#and if I heard right he went through well over 100 anime

[dark-frosted-heart]

He Doesn’t Know That I Turned into an Animal Bonus Story

This is the bonus story involving everyone. It's utterly ridiculous

As usual, can’t guarantee 100% accuracy on this. None of my translations are proofread until a day after posting

Victor: This is an emergencyyyy!! Come to the dining hall at once!!

When I woke up this morning and started getting ready, I heard Victor’s voice echoing through the castle.

Kate: What’s the matter Victor?! Did you make Jude mad and end up in debt?! Or did Liam and Alfons play a prank……huh?

What I saw when I came down to the dining hall made me gasp.

Beside Victor were 8 animals.

(4 cats, 3 dogs…And a fox?)

Kate: Victor, where did you find them? I think taking care of all of them will be pretty hard…

Victor: I didn’t find them from anywhere! Everyone in Crown’s become an animal!

Kate: ……Excuse me?

Victor: Last night after you went back to your room, we were all drinking when… Roger and Alfons started arguing over the most trivial things.

~~ Flashback ~~

Roger: *sigh* …We’re not getting anywhere like this. Let’s settle this.

Alfons: I see, with drinks? It’s just what I was hoping for.

In the beginning, it was only Roger and Alfons competing, then gradually, the others joined in…

Roger: Hm? There’s no more drinks? I guess I’ll go get more.

Alfons: Oh, what’s this? Are you running away?

Roger: Why would I run when I’m winning? Or do you want me to run?

Liam: Okay, how about you two calm down? I’ll go fetch some instead!

Roger: Thanks Liam. Can you fetch the green bottle in my room?

Liam: Gotcha~

~~ Flashback end ~~

Victor: …After that, everyone except me drank the special alcohol Liam brought back.

Kate: You didn’t drink?

Victor: I had some work left so I couldn’t. So I just had a spot of tea when I joined them.

Kate: So you’re saying that…everyone became an animal because of the alcohol they drank?

Victor: Yes. The special alcohol Liam brought was…here it is!

Victor picked up an empty bottle from the dining table.

It was green like Roger had said, but there was a small label on it.

Kate: “Animalization. Caution: Do not drink” …Is what it says.

Victor: So it wasn’t alcohol that Liam brought, but one of Roger’s experiments!

Kate: No way…!

Victor: The bottle’s the same color as the one Roger asked Liam to get. Since Liam was drunk, he mixed them up.

—At that moment, one of the cats went to hide under the table.

(Was that Liam just now? It looked like he was hiding, but…)

(I don’t think he actually mixed them up. Rather, did he do it on purpose to satisfy his curiosity…?)

Victor: The rest of us didn’t check the label either… They all went to sleep thinking we drank alcohol instead of a drug. I gave them blankets and left. And then when I came down to the dining hall this morning… There they were, looking so cute sleeping under the blankets!

(Well bringing in all these animals would be too much for a prank…)

(So everyone really did become an animal…?)

Kate: If the drug’s one of Roger’s experiments, then there might be some clues in the infirmary.

Victor: You’re right. I’ll go look. In the meantime, can you look after everyone? I really wish I could, but…

Victor took a step closer to the animals…and they scattered like little spiders.

Victor: …Animals have always avoided me. They’re scared of me for some reason. So…I’m entrusting their safety to you. Can you do that for me?

Kate: Got it! I’ll take care of them!

Victor: Thanks, Kate…I’m really glad you’re here.

After Victor left the dining hall, I rolled up my sleeves and pumped myself up.

(Alright…First of all, I need to know who’s who. That’ll make taking care of them easier!)

While thinking up of a plan, I crouched in front of the most obvious one.

Kate: You’re Harrison, right?

Harrison (fox): ……Hm?

Kate: No, there’s no point in making that “who knows” kind of face. If you say “fox”, then it has to be Harrison!

Harrison (fox): …

For some reason, Harrison the fox looked sad.

(Normally Harrison’s lying while looking all aloof, but…)

(...He can’t do that when he’s like this. I’ll need to get him back to normal quickly)

(Next is…)

Kate: Hey, you can’t smoke as a dog!

A white dog with black spots held a cigarette with his front paw and deftly tried to light it.

I rushed over, snatched the cigarette away, and hid it in my pocket.

Kate: With those colors and the cigarette…You’re probably Jude, right? Alright, I’m pocketing them.

Jude (dog): Grrr…

Kate: Um…you sound intimidating, but you look really cute right now.

As a human, Jude would always talk down to me, but he can’t do that the way he is now.

Even while growling at me, he had a dog’s cuteness…I wanted to pet his head.

Kate: There, there…

Jude: WOOF!

Kate: …Woah!

When I tried to pet him, Jude almost bit me.

(Even as a dog, Jude’s still Jude, ruthless as ever…)

Kate: O-okay. I won’t touch you…don’t smoke and just sit tight, okay? I’m sure Victor will find a way to get you all back to normal…

Jude (dog): …

Jude sniffed in displeasure and turned his attention to the clock on the wall.

Kate: “Hurry up” huh? Understood.

(Now then…The only one who’d be near Jude is Ellis, but I don’t see him)

Kate: It really hurt my feelings when Jude almost bit me… If only an animal would let me pet him right now. It’d heal my broken heart and make me really happy!

Jude (dog): …

Jude understood what I was trying to do and looked at me as if he wanted to say something.

(He’s thinking I’m using him…but right now, I can’t even be bothered!)

Kate: Aahhhh! I want to pet someone!

I didn’t know if Ellis would fall for it, but I had to give it a try.

—In that moment.

Kate: Eek!

All of a sudden a black cat jumped into my arms.

Kate: Are you perhaps Ellis…?

Ellis (cat): Meow.

The cat that looked like Ellis replied while rubbing his forehead against my hand.

It’s like he was telling me to pet him.

Kate: Hehe, thank you.

I gratefully petted Ellis’ small head and neck. The way he purred was so cute.

Ellis (cat): …Meow, meow?

(Ah…I think I understood what you just said)

Kate: Did you ask if I’m happy right now? Yes…I’m feeling a little happier!

(Next…)

I looked under the table and spoke to the cat hiding under it.

Kate: You tried to hide from Victor and me while we were talking, so…Are you Liam?

Liam (cat): Meow!

Kate: I need to know…Did you mix up the alcohol and drug on purpose?

Liam (cat): Meow, meow?

As expected from Liam. Even as a cat, he knows how to present himself and meows in a cute and charming way.

He was so cute that I wanted to smoosh his face with mine, but…his eyes were looking from side to side.

Kate: So you did do it on purpose…When you all turn back to human, make sure everyone gives you a scolding, okay?

Liam (cat): Meow…

(Everyone’s going to be mad at Liam while he looks down dejectedly, but…I’m sure everyone will forgive him in the end)

(Because Liam’s someone you just can’t hate)

Kate: In the meantime, please sit tight until everyone’s back to normal.

Liam (cat): Meow…

Kate: Can you keep an eye on Liam, Harrison?

Harrison (fox): Hm…

Though Harrison looked dissatisfied, he stuck by Liam’s side.

(I guess I can rest easy on that. The rest…huh?)

Looking around the dining hall, I noticed that some of the animals were missing.

(Roger, Elbert, Alfons, William…no, those four are missing!)

(Right, they just happened to be in the dining hall…there’s no way everyone in Crown would stay put!)

(I wonder where they went…)

Victor: Kate!

Kate: Victor! Did you find anything?

Victor: Yes. I know how to turn everyone back to normal. By the way, why are you here?

Kate: To tell you the truth, four people…er, animals, have gone missing from the dining hall…

Victor: Haha, my beloved cursed boys are free to be animals, aren’t they?

Kate: It’s really annoying…

Victor: Alright, let’s look for them together.

Kate: Okay!

(I’m glad that Victor’s still human)

(I think it would’ve been really hard to do this by myself…)

We checked the foyer first to rule out the possibility that they left the castle.

Victor: A nearby maid informed me that she didn’t see any dogs or cats walk out the front door.

Kate: That’s a relief! That means they’re definitely still in the castle.

Victor: Right. …By the way, what’s going on over there?

Following Victor’s gaze, I saw some mades gathered in a corner of the foyer.

Kate: That’s suspicious…Let’s ask.

When we approached the maids, we saw them surrounding a dog.

Kate: Ah, that dog…!

Victor: Yes…there’s no doubt about it. It’s Elbert!

He had silky golden fur and distressed eyes.

Even as a dog, Lord Elbert was beautiful. Adding on the charm of a dog, no one could leave him alone.

The maids were all captivated by his charms and handled him like something delicate.

(For now, I’m glad you’re safe…)

Victor immediately used sign language to explain the situation to the maids and succeeded in retrieving Lord Elbert.

Elbert (dog): Awoo…?

(Oooo, so cute…! I’d do anything for you!)

Bringing Lord Elbert along, we decided to search the halls next.

Kate: Wha-what is this…?!

The moment I turned the corner, I was shocked by a devastating scene in the hallway.

There were several cats lying around.

Kate: What in the world…are they okay?!

I rushed over and crouched down beside the cats to check on them.

(Huh? It doesn’t look like they’re hurt.)

(Writhing around in pleasure…Is this)

Victor: Mlem…There’s no doubt about it! It’s catnip!

Kate: Catnip’s…the herb that intoxicates cats, right?

Victor: Yes. It looks like someone gave the cats catnip and threw a drug party.

Kate: That’s…

Victor: No doubt we’re thinking about the same person. Let’s hurry!

We followed the trail of catnip-drunk cats to Alfons’ room.

Kate: Alfons! Please stop spreading catnip around!

When I burst into the room, the cat lying on the bed got up and looked at me languidly.

Victor: You’ve been enjoying your time as a cat, haven’t you Alfons?

Alfons (cat): Meow-ha!

Alfons laughed loudly like he did as a human and let himself get caught.

Alfons (cat): Now that just leaves Roger and William.

Kate: Where would those two be…We’ve searched everywhere we could think of.

Victor: Maybe they’re constantly moving about, or we’re always just missing each other. But I believe finding Roger’s easier than you think.

Kate: Huh?

Victor: Watch.

Victor smiled proudly and cupped his hands around his mouth.

Victor: Ah?! There’s a high-quality beer here from Her Majesty the Queen herself?! I can drink it without anyone noticing. What should I do?

(No matter how much Roger likes alcohol, there’s no way he’d fall for something so obvious…)

Just as I was thinking that, I heard light steps running toward us.

Roger (dog): Arf!

A dog with light brown fur appeared, wagging his large tail.

(...I can’t believe he fell for it)

Roger’s once again proved his hardcore love for alcohol.

After catching the three, we had them wait in the dining hall…William was the only one left.

Victor: To think that he’d be the last one for us to find…That’s William for you!

Kate: You’re right. I wonder where he went…

Victor: Hmm, shall I prepare some strawberries?

Kate: I don’t think that trick will work as well as it did with Roger…but it might be worth a try.

At that moment, a beautiful tune came into the hallway.

Kate: Victor, that’s the sound of a piano…!

Victor: Yes!

We nodded at each other and ran to the great hall.

Kate: William! Did you become human again— —Nevermind?

There was a “cat” on the piano deftly playing Minute Waltz with his front and back paws.

Kate: But it sounded a lot like William’s piano playing…

Victor: …You’re right. He’s the only one that can produce such a sound.

And then Victor and I listened to the cat play.

The final note melted into the air…We applauded the wonderful performance.

Kate: Are you…William?

William (cat): Meow.

William gracefully got off the piano and walked over to us.

Kate: …Even as animals, all of Crown’s kept their “identity” didn’t they?

Victor: You can’t hide your personality even if you want to!

--

Victor: Now that everyone’s back, I have an announcement…dalalalalala dan! According to Roger’s research, the only way to turn back is with a kiss!

Kate: K-kiss…? That kind of solution only exists in fairy tales…

Victor chuckled at my confusion and gently touched my lips with a finger.

Victor: We’re cursed here so there’s nothing strange about it.

Kate: That’s true…

Victor: Well now! It’s not something difficult, so let’s do it quickly.

(I wouldn’t be able to kiss them if they were human, but…)

(...I can probably do it with everyone as animals)

I looked at each Crown member that became an animal and prepared myself.

Kate: Got it. I— 

Victor: Now everyone, line up! I’ll give all of you a kiss with love!

Kate: Huh.

What happened after with Victor was amazing.

No animal was spared as he caught each and every one that tried to run away, and passionately kissed them…

They then all turned back into humans without an issue.

…For everyone’s sake, I’ll leave out some of the details.

[maochira]

HOW WAS THE BLUE LOCK MOVIE???????

OKAY SO. HERE'S MY FULL REVIEW ON THE MOVIE

I love the movie very much!!! I watched it twice, first with two friends and then with my dad. Both times we watched the German dubs btw!

Even though I enjoyed every second of it, I do have some criticism.

I wish they would have focused a little less on the matches and a little more on the stuff that happens inbetween. Especially the dynamic between Reo and Zantetsu was so much fun to read in the Episode Nagi manga. In the movie it was just Nagi telling Zantetsu so turn his brain off and do what Reo instructs. They left out such a huge chunk of the conflict between Reo and Zantetsu.

I think the match against Barou's team should have been longer. I loved that part in the manga and it is important to Nagi's awakening. It was too short in the movie.

I get why the match against Team Z was so long and I didn't mind. I enjoyed seeing more from Nagi's POV!

I think the movie should have ended right at the beginning of second selection. They rushed through all the matches and showed nothing of the important developments that happend when Reo's and Nagi's teams are up against each other. It felt so very rushed just to get to the U-20 match in the post-credit scene.

I mean, I get it. They most likely didn't plan a second movie and the manga wasn't that far when the movie was announced over a year ago. But still... I think ending with Nagi's monologue at the start of second selection would have been a better ending.

Also, I understand they went that far to create hype for the second season of the anime. All in all, I understand the decisions that were made but would have prefered a different approach.

Now some thoughts on the German dub!!

The dub of the first season was good but there was a lot of space of improvement. I watched it over 10 times so the voices and ways of the characters talking are engrained in my mind.

For the movie (and possibly season 2) they changed some voice actors. Most important: Nagi

When I saw the trailer and heard his new VA I wasn't impressed and rather disappointed. But now that I've seen the movie? AMAZING!!! Marcel Mann did a great job as Nagi! His previous VA Jerome Weinert was good as well, but his acting made Nagi sound rather annoyed than lazy/tired. I hope Marcel Mann continues voicing Nagi for season 2 because he fits Nagi so well!

Reo's and Zantetsu's VAs remained the same. Ben Küch and Maik Rogge were once again great as them! I love the translations in the dub, especially Reo and Nagi sounded like regular teenagers talking. Stuff like "fuck" and "shit" and just random cursewords during matches, Nagi even said "sheesh" at some point LMFAO. A lot of parts of the dub were also translated better than season 1, for example Raichi actually said "sexy football" rather than "irresistible football" which was a confusing choice in season 1 (especially because they alternated between irresistible and sexy I think???)

Bachira was voiced by Julius Jellinek in the movie and at first I was sceptical because his previous VA Finn Posthumus has kind of grown on me, but Julius Jellinek still impressed me!! I think the voice isn't 100% fitting for Bachira, but the acting was amazing. My favourite part was when he said "My monster tells me no panic on the titanic!" that was hilarious

Barou is now voiced by Fabian Kluckert. Some of you might remember when I posted clips of season 1 German Barou that were.... uhm..... see for yourselves

There are no official sources to my knowledge, but my friend figured out who the German VA is. Sebastian Schneider has only had 2 voice acting roles so far, one of them being Barou (those are the only ones documented on Synchronkartei, at least). He's usually an actor for live-action stuff. Anyways, the switch to Fabian Kluckert was kinda... unimpressive. Forgettable. Fabian Kluckert is a great VA, you can check his other anime roles here. But going from Sebastian Schneider who had questionable acting, but sounded very funny and made German dub Barou sound a little less serious, casting Fabian Kluckert as Barou made him kind of bland in comparison. I hope they find another VA to do Barou for season 2. I wish German Barou to be able to convey a similar energy than his Japanese and English voice actors. So far we only got unserious and kinda bland Barou.

Gagamaru also had another VA and... meh. Christian Zeiger is way too high for Gagamaru. I really hope they get David Brizzi back for season 2 because he was a perfect German Gagamaru. Christian Zeiger is the German voice for Tom Holland and... yeah. Not the greatest casting on Gagamaru.

René Dawn-Claude as Nameoka??? AMAZING. Loved it. That was great. I hope René Dawn-Claude continues voicing in season 2, hopefully as Shidou! Shidou was previously voiced by Luca Kämmer, who didn't fit him too well. They put Luca Kämmer on Otoya in the movie's additional time which was great!! He definitely fits Otoya better than Shidou.

Carlos Fanselow as Karasu, Oliver Szerkus as Yukimiya and Linus Drews as Kurona were great too! They didn't talk much so I don't have a huge opinion on them, but I'd be fine with them continuing their roles in season 2. Linus Drews as Kurona was close to perfect by the way! I couldn't imagine what German VA he would have, but now that I heard Linus Drews on him, I love that.

If anyone wants to know more detailed thoughts on any German Blue Lock VAs or dub decisions, feel free to send me asks about it :]

[minijenn]

Jen Tortures Herself With Every Dreamworks Animated Movie Ever: Abominable

Wow I can't believe Dreamworks made their own version of Up but without the Dead Wife and Flying House and with a Yeti instead of a colorful bird

Anyway, this movie was kind of a mystery to me going in, because I swear to god I've never heard anyone ever talk about this, so I had no idea what to expect out of it. As for what I got, well... it was... actually pretty ok! So let's get into it.

After the death of her father, teenager Yi has grown distant from her family and her friends, Jin and his younger cousin Peng. That is, until she happens upon an escaped yeti, eventually named Everest, after she decides to help the creature get back to his home on Mount Everest, roping Peng and Jin along for the trip. All the while, they're being chased by the wealthy collector Mr. Burnish and zoologist Dr. Zara, who are determined to recapture the yeti and put it on display.

So yeah, a pretty simple "get mysterious creature back to where they belong" plot that we've seen in plenty of other movies in the past. The movie does kind of fumble over more than a few cliches when it comes to that plot, and the characters, for the most part, are a bit too simple and one-note for my liking. The tone is also a little strange, with some weird humor mixed in with often heavy-handed attempts at whimsy and drama. The pacing is also kind of strange? I don't know how to explain it but something is... off about the way this film presents its story and I can't... seem to articulate why.

As for the characters, like I said, they're all pretty simple. I feel like Yi is a little confusing and doesn't really have a clear character arc? Like she just decides to help Everest almost immediately after meeting him? Like literally just travel across China on a whim??? What? I get she's an impulsive teenager but still, bruh, that's just wacky. Peng is your typical hyperactive kid character, and he grated on the nerves a handful of times. Out of our main human trio, I think Jin is the best, he's a pretty funny character who goes through an actual arc, starting off as a tech-obsessed stick in the mud before learning to enjoy the journey alongside the others. Everest is also just... your typical cute creature cliche? He doesn't have a ton in the way of a personality and he has these powers that are kind of just... whatever the plot needs them to be? Like deus-ex-machina yeti fr fr out here.

Our villians are... surprisingly interesting! We start off thinking Mr. Burnish is our greedy big bad capitalist when, surprise! Dr. Zara actually is instead and I love her cause she goes from zero to 100 so fast and yeah, she's a twist villian cliche but I don't care because she kind of a baddie there I said it.

As for presentation, this movie is honestly gorgeous. Like seriously, it is so damn pretty to look at. The set pieces are so vibrant and colorful and the scale of them is awe-inspiring. The character designs felt kind of weird to me at first, burt I grew used to them as the film went along, and they're animated very nicely. There's a lot of scenes in this movie that were clearly just Dreamworks flexing, and you know what? I'm not gonna fault them for it. They're beautiful.

Something else that's beautiful about this movie is its score. Yi plays the violin and that actually becomes a major plot point throughout the film and every time she picks that instrument up, we get some truly soulful, beautiful pieces. This soundtrack is nowhere near as memorable as something like HTTYD's but its still absolutely lovely in its own right, I think.

So yeah, Abominable was one of the more surprising movies of the Dreamworks watch. I kept forgetting I would even have to eventually watch it until now, but I think, for what it is, it's ok. I wouldn't call it great, but I wouldn't call it terrible either. It's a perfectly servicable film about a bunch of kids and a yeti going on a cross-country adventure. And sometimes, that's all ya need.

Overall Rating: 6/10

Verdict: Evil Unetical Scientists Can Be Hot Sometimes, Actually

Previous Review (How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World)

Next Review (Trolls World Tour)

[justinewt]

Black Rain - THE 100 REWRITE Chapter Thirty-Three

[THE 100 MASTERLIST]

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter

Summary: After the fish and insects and animals dying, the black rain arrived, forcing everyone to find shelter, harming and killing a lot of them. It was hard on all of them but they pushed through it, they had to. And then, it turned out Jaha was right about the second dawn bunker and it existed. They had a chance to survive the fire that would ravage the whole earth soon.

Words: 5.3k

Warnings: The 100 season 4 spoilers (episode 7 'Gimme shelter", episode 8 "God complex" & episode 9 "DNR"), mention of suicide attempt (mere mention of a scar, nothing else)

Michelle and her father walked up to Bellamy as he parked the rover in the middle of camp. She glanced at the sky. In less than a few hours, it had become threateningly yellow and was covered with thick clouds. Black rain was really coming this time and Octavia was still somewhere out there and her brother was understandably beyond concerned for her safety. She knew he felt like he was failing her, but there was really nothing else he could do. As she was looking up, she felt something drop on her temple and flinched, turning her head aside with a frown. Kane and Bellamy began yelling at everyone around them as they pushed Michelle to run towards the station. She stumbled a bit and ran inside with the others, sheltering herself and a child with a large piece of tarp she had grabbed while running. Thunder rumbled and lighting flashed in the distance as the acidic rain intensified and people ran to take shelter inside the station. Inside, everyone rushed to pour water on themselves, some of them even took off their clothes.

Water dripped from Michelle’s hair and face. She squeezed out her hair with one hand and wiped her face with the palm of the other, catching her breath, and looked around to see where her father and Bellamy were. She saw them, right by the door and jogged over to them, weaving between the panicked people crowded in the hallway. From what she heard Bellamy say as she approached, someone was still out there. She didn’t step too close to the door but peered outside and saw a man lying on the ground. He was still moving and screaming in pain. They didn’t waste any more time, told her to stay put and they grabbed a piece of tarp and a large jacket, and she watched anxiously as they went out. They quickly got to him, helped him up, putting his arm around their shoulders and rushed him inside. Two guards came at the door to get him as he screamed, his face twisted by the pain he was in, and they took him away.

“I have to find Octavia.” Bellamy exclaimed, speaking over the pouring rain.

“She’s not here. She took off hours ago.”

“I gotta find her.” He was about to leave again when Kane grabbed his arm to stop him.

“Bellamy, look. We don’t know where she went. You just got back, and the rover doesn’t have enough power to go searching through the woods.”

“The rain will kill her.”

“She’s smart. You gotta trust that she found shelter, okay?” He was worried sick for his sister, but ended up acquiescing, glancing at the car still parked by the gate. Kane quickly checked his daughter but seeing as she was fine, he was reassured and went to check on the rest of their people. Michelle then looked back at Bellamy and for half a second, seeing him walk towards the door, she thought he was going to run outside but he just pulled the door closed.

“All wet clothing in the designated zone.” Kane then told everyone. Having been one of the first to cover themselves from the rain and get inside, the few driops of rain that did fall on her had done no damage to her jacket or skin and had already dried, but she still took it off along with her shirt and kept on dousing herself in water to wash her skin. She would retrieve it later. It was literally the only piece of clothing in the entire station with a USA flag patch on it, and she had written her name inside of it, as well as her grandfather’s and her Hawaiian great grandfather’s. Her mother had been the only one in their line to never wear it.

Bellamy was right next to her and her eyes briefly wandered over his bare torso. Someone called out to them over a radio, and she turned her head to her father as he took it in his hand, pulling out the antenna. “This is chancellor Kane. I hear you. Can you hear me?”

“Kane— Kane, it’s Mark Colton.” He motioned for the people around them to be quiet so he could hear the man better. “Look, please, my son is soaked with black rain. Please. You gotta help us. Hurry!”

The three of them shared a look and Michelle saw in Bellamy’s eyes that it was going to give him another reason to want to go out and try to help these people. It made her worry about him. Everyone was moved to the hangar, where there was more room for all of them. Some were coughing or lying on makeshift beds. The medical bay was already full of people sick from the rain’s radiation. It had taken some time for the symptoms to show up but a lot of them had been affected with this ARS that Abby had told them about – Acute radiation sickness. Michelle was still perfectly fine, to Kane and Bellamy’s relief. And so were they.

“Bellamy, there's really nothing I can say to change your mind, huh?” The latter had put on a protective suit which he had attempted to fully seal with lots of gaffer tape, still wrapping some of it around his wrists. He insisted that he had to go help the people out there, assuring her he would be careful.

“Everyone else accounted for?” He then asked as he saw Kane walk towards them.

“Jaha and Monty reported in from sector 5. All 200 of their people are safe. The other sectors are still counting. We’re down two.”

“Not for long.” They looked over at Harper trying to take care of the man who fell in the rain while everyone was getting inside. He was unwell from the prolonged exposure and coughed badly.

“Bellamy, the fire damage to that suit could cause tears you can’t see, much less seal.”

“I tried telling him.” Michelle said quietly, watching him as he kept on putting tape all over the suit.

“It’s the best we got.” Kane grabbed his hand, making Bellamy look up at him.

“That’s Mark Colton out there. I know him. He’s resourceful. Right now, they’re under an overhang, out of the rain.”

“His son Peter was one of the 100. I’m doing this.” Michelle shook her head with a sigh, resting her hand on the edge of the table. He grabbed the mask and walked out of the hangar. She followed him all the way to the door and called out to him as he stopped to put on the mask. He looked over his shoulder and turned around.

“Be careful, okay?”

“I will.” They gazed at each other and shared a loving kiss before he finally put on his mask and pushed the door open, glancing at her as he walked out. She held her arms, watching him anxiously and looked behind her upon feeling hands clasp her shoulders. It was just her father. She pulled her eyebrows together in worry when she saw Bellamy bent forward and suddenly start running. Kane called out to him, urging him to turn around but he didn’t listen to him, or maybe he couldn’t hear him with the noise the rain was making. Michelle reflexively took a step forward, letting her arms fall to her side and her father’s grip tightened slightly to keep her where she was, though she wouldn’t have actually walked in the rain. He took his hand off her to grab his radio.

“Bellamy, what the hell happened? Bellamy. Bellamy come in.”

“You were right. The suit’s useless.” He said, panting.

“You gotta come back in. Bring the rover to the airlock.” They then heard Colton’s voice come over the radio, talking to Bellamy.

“Are you on the move yet? Peter doesn’t look so good.” He asked.

“He’s been through worse. We’ll get through this too. I’m on my way.”

“No.” Michelle spoke under her breath, glancing at the radio and looking to the rover as the engine started. Her father then turned a button and asked Bellamy to come on the private channel.

“No more lectures. I can’t find my sister, but I do know where they are.” He turned a deaf ear to whatever Kane then tried to tell him and asking him to stop didn’t do anything. He turned on the rover’s headlight, turning the car towards the gate, but he did stop for a moment to listen to Kane.

“No unnecessary risks. You come home safe.”

“I got this.” He drove out of camp and both of them, but especially Michelle, were nervous and concerned about him, gulping. He then closed the airlock, and they returned to the hangar, sitting together in a corner of the room, with the radio on the table waiting for Bellamy to come in. Michelle was staring at the radio, lying on the table, her cheek crushed against her arm. Bellamy could be heard calling out to Colton and his son but having no response from them for some time. She followed her father with her eyes as he picked up the radio, listening carefully. Eventually, Colton’s voice rose but he cut himself off as though something had happened but all he then said was his son’s name. The wind had shifted, moving the overhang around and the rain was falling on them. There was nothing all for them to use as cover and Peter’s father was using himself to shield his son from the rain. Bellamy told him he would be there in just a couple minutes and was suddenly interrupted. Michelle straightened up, glancing at her father.

“Bellamy, I don’t see the lights. Where are you?”

“Just— Just a minor delay. Just— Just hang on.”

“No! No! No, we can’t. We can’t! How long?”

“Bellamy, what’s happening?” Kane asked on the private channel. “Answer. What minor delay?”

“Stuck in the mud. Gonna use the winch to get me out.”

“Negative.” He stood up from the stool he had been sitting on. “Bellamy, you have no suit, and I can hear the rain over the radio. Please, just… just wait for the storm to pass. Is that clear?” On the other channel, Colton coughed, urging Bellamy to come help him and his son and Michelle could hear from his silence that he was having conflicting thoughts on the situation and what to do. Michelle’s worried frowned accentuated. “Bellamy. If you go into that storm, 3 people die instead of two. You’re out of options. It’s time to let go.

“What am I supposed to tell them?”

He shook his head, “The truth.”

“Mark. Peter. I can’t get to you.”

“What? No. We’ll come to you. Please, I can carry him.” Michelle let her head fall forward, looking down at her hands.

“It’s too far, Mark. You won’t make it.” Bellamy told him.

“We won’t make it here!”

“Look, I— I’m sorry. You just— your only chance is just to wait a little longer, and when the rain stops, I can dig out.”

“My son is dying!” He cried out. “He’s dying right now. You said that you would help us. Please!” Hearing him beg was heartbreaking. It felt just like when Michelle found Abby and Kane after they landed in that lake near the dropship and she was told of her mother’s death and lashed out at Kane, crying and screaming at him, putting all the blame on him for what happened to her mother. She glanced at her father. He leaned on the table, resting his forehead against his hand. He then switched the channel.

“Abby, are you there? Come in.”

“I’m here. Ah, it’s so good to hear your voice.”

“I have bad news, Abby. The black rain’s here. It’s worse than we thought. It, uh— it burns on contact. It kills. After today, the water won’t be drinkable. We lost what we had stored in the fire. We have enough for a couple of weeks, but after that—”

“I know what happens after that.”

“We need a solution. Abby, are you there?”

“I’m here.” She paused. “There may be a solution.”

“That’s great.”

“But to find it, I have to do something that I never thought I’d have to do.”

“You’ll make the right decision.” He gave a nod. “You always do.”

“Can I ask you something? If I take a life… to find a— cure… Does that make me a murderer?”

He sighed, “Abby, I… I don’t know how to answer that. I wish I did.”

“What if it can save us all? Would I be able to live with myself then?”

“Taking a life should never be easy. I hope it’s not easy for you. Your humanity is your greatest strength. Sometimes we need a different kind of strength. We need to survive. Then we can all find our humanity again.”

“I hope you’re right, Marcus.” He then looked over his shoulder as they heard Harper cry. The man lying on the mattress in front of her was dead. She sobbed and closed his eyes. It was a pretty depressing day overall, but their attention soon went back to the radio when Bellamy’s voice came on. He was calling out to Colton and his son. Her father took a few steps away from the table, terminating his conversation with Abby. According to Bellamy, the rain was almost over, but he wasn’t getting any response from the father and son. He was desperately trying to talk to them, but there was only a deafening silence.

“Bellamy…” Her father spoke. “You did your best.”

“I failed. They’re dead.”

“It’s not your fault. I can’t protect anyone.” With her elbow resting on the table, she let her forehead fall on her fist and closed her eyes, conscious of how hurt and powerless this all made him feel. “I couldn’t protect my sister. My responsibility, and I failed. My mom passed out. She was there. She was in my hands. She was so helpless, and now what is she? Is she even alive? What is she? I—”

“You didn’t fail, Bellamy. You did everything you could for her. You came to the ground for her. You can’t save someone who doesn’t want to be saved. Your mother would be proud of the man you’ve become. I know I am.” Michelle looked at him. Bellamy remained silent for a few seconds. She wasn’t sure he appreciated Kane mentioning his mother, and she was right given how he replied.

“You floated my mother.” He then went radio silent, having probably disconnected his radio so as not to hear any more from Kane. Michelle locked eyes with him and she rested her head on his shoulder. He held her against him tenderly. By the time the sun came up, the rain had stopped. They stayed near the radio but didn’t hear from Bellamy or Octavia the whole day and they walked out of the station when they heard the rover drive in camp, slowly approaching as Bellamy came out of the vehicle.

“Still no word from Octavia.” Kane said. Bellamy’s eyes were shining, and he nodded, looking away. “I’m sorry.”

“You can’t save someone who doesn’t want to be saved.” He looked defeated. And he was, as he quoted Kane’s own words. He then turned his head towards Michelle and walked up to her. They wrapped their arms around each other, his cheek resting against her temple as he held her tightly, his hand grabbing at her waist. She felt his shaky breath against her ear, and he sniffled, sobbing quietly.

By the time it was dawn, a total of 18 people had died from ARS in total. The bodies were wrapped and carried outside and lined up while others built a pire big enough for all the dead and each body was then placed on top of the pire, carefully, and with respect. Some people were gathered by the pire. Michelle glanced at Bellamy next to her. The two of them were standing further away. He was staring ahead of him, his arms crossed, and feeling her gaze, he turned his head towards her. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder, hating that he felt so guilty, as though he hadn’t only failed his sister but everyone else as well. He tilted his head forward.

“I know it took courage to be outside with us today,” Jaha spoke, holding the flame with which he would set fire to the pire. “to stand together now in the face of grave danger and grave tragedy. On the ark, rain like this was only a dream. Now it’s a nightmare, because we know it could turn at any second and kill us, just like it did to 18 of our brothers and sisters, who we honor today among them, Erin, Samuel, and Louis. May we meet again.”

“May we meet again.” They all repeated in unison. Jaha lowered the torch, and the flames licked the logs as Jasper walked past Bellamy and Michelle.

“Too many funerals, too little time.”

“Show some respect for the dead.” Bellamy disapproved of his careless attitude. Michelle agreed with him, though she couldn’t care less about Jasper to be honest. She brought her back to her body and crossed her arms in the same fashion as Bellamy.

“What for? They don’t mind.” He slowed down his pace to look at him over his shoulder and kept on walking. He shrugged, walking backwards, when Bellamy asked where he was going. He was leaving, just like this, no chem tent in case of black rain, nothing. Bellamy called out to him and after being ignored a couple times, he jogged after Jasper. Michelle stayed where she was, watching the pire as the flame grew taller. Hearing Bellamy keep on calling Jasper’s name, she looked at him. He was running after Jasper as the latter nonchalantly walked out of camp. She didn’t think it was a big deal, knowing they would be back soon, and they would be safe anyway – Bellamy was equipped and had everything they might need, including a chem tent, in his backpack. She just hoped Jasper’s carelessness wouldn’t get Bellamy in harm’s way.

She eventually walked in the station, going to rest in their bedroom as she wasn’t exactly needed anywhere. Taking off her jacket, she let herself fall on the bed and looked at the names she had written inside; Michelle Cartwig, Jonathan Cartwig, her maternal grandfather, Aolani Kealoha, her great grandmother, whose name was quite beautiful though she had no idea what it might mean in Hawaiian and the name at the top, the original and first owner of this piece of clothing, a former US Navy, John R. Kealoha, her great great grandfather. She didn’t know much about those ancestors of hers but at least she knew their names and where they came from, unlike the people on her father’s side, where she only knew her grandmother, Vera, who used to keep this weird tree around which people would gather as if it were a religious symbol or something.

She had heard a number of things about her mother’s side, but she never met any of them. They were all dead before Michelle was born. She knew that John R. Kealoha was the ancestor through which she had native Hawaiian ancestry, and he married a Chinese immigrant. They had their daughter, Aolani, on the Ark, so Michelle’s great grandmother was the first generation to be born and raised in space. She was the first to inherit her father’s jacket and became an Ark guard as soon as she was old enough to, following in her father’s footsteps. She climbed the ladder and became a higher up in the guard. Later in her life, she met Michael Cartwig, to whom Michelle owed her last name, another man of the American Station, of British descent, and together they had her mother, who joined the guard like her mother, and then became a member of the council on the Ark, where she eventually met Kane, and there she was. Michelle had been told all this by her mother – aside from who her father’s was – as well as the fact that her name had been inspired by her grandfather’s. Michelle had always loved to hear about her family’s history. Maybe it compensated for how little she knew of her father’s identity and family.

Cheering, rock music was playing in the hangar when Michelle walked in, looking around, wondering what was going on in there. If there was something like a party going on, maybe Jasper was back, and therefore Bellamy so she wandered around the room, looking for either of them, but specifically the latter. She saw them walk in a minute later through the same door she walked in through. She stopped in her tracks and waited for them to get closer. Bellamy noticed her and she walked towards him. He seemed to have no idea what was going on but neither did she, so they followed Jasper. He looked at the two of them, but they didn’t look that into it. Bellamy sighed at his invitation to come along.

“Everyone’s gonna die, guys. We can go out like them…” He motioned towards the sick people resting on the mattresses behind them and turned to the side where the rest of them were partying. “Or like us. The ending’s the same, but who says the journey had to suck?” He walked away and started shouting and the crowd cheered, raising their glasses full of alcohol. Bellamy and Michelle watched them drink and dance around, still pondering whether they should leave or join them. Michelle shrugged and turned to Bellamy. He wasn’t too convinced at first but let her hold his hand and bring him over to where the party was. Jasper cheered upon seeing them arrive.

“Michelle, the voice of reason! Good idea. Let someone else save the world for once.” He laughed, handing them two cups filled with what Michelle thought was alcohol at first, but it turned out to be very different. They drank it dry, and she chuckled, wondering what was in there. It turned out to be hallucinogenic tea made by Niyah with the same beans they ate back at the dropship one day, but it was on accident then. They were doing it on purpose now, to have some fun while the world ended outside.

After going to Polis, Jaha, Kane and Monty returned the next night and everyone gathered around Jaha in the hangar as he told them the news – they had found the actual Second Dawn bunker. Michelle couldn’t believe it was true this time around, after how disappointing the first bunker was, with all these corpses everywhere.

“There is an underground aquifer, with a filtration system that is still operational. Some of the water will go to the hydroponic farm. Isn’t that right, Mr. Green?” He pointed at Monty, next to Bellamy, Michelle and Harper.

“Most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Almost.” He added the last word in a lower voice, looking at Harper. Michelle had almost forgotten the two were a couple. She hadn’t hung out around Monty much lately. Jaha continued his speech.

“It won’t be easy. There will be plenty of hard work to go around. But together we have struggled. And together we will rise.” The crowd cheered. “Pack your things. Just what you can carry.”

Harper then walked away, and Bellamy approached their friend, “Jaha was right.”

“Yeah, can’t believe it.” Michelle chuckled.

Monty turned towards them, “Got a lot of gear to pack. Sure you two aren’t too hung over?”

“You judging us, Monty?” Bellamy asked, at first thinking he wasn’t serious, but it turned out he was.

“A little.”

“There was no hope. Now there’s hope. Let’s go.” He concluded with a smile, and the three of them went to find Jasper on the other side of the hangar. He rose his cup at him with a tight smile. “Give him a minute. They’ll figure it out when we take the still.”

“There’s one in the bunker.” He then said as they left. They went their separate ways and Bellamy and Michelle passed by their bedroom to pack their things before going to take care of packing all the gear in the armory. They later found out that while most of them were packing, getting ready to take off to Polis, Jasper and a little over a dozen people had locked themselves in the hangar. The guard tried to force it open, but it was jammed, as all the other doors to the hangar were, and couldn’t be opened from their side. Michelle stood right behind Bellamy and Monty; her arms crossed over her chest. She wasn’t a part of the guard – she was also the only one present not wearing the black guard uniform – though she did often go on missions as if she were, because she was trustworthy and a good shot, but unlike the lot of them, she wasn’t exactly allowed to carry a gun inside the camp, but in anycase, she was there at the moment because she was sticking by Bellamy’s side.

“This is the door to blow.” The guard showed the door behind him.

“How many gas canisters do we have?” Jaha enquired.

“You can’t be serious.” Bellamy looked at him in disbelief, disapproving of the mere thought of using the gas canister.

“In Mount weather, we beat the gas by using water. Jasper will be ready for that.” Monty added.

“Just slow down. Let me talk to them.”

“Bellamy, we have over 400 people ready to march.” The former chancellor wasn’t in the mood to talk. He clearly saw this all ordeal as a huge waste of time. Jasper stumbled towards the door, drunk, and a gun in his hand – apparently Harper’s, and it was apparently not the only gun they might have in there. Jasper’s face got close to the glass, and he laid his hand flat on the surface with DNR written on his palm – do not resuscitate. Michelle stared at the message on his hand.

“They wanna die in there.” Bellamy crossed her gaze before turning to the door, pressing the coms’ button to try and talk to Jasper, asking him to put the gun down and open the door but they weren’t coming out.

“This is insane.” Monty made Bellamy move aside. “Are you really willing to die, when there’s a way to live? Are they?”

“That’s just it. We don’t think it’s a way to live.”

“Just go. Please.” Harper appeared behind Jasper, begging them to leave them alone. Jaha showed his impatience as he told the other guard to set the charge on the door and warned the rest not to fire unless fired upon. Bellamy rose his voice, not wanting the situation to escalate.

“No. Ok, just— just wait.” The explosive charge timer was activated. There was less than 2 minutes before it blew up the door. Monty walked away, dejected knowing that his best friend and girlfriend wanted to die. “Jasper, people will get hurt. I know you care about that.”

“If you don’t want anyone anyone to get hurt, don’t open the door.” They heard shouting over the coms as he walked away, going back to the party. Jaha approached the door, calling out to Jasper by his last name.

“Mr Jordan, I will not leave children here to die.”

“You sent them down to die.” Bellamy confronted him. “The difference now, is that they have a choice. And so do you.”

“This is what they want.” Michelle nodded, backing him up and as she said earlier, they wanted to die in there. She didn’t see why they should force them out of the hangar if they didn’t want to be saved.

“They’re wasted. They don’t know what they want.” Monty argued, frowning. Jaha looked through the glass at the people on the other side of the door and told the guards to stand down. The one that had set up the charge took it down and the group left but Monty insisted. “You can’t.”

“I’m sorry, son. Bellamy and Michelle are right. We can’t save them if they don’t want to be saved.” And on those words, he walked away, leaving the three of them in the hallway.

“If Octavia was in there, would you let her stay?”

“If Octavia was in there… At least I’d get to say goodbye.” He shrugged, his eyes getting slightly shiny at the mention of his sister, and he left with Michelle. Monty stayed behind, probably still wanting to try to talk to Jasper and Harper. Everyone had grabbed their bags, walking towards the exit as Bellamy reminded them of the threat of black rain and that while the rain falling outside at the moment was regular rain, it could turn acidic and radioactive any moment, and to stay near the person with their assigned chem tent. It wouldn’t be too hard for Michelle since the person with her assigned chem tent was Bellamy himself. Michelle stood by Bellamy as they let everyone walk past and looking back, they saw Jasper and Harper standing there. “Not too late to change your mind.”

“Yes, it its.” Jasper spoke. “You can still stay, you know?”

“I’m not a quitter.” He gave him a friendly smile. Jasper’s eyes went to Michelle, and she knew he wondered what she thought about this.

“Tried to quit once…” She softly shook her head, adding a light, joking tone to her words. She felt Bellamy glancing at her. They had never really talked about it, but she did try to kill herself at some point during her solitary confinement, and she had a scar on her arm as an eternal reminder of it and Bellamy had seen it before but because she never brought it up, he didn’t, out of respect for her. That was maybe the reason why she understood Jasper’s choice so well – they wanted to go out on their own accord, and so did she, instead of waiting to be floated. “didn’t really work out for me.”

“Thanks for understanding.” Jasper grinned, pleased to see they accepted their decision.

“Where’s Monty?” Harper then asked.

“Unloading the rover. We’re leaving it behind for you, by the way. He didn’t say goodbye?” Bellamy wondered. She didn’t say anything else and shook her head.

“Take care of him for us, will you?” She chuckled, her voice shaking as though she was about to cry. Michelle bit her lower lip, glancing at Bellamy. He gave his promise he would and hugged her before turning to Jasper, sighing heavily. Michelle and Harper shared a brief hug as well. They had never been close friends, but it didn’t make it any less sad for Michelle. Jasper’s response to Bellamy telling him “May we meet again” was even sadder. They wouldn’t meet again.

“Whatever the hell you want.” They looked at each other and Jasper laughed as they embraced. Bellamy stepped back and Michelle stepped forward, hugging Jasper as well before the two left, walking out of the station for good. There would be no turning back and they would never see these people ever again. She didn’t really know most of them personally, but they were some of the original 100 sent to the ground in the very beginning, people she survived with for weeks.

It was already dark when the 400 or so people who had left Arkadia arrived in Polis. Bellamy and Michelle met in the tower with Clarke as she told them of the situation – after the black rain recently, there was now going to be a conclave. One final conclave, in which one warrior from each clan would fight until only one remained, and the winner’s clan took the Second Dawn bunker for themselves, ensuring their survival when praimfaya came, dooming everyone else. They knew it was practically hopeless but as Clarke put it “we fight, or we die.”

But some hope returned when they saw, as they looked at the city which would soon turn into a warzone, a figure approaching on a horse – Octavia.

[To be continued…]  

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter

Published (08/20/2024) by Andrea

Taglist:  @mirellef2001

[schmergo]

There's one news story that's haunted me for years, covering many of my niche topics of interest (such as zoo exhibit design and tigers). It happened way back in 2007, but I still think about it a lot. It's a wild ride and I'd like to share it with you. It does get violent and scary, so don't read on if you're not in the mood for that today. There has only been ONE instance of a person being killed by an escaped animal in an AZA-accredited zoo in the organization's nearly 100-year history. The AZA (Association of Zoos and Aquariums) has fairly comprehensive standards about things like exhibit design and guest safety-- any other story you've heard about something like this has been at an un-accredited roadside zoo. Usually, they're pretty careful to make sure large dangerous animals can never get anywhere near where guests were. This story from 2007 was a perfect storm of situations where such a horrible thing could happen. The star of our story was a Siberian tiger named Tatiana living at the San Francisco Zoo. (This is the largest sub-species of tiger, which may or may not be important here.) She had had one previous bout of aggression against humans about a year before this incident: she grabbed a zookeper's arm, pulled it through the bars of her behind-the-scenes area during feeding team, and bit it. But on this occasion, it was right around closing time at the zoo on Christmas Day. Tatiana was hanging out in her enclosure while three young guys began taunting her. (One was a 17-year-old named Carlos, the others were two brothers called Paul and Kulbir, aged 19 and 23.) Witnessed by nobody but the victims themselves, Tatiana leapt out of her enclosure and mauled two of the three guys. The two brothers (one of them injured) ran for a nearby zoo cafe, which was already closed for the day, and the cafe staff wouldn't let them in. One zoo employee called 911, but indicated that they thought the brothers were mentally ill or on drugs because they were claiming to have been attacked by a tiger and there was no escaped tiger. Only six minutes later did another zoo staff member report the tiger on the loose. Police and firefighters got to the scene, but they weren't allowed in to tend to the victims because the zoo was on lockdown due to the escaped tiger. Five minutes passed before they could get in. They did eventually find Tatiana the tiger attacking the other brother and fatally shot her. But tragically the third friend, 17-year-old Carlos, was found dead from severe injuries from the tiger near the tiger enclosure. The other two suffered injuries from tiger teeth and claws but were released from the hospital a few days later. Obviously the emergency response was very shoddy, but here's where things get really shocking. The zoo director went on the record saying that it would be impossible for Tatiana to escape the exhibit unless she had help. He suspected foul play. The exhibit barrier was 18 feet high, impossible for a tiger to jump over and well over the AZA-recommended height of over 16 feet. Experts said it would blinker belief for a tiger to jump that high, and the zoo director suggested that the victims may have climbed over a barrier fence and danged their legs into the exhibit, giving her something to grab onto and pull herself up with. As part of the investigation, they obviously closely examined the exhibit, and what they found horrified everyone. The fence was only 12 and a half feet tall. That's several feet under the recommended height. The exhibit had been build in the 1940s and had been inspected by AZA officials many times, including the previous year. Nobody had ever noticed a discrepancy between the stated height of the wall and its actual height. The paperwork said it was an 18 foot wall, and everyone believed it was an 18 foot wall. Nobody had thought to check to see exactly how tall it was in 60+ years. When asked why a tiger had never escaped from the inadequate exhibit before, the coordinator of the AZA's species survival plan for tigers said, "It probably didn't want to." Even with this obvious discrepancy, it's quite sobering to realize how high tigers can jump if provoked. Not only did Tatiana jump over 12 feet high, she also traveled across a 33 foot moat. It's easy to think that zoo animals will be less dangerous than their wild counterparts-- even experts believed until evidence showed otherwise that Tatiana, as a captive tiger, would not be capable of the peak physical effort it would take to get over the barriers-- but wild animals are wild animals. A closer examination of Tatiana's paws and claws indicated that she made it over the wall on her first try. What's the lesson here? Well, don't underestimate the power and ability of wild animals. Don't taunt tigers. Believe someone who says they were attacked by an escaped tiger! And remember to double check instead of just believing what someone says. ("They said there's plenty of eggs in the fridge and we don't need more? Well, the San Francisco Zoo said the tiger wall was 18 feet high and we all know how that went. I'm going to check the eggs.") In general, accredited zoos are very safe for guests. There's a reason this was the first deadly incident involving an escaped animal since the organization was founded in the 1920's. But this is very much the exception that proved the rule-- and there were so many mistakes and poor choices that had to happen to lead up to this horrible ending. What's your old news story that you still obsess over?

[pepperycar]

“Failed him?” Chapter 7: check-up and at last food!

“I’ve called the doctor.” Pauline said as she left “shouldn’t be long now.” She finished. Their Grandad gave a grateful nod and closed the door behind her. Now it was just the family, Peach, DK and Toad. “Whoa whoa!” Said Tony pulling the nearly empty jug from Luigi’s face “don’t drown your self now after all that!” He laughed, Luigi took a few gasping breaths before leaning back slightly, Uncle Arthur and his Mom let him go limp against them while Tony placed the cheese toastie on a plate then the table. They helped Luigi sit down as they heard a voice behind the door “should be just up here, the sad residents!” A childlike voice laughed. They opened the door revealing Lumalee floating next to a Doctor. “Lumalee!” Peach said surprised “oh no not this guy...” said Tony “Your-uh pet star is quite cynical..” said the doctor as Luigi went to take a bite. Peach nodded nearly smiling as the doctor walked in “I wouldn’t do that!” Said the doctor putting his hands infront of Luigi’s so he couldn’t eat. “I Would!” Tony Said nearly yelling “the poor boy hasn’t eaten in three days!” “I know, that’s why it’s dangerous.” Said the Doctor pulling a stethoscope, thermometer and some other medical equipment out of a small bag. “Consuming food after days without eating can send a persons body into shock!” He spat the last word to show how serious he was. His Dad pulled Luigi’s chair out a bit so the doctor could get a better look at him. He checked his ears, mouth and nose before checking his eyes, they were dull and tired but now had a slither of light in them. He grabbed Luigi’s face and arms, silently poking the burn marks . “Can you feel this?” Asked the Doctor, Luigi nodded “good, no nerve damage then!” He stuck the thermometer into Luigi’s mouth as he rubbed some cream onto the wounds, he took the thermometer ‘92:’ “hmmm okay.” Said the Doctor putting on the ear pieces of the stethoscope, pressing the bell to his chest ‘Ba-bump....’ Ba-bump....’ Ba-bump....’ Ba-bump....’ “hmm.... about 58 bpm” he said sounding a bit annoyed “it’s a little slow, so I guess we’ll have to try the food..” he said pulling the cheese toastie to him, Luigi took a tiny bite after a few minutes the doctor gave him the okay to eat a bit more, holding the stethoscope on him the entire time. By Luigi’s third bite his heart rate shot up to about 72 bpm. When he finally finished eating, Luigi was shaking but only slightly, the Doctor held his wrist and counted “87 bpm” Said the Doctor sounding satisfied. “His body temperatures a bit low so just keep him warm and if his temperature elavates to over ‘100’ then cool him down as best you can. Take it slow with food and be extra careful with sleep, have someone always on hand just in case. Give him plenty of fluids and of course some TLC.” The doctor checked his bag making sure everything was in place before getting up and heading for the door. he checked his watch “best I can do is come back in two days to come over and check on him, if anything worrying happens before then, bring him in as soon as you can and feel free to ring me for advice!” He said now out the door, his dad nodded closing the door while his Mom was writing down everything the Doctor had said “well someone keeping an eye on him shouldn’t be to hard!” Tony laughed “after all he’s got-“ a realisation then hit him “Oh my god, MARIO!” The family jumped as if bit by a wild animal, Toad, Peach And DK stared wide eyed. Uncle Arthur went to open the living room door when as if right on cue Mario walked through, rubbing his eyes, red and puffy from crying “I’m just going out.” He started with a broken voice “I promise I’ll be back soon, you all-understand....” he looked up to see Luigi at the table. Luigi smiled as he shakily got up from the table. Madelyn helped walk him over until he was comfortable enough to walk on his own. The family and Peach’s group parted for them like they were royalty. When Luigi got to Mario, Mario stumbled backwards, Arthur instinctively holding an arm out behind him. Mario finally spoke “No.... no you’re...” -To be continued.

[rhysand-vs-fenrys]

Okay, I have to ask because it's been bugging me: That seventeen meme post, the guy with the "talking to people about my obsessions" post on him, what is he doing?

Specifically, no idea

Broadly though, it's from when the group was in quarantine for like a week before their recent Japan concert. They were taking turns using a live app with fans called Vlive, and he (Woozi, their songwriter) started one up to talk about his favorite anime heroes, doing it bracket-style like a sports match.

And that lasted for a LEGENDARY 6 hours. He didn't stop. He drank 1 coke the entire time. Just stream of consciousness about his favorite anime.

So yeah, IDK what that action specifically was tied to, but to get the joke you just need to know it was a 6 hour live about anime.

And the group still brings it up with a mix of fear, awe, and maybe disgust (at the length of time, not the content) lmao

Oh, and if anyone was wondering, I believe the winner was Inuyasha 

[mikhailoisbaby]

So a couple of weeks ago I wrote (this) galladrabbles and it made me want to write and expand on this theme.

This is set in my au that franny was abandoned but Debbie a week after season 11 , Debbie went to Texas and never comes back for franny.

Can Either read under the cut or on ao3 (here)

Also the art can be seen here with the process video (here)

Franny And Her Fathers

Although the adoption paper has been filed for months, Mickey and Ian truly knew they made the right decision when Debbie didn’t turn up for Franny's 6th birthday. After months of Countless texts and more than 100 missed calls to her as well as fucking emails and letters sent to her addresses they have been given, there was still no show of Debbie on her only daughter's birthday.

Ian can’t help but sympathise with how Franny must be feeling every time she would look over to the front door in hopes that her mother would finally come back and collect her and never leave her again, but it never happened for her nor to the Gallagher kids waiting for Monica to come through and say she was staying forever.

They Knew Franny was delaying blowing out her candles, and every car that could be heard in the distance of their apartment, She looked out the windows to never see her redhead mother walking up to the apartment entrance.

But the candles had to be blown and if Anyone had to guess they knew the wish would be about Debbie.

Everyone but especially Mickey tried to make the day good, with a dinosaur cake, all her friends gathered, cartoons and candy galore, any gift Franny could even think about mickey tried his best for her to have it but nothing would fulfil Franny's heart like her mother would do at that moment.

So days passed of Franny's mood being down they knew it would slowly pass with forgetfulness just like all the Gallagher kids did with Monica, but Mickey just wanted to see his sweet little redhead smile again.

So watching an episode of crappy kid cartoons on Saturday morning while Ian was at the gym with his younger brother Carl, just Like it is every Saturday, Mickey and Franny curled up in one of Ian's old blankets on the new grey fabric sofa with a big bowl of cereal each and watched whatever the little one wanted, Mickey had to admit some of the shows she watched were pretty good.

About 1 hour into of cartoon watching their bowls drained and placed in the sink and an episode of some overly colourful animated kids came on presenting an episode of them riding on bikes and like that Franny's eyes showed so much curiosity and light that Mickey hasn’t seen for the past few days that it makes him overly whelming happy to see her enjoying something even if it on a TV with the dumb character, something sparked in her little head.

“Can I learn how to ride a bike?” Franny asks with her big blue eyes looking at Mickey like he hung the stars.

“ You don’t know how to kid?” Mickey asked, he doesn’t know what age a kid learns to ride a bike, but he feels like this so something Franny should already know. He remembers riding around on stolen bikes with his older brothers and throwing rocks at people, and he was younger than Franny he thinks.

“No” Franny shook her head, letting her ginger curls flop everywhere over her face. Mickey keeps forgetting to tie her hair back in the morning. If he is honest, he is obsessed with her little ginger curls that fall over her face that she pushes back every five seconds with annoyance.

Mickey knew instantly that he needed to teach his niece (that in a few months the courts would make his daughter) how to ride a bike, and that was the mission of the day.

Mickey got himself ready as Franny did the same in her small room that was once a junk room that lasted 3 days before they had to make it a Franny bedroom, her room decorated in mostly blue and greens as well as dinosaurs stickers covering the wall that will most likely tear the paint off the walls when removed.

Mickeys dressed in his signature timberland boots and ripped black jeans with Ian's hoodie thrown over as the weather was a bit chilly outside. Franny almost dressed similarly to Mickey, fake timberland boots (they weren’t paying $40 for shoes she grew out of in a few months) black leggings with white stars over them and a Forest green hoodie that has a dinosaur over it that her uncle Lip bought a month before.

They were set and ready to get Franny a bike, Mickey knew Franny wasn’t going to get some second-hand crap with scratches, dents and most likely been stolen, she wouldn't have cared but still, they arrived at the target that has small selections kids bikes passing through the toy aisle and picking one new toy (a pack of Safari animals that Franny “really needed” to add to her collection) they arrive at the bike aisle. The pink and overly sparkly ones instantly got a pass when Franny saw them but then right in the middle a bright red bike with flames adorning the sides and Franny fell in love.

Thankfully it was the right size and the seat was adjustable as well as the pedals seemed a good fit, they made sure to get a helmet because they know the safety police (Ian) will be in full force.

When arrived back home they took it to the apartment in wait for Ian to get back from

The lunch he has every week with lip and carl after the gym but inside Mickey showed Franny what everything is on the bike like the breaks and little bell as well as attached the stabilisers on the side and let her sit in it for a while to slowly build her confidence just being on the bike.

It was like that for a few days when Ian and Mickey tried to teach Franny without the stabiliser that she got the hang of riding the bike with them pretty quick but was still not ready to remove the stabilises as well she still screams at Ian or Mickey about letting go .it wasn’t until day 3 when she was happy with them letting go with no stabilisers 

“ I think I can do it,” Franny says, clicking her helmet into place and placing her legs over her bike seat.

Ian picked out her outfit while fanny was eating breakfast, which was rare they normal let her wear whatever she wanted but Mickey was pretty sure it had to do that Franny wanted to wear the bright blue dinosaur costume that Carl Bought her only last week and it was an attempt to forget about the Dino costume and thankfully it worked. so she was dressed in her little denim short dungarees ( the weather was slightly warmer today than it’s been for the past week) and her green hoodies and shoes that match Ian's converse, but Franny is a fake version because once again they aren’t paying $40 for shoes she going to grow out of in a few months.

“Okay kiddo but if you fall it’s, you got your knee pads and gloves on, so you be fine,” Ian said checking that her helmet strap wasn’t too tight

Ian made Mickey go out to buy elbow and knees pads after the spend day a full day of bike riding when Franny almost tumble off even with the stabilizers on (like Mickey said “the safety police”)the only choice Mickey was given was bright pink ones that he knows Franny would never wear unless you’re bribed her with a copious amount for chocolate or some lime greens one that she would wear happy although it goes terribly with her red bike and little ginger curls.

They were at the small car park just behind their apartment building that mostly parked bigger trucks and the kitted-out black ambulance is parked, but its car park stays empty, so it was safe for Franny to ride in.

Ian ran holding on to Franny to get her to pick up some speed and then let go as they agreed.

Both men watched as their kid cycled even turning without a wobble. Mickey watched as ian was ready to run to catch her if she started to fall but she was okay.

They both felt oddly emotional they thought this is how learnt that is how it must feel watching their kid take a few steps But it was what she was shouting that broke the flood gates of tears for both of the men.

“ papa, daddy look in doing it”

That was the first time she ever called them her father, and it was out of pure excitement they never thought she would be calling them her fathers, but with Debbie being absent for a Year they can understand why.

Mickey ran to catch up with Franny, so she slowed down and they came to a stop when Mickey hauled Franny off the bike for a big hug soon joined by Ian wrapping his large arms around them both

“ Did you see? I did it! I did” Franny practically screamed with joy, reviving a wet cheek kiss from both men

“ We did kiddo was so proud of you baby, you were so fast,” mickey said Brushing his wet face into Franny's helmet

“ Did you see?” Franny asked Ian, and it makes they sob more just here big bright eyes full of so much love for them

“ Yeah I saw Fran, you did so well,” Ian said kissing Franny's nose and kissing Mickey's head trying to hide his tears flowing

“Why are you crying?” she asked both men with a slight frown on their pouty freckled face

“ we happy baby, we're so proud of you” ian easily replied and Franny seemed content with that answer and snuggled back in the hug until she bored and wanted to ride again.

That is how the rest of the day went Franny rode around in their shitty west side car park screaming and laughing and at some points Franny would try and chase Mickey on the bike threatening to run him over.

That day changed both men so much that they weren’t just uncles anymore they were fathers.

[hobisstar]

Century Lover

A/N: Hi! So I don’t really intend for this to get much love, really I don’t expect it to. Though, I will be forever grateful if it does get as much Love as possible. I don’t know if it will be long, I’m really just going with what my mind comes up with. I just finished rewatching Bulgasal and I just fell back in love with Hwal all over again. Anyways, Enjoy!

Tagging Angels: @serralovespencer

Warnings: Blood, Gore, Terror, Mention of fictional monsters.

Everything in this story is fictional and all the rights go to the writers of Bulgasal: Immortal Souls.

Summary: what happens when YOU get pushed back into someone else’s place in a different era? Will you make it out or will Hwal try to keep you in the time period? How will you escape? What if Hwal was actually searching for you?

Bulgasal… you may have heard it before. Of course growing up in Korea you definitely heard of ancient monsters. The one who tore people skin off their living bodies. The one that burned houses down. The one that even ate 100 people.

Have you heard of the boy who was cursed by Bulgasal? And who was ran out of the village by the people in the same village? His name was Hwal… Dan Hwal. He was giving that name by his adoptive father, Dan Keuk.

Well, if not, you aren’t missing much. Hwal went through a lot as a human and a Bulgasal.

“You promised we would-“

I was watching a tv show, when the power went out.

“really? At the best moment” I sigh and stand up walking over to the electrical box to switch the power back on.

I open it and I flip the switch but nothing happens. I sigh and try it one more time.

“That usually works..” I said to myself. I flicked it one more time feeling and seeing a electrical spark.

“FUCK!” I let out holding my hand after I got zapped. I put on my shoes and decided I should go down to the front office to see if they have the power outage. Sounds stupid, I mean of course I can’t be the only one with an outage. And I definitely paid my bill before you ask.

I walked to my door and went to open it but I heard a strange noise coming from the bathroom. I turned around and glanced around the corner. I keep my bathroom door open but it seemed closed. I shrugged it off as my cat just growling or meowing and I miss heard it. I went for the door again but I heard that noise again.

It sounded closer. I was frightened and just slowly unlocked my door. It was pitch black in the hallway. I closed my door and grabbed my phone walking down the hallway.

I went to my neighbors apartment and was about to knock until it opened by itself. Weird.

I looked inside and slowly stepped my head into the opening. “Hello? Do-Yun-shi? Are you home?” I walked in and looked around. I was empty, like it had furniture but it look like it’s been there for ages. The kitchen was dusty and trash some what scattered.

I was about to walk further in but I soon heard that growl, it sounded like a tiger or animal of some sort.

I backed up into the hallway. “Why was Do-Yun’s apartment so old looking? He was just there.” I thought to myself. I was about to head downstairs but I promise I saw a figure down the hallway with his hand out.

I froze. It’s eyes were red but it had its hand out.

“Come here~” I heard it say. Even though it was coming from my head and not from its mouth in front of me.

I closed my eyes in wishing that maybe I was tired and should get some sleep and wait til morning to see if the apartments power would be back on.

I heard another growl but this time like it was standing right in front of me. I was about to dash to my apartment but I remembered that I left my keys in the house. I ran back to Do-Yun’s apartment but before I ran in, it looked like a closet all of a sudden. I looked around and saw the thing getting closer so ran in and closed the door.

I sat in the corner of it waiting for it to go pass. Once I heard it’s foot steps gone I opened the door.

“ Sang-Un? There you are! Why are you in a closet?” Someone spoke to me.

I looked around me and I was in some type of home that looked… Abandoned but still livable.

“Who are you?! Why are you in our house?!” I looked to my side and saw Do-Yun, but he was much younger, way younger.

“Do-Yun? Is that you?” I said.

“H-How do you know my name?” He asked me. I looked at him then everyone else around me. Who are these people?

“Y/N?” A voice said behind everyone. I looked up and saw this man with short black hair and beautiful brown eyes. He was wearing a blue dress shirt with black slacks.

……a few hours later…..

“Wait so let me get this straight,” the girl I presume is Sang-Un, started “You saw a monster in your apartment hallway, you ran into Do-Yun’s apartment, and it led you to our closet? But how?”

“ I-I don’t know… You are telling me it’s not 2022?” I said looking at them.

“No it’s 2020.. are you from the future?” Do-Yun said looking at me with a broom in hand. Si-Ho hit him and he put it down.

Everyone was shocked, confused, and somewhat thought it was pretty cool. Though, the guy, who i take is Hwal, just stared at me. No emotions to show.

“Hwal-shi, can we keep her?” Do-Yun shouted out breaking the silence.

“She isn’t a animal.” Si-Ho stated and sent a smile my way.

“Everyone leave. I need to talk to her.” Hwal stated, wow. First thing he says and I already feel like I’m in trouble.

They all get up no hesitation and leave the house and stand in front of the house on the yard.

“Your story makes sense in a way that I can not explain. … I haven’t crossed paths with you in… awhile.. it’s nice seeing you again…” I looked at him lost.

Oh! Right so basically everyone in this house is connected some how. Ms. Lee is the lady that he saved from a house fire, Do-Yun is his son that died by Bulgasal, Si-Ho is his wife from 600 years ago, and Sang-Un is his lover from 1,000 years ago. But me, I don’t know why I was sent 2 years back to this part of the world.

“Who was I to you?” I asked hoping he could give me an answer.

“ My unacceptable lover. You wouldn’t love me because I was Bulgasal. So.. I..” Hwal stopped looking at me. Like he was stuck on something.

“What is it?” I asked. “What did you do?” I looked at him.

“I took everything from you.. your family, friends, neighbors. I wanted just you and you being a human person I thought it be different, be better to love you. I trapped you in the cave while I went to go feed and even get food for you.” He paused then looked at me “ we were gonna have a family together. Until one day you wanted out from the cave. I told you it was dangerous and you fought against it. You left and never came back. I searched everywhere for you. The woods, the hills, the mountains, the shacks, the homes. No signs of you anywhere. I thought you had died. You just ran away from me. Our home, our soon to be family, you left it all just to get away from me.” He sighed and looked down. Obviously not to proud of the past.

“I left…you? How or why did we meet?” I was lost why was I the scariest story of them all? Why was he so possessive over me? “You and your friends were walking in mountain area. I know you didn’t know at the time but she had bad intentions. She going to leave you up here to die and rot. Her plans back fired on her and she fell down the mountains to her bloody death. That was supposed to be you falling. Once she fell you went go find help in the cave and there you found me. I had no better intentions at first but seeing you scared and already crying, it made me soft for you. I told you I wasn’t able to help you find her body but I could get you down to main land in the morning. I took care of you like you were a Bulgasal. Though I was more gentle with you. I tricked you into thinking that they weren’t even worried about you or your friend. They searched high and low for the both of you. They only found her body and you were never found. I kept you to myself because I was selfish. I didn’t want you going back to those people. I was everything you needed and more.” He looked up and saw the time. Before I could ask anything he stood up and said “I’ll tell you everything in the morning just try to get some sleep, okay? You can have the bed in my room I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“S-share a room? Sorry but I just literally teleported here I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that..”

“That wasn’t an option..”

…2 hours later…

Going to sleep was hard. Literally the story of different past lives were scary. The power he holds over each person here is …scary.

Soon, I was drifting off to sleep and was hoping to be back home but, all of a sudden I heard Hwal get up and stand above me.

I kept my eyes closed to let him think I was sleeping. He heard a deep breath and the words that sent chills down my spine.

“Finally, after all these years I have you back to me. I promise you I won’t ever let you go ever again.” He mumbled and left the room but also locking it from the outside.

I sat up and started panicking, how do I get out of this world? How can I stop this century old love?

[danielxricciardo]

Cheater III

Summary: You found out Max cheated on you part 3.

Warnings: angst and fluff by the end

Word count: 2.5k

Part 1 and Part 2

Cheating in a relationship is the saddest thing. It can kill the personality from the inside. Bring changes a lot mentally. These situations turn into you to be good or bad. Some may be helpful to be stronger.

It feels bad when our loved one cheated, cause we are well connected to our partners. We had a lot of plans for that person to spend a most valuable time of ours. When it isn't going to happen then it feels unsuccessful or bad. Expecting something from another person is common in humans. When it turns down we feel such pain, like stabbing with words, The words have the power to kill or to give life to the opponent's mind. The reason why people say 'think before you talk'.

True love doesn't involve multiple people... You knew that.

When you are in love with someone, you don't cheat and you're not talking about just finding others attractive. You just don't desire to be sexually intimate with other people when you are truly "in love" with one person. You're not talking about caring for someone or loving in general.

You're talking about the head over heels, you're soulmates, the stars have aligned and nobody else has what you have, a type of love that consumes your whole being and makes you want to give that person the world. And that includes giving them the greatest physical pleasure that they can possibly experience. Cheating takes that away from you and that is why it hurts.

The person you are in love with and desire, who you thought felt the same way is revealing to you that intimacy with you is meaningless when you thought it was special. They do not desire you in the same way that you desire them. They are not "in love" with you in the way that you thought. All of your love is in vain.

“Why do we feel bad, even horrible, when our partner cheats on us?"

A trust, expectation, a promise was broken. This type of violation hits you closer to the heart because you have let that person through all your external defenses. Because you fear the loneliness that you are going to face. Nobody wants to end alone. When you put in so much for your relationship, you want it to last. But when your partner cheats you think that you would end alone, gradually realize this happens and life doesn't end here and someone else is going to come into your life.

Why do guys cheat on girls?

Both men and women cheat. In some cases, the reasons are simple: humans are animals with sex drives. We are biologically programmed to "spread our seeds." We have other instincts, such as loyalty, honesty, and guilt feelings. Those drives duke it out with lust in our brains. Sometimes, lust wins. It's more complicated than that because we tend to associate sex with so many other things: youth, freedom, adventure, personal attractiveness, you name it.

You know people make all sorts of excuses like, “I wasn’t happy in my relationship” or “I didn’t know what I was doing” or “I don’t find my partner attractive anymore” or “someone convinced me to do it.” You’ve heard these. But it’s funny to you.

A cheater can never have any excuse. They do not deserve to have that say after cheating on someone.

If you weren’t happy in the relationship, then why didn’t you break up first and had sex with someone else? Why didn’t you say that you needed a break and then had sex? Also, how can someone even convince you to cheat on your partner? It’s nonsense.

Some people will even go as far as to say that the other person made them feel loved, so they got swayed away. If you are not feeling loved by your partner and someone else is doing that job, then aren’t you supposed to figure out your feelings first, maybe break up with your partner and then be with someone else? That’s common sense.

Nobody deserves to be cheated on. The blame is ALWAYS on the cheater. Nowadays people even try to justify cheaters. It’s insane. To you, all the answers to “why” are simply just excuses trying to justify their unacceptable behavior. You know, how they always say that a person who cheats once will cheat again.

Since you found out that Max cheated on you and until this moment, so many months have passed that you have the impression that you have started to heal. You were with a man who made you feel fulfilled, happy, and loved. There were days in a row when you didn't think about Max, but even when you thought, you had in mind only the beautiful moments. Like when, for your first date, he rented your entire favorite restaurant and he cooked for both of you, even though he didn't know how to cook more than just one egg. Or when you first visited him at a Grand Prix for the first time and he won and came to you and kissed you in front of all the cameras, telling everyone that you are his lucky talisman. Or, your favorite memory, when you were at his house after you met his family and heard him talking to his father about you. Sure, you didn't understand a word they said, but Victoria translated to you what was most important about that conversation: Max loves you so much and if he doesn't get to marry you, he'll never marry anyone else.

As dear as your last memory may be, it is also painful because it is like a slap in the face to the fact that there was a time in your life when you were in love and now you were no longer together.

When you told your family that you started seeing another man, more than 6 months after you and Max broke up, your mother asked you how you could get into a relationship so quickly. relationship.

To be honest, you weren't ready yet. You were damn scared but Stephen, your boyfriend now, went after you a lot and you decided that if you don't give him a chance now it will be many years before you think about going on a date with someone else. You knew it wasn't going to be a long relationship. You didn't have much in common with Stephen, but he was a good, sweet boy, and you needed someone who wouldn't make you hate all the men in the world.

"Look, I'm not saying you didn't go through something traumatic, but it's been almost a year since then and I think it's time to come and show everyone that you're not afraid of anyone or anything," says Anthony who called you on facetime one Sunday night after the race.

"But I'm afraid."

"Just shut up, no one needs to know. You just come here, you smile, you laugh, you act friendly with everyone and you're going to look like you're better of without him."

You sigh and get out of bed, and go to the kitchen to get a pill for your headache.

"But he will be there..."

"Okay, so? Who cares about him? I'll always be by your side, I promise he won't talk to you."

"Can I come with Stephen?"

"You know I can't stand him, Y/N. Take him with you to the next Grand Prix, I don't feel like seeing him now, okay?"

"I'll think about it."

You have decided, however, to go to the last Grand Prix of the season, in Abu Dhabi. No one but Anthony knew you were coming to the race.

You forgot what a busy atmosphere it was on Sunday. However, everyone who saw you came to you to talk a little and to tell you that you missed them. You smiled and answered that you missed them as well.

The road to Red Bull Racing was long and short at the same time.

"Do my eyes see well? Y/F/N Y/L/N!" says Christian Horner, who comes to you and hugs you.

You first see Sergio Perez who waves at you, happy to see you, then you see Max who comes from somewhere in the back. Had he just heard your name?

"Hey, guys! I'm so glad to see you again. I missed you all."

"And we missed you, Y/N!" Christian answers on behalf of all Red Bull Racing employees. "Welcome home."

You giggle.

"Thank you."

In less than 10 minutes since you got there, Anthony broke his promise. He promised not to leave you alone so that Max could not come and talk to you.

"Hey," Max says softly, coming behind you.

You shivered at his voice, a voice you've dreamed of every night since you broke up. You turn to him and analyze his facial features. He was the way you remembered him, maybe even more handsome.

You look left and right for Anthony but you can't see him.

"Hey." You answer Max and your heart starts beating much harder.

"I'm so glad to see you... I missed you."

The desire to take him in your arms and kiss him was so strong that you felt dizzy. You couldn't focus on anything, not even a few words to say.

"Do you think that we... We could see each other after the race to... Talk?" he asks, moving his weight from one foot to the other.

"Okay," you say and regret it the next second.

"How stupid am I for wanting to get back together with Max after he cheated on me?" you asked Anthony.

"First of all, you're not stupid for wanting to get back with your boyfriend. Relationships are the most real things anyone can experience. We're growing while we're together. As we grow, we also go through many different behaviors in life. Behavior does not make that person. Behaviors come and go as we grow into who we are. No one is perfect. You cannot name one person you know to be 100% perfect, right?" you shake your head and he continues. "We all grow organically, and the best thing about being in a relationship is that you get to watch each other grow. You get to experience the person you care about to develop. Relationships are like walking through a door that you don't know what's on the other side. But you go through the door without any fear, doubt, or unbelief. Relationships are the livest-realest- life experience. He is a man. A man can only love once or twice. Just because Max has sex with a woman, doesn't mean he loves her. He just wanted to get his rocks off for a moment. When it is all said and done, he loves you. It may sound strange but just think of all the men you knew. Think about all the relationships you knew about. Think those who have been together for years on out. So, no you're not stupid for wanting to embrace your boyfriend's "only temporary behavior". You're smart for wanting to have the courage to walk through the next door. You're smart for being optimistic and knowing that things will get better with time. You realize the importance of maintaining a companion."

You blink several times.

"Why do I feel like you've practiced this speech in front of the mirror several times?"

He laughs and runs his arm over your shoulder.

"Maybe because that's what I did?"

You laugh and you hug him.

"Thank you for being my friend. So you're saying I should give Max another chance?"

"You don't have to give him a chance if you don't want to. But listen to your heart. Don't just do it because I'm saying so because you might regret it and you'll blame me. If you want to give him another chance, just do it. He's not the kind of man to cheat. I don't know what was on his mind when he did it with Kelly. But something tells me he regrets what he did and he will never cheat again."

"Hey, can we talk now?"

"Sure. Congrats on the win!"

"Yeah, thanks."

You both went to his room to talk. You were scared and your palms were sweating. You didn't want to start the conversation because you had different scenarios in mind, all different, depending on what Max would tell you the first time. You swallowed hard when you entered his room. The last time you were there, you two broke up.

“I’m truly sorry for hurting you.” he started saying after he closed the door behind you. "I care for you more than anything. I’m deeply sorry for hurting you… Hurting you is the most painful thing I have ever done. With a bruised heart and a deflated ego, with a sad soul and a head hung low, I apologize to you. An apology is nothing to what I’ve done; but still, I know you have a forgiving and understanding heart and won’t let resentment destroy our love. I have shown you what an idiot I can be by making that mistake. Now it is your turn to show me what a darling you can be by giving your anger a break. Without you I feel lonely, I never want to lose you in my life. I am sorry and I’ll work hard on changing my behavior. I know that I caused you a lot of pain. Whatever happens, remember that I am the guy, who will always be there for you in good and bad times. I know you’re angry now, but I want you to know that I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m sorry for hurting you. I am ready to make amends. If I could, I would have wiped your memories about all the terrible things that I have caused you, but all I can do is to promise you that I’ll create only happy memories for you. I hope when you feel ready you can forgive me."

His words took you by surprise. You knew he would try to apologize, but in your mind, you weren't crying. You knew before you came to the room with him that you would forgive him.

"I forgive you. To be honest, I think I forgave you before we broke up but my ego was hurt and I couldn't forgive you so quickly. What you did was horrible and I hated you for so many months for making me feel so small and insignificant. But I love you. And I want to give ourselves another chance."

tag: hellolipoops, taina-eny

[tsumucore]

Headcanons for the type of tiktokers some of the boys would be? Bahejwjsjsbdbd sorry I couldn’t think of anything else.

I LOVE THIS REQUEST

Oikawa

YOU ALREADY KNOW… The most obvious one to try his hand at tiktok, eventually snagging a spot on the for you page, and blowing up overnight.

He’s cute, charming, and fun which is an instant recipe for success on this app. He especially uses this to his advantage when making povs. His povs are captivating to watch and vary in range (I imagine them to be like the user lilyisalilsleepy’s povs)

Doja Cat is currently his favorite artist and he knows every word to “Rules” (this is a FACT he told me so himself)

HAS to learn every dance and try almost every challenge or trend. Iwaizumi is ready to throttle him if he has to hear the words “did a full 180″ or “put a finger down … edition” one more time.

Often ropes Iwaizumi into joining him during dances, much to the latter’s dismay. Iwa will just stand awkwardly, blushing furiously and cursing Oikawa’s name into the void. He garners quite a bit of attention in the comments section with users constantly asking what his name was and if he was single or not.

Sugawara

Gains quite a following for his aesthetically pleasing tiktoks. He likes creating grwms, morning/nightly routines, paint/draw with mes, current playlists, mini aesthetic montages set to lofi or soft indie music, etc. Just very therapeutic and pretty content.

He abuses the bling and G6 filters, especially during golden hour.

Sometimes he’ll post tiktoks of him attempting some of the dances, then messing up as he laughs cutely and hides his face behind his hands which makes his audience go wild. Don’t be fooled; he knows exactly what he’s doing.

His pretty, soft boy vibe is what draws so many people into hitting the follow button and constantly refreshing his page to see if he’s posted since the last time they checked (me too tf)

His most popular tiktok was when he hopped on the “I just flipped the switch” trend and transformed himself from soft boy to eboy… It was reported that screams were heard all across the globe that day.

Lev

He caught wind of the tiktok hype from other social media platforms. After constantly watching youtube compilations of tiktoks, he finally decided to download the app itself.

His tiktoks are kind of like mini vlogs where he just showcases the daily shenanigans that occur in Nekoma and people eat it uP.

PRANKS!!! He and Yamamoto will team up together to try popular pranks which often results in Kuroo being the victim of said pranks. They tried playing one on Kenma once, which did not end well for them. To this day, they shiver in fear at the thought of trying to pull a fast one on Kenma ever again.

Absolutely 100% convinces the rest of the team to do the Jojo Pose trend. Their favorite anime scenes to recreate are from Naruto and Demon Slayer.

AYO WASIAN CHECK… You know he’s done it.

Tendou

One word: chaos. His page is a mixture of random clips of his teammates clowning around to EBOY (yes, you heard me) outfit checks to cursed memes.

I know in my heart that this man was destined to be an eboy. I can feel it in my bones. He’s done all the typical eboy tiktoks, such as close ups of his chains and dangly cross earrings.

Once he decided to pull a fast one on the team. They were mulling around, waiting to start practice in the gym, when he connected his bluetooth to the gym’s speakers. “The giant horse cock weighs over 11 pounds,” blared through the speakers.

Ushijima blinked at him, Goshiki nearly fainted, Semi almost knocked the phone that was recording their reactions out of his hand, Shirabu called him an idiot, Reon ignored him, and Kawanishi and Yamagata aimed their spikes at him.

So you know that trend where people photoshop themselves throwing it back on anime characters? He does that.

Atsumu + Osamu

Originally, they had refused to have a joint page. But when Atsumu found out how much attention twins garnered, he went right ahead and created a page under both of their names.

Even though they have a joint page, their content couldn’t be anymore different. Atsumu created the most chaotic content that consisted of pranks, challenges, and clips of him doing cool moves during volleyball practice. Osamu opted for creating cooking tiktoks and clips of him playing games such as Animal Crossing (I know he plays animal crossing I KNOW he does)

They do come together to do that trend where they close their eyes and their parents have to point out which one is the sneakier one, more responsible one, the one with the better grades, etc.

I think it’d be the funniest thing ever if Atsumu couldn’t dance. Imagine Osamu desperately trying not to lose his sanity as he attempts to teach him how to do Renegade. “IT’S NOT THAT FUCKING HARD SWING SNAP ROCK *deep breath* Ok from the top.”

Atsumu may not know how to dance, but he CAN throw it back. He gets down to “Juicy” by Doja Cat every now and then (every time I listen to that song I always think of Atsumu and idk wHY)

BONUS:

Who can’t work tiktok to save their life/doesn’t understand the hype: Kageyama, Ushijima, Matsukawa, Futakuchi, Kita, Sakusa, Kunimi

Who downloaded it as a joke at first but is now regretting it because oh my god it’s 5am and they’ve been scrolling through an endless loop for a week straight now: Tsukishima, Kindaichi, Asahi, Kuroo, Semi, Suna

.°•  rules  ₊˚•.  masterlist  ₊˚•. 

[stuff-from-the-void-matron]

Laurel Wreaths & Animal Teeth (5)

(c!Technoblade x fem!Reader)

(got a decent amount of interest on chapter 4 so here’s chapter 5! hope you all enjoy! and remember, chapter 6 depends on how well this chapter does! so remember to comment and reblog! thanks y’all! <3)

————-

You’d rung the bell, the sound alerting the villagers that things were all okay again. Soon they were all outside again and a lot came over to see what was going on. You were standing by two human kids. Villagers were typically pretty neutral to humans, unless they hurt them or broke their stuff. Though they tended to avoid humans (even the small/young ones) because of how dangerous they had the potential to be. 

This was sorta reinforced by today’s little drama. But with you there the villagers weren’t worried. They trusted you to keep them safe and protect them and their homes/businesses. Plus a few of them kind of heard you scolding the two human boys and well, villagers are true gossips because word spread through the small population hilariously fast. And yes they may have snickered over the two boys getting lectured like they did. But you’d never know that.

During this Tommy and Tubbo took the time to look around at the village. They noticed there wasn’t a single piece of cobblestone anywhere, much to Tommy’s outrage and Tubbo’s amusement. Tommy made sure to loudly gripe about how the village lost all of it’s ‘cool factor’ because you took the cobblestone away. He even started to say that if cobblestone was like a woman he’d-... but he stopped when he seemed to realize that not only was he standing directly next to an ACTUAL woman but an adult one…

He started sweating nervously and shooting a glare at Tubbo when the brown haired boy snickered at his uncomfortable position, but in the end he sort of mumbled,

“Uh.. you don’t wanna know what I’d… do.. pft.” 

Tubbo couldn’t hold it in anymore and broke out into laughter, with Tommy right behind him. While you just shook your head and made a ‘tsk’ing’ noise at the goofy pair. But you didn’t bother to hide your amused smile. Once they’d calmed down you resumed your trek. 

As you walked the two boys noted the second thing that stood out to them in the village were all the identical patterned banners that were hung up. The two tone ones with the golden suns on them. Tubbo lightly tugged on your sleeve, causing you to blink and look down at him curiously, and he asked why you hung them up everywhere. Was it to show this was your village or?

“Huh? Oh no, I didn’t hang those up, the villagers did. Though I made the original ones, the ones I hung up on my home. But the villagers liked them so much they made their own,” you explained with a calm smile.

Hearing this made the boys share a confused look before Tommy bluntly said that villagers never made patterned banners, they only hung up the plain ones. He’d never heard of them making banners ever. But you just shrugged and said the day after you’d hung up yours the villagers had all started copying you. You’re not 100% sure why (though you have a suspicion it’s the worship thing… but you didn’t bring that up..), you just assumed it was because they took a liking to them.

“I just wanted some decoration for my house and made the banner to spruce the place up, and it was sweet they liked them so much,” you added with a smile.

Tommy tilted his head before looking around the village and asking which house was yours. He pointed at one that was made of wood, stone, and pink terracotta and asked if that was it because ‘you’re a girl, girls like pink right?’ which just made you laugh and shake your head. 

“Some girls like pink, sure. Though I know some boys do as well. But no that’s not my house. Mine is up there on the hill at the other end of the village, see?” You pointed towards your temple home and the two boys followed your gesture and their eyes widened at the sight of the huge white quartz temple. 

Almost instantly Tommy started shouting about how that wasn’t a house, it was some kinda mansion or something! You just laughed and asked if he’d even ever seen a mansion before. He paused for a second, mouth open like he was going to say something but nothing came out. But then he caught himself and loudly said he’d seen LOADS of mansions before! So he knew what he was talking about.

You didn’t bother questioning him, you know he didn’t sound too sure, but what harm was there in letting him pretend he knew when he didn’t? Regardless, you and the two boys continued walking through the village, but Tommy and Tubbo (thinking that made you feel crazy still) said they wanted to see your cool house. You raised an eyebrow and asked if ALL they planned to do was look.

“It took exactly two days and two nights to build it, I don’t want two troublemakers wrecking it,” you said with a suspicious tone.

Tommy was first to heave a put upon sigh as he said they weren’t gonna wreck your stuff! But it was Tubbo who cut in and said that no way did you build that huge thing in just a couple days! It would have had to take you a week at best! 

You tilted your head and said it didn’t take a ‘couple days’ only, it took two days and two nights straight. But that answer just baffled the two boys more. And Tommy said in a disbelieving voice,

“You built for 48 hours straight?” You nodded and Tommy raised an eyebrow, not seeming to believe you.

“What, did ya just eat along the way?? Fought mobs while building at night??” He asked, sounding amused. And you, entirely without thinking how WEIRD it was going to sound, just replied that you’d sort of forgotten to eat while you were building.

“Yeah I got way too focused on building and after scrapping the first three builds I tried and settled on my temple house I got too into it and forgot to eat or sleep.”

You admitted it with some shame before quickly turning to the two stunned boys and saying they shouldn’t do stuff like that, it was irresponsible and dangerous! Tommy frowned and replied that YOU just admitted to doing those very things! But you countered that you were an adult and allowed to make your own stupid choices, but as kids they should heed smart advice. 

“It’s very much a ‘do as I say, not as I do’ type situation,” you said with a wry smile.

The blond was very much going to argue against that but you all finally scaled the path leading up the hill to your temple home and Tubbo saw the chest situated outside your home to the left of the front door. Without thinking he went over and started plundering through the chest, but yelped when you smacked his hand, causing him to pull both hands out of the chest and tuck them close to his stomach.

“Don’t go through my gift chest! The villagers use this to give me thank you gifts!” you scold the brunet boy. 

They start bombarding you with questions, like why on earth do the villagers give you gifts? What kind of gifts were they? What’d you do to earn them? Are you blackmailing the villagers? If so, then can you teach them how to do that? You burst out laughing at the way the questions just got more and more absurd. 

“No! I do not blackmail anyone! Lord, what is with you two kids? No, I work to protect the village and help the villagers master their crafts. And in return they thank me with gifts they make,” you answered with an amused grin.

But it seemed the blond only focused on one part of your reply, and it was the part where you called him a kid. A split second of dumbfounded stunned silence ensued before he snapped out of it and started raging, much to your and Tubbo’s amusement.

“I ain’t no CHILD! I am a MAN! A tall and powerful man who don’t gotta take crap from nobody! TUBBO STOP LAUGHING! SHE CALLED YOU A CHILD TOO!”

Tubbo didn’t even respond, he was too busy laughing. You were laughing too but managed to calm down enough to say that there was nothing wrong with being a child, it just meant you had more learning to do and experience to gain. Tommy and Tubbo seemed to calm down at hearing this, at least until you reached out and pinches both boys’ cheeks and cooed,

“And besides, you’re both cute widdle babies~!”

Now they were both hollering about ‘not being babies!’ and kicking up a huge fuss, much to your amusement.

-0-

After that you’d gone through the day’s gifts and saw most of them were the usual stuff (but still great). Plenty of bread and fruit, potion stuff, and a fur blanket. You packed away the food in a chest, put up the potion supplies by your brewing station, and threw the nice fur blanket across the end of your bed as decoration. All in all they were lovely gifts.

But one of the gifts really stood out. A red wooden box. And when you opened it you saw it had 6 engraved gold bangles. And they had different engravings. Some were carved to have leafy vines, some had geometric shapes, others had fish scale patterns, and even some with simple swirls and dots. But they all had a hinge to open them and a thin chain to keep them from falling off should they accidentally come open.

You loved all the gifts the villagers got you, how could you not? They were the fruits of their labor and skill! But these bracelets just hit different? You’d always liked gold, it was pretty and just crisp looking. SO without hesitation you’d put the bracelets on, three on each wrist before admiring them in the waning light of the sunset.

You’d even showed the two teen boys after you put them on and they said they looked nice, though you could tell they were only being polite, most likely because they had no interest in jewelry. Though you appreciate them trying to be nice for your sake. But while you were admiring your latest gift Tubbo noticed something simmering in your cauldron by your brewing stand. 

He cautiously approached it while you were showing Tommy your enchantment table and library (tommy wanted to enchant his sword). The brown haired boy let the scent from the lightly bubbling cauldron waft across his face and he breathed it in with a pleased sigh. Whatever this was it was clearly food, but damn did it smell like utter heaven! He could see chunks of steak, cuts of potato and carrot, and some other green bits he didn’t recognize. But he did recognize the light golden sheen the stew(?) had. Just like an enchanted golden apple! 

All three of you blinked when a sudden growing gurgle sounded through the quartz temple. You and Tommy looked over at Tubbo, whose face was red with embarrassment. He laughed awkwardly and said the food smelled good, and he hadn’t eaten since breakfast as his excuse. But you just gave a laugh and went over to the cauldron, scooting him out of the way so you could check on it. 

The two watched you stir the concoction with a wooden spoon before tasting some and letting out a pleased hum. Cooking was similar to potion making so you’d started doing both lately to keep yourself busy. You’d started with the recipes you already knew from the game. Mushroom stew, beetroot soup, rabbit stew, bread, etc. But those got boring fast so you decided.. why not try something new? So you’d started just doing whatever sounded like a good idea.

You learned LOTS of new recipes (and made sure to jot them down in a book so you didn’t forget them/what they did) but you also made some truly vile foodstuff. Lots of your failed concoctions ended up in the trash. But this latest one actually tasted darn good to you. After trying it you even noticed it gave you the same effects as the enchanted golden apple. Which was cool since you’d marinated the steak you’d put in the stew in a bowl of enchanted gapple juice. 

Behind you you could hear Tubbo bugging Tommy, asking him to give him some food since he ran out and his hunger was low. But Tommy refused, saying he only had one loaf of bread left and Tubbo should have brought more food! You rolled your eyes at the bickering pair of boys before wordlessly grabbing some wooden bowls and scooping some of the enchanted beef stew into them before calling over your shoulder,

“Y’all two want some stew? It turned out really good this time I think.”

Tubbo gave a thankful, “Oh yes, please!” while Tommy gave a childish, “Yeah! Gimme!” that made you want to laugh at their silliness. But instead you just handed over the two bowls of stew. You turned back around to grab yourself one (because you might not NEED food but it still tastes good) and while your back was turned you heard them greedily slurping and munching on the stew. You’d turned back and came face to face with two boys with empty bowls held out to you to show they’d like more. You barked out a laugh and teasingly asked if it was any good. 

Tommy didn’t seem to want to wait and shook his bowl and demanded in a snarky tone to “Hurry it up woman!” which.. made you frown. You were giving him a very unamused look, which he seemed to register and realize he may have misstepped here. He sweat anxiously with a nervous smile while Tubbo’s face dropped and he held his own bowl closer to his chest, not liking the tense silence. For some reason having you upset with him made him not feel so good. Like it was a bone deep feeling that left him hugely on edge. Tubbo glanced over at his best friend and knew the same could be said for him, because Tommy looked vaguely ill. But after a harsh elbow jab from the brunet the blond seemed to snap into the present and stuttered,

“I was-uh, y’see I was only.. kidding. Yeah! Kidding! What I really meant was can I please have some more??” 

Your frown twitched before turning into a wry smile. You huffed out a chuckle that made both boys' anxieties fade. Their bodies seemed to deflate from how tense they’d been before as you handed over the full bowl in your hand to him and said while you ruffled his hay colored hair, 

“Nice save kiddo, because if you’d have been smarting off for real I’d have been pretty irked. Thankfully it was only a joke~”

Tommy gave a relieved chuckle before he shamelessly gobbled down his new bowl of stew, seemingly back to normal now that you didn’t seem upset at him anymore. You mentally shook your head, he was such a kid it was pretty funny. But then you turned your gaze to Tubbo and held your hand out for his bowl, which he happily handed over with a shy ‘thank you!’ that made you smile. Soon they were both digging in all over again. Only this time you joined them, positively delighted with how this new stew had turned out. After eating you’d even offered them some iced tea you’d made. And this had started a whole Thing with the two British boys.

They’d argued that iced tea was an abomination and hot tea was the only right way to do tea. You’d rolled your eyes and asked if they’d ever even TRIED iced tea before. That got Tubbo to sorta stutter before falling silent but Tommy, ever the hard headed one, just plowed on and said he didn’t NEED to try it to know it wasn’t good. You gave him a Look and shook your head before convincing them to just try it and if they didn’t like it then they could dump it out. After some back and forth they caved and tried it, and lo and behold they both enjoyed it. The crisp drink was perfect for warm weather, unlike hot tea. But even after begrudgingly admitting it wasn’t ‘total shit’ Tommy refused to admit he liked it better than ‘proper tea’. You took this all as a win regardless.

-0-

You’d spent the majority of the day with the two young boys, just showing them around and feeding them and goofing off. You’d forgotten how fun it was to interact with people like this. To have actual conversation that wasn’t just ‘hms’ and ‘hngs’ like with the Villagers. You still loved the villagers, they were good folks but you’d missed talking with people normally. Which is why you were understandably bummed out when you saw the sun was getting dangerously close to the horizon. But you knew being out after dark wasn’t wise for regular people. You even brought it up to the two boys, not wanting them to have to face any hostile mobs on their way home. They reassured you they’d be fine, they’ve got good gear and enchanted weapons, but you still worried.

Though instead of letting it get to you and ruining the rest of the evening you instead packed the two boys some food to go. You put the rest of the stew into bowls and served up a couple more glasses of iced tea before gifting them to them, making sure they each got an equal share. Tubbo tried to politely say you didn’t have to give them anything while Tommy just let out a ‘whoop!’ and shoved his share into his inventory with a wide grin. That helped Tubbo accept his too without any more shyness. Soon they were all packed up and ready to go home, wherever that was.

But before they headed off Tubbo asked if they could come back, with Tommy perking up at the question, clearly wanting to know your answer too. With a smile you said of course they could come back to visit you and your village. You’d be delighted to host them again! Even if your first impression of them wasn’t that nice. You chuckled when Tommy had the decency to at least look somewhat sheepish. But your smile wasn’t upset and let them know you were only teasing, and it was water under the bridge. 

“I look forward to you two coming back again! Maybe you can help me out around the village and in return I can pay you or maybe make you both more food-”

Tommy and Tubbo cut you off by almost yelling out in unison, “FOOD!” which made you laugh out loud. You held up a hand in mock surrender and agreed to make them more food the next time they stopped by. The pair looked excited and waved before picking the berries from the bushes surrounding your village (so they wouldn’t take damage from the thorns) and hurried through them. You waved goodbye in return then took some bone meal out to help the bushes grow back before heading back home. 

You had a great day, and weren’t lying when you said you couldn’t wait for the two to come back.

-0-

Tommy and Tubbo made it back to L’manburg without too much fuss, only having to kill a few zombies and skeletons along the way. Though by the time they got back it was very much after dark and everyone had settled in for the night to avoid the hostile mobs. So the two boys didn’t bother checking in with anyone since it was already late and they were tired from the journey back. But to their surprise Wilbur was waiting up for them in the kitchen, sipping some tea and working on some papers.

“Oi, you two are back late. Run into trouble or somethin’?” Wilbur asked with a wry grin. 

And that released the floodgates of the two teen boys unloading everything that’d happened that day. From finding the village to accidentally fighting an iron golem, to meeting YOU! And everything else after. Wilbur listened with wide eyes, surprised to hear them talk about meeting a new person, a stranger outside of a country/city place that they knew of. One that apparently took over a village? Weird. 

But L’manburg could always use more allies. 

Maybe he should go pay you a visit too.

-----------------

@salinesoot​ @lady-bee-fechin​ @kacchasu​ @putridjoy​ @lunawritesstories​ @galaxypankitty3030​ @paradigmax​ @zachariethememerie​ @killmewithafanfic @trinity-1002107 @hufflepuff-demigod @truthdaze @exorcisms-with-elmo @redbloodtea @heythereimhaylz @olyink @jackalopedoodles @nikkineeky @artsimatsu @hufflepuff-demigod

[kitsunekissesxo]

Demon Bros Pet Names HCs and Scenarios

Demon Brothers Pet Names Headcanons and Kiss Scenarios

Summary: Headcanons of the brother’s petnames for you, vice versa, gender neutral MC, fluff kisses  <3

Warnings: Implied nsfw, suggestive, somewhat explicit

Lucifer:

Oh, Lucifer. This man may seem cold but on the inside, and when the two of you are alone, he’s the biggest softie. Like, big softie.

His pet names are more...traditional, if you will. He absolutely despises pet names such as baby, babe, honey, etc., so don’t expect him to use them. If you use them on him, expect a wrinkled nose and a grimace.

His personal favorites are my beloved, my rose, my darling, my love, my dear. He’s very possessive of you and intends to make sure his pet names for you further prove that.

He allows you to call him Luci and LuLu when you’re alone, and, even though he vehemently denies it, he finds it incredibly endearing. Other than that, he isn’t very fond of pet names for himself.

However, he simply adores when you call him your love. He might be possessive of you, but it fills him with so much pride knowing that you want others to know he’s yours as well. 

During sex, you 100% call him Daddy and Sir if you’re into that. If not, his love-making is so intense that you can only manage to utter out his name- and he loves that. It really strokes his ego wink wink

Lucifer absolutely adores calling you princess/my prince during sex, no matter what the mood is. He finds the way it makes your face flush irresistible. 

“Luuuuciiiiii,” you whined out impatiently, attempting to get your boyfriend’s attention. He’d had his nose stuck in paperwork for hours now and you were in some serious need of attention. “You haven’t so much as looked up at me in the past, like, 10 hours,” you pouted.

Finally he raised his head to lock eyes with you. Dark circles marred his beautifully pale skin, showing the effect of the overwhelming workload he was forcing himself to push through. You felt your heart ache at the sight of him, all signs of impatience leaving you to be replaced with a look of worry.

He gave you a weak smile while resting his head in his hand. All you wanted was to wrap him up in your arms and play with his hair as he napped against your chest. So that’s exactly what you went to do- love him.

You stepped towards him, his tired eyes looking up at you quizically.

“My love, please take a break. You’re exhausted. Please,” you softly pleaded, reaching your hand out to hold his cheek, thumb swiping back and forth soothingly.

He closed his eyes and pressed himself into your hand, letting out a content sigh, bringing his own hand up to hold yours to his face. Your heart swelled with love- early on the in the relationship, he’d flinch when you’d try to touch him. Now he treasured every carress you had to offer.

“Come here darling,” he murmured, motioning for you to climb into his lap. You did as he asked, straddling his lap and lacing your hands together at the nape of his neck.

The way he looked at you with such adoration made your heart race. You leaned down to capture his lips in a sweet, loving kiss. His hands came up to press you closer to him, one hand threading into your hair and the other pressing on your lower back. Your fingers played with the hair on the nape of his neck.

He pulled away slightly to whisper against your lips,

“You always know how to stir up these feelings in me, my dear.”

Mammon:

This man adores the cheesy petnames. Like the tsundere he is though, he denies it with a blush so intense it reaches his ears.

He doesn’t even use petnames for you when your relationship first begins. The tsundere is strong with this one.

At first, it seems like all he ever wants to call you is “his human”. And you’d be lying if you said you weren’t a little disappointed

Until one fateful day, he called you. You picked up the phone eagerly and to your surprise he uttered out a, “Hey babe, are ya busy right now? Ya better not be- come to my room asap.”

Needless to say, you could have sworn your heart skipped a beat

Mammon’s pet names of choice include, but aren’t limited to, sugar, baby doll, dollface, doll, baby, babe, honey bun/honey bunny

He loves anything that will make you smile, though. It’s his favorite thing in the whole world.

During intimate times he mainly sticks to calling you baby and baby doll, expect him to desperately moan that into the crook of your neck as he begs you to continue

He blushes, stammers, tells you to stop, but then tells you to not stop when you call him pet names. He not-so-secretly loves it, and you know it.

You like to call him mammonie, monmon, baby/babe, handsome, and my prince. Just to mess with him and to see that cute flush of red on his gorgeous tan skin. It’s also undeniably cute and cheesy

During sex, he absolutely adores being called baby boy. It really gets him going. This boy is a sub

You were scribbling school notes in your notepad, studying for the upcoming exam when your D.D.D rang. You sighed, setting your pencil down and reaching for your D.D.D to see who was interrupting your study session.

It was Mammon.

Of course it was. You adored him, you really did, but his timing was pretty awful. You answered and put the phone up to your ear with your shoulder so you could continue copying down some notes that Satan so generously lent you.

“Yo, yo, yo! Babe, are ya busy? Ya better not be- come to my room asap!” He exclaimed happily.

The phone fell from your shoulder and onto your notepad. You had felt your heart skip a beat. He called you babe.

“U-uh...MC? MC??? That was an accident. I aint mean it. Just...come to my room. Hello? Human, are ya even there??” He stammered on nervously.

You scrambled to pick the phone up, responding in a teasing tone, “Mammon. Three things. 1: I heard that. 2: I’m studying. 3: I heard you call me that.”

You could hear him huff on the other end. He was seriously too cute, too easily flustered.

“Just drop it, wouldja? I aint mean it! Now get your ass over here- I dont care if you’re studying. No one makes The Great Mammon wait!!”

You could practically see him puff his chest out. You just wanted to engulf him in a hug and ruffle his snowy locks so badly. 

With a grin, you taunted, “Okay, babe. I’ll be right over.”

You hung up just as he began to sputter and protest, checked yourself in the mirror, sprayed some perfume/cologne on, and began to make your way to Mammon’s room.

As you reached Mammon’s room, you thanked all your lucky stars that you didn’t run into any of the brothers. Without warning, you swung Mammon’s door open, and he jumped with a shriek.

“Jeez, ya scared the livin’ evil outta me, human!” he exclaimed, clutching his t-shirt near his heart. His cheeks were already tinted a lovely blushed hue against his beautifully tanned skin.

“Awww, sorry Monmon. Didn't mean to startle you,” you poked, watching as he crossed his arms over his chest, beginning to protest that you didn't, in fact, frighten him.

You quickly leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on his lips. He froze, and you could practically hear his heart race. You pulled away, both hands coming up to the nape of his neck as he just stared at you, mouth slightly open, his face bright red. 

“You worry too much, baby.” You teased him, a smile playing on your lips.

And then he leaned in to return your kiss, hands settling on your lower back gingerly

Needless to say, he began to “accidentally” continue to call you endless pet names. He really did love them and you

Leviathan:

Please, for the love of all things unholy, please let this shy boy call you silly pet names. He adores them, simply because it makes you giggle, and he loves knowing that he’s the one making you laugh

Levi appears as though he doesn’t feel shame, but we know he just hides it really well. However, he still rambles to anyone and everyone about Ruri-chan and anime, so he won’t mind you using pet names for eachother around other people

Because of his anxiety though, he probably won’t be too keen on that idea at first. Will his brothers laugh at him? Surely they’ll think he’s gross and creepy regarding his choice of pet names, right? Wrong. Ensure to him that he doesn’t have to do anything that he isn’t comfortable with, and if anyone judges them then they’re just normies. He’ll love you forever.

Levi’s most used pet names for you are sunshine, cutie, snookums, goofball, and player 2

Sunshine is his personal favorite because humans seem to associate happiness with the sun, and you’re his main source of happiness. So why wouldn’t he call you that?

He also refers to you as his player 2 a lot. You’re not only his lover, but his best friend. His partner in crime. His Henry. 

Calling him pet names is undoubtedly one of your favorite things. He stutters, blushes such a deep shade of red, and tries to hide his face behind his hands. Please take ahold of wrists, move them from his face, take hold of his face, and place a kiss on his nose. You want Levi.exe to stop working? K.O’d? Do that.

Your favorite pet names for him are Leviachan, cutie, sweetie, handsome devil, baby boy, my sweet prince, etc. Anything that helps boost his confidence is a good pet name in your book.

During sex, Levi would hardly be able to form a coherent sentence, so I imagine your name would fall from his bitten lips like a mantra

If you’re into it, he would be down to call you master/mistress, 100%

Most of the time you call him baby boy and sweet boy and needy during sex. I HC that he’s very submissive and melts at your endearing yet dominating pet names for him.

We also know it’s canon that Levi has a degradation kink- so use it. Call him a whore, pervert, slut, needy bitch. He’ll let out the sweetest whines and whimpers.

“Levi, sweetie, I promise it’s okay. Nothing happened between Mammon and I. We just went shopping,” You gently explained to a very frazzled Levi.

He was sitting in his gaming chair, anime paused, arms crossed, avoiding your gaze, and pouting. A frown also adorned his troubled features.

He refused to answer you.

“Levi, please speak to me,” you tried again, reaching out to take ahold of his hand.

You offered your hand to him gingerly. He studied it for a moment, and then, with a blush beginning to spread across his cheeks, he complied and laced his fingers with yours. He heaved a sigh as you swiped your thumb against his hand soothingly.

“I know, MC. I trust you. It just makes my blood boil knowing you’re out with him instead of being with me....I don’t really blame you though, I guess. I’m a gross and yucky otaku. I wouldn’t want to hang out with me either,” he grumbled, his voice cracking near the end, along with your heart. You wished so badly he wouldn’t talk so down on himself all the time.

It was time to show Levi just how much he meant to you.

You surged forward to engulf your serpent-like boyfriend in a bone-crushing hug. He let out a squeak, his arms coming up in surprise.

“Leviachan, I wish you saw how much I love you. I love spending time with you. I love playing games with you. I love watching anime with you. I love listening to you rant and ramble about them. I love how passionate you are. You’re so cute when you get like that, yknow?” You murmured to him with as much love as you could muster.

Suddenly his arms were wrapped around you, hugging you tightly to him. He planted a kiss on the top of your head before nuzzling his nose into your hair.

“You normie,” he whispered, “you’re really too much. I think you’re the only person who can find my ranting endearing.”

You pulled away with a pretend frown on your face, lacing your fingers with his once more.

“Normie? Again? Really Leviachan? In what way am I a normie?” You prodded, grinning at him.

He blushed, looking down at your intertwined hands.

“I suppose you’re not really that much of a normie. You do nerd out with me, to be fair...” He grinned back at you- a genuine grin, at that. It warmed your heart.

Before you could say anything else, Levi surged forward to place a chaste kiss on your lips. It was gone as soon as it was there. You blinked, wide eyed at him. His face was ablaze- you didn’t think you had ever seen him so flushed. You didn’t even know he had the confidence in him to do that.

In a rare moment of softness, he whispered

“I love you, sunshine. I really do. I wouldn’t want anyone else to be my player 2.” 

Satan:

Satan is the absolute best in the business at hiding his true intentions; after all, all smiles are an act

Except... you actually stir up feelings of love within him, and it drives his curiosity through the roof

He appears to be very confident so his brothers opinions don’t really matter to him. He’s also awfully petty, so I imagine he moreso uses pet names for you around them to simply dangle in their faces that only he can do that

That doesn’t change the fact that every time you use a pet name for him, hes face flushes an adorable red before he sorts himself out

His favorite pet names for you are sweetheart, kitten, darling, little kitty, gorgeous, wildflower, and my sweet girl/sweet boy

We all know this man is into pet play, so his most used nicknames for you are kitten and little kitty. During and not during intimate times. 

During sex, Satan calls you all sorts of endearing terms- he’s a master of dirty talking. It’s filthy yet simultaneously charming. Kitten, darling, and your name roll off of his tongue the most. If you’re into it, he will definitely degrade you, calling you a needy whore, filthy slut, cumslut, cumrag, fuck toy, you name it and he’ll use it. He’d most likely be opposed to calling you a bitch- it feels too hurtful for him.

You love to call him handsome, my bookworm, stud(teasingly), good looking, and babe/baby. Each and every one earns a chuckle and a momentary blush from him, so it’s definitely worth it. 

Want his attention when he’s too busy reading? Call out his name a few times- he can hear you, but he chooses to ignore you. Bring out the pet names and he’ll be burying his blushing face into his book, completely flustered. He takes a moment to compose himself before tutting at you. You interrupted his very important reading- how naughty.

When Satan’s feeling dominant, he’s dominant. He demands that you call him Sir or Master during sex. He doesn’t mind being called Daddy, but it doesn’t get him going quite like the other two do. When he’s feeling more submissive, absolutely call him your handsome boy. Pet gets him riled up as well- use it from time to time.

You couldn’t believe just how beautiful the sight in front of you was. The stars in the Devildom seemed to burn brighter and more fiercely than the ones in the human world. You were almost entranced by them, not wanting to tear your eyes away from the gorgeous nighttime sky.

That is, until you felt the hand that was holding yours give a gentle squeeze. You quickly turned your head to make eye contact with his emerald gaze. The main emotion you could see in Satan’s eyes was adoration, and suddenly your heart was being squeezed as well as your hand.

Here you were, taking a late night stroll in the Devildom with Satan, the night sky painted with deep clouds and bright stars, and he was looking at you like you were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

He had taken you to what appeared to be a park. You walked along the path hand in hand as you took in every little detail. The deep greenish blue bushes were hiding little critters, the pond had a fountain that splashed around the deep blue water, there were bugs that looked and acted an awful lot like lightning bugs(Satan explained that they were practically the same except that these were called Hell Fire Bugs, were only found in the Devildom, and had little horns that adorned their head), there were giant flowers of golden and orange hues everywhere, and, to your delight, there was a little wooden bench sat right in the perfect spot.

“Satan, can we sit down?” You asked with a smile, motioning to the bench. “I love where it’s positioned; you can take in everything perfectly!” You peered up at him to see that a gentle smile was gracing his features. 

“Of course we can sit down, darling. Are your legs feeling tired of walking as well?” He pondered. After all, he wasn’t completely sure what a human’s threshold for walking distance was.

“Mm, a little bit,” you admitted, absentmindedly rubbing your arm. You’d gotten so caught up in his presence and the sights around you that you’d only just now noticed the beginning of a burning sensation in your legs.

“That’s a shame. I guess I’ll have to carry you to the bench then, huh, kitten?” He said, flashing you a sly smile.

Protests left your mouth but to no avail. You were already thrown over his shoulder, his long fingers resting on your bum, giving a gentle pat. He was comfortably warm, and you were lying if you said you couldn’t stay in his strong arms forever.

You were giggling, squirming, demanding that he put you down that instant- but you both knew how much you loved it. His grip tightened on you as a warning.

“Kitty, if you keep squirming, I’ll have to punish you. It’s not nice to deny my kind gestures.” He teasingly warned, giving a harsher smack to your bum. And at that, you huffed, but calmed down.

He gently set you down on the bench, caressing your face before sitting down next to you, reaching out to grab ahold of your hand once again. You gladly took his hand in yours, sighing contentedly as he swiped his thumb soothingly against yours.

You leaned in closer to him, pressing against his side, and placed a gentle peck on his cheek. His skin was so soft, so warm. Welcoming. You couldn’t have felt more safe, more comfortable, more at home than you did in this moment. He let out a light chuckle.

“Are you happy now?” He murmured, snaking an arm around your waist to pull you flush against his side. You curled your arms around his arm closest to you, resting your head on his broad shoulder. You breathed in deeply, taking in his calming scent. He smelled like old books and tea. “I couldn’t be happier.” You whispered out. Your heart was so full, you could hardly take it.

“Good, I’m glad,” He warmly responded, and began to absentmindedly play with your hair as you both enjoyed the scenery in a comfortable silence. 

“Hey, Satan?” You gingerly asked after a few minutes. He gave a hum in response.

“I wish we could stay like this forever.” You admitted, feeling your face heat up.

He craned his neck to peer down at you, you pulling away gently to look at him.

“You truly are something else. You want to stay with me, a demon, forever? Are you sure about that?” He inquired, secretly hoping you wouldn’t backtrack. And you didn’t.

“I’ve never been more sure in my life. I love you.” You whispered back.

His only response were gentle hands coming up to cup your face, his lips softly melting against yours.

Asmodeus:

Naturally, as the Avatar of Lust, pet names are his forte. He calls you pet names about as often as he tries to cop a feel- so, very often

He loves using them in front of anyone and everyone, shame just isn’t a word in his vocabulary. He finds cute nicknames incredibly endearing and genuinely wonders why everyone doesn’t feel the same way about them.

He high-key expects you to use pet names for him as well. Let EVERYONE know he’s your beautiful boy, dammit. Its obvious but it makes him feel happy, so you’re more than willing to comply. 

His personal favorite pet names for you include, but aren’t limited to, cherub, dear, little darling, angel face, doll face, honey/hun, bunbun, love bug, lover, and mi amor. 

He simply loves to do anything and everything you want him to do to please you, but he expects the same energy in return. 

So, during intimate times, if you want him to degrade you he will. It just isn’t his favorite thing to do- he’d rather worship you and make you feel on top of the world with honey dripping words. Therefore, during sex, he prefers to call you darling, baby, baby girl/baby boy, princess/my prince, beautiful, etc. If you want him to call you mommy/daddy, master/mistress, or sir/madam, he absolutely will. Anything to please you.

Your pet names of choice for him include asmobaby, asmo, lover boy, cutie, beau, charmer, eye candy, heart breaker, heart throb, etc.

“How’s my favorite heart breaker doing?” “Feeling a little frisky, are we, lover boy?” “You see that absolute eye candy over there? That’s my boyfriend”

During sex, you call Asmo anything and everything you want. He’s down to try and do anything, so he’s all yours. He’ll do the same for you. However, he does love being praised- so please use praising pet names for him like gorgeous, handsome, sexy, etc

The most passionate and intense lover you will ever have, and his endless pet names are only the tip *wink wink* of the iceberg. 

For once in the Devildom, you were freezing. Your nose was numb, red, just an icicle, really. 

Asmo had dressed you up with a pompom hat, fluffy earmuffs, and a giant puffy coat with gloves to match in attempts to keep you warm in the Devildom’s famous ice rink. Of course, his entire outfit matched yours with a lovely complimentary color. He figured it was enough for him, so surely his little cherub was warm and snug, right? Wrong. Somewhat wrong, anyway. You were still cold and made a point to complain about it to Asmo. 

“Dear, I promise I will warm you up as soon as we leave, just please do this for me?” He begged, holding your gloved hands in his own. His pinkish-yellow hued eyes stared into your own hopefully, and you knew you could never turn down those puppy eyes of his.

He cheered excitedly when you agreed and took you by the hand over to the rink. He turned around to face you, an expectant expression on his face. He took your hand and placed his lips on the backside, winking up at you, before murmuring, “Watch and learn mi amor!”

With wide eyes you watched as Asmo skated off, moving with incredible balance and grace. Every move was intentional; he looked stunning in this state. Here he was, skating a lutz, an axel, a salchow, everything. He was professional level talented, and he never told you! And, oh, yes, you. You could skate, but not well. 

“Asmobaby, I didn’t know you were so talented at this!” You exclaimed as he approached you, an accomplished smile adorning his features. You skated over to him, his hand reaching out to grab yours as you skated together side by side.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it? I love how graceful it looks,” he responded, as you noticed how the tip of his nose was beginning to turn red. His breathing was still a little irregular, his breath coming out in puffs, the cold making the cloud of breath visible. He was so beautiful.

“Darling, if you keep staring at me like that, I won’t be able to control myself,” he teased, squeezing your hand.

You quickly averted your eyes, your face flushing at being caught.

“Oh, don't be embarrassed, MC! There’s nothing wrong with admiring beauty! I do it with you all the time, you know.” He winked, and you had to slap away a wandering hand, leaving a very pouty Asmo.

You attempted to get closer to give him a kiss to make up for it, but you lost your balance, falling right onto your bum. Asmo gasped, made sure you were okay, and then giggled at you.

“Asmo!! I just fell!! On ice!! And you’re laughing!” you feigned offense, resting your hand over your chest. “And I was going to give you a kiss, too!”

Asmo leaned down to help you up, murmuring, “You can’t help but fall for my charming self, hm, love bug?”, and pressed a loving kiss to your chilly lips. His nose bumped against yours, somehow still warm to the touch. You were so enraptured by his lips that you hadn’t even realized he’d gotten you back on your feet.

“How about we...continue this later?” Asmo whispered as you pulled away.

“Oh, you better. You promised to warm me up, lover boy” You huffed, beginning to skate off with him again. “Don’t have to ask me twice, doll. I’ll show you my love allllll night. Now, watch this next trick- it’s absolutely stunning!”

Beelzebub:

This wholesome boy honestly doesn’t understand pet names at first

“Why would I call you a baby, MC, you’re clearly a grown human??”

Even after you explain it to him, he still doesn’t really get it, but it makes you happy, and he’ll do anything to make you happy

When you tell him that he doesn’t have to call you baby/babygirl/babyboy, that he can use almost anything, he lights up.

“My cheesebur-” “No, Beel, anything but that”

Once he somewhat gets the gist of petnames, his preferred ones for you are love muffin, pumpkin, cookie, honey, sweetheart, gum drop, and cupcake

Occasionally calls you his cheeseburger just to enjoy your reaction

Please, please, please, don’t be mean about it. this baby's feelings are hurt so easily and he always means well 

You favorite pet names for him are Beel, beelzeburger,  big guy/big boy, bunny,/honey bun, bonbon, sweet boy, honeybee, Cookie Monster, and handsome

Each time you call him something other than his name, he blushes profusely, his lips upturned in a happy smile

Adores everything you call him, even if its incredibly cheesy because he loves cheese you chose those pet names for him specifically, and he feels honored

During sex, he’s so focused on how good it feels and trying to not hurt you that anything that comes to mind rolls off of his tongue when he speaks, which isn’t often

mainly calls you by your name, but he loves to use babygirl/babyboy if you like it

he also prefers for you to call out his name, as other names don’t really do much for him. if you’re into it, though, I'm sure he won't mind if you call him daddy. will be incredibly confused the first time you gasp it out though

“Huh? Is your father here? Or did you call me that? You’re not my child, though...?”

The music was loud- blaring, actually, and your head was beginning to ache.

Lord Diavolo was holding a party at his castle, with almost every one of his friends invited- it was a huge party. Everyone was sat down at tables or were out on the dance floor. Lucifer was chatting it up with Barbatos, Simeon, Luke(who was just following Simeon around), and Lord Diavolo, Satan was sipping some demonus while flipping through the pages of a book, absentmindedly chatting with Solomon, Mammon and Asmo were participating in some dance competition, Levi was playing his switch with his headphones on, and Belphie was napping on Beel’s shoulder. 

You were sitting at the table with Satan and Solomon, feeling particularly uninterested in their talk of spells and magic. The music was nice, and Mammon and Asmo looked like they were having fun, but you didn’t have the energy to tear it up on the dance floor. You heaved a sigh, feeling insufferably bored.

And that’s when your eyes landed on Beel. Belphie had his cow print pillow resting in the crook of Beel’s neck, snuggling himself into Beel. He was zonked. And poor Beel was munching on whatever food he had left on his plate, looking just as bored as you- at this rate, he wouldn’t have any food left, and soon. 

Making your mind up, you got up from the table and made your way over to Beel. As you got closer, Beel lifted his head at your approaching footsteps and smiled when he saw that it was you- you swore it made your heart beat faster.

“Gum drop! I was wondering when you would come over.” He smiled, motioning for you to take the seat next to him. Belphie continued to snooze on. 

“Actually, Beel, I was wondering if you wanted to go to the kitchen with me? Your supply on food is low, cookie monster ..” You murmured in his ear. He nodded, and went to wake up Belphie. Talking to him didn’t work, shaking didn’t work, nothing did. Beel carefully moved Belphie’s pillow on the table, his head now resting on Beel’s shoulder, and then gently moved Belphie’s head to rest on his pillow. He continued his little cat nap, completely unbothered. 

Beel stood up, took your hand in his, and led you to kitchen.

You lifted yourself up on the counter to sit, watching as Beel opened every cabinet and drawer, rummaging for something else to devour. He finally made his way to the fridge and freezer, and let out a delighted laugh when he discovered a pint of hellish nightshade ice cream.

“Wanna share?” He asked, smiling and showing you the ice cream container.

“Uh, Beel, can humans even eat nightshade? Won’t it kill me?” You inquired, fairly sure that nightshade would kill you dead.

“Oh, no, it won’t. Barbatos said there’s different kinds of nightshade that won’t hurt humans and Lord Diavolo made sure that everything here is human-proof!” He happily exclaimed, already grabbing two spoons. 

If it did kill you, well, that was Lucifer’s problem because you were gonna enjoy some ice cream with your boyfriend.

Beel began to happily eat the sweet treat, you taking bites whenever you could get your spoon in. He noticed you were having some troubles and shyly apologized, retreating his spoon so you could get a good bite.

And oh, you did. It was a heaping spoonful, resulting in ice cream getting on the corners of your mouth. You didn’t know why Beel was suddenly staring ravenously at you instead of the ice cream.

“You have ice cream on your mouth,” he murmured, leaning in closer to you, his face inches away from yours. Your breath sped up.

“Wanna help me clean it off?” Was all you needed to ask before his mouth was on yours, delicately licking off the ice cream. His hands rested gently on your waist, your own hands resting on his broad shoulders. He pulled back gently, a buzzing sound emanating from him.

“I always love your taste,” he exclaimed happily, blush spreading across his cheeks. 

You leaned back in for another syrupy sweet kiss, Beel all too happy to oblige.

Belphegor:

ah, our favorite eboy

he thinks pet names are cute and he really enjoys them, but he’ll never outwardly say that. he might mention it to you when you’re half asleep, though

gets all blushy blushy uwu when you use them around other people, but he doesn't mind. don't expect him to use them on you around other people, though- that's mostly for when you're alone

when he's really happy to see you or really sleepy he’ll use pet names for you regardless of who is around

he finds it to be very intimate so he likes keeping it to yourselves

his favorite pet names for you are dork, cuddle bug, star, teddy bear, and pillow pet

he loves stars and stargazing, and especially loves stargazing with you so he figured why not combine two things he loves and call you his star

he also loves to snuggle you, so you're practically his personal teddy bear- and he wouldnt have it any other way 

you're favorite pet names for him are cowboy, Little Dipper, cuddle monster, snuggle bug, belpharoo, belphie/belpie, and sleepy prince

during sex, belphie likes to call you his cowgirl when he's feeling more dom. he seems like a bratty power bottom/sub, so he’ll call you master/mistress, mommy/daddy if you like that, but he’ll give you shit for it. other than that, your name falls from his lips in breathy moans and whines

you tend to call him baby boy, sweet prince, brat, good/bad boy, naughty boy during sex. he loves being called a bad/naughty boy, PLEASE do it, it really gets him going 

You woke with a start, eyes blinking a few times as you looked around you. You had fallen asleep in the Planetarium. stargazing with Belphie. Oh yeah, Belphie. You turned your head to see he was still fast asleep, holding onto your arm with a death grip. You knew waking him would be fun.

“Belphie? Bellphiiieeeee...” You whispered in his ear, which earned you a little bit of stirring from him. 

“Belpharooooo, it’s wakey time,” You said a bit more loudly, beginning to rub his shoulder.

His eyes fluttered open sleepily, his amethyst gaze meeting yours warmly. He stretched his arms out with an adorably soft yawn, his shirt riding up to expose his soft yet toned abdomen. He gave you a sleepy smile.

“I love waking up to the sight and sound of you, teddy bear” he murmured out, clinging onto you once again, nuzzling his face into the crook of your neck. Your own arm was wrapped around him, the other coming up to lazily play with his hair. He let out an almost purring sound, attempting to get as close to you as possible.

“Uh uh, Belphie, we can’t go back to sleep yet. We’re still in the Planetarium- let’s go to bed, okay my sleepy prince?” You cooed, patting his back to get him to sit up.

With a huff, he sat up, but demanded you pull him up by his arms, giving you the sweetest smile in return. He complained the entire way to his and Beel’s room, his hand gripping yours loosely as you lead him forward.

Beel wasn’t there when you arrived which disappointed you both a bit, but you figured he’d be back soon and with some snacks, too, so that was a plus.

Immediately Belphie flopped onto his bed, hardly giving you enough time to crawl into bed beside him before he cocooned himself with blankets. He turned to face you, eyes glazed over, and yawned once more. You yawned in return, the both of you giggling. His amethyst eyes never left you, even when his hair fell into his face. You gently brushed the strands of navy blue hair out of his eyes, giving him a soft smile as his own hand came up to keep your hand pressed against his face. He nuzzled into your hand, sighing happily, before you wrapped your arms around him loosely. 

“Goodnight, teddy bear” he murmured as you both drifted off to sleep once more.

A few hours had passed when you woke again , only to find that Belphie had not only pushed you to the edge of the bed, but had also stolen all of the covers and blankets. You were chilly without either of those. 

You shook him, earning a groan from the sleepy demon. 

“Belphie I love you but I swear I will execute you if you don’t give some blankets back” you lightheartedly threatened, opting to lay your body across his.

“I don't know what you’re talking about,” he murmured, nuzzling further into his pillows.

“Oh no, you don’t. I literally have no covers! You have all of them! I’m freezing!” you exclaimed desperately. 

He poked his head out of his cocoon, a mischievous glint in those amethyst eyes, his hair sticking up in random spots.

“If you want a blanket so bad, then come get one from me.” He dared you, a smile playing on his sleepy features.

You immediately began your assault by tickling his sides, which resulted in him laughing, gasping, and trying to swat you away. You began giggling with him, not stopping your violent attack on the poor helpless demon. Your torture went on for a few minutes before he finally gave in. 

“Okay, okay! I give in! You can have all the blankies you want, I swear!” he puffed out heavily, tears forming in his eyes from being tickled and laughing so much.

You smiled triumphantly as he let you into his little blanket cocoon, immediately becoming engulfed by warmth and his scent. You were waiting for both of your breaths to even out as you heard a low voice say,

“Hey, I know you guys love each other and all but it’s 4am and I’m kinda trying to sleep”

You looked at Belphie, holding back a giggle as he gave an apology to poor Beel. 

You snuggled up to Belphie once again, beginning to feel sleep take over your body for the 3rd time that day. You fell asleep before Belphie, so you never felt the soft kiss he planted on your forehead and the sweetest “I love you so much” he whispered in your ear.

I hope you enjoyed this! I loved finally writing for all of the brothers- It was so much fun figuring out how to incorporate their personality into my own writing style. Let me know if you’d like me to do a version of this with the undateables! As always, all feedback is appreciated. <3

[midnightsunnyday]

Holiday dinner with the family (Black MC)

Summary: MC invites the brothers to meet their family for holiday dinner. As the day progresses, shenanigans ensue.

A/N: wrote this back during the holidays and is heavily influenced off my own familial experiences, yet exaggerated for fictional purposes. Either way, I hope you enjoy. 

Warnings: some curse language, mentions to sexual situations.

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1:00 PM

Lucifer: alright, we're here. For the record, I think this is a horrible idea.

Belphegor: you've already stated the record 30 times before getting here.

Lucifer: and just like the 90 times before getting here, let's go over the rules again, shall we? 

*everyone groans*

Lucifer: say them.

Everyone except MC: no using our powers, no mentioning we're demons, no mentioning we attend RAD, no mentioning we're the literal envoys of the seven biblical sins, no mentioning our actual ages, no mentioning our real names, no mentioning the Devildom, no stealing, no maiming, no sodomy, no hypnotism, no blasphemy, no betting souls, and no eating MCs family.

Lucifer: good.

Asmodeus: I'm so excited! I can't wait to show your family how wonderful I am.

MC: just make sure that's the only thing you show them.

Asmodeus: I promise I'll be a good demon. Well, as good as a demon can be.

Satan: again, I get why we had to change our names, but do they have to be so ridiculous?

Beelzebub: I like my fake human name. It’s cool.

Satan: well, I don’t. Mine makes me sound like an old man.

Mammon: um, guys? Levi's having a panic attack.

Leviathan: *hyperventilates into a sandwich bag*

Beelzebub: Levi, I know you're nervous, but you're breathing on my sandwich.

Leviathan: I can't do this, OK? Just let me sit in the car.

MC: Levi, you'll be fine.

Leviathan: Levi will not be fine. I can see them from the window. Why does your family have so many people? No way they'll want to meet--

MC: --what did I tell you about the self-deprecation?

Leviathan: but I--

MC: --listen, remember that anime we watched together: I'm a Demon Who Fell in Love With a Human and Now I Have to Meet Their Family but Little Do They Know I Have Horrible Social Anxiety?

Satan: these titles...are oddly specific.

Leviathan: oh yeah. In the end the whole family went to Hell for the wedding and was super accepting.

MC: the point is they were nervous too, but they worked through it together just like we all are. And do you know why?

Leviathan: why?

MC: because I love you, Levi, to hell and back.

Leviathan: *blushes* Alright, I'll do it. If it's for you, I'll fight all the forces of Heaven themselves!

MC: it's dinner Levi, not Armageddon, but I love the confidence.

Lucifer: good then. Now, let's get this over with. Diavolo help us all.

----------

1:15 PM

MC: which one of you gave my parents a $2000 bottle of wine? 

Mammon: $2000? I thought we agreed to give them gifts under $50?

Belphegor: that's right. Who’s the show off?

Lucifer: isn't it obvious? And please, they need to know that I'm the provider in this relationship.

Mammon: and what does that make the rest of us?

Lucifer: a pain in my ass.

----------

1:35 PM

MC: great. Now my mom won't stop bragging about "my baby's boyfriend."

Asmodeus: which one?

MC: very funny. And I'm talking about “Mr. Tall, Dark, and Bougie” himself. Though I don't recall mentioning you were my partner, Lucifer.

Lucifer: why mention the obvious, love?

Mammon: don't make me gag.

----------

2:25 PM

Satan: I don’t think your uncle cares for me much.

MC: why is that?

Satan: well, for one, he keeps referring to me as “white boy.”

MC: oh, no.

Satan: I know, right? Tell me, do I really look that pale? Granted the *whispers* Devildom doesn’t have much sun, but still. Do you think a tan would be beneficial?

MC: Satan?

Satan: yes?

MC: I love you.

----------

3:40 PM

Lucifer: one of the smaller humans asked me if they could "hold a 20."

MC: yes, I saw. In which you gave them twenty $100 bills.

Lucifer: yes, to hold. Is that not correct?

----------

3:53 PM

Mammon: MC why won't you let me near the spades table? I could be making a killing right now!

MC: because lives are at stake.

Mammon: wow that hurts, MC. Do you really think I'd hurt your family?

MC: no, I think my family would hurt you.

----------

4:13 PM

Leviathan: MC. MC. EMERGENCY. All your cousins kept asking if I had games on my phone, and I was like, "Duh, of course I do." Now they've taken my phone and won't give it back!

MC: *rises from their chair and walks off*

*the sound of screaming children is heard in the distance*

MC: there you go.

Leviathan: thanks, M…ew, why is it so sticky?

----------

5:05 PM

Asmodeus: now I know I said I’d be a “good demon,” but your aunt --

MC: --is married.

Asmodeus: oooh, so she’s a two for one deal, then?

MC: go sit in the car.

Asmodeus: but--

MC: IN THE CAR.

----------

5:48 PM

Satan: MC, I don't appreciate your family insulting my intelligence.

MC: what are you talking about?

Satan: every time a song comes on, they keep asking, "what I know about it?" It's infuriating.

MC: we really need to have a talk about colloquialisms.

----------

6:07 PM

Leviathan: I think Beel just killed MC’s dad.

Lucifer: WHAT?

MC: my dad isn’t dead, Levi, just winded.

Beelzebub: we were playing football.

Lucifer: out of all the games to play and you choose football?

Beelzebub: I said no, but they really wanted me on their team and well…I was having so much fun, that I forgot my own strength and threw the ball a bit too hard. I’m so sorry, MC.

MC: *pats his head* it’s OK Beel. Though it was hard explaining why you were capable of sending a man flying several feet through the air. On the plus side, no one wants to challenge you to anymore games.  

Beelzebub: that’s...probably for the best.

----------

7:00 PM

MC: Belphie where did you go? I haven’t seen you for several hours. *sniffs his clothes* and why do you smell like that?  

Belphegor: your house was way too noisy, so me and your cousins...went for a walk.

MC: for a walk, huh?

Belphegor: *shoves a handful of Doritos into his mouth* yep.

MC: …

Belphegor: …

MC: you’re high aren’t you?

Belphegor: I will neither confirm nor deny it.

----------

7:35 PM

Lucifer: are…are we praying?

MC: oh yeah, sorry. We always pray over the food before we eat. Don’t worry, it won’t take long

*three minutes pass*

Mammon: is it over yet?

Lucifer: *whispers* Beel, calm yourself.

Beelzebub: *shirt wet with drool* I’m trying!

*five minutes pass*

“And father god, we humbly ask that you protect everyone at this table from Satan and all his machinations, both physical and spiritual. May no evils prosper against them.”

Lucifer: yes, Lord.

Satan: *glares *

Lucifer: what? I was simply agreeing with said affirmation.

----------

7:42 PM

“In Jesus name we pray, Amen.”

Everyone: Amen.

Beelzebub: finally. We can eat.

Belphegor: an eight minute long prayer? Even Jesus would tune out.

Satan: they rebuked me so much during that I think I felt my skin burn a little.

MC: Beel, save some for everyone else, please.

----------

7:55 PM

“I see you have a lot of men around you these days, MC.”

MC: they’re my friends.  

“Funny that you have all these friends, yet not one of them is your husband.”

MC: *sips drink* I’m sure you would know a lot about having no husbands, considering you’re going through your third divorce.

Mammon: *chokes on his food *

Asmodeus: I love this family.

----------

8:05 PM

“So what did you all say you do again?”

Lucifer: Student affairs

Mammon: Entrepreneur

Leviathan: Digital media

Satan: English Literature Professor

Asmodeus: Image consultant

Beelzebub: Personal trainer

Belphegor: Mortician

MC: …

Belphegor: *smiles*

----------

8:55 PM

Belphegor: wait, we’re praying again? But we’re leaving.

Lucifer: at this point we’re so blessed we could qualify for sainthood.

Mammon: hang in there, bro.

Satan: I think I feel a few blisters forming.

----------

11:35 PM

Lucifer: well, that could have gone worse.

MC: see? Everything worked out.

Lucifer: other than a few mishaps, this evening turned out to be quite pleasant.

Asmodeus: right? I had so much fun with your family, MC.

Beelzebub: I think soul food is my favorite kind of food.

Satan: do you think we made a good impression?

MC: I’ve gotten nothing but notifications since we left. Everyone wants to know when I plan to bring back… *sighs* “my rich boyfriend and his brothers.”

Mammon: I resent that first part.

Lucifer: the part where I’m rich or the part where I’m their boyfriend?

Mammon: BOTH.

MC: you guys know you’re all my family, right? So just know you’re in this for the long haul. No backing out.

Lucifer: *smiles* as if we ever planned to.

[toomanyfandomssss]

His Girl - Four

In a sort of protective manner, Violet opted to walk with Clarke and Wells in case Bellamy and Murphy decided to pull anything. And of course, her intuition was correct.

"Hey, hold up." Bellamy pushed through some trees as he and Murphy caught up with Violet, Clarke, and Wells. Waving his gun in the air he continued,"Whats the Rush? You don't survive a spear through the heart" he smirked arrogantly. A tone Violet thinks she'll have to get used too from now on.

Murphy pushed Wells forward, "Why don't you do something about it, huh?"

Clarke interrupted, "Jasper screamed when they moved him.  If the spear struck his heart, he'd have died instantly, doesn't mean we have time to waste."

Bellamy grabbed Clarke's wrist and help up her arm, "As soon as you take this wristband off, we can go."

"The only way the Ark is gonna think I'm dead, is if I'm dead. Got it?" Clarke challenged, snatching her wrist back.

Bellamy smirked, "Brave princess."

Suddenly, a voice came from behind the group. "Hey, why don't you find your own nickname?" Fin called out. "You call this a rescue party? You've gotta split up. Cover more ground. Clarke. Come with me."

✶✶✶

Violet and Wells walked together a little ahead of Bellamy and Murphy. The doe eyed brunette had little interest in being around her boyfriend at the moment. As they continued on their way Violet kept catching Well's glances at the spacewalker and princess.

"Are you okay?" she looks at him concerned.

"Yeah," he forcibly smiled at her. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Violet just looked at him, then reached over and squeezed his arm in a comforting manner.

Wells was able to give her a more genuine smile after this act of kindness. Why is a girl like this dating a guy like Bellamy Blake?

Not wanting to see his girlfriend near another guy for any longer, the man himself interupted the moment between the two. "Guess we got more in common than meets the eye, huh?" Bellamy glanced at Clarke and Finn as he spoke. Violet rolled her eyes.

"We have nothing in common." Wells denied.

"No? Both came down here to protect someone we love," Bellamy wrapped his arm around Violet.

Wells stayed quiet, so Bellamy continued. "Your secrets safe with me. 'Course, for you its worse. With Finn around, Clarke doesn't even see you." "It's like you're not even here." he finished, grabbing Violet's hand and pulling her forward to walk with him.

✶✶✶

After Clarke and Finn's discovery of Jasper's goggles near a bloodied rock, they had met up with the other half the group to follow the trail.

Murphy broke the silence, "Hey, how do we know this is the right way?"

"We don't. Spacewalker thinks he's a tracker," Bellamy mocked.

"It's called "Cutting Sign." Fourth-year Earth skills. He's good." Wells defended the long haired boy.

Annoyed, Finn interjected "You want to keep it down or should I paint a target on your backs?" He stopped at a plant as he noticed some blood dripping down. He sunk to the ground to see a rock that had drops of blood on it, coming from the plant above. He and Clarke shared a look.

Bellamy chose this moment to taunt Wells even more, "See? You're invisible."

"Give it a rest Bellamy!" Violet harshly whispered to him, completely over his constant teasing of the chancellor's son. She separated herself from him as much as she could.

He was shocked at the small outburst, getting mildly angry that his girl was defending someone else. His girl.

A loud moan broke out and everyone looked up . "What the hell was that?" Murphy spoke all of their thoughts in the moment.

"Now would be a good time to take out that gun." Clarke suggested.

Everyone moved forward towards the direction of the groaning. They all stopped once they came to the source of it. There was Jasper, strapped to a tree. "Jasper!" Clarke gasped.

Violet was the second one to move forward, after Clarke. "Jasper!" Clarke called out again. "What the hell is this?" Bellamy said before there was a loud snap.

Clarke has stepped onto a trap and was falling when a hand caught onto hers.

She looked up to see that Violet had caught her before she could fall. The brunette immediately tried to pull her up but was having a difficult time by herself.

"A little help?" she called out to the boys behind her.

Bellamy came rushing over and grabbed Violet at the waist as the rest of the boys helped her pull Clarke up. The blonde was breathing very hard after her near death experience. She looked at Violet, "Thank you," she nodded gratefully.

"Anytime," Violet said, letting out a small laugh.

Clarke looked back up at Jasper. "We need to get him down."

"I'll climb up there and cut the vines." "Yeah, yeah I'm with you." Wells offered to Finn.

"No. Stay with the girls. And watch him." Finn orderd. He then gestured to Murphy, "You, lets go."

Clarke noticed something on Jasper, "There's a poultice on his wound."

Wells questioned, "Medicine? Why would they save his life just to string him up as live bait?"

"Maybe what they're trying to catch like's its dinner to be breathing," Bellamy suggested, making Violet grimace.

"Maybe what they're trying to catch is us." Finn said from his spot by Murphy and Jasper, making everyone worry.

As the two boys worked to get Jasper down, there was a strange noise that came from behind them. "What the hell was that?" Murphy asked no one in particular.

Bellamy quickly grabbed Violet and pulled her close to him. "Grounders?"

Clarke noticed a panther beginning to charge at the four, "Bellamy! Gun!" However when he felt for it, he couldn't find it.

The, gunshot came from over where Wells was. He was aiming it at the oncoming animal, hitting it once but it wasn't enough. He kept shooting randomly as the animal made it's way into the grass in front of Bellamy and Violet.

Bellamy was quick to push Violet behind him, shielding her. He would move her and himself the opposite way of where he could hear the dangerous animal.

All of a sudden it went quiet. Hearts racing, the couple held onto each other.

The panther had made it's way behind Violet when it finally jumped out. Bellamy shoved her to the ground and covered her, waiting for the impact of the panther.

When he had heard another gun shot and felt no impact, he looked up. Wells finally was able to shoot and kill the panther. He slowly got off Violet and helped her up, holding her close to his chest. He looked at Wells, "Now she sees you."

✶✶✶

After an eventful day, the small group made it back home to their camp. Bellamy and Murphy who had been carrying the now dead panther, dropped it as Bellamy shouted "Who's hungry!"

Bellamy and Violet embraced Octavia as the 100 celebrated finally having food to eat.

The price of that food though, ended up being wristbands. Violet shook her head as she watched the boy she loved and his hench men taking off wristbands. When Clarke and Finn had come out to see what was going on, they detested it as much as she did. Finn had went up to grab two meat sticks for him and Clarke, knowing Bellamy wouldn't let his girlfriend go hungry. When he went up he was greeted by Murphy who had taunted him about not following "rules".

"I though there were no rules," Finn said before turning around and walking back to the two girls.

One kids who has seen the spacewalkers act of defiance had decided to follow, grabbing his own stick. Unfortunate before he was able to get away, Bellamy punched the poor kids in the face hard enough for him to fall to the ground as the brooding leader glared at Finn.

Violent instantly went to help the boy up, much to Bellamy's dismay. After glaring heatedly at her power-hungry boyfriend, Violet walked the boy to his tent.

Instead of dealing with anymore bullshit today, she opted to go to her and Bellamy's tent to sleep off every stressful event that has happened on the ground so far.

✶✶✶

Feeling herself being lightly shaken, Violent opened her eyes only to see Bellamy sitting next to her, one hand on her shoulder and one hand cradling her face.

He takes the hand from her face and reaches next to him to grab the panther meat he had saved for her after she had walked off. "You need to eat angel," he softly demanded.

"You need to stop being an ass." Violet retorted, accepting the food.

"I have to be strict or else the kids won't follow orders," Bellamy defended.

Violet tiredly shook her head, "There's a difference between being a leader, and being a power-hungry dictator Bell."

The boy sighed, equally as exhausted "Can we please not fight, I just need you to eat angel."

Nodding, Violet silently finished up her meal before laying in her boyfriends awaiting arms. She put her head on his chest listening to the sound oh his heartbeat, lulling herself into a deep sleep.

[abbysfrenchbraid]

Daring - Chapter 2

This is part two of my Abby Mordern!Au, you can read Chapter 1 here.

Masterlist

Abby and the reader have dinner at Abby's place. There is music playing and referenced, so I'd recommend you listen to this playlist with all the songs playing in order as soon as the date night begins. About 10k words.

CW for alcohol consumption, mention of death/murder, mention of dubious consent (and possibly terrible grammar. It's 10pm, I just finished this, I don't have a proofreader atm)

Thyme and Tree Bark

“Don’t mess this up, airhead. Take care!”

“Yeah, yeah. Bye, idiot!”

You closed the door behind Mark as he vanished down the stairs and headed straight for your bed. Though you were less wobbly on your feet after devouring half of a perfectly cheesy pizza with just the right amount of jalapenos, it had thrown you straight into a food coma. Your angel of a brother had come over at noon with two chilled cans of coke and a large pizza from your favorite Italian place and not even ripped open the curtains as he usually did. Instead, he had thrown himself on the bed right next to you, handed you a slice, and demanded you start talking.

Of course, he already knew about Abby and your embarrassing shyness when it came to the buff blonde, so he was extremely proud of the progress you had made with your excruciating crush. You both agreed that Abby had definitely invited you over for a date this week - alone, without Manny there - and that it had to mean she was interested, too. He had laughed about the little bar stint when Abby had shut down your flirt with the hot waitress in an instant and was now 100% sure this was going to go great. As long as you kept it together and didn’t ruin everything. As you often did. This needed some tactical planning.

Mouths full of cheesy delight and laughing at each other’s stupid ideas, you and your brother had come up with a fairly foolproof plan. You would text Abby in 1-2 days, keeping it cool and asking when you should come over. Then, you would suggest making cocktails at home, already granting a fun activity and something to loosen the mood. You would keep it casual and bring over some nice liquor and maybe a bag of chips, perfect for watching a movie. You’d try to keep the conversation casual and try to speak mostly about Abby, asking lots of questions so you didn’t get tangled up in speaking about yourself. If you steered the conversation toward movies, you could watch something exciting and maybe even scary together so you could cuddle up on the couch together. And well, if you got that far, things would probably fall into place naturally. Foolproof. Y/N-proof.

You groaned as you reached over to grab your phone from your nightstand. You had a message from your mom asking if you wanted to come over for dinner next weekend and an email from your professor who wanted to submit your last essay to some kind of grant application. You’d have to answer her later, your head still felt like it was filled with cotton. Instead, you sent Leah a message.

-Hey, you still alive? There’s leftover pizza and coke over here.

Five seconds later, there was a delighted squeal at the other side of the wall and you heard the click of your roommate’s door before yours opened and Leah tiptoe-danced inside, beaming at you. She was wearing nothing but an extremely tight-fitting cropped wifebeater and a khaki thong, accentuating her long legs as she leaped right onto your bed and almost made you fly as her weight hit the mattress. You tried not to stare at her perfectly toned abs as she opened the gigantic carton and held up a slice of pizza over her head, letting the tip dangle in her mouth before biting down with a moan that made you snort awkwardly.

“Good morning, you animal.”

Leah just moaned again, making a grabbing motion with her hand and pointing toward the second can of coke on your nightstand. You laughed silently as you handed her the cold can, condensed water running down the sides and wetting your fingers. You wiped them on the blanket. The tall brunette swallowed hard and took a sip of coke.

“Good morning, womanizer.” She grinned widely. “I’m so proud of you, man. This is the first time I’ve seen you in action and I can safely say Abby was just as surprised as I was.”

You buried your face in your hands.

“Oh god, was I that obvious? Did I do anything inappropriate? I thought it went well, but now I’m not so sure.” You spread your fingers to peak at your roommate who was currently chewing on a ginormous bite, tomato juice running down her chin. No manners, that girl. She just shook her head and made a noise somewhere between protest and encouragement.

“No, you were fine,” she said with a full mouth, “very tipsy, but cute. I hope you remember Abby inviting you to her place.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

You ran your fingers through your hair, immediately getting stuck in a tangle of knots. God, you needed a shower.

“Yeah, I already went over it with Mark. We made a plan so I won’t embarrass myself.”

“Good. I hope it goes well, you two would be cute together. Hot, even. I mean, no one can deny the allure of those biceps. And her ass?! Godly.” She easily evaded the kick you aimed at her ribs, laughing and slapping your shin away.

“Come on, let’s not act like you’re not ogling her every chance you get. I am, too - the woman looks like a greek goddess!”

“That’s enough,” you giggled, aiming another playful kick in her direction but only lightly hitting her in the thigh. “I know what she looks like.”

“Right. And soon, you’ll hopefully see a lot more of her.” This time, Leah jumped off the bed before your toes could sink right into her side. You tried to suppress a grin as you two stared at each other for a moment before Leah sat back down cross-legged and began eating the last slice of pizza.

“I mean,” she said casually, “you have seen more of a woman before, right?”

You grabbed your coke and turned it in your hands before answering.

“Yeah, I have. It wasn’t… It wasn’t all that, though. Just one time and we were both so nervous it was just awkward.”

Now Leah looked at you with a mixture of shock and pity.

“Come on, Y/N. Only once? You’ve never seen stars because of a woman’s tongue? Never screamed into a pillow because of some skilled sapphic strap game? Never lost your mi-”

“Leaahhhh!” You groaned, feeling blood shoot into your cheeks. “No, okay? I… I made the other girl cum, but for me, it was just… it was too unfamiliar and I didn’t know her well enough to really let myself enjoy it.”

Suddenly a thought crossed your mind and you felt your eyes open wide.

“Wait. Has Abby…? Is she..?”

Leah paused mid-bite and thought for a second.

“Well, she does have experience with men, obviously. As far as women go… I honestly don’t know. She’s dated a few, but it never went longer than a couple of weeks. I don’t know how fast things go with her and she’s never gone into detail with me. I have to ask Nora about that.”

“Don’t you dare! She’ll know this is about me and tell Abby!”

“Oh come on, I’m interested, too.” She rolled her eyes. “I’ll tell you so you know what to prepare for, win-win!” She nudged your foot and gave you a mischievous half-smile.

“For god’s sake, do what you must.” You finished your coke and threw it perfectly into the bin beside your desk. Leah gave you an impressed nod. “And now I desperately need a shower. There is a literal nest on top of my head.”

“True,” Leah said and stood up, stretching her limbs as she walked to the door. “Thanks for the pizza. I’m gonna ask Jordan if he wants to come over, so don’t walk out naked if you don’t want a threesome.” She winked at you before closing the door, but a small part at the back of your brain knew that she wasn’t completely joking. You sighed and swung your legs off your bed. No point in lying around, it was past 3 pm anyway.

Grabbing your phone, a shirt, and some clean boxers, you headed for the bathroom. You took your time showering, detangling the mess on your head with lots of conditioner, humming along to Marika Hackman’s cover of I Follow Rivers as you stood under the hot stream of water and brushing your teeth for at least five minutes while waiting for a hair mask to do its magic. When you stepped out of the shower, the bathroom was filled with hot steam and you felt like a whole new person. You slipped into your fresh clothes and held the blow dryer to the mirror until your reflection was clear.

So. Here you were. Finally, you had spoken to the woman of your dreams and even flirted with her. She may have even been jealous of your short conversation with Ellie, the bartender. Tomorrow, you would text her, you would be brave and cool and not at all awkward. As you collected your clothes off the floor and took your phone, you suddenly realized something that would destroy your entire plan. You didn’t even have Abby’s phone number. Why hadn’t you asked her? Of course, you could ask Leah for it, but Abby would know because she knew she hadn’t given it to you. It would be a lot less cool and casual. Fuck.

You stepped into the hallway and ran straight into Jordan. Perfect. Good thing Leah had warned you.

“Oh, hi Y/N! You doing alright after all those tequila shots?” Jordan’s face was open and kind. You immediately relaxed. Just a guy, not a threat.

“Better than I thought I would, actually. What about you?”

“Well, I sent them back out the way they came as soon as I got home.” He grimaced and shrugged. “Just glad I’m still alive, to be honest.”

You had to laugh. “I’m glad, too. Leah would have been devastated.”

“I hope so.” He grinned back. The silence between you stretched a little bit too long.

“Anyways, I’m gonna see what she’s up to. See you later?”

“Yeah, sure!” You said, relieved that he didn’t make it awkward. You quickly slipped into your room and sank down on the bed, composing a text to Mark.

-Minor hiccup - I don’t have her number.

His reply came immediately.

-Shit. What now?

You let yourself fall back on the mattress and covered your face with your arm. Your phone vibrated again and you lifted it up, hoping for a brilliant idea.

-Hey, this is Abby. Are we still on for next week?

You almost dropped your phone on your face. For a minute, you just stared at the message. Then you rolled over onto your stomach and screamed into your pillow.

-Hi Abby. We absolutely are. Y/N.

You tried to suppress a fit of giggles as you texted your brother.

-Nvm, she just texted me.

-Omg what!! Play it cool, don’t answer yet. What did she say???

-Oops already answered. Still on for next week.

-Incredibly casual lol. Whatever, good for you!

-Shut up!

Another text by Abby came in and you actually started drumming your feet on the bed with excitement.

-Tuesday? I could cook for us

-Very impressive, I’ll bite. What time should I come over?

-Very clever. 6pm? Any allergies?

-Vegetarian, hope that’s okay. 6 is great, text me your address?

You watched the little text bubble pop up and vanish again for a good minute, getting more and more nervous for her answer.

- No problem. 2425 Constance.

There was nothing else to do but scream into your pillow again.

-

The next two days went excruciatingly slow. You spent the rest of your Sunday in bed, watching a terrible zombie movie and later ordering curry because you couldn’t be bothered with preparing any food. As it got late, you suddenly heard a knock on the wall. At first, you thought it was accidental, until the knocking started to continue in a steady rhythm. With a death glare that you hoped would reach through the concrete, you plugged your headphones into your laptop and continued watching your movie.

On Monday, you threw yourself into art history coursework and caught up on your studies, emailed your professor, and spent three hours on an essay about the depiction of blood in paintings of Judith beheading Holofernes. Lovely subject. Even though you got through a lot of your tasks for the day, you couldn’t stop yourself from looking at your phone every 10 minutes to see if you had missed a message. Of course, nothing came up. Around 4 pm, your phone buzzed and you leapt for it only to find out it was Leah asking you to buy toilet paper later. At 6pm, you shut off your laptop and grabbed your backpack to go grocery shopping.

Standing in the liquor store you realized you hadn’t asked Abby about cocktails.

“Looking for something in particular?” the elderly lady behind the counter asked. It seemed to be her own shop and to have been hers for a while, judging by the elegant wooden shelves and the warm, nice feeling of the room instead of neon lights and rows of white metal.

“Uh, yeah, actually. I have a date tomorrow and I thought we could make cocktails, but I forgot to ask what she likes. So now I don’t know what to bring.” You gave her an apologetic half smile. She stood up from her seat behind the register, growing not even 2 inches standing compared to sitting and made her way over to you. Her eyes twinkled behind thick glasses that made her look a little bit like an owl.

“Well, dear. I don’t know if I would go straight into the hard liquor on a first date. On my last first date, we had a delicious red wine, a Merlot. Couldn’t that be something? Are you going to eat anything?”

“Oh yes, she said she’d cook for us, but I don’t know what exactly.”

The shop owner gently put a hand on your arm and guided you to a shelf of dark bottles.

“Well, Merlot goes well with any food, so I think it would be perfect. Cocktails come later, when you dress up and go out together or after a night of theater.” You felt a surge of warmth spread through your chest. Theater? Well, why not? For a second, you began to trail off, imagining Abby in a perfectly tailored suit, you at her arm just as dressed up, every head turning as you entered the room and ordered Gin Tonics at the bar during the break. The voice next to you pulled you back to the present.

“If you’re cooking at home, wine is the thing to bring, trust me.”

“I trust you,” you said with a smile as you took the bottle she handed you. The label was a creamy white, with beautiful golden letters. Hopefully this wouldn’t bankrupt you. “Thank you for your help.”

The shopkeeper sat back down in her chair with a sigh and typed into the cash register. 15.99$. That wasn’t so bad. You paid and gently put the bottle inside your backpack.

“You know, you should come by soon and let me know how it went. I think that Merlot will bring you good luck. My wife and I still have it every Sunday.” Your head snapped up and your eyes met that charming, smart twinkle again, flashing at you out of dark brown irises. For a moment, all of the things you wanted to say were stuck in your throat, then you just broke into a smile.

“That’s wonderful, ma’am. I hope I can have that, in the future.”

“Of course you will, dear.” She really sounded like she meant it. A small lump suddenly appeared in your throat.

“Thank you so much. I wish you all the best.”

“Go get her!”

You laughed and waved at her again as you exited the shop, taking the warmth and comfort of it with you and tucking it right beneath the bottom of your heart and the top of your stomach where you knew it would fuel you for a few days. You had already decided that you would come back and make it your mission to befriend that old lady. What a wonderful woman.

Only 23 hours to go. That night, it was almost impossible to fall asleep.

-

You got through the next day by once again banning any thought of the evening from your mind and diving head first into your assignments. You were going to lead a discussion on different planes of language or communications in women’s art and literature and reading up on the historical differences between male and female narratives, beginning with the ancient poet Sappho. It was an exciting topic, something you were extremely thankful for. Otherwise you might have been looking at your phone every 3 minutes instead of every 20. Of course, no message from Abby.

The bottle of wine was standing on your nightstand, reminding you of your plans with an exciting tingle in your stomach. At 4pm, you gave up on doing anything productive. You spent forever in the shower, stealing some of Leah’s expensive pink body scrub, shaving everywhere and regretting it immediately because you felt stupid for assuming anything, entertaining the but what if thoughts while you thoroughly lathered your entire body in Leah’s shampoo and shower gel and spending a good 10 minutes just standing under the hot water because you weren’t ready to leave that fantasy yet. When you stepped out of the shower, the bathroom was an actual steam bath and you could hardly see the door through the thick waves of wonderfully scented fog. You took your time stealing some more of Leah’s skincare products, having come to the conclusion that if she noticed anything and scolded you for it, you might as well try out the whole arsenal.

When you finally opened your closet door, feeling luxurious and clean and fresh, it was 5.10pm. What the hell were you going to wear? You and Mark had agreed on casual, but what the hell did that even mean? You decided to ask him.

-Help!!! Freaking out over my outfit, need a definition for casual

-Jeans and T-Shirt, just your standard outfit. Imagine meeting me for sushi.

-I’m bringing red wine. It seems wrong to bring wine in jeans and a t-shirt..

-What happened to cocktails?? Trust me, keep it simple. You don’t wanna turn up in a dress and she opens the door in sweatpants.

-I don’t think I’ve ever seen her in sweatpants. Ughh fuck I don’t have time for this. Jeans and t-shirt it is. Lesbian grandma recommended wine, I’ll tell you about it tomorrow x

-Go get her x

You quickly slipped into some black jeans that were just the right amount of tightly fitting around your ass and a white shirt with a tiny pomegranate embroidered on the front. Then you put on your jacket and quickly threw your wallet, phone and keys into a tote before grabbing the wine and putting it in as well. With a last look into the hallway mirror and a yelled goodbye to Leah, you rushed out of your apartment.

The evening air was not as cool as you had expected and the sun was just about to set. On your way to the train station, you typed out an on my way! message to Abby and quickly deleted it again. No sense in sending it now when you hadn’t spoken since Sunday and were about to see her. The train ride was annoying, the wagon stuffed with commuters and some guy trying to convince you the apocalypse was upon you all. Zombies, not the last judgement - something different at least.

During the walk from the station to Abby’s house, you were sure it wouldn’t take much more for you to actually start levitating. Your heart was pounding in your chest and your throat was so cramped up it was hard to breathe. When you pulled out your phone, your fingers were actually shaking. Jesus Christ, get a grip. 5.58 pm.

And there it was, 2425 Constance. Just a normal suburban white house, like any other in the street. It actually seemed a bit weird, Manny and Abby living here in the midst of what seemed to be a family neighborhood with real adults . Then again, they both weren’t in college, so you supposed they actually were real adults. When you walked up to the front door, you could hear faint music from inside - jazz? You wouldn’t have guessed she was the jazz type, but then again you knew almost nothing about her. Right. Ask questions, keep the conversation about her. Be cool.

You knocked.

Abby opened the door, a wave of warm air hitting you from inside. It smelled delightful. Her face was slightly flushed, her lips parted as she took in a deep breath. She had tied her hair back in a low bun, but a few strands had fallen out and framed her face. One was standing up in a funny angle.

“Hi, Abby,” you said, trying to keep your voice level and not stare at her body. Fuck, she had dressed up. And she looked hot.

“Hi!” A smile slowly grew wide on her face. When she realized that she was blocking the door, she quickly shook her head and stepped aside. “Come in! Can I take your jacket?”

Oh God, this was hopeless. You already knew you were hers. Thanking her, you took off your jacket and she hung it in a closet next to the entrance. When she turned around, you got a chance to admire her fully. She wore wide dress pants that perfectly accentuated all of her muscles, topped with a loose white shirt with wide sleeves, reminding you a little bit of a pirate. Her jewelry rounded off the pirate look and you had to bite back a grin. She raised her eyebrows at you.

“What?” Her cheeks were still slightly red, but you attributed it to standing in a hot kitchen for probably the last hour, judging by the variety of smells overlapping and mixing together, already making your mouth water.

“Uh, I brought wine,” you said and held out the bottle. Eloquent as always. Abby took it and whistled through her teeth as she inspected the label.

“That looks classic. The sauce I made has some wine in it as well, this is perfect. Thank you, what a great idea!”

You were overwhelmed with her generous praise and didn’t know where to look, so you settled on her hands. You had always sneaked looks at her hands, at the way she held a glass or drummed on a table or clasped them when she was intently listening to someone. They looked strong and rough from work, but there was also a delicacy in their movement and you were sure her touch could be as gentle as the brush of a hummingbird flying past. Realizing you were staring, you tore your gaze away.

“It smells delicious in here, I can’t wait to see what you cooked.” You followed her into the kitchen, where she placed the bottle on the counter and took a corkscrew from a drawer. A big red pot was standing on the gas stove over a tiny flame, the lid still hiding its contents. Your stomach suddenly growled loudly into the silence.

“Someone’s hungry.” Abby gave you a side glance and an amused smirk as she screwed the silver device into the cork. “Everything’s already set, we can get started right away.”

You covered your eyes with your hand for a second before laughing.

“Yeah, I kind of forgot to have lunch earlier and then I figured I’d just wait so I could really savour this.”

“Smart thinking. I made patates au vin , a vegetarian version of coq au vin which is chicken in wine. It’s basically potatoes and vegetables in a thick brown sauce, served with some good rustic bread.” You couldn’t stop your eyes from rolling back at the thought of getting to eat home cooked french cuisine made by Abby in a few minutes.

“Oh my God, say that again.” You could barely stop yourself from moaning. Abby laughed and opened the wine with a loud pop.

“Here, take this over to the dinner table. I’m right behind you.” You took the bottle and followed her nod into the dining room. The wooden table was beautifully set with big and small plates, glasses for water and wine, candles, two blue glass bottles of water and a bowl of salad topped with what looked like apples, pomegranate seeds and feta cheese. You carefully placed the bottle of wine next to the water bottles and stepped aside for Abby, who came out of the kitchen carrying the heavy pot and placed it on a cork coaster in the middle of the table.

“Wait, let me just…” she trailed off as she grabbed her phone from the sideboard and changed the music. A saxophone led a jazz band into the song before a beautiful female voice set in, soft as butter and filling the room like the smell of roses. The voice was familiar to you, but you couldn’t quite place it. As Abby sat down, the music came to a crescendo before breaking off, the voice setting in again with a soft

is it a crime?

“Who sings this?” you asked as Abby opened the water bottle and filled your glasses.

“Oh, it’s Sade. She was my dad’s favorite.”

And I want you to want me too, the woman sang, and your eyes met over the table. You swallowed. Was? Not the right time.

“Sade? Oh, she sings Smooth Operator, right? I know that one, but I never checked out more of her music.”

Abby smiled at you and opened the lid of the pot.

“Yeah. This is the Promise album, my favorite. She is a force.”

A wave of steam erupted from the pot and you bent forward to look inside. Thick, roasted wedges of yellow potatoes lay in a bed of orange and purple carrots, mushrooms and tomatoes in a thick brown sauce, a stalk of thyme on top and a bay leaf poking out from the sauce. You weren’t sure if you were drooling, but you didn’t care.

“Abby, oh my God! This is fantastic.”

A spark had lit in her eyes when she heard you say her name. She elegantly stood up again, grabbed a serving spoon, and held out her hand for your plate. You watched her hands again as she plated an array of vegetables for you and used the spoon to draw a little sauce heart on the rim of the plate. Your ribs felt two sizes too small around your chest. This woman was actually going to be the death of you.

“Thanks,” you quietly said and waited as Abby helped herself to a plate. She sat down and gestured toward the small basket with thick slices of grey bread with a dark brown crust.

“Help yourself. Bon appétit.”

After a few moments of eating in comfortable silence before you showered the blonde in an array of compliments, this time not able to refrain from moaning when you bit into a tender, sweet purple carrot, the conversation began to flow. Abby complimented the wine, you talked about your studies, Abby told a few work stories in which both she and Nora were involved, you told her about your close relationship with your brother and she bittersweetly reminisced about her upbringing as an only child with a single dad. It had just been the two of them, moving frequently because of his changing jobs in different hospitals. He had been a neurosurgeon, and a brilliant one at that, but always humble and ready to help wherever he could. Abby sat up straighter when she talked about him, her chest actually swelling with pride when she told you about one time they had rescued an injured horse that had run away and been hit by a car in front of them.

“I think I was 16 back then. It’s one of my favorite memories of him. It actually wasn’t long before…” Her eyebrows moved into a frown and she bit her lip, pushing a small piece of onion around her plate. Fuck, maybe it would have been easier to talk about you, after all.

“We don’t have to talk about it. You can tell me when you’re ready.”

She looked up and you expected to see tears, but her eyes were full of love and her face smoothed out into a gentle smile.

“No, it’s okay. I’m still working on it, and part of my therapy is telling people who don’t know yet. You know, I don’t really have a lot of friends.” She suddenly laughed, easing the tension at the bottom of your lungs. “That sounds stupid, of course I do. I have Manny and Nora and Leah and Jordan and Owen, I guess. But the thing is, they all knew me before. I haven’t really made friends ever since my dad.. passed away. The idea of needing to open up to someone about all this so I can develop a real connection and friendship with them is just a lot to bear.”

“The mortifying ordeal of being known,” you mumbled, more to yourself, crumpling up your napkin in one hand.

“Sorry?”

“Oh, it’s this quote from a New York Times article that has been floating around the internet for a while. ‘If we want the rewards of being loved we have to submit to the mortifying ordeal of being known’.” You looked up at her and inhaled deeply. “It’s something I’m also terrified of. Although it seems kind of stupid sometimes, because compared to you for example, I don’t really have a good reason.”

Abby looks at you like she’s just discovered something extremely interesting. She takes a sip of her wine before answering, her silver rings blinking at you in the candlelight.

“It’s not at all stupid. I’ve always been very careful with who I open up to, even before my dad died. It’s horrifying, laying yourself bare for a person, putting yourself on a silver plate and handing it to them and saying there, now do with it what you wish. Maybe they’ll look at it and say no, thanks. Maybe they’ll call everyone and say hey, look at this mad woman with her twisted insides, isn’t that funny? Maybe they’ll see it and think, I can do this, and then after a few years they suddenly realize they actually can’t and you’re way too much and so they leave for someone with a more simple, prettier silver plate. Maybe they’ll even take a few pieces with them as they go.”

She didn’t sound bitter as she said it, and she didn’t look terribly sad either, more as if she was making an observation about something she was mildly interested in. You didn’t know what to say except for show me your silver plate, please show me your all, and I will devour it, savor it, keep it with me forever. But you stayed silent, your tongue stuck to the roof of your mouth.

“I’m quite the handful, am I? Sorry, I shouldn’t have thrown all this” - she gestured toward herself - “at you during our first date.” Then her eyes widened as she realized what she had said. “Fuck, sorry, I just assumed… you probably don’t…”

Finally, movement came back into you. You jumped from your chair and were next to her in a few paces. She lifted a hand and you took it in yours.

“Of course this is a date,” you said gently and smiled at her. “Otherwise why would I have been this nervous for the past three days, thinking of nothing but you, constantly checking my phone to see if you texted me? And I brought red wine, come on.” That brought a smile to her face. She chuckled lightly.

“So I haven’t just ruined everything?” The hope in her eyes was mixed with real, honest fear.

“No, of course not. I’m glad you’re being open with me. You know, I planned not to reveal too much about myself tonight, fearing I would scare you away or say something stupid and make you suddenly lose interest.”

The current song ended and a soft, funky beat came on. There it was again, that twinkle in Abby’s eyes. Your hands were still clasped around hers and she made no move to pull back.

“Well, now I can’t wait to see what you have in store for me. Lay it on me. Over dessert, maybe?”

You raised your eyebrows.

“There’s dessert? You’re going to have to roll me out of here later.”

She laughed, warm and genuine, and the pride you had felt back in The Closet filled your chest again. You would do anything just to be the one to make her laugh every day for the rest of your life. She got up and you both started clearing the table together.

Never going to know

What fate is going to blow

Your way, just hope that it feels right

Could that Sade lady be any more on the nose? You risked a glance at Abby, who was smiling to herself. You followed her into the kitchen and she opened the fridge to produce a large glass dish, showing the several layers of biscuit and white cream, topped with dark cacao.

“Tiramisu? Seriously Abby, how much time did you spend in the kitchen today?”

She gave you a crooked grin before exiting the kitchen.

“Took the day off.”

You just sighed and went back into the dining room.

Such a fine time as this

“Here.” Abby handed you a small plate with a piece of her gourmet tiramisu. Your fingers brushed against each other and you both paused for just the blink of an eye.

What could equal the bliss

The thrill of the first kiss

You sat down and grabbed the small fork left next to your wine glass. On second thought, you took another sip of Merlot. It really was exquisite.

“Buon’ appetito,” you said and sliced off a perfect edge of tiramisu. The soft, coffee-drenched biscuit fell apart on your tongue, mixing with the heavy vanilla-flavored mascarpone. “Did you know where the name tiramisu comes from?”

Abby lifted her fork to her mouth and softly closed her lips around the piece of creamy dessert. You were entranced, watching her hand sink down to the table again, then her jaw moving and flexing as she chewed. She raised her eyebrows questioningly and you cleared your throat, taking another piece on your fork.

“ Tira mi su is Italian for ‘pull me down’. It’s the last thing you eat after dinner and the thing that makes you tired, pulls you right into the food coma. In restaurants, it rounds off the meal and guests will probably leave in the following hour because they feel they’re ready to go home.”

Never as good as the first time

Natural as the way we came to be

“Oh,” Abby said, her voice quiet. She looked up at you through dark lashes. “And are you going home after this?”

“No.” You said it without thinking, only knowing what was true in your heart. “I don’t want to.”

“I’m glad.” Taking a deep breath, Abby straightened up, then reached a hand across the table, her palm facing up. You stared at it for a fraction of a second before placing your hand in hers, feeling something fall into place inside you. The glances you exchanged said so much more than you could possibly dare to say out loud right now.

You used your free hand to stab the last piece of tiramisu. This time it was Abby who was watching you with hungry eyes as the fork vanished between your lips and emerged clean.

“This tiramisu could be the best thing I’ve ever tasted in my life,” you said after swallowing and Abby’s fingers twitched ever so slightly around your hand.

“Thank you. I’m really into French and Italian cuisine, as you may have noticed.”

You leaned back in your chair, careful not to pull back your hand.

“I couldn’t do it, honestly. Spending so much time in the kitchen. Especially not with a job like yours, on your feet all day. I’d probably survive off of pasta and takeout.”

Abby smiled and began slowly drawing circles on the back of your hand with her thumb. You were already hyper-aware of how your blood rushed through every vein of your body, a side-effect of the red wine, but now it came to a roar in your ears.

“I guess I need some kind of hobby besides lifting weights. It calms me down. And it’s not just about the end result, about getting to eat something, but also about picking the right ingredients, taking my time cutting them up, trying new recipes with new flavors, and learning more about food and culture, and honestly about myself. It’s like meditating.”

“That sounds…” you were at a loss for words, “unbelievable? I’ve never heard someone talk about cooking like that. And I’ve never felt that way about it, too. I guess I’d like to, though. It sounds nice.”

Abby brushed her thumb over your knuckles.

“Well, I could show you.” You tilted your head slightly. “I mean, we could cook together. Next time. If you want to?”

Sade’s voice, smooth as polished wood and dripping with honey cut into the moment.

How could I have doubted

Honey, it's with me that you belong

“Yeah, I’d love to. What do you have in mind?”

“Do you like lasagna? We could make a vegetable lasagna and substitute the meat for soy. I could show you how to make a béchamel.”

You laughed and squeezed her hand.

“I love lasagna, although I have no idea what a beshmel is.”

“You’ll just have to wait and see.” Abby’s face was glowing with happiness.

As the last two songs of the album played, you helped Abby clean up the table. You got into an argument about doing the dishes - Abby said she’d do it later but you insisted you would do them now or at least help because so far you had not lifted a finger.

“Come on, Abby, please let me help?” You tried your best doe eyes at her. She grinned and playfully slapped your upper arm.

“Okay. But I’ll put on different music.”

She vanished to the dining room while you began filling the sink with water. A high note filled the room before a man spoke.

You broke my heart / 'Cause I couldn't dance

You didn't even want me around

And now I'm back / To let you know

I can really shake 'em down

Abby stepped into your field of vision. The music set in, a delightful 60’s rock and roll melody, and Abby began dancing toward you with tiny steps and shaking shoulders. She was lip synching to the coarse voice of the singer and reaching out her hands for you. Snapping out of your frozen position, you shook your head, grabbed her hands, and were immediately twirled through the kitchen. A squeak escaped you as Abby pulled you back toward her and with another pirouette, you almost slammed into her chest. You both laughed out loud, continuing to dance through the kitchen with big, overexaggerated moves, flailing your arms and shuffling your feet across the tile.

I can do the twist

Now, tell me baby

Do you like it like this?

You quickly began singing along to the simple lyrics and both of you were giggling at each other’s dance moves. The next song was Stand By Me and you both settled down, beginning to clean the pots and dishes. You did the washing while Abby dried off the pieces you gave her and put them back into the right cupboards. Both of you were swaying and humming along to the music.

During the second chorus, both of you began belting along, filling the kitchen with the wonderfully familiar sound of slightly drunk women singing together. As the song ended, you both comically froze and waited for the next song to set in. When it was La Bamba by Ritchie Valens, you both continued singing along and showing off some probably terrible salsa moves. You were done in no time and Abby took your hand, pulling you into the dining room and sliding across the wooden floors with you. Your stomach hurt from laughing and you couldn’t stop smiling.

Next came the bittersweet Be My Baby by the Ronettes, a song you remembered from your childhood, vague memories of your parents slow dancing together after another terrible fight. You swallowed down the hint of bitterness creeping up from your stomach. Instead, you looked up at Abby, almost a full head taller than you, and dared yourself to step forward. You placed your right hand in Abby’s and your left on her tricep, coming unbearably and exhilaratingly close. Abby put her hand on your back, right below your shoulder blade, warming you through the fabric of your shirt. Your faces were incredibly close, her breath warm on your nose, and you could have counted every single freckle on her beautiful face. There was a slim ring of gold around her pupil, complimenting the green of her iris. She was breathtaking.

You couldn’t take this any longer. Should you kiss her? Everything inside you wanted to, but you couldn’t bring yourself to close the last inch of distance. It felt like wanting to do a handstand but pulling back at the last second every time because of a deep fear of failing and hurting yourself. It was terribly frustrating.

Instead, you leaned your head against the round muscle of Abby’s shoulder, turning your face toward her chest and pressing your temple to her collarbone. You could smell the herbs she had used to cook earlier in the fabric of her shirt, but her skin smelled like pine and something else, earthy and dark, like tree bark or wool. Abby rested her chin against your forehead and her low hum of contentment vibrated against your cheek.

A light waltz melody began, Unchained Melody, a song you knew from some commercial and had listened to for a few weeks straight after.

I need your love

God speed your love to me

You smiled to yourself and could sense Abby was doing the same. You kept slowly turning, dancing through the candle-lit room and swaying side to side. The band set in louder and you lifted your head again. Abby’s eyes were fixed to yours, but you couldn’t stop yours from wandering lower, finding those perfectly pink lips, hanging open ever so slightly. Your hand wandered upward, along her shoulder, and to the back of her neck. As the last verse of the song began, you stood on your tiptoes and brushed your lips against her. Abby inhaled sharply, her fingers spreading on your back and pressing against your skin. You gently pressed your lips to hers again and this time, she kissed you back. You dug your fingertips into the back of her neck, desperately wanting to come closer, to pull her down to you, hell, you would climb her like a tree if you had to.

Feeling courageous, you stuck your tongue out and ran the tip upward over her lips. Abby instantly reacted, opening her mouth for you and greeting your tongue with hers. She tasted like wine and cacao, and faintly like thyme. Releasing your hand, she wrapped her arms around your waist. You reached up and buried your hand in her hair. She gasped into your mouth. You tucked that sound away for later, swearing to yourself you would make her do it again as often as you could.

A few seconds of silence between songs were disrupted by your wonderfully frivolous wet kissing sounds and a small whine that escaped you when Abby’s hand wandered lower to cup your ass. The first guitar chords of Nights In White Satin vibrated through the air and Abby grabbed you tightly before lifting you off the ground and wrapping your legs around her hips. She carried you over to the dining table and set you down.

The dramatic crescendo in the song you loved so much began.

And I love you

Yes I love you

Oh, how I love you

The singer’s voice filled every corner of the room, his declaration hovering above you, the high voices of the background singers ringing in your ears and Abby’s hands everywhere, her body leaning over you, her hips pressed between your legs. You flexed your legs to pull her in closer, almost falling apart when Abby let out a low moan and rocked her hips forward against you. Then she suddenly slowed down and broke the kiss.

“Wait, let’s talk for a second.”

You kept your legs clamped around her, but relaxed back a little, brushing back a strand of hair from her forehead and giving her an encouraging nod to go ahead.

“I haven’t… I’m not that experienced with - with women. And generally. And I don’t want to rush things and do something wrong and lose you. I don’t really know how this works and I want to do it right.”

Her hands on your waist tightened slightly. You gave her a shy smile.

“Me neither. I’m scared, too.” You surprised yourself with your openness. “How about we take this slow, then? Talk about everything openly? And just go one step at a time?”

Abby nodded and pulled you closer again.

Holding Back The Years began playing.

“One kiss at a time.” She gave you a gentle peck on the lips.

“Oh, really? I would have never picked you as the sappy type,” you laughed against her lips.

“You wouldn’t?” She acted shocked. “Let me remind you of how I took the day off to cook a gourmet french dish for you.”

“True.” You shrugged and pulled her in for another kiss. “It’s probably the muscles. With those guns, you can do anything and still be taken seriously.”

Abby snorted and you realized that had been the wine talking. For a second, you were mortified, then she scooped you up again, holding your body with one arm as she ran her free hand through your hair.

“Oh, those? You know, they’re specifically for carrying you around all day. Anything for my - princess.” You had very well noticed the little pause there, but you decided not to say anything yet. Instead, you lifted your chin and eyebrows, imitating what you thought a royal would look like.

“Well, what does that make you? You’re obviously not a prince. My lady knight?”

Abby nodded solemnly.

“Sworn to protect and defend you. And to carry you wherever.”

“Well, do you have a sofa you could carry me to?” You tightened your hold on her shoulders and leaned in closer again.

“Of course, my lady.”

Abby carried you through a doorway at the back of the dining room into a cozy living room, equipped with a large sofa and a gigantic flatscreen tv, two vintage armchairs, a wooden bookshelf with at least 100 books, and a desk facing the window, medical books spread across the surface. The blonde sat down on the sofa and you knelt left and right of her hips, straddling her as you gave her another soft kiss.

“You know,” you began, “I’ve been crushing on you for months now. I thought you had absolutely no interest in me. I didn’t even know you liked women.”

Abby’s eyes widened at your confession.

“Shit, I had no idea. You weren’t exactly forward, you know. The first time we met, you already had this pull on me. But you were so shy and I didn’t want to jump you or annoy you, so I tried to keep my distance and wait if you would come around.”

“You have Leah to thank for that. Me coming around. I kind of forgot to come out to her until karaoke night and she told me you were dating women as well. She knows I’ve been a hopeless case when it comes to you, but she wanted me to figure this out on my own.”

Abby thought about this for a second.

“Yeah, Leah probably only told you because she knew I liked you, too. I haven’t been that open about dating women in the past, just because talking about dating in general was weird with Owen and Mel around and I also just don’t like everyone knowing my personal business.”

“I get that.” You nodded. “As I said, I hadn’t even been out to Leah. Mostly because I haven’t dated anyone in forever and the last time was a disaster not worth talking about.” You winced at the memory.

“You wanna tell me anyway?”

You thought about it for a second, then you climbed off Abby’s lap and laid down on the sofa, resting your head on her thigh. Her fingers immediately began brushing through your hair and massaging your scalp.

“Well, I met this girl during a freshman party at a sorority house the weekend before my first semester in college,” you began. You had felt weirdly out of place, but were determined to speak to at least one person. A few hours and an almost-lethal amount of tequila later, the girl you had talked to all night had dragged you into one of the bedrooms. You both had no previous experience, were extremely drunk and it was already 5am. You had fun making out and were both eager to try more, but it had been more out of curiosity than desire for each other and so the experience had not ended in the expected bliss of lesbian sex. Rather, she had come pretty quickly and afterward she'd begun crying and told you she had a boyfriend, and you had gotten dressed and fled the house. After that, dating in college was not really something you thought about much.

Abby listened to your story with interest and sympathy, laughing at a few parts and stroking your hair as you told her about the end of that fateful night. She felt deeply sorry for your experience of strangeness and betrayal, immediately promising to you that she would always tell you what was going on inside her head and what she wanted.

“Like you just did,” you smiled at her. “That was brave. It’s what I should have done that night.”

“I mean, I had a few weird moments, too, before I learned to speak my mind.” Abby’s gaze unfocused and she frowned as she clearly recalled some not very pleasant memories.

“Wanna tell me, too?” you asked, keeping your voice light. She nodded, looking down at you again.

“I mean, there's Owen, obviously. That didn’t work out well and now he is with Mel, leaving me wondering if he was interested in her while we were still together. After we broke up, Nora and I went on a little bender.” Your heart jumped into your throat. Did Abby and Nora...? A wave of jealousy rose from the bottom of your stomach, but you forced yourself to keep your calm, smiling at Abby as she continued.

“We spent every weekend at a different bar, and one of them was actually at The Closet. Nora was making out with a woman in actual overalls” - she snorted - “and I just hung out at the bar, drinking Long Islands and not brave enough to make eye contact with anyone. And then the bartender started talking to me.”

Suddenly realization dawned on you. You sat up and stared at Abby.

“Wait, Ellie? The short-haired one?”

Abby grimaced.

“Yeah. We talked for a while and I came back the next week with Leah and Jordan. They didn’t even notice I was spending a lot of time at the bar. Ellie and I met for coffee a few days later and I mentioned my dad and she got really quiet and strange. Turns out, she’s related to the guy that murdered my dad, so...”

You were pretty sure your heart stopped for a moment, all the air in your chest building up pressure as you tried to figure out how to breathe out. Abby noticed and gently guided you to lay back down, continuing to weave her fingers into your hair.

“It’s okay, Y/N. I’ll tell you the whole story another time. So yeah, Ellie and I. It was horrible, but we still stayed and talked for a while. She couldn’t tell me a lot about what happened, but she had no idea that I even existed and she was about to have a panic attack over it all. I helped her calm down and then she felt terrible for reacting so badly when it should be me panicking and I just told her that there’s nothing any of us can do now and we should probably leave it at that.” She sighed. “I hadn’t been to The Closet until a few days ago. I only came because I knew you’d be there.”

“Fuck, that’s terrible,” you mumbled. “I don’t think I could have gone back there. I’m still glad you did, though.”

“Me too,” Abby said, her voice gentle and honest. She leaned down to kiss you, deeply and passionately.

You stayed on the sofa for the next few hours, talking about school crushes and gay awakenings, about women constantly hitting on Abby and her being confused for a long time. She told you more about her relationship with Mel and you started to actually resent that woman. Who did she think she was? You told Abby about living with Leah and about your current research projects and she listened intently, asking a lot of questions about the art you were analyzing. You began diving into queer art and Sappho and your theory on the different languages of different social groups. Abby actually gave you some great new ideas and some good questions you couldn’t yet answer and you were actually beginning to look forward to writing tomorrow.

As the clock moved past midnight, it became clear you would have to leave at some point soon. Abby had to get up at 7 in the morning for a 10-hour shift, and you had stifled one too many yawns. You were cuddled up on the couch, kisses interchanging with long, deep conversations and more kisses.

“I can accompany you to the station,” Abby suggested as you looked up the departure times on your phone.

“You don’t have to. That’s sweet of you, but I’ll find the way.” You kissed her for her generosity, but she pulled back.

“Honestly. I don’t want you walking alone. I’ll go with you.” A sheepish smile appeared on her face and she did a tiny bow. “My lady.”

You rolled your eyes and got up, making your way to the entrance hall. Abby gently helped you into your coat and put on a black bomber jacket, a strange but hot combination with her fancy pants. She opened the door for you and you stepped out into the cold night together.

You held hands on the way to the station, stopping at every corner to make out, laughing together, and making plans for your lasagna night. You would come over on Thursday, promising to yourself you would finish all your coursework until then. Manny would come back on Friday, so you’d have the house to yourself again.

You arrived at the station way too soon, but your train was announced to arrive in two minutes. Heavy-hearted, you flung your arms around the tall blonde and she wrapped hers around your waist, lifting you up for another deep kiss.

“I can’t wait to see you again,” she whispered against your lips.

“I’ll even dress up next time,” you mumbled and she grinned at you.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in anything but jeans and a t-shirt. I’m excited.” Well, now you had to go shopping. Leah would be delighted to go with you.

You pressed a last kiss to Abby’s lips before unwrapping yourself from her arms as the train rolled into the station. As you stepped away, she caught your hand and pulled you back for another one, cheekily running her tongue over your bottom lip. You sighed and kissed her hand, wrapped firmly around yours, before stepping back and boarding the train. You waved at her through the window as you departed and watched her stand on the platform until she was out of sight.

Letting yourself fall into one of the seats, you pulled out your phone and texted your brother.

-We kissed!!!! Call me when you can

Then you texted Leah about shopping tomorrow, just able to send the text before your phone vibrated with a new message.

-You looked beautiful tonight. I’m the luckiest person in the world.

You tried to keep your squeal as quiet as possible. A woman a few seats ahead of you briefly looked up from her phone.

-Can’t believe I have a personal knight who will carry me wherever I want to go

The reply came in seconds.

-Anywhere and anything you want. Text me when you’re home!

-Can I text you before I’m home? I miss you already :(

You had to wait a few minutes before your phone vibrated again. This time, Abby was calling.

“Sorry, I was cleaning up and getting ready for bed.” She sounded a bit breathless.

“No worries,” you said. “What are you wearing for bed?”

Abby let out a surprised laugh.

“Really, now?”

“I’m serious. I want to imagine being with you.”

“Well, I’m wearing a gigantic black t-shirt with a ton of holes and boxers.”

You closed your eyes, envisioning Abby’s thighs straining against the hem of her shorts and the soft cotton of her shirt that you could bury your face in. She would smell like nature and like home somewhere far away.

“I wish I was there.” You noticed you were sounding desperate. Fucking hell, were you about to turn into a 13-year-old? You could hear the smile in Abby’s voice when she spoke.

“I wish you were here with me, too.” She paused for a moment. Then, “Do you want to sleep over on Thursday?”

“Uhm -” you had to think for a second, remembering you only had dinner plans for Friday with your mom. Before you could answer, Abby cut in again

“Fuck, am I rushing you? I didn’t mean - I just thought it would be nice, falling asleep together. But I totally get if that’s -”

“Abby! Of course I want to stay over!” You clenched your free hand into a fist, punching your thigh a few times in order to divert the explosion of energy inside your chest.

“Oh, thank god,” Abby’s shaky laugh was heart-wrenching. “I thought I messed up already.”

You stood up to exit at your station.

“No, not at all. I’d love to fall asleep with you.”

The way to your apartment was over faster than you wanted it to be.

“I’m home now. I think I should hang up, Leah is probably sleeping.”

“Yeah, don’t wake the monster.” Abby chuckled.

“Good night, Abby. Tonight was incredible.”

“Good night, Y/N. You’re incredible. Sleep tight.”

--

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