#but i guess between planning stupid shenanigans for the summer that one by one get pushed off for various reasons

[rubberbandballqueen]

friend got a job offer somewhere two timezones away and it's, like, suddenly really sobering to realize that there might someday come a point where you might never be able to have adventures with your friends like you did in high school ever again

[mixelation]

give me a fandom and i'll make an OC

IDK what i expected to happen LOL. okay here's two OC concepts I've thought about for YGO

the first concept was the product of a conversation between me and a friend a looooong time ago. our concept was this: yugi's dad's company sent him abroad for work several times, and he had an affair with someone in the US that ended up with Yugi having a half sister. this is also why we never hear from yugi's dad-- his mom divorced him and then did her best to never interact with him again lol. so yugi is aware he has a half-sister in the US but he's never, like, talked to her.

this OC wasn't into duel monsters, but we wanted her to be into SOME sort of gaming and I think we picked puzzle games? but if i were to tweak her design i think i'd make her a twitch streamer who does a lot of weird challenges on popular games. i don't think we named her, but she's a lazy person who only wants to work enough to support her hobbies. oh also my friend and i got into an argument over what Yugi's hair would look like grown out and i drew this with my track pad:

if we had a plot in mind i don't remember what it was. if i made up one now: at some point yugi becomes famous and suddenly OC keeps getting asked questions about if she knows about this king of games guy because they have the same hair. isn't that funny?? and OC sees him on TV and is like: oh god i think that's my brother. she doesn't reach out because her mom is like "LOL they hate us" and also her japanese is awful. but meanwhile, yuugi keeps getting @ed on social media that there's a mildly popular twitch streamer with his hair. isn't that funny?? so eventually yugi reaches out and then... idk. stupid semi-magical shenanigans.

second concept: ryou has an online friend.

i think i've pitched ryou having an online presence before. i think this makes sense for him: every fiend he has gets their soul stolen by the evil ghost haunting him, but what can bakura do to online friends? be rude to them? so ryou posts a lot on online monster world forums and maybe plays some games via an online platform. i think bakura IS rude to people sometimes but ryou is like "sorry that was my evil alter ego :(" and in early 2000s online culture that's just a normal thing for a teenager to do/say.

OC is therefore someone he's know even longer than Yugi, just via various online platforms. She's talked to Bakura and been confused. She's "there, there"-ed Ryou between extremely bizarre sounding incidents and hospital stays. Post-canon, after they both graduate high school, the two of them make Big Plans to meet in person. OC wants to write her own TTPGs, so Ryou invites her to stay with him in Domino for a few weeks because it is THEE gaming capital. Also it would be fun to try and make some models for her ideas!! Maybe they can even playtest some!!

OBVIOUSLY something has to go wrong, and that is my favroite YGO trope: the day OC is supposed to turn up, Malik shows up on Ryou's doorstep and is like GUESS WHO MYSTERIOUSLY JUST HAS HIS OWN BODY NOW. it's bakura!!!

(OC, meeting him: you're real?)

the Shenanigans that follow would be one part having to figure out what to do with an evil ghost made real, one part trying to enjoy your last summer before university, and then one part OC insisting on meeting shady people from the internet who turn out to be hardened criminals about 95% of the time.

my concept for OC's personality is that she's very creative and emotionally supportive of her friends, but she's also one of those people who's very into how From The City she is and sometimes that causes her to make wild decisions. in my original concept, i wanted her to be the most stereotypical new yorker, but she could be from any major city

Malik, seeing the address of where she's meeting Some Guy to buy a limited edition Monster World player's manual: girl you are going to get mugged

OC: I CAN TAKE OF MYSELF. STREET SMARTS--!!

(obviously she goes, and ryou makes bakura and malik go with them because YOU JUST SAID SHE WAS GOING TO GET MUGGED, but also OC is very confident because she got pepper spray through TSA. nothing can go wrong.)

the plot would be typical yugioh game-based shenanigans but everyone is like 80% more likely to throw hands.

[gukyi]

[!] fic alert [!]

THE ART OF THE ROM-COM | JJK

↳ COMING SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 14TH AT 10:30PM EST

summary: FILM395, the art of the rom-com, was supposed to be an easy a with one of your favorite professors. it's not. instead, it's a sisyphean torture that comes namely in the form of fellow film student jeon jungkook, who has no problem responding to every one of your discussion posts about the consumerist ideals underlying every romance movie with his own paragraphs on the beauty of love, or whatever. and when the two of you find yourselves partnered up for your final project, which is to create a short film on rom-coms, jungkook, the world’s #1 hopeless romantic, decides to take it upon himself to show you just how attainable love can really be.

{enemies to lovers!au, college!au}

pairing: film major!jungkook x film major!reader (female) genre: fluff, comedy, slight angst, this is literally a rom-com in fic form est. wc: 30k warnings: college alcohol consumption, emotionally constipated characters, film major shenanigans, blonde & tattooed jungkook who’s also in a hip hop dance troupe a/n: as promised, here is my contribution to all of the valentine’s day fics! you guys first got a sneak peek of this fic when i made that poll back in the summer and did all of the BLM drabble commissions, and here we are! hope you guys are as excited for this fic as i am!!

PREVIEW:

“Who would we even get to star in a rom-com we filmed? It’s not like the two of us could do it.”

You regret the words the instant they come out of your mouth. In horror, you watch as they sink into Jungkook’s brain, etching themselves into his mind as a lightbulb turns on, a bright idea popping into his thoughts. 

He opens his mouth, but you get there first. “No. Whatever you’re thinking, absolutely not. I am not starring in a rom-com with you.”

That is something you can say with one-hundred percent confidence. Something that you know will never change. 

“Just hear me out,” Jungkook pleads, looking a little desperate as he wrings his hands together, aching to spill the bubbling plan that’s been stewing in his head. 

You narrow your eyes in suspicion but lean back into your chair, a silent signal for him to continue. It’s not as if you have any better idea.s 

“Okay. It’s not a rom-com. It’s a mockumentary,” he says, something that (and you can’t believe you’re saying this) actually piques your interest. Moreso than anything else he’s ever said to you. “You think love is totally manufactured, right? That Hollywood creates the illusion of it to sell to people paying twenty dollars for a movie ticket?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s do that. Let’s prove it’s manufactured.”

“And how do you plan on doing that?” It’s not like you can walk into a factory and ask them to make the “love” emotion for you. 

“We’ll be the stars.”

He says it like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. Like it’s your best idea by a long shot, the home run of all home runs, your golden ticket to an A.

You scrunch up your nose, hesitant. “Wait, I don’t know—”

“It’s perfect!” Jungkook exclaims, eyes wide with excitement. “Think about it. It’ll be a mockumentary of a stereotypical rom-com. Except it won’t be this big Hollywood production, it’ll be real life. And it won’t be between two paid actors with years of experience under their belt, it’ll be us.” His eyes are practically bulging out of his head, big brown eyes glinting with excitement.

“So what are we gonna do? Act out our own rom-com in an attempt to see if either one of us will fall in love with the other?” You say, an eyebrow raised. 

Jungkook shakes his head. “Not necessarily. It’s a mockumentary, right? So it’s grounded in real life even if it is based upon the stereotypical boy-meets-girl rom-com. It won’t be super scripted or anything. Think of it more like… a chronicle.”

You scoff. “Of what?”

“Of us,” Jungkook says easily. “Of the time we have to spend together to film this damn project anyway. I say that rom-coms are emblematic of the natural human desire for love, and that deep down love is the thing that makes us happy. You say that rom-coms are consumerist propaganda, or whatever it is you think they are—”

“They are, and you can’t change my mind about that,” you interrupt, just for clarity. Can’t have Jungkook thinking he’s going to somehow convince you otherwise.

“—so, with this project, let’s see which one of us is right. If the time we have to spend together, making this mockumentary rom-com, will really change how we feel about each other, or if it won’t.”

How you feel about each other? You almost laugh when Jungkook says it out loud. There’s no room for questioning in your mind when it comes to how you two feel about each other. Two desperate-to-please students with opposite views on the entire structure of a class and three years of experience arguing your points in essays under your belts. 

Jungkook believes in destiny, right? Then he must know that the two of you are destined to never get along.

“You should be a car salesman,” you joke. Jungkook’s certainly excellent at pitches. 

“So, you in?”

You narrow your eyes, still a little wary of whatever it is Jungkook’s putting down. But it’s not like you have anything better. And the sooner you agree on something, the sooner you can get this goddamn project over with and never have to sit in class with Jeon Jungkook ever again. 

“Only because this’ll finally prove to you that not everything can be solved by finding love,” you say. It’s about as good of a ‘yes’ as he’s going to get out of you. 

Jungkook grins, mischievous as always. There’s certainly something else he’s plotting, you just aren’t sure what. Maybe he’s in cahoots with Pollack. You wouldn’t put it past her. “Or,” he begins, lips curling upwards, “you’ll just fall in love with me.”

You scoff. “Yeah, right.”

“Well, then I guess we’ll just have to see, won’t we?” He holds out his hand, palm facing up as he waits for your response, that devilish glint that you hate twinkling in his eyes. 

As if you’re going to fall in love with Jungkook. For this stupid project? No way. Just because it’s a filmmaking project doesn’t make it any more bearable than your other assignments. It’s a partner project. They are, by their very nature, excruciating. You’ll be surprised if you end this project and you aren’t even more irritated with Jungkook. Does he really think you’ll actually develop some sort of affection for him?

You take his hand on your own, palm pressed against his, and you eye him carefully. Just because Jungkook’s got something up his sleeve doesn’t mean you don’t. Finally, finally, Jungkook will see why love is stupid and manufactured and fake. Why it doesn’t bring people together but instead tears them apart. 

Maybe then he’ll leave you and your discussion posts in peace.

You smile up at him. 

“I guess we will.”

[in-tua-deep]

For the Harry Potter AU, Is there going to be Five time travelling, be it accidentally?

Five does not decide to time travel on a whim to use his powers in the hogwarts au - this does not mean he doesn’t time travel

(Five is very very concerned with them all sticking together in this timeline/au !! he doesn’t want to run away at all, because their lives are finally good - he has no reason to want to time travel when there’s all this other magic shit he could be learning)

during one of their summers, they end up at the Weasley’s house. It makes sense. Ginny was their youngest child and she’s graduated and moved out. The Weasley’s had a whole seven children, which means they have space slash beds for seven whole children. So they stay with the Weasleys, which is a somewhat awkward fit but I digress

but look the Weasleys still have kids, and those kids do visit

(Which is how Klaus meets Fred Weasley, which is another story)

But Ron comes home to visit and Hermione comes with him and they end up telling stories about their Hogwarts days to the umbrella kids, which is interesting and fun !! they downplay the deadliness of their shenanigans probably but they tell them stories

and Ron mentions Hermione’s insanity their third year when Hermione decided she had to take every single class available to her like an absolute madman. How did she manage that? Oh, she got a time turner with the ministry’s permission or something

and Five, who is always doing Way Too Many Things At Once is immediately enthralled with the idea that you can jump back hours at a time. And they used this just to get to a class at the same time as another class? The possibilities are limitless. 

As soon as Ron and Hermione leave Five is already penning furious letters to his head of house hollering about getting a time turner and that he also wants to do All The Classes

(all his Hufflepuff friends admire his work ethic, yes, very hufflepuff, but come on five put the book down and play exploding snap with us for once in your goddamn life)

And Sprout mails back like “You’re literally 12 you don’t even get electives for your second year?? ask me again next year????” because this is a ravenclaw problem usually - and a Hermione problem - that the Hufflepuff head of house usually doesn’t have to deal with tbh

and Five pouts about it but yeah okay that’s fair, even if having the five hour time turner would be super super useful for things like... sleep or homework slash doing other peoples homework (for a fee of course)

so Five goes through his second year very patiently and then at the end kicks in Sprout’s door and is like “PROFESSOR SPROUT, TIME TURNER ME” giving her an absolute heart attack

(Five is pretty good at zooming through his homework actually, he’s one of the top students in their year actually??? he’s one of those annoying kids who doesn’t even have to put in much effort to get top grades? 

this is because Five is voracious in his pursuit of magical knowledge and is actually like, way beyond his year’s appropriate material tbh - like he’s not quite brewing polyjuice potions in the bathrooms but the librarian knows him by name and he’s started eyeing the restricting section with a little too much interest recently

the age old wisdom learned in Reginald’s household: you only get in trouble if you get caught)

Five is willing to even do the really stupid sounding classing like divination (gag, he’s going to be doing the class with Klaus, Allison, and Diego though so it’s not a total wash he guesses) because if he does the work he gets a fucking time turner are you kidding

(Klaus is way too enthusiastic about divination, when asked why she’s taking Allison arches an eyebrow and says she can absolutely predict the future - for example she heard a rumor you left her alone - wow look at that it came true! Diego is taking it because Klaus begged him but also because he heard it was a really easy class and he would like to focus on quidditch thanks)

they end up staying at the Longbottom Estate the summer between their second and third year (the Weasleys weren’t a great fit and they plan to go to Romania that summer to visit Charlie) since the bigass mansion from an old family has enough room

They’re familiar with Neville, who is apprenticed under Professor Sprout and is probably going to take over herbology classes in the near future. Ben and Neville get along like a house on fire, spending way too much time in the green house

Five, on the other hand, strikes up an intense rivalry with Augusta Longbottom, who is ancient and fierce and strikes terror into the heart of any child she wishes. Five kind of wants to be her but also is at war with her because there are so many good books that Augusta won’t let him read

(anyway, Five learns the hard way that Augusta Longbottom keeps an armed mouse trap in her purse and admires such a simple non-magical solution to keeping intruders away)

Klaus doesn’t like the estate (it’s very old and there are... quite a few ghosts), Diego is constantly badgering the others to practice quidditch with him, Luther carries everything for Augusta and is deemed a ‘nice young man, very Gryffindor’ with approval, Allison models herself the perfect young lady and takes great pleasure in sticking her tongue at the others when they get in trouble (behind the adult’s backs of course), while Vanya takes the opportunity to practice her violin with intensity considering they can’t practice magic anyway (curse underage magic laws)

of course there is a small incident where Ben and Five set up an illicit potions lab in the definitely not a dungeon basement and may or may not experiment which lead to something almost blowing up

“In our defense,” Five says, scrubbing a sleeve over a very sooty face thanks to a small explosion, “we were really bored.”

“Potions.” Neville despairs, like potions personally killed his parents and kicked his dog. And who knows, maybe they did somehow. This is the magical world, nothing ever makes sense honestly. 

“Sorry for nicking some of your boom berries.” Ben offers, managing to actually look sincerely sorry. Five should take pointers, honestly.

“The boom berries aren’t even ripe.” Neville whimpers, face in his hands.

Five exchanges a look of realization with Ben, “Ah, that’s why they - ”

“Went boom.” Ben says with a slightly hysterical giggle on the end.

“No more potions without supervision.” Is the order they get stuck with, which is really unfair considering that there are seven kids and only two adults honestly. 

(“I can’t believe you almost blew up the house.” Luther hisses at them later, to which Ben looks appropriately abashed.

“You’re just jealous we didn’t include you in any plots with explosions.” Five points out crossly. Luther doesn’t say anything to that, which means he’s right.)

Vanya only blows up like, three whole rooms and the bright side is that everyone chalks it up to accidental magic even though Vanya should really have grown out of it by now but... it’s not like they have another explanation!

The kids get very good at distracting the adults and the others trying to train Vanya so that she doesn’t blow things up by accident, which goes better than canon because she wasn’t pent up for literal decades at least but does mean that more accidents happen than the Longbottom house is necessarily used to

“I’d forgotten what it was like to have children underfoot again.” Augusta says when they have to go back, leaning on her cane and looked at them all severely. “Do not return.”

and that’s their stay at the Longbottom estate

so Five enters his third year and gleefully is given a time turner

and he’s informed he can only turn it back five hours, which is the safe time !! and he’s like “haha neat” and immediately turns it five times and - 

he shows up like five years in the past due to funkiness of his powers interacting with the time turner, which lovingly dumps him right into the middle of the war when he’s like, thirteen, in 1997

“what the FUCK” - Five, probably

and this is how five realizes he has time powers

Five is missing for five months when he shows back up, more than a little bit traumatized, clutching his time turner

“what the FUCK” - all of Five’s siblings upon his return, because they have been freaking out for five months

“What do you mean I’ve been missing for five months?” Five asks hysterically, “It’s been like, a month? Tops? I hope you idiots know I had to break into the fucking Ministry of Magic to get back to y’all fuckwads”

“What the fuck, Five” say the siblings, with feeling

“I had to steal and juryrig like, half of the ministry’s supply of time turners. it’s fine. they got ruined during the war anyway, I read about it, so it didn’t upset the timeline or anything to snag a few before it happened and stuff.” Five explains

(He returns the time turner to a very shaken Professor Sprout, but he does not return the pilfered ones he stole five years ago)

after everyone stops freaking out (more or less - the Hufflepuffs refuse to let Five out of their sights for more than five collective minutes which is an absolute pain) Five ends up having to drop some classes (he ends up dropping divination since he likes arithmancy way better - predicting the future with numbers? hell yeah !! and he drops care of magical creatures but insists on keeping up with muggle studies since he feels it’s important to keep up with that world just in case they have to disappear back into it) and life vaguely returns to normal

“Wait.” Klaus says, with a voice that says he’s had a very important revelation. “Does this mean that we’re older than Five?”

“No.” Five says, very firmly, as though that will help what is to come.

“Absolutely.” Diego immediately butts in.

“Absolutely not -” It’s no use. Klaus has wrapped his arms around Five (and curse him, Klaus is a fucking bean pole and taller than Five) and is crooning about how they’re going to take such good care of their babiest brother - 

Klaus deserves result of this interaction. The rest of the room? Well. Needless to say the siblings get detention for destroying an unused classroom

(this does not stop the others from referencing Five’s apparent youth at the most inopportune moments, which never fails to his Five’s berserk button)

everyone keeps a close eye on five. besides more food hoarding and some more general feralness he seems fine for the most part tbh

(he does not talk about his month away, but needless to say he was dumped into the beginning of Harry Potter’s seventh year, which was deeply unfortunate due to the fact that Death Eater’s had taken over Hogwarts and other deeply unfortunate events were taking place)

somehow Five manages to catch up to all his classes despite having been missing for Five months Five what the fuck, and maintains his position as one of the top students in their year

the siblings initiate daily meetings which means all of them pile into the Hufflepuff common room once a week on Five’s night hosting which is basically part sibling study group part “we WILL keep track of everyone on god”

yeah there may or may not be some like. trauma regarding their brother literally vanishing on them tbh

third year is also when Five discovers he can jump into the chamber of secrets and meets the painting of Dolores, and then proceeds to be down there whenever he’s getting sick and tired of everyone’s attention on him like he’s just gonna vanish on them for fucks sake Luther stop breathing in his ear he’s trying to read

he likes talking to Dolores, and she’s full of cool and interesting information and facts, and is very good at charms and hexes, not to even mention her encyclopedic knowledge of various jinxes

but yes five does time travel. it’s sort of to do with his time powers. it’s very accidental, basically his powers going absolutely haywire due to exposure to temporal magic and amplifying their effect to a terrifying degree, but thanks to genuine wizarding knowledge about temporal magic and the existence of time turners Five was able to get home in a timely manner

...sort of, honestly being four months off wasn’t too bad considering his canon difficulties with timing lmao

[jeeperso]

D&D Quotes Without context

Miscellaneous Edition, for those quotable lines from between sessions

"All I wanna do, is fork a giant woman! A giant woman!" "Jonni, I'm pretty sure she is some type of undead, probably a vampire. Are you sure that is a good idea?" "If I don’t get turned into a blueberry it won’t be my worst date." "Okay, but if you have to defend yourself just don't burn the place down for once." "Oh, Nyx. Sweet summer child. I never make promises we both know I won’t even try to keep." "Jonni, if I wake up to my bed surrounded in flames again I'm short-sheeting your next bed every night for at least a month." "I know you're trying to score here, but Lady Dimitrescu's daughters are literally vampires AND bugs. I can overlook one, but as a Paladin, it is my sacred duty to burn this place to the ground and stir the ashes."

"We don't let Marshall make breakfast anymore." "Those waffles are well-fortified." "I'm going to be charitable and call it hardtack." "We can use these waffles as melee weapons." "Well if we need to deflect siege engines they'll be good to have." "This is still carbon based and digestible by human systems without any poisons." "I can't serve this. It'll cause ... death." "Marshal we've been over this. This Pizza has 10% less of a lethal amount of grease." "Plus they signed the waivers when they bought a ticket. It's fine." "And don't forget to push the Cakeon." "Cakeon being slices of cake wrapped in bacon." "The special sauce is a mixture of mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, ranch, horseradish, cheddar cheese, sour cream, and anything unfortunate enough to fall into the mixing vat."

"You do have a copy of the legal code I requested in my letter? As landed gentry you should actually have legal avenues to... I'm sorry did you say Burning child?"

"First I'm going to nail a crossbow bolt through your heart. Then I'm going to mount your balls to walls on opposite sides of this chamber." "I need Three Barrels of Butter" "Are you serious? Those Claws could crush an elephant in full plate!" "You're Right!" *Turns to first person* "We might need more than three barrels of butter."

"So Ioun is the patron of poor college kids. that scans "

"its hardtack or a mug of molten cheese-fried... something in a woven mug of bacon. your choice."

"Welp, all this coke ain't gonna snort itself..."

"Right hand me that dress and the bail money. I'll get Jonni." OOC: Well I mean they allow men in the city. Its just no men live in the city. "I stand by my statement. I'm allowed to look pretty every now and then." OOC: And dragons are the most unprejudiced lovers of anyone after bards.

OOC: Well I mean come on, its Ravenloft: saying a place is of death and madness is like making the observation the day ends in y. "Going out. Getting laid." "Jonni, she’s a werewolf." "Going out, forking a werewolf." OOC: Well Lycanthropy isn't usually sexually transmitted. Its just that Mercedes is a biter. OOC: ...I don't have an appropriate response to that.

"You seriously think I’d turn on my friends for a pile of gold?!?" "sigh I’ll show you my tits. "Hot damn, let’s get these murders done!" "No, Jonni, stay good. Besides, there are plenty of other girls who will do that without asking you to murder us." "Hmmmm… this is the moral quandary of my life…" "I’ll give you five bucks." "Scales tipped!" "Phew, I thought I was going to have to cover her next trip to the topless bar." "No, no, I have the bail money right here."

Nyx: So what’s the inside of Jonni’s head like? Edmund (with thousand yard stare): Imagine every ladies only smut magazine you’ve ever heard of going on forever into infinity while everything is on fire. Food was good though.

"It’s cool. They stole it." "And you know this how?" "Magic." “90% of Ravenloft deaths are mysterious vanishings.” "Why does everything come out covered in glitter and … is that …" "Lube. I’ve got a few theories." "Please don’t share them."

OOC: This is a plan that ends with Strahd having fewer brides, his castle is in flames, and he’s lost his cape.

OOC: Our team consists of a horny pyromancer, a gnome who can fillete you in five seconds, an HP lovecraft protagonist with actual magic backing them up, a literal slab of iron with a face, and a guy with a "I went to the eternal city of Ryleth and all I got was PTSD and this lousy T shirt". Gorbash smashing his shield into their face: "Have! You! Considered! Therapy!" OOC: Good news is you guys will no longer be the most conspicuous guys at the masquerade now. Jonni: Challenge accepted! "Nyx, the bounty on stealing his fake mustache is still on."

"Vanilla is the king of flavors. What does it say about society where vanilla is considered just 'regular'?" "That they have a lot of vanilla." Lash: "Don’t you want wishes?" Jonni: "Do I need wishes to get to see you naked?" Lash: "No?" Jonni: "Fuck ‘em." Vesh: "Oh dammit its my arranged fiance." Pit Fiend: "Milady." Vesh: "An extra wish to whoever punches this douchecanoe in the nards." Jonni: "I wish…for Bigby’s clenched fist of nard punching."

Soth: "Oh, gods, why am I on fire and why is Immigrant Song playing?" Jonni: "Take a guess." Hazlik: "Okay, so its a partridge, stuffed inside a chicken, stuffed inside a duck, stuffed inside a turkey, and the whole thing is fried on a stick. Congratulations, that's the most horrible thing I have ever seen, and I once crossbred an elephant and an owl." "I give him the 'itis, and we run like we stole something." OOC: ...weirdly Curse of Strahd has stats for Strahd zombies but not Strahd Skeletons. Or Strahd's skeletal Steed. Strahd once went to a branding seminar hosted by Bane and it changed his life.

"Are we on a high enough floor that if I throw him through the window he'll be killed by the fall?" "Oh, but when I say stuff like that it’s all 'Jonni, murder is wrong.'" "When they say pick your battles they don't mean to pick all of them. That's too many battles Jonni. Put some back." OOC: He's technically already got a symbiote. OOC: They can get married. Gorbash: "I'm increasing the rent." Venom: "Can I keep the pool table?" Gorbash: "I'm not a monster." Giant Brain: "Jonni… I have summoned you here for… WHY AM I ALREADY ON FIRE! PUT ME OUT! PUT ME OUT!"

"Hello We're the party-crashers. This is Jonni, she's here to steal your women and burn your shit down. That's Nyx, she's going to repatriate certain items from the premise. Marshal over there, is here to studiously ignore our shenanigans. This is the New Guy. He seems pretty chill. I'm Gorbash... and I have been distracting you."

"Will you walk into my parlour?" said a spider to a fly. Jonni: "Hold up. Trying to sex a spider." Nyx: (throws her hands up) And then Jonni wakes up with a spider venom hangover webbed to a wall waiting to be eaten. Jonni: "Eh, I’ve had worse one night stands. I’m not a fucking blueberry." OOC 1: Hey, where does your weed elf grow [her] crops? OOC 2: She probably just grows them in the room she hasn’t paid rent on. OOC 3: Because I was also considering a circle of spores druid tortle. OOC 2: We could be partners! We could turn this into road to el dorado staring Cheech and Chong. OOC: Wait, I just realized five people are hanging out in a pirate bar, and none of us are rogues. We are gonna need someone to get thieves tools. OOC: We have a barbarian with a big stick.

"Are we Foxhound now? Blunderbuss Octopus." OOC1: You want to put the stoner in charge of food. OOC2: Eyup. OOC1: I see no way this can go wrong! OOC3: We need the four basic food groups. Beans, Bacon, Whisky, and Lard. “We pray to Almighty Darkseid! Give us a sign! Thumbs up, for the triumph of the human spirit! Thumbs down to begin the everlasting reign of darkness!” “Where did you find this guy?” “Me? I thought you hired him.” OOC: Yup, nature, arcana, history, investigation and religon at +6. MJ got baked and watched the Discovery Orb a lot. Tordek: "But we have a cleric, Jozan, over there." Strahd: *sigh* Snaps fingers, and suddenly one of Strahd's brides sucks Jozan out the window, cue screaming. "Oh look, you suddenly have an opening, how fortunate." Tordek: "We also have a druid...." Vadania: "SHUT UP, TORDEK!" Edmund: "I think the first order of business may be to discuss your Human Resources strategy..." Strahd: "I have a guy for that too."

"When someone as smart as him talks with himself, it's not crazy...They call it monologing." "I thought it was soliloquy?" "No, soliloquy is when you're talk at someone else when your talking to yourself." "Most people would run from a demon, you run towards it to study it." Professor: "THIS IS ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING! A FROGHEMOTH, AND RIGHT UP CLOSE, IT WILL BE AMAZING TO SEE THIS PERFECT KILLING MACHINE IN ACTION." OOC: Also note the Professor is Lawful Good, Archie is Chaotic Good, so collectively they balance out to Neutral good. OOC: That's good. "The incinerations will continue until morale improves!" “You never incinerate the women!” “Because I’m fucking them!” “I… was not expecting you to be so honest about that…”

"You got what you wanted....but you lost what you had...." "Yes, I'm familiar with how capitalism works."

OOC: Dragons are like, “That’s Krandor the shiney. He only fucks other dragons. Weirdo.”

Gorbash: "D'awww, so tiny... perfect size... FOR PUNTING!" *boots tiny mind-flayer into the horizon*

"Dracula hasn't been spotted in almost recently. Whats he gonna do, destroy all we know and love like he definitely can?" "... my god you people are too stupid to live." "What are you doing in my house?" Gorbash: "...well Edmund has been reading your books, I've been sorting through your armory, Nyx and Irost has been going through your other shinies, Marshal has been cleaving anything monstrous that gets too close, and Jonni has been lighting things on fire to stave off boredom." Gorbash: "Okay Marshal, Jonni. Rock, paper, scissors over who gets [to kill] the bishop."

Jonni: "Did you really think this would make up for what you did?" Nima: "I… killed everyone you grew up with." Jonni: "Yeah, and I’m still not forgiving you for what you did to Eddie." Nima: "I am missing some key context here…" Nima: "Also I committed identity theft on you by having my new undead army tell everyone you are running the show." Jonni: "Oh, no. You’ve fooled the boar tribe. Who still haven’t figured out shitting in a hole." Nima: "Yeah I noticed that. I ruined two pairs of shoes attacking their camps."

[blackberry-gingham]

Hello there! How about John x Reader where Lennon began to notice her shy gestures whenever they got the chance to hangout, and since the reader was usually comfortable with him and suddenly, her manners turned into a delicate one, at the same time, now barely speaks with him. John never asked the reader why and suspects by himself she fancies him. He’s certainly not sure about his thought so, he soon pulled his bandmates to help him find the real reason out.

Oooo interesting! John needs the whole squad to figure out your feelings lmao. So on brand tho ??? I love it 😂

Enjoy!

---

The sun beams proudly overhead, framed by sparse clouds. It's a surprisingly mild summer day and you are relaxing pool side with your best friend, John Lennon. You're at his place and he's reclining in his yard chair completely at ease, eyes closed behind his dark sunglasses.

You sneak yet another glance over at him, trying hard to play it cool. With a quiet but deep breath in, you turn your attention back to the clouds.

What's wrong with me? You think to yourself.

You see, you and John have been friends for ages now. Before Hamburg, before the Quarrymen, before the Beatles... There was just you and him.

All this time, you've both been comfortable in your friendship together. After all, it's hard to find someone who gets you quite like you get each other. And yet... you feel different somehow.

You glance John's way one more time. He's begun to stir a bit and after so many years of knowing him, you sense he'll want to find some fun soon. But for now, you continue resting.

For all this time that you've known him, it may surprise some to know that deep down, the tough and witty John Lennon everyone knows is actually something of a romantic. John's had his flings here and there on his search for lasting love, but nothing seemed to stick for him. Of course, things have worked about the same for you.

Normally it gives you both just another thing to commiserate about, but you've got to thinking lately...

It's probably stupid. After all, if it were possible, surely he would've realised it by now, or at least said something... right?

You sigh and play with your hair, a bad habit of yours, you know. The thing is, you can't help but wonder if there would ever be a chance for maybe... You and John to be together. Of course there's no guarantee things would work out, but you'd never know unless you try...

"Alright, enough of that", John sits up abruptly and takes off his sunglasses. He ruffles his hair and turns to you. "Want to cool off with me?", He nods to the water, "Then we can clean off inside. I know you have to be getting on soon"

You smile, a bit proud to have your hunch proven right. With a big stretch, you sit up as well and turn your sunny gaze to him, "Sounds like fun"

John smiles a cheeky grin and leaps up from his chair. Before you can inquire what all the rush is about, he tears off towards the water and over his shoulder he yells, "Last one in is a rotten egg!"

You gasp in playful disbelief, but you aren't about to let him win. In less then a second you're up and right after him. John slows down a touch just before the waters edge, and for a moment, you think he might let you win.

He comes to a stop right at the lip while you yourself slow down from your head of steam to join him. But, before you can stop completely...

"Ladies first!", John gives you a playful push and sends you on your way into the water. This end of the pool is shallow enough for you to stand with your head comfortably above water, so you shoot back up just in time to get splashed as John cannonballs in beside you.

You splutter and wipe the chlorine water out of your eyes quick as you can. Once you think you're safe, John reemerges and shakes his mop top out, sending another sheet of water your way.

"Oh, you-!", You clear your eyes and then, for the briefest of moments, you bring your hands to action.

John is wading there with a grin plastered on his face, as though he wants you to retaliate. Call him a name. Splash him with water. Perhaps give him a little shove... This is his idea of fun and games. Annoying people, that is.

Normally you quite enjoy it actually, but ever since you've been second guessing your feelings for John, you're not sure how to act. After all, you can't risk giving your feelings away! What if he catches on and rejects you, and then doesn't want to be around you anymore?

No, best to not do anything that could even remotely be interpreted as flirtation or teasing or anything of that sort.

You instead use your hands to tread the water and head back to the lip of the pool, "You are such a child!", You laugh.

John's grin falters as he watches you wade away. After being by your side for years, he can safely say that is very strange behavior for you. He's so comfortable and use to you returning his shenanigans that to see you just... Not, bothers him deeply.

In fact, now that he thinks about it, this is far from the first time you've acted this way. It's actually become a bit of a pattern with you over the last week or so, and John can't stand the mystery.

He sighs sadly, disappointed that his plan to get you to act like your old self didn't work, and crawls out after you. The two of you clean up and part ways for the day. John doesn't bring up his concerns to you, and yet he does want to know the truth...

All that evening he can't escape his thoughts.

By all accounts, nothing should be wrong! Nothing's changed between you two, no ill words or actions, so that's out. There's no outside life issues causing problems, or at least nothing that wasn't already there, so it can't be that either!

But then... What's left?

John pulls the blankets up close as he lays down for the night. The clock on the wall says 11:48, and even now he's still worrying over all this. He rolls over with a sigh. The bedside lamp is still on.

He reaches to click it off, but hesitates for a moment. Instead he finds himself digging in the messy table drawer until finally... Yes, here it is.

Out comes a little polaroid photo. It's a bit aged and ragged by now, but it's perfectly clean and one of John's most prized possessions. Within the frame of the picture, your beautiful face stares back at him, smiling sweetly. You gave him this photo as something for him to hold onto while he was away in Hamburg.

He's never told a soul, but even after all these years, he takes it with him on all his tours since.

He smiles back at your picture. He's never been so love sick in his whole life. For a minute, he dares to wonder... What if, you liked him back? It might explain why you've been acting strangely, but...

Well, that's just rediculous. John frowns and, with a little hesitation, begins to return your picture to the secrecy of it's drawer. There's just no way you could fancy him.

After all, he knows you. Just as he knows that, while he's many things, being worthy of you is not one of them.

He closes the drawer with a gentle click and turns out the light. John rolls over and falls asleep, dreaming a dream that you were here with him.

The next day, John is in the studio with the other lads. They're tuning their equipment and gearing up for the day. As such a close friend of John's, you're on friendly terms with the other Beatles as well of course! So when John tells them about the goings on with you, they're quite dumbfounded.

Even they know something is up.

Paul and Ringo suggest a few silly things, all of which John waves off. After some back and forth between those three, George speaks up and suggests something that John has been too afraid to ask.

"Well I think it's obvious... John, she likes you", George's tone is teasing, but the seriousness of the suggestion is quite apparent.

The room falls silent at George's words.

Slowly, Paul begins to nod. "Yeah... Yeah! Have you thought about that John? You two have been mates a long time, makes sense she'd might fancy you after a while"

"Exactly", George adds.

John's heart skips a beat at the idea alone, but he quickly shoots them down. However, the boys are persistent. They ask for more details on your behavior, and with every scenario John describes, they only grow more adamant. Even Ringo agrees!

There's a bit of back and forth to convince John, but... Maybe... Maybe they're right. Even if they weren't, how long was he going to lie to himself? He knows who his heart belongs to, and no one else could take your place.

He has to at least try.

It's a couple days at least before John sees you again. You must admit, you've been purposely trying to keep your distance. To what end, you don't know. But today you have no excuses to fall back on.

You arrive at John's place right on time and when you arrive at the door, he greets you with a bright smile, just as always. But today, John follows it up with a hug, something a bit unusual for him. He takes you by the hands and pulls you inside after you've said your hellos.

"John, wha-?", you laugh.

"Sh, I have something to tell you!"

You laugh some more and follow him briskly to the living room. John takes a seat on the couch and pats a spot beside him for you. First though, you have to take in the view.

There's a soft and low record on in the background and the room smells fragrant and fresh. A far cry from it's usual scent of cigarettes and musk. On the coffee table sits two cups of tea, a fresh vase of roses, and a small flickering candle.

"What's all this...?", you approach the couch slowly as you bask in the environment.

"Oh, well I um... I hope it's not too much, it's just I-I've been meaning to ask, er uh, I wanted to tell you-"

The look on your face is unreadable, and John's words begin to falter. This was a dumb idea, he's ruined everything. But then...

You lean in ever so slightly. A light dances in your eyes, a smile tugging gently at the corners of your lips. This is everything you've ever wanted...

"Yes?", You ask with baited breath

John sits in stunned silence for but a moment. Then, "Well, I-I love you"

Finally.

The tension seems to melt in an instant. You throw your arms around him, "You've no idea how long I've wanted to hear that"

"Really?", John looks utterly surprised.

You laugh and reassure him, and any last traces of his anxiety is gone.

"In that case... You've no idea how long I've been waiting to do this"

He leans in close and there, in the candle light and amongst the flowers, you share your first, tender kiss.

[surrealsunday]

Hollow Edge Future Ficlet

By request for @sandalwoodhusbands because I have been told I am Canadian and can’t refuse (where is the lie?)... and I guess sort of for @ariavds too... because she’s a brat.

So this all started with an anon (shout out to you, anon!) who sent an ask this morning mentioning Axel’s IG story (which I only found thanks to @jebentnietalleen. Bless you, Tara). I’ll put a gif of it at the end of the ficlet. Specifically it reminded them of HE Lucas post-kids with Eliott. I couldn’t disagree. And so... after some begging... voila.

❤️❤️❤️❤️

“Théo, Théo, ssshhh,” Lucas hushes, barely managing to quiet his own laughter, “not so loud or your dad will hear.”

“So?” Théo laughs, shoving at Lucas’s shoulders and going about repositioning his arms. He laughs when Lucas lets his arms go limp, refusing to hold the poses Théo places him in. “Papa! Stop!!!”

“What? I’m not doing anything?” Lucas grins, looking up into the gentle brown eyes of his little boy. Théo has somehow become a perfect mix of Lucas and Eliott despite no shared DNA. He’s as soft and gentle as Eliott, the first to go running to help when his little sister trips and skins a knee, but he’s got a mischievous spirit and eye for trouble that is all Lucas.

“Keep them like this,” Théo instructs, once more bending Lucas’s arms and posing them palm up, away from his body.

“Like this?” Lucas asks, crooking an eyebrow. “And then what?”

Théo huffs as though Lucas were the most frustrating human prop on the planet. The reaction is all Eliott. “Then I lie down like this,” he pats the palm of Lucas’s hands, “and you do push ups.”

“Théo push ups?”

“Yes! Me push ups!”

“Ok,” Lucas agrees, adopting a serious expression. “But we have to promise that when this goes wrong and we both end up injured, we don’t tell dad.”

Théo wrinkles his forehead, looking serious beyond his years. “But daddy always knows, papa.”

Lucas snorts. It’s true. Even before Lucas has the chance to confess whatever shenanigans he and Théo have gotten up to, Eliott somehow already knows. Lucas has suspicions he has spies in the house that come in the form of a brat who just happens to be home from university for summer break. Though, that broken vase had happened long before Emily was back under their roof and somehow Eliott still knew about it despite Lucas and Théo’s most excellent gluing skills. Then again… in the spirit of all Disney princes… he probably has birds and squirrels serving as informants.

“I guess we’re not allowed to get injured then,” Lucas suggests. “Deal?”

Théo nods, a grave expression on his face. “Deal.”

He starts giggling the moment he leans his body down onto Lucas’s hands, perpendicular to the length of Lucas’s body, a predictable downside to the fact that he is just as ticklish as Lucas. And it’s no surprise that contagious laughter plus perilous gymnastic maneuvers does not make for successful stunts. Théo curls his body with laughter the moment Lucas’s hand spreads across his stomach, and it makes balancing him next to impossible. One loud shriek and he thumps down onto Lucas’s stomach.

“Fuck,” Lucas wheezes, making sure to grab Théo so he doesn’t go flopping right off the bed.

“Papa!” Théo gasps, pressing up from Lucas’s chest, which doesn’t quite help the ‘trying to refill lungs with oxygen’ task at hand. “Daddy says we can’t say that word!”

“Yeah, well,” Lucas pouts, making sure to jut out his lip in a practiced expression Théo has come to call ‘papa’s begging face’, “daddy isn’t here.”

“No?”  

Both Lucas and Théo gasp in matched shock at the sound of the voice at the bedroom door. And there, of course, stands Eliott… beautiful and regal… and absolutely about to lecture them both.

“It was his idea!” Lucas yells, sitting up to clamp hands around the sides of Théo’s waist as he squeals with laughter. “You know I can’t say no to him. He’s your kid!”

“Papa!” Théo giggles, wriggling until Lucas allows him to collapse with his head resting against Lucas’s chest with a huff. “You’re stupid.”

“Théo,” Eliott admonishes gently, coming to stand just to the side of the end of the bed. “We don’t use that kind of language.”

Théo sits up, turning to pout at Eliott in a way that reminds Lucas entirely of himself. “But you tell papa he’s an idiot all the time!”

Lucas doesn’t quite manage to smother his snort of laughter and Eliott sends him an exasperated look. “I know, baby,” Eliott begins patiently, “but your papa and I mean that word in a very different way.”

Lucas smirks, quirking an eyebrow and mouthing ‘What way?’ when he catches Eliott’s eye.

Théo’s forehead is wrinkled in concentration. “But how?” He asks.

“Just…” Eliott is clearly struggling to find words to explain himself. Lucas leans back with arms propped on the bed to appreciate the delightful sight of him trying. “We say it like… another way of saying I love you.”

And just like that Lucas wants to kiss him. He so badly wants to kiss him. Eliott’s eyes meet his and there’s the same yearning in his gaze.

“Me too!” Théo’s demanding voice immediately interrupts Lucas’s far too romantic musings. “I mean it too!”

Eliott shakes his head, chuckling softly. He looks to Lucas for backup but there’s not much Lucas can do but shrug, smile pulling at the corners of his mouth.

“So what were you two up to in here anyways?” Eliott asks, none-too-subtly changing the subject. The question serves its purpose however, and Théo is immediately distracted.

“Papa’s gonna do push ups with me!”

Eliott’s expression crinkles in confusion and his eyes flick to Lucas’s for explanation.

“Literally with him,” Lucas explains, leaning back onto the bed to demonstrate the push up motion with his arms. Théo nods eagerly beside him, looking back to Eliott for approval.

There’s a twinkle to Eliott’s eyes as he comes to understand their plan. “Ok,” he says, definite challenge in his voice, “let’s see then.”

“Really?” Théo and Lucas gasp in perfect unison.

“Really,” Eliott confirms, looking as though he’s one second from laughter.

Lucas meets Théo’s eye. “Ok buddy,” Lucas tips his chin down, looking at Théo seriously, “you ready to show that dad of yours what we’re all about?”

Théo’s face is all business and the sight of it nearly has Lucas cracking. He just barely manages to keep his expression neutral. “Ok, papa.”

This time around Théo lays himself across Lucas’s hands without even a hint of laughter, holding his body taught and still. He’s taking the task of showing off for Eliott so very seriously, Lucas can’t help but do the same, shifting his hands until he feels confident Théo is properly balanced and pushing up. Théo’s face immediately breaks into a smile the moment Lucas begins moving him, but he doesn’t break his pose, allowing Lucas to push him up once, twice, three times, over and over again.

In all honesty, it serves as a pretty effective workout. Lucas’s muscles burn. His biceps are unsurprisingly under a fair amount of strain, but his abs too are clenched with effort. He pulls his thighs slightly up towards his body as he tires, pushing Théo up one last time with a determined exhalation of breath, before he carefully brings him down again, letting Théo roll onto Lucas’s stomach and then off.

“Papa, you did it!” Théo crows, expression bright and joyous.

“Not bad, hunh?” Lucas smiles, sitting up and offering his hands up for a high-five which Théo gladly receives. “So,” Lucas looks up to where Eliott seems to have frozen while watching them, “what does our audience think?”

“Uh…” Eliott looks slightly shocked to be addressed and quickly clears his throat. “That was… yeah. Good. Really good.”

Lucas knows that look on Eliott’s face. He smirks. “Think so?” Lucas pulls his lower lip into his mouth, reaching down to scratch at his slightly exposed belly where his shirt had ridden up. Eliott’s eyes track the motion.

“Can we show Emmy?” Theo asks.

Eliott’s cheeks are far rosier than they had been moments prior and his eyes go quickly back to Théo. “Maybe later.” He rakes a hand back through his hair, eyes so obviously avoiding Lucas’s own. “Why don’t you go get your younger sister, and you and Julie head outside, ok, baby? Your cousin just got here.”

“Naima!” Théo shouts excitedly, quickly hopping off the bed. He reaches back for Lucas’s hand, dragging him up to a standing position. “C’mon, papa!”

Lucas chuckles and moves to follow before he’s stopped by Eliott’s firm hand on his chest. “No, you go ahead, Théo. Your papa and I will catch up. Tell your Uncle Idriss he’s to look after you guys, alright?”

Théo looks suspiciously between them both for a moment before he seems to realize any further questions will only delay his opportunity to play with Naima. “Ok!” He promptly turns and goes running out of the room, shouting as he goes. “JULIEEEEEEEEE, NAIMA IS HERE!!!”

Eliott gently closes the door behind him, turning back to face Lucas slowly.

“Why Princeling,” Lucas begins, tilting his head with a cheeky smile, “if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were planning on taking advantage of my weakened state.”

Eliott advances on him quickly, hands moving to Lucas’s waist, steps not slowing until he has Lucas pressed up against the wall next to Théo’s bed, breath warm against Lucas’s lips. “Do you have any idea how hot you are?”

Lucas expels a laugh that’s more air than anything else. His voice when it comes out is shakier than he would have expected. “My muscles get you going, Princeling. Think I don’t know that?”

“Not just that,” Eliott disagrees, eyes tracking across Lucas’s face. “You’re just…” One of his hand’s moves to cup Lucas’s face, thumb brushing along his cheekbone. “You’re just such a good dad.”

Heat spreads through Lucas’s chest at the pronouncement. “Yeah?” He smiles and knows his face is flushed with his happiness.

“Yeah,” Eliott confirms, eyes landing on Lucas’s lips. He brushes his thumb along the plump lower lip.

“And that does it for you, hunh?” Lucas teases.

A small smile pulls at Eliott’s mouth as his eyes meet Lucas’s. “You have no idea.”

He kisses Lucas as though it were their first time. It’s something Lucas will never tire of… the way Eliott kisses him. As though he’s been waiting years to do so. As though he may never have the opportunity to do so again. Lucas opens his mouth to meet the demand of Eliott’s, groaning happily as their tongues meet. Eliott’s hands move back into Lucas’s hair, gripping the strands tightly enough to have goosebumps rising across Lucas’s skin. He breaches the distance between their bodies, positioning a thigh between Lucas’s legs as he presses him back roughly into the wall. And Lucas is so on board with this plan. So entirely on board, just…

He pushes Eliott back enough to break their kiss. “Eliott,” Lucas attempts, but Eliott is not to be discouraged, his mouth moving down to Lucas’s neck, teeth scraping against the tendon he finds there. Lucas tries again, “You really gonna defile me in our son’s bedroom, Princeling?”

That gets Eliott’s attention. He raises his head, looking confused for a moment before he glances around them. His nose wrinkles with displeasure.

Lucas chuckles. “Our bedroom is across the hall. Think we can make it?” He’s only half joking.

Eliott’s face lights up with a mischievous smile. “No.” But he’s pulling Lucas towards the door with urgency anyways, wrenching it open and pausing to kiss Lucas at the threshold, pushing him back against the door jam.

“Bedroom. Bedroom,” Lucas repeats, and they breathe against one another’s lips.

“Bedroom,” Eliott agrees but makes no moves to disengage himself from Lucas’s body.

Lucas laughs, turning their bodies before shoving Eliott with some force until his back hits the closed door to their bedroom. Eliott laughs delighted, reaching for Lucas’s belt loop to drag him forward as he fumbles behind himself for the door handle.

“Hey!” It’s Idriss’s voice calling from out-of-sight at the bottom of the stairs. They both freeze in immediate unspoken agreement that the less noise they make, the less likely they are to give themselves away and have the unthinkable happen… to be cock-blocked by Idriss. “I’m giving you assholes a half hour before I’m dragging you out of there. Half hour, you hear me? Better make it count!”

Eliott grins, wrapping an arm around Lucas’s waist and pulling him close enough to press a kiss to the tip of his nose. Lucas’s entire body feels as though it’s glowing with his happiness and it’s a comfort to see the same radiance on Eliott’s face.

“Let’s make it count.”

❤️❤️❤️❤️

The IG story (gif made by @ariavds​ thank you brat): 

[love-fireflysong]

Day 10: Road Trip

Fandom: Until Dawn Character(s): Josh Washington, Chris Hartley, Ashley Brown Words: 2791  Rating: General Author’s Notes: And we are back to our regularly scheduled dose of Nerd Trio™ shenanigans! With bonus appearance of “oh no. there’s only one bed!”. I can only hope that you guys have half as much fun reading it as I had writing it.

To say that the three of them weren’t looking forward to this trip, would have been a dirty, rotten lie. They had been planning this ever since Ashley first joined them in the esteemed and hallowed halls of high school. The moment (or at least, couple of weeks after) she graduated, the three of them were going to rent an RV and just go. They had spent the last couple of years saving up for it in fact. While Josh had graciously accepted the cost of renting the RV, they still needed money to pay for gas, food, lodging, and so forth. It was planned as one last summer of freedom for all three of them before the duties of college, work, and being an adult lessened the ability to just hang out.

And oh, did Josh have a plan

He stood in front of the RV rental location, hands on his hips, and his head held high as he went through the objectives of said plan once again.

Step 1: Rent RV with 3 beds Step 2: Immediately change rental to two beds when the other two leave. Step 3: Feign shock when you drive it to pick up the others at how there’s not enough beds anymore. Oh no! What to do?! Step 4: ???? (Hint: it may have involved sharing the bed) Step 5: Profit

Steps one and two had been completed at the beginning of May, and now he had to get his acting chops together for step three. He had a bet to win after all. He had put down a frankly stupid amount of money that Chris and Ash would be married before they finished college. And the best way to do that was to get them dating before Ash even started. Hence, the whole ‘there’s not enough beds’ shtick.

‘I don’t know what to say guys’ Josh practiced in his head as he walked to the front desk. ‘There was a mix-up and we got stuck with this one instead. I tried to talk to some people but because it’s summer it was just too short notice to find another vehicle. But it’s fine! We got this! I’ll take the smaller bed, no, it fine, I’ll be okay, don’t you worry. You both know how I tend to hog the blankets anyways. And you two—oh. I guess that just leaves the double for you. Well, I’m sure you’ll manage.’

It was perfect. The plan was completely foolproof. Sure the multiple others he had tried over the last couple of years had failed spectacularly, but this one was different. If the two of them waking up in the same bed nestled in each others arms everyday for a month didn’t change things, then nothing would.

And so, Josh walked into the air conditioned lobby of the rental place, and greeted the man sitting at the front desk with an exuberant cock-sure grin. After a quick confirmation check, making sure to dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s, Josh signed the paperwork with an overly outlandish signature and was handed the keys to their new home for the next month.

This month was going to be great.

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

“This month is going to be awful.”

Ashley stood in the center of the RV, her arms crossed angrily over her chest as she glared at the double bed situated further to the back. 

“C’mon Ash, it’s not so bad. I mean, we can definitely make it work. Maybe?”

She turned towards Chris, who’s skill at placating Ash was less then stellar right now. “Make it work? How in the world are we supposed to make it work? There are three of us Chris! And only one bed!”

Unfortunately for everyone, especially Josh, she was right. After a day of driving, the three of them had finally arrived at their first stop on their leg of the journey. And with the way things were going already, it was looking like it might be their last.

“I don’t see how on earth you didn’t catch this Josh!”

From where he was sitting at the kitchen table and leaning back against one of the wall cushions, Josh shrugged weakly. “There was a mix-up and they accidentally booked us the wrong RV.” he lied, though not quite as smoothly as he had planned earlier in the day. “It’s summer and they didn’t have any others available that weren’t already booked.”

There was no way he was ever going to admit that he had declined the quick inspection that the agent had offered. He had just taken the keys and hooked it up to the truck without a single look. He was taking that secret to the grave.

With a groan, Ash joined Josh on the bench and placed her head in her hands. “I knew that I should have insisted a look when we were throwing everything into the back of the truck. But no, you insisted that everything was fine and we were late leaving anyway so I didn’t argue.” She moved to just placing her head face-down onto the table in the circle of her arms. 

Hesitantly, Chris walked over to the table and joined them. For a moment, Josh thought he was going to start rubbing Ash’s back to try and calm her down, but he chickened out and awkwardly placed his hand back at his side. Instead the blond looked at the two of them hopefully. “I mean, maybe there is another bed somewhere?”

Josh regarded him with a flat look. “And where would you suggest that be Cochise?” He gestured with his arm to the rest of the area and watched as Chris’s face fell at the admittance the Josh had a point.

The area of the RV was small, as one would expect. There was the aforementioned double bed at the one end of the trailer, the kitchen table and its U-shaped benches where they sat at the other end, and the door leading to the small bathroom across from them. In the middle was a small kitchenette with a couple of cupboards, and the storage closets across from it. There was no chair or couch for them to sit on, or sleep on as the case was. They couldn’t even use the weird little table alcove as a bed either. The table was bolted into the floor of the trailer so you had to literally slide in if you wanted to sit down. Meaning that there was a very high chance of someone waking up and cracking their head on the table if they weren’t careful.

Ashley’s voice was muffled but mournful from where she had deigned to face plant on the table. “Knew Josh shouldn’t have went alone to grab the stupid thing. One of us should have went with him.”

“Yeah, well, them’s the breaks girl. I hate to be the one to interrupt this lovely pity party we have going on, but we really need to finish bring in the rest of our shit.”

Thankfully, Chris seemed to agree with him. “He’s right, Ash. Aside from bringing in the pots and pans and our clothes and toiletries, we still need to buy food. And I don’t know about you two, but I for one am starving.”

Slowly coming up from the safety of her arms, Ash sighed. “You’re right,” and continued with a more hopeful “And hey, maybe we’ll figure something out after eating some food.”

Three hours later, after an exciting evening of putting away their stuff, fighting over what food to put on the list, grocery shopping, fighting again (‘Who put the stupid Oreo's in the cart? We agreed no Oreo's!’ and ‘Really? Spinach? What are we, rabbits?’ being only two examples of the many, many arguments had there), and having shared a hearty and nutritional dinner of Kraft Dinner before bickering over who got to clean the dishes first (Josh lost that fight, on virtue of screwing up with the RV), they still hadn’t figured anything out. So now here they were, the three of them dressed for bed in old t-shirts and sleep shorts and/or sweats. And all staring at the only bed in resigned acceptance of their fate.

“I mean, one of us could just sleep in the truck.”

Ashley sighed. “No Chris, no one’s sleeping in the truck.” Noticing the look on his face, she was quick to shut him down. “Or on the floor, so don’t even bother offering.”

Josh shrugged. “ I mean, we’re all pretty skinny people. The one benefit of being pasty bookworm, and even more pasty technophile, and a handsome horror movie connoisseur.” He expertly ducked to avoid Chris’s headlock, though it put him right in line for Ash’s smack to connect with the back of his head. “So if we squeeze, we might all fit.”

The groan that came from Ash would have been insulting if he wasn’t feeling the same way. “Unfortunately, I think that’s the only option available to us. Oh, this is so not going to be comfortable.”

“Well, excuse you Ash, but I have heard from reputable sources that I am a very comfortable person, a human shaped body pillow if it were, so I take extreme offense to your complaints.” Again, Josh was able to avoid Ash’s push but was left open for Chris to punch him in the arm. He rubbed his arm as he stared at the other two. “Okay, seriously, how are you two doing that? Do you plan this out or something? Have normal, scheduled meeting about how best to injure me?”

“Something like that.” Chris responded distractedly as he dug through a drawer, closed it, and then opened another. Eventually, he managed to find what he was looking for and after a few more moments, turned around with three pieces of a plastic straw in his hand.

Josh eyed the straws warily. “What? You planning on having one last milkshake before bed or something?”

Chris rolled his eyes as he offered his hand clutching the straws to both Josh and Ashley. “Of course not you moron. Ash didn’t let us buy any ice cream anyway. No, this is to decide who gets to be in the middle.”

With a slightly nervous glance shared with Ash, Josh swallowed and reluctantly chose a straw.

And, as it turns out, ending up as the middle spoon as he laid cramped and miserable and oh so awkwardly between Chris in front and Ash at his back.

“This is awkward and I hate it,” Josh said.

“Shut up, Josh,” Chris and Ashley replied in unison.

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

When Josh woke up the next morning, the early morning sun shining into the window right above the bed, it was with him spread on his back. Chris was snoring right by his head, Ash’s face was smushed into his shoulder, and each of them had one arm draped over his chest. Someone might have found this entire scene cute.With Chris snoring loudly in his ear and Ash drooling on shoulder though, Josh was not that person. 

With a groan, he carefully extracted himself from the center of the bed, somehow miraculously managing to not wake the other two up, and watched with nonplussed amusement as Chris and Ashley gravitated in their sleep to the now empty center, Ash ending up pressing her face into Chris’s chest as he buried his own into the top of her head, still snoring all the while. With a wistful sigh, he could only bemoan the fact that his plan totally would have worked. If only there had been a second bed.

Yawning and scratching at his stomach, Josh made his way to the shower at the other end of the trailer, grabbing a fresh set of clothes and his own shampoo on the way. When he emerged refreshed and marginally more awake thirty minutes later, it was to the smell of bacon and eggs and the still slightly red faces of his two best friends.

“Oooh. Service and a show.” With a grin, he twisted his towel and as a joke snapped it lightly at Chris’s ass while he cooked the bacon. He snickered at the yelp that resulted, and even more at the flat eyed look of disapproval from Ashley as she sliced a loaf of bread at the counter.

“That’s it. No breakfast for you.”

“Oh come on, Ash!”

“Nope. You lost your chance. Either cook your own bacon and eggs or have a bowl of cereal.”

“You are a cruel and heartless woman, Ashley Brown. I hope you know this as you sentence me to this injustice.”

Josh gave an overly exaggerated wail of despair as he moved to steal a piece of cooked bacon from one of the plates, and was intercepted by a smack to the back of his hand from Chris’s spatula. He cradled his now grievously injured hand to his chest. 

“You heard the lady. You’ve been regulated to cereal like the child you are.”

“You two are going to be the most killjoy and unfun parents ever. I will have to rescue my poor nieces and nephews from your clutches just to show them life outside of their bleak and dreary lives.” He ignored them sputtering behind him as he dug through through their makeshift pantry. “What did we do with the cereal?”

While not removing his eyes from the pan of sizzling bacon, Chris turned his head slightly to talk over his shoulder. “Check the middle shelf to the right. I think Ash put a couple of boxes there.”

“Yeah, I see those one’s Cochise, I meant the fun cereal.”

“And what exactly is wrong with Raisin Bran and Cheerios?”

“Um, everything Ash. Just, everything.”

Chris snorted, then gave another yelp when he moved to dodge some grease when the bacon popped with a sharp crack. “Top shelf. I put the good stuff up there.”

“Chris!”

 With a shout of victory, Josh pulled out a box of Oreo O’s and came behind Ash to grab a bowl from the cupboard above her head and the carton of milk from the fridge next to her.

“Wait, how the hell did you manage to sneak those into the cart?”

“I wanted Oreo’s, Ash, and I was gonna get my Oreo’s one way or another,” Josh said as he poured way more then the recommended serving into the bowl and poured in a helpful amount of milk. Replacing the milk in the fridge he grabbed a spoon and sat down at the kitchen table and started to eat his bowl of pure sugar as he reclined into the cushioned back of the benches. Shortly after, Ash and Chris joined him at the table with their own plates of slightly burnt bacon, eggs, and toast. “So, sleep well?” he asked innocently.

In response, Chris and Ash both ripped off a piece of toast and threw it at his head, which Josh easily dodged with a cackle. The rest of the meal passed in relative peace, aside from the occasional minor food fight that was Josh flicking pieces of cereal at their heads, as he felt wont to do every now and then. Until, that is, Chris dropped his fork by accident and it fell to the floor with a clatter.

Swearing under his breath, Chris vanished under the table only to not reappear seconds later with said fork in hand.

“Ya doing alright down there, Cochise?”

When Chris responded back, it was with a pained edge to his voice, still under the table. “Can you two clear the table for me please.”

“You get stuck down there or something?”

“Just, just clear the table.”

Giving Ash a look of confusion similar to the one she was giving him, the two of them nonetheless cleared the table of all dishes, cutlery, cups, and ketchup that rested on it. With a grunt of effort, Chris extracted himself from beneath the table. And then, giving an extremely pained long-suffering sigh, put his hand underneath the table top and something mechanical snapped. In silence, they could only watch as the table slowly collapsed down to rest on what everyone now noticed to be the slightly lowered edges of the u-shaped benches, making a completely flat surface.

Without a word, it was Ash who reached for the cushioned backs of the benches and was easily able to rip them from their velcro and laid them across the newly flat surface. The three of them could only stare nonplussed and quiet at what was obviously a second bed. The burnt bacon and soggy cereal now long forgotten on the counter top behind them.

“I call dibs on the Table Bed.”

[seekingseven]

The Most Sincere Kind of Lie (Ch1)

Chapter 1 of my Linked Universe fanfic, let’s see how this baby goes down! Also available to read here on AO3

┍━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━┑

Hyrule's Hyrule did not feel like a Hyrule.

A calm, somber, empty wind threaded its way through the sky and forest and swamps, stirring up the stagnant dust lying on abandoned pathways and tugging curiously at the Links' clothing. The road they walked along was hard and flat, unfamiliar with the shifting anxiousness of wandering travelers and unwilling to leave any memory of their footprints behind. Streams mumbled and grumbled to the south, and the dark, seductive lullaby of the forest wafted in from the north. Hauntingly beautiful and terribly desolate was the only way to describe this place. Not even three hours of walking had yielded sight of a single other traveler aside from themselves.

Hyrule wasn't bothered by this, however. In fact, the traveler had an extra skip in his step and sparkle in his smile, excitedly weaving through the crowd of his incarnations and pointing out distant shadows of distant places with infectious enthusiasm. Infectious enthusiasm was the only proper term for it; Hyrule's amicable and eager attitude had contaminated everyone in the group. Sky hummed a lullaby as they walked along, bopping his head slowly as Wind thumped out the time signature on his chest. Four, Wild and Wars were all huddled around the traveler, trying to guess the names and places of things ahead of them while Hyrule laughed and occasionally applauded their efforts. Even Time and Twilight stared at the darkening sky and pointed out the timid pinpricks of light above, grinning like love-struck fools when Hyrule named each constellation and detailed the lore behind them.

On the other hand, Legend was very much bothered by their current situation. Even after hours of walking, he had no idea where Hyrule was taking them. He had no idea where, or even if, they were going to sleep tonight. Were they going to have dinner? Discuss a battle strategy or cover story for their ragtag group before they eventually ended up in some Nayru-forsaken town? Legend glared at the armor on Time's back. Of all people, Old Man should have had the presence of mind to lay out some semblance of a plan. But instead, he had an arm draped around Hyrule's shoulder and another on Twilight's, looking up at the stars as if they were the answer to all his most profound questions and desires. A smart bunch his incarnations were, Legend thought. They might as well run off the path at full speed and wait for wild monsters to tear them apart if everyone was going to be this idyllic and dopey. Yeah. Idiots. That's all they were. Legend brooded and nurtured his dissatisfaction with paternal meticulousness, almost enjoying the feeling of disgust blooming between his ribs. He thought of how much his feet hurt and how heavy his eyelids felt. What he would give for a good meal and a warm blanket and twenty seconds of reprieve from the noise and racket around him. His eyebrows slipped low over his face, his mouth twisted into its typical grimace, his movements slowed as he began to lag behind the rest of the group.

Goddesses above, he was so, so, so tired.

The silvery, boisterous sound of Sky's laughter shattered the silence Legend had grown extremely fond of over the last few minutes. The disgruntled hero stared up from his feet and stifled a groan as he processed the chaos in front of him. Wind was carrying Sky on his shoulders, swaying back and forth as the former's power bracelet twinkled crazily under the moonlight, and a piggyback race had been declared. Four had hoisted himself on Warriors' back without a second thought, and the two were off, sprinting down a path they weren't familiar with, and towards a horizon they'd never met. A brilliant thing to do in a foreign Hyrule, Legend thought bitterly. At least Time, Twilight, Wild, and Hyrule had some semblance of dignity about them. Oh, scratch that, the insane cook had stripped down to what he called his Sheikah Speedos (whatever on Farore's good green earth that meant) and was now sitting atop Twilight's shoulders. Legend hoped for a split second that Twilight would be level-minded enough to dissuade his protégé from such a reckless pastime. The aforementioned hope melted in the air when the pair shrieked a stream of sacrilegious boasts and sprinted after Wind and Warriors' retreating forms. Hyrule, who was still leading the whole group -- even though they were in his Hyrule, Legend had a sneaking feeling that this was a bad idea -- tossed his shield underneath his feet and quite literally sledded down the path. Legend sighed dramatically. Apparently, Wild's wasteful hobby had tainted even him.

Idiots, the lot of them.

Humid fog skittered over from a nearby river and settled onto Legend's lashes and cheeks. He blinked slowly and yawned again. The arsenal on his back pulled him downwards, and Legend made no motion to resist, relishing the feeling of slack muscles and half-closed eyes and hair flopping in front of his face. He didn't notice how far forward he was slumped until his hands dragged across the floor and scratched the rough skin of his knuckles. Legend glared furiously at the dust beneath him, as if to reprimand its audacity. The half-asleep hero proceeded to slog forward with even less intention than before.

Maybe if he fell asleep in the middle of the path, they would all stop their shenanigans and put their heads back on their shoulders.

"Hey, Legend! Pick it up, yeah? You're moving about as fast as Wind's gramma on a summer afternoon!"

That stupid cook couldn't even let him sleep, huh?

Legend didn't have a comeback, so he just sneered at Wild's silhouette as Wind did the job for him. Sailor boy had quite the vocabulary -- not exactly vulgar but certainly brazen enough to make the aforementioned 'Gramma' blush had she been here. The lazy smile was still plastered over Legend's face when Time broke away from the group and sidled up next to him.

"What do you make of all this?" Time questioned.

"Nothing much. It's all pretty stupid, to be honest." The veteran hero didn't look up from the floor, addressing his sleepy words to the dust underneath him.

Time gave Legend a sidelong look. The sound of laughter and smell of sea salt carried on the wind and grazed the tips of Legend's ears. The Old Man's gaze didn't falter, somehow becoming more childish and bright as he tilted his head genially to the side and waggled his eyebrows suggestively. Legend took one look at the dopey look on Time's face and rolled his eyes.

"Not a chance, Old Man. I might hurt your back."  

"My back? Oh no, you misunderstand. I'm more interested in receiving a piggyback ride than giving one."

Legend took an involuntary step back and stared up at Time with incredulity splashed all over his face.

"...?!"

"Ah. You're a poor sport, I see."

"... you're not going to manipulate me into something as humiliating as that."

"Oh well. Worth a shot. But what about Hyrule?"

"??"

"Everyone is getting rides except him. I have a feeling he would appreciate it very much if you would swallow your pride for his sake. Why not help him win that race?"

"Yeah," Legend grunted, "and I would appreciate it if you got off my case and let me be."

They walked on in silence. The Old Man's armor chinked in time with the sea shanty Wind was belting out at the top of his lungs. A few of the other Links joined in, even though they didn't know the words, their voices exploding into an ungodly crescendo as Wind tossed his hands up into the sky. Legend remained silent. He kicked the small pebbles in front of his feet and glowered at the shifting shadows lurking around the path's corners. There was no need to worry -- Hyrule had made it clear that as long as one stuck on the road, there was no chance of being attacked by any monsters -- but Legend's sleep-deprived brain sparkled with anxiety regardless. Snorts and giggles and quips and retorts echoed in the cold air; Time smiled at them, Legend glared. He just wanted to get to a town, eat something, nap, and wake up when Hylia's little shtick was all over.  

"Time!" Wild shouted, snapping Legend out of his reverie, "can you hold these for us? Twi and I have a race to win, and alla these thingamajiggers aren't doing much to help us out." Twilight stumbled over to them, trying to balance the hyperactive wild child spazzing out on his shoulders, and started to say something before Wild promptly dumped an assortment of swords, shields, and shirts into the Old Man's outstretched arms. Twilight stared apologetically up at Time, opening his mouth to speak before Wild tugged his hair demanded they rejoin the fray. Legend had to hold a hand in front of his face to avoid breathing in the dust Twilight kicked up. Time stared on fondly, slinging the swords over his shoulders and scrutinizing the abandoned things around him as the two crazies scampered off. He sat on his knees with a grunt and started sifting through his bag, apparently looking for a sliver of space to put the random shields and clothes he'd been handed. A few random weapons and supplies had to come out before anything else could go in, and Legend scrutinized them with the jaded eye of a seasoned mage. Time pulled out a hookshot (typical), bow (even more so), three separate quivers of ice, fire, and light arrows (untouched for years, if the fine coating of dust around them meant anything), and a strange magnifying glass with a magenta frame and indigo lens. Well, well, well. What could that be? A familiar cold fire tickled the back of his throat -- the same one that prompted him to begin his first journey and propelled him through the rest. It only grew stronger when Legend noticed how the lens bent and scattered the moonbeams falling around it; it was almost as if the artifact was trying to avoid the light. His eyebrows flickered up, and a smirk pinched the corners of his lips. Legend tossed a quick glance first at Time, who was still slowly shuffling around the materials in his bag, and another one at the rest of the Links, who were still racing and tripping and shouting like a gang of toddlers. In one fluid movement, Legend swiped the lens and held it up in front of his grinning face.  

The lens was heavy, not just because of the metal handle, but because of the ocean of magic seething and roiling within. Dark magic, without a doubt; the thick, somber, molasses-like heartbeat of the enchantment couldn't be chalked up to anything else. But said dark magic had obviously been tampered with in some way; there was none of the electric, fiery malevolence ingrained in most cursed artifacts. Perhaps it had been enchanted by a mage with a pure heart and proficiency in the dark arts? Legend's eyebrows pressed together. His fingertips itched to pull out his Magic Mirror and compare the two.

It took Legend a few seconds to register that Time's singular eye was boring into him. Legend startled and took a few preemptive steps back, just in case the Old Man got it in his head to make a lunge for the strange lens. The veteran hero smiled at his companion, balancing the artifact on the fat part of his palm.

"Fascinating. Where'd you get this, Old Man? Never thought you were a connoisseur of corrupted magical artifacts."

Time shrugged his shoulders and stood up, slinging his bag and assortment of swords around his neck. Legend tried very hard not to become uncomfortable under his unflinching, unreadable stare.  

"I don't suggest you play with it," Time finally said.

Legend grinned even wider and pressed the strange artifact to his chest. "You don't say?" He flicked the crimson barbs adorning the top of the lens and tapped the handle with a fingernail. "I can feel the Dark Magic pouring through this lens -- if it even is a lens and not a portal of sorts." Holding it up to the moon, Legend's face contorted in curiosity as the lens snuffed out the light around it. "The weird thing is that there's no malevolence behind the magic. Must have been cast by a powerful mage with no intent to harm."

"Perhaps it was." Despite his words, Time's deadpan words hung thickly in the air and betrayed his complete disinterest in pursuing the conversation further. He held out his hand in front of him, an invitation for Legend to return the lens so the both could continue on their way.

Legend slapped the hand away.

"I don't think so," the veteran teased. "Wanna tell me why you don't want me holding onto this thing? Hiding something, Gramps?"  

"Aren't we all?"  

"Oh please, spare me your existential-crisis inducing lectures. What do these engravings on the side mean?" Legend squinted at the fine letters etched into the rim. "Hmm...Lens of Truth. Is that what it's called? How odd. Hey, what do you say will happen if I look through it?"

"The same thing that happened to my eye."  

Legend's fiery curiosity dimmed and his sense of self-preservation flared. The veteran cradled the lens in his palm and widened his eyes, searching Time's face for any hint of duplicity.

"Really?" Legend whispered.

"Nope." Time replied. The skin around his eyes crinkled. Legend groaned loudly. He should have seen this one coming.

"Ugh. You really had me going for a second there."

"Hmm. Now give it back."

"C'mon," Legend urged, "don't be such a grump. Can't I just hold onto it for a little bit? You know how careful I am with artifacts of all kids, magical or not. Now that I think about it, I'm probably the best person to keep it with. Not like it's doing anything in that bag of yours."

The silence was heavy and disappointing. Legend was about to appeal to his character and reliability once more before noticing the childish glint in Time's eyes.

Oh no.

"Well, maybe if…" Time began.

"I'm not giving you a piggyback ride."

Time's baritone chuckles muffled the sounds of dust crunching beneath their feet. "I was only going to ask you if you would be able to carry all these things for me."

Legend blinked quickly, then sheepishly nodded his head. This was a pretty good deal, actually. He slung Time's bag and the array of swords Wild had dumped off around his shoulders, wincing as they dug into his skin. A sharp prick of jealousy pierced his heart as he watched Time sprint ahead and swing Hyrule onto his shoulders. He shook his head, trying to ignore the sound of Hyrule's soft, shy laughter, and busied himself with the lens in his hands.

What a fascinating thing it was. "The Lens of Truth," huh? Much more enigmatic of a name than "Magic Mirror." He idly bounced the lens in his hand as he thought. Why was it filled with dark magic but free of actual darkness? What kind of truth did it claim to reveal? Why did Time have such a strange artifact sitting at the bottom of his inventory?

His curiosity burned even brighter, and Legend found himself almost skipping down the path.

━━━━━━━━━▲━━━━━━━━━

Saria Town smelled like salt, dirt, and the sweat of a community living on the fringes of the world. At Hyrule's insistence, the Links slid off each other's shoulders and sauntered over to Legend to grab their swords, shields, and -- in Wild's case -- clothes. The veteran smiled half-heartedly as the weight on his back was lifted in bits and pieces, eyes and mind still trained on the Lens of Truth. It had been half an hour since the strange artifact had first been handed to him, and he was still no closer to finding any explanation for its weird magical aura.

"Okay, everyone, just some things before we head in." Hyrule's faint voice carried clearly through the crisp nighttime air. "The only building in this town big enough for all of us to stay at belongs to Saria Town's Wise Man. You guys need to be really nice and polite to him, or we won't have any place to sleep tonight."

"Are you saying we aren't always nice and polite?" Sky questioned. Laughter rippled through the assemblage of heroes as Hyrule awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.

"Well, I'm just saying that some of us struggle, maybe just a little, with that last one?"

Everybody's eyes fell on Legend.

"What?" The veteran said.

Hyrule turned bright red and sputtered out an apology, trying to explain that he hadn't meant to single out anybody with that last statement and he was just trying to make sure everybody knew what the townspeople would expect and that he was so sorry gosh just so--

Legend held out a hand in front of him and bounced the Lens of Truth between the fingers of the other. "I'm not mad," he finally said, walking past Hyrule towards the rickety wooden bridge that led to the small town. "I'll be going now. If anyone feels like joining me, be my guest."  

Saria Town was somehow even quieter up close. A smattering of squat, grey buildings pressed their stomachs to the floor, tender blades of grass carpeting the ground beneath them. Soft light poured out of open windows and spilled on the ground. The sleepy villagers perked up at the sight of Hyrule and widened their eyes at the sight of his entourage, waving shyly and grinning when the whole group waved back.

Hyrule stopped in front of the biggest building in the town, hesitating for a split second before knocking. The Links clustered behind him. A woman dressed in purple answered the door, light spilling out from the crack in the door and glinting off the polished wooden porch. Her eyes widened when she recognized the figure at her doorstep.

"Hello, Link! Oh, you look so tired! Do you need a place to stay, darling?"  

"Yes, ma'am," Hyrule said, "and so does my family."  

┕━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━┙

[funny-mlb-screenshots]

My Favorite ML Fics (With links and descriptions)

One Thing After Another - Marinette notices that, sometimes, Adrien acts a little out of the ordinary--like the time he stood in a cardboard box for no reason, or when he actually hissed at Nino. It's only when she starts to notice the similarities between Adrien and a certain feline that she begins to get suspicious.

Basically, Adrien acts like a cat when he probably shouldn't.

Back to Us - After a reveal so shocking it rocks the core of Paris itself, the villain Hawk Moth is finally defeated...at a great personal cost to heroes Ladybug and Chat Noir. With the city safe, they go their separate ways, returning to the lives they were forced to put on hold since receiving their Miraculous.

Now, seven years later, Marinette Dupain-Cheng is on the rise, studying at the fashion college of her dreams by day, working at her dream internship by afternoon...and occasionally moonlighting as Ladybug by night. This routine is set so firmly in place that, once it's shattered by an old-yet-new enemy, and the reappearances of a cold friend and a hot partner, the whiplash threatens to send Marinette spiraling down into chaos.

As Ladybug, she can do anything...but soon those limits will be tested, whether she is in or out of the costume

Truthful Scars - Adrien Agreste has never been an expert in controlling his emotions. When feelings for his classmate in pigtails begin to arise, he can't stop himself from seeing her any chance he gets—even when wearing a pair of cat ears and a black tail. Although his affections are strong and true, he doesn't exactly know how to deal with them, especially under the watchful eye of his father.

After all, what's a boy to do when he accidentally finds out that the girl he's got a crush on returns his feelings?

 [Obsession - Miraculous has unintended side effects. A chance encounter leaves Chat Noir in Marinette's magic hands. Scritch and scratch, this kitty has needs. MariChat.

Glaze - He watched her fade, right before his eyes, and he couldn’t do anything to stop it.

Quiver - Spring in Paris, a time for flowers and love, for fashion and passion. But heated blood can lead to dangerous decisions and Adrien’s about to discover how hard things can be. Hawk Moth is on the horizon. COMPLETE]

Smoulder - Marinette traced her fingers down the smooth lines of the magazine, a blush creeping to her face. It wasn’t just his toned, muscular body that set her aflame, although that was certainly a bonus. It was his eyes. The way his body appeared, languid like a summers day. His body said relax but his eyes said devour. From the pages of the advertisement, Adrien smouldered in a way that he’d never done during any of his other numerous photographs, and yet she was struck with a familiarity that made her skin tingle, made her swallow with sudden and surprising nervousness. She was sure she’d seen that expression somewhere before. A pair of green eyes looking at her like that, with an unknown question in his hungry gaze. She’d seen that smoulder before.

In which Adrien loses a bet and becomes an underwear model, Marinette loses her mind, and the whole fiasco starts a fire which might lead to the pair discovering their identities.

Telltale -  It all starts with a simple injury, but slowly Ladybug begins to really see who Chat Noir is, and Adrien begins to see Marinette…

Pick-Up and Chase - After she accidentally trips into Adrien and apologizes about "falling for him," Marinette learns that he's no match for cheesy pick-up lines--whether they were unintended or not. And while she finds it flattering that he turns into a flustered mess with only a few words, Marinette comes to regret making him uncomfortable. That is, until she learns he's Chat Noir. At which point the phrase "just desserts" becomes a permanent fixture in her everyday plans. A story in which Adrien is flustered, Marinette is smooth as glass at dropping lines, and Chat Noir gets the romance he was always asking for--even if he doesn't quite know how to handle it

Won’t Tell a Soul - Nino accidentally runs head long into the biggest most stressful secret he can imagine, but now that he knows the truth about Marinette he is determined to help her in any way he can.

Serendipitous Fate Adrien is excited to reveal his true identity, while Marinette is terrified. But Master Fu says they can't afford to be distant any longer. Chat Noir and Ladybug are meant to work in tandem both in and out of uniform, their strength stemming from the bond created between them. Yet, teenagers are sometimes better at dancing blind than running with wide open eyes, even with the steps laid out before them.

Steps in the path of an expanding world. Apart, they'll flounder. But together, they might just stand a chance.

Anywhere, I wouldve followed you - Indygodusk "Just because you care for something, doesn't mean you get to keep it."

Lately, Marinette's luck has been failing her. No one's guessed her secret identity yet, but after Hawk Moth escalates his attacks, she decides it's time to finally tell Chat Noir. Unfortunately, it's not that easy. To make things worse, her home life is falling apart, college is looming, and she can't keep a boyfriend. Secretly, Marinette's not sure she even wants to be Ladybug anymore.

Adrien's life isn't faring much better, especially after dark secrets about his mother come to light.

Then the unthinkable happens. Afterwards, both Adrien and Marinette have to make their own luck. In the process, they defeat the bad guy and make their dreams come true (even if those dreams weren't what they thought they'd be).

Sting - When Chat Noir inexplicably disappears, leaving Ladybug bee-hind to face Papillon on her own, a new wielder is chosen to keep the akuma from swarming. Ladybug is adamant she doesn’t want another partner buzzing around and why is this new-bee flirting with her?

Meanwhile, Adrien just wishes Ladybug would stop bugging out and listen to him because his bee puns are fuzz-tastic.

The repercussions of the bee are farther reaching than anyone realised.

The Parts of You - “I just…” Her hands migrated from covering her face to clutching her hair. Her ears matched her suit but her eyes were glowing with — what was that? Love? Admiration? His chest tightened. “I can’t talk to him! I always get tongue-tied, or say something stupid, or trip over my own feet. It’s so embarrassing! I mean, I’ve gotten better since we first met, like, we’re actually kind of friends now, but it’s kind of a big leap to go from ‘I can sort of string more than two words together in front of you,’ to ‘Please date me, I love you,’ you know?” His breath hitched at the word “love,” but Ladybug didn’t seem to notice. “Plus, it’s not like we’re super-close or anything. I mean,” she tittered nervously, “we’ve known each other for years, but it’s not like talking to you.”

If words could have killed him he would have been in his grave.

In which Identity Shenanigans™ make everyone's life way harder than it has to be.

Breeze - Marinette sobbed into her hands as she recalled Chloé’s hurtful words, each and every one of them.

“You’re nothing! You’re not even worth yourself, much less your so-called friends! Don’t you see they just hang out with you because they pity you?! You’re worth the dirt under my feet, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. And you have no right to speak to me like that, you pathetic little brat. You don’t even have the right to speak to anyone! Just keep your stupid thoughts and ideas to yourself because nobody wants to hear them!”

After a big fight with Chloé, Marinette finds herself sobbing on her bed. The words hit her deep down. And before she knows it a dark Akuma comes fluttering in, ready to introduce her to Hawkmoth…

Technical Difficulties - “Man,” Nino groans, accepting defeat at last, as he gives the golden elevator doors a vicious, vengeful kick. Just like that, he remembers his present company.

Nino turns chagrined eyes to Ladybug.

“Er. Sorry… Probably shouldn’t take it out on the doors?”

Ladybug doesn’t seem to hear him. She is staring hard at the security camera located in the corner. He’s never seen her so quiet… not that he’s seen much of her, that is. Definitely not this close.

Damn, he can’t help but think. What Adrien wouldn’t give to be here right now.

“I’m sure they’ll fix it soon,” Nino offers tentatively, because it seems like something Adrien might say. Or Ladybug, probably, if she weren’t so distracted.

“They will,” she acknowledges, but her eyes are still pretty far away. “That’s what I’m worried about.”

“What?“

Ladybug straightens. She makes a decision; it does really pretty things to her eyes, so Nino doesn’t hear her at first, when she asks him for his hat.

— In which Ladybug gets trapped in an elevator with... Nino. { LoveSquare, brotp!MariNino, all-around-friendship!fic } Prompt:Trapped in an Elevator.

 Curiosity and Satisfaction - When Adrien agreed to this line of work, he thought all his focus would be on the job of catching the elusive Lady Luck. It never crossed his mind that someone else would catch his attention.

 Turn Loose the Mermaids - Marinette should have dragged him under the water in and feast on his body when she had the chance. Maybe then she wouldn't have been his prisoner. Blasted pirate.

That awkward moment when… - “Marinette wasn’t an idiot. As many precautions as she insisted they take, she knew she and Chat Noir were both going to find out sooner or later. Of course, Marinette assumed that the way they’d found out wasn’t by running right smack into each other and detransforming in front of the other. So of course, in a typical calm and rational manner, they pointed to each other and screamed.”

Because, nine times out of ten, letting the cat out of the bag just ends up being very, very awkward.

Tandem - Two students get carried away in a friendly game of dodge ball.... and two other students get very suspicious

Best Frenemies - Marinette Dupain-Cheng leads a double life. It’s often difficult, but it’s the only way to protect the people she cares about. But when her rival, Chloé Bourgeois, discovers her most closely guarded secret, she finds the two separate aspects of her identity blending together… but maybe that’s not such a bad thing. It can be nice sharing the journey with someone even if it's the last person she ever expected to trust with her secrets.

Chloé Bourgeois leads a double life. It’s often difficult, but it’s the only way to protect the people she cares about. But when her rival, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, discovers her most closely guarded secret, she finds the two separate aspects of her identity blending together… but maybe that’s not such a bad thing. It can be nice sharing the journey with someone even if it's the last person she ever expected to trust with her secrets.

The Date - They had a simple deal: one date. Chat had one date to sweep Ladybug off her feet. If she still didn’t like him in that way at the end of the day, he’d give up his attempts altogether. Ladybug took the deal, knowing that her heart belonged to another.

But we know them too well.

Wherever I Go - Marinette accidentally gives her class the impression that she has a crush on Chat Noir.

Adrien decides it's time to get over Ladybug.

Ne Me Quitte Pas - “This is my umbrella,” Adrien told him, as though he didn't quite believe it and the words would bring some sense to it.

“Even I could have told you that,” the kwami said with a shrug, his focus returning to his meal.

“Why did she keep my umbrella?” he asked, only half-directing the question at Plagg.

The kwami, however, chose to answer anyway. “Well, she is your friend, isn't she?” he asked as he finally gave in and stuffed the cheese in his mouth. He swallowed, closing his eyes in satisfaction. “What's so weird about it?”

Bring Me Home - Everybody deals differently with the consequences of Hawkmoth's defeat.

The day after, Ladybug eagerly awaits her silly kitty, finally ready to hand him her heart and start a new chapter of their story with him. He never shows up.

The day after, Adrien Agreste shuts the whole world out, ashamed of his father's action, while Marinette grows more and more exhausted and depressed as the years go by.

Five years later, can anything really be salvaged out of the remnants of their relationship?

Kitten Therapy - After scoring the highest points in a stress level test at school Marinette and Adrien have to take 'recreational hours' in order to prevent being akumatized. It seems like a long awaited break for them until Ayla hacks into CCTV and discovers …?

Mostly fluff. Especially the kittens.

Eperdument - All the pieces are starting to fit together, as much as Marinette doesn't want them to fit. As much as she desperately fights against seeing the signs, sometimes the cat refuses to stay in the bag.

And sometimes the cat kwami refuses to stay out of her lunch bag.

I Didn’t Want it to be Like This - There was always the possibility that someone would find out. Marinette, Paris’s very own Ladybug, knew that it was a high chance. Eventually someone was going to put two and two together.

The Most Eloquent Reply - Deaf Marinette

MDR - Marinette liked not knowing much about her online friends. With the arrival of a newcomer to their group chat, they suddenly start to believe that she has a crush on herself, no matter how obvious she tries to make it that she likes someone else. AU.

[ten-ten31]

Dear Yuletide Writer

Dear Yuletide Writer,

Thank you so much for writing for me! :) I can't tell you just how excited I am. This is my first Yuletide and I guess I'm super nervous, but also looking forward to it. :)

Please feel free to browse my ao3 (KitKaos) and/or tumblr to get an idea of what I stan, like, read or write. I hope I can give you some broad ideas and inspirations in this letter to help you plan. Do feel free to fall back on my general likes if the prompts don't do anything for you. Or just use the prompts, whatever works best for you. Oh, and should you, dear Yuletide Santa, want to write in German and not in English, then I'm definitely okay with that. I'm fluent in both, so whichever you feel more comfortable with. If there's something missing or if you have a question, you can reach out to me via the mods.

General likes: I'm a sucker for the old friends-to-lovers or even enemies-to-lovers (with all the drama of grudginly admitting that the other party maybe isn't all that terrible and all). Things I'll never get tired of include coffeeshop AUs, spy AUs, musical AUs, found families, fake dating, pining, crossdressing, drunken shenanigans, fish-out-of-water situations, pop culture references, etc. Just about any kind of scene you can sneak in there about cooking or eating food (also characters being picky about certains foods and other characters going to some lengths to accommodate that) will make me happy, too. I do have a thing for descriptions of food and expecially impressions of taste - and if you want to make it kinky: food play. ;) I also have a bit of a hand fetish - so descriptions of hands are always welcome. If you want to do it, I probably also won't say no to someone breaking the Fourth Wall, any kind of alternate history AU, crossovers of my fandoms, or even some lovely steampunk aesthetics.

Do Not Want: rape/dubcon/noncon, watersports, scat, humiliation, A/B/O, soulmates AU, vampire/werewolf AU, second-person pov, character bashing of any kind.

*

Fandoms

Just two more thing before I go into detail: 1. The prompts below are nothing more than ideas - feel free to ignore them if you have a better one. :) 2. Not all of the characters need to be used in every prompt; pick and choose as desired.

*

Dial H for Hero (DC Comics)

- Summer Pickens, Miguel Montez

The 2019 12-issue run is just pure love! There is worldbuilding galore, relatable characters, a wonderful coming-of-age and initiation plot, interdimensional shenanigans, the question how Joe Average could get addicted to sudden superpowers, and so much fun with the concept of Superhero Secret Origins. Summer is a wonderfully strong and caring female lead and Miguel is a self-conscious little oddball.

As for prompts: Seeing more of their Metropolis adventures or Red/Yellow/Blue/Black Dial transformations would definitely be a lot of fun. Also, there's this cute boy Miguel asks out in the comics and I would love to see that first date. And what about Summer? She definitely won't be reduced to sidekick!

Feel free to include any other ((teenage) superhero) cameos you feel like. Please do not pair up Summer and Miguel romantically - although I don't have any problems with a fake relationship fic for them. ;)

Where to find it: Your trusted comicbook supplier.

Masks: A New Generation (Roleplaying Game)

- any / worldbuilding

I only just disovered Masks as an RPG, and ever since I started playing, it's probably the most fun rping I've had in a long time. I love that playbooks are not by the type of power but the type of problem each teenager faces personally. Like, how do you juggle school, first love, being different in a way no one should know about, being different maybe in a way people will immediately see, adults telling you who to be, chores, and being part of a young superhero team that wants to make a name for themselves? It's hard. And the best sessions alternate between deep emotional connections, hilarious teenage drama and great action scenes.

As for prompts: I would love me some good worldbuilding - so maybe there is a reason the Scarlet Songbird is still around? What was Halcyon City like back in the days of the Golden-Age heroes? What has changed since then? How do especially the older generations view the naming conventions going around for new heroes? Is there a code to follow? Who in Halcyon City pays for all the damage to buildings and infrastructure caused by superhero-supervillain fights? What was it like back in the olden days for the Golden Age heroes as opposed to now?  Are there cultural exchange programs with any of the alien races visiting from time to time? Give me a day in the life of an average Halcyon City citizen - they don't even have to be all that close to an epic fight or something. Just their way of coping with the daily madness of a huge city housing most of the world's superheroes. If you like something a little more character-specific: The one actual-play podcast that does it best in my opinion are the Theatre of the Mind Players with their "Future Shock" and "Past Tense" seasons of Masks. And I would love to read more about these characters. Have Sparrow and Figment finally get together. Give me a glimpse of how Horizon assembled his ersatz mom. What will Helix and Remix get up to?

Where to find it: The core rulebook is available from Magpie Games. The Theatre of the Mind Players’ Masks sessions can be found on Youtube.

Super Sons (Comics)

- Jonathan Samuel Kent, Damian Wayne

Super Sons is how I finally came to like and care for Damian Wayne - which, if you know me, is a major achievement! He is still a huge brat, don't get me wrong, but Jon's influence on him and the way he is confronted with certain issues he has... it's magical! It's wholesome! It's healing! They are both so fiercely protective of each other, and they both grow as characters from their experiences with each other.

As for prompts: So, dear Yuletide Santa, give me character growth and banter and friendship galore. I can see slumber parties at Wayne Manor or at the Kent farm. I can see them getting lost in space and time. I can see more adventures once they're at the same school. I can see a canon-divergence AU where Jon is finally admitted into the the Teen Titans at age 13 - how would that go? Or how about an Interrail Buddies AU?

If you want to write slashfic for them, I will not say no but would probably prefer to age them up a bit. I also most definitely don't mind any background appearances of any of their families.

Where to find it: Your trusted comicbook supplier.

Superman Returns (2006)

- any (Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Richard White)

I still love this movie a lot - not because it's particularly spectacular, but it treats the characters with love, it treats the legacy of the Reeve movies with love and it leaves SO MANY questions for fanfiction authors to answer. ;) I mean, I've been a Superman fan for a long time and I've discovered that I'm most comfortable with a Clark who wears a mask both as Clark Kent and as Superman, who isn't either of those two (and who is fallible). And whenever someone learns of his secret identity, they will see that he's so much more than either Clark or Superman. I know Lois is a fairly underdeveloped character in this movie, so I would love for her to be treated not just as a prize, especially since there were those years of her having to put her life back together after Supes just up and left.

As for prompts, I've always wondered about the different coping mechanisms (Lois turning bitter, Jimmy starting up daydrinking - WTF?!) and just how their day-to-day business changed without Clark and Supes there. Give me the Planet staff banding together to rescue Lois when she remembers just that second too late that there will be no superhero to save them (I also wouldn't mind any of the Bats helping out secretly, if that's up your alley). Give me Jimmy trying not to think too much and instead getting on Lois' nerves until he's rescued by Richard intervening. I am also an absolute sucker for continuation fics, so how do things settle down after what happens in the movie? I would love for some real Clark and Jimmy bonding moments, maybe even Jimmy finding out or having known all along and covered for Clark. I would love for some truce and real friendship blossoming between Clark and Richard, as they are both intelligent, compassionate, insightful men. If you want to include Jason anywhere, feel free to do that, as he makes for such a wonderful catalyst for disaster. Feel free to write gen or any canon pairings - I'm also okay with non-canon het/slash pairs (or threesomes) as long as they make sense in-universe. ;)

Where to find it: Sadly, the movie doesn’t seem to be streaming anywhere, but since it’s 14 years old now, you can buy it relatively cheap.

Young Justice (Comics)

- Tim Drake (but do feel free to have any of the other characters in the story, too)

No matter if you're into the old 1990s YJ comics, the companion comics to the cartoon show, or the new 2019/20 version of the comics - I love all of them! So much I don't even know where to begin... The snark! The lovable teenage stupidity! The friendship that goes above and beyond! My definite favourite is Tim, because he is such a bright, snarky, secretive, repressed little bird (the moment he takes off his domino mask to reveal a second one underneath? priceless)! I also love his deep friendship with the others because that's his found family. Yes, Batman is his mentor (even though Tim might understand B better than the other way round sometimes) and Dick is his older brother and idol (hero worship, anyone?), but Young Justice is where he wants to be himself and all of it.

As for prompts: Even though I did not put either Cassie or Cissie in my request as I want something Tim-centric, the dynamic with those two strong-willed girls is definitely something I would love to see explored more. Also how the dynamic with the bats is so very different than the Young Just Us dynamic. What's it like being the one without powers in a group of hormonal teenage superheroes? I also just realized that I would love to see more of Mister Sarcastic trolling the rest of the gang. Or how about: What if Tim had powers for one day? If you're into the 2019 comics, how about a 5+1 of Why Drake May Or May Not Be A Good Superhero Alias. If you want to include the rest of the gang, you're definitely more than welcome to. Tim and Kon's bickering and outright arguments in the beginning turning into such a solid friendship (or more) is something I can read about time and time again. Pretty much the same goes for Tim and Bart. Or how about some Wendy the Werewolf Stalker shenanigans? Why is having girls in your group a bad/good idea? How did Cassie's becoming the team's leader affect Tim's sense of self? Heck, if you feel like it, open up the love triangle Tim-Cassie-Kon since there's like a ton of history there. Oh, and anyway, why is Stephanie Brown never part of any of Tim's teams? Dear Yuletide Santa, do also feel free to include any of the other teens (I have a soft spot for Li'l Lobo/Slobo).

Where to find it: Your trusted comicbook supplier.

Overall, I’m sure I’ll love what you have for me, and I'm looking forward to reading it! <3

[lovemxnot]

Summer shenanigans

Length: 4.3k (wasn't supposed to be this long)

Warnings: none I would think.

Genre: Crack honestly, Fluff, bit of angst?, friends to lovers

A/N: This has been in my drafts for more than a month and I'm sick of staring at it so, here ya go.

“Y/N come on!!”

Hyunjin yelled at you from the large wooden entrance door of the vacation house. With his luggage in hand, trying to fit his three giant suitcases through the door Simultaneously. You swore to god that boy probably only has a few functional brain cells, you have no idea how he’s so good at his studies when he was so stupid in real life.

Well, you guess it was only fair, he can't have both the beauty and the brains.

Spring break finally graced itself upon you poor university students, and Changbin ever so kindly offered you and the guys a stay at his family’s vacation house for the remainder of the break. The Seo’s are filthy rich, none of you were going to miss such a luxurious chance. It totally has nothing with you wanting to spend even more time with Changbin.

You got one foot out of the car before freezing solid in your place at what you witnessed. It wasn’t the gorgeous two stories, polished house that looks like it came out of a magazine that had you stunned, you have been friends with Changbin long enough to be used to such lavish things. Instead, it was the view that had you mum of words, The exquisite display of the variety of flowers, trees, and bushes, wind playing gently with your loose hair strands, and the sound of birds flocking away above your head, all of that combined made it look like it was one of those scenes featured on national geographic. Mother Nature at its purists form. 

The whole vibe of the house was serene and nostalgic. It oddly made you feel more at home than your own home. Probably because Changbin and anything related to him makes you more at peace than anything and anywhere else.

Naturally, the first thing you did was take out your phone and start taking pictures with it.

“Alright! I just need to document this.” You replied to Hyunjin.

“What are you? A fucking reporter?” He retorted.

“Hey, don’t be mean to Y/N!!” Changbin came from behind Hyunjin and delivered a blow to his head. A sulky, pouty Hyunjin retreated to the house with an amused Minho at his side, trying to comfort him.

Well if you count rubbing the injured persons back while laughing at their agony comforting.

You’ve met hyunjin in one of your general classes in uni, and he just so turns out to be one of Changbins many friends. Your relationship with hyunjin was hard to describe, he was as annoying as a strand of hair sticking to your lip gloss on a hot sunny day, but at the same time so annoyingly adorable and sassy that you can’t really hate him. That said, Changbin has always been your favorite.

Well, you might be a bit biased, you have been friends the longest, ever since the day he stopped those boys back in elementary from pulling on your pink bow-ribboned pigtails. You stuck to him like glue from that day on.

The rest of the boys you met as time went on, some in high school and the others in uni. Nonetheless you were close with all of them. But none had the same rapport you and changbin shared.

Well, all of that plus your ever long-lasting crush on changbin doesn't help your favoritism at all.

But really, how can you not fall for Seo Changbin? With his perfect chiseled jaw and cheekbones, Witty sense of humor, charming personality and his utmost feeling of need to take care of you, some would also mention his wealth, but that didn’t really matter to you. Honestly, anyone, your place would have fallen for him too.

Nobody knows about your little crush, or at least you hoped you were not being that transparent with your feelings. If they did know they haven't done anything to let you on.

You tucked your phone back into your shorts pocket and turned to get your luggage out of the back end of the car. Unlike a certain someone cough*Hyunjin*cough, you brought one bag only as there was only one week left of spring break.

“Let me take that” The all too familiar smell of sandalwood and ylang cologne swarmed around you before you felt a presence behind you reach a hand and take the handle of your bag from your hand. briefly trapping you between their arms and body in the process.

You didn’t have to look back to know that it was Changbin. You could tell him a mile away just by his strut. You had every single detail about him memorized, you two spent a lot of time with each other so it was only natural for you to notice how he walked when he was excited and skipped towards you to tell you all about the successful date he had the night before, or how he drops his shoulders really low when he's feeling blue after he broke up with his ex-girlfriend, or how he didn't blink when he was too invested in his game, how his chest would stop moving for a couple of seconds when a suspenseful moment appears on the movie you guys watch together. How he would eat with his eyes closed and barely able to shut his jaw to chew in the mornings, his face puffed and still lingering with sleep, how he still hasn't gotten rid of his bad habit of sleeply sneaking into your bed to snuggle with you. It was fair to say that you dedicated a lot of time studying him more than anything else. He always had his way with charming whoever he meets. It's true that he’s quiet, but that doesn't mean he doesn't speak up when he deems it needed or appropriate.

“I-i have arms of my own you know” You replied, quickly ridding the waver from your voice, Finally braving a look behind your shoulder.

“Yeah, I know.”He gave you that quirky little smile you like before heading towards the entrance.

What? What does that even mean? He really should not be able to make your heart skip a beat with just a smile....that really is unfair.

“It’s hot outside, come on!”

As soon as everyone was gathered in the main sitting area, a war of Rock Paper Scissors initiated to decide who sleeps where. You got the guest bedroom upstairs that was right across Changbin’s. Great, more chances of running into each other.

You were settling into your new temporary bedroom when a shirtless, running jisung skipped past your open bedroom door, on his way downstairs yelling, “ last one to jump into the pool cooks us dinner.” Following a loud splash noise coming from your open balcony window, then another, and another, and another... oh shit.

Changbin heard the communication and came out of the room, shirtless, exposing to you what you already knew was there. That boy went to the gym, so his ripped biceps and visible six pack line were no surprise to you, but it didn't make it any easier not to look. “ Come On Y/N, don’t want to be the sore loser” and started running downstairs

You ran back to your balcony peered over the pool, seeing all of them already in it, sitting around in floaties or swimming “ YOU ALL PLANED THIS YOU FUCKERS.” 

Your confirmation was in the form of snickers coming from the half-naked chlorine-soaked boys.

It was nearing sunset, a great time to spend it in the pool, where the water wasn't as hot as the weather around you. But since you were the designated loser, you didn’t wear your swimwear as you weren't planning on entering the pool seeing that it would delay you from making the dinner later on. Plus the boys were really rough in the pool, you were not ready for another repeat of last time.

Apparently, the boys had another idea. You stepped out on the veranda in the backyard and looked over to them, and your eyes immediately went over to one figure you knew too well, seeing as he was standing in front of you a few minutes ago.

He had his back to you, sitting on the edge of the pool, feet dipped in the water, with water dripping from the tips of his wet hair, sliding down his muscled back, Down..down..down...down-

“Y/N! are you not going to jump in?” Said figure was looking at you now. When did he even turn around?

Caught red-handed, you just retucked your lose strand of hair under your Sunhat again and replied to Changbin ”Its either I cook your dinner, or I chill in the pool. One or the other, can't be both.”

 You bearly finished your sentence when a war cry was heard from behind you. Immediately a flashback took you back to the last time you went to the pool with the guys. Standing near the edge of the cold water but not yet getting in, testing to see if it was too cold until you heard a shout, the same exact one you are hearing now, push you into the pool.

But not this time, like hell were you going to fall for that again. Once you snapped back to reality and realized the shouting was dangerously close to you, you stepped back as if you saw a trope of fire ants crawling on your feet, and looked at poor Changbin as he took the fall instead of you. A hyena-like howl was heard from Jisung lying where poor Changbin was a few seconds ago.

Mastering all the strength you have, you push an unaware jisung right next to his victim, giving him a little taste of his own medicine. Triumphantly you tell him once his head’s above the surface “ Next time you try to sneak attack me, you might not want to stat that you are, the war cry gives it away.”

“Our Lil’ baby is all grown up now, she won’t even fall for our pranks anymore” he fake cried to an equally-annoyed-as-you Changbin.

“Hey, she fell for the first one,” Hyunjin yelled from the other end of the pool, seeming to have been following your conversation.

“And you bet your ass I’m only cooking tonight to make sure that both of your meals are burnt to crisps.” You laughed internally at the horror that played on their faces, didn’t think that far ahead now have they?, ” don’t know, might add something a little extra too if I’m feeling like it.”

Changbin snorted at the two idiots that were now slowly making their way to you to beg for mercy. You ignored the two imbeciles and instead reached your hand out to help Changbin out of the pool.

He held onto your hand and pulled himself out of the pool, you slightly staggered towards him with how much strength he used to heave his drenched body out, making you sway a couple more feet closer than needed to a very wet, Topless Changbin.

Your first mistake was looking up at him. From this close, you could see everything.

“Thanks,” he muttered to you as he brushed his hair out of his eyes and face, flexing right where you can clearly see him in the hazy apricot and mauve glow of the setting sun.

A wet Changbin looking at you like that was seriously making you think some unholy, unbiblical things.

“That would have been me, so I guess I should be the one thanking.” You reluctantly, howbeit hurriedly, looked away from him and bee-lined to the barbecue grill set that was some way from the pool to get the fire started.

You were being really distant to him today and you hoped he wouldn't notice it. But honestly it was your fault, you knew there was going to be a pool, hence seeing half naked changbin, but you thought you'd be able to control yourself more than this, you really didn't want to ruin your relationship with him, you wanted to keep him by your side, even if it meant only being his friend. you can't imagine a life without him in it.

Behind the safety of the grill, you put your hand over your fast-paced beating heart, trying to calm it down. You were just friend and you have to keep reminding yourself that. he only looks at you as a young sister and that all. 

At least that's what you both thought.

The mouth-watering smell of the assorted type of meats being cooked swept over the place and slowly but surely, the boys one by one came towards you to try and steal a bite before dinner. Seungmin was the only decent one around here who was next to you helping grill the food. 

Hyunjin, for the nth time, jumped out of the pool and ran towards you, probably trying to get a bite that you just won't seem to give him.

looking at you with his best puppy dog eyes and a pout, he whined “Y/n ahhh~ You're not still angry, are you?”

You looked at him, hit his head with your tongs then continued flipping the meat,” I'm seriously going to burn the meat if you keep talking to me” you said ignoring his little yelp of pain.

He made his way around the grill and clung to your arm to stop you from accomplishing anything and pay attention to his whiny little ass “Y/N~ we were just kidding.”

Nothing, no reaction. You kept ignoring him in favor to put the new raw pieces of meat on the grill, setting the freshly cooked one on the plate beside you.

You were planning to cook dinner anyway so their stunt didn't really upset you, and being pushed into the pool wasn't new to you but it was fun messing with hyunjin even though he could get a little too whiny or clingy. It was really worth it to see his little pout every time one of the boys would come to steal a piece of meat in front of you and you would allow them, but as soon as he reached you slapped his hand away.

He was being adorable you'll give him that, but it was going to take much more from him to break your facade.

"Y/N~~ You know you love me" he pushed his face right in your line of vision, in front of the hazardous flame. “You could never hate this ” and proceeded to point at the whole 5′10 glory that he was. 

You pushed him away"Hyunjin you're going to get burnt."

"If that's what it takes to get you to forgive me" and pretended to reach his hands to the fire. You slapped out of fear of him seriously throwing his hands the fire- because everyone knows how dramatic he can be- only for it to ACTUALLY hit the edge of the hot grill and burn his hand.

He cried out in pain and you quickly, but diligently, held his hand and took him to the outdoor sink behind you "You fool!! I told you you're going to burn yourself"

he gave you the softest little pout "I'm hungry and you were being a meanie.."

"Oh now IM the bad guy?" you rubbed his scalded skin softly under the chilly water, trying to sooth it, unbeknown to you the glare that changbin was sending towards your linked hands, and Hyunjins little coy smile.

“You've always been bad, baby.”

“Ew, now any shred of guilt I had has flown away” You let go of his hands and turned towards to continue your grilling.

“Y/N ~“ he continued his whining” You ignore me, refuse to accept my apology,  starve me, throw my hands into a burning fire pit, and won't take any responsibility for my aching hands, can't you at least-”

Brimming with guilt, you stop him from rambling anymore by sticking a piece of meat into his fly trap.”There, Happy?”

Nodding his head with a look of complete mirth on his face, having finally gotten what he wanted, he waddled away. 

if it wasn't for his reddened, puffy skin you would have thought he faked his injury only so you would feed him.

Shaking your head, you focused on your task, letting a little smile slip on your face at how ridiculous that boy was. Changbin was confused at why he was fuming at how gleeful you looked thinking about a boy that wasn't him.

Bellies sticking out and any sign of a six pack now completely perished, the boys have vacuumed the table clean. not a single bite of food left, or a full bottle of alcohol in sight. Seungmin was nowhere insight (Probably passed out in his room),hyunjin and the other boys were passed out drunk on the table, they wanted to play a game of hide-and-seek but couldn't choose a person to count so they all closed their eyes to count but ended up knocking out. Jisung was drunk singing to himself sad love songs, while you and changbin were the only still sane ones in the group.  Drunk yet still aware of your surroundings.

Changbin was acting very weird throughout the whole feast. Hyunjin, who sat beside you, kept whining into your ear about how he couldn’t eat with the crucifying pain his hand was in. You already felt guilty for burning him, but seeing him hiss every time he tries to pick up his food only for it to drop out of his hold was what made you feed him. You would every so often shove some food in his mouth to shush him, and he would gladly quite down. Changbin was not amused. He didn’t spare you a look, he ate quietly and kept to himself, then jumped into the pool once he was done.

The sound of water gently swooshing, making way for changbin’s body to come through was really calming.

You sat with your legs in the pool and looked at the fluorescent lights glowing under the water, making the idea of jumping in even more appealing. Your stomach was full, mind hazy, yet whenever you sneaked a glance at changbin, you always felt a pang of emptiness in your heart.

Sure he is always there beside you, you always see him, you can hug him, touch him, hold his hand, but it pains you that it is only platonic, You have no idea when your crush on him began, probably from day one, but the idea of him going out with someone other than you was really painful to the point where it would cause you to ignore him for a couple of days before you realize that your wasting precious time where you could hang out with him instead of weeping over the unknown future. 

It was stupid. 

Really it was. 

One guy shows you kindness and you fall head over heels for him.

but then again, feelings and emotions have always been obscure.

“Y/N...?” carefully, changbin called out your name once he was close to you, snapping you out of your thoughts. Shit, you once again were caught staring at him all longingly.

“Hmm?” you try playing it off again, you were really not on top of your game today.

“Come join me“ he prodded your leg, gently giving a pull.

“I'm too lazy to go change“ Bullshit, you were making excuses and he saw right through it. being close to someone for a long time had its pros, changbin has always been good at reading you, it was a surprise it took him this long to come and talk to you about, it.

“Then just jump in“

“Nah” You already were caught staring at him twice today, you couldn't risk a third.

Having none of that, he this time pulls your legs with a sturdy grip, making you land inside the pool with a splash, his body dangerously close to you.

You would have scolded him if it wasn't for the way he was staring at you right now. His gaze held so many emotions behind it that it was hard to decipher all of them.

“Stop looking at me“ you shied away from him. Or tried at least but he realized what you were going to do and slid his hand that was leaning on the sky-blue ceramics to your side, locking you in place and sending your mind into a frenzy.

“What if I said I liked staring at you?“

Where was this coming from? he was never like this with you, where was this new surge of confidence coming from? You might have misjudged how sober Changbin was.

At this point your heart was beating so fast it could outrace Usain Bolt.

“S-Stop...Don't look at me like that..“you blushed.

“Like what?“ he’s even closer now, noses bumping each other. his hair tickling your forehead.

“Like...Like- That” You lamely ended. Not trusting yourself at this vulnerable state. his stare is piercing, peering deep into your eyes and compelling you to move closer. His gaze held a knowing glint as if he knows every dirty little secret you kept from him, but there was still hesitation dancing in the back of his iris.

you felt his other hand creep onto your hip. Making you hold your breath.

“Stop me if I’m wrong.” You had no time to think what that meant before you felt his cold, wet lips touch yours.

You fantasized this moment a lot, but never would you have thought it would actually come true. Him holding onto you real tight, a hand cupping one of your cheeks to tilt your head for better access.

It took you a moment to truly believe this was actually happing before you pushed Changbin away. Changbin didn’t like you, he was just drunk. Was what you told yourself.

“Binnie your drunk,” you couldn’t stare him in the eyes. You wished for forever for this to happen, you’ve imagined a thousand times how his lips would feel on yours. But this was breaking your heart, he just did that because he’s drunk.

He quickly shook his head, “ I didn’t drink that much.”

“Then where is this coming from? You’ve never shown any sign that you liked me.”

“I didn’t think I had feelings for you but seeing hyunjin touching really... it’s just..” he choked, “ I think I've liked you for a while now Y/N”

It’s crazy how one sentence could set a festival in your body, your hands and legs tingly, your ears ringing, and your stomach fluttering. “W-What?”

“ yeah it’s true, haven’t you seen the way he looks at you?” A voice said from above your head. Turns out Minho wasn’t as drunk as you thought he was and has been watching you two.

“Way to ruin the mood asshole” Changbin tsked.

“Hey you were the one that took a century to figure out he actually likes the only girl he gives a shit about,” it was Minho’s turn to tsk and sass back at Changbin” the whole campus already thinks you're a couple, ‘bout time both of you actually did.”

With that, he took his bottle of alcohol and made his way to his room, saluting you” enjoy the night you love birds.”

“Where was I ?” Changbin caught your attention again once Minho was nowhere in sight.

“Confessing your undying love for her ?” This time it wasn’t Minho. You both forgot that jisung was still kinda aware of his surroundings.

“Oh for fuck's sake!!” Changbin looked pissed off now, and it made you crack a smile.” Y/N come on, let’s continue this somewhere else.”

He jumped out of the pool and helped you out before dragging you inside the house, passing a snickering hyunjin and jisung at the table.

“ DONT FORGET TO COVER IT” you heard jisung yell after you.

“Oh god,” you groaned, great now they will never stop teasing the both of you with dirty comments and innuendos.

Once you reached the couch, Changbin loosened his hold and turned to you,” Now, where was I ?”

“Confessing your undying love for me?” You teased him now that you fully grasped the situation.

“Right,” he smiled.

You didn’t know if the queasiness was from his smile or the alcohol, but it made you feel good.

He held your hand, looked you straight in the eyes, and earnestly said “I really like you Y/N.” you blushed even more at his straightforwardness. but you still had doubts. you did see him drink quite a bit.

“Are you sure you're not drunk?  you're not going to regret this in the morning?”

“Oh for Jesus Christ's sake- Y/N” you jumped at the sudden frustrated voice when you noticed it didn't come from changbin, but rather from the boy that was passed out on the couch behind the pillows, completely shielding him from view. He stuck his head out from behind one pillow, his hair a mess and said “ He's been complaining to me about how perfect you are all week, Y/N this, Y/N that, just date each other already or else I'm-”

what seungmin was going to say next will forever be a mystery for changbin had smothered him with a pillow murmuring “ Go back to sleep.”

“So... it's true?”

“YES,” hyunjin, jisung, and seungmin yelled in unison. you weren't aware that dumb and dumber could still hear you both talking.

“Y/N I'm so sorry, this wasn't how it was supposed to go-” you took him by surprise with a kiss.

“I like you too Binnie,” he melted at the old nickname you used to call him.

you might have longed and suffered a lot for him, but the smile that graced his face upon your words was worth every second of the wait.     

[sanctum-of-fantasy]

6 38 Cheshire/Myu!

6 - In bed at 2am, blissfully drowsy 

38 - “You just feel really good. Soft and warm…”

Another prompt finished at last! And with two more character’s I’ve never written before so it’s was good to get more experience with writing Specters! Here’s a college AU setting that turned out very silly and sweet I hope?

Thud, thud, loud cursing, thud, a shout of joy

An annoying, constant onslaught of sound that grated on hisnerves. The sound of two sets of footsteps above his room would have been fineat any other time but it was midnight and the owners of the steps were shouting.It was just Cheshire’s luck to be back from a trip and stuck with Queenand Sylphid while the other housemates were out. Gordon would have told them toput a pause on their shenanigans by now. Hell even Valentine would havestormed in their shared room and take their tv if he was home and trying to dosome late-night studying.

But no, out of the half a dozen college students that livedthe spacious, Victorian house (that was owned by one scary but fair landlordwith a monobrow) he was the only other person around. Several were away atconferences, Violate was away for an important competition and he had no ideawhere Myu was.

Though that was kind of unnerving, the art student was adamn ninja when he wanted to be. In fact he was pretty damn sure Myu had somekind of martial arts background. He also happened to be the source of a long,secret crush.

Normally he’d just put on his headphones and ignore them butagain it was midnight and he only had two days before returning to hisclasses. And he had planned on enjoying every hour as much as he could.

So he shut his comic, threw wide his door and stormed up thestaircase determined to do something about the noise.

‘Maybe I’ll just flip their light switch on and off untilthey freak out. Hells I should get grab their controllers and throw theminto Violate’s room, there’s no way they’d go in there’ Cheshire thought as hestomped up the steps. Grinning as he plotted how to best mess with the otherhousemates, it was all fair in love and war.

Just as he reached the final step, he flipped on the hallwaylight and rubbed his chin ‘I could put them in Violate’s room, but Icould also hide their games in Gordon’s room.’ That just left the matter of howto get them out of their room. There was no way he could break into their roomand make it past both of them, especially if he had to grab so much.

A memory popped into his mind then. The last time he spoketo them before he returned home Sylphid mentioned a ‘horror movie marathon’that was only three days ago. The house boasted quite the moviecollection, there had to be at least a dozen horror ones. Which, in Cheshiredevilish mind, meant they still had to be spooked. It’d explained why they werestill up too; both usually went to bed much earlier.

But what was their misfortune was his tool of delightful ofpayback.

So he crept over to the house phone at one of the hallways,dialing Queen’s cell. A classic ‘the call is coming from inside the house’might spook them.

However, as if some divine influence decided that paybackwas not an option for him, the hallway light went out. Leaving him in pitchdarkness and hair standing on ends like a spooked cat.

Then came the noises, a rapid thud thud thud ofsomeone racing along the hallway and a door being opened and then-

“Son of-damn you!” Came Queen’s voice, followed bySlyphid’s cursing, partly in French, switching into Dutch and then into German.A rather long chain of swears that he only knew like five words of but it wasstill artful.

The tension that had dropped onto his heart soon disappearedas the hallway light flickered back on revealing the taller form of Myu. A smuggrin on his face as he exited the shared room of Queen and Sylphid, hands onhis hips as he walked.

Gods damn Ninja

Myu spotted him then and smiled, waving one hand as he keptthe other on his hip. “Cheshire it’s good to see you around, been a while!” hecalled out, ignoring Queen when he appeared from the door and glared at himwhile Sylphid stuck his tongue out.

Cheshire gave them an expression of “are you two serious?”before nodding to Myu. “Yeah man, didn’t think you were home though?”

“I just got back from doing some work for a class, took theback door. I was trying to relax when these two” He gestured behind him with athumb “Started making noise.”

“We just got past a hard boss, buzz off you killjoy” Sylphidhissed, tapping a hand against the doorway while Queen leaned against it.

“You got past one hard boss but the next one? You’ll neverbeat” Myu countered, turning back and grinning “I bet you two your entire stashof energy drinks.”

Queen paled several shades and dropped his mouth “How-howdid you?”

“I have my ways, you know this” Myu replied in a sing-songtone causing the two others to finch and duck back into their room, shuttingthe door and cursing.

There was silence for a few moments before Myu and Cheshireburst out into laughter. Cheshire wrapped his arms around his sides and wiped atear from his eye “Do you really know where their stash is? I cleaned theirroom a few times and never found it.”

“Oh neither than I but do they need to know that?” Myu snickeredinto a hand, lowering his voice.

Cheshire dropped to the ground, laughing hard enough thathis sides began to hurt. “Holyshit that is hilarious!”

There was thud from the room behind Myu and Queen shouted amuffled “Screw you!” only to cause them to laugh harder.

“Ok ok!” Cheshire gasped “We’ll leave you guys alone! Wouldyou like to hang some Myu? I know you must be tired so maybe some other time?”

“No, actually I find myself wide wake now” Myu grinned.“Your room or mine? Actually…your room might be best; I need to clean minetomorrow I swear” He gestured off in the general direction of where his roomwas.

Oh fuck

‘Do not fuck this up’ Was Cheshire’s first thought when hehad managed to stop laughing and gasped. ‘Do not say anything stupid to yourcrush.’

“Uh yeah that’ll be great! I mean sure why not? We can catchup and what not” He said, though his words came out more like shouting. Hestood up quickly, rubbing a hand against his neck and motioning towards thestairs. He hoped that the warmth in his cheeks was just from laughing so hardand that he was not in fact blushing.

“After you then” Myu said, stepping close enough thatCheshire shivered. At that moment he was glad Queen and Sylphid were likelyfinding a new spot for their energy drinks and tidying up their room and notwitnessing any of this.

***

They settled into his room easily enough. Talking about onesubject and then another as Cheshire relaxed in his computer chair as Myulounged on his bed, hugging one pillow to his chest, a soft smile spread acrosshis thin lips.

‘Has he always been this cute?’ Cheshire thought, blinkingrapidly and shaking his head to shove thought away. ‘No no, it’s too late for thatkind of stuff!’

“Are you alright?” Myu asked with a slight tilt of his head.

“Fine, just fine!” Cheshire grinned, waving a hand “Justthinking about something, it’s nothing. So what were you working on?” The artstudent always seemed to have one project going on or another. Between hisroom, part of the garage and the classrooms, there were hints of what hisnewest piece would be. He enjoyed looking for them and guessing, not thatCheshire would admit it.

“I was doing some welding for a sculpture” Myu answered,rolling a hand as he spoke. “It’s taking longer than I expected but I decidedto work on some smaller details, but I hope it’ll work out in the end.”

“I’m sure it will, you do pretty great art ya know” Cheshirenodded. He’d seen enough to say that confidently, not that he’d let anyone knowthat he visited the campus art galleries when there were shows. He had areputation to maintain after all! But still, rather it was metal sculptures,clay or fine paintings, Myu seemed to get his hands on anything and do wonderswith it.

Myu tensed and Cheshire felt his heart drop “You’ve seen mywork? I’ve only met Violate, Gordon and Rhadamanthys at the galleries.”

“Well I uh, I must have shown up at a different time Iguess?” Cheshire said, shifting his chair as his thoughts began to speed up, orit his heart? “I’ve been to all of the galleries with your stuff in them” Heblurted out, freezing when his mind finally caught up to what exactly he said.

‘Shit shit, what to do, what have you done man’ He cursedand panicked, heart skipping several beats and eyes looking way from Myu as heopened his mouth to speak. ‘Which is probably the worst idea ever, of all time.Stop talking Cheshire like now.’

Myu smiled, hugging the pillow tighter and looking away “I’mglad to hear. If-If I may ask do you have a particular favorite or simply oneyou enjoyed the most?”

Cheshire could feel his face warm up and throat become dry“There was one from last summer. The one with the stained glass and twistedmetal tree? I liked how the colors reflected on the trunk, looked like it tookforever. Fantasia, that was the title, right?”

He may or may have snuck a few pics during the galleriessince many of the pieces ended up being sold.

“Yes” Myu lifted his head some, eyes only visible over theedge “It did take a long time, I never used glass until then. It turned out sowell, I consider it one of my best and” he trailed off, voice dropping into awhisper.

“Pardon?” Cheshire blinked, rubbing a hand against his neck.

Myu took a breath and spoke up “I’m so glad to learn youloved it too.”

‘Well…fuck’

“Y-yeah man, like I said you do great work. There’s a lot ofyour stuff I liked, and I like seeing what new tricks you try” Cheshire managedto say, somehow not stumbling over his words. “Hell I can’t wait to see whatthat new piece will look like!”

“Maybe I’ll give you a private viewing when it’s done” Myuwinked and Cheshire felt his heartbeat quicker.

“I’d like that a lot” He replied.

Myu lowered his pillow and leaned forward on his elbows“It’ll be a date then. Though I’d even suggest…oh never mind, it’sembarrassing honestly” He looked away, a faint blush -and yes that was a blush-appearing on his face.

‘Shit he’s cute even blushing’ Cheshire thought, smilingdumbly as he took in the sight before he heard ‘date’ followed by a ‘nevermind’ and ‘Wait, date? Like a date date? Does he? Woah slow downCheshire.’

“Hey, you can tell me anything man, I won’t judge” He said,smiling in a way he hoped was reassuring.

Myu had been so honest until now and he had been thoroughlyenjoying their talk so far, as embarrassing and how it made his heart melt andjump at once. It felt good, really good just talking to him after solong of avoiding him because of his crush or just because of how differenttheir schedules were.

He seemed to shy away then and for a moment Cheshirewondered if he said something wrong. But that panicked thought was shoved awaywhen he asked “Would you consider modeling for me sometime? If not as a model,then someone to bounce ideas with?”

And at that, Cheshire felt his mind go completely andutterly blank. All the rushing thoughts and feeling suddenly disappeared fasterthan a blink. Myu first spoke of a date then mentioned modeling or helping himwith his projects. It was like something out of a dream.

He must have blanked out harder than he realized because thenext thing he knew Myu was shaking him by the shoulders with a worriedexpression on his face and calling out his name.

“Cheshire, are you ok?” He asked, tone tense and crackingslightly.

“Let me just say” Cheshire started to say, “That I’m so gladyou didn’t ask to paint me like one of your French girls or something.”

“Well, last time I checked neither of us are French” Myuchuckled, a quick and light sound. “But I can certainly try if you’d like?”

“Ha! Nice” He laughed before realizing it soundedlike Myu just flirted with him. “Wait…are you flirting with me?”

“Well to be honest I was hoping so? Was it clear enough ordo I need to try something different?” He asked, tilting his head in that waythat was just so endearing and holyfuck Myu liked him.

Cheshire jerked forward, grabbing the other-gently-by theshoulders as his eyes widened “Wait wait, you like me? Like more than a friendkind of?”

Myu gasped and placed his hands on Cheshire’s hips “Yes andyes? I didn’t know how to tell you before it just…felt like the right momentnow. So…do you? Like me more than a friend?”

It was a dream, a paradise but it was reality. After a longweek between flights and rushing to the next, returning home to a mostly silenthouse with no one to greet him. Until now, now at this moment everything seemedso much better, so perfect.

“You have no idea” Cheshire grinned and hugged the othertightly, gripping his shirt and feeling his eyes prick as tears began to fall.He heard My sniffle and lean into the hug, lightly rubbing his back and buryinghis face into his shoulder, an awkward position given their height differencebut at the moment? It was the last thing either of them could care about.

***

If someone told him, one day he’d end up cuddling with hissecret crush on his bed while they watched various videos on YouTube throughhis PS4, Cheshire would have laughed them off and quietly screamed inside. Yethere he was, his head against Myu’s chest while the other ran a hand throughhis hair, love mutually confessed and a date planned.

An actual date, had he passed out during an exam andreached paradise?

“Hey Cheshire?” Myu spoke up, voice pulling him out of hisbliss enough for him to tilt his head up and hum in acknowledgement.

“Are you always like this? You just feel really good. Softand warm…” Myu chuckled as he scratched lightly at Cheshire’s scalp, asensation that sent pleasant shivers down his back. “You know, I always thoughtyou used gel to get your hair to look like that? But it’s so fluffy, soextremely fluffy.”

Cheshire rolled his eyes and grinned “Ah that stuff is apain to wash out, I just comb it back well.”

“Tell me what product you use” Myu said, tone not quitesing-song but light and bouncy almost.

“Later” He countered, leaning back to move thecontroller to his bedside table and twist the light off before pulling ablanket over them. Grinning despite the tiredness that had finally caught upwith him and Myu for that matter. “It’s like 2 am man, we should get some sleepbefore we regret it later.”

Myu only laughed, pressing kiss to his forehead and wrappinghis arms comfortably around him “If you insist my muse. It’ll be so niceto wake up and see you.”

Cheshire groaned pressed his face into Myu’s chest “Oh mygod that is so lame and dorky. I’m never letting you stay up so late everagain.”

“You love it though, I can tell” The other teased.

“And you are so lucky that I do now shush! Youdamn ninja artist!”

“I am the ninja that stole your heart!”

“Dude that’s so bad, holyshit Myu.”

[chyrstis]

F: Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it., K: What’s the angstiest idea you’ve ever come up with?, M: Got any premises on the back burner that you’d care to share?, N: Is there a fic you wish someone else would write (or finish) for you?, S: Any fandom tropes you can’t resist?, V: If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?, Y: A character you want to protect

F: Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

I can’t pick just one favorite, but while going through But I ain’t finished, I’m devoted, I did find an exchange between Troy and V that I loved from this chapter (and I’m having a day dedicated to those two, I feel):

“Do you know how hard you make my job sometimes?”

She opened her mouth then shut it fast when he glared at her. Rhetorical question. Of course.

“I don’t know if I even want to touch on any of that shit, especially with how it’s continuing to develop on all sides. There’s blind, there’s stupid, but maybe I’m giving myself too much credit for trying not to be either when four groups of people keep on trying to rip this place apart. Am I?”

V looked away.

“And what are you trying to do? Take it back? That still your plan? Even if the whole place goes up in fucking smoke?”

“I’m not the only one-”

“Wake the fuck up, V. You’re not, but I need someone to think about the consequences.” He sounded so worn in that instant that she had to turn, and he didn’t avoid her eyes. “Even for a minute.”

“You want me? Need me?” He didn’t say yes or no, but he didn’t need to. “Not sure we see the same person when I look in the mirror, Chief.”

Up close like this disappointment was hard to ignore as well. “Get them up.”

This one I love, because trying to pin down the massive shift in the relationship between the boss and Troy was a challenge enough, but FUZZ is an activity that I know Troy would have an opinion on, and really wanted to dig into that. Also, Troy is tired. He is so damn tired, and feeling the pull between what he wants to do, and what he feels he should do with every minute he hears and/or sees her or the Saints, and this struggle continues throughout the entire game and series, if we’re being honest.

And also, just this part in general:

Standing next to their car was Troy, and he appeared nothing short of furious. Arms crossed, posture tense, and partially in uniform, he must’ve been on his way home when he took a detour.

Lucky her. Or maybe she would be lucky if she was able to stop coughing her lungs out. V pointed towards Ken, who’d gone pale, then shook her head hard. That didn’t help any when Troy walked right on over.

“Don’t. You,” he pointed right at the cameraman, “get out of here.”

Ken shook off the nervousness and plastered on a smile. “What’s the harm, Chief Bradshaw? Just going around and cleaning up the streets! I know you and our producers didn’t have the best talk, but-”

“You know how much those cameras run, pal? Want to guess how much I give a fuck?”

This just amuses me greatly, because Troy really doesn’t. Not even a little.

K: What’s the angstiest idea you’ve ever come up with?

Well, dang. Angst is usually something I don’t heavily dive into, but I think one of the prime candidates had to be the V/Troy fic I did around Valentine’s Day why would you do that, I still ask myself where they’ve broken up during the gap between SR3 and 4, Troy’s started reluctantly dating someone else, and they end up meeting again at the yearly Policeman’s Ball. He’s not expecting her there, but she is, and they spend the rest of the night dancing around each other literally (and figuratively).

The next drink he took finished the glass and he found himself itching for something else. A cigarette. He'd tried cutting down again about a week ago, but the urge was back and getting worse. He knew why, but at least it'd be an itch he could scratch.

V's eyes drifted towards him and he held them for a good minute until he realized someone was talking to him. “Sorry, what?”

Anne shifted in her seat so she could face him better. “She won't tell me the answer.”

“To what?” he asked, keeping his attention on Anne.

“To why you keep on putting up with my bullshit,” V answered, her grin taking on an edge. “Thought it was obvious.”

Troy had no choice but to look at her then. “It is. Ultor pays me enough for it.” He pushed his seat back and got up, excusing himself before leaving.

Um, ow.

M: Got any premises on the back burner that you’d care to share?

For SR, I do have an early SR1 fic where V actually stumbles into the first few minutes of the game. I also have a pre-SR4 one where Troy comes to visit her and see what some of the hubbub’s about when she’s ready to take office, and either of those would be fun to do, but would also tug at the old emotions a bit.

For FC5 I have a ton. I feel like this is summer fling, but would love to stick with it for a while. The one that I’ve been mostly working on today is a post-mission idea where the Deputy recovers the Widowmaker (a pretty sweet truck with a paint job you have to see to believe) and proceeds to get into some drunken shenanigans with her partners in crime, namely Sharky and Hurk. There may be feelings involved at some point as well, but she’s not telling.

N: Is there a fic you wish someone else would write (or finish) for you?

The rest of But I ain’t finished-

No, honestly. There have been some tough places where I wished I had more motivation to write, but I wouldn’t give my silly doof, or any of these stories away.

S: Any fandom tropes you can’t resist?

Most of the romance tropes I’m pretty weak for. Slow-burn fics are totally my jam, and I could read over a hundred chapters of build-up just to get to the good stuff. On the flip-side, I also do enjoy when the feelings end up rushing in after, and it all gets complicated fast.

I do also love absurd amounts of UST and banter, and if one half of the pair’s a little in denial of just how much the other person’s started to mean to them all the better. By which I actually mean, I’ll be sitting there screaming internally in front of my computer screen.

V: If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?

Oh, goodness no. I’ve read beautiful things by some very talented people, and I couldn’t even begin to think I’d do justice to their work. It also wouldn’t feel right unless it was done under the premise of it being a remix, that they’d give their blessing for, and even still I’d sweat bullets the entire time.

Y: A character you want to protect           

Troy. This times a thousand, mostly because the poor guy’s been through enough, and I will always have a soft spot for him.

In recent times, I find that I’m feeling very much the same about Sharky. The poor guy is a total sweetheart and a disco disaster, and he deserves to be happy.

[kiseiakhun]

@irolltwenties also tagged me in this, here's the other thread, go read it and love them thank u

Kyle/fem!Wally - pretty much everyone I'm in a server with has seen this snippet already because I posted it everywhere. It's my best piece of writing.

Wally's first words rush by too fast for Kyle to hear. "Itpoopedonme!" she shouts, and Superman starts laughing. "It'snotfunny!"

"No, I'm sorry," Superman says, still laughing. "I'm sorry, they – they do that—"

"That—" blur,"—doesn't—" blur, "—help me!" When she stops, she drops a pile of twigs and pebbles on the ground that the agitated chickens must've launched through the air. "This is gross," she rants, shaking her hand fast enough that Kyle can hear the vibration. "This is gross, this is so gross, I hate chickens, I hate them, I hate chickens, I'm going to go home and eat sixty drumsticks, I hate chickens!"

"You're agitating them," Superman says. "You need to hold them like this." He's holding another two chickens in his hands. Kyle hadn't noticed him leaving. "I mean, accidents happen—"

"This is not an accident!" Wally's voice is shrill. Kyle coughs to cover his laugh, warring between his desire to make fun of her and his desire to get laid sometime this week. "This is an act of pre-planned sabotage."

"They're chickens," Kyle says, the first desire winning out. "I don't think their brains are big enough for vengeance."

"Actually," Superman says, "chickens are quite smart—"

"Fuck you," Wally hisses. "Whose side are you on?"

"And anyways," Kyle continues. "You can't judge them by your—" he waves a hand, "—human standards. For all we know, they don't know what poop is. Maybe pooping on each other is how chickens say hi."

"It's not," Superman points out.

"Just a hypothetical."

(the actual fic has a lot less shenanigans and a lot more porn)

gay challengers - f!Kyle and f!Jason. maybe also Donna, but who knows. one day we'll get to the porn, which is the entire reason I started writing this fic... one day...

"I had the shot!" Jay argues for the umpteenth time, and Kylie snorts, wiping her fingers clean on her shirt and grimacing at the trail of purple ooze.

"And I keep telling you, that's not the issue." She fixes Jay with an irritated look, which is the look she usually gives her, because, again, Jay is an asshole. "You think you're going to find spare ammo in a world where they shoot poisonous paintballs at each other? Don't be stupid."

"That's none of your business," Jay snaps, her face creased tight in a heavy frown. Weird as it is, Jay sometimes reminds her of Guy. They've both got features that are made for anger, heavy brows and thick, expressive mouths that slant down like a punch to the gut. Green wreathes around her eyes, bright lines spilling from her pupil and stabbing into her iris as Jay steps forward and jabs her in the chest. "You think I don't keep spares on me? Why don't you focus on yourself, Lantern—"

"Oh," Donna says, and then she mutters something unkind in Greek under her breath and grabs Kylie, dragging her aside. "Excuse us."

"You can't blame this one on me," Kylie hisses, practically ripping her arm out of Donna's grip once Donna deems they've moved far enough. "I'm right. You know I'm right."

"A crush?" Donna exclaims, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her. "A crush? All this trouble, all this grief – all over a crush?"

Halkyle gods au - this started as a hades/persephone au but then it sort of got flipped on its axis? I guess the closest analogy to Greek religion would be an Adonis/Aphrodite au

"It just seems so sad," Kyle had told him that first summer. "Even if it's needed, it shouldn't have to hurt so much."

His eyes had been bright and earnest, brown streaked through with green-gold flecks. They're tucked in the shade of a hillside, peach blossoms filling the air with sweet perfume. Hal had wrapped them in shadows, tucked Kyle tight against his side. It's a selfish gesture, but he doesn't want to let him go. The days are growing shorter, now. He can hear the clock ticking, ticking, ticking, the start of the inevitable countdown.

"It's always been like this," he says, for the umpteenth time.

"We can change it."

Hal kisses him. He loves his innocence. Loves how everything, to him, still seems so new. Loves the wonder in Kyle's eyes when a flower blooms in his hand, the euphoria in his expression when he's standing in light. Hal wants. He wants everything that he has. He wants him.

Hope burns eternal within him. Hal had known then, already, he'd do anything to keep it safe.

KyleConnor - I was challenged to write Kyle making Connor come with dirty talk. I say challenged but I also came up with the prompt soooo

Connor's laugh comes out shaky. His hands are restless, moving from Kyle's hip, to his waist, to his shoulder, to his neck. He doesn't know where to touch, where to cling to. He wants to touch Kyle everywhere."Is that a yes?"

"Yes," Kyle says empathetically without a flicker of hesitation. He dips his head and groans, and Connor shivers at his hot breath blowing past his neck. "Yes, god, I like it, Connor. I like it when you manhandle me." Kyle reaches up, squeezing his arms. "You're so strong. I bet you could hold me down."

Connor knows he could. Their countless sparring sessions had demonstrated that when it comes to brute strength, Connor is irrefutably stronger. It would be easy for him to hold Kyle down, and his mouth goes dry at the thought, of Kyle writhing beneath him, bucking with his hips.

He can't say it, though. The image is there, the words right at the tip of his tongue. I could, if you want me to, but it's like there's a stricture at his throat that stops them from coming out. Connor isn't like Kyle. Kyle isn't thoughtless, but there's a smooth unbroken line between him thinking and doing. Connor is versed in control. He's spent so long swallowing his anger, folding it into something neat and small like smothering the coals of a fire. There's still that disconnect between wanting and action; he wants, but he cannot take. He wants Kyle. He doesn't know how to show it, how to say it the same way that Kyle can.

I'm gonna tag @atasteforsuicidal and @oliverqueenketamineaddiction and I think everyone else I know has already been tagged... this is what happens when I'm always last to the memes

Wip Snippets

tagged by @irolltwenties thank u i love u

Prole Divina - chapter 3 (final)

 Think of home, Jason had said, face young and still so much older than what it had been like when they were all together. Such a memory, the one of their unity, belongs to even more prehistoric pasts. Time never stops running, Fates never stop dancing, both old crones and youthful ladies that live in the same moment, in the same places: the face that stares twice with double visage, the tellers of their stories, the makers of the interwoven life yarns.

  Think of home.

  But such a thought will not work this time, when all that Damian sees in his mind’s eyes is a farm, a stable, a hearth that’s always lit, the fields extending behind the house. Truly, even back then Jason had given him the wrong directions, when home is ever changing and ever growing, when home is what it is made to be, and not what people claim it should be.

Something something Jason - ??

 Fist shatters bone and all he thinks is this too is our legacy.

 He doesn’t think of retaliating.

 There are castles in the sky falling, and here, among humans, he’s far from being an angel cast out from heaven. And yet his blood forms a broken halo around his head when he hits the roof, when he can’t stay standing.

 This is not divine punishment. There is nothing holy between them. These are not sacred grounds.

 And still a savior comes, to make sure his grave isn’t made to be fresh once more.

Your secret is safe with me, - fem!Hal/genderbend

So whenever she’s ever wanted, needed, anything, she’s fought for it tooth and nail. Fair and square sometimes, most of the time not, because why give someone in power a greater advantage over you when they already have everything made to fit them.

She cuts her hair so it never goes past her shoulders when she’s just a little kid. She switches dresses for overalls, sandals for beat up sneakers, looks at herself in the mirror and laughs with her whole body, unashamed, unafraid of being loud and confident and utterly herself. Dad loves this about her. Picks her up, puts her on his shoulders, parades her around as he says she’s the light of his life.

Sarcastic Mr. Know-It-All - time fuckery happens, Hal is a different brand of fucked up here

And then, he fell.

 There really wasn’t much to see or feel or think after that. He couldn’t even see the glow of his ring or feel the warmth of the green protective shield all around him. Like this, he thought: huh. Guess I’m dying. No fanfare to it, no regret. He always knew his day would come sooner rather than later. Ever since he got on a plane for the first time, he made his peace with it.

 But that’s not his last thought, no. That one is: at least take me home.

there’s a light and it never goes out - whump Hal, limb loss

 Hal can barely keep his eyes open. He does not know how he’s doing it. He doesn’t—he doesn’t want to keep looking, but at the same time he must, he must because this is scaring him shitless and if there is one thing he knows, no matter what, is that he must always fight those stupid, pesky fears. Look at what happened the times he failed to keep them in check. He can’t. He can’t.

 Kilowog’s hands are so fucking big, pining him in place against that massive chest, holding him down to stop him from squirming. Maybe it’d be best if the giant was the one holding the fucking sharp object to his. His. His—But hey, they can’t really risk having lava and stuff falling onto his head now, can they?

 (Without the ring, fuck, without the ring Volk’s signature heat is nearly intolerable.)

 And yet under those hands Hal’s chest keeps heaving. He can’t take in enough air, he really can’t, with each gasp it’s like a thousand more are escaping him. But god damn it, god damn it, he’s gonna survive this. He’s gonna.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaand I’m tagging @setsailslash @primeemeraldheiress @puppetmaster55 @kiseiakhun @wellthatjusthappend @firefright & anyone else who sees this and wants to join in on the fun!

[katya-is-here]

Letters From Lance Chapter Four

Hey guys! Thanks again for all your support! The Klance feels are coming soon. Right now we're just surviving some Klangst. Also Shiro is and always will be Best Dad of the Year! Enjoy!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/katyaszew

Summary: 

It's been a few days since the drive-in incident and Lance's anxiety begins to kick in. He writes a letter to you about how all his friends and classmates are working on class projects or heading to exciting exhibits, while he spends his time in Shiro's office and wandering the school halls...alone.

When Morvok, who's part of Team Galra, confronts him about his little showdown with Sendak, Lance begins to realizes he made a huge mistake. If having feelings for Keith, a.k.a Mullet wasn't bad enough now there's more school drama.

← Read Chapter Three

CHAPTER FOUR

Rooftop Shenanigans 

Dear friend,

I'm scared. Hell, that took awhile for me to admit to you. It's been a few days since I last wrote you a letter. Shiro said it'd be a good idea for me to get some fresh air, take an extra curriculum class, something, anything to get all this shit off my mind. If you haven't been able to tell, I have anxiety. Not the kind where I like to talk about it, thank you very much. But as I was saying...I'm scared. Scared I won't ever be able to see Keith again. Scared I will see him again. I dunno. It's weird. Life's weird.

Being bi means I like both guys and girls. I don't pick a side like a kid picks fruits over vegetables. Bi means I can fall in or out of love with anybody I want to. Who wrote the rules to love, right? But love freaks me out just as much as sex or dating does. It hurts my head and makes me feel like I'm taking exams over and over again. I didn't mean to "fall in love" with Keith. It just...happened. And I screwed it up.

A few days after that drive-in incident I hung around Shiro's office, avoiding Keith at all costs. I sat on a step ladder taping up posters about the next school field trip.

"Lance," Shiro called.

I peeked over my shoulder, and yawned. "What's up big guy?"

Shiro sighed. "Okay, okay, you can call me big guy here, but outside the office it's Mr. Shirogane, please."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Hey, where are we going for the big school field trip this year anyway? Wanna let my folks know." A poster slipped from the wall.

Shiro snatched it. He grabbed the roll of duct tape and ripped a piece off with his teeth. Damn was he cool — liked to consider the guy my hero. "A skiing resort up north. It was Allura's choice for a theme this year."

"And she gets the final say because...?"

"She's in charge of planning school activities and has been Lion Academy's top student since her grade school days."

I jumped from the step ladder and stretched. "Skiing should be dope, I guess."

Shiro fixed the poster in place and put his hands on his hips. He looked proud. "I'll be chaperoning the trip along with Coran and a few other professors, so no monkey business."

I held back my laugh. He was such a dad! "Monkey business? What...what does that even mean dude?"

Shiro rubbed his nose bone. "I didn't have my coffee today so don't test my patience, Lance."

I grabbed my backpack, shrugged and headed for the door.

"Where're you going?" Shiro asked, surprised.

I grabbed the doorknob. "Gotta go meet up with Pidge and Hunk. Their science exhibit is tomorrow so we're gonna go hang 'cause they'll be gone for a few days."

"And then what?"

"Hm?"

"Figure out what extra courses you're gonna take?"

I shrugged. "Give me whatever." I bolted before Shiro could give me his dad lectures. The halls were empty every Sunday. Some students went home to visit their parents, others were taking road trips, while I always stayed behind, my thoughts brewing with the fear that if I left the academy the doors would be closed on me forever. I scratched off the thought and took out my phone. I dialed Hunk's number. Ring. Ring. Beep.

"Hey buddy!" Hunk shouted.

His voice burst my eardrum. Loud echoes blared in the phone. "Where are you? Thought we were hanging out at the cafe today with Pidge?"

"Oh fudge!"

"Fudge?"

"I totally forgot. Hang on...PIDGE!" Hunk shouted.

I moved the phone away from my ear and grumbled.

"Hey, Lance." It was Pidge.

"Hey Pidgey-p—"

Pidge cleared her throat. "We got the days confused."

"What?"

I heard Hunk whimpering the the background apologetically.

"Yeah, the science exhibit starts today and ends on Tuesday. Hunk messed up the days."

"I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry, Lance!"

I sighed. "Guess that leaves me with Dad."

"Who?" Pidge asked.

"Shiro."

"Ah!" Hunk shouted. By the rustling I could tell he grabbed the phone from Pidge. "Maybe that's a good thing."

"How, exactly?"

"'Cause Shiro's a great guy! Plus, maybe he can help out with the big Klance issue."

"The what?"

"Klance. Keith x Lance," Hunk explained, "It's your ship na—"

"Gotta go!" I shouted.

"Wa—"

Beep. I hung up. Silence. I jammed my earbuds into my head and headed for my locker. As I turned, the walls of light blue metal captured me into a feeling of conformed distress. A couple was studying on the tiled floors, laughing and sharing jokes about Coran's latest lecture how space is our friend, but also our greatest fear. It looked...nice, how bundled up they were, smiling, touching, laughing. For a second I was mesmerized until I felt a hand go to my shoulder. I jumped. Morvok, one of Team Galra's basketball players stood there, arms crossed. I raised a brow.

"Yes?"

"How DARE you try to put a fight up against Captain Sendak like that! Coach Zarkon is going to have YOUR head and I'm going to watch every second of it you shriveled up bean!"

I grabbed a few of my books, gave a fist bump to the picture of my family and slammed my locker shut.

"Dude, that was days ago. Just forget that shit ever happened and move on."

Morvok, short and stumpy, wobbled in front of me. "WAIT—wait!" He was out of breath.

"Need a minute?"

Morvok raised a finger.

"Well go ahead, I'm waiting."

He slammed his fist on the lockers. "Will you STOP?"

I shrugged.

"Sendak is comin' after you buddy, and it's not gonna be pretty."

"For what? I didn't want to fight him. I fought —" I paused. "—Keith."

Morvok's sharp teeth grinned. "And because of your little smack down we lost one of our best players!"

"Keith quit?"

The bell rang. Morvok gasped. "Shit! I can't be late!" He took a deep breath, stuck out his chest and ran away on his tip toes. Talk about a Napoleon complex.

I leaned against my locker and watched as only a few students rushed round the halls. I didn't feel like going to class.

Pigeons rested on the rooftop, pecking at the sun cooked pavement. I leaned against a railing, staring at the empty track field, where dried leaves danced. The scent of Autumn filled my nose; apple tarts and cider. I rested on my arms, closed my eyes and listened to the twirling wind. It kissed my cheeks. A chill ran down my spine. It was...refreshing, new. But I hated it, because summer was so far, far away. That and swimming. Out of everything in the world, water was the only thing that ever calmed me down.

I took out my phone, hoping to get some updates from Pidge or Hunk.

"Really?" I mumbled. A black, blank screen stared back at me. The battery was dead.

The wind whistled and blew my hair back. Peeking through my strands of hair I saw someone running the track. It was...

"KEITH!" I shouted. Why did I say that?

Keith didn't stop running, but looked up and tripped over a hurdle. He lay there on his back, his shorts wedged between his legs. I ducked behind the railing and peeked through the bars. Keith jumped to his feet and tied his hair back into a little bun. It was growing out again into that stupid mullet. If only I could take a picture of this moment. Stupid phone.

But as I watched him carefully, my heart drummed a thousand beats. I tried to calm it, focusing on my breathing and shaky palms, but I felt woozy. So I rested my head on the hot pavement. Pigeons cooed and bobbed their heads beside me. I closed my eyes. Thoughts of Keith's stupid mullet swam through my mind. Stupid, stupid mullet.

For what felt like three minutes turned into three hours. Groggy and covered in feathers I woke up to an orange sky, buzzing mosquitoes and untied, dirty shoes. I turned on my side and saw Keith sitting beside me. He tossed rocks at the rusty door and leaned back under the evening's setting sun.

I yawned. "Thought you didn't want to see me again?"

He tossed a rock. "I don't."

I turned over and looked at him. He was all sweaty, covered in grass stains, chalk and pavement residue. He smelt like dirty gym clothes and laundry sheets. He took out his phone and tossed it at me.

"What's this?" I asked. I yawned and looked at the phone. Text messages from Hunk flooded the screen.

"Hunk Gar-bear wouldn't stop spamming my phone, thinking something tragic happened to you."

The messages ranged from Hunk panicking like some overbearing mother, to him about to take a taxi back to the academy with a swat team.

"Why?"

"Looks like your phone's dead."

I sat up and stretched. "Y...yeah."

We both looked up at the setting sun, our shoulders inches apart. For a few minutes we didn't say anything and just kind of sat there. Then Keith stood up, shoved his phone into his back pocket and walked toward the door.

"Mullet."

Keith didn't turn, but stopped.

"I'm sorry about—"

"Like I said, don't bother. It's classic Lance. I'm used to it."

I stood up. Next thing I know I'm standing beside him, our eyes locked on one another.

The door rattled open. Shiro stood there, out of breath and panting. Keith straightened his posture, and rushed to Shiro's side.

"You okay?" he asked.

Shiro nodded and glared at me from under his white fringe of hair. "You...you had me worried sick Lance!"

I shrugged. "Unneeded drama is so toxic."

Shiro approached me and yanked me forward.

"Ow! Ow! Ow, man! Easy!"

He pulled me down the stairs, focused and sweating. "I was this close to calling the cops."

"Why do you care so much?"

We were mid-way down the stairs. Shiro stopped. Hesitated. "You're a good kid, Lance." He turned. "I don't want you to end up screwing up your life, okay?"

I nodded. "But I was just sleeping on the roof. You could've checked the cameras."

"That's not the point!" He yelled, but sighed and calmed his nerves.

"The point is...?"

We reached the bottom step. Our voices echoed. Shiro held me in place, his eyes angry, but warm. "Stop butting into other people's business and focus on your own future."

"What're you talking about?"

"I overheard you and Morvok in the halls."

"He's a piece of shit. Why worry about it?" I headed for the door. Shiro stopped me.

"Because Sendak and Team Galra are the bread and butter of this school. If you cause any issues you won't only lose any chances of a scholarship, but you'll have to leave the school."

"That's NOT fair!" I shouted.

Keith closed the metal door behind him and sat on the top step.

I glared at him and pointed. "The only reason I got in this stupid mess is because I wanted to help HIM out."

"I can take care of myself, Lance," Keith said.

"Oh yeah?" I shoved Shiro aside and climbed a few steps. He held me back.

"LANCE! Enough."

"NO! I'm sick of his freakin' shit, acting like a lone wolf, emo kid. Lighten up, bub! Maybe if you showed any ounce of emotion Sendork wouldn't be running our lives right now."

Keith slammed his palms onto his knees and scowled. "Are you joking right now? You're the moron who hides the fact that we shared tons of bonding moments!"

"NOT true!"

"Sob! Admit it Lance. You can't cope with the fact that you have feelings for me. You can't even act normal around chicks."

"Oh and like you can?"

"I'm gay, Lance! Remember? Do I have to waste my time and define it for you?"

"SHUT UP!"

"Alright!" Shiro shouted. " He pushed me back. "E—NOUGH!"

"With pleasure," Keith said, headed for the door. He shoved against me. Shiro grabbed him.

"Don't even think about it, Keith."

Keith sighed and tensed up.

Shiro took us outside the academy and sat us down on an old, fusty fountain. He tossed us two juice boxes and paced the grounds.

"What're we five?" I asked.

Keith tossed his box at my head. "Don't lie, you're addicted to this shit."

"Am not!"

Shiro cleared his throat. Pigeons flew overhead. "Okay, I'm just gonna ask because I care. What caused this?"

Keith sighed. "Lance cheated on me with some slut."

"Dude!" I shouted. "Don't be so honest."

"Why not? He asked."

I face palmed. "That doesn't mean you have to be so blunt!"

Shiro folded his arms over his chest. "It's none of my business but you're both in the wrong here."

"Me?" Keith said, surprised.

Shiro nodded. "Lance opened up to you a few days ago and you brushed him off."

"Oh, and that's so wrong." Keith gestured all of me. "HE broke my heart."

"But he's trying to fix this mess."

"I don't care."

I scowled. "This is a waste of time, Shiro."

Shiro mulled over his thoughts. "Looks like the only time you two get along is when there's some kind of competition involved."

Keith and I exchanged looks. Our gazes burned.

"So I've decided. You two will participate in the skiing competition during the school field trip."

"Daddy says what now?" I mumbled.

Shiro chuckled. "There were competitions going on anyway and as the school counselor and trip chaperone, it's my job to get as many students involved."

"What's in it for us?" Keith asked.

Shiro looked up into the orange skies and grinned. "Haven't decided on that yet, but boy will this be fun."

The wind whistled and danced round Keith's scratched up, grass stained face. He looked at me, serious and cold, but grinned.

"Challenge accepted."

I looked away and took a deep breath. I felt nauseous.

Wish me luck,

Lance