#blue cat and chugs

[macysparadeblog]

⚠️ NEW BALLOON ALERT ⚠️

[redeemingvillains]

tea leaves on christmas eve - mattheo riddle

summary: you and mattheo agree to have your tea leaves read as a joke, not expecting the surprising message they'd reveal.

word count: 3.4k

a/n: merry christmas, my loves! this is the fluffiest, softest thing i have ever written, and that's saying something ♡

The frosty air nipped your cheeks, carrying with it the scents of the holiday that surrounded you: peppermint, pine, and woodfire as you strode through Hogsmeade at eventide. The sky was turning a deep shade of midnight blue and rich violet which made the myriads of strung white lights hanging from the rooftops and doorways appear like stars twinkling around you.

Your boots crunched and crinkled in the packed snow alongside the eager footsteps of your friends who were laughing and joking with one another as you ambled along the annual Christmas market, enjoying the streets lined with vendors selling food, ornaments, and every twinkling bauble and treat you could imagine.

Your eyes dazzled as you took it all in, so idyllic and festive, but despite the enticing sights and sounds you felt your gaze continually drawn to the boy at your side, because it was simply impossible not to stare at him...

...The way his chestnut curls peeked out from underneath his hood, the way his long, dark lashes batted against his cheeks which were rosy from the cold, the way he was smiling, widely, genuinely, in a way that reached his amber eyes.

He was so handsome you felt a tug in your heart, a gravitational pull towards him that trying to defy felt like swimming against a fierce current, but as usual, you stuffed the feeling down, deep within you and tried to appear normal, happy and friendly. Mattheo was one of your closest friends, and even if you did have a raging crush on him, you'd never act on it. You could only imagine what Blaise or Pansy would say if they found out, let alone Theo and the others, you shook your head imperceptibly in an attempt to empty the thought from your mind.

You and Pansy dragged the boys from booth to booth, and despite their mumbles and groaning, you could tell they were enjoying it as they indulged in the endless amount of treats from peppermint sticks to chimney cakes and roasted chestnuts and they passed a flask between themselves to keep warm.

Theo had just taken a long sip from the small metallic container when his face broke into a wide smile and he nodded his head to a booth just ahead of you.

"Oi, look, they dragged the poor old bat out here" he laughed as your gaze followed his to see Professor Trelawney in a booth all her own.

Faded tapestries and multicolored shawls were draped around the booth and tasseled rugs covered the floor, creating a mini replica of the Divination classroom, but the only light coming from within shone from a host of low-burning candles that were dripping wax dramatically onto every available surface.

The sign above the booth announced that she was reading tea leaves, though it was starkly empty unlike the other booths that were crowded with patrons, and she was deeply focused on a crochet that looked an awful lot like an outfit for a cat.

"Gods she's a lunatic" Draco muttered.

"Truly mental" Theo agreed.

"You won't go over there and ask her to read your future" Draco dared, shoving Theo's arm.

Theo got a wicked smile on his face.

"I've got a better idea" he said. "Let's send Riddle instead, she's obsessed with him, always telling him about the dark and miserable ways he's going to die."

"Absolutely not" Mattheo said quickly with a non-humurous laugh.

But the idea was out and running on its own now.

"Ahaha yes mate! Please I need to see this" Blaise chimed in as the guys began to push Mattheo towards the booth, egging him on.

"Fucking not today" Mattheo groaned even as he laughed and swiped the flask from Theo's grasp, chugging it heartily before Theo snagged it back.

Mattheo wiped the back of his hand over his mouth, his lips gleaming with the remnants of firewhiskey, you noted, when he caught your eye and grinned mischievously at you.

"Do it with me?" he asked, nearly pleading. "I can't face her alone."

"Fine, fine" you said, smiling at his pout, pushing him along in front of you as your friends followed closely behind.

Your group crowded into the small booth, nearly shoulder to shoulder. The smell of incense and old books overtook you as Trelawney glanced up, surprised to see anyone, let alone seven of you in front of her until her eyes landed on Mattheo and she jumped in excitement, the crochet falling to the floor, forgotten.

"Oh! Come in my dears, yes, yes, let me–" she said, flustered, knocking things over in her haste to situate herself as Draco snickered and Pansy elbowed him in the ribs.

Mattheo moved to sit on one of two large poufs that lined the low table in front of the professor and he yanked you down beside him. You sent him a look of mock defiance, but truthfully you were glad to feel his warmth next to you and your breath caught in your lungs as he pulled his hood down, his playful smile dancing in the candlelight in a way that brought a deep flush to your cheeks that you hoped he couldn't see.

"Here you go" Professor Trelawney said, bringing you back to the present moment as she placed two fragile tea cups in front of you while a matching teapot hovered over the table, pouring warm liquid into both.

"Thank you, Professor" Mattheo said charmingly and she smiled broadly at him, whether completely enamored by his good looks or dark fortune, you couldn't say.

"Drink, drink!" she said encouragingly, gesturing to the tea.

You glanced sidelong at each other and you caught him rolling his eyes subtly as you both leaned forward and you took a long sip of the tea. It was herbal and a little bitter with a lingering taste of peppermint.

"That's quite good, thank you, Professor" you said kindly, as Mattheo nodded in agreement.

You placed your cups down and she cleared the table before pulling them closer to her. She closed her eyes and inhaled and exhaled vigorously, dramatically several times. You could feel one of the boys behind you shaking with stilted laughter before her eyes flew open, magnified by her glasses, giving her the appearance of a crazed owl as she grasped Mattheo's cup with both hands, staring deeply at the remains of his tea leaves.

"Mmm, yes, yes, just as I feared" she murmured. "Dark and mysterious, Mr. Riddle, very, very dark indeed. You are in grave danger."

Mattheo cleared his throat in an attempt to hide his laughter.

"Oh, wow, of what Professor?" he asked, egging her on.

She turned the cup in her hands, eyes flickering to him and back to the cup again with a nervous smile.

"Well...the leaves...don't say, my dear, just know it's very dark and very grave. There will be misfortunes and hardships–" she carried on and on and you caught Mattheo's eye as he mouthed subtly, silently to you, "So many misfortunes and hardships" and you had to bite your lip to keep from laughing as he smiled.

"What about Ms. YLN here, Professor?" he interrupted finally, pulling Trelawney out of her stupor.

She smiled awkwardly, placing Mattheo's cup down reluctantly, before she cleared her throat and picked yours up, adjusting her glasses and blinking several times.

"Right, let's see" she said.

She peered into your teacup and her face scrunched almost immediately. "Well, I..." she started, before turning the cup this way and that before setting it gently down on the table, glancing back at Mattheo's cup and then up at the two of you.

Her expression was rather serious, and an unusual quiet settled on the group in a way that sent a small shiver through you, raising the hairs on your arm.

"Professor?" Mattheo asked, nearly a whisper, prompting her.

She reached for his cup, pulling it next to yours, and looked at them closely side by side.

"It's the faithful heart" she said finally, looking up from the cups to the two of you and for once her eyes expression wasn't manic, but calm, reassured.

"Sorry?" you asked, like any of you were supposed to know what that meant.

She slid the cups back to you and you both leaned forward. Immediately, you could see what she had seen: the remnants of the leaves in each cup held half a heart, that when placed side by side formed one.

"The meaning may seem obvious" she said, leaning forward, letting her fingers trace the patterns "but it represents two halves of a whole soul, one not fully complete without the other, two spirits destined for one another, destined to understand each other in a way no one else can or ever will, two hearts destined to beat as one."

You realized suddenly that you had been holding your breath because fuck if that wasn't exactly how you felt about him. You realized, too, that your friends were quiet, stone silent, like you could actually hear the snow that had begun to fall outside.

"It's rare" Professor Trelawney said, sitting back in her chair, smiling as she glanced between the two of you, "extraordinary."

Your cheeks were warm and though you'd remembered how to breath, the air felt heavy, a stifling mix of incense and Mattheo's cologne that when combined with the tea in your veins made you feel like your head was swimming. You couldn't bring yourself to look at him, but you could feel his gaze on you, heavy and unwavering.

"Well, th-thank you, Professor" you said, flushing even deeper at the shake in your voice as you stood to leave and could feel the others come back to life besides you. "I hope you have a happy Christmas" you muttered quickly as you stepped out of the booth and back into the chilly air, grateful for the gust of cool wind to clear your mind.

Pansy came to stand beside you as the boys bustled ahead of you, joking and laughing once again.

Theo waited until they were out of earshot of the girls before he slung an arm around Mattheo's neck, pulling him into his side.

"Mate, I don't know you how did it, but you are a fucking artist at work, let me tell you!"

Mattheo stumbled in Theo's firm grasp, the motion jolting him out of the reverie of the snug booth, of the mint on his lips, the warm tea pulsing through him, and the look on your face in the flickering candlelight as you listened to the professor tell you you were meant for him. He felt excited, nauseous and anxious in equal measures.

"W-what?" he asked Theo.

"I know you've fancied YN for just about as long as you've known her" he said, glancing behind them cautiously before continuing, "but paying Trelawney to tell her you're soulmates? I mean that shit is romantic bro, you almost had me there."

"I didn't—" Mattheo started to say, but was interrupted as Blaise threw his arm around Mattheo from the other side, sandwiching him between them.

"I need a fucking drink after that. Broomsticks?"

"Yes!" Theo chanted in reply and they hauled Mattheo along as his mind continued to swirl, and he desperately tried to catch your eye.

The Three Broomsticks was packed with a loud and jolly crowd seeking solace from the biting cold as night settled over the town.

You miraculously found a curved wooden booth big enough for all of you, and as you slid in you found yourself directly across from Mattheo, though you managed expertly to avoid his gaze.

You could tell he was trying to catch your eye, but you couldn't bring yourself to acknowledge him, because if you didn't look at him, you could pretend for just one moment longer that everything Professor Trelawney had said was true, that he could look at you like your souls were tethered together and not like you were one of his best mates.

You made every effort to focus on the conversation around you as your friends talked about holiday plans and new years parties, but it was proving impossible not to dissect everything the professor had said, to re-evaluate everything you knew about Mattheo, to start to see things in a different light.

You thought about how protective he was of you, even moreso than the other boys which was a feat in itself. He sat next to you at every meal, in every class. It wasn't unusual for him to reach for you if the corridor between classes was crowded or if you were in a public place, like he needed to make sure you were safe and by his side. He wouldn't ever let you walk in the castle alone at night, even if that meant falling asleep in the library besides you. But he always quick with excuses and explanations... "There was a fucking basilisk in here five years ago. Nice try, YLN, I will walk you to your dormitory thank you very much."

You thought about your first Christmas at Hogwarts, how you went home and he stayed here and how awfully you'd missed him, about how when you came back, he'd scooped you into his arms, grasping you tightly, not letting go, about how you resolved to spend every Christmas after that together. It didn't seem weird, it was the way you and Mattheo worked, it was just easier to be together than it was to be apart. But was it easier to be together or simply impossible for you to be separated?

Finally, you thought about how over the last 6 years neither one of you had dated anyone, and not for lack of ample opportunity on both sides, how your friends constantly nagged you about it. You blew it off, you were too busy with your studies, clearly. And Mattheo was too busy with quidditch.... Right?

"—YN, YN!" you focused back on the present as Pansy nudged you urgently at your side. "We're getting another round, do you want one?" she asked.

"Sure" you said blearily, dreamily, but as you slid to follow your friends out of the booth and stand in the crowd, you found yourself face to face with Mattheo who had stayed behind to find you, and suddenly there was no escape from his wide, brown eyes or the small smile on his lips as his gaze traced your face, eagerly drinking in the attention he'd been seeking from you for the last hour.

He said something you couldn't hear, and you stepped closer to him, fingers brushing his chest.

"What?" you asked.

"Do you wanna—?" he asked, tilting his head towards a quiet alcove near a large window at the back of the bar.

You nodded and he pulled you towards him, his large, warm hands resting on your hips in a comforting and protective gesture as he navigated you between the bar's rowdy patrons.

When you broke through the crowd and into the quiet corner, you glanced out the window in a last effort to distract yourself as you watched snow falling earnestly in large flurries.

"Hey" Mattheo said quietly, calmly, garnering your attention as you turned to face him and a smile spreading automatically on your lips at his rich voice, at his proximity.

His eyes were bright and twinkling, searching your face intently, perhaps picking up on your hesitancy, which wouldn't surprise you given that he often knew how you were feeling before you did.

"What I had started to say was... that was... something back there with Trelawney, huh?" he let out a breath, just shy of a laugh as he shook his head and carded his hand through his curls in an effort to hide the fact that his hands were shaking, had been since Trelawney had word for word described exactly how you made him feel. His heart would not stop racing; something about what Trelawney had said struck a chord so deep inside him, it was like his body was still humming with the note.

"Yeah... I don't really know what to think of it, I guess..." you replied nervously, not willing to say anything more, not wanting to make a fool of yourself.

He swallowed, eyes shifting to the snow outside, trying to gather the courage he may never have again.

"It's mad, really, to think about something like soulmates, especially from a pile of tea leaves, but... I don't know, at the same time, it kinda made sense to me" he said.

Your eyes blinked up at him and you could feel your pulse hammering in your neck.

"Did it?" you said quietly, breathlessly.

"With you it did, yeah" he said, meeting your eyes fully. "It made a lot more sense than anything else has between us in a long time. I hadn't had a word for it, for the way I feel when you're with me, calm, assured, happy. I always know where I stand with you, what you're thinking, how you're feeling, you're like an open book to me, like my favorite book that I want to read over and over and over again. And at the same time, it makes sense that when we're apart, I lose my mind YN. I don't think you have any idea what it does to me. I can't focus for shit, I'm worried about you, constantly, I feel unsettled, unmoored, it's why I follow you around the castle at night like a dog for Merlin's sake" he said, shaking his head, embarrassed. "That's not normal" he said before gesturing between the two of you "this isn't normal—"

"—I felt it too" you interrupted, "feel it too, I know exactly what you mean, Mattheo, every single word" you said, stepping closer to him.

"Are we crazy?" you whispered, laughing. This should feel weird, should feel incredibly strange and for the briefest moment you wondered if she'd put something in your tea, but then his fingertips brushed your waist again, pulling you closer to him and it felt like the last piece of a puzzle, a missing part of you sliding into place.

Mattheo was shaking his head and smiling, completely enamored with you, unable to look away.

"Nah, not crazy at all" he whispered back.

The air between you was crackling, electrified like the moment before lightning struck when suddenly small snowflakes began to fall around you. For a moment you thought there was a hole in the ceiling, but then you realized you were standing under an enchanted mistletoe that was jingling quietly and showering you both with snow that sparkled and then faded away.

You both looked up, laughing, before you met his gaze again, realizing he was close enough to brush his nose against yours. His warm hand cupped the side of your face and you leaned it as a feeling like melted honey rushed over your entire body and he brushed the pad of his thumb along your cheek.

"I'm gonna kiss you now" he whispered.

"Please—" you started to say before he stole the word out from behind your lips, capturing it with his own, consuming it with his perfect mouth as he pulled you firmly against him.

Every fiber of your being was a live wire, and you were certain that if anyone had touched the two of you, you'd have let off a spark. But being snug against his chest wasn't enough as you moved to wind your arms around his neck and his hands continued to grab onto you for purchase, carding into your hair, grasping at your sweater, the two of you nearly losing your footing in your attempt to close any remaining distance between you as you giggled, bubbling over with joy.

Pansy tucked her wand back into her boot as she looked on from the crowded bar at the two of you.

"The mistletoe was a nice touch" Draco nodded.

"It would have happened eventually" she defended.

"Inevitable" Enzo agreed as he popped by her side, eyeing the two of you as he sipped his butterbeer.

"Fucking finally!" Theo said heartily as he stepped to Draco's other side.

"Aww, would you look at that!" Blaise acknowledged, joining them as they watched the two of you. "Happy Christmas, guys!" he said, raising his glass.

"Happy Christmas!" they all agreed, raising their glasses together, thrilled to see their friends full of the love they both so deserved.

@kenjikishimotoswifey @mattiesgf @sleepiibunniiii @darlingshecried @girllblogging777 @foivetimesacharm @clar2aa @broadwaybaby123 @slytherinscreamqueen @chelawrites

[coralinnii]

"Eyes are Windows to the Soul"

↳ Admiring your Dark Brown eyes

feat: Idia ❋ Sebek ❋ Kalim ❋ Trey genre: fluff note: no pronouns were used for reader, set before Book 7 (mostly because I haven’t finished it yet),

Idia grew up sheltered in a sterile world, filled with LED lights and sleek metal walls. Shades of brown were not common in his daily routine, so he didn’t have a lot of opinions on it. 

In a world of neon blue and cold silver, your brown eyes ironically stood out in Idia’s world. 

Your eyes remind him of fluffy brown kittens, filled with warmth and mischief. You remind him of those adorable teddy bear prizes in claw machines that everyone covets. You were everything he dreams of holding, but often out of reach.

That is until the two of you grew closer, then he sees your eyes in the ice-cold colas he’s chugging during long grinding sessions with you. He feels a tingling sensation when he sees your eyes in the dry autumn leaves crunching beneath his feet whenever you drag him out to “touch some grass” 

Your brown eyes remind him of everything fluffy and warm, of fuzzy feelings and snugness. 

Your eyes give off energy, but it’s not scary or overwhelming at all. Rather, it’s soft and enjoyable like a refreshing drink on a hot day.

You seem so out of place in his old world, but Idia couldn’t imagine a life without you anymore.

”Uggh, that cat is just too cute, what a sensory overload! Huh, when did brown cats become my fav? I-I guess kinda recently?”

Sebek holds himself with prestige and integrity, a well-kept man with honor to uphold. 

But his experience is filled with the great wilderness, with the natural and unbending beauty of the forest. He proudly recalls his childhood living close to the world of fae and nature. 

You were a human. Your upbringing was nothing like his own, a pair of opposites with nothing in common

But, when you look at him with your sweet brown eyes, Sebek sometimes feels lost in nostalgia. In your eyes, he sees the beautiful trees of his homeland, he sees his beloved worn-out books in his bookshelves passed down by his grandfather. 

Not only his childhood memories, Sebek feels the same feeling of familiarity in his current lifestyle. He’s reminded of the joy and excitement he feels when he trusts his whole self to the majestic brown horses in the campus wooden stables. 

Is it because just like his trusted steed, your warm brown eyes effortlessly shine with so much strength?

Lost in your eyes, he recalls feelings of comfort and home, a connection to what makes Sebek…himself. Though he may not admit it, the stubborn young man finds solace just by staring into your eyes.

"Do I ever feel homesick? Of course I do! I simply… haven’t been feeling all that distant from my homeland as of late”

Kalim is not only surrounded by shades of brown, but also reds, yellows, greens, and everything else in the large spectrum of color. His world is bright and vibrant, never a dull moment for the boisterous heir. 

You fit right into his life, adding more happiness to his routine. Your existence gave off a sense of wholesome, sweet fun. You join him in his highs yet keep him grounded when he flies too close to the Sun

To anyone else, Kalim lacks nothing in terms of riches. He is financially blessed for generations to come, and Kalim is not ignorant enough to deny otherwise. 

But lately, whenever he watches you, he ponders on what the word “rich” truly meant to him. 

Some would call your brown eyes pretty but rather plain, but regardless Kalim would catch himself swimming in the hue of your irises. 

In your eyes, he sees the deep color of expensive cognac that many would gift his parents, he sees the color of flawless leather prized by countless merchants, and he sees the color of fertile soil that nurtures and feeds his country. 

If someone were to ask his opinion, Kalim would say that richness and pricelessness could be defined by your eyes. Kalim may have an abundance of gold and silver but there is no price that could compare to the look of pure love in your exquisite eyes.

"Have you ever seen a chocolate diamond before? They’re really pretty with a wonderful shine. I really like them, I’ll show you one someday!”

While he isn’t against dabbling in certain subjects and interests, Trey has a pretty solid idea of his future, to become a patissier and to either inherit his family's bakery or start his own business. 

Trey doesn’t see himself as anyone extravagant nor does he really want to be. Sure, he may be in a prestigious school, and he may hold an enviable position as a vice-Housewarden, but the green-haired senior holds himself more modestly. 

You knew well of his humble dream, and he appreciated the way you would support him however you can, be it a taste tester for new recipes or assisting him in the kitchen before a busy unbirthday party. 

In this close proximity, Trey is allowed more chances to glance your way, especially your eyes. 

He sees the resemblance in your eyes the color of the chestnuts you collected with the mischievous freshmen, the first day he noticed how cute you were. He’s reminded of warm brownies and cookies he would bake in secret just for you, all to see those very eyes sparkle. He imagines a brick house in the same shade as your eyes, where he’ll live out his peaceful life with you.

In your warm brown eyes, he feels reassurance and security. Trey doesn’t need a lavish lifestyle or a grand plan. All he could wish for is a life where he could bake cakes and pay taxes with you.

“I’m not exactly the most romantic with words, but I do like your eyes. They remind me of…my oven. Ah, that sounded a bit…” 

[cherry-leclerc]

stolen sweethearts ☆ cl16

genre: humor, angst, yearning, pining after three years so maybe slowburn??, fluff, second chances, whipped!charles

word count: 4.3k

Everything that leads to your wedding day and ends up with a knock on your door from your ex-boyfreind and an infamous letter.

req!...longer than intended, whoops! enjoy, anons :)

inspired by this !

“You’re making a mistake—”

Your eye twitches in the slightest, glossy lips curling into a snarl. “Shut up and be quiet.”

“What?” 

Looking down at your boyfriend, dressed in Armani from head to toe and a blank expression, you wince apologetically. You grasp his hand tighter, knuckles becoming white, and smile widely, tears brimming the corner of your eyes. “Not you, honey!” A wet chuckle escapes when he visibly relaxes. “Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes.”

The engagement party was a pleasant surprise, filled with congratulations and early wedding gifts. It also brought out a large group of your friends from hibernation. “Felicidades,” Carlos says with a teasing smirk. “I truly never thought I’d see the day you settle.” 

You bit the air. “Ha ha. That was the old me. New me is a completely changed woman thanks to true unconditional love. It’s crazy, try it out some time,” you shoot back. 

The Spaniard simply scowls and bows away, returning to his earlier conversation. You consider yourself lucky—as if you committed a successful heist and somehow got away with it. He was handsome, with bright eyes, dark hair, and tempting lips. There truly wasn’t a single flaw to your now fiancé. And if there were, no one ironically saw it but Lando.

“You’re making a—”

“Mistake?” you finish off his sentence, sighing and rubbing your temples. “So you say.” You were in the middle of ordering yourself another piña colada when he hounded you like a madman. The Brit blows out with a tired expression, as if he were giving up on all of humanity. 

“Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes.” Angling your head to aim a dirty glare, you silently flip him off as he uses your earlier words against you. 

“Aren’t you tired, Lan? It’s been three years, let it go.”

The blue eyed boy musters a threatening look and then rips your sweet treat away from your grip, immediately claiming ownership. Your brows fly up with an offended scoff. He chugs it all down before shaking his curls adamantly. “No, I will not let it go. Bloody hell, you’re one stubborn gal—you can’t go through with this.”

For the shortest second, a ray of hesitance strikes your face when you spot your fiancé, happily indulging in a round of shots with Carlos, Max, and Daniel. The group laughs with amusement over something he says. Your lips wobble, turning back to your friend, shooting lasers. “Why not? And please don’t say—”

“Charles.” Somehow, even with the mention of his name, your world still manages to spin off its axis, alarming your remaining sanity. Last time you saw the Monegasque was quite the day, ending with regretful words and inferior decisions. Lando grimaces when you let out a shaky breath. “You know you haven’t gotten over him. And I can guarantee you that this…” He spins his index finger around the flashing room. “Will not make the difference you're hoping it will.”

-

Have you made your Christmas list? I told you I need it at least two weeks prior. I work well under pressure, but for God’s sake, honey, this is too much. Charles chuckles, cleaning his pair of Ray Bans against the hem of your skirt. You sigh. 

Oui. Making his way over to his duffel bag, he retreats a crumpled up piece of paper. Oh, um, shit. The green eyed boy cringes with embarrassment, pouting modestly. You swallow the giggle sliding up your throat when he frowns furthermore. I swear I had it! It must've gotten crushed with all my stuff. You know what? Charles strolls over to the flight of stairs. I’ll just make a new one, give me a sec. 

As soon as he leaves, you yawn, stretching out like a cat. You can’t help the fluffy feeling; Christmas always adds to it. But something about this one felt distinctively different and you couldn’t place the reason why. 

Your orbs flicker across the dimly lit room before falling back to the thin piece of paper. Patting your palms on your thighs, you get up and delicately open it up, curiosity overflowing. It shouldn’t have mattered, he was going to re-write it anyways. 

His calligraphy had always been messy, and yet you always—somehow—understood; from the start of his sentences to the final dot. But this had to be the one and only time you wish you weren’t so comprehensive. 

I’ve been thinking about us

A lot recently, actually

I’ve had some thoughts over these past few weeks and

I think we should just end things.

You bat your eyes, already feeling the pressure forming behind, stinging harshly. Was this meant for you? For you to find? Had it been intentional the moment he pulled out the fucking note? Would he just not come back and was it all an excuse?

But he does. And his pale face answers all of your questions. 

Oh fuck, what have you done?

Rage fuels within you as you briskly brush away the acid sliding down your burgundy cheeks, heat rushing through your body. What have I done? What the fuck is this bullshit, Charles? 

The Monegasque instantly rushes over, trying to get ahold of the piece of paper. You rapidly pull it away and force a step back as you let out a wet chuckle. He winces at the cold sound. Why would you do that? Why did you do that?

So you’re not denying it? You wrote this? You knew he had, his writing was imprinted into your brain like a manuscript you had professionally studied endless hours.

His skin only loses more color with every passing second. I’m not trying to blame you! I did. I did write that—but that was so long ago, you have to believe me, and I can explain! He kneels down, silently pleading you to bless him with a spare minute. Just let me explain it all to you. 

I never took you for a poet, you bitterly spit out as you continue skimming through the full page. You have a lot on your mind—a lot. Scanning his desperate state, you can’t help but let out a soft whimper, scrunching your nose. 

I’m not, shit. He grips your thighs from where he is and lets out a set of shaky breaths. Do you remember when—

I don't want to remember, you let out. I just simply want to forget. 

He can creepily hear the way your heart is breaking and how his follows along with every word, puncturing his soul. You don’t even notice his coming arm, taking half of the note away and you irritatedly pull back, causing it to rip in half. 

That does it, bullying you down to the floor where you start to cry. Out of anger, out of betrayal, out of everything. The green eyed boy tries to soothe you, mumbling into your hair but you’re too busy zoning out that you don’t catch a single confession.

Leave.

Charles flinches; you can feel it as he presses close to you. What?

He almost doesn’t recognize you when you furiously push him off, crawling back with a sense of suffocation. Pain crosses his eyes as he watches you create distance. I don’t want you anymore. I don’t want you here anymore—leave.

Anyone who knows Charles would know that he never gave up. He either spoke down on himself and pitied for a while, but never ever gave up. So this was a first. A tough pill to swallow.

If that's what you want me to do, then…okay. He stands up firmly, but inside he’s terrified that his limbs might call out for the day. But I love you. So don’t ever ask me to stop. And he walks out of your life after evilly twisting the knife.

With a new note and ring box deep inside his pocket.

-

Despaired eyes flicker over to where Charles eases into a conversation with Carmen and George, occasionally clenching his jaw. You hadn’t invited him—that’s just absurd—but he had gotten word from blabbermouth Pierre and you didn’t have the solidity to say no. From the looks of it, he didn’t want to be here either.

“Well I’ve got news for you, my dear friend, I love Hudson, so climb on board because this is happening…” Your voice trails off the second your ex looks up, as if he felt your eyes drawn onto him. Normally they’re dazzling and filled with joy, but the unfamiliar injured expression is like a punch to the gut. Your conscience calls you out on it, slapping you back into reality. Turning to Lando, you purse your lips tightly. “Who even is Charles?”

-

“God! When I saw Charles had showed up I just wanted to dig up a hole and never come out! Who would willingly go to their exes' engagement party?” Like a spinning top, you fume at Kika whose eyes shine at the sight of you, even after barking. “You should have warned me Pierre would do that. God, I hate that jerk sometimes.”

The Portuguese hums. “Me too…” You flick a questionable brow. Kika giggles, fixing your white gown, feathering it out like a dove. “I know, I should have! Bad friend, bad friend,” she childishly says. You can’t help rolling your eyes, returning your attention back to your reflection. “But if we’re being truthful here, someone should have warned Charles.” 

“What are you talking about?”

Taking a quick sip of the complimentary champagne, she nods enthusiastically. “No one gave him a heads up. He thought it was just any other ordinary party—nowhere near a proposal.” 

Your stomach churns, mortification taking over at the sudden report. Charles’ reaction was odd, but you couldn’t help filling up with satisfaction, climbing onto your high horse when you saw it. Never in a million years did you ever consider that being a surprise to him too. Hellooo? Coughing awkwardly, you swat her hand far away. Kika yelps. 

“Yeah, well he deserves it.” You chug down the rest of her drink in a matter of seconds. Her wide eyes grow larger as she nervously giggles. “No one ever gave me a warning either.”

-

You were never one for being superstitious, but if anyone ever taught you something valuable, then it would be to never make contact with the groom before the wedding ceremony. He probably didn’t know any better—it of course wasn’t intentional—but that doesn’t stop your heartbeat from spiking up when you spot your fiancé sauntering over to where to stand.

“What are you doing here?” you hiss. Hudson furrows his thick brow. What are you talking about? I came to see you. You look fucking hot by the way. Squeezing your eyes shut, you shoo him, expensive jewelry clinking against one another. “Listen, that’s sweet and all, but you need to leave or else you’re going to ruin it!” You already did, the devil on your shoulder growls. You try relaxing, but can still feel the tenseness shifting between your shoulder blades. “Hudson, I’m dead serious, go.”

The stubborn brunette raises his arms in defense, mouthing a quick wow and walking back out. Were you being a tad bit colder than intended? Was there a better way to deal with the unwanted interaction? Yes. Probably. That’s what you tried to convince yourself because you knew the longer you pondered, the quicker you would realize that Lando was right.

You were making a mistake. 

Charles isn’t any better off. He twists and turns the entire night, debating whether he should attend the occasion he knew would most likely make him flat line, but the curiosity definitely got to him. He always wondered what type of dress you would exclusively choose, perfect in every detail. Your hair, your heels. Your smile. Because they weren’t all the same. There was the kind that would sort of slip to a subtle, shy frown when he would compliment you, so he often saw lots of those. Or the kind that would cause your eyes to crinkle—he witnessed those when he would tickle you half to death, laughing loudly as tears would start to form. What he would kill to see you beam back at him once again…

But naturally, he talked himself out of it. What good does it do for him? The following morning, as he blinks strangely at the white wall, he starts to reminisce to himself. Like your first date—which was originally for both Carlos and Isa—but you both weaseled your way in. Or the time he taught you how to skate; only to remember he doesn’t know how to skate. He kept apologizing as the doctor secured your arm with a bright pink cast, but you only laughed, begging him to be the first to sign it. You were probably high off of meds, but still. 

A peculiar feeling washes over as he spots an old shoe box. He almost dashes out of the arctic room when he realizes what it holds, but deliberately crunches down to open it. 

And he knows what to do.

-

“He wants to see you,” Lily shrieks, peeking out into the hallway, then jumping back in. The teal dress was doing wonders for her skin tone, but you couldn’t help the agitation. Tell him I don’t want to see him. We have a whole lifetime to do that, you groan, slipping onto your heels. 

Your bridesmaid clicks her tongue, widening the entrance as you hold back a much needed gasp. “I think you should tell him yourself…”

“I only need a minute,” Charles stammers, a thin layer of sweat coating his sharp nose. You’re too afraid to speak, so you robotically nod as you watch everyone scurry out, giving you two privacy. The twenty-six year old shyly gets closer, gently pinching a piece of paper in between his clammy grip. Your heart stops. “I walked beneath a ladder…on my way here,” he clarifies. You blink, long lashes fluttering like a fan. “I don’t think I’ll ever learn.”

-

If I had known you were this manly, I would’ve married you a lifetime ago. It slips out like a force of nature before you can stop yourself as your boyfriend halts from his task. The day was soon ending, late November, and you were both working together on painting the bedroom your dream shade. He had tried talking you out of it because it was simply—just white— but you had hounded him until he agreed. Now he stands here with a white coloring staining his dark gray shirt and you’ve never been happier.

Is that something you might want? Charles tries to play it cool, picking up from where he left off, lips itching into a goofy grin. To get married?

You’re almost glad he’s not facing you since you're as bright as a tomato. I won’t lie, I’ve definitely thought about it. You take a sip of water, suddenly caught with a dry throat. Could be nice. 

The Monegaque flips around to face you, placing the paint roller down and strolling over to where you sit criss-cross. You visibly gulp; electricity slipping into the small room. It would be, wouldn’t it? His pink lips ghost over yours as you lean in a bit. 

Yeah…

Could kiss you anytime I want… Kiss. Fuck you anytime I want… Another kiss. My fucking dream.

You moan against his touch, melting away like an ice cream sundae. I-I-I really think we could do it; be married. You had been together for so long now, you’re honestly surprised you hadn’t had this conversation any sooner. I would choose that exact same shade for my dress, you squeal, pointing at the wet wall. He hums. Not eggshell, not timid white—whipped cream, if you will.

Ahhhh, smart girl, he teases, nipping at your bottom lip. You practice this shit when I’m not around?

You laugh. I’ve been taught all kinds of tones from birth. My father was a painter himself, remember?

Of course I do, mon amour. He only created the best piece of art yet, he announces with a cheshire smile, watercolor eyes pointing down at you. You blush. 

You’re such a klutz, you would probably do something stupid like walk underneath a ladder on our wedding day. You only do it every time, you say, wiggling out of his grip as he tickles you. 

I swear I don't do that shit on purpose, it just happens, okay?

Pressing your nose against his, you cozily sigh. As long as we don’t see eachother until the actual ceremony, then I won’t be too upset. 

Is that a promise?

You nod. That’s a fucking vow.

-

“You called it.”

Shifting uncomfortably, you chuckle when you nearly tip over. “Yeah, you’ve always been like that, but don’t think about it too much—it’s not like it’s your wedding.”

He clenches his sharp jaw. “Sure, but bad luck is bad luck, no? And I think I’m quite familiar with it.”

His words shouldn’t impact you so much years laters, but they do. Perhaps it’s due to his sorrowful stare, or his anxious tick, but it kills you just the same way it did that December night. You let out a light shudder, blinking away tears. “What do you want, Charles?”

“I wrote you a letter.”

God—a heartfelt note is the last thing you wanted and today was not the day to receive it either. Or ever. Not when it came from him. “I’m sorry, but it’s a bit too late for that. I’m about to be a married woman in approximately an hour.” You narrow your neat brows, flawless makeup shimmering against the sunbeams. “What gives you the right to walk back into my life, get shit off your chest for your own sake, and just for you to do what? Leave?” 

You’re not being fair; not completely, but you can't help it. For the longest time, you thought you were over it, but clearly not. Charles licks his rosy lips, closing the gap between you two. “This isn’t something I just came up with.” He extends his arm out. “I wrote this three years ago.”

You inhale sharply, suspiciously eyeing the white paper. Please, just read it. Back then you could never turn him down, as much as you tried…

And it appears like today wasn’t any different.

It���s almost hilarious to think about how much you cried on your proposal date and how much you are now. You were a light rain at best when Hudson got down on one knee, but Charles stands here, tall, and you’re a complete waterfall. 

“Y-you were going to ask me to…” A headache comes rolling in as you let out a wet cry. “This isn’t true; it isn’t real. You wrote this today and came here to fuck with me.”

The Monegasque shakes his head in panic, blood painting his higher cheekbones. “No—listen; the first letter you found, I did write that.” You grimace. “But I swear I took it back immediately. It’s just that you were getting so much hate during that time, and you would always cry, and then you’d say you were never crying…You were in a really dark place. Do you remember?”

How could you not? You knew not everyone was going to love you for dating one of the top Formula One drivers, but you never expected to read such brutal messages either. They were descriptive, and cruel, and ruthless, and it crushed you more than you’d like to admit. Which was fucking stupid since there was always a rather large community that loved and adored you, and Charles loved and adored you—and yet.

You release a shaky breath, desperately rubbing your eyelids. Lily would probably throw a fit at your now snotty and smudged makeup, but you couldn’t really think too deeply about any of that right now. “What does that have to do with anything?”

The brunette cradles your face and you hate when you lean into his warm touch. “I just wanted all of that to end; for you to feel better. And I could never actually say the words, so I drafted a letter, and I’m so fucking sorry, mon amour.” The tides crash inside your chest, getting harder to breathe. “It has been my biggest regret. Hurting you.”

He did more than hurt you; he broke you completely. Like a porcelain doll, like a trophy, like a mirrorball; it ruined you. But you know he knows that when his eyes slowly turn red. “But then I thought to myself, it doesn’t have to be that way! W-we could restrict comments, I could post something and stand up for the woman I love, and I could reassure her by vowing the most sacred thing there could ever exist…And I sat down and wrote this letter.”

If you thought Charles loved you before, then you’re a fool. He was utterly infatuated, devoted, obsessed and drowning in fervor. This letter may be old, slightly cutting loose around the edges, but it’s pinned as straight as can be. Not like the last.

“My only mistake was writing the first, and to even consider giving up on us. My best decision has been writing the second, and promising to stick by you the way I knew I was put on this Earth to do.” Charles carefully draws you in closer. “But I know nothing could ever fix the shit I’ve put you through, but I’m begging for the chance to try.” He kisses your temple and you relax against his lips. “I’m fucking desperate—just one.”

He slips out his original ring box and shines the gem back at you. It’s smaller than the one Hudson had given you, thinner too.

But it has you written all over.

A dizzy spell hovers over as you blink hastily. Charles doesn’t dare to breathe, waiting for you. “This isn’t…I just…” You bite your lower lip, glossy orbs flickering towards the band and then back at him. “Thank you for taking the time to apologize and clear things up; I really needed that, but I can’t do this.” You step out of his embrace, immediately freezing as if you were spending a winter in Iceland. His heart palpitates hysterically, green eyes skimming your features. “This isn’t what I had in mind—this isn’t what’s supposed to happen,” you press sternly.

“You’re right; it’s not.” Though you had just said the same, hearing him repeat it jams the knife deeper into your heart. You can hear chaos ensuing down the hallway, your friends chirping happily at one another. Contrary to what was going on in here. “It’s not because you can’t marry him. Because you know you don’t love him the way you say you do.” He laughs. “You tolerate him at best! I saw the way you avoided him getting down on one knee that day. You kept running off until you couldn’t anymore.” You burn up. “And who was the first person you looked for as he slipped that ring onto your finger? Me.”

“You’re paying too much attention to detail,” you retort, almost snarling.

 “Sure, and that’s eggshell.”

It’s like a slap to the face. Your blurry vision focuses onto your dress for a second before snapping back up. “It’s whipped cream. The way I wanted.”

The Monegasque rolls his watercolor eyes, nostrils fuming. “Open up your eyes and see—It’s. Eggshell. Nothing about this is anything you ever dreamt of for your wedding! From your dress, to your ring, to your fucking fiancé!” He huffs. “This ring is all I could have afforded back then, but I would have sold my heart to get you a fucking star if that’s what you wanted…But you’ve always liked the simpler things. You always said you didn’t need a huge diamond to prove your devotion. Look at you now,” he says, signaling to your ring that swallows your hand whole. “All of this is fake.”

You’re sobbing now. You’re bubbling with anger. Because he was here, with you, out of all days. Because he was still the same man who broke your heart and stitched it back up. 

Because he was right.

Brushing your nose with the back of your hand, you stare up weakly, defeated. “What do you want me to do?” you whisper, brows drawn together as he folds over completely over your goddess state.

“Don’t marry him and come with me.”

Though you knew that was what he wanted from the moment he walked past the door, it still knocked the last breath you held. 

Things were never easy with him. There were constant fights—but that never seemed to matter by the end of the day. There was constant hate—but you always braved through it because you needed him. 

And he steadied you. Charles was the first one to apologize, even if the majority of arguments weren’t his fault. Charles was the one who despite crushing his own heart, he wrote that letter to keep you untouched from his fans, from the media.

The letter hurt; like a motherfucker—and it would take a while to forgive…

But there’s no one else you would rather work through with it than with him.

Smiling softly, you nod, almost as if you can’t believe you’re actually doing this. Charles lets out a heavy exhale, laughing as he hugs you tightly, leaving you like a fish out on land. But you’re giggling through it all. “I have to talk to Hudson first, oh God, I have to talk to his family…” you shriek, pale and mortified.

“You know,” he starts. “We could skip all of that and just—”

“No,” you coldly press. Charles’ brows fly up. “I have to do this.” Distancing yourself from him, you wobble to the wooden door before looking back at the handsome man who stands proudly with his neat suit. Butterflies expand freely. “You’ll still be here when I get back, right?”

With a single hand pressed against his heart, he nods, as if you held the keys to all gates. “I’ll be wherever you need me to be from now on.” With that, you grin, eyes crinkling and exit the room.

What happened to your makeup? Lily squeals when she spots you running down the hallway, tripping over her tall heels as Alex catches her. There better be a reasonable explanation to this!

taglist: @blueflorals @starmanv @coolio2195 @lovrsm @weekendlusting@chanshintien @brune77e @myownwritings @timmychalametsstuff @milasexutoire@alesainz @c-losur3 @darleneslane @togazzo @urfavnoirette @namgification @lpab @d3kstar @val-writes

[pricesprincess]

from this ask | fat fem! reader | asshole oc for story purposes

simon riley really did live up to his nickname ghost with the way he followed you from place to place and any obstacles didn't matter to him, not when it came to know if you were safe or not.

he knew your schedule like his own and after years of being together it was just natural and simon couldn't just give up on the notion that you weren't his wife anymore so that's why he calls you everyday.

it could be about the weather, if things around your apartment need to be fixed, or if any men are hitting on you at your job because the idea of you moving on makes him sick to his stomach with dreadful pain.

but the first thing he always asks is are you okay love? because he wants to know if you are doing alright, perhaps without him and it seems that you're struggling with it all as well.

so when you ask simon to crash your date when you're halfway through dinner because he keeps making odd comments that put you on edge the moment you two sat down from each other there was no way he wouldn't help you.

your date was polite at first but something in your gut was warning you to text simon a simple word. red. he knew what it would mean.

"i'll be right back, i just need to freshen up." you murmured with a fake smile as you grabbed your purse and stood up knowing that if you were to be honest he could flip out and do something crazy.

your date nodded looking you up and down with a slight lip curl. "you could've dressed better and sprayed more perfume." his words were said so nonchalantly like they couldn't hurt a person's feelings.

you couldn't get away from his faster.

once in the bathroom you leaned against the wall pulling up simon's contact, the picture was of him and the cat you had custody of, princess q-tip who you had to beg him to do it but gave in quickly.

white with blue eyes and spoiled since you weren't too sure on having kids with his job, while you would love to have a baby with him it was the practical thing to do right now.

instead of texting you called him.

hearing simon's rough voice made the hair on the back of your neck stand. "hello? everthing ollright love?" the use of your nickname had your mouth going dry knowing you only had so much time.

"i'm on a date and its in the red, if you're busy i know i can always call the guys too and one of them can save me." your words tumbled out in a rush you were nervous he didn't hear and you'd have to repeat it.

in the background you heard the television click off and simon grunt as he stood up to get dressed. "send me your location." he hung up giving you some time to prepare yourself before going back out.

when you came back your date was flirting with the waitress, his eyes undressing her as she stood there until she finally saw you and smiled awkwardly before leaving you two alone.

"don't worry about her, your rack is a lot bigger." he told you with a wink and tipped his beer back all but chugging the thing as you watched with a slack jaw, you weren't offended when insults came from people who were clearly miserable with themselves.

the moment you leaned down to grab your water cup to splash him with it you smelt him before you felt his hand on your hip giving it a squeeze as he towered over the table casting a shadow over it.

his intense gaze cut through the air like sharp daggers intimidating the man who looked up at your ex-husband who pulled on his mask for old time-sake. "she's coming home with me." simon told him.

there was no arguing from your date which only made you laugh mentally as simon guided you away from the table and prying eyes, his lips brushing against your ear. "you deserve a lot better than that."

his words were laced with a profound sense of sadness and his sentence had a double meaning. "thank you for saving me, i don't think i'm going to date for a while after all that." you murmured and let him walk you to his car and open the door as usual.

almost like you were both on autopilot.

simon listened as you told him about your date and you both laughed and joked about everything which was really what you needed and then when the porch light flicked on as simon pulled his car up into the driveway he knew he shouldn't ask but did so anyway.

"can i come in for a nightcap?" he asked turning to look at you before tugging his mask off, it was a rare sight that he never let anyone see.

without saying anything you leaned over and kissed his scarred cheek. "of course, i'll make your favorite." you told him with a grin feeling your heart ache at being so close to him again.

[amazinglyegg]

Due to not being able to find a decent reference for Danse's room, I used this video to sketch out a floor plan!!

Along with references for what all the furniture looks like:

Details and rambling below the cut!

General notes:

The only time we see his room is after Blind Betrayal. I wonder if he brought anything from his room with him, despite leaving the duffle bag near the door?

He has a ton of storage space. Like, a lot. He doesn't even have a footlocker at the end of his bed it's just an entire metal box.

Despite that, he has nowhere to sit. Not even his desk has a chair.

Also he has a rug between his bed and his big drawer! Cute!

Pet food bowl near his door with fresh bloatfly meat in it. Not only does he manually open the door for Emmett to enter and leave (no cat door), but Emmett visits often enough that he goes out of his way to give him a bowl of fresh food! Does Quinlan even feed him!?

Has a lot of random cardboard boxes filled with papers and stuff on his floor. Given that the filing cabinet is for files, I wonder if these are books or journals?

Has a plain old bed with no pillows or blankets. Like most beds, this is probably done for game reasons (like animations or clipping) instead of canon reasons. At least I HOPE he sleeps with a blanket!!

On top of his safe is three dog food cans, maybe supposed to represent cat food. Also has a can of cram on his big drawer. I wonder if he stores more food in there!

The flag is actually a smaller one, but I couldn't find the exact model on the wiki. I find it interesting that he has a pole flag instead of a regular wall one. It just looks so sad :(

Has a lot of small blue and wood boxes around his room that I didn't include in the floor plan, they're empty I'm pretty sure

I didn't realize people outside of middle school used lockers, especially SIX of them. What do you even store in lockers?? Can't be clothes since they have multiple segments, hung clothes wouldn't fit and folded clothes would probably fall out.

No real personal stuff like holotapes or journal entries. I would have expected something unique! He also has no decorations other than that one sad droopy flag, but I guess it'd be hard to hang up paintings when the walls are made of metal. Can't just hammer a nail into that!

As a note, I think items within storage containers are randomized, so I didn't bother looking at them while making this.

Desk and filing cabinet:

Whisky and vodka bottles, no shot glass in sight. He is chugging those straight from the bottle. Not as many bottles as Maxson, at least!

Also an entire carton of cigarettes and an ashtray. He canonically smokes and doesn't even bother going outside to do it, his room must reek of cigarettes.

A food tray and mug, which is... interesting? Does he often eat alone in his room?

Filing cabinet for files, probably does paperwork at this desk as well.

Drawers:

Has like, three wrenches, as well as a tool box. This must be his workshop!

A lunch pail and a nuka cola. This table is right next to his desk so it makes sense he has food and drinks here. Surprised there's no water!

Speaking of the table... it's an institute table. Probably just done for aesthetic purposes, but I found that interesting

Let me know if you have any opinions, headcanons, or things I missed!

[rose-tea-and-strawberries]

A Game Of Cat And Mouse

Leona Kingscholar and Che’nya x Fem!Jerry Mouse!Reader 

Note: Reader is Yuu/The magicless Ramshackle Prefect from another world

I have a ton of WIPs that I really want to complete but to help motivate myself to finish them I decided to write this

So Jerry’s personality seems to fluctuate depending on his iteration so I’m just going to tone down his more sadistic tendencies and make him more like the early shorts where he’s more mischievous and acts when provoked instead of going out of his way to ruin Tom’s life for no reason. 

Honestly as a Tom girlie I felt so sorry for Thomas. There were times where that poor cat did not deserve what he went through - even when I was little I would root for him. Though this might just be an oldest child thing since my little sister and mum (who’s the youngest in her family) prefer Jerry.

LEONA KINGSCHOLAR 

Honestly, his first impression of you wasn’t the best. Yeah, you’re a girl and he chugs gallons of respecting women juice for every meal but come on - you’re this tiny little mousegirl from another world who can’t even do magic (not to mention that he’s heard rumours that you don’t even speak that much). You’ll get eaten alive!

Then he met you and all of that went down the drain

The meeting went as it usually does: you stepped on his tail, he angrily confronts you (whilst subtly warning you of the dangers of NRC) but then you just give him this flat, unamused look.

“Hey pussycat,” you deadpan, raising an eyebrow and crossing your arms as you jut your chin up so you level him with a glare, “maybe don’t go leaving your tail lying around everywhere if you don’t want people to step on it.”

Okay, so maybe you weren’t the meek little mouse that he thought you were. Even the predators in his dorm don’t have the guts to talk back to him. Honestly, respect.

Then word gets out that you defeated an overblot and his opinion of you gets more and more favourable.

Long story short, you start dating after his overblot.

And it does cause a few turned heads.

And who can blame them? A lion going out with a mouse. That’s definitely something.

And to the untrained eye, it does sound concerning. But to those who know you (read: have been around you for more than five minutes)? Well, they’re praying for Leona’s sanity because you are nothing more than an agent of chaos.

There was this one time before you and Leona got together where a bunch of Savanaclaw predators were trying to push you, Ace, Deuce and Grim around and without even blinking you just pummelled all of them right then and there. At one point during the curb stomp battle you just pulled a mallet out of nowhere and just started thrashing everyone until they were black and blue. 

Congratulations the entire Savanaclaw dorm is terrified of you

All that training with Big Cousin Muscles really does wonders

NRC have two new rules: 1) don’t even think about going after the nagicless prefect because you will lose and even if you try to use magic she will dodge and it will be your funeral and 2) DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES hurt Ace, Deuce or Grim because that will probably be the last thing you ever do (memories of Jerry completely annihilating Tom after he hurt Nibbles are resurfacing)

One thing he admires about you is your cunning and intelligence and how you’re always a step ahead of everyone no matter what their plans are. Even when you do find yourself in trouble 

Even Rook Hunt has trouble trying to catch you. Don’t worry though, he’s far too fond of ‘petite mademoiselle souris’ to be irked by that.

He does get jealous of how close you are with Ruggie though. Since the hyena is also a greedy little thieving bugger like you, you have found a kindred spirit in him. The two of you bond over raiding the NRC kitchen and making off with as much as you can. And also taking the mickey out of Leona.

 You also get along great with Cheka. He’s noticed that you have a soft spot for children and other animals. The pro is that he gets his nephew off of his back by pawing him off to you (who he knows will make sure that no harm will come to him) the con is that you get along too well and your chaotic natures mixing will probably send him to an early grave - if your mischievous and provoking nature doesn’t already.

One thing he loves to do is tease you over your mouse-like qualities. Yeah, anyone with eyes can tell that you’re nowhere near as innocent as you look but those mouse ears, wide eyes, squeaks and cute little tail are objectively and indisputably adorable. He takes great pleasure in telling you how cute ‘his little mouse’ is, especially when you give such sweet reactions when you're flustered.

Though he does get taken aback by how bold you are. You definitely did that thing Jerry does where he holds mistletoe above his head and made kissing noises at Tom.

Your high pitched laugh makes his heart melt and he definitely uses his rich boy money to buy you all of the expensive cheese you can eat.

CHE’NYA

He loves you so much. Finally, someone he can be chaotic with - you’re a match made in hell.

His interest in you starts when he tries to sneak up on you whilst invisible but you pull one over him and just turn around, look directly into his unseeable eyes and sprAY WATER RIGHT ONTO HIS FACE-WHAT THE HELL?! WHERE DID YOU EVEN GET THAT SPRAY BOTTLE FROM????

At first he was pleasantly surprised before his face broke into a Cheshire Cat grin. He felt cupid’s arrow hit him square in the chest and he just looked at you with heart eyes.

By asking Trey and Cater and hiding in the rose maze, he gathered enough information to decide that you are his future wife

Turns out that your troublemaking antics have you paired with Ace and Floyd for the position of ‘bane of Riddle Rosehearts’ existence’. Mainly because everytime you break a rule you always, without fail, evade punishment by avoiding getting caught - even when you are clearly the culprit

Trey has bribed you with so many cheese based baked goods to stop you from sneaking into Heartslabyul and causing mayhem (you felt sorry for him so you promised him that you’ll only steal from the main kitchen near the cafeteria. That’s not what he meant but he’ll take it)

One day he catches you kidnapping the dorm’s pet dormouse before an unbirthday party so that you ‘can help your fellow mice by freeing them from their subjugation’. He shrugs and nods in understanding before asking you if he should let out the flamingos and hedgehogs from their pens as a distraction. 

And so a beautiful relationship was born as the two of you ran off with a tray of choux pastries and a bunch of angry card soldiers chasing you.

The two of you have a competition over who can sneak into and stay in Heartslabyul the longest without getting caught and you’re currently the winner.

He loves that you’re not scared of anyone and you’re not afraid to stand up to people that are almost quadruple your size. In fact, he’s there cheering you on whenever you fight back or plot your revenge (he does know that he has a whole other school to attend, right?). One time you showed him one of your revenge plans and he even helped you set the traps and everything. Oh the two of you working together has NRC running for the hills.

Like Leona, he does like to tease you but what do you expect? He’s a cat, you’re a mouse - that’s nature. Though he does love the fact that you’re always one step ahead of him whenever he does try to outsmart you. He loves a good puzzle and you certainly keep him on his toes.

[citruswriter]

Second Meeting/Becoming Close

Listen In With Me! ↠ⁿᵉˣᵗ ˢᵒⁿᵍ ↺ ʳᵉᵖᵉᵃᵗ ⊜ ᵖᵃᵘˢᵉ

A/N - Fuck it. Throwback to my Quotev/WattPad days. Time to expand this into boyfriend scenarios. Also I'm saying "getting close" rather than "becoming friends" bc uh... ya boy is aplatonic. So like... fight me.

Previous Part

Stepping out of the shower, you dried off. Today had been a long day at work and you desperately needed to clean off. Your phone vibrated, checking it you saw a text message from April. "Hey! Wanna hang out at the lair tonight? The boys have been asking about you. Guess they like you!" The text read. Contemplating your options, you shrugged your shoulders and texted her back. "Yea sure. Lemme get dressed first tho. Took a shower." Walking to your room to pick an outfit, your phone buzzed again. "Long day I'm assuming? You remember who to get there?" You chuckled softly and texted back, "Girl you have no idea. And yea, I remember. See you soon". Blinking softly, you wondered how bonding with the boys would turn out. You hadn't exactly met another mutant, let alone four to five other mutants. You were nervous, but also excited...

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Leonardo x Reader 🧡

Warnings: Reader is a wolf neko, I do that cheesy shit where I make Reader wear the turtles signature color, Reader had golden eyes.

Pulling on some black cargo pants, a blue tank top, and some black combat boots, you snagged your phone and house keys. Snagging your grey jacket, you tied it around your waist before grabbing your bike and carried it downstairs. The streets were busy but had luckily begun to cool some as the sun set neatly on the horizon. Pedalling down the winding streets, it wasn't long before you reached the abandoned sewer. You looked for a spot to chain your bike up before lifting the heavy manhole cover. Crawling inside like you had the other day, you found your way to the lair much easier than you had the other night. "Hey guys," you spoke up as you entered. Mikey sprang up to greet you, "Heyyyyyyy dude!" He exclaimed, making you smile up at him. He shook his head softly and pointed at you, "Still not used to seeing those things". He said, referring to your fangs. "And I'm not used to seeing four mutant turtles all over six feet but here we are," you retorted and Mikey couldn't help but laugh. "Fair enough. Oh do you want some pizza? We got four cheese, pepperoni, and Hawaiian!" He offered. You laughed and grabbed a plate, snagging the pizza slices of your choice.

From the mediation room, Leo heard your laugh. Opening his eyes, he blinked a few times and stood from his seated lotus position. "By the way, where's blue?" You asked and he couldn't help but chuckle. "Right here, (Y/N)," he replied, coming into the living room. "Why? You miss me?" He teased softly and you scoffed, rolling those golden eyes of yours. "As if. Just wanted to know where your stuck up ass was," you said back but he saw the way your tail wagged more when he entered the room. "Sure thing blossom. But I think your tail disagrees with you". You couldn't help but sputter out a flustered denial, grabbing your tail and pouting. Rolling his eyes, he grabbed a water bottle and chugged it down. "You know, it's not a crime if you don't hate me," he said, gently pushing your head. You flattened your ears and glared at him. "I don't know, Leo. I think the police would disagree," you joked back and he could help but laugh. "Cute. But scoot. My turn to kick your ass at this game," he said, taking the controller out of Mikey's eyes. Perking back up, you grinned at him. "Ohoho. Your fucking on, blue." The next few hours were filled with the two of you jeering and shit talking each other as you two played against each other.

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Raphael x Reader 🧡

Warnings: Reader is a cat neko, flirting

Snagging your black shorts, a band tee, and red converse you quickly dressed before grabbing your house keys and running outside. The sun was setting, so it was much more cool outside, making you opt out of your typical bike ride and instead take a relaxing walk. Reaching the manhole, you wasted no time shimmying down and jogging down the sewer halls. "Sup losers," you called out as you walked in, beelining it to April, to share your exhausting day. "Girl I need to tell you about today. So this woman came in with her three kids right? Which is like, fine and all but oh my fucking god were they hyper. Like, legit screaming and running around. At one point, one of the kids ran into the kitchen, so naturally, I picked the kiddo up and he spewed all into my hair." You shivered and April scrunched up her nose in disgust as you recounted your reason for your shower.

"Ewwww. What the fuck? So that's why you took a shower?" She questioned and you nodded. You nearly jumped out of your skin as you felt a hand gently grab your tail. "Sounds like a rough day. Poor kitten," Raph's gruff voice said with fake pity. You snatched your tail out of his grasp and turned to look at him, leaning against the table you had previously been bent over. "The way I oughta claw you right now," you spat back with a glare. "As if you could hurt me, kitten." He challenged, leaning down to be closer to your level, and you unleashed your claws. "Wanna test that statement? I'll add to that scar on your lip," you challenged back. "I genuinely can't tell if you two are flirting or fighting," you heard Donnie say off to the side. You laughed and ducked away from Raph. "Oh please. If I was flirting, this man would know. I'm just bullying him." You giggled, patting Donnie on the arm in reassurance as you passed by him. "Bullying isn't very nice, (Y/N)," Mikey chipped in with a fake pout, knowing that you weren't actually bullying his brother out of malice.

You tilted your head back in a laugh and Raph couldn't help but grin at seeing you getting along well with his brothers. "I'll bully you next, Mikster" you playfully challenged, dropping into a loose fighting stance, tail swaying softly. Mikey played along and dropped into a fight stance back. "Time and place," he shot back. But before the two of you could begin your play fighting, Raph piped back up. "Maybe don't fight in the living room? We don't need Leo scolding us," he said, glancing over to his brother in blue. Leo only rolled his eyes. "You're no fun, Raphie." You pouted back, crossing your arms with a pout and flattening your ears. "Oh I'm Raphie now, huh babydoll?" He teased and you scoffed. "Oh puh-lease." But you grinned at him none the less. "Welp. I'm going to work out. If ya wanna continue to annoy me, feel free to join me," he offered, walking off.

Ears flicking, you followed him. "Sure. Maybe you could use the extra weight to lift". You said and Raph shook his head. "Sure kitten. Hop on." He got himself comfortable on his bench press chair. You climbed up, somehow sprawling yourself across the bar without slipping off of it. He was originally joking but he wasn't going to back out now. At some point, April poked her head in to check on you only to see Raph lifting you on his bar still, your tail gently wrapped around his wrist.

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Donatello x Reader 🧡

Warnings: Reader is a moth, Reader is a bit shy, Reader is wearing a dress (wear the damn dress John 🔪)

Humming to yourself, you ordered yourself an Uber before picking out a simple purple dress to wear and brown flats. Snagging your house keys, you made your way down to your Uber. Before long, you had reached your destination. You waited for your driver to leave before stalking down the alleyway beside your "destination" and slinking down to find your real destination. "Hey boys!" You squeaked out and Leo popped out of somewhere, ruffling your hair while being careful to not touch your antenna. After greeting all the boys and April, you beelined it to Donnie's lab, he was apparently working on some big project. "Hey Donnie," you said casually. Despite speaking softly though, this man still almost jumped out of his skin. Taking a breath to calm himself, he looked over to you only to find you giggling at his reaction. "That wasn't funny," he said, tone embarrassed and you simply fluttered up to his level. "Leo said you were working on something," you said, silently inviting him to tell you about his latest project. And talk he did. You fluttered around the lab as he asked you to grab certain tools.

"I'm so sorry. I-I haven't offered you a seat yet," he said suddenly, standing up to get you a chair to sit in. You gratefully sat in the chair, curling up in it and resting your wings. "W-Why didn't you ask for a chair sooner?" He questioned and you shrugged your shoulders. "Well you were talking about your project, I didn't want to interrupt. Besides, I was enjoying getting tools for you and helping," you replied, antenna twitching softly. "You think I can look at your wings today?" He questioned gently and you tilted your head in thought. "Hmmmm. Maybe not today. Sorry, had a bad day at work. Don't exactly wanna be touched". You replied and he nodded in understanding. "I can understand how that feels. I get like that too".

He stayed silent as you began to tell him about your day, occasionally looking over at you and nodding to indicate that he was still listening to you. Eventually, you laid your head down on his table, watching him work as the two of you sat in silence. "You don't have to stay in here, you know," he said gently and your wings fluttered softly. "No I like it in here. It's soothing, watching you work." You replied, sighing deeply. You couldn't help but notice his happy little smile as he focused on his work once more. At some point you forced him to take a break, getting juice and pizza for the two of you. The two of you talked softly, you didn't really understand half of what he was saying but neither of you minded.

"Hey nerds," Raph's voice penetrated the calm environment that had comfortably wrapped the two of you and you both turned to look at him. "We're about to watch a movie, wanna join?" He offered and you turned to Donnie, looking up at him hopefully. He laughed softly, realizing you wouldn't go unless he did. Sighing, he got up and stretched. "Sure thing". You let out a moth squeak, which he couldn't help but internally melt at. You padded after him excitedly, snuggling up to him when he finally got comfortable on the couch. "Is this ok?" You whispered up at him when you felt him stiffen. "Yes it's ok. I'm just... not used to it. I'm sorry." He confessed and you nodded drawing away from him slightly to hopefully make him more comfortable but he gently tugged you back in without saying anything. "How cute," April teased and you shot her a flustered glare.

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Michaelangelo x Reader 🧡

Warning: Reader has white feathered wings, Reader has long pointed elf like ears, flirting on Mikey's end, Reader wears a bra (ur wearing the bra, idc if ur flat chested)

You chose some dark orange sweatpants, a black sports bra, a grayscale jacket that was unzipped, and black some high top boots. Snagging your keys, you grabbed your bike and lugged it down stairs. You took your time cycling to the sewer, cool evening air breezing against your skin. When you finally made it to the manhole, you chained up your bike and jumped down. Stuffing your hands in your pockets you waltzed in. "Hey April," you said, nodding her way. "Heard you had a rough day, angelcakes," Mikey's voice came from the couch and you went to go sit down beside him, fluffing your wings softly to make yourself more comfortable. "Some kid puked in my hair. So I had to shower practically as soon as I got home," you muttered and Mikey scrunched up his face in disgust. "That's disgusting. But at least you're all squeaky clean now!" He said, nudging you softly with his shoulder. "Want something to eat? We got pizza." He offered and you brightened, helping yourself to the food in front of you.

"Need your wings preened again?" Mikey asked after a few minutes of silence as he gamed. You raised a brow and laughed softly, "Enjoyed preening me?" You questioned, tone light and playful. Mikey shrugged. "I don't know. It kind of felt nice to take care of you in such a way. I'm assuming it's not exactly something you let everybody do," he replied, glancing over at you for a brief moment and grinning. You laughed softly and shook your head. "No I don't. Honestly I was joking when I asked you to preen my wings. But you seemed so eager to help that I just kind of, let you. Only other people who've preened me are my parents and April on occasion. But she's not exactly too good at it." You heard April give a "hey!" from across the room and you and Mikey couldn't help but laugh. "But to answer your question, no. They don't need preened. I wouldn't mind a message though." You said, looking up at him. "Your insides or outsides, angel?" He questioned and you almost choked on your pizza in shock. "Michelangelo!" You scolded but you were smiling all the same and he couldn't help but absolutely loose it.

"I'm sorry, I had to," he said before setting his controller down to grab one of your arms, thumb messaging at your wrist. You almost instantly moaned and let you head roll back in delight, ears drooping in relaxation. "Maybe I can make you loud moaner," he teased and you took the liberty of taking your free arm to smack his chest. "I'm going to kill you, Mikey. I swear," you giggled out, wrapping your wings around you gently. "Ok, ok. I'm sorry, (Y/N). I'll stop," he said. Twenty minutes later, you had fallen asleep on the couch from the message he had given you. Mikey returned to his video games, chuckling and already brainstorming new ways to fluster you.

Anyways so that's that. It's cringy, I know. Trust me, I know. Lmfao. Enjoy tho.

[emojellyace08]

Found you're writing really good 😈😈 and now you're my next target 😂😂 How do you think gun would react finding someone 100x times beautiful from crystal with great body anddddddd 👀👀👀 is strong like ui daniel but is not quite rich and lives a normal life working at a part time cafe ??? 😮😮😮 lordddd 🤌🤌 the reaction would be priceless, please do it 🥲

Gun Park (Park Jonggun x Female Reader!) short story

A/N: Hello fellow human! Sorry if I ever replied back REALLY LATE. I'll still make Lookism x reader content, but I'm really busy rn so sorry if this felt rushed (and I have a periodical exams to take in Wedensday oof). Genre: fluff? Warnings: mild cursing and mentions of mafia activities (unedited)

Gun isn't exactly the type to easily fall in love, even impressing him alone without trying hard is challenging by itself as many successors, enemies, and other people tried to show their all to the Shiro Oni. But every blood, sweat, and tears were wasted just trying to lay a finger by the unstoppable man, if they would even call him one.

And it is also just a normal day for everyone, people in the city are either spending their money off by their personal plans or continue on with their daily lives. Other women were having their shopping galore either with their friends or alone with quite noticeable make-up plastered on their face yet making their face sparkle up with the cosmetics. Ulzzangs posting their new selfies getting tons, if not millions of likes and social media users having a debate who's prettier or more attractive. Students were stressing out with their school activities or gossip drama with the adults wanting to slack off and get a chug of beer after a long day of their shifts or just take a long nap like a lazy cat with their eyebags being dark and hollow like a panda.

And to most people, you're just an ordinary woman living her life in the crowded city of Seoul. You wouldn't exactly call it the best life ever, but you were somehow thankful to make it this far after long days of shifts and even sometimes working on Holidays even if you want to have a sip of your own coffee at your own place. You're already a functional and working adult yet you sometimes miss your home despite you and your family having your own personal problems. Yet you continue to strive not only for them but mostly for yourself. If it weren't for some men forcing you to have a chat with you by offering their numbers quite rudely, you might even have better days without them putting you into situations you don't even want to experience just because you were considered beautiful.

It was already five in the afternoon, yet you're still there at the cafe doing your duties as a barista and a waitress. The place will be quite silent, almost weird with the sound of silence if it weren't for the chatty customers with some chilling with their drink and pastries of choice. College students doing their research in groups, office-workers updating their marketing plans, and angsty teenagers listening to their melancholic music with their Airpods on. With the stress that you are feeling right now, you felt the need to listen to your own playlist while you watched the sun sank in the sky with a splash of pink, yellow, and blue creating a splash of colors that felt nostalgic yet different at the same time.

Hours passed with people coming in and out, the sky already turning night time with white stars sparkling at night. The yellow lights of the place illuminating at the dark to not only make the place more atmospheric, but to also make the customers feel comfortable with the chill yet warm vibe.

"Miss Y/N, are you already getting the order done for customer five?" your manager with a dark perfect bun for her hairstyle with pale foundation, reddish blush and lip tint, and sunken eye bags (reminding you of a porcelain doll) asked with a raised eyebrows and strict tone as you responded with a hum for agreement while you're mixing and preparing the drink condiments. "Yes Sajangnim (boss) I'm already done with the coffee macchiato and I already have the egg sandwich." you replied while hurrying to prepare the Americano. "Good, more tickets are coming you better hurry up." she replied while she scolds your co-worker that you are deeply annoyed at when she's slumping on the side clicking on her phone instead of helping you out. "She's probably texting someone to date huh?" a voice on your side whispered while you yelped in surprise. "Fucking, geez stop spawning randomly on the side like that." you hissed as he chuckles silently trying to minimize his voice while you also tried not to laugh hysterically. "Okay fine. You're working too much. I'll do the coffee latte and get the mango graham and the croissant." he suggested while your eyes widened in confusion and a bit of surprise. "You sure Jace?" you asked the young man with big ears as he raises a thumbs up "It's fine Eonni (older sister ; metaphorically). Now you go." "You just want your fees to go higher." you teased as he manners to go shooing you away. "I need it since I got to repair Vasco's phone." "Whatever, just do the job right and smooth." you smiled while he finger guns with a tongue-click sound.

You took the orders in your hand and approached the table before you quickly noticed the two familiar guys. You sighed before going closer to the very annoying customers just then the blonde with dark shades greeted you with a dramatic enthusiasm.

"Yo Y/N! It's nice to see you where have you been?!" Goo stood up while waving his hand making the other customers look in confusion. You not wanting to create a scene, you placed the tray in the table and planned to go away. But a hand held your own in a soft but not rather affectionate touch before you swat it away.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" you asked while you felt your blood boiling in frustration. "But we're here to-" "Shut the fuck up Walmart Ken." you scolded Goo while he created a insulting gasp while the ebony-haired man smirked in amusement. "We're here for Charles orders. We're going to take you back in the place where you truly belong for unfinished business." he commented in a calm yet teasing manner making you even more agitated. "This is my business, Gun." If it weren't for the other customers if they ever got frightened and with your manager firing you, you might created a miserable scene that you don't want to happen in the first place. But these people haunts down your biggest fears like a black hole swallowing your entire existence.

"And how did you even find me here? And don't you see the no smoking sign?" you rolled your eyes making Goo and Gun grin more while Gun huffs his smoke, "We have our own ways." "And c'mon Y/N, we know you miss doing tough missions with us!" Goo again interfered while you stood their in cold feet not knowing what to do with this situation. "And besides Charles is offering you a billion won with making the four major crews stronger for him to pay you, even make it thrice the price if you did the job well." Gun offered while taking a sip of his coffee and the other man looking at the menu sheet to order more of the sweets. "Well don't you contact me when either the Workers tried to interfere or your goons stabbing all of your backs." you replied with a sass while Gun just replies. "If that ever happens, I'm not going to hesitate to beat their-" "Yo Y/N, can I get a latte with a chocolate doughnut?" the childish guy ordered interrupting Gun's long speech. Though his eye accessory hides his orbs, you can imagine (almost see) Goo flickering his eyelashes like a puppy begging to play with it's owner. "Whatever, I'm leaving." you rolled your eyes in frustration before going to the employee room and aggressively slamming the door. "Wait what? Y/N We still have lots to talk about and my order-" Goo was about to chase you before Gun kicked him in the legs under the table, successfully earning a hiss of pain from the other guy. "Let her be, she'll change her mind." Gun interrupted while Goo raised his eyebrows. "Hah?! For fuck's sake we're just going to let her run away? Again? You'll be in fault if Charles scolded our scrawny asses again." Goo ranted as the people in the cafe started to weirdly glare at them for being to noisy. "I know where she's going, besides she would get scolded, even probably fired since she left during her shift. So just stay calm." Gun replied while stealing the sweet and umami food that Goo just offered that's been sitting for a minute now. "Hey! that's my sandwich!" "Just buy another one you got twenty thousand won on your wallet." Gun replied while he wipes off the extra mayo on his mouth with a tissue. "Says the one who's chomping off my toast right now, idiot." "Stop making Gordon Ramsey references or I'll kill you."

"Y/N where the hell have you been! Don't you see that there's lots of tickets flooding in here?! Oi you brat answer me!" your manager who's been flickering your guts scolded you while your co-worker from earlier smirks at your downfall, you not only fixing your bag in your locker but also trying to make yourself composed as you don't want to lash out your anger to the people who have done nothing wrong to you (they do, a lot but you just don't complain about it). "If you won't answer my question-" "Shut up." you murmured interrupting her speech in a lifeless manner. "I'll leave. You can fire my ass." "Hey Y/N what is going on in here?" Jace asked before you again slammed the exit door, leaving the poor guy confused and lots of responsibility in his hands...

You ran, as fast as you could. You kept running and running. You ran past the tall buildings filled with city lights creating a beautiful atmosphere, yet the familiar feeling of sorrow began to linger on your mind and heart reminding you of the memories of the past that you tried to bury deep down to start a completely fresh start of the first chapter of your life. But it looks like even books can have it's pages ripped and burned.

After a long mile, you stopped your movement as you breathe deeply trying to catch air like you're being suffocated by your feeling of dread. You didn't want to go in this place, but it is the only place that you called home.

This is the place where you met them, where you grew up, and where you were turned into a monster.

It is an old and abandoned park, the fake wood texture of the metal benches started to rust with the colorful paint with vulgar words and drawings adding to the stain. Trash were everywhere, even a scary place like this looks like it's been a hang out for runaway teenagers or addicts. The trees and plants look completely dry and lifeless since it's not been watered and just not being cared of, making the crunchy leaves fall down into the ground. Newspaper with the dirty and used ashtrays and used beverage bottles were also scattered in the area. It is a complete mess like what you are right now, but the smell of toxins and beer makes your mind hazy and in peace as you try to think of the good memories that you have in here (if you ever had one).

You thought that you can finally have your moment of peace and solitude. But it looks like you have to deal with these fuckers you kept whistling and cooing at your existence. Looks like they're drunk men who's been wasting their life, completely indulged in alcohol and other things that are addicting even though they mostly look formal, decent, and clean. The police were doing a bad job for shooing away people who don't have a home but doesn't arrest people like this. People who were supposed to act normal and responsible now that they have everything, not chugging on alcohol.

"Who is this chick over here?" a skinny man with a white polo asked as his friend's arms snaked into your shoulder, making you uncomfortable. "What are you doing here alone? Is your boyfriend supposed to take-" "Shut the fuck up and leave me alone retards." you swatted his hand away and getting distance from them, but this doesn't alarm the men keeping their annoying behavior in touch. They started making laughs and mocking faces making your blood boil. "Feisty huh? Don't worry, We will take care of yo-"

Everything went fast as you slammed him into the ground. His friends were caught off guard but the other goon decided to take you down. "You bitch!-"

It looks like a bad idea huh? Since you were so fast, you managed to capture and block his punch. You put pressure on his hand as you then twisted it making it dislocate and elbowing him on his armpit impacting pain on his shoulder and upper limb. He is now crying on the ground, coughing and crying like a little toddler who scratched his elbow as the other men decided to attack you besides the leader of the group who cowers in fear. Kicks, punches, and attacks are made by you causing them to get knocked out by your bare strength. You clicked your tongue in dismay when a familiar figure approached the scene. "I knew that you would be here." he muttered while you huffed in pure disgust as Gun smirked at the damage you have inflicted. "If you asked again for me to be a slave of your shitty management I'm not going with you." cutting him off with a unsatisfied tone, you started walking away from the place but then he tapped your shoulder. But you're not in the mood to interact with anybody. You didn't even thought twice that you punched him in the face yet he didn't even budged. A flow of blood starting to drool down on his chin. The masochistic Shiro Oni starting to get excited about your sudden aggression as he let himself get hit in the first place. "Will you stop following me around like a dog?! GET LOST YOU MOTHERFUCKER!"

"Punching me on the face would not end great for you, but this is why I like you Y/N. Now show me what you got can you?~" his demonic grin appearing on his scarred face.

[sharkyisashark]

Could you maybe do some ab Jinx Vi Caitlin Isha and Warrick in the cult and have them be happy and funny and like the characters? Also some ab Vi Jinx and Caitlin being in the real world?

Heyy! In the mood today for writing so I thought I might as well :) I'm not very educated on cults though, nor do I know how I would even write that :( But! I thought since there are two ideas here I'd do some more real world stuff for ya <3 Includes: Vi, Jinx, and Caitlyn & mention of Isha + Arcane S2 spoilers! Edit: I just realised the cult as in the one in arcane 😭 If I get the motivation I'll write some of that <3

"Vi? You almost done in there?" Jinx whines, knocking impatiently at the bathroom door. The door creaks open, and Vi's clouded blue eyes met Jinx's... her usually red hair, now covered in black hair dye, drips of it running down Vi's forehead. Jinx snorted, "You look like a wet cat." She remarked, to which Vi just scoffed, then stepped aside, letting Jinx grab her toothbrush. "You got another pit fight tonight?" Jinx inquires, popping the toothbrush into her mouth and scrubbing at her teeth. Vi sighs, not bothering the way the overly diluted hair-dye transferred onto her shirt. "Yeah, I do actually. Last one for the month." "Then you're stuck with me and your girlfriend for what..? Three months?" "..Mhm." "Sick," Jinx smirked, placing her toothbrush back into it's holder and sitting herself onto the sink. She looked down at the small bowl of black hair dye, having died Isha's hair's hair in the past, she was well aware Vi had done it wrong. "You do know you don't have to put water with this stuff right?" Jinx points to the bowl before picking it up, looking up at Vi, who was across the bathroom, doing something on her phone. "You're going to look like an ugly grey," Quickly, Vi's gaze was back on Jinx, and within moments Vi was sat on a stool, Jinx leaning over her, re-applying a new mix of dye. Tongue poked out the side of her mouth as she made sure she did a good job, before pulling back and placing the left over dye to the side, hands on her hips, proud of her work. "Better now..?" Vi asked, half-hearted irritation in her tone as she stood, inspecting Jinx's help.. which, wasn't actually half bad. A little patchy per say, maybe a little unnatural, but hey, nobody would notice from outside of the pit. Jinx just smiled knowingly, her long blue hair fallen over her shoulders as she made her way out of the bathroom. Eyes heavy and just about ready for bed. "Tell me how it went in the morning, yeah?" Jinx reminded, in which Vi just looked at Jinx through the mirror, rolling her eyes and nodding "Sure."

* * * "Vi..." Caitlyn breathed lowly, looking over Vi's form, covered in bloodied bandages... It was the usual for her partner, but it didn't make it any less hard to witness. Vi shrugged, sitting down beside Caitlyn. Shoulders slouched as she held out her arm for Caitlyn to re-bandage. Hissing at the sting of alcohol they were coated with. "I don't know why you do this to yourself," Caitlyn starts, using a small pin to secure one of the bandages in place; around Vi's shoulder. "I know, I know I just-" "No, you don't." Caitlyn frowned, looking down at Vi, whom was sitting across from her now. It was a thick atmosphere, Vi was well aware there was no need for her to do these pit fights anymore, especially not since they'd moved into a better city now... and yet- she just chased the pain...?' "I got a break now, for three months." Vi murmured, before chugging down a bottle of water. The first time she'd drunk since the afternoon. "Ah..? I thought once you entered a routine... you only got breaks on public holidays?" Caitlyn's brow crooked a little, folding her arms over her chest in slight suspicion. Her navy blue hair falling over her ears. "Usually.. yes, but- I dropped out of the schedule for a bit... thought I'd spend more time with you and Jinx..." Vi shrugged, a half smile tugged at her lips. "I sort of figured with us all.. here, now... we should go see the city together..?" Vi offered, gesturing to all the 'New York' signs outside the bar they were in. "Y'know and- maybe go looking for apartments with Jinx..? So she won't have to sleep on my couch and you can finally move in..?" "I'd.. like that." Caitlyn smiled, leaning back in her chair, taking a sip of her soda.

* * * ______________________________________________________________

The end <3 I hope I did okay, it was my first time writing for Vi and Caitlyn :) - shark 🦈

[dayumbxxch]

Spoiled Memories

Chapter two

The clicking of shoes on tile fills the halls of Smith's Grove. A young 22 year old with dull eyes follows behind Delores, learning what to do at her new job.

The hushed lunchroom made Y/N heart race; even though she knew none of the patients were paying her any attention she couldn't help but feel self conscious. 

Y/N's eyes glaze over as she mindlessly follows the older woman. Life had become dull and meaningless ever since she'd lost her brother. So she began to let her mind drift throughout the day to happier times. It had cost her a few jobs and almost a car crash once but she left more alive in her mind. 

"-ey!" 

"What were you saying?" 

"We have to go down the hall to deliver the food to the ones that have to stay in their rooms."

Nodding the girl follows behind her mentor, the hallway was pin-drop silent. "These patients are deemed as hazards or themselves..or to others." Delores's voice dropped near the end while glancing towards a door they had passed. 

Her lunch break approached rather quickly, leaving the break room Y/N began ease dropping on a conversation while grabbing a soda. 

"So how's the new girl?"      "Weird she doesn't really say anything. She just stands there silent and shit." 

Hearing enough Y/N turned on her heel and walked back into the break room. Throughout her years of being a recluse she learned not to care about anything really. 

She was here for money to find her brother. That was all she wanted ever since he went to jail and she was moved to a different foster home. 

"So have you met the boogeyman yet?" 

"Um..no I don't think I have"

Y/N's new coworker began a strange story. 

"So there was this boy in a town near here in haddonfield. And one day after the years of bullying and torment he snapped and killed his sister, a kid from his school, and his step dad. So he was brought here when he was just ten years old. His mom came to see him every week. Then he snapped again killing a nurse right after the doctor stepped out of the room. His mom tired of it all shot herself dead. And in the next room was her daughter the boogeyman's little sister Laurie. Now he rots away in his room and he smells terrible. He looks homeless and has really greasy hair."

The boy described rang an unforgotten bell in Y/N head. "What was his name?" The woman spun around a clipboard from beside her. 

Michael Myers

Y/N's heart skipped a little her golden childhood friend had murdered a bunch of people; he's now in the Sanitarium she just started working at. "I'm Isabella by the way!" "Y/N." 

"Elvis I'm home!" A beaten up looking Russian Blue cat jumped at the sound of the front door opening. "Hey honey are you hungry~" Sitting her keys down Y/N picks up her beloved pet and walks him over to the kitchen. 

The move wasn't awful since she didn't have much to unpack it only took a couple of hours. Elvis had gotten used to the new house already and even started exploring outside.

Y/N's life continues as dull as normal even with her late night runs to calm her mind before bed. Everyday seemed to be a repeat of the last. It had only been a week but it felt like a month. The shifts went by slow and her home time with Elvis went by fast.

As usual Y/N begins her day staring off into nothing while sitting in bed. A loud alarm jolts her out of her dazed state, she makes her way to the bathroom.

After doing her usual eyeliner to bring some attention to her e/c eyes instead of the ever darkening circles around her eyes.

The drive to work was the usual forty-five minutes filled with hard rock playing to keep her awake.

"Hey Isabella." Her voice was barely audible but her newly found friend understood her perfectly. "Hey hon how's it going?" The blonde sets an energy drink in front of Y/N as she drinks her own. "Since you're now working the early shift you get to meet the man, the myth, and the legend, Michael Myers and his little pal Dr. Loomis." 

Y/N rolls her eyes while chugging her drink quickly. Tears prick her eyes from the carbonation, blinking them away she stands up and follows her friend. 

"So he's the usual creep. He stares and stands there until you leave. He likes OJ and that's about all we know about him. Don't give him anything remotely sharp he has special silverware that will bend if he tries to stab anyone with it." 

Y/N bites the inner part of her lip and Isabelle picks up on her silence. "You'll be fine. The man has got to eat." She says while handing her a tray. "Him and Dr. Loomis are in there." She uses her head to motion towards two doors. 

"Go" Y/N gets pushed towards the double doors and gulps while  the guards let her inside. Not saying a word she sets Michael's tray on the table. Y/N's eyes flicker towards the huge man and her breath escapes her. She'd briefly met eyes with the man in the mask. 

"Thank you ma'am you may go. Now Michael can you look back at the picture please?" 

A heavy feeling settled in Y/N's stomach, she'd always had a knack for feeling people's stares. 

"Michael?... Michael!"

"Ma'am could you please come back here for a moment?" 

[linkedspirit-fanartfunart]

Seeking New Land

Wind backstory! Post Phantom Hourglass, Link and Tetra gain a new (old?) Companion to the search for New Hyrule, and eventually (or inevitably) find a strange place.

(Link is HoH and the Pirate Charm is his hearing aid)

-

He came out slowly from his daze. Link looked curiously down at the Phantom Hourglass in his hands. It had carried over from that other world, unlike everything else. The rest of his pockets were empty. He tilted the glass around carefully. Golden sands shifted smoothly. It wasn't a cool sword anymore, though. …Dang. He loved that sword.

He looked up. Over the horizon, a boat chugging along in the distance. The SS Linebeck. Link rushed to the other side of the boat while Tetra talked to the crew. The Pirate Charm allowed him to hear it regardless of if he was paying attention. Slightly annoying, but it was helpful more often than not.

“I swear, if you say it was a dream one more time, I'm gonna throttle you!” Tetra exclaimed. “It was some spirit world! There were fairies and a white whale-”

Link leaned against the rail of the ship and grinned wide. Linebeck's ship was chugging along on the sea. A steam plume twirling in the winds. Clear as day. He climbed up onto the rail of the pirate ship and leaped into the cool sea with a splash.

“Oh! Link overboard!” Mako called, “Where's he think he's going?”

“Ack! Link!?” Tetra shouted, bright and clear over the wash of water. She must have been talking directly through the Pirate Charm, “Link get back up here!”

He kept swimming. He was about 80% sure he could make it to Linebeck's ship. Probably. If not, Tetra would grab him out of the sea before he drowned.

Linebeck's boat was moving away from them, so Link had to swim fast. He barely paused to look where he was going, just raced against the tides. Pushing and pushing against ribbons of water.

He had to take a gasp for breath eventually though. He treaded water, looking over to see how far he had to go. Dang it, he was so close, but it'd still be too far.

The SS Linebeck's salvage arm craned over him. It dragged him out of the water, dangling by the back of his shirt like a wet cat. Linebeck stood on the deck. He folded his arms. He looked at the grinning kid. His face was lined with exhaustion.

“You look too damn happy for a kid who just jumped off a pirate ship.”

Link laughed. Linebeck sighed, dragging Link in and dropping him on deck. Link scrambled to a stand and tackled Linebeck into a hug.

Linebeck fumbled his steps to brace against Link's tackle. He gave Link an awkward pat on the head, chest rising and falling with a sigh. It took Linebeck a long moment, but eventually, he wrapped his arms around Link's shoulders and squeezed.

He frowned at the pirate ship heading their way. “I'm trying to make a getaway from the world of pirates, ya know. Been trapped with them plaguing me for who knows how long. If you don't mind-” Linebeck began struggling his way out of Link's hug “I'd like to start sailing out of range again.”

Link blinked. He shook his head frantically.

“No? Why in the blue skies not?” Linkebeck hissed urgently.

“That's Tetra's ship!” Link exclaimed, pointing.

“Oh.” Linebeck said, brows furrowed. He gasped “OH! Well of course it is, I knew that. Yes indeed.”

Link giggled and wormed his way back into hugging Linebeck. Linebeck sighed, resting a hand on Link's head. “Yeah, yeah, glad to see we both made it out of that alright,” he chuckled.

Tetra's ship caught up quickly. The pirate captain swung down from the ship and stared as she thudded onto the deck of the steamship. “Linebeck... You're real!”

“A- why wouldn't I be real?!”

“I don't know, I thought maybe you'd be like a spirit or something too. Or a seagull.”

Linebeck squinted at her. He grabbed Link by the shoulders and extracted him from the hug. Linebeck set him down beside him. He shook his head, gesturing, “A seagull? If I was an animal why would I have a boat? You kids are absolutely crazy, you know that, right? I can't believe it. A seagull. Ya know, you can just say “hoy there Linebeck! I'm glad to see you made it out from the Ghost Ship!” Or something or other.”

“Glad to see you made it out from the Ghost Ship. Or something or other.” Tetra echoed with a grin.

Linebeck rolled his eyes, smiling softly despite himself.

“Miss Tetra? Who is that?”

“A friend! He helped us on the Ghost Ship!” Tetra called back.

“Woah!” Niko exclaimed, “Are you a ghost then?”

Linebeck groaned, shaking his head.

-

Link watched the sea roll by as the sky grew dark. Linebeck had been thoroughly harassed for the past hour or so by both friends and crew. Link was starting to get tired from all the talking and noise. He looked at the Pirate charm in his hands. He placed it beside himself, the now overwhelming noise from the sea vanishing with it. He sighed with a small smile.

Link watched the ocean rise and fall for a while, soft light of the moon reflecting and chopped on the water. His mind began to wander to what might lay below the ocean. He wondered if it was part of Old Hyrule, before. Or if they were already well past the old coast. His sea charts were becoming long stretches of ocean and ocean. If Link didn't have the Wind Waker, he would've been scared of losing his way home to the endless waters.

Linebeck's footsteps vibrated on the deck. Vaugely Link could catch a muffled voice of complaint. Likely saying Link had abandoned him to the Pirates or something. He sat down next to him, glancing at the pendant on the deck. He didn't try to talk to him after that, only looked out at the sea beside him.

Link smiled, leaning back against his shoulder. Regardless of his desire to enjoy silence for a moment longer, Link's mind quickly wandered to more present thoughts. He picked the pendant back up. “Do you want… to travel with us?” Link asked, slow and careful with the words. They were important words. They needed to be clear. To sound right.

“Ah… I don't know where you kids are going.”

“We donno!” Link cheered, looking up with a grin. “New land.”

Linkbeck hummed, miming thinking about it. “Oh, you kids were a handful. Who knows how long I'd be stuck with you rascals-”

Link shifted to look at him with big pleading eyes.

Linebeck sighed, “Oh it’s not like I've got much else going for me. Of course I'll go with you.” He ruffled Link's hair, smiling. “Don't you dare think I'll be hopping on a pirate ship, though.”

“You can woosh-” Link mimed a ship speeding off into the distance with his hands, “Get stuff.”

Linebeck scoffed playfully, “Ah-HUH. You're coming with me on whatever supply runs you lot beg me to do.”

Link laughed and nodded excitedly, hands moving quickly as he signed, “You can go with me to my home island! Meet my grandma and sister! It's awesome! You'd love it and-”

“Kid you're moving way too fast again.” Linebeck laughed.

Link whined dramatically, and tackled Linebeck with another hug instead. He grunted and patted Link on the shoulder with a lightly huffed smile.

-

Years later:

“OY, Link!”

Link groaned and turned to bury his better ear and his face into his pillow. …It didn't work. Tetra’s voice was still magically clear. “Link get your scrawny butt up or I'll throw you off the boat.”

He fumbled to take off the Pirate Charm and threw it lazily at Tetra. Then returned to nuzzling into his very nice, very soft blanket.

Tetra continued talking regardless of how well Link could hear her. Something Something bam cat…Something. She was probably still threatening him.

Her hands wrapped around his legs. Tetra hauled him up by the legs, head thunking against the frame of the bunk. She said something that Link HOPED was an apology about the integrity of his head, and continued on regardless, with his knees hooked over her shoulder. Link took in a heaved breath and allowed himself to be dragged along the deck. Tetra was tall enough now his head wouldn't hit anything else… until she did it on purpose.

So he kept his eyes closed, allowing himself another few minutes of sleepy haze. The lulling rock of the boat, the smooth texture of the wooden deck sliding along his dragging arms, the dim morning light behind his eyelids. A certain rush of blood to his head and the resulting woozy feeling really only made him sleepier.

Tetra dropped him just as he felt he could probably fall back asleep like that.

“WAUgh” He yelped, limbs flailing. He opened his eyes at the sky. It was barely even dawn. He scrunched his nose in a pout.

Tetra dropped the Pirate Charm back on top of his chest. Sound digging back into his mind with the magic of the charm. He grunted at the sensation.

“Well, get to your feet, Sailor. Tell me what cha see.”

Link glared. He pulled the Charm over his neck again. He wouldn't get away with throwing it twice… With a low grumble that vibrated from his chest, he stood up. He propped himself up on the edge of the ship, looking over the gray wash of water, and the gray skies. He turned to Tetra and raised an eyebrow.

Tetra rolled her eyes and grabbed Link by the shoulders to direct him at the slowly approaching view of an island. Distant. Its shore seemed long… now that he could trace it across the horizon. His brows pinched. Really long.

“Well!? What do you think?!” Tetra said, practically vibrating his shoulders as she shook him. Link's mouth opened. And stuck there.

Tetra shook him bodily. “It's gotta be a whole continent, I'm sure of it! I've never seen anywhere with such a long coast!” She laughed, grinning at him.

Link felt his own giggle bubble out of his chest. He spun himself from Tetra's grip on his shoulders and hugged her. She squeezed him tightly. Then abruptly socked him in the shoulder, “Can you get Linebeck and get closer to the shoreline to see if there's somewhere good to dock?”

Link nodded, rushing across the deck and scrambling inside again. Linebeck snored away, his arm dangling over the side of the bed. Link shook him.

“Eh? Whazzit? Do you know what time it is?”

Link leaned over and grinned at him.

Linebeck grunted, “Too early for that much excitement. That's what.”

Link shook his head and yanked the man up. He yelped, stumbling as he regained his bearings. “A man my age needs his beauty rest, you know. This is elder abuse.”

He rolled his eyes laughing. “We found land. A big one.”

His gaze snapped to Link's, wide and curious. “Alright, Alright, lets see it.”

Link whooped onto the air. He practically skidded out the door, rushing to get the SS Linebeck prepared as her namesake prepared himself for the day.

Linebeck chuckled lightly. “It ain't going to vanish! Unless of course it's that place again…. So! Don't rush it!” he called after him.

Link's feet danced across the boards of the ship. Linebeck strolled onto the ship as Link cleared off the windows with sweeping movements. He twirled on his toes, undoing the knots latching Linebeck’s ship to Tetra’s. “Ready to sail!” Link cheered.

“Annd we’re off!” Linebeck announced in confirmation.

The spray of water was cool against his face. Link smiled as the wind sang across his skin and hair. They chugged up to the shore. Linebeck approached cautiously to the uncharted edge of the land. Link jumped off the ship, swimming to shore. Linebeck was used to his impatience by now, simply laying anchor when Link rushed ahead.

Seagulls cawed over his head as he rushed up the beach. Not far from the sandy line was flowing grass taller than him. Palm trees stretched high, fronds shading from the warmth of the sun. Short cliffs lined the edges of the grassy view.

It felt eerily like Home for a place so huge. Link half expected to feel children brushing past him, racing up the beach. He nearly expected to see houses dotting the smoother edges of the hills.

He hummed, soft, and made his way forward. He held his hands out to brush against the tall fronds of grass, looking around. He climbed a short cliff, rushing up to a higher vantage point. The sky stretched out beyond him, but he couldn't see a pale blue line like he usually did on islands. Tall mountains stretched over the horizon, far far far from the shore. Link drifted forward, awed with the sheer scale. Could a Rito even fly above those? Could a seagull?

His foot hit metal. Link blinked, glancing down. A dull grey line cut the greenery and ran down an endless path forward. Link hopped up onto the metal track. It almost rumbled lowly under his feet. The vibration felt like a low hum or snore. He heard nothing. Link leaned down and brushed his fingers against it. It was warm to the touch, sun-heated and smooth.

He stared. Something about it thrummed in the back of his mind. He couldn't tell if it felt like danger or like safety.

“Oi, Link!” Tetra's voice chimed. He jolted, and pulled the Pirate Charm up into view.

“eh?” He called back.

“When are you going to give us a good docking spot!? Report sailor!”

Link sighed, rolling his eyes, and stood. He glanced back at the Great Sea, stretching endlessly blue. “It's safe. The beach is like Outset.” He wandered back along toward the beach line, looking over the sands. “No rocks I can see.”

“Finally, thank you!”

Link nodded to nobody. He glanced back at the line of metal, he stepped forward, warm metal against his boot. He followed it.

"Link? We're at the shore." Tetra called through the charm. He didn't know how far she was anymore. The grass kept going for ages and ages. Link wondered if he'd gotten trapped in somewhere beyond reality again.

"...Where are you?"

Link paused, looking around. "On a track... I think."

"Link you impulsive bastard I- HEY" there was a sound of wind and a crackle buzz that made Link wince. He was half compelled to toss the offending noise maker, but he suffered through.

Linebeck's voice rumbled through the charm "Link, get off the track. There's a binding magic to it, get off."

Link yelped and jumped off of it, fumbling backward a few steps, "I'm off!"

A sigh of relief and exasperation came through the charm, "Follow it back."

He blew a sigh of his own, and started back, trudging through the grass along the line of the track. He looked at it. Smooth metal and rhythmically pattered edges. ...Binding magic...

Linebeck stood at the edge that Link had first found. Tetra glared at Linebeck, hands wrapped possessively over her Pirate Charm.

Link waved with a smile. Tetra ran up to him, dropping an arm heavy on his shoulder, "Thoughts?"

"I wanna see where it leads. It has to go somewhere important."

"Hm." Tetra nodded. "Oy! Gonzo, pick some people to go find some food, everybody else, figure out as much of a map as you can and Niko!"

"Am I going with you?" Niko cheered, leaning forward on his toes.

"No, make sure the ship is safe for us when everybody gets back."

"Ughhh" Niko sighed.

"It's the single most important job," Linebeck said, "Now. You kids enjoy the adventure. I have to tell ya, though, this looks like very old magic."

"It's strange, that's certain." Tetra huffed.

"You tell us if you see any people, alright?" Niko said, leaning against the bow of the ship. The boat creaked, leaning with the push. Niko nearly lost his balance, pinwheeling his arms to stay upright.

"There has to be." Link said with a giggle, "somewhere this big and this green?"

Tetra nodded, "Alright. Let's set off."

"To the great unknown!" Link cheered. He rushed forward at a dash.

"Oy! Rude!" Tetra called, running after him.

"I already saw this part!" Link complained back, "It's known now!"

Tetra tackled him barely 10 paces away from where they started.

-

They had seen the tall endless tower far before they reached it. The crew eventually came with, the ships being cared for by Nudge and Mako. Niko chattered along the way over the weeks of travel, cheerfully explaining how he was now an expert of the area the ship had landed in. Niko and Linebeck had been the ones to first meet people, and he had been quite happy about that fact, despite not understanding the language at all.

They had figured they had one day's left of travel before they'd reach the tower, so the crew settled in for a rest in their tents among the great endless plain of grass.

Tetra gently shook Link up when the moon was high and bright in the sky and the ever familiar stars twinkled above. He squinted at her, leaning up on his elbows. She glanced at the rest of her crew, and offered her hand to pull Link to a stand. He took her hand, picking up the Pirate Charm from beside him. Tetra led him away, toward the Tower, tall grass practically parting for her. He followed her, feeling the wind tug and pull at them, closer and closer to the Tower.

"Someone's calling me." Tetra whispered eventually as they walked.

Even with the charm, Link strained to hear her.

"She wants to meet me."

"Who?" Link signed, the hand symbols feeling more appropriate for the tone.

"...I don't know."

He frowned lightly, and they kept walking. The tower was tall, made with a similar material as the tracks. Link could feel it in the soft vibrating energy of it.

Tetra glanced over the building's arching doorway, far larger than any human would need.

"Locked" Link signed, pressing his hands against then doorway.

She placed her hand against the seam of the door next to his, and light stretched across the line, and spider-webbed out. Warm and sharp. The doors rumbled open, light pouring out into the night.

The light faded, and an elderly woman smiled at them from the center of the room.

"Hello young princess, it's nice to finally meet you."

"I'm not a Princess. I'm Tetra," she said, arms crossed. "Who are you?"

"Anjean, guardian of the Tower of Spirits."

Link wandered as Tetra and Anjean talked, exploring the patterns and symbols.

"Why did you call to me...?"

Anjean laughed softly, "I could sense a familiar form of magic known to Hyrule, I thought I'd reach out to a family friend."

Link glanced up a darkend stairwell.

"Family friend," Tetra echoed, tone stiff.

A hiss of steam. A metallic arm grabbed Link by the chest of his shirt. Link shrieked, and a hulking figure stepped out of the dark. The young man grumbled, "Who is this?"

Tetra's sword slid between them, the curve of the blade aimed toward the man's neck.

"Let Link go."

"Byrne, please be kind to our guests." Anjean sighed.

Link smiled and waved awkwardly.

Byrne, apparently as his name was, leaned back. He released Link with a hiss of metal and steam. His dangling feet dropped to the ground. "I didn't invite them," he hissed.

"He's all bark no bite" Anjean soothed with a light chuckle. "Tetra here is Hyrule's newest daughter."

"And this nosy creature?" He asked, gesturing at Link.

"He's my friend," Tetra said, stepping forward to size the tall man up. She managed very well. "Don't touch him."

"What's up there?" Link asked.

"The Tower." Byrne huffed, turning to pace around the circular room, glaring toward Link and Tetra.

"It's the lock. It must remain undisturbed."

"Then why call us here?" Tetra asked,

"I wished to see what brought you to us."

Tetra sighed, "We were looking for a new continent. This is the first one we found."

"But why?" Anjean said with a curious smile, "What inspired this adventure?"

She glanced at Link. Link glanced at her.

"The King of Red Lions. He asked us to find our future," Link said softly.

"Interesting," Anjean hummed, "Enjoy finding it. New Hyrule is open to you."

"...New Hyrule? There's no way this land is actually called that." Tetra laughed.

Anjean smiled, "You'll find it has many names, but most of them variations upon "Home," feel free to choose as you will, but a New Hyrule for the future seems fitting to call it for you."

Tetra squinted, "Come on, Link. We should go back to the Crew."

He nodded, following her toward the doors. Link glanced at Byrne and Anjean one more time. "...How do you know we'll stay?" Link asked.

"Because you shouldn't." Byrne said.

Anjean wacked his side lightly, "I don't. But it can be a home while you explore what your future may be, too."

Link pocketed his hands, feeling the smooth glass of the Hourglass in his pocket. He followed Tetra out into the light of the sunrise.

[akisunlovesnalu]

Every Witch Way

A fic that I wrote inspired by this photo. Originally I wanted it to become a detective fic but my brain spiraled and I ended up with this. It became an adventure mystery story and of course, the government hates them :) I liked the idea of them traveling through the desert and I'm not too sure where the guild fit in this but just know that all Magicians (Witches) are in hiding because society believes they are evil. Most normal people do not have magic so someone spread a theory that the only reason witches have magic is because of human sacrifices etc. It's important to note that witches want to keep their powers under wraps or else they will get reported to the authorities and sent to the hier-ups in the capital. Nobody knows what happens to the witches who are caught but they don't want to find out.

That might be some unnecessary background information so skip over that if you wish and enjoy!

When Lucy finds herself kidnapped by a ruthless group of bandits, the last thing she expects is to be saved by a witch with Pink hair and his talking blue cat. And she most certainly didn't expect to become their good friend and travel companion. Who knew evil sorcerers and government conspiracies can lead to unexpected friendships.

As the blond girl dragged herself, hands tied together in front of her, and sand covered bare feet weakly trailing after her, she realized how fast camels might actually be. You see, in all of the stories she had read so far, none of them did the four legged beast's speed any justice. They never quite described how hard it was to keep up with them. It was always “The creature was big” or “The creature was furry” but never “When kidnapped by a group of bandits, tied to and forced to stumble behind a literal camel, it may be hard to keep up.”

See if any of the books had written that in, maybe Lucy Hearfillia might be faring better in her situation. But alas, she was not.

“Stop lagging behind, blondie!” One of the men snarled, pulling on the rope to further demonstrate his annoyance. Lucy stumbled forward, struggling to stay upright. She hung her head low, very aware of the menacingly bright sun and quietly sighed.

Oh what she would do to somehow get out of this unfortunate turn of events.

She has probably been traveling together with these no good thieves for about 3 hours. After being abducted from the only good town in this godforsaken desert, the men forced her to follow them, ignoring her cries of where she was and demands to let her go. She gave up eventually of course. Not even her vocal cords could handle the immense heat that came with the dry deserted area.

“Hey boss.” The big one said, glancing over at her with furrowed brows. He had been the one to capture her in the first place. Of course Lucy could have easily taken him on but… a moment's hesitation was all they needed to successfully tie her up and steal her ring of keys. Aquarius was going to kill her!

 “Not that I really want to, but... Should we give the chick some water?” 

The man in front of the big one grunted, his blueish hair blowing with the small breeze and clearly showing off his strange X-like tattoo. Lucy watched on with little interest as a bead of sweat traveled down his forehead.

“I wouldn’t bother.” He scoffed. “Every time we’ve tried, she just spits it back up. Plus, earlier she tried to bite off Javier’s finger, do you really want to risk it?” He raised an eyebrow.

The man in question made a whining noise, clutching his injured hand to his chest and glaring at their prisoner with watery eyes. He mockingly raised the water bottle to his mouth, chugging it in an attempt to get a rise out of her. Lucy rolled her eyes, instead looking back down at the smooth sand beneath her feet.

The big one made a noise of understanding. “Even after we lied about it not being drugged too-”

Javier spit up the water that he was previously chugging, shakily putting the top back on and storing it back inside of the camel's holding bag.

“You idiot!” ‘Boss’ hissed, turning a piercing glare unto the man beside him. “She still didn’t know-” He paused, glancing over at their very interested prisoner and forced himself to  take a deep breath. “You know what, it doesn't matter, she'll be fine.”

“But, Bora-”

“She’ll be fine!” The man who Lucy now knew as Bora raised a fist threateningly. He smirked in sick pleasure as his henchmen coward away. Before she even had time to pull a face of disgust, he turned to Lucy, eyeing her hungrily. “Now, let's get a move on. The employer is expecting us by sundown and I'd rather not have the sun beating down on me any longer than necessary.”

The rest of his men tiredly murmured in agreement, picking up the pace and forcing the blond girl to — once again —trudge through the slippery sand. She hissed as her feet pricked on some sort of stick-like plant. Oh Mavis if she could just reach into the pouch hanging off of Bora’s belt-

“I don’t see the issue, it’s not even that hot.” A new voice said, startling the crew of 14 bandits plus Lucy herself. Her head snapped up for the first time in a while. Ignoring the ache in her neck, the girl rapidly searched the area until settling upon a man with… pink hair. 

He didn’t look too shocked to see a kidnapped girl tied to a Camel. Nor did he bat an eye at the blue cat that sat on his head, lazily playing with the goggles that held his hair out of his face (Did she mention that it was pink!?). And his attire looked so incredibly… bold that Lucy was sure she would faint. Seriously, who was stupid enough to travel through the desert in a black long sleeve shirt, a tan vest and a literal scarf. It was like the guy was begging to get a heat stroke.

She had immediately decided that whoever this man was, he was insane.

“Now.” He grinned, getting into a fighting stance. “What was it you said about an employer?”

Oh look now he wanted to fight off an entire group of bandits. Lucy scoffed. Definitely insane.

Where did he even come from?

Bora snarled, holding up a hand and signaling his guys to pounce on the man wearing freaking cargo pants. Once again, the pink haired freak didn’t even flinch. He stayed rooted to his spot, grinning a wide smile and daring one of them to come at him.

They did, of course, and to Lucy’s surprise were blasted back by a large ring of— 

“Fire!”

Well that certainly explains a lot.

Even after that big scare, the men were back on “Mr. cargo pants” as soon as Bora sent each and every one of them a snarl. The blond snorted as soon enough, all 14 men were on the floor, some of them even halfway in the sand and halfway not.

Bora’s horrified face soon turned back into a scowl as he fully processed Lucy’s teasing. He jumped off of the Camel, ignoring a curious looking “Mr. cargo pants” and stomping over to her. 

“Something Funny?” He said.

“Yeah, actually.” She chuckled some more, tugging on the rope in silent frustration. “Looks like you're about to get your ass handed to you.”

Bora growled, raising his hand in an attempt to threaten her. Lucy eye’d it wearily, but made no attempt to move out of its path. To her pleasure that seemed to aggravate the man even more.

“I’ll show you!” He cried and Lucy's breath hitched as he brought his hand down to strike her across the face… 

The sound of skin hitting skin somehow echoed throughout the desert and Lucy was sure her face was stinging a bright red…

Except it wasn’t… to be honest she felt no pain. Almost as if she hadn’t been hit at all… Cracking her eyes open she realized that a figure stood in front of her, effectively blocking both the sun and her view of Bora. At this, the girl was finally able to piece together what happened.

Bora had aimed for her face, only for his wrist to be caught by “Mr. cargo pants” himself. 

What an interesting turn of events indeed. 

Lucy was quite surprised by how calm she was in this type of situation. No other girl would be able to keep a straight face as they were surrounded in an alleyway, tied up, and forced onto a camel, only to be saved by a strange man (who was definitely insane) that kicked ass and breathed fire. Though if anything she’d have to blame it on experience.

The silence was interrupted by a snarl, one almost inhuman. Bora shrieked, snatching his hand away and forcibly putting a distance between him and this insane man.

“H-how dare you!” Bora shrieked, reaching into his belt and pulling out a knife. Lucy’s eyes flashed onto the leather pouch before giving the man a hard glare.

“You’re one of those demons aren't you!” His voice shook but was filled with so much venom. “The horrible bastards that turn to rituals and blood sacrifices in favor of magical powers!?”

Mr. Cargo pants made no attempt to move, only stared Bora straight in the eyes with an unreadable expression. 

“So what if I am?” He answered.

Lucy felt her lips turn into a frown.

“Then you’re worse than me!” The man laughed maniacally, waving his knife around as he spoke. “Why bother saving this chick with magic earned by bloodlust? Wait…” He gasped dramatically looking at Lucy and then back at Mr. Cargo pants. 

“Oh…” he cackled this time, using a shaky hand to clutch his side. “You probably need her right? For another sacrifice?”

As he continued with his dumb speach Lucy felt her patience slipping. She bit her lip, tugging on the rope once again with no success. She growled, now desperate enough to be pulling against the weight of a freaking Camel.

“Let’s make a deal, hm?” Bora held the knife to his mouth in thought. “I’ll let you take her for just a bit of cash. I’m sure you and your demon friends would love such delicate, pure hearted prey right? Blah Blah Blah Blah-”

Lucy tuned him out and her pink-haired savior still made no move to attack, only balling his fists and taking deep breaths. She understood… the need to prove him wrong… to just shut him up! Which was what she was planning on doing! As soon as she got rid of this stupid rope-

Her savior lunged, slapping the knife out of the bandit's hand and catching him by the neck so quickly that Lucy had to blink, just to make sure she had actually witnessed that.

Bora struggled against his grip, clawing at his arm as he gasped for breath. “Y-you…” He coughed. “You monster!”

The pink haired boy dropped him, cracking his knuckles as Bora attempted to crawl away.

“Hit me with your best shot!” He screeched. “Monster!” 

And that’s when Lucy’s attention was directed towards a flying blue blob. It took her a minute to realize that the blue blob was the cat previously perched atop her savior's head. She couldn’t help the small shriek that erupted from her throat as the cat landed directly in front of her, a look of pride overtaking its face.

“Hold on!” It cried, using its claws to slowly cut away at the thick rope. Lucy stood stock still, mouth wide as she watched a cat! a talking cat, free her from her ‘Camel Prison’... 

This day just kept getting weirder and weirder. 

She felt the rope loosen up and took that moment to slip her hands free.

She rubbed her wrists, absentmindedly thanking the (blue, flying, taking-) cat and zoning back in on the fight. Well… what she thought would be a fight. Instead, Lucy saw Mr. Cargo Pants kneeling by a tied up and unconscious Bora, checking his pulse with a bored look in his eyes.

The girl wanted to laugh at how quickly that ‘battle’ had ended. In fact, she did laugh! How could she not? Here was Bora, big bandit leader with unquestionable power over his 14 lakey’s, beaten black and blue after a fight that had barely even lasted a minute.

Pathetic.

Lucy was almost ashamed to have put her morals over her own safety. Taking on this guy would have been a sinch, the rest would have probably run away with their tails between their legs. 

The girl released a breath, finally finished with her laughing fit. She wiped a tear from beneath her eye, grinning wide at her two saviors.

“You’ve got guts!” The cat… the blue, flying, talking cat.. Spoke. It spoke… Lucy felt her face twist in confusion.

“Thank you…?”

Mr. Cargo pants finished tying up the rest of the men and strode over to them, his arms crossed over his chest as he gave her a somewhat proud look. “Happy’s right y’know. I’ve never seen another girl in your situation stand up to their captor…” He paused before quietly adding. “Well maybe Erza but I doubt she’d get captured in the first place…”

“Happy’s?” Lucy questioned, raising her brow. “What do you mean?”

“That’s Happy.” He stated matter factly, pointing over to the flying cat- Holy Mavis, this would take some getting used to. It waved. Lucy numbly waved back.

Mr. Cargo Pants held out his hand in greeting. “And I’m Natsu!” Oh well that’s good, he’s got a name. Mr. Cargo Pants was starting to seem a bit bland based on his earlier performance. Maybe she’d just call him Fire Freak, pyromaniac for short?

“Hey Natsu.” The girl smiled kindly, getting over her initial shock and shaking his hand. He held onto her hand for longer than necessary, his grip strong. The pink-haired traveler held her gaze, dark onyx eyes practically burning into her soul. His calloused hand gave her own one last squeeze before he let go, looking around as if nothing just happened.

“What're you doing this far out in the desert anyways?”

Lucy blinked, her brain taking a minute to compute after his strange display of… comradery? “I was… Traveling.” She admitted.

“With them?” Natsu and Happy blinked, looking back at the pile of motionless body’s. Finally the boy turned back to her, shaking his head and clicking his teeth. “Man, you need to get yourself some better travel companions.”

“N-no!” She barked. “I was kidnapped while traveling! Are you an idiot!”

“Well why didn’t you just say so?”

Lucy ground her teeth in frustration. One more word out of this man’s mouth and she’d be wanted for murder. She rolled her eyes. What a scatter brain.

“Well, thank you for saving me.” She settled with, surveying the litter of body’s decorating the wide desert floor. “Can I ask you to direct me towards the closest town?”

Natsu nodded his head, pointing in a direction. “We’re actually headed to one right now. Care to join?”

“... Sure!” Lucy agreed after a bit of hesitation. She turned around and untied her very important pouch from her precious Camel Captor. 

“Thanks for keeping these safe, I guess.” She said to it. The camel snorted out a noise of disinterest as Lucy stroked it’s neck. 

Natsu let out a snort, turning away and whistling casually as Lucy sent him a hard glare. She may have been forcefully tied to and painfully dragged across the desert by this Camel, but still, she felt a sense of comradery between them. She was going to miss him…

As Lucy turned to leave, the camel let out a large glob of spit, barely missing her head. The girl shrieked and ran to catch up to a curious Natsu.

She takes it back. That damn animal won't be missed. Not one bit.

[lulusoblue]

Welp. Played Double Exposure. Finished it.

ALMOST spoiler-free thoughts, any spoilers are literally superficial and make no impact on the plot as a whole: this game is not worth the price of admission at present.

Just to get it out of the way; the way they unceremoniously wrote Chloe out of Max's life, be they romantically together or platonic, is garbage. She doesn't even have a character model. The only image of her post-Arcadia is the one we've all seen before. It was all VERY out of character for both Max and Chloe and all of Chloe's social media posts feel like DeckNine rubbing in that they just see her as a party girl lesbian who sleeps around and would rather completely ignore any trauma that she or her BEST FRIEND WHOM SHE WOULD TAKE BACK IN A HEARTBEAT would have because she wants to "move forward". Incredibly insulting, especially when Chloe keeps getting called "the blue-haired girl" and not by name when Max is literally TALKING ABOUT HER IN A HEARTFELT CONVERSATION.

Graphics. I can run Baldur's Gate 3 at a damn good and steady framerate even as it is constantly loading shit into the level as you travel this giant-ass world map. For some reason, LiS:DE just chugged along. What's worse, the lowest and most unstable framerates and graphic quality I had was INDOORS. I didn't even have these settings on Cinematic because then it ran like shit. Even after I found advice on discussions. This game is beautiful but only if you're standing still and not moving the camera around so much.

Cat Content is waaaaay to minimal. Cat didn't appear until the very end of Chapter 2, and after that the cat will only appear when you can explore Max's house. Which is the ending of Chapter 3 and the beginning of Chapter 4. You don't even get to keep the cat. This content is not worth being locked behind the Ultimate Edition.

The writing of the main plot starts strong, but leads to a very underwhelming conclusion. All of the other entries in LiS have felt like their endings were ambiguous in that there wasn't so much a right choice as there was a choice of which ending you felt fit the narrative. Chapter 5, and thus the whole ending of the game, felt like... nothing. Even down to the final "big" choice and the last scene. There was no real delving into Max's trauma stemming from the ending of the original game, because in "respecting both endings", DeckNine respects neither by making their differences superficial. There was no story following through a setup of how one can move on from death in one's life. The ending just relies on supernatural fuckery and then sets up for future games in a meaningless way. It all felt so rushed and hollow, for lack of a better, spoiler-free way to describe it. Aside from saying that there were SO many theories people came up with that were much more gripping than what actually happened.

The characters are underutilised for how much the marketing put the spotlight on them. Not to say I don't like the new cast of characters, but aside from their charm in some scenes, I literally only really cared about Moses by the end of the game. If the threat of Max Caulfield's return doesn't fall through, then I hope at least Moses will be along for the ride too. Aside from him, I just... didn't really grow attached to anyone besides Gwen and the cat. For as little as the cat appeared, I still cared about that damn ball of pixels more than almost all of the main cast of characters.

The side characters have so much dialogue. Too much dialogue. You will be listening in on NPC conversations for 5 minutes and maybe, MAYBE you'll be able to put that therapist card down on the table for them in Chapter 2. There was waaaaaay too much thought and time and dialogue put into background characters and conversations that aren't all that interesting and just get their audio cut off if you step a couple of millimetres away from their assigned seats.

The game is small. Even with exploring, you only have 4-5 environments to venture forth in at Caledon, and when most of them are indoors and something keeps causing my framerate to tank (which honestly how can your indoor lighting tank my framerate with outdoor scenes should have more shit to load in) it feels so claustrophobic. Scenes are short if you're good at puzzle-solving and revisiting locations makes events even shorter when you don't need to re-examine details for Max's inner monologue. It feels like you have less room to move than in True Colours, which when combined by how disappointing the main plot is?

Main plot is only a murder mystery for the first two chapters. Then it kinda derails. The mystery disappears and you just have plot twists that don't fit the Life is Strange vibes.

All in all? This is the first entry in the series that I regret buying at all. Great acting performances, pretty graphics and a stellar soundtrack can't carry a game or save it from writing that isn't just bad, but ultimately insincere. I knew what stories previous games in the series were trying to tell. I don't know what Double Exposure wanted to tell or try to say beyond "stay tuned".

[sparkles-oflight]

A sem ti Povedal

Hi everyone!! Final chapter of my fanfic universe (big finally haha).

I loved every single bit of this, but it was time to end ^^'

I want to do the Sailor Moon AU so badly lol. And if you don't know anything about Sailor Moon, don't worry, I made most of my AU up so you can still enjoy it without watching the show :)

Now without further ado... Les get into it.

Synopsis: Have you asked how they were doing today? Have you kissed them or hugged them? Have you ever told them that you love the way they smell? Everyone… this is A sem ti povedal. - Jan and Nace wedding celebration party

Disclaimer: Please think of these as characters and not the actual people. I don’t encourage anyone to send this to any of the actual JO members nor do I encourage people to force any type of relationship between anyone.

Bojan looked over to his side. Kris was lying down on the green grass next to him. His hair was neatly cut, his face clean shaved and fully relaxed. He looked beautiful. Although, if you asked Bojan, he’d have preferred plucking each strand of hair off his chin with his teeth himself. It would have been much more fun than Kris using the razor.

He was suddenly met with blue eyes looking at him.

- What? – the guitarist asked.

- Nothing. – he giggled.

- What are you thinking about?

- I’m the luckiest man in the whole world. Just… just look at you!

- What about me?

- I feel like I could fall for you all over again each time you look at me with those eyes.

- You are cheesy. – Kris smiled – Save that for later.

- Oh, I have a lot of things I’d like to say to you once you are off the tuxedo.

The sound of metal hitting glass stopped their conversation. They turned to look at who made that sound, Jure.

- Okay, lovebirds, this is not your wedding that we are celebrating. – he smiled – I’d like to make a speech before I get drunk.

Jure cleared his throat and took out a piece of paper.

- I don’t usually talk much, but you know when I do, I mean it. Today, we are celebrating the wedding of two of my best friends. Jan, Nace, you guys are my best friends. Joker Out brought us together and it made me fall in love with music and traveling in a way I never thought it would.

Bojan lay his head next to Kris, and he kissed him on the temple. Indeed, Joker Out brought them all together. It felt almost as if destiny itself was telling them to keep doing what they loved because that’s where they’d find home—in each other.

- I’d tell you stories of me and Jan before Nace, or of me helping Nace planning dates with things Jan would like.

A couple of people laughed. Jan turned to Nace and said:

- Listen, I love cats, but that doesn’t mean you had to take me to a cat café just because Maček told you that. Igor gets jealous!

- Baby, you are already one with the cats, Igor does not care that much. – Nace laughed it out.

- As I was saying. – interrupted the blondie – I want to wish both Jan and Nace a happy life as a married couple.

He raised his champagne glass and chugged it down.

Martin was up next.

- I met Jan when we were teens, and we grew very close. And if he’s now a graduated mathematician, I think I should be given some credit. – he laughed – Me and Jan spend… a lot of time together and… and I have to say Jan is one the best guys I know. Heart of gold, sometimes he undermines himself, but I know Nace – he turned to the other bass player – you’ll be able to ground him whenever you see he is up in his head space… And if you hurt him… well, you already know. Cheers, everyone.

Jan and Nace got up from their picnic towel and Jure sat down. They both wear black suits adorned by white lace. Jan with a deep green tie, nails painted purple by Kiki, and tied hair. Nace with a dark purple tie and with a green earring.

Jan began his speech.

- I know we already had a bigger ceremony with our extended family… those who came at least.

Nace squeezed his husband’s hand to reassure him.

- But now… in this smaller party we have organized, I’d like to also talk a little about this journey… It hasn’t been easy. Me and Nace can’t marry through the church and in many countries, marriage between two men isn’t something we can’t do at all. Accepting that we would have a harder time married than dating in silence was part of this journey. But man! – he smiled – It was the best decision ever!

Everyone laughed at Jan’s sudden change in attitude.

- Despite the mean comments, and the family members that didn’t show up… I love Nace. I love having him and being able to call him mine. I love having him waiting for me at home with our pets. I love walking around with him and showing him off. I love… all of him. – he said looking down – Because he makes me feel loved.

- Awwwww. – Bojan and Jure said, and the other guests laughed.

Nace kissed Jan’s cheek and cleared his throat.

- I don’t think there’s much else to say. I think I married one of the most altruistic people I’ve ever seen because, even on his wedding day, he asked me how he should share petitions and donation links with our fans to help gay rights such as marriage be accessible in more places around the world. Maybe he is also a little workaholic, but I love his dedication. The face he makes when he’s concentrated on playing or finding new sounds… It’s a sight to see. And I’m the luckiest man in the world to be able to see it every day.

Nace raised his glass and everyone else followed. He entangled his arm around Jan’s they drank from each other’s glass as everyone cheered.

- Now, the bouquet throw. – Jan said.

The girls in the friend group began getting up, but Jan just threw towards Kris’s legs. The taller one raised an eyebrow and carefully picked up the bouquet.

- I’m not sure that’s how this works. – he said.

- My wedding is pretty unusual. Two grooms and no brides so why not change the rules? Besides, you already have the ring on your finger, don’t you?

It was on one of their trips to the Netherlands that Bojan proposed to Kris. He prepared a date with Kris to a park in Utrecht. Kris thought it was weird to have Bojan as the “tour guide” while he was the native of sorts, but ever since Bojan learned Dutch, he has integrated himself quite well amongst the Dutch – despite his height.

“Will you marry me?” the singer asked. Kris said yes on the spot, and they shared it with the band immediately with a photo of the ring taken at one of the bridges.

Bojan picked up the bouquet and put one of the pinkish flowers on Kris’ hair.

- Will you marry me? – he asked.

- Uhm… I don’t know. – the guitarist replied with an ironic smile - Ask me tomorrow. I might say yes.

- So that’s a “mayhaps”?

- It’s a “Ask me tomorrow”.

Kris kissed Bojan and while most people were awed, Jan separated them.

- Come on, this is still my wedding. You guys didn’t even give me a speech. The least you could do is sing a song.

Kris turned around and picked up his acoustic guitar.

- Lucky for you – Bojan said – we already had that planned.

Bojan winked and got up, helping Kris get up in the process.

- Hi everyone. – he said as Kris tunned the guitar – I wrote this song when I was in my early 20’s. It’s a song that I wrote thinking of an imaginary muse… a love letter to someone who I longed to be with. As the years went by, the song took on a different meaning. To me, this muse became synonymous with my now Fiancé. To Jan and Nace, it became synonymous with each other. I’d often see them sing or quote this song to each other when they were together and get lost in each other’s eyes, long before they were in a relationship. And with that…

- Wait. – Kris interrupted – I also want to say some words. This is my best friend’s wedding we are talking about. And it’s also my ex-neighbour’s wedding.

Nace chuckled at that.

- Jan had my back through the best and the worst, and everyone has talked about it non-stop today. And Jan knows I love him a lot, but I’d also like to say some words to Nace. Nace was the person that I could reach when the world and the band were getting overwhelming to me. He was my roommate for most of our tours and I got angry at how slow he takes to get ready and how early he likes to rise in the morning. – they chuckled – but even so, I couldn’t have asked for a better roommate.

- I take it I’m not a good roommate then. – Bojan fake cried but quickly recomposed himself – Everyone, close your eyes… think of someone you love.

As everyone closed their eyes, Kris began playing the first couple of notes. Bojan took a deep breath and proceeded.

- Have you asked how they were doing today? Have you kissed them or hugged them? Have you ever told them that you love the way they smell? Everyone… this is A sem ti povedal.

♫♩♫♩♫♩♫♩♫♩♫♩♫♩♫♩♫♩♫♩♫♩♫♩♫♩♫♩♫♩♫♩♫♩

And they lived Happily Ever After! The End!

(Just don't look at the next fic if you want to be happy, it's not canon to this universe)

Polaroid Photos Universe | Recommended next: Metulji*

[freddiecakey]

Like cats, like Bucky

pairing: Sam Wilson x Bucky Barnes (TFTW)

summary: Toress has a theory. A cat theory. (in which 3 times Bucky shows affection to Sam and doesn’t see it, 1 time Sam sees it)

a/n: my first published fanfic yayyy! its been ages since ive written so excuse how cringe the writing is but i enjoyed writing this sooo much! i love sam and buck so enjoy haha. changed some canon plot because i said so LMAO. surely inaccurate stuff so you've have been warned. also if they seem occ.. woopsie daisies

word count: 5086

warning: major fluff

--------

“Bucky does not do that”

Sam sips his beer and places his cup down on the brown counter. A night out, catching up with Torres after the insane aftermath the flag smashers have caused, Sam did not think Torres would bring his insane ideas tonight.

 Torres sighs as he watches Torres throw his hands up in disbelief. Steve proceeds to lean forward on the marble counter, crossing his large arms together, and looks at Sam straight in the eye.

“How can you not see it?! I have the whole Air Force to vouch for me!” Torres exclaims as he points his finger at Sam. Before he can continue Sam interrupts him.

“How can I not see that Bucky shows me his affection in a cat-like manner? Torres please” Sam chuckles at the end picks up his cup again and takes another large chug at his drink.

He feels like he needs another. Or a shot. A Shot of tequila or a gun you ask? Surprise him, because right now Sam does not see what Torres- and the whole air force, that Bucky shows the most affection to him. For some reason, they compare this affectionate exchange to how cats show affection to their owners.

Torres grunts and deadpans at Sam. Sam sure is stubborn Torres thinks.

“And first of all why a cat of all things? Is he not the white wolf? He isn’t the white cat or panther!”

“Ok hear me out,” Torres bends down and opens his backpack next to his boot. Sam watches with a curious look. Raising his eyebrow, Torres returns and places the book down in front of Sam to observe.

“What is this-“Sam picks up the book and reads the title. “12 ways to know that your cat likes you”. Sam turns his head to Torres with a tilt and gives the most unimpressed look to the soldier.

“You serious man?”

Torres puts his hands up in defense. “ok ok hear me out! So you know that I want to adopt a cat, right?”

“Right…”

“And I picked up this book! And after reading it… I was given a lot of knowledge! Wisdom!” Torres grabs the book from Sam’s hold and holds it absent his chest as he points at the front cover which shows a cute white fluffy kitten playing with a red ball of yarn.

“And this book is evidence, Sam! I have observed and-“

Sam sighs and hits his head on the table. Torres puts the book down and crosses his arms.

“Ok, what if I describe 3 events to you and then you will believe me, Sir, that this book proves my point!” Torres challenges as he unfolds his arm, leans forward, and jabs Sam on the side of his arm.

Sam swats his hand and looks at Torres with a questioning look. Leaning back on his chair he looked at Torres. Torres looks so constipated that Sam is feeling bad.

Torres wants to prove him wrong.

Sam rolls his eyes afterward and sits on the island chairs with Steve following his action on the opposite side.

“Fine, hit me” Sam states and Torres gives a wide grin.

He picks up the book again and Sam notices that some of the pages had a few pencil mark and he swears he sees small notes.

Torres looks up and stares at Sam as he begins talking.

“So….”

1. Slow blinking/staring

Sam is so annoyed with Bucky. Not only does he ignore his messages, but Bucky arrives out of the blue, demands Sam's answers, and then proceeds to follow him on a mission where he was not invited.

And he insults Redwing in the process! Sam doesn’t have time for his nonsense and lets Bucky do whatever.

Whatever as in follow him into the plane. As Sam walks inside he is greeted by Torres who greets him and just silently accepts the fact Bucky is joining them. Torres shrugs and closes the shuttle and starts the plan.

Sam sits on the side of the plane and Bucky follows by sitting on the opposite and buckles up.

Ignoring Bucky, Sam busies with himself and begins double-checking that his gear is all on track and that his beloved Redwing is fully operational. He looks up and catches Bucky staring right at him. Sam never misses a challenge and stares right back at Bucky and his steel blue eyes.

Intimidating but Sam found his eyes pretty. They aren’t those ocean blue eyes but rather his eyes remind him of a winter storm.

Ironic. Sam thinks to himself.

Bucky is staring at him way too hard though and sometimes Sam wants him to win.

Before Sam confronts him Torres clears his throat. The two turn their head and it seems he is watching their whole staring contest

Without much thought, the event unfolds and Sam and Bucky go out for the mission.

When Torres watches Sam fly out, Bucky rips his sleeve off and proceeds to jump out of the plane, Torres slowly reaches for his backup, pulls out his cat guidebook, and turns to a specific page.

 He takes the pen out of his pocket and circles around number 1’s heading.

“Slow blinking and staring… how cats show trust and love... interesting” Torres closes his book and puts it away.

2. Showing their belly

“Shit” Bucky grunts as he limps while Sam and Zemo hold him and walk into Sharon’s estate.

Fuck super soldiers and fuck Madipoor.

Bucky hisses in pain when they turn his body a bit.

“Shit sorry man” Sam softly says as he looks at Bucky with worry. He looks down to his stomach and sees the blood seeping out more and more through his grey shirt. The longer they take the more Bucky sits in pain.

“That shot looks nasty doesn’t it?” Zemo says as he watches Bucky clutch his stomach, trying to stop the blood from spilling more.

“Ya think asshole?” Bucky barks and then grunts in pain. Bucky starts to feel dizzy and lightheaded. Bucky closes his eyes a bit so he can rest but Sam shakes him awake.

“Hey, man! Stay awake for me you can’t sleep!”

Sam and Zemo finally make it to Sharon’s couch. Zemo lets go and Sam proceeds to gently put Bucky down on the couch and makes him lie down on his back. Bucky has his eyes shut tight while breathing heavily. Sam moves from Bucky’s face which broke into a sweat and is shivering to his abdomen where his blood-stained hands putting on his open wound. Zemo and Sam stand above Bucky while Sharon begins walking backward.

“I’ll get the kit just make sure the bleeding stops!” Sharon explains and quickly turns around and leaves to get the first aid kit to help Bucky.

While Bucky moans in pain Sam twists his head back to Bucky and kneels. “It's ok man we’re going to help you”

“Sam…”

Before Sam can take over placing pressure on the wound his phone rings and he sighs in annoyance. He cannot believe Sarah can call again and at all times! When Sam quickly stands up and fussily reaches his phone out of his pocket, he sees that it is Torres calling him instead.

Torres's call surely means he has a lead but right now- this is bad timing. Sam looks at Zemo and back at Bucky. Sighing he turns away and picks up the call and hears a worried Torres.

“Sam! I’ve gotten news about Madipoor and knowing you- you guys caused it and-“

“Torres am sorry to cut our chat short but this is a bad time to call. Bucky-“

Before Sam can explain the situation he hears a grunt behind him. Turning around he sees Bucky and Zemo fighting. Zemo gets slapped by Bucky and when he keeps coming up Bucky keeps pushing the Slovakia man away.

“Get off! Don’t touch me or try to remove anything from me!” Bucky growls as he pushes Zemo off one more time.

“I Am trying to help you here you damn barbarian or do you want to die?!”

“Ha! If you have you to see my bare skin I rather die a million times jackass”

Sam watches the pathetic scene unfold and throws his phone on the side of the couch, completely forgetting to end the call.

“Hellooooo? Sam?” Torres calls out on the other side of the line. Before Torres ends the call in defeat he instead stays on the call as his ears listen to the scene on the other side of the line.

Sam stands between Sam and Zemo and breaks the fight up. He places his left hand out to stop Zemo and holds onto Bucky’s wrist to stop slapping Zemo and well him.

“Stop it you two! Bucky you’re goddamn bleeding and if you keep moving like that you’re not gonna be a super soldier alright.” Sam explains and Bucky’s blue steel eyes stare right into Sam’s chocolate brown ones.

Bucky grunts knowing that Sam is right. He looks at Sam with a soft look and when he looks back at Zemo his eyes grow cold. Looking at Zemo just angered Bucky more.

“Well he better not fucking touch me or I am going to kill him,” Bucky says and yanks his hand out of Sam’s grip and puts his hand on his side.

“I was just trying to help you but clearly you don’t want to be saved so drop dead” Zemo spits out and crosses his arms with a huff.

Sam rolls his eyes, they are so childish these two. Sam turns to Bucky and kneels next to the couch again. Bucky watches Sam’s every action with caution.

Sam huffs and places his hands on top of Bucky’s where his hand is putting pressure on the bullet wound. Bucky tenses in pain and in hesitation which Sam notices. However, Sam doesn’t break eye contact and looks at Bucky with urgency.

“Bucky, we need to make sure the bleeding stops so stop being stubborn,” Sam looks back down to the wound where the bleeding just continues to spill and back up to Bucky who looks like  a deer caught in headlights. “, do you trust me Bucky?” Sam asks as he looks at Bucky.

When Bucky stares blankly at Sam, processing what Sam just asked him he only sighs and just slowly nods yes. However, that answer doesn’t satisfy Sam and he sighs.

“I need words Bucky.”

Bucky huffs and looks to his side.

“…Yes. Do whatever and stop the bleeding idiot.”

Sam smiles and moves Bucky’s hand and proceeds to lift his shirt off. Sam observes how Bucky’s milky skin is stained with red and the bullet hole pierced through his abs.  Sam begins placing pressure on the wound and Bucky winces and shuts his eyes tight again.

Zemo scoffs.

“Oh, so he allows his belly to be exposed to Sam but to no one else? Someone’s biased”

Zemo teases as he turns around and goes to the kitchen to pour himself a whisky. Sam only gives him a death stare.

“I’m back sorry I took long!” Sharon rushes back to the lounge and aids Bucky’s wound.

As Sam sits back and watches with worry laced on his face, he forgets his call with Torres who only ended the call when Sharon came back.

Torres who sits at his desk throws his phone on the side of his table and sighs. He looks at his messy table but when his cat guidebook catches his line of sight, he grabs the book and proceeds to take his pen and circle around number 5.

“Showing their belly… often considered as an ultimate sigh of trust and that they feel safe to expose their most vulnerable parts of their body…”

3. Bringing gifts

The flag smashers fell, John Walker was no longer Captain America and somehow, Sam and Bucky were at a cookout together with his family.

This is not what Sam imagined life is but when he looks at Bucky bonding with Sarah and her kids, he can’t help but smile that he is okay with it.

“Sam!”

Sam snaps out of it and turns around to see Torres waving at him with one hand while his other hand grips the side of his bag straps.

Surprised, Sam stands up walks up to Torres, and hugs him.

“Dude! What are you doing here?” Sam asks as he pulls back from the hug and smiles at Torres.

“Oh I’m here with one of my friends who has family here, I didn’t know you would be here-“Torres's sentences get cut off when Bucky walks over next to Sam. He recognizes Torres and gives a soft smile.

“Oh, Torres hey what are the odds,” Bucky states, and Torres shrugs with a smile. He knew Bucky would follow Sam so he wasn’t surprised to see him.

“Well, what can I say” Torres shyly says and gives a small chuckle at the end of his sentence.

“SAM WE'RE OUT OF MAYONAISEE CAN YOU RUN DOWN TO AUNT MARIEE’S STORE AND GET MORE?”

The three men turn around to see Sarah waving an empty bottle of mayonnaise in her hand to Sam. Sam sighs and throws his head back. “OKAY-“

Sam suddenly feels a hand on his shoulder. He stops to look at the cool metal hand on him and back to Bucky, giving a questioning look.

“Don’t stress Sam, Torres and I will get it for you, right Torres?”

“Yeah sure we will- wait what”

Sam faces Bucky and Torres with a big smile on their face. He pinches Bucky’s cheek which Bucky playfully pushes away and laughs.

“You guys are my heroes! I’ll go make us some hotdogs, Torres and Bucky you’re the ones!”

“Wait I-“Torres tried to stop Sam from saying that he had a delicious burger waiting for him and would surely disappear in the next 10 seconds if he didn’t run back to it. Instead, he got a pat on the shoulder and watched that beautiful man jog back to his sister and nephews.

Torres slumps in defeat and feels Bucky patting his back.

“Come on let's go”

Guess Torres will have a burger some other time. A hot dog doesn’t sound so bad if he thinks about it.

He follows Bucky and again, isn’t too surprised that Bucky knows the place around here. They walk in comfortable silence to the market. It was a short walk and when they arrived Torres observed the small sign with an apple logo that said “Marries supermarket”. As Torres and Bucky walk past the sign Torres notices that the store isn’t as massive as your average supermarket. If anything it looked like a corner store but it seemed to have the essentials either way. When Bucky opens the door a little bell jingles which causes a young girl with two twin pigtails to look up first and her bright green eyes stare right at Bucky. Her eyes sparkle just like the galaxies when she recognizes Bucky. The old lady next to the happy little girl took notice of Bucky and gave a tight-lip smile and her soft green eyes almost closed as she smiled. They don’t notice Torres follow Bucky in but he does take note of how the two give a warm and welcoming smile to seeing someone familiar to them. (AKA shows that Bucky is well known in this part of town)

“Uncle Bucky! Hi welcome hello!!!” the little girl greets and Bucky gives a friendly smile as he grabs a red basket that is stacked near the entrance.

“oh and hi Mr. Stranger hi!!” the little girl’s eyes snap at Torres and she greets Torres, who gives a shy wave in return and sticks close to Bucky. The old lady chuckles and pats the little girl's head.

“Bodine you are cheerful as always,” the old lady says which causes the little girl, Bodine to smile and go back to organizing the sale tags. “, hi welcome am Marie and this is my granddaughter Bodine” the old lady introduces herself, and Bodine waves atheistically and then proceeds to go back to her work.

Torres chuckles as he walks up in front of the registration to shake Marie's hand. “I’m Torres, a friend of Bucky’s and Sam”

“We aren’t friends!” Bucky exclaims and Torres notices that Bucky left him in front of the registration.

Marie huffs as she puts her glasses on and stares at Bucky who is at the third lisle, trying to look for the mayonnaise.

“To your left Bucky” Marie instructs.

 Bucky pokes his head out the aisle and raises his eyebrow at the old lady. Doing what she said, the mayonnaise was right there. Bucky grabs two jars and continues to observe the rest of the aisle.

Torres was surprised at how Marie knew what they came for. “Ma’am, how did we know what we were coming?” Torres asks innocently and Marie gives a soft chuckle as she leans over the counter and places a hand over the side of her cheek.

“Well, his boyfriend did send me a message to keep an eye on him because Mister Grump Cat over there likes to buy more than he should” Marie gives a side eye to Bucky who is getting more than just mayonnaise. Torres watches Bucky pull out 3 ice creams and 2 pudding cups and puts them in the basket.

He turns around and places the basket on the counter and starts packing it in the plastic bag while Marie punches the numbers in the registrar.

“One, he isn’t my boyfriend, two, I’m not mister grump cat and three, pudding is all out” Bucky explains as he finishes packing everything and gives the basket to Torres to put back. Torres walks near the entry puts the basket back and watches from afar.

“Yeah and pigs fly and I’m a blonde, we all can see more than just friends Buckaroo” Marie teases as she flicks his head which he winces and shifts away.

Torres forgets that Bucky was once a killing machine so something about him being flicked by an old lady and wince at it is refreshing. Also, buckaroo is so cute.

“And you expect me to believe that you’ll eat all that sweet stuff hmm?”

Bucky rubs the back of his nape and shrugs.

“It’s for Sarah and the kids ok”

“And the pudding?”

Bucky gives a tsk and ties the packet around. Torres remembers Sam saying he simply adores pudding. “Bye Aunt Marie” Bucky says in defeat and walks out the door.

“Bye, Uncle Buck!! Bye, Mr. toreezz!!” Bodine shouts out and Torres gives a small wave and follows Bucky out the shop.

As they walk they hear the door jingle once more and Torres sees that it’s Marie who cups her mouth and shouts.

“AND SAY HI TO YOUR BOYFRIEND BUCK”

“HE AINT MY BOYFRIEND”

------

“What took you guys so long?” Sam questions as he finishes the two hot dogs and sets the plate down in front of the two.

Bucky gently places the packet in front of Sam and doesn’t spare a glance at Sam when he does so.

“Errands” Bucky replies in short.

Sam rolls his eyes at Bucky and just shakes his head with a smile reaching to his face.

 Bucky and Torres take their seat. Torres and Bucky thank Sam and start eating. Sam opens the packet to observe what Sam got. Pulling the mayonnaise out for Sarah he chuckles when he sees the three ice creams.

“You softy,” Sam says under his breath and Bucky hears him but doesn’t comment.

“Kids, Uncle Buck got ya ice cream, Sarah, you too”

The kids scarf down the rest of their food run to Sam and take the ice cream. Giving a quick thank you to Bucky who just gives a thumbs up they rush back to Sarah and eat their ice cream with smiles.

Sam looks into the packet again and sighs.

“Bucky I told you that you don’t have to get me stuff every time you go on errands,” Sam says but there’s no anger or irritation in his voice. Torres takes note of the sincere kindness in Sam’s voice as he looks at Bucky lovingly. Torres looks at Bucky who doesn’t bat an eye to Sam and continues eating his hot dog.

“Consider it as a gift. From me to you, aren’t I nice” Bucky retracts. Of course, he isn’t going to admit that he thinks of Sam every time he goes out.

Sam again, rolls his eyes.

“Oh, I see I see well thank you, Mr. Nice Guy. I’ll put this on the list of the 100 other gifts you’ve gotten me.”

Without any further complaints, Sam sits in front of Torres and Bucky opens his pudding grabs his plastic spoon, and starts eating it. He moans in delight as he takes a bite of the pudding and continues to eat silently.

‘Right number 11 in my cat guide book where a cat brings presents to show their love. At least Bucky didn’t bring Sam a dead mouse like real cats do’ Torres thinks to himself as he finishes off his hot dog and dusts the bread crumbs of his hands.

Torres secretly glances at Bucky just to see him staring at Sam with a loving look.

+1

“and then he follows you around which shows love and trust, he doesn’t purr but when he gets anxious or nervous he seeks your comfort when he wants rest which could resemble purring and-“

Sam roars in laughter as he pushes his empty glass and pulls out his wallet.

“Torres you’re a man with many ideas and theories which I sometimes and for some reason indulge in. But this?” Sam places the money down on the table and puts his wallet back in his jacket. “, this is one of your craziest” he ends as he begins packing.

“Fine. You are so stubborn seriously…why don’t you take this book and read it yourself!” Torres pushes the book into Sam’s hands who grunts in disbelief.

“What the hell am I going to do with a cat guidebook?!”

Torres stands up and places money on the table as well as throws his jacket on and shuffles to put his backpack on his back.

“Gain some wisdom! Plus I have a digital form of the book so don’t worry about giving it back! Bye, Sam!”

“Now hold on-“

And just like that Torres was gone. Sam sighed and looked down at the book in his hands. He stares at the front cover where the cat plays with a ball of red yarn.

‘guess it looks like buck’ Sam thinks to himself which causes him to chuckle and swipe his thumb back and forward on the cat's head.

----

“When a cat tries to show you that they miss you they greet you at the door... blah blah blah… when cats choose to sleep near you it means that they are showing their love and trust in you… blah blah… Man Torres is just crazy to think this is Bucky…”

Sam couldn’t help himself. Sam went ‘why not’ and read the book as he walked home from the bar to Sarah’s place where he and Sam crashed for a few nights before parting ways again. He wanted to see whether it was true that Bucky gave him special treatment (which would cause his ego to skyrocket) but the more he reads the more he goes ‘Why the hell am I reading a cat guidebook to find answers’.

Sam scoffs and closes the book. Torres is once again a madman with too many theories and ideas. He seriously needs a girlfriend or boyfriend, he has way too much free time. Busy shipping polar opposite people with one another. Getting sums hopes up when it’s all fiction and fantasy!

Bucky is Bucky. That’s all Sam knows. He likes Bucky and Bucky only so why ruin what they have just because Torres has theories there and there?

Shaking those thoughts out of his head he finally reaches Sarah’s front porch and takes the keys out. The keys jingle and before he can slot the keys through the keyhole the door suddenly opens and relives Bucky who stands in front of the door.

“Sam.”

“Bucky”

They stare at each other for a few minutes. Sam thinks this was a few minutes too long.

“Were you waiting for me…?” Sam questions.  Expecting an answer he instead watches Bucky walking away and standing in the kitchen and suddenly puts the kettle on.

“Uh… no... Not really… was just making us... coffee”

Sam walks in closes the door and locks it. He takes his jacket off places it on the hook and hangs his keys up. Walking into the kitchen he laces the book on the kitchen counter. Sam doesn’t want to look at that book anymore, it's making him delusional.

Instead, Sam proceeds to give a suspicious look to Bucky.

“Right... although you’re more of a tea guy”

Bucky laughs at that.

Sam just stares at Bucky’s back who makes himself look busy and makes ‘coffee’ like he said he was.

Sam pushes the thought of the cat guidebook where cats who greet their owners at their door are a sign of love and missing the other.

“And Sarah and the kids- I should check up on them-“

“It's fine I made sure they are safe and sound, you get some rest Sam” Buck states as he grabs the coffee that Sam likes and starts making it.

Sam just sighs. Buck never ceases to surprise him and steal his heart every day.

“Ok buck you make your coffee, imma shower and do some admin. Also, it's late Buck go to bed ok?”

Without waiting for a reply from Bucky, Sam goes further into the house goes into the bathroom, and locks it. He strips out his clothes and hops into the shower, full steam fills the room and his muscles relax after a long day of sitting during Torres's yapping episodes.

Sam finishes showering wraps his waist with a towel and shuffles to his bedroom where he dresses up in warm sleepwear. Once he was done he walked out of his room and went into the lounge with his laptop in hand. Also, this was where Buck was sleeping since he found sleeping on a bed too soft like a marshmallow.

Walking into the lounge he catches Bucky reading the book. Good thing he made sure to erase the notes Torres made in the book. At least it wasn’t a lot.

When Sam reaches the couch where Bucky is stretched out (like a cat Sam notes) he taps Bucky’s leg to signal him to bring them up. Bucky does so and Sam takes a sit and Bucky puts his legs back down onto Sam’s lap. Sam places his laptop on top of Bucky’s leg and before he starts typing he notices the two cups in front of him.

One coffee and one tea which is almost done.

‘What a softy…’ Sam thinks as he glances at Bucky who seems to be sucked into the cat guidebook. Leaving Bucky alone Sam opens his laptop and starts typing on his laptop. 20 minutes into their comfortable silence Bucky decides to break it.

“Why do you have this book?”

Sam eyes Bucky who doesn’t bring the book down so he doesn’t know what Buck looks like while asking that question.

“And why are you reading that book?”

“I asked you first Sam”

“And I asked you second Bucky”

With an exaggerated sigh, Buck places the open book down on his chest and gives a deadpanned look at Sam. Sam does like testing Bucky’s patience the same way Bucky tests his. However, Sam decides to stop beating around the bush as he stares at Bucky’s annoyed expression.

Sam groans and rolls his eyes.

“Torres forgot it at the bar since he was showing me it”

Bucky hums in satisfaction. Without questioning it further Bucky picks up the book and continues reading.

“Pity, didn’t he want to get a cat?” Bucky asks. To Sam’s surprise, he had no idea that Bucky knew that.

“Him, he told me he will get it when he sees me again”

Bucky hums and the two men sit in silence again.

Sam wanted to push Bucky to answer his question but before he could Bucky seemed to have read his mind.

“I like cats” Buck explains in short.

“You do?”

“Hmhm” Bucky hums.

Sam adds that too is random facts about the winter soldier.

He likes cats and also acts like one.

After that, for the next hour, they sit in silence. When Sam, finished his admin was about to tell Bucky he was off to bed just to see that Bucky fell into a deep slumber with the book on his chest. The book rises slowly up and down matching the rhythm of Bucky's breathes.

Sam is in disbelief and takes the book off his chest. He looks at Bucky who finally looks at peace as he sleeps in the comfort of Sam’s presence. Patting Bucky’s head he can’t help but smile when Bucky softens more at the loving head pat Sam gives. Sam pulls back and lies back on the couch again.

Sam knows Bucky struggled for a few nights since he was sleeping in a place with people he didn’t know well enough.

When that thought crosses his mind he can’t help but turn the cat guidebook around and see where Bucky stopped reading. Bucky reads the sentence in his head and can’t help but let a soft chuckle out. He thinks how true the statement is that he can’t help but grab the yellow highlighter on the coffee table and high the sentence.

He can’t believe Torres was right though.

Oh Bucky, you big old grumpy cat.

“Number 12, a cat who chooses to sleep on or close to you is showing their love and trust in you. Even if they choose to lie just out of reach for petting, this means that they feel safe and trust that you will protect them, or that they will protect you if danger appears.

------

Sam Wilson: you were right. 1:35 pm

Torres: TOLD YOU SOOOOOOOOO1:40pm

Torres: now my next theory is that Bucky is part wolf. 1:42 pm

Sam Wilson: God please no. 1:50 pm