#as someone who eats buffalo sauce a lot

[longlivetv]

In so many parts of the world, the hottest temperatures are accompanied by the spiciest of foods

Meanwhile I come from people who think black pepper is spicy and am dying eating buffalo sauce on a hot day

[bxdbxdboy]

Character Development

BASICS

Full Name:  Luz Noceda 

Alias:   Apprentice

Nicknames: Bad Boy, (Luz Squad) B.Boy, (herself) Soft Boy, (Cottage) Baby Boy, (Eda) Nice Boy, (Sunny) Sweetheart (Bee)

Sex / Gender:  Female, Nonbinary  (she/her/hers, he/him/his, they/them/theirs ) .

Right or Left:    Left 

Age:   16.

Height:   5'6″.

Eye Color:    dark brown

Hair Color:   Dark brown

Distinguishing Marks:  She has a raven tattoo over her scar she received trying to stop her villain in her timeline. She’s shaved her left eyebrow in the middle to match her friend’s scar.  

Paragraph Of Physical Traits: She’s got a rather strong build which means she has no weak nerd arms and a significant amount of muscle to her arm. Her hair is slicked back like a wave and it’s always been like that it just has always naturally curled and folded over in that direction. When she sleeps it gets wavy or spikey sticking up like a parrot.

FAMILY / RELIGION

Parents / Guardians:     Camilla Noceda 

Siblings: n/a  adopted Brother King.

Marital Status:  Not married. 

Significant Other(s): Bee (Amity-Bee), Blushy (Amity in her timeline)  

Children:   N/A.

Other Relatives:   Many Many cousins, aunts and uncles and cousins on both sides of the family. 

Pets:   Bunga, (familiar, honey badger) Saturn, (familiar magical Owl) Calypso. (palisman Sable)  

Friends:     Cottage, Sunny, Iris, Bee, Lucky, Otter, Puppy, Gus, Willow.

Enemies:     Emperor Belos. 

Ethnicity:     Latina 

Religion:     None. 

Beliefs:    N/A

Superstitions:    black cats, broken mirrors. KARMA!

Languages:   English. Spanish. 

Diction / Accent:    Spanish 

SCHOOL / WORK / HOME

Education:   Public School / High scool leverl/ Hexside

Degree(s):   Not yet. 

Occupation:   Local Power washer for her boiling isles, Food delivery, Potion distributor. 

Own or Rent:    Neither.

Living Space:   Eda’s home in the owl house, Her home in the human realm, and Magic Treehouse bedroom. 

Work Space:    N/A.

Main Mode of Transport:   Skateboarding, Walking, running, or flying. Can drive, will learn, will drive without license. 

PSYCHOLOGY

Fears:      Being replaced / abandoned,  her anger issues, her home getting concurred, loosing her friends, venomous snakes, possessed creatures, dark mimics. spiders, The deepest depths of the Ocean, Slender Man, Siren Head.  

Secrets:    A big softie just doesn’t want many who meet her to realize it. 

IQ:     Was never formally tested,   but she may not be as intellectually gifted as the other Luz’s There’s a big jock mentally mindset to her as a whole.

Eating Habits:  Ravenous Appetite, no matter how much she eats she’s always asking for more. She can put some food away if someone has something they’re saving it’s too late she’s already gotten to it. 

Food Preferences: She enjoys Hot Wings they are her most favorite food besides Pizza coming around at a close second She likes a lot of junk food candy, cookies, chips of all kinds. On occasion she will eat something green though like some lettuce with taco meat or a green pepper. She’ll eat it all everything under the sun and even be adventurous eating a wide margin of other foods. She almost always has hot sauce on her there isn’t a single kind of meal she doesn’t love covered in the hot stuff.  

Sleeping Habits:   She sleeps well, for the most part, when she isn’t attempting to be a night owl she falls asleep relatively quick, even rivaling some of the younger Luz’s with how early she can fall asleep. It’s likely she has sleep apnea as she has tendency to snore so very loud and wakes up during the night in cold sweat, when she stops breathing from night terrors. She will oversleep until almost 2:00 in the afternoon if not monitored.         

Book Preferences:   She’s not a big egg-head book reader like the rest of the squad is the most Bad Boy read in school was “Animal Farm”, and The “Lord of the Flies”, in high school two books that peaked her interest a little bit. She also enjoys listening to Cottage read some horror books it’s the most she’ll really listen rather than use her eyes to read, in fact, one would say she struggles to read efficiently. 

Music Preferences:     Hip Hop, Rap, Dubstep, 80′s music, The Weekend, Various artists. 

Leader or Follower:    She likes to be the boss, but will occasionally follow if she doesn’t have to do much. 

Planner or Spontaneous:  Spontaneous! All of her ideas are never planned out she definitely does not look before she leaps. Her leaps are full of optimism and happy stupidity. The only time she tends to plan is when Bee holds her hand and forces her to take a step back. 

Journal:    Nope

Hobbies:    Dancing,   listening to music,     training,    watching videos / shows,  exercising,  roasting members of the Luz squad, doing dangerous stunts, skateboarding, basketball, baseball, (more so the batting range)  Surfing (Prior), Deep woods exploring, practicing her magic, teaching her familiars, (Saturn and Bunga) Listening to music, Swooning Bee, Video games, Baking Pizza, Breakdancing, Beat Boxing, Collecting Hats, Serenading, Dancing, Snuggling King.

How Do They Relax:  By listening to some calming beats privately, counting to 10, or at any point stroked by Bee she curls and becomes softer. 

What Excites Them:  Competitions,  Wild magic, Magical Creatures, Parkour, Plane Crash videos, Unus Annus, Dogs! Kitties, Being in charge, Buffalo sauce, Food!, Flirting, 

What Stresses Them:  Bossy individuals, Strict Parents, Rude people, Being inside the Emperor Castle, Being the butt of the joke, Tests, Explosives. Needles. 

Pet Peeves:   Vegan food, Whining, losing games, Being accused of being a perv, mocking, people stealing her hat,  Lucky sending her cursed images. 

Prejudices:  high horse, pretends not to be a trouble maker to stay in good graces, struggling to not be hostile towards her doppelgängers, 

Attitudes:   Closed off, Laid back, Aggressive,  or chill and cool depending on who you are. Bad Boy appears to be the “scary” anger issues Luz that is liable to explode at any moment and when she does her face and ears can get as red as Bee’s. You’re either in good graces with her or your not, she’s not always easy to approach unless you have a good sense of humor than she cracks up with you about stupid jokes. 

Obsessions:    Her shoes and hats, her favorite music, lids, BEE

Addictions:    Does addiction to sugary cereal count? because oh my god-!!

Ambitions:     Defeat Belos in her timeline, find a way to get adopted as a sibling by Cottage Core, Have her own identity outside of Cottage and the Luz squad.   Become a powerful witch, Make her mom proud.  

ASTROLOGY / PHISIOLOGY

Birth Date:    November 26,    2005.

Sign:    Sagittarius

Traits Associated with Western Sign:  loyal, smart, assertive, and compassionate personality   

Chinese Zodiac Sign:    The rooster

Traits Associated with Chinese Sign: active, amusing, and popular within a crowd. Roosters are talkative, outspoken, frank, open, honest, and loyal individuals. They like to be the center of attention and always appear attractive and beautiful.

Handwriting:     It’s okay…;      fairly sloppy.

Sexual History:   N/A.

General Health:     She takes pretty good care of herself as far as hygiene and having a good confident attitude.  experiencing some struggles with her adhd, bad posture leaves her with some back pain.

Mental Disabilities:      PTSD,   ADHD,  depression,  

Allergies:   Seasonal.

OBJECTS KEPT IN

Purse / Bag:  Wallet, towel, water bottle, Treehouse keys key chain,

Wallet:     Photo ID, Gold, Cash, rings, Brass knuckle, 

Fridge:     Chalked full of between meal and frozen pizza. 

Medicine Cabinet:  Bandages, Healing Potions, Icey-hot muscle rub,  

Glove Compartment:   Parking tickets, Trespassing tickets, concert tickets. 

Junk Drawer:     fidget spinners, gum, pens, sharpies, stress balls. 

Backpack:   Hats, Snacks, Mints, hair gel, Extra clothes, socks,  pepper spray, hand sanitizer, suntan lotion, hair brush

Desk:   Doodles, Paper Airplanes, Crumpled up Paper.

Clothes Pockets:    Phone, Hot Sauce packets, hand warmers, stress ball.  

OTHER

Halloween Costumes:   A zombie, the cementary is hiring.

Talents:    break dancing, beat boxing, fighting in close quarters, self defense, making Luz squad question their sanity, making jokes, flipping her hat. being annoying. 

Politics: Nah. 

Flaws:   stand offish,  moody,     blunt and direct,   vain,  doesn’t like to be on the losing side indecisive, selfish,

Strengths:  Her optimism, strong sense of personal integrity, avoiding the status quo, free spirited, confidence level, good sense of humor.  

Drugs / Alcohol:    N/A. No who invited? 

Passwords:     The most random shit. 

Prized Possessions:   Her hat passed down by her oldest cousin, her unus annus sweatshirt, a small wolf plushy named Akela 

Time and Place:    Currently, at the Treehouse interviewing new members of the Luz squad. She just got back from a trip and she has jet lag.     

Special Places:      The treehouse, her original house, The owl house, the forest where she goes to meet Blushy, The cliff by the Grom tree, the beach. 

Special Memories:   Meeting Eda and King then running into Cottage and Bee, Becoming friends with Cottage Core learning magic from them, Teasing Belos and Hunter with Cottage Core, Dancing with Bee at her Grom, becoming a polyamorous couple with Bee and Cottage. Being accepted into the Luz Squad. 

Tagged by:    Stole it from @witchesborn​

Tagging:    You,    if you want to do it.

[dustofbrokenheart]

The Covenant: Top Anon

Pogue Parry x Reader

Word Count: 2,288

Summary: You have a loyal follower who comments on every post under your food blog. Just who is your favorite follower and why is the new grocery boy kinda cute too?

It was a new year and the start of a new you. Well, that is, a you who was trying new things.

In the past, you always made resolutions, but that spirit ran out before the month of January was even done. But after the particularly rough time of the past year, you swore that this time would be different, that you would make a serious effort to do something new.

It was that determination that led your current situation—your kitchen countertops were covered with ingredients and cooking utensils, your cell phone resting on a near by tripod for filming purposes.

The goal for this year was to try running a blog, and since you were a bit of a foodie, it made a lot of sense to center the blog around cooking and food. The idea came to you quickly; the hard part was deciding on a name, which took a while.

Eventually, you settled on The Foodiest. Naming was not one of your strong suits, but it was enough to get the point clearly across to potential viewers.

Choosing the layout design was on the same level of easy as deciding and didn’t take more than a day or two to implement on your site. Thank goodness for the existence of pre-made layout templates that saved you the effort of having to code everything yourself.  

With of the work on that end finished, the day had finally come for you to actually cook something to post about. Seeing as how January was a cold, winter month, you chose to make mashed sweet potatoes. Not only was it one of your favorite winter side dishes, it wasn’t hard to make either, giving you the confidence that even if your writing was lackluster, at least the food would look good.

Most of the blogs you were familiar with used a combination of text and photos for readers to follow along with, but you were going to try video in place of images. You sometimes struggled to copy based on what was shown in the photo, especially when you first started cooking, so you hoped video would make it easier on budding chefs who came across your content.

Luckily, the video would be sped up and lapsed for the final post to spare people from having to watch the monotonous parts in full length.

Hands on your hips, you surveyed everything one last time to make sure it was all ready. With a satisfied nod you reached forward to tap the large, red record button on the phone.  

You debated whether or not to talk while filming but decided against it. You were nervous enough posting to the blog without having the added stress of talking.

Everything happened in its regular order: you started by peeling and chopping the potatoes, a basic step, but you took your time doing it, paranoid as ever that you would cut yourself with the knife. Next you boiled the bright orange chunks in a pot of water; then put them in a mixing bowl once they were cooked. And finally used an electric mixer to blend it all nice and smooth, adding in milk, brown sugar, and cinnamon.  

Swiping your pointer finger through the finished product, you hummed with delight at the delicious, sweet taste. You pulled out a presentable bowl from the cupboard and spooned some orange fluff into it for the final reveal. Reaching blindly towards the far end of the counter you grabbed a bag of pecans to top off the mashed sweet potatoes. You scrutinized it and added more pecans for good measure.

Doing something in front of a camera was very different than doing the same thing on a normal day. Tension leeched out of your shoulders and you exhaled loudly with your head leaned back. A sense of pride warmed your chest, especially as you returned your gaze to the picturesque bowl. It looked great and tasted even better.

There was a large portion of leftovers because the recipes you used were collected from family and meant to feed small armies of people. You did your best to eat what you could and made plans sharing the rest with friends and coworkers later.

A few days after you published the post, you decided to check the stats on your account dashboard to see what the public response to it was, if there was any at all. Google analytics was useful for counting the total number of views it received while the blog site itself tracked the likes and… a comment?

Initial shock gave way to a bolt of excitement that had your fingers tingling with energy. You clicked to read it, wondering what it may say. Fingers crossed it was something good, whether it came in the form of a compliment or some constructive criticism.

Anonymous: wow good job

The chair creaked as you sat back slowly. You didn’t know how to read that, there wasn’t a whole lot to go on. Wow good job, said sarcastically? Wow good job, said excitedly? It didn’t help that the commenter didn’t believe in using punctuation either. And since it was submitted anonymously, there was no easy way to track down who sent it.

But maybe you were being too paranoid about it. You decided to take it as a compliment and cracked your fingers before firing off a response.

Foodiest: Thanks anon! I had a lot of fun with this dish. Hope you tune in for the next one :)

Anonymous never followed up with that particular exchange but they commented on every post without fail for the next two months.

Anonymous: nevr had white chili before it was good

Anonymous: the stuffed pepper were good

Anonymous: good call with the shrimp

Of course, all of the messages were sent as anonymous, so there was no 100% guarantee that it was the same person, but your gut feeling told you that it was. Who else had no respect for grammar rules and religiously used ‘good’ as their only descriptor?

You grew to expect, and enjoy, the weekly comment left by anon and made sure to leave a nice response in return. It was hard not to feel a connection to someone who took the time to try your recipes and leave a nice message. If only you could figure out who it was or at least have a name for them besides anonymous.

Foodiest: I’m glad you liked the recipe! My gramma swore by mayo when making grilled cheese. Thanks for always liking my stuff, if you ever want to talk more feel free to message me!

There. Maybe that would make them feel comfortable to give you their name you thought as you powered down your laptop for the night.

You spent the next couple of days leading up to the new post planning on what recipe to cook. Yep. Definitely not hoping for more information about anon.

For this newest post you decided to make some Indian curry, one of your favorites. Even long after you finished cooking, taping, and cleaning, the potent scent of spices was still heavy in the air, like aromatic nirvana that had your mouth watering even with a full stomach.

You tried your best not to refresh the post every few minutes to see if anon commented but it was tough. It turned out that you didn’t have to wait long as they left a comment within twenty minutes.

Anonymous: havent cooked this yet but looks good. Never really had indian before so have to go buy the stufff first – po

Anon finally gave up a name! You let out a happy noise and read it again. Po… short and to the point, just like all of the previous responses had led you to think about them. There was no time to waste, you hurried to write back, initial typos all over the place as the words out-paced your fingers.

Foodiest: Hi Po! It’s nice to have a name to put with your words. I would recommend going to an Asian Market for the spices, they’re more likely to carry them. Let me know how it goes for you :)

Since that conversation, Po and you chatted frequently about the weekly recipe choice, whether or not it looked good and if Po had plans to make it themselves, which they often did. Po seemed to like all types of food; vegetarian, meats, drinks, desserts, even ethnic dishes from places as far off as Bolivia and Morocco.

And the longer you two talked, the more frequent the messaging became. Whereas in the beginning Po would only submit a compliment that you would follow up with a ‘thank you’, it had turned into lengthy back and forths that took up a majority of the comment section for each post. More followers joined as the months went by and you hoped that they weren’t intimidated by your blatant favoritism but it was just so easy to talk with Po. If you were being honest with yourself though, it wasn’t only that it was easy… you genuinely liked talking to them.

Every time you made a new post it was difficult to not refresh the page every few minutes to see if they had left a message. And when they did, it was like a shot of electricity straight into the system where your heart would jolt and your face would flood with heat. You were hesitant to say it was a crush given that you didn’t know what they actually looked like and the computer screen barrier made it so you were content to define it as friendship.

Pushing those thoughts aside, you grabbed your wallet and keys while putting on shoes so you could make a quick run to the store. You had big plans to make some buffalo chicken wings for the blog this week and you needed to stop by the store to pick up some ingredients that you didn’t have, namely Frank’s Original Red for the buffalo sauce and blue cheese for the dip. Being an adult and responsible for your own grocery shopping was a chore at times. 

Luckily, Winter had thawed out into Spring so there was no need for you to warm up or car or scrape your windows. You just hopped in and drove the four blocks it took to get to the store. The plan was to cross the stuff for the wings off of your list first and then browse around for some good snacks to tide you over for the next week or so. Things were going according to plan until you saw him.

A tall boy wearing an employee apron stood in front of the cracker section, his jaw line and soft looking long hair catching your eye. Then he reached up to the tallest shelf to restock some boxes his arms flexing slightly to show off his heavy biceps and his shirt rode up, exposing deep cut ridges in his lower abdomen. To put it simply, you were starstruck.

He finished with the boxes he had in-hand and went to grab more from the cart at his side when you noticed your blatant ogling. Rather than confront you about it he merely smiled and moved out of the way so that you could get to the brand that you wanted. Choking from embarrassment, you kept your head down and threw a box of Goldfish into your shopping cart, speeding to get out of the aisle and his presence.

The store was a small local business and you frequented enough to know most of the workers there but you didn’t recognize this one, meaning that he must be new. What a way to make a first impression on him. Clearly your constitution was no match for his rugged, good looks. Then he was polite enough not to comment on you objectifying him which somehow made you feel even worse about it.

You decided to end the shopping trip almost immediately knowing that you were too spooked to continue shopping lest you run into him again.

You rolled the shopping cart into an open check-out lane and started putting your things on the conveyor for the cashier to scan. It just so happened that you knew the cashier—she was a middle-aged lady who’d been at the store for nearly two years. “Hi, Y/N. Find everything you needed?”

“Hey, Eva. Yes, I did.” You tried to steady yourself. Eva had a notoriously sharp eye and wouldn’t hesitate to question you if you looked off.

She left you alone today, engaging in normal chit chat, until she had trouble scanning the bottle of Frank’s hot sauce. Eva frowned when it didn’t want to scan and tried again but the bottle slipped from her hands and the neck of it shattered. Eva cursed and huffed, hurrying to throw the bottle into the trash before more leaked onto the register.

“I am so sorry, hun! I’ll get you another.”

“It was an accident,” you assured. “I can get it myself—"

“Not a problem,” she assured you with a wink. She pulled a walkie from her hip and spoke into it. “Hey, bring me a bottle of Frank’s Original Red Hot Sauce. Quick.”

You barely had time to don your awkward smile as she talked about how her neighbor’s dog kept pooping in her yard when the guy from the cracker aisle walked up behind Eva and handed a bottle of hot sauce to her. She took it and patted his back to get him to move forward.

“Thanks, hun. Y/N this is the new grocery boy—”

“Pogue,” he interrupted. “My name is Pogue.”

_______________

Another fic where they know each other but don’t know that they do. This time featuring Pogue and his fandom accepted interest in food. I picture him to have bad messaging skills — his fingers struggle with those tiny phone buttons. 

[idreaminelectricblue]

20 Dialogue Prompts for Each Emotion

Anger 1) "How could you do this to me?" 2) "If you want to leave then leave! Go on, I wont stop you!" 3) "I wont let you get away with this!" 4) "I can't believe you trusted them!" 5) "Leave before I change my mind!" 6) "I swear to god if they die I'm going to kill you!" 7) "They trusted you! I trusted you!" 8) "You lost them? How do you lose a whole person!" 9) "You've been lying all this time?" 10) "I don't ever want to see you again!" 11) "Because I'm still in love with you!" 12) "Was anything you said real?!" 13) "I'm nothing like you!" 14) "You can't protect me forever!" 15) "I'll never tell you where they are!" 16) "You've never cared about anyone but yourself!" 17) "They'll find me and you'd better pray you're not here when they do!" 18) "You don't know how long I've waited to do this!" 19) "How could you be so reckless?" 20) "You took everything from me and now it's my turn to do the same to you."

Disgust 1) "You're so fucking gross, dude." 2) "I hate spending time with you guys." 3) "God I can't fucking stand you." 4) "Oh my god I think one just fucking touched me!" 5) "You two are the worst!" 6) "Oh please don't eat that." 7) "Ugh, you smell like my grandma." 8) "Wash your hands!" 9) "Why are you like this?!" 10) "Please, for the love of god, do not explain any of what I'm seeing." 11) "Oh wow, did not need to see that!" 12) "Holy shit, is that a tattoo?" 13) "Our father isn't here so who exactly were you calling Daddy at two fifty-seven this morning?" 14) "I would rather eat glass for the rest of my life than eat whatever this is." 15) "Oh my god, I think it just moved." 16) "You smell like cheese." 17) "You call this cooking?" 18) "Oh god I think it's looking at me!" 19) "I don't even want to know." 20) "I can't tell if I'm crying because I think this is sad or if the way you smell right now is just burning my eyes."

Fear 1) "Are we going to die?" 2) "If we die just know I love you." 3) "I don't want to go, please don't make me go." 4) "Do not make a sound." 5) "I think they're here." 6) "Stay very still, okay? They'll see you if you move." 7) "Don't breathe, be very quiet." 8) "They know we're here." 9) "Behind you." 10) "Wake up, please wake up!" 11) "I'm scared." 12) "I think there's someone in the house." 13) "If you're there, then who's downstairs?" 14) "Just stay on the phone with me, please?" 15) "Stay awake, okay, we're going to get out of here. Just stay awake for me." 16) "You can take me instead, just please don't hurt them." 17) "I know it hurts but you need to just keep your eyes on me and breathe, okay?" 18) "What do you mean they're not there, I thought they were with you!?" 19) "Lock the door and no matter what you hear, no matter what you see, do not open the door." 20) "I don't think I can do this without you."

Happiness 1) "I've loved you since the day we met." 2) "I missed you so much." 3) "You did all of this for me?" 4) "You brought me food?" 5) "Hey, would you still love me if I looked like this?" 6) "I've never loved anyone the way I love you." 7) "Hey! I may be a dumbass but I'm your dumbass!" 8) "Run away with me." 9) "Your mouth tastes really bad but I still love you." 10) "Have I ever told you how much I love you?" 11) "I wouldn't trade waking up next to you every morning for all the money in the world." 12) "I hope our kid takes after you." 13) "You even look beautiful when you're about to kick my ass!" 14) "You're dressed in a hot dog suit, but you still look like an angel." 15) "I once listened to you absolutely destroy the bathroom of an Applebee’s and then greet every table you were serving with a smile and that was when I knew you were the strongest person I'd ever met." 16) "You once watched me spill doritos on the floor, eat them, and you still came over and kissed me after you brushed your teeth. If that's not love I don't know what is." 17) "I'd kill for you, not like a lot of people. Maybe like six or seven, but that's definitely more than I would kill for myself!" 18) "I don't think I'd ever give you a whole kidney or something, but you could definitely have part of my liver if you ever needed it because I heard those grow back." 19) "I've never wanted to lick the buffalo hot wings sauce out of someone's mouth but here we are." 20) "I love you so much and I would do anything for you, but if you ever ask me to tell them to put pineapples on the pizza ever again we're fucking done."

Sadness 1) "They're good for me, better than you ever were." 2) "Do you miss me like I miss you?" 3) "I'd give anything to take it all back." 4) "I'm leaving." 5) "Please, no, please just listen to me!" 6) "Do you hate me?" 7) "I can't sleep, I can't eat, I feel like I can't even breathe without you!" 8) "You can't take back what you did." 9) "You lied to me. I trusted you and you lied to me." 10) "Were they worth it?" 11) "Please don't go." 12) "I know I shouldn't still want you but I do, I want you so bad it hurts." 13) "I need you, I can't do this without you." 14) "I think you and I should spend some time apart." 15) "I always knew you'd break my heart, I just never imagined it'd be this way." 16) "I can't do this anymore." 17) "I just want you to be happy, even if it's not with me." 18) "Promise me that if I don't make it back that you'll watch out for them." 19) "Do me a favor, tell them I love them." 20) "I love them, more than I ever loved you."

Surprise 1) "Jesus Christ, you scared the hell out of me!" 2) "You're what?" 3) "What do you mean it broke?" 4) "Oh my god, it's just what I wanted!" 5) "You got this for me?" 6) "You're got what stuck in your WHAT?" 7) "The doctor called while you were out, why didn't you tell me you went to the hospital?" 8) "Oh my god, your bleeding!" 9) "I know this is a really bad time but if I don't blurt it out now I don't think I'll ever be able to tell you. I think I'm in love with you!" 10) "Christ! What happened to your eye?" 11) "You're seeing who now?" 12) "You weren't supposed to be back for another three months." 13) "How do you just find a baby?!" 14) "Why do you smell like a dumpster, and if you say you were dumpster diving I swear to god." 15) "What the fuck is that? No, no, absolutely not, we're not keeping it. No way, uh uh, not happening." 16) "Oh my god is that a dog?! Did you get us a dog???!!" 17) "I thought you said you were never coming back?" 18) "Why didn't you tell me it was contagious before I drank after you?!" 19) "What do you mean you got the bottles mixed up, they we're very clearly labeled POISON and NOT POISON!! Oh fuck, oh shit, oh fuck, okay, here's what I want you to do!" 20) "Honey, baby, sweetie, would you please tell me why you're holding the biggest alligator I've ever seen in my fucking life in our living room?"

[atlafan]

Take it Slow - Part Four

a/n: okay this is my first shot at a harry:y/n fic, and it will be multiple parts. y/n had a bad experience with an ex over a year ago, and finally accepts her coworker and good friend Niall’s invitation to go on a blind date with his friend Harry. 

(Fluffy part....and I will give a bit of a trigger warning here, y/n mentions abuse from an ex. This is sort of a short part, I part five is long and I promise it delivers on the smut. )

Part One Part Two Part Three

You left work a little early Wednesday. You had been marinating your cauliflower since the morning. But you wanted to make everything perfect for Harry. You put a table cloth over your small table, and added a single candle. You plated up your buffalo cauliflower. You spooned some blue cheese into a small bowl. You knew he wouldn’t eat it, but you needed it for yourself. You also put out some celery and carrots. You put a bottle of voka and some tonic out. Drinking on a work night wasn’t something you did often, but you knew vodka wouldn’t leave you with a hangover. He texts you letting you know he’s downstairs. You buzz him in and open your door.

“Love?” You hear him say.

“In the kitchen!” You yelp. He walks in. He’s wearing those black ripped jeans again. You can slightly see his thigh tattoo. The black t-shirt he’s wearing is slightly tattered too. You notice he took his boots off at the door.

He comes right up to you, and takes you in for a hug, he simply hold you for a few moments, and sighs happily.

“Y’alright?”

“Yeah, just a long day. Sorry for my appearance, I didn’t want to be late, and stupid me forgot to pack extra clothes.”

“You look fine. Sit, dinner’s ready.” You smile. He sits down at the table, and you hand him a serving utensil so he can take as much as he wants.

“This smells great, (y/n).”

“Thanks, it’s my own sauce recipe. It’s vegan, but the blue cheese isn’t.” You laugh.

“No worries, I don’t need it anyways.” He pops a smaller piece of cauliflower into his mouth, and nearly chokes. “Holy shit, this is spicy. Well done.” He takes a sip of the glass of water you left for him. You both decide you don’t need the alcohol tonight. You’re secretly thankful.

“I had some extra strawberries, no chocolate though.” You say after finishing dinner, bringing a bowl of strawberries to the table.

“Oh, thanks. Another thing I forgot about, bringing dessert.”

“Harry, it’s okay.” You look over at your couch. “Come on, let’s go sit down and get comfy, and you can tell me about your day.”

He grabs the bowl of strawberries and places it on your coffee table. Before you sit he grabs your wrist.

“Would it be alright if we, like, cuddled?” He looks at you with tired eyes.

“Of course.” Your heart flutters.

He lays on the couch, resting up against the pillow on the end near the armrest. You place your body on his, and he runs his hand across your back. He lets out another happy sigh.

“So how was your day?”

“Stressful.”

“I gathered. What happened?”

“Just these people I was working with, they didn’t understand my vision, and we kept fighting. It took nearly three hours to get two decent shots. Finally, they understood where I was going with it and let me do my thing. It was exhausting.”

“I’m sorry.” You nuzzled into his chest. You felt like you could fall asleep. Before you knew it, you heard light snores. You looked up and saw Harry’s eyes closed, and lips parted. You smiled at the beautiful site. You soon drifted off as well.

“Oh shit.” You awake to him rustling underneath you.

“Mm, what time is it?” You press into his chest.

“Only around eight-thirty. We slept for like two hours.”

“Must’ve needed it.”

“Love, I hate to move you, but I desperately need a wee.”

“Oh!” You immediately get off him. He goes down the hall to the half bath. You go use your bathroom as well.

He gets back to the couch first. Confused that you’re not there, but realized you probably needed a wee as well. He smiles at you as you come sauntering back in. You sit down next to him, and you both put your feet on the coffee table, his hanging over the other side. He really is tall. You grab the remote and turn the TV on. He puts an arm around you, and snuggle into him.

“Right, what are we watching?”

“How do you feel about Chopped?”

“Love it.” You smile, beaming up at him. You stretched your neck out and winced. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, just think there’s a little kink in my neck from how we fell asleep is all.”

“Damn, that’s my fault. Want me t’rub it?”

“That would be great.”

You two adjust yourselves so he has his back against the arm rest, and you sitting between his long legs. His soft touch feels amazing on your neck and shoulders. You lean back further into him, and let out a small moan as he massages out a particular knot in the back of neck.

“Ugh, that feels so good Harry.” He adjusts himself a little, and continue to rubs your neck. His legs tighten around yours a little. You realize now what you’re doing to him, and you feel bad, honestly. You think of what you and Niall talked about the other night, but you still feel like you’re not ready. Harry lightly taps your shoulders and presses a kiss to the back of your head.

You move your arm to hook around him so you can give his hair a gentle squeeze. He presses his hips to your back side and feel him twitch against you. His hands slide down your arms and wrap around your waist. He kisses you on the cheek, down your jaw, and then down to your neck. He doesn’t waste any time to get your skin between his teeth. You lean back as far as you can into him. His hands move up your stomach a little, and stop just below your breasts. You want to give him the go ahead to touch you, but you don’t speak up.

You’re too busy practically panting from the way he’s sinking into your skin. He’s trying to show what he can do with his mouth, he has to be. You find yourself suddenly on your feet.

“Sorry, did I…did I do something wrong?” He puts his hands up. “Did I leave too big of a mark last time?”

“No, no. It’s not you, Harry. I just think, you know, it’s a work night, and I have to be up early. So I think we should stop that for tonight.”

“I barely even got to kiss you.” He says looking at you with big eyes, and his bottom lip jutting out in the cutest pout you’ve ever seen. It breaks your heart. “Can I see ya Friday night?” You sigh in relief that he’s not mad.

“Yes, of course.” He stands up and takes you in his arms. You look up at him and kiss him. He kisses you back, but only for a minute. He presses his forehead to yours.

“I know it’s only been a couple of weeks, but you’re doing something to me. I can’t quite explain it, but I like the way I feel when I’m with you.” You could keel over. A man had never been so honest with you.

“I like the way I feel when I’m with you too, Harry.”

With that he gives you one more squeeze and he’s out the door. You groan to yourself. You know you’re doing what’s best, but you just want to let him ravage you.

Harry speeds quickly to Niall’s, and lets himself in. Niall is sat on his couch in his boxers with a pint of ice cream.

“Uh, hey man?”

“Sorry for just barging in so late.”

“Did you see (y/n)?”

“Yeah.” He paces across the room and runs his hands through his hair. “We had a really nice and relaxing night, and then I did what I always do, I took it too far. But I couldn’t help it!”

“What happened?”

“I was giving her a neck rub, and it was strictly to help her out, nothing sexual. Then she moaned out ‘oh Harry that feels so good’, and I, well you know how it is when a girl says something like that.”

“So, what happened?”

“Well, she let me kiss on her, and I thought she was into it, and then all of a sudden she was telling me it was getting late. I feel terrible. I wish she felt like she could talk me through whatever happened to make her feel so uncomfortable.”

“Harry,” Niall starts, putting his ice cream down. “Listen, I can’t tell ya everything, but she has a valid reason for wanting to take it slow. If it makes you feel better, she’s really battlin’ with herself over it. She wants to give you more, but she’s scared.”

“Of me?”

“No, she’s actually amazed by you. She said it was refreshing that you’re being so cool about everything.”

“Then what is she scared of?”

“Giving it to another guy who will just leave her the next day.”

“Is that what happened with her ex?”

“Sort of, there’s a lot more to it. But that’s a story she should really tell you, not me.”

“Alright. I’m seeing her Friday, maybe she’ll feel comfortable opening up to me then. This’ll be our third week seeing each other. She makes me feel so happy, I can’t explain it.”

“Have you told her that?”

“Tonight actually.”

“Good, she’s definitely someone that needs that reassurance.”

“Good to know.”

“No offense, but did you go over there lookin’ like that?”

“It was either this or be late.” Harry raises his middle finger to his friend.

The next day you wake up like you have a hangover. You can barely get yourself out of bed. You were up all night thinking about Harry, and not in a fun way. You felt like you were lying to him or something. Today all you can put together for an outfit are some black dress pants, black flats, a white shirt, and a blush pink blazer. Today was Niall’s day to bring coffee, thank god. By the time you left the house you surely would’ve been late if you had to stop. Your coffee was waiting for you on your desk when you got there. You took it and walked down to his office. You tap on the outside of his door frame.

“Hey.” You say.

“Mornin’, come in.” He waves you in with a smile. You close his door most of the way. “Oh boy. What’s wrong?”

“Do you think I should tell him what happened? I feel like I keep sending mixed signals. I mean, when I think about it, it’s not that big of a deal.”

“(y/n), it was a big deal. You almost wasted away to nothing, and you had to see a therapist.”

“Okay, okay, so how do I explain that to him?”

“Just be honest, he’s a really understanding guy. I’m sure some clarity on his end would be good.”

“Has he mentioned anything to you?” You ask, looking down at your shoes. “Sorry, I don’t want you to be in the middle of this.”

“A little…he just wanted to make sure he wasn’t doing anything wrong.”

“He does everything right. But I thought my ex was too, and I know he’s not him, it’s just hard.”

“Maybe you should go in for a session.” You roll your eyes with disgust. “Just an idea.”

“I know you’re right, and I shouldn’t treat you like my therapist.”

“That’s not what I was sayin’. I’m just sayin’ that clearly this is still something that bothers ya.”

“I think it’ll get better once I talk to Harry. What’s on the agenda today?”

“Here, got this flash drive for ya, and a memo saying how they want these clips edited together. Work ya magic.” You take the flash drive from him and smile.

You head back down the hall to your office, and you stop short when you see someone standing in your office. He turns around, it’s Harry. He smiles warmly at you, and you smile back, a little confused.

“Mornin’.” He says to you.

“Morning.” You say, kissing him on the cheek. You put the flash drive on your desk. “What are you doing here?”

“I was in the area, and I just wanted to check in and see how you were. I was worried about you last night.”

“Oh, that’s so sweet. I’m fine. I was actually wondering if we could meet after work tonight. There’s something I want to tell you, and I don’t want it to ruin our date tomorrow.”

“Sure, but dontcha usually go to the gym after work?”

“I’m too tired for that today. I barely slept last night.” His face falls at your admission.

“Wanna meet at the coffee shop down the street from here?”

“That would be perfect.”

You get your work done, somehow. You tell Harry to just meet you by your car in the parking lot. Your knuckles are white while gripping the steering wheel. He gets in a few minutes later.

“Hi, sorry, I just wanted to talk more privately.” You say looking for at him.

“Of course, love.” You take a deep breath.

“Okay, and it may be way too soon to be talking about this since we’ve only known each other a few weeks, but I feel like you need some explanation for my behavior.” He just looks at you and gives you an encouraging smile. “So, over a year ago, I started seeing someone. We had gone on about four dates, I think. I really liked him, and I thought he liked me. I brought him back to my place on our fourth date. My hope was just to maybe make out.” You swallow. “Maybe a little more, but not go all the way.” Harry nods, his eyebrows furrowed, all his concentration on you. “But he had…other plans.” You feel your eyes start to tear up, but you swallow it back. “It started off fine, and it was like all of a sudden I was naked, and so was he. Everything happened so fast, he took out the condom faster than I could say anything. He was rough with me, and in the moment I didn’t feel safe enough to speak up to tell him to stop.” You take another deep breath. “After it was over, he kissed me goodbye and told me he’d call the next day. He didn’t call for like three days, and he broke every date we had planned.” You look away from Harry. “I basically shut down. I had never felt so used in my life. I missed a week of work. I told them I had the flu. I didn’t eat or bathe. I basically stayed in bed for an entire week. I had never felt that low in my life. It wasn’t until Niall basically broke into my apartment that I got my act together. I didn’t feel great, but I went back to work. I eventually went to therapy, it helped a lot. I learned to stop blaming myself for what happened. That guy was an asshole, and doesn’t deserve to ruin my life. But I guess ever since him I’ve been so guarded about having sex so quickly with someone, I guess out of fear of like just being used and hurt. I know there are people out there that have had worse than me, but for whatever reason this really affected me.”

You look over at Harry, and he is full on sobbing, tears staining his cheeks. He wipes his eyes with his shirt. You wipe your eyes as well. You hadn’t realized you had even started crying. He takes your hand in his, and kisses it.

“I am so sorry that happened to you. You’re so brave. And don’t compare yourself to others, what happened sounds horrible. I don’t understand how people can do things like that. I don’t understand how men can get pleasure by forcing themselves onto someone. I’m sorry if I pushed you into telling me.”

“Oh, Harry, you didn’t push me. I wanted to tell you. I feel much better now that it’s out in the open. You’ve made me feel so comfortable every time we’re together. I didn’t want you to feel like I was rejecting you.”

“I didn’t, don’t worry. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t doing something wrong.”

“I appreciate that, so much.” You smile at him. He puts a hand on your cheek, and you lean into it. “Thank you for listening.”

“Thank you for sharing your story with me.” Harry’s phone starts to ring, but he ignores it.

“You can get that, Harry.” He reaches into his pocket.

“Shit, it’s work, one sec.” He answers it. “Yeah? Oi, I left it on my desk for ya. Ya I did. Didja check again? Okay, go inta my office, yup, it’s on the left hand side. Got it? Okay good. See ya tomorrow.” He hangs up. You can’t help but notice how thick his accent got on the phone. “Sorry bout that. I swear I work with some real wankahs.” You giggle at the word. “What?”

“Nothing, I just thought that was a word only used in movies.”

“Nope, we really say it. We also say bullocks in case you were wonderin’.”

“I’ll remember that.” You laugh.

“Well, I’m sure you’re drained. You should get home and relax. What would you like to do tomorrow?”

“I’d love to come to your place again. I really liked it there.”

“Alright, whatdya say I pick ya up, and we get some food, and then go to my place.”

“I’d like that.”

“Do me a favor, let me know what you get home.”

“Alright.” You lean in and kiss him on the cheek. You linger for a moment, and then he exits out of the car.

[mxndoscyarika]

The Pedro Boys vs. Spicy Food

Author’s note: I initially meant to keep this within the PNWC, but then I felt like it was too niche to NOT share it on here. So...here you go!

Din/Mando:

Is he really a mandalorian if he can’t handle spicy food???

Of course he can handle spicy food; in fact, he seeks it out

This guy’s gastrointestinal system is stronger than beskar

Beats all the spicy food challenges with barely a drop of sweat on his forehead (not that anyone will see, anyways)

Is THAT person who adds hot sauce to everything whenever possible

Thinks sriracha is the same as ketchup

Understands that some of the best preserved/fermented foods are the best BECAUSE they’re so spicy it prevents it from spoiling

Javi:

Look

He’s not a weakling, okay, he’s from Texas and grew up eating various forms of Mexican food

He can handle a bit of spicy food, but only up to the American level of spice, which is sort of hot but not face-melting

Can probably eat a raw jalapeno with a straight face

Unless it’s one of the really spicy ones

Then he’s suffering

Sweats when the food is too spicy for him, creating a beautiful sheen to his skin

His S.O. probably thinks he looks really sexy, because that neck? Shining with sweat? Javi won’t be the only one sweating

Frankie:

Eats spicy food once in a while, like hot cheetos or buffalo wings

Can handle Taki’s-level of spiciness, but he still makes a face every time

Pope teases him about it

Generally stays away, because his stomach doesn’t react well to certain spices

But if it’s a special occasion? Why not?

He has a glass of milk, beer, or ranch on standby constantly

Gotta be prepared just in case, right?

One time he and the boys were at Buffalo Wild Wings, and Benny made him try the “Blazing” flavor for shits and giggles

There were very few giggles, but there were lots of shits

Marcus:

This is a guy who likes spicy food, but only if it’s truly meaningful

A spicy cioppino? Sign him the fuck up

A good plate of tacos with spicy salsa? Yessssssssssssssss he would put it everywhere like a Jackson Pollock painting

You’re not gonna catch him eating the level 5 spiciness of Thai red curry

He tried it once and nearly passed out, because this is Asian-level spiciness we’re talking about here

He generally likes milder spice levels, but he can handle a bit of spice if there’s no other option

Gets a runny nose when the food is too spicy for him, but doesn’t sweat

Is the kind of person who will eat ice cream to get rid of the burning instead of drinking milk

Whiskey:

He likes spicy food

Automatically reaches for whatever hot sauce is available when the food is too bland

He knows how to handle spice...kind of

The burn of cayenne peppers is familiar, and wakes him right up

But he’s also mostly familiar with spicy food in the scope of American cuisine

Some of the spiciest foods he’s ever eaten were on missions to other countries

After numerous stomach aches and countless glasses of milk (who knew he was lactose intolerant?) he tries to play things safe

It doesn’t mean he won’t try the ghost pepper challenge because Tequila did it, though

Ezra:

This man has been to many places and eaten many things to survive

He can handle a little bit of spicy food, ok?

Some plants are just naturally spicy, and there’s something about the way they tingle his mouth is alluring

Has totally bought and eaten ultra-spicy foods when he’s bored

What else is he going to do? It’s not like he has anything else to keep his mouth busy

If you know what I mean

Has also accidentally gone down on someone after eating spicy crisps

Needless to say, the object of his affections was NOT happy

Maxwell:

Thinks water is spicy

Black pepper doesn’t even EXIST in his mansion, the poor cooks are suffering

One time he bit into one(1) chili flake and started hacking up a lung

He’s the type of person who orders something that’s marked as “spicy” and asks to make it not spicy

Thinks the word “zesty” is the same as a food being “spicy”

When he bites into a peppercorn, he looks like he’s in the middle of labor

His entire upper body turns redder than his date’s lipstick

Tears start pouring down his face, and sweat makes his hair stick to his forehead

He has a (literal) meltdown

Rips off his tie and unbuttons his shirt because “it’s too hot!”

[cheeryfairygender]

Oh, that's so swag about sharing a b-day with Nagisa! /gen /pos That's neat tbh /gen

In terms of Vocaloid/UTAUloid recommendations, I've currently been listening to Pyrite Girl and What Gave It Away, both songs made by R.I.P. (with Pyrite Girl originally sung by Kagamine Rin, and What Gave It Away originally sung by Otomachi Una) on loop. Oh, and if you ever wanna listen to some good Kasane Teto covers (and I genuinely mean good /gen), look no further than Tanjiro Taidana and their covers. They're an amazing ass UTAUloid song artist/tuner, and while they primarily use Teto, they also occasionally use other UTAUloids and even Vocaloids.

Yeah, buffalo wings can be spicy, heh. In terms of wings or the sauce of whatever food item, there's usually a mild option, a medium option, a hot option, and so forth (sometimes). Depending on that, they can be spicy. However, I have a tolerance with spicy food, as well as a huge love for spicy food, so I'm a bit bias in terms of if a certain food is spicy or not /lh However, I completely respect you not tending to not like spicy food! /gen /nm I get that it's not everyone's cup of tea.

Yeah, I can definitely understand your opinion on the artstyle. Looking at the examples you provided, it honestly makes complete sense /gen (not /s). And considering I've completed DRV3, yeah, it's kind of unique compared to the other two [main] games /neu

Oh, and as for the air fryer thing you mentioned in the tags, you can usually figure out how to use it+how to airfry certain things by looking it up! Just type in Google if you can airfry XYZ food, and it'll usually give the suggested temperature and time. I'm sure you can airfry sweet potato fries, as you can airfry regular French fries (whether they're frozen or from a fast food place)! /gen /nf I feel that sounds dumb and easier said than done, but if it makes you feel better, I didn't know how to use it at first for quite awhile /gen /lh (not /s)

Oh oh, and don't worry about not adding reply icons! It's all good /lh /gen /nm

TBH I want to like spicy food but it's a sensory issue for me because I can't tolerate the pain very well, and I don't like a lot of flavors of the actual food that has spice. But oddly enough, I like Japanese style curry. It's super good. Apparently as a little kid I liked spicy food though which makes it super weird I grew out of it. I really like sour food, though! I think the issue is that spice stays in your mouth even after eating, but sour goes away super fast (unless you injure your mouth/tongue from too much/too strong sour food).

I just generally don't like things with strong flavors...like, I don't even like how black pepper tastes. I tend to eat...bread. And sweet baked products. I usually just eat a lot of samefoods but my sister is an incredible cook so I eat whatever she makes when she cooks! Otherwise I just kinda graze on snacks.

Also I listened to the music and it's super interesting /positive, I like finding smaller vocal synth artists! Also yes yes I've heard Tanjiro before and he's GREAT at utauloid tuning. I feel like utauloids are often tuned better than vocaloids nowadays because you have to put in more effort to get them to sound good and it's easier to just put less work in for vocaloid.

Airfryers are just super intimidating IG I think we got ours for free from someone who didn't need it??

Also to make it clear I don't like...dislike v3? It's a cool game, it just doesn't satisfy the itch the first two games give me, which honestly makes sense. The original Danganronpa series ended on purpose--they reached a good end for it. V3 is kinda like a new beginning so you can't go into it wanting what the original series had. I feel like the graphics/art style for Danganronpa didn't age well with time. For the original games, it made a lot more sense considering when they came out and the consoles they were released on, but that kinda sloppy, eccentric style doesn't transfer well when there's a higher production value like v3 has I think.

I think the WEIRDEST thing is how...much worse the games got in terms of jokes/content. Like, the things about incest and any homophobia got way worse. Kaito says slurs against gay men/trans women in the Japanese version more than once, I think.

In SDR2, most characters are implied to be bi and wlw or mlm. There's less in DRTHH, but they're still there. The original games write queer characters subtly but in a very good way. You still have this subtle writing for v3 but they completely upped the explicit jokes to the point it isn't silly or funny...just uncomfortable. (Mikan, Teruteru, Kazuichi, Nagito, Hajime, Imposter, and Nekomaru are all implied to be queer off the top of my head. Makoto, Mondo, Taka, Chihiro, Hifumi, Mukuro, Junko, and Leon are all implied to be queer iirc as well.) Like with Leon in DRTHH, his cousin has romantic feelings for him, but he makes it SUPER clear he hates it and it makes him super uncomfortable. But then I think v3 just has straight up incest with the monokubs? I'm not sure if the other characters reacted uncomfortably to it or not, though. But just...the way the characters talk/the jokes they make totally changed. It's super odd to me. It really takes me out of it and it

I guess my main issue is the shift in how the characters act, less context for the behavior of the characters (like, DRTHH extends into SDR2, and vice versa. Each game lends into each other), transferal/execution of the Danganronpa style, as well as the user interface. The user interface is super busy and confusing for me.

Also, the characters are intense like usual but in a super weird way. Like...negatively? In DRTHH, they were all extreme in a way normal teens could be. Instead, they feel like...superheroes. Like, their whole talents are pushed too hard. In SDR2, they were still extreme but in an, again, rather normal way.

I just seriously love the characters though. I think it's a good game, but you can't play it and expect an experience like the original series. You can only really play it and do your best to not compare it at all.

[artificialqueens]

Galactica, Chapter 44 (Group Fic) - TheDane/Veronica

A/N: Click here if you’re looking for previous chapters (or here if you’d rather read on AO3). 💫

Last Chapter:  Sutan gave Violet a token of his affection.

This Chapter: Violet works her ass off, Pearl feels restless, Courtney takes action, and Bianca has a surprising encounter.

***

Trixie smiled to himself as he walked around the floor, watching his designers all work on their various bits. They were still only getting into gear, the prêt-à-porter part of the collection now in the hands of tailoring and Bendela. Jovan and Blu were the designers who oversaw that process, the rest of them now focused completely on the runway show.

Trixie had sent out an email to everyone that Monday, outlining the timeline for the couture concepts. Couture was a lot more difficult to plan, since those outfits were typically made in the design department by the same designer from start to finish. It wasn’t haute couture, which meant they still used machines, but it took time to make the elaborate gowns and high detailed pieces Trixie knew Raja and Fame expected them to deliver.

“Hey boss.” Trixie turned to look at Gia, the woman smiling at him. “Can you take a look at these?”

“Of course,” Trixie walked over to Gia’s station, the concepts for their custom-made jewelry all laid out on her desk. They had started to get the first samples from the jewelers they used, Fame insisting that Galactica didn’t use anyone else's designs unless they absolutely had to.

“I like this,” Trixie took the small dangling earrings Gia had handed him. “But I think this,” Trixie pointed at a necklace, “needs to be redone. The chain looks too flimsy.”

Gia nodded, noting it down. Trixie knew Bob was taking care of the shoes, their first samples of the heels Fame wanted arriving in the upcoming weeks.

“Good job,” Trixie smiled, squeezing Gia’s shoulder before he walked away and over towards Violet’s table.

He liked having Violet on his team, the woman clearly more than ready to do the work, but they were still finding each other. Trixie was actually a little sad that Violet’s wasn’t confiding in him yet, that it seemed like she believed that they weren’t on the same team and that he wasn’t there to help her, which Trixie believed to be the most crucial part of his job.

If his designers failed, he failed, and with them the company.

Violet had built what seemed like a little fort of fabric rolls, the sewing table that was attached to her desk piled high with shades of ivory and cream, boxes of golden beads stacked on top of each other.

Violet was leaning over her desk, gigantic headphones over her ears, a miniature embroidery frame placed on it. Trixie watched for a minute, Violet’s clever fingers sewing rectangle beads in long lines on what seemed to be the base structure of a bodice.

She didn’t acknowledge him, whatever music she was listening to drowning him out, and Trixie wasn’t going to interrupt her flow, excitement curling in his belly at whatever Violet was going to pull out.

***

Violet finished the row she was working on, her fingertips raw and red from the intricate work she was doing.

She realized that her back was aching, and as she stood up to stretch it out, her shoulder radiating a moment of pain, her eyes fell on the gigantic clock above the design floor door, time a little past 6.

Huh.

She hadn’t noticed that it had gotten so late, since none of her coworkers had left. Violet looked around, her headphones still over her ears. Normally, the floor would be deserted by now, but instead, she saw Max surrounded by parchment paper and rulers. Alexis was draping a gorgeous golden fabric, Kiara was elbow deep in a structured top, and when she looked over at Jovan, he was bent over a bucket of what had to be dye, the chemical scent reaching her nose now that she was paying attention.

Violet raised her hands above her head, her shoulder aching terribly as she popped her joints. She wasn’t anywhere near done, and didn’t have any reason to go home, but she still needed a break, so she grabbed the glass she had sitting on her desk, making her way towards the breakroom.

Violet kept her headphones on, not really in the mood to talk to anyone, but when she turned the corner, she saw Blu standing by the microwave, the ginger haired woman holding what looked like a cup of ramen, shoveling it into her mouth.

“... Blu?” Violet pulled her headphones off, resting them around her neck.

“Oh!” Blu turned around, her hand flying up to cover her mouth as she swallowed. “Hi.”

“What are you doing?”

“Eating this?” Blu titled her cup of noodles. “I know it isn’t the most glamorous meal-”

“No, I mean-” Violet didn’t know how to phrase it without sounding like a bitch. “You’re usually the first one to leave.”

“Ha!” Blu laughed, putting her food down and leaning against the break room counter. “I am, aren’t I?” Blu smiled. “When we’re not on crunch, we all rush out of here like rats trying to have a semblance of a normal life.”

“Ah…” Violet nodded her head. “That makes sense.”

Violet had thought her new coworkers were just a little lazy, that they didn’t want to work, but it seemed like they were simply sprinters, while she had always seen herself as more of a marathon runner.

“I’ll go back to happy hour as soon as I get the chance, but for now, I’m eating ramen for dinner. Like a champion.” She flashed a bright smile, drinking the rest of the broth and chucking the container into the trash can across the room, lifting up her hands in a victory motion. “Back to the grindstone!”

***

Pearl rested her chin in her hands, watching Adore dig into a pile of Buffalo wings in the hipster gastropub where they’d chosen to have dinner. The first time she watched Adore eat with all the grace and dignity of a 12 year old boy, she’d found it cute. Charming, even. But now, suddenly, it just seemed gross.

She pushed her own plate away, her food barely touched, sighing slightly as she twirled a piece of hair around her finger.

“You okay, baby?” Adore asked, wiping at her face with the back of her hand, which only spread the hot sauce around.

“Uh...yeah. I’m alright.” Pearl smiled, knowing that Katya would tear her a new one if she let her bad mood explode all over Adore. “Just not very hungry.”

“Aww, I’m sorry.” Adore reached out, plucking a steak fry from Pearl’s plate. “Wanna wrap this shit up and take it to go?”

“Nah, that’s okay. You enjoy,” said Pearl.

“Everything okay here?”

A delicate hand slid a stack of napkins onto the table. Pearl looked up to meet the eyes of their waitress, a petite girl with dark eyes, honey-blonde hair gathered in a ponytail, one strap of her tank top sliding tantalizingly down her tanned shoulder. The nametag resting above her perky tits read “Abby.”

“Thanks,” Pearl said, gesturing to the much-needed napkins, and Abby winked at her.

“Is there anything you need?” Abby asked, eyes raking over Pearl’s body in a way that made her shiver. “Another round, maybe?”

“Yeah...I could go for another round,” Pearl said slowly. She flipped her hair over her shoulder, making sure to show off the low cut top she had worn under her leather jacket, her wrist flexing.

“Coming right up…”

Pearl watched as she sauntered away, wondering how much of the swinging hips were for her benefit, when Abby tossed a glance back over her shoulder, giving Pearl a tiny, secret grin before turning to the bartender.

Adore cleared her throat, and Pearl snapped back to attention.

Right.

Date. Adore. Best behavior.

Got it.

“You know, I’m really psyched that you’re coming to Thanksgiving. I think it’ll be good for Bianca to get to know you better. So she can see what a great person you are for herself,” Adore flashed a hopeful smile that suddenly made Pearl feel sick with guilt.

Why couldn’t she just commit to this awesome girl and stop being such an asshole?

“Yeah, no, that’ll be cool.”

“Totally,” Adore smiled.

Pearl polished off the last of her beer, watching as Adore dipped one of her wings into the blue cheese dressing, nose wrinkling just slightly as the chunky white sauce dripped off the hot wing on the way to her mouth.

“Um, I need to go use the restroom,” Pearl said, sliding off her stool.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Adore asked, concerned.

“Yeah. I’ll be right back.”

Pearl steeled her nerves before heading to the bathrooms, just as Abby approached their table with a glass of beer on a tray.

“And where are you running off to?” she asked coyly, fluttering her lashes.

“Bathroom… Is that okay with you?”

Abby giggled. “I’ll try not to miss you too much.”

Pearl laughed, shaking her head as she continued on her way.

***

“Hey Pearl?” Adore asked, pulling her bomber jacket tighter around herself, the November chill an unhappy reminder that winter was around the corner. They were walking home from dinner, and Adore couldn’t stop thinking about that waitress.

It wasn’t like Pearl had done anything wrong--just a bit of light, harmless flirting. Two weeks ago, she’d probably barely even have noticed. But ever since that conversation they’d had about being open, Adore found herself on high alert, mind racing every time her girlfriend so much as glanced at someone else. Which was a lot.

“Yeah?”

“Are you sleeping with anyone else?”

“You mean like tonight?” Pearl joked, and Adore forced out a strained laugh.

“I’m serious.”

“Not at the moment, no.”

“Then why-” Adore paused, unsure of how this conversation should go. “Why not just…try being monogamous?” Adore felt horribly exposed, and even a little scared, but she wanted this to work, wanted them to work. “I mean I know I don’t want anyone else, so…”

“I like the idea of being able to be spontaneous. Without it being like, a big thing,” Pearl explained, shrugging her shoulders. “I mean, I think you’re great. But sometimes…It’s like no matter how great pizza is, sometimes you want a burger. You know?”

“Please.” Adore scoffed, adding an eye roll for good measure.

“Adore-”

“You mean burgers like the waitress tonight? Is she the thing you’re suddenly hungry for?” Adore demanded.

“Will you please chill?” Pearl looked genuinely uncomfortable, the expression one Adore had never seen on her girlfriend’s face before. “There are people around.”

“It’s New York, nobody gives a FUCK!” Adore yelled the last word for good measure, no one turning around, which proved her point. “Answer the question!”

“You’re acting like a child,” Pearl said calmly, and if Adore wasn’t mad before (she was), now she was absolutely fucking furious.

“I am asking a very simple question! Was our waitress tonight the type of girl you like to fuck? Or, I’m sorry, was she the burger you’re craving?”

“Yes! Yes, she was. Does that make you happy?” Pearl asked, stopping and turning to Adore, one hand on her hip.

“Yeah, I’m thrilled. Can’t you tell?” Adore sniffled, trying to hold back the tears pricking her eyes.

“I can’t talk to you when you’re acting like this,” Pearl said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out her phone.

“Fine! Then maybe I’ll just go home by myself tonight!”

“Fine.”

“Fuck you, Pearl!” Adore turned and stomped down the street, back in the direction of the subway, hands stuffed into her pockets, finally letting the tears stream down her cheeks.

***

“Lovely eyes,”

Violet looked up, the expression on Sutan’s face telling her that this wasn’t the first time he had said her name. She was sitting in bed, back resting against the headboard, doing her very best to distract herself from the wrapped ice cubes she was holding in her right hand.

Not that her phone or the puzzle game Katya had suggested she tried ages ago actually helped.

Her fingers stung, but not as badly as her feet had in the ice baths she used to endure as a professional ballet dancer, those sometimes so painful she had cried and had to be held, Milk whispering into her hair that everything would be okay.

“Yes?”

She had stayed at work until past 8, actually expecting to go home and crash, dinner completely forgotten, when she had fished her phone out of her bag, a text from Sutan asking if she wanted to come over.

Violet had been exhausted, getting everything ready for her presentation in the morning leaving her completely drained, but she liked spending time with Sutan, and even if she was never going to spend the money herself, she loved the thread count of his sheets, his bed a guarantee of a good night’s sleep.

The fact that Sutan chest had quickly become her favorite place to dose off not something she’d be willing to admit unless she was being tortured.

“Do you need more ice?” Sutan smiled, looking out at her. He was hanging up his shirts, the dry cleaners bag on the door to his walk in closet. Violet knew Sutan had a housekeeper, but he apparently preferred to handle his closet himself, which Violet guessed she understood. “I still can’t believe you’d-”

“I’m fine.” Violet cut him off, moving off the bed so she could stand up. It was sweet that Sutan worried, actually, really sweet, but Violet knew her body, and most importantly, she knew her body's boundaries, and this, this wasn’t anywhere close. “I am.”

Violet had slaved away all day, Fame and Raja making their judgement calls on who got accepted for the couture line and who didn’t tomorrow, and if Violet’s fingers had to bleed for her gown to be accepted, that was a price she was more than willing to pay.

She walked over to Sutan, stepping into his space, the block of ice still in her hand as she got on her toes, pressing a kiss against his lips.

“I promise.”

***

Pearl closed the door to her room with her foot, her body warm and relaxed, her hands drying her hair with her towel.

She had taken a shower as soon as she had gotten home, the annoyance at how Adore acted crawling under her skin. Pearl threw herself down on her bed, picking her phone up from where she had left it earlier that evening.

“Huh…” Pearl bit her lip. She had expected to see several calls from Adore, or at least a text, but there was nothing, her phone devoid of any notifications from the other woman.

Pearl rolled over, lying on her back and looking up at the ceiling, her stomach uncomfortable with the sensation that she had probably hurt Adore, the expression on her face when they had broken apart painful to look at.

Pearl sighed, tapping her fingers against her stomach. It was a new sensation for her to be unsure, but if there was one thing she knew, it was that Pearl Liaison never texted first.

***

“And you better make it quick!”

Fame watched as Courtney left her office, the blonde closing the door behind her, leaving her and Raja alone. It had taken the majority of the afternoon, but they had finally finished the selection of the looks that entered the final running towards the opening and closing spots.

Fame loved the couture presentations, the designers really showcasing their enthusiasm and personalities since they only had half finished products to present. She liked being able to touch, to see the delicate dreams and the decadence that was a signature of couture.

“Tea?”

Fame already knew that Raja would say yes, the pot on her desk one Ivy had brought over when the redhead had found out that they would be staying at Fame’s.

“Hold the sugar please.”

Fame smiled, grabbing two of the jade green teacups Ivy had brought along too, quickly pouring them both a cup. It wasn’t often that she took the time to just relax at work, that she took time to simply sit with Raja.

“Mmh,” Raja inhaled, the orange blossoms creating the most delicious fragrance.

“Mmh indeed,” Fame chuckled, taking her first sip of the hot tea, allowing herself to sit back on the ivory couch.

“So, we sent the list off.” Raja looked at her. “How are you feeling about the direction right now? You’re not going to decide that you hate cream and ivory on February 2nd, are you?”

“Uh! How dare you,” Fame huffed, actually feeling a little offended. “That was one time.”

“One time too many.”

If anyone but Raja had said it, Fame would have punished them severely, but as it stood, Raja was one of the few people in her life who could get away with openly criticizing her.

“I’m an old woman, Famie.” Raja smirked. “My heart can’t take the pressure.”

“Please,” Fame rolled her eyes. “Don’t take that attitude with me.”

“Someone has to keep you in check, darling.”

“I don’t need to be kept in check.” Fame had to keep from rolling her eyes again, Raja toeing the line of what was acceptable. “If anything, I need support right now.”

“Hmm?” Raja raised an eyebrow, her cup at her lips.

“We’re celebrating Thanksgiving with Patrick’s family, and his mother always wreaks havoc on my skin,” Fame groaned. Patrick’s family was coming to New York, his two sisters and brother all showing up with brats and partners in tow. “I swear, every year it’s the same. If we wanted to have kids, we would have had them by now.”

***

It just wasn’t fair, Aiden thought, staring at his rejected prototypes. He had killed himself all week to come up with 4 different couture concepts for the opening and closing looks, and all of them had been shot down.

This morning, they’d presented their designs to Fame and Raja, each of the designers getting less than a minute to pitch based on sketches, samples, and preliminary construction and then the upstairs bosses had spent all afternoon discussing them, an email sent to the whole design team announcing the finalists a little before 5 pm.

Which was why Aiden was the only one still there at 7, the disappointment of not being included taking over an hour to really settle in. To transform into anger at the utter unfairness of it all. He rose from his desk, wandering over to Alexis’ desk, where 3 dress forms were standing, all of them in looks that made it through. He supposed, though, that was pretty standard, Alexis being one of the most experienced designers there who’d been at Galactica almost as long as Trixie, her specialty being draping the kind of elegant gowns that Fame went gaga over.

No, he wasn’t mad about Alexis.

But Violet...how could that girl catch every single break since the second she walked through the doors? He glared at her muslin prototype, the skirt flaring out, the muslin bodies structured and stuck to the mannequin. On Violet’s table, she had left behind the actual bodice, golden beads sparkling, a portion of the skirt laid out with the intricate pattern. It felt tired and overworked, something he refused to identify burning in his stomach.

Anyone could do beads, anyone could do what Violet did, but unfortunately, he wasn’t in charge, so she continued to get away with it.

Aiden let out a huge sigh, trudging back over to his desk to pack his things.

Another shit week down the drain.

***

After Miss Fame’s comments about her hair, Courtney needed to do something drastic. She knew that Fame’s own salon was a fancy place in SoHo called Jujubee’s, so she’d called to get an appointment. At first, the receptionist told her that there was a 2 month waiting list, but when Courtney name-dropped Miss Fame, sort of accidentally implying that her bossreally wanted to get her in as soon as possible, she’d put her on hold for less than a minute and then informed her that she had an appointment on Saturday with the owner of the salon herself.

Courtney was pretty proud of herself, if a bit intimidated, entering the salon. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting from the owner, but it certainly wasn’t the adorable, friendly woman with a cute little baby bump.

“Hi, you must be Courtney. I’m Juju. What are we doing today?” she said, shaking Courtney’s hand warmly and turning her chair to face the mirror.

“Oh, um...I work for Miss Fame at Galactica, and-”

“Yikes, sorry to hear that,” Jujubee quipped, and Courtney’s eyes widened. “That’s a joke, honey. She’s one of my best friends.”

“Oh. Right.” Courtney laughed nervously. “So, she um...she found out that I was doing my own color and uh-”

“Oy. Okay well…” Juju inspected Courtney’s hair closely. “It doesn’t look too damaged. I think we should fix up your roots, and maybe take down some of the brassy tones in your color, give you a cooler, brighter blonde? That’ll really suit your complexion. And this cut...I’d like to take off a couple of inches, just to make sure we get all of the split ends, maybe some layers in the front...and how do you feel about bangs?”

“I...like bangs.”

“I think they’ll really frame your face nicely.” Juju grinned, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Just relax, we’re gonna take good care of you.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much!”

Pretty soon, Courtney’s nerves disappeared entirely, and she was chatting with Jujubee like they were old friends. She found herself wondering what this down-to-earth, funny, warm person had in common with Fame, and then felt a little bad.

There was obviously a whole side to Fame that Courtney didn’t get to see--she already knew that from Adore. And besides, Bianca was warm and hilarious, and she was also close friends with Miss Fame.

A few hours later, Courtney looked and felt like a brand new person, bouncing from the seat excitedly. That is, until it was time to pay. She’d looked up the prices beforehand, of course. But the cost of an “owner cut” wasn’t listed on the website. She figured it would be a little more than their listed prices, so when the receptionist handed her the bill, she nearly shat out a brick.

Eight hundred and fifty dollars.

Courtney was already planning to split the bill on two cards, but this was insane. Her heart began to pound. What was she supposed to do? It’s not like she could say “oh, forget it”--she already had the whole damn service. She swallowed down the lump in her throat and asked the receptionist in a quiet voice, “Um...can I spread it out on 3 different credit cards?”

The girl rolled her eyes disdainfully, holding out her hand to accept the cards.

“You know,” she said, swiping Courtney’s cards through the reader. “There’s a Supercuts three blocks down. Maybe you should try them next time.”

Less than a minute ago, Courtney had felt like a million bucks, and now she felt like gum being scraped off the bottom of a shoe.

“Are you gonna add a tip?”

A tip? On top of that price? Oh well...she was gonna be paying off this trip to the salon for months anyway, might as well go all in. She took a deep breath, holding her head high.

“Yeah, add another $150 to that purple card,” she said, trying her best to keep her face impassive, put on a haughty air so that the receptionist wouldn’t see how much she was shaking inside. “And thanks for the advice.”

***

Bianca entered the book shop, large sunglasses obscuring most of her face, hair under a silk scarf, trying to be as incognito as possible. She beelined straight for her favorite section, avoiding the few other customers.

Most of the time, Bianca didn’t mind the fame or attention from the paparazzi. After all, it was a sign of her success, and she had nothing to hide--she never left the house with a hair out of place, and she could hold her liquor like a champ. Some days, though, like this one?

All she wanted was to enjoy a lazy Saturday. Pick up some books, treat herself to a nice, simple lunch at the café next door, just be a human instead of a minor celebrity.

She was paging through a Natalie Woods biography when someone interrupted, asking softly, “Bianca?”

Shit. Spotted. She turned around with a sigh, but when she saw the person who’d spoken, her aggravation was instantly replaced with a smile, dimples deep in her cheeks.

“Courtney! Hi!”

She looked like absolute perfection, in a fresh blow-out, hair falling in sexy, beachy waves over her shoulders. Her soft, fuzzy green sweater brought out her beautiful eyes. Bianca found herself amazed at how she managed to look better and better every time they saw each other.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, I know you were probably-”

“No, I’m glad you did.” Bianca offered another smile. “So um, what brings you here? Do you live in this neighborhood?”

“No, I live in the Bronx. But was just over at Jujubee’s getting my hair done-”

“Ahh...well she did a stellar job. She’s a true artist.”

“You think?” Courtney fingered a lock of blonde hair.

“I’d give her more credit, but...she had a pretty good canvas to work on, so…”

Courtney smiled, biting her lip, then asked, “Do you think Miss Fame will approve?”

“Definitely not.”

Courtney’s face fell, for just a moment, brow creasing with worry, until Bianca reached out to touch her arm.

“Fame likes to be the hottest blonde in the room,” Bianca clarified, adding, “So yeah. She’ll hate it.”

They exchanged a small, conspiratorial smile before a pink tinge began to creep into Courtney’s cheeks and she looked away.

“What’ve you got there?” Bianca asked, gesturing to a stack of paperbacks in Courtney’s hands.

“Oh, I’m just...I’m just browsing, really. Killing time for a few hours before I have to go to a class in midtown. But who wants to hang out in midtown?”

Bianca laughed. “And? What kind of books do you like to browse?”

“Um…” Courtney looked a little embarrassed before admitting, “I’m trying to make my way through Oprah’s book club.”

“A worthy intellectual goal,” Bianca chuckled.

“Yeah, well. I’m on a spending embargo after the salon, so I’m probably just gonna get them from the library instead.”

Bianca held out her basket. “Throw ‘em in.”

“No, no, really, that wasn’t, I mean you don’t have to-”

“Throw them in,” Bianca repeated. “You’ve been putting up with my sister’s shenanigans for years, you deserve a couple of paperbacks. I insist.”

“Thanks.” Courtney carefully placed the books into Bianca’s basket.

“You’re welcome,” Bianca winked, strolling towards the register and placing her basket on the counter.

“You know, Adore puts up with my shenanigans too,” Courtney said. “It’s a very symbiotic relationship.”

Bianca smiled to herself, thinking about how sweet it was that she felt the need to defend Adore from the mildest shade. She handed her card to the clerk and turned back to Courtney.

“I’m sure it is. So uh, listen...I was about to head next door for lunch-”

“Oh, sorry to have kept you-”

“No, um…” Bianca chuckled, feeling awkward as fuck. “No, that’s not what I meant. It’s, um, a cute place. You know, if you’re into the whole healthy, organic, locally-sourced seasonal thing...which I take it you are.”

She gestured to the reusable canvas bag in Courtney’s hands, which she’d pulled from her purse to use rather than the bookstore’s plastic bags.

Realization began to dawn in Courtney’s eyes, a smile tugging at her lips as she said, “Guilty.”

“So, um, since you’re trying to kill time...maybe you want to join me?” Bianca signed the receipt and handed over the books, placing her own into her large shoulder bag, knowing that she’d probably not have refused the plastic bag if she were here on her own. Well, whatever--it was still a win for Mother Nature, right?

“Yeah!” Courtney exclaimed, then seemed to catch herself, adding, “I mean, if that’s what you want...”

“I wouldn’t have asked otherwise.”

“A straight shooter, eh?”

“So to speak,” Bianca smirked, and Courtney giggled.

“What a true role model,” she professed with a flutter of lashes.

“Always,” Bianca laughed, guiding her next door with a hand on her lower back.

***

[sunflowerhae]

She plays bass with jaehyun pls!! Also your music taste is *chefs kiss*

| 📣 > > ty! I quite like my music taste as well🥳😌 follow my spotify if u wanna see my playlists lmao (( @coolangelgwen - lowkey hate myself for this one but no regrets, right?!? )) I tried to make a more realistic conversation style, but idk how I feel abt it. Lemme know! Also~~ last thing, I promise - this isn’t proofread lol so sorry if it’s bad

Send in your own requests! 🧚🏻‍♀️🐮

“Hey, won't you call me back? ‘Cause I've been waiting for a text back. It hurts my brain - This chick who plays bass”

“Jesus Jaehyun, simp much?” Jaehyun reluctantly drew his line of sight from the unlit screen of his phone to the eyes of his best friend.

“What? No, what do you mean?” Johnny rolled his eyes and glanced around the coffee shop the two currently sat in, not focusing his attention on anything specific, before returning his gaze back on the hopeless romantic in front of him.

“I know you’re waiting for her to text you.” At the ~truthful~ words thrown across the table in humor, Jaehyun rolled his own eyes with a “psh” - trying to play off the fact that Johnny was unfortunately right.

“Her” was in fact Y/l/n Y/n, a girl he met at the NCT party that his frat held the previous night. Jaehyun didn’t usually enjoy or attend them, but he had a feeling (some unknown feeling) that he should maybe go to this one, so he found a calming spot in a corner, hunkered down with a beer and a bowl of chips, and prayed that the party would end soon. Friends came by and talked to him, girls came by to seduce him, but Jaehyun’s ass stayed firmly cushioned on his seat in that little, calming corner.

The corner just so happened to be near the food table, so people were coming and going; you were not privy to this fact. You - much like Jaehyun - didn’t usually attend these events. It wasn’t that you had anything against them, you just felt there were better ways to spend your nights. However, Haechan - your best friend - practically begged you to come, stating that,

“it’d be nice to have at least one other cool person there!” And when the younger boy used his pouting charms on you, you found yourself agreeing to his request.

It was lame, though. Haechan had been stuck like glue to you the whole night, prancing you around to his frat brothers and with the obnoxious, “see - I told you she was real!”, he enjoyed seeing the fire of joy ignite in his brothers eyes the more they got to know you. Haechan claimed it was because you were quite known on campus for being the cool, quiet skater girl with good fashion, and everyone who had a conversation with you came out better because of it. You would just respond that he was the Leslie to your Ann (which he would just laugh at, joking that he has scrapbooks of your friendship - thus scaring you more). What was lame, was the party. There was no reason or organization, which you didn’t really care about, you just hated the amount of people, thus lessening the amount of air flow. One glance at the food table that had basically no one by it, and you were telling hyuck you were going to get food and heading that way.

When Jaehyun first saw you, his mind immediately registered who you were. Y/n. The girl that skated through campus, and had dyed hair, and always had butterfly clips in. He had always wanted to meet you, but was never courageous enough to act on it. It was funny, girls practically killed for a conversation with him, yet the one girl he actually wanted, never even looked his way.

That was until now.

You turned your body out to the crowd and glanced around; eyes landing on the little, calming corner, and on the boy who was already looking straight at you. You knew him. Jaehyun. A lot of people liked him, but you specifically knew him as a member of this frat.

“Hi!” You smiled, and he looked surprised that you were even talking to him.

“Hey,” he waved back, “y/n, right?”

You moved closer to him, “yeah, Jaehyun, right? You know Haechan.”

“Oh, yeah I do. You know Haechan?”

“He’s my best friend.” You both nodded at this, but Jaehyun looked a bit surprised.

“Wow, how do you know Haechan? Aren’t you older?”

“I mean, yeah. How do you know I’m older?” You had a playful tone, which calmed Jaehyun’s nerves a bit.

“Oh, we have a class together. Environmental Impact on Civilization with Professor Cilinado?” Your eyes went wide, and even with the strobe lights going off, Jaehyun could see the blush that projected itself onto your cheeks.

“Shit, that’s right. Hi!” You both laughed, “um, I don’t know, Haechan just kind of came up to me once and started talking like we’ve known each other for years and I went along with it, and I guess the rest is history.” The memory of meeting your best friend made a smile cross onto your face, and Jaehyun couldn’t help but think you were beautiful.

“Yeah, that seems like him. Weird I’ve never met you, though.”

“Yeah, I don’t really come to this stuff.”

“Same, what do you like to do?”

“Um..listen to music, I like to play my bass, skate, I guess.”

“Wow, you play bass?” Jaehyun’s eyes went wide in surprise, and you laughed at his taken aback expression.

“Yeah, why, do I seem like someone who wouldn’t?” Jaehyun felt idiotic for once more saying something insensitive, but you, again, had a smile on your face.

“No! Yes? I’m not sure, it’s just always cool to hear that someone plays an instrument. And the bass is so cool.”

You start to respond, but turn your head instead at the sound of Haechan calling your name. “Well, can’t keep the devil waiting. Speaking of, if you want you can get my number from Haechan, text me!” Jaehyun eagerly nods, but you’re already walking away; your back turned around.

Johnny has to literally snap his fingers in front of Jaehyuns face to shake him from the memory of last night, and the moment Jaehyun saw Johnnys amused face, he knew he was caught.

“What’d I say - simp.”

“She plays bass, she plays bass. Nothing matters 'cause we're both in space”

Y/n (4:57pm) hey Jaehyun! I’m happy u texted me! Yesssss let’s totally do something together!! What did u have in mind??

And that’s how you and Jaehyun - basically strangers - ended up on the hood of his car at 1 am; eating chicken nuggets from McDonald’s and looking at the stars together.

“Everyone knows the buffalo sauce is the best, Jaehyun!” He laughed at your counter argument, but shook his head none the less.

“No, honey mustard is superior!”

“No, because you could get that anywhere-“

“-you could get buffalo anywhere! And why is it orange, and why does it taste the way it does?” You were both laughing in between arguing your respective sides, and if it weren’t for the slightly uncomfortable position of laying on the hood of a car, this moment would have been picture perfect (but really, it was anyway).

You were thankful that the college you went to wasn’t directly in the city, so when Jaehyun picked you up and drove to a good star gazing place, it was easy to see the night sky.

“Sometimes, I like to close my eyes and imagine I’m floating in space. It feels kind of trippy.” Jaehyun turned his head at the sound of your voice, but you continued staring at the sky.

“How do you do that?” He asked.

“Well, I have to be in a completely dark and silent room. Then, I just unfocus my gaze and I don’t move my body at all. It’s how people become, uh..Jesus what’s the word? When they get like, controlled?-“

“-hypnotized?”

“Yeah! I watched a video where he hypnotized the crowd and the viewers to see their past life - it was crazy.” Through out your small speech, you waved your hands a lot, and Jaehyun took notice of the fact that you spoke with your hands; it was something small, but he tucked it into the back of his head, and kept it to think about for when he needed to smile.

“What was your past life?”

“I lived at an old korean palace - like 19th century. I wasn’t a high position, but I was wealthy. I wore red a lot.”

“Send me the link?” You finally turned to lock eyes with Jaehyun.

“Yes, of course.” You both smiled at each. Nothing was said, but both of you could practically feel yourselves making room for each other in your hearts, the longer you sat on the hood of Jaehyun’s car; staring at the stars.

“How I wish we could just date - So you can teach me how to be more like you”

Jaehyun could feel himself fidgeting slightly while he waited for you to open the door to your apartment. After gazing at the stars, you offered him a tour of your place and a beer or two, and Jaehyun didn’t admit it, but he didn’t care if you said you wanted to kill someone - he would have agreed if it meant spending more time with you.

“Sorry it’s kind of a mess! I was going to clean it on Wed...” your voice continued going, but the farther you walked away, the less Jaehyun heard it, so he just chose to instead look around the main area of your apartment, and what he found left him in awe.

A black bass sat snugly in the corner of your living room, surrounded by plants. Behind your couch framed, vintage movie posters decorated the wall, and fairy lights, records, and books sat on the shelf above your tv.

You came out of the kitchen with a wine bottle and two glasses, and you sat them down on the coffee table while Jaehyun took a seat on your couch. “I like your apartment.”

You looked back at him with a smile while pouring yourselves drinks, and sat down next to him while laughing, “thanks. Like I said, it’s kind of messy,” you paused to take a drink, “But it’s home. Bleh, wine makes me feel old.” Jaehyun nodded while laughing, and the air became thick with quietness, which teetered between awkward and calm leniently. Jaehyun - as slyly as he could - stared at your side profile while you started talking about the movie posters hanging behind you. You had an aura of chill vibes, and it seemed that whatever you talked about, you managed to make interesting. Jaehyun was debating whether he wanted to date you, or be you, until he came to the conclusion that he wanted to date you so he could learn to be like you. Although it was the beginning of what he hoped was a new relationship, Jaehyun already had so much respect for you, and as you joked around with him about whatever the two of you could think of, Jaehyun’s excitement for the the future held only increased more and more.

Past life video

That was my actual past life btw! Lemme know what y’all get 😩 also just go on the website if you get a lot of ads - bc that can fuck w ur hypnotization! It’s not scary, I promise. The dude has a super nice voice. It’s vv trippy. If you’re a skeptic - do it anyway. Worst case scenario, you get a good laugh.

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #378

“come as you are, as you were, as i want you to be”

Have you ever dreamt in another language? No. How long will you try out something you don’t enjoy before giving up on it? It really depends, but in most cases, admittedly very quickly. What’s something you recently realized or discovered about yourself? *shrug* What’s the most interesting news you read or received recently? What about the most depressing? Not in a good way really, but it was certainly interesting to learn I have such severe sleep apnea. Like, I was certain I didn't. The most depressing would be uhhhh... I guess Jason's mother's death, but I don't know how "recent" you'd consider that by now. Would you let politics get in the way of a relationship? It depends. Some beliefs I absolutely would not tolerate (like anti-LGBT), others I would just agree to disagree with. What is one way in which you need to learn to control yourself? I need to get better at controlling my mouth when I'm extremely upset. Do you use a photo editor? I use Lightroom and Photoshop for photography. Is your dad overweight? No, I think he's actually underweight. Ever been honked at? Yes. What’s the name of the most recent baby a friend has had? Easton, I think? An old middle school friend had him. Have you ever taken medication to help you fall asleep faster? Yes, but they never work for me. How did your parents pick your name? I dunno. If you had to move to another country, where would you move? Canada. Do you have a balcony? No. Who is a singer that has given you chills? Man, I get chills easily with music. David Draiman from Disturbed, his cover of "Sound of Silence" is BREATHTAKING. That's number one. There are many others, they're just not coming to me at the moment. Do you have a drone? No. What was the spiciest thing you’ve ever eaten? Some wings at Buffalo Wild Wings. I got some crazy hot sauce. Have you ever discovered something gross in your food at McDonalds? No. What was the last thing you used sliced bread to make? A sandwich. How long did your shortest relationship last? Like a day lmao. Would you rather have a trampoline or swimming pool? A POOL!!!! I've talked before about how I want one so, SO very badly to exercise my legs without having to worry about sweat, and I can take a break the very moment I need to. Do you own a Snuggie? Yeah, somewhere. Do you listen to any unsigned bands/singers? Who? Yeah, quite a few on YouTube, but my favorite in Jonathan Young. He is SO damn talented. Who is your favorite video game character? Pyramid Head from the Silent Hill franchise. What kind of pictures do you post on Facebook/Instagram/Snapchat most frequently? Mostly of my pets lmao. Have you ever been on vacation with a significant other? No. Have you ever considered “unplugging”/taking a significant period of time away from technology? No. I know I'd never stick to it. Do you prefer to watch a documentary that is about a situation/event or a documentary that is more of a personal character study/biography? The latter. Meerkat Manor comes to mind with that, and everyone knows how much I adore that show. There was also one about rhesus macaques I fell in love with. Basically, I love animal docs, haha. Can you think of a recent time in which you might have been better off resisting, but you did something because you “just couldn’t help yourself”? Probably eating something. When you are getting to know someone, do you tend to worry that the other person will lose interest in you once they get to know the “real” you? Yyyyep. What is something that you would like to do, but really aren’t able to because of your location? (e.g., see art or get a certain job) Man, a lot of things. Photograph meerkats is a biggie. What sort of job do you think is best suited for your skills? Is this an in-demand position or something you’re unlikely to actually get? If I could actually handle the heat and was in good shape to traverse the outdoors, I think I'd be a great wildlife biologist. Even more though, if I could beat my social anxiety, I would ADORE being an animal educator with kids. Do you believe it is the responsibility of businesses, or prominent business leaders (think Bill Gates) to take the lead on social issues whether by using their influence or their money? Saying it's their "responsibility" sounds unfair and puts a lot of weight on their shoulders, but I do feel they should by their own volition and kindness use their position for good, such as through monetary assistance and other things. Have you ever gone to a job interview and realized that you didn’t want the job? Yep. Have you ever asked that someone sacrifice something (a habit, relationship, job, etc.) for you? A habit, yes. Looking back it was stupid as shit. What would you call your body type? Ew. Has anyone ever hacked your accounts before? Yes. Do you enjoy big holiday dinners? Considering I spend them with my sister's bigoted, homophobic, and racist in-laws, not especially. I always feel very uncomfortable and disliked among everyone for being the "black sheep" among 'em. Is your vision good? God no. Even with my glasses, it's very poor. I need a new prescription badly. Do both of your parents have jobs? Mom has something of the sort, like she cleans a local church for a small pay, but it's not really a "job." She's still recovering from cancer, getting her strength back up and such before she can handle a consistent job. Dad's had a job for as long as I've lived. What is something you’ve always wanted a boy to do for you? How heteronormative. But whatever. It's so fucking cheesy, but singing a cute song to me while slowdancing sounds so super adorable to me. What food are you craving right now? I am craving something sweet like you wouldn't believe. It's annoying. Have you ever been in a car accident? Yes. Do you have a lot of scars? Yes, but most are very negligible. I just scar extremely easily. Last person you saw other than your family? My primary doctor. Last movie you’ve seen in theaters? The The Lion King remake. Who was the last person you played a video game with? Ummm I think Girt. Last game you played at an arcade? Zero clue. What was your favorite nursery rhyme as a child? I THINK I particularly liked "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider?" None stand out strongly, though. What is your favorite cousin’s first name? I don’t have a favorite cousin. Would you prefer to travel around the world by yourself or with a friend? I think with a friend to prevent loneliness, but at the very same time, I see a great beauty in traveling on your own. Just taking new things in, seeing so many different cultures, beautiful scenery... I feel it'd be a great chance for exploration of insight. Remind yourself how small you are, that there's a much, much bigger picture than your own problems, that people are so unique but hopefully share common morals... I see a lot of poetry in it. Do you like the smell of coffee? It's one of my favorite smells. If you have a favorite photographer, can you describe their work? I can't possibly pick. I watch literally hundreds on deviantART, and many of them absolutely blow my mind. What’s one aspect of your life that did not turn out as you expected? My lack of a career. Outside of school, have you ever used a thesaurus? Well, online ones for writing. When you see a good-looking girl in skimpy clothing, what is your initial thought? I envy her confidence, like gotdamn girl. Have you ever been in a lighthouse? No. Are you on a laptop or desktop? A laptop. What color is your shower? White. Where do you order your pizza from? Domino's or Little Caesar's. What was the name of the last dog you pet? We've been calling the dog we're holding right now Zoe. Have you ever had anything stolen from you? Yes. Have you ever seen the White House? I don't think so, but it's possible I have when we've driven up to New York, but from a distance. How about Niagara Falls? No. What do you like in your salads and what dressing do you prefer? I just like regular iceberg lettuce with some bacon bits and ranch. Man, that sounds good right about now. Any posters of a band on your bedroom wall? Yeah, Metallica and Marilyn Manson. Do you think it’d be cool to have your body mummified after you die? No. I couldn't rock the mummy look even if I tried, haha. Can you tell the difference between a Scottish & an Irish accent? Not really, no. Can you read music? I used to be able to. Do you work the night shift? I don’t have a job, but if I did, I absolutely do not want to work the night shift anywhere. Have you ever slept over at your best friend’s house? Yes. Is your mother diabetic? Are you? She is, but I'm not. Would you like to learn how to make ceramic pottery? It'd be cool, sure. Ever sang someone to sleep? No. Who did you last kiss? My cat. Why did you last lie? I don't recall. Probably to just avoid confrontation with Mom. What do you put on your hamburgers? Cheese, ketchup, and mustard, generally. Who do you think cares the most about you? My mom. Have you ever sent a dirty picture? No. What’s at the center of your dining table? Honestly, we sit in there so rarely that I don't even know. I think we might have nothing, actually. Have you ever started a rumor? No. Do you like being outside? If it's cool, yes. What’s your favourite condiment? Maybe ketchup. Or honey mustard. Who sang/played the last song you listened to? Chris Motionless is the singer of Motionless In White. I don't know if that's his real last name, though. Do you like yoga? I used to. Now all the bending and shit would make me dizzy as hell with my "how are you still alive" level of low blood pressure. Do you always carry breath mints? No, but I do carry Tictacs with me, but they're for my dry mouth. It forces you to salivate, so it helps. What do you think your reaction would be upon entering the White House? I don't really know. I honestly don't even know how it looks inside. Thinking about it, I'd probably be more scared than anything, waiting for a bomb to drop or some shit lmao. Have you ever grown your own sea monkeys or dinosaurs? OH MY GOD I LOVED those!!! I definitely did! Have you ever thrown a game controller (or the game) and broke it? No, I've never been the type to do that. If I'm SERIOUSLY getting mad, all I do is tighten my grip. Did you ever own an Etch-a-Sketch? Yes. Do/did you ever have glow-in-the-dark stars on your ceiling? I believe so. What movie were you really worked up for that ended up disappointing you? My answer is Warcraft, but only because the fucking orcs' voices were so baritone that I couldn't understand them almost ever lmaooo. Like I had a mild idea of what was going on because of the game, but still. What part of a paper is hardest for you to write? The intro, or the conclusion. Both are difficult to me. Like I want to compose a gripping beginning as well as an end that doesn't just repeat everything I've already said and ends on a strong note. Does it bother you that almost everything is done on computers now? No. KFC Chicken: original or extra crispy? I don't like fried chicken. Think about your first kiss. Did you have any idea what you were doing? I mean, I guess? Like I'd seen kisses enough to know how to give someone a peck. It just came naturally. Did you get Happy Meals just for the toys as a kid? Not just for the toy, but it's the main thing I wanted, sure. Have you ever seen your parents cry? If so, how did it make you feel? Seeing my mom cry absolutely destroys me. I don't want her to hurt EVER. Especially if it's seriously unfair bullshit that has her upset, I also get very angry (not at her, of course) and protective. I've seen Dad tear up once, back when he was telling us about his mother's funeral, and I felt immense surprise more than anything. He does NOT cry. How do you feel about animal testing? It's fucking disgusting and barbaric. Find a different goddamn way. Do you add condiments to your ice cream, or just eat it plain? If I'm having vanilla, I'll usually add chocolate syrup. Have you ever witnessed a crime? Yes. What’s the coolest personalized license plate you’ve ever seen? I'm forever gonna get a kick out of this one that just said "omw," haha.

[the-final-sif]

BNHA Characters As Welcome To Nightvale Quotes

Because I can. Also because I have a lot of these and I wanted to use them somewhere.

Kyoka Jirou: “How presumptive of teens to think they'll even be allowed to live once.”

(Bonus for Kyoka: “And sure enough, Michelle Nguyen, pizza in hand, is cackling madly watching the chaos and listening intently to headphones that are plugged into nothing at all.”)

Izuku Midoriya: “Mostly we don’t get destroyed… Mostly we destroy ourselves.”

Ochaco Uraraka: “The laws of physics? What are you, a narc?”

Shouto Todoroki: “Of course the sandstorm was created by the government! The City Council announced that this morning. The government makes no secret that they can control the weather and earthquakes and monitor thoughts and activities. That's the stuff a big government is supposed to do.”

(Bonus for Shouto: “You figure it out. You learn from it. You take action. You create the meaning. It is all up to you.”)

Katsuki Bakugou: “If at first you don't succeed, look around and find out who is trying to sabotage you with telepathic interference. It is someone you know.“

(bonus for my AU, Katsuki Hakamata:

“The past is gone, and cannot harm you any more. And while the future is fast coming for you, it always flinches first, and settles in as the gentle present.”)

All-Might: “Are we living a life that is safe from harm? Of course not. We never are. But that’s not the right question. The question is are we living a life that is worth the harm?” 

Nezu: “But listen: it's probably nothing. If we had to shut down for every mysterious event that at least one death could be attributed to, we'd never have time to do anything, right?”

Shouta Aizawa: “Confused? At a loss for what to do? Wow, sounds like you're human. Good luck.”

(Bonus for Aizawa: “When life seems dangerous and unmanageable, just remember that it is and that you can’t survive forever.“)

Present Mic: “And now a brief public service announcement. Alligators: can they kill your children? Yes.”

Shinsou: “Ghosts are scary because they indicate we might be forced to exist for eternity after we die.”

Eri: “As long as I’m reminding myself of things, I’m a good person, worthy of love – both from myself and others.”

Mina Ashido: “Hey, watch us moon! We may not always be the best show in the universe, but we try.“

Tsuyu Asui: “There is no cause for concern. We're way past that now. If you're not at least feeling mild terror then you haven't been paying attention.”

Eijirou Kirishima: “As a city, it is our responsibility to protect life, yes, but also protect a life worth living.”

Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu: “Stay tuned next for an exact word-for-word repeat of this broadcast, that will seem to you imperceptibly but unshakably different, although you will never be able to explain why.”

Hanta Sero: “WOULD YOU RATHER: discover a spider in your salad OR never have discovered that spider that was in your salad?”

Denki Kaminari: “Ignorance may not actually be bliss, but it certainly is less work.”

Momo Yaoyorozu: “If you could press a button that would give you a great deal of money, but it would cause someone you don’t know in a distant part of the world to die, then you would have a good model for how our current economy works.”

Fumikage Tokoyami: “ Look. Up in the sky. It's a bird. It's a plane. No. It's just the void. Infinite and indifferent. We're so small. So very very small.”

Tenya Iida: “There's a difference between you're, your, and yarn. Yarn isn't even pronounced the same way. It's a completely different word.“

Ibara Shiozaki: “We have nothing to fear except ourselves. We are unholy, awful people.”

Neito Monoma: “Be proud of your place in the cosmos. It is small, and yet, it is.”

Mirio Togata: “Everything is exciting! Particularly existence. Existence is the most thrilling fact of all.”

Nejire Hado: "You can tell us your secrets. I mean, you absolutely shouldn't. We'll use them against you. But you can."

Tamaki Amajiki: “Fear is a reasonable response to life.”

Mei Hatsume: “Also, I lit your fridge on fire. It was upsetting me.”

Best Jeanist: “Michelle Nguyen is the only one who doesn’t look scared. This is her favorite holiday, and she is wearing a vintage summoning cloak and a dog catcher’s cap, and has two tiny neon signs attached to her face indicating her eyes. She is the most fashionable person in town, and certain to be spared from the sphere. “

Hawks: “We lead frantic lives. Filled with needs and responsibilities, but completely devoid of any actual purpose. I say let's try to enjoy the simple things. Life should be like a basket of chicken wings: salty, full of fat and vinegar, and surrounded by celery you'll never actually eat, even when you're greedily sopping up the last viscous streaks of buffalo sauce from the wax paper with your spit-stained index finger. Yes, that is as life should be, Night Vale.”

Tomura Shigaraki: “ I don’t know, somewhere! Wasn’t being specific. Wasn’t actually suggesting making the world a better place. Was just using theoretical human suffering as a deflection.”

(Bonus for Tomura: “Ripeness is perfection, and perfection is the step before decay.”)

Dabi: “The last thing I want to do is hurt you. And after that, the to-do list is complete and I can go home and watch TV.” 

Touya is Dabi Addition: “Only you can prevent your own house mysteriously catching on fire.“

Himiko Toga: “You have nice skin. It really holds in all your blood and organs - no leaking or nothing. You look great.”

Twice: “Let’s not dwell on our corpse strewn past. Let’s celebrate our corpse strewn future!”

Moonfish: “Stay tuned next for the sound of some helpless thing being eaten.”

[ehstarwar]

a poor prisoner in his twisted gyves (1/8)

Rey looked down onto the empty orange bottle seated on the edge of her bathroom sink. She knew realistically that staring super hard at the bottle wouldn’t magically make it refill with suppressant pills, but she was willing to try anything this point.

The newest edition on the ever-growing list of Shit Rey Experiences', is being unable to get suppressants.

-

Rey can no longer afford suppressants and decided to take on unsuppressed life. Thankfully, Ben is there to help her.

-

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 2.3K

Read on AO3

Notes: i've never written ABO before, but good golly, i have read it and am now ready to take the plunge. plz enjoy!

Chapter 1: doth suffer a sea-change

-

Rey looked down onto the empty orange bottle seated on the edge of her bathroom sink. She knew realistically that staring super hard at the bottle wouldn’t magically make it refill with suppressant pills, but she was willing to try anything this point. Three minutes of hard staring ended up being unfruitful and Rey let out a defeated sigh. 

She had faced quite a few hardships in life. Being abandoned as a child, tossed from foster family to foster family, getting into a university 500 miles away from where she was from, affording said university until she graduated summa cum laude, figuring out a way to survive and pay her loans back simultaneously; the list goes on.

But nothing, nothing, was comparable to the hardship Rey undergoes, continually, as being an omega. 

She wishes the hardest part about being an omega was the constant degradation she experiences in the professional world. If it just meant lewd comments and occasional handsy knot-headed alphas, Rey could deal with it no problem. But the fucking heats. The claw off your skin, masturbate until your numb, loose your absolute mind heats that made being an omega a living hell. And on suppressants, that only happened once a year. 

The newest edition on the ever-growing list of ‘Shit Rey Experiences’, is being unable to get suppressants.

Her terrible insurance had now decided that suppressants were an ‘elective’ medication that omegas could function normally without. While Rey will support Senator Organa until she dies, she does wish that the senator hadn’t fought quite so hard to pass the legislation that ended the federal mandate that all omegas must be on suppressant unless mated. 

It was a huge step in the country, one that Rey had even advocated for, but one with unforeseen consequences like insurances not covering the cost of suppressants anymore. But, such is life. This was the bed that had been made for her, and this is what she would deal with. People went without suppressants all the time; progressive omegas that clearly didn’t live in the same part of town she did, but omegas none the less. 

Rey swept out of the bathroom, promptly tossing the empty bottle in the garbage, before turning to her roommate. 

“I’ve decided something,” Rey announces.

Rose didn’t look up from the television, but responded anyways. “And what would that be?”

“I’ve decided to quit taking suppressants.”  

Rose chokes on the cheese balls she’s currently shoving into her face while looking up at Rey.

“You what?”

“I’m not taking suppressants anymore.”

“Why the hell not?”

“I don’t need to. Omegas are individual, like every other designation and do not need to be medicated just to join society. Senator Organa advocated very hard to have the federal mandate repealed, and to show my support, I will no longer be taking suppressants.”

Rose looked at Rey like she was out of her mind, and she supposed she was. Betas like Rose would never fully understand what it was like for omegas or alphas, so Rey isn’t surprised that this information is shocking to her. 

“Do you realize what this will do? Don’t unsuppressed omegas have like, three heats a year? You literally hate the singular one you have, why would you choose that?” An excellent point that Rey had not considered.

“The heats suck, yes, but�� maybe if I know I’ll be going through it more often, I’ll try a little harder at actually dating someone. Use it as a motivator, ya know.” The excuse didn’t sound nearly as bad as Rey thought it would, even if it was total horse shit. She also knew that Rose’s constant pushing for Rey to actually put herself out there would be placated by this answer. 

“This seems like a pretty major change just so you can meet someone. Have you tried that one app that is supposed to help match up alphas and omegas? Knot It, I think it's called? That would be a more reasonable first step than… this.” The concern in Rose’s voice touches Rey and part of her is tempted to break down and tell her the truth. But then Rose would want to help her, being a best friend and all, and Rey would be put even further into emotional debt for all the helping she’s done over the years. She decides to hold steady to her little fib, hoping that Rose will just let it go. ( A pipe dream, to say the least.)

“I’m choosing this for right now. If it becomes… too much, I might change my mind. But I’m going to try this first. It’ll be good for me, I think.”

Rey ignores the unease in her friends gaze, and goes about her business.

-

The bar is crowded when Rey arrives at Maz’s. Some sports game is on that Rey would care about more if she could afford live TV to watch it continually, but cable wasn’t exactly a standard for someone who eats ramen for nearly every meal.

She see’s the large table in the back, the one that’s unofficially reserved for her friends, and notices she’s the last one there. A chorus of ‘hellos’ greet her as she slides into he booth, and is handed a plastic cup full of PBR.

“Rey-Rey! You made it! How’s our favorite mechanic?” Poe asks, clearly already a few too many deep.

“I’m good! Have you guys ordered yet? I’m starved.”

“I ordered a big ole’ hunk of qb with extra ass!” Poe screeches, looking up at the monitors, earning an eye roll from the sober people at the table, and giggles from the drunk ones.

“Buffalo wings and mozzarella sticks with extra marinara sauce,” Ben tells her. He’s across the table from her, but Rey is pretty sure that the calves she keeps bumping into are his. Ben’s damn long legs will always be a point of contention with her. Who needs to be 6”4 anyways? It’s just gratuitous. Still, she like the person they belong to.

“Bless you,” She tells Ben, earring a sweet smile and a hint of a blush. Ben is so easy to make blush; it's one of Reys’ favorite pastimes. 

The night goes on; food is consumed in an ungodly amount of time, beer is constantly flowing, the rest of the bar dies down but they all remain. It’s nice, the little family they form. Rey would never had dared to dream of such a thing, but meeting these people was the greatest gift she’d been given. Rey met Finn the first semester of undergrad, and been a part of this group since. Through Finn, she met Rose, Kaydel, Jannah, and Poe, and through Poe she met Ben. Friday nights a Maz’s had become a staple for the last few years, one religiously followed even when they probably should have all stayed home. 

While Rey loved being in this group of friends and partaking in their rituals, she had to admit to herself that it was… a lot. Without suppressants, at least. Smells were intense, to say the least. Every thing was heightened to the nth degree and Rey had spent the last three weeks without suppressants needed to excuse herself to get a breath of fresh air, too many times to count. 

Everything smelled so, so much, and Rey had to suffer through all of it. 

But it wasn’t all bad. There was the occasional whiff of a fresh smelling laundromat, or sweet pastry that was nice to experience. And, of course, the juicy smelling alphas that usually came as quick as the went. Like right now, in the bar, Rey could smell the thick aroma of leather and pine mixed among the crowd. It was strong, even diluted by the scent of others, so she couldn’t imagine what it would be like on its own. The though made her clench her thighs together in hopes of something that would likely never come to pass.

“Rey… Rey? Are you with us?” Finn waved a hand in front of her face, snapping Rey out of her train of thought.”

“Oh sorry. I was just… distracted.” Rose ‘hrumps’ next to her. 

“We’re still on for Wednesday, right? Trivia night at Lukes?” Finn asks her.

“Yeah! Of course. I’ve been prepping for it by watching Jeopardy every night,” She tells them, earning a chuckle from Ben.

“Good. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t forget. You’ve been so spaced out lately,” He tells her, making Rey sink further into her seat. 

“Probably because of the suppressants. Or… lack thereof,” Rose replies, causing every sober eye to turn and stare at her. AKA Finn and Ben.

“You stopped taking suppressants? Are you nuts?” Finn asks, incredulously. 

“Thank you, Rose. And no, I’m not nuts. I’m just… choosing the natural life, so to speak.” She gives Rose a pointed glare, and tires to ignore the heated expression on Ben’s face. Finn is a beta, so his opinion will probably be a little off the mark, just like Roses. 

But Ben is all alpha. Not just any alpha; no, Benjamin Solo was 100%, grade-A, total alpha who also happened to be the biggest sweetheart she’d ever met. It was a horrible concoction that had been the subject of one too many fantasies that Rey had shoved down in lieu of friendship. 

Betas would have some idea what it meant for omegas to be off suppressants, but alphas? Alphas would bristle just at the thought of an unmated, unsuppressed omega, even if they smelled like a garbage disposal. 

“So you want to revert back to a sex-crazed lunatic that thinks water is overrated?” Finn continues to question. 

“I don’t think water is overrated even in heats. And I’ve already gone three weeks without and been fairly normal. I’m perfectly capable of handling myself without medication.” Rey keeps her expression calm and cool, but her eyes are steadfastly on her empty plate. 

“Well… good for you, I guess?” Finn isn’t totally convinced and this will absolutely come up later, but he knows not to push his luck like this in public.

Rey gives a tight-lipped smile in response, still unable to meet Bens’ gaze, and is grateful for Poe for his loud interruption that he ‘will be a trophy husband to the first gay NFL quarterback’. 

-

It’s not until they’re all standing outside the bar, in the chilly autumn air, that Rey realizes what’s wrong. She had felt Ben’s eyes on her the rest of the night, and it had taken every fiber in her being not to look at him. She knew what waited for her when she did and her inner omega wanted it too much to be a good thing. 

But what’s wrong is not that Rey has to face Ben while they wait to load their drunk friends into Ubers. What’s wrong is the way he smells. If Rey wasn’t drunk of the beer, then she was drunk off of Ben. The hints of nice smelling alpha emanated from him, even through a cloud of scents. It was deep and rich and Rey wanted to bathe in it. 

She could also feel the displeasure he was feeling and it made Rey want to throw herself on the ground and beg alpha for forgiveness. She resisted, but only just.

When it was just them outside, Rey finally turned to face him, garnering any courage she could find. 

“What is it?” She asked, aggressively, before she could loose her nerve.

“It isn’t safe,” Ben stated simply.

“What isn’t safe? Riding a bike without a helmet? Eating day-old sushi?” She retorted.

“Rey.” It was a command, even if he didn’t mean to give it. “It isn’t safe to be unmated and unsuppressed. Especially…” He trailed off.

“Especially what?” She wishes her voice were harsher to express the anger she feel within.

Ben stares at her for a minute before responding. It makes her scent gland itch. “I could smell you. Through all those people, I could smell you. What happens if a knot-headed alpha is too close to rut and you’re alone-“”

“I’m an adult. I can take care of myself. Rape is still illegal, suppressed or not.”

Bens’ jaw clench and his hands ball into fist and Rey feels her core heat.

“I know you can take care of yourself.” It’s not what she expects to hear, and the softness of his voice breaks something inside of her. Her steely expression falls and so does his.

“You’re right, I know you’re right. But this is the way it is.”

“Why?”

Rey sighs, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes before telling him. “My shitty insurance got even shittier and no longer covers suppressants. My last refill ran out a few weeks ago, and with the way my student loans are right now, I can’t afford to buy them.”

She doesn’t need to see Ben to know the way he bristles. “This is because of my mom; because of the law she passed. It’s not fair to you that-”

“Your mother has been nothing but kind to me! She is a very sweet woman who I will always support and I get why she advocated for this. Yes, this sucks, but it’s not your mom’s fault.”

Ben isn’t placated by this, but keeps quiet. 

They stay like that for a terse minute, Rey scrambling to figure out how to move on from this conversation. He speaks before she gets a chance.

“I can help you. I can get you suppressants if you want. It’s really no trouble. If anything, I kind of feel like I owe you.” Ben is sheepish when he speaks, and Rey’s heart swells a bit.

“That’s kind of you, but no thank you. I can handle this on my own.”

“You don’t have to, Rey.” His voice is low, but washes over her like a warm blanket nonetheless. “Just, please tell me if you need help. Promise me that.”

Rey doesn’t want to. She doesn’t want to even say that she would rely on him if she needed to, out of her own selfish pride, but the omega in the back of her mind screams to, at least, make alpha feel better. She knows if she does, it will help. 

“I promise.” Rey doesn’t know if she says that, or if her omega does.

[avengerscompound]

The Usual Spy Stuff - Chapter 1

The Usual Spy Stuff - A Captain America Fanfic

Series Masterlist

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing:  Steve Rogers x Reader

Word Count:  1955

Warnings:  Fluff, twist on tropes, eventual smut (vaginal sex)

Synopsis:   You and Steve have to pretend to be in a relationship while on a mission. You know what that means right?

A/N:  For my #Happy Steve Bingo Fill: free space. I chose the prompt 'bed sharing'.

I realize that this one is a repost, but it’s now a series, so I’m tagging you all again as a refresher.

Chapter 1

“I think this is how a whole bunch of fanfiction starts.”

You said the words as a joke as you tossed your bag onto the nearby sofa chair and sat down on the edge of the bed.

Steve looked at you with his head tilted to the side.  “What’s fanfiction?”

You looked at him and stifled a laugh.  Of course, Steve Rogers wouldn’t know what fanfiction was.  Why would he know? He had been on the ice during the best part of the technological revolution.  You certainly weren’t going to be the one that popped that happy little bubble.

“Never mind,” You said and started taking off your shoes.  “Just one bed. Two people. Who knows what could happen?”

Steve chuckled and pulled his shirt off.  “I’ll try and control myself.”

You looked up at him.  You had always been under the impression that his shirts left nothing to the imagination.  You were so very, very wrong. Steve Rogers was somehow more perfect looking than you could imagine.  He looked like he’d been working out just before he came up here and then airbrushed. He looked like he’d been carved from actual stone.

“What’s wrong?”  Steve asked, spinning on the spot as he attempted to look himself over.  “Do I have something on me?”

“No.  Sorry.  Everything is fine.”  You said and got up going to your bag.  “I’m just going to get changed.”

“You want something from room service?  I’m starving.” Steve asked as you head to the bathroom.

“Yeah.  Get stuff we can share in bed.  Let’s make it a thing.” You called back and shut the door behind you.

You looked in the mirror and slapped your face.  “He’s just ridiculously hot and going to be all pressed up against you in bed.  It’s no big deal.” You said to yourself. Only shirtless Steve seemed to be seared into your retina.  “Stop objectifying people, you dumb bitch.” You yelled at yourself.

“Did you say something?”  Steve called back to you.

You groaned and pulled off your shirt.  “No, it’s fine.”

You changed into a pair of flannel pajamas with puppies on them and brushed your teeth, before heading back into the bedroom.  Steve was in bed already, sitting up against the headboard and flicking through stations on the TV. He apparently slept shirtless.  That was great. You could handle that.

“Those are cute.”  He said.

You looked down at yourself.  “Yeah. I normally sleep naked.  Thought you might appreciate me … not doing that.”

Steve chuckled.  “That's very thoughtful.  I was just looking to see if there was anything on TV.  You want to watch something?”

You shrugged and climbed into bed.  “I don't mind.”

Steve switched the TV off and looked you over.  “You're okay with this right? Pretending to be my girlfriend?”

“Yeah, of course.  Spy stuff. And you know,” you gestured to yourself with your thumbs.  “I'm a spy.”

He laughed and shook his head.  “That you are. I guess maybe it’s me that’s worried about it.”

You looked over at him and patted his thigh.  “Why? You’ve been doing this longer than me.”

“I’m a soldier, not a spy.  I’m not good at lying.”

You laughed.  “No, you really aren’t.  It’ll be fine. We know each other.  You aren’t lying about you. You just gotta say she’s my girlfriend to get me in.  That’s all.”

He sighed and nodded.  “I guess so.”

You patted his leg.  “It’ll be fine. It won’t take long.  I’m really good at this.”

He laughed and nudged you.  “That we can agree on.”

There was a knock on the door and you grabbed your wallet and answered the door.  A young guy wheeled in a trolly with a tray of food with silver domed covers on it.  He did a double take when he saw Steve sitting up in bed but quickly composed himself.  You tipped him and took the lids off the dishes. There was pizza, crab cakes, a shrimp cocktail and buffalo chicken wings along with a slice of cheesecake.

“Oh, you’re spoiling us.”  You said as you started laying out the food on the bed.  “Cake and everything.”

“Might as well spoil ourselves while we have the chance.”  He said.

“In that case, you want anything from the minibar?”

“Yeah, why not?  Put it on the work tab.  I’ll have a beer.”

You went to the fridge and grabbed him a beer and one of those mini vodka bottles and orange juice before getting into the bed.  You grabbed a slice of pizza and took a bite.

Steve opened the beer and took a drink.  “Are you enjoying working for the Avengers?”

“Are you kidding me?  It’s amazing. The benefits are great, you get to work for the best.  I get to make a difference.” You said.

Steve smiled.  “That’s good to hear.”

“Get to raid mini bars on the boss' dime.”  You add, pouring the vodka and juice into one of the glasses from the bathroom.

Steve chuckled.  “I guess that’s also true.”

“What about you?  Do you like it?” You asked.

Steve raised an eyebrow at you.  “No one has ever asked me that before.”

You laughed.  “Really? Not once?”

He shook his head.  “No. Not once. I guess when you found something people assume you must like it.”

“That sounds like you don’t like it.”

He picked up a shrimp and dipped it in the sauce before putting it in his mouth and chewing methodically.  “No. I think I do. I’ve questioned it a lot What I do. You know?”

“Sure.  History is told by the winners after all.  It’s hard to know if you’re the one on the right side.”  You said.

“Yeah.  There’s definitely that.  Also, for a while there I felt very used.  Before the Avengers were their own entity. Back when it was just another SHIELD program.”  He explained. “Not just that though. Back in the war, I fought to stop this one thing from falling into the wrong hands and woke up thinking it was done only to repeat the same fight again.  Since then, it feels like I just keep fighting the same fight over and over.”

You frowned.  “Yeah, I can see how that would get to someone.  History repeating itself.”

He nodded and picked at a crab cake.  “I think the fight is worth fighting though.  There is good in the world.  It’s worth protecting.”  He settled on a channel and looked at you. “Gone with the Wind?”

“Sure.  Why not.”

You relaxed back on the bed eating and watching the movie together.  When it was clear you were both done with the food, Steve packed it away and move the trolley back out to the hall before getting into bed.  He went to the bathroom and when he returned he snuggled down in the bed beside you.  He smelled like soap and mint.

“The world has changed a lot since that movie was made.”  He said switching the lamp off.

“Mmm… you’d know better than anyone.”

“I guess I would.”  He said. “See, it’s worth fighting.  It might be small victories. You might have to repeat yourself again and again.  But the change happens. It’s just hard to see when you’re in it.”

You nodded.  “That’s a good perspective.”

Steve shifted in the bed and he brushed against you as he got more comfortable.  He was quiet for a little while. You closed your eyes and listened to the sound of him breathing.

“What if we need to kiss tomorrow?”  He asked breaking the silence.

You snorted.  “Why would we need to kiss?”

“Well, I don’t know.  People kiss when they’re in a relationship.”

You rubbed his arm you hoped in what was a reassuring motion.  “Fake dating and one bed. We’re doomed.”

“What?”  Steve asked, the confusion evident in his voice.

You chuckled and shook your head.  “Nothing. I’m being an idiot. There are no social rules about people kissing while in public.  In fact, it’s generally frowned upon. If you feel the need to kiss me, I won’t mind. Pecks on cheeks would likely be enough if anything is needed.”

“What if it comes off as awkward and unnatural?”  He asked.

“I’m a really good kisser.”  You reassured him. “Would you like to practice?”

He laughed and you could see his eyes shining in the dim light coming from the hall.  “I guess when you say it like that it sounds stupid.”

“No, I’m serious.  We can practice if you want.  Do it until it feels second nature.  I don’t mind.” You said.

He seemed to seriously consider it for a moment before his head shook slightly.  “No. You’re right. It’s unlikely to be necessary.”

“Aww damn,”  You joked, although not entirely.  “I really wanted to practice that.”

“I’m sure there’s a line you need to get to the back of.”  Steve teased.

You shoved him playfully, and it set him off laughing.

“I know you aren’t used to this spy stuff, but you’re just being you.  It’ll be fine. Just be sassy old Steve Rogers.” You said.

“Sassy?”  He said sounding offended.  “Old?” He added with even more offense to his tone.

“I said what I said.”

“Fine.  See if I kiss you tomorrow now.”  He teased.

“Oh damn.  All my dreams, shattered just like that.”

He chuckled and you both fell silent again.  You saw his eyes close and you watched him as he seemed to center himself.

“Steve?”  You asked.

“Mmm…”

“Before you said you thought your job was worth it.  You didn’t say if you were happy though.”

He opened his eyes and looked at you.  Even in the near pitch room, you could see him assessing you.  “Yes. I think I’m happy. This isn’t how I expected my life to go, you know?  I mean, obviously. I was born in 1918, and I was extremely sickly. I thought I’d be dead by now.”

You chuckled softly and gave him a little nod to continue.

“I had expected, even though women didn’t really look twice at me, that one day I’d get married and have kids.  That there would be a family. You know?”

“Sure.  It’s what’s drilled into us.  More so back then.” You agreed.

“There’s still part of me that thinks I need that to be really happy.”  You said. “I’ve also lost a lot. For a long time, I thought it was everything.  To die and wake up to find yourself alone in a world you no longer recognize. I was lost for a really, really long time.  I can’t say I didn’t think about…” He let out a breath and shook his head. You touched his arm softly and a half smile crossed his lips.  “I was depressed, I know that now. But now? I have Bucky back. I didn’t think I’d see him again. I have another best friend I love just as much as Bucky.  The others. They’re my family. They’re more my family than my dad ever was. I still miss people from my past, but there are more people now. Which is good.  I think I’m making a difference in the world. So yeah. I’m happy. It’s not the life I expected. But it’s good.”

You smiled at you and squeezed his arm.  “That’s good. I’m glad. You do deserve to be happy.”

He chuckled.  “How can I not be when I have a beautiful woman in my bed.”

You laughed and pushed him again.  “Smooth, Rogers.”

“I try.”  He teased.  “We should sleep.  Big day tomorrow.”

“Right.  Yes.” You agreed.  “Night.”

“Goodnight.”  He said with a soft smile.

You closed your eyes and let the sound of his breathing send you off to sleep.

// NEXT

[waitineedaname]

Lightning Round, Take Two

kudos to @notedchampagne for inspiring this!!

also on ao3

-

“This is a terrible idea.”

“It’ll be fine.”

“She’s going to hate me.”

“She’ll love you.”

“Love me? Love me?!” Karkat all but shrieked. “I don’t know if you’ve realized this, Dave, but I don’t exactly make the best impressions! In fact, one might even say I make the worst impressions! We’ll be lucky if she doesn’t end this visit early because she can’t stand being around me because I have the personality of a deep seated pimple!”

“Damn. The kind it hurts to pop?”

“Yes! The kind of pimple that never forms a head and settles on your upper lip so it hurts every time you move your mouth! That’s what my personality is like: persistent, painful, and pus-filled!”

“The three P’s.” Dave mused, and Karkat shot him a scowl. “C’mon man, don’t sell yourself short. You’re like a blackhead at the worst.”

“Don’t pander to me, Strider.” Karkat grumbled and crossed his arms, but he didn’t complain when Dave slung his arm over his shoulders. “I still think this would go much better without me.”

“Nah, dude, trust me, this is the best option. I mean, best case scenario, if I did this by myself, she’d be like ‘omg do u have a bf’ and I’d be like ‘yeah’ because that’s part of what I’m tryna do here, tell folks about us, but then she’d want pictures even though she’s definitely met you, and then I’d have to show her all those cute pictures I took of you when you weren’t looking, and I know you don’t want that.”

“You what?”

“You didn’t hear that.”

Karkat rolled his eyes and leaned a little closer into Dave’s side, eyes tracing the little carapacian homes they were walking by. Dusk was falling, much to his relief; they both had to make compromises when they realized their species operated at different times of day, but he still avoided leaving the hive when the sun was glaring and ready to burn him to a crisp. Dave probably could’ve flown them all the way to Roxy and Calliope’s house, but Karkat hated making him carry him that far (Dave always insisted he wasn’t that heavy, but the strain in his voice never escaped Karkat’s notice), so they were walking the last few blocks. Karkat had a sneaking suspicion Dave was fine with walking because he was trying to delay the inevitable. He was nervous, if the way his fingers were tapping on Karkat’s upper arm or the way he kept clenching and unclenching his jaw said anything. Karkat sighed and unfolded his arms to wrap one around Dave’s waist.

“You don’t have anything to worry about, you know.” He said, surprising Dave into looking down at him.

“What? Who said I’m worried? You’re the one who’s been bitching the whole evening.”

“Because I want to make a good impression on your weird paradox ancestor, shit for brains. I’m saying you don’t need to be worried about coming out to her.” He met Dave’s eyes through his shades, something he’d gotten good at over the sweeps. “Of all fucking people, she’ll be the most fine with it. That’s why you’re telling her first, right?”

“Yeah, I know, it’s just-” Dave sighed and looked away. He was better than he used to be, but holding eye contact was still hard for him, “It’s a big deal, you know? I mean, Rose probably figured it out from living in a confined space with us, and Dirk kinda got it out of context clues, but this is a first using the big B-word.”

“She’ll be fine. And if she isn’t, I’ll tear her apart and at least give her a reason to hate your boyfriend besides my shit-awful personality.”

“Aw, babe, I dunno whether to be flattered you’d attack my mom like a feral raccoon or bummed that you’re trashin’ yourself.”

“How about we compromise, and I’ll stop shit-talking myself if you stop stressing yourself out about this.”

“...Deal.”

“Good. Because I think that’s her house.”

“Oh shit.”

The two of them stopped just outside the elaborate building the carapacians had offered Roxy and Calliope back when they’d first arrived in the middle of Earth C society, both of them brimming with anxiety despite their reassurances. Karkat almost thought Dave was going to say this was too much for him and turn around and fly home, but he unwrapped himself from Karkat’s arm and instead held his hand to walk up to the front door and knock.

“Just a sec!” Roxy’s voice rang out from somewhere inside, and a few seconds later, the door opened to reveal her smiling face. “Davey!” She squealed and launched herself at him, hugging him tightly. Dave, to his credit, adapted quickly and let go of Karkat’s hand to hug her back.

“Sup, Rox.”

Roxy pulled away from Dave to turn towards Karkat, who instinctively took a half step back. She noticed and laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna hug you if you don’t wanna. Is a fistbump cool?”

“I don’t know if I would call anything a certain red asshole harangued me with in the early years of our friendship ‘cool’, but it is acceptable.” That made Roxy laugh, and he gave her a light fistbump.

“Karkat, bro, I can’t believe you’re just calling me uncool in front of my mom. What the fuck. What is this betrayal.” Dave shook his head, but he already seemed more relaxed.

“Dave, I dunno how to break this to you, but you’re related to me ‘n Dirk.” Roxy tried to adopt a sympathetic expression despite her grin. “You’ve got dork running through your veins.”

“Goddamn. You’re tellin’ me I’ve got a genetic predisposition for this shit?”

“Yup. It’s chronic. Doctors everywhere’re rushing to write studies on our family to try and isolate the ‘cool-but-really-not-cool’ gene.”

“Let’s hope it’s not replicable in a lab or anything. I’m pretty sure Earth C can only handle four of us.”

“Ohmigod, can you imagine them trying to test it out. Little lab rats wearing shades and writing wizard fic. Holy shit.” Roxy gasped at her own idea, an unbelievably pleased look on her face.

“Oh my dick. Fuck ectobiology, this is the science I want to invest in.”

“Absolutely not.” Karkat interjected. “There’s already enough of you jackasses, I think I’d have an aneurysm if any more blond lunatics were running around.”

“Lol,” Karkat couldn’t believe Roxy just said that out loud, “You’re probably right. Are we gonna keep fucking around about cool mice on the doorstep, or do you guys wanna come in?”

She stepped aside to lead them inside and showed them to the living room. “Callie’s out picking up dinner. I would’ve made something since I invited you guys over for dinner, but living in the water apocalypse did not leave me with many cooking skills.”

“Hey, no shade here.” Dave shrugged, plopping down on the couch with Karkat at his side. “I don’t think I’d be able to work an oven if I tried. We’re a strictly take-out household. Hivehold? I dunno, but we’ve barely touched the kitchen in the week we’ve been here.”

“Excuse you, I made those Hot Pockets yesterday.” Karkat countered sharply.

“Yeah, and they were like 30% cooked, dude. You put them in the microwave for thirty seconds and then panicked.”

“Fuck you, I don’t see you doing much better! In fact, I distinctly remember you eating those frozen pizza pockets like a ravenous barkbeast! It was like you’d been locked in a cave with nothing to eat for half a sweep and my delicious plate of folded sauce treats were the only thing saving you from a miserable, malnourished death!”

“I mean, a Hot Pocket’s a Hot Pocket. I’m not gonna turn one of those fuckers down, who do you think I am.”

“I think you’re a wiggler with no sense of taste.”

“You eat bugs.”

“And you put ranch on your pizza! Bricks and glass houses, Dave!”

“Dude, do trolls even have that expression? Aren’t y’all light sensitive? Why would you have glass houses?”

“Newsflash, dipshit, I’ve lived in close proximity for the majority of the past two sweeps with an overflowing fountain of pop culture references and idioms and an uppity seer that likes to make things as convoluted and difficult to understand as possible. I picked up a few human phrases! Uh, no offense, Roxy.” Karkat added at the mention of Rose.

“None taken! I’m pretty sure she gets that from Dirk anyway.” Roxy waved him off. “Take it back to the ranch on pizza thing tho, do you really do that? Is this some earth delicacy I missed out on?”

“Oh fuck yeah, it rules. You gotta try it some time.” Dave nodded, excited to get someone else to try his food crimes.

“Imma have to take a pass on that.” Roxy said, crinkling her nose.

“Finally, someone with taste!” Karkat exclaimed, and Dave gently hit his shoulder.

“I am slowly workin’ through traditional earth food tho! Or at least as traditional as you can get here. That’s where we’re getting dinner from! There’s this human/troll fusion place that Callie and I like. I dunno how authentic it is, but it tastes good at least!”

“I mean, nothing on Earth C is super authentic, it’s all like human diet slightly to the left, but it’s edible.”

“Better than the garbage we alchemized on the meteor, at least.” Karkat agreed.

“God, the fucking buffalo wings debacle.” Dave and Karkat shuddered in unison. Roxy looked amused.

“You guys spent a lot of time together on the meteor, right? And now you’re living together?” Roxy asked, and they both nodded. She had a look in her eyes that was far too reminiscent of the look Rose got when she was gearing up to psychoanalyze someone, and Karkat was hit with a stroke of panic. “Sooo, I should prob’ly do a lightning round with you too, right? Since you’re important to Dave?”

The pair shared a look and Dave shrugged, appearing nonchalant despite the way he was anxiously picking at a loose string on his jeans. “Uh, I guess?” Karkat said, bracing himself.

“I’ll start easy, I promise!” Roxy drummed her fingers on her lips as if thinking. “Hm… you’ve got ‘cat’ in your name, do you like cats?”

Karkat made a face, thrown off by the question. “I guess? I never had one, but Nepeta was pretty fucking into them, and they seemed… fine. I can respect a meowbeast that just lazes around if it’ll leave me the fuck alone, but Nepeta’s lusus could’ve probably torn me to shreds, so…” He shrugged.

“Was Nepeta a friend from the game?” Roxy backpedaled the moment she saw Karkat’s face fall. “Oh shit, tender subject, sorry.” She worried her lip, looking for another question, then perked up. “Oh! What’s your sign? I know it’s Cancer from earth astrology and stuff, but what’s that mean for trolls?”

Karkat looked down at his chest and grimaced. “Fuck if I know, I don’t actually have a sign. I spent most of my life thinking this stupid thing meant precisely fuck all. I guess it’s a symbol of my ancestor? But I never really learned much about him since the empress always tried to erase his rebellion, and I thought that ancestor shit was highblood bullshit anyway. I guess now I know it’s not, but ugh, I could’ve happily gone my whole wretched life without meeting that douchebag.”

“We met his ancestor in the dream bubbles.” Dave explained. “Or I guess descendent? Since y’all are technically the post-scratch group? I never really understood that part.”

“Doesn’t fucking matter, he was a pretentious asswipe with his head so far up his nook it’s a wonder he was even audible, but oh god, was he audible alright.”

“Lmao, I kinda wanna meet this guy.” Roxy grinned.

“No you don’t.” Dave and Karkat said in unison, which made her laugh.

“I’ll take your word for it.” The mischievous look was back in her eyes. “Next question! Have you ever had your quadrants filled?”

Karkat almost choked. “What the fuck kind of question is that? That’s none of your fucking business!” He blustered. “My quadrants are private, and it’s my decision if I want to bring them up! Are all humans this fucking nosy or is it just the Lalondes?!”

“It’s just the Lalondes.” Dave said flatly.

“I just thought it’d be fair since I asked Dave that in our lightning round!” Roxy put her hands up in apology, but didn’t look particularly apologetic. “I was curious!”

Karkat was about to continue his rant about people feeling entitled to knowledge about virtual strangers’ quadrants, but the way Dave sat up and cleared his throat gave him pause.

“Actually, Rox,” Dave started, fidgeting a bit, “I never answered that question back on the lilypad.”

“Yeah, but that’s okay!” Roxy brushed him off. “I’m not gonna push you to answer something you’re not comfy with.”

“That’s the thing. I wanna answer you now, if that’s cool.”

“Oh!” Roxy’s eyes widened. “Of course that’s cool! That’s cooler than cool.”

Dave lifted an eyebrow, a smile pulling at his lips despite himself. “What’s cooler than being cool?”

“Ice cold!” Roxy shouted at the top of her lungs, and the two of them chanted “alright” about a dozen times while Karkat watched them in bewilderment. Humans, he thought. He’d never understand them.

“Okay, but for real tho,” Roxy said once they’d both gotten a handle on their giggles, “You wanted to say something?”

“Yeah.” Dave almost immediately looked anxious again, running his hands over his jeans. “So. You asked if I’d ever kissed anyone or-” He cleared his throat and the rest came out in a mumbled cough, “-been in love.”

Karkat held his breath, eyes flicking between Dave and a very focused Roxy.

“The, um. The answer to both of those questions is… yes? And I know you’re wonderin’ who, that’s like the next logical question, like if you ask someone if they’re hungry and they say yes, your next question is probably gonna be ‘what do you wanna eat’, unless you’re a total dick and just wanted to, I dunno, be aware of someone else’s hunger for your own sick pleasures and leave ‘em waiting like you’re some kinda sick torturer tryin’ to extract information out of a prisoner, like ‘hey are you hungry?’ ‘Yeah, I am, actually. I’ve been hanging from my ankles for a week now and I’d kill for some motherfucking KFC right now.’ ‘Interesting. Go fuck yourself.’ That’s not a very good interrogator, actually, he didn’t even try to get any information out of the guy except for the knowledge that he’s really craving some chicken, which is virtually useless, unless the interrogator is working for KFC’s competitor, like Popeyes out here tryna get the deets on their rival brands. Hey, do you think they’ve got a Popeyes anywhere on Earth C? Maybe we should start one, make a shit ton of money. Really boost the economy.”

“Dave.” Karkat cut him off before he could get too far from the topic, giving him a pointed look. “Were you actually going to say something important or were you going to just talk out of your deflated ass forever?”

“Hey man, you know you love my ass.”

“The point, Dave-!”

“Right right right.” Dave shook his head and took a deep breath before looking at Roxy again, who looked like she was might be putting things together already. “It’s Karkat. The answer to ‘who’, I mean. We’ve, uh. We’ve been dating since the meteor.”

Roxy’s whole face lit up. “Aw, congrats you guys! That’s really sweet!”

“Yeah.” Dave looked over at Karkat and gave him a tiny smile before looking a little apprehensive again. “I’d, uh, appreciate if you didn’t tell anyone though? I mean, the rest of the meteor crew probably knows because we spent… a lot of time together.”

“Most of that was platonic, though. A good two-thirds of it, at least.” Karkat countered.

“True, but they don’t know that. Far as they know, one day we were just two bros hanging out and watching movies and shit, then the next day, Vriska walks in to catch one of those bros taking a snooze on his other bro’s lap and falling off the couch the moment she announces her presence.”

“I’ll give you three fucking guesses which dumbass that was.” Karkat directed that at Roxy, and she snorted.

“Rude.” Dave nudged him. “But yeah, they’ve probably figured it out, but we haven’t officially told anyone. I haven’t even told anyone I’m, you know. Bisexual.”

“Wait, so I’m the first person you’ve told?” Roxy looked a little stunned.

“I- Yeah? I just thought you’d probably be a safe person to go to, especially since we don’t have any weird baggage like I might have with John and Jade, you’re just my alt-mom, which I guess does make things a little weird-”

“It’s a little weird, but it does mean you get a certified mom hug!” She interrupted, standing up.

“A mom hug? Dunno if I know what those are like.” Dave said, smiling a little.

“They’re like this, you big goober.” Roxy pulled him into a tight hug, pulling him down a little so he could put his head on her shoulder. “I’m proud of you, Davey. That’s a big deal, comin’ out and shit. I’m glad you felt like you could tell me.”

“...Thanks mom.” Dave’s voice was a watery mumble against her shoulder, but he seemed to have collected himself by the time they pulled away. Roxy immediately turned her sights on Karkat.

“Your turn! You’re family now, you can’t escape hugs anymore.”

“Ugh, you humans are so fucking tactile.” Karkat grumbled but resigned himself to Roxy’s affectionate squeeze.

“Hey man, don’t act like you’re not cuddly as hell. I have to pry you off of me with a crowbar to go take a piss sometimes. You should see this dude when he gets sleepy, Rox, it’s so fucking cute. Did you know trolls purr? It’s some kinda flushed noise or something and it’s the fucking best.” Dave seemed to already be relaxing now that the thing he’d been dreading was over with.

“That’s private!” Karkat hissed, embarrassed. Dave just grinned at him and sat a little closer when they took a seat again. “Do you want me airing out how you melt like a touch starved candybar left in the sunlight when I suggest you should be the little spoon? Or how you turn into a warbling puddle of Dave when I do this?” He reached over and out his hand on Dave’s knee, rubbing his thumb in soothing circles. Casual affection, Dave’s weakness.

“Aw,” Roxy cooed. Dave looked thoroughly embarrassed and made a strangled noise in his throat. Karkat gave him a smug look.

“Shut up.” He grumbled weakly and scooted a little closer so he could press against Karkat’s side and hold his hand.

“So you guys are matesprits?” Roxy asked, and Karkat’s anxiety immediately returned. Dave wasn’t the only one who had coming out to do. Dave squeezed his hand and let Karkat start since this was his thing to discuss.

“Mostly?” He offered weakly, then tried to sound more certain. “We’re kind of pale too.”

“Plus I piss you off in a pitch way sometimes.” Dave added helpfully.

“And the way you kept me from tearing Vriska apart on the meteor was sort of ashen.” Karkat admitted.

“I mean, there wasn’t really much of a chance of you tearing her apart to begin with. Spidertroll could’ve probably kicked any of our asses in her sleep, she’s fuckin’ crazy.”

“My point still stands!”

“So…” Roxy interrupted, guiding them back on topic, “You’re in all quadrants? I didn’t know trolls did that!”

Karkat winced. “They don’t. Usually. It’s extremely frowned upon.”

“Karkat’s had trouble keeping shit in one quadrant.” Dave explained for him. “He’s got a big ol’ heart full of love.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re the only person in Paradox Space to come to that conclusion about what my useless fucking pump biscuit is full of, but thanks for the thought.” Karkat rolled his eyes, defaulting to annoyance to avoid the insecurities that always gnawed at him when he thought about his relationship with quadrants. “‘Full of love’ is usually not the first thing people describe me as. More like ‘full of a burning anger’ or ‘a perpetual stream of irritable piss’ or, hell, ‘just undiluted dumbass juice!’ As far as most people are concerned, I’m Karkat ‘useless shitfit’ Vantas, and they’re not fucking wrong!”

“Okay, sure, you might be the grumpiest person in all - what, is this five universes now? I can’t keep track, but that doesn’t mean you’re not secretly a big softy.” Dave rubbed his thumb over Karkat’s knuckles. “I know that best out of probably anyone.”

“If it helps, I don’t think of you as those things!” Roxy added. Karkat gave her a disbelieving look.

“Full offense, we’ve never really ‘hung out.’”

“I mean, no, but I’ve seen you interacting with Dave and John and Kanaya and stuff, and you’ve always seemed to be a caring friend underneath all the yelling.” Roxy shrugged. “It’s nice knowing Dave’s in good hands since I’ve only been part of his family for a couple weeks. Means I don’t have to give you a shovel talk prob’ly!”

“The shovel talk? What the fuck? What does that even mean?” Karkat looked at Dave for an explanation, but he only winced.

“You know, when parents meet their kid’s partner and are like ‘you better not hurt my baby, or I’ll kill you.’ That kind of thing. I’m guessing trolls didn’t do that on Alternia?” Roxy tilted her head, seeming genuinely curious. Karkat’s face contorted as he wrapped his head around that concept.

“Okay, first of all, no we didn’t because we didn’t even have parents and our lusii wouldn’t give two shits about our quadrantmates. Second of all, you better not even think about giving me your ridiculous human ‘shovel talk’! I’ve known Dave far longer than you have, so it really should be me going ‘don’t fucking hurt him,’ but I know I don’t need to because Dave can fucking handle himself! He doesn’t need your bullshit defenses! If I ever hurt him, I trust him to be able to tell me to fuck off out of his life - not that he’d ever need to because I’d rather establish a culling system in the Troll Kingdom and offer myself up as their first sacrifice than hurt Dave!” He took a deep inhale to continue his tirade, but Dave cut him off with a pat to the cheek.

“Yo, dude, shoosh, it’s okay. It’s really not that big of a deal.” It was only after Dave cut off his train of thought that Karkat realized how worked up he was getting, and he shrank back down against Dave’s shoulder, embarrassed. “I’m pretty sure Roxy was kidding, anyway.”

“Yeah, for sure!” Roxy nodded quickly. “I didn’t mean to imply you were gonna hurt Dave or that he couldn’t take care of himself or anything. That’s hella not my place, and you guys seem very good for each other.”

“Oh. Well. Good.” He sent her a warning glare just to make sure he’d gotten the point across, then forced himself to let some tension out of his shoulders.

“It is really nice knowin’ my family’s in good hands though.” Roxy smiled. “Hell, it’s nice knowin’ I have a family! Oh my god, Dave, do you realize none of us Strilondes are straight? I mean, Rose ‘n Dirk are both gay as hell, and then you and I are bi!”

“Yeah- Wait, what?” Dave jolted a little in surprise. “Rox, you’re bi too? Since when?”

“Uh, since always?” Roxy laughed a bit. “I thought that’s why you came to me, because you knew!”

“No! Holy shit, I gotta process this for a second.”

“LMAO.” Roxy said, pronouncing every letter. “Yeah, dude! I mean, can you blame me? Like, dudes are hot as fuck, that’s like self explanatory. I mean, have you seen the Englberts? Eglishes? Whatever their family name is, John and Jake are both total babes, but then there are girls too! I mean, Janey, what a gal, right? And Callie too!”

“Right?” Dave enthused, clearly excited someone understood where he was coming from. “Girls are so fucking good, hot damn, but then? Dudes? Holy shit?”

“Yeah!” Roxy was just about throwing herself out of her chair with her excitement. “I can barely leave the house, it’s just smoochable babes everywhere I turn.”

“I’d say it’s a goddamn plight, but I got the most smoochable right here.” Dave emphasized his point with a kiss to one of Karkat’s horns, making him squawk. Dave laughed a little and turned back to Roxy. “Yo, but rewind back to Callie. Soooo, are y’all two, y’know…”

Roxy looked remarkably like Dave when embarrassed. “Uh…” The sound of the front door opening and Calliope’s greeting voice cut her off. “I’ll get back to you on that!” Dave waggled his eyebrows at her but didn’t push it.

Dinner was an enjoyable affair, despite Karkat’s near constant crippling fear of being miserable in every social engagement. The food was good and pretty close to tasting like home, and the conversation was fluid - mostly because Roxy and Dave chattered the entire time like hyperactive squirrels. Karkat tried to be annoyed with their ridiculous stream of consciousness discussions, but he couldn’t help but feel warm watching Dave talk so comfortably with his ecto-mom. And he certainly wasn’t the only person happy with the situation; every time he and Dave started bantering back and forth, he could see Roxy’s delight out of the corner of his eye, and the absolutely lovestruck look on her face whenever Calliope spoke didn’t escape him either.

Eventually, though, they had to head home - though Dave and Karkat had both shifted their sleep schedules to be active in the afternoon and most of the night, the majority of their human friends were still diurnal and needed to go to bed eventually - so after a few more hugs from Roxy, they were sent on their way.

Dave landed them down the street from their hive, and Karkat didn’t complain about having to walk that last distance. The Troll Kingdom was just now starting to wake up, stores and restaurants lighting up, trolls in suits rushing to their early jobs, and young trolls getting ushered off to school. It was so different from Alternia, but Karkat thought he could probably get used to the differences if it meant he didn’t have to worry about getting culled at a single glance at his blood color. Maybe it was too early to tell, but if he let himself feel just the slightest bit optimistic for his future, he had a feeling he could be really happy here. He could live a peaceful, successful life on Earth C, and if the cheerful way Dave was swinging their clasped hands meant anything, he wasn’t the only one feeling hopeful.

“So,” He prompted, leaning into Dave’s shoulder, “I guess that could have been more horrible.”

“Yep.” Dave said, popping the ‘p’. “We’ll have to scrap those emergency plans. Cancel our name changes and facial reconstructions and flights to the other side of Earth C, no need to run away immediately.”

“I don’t know, we might have to keep that shit pencilled in. We still need to tell John.” Karkat reminded him, and Dave groaned.

“Oh fuck. Yeah, never mind, you sure we can’t just fuck off into another universe? Universe D here we come. The D stands for Davekat ‘cause it’ll just be us, babe. It also stands for Dick because, come on, it’s us, of course it does. Also Dinosaurs just ‘cause. Do you think dinosaurs are a universal constant? Like, did dinosaurs exist for you guys? Or- oh shit, do you think they evolved differently? Are trolls just super evolved dinosaurs?”

“Dave,” Karkat gave him a look, “I think I would know if I was a dinosaur.”

“I dunno, dude, maybe we’re all dinosaurs-”

“Okay, I know when to cut that shit off.” Karkat rolled his eyes and let go of his hand to unlock their door. “Seriously, I think… that went okay. Less than horrid.”

“Less than horrid, huh? That’s a big compliment coming from you, are you feeling okay? Are you gettin’ some kinda fluffy feelings from hanging out with Roxy too long, ‘cause like, I get it.”

“Shut up. All I’m saying is this might not have been as much of an ordeal as we thought, this ‘coming out to everyone we know’ thing.”

“Maybe. You might be right.” Dave admitted, following him inside. “But that involved way too many emotions, and I think all my brain’s been used up for the rest of the day for anything that involves more thought than playing Xbox for seven hours straight. You down?”

“Fuck yes.”

[demon-blood-youths]

[ laugh ] for your muse to laugh at something mine did

“One time, one of my friends wanted to see if I can make the hottest wings ever, right?” Jaron tells the story to Jam. “So I did. On the market, I managed to find ghost peppers! Now imagine that mixed with Habanero into a buffalo sauce. And have the wings being dipped into that. And I was worried, so...I was thinking of tasting until Rust tasted it.”

“So hot, that it made his cheeks red and he started to cry. A LOT. So you can understand how hot it is and-.” 

”He was getting snot everywhere!” Navarro shouted from the background before his head was in arm hold by Rust before getting  a noogie. “Damn it, Rust! Knock it off!” He yelled. Jaron nods and continues with the story, “So yeah, that was just from one teaspoon of tasting it. So guess who is it for? It’s not Maggie. It’s Ink!” Jaron points to Ink who is happily eating. “So after that, I served a plate of hot wings to her and everyone around is ready to see how it goes down, right?”

“So Ink not only ate one, not two but three of them!” Jaron held up three fingers while telling this incredible story. “And we waited. Then there was smoke, I’m not kidding, from her mouth and well....there were flames and-” “SHE WAS BREATHING FIRE EVERYWHERE LIKE A FREAKING DRAGON!” Navarro shouted to which Ink overhears it and responded with a grin, “WHICH I AM!” She laughs.

Jaron sighs, “So yeah, she was keep on breathing fire non-stop until someone had to get a fire extinguisher and well...put into her mouth with some milk. I mean...she managed to burn down some parts of a house before that so yeah. But guess what happens next???”

“There were three more to go!” Ink grinned as she continues to eat. 

“Yep.” Jaron nods as if that was the end of the story which is the ‘Hot Wings’ incident. 

 @culinaryphoenix

[jeonsduck]

Prince or Pauper

Prince Part 2

You had expected that to be the first and last time you saw Nakamoto Yuta. Someone like him who had five bodyguards, a driver, and two cars probably wouldn't ever even think of you again. Yuta, however, seemed intent on breaking the status quo because they very next day, a strange figure starts to follow you around. A slightly familiar strange figure. As you walk from your dorm to your 8 AM lecture, you notice what appears to be a grown man on a skateboard in generic e-boy fashion following you around campus. He stays about twenty yards behind you at all times, skateboarding at a snail's speed. He even follows you into your lecture, sitting three rows behind you. When you turn around to look at him, that's when you recognize him. He's one of Yuta's bodyguards! You wait until after the lecture finishes to confront him and ask why he's following you. You trap him in an empty lecture hall, whirling around and demanding answers. The bodygaurd sighs and removes his atrocious white sunglasses. He looks bashful, almost ashamed that he's caught. "My boss told me to keep an eye on you." You squint at him in confusion until it clicks. "You mean Yuta? He assigned me a bodyguard?" The guy shrugs, shifting his skateboard to a different hand. "The boss doesn't get out much. And when he does he doesn't get to meet with many friends. To be honest, I don't know that he has any. Real friends, I mean. But he likes you. So here I am." It sounds reasonable when he says it like that. Maybe Yuta's just lonely? But he didn't even ask for yout number, so why the security detail? "What's your name?" You ask. Its getting tiring just calling him bodyguard. He seems to debate answering that before conceding. "Mako." "Well Mako, let's get to class yeah?" He chuckles and ruffles your hair in an annoying big brother kind of way. "Yeah, let's go, kid."

Despite Mako's assignment to watch and protect, you don't hear from Yuta for another three days. Well, in the beginning you didn't know it was Yuta, your phone buzzing off the hook with some unknown number. Dang, telemarketers were getting desperate. On the fifth call you decided to pick up. "Y/N! Why haven't you been answering your phone?" Your eyes widen and you look at Mako who's sitting two tables away. He shrugs and gestures for you to continue talking. There's a lot of wind and static so its hard for you to hear what Yuta is saying. "Yuta? How did you get this number?" "Oh, I just looked you up, don't worry about it! Sorry, I've been out of town this week. But, I just got back and was wondering if you wanted to go get some pizza? I've been craving this amazing place I know for days." Oh, maybe he's in a moving car? That mighy explain the background noise. Your stomach grumbles, and after only eating instant ramen for dinner this week, pizza sounds amazing. "Yeah, I'd love to." You agree. "Perfect! Are you still on campus? I'll pick you up." "Yeah, I'm at the science building." You answer slowly because, Mako is right here, so Yuta should know where you are. Theoretically. "Good! Meet me by the soccer fields in 15!" Yuta hangs up and you just sort of stare at your phone for a second. You save the number Yuta called from as Yuta with three question marks and pack up your things. You head over to the soccer fields expecting to see the black SUV or maybe a fancy sports car in one of the commuter lots. What you don't expect is a fucking helicopter, idling on one of the empty fields. Yuta hangs out the open door when he spots you. "Come on, I already got us a table!" He shouts. You look back at Mako, but he just takes your backpack and gestures for you to board the helicopter. "Go on, kid." You turn away from Mako and jog across the field to the waiting helicopter. Yuta helps you in, fitting a headset over your ears. Another bodyguard straps you both in and you have to yell over the rotors and wind to be heard. "Yuta, why are we in a helicopter?" You ask, clinging to the brace bar for your life. Below you, your campus is quickly shrinking into the distance. "Well, when we got back to the States we couldn't get clearance for the jet at the local airport, but they cleared the helicopter. And then I thought, we already have the helicopter out, so pizza!" Yuta explained it like it was a simple, logical series of events and you just nodded blankly. It was too loud to talk in the helicopter so all conversation ceased until you landed. You recognized the skyline as the pilot made a lap around the city. "Yuta, are we in New York City?" Yuta just laughed and nodded in confirmation. The pilot landed the helicopter on a helipad partway up a skyscraper. Yuta helped you down from the aircraft and the three remaining bodyguards followed you into the building. The restaurant takes up four floors, Yuta was saying, but you were completely distracted by the decor around you. It looked like this place had four Michelin stars to its name. Most of the other patrons were dressed to the nines, but you and Yuta were just wearing jeans and a tshirt. Yuta's jeans were designer and his tshirt was Balenciaga, but that was beside the point. "Mr. Nakamoto it's an honor for you to dine with us tonight. And your guest?" A maitre d'hotel had appeared seemingly out of nowhere, surprising you. "It's great to be back. This is my friend Y/N. Were you able to secure my usual table?" Yuta asked, smiling cordially at the man. "Yes, of course, right this way." He bowed slightly and began leading the way. Apparently, Yuta's regular table wasn't a table at all but an entire dining floor. Of course. There were at least five waitstaff positioned to assist, but you were the only one with a menu. Even the bodyguards, who were sitting one table over seemed to already know what they wanted. "Feel free to look over the menu, order whatever you want. I'll get the tab so-" you cut Yuta off, folding the menu closed. "I'll have whatever you're having. You did say it was the best pizza you've ever had." Yita smiled brightly, signalling a waiter over. You watch him order, asking for some type of pizza you can't pronounce and the pairing wine. "Next time I'm choosing where we go, and I'm footing the bill okay?" You say and Yuta looks at you with surprise in his eyes. "Okay, whatever you say!" He agrees with a chuckle. The waiter returns with the wine bottle, and Yuta waves him off in order to pour it himself. "So, still don't know who I am?" He asks, glancing up at you. You sigh, glancing around the empty dining hall. "I mean. You're rich obviously. And important. Four bodyguards is a bit much. Also, should I be worried that you sent Mako to look after me?" You ask, accepting a full wine glass from Yuta. "You noticed him?" "He's not the best fake college student, but he tried." "Does it make you uncomfortable?" You think about that for a moment, twirling your wine glass around. "Not really. He's not doing me any harm. But should I be worried about my own safety? Does being friends with you constitute a bodyguard?" You ask. Yuta doesn't reply immediately and you take a sip from your glass to fill the space. Its bitter, like all red wines, but not in a bad way. "Are you the child of a mafia kingpin?" You wonder out loud. Yuta's eyes bluge and he nearly chokes on his wine. The bodyguards start laughing heartily, one coming over to ensure that his charge won't asphyxiate. "I guess not." You mumble. "No, no nothing like that. Interesting guess though. The bodyguards are more, protocol than necesity." Yuta explains. You nod solemnly, processing the new information. Protocol? That sounds pretty official. You don't get much more chance to think on it because at that moment the pizza arrives. Its a weird pizza, visually and descriptively. Romano, parmesan, and buffalo mozzarella cheese, garlic herb dough, a slighty spicy kick to the sauce and the toppings :prosciutto, onions, mushrooms, truffle oil, lobster and shrimp. So effectively, the most expensive seafood pizza you'll ever eat. Except holy shit, this isn't just some rich people bullshit, this is honestly the best pizza you're sure has ever been made. It's not just a hodgepodge of expensive toppings, it actually,taste's good. "I think I might fucking cry. Yuta this is delicious." He laughs at you eyes crinkling in the corners. "Of course it's good! I know what good food tastes like." Yuta says. He looks proud, taking a sip of wine to hide his blush. The rest of the meal passes in near silence because there's no time to talk when there's pizza this good. You and Yuta manage to finish the whole pie and the whole wine bottle. You're both slightly tipsy as you make your way back to the helipad. You're clinging onto Yuta and laughing as he tells you silly jokes and stories up until you get put back in the helicopter. Somewhere between New York and campus you doze off, your head resting against Yuta's shoulder. He drifts off as well, his head coming to rest on top of yours. One of the bodyguards takes a photo, for both posterity and blackmail the next time he wants a day off. When you land, Mako is waiting on the soccer field with a car to bring you to your dorm. Despite the bodyguards assuring Yuta that them can put you in the car themselves, he insits on helping buckle you in. You rouse a few times, humming sleepily and he tutts you back to sleep. "See you soon, Y/N." You might feel a gentle kiss on your forehead, but that could just be you dreaming.