#anyway that's why he's morale officer. jokes and food

[leohtttbriar]

the way neelix is actually the most right but this episode would've been bad if the solution to the conflict was Jokes.

[diedbutterflies69]

Bewitched, Enchanted- (pt 2) Lee Minho

Contains: Minho X fem reader, smut( it's 4 am I am too tired to write warnings). Pt.1

Word count: 3.3 k

Can read without reading pt. 1

Don't interact if you are minor.

" If you came over here today then I can serve you the best meal of your life",Minho was offered you through the other side of the phone. He was in feels to see you today eagerly and so was listing down tempting offers you won't be able to resist.

It's been six months since you have been dating Minho after meeting him in your brother's wedding and both of you felt an intense pull towards one another , giving in to desires and having an unforgettable amazing night but one night wasn't enough for you nor Minho , wanting to know each other deeply, wanting to know each other's despair, favourite food, favourite tropes , fantasises. You both only liked the idea of loving someone and not actually receiving it, as cheesy it sounded but destiny tangled two strangers in each other's secrets.

That night

"Don't expect me to disappear tomorrow after waking up, I am heavy sleeper", you said voice a little small after screaming a little too much, head on that man's arm after having a warm shower together, you wore Minho's clothes feeling so peaceful in it that you might cry.

" I would have found you anyway" Minho remarked confidence lacing in his tone.

"Do you stalk all your night stands?"you asked Minho hoping for a negative response, he frowned upon your question.

" do you think I am that horny to have bunch of stands?", Minho asked you , trying not to be appear as a player.

"Who knows" , you trailed off humming as you ran your fingers through Minho's silky brown locks teasingly, he grunted too tired to defend his character and moral values.

The night passed as you both talked about useless stuff, bitched about people and at end playing with Minho's orange car.

________________________________________

Present

distance was a bitch. A real devil in your sweet relationship, both you workholics hardly gets time to see each other , waiting for whole damn work days to pass by and spend the weekend in each other's arms, going out to little dates, sometimes you went to his city and sometimes he cracked your nest. Minho's place was your hometown, the place you grew up and broked down, he knew that so he always wondered around with you on unfamiliar streets of that town. Today he was begging you to come over despite it being Wednesday, the trashiest day of week . Burnt out at max, you were in absolute worst condition today both mentally and physically you don't want to visit Minho in this state.

So back in present, you were giving excuses, putting stone on your heart and denying every bait Minho was giving you.

" What best meal, are you gonna serve yourself on the bed filled with roses?", you playfully asked him while typing some shit on the laptop , you felt really proud of yourself that you miraculously managed to get job which gave you, your own office , you could do karoke in here still no one would get guts to bother you . You heard Minho whining and letting out a disappointed sigh over the phone.

"Why you always so horny? I was talking about the meat" Minho responded in defense , trying to erase the erotic image you painted in his mind. you and him and the bed filled with roses. He was looking really weird infront of his employees, the meeting was about to start but he didn't gave a damn , professionalism can fuck itself , you were his priority right now.

"Yeah, your meat", you giggled , teasing Minho was too much fun for you, your all dirty jokes were stored only for him, he protested , you bickered with him over few more minutes till you heard someone calling for him, deciding to end the call and be a little productive rather than a crazy teen in love.

" I want to live with you", Minho said before the silence ringed your ears. His voice seemed to be filled with a little despair, worrying you a bit, he didn't waited for reply this wasn't the first time he showed you his vulnerable side, but your heart aches for him every single time.

________________________________________

" I look fine right? My pimple over here isn't much visible right?", You asked your friend the nth time in afternoon, borrowing a face mask from her, in hope of getting the tiredness out of your face. You decided to meet Minho, fucking the insecurities at one corner and giving out excuses that he had seen your morning face and what can be worst than it?

" Are you turning narcissistic? how many times do I have to call you pretty?" Sana whined out, feeling heartbroken that her leisure was getting wasted by her over enthusiastic best friend. She could have write essays on your beauty but right now , she just wished to enjoy the break.

"Okay, thanks I am going", you replied ripping the mask off the face and cleaning your face with towel packing your stuff in hurry, it was three in afternoon , if the traffic won't be bad then you could reach Minho till 6 : 27 pm, you did math in head.

" I won't be coming to this hell tommorow", you said while opening the door and getting out , a boring outer space. You heard Sana yelling how your salary would be cut off as your vacation days were already exhausted but you cared less, bae before pay.

_________________________________________

" Fuck this shit ugh, I was always bad at math", you screamed while parking your car at the usual spot the traffic was bad but your calculations were also bad, it was fucking 9 pm till reached your lover's land. You realised that you also forget to inform Minho about your apperance, but you were sure he was in home cooking some good quality food , the aesthetic photos he sends you every day to leave you craving for heaven's cuisine.

You sucessfully parked the car and stepped out of the vehicle , cold December air, immediately making you shiver but imagining how warm Minho's livin room must be you comforted yourself, walking inside huge skyscraper , the gaurd not surprised at your apperance and having a little fate that you won't kill resident 605 , he didn't bothered to write your name.

Jumping like a rabbit in haste, you were finally in the elevator, the elevator. The same one in which Minho devoured you in passionate kiss , your cheeks reddend upon the great memory remembering how a random women caught you both, the door opened directly at your destination today gladly, you walked exited the space quickly walking in direction of your lover's cave.

One, two. It took thirty eight seconds for Minho to open the door. A unconscious smile made it's way on his face upon seeing you, he was wearing simple black sweats and a white tshirt but he still looked heaven's best creation to you. You mouthed a hi too him, he softly held your hand and without a word pulled you inside the house in one swift motion . In matter of seconds you were already pinned on the wall , the home like air hitting your lungs.

" Weren't you busy", Minho asked you, detaching himself from your body, walking towards kitchen and coming back with glass of water, it sometimes pained you how you were whipped only because of some basic human like actions. He handed you the glass and you gulped down half of it in one go, constant self talk and some walking dried your throat.

"I am never busy for ya", you snorted becaming dramatic, causing Minho too roll his eyes , he again came closer to you , hand reaching your your face and cupping it softly,he never failed in making your heart skip a beat.

" I missed you", Minho said as his lips touched against yours, feeling his smile on your lips, , you finally felt that you were at home now, all thoughts disappeared from your mind just concentrating on your lover's lips, kissing him with all the love you have for him.

" you look tired", Minho said breaking the kiss and leaving a peck at your forehead , noticing tangled hair, lose hairband and sleepy eyes but sparkling with happiness.

" I am not", you lied ,a natural instinct causing Minho to give you a sharp annoyed look but he decided not to discuss the topic further.

" Wash up while I make the table" he said walking towards kitchen, it was blessing to date a guy who actually cooked delicious stuff.

" What did you make?" You asked Minho, throwing while throwing off your purse on the couch , yeeting heels and walking behind him.

" Food", Minho blurted not paying much attention.

" Oh, I thought we are eating clothes", you said sarcastically still following him like a lost puppy.

" Want to taste tissues?" Minho asked you with his infamous murderous smile, causing you to stop fooling around.

" I should freshen up a bit", you said turning behind and practically running inside his bedroom.

_________________________________________

" the hell, you burned something or What Minho", your voice echoed the kitchen as you saw your boyfriend with a burned chicken in his hand, even though he was a great cook, he lacked knowledge with time. He looked at you in embarrassment, this wasn't the first time you smelled aromatic burned food in his house.

" it's your fault, you distracted me!" Minho exclaimed, while throwing away the burned stuff .you took the utensil and gloves , starting to rinse off the dirt , Minho looked at you in panic not wanting you to do anything of this, he always wanted to show you his best side but anyhow he ended looking like a fool in his own eyes .

"please don't do this", Minho requested you trying to take the pot away from you, you were now tired and feed up , deciding to just yell the sentence you wanted to since the moment you heard his voice on the phone.

" Can I live in with you?" You asked , a frozen Minho infront of you, he caught off-guard by your sudden request, he never thought you might really take him seriously.

" But.. but you don't like this town and what about your job", Minho reasoned out, he didn't want you to cut off box of memories that was buried in this land neither he wanted you to quit your job for him.

"I think I am falling in love with this town's air and about job , I won't move till I don't get one here... Or do you not want me to__?" Your sentence was cutten off by Minho , denying the question.

" No, I want you here with me... I really want , just imagining about seeing you everyday makes me crazy but I don't want you to sacrifice anything" Minho explained, not being able to control his happiness a smile formed on his face that he was trying to suppress.

" I am not babe, I don't know ab about future, I can always rent a new place or find a new job but I can't go through the heartbreak I will get if we ever broke up.. Let's enjoy tomorrow without thinking about day after that?" You essayed out , he could see the love you had in your eyes for him and it was more than enough, he never thought happiness like this could exist.

" God I fucking love her" Minho murmured to himself . He held your hand , removed the rubber gloves and left the utensil floating in sink.

"but I am cleaning it ", you whined wiggling in his grip.

" We will discuss the workload later, till then can I please my long distance girlfriend? She survived floods and earthquakes to meet me", Minho said, a smirk dancing on his face because of the unrealistic metaphors he used.

" Dude stop it" you whined out not looking in his eyes, the serious air getting saturated with sexual tension. He cupped your face , while the other wrapped around your waist.

" daddy to dude, huh?" He uttered in astonishment, blood travelling up to your cheeks , breathing heavily and avoiding eye contract.you hated how he had you wrapped around his fingers, just one push to your memory and all the erotic scenes plays inside your mind vividly, this man had some real kinky fantasties .

" Here or bedroom?" Minho asked you , his bedroom was far more comfortable than the graphite floor and spoiled meat smell in here.

" obviously bedroom , this kitchen stinks", you replied painfully scrunching your nose.

" oh yeah. " Minho admitted , now he was getting embarrassed, he was too concentrated on his little rising friend that his nose was out of frame.

_________________________________________

" Aah , yes right there" moaned out, feeling so full of Minho's cock and cum, it was maybe the third time you were coming one time around his fingers and tongue , just so he can stretch you well for his dick. You were a absolute mess under him, few tears pooling at the corner of eyes. your hips were jolting up in pain and pleasure as he was sliding in and off from you. Walls wrapping around him so tightly that he might burst out then and there. Wetness gushing out of your core onto the bedsheets.

" look, you ruined the sheets , maybe you should take up the laundary work", Minho grunted in between the deep thrusts he was giving you , his mind sometime amazed you you were almost brain-dead from the infinite sinful pleasure you were getting down there but this guy was thinking about workload, you just moaned loudly and blabbering some non existence words.

"Fuck, gonna cum" Minho announced before moving all the way out before sliding again reaching real deep, his hand gripped up on your thigh bringing it closer to his shoulder , his cocl reaching places you were never aware of. You cummed,. hard right then and there , wetness spilling down , it was pure filth the sound your pussy was making but you could care less, crying from overstimulation while Minho was still pistoning his hips chasing his own high , a few more thrusts and he released his loud deep inside your whole, slowly moving deep to secure it there, he removed himself from you, looking at your trembling hole, moving a finger at slit threatening to go inside , you cried out feeling sensitive beyond extent but still getting aroused.

" please" you breathe out not sure about that you wanted him to stop or just shove the digits inside you while his thumb stimulates your clit.

"Want to ride me?" Minho asked you, a tempting offer you could never decline even if your hips give up completely.

Thanks for reading.

[ghostofaboy]

Rock Bottom - This Isn't A Craig David Song

Summary: Frankie is spiraling after Tom’s death. Drugs lead to some unhealthy friendships, and too ashamed to reach out to his former teammates for help, Frankie is drawn into a world he’s afraid he can’t get out of.

Frankie spends the week getting closer to Tyler.

Pairing: Frankie “Catfish” Morale/Original Male Characters Rating: Explicit. Serious over 18s only Word count: 1712 Chapter: 7/?

Warnings: implied/referenced drug use, drug addiction, Self-esteem issues, angst, Frankie not coping, dubious consent, oral sex, anal sex

Note: This has not been beta read, so apologies for any mistakes. This is a fic with gay and bi characters. Please make sure you read the tags/warnings. Header by @gasolinerainbowpuddles

Part 6 / Part 1 / Masterpost

The week passed by without anything exciting happening. Work was work. Hard but honest. Gavin had finally rolled in on Wednesday afternoon and was promptly torn a new one by his uncle Malcolm. He had been sent home without pay, and Frankie had enjoyed an entire week without dealing with Gavin’s bullshit at lunchtime. As nice as that was, it also meant that Frankie hadn’t had a chance to talk to Gavin about what had happened at the weekend.

On Monday, he’d been planning to punch Gavin. It probably would have cost him his job, and considering Malcolm was also his landlord, it probably would have cost him his apartment. So when Gavin didn’t show, it was most likely a good thing.

That night Tyler had shown up at his door, and they’d talked some more. They watched tv and talked about shows they liked. Frankie had cooked some basic pasta, but they talked about favorite foods. It had been nice to spend time with someone. It was late by the time Tyler left, and Frankie had tidied up and then gone straight to bed.

On Tuesday, Frankie started to rehearse what he wanted to say to Gavin. How he should have talked about filming when they were sober. That way, Frankie could have asked more questions. All day, Frankie thought about what questions he would have asked. All he could come up with by that night was: why him?

Tuesday night, Tyler came round again. He had bought groceries, and Frankie laughed, listening to Tyler tell stupid jokes while he made him and Frankie enchiladas. Afterward, they had talked a little about music before Tyler went quiet.

“What’s up?” Frankie handed him a beer from the fridge and flopped back down onto the couch.

“Can I ask you a question?” Tyler sort of half smiled.

“Sure.” Frankie took a deep breath. He knew what was coming.

“I’m not sure how to phrase this.” Tyler gave an embarrassed laugh. “Erm, why do you get high? I mean, you don’t do it for fun. I’ve figured that out. And you would have to be pretty erm…”

“Desperate?” Frankie chimed in. “To do what Gavin has me doing.”

“Yeah, man.” Tyler frowned.

“Maybe I’m just another junkie.” Frankie spat out, then drained his beer.

“No. No, I don't think so.” Tyler shook his head. “I’ve seen junkies. You’re not there, not yet anyway.”

“Drop it, Ty.” Frankie couldn’t meet his eyes.

“Ok, Frank.”

Frankie had spent Wednesday morning thinking over what Tyler had asked him. He knew why he got high but fuck, how could he even start to explain that to someone. Thinking about it made him think of Tom, and Frankie had damn near lost his lunch. Carl had walked passed as he heaved and shot him a look. Frankie knew what Carl was thinking. Fuck him. He didn’t have a fucking clue.

When Gavin had strolled in a little after two, all eyes were on him. Frankie watched along with the rest of the crew as Malcolm tore down the stairs from his office. Gavin had the audacity to smirk as he followed his uncle back up to the office. Less than twenty minutes later, he was stomping back down those same stairs with a furious expression on his face before slamming the workshop door on his way out.

That night Tyler came round again with a pizza he’d picked up on the way over.

“Good day?” Tyler smiled that big goofy smile at Frankie, and Frankie’s mood was immediately lifted. Damn that smile.

“Kinda. Gavin finally showed up to work, and then Malcolm suspended him.” Frankie answered between mouthfuls of pizza.

Tyler roared, laughing. “Stupid fucking asshole. Where the fuck has he been?”

Frankie just shrugged and laughed.

They spent the rest of the night watching tv. Tyler got up to use the bathroom at one point, and when he came back, he sat down next to Frankie on the couch. Not the chair or the other end of the sofa, but right next to Frankie. They carried on watching some comedy show about Brooklyn cops, but Frankie couldn’t really concentrate.

He could feel the heat from Tyler’s thigh next to his own. Every time Tyler laughed, he seemed to shift a little closer to Frankie. Eventually, though, it got late, and Tyler got up to leave.

“Better get going.” He smiled that fucking smile at Frankie. “You’ve got work in the morning.”

“Yeah.” Frankie couldn’t help smiling back as he walked Tyler to the door. “See you tomorrow night?”

Tyler stopped in the open doorway and nodded. “Yeah. If that’s ok, I mean.”

Before he really knew what he was doing, Frankie had closed the gap between them. Before he could talk himself out of it, his lips were on Tyler’s. Tyler blinked in surprise before returning the gentle kiss.

Pulling away, Frankie could feel the blush creeping up and knew that his face must be beet red. Tyler was also blushing and smiling again.

“See you tomorrow.” He smiled shyly as he left Frankie blushing in the doorway.

Thursday came and went so quickly and yet so slowly that Frankie almost felt like the universe was fucking with him. Work was uneventful. Carl had it in for Paul for some reason. Frankie didn’t know why. Paul was a dull son of a bitch with all the personality of a turnip, but he was a hard worker. Frankie tuned out Carl’s rants as his thoughts drifted back to Tyler. Frankie had spent nearly all of Thursday thinking about Tyler.

Just like he’d said he would, Tyler came back on Thursday night. From the moment Tyler had knocked on his door again, Frankie was on him. Lips crushed against lips as they pulled each other’s clothes off. Tyler had kissed his way down Frankie’s neck to his chest. Pulling his t-shirt up and off to get to Frankie’s nipples, Tyler had nipped and sucked on them before continuing down.

They had paused briefly as they awkwardly pulled their jeans off. Shoes being stubborn, zippers not cooperating and boxers getting tangled on legs eventually had them both chuckling. The laughing stopped as soon as both of their erections were free.

Tyler locked eyes with Frankie before pushing him down onto the couch. Frankie gasped as Tyler’s mouth enveloped his cock. Tyler sucked and pumped Frankie until Frankie couldn’t keep his moans quiet. Just as he could feel his orgasm building, Tyler stopped and grinned at him.

“Lube?”

Frankie grinned. “Bedroom.” He panted back.

The rest of Thursday night was spent riding Tyler on the couch.

Frankie had woken up on Friday morning to Tyler groaning next to him in bed.

“Dude. You get up way too early.”

Frankie had just laughed, given him a kiss, and gotten ready for work.

Work had been typical. Apparently, Carl and Paul were friends again, so everything in the workshop was calm, and the day carried on as usual.

Frankie wondered what Tyler would make for dinner tonight as he pulled on his jacket. Tyler had said he’d be waiting for Frankie when he’d left that morning. Frankie couldn’t stop himself from grinning whenever he thought about the younger man waiting for him at home.

Stepping out of the workshop, Frankie turned and headed toward his truck. The sun was already setting and was glinting off the various windshields blinding him. It wasn’t until he was almost there that Frankie finally saw someone leaning against his truck, waiting for him.

At first, his heart leaped. Tyler. That handsome fucker had come to meet him at work. But then Frankie's heart sank. He saw the blond hair, the way the man leaned, and he knew who it was.

“Gavin.” Frankie sighed and nodded.

“Hey, Frank.” Gavin grinned. “How you doing?”

“I’m good.” Frankie stopped at his driver’s door, which Gavin was still leaning on. “You?”

“I’m all good, Frank.” Gavin looked around at the emptying parking lot. “Hey, you wanna party? I know a couple of guys who really want to meet you.”

“No.” Frankie shook his head. “We need to talk, Gav.”

“Come on, Frank.” Gavin’s smile fell. “We go to this guy's house. We get fucked up, then you get fucked. All. Night. Long.” Gavin laughed even as Frankie shook his head again. “Come on, are you serious? I know you must want some. You ain’t had any shit since last weekend, and I know you ain’t had any cock in you all week. You must be hurting for a bit of both.”

Gavin stepped forward, his eyes drifting down to Frankie’s crotch. Frankie took a deep breath as he took a step back. Gavin’s appraisal of him was making him increasingly uncomfortable.

“I said no. We need to talk.” Frankie scowled at Gavin, who just rolled his eyes. “I want to talk to you about the filming.”

“What about it?” Gavin set his mouth into a hard thin line. “You said yes to it if that’s what this is about. No one did anything to you you didn’t want.”

“You only asked me once I was already high.” Frankie tried to focus on his breathing to control his temper. Screaming about this in public wasn’t how Frankie wanted this to go. “You waited until I was high. You knew I’d say no otherwise. You think I want other people to see the shit you do to me? Huh?”

“No one makes you do shit, Frank. If you wanted to get high some other way, you would, but you keep coming back to me, and we both know why.” Gavin glared. “You like it. You like feeling dirty. You like being used. But yeah, you know what, I’ll hold my hands up. I should have asked you sober. I didn’t want you to say no, I guess. You know why? Money. Tyler says there’s good money in it.” Gavin shrugged. “Fucking his idea anyway.”

“Liar!” Frankie’s heart felt like it was going to stop. No. Not Tyler. "You're a fucking lying piece of shit!"

“Fuck you!” Gavin yelled back. “Tyler came to me after that first time. He said you were too fucking good not to film. He should know. It’s his fucking job.”

[jackrrabbit]

🤍 Haikyuu WIP excerpts

preview post for hq because recently i showed sara a list of my works in progress and she laughed at me and then made a dn joke like this is 2015 or something. we got:

🤍 communal property /// ushijima x f!reader x tendou 🤍 sunshower /// atsumu x f!reader x osamu 🤍 corporate ethics /// kuroo x f!reader

anyway these are all terrible first drafts and i'm not sorry. however i am very very into these pieces and if you're interested in seeing them finished, you should tell me fr fr

🤍 communal property /// Ushijima x f!Reader x Tendou

Summary: Tendou shares everything with Ushijima—his food, his dorm room, even the AVs he likes. Why not his girlfriend, too?

Tags/warnings: poly relationship in progress (only you and Tendou are dating at this point), mild suggestiveness ??, s*ze k*nk

Status: 10k words written (holy fuck lol) out of ~11k total? this bitch better get finished is2g

After the match, your voice is hoarse from screaming but you still manage to yell congratulations for your boyfriend when you meet him and Ushijima outside the locker room in the stadium. You’re pumped on the adrenaline of the game, so you don’t even protest like you usually would when Tendou picks you up in the middle of your hug and lifts you off the ground effortlessly. “How was I? Awesome, right? I told you we would beat them!”

“You did, you so did—“ Even though your throat hurts, you can’t help gushing about every rally, every soul-crushing block, every impossible spike. “—and then the guy on the left thought he was clear to shoot it but you just—“ You throw your arms in the air and mime hitting the ball down like a blocker. “Wha-bam!—and the look on his face! I thought he was going to punch you!”

Tendou laughs and lays a sloppy kiss on your cheek, just as thrilled as you are by the win. “You really liked it that much? I thought you weren’t into sports.”

“I loved it! You were so cool! I can’t believe I’m dating someone so cool!” You wrap your legs around his back and hug his face close to yours, reveling in the fact that this weirdo belongs to you wholly and entirely, that you get to have him to yourself (well, other than his roommate). “And I’m not into sports, I’m into you.”

Tendou smiles in a way that makes the sides of his eyes crinkle up and little red patches bloom over his cheeks, a look that says, I like you so much (Y/N), I like you I like you I like you, except he’s probably trying not to be mushy like that since Ushijima is standing off to the side.

You feel a little bad for ignoring him (no one likes being the third wheel, even if he never shows signs of caring) so when Tendou sets you down you turn to Ushijima. “And you! Holy shit, Tendou said you were good, but I didn’t know you were that good. The ball when you hit it was super loud—honestly, how are your hands okay? If I hit it that hard I’d probably break something.”

“My hands are fine…this is normal for me.”

But just because you’ve got them here in front of you and you’re still pumped from the exhilaration of the win, you can’t help grabbing Ushijima’s hand and flipping it palm-up to inspect. True to his word, there’s no redness, just the calluses he’s built up on his long fingers. “Wow.”

“You don’t need to worry about Wakatoshi,” Tendou tells you, grinning and then making a face. “He’s a monster, he can handle it.”

“No kidding. You’re both monsters.” You put the base of your palm up against Ushijima’s to gauge the size of his hand against yours, and without prompting Tendou grabs your other hand to press against his own. Tendou’s fingers are a bit longer, but Ushijima’s are…thicker, more solid. Your hands look like a little kid’s in comparison. “Can I be honest? Half the time I was thinking I actually feel bad for the other team. If I had to take on both of you at the same time, I’d probably cry.”

You’re (mostly) joking, but it’s still a complete shock when you see the side of Ushijima’s mouth curl up a tiny bit. You’ve known each other for months at this point, but you’ve never seen him smile until now. Half of you is wondering if this is some kind of optical illusion caused by the atmosphere and the dim light of the stadium cutting through the evening, but the other half of you enjoys it. You made Ushijima smile. You did that.

“Don’t sell yourself short, (Y/N).” Ushijima says, tipping his head to the side.

“Yeah!” Tendou chimes in, resting his chin on top of your head and folding his arms around your neck from his place behind you. “I’m sure you could take both of us. Right, Wakatoshi?”

So that’s probably a sign.

🤍 sunshower /// Atsumu x f!Reader x Osamu

Summary: [Kitsune AU] You find an old Ō-Inari shrine in the woods that may not be as abandoned as it looks.

Tags/warnings: Shinto religion, this preview is biased toward tsumu oops, yearning/soft vibes

Status: 3.9k words written out of 5–6k? total

Atsumu was the one who found you.

That’s how he likes to talk about it, that he found you, like you’d still be wandering around lost in the woods if it weren’t for him. Osamu thinks you would have found your way back home eventually but Atsumu likes it better this way, this framing that makes it seem like they saved you.

It’s hard for him to tell time linearly the way humans do but you mention once that you’ve known them for a year and that seems to fit. It’s spring now, almost barely tipping into summer, and it was spring when Atsumu found you. He remembers because of the way it was raining: light and tender, a summer rain early in the season, each little drop tapping off a leaf and then rolling into the forest bed to be eaten up by the grass and the soil.

Atsumu likes the rain, likes the sweet earthy smell it makes and the way the plants look so lush and green and alive, like they’d bleed if he sunk his teeth into them. He was out in the woods because of the rain ('Samu was in the shrine, as usual, attempting to set buckets under the millions of holes in the roof so the rainwater wouldn’t pool and rot through the wood underneath). But Atsumu was half asleep in a tree when he heard you crashing through the undergrowth, tripping over ferns and snapping every twig in your path (thought ya might be a bear, he tells you later, that’s how loud ya were) but he wouldn’t really have woken up if he hadn’t heard you singing.

(The odd thing is, you weren’t actually singing. You remember that day as vividly as they do: the warm, humid air making your skin feel sticky under your yellow raincoat; the tiny raindrops filtering through the canopy and kissing your cheeks; the ink feathering out on the damp xerox of the old map you found in your great-aunt’s attic so you could barely make out the “X” that was supposed to mark the location of the lost Inari shrine… You were cursing how stupid you’d been to go on a wild goose chase into the mountains with no cell service and no marked trail to look for a shrine that no one had seen in decades. You definitely weren’t singing.)

But Atsumu remembers it differently. No matter how many times you explain that you were just talking to yourself, when he replays the sound of your voice back then (reaching and lilting and falling, the way the birds talk to each other in the early morning, except the music of it was poured into syllables and words), it sounds like you’re singing. He wasn’t sure at first, hadn’t heard a voice that wasn’t Osamu’s in so many years that he gets tired counting them, but then he saw you push into view from between two bushes and he thought, a human!

A girl, too—it was hard to say at first because you were wearing that weird, slick jacket of yours, so bright yellow it was like an oversized flower blooming out of the grass, but then you tilted your head up to feel the rain on your face and the hood fell down and he knew. Not just a human, a girl! Atsumu wanted to yell for Osamu, make him come and confirm that there was a person wandering around not a mile from the shrine. A real person! Singing and smiling and wiping the rain off her cheeks (does that mean you like the rain, just like he does? did you come out to feel it too?) But he also wanted to surprise Osamu so he hid his tails and his ears and came down from the tree and asked if you had lost your way in the forest, since you were so far from any path…

When you think back on this yourself you’re amazed that you just went with him: a strange boy (man?) wearing a fox mask and traditional Shinto priest robes, which were somehow pristine white and red despite him having appeared from nowhere in the middle of a dense forest, who told you he had no idea what direction the village was but he could take you to the Inari shrine you’d been searching for…well. Maybe you were too surprised to be wary, or maybe you were just exhausted and lost. But you like to think you had a sense of it even then, the irrational belief that the boy in the woods was not just a boy in the woods.

Atsumu thinks you knew. Humans always understand, even when they try not to… He remembers, he took your hand that day in the forest and you saw that the claws on his fingers were too long to be human, and you said nothing because on some level you already felt it. Your skin was cool then, smooth and damp from the rain; he wanted to stop, run his hands up your arms, touch the places on your face where your mouth had been turned up at the corners and press his fingers into your cheeks.

🤍 corporate ethics /// Kuroo x f!Reader

Summary: [Office AU] The new junior marketing associate just happens to be Kuroo’s favorite camgirl, and he’s having trouble keeping his hands to himself.

Tags/Warnings: boss/employee, businessman!Kuroo as a reformed player, camgirl reader, this excerpt has a lil bit of 18+ content 👀

Status: 1.2k words written out of 4k? words total

Kuroo doesn’t watch porn.

It’s not, like, a moral principle or something. He has nothing against pornography. As far as he knows, it’s perfectly normal for single men. He just doesn’t like it…unless it’s you.

When he was in school it was easy. Being a teenager meant being so flooded with hormones that a warm breeze could get him up, and the adrenaline rush of winning a game was better than any big-titted porn actress faking moans into a shit-quality boom mic. Sure, he watched porn back then (what teenage boy didn’t?), but it was more out of curiosity than necessity. It was all kind of a mystery at that point, the way it can only be when you’re a clueless virgin and you and all your friends are too busy practicing for the next game to get girls.

Somehow Bokuto was the first one in their friend group to lose his virginity, and the memory of the dumbass self-consciously describing the experience has been lodged in Kuroo’s brain for the 10+ years since. “It was…I don’t know. She smelled good. You know how girls always smell good?” Bokuto’s hands twitched and his face was pink. “It’s just really…soft.”

Soft was right, Kuroo would reflect when he got laid for the first time a few months later. Soft, warm, wet. Sex was awkward at first, but before he knew it it was more natural than breathing.

It didn’t change much after high school, either. He didn’t get into volleyball for the groupies, but they didn’t hurt. There were girls when he played for his college team, more girls when he joined a business frat, so many girls he couldn’t keep track…they blurred together after a while. It didn’t take effort. You don’t need game when you’re 6’2 and you’re in the gym 40 hours a week, and you definitely don’t need porn.

So he never got into it. Now that he’s promoting volleyball instead of playing, things are more complicated. Kuroo’s never been the type who expects things to fall in his lap, but there are so many rules when it comes to dating in the real world. Good morning texts, anniversaries, flowers, parents. It’s exhausting. One time—seriously, just one time—Kuroo misses his girlfriend’s birthday to go watch a Jackals game, and the next time he sees her she throws her drink on him in public and keys his car. After that, Kuroo decides that until he’s ready to settle down there will be no more girlfriends. Which means no more reliable sex. Which means resorting to porn.

Which means you.

You, batting your eyelashes at the camera and biting the side of your lip. You, purring and mewing like a kitten. You, lying back on your pretty pink bedsheets in your pretty pink lingerie, sliding your hands between your legs. It takes Kuroo a full month to decide to pay for access to your website (Kenma’s unsolicited recommendation) but it takes less than five minutes for him to upgrade access to premium. You look like a wet dream—no, you look like the centerfold of every dirty magazine Kuroo managed to get his hands on when he was younger. Pristine and alluring and so deliciously out of reach.

And you make it so simple. No delicate emotional games with rules Kuroo never bothered to learn. No pretending to care how your day was. You untie the little bows on the side of your panties and lick your fingers and Kuroo just has to take his dick out and watch you. Getting off hasn’t been this easy for him since college. You’re a camgirl, you exist on his computer screen, and that’s how he likes it.

Which makes it a lot more awkward when Kuroo finds out that the only woman he’s gotten off to in the past…year, maybe?…somehow just got hired in JVA’s sports promotion department as his junior associate.

Your prim work blouse is buttoned up to the collar and your makeup is different, but he knows it’s you. You have to tell him your name twice because he’s too stunned to respond the first time, and even then he can’t summon up more of a response than a curt nod because his mouth tastes like dirt.

You smile a little awkwardly at his cool reception, and the hand you’d extended out to shake swings back down to your side. “Um, the guy at HR said he sent up my info yesterday…I’ll be working directly underneath you?”

Directly underneath me. Kuroo is taking a sip of his coffee when you say this. He doesn’t spit it out, but it’s close.

[cottagehowell]

okay so I'm seeing a lot of people going "I always thought DEH was horrible bc Evan says he knows Connor to get with Connor's sister" etc. etc. without actually knowing the details of how it happens in the musical

disclaimer: I don't actually like the musical that much, I like some of the music but I agree that it gets really repetitive. also, I really only like the music in act 1 (with a couple of exceptions), so I'm really comfortable with the plot at the beginning, but once it gets to the Connor Project, I really only vaguely know what happens. also, like most people, I haven't seen the movie

OKAY let's start with Evan and Connor meeting. contrary to many posts that I've seen, they DID meet each other. Evan goes to the computer lab one day before school to print out a letter to himself - his therapist makes him write these letters, "Dear Evan Hansen, Today's a good day, and here's why....." So as he's printing this out, Connor comes into the computer lab, looking kind of intimidating, but generally being nice to Evan, asking him about his cast, how he broke his arm, whatever. Since no one has signed Evan's cast because he has no friends, Connor signs it in big letters to fill the whole thing up, which is really sweet! it's a nice moment. and then Connor sees Evan's letter to himself, sees that it mentions Connor's sister Zoe because Evan has a crush on her, and Connor gets understandably pissed off. he takes the letter and storms out. for Evan, this is the end of the interaction. it was weird and awkward, but it's done, and his only worry is that Connor might find him and like beat him up over it or something.

when Connor kills himself, his parents find the Dear Evan Hansen letter in Connor's pocket, and they assume it's a letter written by Connor to his secret best friend Evan Hansen. they're overjoyed in the greatest capacity they can be having lost their son, because at least their loner son had a friend, someone to help him through it all, even if he didn't make it through. Connor's parents feel somewhat culpable for Connor's death because they really didn't give him the support he needed, so the idea of Connor having had someone to support him takes a load off of the parents and makes them feel less guilty.

the following day at school, Evan is called into the principal's office. when he gets there, Connor's parents and sister are all there (he probably doesn't even know who Connor's parents are when he first sees them, but he definitely knows Zoe), and they tell Evan that Connor killed himself. and Evan is understandably confused because that shouldn't have anything to do with him. and then they show him the letter and make it clear that they think Evan and Connor were friends, which is corroborated by Connor having signed Evan's cast, and they effectively thank Evan for having been there for their son. and Evan goes along with it, both because of his anxiety and because it would be super awkward for anybody to go "sorry, your son actually didn't have any friends, I met him for the first time yesterday when he signed my cast and then was a dick to me and ran off." the idea of Evan being Connor's friend is clearly providing a lot of comfort to Connor's parents, so Even lets them think that they were friends because that's an action that seems totally harmless.

and then Connor's parents want Evan to be part of their lives, almost as a way for Connor to live on with them, and they start asking Evan all kinds of questions about their friendship. and that's where Evan starts to lie. ultimately, he's still trying to comfort the family by creating stories where Connor was kind and had fun and was trying to get better. in the process, he ends up almost gaslighting Zoe into doubting the existence of the emotional abuse she endured at the hands of her brother, but even for her, Evan is trying to provide an alternate history where Connor actually liked her. it's worth noting that Evan is also trying to sell the lie to himself because it would've been nice to have had a friend. Connor and Evan initially got along when they met, they're both in dire need of a friend, they both struggle with mental illness, and their families mirror each other in the show. if things had gone differently, I really believe that they could've been friends. and this possibility is so appealing to Evan, especially in the song "For Forever," where Evan rewrites the story of his suicide attempt to be a day out with Connor where Connor comes to help him after Evan falls from a tree.

is it shitty that Evan uses this opportunity to get with Zoe? absolutely. was lying at all not the best move? totally, but also he's a teenager who struggles interacting with people, so I don't blame him so much for getting himself in this mess. I never felt like Evan was really at fault for starting the lies, especially since it was such a great source of comfort for everyone involved, and since Connor's parents pretty much just pushed their assumptions on him. he's definitely a morally grey character, even more so as the plot goes on, but I don't think his actions become truly shitty until he starts getting some personal gain with it i.e. the resources of a more affluent family, dating Zoe, the celebrity of starting the Connor Project, etc.

also, I've seen the argument that audiences thought Evan was totally excused from his actions because of his anxiety. this was 2017, peak "uwu smol bean" era, so people online definitely felt that way, but I think critical reception (and like, normal reception by adults) of the musical was more nuanced. pretty much all musical theatre fandom at the time relied on super reductive, black-and-white thinking to categorize characters, so it's no surprise that a show with a more-than-typically morally gray main character would be super distorted by fandom. I've also seen complaints about people shipping Evan with Connor, which, yeah, that was pretty fucked up. since we really only get to see Connor through Evan's romanticized made-up stories about him, it's easy to read a romantic interest into it, especially when "Sincerely, Me" does make gay jokes about them, and also I heard that a lot of people thought the song "For Forever" was a gay love story without the context of the musical. food for thought. anyway it's not a particularly shippable musical in the first place, so pretty much the only other ships were Evan with side character Jared and Zoe with side character Alana. I can understand people gravitating towards the ship of two main characters, even if they didn't actually know each other and it's kinda fucked up

[kitkat1003]

If Dying Slowly was a Competition, I’d  have Won the Grand Prize.

Dot knows her role.  The tragic, ill woman, whose purpose is to give the men in the movie something to fight for.

She hates clichés.  She hates dying.

AO3 link to Series

@asilcorner :)

Dot, for as long as she can remember, has had a single parent—his name is Yakko and he’s only four years older than her.  Had anyone tried to tell her that was strange, she would have struck them hard with her mallet, for even suggesting such nonsense.  Yakko’s her brother and her parent, and that suits her just fine.

Growing up in a dying orphanage certainly isn’t the best environment, but Dot charms just about anyone she interacts with, which works wonders when one needs extra food (for Wakko, who needs to eat more than most) or needs to get themselves out of a hairy situation.

She and her brothers are thick and thieves, in both the figurative and literal sense.  They take extra food from the cupboards at night, for Wakko’s voracious appetite, and occasionally they pickpocket adopters.  

Is that morally wrong?  Probably, but from a young age they learned that they only matter to each other, that they have to stick together and forget the rest of the world, because the rest of the world will forget them without a second thought.

And that’s fine by her.  She likes being independent, with her brothers.  They’re their own unit, strong and determined and zany and wild.  

The orphanage closes down, because their town is poor and there aren't funds for such charities.  The rest of the kids are easily adopted off, but...

Nobody wants them.

And that’s fine, because they don’t need anyone anyway!  Dot has Yakko, and he’s her parent and oldest brother, and Wakko, her friend and second oldest brother.  Who needs anything else?

She holds onto that attitude for a while, until she starts seeing how tired Yakko is, day after day when he comes home from work.  Thinks about someone only a few years older than her acting as an adult, and thinks about how she would feel.  And then she feels awfully selfish, for thinking that everything was fine because they have each other, because they do have each other, but Yakko’s the one doing all the work, and she and Wakko are hardly a help.

She asks, one day, if Yakko will be okay.  If they all will be okay, when he’s wearing himself down to the bone.

Yakko laughs.

“I’ll be fine.  We’ll be fine,” He ruffles her hair, and grins wider when she reaches up to smack away his hands.  “Promise.”

She learns to cook.  She teaches Wakko to clean.  They do what they can, to make what was once a working orphanage, now abandoned save for them, comfortable, so when Yakko comes home he can eat and relax.  He takes them grocery shopping, in the town market, on his day off.  They never ask for anything that can’t be shared between the three of them, and that’s if they ask for anything at all.  Yakko teaches them how to tell when vegetables and fruits are ripe, and once he graduates them from the School of Food Identification, he lets them run wild and grab some of the items they need, so the trips to the market take half as long.

It’s an especially useful tactic in the winter, when it’s bitterly cold and no one wants to be outside.  They’re lucky, since they’re insulated first by fur, but they still shiver.  

Sometimes, Dot is jealous of Wakko’s sweater.

It’s the winter after she turns 8 where she starts to get a cough.  It’s not too much of an issue—it’s winter, and it’s to be expected that one might get sick, especially as the town gets poorer and poorer and food gets more and more scarce.  She can tell Yakko is giving himself a pittance to eat while splitting half of what should be his full portion between her and Wakko.

He hasn’t had a job in a month.  She doesn’t want to worry him.  So she keeps the cough to herself, and takes it easy the next week or so.

Then, one day, she’s chasing Wakko around in the snow, throwing snowballs and giggling like kids are supposed to.  Yakko is hiding somewhere, waiting to ambush, and Dot is having a wonderful time, forgetting about any of the terrible things that are a part of their life.  Except, somewhere along her strides, her breath catches in her throat, and when her body searches for oxygen to use, there is none.

She drops to her knees, and a hacking cough rips through her.  Her throat burns, feeling scraped raw and bleeding, and every breath is a gasp that doesn’t give her enough.  She’s on the precipice of passing out with every choking heave, and there’s a ringing in her ears that muffles the sounds of Wakko and Yakko’s shouts of her name, as well as their approaching footsteps.

Yakko slides on his knees to her and picks her up off of the ground, holding her in his lap, and he hugs her against him tight, and she doesn’t think she can ever remember him trembling this much.  The warmth, somehow, helps her breathe.  She takes in hot breaths instead of cold ones, and it’s like the blockage in her chest melts.  She still coughs, but they slowly peter out.

“Dot?” Wakko’s voice sounds far away, but Dot looks for him.

He’s kneeling in front of Yakko, face looking pained and teary eyed.  

“I’m tired,” she mumbles, but hearing her talk is enough, apparently, because Wakko drops his head in relief.  She can see his smile anyway.  

“You’re going inside.” Yakko’s voice sounds brittle, like iron melted down, rebuilt, and struck so many times that it’s one more blow from cracking.  He stands, clutching her close, so tight it’s as if he’s scared she’s going to slip through his fingertips if he goes lax for a second.  She leans into him-he’s warm, and she feels very, very cold.

She’s half asleep by the time they’re halfway home, and she’s completely out before they get there.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When she wakes up, Yakko is sitting on a chair in front of the big bed, and Wakko is sleeping in his lap.

“How long have you had that cough.” It’s not really phrased like a question, and she’s never seen Yakko this defeated.

“A couple weeks,” she says, and her voice sounds hoarse, not cute at all.  “It wasn’t this bad—I just thought it was a passing cold, so I took it easy,” She coughs, and her shoulders shake.  “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Yakko is quick to assure her, with a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes.  “You just didn’t want me to worry, right?”

“You always worry,” she grumbles in reply, and Yakko laughs.

“Yeah, well, you’d worry too if you were me,” he says it like a joke, but she doesn’t like the implication.  It must show on her face, because he raises his hands.  “Kidding!  Kidding, sis, promise,” He smiles.

She has a sinking suspicion that his lies and his promises are very similar, as long as they’re made in an effort to make her and Wakko happy.

“You’re going to be fine,” Yakko says it more as if he’s convincing himself than her, but she doesn’t comment.  “Say, why don’t I tell you the story?”

She perks up at that. He doesn’t need to clarify which one; he knows her favorite.

Yakko sits up—she hadn’t noticed how slumped over he was—and pats Wakko’s head once, clearing his throat to speak in that ever familiar storytelling voice she and Wakko have known for as long as they can remember.

“Once upon a time, a brave knight married a beautiful princess...” he begins, and she knows her lines by heart, too.

If she coughs through a few of them, he doesn’t comment.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

For a week or so, things aren’t too bad.  Sure, she’s sick, and it isn’t exactly pleasant, but she thinks she’s getting better.  Wakko offers her his sweater, which is almost a surprise, because he likes his sweater more than almost anything, only taking it off to shower and clean.  She waves the offer off—the last thing they need is to have another one of them getting sick.  Besides, Yakko has basically smothered her in all of the blankets that he could find.

Needless to say, she isn’t exactly chilly.

She does miss them all sleeping in the same bed.  Yakko moves to a bed frame close by, but at a safe distance, and she doesn’t even know where Wakko sleeps.  She wouldn’t be surprised if she found out he was sleeping on the floor.  Her brothers are so predictably self sacrificing.  Maybe they all are, she doesn’t know.  She’s never had to sacrifice anything for them.

She’s the one they’re always taking care of.

The thought sticks in her mind and refuses to vanish, not even when she sleeps.

She doesn’t get better.  It’s an up and down process, for a year.  Some days she can run without any sort of issue, chasing Wakko around like she could before she ever had a cough, and the next she won’t be able to find the energy to get out of bed.  Yakko worries, like he always does, but on the worst days he doesn’t dare leave her bedside, like if he turns away she’ll wither to dust before he can look back.

It’s draining, and some days she just wants to curl into a ball and disappear, because she’s so tired.  Every breath becomes a challenge, every waking second is a nightmare of pain and exhaustion.

She wants to sleep forever, she wants this to be done, she wants to be able to rest, but her brothers would never recover if she died.  That, at the end of it all, is the only reason she keeps fighting.  Sure, some days she can delude herself into thinking she’ll magically get better, but it’s hard to keep hope.

Dr.Scratchansniff, after hearing about Dot’s predicament, offers a free examination, so they can at least know what’s wrong with her, see how they can fix it.  Yakko practically jumps at the opportunity, walking Dot over to the doctor’s office with a fervor she hasn’t seen from him in months, since before she was sick.

The examination is odd, and unpleasant.  Scratchy has her breathe while using a stethoscope on her back, and then she blows into a tube, and then she takes a breath and holds it for as long as he can.  He’s very gentle, and explains everything he’s going to do before he does it, and if she was better she’d mess with him.  But she doesn’t want to mess this up by being a prankster so she stays quiet and lets him work.

“She has a teeny hole in her lung,” he tells Yakko, gesturing to the size of it with his fingers. 

She sees Yakko pale, eyes wide and uncomprehending.  Wakko grips her hand tight in one hand, and fiddles with his sleeve with the other.  She doesn’t quite understand what a hole in her lung means, but she knows it’s bad.  

“It is allowing fluid to slowly get into her lungs.  In order to fix it, we would have to operate.”

“What would that cost?” Yakko asks, and he sounds so much older than he is.

“A hay penny.”

Yakko flinches.  Wakko looks away. Even she knows they don’t have that much.  A hay penny is a lot of money, especially now.

Yakko takes a few steps forward, gestures for Scratchy to move away from her and Wakko, and whispers a question that suspiciously sounds like ‘How much time does she...,’ and it makes her furious and terrified all at once.

“Thanks, Doc,” Yakko mutters, once he gets his answer, and Scratchy looks a mixture of pained and sympathetic and nervous, unable to fix things for them, because he has as much money as they do, which is practically nothing.

They leave.

“I’m sorry, Yakko,” She tells him, their feet crunching the underbrush as they walk.

“What for?  It’s not your fault.  I just wish...,” he trails off.

“I could go to another town,” Wakko suggests.  “I could work and get the money.”

And Dot hates this.  Hates that her illness puts a weight on her siblings shoulders, hates that all she can do is lay in bed and wait for someone to get money, to save her.

She was never born to be a damsel in distress.  She’s a fighter, a doer.  No wonder the world had to give her a handicap, because she and her brothers would be unstoppable otherwise.

“No, I can figure something out, Wakko.  Promise,” Yakko tells him, but he sounds unsure, and she can tell that he has no idea what to do, even though he acts like it’s all going to be fine.

She’s getting tired.  Yakko has to carry her for the second half of their walk home.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Wakko leaves around a few months later, after he turns 12, and she can tell it tears Yakko apart, but she’s heartbroken too, so she can’t find the energy to comfort him.

Wakko is smiling when he goes, but she can tell, she knows that Wakko is terrified, knows that he shouldn’t be out on his own.  They’re a unit, a trio, they’re not supposed to be separated.

What a cruel universe to tear them apart for even a second, let alone a year.

She can feel herself getting weaker, too, so she knows they’re in dire straits.  It takes all of her energy to see Wakko off, and she sleeps through the rest of the day and night.  Yakko wakes her up only to force her to eat.  She’s never that hungry anymore.  She doesn’t feel much of anything anymore, besides pain and exhaustion, but he still manages to make her smile.

Frustration builds, as it has over the entirety of her illness, as Yakko tries to smile and joke his way through this Shakespearian tragedy. The tight band of self control she has has to snap eventually.

“Do you think Wakko’s okay?” she asks, four months in, and Yakko hesitates.  

It’s rare for him to do so, when he’s about to lie, or promise, because she knows he’s been doing it longer than she can remember, so used to covering up the things that should make her terrified, and the fact that he’s hesitating now turns her heart to ice.

“I’m sure he’s fine,” he tells her, in the same sweet, placating tone of voice he’s used since she was four, and it grates on her ears. “He’ll be back in a few months, and he’ll bring back the money we need for your operation, and everything will be fine.  Promise.”

Promise.

She snaps.

“Stop lying to me!” she shouts, even as it tears her throat in two.  “Stop acting like you know how Wakko is, stop acting like you know if things are going to be okay, stop acting like I’m not dying!”

She doubles over, hacking and coughing, hands clutching at her chest and neck because it hurts, it hurts so much, and she can’t handle it anymore.  “Just stop it!  You don’t know!  You don’t, so stop acting like your promises aren’t lies!”

It takes her a full five minutes to catch her breath, and when she looks up she flinches, because oh no.

Yakko is crying.

“I’m sorry,” he tells her, miserably, and she wishes she had never said anything at all, anything to take the heartbroken look off of his face.  “I’m sorry, sis-I was just trying to-I just,” he buries his face in his hands, body trembling with the effort to stay upright, to not just curl into a ball, and this isn’t what she wanted at all.  

She reaches for him, but he stands, and her hand catches nothing but air.

“I’ll...,” He sniffs, and wipes his eyes, but she can still see the tears building there.  “I’ll leave you alone.”

And he goes, and Dot feels like the most awful, selfish person in the whole world.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

She wants to run after him, but the thought of standing seems impossible, much less walking.  She has a hard time catching her breath after that bit of shouting, so needless to say she won’t be actually doing much of anything for the next few days.  It only adds to her mounting guilt and regret, and she doesn’t even know where Yakko is.

She hates being alone.

She’s sleeping on and off when Yakko returns, eyes red and whole body slumped forward in something like defeat that she hates, and he sits down on the edge of her bed.

“I’m sorry,” She says quickly.  She needs him to know that.  “I was stupid-you’re not a liar-you’re trying-I know that-I-”

“Dot, it’s okay,” Yakko smiles at her, weary and yet somehow still standing.  “I get it.  I’m more surprised you didn’t get frustrated sooner, honestly.  We’ve been dealt a pretty bad hand when it comes to life.  You don’t have it easy.”

She reaches over and holds his hand.  “You don’t either,” she tells him, because he needs to understand that he deserves better, too.  That her life isn’t the only one that’s unfair.

“Yeah.” He doesn’t sound like he believes it.  “I’m doing the best with what I’ve got, I think,” he chuckles to himself.

“You are,” She assures.

“Yeah.”  He sighs, after a moment of silence, and she scoots over so he can lay back in bed.  He does, and it’s just like they were younger and she wasn’t sick at all.

“I’m terrified that you’re going to disappear,” he tells her, and it’s so soft she doesn’t know if she’s meant to hear it.  “You and Wakko—you’re everything, okay?  You’re it, for me.  I know it’s awfully selfish to ask, but can you stay?  Promise me?”

She can’t be certain.  She doesn’t know if she’ll live, if she’ll survive this, after all this time, but she suddenly understands the desire to say ‘Promise’ anyway.

If this is the lesson he’s trying to teach her, he’s doing it well.

But she knows Yakko well enough that she knows this is just him, at the end of his rope, letting himself be vulnerable for a moment, when he doesn’t have the energy to be the put together big brother who can take care of anything.

“Promise,” she says, and the taste of the word on her tongue isn’t as bitter as she expected it to be.  “You’re stuck with me.”

The second part, at least, is true.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Wakko comes home with a single hay penny and a haunted look in his eyes you can almost miss if you haven’t spent your entire life with him, knowing just how his eyes used to shine, and she mourns the shimmer in his eyes that has dimmed in his year’s absence.

But he has what they need, so she lets herself hope, for a moment, that she can finally be useful. Be okay. Be something other than the bedridden Warner that needs to be taken care of lest she withers away like a rich Victorian aristocrat whose corset is on too tight.

But Plotz steals their dreams as if he enjoys it, and she watches everyone slump like balloons who’ve been pricked, air flowing out of them.  Yakko’s face flashes to something like rage, hate, despair, and it vanishes behind a cool mask and acceptance before she can comment on it.  He heads over to cheer Wakko up, and she wonders how often that happens to him.  That he has to hide.

She wonders how long he’s been doing it.

And then Wakko makes a wish, and they’re off to chase it, with the desperation of children who have nothing to lose but their lives, because that’s really it, isn’t it?  It’s almost comical, how the wishes she hears from the other townspeople are for such material possessions.  She wonders how desperate they’d be if they were dying, or if one of their few people in the whole world were dying.

She wants to be selfish, and tell them to stay away.  This is their last chance, her last chance, they don’t deserve it.  But that’s not fair.

Sticking it to King Salazar, on the other hand, is more than fair.  Their journey is as much of an adventure as it is a mission, and even though she’s still mostly bedridden she gets to breathe in the open air and be chased and mess with people like she did what feels like decades ago, though she hasn’t been alive that long.  She gets to, for a moment, feel normal.

And then they’re running to the wishing star, hand in hand because they refuse to leave her behind, and the boom of the canon rings in her ears and there is only pain in her back and her chest, as everything inside her shatters.

She feels nothing but pain and cold, collapsed in the snow, and she doesn’t hear anything, doesn’t feel anything until Yakko pulls her into his lap, clutches her close, bruised and beaten like her.

She realizes, suddenly, that making a promise you were doomed to break isn’t easy.  It hurts, deep in your heart, because you know you did it to stay the hurt, but the person you meant to protect is hurting anyway.

She wonders how much Yakko hurts, with how many promises he’s made like that.

“Tell me the story,” she whispers, voice weak because she can’t breathe, and when Yakko can’t she starts it up for him, because after years of him repeating the same words she wants to be the one to tell him. She wants to give him, everyone, one last thing before she’s gone.

The words fall off of her tongue, the world turns to dust and her eyes close.

Suddenly she’s floating in a white space.  There’s no pain, no hurt, just warmth and breath and love, and she sees two faces that seem so familiar, crowns and capes and warm smiles, hands outstretched.

Princess, They say.  Come home.  We’ve missed you.

And it’s tempting, because she’s tired.  She’s been tired for years, fighting just to breathe, but as she looks, she doesn’t see her brothers anywhere.

“I’m sorry,” She says, and she means it.  “But I made a promise.  And I’m not breaking it.” 

Because she’s a fighter, a doer.

She turns back and reaches for the hurt, because living is hurting is loving is thriving is home with her brothers, all curled up in a single bed because they couldn’t be happier or safer cuddled up together, Yakko’s arms around each of their shoulders.  Through thick and thin, she can depend on them.

She keeps reaching, and it’s slipping through her fingertips, because her body has been through too much to keep going, but she fights, and suddenly it’s ten times as easy, hearing the voice of spirit Wakko spoke of when first bringing up the wishing star.  He looks like a middle aged, balding man, and she bites back a laugh.

You deserve home, He tells her.  So let’s get you back to it.

She opens her eyes to Yakko’s crying face looking down to hers, and this is for kids, so she jumps up and pretends.  She feels lighter than she has in years, and Wakko is turning around with two hay pennies, and the King is nothing compared to this, to joy and life and winning, for the first time since she can remember.

The operation is terrifying, and she’s told that while she’ll be fine to breathe, her lung capacity will forever be diminished.  That’s fine, because anything is better than being bedridden, being dead.

And they’re suddenly royalty, and isn’t that something.  She thinks of the words said to her in the white light.

Princess, they had said.

They looked like the two figured in the portrait, the royal one.

She cries a little, when she sees it.  When she realizes.  Yakko asks, and she just says she wishes she got to properly meet them.

It’s not technically a lie.

Yakko is King.  He is made such, with them as his co-rulers, and she finds the royal garments rather fitting.  She wears clothes that won’t easily tear, for the first time ever.  She gets three big meals a day.  She gets a warm home.

Yakko wears the crown like one not worthy of it, like one not ready for it, but she knows him.  He’s never been more ready for or worthy of anything, and as he addresses the crowd at their coronation, she stands by his side and smiles.

“I will be a fair and just ruler,” he says.  “I want what’s best for my people.  I know how hard these past few years have been.  Believe me.” 

He looks down, almost sheepish.  “I lived in a shack most of my life.  So I’m going to fix this,” he looks up, certain, “And this Kingdom is going to be more than fine, prosperous and peaceful.  I promise.”

And when she hears him say it, it is the first time it seems like he believes in himself, too.

So she makes a promise too, deep in her heart.  That no matter what happens, she will make up for the time she lost.  She will be the rock her brothers were for her, steadfast and strong.

And like every promise Yakko’s made before, she knows it’ll be true eventually.

Because finally, finally, they’re going to be fine.

[internalsealpanic]

Explosive Chemistry

Summary: Chemistry labs can be a bit tedious. Nothing laser vision can’t fix though. 

A/n: You can all blame @birdy-bat-writes​ for this fluff and @knightfall05x​ for the amazing mood board. This might feel a little rushed so apologies and Clark is kind of hard to write (ope). Anyway, here is your regularly scheduled comedy.  Thanks again to @knightfall05x​ for proof reading!

warning: swearing, reader’s terrible moral compass, and some injury

masterlist

You met Clark- Well, ‘met’ might be too formal a word for what happened. 

 You discovered Clark during a mundane Metropolis afternoon. Taking a break from your studies (read: a group project that had not been going smoothly), you hopped on to a trail car to go to your favorite sandwich shop right across from your favorite diner. 

 The sandwich shop itself was nothing too special, not in a good way at least. It was even what your delicately paletted father had politely described as ‘subpar’ which as far as you knew was the worst insult he could give. Frank- the owner- was, of course, inclined to disagree. You were, on the other hand, inclined to agree with the opinion especially after biting into a raw piece of chicken in one of their “famous” chicken sandwiches. But it was cheap and it offered the best view of the diner across the street. 

In truth, you liked the food at the diner better. Their blueberry pancakes were absolutely delightful, at least, on Mondays.  But more than anything you found more delight in watching its contained chaos. You’ve watched people propose, get divorced, have fights, and everything else in between. The sheer absurd theatrics of it all captivated you. It was people-watching at its finest. Frank just thought it was creepy to which you simply nodded and nibbled at your sandwich. 

As you watched the usual ensemble cast in the diner, you witness a tall, handsome guy with black hair and blue eyes get mugged. Ok, well, almost get mugged. He was a big boi so you weren’t entirely surprised when he was easily able to stop the scrawny knife-wielding assailant. What did surprise you were the proceeding events. To your utter disbelief (and amusement); instead of throwing the guy into the gutter as custom dictates, the buff guy just guided his assailant to the diner and had a chat with him. You chew your sandwich slowly as you watch them talk as if nothing strange had occurred minutes before, digesting the odd comedy unfolding before your eyes. 

 Moments later and a few tears shed, they parted ways. You frowned thinking that would be the end of it and you were about to whine to Frank about how anticlimactic that was. But then it just kept going. 

 He got mugged. 

 Again.

 And again. 

 And again.

 By the fourth time, Frank sat beside you to watch finally leaving the spot he was polishing alone. Repeated muggings were weird enough but the guy kept inviting them to talk. You choked every time but made no move to intervene, only nibbling at your sandwich and watching with near clinical interest.

 After the fifth mugging, Frank raised a challenging brow at you as you continued to chew on your sandwich. You shrug at him as if to say ‘I’m eating what do you want me to do?’. Frank’s eyes didn’t leave you even as another mugger approached the buff guy. You cut him a look and chew a little faster. For a guy running what is most likely a money-laundering scheme, he sure was noble. 

 Having finally finished your sandwich, you wave your hand halfheartedly to Frank, your middle finger extended skyward. Kicking the shop door open and jamming your hands into your hoodie pockets, you made your way to the other side of the street ignoring the cars driving past you, blowing and whipping the skirt of your dress every which way. 

 Neither of them pays you any mind as you approach them, which was just as well. You shifted the strap of your backpack on your shoulder deciding whether to use it. Your laptop was in there so probably not. You decide to christen your new flattops by giving the man a good harsh kick in his nether regions. He goes down with a squeak. 

 “Scram!” You snarl, baring your teeth. In a surprisingly well-coordinated motion, he does, looking honestly scared for his life. You pivot to the guy who you assume is some kind of tourist. 

 Most people would say that Clark towered over you but the truth was that no matter how tall Clark was he couldn’t really measure up to the height of you. Nothing about you was inherently intimidating, especially as you stand before him in flat tops, hoodie, and short dress, except maybe for your shoulders. But that had less to do with their actual shape and more to do with how uncommonly broad they were compared to the rest of your body.  Some people say it made you look like an angry dorito to which you unfailingly replied with something Clark would rather not repeat. At least, not in polite company. 

 You regard him with a pinched brow which makes Clark straighten as you openly assess him. You memorize the angles of his features, all the sharpness and corners of it not noticeable due to the softness of the way he carries himself in a typical hometown boy kind of way.  You note your university’s logo on the edge of his sweatshirt.

 You reach your hand out. “Y/n L/n but just call me Y/n”

 “Clark Kent” He answers, shaking your hands. You note the distinct midwestern shape of his syllables which explained a lot.  

 “Yanno muggers aren’t exactly good speed dating partners, right?”

 Clark smiled at the, admittedly, terrible joke. By the way, your eyes flash with interest, he’ll be seeing a lot of you. 

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

 Your foot bounced erratically against the metal bar serving as your stool’s footrest. You watched the thermometer with a pinched face and a ticking brow as the mercury in it remains unmoving. Your mounting frustration amusing Clark making him cover his mouth. You fix him with a look and the door actually whistles “innocently” and looks away, pretending to be intently reading the procedure as if you two haven’t been reading it for the past half hour trying to figure out why your solution wasn’t boiling. His baby blues none-too-subtly flicking in your direction. You give him one last scathing look, which he easily glances off, before turning back to your solution. His eyes have been flickering at you as if he’s been meaning to ask you a question. That question likely being ‘could you possibly stop looking like you’re going to murder the molecules in our solution’. His eyes flicker again to watch you seethe and pout at the liquid and it takes everything in Clark not to tease you about being cute. 

 Bouncing your leg again, you gently turn the hot plate’s nob until the screen reads 1000 F. Clark makes a choked sound, finally tearing his attention away from what you assumed to be a particularly interesting semicolon. Clark reaches over and turns the damned thing back down to 300 F. You glare at him before, violently, turning it back up to 1000. Clark just as quickly turns it back down. 

 Click

 Click

 Click 

 You two continue on like this for a while ‘til your instructor, pinching his nose, strolls over to your lab bench to politely tell you to knock it off. With a shrug, you two settle on 650 F as your compromise. You, however, continue to glower at the solution while Clark peruses through the next lab distinctly reminding you of someone in the waiting room of a dentist’s office which makes you scrunch your nose and worsen the impatient ticking of your limbs. “Glaring at it won’t make it go faster,” Clark chuckled in his Midwestern sweater voice. You had the urge to pour the hot acid of the flask on to him but you suppressed the urge mainly because it wouldn’t actually hurt and pouring it on him meant starting over and that just sounded tragic.   

 You place your hands primly on your lap and spin your chair towards Clark. “Not all of us can watch grass grow, Paul Bunyan.” You snip. Clark shakes his head at you, whether it’s from your tone or the nickname you can’t tell. All you could discern was that it irritated him and some petty part of you was satiated the way old gods were when someone made an acceptable sacrifice. 

 “Is that what you think we do in Kansas?” Your first impulse is to say ‘yes’ even if it wasn’t the truth. You thought better of it though. Picking a fight with Clark Kent was a terrible idea, superstrength or not. You were, of course, familiar with Kansas as a concept the same way you were familiar with Mars. Both seemed equally distant, equally alien, and equally irrelevant as such you never dedicated too much thought to it. The last one might have changed a bit with your chance encounter with Clark. You remember him mentioning going home for Thanksgiving Break. You also distinctly remember wanting to ask if you could come along. After all, you didn’t have much in the way of killing time during holidays seeing as most of your relatives were overseas and the relatives you did have here were indisposed either due to work or due to other families. You felt silly thinking about it now and even sillier contemplating how you would explain the special brand of unpleasantness of being bored over the holidays. Maybe you should get a boyfriend- your eyes flicker to Clark but you shake your head- or a girlfriend or maybe friends who weren’t either foreign exchange students or farm boys from Kansas with laser vision. 

 You whip your head to Clark who was mumbling something about not staring at the grass. He frowns at you, not finishing his sentence.

 “You have that look.”

 “What look?”

 “The bad idea look.”

 “I do not”

 “Ok, let me rephrase. The let’s do something stupid for science look.”

 You huff indignantly. Clark looks unfazed and a little smug. You did not have that kind of look and sue, you’ve asked once or ten times to use his powers to do something ridiculous but this was a matter of importance. 

 “Use your heat vision”

 “Wha-”

 “Heat vision. Flask. Go faster.” You punctuate each word with a wild flick or gesticulation of your hands. 

 Clark moves his glasses up and pinches the bridge of his sharp nose.“We’re not going to use my heat vision-”

 “-Yes, we are.” 

 “No, we aren’t. Do you want me to list the ways this could go wrong?”

 “Relax, my human shield is invincible.”

 “You’re horrible.”

 “Yup.”

 “I really can’t convince you?”

 “Nope.”

 “What if I just don’t?”

 “Then I dip out and break into a different lab to get a bunsen burner.”

 Clark laughs, shaking his head fondness seeping into his smile. It made your heart melt and your face heat. You know you’ve won when Clark moves his seat closer to you. For some reason, Clark always insisted on sitting just a little farther from you no matter the circumstance. 

 You two lean in. Clark gives you a side glance. “For the record, I said this was a bad idea.”

 “Fine, I’ll quote you on that once I’ve won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.”

 Clark snorts. He removes his glasses, the blue of his eyes shifting to an angry red. It makes your breath hitch every time being reminded just how dangerous your sweet, gentle best friend really is. 

 You watch the liquid in the flask begin to boil and you make a noise of triumph, throwing your arms up in the air in delight. Clark smiles at you and you feel a little embarrassed by your reaction but the smile on your face doesn’t disappear.   You both lean back and you toss him a smug smile. He huffs at you amused and rolls his eyes. 

 “Fine, not all of your ideas are-”

 Crack. 

 Shatter. 

 Shards of glass fly everywhere as the flask shatters. You yelp high and surprised. Clark pulls you into his arms shielding you from the glass and hot acid. You hiss when a shard cuts against the delicate skin of your forehead. You’re numb as you feel the blood trickling staining Clark’s shirt. Your senses were more focused on the way he wraps his arms around you and how safe you feel despite the graze on your forehead. 

 “Y/n, Clark, are you two ok?”

 You hear the frantic footsteps approach you but neither of you pulls away. You just focus on how tightly Clark holds you against himself.  You feel the flex of his large muscles as he pulls you closer. 

 “We’re fine sir but I think Y/n needs to go to the clinic.”

 Do you? 

 Your fingers rise up your forehead and your stomach drops a little when they come away red. You’re aware that you’re bleeding but it takes some time for the knowledge to fully sink in. Your professor is practically shoving you out of the room by the time you even make any move to react. 

 “Y/n, I-”

 “I swear to god if you say I told you so I’ll punch you in the face-” You look into his eyes, your voice amazingly calm. He opens his mouth again. “- and if you say I’m sorry I’ll punch you in the dick.” His mouth closes and you both fall silent even as you go down the hall towards the university’s health office which was just a glorified clinic with the addition of counselors and a waiting room with Rubix cubes instead of magazines. Clark doesn’t loosen his grip on your shoulder even as you wait for the nurse to come out and treat you. 

 Your mind feels far less frantic than it did a few moments ago. 

 “I told you it was a bad idea.” Clark jokes offhandedly.

 You snort at the remark and glare at him without any real venom. “You really aren’t as nice as people say you are.”

 “Nope.”

 “Jackass.”

 This draws a tired laugh from him. “Well, I’m sorry. Why don’t I make it up to you then?”

 “Unless you’ve got a Porsche in your back pocket”

 He winces. You snort again. 

 “How bout coffee?” You blink at him. “Or maybe dinner? This Friday?” He adds with a hopeful lilt. 

 “Just as long as you don’t invite a mugger to come along.”  

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

THANKS FOR READING

taglist:  @batarella, @anothertimdrakestan, @lucy-roo, @multifandomgirl-us, @idkmanicantenglish,@birdy-bat-writes,  @boosyboo9206, @americasmarauders , @l-horizon11, @arestorationofbalance , @cloudie-skay , @wunderstell

[codedredalert]

Provocation [Golden Kamuy, Tsuki/Ogata] -- part 1/2

Tsuki/Ogata || could-be-canon pre-series || 3,254 words

Second Private Ogata is nothing but trouble, and no end to infuriating. Tsukishima is determined to treat him fairly nonetheless.

(GK fanworks exchange prompt 27: Ogata dealing with the "wildcat" jokes and consequential reputation in the army, Tsukishima somehow protecting him.)

Warnings: canon-typical violence

(On Ao3) (part 2 on tumblr)

===/\==

.

Tsukishima isn't meant to hear it, but he does. He pulls two men aside to warn them for being late, and as he is walking away, he hears one mutter, "that shitty wildcat, this is his fault".

"Wildcat?" Tsukishima asks, because predatory animals near the camp are a significant concern.

"It's nothing, sir," Second Private Nikaido (he's not sure which one) responds after a moment too long and a shared look with his brother. In hindsight, that look is why Tsukishima remembers.

.

.

He doesn't think much of it until he walks into the main tent just as a fight nearly breaks out. There's shouting that abruptly cuts off as the men catch sight of him and turn to salute instead of throwing punches. Still, the tension in the air is palpable, and almost everyone is throwing dirty sideways glances at one man in particular. He's not new, but somehow, Tsukishima has yet to speak with him. His face was both familiar and less familiar than it should be, with big, dark eyes and eyebrows that turn down at both ends. He's built on the smaller side, though still taller than Tsukishima himself.

Tsukishima sighs and gestures for the men to stand at ease.

"There will be no punishment, but I need to know what happened here," he says. Most of them bow slightly in acknowledgement, though the newer men look apprehensive. No one volunteers, of course, so Tsukishima is forced to single someone out. "The Second Private in the sheepskin vest, what's your name?"

The big, honest-looking man, one of the new reserves, steps forward.

"Tanigaki Genjirou, sir."

"Second Private Tanigaki." Tsukishima nods. "What happened here?"

"I'm afraid I was not following the conversation, sir. I can only say that it appears that Second Private Ogata and Superior Private Tamai have had some disagreement."

Tsukishima turns to Superior Private Tamai expectantly.

"Second Private Ogata is just being his usual offensive self, sir. His words are not worth repeating."

"Ahh," interrupts the man with the big, dark eyes. His voice is soft with a slight rasp, almost like a purring cat. "The Superior Private and Second Private Tanigaki are giving me too much credit. I only said that having more snipers might give us more tactical options, and it's a pity that no one else in our unit is suitable. Superior Private Tamai took that as a criticism of his leadership or marksman abilities."

A collective rustle of discontent goes through the men, but no one says anything further and Tsukishima dismisses them. Then all at once, noise and movement return and it seems the men can't contain themselves anymore, speaking in agitated whispers.

"He really is a wildcat, did you hear him?"

"What a liar!"

"Shhh, the Sergeant can hear you."

"Forget the Sergeant, that bastard Ogata might hear you."

… so that's what they meant. Tsukishima thought of one particular cat back in the fishing village he once called home. A cat with a hanging belly that belonged to no-one, meowing pitifully to beg for food. Tsukishima had fed it until one fisherman had laughed at him, and told him "that cat isn't pregnant— he's just fat, and a good fraud."

He finds himself staring, and Second Private Ogata looks up and smiles.

.

.

He soon learns that there's more to it than that.

The nickname catches on with unusual speed and enthusiasm. Outside of formal channels, Second Private Ogata is almost universally referred to as "wildcat Ogata", "that wildcat", or a mix of expletives. It's compromising the order and morale of the men. Tsukishima has more pressing things to think about, but there are enough rumours that it earns its place as an item on his mental checklist of problems to deal with.

One night, when intelligence indicates that an attack by the Russians is unlikely, an air of cautious optimism pervades the camp, and men and officers alike take full advantage of the respite.

"Sergeant Tsukishima, you're slow to the party!" Someone calls to him from a group seated around a fire. "Come drink with us, Second Lieutenant Hanazawa just donated his share of sake."

Tsukishima takes his seat with them, more than readily takes the sake passed to him—he's long learned not to refuse anything that might ease the weight and reality of war— and joins them in raising a toast.

"To Yuusaku-san! May you have a long life, so your generosity can continue to bless us!"

"Empty the glasses!" someone roars amongst the cheers and uproarious laughter. "Cheers!"

"Cheers!" Tsukishima echoes, raising his drink and nodding to Second Lieutenant Hanazawa. The handsome young officer laughs along with everyone, waving away the thanks modestly. That just gets him another round of cheers, and even some pats on the back.

"Yuusaku-san, you're really amazing! Brave and generous and virtuous. Your father, the Lieutenant General's blood really shows!"

A chorus of approval and agreement, indistinct. The atmosphere of relative safety and normalcy, the comfortable warmth of the fire, his accumulated fatigue, and the sake all softened the noise and going-ons around him until Tsukishima heard someone say: "Eh, no, no, that can't be right, otherwise that wildcat would also have some good qualities instead of fucking around all the time."

And then the conversation suddenly related to A Problem, and Tsukishima was too dutiful to ignore it. Holding back a sigh, he dredged up some willpower to pay attention.

"You're right, it must come from his mother's side. Or Yuusaku-san must have taken all the good parts from the Lieutenant General."

"It's true, how are they even related?"

"Simple! The child of a wildcat... must also be a wildcat!" The man who says this pronounces it with a dramatic sweep of his arm and a great deal of pride at his own cleverness, the others burst out in drunken laughter, all except Tsukishima and Second Lieutenant Hanazawa. This doesn't pass unnoticed. Not wanting to exclude their benefactor, Lance Corporal Takahashi slings his arm around the Second Lieutenant, and with all the social acumen of an injured bear, he helpfully explains.

"Ah, of course our dear flagbearer wouldn't know! Wildcat here means geisha, especially of the sort that… is willing to take some extra appointments, if you catch my meaning."

He leers so lecherously that his meaning is completely unmistakable. Second Lieutenant Hanazawa blushes, and then very rapidly goes pale. He looks like he wants to say something, but the flag-bearer's duty to camaraderie and harmony of the troops shackles him.

The same did not apply to Tsukishima.

"It does you no credit to speak ill of your fellow soldiers or their heritage," he says sharply, "—or to imply ill of your Lieutenant General."

Tsukishima speaks like the sergeant he is, so his voice carries, even if he's not trying to be particularly loud. Most of the noise in the group dies instantly, and the people at the fringes quickly quieten as well as the ones near them nudge them to lower their voices.

The Lance Corporal who was speaking does a double take, swaying slightly, drunk but not drunk enough to miss the sudden uncomfortable hush and Tsukishima's obvious disapproval.

"Ahh Sergeant, it was only a joke, a joke."

"A poor joke in bad taste," replies Tsukishima and the person's smile becomes visibly more strained, but Tsukishima doesn't care about popularity, he's a dead man returned to life by a man who outranks everyone present. Even if he were shot tomorrow, it was all borrowed time anyway, as far as he was concerned. The funny characteristic about people when they've already made their peace with death was that they cared very little about what the living think of them.

"—but—" Lance Corporal Takahashi starts to argue.

"It is also an insult to the Second Lieutenant, which is a poor way to repay him for his generosity," Tsukishima adds and as expected, that is what makes the Lance Corporal stop, glancing to the side where the Second Lieutenant is smiling uncomfortably.

"And in any case," Tsukishima continues, "it hardly matters when we're all here fighting and dying in the same war for the same country."

The mood instantly sobers, the temporary illusion of warmth and normalcy dropping away, the weight of the war they were on the front lines of returning tenfold

Tsukishima is suddenly more tired than when he first joined the group. So much for having a bit of respite this evening. He should have gone straight to the baths and stayed there.

"I've said everything I have to say and I'll stand by it, with all the authority I have. But it's late now. Excuse me, I'll take my leave." He turns to the Second Lieutenant, gives a shallow bow, probably more shallow than is polite but his body is too heavy for him to care overly much. "Thank you for the sake, sir."

He leaves. Behind him, he hears Second Lieutenant Hanazawa softly taking his leave from the table of now subdued officers. Footsteps follow him, and the young officer's voice calls out, "Wait!"

Tsukishima stops and turns, and Second Lieutenant Hanazawa jogs to meet him.

"It is good to see that the high praise I have heard about Sergeant Tsukishima is well-founded. Thank you for your defense of my elder brother."

"Second Lieutenant Hanazawa, you're being far too kind. Anything I said was merely for satisfaction of my own principles."

Tsukishima wants to turn and leave, but the Second Lieutenant looks like he has more to say, and the mix of decorum, rank, and actually not disliking the young man keeps Tsukishima standing there.

"I thought they might treat him better if they knew we were related," confesses Hanazawa, "but that provoked people's curiosity. In the end, I seem to have made more trouble for my elder brother."

From the little Tsukishima is aware of, he rather thinks that Second Private Ogata makes most of the trouble himself— there couldn't be that much smoke without even a spark of fire— but as with most situations where he doesn't know enough, he keeps his mouth shut.

Suddenly realising that he was keeping Tsukishima standing in the cold for a personal conversation, Second Lieutenant Hanazawa startles.

"I've said too much." Second Lieutenant Hanazawa bows again. "I beg for your discretion with this information."

"Of course, sir," Tsukishima replies. When Second Lieutenant Hanazawa smiles widely in relief, Tsukishima doesn't have the heart to tell him that he is just closing the doors after the horse has bolted.

.

.

That conversation haunts him, annoyingly mundane amongst the greater horrors he has to deal with. It invokes memories of his home being mocked as unclean, a murderer's dwelling-place, and the murder of a kind girl for no reason other than the appearance she was born with and the misfortune of his affection. Tsukishima takes the old nightmares in stride, as he takes everything, but every time he sees the cloaked figure of Second Private Ogata huddling near a fire or brazier, the thought returns to him, an incomplete task.

It doesn't sit well with him.

The gods give him his chance a few days later, when Second Private Ogata walks by and gives him the mandatory salute. Again, Tsukishima is struck by his big dark eyes, true black catching a small gleam of light, intelligent and strange. If all-seeing eyes existed, they must be like his. Ogata glances over Tsukishima, but his eyes don't settle, don't even linger, like he's seen all there is to see and has already dismissed it with a flick of dark eyelashes, already looking for something else.

He is a sniper. Tsukishima had looked at his records. An unnaturally good one too. It made a man wonder what those eyes could see.

"Second Private Ogata."

"Sir."

"It has come to my attention that these 'wildcat' references are an insult to your private matters and parentage. I don't stand such things. If they bring up that distasteful joke again, let me know."

A blink from those big dark eyes.

"I can deal with it," Second Private Ogata starts to say, but Tsukishima cuts him off before he can go on to make the obligatory polite refusals. He's in no mood for the song and dance of social niceties. The memory of dark hair in unusual curls and a murderer called father are too close to his thoughts today.

"This is a matter of principle. Insulting a person for their heritage has no place in this regiment." Tsukishima surprises himself with how forcefully the words come out, though that is probably not noticeable to someone who does not know him well.

"If it's not about me, then I wonder why the sergeant decided to talk to me?" Ogata's tone, normally flat with disinterest, curled ever so slightly with curiosity now. "Just make an order or punishment, as you please. Sir."

He makes a point, and somehow Tsukishima does not like the question. Still, he answers.

"An order might confirm the information and disservice you and Second Lieutenant Hanazawa more. But if that's what it takes, I will make the order and enforce it with my own two hands if I must."

Something changes. Ogata's eyes feel like they finally focus on him, even with the strange sensation that they are too big and taking everything at once, at least now that includes him. Ogata comes to some decision, lifting his chin.

"I can deal with it, sir. No need to trouble yourself."

His eyes are unreadable.

.

.

The atmosphere in the regiment becomes more vicious. As Tsukishima investigates, small misfortunes start making sense.

Superior Private Tamai's rifle sight rusts on a perfectly dry night. Second Private Tanigaki's uniform buttons go missing. Lance Corporal Takahashi's trigger finger is shot off.

No one knows for certain that it's Second Private Ogata, but everyone knows.

.

.

"You wanted to speak to me, sir?"

Ogata reports as he is required to, but from his carefully blank expression, it's clear he doesn't intend to cooperate. Tsukishima looks up from where he is writing a report and puts down his pen, sits back, more upright.

"I was under the impression we had an understanding," he says grimly, "that you'd come to me regarding those insults if necessary."

"It was not necessary," replied Ogata, just this side of insubordinate, and with a very neutral expression he goes on to say, "But I appreciate the Sergeant's special attention."

"Then it would befit Second Private Ogata to show his appreciation via his conduct."

"What conduct do you suggest?" he asks blithely with an innocently straight face and his too-big eyes and his purring voice. He's far too aware for that ignorance to be genuine.

How irritating.

"Report to me instead of acting on your own," Tsukishima says forcefully. "Or if you don't wish to bring the matter to me, you are free to go to the Second Lieutenant if you prefer. He is more than willing to help you." That gets the first involuntary reaction he sees from Ogata, a definitive rise in his shoulders, a slight lean away from Tsukishima, as if he could physically avoid the suggestion.

"If I don't go to the Sergeant, how could I go to the Second Lieutenant?" asks Ogata, insulting while somehow still staying just this side of appropriate enough to avoid penalty. "As I said, I can deal with it. There's no need to trouble yourself, sir."

.

.

Three more men trade their trigger fingers for a ticket out of the regiment.

There is no evidence that it is Second Private Ogata.

There is no evidence that it is not Second Private Ogata.

.

.

This time, Tsukishima does not send a missive, he pulls Second Private Ogata aside himself.

"I told you to come to me," Tsukishima starts without preamble.

"I don't know what you mean," says Ogata with a straight face.

It takes everything in Tsukishima not to react visibly to that.

"Antagonising our own unit members is bad for morale," replies Tsukishima flatly. "And some actions are outright sabotage, or treason."

"Is Sergeant Tsukishima suggesting I would do such things?" Ogata has the gall to look surprised, and even slightly offended. Tsukishima doesn't buy it for a second.

"I am trying to be fair to you. Stop putting me in a position where I have to punish the people you provoke."

"Mmm, Sergeant Tsukishima has been very patient and generous, all for me." The words in themselves are perfectly polite, but something in the way he says it twists it to mockery. It stops all sound but the blood rushing in Tsukishima's ears.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Tsukishima challenges. A spark lights in Ogata's eyes, and he tilts up his chin, looking down his nose at Tsukishima.

"Obviously the sergeant doesn't care that much about me. So the sergeant must be personally invested in this type of insult, right?"

The protest "I'm not" dies unsaid in Tsukishima's throat as patently untrue. He looks at Ogata, unable to find something to say in the varied mess of emotion struggling to resolve into something comprehensible. Disbelief, irritation, anger, sadness, profound regret, longing, something a little bit of all of these and yet none of them.

Ogata looks at him as Tsukishima's silent struggle grows, and at length, Ogata speaks.

"You already know how the unit talks about me," Ogata says. He is unbearably smug and insubordinate despite the formal address. "So this show of yours must be because you want to make sure they don't talk about you behind your back. Do you want to know what they say about you? Or is that too 'inappropriate'— it's true that I can take it better than you, just judging from your reaction."

Tsukishima's emotions resolve decidedly into fury, which he holds back for a moment before thinking — why not and swinging, landing a good hit right in the face. His fist crunches into Ogata's nose satisfyingly, makes contact with the hard socket and soft tissue of Ogata's eye. His knuckles sting slightly from the impact, tingling with the blood in his small capillaries, with the satisfaction of justified anger finding a deserving target.

Ogata's eyes have a victorious gleam of malicious amusement for a passing fraction of a second as Tsukishima swings, then he goes staggering into a tree.

"You really bring out the worst in people," Tsukishima mutters under his breath, not intending for Ogata to hear but Ogata's expression turns even more smug and even more infuriating. Tsukishima has met the worst of men, has the blood of one in his own veins even, but Ogata is something else— he thinks he's invincible and untouchable and the only real thing. He's vicious for sport and everything is a joke, even in the middle of a war. He wants to watch the world burn.

He's a liability.

With this realisation, Tsukishima knows what he must do. He looks down at Ogata where the man lays on the floor and doesn't even attempt to get up, and Tsukishima tells him, "Your attitude has become too big of an issue. I will have to bring your matter to my superior officer."

"A big issue," Ogata repeats slowly, smiling at the words as if Tsukishima had just cracked a joke instead of informing him that a disciplinary matter would be escalated. He sits up, and looks up to Tsukishima, blood dripping from his nose, the beginnings of a bruise already showing around his eye. It'll be swollen shut before tomorrow. "Please mention me favourably then, Sergeant Tsukishima."

.

===/end of part 1\===

(On Ao3) (part 2 on tumblr)  ( patreon ) ( kofi ) ( paypal )

[iheartsunset]

Papa Louie Scarlett HCs

-Rosabella Ocampo is a 23 year old singer/songwriter and graduate school student who lives with her fiancé, Rudy, in a Powder Point condo. She is widely known by her legal/stage name, Scarlett Heart and is the lead singer/songwriter of Scarlett and the Shakers. While punk ska and playing gigs with her friends are her true passion, Scarlett plans to become a game theory professor in the future. She can mostly be seen writing lyrics for a new song, riding roller coasters with Rudy, climbing trees with Clover, and just vibing with Marty.

-Scarlett is rather bold and seductive, often playfully flirting with others or making jokes about inappropriate topics. I stole this from Rouge, thanks SnapCube fandub for revitalizing my love for Sonic. Alongside her flirtatiousness is her intelligence and desire to succeed, using rules and lessons that she learned from various games to apply to her daily life. Thanks to her love of poker and mahjong, Scarlett has grown to be very analytical and sly in her motives. Out of the shakers, she is undoubtedly the big sister friend as she’s kind of a bad influence on the rest of them and is always subjected to scoldings by mom friend, Janana.

-Rudy calls her “Princesa” because of her Cinderella-like backstory. Her mother was a very kind woman and Scarlett lived happily with her and her father. Her mother died in a roadside construction accident when Scarlett was only 9, leaving Scarlett heartbroken. Her father then married a woman named Moira with two sons, Graham and David, who was emotionally abusive towards Scarlett until she moved out at age 16. Scarlett’s relationship with her dad deteriorated over time and she’s basically disowned them since. She finds solace in Marty and Clover’s parents, who think of Rudy and Scarlett as their own. She also got along with the other Frostfield residents and helped Willow get back into hockey after her infamous car accident (the first one).

-Stan Twitter often makes memes of her because she’s so iconic and quotable. One of her most iconic moments was when she screamed “I wrote this next one about my bitch ass stepmom. Moira, if you’re listening, your hair is limp and you fucking suck!” at the VMAs.

-Music was her escape as a child, hence why she learned to sing and play multiple instruments. However, her stepmother made her play the violin in the school orchestra as opposed to being allowed in a punk rock band. Even though she was concertmaster and first chair, she hated life so badly. Scarlett can play the guitar, bass guitar, violin, cello, drums, the trumpet, the saxophone, the bassoon, the piano, the xylophone, the harp, the flute, the recorder, the French horn, the clarinet, i didn’t even list all of them and I’m tired already. When one of the other shakers has lead vocals on a song, she’ll take over playing their instrument.

-Scarlett met Rudy during their shared freshman year of high school. Hazelnut High’s orchestra department had its annual field trip to Powder Point (based off my actual orchestra field trip!). Scarlett decided to sneak away from her snobby classmates and teachers and have the time to herself. On one particularly large roller coaster, she sat next to a boy with a Mohawk who told her that since he was a Powder Point native, he could more than handle it. He then proceeded to cry the entire time while holding her hand. They realized how much they had in common and kept in contact even after her trip was over. Their relationship is super lovey dovey, yet chill at the same time. Couple goals, but not on the level of Prudence x Cooper x Taylor.

-The shakers got together during the 23rd season of Flipline’s Got Talent. After the shocking elimination of Taylor Morales in the quarterfinals, the remaining acts were merged together. Scarlett and Rudy and Marty and Clover were two sets of pairs merged together. They all got along beforehand and loved Scarlett’s songwriting, so they all wrote an original song together for the finals. Even though they were fan favorites and had lots of support from the audience, Bill and Boopsy’s amazing ventriloquy act was what won the show, with the upset Shakers coming in second place. Afterwards, they were approached by Janana who offered to become their agent, and all they’ve known since was success. Fun fact: Rudy wouldnt accept Clover and Marty into their act unless they beat him and Scarlett at poker. They did.

-The shakers each can speak multiple languages, with Scarlett being able to speak fluent English and Tagalog, Tagalog being her native language (Filipino gang!). She can also speak some Spanish, Japanese, Arabic, Hindi, and Gaelic because she hangs around the other Shakers and Janana so much.

-All of the food, drinks, clothes, and personal belongings Scarlett loves are various shades of red. Cherries, longanisa, red wine, and candied strawberries are her favorite. Her entire wardrobe? Red. Her LED lights? Red. It honestly scares Rudy how red everything is.

-Her voice would either be Jessica Sanchez from American Idol or Gwen Stefani from the No Doubt era. She also covers a lot of No Doubt songs during their concerts. Speaking of covers, the shakers like to sing classic rock songs as well as modern day hits. Scarlett has the vocal range to do Ariana and Mariah Carey justice.

-Her and Marty are best friends. They’re both on the same wavelength and will most likely have the same reaction to memes, like word for word the same reaction. They usually have to get Rudy and Clover out of trouble most days. I love their chaotic, yet chill energy, like the types that just sit and observe and quietly make funny comments to each other.

-She determines whether she likes you or not based off of how good you are at mahjong or poker. If you suck enough to let her win, she’ll love you forever but if you match her in ability, she’ll respect you but kinda fear you as well. If you refuse to play altogether, she hates you. She’s a game theory student, so playing any board game with her is grounds for disaster because she’ll use her weird psychology and tricks to win all the time. Ironically, she sucks at video games. Even though she loves games of chance, she’s hugely against casinos and betting, instead trading small trinkets like food or makeup.

-At the Cheeseria, she set up a poker table, a mahjong table, and a pool table for the entertainment. They unfortunately had to get rid of the Uno table because somebody (ahem, Jojo) got a little too heated over a match with Papa and Wally. And by “got a little too heated”, I mean that Jojo literally got in a fist fight with Papa and lost.

-All she watches are telenovelas. Don’t ask about The Office or Game of Thrones, all she knows is stuff like Rubi and Maria la del Barrio.

-She doesn’t like musical theater except for Phantom of the Opera. She has taken a few roles as Kim in Miss Saigon, but secretly regrets it because musical theater is so much harder than just a regular concert. She still respects theater actors, but will never again sit through Anything Goes.

-She is the only one of the workers who has managed to successfully punch Guy Mortadello. Koilee and Rudy came close, but Scarlett landed an especially hard punch to his nose. Next to being engaged and forming Scarlett and the Shakers, she says it’s the third happiest day of her life. Now, Guy Mortadello is extremely scared of Scarlett and will cry if he sees her or hears her song on the radio (which is all the time).

-She has a tattoo of a heart of her hand along with a crown. On three of her fingers are a yellow Diamond, green clover, and blue spade.

-Scarlett is absolutely gorgeous and badass, I always kept rewinding Papas Cheeseria just to see her and Rudy in the opening because I had crushes on them both. Anyways, stan Scarlett for good grades (it’s not working though I’m still failing two classes)

[pixieungerstories]

Captive - 9

Hi Readers - I hate to be like this, but if you love this story, please go here to subscribe.  I’m not intentionally neglecting the free content, it’s just getting overlooked right now.  My next book deadline in Nov15 (2020).  Normally, it’s just me writing for me and you get the benefit from that.  This time Podium Audiobooks has me under contract for second book in the Mistaken Universe.

Also - if you have the time - the occasional gentle reminder is appreciated.  Today’s post is brought to you by @dizzy-poncho who sent me some love and made my brain realized I hadn’t posted in a while.

The sound of someone pounding on the door was less than an ideal way to be awoken. As was the kitten, who had up to that point had been curled up behind her knees, screeching and bolting. Elly glanced at her watch, she had managed maybe four hours of sleep. The person on the other side of the door pounded again. Groaning, Ellly got to her feet, stomped over to the shop door and wrenched it open. 

“What?!” 

The church ladies were clearly taken aback by her tone. They stared at her in stunned horror. 

“The sign says we’re closed for the day.” Elly announced.

“I just need-” Posy started to say, but Elly interrupted.

“You need to come back tomorrow.”

Posy narrowed her eyes, “I could just as easily order my yarn off the internet instead, you know!”

“I’m sorry you feel that way,” Elly replied sadly.  “Good day then.” She then closed the door on the women’s shocked faces. She leaned against the door for a minute and groaned before rallying the strength to head upstairs. On her way she nearly tripped over the reappeared kitten. 

“Jesus, cat! Learn some self preservation!” Elly scolded as she scooped up the tiny thing. The kitten clamored up her arm to her shoulder and settled in for the trek upstairs. Elly tried to remember where she had stored Mitten’s cat stuff. In all likelihood she probably gave it away when she figured her cat had been eaten...Well she’d need to take the kitten for vaccinations anyways. She could pick up whatever she needed then. First thing on the list, a bell collar.  

Well, that could be second. The first thing she needed was a name. Elly wondered for a moment if George would want any say in that. The thought could wait. First she needed a nap, or possibly a whole lot of coffee. Likely both. 

Ben was just staggering out of the spare room when Elly got back to her apartment.  “Shit, boss, I am late getting started this morning.”

Elly sighed, “We are closed today.  How are you feeling?”

Ben shrugged, then rubbed his bleary eyes, “Slightly hung over, possible still a little drunk, and baffled that you have a dragon living in your basement.”  He looked at her face and frowned, “Did you sleep last night?”

Elly shook her head again, “Not really.  I napped.”

Ben winced, “Was that my fault?”

Elly shook her head again, “I was up too late and started getting creeped out by the sounds of the house settling.”  Ben really did look awful.  “Right!” she announced, making him wince again.  “Big glass of water, a couple of aspirin and back to bed.”

Bean groaned, “I would roll my eyes at you except that they feel like they might fall out of my head if I tried.”

Elly snickered under her breath and went to the kitchen for a glass.

“So tell me about George.”

She froze.  This was awkward.  “I think you should ask him about him.  Carefully. I don’t want to offend the dragon in my basement and neither do you.”  She filled the glass with water and handed it to him.  As Ben drank the water she pulled the aspirin out of the spice drawer.

“Does he breath fire?” he asked, lightly, trying to make a joke.

Elly pursed her lips as she considered that.  “More like belches fire, but he can adjust his body temperature to heat the building.”

“You are fucking kidding me!”  His eyes went wide as Elly shook her head.  “Holy shit.”  It was said reverentially, whispered almost like a prayer.  Ben took two steps to the left and sat heavily in one of the kitchen chairs.

Elly gave him a sympathetic look.  “I am honestly unsure if this conversation would be better once you are sober.  It could turn out to be worse.”  She hesitated for a moment before adding, “Are you planning on quitting?”

“Why would I quit?” Ben asked with a frown.

Elly frowned right back at him.  “Because there is a dragon in the basement.  And if you tell anyone, they will just think you’re delusional.”

Ben considered this.  “You won’t.  Think I’m insane, I mean.”

“I’m not really the best judge of sane, Ben.” She sounded sad when she said it.  

There was a long moment of tension before the kitten stropped up against Ben’s leg, causing him to curse and stand up fast enough to knock over his chair.  It hit the ground with a clatter and the kitten bolted.

“Was that Muffin?” he mumbled, looking sheepish as he picked up the chair.

Elly frowned, “You mean Mittens?  No.  George brought it home last night.”

“Like a present?  That’s sweet.”  After a moment, Ben added “And a little weird. Where did George get a kitten?”

“He said someone killed its mom and littermates.  He was vague on the details and I didn’t push.  He would have told me if he wanted me to know.”

Ben shivered, “Yeah.  I was picking up my spice delivery at the post office last week and overheard the Debbie from the pound saying it was less killing cats and more a plaque of cat mutilations.”

Elly went very still.  When Ben finally looked up and met her eyes, she whispered, “Are we talking disemboweling here?”

Ben blinked and stared at her in horror before nodding.  “How did you know that?”

Elly spun on her heels and fussed at the sink, giving it a wipe before putting the kettle on the hob.  “George was unusually circumspect about what had happened. I couldn’t figure out why, he isn’t usually shy.”

Ben snorted, “I can see that about him.”  He watched her face, it was easy to see the wheels turning, but he couldn’t figure out what she was thinking.  “If someone is hunting cats, it might be safer to take … um. . . her?  Or him?  Whatever, take the kitten to a vet a couple of towns over.  If you are keeping it, I mean.”

Elly gave him a puzzled look, “Of course I’m keeping it.”

Ben fought a smirk, “You sure?  Have you named it yet?” 

Elly considered this.  “Nyx, goddess of night.”

Ben snicked, “Really?  What if its a boy?”

Elly rolled her eyes, “Ben, I’m not going to enforce gender roles on a kitten.”

Ben just shook his head.  “Fine, but when we go to the vet, you get to drive.”

----

The vet proclaimed Nyx to seem perfectly healthy and old enough for vaccination and FIV testing.    They booked her in for a spay in two weeks.  Next stop was the pet store.

Ben picked out an adjustable purple collar and neoprene cat harness.  Elly gave him a look.  “What?  You can harness train cats it you get them young enough.  I follow Suki Cat on instagram!”

Elly blinked, “Huh.  I never would have picked you for a cat person.”

He smirked, “Stupid cat videos is what the internet is for.”

“Really?  Because I suspect most people would say porn,” Elly teased, then was surprised when he blushed.  She managed to fight the urge to comment on that, and while she was wrestling with her morals, Ben left to go look at cat carriers.  Nyx meowed and tightened her tiny claws into Elly’s shoulder where she was sitting.  

“I’m sorry!” she blurted out.  “That was rude.”

Ben just waved her away.  “More unexpected. I haven’t seen that side of you. You are very, um, professional.”  He didn’t make it sound like a compliment.  When he realized she was frowning slightly, Ben flashed her a smile.  “You are a great boss, Elly.”

Elly coughed, “I’m not actually your boss, you know.”

Ben blushed again.  That was new.  “Any preference on cat food?”

Realizing he was trying to change the subject, Elly turned to face with wall of food.  “Wet food for cats.  I’ve never had one do well on kibble.”

“Did, um, your other cats sit on your shoulder like that?”

“Nope, this is a first, but she seems to like it up there.”

They watched each other awkwardly for a moment.  Elly broke first.  “Ben?  Are you OK?”

Ben quickly turned his head to the right and scoped out the litter boxes.  “Ina wasn’t that fun to work with,” he admitted.  “Most of the time you are.  Weird, but fun.  I’m starting to understand where the weird comes from.  And now I know that too.  How do you go through your day knowing something like that?”

Elly sighed.  “Ben -  Look, tell me about yeast.”

“What?”

Elly rubbed her eyes, making Nyx meow and dig her little claws into Elly’s sweater.  “You told me that yeast for bread used to come from beer, then the beer yeast changed and there was a shortage, right?”

Ben frowned, “Yeah, brewers switched from top fermenting to bottom fermenting and that process didn’t make the byproduct that bakers use.  But what does that have to do with George?”

“How many people do you think know that?”

“Elly!  It doesn’t matter!  People knowing or not knowing about yeast doesn’t actually matter!”

Elly just raised an eyebrow, “How does knowing about George matter?  Yeast is way more practical on a day to day basis.”  Ben stared at her like she was insane.  Elly kept talking, “Most people, including me, would consider baking bread or spinning wool or knitting a weird and slightly esoteric hobby.  George is just one more weird bit of trivia that you now know.”

[kaidans-alenko]

26 on physical affection prompts: bonus: touching feet and immediately screaming and recoiling for kaidan + lily? (because it reads like them lol)

Ha! You’re absolutely right lol it seems all I know how to write is me1 or post-war fluff pieces but any who, I hope you like it and as usual thank you for sending one <3  

AO3 Link 

The smell of pancakes traveled from the kitchen to the small bedroom Lily was still asleep in. Mmmm pancakes….when was the last time she even had pancakes? With her brother maybe? Aiden couldn't really cook but he did know how to make pancakes. 

Lily let out a high pitched noise as she stretched out like a cat, rolling onto her back, the warm sunlight coming through the window at odds with the cool breeze from the quiet ceiling fan above her. It had been a long time since she had woken up to actual sun and not just the fabricated day cycle on the Citadel but actual sun. 

She blinked awake, taking in her surroundings from where she lay still on the bed, that's right, she was in Kaidan's apartment. So far the only room she had seen was the bedroom, he had intended to give her a tour but that of course didn't happen. 

Lily giggled to herself at the memory of it, smiling as she sat up, Kaidan sure had taste and for a previously single guy who was hardly ever home it was surprisingly clean, well besides the clothes strewn about, courtesy of Lily’s impatience, it was clean. His bed was pretty big too, he didn’t seem like the kind of guy that slept around so maybe he just liked having room to sprawl out in, she knows she did. She hopped out of bed, nearly falling on her face, the bed was pretty high up to begin with but her general clumsiness didn’t help things. “Let’s see...underwear, underwear, ah!” Lily picked up the pink lacy piece of fabric off the floor quickly slipping it back on, carefully snatching the blue flannel that was hanging off the lamp, throwing it on just as Kaidan walked into the room with breakfast.

“Well good morning.” He said, barely containing a smirk. 

“Sorry...I got cold.” 

Kaidan shrugged “There are certainly worse things to see first thing in the morning.” 

Lily rolled her eyes “Those better be the pancakes I smelled earlier.” she threatened as she crawled back into bed.  

“Sorry, cereal.”

Lily sighed dramatically, falling back against the pillows “Does it at least have marshmallows?” 

“No but your hot chocolate does.” He told her, Lily’s ears perking up immediately and she sat with her legs crisscrossed on the bed.

“Hot chocolate?” The one way to her heart and Kaidan knew it. 

“Peppermint even.”  he said as he got in bed next to her, setting the tray across from her.

“You remembered!” Lily picked up the mug, letting out a content hum as she sipped at it.

“Hard to forget when you drink five cups a day.” He teased, kissing her head.

“Listen, I can’t have coffee, I need to improvise.” 

“And tea also has too much caffeine?” He asked.

“Exactly!” she set the mug down, picking up her fork “it’s gross anyway.” she cut into a pancake “this better be good or I’m breaking up with you.” Kaidan liked to think she was joking, it had taken months for them to stop arguing and finally admit their attraction to each other, he’d hate for it to end over something as silly as pancakes but it was Lily he was dealing with, he certainly wouldn’t put it past her. Lily paused, fork still in her mouth “Kaidan…”

“Yeah?”

“With this pancake making ability of yours, how was it you were ever single?” 

Kaidan laughed “Because you’re the only person I've ever cooked pancakes for.”

Lily leaned against him “Aww Kaidan, you do love me!”

“Was there ever any doubt?”

Lily shrugged, popping a strawberry in her mouth “Not particularly, this just solidified it.” 

“Is that right?”

Lily nodded, mouth full of pancakes and Kaidan couldn’t help but think she looked like a hamster. “I’m a simple woman, Kaidan, I only require a few things to be happy.” she said after swallowing “Breakfast food and hot chocolate.”

“Ahhh so that’s why you were so grumpy on the Normandy.” He teased, it was hard to keep your morale up when all you had to choose from was two different kinds of MRE or a protein bar and since Lily despised eggs it was always a protein bar. 

“Ha ha, but seriously, I appreciate it, things have been…” she hung her head “well you know.” 

Kaidan pulled her to him “I know.” he was an only child and while yeah he has lost friends, came with the job he’d never lost a family member before so as much he wanted to say he understood her pain he couldn’t and he knew her well enough to know a weak sentiment like that would only push her away and make her mad. “You’ll be okay Lil, not saying you’re gonna get over it soon or that you have to at all but you have Ashley, Anderson and-”

“You?” She asked, her chocolate brown eyes looking into his whiskey ones.

“Yeah, I’m not going anywhere.” He brushed back her hair, kissing her, he remembered the day Aiden died, Lily was devastated and with good reason. It’s why he took them to Earth, he hoped spending shore leave away from the Citadel and constant reminders of her brother would take her mind off it, at least for a while.

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

Lily sang along to theme song of the Blasto cartoon they had put on vid screen as she browsed the extranet on her omni-tool, feet propped up on Kaidan’s lap as they lounged together on the couch, “So Kaidan, what do Canadians do for fun around here?”

“Well Vancouver is pretty big, I’m sure we can find something to keep you entertained.” At least he hoped so or she would find ways to be entertained and for someone as technically minded and curious as she was it usually resulted in taking something apart. He remembered one instance on the Citadel where she wandered off to bother the Keepers, getting stuck in one of the tunnels as a result. Thanks to Aiden covering for her she just got a warning from a very tired C-Sec officer who mumbled something along the lines of: ‘I don’t get paid enough to deal with humans.’ and any other time it would’ve bothered them but in that instance it was warranted.  

“Hmm I sure hope-” Lily felt Kaidan’s hand brush against her foot as he lazily rubbed her legs, it was brief and he barely touched him, in fact it was more than likely an accident but it was enough to freak her out. Lily screamed recoiling back against the arm of the couch, holding her legs against her chest.

“Are you okay?” He asked both confused and concerned.

Lily nodded “Yeah just…” she blushed avoiding his gaze “if I tell you, you have to promise me you won’t laugh.”

“Of course, what is it Lily?”

“No, you have to pinky swear.” she said sticking out her small pinky to him and he bit back a laugh, it seemed like she had something serious to say but it was diminished by the childish request.

“Okay, Lily I pinky swear.” He said, linking their pinkies together.

“Good,” she took a deep breath, Lily always did have a flair for the dramatic so he wasn’t sure how concerned he should be but it obviously was serious to her “I may be just a bit ticklish on my feet, which is why I panicked.” 

“Ticklish?” He was both surprised and unsurprised at the same time by this sudden revelation, it was cute if he were to be honest. Someone like her, with her reputation being what it was, to be ticklish just made her even more interesting, she was full of surprises and he loved her for it.

Lily nodded “If you tell a soul I will kill you then bring you back and kill you again.” she glared and he could see the flames burning in her eyes, apparently being in a relationship with her didn’t he mean he was exempt from her death threats. 

“If anyone does find out your dark secret it won’t be from me.” 

“Hmph, I’ll believe you for now.” Lily stretched back out and Kaidan took the opportunity to tickle the soles of her feet and she jolted, rolling on her side and squirming as she laughed. “You’re horrible!” she said, catching her breath.

“Me? I’m not quite sure what you’re talking about Lily.” he said, tickling her again.

“I hate you!” she said between fits of giggles, her stomach starting to hurt from laughing. 

She would more than likely kick his ass for it later but it was the first time he’s heard her laugh in a long time and she had the most beautiful laugh, loud and cheerful, contagious even and if he got hit with her biotics because of it it was well worth it as far as he was concerned. 

[voidselfshipp]

Troubled troubles

Ok to rb

Summary:Basically s/I and adler fluff, a bit of angst and a buttload of oc stuff

Gif by travellar on Tumblr

@romancologist @mycinnamonapples uwu

Another Slam of hands on the table announces jerico that adler is yet having problems with something, she sighs Rolling her shoulders back, and her two cats sit ontop of them.

--Oh boy I do love hearing my boyfriend mad--she said playfully leaning on the doorsill of adler's Office.

Russel turns to look at her, he smiles a bit --Hey princess, sorry for makin too much noise,I know you dont like that

Jeri shrugged and Walked over, sitting on her boyfriends lap--Okay let me see whats up

--Ive been trying to fix this radio for Woods, nothings workin

She takes the radio and looks at it--Did you notice some of the cables are broken? Like when your headphones cable is broken and you twist the cord around for it to work?

--...wait what?

--Yeah its broken see?

Adler internally facepalms as his cheeks turn red--How could I not notice that?

Jer kisses his scarred cheek and leaves the radio on the desk standing up--Anyway ill go chance, todays prayer Day at cycle coasts main temple,you sure you dont want to go?

--No babe,im alright you go enjoy your terran stuff

She chuckled and shook her head walking over to her room to change.

The Roaring of the motorcycle engine drowned out any other sound in the garage, jerico put her helmet on,both of her cats tucked in her backpack,peeking through the semi Open compartment.

Her black cat mewls and presses their snout against the back of her head--Im alright vica,I just wish Russ came with me whenever we have celebrations, its something I dont want him to miss...but alas...--Her cat hissed and she snorted a chuckle-- dont be mad at him,our culture can be hard to digest

The cat rolled their eyes and sunk back into her backpack.

The wind hit her visor as she drove to cycle coast, she looked at the cloudy Sky, and sped up.

The drums could already be heard, jer chained her motorcycle to a post and Walked to the beach,there people in traditional terran wear danced with fans,banners and sticks, she sat amongst the crowd listening to the old woman talk.

Her hair was long,braids sprinkled about her hair, white as the moon,the traditional pristess robe, blue and black touched the sand and her long sleeves draped as she talked.

--Jerico...nice to see you could join Us.

Jerico smiled--Id never miss it

--did you bring your handsome boyfriend with you?

Jeri looked away--no,hes not really into our culture

The old womans brow furrow--such a shame...I wanted to meet him--she then perked up at the audience --You see, jerico has come here since she was a little trouble making bean about this tall--she puts her hand against her shoulder--so she heard this tale Many many times

When humans and gods lived along eachother--the elder pristess said-- and demons Ran amok at night,our goddess of death fell in love with one of those creatures.

She had Fallen for the King of the black demon hell, and had a child.

This is the child we'll talk about,in our books hes named xazo kazlaz or bell, it says that then elementus got wind of their relationshipp and they had to split.

About deaths son however.. she raised him to be the one that would guide the people to the afterlife...or hell navigating through the vast ocean of the dead with bells to guide him and Open the Doors to each realm...

Does anybody know why hes represented as an axolotl?--

Jerico raised her hand, and the pristess let her talk--because hes both a god and a demon, hes half and half like the axolotl that is an amphibian creature

The woman nodded-- very good,now lets commune back at the temple shall we?

As the people left, both the priestess and jeri were left alone,both Walked a bit distanced from the crowd.

--Thats one of my favourite stories you know zaivelaz

The woman smiled--I know thats why when I got your letter of you coming I changed it, its more interesting that the story of our patron goddess fighting over a piece of cheese

Jer started to laugh--Yeah that day was one hell of a day

Zaivelaz shook her head--Being a goddess amongst humans is hard?

--Like you have no idea,specially with my boyfriend,two of the people gods in my family had human partners and they...they died,im scared something similar Will happend to him

Her companion put a hand on jericos shoulder--It wont...I promise

--Thanks...zai

The steps along the floating bridge were Many,jeri couldnt help but wonder how it would be if adler was here.

She struggled so much with showing him her culture that it made her feel sad,then again one of the moral rules in Terras was not to force anyone,and she wouldnt break it.

She sat on the floor with the priestesses and closed her eyes interlocking her fingers as she softly whispered.

--Hey ozi...Been a while...--she sighed-- I left you some offerings by your statues feet, I know you dont like this sorta stuff...but ive missed you, a lot, just...just..tell eryz and abbadon that I love em..and that same goes to you..i love you aunt ozi

After the prayers it was time for the festival, jeri Spotted a young Man wearing all black, white eyes,and black hair in a bun.

The Man seemed to notice her as he ran to her,hugging her tightly.

--Abbadon!--She said kissing her cousins cheek--Ive missed you

Abbadon put his hand in his pockets--Ive missed you too...what I could not miss is this festival! All because of our family?, wow!

Jer giggled and offered her hand--Wanna dance?

--You bet!

Their feet moved in synch,the flags spun in circles as they danced.

Abbadon threw his banners and jeri catched him, and he hers.

They were enjoying themselves when the music stopped abruptly.

They Turned to see the people around them that were equally confused.

The musicians pointed at the huge tide approaching them.

Both demigod cousins stepped infront of the tide and stopped it as its about to break, they both looked at eachother and nodded.

Jeri pushed it to one side, and abbadon followed, the water splashed them and them only and nobody got hurt.

--Your mom needs to stop sending tides that could literally drown someone when she wants to send a sign...

Abbadon crouched putting his hands on his knees,batting his hand at his cousin--i tried... no way talking her out of It

The celebration ended with no further altercations, jerico went back home and took a quick warm shower to then collapse on the bed.

--Hes still with that fucking radio isnt he?...--She sighed giving up--why do I even try anymore?

The sun filtered through the blinds jerico groaned and opened her eyes,only to find her boyfriends spot on the bed empty.

She grunts and sits up, her cats sitting on her lap-- I know I know..--she picks them up and walks to the kitchen where she gives both of them their food.

Jeri felt a pair of arms hug her from behind, she sighs nuzzling into adlers chest.

--Good morning sweetheart

--Hey...

--Watcha cooking there?

--Bacon and eggs for you and a healthy terran breakfast for me

--Oh...good

Both ended up eating their breakfast in silence, Russell could tell there was something wrong with his girlfriend, he took her hand and she looked at him,those beautiful eyes he loved looking at were filled to the brim with sadness.

--babe...whats up?--He asked concerned.

--I just...wish you could come with me whenever we have festivals here--she said taking a bite from her waffle that had cream and pieces of caramelized fruit--its something I really really want you to participate in...but I know you dont like this sorta stuff and I wont force you

Adler sits back realizing what he had done, hes been neglecting a part of her that is important to her,those were her roots and he was stepping all over them.

He finished his breakfast and Walked over to her, lifting her up and hugging her--Im so sorry babe--he kissed her cheek-- I know this is important to you and i--

Jeri smiled kissing him again and cupping his cheeks--How about you come to todays festival in time temple with me huh?you dont have to wear our traditional attire,but I tell you it gets cold there

--Id love to, do I have to bring something?

--Not really, im going to make an offering though,it depends on the person

--perfect then...cant wait

Both smiled and kissed again.

The end of the day arrived quickly between work and chores to do.

Adler was waiting by the door fixing his leather jacket.

--How do I look?

Russ looks up at jerico and gasps--Very pretty

She smiled playing with the hem of her green turtle neck that had her shoulders peeking, her roman sandals clicked and clacked with every step she made.

The drive to time temple wasnt long, and luckily they arrived just in time for the story.

The elder priestess smiled when she saw jerico and nodded, proceeding to talk-- a long time ago, the second generation of dieties were born, they were meant to regulate life, amongst the three of them we find our patron goddess...chronos the incessant pass of time...

Elementus tasked a human to build a machine that could measure time, that is when the first sun clock was born,the human handed it to the Creator and with a sprinkle of magic the clock changed into a small girl, with short black hair, she had pale skin and two pale blue eyes, and from there,she was born.

Trained by elementus sister, Ray,the god of war...she then moved to her Realm where she measures time and the life of every being in existence..., from humans to animals and even objects, some say that she collects clocks of all kind and if.you want to meet her youll need to bring the rarest of clocks,of course, its all myths...or...are they?--the priestess finished her tale,and the offerings began.

Adler uncomfortably stayed behind as jeri prayed,she then Turned to him and ushered him to come closer.

--And this is my boyfriend, Russell

--Babe what are you doing?

--Introducing my aunt to you

--Your...aunt?

--Yeah ive told you like a month ago im half goddess..and this is my aunt...chronos

--I...I thought you were joking when you said that --Jeri Turned at her boyfriend with a face of pure disbelief,he hunched his back--Sorry...

--Anyway..chronos...hes my boyfriend Russell, I wish you were here to meet him...hes very sweet sometimes

--Sometimes?

She chuckled and kissed his cheek-- sometimes--she then Turned at the statue--i wish you were here to meet him, I really miss you--Adler gave her some space and sat back on the chair--i miss you and dad so much...--she stood up--Ill..ill see you later auntie chronos--she smiled and Walked over to adler hugging him.

The festival inside the temple was full of music and food of all kinds, and both came back home exhausted.

Adler maybe got a solid six ours of sleep before hes awaken by her girlfriends voice--Babe...babe wake up...

He smiled kissing her--Morning princess

--There you are,change quickly my family came to visit

His eyes Open wide --What?

--Yeah they are here, come on change

She patted his chest and Walked into the kitchen, where abbadon was setting the table.

Adler Walked in a few minutes later only to find two men and three women talking with her girlfriend,who noticed him and hugged him--Okay everyone, say hi to russel,Russell this is abbadon, this is chronos--she said pointing at the woman with short black hair and glasses-- those are my aunts eryz and ozi, aka the goddeses of life and death--

Adler was baffled at the normalcy jeri used when talking about her family,he looked at ozi,her black Long hair fell down to the floor, a scar along her left eye and she was wearing a long blue. sundress,eryz had short brown hair, using the same glasses as chronos was, she had vitiligo and was wearing a white shirtdress with a green fitted blazer--and this is my Dad,Raymond.

To say adler was scared shitless was an understatement,his father in law was wearing a black leather jacket,black jeans and boots,a white t-shirt and aviator sunglasses, he was also way taller than him,with his black hair pushed back and two scars on each side of his face,one under his right eye and one right on the left side of his jaw in the middle between his mouth and the spot where both jaw and neck meet.

Chronos laughed and softly elbowed Ray-- Raymond youre scaring the poor human

--He better treat my daughter alright..

Jeri smiled and kissed russel--Dont worry dad he does

They all sat to eat breakfast, adler seemed intimidated by the dietys around him,but slowly let his guard down, they were a pleaseant bunch in their own way, more human than hed like to think.

Sadly after breakfast they all had to leave.

After saying their goodbyes russel and jerico end up cuddling on the bed.

--Your family is nice--russel said as he ran his fingers through her hair.

--nexts to meet yours

He chuckled--Maybe

They kiss, and he hugs her waist enveloping her in a tight bear hug.

--I love you jer

--I love you too russ

[namorthesubmariner]

MARVEL’S SNAPSHOTS: SUB-MARINER

This is a comic I had been looking forward to since I heard what it was about and it did not disappoint. The creative team totally did their job with regards to background and history, espically history between Betty and Namor. Now I was very hestate at first because all the descriptions of Betty being a “Mild Mannered Reporter” had me worried since she was a Police Officer first, before becoming a Reporter after the war. This will be a long post because fuck. I have been waiting for Betty/Namor content and not only was it delivered, it broke me.

We start off with Betty having a celebration with her brothers who have all come back from the War, she gets a glimpse into how her brother’s were affected with their “shell shock” aka PTSD. I really can’t remember Betty ever having brothers but moving on.

Anyways we see that the next day Betty has a date with Namor and it’s so freaking cute.

Betty mentioning that Namor hasn’t aged, just reminds me of this panel so much.

NAMOR YOU ARE BANNED FROM CONEY ISLAND.

Namor doesn’t understand why humans go to carnivals just for fun if it isn’t to boost morale during war time, but he apologizes to Betty and promises to have a good time. He even tries to make a joke! Not a dry sarcastic joke but an attempt at actual humor!

Betty asks how long do Atlanteans live, and for the first time we get a solid answer. 600 years for normal full blooded Atlanteans, and for Namor it’s uncertain because of his Hybrid status.

Also NAMOR YOU IDIOT. TALK TO BETTY ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS.

As they continue their date, Namor goes for a swim splashing Betty. Then Namor hears gun shots from a game and has a reaction, Betty notices even when he tries to play it off as nothing.

Namor plays a game to win food for a family. Prince with a salty heart of gold.

Next they find out The Shark, yes the same man who once stole Namor’s speedo, was trying to steal money from the ticket sales. Namor goes to stop him and gets angry at the man who once aligned himself with Nazis.

Namor goes berserk on his ass, seriously about to fight him until he kills him. Betty calls in the All Winners Squad to help Namor and to also stop him from killing the Shark.

Namor remembers what happened during the war, he was the first to see the horror of what the Nazis had done, and this is the first time Betty has ever seen Namor cry.

Betty tries to suggest that Namor speak to a doctor, which Namor would never do. I WILL SLAP HIM, SPEAK TO SOMEONE NAMOR, GET SOME HELP.

Betty is upset, she thought that with the war over then people should be happy again, but she sees that’s not happening and that people like her brother and Namor will always carry that with them. 

She and Miss America go for a chat and it ends with Betty. I really love this comic showing everything from Betty’s pov and how she felt about it all. (Everett’s Tavern!)

As a big Betty/Namor fan, this comic is everything I wanted. Betty being her usual spitfire self as she helps Namor. Namor being shown to be affected by the war. Betty and Namor’s tragic future is all the more sadder when I finished reading this because they had such a deep love for each other. However this comic is now my favorite because it was so well written and the art is amazing.

[the-sunshine-dims]

amnesia Chapter 3; patton

i'm not the happiest with how this turned out but it made its purpose, also sorry it took two days, i had been really busy on tuesday and wednesday, 

amnesia taglist: @fandima

[1] [2] [^] [4] [5] [6]

words: 1487

Summary: deceit gets amnesia, the others realize how much they had assumed about this side, and how much information they discarded, they thought this dork  who likes making flower crowns and will lie if it’s necessary or too save someone’s feelings, was this evil villain who’s only job was to hurt thomas, and deceit without memory of all of this helps the others feel less guilty, they know they can’t fully be forgiven though,

~*warnings*~ hurt/comfort, angst, amnesia, mention of deceit and remus being treated poorly, deceit being an over excitable puppy, food mention, guilt, regret,

ao3 link

characters this chapter: deceit, roman, patton, logan (mentioned), virgil (mentioned) remus (mentioned,

all characters that appear in this series:  deceit, roman, logan, remus, patton, virgil, king creativity (mentioned)

________

“Hey patt?” Roman called from the Patton’s doorway

Patton turned to look up at him “yeah ro? What’s up?”

Roman nervously rubbed his neck “ok… well um… you see apparently deceit went into the imagination… and something happened, and he probably hit his head… and Logan has confirmed that he does in fact have a case of amnesia,” he chewed his lip nervously, a bad habit he picked up from Virgil,

Patton opened his mouth going to speak before closing it again, guilty of the fact he was gonna ask if they knew if he was faking it or not, he opened his mouth again “is he ok?”

Roman hummed and nodded, “he is, He’s currently trying to compete with Logan on who can solve a rubix cube the fastest,” Patton smiled and Roman smiled as well “it’s adorable,” he trailed off before remembering another fact he should tell Patton “also! Logan said that currently he’s mentally a teenager, like fifteen or sixteen most likely,”

“Poor thing…” was the only thing that left Patton’s lips despite how much was going through his head

Roman nodded sadly, “yeah,”

Patton looked thoughtful for a moment before focusing on Roman again “hey Roman… Do you think I could hang out with him?”

“I mean, it’s not really my choice, he’s his own person, though I mean Logan told me that you all used to be friends so i mean he’ll probably say yeah,” 

Patton gave a thankful smile, and stood up from the place he had been sitting, “ok, can we go and see if i can hang out with him and you guys now or no?”

Roman smiled and wrapped an arm around Patton’s waist “yeah, let's go chill with him,”

Patton smiled and nodded, and they both headed out of the room,

As they headed down the hallway Patton stopped, and looked up at Roman “hey roman, have you, Logan, and deceit ate yet?”

Roman gave an awkward laugh and rubbed his neck again “nah, not yet,” 

Patton shook his head disapprovingly, and headed towards the kitchen and started cooking, after around twenty minutes the food was done and he grabbed a couple plates, once he had put one of them In the fridge for Virgil he headed back on course, he then proceeded to shove two plates into romans arms, for him and logan, Roman gave a small laugh and just proceeded to walk towards logan’s room,

———

Deceit looked up up at the door as it slowly opened from where he had been sitting on the floor watching the tv as Logan worked,

When he saw Patton and Roman enter he waved at them nonchalantly, hiding the happy look he gave when he saw them,

“Hey dee, can I hang with you?” Patton said as he sat down passing deceit plate of food over, Roman was handing Logan his plate,

Deceit hummed and nodded giving a small smile to Patton which melted his heart,

“So how’re you doing kiddo?”

Deceit hummed softly again “‘mm fine, how are you?” he partially lied, it had been a mentally tiring day yesterday, He took a bite of the food as he waited for Patton to answer

“I’m doing fine kiddo, after you eat is there anything you want to do?” Patton tried, this encounter was rather awkward for him, because he knew he had treated deceit and Remus so awfully, he knew that he didn’t remember but it still ate him up with regret and guilt, he had been trying to get better but still…he had even started inviting the two of them to movie nights, though deceit had never taken up the invitation,

Deceit sensed the stress practically radiating off Patton and he made the quick decision of gently punching Patton’s shoulder “you sure there… adulto..?” He gave a small smile trying to cheer him up, he wanted his friends to be happy! He distantly wondered if a flower crown would make him feel better,

Patton gave a small chuckle “I’m good, just started overthinking,-“ he gave another soft chuckle -“even though it’s Virgil's job” 

Deceit tilted his head like a confused puppy for a moment before making finger guns and trying to stay up beat “...anxiety?” He looked over at Roman just for Roman to turn his head to him and nod and then turn back to his and Logan’s conversation, deceit turned his head back to face Patton “ah, anxiety, he's nice” he nodded to himself

Patton laughed, smiling softly “that he is, anyways what do you wanna do to?”

Deceit hummed in thought, he liked humming, whether it be the soft musical humming or humming in concentration, he liked it. “I’m ok with doing anything, except stuff with horses, I hate them, they hate me, Barney ate my family, you know the deal.”

Patton laughed and nodded “sooo-“ he trailed off before remembering him having a keen interest that creativity used to show off all the time to them -“would you wanna go hang out in the imagination’s meadow and make flower crowns?-“ the moment the words left his mouth he could practically see the stars in dee’s eyes

“Yesyesyesyes-“ he paused for a moment “yes please”

Patton chuckled softly and as soon as they were done eating he stood up, holding a hand out for deceit which deceit easily took, sure he knew things might be a little different but morality is nice! And logic is nice! And Roman is nice! So he very much trusted them all, 

Patton smiled as he escorted deceit to the imagination and the absolutely beautiful meadow, covered in all kinds of wildflowers, everything so vibrant, 

Deceit smiled happily and ran out into it, promptly falling on a soft cushion of grass And flowers, Patton followed him a soft smile on his lips, distantly wondering how he had never truly known deceit, this happy joyful, flower crown loving side,

Patton walked over, sitting comfortably on the patch of grass next to deceit, “ok so I have to admit I don’t know how to properly make a flower crown,” he gave a sheepish smile

Deceit smiled “that’s ok! That just means I can teach you!” He then proceeded to take a couple flowers and fold their stems into each other slowly, making sure Patton followed,

After Patton finally succeeded in making a flower deceit let out a cheer 

“You did it! You did well too!” He smiled widely, he  decided he liked teaching, it was no wonder to him why logic liked it too,

Patton smiled “thanks,” he thought for a moment before a thought verbally voiced itself much to the dismay of Patton “I’m so sorry I misjudged you…” 

“What are you talking about? You didn’t misjudge me! I think!” He tried to defend Patton, he wasn’t making the best argument though especially considering he very literally didn't remember it,

“Yes I did….-” he sighed -“I know you don’t remember it, but I was mean, so mean! And I misjudged you and I probably hurt you- and- I’m so sorry- so sorry-“ he was stopped as deceit pulled him into a hug,

“You probably had your reasons, and I’ll forgive you, when I remember what you mean, it may be a bit before I fully forgive you but no matter what, you deserve a second chance,” he pulled out of the hug, looking into Patton’s eyes intensely “I promise you, I know for a fact, that we’ll be friends and i'll stand by you, i promise” he smiled and plopped a flower crown on patton’s head,

Patton looked down and smiled sadly “your super sweet,” 

“hey, no u uno reverse bitch,” he laughed, but hey! It was the truth! Patton was nice too!

Patton snickered, deceits humor reminded him of Virgil, it was kind of Nice, he wondered if he liked dad jokes as well, “hey wanna make another flower crown and then head back to the commons and watch a show?” He prompted

“Yes please! What do you wanna watch!” 

“Hmm I’ll be fine with anything you want kiddo,”

“Hmmm, can we watch a couple episodes of the office?” He asked softly 

Patton hummed “mmhm, yeah we can, and we can get snacks too,”

Deceits eyes lit up and he murmured a soft thank you before hurrying to finish the last flower crown, he was planning to give them to logic and Roman, since he already gave one to morality,

Later Logan and Roman found deceit and Patton passed out on the couch deceit using Patton’s chest as a pillow and Patton’s arm wrapped loosely around deceits waist, tv asleep, they smiled at each other and left, silently agreeing to not wake them up, they both could see something had changed, they could both see that some of Patton’s regret and guilt was eased, it wasn’t gone, but it was breathing room for them both to work at,

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I thought about We Bare Bears: The Movie

Salutations random people on the internet who probably won't read this. I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons. Today, I'm going to do one-fourth of what I do best by talking about We Bare Bears: The Movie. Now, if you're a member of the cartoon community, odds are you've heard of We Bare Bears. It might not be as well-remembered as shows like Adventure Time or Steven Universe. But We Bare Bears has gained its own following through its charm and simplicity. So much so, that the series got it's very own movie, acting as the series finale to the beloved show. And to honor that milestone, I thought I'd share my thoughts by listing the things I liked and disliked about the film. Keep in mind, this is your last chance to avoid spoilers if you haven't seen the film yet (even though it’s been out for more than a week). Because I'll be spoiling the heck out of the movie by listing plot details, characters, and little touches that I think are worth mentioning. With that out of the way, let's dive on in with-

WHAT I LIKED

The Baby Bears meeting: To me, this was the first indicator that the movie was going to be the end. The Baby Bears meeting always felt like a moment saved for the series finale to me. Because answering the question of whether, or not, the Baby Bears find a home isn't something we need an answer to. But learning about how they met? Now that is something I'm sure most fans were curious about. And in true Baby Bears style, it's big and epic while still being downright adorable. Not to mention that Grizz's line at the end of how not looking alike is the best part about being brothers is not only sweet, but it also sells the main moral of the movie. If I had to nitpick, a part of me wonders how their separate journeys got them all in that one spot. But that's just another question that doesn't really require an answer, so I'm alright with not receiving one. Besides, that's what fan-fiction is for. GET ON IT WRITERS!

The Bears Running Through the City: I'm sure some people are tired of the cliche of having characters run through the city because they're late for something. But to me, I think that type of thing works for a series finale. It offers one last glance at familiar environments, but familiar characters as well. Not only do you get to see the people who love the Bears the most, but you even see the Human Bros in the background as the Bears run. This scene also sets up the conflict of the film as the Bears accidentally wreak havoc to get to where they're going. Even more so than usual. Plus, the scene serves as an excuse to hear the extended version of the theme song. And personally, I just love it when a series finale finds a way to incorporate the theme in a way that's better than the opening.

The Bears Complaint File: This was another indicator that the movie was going to be the end of the series. Usually, when a show like We Bare Bears finally acknowledges consequences to a character's actions, it's safe to say that the end is nigh. Because this presents the idea that the characters are close to being the straw that broke the camel's back. Which is something you can never do twice.

The Bears Viral Video: There are going to be people out there who'll find the Bears' video of outdated memes cringy. And to those people, I say: "THAT'S THE FRICKEN POINT GENIUSES!" Seriously, the characters themselves point out how what they're doing is going to be cringy, so it's safe to say that it was very much the intention from the writers. Besides, We Bare Bears always had scenes, and entire episodes, that acknowledged modern trends. And unlike other shows and movies, We Bare Bears doesn't use memes to stay fresh and hip with the kids. Instead, the show-and movie for that matter-uses trends to tell a story that will be timeless. Albeit dated in a few years. The only complaint I'll accept is that you didn't find their video funny, which can be valid. As for me, yeah, I chuckled. Speaking of-

The Comedy: We Bare Bears might not be the funniest show I've seen, but it still gets a chuckle out of me from time to time. It works with an absurd sense of humor, which is either your thing or it isn't. As for the jokes in the movie, most of them work pretty well, and the ones that don't aren't too bad. Personally, my favorite scene is when the Bears slowly drive away from Wildlife Control. The fact that that plan worked was so absurd, I could not help but laugh.

The Blackout: This was the straw that I mentioned earlier. The Bears have finally crossed a line that turns several people against them. In fact, it's very reminiscent of Ed Edd and Eddy's Big Picture Show, where the characters are forced to leave after doing something unforgivable. Although, there's one thing that We Bare Bears: The Movie does better than Big Picture Show. In Big Picture Show, fans never really saw what the Eds did that was so horrid. We were just told that it was so bad that our trio had to leave everything behind. Never seeing the answer always bothered me as a kid because I was always curious about how their last scam was somehow their worst. This is why it's nice that we actually get to see what the Bears did that was so unforgivable in We Bare Bears: The Movie.

Agent Trout: At some point, if you found Trout to be the most unlikeable piece of trash that he is, then you found the writers' possible intention. Trout acts as the movie's main antagonist, and on top of that, a character you're not supposed to like. And granted, there have been movie antagonists that are pure evil, but audiences can't help but love them anyway. But personally, I feel like making Trout a likable antagonist would have spoiled the point of the film. The movie's message, which I'll get into later, is about how being strange is ok, and that anyone can fit into society. Because society changes and people become accepting of these changes, every day. Trout is meant to represent the type of people who refuse the idea of change. He is a character who believes everything should operate as nature intended, which in this film's case, having bears reside in their natural habitats. And I honestly think Trout does his part as an antagonist really well. He's easy to hate for all the right reasons, and it's satisfying to see him get his coupons. It's also even better that we don't know his motivations to be so cruel to the Bears. Because there are real-life people out there who share Trout's mindset, with zero reasons behind why. Plus, his design is really great, being devoid of color and drawn with sharp edges in comparison to the bright and smooth looking characters. It helps him stand out from most characters in the show, while also making less overly threatening that the hunter in "Yuri and Ice Bear."

Officer Murphy: As far as I know, Officer Murphy was never really that big of a character. In fact, I don't even remember if the show mentioned his name until this movie. So to some fans, it might come off as a surprise that Murphy is given such an enormous role in this movie. Regardless, the position Murphy has is a great one. He is meant to represent the positive type of law enforcement. The officers who don't punish people due to who they are or what they look like. Instead, Officer Murphy is an officer who upholds the law to protect others. Take note of the fact that Murphy never wanted to physically or emotionally hurt the Bears. He understood that the Bears crossed the line and needed to be punished, but never to the extremes that Trout took. Speaking of Trout, Murphy acts as a great comedic sidekick for the antagonist. There's this nice running joke where Trout shoves random food in Murphy's mouth when Murphy makes an unwanted comment. And said running joke also leads to a great payoff in the movie's final act. So while I'm surprised at Murphy's inclusion, I gotta say that I really appreciate it.

Mystery Machine Cameo: I'm the biggest Scooby-Doo fan you'll ever meet, so believe when I say that seeing the iconic van just made me giddy.

Pizza Rat: I'll be the first to admit that Pizza Rat was a scumbag for betraying the Bears. But gosh darn it he was hilarious. I'm not kidding, whenever Pizza Rat showed up, he got funnier and funnier with each scene. Especially with his hatred of the rat with Spaghetti.

Grizz’s Nightmare: There are two things I really like about this scene. The first is that Grizz's nightmare is easily the creepiest the show has gotten. Seriously, something tells me that Trout's face being on the death train is going to be in kids' nightmares for weeks. The second is that there is some outstanding visual symbolism in this scene. It shows how Grizz is under a lot of stress for carrying the weight of protecting his brothers at all costs. Not only is that the best symbolism the show has ever used, but the scene gives the perfect insight into Grizz as a character. It's rare that we ever get to see the serious side of him, so I appreciate this one last glimpse into his personality.

That Epic Car Chase: If I'm being honest, there were not that many scenes that showed this movie being anything else than an extended episode. But this scene, however, was the most cinematic that We Bare Bears have ever been. The quality animation and cinematography help make the scene action-packed and surprisingly tense at times. Like I genuinely felt worried for my favorite trio of weirdos. There's not much I can say about this scene other than it was pretty impressive as well as awesome.

The Bears’ Plan Fails: It's weird saying that I like this, but I do. The movie could have gone down the same route as The Simpsons Movie by having the plan work for the sake of a joke. But no. We Bare Bears: The Movie actually employs logic and says, "you can't move to a new country, without a passport." And I can't help but give kudos to a movie that doesn't allow a simple solution.

The Third Act Break Up: Ah yes, the one cliche scene that makes audiences go "Really? We're doing this song and dance again?" Now, here's my defense: When it comes to something made for kids, you gotta be more forgiving of cliches. Odds are, some children watched this movie, and this will be their first third act break up. So you can't really fault the film for wanting to use a popular cliche. Granted, you could wish to have your kids watch something original, but that's a request that gets harder to do with each day. Besides, some cliches, like the third act break up, aren't bad unless they're done correctly. And I honestly think the movie uses the cliche just fine. The tension between Grizz and Panda has been built up throughout the film, so one final blow-out was bound to happen. Plus, the Bears don't really break up, but rather argue. If Panda had walked off dramatically, after saying "we're not brothers," then I would consider it a break up. Instead, it comes across as characters saying things they don't mean due to the heat of the moment.

Trout’s Bear Sanctuary: This was depressing but in a good way. The colors being swapped out from the show's usual bright pastels to dull and gray? That perfectly explains how dire the situation is without outwardly stating it. And yeah, I got a little misty eyed when watching this scene.

Grizz Talking to Baby Grizz: Another scene that I thought would be endgame would be having the grown-up Bears meeting the Baby Bears. I always dismissed this idea because I kept reminding myself of how it was impossible. I mean, how can you make characters meet a younger version of themselves? Turns out, the answer to that question was to have the younger version of a character act as a conscience. And yeah, this scene was pretty sweet and charming. And once again, my eyes started to get all misty. The tears didn't fight hard enough to get out, but they still fought pretty hard. Also, was it just me, or did it sound like Baby Grizz's voice actor was beginning to hit puberty?

The Bears Cheering for Grizz: I'm not the only one who thought it sounded like the bears were chanting/roaring Grizz's name, right? Because that's what I heard during this scene. Also, this scene was pretty epic, while doing its job to get me hyped up for what happens next.

The Moral: I've touched upon this moral earlier, and I want to make it clear how important it is. Some people feel as though they don't fit in anywhere, mostly because law enforcement has a history of punishing those that don't. But as Grizz says: "Nature adapts." The same goes for society. More and more people are fitting into groups that make them feel welcome. And those groups become more accepted with each passing year. Now to be fair, there are scum bags like Trout, who seek to punish people who are different. But again, there are still good souls like Murphy that attempt to do the morally correct thing no matter who/what you are. And I have to give kudos to We Bare Bears: The Movie for showing the brighter side of things. Because let's face it, we all could use something positive as of late. And I'm sure there are going to be people out there who'll call this movie 'preachy' and 'overly optimistic.' To those people, I would like to once again point out that this is a kid's film. Yes, kids are smarter than we give them credit for. But that doesn't mean you should give the harsh truth about how hard issues won't have simple solutions. They at least have until their teen years before that happens. Besides, look at the ending shot of bears normally fitting in with the rest of society. If you can see that and not love the symbolism being represented, then this film clearly is not for you.

WHAT I DISLIKED

It’s More of an Extended Episode Rather Than a Movie: Before I explain, I want to make it very clear that this is mostly a nitpick. Like I said before, there weren't many scenes that made this movie feel like, well, a movie. The animation never seemed better in comparison to the show, there weren't that many cinematic scenes, and the story didn't feel all that epic either. I honestly feel like the bears went on grander adventures than the one they went on here. Like the first time they became wanted criminals in "Captain Craboo." Yeah, remember that episode? It was emotional, intense, and actually kind of epic at times. And that episode was a half-hour long! The movie was an hour and eight minutes, and it still couldn't outdo the quality of "Captain Craboo." I know that I'm being a little harsh. But when I see "the movie" attached at the end of a show's title, I expect something grander and more epic than the original show. And yeah, We Bare Bears: The Movie is good for an extended episode, but not for what I consider for a movie.

What Supporting Cast?: Here's where looking at the movie as a series finale becomes an issue. This is the last time we'll see ALL of the characters from the show. So giving no proper goodbye from the supporting cast, who have all been significant people in the Bears' lives, feels wrong. The best-or rather worst-example of how wrong this is would be Nom-Nom. This was a character who was on the road towards redemption. So to have his last appearance show that he's the same jerk as he started is disappointing. The worst part is that the movie had the right idea with Charlie's scene. He helps the Bears one last time and says he's happy to do it for all the times they helped him. It's a touching moment and honestly feels like a proper goodbye to his character. And I can't help but see ways that the movie could have included the rest of the supporting cast. Have Ranger Tabes join Murphy and Trout due to her being a bear expert. Have Nom-Nom stand up for the bears at the Internet Animal rave. Have Chloe literally do anything other than stand and watch her best friends in the world be in danger! I understand that the Bears are the main characters who deserve most of the closure. But that doesn't mean other characters should be left in the dust because of it.

Panda’s Kind of Annoying: Cards on the table, I'm not the biggest fan of Panda. I don't think he's the worst character or even a bad one. But to me, he always came across as so whiney and annoying, and he's somehow worse in the movie. I get that he's a straight man who's meant to be the voice of reason, but there's a way to make a character like that entertaining. Some amazing straight men are specific iterations of Leonardo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Velma from Scooby-Doo. Those are characters that know how to be the calm of the crazy storm that their fellow cast. They offer witty comments and charismatic one-liners that prove they could also hold off on their own at times. Panda never really did that for me in neither the show nor the movie. He has his entertaining moments for sure, but most of them get overshadowed by his weaker ones. So while I don't exactly hate Panda, I can't really say I love him.

Ice Bear Does Next to Nothing: I'm not the only one who thinks Ice Bear was underutilized, right? In fact, We Bare Bears: The Movie is also similar to Ed Edd and Eddy's Big Picture Show in how to write its main trio. Both films pay more attention to the relationship between the leader and the straight man, where the comic relief is there for jokes and to give the occasional contribution. However, it's easy to forgive with Ed, because his character has little to offer other than being a loveable doofus. But Ice Bear? He has so much personality, so much backstory, and so much more to his character that you could make an entire movie just about him. Plus, going back to the fact that the film is a series finale, this is not a proper conclusion to his character. Sure, it's nice to see the Bears be accepted for who they are, but what about all that stuff with Yuri? Are you seriously telling me that the show wouldn't do anything with the fact that Ice Bear fell in love with Yuri's daughter?! I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I really wish the movie had something more in store for Ice Bear.

On The Road Song: Out of all the good qualities that We Bare Bears have, having good music isn't one of them. The few songs that the show has are not bad by no means but aren't really songs I would find myself listening to on repeat. The same goes for "Road Trip Song." It's perfectly fine, but nothing more than mediocre. Plus, weirdly, it's the only song in the movie. I mean, if you're gonna introduce something like a musical number, at least go all out with making a musical. I'm not saying the film should have been like Steven Universe: The Movie in terms of a soundtrack, but at least have two or three more songs. As is, it just feels like a weird detour on the road to Canada.

The Bears Survive Falling Off a Cliff:...That’s it. Just the ludicrousy of the fact that the Bears survive a fall like that. When you think about it, it removes a lot of the tension when you they could survive huge feats like that too.

Overall, We Bare Bears: The Movie gets a well earned B+ for me. When you judge it as a movie AND as a series finale, it loses a lot of points. But when you look at it as an extended episode? You get something that has a great moral, an outstanding antagonist, and a nicely put together story. Like the original show, I'm probably not going to remember it in about ten years down the line. As for the here and now, I'm glad I took the time to watch something so much more than BEARable.

(Now if only we got that Amazing World of Gumball movie. GET ON IT CARTOON NETWORK!)

[camistired]

the peculiar one

chp. 3 // welcome to river-hell

not edited

january 23, 2019

word count: 3138

song: antidote by faith marie

one / two

-

I couldn't sleep. The feeling of dread washed over me, making my eyes stay stapled open as I lay on my back. The soft sound of the TV show I was watching on my phone bounced off the walls but never met my ears. All I could think of is what will happen in the few hour ahead.

I didn't hate school, surprisingly. I do excellent in my class besides the two I seemed to take a little longer to comprehend. It was the people at the school that made me feel this way. The whole group of people that I knew to be there, it all just seemed like a scene from 'Heather's' or 'Mean Girl's'.

Either way, I was not willing to be Cady or Veronica in this situation. I turn over to see my phone had turned off. I got out of bed and walk over to my bathroom, opening the medicine cabinet to grab my sleeping pills. I take one, seeing as I already took my dosage earlier and it was still not even working. I lay back down and eventually lost myself in a dream world. And a strange one at that.

I open my eyes to see myself in a basement of sorts. I gag as the smell of blood and rotten blood fill my nose. I look around to find an empty chair, ropes loosely hung around the back of it. I hear the faint sound of crying making me turn to see a woman with her head hung low.

When she looked up, her face was impossible to identify. It's as if the world scratched out her face to show absolute nothing. Her cries seemed to echo off the walls louder. Footsteps slowly made their way down, only to be met with another faceless person. It's as if the world didn't want me to see that these people were out there, somewhere, in the world.

The womans cries and got louder and louder, my ears ringing as it seemed to get to a pitch only a dog could here. Than it all just- stopped. The cries were gone, the scratches on their faces seemed to be changing hues every second, and the room slowly turned into nothingness.

My eyes pop open as I stare at my ceiling. The only words coming to mind were; what the fuck? Obviously sleep deprivation and my imagination are never a good mix for dreams. I look over at the clock on my wall to see it's only 6:17.

I groan inwardly and have up on sleep. What's the point? I'll have to get up in an hour anyways. I sit up and decide to rewatch 'The Breakfast Club'. It's genuinely one of my favorite movies from the eighties. Hell- one of my favorite movies in general.

I sat silently as I watch the opening as I relate to certain things and people. Obviously I relate myself more to Allison, being a bit of a basket case myself, but I can easily put myself in the others perspective. I also silently wish I could have a group of friends like theirs. Seemingly strangers with nothing in common, to all of a sudden be close to the hip and making jokes about each other's difference's. Who wouldn't want that?

I eventually get lost in the teen drama that I didn't even notice the sun rise or it being nearly an hour an twenty minutes later until my dad knocked on the door and peeked his head inside my room.y head popped up and I lock eyes with him, smiling softly. I pause movie as I focus on his words, unfortunately only catching the end of his sentence.

"- So with that being said, are you excited for your first day of high school?" he asked and all I can do is nod.

"Yea, I am. Who knows, maybe my nerves are just everywhere for nothing?" I try to be optimistic about today, but I'm just uneasy.

He smiles assuringly and giving me a thumbs up before turning out of the room and leaving, closing the door behind him. I quickly hop out of bed, and decide to pull on just some black jeans and a green t-shirt. I lace up my boots as another knock was heard, but this time by the window. Luna hissed from under my bed, making me chuckle.

I stood up and see Jughead by my window with a goofy smile on his face. I roll my eyes and open the window for him, "There's a front door you know."

"I know, but where's the fun in that?" He responds, climbing through my window with ease.

I roll my eyes, grabbing my glasses and sliding them on my face. "But if you use the front door, it doesn't look like I'm trying to sneak you into my room."

"You know a couple years ago you would have said something different." He chuckles at me as I stick my tongue out at him.

"That's then, this is now." I grab my backpack and pet Luna as she jumps on my bed.

Jughead went to do the same but instead he only got hissed at. He immediately retracts his hand and I laugh softly at the scene before me. "Don't take it personal, she doesn't like people."

"She likes you." he points out, heading towards the door. "I swear it's like somehow, someone was able to put your personality into a cat."

"Well I'd like to meet that person one day and thank them." I cut in front of him to head downstairs. I'm immediately hit with the smell of food. I sit my bag down at the leg of the dark wooden table. I grab a plate and grab a bit of everything that was available. I sit down at the table and start eating.

"You know not to expect this everyday, right?" Lila tease as she sits down across from me with her own plate of food. I nod to her as I continue to eat.

"Can I at least expect this every now and then?" Jug ask as he sat down next to me. His tone was teasing, but I knew he was almost completely serious.

"Sure Jug. Just let me know when you decided to move in with us and when you decided you get to choose what's for breakfast." Mar joined the teasing as she sat down next to Lila, who was stifling her laughter while also trying not to choke on her food.

"Okay, would you prefer a day or week's notice before I start to move in?" He asks his cousin after swallowing his food. I let out a small squeal while trying to stifle my laughter, only to cough as I choked on my food.

I heard a burst of laughter around me, only making me laugh more after I stopped coughing. After everything has calmed down, Jughead, Daniel, and I headed off to school. Daniel actually met up with a friend of his half way there, so now it was just me and Jug.

The silence between the two of us was a bit tense, but not knowing from what we didn't act on it. We slowly approached the school, the tension only seemed to be rising. Maybe I was the only one to truly acknowledge it causes when we walked through the doors of the school, he smiles as if nothing was wrong and offered to take me to the office to get my stuff.

I trailed slightly behind him as he lead the way to the office. The tension still there but than again it seems like I'm the only one to truly notice it.

Mabe it's just my nerves? That'd make sense, right?

I got my schedule and Jug offered to show me to my locker. I thought about this tour around Riverdale High, but I decided not to attend seeing if I needed directions, I'm sure Jug wouldn't mind showing me.

We had a few more minutes before class started so me and Juggie just stayed by our lockers – which were right across from each other's. We talked as if whatever I thought was wrong, wasn't wrong. It was if I imagined it all, and maybe I did. However, I felt much better now than I did walking to the school.

And before I knew it, class had started.

☾

I wasn't sure how I ended up where I did. I had lost Jughead a while ago, so now I'm sitting next to Archie with Daniel sitting behind me with his friends. Students were told to go to the gymnasium for something about a school dance that I honestly don't know of I cared about or not.

I look up front to see Cheryl standing at the podium, staring at the crowds of teens.

"Let's have a moment of silence for Jason." The room falls silent. I look up around, seeing if I can find Jughead, only to make eye contact with him as he shifts before looking back at his laptop.

"Thank you for that moment of silence. Many of you were lucky enough to have known my brother personally. Each and everyone of you meant the world to Jason. I loved my brother. He was and always will be my soulmate. So I speak with a confidence only a twin could have. Jason wouldn't want us to spend the year mourning." I make eye contact with Jug once more, after he finishes rolling his eyes.

"Jason would want us to move on with our lives. Which is why I've asked the School Board to not cancel the Back-to- School semiformal." The room erupts in cheers as I look over at Archie as he maked eye contact with a younger teacher.

"But rather, to let us use it as a way to heal, collectively, and celebrate my brother's too, too short life on this moral coral. Thank you all." Cheryl finishes as everyone seemed to clap. I watch as Cheryl walka away, letting everyone clean out the gymnasium before lunch started

☾

I sit under a tree at lunch time, surprisingly, not with Jughead. We got seperated as everyone was piling on top of each other to get out of the gym. I was looking down, drawing, as I heard someone approach me.

I slowly look up and my eyes meet with an unfamiliar brown pair.

"Hi. I'm Veronica Lodge. And who might you be?" She introduces herself, smiling brightly down at me.

"Uh.. Alexandria. Nelson." I reply, timidly. I knew who she was and who her parents were. It's probably weird that I know so many things about these teens parents, and they don't even know the half of it.

"That's a pretty name," Her smile never fell, in fact I'm pretty sure it grew when I hummed a small 'thank you', "You're welcome. Anyways, I saw you over here alone and wanted to invite you to come sit with me and my friends."

I look over at the table she was sitting at and see that Betty and Kevin staring over at us before I look up at her again.

I'm probably about to make a big mistake..

"Sure. Beats sitting here alone."

I gather my stuff and follow her back to the table with Betty and Kevin. I wave slightly as I sit down and take my sketchbook out again, and decide to continue some old family pictures.

There was an awkward silence, that I was blind to Betty and Kevin sat shifting from my presence at the table. Veronica glared at them as she probably thought that I didn't notice. However, I did notice but didn't show it.

Someone cleared their throat and I look up to see it was Veronica. I sit up straight and place my pencil on the table, turning slightly to look at her.

"So. I have a few questions. If you feel uncomfortable, you don't have to answer."

I nod slightly. She seems nice, nothing like her supposed manipulative father that I've heard about.

She smiles slightly and looks at my book, "So.. You're an artist?"

I nod once more,  "Yeah, I guess. Right now I'm just drawing an old picture of my mom bwck when she was in high school. It just helps keep my mind of things."

I slid my book towards her and show her the picture I'm recreating. I'm currently on the details, already having the main base line work done.

She nods  before grabbing the photo and analyze it, before putting it down and points at my mom, who was in the middle between my dad and Alice.

"Is that your mom?" She asks hesitantly. Noticing her being tence about asking the question, I just smile softly.

"Yeah.. That is."

"She's very beautiful."

"Thank you." I sigh slightly, "Her beauty ran throughout her. She was kind to everyone.. She thought everyone deserved a second chance.. Hell, push your luck, you may even got a third. She protected the ones she loves. Sometimes I don't even know how I could be someone better than her."

I shake my head as I stare at the picture. I feel tears welling up in my eyes as I stare at her. Ehat sucks is that she could be dead somewhere and we wouldn't even know. She's been gone for years, and no one knows what could have happened.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Veronica panicked as she saw the tears fall down my face.

I shrug it off, wiping the tears away, "You didn't do anything. You have no reason to apologize."

I take the picture from her and place it back in my sketchbook.

"Thanks for inviting me, Veronica.. But I think I've over stayed my welcome." I glance over to the two looking at me before I say my goodbyes and got up to go hide somewhere.

I walk into the building and I find yhe music room empty. I look around before walking inside, closing the door behind me. I place my stuff by the door – after I grab my notebook – and go over to the piano, running my fingers over the keys. I sit down on the bench, sitting my notebook out in front of me.

I slowly start to play the piano as everything slowly started to become natural again. I smile softly before closing my eyes as I let my hands run over the keys.

"Finding refuge in my own lies.. ‘How are you?’ ‘I'm doing alright’.. Small talk is a great disguise– just let me be, just let me be.." I sang softly as I played the notes on the piano, "Empty thoughts start cloud my mind.. Am I only living, living to survive? Shake it off, but I lost the drive– just let me be, just let me be.. Let me be o-kay.

"No knows what goes on up inside my head.. There's a new kind of poison and it's starting to spread. No knows what goes on up inside my head, they don't think I need help but I'm scaring myself.. I just want be okay.. I just want to be ok."

I lost myself in the song, I didn't even notice the door open to whomever noticed me singing.

"All the voices in my head are coming to life.. They're getting louder and I'm, I'm terrified..! How do you tunf tom your own mind? Is this what I've become? Take back, what have I.. done?"

I didn't even noticed that I've started crying until a tear fell on my hand. I pull my hands away from the keys to wipe my face, chuckling to myself. I let the room become quiet before clapping was heard from behind me. I instantly pop up, making the bench fall at my sudden movement, as I look into a familiar pair of bluish green eyes, making my releax a bit.

"How long have you been there?" I ask, immediately fixing the bench before grabbing notebook and shoving it back in my bag. Jughead smirked teasingly.

"I didn't know you could sing." He dodge the question, looking at me sling my bag over my shoulder.

"You didn't answer my question, Jones." I pressed as I look at my shoes timidly. Anything seemed more interesting than the teasing male in front of me.

"How have I known you for years, but never realise you could sing?" At this point, he seemed genuinely confused. He was no longer teasing, but seemed more disappointed in himself for reason.

"It's something I did to help calm my nerves for a short while. As well as playing the piano." He nods and wraps a arm around my shoulder, "Let's go get this day ocer with."

☾

"So, Pop's?" Juggy asks as we walk along the bleachers outside. It was after school hours, it was still open due to after school activities. We just decided to stick due to pure boredom.

"Jug, you practically live at Pop's. You can wait another thirty minutes." I tease him as he groans playfully, making me laugh softly.

"Hey, Alex!" I hear someone call. Me and Jug turn to see Ronnie waving her down, in her new Riverdale Vixens cheer outfit, next to Betty, who is also wearing her outfit.

"Ronnie. Hi! What's up?" I call back, using my hand to keep the sun out of my eyes.

"Are you coming to the semiformal?" She asks, curiously.

"I dunno! School dances aren't really my thing!" I reply, squinting my eyes as my hand doesn't do much protections for my eyes.

"What do you mean? From what I heard, you're last school dance was probably a school Christmas party!"

"She's got you there." Jughead mumbles in my ear, making me elbow him in the stomach. "Ow!"

"C'mon! You can even bring mister Jason Dean behind you!" She points over to the beanie clad boy behind me.

"I'll think about it! I'll let you know my answer later!"

She nods before walking away with Betty. I turn to continue walking with Jug.

"Another school dance. Maybe this one can make up for the Valentine's Day one." He jokes.

"Is it wrong I wanna go?" I whisper, hoping he wouldn't hear, but he's right next to me, so of course he does.

"No. It's not." He stops and turns to me, "Let's make a deal. If I go with you to the dance, we have to leave early and go to Pop's."

I nod, "I'm ok with that."

He smiles as I smile back. He wraps his arm around my shoulders as we walk towards the actual school building, going inside to end the school day.