#because i just could. not. get the sketch right!!!!

[cobaltperun]

Darkest Part (4) - Died In Your Arms

Astrid Deetz x female Reader

Summary: You will never, in life or afterlife, if such a thing exists, meet anyone as infuriating, rage inducing, entitled, or frankly awful, as Astrid fucking Deetz. There isn’t a single thing you’d like more than to never be around her, but as your luck would have it, you just can’t stay away from her.

Masterlist / First part / Previous Part

Word count: 5.3k

-Oh I, I just died in your arms tonight, it must've been some kind of kiss, I should've walked away-

This was a good life, hot chocolate, paper taped to the desk as you drew your third sketch of the building you had in mind. Away from all the worries and for a moment free from any obligations.

“How’s it going?” your mom came up to you and leaned over to kiss your cheek.

“Mom, you shouldn’t-“ she didn’t wince, her back didn’t hurt, yeah, it would end soon, and you desperately wanted it to continue. Wanted things to get better, wanted her to be healthy again.

Your phone had other ideas, as the alarm rang and the sound of it startled you awake. Curse your need to constantly change your alarm ringtone, otherwise you’d get used to it and sleep right through it. This new one was ridiculously awful, like someone constantly ringing the bell, but it got the job done. “Am I ever going to wake up well-rested again?” you wondered, feeling like you barely slept a wink. You just couldn’t get used to this house.

Well, considering the tales about it, maybe that wasn’t that strange.

Or it was just the reasonable explanation.

As it was, last night your exhausted body just collapsed onto the bed and you fell asleep, and then got woken up by the chill of the night, because of course you were too tired to cover yourself. What followed was you spending way too long trying to warm up. Winter River indeed, it really was cold. Why couldn’t this be some pleasant warm place, somewhere you could still go around wearing short sleeves instead of already needing several layers of clothing.

The only thing worse than the cold was the Chihuahua that was also in the house. “Why the fuck would I let her be on my mind first thing in the morning?” you slapped your forehead, now even more annoyed. Of all the people you could have thought of at the start your day, it had to be her.

Annoyed, you threw the covers off and immediately came to regret it as the cold air made you shiver. On second thought you should probably stay in bed a bit longer, so you went back under the covers into the warm escape from the chilling cold. You swiftly unlocked your phone and figured you might as well check up on your mom and Alex. You sent each of them a message asking how they were and if everything was fine and put your phone away. It was still too early to call them and if you had to be awake it didn't mean you had to wake them up too.

~X~

Halfway through the day and a lot of packing later, you sat down at the table exhausted with the hot cup of tea in front of you. You really needed that as the warmth of the tea seemed to seep into your very soul. Actually, you also needed a blanket around your shoulders and the nice warm fire accompanied by perhaps movie. It's been a while since you've watched ‘Kill, Baby, Kill’ and you were really in the mood for it after these past few days.

Seeing your favorite movie again would probably make your life a tiny bit better.

No, instead of that you had to deal with someone rather happy getting inside the house with an obvious bounce to their steps. You raised your head, confused and for a moment even terrified that someone actually broke in and just didn't care about making noises. And then that someone walked through the door into the dining room and you would have been a lot happier if it was a burglar.

No. Instead it was the fucking Chihuahua what a wide, frighteningly bright, and happy grin on her face and the world was going to end any moment now. You were fairly sure, and not at all being too dramatic, that Astrid Deetz, also known as Chihuahua, being this obviously happy was one of the eleven signs of the apocalypse.

“Oh, of course you're here. Well, it doesn't matter, not even you can ruin my mood,” she just  walked past you, still happy, and not throwing insults at you. She didn’t do anything! Absolutely nothing! Not even glaring at you and you could not remember the last time you were this frightened.

You scrambled to your feet and rushed outside. “Delia!” you cried out hoping the woman would have some kind of help for you maybe some medicine for hallucinations or a plausible explanation or anything really as long as it helped. You desperately needed someone to convince you that just made what happened up in your head!

It was all in your head. There was no other explanation, which made it even more concerning because Astrid Deetz being in your head and part of your hallucinations was not a good sign for you. Frankly, at this point you had no idea which was worse, Astrid being happy or you thinking about the damn Chihuahua to the point of hallucinating seeing her happy.

~X~

“Damn it Delia, why couldn’t you just get this delivered to the damn house?!” you hissed, a lot like the creatures inside the box you were currently carrying. You knew you had fear of heights before, but apparently you also had a fear of snakes. Which was made a lot worse by the sounds the snakes were making and you were praying that the people Delia bought the snakes from didn't scam her and actually defanged them.

Sure, in theory you were safe. The box was sealed, and safe, but your brain still came up with frightening scenarios. As safe as the box probably was you were still frightened that they would somehow find their way out and bite you and you did not want to die due to snake bites.

‘How many times am I going to risk my life in one single week?’ you wondered, and you really shouldn't have because you had a few more times before the end of this trip.

You finally reached the house and couldn’t have been happier to see it as you rushed up the stairs and set the box on the table for Delia to do whatever she intended to do with the snakes. You really hoped she wouldn't make you go with her because at that point you might actually think staying with Rory would be more pleasant. And just to be safe you immediately turned to Delia when she walked into the room. “I'm done with the snakes, I did my part the rest is up to you,” you urgently informed her before she could get more great ideas.

Delia just laughed. “They are defanged, don't worry,” apparently they were, you weren’t about to check.

You slumped slightly, doing your best puppy eyes to get her to let you stay out of this. “I am still not comfortable around snakes, so please don’t ask me to help you with them,” well at least she didn't look like she would push you to join her as she smiled and patted you on the shoulder.

“Come on, I'm not that cruel,” she smiled at you and then shook her head in amusement at the relief showing on your face. “I thought it would be a good experience is for you to watch, but it’s fine if you don’t. Oh and Y/N, you can rest tonight, you don't even have to go to the wedding,” she was telling you one good news after the other. “We have a few more things to do tomorrow morning and then you can go back home,” Delia surprise you but maybe you should have expected it. She had her moments of kindness and you've been on the receiving end plenty of times, despite all the less pleasant, more dangerous and difficult moments you had with her.

“Thanks Delia, I really appreciate it,” you told her as Astrid joined the two of you.

“Snakes?” Astrid looked at the content of the box, surprised by what she saw and for once you couldn't blame her. Personally, you didn't quite get why Delia got them herself but she wanted them and she got them. Something about Ancient Egypt and Pharaohs from what you understood.

“Actually asps,” Delia corrected her, and you had to admit she actually sounded excited about them.

“Why? Are they a wedding gift for Rory?” Astrid asked, hopeful that the answer would be yes.

“Now that would’ve made it worth carrying them,” you knew that wasn’t their purpose but  no one could force you to stop happily imagining Rory freaking out over the snakes.

For the first time since you've known her, Astrid actually didn't have a rude remark or an insult for you, and actually just rolled her eyes with a smile which was almost freaky but not exactly an unwelcome change.

“Too late they've be defanged, guaranteed harmless! And they're for me.” Delia shattered your dreams well, yours was never even allowed to begin because you knew from the start what she wanted to do with them. Still for a moment you could hope that she would at least use them as a prank. It’s not like they were one se only! She could use them for more than one thing. After all, she already got them, why not just use them on the bastard as a very funny prank. It would not change anything about the snakes, and they could still be used for the ritual thing she had in mind.

Well, you were left with only your dreams.

You left the two of them to check if there was anything left unpacked, you were just about to head back upstairs when Lydia rushed down and you turned around, not sure how to react to the frantic woman.

“You got your wish, we're leaving! Pack up your things, I'm driving you back to school,” Lydia seemed absolutely frantic, like she just saw a ghost, which, well, she was supposed to be able to see them. You watched from the stairs as she went by you and toward the front door

“Wait! What happened” Astrid called after her.

“You wouldn't believe me if I told you,” Lydia denied answering Astrid’s question.  That actually made sense, especially if it had something to do with ghosts, which this house apparently had at one point. So going by their relationship and the issues Astrid had with her mother you guessed it was something paranormal in question.

Delia, however, did not make that connection. “Oh you're calling off the wedding?” she went after Lydia outside and just for a moment you and Astrid exchanged looks do you just shrugged finally realizing that you couldn't even begin to try and have a normal conversation with her. That's how used you were to just fights and banter and insults and everything that came along with this hatred between you.

Eventually you just pointed at yourself then point upstairs and then point at her and outside. The message being clear, you would, rather regrettably, check up on Rory while she would go and check up on her mother.

To that Astrid, just as unsure of how to interact with you like a normal human being, just went and gave you a thumbs up and you both went your separate ways, one up the stairs to the attic and the other outside to talk to her mother.

~X~

Lydia was stuck in the office, just contemplating everything about her and Astrid’s relationship.

Apparently, her daughter was not gay. In fact, she had a date with a boy. Her first date was with a boy, not with the girl as she expected it would be. Did Lydia really mess up that much that she wasn't even capable of seeing how things actually were? Her daughter, who she believed was gay and actually had a crush on you and was just unable to properly act up on those feelings, threw her a curveball and was going on a date on Halloween night with a boy she met 2 days ago.

How did she miss the signs?

Her concerns were now even bigger because, unlike you, this boy was a complete unknown for Lydia. She didn't know his full name, she didn't know his parents, granted she didn't know your parents either but that was beside the point, she didn't know how he spent his time, what his interests were. She didn't know anyone who knew him, and she was now overthinking it and panicking and was getting even more nervous and afraid for her own daughter because this was a mess, and she was disappointed in herself as a mother for mistaking her daughter’s sexuality.

Maybe Astrid was just bisexual. Maybe. Maybe Lydia just got so deep into preparing for a girlfriend that she forgot that there were other options, all equally daunting for her as the mother of a child that would soon start, that actually just stated dating, and find her own love and heartbreak and everything Lydia herself went through all those decades ago.

Also did her daughter actually just tell her that she crashed through the fence and that's how she met the guy? Like it was just something people did for fun? How did that even happen?

Lydia began breathing deeply, huffing and taking very loud, very deep breaths. She could not go down that train of thought.

~X~

He liked her.

Jeremy liked her. Astrid knew that much, she could see signs that he wanted to kiss her, that he really didn't want to spend any time handing out candies to the kids and instead actually wanted to spend time with her.

And she, at least logically speaking, wasn't opposed to the idea. At least it would prove to her that some feelings she may or may not have were, in fact, not real and just her heart playing with her brain so she would kiss him to prove her heart wrong.

Astrid let him approach her, she felt his hands on her, hugging her and she hugged him back, and he held her like he hasn’t been touched in years. Like he was desperate to feel someone’s touch, someone’s kind and positive touch. Astrid could almost feel his breath on her lips and then she just couldn't do it, because there was an infuriating Barnacle plaguing her thoughts at that very moment.

She pulled away, separating from him even though she knew how it looked. “Sorry I just I think we are rushing too fast into this,” she apologized and he seemed understanding at first. At least from the looks of it, he just turned to the window and looked rejected “I'm not saying I'm opposed to kissing you eventually, but we just met two days ago,” she tried to cheer him up but then he turned to face her.

“No, you’re right, I'm- I'm sorry I just got excited because you can see me and for over 23 years no one saw me and I just thought we had something,” she must have heard him wrong but then she looked down and saw it.

He was floating and that's when she realized all the stories her mother told were actually true and she was actually seeing a ghost these past few days

~X~

You were in the living room, with everyone aside from Astrid and Rory, plus Jane, just lazing around on the sofa and texting Alex. You weren’t in a costume, you had no intention of dressing up for the Halloween.

The truth was, you kind of hated Halloween. Well hate might be a strong word, mostly reserved for Astrid and maybe another thing or two. No the actual word you were looking for regarding Halloween was more like indifference brought upon by that's one time you got dressed as a pumpkin and got teased for by your classmates.

It wasn't fun. It was actually horrific and ever since then you just didn't bother celebrating Halloween. So, what if Astrid was currently on her ridiculous date? It had nothing to do with your current mood. Even if you did hated the guy more than you hated her for some reason. You should have felt sorry for him, after all he was the one who had to deal with being on a date with the Chihuahua.

So, no, you did not care about Astrid being on a date with some random dude.

You just realized you’d be all alone. Delia would be at the cemetery doing whatever she seemed to want to do with the snakes and Lydia would be preparing for her wedding and Rory would be giving out the candy. And you were fine with that. You would just be hanging around on the couch in the living room waiting for Delia to sign all the papers and then you could just go ahead and leave, just start packing what little things you brought here and get ready to go back home. Luckily Delia promised she would arrange a car to come pick you up.

“Where's Rory?” Lydia asked out of blue, almost as if she was asking out of obligation, because she should know where he was and not because she actually had to know where he was. Especially since she had Chihuahua’s first date to worry about.

“Supermarket swapping out the candy I bought for carrot sticks, because Rory loves to fun suck everything even Halloween,” of course Delia did not miss a single chance point out the kind of person Rory was, because Lydia apparently couldn’t see him for who he really was. Even if it didn’t change anything you figured she did feel the need to, in her own way, warn her stepdaughter about him because as far as you knew telling Lydia that Rory was not who he was presenting himself as wasn't working. “Gotta run, see you at the church,” she turned back to Lydia and with a hopeful look added. “Unless you're calling off the wedding.”

“No Delia,” Lydia sighed and just noticed Delia was leaving, that was how focused on Astrid she was. “Wait, why are you going to the cemetery?” Lydia asked. It just crossed your mind that she in her panic earlier today did not see the snakes Delia bought.

“To commune with my dear husband spirit,” was all Delia needed to say. She quickly waved at you and was on her way leaving you alone with Lydia and Jane and from the looks of it, Jane was going to leave soon so that would just leave you and Lydia alone in the house for a while. At least until she would go and get Astrid. Oh, and until Rory came back.

Still, it could be fun. You haven't had the chance to be on your own wait the Lydia Deetz and you actually were curious about her. And it had nothing to do with maybe not wanting to be alone while a certain Chihuahua was on a date with a guy she met two days ago, while she spent so damn long hating you. Yeah, that had nothing to do with it.

Nothing at all!

You did not care where that stupid Chihuahua was or how quickly she fell in love like dumb ass.

“The closest we ever got to Disney was when Astrid dressed as Cinderella’s dead mom,” you absolutely did not filter out what Jane mentioned about her daughter and scouts or whatever group her daughter was in and you absolutely did not think Astrid’s costume sounded exactly like her.

Jane said something something fruit salad mortgage something something non triggering and then asked the question that was annoying the hell out of you, that is, she asked where Astrid was.

Lydia had this soft, yet somber smile on her face. “On a date,” she said, like a parent learning to accept their child was growing up. “Her first. I think I'm more nervous than she is. The boy lives over on Jefferson,” Lydia really did sound nervous when she said that, and you guessed between their rocky relationship and all the things that happened Astrid’s first date at this moment wasn’t something Lydia was entirely prepared for.

Something something perfect sales records something something on the market for years something something once more you're pretty much tuning out the words of the woman the Deetz family hired to sell their house. And you were doing good, tuning her out, that is until she said three words: the murder house and you immediately sat up and stopped texting Alex. A sinking feeling inside of your guts was almost telling you to pay attention because you just had a bad feeling about what was going to they said next.

“Murder house? Which house?” Lydia asked now frantic and you sort of pieced together that's maybe the house show left Astrid at wasn't that far off from looking like a murder house. Because if the house looked normal and if Lydia you got to see the parents or that boy she would not be looking this afraid right now.

“125,” James said and just from the look of Lydia's face you knew that was the house Astrid was in and so you jumped to your feet and rushed to get the car keys.

“Fucking hell Chihuahua, what did you get yourself into?” just as you've got the keys you saw Lydia rushing out. “I'm going with you!” you quickly told her and followed after her into the car. The woman was clearly in shock but all she cared about was just getting to Astrid, nothing else mattered.

You did not dare to tell her you would get there in time. You had no idea how all of this worked, sure you believed in ghosts and you've been seeing glimpses of strange things throughout your life. You still had no idea how any of that actually functioned. You had no idea if they could harm Astrid.

If the guy she was with was bad news then she probably was in danger and especially if Lydia, the most competent person to judge if her daughter was in danger from ghosts was also panicking. “He killed his parents 23 years ago!” okay, Astrid was definitely in danger. “If I just didn’t let her into that house, if I just went in with her! What kind of mother am I if something happens to her-“ Lydia was mostly talking to herself.

“Hey, wait, wait, don't go there you couldn't know!” You tried to get her to calm down. “You're the expert but you couldn't know! Just focus on saving her so you can berate yourself later,” you needed her focused because if she wasn't, you had no hopes of getting Astrid back in time. And you really, as much as you didn't like Astrid, did not want her dead or in danger.

~X~

The moment the car began slowing down in front of the house you just ran out, without even waiting for it to stop and ran up the stairs ignoring the for sale sign in front of the house. You ended up bursting through the doors so hard the handle might have gotten a bit damaged because the doors were old.

You stumbled when you entered the house, you felt sick for a moment when you saw the man. But you did not see him clearly, it was like there was a mist around him.

"Astrid!" Lydia yelled and it snapped you out of your confusion. That man was a ghost, mist meant ghost, at least at this stage of your ability to see ghosts. So, you rushed right through the woman going down the stairs.

"Wait! Deetz!" you yelled as loud as you could as you ran up the stairs two steps at a time. You saw the light and broke through the door, but Astrid just walked through something.

"What the? Barnacle?" your eyes met and you reached out to her but the ghost guy grabbed her forearm and pulled her along and the portal closed before you could reach out and grab her hand.

"Astrid!" Lydia cried out, but it was too late as well.

If only she reached out to you. For the first time since you met her you cursed yourself for not being at least civil with her. "Damn it!" you slammed your fist on the old table, right next to some thick book. "What do we do now?"

Lydia grabbed the book on the table, your outburst probably caught her attention. "Come on, I have a crazy idea," you saw uncertainty in her eyes, fear that maybe not even what she had in mind would be enough, but she had to hope. You both rushed down the stairs, every second mattered and you couldn't waste time on just talking. "Can you drive?" she asked, clearly intending to go through the book.

"Of course," you nodded and ran to the car, starting the engine once more as Lydia sat down next to you.

~X~

You had no time to waste, as you drove around the house and parked the car right in front of the entrance to the house, not even caring that you would somewhat block the path for the kids. They could avoid the car, it didn't matter, you just had to be quick and find a way to rescue Astrid, so up to the stairs you drove.

“Y/N?! Where’s the rush? You're nearly drove into the house!” Rory exclaimed as he was on top of the stairs preparing to hand out the candy to the kids, but you just ran past him not really wasting a moment to stop and chat. You didn’t even turn the engine off, just parked the car.

Lydia gave him some excuse or whatever as you both rushed upstairs. She already told you where to go so you just grabbed the crowbar on the way upstairs and started removing the boards Delia and Lydia put there just an hour or so ago. By the time Lydia came up the stairs as well you were almost done and you both pulled the last wooden board out of the way and went into the attic and from that point on you could only watch her as she found the solution.

The first thing that caught your eye was the small scale model of Winter River, done in amazing detail, and if things were any different you would have spent hours studying it.

“I can't believe I'm doing this,” she took a deep breath. “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice!” you had no idea what was going on as she repeated that word? Name? Whatever it was three times.

And then the freakiest thing happened the mist slash smoke surrounding the paranormal vanished from your vision as the zombie-looking guy with green hair and striped suits and rather unhealthy-looking skin emerged from the Winter River model. “The juice is loose,” he said and vanished, only to appear right next to Lydia.

“I need you to tell me what this means,” she skipped the formalities and just showed him the pages of the book she found in that room where Astrid was.

“Let's have a look,” he pulled out a magnifying glass. “Long story short, your daughter is screwed,” well, fuck! “She decided to trade lives with a boy, he gets to come back while she's stuck on the other side, permanently. One way ticket to the Soul Train,” this guy, Beetlejuice, explained and you were just absolutely confused about what was going on. Afterlife actually existed, and people could come back.

More importantly… “She did what?! Why would she do that? Who does that?” you demanded. Astrid was smart! What did that ghost offer her to make her accept giving up her life? Or did he just outright trick her? “Shit, we need to get her back,” you turned away from Lydia and Beetlejuice and ran your hand through your hair, not even sure you would make it in time.

“The Soul Train?” Lydia asked for further explanations.

“That's right! The last stop, The Great Beyond,” he said and you just leaned back against the wall. Was there even anything you could do at this point? Astrid was on the other and you were over here in the living world. But then again Beetlejuice was from that other world. Was that why Lydia called him? Because he could somehow move the two of you into the world of the dead?

Wait, were you about to go into the world of the dead for Astrid? Not knowing the risks, or the consequences, or if it would be dangerous? You knew nothing about it, it was a complete unknown that you weren’t even sure existed five minutes ago!

Somehow you knew the answer was yes. You would take all those risks to take her back, because you plain and simple couldn’t live with yourself if you just let her die.

“Can we go in after her?” You asked as you once more turned toward Lydia and Beetlejuice.

“Quid pro quo, I want something in return,” while he replied to you he was looking at Lydia, as if he would only accept something from her.

Maybe those were the rules? Since she summoned him?

“Of course you do. What do you want?” Lydia asked ready to give him anything he asked for as long as it would save her daughter.

“Well I've got this ex-wife-“ Beetlejuice began and you've spent enough time with Delia and you knew a tangent when you saw one.

“Get to the point!” You exclaimed. Each second could be vital in keeping Astrid alive, and you did not want to waste it on his tangents.

“You want me to marry you,” Lydia knew what he wanted, and you just turned to look at her because what the fuck was that about? How would that even work? All of this was too much and the only reason you were keeping your sanity was because you had a goal in mind.

You weren’t sure you’d be keeping your sanity for much longer as so you watched this Beetlejuice act like getting married was Lydia's idea, like she just proposed to him because she wanted that. And then he made her sign some contract because apparently, he needed that in writing. You were in the most absurd situation possible and you half- expected to just wake up and see that everything was fine. Like this was all just a fever dream and you would wake up go to the work at the library you'd see Astrid there being annoying and being a Chihuahua and getting on your nerves and not on the way to swap lives with a ghost and die.

“What's the plan on getting in?” Lydia had enough of his bullshit as well and just demanded to know how you all would get in.  

Beetlejuice just vanished again and appeared in front of the wall, crouching and drawing a bomb with the fuse. He then just went and lit his thumb on fire. This was all absolutely ridiculous because the drawn fuse just lit on fire and the bomb exploded and instead of looking outside of the house you were looking into some office.

“Deetz, you're gonna be the death of me,” you said, ready to just go through.

“Trust me kid I know the feeling,” Beetlejuice said.

“I did not ask,” fuck it, you were going in, and you were not getting out without Astrid.

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Masterlist / First part / Previous Part

[eand47]

Chapter IV | Sweater Weather

Summary: You moved to one of the biggest cities in the world - Grand Line to pursue filmmaking career. Soon enough your path will cross with the vocalist of upcoming band called “The Neighbourhood”. At first you decided to be just friends - because it would be easier, but sadly as everything in life sometimes by taking the easy path we regret a lot of things.

Main characters: Portgas D Ace x Reader (female)

Supporting characters: Nami, Usopp, Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Law, Deuce, Shanks, Buggy, Sabo, Eustass Kid, Koala, Marco, Robin (more to be add)

Description: Modern AU | Musician Ace

WARNINGS: explicit language, use of nicotine/cigarettes, use of drugs, postpartum depression, mentions of death, family trauma, conflicted feelings

Word Count: 15,2K

<- previous chapter

NOTE: I’ve planned to write this chapter even longer, but then I decided that it would be pointless as most of the things would be repetitive. Here are the descriptions of some filmmaking terms, so when you are reading you know what the characters are talking about: D.O.P - Director of Photography/Cinematographer, the person who works closely with the director, and the person who determines the framing of the shots and capturing the scenes AC - First Assistant Camera, the person who is responsible for the focus of the camera and the lenses Call Sheet - The daily schedule, filled with all the information needed for the actors and the crew about when, where and what will be filmed Storyboard - Visual representation of a film sequence and breaking down the actions into individual panels, sketching out how the video will unfold shot by shot I hope that all of this Filmmaking things are not boring you, but I feel like if I don’t write them down the story will feel super fake and the logic will be missing and it won’t be clear why certain things are described a certain way, if you get what I mean 😅 Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the previous ones, or even more hehe… also … there are some major foreshadowing in this chapter 👀 hihi enjoy <333

It has been two weeks since the Halloween party, which I try not to think about much. Nami was quite upset with me the first few days after it, as I left without saying goodbye and because I wasn’t answering the next day. I wasn’t in the mood to talk about the party with anyone. When we met on Monday in lectures, I lied to her and Usopp that I felt super sick and because of it I left without saying anything not wanting to ruin their funny, and they bought it. Everything was fine, until I saw Ace once at the coffee shop, luckily for me he had his back facing me, so he didn’t see me. I recognised him by his orange beanie, but I quickly left as I wasn’t ready to see him again. Still, almost everyday I caught myself thinking about him at least once, going back to the moment we “shared” at the party. He had his ways to get under someone’s skin, I gave him that. We have barely spoken or knew each other, yet I couldn’t shake him off my thoughts. The way his actions and words were so contradicting. I still remember the burning feeling he left inside of me by just barely touching my skin, I can only imagine what it could have been if he had kissed me. Or maybe I totally misread the situation, but I would never know.  

The only thing keeping me from thinking of him was the fact that I was extremely busy with the upcoming short-cut projects at university. I was stuck writing and rewriting my script, not being satisfied with it fully, and we must submit our final draft by the end of this week. Because of that we didn’t have any classes this week and I haven’t gotten out at all. Nami and Usopp texted me a few times to join them outside for a drink, even Luffy texted me to hang out, but I turned them all down, as my main focus right now was submitting my final draft.

Today I had consultation with one of my teachers regarding my script, as I wanted a second opinion if the story and the actions were clear. My meeting was scheduled at 2PM, so I got plenty of time as I woke up quite early, not being able to sleep in the past few days. I decided to get dress and grab a coffee from my favorite coffee shop. I put a pair of dark baggy jeans and just a basic grey cotton t-shirt, not feeling like dressing myself up today, as stress was taking over me. I didn’t even bother to put makeup or anything, I just put my jacket on, grabbed my bag over the shoulder and headphones and left. As I was on my way to the coffee shop when the next song that started to play from my headphones was Ace’s song. I had saved them all on my playlist; aside from Ace’s confusing behaviour at least his band’s music was good.

Touch my neck and I'll touch yours You in those little high-waisted shorts, oh

The song started to bring memories from the party, especially when the choirs hit.

'Cause it's too cold for you here and now So let me hold both your hands in the holes of my sweater

I wasn’t in the mood for this, so I quickly changed the song.

“Fucking Ace.” I cursed under my breath.

The sky was cloudy today, and I didn’t check the weather app, and it seemed like it was going to rain. Soon drops of rain started to pour from the sky and I started to run towards the cafe. My jacket didn’t have a hood, and my hair got wet and messy by the time I reached it. It was quite busy when I got inside, and my usual seat was taken so I went to wait on the queue before I sit somewhere.

“One black coffee, please” I ordered to the barista. My card declined as I was trying to pay. “Oh, I’m so sorry, give me a second.” I apologised to them, as I probably ran out of money, and I had to transfer from my savings.

“I will pay for her and make them two.” This smooth, low voice that I would recognise from miles away said behind me.

“Ace” I turned around immediately facing him. He just winked at me, paying for the coffees. The barista handed us the coffees and we thanked him.

“Thanks for the coffee.” I glanced at Ace and went to find a place to sit, leaving him by himself. I found a small table at the back of the shop. I sat down and pulled my laptop from my bag, trying to calm myself down. Of course, off all possible days I met him today. As the day couldn’t get any more stressful for me it had to serve me Ace on top.

“Mind if I take a seat?” Ace stood next to me, waiting for my respond. He had this little smug smirk on his face, and that slightly irritated me.

“Sure.” I gave him a short response. He sat down across from me, leaning his back on the wall, resting one of his arms on the back of the chair and the other on the table, his whole body facing away from me. I took a quick look at him. He was wearing baggy jeans with an oversized grey hoodie, which was wet from the rain, and his red bead neckless hanged around his neck as always.

“We are matching today.” He pointed out, tilting his head towards me. I looked down at myself and realised that we were wearing matching outfits. I gave him a simple nod, looking away from him back to my computer. “You look tired.” He said taking look at my tired face.

“I am tired.” I sighed.

“Is everything okay? Are you okay, doll?” His voice had a hint of concern.

“Don’t call me that.” I snapped at him.

“Why are you so moody? Someone stepped on your tail this morning... doll?” He mocked me. I shoot him a glance from behind my laptop not in the mood for jokes. “You look cute when mad, you know.” He chuckled at me, the smirk not leaving his face.

“What do you want Ace?” I raised my eyebrow at him.

“Nothing, just to sit and chitchat with a friend.” His answer pissed me off, like he forgot what happened two weeks ago.

“Ace...” I took a breath calming myself down before continuing. “I don’t want to be rude, but I’m under a lot of stress right now, so if you want to sit here – sit but I’m not in the mood for a chitchat.” I didn’t want to be mean at him, but also, I couldn’t hide my irritation right now. He just nodded and sipped from his coffee. We were sitting in silence – me on my laptop, writing and rewriting whatever felt right or not, and Ace was just scrolling on his phone. I took a sip from my coffee and couldn’t help but wrinkled my nose and furrowed my eyebrows as always. I heard Ace chuckle under his breath.

“What?” I asked Ace.

“Nothing.” He shrugged, his smug smile not leaving his lips.

“You are laughing at me, aren’t you?” I nagged.

“Please, doll explain this: why drinking coffee if you hate it?” He turned his body to face me, putting both of his forearms on the table, holding his coffee cup.

“Because if I drink something that I like I will get addicted to it and then I will want to drink it all the time – that’s why.” I responded.

“How may coffees you drink a day?” He had this mischievous spark in his eyes.

“Depends on the day, but sometimes two or three.”

“Doll, I think you are already addicted.” I rolled my eyes at his comment.

“Stop calling me ‘doll’, Ace.” What was with this pet name, he hasn’t stopped calling me ‘doll’ since Halloween.

“Why? You don’t like it?” He teased me.

“You call all your friends ‘doll’?” I teased him back.

“No, only you.” His voice was low, almost like a whisper, eyes glued on mine half lidded as always. Instead of a smirk he had this little smile playing on his lips. I broke the eye contact looking back at my laptop, starting to type on the keyboard again.

“What are you writing there?” He leaned on his hand, his voice soft.

“My script for the short-cuts.” My respond short, eyes not leaving the computer as I was re-reading the script, checking for mistakes or if I need to add extra remarks.

“Is that why you are so stressed?” He straitened up his posture, studying my face as he was sipping from his coffee. I simply nodded in response. “What is it about?” He asked and I looked at him hesitating if I should tell him.

“It’s about a man, who fell in love with this woman from the moment he saw her, but so did his best friend.” I chuckled feeling a little embraced telling Ace the plot of my script. “But his best friend hit on her first, so they started to date, and the whole scene is about them announcing their engagement and the man – the main character, gets lost in his thoughts of ‘what if’. ‘What if’ he did a move on her first, and they were the one dating and he knows how he would have treated her better ect.” I was babbling as Ace was just looking at me, taking every word, I said. “And then the ‘what if’ moment gets interrupted by his girlfriend who shakes him off the thoughts asking him what’s wrong and why he doesn’t congratulate them, and he quickly brushes it off and congratulates them only to whisper to his best friend's now fiancé that it should have been him.” I took a deep breath and raised my eyebrows in anticipation for Ace’s opinion on the script.

“Can I read it?” His voice and eyes sparkled with interest, so I turned my laptop and handed it to him. His face was unreadable while he was reading it until he handed me the laptop back.

“Well... what do you think?” I felt my confidence leaving me, as he wasn’t saying anything.

“I think that I don’t know much about scripts, nothing at all actually, but...” He paused for a second. “I can’t wait to see your film, doll. I really liked it.” Ace leaned on the back of the chair; arms crossed around his chest as he smiled at me.

“What? You mean that? You really liked the script?” My eyes widened of surprise hearing his response. “Like, you really, really mean that?”

“Yes, doll I do.” He chuckled. “Have more fait in yourself.” I didn’t know how to respond to this. I've heard this a lot – be more confident, have more fait in yourself, yet the ‘imposter’ syndrome could never leave me.

“Thank you, Ace. This means a lot.” I smiled at him.

“Nothing to thank me about.” He raised his cup of coffee to his lips and before he took a sip he added. “And if it sucked, I was going to tell you.” I playfully rolled my eyes at him.

“I rewrote it like a hundred times. I have a consultation with my teacher at 2PM, because we are submitting them tomorrow, so I hope he likes it, and I don’t need to rewrite again.” I closed my laptop and put it back in my bag. Ace looked at his phone to check the time.

“You still have some time, like almost two hours.” We stayed in silence for a moment, I was avoiding his gaze, as my shyness started to take over me, the memories of the party surfacing on my mind.

“How are your ears, by the way? I forgot to ask you at the party.” The mockery in his voice was so clear.

"My ears?" I didn't understand what he meant my that.

"Yeah, that video with you and Usopp." A big grin spread across his face when he.

“No, no, no don’t remind me.” I got all flushed as I covered my face with my hands, embarrassed of the accident with the microphone and Usopp. Ace laughed at my reaction.

“I love that video, I made Nami sent it to me.”

“What? No! No, no, no!” ‘Nami how could you?’ I was thinking to myself, why would she do that, why would Ace want that video. “Please, Ace delete it.” I begged him. “It’s not even that funny.”

“Yeah, it’s not funny – it’s hilarious.” He snorted, clearly enjoying mocking me like this. I shook my head giving up, my face still covered with the palms of my hand, as I knew that he wouldn’t delete it. “Hey, look at me.” I looked up only to see my shocked face zoomed on his phone screen as a screenshot.

“Ace!” I squealed, reaching with my hand to snatch his phone away to delete the picture but he quickly pulled it away. “Aceee.” I stomped my food like a little kid.

“Easy, doll. Going through someone’s phone is not polite, you know that?” He snapped his index finger hitting me on my forehead, laughing at my reaction, as I pouted.

“You are so mean.” I told him. “What are your plans for the day?” I leaned on my chair, mimicking his posture.

“Go to the studio, play a little with the guys, then talk with our manager about some marketing stuffs and deals – nothing interesting.” Ace shrugged; he didn’t sound very enthusiastic.

We stayed for an hour more – talking and laughing. It was so easy to be myself around him, yet sometimes I caught myself getting a little tensed when he smirked at me or made some teasing comments. I wanted to ask him what exactly happened with him at the party two weeks ago, but I didn’t want to ruin the moment we were having. Even thought we had four years difference I couldn’t really feel it as Ace was still carrying this very boyish energy in him. I got to learn a little bit more about him, and what he likes and dislikes. When it was time for me to head to university he suggested to walk with me to there since he still had some time before him and the guys meet.

The weather outside was still the same but at least it wasn’t raining. We were walking next to each other, almost no distance between our bodies. He was telling me more about his brothers, and things they did as kids.

“So, wait, wait.” I interrupted him. “You are telling me that your aunt Dadan didn’t have any money for your vocal lessons, but the moment Sabo said that he wants to learn how to play drums she immediately signed him up?” I was in disbelief.

“Yea, he is her favourite, as he is you know – blue eyed, blonde, cute.” He mocked her voice as he was describing Sabo. “Then you have Luffy, and last one is me – the black sheep.” He winked with a mischievous smirk.

“Why are you the black sheep?” That piqued my curiosity.

“Our friendship is way too fresh for this conversation, doll.” He bumped me with his elbow on the side, chuckling. I laughed it off, not wanting to push his boundaries.

“Okay one very, very important question before I go.” We were almost to the university when I stopped him before we part our ways. I stood in front of him, with the most serious look on my face, looking straight at his eyes as I pointed my finger at him and spoke. “Which is your all-time favourite movie?”

“Hm...” Ace frowned his eyebrows, thinking for a moment. “I’m not sure, I have to think about it, doll.” He smiled at me.

“I will be waiting for your answer.” I turned around and started to walk towards the school gates.

“Hey, doll.” Ace called after me. “You never gave me your number.”

“Not until you tell me your favourite movie.” I yelled behind my back, waving him goodbye as I entered the gates. My cheeks flaming hot, my heart was bumping fast, and for the rest of the day I don’t think that I would be able to take off the smile from my face. Maybe just being friends wouldn’t hurt, I’m sure I could put my little crush aside and before I know it, we would have this amazing friendship. Some people are better left as friends – and if Ace and I are one of them, so let it be it.

*********

Ace was watching (Y/N) leave and as she disappeared from his sight, he laughed to himself. She was very interesting person. The way she changed her moods so fast, the way her eyes sparked when she talked about things she loved or was excited about, the way when even without saying anything her face betrays her and says it all – she was very fun to hang around. (Y/N) crossed his mind a few times in past two weeks, part of him regrating not taking his chance with her at the party, but then that was for the best. She was a nice girl and a friend of his friends, and he didn’t want to hurt her or give her some empty promises that he couldn’t keep. The least you two could of do was to try being friends, after all better friends than strangers. And she was quite young, Ace remember how he used to behave in his early 20s. The last thing on his mind was to keep someone for a longer than a month, when the world offered him so much; it should be the same with her – after all she was such a catch for the eye. Even today, all tired with sleepy bags under her eyes and messy hair, she was still very cute to look at. Ace wasn’t stupid he did feel the attraction they shared towards one another, but he was doing her a big-time favour by setting their boundaries straight. Although teasing from time to time wouldn’t hurt, she was such a tease herself, which was making it so hard for him.

Ace got to the building where the studio was located. The building was old and had five stores. The studio the guys were renting there was on the second floor. Before going up Ace wanted to light a cigarette or two. He leaned on the staircase and lit up one. ‘Favourite movie, hm...’ he was thinking about an answer he could give you of a movie that he really liked and could say that resonated with him.

“Yo, Ace.” He tilted his head to the side and saw Law walking towards him. They gave each other a quick bump on the shoulders. Ace pulled out his cigarettes from his pocket offering Law one, but he refused.

“What’s up with you? You seem moody.” Ace asked him, as Law seemed not to be in the mood. Law and Ace had been best friends since high school. They met after Ace was kicked out in 9th grade, from the one where him and Sabo were attending together. The first day Ace and Law met, they didn’t really like each other or spoke. It wasn’t until one day when Law was getting beaten up by some 11th graders bullies, and Ace jumped to help him, only for them to end up with detention. Since then, their friendship started. No one else but Law knew off Ace’s darkest secrets, and vice versa; even Sabo and Luffy didn’t know as much about Ace as Law knew. They both could easily read the other like an open book. Which was why Ace could tell something was disturbing Law.

“Nothing.” Law replied, but Ace wasn’t falling for that.

“Come on, bro. If you don’t tell me then who?” Ace took another cigarette lighting it up. He looked at Law again, raising his eyebrows questioningly if he was sure that he didn’t want to smoke one. Law sighed annoyed and took one, lighting it fast and taking long puff from it.

“So?” Ace waited for his respond, but he thought he already knew the reason behind it.

“Robin.” Law glanced at Ace knowing that he got the whole picture already. Ace snorted, shaking his head knowing that he guessed right.

“What did you do this time?” He looked at his friend frustrated face, knowing that it was probably him that messed up something again. Robin and Law were an on and off thing, that only Ace knew about, and it has been two years since this was happening.

“Why do you assume that I did something immediately?” He snapped at Ace, which only confirmed that he did in fact did something that lead to them fighting again. If Law was in a bad mood because of Robin then it meant that he fucked up, if he was going mad, almost insane then Robin did something. That has happened only once and it was when she wanted to end everything with him, and Ace swore that for the tenth years of him and Law being friends, he had never seen Law losing his mind the way he did that night.

“Fine.” Law said after a while. “You remember the chick from the Halloween party? Well, somehow Robin found out that I slept with her, so she is nagging on me now, how for a thousand time I broke our agreement.” He threw the finished cigarette on the ground, stomping it frustrated.

“Why do you even have this agreement in the first place?” Ace got annoyed as this wasn’t the first time this happened; since Robin and Law started seeing each other, they decided that they didn’t want anything serious, but if something was happening between them, they must not sleep with other people.

“I don’t know man, I just don’t want to go through this again.” Law exhaled. “Plus, we haven’t done anything in a month and so, so.. I thought to myself why not, you know.” He shrugged, the sound of regret could be heard in his voice.  

“Did she tell you how she found out?”

“No, no idea. But there was this chick that walked on me at the party, but I was wearing the mask, so I doubt it that it was her. Even thought she looked familiar.” Ace didn’t say anything, he knew that (Y/N) walked on Law, but he decided to keep this information to himself, after all he doubt that she knew Robin.

“What are you planning to do then?” Ace threw his finished cigarette and nodded to Law to get going inside.

“Find a way to fix it.” Law murmured as they were going up the stairs.

The apartment where the studio was, was quite small a one room apartment but very practical. The whole space was turned into one big, isolated sound room. Thanks to Deuce and some of his connections the guys were able to rent it for themselves only for a very nice price. Going in Ace and Law were met with Deuce and Sabo, who were here since the morning. The guys greeted each other and started to chitchat as they were waiting for their manager. Some time passed and he finally came.

“Yo, what’s up Marco?” Sabo was the first one to greet him. Marco was a man in his mid-thirties, blond hair styled in a very interesting mullet style. He had been recently become the guys’ manager, as he had been in the music industry for the past ten years now. It happened after they were performing in some underground night club, and by chance Marco happened to be there that same night. After they were done with their set, he went to speak with them and gave his business card to get in touch with him.

“Same as usual, how are things with you boys?” Marco smiled at them as he pushed his glasses up adjusting them.

“Same as usual here.” Deuce replied, the rest of the boys agreeing.

“I don’t have much time today so I will get straight to business.” Marco clapped with his hands. “We can not afford to postpone this anymore so it’s time for you to finally decide which will be your debut single from the EP and we need to film a music video for it, as soon as possible.”

“Easy answer – ‘Sweater Weather’” Ace said not waiting for the rest of the guys to have a word.

“Are you all on the same page for this?” Marco glanced at the other guys to make sure that they all agreed with Ace’s choice of song.

“I think we all agree, it is our most streamed song.” Deuce said, Law and Sabo agreeing with the choice that Ace made as well.

“Okay, that was faster than I expected.” Marco chuckled. “I was thinking between ‘Sweater Weather’ or ‘Cry Baby’, so I agree with your choice guys. Now for the video, I already have some directors in mind. The first one is Ja-“

“We already have.” Ace interrupted him.

“What do you mean we already have?” Sabo looked at his brother confused, they have never talked about filming a video, let alone them already having the crew for it.

“Yes, Ace; what do you mean by this?” Marco asked, as confused as the rest of the guys.

“I have already spoken with some people, and they are down to film our first video. That’s it. No need to search for director or crew, we already have.”

“And they are?” Marco raised his eyebrow waiting for Ace to give him more clear answer.

“Luffy's friends.” Ace shrugged.

“You must be kidding me?” Sabo quickly snapped at him. Ace just shook his head, looking at his brother questioningly. “Ace, we need professional director and crew, not some kids who barely started to do this.”

“They are not kids, and I’m sure they will do pretty well. Plus, you don’t seem to call Usopp a kid when he is producing music for us, do you?” Ace snapped back at his brother.

“Because he has the talent for it, but he said it himself he is not such a good director.” Sabo tried to reason his brother. “Also have you asked him?”

“No, I haven’t.” Everyone whined annoyed with Ace. “But I will. And also, I didn’t say that Usopp will be the director.” All eyes were again on Ace.

“Who will be then Ace?” Sabo hissed, waiting to hear whatever his brother had come up with.

“(Y/N).” Ace shortly answered.

“Who?” Law and Deuce asked at the same time, the name sounded familiar, but they couldn’t put the face to the name.

“You are kidding me, right? Is she even good? Have you seen any of her work at lease?” At this point Sabo started to have a headache. He knew who his brother was referring to. Sabo also saw the way Ace and this (Y/N) girl behaved around each other at the party, so it better not be what he thought it was.

 “Yea, she is pretty good.” Ace quickly lied. He had never seen any of her work, he was taking a big risk suggesting that, he wasn’t even sure what gotten into him to even suggest it. But something in his gut was telling him that it would work, that it would be worth taking the risk.

“Ace, I swear to Go-“ Sabo got interrupted.

“Guys, guys.” Marco raised his voice. “This is serious, this would be your first video ever, it must be professional, and very well made, not some school project. I don’t care how good these kids are or not, we are hiring you professionals.” The rest of the guys agreed with Marco, but not Ace.

“Listen, I know that this sounds crazy but trust me on this one. Plus, if its turs out bad then we can go for a professional, okay?” Ace tried to fight back.

“Ace this will be waisted time, why don’t you understand this?” Marco took off his glasses massaging his eyes, Ace was the hardest to work with.

“Yeah! Ace this will cost double.” Sabo stood up and looked at Ace, crossing his arms over his chest.

“It won’t, believe me because it will turn out good, I have a good feeling for this.” Ace also stood up getting closer to his brother. “Come on, trust me on this one, when have I ever let you down?”

“How do you guys feel about this?” Sabo turned toward Law and Deuce.

“As long as its turs out good I don’t care who will film it.” Deuce said, as he only cared for the final product.

“How are you sure that they will even agree to do it Ace?” Law asked.

“I have a feeling, okay.” Ace snapped. “Look I will ask them, we meet with them and if our ideas don’t match, we don’t hire them for it, and we go with whoever Marco has in mind.”

 “Okay, this works for me.” Law sighed, not at all in the mood to argue today.

“Ace..” Sabo hissed his finger pointed at his brother. “You- you better be right or else I will beat the shit out of you for this.” He turned around and angrily sat on the couch.

“Um guys, it’s me who has the final word here, remember?” Marco looked at all off them in disbelief.

“Marco, you make sure to speak with the right people to make this viral, we fix the rest.” Ace patted him on the shoulder and left without saying anything more.

“He is unbelievable to work with.” Marco threw his hands in the air looking at the rest of the guys who weren’t paying him much attention as well.

********

“Hey, Usopp. What’s up my man?” Ace said over the phone. It was around 6PM when he got home and decided to speak with Usopp, about the video.

“Chillin’ with Kaya at home, you?”

“Just got home and wanted to speak with you.”

“’bout what?” Usopp asked. Ace was close to all Luffy’s friends, Usopp was even one of them that he could call his own friend.

“How do you feel about you and your friends from uni, filming our first music video?” Ace got straight to the point.

“Ace, we are still learning, plus I’m not the best director.” Usopp was more than surprised by Ace’s proposition.

“I know, I know, but think about it wouldn’t that be a great opportunity for you and your friends?”

“It would definitely be, but again we barely started I don’t know how we would manage to do something as big as a music video for you guys. Plus, it will be your debut video why don’t you go for professionals, you surely ain’t that broke.” Usopp joked.

“It’s not about money.” Ace quickly responded. “I just want you guys to do it.”

“I don’t know Ace. I really don’t think that this is a good idea.” Usopp hesitate.

“You don’t need to be the director, someone else can be.” Ace was quick to add.

“(Y/N) is good, but I doubt that she will be down for it.” That was exactly what Ace needed to hear.

“Do you mind giving me her number, so I can speak with her?”

“Yeah, sure. But good luck, again I don’t think she will agree. But I will send you, her number.” Usopp huffed, knowing that (Y/N) would not agree, but still it wouldn’t hurt if Ace wanted to try. Before they hung up Ace thanked Usopp and waited for him to send the number.

******

My consultation went pretty fast, as my directing teacher was super pleased with my script, he gave me some advice on what I could possibly change to make it easier to film after, but other than this it went well. Before I got home, I stopped by our chill area as I saw some of my classmates. We talked for a bit, exchanging some ideas and jokes here and there. It was nice to know that I wasn’t the only one being so overly stressed for the short-cuts.

I got home and prepared myself something to eat. After it I sat down to make some last changes on the script before I submitted it. I sighed in relief, knowing that I was halfway done with this assignment, and all we have left was to film and then edit it. I was just hoping that the actors I have assigned for my movie would do their roles good.

I laid down on my coach trying to find something interesting to watch. I wasn’t sure what I was in a mood for. While searching for something to watch I could feel that my fatigue started to take over, as my eyes were slowly starting to close. I had fallen asleep when I heard my phone ringing. I looked at the screen and it was unknown number, usually I never pick up if I didn’t know who was calling. I looked at the time and it was almost 8PM. Exactly before whoever was calling hung up, I picked up the phone.

“What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” The voice on the other end said.

“What? I’m sorry who is calling?” I sat on the couch, rubbing my eyes.

“The answer that I couldn’t give you earlier, doll. ‘What’s Eating Gilbert Grape’ – that’s my favourite movie, or at least one I can say that I really liked.”

“Ace? How- How did you get my number?” I was fully awake now; how did he find my number.

“I have my ways.” He chuckled.

“Creep.” I snorted.

“Are you happy with my answer?”

“Surprised. But not a bad choice at all.”

“What are you doing, doll?” I could feel his smirk over the phone.

“Nothing, I had fallen asleep on the couch, you?”

“Oh, sorry for waking you up then.”

“It’s okay. Now how did you get my number?” I was curious to know how or who gave it to him.

“I told you; I have my ways.” His tone was so teasing. “But I’m actually calling for business not for chitchat.” Now that piqued my interest.

“What business?”

“How do you feel about directing a music video?” I was taken aback hearing this.

“Um, I have never done it so, I’m not really sure how I would feel. Why?” I was confused by this sudden question.

“I want you to direct our first music video.” Ace blurted out.

“What?” I shouted not expecting this at all.

“Please, don’t shout in my ears.” Ace laughed at my reaction.

“I’m sorry. But seriously, are you insane? I’m so new to all of this, like the whole filmmaking thing, and music videos are slightly different to shoot than films, so I can’t Ace, I’m sorry I-I can’t take such responsibility.” I quickly said, turning down his offer even thought it would have been such a great opportunity, but he must contact someone professional.

“Come on, doll. I believe in you, I’m sure you will come up with something great.” He chuckled, not giving up.

“Listen, Ace...” I took a deep breath. “I’m so flattered that you believe so much in me, but I’m not that good.”

“Please.”

“Ace.” I sighed.

“Please, doll. We don’t want something over the top, we need super simple video, so we can put out there, plus we will pay you. So, please consider it and give me a call back tomorrow, okay?”

“I don’t think that my mind will change but sure.”

“Thank you, doll. I will be waiting for your final decision.” He said before hung up.

I sighed once again, but this time loudly. Why? Why he wants me to do this? He hasn’t even seen my work, why he trusted me so much to a point where he wants me to direct his band’s first ever video. It’s not that it would be that hard, it’s more the fact that with this video they are establishing themselves officially as a band, and their overall look. The offer really piqued my interest, and my mind started to think about a possible video idea, but I forgot to ask him which song they were planning to film it for. I grabbed my phone and saved his number, before I texted him.

“Which song will be the video for?”

He replied shortly after: “Sweater Weather”

I opened Spotify and went to their profile. It was their most streamed song, so it was logical that they chose it for their debut music video. I played the song and started to create a storyboard in my mind. Ace didn’t give me much information, so I if I agree to do this, I have a lot of questions for him. Do they have a crew already, or I will have to think of someone to help me? Do they have something in mind that they will want us to recreate in the video? When do they want to film it? And so many more questions popped up in my head.

“Oh, Ace....” I sighed to myself.

********

“So, you gave him my number?” I turned to Usopp when we finished with our class for the day.

“Yeah, he called me and asked me if we want to shoot their video, but I turned him down, as I’m not very good with directing, but they he told me that it can always be someone else, and I mentioned you and he wanted to speak with you... so... what are you down for it?” Usopp looked at me, trying to read my face.

“Well, that’s the thing. Part of me wants to, but another one tells me that I lack the skills.”

“You know,” Nami interrupted our conversation. “Dave from year two has done some music videos before, why don’t you guys speak with him, he might help you.” She suggested.

“This is a very good idea, Nami. I didn’t know that.” I hugged her. “But, yeah I’m down only if you guys are?” I looked at them both.

“Oh, no. I have too many things to do because of the short-cuts, and my group sucks guys, so I’m out.” Nami quickly turned me down.

“I can be your D.O.P, but I will need a first assistant camera.” Usopp said.

“We can ask Dave, if he is up for it, he can help us.” I smiled at Usopp, happy that he was down for the job. “Otherwise, it will be just you and I.”

“I’m actually surprised that you are planning to do it.” Usopp was right, I was surprised by myself as well, Nami also agreed with him.

“I know, but I have an idea that I think it will match their band’s vibe very good, and it won’t be hard to film at all so I think it would turn out pretty well, if they like my idea as well.” Nami and Usopp were both aware that I was not the most confident person when it came to how talented and good I was with filmmaking. Even thought both had told me millions of times that I should believe in myself and my skills more, sometimes it was really hard, yet I was always down for a challenge.

“Does any of you have Dave’s insta or something, so I can text him?” I pulled out my phone opening Instagram, to search his name.

“Yeah, here.” Usopp showed me his phone so I can copy Dave’s username. I followed and texted him. It didn’t take him long to respond, saying that we can meet somewhere later and talk about it. We agreed on meeting for a drink around 7PM, so I had quite some time until then.

“Usopp, will you come as well?” I asked him before we say goodbye.

“Nah, I won’t be able to, Kaya and I already have plans.” He hugged me and Nami goodbye. “But keep me updated.” He said before he left.

“What are you doing tonight?” I asked Nami as we were walking towards the metro station.

“Going out with Luffy and Vivi, if you wanna join after you finish your meeting with Dave.”

“I will think about it, as I will have to speak with Ace after it.” I didn’t want to promise anything for later, as I might be too tired to go out. Nami smirked.

“What?” I looked at her suspiciously, as her smirk was quite mischievous.

“Mmm, nothing.” She just glanced at me, her smirk growing.

“You don’t get to tell me, nothing with this smug smile growing on your face.” I nagged her.

“Well... Ace, hu?” Her eyebrows wiggled playfully. “Did you two know each other before? I remember Usopp mentioning something.” She pushed me a little with her elbow.

“Oh no, no, nothing like this.” I brushed it off quick. “We met accidently that’s all, it was even that Friday when they were preforming at my uncle’s bar, so it was pure coincidence.”

“But Sabo told me he saw you going somewhere with him at the party two weeks ago, and then you left without saying anything and you weren’t speaking with us much after that...” She looked at me, trying to study my face if I was lying to her. “Did something happen? You know I will not tell anyone. I’m just concern and Ace... well, Ace is Ace.”  She chuckled.

“No, I swear nothing happened. We just talked for a bit inside and then we went somewhere, and I decided to go home.” I didn’t really lie to her, because all of this did happen, I just didn’t mention any details.  

“Okay, I believe you if you say so.” Nami wasn’t fully convinced but decided to let it go. “But don’t fall for Ace or anything like that.” She added. “He is an amazing person, no doubt about that, but he is a womanizer, so for your own sake don’t cross this lines.” Her warning was valid, and this wasn’t the first time I heard this, but Ace and I already set that boundary anyway, so I didn’t need to hear it again.

“Don’t worry I don’t see him that way.” Now this time I lied, but my little crush on Ace was something Nami didn’t need to know.

********

I started to get ready around 5PM. I decided to wear something casually just a pair of flared dark blue jeans, with a black off shoulder blouse with a belt around the waist. I added some silver earing and quickly fixed my hair and makeup before checking the clock and to see what time it was. It was almost six, so I took my purse, put my black kitten heels and coat on, and left.

It took me around forty-five minutes to reach the place where we agreed to meet. It was a very nice and cozy jazz bar. I’ve never been to this place before, but just from the looks of it, it seemed like a place I wouldn’t mind coming to again. I looked around and I saw Dave sitting on a small table for two. I waved at him as he saw me.

“Hey, Dave thank you so much for meeting me.” I smiled at him as I was sitting down.

“No worries, the pleasure is mine.” He smiled back. “What would you like to drink?” Dave was super nice, I have spoken with him only twice so far and only in university, so I felt a little awkward right now.

“Just a glass of sparkling wine would be perfect.” I told him and he went to order for us. Dave was also a nice-looking guy. His hair was dark brown and full of curls, his jawline was sharp, and his beard was nicely shaved in a goatee style. He was dressed in a relaxed fit short sleaved black shirt and some linen white pants; he also had an earing on his left ear. Dave came back and handed me my drink with a smile. He sat back on his chair and we both shared an awkward laughed.  

“So, music video, hu?” He said, flashing me another of his charming smiles.

“Yes, I got the offer last night, and I still haven’t accepted it, as it’s the band’s debut video, so I’m quite unsure if I should take the risk, you know?” I took a sip of the wine, glancing away from Dave.

“I know the feeling, don’t worry about it.” He reassured me. “Which band are you talking about?”

“‘The Neighbourhood’, you know them?” Dave shook his head. “Oh, you need to check them out, they are pretty good and growing popularity quite fast.”

“I will take your word on that.” He chuckled. “So how did they end up asking you to direct their video?”

“I’m a friend with the vocalist, and he really wants me to do it, as quote-unquote ‘he believes that I would do an amazing job’.” I waved my hands around in a question marks.

“That’s good, if you ask me - take the opportunity. Plus, I have heard that you are one of the tops of your class, and that you have quite a different vision from the rest so go for it.” Dave encouraged me. 

“Yeah, ‘different’.” I shook my hands to my head, but Dave just looked at me confused, not getting the reference so I just brushed it off. “Um, I was wondering... would you like to help us? It will be just Usopp and I, and we will really appreciate it if we have a AC.” I bit my lip, looking at Dave from under my lashes.

“Well, depends on when you guys are filming, but sure.” He nodded, a coy smile forming on his lips. “But wouldn’t it be better if I’m your D.O.P as I have more experience with the camera than Usopp?” He made a very good point.

“Yes actually, you are right, we should do this instead.” I eagerly nodded as he also had experience with music videos. “And as for when we are shooting, I have no idea, I will call Ace later and hopefully he will give me more info.”

“That’s the lead singer, I guess?” Dave asked, hit of curiosity in his voice. I nodded with a smile in response.

“Now tell me more about your experience with music videos.” I playfully nagged him, as I was interested to know more about how things work with music videos. Dave started to tell me how even before he attended university, he had already done some music videos. Most of his friends were apparently musicians, and as amateurs they couldn’t afford to pay a professional photographer, so knowing about Dave passion with the camera they would always go to him. Time passed quite fast as we were talking, but we got interrupted by my phone, as I received some message.

“Don’t tell me you forgot about me, doll.” I read the message. I cursed myself as I totally forgot to text Ace today, but I wanted to speak with Dave first before I confirmed anything.

“Will you, please, excuse me for a second.” I told Dave, standing quickly from my chair and went outside to call Ace. The phone rang a few times before he picked up.

“Hey, doll.” His low raspy voice filled my ear.

“H-hey Ace. I’m so, so sorry for not calling earlier, I just wanted to check with a classmate from year two if he can help Usopp and me with the video.” I blurted out quickly as I felt embarrassed for making him wait for so long.

“So, I take this, as a ‘yes’ then?” His voice still low.

“Yes, I would love to film your video, Ace.” I whispered, my heart was beating fast against my chest, like I was making a deal with the devil or something close to this. The feeling hit me like a sudden wave, I couldn’t even explain it.

“Glad to hear this.” He whispered back. “What are you doing by the way?”

“I’m out with the classmate I told you about.” I cleared my throat.

“Date?” He teased me.

“No, no. We are talking about the video mostly.” I quickly explained myself. Ace laughed at my response. “What are you doing?” The question slipped my lips before I could stop myself.

“Chillin’ at home.” He hummed.

“Nice.”

“Mmm... if the date is bad I can always safe you, you know?” He joked.

“It’s not a date.” I whined at his comment.

“Sure, sure.” He mocked me again. “Well, wanna meet tomorrow with me and the guys to speak about the video?”

“Yes, this would be actually amazing if we can do this as soon as possible.”

“You got it. Send me your address I will come and pick you up.” A little smile twitched on my lips as he didn’t ask, he just stated it. “Bye, doll.” He quickly ended the call.

I slowly moved my phone from my ear, I could feel my cheeks burning and I quickly shook the feeling away. Opening my messages, I texted Ace my address and got inside the bar. Dave smiled at me as I sat down.

“So, what were we talking about?” I smiled back.

*******

I woke up around 9AM the next morning, as Ace was going to pick me around 10:30. I was tired as I stayed until late last night, creating a storyboard with pictures so they could easily understand what my idea was. I got up, brushed my teeth and made myself a quick breakfast before I got ready. After I did my makeup, I looked around my closet wondering what I should wear today. I set my mind on a flared jeans again and just a simple cropped white t-shirt. My phone vibrated, notifying me that I have a message.

“Here.” It was short and simple; I caught myself smiling at it. I quickly put on my snickers and jacket on, before grabbing my backpack with my laptop in it. I ran down the stairs and when I opened the building’s entranced door, I saw Ace leaned on a motorcycle. He was smoking a cigarette, head tilted on the side. Dressed in all black with a black leather jacket on. He quickly turned around when he heard the front door closing, blowing the smoke away and throwing the cigarette on the ground. When I stood in front of him, he straightened his posture, looking down on me he winked.

“Ready to go, doll?” He smirked at me, handing me a black helmet. I took it and looked at it, then the Kawasaki motorcycle behind him. It was all black and scary looking. I looked back at Ace and shook my head with a scary look in my eyes, handing him the helmet back. He hearty laughed at my reaction.

“Come on, don’t be a baby.” He nodded me to get on it, as he put the helmet on my head. “I got you, doll. Nothing to be scared off.” Ace reassured me as he got on it and waited for me to do the same.

“Ace, I swear to God, if you had told me, you were picking me on this thing I would have never agreed.” He laughed again at my comment as I was shaky getting on it.

“Hold on me tight.” He grabbed my hands and wrapped them around his torso. My poor heart was going to explode. Not only I have to be on this scary thing but on top of it I had to be this close to Ace. “Lean your body on my back.” He looked at me over his shoulder before putting his helmet. I just nodded in response, too scared to speak. Ace turned his bike on and the engine rumbled. I tightened my hold around Ace. I could feel him laughing as his body trembled in my arms. Then he took off. As he was driving, I started to think to myself how much the motorcycle suits him. With getting to know him more and more with every passing day him owning a bike was making a perfect sense. It was as wild and free as his spirit.

Twenty long minutes, we finally arrived where their studio was. Ace parked the motorbike and took off his helmet. He looked at me over his shoulder and chuckled.

“You know, you can let go of me now.” He teased me. I immediately released my grip and took of the helmet. “So how was your first every ride?” The smirk on his face growing bigger, as he saw my flushed and scared face.

“I made it alive, so I give it eight out of ten.” I quickly got off from it.

“Eight out of ten? What should I do to earn the other two stars?” He chuckled, his smile big.

“You drove too fast.” I crossed my arms across my chest.

“I drove fast?” His eyes widen in amusement. “Doll, I swear I have never, ever, driven my bike as slow as I did today.” His whole face was in disbelief.

“Next time even slower.” I pointed my finger at him.

“So, there will be next time?” He teased me with a smirk. I rolled my eyes at him, but I couldn’t hide the little smile that played on my lips.

Ace got off the bike and nodded me to follow him. We entered the building and went to the second floor. Ace opened the door to their studio for me, and I thanked him. Inside Sabo, his girlfriend Koala, and Law were already there.

“Hey you two.” Koala welcomed us with a smile. “Nice to meet you again (Y/N).” She came to hug me. Sabo nodded at me, and Law’s eye widen when he saw me, and I quickly looked away. It was nice to know at least that it was him and not Ace that night at the party.

“Where is Deuce?” Ace asked.

“He is coming, caught in traffic, Marco as well.” Sabo explained. “So, you will be our director?” I could feel the hint of doubt in his voice, and I understood why he would doubt me in a first place. I barely started to study; I was an armature with a capital ‘A’.

“A-as long as you like my idea – y-yeah.” I awkwardly shrugged.

“Well, better be good then.” His tone was quite serious and a little harsh.

“Sabo.” Ace snapped at him, glancing at his brother warningly. Sabo just huffed and looked at me again.

“Sorry (Y/N), I just want the video to be perfect.” His tone was a little softer now. I lowered my gaze to the ground and just nodded.

“You want to drink something?” Koala asked me nicely. I thanked her but denied her offer.

After ten minutes, Deuce and Marco walked in. Deuce greeted me, and Marco introduced himself to me with a handshake.   

“So, you are the director that Ace is putting all his trust for the video on?” Marco patted me on the shoulder with a smile. I glanced at Ace, but he quickly avoided my gaze.

“I guess, I am.” I cleared my throat. “Let me take my laptop, so I can show you the plan that I made yesterday, you can disagree with everything or add things to it as well.” I felt my heart beating fast again, my anxiety starting to built up. I pulled my laptop from my bag and held it in my left hand towards them. “Please let me know if you can’t see something or if it’s not clear enough.” I took a deep breath and started to explain my idea for the video. “The video will be shot in a greyscale, mostly medium shots, with some close ups here and there. The vibe of the whole video should represent the general vibe of the EP itself, so taking the things you guys sing about in the song and the album in general, I suggest that we take some shots of them all together driving around Grand Line coats line in a vintage car, then walking around at a funfair, lounging in an apartment and walking along a beach.” I added at the end that if they were satisfied with the idea, we must shoot next Monday and Tuesday as we would need sunny weather. I patiently waited for their reaction. I looked at Ace, who was leaned on the wall, arms crossed over his chest, he just nodded at me and wink. I heard clapping and turned my head to see who it was.

“Bravo.” Sabo clapped standing up from the sofa. “I love it. And I’m surprised. Wow.” He had a big grin across his face.

“I like it, too.” Law said, nodding at me granting me his approval.

“Same, here.” Deuce added. Koala gave me the thumbs up with a big smile across her face.

“I like the idea as well, but I would like to add one small detail.” Marco said clapping his hands, looking at the guys. “It is romantic song after all, so we need to see some romance. So, I would like to suggest that we hire a model, and we have some scene with her and Ace.” Marco looked at me with raised eyebrows, expecting to hear my opinion on it.

“Y-yeah, o-of course.” I chuckled, nodding my head slightly. “As long as Ace feels comfortable with it, we can include it.” We all looked at Ace.

“Why me, tho?” He raised his eyebrow toward Marco. “Can’t Sabo do it with Koala? This will save us time and money.” He pointed out.

“Because you are the lead singer in the group Ace, and as one, the main focus is on you.” Marco explained short and clearly.

“Ha, Ace, since when you mind making out with models?” Deuce mocked Ace.

“I don’t, I’m just thinking if we are doing this on Monday and Tuesday, how we gonna find a girl so fast?” Ace rolled his eyes.

“Like you don’t know a hundred pretty girls.” Law snorted at him. Ace laughed at him and told Law to shut up. Marco interrupted them.

“Guys if you can’t find a girl, this is why I’m here for.”

“What you gonna dress up as a girl and make out with Ace?” Sabo joked and everyone burst out laughing at Marco.

“Of course not, but I can always contact a model agency.” Marco huffed, as much as these guys were talented, they were as much as hard to work with as well. “So, we make it possible, right?” He turned to look at me. I just nodded at him. “Perfect, I will contact you for the payment later and you sent me an email with what you would need for the set and what we should rent and whatsoever.” He handed me his business card and bit us all goodbye.

“Have you guys ever been in a video or something before?” I asked them as I was putting my laptop inside my bag. They all said ‘no’. “Well, better prepare as it will feel strange to see yourself on the screen.” I laughed a little.

“Have you done it yourself?” Deuce asked me.

“Yeah, and I hate it, that is why I prefer to be behind the camera.” I have always felt bad for the actors, as I knew it wasn’t easy at all for them to look at themselves on the big screen. I have done it a few times and I hated the feeling of seeing myself. The difference between a phone camera versus film camera was so big people had no idea. Even my father, till this day doesn’t feel comfortable to see himself, and he is pretty self-obsessed person. “Well, I will have to contact Usopp and Dave and let them know that we are doing it this Monday and Tuesday, I will have to go now as I will need to find locations where we could film without a problem.” I announced as I grabbed my bag and bit everyone goodbye.

“Wait, I will come with you.” Ace came after me.

“No need, I can do it alone.” I reassure him.

“I didn’t ask, doll.” He winked at me, closing the door behind us.

**********

We arrived at the west coastline beach after almost forty-minute ride. We got of his bike and Ace smirked when he locked at me.

“How was the ride this time?” Ace teased me.

“Honestly this time you could have driven faster.” I teased him as well.

“You little...” He hissed at me, biting the inside of his cheek as he shook his head.

“Hop, hop, we don’t have all day mister.” I clapped my hands and made him follow me. I started to take some pictures of where would be best for us to stand and shoot them driving by as we had to be careful with how fast they should move. Ace was quite polite to write down every note for me, and things that we would need. Then we went to look around at the funfair.

“Do you wanna get on one of the rides?” Ace whispered in my ear as I was taking pictures making mental notes to myself.

“Oh, I would love to, but now we have to work, so some other time.” I moved my head slightly as I answered him, not realising how close he was standing to me, only for our faces to end up millimetres apart. We both took a step away from the other quickly. Ace cleared his throat telling me that I was right, and we should focus on work.

Time passed so fast and before we know it the sun was setting. It was beautiful, the sky was coloured in light pink and purple, the waves were crashing softly, as today it wasn’t windy at all. Some people were sitting on the beach, others were running around or playing with there kids or dogs. It almost felt like a summer day even thought it wasn’t. We were walking on the beach, shoes in one hand as we were talking about random stuffs, it was so easy to open and speak with Ace. The comfort I felt around him was so strange and nice at the same time, something that I have never experienced with another person before.

“And how are you and Shanks related?” Ace asked, his eyes not leaving my face.

“Well, we are not blood related, let me clarify this first.” I waved my hands around. “But him and my dad have been like brothers since they were kids, so yeah. Ever since I can remember Shanks has been part of my life...” I paused for a second, swallowing the bitterness in my voice. “Especially after my mother left me and my dad, he literally became my second dad.” I exhaled the breath that I didn’t even realise I was holding.

“I’m sorry to hear this, doll.” Ace gave me a soft look, as he ruffed my hair. I pouted at him as I tried to fix it, and he chuckled. “Look at least, you grew up with a father that from what you’ve told me so far, loves you unconditionally.” His voice was so gentle when he told me this.

“Yes, I am lucky to have a father like him.” I smiled thinking of my dad.

“But... I don’t know if I should ask this or how...” Ace paused for a second, gathering his thoughts. “Why she left...?” He glanced at me, to make sure that he didn’t overstep some boundary. “Actually, don’t answer this forget about it.” He brushed it off quickly.

“No, it’s okay.” I shrugged, I felt like I could open about it to him. “She never wanted to be a mother in a first place, so after she gave birth to me, she got in a very deep postpartum depression, and it did take a big tool on her.” I paused for a minute. “My dad tried everything to help her, but she refused, and she turned to hard drugs, so... yeah my mother is a junkie.” I breath out, looking at Ace who was listening to me, but his gaze was lowered to the sand. “When I was around five, she just left a note that she doesn’t want to hear or see us anymore, and since then I have no idea where she is. My dad still cares for her, and I never really understood why, especially after all she put him through. I found a few years ago that he is her emergency contact, and I got mad about it, as she doesn’t deserve him. Last year she tried to contact me, but cut her off fast...” I bit on my lip, looking at the sand as Ace and I were walking in a silence for a moment. “But yeah, this is the short version.” I clapped my hands, dropping one of my shoes and picked it up. “Your turn now. I’m curious to know how you are all brothers, yet your last names are all different” I pushed Ace’s shoulder a little bit, causing him to chuckle.

“Well, we are not blood related at all.” Ace laughed when he saw my reaction.

“Wait, what? Even with Luffy? You two are like twins.” I couldn’t believe what I’ve heard.

“Yeah, I know it’s scary how much we look alike, but no, not related at all.”

“I’m really curious now, but if you don’t feel like speaking about it’s okay.”

“Nah, it’s fine. I can share a little bit.” Ace poked my side, and I giggled. He cleared his throat before he spoke. “My mom died when I was born, and my father has been killed a little before my mom gave birth to me, so I know nothing about my parents.” I saw his jaw clenching hard as the tone of his voice changed as well. “Then her sister, my aunt Dadan, took me and raised me.” He snorted, his tone sounded lightly but his face was giving him away. Sadness and pain were written all over it.  “Then she applied for a foster parent, and that is how Sabo came to the picture. As you know he is her favourite.” Ace looked at me tossing his hair aside the same way Sabo does all the time, and I couldn’t help but laughed. “Then the most annoying, gut wrenching, cry baby ever came into our home aka Luffy. God, I hated him from the bottom of my hear at first.” The way Ace was telling his story was heartbreaking, as he was trying to turn it into comedy so bad. My heart was aching for him. “Then some things happened and as of today, I can really say that Luffy is the only person I’m willing to give my life for.” The smile he had on his face when he was talking about Luffy was so pure and honest.

“I don’t know Luffy very well, but he does look like quite the pure soul.” I smiled at Ace as he nodded.

“You should definitely get to know him; he is the best.” Ace eagerly said his mood totally changed now. I felt my stomach growing and Ace looked at me. “Someone’s hungry, eh.”

“Yeah, I have only eaten a breakfast today.” I chuckled.

“I know a very nice Italian place here, wanna go and try it?”

“You don’t need to ask me twice.” We both shared a laughed and started to walk toward the restaurant.

********

The drive to my place took us almost an hour. A long and a very scary hour, as I had to ride on the back of Ace’s motorbike for a third time today. When he finally stopped in front of my place I relaxed on his body. We stayed like this for a minute – my hands wrapped around his torso and as I was leaned on him, and he had his hands on my knees. He was he first one to take of his helmet, running his hand around his messy hair. I pulled away from him, taking my helmet off as well. Ace looked over his shoulders at me.

“You had fun today, doll?” His eyes half lidded; he seemed a little tired.

 “I did.” I smiled at him, getting off from the bike. He nodded with a smile at my response. “We see on Monday then. Thank you for the rides, and the dinner by the way.” I added, but Ace brushed me off.

“Please, that’s nothing.” He winked at me, pinching my cheek. I scrunched my nose at him, and he laughed at me. “Well, see you on Monday, doll.” He went to put back his helmet before I stopped him.

“Wait, Ace.” I grabbed his hand, as he lowered it and looked at me, raising his eyebrow. “You were the only one who didn’t say anything about the video idea... did you not like it?” My hand still on his, he just gave it a little squeeze and smiled at me.

“I loved it, doll.” Then he went on and put his helmet on. “Now go home.” He ordered me. I nodded and turned around to go. As I opened the front door, I waved at him one more time, as he was waiting for me get in safe, before he drove off.

************

I woke up at 6AM on Monday, as we were going to our first location at 8AM. Yesterday Usopp, Dave and I spent the whole day making the floorplan and the storyboard based on the pictures I took on Saturday at the locations. I sent the call sheet and a list of things we need for the shooting. Marco surprised me so much by how fast he arranged and found everything that we would need for the shoot. I quickly dressed myself in a pair of baggy jeans and oversized hoodie. I put some day cream and mascara on as I didn’t have much time to get ready, and received a text from Usopp that him and Dave were downstairs. We were going with Dave’s car as the west coastline was an hour drive away. I quickly put my sneakers on and left. Usopp and Dave greeted me when I opened the passenger door.

“Ready to film your first music video?” Dave charmingly smiled at me. I nodded with a smile. “Good, we got you some coffee.” Dave said, and Usopp handed me one, him sitting on the backseat.

“Are you guys ready? It’s going to be a long day.” I took a sip of my coffee, hating the taste of it as always. They both nodded and we drove off. Usopp was in charge of the music in the car, so we had a fun ride. We arrived on time and started to unload the equipment Marco rented for us, as he wanted the best quality for the video. Law and Deuce were the first ones to arrive. I spoke with them on the side while Usopp and Dave were fixing the camera.

“Do you know when Ace and Sabo are coming?” I asked them, as I wanted everything to go according to the time schedule.

“Yea, they will be here soon.” Law replied.

“They had to go and take the car that Marco rented for today.” Deuce explained to me. While we waited for them, I explained a little bit to Law and Deuce what I would need them to do while we film. After fifteen minutes we heard a honk. We all turned around and saw Ace and Sabo driving slowly towards us in a very nice 1969 Mercedes-Benz. Sabo was the one behind the wheel, and Ace was chilling on the passenger seat. They parked and got out of the car.

“Yo, what’s up people, you liking my ride?” Sabo pointed at the car. “I will be the one driving it, keep this in mind.” He squinted his eyes at Law and Deuce giving them a warning look. “How is the director doing?” He gave me a hug which surprised me.

“I’m doing good, thanks. You, Sabo?” He gave me the thumbs up and went to speak with Usopp and Dave. “Hey, Ace.” I waved at him as he was standing next to the car, smoking a cigarette.

“Hey, (Y/N).” He gave me a little smile, but I tilted my head and raised my eyebrow at him. What happened with ‘doll’? I walked up and stood in front of him.

“Are you okay?” I was concerned, was he in a bad mood or something. Ace looked at me confused, moving his head on the side blowing the smoke away.

“Yeah? Why?” He chuckled. I blinked a few times and shook my head.

“Nothing, just... just checking on you.” I murmured. “Are you excited to start shooting?” I bounced on my heels, as I waved my hands in the air. Ace laughed at me as he took another puff of his cigarette.

“I think you are the most excited among all of us.” He smiled at me.

“(Y/N)! Can you come, please?” Dave shouted, him and Usopp needing me to help them. I mouthed a quick ‘sorry’ to Ace and went to check on them.

After twenty minutes we were ready to start shooting. I explained to the guys what I would need them to do for the first scene we were shooting and they all nodded understanding my instructions.

“Oh, and one last thing when we shoot a take, I will be most likely first check with Dave and then with you guys and it’s technical stuffs, so don’t think you are doing a bad job, okay.” I gave them the thumbs up, and we were ready to start. The first scene we were shooting was of them driving down the street, we shoot it from five different angles, and we were switching between medium to medium close-up shots. It took us around an hour and a half to be done with this. Then we drove besides them in the same speed so we could catch a better close-ups of them in the car. We finished around lunch time, so we decided to take an hour break. I wasn’t hungry, as when I’m working, I get too focused on the task that I skip meals, so instead I wanted to go and take some shoots of the buildings around us and the palms.

“You guys go, and remember we will meet at the funfair entrance, okay?” I said as I picked the camera stand under my arm and the camera case I was holding in my other hand.

“Don’t tell me you are not going to eat.” Ace scolded me.

“I want to take some shoots of the buildings around, so we don’t waste time later and I’m not hungry, so you go guys.” I reassure him. He was going to protest when Dave interrupted him.

“I will come with you (Y/N). I don’t want you to carry all of this by yourself.” He came next to me and took everything from my hands.

“Are you sure, Dave?” I didn’t want to take from his time of the break as he was already doing too much by helping me and Usopp.

“Of course, I am. Come on, I’m following you.” He gave me a coy smile and I nodded. I waved the guys goodbye for now, everyone else waved too, except Ace. He side-eyed me and shook his head before following the guys. I frowned confused as of why he did this. I nodded to Dave to follow me, and we started to walk. The hour went fast, but luckily thanks to Dave’s experience we captured everything I had in mind. Dave was fun to hang around with. We were laughing and joking the entire time.

“So, you want me to handheld the camera when we shoot at the funfair?” He asked me again, making sure that he understood correctly.

“Yes, exactly.” We went back to his car to leave the camera stand as we wouldn’t need it anymore.

“Have I done something bad to you?” He joked with me, and I giggled at his expression. Doing a handheld shoot was probably the worst thing for the cinematographer. I messed around with him and squeezed his bicep.

“Nah, Dave, I think you can handle it perfectly.” I winked at him, and we both laughed. We started to walk towards the funfair where we were meeting the guys next. When we reached the entrance, everyone was already there. “Hello, again guys. Hopefully you had a nice break, as now we are back to work” I gave them a big smile, Sabo and Deuce cheered, Law just nodded, and Ace’s face was unreadable. I cleared my throat and explained to them that right now they just need to have fun, and we will try our best to capture everything that we would need for later when editing. Usopp and Dave were switching every few minutes, so their hands didn’t get too tired. I was having quite lot of fun with them and so did the guys, at least it seemed like it. Ace and I locked gazes a few times, but he was the one who broke it first every time. Was he mad at me for something? I tried to shake this feeling away and focus on my main priority right now.

 “And it’s a wrap.” I shouted and everyone clapped.

“Uh, I hate you (Y/N).” Dave smirked at me as he took off the camera from his shoulder and gave it to me so I can check the last footage we shoot. I stuck my tongue out at him, and he chuckled at me. Usopp came next to me to check the footage as well.

“Do you guys want to see it?” I looked at them four, but they shook their heads.

“We want to wait and see the finished material.” Sabo exclaimed.

“Okay, then we see you all tomorrow at...” I turned to Usopp as he knew the call sheet better than me.

“3PM, the attic apartment Marco rented for the day. You have the address on the call sheet. Also, Ace should I contact the girl that’s coming tomorrow and give her the info, or you will do it?” I have totally forgot about this part, a little pang of jealousy grew inside of me, but then I remind myself ‘no lines to be crossed’.

“I will be picking her up, so I will take care of this.” I bit the inside of my cheek when he said that. I gave him a quick glance and I saw a little smirk playing on his lips.

“By the way, who did you ask?” Law raised his eyebrow at Ace with curiosity.

“Samantha.”

“Wasn’t she pissed at you for ditching her at the Halloween party?” Sabo mocked his brother.

“Not anymore.” Ace snorted. I cleared my throat and turned to the guys who were messing with each other.

“Well, then guys.” I clapped my hands and put my fake smile on. “Thank you for today and see you tomorrow then.” I avoided looking at Ace while waiting for Usopp and Dave to put everything back in the case. Once they were ready, we all said goodbye and went back to Dave’s car.

“That was fun, can’t wait for tomorrow.” Usopp exclaimed once we were in the car.

“Yeah, these guys are fun to work with.” Dave agreed with him. “Hey, are you okay? You seem a little down.” Dave observed my face. I recomposed myself and smiled at him.

“Yes, yes, I am. Just a little tired.” He patted my back gently, believing what I told him. We drove off and I leaned on my head on the window. Tomorrow was going to be an even longer and tiresome day. I closed my eyes for a second and I fell asleep in the car.

********

“Everything set up?” I asked Usopp and Dave.

“Yes, it’s all done.” Dave nodded at me. I breath out as I looked at the band.

“Where is Ace?” One thing I would never tolerate was someone being late on set, without notifying anyone. And Ace was almost forty minutes late.

“He is coming, maybe he is in traffic or something.” Sabo tried to defend his brother.

“You know what guys, lets start shooting.” I clapped my hands. “Which one of you wants to be filmed first as we will roll some close-ups?”

“I can do it.” Sabo volunteered. I nodded and gave them some instructions as it would be easier if they interacted between each other even though the camera would be focused mostly on Sabo.

An hour later Ace finally showed up with his arm wrapped around the shoulders of the girl, which I guess was named Samantha.

“Sorry guys for being late.” He bit us a quick apology. I didn’t even look at him as I was so pissed. “This is Samantha, and she will be helping us for today so be nice.” She giggled at his introduction, and she waved everyone ‘hello’. Usopp and Dave greeted her, as they introduced themselves by shaking hands with her. She came to me reached her hand for a handshake. We shook hands and I bit her a quick ‘hello’.

“At least, you aren’t the only girl now.” She smiled at me; I nodded at her and returned the smile. She was beautiful – tall, blonde, with a very nice body; she was like a real-life Barbie. I cleared my throat.

“Well now that everyone is here, we need to take a master-shot of you guys, then some medium and the last thing we will do is the close-up of Ace and his scene with Samanta, clear?” My tone was quite serious.

“Can’t we take mine and Samantha’s first?” Ace asked me and I finally glanced at him. He had this smug look on his face, that pissed me off even more, but I kept my composure and answered him with a smile.

“No, Ace we can’t. Why we can’t, you may wonder? Because we waited for you for almost two hours, so now you will have to wait, am I clear?” The smile might have been on my face, but my tone was sharp and clear that he shouldn’t mess with me right now. He just smirked and nodded, not saying anything further. “Then let’s start rolling.” I clapped and explained what they should do now for the master. Two hours later we were done with it and only Ace and Samantha’s scenes were left to shoot.

“Thank you, guys so much. It was so nice to work with you. We don’t need you in the rest of the pictures but it’s up to you if you want to stay here or go and do whatever you want.” I spoke to Sabo, Law and Deuce.  Sabo came and hugged me as he thanked me and said he can’t wait to see the final result. Deuce did the same, and Law just high-fived me. They bit goodbye to the rest and left.

“So, according to the story board we have two close-ups left and one medium close-up of the two of them.” Dave came to me and spoke over my shoulder. I looked up at him and nodded. “Which one should we take first? Hers or his?”

“Let’s take hers first.” I nodded at him. “Hey, Samantha.” I called her, as she was standing in front of Ace, as they were obviously flirting with each other. She turned to face me, looking at me a little confused. “Sorry for interrupting your conversation, but we need to take some shots of you alone, so I will need you to stand next by the window and then on the couch.” She quickly did as I told her to, and we started to roll. It didn’t take us long to shoot her angles only around twenty minutes. I thanked her, and then turned to Ace. He was looking at me, face unreadable again. I clenched my jaw as today he was really walking on my nerves.

“It’s your turn Ace.” I called him. He pushed himself from the wall and came closer to me.

“So, what do you need from me, director?” His tone was light, but his face was like a stone. I bit the inside of my cheek before answering him.

“The same as her.” I gave him the shortest answer possible. He nodded and stood next to the window. There was this built-up tension between us, Dave looked at me raising his eyebrow. I shook my head at him like everything was fine, and he slowly nodded. We had to readjust the camera as Ace was quite tall. We started to roll, and I couldn’t take my eyes of the screen. He did look very good in front of the camera; I couldn’t deny him that. The way his hair was falling around his face, his freckles, his dark brow eyes and his full lips, he will definitely sweep away many harts once they become known name. “And cut.” I softly said moving my gaze from the screen to him. Our eyes locked, but I locked away.

“Okay, let’s move to the last scene we have to film and it’s a wrap after it.” I cleared my throat before looking at Samantha waving at her to join. “Now I need you to get closer to each other, and the most important thing is that Samantha feels comfortable with whatever you guys spoke about doing, so the moment you feel slightly uncomfortable we cut on the second, okay?” I locked at her seriously, as I didn’t want to put any woman in a position where she might feel uncomfortable on set.

“Oh, you don’t need to worry (Y/N), I know Ace very well.” She winked at me mischievously. I shared a fake laughed with her, but good thing she didn’t catch it.

“Okay, so whenever you guys are ready, just let us know and we will start to roll.” I stand between Dave and Usopp. “And action.” I called. Samantha went and laid down on the couch, taking Ace’s hand in hers, making him hoover over her. She ran her hands up and down his back, up to his neck, pulling him closer to her. Then she buried her fingers in his hair. She pulled him even closer as she pulled herself up a little. They were inches away from kissing each other, and I bit the inside of my cheek, my hands squeezed in a fist. I couldn’t watch this any further.

“Cut.” I called out. Everyone locked at me confused. “What?” I smiled innocently at them.

“Why did you cut?” Samantha asked me and frowned when Ace pulled up from her. I could see his smug smirk on his face. I moved my attention back to Samantha and with a smile I replied to her.

“Because we have it, it’s perfect, you can check it out if you want.” I suggested looking at the footage again.

“It’s pretty good.” Dave reassured her.

“Well, you are the professionals, so if you say it’s good, I believe you, but still, I want to see.” I moved aside so she could look at the screen. “Oh my, Ace.” She squeaked excitedly, looking at Ace. “We look so hot; you should see that.” Ace made a grimace and shook his head. I covered my mouth to suppress my laughter. Ace saw me and rolled his eyes at me, which lighted up my mood. I calmed myself and announced that we were done.

“It’s a wrap guys.” Dave and Usopp cheered, and Samantha clapped her hands. Ace only nodded. “Thank you so much for the opportunity, Ace.” I was still pissed at him, but at the same time grateful. “I should edit it by Friday and when it’s done, I will send it to Marco.” I told him as we started to pack the equipment.

“No need to thank me, (Y/N).” Ace patted me on the shoulder, before he nodded to Samantha to get going. She wished us good night and they left. The bitter feeling of jealousy came back. I couldn’t deny it, but also there was no point of me being jealous. He was just my friend, a friend who was walking on a thin ice around my nerves, nothing more or less.

“Well-done guys, well-done.” Usopp high-fived me and Dave. “I can’t wait to see how it will turn our after you edit it (Y/N).” He exclaimed excitedly.

“You know if you need help with the editing, you can always call me.” Dave added, coming closer to me.

“I think I will manage, but I will keep this in mind.” I smiled at him. “Let’s pack these faster guys, I’m starving, and I really want to go home.”

**********

I was laying in bed; it was almost midnight, and I couldn’t fall asleep. I was tossing and turning in bed for the past hour and a half. Ace was stuck in my mind, and that scene between him and Samantha. On top of it, the whole ‘Me and Ace know each other good’ was like on repeat in my mind. Knowing that I will have to edit and look at the footage of it was eating me from the inside. And what was with his attitude in the past two days? I swear Ace from Saturday and Ace from the past two days, were two completely different people. My phone vibrated. I grabbed it and I sighed loudly as I read the message on the screen.

“Did someone step on your tail today, doll?”

I hesitated if I should reply. The audacity this man has.

“Yea, someone who was almost two hours late.” I angrily typed and sent. Not even a minute later he replied.

“Sorry, about that doll ;(” I just left him on seen. “I would love to be the first one to see it btw” he sent a second message.

“I will think about that” I replied.

“Don’t be mad at me, doll” I just looked at the message from the notification banner and didn’t even mark it as seen. Also, the ‘doll’ thing was back, not that I wanted him to call me this, especially in front of everyone else, but I kind of got used to him calling me that. I turned on the TV to watch something that would hopefully put me to sleep. ‘Fucking Ace’ I cursed under my breath.

************************************************************************

next chapter ->

NOTE: Sooo.... I really hope you liked the chapter, and the interactions Ace and Reader had. From now on there will be more and more of it. Also I gave you a little bit of Ace's pov in this chapter, but still there is so much more to reveal of his character, as in general Ace is a very complex persona (AND I LOVE HIM WITH WITH MY WHOLE HEART AND SOUL). Please leave your opinion or text me, as I would love to get to interact with more of you <3 and a big thank you for all of you who take off your time and read my fanfic, I know it's not the best written one but I appreciate your support with all my hear <3

[chaifootsteps]

the show's discomfort with its own plot beats is so buzarre to watch. like once Stolas became Viv's favorite the full moon deal had to go, but it had to be done in a way that would make Stolas look better instead of having him grow and change, because Viv's writing is allergic to both character development and accountability. this of course accidentally resulted in him looking worse, but there's something else that I find a contradiction in terms

so the basic implication is that there just hasn't been a meetup since Ozzie's, right? As far as I can tell none of the text messages in the show mention it and Blitzo says it's been a few months. This feels like it's supposed to represent Stolas respecting Blitzo more because he's not forcing him to visit anymore (read: not raping him every month, and I'm kind of blindsided that the show's logic is that we should give Stolas a cookie for managing this bare minimum level of decency).

Here's the thing though: in his texts he says stuff like 'you don't have to come but I'd still like to see you'. So by the show's logic he still has this deal where - as far as Blitzo knows - he has to do what Stolas wants to get the book. But since Stolas is feeling a tiny bit bad about it he gives Blitzo outs so he doesn't have to see him…but then passive aggressively asks him to come anyway?

How exactly would that work? Suppose Blitzo had been anxious that Stolas was being weird with him and went to see him anyway.

Would Stolas still expect Blitzo to sleep with him? If Blitzo made a move thinking that's what Stolas wanted, would Stolas take that as proof Blitzo actually wanted him even though Blitzo would just be doing it because it was how the whole deal worked? Would Stolas think that this was 'better' than what he was doing before because he gave Blitzo a choice this time, even though Blitzo might not actually want to do it anymore than he did at the start but was just playing it safe?

I don't know, the whole thing is so odd. If we're supposed to think Stolas actually learnt that he had coercive power over Blitzo and had been taking advantage of him, you'd think he'd be horrified with himself. And I mean actually horrified, not just lip service in a duet number that he forgets about when he acts shocked that Blitzo doesn't think highly of him.

You'd think he'd give a flat 'you don't need to come for the next few months' sort of statement while he was arranging the crystal.

You'd think he'd question his entire self perception and worldview.

But he doesn't. Just like the writing he doesn't really commit to the idea he's done wrong because he still wants to have his cake and eat it too. He doesn't truly understand the power imbalance because if he did he wouldn't be doing the passive aggression routine at all. He'd leave Blitzo alone until he could get the crystal or make it very, very clear that his 'still come over if you want' invite does not include sex.

Despite giving lip service to the idea he's a monster he obviously still thinks of himself as a good person because he starts with the whimpering and crying about how Blitzo doesn't think highly of him. It's just so back and forth - does he understand he raped Blitzo or not?

even during the start of his full moon speech when Blitzo panics and immediately comes on to him Stolas blushes and looks like he got within an inch of giving in and just enjoying sex with Blitzo again. this on a night when he's supposed to be breaking off the arrangement and should find the way Blitzo immediately tries to sexually appease him horrifying if he actually understood the coercive power he held over him all this time

and honestly 'sex addict who has wrecked his life through poor impulse control' would work as a character profile in a dark comedy sketch show like hb was supposed to be, but in an oh so serious adult show that Addresses Abuse (TM) it seems reasonable to suggest Stolas be sent immediately to rehab and to someone who can teach him the ABCs of consent, since he's apparently in dire need of both

All of this. Stolas has canonically already learned the ABCs of consent and understood how imbalanced and horrifying his treatment of Blitzo was, only to immediately turn face and become worse than ever the instant Blitzo didn't kiss his feet. But according to Viv and according to the standom, there's no limit to how many "chances" he deserves to redeem himself. As long as he puts on a flimsy veneer of "trying" to get better, he can rape Blitzo as many times as he wants and it's all Blitzo's fault.

[blu3-ja3]

Please note I'm not good at writing drama, I can write tension all day but drama isn't my strongest so I'm trying.

Also learned some Irish slang from a friend so hopefully I wrote it well.

!TRIGGER WARNING! Minor Violence, Manipulative Ex, Cheating, Panic Attack, Domestic Abuse.

Temporary leave was making the 141 jittery, Soap was sitting next to Ghost watching Roach and Gaz playing with Ripley (Roach's dog). Soap has a sketch book on his lap, the page was filled with sketches of Gaz, Roach and Ripley, one sketch of Ghost's side profile. The two men looked up as two people walked towards them, neither of them soldiers. MacTavish could feel Ghost tensing next to him as the figures approached. One was a tall brunette man and the other was a short ginger woman.

"Hello lads, got a question for ya? Have either of you seen Maevis O'Connor, gotta talk to her." The taller man asked looking only at MacTavish, he seemed pretty miffed but trying to seem friendly.

"And who are you, to Doc?" Ghost rumbles.

"That's not your concern, mate. We know she's here, we just want to chat." The taller man glared at Ghost.

"Sorry mate but we don't know where the good doctor is, if I see her I'll let her know you two are looking for her. So I'll ask again who are you?" MacTavish tensed knowing the tone Ghost was using wasn't one of a kind intent.

"JOHN PRICE!" The short ginger woman shouted as Captain Price stepped around the building walking towards Gaz and Roach. Price turned as the brunette man began to charge towards the captain. Ghost got up quickly moving towards the stranger charging his captain. The tall man towered over the captain glaring down at him with hatred.

"Where is she, John? Where's my wife?" The tall man hissed.

"Shes your ex wife you muppet, you couldn't keep your pecker out of some slag while Maevis was pregnant with your son." Price glare at the women as he said the last bit. "I don't know where she is, sorry mate."

"It was a mistake John, we just want to see Maevis. I know she's here." The ginger woman pleaded.

Soap felt awkward hearing the conversation but didn't want to leave Ghost's side. He looked over and watched Gaz and Roach begin to approach with Ripley.

"A mistake that lasted 2 years Bridget? Then you went and slagged off about Maevis during the divorce. You're stupid if you think I'll tell you where she is." Captain Price growled, his fist balling up at his side.

" We just want to see her John, we'll leave right after." The woman, Bridget moved to touch Price's arm before Ghost's hand shot out and grabbed her arm. The man grabbed Ghost by shoulder shoving him back. Ghost released the woman as the man started wailing on Ghost. The lieutenant never once threw a punch either blocking or dodging the punches.

" FOR FECK SAKES OLIVER! STOP!" They all turned to see O'Connor running towards them. She grabbed the man ripping him away from Ghost and shoving him against the outside wall.

"Here for 5 minutes and already beating up my soldiers, not a good look Ollie." Price rumbles as he moves to get in front of O'Connor. Doc turns to glare at Bridget as she moves to comfort Oliver.

"What do you snakes want? I thought I made myself well clear I don't want to see either of your faces didn't I?" O'Connor was shaking, she was shaking hard. Soap wanted to hug her, comfort her the way she'd comforted all of them.

"We heard you were on leave, got blown up and didn't even bother to call your father?" Oliver seemed so smug. MacTavish watched Price move before O'Connor put a hand up to stop him.

" I've told you, Dad, and everyone who acted a fool at William's funeral, that you will never hear from me again! I meant it, so why after a year have you come to talk Oliver?" O'Connor had stepped forward getting into the man's face.

"Maeve, love, we came because you were hurt. Baby girl I wanted to call but I couldn't get through. Please I know you have leave, come home. You're Da misses, Bridget misses you, I miss you." Oliver says as he steps closer and moves to put his hand on her hips. Soap moved before thinking, grabbing the man's hand before it could touch her. It seems Ghost had the same instinct as he had the man's other hand. "Oi, Maeve, mind calling off your hounds? Really boys can't handle a bloke touching his las?"

" I'm not your las, Oliver, and I'm not going back to that house. Not until I get my apologies." O'Connor looks to her sister before stepping back forcing both men to drop their holds.

"I told you Maeve it was an accident! It was only meant to be once" Bridget yelled

"Two years, Bridg, two. The two years I came crying about my love life, telling you my suspicions. Telling you about my fertility issues and asking how to fix things with him. Telling you how I was worried he was cheating, seeing another behind my back. You know what you told me? It was impossible, Oliver loved me too much to cheat. So I stayed with his manky ass, then got the wonderful news..." O'Connor was shaking again and this time MacTavish placed a hand on her shoulder, hoping it brought some comfort.

"Only for you to show up and announcing you were also expecting from my husband. Had the gall to say it was a good thing, we could be a happy family together. Had the nerve to ask if I'd be willing to let you move in with me. You got mad at me when I left in tears, saying I ruined your day, YOUR DAY? You ruined my life." Tears were rolling down O'Connor's face.

"And then you had the nerve to question every step and choice I made when Will came. You had no right, none, putting me through all that you did. I should have cut contact long ago, but I didn't because I wanted William to have his family. Only for that family to make a mockery of his funeral. So no I won't be coming with you. Now feck off and I don't ever want to hear from you again." O'Connor turned around and they boys split letting her move pass. Bridget was crying it seemed but it wasn't noticed or cared for.

"Maevis! Look at me!" Oliver called out as he pushed up behind her. She kept walking

"Maevy baby please, I just want to talk." He got in front of her walking backwards.

"Maevis, I'm just asking for one chat it's not that difficult so stop making this difficult!" He stopped directly in front of her path, she didn't stop and just pushed past him rather hard.

"Oi! Cunt! I'm talking to your slag ass now listen to me!" He turned around and grabbed her arm, yanking her hard backwards. O'Connor yelped in surprise and pain. (She's still recovering from their previous mission where she severely hurt her back and ribs.)

Before Oliver could do or say anything, all five of the 141 men were on him. Ghost grabbed the man by his hair pulling him back with help from Price and Gaz who had him by his arms. Roach got between O'Connor and him with Ripley barking and growling furiously at his side. Soap had O'Connor behind him before turning to check on her.

"Don't touch my Captain ever again if you want to keep your hands." Ghost growled.

"I'd listen to the man Oliver, he's not the one for empty threats." Price warned.

All three men let go of him as O'Connor moved forward towards the man. "Leave, I have nothing for you. Go feck the bitch of a woman who was my sister and leave me alone! The only connection we had to each other is gone! William would have never been there if he wasn't waiting for your sorry ass to actually step up and be a father! This man was more of a father to him than you were!" She screamed as she pointed towards Price.

"That's not fair and you know it. I was distracted and I couldn't get there in time!" Oliver countered. "And if he was such a father to William why wasn't he at the funeral?" He looked almost smug when asking that question.

CRACK!

O'Connor slapped the man hard enough that he stumbled to the ground.

"More than you ever will, now get the feck out of my sight, both of yous!" She spat breathing heavily. She turned and marched away being followed by the rest of 141.

They all moved into Price's office it was the closest private place for them to talk. O'Connor was not doing well, she was shaking, tears were streaming down her face and she was breathing really fast. Soap knew what a panic attack was, he remembers his oldest sister getting them a lot when he was a child. He has no idea what to do when she collapses into a crouch, her hands on her head. She was whispering and rocking back and forth. Price crouched in front and grabbed her hands.

"Maevis breathe, he's not going to hurt you. He can't hurt you. You've got to calm down or you'll make yourself sick." He smiled softly as O'Connor looked up to all of them.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I don't know why I thought I'd never see him again. I have no reason to see him again. I'm sorry..." She looked towards Ghost and fresh tears began to run down her face,

" Your arms Simon... Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I'm so sorry." Soap looked over towards Ghost and saw several bruises blooming across his forearms .

"It's fine Doc, I'm fine I promise... Are you alright that bastard grabbed you pretty hard." Ghost asked and Soap could hear the concern he tried to hide.

O'Connor seemed to just register something, she gasped in pain as she tried to move her arm. She looked around to all of them studying their faces.

"Does anyone know how to reset an arm? I think my arm is out of socket." She grimaced as felt around the area in question.

"Sit down Doc, do you want something to bite onto?" Ghost asked, moving towards her as she sat in Price's chair. O'Connor shook her head no and just sat waiting. Ghost placed a hand on shoulder, then another of her elbow before making a rapid movement and popping her arm back into the socket.

"Please tell me we have full permission to beat that bastard's ass if he shows up again?" Gaz asked looking at Price.

"I won't stop you." O'Connor said shrugging her arm and rotating it. Price looked at her shocked before she continued. "I'm tired of him picking fights with you John and your men, Simon wasn't the first soldier he attacked and he's always going to try to pick a fight with you. So yes if you see Oliver you can throw the first punch I won't stop you." O'Connor looked tired.

"Will you patch us up?" Ghost asked

"Always, you're my boys. No matter how you get hurt I'll be there to patch you back up." O'Connor smiled looking around at all of them. "Thank you for defending me, I'm not sure how differently that would have gone but I know it wouldn't have been pretty."

"Why did you ever marry him Doc? He seems like a real wanker." Roach piped up, he was crouched next to Ripley petting her head.

"I was young and was freshly recruited into the military. My Da convinced me to marry Oliver, said I needed a man to take care of me if something went wrong and I was sent home." O'Connor shrugged

"I don't know how to feel about Oliver, he gave me the best thing that ever happened to me but on the other hand he's the reason Will was waiting for that tube. I honestly hate the man more for that than I do for everything he put me through." O'Connor seemed sullen looking down towards her left arm.

"I hate him for what he did to you Maevis, that muppet put you through more hell than being in active duty combat did. And that was before the divorce." Price grumbles.

O'Connor nods before standing up, she walks over towards Price and pulls him into a hug. She pulls back and smiles at each other before Roach joins in. Gaz shrugs and joins as well, Soap grabs Ghost and pulls him over as the brit rolls his eyes but joins.

[toofypigeon]

he's winning the idgaf war

[xxplastic-cubexx]

you open my Super Important Documents and its just pictures of charles xavier

[cozylittleartblog]

bug doodles so i can say i drew something

[fatedroses]

And some days, I just wish you wouldn't look at me at all.

[saihakkenden]

fun fact!! while rewatching, i noticed he uses the personal pronoun 私/watashi no matter who he talks to. the reason i took notice of this specifically is because 私 is gender neutral when used formally and feminine when used informally, which means he’s either using very formal speech with everyone, including his childhood best friend (which would be weird, considering how everyone else (in the show at least, idk about real life) uses their preferred pronoun and speaks informally when speaking to their friends, although o wouldn’t really put it past him), or he’s using a feminine pronoun on himself just because.

this is also part of the reason why i love nb touma

weeUGHH ACK *COUGH* eweuhbEWUAHHH aaaAWAAaaHh huhGHHH huhgH *SNIFFFF* AAAGH. hhheuuh… hhhheuyh *whimper*…hh-hhhhhghh… *sniffle sniff* wwehhh…. hhhoo…hh.. version

[nuclearanomaly]

I'm glad you're here with me At the end of all things...

[whenthelightisrunninglow]

tha burg

[ra-vio]

I miss nier. I have to watch the automata anime

[crabsnpersimmons]

Hello there!

I'd like to know your advice on drawing tablets?

As in, what do you use for your digital art? Is there any you suggest?

I'm planning on getting one, but there are so many options, and I'd like to know your opinion and preference.

Thank you ^^

hi anon! thanks for the question!

i draw with a samsung galaxy tab s7!

BUT if this is your first time drawing digitally, then it's a good idea to test out if you like it with cheaper options first (so you don't drop a whole lot of money on a hobby/medium of art you don't enjoy)

some suggestions:

if you have a smart phone, try drawing with your finger using free to use drawing apps like ibispaint X or HiPaint (i recommend HiPaint cuz the UI is a lot simpler and less overwhelming, but both have a good selection of tools. i wanna say ibispaint has better text tools tho and there's A LOT more tutorials and resources online) drawing digitally with your finger is different from drawing digitally with a pen AND drawing traditionally, but this is a good way to familiarize yourself with digital art tools. a very simple entry point if you already have a smart phone.

if you don't want to draw with your finger (understandable, i personally couldn't stand it) you can try simple drawing tablets, which are the tablets that you plug into your computer/laptop, come with a pen, but they don't have a screen you draw directly on. they're actually a lot more affordable nowadays (i saw some for under $50 CAD, which is WILD), so that’s a good starting option if you want to draw with a pen. with a pen, you have more control with line weights than you do with your finger, but it takes practice to get used to. it also takes some getting use to drawing on a tablet and looking at your monitor, but this is where i started haha. i still have my old bamboo wacom create drawing tablet. but nowadays, other brands like xp-pen and huion are very comparable to wacom, so definitely consider getting a cheaper one to try out first. of course, if you go with a drawing tablet, you'll need an art program on your computer. i've used photoshop and clip studio paint and they're very good, but probably overwhelming for people who are new to digital art (they are loaded with tools and you have to really familiarize yourself with the menus and everything). there are probably simpler options available... but i'm not as familiar with them. oh wait, i think there are some drawing tablets that can also connect with your smart phone too nowadays. man, that's so cool. that's probably a better option instead of purchasing photoshop or clip studio paint right off the bat.

if you REALLY want a screen display experience, try a cheaper general tablet. iPads are a popular option if you're comfortable with the Apple ecosystem (i'm not 😅) but they can be pricey PLUS you have to buy the Apple pen separately. for Android, I'm pretty sure even the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 is a solid choice and it comes with a pen unlike an iPad. the SPen is built with Wacom tech, so you know it's quality. and while iPad has Procreate, HiPaint is available for Android and it's basically a Procreate clone (i explain more about HiPaint here) otherwise, ibisPaint X is also good and infinite painter is probably the most sophisticated free to use drawing app i've encountered (sophisticated as in it does a pretty good job at imitating traditional media in their brushes. it's cool, but the free version is very limited).

also if you like watching videos, Brad Colbow and Teoh on Tech on YouTube are great resources. they specifically review tech from an artist's perspective.

why i suggest testing it out is because if you're used to drawing traditionally, then switching to digital is a different experience. some artists can't get used to drawing digitally, and that's fine. that's why it's a good idea to test it out with a cheaper option first to see if you like it and to give yourself time to familiarize yourself with drawing apps/programs. i actually kinda hated drawing digitally at first. i didn't have the same level of control that i was used to with drawing traditionally. and overtime i made a lot of bad habits with my digital art that i had to unlearn by switching back to traditional art for a couple years (some bad habits like: relying on the Undo button to make "perfect" lines; trying to draw really fast because the pen glides over the screen unlike a pencil has friction against paper) so... give it a try and just let yourself have fun. don't worry about making anything perfect, just have fun!

[shannonsketches]

like why did they change where Vegeta was when Cell announced the cell games in the anime

why did they make this vegeta starting shit with yamcha instead of chillin in the lab with his family? why did they take Bulma out of the lab? Why'd they say she was Out while Dr Brief was repairing 16? Why did they change Bulma working on advanced robotics to running in late with her baby?

it's the same scene except: - Bulma's actively at work being a scientist - Vegeta's not being rude to her (or anyone else!) - Vegeta waits for Trunks instead of leaving the room - Cell interrupted the airwaves, which means Trunks and Vegeta were just hanging out with Bulma and Dr B while they were working

Those are all Great Character Details!! That the anime rails against!!

[histi27]

Hi love your art!! Wanted to ask if you think Giovanni has any opinions on Ghetsis' damaged arm? (personally think Ghetsis makes it into a bigger deal more than anyone else, he's so dramatic)

Hi! Thank you for the ask. I’m glad that you like my art!

The question actually made me realize I never decided on what exactly is wrong with Ghetsis’ right arm besides the fact that a) he can use it but only for very general movements/gestures as shown in the bw opening animatic, b) it’s scarred in some way as shown in the evolutions ova, and c) it came after his eye injury (won’t be able to find a source for this one rn). So uh I’ve sketched some concepts for what it might be.

(Personally, I’m partial to the electric one I modelled after lightning scars but Pokemon attack scars are probably the most likely option)

Going back to the question, I agree with you to a degree. Ghetsis is obsessed with being perfect so any “imperfections” like that really get to him. His pride doesn't let him admit to it though unless he's veeery close to someone. Meanwhile yeah, Giovanni either doesn’t really care about it or finds it quite cool. If Ghetsis actually has a prosthetic he’d probably commission a fancy gold-plated one for him or something like that lmao. Either way, he got them matching pairs of gloves at some point <3

[giantkillerjack]

After learning about the video game "CONTROL" and watching Julia LePetit-Drawfee play it, I have amended my views on brutalist architecture.

I used to think that brutalist architecture was a completely miserable and hideous style of architecture to expect human beings to exist in or around, with absolutely no acceptable applications.

But NOW I think that brutalist architecture is a completely miserable and hideous style of architecture to expect human beings to exist in or around, which is actually quite suitable for a visually striking video game about a living building that fucking hates you and is actively trying to kill you and everyone in it. ✅ ✅ ✅

I'm being silly but tbh anyone who disagrees with me can go ahead and spend 10 years commuting in the dingy gray concrete brutalist dimness of the DC metro system and then fucking get back to me.