Granddaughter.”

Mizuki turned to the books. She read practically every book in the palace and tried to learn how to firebend that way if Izumi believed it was unsafe for her to be trained. Mizuki also turned to spirituality and is actually an incredibly spiritual person. Eventually, she could even mediate to the Spirit World (but never thought the skill would be very useful). 

I named Izumi’s husband Li, who died suddenly when Mizuki was little. She was very close to him, closer than she was with any other family member, and when he passed, Mizuki felt a disconnect with her family. That, on top of not having many friends, on top of growing up hoping the Avatar would come visit the Fir.e Na.tion Pa.lace but never did, Mizuki grew up extremely lonely. She was never allowed to leave the palace, let alone the Nation, and all she’s ever wanted to do was see the rest of the world. 

She’s such a total nerd for Team Avatar. 

Mizuki has met A.ang once, when she was four, and she still remembers it. 

In my fic, Mizuki eventually can properly firebend and slowly but surely masters it. Her passion for the art and desperation to prove herself is so intense that her fire burns white. 

She also has a pet dragon named Ama. 

 I GOT SO CARRIED AWAY I AM SO SORRY 

i can write you an entire book on Mizuki and the f.ire na.tion r.oyal Fam tbh 

[miss-writes-a-lot]

Persona 6 Chapter 14: Not All Princes Become Kings

The smoke cleared from the grounds. There, standing tall and proud was Isas, towering over his defeated shadow. He smirked in satisfaction. It's over now...we're safe.

"ISAS!"

Isas whipped around to see Jumin, a side of his face covered in dried blood, dizzly stumbling over to him, supported by a pillar.

Isas smiled, letting out a light laugh before running towards him, lunging at him into a tight hug. "Welcome back, man..." Jumin whispered weakly.

"It is- it's good to be back..." Isas replied.

Jumin smiled, but stopped once the ground beneath them began to shake vigorously and the castle began to collapse. Isas pushed away from Jumin, panic flooding his face.

"You have to leave! NOW!" Isas shouted.

"BUT WHAT ABOUT YOU?!" Jumin yelled back.

"BUT-" Isas went up to him and hugged him once more, heavier debris falling around them. "I'll see you on the other side....now go!" He commanded.

Jumin gripped his shirt before  nodding and letting go. He gave Isas one last smile before Kimi yelled for him to run.

"HURRY! WE DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME!" Suki cried. Jumin nodded and ran away from the chaos. Isas smiled and went the other way, for he knew his own way out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The trio barely escaped with their lives as they all shot out of the waterfall and into the water itself. The girls surfaced, gasping for air and swam to the shore, falling face down once they got to the grass, still gasping for air.

"Oh god...never...AGAIN!" Kimi gasped.

"Yes," Suki glupped for air, "I-I can agree with that..."

The girls were about to take a breath of relief, when they remembered something. "JUMIN!!!'

They quickly stood and scanned the area, only to find him lying face up just a few feet where they themselves had landed. They raced over and fell beside him. He sat up once they fell next to him and wrapped him in a tight hug. "THANK GODS YOU'RE OKAY!" Suki exclaimed, beginning to cry.

Kimi broke away from the hug, tears spilling from her eyes, and punched Jumin hard in the chest. "OW!! WHAT THE HELL?!"

"IF YOU EVER DIE ON ME AGAIN, I SWEAR I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!" Kimi sobbed.

"Okay! Okay! I won't die....I'm..I'm sorry..."

Kimi sniffed, getting rid of any remaining tears in her eyes and on her face. Jumin smiled at her, until something clicked in his head. He hastily took out his phone and checked the time. In only four seconds it became midnight. "Something wrong?" Suki asked.

Jumin turned to look at them both, showing them his phone. "Just turned midnight...March ninth..."

They both let out a quiet gasp. "Does that mean...?"

A big smile crossed Jumin's face. "We did it. We won..." The girls faces lit up. The trio suddenly began laughing, pulling each other into one tight hug, as tears began to fall.

They did it. They won! They saved Isas!

Then unexpectedly, a light shined through the trees. "JUMIN! JUMIN!" Someone called. It was Jumin's father, holding a flashlight and searching for him.

"Dad?" Jumin questioned. He broke away from the hug and stood up just as his father had stepped into the clearing. Relief crossed his face as he ran to the young brunette and embrace him in a protective hug. "U-uh, dad-?"

"Don't you EVER scare me like that again! I thought you were dead!" Yu cried, gripping onto his son's hoodie. Jumin was a bit stunned by the sudden burst of emotions, but they were truly justified. Jumin sighed and rested his chin on his father's shoulder. "I'm sorry I broke our promise dad..." Jumin said.

Yu held him a little tighter before relaxing, rubbing Jumin's back. "It's okay...I know you didn't mean to...it's kinda hard to promise not to die."

Jumin chuckled a bit. He broke away from the hug to face his father with a smile. Yu smiled back, when he noticed something. He brushed back Jumin's bangs to find a large scar going across the right side of his head. Grey's gonna kill us...

"Does it hurt?" He asked. Jumin shook his head. "J-just the inside of my head...and my entire body."

Yu nodded. "We'll get you fixed up in the morning. You just need rest for now..." Jumin tiredly nodded as he rested his chin on his father's shoulder.

"C'mon, you at least have to be awake for the walk to the car. I'm too old to be carrying you like a baby!" Yu said. Jumin sighed. "Fiiinneee."

Yu chuckled and patted his son's head. He looked up at the girls. "You two wanna ride back home?" Yu asked.

"If it's not too much to ask...?" Suki asked. Yu shook his head. "Not at all. Come on."

Suki nodded and the girls followed them out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suki was dropped off a little before 1am. She tiredly dragged herself to the front door as Yu's car left back to Jumin's house. She unlocked the front door, quietly stumbling into the hallway to find to her surprise, Akiniko, dead asleep on the couch. Suki smiled. He waited for me...He gave up going to sleep for...me.

Her smile than faltered. But why for me...?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

March 9th, 20XX

Sunday

Noon/Midday

The trio had decided to sleep in for awhile before going to visit Isas. When they woke up, their bodies felt so sore they could hardly stand straight, but they still managed to drag themselves to the hospital.

Suki found Kimi and Jumin in the waiting room. Jumin had his hood up and was on his phone, while Kimi was falling asleep. "Ugghhhh..." Kimi groaned.

"You slept for about twelve and a half hours, how are you still tired rather than in pain?" Jumin asked. "Pain over powered me...I hardly slept a wink last night." She moaned in response.

"Really? My mom just gave me a bunch of pain killers and I was out."

"Your mom's weird."

"It runs in the family." Suki walked over to them, a soft smile to her face. "Oh, hey Suki!" Jumin greeted with a smile.

"Hey Suk.." Kimi groaned again.

"How's Isas? Can we see him?" She asked.

Jumin nodded. "We're waiting for them to give us the okay."

"Better be soon. Kimi doesn't seem like she can last much longer." Suki said jokingly.

Jumin chuckled quietly, trying not to make too much noise so he wouldn't draw attention to himself. Just then, a nurse with a clipboard walked up to the trio.

"Are you friends of Isas Chikako?" She asked.

Jumin bit his lip and nodded. "You can see him now. He just woke up." Without another word, the trio rushed to Isas' hospital room. Kimi threw open the door, a big grin plastered on her face. "We're-?!" Kimi started but stopped once they noticed something. Isas was fine. He was sitting up in bed, looking as healthy as could be, but it was his eyes that were different. While his right eye was still its dark brown, his left...was clouded.

He was blind in one eye.

Isas smiled nervously. "W-well? What do you think?" They were all silent. Isas sighed and looked down at his hands. Jumin stepped forward and sat at the edge of his bed, looking at the floor as he held one of his hands. Isas smiled. The girls walked in. Kimi leaned up against the wall as Suki stood in front of the bed.

"So, how are you feeling? Is everything okay? Y-you know, besides the...y'know..." Kimi asked. "Surprisingly, yes. Other than my poor vision, I am completely fine! It almost gave the doctor a heart attack of how fast I recovered." Isas replied, chuckling.

"Seriously?!" Jumin asked, a bit startled.

Isas nodded. "They said I could leave as soon as my grandmother comes with my younger sister to sign my release forms. Oh! And look. I found this by my bedside table."

He opened the drawer and pulled out an onyx black framed pair of glasses and placed them on. "What do you think?" Jumin tilted his head and smiled. "They...they suit you. Really great."

Isas smiled, turning his attention to Suki. "Ichika-San. I have to thank you. I mean, I thank you all but-you helped Jumin. You kept him alive! And...you saved me as well."

Suki bowed. "Of course, Isas. But I must ask you something. Your shadow...your entire castle..it was constantly bringing up 'perfecton.' Do you happened to know anything about that? Or, should I ask, do you know what I'm talking about?"

Isas looked down at the bed. "I...I have an understanding of it, yes....I just didn't think it was true." He gripped the sheets tightly, gritted his teeth. "I...I suppose I have some explaining to do, don't I?" Isas chuckled sadly.

Isas...?"

Isas sighed before speaking again. "For the longest time, I was taught to be the symbol of absolute perfection. Being that my parents are highly respected in their line of business. Because of this, they are hardly ever around now. But...when I was younger, they beat it over my head day in and day out. Literally and metaphorically...I had to be the perfect, obedient child. I was to study on my free time, I was to learn how to run a business and begin a company. I was to do some many things that no normal child would do and-and I hated it! And it was all to rule an industry that I have never wanted! To cheat people out of their money for personal gain? That's not at all what I wanted!"

Isas visibly began to shake with anger as he tightened his grip on the sheets. "When I attended school, everyone envied me. I hated it. I had no friends because everyone thought I was "better than them." I was picked on but because of my parents status they never laid a hand on me but...it is possibly a sick thing to want, but I wanted them to pick on me. I wanted to be like...like everyone else..."

Isas turned his head to face Jumin. "When I met you, you showed me a whole world. Sure, most of it was-actually all of it was in closed in your bedroom and other closed spaces-but I was the world of someone I wanted to be. A son with parents who absolutely love him and shower him with their constant support. A boy who could play with his best friend in the comfort of his really messy room and gorge on junk food for hours! I...I envied you. I was jealous-I will admit that. But I never hated you! I-I do not even understand why my shadow-or my subconscious would make you believe otherwise! I care about you, Jumin. You make me feel normal..."

Jumin did not face Isas. For a minute, he just looked down at the floor saying nothing. "T-that is why I never said anything...I never told you what I felt because...I did not want to ruin you. I did not want our good times to end. I did not want our moments of freedom...to be dampened by me..." Isas concluded, tears in his eyes.

All eyes were on Jumin as he continued to look down. Everyone anxiously awaited his answer to it all.

"J-Jumin?"

"I-I...you shouldn't-ugh! You shouldn't be jealous of me Damnit!" Jumin blurted out. He stood up and began pacing back and forth around the room. "You shouldn't be jealous of me! I mean, look at me! Look at my fucking track record! I hardly ever went to school, spent most of time in my room, and I freak the fuck out everytime I'm alone or around more than a few people!" He exclaimed.

"But look at you now! You're in a hospital! You hate hospitals!"

"I'm here because I care about you! FUCK the hospital!"

"See! You are getting better!"

"Yeah because of you! I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you!"

"Well I wouldn't be alive if to wasn't for you!"

"I-I LOVE YOU MAN!" Jumin finally cried.

"I-I LOVE YOU TOO!" Isas cried back. Now they were both in tears. Jumin lunged forward and hugged Isas tightly.

"Jesus, this shit just got-?! Suki?! You too?!" Suki tirned to Kimi, tears flooding out her eyes. "I-it's just so sweet!"

Then Kimi started crying. "Damnit, now you got me going!" Now, all four of them began crying their eyes out. They all wrapped each other in a tight group hug, almost sobbing before they heard the door open. "Isas...?" A young voice broke in.

They all rose their heads to see a young girl with black hair, light brown eyes, and a blue uniform.

Isas' face lit up. "CHIYOKO!" The little girl ran, jumped on the bed, and wrapped her arms around Isas' neck.

Isas chuckled and looked up at the others. "Chiyoko, these are my friends. Jumin, Kimi, and Suki! Everyone, this is my younger sister, Chiyoko."

Chiyoko greeted them with a big smile. "Hi everyone!"

They all waved to her.

Chiyoko smiled and continued to hugged Isas' neck. "You get to come with us! You get to come home!"

Isas chuckled nervously. "Y-yes...but first...I need some time to myself. J-just for a bit." "Oh..okay! We can have your welcome party tomorrow!" Isas chuckled. "That would be lovely. Thank you..." A doctor entered the room with Isas' grandmother.

"Are you ready to go, Isas?" His grandmother asked. Isas nodded. "Yes....yes I am.

He looked up at Jumin and smiled warmly at him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Isas was escorted out with the others following behind him. Jumin was a bit behind for he was calling his parents to bring them the news. The minute he hung up, he ran to catch up with the others when he bumped into another teen boy dressed in all black.

"Oh, s-sorry! I-I-" Jumin stammered before looking up, his eyes widening in realization, and so did the other boy.

"O-oh...hey..."

The boy said nothing. He simply growled and walked away.

"Yeah...I knew you would do that..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Isas sat alone on a bench in the park he first met Jumin. He smiled at the serenity.

"Hey..."

Isas looked up and saw Jumin. He smiled warmly at him. "Hello."

Jumin smiled and sat down next to him. For a while, they sat there saying nothing, doing nothing. Just gazing. Then, Isas spoke, a solemn expression on his face. "I-I'm sorry Jumin..."

"Sorry for what?"

"For everything...for lying to you, for keeping things from you, for almost killing you...I-I...You're my best friend, my confidant, my family...And I-"

Jumin suddenly hugged Isas, shutting him up. "Not all princes become kings...and sometimes...that's a good thing."

Isas smiled as the tears ran down his face. "I-I suppose you are right Jumin...I suppose you are right..."

(A/N: Finally! After a year or so I finally posted Chapter 14! I'm so sorry for anyone who was actually interested in the series who lost it because I had not uploaded it. So sorry. I just wanted to thank @goodbyeonemoretime for their kind words when I was really struggling with my passion for writing. I am so sorry and I hope you are doing well. Go check out my friend @sayuri-kitsune-creativewriting and her persona 6 concept. It is amazing. Hopefully I will be posting a lot more here. Have a lovely day.)

[3one3]

The Sequel - 827

Kentucky Derby

André Schürrle, Juan Mata, other Chelsea/BVB players, and random awesome OC’s (okay they’re less random now but they’re still pretty awesome)

original epic tale

all chapters of The Sequel

“I just made taco beef and then folded it into a big bowl of liquid cheese. It’s so fucking good.”

“Do you make your own seasoning for the beef or use a packet from the store?”

“I make my own, but it’s pretty much the same. Just without the weird chemicals. Babe, can you bring me another soda?”

“Oh me too, please!”

Christina and Stefanie each held their glasses of ice and lemon up behind them, for André. He made the mistake of getting up from one of the cushy recliners in the theatre in the basement- an invitation to act as the girls’ butler. He’d already been their slave for much of the evening. Christina planned her day around being available to go to Signal Iduna Park with him to watch his team take on Hoffenheim in a direct battle for third in the Bundesliga and a place in the Champions League group stage. Ironically, Marco scored an incredibly offside goal and it was allowed to stand. It was enough to win the game. In return for Christina going with André, he was taking care of the girls during their Kentucky Derby “party”. The two riders wanted to watch hours and hours of the pre-race coverage. André brought them snacks and drinks and took care of putting Lukas to bed, letting the dogs out and in, and feeding himself. It wasn’t so bad. Their elaborate analysis of the Derby contenders, and those running in the races on the undercard, was sort of interesting. The food Christina made in advance was good- particularly the nachos with the aforementioned spicy beef and cheese, and the bourbon glazed chicken wings. The girls were appreciative of his looking after them too. There was a lot of please and thank you, and he got extra smooches.

“Are you sure you don’t want more mint juleps? There’s a little bit of mint left,” he pointed out before taking their glasses. They were both on the enormous beanbag, on their stomachs, with a heavy and sturdy tray in front of them with the platter of nachos and a bowl of salsa, along with the empty little metal tumblers in which he served them Derby-inspired cocktails.

“Maybe later?” his wife asked more than answered. “Bourbon and mint don’t really go with nachos.”

Every year we get through this weekend without buying a racehorse is a good year, the player thought on his way upstairs. He’d listened to the horse crazy women discuss names for a racehorse, the qualities they’d want in a racehorse, their “secret” desires to exercise ride at a track, and how much fun they thought it would be to own a stakes horse. Christina did that every year during the Triple Crown races, or at least the ones when they were in the same place and watched them together. He assumed she thought about the same things on the other years too. May was, traditionally, not a great month for them. They were usually very busy doing separate things. André regretted poking the bear so to speak on Thursday night at Brody’s when he took a jab at his wife in regards to her being home for Lukas’ birthday. She’d teased him about being unsophisticated, or easily impressed, and that sounded like “dumb” to him. It hurt a little and aggravated a lot, so he took a shot at her in return. His hurt a lot more. It ruined the night. Christina retreated into a more demure, quiet version of herself for dessert, the long ride home, and bedtime. On Friday morning it was as if nothing happened, but the footballer knew he made a needless mistake. That was another reason to be helpful for Girls’ Derby Night In. It eased his guilt.

“If all the horses in our barn were Thoroughbreds, who do you think would be the best racing horse?” Stefanie posed as a topic of debate while her coach licked cheese off her thumb.

“Kimi, because he already is more Thoroughbred than the others,” she chuckled. “Or Rio, I guess. He’s always in a hurry. But then again...”

“Dirk. It would be Dirk. Just say it.”

“Yeah, it would. He’s the most competitive, he’s got a stride like a locomotive, stamina for days, and he’s fast. As far as I know, that’s what you want in a racing horse. But Jelly Bean, actually, could be good. He’s sort of built like one, and being batshit crazy has never hindered a racehorse,” Christina laughed heartily. Stefanie wasn’t offended. Everybody knew her gelding was nuts. “Oh, check it out. I would loooooove to have a facility like that.” Her tone turned longing as the American broadcast covered the story of one of the Derby contenders’ injury in the run up to the race. Girvin, the entry of a very young trainer and his retired jockey wife, had a quarter-crack in his hoof, which is pretty easily repaired and is no major drama. It does, however, as the girls knew, require a tiny break from meaningful training, just from a compression and stress perspective. The repair job would hold up better if given time before the hoof expands, slips, contracts, etc. during work. Girvin spent four days swimming instead of running on the track. His pool was a small circular track, indoors, designed specifically for horses. Some of Christina’s show jumping colleagues had similar setups at their stables, or underwater treadmills. Her horses that went to hospitals or clinics for major treatment in the past had used facilities like that, but she never really imagined having them at home. Tom mentioned during the planning process for her new property that they could easily build state of the art rehab and fitness facilities, including a pool, but it was more like a fanciful thing than a serious suggestion.

“Why don’t you?” Stefanie asked bluntly.

“I can’t really get my mind around spending that much money for something I don’t need. I mean...my horses are already among the most fit in the business, and we really have fewer injuries than average. What percent more could having a swimming pool get us? Certainly not enough to justify the cost,” the older rider explained flatly, without emphasis or emotion. That changed as she got to the second part of her answer. “And...I don’t know. I like the idea of doing everything possible to keep my horses feeling good. I want them to be happy, and healthy, and not suffering any for the wear and tear I inflict on them, but also...”

While Christina paused to decide exactly how best to express her feelings, André paused at the bottom of the stairs. He didn’t know what they were talking about, but he recognized strain in his girl’s voice, and the stress of her being careful about what she was saying. The staircase was narrow and walled in, so he could wait there and be completely concealed while he eavesdropped. Whatever she was saying, he wanted to hear it, not interrupt and maybe divert the conversation. It sounds like she’s talking about not knowing if she still wants to compete, again, he thought. It sounds like she’s talking about something she should talk to me about but won’t, which is why we aren’t perfect again yet.

“I think if you take that step- If you go past magnetic blankets and electronic compression wraps and get into swimming, and treadmills, and hyperbaric chambers, that Theraplate thing, and aeromasks...aren’t you kind of pushing past what is normal and natural? Aren’t you treating the horse like a piece of equipment you can just keep trying to enhance and repair? To me that’s not fair to the horse, and it’s almost like cheating. I want to know what he has inside- what he was born with, and what he’s learned- not what I can get out of him artificially. I mean I don’t even use a lot of complicated supplements or do tons of joint injections. I think it would be crazy to have facilities like that- to go from using intelligent nutrition and common sense fitness training complemented with massage, basic acupuncture, some magnets in a blanket, and cold and compression therapy that have been around forever and are just sort of made easier by modern technology to using an AquaTred and a hyperbaric chamber to heal injuries faster. I just don’t like the idea of going that far. That’s too much technology and not enough horsemanship for me.”

Phew. Nothing to worry about there, André concluded. He continued through the little hallway and open door into the theatre room while Stefanie told Christina that she could understand and respect that point of view. It was a relief to him to realize their conversation wasn’t about what his girl wanted from life, or from her career, or anything else significant like that. It was a relief to him to know there wasn’t something on her mind that she felt she could speak to her friend about and not him. He put their drinks down on the tray and moved the julep cups full of melting ice to the stairs, then got settled in his wonderfully human-absorbing microsuede sectional.

“Thanks, babe. Do you want more nachos?” Christina’s leggings-clad butt wiggled when she reached for the soda.

“I still have some. It’s a while until the race. I’m trying to pace myself.”

“Did you pick a horse yet?” She turned around on her elbow and raised her brows expectantly. There was no way she could pass up making a wager against anyone who would take it. Her competitive streak was strong in all circumstances, and horse racing was developed almost expressly for the purpose of betting. In what her partner felt was a foolish and emotional move, she’d selected the horse in the outermost post position, with a lukewarm racing record, and only one eye. His name was “Patch” and he was one of three entries of Calumet, one of the most historic and successful breeding operations in the sport. Their history was less important to her than the fact that their silks were black and yellow, like Borussia Dortmund. Plus, the horse was “super cute”, and his name was “adorable”. The morning line odds on Patch weren’t good. A lot of sentimental money was placed on him throughout the day and that brought his odds down enough to make it look, on the tote board at least, like he could factor in the result.

“Which was the one that you said has a good sire?”

“Lookin At Lee is by Lookin At Lucky, who was a Baffert horse that won the Preakness. Always Dreaming is one of the favorites and he’s by another Baffert horse, Bodemeister, who is by Empire Maker and out of a mare by Storm Cat. Bodemeister was second in the Derby and the Preakness. Empire Maker was second in the Derby and won the Belmont, and the Wood and the Florida Derby. Storm Cat is one of the most popular sires ever even though he only raced twice. His granddad was Secretariat. J Boy’s Echo is by Mineshaft, who won lots of stuff but none of the Triple Crown races. I saw him race at Belmont. What a horse. He was by AP Indy, who is my favorite. He’s the one in the picture from Saratoga that’s in my office. Tapwrit is by Tapit, who if I’m not mistaken is currently the most successful sire ever in terms of money earned by his offspring. His own racing career was meh. Irish War Cry is by Curlin, who is also super important. He has Deputy Minister two rows back. He was third in the Derby, first in the Preakness, second in the Belmont, and then won the Jockey Club Gold Cup, the Breeder’s Cup Classic, the Dubai World Cup, the Jockey Club Gold Cup again, and then retired after coming like fourth in his second Breeders’ Cup Classic.”

“How the fuck do you have space in your head for all of that?” André asked, distraught. I thought I was asking for a simple answer, like one horse and maybe the place in the Triple Crown that the sire came. She doesn’t even care about racing. She knows more about things she doesn’t care about than I know about things I care deeply about. HOW DOES SHE DO THAT? There were a lot of things about Christina that made her partner personally jealous, and few did so as significantly as her memory for detail.

“I dunno,” she shrugged, turning back to the screen. “If I read something, it goes on my hard drive. And most of the time I went to the track with my dad. I didn’t do a lot of things with my dad. Those days stand out,” she finished, her voice trailing off.

“Wait, didn’t you tell me about another one whose sire you saw race?” Stefanie complained. She hadn’t settled on a contender yet either.

“Real Quiet is the grandsire of Sonneteer, one of the other Calumet horses. He was another Baffert horse. Actually he might have been like one of his first big time horses that made him famous. It was...98 I think? He won the Derby and the Preakness and then came up short in the Belmont. I was there. Everyone thought he would do it. He was super cute too. Yeah! He was the second big Baffert horse, because Silver Charm was in 97. He did the same- first in the Derby and Preakness, and then couldn’t win the Belmont. It was déjà vu for everybody at Belmont with Real Quiet. My dad bet on them both twice, so that we’d have the Autotote slip if the horse won the Triple Crown but could still cash in too, though I don’t know why that mattered. They both went off at even money, more or less. I still have them somewhere,” Christina added, staring at the enormous screen. They were really too close to it, but the girls had been listening more than watching anyway.

“Okay well which one of those you just talked about would you say is the best?”

“I don’t know. Hence has AP Indy blood too. He’s the third Calumet entry.”

“Ugh,” the footballer groaned in frustration. “You find something of note about every horse in the race!”

“Well they don’t get to the Derby by being un-noteworthy, boyfriend.”

“I’m taking Always Dreaming, because I like his name, you said his trainer is very good, and he won his last two races,” Stefanie confidently declared before downing a whole beef and cheese covered nacho. She was pretty much the only person in Dortmund that Christina ever felt like hanging out with besides André and Espen, in terms of adults. There was no regular sharing of deep and significant thoughts and feelings between them, but they could have fun together, and they could relate on many levels. Being able to stuff her face in leggings and a sports bra and talk about horses and Derby hats was just better with a girlfriend who also rides, as opposed to doing it with André, who couldn’t care less and simply humored her because he was nice.

“I want the one who looks like Dirk, but you said he’s not competitive,” André commented while poking the sole of her foot with his big toe.

“She’s never won a race, but that doesn’t mean she can’t do it,” the one who believed in horses more than people replied. “She has Tapit in her pedigree too, and Storm Cat. Tapit’s grandsire is AP Indy by the way, and did I mention that AP Indy was by Seattle Slew? You guys have heard of Seattle Slew, right? And his dam was by Secretariat. They bred him to a mare by Mr. Prospector, who was by Raise A Native, and they had Pulpit, who was big on his own. Then they bred Pulpit to a mare by Unbridled, who also had Mr. Prospector blood, and out of a mare by Nijinsky, who was by Northern Dancer, who-“

“All right stop. You’re just showing off now, or making this up.” Her favorite blonde poked harder at her foot and wished he had something to throw at her. He had trouble remembering the names of the humans that far back in his own pedigree. “I’ll take the girl horse. I’m trapped in Girls’ Night right now, so it’s fitting.”

“Oh like you have something better to do right now.”

“I could be out with the guys. They’re celebrating a little.”

Oh. I didn’t know that, Christina thought apologetically to herself. I didn’t know he chose to hang with us and bring us drinks. That’s extra nice of him. I was already trying to be nice to him for being nice, but I guess I should be extra nice too. Though I don’t know why everything is so transactional with us now. It’s been that way for so long. We make concessions for each other on a one for one basis. It used to be different.

“What’s the girl horse’s name again?” André questioned.

“Untrapped,” Stefanie supplied. “Even more fitting for you since you said you’re trapped in Girls’ Night, yeah?”

“I think Chris’ horse is going to do it,” he said with a smile that was a little fake. He poked softly and repeatedly at his girl’s foot again too, feeling like he needed to make up for saying he could have gone out. Her silence made him think of that as another misstep, like what he said at Brody’s. And he really hated that he had to think so much about individual responses. That too was different. It wasn’t always like that. He didn’t like needing to be hyperaware, or feeling like a lot rested on small interactions. Their relationship used to be effortless. “The world needs a happy story right now. What could be happier than a one-eyed horse winning from the outside?”

“Why haven’t the commentators discussed which horses are best in muddy conditions? That seems like a big deal. Don’t they usually address that? It’s so muddy there.” Stefanie was oblivious to anything happening below the surface of the conversation.

“The Churchill surface is really good. It doesn’t necessarily race as sloppy as it looks, and also this Derby field is such low quality across the board that it might not really matter. I think nobody has any idea who’s gonna win,” the American said. The horses and their connections were beginning to make the walk from the backside to the paddock, and it was the first chance to see the contenders live and up close outside of their stalls. Christina tried to study each one the way she did when she was at the track, believing she could see a special something, or even spot flaws. Sometimes she didn’t like the way a horse walked. Sometimes she loved the look in the eye. It could change her betting strategy. “They’ve really steered away from serious technical analysis this year, or they confined it to the coverage they do earlier on the sports channel instead of putting it on the main network part. Maybe they don’t want to make it about betting. Wait, see? Figures Donna Brothers would be the one to bring some perspective here. She just said she’s going with Classic Empire because he’s the only one who’s won on a sloppy track. I love her. Did you know the horse she usually rides out there to interview the winning jockey on the way back after the race is actually Bob Baffert’s? She borrows the horse he rides during the morning workouts.”

“No, I didn’t know that.” The younger German rolled her eyes. “How would I know that?”

“Well I mean some people deduce it because Bob’s horses always have the blue fuzzy on their nosebands and the horse she rides has it too...”

“Chris.”

“What? Okay fine.”

“You guys should have a race,” the non-rider in the room suggested. “With Kyle. You could do it on the tractor path, couldn’t you? The whole point of doing the bluestone dust instead of the gravel was to make it so you could ride on it, yeah?”

“Not exactly. I didn’t mean to ride on it like ride, ride. I wanted that because walking on gravel is kinda not brilliant on the way to the ring. We pick out their feet before we ride to make sure there’s nothing in there to cause problems. To then go walk on little gravel would be stupid. I don’t know that I want to go galloping on the path though. I wish we had grass. I really miss galloping out. So does Calvin.”

“What happened to asking the neighbors if we could ride over and use their empty field?” Stefanie chimed in before her coach could become too melancholy over the limitations of her property. André was glad for that too. He was still really unhappy about it. He hated that there was an oversight that meant a significant change in her training plans.

“I haven’t gotten around to it.”

“Why don’t we go talk to them tomorrow? I can’t imagine any German horse people telling you no. You don’t say no to the woman trying to win Olympic medals for you in a couple months when she stops by to ask if she can ride on your empty grass. Especially if you bring them nachos.” Stefanie gobbled another loaded chip and looked momentarily panicked when some of the cheesy mixture fell under her chin. There was a paper towel there to catch it.

“You know what?” Christina asked, as a total non sequitur. “The 7 looks more like Dirk than Untrapped. Which one is the 7?”

“Girvin. He’s the one trained by the husband of the lady jockey,” Stefanie supplied. “I think Sonneteer is the closest to Dirk. He’s the only true black. The rest are just dark bay.”

“Thank god the color of the coat determines performance. Really makes this easy,” André joked while he picked up his personal plate of nachos. They’re about to go into serious horse talk here, he reminded himself as the post parade began. The riders were up and the horses were out on the track. The camera got up close to each one and gave viewers a really good look at how they were moving and how they were behaving. Some looked unbothered by the six-figure crowd. Other were pumped and jigged around the way Rio always did immediately before and after jumping. A few were held tight by their pony riders, and a few trotted out alone. The girls would get into the nitty gritty and talk about things like the slope of a horse’s croup, and he didn’t even know what a croup was so it didn’t matter to him. I like the look of McKracken. He seems like a good guy, the player thought. Very chilled out and relaxed like this is no big deal and he’s got it. What did anybody say about that one? I can’t remember. Even if I paid attention, I probably still wouldn’t remember.

I know Chris hasn’t said anything lately about being unsure of what she wants from her riding, or if it really matters to her, or if she wants to keep doing it on the same level, but I know she’s still thinking about it. I see it in ebbs and flows. That’s the phrase, right? Sometimes she goes on and on about training, about every little thing, and it excites her just to speak about it, and other times she sounds almost resentful about the amount of time it takes and the hassle of traveling to competitions. But how can anybody who loves horses as much as she does- and loves them in the context of competing in particular- ever consider giving it up or scaling it back? Racing doesn’t even matter to her and she has all that information learned because it’s a horse thing and she wanted to know about it at some point. She has the drive to know things. Horses battling other horses to show what they’ve got inside is like the most important thing to her, like she was just saying when I came down. There has to be a way to balance that with everything else so that she enjoys her career more than she resents it. There has to be a way back to that. It used to be okay. It’s getting better. I wish I knew for sure that the reason we still have problems between us is that she hasn’t found the balance, and not that the reason she hasn’t found the balance is that we have problems. I don’t know which is the chicken and which is the egg, let alone which came first. I lie to her when I tell her I know for sure that it’s the horse situation she needs to fix first so that we can be perfect again. It could be that we’re on track to be that way and that it just takes time- that there’s nothing else we need to do- but I don’t want to wait. How long can it take? The problem was made over almost a whole year. Could it take that long to fix it?

“Great, my horse is last except for the one who pulled up at the start,” Christina groaned a few seconds after the 20-horse field broke from the gate. There was a three-way battle at the front between Always Dreaming, Irish War Cry, and Battle Of Midway. No one spoke as the field moved down the backstretch, and there was no clear leader by the time they turned for home.

“I’m going to win!” Stefanie said gleefully when her horse, Always Dreaming, finally started to look in control. The rest of the pack shifted some, and there was a horse in black and yellow closing fast but Christina couldn’t tell if it was her horse or one of the other two Calumet colts. In the end it was a near wire-to-wire victory for Always Dreaming, the only horse who wasn’t covered in mud. Lookin At Lee finished second, and Battle Of Midway third. Neither of them were ones that the girls talked about a lot, but the winner was among what they considered the class of the field, even though they said that class was far from the quality of horses entered in other years. The win wouldn’t pay much. Place and show would pay quite nicely.

“I wish they’d show the full finishing order,” Christina lamented. “I wanna know where my Patch pony ended up. And also what happened to the Godolphin horse that stopped. I couldn’t tell if he was injured or just having some kind of hissy fit. Usually they tell you. I haven’t seen any ambulance or anything. Actually, what would have happened if the horse totally broke down right there? It was before the finish line. Would they stop the race since it would otherwise be in the way when they come back around? I’m surprised that’s never happened.”

“You each owe me €20.” Stefanie sat up and held her hand out. Her hosts said they’d pay her later. André picked up his phone to try to find the full result for Christina, and Christina breathed a sigh of relief when the commentators said Thunder Snow, the horse who pulled up, appeared to be fine. She got to watch the start again, from in front of the gates, and saw that her horse broke badly and was hampered from the get go. He finished 14th. Untrapped came 12th. The TV beat the footballer to showing the information, but Christina got up and came to him anyway. She needed to stretch first, and then lifted the armrest out of the way so she could sit next to him on the comfy sectional and lean over on his arm. The other equestrian was busy texting or tweeting about her victory.

“Which horse did you really think would win, pretty girl?” André asked in a quiet, just-between-them way. He was sure Patch was a sentimental choice.

“I dunno. I really didn’t think about it,” she yawned. “Like the TV people, I just wasn’t that in to breaking down the past performances this year. There wasn’t a lot to go on anyway.”

“Tired?”

“Yeah. Bed soon. I want to get started at the regular time tomorrow so I can watch Arsenal and United. No staying in bed half the day.”

“Mkay. It’s almost 1, so...”

“Got it.”

The unspoken point was that it was time for Stefanie to go home, and she was ready anyway. She helped take plates and cups upstairs, verified the barn agenda for Sunday, and said goodnight. André was ready for sleep, and Christina was ready to snuggle and try to sleep.