#and he leaves thinking it’s stupid buy then mys comes up with cotton candy popcorn and burgers and he’s like ‘no… it can’t be.’

[mymelodyisme]

🫣 thinking about the fortune telling booth at the fair and Shane and Mys getting their fortunes read separately and Welwick tells them vaguely about the other.

[mgsheadcanons]

(Nobody asked for this, but I decided to make a little gift for my followers🖤 I added some less popular characters, because.. Well, because I can:) )

Preference “How they spend Valentine’s day with you”:

Ocelot likes the idea of another one special day on which he can express his feelings to you. The day before Valentine’s day he acts like he forgot about the date, only to surprise you with coffee to bed, pink and white chrome balloons and confetti all over your shared place and present you a small gift. When you open the box you see a little necklace shaped as a rose gold horseshoe with tiny rubies. He tells you that he wants luck to follow you all along your way. Depending on your wish how to spend the day, he has two plans. If you prefer something energetic, he takes you on safari: you drive around, watch the wildlife in savanna, take pictures of beautiful landscapes and enjoy your joint activity. If you wish for something calm, Ocelot is ready to spend the day on the base, watching movies and cuddling, play some board or video games.

Don’t expect Big Boss to be off the beaten track and active in the questions of romance. He prefers to avoid too funny activities. Due to his lack of fantasy he sticks to a classical scheme: he invites you to a fancy restaurant. He also presents you a new beautiful dress, while he himself dresses in a tuxedo. When you reach the restaurant on a lux cab, you find out that the whole place is reserved just for the two of you: a big hall with high walls, white silk curtains and decorations. In the middle of the space there is a white fortepiano and a musician playing a slow and yet quiet music. The waiter takes your clothes away and another one brings out a huge rose bouquet. The rest of the evening you spend drinking wine, eating delicacies and listening to the pianist, playing only for you today.

Kaz finds nothing special about this day, but it will be fine by him if making a special occasion out of it makes you happy. If you are happy, he is happy as well. Cooking is one of his guilty pleasures, so he finds some nice recipes for you to cook together. You have much fun while hanging in the kitchen, and you also notice that he is more relaxed than usual which makes you smile internally: your joint activity is good for both of you. When you finish cooking, leaving the kitchen a little messy, according to his plan, he went to make the table and light up candles. As soon as you finally sit at the table, he pours your red wine and tells you some warm words about how happy he is to have you and what you mean to him. At the end of the day he makes a hot bath with flowers for you both.

As Venom Snake finds out that you want to have a special occasion on Valentine's Day, he will be stunned at first, not knowing how to react - why would you like to? Don’t you already know how he feels about you? He won’t argue with you, god no, but he will disappear for some time before coming back to you asking you to go with him. He guides you to the landing zone, where Pequod is already waiting for you, without explanation asking you to get in. You hear a quite strange sound and ask about it only to know that it was water. As you are getting closer, the sound is growing louder and then you see a giant waterfall. The helicopter landed on its top and Snake helped you to get out. He stands behind you cuddling you tightly with a chinon your shoulder. He doesn’t say anything but, as usual, he makes it all clear with his actions.

As Skull Face finds you desired to celebrate the Valentine’s Day, he will be annoyed at first, because he thinks it’s stupid, which is gonna upset you. The moment he feels how sad that made you feel, he softens and says that he doesn’t need a calendar or "damn" western traditions to show his love for you. He is an old school romantic, so you two take a jeep, put all needed things in it and he’ll take you to some beautiful place where the two of you can observe the landscapes, enjoying each other's loving embrace, eat your favourite cakes, have long discussions. He is sure to put his jacket on your shoulders, because you don’t move much and will get cold fast. When the sun is no longer high in the sky and the light is about to disappear, he gives you his arm, inviting you for a slow dance in the sunset.

When Psycho Mantis sees your controversial expression, he won’t be shy to read your mind to figure out what is upsetting you in order not to provoke even more negative emotions by asking about the problem. Once he understands what the matter, he will be the first to come to you and hug you properly, kissing your top of the head and asking if you would like to make some special plans for the day. He doesn’t feel great about public and overcrowded places, he would prefer it somewhere where you could have more privacy. If you tell that you want to stay at home and chill, he would be more than happy. He brings you a sea of sweets and biscuits and hot chocolate with marshmallow.Finally you two stay inside and watch TV, he doesn’t let you do anything or go to the kitchen for more hot water when you switch to tea, doing everything himself instead.

Liquid Snake will surprise you with his positive attitude to your idea of celebrating Valentine’s day. He hasn’t prepared you any special gift yet, but instead he offers you to go shopping. You liked the idea, so he takes you to one of the most famous and big shopping areas. You attend every shop you like, you try on outfits and show them Liquid , while he sits outside the fitting room and watches you closely with a pleased grin on his face. After you finished with the several shops, he couldn’t help but join you at searching for new outfits for himself too. You also visited a jewelry shop to get you a new necklace and earrings. If you want, you can have a ring too. Everything you wish for, Liquid buys you. As a final note he takes you to the restaurant to celebrate with champagne and nice dinner. He also presents you red roses when you areback home.

Raiden has a romantic side in him, so he will be glad to celebrate Valentine’s day with you. He asks you about your attitude towards this day and your mood in advance in order to understand how to plan everything properly. He wants it totally romantic like in classic romantic movies, so he orders a bouquet of white and red roses and turns on some tango music. He feels that he is not good at cooking, so he simply orders dinner. He wants it all to be perfect and you notice that he acts nervous, so you reassure him that you love the occasion he organized for you. And you were not hypocritical - you actually like it how he makes an effort to make you happy with him. After the dinner he asks you to go out with him and will show you the night sky, opening up for you about his dreams about far space and adventures, only to end up laughing together.

Monsoon’s a dick about all this Valentine’s stuff, just as about the majority of other issues, he will read you a lecture why the whole concept has no sense. But he will follow you whatever you come up with, because after all he does care about you, even if he doesn’t show it. He is grumpy about all your attempts to hug or kiss him, but he doesn’t stop you either. Knowing him, you decided to go for a walk to the park where you shouldn’t meet many people. As you walk through a lively alley, he slowly walks behind you, looking like a guardian with arms closed behind his back. Your safety is a priority for him, so it takes only his threatening smile to turn some annoying strangers away. When you reach a quiet part of the park, you try to take his hand, he doesn’t protest but instead puts his arm around you without saying any word of discontent and continues walking.

Jetstream Sam doesn’t take Valentine’s Day seriously but he doesn’t make a scene either. For him it’s just another reason to have fun and spend some together. He takes you to the secret place (he refuses to tell you where you go), only to surprise you with a trip to the amusement park. He takes you cotton candy, popcorn and drinks of acid colour. He’ll try to win you a big toy in a shooting gallery but will miss the limit and smile awkwardly, shrugging - he is a swordsman, not a shooter after all. Then you ride every attraction that you like. You also go to the horror house and if you are scared, Sam won’t take his hand away from you, keeping it on your waist and hugging you tighter when something makes noise next to you. At the end of the day you go to the big wheel - the most romantic part of the journey.

[honney-boy]

Zoo Day With Kiara

Pairing: kiara carrera x f!reader

warnings: nothing more than some fluffy girlfriend vibes🤙🏽

a/n: I went to the zoo the a couple of weeks ago for the first time in two years and I had so much fun! I could stop thinking about a pogues zoo day (might make a post) or Kiara and her girlfriend just hanging at the zoo. Bare with me, it's my first hc :)

Alright here it goes

Kie would definitely be the type of girlfriend to surprise you with a surprise date to the zoo

She knows how much you love animals and she just so happens to love them just as much

That's something you guys bonded over when you first met

It was definitely a trip worth while. She took the time to plan it and your day

But anyway, you guys would have been with each other the night before and she'd tell you she would be by your house in the morning

Like 8am type shit

The next morning she would text you a sweet good morning text. Something like 'good morning beautiful' and 'I'll be at your house in 15 :)’

Even though you had to get up too early for your liking, you had nothing to do, so why not spend the day your lovely and beautiful girlfriend

She would drive you guys to the docks to ride the ferry to the mainland since the island itself didn't have a zoo

She'd keep it a secret the whole time so you have no freaking clue

"Kie, can I know where were going?"

"Nope it's a surprise."

You'd give her the little cute pouty face and the puppy eyes "Pretty Please?"

She usually can't say no to the cute face, but she did this time though it was hard.

"You'll just have to wait babe, you'll love it I promise!”

You guys spend your time on the ferry talking about whatever comes to mind, probably bring up the dumb thing the other pogues did earlier that week and working up a laugh

Picutes are definitely taking!

After riding to the Mainland, you guys would have to drive a LONG while

Like 4 hours long.

You'd already have a road trip playlist ready to go and you guys would be jamming out to a mix and mingle of songs

Queen, Bazzi, Taylor Swift, Michael Jackson, p!atd, The Weeknd, Post Malone, Kehlani, Halsey, ABBA, Fleetwood Mac and more!

Even making pit stops at the gas station for snack

McDonald's Drive through for a quick breakfast or Starbucks. The choice is yours

Zoo

So, when you guys first get to the zoo you're like a kid on Christmas.

Like seriously, you're filled with so much happiness you could cry because you haven't been to the zoo in YEARS, and now your wholesome girlfriend brought you to your favorite place.

It's like if you smell a certain think and it brings back old memories...seeing and smelling the place brought back some memories

"I can't believe you brought me to the zoo!”

"I planned for us to spend most of the day together here, just the two of us."

"Aw kie, I'm filled with so much emotion I could kiss you right now"

You guys definitely share a few sweet kisses 💞

And when she meant most of the day, she LITERALLY meant the majority of it.

You two would walk hand and hand around the zoo, you occasionally letting her hand go to rush over to see the animals. Or pull her along with you so she wouldn't lose you

You guys would start with all the outside animals first before going inside to the reptiles and stuff

You'll see the Addra Gazelle with it's cute ears.

Walk past the rhino exhibits, then head straight to the giraffes.

The giraffe exhibit did stink but y'all didn't let that ruin your time. Plus they were to cute for you to care about the smell.

You'd see the little baby giraffe running around chasing the geese, causing the two of you to giggle.

You'd tell her random animal facts like→"Giraffes have purple tongues." Or "Giraffes have seven neck bones as we do."

After the giraffes you guys have to walk a bit to get to the next exhibit so you walk hand and hand to the elephants.

When you get to the elephants Kie gets soo excited

Like so excited that she drags you with her as she basically books it!

When you get there there's two elephants–Asian and African–just walking around and spraying eachother

You'll tell her another fact→"African and Asian elephants are similar but different, and the way you can tell is African elephants have big ears while Asian elephants have smaller ears. An Asian elephant ears also fold downwards at the top."

Right before you guys go see the lions and the zebras, behind one of the big elephants legs there's a baby elephant hiding!🐘

uwus are FLLLYYING😩💗💓💞💕

The last time you were at the zoo a few years back there wasn't a baby elephant and now there is! You both make sure to takes pics and vids

For the rest of the day you guys enjoy being with each other, sharing sweet moments, taking more pics and videos while you see the rest of the animals. Gorillas, Tigers, Panthers, Monkeys, Polar Bears, Bald Eagles, Turtles +more

You even got to feed birds nectar as they flew around, landing on your heads and shoulders :)

At some point during the day you guys would stop and get more snacks to share (even though you had some one the way). Cotton Candy, popcorn, maybe ice-cream or a drink.

Your last stop before you leave is the Zoo gift shop.

It's pretty big with cool shirts, gadgets, toys, jewelry and stuff animals.

You don't plan on getting anything but that didn't stop you from wondering off without Kie to go find something to check out

You find weird things that you pick up but put back because they weren't worth the buy(but they toootally were)

You came across this gender neutral mood ring that you thought was sick and it looked like a wedding band so you bought it for your girlfriend for shits and giggles

After buying it you walked around the shop looking for her and see her checking out a shirt, so you go up behind her and hug her

You nearly scare her to death!🤣

"Holy shi- Y/n don't do that! I almost died."

"But you just looked so gOtDaUm huggable Kie. Also, I got you something."

Curious, she does turn around and gives you the look, remembering what you said before you guys walked in.

"I thought you said you didn't want to buy anything."

"I know but I had to get this."

You make sure you have her full attention, though you always have her attention😊

You give a little sweet speech something along the lines of this↓

"Kiara Carrera, I've known you since we were kids and from the moments you laugh at my goofy puns and stupid pick up lines when we got older, I knew we'd be great together. We were friends for a while and though we went to different high schools, our relationship never strained. When I asked you to be my girlfriend, I knew I was making the right decision, and I don't regret it. You're the best thing in my life Kie, and you're my best friend. I wouldn't change it for the world."

She would blush like MAD and smile a lot. She was used to your cheesiness, but that never failed to make her blush "Who else would put up with your crazy self? You will have me always, but you had me the moment you told me that bee pun."

"Kiara would you do your girlfriend the honor and accept this mood ring so I can keep track of your emotions and I love you because instead of stopping me when you see me doing silly things, you join me?"

And like you said, she went along with you act and held out her hand for you to slip it on her middle finger

"Now when you give people the bird they can read you emotion too."

Kie would love your little gesture and laugh at the fact that you put it on her middle finger and she would test it out on you

She'd flip you off AS A JOKE, and the color of it would be violet-pink which means she's feeling happy.

"Wow, I feel so loved!”

She'd surprise you too with a matching mood ring "I knew the kid in you would flip, so I got you one also."

She puts it in your middle finger and whether or not you give her the bird as a joke is up too you :)

And on top of that she would have bought you a stuffed animal of your favorite animal

THE KID IN YOU CAME OUT

Excitment-100

Happiness-100

Love-10000

Admiration-100000+

Honestly you love this girl so much, and she makes your heart speed up you could go into cardiac arrest.

Kie definitely would have gotten the biggest hug and some kisses all over her face for that

You'd tell her how she is the best girlfriend ever the whole time you're leaving, even on the car ride back to Outerbanks

When you guys do get back to the island, the guys would ask you were you guys were at(mostly jj even though he watched your sc story)

You would keep it simple by saying you went to the zoo and boooooi

They would feel so left out because the kid in them wants to go to the zoo too!

───────────────

Taglist :)

@outerbnx-stiles @letsgotothehop

Let me know if you guys want a pogues zoo day hc!

[you-guys--are-losers]

Number 11 please :)

//Absolutey! Thank you for being so patient, hope you’re getting plenty of writing time in.

11: ferris wheel date

Sparklers and Cinnamon

Summary: Every once in a while, MJ doesn’t mind a little dose of cliche. 

Characters: Michelle Jones x Peter Parker

Wordcount: 1,976

Warnings: Exists in a Universe Where Jon Watts WASN’T a Major Troll With the End Credits

Her hand in his has Peter’s heart racing faster than any swing through Queens has ever given him. 

It’s a bright day, and it’s cliche and ridiculous and crowded at Coney Island. The tickets were way too expensive, the colors of the bright pink cotton candy and the smell of candied nuts are overpowering, and all of it is an extremely bright contrast to MJ’s muted tones and grey jacket. 

The shy, growing grin on her lips completely washes out the artificial colors, sounds, and smells around them. 

Carefully, her fingertips brush his once more, and Peter can feel the hardened skin there that comes from the embroidery she recently revealed she enjoys. He catches his breath, moving his thumb to lightly brush the outside of their entwined hands. It’s her turn to inhale, and Peter casts her an amused look in response to the reaction. 

The warm light of the sun, which is just beginning to set, sets her hair on fire as she turns her head to him, raising an eyebrow. Her lips part slightly as she glances away, but despite the flustered quirk to her lips, her eyes hold that same dry humor that he like so much. 

“Something you want to share with the class, Peter?” she prompts, bumping her shoulder with his as they pass a family with a particularly large stroller and too many kids to really be paying attention. 

“Nah, nah,” Peter says easily, unable to keep a teasing grin off his lips. “I’m good.” 

“Well, according to the Sokovia Accords, you’re, like, a criminal. So if that’s your version of ‘good.’“ She raises her eyebrows at him, challenging, but the smile that has grown on his mouth is mirrored on her own. 

“Yeah… I’m pretty sure this is my version of good,” Peter breathes, his hand squeezing her own slightly. Her mouth releases into a soft ‘o’ as their steps slow for a moment, his eyes locked on hers. Her torso shifts towards him slightly, and for a second they stop, causing a group of girls behind them to shoot Peter and MJ a look. 

MJ doesn’t even glance their way. She is frozen, and for a moment so is he, just staring. 

“Sorry,” he breathes, hand rising to rub the back of his neck. 

“It’s okay.” Her face is sunshine and starlight and all of the cheesy things that Peter has ever read about in books… No. Those things aren’t MJ. Her smile is a gentle rain on the day that you feel like you’re crawling out of your skin, soothing and cool. 

He hopes it never stops falling, that it pours down around him. 

“So, uh… You said that you wanted to come here for a reason?” MJ continues walking, her hands moving to her pockets. Still, they maintain their proximity; her shoulder brushes his as they walk, and a few stray wisps of her hair tickle his cheek in the breeze. 

“Yeah! Yeah,” Peter says quickly, brightening. “Um, I mean… It’s a pretty good people-watching spot.” 

“Definitely,” MJ agrees, tipping her chin up to observe the crowd. “I’ve already seen, like, twelve people being pick-pocketed. It’s a good day.” 

Peter grins, and he runs a hand through his hair as he tips his head to the side to watch her reacting. “Well… What about watching them from up above?” 

MJ’s eyes widen, then narrow. “Wait, are we talking about spider-ing? Because, uh, nope. Not a fan, so…”

“Uh, no,” Peter says quickly, shaking his head. “No, no. I actually meant…” His gaze drifts over her shoulder to the ferris wheel, the iconic one with a ridiculously long line. Her eyes follow his to the Wonder Wheel, and a little grin drifts onto her lips as she glances back to him.

“You remembered.” 

“Yeah.” He pauses, then reaches to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear so that it’s not drifting in her face. Her lips twitch as she looks at him, and for a moment the emotions on her face are more than just happiness. Then she’s leaning forward, and Peter can’t think straight because she’s just given him a quick peck on the cheek. 

MJ doesn’t pause to acknowledge the gesture as she continues walking, her hand tugging his sleeve to turn him in the direction of the wheel. He can’t help the laughter that leaves him at her attempt to move past the moment. 

“Wait, wait. What was that?” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was just making sure that that freckle behind your ear isn’t cancerous.” 

“Cool. Verdict?” 

“You’re totally gonna die in, like, three hours.” 

“Sad day. At least we’ll be a quarter of the way through the line by then.” 

Her stifled huff of amusement buoys him along on the summer afternoon, and so they continue on down the path to the iconic New York landmark. 

The line isn’t bad, actually. It’s getting later, and a lot of park-goers are leaving to fetch dinner, particularly those with young children. The light is getting longer, and Peter and Michelle’s shadows are emaciated, willowy giants as they take their place in the line. Soon, golden sunlight has turned orange and coral, exploding across the landscape around them as they play stupid games to pass the time in line. 

“Most likely to have a second family living in another country. Go.” 

“Blue shirt, buying her kids the whole popcorn stand.” 

Peter’s eyes find the woman MJ is referring to, contemplating her before nodding. “You had that answer ready really fast.” 

“I can tell when someone only has one double life. Amateurs.” Peter grins in response to MJ’s quip, shaking his head as she searches her mind for a category. “Most likely to be part of a cult.” 

“You.” 

“Right answer. Now I have to either indoctrinate you or kill you. Your choice.” 

Peter hums, thinking about it as he pulls their half-finished bag of roasted nuts from his pocket. “I think I choose indoctrination,” he decides, holding it out to her after taking a few for himself. 

She does so without hesitation, popping one in her mouth as they take a few steps closer to the cars of the ferris wheel, tossing one of the nuts to a pigeon that is strutting a few feet away from them. The bird tips his head to the side in an angular movement, studying them before pecking once, then twice at the nut. It turns its head back to them, squawking once before it flaps away. The nut has been left behind.

“Ungrateful,” MJ muses. “I was trying to be environmentally friendly.” 

“Is that what that was?” 

“I’m nurturing Mother Earth, Peter. Don’t mock me.” 

Peter grins, tucking away the rest of the remaining snack. “Noted.” Michelle watches him for a moment with the same scrutinizing gaze as the pigeon did. “I had fun today.” 

“Me, too. I’m really glad you came.” 

MJ opens her mouth to say something, but then the underpaid teen running the ride calls, “Hey. Are you getting on, or…?” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Peter says quickly. MJ blinks and quickly turns, and the two get into the cream-colored car before the redheaded kid running the machine shuts the door with a little more force than necessary. Before either of them can say anything, the car is moving up to allow the next group of people in.

Michelle inhales, and then she lets out a deep breath as she peers out the window at the ocean and the beach. Peter spares the window a quick glance, and the fading pink sunset on the water is certainly a pretty sight. He likes the view from right here, though… The way that her eyes are dissecting the landscape below like those of a bird of prey. The intensity of her gaze is contrasted against the soft, violet light that is filtering into the car. 

He thinks he could get used to this feeling of fireworks in his chest. 

Someone brought sparklers to the beach below, and MJ is currently watching the sputtering lights from just above ground level. Peter imagines that when they are up high, they will shimmer and shine like scraps of tinfoil on the pavement below. 

“You know, Ned and Betty almost died on a ferris wheel,” she mentions, her fingers relaxing on the caged windows. 

“Eh, not really,” Peter says, trying for her nonchalant tone. “I mean, you’re the one who proved that one wrong.” 

She glances at him over her shoulder, smiling slightly. “I did. Maybe I should be the one in the suit.” 

“Mm.” 

“What, are you saying that you don’t think I could kick someone’s ass?” MJ asks, turning her gaze to him. The same stare that caught him so off-guard in the opera house is one he’s getting used to, slowly but surely. 

“No,” Peter says, shaking his head as he looks at her from across the car, suddenly a bit bashful now that they’re alone.

“I just think you could save more people as MJ than I ever could as Spider-Man.” 

The car lurches as the ride begins moving; neither of them is prepared for it. MJ stiffens, and across the car she audibly catches her breath. At least that’s marginally less embarrassing than Peter’s reaction, which is to adhere himself to the sides with his fingertips. 

MJ is amused as Peter’s cheeks heat up. “Maybe I should sit by you,” she suggests, her voice careful to stay cool. “You know, just so that they don’t have to pry you out of this thing.” 

“Uh, yeah, I’m cool with that,” Peter says, voice sheepish as she moves to sit beside him. He can smell the lemony scent of her shampoo as she settles beside him; it grows stronger as her head drifts down to rest against his. He exhales, resting his own temple on her shoulder comfortably as the car begins to move. The lights from below are growing to be the only illumination as the final rays of sun disappear. 

“I can’t believe you remembered,” she murmurs from beside him, and Peter feels his cheeks heat again. “Dork.” 

“Hey… It was just that good.” 

“No, it wasn’t. I had just started stippling, it was crazy uneven.”

“I thought it was really cool,” Peter defends himself, allowing his head to sink further against her shoulder. 

MJ hums, her hand coming to rest against his on his knee. He lightly runs his fingertips along her knuckles, watching the changing sky outside the window. “You’ve always been a really good artist, and it was my first day at Midtown. It was the coolest thing I’d seen all day, and you looked so… I dunno. You.” 

 MJ is quiet from beside him, and when she finally does, it’s to say, “Wow. You’re more cliche than I already thought you were.” 

“Than you already thought I was?” 

“You’re a high-school superhero who was bitten by a radioactive spider. You could have your own Disney channel show or something.” 

Peter grins, and he reaches for her hand. She gives it to him willingly, and when the wheel stops with them at its highest point, she glances his way. Though her words are dry, her tone is a bit breathless as they take in the sight of the beach below. 

“I can’t think of anything that could possibly make this cheesier.” 

Someone down below lights fireworks, which explode in the night sky above and bathe the world in red and blue. 

Peter doesn’t remember starting to laugh, but he does know that MJ somehow manages to look both fond and exasperated as she leans over to kiss him. Her lips taste like cinnamon and brown sugar against his, and Peter knows that this is the moment he’s going to come back to whenever he needs reminding of what “home” is.

[yawnjunie]

monster hunting for dummies (2)

chapter two: it’s all fun and games

wc: 4.3k a/n: i'm too lazy to put the same descriptions in the top of each chapter and reformat it each time so it'll just be word count from now on; additional warnings will be put in new chapters' descriptions if necessary. if you would like to see the info again, just revisit chapter one or the masterlist. happy reading!

———

Jumping off of the Viking ride, you took a moment to catch your breath before looking for something fun to do again. You walked among the crowd, looking around at the people around you. From juggling clowns to contortionist freaks to children with gargantuan cotton candies, the carnival was just the place you’d imagined it to be. 

“Corn dogs, corn dogs, come one, come all!”

You were studying a yellowed fair map until your ears perked up at the sound of the snack vendor’s voice, whipping your head in the direction of the call. After wandering around for a while, you were sure you’d seen almost every ride, every game booth, every circus animal. That ride had worked up your appetite, and now you were a carnivorous predator. Nothing in the world mattered anymore— nothing but food.

You were close. You could feel it– well, smell it. There it was: the holy grail. You slowed your steps to behold the majestic sight. Feeling like a prince in shining armor on his way to collect his princess, you felt the wind billow in your skirt as you flipped your hair. Come to mama!

But of course, life didn’t like making things easy. Standing in the way of your precious dinner were those five dunderheads. No problem, you reassured yourself, tapping your foot on the ground. Patience is a virtue. This’ll only take a few minutes.

A few minutes felt more like a few hours. But at long last, they sauntered off and you stepped up to the stand.

“I’ll take two.” You jammed your hand into your skirt pocket and pulled out four wrinkled one-dollar bills.

“Sorry, those young fellas took the last ones. It’s about a 15 minute wait for the next batch, though.”

“Never mind, I’m leaving.” Your smile disappeared almost immediately; your angry meter was really peaking. You needed to blow off some steam before you really killed a man. Or five.

Just a few minutes away from the stand, you found yourself at a hammer game. This’ll do.

Wham! You brought that hammer down with the force of a thousand, fueled by your rage at those five jerks. It especially helped to envision their faces on the target.

Not too shabby! The weight went up pretty high, at least by your standards. Exhaling deeply, you placed your hands on your hips and grinned. It felt nice. Beat that, assholes!

“Wow, this looks fun! Let’s go give it a try!”

Oh, God. I didn’t mean it literally.

“Me first!”

“No, I’m going!”

“Step aside, peasants, bow down to your mighty Crown Prince!”

Out of all the places they could’ve gone, they just had to choose the hammer game.

Ding ding ding!

“Whaaaa, you did it first try! Won’t you gimme your prize, hyung?”

“Amazing! What would you like, young fella?” The booth tender showed the boy a massive selection of large stuffed toys.

“You guys are really intent on ruining my day, aren’t you,” you hissed, making no effort to mask your annoyance. Before the rest of them could upstage your performance in the hammer game, you stalked off in long, brisk strides.

––––

This sucks. This really freaking sucks. Even though you came to the carnival to enjoy yourself, you were feeling even worse than when you arrived.

Before you headed out, you figured you might as well take a full tour of the place and see if there was anything worth seeing. You weren’t going to let a bunch of boys from school ruin your fun at the carnival. For some bizarre reason, after wandering around for a bit, you kept finding yourself standing in front of the same ragged, purple tent with yellow stripes. It was as sketchy as sketchy got, and that was exactly what caught your eye. You were about to enter when a voice cut through the silence.

“Whoa whoa whoa! Let’s go there next! It looks so mysterious!”

Why me?

“Hell yeah, maybe we’ll meet a wizard!”

That was it. Something inside you snapped.

You whirled around to confront them once and for all. “Listen up. I don’t know what your problem is, but either you guys shut up or stop following me. I’m sick and tired of your stupid voices!”

“What– Wyann??”

“You were at the carnival too? What a coincidence running into you here!”

“Sure is a small world, isn’t it?” one of the boys exclaimed, licking his vanilla and chocolate swirl ice cream. Even his choice in ice cream flavors made your eyes twitch.

“Coincidence my ass. This is the fourth time you’ve gotten in my way since I’ve gotten here, and I’ve had enough. First, you just so happen to get on the only ride I decide to go on and shriek like you’re about to be murdered, then you take the last corn dogs– that was going to be my dinner, you know– and you––” That last part was too embarrassing to say out loud, so you waved your hand around instead. “Point is, you’ve done enough, haven’t you? Why don’t you leave me alone for once?!”

“Dude, what’re you talking about? When did any of that happen?” Yeonjun stepped in front, hands at his hips. “What is your problem, huh?”

“If we knew you were here, we would’ve said hi! You’ve got us all wrong, we wouldn’t do that on pur–” Huening Kai started.

“Spare me. The number of shits I give is about the same as the number of corn dogs in my stomach.”

“Okay, we’re really sorry if we bothered you, and we’ll try our best not to let it happen again. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’ll be heading into this creepy tent to find ourselves a wizard.” Taehyun cut, an expression of pure glee plastered onto his face. He didn’t spare one glance at you when he said that.

“Hold it right there, nerds, I’m not done with—”

“Uhm…” Oh, great. Bread boy. “If you’re still hungry… do you want some ice cream?” He extended his waffle cone, a sticky, melted, half-eaten-with-drool-all-over-it abomination to prove his point. What, does he want me to knock that thing out of his hand? When he caught wind of your disgusted expression, he took the cone back and flushed in embarrassment. “I mean, not mine, of course. I’ll buy you a new one.”

You stood by silent and stone-faced as he went off to a nearby ice cream cart. A few minutes later, he came back with a vanilla-chocolate swirl akin to his own. You hated vanilla-chocolate with a passion.

“Here.” Bread boy held out the cone expectantly, his face scrunched into a small smile. “And don’t worry about paying me back. Think of this as an apology gift for all the trouble we’ve caused you.”

You continued to stare straight ahead.

“Aww, come on, Wyann. Truce?”

Still you said nothing.

“Wy—”

Splat. A sickly brown bled into the half-dead grass, mottled with strains of a bleak gray.

“Do you need me to spell it out for you?” An angry pink had formed on the back of his hand, a mirror print of your palm.

“I don’t want anything to do with you guys. And you should know by now that I’m more trouble than I’m worth. Trust me, you wouldn’t want to be my friend. So do us both a favor and f*ck off, please.” That was it. There was no way you could’ve bottled that up any longer.

He didn’t say anything, his tingling hand frozen in place and disbelieving eyes taking in the murder scene. Without another word, you turned and walked into the tent. Even if it meant walking straight into an awkward situation, you weren’t letting anything else ruining the rest of your time there.

“Hey, Wyann! Nice of you to join us!”

“Hey.”

“Where’s ‘Bin?”

“Outside.”

“Hey, yeah, I’m here!” Well, shit. “Sorry, I was cleaning up my mess outside.”

You kept your gaze on the ground, bracing yourself for the whiplash of your assholery— which you very much deserved, of course— but to your surprise, that small smile of his was back on his face as if nothing had happened.

You were off the hook, but for some reason, a twinge of guilt struck at your heart.

Meanwhile, the rest of the boys were busy exploring the shop. From every oil painting to every nameless book lay a new story waiting to be told. There was so much to explore.

Walking past a bookshelf, a specific volume glinted at the corner of Taehyun’s eye, catching his attention. This seems interesting. He lifted the heavy book up carefully and turned it over in his hands.

Upon closer observation, he noticed that the book was covered in a thick layer of dust. There was an empty slot for it on the dark shelf, yet it had been sitting out collecting dust. Its pages were yellowed, its parchment crumbling with age. It looked like something from the library of a Medieval wizard, but not out of place in a fortune teller’s tent, yet he felt a strange connection to it. As if he were making a wish, the curious boy blew off the layer of dust on it.

Grey particles diffusing to the other parts of the tent, the title of the mysterious volume became visible.

The Tome of Spirit Summoning.

“Whoa, where’d you get that from?” Yeonjun said, eyes wide with surprise and curiosity.

“Ooh, open the book! Open the book!” Beomgyu urged, shoving a few pieces of popcorn into his mouth.

“Not before you put your food away,” the boy replied, carefully turning around to shield the ancient pages from flying popcorn grease. The other two rushed over to his side to see the contents of the mysterious book for themselves. He carefully flipped to the first page, where there was a fancy inscription in a language none of you understood. It looks like Latin.

Disinterested, you left that side of the tent and continued browsing elsewhere.

“So, anything interesting to see in this little hovel?”

“Excuse me, what do you mean by ‘hovel,’ young lady? This place is the highlight of the circus, a sacred emporium for the mystic.” Naturally, the owner of the hovel looked like a scraggly old hobo.

“I mean that your place looks like crap. Not exactly the most appealing, you know.”

His face immediately dropped into a frown. “What do you want-“

“But that’s exactly why I decided to come in. So what do you got in here, sir?” You sauntered through the shop, dragging your fingers along the shelves. “Let’s see, what do we have here? Crumbling books, organic soaps, dollar-store scented candles, relabeled antidepressants, preserved human innards…” you trailed off, deciding that the place was in fact, very creepy. But it left you more interested.

“Sir, what’s the coolest thing in the shop?”

“Probably that shelf of books over there,” he gestured to the shelf of books that was so hidden you wouldn’t even have noticed had Taehyun not found the book he was holding there. “They’re the intact volumes of the 16th century grimoires of spirits, complete with strange stories of the supernatural and their origins, how to conjure them and such. Of course, everything in this shop is precious to me, so I naturally take very good care of them.”

Boring. Then, something caught your attention. “Ooh, what’s that blue thing over there?” You pointed towards the object on top of the cabinet behind the fortune telling table.

“Sorry, that’s not for sale, missy.” His face grew dark, but you couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“Then why would you leave it out?” Blue-hair piped in from behind you.

“You see, it belongs to a certain somebody I’m trying to find— wait a minute. How many in your group?”

“Do you need new glasses, mister? I’m by myself. Those guys over there are just five random dumbasses.”

“By my stars… could it be...?” Without warning, the old man got up in your face, his nose almost pressed to yours.

You recoiled, nearly backing up all the way into Bread Boy. After murmuring a quick apology, you glared daggers at the shopkeeper, but there was something about the look in his eyes that held you back.

“Beast of the eternal flame...we’ve looked long and hard for hundreds of years.”

“What the hell is that?”

“You there, with the sight, surely you know what I mean,” the old man insisted, pointing a shaky, bony old finger straight at Tae’s chest.

The boy blanched, but strangely enough, didn’t deny the man’s claim. “How could you tell?”

“Of course, because I’m the same as you.”

“Tae…?”

“In my vision, you children asked about the Tome— Could it be finally happening?” He began muttering incoherently to himself once more.

You were starting to get irritated. “Alright, I’m out, this isn’t funny. I don’t know if you’re getting a kick out of this sick joke, but I’ve had en—”

“Wyann, let’s hear him out… I’m not so sure this is a joke.”

“No. You can stay and listen to this nutjob yap on about psychic bull, but I’m out of here.” Before you could get smited by some magic voodoo crap, you noped tf out of there. At least, you were going to, until the voices in your head came a’raspin’.

Stay, daemon. Stray not from the path that belongs to you.

Oh, God, don’t tell me I’m a schizophrenic.

No matter how much you wanted to get out of that creepy place, you really couldn’t. It felt like your feet were getting rooted to the ground, and the only way to go was back. To avoid incurring the wrath of the voices in your head, you did a 180. Even without the voices, there remained an unsettling feeling in your stomach. It’s just the creepy atmosphere of the carnival, no biggie.

Your arms were crossed as you leaned against the cold stone wall, rolling your eyes for good measure. But as disrespectful as you appeared, you still kept your manners in check. “For God’s sake, just please explain what the f*ck is going on.”

“The mystical beast borne of the flames…..the Seer...the prophecy...the Tome.” The fortune teller started sweating profusely, his eyes turning glassy and his whole body shaking. “The configuration…..”

Okay, very helpful. Like we’re supposed to know what any of that crap means. This man sounds and looks like he’s high.

“What are you talking about, anyways, old geezer? Care to explain in English?” Blue-hair knew when to pop in and asked all the right questions. You figured you should at least try and learn his name– Yeonjun, wasn’t it?– but hair color was a much easier way to ID him.

Gasping, the geezer suddenly collapsed onto the floor. Then, crawling to a small cabinet in the back, he pulled at the drawer handle and fumbled for something. That thing turned out to be an inhaler, with which he promptly used to pump some air into his mouth. After a few moments of heavy breathing, he started again weakly. “I just got a vision, and I’m afraid it means something far beyond my ability to decipher.” With shaking hands, he reached for the odd configuration and set it on the low table in front of him. “This is a family heirloom, and if you can pass my test, you are allowed to take it. Would you like to bet on it?”

You looked around at the guys huddled around you, waiting for your response expectantly. Tucking your hair behind your ears, you shrugged. “Okay yeah, sure.”

“Miss, your hand, please.”

“You’re not going to do anything weird to me, are you?” Knowing that your question wasn’t going to get answered anyway, you held out your hand to the guru. I’m a dumbass for doing this. Well, if I die, then I die.

The five boys huddled around you, intrigued by what was going to happen. The fortune teller sat you down, then dipped your palm into a weird red liquid. Then, mumbling a few words, he held your (what you presumed to be) blood-dipped hand onto the surface of the object. As if the object were alive, it pulsed a little under your hand. Or maybe, your heart was just beating so fast you could feel it in your hand.

Once more, the guru took a deep breath as he held your hand down on the object, his eyes shifting underneath his eyelids. It felt like an eternity until Soobin suddenly spoke up, pointing to your left.

“What’s he doing with his hand?”

All of your heads turned towards the guru’s right hand, which looked like it was furiously tapping at his desk. Rat-tat, tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat. At first, it looked like he was just shaking. It took a moment for you to realize that it wasn’t just a nonsensical series of tapping—it was some sort of code.

“Could it be a code?” The boy who you knew as Huening Kai asked.

“...Morse Code.” Both you and the blonde-haired boy croaked out at the same time.

As the man kept humming and tapping, the bunch of you started to get excited.

“Oh shoot bro, grab your notebook! We gotta write this down!”

“Go, go, go! Why are you so slow?” Beomgyu urged, unzipping his older friend’s backpack.

“Hey guys, chill! What is this, Stranger Things?  Where we crack some Russian spy code shit?” Yeonjun responded, annoyed that his backpack was being dug into without his permission.

“Shut up, what if it means something?”

“Okay, I got the notebook, gimme a pencil—”

“Hey wait, doesn’t Taehyun know how to decipher morse code?” Soobin pointed out.

“Yeah! Wait, Tae, come over here!”

“...Tae? Are you okay?”

You were so caught up in the group’s chatter that you didn’t even realize one of the boys became oddly silent, but he quickly snapped to attention.

“Huh, what is it?” “Tell us what this says!”

Before the boy could respond to his friends, the guru’s eyes sprang open. His large orbs which once shone like tiger eye stones, were now dull and bloodshot, veins bulging out and magnified by the tears that clouded their surfaces. “Take it! Leave this place!”

Although the bunch of you began to sweat from the excitement, the room suddenly felt ten degrees colder. Or maybe it was just that your hands were cold and clammy.

“Uh, what’s going on?”

“Sir, are you alright? Would you like us to call an amb—” Yeonjun offered.

“I said, get out! Go away!” He clutched his head tightly, mumbling spells quietly as if to dispel something in his mind.

“O-oh, okay then,” you stood up, and were about to leave before the guru grabbed your wrist out of nowhere, making you jump.

“Beware of the blue moon. The flames are not going to stop licking the great gate. Remember who you are.”

Shaking off his grip, you clutched the bloodstained orb-like contraption in trembling hands. “You aren’t gonna die, are you?” It didn’t seem right to leave this old man on his own in the state he was in, but he looked like he might murder you or even give you rabies.

“Worry about yourself, first. Get out. I’m warning you––” Boom! “Okay, what the f*ck was that?” A large crash sounded, followed by the pitter-patter of heavy raindrops. It seemed uncanny that it would be raining this hard, given that it was the middle of June, the dry season, and that it had been 110ºF just a few hours ago.

“It wasn’t a bomb, was it?” Soobin shuddered, brows furrowed in fear.

“Are you dumb? It’s literally raining and there’s thundering outside!” Yeonjun shouted back.

“So? Bombs still go ‘boom’ whether there’s rain or not!”

“You’re such an idi––” “Uhm, guys? I think we have a bigger problem to be worrying about.” Huening Kai called from in front of the two of them, eyes widening in fear. “What?!” The two snapped in unison, their faces pinched in the same annoyed expression.

“In case you haven’t noticed, the tent’s kinda on fire. Come on, we have to go!”

“Then wouldn’t the rain just put it ou––”

“For f*ck’s sake, unless you guys want your sorry asses to be seared into five well-done idiot steaks, f*cking move!” One of your bad habits was excessive swearing when you were stressed, and it was starting to really f*cking show. Running back into the tent, you grabbed the two boys by their forearms and booked them out of there.

Without another argument, the six of you bolted for the exit as the tent began to fold in on itself, threatening to trap you in a wall of fire. It was hard to see straight through all the smoke and heat. You felt yourself slowly letting go of the boys’ arms you were holding just a few seconds ago. You were melting. Your body, your mind, who you were, the line between reality and fantasy, logic and reason; all of it melted into one fat pile of goop.

And then all of a sudden, like you were pulled out from deep waters, you could breathe again. You’d made it to the exit, and you were safe now. Looking up, you took a moment to soak in the rain, which washed over you like a cold shower. There was something about running for your life in the rain that made it all the more exciting.

Nature’s teardrops fell onto your skin, flowing down from your large eyes to your chapped lips, from your hairy arms to your mosquito-bite ridden legs. It felt nice to just stand in the cold. Somehow, through the flame and the weight of the new responsibility you now carried, you felt happy. So happy, in fact, that you flashed a smile at the guys behind you as you took a break from running, holding the blue contraption against your stomach.

But that smile quickly faded as you heard a hard thud behind you, followed by a sharp yelp.

“Ah… my ankle…” One of the boys was on the ground, arms hugging his left leg. Face pinched in pain, he attempted to get to his feet, but winced when he put his weight on his left side. He was the one that helped you find your econ class. The rest of the boys ran back to his side to see if he was okay, and you were right behind them.

“Beomgyu! Can you walk?” Massaging his ankle, the boy on the ground just shook his head. “I think it’s sprained.” “Here, get on my back. I’ll carry you.” Yeonjun kneeled in front of him, beckoning him to crawl onto his back, but after a moment’s thought, turned to face him and held his hands out as if he were proposing.

“...What? I can get up on my own—”

“I love ya. Will ya marry me?” “What the h–” “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Without a warning, he scooped the injured boy off his feet and carried him bridal style. Beomgyu opened his mouth to protest, but the other boy simply smiled wryly.

“What’s the matter, wifey? You want a kiss?” The threat of Yeonjun’s puckered lips was enough to shock him into submission. “Guys, what are we gonna do?” The question running through everyone’s minds was now in the air, and nobody had an answer for it. Silence descended upon the group; you were all waiting for someone to tell you where to go next, but each of you was as clueless as the person next to you.

“How long are you planning to stand around in the rain?” You spoke in the most classic Wyann voice you could muster: self-assured, blunt, somewhat irritated, and on top of the situation. The exact opposite of how you felt at the moment.

“Yeah, let’s just hurry and get out of here. I could use a bite to eat.” The other four clamored in agreement, and the group came to the consensus that they would figure things out over dinner. After a quick search on Google Maps, they set out for a small diner just a block away.

It was as if your feet were planted deep into the earth. You could only watch their backs as they walked down the street past the bus stop, as they walked away from the troubles of today, far beyond your reach. The frightened screams of the carnival-goers were drowned out by the sound of the sirens, but more so by the overwhelming silence that grew louder and louder in your head. But the strangest feeling was your heart sinking, as if it were washing down to your feet like rainwater through a waterpipe. Then, one of the silhouettes stopped and turned, then started towards you.

“Wyann. Aren’t you coming?” Bread Boy extended his hand for the second time that day, but this time, you took it. He wore an expression of surprise on his face, as if he expected you to not take it, which he quickly hid as you pulled him along. It was at that moment that maybe you’d decided he was not that terrible of a person.

The bunch of you walked down the road, a little too calmly for a group of kids who’d just escaped a fairground set ablaze. Little did you know, in the moment you slipped your hand into his, you had forsaken the world. Luckily, the world was a much uglier place than you had thought.

––––

It was a feeling he hadn’t felt in a very long time. Tae held the small object closer to his chest and his fingers curled around the matted tufts of its felt.

The plushie was caked in mud, battered by the rain and the dirt. It lay right by the side of the tent, and the fire would have caught it had he not scooped it up. It usually wasn’t his thing to pick up random objects off the ground, especially not chewed up kids’ toys (he wasn’t about to be the protagonist of some horror film), but something about it drew him to it. Probably his spidey senses acting up again. Not thinking much of it, he stuffed it into his pocket and ran.

Taehyun sprinted through the hellish landscape to catch up with his friends, racing against time as each tent fell after the last like dominoes. The voices were back again, the same ones that he thought had gone away ten years ago. But now, they were back, louder than ever. And they taunted,

Ring around the rosy

A pocketful of posies

Ashes, ashes

We all fall down!

The nursery rhyme continued on and on until its harmony subsided into dissonance. All the while, ashes rained down from the sky like snow until the ground was enveloped in a grey blanket.

[baronessblixen]

Hey I really love your work :) was wondering if you could write msr at a theme park/ funfair ? Maybe with one of them scared of the rides but trying to hide it ? Maybe season of secret sex..

Happy first day of Fictober! Thanks to everyone at the workshop Friday for your lovely comments. I tried to incorporate what was said, but as it turns out I really, really suck at sensory writing. I hope it’s not too bad. 

It’s a post-ep for “Rush”. 

“Hey Scully, what do you say? Want to feel youngagain?” Mulder’s grin is infectious. They’re on their way to the car whenMulder stops suddenly, grinning like this, staring at her like that.

“You just told me in the hospital that they closed upthe cave. Not that it worked for us the first time.” They really must betoo old. Any other day it might irk her that she’s not only considered old, butactually too old. But right now, Scully doesn’t care. She is not concerned withbeing on the wrong side of 30. Not today, anyway. In her mind, the case isclosed. She’s mentally written the report already knowing that Mulder won’t bemuch help. All she wants to do right now is get home, take a shower, have sometake out and sleep. Preferably with Mulder by her side for all of it.

“No, I know,” his voice cuts into her fantasies,“I have a much better idea.” Scully swallows the sigh that’s ticklingher throat. As much as she loves Mulder, and at least some of his ideas(particularly the ones he has in the bedroom), she doesn’t want to go on acrazy goose chase right now. They just solved a case. Can’t they accept thatthey’re not young and spent an evening like normal adults?

“You wound me, Scully.” Apparently she’s said herlast thought out loud.

“Mulder, listen,” this time there is no stoppingthe sigh, but judging by Mulder’s look he’s been expecting it, “In thegrander scheme of life we are not old. As healthy adults in our 30s we-”

“I’m sure you’re right, Scully,” he puts his handson her shoulders to turn her around, “but look at this.”

“What am I looking at Mulder?” She’s staring at awall that’s plastered with posters old and new telling her about music she’snever heard about.  

“This.” His breath tickles her ear as he leans overher shoulder to point at the colorful sign reading ‘carnival’ in big letters.

“Mulder, please tell me you’re not serious.”

“Oh come on, Scully. Don’t tell me you don’t like carnivals!”

“That’s not what I said.” Though if she’s honest,she’s not particularly fond of them.

“Just for a short while? Just to feel young for anhour.” He pouts at her. It was hard to resist the pout before they starteddating. Now it’s impossible. He grins again, that charming irresistible smirk,and gives her a quick, loud kiss.

“We’re gonna have so much fun, Scully.” He sprintsto the car and Scully follows him feeling tired and yes, old. With every step allher plans fade away; no home, no shower, no take-out. At least she’s gotMulder.

She should have known that Mulder would turn into a big childat the carnival. His sweaty hand clings to hers as they make their way throughthe crowd. A group of teenagers runs past them and Scully is pushed against Mulder.They’re too slow here, too. The tinkling music leads them further inside past explosionsof red, yellow and blue colors while metal monsters and complicated gamespromise them excitement and fun. The air is laden with the smell of greasy,fried food that makes Scully’s stomach grumble. Mulder stops to buy twocorndogs for himself and a regular hot dog for Scully.

“We need to buy candy apples, Scully. For later.”

When he suggests cotton candy, though, Scully puts her footdown.

“Mulder that stuff is pure sugar.”

“So?”

“So? We have the candy apples.”

“But we’re not eating them now. Please?”

“How about we buy popcorn instead?” They share thesmall bag as they stroll around the fair. His hand is sticky, as is hers.Scully licks her lips suppressing a smile as she remembers awkward first datesnot unlike this. Once again Mulder was right; she does feel younger. Young andcarefree.

“This was a good idea, Mulder.” She tells him. Hestops walking and glances at her. His earlier grin fades to make room for oneof Scully’s favorite sights: the small smile that tells her that Mulder ishappy. It’s not often that she sees his face this relaxed.

“I’m glad you think so.” He leans down and kissesher. The kiss was obviously meant as a small peck of appreciation but Muldertastes likes popcorn, like fresh air and something that’s just so him that Scullydeepens the kiss.

“Now that was an even better idea.” Mulder says.His eyes are still closed. “But I have another one.” His eyes popopen and Scully sees enthusiasm sparkle in them.

“I have the perfect idea that I’m sure you’ll love. Comeon.” He takes her hand in his again and leads her through the waftingsmell of sugar and salt, past a few stalls and a ride that has people screamingwith delight – or fear. Distracted for a moment Scully almost doesn’t noticethat they’ve stopped. She looks around and realizes they’re in a line. Waitingfor…

“A roller coaster, Mulder?” The grin is back andit’s bigger than before.

“Nothing like a roller coaster to feel young again,huh?”

“I think I’ll pass.” Mulder grabs her hand as sheattempts to step away to make room for more eager people. Most of them teenagers.

“Hey, what’s the matter? You don’t like rollercoasters?”

“Does that surprise you?”

“Yeah. Actually yeah, it does. You’re not scared ofthem, are you?”

“What? No, of course not!” Scully answers tooquickly.

“You’re scared of roller coasters?”

“That’s ridiculous, Mulder. There’s a greater chance toget struck by lightning than to be injured during a roller coaster ride.”

“Here I thought you’d take the thrill out of it byexplaining the physics of the ride and I find out you’re scared. I thought Iknew you.” But he’s smiling softly at her. Her heart beat picks up eachtime they advance in line. The teenagers in front of them ramble on, laughloudly and point at the metal monstrosity that Mulder wants to get on, too.

“I’m not scared,” Scully says, “I just don't…like it. You know it’s merely a constantly changing pattern between potentialand kinetic energy, right? Do I need to explain it to you?”

“I know my physics, thank you. But does your scienceexplain the thrill?”

“It does, Mulder. The fluctuation in acceleration causeswhat people experience as fun. From a psychological standpoint, you’ll feelmost excited when they strap you in. The feeling of not being able to escape iswhat thrills you. The chain noises you hear that has people hold their breath?It’s a safety device.”

“Did you know roller coasters were inspired by Russianice slides, Scully? How’s that for facts?”

“In the end, a roller coaster is just a machine thatuses gravity and inertia to send a train along the winding track. It’s not thatspecial.” Scully ignores his comment and tries to concentrate on hersteady breathing. Next time the roller coaster comes around, it’ll be theirturn.

“I won’t force you to do this, Scully. But I think youshould try it. For science.”

“I have tried it, Mulder. And people have tested rollercoaster in the name of science before me, you know.”

“How old were you?”

“Ten, I think. Bill was… he said I wouldn’t dare. Iproved him wrong.” They were standing in line much like they’re now. Herheart was beating fast, too; this was the first year she was big enough to goon the roller coaster. She’d finally made the height restriction! In thedistance she could hear Charlie, still too small that year, bawling. 'You sureyou’re not too chicken, Dana?’ Bill kept asking, smirking at her. Dana’s angerwas greater than any fear. She cocked her chin and told him that she was nolonger a baby. She was not afraid. When they strapped her in, Dana thought herheart would jump out of her chest. She felt it in her stomach, in her throat;it beat everywhere and it was way too fast. Bill laughed. All through the ride,hardly more than two minutes, he laughed at her, loudly, cruelly and Danastared straight ahead, willing herself not to cry. She didn’t. Not until it wasover, not until she’d been sick all over her shoes. Back then she vowed neverto go on a roller coaster ever again. She shudders now, remembering.

“You don’t need to prove anything here, Scully. If youdon’t want to do it we’ll leave. There’s uhm… the ferris wheel? We could do theferris wheel.” This time it’s Mulder who steps away and Scully who holdshim back. Mulder is not Bill; he’s not going to laugh at her. Scully is not littleDana anymore; she knows the facts, the mechanics of it now. It’s time to letherself feel it again.

“There is nothing to be afraid of.” She says matterof fact and Mulder, very slowly, nods. “There isn’t anything to be afraidof… right?” Again, he nods.

“It’s perfectly safe, but I’ll follow your lead,Scully.”

“I made my choice… Mulder?”

“Yeah?”

“Will you hold my hand?” She blushes; what a stupidrequest. She is a grown ass woman with a gun on her hip and karate kicks in herrepertoire. Mulder smiles. He kisses her nose as a promise before he leans backto have a better look at her.

“I swear I won’t let go.”

[thepatricktreestump]

Saudade: Ch1

Dating Josh was honestly everything you could ever want it to be. Two years of the greatest moments of your entire life. You couldn’t even imagine being with anyone else. All your other boyfriends and girlfriends, small flings, stupid one night stands, it meant nothing. Josh was like your modern day Prince Charming. While he might not be the typical fancy haired, twinkling eyed, sharp dressed, perfectly postured gentleman, he was just as special. He had hair that changed color almost as frequently as the weather, mocha eyes that squinted and widened in just the right ways, a rather edgy and modern punk fashion sense, a cheesy humor, and a kind heart. You still remembered the moment you met as if it was just yesterday.

“What the fuck?” you cursed, tripping over your own feet and spilling the coffee cup in your hand to the floor, toppling onto the sidewalk, your palms skidding with the pavement.

“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry!” a voice cried behind you. Before you knew it, two hands were helping you to your feet, sputtering out apologies. “I didn’t look where I was going, oh my goodness, I am so sorry.”

“It’s fine,” you muttered, brushing yourself off before looking up, staring into the most beautiful eyes you had ever seen. You were face to face with a guy who looked about your age, blue semi-curly hair, nose ring, gages, a snapback, NASA t-shirt, ripped jeans, and sneakers. He stared at you for a moment before reaching down to grab his cellphone, which you assumed had fallen out of his hand when he had bumped into you, as well as his skateboard.

“Texting and skateboarding,” he explained, turning red with embarrassment and letting out a nervous laugh. “Probably not the best decision.”

“Yeah,” you nodded slowly.

“I’m super sorry about that coffee,” he cringed. “You okay? You took quite the fall.”

“I’m fine,” you reassured. “Don’t worry about me.” You glanced at the spilled coffee on the ground.

“You sure?” he inquired.

“I’m good, I don’t know about my coffee,” you chuckled.

“I’m really sorry about that,” he sighed. “Um, how about I make it up to you? There’s a coffee shop down the street. If you’re not in a rush to get anywhere, maybe we could get you another one? It’s on me.”

“Sounds great,” you gave a light smile. “I was just heading to my apartment anyways.”

“I’m super sorry,” he repeated.

“It’s fine, stop apologizing,” you rolled your eyes. “It was just an accident. I’m quite the klutz myself, so I can relate.”

“Got it,” he relaxed his shoulders. “I’m Josh by the way.”

“Y/n,” you introduced, shaking his hand. You both exchanged a grin before walking towards the coffee shop, spilling out your life stories piece by piece, not knowing what great future destiny had planned for the two of you.

A small accident on the sidewalk transformed into an exchange of numbers in a coffee shop, which transitioned into regularly grabbing breakfast together each week, eventually evolving into attending a couple of his shows, and after a bunch of teasing from Tyler and several of your own friends, an official first date.

“A carnival,” you smirked when he led you towards the Ferris Wheel. “Leave it to someone like Josh Dun to take me someplace strange for a first date.”

“Why? You don’t like cotton candy and popcorn?” he raised an eyebrow teasingly, squeezing your hand he had been holding as you traveled down the boardwalk.

“I don’t know, it’s just unusual,” you shrugged. “I was expecting the whole fancy restaurant dinner or adorable little park picnic or something like that.”

“That’s so cliché,” he rolled his eyes. “Come on, we already exchanged numbers in a café. Isn’t that textbook enough for you?”

“Don’t get me wrong,” you giggled. “I love unusual.” You kissed him on the cheek and watched as he blushed, glancing at you and giving a small smile before you stepped in line to ride the wheel.

Josh spent the entire evening with you, winning you small plush animals, buying you funnel cake, traveling with you through a mirror maze, taking pictures of you riding the carousel, painting your faces, and even getting some animal balloons from a clown. You both ended up straying away from the boardwalk and sitting down by the beach, taking off your shoes and going for a late night walk by the shoreline, holding hands and talking about your favorite things in the world.

“I really like sunsets,” you explained. “The streaks of color and how they settle in the sky, the way the sunlight filters through the clouds, the entire peacefulness of it, it’s beautiful.”

“I like cats,” Josh added. “They’re so fluffy and they make adorable purring sounds and I think they have super cool eyes. They’re neat.”

“Finding money in the pockets of your jeans,” you laughed. “Like when you’re doing laundry or putting on an old pair of pants and you reach into your pockets and find money you forgot was there. That’s a great feeling.”

“You know what else is a great feeling?” Josh asked. “Spending an evening with a lovely lady like you, being able to hold her hand and look into her eyes, walk with her alongside the ocean, and know that you truly love her.”

“Yeah?” you wondered, pausing your walking and looking at him for a moment.

“Definitely,” he nodded. There was a pause. “I love you, y/n.”

“Well that’s lucky for you,” you grinned. “Because I’m pretty sure I love you too, Josh. And that’s one of my favorite things in the entire world.”

“What?” he raised an eyebrow.

“Loving you,” you rolled your eyes. You stared at each other, as if searching for something, before he cupped your face with his hands, studying your face for a second before kissing you, placing his lips to yours and letting the rest of the world fade away.

Since then, your small bud of feelings for Josh blossomed into a passionate flower of love. You started to spend all your time together, going to almost all of his shows, watching entire television series together, falling asleep cuddling on the couch, accompanying him to interviews and award shows, and even dying his hair red and pink. You spent hours drinking iced coffee, singing Blink-182, shopping for beanies and snapbacks, watching Stranger Things episodes, going to the pet store just to play with the cats, making occasional trips to the tattoo parlor, and eating countless amounts of burritos. It was the smell of bubblegum and having sweet sex and wearing his sweatshirts and silly texts and late night city walks and open mouthed kisses and trying to learn to skateboard and penny fountain wishes. Loving Josh was everything you had hoped it to be and more.

“Good morning,” he greeted in a sing song voice, kissing your forehead that morning. “Wake up sleepy head.”

“Ugh,” you groaned, fluttering open your eyelids. “It’s way too early. It’s like seven in the morning.”

“You know it’s our two year anniversary,” he smiled. “Big day.”

“I know,” you chuckled, pressing your lips to his. “How could I forget?”

“I was thinking, I don’t know, maybe we could go to Disney World?” he raised an eyebrow.

“What?” you widened your eyes.

“I sort of already got tickets,” he grinned. “Our flight leaves at ten.”

“You’re crazy,” you rolled your eyes, pulling him in for a kiss. “Wait. Are you serious?”

“Definitely,” he nodded. “I scheduled everything. We can stay for three days, go on all the rides, pose with the characters, watch the fireworks, the whole experience. It’s going to be great.”

“I fucking love you,” you beamed. “I also can’t believe you.”

“Surprise,” he laughed.

“You’re the best,” you kissed him again.

“I just wanted to take my very own princess to the magical castle,” he shrugged. “Special occasion.”

It was days like these that reminded you just how much you loved Josh. The adorable plans and surprises, his childlike awe and innocence, his contagious laughter and smile, everything about him. He even bought you matching Mickey Mouse ears to wear and took you to see your favorite Disney princess. A couple weeks after, you were sitting on the couch when the topic came up.

“I think you’re hiding something,” you murmured as you were cuddling on the couch, just having finished a season of X Files. “You’ve been quiet lately.”

“I’m fine,” Josh dismissed, but you turned around to face him, looking him in the eyes.

“You’re not telling me something,” you insisted. “Josh.” There was a moment of silence.

“I didn’t want to tell you until it was official,” he sighed. “I still don’t really know for sure.”

“You’re leaving for tour,” you stated flatly. “Aren’t you?”

“Maybe,” he shrugged. “I mean, Tyler and Mark are still working out dates, but yeah.”

“When are you leaving?” you asked.

“Next month,” he explained. His voice went soft. “Or next week.”

“Next week?” your eyes went wide. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” he sighed. “We wanted to surprise the fans with a tour and we’ve been practicing and stuff and we’re releasing dates tomorrow but-”

“But you just didn’t think it was important to tell me,” you muttered, obviously agitated with him.

“Y/n, it’s not like I was keeping a secret or anything,” he argued. “I just didn’t know. Okay? Please don’t be angry at me. I just, well, I was afraid to tell you. I didn’t want you to be mad, but I guess you already are, so, I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” you took a deep breath. “I overreacted. I’m just sad to see you go. I’m going to miss you.”

“You know I’d take you along if I could,” he mumbled, pressing a kiss to your lips. “If Ty would let me, I’d wrap you in my arms and carry you everywhere I go. Even on stage. I’d let you sit on my lap as I play the drums, be up there on stage with me, right next to my heart.”

“You’re silly,” you rolled your eyes. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” he gave a small smile.  “You know what else I’m going to miss, though?”

“What?” you raised an eyebrow.

“This body,” he smirked, grazing his hand against your side. “The way your lips feel against mine, how sweet they taste, what miracles they perform when they’re all over my skin…”

“Yeah?” you flickered your eyes up to meet him.

“Yeah,” he nodded. Josh slipped a hand underneath your shirt and up your back slowly, sliding his fingers underneath your bra and beginning to unhook it. “I think we better do a little something special before I leave, right?”

“Definitely,” you whispered.

Everything with Josh was sweet. Being with Josh was a warm cup of café coffee or a sugary tuft of carnival cotton candy. Each touch of his hand was a brushstroke of a painter, every kiss a spoonful of honey, all of his movements as if the light breeze that blows on a sunny spring day. So of course, sex with Josh was always just as sweet. “Lift your arms for me, baby,” he mumbled, slowly inching the fabric of your shirt up your arms, then taking the time to kiss you on the lips again. He trailed his mouth down your jaw, your neck, and towards your breasts, swiftly unclasping your bra and delicately sliding it from your arms as well. Undressing each other was as if performing a graceful waltz, each move just a part of the dance, every thrust of the hips a simple sashay, each roll over a graceful twirl, all movements combined in a beautiful choreography, intertwined with the symphony of your heartbeats and breathing. It was slow and simple and so raw and pure, the most amazing feeling in the world simply compacted into one human being, and he was in your arms, against your body, within you, overwhelming you and taking over, and you savored every second of it.

“I want you,” you mumbled against his neck as you bunched up his shirt and slowly slid it upwards, over his head, tossing it to the side before traveling your lips down his chest. You tugged down his shorts and he lifted you up for a moment to kiss you again, his hands finding your hips and gently sliding his thumbs underneath the waistband of your leggings, hooking his fingers around your panties and inching them both down your thighs, his hand traveling towards your core and making you hum with delight. He brushed past your folds for a second to slide his fingers through your wetness before tugging down your leggings and panties to your ankles, helping you kick them off and then climbing on top of you, slowly grinding down on you through the fabric of his boxers. Both of you let out a slight moan and you reached for the fabric, tugging it down and letting his erection spring free, sliding them down his legs.

“Condom,” he reminded and you sighed, chewing on your lower lip as he reached towards the drawer of the nightstand and pulled one out, your eyes fixed on his movements and the pool of wetness between your legs growing as he ripped the foil open with his teeth and rolled it on over his length, repositioning himself above you and kissing you softly. “So. Fucking. Beautiful.”

“Please,” you murmured and he nodded, lining up with your entrance and slowly sinking in, making you inhale sharply, wrapping your arms around him as he went deeper inch by inch, finally filling you up to the hilt and letting out a soft moan.

Both of you began to rock back and forth, small slow thrusts making you close your eyes and tilt back your head, giving Josh access to your neck, his lips carefully placing kisses on your skin and down to your breasts, each movement so sweet and graceful. He held you in his arms as if you were fragile glass, a porcelain doll meant to be treated with upmost care, a precious jewel uncovered from the depths of the ocean. It made you feel warm and special and safe and so happy, the way his skin brushed against yours making your body relax against his, both of your movements combining into pure bliss. “Baby, I’m close,” he whispered.

“Me too,” you bit down on your lower lip and nodded, both of you starting to shake and quiver in each other’s arms, each thrust of your hips gaining momentum until you both reached your climax, moaning loudly and riding out the waves of orgasm, your bodies pressed so close together until finally it settled. You were wrapped in each other’s arms for a moment before he pulled out, untangling your sweaty exhausted limbs from each other and letting Josh slide off and tie the condom, tossing it into the trash as you reached for the blankets that had fallen off the bed, covering yourself in them. Josh smirked and wrapped you in his arms, sighing.

He stared at you for a moment before closing his eyes tight. “God I’m going to miss you,” he sighed. You kissed again, pressing your lips to his for a moment before pulling away. “I wish I didn’t have to go.”

“Don’t say that,” you frowned. “I want you to have fun. I want you to play your heart out on stage every single night. I want you to smile. And if not for you, then for me. Promise?”

“Promise,” he agreed, kissing the top of your head. He sighed. “I’m going to miss you so much.”

“I am too,” you mumbled. “I don’t know what I’m going to do without you.”