#and that yes he and Maya got a puppy but he does not tell us its name

[wowowwild]

I've learned many things about canon events via your game posting, what are some #48 random facts you want people to know for the ask meme?

48. Random fact people tend to forget that you wanna remind us of?

Link to the wiki timeline. ctrl+f birth to find all the birthday listings. I guarantee a lot of people will be surprised about which characters are the same age and which ones are very much not. Other than that I have some fun facts!

It is canon that if Gumshoe ever gets fired he is going to work for Phoenix. Phoenix does not get a say in this.

Winston Payne giggles. Yes it's as horrible as it sounds.

The phrase ‘Filet O'Phoenix’. He said (thought) that.

People in universe refer to Phoenix's puppy dog eyes on a couple occasions.

Not a canon game fact, but I was reading through my game posting to find some of these and I think everyone should read through my game posting bc it kept making me laugh. (link in my pinned post for every post chrono on desk top bc Tumblr search is broken af)

Maya follows wrestling.

Gumshoe couldn't be in aa4 bc he can tell what Phoenix is thinking just by looking at his face I'm not kidding this is canon.

Godot accidentally drank Worcestershire sauce once. Idk what that was about.

Edgeworth canonically never remembers who tf Winston Payne is (at least in the earlier games, idk what aa5+6 have going on). But it makes sense bc:

Edgeworth has the worst memory known to man when it comes to remembering people he's met. He re-met a whole caseworth's of people in quick succession and not a single name or face triggered any memories.

That's what I've got as of right now. Do with this what you will.

[1ddiscourseoftheday]

🥂Thurs 31 Dec ‘20🕛

Liam did a live this morning to announce that due to the continuing high level lockdown status in London he's postponing his show (originally scheduled for this Saturday) to the 9th(with rewatch available for a whole week after). He says they've prerecorded most of it but will need to push it back to get everything he wants to do done with the current restrictions, “this is the last one, the big crescendo, so I wanna make sure I get it right for you guys”. He tells us he's going to have to learn some new things so he can do more of the stuff himself, and that he already recorded himself singing FIFTY SONGS in two days and that yeah, it's going to be REALLY LONG, which is saying something cause his previous ones were already long, wow (he says we should get snacks ready and stay hydrated-- oh how the turntables, next he'll be the one asking us how we're sleeping lately!) He also says they'll release the fan voted 1D setlist soon, and that there's a special guest “who he's related to” that even his sister doesn't know who it is yet. Other things: that since you asked, in fact he hasn't been sleeping well, he's been up all night and sleeping til early afternoon lately, IDK where else to put this but btw I made a mistake yesterday, Maya did say he took the pic of her she had previously posted so never mind no shadiness there it just wasn't new, he said that doing the live shows really got him through the year he “would have gone nuts without them... maybe I did anyway though” plus they were able to take care of the crew financially for the whole year (by keeping them employed), that for his music plans for next year he's got a “new old team” to work with, and that he has no plans for NYE and do we have any ideas as he doesn't know what to do with himself. Liam sir didn't you uh have a performance for that Tik Tok thing?! Well I guess him having prerecorded as part of that marathon couple days and not ALL 50 songs being for Act4 makes sense. He also pulled a rubber band from his wrist to do a little half ponytail without seeming to even realize what a tizzy that would put the fans in, silly Liam, and as usual he says he's just spoken with Louis, that “he's always there”- AWWWW.

He's always there for a lot of people, our Lou-- sister Daisy also shares a little Louis loveliness, showing messages from him saying “so lucky to have you, miss you all the time,” and “you are so perfect both of you.” Australian comedic mathematician Adam Spencer thirst posted a Louis fanvid, Eleanor's best friend posted about their “year of dog walking,” the Wall Street Journal joins the Harry fashion discourse, writing about his “non-binary style” and comparing him to various other queer artists, and the traditional seasonal greeting harrylouyear trended. Aside from that, nothing much doing, but if you're sad about what promises to be a (so) lonely New Year's Eve for many of us, take heart, not ANYTHING would be better than quarantine. Consider for example the recently unearthed video of Harry and Taylor Swift ringing in 2013 with the most unspeakably awkward 'kiss' of all time! If that's midnight smooch #goals (I wouldn't put it like that, myself), we'll be all right getting the drinks in at home alone thank you very much.

[livexdolan]

Part 2 of 40 and 70? 🥺🥺

Yes yes and yess

Masterlist

Previously (Pt. 1)

Two weeks later...

“Y/n! Would you please move your ass a little faster?” Maya sighs as I trudge my suitcase down the hall to the living room.

I drop it with a huff, “I’m sorry but someone decided to conveniently forget to mention we were going up to a ski lodge for two weeks.”

She rolls her eyes and grabs the handle, moving it too easy for my liking. Opening the front door she moves my suitcase out into the hall next to hers, “Okay, okay, my bad. But I knew if I told you at first you’d never agreed to go. Especially because...y’know... he-who-shall-not-be-named is going to be there.”

“Yeah well, I don’t care. It’s whatever,” I shrug, hoping my face is covering up how much my heart hurts at the thought of him.

She raises her brow and I know I’m a terrible liar, “Mhm. C’mon, let’s go.”

She walks out the door, grabbing her purse. I grab my purse and throw my phone and keys in it. I also grab my water bottle off the counter, taking a quick sip. My face scrunches a little at the taste of Pinot Grigio, the closest I can get to red wine, seeing as my friends won’t let me have Merlot because it makes me ‘bitchy’.

I lock the door, walking to the elevator where Maya and Kristina are waiting. “Let’s do this.”

When we make it out the complex I stop, my friend bumping into me and cursing but all I can hear is a numbing buzz as I look at the all-too familiar white Tesla sitting in front of me.

“What the hell?” Kris looks down, a blush crawling across her face and Maya sighs, “Why did no one tell me we were going with them?”

“Because we knew you’d try to back out. Ethans car is the only one big enough to fit everyone. It’s us three, Ethan, Grayson, and Ryan. Mando and five other people are meeting us at the lodge,” Kris says softly and I love her so much, it’s the only thing keeping me from hitting her.

“I can’t-“ my words are cut off and my heart starts pounding as the twins jump out of the car, Ethan walking over to Kris and kissing her quickly, grabbing her bag with ease.

Grayson moves in front of me with his hands going into his hoodie pocket. The hoodie I always stole. I think bitterly, “Y/n? You ready?” I flinch at his voice, not looking him in the eye.

I nod silently but when he goes to grab my bag I stop him, pulling the handle myself, “I got it,” I spit, knowing it came out harsher than I planned.

He steps back like I slapped him with the audacity to look hurt. He shakes his head and grabs Mayas bag instead, giving her a half-smile before turning back to the car.

Maya raises her brow but I ignore it, not in the mood for her lecture. Dragging my suitcase to the car I reluctantly hand it to Grayson so he can stuff it into the back. When I get to the back doors I notice something.

Oh God. No. No no no no- “Where’s everyone sitting?” I already know. I had no reason to ask. Fucking hell.

I look at Ethan in the drivers seat, Kristina next to him, Ryan and Maya getting their stuff together in the captain chairs in the second row. Leaving the third row empty. The smallest seats for me and- “ Guess it’s you and me in the back. Just like old times, eh?” I scoff at his deep voice, feeling him behind me.

I grumble and push into the third row, moving as far behind Ryan’s seat as I can, pushing my purse to the ground. Crossing my arms I decide I’m going to sit like a statue for the drive.

Grayson clambers in as well, but instead of giving me space he leans back, spreading his long legs slightly so his thigh is barely touching mine. I pull my leg closer to my side. Grayson sighs and reaches for something.

He holds up a soft blanket and I look at him, he raises his eyebrows as if to say ‘peace offering?’ I uncross my arms and take it from him, slowly relaxing into my seat a little, knowing I can’t ignore him for two weeks, especially not when we’re sitting so close.

“Hey, y/n?” Grayson whispers, just loud enough to be heard over the music.

I glance over at him, “Hey, Grayson?” I say back, mockingly.

If that surprised him, he hides it well, “I was just wondering...are you ever going to forgive me?”

I whip my head to look at him, “forgive you?” I repeat.

He nods, a nervous look in his eyes, “For...punching Dylan, that’s why you’ve been ignoring me right?”

I gape at him. My entire brain short circuits and I don’t know what to say. I open my mouth, shut it, and open it again, “You think that’s why I haven’t been talking to you?” I ask incredulously, hoping he’s joking.

“Why do you keep repeating me like that? After I hit Dylan you ran out, then ignored all my texts and calls. Maya even told me you took the final online so you didn’t have to come to the same class as me. I assumed it was because I hurt him. Look, I’m sorry about that. He was being such a dick and I-“

“Are you really that self-centered that you think I would make that big of a deal out of you punching that asshole in the face?” I whisper, cutting him off, “I haven’t talked to you because you and I,” I gesture to the two of us in the small space, “aren’t good friends. You drag me into stupid shit I don’t want to do and I follow you like a lost puppy. I’m tired of it. And frankly, I’m fucking sick of you acting like you never once picked up on how much I loved you. As more than a friend,” I ramble. Leaning back in my seat with a huff, re-crossing my arms.

I stare at the back of Ryan’s headrest and can see Grayson staring at me out of the corner of my eye. I keep up my hard look, Grayson finally giving up and letting out a frustrated sigh, running his hand through his hair and tugging it slightly.

My heart tugs at me, telling me to comfort him, knowing he only does that when he’s really stressed out but I hold back. I’m tired of him using me as his girlfriend without actually letting me be his girlfriend. I have a small epiphany as the thought hits me. That’s it. That’s why all of this pissed me off so much.

Grayson has been using me as his girlfriend for almost ten years. He comes to me with his problems, we cuddle, he takes me out for food and ice cream, makes me go on adventures with him, talks me into wearing matching outfits for his party so he doesn’t look stupid, he even holds my hand. But then he goes off and fucks other girls, he’s had one too many friends with benefits in the past three years. In fact, he had four different girls doing it with him at one time, until two of the girls found out about each other and cut him off.

When I asked him how he felt he just shrugged saying, ‘I never said I wouldn’t have sex with other people’. Maybe that’s part of the problem, too.

Because even if Grayson loved me back- would he even be able to handle a full one-on-one relationship? Would he cheat? Not because he didn’t love me but because he was so used to doing whatever the hell he wanted? I roll my head to the side, watching the world go back as my thoughts swirl.

This is going to be the longest two weeks of my life.

Next...(Pt.3)

-

A/n: I know y’all are gonna hate me but there’s gonna be at least one more part. It was getting a bit long and I think we left off on a good note ;)) lmk how y’all feel about the new part ❤️

[1d-discourseoftheday]

Sat 9 Jan ‘21

LP Show Act 4, the Final show was today! Liam told us over and over it was gonna be a long event today but honestly it flew by? It was so good! The show opened right into an absolutely blistering 1D set and just kept going strong from there. The little commentary he had in the first part was to say again that he has a different understanding of the 1D songs then he did when younger and about how when he's doing those songs he gets flashbacks of being onstage with the band and where he'd be and stuff. Only You & I gets a different treatment, with a cute title card intro about the hard year, thanking us for providing a livlihood for his team by supporting the shows through the past year and saying “we can do this together... You & I”, plus it has footage of fans lip syncing along spliced in during the chorus. The highlight there though is when Liam hit that high note, and thanks to his recent comments I think we all know he was thinking about Zayn when he did; way TMI but that's Liam for ya! ANYWAY there's an intermission and then the hits just keep on coming, including Nina Nesbitt coming out to do Rita Ora's part in For You, plus an interlude where they chat and play some of her tiktok content (but with a lot of bleeping-- it WAS a family show!)

I have been a big fan of his chaotic format in the previous streams, with all the interaction and mixing it up with different parts- I feel like it both played to his strengths and was perfect for 2020 and I wouldn't have traded it- but this was very cool for the big last show and it felt like... more serious? It was straightfowardly just Liam and the music and the songs- TBH it felt very influenced by Louis' stream, with the format and also the lighting and set design. The sets were prerecorded, but aren't really edited; he's playing the songs live and back to back, just not TODAY. Plus with the prerecorded version we got Liam joining in with us (and his sisters) to also post about how great the songs were as they aired and interact with fans a bunch, so that was lovely. Anyway it's awesome to get these versions of Liam's songs (I would say the best ever version of some of his solo stuff honestly), especially as it seems like this will be the last time we hear some of them as he moves on to new things- as he says at the end of the stream, “I'm gonna take a little bit of time out right now but next time you see me I'll be singing some brand new music.” Fans hoping for new music TODAY were disappointed but he's gotta go write the songs first! Something to look forward to! He finishes it all on one last high note: “Thank you. Here's to the future.”

But that's not quite all the Liam! Before the big event, he did a live from home, with Maya and Winston the puppy present. He upset some by saying that Zayn wasn't in the 1D chat “because he isn't in 1D”, I mean...yes? He quit? It is what it is guys. Well, I'll also upset others by saying that Maya was very funny! I agree with Liam that her answer to his question- what kind of trend he should start about fans saying looks like Jesus- being “LPhasRisen” is, in fact, hilarious, and I also agree with Liam about Zayn's videos-- “he goes to town on the videos doesn't he?” (and that Vibez is lovely.)

Zayn meanwhile is doing Vibez promo and it continues to be a TREAT. Today we got late night instagram “answering” questions over a backdrop of Homer Simpson decked out in Nobody Is Listening gear, GOOD TIMES. Do you ride a horse often, “eh what?!” do you celebrate, “in general? or for specific reasons?” fave song “the next single” tell us more about it? “yeah it's me ft me” but does he really love yoga or was that just snark? The world may never know.

Also online, Louis! He tweeted during Liam's show “Hope everyone's doing alright! Stay safe”- but was he watching the stream? “Of course!!”

And the JHOlivia love triangle tabloid soap opera continues-- if they're trying to get people talking about Jason Sudeikis it's working (I had to bite the bullet and look up how to spell his name! It's that bad!); unfortunately for him despite the tabloid reports everywhere you look that suggest that he was the victim of H and O 'becoming close' before he and Olivia's breakup (which is weird given that until like yesterday we'd been told for months that O and J broke up at the beginning of 2020 and he never saw fit to correct that), what rumors are saying is that in fact he really did cheat (as opposed to her pretend thing). So why would Olivia sign on to this charade to make him look good at her expense? Who knows man but if the players' priority is publicity there's no denying that's working.

Anyway Niall posted from his bike ride, and Trump's deletion meant everyone went up a notch in the twitter “most followed” rankings, with Niall having most out of our five and the only account coming between Harry and Louis being Real Madrid (football club) which is all right I guess, I feel like they're probably good with that.

[grovyrosegirl]

Confrontation: MCSM Fic

Author’s Note: I’ve been replaying MCSM seasons 1 and 2 recently because I got nostalgic for those blocky dorks. Then I went through some old WIPs in my docs and found this Lukas and Aiden fic from a few years ago. I really liked it, so I spruced it up a bit and finished it for old times’ sake. Enjoy!

---

“Bring him in.”

The guards wasted no time leading Lukas into the small cobblestone room. Despite confiscating everything in his inventory upon arrival, including his weapons, they kept a tight, secure grip on both of his arms. It was only when his former friend, who leaned against the wall with the most satisfied smirk on his face, gave them a small handwave that the guards released Lukas and stepped back, still blocking the only exit to the room.

“Leave us,” Aiden then ordered the two guards, much to Lukas’ surprise.

Even with the wary looks he saw on their faces, the guards obeyed and left the room, shutting the iron door behind them. Lukas faced forward once again, now noticing the oak wood table resting in the center of the room, two identical chairs stood on opposite sides of the table’s surface.

“Take a seat, Lukas,” Aiden made his way over and sat down in the chair facing the door, casually resting his arms behind his head. “Let’s chat.”

Lukas didn’t speak, eyeing the other carefully. Despite everything that had occurred in the past year, knowing what Aiden was capable of, and how low he’d sunk already, seeing that look--that smile--on his face felt unsettling to him. Lukas recalled their theater days that felt like centuries ago, the days before the Witherstorm, before they even thought to call themselves the Ocelots. Aiden was never much of an actor, his specialty had always been the set production.

But clearly, Lukas thought to himself as he felt his eyes lower into a glare, Aiden was enjoying playing the villain.

Slowly, he made his way over to the other chair, sitting down and folding his arms.

“So, is this the part where you try to get me to talk?” Lukas curtly began before Aiden could open his mouth again. “Because you’re wasting your time. Even if I did know where Jesse was, I wouldn’t tell you.”

Everything had happened so fast. The guards raced towards them all, closing in fast when they were revealed as the bridge-builders, an innocent act back home, but a crime on the floating island. His own capture occurred in a matter of seconds, he didn’t even see the guard coming until the very last moment. One minute he was watching Jesse sprint away into the alley, the next he was on the ground, pinned down by the guard. But those few seconds let Jesse and Petra escape, and for that, he took some relief in. By the time Lukas and Ivor were escorted to the throne room, the Founder was already getting the report from another guard that they’d lost sight of the “remaining criminals” as they put it.

He felt relieved knowing that his two friends hadn’t been captured yet. It meant there was a sliver of hope of getting out of this place.

Aiden let out an exaggerated sigh and sat up straight in the chair, leaning forward slightly and placing his arms crossed on the table’s surface, “Man, Jesse, Jesse, Jesse. Aren’t you sick of talking about her yet? Don’t worry, I’m not going to try and get an answer out of you. Like you said, it would be a waste of time. Besides, you already got plenty of that from the Founder.” He snickered for a moment before continuing, “No. This is the part where I throw you a bone.”

“And what exactly does that mean?” Lukas said.

“It means I’m giving you a chance here, buddy,” Aiden said, “to join the winning team again.”

Lukas blinked, “What?”

“You heard me.”

He eyed Aiden suspiciously before saying, “You can’t be serious.”

“No games here, friend. Out of the goodness of my heart, I’ve decided to give you a second chance,” Aiden stood from his seat and began to walk around the table to stand next to Lukas. “C’mon, Lukas! It’ll be like the old days. Don’t you remember? We were the top dogs for years, and now, we can finally be on top again. But this time, it’ll be more than just winning some lame building contest.”

Aiden let out a deep chuckle, he wrapped one arm around Lukas’ shoulders and leaned in closer, a grin on his face.

“Here in this world, buddy? We can be kings.”

Lukas roughly shoved against Aiden’s chest, making the other man stumble back a few steps.

“I knew it,” Lukas said through his heated glare, “you’re planning to betray the Founder, aren’t you? It’s not enough that you want to steal the Eversource from her, you want her throne too.”

Aiden shot his own blazing glare back at Lukas, before regaining his composure and saying with that same grin, “Congrats Captain Obvious, you want a cookie?”

“Eat a slimeball, Aiden,” Lukas fired back, “do you honestly think you’ll get away with this?”

“I already am. But right now? That’s nothing you need to worry about,” He once again leaned back against the cobblestone walls. “The real question you should be asking is whether or not you’ll get to be a part of the spoils. It’s easy, Lukas. All you have to do is say yes and follow my lead. After that? Well, it’ll take a while, but I’m sure you can make up for abandoning your real team.”

At those words, Lukas’ boiling thoughts began to steam. He smashed his hands against the table’s surface and pushed himself up from the chair.

“Excuse me?!” He exclaimed. “You must’ve really lost me there, because last time I checked, it was you who abandoned me!”

At that reaction, Aiden almost seemed to shrink against the wall. However, he swiftly recovered his bravado and moved towards Lukas with gripped fists.

“We left because all you could think about was Jesse and her loser friends! It was always, ‘I’ve got to help Jesse build today!’ or ‘I’m going to visit Jesse!’” He clasped his hands together, held them close to his cheek as if he were hopelessly in love, and swung them back and forth while speaking in a mocking manner, “‘She’s my new best friend! We make cookies together! She’s sooo nice, and she’s sooo cool!’ You followed her around like a lovesick puppy. It makes me want to hurl!”

“I don’t get it all. Why?” Lukas shook his head in frustration. “Why do you hate her so much? Why have you always hated her so much? She never did anything to you! You always just got a kick out of torturing her and her friends, didn’t you? And when you couldn’t pick on her anymore, you start pushing Maya and Gill around. Anything to make yourself feel tall, is that it?!”

“Not like you ever tried to stop me,” he scoffed.

“Because back then, I thought it was all some dumb rivalry. But I was wrong. And I still kick myself everyday for not putting a stop to it. Maybe if I had,” Lukas paused, then let out a sigh that was flooded with a regretful tone, “maybe we wouldn’t be here right now.”

Aiden scowled, “She’s a loser. And all she does is drag people down to her loser level. She did it with Petra, and she did it with you.”

“She’s a hero. And she’s my friend!”

“I was your friend!” Aiden snarled.

“Yeah, you were. Until you decided that your stupid, fragile ego mattered more than years worth of friendship!”

“If you were really my friend, you wouldn’t have chosen Jesse over me!”

“If you were really my friend, you wouldn’t have made me choose!”

At the end of his patience, Aiden lunged forward with an angry screech. He grabbed the collar of Lukas’ jacket and yanked the boy forward, dangling him slightly off the ground.

“I can do it, you know,” Aiden said through gritted teeth. His voice was low, but ever-so menacing, “I can throw you off this island right now. No one would blame me if I told them you attacked me. The people here believe whatever I tell them. You fall into the void forever, and all you’ll be remembered as is some villain who tried to attack this island’s savior.”

Lukas, amidst his struggle against Aiden’s grip, looked him directly in the eyes and said in his own low, fearsome voice, “I dare you.”

Aiden went still. All of the bravado, the threats, and the glares were drained from his face. His eyes went wide with disbelief, and in that moment, Lukas saw it. Fear. Hesitation. The thought that maybe, just maybe, he’d taken a step too far. Aiden opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. With only a sentence, Lukas was allowed to see the tiniest glimpse of the person he used to trust most in the world.

He saw the scared, insecure kid he’d met all those years ago.

Aiden’s grip on Lukas became loose, allowing the latter to easily push him away.

“That’s what I thought,” Lukas broke the silence with a sigh. He buried his hands into his jacket pockets, looking down to the floor, “You’re all talk, Aiden. Always have been.”

The anger returned as quickly as it had fled. But it wasn’t explosive. It was simmering. Aiden narrowed his eyes back into a glare, his fists, clenched so tight it looked painful, were trembling.

Another moment of silence passed before Aiden finally looked away from Lukas and exclaimed, “Guards!”

The same guards who’d brought Lukas here returned swiftly, entering the room and grabbing ahold of both of his arms once more. Lukas did little to resist their hold, only keeping a hard stare on Aiden.

“Get him out of my sight,” Aiden said in a low growl. “He’s useless.”

The guards obeyed and led Lukas out of the room. With a slam of the iron door, Aiden was left alone.

[zmayadw]

Hello to all :)

Time for the next part!

Wish you all a wonderful evening! :)

CALL OF THE RAVEN

PART 13

We continued enjoying our time, as Aurora got more crowded with people. At some point Cleo showed up, coming to say hi to us, as she was here to meet with Hannah and the others . She had one drink with us before going to sit with them, telling how she is bussy helping her mom at the Gates of Hope with redecorating and other stuff, but she hopes all will be done soon, so we can finaly meet in peace. As it got more crowded with people, Phil was busy and also didnt have much time to have fun with us. Jessy was in a quite good mood, joking and drinking, it was nice seeing her like that.The music playing was good. There was a mixture of everything, from 80's till present day. A song started and Jessy grabbed my hand „Ohhh, lets dance, Maya, i love this song!“ I had no chance to say anything, as Jessy lead me half way to the dance floor already. She started dancing, and i couldnt do anythign but join her. And we had fun. I needed this, i tought, just some simple fun with good friends. Dan joined us from time to time, showing off his killer dancing skills. Phil was passing by us few times, going to one of the booths or tables, always winking at me with that devilish grin of his. One of the times, as Jessy and me wer dancing Phil came from behind me, wraping his free hand arround my waist and squeezing agains me. We just moved with the rhythm of the music for a while, before he groaned at my ear „Arghh, as much as i would love to stay here with you gorgeous, but work is calling.“ I grined at him, as he let go of me slowely „Aww, next time then.“ As much as i liked it, i hoped Jake didnt see this. I wouldnt want him to get the wrong idea about Phil and me. I really wanted to know where i stand with him, but this noncomunication between us wasnt helping. Lily told me to be patient, but as i told Jessy, my patiance is running short. I leaned to Jessy telling her i need to go sit down for a while, and we returned at the bar. Dan and Thomas wer there talking, and both got up from the stools letting us sit as we came. Thomas smiled at us „You two really got it going on tonight.“ He turned to Dan saying teasingly „You better be careful,man, and keep her close to you“ He pointed at Jessy „They wer smoking hot on the floor, dont let someone steel her.“ Jessy grined at Thomas „Let him sweat a little, he might appriciate me more then.“ „Awww, babe, dont be cruel, you know i appriciate you.“ Dan told her, being dramatic as always, making a puppy face. „Ohh, shus it, you big goof, and lets dance.“ She told him, taking him by the hand to the dance floor. Thomas turned to me „So, can i presume all is good between Lily and you now?“ „I guess you can.“ I told him, and he smiled „Thats good to heare.“ A waiter came with two drinks, handing them to Thomas. „Guess then soon we can all get together again, without any drama.“ „Definatly!“ i said, smiling. He smiled back „Good. Well, have fun, Maya, see you arround.“ I waved at the waiter asking for a mineral water, i was really thursty from all the dancing. I checked my phone, it was after 3, and i noticed a missed call sign. I opened the call log, and when i saw it was another of those hidden numbers, my mood darkened all of a sudden. What is going on here, i touhgt, thess calls are starting to get me worried. Jessy and Dan returned from dancing, and i decided i had enough for the night. This thing shook me up good, and i doubted i could enjoy the evening anymore. I told Jessy i'd be going, to wich she protested a bit, but hugged me and said to call her for coffee any time im up for it. I took my things, waving them goodby. As i was near the entrance, i saw Phil, so i waved at him, he winked and made a phone gesture with his hand, suggesting we'll be talking soon.

As i left the Aurora, cool night air washed over me, so i put my jacket on. I got to my car,  just leaning on the side of it, my mind still thinking of those damn calls. They are starting to freak me out a bit, and that sinister feeling started to creep up to me again. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath, when a voice said „Are you ok?“ I opened my eyes, seeing Jake standing infront of me. I managed to barely make a smile at him „Yeah, im fine.“ He was looking at me, those deep eyes scaning every inch of my face, like he knew what i said wasnt true. „Just tired, i guess.“ I added, giving him a bit bigger smile, wich seemed to make him belive me. He leaned on the car next to me, and we just stood there in silence for a while. I get restless every time im close to him, my hands itch to just grab him and pull him closer. „You look good, by the way.“ He said after a while, giving me a shy look. His words snaped me from my fantasizing, and  i smiled and winked at him „Thanks, glad you noticed.“ „Ofcourse i did, i do have eyes, you know.“ He said teasingly. I turned towards him making a gesture of bevilderment as i said „Oh my, he can joke!“ „I try my best.“ He said, smiling. Oh that beautiful smile, i tought again, making me smile, too. „You going back in?“ he asked. „No.“ I started „I'm actualy contemplating should i walk or drive back to the motel.“ „And how's that going for you?“ he asked, raising an eyebrow at me. „Well, considering im still standing here doing non of the above, i would say not good.“ I replied, sighing desperatly. He chuckled at me „Hmm, well, how about I drive you back to the motel?“ I looked at him surprised, not really expecting it „You would do that?“ He smiled shyly at me „I would“ pausing a bit, before adding „For you.“ My heart started beeting like crazy, and i could feel heet comming to my cheeks. This night really is interesting. „Umm, well, sure, i'd like that.“ I told him. „But, you dont mind walking back again?“ i asked. „No, its fine.“ „Alright then, lets go.“ I told him, taking my keys out of my purse handing them to him. Our palms touched as i gave him the keys, and our eyes met. He moved his hand slowly away, taking the key, giving me goosebumps. I barely glued myself of the car to let him get in. I got in myself as he started the car and we drow from the Auroras parking. It wouldnt take us long to the motel, and i wished the ride wasnt that short. I noticed he was driving slower then you would normaly drive, as if sharing my toughts himself. I felt nervous, my head was blank, i didnt know what to say. All of a sudden, a tought crossed my mind. „Hey, Jake, can i ask you something?“ „Sure.“ He said, sounding relieved the awkward silence got broken. „Well, i just tought, i havent had a chance to ask you before. Wern't you in some kind of trouble, if im not mistaken?“ i paused before continuing. „I mean, we never discussed it any further. And since you're here at Duskwood for quite some time now already, i was just wondering what's up with all that.“ „You're right“ he started, glancing shortly at me, focusing back on the road „Short version: lets say i made a deal with some people, making sure i'll be left at peace.“ „A deal“ i started „You didnt threaten anyone, or something like that?“ „What?“ he said, „Ofcourse not! What made you ask that?“ „Hey, its a legit question.“ I told him, rising my hands up. „You can understand why a tought like that might cross my mind.“ He was silent for a moment before saying „Ok, fair enough. But, no, i didnt threaten anyone, if that makes you feel better.“ „It does. I just dont want for things to get complex for you again.“ I said, adding after a little pause, my voice getting a bit sadder „Or you dissapearing again.“ He looked at me with such tenderness, slowing the drive even more now „Dont worry, Maya, i'm not going anywhere.“ I smiled at him „Good.“ He turned his head, focusing on the road again, and i realized we came at the motel. He parked close to my room. Neither of us was eager to leave the car, so we just sat there in silence for a moment. I had a felling he wanted to say something, but wasnt sure about it. I finaly managed to force myself to leave the car. I was about to pull the door handle, when Jake suddenly said „Wait.“ I turned towards him. „Can i ask you something now?“ „Sure“ i said, even tho i had a feeling i wouldnt really like the question. He got all nervouse, but finaly asked „You and Phil.. is there something happening?“ Oh,no,no,no, i tought, why he had to ask it. The night would end perfectly without this. I groaned pleadingly at him „Ugh, can we not talk about Phil now, please.“ „Why not?“ he asked, and i noticed his nervousness intensifing. „Because i dont know what to tell you, Jake.“ „How about the truth?“ he said. „I cant do that.“ He looked at me confused „Why not?“ „Because i myself dont know what the truth is.“ I groaned, leaving the car. He left the car, closing the door and walking over to me handing me the keys „What do you mean?“ „I mean, i'm a mess, Jake.“ I started „I dont know what to think any more. You want the truth? Fine. Yes, i like Phil, i cant denie it. We clicked, i feel good arround him, thats the truth.“  My words  stung him, and he barely managed to say „I see.“ He leaned with his back against the car, steadying himself. But i wasnt finished yet. „And then there's you, Jake“ i started, my voice full of compassion and tenderness. He looked at me, his eyes meeting mine. „I like you, too. I like you so much, that it hurts.“ I paused a bit before i continued. „Im drawn to you like a magnet, i cant pull off. But, its like, every time the magnets are about to connect, one switches polarity and the other is thrown aback. Its driving me insane! With Phil, everything flows easy. But with you, its everything but easy.“ „Maya, i know i'm not the easiest person..“ he started to say, but i held my fingers to his lips, not leting him speak.They wer so soft and warm, i had to focuse hard on what i wanted to say. „I know, its not easy for you to open up, to let people in. I get it. And i know i said i can wait, that i'll be patiente. But my patiance is fading. I dont know how much longer i can go on like this, Jake. Its tearing me up inside.“ As i said it, i leaned my forehead to his, putting both of my arms to his chest,leaning against him. We just stayed like that for a while. Being this close to him, and the warmth of his body radiating - i felt serene. His heart was beeting fast, probably matching mine. I could stay like this forever, i tought, but i needed to continue. I was waiting for this, to finaly tell him what was on my mind. „I need to know what might be of us.“ I said „If there even exists the posibility of 'us'.“ We stayed like that for a while more, non of us daraing to move or speak, before i slowely pulled away from him. I sighed „You dont have to say anything now. Just, think about what i said. You know where to find me if you want to talk.“ I leaned to him, giving him a kiss on the cheek „Good night, Jake. Thanks for the ride.“ I turned walking slowly towards my room, when i heard him say „Good night, Maya, sweet dreams.“ I turned back, not stopping in my steps, giving him one more smile, him smiling back. I hoped me opening up like this will make him finaly understand the depths of my feelings. I knew there was a posibility he might not feel the same, but i didnt care of it now. I did what i could, i told him how i feel, now he holds all the cards. I unlocked my door and entered the room, kicking my boots off, throwing myself on the bed. What an interesting night it was, i tought smiling, covering myself with blanket and letting sleep take over me.

[kindness-bliss]

New Beginnings Ch. 8

Timothy Thatcher x OC

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: none

Maya got ready at her shoot as she looked at herself in the mirror and scrolled through her instagram feed to let time pass, searching Tim’s name in the search bar as she looked through as raised a brow at how many fans adored him and posted pictures with him and events   “Well damn, he’s wanted” she nodded impressed as she continued to read captions, not understanding most of them since they were in German, raising a brow as she saw heart emojis on captions “Too bad he’s mine”. She grinned as she saw more and more from men she assumed were his friends always talking about how respectful and hardworking he was in the business   She sat up startled from her lurking when she heard a familiar voice and sighed “Are you kidding me ? What the hell are you doing here ? This is a private shoot”    Marcel sighed as he stepped through and thanked the security guard “I saw you on the same company’s page who works hair and makeup for NXT, I put 2 and 2 together when I saw their stories and you happened to be tagged. I know, it’s very stalker of me”    “Extremely” she answered sternly as she covered herself in her robe “who does that ? This is my job you psycho. Once again, head empty no thoughts in that pretty big ass head of yours”    “I don’t even know what that means” He admitted quietly as he stood in shame in front of her “are-are you calling me stupid ?” Maya let out a breath as she shook her head “Kind of, now tell me why you’re here ?” she asked as she got touched up “and make it quick preferably, this is my work remember”     “What’s this I heard about Tim insulting you ? Why didn’t you tell me when it happened ? I’m gonna assume that’s why you were crying the other day at the store ?” he asked, giving a small nod when he saw her face look down at the floor “and yes, Walter told me everything so don’t worry you don’t need to go into details I just wanna know if you’re okay”   “I am fine, we’re all good” she nodded “I’m going to see him tomorrow, he has a match and he invited me”

  “What ?” he whispered as he looked up at her “y-you’re gonna go see him ? After what he did ?”. Marcel knew how much wrestling meant to him, how much he prided himself in his work. He knew Tim inviting Maya over was a big step for him in how he felt about her.

  “Absolutely I am, I wanna see him wrestle and how he is in that environment. I’m gonna assume you’re gonna be there too ?” Maya asked as they got her ready 

  “Yeah, we have a match too and well chances are Tim’s gonna introduce you to me so what are we gonna do ?”

She stiffened at his question and fixed her curls as she looked in the mirror as she slid off her robe revealing a one piece bathing suit with a deep plunge as she turned to look at him “If you think I’m gonna tell Tim that you and I had a 3 year long relationship then you’re dead wrong. No way I would ever tell him something like that at his workplace, so let’s get this straight alright ? Tomorrow you keep your mouth shut and you tell your little friends or whomever to not say a thing or I’ll have my other model friends put a word out that you guys like screwing around when you’re on the clock”

     Marcel widened his eyes at her look and tone as he clenched his jaw “Maya I-”

“Maya nothing” she snapped back “You really think I didn’t know ? You really think Walter also wouldn’t tell me that you tried to get Alex and Fabio or whatever the fuck his name is to tell Tim for you ? To do your...our dirty work ? He texted me everything just before I got here, how you wanted to tell Tim abruptly and then I’d have to deal with the rest. Alex ? Yeah did you forget I also helped his wife out with her bridesmaid dresses and got to know the both of them really well ? He sent me an instagram DM telling me everything too, basically apologizing for your shitty actions. You’re a spineless little coward Marcel, 3 years and you haven’t changed one damn bit”

  “I-I...it w-wasn’t like that” he stuttered out nervously stepping forward

“Bull shit !” she exclaimed as she slapped him across the face and breathed heavily

Marcel stood back as he rubbed his cheek and gave a frown as his blue eyes stared at hers “I’m sorry, I just….I still love you” he whispered as he left hastily

  Maya sighed as she rubbed the feeling back in her hand and let the makeup artist fix her eyes “Mickey, did you tell him I was here ?”

 “You try saying no to that piece of German goodness” Mickey shook his head “His accent came out and I melted, then he did the whole pleading puppy dog thing with his blue eyes and well, I was sold. I’m sorry Maya, I didn’t realize how big of an issue it would be. You really gave it to him good though, he walked away as if you stomped on his heart”  

“Yeah well I didn’t wanna do that exactly” she admitted “He’s just being sneaky and I hate it, it reminds me of what happened when we were in a bad spot”   

“Well I’ll tell you this girl, Timothy Thatcher is all man and would never do that shit to you” he giggled Maya raised a brow as she let out a chuckled “and how do you know I’m seeing Tim, what’s going on here that I’m not aware of ?”   Mickey smirked as he dabbed some gloss on her lips “Tim from what I’ve seen and heard is quiet but apparently he told some of the guys that you’re gonna go see him and he’s a little...giddy. Now I’ve been working hair and makeup there a while and I’ve been there since he got there and nothing has made that man do a complete 180 like you have”   She blushed as she listened and looked around the room “So you think he...likes me likes me ? Like he wants me to be his...you know ?”   “Girlfriend ?” he chuckled “oh yeah, I heard from Candice, who heard from her husband Johnny who heard from his friend Oney that Tim told him tomorrow was pivotal”  “Oh” she whispered softly as she walked with him “I’m not gonna expect anything though, especially after this whole fiasco. I’m gonna have a nice day with him tomorrow and focus on that. Now let’s get this thing done so I can call him”   “You’re just as whipped as he is” Mickey chuckled as he helped set her up ______________________________________________________________ “What’s with that face ?” Tim asked Oney “You’re red and you’ve been on your phone for like 5 minutes, Oney ?” he sighed as he walked over and took his phone and let out a tight cough “this-this from today ?”   “Yeah” Oney nodded as he took his phone back and put it in his pocket 

“Um all I can and want to say is….you are one very very lucky man Tim, very lucky”

  “I like her for other things besides her looks” Tim rolled his eyes as he grabbed his gym bag “she’s a good person, she’s understanding, she’s really smart and funny. She’s a great cook, she’s super funny” he chuckled “and she-what ? why are you looking at me like that ?”

  Oney grinned as he walked with him to the showers “You really like this girl, it’s not just a little rendezvous like you had thought it’d be. I’ve known you for a while and never have I seen you act this way towards a girl”

  “Don’t” Tim warned as he took off his shirt “It’s just that I like her and I feel she feels the same about me and you know that’s it”

  “So it’s okay if she dates other guys while talking to you ?”

“I never said that” he said almost immediately as he turned around “Why ? Is she ? Have you heard anything ?”

 “Chill out, I was just joking but point proven” Oney chuckled “I say you ask her out, officially like to be your girlfriend”

  Tim nodded as grabbed his things “I was thinking about that after tomorrow”

“I think you should” Oney nods as he looked around “oh look it’s Marcel, shit look at his face” he grimaced

  “What the hell happened to you ?” Tim asked concerned “Your cheek is red as can be, are you okay ?”

“We need to talk” Marcel said sternly “Alone, and it has to be now”

Tim nodded as he changed and followed him outside

   Maya arrived at her apartment as she exited her elevator and saw Tim standing against her door “hey” she grinned “what are you doing here ?”

  “So when were you gonna tell me you were engaged to one of my closest friends ? Or did you plan on keeping that a secret forever ?” he asked wasting no time as he crossed his arms trying his best to stay calm

  Her stomach turned as she blinked trying her best to catch her breath “I-I…. Tim listen, I wanted to tell you I did, I promise I did but things happened and then the Walter thing and I just couldn’t find the appropriate chance to do so but I promise I was. I promise, you have to believe me” Maya pleaded as she reached for his hand flinching when he yanked it back

  “I don’t believe a word you said, I don’t. I don’t even trust anything you’ve told me in the past, probably more lies from you. I’m not gonna insult you or demean you like I did last time because quite frankly...you’re not worth it” he said coldly as he stepped back “Have a nice life and don’t contact me again”    

 “Tim, please don’t do this” she whispered tearfully as she grabbed his arm lightly

“Don’t touch me” he responded quietly as he carefully lifted her hand and placed it by her side “Goodbye Maya”

  He left her apartment quickly, and didn't look back knowing if he saw her face he wouldn’t be able to leave. Once in his car, he wiped his eyes quickly as he turned on the radio and sped off back to his place where he knew he could release his emotions freely and privately

  “What did you do !” she practically screamed into her phone “You fucking told him !”

“It needed to be said” Marcel said quietly “I’m sorry, I am but we both know you were gonna wait it out too long and it would only make things worse. I did this for the both of us”

  “I fucking hate you” she spat out “and I will never ever speak to you again in my life, ever. You’re dead to me” she hung up

  Marcel rubbed his face as he threw his phone across his room and laid down in bed as he looked up at the ceiling and drifted to sleep, trying his hardest to forget about the chaos he selfishly created

  All eyes were on Tim as he entered the Capitol wrestling center the next morning, he heard and saw it all as he walked into the locker room. The looks of pity people gave him, the mumbles and whispers they gave each other as rumours about what had happened at the gym went around. None of it mattered, at least not to him. The damage had been done and if there was one thing that was hurting him other than his heart it was his pride. He knew deep down it had been kept for him for a reason, but the lying and deceiving still hurt.

  “Hey” Marcel said quietly as he opened his locker “Listen I won’t bother you but I just want to say I’m sorry about what happened and it's my fault entirely. Maya wanted to tell you after today” he finally admits “After your match, she wanted you to have a good match and then break it down to you on he own time and I selfishly told you because I still love her and in my stupid head I thought that once you knew and let her know she would somehow want me but instead she told me I’m dead to her”

   Tim nodded as he laced up his boots and didn’t bother to look at him “yeah well, that makes two of us. I don’t want her around me, I don’t wanna hear from her again or anything like that. It’s done and over with and we should just not speak of her again. She’s something of the past and well I’m not gonna hold your past against you”

  Marcel furrowed his brow “Y-you’re not going to attempt to talk to her ? She’s pretty sad Tim….”

“Nope” he shook his head “She’s the one who started this so it ends, I don’t like things like that and I can’t just let it slide by. Her choice was made to lie, so now we leave it at that please. I don’t care nor do I wish to hear about her again”

  “I understand” Marcel nodded as he put on his tracksuit and headed down seeing everyone glare at him as he sped down the hallway to catering sitting down by himself in a table and beckoning over Fabian and Alex “Over here guys”

    “No thanks” Alex muttered as he looked at him and turned around “I prefer not to deal with you unless it’s necessary for tv”

“Agreed” Fabian nodded

“I know it was a mistake okay, you can stop with the harsh punishment.I should have never tried to involve you two either and I’m sorry I did. I regretted this whole thing as soon as I opened my mouth and saw his face. I was selfish and it was wrong, can we just stop now ? Please” he pleaded “I hurt Tim, I hurt Maya, Walter isn’t answering any of my messages or calls. I get it now, I do” Marcel rambled “Please just sit with me, you don’t have to talk to me but just sit with me so I can at least have some company while everyone stares at me”

    “No” they both answered in unison as they shook their heads and left him alone

Marcel looked down as he played with his plate of food feeling all eyes on him as he tried his hardest to ignore the stares and whispers and took out his phone seeing still no messages or calls from Walter and sent one last message   “Hasst du mich jetzt ?” (do you hate me now ?) “Nein, nur sehr enttäuscht” (no, just very disappointed)

He sighed and put his phone away as he shook his head, upset at himself for what he had done but knowing deep down he didn’t regret it. Maya was his one true love, the one person who understood him and helped him cope with the loss of his father and deal with the emotions rather than ignore them and hold them in.

  “Are you gonna go after her ?” Tim asked nonchalantly as he sat with him “because you can, I don’t care”

  “What ?” Marcel asked his head shot up quickly

“Don’t act stupid Marcel, you still love her and I know you did this in a way to get me to be mad at her so I”d leave her alone and therefor you could go after her”

   He knew him so well, so well it truly fucked with him “Yeah” Marcel nodded “I let her go once and it ruined me and now she’s here and right now she wants nothing to do with me but I’ll give her that space and then I’ll fight, I’ll fight like I should’ve fought for her 3 years ago and this time, she’ll end with me” he looked in his older friends eyes “We’ll get that happy ending we both wanted”

  Tim simply give a short nod as he sipped his water “Then go ahead”

Marcel looked around as he got up and left back to the locker room, not wanting to cause anymore awkwardness between them and sat by himself as he listened to music

  “Well if it isn’t the life ruiner” Oney rolled his eyes as he stood in front of him “Are you happy with your actions ? With ruining the one thing giving Tim genuine happiness ?”

  “Oney, please” he rubbed his face “This is something you don’t understand, don’t get involved”

“You ruined the one thing my friend wanted, I’m sure as hell gonna get involved you traitor” he shoved him 

  Marcel sighed “Don’t do this, I don’t have the energy to-” he stumbled back as he held his eye and groaned

“You deserve that and way fucking more” Oney spat out as he left ______________________________________________________________    Maya wiped her eyes for what seemed like the 500th time as she once again got sent to voicemail and let out a frustrated cry getting up when she assumed her takeout was delivered “I said to just leave it at the door” she whined putting on her hoodie “stop knocking !” she finally yelled as she opened the door ready to rage “I clearly said-” her eyes widened at the scene in front of her “what the hell happened to you ?” she asked   

“Oney punched me” Marcel said quietly as he removed the ice bag he had and revealed a bruised and bloodied eye

  “Oney ? That’s Tim’s friend” she said as he remembered his face from the gym

“Yes him, he punched me in the locker room for….for what happened” he said quietly “I needed to get out of there and the only place I could think of was here. I know you hate me and wish I was better off dead but I just had to come. I’ll leave though if you want me to”

  Maya looked up at him as she opened her door and stepped aside “come in”

He stepped inside and sat down on her couch “I’m sorry, I am so so sorry” he whispered “I acted so selfishly”

    “What’s done is done” she whispered “You unfortunately can’t take it back, and truth be told you were right” she admitted “I would’ve just kept waiting and waiting to tell him and let time pass by, in a way what you did benefited me more than anyone Marcel, you did the hardest part and all I had to do was explain myself”

  He shrugged as he bit the inside of his cheek and looked up

“Don’t cry” Maya chuckled weakly “I’ve been crying since last night, and I’m positive I can cry for the both of us and this whole fiasco

  “I’m not” he blinked away tears quickly

“You’re doing the thing, the cheek thing and looking up. You really think I wouldn’t forget how you try to hide emotions after all this time ? she scooted over as she gently patted his hand “You’re the ugliest crier too” she joked trying her best to lighten him up

Marcel gave a light laugh as he sniffled “You’re really good that you know ?”

  Maya gave him a small grin as she dabbed his cheek with a tissue and got the alert of her food delivery “stay for dinner ?”

“Absolutely” he answered as he nodded. Sometimes life truly does work in weird weird ways.

[ambitionsource]

What kind of bedding does everyone have? Like sheet/duvet or comforter or blanket? Does anyone have a unique blanket? I told you these would get more random

random, yes, but did es and i spend undue amounts of time talking about it? yes. yes we did.

riley’s bed has a purple color scheme, like lilac, light purple sheets and then a quilt-like blanket that’s got a sort of floral, springtime vibe going on on top. she really only sleeps with one pillow, but she is the QUEEN of decorative pillows. she’s the kind of person where you could give her a decorative pillow as a present and she would actually like it. she also of course has a couple of stuffed animals amidst all the pillows. it’s pretty standard size, like somewhere between a double and a queen.

farkle’s bed is definitely larger since they have the money and the space, so at least queen size. his bed is essentially one of those like... workspace type beds, where it has shelving and pieces attached to it that make it basically built into the wall. his sheets are dark grey, with lighter grey and bold color accents, like red. he only has two pillows. the top comforter is more like a duvet, relatively thin and just bundles up with the sheets.

maya’s bed is a loft space above part of their apartment, where she has a twin size mattress crammed into the space. her color scheme is a lot like what she puts as her exterior aesthetic, cremes and pinks and whites. she has two relatively flimsy pillows that act as what she sleeps one, and one (1) decorative pillow that is fuzzy pink and she’ll hug that a lot when she’s just laying up there. her blanket is a champagne pink duvet that was her mother’s in college and is so worn its basically a sheet rather than a duvet. luckily, since she’s high up, maya rarely needs more than that since heat rises. when she moves into the matthews apartment, she basically takes all that stuff with her, but riley lets her use a few of her decorative pillows to spruce up her bed.

zay’s bed is somewhere between a double and a queen, and i have this very distinct image of a dark-colored headboard that’s kind of like... slate. he has 2 - 3 pillows, and his sheets are dark-colored, typically dark green or navy blue. the blanket is a comforter, but not really a fluffy one, and its got a color scheme of like... blacks, silvers, and golds. he has a stuffed lion that he’s had since he was a kid that typically sits up on the headboard like king of the pride lands surveying his land (zay’s room).

isa’s bed at her foster home was really messy, basically a duvet and a couple blankets, but it was all old and crumpled and whatever could be dragged out from the linen closet. then for a while she was couch-surfing at blue’s, which again comes down to whatever is on hand at the time. now that she’s staying with eric, she can actually start to take ownership of her space and make it feel more like hers. it’s the biggest bed she’s ever had. eric gets her all new stuff, so a comforter with a dark space-theme and a few pillows to match. she has an old ratty teddy that she got at the first foster home she went to -- it was already a there, a toy they owned, but she loved it and they let her keep it when she moved (either that or she stole it NCMDKKS) -- and then after Val’s funeral, she also has the baby blanket that she found at her estate.

charlie’s bed is kind of like... the pinterest board equivalent of what a bed would look like in Refreshing, Clean Aesthetic. that is to say, it’s comfortable but it’s hella boring and has none of his personality. the color scheme is off-white and light blue, and his comforter is like, fluffy but also light and airy. like literally exactly what you’d imagine a comforter in a comforter commercial would look like. its cozy, but like the rest of his room, it feels like a sanitized version of his aesthetic rather than what it would look like if he actually had control over it.

lucas’s bed (if you can call it that) is basically a mattress stacked on top of a bunch of junk (boxes, bins, stacks of books, etc.) since his room is essentially also the family storage closet. it looks fun and quirky to sleep that way when you see a photo on pinterest, but imma tell you. it’s not comfortable. he has one pillow and a dark blue comforter that used to be decently fluffy, but he’s had it basically since the one time he got new bedding which like when he was 9 so at this point ten years later its worn to hell and more like a duvet. also he doesn’t sleep, so it doesn’t really matter. when he had his set up in the booth, he had a sleeping bag (which he didn’t use like... like a sleeping bag, he just used it as a cover blanket rather than like zipping himself inside, especially since he may have had to move quickly at any given time, and then the pillow from his bedroom. he needs a 1000 year nap.

asher’s bed, like everything else in his life, has been carefully curated to his preferred aesthetic and level of organization. he has a long pillow that rests against the headboard, and then two regular pillows that rest on top of that. his sheets are little denser, like closer to flannel than linen considering how cold he gets with his little bird bones, and they’re typically like a light jade green or off-white to pair with his light burgundy comforter. like his whole color palette is very autumnal -- he is autumn. typically his pillowcases match but when dylan started staying the night all the time that changed because when he used the off-white pillow case asher quickly realized that his dark-haired puppy dog boyfriend sheds like CRAZY and you can really see dark hair on a light color so he was like. bro tf. and so now his pillow is the off-white and dylan’s pillow is whatever other pillow case he has that won’t show off dark hair so easily LMAO. his one special item is this decorative pillow that jade made him their sophomore year as a christmas present, but it usually sits in his desk chair rather than on the bed -- he only puts it back on the bed if he’s just made it up all perfectly.

dylan’s bed is considerably smaller considering the orlando apartment is smaller and they don’t have as much money (which is why they usually spend the night together at asher’s -- i mean, there’s also the fact that dylan will sneak in and travel across town to do it whereas asher would catch on fire from guilt if he did that -- but it’s mainly that its way more comfortable to share a bigger bed. you only suffer through scrunching together like that when absolutely necessary). dylan moves a lot in his sleep so his sheets and one blanket (a duvet-quilt type thing) are often scrunched at the end of the bed or on the floor, and they’ll stay like that because he doesn’t make his bed nearly often enough to fix it. he’s rarely there anyway, so shrug. he has two pillows, both pretty thin, and a stuffed giraffe he’s had for AGES so it is so faded you wouldn’t even know it was a giraffe if not for the long neck (dave: “why’s your stuffed dog got such a long neck?”). the other main special piece is this knit baby blanket that his mom made him, it’s soft pastel-y yellow. it typically sits near the bed rather than on it so that it won’t suffer the same fate as his other blankets, but the only time it really gets use is when asher is there -- since he gets cold so easily, he usually ends up with it at some point. and that makes me wanna cry. thank u

-- Maggie & Es

[swtsvrndr]

( samantha logan, 20, she/her )  welcome to reprieve, MAYA MARCELI.  rumor has it they are a WERETIGER, from REPRIEVE, but only they could tell you the truth! they reside in the ALPHA district. when i close my eyes, i think of them and imagine A DIAMOND-STUDDED FLASK, THE SHRILL SCREECH OF A TEA KETTLE ABOUT TO BOIL OVER, AND THE SMELL OF DEW-SOAKED GRASS

maya lives with her three parents.  yes, you heard me kids, she’s got THREE parents.  you’d think this would be a good thing, more love to go around, but tbh it’s not been her experience.  her mama, MARIE, is a career climber;  we’re talking smashing glass ceilings, fighting any man who might say she’s not as tough, or as competent, as they are.  as such she works long hours, is a high profile lawyer.  she’s the tough bitch that rips criminals into little pieces and feeds them to the jury.  she’s an absolute shark.   her mother, BIANCA, is the exact opposite.  she volunteers her time for various charitable organizations in the city and spends more time planning brunch than with her daughter.  they’ve got three incomes;  three high profile incomes, tbh, so money has never been an issue.   her papa, LITO, is… well, she’s not sure.  he’s always said his job is very secretive, very private, and would never speak about what he does for a living.  i think at first she assumed it was something sketchy;  drugs, or maybe the mafia.   but one day her curiosity got the better of her and she struck gold.  she picked the lock on his briefcase and found out that he was working for a government organization.  he was undercover,  she thinks,  trying to take down the mob from the inside.   it’s why she transferred schools,  why her father has been working longer hours, disappearing for days on end on business trips.   he’s playing with fire and trying not to get burned.  

with little time and attention sent her way,  in a family filled with people so focused on their own wants, their own needs,  they tend to forget about her.  it wasn’t always like this.  when she was a child, young, shiny, and new, they doted on her lovingly.  it was only as she got older;  less soft, more OPINIONATED, less CUTE,  that their interest waned.  like a puppy given to a child, abandoned when it outgrows its puppy years.   she tries not to take it personally but it’s hard not to.   so used to spending time by herself,  it’s no surprise that she warmed to the first boy who really looked at her. JAIME KAPLAN.  they were young then,  her face round,  eyes wild with wonder,  and she’d wanted to help him so badly it physically pained her.   she’d asked her mama for help,  maybe they could be alone TOGETHER in this big empty house, but just as suddenly as he’d arrived in her life?  he was gone.  things went south and she never saw him again.   ( but this is the middle of their story,  not the end.  she just doesn’t know it yet.  )

the marcelis come from a family of shapeshifters that are able to shift into weretigers.  it’s a gene that they carry, and is triggered when they reach puberty age.  all her life,  her parents were forcing her to take ‘vitamins’ that would help her mature.  she had no idea that the pills they were giving her would actually prevent her from shifting,  some concoction they’d cooked up with a witch some decades earlier.  her parents took them too, suffering the physical pains that came from not shifting and rejecting your true nature.  it was when maya unlocked the briefcase that she found notes about the medication, of the doses they’d been giving her to try to ‘cure’ her disease, that she realized how truly SCREWED UP their family was.   she exploded, forced them into telling her the truth, and threatened to leave and never return if they didn’t allow her to be who she was supposed to be.  they acquiesced,  but her father hasn’t spoken a word to her since the discovery.   she’s DESPERATE to win his favor again but knows she can’t stomach the pain, can’t be the person they want.  it’s why she memorized the names on the files,  decided to dedicate herself to infiltrating this world that her father was trying to take down from the inside.  she was helping.  or at least,  that was how she justified things at first.  the deeper and deeper she gets,  she’s lost track of who she’s really living for;  her family, or for herself.   a sense of BELONGING she’s searched for her whole life.

as she’s gotten closer and closer to the people who have direct or indirect involvement with the gang, and grown to care about them, she’s started seriously questioning her own motivations. when she finds her smoking gun - will she even want to use it? 

PERSONALITY / PERSONA:

she made a pact with herself when she decided to commit to infiltration;  do whatever it takes.  be friends with, screw around with, screw OVER whoever she needed to in order to get in the inner circle.  i think she expected them all to be… insufferable? awful? when she realized how fun everyone was, how much she genuinely LIKED their particular brands of insanity, things got more complicated.  

she’s very much a yes girl.  you want to dance naked in a fountain? yes.  you want to do lines of coke off her dad’s mercedes? yes.   do hallucinogens and write your maths exam? hell fuckin’ yes.  i feel like she has no concept of where the line between rational and irrational even is anymore.  it’s gone.  poof.  the lifestyle is intoxicating, as is the camaraderie that comes along with it.  

being a yes girl has gotten her into some trouble in the past.  when a prank went wrong, maya found herself in a spot of trouble when her would be victim turned on her. she’d shifted in front of him, thinking it would be funny to scare him, and he lashed out by hitting her with a rock.  she passed out shortly after she was buried alive, too disoriented and injured to prove that she was still alive. the details after that are foggy. maybe she died, or maybe she crawled her way out of the grave, she’s not sure.  she can’t remember and she honestly doesn’t want to. 

kind of a bitch if you don’t know her well, even more of a bitch when you do.  she’ll speak her mind but knows when to keep her mouth shut too.  she has a temper and tries to keep it in check but that isn’t always the easiest. incredibly loyal and FIERCELY protective of the people she cares about.  would kill for them.  

TLDR:  she’s a weretiger.  she has three parents who lowkey neglect her but it’s fine.  her dad is infiltrating the mob,  getting in with THE MAFIA LEADER’S people,  and when maya found out she decided to do the same … except she’s in too deep and maybe it’s not about her dad anymore.  she will fight anyone that comes for her or her friends but tbh just wants to love,  be loved, and receive positive attention.  

[rilaya-forever]

The 4 Times Riley Scolds Maya For Cursing (and The 1 Time She Doesn’t)

My first Rilaya fic!!! Or really my first fic... You can find me on archive as polar_wolf13 where I hopefully will be writing more

archive: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20023378

1… “Ah shit.”

Maya glared at the big blue marking on her geometry test as if she could will it to disappear. The 63 bore into her soul with one message: math was definitely not her strong suit. With a huff, she glanced around the room trying to find someone else in her situation. All she found were big brown puppy dog eyes staring at her as if she just committed a felony. “Can I help you, honey?”

“Maya! We're in school! The teacher could have heard you and given you detention or something. Or told my dad,” a pause, “not gonna lie, that would’ve been worse. Plus it’s just a good general rule not to curse and…” Riley was tripping over her own words.

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry okay? It just slipped out.” Maya said, smiling softly, reaching out to cup Riley’s face.

It was like Riley’s brain short-circuited and she couldn’t breathe. Her chest was tight and all she could feel was the warmth from Maya’s small palm. She struggled to get past the hazerdous thoughts in her head. “I know, I know. It’s just, you know how I feel about cursing.”

“Yes you have the views of a 90 year old duchess. Or your father…”

“Hey!”

2… They’re in Central Park, waiting on line for the soft pretzel Riley felt like was necessary in her life at this point. It was a gorgeous day, and Riley felt like she was unstoppable. Her hand brushed against Maya’s and her heart started to beat erratically. Maybe not totally unstoppable. There was her one weakness, standing next to her, blonde hair flowing in the wind. Riley was brought back to Earth as Maya ordered for the both of them, making sure to grab a thing of mustard for her pretzel. Riley never understood. In her opinion, pretzels didn’t need anything, especially not any condiment that’s the color of an unhealthy human’s pee.

“Dammit!” Maya breathed out harshly, “Are you shitting me?”

Startled, Riley looked down. A yellow stain blossomed on the grey Cage The Elephant t-shirt the blonde was wearing. Right as she was about to spout out the instructions for this certain stain removal her parents ingrained into her brain, her eyes glanced at a mother frowning at the two of them, covering her young son’s ears as he glanced over curiously. “C’mon Peaches, there are kids here.”

Rolling her eyes, Maya huffed. “This is one of my favorite tees though.”

Riley grabbed the hem at the bottom, examining the stain. “When we get back we can wash it with some dish soap and hot water. If you’re still worried about it staining we can use some cornstarch to soak up any excess oil.”

Regripping the shirt to get a better look, Riley’s knuckles brushed the warm skin right above Maya’s jeans. The blonde let out a strangled noise and Riley glanced to see her best friend looking away, a blush spread across her cheeks. Unsure of what that meant, Riley cleared her throat, trying to forget about the feeling of Maya’s skin against her hand or the way her stomach clenched at the sound that her best friend made. “Don’t worry about the stain, I’ll get it out.”

Maya nodded tersely and quickly changed the subject.

3… Riley heard more then saw her dad come home. Her and Maya were playing Call of Duty on the new xbox Auggie got for his birthday and their eyes haven’t left the screen in 2 hours. “No, no, no, no!” Riley yelled as she saw the number of zombies crawling out of the window down the alley.

Her fingers flew from button to button but she could see she was dying from the red that tinged her part of the screen. She could also tell that Maya was in a similar situation seeing as she shifted to crouching on the balls of her feet on the couch. “Hello girls!” Corey Matthews yelled as he struggled to be heard over the zombie noises and gun shots.

The only real response was Riley waving her hand distractedly at him. Not even a turn of the head. A cry of frustration came from the couch and it was evident the girls had lost the battle. “Do you want to play again?” Riley asked, as Maya put the controller down, cracking her knuckles.

“Nah, but maybe we can play another multiplayer game.”

There was a pause and then a gasp.

“What about gun game?” Riley asked, her face lighting up.

Maya paused, albeit not being able to resist an adorable face like that.

“What? Afraid you’ll be beaten if we don’t do any bots?” Riley taunted, and as Maya leaned forward, something in her gut tightened. The brunette gulped as her best friend smirked, seemingly in the know of the effect she had on the younger Matthews.

“Bitch, please.”

Two exasperated “Maya!”s were yelled, one from the couch, and one from the kitchen.

“Peaches, my dad’s here…” Riley stage whispered and Corey nodded his head dramatically.

“I knew you were a bad influence Hart but…”

“Oh come on. It’s not like we don’t hear it at school, Matthews! Besides, we’re getting older and, y'know, shit happens.”

Another two “Maya!”s were sounded. Maya glanced at Riley and the brunette could see the troublemaker twinkle in her eyes.

“Alright Miss Bad Influence. Let’s see if your bark is worse than your bite.” Riley taunted and held up the xbox controller, again, ignoring any feelings that were a bit more than friendly.

4… “When do you think the foods going to get here?” Maya whined from her side of the booth. Riley giggled and sipped on her milkshake.

“Seriously Riles, if there isn’t food here on the table in the next minute I going to start swinging!”

“And I’ll be here to hold you back.”

Maya laughed, covering one of the brunettes hands with her own. “Oh how romantic, hun.”

Riley knew she was joking, but there was a part of her that wanted to be seen in that way. In a romantic light. Denying her feelings yet again she sighed, “You complete me Peaches.”

Just as Maya opened her mouth, eyes portraying a sense of nervousness, as if she was about to star a serious conversation, their waiter came by, placing Maya’s pancakes and Riley’s waffles in front of them. “Hope you guys enjoy.” He smiles and walks away.

Not even a full second later, Maya is eating, void of any previous nervousness. Riley laughed as her best friend shoveled pancakes dripping with syrup into her mouth. “Fuck this is so good.” Maya practically moaned and Riley’s laugh got caught in her throat.

Her body felt like it was on fire and she couldn't stop staring at the blonde across the table. Her mind focused on that single moment.

The way she bit her lip to say the word “fuck”,

the way her tongue flicked out to wipe the syrup off the corner of her mouth,

the face she made as she seemingly looked into Riley’s soul.

It’s all too much and Riley needed to make it stop. “Maya!” She scolded and one again the blonde laughs.

“Sorry Riles.”

Riley felt her heart start slowing down and began to pour syrup on her waffles. Sooner or later, this feelings thing will need to be addressed. But it was definitely going to be later. ---------- Her heart was pounding and the blood was rushing in her ears. She was trying to understand the events she had just witness. Well, accidentally walked in on. Maya was sitting on a bed with Uncle Josh? Alone? At a party? And they seemed pretty close. It almost looked like Josh was going to kiss her. She tried to focus on the almost part.

She clenched and unclenched her fists, trying to figure out a platonic situation so that any of this could make sense and her heart would stay in one piece.

“Riley!” The voice was faint but the brunette knew exactly who it was.

“Go away Maya.” Her voice was wobbly and she couldn’t bear to turn around as the footsteps got closer. Riley realized she was hugging herself, basically pacing back and forth across the corridor. She stopped, back to the girl she had slowly fallen in love with. “Please, just go away.”

“Riley, listen to me.” Maya’s voice was strong and it almost hurt Riley to hear it. “Whatever you think you saw, it was something different.”

“I know, I know. You really really like him and what does three years really mean in the long span of life and…”

“We were talking about you!”

Riley whipped around. How did that make any sense at all. It was like Maya could feel her accusatory thoughts and held a hand out to calm Riley down. “I…” she started but it didn’t seem like she could finish.

Maya Hart was truly nervous. Riley stared, trying to hold in any tears, as the blonde struggled with her sentences. With a scoff, she turned around again, about to walk away from the pain that was wrapped around her heart.

“I’m in love with you.”

The statement hung in the air. Riley felt like time stopped existing and when she spun around, all she could see were the tears threatening to fall in Mayas piercing blue eyes. The brunette took a step towards her and the blonde closed most of the distance.

“There, I said it. I am completely in love with you and I had to tell someone. Josh happened to be the unlucky person, I couldn't stop going on about how beautiful and amazing you are. I think I talked about your eyes for 10 minutes, no joke. And how you make me feel when you smile and how much better you make my life. I talked about all the little things to do to make sure I know I’m loved.”

She paused to wipe a stray tear.

“I spilled about how you make me do things out of my comfort zone and how when I close my eyes, I see you and, ompf!”

Riley surged forward, cradling Maya’s jaw and finally, after all this time, capturing her with a kiss. Maya sighed into it, arms wrapping around the brunette’s torso. Riley pulled back enough to look in the shorter girl’s eyes. “I love you too.”

Maya smiled wide, pushing up on her toes to kiss Riley again.

“Damn Matthews, who knew you got game?”

Their laughter echoed along the corridor. “What? No scolding?”

“To be honest, it’s kinda hot when you curse.”

“Well then…”

[storiesbyjes2g]

50 Questions For Your Sim

I was tagged by @citrusswig​. By the way, I think your name is so cute lol. Thanks for the tag! These were so fun. I got Pruetts on the brain, so you guys get to get personal with Maya! Mostly, I will answer according to where I am now in the story and not where we left off in August.

1: How old is your sim? She’s 3/4 through her YA days, so the way I see Sims ages, she’s 33 or 34. Where the story left off, she’s probably more like 27.

2. When is your sim’s birthday? The chapter she was born in came out on February 16th.

3. What is your sim’s zodiac sign? I guess that makes her an Aquarius, but that’s probably not accurate.

4. What is your sim’s ethnicity? Maya is multiracial and identifies as Black. Once upon a time, I was curious about her ethnicity and went through her entire lineage drawing pie charts of everyone’s race LOL. Here is her exact make up: 59.25% Black, 31.25% White, 6.25% Asian, 3.125% Egyptian

5. Does your sim have any nicknames? Her mother calls her pumpkin.

6. Do they have a job? If so what is it? As of the last chapter, she was the Director of Communications at Sim.tv. She is now a Spin Doctor (level 10)

7. Where does your sim live? Maya was born and raised in Oasis Springs and now lives in Willow Creek.

8.Who does your sim live with? Her parents and little brother.

9. What environment did your sims grow up in (strict, loving, cold etc.)? Maya grew up in a two-parent home that was very loving and supportive. Drama in her life came from outside the home.

10. What are your sim’s favorite food? Leftovers lol

11. What is your sim’s favorite drink? Granny Smash (She loves those sweet, fruity drinks, but they do not love her lol)

12. If they have one what is your sim’s favorite color? Red 

13. Does your sim believe in any clichés (like love at first sight, etc)? Oh, of course! Here are a few. “Love yourself.” “A good man is hard to find.” “A picture is worth a thousand words.” “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

14. What is your sim’s sexuality? Straight.

15. What is your sim’s gender identity? Female.

16. Is your sim type a or type b? Type B

17. Is your sim introverted or extroverted? Definitely extroverted, but she appreciates a little quiet time.

18. What is your sims favorite woohoo position? Ranveer is teaching her all kinds of things, so she is undecided right now.

19. Is your sim a pet person? If so what is their favorite animal? Maya has never given any thought to pets. She thinks puppies are cute, but they are so much work.

20. Does your sim have a best friend? None other than Penelope Fleming, aka “Penny Pizzazz” (this is her real name in the Pruett Cinematic Universe, he he he)

21. What is/was your sim’s favorite school subject? Lunch LOL

22. Is/was your sim a high, mid or low achiever in school? Mid achiever. As you can probably tell, she didn’t like school much. She’s no dummy, so she passed everything. But, she didn’t excel like her sister.

23. Are they planning to go or have they already been to college? If so, what would be or what was their major? Even if we had a university pack, Maya wouldn’t be the type to go. At least not right away. She would probably take night classes later in life when she figured out what to do with her life. (she was a late bloomer)

24. What are your sims political beliefs (if they have them)? Maya is non-confrontational, so she doesn’t get involved in politics. I would say she’s liberal by association because I can see many of her friends leaning that way.

25. What is one thing your sims wants to do before they die? She wants to meet Octavia Moon.

26. Does your sim have a favorite TV show (cable) and/or movie? Maya is a TV junkie. She loves romance and drama, and her two favorite shows are The Bachelor and Real Housewives of Del Sol Valley.

27. Is your sim a Netflix viewer? If so what are their top 3 shows. She watches Netflix with Ranveer, but they don’t really watch if you know what I mean.

28. Does your sim like books? If so what’s their favorite one? She’s not much of a book person.

29. Does your sim enjoy video games, if so what is their favorite one and do they play on PC or console? She has never touched a game in her life. Not even on her phone.

30. What is your sim’s personal style? Cute, cute, and cute. Even when she’s dressed down she’s cute.

31. Does your sim have a lucky charm? Nah

32. Is your sim religious? She believes in a higher power. That’s as far as she goes.

33. What kind of music does your sim listen to and who is their favorite artist? Maya loves pop, R&B, and a little rock. She is killing some Bailey Kay right now.

34. Is your sim a festive person? If so what’s their favorite holiday? Meh. She loves the holidays, but she leaves decorating and prep to her mother. It’s less because she’s not festive and more because she’s just lazy.

35. What is your sim’s favorite type of weather? Maya looooves to show off her body, so warm weather is the best.

36. Does your sim prefer to start fights or finish them? She’s a lover, not a fighter. (heh, another cliche? lol)

37. Does your sim have a dream job? Not really. Penny got her this job, and she just happened to be good at it. If Simstagram was a job, that would be her dream.

38. Does your sim have any siblings? A sister and a brother both younger. Brother is way younger--young enough to be her child.

39. Does your sim get along with their family? Oh yes. The Pruetts are a tight family. Even tighter after the family drama when she was born.

40 What is your sims favorite hobby? Watching TV

41. What does your sim look for in a romantic partner? Requited love, humor, fun to be around, FINE

42. What is a secret about your sim? She was a virgin until recently.

43. What is a wish your sim has? Maya wishes she could have met Ranveer instead of Akira back in the day.

44. What is a flaw your sim has? Lazy as heck. She can also get out of control with the negative self-talk.

45. How do others generally perceive your sim? Fun loving party girl. Back in the day, she was a tease.

46. Does your sim have a greatest achievement? If so what is it? She reached the top of her career before she was 30.

47. If they have one, what is your sim’s greatest regret? Probably not breaking up with her high school boyfriend when she first thought she should.

48. Does your sim have a favorite emoji? 😍

49. Does your sim use simstagram? If so what’s their @? Simstagram is her middle name! You can follow her @mayapruett (she’s very simple lol)

50. What is the last text your sim sent (and who did they text)? It was a goodnight text to Ranveer. It started innocently and ended with some spice lol.

Whew! This was fun! Lots of people have been tagged for this I see. If you’re up for the challenge, consider yourself tagged and say I tagged you!

[runningwolf62]

@wardencommanderrodimiss @pachelbelsheadcanon

Happy Phoenix gets disbarred day, have this. Hopefully Tumblr doesn’t crop it.

Credit to my brother for the “Dahlia commits tax fraud” joke.

Larry runs his hand through his messy brown hair and looks to Maya. She has too much experience in burying relatives. He wishes he could do this on his own, like Godot talked about. Protecting Maya for Misty. But this was too much for him to carry on his own.

“A small ceremony for just family and friends might be wise,” his voice is rough and Maya jumps a little when he speaks, “we can have a large, what do you call it for funerals? Is it still a reception?”

“After the funeral it’s a reception, before it’s a visitation,” she replies tiredly, Larry gets to his feet to head to his kitchen and get them both a drink of water.

Maya barely acknowledges it when he puts it in front of her, simply staring blankly at the papers before her. Larry sits down next to her and lets out a rough breath. They are too young to be doing this. Maya should not have had to bury this many family members.

“I- shit I have to be one to give all the speeches don’t I?” He’s only known her three months but that was more than Maya.

“I could channel my sis I guess but-” Maya swallows and reaches for the water, Larry moves to sit next to her.

“If you’re gonna channel people why not channel your mother to do all this paper work,” Larry jokes, Maya glances at him but doesn’t laugh. She doesn’t seem more upset though so Larry takes it.

“I could you know.”

“Huh?”

Maya is staring at her water not at him, “channel her. If you want to talk to her.”

Larry stares at Maya and hesitates. What does he say? He wants to see Misty, he does. To ask for explanations, to say goodbye, for any final guidance but Maya looks exhausted.

“I think we’ve all had enough of channeling for a bit?” Larry says instead and Maya huffs softly in what sounds like agreement.

“I would like to talk to her, at some point. But not now.” There’s so much to say to her but so much to now.

Larry pulls a paper to him and starts trying to fill forms out.

“Are you mad at Nick?”

Larry looks up from the form he’s trying to understand to Maya, “no? Why would I be?” He and Nick have things they need to talk out but now’s not the time when he’s this exhausted emotionally and Nick’s busy.

“For defending Go- Diego.”

Larry sucks a breath in through his teeth and sets the paper back down. “Not really.” He runs a hand through his hair and tries to find the words to explain, “I’d- I don’t know how mad I am him honestly. Like yeah he killed her but she-” he cuts off and looks away from Maya.

“What?” Maya pokes his shoulder with one finger, “What?”

“She died trying to save you,” Larry mumbles as though that will take the sting out of his words. Maya looks startled but not hurt so maybe it does. “If anything I’m mad at her I think! Like, how is this fair?” And that’s what it boils down to, Larry doesn’t know how to feel about the fact that he knew Misty better than Maya had.

That she’d had the chance to meet her daughter and instead died for her.

Not even his fanfiction can help with this.

-

Stripes?

Hey Wolfman

Don’t die, funerals are a pain in the ass to plan

I will become immortal just for you

‘ppreciate it

-

Larry stops off with Maya at Nick’s office, it’s not like Godot is sitting there drinking coffee, he’s in jail and it’s just Nick sitting in his office, probably avoiding paperwork.

But the smell of the coffee lingers on Nick’s shirt, or maybe just in Larry’s imagination, and he’s quiet as Nick and Maya talk.

Honestly they’re all quiet. Maya’s trying to get excited for something she and Nick are talking about, Steel Samurai or something, but Larry can see her struggling.

He coughs quietly, “I’m gonna go.” Edgeworth’s lent him a couch in his apartment while Larry and Maya deal with the funeral and cleaning out Elise’s place and Larry looks into moving somewhere new because he doesn’t need to live close to Elise now.

Misty.

Fuck.

Nick nods and Maya wishes him a good night. He gives a small smile and wave and heads out. Maya and Nick will help each other.

He flicks his phone to see that WolfDragon is still offline (good he should be sleeping) and send Edgeworth a text that he’ll be there soon.

He slips the phone back in his pocket and stands outside the Wright and Co offices a moment longer, wondering that if he just started screaming until his voice gave out if Gumshoe would just let him off with a warning.

Deciding luck has not been favorable towards him lately he heads for his car instead.

-

Edgeworth looks up from the book he’s reading as Larry comes in, “have you eaten?”

“No. Nick and Maya were talking about getting something but…” Larry felt like he was imposing. Edgeworth just hums and points to the fridge.

Larry opens it to find Edgeworth’s snagged him leftover spaghetti. He debates just eating it cold but the knowledge that Edgeworth would never let him live it down convinces him otherwise.

He watches it spin around in the microwave, Edgeworth still silently reading.

“Did you stay up just to see that I got back?” He hesitates, is Edgeworth starting to squint at the page? “Maybe you should take a break, let your eyes get some rest.” Had his dad needed glasses? God Larry couldn’t remember anymore.

Edgeworth shakes his head but sets the book to the side, “I had reading I wanted to do. However yes, I may have positioned myself to make sure you got in safely.”

Larry shakes his head, “you can just say yes Edgy.” He turns to check the time on the microwave, “thanks man.”

There’s a pause before Edgeworth says, “You’re welcome.”

The microwave beeps and Larry pulls out the plate and sets it at the counter across from Edgeworth who’s gone back to squinting at his book. Larry’s not going to be the one to tell him he might want to think about glasses.

He tucks in and after a few bites his appetite returns full force and he has to struggle to not shove it down his throat in a horrifying display that would undoubtedly end with Edgeworth throwing him out.

Edgeworth says nothing though, simply continue to read, Larry finally takes in the book he’s reading.

“Edgy?”

“Yes?”

“Are you reading about how to do Oragami because-“

Edgeworth snaps the book closed to glare at him and Larry shuts his mouth. He looks away from Edgeworth first.

“You’ve heard that story about paper cranes right?”

Edgeworth lets out a sigh, “who hasn’t?” He shakes his head, “I doubt folding a thousand paper cranes is any more likely to grant a wish than eyelashes or pennies.”

Larry nods and pushes his plate to the side, “I guess it’s just nice to think, you know, if we put that much passion and energy into something we could somehow seize control of our fate for just one moment.”

Edgeworth startles a moment before nodding. He sets his book to the side and visibly wrestles with something before he finally speaks.

“I’m sorry. It’s very clear that your apprenticeship was good for you and that you’ve grown as a person and I’m sorry that it was, that she was taken from you.”

Larry wants to thank him, to cry, to scream, because god, that’s all he’s wanted; the respect Miles is showing him now.

So of course something else comes out of his mouth.

“Do you ever,” Larry pauses and takes a deep breath, “do you ever feel like you killed him?”

Miles pauses and looks to Larry, “what?”

“Your dad. And I don’t mean the part where you thought you’d caused the gun to go off like-”

Miles considers it and looks over at him, “yes. I’ve been told it’s a normal part of grief.”

“Who told you that?”

“A therapist.”

Larry lets out a weak laugh, “maybe I ought to get one. I just worry they’d get murdered and I’d be accused of doing it.”

“Larry.”

“You said it yourself, I bring misfortune down-”

“Larry-”

“I can barely look at Maya and I worry Nick blames me you know? Like it’s not my fault but Maya should’ve gotten to know her mom and didn’t but I did and I know he holds that against me-”

“Wright does not-”

“Objection!” Larry looks at him now, Edgeworth’s pushed the book to the side and his steel eyes have softened, “do you really think he doesn’t hold that against me Edgy?”

“It would be utterly illogical to hold that against you,” Miles replies firmly, “Misty Fey made her choices and you were as much a victim as Maya.”

“You’ve seen Nick in court he doesn’t use logic.”

Miles laughs at that but looks at Larry gently, “but he reaches the truth all the same. You are not responsible for what happened. Any part of it.”

Larry wonders what it would be like to be as in love with someone as Edgy is with Nick.

“Thanks.” He runs a hand through his hair and kind of shakes himself, “I didn’t mean to unload all of that on ya.”

Edgeworth shakes his head though, “it is… wise to talk about these things.”

Larry reaches over and claps Edgeworth on the shoulder, “still. Thanks.”

Edgeworth actually smiles and Larry pulls his hand back and lets out a rough breath.

“We’re thinking of making the funeral a private affair and having a reception for other authors, friends and fans.” Larry lets out a rough breath. Shit he’s got speeches to write.

In the silence that follows Pess stirs from next to Edgeworth’s legs and comes around to see Larry, her claws clicking on the floor.

“Hey girl,” Larry runs a hand through her soft fur, she’s like a big walking cotton ball, “you’re so big and fluffy.”

“She’s a puppy still actually,” Edgeworth gets to his feet as Larry continues to play with his dog, “my sister recommend I get one for companionship and emotional support and a breeder she’d bought from had just had a litter so…”

“Wait.” Larry looks up from the dog now, “is this the sister that has the niece that has the dog named Phoenix?”

“It’s her daughter technically-”

“You know what I-” Edgeworth shuts him up by showing him a picture of a young girl with her arms wrapped around a fluffy orange dog.

“Oh my god it’s adorable.” He tries and fails to smother a laugh, “smaller than Pess though.”

“They’re two separate but similar breeds and the breeder my sister got from has lines for both.”

Larry glances at Pess and considers that this dog is likely worth more than he is, “I see.”

“Yes, my niece’s dog is a German Spitz while Pess is a Keeshound.”

"A Casehond."

"Keeshond."

“Case Hound."

"No."

“Case Haunt. Croissant.”

“Stop.”

Larry is laughing though and while Edgeworth is shaking his head Larry gets the impression he’s not actually angry at him or his antics.

Edgeworth considers his dog a moment longer before he looks at Larry. “Come on, she needs a walk and-” Pess shoots to the front door, “and some exercise would be good for both of us.”

“Alright.” Larry gets to his feet, he wouldn’t mind spending some time with Edgeworth and just kind of roaming.

-

Larry walks alongside Edgeworth, the silence just slightly awkward but neither of them seem eager to break it.

“We all just have shit luck with mentors,” Larry finally says, Edgeworth smothers a laugh.

“You aren’t wrong.”

Larry looks at him and his mouth twitches, “someday I’ll say something you’ll have to admit is right.”

Edgeworth looks unconvinced but Larry is pretty sure it’s with some fondness. He needed to work on rebuilding his friendship with Nick like this. Get to a more comfortable place.

The park is largely deserted at this hour, the unseasonably cool air must’ve kept most people inside. Larry drops onto a bench and pulls out a small sketch book and a pencil.

He normally didn’t like people watching him draw but he makes no effort to shoo Edgeworth away as he sketched the city skyline through the trees. His goal is just a messy sketch finished in five minutes, the focus on shapes and conveying details without fine details.

He shows the finished effort to Edgeworth, “just a drawing exercise, no body flying over a burning bridge…”

“You’ve got a lot of talent,” Edgeworth smooths the awkwardness of his morbid joke, “I’m glad to see you using it.”

“Thanks Edgy.” He smiles slightly, “I’ll be honest though, I should really work on faces, not backgrounds.” He had gotten a lot better but he needed to keep at it.

“Oh?”

“Yeah Nick was always better at faces, I did backgrounds really well.” Because he was trying to avoid drawing cats. Occasionally he’d slipped big cats into his art just to use those skills- oh Big Cat AU. That would be a fun drawing exercise and produce some content for his fanfic.

“I wanted to ask you about that.” Edgeworth seems to hesitate before he sighs, “about Dahlia.”

“Oh fuck her,” Larry sprawls out, “in life she was a bitch and death didn’t stop her.” He leans his head back, “okay so you know Nick became a lawyer to save you right?” Which was one of the gayest things he’d ever heard.

Edgeworth nods and Larry looks over at him, “so he’s studying law… on the side.”

“I read the case file.” Edgeworth cuts in, Larry grins at that.

“Oh okay stop roasting Nick got it.” He runs a hand through his hair, “so what do you want to know?”

Edgeworth shakes his head, “how none of you noticed and why… why after all that he’d still go to such lengths to defend Iris?”

Larry snorts and shakes his head. “Look I know you studied at the finest schools in Germany and all that,” he shifts his leg so Pess can get under the bench to sniff around, “but for those of us who went to public university in America it is simultaneously the smartest and stupidest times of most people’s lives. No I didn’t question the girlfriend Nick was always with, thought it was grossly sappy and I didn’t think they were gonna get married or anything.” He makes a face, “and the pet names were disgusting but look man, Nick’s not bad looking, and she was pretty too. They seemed to like each other. No I didn’t think she was secretly the twin of a psychopath or- no Dahlia’s just a petty- anyway no.” He lets out a rough breath, “kicked my own ass for that enough. My best friend gets framed for murder by his girlfriend, who tried to poison him, and I never even thought anything was wrong.”

Pess shoves her head between his legs, Larry ruffles her ears and then shifts before she can tangle the leash around his legs.

There’s a moment of silence and then Larry adds, “and the whole time she was committing identity theft so-” and that makes Edgeworth actually laugh.

Larry joins in and Pess adds a happy bark, her tail wagging furiously behind her.

“Hey hot shot prosecutor does that count as tax fraud or…” Larry wheezes and Edgeworth is clearly struggling not to laugh harder.

“You cannot accuse Dahlia Hawthorne of every crime that ever existed.”

“You can’t prove she didn’t commit arson.”

“Larry!”

It’s not funny, it’s really not but it’s the way Larry’s trying to make this conspiracy theory work and the way Edgeworth can’t keep a straight face long enough to be his straight man that makes it hilarious. Or maybe it’s just that he needs something to laugh at in all this.

Once they pull themselves back together Larry rubs at his eyes. “I think you had another question?”

Edgeworth pauses and Larry cuts in, “and not ‘what’s wrong with you’.”

“I would not have-” Edgeworth shakes his head, “why after all that Wright would do so much for Iris?”

“She didn’t commit arson.” Larry loses the battle against his grin as Edgeworth glares at him, before he answers more seriously.

“One of Nick’s strengths is his loyalty,” he gestures between the two of them, “it’s why he still puts up with us.” Despite all the Edgeworth had done and Larry’s own various shortcomings. “I don’t know if he just sees the best in people or if he’s too stubborn but Nick’s loyalty is hard to lose.” He would know.

Edgeworth nods in agreement and Larry leans back against the bench. “But as loyal as he is to friends there was only two people Nick would've done anything for," Larry glances over at Edgeworth, "Dahlia was one of them."

"Who was the other?" Edgeworth asks and Larry takes the moment to reflect that he was considered the stupid one of the three of them.

"Come on Edgy don't make me spell it out for you."

"Oh of course. Maya."

That's it Larry is going home. Or back to Edgeworth’s apartment. Shit. He just sighs and leans back against the park bench to watch the sunset reflect off the city buildings.

-

The funeral is… something. Larry gives a speech, he remembers writing it, but he does not remember what he says because he looked over at Maya and just hated that he’d gotten to know her mother for four months and that was more than Maya had been allowed to have.

The visitation is alright. He knows some of the authors that show up. He’s glad Maya can stick close to Nick he wheels through the crowd playing host and hoping no one can tell he just wants to scream.

They bury Misty next to Mia, Maya cries into Nick while Larry stares blankly at the grave. It’s real. This is real.

The next thing he remembers clearly is waking up on the floor of Edgeworth’s kitchen. Pess licks at his face and whines, he groans and forces himself off the floor. Well he’s clothed so that’s good. He’s also not that… hungover… Oh.

He looks to see Edgeworth sitting at the kitchen table and rasps, “please don’t judge me.” He’s entitled to, Larry spent the time after the visitation crying himself almost sick, did maybe two shots of vodka, laid down on the floor to cry more and passed out.

Edgeworth looks up from the newspaper at him, “that was hardly the worst thing I’ve ever seen anyone do in the name of grief.”

Larry slowly pulled himself to his feet, his head throbbed in tempo with his pulse.

Edgeworth got to his feet and got out a glass, Larry flinched at every sound but gratefully downed the glass of water Edgeworth put in front of him.

“Between the crying and the drinking you’re probably dehydrated. There’s advil in the medicine cabinet.”

Larry blinked gratefully at him, “do you mind if I lay in bed all day and maybe steal your dog to pet?”

“Take a shower first.”

Larry runs a hand through his hair and groans, “sounds good.”

-

Are you handling things okay (edited)

Stripes?

Hey Wolfman

Sorry for the late reply, you’re probably asleep but yeah. The funeral was rough. But yeah I’m okay.

Do you want to talk about it

No

Tell me about Warriors

Bramblestar has rabies is the hot new meme

What?

We got the description of book 2 of series 7 and Bramblestar’s going to lose a life and start acting weird and the fandom decided he has rabies.

I read enough 2006 fanfiction to know that he’s obviously been possessed by Tigerstar’s ghost.

I will stage a revolt and establish you as the series’ new writer if they bring him back again

Okay please tell me that exhaustion is making me misread things and one of the protagonists is not named Shadowpaw

Unfortunately he is

WHY

It gets worse

Oh no

His parents are Dovewing and Tigerstar the second

Oh god no they made him leader

Larry has gently encouraged Wolfdragon to ramble, well rant, about Warriors for half an hour when Edgeworth knocks at the door.

“I’m not dead,” Larry calls back, Edgeworth pushes open the door.

“Are you up to eat something for lunch?”

“Not Eldoons I don’t think,” Larry glances to his phone, Wolfdragon’s still typing something about wasted character potential by bad plots and back to Edgeworth, “but yeah probably.”

-

Sorry, gotta go, but if they kill Bramblestar in a bullshit way I’ll get rabies.

If you or a loved one has contracted rabies from Warrior Cats you might be entitled to financial compensation

Pfft See ya Wolfman

Night Stripes!

Oh yeah it’s like close to midnight for him. Edgeworth is waiting in the hallway when Larry stumbles out, his head hurts less and he aches in his chest but he could do lunch. He can pretend to be a human.

“Who are you texting?” Edgeworth asks curiously, Larry shrugs slightly.

“A friend.”

“Who is she?”

Larry gave him a dirty look, “he’s just a friend. We talk about books and shit.”

Edgeworth lifts his eyebrow, “what books?”

Larry steps back, “what am I, on trial?”

“You’re hiding something,” Edgeworth replies firmly, “and I am…”

“Aww are you worried about me?”

“Given the spiel you said in court, yes.”

Oh. Well that is his fault. Larry hesitates a moment, debating and lets out a breath. “You… can’t tell Nick okay. I met this guy writing fanfiction.”

Edgeworth looks so incredulous a moment that Larry regrets it immediately. “You…”

“I know.” Larry shoves his hands in his pockets, “but that’s why I thought about writing in the first place and he encouraged me to try and then Misty took me as her apprentice and he’s been checking in on me.”

Edgeworth is just staring at him and Larry is tempted to start rambling again but he’s afraid he’ll confess that it’s 1) Warrior Cats fanfiction 2) he may have accidentally caused a bunch of people online to ship fictionalized cat versions of him and Nick and boy that would be a mistake.

“It’s not Steel Samurai fanfiction is it?” Edgeworth’s voice is strained and Larry stares at him a moment.

“Oh my god.”

“Answer the question.”

“You used to read-”

“Answer the question!”

Larry’s head hurts as he laughs, Miles Edgeworth read Steel Samurai fanfiction. “Don’t worry,” he finally wheezes out, “I don’t write Steel Samurai fanfiction, you’re not secretly my number one fan.” He grins at Edgeworth, “no shame Edgy, it’s a fun hobby.” Just not one he expected Edgeworth to have.

Edgeworth looks away, “I expected as much, I would read the meta people put forth and occasionally someone would… run with an idea.”

“And once you get a taste for good fanfiction it’s kind of addictive,” Larry agrees easily, “even in a good series there’s moments to explore or just things there wasn’t enough time to explore.” Ah, Edgeworth probably read gen fic then. He rubs the back of his neck, “yeah I’m up for lunch. Nothing too strong and somewhere quiet…”

“I was thinking of going to Wright’s office to talk with him and Maya.” Edgeworth glances at Larry, “to check in on her.”

Larry nods and bumps against him, “yeah.” They need each other right now.

Pearl isn’t bouncing around the office but she does chirp a greeting to them. Larry makes a note to ask later if she wants to finish Into the Wild at some point.

Maya’s still quiet, still subdued but she offers them a small “hey.”

They make some small talk, all very subdued, before Maya gently tugs on his sleeve and Larry follows her away to the hallway.

The moment they’re there she wraps him in a hug, Larry starts before he returns it. She shakes against him, Larry wants to say something but that’s part of why he likes writing. He has time to think out the best words.

“I’m so sorry.” Is what he settles on, Maya clings to him before stepping back.

“Nick, Pearly and I are gonna go back to the Kurian Village for bit I just… I need to take care of her house, can you-“

“I can help,” Larry agrees immediately. “We should probably hire some cleaners,” he thinks about it, “let them uh, clean out all the trash and food and things and then just- we’ve got this.” It’s not as steady as he wants it to be. He’s not as steady as he wants to be.

Maya nods and swallows, “two more favors.”

“Yeah?”

“Uh, Pearly mentioned reading a book with you?”

“I was going to ask about that!” Larry perks up at that, some of the pressure in his chest easing, “I was just trying to distract her, does she want to borrow it? I’ve got most of the series but it’s just collecting dust, I’d love to give it to her so they actually get read and loved.”

Maya claps her hands together, “you would?”

“Yeah, I loved them and I’d love to see someone else love the series too,” Larry rubs the back of his neck and grins, “I hope she does.”

Maya nods quickly, “and I think she’d like to read with you again before we go.”

“I can do that.” Larry let out a breath, nothing bad. Nothing hard.

“One more favor.” Now Maya looks nervous and Larry swallows. Something prickles at him and he’s not sure he wants to agree to whatever Maya’s about to ask of him.

“I- The trial’s over. Nick got him 15 years on Second Degree Murder.”

Larry doesn’t know how to feel about that and nods jerkily.

“I want, I want us to go speak to him. Maybe have you talk to Mia or Mi- my mom.” Maya looks at him worriedly and Larry lets out a rough breath.

Despite himself he nods, “yeah. Yeah I can do that.”

[madelinecoffee]

Is This Seat Taken? Ch. 1

Summary: Rucas Senior Year AU. Riley’s a loner who doesn’t really have any friends, besides her twin brother Josh but she keeps to herself in school. Something happened the year before where she missed the 2nd half of the year but she’s back for senior year and Lucas’ heart is ready. He’s had a crush on her since he moved to Philly in 3rd grade and he’s convinced this is the year they’ll move up from the class-friends label and into something more. This is not a completely fluffy fic, I’m going to be diving into some deep shit so if that’s not your cup of tea please leave *this does  include some serious depression if it goes beyond that I will trigger warn it*

A/N: Hi friends! I finally wrote something!!! Not sure where it’s going to take us  but lets see!  Tagging: (if you don’t want to be tagged let me know or if you do let me know, I'm just trying to tag my usual suspects) @iwantyoutochooseme @celluloiddreams @imaginarybird  Words: 1,687

It was the first day of senior year and overall Lucas was feeling good about this year. He had a few solid friends and his sister, well stepsister, Maya to keep out of trouble this year but he felt up to the task. The only issue was that he couldn’t get a certain brunette out of his. Riley Matthews had been on his mind since he moved to Philly in the 3rd grade. They always been in the same class and when they got to middle school they always had at least once class together. They weren’t quite friends, but they talked in class and she smiled at him when she saw him in the hallway. Riley didn’t have friends really, everyone thought she was a great person and no one complained when they were parried up with her in class for a project. But she ate lunch alone in the library and mostly kept to herself.  Lucas had been trying to get himself closer to friends with her since they got to high school but she always dodged his invitations to each lunch with him and his friends. He never really got why they weren’t anything special, just him, Zay, Josh, who was in fact her twin brother, and Maya. She knew all of them from school, and her and Maya had been friends in elementary school. But for some reason she always refused.

Last year Lucas and Riley had almost all of their classes together. As a result Riley seemed to be more comfortable with Lucas, they never hung out. But he did get her number and they talked over text often. While, it was often about school but it was talking nonetheless. He had a crush on her for what felt like forever and had been working on asking her out right before they went on winter break, but she was absent that day and she didn’t return for the reminder of the year. He asked Josh about it once and Josh got really quiet which was unusual for him. It took him a few minuets to answer Lucas but he just told him,

“Riley’s working through some stuff so she’s doing online school for now.”

“Okay? But why don’t I ever see her when I’m over? I’d really like to catch up with her” Lucas had tried to probe for more information but Josh had once again brushed him off saying,

“She’s been staying with my Uncles Eric and Jack for a while, so that’s probably why you haven’t seen her.”

After that Lucas just dropped it not wanting to upset his friend, but he always kept a look out for the brunette. And today seemed to be his lucky day, on his way into his first class he spotted her. She sat by the window near the middle with an empty seat next to her though she looked a little different. Her hair was shorter and the tips of it were purple, she had on some overalls with a floral undershirt. Lucas thought she looked beautiful he plopped down next to her and with his most charming smile asked,

“Is this seat taken?” Riley jumped a bit being taken out of her thoughts

“Oomph! Oh hi!” She tried to sound cheerful but Lucas could tell something was off, “Yeah, I mean no.” Riley shook her head, “No it’s not taken, yeah you can sit there Lucas”

Lucas beamed and Riley gave him a small smile in return, “Where have you been? I missed you last year” Lucas inquired as he pulled out his notebook noticing Riley already had hers open with a purple pen next to it

Riley looked out the window for a moment before turning back to him, “Oh yeah, um. I was dealing with some stuff so I just did online school.”

Lucas nodded, “Yeah that’s what Josh said when I asked him about you.”

Riley gave him a curious look, “You asked about me?”

Lucas chucked again and nudged her, “Of course”

Before Riley could ask another question class had started

As they were packing up Lucas turned to Riley, “Where you going next?” In reply she just handed him her schedule, “No fucking way”

“What!” Riley asked a twinge of panic in her voice

“We literally have the same schedule, what a world.” Lucas smiled at her brightly and he noticed she looked slightly relived

“Do you…do you want to sit next to me for our classes?” Riley asked shyly fidgeting with the rings on her fingers

“I would love nothing more, and that way when we have to partner up for stuff we can just be partners!” Lucas smiled as the tension in Riley’s form eased out and her face broke into a mega-watt grin. Ooop and there’s the reason I haven’t dated anyone else, Riley Matthews still has my heart.

“Thanks Lucas”

--

Most of their classes had consisted of syllabus and then getting to know those around you so Lucas and Riley had talked and talked. He teased her slightly about not being in school but when he saw how tense she became about it, he stopped. She asked him about Maya and his parents. They talked and it seemed to Lucas they were having a great time, until it was time for lunch.

“Hey Riley, do you want to uh eat lunch with me and the gang?” Lucas asked rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

Riley gave him a soft thoughtful look, “Not today, cafeteria is way to crazy the first couple of days. But ask me again next week and I might say yes.”

Lucas smiled, happy to be given even a bit of hope. “Where are you going to go?”

“Oh, the photo-lab I have some film I want to develop” Riley pulled out five film canisters as Lucas chuckled

“But you’re not even in photo this year?”

Riley nodded, “That’s because I’ve taken all the photo classes they have, but Mrs. M loves me so she lets me come in whenever.”

Lucas nodded, he wanted to hug her before they parted but he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable, he knew his own feelings but I didn’t want to force them on the poor girl. So he held out his fist for fist bump, which Riley chuckled at as she bumped it and they went their separate ways.

--

As soon as Lucas plopped down for lunch he started filling the gang in on his day.

“Guys, and Maya. You’ll never believe who I have all my classes with this year!” Lucas explained looking a lot like an over-excited puppy

Josh smirked, “Would that be my womb-mate?”

Zay gave a look, “Huh?”

Maya rolled her eyes and she chuckled at Josh’s joke, “Riley, you doofus.”

“Oh…OH!” Zay’s eyes perked up as he wiggled his eyebrows at Lucas, “So this is your year man? Going to finally get the girl you’ve been pinning at since you moved here?”

Lucas’ face and ears grew red, “I have not been pinning.” The entire group gave him a look. “Okay fine maybe I have, but this is our year man! We sit next to each other in all of our classes and I told her that if we have to partner up for anything that we’d be automatic partners.”

Lucas saw Josh give a sigh of relief, “That man is awesome, I mean for you because I know you love my sister-“ Lucas tried to cut him off but Josh just kept talking, “But Riley was worried about that especially after missing the last half of the year.”

Zay nodded, “Yeah you never did tell us where she went?” Zay asked with a mouth full of food

Josh stiffened, and Lucas got a flash of Riley having the same reaction eelier, “Because its Riley’s business not mine. If she wants me to tell you, which I doubt she does, I will. But until then y’all can fuck off.”

Maya laughed, “Y’all? You’ve been spending to much time with Lucas”

“Hey!” Lucas whined, “Sorry I lived in Texas until 3rd grade. You all have weird accents to they just seem normal because of where we live.”

Maya chuckled, “Okay Bucky-McBoing-Boing”

--

In the darkness of the photo lab Riley worked to roll her film into the canisters and took a moment to breathe deeply. This was going to be a good year she was determined. It had already started off well because Lucas was in all her classes. She felt herself smile as she thought of him; he had always made her heart warm ever since he moved here in 3rd grade. And he somehow wanted to be her automatic partner, now that was a dream come-true, no worrying about who she would pair up with in classes or who she would sit next to. It would always be Lucas. As she finished rolling the last one and closed the container the bell rang and she headed back out into the light and onto the rest of her classes for the day

--

The rest of the day went smoothly for Lucas and Riley, they were laughing and smiling and Riley felt comfortable talking with him. When they were walking to the parking lot Lucas started to fidget with his pack-back as he asked Riley, “Would you like a ride home? It’s just me and Maya in the Jeep and I’m sure she’d love to see you again.”

Riley gave him a soft smile, “Thanks but Josh and me are driving together, I um have an appointment to get to. But I’ll see you tomorrow!” She started to walk away but as soon as she got a few steps she turned back around and gave him a hug.

With both their heights her face laid gently in the crook of his neck and her breathe tickled him as she whispered, “Thanks for making today less scary”

And like that she was gone, he stood there for a moment dumb-founded until Maya smacked him lightly on the back of the head.

“Boy, you got it bad.”

[wardencommanderrodimiss]

Miscellany about Mia in the Fae AU, simultaneously making myself sad and laughing. Who wants nearly 2000 words of assorted thoughts about Mia Fae, because you can get them here.

So at this point, we obviously know Mia to be a semi-omniscient (I know that’s kind of an oxymoron) presence lingering over the office, stopping Phoenix’s stupid ass from getting killed, and doing classic poltergeist things like breaking mirrors and throwing things but in a way that provides guidance to her people when they need a push. She is the Wise Dead Mentor, as in canon, but kicking around long past when she stops being an active figure in canon. 

But we don’t know her when she was alive. We get those snippets of dialogue of her and Phoenix to bookend his flashback chapters, and we get Phoenix telling Apollo and Vera about her. And the latter, at least, is definitely unreliable -- Phoenix isn’t trying to actually be unreliable in that moment, but his memory is colored with nostalgia and grief and loss, so the information he gives the kids is basically “she was perfect and unique and infallible and stronger than anyone”.... which I mean.... there’s a reason Vera follows up with the question that she does, because that sounds so romanticized to her, especially since the only fae she knows are herself (naive and unwitting criminal) and Kristoph (bastard). 

Mia was very very strong. But Dahlia was about her equal, I think -- which Phoenix does not want to think about -- and Mia still died and obviously was neither perfect nor immortal.

And -- this is some psuedo-canon that I’m not quite sure if I’ll ever put into the text directly, because I feel like if I say it I’ve got to work out the exact logistics of how it works, and in case you haven’t noticed, I am not worldbuilding with a hard rule-defined magic system, here. The lines are all blurry, except I am also an obsessive perfectionist, so even though I keep saying “I fudge a lot of the terms of what magic can and can’t do, I’m standardizing a few things, but most of it is whatever causes the most problems for our protagonists” I am also driven with this horrible desire that even if it never becomes relevant in-text, I need to know for my own purposes. But anyway --

Part of what I’ve got in my head is that, Dahlia was horribly strong, clearly. Vera survives being cursed -- Phoenix was dying within seconds of Dahlia’s curse. And in my head, Mia’s blessing is more than that -- it was part of her own life force. That’s why White killed her relatively easily (though she didn’t properly die); because she had already weakened herself, because she had given that up to Phoenix. She wanted to foil Dahlia, desperately, but it was also a reaction of her guilt at not having saved Diego from Dahlia. She couldn’t save him, but she can save Phoenix, and she pays a high price to do so.

And Phoenix knows this, or thinks of it in this way: Chapter 8, he says “He’s a dead man, living on time borrowed – no, stolen – from someone else.” He thinks he’s the reason that Mia is gone, and he’s not sure if he was worth her life.

(On this topic, sort of, about the one thing that Vera asks him in Chapter 15, I don’t and I never have shipped Mia and Phoenix, but I do believe that he was definitely in love with her, kind of in a “puppy love he knows is unattainable and is at least partially just loving the concept of her” way, from maybe soon after his trial until sometime after she died. Like canonically, he shifts from calling her “Chief” to calling her “Mia” at some point after her death, when they’re working together, and I see that shift as him moving on from carrying such a torch for her and them standing on equal footing. Anyway. Characterization things that don’t really have much bearing here! Now you know.)

This is all to say that Phoenix’s idealization of her when he talks about her as pretty much the strongest and best of all the fae, is a little bit of a tilted perspective.

Because when she was alive and trying to be human, she was really, really fucking weird.

Like. The fae are weird. Maya is a terrifying goblin girl who likes cheap fast food and samurai shows and contains about a hundred teeth and the entire void inside of her mouth. Mia leaned closer to human in terms of her morals -- eg if she was still alive and able to help with the Kristoph situation, Phoenix would have asked for her help instead of pushing Maya away because he knows he can’t tell her anything or else she’ll kill people -- but she still was not good at being a human being.

This is because of the two people she learned how to be human from: Lana and Diego.

Lana she met in law school, was attracted to because of her intelligence, her determination, and also the fact that she’s very very pretty. In Chapter 8, Ema and Phoenix have that conversation about souls, referencing back to Lana, and Ema clearly knows that Mia was one of the fae and knew it before she ever met Phoenix, and this is because Mia at that point was bad at pretending to be human. Lana spent time with her, Lana realizes, “oh, hey, you did not grow up here, as in here, the world as I know it”. And Mia tries to learn from Lana how people act, but she cannot learn from Lana what normal human dedication to something is, because Lana is highly driven at everything she does. Lana throws herself into everything knowing she will get it done, Lana comes out the other side of an all-nighter still pretty sharp and ready to go with the next thing, and Mia is like “ah, yes, this are ordinary human limitations” and they are not. She does realize that Lana has a more formal, restrained manner of speaking, and she does look around for other people to observe to figure out how to talk.

This, unfortunately, lands her with Diego, who’s much much more casual with everyone, except he’s still in love with bullshit metaphors and being vague as hell, and Mia is like “ah, perfect, I know how to talk like this” except nobody but them talks like this. You two are why Grossberg has a flask in his desk, you know. He day-drinks because you two are master-class at bullshitting and saying meaningful meaningless things. Diego is also not a good litmus for human caffeine consumption, but again, Mia is like “yeah, okay, this is how people are” and they aren’t. 

Also you know how there’s some incredibly hot concept art of Mia as a biker? Some time after poisoning Diego and then spiriting him into a pocket dimension (Dahlia doesn’t do things in halves, Dahlia does the human method of getting rid of someone and then the fae one, leaves the trail cold in two directions), Dahlia sends Iris to get the necklace back and flees the city, and Mia buys a motorcycle and goes chasing her down, and that’s what Mia’s absence from court in that time is about. (Mia is very confused when she catches up to Dahlia in LA again and Dahlia has apparently been there the whole time dating this college kid, because she knows Dahlia was not in LA but apparently was.) And while doing that, Mia doesn’t really need to bother too much with being a human person, she can just roll in to roadside diners and truck stops and be that weird nameless biker chick who no one will ever see again, so when she gets back and takes Phoenix under her wing, she is still, just, weird. 

She never figures out how to give direct advice, she never figures out what healthy caffeine consumption for humans is, she never figures out lots of little things that if you’re around someone long-term will make you say “hey what the fuck is wrong with you”, but since she’s associating really only with Phoenix at this point, who knows what she is, it doesn’t matter. And Phoenix, conversely, doesn’t care, because she saved his life, because she is helping him on his path to save his friend, and later, he doesn’t care because he’s mourning her and misses her and all the most important things about her to him overshadow the weirdness.

(���Mr Wright, can you ask her to stop getting my attention by throwing things at me?” Apollo says and Phoenix is like “I don’t understand the question, that’s how she is, what’s the problem?”)

The one thing Mia does learn, most importantly, and mostly from Lana, is about how humans love. The Winter Court is a place of backstabbing and deceit, among family as much as anywhere else. Misty loved her daughters and did not see them as a threat and that was odd and that is partially why Misty left; Mia and Maya loved each other and that was odd and that is partially why Mia left; Iris loved Dahlia and that was odd (Dahlia used her more as a pawn in return, which is typical). Morgan loved her daughter as a pawn but as a pawn to get Pearl power for herself, not for Morgan, which is odd. These two generations of the Winter Royals were just odd, more human in sentiment than those prior, the start of a shift, but -- Mia meets Lana, a young woman who has lost her parents, who loves her younger sister with her whole heart and is raising her and taking care of her and doing her best for her, and Mia sees this, and something fully, entirely, clicks for Mia. And she wishes she and Maya could be like that in the Court without fearing the politicking around them, without fearing others trying to play them against each other, without fear, in general. 

(You know, when Ema first meets Phoenix, she asks if he’s Mia, which is like, haha, silly girl, and we forget it because Ema obviously knows who Mia is because Mia and Lana obviously were girlfriends in school. But in this universe, Ema asks, tentatively, if he is Mia, because she does not know how much the fae cannot change forms, does not know if Mia has taken a new shape and name since Ema last saw her.)

Phoenix, meeting Ema, though, he is reminded of Mia, and Maya, and that is because Mia started patterning herself after them. And in that, Mia did succeed at seeming very, very human.

(Maya loves her sister just as much, has always, did always, knew that wasn’t normal among the fae but didn’t know it was possible for humans to just be without fighting each other for title and throne, and this Maya learns from Phoenix, and this she brings back to the Court. This is how she takes to Pearl, the way Mia was with her, and she tries to build a loving family out of them, to change the entire backstabbing culture of the Court her own damn self. And that informs how she deals with Iris, later -- she doesn’t kill Iris, doesn’t strip her of power and exile her, doesn’t lock her up in a pocket dimension or in iron. She extends an olive branch, because Phoenix forgives, because Mia loves, and because they are family, and because Iris’ greatest sin was Mia’s greatest strength, which was loving her sister.)

[yuniesan]

Girl Meets Season 6 - Episode Nine

Synopsis: The Journey from High School and into College will test everything Riley knew about her life, her friendships and her love. What life lessons will she learn in her first year of college?  

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

A/N: A little bit of angst.... a little bit of fluff... friendship all around!!!

Episode Nine – Girl Meets Written in the Stars

Midterms were over, Riley had submitted her story for her writing class the week before and the weekend had been spent recovering from overworking herself. She talked with Josh on the phone after he had gotten out of the hospital, well more like she yelled at him for doing the same thing she did. They were the same, growing up at least before she met Maya, they had always done everything together. So of course, they developed the same bad habits over time. Maya had stayed in the city taking a few extra days with her family and Josh, while Riley stayed at school because Josh had told her to get some rest after hearing about the incident with the guy outside of Lucas’s class.

“You need to sleep Riley,” he had told her before saying goodbye. She missed her family, even when they visited it wasn’t enough most days, but she knew that she was working towards something that mattered.

Now she sat in her writing class, Zay and Charlie next to her talking about their grades on their writing projects, both of them had gotten B’s on them and told that they should work on the stories a little longer and develop them further. Riley’s grade had been a C, with no explanation as to why the grade had been that. She stared at the grade remembering freshman year of high school and the infamous D that she had gotten in Spanish class. She was waiting until everyone was done speaking with the professor, she wanted to know why she had gotten that grade, but just as she was standing up the professor had walked out of the room without a word to her.

“Riles,” Zay said looking at her, she knew he was worried about her, they were friends so worrying was normal. He looked down at her paper and saw the grade before looking back up at her.

“I’ll be fine,” she said the memory of the D fresh in her mind. “I’ll be just fine,” she finished before taking her bag and walking out of the room, leaving Zay and Charlie behind looking after her.

“I don’t understand,” Charlie said once they had started to follow her. “Her story was a hundred times better than either one of ours.”

Zay nodded his head but all he could think about was the sad look in Riley’s eyes, “Our first year of high school Riley got a D in one of her classes, and it consumed her, made her think that she wasn’t as good of a student as she had once thought she had been.”

“But I know that’s a lie, she’s a great student,” Charlie said to him as the made it across the quad on the way towards the dining hall they always ate at after class.

“Of course, she is but sometimes, well sometimes she doesn’t click with a teacher and I think that’s what hurts her the most because her father is a teacher and she grew up with teachers all around her so the fact that she doesn’t click with one is really hard on her.”

“That’s sounds kind of sad when you think about it, she always wants to live up to these great people but when she stumbles it hits her the hardest, but it still doesn’t make sense, her story was the best one in the class everyone else said so, why would the professor give her that grade.”

Zay shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t know, but I think we should help Riley no matter what,” he said thinking about how much she has helped him over the years.

Zay kept a close eye on Riley, he saw how her face changed from the sad puppy eyes she would get when she didn’t live up to something, to that determined fierce person who was bound to fix her own problems. Instead of waiting for her permission he pulled up a copy of her story and with the help of Charlie and Sam, they found a writing contest that was being held by the school and submitted Riley’s story into the competition. They also watched as she wrote everything she was feeling into a notebook, he remembered how she had written articles during the last two years of high school. The same articles that had helped so many people, including himself, so he knew that she was going to be alright. She was the strongest person he knew, and she was also the one person who could be hurt the most but the smallest things. Even after everything he had put her through over the last few months she never backed away from him, she stayed close and made sure that he was alright, so he had to do the same for her, because that’s what friends do for one another.

In the days since she received her grade, Riley had tried to talk to her professor, who was ignoring her both in class and through emails. It wasn’t right, but after talking to some of his former students she had found out that he does this with those who show the most promise just to see how they would react. It was mean and cruel and she hated the fact that he did it, but she couldn’t figure out why he wouldn’t allow a meeting. Instead of going back to talk to him she concentrated on the story she had to submit before thanksgiving break. The first story she had given them had been about a group of wolves traveling down a mountain pass, she had read about it once and thought it was an interesting concept. So she wrote a story about it for her project, but for some reason it wasn’t her best according to the professor.

“Don’t dwell on it too much Riley,” Lucas said as he rubbed her back. “You need to relax a little, and then focus on your next project.”

“But it’s just so… so… it’s infuriating to me,” she said jumping off her bed before she started pacing back and forth in her room. “Why would he do that if he thought a student had promise? That sound ridiculous, and then to ignore me outright instead of speaking to me.”

“Well they did tell us that college was different,” he said before standing up and moving in her path. Taking her face in his hands, “Just be yourself Riley,” he said before kissing her on her forehead. “You’re going to outshine everyone.”

“Okay,” she said to him as she attempted to relax even for a moment, but she still felt tense, she was afraid of what this meant for her final grade in the class. She enjoyed being there, the creativity was a good outlet for her but the feeling that she had done something wrong just didn’t feel right with her. Lucas held her close, it was the only thing she knew he could do, because once she was in her own headspace, her mind went into overload and she over thought every little thing.

“What did Señora Feinstein-Chang tell you freshman year that made you work harder?”

“That it wasn’t this grade that mattered but the next one because that showed her where I wanted to go.”

“That still applies here Riles, so just make your next assignment the one that matters,” he said before pulling away from her.

She gave him the biggest smile she could, because he was right, the next assignment is what mattered. “Okay,” she said to him as she pulled him back towards the bed. “For now, let’s watch a movie, you’re right I might be too stressed out about this.”

“There’s my girl,” he said with a smile. “And don’t worry, you’re meant to do great things, hell you’ve done great things Riles, but your future is so bright you can light up the sky with it.”

She couldn’t help but feel loved by his words, “Our futures are bright,” she said to him before they started watching a movie on her laptop.

In the days since her talk with Lucas, Riley felt lighter, she went to class and decided against going after her professor for her grade, instead concentrating on her next short story. Zay smiled at her in class before nudging Charlie, she wasn’t sure why the two of them were so happy but it didn’t matter. Zay was really smiling after having such a rough time the last few months, which only made her want to keep him happy. She wanted everyone to be happy, so she worked on her papers, on her stories. They had lunch like they usually did, never really deviating from their weekly schedules unless they wanted to see a movie. It became her new normal, until the week before thanksgiving break when her professor pulled her aside, reminding her of all of those times that he had ignored her. But she didn’t lash out.

“Ms. Matthews,” he said smiling at her. “I wondered when you stopped being persistent about your midterm grade that you had given up like so many other students, but you surprised me.”

“Well there’s no point in dwelling on one grade, when the next one is more important,” she said to him as the classroom emptied out behind her. “I was told once that it was the next grade that really matters because it shows you where I want to go.”

“That’s a good philosophy, kind of sounds like something someone I know would say,” he said with a smile. “I didn’t give you a C on your midterm, I gave you an A, but I wanted you to continue to work hard because you showed the most promise from all of my students.”

“So, you gave me a false grade just to force me to reevaluate myself, well sir, that’s cruel and hurtful.”

“Yes, I know that, I’ve been yelled at by several people about it over the last few weeks, some of which were your friends, another was my sister, who I found out was your teacher in high school,” he sighed and Riley really wasn’t sure where he was headed with this, and honestly, she didn’t really care. “You see, I’ve had students over the years who show promise on their first story only to fall behind afterwards. Their heads get too big thinking that they’re something big, but in the end, they question my methods when their final grade is below what they expected.”

“I don’t understand what that has to do with my midterm grade.”

“I did this as a test to you, as I have done to others over the last two years, some rise above it and create works that outshine what they’ve created, while others give up. You were persistent at first and then you decided that you needed to work on rising above it. So, I’m telling you now, as an apology, because I’ve been asked to judge your story for the writing competition, and I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea.”

Riley’s brain took a moment to register what he was talking about, she hadn’t entered a writing competition, and she wasn’t sure how he had gotten an entry from her. Before she could say anything Zay and Charlie walked up next to her and pulled her out of the room.

“See you next week sir,” Zay said smiling, but Riley wanted to go back into the room and ask what he was talking about.

“Bye Professor,” Charlie said before the three of them left and walked out of the building.

“What is going on,” she asked them when they were half way through campus forcing the two of them to stop. “Out with it.”

“Well after what had happened, we talked to Sam and kind of devised a plan,” Charlie said trying to look innocent. “It was mostly Zay’s idea anyway.”

“What to throw me under the bus man,” Zay said before pushing Charlie away. “Yeah, I had the idea to submit your story to the competition, it was really good and I hated the look on your face, plus I thought that the professor was wrong.”

“And we’ve been meaning to tell you, but you got all happy after the second class that week,” Charlie added as he rubbed his hands to keep them from getting cold.

“Lucas told me that he had helped calm you down by reminding you of how you got over what happened freshman year, so we put off telling you,” Zay said as he ran a hand through his hair before putting his hat back on. “We didn’t know you were going to find out this way, sorry.”

Riley smiled at the two of them before throwing her arms around their shoulders. “You guys are the best you know that,” she said as she squeezed them together. “Thank you,” she said with a smile.

Before she could pull away she felt someone’s body slam into her, “Yay for hugs,” Sam said before they were joined by Lucas.

It would have been weird for anyone to see the five of them hugging it out on the quad, but Riley didn’t care what others thought because she had good friends who wanted her to be happy.

“Not that I mind but why are we hugging,” Sam said after a moment had passed.

“We told Riley about the writing competition,” Charlie answered before Riley started pulling away. The smile still firmly planted on her face.

“Oh yay, I’ve been waiting for this moment, because I’m terrible at keeping secrets,” Sam said before putting her arms around Riley and Charlie.

Lucas smiled at them, Zay laughed, and Charlie patted Sam on the head before they separated. This was something good, for all of them, friendships were important, especially when so much was happening. She couldn’t wait to share it all with Maya, Smackle and Farkle, when they saw one another next. For now she was going to savor the moment.

[seriestrash]

The Best, Worst Christmas Ever

❄ Day Five ❄

A/N: This fits within the TV series universe up until season 3 and however you imagine their future went from there (with college etc.) This is two years out from college and Riley and Lucas are living together in NYC. 

Summary: Lucas is determined to make this Christmas the best one yet but everything keeps going horribly wrong. 

Word Count: 2254

❄ ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄

By Christmas time their second year out of college, Riley and Lucas are nice and settled into their quaint but homely one bedroom apartment. Riley has already decorated their home with extreme festive spirit. There’s everything from garlands to bells and lights and wreaths and mistletoe and those accents just add to the grandeur of their perfectly decorated tree. 

It’s Christmas Eve and book editor Riley is spending her morning at the office finalising some notes for her boss. The brunette is always happy but at this time of year she’s about ready to burst. Riley’s twirling around the office as she completes her work. 

Just after 11am her phone buzzes. Riley smiles to herself when she sees it’s from Lucas. 

From Lucas🍁❤️; 

Hey you, what time will you be home? 

To Lucas🍁❤️; 

We’re getting off early today so I’ll be home just after midday☺️

From Lucas🍁❤️; 

Perfect. I have a special day planned for us. 

To Lucas🍁❤️; 

Do tell!?

From Lucas🍁❤️; 

It’s a surprise! Hurry home ❤️🎅🎄

Riley’s puts her phone away with an even wider smile perched on her face. Just a little over an hour later she hurries home to their quaint apartment. Lucas is there waiting under the mistletoe like the dork he is. Happily, Riley stretches up slightly to kiss him. 

Riley can’t help but notice the differences in their living space. The sofa and coffee table have been pushed aside and a festive themed pillow fort - decorated with fairy lights and all - has taken it’s place and the dining table is set out with piping bags and different assortments of candies. 

“What’s all this?” Riley asks with excitement coursing through her. 

“Well this is for a little later tonight.” Lucas motions to the fort. “But this,” he leads Riley over to the dinging table and pulls out a chair for her. “This is phase one.” 

“Phase one of what?” Riley pricks up a brow. 

“The best Christmas ever.” Lucas says with an adorable proud smirk. 

Riley clasps her hands together in excitement. “Are we decorating cookies or something?” 

“Gingerbread.” Lucas nods and his grin remains. Then like clockwork the oven dings, signalling they’re ready. Riley watches from the table as Lucas pulls a tray out the oven, he rests it on the counter and a frown suddenly crosses his face. “Oh no.” Lucas says disappointedly. 

“What’s wrong?” Riley asks as she stands up. She makes her way over to Lucas and notices that something had gone wrong with the gingerbread people. They were less than clean cut shapes and slightly burnt. Riley lets out a giggle and Lucas groans. 

“Something must have gone wrong with the recipe.” Lucas says like its way more of a deal than it should be. 

Riley hugs him from behind. “Baking is more my thing.” She giggles again, “But I’m sure these will still taste fine and after we decorate them they’ll look perfect.” 

Lucas sighs and moves the gingerbread fails over to the table. Riley remains positive as she sits down again and begins decorating. As Riley’s happily piping away she gives an entire - and very detailed - backstory to her cookie and this seems to lighten Lucas’ mood greatly. He himself produces an intricate origin story for his gingerbread man. Once they’ve completed their army of wayward gingerbread men and women, the couple take a moment to admire their work. Riley looks down at them and fights the urge to giggle. Lucas frowns again, “These look awful.” 

“I think they’re unique.” Riley laughs and it’s infectious enough to make Lucas laugh too. 

After they clean up the mess they made in the dining room Lucas tells Riley he’s made a special reservation for them at a fancy restaurant they always talk about going to one day and he’s even bought her a new dress. Well Maya helped pick it out. Lucas makes sure to let Riley know they’d be going skating after dinner so she should only wear the dress if she was comfortable ice skating in it. 

Riley dresses in the new pretty red dress and pairs it with tights and boots and a coat for warmth and she knew she’d happily ice skate in this ensemble, she might look fancy but she sure will feel pretty. 

After doing her hair and makeup for the evening Riley is worried she’s going to make them late but Lucas is completely patient with her. 

After hurrying through the streets, they arrive at their restaurant and the place is crowded. Lucas approaches the front counter to check their reservation. Much to his dismay the waiter says they’ve missed their booking. 

“What do you mean we’ve missed our booking?” Lucas furrows his brows. “I called up two months ago and booked for 7?” 

“Yes, 7am.” The waiter says. 

“AM?” Lucas’ eye is near ready to twitch. “Why would I make dinner reservations for 7am?” 

“I have no idea Sir.” The waiter says in an unhelpful way. “I apologise for the misunderstanding but we have no free tables this evening.” 

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Lucas mutters in a frustrated huff as they’re practically pushed out of the building. 

“Well that’s a little funny.” Riley says once they’re out on the street. 

“Funny?” Lucas knits his brows together as he looks at her. 

“I was worried about being a few minutes late but here we are twelve hours late.” She giggles. 

“I’m so sorry, Riley.” Lucas frowns, “I tried to book this really fancy place for us to make tonight special.” 

“It’s okay, Lucas.” Riley says soothingly, “We can find somewhere else to eat.” 

“Everywhere will be booked out, it’s Christmas.” 

“So we don’t go to a restaurant?” Riley shrugs and then her eyes light up with an idea. “You said we were going skating after this?” 

“Yes.” Lucas nods but is unsure what Riley’s idea is. 

“On my way home from work I noticed this food stand by the rink.” Riley says with a smile. “We could go there and sit by the rink and eat and then skate.” 

“A food stand?” Lucas is dubious. “It’s not exactly the romantic meal I had in mind.” 

“It will be fun.” Riley says tugging at his hand. 

Lucas gives in and they head towards the rink. They order two large slices of pizza each and a milkshake to share. Lucas looks at the paper cup and napkins they were using and internally he’s kicking himself for not confirming his booking earlier. 

Riley’s excited to get her skates and Lucas helps her lace them up tightly as he knew she had a tendency to be a little clumsy and he really wanted to avoid injury. 

All efforts seemed to be pointless because super klutz Riley still found a way to completely wipe out on the ice and roll her ankle in the process. Riley winces in pain as she tries to put her weight down on it and a panicked Lucas helps her off the ice and out of her skates. Riley’s ankle is swollen an she apologises for ruining their fun. 

“It’s okay, Riles.” Lucas says genuinely but he’s still slightly disappointed, “I just had this whole Christmas themed walk with lights and- It doesn’t matter.” 

“I’m sorry.” Riley says again. “Maybe we can do the quick version or save it for tomorrow when my ankle is less balloon like?” 

Lucas nods but he still looks like a sad little puppy and that makes Riley upset. 

“Lucas, I’m really sorry.” She says again. 

“Riley, it’s not your fault.” Lucas says. “I just wanted to make tonight perfect for you and everything is falling apart.” 

“No it’s not.” Riley insists. “I’m having a lovely time.” 

“Riley.” Lucas gives her a dubious look. 

“I’m being honest.” Riley says. “Today has been so lovely and I am so thankful that you’ve gone to all this effort for me.” 

Lucas tries to perk up a little as he gives Riley a piggyback back to their apartment. As Lucas leads them into their home Riley flicks on the light and flops down onto the armchair as Lucas carefully drops her. 

“Now you just wait here and I’ll get the snacks ready for our movie.” Lucas says with a smile. If everything else went wrong at least they had this moment right now and he would do anything to make it perfect. 

Riley watches as Lucas buzzes around the kitchen getting gummy bears, chocolate and popcorn ready for them. He sets them by the pillow fort. Lucas approaches Riley in the arm chair and helps her down into the comfort of the pillow fort. Lucas turns out the lights and Riley’s sitting in darkness for a moment before Lucas switches on the fairy lights. Riley smiles at how pretty they look and how sweet this whole gesture is. 

Lucas turns on the television before joining Riley in the tent with a remote. The two loved up twenty something year olds get settled into the adorable Christmas themed pillow fort Lucas had previously set up for them. Lucas helps prop up Riley’s hurt ankle on some cushions. Lucas had planned to screen the first Christmas movie they watched together in the seventh grade but one of the fairy lights was flickering and it stopped him from being able to relax. Lucas reaches up to tweak it, he adjusts the bulb slightly and as he does the room goes pitch black. 

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me!” Lucas groans loudly. 

Riley reaches out and her hand touches Lucas’ back. She just wanted to know he was there amongst the darkness. 

“I just wanted to fix one stupid bulb and the whole power goes out.” Lucas huffs. 

“One little flickering Christmas light isn’t going to shut our power down.” Riley says. “It’s probably the building.” 

“I’m going to check and see if it’s just us or not.” Lucas says as he gets up from the pillow fort. Lucas steps out into the hall with his phone torch at the ready. He finds one of his neighbours already out there and he confirms his power is out too. It didn’t take long for Lucas to get more information, no it wasn’t his fault for trying to fix a flickering Christmas light, it had something to do with the snow, a few buildings on their block lost power too and being Christmas Eve and all no one knew definitively when it would come back on. 

Lucas walks back into the apartment mumbling the information he found out when he stops in his tracks. Whilst he was out Riley had limped around the apparent lighting all the candles she could find making for a romantic candlelit mood. She’s in the pillow fort, her legs tucked up underneath her with a small smile that’s pointed at Lucas.

Lucas puts his phone away and keeps his eyes glued to Riley as he sits down by her. 

“This has been the worst Christmas ever.” Lucas wears a disappointed expression. 

“What are you talking about?” Riley coaxes her head and the candlelight illuminates her with a dreamy glow. “We made a very cute and quirky gingerbread family, we had pizza and milkshakes - my favourite.” Riley says with a goofy eyebrow raise. “And so what? My figure skating career might be ruined with this ankle injury but I always hurt myself.” Riley giggles sweetly and Lucas wears such look of love on his face. “Our movie date might be over but now we get to talk and that happens to be my favourite thing in the world. So I don’t know about you but my Christmas is pretty fantastic so far.” Riley finishes with a smile.

“This is exactly the reason why I love you so much.” Lucas says simply like no words were ever more true. “You can brighten literally the darkest of situations.” Lucas motions around the dimly candlelit room. I wanted everything to be absolutely perfect because that’s what you deserve but the stress of the planning made me forget for a second that any moment I spend with you, no matter how seemingly insignificant it may be, is absolutely perfect. That’s why I want to spend the rest of my life with you..” Lucas reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a small red velvet box. Riley sucks back a gasp.

“Lucas, is that a jellybean?” Riley whispers and she’s quickly overcome with emotion. 

The quietest chuckle escapes him as Lucas opens the red velvet box and a beautiful diamond ring twinkles under the candlelight. “I have loved you since the moment you fell into my lap on the subway. I loved you before I even knew what love was. You’re my soulmate. My answer to the universe and I know that even the worst day of my life can’t truly be that bad if you’re there to hold my hand. So, Riley Matthews, will you please marry me?” 

Riley blinks out a tear as she nods yes and she giggles over Lucas’ polite use of the word ‘please’ during the proposal. It is exactly one of the reasons why she loves him so much. Riley’s more interested in embracing Lucas than she is with having the ring put on her finger. 

After the two share a sweet kiss, Lucas finally places a ring on Riley’s left hand. 

“This has been the best, worst christmas ever.” Riley says sweetly. 

“I love you.” Lucas says happier than ever. 

“I love you too.” 

End Notes: Aw proposal my babes. Day five is complete!! I am so far very surprised I’ve managed to keep up with ficmas especially since Im on holidays lol ! 

So on anon of mine asked for a christmas proposal but I already had one planned so I do hope this is alright anon! So here’s the lovely idea the anon had!;

Also tried to work in a prompt where an anon asked for me to write something with Riley twisting her ankle in the snow?? I can’t find my screenshot sorry but I hope this scratched that itch for you ! lol

UNTIL TOMORROW MY LOVES XXX