#but I've been fucking swamped at work and have barely had the energy to do anything creative

[hanjoj]

Would you have him as a PT? 👀

[cloutchaserkineme]

pre-US grand prix astro, and hbd leclerc!

7:25 a.m. Oct. 15 2024 under a roof under the rain

One last astrology post related to F1 to get it out of my system this week so I can freely tune in to the other stuff I have on my to do list bc this is getting out of hand. I've paid more attention to the F1 astro spreadsheet than I have for literally four other projects so I need to put an end to this.

First off- today a few days ago was Charles Leclerc's solar return! (Finishing this waaaay late bc I got swamped w work)

He has an AA chart, which means that profection years can be used more accurately. He just turned 27, coming in from a Saturn-ruled 3H year (driving, short-distance trips, communication, familiar places) to a Saturn-ruled 4H year (home, ancestry, foundation, privacy and coming home).

Although Saturn is still his timelord, this time his natal 4H Jupiter Aquarius now also joins the fray. Those are rather heavy generational planets in his chart, and is usually a signature of structure in his life- he has a natal Jupiter and Saturn sextile, which means that he gets so much support in his work from his hometown generally.

However, this year, his SR chart barely avoided being a full moon- which means that he also narrowly avoided a lot of the crazy stress and overstimulation that happens around the eclipse- particularly this one, which is conjunct Chiron, and is also the last one in the Aries-Libra axis for a while.

However, he is building up for a different kind of stress next year.

And now that Pluto in Capricorn is finally fucking direct again, Charles (and the rest of the cardinal-heavy grid) can get a rest from the spiritual washing machine of the early 20s.

Him, especially, finally getting somewhat of a break from the gutter of what must be either sleepless nights or health scares that he's been navigating for around three years now, since Pluto did its weird ups in 2020, and also considering that he's the only guy in the grid getting a 1-2 punch of the nodes in his luminaries.

(Big shoutout to Alex Albon and Esteban Ocon as well, for going through their nodal reversals this year. Big revelations with regards to their racing styles recently, but mostly for Alex, who has had the heavy pressures of Saturn pressuring his brain and good luck into diamonds these past two and a half years. Congrats on the hard-earned skills!)

However much Charles will be supported next year though, he will probably be more... scattered in a way, than he is now. Perhaps a lot more sponsorships here and there, more things to note of. SR Saturn in Pisces is still retrograde, and its ruler Jupiter is very dizzy in Gemini, as well as just freshly turning retrograde, which means that this whole next year will be unexpected for him, last-minute turns, and a fuckton of air, as the energy found in his 5H (play)-8H(debt) axis right now will stick with him for next year.

I've been rewatching the clip of him and Fred Horner jump into the bay in Monaco because that's what the best-case scenario energy of the SR return looks like for him honestly. The blessing of water, the gamble won by luck. Breaking a curse!

However, a lot of stuff will be delegated to him soon, and the muchness of it is what will suck major ass. These two are in mutable/mundane signs, which means that whatever will be the breaking point, it won't be an obvious thing. You can't pinpoint the one big source of his stress. It will be an accumulation of a lot of tiny ordinary things. That much spinny water in his house of creativity, risk, romance, and sports + twisty wind in the house of other people's money, secrets, and the community he gets from his career will combine into a huge hurricane next year.

Around February-March and August-September next year, will be good for him, I suppose, in a flowers-twisting-through-the-air kind of way. He'll do better abroad than at home.

However, astrology is a snapshot of the moment! And I want to see if my theories on this weekend's US Grand Prix will come into fruition for the racers based on what info I have on their charts (below the cut for more astrobabble):

F1 the race is primarily a sport. MARS, planet of action, will, drive, war, gasoline, fuel, combustion, things that go fast- it is king here in all the sport, especially one directly born from the war like F1 was.

Formula One the event, however, is a wonderful combination of Mercurial and benefic energy. It is considered the pinnacle of motorsports. It's an athletic competition that assigns points not to the strength or prowess of the body (Mars = physical strength) but rather, the power of the shell (Venus = adornment) they sit in, and the strategy + constant innovation made by multiple minds on the track all at once (Mercury = communication and relay) to get that shell on the track.

And also- Jupiter! A dry planet in a wet sign, going across all borders. The planet of wisdom and generosity is not as Mr. Worldwide as they should be in Sagittarius, but luck is not the point when it is in Pisces. Mysticism is the point in Pisces. Societal construct and keeping shit in is the point of Pisces (and I will talk about how racers with water placements consistently dominate the other fire-ruled racers in this sport next time, when I've finished the spreadsheet and get all 800+ racers on there).

This is the chart I cast from the first F1 race btw, if you care. a more accurate F1 chart would be the day they signed the papers to get the event rolling, but for obvious reasons that document might not be open to the public. so this is the first F1 race in Silverstone. The article covering the event didn't mention the exact time the race started, so pay no mind to the ASC, I just aligned it so that Pluto is there.

To reiterate, F1 is a very shiny, very expensive, very fast and meticulous team sport as much as it relies on the driver, and while Mars is important here, he does not always get to dictate what goes on during a race.

So, can we use astrology to find out who wins the Grand Prix this weekend? Yes!

Can I do it? No.

LMAO I wish I was that skilled! However, making guesses is one of the free things in life that we have. And good for me, since I like experiments.

In order to "guess" who'll dominate the track, we'll have to establish two* things: the condition of the planets of the current racers; and the condition of the planets as they currently are in the sky right now.

But Helen! You say. Nobody has the fucking time to look up all of the racer's possible natal charts and color-code all seven of their traditional placements according to essential dignity! What kind of a weirdo would do such a-

Oh, look. Here's a totally-not-obsessive spreadsheet of the natal planets of the current grid (including Daniel and Logan, w/c I haven't marked), as of the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix. Only a handful have accurate birth times, so no ASC, and mind the moon placements.

Before you say anything, I am clearly not the first astrogirlie who attempted to do this. Astro dot com has an AA-Rodden-rated chart of the first F1 racer all the way back in the 1950s, as well as rectified birth times for those famous racers whose birth certificates are not publicly available. Greater, more weirder minds than me have tried to tackle this. But I am the only one doing so on Tumblr. I think.

Anyway, now that we've established that, let's look at the conditions of the sky this weekend!

Aspects: T-square between Fallen Mars, Fallen Sun, and Pluto in Capricorn; Venus sep. from Pluto, about to oppose Moon and detriment Jupiter; Grand Water Trine (by sign) from Mars, Mercury, and Saturn.

T-square between Fallen Mars, Fallen Sun, and Pluto in Capricorn

Most likely to affect: The Cardinal-heavy people, but most likely Leclerc, Perez, Alonso, and Bottas; who have more than 3 Cardinal placements each

Most stable drivers: The Water-heavy people, namely Sainz, Hamilton, and Stroll, who have more than 4 water placements each; and a special shoutout to Saturn making Albon especially stable (3 Pisces) (update: it's his 100th race! <3) , and Mars for making Alonso especially slick (3 Cancer)

Mars: Unhappy in a wet sign, will continue to be there until next year. Normal road rage is not cutting it on the track. This is the personal attacker, the passive aggressive warrior. Whoever is usually on top is now at the bottom. Emotional overtakes.

Sun: It does not like being in the sign of Libra, but now that it will be ruled by Venus in Sagittarius giving Ms. International vibes (and US being a Sagittarius country itself), and is also the anchor of this T-square between two big planets, it is going to give more pressure to those with Libra/Sagittarius placements. Perhaps even literal heat? Leclerc will be the most affected, followed by Zhou and Magnussen. Verstappen has the natal sextile between his Libra Sun + Mars in Sag as well, but the stars favor Libra III sun Leclerc better right now.

Venus separating from Pluto, about to oppose Moon and detriment Jupiter

Most likely to affect: Sagittarius placements, namely Verstappen, Leclerc, and Perez (natal Mars in this sign); Piastri (Jupiter Return, now Rx**); Hamilton, Russell, Hulkenberg, and Colapinto (one planet in Sag, to a lesser degree than the others)

Most supported drivers: Venus doesn't do well in motorsports/the game itself, but it sure as hell will drive up connections and funding for whoever is here, especially since the US likes a certain type of branding in its racehorses. Affected Fire Venuses on the grid; Leclerc, Piastri, Hulkenberg, and Ocon

Venus: Finally a fire sign in the sky, so expect more fights and a lot more friction on the tracks.

Moon & Jupiter: Mercury-ruled placements will have more air for this game. Since a majority of the grid has significant air placements, this wouldn't really stand out for any single racer. Piastri might be supported if he doesn't go the way of the two others, while Colapinto and Zhou might be noticed (but it possibly might be a personal thing that's not significant to the race).

Grand Water Trine (by sign) from Mars, Mercury, and Saturn

Most likely to affect: Alonso and Albon, and to a lesser degree Sainz, Hamilton, Russell. Can't say whether it'd be personally significant to them because there's no confirmed birth time for most of them, but it would be fun to see who gets bolstered during this highly emotional weekend.

To summarize, my guess would be that Leclerc and Perez perform the best this week though it won't necessarily translate to a podium. Piastri is a wildcard. The air-fire mutable energy in the sky is highly conducive to the air-fire cardinal-heavy grid, and indicates a lot swapped positions.

This would've been more easier because whoever has the most prominent Jupiter placement would be the winner- but I make do with the information that I have and the limitations of what I can interpret. Incredible fun.

(side note: Pluto planting its generational butt firmly in Aquarius next year up to the next 20 years could also just signal a change in F1 overall. Of course it would be detrimental across the grid, considering that the EU had passed a gasoline car ban for 2035, and that particular legislation's effect on motorsports as a whole will be an interesting landmark case to watch.

It's not going to happen anytime soon- but F1 is a ticking clock, and we'll see the first major regulation changes directly affected by that law next season. It's not too far to assume that we will see the last generation of true motor-oil-smoke racers in our lifetime, which is why it's kind of crazy to watch all of them now, here.)

(30) 10:02 a.m. Oct. 18 (I had too much work to do lmao)

*there's a third one, which requires me to check their fucking astrocartography lines and see how lucky they are in Austin, Texas. But my weirdery also has limits. Such as the human need to eat food and get out of the chair.

**Piastri is also the only one who had a Jupiter return in Gemini still on the grid. Both Ricciardo and Sargeant have dropped out.

[fumiko-matsubara]

Writing Exercise 2 // AssClass x Tower of God AU - Reunion

Writing Exercise // AC x Tog AU - Catching up

Summary: In their 10 years of climbing the Tower together nonstop, Team END should have known by now that anything could happen so suddenly.

However, a reunion with an old teammate was certainly not what most of them have in mind.

Word count: 2.3k words

• ▪ • ▪ •

Nakamura was exhausted.

Well actually, all of them are. But yeah, she's exhausted.

Team END had recently just cleared the final floor test that allowed them to arrive at the 30th Floor, which was basically a more brutal take of the Capture the Flag game, that lasted them over 8 hours to finish.

Injuries barely treated, bodies aching, sleep lacking, and stomachs starting to rumble, the last thing they'd want to happen was to encounter another trouble the moment they had been transported to the next floor.

"Oi Nakamura, are you sure we should be heading this way..?" Okajima barely squeaked out, frozen at his own spot as he fearfully stared at the sight before them.

"That's what it says on my lighthouse!" She hissed quietly, glaring at the glowing blue cube floating beside her.

Chiba should have been more specific about where his goddamn house is located in this floor.

He had told her before that he has his own residence here at the 30th Floor, somewhere beyond this swamp-like forest thingy, which he had given Team END the permission to reside in for the next 20 Floors until they become C-Rank Regulars.

Yet he never said anything about dealing with dangerous creatures along the way.

Nakamura had discreetly messaged him through her Pocket minutes ago, which he had replied to not long after.

"Wait, I just got off from work. I'll be right there." - Ryuunosuke

It had been 15 minutes since then.

Nakamura is surely going to give him a good slap the moment she sees the Spear Bearer. Well, if she can still recognize him, that is, since the dude had that annoying black cloak nearly hiding his entire body when she first bumped into him at a marketplace at the 21st Floor three years ago.

So here they all are, standing frozen before a sort of gigantic forest creature (who looks hungry, by the way), too exhausted and injured to put up a fight, let alone save themselves.

A Green Mulso, Kurahashi had informed them, is a shinheuh that resembles a gigantic Water Buffalo meant to guard certain areas in a swamp forest from outsiders. There are two types of Mulso, a green one and a brown one. The brown ones are much smaller and friendlier apparently.

Kurahashi then oh-so helpfully told the team that Green Mulsos are wild, incredibly sturdy, and cannot be tamed at all, even by the most talented Anima.

So in short, unless they still got enough stamina to spare, they're doomed.

I swear to god, Ryuunosuke. If I die here right now in the most pathetic way I will fucking haunt you for eternity-

A flash of bright blue from a distance had cut off Nakamura's thoughts, her eyes widening as she watched the water-like shinsu pierce through the wild beast before them at a frightening speed, killing it instantly.

A chorus of surprised yelps were let out at the sight, some where even full-out screams.

Everyone then instinctively moved away when the now dead green mulso had fallen to the ground, it's large size causing it to shake for a moment.

"Oh my god what was that..." Maehara breathed out, his hand clutching over his chest.

Some of them tentatively stared at the dead giant creature before them, some where eve cautiously approaching it to see the wound, while others chose to avoid looking at it.

Nakamura just stayed at her spot, the gears in her brain already working to find answers. A blast of water-like shinsu was what killed the creature, which could have been done by a Wave Controller from just the shinsu's form itself alone. Yet the blast itself looked too thin compared to what Nakamura usually saw what Wave Controllers do.

Not to mention it looked like it had come from a very long distance, which is a range that not even Rankers could reach, as once clarified by Koro-sensei when they were still at the 2nd Floor. A range like that is something only Spear Bearers could do.

Nakamura then frowned at the thought.

But are there even any Spear Bearers who use water-like shinsu to shoot? She knows about Lightning and Ice users who make their own spears, there have been plenty of Regulars and Rankers who were known for that after all, but a Water user Spear Bearer is unheard of.

This would be the first time she sees one if she was correct.

"Woah I got here just in time, thank goodness..." A familiar voice spoke out at a fair distance.

Nakamura's eyes then roamed around the tall trees surrounding them, assuming the guy was somewhere perched up at one of them, based from where she could hear his voice coming from. "Well, you sure took your sweet time to get here," she huffed.

A wave of murmurs and whispers gradually built up and Nakamura could make out some of them wondering how she seemed to know the voice that was talking just now.

"The town was especially busy today and I can't just jump between rooftops, you know that..." He sighed out. "On another note, I didn't think you guys would actually go to this part of the forest. This place is inhabited by Green Mulsos after all, you know how wild those things are."

"And yet it only took you a single shot to kill one," Nakamura raised an eyebrow, her eyes darting everywhere, still trying to look for him.

"I live around here. You just get used to them."

A flash of light and suddenly an overwhelming pair of bright maroon eyes were right in front of her, along with a wide smile gracing the face those eyes belonged to.

Nakamura hesitantly took a step back, giving the tall figure that had appeared before her a once over. Sharp maroon eyes, tall nose, plump lips, strong eyebrows, and long dark hair pulled up in a high ponytail with fringes widely parted at the middle ー a pretty one yet there's a tinge of manliness to it with that long brown coat over a white polo and black pants combo.

How handsome.

Nakamura then narrowed her gaze. Something about this person is ridiculously familiar to her but she couldn't recall anyone with this appearance or at least close to having it.

Hey wait a minute. Nakamura frowned even further. If that was Chiba who I was talking to just now and this person showed up then-

The person's smile dropped then raised an eyebrow at her instead. "What's with that look?"

A scream ripped itself from Nakamura's throat.

• ▪ • ▪ •

"Wow you changed a lot!"

"You think I'd still look the same after 10 years?" Chiba incredulously asked.

30 seconds of dodging mild embarrassment and composure regaining, Nakamura then revealed to the rest of the team that the person who had appeared before them was Chiba, their former teammate who had been seperated from them 22 Floors below.

After that sudden reunion, but not without a strong slap on the shoulder by Nakamura, Chiba soon led the whole team towards the place he is residing in, which was beyond the forest. The route they are currently taking was much farther away from where they were at previously and less closed off.

There were less trees around them and the pathway is much clearer and if they look even further ahead, they can see a wide clearing at a distance.

The walk was fairly quiet, as the whole team was too exhausted from the previous Floor Test to even make enough noise. Some even start to doze off and are just being carried by lighthouses instead of walking, and some of the Light Bearers in the team had just went inside their respective lighthouses.

Kurahashi in particular was fast asleep on Cattus' back, a cat-like cactus creature she had befriended back then, currently in its giant form as it cutely marched beside Chiba and Nakamura, who were walking ahead of everyone.

"Water spears are definitely the last thing I thought you'd use," Nakamura remarked. Unlike the majority of them, she still has enough energy to engage in a conversation. "I was kinda expecting you to wield a sniper rifle or something."

Chiba let out mellowed chuckles. "I actually do own one. But I only use it for specific types of Floor tests," he professed.

"Oh really?" Nakamura blinked at him im wonder. "Where'd you get it?"

"Ah I won it at the Workshop Battle I participated in 4 years ago."

Nakamura nearly faltered at the name almost bitterly but then quickly recovered. "I see," she forced a cheeky grin. "Probably gave them hell, huh?"

"That was Miki," Chiba rolled his eyes though his smile never left his place. "Anyways, water spears. I've always known how to make them but I've only started to utilize them even more around the time I came to the 12th Floor."

Nakamura hummed in response. "So like... 8 or 9 years ago..?"

"Nine years ago," he confirmed. "Enough time for me to solidify its reliability in battle and learn more ways to utilize it."

"I believe this is the first time I've heard of a Spear Bearer who uses Water shinsu to make their own spears," a golden-litted lighthouse suddenly flew in front of the two. "I apologize for abruptly joining in but I am personally intrigued by this discussion, if you don't mind, Chiba-kun."

"Oh Asano-kun," Chiba's smile widened. "You'd be surprised to know that I'm actually not the only one who does this."

"Is that so?"

"But you're still right," Chiba slightly moved away from Nakamura and faced the two of them, bringing his right arm out.

A small bang of water-like shinsu started forming on his palm then suddenly sprouted into a very long shaft that is twice the height of Chiba himself less than a second after. Its blade forming into a drill-shaped head with small flows of water spiralling around the shaft almost prettily.

With a proud smile, Chiba momentarily spun the newly formed spear around. "I'm the only Spear Bearer in the family who had managed to make it sturdy enough to be a main weapon of choice."

He doesn't need to elaborate for both Nakamura and Asano to know what he meant by 'family'.

Ryuunosuke is from the Great Family of Chiba, whose Head was one of the Great Warriors who had first climbed towards the top of the Tower along with the King himself. Anyone tied with the Chiba bloodline is automatically a Water User by default, unless they chose not to use the water-manifested shinsu, as the heritage is that strong.

Chiba himself is not a direct descendant of the Head, making him one of the less important members as the Family Tree is ridiculously huge that a random Regular could actually meet at least 2 Chiba members in each Floor.

But from what he implied just now, his unique standing as a Spear Bearer might just make him stand out in the vast sea mostly full of Wave Controllers.

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't intentionally trying to get my name out there in order to be respected in the family as my own person and not be seen as 'just another Chiba'," he admitted with a determined look. "After all, I was born thousands of years after my greatest grandmother had become one of the Great Family Leaders in the Tower."

He then grinned almost challengingly. "But hearing what both of you said just now is just making me want to work even harder."

Nakamura smirked anticipatingly, trying to bury down the nervousness that had shot throughout her body. That frightening display just earlier and yet he's saying such things like this right now... damn he's grown out of our league...

A seemingly amused chuckle had suddenly come out out the golden lighthouse floating beside them. "It's almost admirable to see how very self-assured you are despite the strong clutches of your influencial family name. I can respect that."

Equally amused, Chiba had vanished the water sphere and turned to the giant glowing golden cube. "Well I suppose my conviction is new for someone who is the only descendant of the Great Lord Asano," he remarked.

"But enough about me, I want to hear your story." He gestured a hand towards him (or the cube) and grinned further. "How did the only child of the strongest Light Bearer in the Tower end up travelling with an old team of mine after that initial claim he had of taking no absolute interest in them?"

Nakamura, who had just been attentively listening to them the whole time, suddenly let out an evil cackle. "Oh man do I have the perfect story to share..."

"No! Her so-called 'perfect story' is nothing but exaggerated lies! Do not listen to her!"

"What exaggerated lies?" Nakamura laughed out loud, her grin even wider. "I literally got a lot of proof saved inside my lighthouse!"

She then gasped dramatically. "Maybe I should just send them to him!"

"Don't you dare!" Asano warned.

Chiba just owlishly blinked at the incredulous sight of Nakamura and a floating golden cube bickering. He was sure it wasn't that long ago when Nakamura had told him about Asano and Sakakibara temporarily joining Team END for a while. Yet the display before him made it seem like their newly formed alliance wasn't that recent at all.

Yeah, there's a lot of catching up for me to do alright...

[bagels-and-seagulls]

asdlkjfn after reading your 'show me your dick' fic i've been thinking a stupid amount about all of ur au's in that sitation like "look we haven't actually had sex in three weeks and i'm loosing my mind about it" and it's kind of hilarious. weridly i feel like hotjock david would be the worst at dealing with that purely bc sports = horny

david is thirsty on main for his confused boyfriend at all times. i have some thots

bad boy matteo + hot jock david 

“Oh, fuck off,” David said, going for teasing, but landing somewhere a little bit meaner than he intended. 

Leonie leaned back and raised an eyebrow. She lifted her drink up slowly, eyeing him like she was disappointed and a little bit unimpressed, and David wanted to simmer and apologize at the same time he wanted to bare his teeth. “Someone’s a little feisty tonight,” she says, glowering. “Need to get laid? Something to take the edge off?” She asks and takes a drink still watching him. Sara laughs behind her into her hand. 

“That’s none of your business,” David responds. 

“So you do?” Leonie asks and smirks. “You and lover-boy not doing too well?” 

David looks over her shoulder to where Matteo is laughing with a couple of his friends in the other corner and tries not to stare too long at the way he throws his head back at one point. Or the way his legs look in those jeans. 

“We’re doing fine. Great, even,” he says. “We’re just a little bit busy right now.” He shrugs, hoping to change the subject and not think about the fact that him and his insanely hot boyfriend who he loves very much haven’t had sex in at least three weeks if he was counting right. Which he was. 

It just got out of hand, he thinks to himself. He spent one weekend going up to visit his godmother and then when he got back, Matteo had a cold and wouldn’t let David anywhere in his sneezing radius for at least eight days, which was torture for David who just wanted to coo and baby his sick and whiny boyfriend for a little while. And then there was David’s project he had to finish, which completely swamped him for a week. And then Matteo was going out of town to visit his aunt with his mom and when he got back, there was some sort of crisis with some guy named Abdi that took like three days to deal with. Something to do with some girl. David honestly didn’t pay attention. He thinks he blacked out through the explanation in a frustration induced dream when Matteo said he had to postpone their date to the next weekend, and all he could think about was how this Abdi guy better invite them to his fucking wedding to this girl if it meant he wasn’t going to see his boyfriend for another four days. And then there was his big match tonight against their city rivals. 

And tonight, David thought they would finally get a second alone together, but Matteo had looked at him with big eyes and asked why he didn’t want to celebrate the match win with his team. David was more than happy to leave the guys in his dust as he he dragged Matteo back to his place for some quality time, but David tries not to discourage him when he’s feeling social for social’s sake. So here they were, with David having to physically remove himself from Matteo’s company in hopes to not jump his bones at any given moment and snapping at his friends because he had too much pent up energy that apparently the football field couldn’t get rid of. 

Leonie was looking at him like he had all said that out loud. And David honestly wouldn’t put it past himself at this point to do just that. He’s been thinking about Matteo shirtless for like seventeen straight hours at this point and going a little cross eyed because of it. 

“Well,” Leonie drawls out slowly. “I can’t get you laid, but I can get you drunk. So shots?” And David agrees because he’s past desperate at this point. 

Within thirty minutes, he’s totally and completely plastered. 

“Oh, look who it is!” Sara yells, and giggles, and then hiccups into her wrist. She bounces up and throws herself onto Matteo, who catches her with a shocked expression. 

“Uh, hey. Sara. You good?” He asks, and Sara laughs brightly again and nods. He goes to let her go, but she trips over her own feet. So he holds firmly onto her elbow to make sure she stays upright. 

“I’ll take her,” Leonie said, who was faring much better than the rest of them, which was entirely unfair if you asked David. She took just as many shots as them and is, like, a foot shorter than him. So really the room should be spinning just as much for her as him, but she was still standing with a pose and sophistication that perplexed David constantly. “You can take him,” she says, and pushes David off of her shoulder, and he collides into Matteo’s side, which he would have been a little put out about. But it was Matteo! His sweet and darling Matteo who was looking at him with his big and dreamy eyes, and oh gosh, he was pretty. So, so pretty. How did he get someone as pretty as Matteo to want to hang out with him constantly? He really didn’t know besides the fact that the universe was really looking out for him. David could just kiss him-

“David,” Matteo says and shakes him a little. “Ready to go home?” 

“What?” David asks, not really catching the question, too busy staring at the shape of Matteo’s mouth when he says his name. Because he’s really got such a pretty mouth, and it would be so much prettier if he would just kiss David like he really, really, really wanted him to do right now. But, wait. Matteo was saying something to him. Focus, David. Focus. “Home? Yes.”

“Okay,” Matteo says and says something to the girls. David waves over his shoulder when Matteo pulls him along because he doesn’t want to be rude at the same time he’s trying to memorize the notch in Matteo’s nose because it was just so cute. David really just couldn’t deal with how adorable Matteo’s nose was right now. 

“You feeling okay there?” Matteo asks with a little bit of a chuckle as David sways into him when they get out onto the street. 

“Okay? I’m feeling great! I feel so good, baby. So good,” David responds and leans into Matteo’s side a little bit more as they’re walking. Probably a little bit more than he needed to, but he was trying to suck some of the heat out of Matteo’s skin at the same time he was trying to soak in the attention. “Are you feeling good? I hope you’re feeling good. I hope you’re always feeling good. Do you know you make me feel good? No- not good, great! I feel great with you. Do you know that?” 

“I didn’t realize you talked this much when you’re drunk,” Matteo says instead of answering his question, which wasn’t very nice. David pouts. He wants to make sure that Matteo knows that he feels good with him. Doesn’t Matteo know that? 

“You’re so pretty,” David says instead. Because that should work. 

“What?” Matteo sputters out. He looks at him out of the corner of his eye but then turns to check the street they were about to cross before tugging on David’s wrist to follow behind him. David trips a little over his feet but catches himself before it got too embarrassing. 

“You’re pretty. Like, so, so pretty, Teo. The prettiest person I know,” David says and nods because it was true. “And hot. God, you’re so hot. So hot,” he repeats. 

“Uh, thanks?” Matteo says, though it sounds like a question. “You’re hot, too.” 

“Yeah, I know,” David says smirking and laughs a little. “But you’re like- Wow, so hot. I think about it all the time. I haven’t seen you shirtless in like a month. I think about that all the time. You shirtless, I mean. Because you’re just so pretty. And hot. And I would just look at you all day if you let me. Will you take your shirt off?” David asks, super duper politely with his best puppy dog eyes because he’s so painstakingly desperate to see his super attractive boyfriend’s belly. It’s soft and sweet, and he’s soft and sweet for it. And it’s getting a little hard to concentrate on what his feet are doing when he’s thinking about Matteo without his clothes on. “Please,” he adds a second later. Because he was polite. Super duper polite. 

“We’re in public,” Matteo hisses and pulls him along. 

“So? I’ll take my shirt off if it makes you feel better. Just-” He goes to pull at the hem of his shirt, and Matteo grabs his arms. 

“We’re in public,” Matteo repeats like that means anything. “You can take your shirt off at home.” 

“Will you take yours off?”

“I don’t know. Maybe,” Matteo says and shakes his head. 

“Awww,” David coos and pokes Matteo’s cheek where it was starting to turn red a little bit. And David feels proud at himself for making that happen. “You’re blushing. You’re so cute. God, you’re so cute, Matteo. And hot. Have I told you you’re hot?” 

“You mentioned it.” 

“Because you are. Goddamn,” David says, mostly to himself. He thinks. 

“Come on,” Matteo says and pulls him through a door. “We’re almost back.” 

And David has to stop thinking about Matteo in his boxers for a second because they’re going upstairs now. And he has to concentrate very hard on not tripping and falling down the stairs. Because that wouldn’t be a good look. And David’s already got Matteo blushing so his chances of seeing Matteo shirtless by the end of the night have gone up like 300%, but if he falls down the stairs, it will probably be down like 1000% because that’s not very sexy, he thinks. 

They get through the door, and David asks, “Will you take your shirt off now?” 

“Shhh,” Matteo says back. 

“Shhh,” David repeats because that wasn’t a very nice answer to his question at all. 

Matteo pulls him to his room and pushes him to sit on the bed. And oh wow, they’re on a bed now! This is good progress, he thinks. He’s seeing his chances go up more by each second. 

“Can we have sex?” He asks all of a sudden because he thinks it’s good to have clear intentions from the get go, and he wants to make sure that everyone is on the same page here. But Matteo looks at him from where he’s leaning down to tug at David’s shoes like David just grew a third eye, so David thinks he might have asked that in a different language or something. Because he thought it was a pretty easy to understand question otherwise. 

“What? No,” Matteo says and shakes his head. He looks down at David’s shoes to start untying them, and his hair looks so soft and so pretty that David wants to run his fingers through it. So he does, and it is soft! And fluffy! And wow, having a boyfriend is amazing! And his boyfriend has soft and fluffy hair! And is so pretty!

“Please, We haven’t had sex in like a month, baby,” he says. Loudly. 

Matteo looks around the room like someone might come in. “Quiet down. Jesus, people are sleeping,” he whispers and tugs at one of David’s shoes. “We’re not having sex. You’re drunk.” 

“Pshh, I am not,” David argues, and Matteo goes to take off his other shoe. 

“You are. You keep telling me I’m pretty,” he says and pushes David back onto the bed. 

David falls easily. “I’ll have you know,” he slurs out a little because oh wow, he didn’t realize how tired he was until right now. “I always think you’re pretty. I just don’t tell you because you’ll get mad at me, but I would! Tell you, I mean. That you’re pretty. Because you are.” 

“That’s nice,” Matteo says. “I’m not having sex with you, though. You’re drunk.” 

“What about in the morning?” David barters, even though his eyes are closing, and he’s a little sad right now because he doesn’t want to fall asleep without seeing his terribly gorgeous boyfriend shirtless. 

“If you still want to have sex in the morning and don’t want to die from the hangover you’re going to have, I’ll consider it.” 

David counts it as a win.