#but hey! only two contestants out of nearly 100 is still pretty good!

[woosh-floosh]

It's too bad series 8 of taskmaster starts off so slow/insufferable because I honestly think the last episode is one of the funniest in the entire show!

[starryeyes-darkestnights]

The City

The second part of the O’Knutzy au where Leo and Logan are still playing for the Lions, but Finn is a musician they met by chance on a roadie to Montreal.

I still don’t know what to call this story! But you can find part 1 here.

Also, this is kind of long, it got away from me :)

The song referenced in this part is The City, by Sam Fischer.

These beautiful characters and their world belong to the incredible @lumosinlove

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

Leo

When Leo and Logan stepped off the plane in Gryffindor painfully early the next morning, their phones buzzed in unison.  

Finn: Hey guys! It’s Finn. Just sending my number. I hope your morning wasn’t too bad after the late night. Mine was excellent, I slept all the way through your entire flight 😇. Anyway, let me know you get this, and I hope you were serious about getting together when we’re all back home. My dancing legs are ready.

Leo heard Logan snort under his breath and looked over to see him smirking as he typed out a response.

Logan: Our morning was awful, thanks for asking. Your dancing legs better be training before we get together again, because I can confirm that as of yesterday, they are not, in fact, ready.

Leo rolled his eyes affectionately, typing as he moved toward the baggage claim.

Leo: Tremz is just grumpy he didn’t get to limbo. Don’t listen to him.

He heard Logan let out an offended sound somewhere behind him and bit back a smile, restraining himself from turning to see Logan’s face.

Finn: Haha, sorry not sorry Logan. Also, if that’s how it’s going to be, then the competition just got real. Bring in the judge. We’ll see whose really got the moves. Spoiler alert, it’s me.

Logan: Challenge accepted. Though I would caution you to reconsider.

Finn: Back down from a dance contest?! Never! THIS. IS. SPARTAAA!!!!

Leo let out a surprised laugh at that. It would seem that Finn shared Logan’s love of a challenge.

Leo: … oh my god.

Finn: You know you love it Leo.

Leo: I do not.  

Logan: He does, I can literally see him laughing.

This time Leo did turn around, just in time to see a smirking Logan flipping him off. Leo shot him a glare.

Leo: Traitor!

Finn: Hahahahah

Logan: Ok our ride is here. I’m gonna go pass out.

Leo: Have a good holiday Finn. Let us know when you’re back in town.

Finn: You too guys. Talk to you soon.

Leo clicked off his phone with a smile and grabbed his bags.

One Week Later

Finn

Finn: Hey guys, just letting you know I’ll be back in Gryffindor tomorrow. I’ve got a late flight in.

Leo: Really? That’s cool. I thought for sure you’d be in Montreal until after the New Year.

Finn: Nah, I’ve got some stuff to do for school, and I have a gig the day after tomorrow I need to be back for.

This was at least 50% a lie.

Which meant, Finn had reasoned with himself earlier as he used the exact same line to explain to his family why he had moved his flight up almost a full week, that the other 50% was the truth.

Finn had been messaging with Leo and Logan since they left Montreal, and when he had found out two days ago that they had only had a three day break with their families over Christmas and that they were now back to work in Gryffindor, he hadn’t hesitated before looking for excuses to get back there himself.

As a result, he really did have a gig scheduled for the day after tomorrow that he had to be back for. He may have begged his way through his contacts list for the past two days to find that gig, but it was real. And even though he didn’t have a single thing due for school, if he now had to go back for the gig, he could totally get a head start on something. Which was kind of the exact same thing. So really, it was more like 75% truth. If you rounded, that made it 100%.

Logan: Sweet. Let us know the time and place, we’ll come and see if you’re any good without us 😉.

Finn scoffed at his phone. He dropped a pin with the location of the gig, took a selfie of himself shooting a rude gesture Logan’s way, and grabbed his guitar.

He prided himself on always putting his best into every show, and if Leo and Logan were going to come to this one, he needed to be a little extra prepared. He hadn’t been able to get either one of him out of his mind since the night they met, evergreen eyes and a sweet dimpled smile flashing behind his eyes every time he tried to play. It was going to be impossible to focus when they were right there in front of him, so if he didn’t want to make an idiot out of himself, he needed to get practicing.

---

Logan

Two days later, Logan was waiting for Leo outside of a coffee shop in downtown Gryffindor.

It was a chilly evening, starting to snow, and he shivered lightly as he looked up at the flakes floating gently in the light of the coffeeshop windows. He picked one and followed its path through the sky, trying to distract himself from the weird knot that had settled in his stomach earlier in the evening. The one he told himself had nothing to do with the visions of freckles and sinfully long lashes that he was trying desperately to keep from flashing through his mind unbidden.

“Whatcha looking at Tremz?”

Logan had been so focused that he nearly jumped out of his skin when a calm voice sounded just beside him.

His hand flew to his chest as he looked up to see Leo smiling down at him, his cheeks flushed from the cold, and a streetlight behind him lighting up his golden curls. Logan’s pulse stuttered. Fuck. He hated being caught off-guard.

“Mon dieu, Nutty.” He choked out, putting a hand to his heart, which was now pounding against his ribs. “Learn to make noise when you walk. You scared the shit out of me.”

Leo just laughed, “If you were paying attention you would have seen me coming. I’m not exactly easy to miss.” He gestured at his long limbs.

He had a point. Logan made a face at him and turned toward the door, looking up at the sign above the entrance as he tried to pull himself together. It read ‘The Burrow’.

“Come on,” he grumbled, his pulse beginning to calm, “let’s get a drink before Finn starts playing.”

When they walked in, Logan was surprised at what they found. The Burrow was much bigger than it looked from the outside. The brightly painted walls went back further than expected, and a second level ran around the perimeter of the room, giving patrons a view down onto the main floor, where a permanent stage was set up in the front corner. The back wall was taken up by a dark wooden bar, several baristas moving gracefully around one another in quick, practised, movements as they mixed and delivered drinks. The rest of the space was filled haphazardly with tables, and those tables were already filled with people, the low buzz of their conversation filling the room.

It was warm, and bright, and it smelled like chocolate and coffee.

“Wow,” said Leo, looking impressed, “This is… not what I expected.”

Logan hummed his agreement, eyebrows raised as he looked around, impressed at how cozy it managed to be despite its size. His eyes landed on an empty table halfway back from the stage and he nudged Leo.  “I’m gonna go grab us seats over there. Will you get drinks?”

Leo agreed, and as he headed toward the bar, Logan started to make his way across the room. He was halfway there when he caught a glimpse of red hair in his periphery. He stopped in his tracks as his stomach made an unexpected flip. Finn was standing near the stage, talking to an older woman who seemed to be helping him with some cables. He was laughing, and even from a distance Logan could see the way his face lit up with it, his wide brown eyes glowing in the warm lights of the coffee shop. Logan was suddenly gripped with the desire to be the one eliciting that laugh, the one who got to be right there to experience it.

He pulled in a sharp breath and stopped himself. This was why he had been trying to block those visions from his mind. It could never happen. Not so long as he was playing in the NHL. Logan had chosen this career knowing it would mean hiding this part of himself away, very deeply, for as long as he wanted to play. He had been doing so well with it, hadn’t even slipped up with Leo. He could shut this down too. Stop it before it had a chance to start.

He took another a deep breath and pulled his gaze away from Finn, moving more quickly now until he was able to slump into the chairs he had targeted. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back, trying to get his thoughts back under control. When he opened them again, it was to find Leo right behind him, full lips turned up in an amused smile at catching him staring straight up at nothing for the second time that night. His stomach flipped again at the unexpected sight. Damnit. He needed to get his feelings under control, and he needed to do it now.

“I would ask what you’re looking at again, but it didn’t go so well the first time.” Leo joked as he pulled out the chair across from him.

Logan forced out some kind of noncommittal response and straightened to look at the cups in Leo’s hands, desperate for any kind of distraction from his thoughts.

“What’d you bring me, Nut?” he asked, trying to keep his voice upbeat. But Leo was a goalie, and a good one. His observational skills were well-honed, and he knew Logan. His gaze shot immediately to the older boy’s face, soft blue eyes flickering over his features intently.  His eyebrows furrowed and Logan tensed under his gaze, silently praying for him to leave it alone. Whatever Leo saw in his face, he must have decided to let Logan have it, as he gave him a final once-over and then slowly pushed something that looked iced and sugary in his direction.

“I will never understand why you like these things,” he said carefully, “but I picked the most sweet-sounding one they had.”

“I like them because they’re delicious.” Logan replied, grateful to him for letting it go. “You just have no taste.”

Leo narrowed his eyes, “Strong words coming from – “

A voice interrupted him, “Logan Tremblay?”

Logan looked up to find a very pretty girl standing beside their table.

“And Leo Knut.” added a girl standing beside her.

Logan felt relief wash over him at their timing. This was familiar. This was a distraction he could work with.

---

Finn

Finn had just finished setting up the stage when he finally let himself look for Leo and Logan. He leaned against a wall and cast his gaze around the room, smiling at the comfortable familiarity of the space- one he had performed in dozens of times before. He was stoked to be introducing the boys to this place. He loved the Burrow, and the people who filled it. He had been coming here religiously since his freshman year of college, after falling in love with the strange way it managed to be both big and bright, and cozy and warm. He had been delighted by the contradictory nature of the place on his first visit, and had immediately turned himself into a fixture. After a while he had gotten to know the baristas, and through them, the owner, Molly.

Molly had become somewhat of a second mother to Finn over the years, and, due to their similar fiery red hair, was often mistaken by customers for his actual mother- something Finn found hilarious and she found… not so hilarious, given that she was only ten years older than him. It had been Molly who had helped him overcome his stage fright, had set up his first ever show here at The Burrow way back when. She was also the one who had come through when he was pleading for gigs earlier that week, and even though he was suspicious of the fact that she had, uncharacteristically, not questioned his last-minute request, he had been very happy to see her that evening when she had popped by and helped him untangle a mess of cables.

Now, though, there were only two people Finn wanted to see, and he was hoping to catch them before he started playing. His eyes skimmed across the crowd of cheerful patrons and quickly caught sight of Leo’s tousled blonde curls moving across the room, a head higher than almost everyone else. His smile gave way to a grin as he watched the younger man sit down at a table and pass a drink to Logan. Excitement thrummed in his veins as he pushed off the wall toward them, only to be stopped dead in his tracks when he saw two girls approach the hockey players. He watched as they introduced themselves, and his stomach twisted as Logan sent one of them a cocky, flirtatious grin, pulling out the chair next to him. The girls joined the table and leaned in, and Finn’s smile turned rueful. Of course. He didn’t know what he had been expecting from this reunion exactly, but as he watched Logan flirting shamelessly from where stood, he realized that he had been hoping they felt what he felt when they first met. That they had experienced the same sparks. Now, as reality came crashing down around him in the form of two beautiful girls, he recognized how ridiculous those hopes had been. They were NHL players for fuck’s sake. He was an idiot for thinking either one of them could have been anything more than a friend. He gave them one last look and changed his trajectory to the washroom instead.

---

Leo

Leo was worried. He had noticed something was up with Logan as soon as he saw him outside the Burrow earlier that evening. He had been distracted; his eyes distant. By the time they had sat down inside, he was completely in his own head, and the tension in his body was visible.  Leo had wanted to ask him about it, but after seeing the panic that flashed across his features when he made a move to do so, he had decided it was best to leave it alone for the time being. Give Logan the chance to bring it up himself.

But now Logan was flirting, openly and brazenly, with this random girl who had recognized him from the Lions, and Leo couldn’t leave it alone anymore.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t used to seeing Logan flirt — Logan was gorgeous, girls were constantly coming up to him at bars. But he didn’t usually encourage them this boldly. At least not when he was sober, and never if they recognized who he was. They had had more than one lecture from Coach Weasley about power dynamics and taking advantage of people who looked up to them, and Logan took them seriously. This wasn’t like him.  

After politely cutting off the conversation he had been trying to hold with the girl now seated beside him, Leo cleared his throat and spoke loudly enough for Logan to hear.

“Hey Tremzy, I think it’s time to go grab that snack.” He sent a bright smile to the girls. “It was really nice to meet you both. I’m glad to hear you’re fans of the team. Maybe we’ll see you at a game sometime.”

He kept that fake smile plastered on his face as he pushed his chair back from the table, catching Logan looking up at him with annoyance clear in his expression. Leo raised an eyebrow and prayed he would go along with him. He didn’t know what was going on with Logan, but what he was doing here was not okay, and it needed to stop.

Logan held his gaze for a moment before he huffed out a breath through his nose, his expression softening as he nodded. The tension he had built up since walking into the coffee shop seemed to bleed out of him as his shoulders dropped. He turned to the now confused looking girl beside him and gave her the same line Leo had used, shaking her hand and standing to follow Leo to the bar.

Leo waited until they were out of earshot before stopping and turning to Logan.

“You want to tell me what that was about?”

Logan sighed in response, pulling his hat off his head and running a hand through his hair before replacing it. “I don’t know. I wasn’t going to take it farther than that, I swear, I just…” He looked down at his shoes. “Look, I’m sorry. Can we just forget about it?”

Leo just watched him, waiting patiently until Logan’s eyes met his again. He reached out and rested a steady hand on his shoulder.

“Are you ok, Tremz? You seem… out of it, tonight.”

“What? No. I’m fine. Really. Just tired.” Logan tried his best to look it, but Leo saw right through him. He had spent the better part of the past year trying to pretend to himself that he didn’t want to learn everything there was to know about the beautiful man in front of him. He had failed, miserably. He knew Logan, and he knew something was still bothering him.

He briefly debated whether or not to push it this time, but even though Logan was clearly not yet fine, getting called out seemed to have helped. He did seem more like himself than he had five minutes earlier. So Leo settled on trying to cheer him up instead, resolving to follow up later when they weren’t in public.

“Alright,” he nodded at Logan, letting him have his excuse, “but you know I’m always here if you need me.”

Then he switched to a teasing voice. “You want me to order you another disgusting excuse for a coffee? Maybe that’ll wake you up.”

Logan let out a small laugh at that, and his smile finally seemed genuine. Leo nudged his shoulder and started moving toward the bar again.

“Come on. Finn’s gonna start any time, and I was serious about the snack. I need cake.”

Leo didn’t need to look back to know that despite the eyeroll he was certain had occurred, Logan would follow him to wherever there were baked goods.

---

Finn

Finn had given himself an excellent pep talk in the washroom, telling himself it was good he had come to his senses about the boys now, while he was alone, instead of embarrassing himself in front of them later. The disappointment he felt was still settled deep in his chest, but he knew himself well enough to be aware that he worked through his feelings best on a stage. And luckily for him, that was where he was currently headed

From the moment he started the show, Finn let himself get lost in the music, feeling his spirits lift back up as he watched the energy of the room rise and fall with his, letting the tempo of the songs he played encourage their dancing or their calm swaying. He had managed to sneak one of his own songs into the set list, and he played it for people for the first time, watching for reactions and not holding back his smile when people seemed to like it. It was a hard one for him to sing, bringing back some not so great memories. He didn’t look for Leo or Logan again, but he knew they were there, and he put in his best effort to make sure they were entertained. By the time he started his final song, his mind was blissfully clear again. Thank god for music.

After wrapping up the show with a grateful thank you to the crowd for their support, Finn started once again looking forward to reconnecting with the two men he suspected would become important to him. He may not be able to get rid of whatever these decidedly non-platonic feelings were, but he was confident he could push them to the side to make room for their friendship.

He had just hopped off the stage – buzzing with post-show energy, sweaty, and looking for water – when a familiar French-Canadian accent sounded from behind him. “Ok, you win. I admit that you are still incredible, even without our help.”

Finn spun around to find a head of dark curls bowing dramatically in front of him, Leo a few steps back with his eyes closed and a hand over his face, as if hiding from Logan’s antics. He threw his arms in the air and grinned at the two of them, genuinely happy to see them. “Guys! You made it!”

That brought a smile out of Leo. “Of course we did,” he laughed as he and Logan both moved in to give him congratulatory high fives, “your show was incredible, by the way. These people really liked you.”

Finn smiled sincerely at that. “Thanks, Leo.”

Leo handed him a bottle of water. “Also, we thought you might want this. You were looking kind of sweaty.”

“Oh my god, you absolute gem of a human,” Finn moaned as he cracked open the bottle, “I was just about to go hunt one of these down.”

Logan watched with an amused smile as he downed the whole thing in one go. “Glad to be of service.”

Finn wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and shot them both a grateful look “So much better. Thank you, guys.”

He looked back toward the mess he still had to pack up from the stage. “I need like twenty minutes or so to get this all cleaned up, then did you guys still want to head down to the bar?”

The three of them had previously planned to head out to a place down the street after Finn’s set, and Finn was looking forward to releasing some of the evening’s adrenaline on a dance floor.

“Ya, for sure.” Leo responded, eyes flicking up to the stage. “Is there anything we can help you with?”

“Nope! Cleaning up is a lot easier than setting up. You guys go enjoy yourselves, I’ll be done here quick.”

Leo and Logan looked at one another, and Logan looked like he was about to object, so Finn started shooing them away. “Go!” He encouraged them, waving his hands to guide them back toward the tables. He wanted them to enjoy themselves, not be stuck helping him clean. “It’s fine, I do this all the time, I have a system, I promise. Get a nice drink and relax.”

Logan put his arms up in surrender, green eyes sparkling with laughter as he watched Finn flap. “D’accord, ok, we will go. Put your crazy hands away. Just let us know if we can help, ok?”

Finn agreed, and then watched them head back over to the bar with a smile on his face. He was surprised, he thought to himself as he started looping up cables, at how the interaction left him feeling. He had expected to be a little nervous and awkward, especially after the way the evening began for him, but instead he found himself immediately feeling the sort of comfortable ease that usually comes from being around people you’ve known your entire life. It was like they belonged together.

As friends, he reminded himself. Only as friends. He could totally do this.  

---

Logan

Logan leaned against the bar, playing with the strings of his hoodie as Leo once again ordered drinks for them. He was feeling much better now, the knot that had taken up residence in his stomach earlier that evening finally gone. There had been something calming about watching Finn move across the stage, singing familiar covers with an energy that was uniquely his own. He had poured himself into it, connecting to the songs in a way that drew the audience, including Logan, along with his every move. It had been fascinating, seeing that version of Finn. His grin was still mischievous, his movements still wild, but he was also… purposeful. Less dorky on stage than he had been on the dance floor. Logan had been mesmerized. Sitting there next to Leo’s steady, grounding presence, letting Finn’s charisma pull him out of his own head, Logan had slowly unwound. By the time Finn had finished his final song, something unfamiliar that Logan had made a note to download later, he felt much more like himself.

“Hey, Nut,” he nudged Leo’s arm, “ask them what Finn likes. We should get him something for when he’s done.”

Leo looked over as the barista dropped three drinks on the counter in front of him, a stray curl falling in his eyes. “Already on it, Tremz.”

Logan ignored the way he wanted to reach out and push that curl back, and looked down at the drinks, surprised. “Oh shit. You’re fast.”

“Yes, Logan. That’s what happens when you don’t run through the entire list of drinks and their ingredients before you order.” Leo responded drily, standing as he wrapped his long fingers around two of the beverages in front of him.

“Well, how else are you supposed to know which one is going to taste the best?” Logan picked up the third cup, his own iced coffee, and sucked at the straw happily.

Leo huffed out an affectionate laugh. “You get the same thing every time anyway! Why does it matter?”

Logan shrugged as they headed back to their table. “I switch up the flavours sometimes. It’s not my fault nobody’s come up with anything better yet.”

They were still bickering about the pros and cons of knowing every component of your iced coffee when Finn pulled out the chair next to Leo and flopped into it with a grin. “Hey guys! Thanks for waiting.”

Logan looked over at him, definitely not noticing the way the warm lighting brought out the freckles scattered across the bridge of his nose. “Finn!” He cried, pointing at the redhead. “We have a drink for you, but first you have to pick my side in battle.”

Leo’s jaw dropped, affronted. “Logan! You can’t bribe your way to a win!”

“Watch me.”

Finn looked between them, amusement spreading across his face. “Hmm. Well, I don’t know what this battle is, but before I decide whether to help Logan cheat his way to victory, I need to know if the drink is worth it. What’s in it?”

There was a startling flurry of movement as Leo groaned loudly, dropping his face into his hands, and Logan jumped up from his chair with his fists in the air, letting out a victorious cheer. “Aye!! Right answer Finn!” He high fived the redhead and sat back down, feeling triumphant.

Finn laughed, looking startled and confused but accepting his drink from Leo’s outstretched hand anyway. He took a sip as the taller boy fold his arms on the table, dropping his head to hide inside of them.

“Hey! This is my drink. How did you know?”

“We asked the barista,” Leo’s muffled, grumpy, voice came from where his face was still buried in his arms. “She knew.”

“Chin up buttercup!” Logan crowed, leaning over to ruffle Leo’s blonde curls. “It’s ok to lose sometimes. As long as you’re not me.”

Leo lifted his head, eyes narrowed at Logan. “I am not a buttercup.”

Finn couldn’t help laughing at his disgruntled face. “Do you prefer daffodil?” Leo turned the withering glare his way. Finn tried again. “Marigold?”  

Leo just dropped his head again.

“Meh, I’ll call that a win. Marigold it is.”

Logan chuckled, deciding it was time to offer up an explanation for the scene Finn had walked into. “Leo doesn’t think it’s important to ask what’s in a drink before you order it. We were discussing why he’s wrong.”

Leo’s head shot back up as he glared at Logan again. “That is NOT what—” He stopped himself, sighing and closing his eyes as Logan just looked at him, face gloating. “You know what. No.” He opened his eyes again and raised his hands in surrender. “It’s fine. I accept my defeat.”

“Good man.” Finn clapped him on the shoulder. “Way to be the bigger person.”

“Thank you, Finn.” Leo smiled at the other man before turning to Logan. His intimidatingly blank goalie face slid perfectly into place as he looked Logan dead in the eyes. “I will get you back for this.”

Logan, used to Leo using this tactic to try and throw him off on the ice, simply met his gaze and grinned back cockily, straw between his teeth. “I look forward to you trying.”

“So,” Finn jumped in, changing the subject, “did you actually like the show?”

Leo turned to him, a genuine smile returning to his face. “We did! You didn’t tell us you wrote original music.”

“Is that what that song was? The last one?” Logan asked, surprised.

“Oh, ya. I don’t always play my own stuff at shows like the one we had in Montreal, but I can usually get away with sneaking a couple in at places like this. It’s part of why I like playing here so much.”

“I really liked it,” Logan complimented Finn, watching a red flush creep across his cheekbones again, “I was actually going to ask you what it was so I could download it. It reminded me of when I first moved to Gryffindor.”

Finn looked at him with an unreadable look on his face. “Seriously?”

Logan nodded, worried that he had said the wrong thing.

“That’s… I wrote that song about Gryffindor. About what it was like when I first moved here and didn’t know anybody. Before I made friends, before I discovered this place.”

“You really captured it.” Leo said softly.

Finn looked flustered, his calloused fingers rubbing the back of his neck in a way that made Logan want to take their place.

Leo, ever intuitive, noticed Finn’s discomfort and changed the subject, “You mentioned you were in grad school, are you studying music?”

“Nope! English Lit.” Finn looked relieved for the new topic, his features brightening. “But I did double major with music in undergrad.”

Logan sat back, content as he listened to the boys across from him talk, first about music and Finn’s connection to the Burrow, then about hockey, chiming in from time to time with questions or stories of his own as they moved smoothly between subjects. The time flew by as they chatted animatedly, and by the time Logan thought to check his watch, it was close to 1 am.

Surprised, he looked up at the room around them and realized it was nearly empty. He hadn’t even noticed people leaving. One of the baristas was sweeping the floor. He waited for Finn to finish a story about the time he had accidentally adopted his neighbours pet (“I helped her look for her cat for almost two weeks before I realized it was the one I had been feeding every night. Embarrassing does not begin to explain.”) to point it out to them.

“Uh, guys, I think we’re about to be kicked out.”

Leo and Finn both looked startled, turning to look around the room the same way he had, and Logan realized he wasn’t the only one oblivious to what had been going on outside of their bubble. The thought made him feel strangely happy.

Finn looked back at Logan, surprised. “Huh. I had no idea. What time is it?”

“Almost one. I know, I didn’t realize either.”

Leo checked his watch. “So it is.” The corners of his mouth turned down a bit, “I guess we aren’t going to the bar then. Sorry guys, I should have been paying attention”

Logan shook his head and reached over to nudge Leo’s shoulder. “Not your fault, Nut, none of us were paying attention.”

“Plus,” Finn added cheerfully, “now we get to add ‘closing down a coffee shop’ to our list of accomplishments as a trio. We already had the bar checked off, so no loss.”

Leo met Logan’s gaze across the table, blue eyes twinkling. “We’ve started a list?”

“Yes.” Finn stated, his voice confident. “We have. Which means we now need to make a plan to cross off the next item on it.”

“Okay,” Logan conceded, leaning his elbows on the table, fingers steepled, “I’ll bite. What’s next on the list?”

Finn looked at him, aghast. “Logan. That is not how the list works. The list is clearly unlabeled. We must first have the adventure, and then name it.”

Logan regarded him for a long moment. He had to give him credit, Finn could hold a straight face when he wanted to. But eventually, a twitch from the corner of his mouth gave him away and Logan dropped his arms and leaned back in his chair, laughing. “You are full of shit.”

Finn grinned in return, all hints of seriousness disappearing as he stood to grab his coat. “Maybe. But either way, we should get together again soon.”

“For sure, drop your schedule in the group chat. I’d love to see you play again, and I’m sure Logan would too.” Leo said as he led them to the door.

Finn’s face lit up at that, and Logan smiled softly at how adorable it was. He felt light and happy as they said their goodbyes, and when he saw Finn’s schedule dropped into their group chat on his cab ride home, he found himself already looking forward to when the three of them could do this again.

[ddaenggtan]

as we go along | myj [m]

pairing | min yoonji x reader

wc | 10.4k

genre | NSFW; Fluff, Smut, a dash of Angst bc why not

Four years ago, the beautiful stunning attractive frustrating Min Yoonji came into your life. Ever since, it’s been a competition between the two of you to win the HOA’s Holiday Decorating Contest. The fiery looks she gives you paired with the pointed insults throw you off your game every year, but not this time. This holiday season, you’re determines to win; and along the way you might just find that Yoonji’s been trying to win something else.

;OR the queer hallmark movie of your dreams.

warnings/tags | idiots to lovers, enemies to lovers, Awkward Gays, Idiot/Oblivious Gays, very strong language i think this MC curses almost as much as i do, oral (female receiving) x2, fingering, wall sex, theres like....a hint of body worship in that MC loves eating pussy bc lbr. what else could possibly compare to that. uhh side jinkook, as well as some side namyoonmin and some vhope if u squint real hard. hwasa and chungha are a lesbian power couple. OH The Min Twins aka Yoongi and Yoonji are siblings uwu

a/n |  this is 100% every single lesbian fantasy of my dreams because i just really love the ladeez and also min yoonji needs more characterization outside of 'stone cold butch domme' so uh. here ya go. i love ladeez so this is v self indulgent and also Super Gay. 

this is part of the 25 Days of Christmas: A BTS Anthology 

[Today]

Red bleeds into green and glitters magnificently on the snow. Lights and tinsel are strewn all over the yard of your parents’ house, creating a rather pretty collage of sparkles and swirls against the white backdrop. You wish you could appreciate it more. 

As it stands, however, you’ve been outside for hours untangling the decorative strands so that you can hang them on the gutters, eaves, and railings of the two story house behind you. Your mother had insisted you work inside but you know better. The cats - Mochi and Pablo - are your favorite in the world and you love them dearly, but one of their favorite things in the world has always been holiday decorations. The number of times you’ve had to stop them from chewing on lights of knocking the tree down is frankly ridiculous. So instead you’re unravelling everything so you can get started on what you’re sure is going to be your best year yet.

You’ve always loved decorating, of course, especially for the holidays. Getting up before dawn to go pick out one of the giant fir trees to stand in their living room, picking out new figurines for the Winter Village that sits on the mantle, helping your parents put ornaments on the tree. You love holiday decorating nearly as much as you love the feeling of victory in your chest. 

“If you had an organizer that wouldn’t take nearly as long,” says a voice from behind you. It’s melodic and deceptively sweet in spite of the lower register, and you don’t turn. You don’t want to give her the satisfaction. You don’t even respond, instead settling your gloved hands on your hips and eyeing the front porch so you can decide where to start. 

“Really? Ignoring me now? Tsk tsk, and here I thought you were better than being a sore loser.”

Continuing on your mission to pretend she isn’t there, you heft several yards of lights over your shoulder and head toward the ladder you have against the porch roof. You may as well start up high. 

“Interesting choice,” Yoonji mutters as she watches you. The hair on the back of your neck bristles, and you take a deep breath to calm and center yourself. “I’d heard that icicle lights were a bit last season, but I’m excited for this vintage look you’re going for. If you need more, let me know. I think the ones I used last year are still in the garage.”

“What do you want, Yoonji?” You huff, turning over your shoulder to glare at her. She looks entirely too at home in your yard with a steaming thermos in her mittened hands. 

“Just wanted to say hi. Wasn’t sure you were coming this year, considering how late you got in.”

“My flight was delayed for weather reasons,” you snap. 

“Ah. That’s why I always drive up instead.” There’s a pregnant pause that’s filled only with the huffs of your breath as you focus on the lights in front of you. “Oh, but you never got your license, did you? Ah, you should call me next year, we can carpool.”

“I got my license this past year,” You bite out. She doesn’t need to know that it took a few tries. It’s not your fault it makes you anxious to be behind the wheel. “Seriously. I have work to do.”

“Obviously,” Yoonji mutters. You flash her a glare and she just smiles back. “Just wanted to see how you were, if you needed any…” She pauses, eyes trailing over the explosion of decorations on your lawn with thinly veiled judgement in her eyes. “Help.”

“If I needed your help, I wouldn’t be winning this year’s contest.”

“By the looks of it, you aren’t winning this year’s contest anyway.” Her mutter doesn’t escape your notice. But that’s the real problem you have with Min Yoonji.

She’s sarcastic and blunt and kind of intimidatingly hot, but you can handle that. You are a strong, independent queer woman in the modern age and you are not about to let some random lesbian intimidate you, no matter how much you kind of wanted to fuck her in the past. Yoonji is not a problem for you. 

It’s the way she’s constantly putting you down, giving you backhanded compliments, and generally acting like she’s better than you. While winning your parents’ neighborhood’s annual Holiday Decorating Contest that their local Homeowner’s Association runs. Everyone gets a kick out of the friendly competition, the winners get a gift certificate to a Korean BBQ place, and a good time is had by all. 

Except you. 

Because you’ve made it your mission to win - to beat the current reigning champion of the past three years who stands on your lawn sipping what smells like hot cocoa and silently judging your decor choices like she didn’t put a massive inflatable pumpkin on the roof for Halloween. 

She watches you the entire time you hang up the lights, carefully attaching them to the edge of the awning covering the front porch. It isn’t until your father pulls into the driveway and you’re done with the upper half completely - about to start the railing - and descending the ladder one careful step at a time that she speaks again. 

“Those are hanging too low,” She tells you. She doesn’t seem to mind when you ignore her in favor of wrapping lights around the stair banister. 

“Hey there, Yoonji!” Your father calls as he starts to unload the groceries. “What brings you to this part of town?” They both laugh at the joke and you force back a gag. 

“Just hanging out,” She calls back. “Making sure your daughter doesn’t break her neck for some silly competition. You need help with those?” Your dad waves her off. 

“I’m not that old, but thank you. Besides, it looks like you’re needed elsewhere.” He gestures with one bag-laden hand, and both you and Yoonji turn. 

A large SUV pulls into the driveway across the street; the passenger door swings open before the vehicle even stops, and a girl - woman, really - launches herself out of the car. She’s across the street in record time, nearly tackling Yoonji to the snow with the force of her hug. Both look excited to see each other, a rare smile on Yoonji’s face that makes you burn with something that doesn’t feel quite like the usual rage. 

The two are talking rapidly in your front lawn, too harried and chaotic for you to make out much of anything besides the fact that they missed each other. They look comfortable with each other in a way you’ve never been and you force yourself to remember that you don’t care . Even as you eye the way the newcomer’s hand sits just that little bit too low on Yoonji’s back. 

The sounds of car doors closing and snow crunching draws your attention and you’re shocked to see another gorgeous girl making her way over. She looks as excited as the first, yet more subdued about it. 

Likely because they’re on a lawn that decidedly does not belong to them, but you could be wrong there. 

Both of the women are absolutely gorgeous, though, easily model material. The first has artfully styled dark hair that falls in perfect waves down her shoulders, and is delightfully curvy in all the places the world loves. Her cheekbones are to die for, makeup flawless, and you resist the urge to pluck at your own outfit, chosen for warmth over style. 

The second woman is no different; not quite as thicc, as Jimin would say, but the figure suits her, as does the straight platinum hair that hangs down to her lower back. It’s stark against the black of her expensive-looking coat, and it only adds to the energy she carries that draws you in even as you wish it wouldn’t. 

“Oh, how rude of me! These are my neighbors,” Yoonji says after a minute. You don’t miss the way she hesitates saying your name, or the almost predatory smiles the other two women get. 

“So you’re the one,” The dark-haired one says. You don’t get a chance to question it before the blonde cuts her off. 

“I’m Chungha,” She says with a friendly smile. “And this is Hyejin.”

“My friends call me Hwasa, though,” The brunette adds. “We hate to tear her away but it’s been ages since we’ve seen our girl.”

“You saw me like two weeks ago,” Yoonji mutters. You’re too caught off-guard by anyone calling Yoonji their ‘girl’ to respond, but you don’t miss the way her cheeks tinge pink from something that isn’t the cold. 

“So we’re gonna steal her away now,” Hwasa continues, oblivious. You don’t protest, letting your father chat amicably while they say their goodbyes and you look between the girls. 

Hwasa’s hand is still lingering on Yoonji’s lower back, something neither of them seem bothered by. That’s something that friends do, though, right? Jimin squeezes your ass constantly and the two of you definitely aren’t together. 

You hear your name and a question but you can’t seem to really focus beyond a mumbled agreement to whatever you were asked. The way Chungha’s eyes glance over her companions feels like something more, but you can never really be sure. Not in this day and age.

But when they head back across the road to Yoonji’s house, Hwasa doesn’t hesitate to lace their fingers together. Yoonji lets her do it, and the glimpse of the grin and the flushed cheeks you see make your heart clench. 

Paired with the way Chungha eyes the pair as she follows behind - a decidedly more than friendly gaze - and every alarm in your brain is going off. She looks ready to jump them both the second they get in the door. 

“I’m impressed,” Your father says. 

“I’m not done yet,” You tell him, turning back to the decorations sprawled across the lawn. “I’ve still got to-”

“No, no,” He interrupts. “Not the decorations. That you’re finally making strides to be nicer to Yoonji.” You stare blankly at him, not understanding what part of your attitude towards her said anything about being nicer. 

And anyway, why shouldn’t she be nicer to you?

“The party…?” You blink at his words, looking in all respects like a startled rabbit. “The annual Min family holiday party? That they just invited you to? The one that you said you would attend?”

“I’m sorry, I did what. ”

“It just happened, sweetheart. I was standing right here for the entire thing.”

“No,” You tell him firmly. “No, because I would remember telling Min fucking Yoonji that I was going to her stupid holiday party.”

Your father just shakes his head. “Then perhaps we ought to get you a doctor’s appointment, sweetie, because I watched it all happen not five seconds ago.” He pats your shoulder, doing his best to show his solidarity for your sudden idiocy, and makes his way inside. 

You spin to watch him go, all the potential protests and complaints clogging together in your throat and leaving you silent. He gets to the bottom step before you’re storming angrily back to your decorations, because whatever , you’ll go to the stupid party. 

Yoonji can have her dumb holiday party with those overhyped cookies your father always raves about. She can have her caroling and her sing-a-long that your mother adores. She can even have her two super hot model girlfriends, because you’re a modern woman, and sometimes that’s what a relationship is. Whatever. It’s her prerogative. You don’t care. It is not going to affect you, or your decorating, at all. 

You scream a little when the icicle lights you so carefully hung knock against your father’s head on his way inside. 

[Three Years Ago]

“You look like you’re struggling,” a voice says behind you. 

They aren’t wrong, either. You’re balanced precariously atop the porch roof your parents’ new hours, hanging garland off the edges so your dad doesn’t have to do it himself. 

You turn to see who’s talking to you - especially since you don’t actually know anyone, this being your first visit to the neighborhood - and very nearly have to hold on to the edge beside you to stop yourself from falling off. 

The man that stands on your parents’ front walkway is easily the most beautiful you’ve seen - a casual elegance to his stance that you’ve not seen outside of celebrities. His leather jacket looks warm and comfortable while remaining stylish, and the all-black underneath suits him while highlighting the lithe form. All of it is perfectly complemented by the mop of jet-black hair tucked under a knitted beanie, and you can’t help but wonder what kind of neighborhood your parents have moved to, when models are just walking around the streets. 

“Uh…” You would kick yourself for sudden ineloquence if you thought you could without falling straight on your ass. The guy bites back and obvious smile, ducking his head for a moment to do so. 

“I haven’t seen you around before,” He calls as he looks back up at you. “Did you move in recently?”

“No, I don’t live here.” He raises a brow and you huff. “It’s my parents’ place. I’m just doing their decorating for them.” The guy nods and starts to say something else, but he’s cut off before he can. 

“Jimin-ah, what are you doing?” You look back to the garland as someone else walks up, some girl based on the quick glimpse you get while tugging on a strand that doesn’t want to untangle. You give them some semblance of privacy as the guy - Jimin - relays to her everything you’ve said so far. It only strikes you as a little odd that he’s being so detailed; she could be a jealous girlfriend, for all you know. 

“Oh,” the girl says, tone as dry as the dead leaves piled in the corner of the yard, “Is this supposed to beat me somehow?”

“Yoonji,” Jimin scolds under his breath. 

“Sorry,” You say, standing up to your full height. It’s a considerable distance considering you’re still on the porch roof. “But what is that supposed to mean? Is there some kind of competition I don’t know about?”

“Oh,” Yoonji repeats, surprise evident in her voice this time as she eyes you. You take the opportunity to do the same, and you’re glad the nip in the air already turned your cheeks pink because fuck. 

Yoonji’s god damn gorgeous. She’s slightly taller than the average girl, even in the winter boots she’s wearing, but she wears the height well; her shoulders are straight and her chin has a natural upward tilt to it, like she’s used to looking down at people in more ways than one. She’s not dressed fancy - just thick leggings and an oversized sweater - but she looks like she belongs in a commercial or something. Her hair is similar to Jimin’s - pitch black and soft - but hers is glossier, more like a cat’s coat; her cheeks are pink from the cold, her lips are slightly parted and invite too many thoughts about if they’re as soft as they look, Even in such casual circumstances, she’s radiant, even as she says-

“That explains a lot.”

It takes a second longer than you’d like to admit for your brain to resume function, but when it does, you huff with indignation. 

“Excuse me?” You hiss. “What, are my decor choices not good enough for whatever this competition is?”

“No,” Yoonji says slowly, cocking a brow, and you see red - and it isn’t the lights from the house across the street. You don’t even let her continue before you’re defending yourself.

“Well I’m sorry that not all of us can decorate like they just stepped out of...of…Better Homes And Gardens, or some shit like that. Some of us focus more on making sure we like our decorations and that they actually mean something instead of just doing things for the aesthetic .”

Yoonji mutters something under her breath but you can’t make it out; it’s lost among the breeze that kicks up and the soft sound of laughing that Jimin is trying desperately to muffle. You huff a little and return to your mission of dragging the garland up on top of the roof, a new determination filling your chest. 

“Shouldn’t your boyfriend be doing this?” Yoonji asks, crossing her arms over her chest and cocking a brow. You freeze. You can hear Jimin’s quiet inhale, and when you look up, he’s got his lips puffed out like that meme of that guy doing the duckface. You let your hand rest on your hips and give this girl the best glare you can - which you have to admit is quite powerful when you need it to be. 

Like now, when this random super hot girl is judging you for being single and also assuming you’re interested in men. The nerve of her. 

“I don’t have a boyfriend,” You tell her firmly. She frowns a little, and you wish the expression wasn’t so cute. 

“Why not?” 

You scoff. “ Because,” You tell her firmly, “Not only am I happy by myself and don’t need someone else to be complete, I happen to prefer women. You may be happy with a member of the opposite sex,” You wave at where she and Jimin stand close together and return to trying to pull up the piece of garland that’s probably stuck on something, “But I tend to lean the other way.”

Yoonji just arches a perfect brow at you, but she at least doesn’t bust out laughing like Jimin does. 

“Oh man,” He says, wiping tears from his eyes as he stumbles forward, “Imagine looking at us and thinking we’re straight. Oh my god, imagine, can you believe-”

“So why don’t you have a girlfriend doing this then?” Yoonji asks. Her cheeks are a little redder, but you’re pretty sure it’s just from the cold. “Wouldn’t it be better?”

“Because I’m a strong,” You heave another string of garland up, “Independent,” heave, “Woman!” You give one last tug on the garland and it flies loose, sending you landing back on the flat of your ass atop the porch roof. It doesn’t hurt too bad other than the fact that you can see a smile playing on Yoonji’s lips and your pride has already taken a few hits. 

“Well then,” Yoonji says, patting Jimin’s arm and stepping back, “We’ll stop distracting you, Miss Independent.” She and Jimin walk across the street, and you pretend not to notice the way she looks back every so often. 

[Today]

“No, it needs to be taller.”

“Sweetheart if it’s any taller, it won’t fit in the house.”

You send your mother a frustrated glance and shake your head. “It will, it just needs to be the right height and shape.”

“Why can’t we just get a fake tree? They’re so much easier to move and put together, wouldn’t that be better?”

“No,” You hiss, scandalized. “Real trees are better overall for the environment, not to mention how you can’t manufacture the smell of pine trees that come with them that set the entire atmosphere. Plus this nursery uses the profits to plant more trees both here and in areas that suffer with deforestation. It’s for a good cause.”

“And that’s why we had to get here at five in the morning?” Your mother asks sarcastically. 

“Yes,” You reply firmly, “Because otherwise all the good trees will be gone and we’ll be forced to choose from the leftovers.” Your mother mumbles something else under her breath, but you don’t hear it. You’re distracted because there it is. The perfect tree.

You’re two steps away from your perfect tree - tall, evenly spaced, full branches, well balanced, with the perfect shade of evergreen - when you hear her. 

“It’s over here,” Yoonji’s voice echoes. “I need the perfect tree, and it’s the best one I’ve found in years.”

You ignore the way your mother lights up and shush her when she tries to call out to Yoonji. You listen closer; your nemesis is still talking, something about needing a tree for someone - which, who leaves tree shopping to the last minute? The only reason you’re here is that you got in late because of the weather - but her voice is definitely getting closer. 

Panicking, you look at your tree. If Yoonji sees it, it’s definitely over. It’s perfect, there’s no way she’ll want any other, and what Yoonji wants, she gets. 

The only real explanation for what happens next is that you’re running on four hours’ sleep and Yoonji tends to make you a little stupid. 

“Get the other side,” You whisper to your mom. She stares at you and doesn’t move. “Hurry up, before they get here!”

Your mother watches for a few seconds as you wrap your arms around the tree, getting pricked in the face with pine needles as you do, and start to tug. It’s a heavy tree, and it’s only just started to shift when the voices get closer. 

“Seriously?!” You exclaim in a harried whisper to your mom. “Not even a push?!”

“You’re trying to steal a tree,” Your mother says. “From a nursery that gives to charity. I’m not helping with that.”

“I’m gonna pay for it later!” Your mother sighs and starts pushing halfheartedly on the other side of the tree.   

“Shit, no, I meant-” Your words are cut off by a grunt as you manage to catch the tree before it falls entirely. It’s heavy against your shoulder, and of course that’s when Yoonji turns the corner, followed by the broadest man you’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing. Both stop in their tracks at the sight of you. 

“Hey Seokjin.” You say, faking a laugh. “How are you? Haven’t seen you this year. Business good?”

“Yeah,” He says, cocking a brow, “When people don’t try to run off with our trees.”

“Who? Me? I would never!” The tree starts digging into your shoulder and your legs tremble. “I just thought I’d load it up for you, y’know, save you the trouble.”

“Oh did you?” There’s amusement in Seokjin’s voice as he fiddles with his ring. “You know our policy, you have to pay before loading.”

You start to stammer out some bullshit about him being busy but you’re only halfway through the excuse when Yoonji says your name.

“It’s alright,” the woman says with a bored voice. “She was loading it up for me. That’s the tree I was coming to show you anyway.”

The weight finally overtakes you, and you crumble under it. You manage to twist so that nothing important is trapped under the trunk, but you get a faceful of needles for your efforts. 

“Maybe you should do it, though, Jin,” Yoonji says. “It looks a little much for the poor dear.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Seokjin huffs. He pulls the tree off of you with what looks like little effort, hefting it over his shoulder so the base drags the ground. “Where are you parked, Yoonji?”

“Load it onto their car,” Yoonji responds. Both you and your mother stare at her in shock. “Consider it an early Christmas present.”

“Oh, well isn’t that sweet of you,” Your mother coos. She points the way to Seokjin and the two head off, chatting amicably as they go. 

You narrow your eyes at Yoonji where she stands, not even offering to help you up from the snow where you still lay.

“What’s wrong with it?” You ask. All she does is quirk a brow. “The tree. Why are you giving it to me? You wouldn’t unless there was something wrong with it. So what is it? Termites? Leaking too much sap? What?”

Yoonji shrugs. “You wanted it,” She says simply. Your blood boils, and she steps back like she doesn’t even notice. 

“You aren’t even going to help me up?” You call as she starts to walk away.

“Good try, Miss Independent,” She calls back. “I think Jungkook’s still in the office if you need him.”

You half-scream a growl as you flop your head back into the snow. A pout forms as you watch the sky start to color with the sunrise. 

You’re going to have to throw away your perfect tree.

[Two Years Ago]

It’s the day of the contest. You’re confident in your decor choices this year, even if you couldn’t get every single thing you had in mind, you decide as you wander the neighborhood to scope out the competition. Last year you went simple and got second place, and you’ve switched it up this year. All out with the best decorations possible. 

You’re going to win. Losing isn’t an option, not again. Not when you were beat by her. 

It doesn’t matter, you remind yourself as you turn the corner onto your parents’ street. Your decorations are as good as they can be. 

Your mood sours a little when you see a figure in the yard across from yours, but the soft beanie and oversized hoodie cheer you up once you notice them. 

“Yoongi!” You call with a smile. The man turns and gives you a gummy grin. “I didn’t know you were in town!”

“Yeah, we got in late last night. Kinda crashed once we did. Then someone dragged us all out to the store early this morning.” He rolls his eyes and you laugh. 

“Well the house looks good. Not as good as mine, obviously,” You tease, “But good.”

“Yeah, you might win this year. Yoonji’s got some good competition.”

You sniffle a little, doing your best to contain your distaste for his twin. 

The Min twins, nearly identical save for the fact that they aren’t the same gender, are easily the best and worst things about the neighborhood. Worst because of that pompous priss Yoonji, obviously. 

Best because Min Yoongi is one of the sweetest people you’ve ever known even if he is a bit shy. You met him last year, when he’d carried in an obscene amount of groceries for your mother and you’d almost mistaken him for his sister. You’d made him coffee to say thanks, the two of you talked, and you’ve been friends ever since. 

“No Jimin?” You ask him. He gestures vaguely to the roof, where you can see a small blue hat bopping around. “Ah. I take it you aren’t finished yet, then.”

“Do you know any other reason my sister would have my boyfriend on the roof?” You share a grin with him as you both watch a strand of lights fly off somewhere. “Apparently she needed to make some last minute adjustments. That’s why she dragged us all out to the store, to hunt down some stuff for her.”

“Oh, did you happen to see one of those big dancing snowmen? The one that plays music, you can control it all from your phone? I looked everywhere and couldn’t find one, it’s the one thing I was missing. Had to use an inflatable yeti instead.” Yoongi frowns. 

“Huh, how weird. That’s what we were-”

“I got it all ready, it just needs to be plugged in.”

Yoonji strides out from the house - looking as good as ever in some plaid pants, how dare she - and stops dead when she looks up and sees you. 

“What are you doing here?” She snaps, and you scoff. 

“Visiting a friend,” You respond with a nod towards Yoongi. You take a glance at the phone in her hand, then up to where you can see Jimin standing up a snowman. “Did you seriously steal my idea?!”

“What? No.”

“Really. Because I distinctly remember telling Jungkook about this yesterday while I was picking up my tree and you were right beside him talking to Seokjin. I was even going to put it on the roof so everyone could watch it dance to Pentatonix covers.”

“Like I would listen when you talk,” Yoonji says. Yoongi sighs but you can barely hear it over the flood of rage. 

“Y’know what? Get fucked,” You tell her as you storm out of their yard and back to your parents’ house. 

“I guess you won’t be coming to the holiday party then?” She calls over the road. You send her a rather vulgar hand gesture in return that you hope your parents don’t see. By the time you get inside, the snowman is playing a Mariah Carey Christmas song and you kind of want to set it on fire. 

You do not win the competition that year. 

[Today]

Maybe you should have listened to your parents when they said not to drive today. Probably you should have taken the big ass truck that your father keeps in the garage specifically for when the weather is bad, because it’s got that fancy four wheel drive and traction control and all sorts of stuff meant to keep people safe in the middle of floods and monsoons and blizzards. You definitely should have remembered to charge your phone before you left the house.

Especially considering that your car isn’t great in the snow now falling gently from the sky to land on your hood, mixing with the smoke pouring out from under it. 

You’re lucky you managed to drift to the side of the road and get your hazard lights on, but that’s where said luck runs out. Your phone is dead, it’s several miles back to the house, even further than that to town, and the temperature is already dropping into dangerous territory. 

You’ve been sitting here for three hours, though, tucked inside the residual warmth of your car with spare blankets wrapped around you as you watched night fall. You’re not sure what else you can do. There aren’t any wild animals around here, or anything like that, but it’s definitely too dangerous to trek back to the house. 

“I should’ve just walked back earlier,” You groan as you bundle the blankets closer. “At least it was warmer then. Stupid car, stupid car, stupid me , didn’t charge your stupid phone, how dumb am I.”

Your tirade against yourself continues for several minutes and includes a few very crafty curses that would make your mother gasp. You’re in the middle of another when lights shine into your mirrors, nearly blinding you. 

The lights slow and come to a stop behind your car. A door shuts and you scramble to exit, ready to get on your knees and beg whoever it is to give you a ride to literally anywhere that has heat. 

It takes a second too long for you recognize the shiny purple jeep and the elegant black peacoat backlit by the headlights, and by the time you do, she’s already got an angry snarl on her face. 

“What the fuck are you doing out here?” She demands. You shiver in response and glare at her. 

“Oh, just hanging out, thought I’d take a little nap beside the road in the freezing cold, the usual y’know,” You bite back. She rolls her eyes and starts back towards her jeep. You frown, watching her, and she stops with one foot inside and her hand on the door. 

“What are you waiting for?” She asks. You shrug, and she huffs. “Get in the fucking car, I’m taking you home before you turn into an icicle.” You don’t move and her frown deepens. “Fine, but if you die out here, I’m not the one that’s going to tell your parents it was because you were too stubborn to accept a ride.”

Guilt gnaws at you, and with a frustrated huff, you stomp your way over to the passenger side of her jeep and climb inside. 

She’s careful as she drives, you notice. Long fingers wrapped tight around the wheel, jaw tensed so hard it could be stone, and one arm leaned against the window after she’s finished turning the heat up as high it will go. 

It’s not even been five minutes when she tosses a thick, fleece-lined blanket at you. You look at her, ready to be pissed off, and she cuts you off before you can complain. 

“Your teeth are chattering so loud that I can’t hear myself think. Try not to get hypothermia before we get there, okay?” You huff a disbelieving laugh but curl into the warmth of the blanket anyway. It feels almost too-warm, like when you pull clothes out of the dryer, but it’s a comfort against your freezing skin. 

“Why are you even here? You aren’t heading back from town, you’re not heading to town. Do you just drive around looking for lost girls?” 

“No,” She says carefully, hand tightening around the wheel. It’s all she says for a full minute before she sighs. “Your parents got worried.”

“What?! ”

“They said you went to town to pick up some salt for the sidewalk and drive, and that it had been hours, and that they hadn’t heard from you again even though you took your phone. They were scared that something had happened, so I…”

Your sarcastic response dies on your tongue when you look at her. Really look. 

Her shoulders are tense and set, in a way you haven’t seen before. Her brows are creased, and the pretty lips you refuse to acknowledge are set in a thin line and turned down at the corners. There’s something fizzling in the air between the two of you, something new and unknown.

“...Were you worried about me?” You ask quietly. She shoots you a look and then laughs, a second too late with not enough amusement. 

“Drink that,” She says, gesturing to a thermos. “It’s coffee, it’ll help you warm up a little.” You take the thermos, thoroughly enjoying the warmth it provides your hands, and take a sip. You don’t know why, but you’re surprised when it’s the exact way you like it. You shoot her a thoughtful look, wondering just how else she might surprise you. 

The rest of the ride is quiet, only the lull of the engine and the tires. Neither of you talk much; perhaps because she’s too angry, but you’re too distracted by your own thoughts to say much. 

There’s no way, right? The two of you hate each other, you have since you met. It tints all your interactions, colors every single conversation where either of you are even mentioned, it’s one of the basic facts of the universe. 

So why, as Yoonji pulls into your parent’s driveway and smiles at where they stand watching from the window, do you have a feeling like maybe you’re wrong?

[One Year Ago]

“Really? Inflatables?”

You scowl and turn, already prepared. There stands Yoonji, arms crossed. The weather is fairly mild for the season, and she’s taking advantage of that. High waisted shorts, an off-the-shoulder top, lace-up boots, leather jacket, she looks like every rebellious lesbian you’ve ever dreamt about, and it only makes you hate her more. 

“Yes, inflatables. Because some of us like a little fun. Besides, you stole my dancing snowman last year, and I wanted something you aren’t going to rip off.”

“I didn’t steal your-”

“Whatever,” You interrupt, not wanting to even bother to listen. “Don’t you have someone else to bother?”

She starts to say something else, but the slam of the front door cuts her off. You turn and grin, waving. 

“Tae! C’mon, put it over here!” 

Taehyung smiles and makes his way over, inflatable deer in his hands. Yoonji’s silent as he gets there and sets the animal where you direct. When he’s finished he turns to you, boxy smile and all, to make sure he’s good, and glances at Yoonji. 

“Oh, you didn’t say you had a friend over,” He whines. “Now I’m being rude. Hi, I’m Kim Taehyung.”

Yoonji doesn’t answer, merely eyes with distaste the hand he’s got extended. 

“Right. Well then, I’m gonna go get the fawn, alright? Be right back.” He smiles at you, and you watch as he jogs back into the house.

“I thought you only brought Namjoon with you this year.” You turn at Yoonji’s words. 

“No, Tae came as well. It’s a good thing, too, because Joon is utterly useless now since he met Yoongi and Jimin. Little punks stole my best friend.” You’re only mostly kidding. You’re happy for Namjoon - he’s been somewhat lonely these days, and now he’s got not one but two handsome men vying for his affection. 

It does reinforce your own loneliness, though. 

“I thought you liked girls.” You look back at Yoonji and notice she’s got a small pout on her face. It’s cute. 

“I do like girls.”

“Then why is Taehyung here?” The way she says his name is full of spite, and it makes you laugh. 

“Sorry, I didn’t realize that I had to get your permission when I want to bring my friends and loved ones up to visit my parents for the holidays.” You adjust the inflatable deer, posing it so that it looks like it’s glaring at Yoonji’s house in anger. 

Taehyung comes back out before Yoonji can say anything. He’s got his jacket off now, and he does look good in the simple white shirt and the headband that makes his hair look even fluffier than usual. You just really can’t focus on anything but the inflatable fawn he’s got tucked under one arm and the matching rabbit tucked under the other. 

Yoonji’s eyes narrow ever so slightly, and you roll your eyes. 

“You need another deer,” She spits before she turns around and stomps back to her house. Taehyung shoots you a look. 

“I take it that’s Yoonji, then,” He says with a laugh. You make a puking sound and he tuts at you. “You’re supposed to be nice. That is not nice.”

“Yeah, well, she didn’t steal your dancing snowman, did she?”

Across the street, you can see Yoonji fuming as she stands on the porch, talking to Yoongi about something or other. They both look over and while your first instinct is to turn around like you haven’t been watching them, you resist. Instead, you give Yoongi a bright wave. He doesn’t return it but his frown lessens slightly, though that could be because Jimin stumbles, laughing, out of your parents’ house with Namjoon not far behind him. 

Both of them have hearts in their eyes, and it only gets worse when they look at Yoongi. 

“That’s disgusting,” Taehyung says with a wrinkle of his nose. “Eugh, they’re so couple-y and gross. Remind me not to come next year if Namjoon’s here.”

“Oh no,” You tell him with a grin as you wrap him in a hug. He’s warm and solid against you, as he always is, and you thoroughly enjoy it. “If I have to struggle, you do too.”

“Fine,” He whines dramatically. “But I’m bringing Hobi so he has to suffer, too.” You laugh and set him to work organizing the inflatable animals. There are eyes on your back the entire time, but you refuse to turn around and give Yoonji the satisfaction. 

Especially once you realize that you do need another deer to make it look balanced and perfect.

[Today]

The holiday party is well underway by the time you arrive at Yoonji’s, however reluctantly you do so. Your mother and father disappear almost immediately, sucked into conversations with people they’ve known for years now; Tae and Hobi are tucked into a corner, nursing glasses of cider while they look at the rather extensive Winter Village display on the Mins mantle; Namjoon has been here for hours already, and is no doubt locked away in Yoongi’s room with the man himself, and Jimin, and you choose to believe that they’re having some philosophical discussion and not doing anything else. 

You think you catch a glimpse of Jungkook amidst the people from the neighborhood, but by the time you get to where he was, there’s no sign of him, or the broad-shouldered man he’s usually with. Abandoned in the kitchen, you pour yourself some cider and spike it with a hint of rum, just to get you through the night. 

“Where’s your boyfriend?” A voice says. 

When you turn, you find Hwasa perched on the countertop, Chungha leaning back between her legs. Both are watching you curiously, and both look absolutely fantastic in figure-hugging dresses and tights and heeled boots. They look like they just stepped off a runway, but the look in their eyes feels more like a panther than a model. 

“What boyfriend?” You ask eventually. 

“Tall, great chest, soft hair,” Hwasa says. When you just stare at her, she smiles a little. “Boxy smile.”

“Oh, Tae?” You laugh a little. “He isn’t my boyfriend. I’m not even interested in him like that, he’s just my best friend.” The two women share a look and Chungha kisses her cheek before heading out of the room. Hwasa eyes you and you have the distinct feeling you’re being judged. 

You thought you looked okay when you picked out the simple but nicer outfit; black sweater, maroon skirt, tall black boots. It’s classy but casual. You’re sure of it. 

At least you were. 

“So tell me about this thing with Yoonji,” Hwasa eventually says. You nearly choke on your cider. 

“I mean...there’s not much to tell. We’ve hated each other ever since we met four years ago.”

“Oh?” Something lights up in her eyes that you don’t particularly like. 

“Look, no offense to you or your girlfriend, Yoonji’s just...kinda mean for my tastes. I guess some people are into that.”

“Elaborate.” Her tone leaves no room for argument, and you find yourself explaining before you can stop. You tell her nearly everything, about all the shit Yoonji’s done to you, and by the time you’re finished, she’s actually smiling.

“Like...I’m sure you love her and all, otherwise you wouldn’t be dating her, but-”

“What? ” She nearly falls off the counter, she’s laughing so hard, and when you start to help steady her, she just waves you off. “No, sweetie, I’m dating Chungha, not Yoonji.”

“I thought you were dating both of them? Did you all break up?”

“Oh my god , she wasn’t kidding,” Hwasa says breathlessly, still fighting back giggles. “Holy shit, this explains so much. Ha, oh my god, no, we never were dating Yoonji, she’s just our best friend. Like you and that Taehyung guy?”

“Oh.” You feel foolish; it makes sense, friends can be just as physically close as romantic partners. You and Taehyung are proof enough of that. “I...just assumed…”

“I know, but you’re definitely wrong. You drink more cider, stew on that, maybe rethink things from another perspective, I’ve got to tell Chungha about this, it’s too good.” Hwasa hops off the counter with ease and disappears out the door before you can ask her to explain what she means about other perspectives. You can hear giggles as they slowly drown in the chatter of the party and the soft carols playing over the speakers. 

You stay in the kitchen for a while, nursing your cider and thinking. If Yoonji doesn’t have two model-hot girlfriends, then could you have been onto something in the jeep that night? You’ve hated her for so long, and assumed that she hates you in return, but if you were wrong about the girlfriends, then maybe you’re wrong about that, too. 

Something enters your vision and you look up, nearly spitting out your drink as you do. 

Yoonji stands in front of you, in a slinky green velvet dress that she keeps tugging the bottom of. It doesn’t look like anything she usually wears, down to the floral lace tights and the wedge heels that make her even taller than she already is, and she looks slightly uncomfortable if the burn in her cheeks is any indication. 

The worst part is that she looks good. Like, good good. It suits her, even if it isn’t her usual style, and for once you can’t deny the attraction swirling within your stomach. 

“What are you wearing?” She asks angrily, glaring down at your clothes like they kicked her dog - whom you have not seen tonight, which is a travesty, because you adore Holly. A cough echoes from somewhere behind the two of you, and Yoonji wrinkles her nose. “I mean...I like...your outfit.”

You quirk a brow at her and set your cider down on the counter nearby. “Really? Because it looks like you want to tear it off and then set it on fire.” Something complicated happens with her expression and a spark ignites in your mind. 

“Are you sick?” She asks. Her face does something else complicated as a groan echoes from nearby, and something painful twists in your stomach. You really didn’t think you looked that bad. “I mean, after the other day. With the snow. And the cold. Are you sick?”

“Is...this your way of telling me I look ill?” You ask her. She frowns. “Because if wanted me to leave your party, all you had to do was say that, you don’t have to insult me.” You head toward the door of the kitchen and there’s a scrambling that sounds much too loud for just her friends. 

So your friends are also eavesdropping. Fantastic. Now everyone knows she’s insulted you. Just what you needed tonight. 

Her hand catches your wrist as you’re about to leave the kitchen. “I didn’t mean it like that,” She mumbles, not making eye contact. “I just...wanted to make sure you were feeling okay. It was really cold that night, and you were out there for a long time.” 

“So, what, you suddenly care? Why? Because you don’t want to win by default or something?”

“No, because I-” She cuts herself off with a groan, and you’re glad there are so many people around, because it seems like everyone’s distracted with something else. They’re too busy to notice this absolutely disastrous conversation. 

“Hey look,” Taehyung says, appearing from nowhere and pulling roughly on Yoonji’s arm until she’s standing beside you in the doorway. “Mistletoe! How random! Guess you have to kiss!”

“That’s a stupid tradition,” Yoonji spits, and you’re inclined to agree with her. “Forcing people to kiss just because of some plant? How is that okay? Besides, it’s got nothing to do with the actual myth behind it, and-” She sounds like she could go on forever, but you cut her off. 

“And it’s not like we want to kiss anyway.” Her grip on your wrist slackens, and you turn to look at her. Uncertainty fills you as you look at her expression, because the only word that comes to mind is crestfallen. “Right?”

“I...I mean…” Taehyung disappears as Yoonji searches for words, and you just know he’s hanging out somewhere nearby to watch it all happen. 

“Because we’re nemeses.” You say slowly. “We hate each other.”

“Do we?” Yoonji asks quietly, threading her fingers through yours. “Do you?”

“Don’t you? ” You ask her. “You’ve been nothing but rude to me since we met. You’ve insulted me, and stolen my decorating ideas, and-”

“No,” She says quickly. “No, I never meant any of it like that, you just never gave me a chance to explain. You’re...you’re so pretty, and I always get flustered around pretty people, and I say the wrong things.”

“You told me I wasn’t as good if I didn’t have a significant other the first time we met.”

“I was trying to figure out if you were interested in women, and when you said you were, I just...panicked, because I figured you had someone, because you’re…” She gives a wave to your general being. 

“You stole my dancing snowman.”

“I did not! I heard someone talking about a dancing snowman at the tree nursery, and I didn’t realize it was you, and I thought, since I couldn’t stop thinking about you, I’d get a dancing snowman that would play this cheesy playlist thing I made for you. I didn’t know you were looking for it, and I didn’t steal your idea. Not on purpose, anyway.”

“Okay, well...last year you were so rude! And you said you wouldn’t listen when I talked!”

“I thought…” She trails off, looking ashamed. “I thought you were dating Taehyung, and I got jealous. But the listening comment wasn’t like that! It’s because I always zone out because I like to listen to you talk, because your voice is so pretty, but I never hear what you actually say, and also you just...are really pretty. So I get distracted.”

“I…” You’re rather speechless; your entire world has shifted on its axis. “I thought you hated me.”

“Never.” Yoonji insists. “I just don’t know how to talk to pretty girls.”

“You hang out with Hwasa. And Chungha.”

“Yeah, and?” Her brows furrow. “What’s your point?” If you could, you would keysmash at her, but as it stands, you just gape. 

“Uh, they’re literally model gorgeous?”

“Oh, are they?” She looks down at where your fingers are still entwined with hers. “I hadn’t noticed.”

You blink at her, and she looks up at you. There’s a faint smile playing on her lips, and something bright in her eyes that you haven’t seen before. 

“I’m sorry,” You say, shaking your head. “I just still don’t-”

“Will you shut up?” Yoonji asks, free hand coming to gently glide across your cheek. “And let me kiss you?” Your jaw shuts with a snap and you nod. 

Her lips are soft against your own, and your breath catches in your throat as you return the kiss. Her hand moves to grip your jaw, tilting your head ever so slightly so the two of you fit together that little bit better, and your hands come to rest on her hips. 

Electricity sparks through you to her. She pulls back just a little and you’re distracted by the way her tongue darts out to wet her lips. 

“This might be moving a little fast, since we hated each other an hour ago-”

“You hated me an hour ago,” She corrects. 

“But I would be very, very happy taking this to a more private area so I can express to you just how apologetic I am that I thought you hated me.” You tear your gaze from her lips to look at her face. Her eyes are dark, pupils blown out at the mere thought. 

“Upstairs,” She growls, already pushing you in the direction of the staircase. You’re both speeding through the crowd of people as fast as you can without being obvious, and you have to help her every few feet because she’s wobbly in her heels, but by the time you make it up the stairs and into her room, you’re both desperate. 

Her mouth meets yours with a fire behind it that you’ve never felt before, and you hardly even get the door closed before she pushes you back against it. Your tongue darts along the seam of her lips and she grants you entrance, and you could moan at just the taste of her if you were just a little weaker. 

“Do you know how many times I’ve thought about this?” She whispers, moving to nip at your neck. Her hands are under your sweater and you don’t even remember them getting there, but you can’t complain as they move to cup your breasts and tweak your nipples through your bra. “Can you even imagine how many times I’ve dreamt of touching you? Tasting you? Hearing you moan?” 

She bites, hard and rough, and you can’t stop the moan that escapes you. How she possibly knows that you like that is something you don’t have the energy to ponder, nor the will to question. 

“Please,” You breathe, hands tangling in her hair as she sucks a mark into the skin of your throat. She’s slotted between your thighs and your hips are rutting against hers ever so slightly, desperate for some friction. You know you’ve already soaked through your panties, which is a feat considering all she’s done is play with your nipples a little and kiss you like you’ve never been kissed. 

“What is it, angel?” Her voice is deeper than usual, roughened by the desire coursing through your veins and hers, and it only makes you wetter. “What would you like me to do?”

“Anything,” You plead. “Please, just touch me.” 

“Anything?” Yoonji mutters. She chuckles, low and raspy and so unbearably attractive that you want to scream. You almost do scream, from frustration, when she pulls her hands away from your nipples, but she drops to her knees and you forgive her. 

Yoonji kisses up your thighs, from the edge of your boots all the way to where the hem of your skirt hits mid-thigh, and her hands are warm as they slide underneath. She doesn’t stop kissing you, not even as she lifts the fabric of your skirt and nips at the crease where your thighs meet your hips. Still, she’s so far away from where you need her, that you can’t help your whine. 

“Patience, angel,” She whispers as she glides one finger along your fabric-covered lips. Your hips rut forward on instinct, and she laughs a little. 

“You stole my dancing snowman, you could at least be quick about this,” You mutter. 

“What’s the fun in being rushed?” She leans forward to mouth at your pussy through your underwear and your legs tremble slightly. She’s gentle as her hands slide your underwear down to pool around your ankles, and even more gentle as they glide back up to rest on your thighs. “But I’ll be nice this time. Besides, I’ve been dreaming of what this pussy tastes like for years.”

Anything else you might say to her is cut off with a moan as her tongue starts to tease at your clit. One of your hands comes to rest on the back of her hair before you even realize you’ve moved, and she takes that as all the encouragement she needs. 

Yoonji eats pussy like it’s the last meal she’ll ever have, and you’re in absolute awe. The way her tongue moves against you is absolute bliss, no matter where it is; she teases at your entrance, sliding the very tip of her tongue inside to gather your wetness before she runs the flat of it up to your clit, where she circles and sucks mercilessly before moving back down to thrust it in and out and in and out relentlessly. She coaxes an orgasm out of you faster than anyone else ever has, and even as your writhing against the door with her head under your skirt, she doesn’t stop. 

Instead, she slides one long finger inside of you and keeps it there. She doesn’t move it, doesn’t even allow it to twitch, but it’s there and you can feel it as she wraps her lips around your clit and sucks, making your clench around her. She moans into your pussy, too, the entire time she’s at work between your legs, and it only turns you on more when you glance down to see her hand between her legs. 

“Yoonji, please, I want, please, I wanna taste you too, please,” You beg, tugging gently on her hair until she pulls back. Her chin is covered in your cum and the sight is so unbelievably unerotic that you could probably come just from that. 

“Take this off,” She growls, pulling on your skirt as she stands. You do as she says without hesitation, more than willing to get naked if it means getting your mouth on her, and by the time your boots are in the corner with the rest of your clothes, she’s just as naked as you are. 

And god, she’s beautiful. 

Your lips meet hers again as you push her towards the bed, and you can taste yourself on her tongue as it slides against yours. The two of you tumble onto the mattress and you situate yourself between her thighs. It isn’t until you’ve got her legs spread wide and your licking and sucking at her nipples that you register that her face is flushed with something new. 

“What is it?” You ask, panting, as you detach from her - beautiful, wonderful, adorable, perfect - tits. “Do you not want me to? I don’t have to, I just would really like to, it’s up to you.”

“No, it’s not that, I’ve just never…” She trails off, looking embarrassed, and realization smacks you in the face. 

“No one has ever gone down on you before?” You ask in disbelief. She shakes her head. 

“I’ve always been the one to do so, all the other girls have been kind of...well. I’m usually the dominant one, so…”

“Yoonji, sweetheart,” You say seriously, pressing a kiss to her cheek with each word. “Will you allow to me to eat you out? Because seriously, those other girls are trash, and I would absolutely cherish the experience if it’s something you want.”

Her face turns even more pink and she nods. You press a quick kiss to her lips and gently spread her thighs so you have better access. You mimic her actions from earlier, pressing kisses to her thighs and the crease of her hips. When you finally get a taste of her, you moan. 

She tastes like absolute fucking bliss, you decide as you glide your tongue through her folds. You could live off of nothing but the taste for her until the end of time itself, and the way she moves is amazing. Little jerks and thrusts, and her fingers tangle in your hair to push you closer even as her hips pull away slightly. 

Your tongue rubs circles around her clit, flicking and licking and coaxing her closer and closer to her high. You dip down to fuck your tongue into her for a second or two, and the way her back arches is art in motion. You reach one hand up to tweak one of her nipples while your other arm remains wrapped around her hip like a steel bar, keeping her in place even as she grinds against your mouth. 

You remember how it felt earlier when she wrapped her lips around your clit, so you mimic the action. Her bud fits perfectly between your lips, and when you suck on it, she tenses. Everything stops for a second, and you’re afraid maybe you ruined it, but then her whole body jerks, and she presses you hard against her. You lap up her essence as it comes, eager and more than willing, and when she finally stops spasming, you pull yourself away with a grin. 

“Holy shit,” She mutters, and you laugh. 

“I can’t believe no one’s ever eaten you out before,” You sigh, one hand sliding along her waist to massage her breasts. “Does that mean no one’s ever fucked you before either?”

“I mean…” You stop, staring at her with wide eyes. “I told you, I’m usually the dominant one, so most people don’t really...return the favor.”

“Can I please fuck you?” You ask in a rush. “Please, I promise I’ll be gentle.” She huffs a little, and you think it’s amused but you can’t be sure, because she’s spreading her legs again and your focus is elsewhere. 

“Yeah, angel, you can fuck me.”

You lower yourself to kiss her, lingering and deep, and you don’t miss the moan she gives as she tastes herself on your tongue. You wait until she’s thoroughly distracted by the way your mouths move, then glide your fingers over her. 

Her clit is still sensitive, based on the way she jumps as you ghost your fingers over it, so you avoid that. You don’t want to overwhelm her. She groans as you slide a single single finger inside her, and you moan. 

Her walls are softer than the velvet of her dress, and warm around you. She’s tight, too, so incredibly tight that you aren’t sure you’ll be able to fit another inside her. She moans as you slide your finger out and then back in, gathering more of her wetness as you do. 

You’re careful as you fuck her, gentle and slow, and you think you could get addicted to it. Her hips move in time with your hand, gaining speed as you do. “Fuck, angel, it’s so good,” She whimpers. You smile. 

“Let me know if it gets too much, okay?” She nods, and you start to slide a second finger in. Yoonji winces, just a little, so you slow until her hips rock against your hand. 

“More,” She breathes. “Please, more.”

“As you wish,” You tell her. You still are gentle as you thrust into her, feeling her walls contract around you. It’s heaven, absolute perfection, and you tell her so as she grips onto the sheets. 

You latch your mouth onto her nipple as you continue fucking her, biting and sucking as your fingers curl. 

“I need, ah, please, I need more, I need, holy fuck, to come, I need to come,” She moans desperately. You grin and curl your fingers more, sliding them against her walls. You finally find what you’re looking for, that small spongey spot that has her convulsing around you. 

“That’s right, baby,” You coo, “Come on, I know you want to.”

Her hands are in a death grip on your shoulders, and they only get tighter as you press harder against that spot inside her. She comes with a cry that you muffle with your own mouth, her body shaking as she lets go. 

You slide your fingers out when she’s relaxed a little more, licking the taste of her off as she pants. 

“Holy shit,” She breathes. You grin, peppering kisses along her stomach, up her chest, along her throat and over her cheeks. “Can we do that every day?”

“I dunno,” You tease. “Are you going to steal my dancing snowman again?”

She rolls her eyes and shoves at your shoulder, and you laugh. 

“I’m just saying, you’re supposed to be nice to the people you like.”

“I’m bad at that, though,” She mutters. “I always just...say the wrong thing. I’m more of a do-er.”

“I’m still caught up on how I was supposed to know you liked me based on the things you did.”

“Really?” She huffs, glaring at you playfully. “I went tree shopping at five in the morning for you.”

“Yeah,” You say softly, grinning. “You did.”

25 Days of Christmas: A BTS Christmas Anthology 

[shinsorokiri]

UA Idol | Chapter Fifteen

Hitoshi Shinsou x reader

Word Count: 1,802

Warnings: Language, alcohol, drinking, drunk flirting

A/N: This is just a cute fun one. Alcohol man. She does shit to you. I hope you enjoy this one, this is a little bit of how Shinsou truly feels 🥺 I’m excited to write about the third challenge too, I think it’ll be fun. I also can’t wait to write for all the other characters too, this is gonna be fun as hell. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter!! :)

───────────────────────────────────

The first two days of Hell Week were officially over. It’s crazy to think that that was an actual thing. You’ve done two whole performances, and it was only over the span of two days. Literally wild. Luckily though, you’ve made it through the first to rounds. Now there was only the third, which you would get three whole days to prepare for. And thank GOD you did because the next one was intense.

After all the remaining contestants had gone and quite a few of them got wiped out, there were only forty in total left. This of course included you, Shinsou, Mina, and Denki as well as your new friends Kirishima and Bakugou. Of course, a lot of the people who stood out to you in the first round also got through, which you were happy about because they really deserved it. But with that, this next round was about to present half of the forty as the top twenty and the other half were about to head home.

“Alright, everybody. Congratulations on making it through to the third round! That’s not an easy thing to do, and you’ve all adjusted wonderfully to the group singing challenge to a duet challenge. Moving on from that though, is the solo rounds. You all are able to perform a song of your choice, but this round, as well as the last, it’s required to sing songs by artists that have already been out. However, there’s no list to choose from this time, so you can choose whatever song you would want to sing. You get two days to rehearse and let the band as well as the lighting and sound designers what you would like and work it all out with them! On the third day there will be sound check and then the performances in front of a crowd of people. This is the biggest test for everyone, you’re going to be able to show us how you interact with the audience, which is important for the live shows. For now, though, go get some rest and decide which song you want to perform. You all deserve it!” Toshinori told everyone, and you’d be lying if you said you weren’t excited to just sit. Literally, that’s it, you just want to sit.

Mina and Denki had other plans.

So here you were, at a club in LA, sitting on this random ass couch that’s conveniently placed away from everyone in there. Essentially everyone from the show is in there, but everyone is too busy getting drunk and dancing and singing with their newly made friends. That is, of course, except for you and Shinsou. Who’s actually been right next to you this whole time. The two of you were slowly sipping on some complimentary drinks from Mina and Shinsou that they told you they’d keep ordering until the two of you were sloshed. Which wouldn’t happen. There’s too much that the two of you need to decide to actually get drunk.

“So, have you thought about what song you’re gonna sing?” he asks, taking a sip of the alcohol in his hand. “No… I wish I could just bust out an original, I could do that easy,” you say, sighing. “Yeah, same here. I mean I have some options, but I wish I could just sing something that I want to share. Like with my own words.” “Yeah, same. Especially since, like, you know, almost every single song out there is about love??? Like, no thank you, dude. I’m tired of that shit.”

“And this is why I love to hang out with you,” he says, a small smirk on his lips. You give him a grin and raise your glass in a bit of a toast before taking a drink. He chuckles, his eyes never leaving you. While the two of you aren’t necessarily drunk, the two of you are tipsy. I mean, think about it. Mina and Denki have bought countless shots. And there’s always four. So now, you two are just kind of trying to relax while they talk up the two girls, they’ve been staring at for the past two days. You’re feeling it a bit more than he is, and he knows that so he’s keeping an eye on you to make sure you’re okay. That’s the sole reason he is staring at you. Only reason.

Okay.

So maybe that’s not the only reason.

Can you blame him though? You really are the prettiest person he’s ever seen in his entire life. Sure, it scares him, but he really just can’t help it. I mean, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with him liking you, obviously. But the more time he spends with you, the more and more he just wants to hold you. And kiss you. And you know just be in a relationship with you. And maybe this is the alcohol getting to him, but damn. He really really likes you. And not just the way you look. The way you think. The way you act. Your voice. Your talent. Your humility. Everything about you is just so appealing and attractive. Weird how alcohol makes all of his thoughts that he tries to suppress flood his brain. “Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” he hears your voice, which pulls him out of his silent stare. The smirk on your lips makes him smile. “Yeah, but a picture doesn’t compare to the beauty of the real thing,” he responds, reveling in the fact that he just made you flustered. He can tell by the change of pitch in your voice when you tell him to fuck off. Not mention she almost dropped her drink.

He’s so relieved he probably won’t remember this in the morning. Oh shit, wait he’s drunk. This was what he was trying to avoid? What the fuck. That’s when he realizes that if he’s drunk, you are too. You drank the same amount as him and he’s a heavy weight, so if he’s drunk you are too. And he definitely notices as soon as you stand up to go get another drink since you nearly fall over. Luckily, he steadies you. Sure, he also feels not very steady on his feet, but making sure you were okay was the top priority right now. And he would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy the fact that he was holding you by your waist again. Just like when you two fell asleep together earlier. “Maybe that’s enough drinks for you,” he says, and you giggle. “Probably a good idea,” you respond, and he takes your empty glass before chugging the rest of his down. He takes the glasses and hands them to one of the workers before leading you over to Mina and Denki. “Hey, we’re going to head out. I think (Y/n) needs to take it easy for a bit,” Shinsou says, trying to pretend that he wasn’t on cloud nine with you leaning into him and happily humming to yourself. “Aw, but we’re just starting to have fun! This is Momo! Isn’t she pretty?” Mina says, motioning to one of the girls from earlier with black hair. “Not as pretty as Jirou. Come on you guys should totally stay,” Denki basically begs, but Shinsou shakes his head. “I’m gonna take her back to the hotel. I’ll text you when I’m there.”

Before Denki and Mina can protest again, he hurries and takes you out of the club. He calls an Uber, leaning against the outside wall of the club with you still attached to his side. He has his arm around you and is gently rubbing your side with his thumb. “You smell so good,” he hears you mumble, and he grins. “Thanks, kitten.”

“I really like it. You’re the best.”

He knows that you’re drunk, and he is too, but damn. That sounded so nice coming from you. He can’t help but full on smile. “You make me so happy,” he hears you mumble into his shirt, and he swears his heart skips a beat. “You make me even happier, kitten,” he answers, and it’s true. He hasn’t felt this good in a long time. And it’s not just the alcohol. It’s you. Even if he’s physically drunk right now, he feels this way around you all the time. He hears you hum a bit before looking at him with a big grin on your face. He smiles back, and before he even processes what he’s doing he kisses your forehead. Your reaction is adorable, considering you just bury your face into him again. He chuckles, not even feeling embarrassed. Thank you, alcohol.

Eventually the Uber arrives, and he helps you inside before telling the driver where you’re headed. You both get there no problem, and he helps you to your room. He gives you some Advil and gets you a glass of water, making sure you drink it. He helps you lay down, sitting next to you on the bed. He watches as you start drifting off, making sure you were comfortable and sending a barely legible text to Denki telling him the two of you are back home. When he thinks you’re asleep, he goes to stand up but is stopped by you. “Noooooooooo,” you mumble, and he looks down at you. You have your puppy eyes out and he feels his heart basically stop. “Don’t go, Toshi, you make me feel warm and happy and I sleep better with you.”

Toshi? Fuck, he likes the sound of his first name coming out of your mouth. He doesn’t even oppose. He immediately lays down next to you. “Yay,” you mumble, and he grins. “Jesus Christ, kitten, you’re so perfect,” he says, pulling you into him. You giggle. “Not as perfect as you.”

“Um, no, you’re 100% more perfect than I am. I mean, look at you.”

“Nuh-uh, everything you do is amazing. You’re amazing.”

“You’re more amazing than I could ever hope to be,” he says, sighing. How did he get this lucky? Truly, even if you two aren’t dating yet, how did he end up just be able to be here and lying down with you? He doesn’t deserve this chance. And he loves being able to actually see you as you drift off to sleep this time. The city lights shining through the window and falling on your face make you look even more like an angel. He would love to fall asleep like this every night. And he actually falls asleep decently early for him again.

He even somehow managed to sleep through the noise Mina made when she saw the two of you after stumbling into your hotel room.

And now there’s a picture of the two of you on her phone. Just wait til she’s sober and sees it. 

[nerdsies]

All In Good Fun

not req but i was bored

Ship: romeo x reader

Era: unspecified

Warnings: language, i n n u e n d o s

Word Count: 987

“Place your bets!” Race called out. “Romeo against (y/n) in a...what’s the word, Davey?”

“Immensely anticipated.”

“Fuck you and your big words,” Race muttered. “Romeo against (y/n) in an immensely anticipated flirting contest!”

“I can’t believe I agreed to this,” I muttered.

“I can’t believe you’re about to win me five bucks,” says Jack, shaking hands with Elmer.

“C’mon, Elmer.” I cross my arms. “Have a little faith.”

He shook his head. “Sorry, (y/n). I’ll always have Romeo’s back.”

“And that’s gonna cost you money today.” Jack clapped Elmer’s back as he left to wish Romeo good luck.

“This is stupid,” I told Davey.

“I think it’s cute,” he said.

“Of course you do.” I shake my head. “You’re such a romantic.”

“Maybe you two will finally realize you’re meant for each other.” He grinned.

I rolled my eyes. “Not a chance.”

“Mhm.”

“Players, on your marks!” Race called.

“This doesn’t count as sports,” said Mush.

“Shut up.” Albert pushed him out of the way in order to get a better view.

Romeo winked at me, running a hand through his hair. “Ready to lose, babe?”

My heart raced at the pet name. None of the others knew about my crush on Romeo, especially not him. But his naturally flirtatious personality, and my tendency to play along, has led to some situations that made me wonder if maybe— just maybe—he felt the same way.

“Not nearly as ready as you should be,” I said, not entirely sure the comeback made any sense. “Everyone knows I’m the smoothest.”

“In your dreams,” said Romeo.

“Cut to the chase!” Tommy Boy called.

“Get a room!” Kid Blink added.

Romeo rubbed his hands together. “Alright, (y/n). Let’s start off easy. If you were a booger, I’d pick you first.”

“Eww,” said Les, trying and failing to hide a giggle behind his hands.

I crossed my arms. “Are you a camera? ‘Cause every time I look at you I smile.”

“Are you from Tennessee? ‘Cause you’re the only ten I see.”

“AMP IT UP!” Race yelled, causing the others to cheer.

I smiled. “Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?”

Finch cheered, and Romeo laughed. “I like your pants...but they’d look a lot better on my bedroom floor.”

“Tie your shoelaces. I don’t want you falling for anyone else.”

“Do you believe in love at first sight, or should I walk by again?”

I tucked my hair behind my ears. “I’d show you my world...but I’m pretty sure you already own a mirror.”

“You like sales right?” Romeo took a few steps towards me, a smirk tugging at his lips. “‘Cause at my place, clothes are 100% off.”

“Can I change my bet?” Sniper asked. I know he bet on me, but I’m not about to let this win get away from me so easily.

“Do you have a band-aid?” I stepped closer, too, even though I could barely think over the thundering of my heartbeat. “I scraped my knee falling for you.”

“Hell yeah!” Jack encouraged.

“Did it hurt when you fell from Heaven?” Romeo asked.

I rolled my eyes. “I crawled up from Hell.”

He faltered for only a second, recovering with a suave smile. “No wonder you’re so hot.”

“Oh, shit!” Albert laughed.

“You’ve gotta be exhausted after running through my mind all day.”

“Do you like raisins? How about a date?”

“Can I follow you home? I’ve been told to follow my dreams.”

“Your hand looks heavy...let me hold it for you.”

“You must be a broom, ‘cause you swept me off my feet.”

“Feel my shirt, it’s made of boyfriend material.”

“Bring it home, (y/n)!” Buttons called.

I gave Romeo a smile, trailing my fingers along the collar of his button-up. Pink rose in his cheeks but the expression on his face never wavered. “Anything you say can and will be held against you…so only say my name.”

Romeo laughed. “Alright. I’m out.”

Jack was the first to cheer, proudly taking his winnings from Elmer. The others exchanged wins and losses, leaving Romeo standing awfully close.

“Good game,” said Romeo, holding out his hand.

“You, too.” I shook it. “I thought you had it with that recovery.”

“Oh, please.” Romeo laughed again, and I found myself laughing a little, too. “I knew I was gone with that mirror one.”

I smiled, disappointed that it was over. Back-and-forth flirting with Romeo was one of my favourite hobbies, because I could always pretend that he actually meant what he was saying. But once it’s over, I have to return to reality. I punched Romeo lightly on the arm before turning to walk away.

“Hey, (y/n)?”

I turned around.

“Kiss me if I’m wrong, but...dinosaurs still exist, right?”

I laughed. “Good one, but I’m already the winner.”

“And I’m wrong.” He closed his eyes and waited expectantly.

He couldn’t be serious...could he? There was no way he felt the same, right? Did our joking flirts mean as much to him as they did to me?

“You’re cute,” I said, my feet leading me towards him. I paused in front of him. If he’s kidding around, this is the worst joke ever. I leaned forwards and kissed him quickly on the lips.

He opened his eyes, smiling. “See, that wasn’t so bad.”

“You’re impossible.”

“I think you mean smooth,” he corrected, eyes sparkling. “You’re trying to tell me you don’t feel something here?”

Holy crap. “I thought you were just playing along.”

“I was, at first,” he admitted, “but, uh...I don’t know. It started to mean more, I guess. I just didn’t know if you felt that same.”

“I guess you’re lucky I do, then.”

“Guess I am.”

“So.” I fiddled with the hem of my shirt. “Kiss me if I’m wrong—”

“—you’re wrong,” he interrupted, and kissed me again.

[orange-antics]

Eddsworld miscellaneous hcs

ok there's probably like 100 of these already or something, but I thought I'd add mine anyway, because hey, it's fun and I'll probably change or add a few later. (Also this ended up waaaaaaaay longer then i meant it to be wh o ops so uh be warned its pretty damn long-)

Tom:

Shortest! (i know it's normally either edd or tord, but after seeing saloonatics, I just couldn't resist the idea of the grumpiest one being the smallest. Cute right?)

Relatively strong arms, more fat around his stomach and torso then his legs.

Occasionally works gigs at local clubs and stuff for money.

Doesn't have much social media aside from Facebook so he can occasionally stalk his old college mates.

He actually likes sports like football and tennis. (His favourite sport is seeing how many bars he can hit up in one nigh-//shot//)

His hair smells like pineapple! (And the rest of him like booze-)

He's up for pretty much anything if he's drunk enough to have fun and not remember enough to regret it

But not bowling.

N e ve r bo wl ing

He's still got a scar on his left arm from The End. :( But Matt and Edd helped him to fix it up, so it's all good!

He's actually a pretty chill and sensible guy, and despite being snarky and sarcastic whenever he can, he genuinely cares about his relationships with people, scared that one day they'll get bored of him and cast him aside. He's really just a goofball with big city dreams of becoming a rockstar.

Spends like two hours in the shower crying and listening to MCR

His favourite show is Bad Education. It's good for when he needs cheering up.

He likes snacks and foods that are crunch, and salty, spicy, and sometimes savoury. So Crisps, Pringles, Doritos, chex mix etc.

Edd:

Second shortest/third tallest

Kinda chubby tbh but he's the BEST at hugs.

His forearm game is actually pretty strong because of all the time he spends making art to pay for their bills (because hey, someone's gotta do it amirite). You don't wanna head into an arm-wrestling contest with this guy.

Makes money by selling his art and also taste-testing all the latest cola products! (Just...not the diet ones).

Aside from a devianart, redbubble and maybe even a tumblr for art commissions, he doesn't really care about social media. Or regular media. Politics who?

His favourite sport? Seeing how many cans of cola he can get through on an especially difficult project. (Cricket always looked kind of fun though)

Smells like cola and not taking a shower in days because he HAS to get the lineart perfect and edd are you ok when was the last time you slept- (jokes aside, i can see him smelling like graphite and paints and sharpies from his art supplies).

Can pull the perfect poker face like damn son having a baby face sure comes in handy when lying to your roomate about why there's broken guitar strings hanging out of Ringo's mouth again

Has a scar on the inside of his eyelid from the time Tom 'accidently' poked him in the eye with a pencil (...may or may not be based off personal experience)

Edd is pretty friendly and open with people, he likes getting to know them and joking around. He's the Ultimate Punmaster ™, and loves nothing more to poke fun. He sees the world through the eyes of a cartoonist, and will never miss a comedic opportunity.

Be warned! He's actually fairly smart, and can read people well, knowing just how to really get under someone's skin. It's a good thing he can't be bothered with any of that though.

Gets his best ideas either in the tub or when hes just about to sleep. Because of that, he keeps a water-proof and regular notebook. Nearly had a heart-attack countless times because he accidently swapped them around.

Despite his complaints about absurd plot conveniences, he actually likes Doctor Wh- i mean "Proffesor Why", there's just something about the concept of time travel...he also likes cartoons! Like, a lot. He'll watch most anything and everything if it's animated and the writing is decent.

Likes anything sour, sweet, and chewy! So Jelly Babies, Wine gums, Sour patch kids, that kind of thing

Tord:

(Most of these are heavily based upon his life as Red Leader so sorry if you were looking for more domestic Tord. Maybe I'll do seperate hcs for that one day)

Second tallest! Quite a bit taller then Tom, a bit taller then Edd, just about average height, if a bit taller. He's closer to Matt in height then Edd.

He's actually quite well-built! You wouldn't think it because of the baggy hoodie he wears but he's got pretty good muscle, and his endurance and strength is well above the others. This mostly comes from the logic that he's been training and leading the Red Army, so it just makes sense to me that he'd resemble a soldier physically, yknow? AU-wise, or before he started the whole world domination thing, he'd be a little more scrawny, but he could still kick everyone's ass (he probably tried copying numerous anime battle stances lol-)

He's pretty well off, it turns out you can get quite rich by adopting some uh...rather unconventional means of money-making. Of course you could always say he just sold his inventions.

Does having your own private network of underground intelligence-gathering units count as social media? No? Nevermind.(He has a hentaihaven account-)

He likes dodgeball, archery, and you guessed it, arcade shooter games. Anything where he can point and hit something basically.

He smells like gunpowder, dirt, oil from machine maintenance and the cold? Like if the cold had a smell, he would have that smell, does that make sense? He also probably smells like Old Spice because idfk it just reminds me of him ok.

He doesn't exactly get out to socialise much, be prefers to stay at his desk, or curled up next to the fire with a mug of hot cider when he wants to relax. Sometimes Paul and Pat will drag him outside when they think he needs a breath of fresh air, and they'll go visit the nearest marketplace for food and other supplies. He likes strategic games like Chess or Draughts, and it's a good way to show off and get practice at the same time.

Scar-wise, he probably has quite a few from his fights. Post-the end, I'm not sure what would happen to him, since I've seen people go in a lot of different directions. I DO think he'd replace him arm with the robotic one, since that seemed too heavily implied to not happen. Regarding his face, I think the burns and stuff would probably heal over time, and depending on the technology in the future, he'd either still have some heavy scarring, or maybe he'd develop some kind of treatment so that it restores him to almost fully healed. He could always go the cyborg route and end up half-man half-machine like we see with future Matt and Tom.

(About the patch on his face, I have a theory about how he he aquired that scar/injury. See, I don't think Tord founded Red Army by himself, no. I think he was introduced to it by Paul (who we see in the same classroom as them in Poweredd) who was kept back a few years cause....uh...yknow- Anyway I have a theory that Tord eventually climbed the ranks until he became second-in-command, and he then murdered Red Leader and took his title. Their fight is where he got that injury. It's not really canon-supported much, but I find it an interesting concept!)

You've probably guessed, but I kind of disgree with Tord's portrayal sometimes. I think I prefer the darker, meaner side to him. I wouldn't say he's (completely) evil, but I'm not really one for the whole "self-hating, regretful angsty Tord who just wants some love and support" and stuff. I mean, it's cute with ships amd fluff, amd ideally he does make amends and rejoin the group, but I just like the thought that he's genuinely not a nice guy yknow? Like, he's actually done some fucked up stuff, and The End is probably just one case. (Of course this is all opinion based so feel free to disagree if u wanna wheeze-)

Has the WORST sleeping schedule. Has been known to fall asleep in the bath/shower.

He prefers movies to shows. His favourite is the Kingsman series (he can relate on many different levels).

Likes bittersweet things, (just like his personality amirite-). So cake with coffee, or tarts, liquorice, hard candy, that kind of thing.

Matt:

(My favourite-)

He tol. Tallest of them all!

Someone once described him as "borderline twink" and tbh i agree. I feel like he'd have a slightly feminine figure (which is perfectly normal!) and he both rocks it, and knows he does.

He works at a nail salon every now and again, his self-confidence and bubbliness makes him get along well with customers. (Also Matt would definitely wear nail polish ok dont even try to convince me otherwise. Actually speaking of,)

He has EVERY kind of social media possible. Instagram, twitter, facebook, tumblr, facebook, snapchat, you name it! He's especially prominent on instagram. He likes to keep an ~aesthetic~

He likes gymnastics and dance, activities like that. Anything which puts him in a creative spotlight. He'd probably take up acting classes, and then insist on only being given monologues.

He'd probably have quite a pleasant and nature-y smell? Like uhh citrus-y, pine tree, a hint of flowers, that kind of thing. Although he'd DEFINITELY slap on way too much cologne on a date or something and end up smelling like he just emptied out a bottle of febreeze.

He'd probably go out quite a lot! I can see Matt being a social butterfly, his friendliness and general likeability probably mean that he's got a few friends and stuff around. I can also see him as the kind of person who'd enjoy taking walks in the park, sitting below a tree, that kind of thing. He probably runs a self-love session (that works a little TOO well). He wants to get out there and show off his beautiful face, so it doesn't take a lot to drag him outside (provided you keep a mirror on you, that is).

He doesn't really have any physical scars. I mean, i do hc him with freckles, but they don't count so. he has a mental scar. After he hit himself with the memory eraser gun, he completely erased his memories. It took a while for him to settle onto the personality he has now. His face was the one thing that he knew for certain held a sense of familiarity and stability, so that's partly why his narcissism boomed so much. He sometimes gets random flashbacks of being a zombeh leader, being less of a nicer person, and it can be quite unnerving for him. He also has other memory issues, which is why he can forget things so easily, and comes across as an idiot most of the time.

He can be quite oblivious, but I dont think hes a total idiot. He can read people fairly well, and is emotionally intelligent. He says stupid things sometimes despite knowing they'll get a reaction, just because he wants to, and thinks that life should be as fun and full of joy as possible. He's too trusting, and wants to see the good in everyone. At the end of the day, if you disrespect him (and his face), you'll see that he can be more then just the nice guy.

LUSH!! Matt is HERE for all those lush products. I'm talking bath bombs, lip scrubs, shower jellies, all that good stuff! And ofc he has like 100+ products for his hair and skincare routine, because let's face it, it's Matt. I also like to think he owns a bunch of bath toys and rubber duckies, and like the kid at heart he is, he'll sit in a bubble bath playing with them, and re-enacting all of their adventures.

He mostly prefers youtube videos over TV, so you bet he's subscribed to all the beauty gurus, vloggers, people like that. He does think children's cartoons are nice to watch though, so every once in a while he'll force Tom and Edd to sit with him and watch the latest season of My little pony.

He likes anything sweet and fun to look at! Especially if it's trending, so he can post pictures of himself eating/drinking it. So if there's another rolled ice cream/new starbucks-ccino/unicorn themed food item floating about, he'll probably be trying it.

(Ah man this turned out way longer then i thought. It went from simple headcanons to like full blown theories whoops- maybe i should make seperate posts if its too difficult to read? Anyway let me know what you think nonetheless!)

[strgaykids]

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*soft bias tag*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Tagged by @bangs-chan​ and @bangchcn​ <3 ty my loves :))

*♡ ｡･ﾟﾟ･ 1. Who is your bias?

Lee Felix! :)) all my uwu’s belong to him

*♡ ｡･ﾟﾟ･ 2. What made you notice them?

His voice! When I first listened to Hellevator I didn’t watch the MV bc I was on another tab but then I just hear “ 찾아내 출구는 어디에...” and let me tell you I fell out of my chair and well now look at where I am :’)

*♡ ｡･ﾟﾟ･ 3. What’s your favorite thing about them?

HAH YOU WANT ME TO NAME ONLY ONE???????? WELL TOO BAD YOU’RE GETTING MORE

His laugh (this is the top one)! Not just his smile, but his laugh.

His soft heart! Hyunjin pointed this out too and I couldn’t agree more!

His tiny hands that are probably still bigger than mine haha :’) man those fans that go to fansigns and get to hold their hands... I’m so jealous lol

His freckles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this doesn’t need an explanation

His love for his members! Tells me a lot about how he would treat his friends and that’s a massive uwu

etc etc hmu if u want to talk more about why I love lee felix

*♡ ｡･ﾟﾟ･ 4. Who would initiate skinship more?

Ok Felix has shown a ton of skinship with his friends but I feel like he would be really shy with the person he actually likes? So if he ever liked me then it would 100% be me bc I’m a very touchy feely person and I love hugs and cuddles uwu

*♡ ｡･ﾟﾟ･ 5. Who would hog blankets more?

Hm not too sure about this one probably me tho I love my blanket :)

*♡ ｡･ﾟﾟ･ 6. Who would be more clingy?

Me lol r u joking

*♡ ｡･ﾟﾟ･ 7. Who would say ‘I love you’ first?

Me! I tell my friends ‘I love you’ all the time! I think its important to express luv <3 except he’d probably think its a casual ‘I love you’ to friends and then I’d get friendzoned lmfao

*♡ ｡･ﾟﾟ･  8. Who would be more easily flustered?

God probably Felix lol I’m pretty good at hiding my embarrassment (but like on the inside I’d be just as flustered) and, well, you’ve all saw Felix’s reaction when Changbin kissed him on the cheek lol

*♡ ｡･ﾟﾟ･ 9. What cuddling position would you two have?

Mutual cuddle where we have our arms wrapped around each other and I can snuggle my head into his neck :^)

*♡ ｡･ﾟﾟ･ 10. Which colours remind you of them and why?

Pastel Orange bc hes a very bright kid but he’s not neon orange. He actually comes off as a really shy kid which is why pastel suits him :)

*♡ ｡･ﾟﾟ･ 12. Which season would you like to spend with them?

Fall! So I can spend his birthday with him!

*♡ ｡･ﾟﾟ･ 13. Who would bake the cookies and who would steal the batter?

Both. It would be a mess.

*♡ ｡･ﾟﾟ･ 14. Which one of you would make bad puns and how would the other react?

R u kidding me have you seen any of my posts. We would have pun and meme contests and I’d win every time :^)

*♡ ｡･ﾟﾟ･ 15. Who would want to adopt 50 dogs and cats?

Both of us :)) he told a fan once that he likes both cats and dogs and I want to grow up and have tons of cats and dogs uwu

*♡ ｡･ﾟﾟ･ 16. Which one of you would nearly burn down the kitchen try to microwave a pop tart and who would come to the rescue?

I mean from the vlives he doesn’t look too bad in the kitchen???? But he’d be more likely to be fooling around and then mess something up lol I take my cooking very seriously ;)

*♡ ｡･ﾟﾟ･ 17. Who likes to lean over tall railings and who pulls them back?

We’d both lean over and fall

*♡ ｡･ﾟﾟ･ 18. What would watching a horror film with them be like?

we wouldn’t watch horror films together lmao I’m the biggest pussy on Earth and sk members seem to say that Felix doesn’t like horror either so we can just watch sappy romances and action films together while crying in each other’s arms bc both of us are crybabies

*♡ ｡･ﾟﾟ･ 19. Who would be the cheesy flirt and who would be the smooth flirt?

HAH Felix wouldn’t even flirt with me

but if he did... I would be cheesy sometimes and smooth other times. My mutuals can confirm :^)) He would be cheesy like cmon

*♡ ｡･ﾟﾟ･ 20. Who is more competitve?

Probably me lol (my inner debater has to win)

*♡ ｡･ﾟﾟ･ 21. Who would have to be given constant reminders? (Remember to eat, don’t forget to your keys, etc)

He would lol I lose things all the time and sometimes I don’t eat. It’s not like I forget to eat it’s more like I’m too lazy to eat and then I procrastinate eating and I get so hungry that I’m not hungry anymore. 

does that even make sense

*♡ ｡･ﾟﾟ･ 22. Who sends memes and who sends cute ‘I miss you’ texts at 3am?

I told u we’d have meme contests lol

and I hope he would send me ‘I miss you’ texts uwu I definitely would

Tagging: @realstraykids @jisapphic @maaatryoshka @hyyunjinn @hey-hey-chan @doublekn0t @spearbi @kim-squishmin :)

[blaineandsamevanderson]

Title: Nailed It! Chapter 1

Author: @blaineandsamevanderson

Fandom: Teen Wolf

Ship: Thiam

Rating: PG-13

Summary: The Nailed It! AU no one asked for.  Liam is a contestant, Theo is a guest judge….

**

**

“Welcome to Nailed It! The baking show based on the internet phenomenon where ordinary people try to recreate masterpieces...but don’t always get there.  I’m Nicole Byer, along with chocolate boss Jacques Torres and today’s special guest, scrumptious treat Theo Raeken.  Today three home bakers will recreate epic, magical desserts over two rounds of competition.  One of them will walk away with $10,000!  Let’s meet our bakers!” Nicole announced, standing in the Nailed It kitchen with Jacques and Theo.

The scene shifted to show a young man running across a lacrosse field before transitioning to him in a kitchen.  “Hi, I’m Liam,” he introduces himself as a title card identifies him as Liam Dunbar - Student/Lacrosse player at UC Berkeley.  There are various hots of him baking (with varying degrees of success) and being teased by his friends about it.  “I started baking with my mom when I was in high school cuz it helps me relax...plus, there’s food at the end and I’ll eat anything, so...win win no matter what!  I wanna prove to my friends Mason and Corey that my cakes are edible...no one's broken a tooth in years!”

A beautiful redhead appears on screen next.  “Baking is simply science,” she notes as the scroll names her Lydia Martin- Noted Theoretical Physicist.  “Sometimes, after a long day of unlocking unknown secrets of the universe, it’s nice to come home and unwind in the kitchen.”  There’s a brief montage that shows he baking several nice looking cakes.

The final contestant stares at the camera with dark eyes and an annoyed expression.  “Derek,” he grumbles, unaware that the screen identifies him as Derek Hale - Grumpy Cat Doppelgänger?.  There are a bunch of shots of him glaring at half cooked or charred cookies.  “I lost a bet.”

The door at the far end of the studio kitchen slides open, admitting the three bakers.  “Hey guys!” Nicole greeted them enthusiastically.  “Welcome to Season 2 of Nailed It! You guys ready to bake?”

The three contestants nodded with varying levels of enthusiasm.  

“Today we’re celebrating all things sexy.  With me, as always, our head judge, as hot as chili pepper chocolate, Jacques Torres.”

The man in chefs whites smiled. “Nicole, I love you, I’m so glad to be back.  Hello, Bakers, bonjour.”

“Today’s guest judge might have abs that say he’s never eaten a cake, but rumor has it he’s got a sweet tooth.  You might know him from billboards, runway shows and television...Theo Raeken,” Nicole continued, indicating the handsome young man on her other side.  “Wow...I just want to stare at you for a bit.”

A bright smile crossed Theo’s face and he wrapped his arms around Nicole in a warm hug as he smiled at the bakers.  “Hey guys.  Can’t wait to taste what you come up with!”

Playfully fanning herself after the hug, Nicole faced the bakers. “There’s a special prize for the winner of this round: Baker’s Choice!  Behind door number 1, there are 3 sexy ass treats.  You get to choose which one you want to nail.  If you’re trying to impress someone on a first date or even get a little action, nothing gets the party started like these...Erotic baked goods!” The doors opened to reveal three small cakes.  “Three perfectly formed, nearly anatomically correct cakes are yours for the taking.  Each of you must choose one to recreate.  First we have a Bootiful Bottom...next Bountiful Bosoms...and finally a rather impressive example of baked manhood.  Grab your favorite!”

**

Of course he’d wind up with the dick, Liam thought with a sigh.  Lydia had darted in, surprisingly fast on her high heels, and grabbed the ass cake, leaving him and Derek to choose between the Boobs and dick.  Longer arms had won out and Derek retreated to his kitchen with the boobs.  Not that he had an issue with the cake, he just thought the other two looked like they’d be an easier bake.

He consulted the iPad mounted in his kitchen, reading the recipe and nodding.  It seemed like a fairly standard cake recipe, the shape of it coming from carving out the cake, so he’d have to make sure his bake was on point.  He could hear Lydia clicking around her kitchen, then the whir of a mixer from Derek’s and scrambled into action.

**

“Have you ever made erotic baked goods, Jacques?

The chef laughed.  “This is a first for me, Nicole!  It’s not often I get to say that after so many years in this business.”

She turned to Theo and teased, “Is there any tasty treat you’re especially eager to try.”

Theo’s eyes twinkled and he gave a nod toward Liam’s kitchen. “I have to say, I’m kinda interested to get my mouth on Liam’s cock...cake.”

**

It totally wasn’t Liam’s fault when he dropped a pan.  Thank god it was empty, but how could they expect him to focus when Theo Raeken was saying things like that?  Okay, so there was no way the show could know Theo had been Liam’s first celebrity crush that made him realize he wasn’t 100% straight, but still!

The man was clearly a menace!

Cakes safe in the oven, Liam went to make his buttercream, trying to ignore the sexy distraction at the judges table.

**

“Uh oh...Derek’s putting his butter in the microwave.”

“That’s a mistake.  The consistency will be too loose.  Oily.”

“I think Lydia’s skipping the buttercream all together in favor of a ganache.”

“I’m not a fan of ganache. If I’m eating a cake, I want frosting.”

**

Crap.  The cake was a little under done, Liam was pretty sure of that, but he had to get it frosted.  Not focusing on shape yet, he made a rough attempt at the shape of the cake before jamming it in the blast chiller.

The only reason he wasn’t panicking was that the others seemed to be at a similar stage.

Ripping it out of the chiller, Liam hurried back to his counter and began carving the shape of the cake.  

**

“This is a tight race. Everyone’s on the decorating stage with 5 minutes left.”

“I’ve seen some good skills and a few questionable choices.”

“Everyone seems to have some impressive skills...certainly better in the kitchen than me.  I especially appreciate Liam’s handling of his cake.  Impressive.”

**

When the first round came to a close, Liam found himself standing by Lydia and Derek, each of them covering their cakes before the reveal.

Nicole looked to Derek first.  “Okay, Derek, you were trying to nail a tremendous ta ta cake!  Let’s take a final look at the example.”  Everyone looked at the impressive cake before turning back to Derek.

With a sigh, he lifted the lid off of his cake.  There was a beat of silence before he grumped, “Nailed it.”

The cake kinda looked like boobs.  Sure, they were a little misshapen and different sizes, the fondant not really smooth but it was the nipples that were really odd.  Liam felt a small stab of hope that maybe his cake wouldn’t be the worst.

“Okay,” Nicole said, tilting her head to the side.  “Okay, they kinda look like boobs.  I can see it.”

Jacques nodded.  “If your buttercream had set right, it would have provided a smoother base for the fondant.  Next time, no microwave!”

“I mean, I’d eat it, but it looks like you airbrushed off the nipples and just left the areolas,” Theo said as they approached and sampled the cake.

They seemed to like the taste of the cake though and then moved on to Lydia.

Her cake actually looked like the example, not perfect, but really close.  Everyone was impressed and the only complaint anyone had was that it was slightly dry.

When Liam pulled the cover off his cake, he blurted, “Nailed it!”

Because why not?

The judges were quiet for a moment and then Nicole said, “It kinda looks like the example, cake, so, props for that.”

“Yes, your carving was quite well done,” Jacques added.  “Have you ever worked with fondant before?”

“No,” Liam admitted, eyes darting over to Theo who was approaching.

“The fondant’s cracked right at the tip and the buttercream is leaking out,” the man said with a smile, swiping a finger through the escaping frosting and then sucking it clean.  “Mmm, your cream is tasty.”

“This isn’t that kind of show, boys!” Nicole said and Liam barely heard their praise of the cake’s flavor.  He did have to admit that bits were undercooked.

Lydia won the Golden baking hat and Liam wasn’t entirely surprised to discover he was at the bottom of the pile.  He resolved himself to at least beat Derek in round 2.

TBC....

[simnovels-blog]

Replies!

--->

@goatkibble replied to your photoset “The Year 2238, Day 1 - Violet’s Journal As I expected, once everyone...”

If story progression has anything to do with it, they will all be partnered up tonight and you will get whatever is left over. If you're lucky.

Lol that’s so true actually. I changed some settings around in SP trying to slow the partnering up down, but STILL two of the townies hooked up on the first day. In all honesty, I really don’t care that much about whether they are technically taken or not. I’ll break up any couple for the sake of my story whether it will become part of the actual story or not. Breaking up sims is super easy luckily.

@rosiesimming replied to your post “The Avesnes Aristocracy - 113”

I'm gonna miss Justine and all the others when they move out! At least they'll still be around, but soon Justine is gonna die T__T So sad.

I’ll miss this generation too, it’s been an amazing generation so far and I’m really happy about all the siblings and their characters. But really it’s time to move on and I’m sure Benjamin and Madelyn will create some pretty interesting children themselves! It’s hard for me to keep up with so many sims, I’ve been neglecting Annabelle and Vincent because I just can’t find enough time in the sims days to give them a storyline lol. I have some ideas for Vincent especially!

@dandylion240 replied to your post “The Avesnes Aristocracy - 113”

Not sure she should be trying to set her siblings up. That could really back fire on her.

Ohh trust me I know all about that haha! The amount of times my sisters have tried to set me up with someone... it always enraged me :’D. Madelyn means well though, she wants her siblings to be happy.

@goatkibble replied to your post “The Avesnes Aristocracy - 112”

Maddy is far and away the most beautiful of them all! Although Annabelle has a lot going for her as well.

I agree Madelyn has the natural beauty. But I love Annabelle because of her fierce look as well. To be honest, all of the siblings are very good looking kids! Billy Caspian get a major recommendation from me as a spouse choice in Riverview.

@laurawritesandgames replied to your photo “A Sims 3 Colony Challenge! So for my brand new story I have designed...”

This is a really creative idea. Can't wait to see the story that results!

Thank you! I hope you will enjoy ^^

@stepawayfromthecarrot replied to your photo “A Sims 3 Colony Challenge! So for my brand new story I have designed...”

Great idea! Looking forward to it

Thanks! To be honest it feels refreshing to start a new story again even though it’s because of bad circumstances haha.

@rosiesimming replied to your photo “A Sims 3 Colony Challenge! So for my brand new story I have designed...”

This sounds so interesting! Can't wait to see it :D

Thank you ^^

@ktarsims replied to your post “Ugh.. new disaster.. Hey guys my computer crashed this morning and...”

*sends hugs* I hope you are able to get it fixed!

I hope so too. Luckily my father says he has a special device that can restore my files from my harddrive even if I can’t use it anymore so my sims files should be safe. I just hope he can fix my entire pc without having to buy any expensive parts though because I really don’t have money for that at the moment... This laptop is great and all, but my Avesnes household lags a lot on it because it’s just not as good as my desktop and my Avesnes house is crazy large and there are too many family members lol...

@rosiesimming replied to your post “The Avesnes Aristocracy - 112”

They're all so gorgeous!!

I know right! Justine and Billy have produced some amazing kids! Don’t you just love watching genetics play out in this game :D.

@rosiesimming replied to your post “Ugh.. new disaster.. Hey guys my computer crashed this morning and...”

Well I hope you get your pc fixed, but I eagerly await whatever you have planned ;D

Thank you! Same message to you as to ktarsims. I have to say it’s a nice opportunity to play a new game, though once I got my old files and hopefully my desktop back I am going to have to set up a schedule to be able to keep up with everything lol...

@dandylion240 replied to your post “Ugh.. new disaster.. Hey guys my computer crashed this morning and...”

I hope you are able to fix it.

My dad is my only hope, but he’s great with computers and has fixed many of my problems in the past. We have localized the problem to my harddrive. It somehow runs at 100% power nonstop as soon as the PC is started up, which makes it extremely slow and makes me unable to start up anything. I figured it out after starting up task manager and waiting half an hour for it to actually boot -_-. I googled the problem and the conclusion was it can be caused by many different things. From a faulty windows update to malware to just a broken harddrive. First I need to get my files to safety (my dad can do that), and then I can start figuring out what the real problem is.

@shhhushhh replied to your post “Ugh.. new disaster.. Hey guys my computer crashed this morning and...”

This happened to me 2 weeks ago. Nothing happened after the automatic repair. Then I tried to switch it on again an it magically worked. And then I copied all my sims files on two different external drives - first thing to do!!! So fingers crossed the Christmas miracle works for you too!

Unfortunately no miracle yet for me! But I’m hoping a factory reset might fix my problem after I’ve restored my files somewhere else at my dad’s place first. If not, then maybe I’ll have to buy a new harddrive.

@goatkibble replied to your photoset “Jack: “You know Taylor, it may not seem this way but I feel this...”

YASSSS! Finally some man on man action! :D:D:D

Haha I was quite shocked to suddenly see Jack do an amorous hug on Taylor. They didn’t hang out much yet together. Though in all fairness all of the contestants are good friends with each other by now. The next elimination will be a close one I can tell you! I’m still playing around with my settings because I’m still not getting any autonomous actions that will make them romantic interests even though I’ve got stuff like first kiss on autonomous and stuff like woohoo available with 1.500 fun...

@goatkibble replied to your photoset “Jack: “You know Izanami, even though Taylor is a pretty hot male,...”

Cheating? Do you mean sneaking into the hut?

Yeah Izanami tried to seduce Thomas into sneaking her into the champions hut shower, but that’s not allowed since she’s not a champion!

@rosiesimming replied to your photoset “Jack: “You know Taylor, it may not seem this way but I feel this...”

FUCK ALREADY! XD

Your words my thoughts!

@rosiesimming replied to your photoset “Justine: “…and I’d like to thank the farmer who brought us the seeds...”

Oh my gosh, Justine is getting way too big for her pants, so to speak.

Lol Justine has always been too big for her pants! :’D

@goatkibble replied to your photoset “Justine: “…and I’d like to thank the farmer who brought us the seeds...”

SO obnoxious

You can say that again! She spent an entire day practicing speech and didn’t stop until she nearly peed her pants lol.

@goatkibble replied to your post “The Avesnes Aristocracy - 111”

I can think of a 4 family members who should move out right away! Celeste (and her spawn) can lurk in the shadows like a vulture hoping for Maddy to fail where we don't have to see her XDDD

Celeste, Herbert and their kids will move out as soon as Madelyn is pregnant, so have some patience! ;) Though now that they have kids and are a happy family I won’t be spending much time on them anymore besides showing off their kids of course.

@goatkibble replied to your post “The Avesnes Aristocracy - 110”

Oh yay! Let's hope she moves out now.

She will, eventually ;P. Madelyn can still get struck by a meteor you know... It happened to Takitsuhiko in my Descendants of the Sun save so you never know!

@hyperkaos replied to your post “The Avesnes Aristocracy - 110”

A very happy and melancholy moment at the same time. :/

I know :< I am scared for Justine’s death every day. I keep good track of her age as you may have noticed haha. I really hope she becomes old. I think the athletic skill helps!

@goatkibble replied to your post “Replies~”

I'd like anyone but Justine to win!. She's too smug and all these challenges are too easy for her :P

It’s true the challenge is way too easy for her, but by now all of her traits have passed already. The next challenges won’t resolve around athletics anymore and that’s really what makes her so good at everything, besides her charismatic skill of course. It’s about time we test brains in this crowd, don’t you think? I’m sure Izanami won’t mind as she’s a genius lol.

[meditatemoremedicateless]

Dear Kate, (Give me Me back)

Fandom: Life is Strange

Pairings: Chasemarsh, Ambermarsh

Major Tags: possession, angst, drug use

Words: 5,144

Summary: Kate wakes up to find that she has been gone for four days. She hasn’t slept in God knows how long. And she has a test today. Victoria finds her falling apart at the seams, and recognizes she needs help. It kind of backfires.

Written to “No Care” by Daughter.

Read the full story on Ao3.

"Kate! Shut the fuck up!"

What?

Kate awoke suddenly as if from a nightmare. Her heart raced, and it took a second for the world to come into focus. She found herself lying in her bed, with her phone on her chest and her headphones in. Her right hand rested on her navel, but it was sticky and warm. She rubbed her legs together for a second and found that she was either very wet or she'd just started her period. It was too dark in the room to tell which, no light filtering in through the window.

"Thank you," Victoria said, obviously pissed.

Why is Victoria shouting at me? What time is it?

Kate managed to answer both of those questions by lifting up her phone, finding herself at the end of some menage a trois on Pornhub. She grimaced and tapped out, finding the time: 5:34am. Why in the world was she up this early? And why wasn't her heart rate coming down?

It took her a few minutes to close out of her browser, put away her ear phones, clean up, and get her pajamas back on, after which she sat on the bed and wished herself gone for a moment. Why did she have to be awake right now? Why did Katie have to be awake at 5:30am? And why, if she felt so exhausted, did she also feel so energetic?

When she checked her phone again, dread suddenly crawled its way down her back. November 15? She had lost four days! What was even the last thing she could remember? She knew she got up Monday but . . . what had happened in class? Who had she spoken to? When did she disappear?

Kate got up from bed and sat down in front of her laptop, turning it on and waiting for it to boot up. As she drummed her fingers impatiently on the desk, she noticed a small white bottle she didn't recognize. She turned it around and read the label: Excedrin. Really? She'd never bought this. Was Katie having migraines?

Curious, she unscrewed the top and looked inside. She recognized the contents . . . but they weren't Excedrin. She dumped a few of them out on the table, spreading them out before picking one up, holding it up to the light of her computer screen.

She was right. It wasn't Excedrin. It was Adderall XR, just like what her little sister took. Why did Katie have Adderall? Kate didn't have ADHD. Unless . . .

Kate raised two fingers to her neck, and found that her heart was still racing.

Once her laptop was booted up, she went to check her notes for Katie's letter, but she found none. That's about when the panic set in. She had lost four days and had nothing to go on to tell her what had happened except a mislabeled bottle of pills.

She opened up her Facebook, her e-mails, her search history. She clicked into her messages on her phone and sat it next to the keyboard. Not knowing what had happened to her body frightened her, it frightened her even more than how she had begun to lose control of it. Kate had been frustrated with Katie before, but she'd never felt . . . violated like she did right now.

There were so many messages. It was amazing how much you could talk to people in four days. Max, Dana, Stella, Alyssa, Victoria, Warren, Hayden, Juliet. Sending messages to any of them didn't look suspicious or strange, really. It wasn't until she started to comb through them that Kate started to see where things went wrong.

Tues. 5:14

Kate: hey, stella, i heard you could get me a hook-up, is that true?

Stella: What?

Kate: you know, for studying. physics is killing me LOL

Stella: What are you talking about Kate?

Kate: you don't have to play pretend Kate: Dana told me that VC buys from you Kate: you sell addys and benzos, right? I want some Kate: no tricks, no bullshit. I'm just having a hard time. help me out?

Stella: Kate, I wish you wouldn't contact me on FB about something like this

Kate: OK OK I'll text you

Kate checked her messages. She had to scroll up quite a bit to find Tuesday, but the cut between the last message that was her and the first one that was Katie was pretty easy to spot.

Kate: Thanks stella! ^^

Tues. 5:38 PM

Kate: so?

Stella: Kate, is something wrong? This isn't like you at all. And I don't think I'm comfortable selling you anything.

Kate: relax, would you? it's totally fine. you know how hard it can be when you're on scholarship, and youre going to need scholarships to go to college Kate: i know you do. and i'd really prefer if I could go to you, my friend, instead of nathan. he gives me the creeps .

Tues. 7:21 PM

Stella: OK Stella: And you don't have to pay me. I'll just stop by your room. Stella: Maybe we should study together sometime? I really don't want you to rely on these.

Kate: yeah, totally, 100%, sounds good. Kate: you're a good friend :)

The search histories didn't raise nearly the same concerns, but they still didn't make Kate feel any better.

search

chloe price chloe arcadia bay chloe

When Kate followed the most recent link, she saw a familiar face as the top result. When she clicked on it, it took her to the profile of someone named Chloe Elizabeth Price. And Kate realized immediately where she recognized this girl - she had been showing up in her dreams constantly since she won the Everyday Heroes contest. She had been the girl at the far back of the shot, hugging a blonde waitress. Since then she'd been seeing her around school every once and a while, just sitting out in the courtyard talking to Justin or some of the other boys. From the looks of things, she didn't hang out with other girls much.

Apparently, Katie just looked - they weren't friends, and she hadn't sent a request. Maybe she was just having the same dreams.

The Google search history was a little more concerning.

pornhub pornhub khan academy forces khan academy derivative functions khan academy calculus frank bowers arcadia bay damon merrick murder? damon merrick arcadia bay damon merrick tillamook county da youtube volume of a cone prescott foundation sean prescott sera gearhardt arcadia bay blackwell academy class of 1977 blackwell academy class of 1976 blackwell academy class of 1975 blackwell academy class of 1974 blackwell academy class of 1973 blackwell academy class of 1972 blackwell academy class of 1971 blackwell academy class of 1970 khan academy tillamook county missing persons arcadia bay missing persons rachel amber missing person rachel amber modeling rachel amber long beach rachel amber arcadia bay pornhub netflix exorcism spirits do you have to be dead to possess someone possession amazon why is the new romantics not on netflix netflix dream meaning

A murder? Rachel Amber? Sean Prescott? Exorcism? What was Katie looking up, and why? She could also stand to see Pornhub crop up less often.

Once Kate felt caught up on her conversations of the past few days, it was past 8:00am and whatever she was high on wasn't doing it anymore. She wondered how long she - how long Katie - had been awake. She couldn't imagine laying back down in bed, but she was also blinking every few seconds because the light irritated her eyes and she was losing focus. That was when she finally retired from the computer and her phone and decided to wrap a blanket around her head and not move for a few hours.

First, though, she had to check her planner and make sure nothing too big was happening today. Unfortunately, there were two messages written in all caps and circled with a red highlighter.

PHYSICS TEST MILE RUN

No. "God . . . dammit," Kate said. The panic set in again, but there was no juice behind it - she just felt tears suddenly well up and spill hot over her face. She was already doing so bad in physics. And although it looked like Katie had been pulling all nighters studying and researching God knows what, Kate didn't remember any of it. PE was period 2, and Physics period 4. She had also been expected to finish a hundred pages of The Brothers Karamazov for AP English, but she'd only read half of it, and there would at least be a review and discussion today.

Kate was not one to fall apart if she could help it. But whatever energy, whatever willpower she normally leveraged, she felt like it had all been drained away sometime in the past four days, and she was so exhausted. She didn't want to move. School was just an everyday thing - how could it be so daunting to just catch up one week? How was she going to run a fucking mile like this? Why couldn't she just sleep instead of suddenly waking up with everything in the tank already spent?

Step one. She needed someone who had actually been awake for this past week who might be willing to help her. Brooke? They had AP Physics together. She was abrasive, sure, but she had never said no to helping Kate in class.

Kate: Brooke, could you help me study for the Physics test during lunch? I feel like I haven't learned anything this last week and I'm freaking out. I'll owe you one.

Step two. She needed to stay awake, get through her first two classes, study through lunch and period 3 for physics, and take the test. But how was she supposed to . . .

And slowly, as the realization came to her, her eyes settled on the small white bottle beside her laptop.

The focus helps. It helps Kate get out of bed, eat oatmeal, read the SparkNotes, get through first and second period, study with Brooke without giving anything more away than the fact that she'd pulled an all-nighter. She'd seemed frustrated that Kate hadn't, or couldn't pick up what they had been taught, what she'd taken perfect notes on. But the ideas just didn't seem to be making sense.

Music lab was easier, but after a moment of chatting, Max grew quiet and just started to focus on working. Kate wondered what was bothering her. She wondered if it was herself.

The physics test . . . Kate was nowhere near ready. She did the work she could on the front page, skipping ahead when she couldn't seem to make any headway on the problem. But the first problem on the back page left her stumped. She had no idea where to start. She could read the words but it was like they wouldn't stick in her brain, and she couldn't make sense of them, nevermind remember the equations necessary to turn them into useful information. Over the following hour she finished maybe a third of the problems, just writing down what variables she could identify correctly and throwing down some math that looked right in hoping to earn a few points. She was the second to last person to leave, with only Stella staying in until the very last minute. She looked up at Kate with concern throughout the test, and again when she left.

Kate hated the attention. She wanted to be invisible. She wanted a fifth day of not being here. What was even the point at play-acting through a life she'd never get to entirely commit to? Even her friends she was only sharing. Nothing was ever going to be just hers again.

These are the sort of thoughts that kept repeating and bouncing around in her head until she found herself on her knees inside one of the dorm showers. She hated this. How had she let herself become so unraveled in such a short amount of time? Was she really, honestly so dependent on her daily routine to keep herself functional? People make it through a night or two without sleep. There are people who live every day with stimulants in their body to get through work, to get through the school day, as apparently one of her best friends helped people do. Was she just a weak person? Is that why Katie was slowly taking over her mind?

Kate bowed her head, letting the shower run rivulets down her back. She touched her forehead to the shower floor, which must be filthy, but she couldn't think of any other act of humility.

"Please . . . God, please. I can't do this anymore. I don't want to become her. If your gift is agency, please, why are you taking mine?"

Kate had been telling herself all this time that Katie was real, that she was some dead girl who lost her body but not her mind, and Kate was just some unfortunate vessel. But she wondered now if that was some fantasy of how the world can work, that even the loss of her body was serving to do some good. But what if Katie was no dead girl, not some poor soul, not someone who needed Kate's help? What if she was a devil, and Kate had been supposed to say, 'Get thee behind me', cast her out instead of being arrogant. What had Katie really done but take the life she'd chosen for herself away from her? But tempt her?

Kate thought of herself as a smart Christian, a discerning Christian, someone who did not accuse God of being behind the randomness of the world or people's evil and goodness. She had read the Old Testament and thought many times about turning her back on Him for the things that book said he did. She had never believed he'd turn his back on her. Not for secret misanthropy, not for her errant mind, for . . . how people like Max could make her feel. She could still live a good, happy life, so long as she treated herself, others, and the world with the respect they were due.

"Please. I don't want this test. I just want my life back."

At first, Kate thought there'd be no answer. She thought, she let herself believe that in her moment of need, she wouldn't be found worthy of help. She didn't even have a reason, just the feeling that she had been abandoned.

But she hadn't been. She should know better by now.

"Kate?" It was Victoria. "Is that you?"

"Vic-Victoria?"

"Yeah, it's me."

There was a brief pause before Victoria asked, "Are you okay?"

Kate laughed, picking her face up from the shower floor, closing her eyes so the water just ran down her face. Her hair clung to her back in an irritating clump. "No, I don't think I am."

It was quiet for a while. Kate picked herself up, leaning against the cold tile along the side of the shower.

Victoria spoke up again, "Do you need help?"

Kate replayed the question in her head several times before she suddenly burst out laughing. It wasn't funny, not really, but it was like she couldn't control it, but no matter how she tried to make it stop, they wracked her body until it hurt. Finally, she just grit her teeth and forced it to stop, breathing harder than she really should from the effort.

"I guess it must be pretty bad if you're offering to help me, huh?"

"I don't know - is it?"

Kate chuckled at that, but it didn't overwhelm her this time. "Yeah. I guess it's pretty bad."

Another pause, then, "Okay. I'm going to take a shower right now - can I come see you after?"

"Yeah . . . yeah. I guess that'd be okay."

Kate was surprisingly cold, wrapped in a blanket and sitting on her bed, just waiting for Victoria to get back from the shower. Now that she was out of the shower, she just felt embarrassed for how she'd fallen apart, how she was letting this all get to her. Four days gone wasn't much worse than four days being sick or four days in the hospital. Anyone could come back from four days. And the drugs, the lack of sleep? It was a Friday. She could spend the whole weekend asleep, in a coma, not moving a muscle until . . . Until Katie came back, and she took the Adderall again, and she didn't sleep again, and she left Kate without a clue of what happened to her again.

Victoria knocked, Kate said 'come in', and then she pulled up Kate's chair again to sit across from her. Kate gently rocked herself to feel okay.

Kate had never really gotten to see Victoria just out of a shower. She always showered in the early morning, and Victoria showered in the evenings when Kate didn't leave her room. Her wet hair was kind of spiky - a little goofy, even. She just wore a tank top and shorts, which Kate could not fathom was comfortable in November. Kate never understood those people, like Victoria, who kept their legs trimmed smooth when any reasonable person would wear nothing lighter than jeans, but if Victoria got cold, she didn't show it. Victoria looked . . . a little less sculpted than normal. Less made-up, less elegant. She looked cute. Something that would never stay intact when she started talking.

For the first minute or so, Victoria didn't say anything, she just held her head up while leaning her elbow on the chair arm, inspecting the room and Kate in quick glances. Whatever she was looking for, Kate couldn't tell, but whatever she was doing was practiced.

Finally Victoria spoke up. She asked, "How long has it been since you slept?"

Kate shook her head. "I don't know."

Victoria made the smallest of nods. Then, "Have you been eating?"

"I don't know."

Victoria bit the inside of her cheek. She didn't seem to like this conversation any more than Kate did.

"What have you been taking?"

That was something Kate had the answer to. "Adderall."

Victoria didn't seem surprised. "Stella?" she asked.

Kate nodded affirmative.

Victoria clicked her tongue. She looked disappointed. In Stella? Or Kate?

"Why?" she asked.

It seemed like a weird question. But it was one Kate had been asking herself, too. "I . . . I think it was because I had a C . . . in physics. Report cards are soon."

Victoria didn't look impressed with Kate's answer, but she didn't criticize it, either. What could she say that Kate didn't already believe? That it wasn't worth it? That having a "C" wasn't the end of the world? She knew that. She had thought Katie knew that, too. It's not like she'd seemed interested in studying more than she had to.

"This doesn't seem like you," Victoria said flatly.

Kate smiled weakly, nodding and looking down to avoid Victoria's gaze. "Well, you're not wrong."

Another quiet.

Victoria was looking somewhere else in the room when she asked, "Did you know I grew up Christian?"

Kate shook her head. "No, I didn't."

Victoria nodded. "Well, I did. I can't say I really gave a shit as a kid, we were the kind of family who went for Easter and watched the Nativity play. But when I was, I don't know, eleven?, I got really into it. Trying to make myself better, live the Ten Commandments, commit no adultery in my heart, that sort of stuff. I think it kind of pissed my parents off, really - I told them we shouldn't worship money, that God didn't like drinking, stupid shit. I somewhere along the line got the idea in my head that I could act good enough to get me and my family into heaven."

Kate had no idea why she was being told this. She also hated being some weird token kid who kept her faith who people felt they should confess they stopped believing to, which is where she felt this was heading. The Adderall and lack of sleep shortened her patience to the point she just decided to not say anything instead of pretending she cared what was the last straw for Victoria.

Victoria glanced at Kate, then resumed looking at the corner of the room. "I didn't entirely believe it, mind you. It just felt like the safe option. Hell scared me, so I just figured, hey, let's not. I'll just play along."

"It all seemed like it was going well. I think I was thirteen. I honestly don't remember who told me, but there was this woman who told me that, when the day of reckoning came, I'd be judged for what was in my heart. I think she meant it in a good way, like she was complimenting me for helping her or something. But that just scared me, because no matter what I did, my heart was never really in it. I could be the perfect-est Christian boy and still, they'd ask more?"

I don't care I don't care I don't care.

"So, I gave up. I had a drink. I transitioned. I wore designer clothes for no reason but because I could. I tried to make my outsides match my insides. At least that way, I was honest. No asshole angel could show up one day and let everyone know I'd been lying all along."

"I thought that was enough. You know, give God the bird, revel in the moral superiority of being honest, finally. But . . . a while later. I had this friend who attempted suicide a few times."

Despite her agitation, there was still a tiny reservoir of sympathy in Kate, and it was at least enough for her to finally look at Victoria.

"She was Christian, too. She hated it, too, but her parents wouldn't have it any other way. Studied scripture for years in seminary - she was Mormon. And she refused to play the part, too. She told me a few times at least, that she believed in God because she could tell he hated her. I really vibed with that. It made me feel powerful. It felt good to be something important enough to be hated."

"But, yeah, anyway. This one day she texts me a goodbye. I panic, try to talk her down, find out her plan. A dumbass plan, too - drowning in a bath tub, putting a mattress over it and taking tranquilizers until she couldn't fight back. But, stupid plan or no, I freaked out. Tried to get ahold of her parents, but I couldn't. Didn't know her address. I was stuck in Seattle, and she was here, so there wasn't anything I could do. So, I prayed. Thought it was the only thing left I could do. I just asked Him to spare her. I don't know why I thought he'd listen, really, I didn't offer anything in exchange. I just begged. I didn't want to lose her. If He couldn't have mercy, maybe pity."

She stopped there. Kate expected her to continue, but as the seconds dragged on, Kate became unsure.

"What . . . what happened to your friend?"

"Hm?" Victoria seemed to awaken from a reverie. "Oh. She was unconscious for fourteen hours. The drainage in her tub was pretty good and the water never got over her head. Not enough drugs in her system to kill her. She just woke up, pushed off the mattress and sent me an apology for scaring me."

Kate didn't understand. The story made her sad, but she didn't get anything out of it. "Why are you telling me this?"

Victoria quirked her eyebrows, then folded her hands in her lap. Her feet were up on Kate's desk now, and she swished back and forth a little as she thought.

"Hm. I guess . . . it's because I heard you praying. But not like, real praying. You were begging. You thought you'd lost every bit of power you had, right?"

At first, Kate sat still. Even thinking that just made her more embarrassed and ashamed for the way she'd felt in the shower. But slowly, she nodded.

"Been there," Victoria said. "But I really do think God can't help but take pity on us, small and evil as we are. I don't think there's any bargaining with Him, or pleasing Him really, but I think he feels guilty for the shit we're put through sometimes."

And the irritation is back. "So what?" Kate asks. It's more snide than she anticipated.

Victoria doesn't seem to mind. "So, you get a second chance. You hit your low point and now, here you are. What now? What do you need from your life now that God can give you?"

Kate chuckled quietly again. What did she want? What had she been asking for, really?

"What do I need? I need . . . control. I need to stop losing time. I need some way for my commitments to be upheld. I need to feel like my body is mine. I need to feel like there's something good about me that I chose, like I'm not just acting in a play written by someone else. I need to feel like Me, and to know what that is."

Victoria quirked her eyebrows again. "Tall order," she replied. She mulled it over for a while and said, "What feels like you? If you're in control, and you get to write what happens next, what do you do?"

The first thing that came to mind, the first thing she could finally think of that wasn't what she wanted to stop happening, but what she saw in her mind's eye as happening next, it was wrong. And she knew it. It was precisely the sort of thing she was mad at Katie for doing, the sort of thing that made her feel like she had no control, because she had said 'No' and something inside of her had done it anyway. It was temptation. It was Kate had to rise above to be herself again.

She stood up, standing tall above Victoria for probably the first time. Her hands trembled and she wasn't sure how strong her legs were. She didn't say anything.

Victoria stared up at her curiously. "What is it?" she asked, concerned.

Kate leaned down and reached out at the same time. Her fingers hooked inside Victoria's shirt and pulled it into a bunch in her fist. Fear flashed in Victoria's eyes, as if she were about to be hit. And Kate considered that, too.

Instead, Kate kissed her because she could, and absolutely no one could or would tell her to do it. Because Katie had, and she hadn't 'meant it', whatever the fuck that means. No one in heaven or Earth wanted Kate to kiss Victoria Chase, but she did not care.

Victoria was breathing hard by the time they stopped kissing. Kate's breath was shallow, but she had no idea which thing wrong with her right now was causing that.

"This would be easier if you were on the bed."

Victoria complied once Kate released her from her grasp, sitting on the edge of the bed. Kate couldn't read her expression. Was she horrified? Disgusted? Just shocked? Kate put a hand on her chest and pushed her down as she straddled her, putting probably too much weight on Victoria's chest as she leaned over to kiss her again.

Then, some part of her, some part of her humanity woke up and shocked her into awareness. What would she be if she took control by taking Victoria's away? Would she just be the devil growing in her heart, alive and in control at last?

"Is this okay?" Kate asked.

Victoria was still breathing hard. She licked her lips and blinked a few times as she tried to gather her thoughts. "I thought . . . that I hated you. For never wanting anything selfish. For being good."

Kate didn't feel good. She didn't feel evil, either. She felt like there was nothing outside of this room, outside of her and Victoria right now, that they were invisible to fate and consequence. She felt like absolutely nothing else mattered, least of all the dead girl who lived in her head.

"What do you think now, now that I'm no good anymore?"

There was a part of Kate that knew she was spiraling, that she was losing her grip because she hadn't slept in days, that she didn't even like Victoria or want her. But Kate just told herself that she didn't care. She was writing the script now, and she decided she didn't care about any of that.

"Like I'd be taking advantage if this goes any further."

Kate wrapped her fingers around Victoria's wrists, leaning forward even more to pin them to the bed. She wasn't strong enough to hold Victoria down, and she knew it, but the illusion of control was enough. "Let me make this easy for you, then." Their kiss was rough and passionate and absolutely nothing like what Kate wanted for her first kisses, but those had been taken from her already, hadn't they?

But, like Kate had known, Victoria was stronger than her, and after maybe a minute of them making out and when it became clear that Kate didn't plan to stop it there, Victoria pulled her hands free from Kate's restraint and shoved her off from on top of her. Victoria sat up while Kate returned upright, sitting with her legs crossed on the bed. Victoria was panting and her skin was flushed red. Kate would never have been able to see if Victoria's makeup was on like usual, but it was only too easy to see her effect like this.

"Kate, I think I should go. You're not yourself."

Victoria was right, and she was also wrong.

Victoria stood up and made for the door, but Kate interrupted her, dropping down onto her stomach and sitting her head on her hands, staring up at Victoria as she left.

"What did you feel," Kate asked, "When you heard me masturbating this morning? I have to assume I was loud if I woke you up."

And Victoria paused, her hand on the door handle. She froze there for a second, then took a deep breath. She turned to look back at Kate, but didn't immediately say anything in response.

"Would you like to do that to me yourself?"

Victoria was considering it. She looked Kate over with eyes wide and uncertain and absolutely nothing like she'd ever looked at Kate before.

"It would be wrong," she said.

Kate smiled. "I don't care."

And, after a few more seconds of self-control, of warning and warring with herself, Victoria crumbled. And a few seconds after that, she's on top of Kate, and they get the write the story their way after that.

Dear Katie, Kate said to herself, self-satisfied and, underneath it all, still so angry. Fuck you.

[nightmareofcat]

Act of God

Sophie looked at Loki and made a disapproving face at him. “No. You may not hurt him. He has presents and is actually on our side here. Be nice.”

She took Loki by the hand and gestured to the door. “Show us the toys, Tony!”

Tony took the water bottle from her and held her now free hand and tugged them out the door. “Good choice, dollface. I have something special for you too.”  His dark eyes twinkled as he grinned.

Loki glowered from his place at the rear of their makeshift train, not appreciating Stark's appearance one bit. A soft growl left him at the grin Tony gave Sophie.

Stark chattered all the way into the elevator and on the ride up. “Seriously, I've made some stunning breakthroughs because we've had the glow stick of destiny and the readings from your ring to work with. I found a whole new energy source to work with that the nano tech LOVES.”

Sophie nodded as she listened, but gently eased her hand out of Tony's grasp.

The grumpy god perked up slightly at the mention of his scepter and the ring. “What kind of breakthroughs and what is nano tech?”

“It's building things at the atomic or molecular level. Really tiny stuff, things you can't stick batteries in. Now the power that your light up gear has, flows freely, no carrier, no receptors. I can use power that moves like that to OVER power nano tech devices.” Tony waved his hands around. “Aaaaaand BOOM!” He grinned at Loki and strode down the hall, not stopped to swing open the double doors to his workshop.

Loki stared at the eccentric billionaire with a look of confusion, he may understand most concepts but for some reason Stark still made no sense to him. Once they made it through the double doors, Loki stopped dead in his tracks at seeing the far wall lined with many of Tony's suits. “Stark; I swear, to every god I know, that if you have cloned yourself then I am pointing Thanos directly at you. Why do you have so many of your flying suits of armor?”

“Always upgrading.” Tony said as he left their sides to move around the room check and adjusting and fidgiting with things. “One need better battery power, one needed better armor, THAT one needed to have the, ahem, codpiece expanded... But cloning... hmmmmmm I haven't gotten into that yet. Could be interesting........” His voice tapered off as he stroked his goatee and pulled up a computer screen to move data around on.

“Could be terrifying.” Sophie cut in. “But do you have anything practical here?”

“Could be?” Loki whispered harshly next to her ear. “The thought of Stark reproducing is frightening enough, cloning is cause for unadulterated terror.” The inherent curiosity in Loki got the better of him; slowly he approached a table with many different contraptions on it, a small one with propeller’s on caught his eye. “What are these?”

“Drones!” Tony barked and he hopped over to pick one up. “This one is for observation, picks up every image and sound and some kinds of radiation for 100 yards in every direction. That black one, carries the same kind of particle beam emitter as my gauntlets. Small enough to work like scalpels. One next to it is a Trojan Horse, looks like the observational model, but carries a cloud of explosive nano bots. There are a few other kinds.”

Sophie took a step away from the table at the phrase "explosive nano bots".

Loki too, took an unconscious step back from the table and swallowed audibly. “Will they know friend from foe?”

“They don't. Jarvis does, though.” He moved on to swing a screen toward them with technical drawings and video of some kinds of vehicles. “We will have a fleet of these to move troops and command personnel around. Well... those of us that can't fly.” A dark eyebrow arched at Loki.

An equally dark brow arched to match the man in front of him. “And the ones that cannot fly are perfectly content to not do so unless necessary.” Loki stepped closer to the screen, looking over some of the details of the drawings. “It says one of these vehicles can carry dozens of warriors but did you take into account the added weight of armor and Asgardian bone and muscle density? A fully equipped warrior can weigh nearly twice that of a regular mortal. I can see they are also equipped for frozen and solid surfaces but how will they fare when the permafrost turns to mud?”

“All been accounted for, Horn Dog.” Tony snapped and brusquely turned off the screen and shoved it away.

Sophie covered her mouth and tried not to laugh at the pissing contest that was starting between the two men.

“What about the electro-static discharge across the circuits of the drones from the Bi-Frost?” Lokis arms crossed as a hip cocked to the side. “The electromagnetic pulse from Moljnir when it strikes ice? Do you have a solution for the communication issues, especially the language barrier?” His fingers started to drum against his upper arm. “Will the drones be able to crack the armor of the Leviathans?”

Tony thumped Loki on the shoulder as he walked past him to stand in front of a panel in the wall. “Ya know what, Frosty? You worry too much. Just believe that everything here was built with you friends in mind.”

Stark turned to Sophie and gave her his best smile as he pressed a button that opened the panel. It revealed a body suit hanging inside. “Come here, sweetness. This is all for you. I was pretty thorough with the measurements, so it should hug all of those hills and valleys of yours just fine.”

Loki spun on his heel to follow Tony, only to stop dead in his tracks. His eyes widened before snapping out of his stupor and rushing at the billionaire, slapping his hand on Tony's shoulder and whipping him around, snarling in his face. “What is the meaning of this?!” The now irate god pointed at the garment in the wall. “That is not needed, especially not from you.” Loki seethed, teeth clenching while the emerald fire in Loki's eyes burned straight into Tony. “Sophie’s' wellbeing will be handled by me.”

Tony backed away with his hands up in a surrendering gesture, but obviously pleased at the fact he provoked Loki this much. “Easy now. Your brother and Fury signed off on it. It's just an environmental suit with a few tweaks. We ARE going to the Arctic and you're the only Popsicle among us. Well, you and Cap.”

Sophie went over and touched the black and green piece of clothing. “Wow. That's weird. I'm touching it.” She pulled on a sleeve experimentally. “But I can't actually FEEL it. It weighs nothing.”

The fabric of the sleeve pooled in her hand, not even filling her palm. “So, it's like high grade long underwear? This is going to keep me warm?”

Tony stepped in a wide arch around Loki, over to Sophie and the suit. “Keep you warm, keep you cool, keep you perky...” He laughed. “It's not quite armor but most particle beams will slide right off of it.”

Loki was entirely not amused by Tony's antics. “And why would she need this?”

Tony crossed his arms over his chest and gave Loki a look like he was the most ridiculous person in the world. “Ummmm, so you can do whatever it is that only you seem qualified to know about and not worry that our little princess here isn't freezing anything perky off.”

“Would you cease with the pointing out of anything perky.” Loki pinched the bridge of his nose in aggravation, trying quite hard not to throw something at the billionaire. “I had the not freezing bit taken care of you imbecile.”

Sophie turned her head and looked at Loki. “You did? I didn't know that. But this isn't so bad. Feel it.. or feel that you can't feel it. Either way.”

She turned back to Tony. “Thank you for thinking about me. I've been afraid I'd get lost in the people with super powers.”

The annoyed god stepped forward to feel said material, begrudgingly and silently he admitted it might be useful as an added layer of protection. “Yes elskling, we had spoken of getting you armor, remember? If you have changed your mind then please inform me.”

“Well, armor seems like it could get pretty cold, that's all. I haven't changed my mind. I can wear both.” Sophie stepped closer to Loki and looked up at him with big, wide eyes. “Dear, It's not like anyone is meaning to insult you with this.”

Her hand shot out and she pointed at Tony without moving her gaze from Loki. “Shut it before you open it, Stark. It won't help.”

“We're all a team in this. Right? We're all in this together. It's OK.”  This time she was speaking to Loki.

“I am not the one being insulted, it is you.” Loki stared levelly into her wide eyes. “This... cloth speaks more of lingerie than thermal protection. I doubt it even has an anti-microbial barrier or protection from chafing.” He sniffed in distaste at the garment. “If we are in this together then it would have been nice to be consulted about the matter, then we could have collaborated on something spectacular for you. The other items seem to truly be helpful; at least in that, I shall agree.”

Sophie opened her mouth to argue with Loki, but quickly shut it and exhaled heavily through her nose when she decided that this was a lost cause. How could something she couldn't even feel chafe?  

Tony broke the tension in the air by speaking as he walked toward the door. “Aaaaaaanyway, that's about all I have in here right now. I can sent you the specs for the stuff we are already moving to base.”

Loki shrugged. “No point now is there? We will see soon enough if it works; if it doesn't then we all die, no pressure.” He wandered back over to the table, looking at random bits and pieces still laying around. “Anything else we need to see?”

“No. Guess not. All good here. Don't get lost on the way out.” Tony shot at Loki as he held the door open.

“Good luck with him, princess.” He whispered to Sophie as she passed by.

He tossed the scrap he was examining back on the table then sauntered out the door to the elevator. “Well that was enlightening.”

“Hey. Hey!” Sophie called as she scurried to catch up to Loki's long strides. “What was that about? Are you OK? You're usually in a ..... well, different mood than this after we've fought or sparred.”

“You know as well as I that Stark rubs me the wrong way. Never have and most likely never will get along with him. I tolerate his existence for your sake.” He pressed the call button for the lift. “Perhaps he reminds me too much of myself from years ago; arrogant to a fault and convinced he knows everything.” Loki's arms crossed as he stared at the shiny metal doors in front of him. “I am trying to share what I know, give details with important information but how are we supposed to work effectively like this? He deliberately takes shots at me through you and it leaves me wanting nothing more than smearing his face all over the street below.”

Sophie ran her hand along his taught arms and she leaned in toward him. “You shouldn't let him bother you like that. No matter what he does, I'm right here with you, aren't I? It's just talk and won't ever come to anything at all. I think he just does it because he's terrified of you.”

“As he should be.” Loki's arms uncrossed and he slid one around her waist. “I am still settling in on this person I’ve become, people like Stark do not help. Most times I am content but as soon as he is in the room my hackles rise like an angry cat. I do not understand it myself.”

As Sophie's arms started to slide around Loki to hold him, the elevator dinged and opened. She sighed and stepped inside, pulling him with her.  “I don't know either. But he needs some slack too. From what I saw in the files Nat let me look at on the computer, when Tony went through that hole you tore in the sky to stop the Chitauri, he DIED. Flat out died and they brought him back somehow.” She reached up and caressed his cheek. “And this person right here, I know he understands when someone else is in pain from something like that. He understands my pain.”

Loki released an unamused bark of laughter. “Oh he died? That’s nice, when he does it a few more times then I shall try to understand him.” His hand cradled hers against his cheek. “I understand you because you know what it is like to have no one.”

“I'll stop trying to sell him to you, but one last thought. He names the robots in that lab and talks to them. I don't think the list of people he has is very long either.” Sophie rose to her toes and gently kissed Loki. “You try to understand me. And you mostly do. I love you for trying.”

“Elskling, if I ever truly figured you out then life would become boring. You may say you are a simple woman and yet I find you one of the most confounding people I know.” A small grin appeared on his face. “I mean that in the most loving way, of course.”

“Of COURSE,” She laughed as the door chimed and slid open. “Come on, you and I have to get back home. So we can sit around and have nothing to do for the rest of the day.”

He sighed dramatically. “If you insist, love. We have a weasel that will enjoy the down time.”

Sophie stepped out of the elevator, then turned to face Loki and walked backward down the hallway. “That is, unless you have better ideas?”

[overdrivels]

So, occasionally I have ideas for stories that I can’t write because it would literally be a wall of exposition. This is one of them. So I’m just going to put it down in bullet points so the idea can be vaguely given life. This thing is so long, I don’t even know where this was going.

In short, this one is about the reader who wakes up with amnesia after one particular mission with no memories of the last ten years. The past you and present ‘you’ are nothing alike, and it jars a lot of people, especially Hanzo, who you are--was?--dating.

So...

Basically, you wake up and have no idea where you are. You understand that you’re in a hospital of sorts which looks a little familiar, but you’re not 100% sure.

Mercy comes by and is very happy to see you awake, starts to talk to you, asking you where it hurts, if you want anything, just being caring. She also goes off in short sentences to explain the mission that you don’t really remember being on--names you don’t recognize, places that you have no reason to go to for any mission. But you’re very confused to see her because you know it’s Angela, but you don’t really recognize her? She looks different?

You eventually ask her what she’s talking about and why she looks different. New haircut?

Mercy just kind of segways smoothly into diagnostic questions when she realizes there is something afoot. She asks the standard questions like “Could you give me your name?” “Alias?” “Date of birth?” “What is the current year?” You kind of take it all in stride like it’s a bit of a joke because medical professional questions and all--standard protocol even if everyone knows the answers.

Bless Mercy’s extensive years as a trained medical professional, she keeps a straight face even as your answers become more and more alarming. She excuses herself when she’s done and just tells you to get some rest.

Before she goes, you ask her about Commander Reyes. You know that he’s hard on the people under his command and so you wanted to know when you’d be ready for active duty again and what he has to say about this mission. She almost cracks, but tells you that you need to worry more about yourself right now and everything will be dealt with. You almost fight her on that one, but eventually you just give up when she gives you a look. 

Meanwhile, Mercy needs to give the news to everyone but does not want to cause a mass panic. So she gives the news to Solider: 76, Winston, and Ana. You have amnesia, and don’t remember the last 10 years of your life. You still think you’re in the old Overwatch under Commander Reyes, and is back to being a young punk trying to prove herself. She has no idea how long this will last, if it’s permanent, or maybe you’ll even be fine by the time she gets back. Medical science may be very advanced, but memories are pretty much just electrical signals--haven’t figured it out yet.

No one, except Ana, takes this very well. They strategize on how to best break this to everyone, if they should, even.

Ana has seen worse. She’s good at dealing. 

They do, because you can’t hide this shit from people especially with Overwatch being as small as it is and everyone looking out for everyone else here.

While Soldier, Ana, and Winston are busy breaking the news to everyone else, Mercy has to let you know your actual condition. You fucking laugh in her face when she tells you because that’s ABSURD. That’s something out of a sci-fi movie.

When you realize she’s dead serious, you’re like, OH FUCK. She has to give you a brief history lesson and the more she tells you, the more fucked up you think this is. Talon? Switzerland? Blackwatch? Commanders, dead? Alive? What?

You try to digest this with very mixed results. On one hand, Omnic Crisis is pretty much done. On the other, TEN YEARS of your life gone? What about your comrades? Your friends? Your family?

She leaves you digest this and you very nearly make a fucking break for it because she’s lying--she’s playing an elaborate joke--Commander Reyes loves jokes (the kind that make you want to punch him in the face but laugh about it a week later)--this is wrong!

But she’s right. You look at yourself in the mirror, and you have no idea who you are. Everything is different about you. There are new scars, pains, things hurt that shouldn’t hurt. Your body, your voice--you know it’s you, but it’s not you. And that scares you more than anything. So you grab the first set of clothes you see, put them on, and run. Run, fast. Anywhere else but here. 

Meanwhile, the Overwatch crew are discussing how to approach your amnesia. From how Ana (and Soldier) described you, you were kind of a punk. Trying hard to show off your skills, prove that you deserve your spot, broke rules to do things for the sake of doing them (when off duty), and just generally being young. But the newer Overwatch crew? They knew you as the one who watched over them, checked their equipment twice, the voice of reason alongside Ana when emotions got too high or missions were going bad.  Always calm and thinking things through even when everyone else is stricken with fear. To hear about this person in ‘your’ skin was...unsettling.

Hanzo does not react, but everyone’s looking at him sympathetically because you two were dating and everyone knows that before the mission, you and Hanzo had a fight (the two of you were loud enough to wake the fucking dead). So, it’s rather awkward for him especially since you won’t know that you’re dating--it’s so very confusing.

Genji is all the more sympathetic, but Hanzo just bites back and tells him to not tell you anything. You’re probably confused as fuck, no need to keep adding to the confusion.

It may be the truth, but it doesn’t hurt Hanzo any less.

They all need a bit of time to deal, but too bad!

You fucking run right into their little meeting and no one knows how to react. You pause for a second because hey, there’s that’s asshole cowboy and Lena. For a second, you forget you’re running just to stare and be like, “Are you fucking serious, McCree? Ten years later and you’re still hung up about that fucking rodeo?”

The room just goes dead silent.

Remember, a lot of them know--knew--’you’ as the calm voice of reason. They are reasonably shocked. Reasonably.

Jesse McCree is just like, “Well, nice to have your sass-ass back, too.”

Before you know it, you’re surrounded by people you sort-of know, and definitely don’t know. People trying to figure out what you’re like, who you are, and trying to get to know you. It’s overwhelming, and you can’t run anymore. But maybe, maybe this is okay...

Hanzo and some of the older Overwatch though? They stand off to the side. They kind of pity Hanzo, but don’t really say it because they know he’ll be pissed. (On top of that, Ana kind of knows you had a thing for Gabriel back in the day--not sure if it was because of respect or if it was an actual crush, but eh.)

Think about it. it took Hanzo probably forever to get into a relationship. He has eyes only for ‘you’, but not the past you, the future ‘you’ who encouraged him and listened and just was so patient with him. Now, he doesn’t even know you, but it hurts to see your face because it’s the same person he loves, but...not.

And then, what about you? Would you still end up loving him in the end? It’s terrifying to know what ‘your’ younger self would do, if they’d like him, if they’d even fall in love with him. It’s stressful, okay?

So he does everything in his power to keep your relationship with him a secret. Even goes as far as to remove all evidence of it. Photos, trinklets, anything. It’s heartbreaking. 

So, everything kind of goes okay. People are friendly to you, doing their best to make you feel at home, you’re still not remembering jack-shit, and get moments where you are seized with fear because it’s all make-believe and everyone’s just tolerating you until the ‘you’ that they know gets back and the current you disappears.

You sometimes see it with the younger ones, who talk to you like you’re someone else. 

With the old Overwatch crew, you can see them hesitate sometimes when talking to you. Soldier, Ana, Mercy, Reinhardt, and Torbjorn are the only ones who really take it into stride--almost treat you just like you remember the way it should be. Until you really look at them and remember, no, it’s not the same.

And that fucking guy with the tattoo who glares at you all the time doesn’t fucking help. But you glare at him all the same because if he wants a fight, he gets one.

Hanzo, you learn his name later on. Everyone’s acting weird about him, and so you pick up on that and basically size him up. “You have a problem with me?” “Come over here and face me, I ain’t afraid of you.” It’s like 30% real and 65% bravado. The other 5% is just for fun. He never engages you, and it makes you seriously wonder about your other self’s relation to this guy. 

You spend a lot of time wondering about ‘your’ relation to other people, but don’t ask. No need to hit home the fact that you’re potentially unwanted.

Hanzo, on the other hand, is not taking this very well. He’s reverted back to his old prickly self where he can’t approach you, but can’t help watching over you. Because even though you have no idea who he is, even through the last conversation he had with you was really more of a screaming match (which he will wholly take responsibility for because a fight about the safety of the members vs. the mission should’ve never even been a question in the first place), even though you’re not ‘you’, he still cares about you.

Genji has tried to get you both to talk, but it never goes well. Your old personality does not match the person he knows despite the fact that you look like ‘you’ and that this you is just a different version of the ‘you’ he loved--loves--he just can’t do this shit and that starts up a whole new thing. 

You eventually corner him, challenging to a contest or a sparring match. Because that’s how everyone in Reyes’s command dealt with internal issues. You got beef with someone? Fight it out. Cards, drinking contest, sparring, boxing, video games, you name it. That was the old way.

This fucker just stares at you and goes, “No.” Now you’re offended because what sort of asshole does that? So you do the thing that was natural--no, not back off, that’s too reasonable--you fucking confront him about his damage.

 And that was a bad idea. Because as much as Hanzo cares, he did not fall for a you who’s ten years younger in the body of the person he loves, and this situation stresses him out more than you know.

“Enough! You may have her body, but I do not acknowledge you as her, you imposter!”

....

....

Oh shit. The anxiety and fear and everything comes and drowns you all at once. You knew it was true, that everyone was just tolerating you, and everyone’s just waiting for the future ‘you’ to come back. So you do what you should’ve done in the first place, you run. Because this is not your home, this is not where you belong. You have no one here for you, and you need to leave. NOW. 

Hanzo cannot regret his words fast enough, and it’s not long before people are either running after you or telling him to run after you. He goes because he’ll be fucking damned if this plays out the same way as last time--the two of you arguing before you wind up in a hospital bed without any way of anyone knowing if you’d ever awaken.

I have no idea what goes beyond this point. Just angst. Maybe an encounter with Talon and Reaper. I don’t know. I’m surprised you even made it this far. 

BAD END: You never get your memories back. You leave Overwatch, and try to pick up the pieces of your life. But unfortunately, Talon is still after Overwatch members. An experienced body with an inexperienced mind--no match for Talon’s best. I’m sorry to say, but it ends for you.

Normal End: You stay with Overwatch, you remember bits and pieces, but you never rekindle your relationship with Hanzo. He doesn’t initiate anything, and you just don’t ever recover from the fact that he hates(?) you.

Good End: You slowly regain your memories, start to remember people and Hanzo becomes more patient and starts to appreciate the ‘new’ you. It goes well. You carve a space for yourself in Overwatch as the ‘new’ you, the ‘you’ that everyone knows from this time period is pretty much gone. But everyone learns to accept it, and it’s fine.

This should probably be the best end, but eh.

BEST/DISNEY END: You remember. You fucking remember everything. The first to know is Hanzo, who you call to your room and he’s nervous as fuck because the two of you aren’t a thing anymore, so does that mean your younger self is into him?

The first thing you do is apologize for the argument you guys had way back before you lost your memories. One moment he’s confused, the next he’s scrambling to get you in his arms because this can’t be happening. It’s a cruel joke, but holy shit he wants to believe, and you assure him that you remember and start rattling off things like the place you first kissed (Ecopoint: Antarctica and nearly froze to death), what his favorite food was (miso soup made with a combination of 2:6 red miso:white miso), and so on.

Hanzo just breaks down, apologizing and thanking you for coming back and he just keeps going. You’re back to being the one who comforts him, but you are totally crying, too.

There’s some fluffy angst because this disaster is finally over, he got to apologize, and you’re back with him and still love him.

Everyone else is kinda happy that you’re back to normal, well as normal as can be. 

You guys live happily ever after. The end.

[overwatchleaguereport]

Overwatch League LIVE Match Summary - New York Excelsior vs. Boston Uprising

Hey all! I will keep this post constantly updated as the final game of the day plays on. I haven’t tried doing this before, so I’m not even sure if tumblr will let me do live updates, but if it doesn’t, I’ll come up with something else. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, don’t miss the match between the Fuel and the Outlaws! SUPER close game as they enter the final round.

7:21 PM MST - Fuel wins! The analysts are considering why the game went the way it did.

7:26 PM MST - The analysts are kind of contradicting themselves here. They said during the match, especially during Oasis, that Fuel had super creative, oddball team comps and strategies. Meanwhile, the Outlaws played pretty conservative, meta-heavy comps. Then, in the post-match talkback, they said that Houston Outlaws have greater flexibility and have a greater range of gameplay styles. Now, I know that those two statements don’t exactly match up, but they sound very contradictory to me.

7:31 PM MST - I wonder where Soe was last game. A female voice, even an analyst, is vital in this male-dominated game. At the same time, she’s not saying much so far. Give her a chance to speak, guys. Also, it looks like Excelsior will win if the pattern continues on. Every team on the left side of the bracket today has won 3-2.

7:40 PM MST - I have no idea which of the players I just saw belonged to which team thanks to the overly similar color schemes. Oh well. At this point, I’m pretty ignorant regarding the individual players on each team. I’m here for the gameplay, though I imagine that will eventually change.

8:04 PM MST - Apologies for my disappearance; duties at home called. Regardless, I was able to catch a bit of the first round, and Excelsior creamed Uprising on El Dorado. It seems my completely unfounded prediction is coming true thus far.

8:08 PM MST - Sombra’s (Neko) decision to hack the upper left health pack on Anubis confused me a bit. I would have thought the health pack under the floating ship would be a priority, but maybe Uprising wanted more healing rather than denying Excelsior’s healing.

8:11 PM MST - Holy cow, Excelsior is steamrolling Uprising. Uprising managed to hold them off on point B, but Excelsior still has nearly five minutes left to take it.

8:14 PM MST - It is undeniable that Excelsior is heavily outplaying Uprising. Anubis is a notoriously difficult map to assault, and yet Excelsior closed with over two minutes left on the clock. I will be very surprised if Boston can come back with a good answer. 

8:17 PM MST - Dreamkazper, from Uprising, has been doing an excellent job staying on the point. After he dodged a D. Va ult and killed Excelsior’s Mercy, he held the point for nearly a minute, giving his team enough time to take Point A. Uprising still took more time to take Point A than Excelsior did, though.

8:19 PM MST - Uprising has attempted two assaults on Point B and were easily repelled both times. Their coordination is a lot weaker than Excelsior’s by far.

8:20 PM MST - Uprising’s clock just matched Excelsior. Their final assault got them the point, even despite a D. Va ult and a Mei ice wall and block from Excelsior. Despite this, Excelsior still looks like the more coordinated team. Uprising begins Anubis’ third round on assault.

8:23 PM MST - Uprising takes Point A more smoothly even than Excelsior did during the first round of Anubis. Dreamkasper’s Reaper again serves Uprising well.

8:26 PM MST - Uprising does not take point B. Excelsior has the advantage. They have more time, and all they have to do to win is gain 33% of the capture bar. At the same time, Excelsior’s confidence seems to have broken a bit. Their ranks have been breaking a lot more easily following their crushing first round win.

8:27 PM MST - Pine, from Excelsior, was playing Widowmaker. He just got three picks in a row. Uprising’s Tracer, Genji, and Sombra all went down within fifteen seconds of each other. This allows Excelsior to take Point A with little trouble at all.

8:29 PM MST - Excelsior used a D. Va ult to wreck the Uprising defensive. The ult gave them enough time to successfully take the first third of the point and successfully take the victory. Excelsior up, 2-0.

8:31 PM MST - My halftime will be a bit longer because I am grabbing some food. See you soon!

8:46 PM MST - Food is acquired, and we’re back in the fray at Oasis. Saebyeolbe from Excelsior is kicking butt as McCree. Just watched him get three picks within a minute. He died to an unfortunate Pulse Bomb from Uprising’s Striker, and Excelsior’s attack fell apart.

8:47 PM MST - Uprising has taken the first point on Oasis. Their defense was excellent, and Excelsior had a hard time breaking through.

8:49 PM MST - Uprising’s Kellex, playing Lucio, helped his team gain control of the second point with a well-placed boop. Two of Excelsior’s players went over the edge, and they have yet to recover.

8:52 PM MST - Excelsior takes the point, while Uprising has 77% left. Then, when Excelsior gets the point to 33%, Uprising manages to take it back. Excelsior manages to get onto the point to contest at the exact last second, but Boston steamrolls them all the way to 100%. The D. Va play from Uprising was excellent, and helped Uprising gain their first point since the match started.

8:55 PM MST - While we’re in break, I will comment that it is far more difficult to watch the game and type than I initially anticipated. I keep missing vital details that help me understand the overall narrative of the match. I don’t plan on doing live updates for every match I cover, but I may have to come up with a better solution for when I do write live updates. 

8:57 PM MST - Eichenwalde is the last map of the match if Excelsior wins. Otherwise, we’ll be heading into a tiebreaker. Excelsior had the advantage and better play in the beginning, but they seem to be cracking under Uprising’s pressure.

8:59 PM MST - Excelsior’s Pharah, played by Pine, wins the Pharmercy duel by taking out Uprising’s Pharah. However, Excelsior immediately loses three of their own, losing the advantage and forcing a retreat. New York doesn’t take the point until nearly two minutes later.

9:06 PM MST - Coming along the first bend, both teams stay pretty even, trading pick for pick. Regardless, Excelsior manages to push to the bridge, and Uprising manages to shut them down there. Uprising’s team takes to the tower to pin Excelsior down near the spawn, but right before overtime, Excelsior’s D. Va, played by Meko, sneaks onto the payload and forces the entire Uprising team to turn around and come back. This destroys Uprising’s defense, and they can’t do anything until Excelsior takes the payload all the way to the Crusader’s grave.

9:07 PM MST - My stream dies.

9:09 PM MST - Technical difficulties fixed. Dreamkazper takes his Uprising Genji all the way back behind Excelsior’s ranks and waits for an opportunity to jump into a team fight from behind. When Dreamkazper acts, he is shut down by Excelsior’s Winston.

9:11 PM MST - Excelsior is kicking Uprising back to the curb. Boston’s unique attempt to come at the point from multiple directions at once isn’t working. The flankers keep getting cut down.

9:14 PM MST - Uprising actually manages to break the Excelsior defenses. They contest on 66% for some time, with Excelsior’s Winston, played by Mano, using his bubble to stay alive for some time, but Uprising ultimately takes the payload and begins moving it forward.

9:16 PM MST - Excelsior manages to keep the payload beneath the tower bridge, meaning Uprising only has seconds to touch the payload before overtime. At the last second, Uprising’s Winston manages to get on, but despite the team’s best efforts, Excelsior gains their final wind and shuts them down.

Excelsior - 3, Uprising - 1

That was the last game of the second day of the preseason! After the preseason ends, I will probably post my thoughts on a few things. In the meantime, hope you enjoyed the match and live recap.

Cheers, luv!

[tedisdillon1299-blog]

Day 25 Wisdom

I woke up feeling rested today, and a dollar for some caffeine that I made from cleaning shoes the day before. I ate my breakfast and prepared for my first day.

I left early so I could sit inside out of the sun. Jimmy John's is expensive, but people say their thicker than subway. I don’t know about that but a slim ass sandwich for 4 dollars doesn’t seem all that worth it to me, however the 16 inch sandwich? That’s priced good.

When I got clocked in they trained me on the register and for the most part it I got it down. It’s what they advertised on the Indeed site, but they start everyone there. I was informed that I’ll be on the sandwiches at some point if I want the hours. Not what I wanted, I’m not very coordinated and I’m clumsy. I listened to the conversations there and there seems to be an element of politics, on a large scale, and there are a lot of people there. I kept getting goofy looks from these kids, I am one myself but these are kids fresh out of highschool.

I was working register next to this lady who I’m sort of attracted, and reading her body language I could, glancing at me, making eye contact and then looking down and subtly scratching her arm. She looked as if either I was making her incredibly uncomfortable, or that she wanted to say something to me but was too shy. I’d go with shy. She’s a small girl who had only worked there a week. I’d like to spend my day with a female, I’m tired of talking to sausages.

I’m fairly shy as well, but as I get older it’s been easier to get over the fear of rejection. All these people who I’ve known for no more than a week or two and then never  seeing them again has made conversation easier for me, as well as getting through the introductions. It was good practice, but she definitely understood that I showed interest, because the next day as soon as I say ‘Hello’ she responds ‘Hey so my BOYFRIEND and I…’ damn.

Most of the other stuff was simple enough. My manager had a few odd jobs for me here and there, nothing too hard.

When I got back to the shelter I sat down and was greeted by my another dude. He does friendly things, he’ll offer me a smoke, or something, but he has this, jackass way of talking about him. I’m not sure if it’s a front, or not. I do know that I need to stick to my instincts and just not really screw around with anybody. Think he was tryna sell me something but I won’t get into detail about that..  *it's not important*

Gonna skip to dinner time. I sat next to this old wise type black guy, very spiritual man he is. He was a very calm guy, a peaceful man. We talked some about the Civil War, and religion, and weed. Pretty cool old guy.

I told him that weed, makes me more self-aware and sensitive to others around me. It’s an eye opener, for me. He said using weed brings us closer to God. I told him about the time I accepted Jesus BACK into my heart legititmately. He asked me if I ever felt the holy ghost. I told him after I accepted God, I had become possessed by the holy ghost. None of the crazy stuff, but I was lost on the road one day, after being around some bad people, and with really highly active anxiety and schizophrenia. The fact that it practically vanished nearly as soon as I accepted God back into my life was a miracle. I was not in shape to drive, but when I accepted God it was as if something took over me and led me back home, I drove perfectly. The way there, and the next two days, everything was beautiful and graceful. The yellow lines on the road were golden, and everything was bright.  I remember talking to myself out loud, the things I said had never come out of my mouth before, things that pertained to myself. I was preaching to myself all while driving. I was lost getting home but a voice in my head said, “Just follow the yellow brick road.” Essentially, *keep going the way you are going.*

I felt 100 for the first time. Ever since then though I’ve never experienced it again. I need a solitary place, a place where I can meditate, and be comfortable again. That feeling I had came as soon as I accepted that my war with God was over and I had lost. Also I think my brain may lack dopamine as well… I really need to have my head checked out.

That night was like receiving relief from fear for the first time.

The old guy teared up when I talked about this. He said it took him back.

Anyway. Telling him these things, he smiled. He asked me if I would continue to smoke. I said, “I can’t handle the medication around people. It just makes my anxiety worse. I can’t meditate. I can’t take advantage of what it offers. I feed off people, third eye type stuff.”

This man spoke slow, and corrected himself a lot, so he’s hard to quote, but essentially he said, “That takes practice. You aren’t utilizing it to its fullest… you will get there. You know why you can’t be comfortable? This world is crazy you know.. and while that stuff helps us to be more insightful and sharper, it also makes us sensitive, and the negative atmosphere around us would try and take advantage of you with that state of mind. I was just like you. I smoke for nothing more than the spiritual guidance and insight, but I could not be around people for the longest on a smoke. Some people say that is insanity, but let me explain something to you… this place, this world, but especially this place, is full of insanity. *Insanity fits in with insanity, if you don’t fit in, you aren’t insane.* These crazy people who know nothing about true build up of one’s self, but only how to manipulate. That’s them. You feel it don’t you? People were supposed to be spiritual, you know something isn’t right about people in this world… *tears* … remember what I tell you.”

“This place is definitely insane, but it’s become a norm.”

“Yeah, just remember that you are here because of God, and this is a transitional phase for you just like it is for me. After your through with this, leave here a wiser person.”

And it has. Insanity to me is violence, murder, and looking down on the peace lovers of this world. It’s everywhere I go. These same people claim to be religious, but take the first chance they get to hurt a sheep, or even convert it to a monster. How good you are at being a violent rebel determines how much respect you deserve these days. The attitude of domination to me is insanity, and I don’t like it. Never will. People see that about me. How I turn my head or suddenly lose interest when a dude is flexing to dominate another. Stupid. It was clear that I wasn’t alone. All I’ve really known was insanity, except for my grandparent’s, but even that attitude can still be applied without the violence. People judging others makes me sick. My family enjoys that. Other than that, growing up in poorer places and dumb schools, and a popularity contest ran by bullies, all you saw was drama and insanity. Homelife, all of it. I grew up around a man who didn’t like me because I’m good hearted. He called it weakness.

Now I think I know the reason a part of me wanted to ride that train to Canada.

“You a pussy bro.”

Whatever man. Watch you grow old. Watch you crumble. Watch you just survive. Me? I’mma thrive.

Later on, that dude who I was talking about in the last post asked me if I would clean his shoes. I’d be making money cleaning shoes for folks, usually for two dollars. For fifteen minutes, it’s not that bad. That’s just unproductive time anyway. It’s also making me popular, but I know what that brings. I’ll just have to remember to stay me.

Well this guy gives me his shoes, and I already know how his attitude toward everything is, pessimistic and confrontational. I grabbed my old toothbrush, shampoo and got to work, and listened to the Gorillaz. It’s a good satisfying twenty minutes. When I got done I took him his shoes, he said he’d have my money tomorrow, and would throw in an extra buck. Okay.

Well later that night this dude comes up to me, asking me *if I even cleaned them.*

Oh hell no.

“People saw me scrubing the shit out of your shoes. How can you NOT SEE that those shoes look hella better than they were before?”

“You didn’t even get my shoes strings bro! You said you were gonna clean my shoes.”

I guess it’d be a fair point, IF the agreed payment was higher, and those shoe strings weren’t even dirty to begin with.

He keeps going on and about me running a business, and he’s my customer complaining. And all this BS. I scrub shoes good. Not a spect of dirt on his shoes. I told him that those shoes looked brand spanking new! They weren’t too bad to begin with, but SHIT, he’s over here again exclaiming so everyone there hear him say that MY JOB WAS NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

He said he’d cleaned shoes for years like I was doing, and said, that if I cleaned them

the inside of the shoe would be wet.

I told him my method of cleaning and why i cleaned them like I do. Because he said that I don’t buy the fact the he’d been doing it for years.

Shampoo. Use shampoo on toothbrush. Scrub. Wipe with rag. Need a rinse? Wet toothbrush and wipe with rag. *That’s why yo shoes ain’t soaked.*

He’s also screwing with my hustle.

Second time he’s done some shit like that.

I told him what he was doing was fucking up my pocket change.

“How?” How? Okay time to give him some perspective.

I thought I smelt beer on him.

“HEY DUDE YOU SMELL LIKE BEER BRUH!” No I didn’t really shout, but I said loud enough for one or two people to hear.

“No I haven’t I swear… oh wait, okay now I see what you’re saying.”

Yeah. I told him that I was sorry he didn’t like the job, but everyone else has come to me later and told me how satisfied they were with the finished product, and word gets around so I’ve steadily gotten more and more ‘customers’.

I take pride. He said he’d still pay me tomorrow… so. Yeah.

Crazy dude and the whole shelter knows it. I let him get under my skin.

I had someone else after him and he said I’d done a really good job and paid me. Hell yeah. I like the compliment.

When bedtime rolled around, that dude wanted his charger back. I thought he gave it to me but whatever. I showered, shaved, and really took care of myself before bed. Grooming. I was relaxed, and continued to meditate on what the old guy had told me. I have a dream of making a dream come true, I just don’t really have a dream yet, I just know I need to keep doing what I’m doing to make it happen.

Yeah. Time for sleep.

[jodyedgarus]

Why Denver’s Gary Harris Could Be The Next Kawhi Leonard

DENVER — Kawhi Leonard is indispensable to the San Antonio Spurs — or at least that’s how he’s now perceived. His mysterious injury not only threatens to snap the Spurs’ two-decade-long playoff streak, but there’s a chance it could also derail the club’s future by driving Leonard away.

If there’s an irony in how monumentally important Leonard is to the Spurs’ chances now, though, it’s that he was still relatively anonymous to the casual basketball fan just four years ago, despite performing at a fairly high level on one of the league’s best teams at that time. It wasn’t until June 2014, when Leonard earned NBA Finals MVP honors, that he began drawing broader attention en route to becoming a bona fide star, one whose health could shift the tenor of a conference finals series.

Now, another player — Nuggets shooting guard Gary Harris — quietly appears to be on a similar trajectory. From afar, nothing Harris does seems truly spectacular. But zoom in just a little, watch a handful of Denver’s games, and you’ll see elements of Harris’s consistent, well-rounded skill set start to stand out. Just the way Leonard’s once did.

“When I got here, there were questions about whether Gary Harris was an NBA player,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone told me, a reference to Harris’s rookie season, in which he shot just over 30 percent from the field.1 The thought seems comical now, as Harris is serving as both Denver’s best on-ball defender and its leading scorer.

For a while, Harris was far stronger on the defensive side of the ball, where it’s harder for the average fan to notice excellence. A solid scorer, by contrast, handles the ball more and gets his name called while the camera pans to his face every time he finds the bottom of the basket. Forcing a missed shot or denying your man the ball on the other end, however, usually isn’t enough to garner that same attention. So that may partially explain why the 23-year-old Harris flies under the radar.

At 6 foot 4, he doesn’t force teams to alter entire offensive schemes the way that the 6-foot-7 Leonard, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, can. Yet Harris constantly seems to find ways to disrupt the league’s best wing players.

Harris ranks ninth in the NBA in deflections per game — the same ranking Leonard held last season — hounding volume scorers as they come around screens and illustrating nearly perfect timing as he swats down directly on the ball just as a player is lifting up to launch his shot attempt. Harris’s quick hands and defensive persistence are pretty much the only things that prevent the Nuggets, who surrender more layups than anyone except Orlando, from having the worst defense in basketball. With Harris on the court, Denver surrenders 107.4 points per 100 possessions, which would tie for 20th among the league’s 30 teams. With Harris on the bench, the Nuggets allow 110.6 points per 100 possessions, a rate that would tie for dead last.

It’s incredibly difficult to draw the types of defensive assignments that Harris typically gets without committing a lot of fouls. But just like Leonard did in his fourth season, Harris has collected more steals than fouls so far this year, a feat that only elite defensive shooting guards and small forwards generally manage.

Harris could be named an All-NBA defender in the coming years without changing much about his game. But to achieve true stardom, he will likely need two things: More scoring — he’s still pretty limited in creating looks for himself — and more wins for the Nuggets.

“If we make the playoffs, a lot more people are going to see and know who the hell Gary Harris is,” said Malone, whose team is locked in a crowded playoff race. “It’s funny: Last year, Nikola Jokic wasn’t going to be a part of All-Star Weekend. Then he puts up 40 points at Madison Square Garden and gets a phone call from the NBA the very next day. ‘Hey, we want you to be part of All-Star Weekend!’ So, we know Nikola and how special he is. And I think the same is true of Gary.”

Harris has shown true scoring progress every year since his dismal rookie campaign. The former Michigan State star has gone from 3, to 12, to 15 and now 18 points per game; he has become one of the league’s best offensive threats in transition; and he’s on track to shoot 40 percent from the 3-point line for a second straight year. He moves incredibly well without the ball and has perhaps the team’s best on-court chemistry with Jokic, the face of the Nuggets and one of the league’s most skilled young big men.2

Harris’s development on offense bears similarities to Leonard’s rise. Through their first four seasons, their numbers looked identical — 12.2 points and 2.1 assists on 47 percent shooting and 37 percent from 3 for Harris3; 12.3 points and 1.8 assists on 50 percent shooting overall and 37 percent from 3 for Leonard.

Perhaps even more important: The two men play with an unusually quiet, workmanlike approach, and they are among the most consistent players in the NBA on a night-to-night basis. “He just puts his head down and goes about his business. He doesn’t talk about it much — he just goes out and does it, and we’re fine with that,” says Denver guard Will Barton, whose locker is next to Harris’s. (Harris’s noticeably quiet disposition, along with the Nuggets’ struggles to really break through on TV with local fans,4 undoubtedly contributes to why Harris isn’t better known around the league yet.)

In Harris’s case, one could argue that his consistency on both ends has him on the cusp of joining the elite. Using effective field-goal percentage, a stat that accounts for 3-pointers by looking at the number of points generated per field-goal attempt rather than just shots made per attempt, the chart below illustrates how often the league’s starting shooting guards and small forwards have good shooting nights compared to bad ones. Unsurprisingly, Kevin Durant and LeBron James are at the very top of that list. Leonard rates fifth. And right behind him is Harris at No. 6.

Of course, none of this is to say that Harris will continue ascending the way Leonard has during his fifth and sixth seasons, when he went from scoring 16.5 points a contest to 25.5 points while managing to become more efficient despite a heavier offensive load. Without Harris becoming more of a one-on-one threat, which Kawhi has become stellar at in relatively short order, it’s more sensible to compare his offense to Golden State’s Klay Thompson or Washington’s Otto Porter, who play better off the ball than with it.

Should Harris develop a more aggressive brand of offense, though, there’s reason to think he could find success with it. While he’s not built like Leonard — one of the NBA’s strongest players, and just one of four NBA wing players last season to record more and-1s than he had shots blocked — Harris is far stronger than he looks and doesn’t shy away from contact. The former All-American high school football player is one of three guards, after James and Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons, who shoots 70 percent at the rim — elite company for strength around the basket.

Malone said Harris has been diligent every summer about taking direction from coaches and staff each offseason to continue improving. But Harris told me it was simpler than that for him. “Really, I just want go out there to play and have fun,” he said. “It’s not about me going out and saying, ‘I’ve got to go out and be better than I was last year.’ If you put in the work, it’s going to show itself.”

And if Harris continues to improve and show his work to this extent, it may be only a matter of time until just about every basketball fan knows who he is.

Senior writer Neil Paine contributed to research for this story.

from News About Sports https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-denvers-gary-harris-could-be-the-next-kawhi-leonard/