#anyway yeah im writing again
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this is not revised yet but here you go some angry wolfstar for u :)

#may i present to you#the virgin suicides remus#baby tries to be nonchalant but starts screaming from day 1#also the âyoure no starâ???? im so proud of that line especially cause later on you get that hes an astronomy nerd so its just aaaahhhh#anyway yeah im writing again#tvs fic!#marauders era#the marauders#dead gay wizards#dead gay wizards from the 70s#mwpp#moony wormtail padfoot and prongs#marauders fic#wolfstar fic#wolfstar#remus lupin#sirius black#james potter#peter pettigrew#bee writes#bee fangirls#:)#oh also dont forget to have a sip of water today <3
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Happy 1 year anniversary to Mr Sherlock Holmes! Here's a litttleee celebratory comic from me
#sherlock & co#sherlock and co#writing these tags on the 29th of september#which is when john and sherlock ACTUALLY met <3#so there you go#uh once again shout out to candy for letting me talk through some of my processes#it helps immensely and i really wanted to be sure i was getting across what i wanted to with this one#speaking of which - usually i yap a lot in the tags of these bcus i love talking about art#for this one...im not sure i want to comment too much#because i'll be here forever and i think most things can speak for themself#but let me say this one thing#for the first five pages i was drawing john on paper and sherlock on the computer exclusively#and then bringing them together..#uh it really made me think of paul and harry. recording on opposite sides of the world. brought together by the power of editing#its not a particularly emotional scene but i hope ive infused it with. something.#anyway thats it from me#if u want to ask about any particular aspect i would love to yap about the process but i'll just leave it here for now or i'll never shut u#happy 1 year podpals#patsart#oh yeah i will say i did have to take quite a bit of liberty with the audio in order to do what i wanted. forgive me#or dont idc
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playing for keeps â chapter four
alexia putellas x barçakeeper!childhoodfriend!reader
warning/s: coarse language; mentions of: grief, death, drowning; not proofread
(a/n in the tags)Â [chapters: one, two, three, four]
word count: 13.1k
[1]
âCan you meet me at the playground?â was Guilleâs message the night after your graduation, casting a blue streak over a relatively warm summer night. The short hand of the clock hovered over eleven when you got it, and you had half a mind to ignore itâbecause how dared he do this now?âbut you sent him a reply before heading out of the door.
The playground was less than ten minutes away but you took the corner; the one that led around the block. He could wait, you thought. After all, youâd been giving him just that: the luxury of time. But he never did anything with it did he, so why would you rush? And what could he possibly want now after months of ignoring you? Was this a final goodbye? After everything youâd been through together, was this really how itâs going to end?Â
You sniffled and ran the back of your hand over your eyes as you walked the last few yards to the park.
Tap tap tap.
The distinct sound of football-to-shoe brought you back. Ahead under the yellow glow of the lone streetlamp that lit the playground, with his back turned to you, was Guille juggling a football. A breeze brushed your cheek and it carried the familiar sweetness of Guilleâs body spray. You remembered when he started using itâit was around the time youâd complained to him about how you found the scent of guyâs deodorants repugnant, and that you could only stand the new scent that he bought. And after that, it was all heâd ever used. You couldnât help but wonder if that was around the time he started liking you, and the thought made you recoil.Â
The ball reached another high, this time going over Guilleâs head, making him turn, but it never connected to a touch. Instead, it landed on the ground. Its momentum carried it to a stop just a few paces away from you but you made no move to kick it back. You dragged your eyes away from the ball and found his finally.
For a moment, it was as if the world stood still. You soaked in the state of him: there was a heaviness that swelled in the skin beneath his eyes which were devoid of their usual light; his arms sagged heavily by his sides, contorting the contours of his silhouette to a shape that displaced the confidence youâd seen him wear so easily growing up. Even in the low light, the jagged cut that interrupted the line of his left brow remained prominent, but it was gone from view when dark curls fell to cover it after Guille ran his fingers through his hair.
He cleared his throat before he spoke, yet his voice still broke over his words.Â
âHey. Uhâthank you for coming,â he smiled a little. âCan we talk?â
You eyed him carefully, letting a moment of silence settle in the air as you crossed your arms. Only after you noted a slight movement in Guilleâs throat did you skim the sole of your foot over the ball, sending it his way. When you met his eyes again, something akin to relief shone in themââor maybe it was gratitude?ââbefore he kicked the ball towards you again. That went on for a while; back and forth the ball went during which no one said a word. From the way Guille kept clenching and unclenching his hands, you doubted he knew what he even wanted to say, least of all how to say it.
Still, you waited.Â
Another moment, he stopped the ball, wiped his hands on the sides of his shirt before stuffing them in his short pockets, his posture awkward and stiff. He opened his mouth and in the breath before he spoke his first word, your heart dropped to your stomach and you braced yourself.
This was it.
âIâI want to apologize!â
You blinked. That⌠was unexpected.
âI know itâs probably too late, but I donât think I can live without saying it, you know?â He shrugged as he smiled, but it was too crooked, and his eyes shone.Â
âIâm really sorry. For what I did, and what I said. Those hurt you⌠I hurt you.â
He released a shaky breath, bit his lower lip as he swiped a thumb at the corner of his eye.
âIâm not expecting to be forgiven and I understand if you donât want to be friends anymore. I justâIâm sorry. And I want you to know that I had the best time with you.âÂ
His lips curled up to a smile but the quiver of his chin broke the curve and his tears spilled.Â
He looked so young then, so much like a lost little boy who looked nothing like the boy you met when you were eight: newly-transferred Guille who became the smallest out of all the boys in your class yet, with his quiet confidence, he towered over them with his head held high. You remembered him as he was then when he first introduced himself to you, his cheeks rosy from playing too much under the sun and just a little out of breath when he asked you to be in his team during recess. He did it too without any snide remarks, something youâd gotten used to from playing with the other boys in class. He never brought your being a girl up even when your team lost, and it was the first time you were treated as an equal on the field at school.Â
And he just stuck with you, and you with him; all the shared lunches, the laughter, the late night banters⌠there was no way you could let this friendship go.Â
This was so stupid.Â
âThis is stupid,â you choked as you hastily wiped a tear away but it was quickly followed by another. âCome here, you idiot!âÂ
You surged forward and wrapped your arms around him, the force of it nearly knocking the both of you over. It took him a second but when the weight of his arms settled on youââwhen his comforting warmth finally seeped inââyou were hit by just how much youâd missed him.
âIâm sorry. Iâm so, so sorry,â were the strained words spoken against your ear as he hugged you tighter.Â
âYouâre an idiot,â you mumbled on his shoulder. âItâs going to take some time but weâll be alright, I forgive you. And I want us to remain friends, under two conditions if youâre up for it.âÂ
He pulled away slightly to wipe his cheeks, and gave you a small smile. He was a bit breathless when he said, ���Anything.âÂ
There was a light lilt in his tone and you understood he meant it, so you nodded, returning his smile. He followed you when you went to sit on one of the benches, situating himself so there was enough space between you for one person.
Looking him in the eye, you started, âI know itâs a lot to ask but if you have any plans to wait for me, I want you to forget about it. I love you and I care for you, but I need you to understand that a brother and a friend is all I will find in you.âÂ
His eyes strayed downwards and they clouded over. He closed them with a sigh and when they opened, he looked at you and you found a lightness in them that comforted you; his face bore a friendly warmth that you havenât seen in a while.
âI understand, and you donât have to apologise.âÂ
He scooted closer so he could bump his knee against yours, now grinning. His playfulness made you smile.
âAnd one more thing,â you added after a moment, and he nodded for you to continue. âYou⌠you have to make amends with Alexia.âÂ
The grin fled from his face and you didnât miss the way he flinched. His knuckles whitened and tension brewed in his muscles. And when his eyes darkened, you couldnât help but frown at the change in his demeanor. You reached out to touch his shoulder.
âGuilleâââ
Then, like a spring, all the air of rigidness left him. He threw his head back and released a laugh that caught you off guard. When he regarded you again, the curve of his lips remained.
Then he said in a tone filled with mirth, âYou know, if she hadnât knocked some sense into me that night, Iâd probably still be wallowing in self-pity like an entitled prick.â
At the reminder, your eyes wandered to the scar on his left brow but they lingered only for a second.
âAnd yes, done. She hates my guts,â you opened your mouth to protest otherwise but when Guille gave you a pointed look, you closed it immediately, âbut I will patch things up with her. Besides, I need to thank her for straightening me out.â
You gaped at him.
âItâs that easy?â
He shrugged, still smiling.
âI mean, yeah? Itâs either those or losing you, and I know I value you more than I do my pride and ego.â
There it was again, his quiet confidence. It diminished though when he brushed a finger over the bridge of his nose, eyes darting down to his feet briefly before meeting yours again. And when he spoke, there was more than a little uncertainty that bled into his tone, and maybe a little bit of hope.Â
âBesides, weâre friends. Right?â
You scrunched your nose at him in answer as you grinned.
âDamn right,â you confirmed. Then you punched his shoulder for good measure. His jaw dropped open in an offended gasp. He sat there wide-eyed for a moment before he locked an arm around your neck, his free hand mussing up your hair in an instant, and you could only shriek and chortle at the action.Â
In that moment, you felt as if a weight had finally been lifted off your shoulders. And there was no better way to truly feel the lightness of being than having somebody to laugh with. Then a comfortable pause washed over you both as you caught your breaths. In the silence that settled, you leaned back on your hands and kicked your feet up idly in the air.Â
It was Guille who spoke first.Â
âYou donât have to answer, but do you like someone?â
Your feet stilled. And then, without bidding, a series of images flashed through your mind of brown hair, freckles, hazel⌠Warmth coiled and gathered in your chest as if the ghost of a hand hovered over it.Â
âItâs her, isnât it?â
A distinct pop went off somewhere in your neck from the speed by which you gaped at him. Guilleâs eyes remained trained ahead and his face was relaxed, void of any judgement⌠Surely, he didnât say what you thought he said, right?Â
You swallowed, throat dry, and choked, âWhat did you say?â
âAlexia.â He turned to you then, and smiled; small but not unkindly. âSheâs the one, isnât she?â
Blood thundered in your ears, and your heartbeat tripled.Â
âNo! IâThatâs ridicââ
Warmth over your hand; Guille had taken yours into his, and the ice in your skin thawed instantly. Only when Guille tightened his grip to still your hand did you know just how badly you were shaking.Â
âHey, look at me. Itâs okay. I wonât tell anyone, I swear,â his voice was soothing and he squeezed your hand for good measure. âI think, deep down, Iâve always known. Maybe thatâs why I treated everything as a competition because I felt threatened by her. And I never understood why you always gravitated towards her like sheâs your own Earth. But now I know. If⌠If I ever made it difficult to come to terms with your feelings for her, Iâm sorry.âÂ
His words and their sincerity brought a calm with them, stopping the surge of panic in your veins. And, like a tide, it receded. Finally finding your voice again, you spoke.Â
âYouâyouâre not angry?â
His brows rose.
âWhy would I be?â
Then he gave you another smile. You understood it was meant to reassure you but you couldnât help but notice that the corners of his lips were somewhat weighed down with sadness. Still, judgement made no home in his eyes.Â
âI wonât tell anyone. I promise. And if you ever want to talk, Iâm here.â
A brief pause as his eyes wandered.Â
âIâMaybe not for a while. Itâs not that I want to, but I think some distance will do me some good. I want to respect your boundaries, and for me to do that, I need to get my feelings sorted out. Iâm⌠Iâve made up my mind anyway. Iâm leaving the city.âÂ
âWhat?â You choked. âWhen? Where are you going?â
Then a spark of anger went off. You jabbed at his shoulder. Guille yelped suddenly, his eyes became wide with surprise.Â
âYou jerk! Is that the reason why youâre finally saying sorry?!âÂ
âIâNo, of course not! I mean, yeah, but no!â He gestured in the air. âWhat Iâm trying to say is⌠Iâm here because I want to make amends, not because I feel like I had to. Besides, I wonât be leaving for another two months.âÂ
Oh.
âOh.â Your cheeks felt warm.Â
âYeah, âohâ.â He repeated with a sarcastic note but a playful spark lit up his eyes.Â
You apologised sheepishly. Then, âWhere are you headed? And what are you going to do?â
Guille shrugged, leaning back against his arms as he looked up at the night sky.
âI donât know yet. I was thinking of travelling for a bit, maybe go around Europe first? Do you remember how Aunt Aloma lives in London? Yeah, she told me I could stay with her if I ever planned to go there for university.â
When he mentioned London, a lead sank into your gut. Logically, you knew it wasnât too far away; the three-hour long flight would be a small price to pay to see Guille again. The fact that he wouldnât be an armâs reach away like he was right thenâthat childhood was departingâmade your chest ache. You didnât know youâd teared up until you felt Guilleâs hand on your shoulder and the consequent squeeze there.Â
âDonât cry on me now, I havenât even left yet.â He said lightly but his eyes were glazed over, too. âHey, donât worry, it wonât be for good. Before you know it, Iâll be back here to annoy you. And you know, maybe once Iâve settled in London you could even visit.â
You took his hand and squeezed it back, saying, âJust say the word and Iâll be there.Â
[2]
âHeâs studying what now?âÂ
âSports Psychology. Pay attention.â You swatted at Alexiaâs hand but she ignored you. She continued to pinch some more grass from beside where she was laying and let them get carried by the breeze as she threw them into the air. The blades of grass flew freely but some of them landed on her chest and stomach where a bunch of them had begun to pile up. Still, she continued her endeavor. She looked ridiculous but warmth filled you nonetheless, and you smiled as you leaned over to pick them off her jersey.Â
Alexia hummed with a note of surprise, âHe works fast. Heâs only been away for four months?â
âWell, we are talking about Guille here.âÂ
âHmm, I always thought Lover Boy would end up in physioâHey!âÂ
Alexia yelped when you jerked your thigh that her head was resting on.
âStop calling him that,â you reprimanded with a light flick to her forehead. At the reminder though, your cheeks warmed.Â
She rubbed her forehead as she narrowed her eyes at you, then with a huff and a pout, âFine, fine! No need to get defensive. Why is it such a big deal anyway?â
âBecause, Alexia, weâre all trying to move on.â
âYou make it sound like the two of you broke up or something.â She snickered before adding, âWhich begs the question, why didnât you ever go out with him? Minus the fact that he gave you a concussion, of course.âÂ
Her tone changed at the end, an inflection of something bitterâa bit of her protectiveness showing throughâthat you chose to ignore. Yet you found yourself unable to answer her anyway.Â
You recalled the conversation you had with Guille that night, the way he figured out who held your heart so easily. Ever since, a question gnawed at the edge of your mind, the same one that whispered to you now: were your feelings so transparent? So obvious?Â
A brush against your jaw pulled you back and, upon looking down, you were met with the question still in Alexiaâs eyes. You shrugged, pulling away from her touch as nonchalantly as you could.Â
âGuille is a friend and only that.â
âBut you were so close,â she commented.
âProximity doesnât always mean intimacy, Alexia.â You were grasping for straws, you knew this. Your eyes wandered before you admitted with another shrug, âBesides, I canât really see myself in a relationship. Not right now, anyway.â
âOh.â The sound Alexia made was gentle, barely audible, that you thought it was the windâs whisper. And then in a tone so soft, âReally? You donât like anyone? Anyone at all?â
There was something in the way she asked that beckoned you to look back down at her. The scattered rays of the sun dappled her freckled cheeks with flushed amber, and her eyes that were normally a deep shade of ochre shone golden in the light. There was a softness in them that made your heart stutter, and another thing you couldnât quite figure out, almost a plea, but about what?
You dragged your eyes away from her lips to meet her eyes.
âNo, I donât think itâs for me,â you murmured.
She stared at you for a long time. It felt like being swallowed into their depths and you could do nothing but be swept away, keep the contact somehow, lest sheâd find something she shouldnât see. So you stared right back.Â
Eventually, she whispered, âMaybe you just havenât found the right person yet.â
The lump in your throat remained even after you swallowed. Finally looking away, you hummed out in half-agreement.
âYeah. Maybe youâre right.â
A pause.
âDo you miss him?âÂ
âI do. I really do.â You admitted with a sigh.Â
After another moment of silence, Alexia continued.
âWould⌠would you join a club in England?âÂ
Your gaze flicked back down to her, frowning a little.
âItâs either Barça or Bayern for me, Alexia. You know this.âÂ
At that, Alexia averted her eyes, picked a fallen leaf, twirled it between her fingers, and then looked at it as if it held the mysteries of the world.Â
Carding a finger through her hair, you prompted softly, âWhy would you ask that?âÂ
She shrugged, quirking the corner of her lips downwards. Then she met your eyes with barely concealed vulnerability, voice hesitant when she asked, âSo, youâre staying?â
âI am,â you said firmly, smiling at her. âBesides, weâre in this together, arenât we? Wherever you go, Iâll follow.âÂ
Finally, her lips broke into a grin.
âI canât wait to play with you when we get on the first team.â She said with such certainty you couldnât help but grin back.
âDo you really think weâll make it?â
âYeah. We will, youâll see.â
And you did.
There reflected in her eyes the vision of a future. That familiar splendor of passionâthat unwavering resolveâshone untarnished, and the mere sight of it filled you with an overwhelming desire to kiss her. Instead, you leaned down and pressed your forehead to hers.
Alexia accepted the contact with a sigh, and then she whispered, âSorry to say, but youâre stuck with me, too.â
[3]
You got into Barçaâs first teamâthe both of you did.Â
There was a moment where you thought it was too good to be true, and that surely the other shoe would drop any time soon.Â
And it did.
Maybe deep down, you hoped otherwise; that the universe would prove you wrong. But the universe had a wicked sense of humor, and you wouldâve laughed at the cruelty of the joke if anguish had not choked your laughter tight into tears. The taste of achievement was still fresh on your tongue, still on your way to relishing it, before that same sweetness quickly soured to bitter disappointment.Â
Not a year after joining Barçaâs first team ranks, the news reached you. Our funds were not enough, they said, and they were sorry they had to cut the womenâs team. There was no other way, the club didnât have enough money to keep the team in the league.
The fact that you got a taste of your dream only to have the rug pulled beneath you was maddening, and it made the pain from the fall all the more worse. The news hit you hard, but Alexia took it the worst.
There was a thin line between perseverance and obsession, and some would even go so far to say that the two were opposite sides to the same coin. You know this. And you also know that Alexia had tossed that coin so many times now that sheâd probably forgotten what each of those faces meant, progressively confounding one for the other until they were now one and the same.
Looking back now, the signs were all there: you were blinded by your own loss and your admiration for Alexia that you failed to see it or what it really wasâa festering obsession. The signs were there in your time with Espanyol, especially during the first few months after the news of Barçaâs restructuring broke; they were present in the way Alexia behaved compulsively, always seething with barely concealed hunger, her tenacity both on and off the field magnified to the tens. It waned somewhat during the season but now with the both of you facing another moveâto Levante this timeâher obsession resurfaced with renewed vigor, corrupting each knot of her muscle to constrict to their breaking point.
âAle, do you want to come over to mine?â You asked, leaning against the doorframe of Alexiaâs bedroom, while Alexia remained hunched over a folder filled with formations, the same one sheâd been studying since last match day.
âWhy?â She threw over her shoulder, not even turning to look at you.
You picked at your thumb.Â
âI donât know. Just come and sleep over? MamĂĄ and PapĂĄ have been asking about you, you know?â
Finally she turned and her eyes found you. They were flat and the skin under them looked darker than they were yesterday. A slight crease was present between her brows, and her lips drooped slightly at the corners, seemingly unimpressed.
âI just saw them yesterday.âÂ
Okay, maybe that was a lie.
You shrugged it off, âDoesnât matter. Come visit anyway.â
âI have other things to worry about,â Alexia grumbled with annoyance, turning around to assume her previous position.
âThatâs not going to run away from you, Alexia. Come on.â
 Without letting her get another word in, you took her wrist in a gentle grip and tugged her away from her table. Although you had to admit, it was difficult not to remain unfazed when Alexia got like this, especially considering what sheâs going through. Another part of your brain was saying the opposite; that it was because of what sheâs going through that you had to intervene like this.
âHey, wait! What are you doing?!â Alexia protested halfway down the stairs.
âDragging you to my place, of course.â
âWhat about my things?â
âYou have clothes there. Or, you can just wear my stuff.â
âBut we have training!â
âItâs only a light session tomorrow.âÂ
âButââ
âAlexia.âÂ
You fixed a stern eye at her over your shoulder and she opened her mouth, as if to say something, before she shut it, sighing in defeat.
The both of you just made it down the stairs to see the front door swing open. Eli entered first, Alba trailing in after. At the sight of her family, Alexia strode to where they were to greet them; she kissed Eli on her temple, and Alba on top of her head.
âHowâs PapĂĄ?â
Eli gave her daughter a small smile, but the skin around her eyes remained taut, weighed down by something inexplicably heavy.Â
âHeâs stable, love. The same as when you saw him this morning.â Eliâs gaze flicked to you. âAre you girls heading out?â
You nodded.
âIâll be stealing away Alexia for the night. Is that okay?â
Eli smiled at you, âOf course.â
âWe made some food for dinner. Theyâre on the stove top.â
âOh, thank you, my girls.â Eli said, hugging you goodbye after youâd put on your shoes. Then she whispered in your ear, âThank you.â
In response, you only hugged her tighter. Without meaning to, your eyes fleeted over to Alexia who was having a hushed conversation with Alba. By the end of it, Alexia embraced her little sister, placing another kiss atop her head only this time, Alexiaâs brows were deeply creased.Â
When you pulled away, you said, squeezing Eliâs hands. âGet some rest, MĂĄ. Iâll bring her back first thing after practice tomorrow.âÂ
And with that, you and Alexia headed out.Â
The transit to your place was punctuated with a vacuous silence. Alexia sat beside you, less than an armâs reach away, but her eyes were trained at somewhere far on the horizon; and she, even farther. But you let her be, there was plenty of time to talk later after all.Â
By the time you got home, the lights were already off save for the small night light in the hallway so the both of you climbed the stairs on your toes, making sure to avoid that one creaky spot by the corner.
âYou can clean up here, Iâll use the other shower. â You said, jutting your chin to the direction of the shower.Â
Alexia only nodded.
When you returned to your room, the bathroom was empty, a fresh glass of water stood by your night stand, and Alexia was nowhere to be seen. You were just about to head downstairs when she padded into your room with a towel draped over her head and a damp spot from her hair on a shirt you recognised to be yours.Â
She mustâve seen the question in your eyes because she muttered, âDouble-checked the door lock.â
You hummed as she walked past you, back into the bathroom, and you heard the tap run.Â
âThanks for the water,â you said while taking a sip from the glass she put there.
A sound of recognition came from Alexia.
When Alexia finally finished her business in the bathroom, hair slightly ruffled and almost dry, you were already settled in bed, the sheets on her side pulled off in silent invitation. But Alexia remained standing there, by the golden cast of your night lamp, looking a bit lost for reasons you understood.
Softly, you coaxed, âHey.â
Alexiaâs eyes flicked to you and your heart ached at the sight of them so dulled and weary. It took her another moment but she finally slid in next to you, the warmth of her finally arriving home and seeping into your bones. When her feet brushed over your legs as she shifted beside you, you joked with a hushed giggle to lighten the mood, âGet your cold feet away from me.âÂ
It worked because her lips quirked up slightly, eyes rolling in jest, but not a second later, her eyes dimmed again, and she looked away. You propped yourself up on your elbow to see her clearly but she refused to meet your eyes. Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, you whispered, the words cracking under the weight of your emotion.
âAle, talk to me.â
Silence.
A breath.
âThereâs nothing to talk about,â came the hoarse reply.
Breathing deeply, you buried your fingers in her hair to try and soothe her. And again, you spoke in whispers.Â
âYou know, itâs okay to grieve about it, to be angry about it. You donât have to be strong all the time, Alexia.â
Her eyes flashed with something red then and she growled.
âAnd what will grieving get me? The way through is forward and only forward. Do you think the world will stop to give you enough time to grieve? To be angry?â
She continued, each word exhaled with urgency.Â
âNo. The moment you stop, you will be left behind. And I canât stop. Not now. Especially not now.â
âHaving a moment for yourself isnât stopping. You canât expect yourself to go on like this forever. Sometimes, you have to do whatâs good for yourself, Alexia.â
A scoff.
âIt doesnât matter whatâs good for me. What I need is to get back to Barça. Then, and only then, will I feel at ease.â
âAt the expense of what, then? Killing your passion for the sport by making it your duty?â
Alexia startled you when she ripped herself away from you, sitting up so abruptly that the headboard banged against the wall. And when she glared down at you, you found a look in her eyes similar to that of a desperate animalâs; a look where the distinction between fear and anger blurred into something wild.Â
Then, through her teeth, she hissed in a low voice.
âIt is my duty! It always has been. Donât you see? It has always been more than a sport to me. Itâs not the same for you and I donât expect you to understand because youââ
She stopped herself, facing forward in an instant, pinching the bridge of her nose as she setted her arms over her folded knees.Â
Slowly, you rose, and only the sound of sheets settling around your waist filled the air. This momentary reprieve was mainly for Alexiaâs sakeâshe was overwhelmed, that was clear to seeâbut maybe you needed a moment yourself because what she said hurt you. Still, you soldiered on because this was for Alexia.Â
She tensed upon your touch, her muscles rippled beneath your palm as you dragged it from the small of her back, tracing the contours of her spine to the nape of her neck, but by the time your hand finally settled on her opposite shoulder, some of the tension had melted away.
âNo, youâre right, I donât understand,â you began, voice strained. âI donât understand why youâre so adamant in destroying yourself. Thisâthis shutting your family out with whatâs happening with you. Your mother is worried sick. Sheâs asking about how you are, Alexia, do you know that? Your own mother!âÂ
Alexia released a weary sigh and then said in an even wearier tone.
âShe has no need to worry.â
You almost scoffed at that, but stopped yourself although you couldnât help the severity that bled into your next words.
âHow could she not when youâre working yourself to the bone? Tell me, how do you expect us not to worry?âÂ
Silence. Then the murmur of folding fabric when Alexia curled into herself, head buried in the arms folded over her knees. In that cavern of her own making, a ragged breath echoed, followed by the shuddering of muscles. You ached at the state of her, and there was a lump in your throat that you couldnât swallow.Â
And barely above a whisper, you breathed, âYou cannot carry the whole weight of the world by yourself. Youâre not Atlas, Alexia. Let your family in.â
âAle,â you tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. Red eyes peered from the darkness of her arms and it broke you, but you had to plead, âTalk to me. PleaseâŚâ
âIâIâm scared,â she choked out finally. âHeâs getting worse. Itâs the second attack this month and Iââ
Her fingers dug into her arms when she tightened her grip.
âI thought winning the Copa de la Reina last year would give us enough exposure but it wasnât enough. So, I wanted to do it again this season to prove that we belong in Barça but instead, we lost to them.â A ragged breath. âAnd now weâre going to Levante. I justââ
She looked up at you, lips quivering with a whimper, âI just want us to go home.â
âOh, Alexia.âÂ
Without saying another word, you put your arms around her, forehead pressed close against her ear and the hitch in her breathing resounded loud and clear.
âItâs frustrating, isnât it, how far we seem from getting back?â Alexiaâs back tensed in answer but you only hugged tighter. âBut thatâs not true at all.â
You felt Alexia lift her head and you moved away just enough to see how she eyed you with confusion. You gave her a small smile as you grazed your knuckles over her tear-stained cheek.
âOn top of your club activities, your national performance has been nothing short of exemplary. Those matter. And with all the articles theyâve been writing about you, itâs only a matter of time now.â Brightening your tone a little, you added with a playful smile, âyou probably wonât finish your season with Levante before Barça gets their hands on you.â
A corner of her lips lifted up upon your remark so you pushed on.
âI know itâs not the same as being in Barça, but what youâve achieved so far has got to count for something, Alexia. Your father⌠heâs so, so proud of you.â Your tone shifted, now firm. âAnd I doubt heâd be happy to know that his daughter is pushing her body past the point of injury to get into Barça. You know your mother and sister have been covering your ass, right? Uh-huh, yeah, I thought so.â
âYou need to let yourself breathe,â you kissed her temple, then her shoulder. When your eyes met again, you found a soft look in hers that reminded you of when you were younger. Smoothing her hair again, you asked, âCan you do that, Alexia? Not for us, but for yourself?â
Alexia regarded you for a long, silent moment. Then she closed her eyes, opened them a breath later, and nodded, her lips curling up to a sincere smile. In response, you couldnât help but grin back at her.
Sensing that her mood had elevated, you placed one last kiss on her temple before you reached over her, towards the lamp to turn it off, leaving your room illuminated by the blue glow of the moon. Alexia needed no guidance to rest her head against your chest and immediately, you wrapped your arms around her. She sighed deep in the crook of your neck and you were filled with a sense of belongingâof wholeness.
Your eyes fluttered shut to the rhythm of Alexiaâs heartbeat pressed against your side.
âIâm sorryâ, came the whisper.
âWhat for?â
âI shouldnât have said what I did, about you not understanding. That was wrong, and I know all of this means everything to you like the way it means everything to me.â
âI appreciate that, Alexia. Donât worry about it.âÂ
âAnd Iâm sorry forââ
âAle,â you mumbled, pressing a kiss on her crown, âyou donât have to apologise for anything.â
A pause before a deep exhale heated up your neck.
âThank you, then.â
You hummed, already halfway to dreaming. And with one last reassuring squeeze at her hip, you found yourself murmuring, âI got you. Good night, Ale.â
âGood night,â Alexia said with a kiss to your neck and you slept with a smile on your lips.
[4]
âAlexia! Can you pleaseâShit!âÂ
It was too late.Â
The box on top of the one you were carrying slid and fell, and all you could do was cringe as it spilled all of your toiletries by the front door.Â
âOops, sorry.â
You turned to Alexia with a glare of slight annoyance, but when you saw her sheepish expression, with the corners of her mouth pulled down and an eye twisted to a flinch, you let it go. With a roll of your eyes and a slight shake of your head, you signaled for her to proceed ahead as you held the door open with your weight. Once inside, she settled her boxes down on the tiled floor, letting out a small grunt as she did so, before she took yours.Â
Youâd just finished picking up the toiletries when Alexia asked, âThatâs the last of it, yes?â
Turning to face her, you saw her wipe the sweat off her temples before settling her hands on her hips. She scanned the would-be living room occupied by some stacks of boxes. Apart from the couch and mattresses, almost everything else needed to be unpacked and organised.
You placed the toiletries on the nearest counter and made a beeline for the couch. On your way, you patted her back and replied.Â
âYep. Just let me take five, and then we can open âem up.â
You face-planted on the couch with a groan, which then turned to a sigh not a second later. Those boxes took more from you than youâd anticipated, making the stiffness of the couch feel as soft as clouds to your bones.Â
The strain from your eyes began to dissipate the moment your eyes fluttered shut, and you could feel the peace that awaited you in that velvet darkness when you were ripped back to wakefulness the moment a warm, crushing weight pressed onto your spine.Â
Alexia had taken it upon herself to drape herself over you like you were the couch itself.Â
âWhatâAlexia!â You yelped, âGet off me!âÂ
But of course, she did the exact opposite.
âWhy? I was just getting comfortable,â Alexia deadpanned.Â
She shifted on your back and she at least had the decency to prevent her elbows from digging into your back as she did. The next thing you knew, her front followed the curve of your back, blanketing you in her warmth, while her arms wrapped loosely around your waist.
Your heart thundered in your chest and you tried not to think too hard about it so you snorted out, âI hope youâre comfortable.â
âSince you asked, yes. I very much am, thank you.âÂ
âYouâre so annoying.âÂ
âI carried those boxes for you.âÂ
âYou didnât have to if you didnât make me drop the toiletries.â
âI told you to tape up the box, but you didnât listen to me, so whose fault is it exactly?â
You rolled your eyes. She was right, but you werenât about to tell her that.Â
âYouâre impossible.â
âImpossibly right, yes.â
See? You didnât have to tell her.Â
You scoffed, âWhy do I even put up with you?â
âBecause you love me,â Alexia said in a matter-of-fact tone that made your heart jump. âNow shush. Letâs nap for a bit and then unpack.â
Alexia yawned, snuggling closer into you. If she heard the way your heart pounded, she didnât comment on it. As you drifted into a warm slumber, there was weight that pressed against your chestâa realization of some sortâbut about what, you didnât know.Â
Only after you woke to find Alexia had unpacked the boxes containing essential items and ordered a bag-full of takeaways; only after the both of you finished dining on paper plates, crossed-legged on the tiled, living room floor, laughing with your mouths full when Alexia made a mess of her food because of her inability to use chopsticks; only after Alexia found her Polaroid camera and took photos of the two of you, her arm slung casually over your shoulder, her lips pressed against your cheek. Then, and only then, did you recognise what that weight was for what it was.Â
You knew then: you were utterly and irrevocably gone.
You were in love.
And you could only pray that the heat from your cheeks wouldnât sell you out.Â
[5]
With all the changes that came with moving shelters and clubs, there was no time to think about home. Between getting used to your new club schedules, being acquainted with your new coaches and teammates, and familiarising yourself with the local area, your mind had no energy left to ruminate by the end of the day. And the difference between staying over at Alexiaâsâor vice versaâfor a few nights and living under the same roof together for the foreseeable future became increasingly obvious as you settled in your apartment in BuĂąol.Â
It was all new but the both of you managed and even somehow established a sort of routine. While you did most of the cooking and half of the cleaning, Alexia did the groceries and, thanks to her natural affinity for the sunâher words, not yoursâshe insisted on doing the laundry. You teased her about it but more often than not, her weather predictions proved accurate to the forecast, saving the both of you the trouble of dealing with damp clothes.Â
But as routine fell into place, so did the yearning for home.
The thing about missing home was that it brought on a different kind of longing. It was the kind that burrowed deep, the kind that dug a gaping hole in your chest and left you at a loss for how to fill it. It provoked the desire to turn back the hands of time, live in a memory, and step back into a moment already gone by.Â
Yes, there was a sense of freedom that came with living apart from your family, and sure the distance between BuĂąol and Mollet was only a three-hour drive or a five-hour train ride away. All of those things are true, but youâd be lying if you said being away from home didnât feel heavy.Â
No more was the comforting presence of your parents at hand nor the jovial company of Alexiaâs family nearby; it was just you and Alexia.
And the world never felt bigger than it was now.Â
You were lucky, though, to have Alexia with you. She was a piece of home that you took with you, and just having her by your side helped ease the ache somehow. But you have to admit, living with her brought on a different kind of pain.Â
Ever since you realized just how deep your feelings for her ran, being around her had only gotten more difficult. Everything and everywhere reminded you of her, and everything she did would send a jolt to your heart that left you breathless. Something as simple as her running her fingers through her hair, or a small smile; a brush against your cheek, a hand against the small of your backâyou were sure you were this close to going mad.
The intensity and frequency of these⌠stutters had only seemed to increase by the day, and frankly, it was beginning to scare you. That, and the questions that had been nagging you lately.
What would Alexia do if she found out that you liked her way more than a friend should? That you liked women? Could Alexia like women? She probably didnât. She would hate you for this, wouldnât she? What about your parents? How would you even go about telling them? Would they still love you? What ifâ
The sound of the key being slotted into the lock, followed by the opening and closing of the door cut your thoughts short. And then came a soft sound, barely audible.
âAlexia?âÂ
You called out but there was no response so you padded over to the living room. Just before the end of the corridor a small movement caught your eye. You couldnât help the gasp that escaped your lips even if you tried.
âWhatââ
The kitten mewled softly again, rubbing itself against the beige tone of the walls as it took you in with those large, yellow eyes. Its coat looked bright and pristine, nearly as white as the petals of the tree heath flowers that bloomed at home in spring. The same flowers that filled the garden of your home with their sweetness.Â
âHey, there. How did you get in here?â You cooed, crouching slowly, before you reached out your hand towards the kitten. It took a cautious step back but you waited patiently, keeping your hand where it was. A moment later, it seemed to have found the courage, stepping forward tentatively to sniff at your finger, before it licked your knuckle. Then it ducked down, nuzzling its head against your palm, its eyes closing from the contact.Â
Warmth flooded your chest and you whispered, âOh, youâre so adorable!â
âSheâs yours.â
Your eyes flicked up to find Alexia leaning her weight against the wall, her arms crossed, head tilted slightly to the side; her eyes lidded with something you couldnât quite recognise but you felt their warmth. The soft smile on her lips made her face look radiant and beneath her gaze, you couldnât help the heat that rushed to your cheeks.
As an excuse to hide your face, you dipped down your chin to pick the kitten who only yawned in response.Â
âMine?â You asked as you stood up and walked over to where Alexia was, stopping just an armâs length away.
Alexia only hummed in agreement, her smile still as soft as ever.
At that, you reached and draped your free arm around her neck, whispering against her ear, âThank you.â
She moved, finally, wrapping her arms around your waist to pull you closer.
âYouâre welcome.â Her words, murmured though as they were, curled through the smile you knew she still wore and made their home in your heart.Â
âWhat are you going to name her?â Alexia asked.
âNona.â
âNona?â
You hummed in confirmation. You pulled away just enough to make space to look at Nona, and you tried hard not to focus too much on how Alexia had settled her hands on your hips.Â
âMamĂĄ, PapĂĄ, meâ you began, putting up a digit on your free hand as you listed each one, âYou, Alba, Eli, Jaume, GuilleâŚâ
âAnd Nona,â Alexia finished for you, smiling down at Nona. Alexia met your eyes again.
âYour family of nine?â
âMine,â you nodded, âAnd yours, too.âÂ
Alexia beamed down at you but then she scrunched her nose.Â
âDoes Guille need to be there?â
âAlexia!âÂ
[6]
It was raining when Alexia told you.
On a damp Monday night, a few months following your move to Levanteâafter the both of you found an apartment in BuĂąol, and after that fateful day of realisationâshe said something that changed everything.Â
Throughout the day, you couldnât help but notice how strange Alexia was behaving. Sheâd twisted and fiddled with the hem of her jersey during todayâs practice enough that sheâd torn a hole through one spot. Sheâd twirled that loose lock of her hair so many times that youâd already lost count, and on the drive home, more than once, sped through a yellow sign. Even now, she was silent beside you as she helped cook the meal for you two tonight when usually, she would have gone over what happened at practice twice at this point.Â
And at the rate she was going, sheâd end up gnawing off the skin of her lower lip.Â
âWhy donât you go ahead and clean up first?â You said as casually as you could, taking both of your plates off the table and moving towards the sink.
Alexia eyed you.Â
âIs everything alright?â She asked. You caught a sight of her over your shoulder, sitting up, more alert than a second ago.Â
âNo, nothing. Why do you ask that?â
A pregnant pause.
âBecause you normally let me help with the dishes.â
You shrugged, turning back to the sink. âSeriously, Alexia. Itâs nothing. You just look tired. Now go so I can shower. We can put on AHS after.â
Another pause and then finally, you heard the scrape of her chair against the tiles.
âAlright,â she mumbled before her footsteps receded.
Much later, when youâd finished cleaning up and showered, the two of you wounded up on the couch, wrapped in each other with an episode of American Horror Story playing in the background. Alexiaâs head was tucked in the crook of your neck while you played with a loose lock of her hair when you finally asked her.
âAre you ready to tell me what youâve been worrying about all day, or should I keep pretending that I havenât noticed?âÂ
You kept your tone light, almost teasing, because you had a feeling that whatever Alexia was about to say had weight to it. And surely enough, as soon as the question had left your mouth did Alexia stiffen against you and her breathing stilled. It took her another moment to pull away, untangling herself from you, before she reclined against the couch.Â
Without so much as looking at you, she countered, âCould you hate me?â
The question jarred you and you couldnât help but frown in confusion. What kind of question was that? You looked at herâsearching for answers as to why she would ask such a thingâbut Alexia kept her eyes fixed to the TV while the flashing images made shadows play on the smooth neutrality of her forehead and cheeks. You found no answer, so you replied truthfully.Â
âNo. Disappointed maybe, but hate? I canât think of anything that would make me hate you.â
At that, her shoulders curled forward, arms crossing over her chest, and her chin dipped down so low it almost looked uncomfortable.Â
She said softly, âJust think about it.â
Silence settledâheavily.Â
You gnawed your lip, turning over everything in your head, as you tried desperately to come up with something. But nothing.
âHonestly, Alexia, unless you killed someone, I really canât think of anything else.â
âIââ Alexia started but a choke cut off the rest of it.Â
The sound came out so suddenly that it seemed to reverberate, bouncing off the walls and resounded loud in your ears. You sat up, alert, fully facing Alexia who now had her hands over her face, shielding her eyes from your view. She drew in a breath, and what she released was something shaky.Â
Youâd never seen her like this before, and youâd faced more than a handful of adversities together. What could possibly be making her hurt like this? Your gut twisted at the sight of her and you were filled with an overwhelming urge to take her in your arms. Instead, you settled for a light touch to her knee.
âAlexia,â you began softly, âWhat is it?â
Under the shield of her hand, you saw her lips quiver. Then a tear ran down her chin.
You ached at the sight but you remained silent.
âIâmââ Her lips twisted to a grimace. âIâI donât know how it happened I justââ
Another pause.
âI like women.â
For a moment, the air stilled; almost like a vacuum had swallowed up all sounds. And then something swelled: blood rushed into your ears, and, as if life had broken a shell, a flood washed over you, filling each and every bone; and it felt a lot like hope.Â
The raw sob that escaped Alexiaâs throat broke you from your epiphany. She mustâve misunderstood your silence because now, sheâd curled even further into herself, palms digging into her sockets. You shook yourself, mentally scolding yourself for getting distracted, before you moved closer to her.
âOh, Alexia.â She flinched away when she felt your arms around her but you only clung tighter. âThank you, Alexia, for trusting me with this. I want you to know that you donât have to hide from me, that this doesnât change anything no matter how that voice in your head might tell you otherwise. Youâre still Alexia, and IâI love you all the same. I donât hate you, I promise, and I wonât. Iâll always be here.â
When you whispered those words into her ear, she finally sagged into your embrace, turning her head so it rested, again, in the crook of your neck where she released a sob. This time, it sounded more from relief than from grief.Â
There, on the couch, you held her until she fell asleep.Â
âYou know,â you whispered in the dark, tucking a lock of Alexiaâs hair behind her ear long after sheâd fallen asleep. Alexia didnât stir, and you continued to no one in particular, âYouâre not getting rid of me that easily.â
And there with your whole world in your arms, you finally allowed yourself the luxury to hope.
[7]
When you were seven, just a few months before you met Alexia, an idea dawned on you. Sick and tired of the kidâs pool, with its small and, if you were being honest, slightly unkempt water, the large one next door offered freedomâa tantalizing concept for a child. You stood at one end of that pool and found a face of determination reflected back at you. You were going to do it; you would swim across the length of the pool and make it to the other side.Â
And then, you jumped in.
It took about a minute or two before your muscles started burning, hardening to a cramp with every stroke, and yet the other side didnât look any closer. That was when it sank in; the pool was far too large. There was a brief moment when you gasped for air and remembered to swim towards the nearest edge, just like your father taught you, but by that point it was already too late.
Water rushed into your nose and mouth, bringing stinging hopelessness in their wake, clogging your throat with a muffling silence that stifled your scream.
Your father barely caught you in time.
Yes, you remembered all too well that burn in your lungs.Â
If that pool was a frozen lake, what would drowning feel like?Â
In Barcelona, the lakes never froze in winter. Even the westerly winds that brought the Atlantic squalls slithering under each door in the city in cold February werenât enough to make the chill settle in. The only time your bones truly felt the bitter meaning of winter was when youâd gone to Norway to attend a relativeâs funeral, and the occasion did nothing to lessen the cold. It was also the first time youâd ever stepped foot on ice, and the fear that lanced through you at the sound of the first crackâseemingly almost like a thunder out of the blueâleft you rooted to the spot, fearful that a breath could put you under.
Waiting for death felt just like that; like walking on a slate of ice.Â
And the aftermath?Â
A drowning of a different kind.
Every phone call was a step on that thin slate of ice; every step a space closer to certainty, each one a crack on that fragile surface, another moment closer to a falling in. The thing was, death was as true as the ice giving way but no matter how inevitable the end may be, or how slow the unfurling of that mortal coil may seem, the force of the fall was no less devastating. The ice would shatter and there would be a split-second when youâd feel suspended, held by a single thread of hope for one last miracleâthe only miracle that matteredâbut there was no saving you from the freezing waters.Â
And nobody ever told you about how quickly you would sink under; about how the cold would bite their way down to the bones while your blood sang that familiar rhythm of life, a bitter reminder of the clear division between past and presentâthe antecedent and the aftermath; and just how painful it would be to be stuck in-between remembering what once was and what could have been.
In that space, in that frigid depth, no amount of screaming nor air could prevent you from drowning. Without the arms of a father to save you, how could you not drown?
And the worst part?
There was no bottom to grief; you either float or sink in that frozen lake.
And Alexia sank.Â
[8]
Days passed, weeks, then months; the world kept turning. Life demanded you to be present and compelled you to move forward like everyone else. And yet still, even after changing everything in its wake, grief lingered as it always did.Â
There were still times when youâd catch Alexia turn from every mirror, eyes casted down almost out of fear of what sheâd see. How could you look at your reflection when every bit of skin there held the reminders of what youâd lost? Every reminder brought with it a memory, and what were memories if not a mouth full of teeth? It was a mouth that took every opportunity to bare its teeth, to gnaw at that hole in your chest until the edges were raw againâlike they never healed to begin with. Again and again, it bit; its teeth, painting themselves red.
But if anything could transcend time itself, it was the resilience of the human spirit. Even if her father was never far from her mind, Alexia pressed forward; now for two hearts instead of one.Â
Winter ended finally, and the sun rose again. And when summer arrived, so did the news.Â
âLlorens spoke with me today,â Alexia spoke over the running of the tap. You looked at her over your shoulder, she was leaning against the frame of the kitchen door. She said the next part in a tone so soft that you barely caught it.
âHe said⌠They asked me to rejoin Barça.â
Your eyes widened and it only took you a moment before you ran to her, wrapping your arms around Alexiaâs neck, while Alexia returned the embrace by putting her arms around your waist.Â
âHoly shit, Alexia! Thatâs amazing!â You practically screamed into her ear. Pulling away to look at her, you found pride shining in her eyes but for reasons you couldnât quite understand, there was a weight that burdened the corners of her lips. You knew just how much this meant to her, getting back into Barça, and it worried you that she wasnât celebrating like youâd expected her to.
You asked gently, âHey, whatâs wrong?â
At that, she sighed heavily, tightening her hold around your waist as she did. She gnawed at her lower lip, brows creasing.
âYou havenât heard anything from them?â
âNo,â you admitted, ignoring the twinge in your chest. âIt doesnât matter, Alexia. This is your opportunity to go back. When are you due to leave?â
âIâI told them Iâd get back to them tomorrow.â
Your eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.
âWhat! Alexia, whatâs gotten into you?â
âI donât want to leave you alone.â
Finally, you recognised what it was that was casting its familiar shadows in her eyes: worry. Although you were grateful that she was, it was completely unnecessary and borderline irrational. She shouldnât throw away what she worked hard for because you couldnât perform at the same level, and no way in hell would you let her feel bad for your own inadequacy.Â
You took her face into your hands, looking into her eyes as you enunciated each word slowly.
âAlexia, listen to me. You will meet with Llorens first thing tomorrow, and you will put that pen to paper, do you hear me? And then you will leave Levante without meââ when she opened her mouth, as if to protest, you pressed a finger to her lips. âYou will leave Levante without me, and you will play for Barça come this season. There are no âbutsâ here, Alexia. You have to do this. You owe yourself that much.â
Alexia remained quiet but she looked at you with large eyes that made your heart ache the way it always did for her.Â
And then, âWhat about you?â
âI will work twice as hard. And I will meet you there,â you whispered, losing yourself in the depth of her eyes. âI promise.â
Alexia nodded and slowly, a smile made its way onto her lips.
âYou better.â She mumbled. Then she added playfully, âNow get your hands off of my face, youâve made it all wet.â
You flashed her a devilish grin before you wiped one of your hands down her face.Â
[9]
It wasnât until a month after your first game with Barça that you saw Diana again.Â
With her line of work, it was no surprise that she was an incredibly busy person. That meant her stays in Barcelona were brief enough that she couldnât make it to any friendly hangouts the way your other friendsâ partners could, only ever having the time for Alexia which was the most important thing. So when Alexia messaged the group chat last night that she and Diana would be lunching with you, Patri, Tori, and Mapi today, everyone received the news with barely hidden enthusiasm.Â
And this was how you found yourself sitting at the head of the table with Patri sitting on the other end, Alexia and Diana to your left with Alexiaâs arm draped casually over the back of Dianaâs chair, while Mapi and Tori sat to your right. As you all waited for your food to arrive, you engaged in a light and friendly conversation. Mapi and Tori were a lethal duo when it came to jokes, almost having all of you keel over from laughter, causing the eyes of the other patrons in the restaurant to flit to your table, and you were sure you saw barely hidden amusement on the face of the waiter that served you.Â
Lunch was going wellâfor your part especiallyâwith all things considered. So you took this time to appreciate Alexia and Diana together just like this because you never got the chance to. And it was clear that the both of them made quite the pair; so beautiful that they almost looked untouchable. They kept their displays of affection sparse and yet the smallest of gestures held a thousand words. In Dianaâs presence, Alexia seemed so happy and she had an air about her so light she was almost like the sun.Â
You couldnât help it, you smiled at the sight. Seeing Alexia like this was enough for you, and you knew this. She deserved this. If only Patri could stop eyeing you with worry, you could keep pretending that twinge in your chest didnât exist.Â
Everything was going well, but the universeâas it seemed to become accustomed to latelyâwas adamant to prove you wrong. Or, maybe you shouldâve just crushed your feelings under foot once and for all. It was when the food arrived that things took a turn for the worse.Â
When the last dish was delivered by the waiter, Tori, Patri, and Diana fell in a conversation. Mapi, you spied, was not so subtly texting someone beneath the tableâIngrid, you guessed, by the way her eyes shone and her nose crinkled in delight. Alexia on the other hand was left to fend for herself⌠against her food.Â
After all this time, Alexia still couldnât eat properly with chopsticks. It was definitely the bulkness of her hands that made her clumsy with the delicate tools; youâd told her as much before. You bit your tongue before you could tell her that again. Instead, you teased her.
âAre you playing with your food?â
Alexia glared at you but still, color rose to her cheeks as she grumbled.Â
âShut up. You know using these things is difficult for me.â
âStop sulking. Besides, I already taught you before.â You rolled your eyes. Then you instructed, âOpen your palm.â
She pouted but she did what you asked anyway.
âYour hands are too big so you have to hold them at the very end. Let the bottom one rest in the crook of your thumb, yes, thatâs it. And hold the top like youâre writing with a pen. Loosen up a bit, youâre too tense.â
You adjusted the placement of the chopsticks slightly, âJust close your thumb over the sticks and move yourâThatâs it! You got it, you got it.â
With a triumphant smile, Alexia finally succeeded at her attempt to pick up her food. And when her smile curled over the food she put in her mouth, a warmth flooded the cavity of your chest. The sparkle in her eyes just then somehow made you feel like a teenager again.Â
You didnât know what it was that drew your attention to her, but your gaze flitted over to Diana. You werenât sure what you expected; maybe that she was still talking with Patri or Tori⌠only she wasnât. She was staring at you with a face set in a stoicism so neutralâher lips drawn to a careful lineâthat you had this unsettling feeling that she was everything but impassive. Her eyes betrayed her the most: they were sharp, barely narrowed, and there was an attentiveness in them that made you feel transparentâexposedâas if she could see right through you; as if sheâd found something.Â
A chill ran through you, and you shuddered internally.
Quickly, you averted your eyes back down to your meal. Developing an excessive interest in your food, you receded into yourself and tried to school your face to what you hope was impartial nonchalance. A little later when you finally felt brave enough to chance a look at Diana, you saw her talking to Patri and Tori again, laughing and smiling as if the moment between the two of you never happened.
You relaxed and you found breathing easy again.Â
Maybe you were just being paranoid.
But really, you shouldâve known better.
[10]
Time, with its infamous predisposition to fly, had snuck up on you.Â
A blink of an eye found you stepping out of a plane in the middle of August and the next thing you knew, December only had days to breathe. Ending the year at the top of La Liga, together with your clean sheets, was nothing short of a relief. It was a testament to how youâve integrated yourself with the team so far, but you knew enough that this shouldnât call for complacency. In fact, it demanded the opposite; you needed to work harder especially with the match against Lyon looming closer in the horizon.Â
For now though, rest was due.Â
Most of your teammates had either flown themselves home or somewhere far warmer than Barcelonaâs dropping temperature. For those who stayed, like you, you needed to find a way to amuse yourselves without freezing. Tonight, it seemed that the club was the unanimous choice: what better way to stay warm and have fun than to get drunk and dance?Â
That was how you found yourself under flashing lights nursing your own glass while you watched the rest of your team get their freaks on from the bar. You knew Patri was already four shots downâyou all had only been here an hour; Mapi and Ingrid were getting a little too cozy in a secluded corner, which you couldnât fault them for since it was Ingridâs last day in the city before she had to go home; Alexia had vanished with Diana to do who knew what, while Aitana and Ona were losing it on the dance floor.Â
Aitana and Ona spotted you hanging out at the bar so they began to wave you over with enthusiasm. You shook your head at the display, smiling, and made to move off the counter you were leaning on when a tap on your shoulder caught your attention. But before you could turn to see who it was, a familiar voice pierced through the music.Â
âI didnât expect to see you here.â
Standing behind you was a woman; the stewardess that ushered you off your plane. Out of her work clothes and the dull setting of a plane, her beauty shone through untarnished. Gone was the sleek hairdo and instead, sheâd opted to leave her hair down. Her short hair barely grazed her collarbones, you noted, and as you traced their outline, you found the piercing in her sternum glinting in silent invitation. She was wearing a simple black dress that revealed just enough of her chest to entice, the thin fabric of it accentuating the curves of her waist, and it stopped just halfway down the length of her thighs to reveal the intricate lines of floral tattoos on her side.Â
Finally catching yourself, you tore your eyes away and found her gaze. What you found reflected in them was amusement and you tried to stop your cheeks from burning.Â
As casually as you could, you said, âOh, hey, itâs you. I⌠actually never caught your name.â
âMicah,â she replied, extending out a hand. You took it as you told her yours. She leaned on the bar, waved the bartender over who gave her the drink she asked for, and took a sip. Then she turned back to you.Â
âYou know, I never expected to see you again. And in a gay club, of all places.â
âWhy not a gay club?â You asked with a small laugh.
She shrugged, one corner of her mouth quirking up almost sheepishly.
âI may have searched your name up after I met you. No history of relationships, just multiple pictures of you with the same guy. I thought heâs your boyfriend, so.â
âIs it a guy with curly hair?â
âYeah.â
At that you let out another small laugh.
âThatâs Guille, my best friend. Heâs like a brother.â
âOh.â Micahâs cheeks flushed.Â
You gave her a grin, âYeah. But just to clarify, I am, in fact, into women. Exclusively.â
As if a switch has been flipped, Micahâs demeanour shifted, eyes now smouldering. The change affected you in ways you didnât anticipate and with your slight height over her, it became difficult to keep your eyes where they should be, especially when the silver glint of her piercing tempted your eyes downwards. But just as the alcohol had thinned your blood, your self-control frayed all the same; your eyes roamed down to her cleavage which you admired briefly, before you met her gaze again.
That seemed to be the signal Micah was looking for because she stepped into your space, her drink now sitting forgotten on the counter. She dragged her fingers up your arm, all the way to your exposed collarbone where she traced the skin there while she watched you with dark eyes, her plump lip between her teeth.Â
You shivered; she was so close now that the heat of her body washed over you.Â
âReally? Prove it, then.â Micah whispered, ghosting her lips over yours.
You leaned forward when she pulled back slightly, as if magnetized to her lips. Then you asked, âHow?â
âDance with me.â
She dragged you to the dancefloor and you let yourself be swept away in the sea of bodies moving to the same rhythm. And then the both of you danced, her body against yours, your hands tracing her outlines as you pulled her closer as she did the same to you.Â
Time blurred into a singularity after that but it existed again when, at one point, Micah took your cheek into her palm to pull you down for a kiss. Her lips were searing hot when they branded yours that you couldnât help but gasp and moan into them, a sound which Micah gladly swallowed.Â
It had been a while since youâd been touched and you didnât realise just how much you missed it: the skim of skin over skin, the languidness of your blood turning to molten rush; how you missed the deprivation of air from your lungs and the delicious ache that came with it. And how you missed touching another. Your hands sought the exposed skin of her back, relishing the softness beneath your palms as you settled them there, respectfully just above her ass, to pull her in, flushed to your body.
She sighed and she looped her arms around your neck; deeper, hotter.
And in the heat, you lost yourself.Â
You couldnât remember how the both of you made it to your apartment, only that she ended up on top of you, head between your legs as you gasped out her name in the dark. And when she braced herself against her elbow, her other hand working you over the edge once more, you couldnât help but note how beautiful she was with her curtain of brown hair, her lips slightly parted, eyes shining in the dark.
And when you came on her fingers with her lips on yours, you had a nagging feeling that this felt a lot like when you were nineteen.Â
[11]
Clutching your head, you tried to soothe the remnants of your hangover as you headed over the door. You squinted at the light that shone through when you opened it and when the blob in front of you assumed a semblance of familiarity, you croaked out a question.
âAlexia? Whatâre you doing here?â
âWow, you look like youâve been hit by a truck.â Alexia teased but when you glared at her, she finally answered your question. She lifted her hand and that was when you noticed what she was holding. âGot your jacket. You left it at the club last night.â
You blinked at her, eyes still squinted, and enunciated each word slowly. âYou drove all the way here. To drop off my jacket.â
She nodded.
âAnd you couldnât have waited until dinner tonight?â
âNope. The jacket was of utmost priority, obviously. Second priority, of course, is to check that you havenât dropped dead yet. Third, to make sure you show up at dinner on time.â Alexia stepped back and gave you a once-over. âAnd by the looks of it, you need more than just a check up.âÂ
âFuck you.âÂ
At that, her brows only creased as she threw her head back to laugh.Â
âRough morning, huh?âÂ
âIâm glad you find my hangover amusing.â You grunted, turning to shuffle back into the kitchen to make the coffee you were about to prepare before a clown interrupted you. âClose the door, youâre letting all the heat out.â
âOkay, Grumpy.â Alexia said behind you and you heard the door close. A rustle of fabric, and then, âGo drink some water and maybe then you can actually hold a conversation.â
You rolled your eyes even though she couldnât see your face.Â
âShut up. Iâve only been awake for an hour.âÂ
âSure.â Alexia dragged out her answer like she believed what you just saidâshe didnât.
You turned on the coffee machine and pressed the button for a double shot. The sound of whirring filled the air.
âYou want some coffee?â You asked, looking at Alexia over your shoulder who you found was not-so-subtly craning her neck to look down the hall. When she saw you looking at her, Alexia flashed you a questioning look.
âAre we alone or⌠?â Alexia trailed off but before she could finish the question, you nodded. She walked to the counter and picked an apple from the fruit bowl.
âOh, okay, good. And no, thanks, I already had a shot before I left home this morning.âÂ
You returned to your coffee, placing the cup aside so you could prepare the milk.Â
Beside you, you heard the running of the tap and then a rustling of clothes followed by a slight thump. From the corner of your eye, you spied Alexia leaning against the counter.Â
You just finished pouring the milk into your cup when you heard Alexia hum before the unmistakable bite to the flesh of an apple. Lifting the cup, you took a sip and welcomed the bitterness of caffeine on your tongue.Â
âYou know,â Alexia started, âyou never told me you liked women.â
You froze.Â
The lingering euphoria from last nightâalong with the excitement from Micahâs proposal for a next time when she left early this morningâimmediately vanished. There was something about the nonchalant way that Alexia got you; it cut you deep. And the wounds you thought were long healed now bled through their stitches. A dot of coffee stained the white countertop, followed by another, and before your cup slipped from your grip, you put it down and pressed your shaking hands flat on the countertop.Â
âWhat?â Your tone was tame but you were everything but. Pressure rose in your veins because how dared she. How dared she.
âIâm not mad or anything, Iâm just surprised thatâs all.â Alexia laughed lightly but the sound grated at your ears.Â
âWas that a recent development? Did you find that out in the States?â Then she continued with a bit of guilt seeping through her voice. âIf you found out before you moved to Angel City, I hope I never made you feel as though you couldnât share that with me. And if I did, then Iâmââ
âPlease, donât insult me, Alexia.â
As if finally detecting the ice in your tone, you saw her head turn towards you from the corner of your eye, but you made no move to look at her.Â
 âIâm not insulting you. Itâs justâIâm a terrible friend for never seeing the signs and that I couldnât be there for you.â
âAre you fucking kidding me?â You scoffed but it sounded more like a choked sob than anything. The world blurred before you and you watched as your tears mixed with the coffee stains on the counter.Â
âHey, whatâs wrong?â Came Alexiaâs concerned voice before you heard a rustling of clothes, and then the touch to your shoulder. The reaction of your body was visceral: you stumbled back as you slapped her hand away as if sheâd burnt you.
âDonât touch me!â Heat pricked around the skin where sheâd touch you, and you felt as if something was crawling beneath. âGet out.â
âWhat?â
Finally, you looked her in the eye and the force of the movement made your tears fall. Alexia stood there frozen, mouth agape, eyes wide and brows knotted in horror. You couldnât care less; looking at her hurt and you wanted her out of your apartmentânow.Â
âI said leave.â
Alexia ran a frustrated hand through her hair and she pleaded, âTell me what I did!â
âGet out, Alexia!âÂ
She opened her mouth, stopped midway, and finally shook her head. With one last look at you, she turned for the door but before she stepped out, she turned back to you. She sighed then said in a small voice.
âI donât know what happened but Iâm sorry anyway. I⌠Iâll see you tonight.â
With that, the door closed. At the click of the lock, you slid down to the floor; your back against the surface of the cabinets with Alexiaâs half-eaten apple by your feet.Â
She really did forget, didnât she? And you were the only one who remembered because between the two of you, it was only you who cared enough to latch onto the memory. She didnât care, and you doubted she ever did to begin with. Why did you think otherwise? Why?
Your face fell into your hands, and you sobbed.Â
Stupid.
You were so fucking stupid.Â
#ap11#alexia putellas#alexia putellas x reader#woso x reader#my writing#a/n:#hello everyone i hope you all are well <3#still alive lol but when they said time flies once you hit your 20s and that life stops holding back its punches they really werent joking#couldnt find the time to write since the last update but i told myself that id finish this chapter before january ends so here it is#(although I barely made it in my timezone anyway ahaha)#and i must admit ive been out of the womens football loop for quite some time now so uhhh yeah sorry#please pardon any grammar/spelling mistakes as well as other errors because i know i left more than a few here#and im sorry for updating this eight months (!!!) later#anyway i hope you guys enjoy and thank you to those of you who've stuck around for this#im sorry again for the late update and thank you for reading <3
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It's a time-honoured tradition- every time Sam comes across Izzy (and Ed) in their travels, he asks Izzy to marry him. And every time, Izzy turns him down.
At this point, Sam is asking more for the sake of it than any belief Izzy will ever say yes, a remnant of childhood dedication touched with 30 years of heartbreak and regret- though even now, a small part of him still holds out hope. Sam's promises have only got more extravagant over the years, from a job as his first mate, to a captaincy, a fleet at his command, a whole fucking island if that's what Izzy wants- but he knows it isn't though, not really. If Izzy was ever going to agree to marry him, to leave his life and go with Sam, it wouldn't be for anything Sam could offer him. Izzy never did care for flashy shows of wealth, for a ship or to be captain. The only thing that ever mattered to him was loyalty given, and loyalty shown in return.Â
It all comes to a head after Stede left and came back, after Izzy lost a toe, lost his leg. Sam hasn't seen him since before things with Ed started to really slide off the rails, before stress permanently set into the lines of Izzyâs face. So, when he sees a dishevelled man with a hoof for a leg in a no-name port, he doesn't even consider the idea that he might know him. It's only when he turns towards him, and Sam catches a glance at those oh too familiar tattoos, he realises this is Izzy, his Izzy, that stands before him.
Knowing Izzy's discomfort with pity, he doesn't treat him any differently than he would in years gone by, positioning himself in Izzy's line of sight before approaching and sweeping him up into a bone crushing hug.Â
âIsrael-goddamn-Hands!â he exclaims, as Izzy grumbles back a begrudging âSamuel-fucking-Bellamyâ, a tradition almost as old as their friendship itself. Izzy might not hug him back, but he canât keep the corner of his mouth from twitching, just for a second.
(If Sam holds Izzy a little tighter and a little longer than usual, well. That's his business)
By the time Sam lets go, most of the crew has appeared in the town square, drawn in by the commotion. They may have given Izzy his leg and welcomed him as one of them, but still thereâs an underlying tension, with nobody quite ready to set aside everything that happened before the Kraken. Seeing him cosying up to an unknown man sets everyone on edge, unsure whether to come to their first mateâs aid, or to assume that they've been betrayed once again.
When Ed sees that the yelling was Sam, his hand goes tense where it's held in Stede's. He knows the routine, has seen it more times than he can count, but as he watches them part he realises that this is the first time in a long time he's unsure of what Izzy's response will be.
Knowing that somethingâs different, knowing that Izzy's feeling vulnerable already, Sam doesn't go for the same flashy proposal heâs been giving for years. He doesn't promise Izzy the world, he doesn't cause a scene (or, any more of a scene than he already has, anyway). He looks at the fractured man in front of him, takes his face in his hands, and says the exact same thing to him he said when they were little more than boys. âIsrael, I have to ask you. I know what you'll say, but I have to try. Come with me. Marry me and sail away with me. I'll keep you safeâ
And Izzy⌠hesitates. He glances over at Ed, at Stede, and says to Sam â...Weâre staying in port for a week. Ask me again thenâ
That's the moment Sam knows there is something deeply, horribly, wrong. He's not just looking at an Izzy who got seriously injured in a fight and is struggling to cope, this is something so much bigger than that- and that Ed has something to do with it. Izzy wouldn't even be considering leaving if he didn't. Whether it was negligence or something more sinister, Sam doesn't yet know, but he intends to find out.
#i feel like the little paragraph about the crew is real clunky and out of place but i wanted some kind of establishment of where those#dynamics are at. its important that the crew is something for izzy to consider in his decision; but also that their relationship isnt so#solid he would stay for them alone; yknow?#im sorta aiming for a s2e5 era but like. early in those themes. he cant be all sorted yet i need him to be struggling#anyway this is part of a much larger scenario in my head that im never ever doing anything with but i wrote THIS bit in a daze in like. jun#and i got thinking about it again and i think?? it holds its own as a 'hey think about THIS' snippet. idk you decide#youre welcome to interpret this as solo bellhands but in my head it Has morphed into sam/izzy/ed/stede#because i cant not put edizzy in things any more. izzy has two hands#i also think the comedy potential of one of your boyfriends HATING your other boyfriend is gold. 10/10 dynamic#stede is mostly along for the ride in this but also i think they need him#aaaaand. the sam/ed bracket i think can only be closed in exceptional circumstances. i think they 'hate' each other too much#...which is WHY someones getting kidnapped!!! yay#anyway its all irrelevant because ill never write it out. i can do silly chill things but thatll require work#nyxtalks#ofmd#our flag means death#izzy hands#israel hands#sam bellamy#bellhands#i wanna also say. the general concept of repeated sam proposals has been floating around my head forever#it used to be a more silly thing like i referenced at the start but. s2 gave me angsty feelings i guess#i cant not have izzy have feelings for ed right now which inherently adds layers to Any bellhands scenarios i think.#but yeah. its a Classic Bellhands vibe for me. sam seeing izzy at sea or on shore and asking him to marry him (again)#i like to do this with jackie too. i think i just want that man to be obnoxiously desired#(theres also layers of my personal hornigold era lore built into this but i hope it holds up without u knowing it. tldr. sam lost izzy by#being an idiot n fumbling the bag. thats what matters. izzy went with ed and sams been trying to fix it ever since)#i probably should have readmore'd this but i didnt think it was Quite long enough. or had a good break point. sorry <3
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WIP Wednesday
It's 2:00AM and that means its Wednesday! Which means it's WIP WEDNESDAY!! and i am unreasonably excited. So im kicking us off bright (or dark technically cause the suns not even up yet) and early! im screaming cause i can't decide what part of this fic i want to post today but anyway! here's a bit of my current wip that's occupying ALL of my brain!
TK nearly jumps out of his skin as a hand touches his shoulders. He was so deep in his own thoughts that he hadnât even heard anyone come into the hospital room. He whips his head around and finds himself looking up at his dad. Heâs here. He finally made it. He's finally here. âDad?â he chokes. He almost doesnât believe it. The last thing he knew was that his dad was making a hail mary drive south of New York to find an air port that could actually get a flight out. He didnât expect him to be here so soon. âIâm here, son,â Owen says quietly, and TK doesnât give him time to say anything else before standing up so quickly he almost knocks his chair over and flings himself into his dadâs arms. Heâs crying before his mind can even catch up with whatâs happening. âIâm here,â his dad repeats, wrapping his arms around him and cradles his head. âIâm here.â âThey donât think heâs going to wake up,â TK sobs into his shoulder. âSsshhh,â Owen whispers into the top of his head and rocks him as they stand there at Carlosâs bedside. âEverythingâs going to be okay.â TK wants to believe him, he wishes with all of his might that he could force himself to believe him, but its bad. Itâs so, so, so bad. âI was back there with him.â His dad squeezes him a little tighter, and he feels like a child again, tucked somewhere safe and secure, somewhere where the world seems less scary, somewhere where everything might just be okay⌠but not quite. Not quite. The only place on the entire planet that really truely feels like that is in Carlosâs arms, the one place he canât be right now. âI got here as fast I could.â âI know,â TK says, swallowing and finally pulling away from his dadâs warm embrace. We wipes the tears away and steps back, ducking his head. âWhat happened?â TK shakes his head. âThey were serving a warrant and ended up in a shoot out. He got hit. Thatâs really all I know, other thanâŚâ he trails off, glancing over at Carlos. âOther than what happened after.â âWhat happened in the ambulance, you mean?â Owen prompts, his lips pursed as he looks TK over with pitying eyes. TK nods. âIâ Dad I canât get it out of my head.â Heâs crying again. âCome here,â his dad says gently, and pulls him into another hug. He knows he understands, he understands the horrors, the helplessness, the inability to purge every horrifying image from his mind. Heâs been the back of an ambulance with TK more times than any father should ever have to. âWhat do you need?â TK shakes his head, driving it against his chest as his shoulder shake, he canât get them to stop shaking. He canât stop crying. He needs a million things. He wants to let the words come pouring out, he wants to spill everything pent up inside of him, but only one thing makes out. Itâs broken and hoarse as it leaves his lips. âCarlos.â he needs Carlos.
Tags under the cut!
@lonestardust @futures-tense @annoyingcloudearthquake @nisbanisba @lemonlyman-dotcom @heartstringsduet @carlos-in-glasses @welcometololaland @emsprovisions @paperstorm @captain-gillian @tellmegoodbye @henrygrass @ccgrizzy @thisbuildinghasfeelings @lightningboltreader @strandnreyes @reyesstrand @eclectic-sassycoweyes @giuhina @happilylovingchaos
and @my-beloved-lakes, I know you're writing now, so i am calling you out specifically. This tag list is a no pressure tag list for everyone except you. Lots of pressure for you! Your bitch ass better post something! im allowed to call her out like this. she's my sister.
And open tagging anyone else that wants to participate!
I may have gotten a little over excited about this one. I really really really can't wait to start posting it, but i want to be way farther along with it before i do. As is 10k words isn't "far enough along"
#911 lone star#911 lone star fic#911 ls fic#fic tag game#wip wednesday#tarlos#tarlos fic#tk strand#carlos reyes#owen strand#fan fic#my writing#i am having so much fun writing this#you guys don't even know#its making me feel good about my writing again#i feel so arrogant and conceited when i think about how much im loving writing this#this is just the first time since ive started writing fic again that i've really felt like my old fic writing#its the first time im like âyeah. im back bitches!â#anyway!#enjoy!
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Yeah! I haven't read any fics focusing on them but I have seen that they exist! And also there's like a five sentence interaction in a fic I read ages ago that lives rent free in my brain. I think about it all the time when I draw Sixty.
#detroit become human#captain allen#rk800 60#yeah yeah the fic is definitely not about them but that little exchange is on repeat#thats the menace to society i need#someone who pulls a technically shes older than me therefore its within my rights to fight back#about an eight year old he has met one (1) time who threw a water balloon at him#granted in the fic there are adjectives used that would be less than sunny but the dialogue i used here is directly from it#so its only fair to link the fic lmao#hello once again saying i was reading fics for this game way before i actually played it so my formed thoughts#are v different than had i played it first ... and honestly im happy with the outcome !#i think i was able to enjoy the game more by realizing the ship i was reading about truly just didnt exist in game at all#and also holy moly the dbh fic writers are really good at writing anxiety and depression im in awe of how they word things#anyway here you go anon thank you for making sure i knew ! as i am constantly not a knower i like being told things i might not know#what if i started drawing for fics ive read what then would people who wrote them appreciate fanart five years later
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shep. i finished xisuma's s8. i am plagued with so many thoughts /silly
Oh my gognfjgmgimfggfmgnmfdnffgh itâs. Itâs so much. I have so much to say and so many thoughts they make me so crazy. They make me so crazy THEY MAKE ME SO CRAZY IS THIS THING ON CAN ANYONE HEAR ME
#hermitcraft#ask#artsy-book#hermitcraft season 8#xisumavoid#xisuma#evil x#not tagging this dbhc bc im talking about canon xisuma#not to say there arenât theme overlaps but#yeah#the way I could write an essay about Xisumaâs mental state at the end of the season. what it must be like#to slowly come out of that state of being literally manipulated and controlled⌠to slowly like. gain consciousness again only to find#that the moon has gotten so big that itâs like. too late to do anything.#that he had been so distracted and busy with making the evil empire as profitable and helpful to the hermits as possible#that he just⌠hadnât noticed#or been manipulated to believe it wasnât a bug deal#big deal#or that it was just a rumor#and now itâs too late#but also⌠the moon is the REASON heâs free from EXâs control#isnât it.#so⌠isnât there a part of him that kind of NEEDS the moon to get closer?#so he can be free?#not that I think Xisuma ignoring the moon was an entirely conscious choice#anyway Iâm fine about xisuma finally being free only to realize hermitcraft (and his hermits) are doomed#could he have done anything to stop it had he known about it earlier? who knows#Iâm sure xisuma will say for a long time that he could have#but he didnât in the end#and it wasnât really his fault but iâm sure heâll say it was#I need to stop talking before Iâm dragged away
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the clock is here. all hail.
i forgot to turn antialiasing to the right settings with my pen so it is. the little numbers are chunky. thats life sometimes. just dont zoom in too hard. if i fix it, i wont make a new post abt it ill just edit it on to this one or something [and state that i did so in the post]
prev post with noclock version
and as promised here is also progress pics, harvested from when i sent screenshots to friends as i worked. as a bonus ive also included various layer names and the 5 different names the file went thru. the parts i [very lazily] painted over with dark blue had not been done yet, ergo anything with dark blue over it is just the picture itself so do not regard it
i will now be nice to myself and work on my fanfic and smaller drawings for a while. i will do eye posts sometimes still when i get a slow day and wanna do some peepers for 3 hours, i have collected many eyes [klinger, fr mulcahy, trapper, margaret, charles, hawkeye, bj. ive been busy stealing eyeballs to paint on. theyre all on one document its pretty funny]. i will be doing my best to force the cast into my style so i can do quick stuff.
i also WILL do more paintings of full shots again, but. fellas. ive done 3 back to back full paintings with no other digital art projects in between.
this has been NOT good planning lol
not sure if i should tag everything again so i will just. do so? idk i have not been on tumblr hardcore since like 2018 and have never regularly posted so idk proper etiquette. im gonna leave off characters for this one ig
#mash#mash 4077#mash fanart#mash art#its me im back and i will now go to the countryside for my health for 5 months#nah but really my wrist is fine#i just strained it a lot from doing Too Much Art where my pressure needed to change and then the Hair twice and yeah#now i will go to bed at a reasonable time! [lie]#i forgot how much fun i had writing. rip#also when i decide to pick a big piece again im again welcome to suggestions#i prefer big emotions in the scene or specifically artistic shots#because certain ones can be funny or something but. i gotta stare at that for 20-30 hours#god this one was the worst because the lighting was so good. like u could SEE things#so i couldnt just 'teehee its all hidden' no you can see 100% of them 100% of the time#.my art#sorry to take up the mash tags again. i feel bad esp since its not a HUGE huge huge fanbase so i am diluting the waters more or something#or! i am lying to myself. to shame myself. equally likely.#anyway shoutout to fr mulcahy for giving almost the exact same kind of energy as my grunkle from ireland#its part of the reason i love him so much as a character. reminds me of family lol
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summary; nikolai almost dies and price is mad about it.
Close calls and near-death experiences aren't anything new to Captain Price. He's lost count at this point of how many times he's come close to dying. Part of the job, no big deal. Sometimes a few screws are loose, shit goes wrong, some reckless action is taken, but at the end of the day what matters is that they get the job done and return home in one piece.
It was one of those days. After a shit show of a mission, they all managed to come back home in one piece, although in bad shape, but alive nonetheless. And Price had no one else but Nikolai to thank for that. Nikolai, the selfless man that he was, saved their asses once again. Nobody's surprised. (Except, they all were, because it wasn't part of the plan and Nikolai almost fucking died. Almost.)
And yet, he was feeling anything but thankful. No, he was pissed. Extremely so as he stood in front of the window by his desk, his grip tight on his vest, most his gear still attached to him. He was so furious he didn't even change or visit the med bay for his injuries. Pissed at himself for getting them into that position in the first place. Pissed at Nikolai for being so reckless with his life.
It had been so close. So close. Price could've sworn he thought Nikolai was gone. If this was any of his men, he'd have scolded them about disobeying his orders, despite it being the right course of action, he'd tell them to never do that again and they would move on. But Nikolai wasn't exactly... one of his subordinates. Nikolai would always do what he thought was right.
Truth be told Price was shaken, and it translated to anger, still trying to process today's events. The sheer terror he felt when he saw Nikolai kneel there with a gun to his head. It was like he was back at that building when he first found Nikolai again, the man one second away from being put a bullet in his head, and he could never forget the look Nikolai had on his face. It's why this one was hitting too close to home. It's why the burden of the command was especially heavy on his shoulders when sentiments were involved. He deeply cared for the rest of the team and he would gladly die for them, but with Nikolai it was different. If Nikolai had died under his command Price didn't know what he would do. And the possibility of that happening terrified him, once again reminded today.
He was pulled back from his thoughts by the door opening and Nikolai welcoming himself. Price didn't turn, recognizing the footsteps. Nikolai was careful trying not to startle him, he was very much aware of what he did, had to do, and he came in to apologize for that. And to check up on his partner and make sure he was okay.
"John.." He started as he slowly approached him.
"What the fuck were you thinking?!" Price couldn't help the slight tremble in his voice, which didn't go unnoticed by Nikolai.
Nikolai was taken aback, he wasn't expecting such a... Strong reaction. He was fully prepared for a scolding, maybe even a punch to his face, but Price breaking his composure was not something he saw often.
"I'm sorry. I thought-" He felt awful, not about what he had to do, but for making Price feel this way. Whatever it was, it took a toll on him.
"If Ghost was one second too late with that shot, I'd be scraping your brains off the floor. Do you understand that?"
"I do. But I had to buy us some time." Nikolai tried to explain himself. "The boys were compromised, and I know you'd blame yourself had anything happened to them." He was growing more nervous by the second because Price wasn't even looking at him.
His role in the plan was extraction and nothing more, but Nikolai was correct. His decision to intervene was initially what saved the mission. But had Ghost been a second too late with his one shot, they would've returned home without Nikolai. The man always did live his life on edge, for others, so much as he'd use himself as bait for the sake of the mission. How fucking poetic.
"Fuck's sake, Nik! We could've come up with something else! We could've abandoned the fucking mission for all I care!" Price's voice came louder than he intended, but at this point he couldn't care. "I almost lost you, Nik." Came quieter this time as he turned his back to look at Nikolai.
His teary eyes was like a dagger to Nikolai's heart, and Nikolai finally closed the gap between them in a hurry, pulling Price in a tight hug. Prices hand came up to grab the back of his jacket, almost like he's holding on for dear life, as he buried his face into Nikolai's neck.
They stood like that for a while, Price pulling him even closer, as if afraid Nikolai might disappear if he let go. His body trembling in Nikolai's arms as he sobbed softly.
"It's okay, my love. I'm here. I've got you." Nikolai whispered softly, holding him tight and rubbing soothing circles on his back. It hurt to see Price like this, and he knew he'd take it the same way if it was any other men of his. Blame himself for their death. No, Nikolai couldn't have that. He was alive and well, and he wasn't gonna let John beat himself up over it. They had a lot of talking to do, but for now Price was content with the reminder that Nikolai was alive in his arms.
#BUTCHERED THE ENDING SOO BAAADDD#LOOK AWAY#LOOOKK AWAYY#anyway. uhm. yeah#whatever tf this was#nikprice#cod nikolai#captain john price#im sopo sprry i feel bad ajhahahahaha#feel free to tell me to never write again ill honor the wish gladly#ANYWAAAYYYYYYYY WE STAY SILLY#I GUESS. FUCK!#oh btw i can explain the mission if anyone's confused#kinda kept it vague
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aromantic mike chilton for @aggressivelyarospec week!!!! :D
accompanying story under the cut!
It didn't work out with Julie.
They had broken up and decided it would be best to stay friends. After all, with Mike... nothing really changed at all. Like... nothing.
And that was kinda the problem.
Julie didn't think herself to be too judgmental of a person, not after everything everyone's been through. She and the Burners worked hard, played hard, and succeeded together (oftentimes against all odds).
They slept in cuddle piles after dinner some nights whenever Julie could slip away for more than a day without arousing her dad's suspicions. They passed bongs around for a lung-hacking hit or two, went skinny-dipping in the lake at night, patched up each other's bloody wounds countless times.
And then somewhere down the line, Julie fell in love with Mike.
She had no idea when exactly, since she doesn't really do feelings like that, can't afford to with a life like hers. But it happened... somehow.
Julie couldn't quite place exactly what it was that initially drew her to him, especially at first. Sure, the guy was friendly, decisive, assertive without being too overbearing, and unbearably charming. But.
It was the charm that caught poor Julie totally off-guard, really. She'd often hear her father ranting and raving about his golden-prodigal-son-turned-traitor, and his ID photo in his file wasn't really much to look at, either. Julie would never admit it out loud, but she had snuck down to Motorcity for the first time ever with low expectations.
Later, she came back up to her pod in Deluxe with stars in her eyes.
But she wasn't in love with him then, no. She knew this because she was pretty sure her constant Mike Thoughts did not manifest until after the kids all went to Antonio's together for the first time.
It was summertime, around nine months after the group was (un)officially formed. The heat had Mike shirking his jacket and leaving it in Mutt, and his old t-shirt was getting a tad bit tight after all the exercise he was getting around the hideout, especially after Texas moved his workout gear in and Mike took him up on his offer for semi-regular sparring sessions.
And boy, did that Mike fella fill out. Mhmm.
Even Julie-- a girl who was mostly blind to typical male affections directed at her in school-- had to admit to herself that when Mike put on a little more weight in the right places, when his biceps bulged a bit as he flexed an arm and his shoulders got a bit wider... it took a lot more effort to wrench her studious gaze away.
Geez Louise.
Before long, she was doodling their initials and combining both of their names in her little sketchpad. Gag. Gross.
But Mike never seemed to pay attention to her the same way in return. She didn't catch him looking away from her at inopportune times, and he'd never lay a single hand on her aside from a typical friendly pat on the shoulder, or a comfortable lean on an arm while the Burners all lounged around during movie nights. Hell, he seemed more affectionate with his best friend Chuck than he was with her most times.
So she kept her thoughts to herself. Easy peasy. She kept secrets from her dad, from her friends, and now from Mike. Like everything else, she created a neat, separate file in her head and tucked that little secret away. She managed to conceal it for long enough.
Until it became too big to ignore.
And then it happened.
And it really just... happened. Julie hardly registered herself even doing it.
It happened like this: Mike had rescued Julie from certain death at the lake after she crashed an out-of-control 9 Lives out through the barricades and into the water, and they were panting and coughing up water on the sand after Mike succeeded in dragging her out. Dutch and Texas were busy racing around and distracting the Kanebots, luring them all away from the pair.
Julie didn't say anything. Neither of them did. Julie just... surged forward when she blinked the water out of her eyes and saw him, his angelic face hovering mere inches away from hers. She remembered the dewey drops on his long lashes and the warmth of his lips more than anything else.
And then she's pretty sure she blacked out afterwards because the next thing she remembers, she's waking up on the couch wrapped in blankets and towels, wearing Chuck's hoodie.
She doesn't ask anyone why Chuck opted to be the guy to lend his clothes to her.
(It wasn't Chuck who lent it to her though.)
After Jacob makes sure she has a steaming mug of soup in her hands and is generally fussed over enough, he bids her a goodnight and leaves a big holoscreen playing old-timey anime shows for her.
Shortly afterwards, Mike slips into the room on feet far too quiet for a rowdy teenage boy like him. Julie almost misses his entry and startles when she notices him casually leaning on a wall over to her right, almost blending in against the garish grafitti and street signs.
They sat down and spoke quietly, privately.
Julie appreciated that Mike had enough tact and forethought not to confront her in front of all of the guys. Thank god. Julie wouldn't even know how to handle the endless teasing that would inevitably assault her from all angles if they ever even suspected that she had a crush on Mike.
And how embarrassing, really! The only girl on the team falling for the charming and roguish leader of a group of rebels. Double gag.
It was by some miracle that no one ever suspected Julie's true feelings, and that the actual love interest found out before anyone else did. Lucky her!
And incredibly, Mike shared her feelings too! Who would've thought it! Definitely not Julie, that's for sure.
Mike hadn't even seemed to glance her way at all in all the time they had known each other. He always maintained the same level of friendliness with her as he did with the other guys. But he confessed then that he knew Julie was special, and that their bond that grew in the time they had known each other was special, too.
Wow. Look at them, both hiding their feelings so well! It's like they were meant to be.
So they agreed to go steady.
Eventually, they told the rest of the Burners. Well, it really was just that it was kinda hard for them to ignore when Julie would sneak her index finger over to Mike's hand and hook it onto his pinkie as they walked back to their cars after a quick errand run for the Skylarks or an easy mission.
So they decided to make the announcement at Antonio's, which Julie thought was perfectly poetic. It was where she first fell in love with Mike, and now here they were a year and a half later, making it official.
They didn't expect the other guys' reactions, though. The Burners received the news... lukewarmly.
"You guys were in love?" Texas spewed bits of pizza all over the table as he chewed with his mouth open. Ugh. Typical Texas.
"Oh! Wow... uhm. Congrats, guys." Chuck seemed to hide behind his hair even more as his shoulders hiked up in a nonchalant shrug.
Dutch rubbed his chin. "...Yeah. Uh, yeah...? Cool. Congrats, you two."
And then silence fell over the table.
"Is... is there a problem with this, or?" Julie dared to press.
Everyone silently exchanged glances.
Mike-- bless his heart-- misread the situation and clasped his hands together on the table.
"Guys, look," he started, "this isn't gonna change anything about the team. We're still gonna be friends, Iâm not prioritizing Julie over anyone else on missions. It's just... we're gonna... we're gonna be the Burners, except Iâm dating Jules now! That's all!"
Mike smiled warmly at all his friends. Chuck chewed on his lip.
Dutch bobbed his head thoughtfully. Then, after a while, he said "nah, yeah. We figured. I mean, you're a pretty great guy so it's not like we thought you were gonna up and abandon us or anything. It's just that... uh. So when did this uhhh, yanno, this whole thing start?"
Julie blinked.
Mike cocked his head. "Start?" He asked.
"Y'know, like when did y'all start liking each other? Because uh, no offense, but this is kinda comin' out of the blue for us. Literally nobody thought this was gonna be a thing. Tell us some stories!"
Mike blew out a breath and leaned back in the booth. Julie smiled.
"Weeeellll," Julie squinted with excitement and then let the cat out of the bag.
She told them all about it, how in this very same booth she watched as Mike's t-shirt stretched over his muscles all those months ago and how his smile seemed to shine brighter than the diner's neon signs. Then about how she leaned against Mike's broad chest after agonizing for hours over not being able to free him from her father's maximum-security prison that one time. About all the dreams she'd have of them together, the intimate late-night talks they'd have while having a couple of drinks on the rooftop of some abandoned building. How she loved his bright eyes and strong hands...
When she finished, she had a dreamy kind of look all over her face. Mike had a brow quirked, but he smiled back at her all the same.
Everyone exchanged glances again.
"So Mike. Was it like that for you?" Chuck asked eventually. It had a strange sort of lilt to it, like he was in on an inside joke that Julie wasn't.
She bristled a bit.
"Oh! Uh." Mike glanced around quickly. "Not... really? But Julie's super pretty, so when she confessed to me, I was pretty stoked."
Mike grinned like a goofball. Julie grinned like a goofball. The rest of the Burners looked skeptical.
"Hm. Cool! Well, great." Chuck turned back to his loaded pizza slice.
And just like that, things mostly went back to normal.
And, uh... Mike was right, this... really wasn't changing anything between them and the Burners. Like at all.
A small part of Julie was kind of hurt by it, but she tried to wave the feeling away. It was nonsense, and she should be happy. Mike loved her! He just wasn't a romantic type, that's all. He loved his friends, loved being a Burner... it was fine.
Right?
It was normal for her to have to remind Mike every now and then to go out on a date with her. He's a busy guy, and this was his first relationship. Julie just had to be patient.
Patient... patient. Yeah. She could be patient.
It was when Chuck joined them for their sixth "movie date" in a row that the patience was starting to run a bit thin, though.
Chuck and Mike settled side-by-side on the communal couch, swapping snacks as easily as breathing and nursing a popcorn bowl between them. Mike hooked an arm over Julie's shoulder though, so Julie said nothing.
It was a couple of months later when Mike makes a quiet confession to her as they laid together in his pristine bed one night.
"I don't really like kissing all that much," he mumbles, face half-buried into his pillows. "But I like holding you. Is that okay?"
Julie's heart sinks into the covers. But she nods anyways. "Yeah. That's okay."
"Really? Do ya mean it? It's not weird or anything, right? We can still be together but not kiss. Maybe I can give you forehead kisses instead?"
Julie sighed softly. "Mmnyeah, that's fine."
"It's not you, it's me, Jules. I just--"
"Mike. Trust me, I get it. It's okay, seriously."
Mike gave her a grateful smile back.
Damnit. Well.
Anyways, life continued on. Julie resigned herself to accepting the fact that her boyfriend was just simply a guy's guy.
Julie liked cars but Mike was all over Mutt. Loved the damn thing more than he loved her, honestly. She loved being a Burner, but it seemed like it was Mike's purpose, like he was more devoted to the city under the dome than he was to his girlfriend. And above all, Mike loved the Burners. All of them. He spent a bit more time with Chuck than he did with anyone else in the team, but he was always there for everyone just as passionately.
Which was. Fine.
Freeing Motorcity from her father's reign of terror was indeed way more important than holding hands with a cute boy!
Duh, of course, stupid Julie.
Whatever.
When they inevitably broke up, it blindsided Mike. He thought they were the best of buds! The bestest of buds-- aside from him and Chuck, of course! But while he loved Chuck fiercely, his love for Julie was... different. Fierce but different. He could never describe it in words but he knew what he was feeling was real.
He loved Julie! So when she suddenly broke up with him, it was like getting hit with a sack of flour out of nowhere.
They were leaned up against Mutt's hood on a cliff overlooking Lake Erie when Julie finally broke the news. They were casually smoking a cigarette, passing it back and forth. Mike's idea of a "date." Anyways.
"I can't really keep doing this, Mike." Julie sighed out a cloud of smoke. She said it so matter-of-factly, as casually as if she were simply commenting on the weather.
Mike whipped round to look at her. "Keep doing what?"
"This," Julie threw her hands up and tucked them into her vest pockets after handing Mike the cigarette back. "This... 'relationship'. It's not working out."
"What... whaddya mean? We just started dating, it's kinda too early to tell--"
"No, Mike." Julie interrupted loudly. Her eyes were avoiding Mike's face carefully. "No... it's not. We've been together for months and we have never moved on from our friendship. You... just admit it, dude. You're just not into me."
Mike pushed himself off of Mutt and placed his hands on both of her shoulders, forcing them to stand face-to-face. "Julie, look at me." He had his jaw set.
Julie swallowed as she peered up at him from her bangs.
"I love you more than you can ever know. I know Iâm messing up, but... but Iâm trying, okay? Just give us one more chance, Jules. I can make it right, I know it!"
Julie took a step back, wrinkling her nose. "Mike! Just give it up, okay? I know you don't feel the same about me as I do about you," she pleaded, mortified. "It's okay! It's fine! We can just move on and let it go!"
"B-but it's not! No, Julie c'mon, bro--"
"Bro?!" Julie exploded, hands in the air now. "Are you hearing yourself right now? Am I your girlfriend, or your bro?"
Mike gaped at her like a fish, mouth opening just to close again. Then, he hunched his shoulders and shoved his hands in his pockets.
He kicked a couple of rocks off the cliff, watching the pebbles scatter and plummet dozens of feet below.
Then he ran his hands through his hair, a nervous habit of his, before returning back to Julie.
He exhaled loudly. "What... what's the difference? You... isn't that what dating is all about? Being best friends with your partner?"
Julie glared at him. "Yes! And it's also about being more than that, too!"
Mike scoffed. "More than friends? What does that even mean? Nothing is more important than friendship, Jules. Not in Motorcity."
"Nothing is more important than friendship?! Mike--" Here, Julie took a step back to pinch her nose and exhale. "Look. When I confessed my feelings to you for the first time, what were you feeling?"
"What was I feeling? Uh, I dunno, happiness I guess? What, did you want me to say that I didn't care? I care about your feelings, Julie! I do!"
"So you started dating me because you didn't want to hurt my feelings?!" Julie shouted.
"Where are you getting that from?!" Mike shouted back.
"Mike! You are just not into me! I can just tell! It's okay! W-we can just be friends, like how we used to be. I don't even know why you're fighting me so hard on this, I'm the one breaking up with you. You can't change my mind!"
"Right," Mike huffed, "because you don't love me anymore. No, I get it. It's fine."
They glared at each other for a beat.
Then, Julie shoved her hands back into her vest pockets. "No, Mike. I do love you. I just think..." she sighed, all the wind in her sails blowing away, "I just think it's best for us to go our own separate ways."
Mike startled. "Wait, what? Jules... are you...? You're not leaving the Burners, are you?"
"No, I'm not leaving the Burners." Julie says through clenched teeth. "I'm just gonna take a quick break and then when I come back? We're gonna be just friends again, Mike. Alright?"
Mike inhales deeply, his own anger trickling out of him like water as well. "... Fine. Fine, yeah. Whatever you want, Julie." He hangs his head.
They then stare off into the horizon together, watching the twinkling star-like pinpoints of light on the underside of the dome. Watching as the lake's waters undulate and shimmer in the darkness of the cool evening, a gigantic dark mirror reflecting the pinpoints back to the ceiling.
Mike idly scuffs his boot on the ground again, putting out their shared cigarette. In a sad sort of way, the dying ember of the smoldering stick being stomped out into rocks and gravel was a lot like their relationship: dead and done. And of course it had to be Mike to put them both out, huh. Right.
Real poetic.
Julie turns around wordlessly, climbs into Mutt and sits in Chuck's seat.
Time to go.
After a few seconds Mike nods once, fixes his collar and slides into his own seat.
The ride back up to Deluxe is quiet.
It was a couple years later when the kids were a bit older --but not that much older at the same time-- that they all filed past the doors of Antonio's and slid right into their usual booth.
Except this time, it had been a long while since they had the time to relax like this. These days, Kane's attacks were getting more and more savage, brutal... and cunning.
Kane's latest attempt at a hostile takeover of Motorcity involved way too many sneaky double-crossing spies all trying to break the Burners up and weaken the city's best defense. Sneaky bastard, that Abraham Kane.
But they thwarted him yet again, despite it all. They beat the bad guys, restored peace back amongst the gangs and the civilians, and saved the day.
It had taken weeks this time, but they succeeded.
So now to celebrate, they're placing their orders for the greasiest, most heart-clogging fast food on the menu and sitting back to happily sip at their drinks. They're finally enjoying their time together again, and Mike is especially pleased that everyone made it out alive.
Sitting elbow-to-elbow with his bestest friends in the world, Mike takes advantage of a lull in the conversation to clap his hands together and get everyone's attention.
"Okay, guys!" He announces. "So, I'm pretty sure we're all kinda fried after... y'know, everything. Everyone's probably too tired to care about what I'm going to say next! So... confession time."
"Hmhmm! Spill, then," Chuck smirks, his chin in his cyborg hand. It was a recent upgrade to his prosthetic, and it shone a beautiful silvery-blue under the diner lights.
Mike chuckles nervously. "Uh, I... I think that... I figured out that I can't fall in love!"
Everyone stares at him.
Chuck casually slurps his milkshake through a straw.
Dutch turns to him then. "Wait. You knew?"
Chuck sits up. "Uhh hahaha, whoa. Where'd that come from? You psychic or somethin'?" He deflects awkwardly.
"You're clearly not surprised," Dutch points out.
"Pfft yeah I'm not surprised. Who's been Mike's best friend since, like, kindergarten again?"
"Ah. And ya didn't think to let me know anything back when we were dating? Sure would've saved us a lot of time," Julie quipped drily.
Chuck holds his mismatched hands up. "Now hold on a minute! I didn't know back then, obviously. Besides, you two dated years ago for like... three seconds!"
"Two years ago, smartass," Julie snips back.
Mike clears his throat conspicuously. "Guys! Guys, no need to fight over me," he jokes awkwardly, "because I, uhm, I've decided I don't belong to anybody! I'm just me, and I'm not dating anyone. Like, ever."
Everyone turns back to him again.
With four pairs of eyes on him, Mike draws in on himself a bit as he continues. "Yeah, it's. It's something that I've been kinda discovering about myself and I'm still... exploring it. But I'm pretty sure I've never had a crush in my life. I was just walking through life distracted by everything else for so long that I never noticed it, but... yeah. I've just. I've just never felt love for anyone else before, I guess."
"Which is fine," Chuck blurts out suddenly. "It's... it's fine! That Mike's never fallen in love with anyone. It happens. Some people just don't experience a common thing most people do... like romance, or sex. Yeah! Totally normal!"
Dutch smirks at Chuck. "You too, then? You a non-romantic as well?"
Chuck shakes his head so hard his bangs swing. "No! Nuh uh, I'm a lover, not a fighter. I'm definitely a romantic!"
"Why so nervous all of a sudden, then?"
"Because," Chuck replies, "because... it's fine! To not ever fall in love or like... date, or kiss or have sex or whatever. We're in Motorcity now, and we can get to do whatever we want. And if we don't wanna date, then we don't have to!" Then he clamps his mouth shut.
Mike perks up then. "That's right! And ah, yeah! Speaking of, Chuckles... lemme tell ya, I really gotta hand it to ya. If it weren't for you, I'd've never figured this one out. So, thanks, buddy! As always, you really had my back on this one."
Chuck and Mike smile at each other and Texas raises a brow.
"Huh?" Texas says. "What's that s'posed to mean?"
Chuck titters nervously as Mike pulls up a screen and opens up a forum.
"It means that Chuckles here helped me find a site that explained everything I was experiencing! Or... not experiencing, really."
Chuck clears his throat, clearly relieved. "Uh, yeah! Well, after Mike's like, 10th girlfriend that one time he couldn't stop bringing people back home, he came to me all frustrated and stuff and... well, we went off to find my friends in the LARPing arena to see if anyone had any idea why he was burning through dates like Mutt burns through tires. And so someone suggested he might be aromantic, and uh... well, the rest is history!"
Dutch and Julie hummed in acknowledgement.
Everyone knew what that was like, how weird it was that Golden Child Mike all of sudden started bringing people home from parties and bars shortly after his breakup with Julie. Sometimes he even had two people on his arms, some men, some women. Never the same person after two or three times, though.
They were all perplexed when they first heard laughing and chattering behind Mike's bedroom door. Once the moaning started, though... well! Everyone poked fun at him the mornings after and teased him to varying degrees, but things were mostly chill in the beginning.
Everyone remembered Mike's frustrations after a while, though. How he could never quite land a steady relationship-- no matter how hard he tried, with whoever. It got to the point where the Burners stopped their teasing and became quite concerned after Mike introduced his 5th girlfriend in the span of like... 6 months, once upon a time.
It was shortly after his final breakup that Mike flopped down onto his best friend's messy bed one evening and finally had The Conversation.
It went well, all things considered. Chuck, patient as ever, listened to his friend and then when he couldn't offer any solid advice, he offered a distraction. The LARPing arena proved to be much better help than they could ever hope for.
Ever since then, Mike's been up late into the night often, completely engrossed in all things aromantic. He wanted to learn more about it, yearned for a community that knew exactly what he was feeling; so he stayed awake just swiping through sites and PDFs on his holoscreens, eating every bit of information up.
Now, it looked like Mike was at peace with himself and his station in life after all this time. That was a relief!
"Aromantic! That's it! Look at this, guys." Here, Mike grins and pulls up a photo of a striped flag. "This is the community flag. Look familiar?"
The colors of the flag had two shades of green at the top that then cascaded into white, then grey and then black.
Texas leaned forward. "It looks like Mutt!" He practically shouts.
Everyone laughs.
"Yeah, that sure is a you flag if I've ever seen one," Julie quips.
"Right? Like it was meant to be! So I guess I'm part of this community, then. I mean, this really is a kickass flag..."
"But what does that mean, though? That you can never fall in love with anyone, ever?" Julie asks.
Mike closes his screens and clasps his hands on the table, exhaling a bit. "Uhh, well? Well, yeah! I can't ever fall in love... but it doesn't feel that way to me! Ugh, I'm probably gonna do such a bad job explaining this," he laughs self-consciously.
"It's okay, dude. Take your time," Dutch smiles warmly.
Mike shoots him a grateful smile back. "... It... it's like. Well? It's like... I've never felt butterflies in my stomach before, so I have no idea what that's like. But I like you guys, a lot. Like a lot, a lot. I love hanging out with you all even though I don't think about any of you guys like that. I love making friends-- like true friends-- and I can't stop thinking about how happy hanging out with people makes me. I guess I'm just way more platonic than romantic, because I am just... so bad at love! God, I've never had so much trouble with anything in my life before like I have with romance," he groans, grimacing.
"And when Mike Fucking Chilton says that, that's how you know he's struggling!" Dutch puts in.
Everyone giggles.
"Wow," Julie gives Mike a side-long glance. "Finally. Something that The Great Mike Chilton is bad at! We've finally got him, boys."
Texas leaps out of his seat and enthusiastically karate-chops the air. "Hoo-WAH!!! Finally! Something I got over on ya, Mike. Texas is better at romancing than you!"
Julie rolls her eyes.
Mike guffaws. "Psshhwhat? C'mon guys, I'm bad at plenty of stuff. This isn't the first!"
"Oh yeah? Name one thing!" Dutch challenges.
"Uhhm well uh, I...? I'm pretty bad at... hm." Mike drums his fingers on the table. "I'm bad at coding! I'm not nearly as good as Chuck at the software and tech side of things!"
"But ya could be! You could totally learn how to, if you'd just sit down with me for more than 20 minutes," Chuck points out.
Mike stubbornly folds his arms across his chest. "Well, I don't wanna! What're you gonna do about it?"
And just like that, the kids all return back to normalcy, bickering and quibbling about nothing as they finally receive their food from the waitress. Soon after, Chuck and Texas are throwing pizza toppings and wadded up paper at each other and Mike is mom-ing at them to quit it before they all get kicked out.
It was as if nothing even happened.
It was simultaneously comforting and also thrilling how easily Mike was accepted back into the fold; the Burners' Heartless Leader who could never fall in love.
On the inside, Mike was deeply grateful and his heart felt full upon learning this, though. It was a nourishing feeling that his bestest friends in the whole world who worked hard, played hard, lived fast and free alongside him... they loved him and accepted him back, no matter what. It was a much nicer and fuzzier feeling than any romance-filled relationship or hookup ever gave him.
Now, the Burners are finally leaving the diner, all tipsy and giddy from their impromptu late-night happy hour session.
Mike has a casual arm slung over Chuck's shoulder as they traipse on over to Mutt. Everyone casually daps each other up and offers quick goodbyes before climbing into their respective cars.
Mike slides behind the wheel and exhales. Chuck clicks himself into his secure harness.
"Well! That went pretty well! A little too easily, honestly but," Mike breathes.
Chuck's blonde head bobs. "Well yeah, dude. Of course. What'd ya think, that'd we kick you out of the team for that?"
Mike shrugs and turns his skeleton key into Mutt's ignition, bringing her to roar awake again. "I mean... no. But, y'know. It's weird, having a leader of a gang that can't ever fall in love, right? Like some heartless freak or somethin'. I dunno," he chuckled wryly.
Chuck frowns. "Mike. You're not a freak," he says firmly.
Mike gives his best friend a sidelong glance. "Chuck..." he speaks, voice low, "it's not like that! You know what I mean... it's just that sometimes people who are different don't get treated so well all the time, yanno?"
"Yeah, sure, back up in Deluxe," Chuck argues. "But it's different down here in Motorcity. It's good here for people like us!"
Mike hums thoughtfully as he drums his fingers on the wheel. "Yeah, you're right..." then, he smirks at Chuck. "So if that's true, then why didn't you come out, back there? I actually thought you were gonna do it. It even looked like Dutch suspected something, too!"
Mike smiles at his friend, who is doing his best impression of a carseat cover now.
"Mmnyeah... yeah, I could've." Chuck gives a noncommittal shrug, hesitating.
"What's wrong?"
After a few seconds, Chuck swipes at his bangs self-consciously and clears his throat. "Uhmm well... being aromantic and never falling in love is kinda... badass, don'tcha think? But for a guy like me, never wanting to have sex and being a dope for romance is just pathetic," he laments. "If people hear that I'm asexual and that I never want to bang anyone, I'd get laughed out of the room! It's not an asexual thing, Mikey, it's a me thing."
Mike throws Mutt into reverse and backs her out of their parking spot with practiced ease.
"Chuckles. My guy. Look, who cares what other people think? If you don't wanna bone, you're just not gonna. That doesn't hurt anyone at all, so screw anyone who says anything about it. If anyone gives you a hard time, call me up and I'll spin the block for you,"
Chuck bursts into a peal of nervous giggles. "Whoa, whoa Mikey, geez! Christ, thanks, man but that's really not necessary. I appreciate you, though,"
They smile at each other again.
Then after a beat, Mike adds, "plus, if they know about aromanticism, they're gonna eventually find out about asexuality, too, dude."
Chuck laughs weakly as he clutches his arms. "O-oh...! Yeah... yeah that's tr--"
Mike suddenly slams his boot down on the gas pedal and Mutt growls as she lurches into hundred-mile-speeds from a standstill. Her tires screech loudly on the pavement and she leaves a giant plume of smoke and dirt behind as everyone careens over a drop straight onto the Deluxian Supply Pipes.
"Miiikkee-eeyyyy!!! We just ate!" Chuck screeches, horrified. He clings onto the car seat with both hands as Mike laughs.
Chuck's screams and Mike's loud, joyous shouting and whooping can be heard far and wide throughout Motorcity as they race all the way back home.
#aggressivelyarospecweek#motorcity#mike chilton#aromantic#aro#hope ppl enjoy my arospec week offerings!#i had fun writing the burners again after so much time. my kiddos đĽş#i luv them <3#julie heals just fine after their breakup btw she's with her own childhood friend claire lezzing it up so everyone wins in the end đŤś#dont worry abt it LOL#if it sounds a bit allo-centric its bc it is. i tried to replicate the Motorcity Writers Voice when i wrote this down#i was like âhmm. how WOULD a non-arospec person write this topic for a kids show abt racing cars? đ¤â#âi think i know! :)â#so @ other motorcitizens pls let me know if i did Good or Bad#in that way it was a p fun writing excercise. also. i love julie so i wanted readers to feel bad for the poor lil meow meow#we are Julie Stans in this home. i didnt stick her into a failing teen relationship bc i hate her đ¤§#she just had to be the First Target bc the show tries to set mike and julie up subtly in canon and my aro brain went âgoddamn it.â#so#uh yeah#anyways im rambling#hope u enjoyed byyyyyyyeeeee :3#clown paint#mi writing
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Charlie Kelly from Always Sunny is my favorite representation of dyslexia in anything ever. Specifically because everyone's frustration when his dyslexia gets in their way feels very true to my frustration when my dyslexia gets in my way. I like watching people get mad at dyslexia lol
#also i like how casually everyone is like yeah well charlie cant read ya kno what can u do?#and its the only dyslexia rep ive seen where its not framed as 'wah im bad at school' or 'im dyslexic but i can succeed anyway'#thr problems of dyslexia extend outside of school and continued to be a struggle even if its masked by success to the outside world#but this is from the mouth of a person who does not enjoy being represented in media. bc im like fuck off i hate u when i relate to#characters lol. or ur not writing it right fuck off. tbh it makes me feel better to watch other dyslexic ppl fuck up in the same ways i do#like on tv typically characters dont constantly fuck up the words coming out of their mouth unless somethings medically wrong with them but#thats a very dyslexic thing to do bc theres a problem with language and its translation in ur brain.#the dyslexic rep i hate the most is probably p3rcy jackson bc like i get the point of succeeding depite handicaps but i hate it and also he#has visual anomalies in the movie so extreme its probably more an eye issue rather than streight up dyslexia which is the inability to read#and that makes me feel like a dipshit bc the words arent running away and i still cant read lol. also fucking hate that they retconed sp0ck#as sorta vulcan dyslexic. mostly im just being a hater bitch bc i havent watched it but the sp0ck story is so so so fucking good bc hes#stuck between two worlds and experiencing prejudice of both sides. is that not enough for you????? fuck off. i reject u dyslexic sp0ck#but again. im a fucking hater and a contrarian so i mostly just get mad when i relate to characters#unrelated
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Making a Detroit Become Human fic and while Iâm writing Iâm like
âDamn ConnorâŚhow tf are you gonna get out of thisđđđâ
Like-
It feels so funny and weird because I control how heâs gonna get out of this but it feels like Iâm beta reading as Iâm writing
Likeđ
Idk whatâs gonna happen either Connor you tell međđđ
#this is honestly my favorite part about writing off of a whim#like#thereâs a vauge plan#but itâs like#âConnor how the hell are you going to get out of this situation???#it makes me laugh#anyway yeah#IâM WRITING AGAIN WOOOOOO#THANK YOU TO ALL WHO BELIEVED IN ME#I PROMISE IN GONNA UPDATE THE SEPERATED THEY FALL FICS SOON HOPEFULLY#IM JUST ON A DBH CRAZE RN#SCREAMS FROM THE SHADE#dbh connor#dbh#dbh fic#detroit become human#detroit: become human#detroit: bh#d:bh#detroit: become human fic#d:bh fic#detroit becom human fic
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#PHEWWWW HI GANG#im writing this via tumblr web so bear with me but i hope everyoneâs 2025 has started off well so far !!!!!! a lot has happened on my end#(the good and the bad but we are thugging it out!)#iâve received very wholesome messages from my lovely moots which iâve taken a sneak peek of and will be replying to when i get the time !!#anywho! i donât know when iâll be back on here bc my creative juices have been DRAINED so yeah :C i didnât wanna leave completely so i#archived my acc for a bit while i sort things out :3 â my reason for doing so is mixed really. more on losing motivation and just basically#stuff to worry about irl BUUUUT i missed you all so much and me being here and making a post means its kinda getting better on my end so ya#prob not relevant but iâll enable my asks again if anyone wants to leave anything so that i can come back to it again when i log on sjdnksj#also also iâve been watching âthe apothecary diariesâ s2 and its so amazing !! i also started âa sign of affectionâ and let me tell you how#much i was kicking and rolling around my bed KSNDKSJ#gaming-wise i recently pulled for c0 arlecchino but lost her weapon to clorindeâs weapon đđđź but shes amazing and i love her gameplay sm!#AND AND OMG LADS.??. WELCOME BACK CALEBBBBBB OMGGG i havent done the main story yet but iâm excited !! i know ppl have mixed feelings over#him and his actions but hes so up my alley so ik im gonna be eating it up hehe. i did manage to pull for his standard 5 star which is#exciting too !!! anyway i want to try and get back into writing again because my mind has been brewing yet another heavy chrollo angst đ˝#(i love putting my husband through grief)#or maybe iâll start w finishing off a couple of loose ends from the fics i never finished đ (iâm so sorry)#welp thatâs all from me !! i love u all <3
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He still has his issues of course but al is the most secure (attachment) oc i have. and im unsure as to Why, but it Was/Is really important to me for him to have had that experience of the worst relationship he's ever had. (where he ended up basing too much of his self worth on it, and stayed for far longer than he should have.)
Like. As I've met more people, I've watched (or heard about how) the brightest minds crumble when being introduced to love. All common sense out the window. There is no rational thinking AT ALL. Questioning and compromising on even your most innate immutable beliefs, held hostage by fear and What if This is As Good As It Gets. Even the strongest falter underneath it sometimes...!
#talkys#adjacently related but i keep writing stuff into my ocs that end up happening or being revealed to me later đ#this is an example seeing as how then i myself ended up in a ''relationship'' that showed me i should not#be in one because my mind cannot discern between good and bad once in there. only dog. mutt.#oc text#anyways yes al was in a horrendous relationship (this is what had him drop out of college and move back home many years ago)#where he lost himself and birthed new issues to work on and get past#and in the aftermath he's like holy shit that was not me#this is why he then is able to set firm boundaries and such with talon#hm or maybe talon came Before....not sure yet! either would make sense!#anyway yeah whereas im scared it'll happen to me again. because it could. al learns from it immediately
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"if grimpop was slash everyone would ship it" and if my grandmother had wheels she would've been a bike. like yeah dawg, it's almost as if there is a lot of cultural baggage that comes with older men/younger women ships that does not exist for gay relationships and that might be one of the reasons people aren't into it romantically
#like. they're fundamentally different dynamics#and again i cannot stress enough that i have nothing against people who do ship it#but like. people have very good reasons to not ship it#yanno?#like. is it possible for a younger man and an older man to have a problematic relationship irl?#obviously yes#in the same sense that it is entirely possible for an older man and a younger woman to have a healthy relationship irl#but!! there is also a longstanding cultural pattern of older men preying on younger women!!!#emphasis on the CULTURAL PATTERN thing#it's almost baked into society#so yeah some people have a negative reaction to that#in the way they wouldnât for slash ships#it happens#and yes of course there is a preference for slash in fandom and yes that is in part bc of sexism#there's Nuance to everything#but. imho it is comparing apples to slightly apple-like oranges#in the same way that there has been a backlash to jeffannie in recent years#people are simply less into older men dating younger women these days#because of reasons mentioned before#and also bc complex platonic male/female relationships are rare in media!!!#anyway. again ship what you want#but like. instead of complaining maybe just. write some fanfic. draw some fanart. idk contribute something. make it more popular#ok that's all from me im gonna go to sleep now#mqposting
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Roleswap anyone??


Tell me Fernando wouldn't make a fantastic general/emperor, and that Napoleon wouldn't make a fanastic driver/tp!!
#this might be the most mentally ill thing ive drawn yet....#lmao im like ah this would be a funny idea to draw#and then got WAAYYYYY more into drawing napoleon#to the point of cuteness aggression and sadness that him in f1 isnt real :(#cofi and i made up a whole lore and plot line so if you want a pt 2 of that hmu LMAO#but briefly: hes a driver(2 wdc btw) who got kicked out for smth and then came back as a tp again to torment his former rivals#gahhhhh why is he so cute why isnt he real :( i would stan him so hard you dont understand#with his cute little lesbian bob and introverted but brave and outspoken demeanor....#his mechanics and team in general are all tall men who love to pick him up#but god the plot is just so fun and compelling that it makes me sad that kinda driver doesnt exist irl#my greatest dream is for someone from the actual napoleon fandom to see this#bcs its weird enough for you guys so i cant even imagine what theyd think#BUT PLEASEEE#anyways. this is a very odd post. but im very proud of it :)#lmao this is just like one step closer to actually writing my proper manifesto about it#but yeah i posted that silly meme the other day and it got way more notes that i expected so maybe this will be appealing too?#girls who cannot draw normal fanart#<- like seriously i wont draw napoleon in his normal clothes and fernando vice versa but no prob with the reverse?? my brain...#f1#formula 1#fernando alonso#nandopoleon alonsoparte#napoleon bonaparte#napoleon#catie.art
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