#and then the texts we see immediately after that are from when dan was doing wad in frankfurt which according to phandom wiki was feb 27th

[pheyphem]

ignoring the obvious. is anyone else really fucking intrigued/confused by this room

it is so STARKLY different from the rest of the phouse like it has fuzzy padded brown walls?? like they have a reason for every design choice in the phouse so why did they go with fuzzy brown walls in here and here only (it seems)??/?

drop your ideas below

[dustofthedailylife]

texting Dan Heng "baobei, come over" when we need help with something,,,,, and him getting all flustered and shy sksksks

(baobei = treasure in chinese)

A/N: pls, the man would short-circuit- This also got longer than I expected... oopsies. Well, I hope you enjoy <3

"My Treasure"

ft. Dan Heng x (gn!)Reader || [Fluff] -> Masterlist || → Taglist

"Baobei, can you come over for a sec? I need your help with something."

What would be an entirely normal direct message on his phone in the eyes of anyone else, was exactly the opposite to him.

Why did you call him a term of endearment in his native language out of the blue? Who even taught it to you? And did you even know what it means?

He could feel his face heat up uncontrollably and he immediately locked his phone again, looking around in panic to see if anyone was looking at him right now. He wished to avoid anyone seeing his reddened cheeks at any cost.

Mr. Yang was currently reading through some magazines and Himeko was currently somewhere else on the train, as was March. Lucky.

He quickly got up and headed for your room, halting in front of your door and trying to recollect himself before daring to knock on it.

He was leading possible conversations with you inside of his head to be prepared for as many possible outcomes as he could think of, which in turn made him more and more nervous.

Were you going to ask him out? Did you return his feelings? Are you planning to confess? Did you just mean to tease him and he was overthinking it?

He was most likely overthinking it. Sure, he had a crush on you but there was no way you would be able to know. He made sure you wouldn't find out under any circumstance. He believed March had her suspicions about it since she kept hinting at things, but he made sure to seem as indifferent about you as he possibly could every time.

Little did neither he nor you know that March knew everything and was trying to play the wing-woman for you two; The two idiots being obviously in love but at the same time too dumb to confess to each other.

By now his palms were sweaty and his heart was racing at light speed in his chest and he hadn't even knocked on the door yet. At the same time, he had no idea for how long he had been standing there, just staring at your door, but if someone would spot him hesitating like that, while also being beet red in the face, they could put two and two together.

In hindsight, it probably would've been smarter to just knock instantly without overthinking and getting this over with. Especially since his cheeks had grown even redder while he had done so.

As soon as he heard the door to the wagon he was in being opened he snapped out of his trance and finally knocked. Mostly just because he feared it would be Himeko or March. He wouldn't hear the end of their teasing if they spotted him in front of your room this flustered. Upon hearing your voice call him in he slipped right in as fast as he could without seeming suspicious.

"Hi! There you are finally!" You cheered, running over to him with a tablet in hand.

You were trying to show him something and ask him some questions, but he was too distracted to listen properly. What didn't help was that he felt like he was burning up from the inside with all the blood that was rushing to his cheeks. Admittedly, standing next to you after you called him baobei in your DM earlier, he even started to feel a little lightheaded.

"Hey, Dan Heng?" You looked at him visibly concerned with furrowed brows. "Are you not feeling well? Your face is all red and you look a bit out of it?"

"W-wha? Hmm? No, I'm alri-"

He was, in fact, not alright in the slightest. Especially not when he was cut off when you brushed his hair out of his forehead to feel his temperature. The skin-on-skin contact made everything even worse. For someone who was so put together usually, he currently was everything but.

"Good lord. You're burning up! Come here, lie down on my bed for a second."

He could absolutely not do that. He needed to leave. Fast.

"No, I'll just go lie down in my room instead. Just message me if you need anything from the archives."

"Okay," you nodded happily. "See ya later, baobei."

He winced at the mention of the word directly in person. You too didn't miss it and furrowed your brows in concern once more.

"Uh, did I say something wrong?" You asked, seemingly catching onto the fact that the word you kept saying to him could possibly be the reason for his strange behavior.

"D-do you know what that word means?"

"What? Baobei?"

He winced again before nodding and averting his gaze.

"Well... March said it means something along the lines of 'Bestie', I heard it when we were on the Luofu and thought it sounded cute."

So she was responsible for this. March, you would have some explaining to do.

Do not repost, copy, translate or edit - © dustofthedailylife || reblogs, comments, and asks about Genshin/HSR or my fics are always appreciated!

[boothillssugarmomma]

🎤Dιϝϝҽɾҽɳƚ SαႦɾιɳα Cαɾρҽɳƚҽɾ Sσɳɠʂ Aʂ Hσყσ ɱҽɳ🎤

🎀 A/N: I've been SO OBSESSED with Sabrina's new song 'Please Please Please' and omfgg I just love her music all around! So here's some of the boys as a few of her songs

ALSO I KNOW TEYVAT DOESN'T USE PHONES BUT IDC DEAL WITH IT (respectfully)

If I mis categorized anyone lemme know 🙏

𝓟𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓮 𝓟𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓮 𝓟𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓮 🙏

'𝐻𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒷𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓀 𝒾𝓈 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔, 𝓂𝓎 𝑒𝑔𝑜'𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇

𝐼 𝒷𝑒𝑔 𝓎𝑜𝓊, 𝒹𝑜𝓃'𝓉 𝑒𝓂𝒷𝒶𝓇𝓇𝒶𝓈𝓈 𝓂𝑒, 𝓂𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝒻𝓊𝒸𝓀𝑒𝓇, 𝑜𝒽

𝒫𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓈𝑒, 𝓅𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓈𝑒, 𝓅𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓈𝑒'

Dating your new boyfriend was such a dream, he's so kind...so precious...BUT...he wasn't exactly a ROLE MODEL or an amazing guy to everyone. But you have a great sense of judgement, and you obviously have great taste...or at least you think so. Dating him was one thing...but telling people? WHOOO boy...when you did end up telling your friends about him...it stirred up quite a lot of drama.

"You sure he's good for you?" Your best friend sighs deeply as she holds your shoulders. Your friends were gathered around you hoping to knock some sense into you.

"I promise...he's sweet and a great guy..." You sigh softly as your best friend stares disapprovingly.

"We're just saying...he's...not exactly...what we thought you'd go for..." Your other friend hesitates as she talks, glancing at your third friend for him to back her up.

The quiet friend grimaces before clearing his throat. "He's...a...interesting guy...(Name)"

Your eyes narrow before you scoff. "You guys just don't know hi-" You cut off as your phone dings.

Your best friend grabs it and rolls her eyes at the message. "Oh get a LOAD of THIS!" She hands the phone to you.

It's your boyfriend...your wonderful...lovely...man who you'd never give up. Even if your friends think you should.

'Hey babe...sorry but I'm running a little late...ran into a little problem. But don't worry... I'll be there. Wouldn't wanna make your friends dislike me more than they already do...'

'Oh and I love you'

'See you soon ❤️'

You sigh at the text, face flushing a bit.

"Don't prove them right..."

-Aventurine, boothill, SAMPO, Gallagher, SUNDAY, Danslief, blade, CHILDE, Wanderer, itto, Lyney, Kaeya, SCARAMOUCHE

🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

ᏋᏕᎮᏒᏋᏕᏕᎧ ☕

'𝒩𝑜𝓌 𝒽𝑒'𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀𝒾𝓃' '𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓂𝑒 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎 𝓃𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉, 𝑜𝒽...𝐼𝓈 𝒾𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓈𝓌𝑒𝑒𝓉? 𝐼 𝑔𝓊𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝓈𝑜...𝒮𝒶𝓎 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝒶𝓃'𝓉 𝓈𝓁𝑒𝑒𝓅, 𝒷𝒶𝒷𝓎, 𝐼 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌

𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓂𝑒, 𝑒𝓈𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈𝑜'

Waking up in the morning without your boyfriend was hard...but sometimes he just was busy and couldn't stay over that night.

But waking up to his little messages? His love paragraphs or his small thoughts about you?

And even throughout the day, he also sent messages.

Those were the best...

You could say you had him wrapped around your finger to be honest. He could never get enough of you.

'God I wish you were here honey...'

'I miss you already ❤️'

'I want to skip (work, travels, missions, etc) and just come home to you...'

'I can't sleep...'

'I can't stop thinking about you my love...'

'I keep thinking about you every night and all day...'

And finally after his long day, he enters your shared home with an exhausted and fairly pouty look.

"You ok honey?" You hum softly as you get up from the couch where you were sitting.

His eyes meet yours and immediately soften.

"Cmere...couldn't stop missing you!" He whispers with a bit of desperation as he quickly rushes to hug you.

"Feel so much better already...so energetic..." He mumbles as he nuzzles into your neck.

"You're like a little shot of espresso~" He teases softly in your ear before kissing your forehead.

"That's me, your espresso..."

-ARGENTI, dan heng, Gepard, JING YUAN, diluc, CHILDE, XIAO, Neuvillette, aether, chongyun, Zhongli, Bennett, WRIOTHESLEY, THOMA, freminent, Gaming

☕☕☕☕☕☕☕☕☕☕☕☕☕☕☕☕

ƒεαƭɦε૨ 🪶

'𝐼 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝓁 𝓈𝑜 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝓁𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝒶 𝒻𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝑜𝒻𝒻 𝓂𝓎 𝓂𝒾𝓃𝒹 (𝒶𝒽), 𝐹𝓁𝑜𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝑒𝓂𝑜𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓈 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇, 𝓎𝑜𝓊'𝓇𝑒 𝒶 𝓌𝒶𝓈𝓉𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒 (𝒶𝒽)'

Dumping him was the BEST idea you've ever had when it came to him. Not having to worry about where he is every night, why he was always so busy, even when you knew he wasn't.

The lies, the coverups, his pathetic excuses.

All

Gone

And you couldn't be happier. You didn't have to pretend he was the best guy in the world, you didn't have to pretend to like whatever he did, didn't have to pretend you were ok with his lies.

It's been over a year now, you're dating one of your best friends, and you knew your life was set!

But your ex wouldn't leave you alone!

He's STILL calling and texting and trying to get back in. He shows up everywhere, your work, your house, your boyfriend's house, your friends houses, trying to get you to take him back.

He just KNEW you were making a mistake, it has to be, he loved you so much...just realized it a bit too late!

"(Name)! We're meant to be together it has to be now stop acting foolish!" He catches up to you one night after work on your walk home.

You scoff softly, ignoring the male as he pants beside you.

"Then tell me why I feel lighter than a damn feather without you on my mind?" You hum, a bitter tone in your voice.

His eyes show a flash of hurt before he huffs. "Because you just don't understand how you feel!"

You roll your eyes, continuing to walk, trying to get away from him.

"Baby I want you back, please!" He whimpers a bit.

"I've told you multiple times, we're done!" Your patience is running thin, and this it not how you wanted to spend the evening.

"But I miss you!" He tries to reach for your hand.

"No duh, you should've thought about that!" You growl.

"But honey think about us...all the memories...how much we cared about each other?" He pleads.

You stop walking before turning to him.

"Thinking about our memories would be a waste of time..."

-VENTI, Kaeya, Boothill, Aventurine, gallagher, Kaveh, ITTO, xingqiu, dr ratio, Ayato, albedo, CHILDE

🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶

[secretswiftymarvelfan]

Boston Bears: Fake Out - Rugby Player! Ari Levinson x Reader (Part 1)

A/N: Just a quick reminder that the reader from Off-Limits has now become an OFC called Elena and Tommi is now our reader!

Word Count: 5.8k words

Warnings: Language! Mention of Masterbation! Angst! Cheating! Brief SMUT! 18+ ONLY! Minors DNI!

Rugby Explained

Dividers by Me!

Fake Out Series Masterlist /Boston Bears Masterlist / Masterlist

Chapter 1

A/N: Just a quick reminder that the reader from Off-Limits has now become an OFC called Elena and Tommi is now our reader!

It was Saturday morning and you were at work trying not to pull your hair out. Today was supposed to be your day off, one that you desperately needed. You were supposed to be having a long lie-in, cuddled up to Dan your gorgeous fiancé, then you were supposed to go to a market together to see if you could find some cute decorations for your wedding reception.

But instead one of your clients had made a minor PR hiccup which caused them to spiral and panic. Your boss had called you and a couple of others in to talk them down from making a statement about something barely anyone knew about. 

“Look right now the news is only circulating in one small pocket of the internet” you sighed running your hand through your hair as you leant back in your chair “Very few people know, if you made a statement to your millions of followers, millions of people will know about it and then the gossip mags will sink their fangs into it and the even more people will know and you can kiss any deals goodbye”

Your client shook his head “I don’t care there’s a disgusting rumour going around about me! I need to shut it down!” He argued.

“Y/N is right,” your boss said from her seat at the head of the conference table “We understand that you’re anxious about this, so we’ll do our best to squash it on the down-low and keep monitoring the situation so if the time does arise when a statement is needed we’ll be ready”

The client sighed “You swear?” 

“There’s a reason we’re the best PR agency in the state” your boss promised. 

“Fine, I’ll hold off” he sighed before ending the Zoom call.

You slumped down in your seat letting out a long sigh “Why is it the men that cause us the most issues?” You muttered as you rubbed your forehead tiredly. 

“Because they’re less evolved” your boss sighed as she got up from her seat “Look you’ve been working so hard recently, on top of planning your wedding so why don’t you head home” 

She wasn’t wrong, the summer was a busy time in the PR world. It was like everyone decided to go crazy over the summer months and there were more messes to tidy up than normal. This year it seemed to bleed into September too, much to your annoyance. You had spent any time off you had trying to plan for your wedding, even with a wedding planner it was more stressful than you thought it would be.

“Are you sure? I’m happy to help out” you said even if the idea of going home and having your afternoon back sounded incredible. 

You probably wouldn’t go to the market now but you could relax, have a bath, and spend some quality time with Dan. God knows it had been a while, both of you too busy or tired to do more than relaxing on the couch together.

“Yeah we can handle the rest now, you deserve the break after talking him down, get on home” she smiled patting you on the shoulder.

“Well I can’t argue with that, I’ll see you Monday” you smiled as you got up and shouldered your bag.

You glanced at the time as you got in your car, it was lunchtime so you decided to grab some bagels from your and Dan's favourite bakery. You didn’t text Dan, wanting to surprise him, and made your way home.

As you opened the door you heard a strange noise. You paused waiting to hear it again, you heard it almost immediately. You realised with a start that it sounded like moaning. 

You silently crept through the apartment following the noise, which was getting louder and louder. You followed it to your bedroom door which was ever so slightly open. You peered inside but instantly regretted it. Because inside you saw Dan and your wedding planner naked in bed, getting busy, getting very intimate. 

“Oh god don’t stop” she moaned as she wrapped her leg around his waist.

“Fuck you feel so good, I’ll never get enough of you” Dan groaned as he thrusted deep with far more passion than you’d ever seen.

You stumbled back as your world crashed down around you. You turned on your heel and rushed back out of the apartment and to your car. You went into autopilot mode as you drove away, only snapping out of it when you pulled up outside of Elena’s old apartment remembering she didn’t live here anymore. She moved back to Boston in the spring after a horrific incident with her ex Bryce Langley.

You slumped back in your car seat as your mind began to replay everything. This wasn’t a one-time thing, they’d clearly been doing this for a while now. Maybe since you hired her over a year ago. Everything suddenly made sense, the way Dan always seemed to be busy, how he seemed to be dragging his feet with the wedding planning.

How could you have been so blind?

You didn’t know what to do. You knew that if you confronted him he would end up talking you around. He promised he wouldn’t do it again and you’d want to believe him. You would end up married to a man who would willingly cheat. 

You glanced over to the passenger seat where your bag and bagels you brought were. Your blood boiled as you looked at the bagel you got for him. You had done a nice thing, you got his favourite bagel and he cheated. You snatched his bagel and stormed out of your car to a nearby trash can, throwing it away with force. 

That act alone made you feel better. You realised you just needed to cut ties. No confrontation, which was something you absolutely hated to begin with so avoiding it was perfect. You just needed to leave and get as far away as possible. 

Climbing back into your car you started planning. Your parents had moved to the UK so you couldn’t just up and leave to them. You didn’t have any close friends in LA anymore, not any that you could live with until you got yourself somewhere new to live.

You glanced up at Elena’s old apartment, she was the only friend you wanted to see right now. She was like your sister. The only reason you hadn’t already called her was because you knew the Boston Bears were playing today and she was busy as their medic. 

You knew what you needed to do. You grabbed your phone and started searching for flights to Boston. The earliest you could find was tomorrow night at 10 pm that stopped in Denver meaning you wouldn’t get into Boston until 10 am on Monday. It wasn’t ideal but it worked out pretty nicely, you could sleep the entire flight and while Dan went out with his mates you could pack up as many of your belongings as possible.

The next thing you needed to do was quit your job. You needed a clean break from LA, you didn’t want anything to draw you back or tie you to this city. So you sent an email to your boss, you didn’t tell her you were leaving because you had been cheated on. You said that you had a family emergency that meant you had to go back to the east coast and you were handing in your notice effective immediately. You made sure to schedule the email to be sent on Sunday evening just in case she reached out to Dan. 

Soon enough everything was planned and ready to go. You would call Elena tomorrow during her day off to warn her, then you’d pack and get the hell out of LA for good. You slumped back into your seat feeling more exhausted than ever. Your stomach growled so you grabbed your bagel and took a bite trying to ignore how it now felt tainted with betrayal.

You spent the rest of the day alone trying to keep yourself busy until the time you were originally supposed to return home. The last thing you wanted was to intrude on them again. You just hoped that Dan changed the sheets.

You were so exhausted that you got Chinese takeout on your way home. As you walked in you made sure to make a racket just to be safe, dropping your keys and bag down by the door. Thankfully Dan was alone this time, sat reclining back on the couch.

“Hey, how was work?” He asked walking over and pressing a kiss to your cheek.

You had to fight the urge to recoil away in disgust. You didn’t know and didn’t want to know where those lips had been.

“Exhausting but we’ve got it under control now” you sighed “I got us Chinese”

“Oh nice did you get spare ribs?” He asked eagerly.

“Uh no sorry I forgot but I got you chow mein” You lied, you knew they were his favourite and you deserved to be a little spiteful.

“No worries” Dan shrugged as he took his food and walked back over to the couch.

You resisted the urge to heave out a heavy sigh as you grabbed your food and moved to join him. Sitting down on the opposite side of the couch.

The two of you ate in silence, the only noise coming from the TV which was playing some program that Dan liked but you didn’t care for. Normally you’d sit and read your book but you were too exhausted. 

When you decided to call it a night you walked into the bedroom to find the bed made but still the same sheets as before. Your body shuddered at the thought of sleeping there where they had gotten busy. You had no choice though, so to make it more bearable you decided to sleep in leggings and a long-sleeved tee.

When Dan joined you, you pretended to be asleep. Trying not to flinch when he kissed your shoulder. You tried to fall asleep but couldn’t, you stared up at the ceiling and listened to Dan’s snores which never irritated you before but now you wanted to smother him. 

You looked over at him and saw him in a completely different light. You wondered how you ended up in this position, and whether there was something you could have done. You wondered whether than man you considered the love of your life ever loved you.

Ari woke with a long sigh. He should be feeling properly rested, he’d had all of Sunday to recover from the match but instead of relaxing, he’d flown to and from New York to deal with something. He was exhausted, the last thing he wanted to do was go to training. A good portion of the day would be going back through the game on Saturday but that didn’t help Ari since he got sent off with a yellow card. He was expecting another chewing out from the coaches for that. 

He let out a long yawn before sitting up, he checked his phone relieved to see no missed calls. He then stood up and grabbed some boxers to slip on, he ran hot so often slept in the nude but didn’t want to give any neighbours a show. He walked out of his bedroom and towards his kitchen to grab himself a much-needed coffee. 

As he drank his coffee he made himself a quick breakfast before sitting down in front of his laptop. He had a few things he wanted to search up and look into before he had to make his way to training. 

Soon enough he got dressed and made his way to the training centre. He was one of the last to arrive, his nose buried in his phone as he walked into the media room finding a seat near the back. 

“Look all I’m saying is that girls who love NFL players should love us too! More so! We don’t need a helmet or padding” Johnny exclaimed as he leaned back in his chair spinning side to side. 

“Maybe but it is two completely different sports, they get more funding than we do, they’re like gods” Jensen pointed out. 

“Minor gods are still sexy” Johnny smirked “Don’t you think so Levs?” 

Ari looked up from his phone “huh?” he hummed.

“That us minor sports gods deserve the girls just as much as the regular gods” Johnny repeated. 

Ari just shrugged “Maybe they just didn’t like you storm” he said before returning his attention back to what he was doing. 

“I beg to differ” Johnny scoffed. 

“Hey, you okay?” Chris said as he sat down in the seat next to Ari. 

Ari nodded as he put away his phone, out of sight “Yeah, just tired” he said.

Chris smirked “Celebrated too much yesterday?” as he leaned in to whisper.

“Yeah something like that” Ari said clearing his throat. 

Thankfully the conversation died out as the coaching team walked in ready to start the game review. Ari reclined back in his chair ready to relive Saturday, not that he particularly wanted to. 

Ari kept pretty quiet as the coaching team ran through each passage of play, highlighting all the good moments and moments where something went wrong. His fists clenched when it got to the moment when he got his yellow card. It was a ridiculous yellow, the opposition got away with the exact same thing he did. 

“We need to remember not to argue with the ref, leave it to the captain to deal with,” Andy said, his arms crossed as he surveyed the room. 

Ari tried his hardest not to huff in annoyance. Thankfully they didn’t linger on it too much longer. They then moved on to watching clips of the Washington Wolves play, they were the team they were facing next week. The coaching team ran through the different clips highlighting the weaknesses the Bears could exploit. 

“Right, that’s it for now, get yourselves into the gym” Head Coach Rogers said “We’ll call you in for your 1 to 1 reviews, Levinson we’re gonna start with you”

Ari made an effort to keep his face straight as he nodded, walking over to go join the coaching staff, all of them sitting down at a small table.

“Have a good day off Levinson? Get up to much” Coach Rogers asked as he tapped on his laptop. 

“Uh yeah,” Ari muttered in response.

Coach Rogers arched a brow, exchanging a glance with Andy before returning his attention back to his laptop “How do you think you played on Saturday?”

“Pretty good, I didn’t miss any tackles, won a few turnovers” Ari shrugged.

“And the yellow card?” Andy asked.

“Unfair, the other team got away with it the entire match” Ari huffed shaking his head as he leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Well we’ll get to that, but first let’s look at this” Coach Rogers said as he turned the laptop so Ari could see the screen.

They spend the next 20 minutes going over different passages in play where Ari made an impact or could have made more of one. They went over the yellow card in more detail than Ari would have liked.

“Look Ari” Coach Rogers sighed “you were right that you shouldn’t have been penalised for the same act that our opposition got away with, but that’s not why you got the yellow, you got the card because you argued with the ref” 

“But-“ Ari went to argue, he wanted to explain that Chris wasn’t nearby to argue for him.

“No,” Coach Rogers said holding up his hand to silence him “You should have let Evans deal with it, he’s the captain it’s his job to talk to the ref, not you”

Ari shook his head. He knew that Coach Rogers was right, he shouldn’t have argued but sometimes his temper got the better of him.

“Look Ari” Coach Rogers sighed “you want to make the National Team don’t you, get called up for the World Cup next year” 

“That’s right sir” Ari nodded, it was something he dreamed of ever since he first picked up a rugby ball, but had been overlooked every time.

“Well I’m good friends with the new head coach, Sam Wilson, he’s even asked me for my opinion on a few players” Coach Rogers continued.

“Right,” Ari said sitting to attention, this might be his best chance at finally getting the call-up. 

“You’re a great player Levinson, it’s criminal that you haven’t been called up yet,” Coach Rogers told him, Andy and the other coaching staff nodding in agreement.

“Thank you sir, that means a lot coming from you,” Ari said gratefully, Coach Rogers had been one of the best players in the league back in his day. He led the Boston Bears to multiple championship wins. 

“Coach Wilson is interested but not sold yet, he doesn’t like players that are too much of a wildcard, players he can’t trust, players that get sent off for dissent” Coach Rogers explained with a pointed look. 

Ari felt his shoulders deflate “So I have no chance is what you’re saying”

“No, but you need to sort this sort of behaviour out, he’s going to be watching the entire season on and off the pitch so you need to show him that he can trust you,” Coach Rogers told him, Ari failed to hold back a scoff as he shook his head “Ari you are a great player, you just need to keep your cool more”

“Well that’s easier said than done when the ref is as blind as a bat” Ari snapped his fists clenched as his anger got the better of him again.

To his credit, Coach Rogers didn’t react “It can be done, we’ll help you on the pitch but it’ll be up to you off the pitch” he continued.

“How? What could I possibly do?” Ari huffed.

“I leave that to you to sort out,” Coach Rogers said “We want to see you in the Team USA jersey as much as you do”

“Sure” Ari muttered as he shook his head.

“Levinson is everything okay?” Coach Rogers questioned with an arched brow “Everything at home?” 

Ari felt his defences go up all of a sudden “Perfect” he stated “Can I go to training now or is there more to say on how I won’t represent my country?”

Once again Coach Rogers didn’t react, nothing more than clenched his jaw “No” he said gesturing for Ari to leave. 

Ari did exactly that, storming out of the media room. The door slammed loudly behind him. He couldn’t wait to get to the weight room where he could work through his frustrations which were only getting worse. 

He was so caught up in his anger that he wasn’t really looking where he was going. He turned a corner and ran straight into someone. He looked down to see a woman he didn’t recognise, her hair up in a messy bun, and baggy clothes. She certainly didn’t work here, and only staff and players were allowed in the building.

She stuttered an apology but Ari’s anger and frustration that had been simmering since the match on Saturday boiled over “Who the hell are you? You know you can’t be back here? What are you a fan desperate for an autograph or media desperate for a scoop?” He demanded.

The woman stuttered slightly before completely breaking down in tears. Ari scoffed in frustration and moved to step around her, he’d have to go find security to deal with this. 

He’d just stepped around her when he heard someone speak up behind him “Y/N? What on earth are you doing here?” Elena said.

Ari turned around and saw Chris and Elena stood there. Elena had a look of shock on her face, while Chris was frowning at Ari. He then glanced back down at the woman beside him who was sobbing. It took him a moment but he then recognised you. You were the bombshell that had him by the balls from the moment he met you back in late April. 

“What the fuck Levinson” Chris demanded as Elena rushed over and hugged you. 

“I- I didn’t-“ Ari stuttered, shaking his head in disbelief.

“What's wrong? Why on earth are you here?” Elena asked you softly.

“I’m sorry I meant to call yesterday but I forgot and- and-“ you stuttered before breaking down into sobs again. 

“Hey, hey, hey it’s okay let’s get you out of here” Elena said shooting a glare up at Ari before wrapping an arm around you and leading you away.

Chris watched as Elena took you away and out of sight before turning back to Ari “What the hell man? Why’d you yell at her? Why’d you upset her like that?” Chris demanded.

Ari shook his head unable to think of a reason “I didn’t even recognise her” he muttered “I thought she was a crazed fan or something”

“You shouldn’t have yelled at her even if she was!” Chris argued shaking his head at him.

“I know… I- I fucked up” Ari admitted.

Fucked up was an understatement. From the moment he set eyes on you in that hotel bar you captured his attention and never let go. You looked absolutely stunning in the red sundress you’d been wearing, a beautiful smile on your face as you laughed with Elena. He’d felt this tugging sensation that drew him closer and he knew he had to at least say hello. 

He’d been secretly devastated when you held out your hand and showed off your engagement ring. He’d only just met you, he knew nothing about you but he found himself cursing the universe that he’d met you too late. He hadn’t missed his chance, he never had one. Yet despite all that he couldn’t just drop it, he wanted to get to know you, flirt with you. Maybe he hoped that your relationship was on the rocks and he had a chance, that he couldn’t leave LA without even trying. Maybe he hoped it would get you out of his system.

It didn’t.

He hadn’t stopped thinking about you for the last 5 months. He wasn’t ashamed to admit that he’d fantasised about you, and thought of you whenever he needed to find a release. Ari was no stranger to finding hookups but he hadn’t even managed to do that because he couldn’t get you out of his mind.

He kicked himself for the way he behaved. If you didn’t want him before, you definitely wouldn’t want him now after he made you cry. His heart ached as he replayed the moment your face crumpled, your left hand moving to cup your mouth as if you could stop yourself from crying.

Wait.

“She wasn’t wearing her ring” Ari muttered as he looked over at Chris.

Chris frowned as he glanced in the direction Elena had taken you “Wasn’t she?”

Ari shook his head “No she wasn’t, she seemed upset before I said anything, maybe they split”

Chris hummed “Maybe, I hadn’t heard about it if they have but you still need to apologise,” he said with a hard look.

“I will I swear, next time I see her I will” Ari promised. 

“Good, now get to the gym and work off whatever is going on with you” Chris ordered before walking off back towards the media room,

He’d probably need to tell the coaches what happened since Elena was Coach Rogers’ daughter. This probably meant Ari was in an even worse position now if he wanted to get called up. He let out a long sigh before heading off towards the gym, not before popping into the PR and Coms office.

“Ari, what can we do for you?” Steph, the head of PR asked as he walked into the office.

“I need some good PR, something that shows I’m not a wildcard and can be trusted so I can get a call up to the national team” Ari explained.

“Right that shouldn’t be a problem, have you got any ideas?” She asked.

“No but I’ll do whatever is needed” Ari said with a small shake of his head.

A lopsided grin grew on her face “That’s exactly what I like to hear, give me a couple of weeks to come up with some strategies and I’ll get back to you”

You were sat wrapped up in a fluffy towel on the edge of El’s bath. You hadn’t realised how much you’d been running on adrenaline until you literally bumped into Ari and promptly broke down after he yelled at you. Under normal circumstances, you probably would have ripped into him but you were too exhausted.

You hadn’t been able to sleep Saturday night. You felt too disgusted, sleeping in the bed and on the same sheets that Dan had cheated on. You had been so tired and busy packing up as much as you could on Sunday that you forgot to call Elena. You barely slept on the plane either so you were running on empty when you got to Boston.

Now you just felt empty. Unable to bring yourself to move. Just static in your mind.

A gentle knock on the bathroom door pulled you from your stupor “Hey food’s here” El called out softly.

“Okay,” you said with a quick sniffle “be right out”

You finished drying off from the bath El had run for you before getting changed into a new set of comfies. You shuffled out of the bathroom to join El and Chris in the living room, a couple of pizza boxes open on the coffee table.

“Here,” Chris said as he passed you a glass of wine, a plate full of chicken, veg and pasta in his other hand.

“Thanks” you muttered as you accepted the glass sitting down on the floor by the coffee table “Aren’t you having pizza?” 

Chris shook his head as he sat down next to El on the couch “Diet plan” he explained as he dug into his large meal.

You shouldn’t be too surprised, you remembered all the times El mentioned the diet plan the players had to stick to. Especially over the summer when she was helping Chris recover from his broken collarbone and dislocated shoulder. You didn’t know much about it all but it was a testament to both El and Chris that he’d recover enough to be fit again in time for the season. 

“Wanna talk about what happened?” El asked gently as you took a bite of your pizza slice.

You took your time chewing before eventually swallowing to give you a bit more time “Dan’s been cheating on me with the wedding planner” you finally admitted.

That clearly wasn’t what either of them expected. El nearly spat out her wine while Chris choked on his mouthful. 

“Shit,” El said as she patted Chris’ back “What did he say when you confronted him?”

“I didn’t” you sighed “I just left, left him a note and the ring and left”

“Wow… god I- I never expected him to do something like that” El muttered as she shook her head.

“Me neither” you sighed “I was supposed to be working all day but my boss said I could take the afternoon off since I wasn’t supposed to be working in the first place, I decided to surprise him with his favourite bagel but when I got back to the apartment I saw the two of them going at it on our bed”

“Oh god” El muttered a look of horror on her face “and you just left straight away?”

“Not straight away no,” you said looking down “I knew I needed to get a few things sorted, so I stayed the night and pretended everything was okay before packing up as much as I could yesterday, quitting my job and flying out here”

“God, I could never do that, I would have smothered him in his sleep” El commented, slapping Chris’ hand away when he went to grab a slice of pizza after putting his empty plate down.

“Ow,” he complained as he rubbed his hand “and noted” he muttered.

“I just still can’t quite believe it, I thought everything was good between us,” you said “Yeah things were tense but I thought that was just the stress of the wedding planning” you sighed rubbing your forehead tiredly “I- I don’t know when it started or why or-or if I could have done something different”

“You did nothing wrong, he’s to blame in all this,” El told you “And the wedding planner, she was supposed to relieve you of the stress not steal your man” 

“But-“ you started.

“But nothing, I know there’s that little voice in your head that’s telling you all the things you could’ve done, tearing you down,” El said, her voice shuddering. 

Chris gave her a sympathetic look, placing his hand on her back and rubbing it soothingly. She’d gone through hell last spring, her ex Bryce had told the entire LA Lions team what her naked body was like except he lied and made up hurtful rumours. Like you she ran away, you had tried to pick up the pieces for her, tried to help and guide her. You originally didn’t like the idea of her dating Chris after everything she’d been through but after you met him in LA and found out what he’d done for her you knew that she’d found her special person. 

Like you thought you had.

“But don’t listen to it, none of what it’s telling you is true” El continued “What is true is what we’re telling you, that nothing is your fault and you are deserving of so much better“

“and when you are ready… you’ll find someone who won’t even want to look elsewhere because he knows he found the best woman he’ll ever find” Chris added as he smiled softly over at El.

“Thank guys, I’m glad I came to you” you sighed as you wiped away a few stray tears.

“It’s okay and just let us know what it is you need” El smiled “Chris stop it! Diet plan!” She scolded when he reached for the pizza slice again earning a huff of annoyance from him.

“Thanks, I- I um, I guess I need to find a job and somewhere to live” As you said it all the consequences of what you’d done hit “god I have no job or home” you muttered dropping your head into your hands and breaking down. 

You heard El get up and move to sit beside you, wrapping her arms around you and holding you close as you broke down. 

“It’s okay you did the right thing” she reassured you. 

“Yeah he clearly didn’t realise what he had right in front of him if he looked elsewhere, you deserve better than him” Chris said taking advantage of El moving and grabbed a slice of pizza. 

“But what am I gonna do now?” You stuttered as you wiped away your tears.

“We’ll work it out don’t worry” El reassured you as she rubbed your back soothingly.

“Yeah, you work in PR right? I’m pretty sure they’ve been looking for someone to join the team at the Bears for a while” Chris suggested.

“There we go, we can get you a job with the Bears, we can see each other at work all the time” El said, nudging your shoulder trying to get you to smile.

“That would be nice” you admitted, it would be like college again when you and El were practically inseparable, but then you remembered your encounter with Ari “But I don’t know anything about rugby, and wouldn’t I need to work close to the players” you gulped nervously.

“You don’t need to know much” Chris reassured you “and Ari said he was sorry”

“Yeah my dad said the 1 to 1 had been pretty tense so he was probably just in a bad mood and took it out on the first person he came across, you guys got along great in LA” El reminded you. 

You sighed, Ari did seem different to the man you met in LA but still he shouldn’t have shouted at you “I don’t know”

“Just give it a go, and it can just be somewhere you work until you find somewhere else” El suggested “And you can stay with me until you find somewhere, we can either share the bed or take turns sleeping on the couch”

“Why don’t you move out?” Chris interjected.

“Huh?” El muttered in confusion.

“I mean why don’t you move in with me El? You spend most of your time at my place anyway and it means Y/N can have this place” Chris explained.

You watched as El’s face softened, the look of love shining in her eyes. You were so happy for her but it also broke your heart because you used to look at Dan like that. 

“Really?” She whispered in disbelief.

“Yeah move in with me Elena Rogers” Chris smirked.

El grinned as she blew him a kiss “I’d love to”

You had to look down unable to see such pure love while your heart was so broken “I’ll um have to get the rest of my stuff at some point not that I particularly want to be back in the apartment” you sniffed.

“We’re playing the Lions in LA the last weekend of November so we can get anything you want” Chris suggested.

“Yeah, just give us a list and we’ll get it, you won’t ever have to step foot in the state again” El promised you.

“And if you want us to destroy anything of his, glitter bomb the apartment or slash his tyres just let us know” Chris winked.

“Chris” El gasped shaking her head at him.

“What?” Chris laughed “You know you were thinking it” 

“I’ll let you know” you chuckled weakly.

“Good, well I better head off back to Dodger” Chris said standing up from the couch “I’ll leave you ladies to curse the male species and do whatever else it is you girls do” he bent over to quickly kiss El goodbye.

“See you tomorrow” she smiled.

“See you tomorrow,” he said grabbing yet another slice of pizza “One for the road” he reasoned before heading out.

“How can he eat so much?” You muttered in amazement. You didn’t have much of an appetite to begin with but even if you were ravenous you couldn’t eat as much as Chris just did.

“It’s insane isn’t it, my dad showed me the food bill at the club once… eye-watering,” El said shaking her head in disbelief “Now let’s forget about all mankind and just have a girl's night,” she said grabbing her glass of wine.

You let out a long sigh, part of you just wanted to wallow but you knew that would only make you feel worse. Maybe getting wine-drunk, talking shit about men and distracting yourself from everything was the way to go for now.

You grabbed your glass “Girls night” you said forcing a smile.

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An update from Wes Johnson on his medical GoFundMe 👇

-----

And now... a word from my friend Wes:

Home. It’s only been weeks but it feels like years. By all accounts, I shouldn’t be here to write this, but I responded in a miracle-like fashion to heroic efforts by the Emory University Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit. Doctors and nurses told me they were surprised that I was coming back completely undamaged, but then, none of us knew just how many people were in my corner. This was my George Bailey moment. I got a chance to see how many people cared in this crazy world. Doctors told my wife that she needed to immediately get to Georgia and prepare for the end of my life. When I came out of the medically induced coma days later, I discovered that the Alzheimer’s Association did what they normally do - create hope and give support in the most difficult of times. AA stayed with me 24/7 until they had my family flown in to be with me, putting them up in rooms. Unbelievable kindness. My friends Bill Glasser and Shari Elliker helped Kim put together a GoFundMe page to help with medical expenses (or worse if it came to that). Bill moved heaven and earth to make things happen and I can never repay my dearest friend for everything he’s done. My friends Bethesda Game Studios shared the link and said heartbreakingly wonderful things, and the Washington Capitals came through big, with Ted Leonsis making a huge donation that completely blew me away. He didn’t have to do that. No one had to do any of these things. My dear friend Kenny Vigue did a “Wes Johnson Day” event on FalloutForHope’s twitch page where so many of my friends, colleagues and peers showed up to talk about me. The kind of things that people said there and on social media, in print, tv and across my phone texts were what you expected only to be said after you could no longer hear them. So much love was sent my way, and by the time I woke up, it was as overwhelming as the tears of joy it induced. There are no words that can describe the love I received and the love I feel for everyone at this moment. My body is relearning to move, and my voice is coming back strong. I’m so lucky that I now have TIME to heal, to reflect, and to refocus my life on joy. Because in the alternative, there was NOTHING. What happens now is a gift, and I am so grateful for it, and for every single person who reached out during this crisis. It’s shown me what is important. My wife Kim, and sons Ben, Sam &amp; Max, who are my world. My brothers Rick, Scott & Chris, my sister Michelle and her husband Sebastian who traveled 10 hours to be with me as I slept. My cousin Dan and dear friend Roger who dropped everything to race to Atlanta and be by my side. The thousands of people who wrote, messaged, donated, and told me I had touched their lives in some way. Each and every one has touched my life, and nothing can ever be the same. Every moment is special. It is extra. It is a gift. And as my body heals and I move forward, I hope to use this gift to help share the joy that everyone has given to me. But today… I rest. Thank you. Much love to you all.

[manchestereyes]

it is you

summary: @/danisnotonfire: I wonder how biology can explain the physical pain you feel in your chest when all you want to do is be with someone D:

When Dan gets permission to spend a week with Phil in December, he has a stunning realisation.

rating: T

word count: 2.1k

tags: 2009, fluff, light angst, skype, falling in love

notes: written for the 2024 @phandomgiftexchange for @someone-stole-all-my-fruit! I hope you're having a wonderful holiday season! <3 2009 phan is always such a joy to write, so thank you so much for this lovely prompt!

Read on ao3

@/danisnotonfire: I wonder how biology can explain the physical pain you feel in your chest when all you want to do is be with someone D:

***

It’s not fair .

It’s so incredibly unfair, Dan thinks, that he should have to suffer this much when he’s already dealt with so much bullshit in his life. Why can’t Phil be right here? Or better yet, why can’t he be with Phil, far away in Manchester where reality can’t touch him?

Well. He knows the answer to that second question. But knowing doesn’t help the situation at all. Maybe that’s why his heart squeezes again when he glances back at the selfie Phil’s just sent him. Really, those puppy eyes should be illegal. It’s sure as hell making Dan want to do something that could land him in prison anyway…

His eyes flick back to the text he just sent, heart squeezing all over again at the insanity of it all. He should be happy he (barely) got permission to stay at Phil’s for a whole week, right? His mum’s breezy “Yeah, go ahead” shouldn’t be affecting him this much. It’s just how she is. Dan should know this after eighteen God-awful years.

And yet. And yet. After meeting Phil’s mum and dad last weekend, Dan can’t help but feel that old cavernous hole rip open anew. How come Phil got the perfect family and Dan ended up with his sorry excuse for a mum and dad who barely noticed if he was there or not? Sure, Phil’s regaled his own problems, how he doesn’t feel like he could ever come out to them, but Dan would still take a cordless hammer drill over the shouting that fills his sleepless nights. At least Phil’s parents actually like each other.

More than that, they like Phil. Dan knows he wasn’t planned, that he had thrown a baby-sized wrench into their world travel dreams. He can’t count how many times his dad had hurled those words at him when Dan fucked something up in the way only he can. 

Dan can’t remember the last time they looked at him with pride in their eyes. Meanwhile, Phil’s mum had greeted him with a hug that told Dan immediately where Phil had gotten his irresistible cuddle skills from.

His phone buzzes again then, a beam of light through his dark thoughts.

Phil: A week!!! I know it wasn’t the reaction u wanted but Dan we get a whole damn week together!

Ok, yeah. That was a pretty big thing to look forward to. Even if it still blows Dan’s mind that Phil wants to see him. Maybe that’s what pushes him to reply, despite the overwhelming pain weighing him down.

Dan: ur not gonna get tired of me before the end of it?

(He’s not being pathetic, he swears. It’s just all he can think about right now.)

Phil: Dan!!! Don’t ever say that plz. I could never get tired of u <3

And there it is. Seven little words, one emoticon. And somehow it means more to Dan than he could ever express. A smile crawls up his face before he can bite it back. (Not that he wants to.)

Dan: <3 thank u phil. i think i needed to hear that tonight

Dan sends the text before he can think twice about it. If these last few weeks are anything to go by, he shouldn’t have anything to worry about. Yet there’s still a voice screaming at him that it’s too much, that Phil doesn’t actually want to hear about all of Dan’s issues, that he’s just like his schoolmates…

Phil: Then I’ll say it a million times as much as u need. U really are the coolest person I’ve ever known. I can’t believe u wanna be with me tbh

Dan: rly? ur not just saying that?

Phil: Really honestly and truly. You’ve gone to reading festival when I still get stressed at youtube gatherings. You were a world of warcraft kid when I could barely tell my friends I liked buffy. I wish I had even a bit of ur confidence some days :3

Dan: rly? but u were in faintheart and the weakest link and you’ve been on youtube for years when i was almost too terrified to post my first video

Phil: So was I! But that’s the thing, Dan. I did those things scared shitless and they haven’t gotten any easier. I think u know by now that internet Phil and real Phil are entirely different people, yeah?

Dan: hmmmm ok. hey speaking of real phil can we continue this on skype?

No sooner had Dan sent the message than his laptop bleated with the old familiar ringtone. Like a figment from his wildest dreams, Phil’s pixelated face fills his screen in seconds, his positively giddy smile sparking a matching grin of Dan’s own.

“Really Dan, I can’t believe we get to have a whole week together!!” Phil claps his hands and his frame grows blurry for a few seconds. Dan can only guess he’s bouncing on his bed and his eyes squeeze shut at the adorableness of it all.

Yet a hint of that darkness still lingers, drawing bars across Dan’s heart. “I’m just glad to get away from here for a while,” he sighs. Then, hoping to erase the pout that appears on Phil’s face, he adds, “And to see you, obviously!”

Phil sticks his tongue out in response, the frame jiggling as his face comes closer until his ocean eyes take up half the screen. Dan is surprised to find his voice growing serious. “Dan. You know you can talk about anything with me. It kills me to know how rough you’ve had it. I wish I could’ve been there before but, well, I’m here now at least? And maybe that counts for something?”

“Phil.” Suddenly, Dan’s shifting his laptop onto his propped-up knees, pulling it closer and wishing more than anything that he could jump through the computer screen and into Phil’s arms And maybe it’s the pain in Phil’s eyes, a pain Dan’s felt a thousand times worse yet would do anything to prevent Phil from feeling, maybe it’s the hope in Phil’s voice--something melts away any of the trepidation he had before. 

“Phil, are you kidding?” Dan bursts out. “Of course it counts! I mean, I think it’s safe to say we’re best friends now, and isn’t that what best friends do?”

“I mean… I would hope we’re a little more than best friends by now?” And good lord, the smirk that crawls up Phil’s face and fills the bottom of the screen should be illegal. It’s so much that Dan has to tear his eyes away from the screen and stare at his tiny TV and dresser for a minute.

Not for the first time, it hits him that he’s really here , speaking to Phil in the very room where he spent countless hours watching that same man. How many times has he dreamed of kissing him, of holding him, of dancing through the streets of Manchester? How long has his heart ached for someone to ease its burden? And now… that someone is here, giggling from his laptop speakers and fulfilling every one of Dan’s hopes and dreams far better than Dan ever thought possible. 

It should be too good to be true. And yet, after everything he’s been through, doesn’t he deserve this one good thing?

They’re both silent for a few seconds until Phil asks softly, “Dan? What are you thinking about right now?”

“Oh, I dunno.” Dan picks up the bear he’s had his entire life from the nightstand and strokes its ears absentmindedly, something he’s always done when he’s nervous. When he speaks again, he chooses his next words carefully. “Lots of things, I guess. It’s just wild that… well, you know how long I’ve watched your videos. I don’t know if I’ve ever had a best friend. Not until now. Not until you.” A blush rises in Dan’s cheeks then, but he means every word.

“Dan. I mean, I had kind of picked some of that up, but are you sure?” Phil’s voice is just as soft as Dan’s, almost reverent. And yet some nasty part of Dan’s brain expects to see those blue eyes darken when he whispers “Well, yeah” in response. Surely this was too much. Surely Dan was too much for Phil, like he was for everyone. Surely Phil was about to…

Melt into the purest smile Dan’s ever seen from him? “Oh my God, I--I feel the exact same way.” Dan is shocked to find Phil’s next words tinged with relief. “I think you know how I always had the same group of friends through school, right?” Dan nods. “Well, they’re all great, but I… never felt as close to any of them as I do with you. I never felt like they got me, you know? And then you come along in my Twitter replies and suddenly you’re the only person I ever want to talk to. And somehow, you want to talk to me too? I feel like I’ve won the lottery here.”

Dan wants to take those words and lock them up in a box that only he can touch. Never in his eighteen years did he ever think he’d hear something like this. He’d barely even let himself hope for it. His heart squeezes to a point where he knows he won’t forget this moment, not as long as he has Phil. It’s a perfect moment he so deeply wants to live in forever.

So is it any wonder his voice catches and tears prick his eyes when he finally finds the strength to speak? “Really? God, I had no idea. And here I thought you had this perfect amazing life, all because your parents clearly lo--clearly care about you so much and you’ve had the same group of friends pretty much forever. I don’t know what that’s like.”

Dan can’t say why he freezes up at the word love just then. He’s just discussing Phil’s relationship with his parents, not declaring his love for Phil. Right?

Wait, does he love Phil? The rapid pace of his heart and the smile fighting to break through his face tell him yes, yes, a thousand times yes but he can’t say that here. Not on Skype. Not when there’s 300 kilometres separating him from Phil’s arms. He just has to keep his heart locked tight until their week together.

Of course Phil’s response makes that impossibly difficult. “Dan. Fuck, you don’t know how much I wish you knew how that feels.” The ache in his voice combined with his anxious fringe tugging has Dan squeezing his bear with everything he has in him just to expel some of his overwhelming feelings. 

“And sure, my parents are great and all, but I feel like they don’t get me. My mum still thinks the movies and things I’ve done are just a fun little hobby that can’t lead to anything. She doesn’t understand why I’m travelling to Ireland every other weekend, and my dad keeps telling me about these boring jobs I don’t want. I wanna see what else I can do with this YouTube thing, but it might not lead to anything. And then I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

By now, the tears have broken free and are streaming down Dan’s face. He doesn’t know exactly why, but he has a feeling they have something to do with the fear trapped in Phil’s eyes.

And yet, they’re not only sad tears. Sure, Dan’s heart is breaking just a bit for the boy on his screen, but it’s also light and airy for the first time since he was a tiny child. That’s when it hits him.

This light, airy, snuggly feeling-- it’s safety . Here in this tiny bubble with Phil, Dan feels safe. It’s unfamiliar, sure, but it’s not scary. He’ll be okay, as long as he has Phil.

It’s this thought that he holds tightly onto over the next few years. Even when the walls are closing in on him and Dan can barely breathe, Phil is always there--in his phone, across Manchester, and soon across the hall. 

Even when he’s sure he can’t feel any worse, he’ll be okay one day. Because he has Phil. And in the moments Phil’s heart shatters hard enough for the both of them, Dan is right there with cuddles and sweets and whispered words of comfort, whatever Phil needs in that moment. Because they’re Dan and Phil. And whatever they go through, they’ll go through it together.

If only eighteen-year-old Dan could see how well things would turn out. Yet as Dan thinks back on this moment fifteen years later, he thinks some part of him did know in a strange way. So much has changed, yet Dan is still that bright-eyed little boy with a dream at his core. And he still has Phil by his side.

[teaberrii]

Chapter 14: Time's Ticking

You and Dan Heng are a match made in heaven until fate takes him away from you too soon. Years later, you think you moved on with a mutual friend who shared your grief and stuck with you during tough times until you meet a mysterious man with a striking resemblance to your past lover and a hidden motive. You’re determined to get rid of him, but how are you going to get rid of a god?

Dan Feng/You

Notes:

Cross-posted on Ao3

Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail crossover

Female reader

Chapter index at the end of chapter one

Support my writing

It’s been a few days since the strange text, and you aren’t sure whether to be relieved or nervous that’s all you received. Normally, you’d pass this off as a joke or an accidental text, but considering the circumstances, you just can’t. You’ve tried everything: texting back, tracing it, and alerting the police. But all you discover is that the number no longer exists, which makes you wonder if this is the work of magic.

Is it from Lan? Nanook? You doubt it. Why bother with a text when you've already met Lan? So, a sick prank from Childe, maybe? Or, is it the mystery man behind Lan and Nanook? The questions drive you crazy, and you wonder if this is the motive behind this ridiculous text. Once you've exhausted your options in figuring out this mysterious number, Dan Feng suggested something that caught everyone's attention at Bailu's apartment yesterday night.

"If Furina exists, it's safe to say that The Great Purge failed," Dan Feng said. "She wouldn't have managed to live this long."

Bailu sighed. "You know... I've been thinking. The mystery person behind Lan and Nanook's escape. What are they, exactly? A god? Someone like Furina?"

"Whoever they are, they knew about the teleporter," Neuvilette said. "That much is for sure."

"I think it's safe to say that they're behind this psychological game," Dan Feng said, nodding to your phone. "They're using magic, which means they found a way to wield it."

"But, couldn't they be like us?" Bailu mused. "They keep using magic until their power is completely gone?"

"Then, they should know how valuable it is to save their magic. Why would they use it on this?" Zhongli asked. "If we are assuming that Lan and Nanook are supposed to be doing the dirty work."

Neuvilette exhaled softly. "Perhaps they are like Furina. However, that wouldn't make sense either as we haven't seen her wield magic. She may have wrote The Book of Curses and lived for an abnormally long time, but that's about it."

You lean back on the couch. "Here's another thought. Who's to say other people didn't know about The Great Purge before it happened?"

Dan Feng briefly closed his eyes and nodded. “True.”

After a short silence, Neuvilette said:

“I suppose the question is... What caused The Great Purge to fail?"

"That's a loaded question," Bailu said. "Like... Where are we going to start?"

“Perhaps the place where we performed the ritual,” Dan Feng said. “The place where The Great Purge first started.” A pause. “My old home.”

You’re working at the office today while Dan Feng takes a little adventure back to the palace. Despite looking at your laptop screen, your attention is on your phone, hoping you’ll get an update in the group chat you share with the dragon gang.

A co-worker taps your desk, and you immediately look up. "He wants to see you now."

You got the message this morning that the team is getting a new temporary leader who’ll be supervising the group and the project’s progress. You don’t know much except that it’s a man, and he wants to meet the group members individually when he arrives later in the day.

You head upstairs, walking past busy-looking employees until reaching the quiet corridor. You aren’t sure why, but the closer you get to his office, you feel uneasy.

You knock once, and immediately a voice says:

“Come in.” You open the door and see a man with long dark blue hair with red tips and red eyes. He gestures for you to take the empty seat in front of him. “Take a seat.” So, you do, and he introduces himself as Yingxing.

“I… think we’ve met before,” you say, a little skeptically.

You’re trying to remember why he looks familiar when he says:

“Has Dan Feng mentioned me?” Your heart almost drops to your stomach. Dan Feng? How does he know about Dan Feng? He picks up on your confusion and slightly smiles. “Some people know me as Blade.”

Should you feign ignorance?

“Interesting name,” you finally say. “Why the alias?”

“Yingxing is a more fitting name for this generation, but you can call me whatever you feel most comfortable with.” His elbow is on the armrest, and you don't like the look in his eyes. It's as if he's studying you. "Dan Feng is looking for the Aeons, is he not?" He slightly leans closer. “Or, is he looking for you?”

Unfazed, you give him a deadpan look.

“I’m getting tired of explaining that I’m not someone from the past. How do you know about me?”

“I know he's secretly looking for the woman who betrayed him. He’s never admitted it, but I know he wants answers. And... you say you're not someone from the past, but it's telling me otherwise."

You narrow your eyes. "What's telling you otherwise?"

“I am not supposed to exist,” Blade says sternly. “When The Great Purge happened, it was supposed to rid magic from the world. But something went wrong.” A slight pause. “I would think you know about The Great Purge.”

“I do. I also know that you were the one who told Furina to write The Book of Curses." You cross your arms. "If anything went wrong, I would suspect you had something to do with it.”

“A bold accusation, but I suppose it’s logical.” You almost roll your eyes. “But it wasn’t me. I never wanted immortality.”

"...So, you're like Furina. You never died? You just continued to exist?"

Blade almost chuckles. "Ah, so you know that much already." Then, his expression turns stoic. "Immortality is possible if you know the right people." Right people…? “There’s only so much you can accomplish without external resources.”

“What do you want?” you ask. “You say you’re here because someone granted you immortality. Do you think it’s Dan Feng? Is that why you're asking about him?”

“I’d like some answers.”

“How are you so sure he’s the one responsible?”

“You sure have a lot of trust in him. I don’t know whether to call you courageous or foolish. If you are the reincarnation of the woman he hates… he’ll kill you.”

“I’m not,” you say bitterly. “So, you don’t have to worry about that.”

“So you say.” Blade leans back, and his eyes land on your necklace. “Who gave that to you?”

“Why do you ask?”

“You asked me earlier what's telling me you're someone from the past." He points to your necklace with his pen. "There's your answer."

◆◆◆

Pierro is working in his office when he gets a call. He reaches for the phone and hears his receptionist’s voice on the other end.

“You have a visitor.”

“I’m not expecting anyone today,” Pierro says. “Whoever it is can wait.”

“Are you sure, Sir? Tsaritsa is here to see you, and…” Pierro hears some muffled conversation. “She won’t take no for an answer.”

Pierro shuts off his monitor screen. “All right.”

It’s not like he has a choice.

Tsaritsa arrives shortly after in her familiar dark blue dress. Her hair, tucked behind her ears, is pulled back into a fancy braid, and her makeup is uncharacteristically bold with a dark red lip and gold smokey eyeshadow.

“I thought the event would keep you until late,” Pierro says, gesturing for her to sit on the sofa. He stands and walks to a long table near the large window. “Coffee? Tea?”

“I finished reading the diary,” Tsaritsa says. Pierro, who’s pouring himself coffee, stops halfway and puts the decanter back in its place. “And I want to know more about the woman your ancestor mentioned… Idrila.”

Pierro turns around with his cup. “That impatient, huh? It can’t wait until later?” When she says nothing, he finds her silence a little suspicious. He turns around, pours her a coffee, and says, “Well, I don’t know how much I can tell you. I’ve never met her, obviously.”

Tsaritsa coughs, and he doesn’t think much about it until it starts sounding a little violent. Pierro turns around holding two cups of coffee and sees her hunched over with her hand over her chest. But what almost makes him drop the cups is when he sees blood on her hand. He quickly puts them down.

“Hey,” he says, running over to her side. “Are you okay?” He puts a hand on her back. “Did you take your meds?”

“I’m fine,” she says calmly, reaching over to grab a tissue. She puts it to her mouth and straightens up. “...I’m fine.”

Pierro, one of the few who knows Tsaritsa has more than just a weak body, still looks worried. “Are you sure? Have you been taking your medication?”

Tsaritsa looks at him, a look that screams that he’s asking the wrong questions. “I said I'm fine, Pierro."

Pierro frowns. “I’ve noticed, you know. You’ve been coughing a lot more, and your fatigue is getting the best of you. I wouldn’t be surprised if the others are picking up that something is wrong.” He sighs. “Have you been seeing your doc—”

“Why do you think I’m here?” Her question takes him by surprise. “I know it’s getting worse.” She sighs to compose herself.  “But, you and I both know there is no cure.”

It was late at night, and Nanook was heading back to his room in the mansion when he saw the door of Tsaritsa's room ajar. As he got closer, he heard her cough. Once. Twice. And…

He stopped and peeked inside.

Tsaritsa was standing, hunched over her table. An old-looking open journal was off to the side. Nanook quietly opened the door, not wanting to startle her, but then he saw the blood on the table.

“You’re getting worse," he said. Before Tsaritsa could react, Nanook was already by her side. “It’s escalating.”

Tsaritsa's hand groped for the drawer as she took a breath. Finally, she got it open, and her hand shakily took out some pills. When she had trouble opening the bottle, Nanook helped her and watched her down two pills.

“...I’m fine.”

“Really?” Nanook asked, not convinced. He glanced at the blood. “This says otherwise.”

“What are you doing here?” She grabbed the journal and closed it. Nanook realized it was the journal from Pierro. “It’s late.”

“Well, I heard you coughing, and”—he looked at the blood—”do I need to say more?”

“It’s nothing,” she answered calmly. “I’m getting better.” Then, she put a hand on top of the journal. “You knew Pierro’s ancestor, didn’t you?”

Nanook slides a hand inside his pocket. “So, that old geezer mentioned me after all. Should’ve known.”

“This woman that you and Lan were so fond of…” Tsaritsa faced him. “Idrila. She was sick, and after she poisoned herself to end her suffering, both of you wanted to bring her back to life.”

“Why are you so curious?” Nanook asked skeptically. “I thought what you wanted from that journal was to learn more about that pretty boy so we can get rid of him.”

“And I did learn something,” she answered. “But, this is my first time hearing about another woman.”

Nanook scoffed. “You sound like an obsessive ex.”

Tsaritsa suddenly grabbed him by the throat, but Nanook didn’t flinch. “Let’s stop playing games, shall we? Regardless of your reasons for staying in the human realm, I kept you around because you promised me one thing… You could find a cure.”

“And I haven’t stopped looking.”

“The sickness that Idrila had… She began coughing blood in its early stages.”

Now, Pierro understands.

“You don’t…” he begins. “Are you saying you have the same illness as her? That’s ridiculous! If what the journal says is true, it wasn't normal.”

“Wouldn’t that explain my circumstances?” Tsaritsa asks bitterly. “You’ve been with me since the beginning, Pierro. You, out of all people, should know how many times I’ve been told ‘I’m sorry… I wish we can do more.’”

“But that doesn’t mean it’s magic.”

The silence drags on… and on… and on.

“It’s because of Lan and Nanook, is it not?” Pierro asks. “Because of who they are and what they did, it feels like anything and everything can be explained because of magic. I know you want an explanation. I would, too. But this isn’t healthy.” He sits next to her and puts an arm around her shoulders. “We’ll get through this together.”

Will they, really? Tsaritsa has her doubts. Still, she knows Pierro means well unlike the others she met in her life.

She never knew her birth parents. Those at the orphanage never told her much about them either. It was a rainy night when they found Tsaritsa wrapped in a blanket in a large basket at the entrance of the orphanage. So, her childhood memories were with the kids who accepted her despite her weak body. But that didn't make life any easier as she watched them leave for loving homes. Pierro was the first. Arlecchino was the second, and Columbina was the third.

“Oh, I wish we could adopt her, but you see, we’re looking for…”

Tsaritsa believed she heard it all. Every single excuse one could think of for not wanting her, and all of them were about her condition. So, when a family decided to adopt her, she was over the moon until she discovered the truth.

“Is she asleep?”

No, Tsaritsa wasn’t. She was upstairs with a perfect view of her adopted parents in the living room below. But, they couldn’t see her as it was dark, and she blended in with the darkness.

“Yes,” her mother answered.

Her father sighed. “We… should’ve waited. Don’t you think? If we found out sooner you were pregnant, we wouldn’t have this problem.”

“Oh, it’s a little harsh to call it a problem, right? We were told that I couldn’t get pregnant… So, this should be a great surprise. Besides, Tsaritsa is a good kid for her age.”

“But, I’m thinking about the future. Now that we’ll have a child, I would like them to take over our business.”

“And… What about Tsaritsa?”

“I… I don’t want to assume the worst,” her father said. “But, will she live long enough to see the day?”

And since then, before Dan Heng’s mother was even born, Tsaritsa already hated her. But not as much as she hated her adopted father.

“You say it can’t be magic,” Tsaritsa says. “But do I need to remind you that it still exists? Lan, Nanook, and Dan Feng’s existence is enough proof.” She turns to Pierro. “Idrila was born with a weak body, but her condition was purposely made worse.”

“That doesn’t explain how you could’ve gotten it,” Pierro says.

“Did you read until the end?” Tsaritsa asks. “Before she died… She had a child.”

Pierro’s face goes pale.

◆◆◆

Bailu arrives at one of the largest hospitals in the city. She has her hands on her hips as she stares in pride that the hospital she helped to get off the ground is still doing well.

Despite being born with a condition that stunted her physical growth, Bailu easily soared above her classmates in terms of knowledge and talent. She was only ten years old when she graduated from one of the most elite universities in the nation and after two years of work experience in the field, she entered medical school. Graduating early, she had many great job opportunities but chose a small clinic, Bubu Pharmacy, that was just starting to get off the ground. With only two employees, Bailu was attracted to the idea of building something big from scratch. And it wasn’t until she brought someone back to life that Bubu Pharmacy completely changed.

It was a slow and rainy day, and Bailu was enjoying her usual conversation with her co-workers, Herbalist Gui and Baizhu when someone entered. As soon as they heard the bell, they spun around, shocked to see a drenched woman carrying a bleeding, young girl on her back.

“Please…” the woman muttered. She would’ve fallen to the floor if Baizhu hadn’t caught her. “Please help my daughter.”

“Y-You need a hospital!” Herbalist Gui said, a little shaken.

“There’s no time for that,” Bailu said, examining the young girl. “She’s… She’s already dying.”

The woman grabbed Bailu’s arm. “Please… Please save her.”

Bailu remembers the day like it was yesterday. The woman and the young girl were victims of a hit-and-run, and they wouldn’t have survived. Yet, the young girl did, and while it was thanks to Bailu, she didn’t like to mention it… as she took the woman’s life to save her.

“Did it…” Herbalist Gui said quietly, his eyes wide. “Did it work?”

The young girl and the woman were lying next to each other on a large table. Bailu stood on one side while Baizhu stood on the opposite.

“Bailu,” Baizhu said, and she looked up at the young girl. “You’re shaking.”

Bailu looked at her gloved hand covered in blood. It was true.

Suddenly, a painful groan grabbed everyone’s attention. Bailu almost gasped as the young girl’s eyes fluttered open.

“Wh… Where am I?”

“Oh, my God…” Herbalist Gui muttered. “She’s… She’s alive!” He looked at Bailu. “You did it!”

Except, Bailu wasn’t sure what to feel.

The young girl, confused and disoriented, finally saw her mother next to her. “M-Mom…!” She held her hand, and Baizhu saw the moment her heart dropped to her stomach. “You’re… You’re so cold.” She looked at the worried faces around her. “Who are you? Why is my mother—”

“She’s gone.”

No one expected Bailu to be so direct. Not even herself.

“She’s gone…?” the young girl repeated, and her voice barely above a whisper. “What do you mean she’s gone?”

“She gave up her life… to save yours.”

“No… That’s…” She looked from Bailu to her lifeless mother. “That’s impossible. You can’t—”

“That’s what we thought,” Bailu interrupted. “But you… You’re living proof.”

“This is huge,” Baizhu said quietly. “I never thought this could be possible.”

“How?” the young girl asked, her fists clenched. “If what you said is true, how did you do it?”

Bailu never thought she’d say it, and it felt more surreal after she did.

“Magic.”

They soon learned that the girl was named Qiqi, and with no other relatives, Bailu, Baizhu, and Herbalist Gui took her in and treated her as one of their own. But it wasn't long before they realized that transferring her mother's life to hers had consequences. Qiqi had stopped ageing, and she was physically stuck as a child. This had grabbed the attention of the locals and the media, and soon, Bailu was being pulled in all sorts of directions to research this strange phenomenon.

But Bailu had made one thing clear: She didn't want to do it again. She knew that Qiqi and her mother were supposed to die that night, but she played with fate at the desperate request of Qiqi's mother and won with conflicting feelings. By now, only a few individuals had access to developmental research about magic. Bailu was one of them. But instead of researching more about taking someone's life to give to another, she followed her interests in immunity and immortality, hoping that no one would ever have to give their life to save another again.

Despite times changing, Bailu is happy that Bubu Pharmacy—now Bubu Hospital—still retained its traditional look and feel. Baizhu, Herbalist Gui, and Qiqi would be happy knowing that Bubu Hospital is alive and well. As Bailu takes the elevator to the uppermost floor, she walks down the quiet corridor, not wanting to reminisce about the past… again. She has done it far too many times, knowing it doesn’t make the pain of losing them any easier.

She also doesn't want to remind herself that losing them has made her a murderer.

“Tsaritsa? Is that her name?”

Bailu stops. Did she hear that correctly? She takes a few steps back and peeks into the room. A man with long blonde hair sits with one leg crossed over the other in a chair. But it’s the man standing that grabs Bailu’s attention.

It’s him. It’s Nanook.

“I have reason to believe she’s Idrila’s descendant,” he says. “And you… You were her doctor, were you not, Luocha?”

Luocha? Why does that name sound so familiar?

It was a slow day for Bubu Pharmacy, so Bailu spent it working on her research. Baizhu was in the room next to hers, and he hadn’t come out since she saw him walk in this morning. Curious about what he was up to, Bailu left the room, saw Herbalist Gui and Qiqi attending to a couple of customers, and then softly knocked on Baizhu’s door.

“It’s open.”

Bailu opened the door and peeked inside. “Whatcha workin’ on?”

“Oh, you know…” Baizhu sighed, his eyes still on some experimental equipment on his table. “I don’t know if you heard… but the princess of the nation developed a strange illness.”

“I’ve heard bits and pieces, but not entirely sure what it is she got.”

“It’s supposed to be confidential,” Baizhu said. “They don’t want to cause any unnecessary panic.”

“Figures,” Bailu muttered.

“But, as much as they want it to be confidential, we won’t get anywhere if we don’t share information.”

“She’s losing blood, isn’t she?”

“Rather than losing, it’d be more accurate to say something is draining her blood,” Baizhu said, and Bailu raised a brow. “They say it’s because of a spy from the neighbouring nation.”

Bailu wasn’t surprised that those in power would want to direct the blame to others, and what better scapegoat to use than their biggest enemy nation? As she never liked those in power, she never bothered with remembering names or faces. Leaders were all the same. Greedy. Power-hungry. Two-faced.

“Do they want you to use magic to cure her?” Bailu asked.

“Well… That’s the thing,” Baizhu said quietly. “There’s no magic that can. Not right now, at least. Perhaps it also has its limitations or more research needs to be done.”

“Huh… How interesting that not even magic can provide a solution.”

“They’re bringing in another doctor to see if he can provide some insight,” Baizhu said. “I’m meeting with him tomorrow.”

“Really? Who?”

“Someone named Luocha.”

“How long are you going to keep standing there?” Luocha’s green eyes meet hers through the crack in the door. “You’re welcome to come in.

The door suddenly slides open.

“Well, well, well,” Nanook says with a small grin. “Look who it is.”

Chapter 15

End notes:

And the mystery deepens...

I promise to make the timeline a little clearer lmao. But, for now, Bailu and Dan Feng would've been human in the same time period but Bailu "died" before the invasion happened. For some reason, this chapter was kinda difficult to write. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed learning more about Tsaritsa and Bailu. And damn this chapter was hard to name lol.

Tag list: @lunavixia @sunsethw4 @boomie-123 @aerithsthingss

[lovelywriting666]

Flufftober Cuddles 💛 - Dan Avidan

Dan Avidan x gn!Reader

Warnings : Sleepy Danny

Word count : You’ll never know!

I was sitting on the couch in the game grumps office game room texting someone on my phone. I was talking with Allie waiting for Danny to come back after the power hour filming is done. Sometimes I went to work with Danny, honestly because work has been so slow and I can practically do it from anywhere so I can come to Dan’s work or go the recording studio with him which is always fun. Then I hear the door creak open and it’s Danny looking kinda out of it which makes me giggle and Dan puts on a fake offended look which makes me giggle more.

“Heyyyy hun, power hour was…something, so do you wanna head home now?” Danny asks seeing the pleading look on his face and I immediately go.

“Oh yeah, let’s head home. Bye Allie, I’ll text to you later” I say waving by to her and she waves back. I walk up to Danny and he immediately puts his hand around my should and we walk out together saying bye to people on the way. Once we get in the car I sit in the passenger seat and Danny drives, we play some 80s rock on the way home. Once we get home Danny pulls me to the couch in our living room which knocks the air out of my lungs as we land on the couch and Danny is fully on top of me like a weighted blanket trying to kill me. I giggle again when Danny lets out an exasperated sigh which makes him laugh when he hears me which squishes my lungs more.

“Babe- you’re killing me” I say tapping his chest and he immediately rolls and put me on top of him.

“Sorry hun, didn’t mean to” He says softly, whatever him and Arin did made Danny super exhausted, I can see the tiredness in his eyes. I sprawl out on his chest and his arms go around my waist, and I look up at Dan and he looks down at me. We look at each other for a while. I let out a small relaxed sigh as I rest my head on Danny’s chest and let my eyes close as Danny starts humming Kiss From A Rose. I listen to his heart beat as I zone out, just thinking until I get snapped out of it when I hear soft snoring and I move my head to look up at Dan who is completely out. I don’t dare to move, and just lay there enjoying Dan’s sleeping company.

Fin. 💛

[the-void-via]

★*☆♪ Argenti finds himself alone in his room, and immediately gets the feeling that something was wrong, setting off to find his silver cowboy ★*☆♪

Part 2

Part 1 here

——————————————————————–

Argenti's eyes slowly opened, laying in bed for a moment before sitting up, stretching his arms above his head. Looking around the room, everything seemed to be exactly the same as when he'd woken up a couple hours earlier.

However, this time, Boothill was gone.

He peeled off the covers and got up, shuffling into the bathroom to do his morning routine, namely his skin care and hair care.

After 15 minutes—a record for him—he walked back into his room, sitting down on his side of the bed and grabbing his phone. Unlocking it, he found no new messages from Boothill.

A strange pit settled into his stomach, his eyebrows furrowing. Something didn’t feel right.

He quickly pressed the button to call him, holding his phone up to his ear and waiting for him.

To his complete shock, he heard Boothill's phone ring from the dresser on the other side of the bed, where he normally sleeps.

Argenti swallowed thickly and crawled over to his phone, ending the call on his end.

Quickly unlocking Boothill's phone, the only new message he found from Caelus. He immediately tapped onto his contact and read through their messages.

Caelus: You sure you wanna do this mission solo?

Caelus: I can still join you if you want

Voice message converted to text

Boothill: nah, I can do it by m'self.

Caelus: Alright, if you say so. Caelus: Have you told Argenti about it yet?

Voice message converted to text

Boothill: he doesn't need t'know. At least not everything right now. It's not that important.

Caelus: as long as you're sure.

Caelus: if you need backup, don't hesitate to call

Voice message converted to text

Boothill: thank ya, kindly, but I'll be alright.

A knot welled up in Argenti's stomach, and he quickly stopped reading, rushing to put his clothes on.

Something was terribly wrong.

He needed to find Boothill now.

After rushing around for about ten minutes, he was finally able to leave his room, with both his and Boothill's phones in his pocket.

Walking out to the main car on the Express, he looked around, and spotted Caelus nearby. He sat with Dan Heng and March, chatting as if nothing was wrong.

Dan Heng noticed him first, raising an eyebrow at the concerned expression on his face as he walked up.

"Caelus," Dan Heng began. "I think you have a visitor."

Caelus looked up at Argenti, and upon seeing the worry on his face, knew what happened. His eyebrows furrowed, letting out a small sigh.

"He's down in Belobog right now; he said he didn't want anybody to go with," Caelus admitted. "But we haven't heard back from him in hours. If you wouldn't mind-"

"I'll go find him right away," Argenti immediately responded. "Thank you, Caelus."

With that, he swiftly turned on his heel and left. He needed to find him, and now.

A million thoughts raced through his head as he landed on Belobog, immediately setting off to find his silver cowboy.

Why would he go off on his own?

What could've possibly been going through his head, going off without his phone?

Is he alright?

Is he hurt?

Is he-

Gunshots.

He heard gunshots nearby.

Hope filled his chest, summoning his spear and running forward, he had to be nearby, he had to-

The first thing he saw were the bodies of voidrangers, scattered around the area, all starting to disappear. Boothill had made good work of them.

He frantically looked around, and spotted one final voidrangers, looking far stronger than it's comrades. It attacked, a flash of silver-

"Boothill!" Argenti cried out, the voidranger stabbing into his silver cowboy's shoulder.

He saw red.

He charged forward as it ripped itself from Boothill's shoulder, stabbing his spear straight into its heart, knocking it off balance.

He and the voidranger flung back a few feet, the voidranger landing on it's back, Argenti's spear lodged deep in it's heart.

He leaned in close to it's face, his expression frightingly calm.

"You." He hissed, his boot slamming onto the shoulder of the arm used to stab Boothill, pressing down hard enough to shatter the bone. He ignored it's pitiful scream of pain, opting to press harder.

"How dare you," He twisted his spear, galaxy-like blood pouring out if it's chest. He once again ignored it's cries and screams of pain, his grip on his spear tightening. "Attack my beloved like that."

He twisted his spear again, "Let this be a lesson to you pathetic creatures. Never will you attack him, again."

He withdrew his spear sharply, giving it one last look before turning around, simply letting it bleed to death.

He wouldn't make it's death easy. That would be too kind.

He put his spear away, quickly running over to where Boothill had laid, his beloved cowboy's eyes wide as he witnessed the whole ordeal.

"Boothill, darling," Argenti gasped, kneeling down to him, looking over his wound. "By Idrilla, are you alright? Were you hit anywhere else? Were-"

He stopped upon seeing Boothill's bewildered expression, looking between him, and the dying voidranger, choking on its own blood.

"Darling?" He whispered, gently cupping his face to have him look at him. "Look at me, please. Are you alright?"

Boothill blinked, trying to focus back on the red-head in front of him, the warmth of his gloved hand on his cheek dragging him away from the voidranger.

"I..." He mumbled, swallowing thickly. "Yeah, I'm...I'm alright. 'G-'Genti, what are ya even doin' 'ere...?"

Argenti chuckled softly, "What else would I be here for, darling? You," He leaned in, gently placing a kiss on his forehead, rubbing his cheekbones with his thumb. "I needed to find you. You were gone, and I..."

"'Genti," Boothill interrupted, giving him an apologetic, yet urgent, look. "We should keep talkin' 'bout this later, probly need to get me back to the Express," He tried to move his injured arm, only to wince, and put it down. "Need ta' get this fixed."

Argenti quickly nodded, "Ah, yes, apologies, darling. Here," He swiftly picked Boothill up, seemingly without any effort at all. "I'll carry you back. We'll get you fixed up in no time."

Boothill nodded, his face flushed slightly as Argenti picked him up. They walked back to the drop point for the Express in silence, a pit setting into Boothill's stomach.

'What’s he even gonna say 'ta me 'bout all this...?'

[fandomwrites]

Can you do a kevin William Paul x fem reader where the reader comes to the Outsiders opening night to surprise him with the help of Dan to get front row of the show, then backstage passes

KWP x Reader

Summary- You and Kevin have been together for a little while now. After your show in LA is over, you drcide to surprise him on the opening night of The Outsiders.

Word Count: 635

HOW ARE YOU HERE

It has been way too long since I’ve seen Kevin. I’ve been in LA doing a show there but the show just closed and its opening night for The Outsiders. So I decided to surprise him tonight. With the help of his dressing room roommate Dan I managed to get front row tickets and a pass backstage. 

As I’m getting ready Dan calls me.

“Hey Dan what's up?”

“Hey I was just making sure you got the email with the ticket.”

“Yes I did. Telecharge right?”

“Yes ma'am. Good, so after bows go to the stage door and show them the pass I sent you. Tell them to call me if they need clarification okay.”

“I will do that thank you.”

“Your welcome, I can’t wait to see his reaction. He’s been talking about you non-stop this week.”

“Aww what a sap. I can’t wait to see him either, I couldn’t miss opening night. It’s too special.”

“I know and there's no doubt he’ll appreciate it. Listen, I have to go get ready for the red carpet so I’ll see you soon.”

“Okay bye Dan see you later.”

“Bye.” And we hung up. Which reminds me, I need to figure out what I’m wearing to the show.

I decided on an outfit that I haven’t had the chance to wear yet. I look at the time and it’s getting a little late so I decide to get my bag and stuff together so I can get to the theater. 

I can’t wait to see him. 

*At the theater*

As I walk into the theater I’m in complete awe. I can’t believe I’m finally here. After all I’ve heard from Kevin it's finally happening. 

I can just tell by the energy of the crowd the show is gonna be incredible. As I see Brody walk to the stage I can barely contain my excitement, here we go.

After the show I’m speechless. Everyone was unbelievably incredible. My face is stained with tears and I’m just so proud. 

As everyone is bowing I can’t help but scream for everyone and I catch Kevin’s eye and I see his smile get so much bigger.

I can’t wait to go backstage and finally hug him. After bows while everyone piles out the theater to go home or stage door I just stand there and take everything in.

When I get to the door the guard lets me in when I show him my pass from Dan. Once I step into the backstage area all I can hear is people shouting in excitement. I walk upstairs and I immediately see Dan.

“You made it!” He says and hugs me.

“I did, oh my god you guys were incredible I couldn’t stop crying.”

“Thank you, Kevin said he saw you at bows, he doesn’t know your back here though. He said you texted him to meet outside.”

“Yeah, I couldn't spoil the surprise since he already saw me.”

“Good call, okay let's go to the dressing room so you can say hi.”

We walk upstairs and I pass by Emma who I’ve done a show with before so I quickly hug her before continuing up the stairs to Kevin and Dan’s dressing room.

“Kevin, are you dressed?”

“Yes!”

Dan opens the door and Kevin looks up from his phone.

“Hi Kev.”

“Oh my god, what are you doing back here? I thought we were meeting outside.”

“Well I couldn’t spoil the complete surprise could I.”

He doesn’t say anything, he just hugs me tight.

“You did incredible, I’m so proud of you.”

 “Thank you. And thank you for being here, I know you're probably tired after doing your show.”

“I am, but you’re more important I couldn’t miss this.”

He smiles again and kisses me. I’m finally home where I belong.

[69bitterbeingz]

IF YOU'RE GONNA BE DUMB || CH. 1

next ->

DISCLAIMER: This is a reupload from my prev account! best to follow the fic through ao3 [linked below] to avoid any future issues PAIRINGS - johnny knoxville, bam margera, steve-o, chris pontius, ryan dunn x reader WARNINGS - swearing, drinking, smoking, brief injury mention

ao3 version

“So what are you doing at the moment?”

“What am I doing…” You repeated, twirling your cigarette between your fingers, clicking your tongue. “Things, y’know. Stuff.”

“Stuff?”

You chuckled. "  Yeah, stuff. Guy’s gotta have secrets.”

“Any new music?”

“Well….” You dragged your tongue over your top teeth, then smoked your cig. “…You didn’t hear it from me but we may or may not be working on a new album.”

“Exciting! Fans have been getting pretty restless - after all, it’s been a year since the last album.”

“C’mon, one year really isn’t that long to wait for an album. Want it to be shit?” You took another drag.

“Any details? Release date?”

“Nah, can’t say. Maybe we have some exciting collabs lined up but my lips are sealed.”

“Alright, alright, point taken. Moving on to new appearance, you’ve recently been featured on the new season of MTV's hottest new show—“

You cackled, immediately catching on.

“So what’s the story with you and the ‘Jackass’ daredevils?”

You shook your head, grinning from ear to ear, “Where do I start?”

“How about the beginning?”

⋅───⊱༺ ♰ ༻⊰───⋅

Curtains drawn, lights dead, total darkness in the room; sun tried to bleed through thick fabric, but it was blocked, only able to illuminate the window sill. The room was silent aside from the whir of a desk fan set up on a chair by the double bed, jaggedly inching from side to side, over and over. The floor was littered with clothes, shoes, wires, it goes on. Clearly the inhabitant was a fan of clutter. Everything remained still, until a loud beeping cut through the stagnation. The duvet stirred, and an arm snaked out from under it to clumsily smack the buttons of the wired phone on the bedside table. 

Click

“[Y/n] ? Didn’t think you’d be awake.”

“Then why’d’ya call…?”

“ I was going to leave a message. ”

“Mmm…” The duvet stirred again, a head now peaking out from the nest; your eyes were barely open a crack, even the low light of the room hurt. “...For the record, I wasn’t awake. How’s it going, Valo?”

“ Tired, but exciting all things considered. That’s why I called, actually.”

“Oh yeah…?”

“ Mhm, doing a concert in LA tonight, you should come to the show. Been a while since I’ve seen you. ”

“What’s the venue?”

“ A place called ‘The Wiltern’? Have you heard of it?”

“Yeah yeah, done a few shows there myself. I’m game.”

“ Great! I don’t suppose Mila and Dan want to come…?”

“Nah, rest of the band is out of town.”

“ Ok, I’ll see you tonight then.”

Click

Fuck. You should’ve asked when it was. Reluctantly, you pushed off the duvet and pulled up the swivel chair to your desk, powering on the computer. Not difficult to figure it out. You scratched your arm as you waited for the dial-up to stop screeching, glancing at the time on the toolbar and cringing slightly. 3:49pm'. Eh, at least you’re consistent. Looks like the concert started at 7, so you had time, too. That’s good, the last few times you made last minute plans you had about 20 minutes to prepare, but b y the time 7:30 rolled around, you were as ready as you could be, sleep still dusting the corners of your eyes. You were dressed as you normally would, a little on the goth-y side with tripp pants and all, but that's expected from a metal musician. Tripp pants are the shit , don’t need a handbag when you have like 8 fucking pockets. You made the rounds of the house, making sure everything was locked while you rang for a cab; once you hung up, you noticed the text you’d been sent from Valo.

‘See you soon’

It was kinda a pain in the ass having to go outside, but it would be worth it.

There was already a large crowd forming as you pulled up to the venue, making you instinctively sink down into the car seat. At least the cab driver knew to roll around to the back so you wouldn’t have to deal with the large crowd, or god forbid people recognising you. You slunk out of the car as quick as you could, only needing to show the security guarding the back door your face for them to let you through. Another security guard waiting inside led you to the green room, making small talk since you recognised him from one of the previous shows you did here. 

“Warm up’s on stage right now, you got about half an hour ‘til the band goes on.” He let you know as you arrived, and you just nodded. Granted you're a little late, but you’d make up for lost time at the bar after. Mr security guard swung open the door, and once Valo saw you he got up to greet you.

“[Y/n], so good to see you!” The two of you hugged, ending with a pat on his back.

“Wouldn’t miss it, Ville. Nice to get out the house.” You said hi to the other band members, until you came to somebody you didn’t recognise. Or- well, not consciously at least, as something about him was oddly familiar. He stared back as you raised an eyebrow, shoving your hands in your pockets.

“Heya stranger.”

“Ah, [Y/n]–” Ville took a seat next to the outsider, gesturing to him. “This is Bam, he's with the warm up band.”

“How come you’re not on stage?” You flanked Bam on his other side, and he shook his head.

“It's my brother's band.”

You hummed, scrutinising him. “You sure that’s all you’re known for? Swear I’ve seen you somewhere…”

He smirked, leaning his arms on his thighs. “You ever watch MTV?”

Then it clicked - that’s where you’ve seen him.

“Ohh, you're on that new show where all the idiots hurt themselves, right? I've seen that, pretty decent for torture porn.” You snickered, satisfied you put it together with his help. He made a face, like he wasn’t sure if he should be smug you recognised him or insulted you called him an idiot. 

“Idiot?” He repeated, looking unimpressed; offended it was. You shrugged awkwardly.

“I say as an idiot myself.”

Surprisingly, the two of you continued to talk after that small blunder. It wasn’t long before Ville and his band had to leave, but you were strangely unbothered by carrying on a conversation with a guy you had just met. The warm up band filtered in then left for some pub, empty bottles started to add and add to the coffee table, and soon you were talking like you’d known each other all your lives, braying like donkeys - it's incredible what alcohol can do as a social lubricant. He was a bit of a self absorbed asshole, but hey, who wasn’t? He was fun to talk to and right now that’s all you really cared about. By the time Ville came back, the two of you were very obviously 6 beers deep each. Ville chuckled.

“Good to see the two of you getting along...?”

That was one way of putting it. Bam had his arms tangled around you, drunkenly dragging you into his lap as you cackled and knocked back another beer, ungracefully thrown over his thighs. 

“Where were you hiding this one, huh?” Bam slurred, tightening his hold on your waist for emphasis and making you squeak. The vocalist smiled, waltzing over to the couch and grabbing a beer for himself.

“I didn’t think you were her type.”

“Huh?”

But you cut Bam off with a choked back snort, slinging your arm around his neck to hoist yourself up.

“ Come off it Valo, you don't know shit.” You finished your beer in one last gulp and threw it on the floor, breaking free from Bam to stretch your limbs. “You guys’re done here, yeah? How’s about a pub, eh?”

“Speakin’ my language.” Bam’s grin met his eyes. Ville had a look on his face like this would be a disaster of a night, but lord knew he was all in. 

It seemed Ville’s intuition was correct. The night consisted of crashing into clubs then getting subsequently kicked out, charging through the streets to find the next poor place to take you all in. Maybe it was how obviously trashed you all were or your tendency to get pissy at the bouncers when they gave you an ‘attitude’ - who knows, who cares? You were all too busy painting LA red. The entire time, you were hanging off of Bam’s shoulder like a lovesick teenager, which might have been embarrassing if he wasn't returning that energy, hugging you close to his side like his life depended on it. The debauchery ended outside some seedy metal bar you’d never come back to as the sun peeked over the horizon, more sober and definitely more bloodied than when you started. There was just you and Bam left, sat next to each other sharing your cigarettes. The dry blood on your hands and face contrasted nicely with the all black [torn] clothes. 

“Cab’s comin’.” You said, shutting your flip phone and fiddling with the charms hanging off of it. “You sure you don’t want me to order you one?”

“I know someone lives near here… just crash at their place.”

You nodded, lighting another cigarette and offering him the last from the pack. Bam gladly took it, lighting his end by yours. He kept glancing over at you, eyeliner smudged over his cheekbones blending into the black eye that was starting to form; he seemed like he wanted something.

“Hey.”

You glanced up at him, cigarette hanging from your lips. Bam motioned for your phone, and without question you handed it over.

“Lemme give you my number.”

“Sure.” You shrugged, a slight smile on your lips. “Gotta say, you made this night worth getting out of bed.” That seemed to please his ego, a smug grin on his face as he finished punching in his number.

“Glad to hear that, sweetheart. I had a good time with you.”

“Yea, hopefully it doesn’t end here, y’know?”

He took a drag of his cigarette. “I’m filming here for another couple months before I go back to Philly… come see me on set.”

“Really? They won’t mind some random chick joining in?”

“Fuck them, I want you to come. You’ll make things more fun.”

You scoffed, stamping out your cig and playfully shoving his shoulder. To any bystander, it may have even looked bashful. “Watch it.” But you were smiling playfully. “Alright, text me the office address, or… wherever the fuck you end up. Got nothing better to do right now, so I’ll be there.” You were so occupied by Bam’s wide smile that you didn’t notice the taxi pull up to the two of you until the driver yelled your name. With a sigh, you slapped your hand onto his shoulder in a farewell gesture and rose to your feet, trying to ignore whatever the fuck you had done to your leg. You were too tired to look back as you opened the taxi door.

“I’ll see you round, Margera.”

[generalsmemories]

Generalsmemories have hit 1k followers !! (I DON'T KNOW HOW) Thank you very much for your endless support for this blog and overwhelming love for Jing Yuan so far - as a personal thank you for your patience and supprt, we're doing a simple event of prompt drabbles

There'll be two sections of prompts you can choose from: fluff prompts or angst prompts and all the prompts will be written out as drabbles!

the rules will be right below this announcement which details what you have to do and how much you can request!

p.s: i need a break from having to write more than 5+ characters each event i do give me some slack for the first event- if i hit another milestone in the future i'll debate adding more characters to events like these HAHA

duration for requesting: 1st September - 8th September

rules:

You're free to mix up to 3 prompts (mixing sentences and scenarios works as well!) from both sections as you desire. but you're of course welcome to only request one singular prompt.

The reader will be gender-neutral, as such please address them as such when requesting for the benefit of everyone here!

please don't try to add more details along with the prompts - takes the fun out of it for me personally to conjure something up <3

If the request doesn't follow the rules I'll simply delete it without warning.

This is once again a Jing Yuan centric blog, but a certain Vidyadhara has been occupying my mind lately along with him, as such we're adding another character to the roster exclusively for this event!

As such, please request these two characters only if you wish for me to write something!

Jing Yuan

Dan Heng (Depending on how I interpret the prompts requested, I'll choose his forms if it's not specified!)

prompts: (all prompts taken from @/novelbear)

fluff sentences:

"can you call me that again?"

"hey, sweetheart can you grab that for me?" "you're talking to me?" "who else would i be talking to?"

"no, you didn't just call me 'love' you said 'my love'. that makes a huge difference."

"is that like a friendly nickname or?" [sarcastic] "yes, i go around calling all my friends 'my dearest'." "oh, really?" "no!"

"no, i'm not going to give you a bite because i know you're not gonna like it. then you're going to ask me how the hell i like it, and i don't want to listen to that right now."

 “you’re so warm.” “i hear you, but we really need to get up, love.” 

“you know you’re stuck with me, right?” “thank god i am…”

“you’re going to get sick if you keep coddling me.” “and you’re just going to get worse if i don’t…”

"i'll choose you always. no matter what."

"something's on your finger. give me your hand, let me see.."

fluff scenarios:

making a little scrapbook of every treasured memory together and giving it to them

playing with their hair until they fall asleep

that warm feeling they get when they successfully make the other laugh out loud

not letting the sick one move an inch.

a simple scenario centered around kisses

angst sentences:

“that was probably the least sincere apology i’ve ever recieved.”

“you haven’t changed.” “…do you mean that in a good way or bad way?”

“hey, no crying…i thought we said we wouldn’t cry.”

“why do you seem upset?” “why the hell do you think…”

“everything felt so empty without you.”

“you’ve been tossing and turning for the last forty minutes. what’s up?”

 “i don’t want to go to bed angry…can we please talk about this?”

 “you told me you’d be careful!” 

"it's okay, we can fix this..."

"wait, don't go, please.."

angst scenarios:

 catching the other one crying shortly after an argument and immediately feeling an overwhelming wave of guilt crash onto you.

 pacing around while debating whether or not you should text them after they’ve left the house for a bit 

really trying not to say anything at first, but the other can tell they're upset by their mannerisms and try to find out what it is that's wrong

breaking down mid-hug because they just needed this so much

needing to go to an event after a party and having to pretend as if they aren’t angry with one another the entire time 

[jenyifer]

I hate Dan let me explain

Here I’ll start without the work violations. Dan only thinks about sleeping with Nick. He doesn’t care about Nick at all. The way nick got up to dance with him and Dan IMMEDIATELY STARED at nicks lips and went in for a kiss. FUCKING ICKY. No. No. Texting Nick ALL the time. Going to Nicks place of day work without announcement because why would Nicks dad be at the counter if Nick knew that was going to happen. Dan’s little speech about how kisses feel better when there are feels was hella manipulative. Here let me give you a situation.

You apologize for kissing your younger friend because they didn’t seem interested in more kisses or anything else after coming back from the restroom.

Your younger friend says it’s fine didn’t mean anything while looking really numb

Do you?

A. Ask them what’s going on? Maybe try to comfort them.

B. Make a manipulative statement to turn the convo to you and then fuck your younger friend on the table where you both work.

C. Tell your younger friend your feelings

Anyways kids I’ll say it until I’m blue in the face NICK IS AN INTERN YOU DONT WORK THE INTERNS LIKE THAT ITS WRONG IDK HOW DAN IS GETTING AWAY WITH THIS HE IS A SHIT BOSS AND I WOULD SUE THE SHIRT OFF OF DANS BACK. IT IS NOT SEXY FOR SOMEONE WITH POWER OVER YOU TO FUCK YOU ITS CALLED ABUSE OF POWER FOR A REASON.

My prediction is Dan is going to confront Boston. I don’t think Dan would be shitty to Nick but guilty my baby I think is going to be the move. But we know Boston. I doubt that will work. I would love to see Boston defend him and Nick.

[winderlylandchime]

Hello! I’m here to tell you that my brother and Brian the cat are officially back home! I have to tell you some stuff tho! I was asked (nicely) to send you a message and i almost died when i got texts from my dad yesterday, so i knew i had to let you know. Anyway just a little thing for you to read because i thought you should see it as well.

I got a text from my dad that my brother befriended the old lady that sat next to him on the plane and they discussed Desperate Housewives because he is still watching it (he isnt at Gales season yet) and the lady really liked it back when it aired. He originally mentioned Gale and was about to tell her about qaf and my dad smacked him on the head and went ‘don’t even think about it. I’m not (my name)’ (he mentioned Gale and went ‘he was on this show Queer as OW’ according to my dad. You can take a guess when my dad smacked him) So he definitely has different ways of dealing with him than I do..I wouldve let it happen and then watch in amusement for 5 hours while he has an old lady trapped with him on a plane while he talks about two dudes in love.

ALSO! They had a surprise party planned for him. And i got a video sent to me of my brother’s girls (aka the queens) and his best friends that came to wait for him at the airport. They even made him a sign (the sign said ‘welcome back Mr Wannabe Kinney’) and he was so happy. And then they all surprised him at that bar they all go to! Turns out my mom, grandma, grandpa and the queens planned a surprise welcome home party. They decorated it all with signs that based on some photos had qaf topics written on them and balloons and when he sent me a photo this morning of all of them in a group, i swear it’s the cutest shit ever. I wish you could’ve seen it but just imagine a shit ton of people where 98% are queer, a few drag queens and then in the middle a dude with a Britin shirt on that looks like he doesn’t even belong there. It’s adorable how happy they all are to have him back and I can’t wait to find out how long that lasted until he unloaded all of his qaf/gale/randy/britin knowledge on them.

And secondly, I’m a little late with this but he did text me before he boarded the plane, asking me to relay a message to you: ‘yooo tell them that I just read that last chapter while we were waiting on our flight. What a fucking ending. I actually loved it, felt good, felt nice, felt like the right time. Wish that the real show ended in a similar way. For real (my name), you’re gonna love it when you read it.’

After that I texted him your replies to my message and he immediately texted me back ‘DRAG QUEEN STORY IS NEXT?! FUCK YEAH! I CANT FUCKING WAIT!’ And then in the middle of the night (so for him around 3 am) a very lovely text followed up: ‘can you nicely ask them to tell their Hannah Montana friend that I fucking love the new story. I have so many guesses and theories how it’s gonna go and I can’t wait to be wrong cause I know it’s gonna be better. And this shit is based on how the other person’s friends met?! I have so many questions, I feel like they’re right up my ally.’ After that he spammed my phone to ask me if I’ve read both of the fics yet (i have and they’re absolutely brilliant. You guys are talented as fuck)

Today he actually called me to talk to me about your epilogue and about your friends fic. This is really how we will bond from now on, isn’t it? I did send him your little teaser of the drag queen fic and he completely lost his shit. He’s so excited and if you were nervous about writing this fic, just so you know, you got a random straight dude in your corner because he is so excited for it, it’s kinda ridiculous (not really, its actually really sweet)

Btw, about the podcast Ron and Dan were on, I’ve also never listened to their podcasts even though I knew about it. But curiosity did get the best of me so I went and checked it out. It was a pretty decent interview. I don’t think it made me hate them more or less, kinda just the same. They didn’t say anything that I would clock as bad. I did see that they might do a part 2 where they’ll answer fan’s questions so i guess we’ll see then how i feel about them.

Dear sweet anon! Thank you so much for sending this update.

Queer as OW I'm dying! I would have let him trap that lady too. Maybe gotten another viewer of the show!

Welcome Back Mr. Wannabe Kinney! Oh I love that. I'm going to guess that since they're his friends, they're used to him info-dumping on them and they signed up for this. Otherwise, they wouldn't have encouraged it with their care packages. They know who he is.

I'm so glad he (and you!) enjoyed the final chapter of Fireflies. It was a short chapter given how long it took me to write it. I'm just terrible at ending fics.

This is my friend's story (as I texted it to the fic author):

"We were at a sex party and after fucking, I asked for his number and he actually gave me his real number instead of what he usually did which was give out the number of the last guy who had 'exchanged' numbers with him."

I'm excited that he's excited for the drag queen AU. It's going to be a long time coming though. I mapped it out yesterday and it's going to be about 20 chapters because I want a chapter devoted to each of the drag race all-stars challenges. And I'm going to include actual queens from the show. I want to have a good amount written before I start posting to make sure I'm up to the challenge. It's hard to capture everyone's voices and balance that many moving parts. My fics tend to focus on relationships and mental health, I don't write super plotty fics so this is new for me. I'm really excited for it though.

I'm going to check out the podcast! After I finish listening to my library book. WHILE WE WAIT FOR ANOTHER RANDY PODCAST EPISODE.

[underratedbananawerewolf]

Fictober Day 19

Prompt 19: "What if we're wrong?"

Fandom: Honkai Star Rail

Rating: G

Warning: None

Continuation of Day 18

"What if we're wrong?" March stared anxiously at her phone. The distress call had come from Stelle; a wordless call for help when the Nameless didn't have time to send a text. "She just went to visit Yanqing, right?"

"It doesn't matter." Dan Heng intoned. "Accident or not, we have to go."

"Are you sure you want to go, Dan Heng." Himeko asked. Regardless of Jing Yuan's revoking the Vidyadhara's exile it didn't necessarily mean that anyone else wanted him running around. "The rest of us can go instead."

"No." He was already moving. "Stelle is more important than whatever everyone else thinks of me." He had already risked the same thing to keep his friends safe from Blade.

"I'm coming too." March scrambled after him. "If she needs help I'm not staying behind."

Himeko frowned as she watched the pair leave. Given how far they had to go she doubted they'd get there in time. She had someone else that she could contact instead who was far closer and just as invested.

"Miss Himeko, what a surprise to hear from you." Jing Yuan's smooth voice came over the speakers. "What can I do for you or is this just a friendly social call?"

"Unfortunately we have a situation on the Luofu that requires immediate attention, General." The Astral Express's navigator said gravely.

A moment of silence followed before he spoke again, all amusement vanishing. "I'm listening."

"Stelle sent out an emergency distress call. We only use those as a last resort." She reported. "As I understand it she was training with young Yanqing today. Dan Heng and March are on their way but I worry they won't make it in time."

Jing Yuan's tone turned grim. "Do you have a location?"

"I just sent the coordinates that her phone broadcast.'

"I see it. Thank you for the information Miss Himeko."

"Be careful General." Himeko warned.

"I'll keep you updated."

"Thank you." Himeko sighed as the call ended. She could only hope that help would get to the girl in time.

[teaberrii]

Chapter 14: Ahead of the Game

You've been Cupid for as long as you can remember. You've brought countless soulmates together, yet you've never found love.

When you're assigned to bring two childhood friends back together, it should be simple until you unexpectedly catch feelings for the mysterious and cold Ph.D. student, Dan Heng, the man with a soulmate… the man with answers to your past.

Dan Heng/You

Notes:

Cross-posted on Ao3

Female reader

Chapter index at the end of chapter one

“Is that your friend?”

Pom immediately looks up. Luocha is staring at him as Pom puts his phone down. “Ah, yeah. She’s… looking for the locket.”

The silence is almost frightening. What is Luocha thinking about? Is he onto him? But more importantly, what are you talking about? Luocha is working with Jing Yuan? Did you see this in a dream? How do they know each other? Why—

Pom’s phone starts buzzing, and he’s about to answer it when Luocha suddenly says, “You aren’t a very good liar, Pom.” Pom freezes as Luocha puts the locket in front of him. “I think… you’re suspicious of me.”

“Why would you think that?” Pom asks a little too quickly. Perhaps he just answered his question. He quickly takes his phone and holds it between his hands on his lap.

“Your thumb has been twitching ever since you gave me the locket. You’re also a little hesitant to look me in the eyes. Your shoulders slightly fell when you looked at your phone, but you also looked puzzled about something.”

When Pom's phone buzzes again, he quickly puts it on silent. He can almost feel his soul leaving his body. Then, after a nervous chuckle, he says, “You, uh, you’re very observant.”

“Both of us want the same thing, Pom. You want to uncover the mysteries of this locket just as much as I do.”

That’s true. Except, Pom knows a little more, but after seeing that warning text from you, he has his lips sealed. For now, at least.

“You’re right,” Pom says. “But”—he takes a small breath—”how do I know I can trust you?”

“I’m Caelus’s doctor. Truth be told, I have my suspicions that this locket has something to do with The Withering.” Pom’s eyes widen. “The disease is the result of some kind of magic. Black magic, if I were to take a guess. This locket is infused with magic but”—Luocha’s eyes darken—“we don’t know what type of magic it is.”

"It's not black magic."

Luocha's eyes flicker toward Pom. "Oh? And how are you so sure?"

Again, Pom is deliberately avoiding his eyes as if looking for an answer. He knows something. Luocha is sure of it.

“Whatever's inside... it might be a cure," Luocha continues. "Who knows? But I want to help Caelus, Pom. I really want to stop this curse from taking more lives.”

Are you sure Luocha is working with Jing Yuan? It doesn’t help Luocha sounds sincere enough that Pom probably would’ve told him more if he didn’t get your text.

The doctor stands and says, “To make things clear, I’m on your side.”

As Pom watches him walk away, he looks down and sees that he's already missed five of your calls. When it comes again, he quickly picks it up. 

“I’ve been calling you for the past ten minutes!”

Pom can almost feel your anger through the phone. He stands and leaves the library. "Sorry, but hear me out!" After telling you about the coincidental meeting at the library, he asks, “Are you sure Luocha is working with Jing Yuan?”

“I don’t,” you admit. “I… don’t have any proof they even knew each other back then, but it’s just a hunch.” So, you tell Pom about Luocha, your brother from the past, and your suspicions about him.

“Wow. What kind of fantasy are you living in?” Pom asks, putting a hand on his hip. “You’re just surrounded by pretty boys. First Young. Then Jing Yuan… and now the good-looking doctor is your brother?”

"Yeah," you deadpan. "It's definitely the kind of life everyone wants to live. Anyway”—you sigh—“please tell me you still have the locket.”

Pom reaches into his breast pocket and pulls it out. “Yup.” Then, he puts it back. “Aren’t you supposed to be on a date? Where’s Dan Heng? Is he treatin’ you right?”

A small pause.

“I kissed her.”

Pom gasps loudly upon hearing Dan Heng’s voice. Dan Heng has been listening to the conversation with your permission, of course. As soon as he heard the question, he gestured if he could use your phone. You’d given it to him.

"A first kiss on a first date." Pom chuckles. "Gosh, you two are just getting right down to business. Save some smoochies for the rest of us."

You gesture to Dan Heng to give your phone back, and he does. “We’re on our way back.”

“Already?”

You slightly narrow your eyes. “Do you not want us to come back?”

“I just thought you’d want to stay out longer. Y’know… enjoy the night!”

You admit you want to, but with everything that’s going on, you don’t feel like you can really relax.

“But… maybe it's a good idea for you and Dan Heng to come back,” Pom says. Then, a sigh. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“I had a dream about the locket the other night.”

“...And?”

“It’s going to sound crazy, so hold onto something.” Then, Pom takes a deep breath. “I was the one who infused it with magic.” You and Dan Heng turn to each other, surprise on both of your faces. “Just come back. I’ll tell you the rest of what I remember.”

“Give me one good reason why I should help you.”

Pom and Young stood a distance away from each other. Young had his hands behind his back while Pom had one on a large wooden rod. The other was by his side.

“Jing Yuan,” Young said. “Surely, you know about him.”

“Ah, yes.” Pom rolled his eyes. “The Commanding General of the South. He’s quite the character.” Pom turned skeptical. “What about him?”

“I want to protect someone from him.”

Pom raised a brow. “Who’s the lucky woman?” A small gasp. “Or, is it a man?”

“Do I need to answer that for you to help me?” 

“It gets boring up here all by my lonely lonesome. Besides, you’re asking me for a favour, mister. I need details.”

Young slightly narrowed his eyes. Still, he answered, “The Princess of the North Kingdom.”

“Well, I'll be. A forbidden romance!” Young didn’t look amused, so Pom cleared his throat. “So, you want to protect a human from another man. Love the selflessness, but what's in it for me?”

“It would be in your best interests.” Young looked Pom in the eyes and said, “Because the world is already plunging into chaos and deterioration. You can't hide forever. Jing Yuan will arrest you, and you’ll be forced to become his shaman and his alone.”

Pom narrowed his eyes. “A plot to rule the world?”

“Jing Yuan plans on becoming the law.”

“And how am I supposed to trust you? I’ve heard about the engagement between the Princess of the North and the General of the South. Are you just jealous?"

“If I wanted to harm Jing Yuan, I wouldn’t ask you to put a protection spell on the locket,” Young reasoned.

Pom crossed his arms. “Why don’t you kill him?”

“That would start a war.”

When Young looked away, Pom sensed something more but decided not to press him. But he still had to ask, “I didn’t think you were such a hopeless romantic. If whatever Jing Yuan is going to do is inevitable, you should be saving yourself.” Pom put his hands on his hips. "Or, don't tell me her life is more important than yours."

"Are you going to help me or not?”

Pom sighed. Then, after a short silence, he held out his hand with a deadpan expression. "I need an object."

Young took out the pendant from the breast pocket inside his hanfu. One glance at it and Pom could tell that it was made of real gold. The pendant itself was small and round. A sun was in the center while embraced by a crescent moon.

“Will this do?”

When you and Dan Heng get back to the apartment, Pom is already back. He’s making himself a snack when you open the door.

“Welcome back, lovebirds!”

“We're back,” you deadpan, walking inside with Dan Heng behind you.

Pom walks to the living room wearing a black apron with block letters that say 'Kiss the Cook'. "Chocolate chip cookies are in the oven! I made sure the batter wasn't expired."

You laugh. “Glad you’re paying attention to the small details now.”

“I’d rather not make another trip to the hospital even though the doctor was pretty cute.” Before making his way over, Pom takes the locket he’d left on the counter and gives it to you. “Told 'ya I wouldn't let anything happen to it.”

You take it from him and put it around your neck. “If Luocha is after this locket, Jing Yuan probably also wants to get his hands on it."

"Probably... he also probably avoided asking about it to avoid suspicion when we saw him today," Dan Heng says.

“You saw Jing Yuan?” Pom asks, eyes wide. “What did he want?”

“He didn’t say.” You sit on the couch, and Dan Heng sits next to you. "If anything, he wanted to know why I thought so badly of him."

"Ooh, maybe he wants to repent for his sins."

"It's a nice fantasy," you deadpan.

“Do you think he’s also having dreams about his past?” Pom asks.

“If not… I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts looking into it,” you say. “He knows about gods. If he and Luocha are working together, he knows about magic. The concept of a past life wouldn’t be too farfetched.”

Unspoken words and questions linger in the silence.

Finally, you glance at Pom. “What did you dream about last night?”

“Oh, yes! Well, it turns out my hunch about being human has always been right!" He punches the air. "I knew I wasn't always a rabbit!”

You and Dan Heng listen intently as Pom tells his story that he used to be a shapeshifter who helped Young infuse a protection spell into the locket. But that’s as far as he gets.

“I woke up when I saw the locket,” Pom says.

“...What I’m wondering is where this fits into the bigger picture,” Dan Heng muses. “When did this happen? How did Young know about what Jing Yuan was planning?”

Pom sighs. “Good point. I… really have no idea. When Young first came to see me, I know I didn’t know Cupid. So, it must’ve been after I helped Young that I met her.”

“What was Jing Yuan’s plan?” you ask, thinking out loud. You look at Pom. “Young said that Jing Yuan wanted to become the law. That sounds like… totalitarianism.”

Pom starts fidgeting. “Maybe… I had to give it to you because, by then, Young was… gone.”

You subconsciously hold Dan Heng’s hand, and he gives you a reassuring squeeze.

“If Jing Yuan wanted to have complete rule over everyone, wouldn’t it make more sense if he’d started The Withering?” Pom asks. “Maybe… control it to his will, somehow, because it only affects certain people."

"If The Withering is anything like it was back then, it would make sense," Dan Heng says. "It only affects the wealthy and powerful people. I wouldn't be surprised if Jing Yuan had people he wanted to get rid of."

So, does that mean Young’s mother had something to do with Jing Yuan? And, what about—

“Caelus,” Dan Heng says as if reading your mind. You and Pom turn to him. “We’ve yet to discover what Caelus has to do with all of this. Why was he infected?”

Pom sighs and leans back. He frowns as he stares at the ceiling. “Is it too much to ask for someone just to give us the answers? No more questions!” He punches the air. “Stop the misery!” The sound of the oven goes off, and Pom hops to his feet. “I guess we can eat our frustrations away.”

As Pom walks away, you turn to Dan Heng. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

You’ve been wondering when you should tell him about your special ability: if you answer Dan Heng’s desires, you can make The Withering go away, but who knows how long it’ll last? Perhaps there is no right time. With the mystery deepening, you figure the sooner, the better.

◆◆◆

Jing Yuan stops at a high-end bar for a drink. It’s quiet, almost cozy with a casual business atmosphere. The lights are dim. When Jing Yuan enters the bar, people recognize him almost immediately. He is a regular, after all. He's escorted to one of the VIP rooms at the back and immediately ordered his usual: Gin.

Jing Yuan almost finds it amusing that you cannot leave his mind. Since when has he been so fixated on a woman? Never. It annoys him how he can’t remember you because you somehow have to do with The Withering. Jing Yuan slams his drink on the table and narrows his eyes.

“I was wondering when you’d show up.” Jing Yuan has his back turned toward the god, but like always, he always knows when Lan appeared. Jing Yuan turns around and sees the god leaning against the opposite wall and asks, “Did you go on vacation?”

Lan sees the empty Gin bottle and asks, “It’s not like you to be drinking this early in the day.”

“Gotta love happy hour.”

A knock comes at the door. As soon as Jing Yuan snaps his fingers, the doors slide open. A young man wearing a butler suit walks in and puts another bottle of Gin on the table. He bows slightly and walks out without any acknowledgement toward Lan. Well, that’s a given, considering Lan chooses who can see him. Once he makes that decision, that person will be able to see him no matter what.

“So, why are you here?” Jing Yuan asks.

“Do you know Caelus is getting worse?”

“What you’re really saying is that we’re running out of time. Right?” Jing Yuan exhales sharply. “I met your friend. She has a locket with her, and it could be connected to The Withering." He clicks his teeth. "I also know we knew each other in the past.”

Lan knows he shouldn’t be too surprised by this development. But how much did Jing Yuan find out in the short time he wasn’t around?

“I want you to answer me seriously, Lan." Jing Yuan looks the god in the eyes. “Is there something like a past life? Reincarnations?”

Is there any reason to lie? Lan doesn’t see one. So, after a short silence, he says, “There is. There is also something called doppelgangers.”

Jing Yuan narrows his eyes. “What's the difference?"

"Doppelgangers are an exact body double. Reincarnations don't have to look like their past counterparts. Someone can be one or the other, but it's also possible to be both."

"Was I and her connected in the past?”

“I don’t know.”

“You better not be lying to me.”

“If I wanted to lie to you, I wouldn’t have told you reincarnations and doppelgangers exist.”

Jing Yuan has so many questions. If he’s a reincarnation or doppelganger or both, why are you a god? Who is he supposed to represent? What happened between you and him in the past? Why did he lose his memories while you still had them? And… why are they coming back now? Is it possible he had something to do with The Withering?

Lan can see the questions on Jing Yuan’s face. The way he furrows his brows. The way this thumb spins the large ring on his finger. The way he’s tapping his empty glass against the counter. Meeting you must’ve had a strong effect on him.

“If we knew each other, why is she a god?” Jing Yuan asks. “Doesn’t make sense.”

“Gods are representative of something,” Lan answers, and Jing Yuan turns to him. “But she is a special case, something I can’t comment on because I don’t have the answers you’re looking for.” Jing Yuan sighs. “As for the locket, I knew about it, but I didn’t think it would be related to The Withering, which is why I didn’t bring it up.” Whether Jing Yuan believed him was another story.

“What do you know about it?” There’s a commanding undertone to Jing Yuan’s question that tells Lan he’s desperately searching for answers.

“It belonged to a creature named Young. Dan Heng is his doppelganger.” Jing Yuan’s eyes widen. “As for what Young has to do with the disease, I have no idea.”

Another knock comes at the door. Again, Jing Yuan snaps his fingers, and the door slides open. This time, it’s Luocha.

“Perfect timing,” Jing Yuan says.

"Looks like your relaxing day off at the aquarium didn't go as planned," Luocha says, looking at the nearly empty bottle of Gin. "You haven't been answering your phone.”

Jing Yuan waves his hand dismissively. Then, he looks at Lan. “He’s the one who told me about the locket.”

Luocha looks at the empty space, but this time, he sees Lan. “We finally meet,” Luocha says.

“But it doesn’t look like introductions are needed.” Lan narrows his eyes. “What do you know about the locket?”

“It’s infused with magic.” Luocha has both of his hands in his pockets and gives a slight nod to the side. “It's something that's not supposed to exist, I would think.” He turns to Jing Yuan. “I met Pom today. The man that was with us the day at the hospital. He had the necklace.”

“Did you get it from him?” Jing Yuan asks.

“If I did"—Luocha takes his hands out of his pockets as if to prove a point—"you’d see it by now." He sighs. "He’s suspicious of me.”

“Why?”

“If I were to take a wild guess, it probably has to do with his friend." Luocha grabs an empty glass and pours himself a drink. "The woman who came to see me that day. He called her Cupid.”

“...Cupid?” Jing Yuan looks at Lan who offers no explanation. At the god’s silence, Jing Yuan looks back at Luocha. “Did he say anything useful?”

“He let it slip that the locket is not infused with black magic. It's not supposed to bring harm to people." Luocha finishes the drink in one shot. "Pom knows more than he lets on.”

This is news to Lan, but he shows no hint of surprise.

“Well, here’s another question. Why would be he suspicious of you?” Jing Yuan asks. “You’re Caelus’s doctor. If anything, they’re supposed to trust you.”

Luocha pours himself another glass. “I heard you say something about reincarnations.” The doctor swirls the alcohol for a moment and downs the drink. “As there’s no reason for them to be suspicious of me, perhaps it has something to do with the past." He shrugs. "Call me crazy.”

Jing Yuan turns and walks toward Lan. “If it’s true they’re suspicious, they must have their old memories or parts of it, at least.” He stops in front of him. “And we need to get ahead of the game.”

◆◆◆

Jing Yuan’s eyes are on the flickering flames in the fireplace of his high-rise apartment that late evening. Magic. Curses. Doppelgangers. Reincarnations. Gods. Since when did he start living in a fantasy novel? But what surprised him the most was learning he was a doppelganger of a commanding general of the southern kingdom. Jing Yuan had finally squeezed the truth out of Lan, but he isn’t going to stop there. How much do you know? How much does Dan Heng know? It’s painfully unfair you’re keeping all of this to yourselves when all Jing Yuan wants to do is get rid of The Withering.

A knock at the door makes Jing Yuan stand. Wearing nothing but a robe, he walks over and opens it to a woman wearing a short, black dress. Her makeup is done the way he likes it: a bold, red lip and dark eyeliner.

She smiles. “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting.”

Jing Yuan grabs her and pulls her inside. Without warning, his hot mouth is on hers just as the door swings shut. Her back is against the door as she returns the unyielding kiss with equal ferocity. It’s what she loves about him. Jing Yuan doesn’t wait. Not in times like these where there are no consequences. He goes all in or not at all.

She isn’t supposed to taste this good. He’s kissed these lips before, but they’ve never tasted like what they do now. Sun-kissed berries on a warm summer day. His hand slides underneath her dress as his mouth gets increasingly impatient. Finally, he lifts her, and her legs wrap around him. Then, there it came. A sweet, sweet moan that fuels the spreading wildfire within. His lips leave hers no longer than a second. This is just what he needs. A distraction. A high. A—

“...Jing Yuan.”

The woman’s voice is nothing like what he remembers. Yet, she sounds so familiar. When Jing Yuan pulls away and looks at her, he turns pale.

It’s you that he’s holding.

It’s your legs wrapped around him and your hands in his hair. Then, that entire time, was it you he’d been kissing?

He immediately backs away and puts a hand on his forehead as he closes his eyes. Has he gone mad? What in the world is going on?

“Hey…” Jing Yuan swats the hand away and hears an angry, “What’s gotten into you?”

He finally looks at the woman again, and it’s the one he’s supposed to see. “You should leave,” Jing Yuan says coldly.

“Excuse me? You’re the one who called me here.”

And now Jing Yuan wants her to leave. Now. He glares at her. “I told you to leave.”

The woman scoffs loudly. “Men…”

As soon as Jing Yuan hears the door slam, he is already on his second glass of wine. He slams the glass down and puts his hands on the table. All he thought was that you looked familiar. Now, you’re infiltrating into his life without any explanation. Did that… whatever that was… have something to do with his past? Jing Yuan grips the table tightly.

Had he been in love with you?

Chapter 15

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