#but i still think it goes here because it all started with regulus and leo the lion

[starchaserdreams]

Y'all I think I'm mostly smart but sometimes I am SO DUMB

I never knew why Astrology and Astronomy sounded similar

I was like why is the word for looking at the sky the same as the word for the thing based on your birthday

It wasn't until Regulus Black -> Regulus the star, in the constellation Leo -> oh hey Leo's also an astrology name how bout that -> pan out on the StarTracker app -> oh hey there's Gemini, Taurus, Capricorn, Aquarius... -> hey wait a minute

That I even realized it at all

And now I get how the whole thing relates to the sky and all of a sudden Mercury affecting things makes sense because that's not a random disconnected idea like I thought it was, it's all in the sky

That's pretty cool, y'all

[pit-and-the-pen]

Can you write a fic for Regulus Black where the reader and him go to a planetarium?

So this is a bit old. I'm so sorry. Hopefully, it's fluffy enough to make up for it!

I've also never written for Regulus but I'm going with the very few character details we get from Deathly Hallows.

Look at the Stars, Look How They Shine For You.

Regulus x G/N Reader- Established Relationship

Warnings: The tiniest glimpse of negative self talk

Word count:

Tuesday nights became something you always looked forward to lately. It had nothing to do with classes and everything to do with the boy you sneaked up to the astronomy tower to meet with.

You can't place a finger on exactly when playful jabs and jokes start to bleed into something more. It felt natural, some pull to the youngest Black boy. Something that he felt in return, pointed out by your loving but annoyed friends who were tired of seeing you two pine over each other.

It quickly became a part of your weekly routine to meet at the astronomy tower after you started taking classes and would rattle on for hours about the different stars and constellations. Regulus just sitting there smiling at the excitement in your voice.

When you got to the top of the stairs, you saw the moon reflecting on him, making the outline of him visible. You walked over and plopped down next to him, placing your hand on top of his.

“Regulus. The brightest star in its constellation.” You point out to the twinkling star, almost right above you two. “Some people call it the lion's heart because it’s in Leo.” You can feel his eyes on the side of your head but continue anyway. “But I see it a bit differently. I mean, look at how it’s surrounded by darkness, all the black void of space, and it can still shine that bright.” 

Your cheeks heat up at the line. It sounded way less cheesy when you practiced all of this earlier. 

“Do you really believe that?” He asks in a small voice you would have never thought he was capable of having. 

You turn to face him for the first time since laying down. “With my whole heart.” 

For a second, the words hang heavy in the air. He slowly reaches up and puts his hand on the side of your face. His hands are soft and gentle on your face. He starts to lean in and your heart seems to get stuck in your throat. Even after all this time, your heart still sped up at his touch, cheeks would still heat at this attention.

He freezes slightly and starts to pull away.

He’s silent for a moment as he searches for the words. A small sigh leaves your lips without you thinking. When he goes to pull away even more you lightly put a hand to his cheek, copying his earlier movements. 

“What's wrong?”  You ask in a gentle voice.

“I don’t know. Just the way you look at me. I’m scared I’m not going to live up to it.” He admits. He can’t meet your eyes, clearly embarrassed. 

“You’re here. With me. That’s all I could ask for.” You pause as he looks at you again. “We’ll worry about the rest later, okay?” 

“Okay” Is the only response you get. 

You pull his lips to yours. The kiss is soft and sweet as you try to pour all the unsaid words into it . After a few moments, you can feel him relax and his hand rests on top of yours, still on his face. When you two pull away, he’s smiling widely, his eyes crinkling at the sides. 

“Can you show me more?” He says, breaking the silence that hung in the air. 

“Honestly, that was all I had come up with but I think I can make it up as I go.” You respond and click the remote to change the view. He puts an arm over your shoulder as you lean back into him.

He listens to you point out all the stars you could name. Laughing as he chimes in a few times with outlandish stories of how the stars got their names. The two of you stay up there for hours until the night grows too cold for both of you. He rubs his hands up and down your arms trying to generate some warmth refusing to end this moment in your own little bubble. But inevitably, a yawn makes its way out and you're reminded of how late it is on a day when you have classes in the morning.

He turns to look at you, your eyes heavy with sleeplessness, and gives you a smile that shakes off the chill for a moment. You return it before you lean back into him, a sleepy kiss placed on his lips before you start to stand. Extending a hand to him, you help him to his feet and the two of you walk down the stairs in comfortable silence.

Without a doubt, Tuesday nights were your favorite part of the week.

Um hi. So I literally had this sitting finished in my drafts but I just never posted it. I'm about to make a longest post explaining where I've been but I wanted to get this out first.

I hope it's even a sliver worth the wait and that whoever requested it is still on the app.

[tex-now]

Best Commissioned song from each character except I don't know anything about instruments and am bad at describing things.

Ichika (Hoshi wo Tsunagu): eh it's good. I don't really like any of her songs and this one is the best out of all of them. (I'm sorry bbg). Runner up is Made To Order

Saki (Tera Tera): What do you want me to say. Tera Tera is Tera Tera bro. Okay no lol it's a really good song and extremely catchy, the guitar is very fun and ichika saki and miku and a wonderful trio. Aioi is the runner up

Shiho (Peaky Peaky): I want 🎸🎸 to be 🎸🎸 legit-

What do you expect. The guitars. The basically trio of KAITO shiho and ichika. SHIHO. it's so catchy and funky and fun, which isn't normally something Leo/Need gets to be in their songs (which is fine I just wish they got more spunky stuff). Kaito is really well tuned and the guitar goes so fucking hard along with shiho and ichikas vocals. runner up is purpose

Honami (Flyway): literally gorgeous. Like. What else do I say. It's so different from Leoni's usual songs and it's better for it? Like the violins and whatever string instrument they're using is beautiful while still having some guitar or bass in there (I think) is just a wonderful mix of instruments and I wish they got to branch out more like that. Don't even get me started on the vocals HONAMI IS KILLING IT HERE. ichika's voice when the key changes is fucking amazing and everything about this song makes me want to scream. Ily honami. Runner up is Regulus

Airi (Momoiro no kagi): Holy fuck the everything about this song is just. Phenomenal. Everyone's vocals are on point, the instruments used are soft while still carrying, just like Airi's voice, like it was made for her (because. Well. It was.) This song is a lot different from her other songs and while I love (most of) them, this one is special to me because it's just so unlike her other ones and allows us to see a different side of her voice, one that's more melancholy. I'm going to stop here omg airi I love you sm. Runner up is Parasol Cider

Shizuku (Metamo RE:BORN): this song is so fucking stimmy and bouncy I ADORE it. The little click clacks in the background, the percussion doing absolute wonders, the vocals being so bouncy and matching the instrumentals perfectly, the buildup in the bridge (?) Is fucking amazing omg. Bopping so hard to this song it's so fun. Runner up is Hug

Haruka (Ai No Material): THE BEGINNING. THE SPARKLY SOUNDS. THE FUCKING VOCALS. everything about this song is so beautiful. I love everything about this song (except MEIKO'S tuning but. That's a whole other issue.) The chorus is so happy but in that calm, almost reserved way that reminds me of Haruka. It feels like floating on a teardrop. The guitar solo is good and so are all the parts after it omg. The soft quiet moment before the song picks up again for the end makes me want to bop my head i cant this song makes me so happy. THE ENDING ALSO. OH MY GOD. I CAN'T. I LOVE THIS SONG SM. runner up is float planner

Minori (World Wide Wander): this song is so fucking good. Why did y'all never tell me. This used to be in the bottom now it's one of my favorites. This song is so non-minori but it's literally perfect for her at the same time? The guitars, the overall... Vibe it gives off, you wouldn't expect a song like this from MMJ but they pull it off flawlessly. The guitars were an unorthodox choice but once again are actually really good. Also airi in this song omfg she sounds so good I can't- just. It's so catchy and fun I love it. Runner up is Teamate

An (Overthrow): I am so sorry An. This song is good. Rin's tuning is good and the chorus is great. The part where akito and an go off is good. I think this song does a good job of displaying everyone's unrest and upset after learning about such earth-shattering news. But it's nothing amazing to me. Runner up is Awake Now

Toya (Utsuro wo Aogu): everything about this song is so great. GOD. like. Holy shit Toya. The instrumentals are super good and do a fuck ton for the song, but the vocals are definitely a highlight in particular. Everyone sounds amazing and the girls acting as almost backup singers while still having their time to shine in the song is really charming to me. Of course the part where everyone says a part of their partner's name makes me want to rip at the walls/pos. But the part right after that makes me want to get up and scream omg. Everyone is on their A-game in this song and that makes this songs so fucking amazing omg. "Runner up" is blender

Okay so this was written pre-blender and now my opinions have changed blender is the best Toya comm but I don't feel like writing another analysis so it's the runner up

Kohane (Hitsuji ga ippiki): EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS SONG IS PERFECT. the vocals the tuning the instrumentals the everything. Everyone is pulling their weight and akina and jiena went OFF in the recording studio. The buildup is so fucking good you don't understand. And Akina's like. Rolling of her Rs at the end killed me dead/pos. Kohane got to shine in a way she NEVER does in other songs and really got an opportunity to show how she can fit so so well into grungier songs and also MEIKO'S tuning is good for once so we all knew this song was gonna be a banger. Runner up is Beat Eater

Akito (Cinema): This song singlehandedly made me love Akito. And it's the first song to make me cry. I LOVE Cinema. The song to me isn't catchy or anything that scratches my brain but it's so fucking good that I love it a lot anyway. The lyrics speak to me a lot because of my experiences with not feeling like enough, wanting to give up but pushing through anyway because maybe, maybe one day I'll be able to be someone with something. But the lyrics progressively get more hopeful throughout the song, and I get more hopeful along with them. I don't have to wait around for the day to come when I can make that day today or smth. Idk man that song fucks me up. Like. A lot. Runner ups are Moonlight AND CRaZY

Kanade (Tricologe): I don't have much to say about this song. It's funky and fun and literally Kanade's only good comm (I'm sorry samsa). The vocals are good and I like Miku's tuning in this song. Um. Kanade's vocals are really good. NILFRUITS being commissioned for Kanade of all people is really surprising but done really well. Idk man this song really is good I just don't have anything much to say about it. Runner up is Kanadetomosusora

Ena (Nomad): all of ena's songs are around the same level of good but nomad beats out the others because of just how much of an improvement the full version is. I Nandesu is good either way and so is Infinitely Gray, but Nomad's full version is so much of a glow up in comparison to the game version that I can't help but appreciate it more. That and mizuki and Ena murder this song with their phenomenal vocals so this one takes the cake. The instrumentals are as per usual good and the like. Idk what it is but the little high pitched noise that plays is so so good. I love it. Runner up is I Nandesu

Mizuki (Kitty): you know what this song shouldn't be my favorite. It's just. So. Fucking. Catchy. It was the song I listened to the most over the summer. I was playing it non-stop and it somehow became my favorite that way. The guitars in particular goes so fucking hard in this song for no gaddamn reason and Ena's "1, 2, 3, 4" followed by the mizumafu part was a fatal combination. This song was nothing to me at the beginning because I was low-key tired of electric guitar but this song is so absurdly good it kinda trumps that. How did this happen. Runner up is IDSMILE

Mafuyu (Bug): Everything in this song is perfect and it was my favorite song in the entire game for so long. You don't understand. The instrumentals the hard intense beats and the fast pace. It's addicting. The small little noises and vocals that they added are so so good. But what really majes this song is mafuyu. This song has the best vocals in the entire game and Mafuyu is the reason why. The buildup then the sudden key change with Mafuyu fucking belting like she never has before. I stim so fucking hard to this song. Niigo has literally never sounded better than in this song and no other Nightcord song has been able to top this one since. Runner up is Jackpot Sad Girl

Rui (Showtime Ruler): this song is really good I like it. The lyrics are super sweet the instrumentals are so fun and spunky and so very Rui. Everything about this song is Rui. The instrumental the lyrics the fucking 3DMV. The little robot sounds in the bg (listen with headphones to hear it better.) Tsukasa and Rui's solos nearing the end of the song are so fucking good. This song is the embodiment of fun and quirkyness and Rui in general it makes me sick I love this song. The guitars are also really fun. Runner up is Donketsu

Nene (Glory Steady Go!): NENE!!!! THE GIRL!!!! Now THIS is how you make a song featuring mainly a duet between the VS and the Character of the song (im sorry leoni ilysm just not your songs). Nene is so perfect in this song, she sounds so free and happy in a way she doesn't normally mainly because she gets so many solo lines WHICH IS A GOOD THING!! ITS HER SONG IT'S ABOUT HER!!! The others do a perfect job of enhancing nene's vocals while still having a spot to shine without taking the focus away from Nene. The line distribution in this song is masterful and that's one of the main reasons why I love it so damn much. The instrumentals are fun as fuck and encapsulate Nene really well for me, still being chaotic and fun (because it's wondersho) but still keeping that slight subdued-ness that Nene has. It feels like Nene letting loose and just. Letting herself be a bit less... Reserved? She sounds like she's having a good time I mean. Luka is tuned really well here and adds a lot to the song, which is a trend in Luka comms. The small chants and tiny little noises of laughter and screams and talking is just so great man. The moment before the final chorus where Nene is like "you guys are a headache but doing shows with everyone is super fun!" While slightly crying I fucking hate wandasho I need to run them over oh my fucking god they love each other so much. That's it. That's what this song makes me feel. The song doesn't just feel like Nene cutting herself loose it feels like her letting herself get caught up in the rest of wandasho's antics. She's letting herself be influenced by the rest of wandasho and by a result the song is more chaotic than what you'd expect from Nene. Because Nene would have never gotten to this point without her friends. Without wandasho. I'm gonna fucking cry omg Nene is literally the best character in this game omg. Runner up is Hoshizora no Melody

Emu (Kira pipi Kira pika): this song is perfect. It's perfection. It's literally one of the best songs in the entire game. Words cannot describe how much I love this song. The instrumentals are amazing, but they also don't go as hard in favor of letting the voices shine instead. And the fucking voices. Emu sounds really cute here, matching the songs tempo to near perfection, but honestly I have to give this song to the entire group as a whole (which makes a lot of thematic sense considering how integral her friends are to her as a person and by extent her story). The small little exchanges and rapid-switching from one singer to another does a perfect job of keeping the energy high and fanciful, and when the song does slow down, it feels just the right amount of somber (especially since this song is so happy otherwise) while picking back up in a natural and very impactful way. It mirrors the relationship in wondersho; whenever Emu is feeling down and needs some reassurance, the others are always there to pick her back up and help her get going again. this song feels like it's telling you a story; the story of Wonderlands x Showtime, the story of Emu learning to move on and go to her next adventure with her friends omfg I love Emu so fucking much I would kill for her. Runner up is Niccori ^^ Survey Theme

And last, but definitely not least...

Tsukasa (Mr. Showtime): Okay. Okay okay okay. This. Fucking. Song. I literally cannot type because I keep getting swept up in the fucking PERFECTION that is Mr. Showtime. This song is the best song in the entire game. And I do NOT say this lightly. The instrumentals. The vocals. Luka. FUCKING TSUKASA TENMA. Oh my fuckinf god. Everyone and everything in this damn song is fucking PERFECT, this is Wonderlands x Showtime pushed to their fucking limits with how fucking hard they can go with a song. This feels like something straight out of a fucking musical and I mean that in the highest of praises. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, is on their fucking A-game here. Tsukasa of course steals the show with his PHENOMENAL vocals, but Rui Nene and Emu are not taking a backseat in this song. Holy shit it is the opposite. They carry this song on their fucking backs (along with tsukasa) because if they weren't there the song would be SO much worse. Like so much. God this song is so smooth and seamless and mesmerizing, it's too easy to get swept up in the song and dance along with it. It makes you want to get up and dance. Actually no I'm nowhere near done this song makes me want to CRY OMFG. I'm abt to go into specifics about EVERYTHING be Warned.

Okay so the instrumentals are perfect. Literally perfect. The saxophone (I think) is THE MAIN REASON WHY THIS SONG IS PERFECT. i have no idea what kinda percussion that is in the background but it does a perfect job of keeping you following along with the beat so I never go off track. The piano is SO GOOD. I know it's most major appearance is in the beginning but you can hear it if you listen closely, right before the chorus, kinda like a lead-in to it? It makes me sick. Hitoshizuku x yamaP put crack cocaine into these instrumentals. And no I'm not done btw. I have no fucking idea what it is but the like. Percussion. In the part where tsukasa is holding the balloons (In the 2dmv) is great. And I love that part. The instrumentals atp have only stopped like once so the sudden lack of saxophone and other stuff makes this moment more impactful and makes it HURT I LOVE THIS SONG. Another thing I'd like to mention is that they have never gone so fucking hard on the instrumentals before. There are a BUNCH of subtle changes, such as putting more or less emphasis on an instrument and stuff like that. How do I say this the song feels like it follows along with the vocalists and adjusts things depending on the current mood of the characters. Dare I say. Like a musical

Idek what to call it but the SFX are also amazing. The tape reel in the part after the first chorus and the clapping before the Intermission part always gets me really excited. I'm also including the little small noises that the others make and classifying them as sound effects. Emu and Tsukasa's little cheer in the part right before the second chorus is so good I rewind it over and over again I hate them they make me sick.

And now the vocals. I am going to be going on an incoherent rant now. Tsukasa is obviously the lead but he's also the leader of this song, so yes he gets the most impactful parts but it also feels like he directs when the rest of the cast respond (0:19-0:23 is a good example of what I mean), like he calls and they call back to him i guess? words are hard. Anyway the vocals are so well coordinated and perfect. Every character gets to have their own moment and the way the song switches from vocalist to vocalist (a perfect example is 2:37-2:44 if you're confused) keeps the song from ever feeling stagnant which then means I always get distracted by it cause it keeps you engaged the entire time.

I'm not good at interpreting lyrics but the lyrics hurt me/ pos. Read them and you'll understand. The double meanings hurt meeee- tsukasa loves his friends so much he loves being an actor so much he wants to keep going he wants to hold on he wants to remember he is so full of determination and love and that is a potent combination. I love you tsukasa tenma. Can you tell I like tsukasa tenma. Fuckkkkkkkk. Runner up is 88* and Filament Fever

Okay that's it! You can definitely tell where my biases kicked in and it's very obvious I know nothing about instruments but otherwise I think this is okay. Thank you for reading and if you have any input to add please do I would love to hear it

[fruitcoops]

I think it would be really interesting for leo and sirius to talk ab how they both didn’t go to college and how they both joined the nhl at 18 but had v different upbringings

Ooo, I like this one! I’m always down for some Cap and Knutty bonding. SW credit goes to @lumosinlove!

TW for mentioned bad parenting

“Kinda weird, isn’t it?” Leo said, breaking the nighttime silence after many long minutes of just their breathing. Sirius hummed in question. “Starting all this so young.”

Sirius made a noncommittal noise and Leo shifted, never taking his eyes off the sky. There was too much light pollution to see the stars properly in Gryffindor, but the roof of the rink didn’t have a bad view; the planes flying overhead brought pinpricks of brightness to the indigo blur.

“Was it hard for you?”

He heard Sirius’ coat move. “Was what hard?”

“Starting the NHL at eighteen.”

There was a long beat of silence. “Sometimes.”

“I didn’t know if I would make it,” Leo confessed, still barely above a murmur. Nobody else was around, but it didn’t feel right to talk in normal voices. The whole world was muted, save for the noise of the city below them. “There was just so much to do.”

Sirius laughed softly. “I hate to break it to you, rookie, but that doesn’t change.”

“How do you deal with it?”

“Before, or now?”

Leo thought for a moment. “Both.”

“Before, I would go home and shoot pucks until I was too tired to stand up. Sometimes I would read.” It wasn’t a secret, but it still made Leo’s heart hurt to remember. Nobody as kind and hardworking as Sirius deserved that. “Now, I make myself some food, take a shower, and steal Re’s softest hoodie.”

Leo could hear his smile in the dark—it echoed his own. “Nothing better, huh?”

“Nope.”

“Finn’s fit me best,” he mused. “But Lo’s smell better.”

“Ah, he finally discovered deodorant?”

“Shut up,” Leo teased, elbowing his ribs. Sirius laughed a little louder; in the light of the streetlamps and the absence of his granite-hard focus, it was easy to remember that he was only 26. Leo had worshipped him as a kid, but now he just saw Sirius for what he was. His captain, who guided him through the playoffs even when his personal life was crumbling apart. His older brother, though Sirius certainly wouldn’t think of him that way. His friend.

“Really, though, it’s important to have those connections,” Sirius said when they both calmed down. “Being alone is good, but only if you know you have people to talk to when you need them.”

“Was it easier when you weren’t living with someone?”

“No.” The answer was immediate.

“Sometimes I want the apartment to myself.” Leo lowered his voice unconsciously, then sighed. “It’s not because I don’t want them there. I just need to be alone. Wash the dishes. Clean my room. Call my mom.”

“You should tell them.”

He turned his head slightly; Sirius was still scanning the sky. “Is that what you did?”

“It took a couple hiccups, but yeah. If one of us needs some alone time, the other will go to the grocery store or take a walk, maybe hang out with friends. You just have to make sure your boys know that it’s not personal.”

“You’re freakishly good at sage advice.”

Sirius snorted. “Merci, rookie.”

“I’m not a rookie anymore.”

“Yeah, you are.” He raised his hands, as if outlining a marquee. “The Eternal Rookie, starring Leo Knut.”

Leo stuck his tongue out, feeling rather petulant about the whole thing. “Watch it, Cap, I’m gonna sic Dumo on you.”

“My own father?” Sirius gasped dramatically. “How could you?”

“Did you ever get homesick?”

The question was out of the blue—he didn’t blame Sirius for faltering. Honestly, Leo was kicking himself for asking in the first place, though he had been keeping it in for ages. Unspoken rule of the Lions #1: Don’t ask Cap about his childhood.

“I…” Sirius fell silent once more.

“I’m sorry,” Leo apologized, and he meant it. “That came out of nowhere.”

“I missed Regulus,” Sirius continued carefully without acknowledging him. “But no, I didn’t get homesick. I didn’t have time, or a real reason.”

Alone in a new city, finally out of a horrible living situation, but desperately missing the little brother he left behind… Leo couldn’t even begin to imagine going through it when the NHL by itself was already overwhelming to his teenage brain. He scooted an inch closer until their shoulders touched. “I get homesick every couple of months.”

“You have a kind family.”

“Have you even met them?”

“At the party.” Sirius’ smile was practically audible. “Your mother was very excited to see me.”

“Oh, god,” Leo groaned. “What happened?”

“She—“ He broke off with a laugh. “She was very nice, I promise, but I think I surprised her because she squeaked when I said ‘hello’.”

Leo shook his head. “Did you sneak up on her?”

“I’m six two, I can’t sneak up on anyone!”

“You walk like a fucking ghost, dude! It’s creepy!”

“Okay, rude.”

“I swear, you and Loops need to be belled like cats,” Leo huffed.

They lapsed back into comfortable quiet for a few more minutes as a train rattled past on one side and the metro busses rolled down Main Street on the other. It had taken Leo a long time to figure out Gryff’s layout, and even longer to get used to the sounds of the city.

“What does it feel like?”

Leo blinked, unsure if he had heard correctly. “What?”

“Being homesick.” Sirius shifted again and folded his hands over his stomach. “I didn’t notice much of a difference in practices when I started the NHL, and going back to my parents’ house wasn’t my exactly a highlight of my year.”

Curiosity overrode his tact and reasoning skills. “You never asked Logan?”

“Non. It was different, with him. He had already left to go to college before I knew him, and spent four years away from his family.”

“Right.” Leo forgot about that on occasion. That Finn and Logan might be five years older than him, but they had only been rookies a year or two prior. Not everyone went straight from their city select team to an official draft. “It’s hard to describe.”

Sirius made an understanding noise, but he couldn’t entirely mask his disappointment. Leo licked his lips and tried again.

“It’s like a piece of you isn’t where it’s supposed to be. And it keeps tugging on your chest, but you never know when it’s going to start and stop so you just… deal with it. You ignore it some days and you think about it other days.” He swallowed around the lump in his throat. “The hard days are when you remember you can’t go back to the way things were before. I don’t even call my mom sometimes, ‘cause I know it’ll make me sadder.”

“The way things were before?”

“Yeah, like—like all my classmates are in college, and I’m laying on a roof with one of the most famous hockey players in the history of forever.” That drew a light laugh from them both. “I’m gonna go back to my reunion in a couple years and have literally nothing in common with the people I used to be friends with.”

“Sometimes I wish I went to college,” Sirius said. “But I would have missed so much if I did. I don’t think I would have been happy there.”

“Finn and Logan get weird about college.” Maybe he shouldn’t be talking about it, but Leo had the feeling none of their conversation would leave the rooftop. “It was hard for them, with all their shit.”

“Re does, too.” He recognized the sad edge in Sirius’ voice; it was the same as his own. “For a different reason. It started good, and ended bad.”

“I’m glad I missed out on that,” Leo said, biting down the urge to scream at the universe for putting their significant others through so much hardship at an already-difficult time. None of them deserved the pain they went through. “Besides, it’s not like we need degrees to play hockey, and we’ll have plenty of money afterward.”

“I never thought about my life after hockey until my ankle.”

“My parents always pushed me to make sure I wanted to do the NHL instead of more school.”

“You’re lucky to have them.”

“I wish you did.”

The words hung suspended between them before Leo could swallow them back down, somehow dangerous and calming at the same time. It wasn’t like he had never thought about it before; he just hadn’t said it out loud. The first time he had seen Sirius’ parents across the rink had given him a case of the heebie-jeebies so strong he had to shower twice. All the times after that just made him angry.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Sirius’ voice was quiet, but not upset. “You’re not the first person to say it. I’m glad you feel like you can be honest with me.”

Leo frowned. “Well, yeah. Obviously.”

“I try really hard to not be an asshole captain, so it actually does mean a lot.”

“I don’t think you could be an asshole if you tried.”

The barking laugh that split the night startled Leo so bad he nearly jumped out of his skin; Sirius clapped a hand over his mouth, though he was still snickering. “Sorry, sorry, I just—holy shit, I forgot you didn’t know me before. Mon dieu.”

“You weren’t that bad,” Leo protested. “Pots said you used to be grumpier, but that’s it.”

Sirius shook his head, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. “I was such a dick. There’s not a single picture of the whole team where I’m smiling for about two years and I was such a stickler for the rules.”

Leo gaped at him. “You followed rules?”

“To the fucking letter. It was awful.”

“What happened?”

Sirius shrugged. “I got friends. Idiot friends who did things like showing me the easiest way onto the roof. Pots used to drag me up here every Friday.”

“Really?”

“Ouais.” Mischief flitted over his face. “He skipped date night with Lily once on accident, and she tracked us up here like a bloodhound. It was terrifying.”

“What did you do?” Lily was one of the nicest people Leo knew, but he knew better than to get on her bad side.

“Lied to her face while James hid behind that strobe light.”

“Did it work?”

“Are you kidding?” he snorted. “She called me a liar and suggested getting a better best friend. That was after she told James he’s better have something nice planned for their next date if he ever wanted to get in her pants again.”

“And yet you didn’t listen to her.” Leo tsked. “Of all the people on the team, you chose the hot mess.”

“Trust me, rookie, James had his whole life figured out compared to me.”

“Did you…” Leo trailed off and but his lip. He had pushed his luck a lot already; who knew if one more question would be the tipping point? “Did you ever think about coming out? Even just to Pots.”

Sirius didn’t hesitate. “After every single game.”

“For seven years?”

“Up until the day those pictures were leaked. Even more after Re and I were together.”

“How old were you when you knew?”

“13. You?”

Leo exhaled slowly. “I’m not sure. I think I had an idea of it as a kid, but didn’t really get it until I was in high school. My parents were even more worried about the NHL after I told them.”

“They worry a lot about you.”

“Only child, and I was going for a wildly unstable career path with no guarantee that I would ever see the ice.”

“They’re proud of you. More than you know.” Sirius’ watch beeped. “It’s ten o’clock. Are you supposed to be home?”

“I should probably make sure my boys haven’t burned down the apartment.” Neither of them made an attempt to move. “Can we do this again sometime?”

“Of course.”

You’re like a brother to me, he wanted to say. I don’t know who else I can talk to like this. “Thank you.”

“Any time. We don’t have to do extra practice beforehand, either.”

Leo nudged him gently. “You’re the best captain ever.”

“You’re the best rookie, rookie.”

“I’m not a rookie.”

“Yeah, you are.”

Yeah, I am, he thought as they laid side-by-side in silence once more with the past behind them and the future ahead. And if I end up like you, it means I did something right.

[onlydreamofmysoul]

Gingerbread (Ficmas #1)

Here we go!!! Ficmas day one! Super excited about this - I’ve never done ficmas before! As promised... a little sweet competition!

Characters and their world by @lumosinlove “Is everyone ready?” Celeste asked, standing around her kitchen, looking at the room nearly overflowing with hockey players and their loved ones. “Leo and I are the judges. The rules are simple, you all have to build a gingerbread house, everything you need is right in front of you. The best looking one wins, okay?” 

Remus grinned and nodded, nudging Sirius excitedly. They had everything - including the gingerbread premade by Celeste herself, so even if it looked like a disaster it was sure to taste amazing. Not that theirs would look anything less than fantastic.

On second thought, maybe a group of highly competitive athletes working against each other instead of with each other was a bad idea.

“Okay guys!” Leo called as he hopped up to sit on the counter and oversee the proceedings. “You have one hour. Your time starts.... Now!”

Remus grinned at Sirius, and then they set to work.

Logan knew watching Leo be all authoritative as a judge while he just had to watch would be hard. He didn’t know it would be torture. He was teamed with Adele and Katie, but Adele had to keep hitting his arm to get his attention.

“Logan,” She warned. “I want to win. Now are you gonna focus or not?”

Logan shook his head. Leo could wait. He had a competition to win. “Oui, sorry yes I’m good now.”

Adele nodded, apparently satisfied and Katie drew their attention back to her when she started bouncing in her seat. 

“Allez!” She said, her eyes wide, “Tremzy come on I wanna get to the part where I can eat it.”

Logan chuckled but obliged her, obediently holding pieces of gingerbread in place at the girls’ command as the icing dried.

“Okay, no pressure or anything, but your name’s Noelle so I’m expecting you to dominate this Christmas thing.” Thomas said, only partially jokingly as Noelle carefully piped the outline of their ‘windows’. 

“Um, excuse you Thomas Walker,” She replied, “What does it look like I’m doing?”

“Okay, but hear me out,” Thomas started as he picked up a piece of gingerbread, and started piping green spikes on it. “We should have pine trees in front of it.”

Noelle looked at him like he was losing his mind. “Babe, it’s a gingerbread house.” She said slowly as if it were a foreign concept.

“I know!” Thomas said, excitedly waving his hands and as he did, his pine tree went flying through the air and landed in Kasey’s hair. 

Kasey turned around very slowly and looked around menacingly, reaching up and pulling the biscuit out of his hair, leaving green splotches and crumbs in its wake.

“Who?” He ground out, and Thomas looked around with a shocked expression. “I have no idea! Noelle? Did you see anything?”

Noelle bit down her laugh and shook her head. “Non. Maybe it was one of the kids?” She said, looking over at Logan’s table to where Katie had more icing on her than the house. Kasey followed her and his vision softened. He nodded once and turned back around, Thomas made another tree and held it up to Noelle.

“They’ll never see it coming.” He said, finally finishing his statement. Noelle rolled her eyes, but in the end, there were a ton of palm trees in their ‘garden’. 

Finn was with Pascal and Marc, all of them particularly competitive and set on winning except there was one little problem… None of them had ever actually made a gingerbread house before.

“I think it goes like this?” Marc said, tilting his head as he stuck two pieces together, the icing going everywhere. He let go and they all held their breath while the biscuits stood for about ten seconds before collapsing so slowly it was actually a little sad. 

“I say we give up and just eat everything.” Finn proposed. Marc nodded, Dumo looked like he was going to put up a fight, but one glance at their gingerbread wreckage had his shoulders slumping. He reached out and broke off a bit of biscuit, popping it into his mouth with a grin.

“At least it tastes good?”

“But we didn’t make-” Marc began.

“Shh.” Finn cut him off with a playful wink. “At least it tastes good.”

Kasey’s hair was green and that had been a problem but then Alex promised he’d wash it out himself later that night and well, those words along with the little wink Natalie sent him had Kasey pretty okay with the whole situation. He sat there, smiling softly as he listened to Alex and Natalie chat away while Kasey did all the actual work, creating quite a nice gingerbread house, thank you very much.

Kasey grew up with his dad baking every Sunday and he’d always help. He wasn’t ashamed to say he was quite handy with a piping bag, and Alex was watching with wide eyes as Kasey piped ‘snow’ on the roof.

“How-” Alex stuttered, his eyes focused on Kasey’s hand.

Natalie bit down her smile. “He likes to keep people guessing.”

“I… I’m not complaining.”

“Like what you see O’Hara?” Kasey asked, unable to stop himself from teasing the other man. Alex was as prone to flushing a deep red as his brother, but Kasey found Alex looked a lot boyish when it happened to him.

“I definitely like what I’m seeing.” Alex replied, before cheekily dipping his finger in the icing and smirking at Kasey as he ate it. 

Natalie laughed at them both as she leaned in and kissed the sugar dusting Alex’s lips. Kasey raised an eyebrow, but kept looking at what he was doing, until Alex was standing next to him.

“Open up.” Alex prompted, holding his icing coated finger up to Kasey’s lips. Kasey made eye contact with Natalie for a split second, before doing as instructed, smiling into the kiss Alex gave him after.

“Chocolate was always my favourite.” Alex said with a sigh as he sat back down, Natalie placing her feet in his lap as she shamelessly ate the sweets they needed to decorate. Kasey glanced up to see Leo already looking at him.

“Redheads.” Leo mouthed with a shrug, “Gotta love em.”

Leo had to admit, sitting back and watching the world devolve into chaos was quite entertaining. He could still taste the gingerbread Finn had given him, their house looking more like it had been hit by a hurricane instead of like someone had actually tried to, you know, build it. Logan’s little team was doing a whole lot better, it was looking a little messy but Katie was doing a lot of the icing and well, there’s only so neat kids can be, try as they might. 

Leo’s heart melted as it always did when he would watch Logan with Dumo’s kids. He was just so good with them and they adored him in turn. One of the spare bedrooms in their apartment had been the designated spot for where they would keep presents until they were able to give them out, and Leo was fairly sure half of the room’s contents were just Logan’s presents for the little Dumais’.

“Are rookies even allowed to be judges?” Thomas queried as Leo passed and Leo had fun getting to act all haughty. Thomas looked particularly suspicious and Leo didn’t miss the correlation between the green icing he sported and the little patch of colour in Kasey’s hair. Leo filed that little bit of information away for a day he could really use it.

“Do you think it’s a good idea to get on a judge's bad side, Talkie?”

“Hey, you love me!” Thomas protested and Noelle shook her head. 

“No, but he loves me.” She said looking at Leo and winking. “You’ve got to stay on the good side of your future in-laws.”

Leo felt himself flush even as Logan twisted in his seat to look at them. “Tricheuse!” Logan cried. “Leo baby don’t listen to her, she just wants to win.” He stuck out his tongue at Noelle.

Leo abandoned Noelle and Thomas to crouch next to Logan, smirking. “Am I not marriage material Tremblay?”

Another time, earlier in their relationship maybe, Logan would have scrambled to reassure Leo, probably tripping over his own words so many times nothing actually coherent came out. Now though, Logan just smiled at him lazily.

“The most. I just mean she loves you either way, I think there’s literally nothing you could do that would make her not like you.”

Leo kissed him on the cheek before laughing as Katie wrapped her arms around him. 

“Salut Katie!” He said, standing up to throw her in the air, Katie shrieking with laughter before Leo set her back down on her chair. Leo stood up and began to move away, but not before he missed Katie unintentionally chirping Logan, “Leo throws me high.” She said in a serious tone as Leo snorted his laughter, shaking his head as he moved away.

Regulus hadn’t been sure about building a gingerbread house with Nado and Kuny - he didn't really know them and as a general rule, he didn’t like to spend too much time with people he didn’t know. But Dima got on with them really well and Dima was his friend so here Regulus was, building a gingerbread house in Pascal Dumais’ house. Two snakes in a lion's den.

“Are you sure that will hold?” Regulus found himself asking sceptically as Kuny attempted to build a several story building. Gingerbread house - more like gingerbread mansion if Kuny had his way.

Nado answered instead just nodding his head. “Of course.”

“Fair enough.” Regulus conceded, happy to sit back and watch the proceedings. He glanced around the room, still not quite sure where he fit into this chaotic little familial like team, but happy to be here all the same. More than happy to see nothing but pure joy on his brother’s face. Hope because maybe Regulus could find that kind of happiness here too.

“D’accord!” Celeste called, clapping her hands. “Okay everyone step away from your tables, your time is up!”

The team piled into the sitting room as Celeste and Leo judged all the gingerbread houses. Sirius and James sat on the floor, with Harry playing happily with them. Remus and Lily sat snugly on the couch above them, both nursing mugs of tea and heads bent together as they caught each other up on the events of the last couple of weeks. 

Finn and Logan were having an arm wrestling competition in the corner and most of the others piled around to watch them, all yelling for someone. Logan won, Finn hanging his head in shame and then they were both immediately challenged by the rest of the team, Logan battling (and losing quite dramatically) to Katie. 

Leo and Celeste came back into the room, looking quite smug as they held up a cardboard trophy.

“We have the winner,” Leo said to get everyone’s attention and the sudden hush that fell upon the room was quite comical. 

“Drumroll!” Thomas cried and the room was filled with the rapid thuds of everyone slapping their hands against the nearest object.

“And the winner is…” Celeste drew out, “Katie, Adele and Logan!”

The trio jumped up, hugging and high fiving. 

Logan stood up on a chair and pressed his hands against his chest in gratitude. 

“Thank you, thank you,” He joked, wiping away a fake tear. “We’ve been dreaming about this for, mon dieu, I don’t know how long.”

“You weren’t this dramatic when you won MVP!” Sirius called from the back of the room and Logan winked at him before continuing. “I think Adele had the idea that secured our win though, Adele?”

The girl dashed to the kitchen and came back with their little gingerbread house, the outside entirely lined by little gingerbread people. 

“We made the team!” Katie said, bouncing on her toes. There was a rush as everyone came over to have a look and before long, everyone was grabbing their figurine and eating them.

“Goodbye little Thomas.” Talkie said mournfully before biting its head off.

“Hey, maybe now I can give myself head.” Leo muttered to Finn, who promptly choked, spitting crumbs everywhere as he flushed a deep red.  

Remus leaned back into Sirius as they munched on their biscuits. 

“This is fun. We should do it again next year.”

Sirius wiped the crumbs from his lip and tightened his hold on Remus’ waist. “And the year after that, and they year after that, and the ye-”

Remus giggled, twisting in Sirius’ arms to shut him up by kissing him. “Yeah, baby. I’d like that.”

[achliegh]

The Major League

Masterlist

TW: Drinking, swearing, food, talk of pregnancy, arguing, mentions of nicotine, toxic patriotism, smut again (sorry)

Baseball Boys meeting and falling in Love

What could go wrong… ;)

Beta: @punkkkkboi

Most Characters belong to: @lumosinlove

Chapter 4

Marauders Stadium. Gryffindor, Hogwarts, 2020

They found their seats, being players they have the option to sit in the boxes to be away from all the people but Remus liked sitting in the crowd. He, Leo, and Clay all sat down right behind home plate. The Lions and The Hornets were playing today. Clay invited Remus and Leo to come watch with him because he was finally able to go to a game. Regulus would be joining them a little later, he was having a meeting with his parents.

“If you see the guy selling- ummm, meat sticks let me know.” Clay was typing quickly on his phone. Leo leans over and sees it's a big long text to Finn wishing him good luck. Rolling his eyes he sits but up in his chair.

“Meat sticks? Like jerky?” Remus was also texting but Leo knew better than to lean over to look at his phone, last time he snooped he got an elbow to the balls.

“Nej, like the ones on bread with sauce.” Remus was even more confused by this statement. Leo is trying to hide his smile because he knows what Clay is asking about but also knows Clay hates it when he corrects him. “HOT DOGS! That's what they are called! I need to get one for Finn.”

“Ah, okay. I’ll keep an eye out.” Remus and Clay have never physically met before today. Clay seemed nice if not a little hyper. He definitely wasn’t like Leo who was constantly making fun of Remus for something. Clay was still whispering hot dog to himself over and over while finishing up his text and then closing his phone.

The announcement that the national anthem will be performed by some famous singer comes over the speakers and Remus stands along with the rest of the crowd. Leo and Clay put away their phone but stay sitting. Remus doesn’t think twice because during actual games people from other countries don’t always put their hands on their hearts. It was fairly common, so not standing didn’t affect him.

Once the anthem was over and everyone sat down, a man who was sitting behind them leaned forward. He was wearing Sirius’ jersey and had red paint under his eyes.

“You should be ashamed you didn’t stand for the anthem, so fucking disrespectful!” He spit at Leo and Clay. The two Swedes share a look before both turning in their seats to look at him.

“Why would we stand for a country that is not ours?” This just makes the guy even more furious, almost as if steam is coming out of his ears. The younger man next to him started tapping his shoulder frantically, trying to get his attention. Clay glares at him.

“I don’t know what crawled up your ass, but I don’t think you would stand for a national song that isn’t America’s.”

“You’re just here to take shit away from born-and-raised Americans because your fuckin’ country wasn’t good enough!” Leo and Clay roll their eyes at the same time when someone walks up to them.

“Hey guys, sorry I got stuck on the stairs for the banner. What did I miss?” The man yelling at them looked at Regulus and his face completely changed.

“You- you’re Regulus Black, right?”

“Uh, yeah? That’s me.”

“Holy fuck- will you sign this? My fiancée is a huge fan of yours.”

“For such a big baseball fan he doesn’t seem to know who you are...” Remus says to Leo, making the man turn back to them, his anger coming back. Remus turns around and his face goes white.

“Lupin! I- Um Do you know these men? They were just being disrespectful to the flag and-”

“My teammate and his brother?” Remus raises an eyebrow, looking the man up and down.

“What? These two disrespectful fuckers-? These assholes that should be sent back-”

“You realize you would be sending two of the most promising rookies the MLB has seen in over three years home, right? Clay and Regulus play for the same fucking team!” Remus was getting annoyed just wanting the game to start. He watches the guy next to this embarrassment lean over and whisper something to him. He is suddenly very shy and scared.

“You are… the Knut brothers…” Clay and Leo both nod. The pen and paper he was holding towards Reg slowly and awkwardly moved to be pointed at them. “Will you-”

“No.” They both say and turn around. Remus and Reg turn around as well. “Jävla skitstövel” Clay mumbles under his breath taking a drink of his water. Leo nods and crosses his arms.

The game starts shortly after. Clay waves over the hot dog guy and buys one, Reg also gets one for himself. They watch as Sirius and Jorge Hanks, Captain of the Hornets, meet at the plate with their coaches and the umpire. Chatting for a few moments they all shake hands before going back to their dugouts.

The Lions take the field, Sirius starts his warm up pitches while James calls out infield positions. Throwing the ball to them after he calls them out to have them throw back to him as fast as they can. Remus was watching Sirius closely, making note of every little thing that Sirius does wrong and sending it to him over text. He was letting go of the ball just a bit too early or too late.

Finn and Kuny were miced up this time along with Ken Dernam and Harison Miek from The Hornets. It was very interesting listening to Finn talk to himself during a game. But not as interesting as listening to Kuny scream in Russian anytime the ball was near him. Leo understood him for the most part and would laugh while everyone else was confused. There was one point when the Lions were up to bat that Finn was chatting with James and Adam in the dugout as Sirius was batting, he was being teased because Finn kept sneaking glances at the stand to see if he could spot Clay who promised he would come.

“I’m excited that he is here, maybe he is in the boxes? He said he was coming with Leo so I doubt that.”

“You taking home together after this?” James is heard over the mic, Remus looks over at clay and smiles when he sees how pink he is.

“He’s going to something downtown tonight but he's also BUYING ME A HOT DOG!” James and him laugh.

“Hey, look.” They hear James say. Remus looks up to see Clay laughing on the jumbotron holding up the hotdog in foil.

“I fucking love him.” The jumbotron goes back to commercials and Clay's smile stretches over his entire face. Remus just goes back to watching Sirius who is now on first base having hit a grounder to third who fumbled it.

The rest of the game went by in a flash, Lions losing 23-22. They make their way down to the players lounge to wait for the teams. Reg and Clay were talking about what they needed to do tomorrow to clean up the apartment that they have been neglecting for the last few days. Leo was falling asleep on Remus’ shoulder as they sat on the couch. He's been so easy to fall asleep lately. Remus wonders if he’s getting sick. Clay stands up to go refill his water bottle at the fountain when he shrieks because someone grabs his sides and blows a raspberry on his neck from behind.

“Finn! Don’t scare me like that! Ditt dumma kalvbröd!” Finn is just laughing and wraps his arms fully around, resting his chin on the shorter man's shoulder. Clay who just huffs out a fake annoyed breath. He unwraps the slightly soggy hot dog and holds it up for Finn to take. Instead this beast of a man just takes a bite of it while he's still holding it. “I am not your hands.” Finn raises his eyebrow at Clay before letting the odd mistranslation slide.

Leo woke up when he heard Clay yell and shared a look with Reg. both of them gesturing with a thumbs down at how gross those two were being. Remus was just watching the rest of the people flow out of the locker rooms interacting with each other nicely.

“You did great.” Clay smiles up at him, turning his head to look at Finn who has his eyes closed while he chews. Noticing some mustard on the corner of his mouth.

“Clay I struck out four of the nine times I was up to bat… and we lost.” Clay reaches over and wipes the mustard off with his thumb and then licks his thumb clean. Finn opens his eyes and looks directly into Clay’s.

“You’re still a star to me.” They were just about to smooch when they heard someone behind them.

“Ew!”

“Get a room!” Sirius and Logan come walking over to them looking fake grossed out. Everyone lets out a lighthearted laugh. The couple share a quick peck before pulling away. Logan goes over to Leo and smiles.

“Ready?” Leo takes his hand and is pulled up off the couch dropping their hands once stood next to each other.

“Yeah, let's go. Remus, I’m going to get a new vape. Because all of yours, you give me a shit.” Remus rolls his eyes. “I’ll text you on the way back home!”

“I have dinner with James and Lily tonight so I’ll be back late too, don’t leave the fridge door open again.” Leo flips him off as he and Logan leave, Clay and Finn following. Remus goes to stand when Sirius stands directly in front of him looking rather angry. “What crawled up your ass and died?”

“Did you really need to tell me every single little thing I did wrong?” Remus tries to hide his smile by keeping a neutral face but looking at Reg who is snickering he feels the corner of his lips twitch up. “You’re such a fucking dickhead!”

“I just wanted to make sure you knew what was wrong, you walked a bunch of people tonight.” Sirius’ hands turn into fist and he genuinely looks furious.

“At least I’m not a cocky fuck who thinks he's the best at everything.” Remus’ amused face falls and he furrows his brows annoyed.

“At least I’m not a spoiled brat who thinks he deserves everything without actually putting in any effort!” He stands getting right in Sirius’ face who does even flinch. Regulus looks rather bored from his spot on the couch, he was waiting for his friend Viktor from the Hornets.

“At least I know how to talk to the media!” Remus was known for having a short temper with the media asking the same questions over and over again until he eventually snapped at a reporter and honestly doesn’t give a shit. Sirius on the other hand knows how to play the media to his advantage.

“At least I don’t have to leech off someone else to get my name to be well known!”

At least I don’t have a scar that ruins my face!” That was it, Remus just looked at him shocked. He shoves past him heading towards the exit while yelling back.

“That was fucking low. Black!” Walking out he doesn’t stop until he gets to his car. Gripping his steering wheel he shakes it a bit, basically throwing his body around before grabbing the empty Styrofoam cup in the cup-holder and crushing it before tossing it in the passenger seat. Sirius Black is a fucking asshole! Taking a deep breath his whole body slumps forward resting his forehead on his hands still gripping the wheel. The one thing Remus was insecure about was the weird ass crescent scar on the left side of his face. It’s how he got the league name Moony.

He drives home after a few minutes of wallowing in his insecurities. Changing his clothes he starts walking to the restaurant on the corner that his friends wanted to go too. This was the second time in the last week they have invited him to dinner. Usually they invite him out for drinks. He wouldn’t turn down a good bowl of soup from this place though. Walking in he hears the little bell ring above him, spotting James and Lily immediately he walks over. As he gets closer the people who were blocking the view of the fourth chair are now behind him and he sees… Sirius. Fuck, of course he’s here.

He sits down next to the dark haired man and sends a tight smile towards Lily who was looking paler than normal. He doesn’t think anything of it. She was quite pale as it is, the lights didn’t help any. James’ leg was bouncing under the table right in front of Remus’ feet and it was starting to get on his nerves. They order their drinks and food at the same time, sitting in awkward silence.

“So…” James starts, everyone can feel how thick the air is with negative feelings and James was not known for thriving in those types of environments.

“So?” Sirius looks at him, he's exhausted and just wants to go home so he can scream into his pillows and throw them around a bit.

“¡Lily está embarazada!” He blurts out. Everyone just kind of blinks at him, including the waiter that is back with their drinks. Setting the drinks down they get the fuck out of there. Lily sighs and takes a drink of her water.

“I’m pregnant.” She laughs as both Sirius and Remus’ jaws fall open. James smiles and puts his arm around the back of her chair, resting his thumb on her shoulder and rubbing it. Lily was really nervous about this, her mother always told her how hard her pregnancies were and that instilled the fear into Lily at a young age.

“No fucking way. Since when!?” Remus speaks up.

“We’ve known for about a month.” James is glowing with pride.

“Lily, you were just drinking with us like four days ago!” Sirius throws in there. Remus looks at him and his eyes get even bigger as they share a look of concern before looking back at the soon-to-be parents. Lily laughs at them and covers her mouth with her hand so it isn’t too loud.

“Shirly temples are a girl's best friend.” She gives them a sly look as she holds her straw and takes another large drink of her water. James leans over to kiss her temple, still smiling from ear to ear.

“Why do you think we really started pushing you two to become friends? We want you both to be a part of our family. We need our family to get along.” James narrows his eyes at them as he lifts his drink to his mouth and tries to catch the straw with his tongue but fails for a second too long before finally getting it and taking a drink.

“We also have something to ask you, Sirius.” Sirius raises an eyebrow. This was so much information. His brain was currently on reason number 200 of what could go wrong in the next eight months. “We were wondering if… you’d be our baby’s godfather?” Sirius has confided in James before that he does not want a family of his own, doesn’t want kids or anything he wants to end the family line on that side. Because if he does have kids his parents will try to be involved in his life again and he just simply doesn’t want any because he doesn’t think he would make a good father. So this is James' way of giving him a family that isn’t his. Sirius is quiet for a while, Remus was just as shocked and was hoping Sirius would say yes, this is a huge deal.

“I would love to be.” Lily takes his hand and smiles at him

“You’ll be great.” The rest of the dinner was full of questions. The atmosphere around them did a complete 360 from before. Laughing and joking together like they all have been friends for years. The fight from earlier was behind Remus and Sirius but the fact they didn’t know much about each other was obvious. When it was obvious that everyone was getting tired they decided to head out. Remus picked up the bill much to Lily’s annoyance.

“I could have got it!”

“Shut up and let me pay.” After he gets his card back they all walk out to James and Lily’s car, hugging Lily tight Sirius is now almost scared to hug her as tight as he normally does, but again Lily gives no fucks and hugs him tighter.

“Thank you for saying yes, Sirius.” She whispers to him, he feels a bit choked up for a second as he responds.

“How could I say no?” They pull apart, James and Lily wave goodbye after they get in and start driving away. Remus walks over to him, they stand together for a moment in silence.

“Want to walk home together?” Sirius looks at him, the only light they really have now is the street lamps and he wouldn’t admit this to anyone but he was incredibly scared to walk alone at night. He just nods, they start walking down the sidewalk together in silence, reminiscent of walking home from the bar the other day. “I’m sorry about what I said in the lounge.” It was exactly like that night. Apologizes and everything.

“I’m sorry too.” This time was a bit different after they said sorry they walked in comfortable silence but it still felt like one of them should say something. “What are you doing tomorrow morning?” He has been thinking about this since the texts he got form Remus earlier.

“Making Leo food, kid will eat the entire freezer if I don’t make anything.” Remus sends him a small smile before looking back down at his feet. “Why? Asking me on a date?” Sirius snorts, as if he and Remus would ever be able to have a healthy relationship.

“I was going to ask if you could help me work on my pitching at the batting cages.” He wasn’t expecting anything but if Lily and James want them to be friends before the baby gets here they should at least try.

“Text me the time, I’ll be there.” Remus looks up and notices Sirius stop walking, they are in front of an apartment complex that looks like it reaches the sky. “This you?”

“Yeah, I’ll text you in the morning.” Remus nods as Sirius walks into the doors to the building after typing in a code on the door. Fancy. He keeps walking, his apartment is only a couple streets away. He felt lighter. Reaching his place he unlocks the door walking, taking his shoes off he stops when he sees his roommate face down on the floor with an animal running around him.

“You okay?” He walks over and lightly kicks his thigh a couple times. Leo lifts his head and looks at him with the biggest smile.

“Couldn’t be better.” He sighs happily and plops his head back down on the ground. Remus just nods.

“Okay then.”

Salazar Plaza, Slytherin, Hogwarts 2020

“Vad ska jag ha på mig på en balett?” Clay is looking in his closet trying to think. He doesn’t know if he should gress fancy or not. He looked it up and it really gave him nothing. Tonight he was going with Thomas to one of Noelle’s performances, he was hoping to actually talk to her tonight. Get a feel of what she actually thinks of Thomas. Finn dropped him off after the game because Reg was going out with a couple friends, Finn told him just to wear some nice jeans and a flattering shirt.

What the hell does that even mean?

He pulls out a plain black turtleneck and decides it wouldn’t offend anyone so he would wear it. It was really pants he couldn't figure out. Does he go with black slacks or black jeans? Why is he wearing all black? He doesn’t know! He decided on a pair of black jeans and grabbed his game-day sport coat to wear as well. He is barely dressed when his phone goes off. Slipping on his pant leg he is on the floor before even touching his phone. Scrambling over to it he picks it up.

“Hallå?”

“I’m outside, we better get going before all the good parking spots are taken.” Clay hangs up without another word and throws his clothes on. His hair is a fucking mess. He really needs to have his mom fix it. Grabbing his wallet, keys, phone, and vape he gets outside and just about forgets to lock the door.

Reg would have killed him.

Out of breath by the time he gets into Thomas’ giant fucking car he takes a deep breath and relaxes a bit into the seat before getting buckled. Thomas chuckles at him a bit before pulling away from the curb.

“You wouldn’t guess I play professional baseball by how out of air I am.” He sighs, catching his breath after a few moments and sitting up straighter in his seat. He sends Reg a text that he has left and takes a hit of his vape.

“You smoke?” Thomas looks over at him for a moment before turning his eyes back to the road. From this angle Clay can see how sharp Thomas’ jaw is. You could cut cheese on it.

“I- yeah, is that bad? I can not if you don’t want me too.” The man next to him laughs and shakes his head.

“Don’t worry about it, from what I heard you are a bit of a goody-two-shoes so I was just surprised is all.” He holds his hand out and Clay is confused, then Thomas points to his neon pink vape that Reg got him because he thought it was funny, and he hands it to him. Clay watches Thomas take a hit and suddenly feels like he can’t control his eyes, watching Thomas’ lips then his chest as he breathes in and lets it go. The vapor falls from his mouth and Clay’s feels dry. Handing it back to him Clay takes it.

“What are goody-two-shoes?”

“It means you’re a suck up.” Clay looks at him offended and crosses his arms.

“I am not! Did Leo tell you that?” Thomas flicks his turn signal as he pulls into a turning lane that leads to the parking garages.

“No, the media told me that.” Clay narrows his eyes and huffs for the second time that day. Taking another hit he looks out the window to see all the people dressed fancy walking into the building they are driving into. He wonders if he is underdressed. They find a spot pretty quickly and park in it, a bit crooked but what the harm Clay can’t even drive so who is he to complain.

“Where do we go? I’ve never been downtown before. Or here.” Thomas smiles at him and nods in a direction, Clay follows behind him close enough he doesn’t lose him. They make it inside with a large group of people, following along they get their tickets checked and are led to their seats behind some other people. He takes in the area around him. Velvet seats, a balcony, a big stage, loud people everywhere.

He did not belong.

The show started and he was pretty bored in the beginning, not that he didn’t think the people were incredibly talented but he just wasn’t into it. Then she came on stage. Thomas pointed out Noelle but Clay was already looking. She was tall and slim but looked incredibly strong still. She moved gracefully, her smile never faulting, her dark dark hair up in the tightest must uncomfortable bun Clay has seen in his life. Yet she was still beautiful.

He was definitely not bored anymore, watching everything closely, every move, every smile, every wondrous stretch of her arms out like she was reaching for him. This was Logan’s sister!? He must have got the short end of the stick when it came to genes.

The performance soon came to an end and people started leaving after clapping. Thomas and Clay made their way out into the gathering room where people could talk with the students. A lot of people were recruiters but others were family and friends. Noelle was the last one down the stairs, her slippers were changed into pink flats and her poufy skirt was not replaced with a satin wrap one.

“You stay here, I want to talk to her before you get all… you.” Thomas nods and pats Clay on the back as he walks away. Weaving through the crowd Clay is lucky enough to catch her right as some people were walking away. She was a lot taller than him. By a lot he means two inches but still.

“Hi, Noelle Trembly?” He holds his hand out for her to shake, she looks him up and down slowly. Almost like she was sizing him up for a fight which was rather intimidating. Being this close to her now he can really make out her face. Her nose was long and skinny with a mild arch, her cheek bones were high and pronounced. Her eyes were dark brown, dark enough her pupils almost got lost. A couple moles framed her left sharp eyebrow and her eyelashes were very long.

“Yeah. That's me.” She takes his hand and shakes it, smiling at him showing off her perfect teeth. He felt his heart speed up, she doesn’t let go of his hand, he remembers why he is here. Thomas.

“I’m a friend of Thomas'. I just wanted to say your performance was beautiful.” Her face looked a bit conflicted, almost nervous as a light pink dusted her cheek. Probably from the compliment. “I was wondering if maybe we could hang out sometime as friends? You seem really interesting and nice.” She squeezes his hand while looking in the crowd. He looks behind him and sees Thomas chatting with some men that probably recognized him. He looks back at Noelle and notices she is looking at Thomas. Turning her attention back towards Clay she lets out a breath.

“I don’t see why not, here.” She walks over to the table behind them that is a booth for teens to go to and get information about the art school, grabbing an information packet and a free pen she writes her number down. “Don’t lose it, I won’t give it out again.” With that she disappears into the crowd. Not wanting to actually mess up he quickly enters it into his phone so if he does lose the paper he wouldn’t be fucked.

Noelle walks over to Thomas and crosses her arms. He smiles at her in that sweet way he does and it makes her wonder if what she is doing is a good idea. She has always liked Thomas, she knows he would treat her well but… something in her is telling her it's not time to say yes to him yet. Like the universe is holding her back until the perfect moment.

“Noelle! You were amazing up there! Beautiful like a fancy bird.” She watches his smile get bigger as he feels proud of calling her a bird. She swallows the smile she wants to break through her lips.

“I gave your friend my number.” Thomas looks at her surprised. “He seems nice, but I’ve never seen you with him before? Who is he?”

“Finn’s boyfriend.”

“That's the guy that Logan complains about? Logan needs to check his attitude, guys gorgeous.” Thomas nods in agreement.

“Yeah I don’t know why he doesn’t like him other than Clay stealing Finn away from their best friend time.” Thomas and Noelle stand side by side, watching Clay fumble around with his phone and the packet Noelle gave him with her number. “Do I get your number?”

“No.” With that Noelle does her famous disappearing act. Thomas sighs, what is he doing wrong? He collects Clay and they walk to the car together. Getting in Clay takes a hit of his vape again and Thomas just looks at his lips around the tip and he furrows his brows. What was he doing looking at another dude like that? Does he like guys? He didn’t think so, he is comfortable in his sexuality and has never really looked at someone of the same sex so intently.

“Can you drop me off at Finn’s? It’s on the way to your place isn’t it?” Thomas nods and hums, turning on the car. They drive in silence while Clay is on his phone while vaping and Thomas is in his own head trying to figure out what's going on. He pulls up to Finn’s and parks. He rests his elbow on the console and turns to say bye at the same time Clay does.

Their faces are millimeters apart and they both freeze. Thomas’ eyes trail down Clay’s face, tracing his scar from his forehead to his cheek and then they find their way to his lips. Quickly looking up to his eyes Clay pulls away and mumbles a goodbye before stumbling out of the car and unlocking Finn's door with the spare key he has.

What the hell just happened.

Clay was caught off guard, they were so close to… he didn’t even know! He was freaked out. Jittery, walking into the apartment he finds Finn sitting on the couch with the arches of his feet resting on the edge of the glass coffee table. He was on his phone and in his glasses, shirtless. Clay kicks off his shoes, dropping his stuff on the table and straddling Finn, tossing his phone beside them.

Before Finn can say anything Clay pulls him into a hard kiss. Breathing in deeply through his nose Finn grabs Clay wherever he can. Pulling his closer after realizing what's happening, He moves his hands to Clay’s hips and pulls him even closer as they kiss. Clay pulls away to say something and Finn catches his lips again with a positively sinful kiss, making them both moan desperately.

“I know we-” Clay can’t help himself he kisses Finn again as his hands move from his hips to his ass.

“I fucking love when you wear these jeans.” Clay makes a surprised noise as Finn’s hands start kneading his ass after shoving his hands in his pockets.

“We haven't had sex in a while. Lets tonight.”

“I agree.” Finn runs his hands up Clay’s shirt pulling it up as his hands get higher. Clay shrugs off his coat and tosses his turtleneck on the floor. Sliding to the edge of the couch after putting his feet on the ground. Finn stands up without giving a warning. He clings to him tightly and is pulled into another breathtaking kiss. Walking to his room Finn gently lays Clay down and grabs the lube from his dresser drawer because he doesn't have side tables.

Prep was easy and smooth even if they haven’t done this in a while, Clay was on his chest as Finn fucked him. Kissing down his back and sucking on his neck. He could tell Finn was getting close by the sloppiness of his thrusts and Clay himself was on the edge as well. Finn reaches around Clay’s waist and starts jerking him off mostly in time with his thrusts.

“Finn! I’m-” Clay barely gets the words out before he feels his body lock up, throw his hip back once more and start spilling over his lover's hand . Finn followed not long after. He gingerly pulls out while massaging Clay’s back and hips like he likes.

“I’ll be right back, okay?” Clay nods after he rolls over onto his back, flexing his toes and stretching his whole body out with a grunt. He looks at the ceiling and something just feels off. It feels like the air around him has gone stale, narrowing his eyes as he traces and abstract lines of the rough ceiling, he can’t figure out what exactly is bothering him.

Finn comes back with a warm washcloth, wiping him down silently before handing him a small bottle of cherry Gatorade.

“I know you don’t like cherry but that's all I have.” Clay smiles and drinks it without complaining. Finn tosses the cloth into his hamper and yawns, stretching his arms over his head, looking back at Clay he sends him a sweet, tired smile. “Wanna cuddle? Or is that too mushy for you.” Clay laughs and reaches his hand out, Finn takes it and crawls into the bed with him. They end up slotted together almost perfectly, feeling the weight of Finn’s arm over his waist and his breath on his neck.

Clay looks around the room, Finn always falls asleep with one light on because he forgets to actually switch it off. And he wonders why his electric bill is so high. As he looks around with only the light of the hallway shining through the doorway, his eyes land on Finn’s dresser. He knows better than to look at this particular surface. It is the only place in the apartment where Finn displayed any pictures. He has a bunch of his family and teammates all together… but most of them are printed out pictures of him and Logan. The only picture he has of Clay is a polaroid from their second date over a year ago. It is a really cute picture but it's also in the bottom corner of his mirror that is attracted to his dresser. It was covered up by a framed team picture.

He then realizes why he was feeling so weird earlier, he and Finn get along really well, fantastic even, but maybe this was the devolving of them as a couple. He loves Finn, he's his first love, his first real date, his first kiss, his first time. Finn was his first… everything. That doesn’t mean they are meant to be together forever. They were on the big hill of a rollercoaster, right now they are sitting at the stop about to feel the drop in their stomachs as it goes down. But if they were about to fall apart, he was going to hold on.

He intertwined his fingers into Finn’s hand over his waist and held it. Finn is already fast asleep, the rhythm of his breathing evened out a while ago. He pulls Finn’s hand up to his lips for a second, kissing the outside of his thumb and scooching further into his arms. Closing his eyes he falls asleep after a few minutes of his brain racing around his head telling him all of the worst things that are going to happen.

It was a restless sleep.

[heyitssmiller]

Clandestine: Chapter Three

The first mission doesn’t exactly go as planned. Also, Logan has a thing for glasses, apparently.

@lumosinlove Thank you for letting me run away with your characters! <3

Again, @donttouchmycarrots is my hero and the best proofreader ever! This fic wouldn’t be what it is without her.

Clandestine Masterlist

.

The bank was quiet, save for the soft murmurings of tellers and customers. Sunlight filtered through the windows of the storefront, light and hazy. The office plant by the front door was growing way too big for its pot. There were a few people waiting in line, absently scrolling through their phones. Others were sitting in the waiting area, mindlessly taking in their surroundings. It was calm, peaceful.

Or it was, until a redhead came sprinting out of the men’s restroom, screaming “Fire!” at the top of his lungs.

The bank then descended into madness.

A man watched from the driver’s seat of his car as people frantically streamed out of the building and onto the sidewalk. He sighed, taking a second to rest his forehead against the steering wheel. “Damnit, O’Hara. This wasn’t part of the plan.”

29 Hours Earlier

“Good morning, cubs!”

“Fuck you, Black.” Logan muttered into his cup of coffee. “It’s too early to be that excited.”

Leo smiled a little and set a paper bag on the table. Logan stared at it. Where had it come from? He hadn’t seen Leo carrying it into the briefing room, but it was too big to stuff into his pockets. He didn’t have a bag or anything – the only thing he was carrying with him was a notebook and a pen. How did he manage to smuggle it in?

Logan was so confused, and it was still too early.

“I brought muffins.” Leo explained, opening the bag and handing one to Finn. “They’re cinnamon swirl.”

“Nut, did you make these?” Finn asked, removing the wrapper and taking a big bite. Leo shrugged.

“I like to cook.”

Black looked up at him in awe. “These are amazing.” He cradled the muffin in his hand like it was something precious.

“I can give you the recipe, if you want.”

Logan grabbed a muffin, looking up quickly at Remus’ snort. “He can’t cook.”

“Neither can you.” Sirius shot back, a little more hostile than his usual teasing manner. Logan glanced back and forth between the pair, tearing off a piece of muffin and popping it into his mouth. Fuck, that was good.

His partners had clearly picked up on the tension, too, but neither of them brought it up. Leo twirled his pen around in his hand, eyes moving from the pair to Finn. He smiled as the redhead enthusiastically grabbed another muffin. Logan snapped his gaze back to Sirius. “Can we get started, please?” He asked pointedly. “If you make me get up this early, we’d better be doing something productive.”

Finn laughed at him, nose scrunching. “Are you always this grumpy in the morning?”

Green eyes rimmed with dark, dark lashes glared back at him. Logan didn’t say a word but took a long sip of coffee instead, refusing to break eye contact. Finn let himself stare a little longer than he probably should have. He wasn’t lying when he told Logan he was a sucker for green eyes.

Sirius finally broke the tension-filled staring competition between himself and Loops and looked down at his files. Remus started the projector without a word, only speaking up when he was ready to begin his presentation. “We’re starting you three off with the easiest flash drives to retrieve – the two in the banks.”

He moved to a picture of the layout of one of the banks, pointing at a small room tucked away in a corner of the building. “So the safe is back here in this room. You can’t get back there without permission or an escort, which makes it a little trickier. The security system is also very high-grade, so I don’t think trying to break in after hours is our best bet here. There’s too many little things we might miss.

“The plan is to go undercover. Leo and Finn, you’ll be infiltrating this bank. Logan, you’ll be lookout. Leo, you’re going to pretend to be a safe specialist. Tell them the make and model of the safe Riddle uses is faulty and the company sent you to see if this one needs to be replaced. I don’t really care what you say, just make it believable.”

“What kind of safe is it?” Leo asked.

Sirius looked down at his notes. “It’s a… Tigerking Digital Security safe. Does that mean anything to you?”

Leo grinned. “Makes my job a hell of a lot easier. They’ve got a weak spot.”

“What am I doing during all of this?” Finn asked through a mouthful of muffin, crumbs stuck to his mouth. He swiped at them with his tongue before speaking again, “Distraction?”

“Yeah. It’ll have to be big – big enough to get Leo alone with that safe. How long do you think it’ll take to crack, Knut?”

He shrugged. “Ten minutes, tops. It’s got this small hole at the back where bolts are fed through. I can get a stiff wire through that hole and hit the reset button. Then I can reset the code of the safe and open it without leaving a trace.”

Finn smiled, mischief in his eyes. “I think I can manage a ten-minute distraction.”

That… that didn’t sound good.

Finn took one look at Logan’s fearful face and laughed. “Relax, it’s nothing too dramatic. I’ll probably just ask for whoever takes Leo back to look at the safe and then throw a fit when they say he’s not available. And then I’ll drag out our conversation to give our dear Nut enough time. Simple.”

“That… actually works.”

Finn scoffed, giving Remus a look. “Why do you sound so surprised?”

“Because you’re Finn O’Hara.”

Finn thought about it for a second, then shrugged. “That’s fair.”

“Nut, when you open the safe you need to replace the real flash drive with this decoy.” Sirius said, holding up a blue flash drive. “This op might take weeks or months – if Riddle comes to check on this drive, he needs to see one instead of an empty safe. Now, if he actually checks the information on the flash drives… well, we’re screwed. Hopefully it won’t come to that. He doesn’t usually check the flash drives unless absolutely necessary – it’s too much of a hassle.”

“And I’ll loop the security camera footage when you get there, so there won’t be any evidence of you tampering with the safe.” Remus said. “Get in, get out. Not too hard, right? And we’ll both be with you every step of the way. You’ll have microphones and earpieces so that we can all communicate.”

Finn couldn’t tell if the bouncing of Leo’s leg was his normal restlessness or nerves. His face was a mask of calm that revealed nothing. For someone who didn’t have any previous experience in espionage or conning people, he sure was good at hiding how he was feeling.

Finn handed him another muffin anyways.

The dimpled smile he got in return was nothing but genuine.

***

Remus sat down on his couch with his dinner, sighing to himself as he stretched out his back. It had been a long day, but he finally felt ready for tomorrow. Their plan was solid, the cubs were as ready as they were ever going to be, he had his video loop for the security camera in the safe room, the rest of his tech had been checked over and deemed ready to go. There wasn’t much else he could do besides get a good night’s sleep if he could.

That would be easier said than done, though.

Sirius chose that moment to throw open the door and close it loudly behind him. Remus glared at him. “Is that really necessary?” He asked, but didn’t add anything else on as Sirius slammed down a stack of hand-written pages onto Remus’ coffee table. 

“You want me to open up? Fine. There’s all you need to know about me.”

Remus looked down at the pages and instantly felt guilty. How long had he been working on this? “You didn’t have to-”

“You said you couldn’t trust me.” Sirius interrupted coolly. “I can’t get my brother to safety if you guys don’t trust me.”

It appeared that his brother was his sole motivation. For all of this. Remus could understand that. He’d stop at nothing if the safety of his own brother was put into question.

“Yeah, but you didn’t have to do this.” Remus looked up at him, at the stiff set to his shoulders, the detached look in his eyes. He went too far the last time they’d talked about this, hadn’t he? “Look, we got along for over a week when you first got here. I think we can do that again, right?”

At Sirius’ skeptical face, he sighed. “This is on me just as much as you. I… I don’t trust easily.” He had to laugh at that massive understatement. “Perks of being a spy. But I feel like we can manage learning to trust each other the old-fashioned way.”

Sirius raised an eyebrow. “And what’s that?”

“Getting totally, outrageously drunk and sharing all our secrets.”

Sirius’ straight face only lasted for about a second before he busted out laughing. “You go from wanting my entire life story to wanting to get drunk together?”

“It’s a failproof way to gain someone’s trust.” Remus said solemnly, cracking a smile when Sirius laughed again, incredulous. “But not tonight. We’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

“This Friday, then?”

He couldn’t help but notice the hopeful look on Sirius’ face. Had he ever done this with someone before? Did he have any friends besides his brother previously? He put up this excitable, outgoing façade, but Remus honestly had no idea what lay underneath. He nodded decisively. “This Friday.”

Sirius hesitated, then spoke again. “Do you think they’re ready?”

“I think so. And we’ll be there if something goes wrong.” Remus met his eyes, trying to instill confidence into the ex-Snake. “No matter what happens, we’re going to do our best to get your brother out safely.”

“And what if that’s not enough?” Sirius asked, eyes haunted.

That was exactly why Remus hadn’t made any strict promises. There was no way to guarantee that they would get Regulus back. If Remus was in Sirius’ shoes, if this this was Jules instead of Regulus, what would Remus most want to hear?

“We’re going to do everything we can, I promise.” He said, soft but firm. “I know that’s not enough, but it’s the best we can do as of right now.”

Sirius stared back, then nodded. “Thank you.” He looked down at Remus’ food. “What’s for dinner? I’m starving.”

Remus laughed, shoving him away. “Get your own, you leech. This is mine.”

“Leech?” Sirius demanded, dramatizing his offence. “I can’t believe you called me a leech. You were the one who offered to house me, after all.”

That was true. Even if he hated to admit it, Remus was lonely. He lived in this apartment all by himself, worked mostly on his own, and his family lived miles and miles away. And being a spy didn’t exactly make it easy to find friends. He was distrusting and cautious by nature, especially after... well. After he left fieldwork and transitioned to a desk job.

He didn’t know why he’d offered to let Sirius stay, honestly. He just got this gut feeling that it was the right thing to do.

And Remus Lupin always trusted his gut.

“Worst decision I’ve ever made.” He quipped, laughing as Sirius threw a pillow at him. Sirius was a horrible roommate. He left dishes in the sink, beard trimmings on the bathroom counter, and his shoes haphazardly strewn about the living room.

But he always had hot water on the stovetop in the mornings when Remus woke up, always let him pick what they watched on tv at nights, and always replaced anything he had used up without being asked. And, if Remus was being completely honest with himself, soft gray eyes paired with an even softer smile weren’t exactly a terrible thing to wake up to.

So far, this whole roommate business wasn’t too bad.

***

Logan hated nothing more than being lookout.

He watched on as Finn and Leo geared up, testing their mics and earpieces and making adjustments accordingly. He was supposed to be watching the entrance to make sure no Snakes entered the building. They were doing the first bank heist while Logan was stuck here, in the car parked on the street, where he couldn’t see what was going on or if his partners were in trouble.

Their first mission, and he was stuck outside.

Ugh.

“You ready for this?” Finn asked Leo as he discreetly tucked a wire under his collar and out of sight. Leo had his eyes trained on the building across from them, wrapped in his coat and a thick scarf, fingers drumming out a staccato beat on his thigh. He didn’t seem to have heard Finn.

“Nut?”

Leo swiveled his head to look back at them. “Hmm?”

“You ok?” Logan asked, watching the blond’s face for signs of nervousness or stress. But his gaze was steady, determined. For someone on their first mission, he was remarkably calm. Either that or a much better actor than Logan had given him credit for. But then his expression flickered and a shadow of doubt crept in.

“I’m fine.” He said, and Logan couldn’t tell if he was trying to convince them or himself. He reached out and gave the blond’s shoulder a squeeze, letting his hand linger before trailing it down his arm and pulling away.

“You’re fine.” Logan reassured with a smile and watched the resolve build back up in Leo’s eyes, causing the knot in Logan’s chest to ease up a little.

That was better.

Finn looked at him for a second, then took his glasses off. “Here, put these on. I feel like your cover story requires glasses.” He gently eased them onto the other boy’s face. Leo blinked rapidly, then squinted and widened his eyes to adjust to the lenses.

“Jesus, what prescription is this?”

“It’s not that bad.” Finn said, ruffling Leo’s hair in retaliation. He took a step back to see the finished product and whistled lowly. “Damn, maybe we should take those off again. We’re supposed to be unmemorable when we’re undercover. No one will be able to take their eyes off you with those on.”

Logan had to agree there. Soft blue eyes blinked back at them from behind tortoiseshell frames, looking larger than they normally did. Leo buried his nose in his scarf in an attempt to hide the blush caused by Finn’s flirtatious words.

The sight did strange things to Logan’s stomach.

Remus’ voice reached them through their com link, startling all three of them. “You guys ready to go?”

Leo took a deep, steadying breath. “Let’s do this.” He looked back at Logan, eyes fierce – a stark contrast to the soft look of only a few seconds ago. Logan sucked in a breath of his own. This kid sure was something.

“See you in a bit.”

“See you in a bit.” Logan echoed, grabbing the car keys out of his pocket and letting his lips twitch up into a smile at Finn’s cheery salute. He leaned against the car door and watched the pair make their way around the corner and towards the bank without glancing back.

He got back into the car and moved it around the same corner before putting it in park. His eyes shifted between the street in front of him and his rearview mirror, a book in his lap to keep from raising suspicions, and settled in to worry and wait.

***

Leo shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from fidgeting and made his way to the front desk. Ignoring his pounding heart as best he could, he locked eyes with the teller and smiled. “Hi there. Is your manager here?” He asked, dragging his accent out slow and sweet like molasses. “I’ve got a few questions about your safes.”

She smiled back. “Sure thing. I’ll go grab him.” Leo thanked her as she left, looking around while he waited and trying his hardest not to squint too much in Finn’s glasses. 

“Nut, between the accent and the glasses - plus your looks in general - I think that girl is half in love with you already.” Sirius’ voice teased, causing Leo to flinch slightly. He needed to get used to hearing the voices of people he couldn’t see during these missions.

“She is not.” He muttered back as he pretended to rub his nose, covering his mouth as he spoke so that no one else could see it. His hand absentmindedly played with the old, frayed bracelet on his wrist.

“You can do better, Nut.” Logan chimed in, voice a little gruff.

“How do you know?” Sirius asked. “You can’t even see her.”

“I’m using my imagination.”

Sirius barked out a laugh while Remus just sighed and requested that they all stay focused. Leo glanced around at the lobby again. Finn was standing in line behind him, looking at something on his phone. He forced himself not to look at his partner too long and kept scanning the rest of the lobby. It seemed to be a pretty quiet day - there weren’t too many people inside. A few people were seated in the waiting area and some were waiting in line behind Finn. Leo saw the teller and a short, balding man who must have been the bank manager making their way back towards him.

Leo stuck his hand out when they reached him, which the manager shook with a fake smile on his face.

“Hi, how are you doing?” Leo asked, withdrawing his hand. “I’m Fred Decker with Tigerking Digital Security. I have on record that you’re currently using one of our safes, is that correct?”

“Fred?” Sirius’ voice asked incredulously. “Of all the aliases you could use, you choose Fred? Nut, you should be ashamed of yourself.”

Remus hissed at him to shut up. Leo ignored it.

“Yes, that’s right.” The manager said, a bit stiff. “What’s this about?”

“There’s a recall on a few of our safes. I was wondering if I could take a look at yours and see if it needs to be replaced. Free of charge, of course. This is an error on our part, and we want to do all we can to fix it.”

The manager hesitated, then nodded. “This way.”

Leo followed the man through a set of doors into a hallway, spotting Finn out of the corner of his eye as he approached the front desk and sent Leo a quick wink. That, more than anything, calmed Leo’s nerves. If Finn was acting like this was just run-of-the-mill and not a big deal, then they must’ve been doing something right. The door closed behind Leo, blocking his vision of the lobby. He took a fortifying breath and followed the manager into the safe room, secluded from the rest of the bank.

“Here we are,” The manager said, then pointed to a safe wedged into the corner of the room. “And there’s your safe.”

“The camera in the safe room is already on a loop, Leo. You’re all set.” Remus’ voice said, steady and calm. Leo looked the safe over, stalling as he waited for Finn’s distraction.

“Fuck,” he heard through his earpiece. “Leo, you’re going to have to hang in there for a few more seconds. The planned distraction didn’t work.”

Leo swallowed, looking back up at the manager. “So there’s these holes in the back, see?” He said, figuring a sure-fire way for him to stall was to talk about the safe. He could keep up a conversation like this for hours. “They’re used to bolt the safes into the wall. A few of our older models have larger holes.”

He grabbed the stiff coil of wire out of his pocket. “Some thieves have learned that you can get to the reset button in these older models if you use a tough wire like this and insert it through one of the holes. Basically all I want to do today is see if a thief could potentially do that with this safe. Is that all right with you?”

“Yes, of course! If there’s a problem, our client would want that fixed immediately.”

“I’m sure they would.” Leo said absentmindedly as he started fiddling with the wire for as long as he possibly could. He straightened it out from it’s coil, looked down it’s length, and then pretended to straighten some kinks out.

Don’t panic don’t panic don’t panic-

Remus’ voice was a little more tense now. “Finn, where’s that distraction?”

Finn, who was in the men’s bathroom grabbing handful after handful of paper towels and shoving them into a trash can, grumbled, “I’m working on it, ok? Sirius was right - that teller definitely has a type, and it sure as hell isn’t me. I had to improvise.”

“What does that mean?” Logan asked warily. Finn could practically see him gripping the steering wheel in a white-knuckled grip as he forced himself to stay put. “What are you doing?”

Finn grabbed the bottle of hand sanitizer on the bathroom sink and took the top off, dumping the contents into the trash can as well. He grabbed the lighter in his pocket (he liked to be prepared, thank you very much) and produced a small flame.

“Something stupid.”

He lowered the lighter to the trashcan and prepared to run.

Leo could hear the shouting from Finn’s distraction all the way back in the safe room. He looked up at the manager, pretending to be confused. “What’s going on?”

“I’m not sure.” The manager frowned, shifting from foot to foot nervously as he looked towards the commotion. “I’m going to check it out. I’ll be right back, ok?”

Leo waved him off with a reassuring smile. “I’ll be right here.” He messed around with the safe until the door closed, then hissed, “Finn, what the hell is going on out there?” He moved Finn’s glasses to perch on top of his head and shoved the wire through one hole in the back of the safe. He grabbed his flashlight to look through the hole on the other side, searching for a small red button.

“I might’ve started a fire in the men’s restroom.”

“You what?” Leo demanded, finally finding the reset button and moving the wire steadily closer to it. “You do realize that does the exact opposite of give me more time, right?” Sure enough, the fire alarm sounded, loud and clear.

“Fuck me.” Leo muttered as he jabbed the reset button with the wire. Someone - Leo thought it might be Finn, but he wasn’t sure - muttered something too soft and muffled to be picked up by their mic. Leo didn’t have the time to question it. The safe door opened with a soft click. He quickly switched the flash drive with the replica and closed the door again. The wire got recoiled and shoved back into his pocket, Finn’s glasses returned to resting on his nose. He climbed to his feet and made his way towards the lobby at a quick pace. “I’ve got it.”

“Nice work, Nut.” He heard Logan say, and couldn’t repress the jittery feeling he always got after a successful job. He exited the bank, looking around for the manager. He seemed busy as he talked to his employees in an attempt to get the situation under control. He caught Leo’s eyes and stepped towards him. “Mr. Decker! I was looking for you.”

Leo only just remembered to over-exaggerate his accent. “I heard the alarm and high-tailed it out here. Was it a prank?”

“No,” He said after a beat of hesitation, “Someone actually started a fire in the men’s bathroom. The fire department is on its way. Hopefully it won’t take too long and you can get back to looking at that safe.”

“No need, I already finished. The holes were too small for the wire, so y’all should be fine. Anything thinner than the wire I used will be too flimsy to press that reset button.” Leo glanced down at his watch. “I do have six more banks to visit today, though, so I’m afraid this is where I leave you. Thank you for being so cooperative.” He held out his hand for the manager to shake again and gave one last smile before walking back down the street towards their designated rendezvous, trying to look casual and not like he was running away from the scene of a theft.

Sure enough, a non-descript gray car was waiting for him, right where it was supposed to be. Without a word, he climbed into the back and sprawled across all three seats, throwing an arm over his eyes as Logan put the car into drive.

The three of them were silent for a few seconds before Leo cracked a smile and laughed. “The one thing – the one thing that could get me kicked out of that safe room too fast, and that’s what you decided would make a perfect distraction?”

Finn looked back at the back seat with a grin, which softened when he laid eyes on the blond. His hair shone in the late-morning sunlight, highlighting a streak of gray at his temple. Those long legs of his took up most of the back row, and even then he still had to bend his knees to fit all the way. His eyes were blocked by his arm, but Finn could’ve seen those dimples via satellite image from space. 

“Hey, cut me some slack. I was making it up as I went.” This sent Leo into another fit of laughter, causing Finn’s smile to broaden.

“Besides,” Logan added, “You’re quick with your hands. You didn’t need all ten minutes, you barely needed three.”

Leo shrugged, which looked really strange in his current position on his back. “Got lucky. Found that reset button faster than I usually do.” He adjusted Finn’s glasses, which were still resting on his nose. “Maybe I need glasses, too.”

“Shut up. Those glasses are a statement piece, thank you very much.”

Logan snorted, watching Leo’s hand reach over the center console to return the glasses to their rightful owner. “Maybe that’s why you’re a terrible marksman, O’Hara. When’s the last time you got that prescription checked?”

Finn gasped in offense. Logan glanced over briefly and noticed the tips of his ears getting red. Cute.

“How dare you! I am not a terrible marksman!”

“That’s not what your file says.”

“What?”

“The evidence doesn’t lie.” Logan said, struggling to bite back his grin. Finn was just so fun to tease.

“Screw debriefing. When we get back to the office, we’re going to the shooting range.” Finn crossed his arms over his chest sulkily. “Terrible marksman. How dare they. Nutter Butter, back me up here.”

Leo blinked at the new nickname, but he couldn’t say he minded it too much. Especially when Finn said it like that, with such unfiltered affection. He watched the redhead turn around in his seat to look at him with big Bambi eyes, only then remembering that he was looking for an answer from Leo.

He put on a show of thinking about it, then shrugged. “I dunno, Finn. The evidence doesn’t lie.”

“Et tu, Brute?” Finn whined. “Betrayed by both of my partners. Unbelievable.”

Leo wished there was another word for partner. Maybe he should refer to them as just coworkers now. The term partner was giving him ideas. 

Ideas he couldn’t afford to be having for the first and quite possibly the biggest op of his life.

“Also, you’re one to talk!” Leo looked back up at Finn when he realized he was talking to him. “Have you ever shot a gun before, rookie?” He stopped suddenly, then grinned broadly. “Oh man, please tell me you’ve shot a gator when you were back in Louisiana. That’s so badass.”

Leo arched an eyebrow.

“Just because there’s horror stories about gators doesn’t mean they deserve to be shot.” Logan said, switching his turn signal on and waiting for the left turn light to change from red to green. “They’re a big part of the ecosystem.”

“And they kill people.”

“Oh come on, when’s the last time you heard of someone being killed by a gator?”

“Literally last week, down in Florida.”

“Well, that’s Florida. Crazy stuff like that happens in Florida all the time.”

“Did you hear about that guy from Florida who made a beer run while holding a gator?”

Logan chuckled, glancing over at his partner in disbelief. “What?”

“You heard me! Apparently he walked in, looked around and asked ‘Y’all ain’t out of beer, are you?’ But then the story gets weirder!”

Leo just sat in the backseat and laughed at Finn’s dramatic retelling of Florida news as building after building flashed by outside their windows, feeling lighter than air. His first mission was a success. He grabbed the small, innocuous flash drive out of his pocket, twirling it in his hand. One down, six more to go. If all missions were like this, taking down the Snakes wouldn’t be so bad.

He should’ve knocked on wood after having that thought.

[hecksee]

Don’t Leaf Me Hanging

This is was written for the Hazelnoot Secret Santa, for the wonderful @enielsen06. Much thanks to the amazing @jacklighting for organizing this amazing event, and to @lumosinlove for these wonderful boys. I wish everyone a Happy Holidays!

By 7pm, the Dumais' holiday party was in full swing. The kids were stuffing their faces with desserts (the adults had stopped monitoring their junk food intake hours ago), and everyone else was milling around conversing. Empty soda cans, solo cups, candy wrappers, and chip bags littered the house, joining the half eaten treats and dirty plates. Holly wreaths were on doors, presents were stacked on the table waiting to be exchanged, stockings were hung over the fireplace, and mistletoe was hung above almost every doorway. Many people had already been caught under the mistletoe; including Adele and Katie, Sirius and Remus, Regulus and Sirius, and Natalie and Alex. 

Adele and Katie had walked under the mistletoe first, while arguing over what is the best potato chip flavor (Adele said salt and vinegar, Katie said sour cream and onion). When they realized the mistletoe was over their heads Adele took the snacks Katie was holding out of her hands and started to cover Katie’s chubby little face with light kisses. Katie was giggling and squirming away from Adele, and Katie escaped when Adele started laughing too hard to have a firm grip on the squirming child, who then took the opportunity to run away. Adele laughed and started chasing after Katie. 

Then it had been Remus and Sirius who walked under the mistletoe next. The first time, it was an accident, the team had laughed and told them to kiss and get it over with. Sirius had leaned in and the two of them shared a chaste little kiss. But the problem was, that Sirius took the mistletoe off one of the doorways and just kept following Remus around with the mistletoe. At first, Remus and everyone else found it funny, but after about 10 minutes it just got old. Nobody knew what Remus said to Cap that made him stop but one could guess. 

Sirius got stuck under the mistletoe another time, this time genuinely not meaning to be under the festive plant. He was talking with Regulus one moment, and the next he realized the two of them were under a sprig of mistletoe. Sirius grabbed Regulus’ arm and started to jokingly lean in. Reg took one look at Sirius, said “No,” pushed Sirius away, and walked away; leaving everyone in the room laughing. 

The last pair to get stuck under the mistletoe before this story takes place, was Natalie and Alex. One minute they were talking, the next they realized where they were and were exchanging small chaste kisses. Finn was on the sidelines, fake retching about seeing his brother kiss Natalie. June and Heather were watching Finn’s dramatics with smiles on their faces. Finn’s retching was cut off when Alex flipped him off (and when Finn started laughing too hard to keep up the disgusted act). After Finn finished his dramatics, he returned to his conversation with June and Heather. 

“Hey Fish,” Leo approached the trio that was talking by the food table. “Have you seen Lo? I can’t find him.” 

“Nah. Why?” Finn sets his drink down on the table and turns towards Leo. 

“I think I overheard him telling Dumo he was going down to check out what used to be his room,” June interjected. Heather nodded her head in agreement. 

Leo’s mind suddenly went into overdrive. Logan’s old room, Christmas party, Finn talking to June, June. He knew exactly what was going on, why Logan had been more subdued than usual. Leo leaned in to give Finn a quick kiss before pulling back. “I’ll be back with Tremz soon, okay sweetheart?” Finn murmured his agreement before chasing after Leo’s lips for another kiss. Leo laughed and patted Finn’s cheek before walking away and leaving Finn to his conversation. 

Leo headed down the steps into the basement and knocked on the door of Logan’s old bedroom. Dima had used it for a while, but a few weeks ago he moved out and into an apartment with Reg. They were more than friends, but nobody knew exactly what they were; and that was okay. When he got no response, he quietly opened the door. Logan was sitting on his old bed, his face in one of the old pillows. Leo walked in and sat down on the bed next to Logan, wrapping his arms around the older boy. Logan, recognizing his lover’s touch, relaxes into Peanut’s hold. 

“Veux-tu en parler?” 

“Ensuite,” Logan lets go of the pillow and turns around to bury his face into Leo’s chest. “Can you just hold me for now?” 

“Of course mon amour.” 

They spend the next few minutes wrapped around each other, not talking, a comfortable silence filling the room. Eventually though, Logan breaks the silence, lifting his head from Leo’s chest onto the blond’s shoulder. “It’s just hard you know? Seeing Finn with her, when this time last year they were dating. Like, I know he loves us, but it just, it hurt, seeing them together.” Logan was rambling now, “With all the history we had, it, just, everything was so confusing then.”

Leo nods. “I know, but it all worked out in the end. This year, we can go up and kiss him then after the party is over we can go home together and cuddle. And this year, insead of coming this close,” He holds his fingers about a centimeter apart, “to kissing you down here, I can do this.” Logan raises his head and connects his lips to Leo’s. The kiss is slow and reassuring, the two of them appreciating each other and pouring all their love for each other into the kiss. Leo breaks the kiss and cups Logan’s face in his palm. “We love you Lo, we always have and we always will. Now how about we head upstairs and re-join the party?”  

Logan nods, “That sounds good. I love you too.” He leans in for another kiss, to which Leo happily obliges before the two of them get up and start heading upstairs. 

When they enter the kitchen, Logan leans in and presses a chaste kiss to Logan’s cheek. “I’m going to ask for the Celeste of that cheesecake you love okay?”

“Mmm, okay.” Logan glances up, taking in the sight of his beautiful younger boyfriend. As he looks up to Leo’s face, he sees the mistletoe. “Baby look,” Leo follows Logan’s eyes, seeing the leaves above them and smiles. “Can you give me a real kiss this time?” 

“Of course,” the kiss the two of them share is soft, sweet, and unhurried. Logan’s arms wrap around Leo’s neck and into his hair, whereas Leo’s hands are tangled When they eventually break apart, they rest their foreheads against each other, just sharing breath. 

The moment was broken by Sirius walking into the kitchen and heading towards the food table, exclaiming “Aye! Cut the PDA!” 

A shout comes from the living room, coming from Reg. “Like you’re one to talk! When I lived with you every five seconds I’d find you and Lupin sucking face.” 

Dumo’s voice chimes in, “I found you two making out in the locker room last practice.” 

“Point taken! I get it, Remus and I are worse, I’m a hypocrite.”

 Logan laughs and heads towards Finn, who’s still talking with Heather and June by the drinks. “Hey,” 

“Hey Lo,” Finn turns to look at Logan, “I heard you were giving out kisses.” 

“Yup,” Logan smiles 

Finn leans in, “Come on babe, don’t leaf me hanging.” 

Logan smiles, biting back laughter, “That was terrible.” he breaths fondly, but leans in anyway to give Finn a small kiss. 

“Hi Tremz,” Heathers says and June awkwardly waves

“Hello,” June puts down her drink “I need to set some things straight, because last year, we weren’t doing so hot, yeah?” Logan nods “I knew Finn was pining after someone else, and frankly, it wasn’t too hard to figure out who he was pining for. I came to family skate and this holiday party because frankly, I knew that you needed a kick in the ass.” 

Logan laughs “Yeah, that's fair.” He leans into Finn while June continues.

“But hey, it all worked out in the end. We found our perfect people.” June leans in and gives Heather a quick kiss. 

“Hey, June, it’s fine, I promise.” 

The conversations lulls into different topics and Logan loses interest and goes to find Leo. He hears Leo talking from the living room so he heads in there. Leo is sitting on the couch across from Regulus, the two of them in a debate about the best Beatles song. Leo raises his left arm in an invitation for Logan to come sit. Logan snuggles into Leo’s side, tuning out the debate and focusing on the warm body next to him. At some point, Finn joins the two of them, sitting down on Logan’s left after pressing a kiss to Leo’s forehead. 

A few minutes after Finn sits down, he leans into Logan and whispers "What happened?” 

“We’ll talk about it later mon chou, everything is fine now I promise.” Finn nods and snuggles into Logan. There, surrounded by people they love, the cubs are happy, and all is well. 

[emalynnstone]

Harry Potter Fic Recs

This is my very picky fic rec list that includes my all-time favorites. They’ll be separated off in these sections: Severitus/Sevitus, Drarry, Harrymort/Tomarry, Snarry, and Other Pairings. Check it out :) :D Hopefully, I might add a second part to this list later hehe XD 

Gen

Dead Man Walking is a Regulus mentors Harry fic and it’s just so good? Like? I mean. I’m sorry, I just don’t have words for the amazingness that is this work. I refuse to say this is abandoned cause it’ll break my soul so it’s a WIP. Don’t anybody tell me otherwise! 

Severitus/Sevitus

Harry’s First Detention and Harry’s New Home are my absolute favorites in this category! I’ve reread it so many times and the utter fluff and the growth in their relationship gets me every time <3 Rec this times a million! This starts in Harry’s First Year and goes from there. Also, what Harry calls Voldemort cracks me up EVERY TIME and I devolve into tears cause the utter cuteness just gets me! Complete.

Emerald Eyes makes me wish Severus had actually responded this way in canon. He’s not perfect, but their relationship grows and develops well <3 Complete.

In Care Of is a pretty popular fic, I believe, so I guess it’s sort of moot to rec it, but here you go. Features animagus!Snape and Snape realizing he’s pretty blind to Harry, which is my favorite moment in these fics! Complete.

To Shape and Change is a Snape time travels story and he fixes things pretty logically cause, you know, it’s Snape lol. I do like how he takes care of Harry though and it’s definitely a mentorship relationship between the two. Complete.

Perception is Everything is a different Severitus and there’s not enough where Snape realizes his mistakes and fixes it when Harry’s older, mostly cause it’s harder to deal with a hardened Harry. But this one manages it SO WELL and it’s definitely amazing! Wish there was more to this AU tbh. Complete.

Self Preservation is so adorable! Harry goes with Snape because he thinks that since Snape scares everyone, he’s safe with him! I like how their relationship grows slowly, at least on Snape’s side lol, and it’s so fluffy! Definitely another favorite! Complete. 

A New Place to Stay is my ABSOLUTE favorite in this category! I’ve reread it so many times and love it and get sucked into it just as much as the first time! I SO wish Horcruxes had been handled this way in canon and Harry grows so much with positive adult attention and it’s so beautiful, you know? I love it so much and rec it times a million! Complete and very long! 

Murtlap Thief and its sequel are also really good and occurs in Harry’s 4th year. It’s really cute how their relationship grows and natural too :) Definitely love it and features cute!Harry! Complete, as is its sequel! 

Definition of Home and its sequel are AMAZING. I mean, it’s oliver.snape, are we even surprised? But it’s soooo good! READ IT. You won’t regret it! Oh, it also has a little epilogue series here. Complete! 

Far Beyond a Promise Kept is a Harry and Snape time travel story! It’s a mentor story and it’s just so good! Once again, oliver.snape sooo... :D Complete. 

Unexpected Effects can be a Severitus or a Snarry, depending on if you read the alternative ending. Let me just say this... basilisk!Harry. I know you want to read it ;) 

A Year Like None Other: is any Severitus list complete without this? Love it, just love it. Also, the Draco/Harry friendship is my thing. Complete, but the series is a WIP! 

Harrymort/Tomarry

Don’t Fuck With Florists (They’ll Fuck You Up) is a time travel and Tomarry. I love it because Harry just fucks with Tom and Tom still falls in love <3 It cracks me up but it’s also believable :) One-shot. 

Lucifer is perhaps my most favorite Tomarry one-shot because it’s a soulmate AU and yet the way their relationship grows is very believable. I like that Harry doesn’t make Tom completely good, but he’s not as bad as he could be without Harry. One-shot. 

The Love of a Good Wizard is the VERY first Tomarry I read and it will always hold a special spot just for that <3 I also just love Pansy in here :D Really, it’s totally cute I love me some possessive!Tom XD Time Travel. Complete. 

Seventeen Years is totally weird but also my favorite because it’s so very much like Voldemort to be this way :D It’s a muggle!AU.... but Harry and Voldemort are still not normal muggles :) Sort of incest, I suppose, but not exactly. One-shot, sadly. 

As Portioned From the Whole is so very messed up and so delicious for that. It’s also so beautifully written! It’s a Voldemort raises Harry story, but a Harrymort as well. Still updating! 

A Snake Named Voldemort is so fabulous, why haven’t you read it yet?? Features: Parseltongue!! Complete. 

Harry Potter and the Shadowed Light is a WIP and a Tomarry, but it’s SO GOOD. OHMYGOODNESS. READ IT. It’s just amazing what the writer does with common tropes and makes it totally unique! I just love it and I’ve reread it and it’s just so good! READ IT. 

Avarice is just so good. Horcrux!Harry and it’s just so deliciously dark that I can’t handle it <3 It’s a WIP and I love it so much <3 Part one of a series! 

Harry Potter and the Darkness series is the ultimate Harrymort series for me. It’s just so good <3 Pretty sure it’s a classic, but I couldn’t not include this! 

Solace in Shadows is not exactly a Tomarry since I’m sure it’s Gen, but it’s a Diary!Tom kidnaps Harry story :D Poor Harry <3 Almost 200k and a WIP

Death is But the Next Great Adventure is a MoD!Harry and it’s just really adorable Harry’s relationship with Death :D A WIP and I love it! 

Your Name On My Heart is an AU and Tom and Harry are soulmates, and it’s also just so well-done :D I love it! It’s a WIP but near the end, I believe. 

The Glass Serpent and the Dark Horse: First of all, this is an AU in that Tom Sr. rescues Tom Jr. from the orphanage. Yep. Never read a story like that, so read it, if only for that :D Tom Sr. is so lovable here <3 Definitely different from the usual bastard!Tom Sr.! Also, a Tomarry <3 WIP. 

on top of the world is me inserting my own Harrymort here amongst all the others because I’m #shameless lol. But I do enjoy writing this story and it’s a Harry joins Voldemort story and you should totally read it and warm my heart and make me smile :) :D *puppy eyes* Currently 34k but I do regularly update ;) :D <3 

Snarry

Invisible is a WBWL story, but it’s handled well and angsty enough with redemption. Also, Snape’s and Harry’s relationship isn’t the focus and occurs later on in the story. It’s a friends-to-lovers sort of story, and it’s very natural the way they fall in love and beautiful for that. Not only that, I just love how this writer develops the world of potions in here! Also it features apprentice!Harry and I love it :D Complete and very long! 

6 Lessons From a Dead Man is basically pre-slash, but it’s still so good! It happens post-epilogue and features alive!Snape. Basically, Snape kidnaps Harry and his children. Not going to say anymore. One-shot. 

Courtship Rituals is a definite favorite, maybe just cause I’m a sucker for courting, but also cause it’s Meri and nearly 60k of utter well-written goodness. One-shot. 

Back in Time is so cute that I can’t help but love it. I sat down and read it all in one sitting cause it was very addicting. Actually, reccing it makes me want to reread it lolol. Time Travel. Complete. 

My Name is Cameron Sage is a Time Travel! And a friends-to-lovers and I’m a sucker for them. I truly love it <3 Oh, Harry also has red hair in here I believe? I’m pretty sure. That just sticks out to me for some reason so.... :D Complete. 

A Convenient Marriage: I gotta admit, I’m a sucker for the slow romances and I really like the forced marriage trope. It’s a very slow romance, but Harry personally grows a lot and I just love it <3 

The Slytherin Method is my FAVORITE Snarry EVER. Okay, just, Draco/Harry friendship? Harry using his Slytherin side? I mean, daaaaamn but this has so many of my favorite things <3 Even better, Harry pursues Snape ;) Complete. 

Omega!Verse is a trilogy and this a link to it, it’s still a WIP but on the 3rd book so, just read it. It features A/B/O, but it’s done differently and features politics. Also, another Harry pursues Snape, but I love how he goes about it <3 It’s also an enemies-to-friends-to-lovers story and they’re my thing. WIP. 

The Mating Rituals of a Crabby Hermit is just so cute :D I like how Snape is characterized and it features pining!Harry <3 

Thicker than Water is a chan story and features manipulative Snape, but it’s also really beautiful too. I just really do love it and Harry doesn’t remain completely oblivious to Snape’s manipulations throughout the whole story. One of my favorites, but if you’re not into it, don’t worry about it. One-shot. 

Drarry

Heir is a Drarry, but unfortunately was abandoned before that truly takes off. I think it was in the beginning stages. However, for those of you who like the Horcrux influencing Harry more and a bit of Voldemort mentorship, this is so for you! It’s amazing and almost 200k, even without the Drarry! 

A Change in Perspective features deaged!Harry and him in all his cuteness! Well-written and so very fluffy, even though it has its angsty moments. Definitely rec it, if only for the pro-Slytherin-ness hehe. Complete.  

Who Shagged Harry Potter? is so very hilarious and I keep rereading it just for the laughs. Fluffy as well <3 One-shot.

The Devil’s White Knight is a time travel Drarry and features lots of family bonding and fluff before the Drarry develops, but I definitely love this one and have reread it quite a few times. Complete and sequel in the works. 

Leo Inter Serpentes is my absolute favorite rewrite of canon! It features Slytherin!Harry (which is my weakness) and a BAMF!Narcissa. Oh, and Sevitus as well :) :D Just finished Book 6 and still a WIP! 

Conception of Dreams is a creature!fic and features possessive!Draco. Really, I read it for those two things and it totally delivered <3 

Secrets is THE Drarry fic. I mean, ohmygoodness. First of all, wish canon had gone this way. Also, just really, really love this and READ IT. NOW. Complete and satisfyingly long! 

Malfoy Flavor is a Severitus as well and while it’s slightly ooc at times, it’s still really good. Complete, with one-shot sequel. 

A Brother to Basilisks is so good! It’s nearly 500k, y’all. I mean, ohmygoodness. Also, parseltongue! AND A BASILISK. YES. JUST READ IT. WIP! 

Malfoy Child features deaged!Draco and Harry is so sweet. I mean, are we surprised? Complete. 

Azoth is my favorite Drarry fic for sure. It’s an EWE fic and an 8th year as well, and Harry ends up apprenticing under Snape for potions and it’s so good? Like? Can I even explain it? Just read it. Complete. 

I Choose Him is a fourth year AU and so beautiful. I mean, I just love the canon divergence and the way things fall. It’s very fluffy and definitely something you’d read to pick up your mood, at least from what I’m remembering! Complete. 

Simple Acts is such a good series. Just, read it. It’s so beautiful. This writer’s Drarry fics are an utter work of art, no joke. WIP series. 

The I Do Series is over 800k for the series alone. I’m just saying that’s amazing and SUCH an amazing way post-canon is done. Also, this story is my definition for Drarry <3 WIP series. 

The War Mages Trilogy is so good. It’s a time travel and Draco’s and Harry’s relationship are utter goals, also the way they completely ruin everyone’s plans? Yes. Just, yes. The first story is complete! 

Bound Prince series is a 7 book series and complete! Harry’s and Draco’s relationship is definitely interesting in here and I do really like it :) Features lots of smut lol but it has a plot-necessary reason. Complete. 

just a bit of magic: lol here’s me being #shameless again. This is a two-shot I am writing (first part posted and is 11k) where Harry is a Muggleborn and Lily is alive. It’s utter fluff. Seriously. I gave myself cavities writing it. Just read it if you want some Drarry fluff :) <3 WIP and I plan on making the AU a series. 

Other Pairings 

Every Flavor Beans was my first fic of this pairing and my favorite for that reason, but it’s also just so manipulative that I love it for that? :D Initially Drarry, but.... :3  Harry/Lucius. 40k One-shot. 

A Malfoy’s Ways features dark!Harry and I just really love this one-shot! Harry/Lucius.

Influence of Souls features a dark!Harry who doesn’t give an eff about anyone who isn’t Sirius. Oh, this is a Harry/Sirius btw, and sooo good :D Complete.

face death in the hope is a Regulus/Harry Time Travel and is a WIP, but so well-written :D READ IT. I mean, there’s Regulus in it. Need I say more?  

The Beguile and Devotion of a Black Heir is my ALL-TIME FAVORITE HP fic, hands down. It’s over 300k and a WIP and it’s just so good? I mean??? So well-written and has so many of my favorite tropes and it’s just SO GOOD. This writer is after my heart <3 

Taking Chances is a forced bonding fic and a Percy/Harry. I just really like it for the rare pairing and the way their relationship grows <3 One-shot.

Sleep tight, love is sooooo adorable! It’s a Harry/Charlie story and I just really love it :D Harry ends up working in the reserve and it’s just so great! Complete. 

But, Harry, It’s George is just the cutest and just read it. It’s Harry/George, if that wasn’t obvious lol. One-shot. 

The Tribulation of the Blue Moon is an amazing AU, if only because the whole story takes place outside of the Wizarding World and features werewolf!Harry. It’s a Harry/Fenrir and I love it <3 Complete. Sequel in the works. 

Wizards and Werewolves Don’t Mix is a cute story and full of fluff. I just love how the relationship grows <3 Harry/Fenrir. Of course, towards the end had a part that I was very much against and almost made me drop the story, but I pushed through and the ending made it worth it. If you want to know what that one part is, feel free to message me! Complete. 

Silver Arrow is an AU and it’s so well-written :D I love it! Harry/Fenrir. Complete. 

Now, I have way more favorites and a lot more good fics to rec, however there’s a lot. So, here’s a link to my ao3 bookmarks. The fics I mentioned above are my absolute favorites, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have way more lol. 

[briteboy]

+ SOME NOT ANONS because i had so many astrology questions omg i’m just gonna put them all together ok

it’s honestly mostly astrology stuff, some other random things and of course a GoT question because it’s not a mass answer post unless i get at least one of those. and if ur the anon who sent ur theory to me yesterday, my answer is.............. quizas 🌚

aight let’s go

do you have any tips on websites i can look on for figuring out my characters zodiac signs? (moon, fire, water and those stuff). i dont know where to look and on the sites i found its so complicated :( thank u!!

welllll if you aren’t really familiar with astrology i’d say to just make up a birth time/place for your character and put it in here and then you’ll have your answer. but if you don’t think those results fit your character and you want to make it more personalized, i’d say it’s worth it to firstly research each of the 12 signs a bit so that you gather their general traits and such, and then research about the different planets and houses in your chart (sun, moon, first house which is also rising/ascendant, mars, mercury, venus, etc.) and start trying to piece together what their placements would be. i know when i do this i might research a couple different moon placements or something (i.e. literally just google like ‘aquarius moon’ ‘ cancer moon’ ‘virgo rising’ etc.) and see if it fits. if you need further help, message me off anon!

@hhoneybadgers​ said: whaaat how is there so much astrology?? everyone's sun/moon/rising/venus/mars/jupiter/freaking kepler-666/andromeda/sirius/draco malfoy and have houses, and here i am, just an ordinary lil aquarius

OMG well ur in luck because you also have kepler 666/sirius/regulus/hagrid shit too. aquarius sun is only a very small part of your birth chart, which you can look up here

(how many times will i link to this site i wonder)

@thosefuckingsims​ said: are people just sending you their birthcharts?? i'm a scorp sun cap moon n taurus rising tell me about myself pls. drag me :^)

oMGDF i already know ur chart is spicy, but scorpio/taurus is one of the most interesting sister sign combos to me. it’s one of those ones that have a real connection and usually when two different people respectively have them, they’re attracted to each other (not necessarily romantically, just they might click really well) the fact that your sun and rising oppose (but have that awesome connection) probably makes you initially come off much differently than your actual personality would suggest, and then when someone gets to know you it’s like meeting a whole different person. you probably come off very grounded but stubborn (your scorp sun also might suggest this as well because of all that aggressive mars influence), and i know for me personally i’m often intimidated by taureans so that also might apply. your cap moon probably enforces that as well (freaking earth signs, they’re always so resilient in their own way) i feel like this combo might make you seem really deadpan, maybe appreciate some black humor. and ur probably not afraid to stand up to anybody (*cowers in fear*) u wanted me to drag u but i’m sorry i’m mostly in awe

@nnicolesims said: Oooh, me next also! I'm still figuring this out honestly. Taurus sun, Capricorn moon, ascendent Scorpio!

OMG another taurus/scorp mix! wtf this is basically the same as @thosefuckingsims except your sun and rising are switched lmaoooo that’s too funny

so like honestly i feel like a lot of that ^^^ would also apply to you? taurus suns are often intimidating to me because they come off as Too Cool 4 U but really they’re usually sweet and shy on the inside. i think your scorpio rising will also amplify that cool factor just because that placement is so ~Mysterious~ and like, people look at you and are just captivated by something. almost like you have a magnetic pull. scorpio rising is the most fascinating ascendant to me, that’s the reason i gave it to ramona (her heterochromia influenced it a lot too) i feel like you might be shy but secretly passionate and willing to put a lot of effort to that passion.

PLS ME NEXT (u really don't have to I'm just curious 😂) Virgo sun, sagittarius moon and gemini rising 😃

o0o0o0o i like this combo! it reminds me of my mom heheh. she’s a virgo sun/scorp moon and i feel like she also has an air rising, maybe libra tho

virgo/sagittarius is such a good match, like it’s weird but whenever i see those two signs together, especially in the form of different people, it’s always like a lasting bond. both virgo and taurus always seem to pair well with sag. you wouldn’t expect a virgo sun to be so ardent but sagittarius has a profound influence, and it’s interesting because virgos are often always looking for answers, and i think sagittarius would only make that need for reason even more so because sags find possibility in everything, especially as a moon placement. it’s one of my favorite moon signs (and not just because i have it too lmao) gemini rising in this mix is also very interesting because sag and gem are sister signs (opposites) (so many sister signs in these questions dang) and gemini rising is almost one of the most fitting rising signs to me for some reaso, especially with a virgo sun (both virgo and gem are ruled by mercury) because that makes you even MORE inquisitive and probably very friendly. people might consider you easy to talk to, and i bet you have a lot of intriguing things to say.

sagittarius sun, aries moon, scorpio rising!!

this combo...WHEW!!! i love it tho. i feel like your sun/moon combo makes you very child-like, which can be a blessing or a curse depending on the situation. you might be very independent and full of thoughts or energy that you don’t know how to channel. i feel like especially with your rising sign, you might be very sarcastic and that might come off as a little harsh to people but you mean well. i really like this combo, lots of mars influence with that happy-go-lucky jupter nature!

Its so cool to see everyone talking about astrology and stuff ! i love it!! I'm a capricorn sun and moon and saggitarius rising :p sometimes i feel like i vibe more with pisces more ya know? but idk lol

i feel like capricorn and pisces often fit each other well, strangely enough. pisces are kind of bubbly and caps are kind of serious so they balance each other out. but anyway, onto your chart! you might be a bit introverted because of double cap but your sag rising might help mitigate that and make you a warmer person (caps are known to be a bit cold, honestly it depends tho, especially if there’s a fire influence) a lot of the time you might feel a bit to mature for your peers, but your sag rising makes you want to go back to a time when things were simpler and you could just be a kid. you probably feel like you need to prove yourself a lot too, but sometimes u just gotta give into ur sag nature and let loose a little u know

Sagittarius sun, aries moon and libra ascendant. I don't actually know what any of that means. It confuses me lol

omg hello can i set u up with the sag/aries/scorp above, you guys would be perfect for each other but maybe a little too perfect. you might get on each other’s nerves. and again with the sister signs, this time it’s aries and libra which is........honestly i can’t read this one, in the case with people, either they despise each other or they grow to love each other. (at least that’s been the case with me and libras.) so with that in mind with your moon opposing your rising, it’s very interesting. you might come off as calm, agreeable, charming because of your libra rising, only for others to find out you’re a bit more excitable and aggressive due to your moon. but aries is still charming in their own weird way, and sag too (dang fire signs) and sag + libra is like THE otp only next to aries + gemini. people probably think you’re really cool and chill. you probably get fired up easily about stuff tho

Scorpio sun - Taurus Moon - Scorpio Mercury I am a walking contradiction lol

OMG ANOTHER TAURUS/SCORP WOW third time’s the charm. can i set you guys up too?? WHAT’S UR RISING THO

basically what i said above goes for you too. people are probably in awe of you because you project, like...not necessarily a domineering nature, but more like...very self-assured and set in your ways (which might be your downfall if you aren’t careful, especially with that scorpio mercury, hoo boy) my mercury is in pisces but in the 8th house (ruled by scorpio) so i vibe with this. sometimes i say too much or go too far when i’m talking to someone and i can probably thank the scorp influence for that. i bet u love to talk about taboos and push people’s buttons in a sneaky way, not in an annoying way like an aries might

i'm kinda confused but sun - Aquarius, moon - Leo, ascendant - Gemini, i don't think its anything special but idk ;)

IT IS SPECIAL! any fire/air combo is automatically fun to pick apart. and omfg AGAIN with the sister signs!! what is this the 4th? 5th time?? i had no idea there was so much opposing influence on simblr wow. actually your sun/moon combo is the same as one of my characters, avey! if you’re like her, you might be pretty ambitious, flamboyant, but you also might go through a lot of identity crises trying to stay true to yourself. you’re the kind of person everyone can find a friend in, especially with your rising being gemini! people probably love to talk to you. leo moon is one of my favorite placements because it’s so weird, leo is ruled by the sun, so even tho leo and cancer aren’t opposites, they still kind of oppose each other. leo moons are often silly and funny, everyone finds them hilarious. i’d probably wanna know someone like you tbh

Wheres the rising part on the birth chart thingie?

i made a very official comprehensive guide to reading ur birth chart

Hey sorry to bother, but where did you say you got your star chart thing from? I tried to find where you mentioned it but couldn't.. 😩

here

oK I THINK THAT’S IT FOR THE ASTROLOGY ASKS? WHEW it’s been a long time since i’ve done this, i forgot they just come pouring in when i open the floodgates of the stars omg

I'm so so late but Santi literally breaths sweater weather to me and I'm CRYING HDISHDJSJSB THAT'S MY SONG AND MY BOY I'M SAD

OMG i haven’t heard that song in so long. i feel like this isn’t the first time someone has told me this, or maybe it was just that he reminded them of the neighbourhood in general. i can’t totally see it tho it’s okay i’ll cry with u :’{

I just found your blog and holy shit your edits are amazing! How do you edit????

like this! it’s from a while ago and i made my own psd since then but essentially it’s pretty much the same. i probably won’t update it because all of the main principles are there and if you follow that tutorial you should be putting your own spin on it anyway, not trying to replicate it exactly y’know

Do you use height mod for toddlers?

i haven’t yet because i’ve been using that fake baby, but i will probably have to bite the bullet and do it now -___- here’s a comment on one of the height mod threads that i’m essentially going to follow, confusing as it is:

How do you make the toddlers smaller? Is it editing or something else?!

i explained that here!

AHHH!!! I'm trying to catch up on your posts but I ran out of data and the pictures aren't loading now. Apparently I need to get unlimited data so I can read your beautiful wonderful story?!?!? This is torture!!

OMG NOOOO well this was from like last week so hopefully you got data and caught up since then. i’m sorry u had to go through that :{ also thank you for the compliments i’m cryin

I just spent the last 3 hours reading your story from start to finish. INCREDIBLE. AMAZING. EMOTIONAL. IM ADDICTED.

AKSDKJGFDKSLJ THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i always get so giddy when people send me messages like this, ily so much ;___; <333

Lemme just say. I'm all for them wearing stupid effing shirts.

I THINK THIS WAS FROM WHEN ROONEY WENT INTO LABOR? with the cactus shirt and santi’s wild ride of an outfit? if so i agree

Can you link me to the beginning of your story?

here

(I'm the anon with an aunt who had kidney failure) it turned out alright in the end. We managed to get ahold of her ex-husband bc we knew he was a match, and he so very graciously agreed to donate 😭 I'm so thankful for him at the moment; even though he wasn't a very good husband

yay thank goodness!!! i’m so glad it all worked out, bless her ex-husband wow that was a really great thing of him to do (aside from being a shitty husband lmao.) i hope all is well in your family now and that your aunt has a successful and quick recovery! <3

So I saw that you've never watched supernatural and honestly, it's actually better than a lot of ppl say it is. It's definitely not the best show out there, but a lot of people give it shit just because of the fact that it's on the CW. Another thing people complain about is the queerbaiting but I don't think it's that bad tbh

i honestly don’t know anything about it lmao, i watched the first episode yeeeeears ago and wasn’t really hooked in so i was just like “eh it’s not for me”. i know some people who liked the earlier seasons so i bet they are good. i know @wanderlustonline likes it! it’s just never really interested me, and also YEAH LMAO i remember all the queerbaiting. i literally thought there was a character named destiel. just like i also thought there was a member of 1D named larry

people keep saying emilia (daenerys) can't act but the way she acts in GOT is literally how they want her to... i don't get how people don't understand that :/ look at her background, how she was raised. her character mostly ignores or hides her true emotions. to stay strong as a leader. in the last ep of S7 you can see the writers chose to let her character finally "break" and show her emotions. so i'm pretty sure you don't like dany's character writing, not the acting :P

the whole time reading this i was like “but that’s totally not how her character is?” but then i realized that’s probably how it is in the show. from what you’ve said, she honestly sounds so different from the books lol, and that’s just my main gripe: is that it doesn’t follow the story it was meant to. it’s diverged too much. so i guess you are right, but it’s kind of like comparing apples to oranges at this point when the show is so different. and i’ve only seen one season of this show, the most recent one because i wanted to witness the trainwreck of everything lmao. but i’ve heard a lot of people complain about her acting, which i’m sure is largely the writers’ and directors’ faults of course. but you can’t deny the girl moves her eyebrows too much and relies on that to convey her emotions omg. (she literally didn’t move them at all this season which makes me think they specifically told her not to so ppl would stop making memes of her ridiculous Acting faces)

anyway yeah i hate the writing most of all and i feel bad that the actors have to just deal with it at this point. especially nikolaj coster-waldau who basically shares the same relationship with GoT that robert pattinson did with twilight at this point. it’s so funny

[atlasjohnsons]

BASICS

Full name: Richard Regulus Johnson

Any nicknames?: Richie, Rich, Dick, Dick Dick, Big Dick Rick

Age: 29

Birthday/Zodiac sign: August 12th, which makes my baby boy a Leo! 

All Leo’s have high standards and they don’t like to let themselves or anyone else down. They enjoy being seen as a person of substance and status, and prefer to be in a position to help others rather than approaching them cap in hand. Leo’s pride would not allow them to live or work in a situation that they consider as ‘beneath’ them. They are far more comfortable working in an exciting area where they can jet off to glamorous places and influence the more mundane members of planet Earth. Leo’s won’t stand for being treated with contempt or ridicule, but they are very aware of other people’s need for dignity, so they are rarely offensive or hurtful. Leo’s can become surprisingly downhearted on occasion, but they don’t usually stay depressed for long and their confidence returns fairly quickly. The thing that saves most Leo’s in hard times is their joyful sense of humour. Leo’s faults include impatience and a tendency to over dramatise problems. They become irritable when things go wrong and quite sarcastic when ill, under pressure or over-tired. Leo’s live in the fast lane, working and playing very hard. However they must remember to build in some rest and recovery time. They can be pushy parents because they want their children to achieve as much as they have – and exceed it. Leo’s encourage their children to become independent. Leo’s are generous and kind and will do anything to help others, especially their family. They excel as a family member and enjoy keeping in touch with relatives although are not the type to cling. As a marriage partner, Leo’s are very loyal and dependable, as long as they’re feeling loved and at the center of the family network. It is very unlikely for Leo’s to have a fling simply out of curiosity, although if they are feeling undervalued and unloved by those around them, it may lead in that direction.

Height: 6′2″.

Any tattoos, piercings?: Richie currently has this tattooed on the inside of his left forearm and a fern tattooed on the outside of his left forearm. A lesser seen tattoo is this, located from the lowest part of his right shoulder blade and spanning up to his shoulder. The word ausdauer is also tattooed on the inside of his right middle finger, facing towards him. Also, both his ears are pierced.

FAVORITES

Sound: Though he would argue that he has a lot of favorite sounds, one of the few that has withstood the years is the faint sound of singing and piano filtering in through a window. It, often times, reminds of him simpler times: when Rhea and Richard first moved to Germany when he was a little boy, his innocence not quite lost yet and reminiscent of the bright smiles of Cronus and Rhea together. This is a sound he would often fall asleep to, some neighbor of a neighbor practicing merrily as a boy drifted off into a dream of happier times and happier days. He would never admit this, often times shrugging and opting for the simple answer of ocean waves as the sea seems tranquil and serene, but often has the ability to destroy.

Color:  His favorite color would be the kind of blue the sky morphs into just as the sun dips down into the horizon, the stars just barely beginning to shine against the skyline. Additionally, his second favorite has to be the yellow-ish white aura of the full moon on a clear night.

Person: Without a doubt, it is Rhea. Rhea has been the one constant in his life since the day he was born, the one person who has always wanted him and put him first when it seemed no one else did or had any recollection of him. There is no one they aspire to be like more, their loyalty, ferocity, and sheer will something that Richard still finds hard to match, even so many years later. He regrets leaving them to tend to his business in Germany, but he would rather they stayed away from the danger of it all, they are the one vulnerability that would actually kill him.

Memory: He knows it’s silly and he knows it’ll never happen again, which is why he cherished the memory so much, but he distinctly remembers a small instance in his toddler years. It was before they moved, very much still in New York City with Cronus and Rhea. He remembers taking both of their large hands in his very small ones and being swung by the both of them, unfiltered laughter filling the air from all three of them. He remembers their smiling faces, genuine and bright in his mind. They were perfect, they were untouchable, everything was pristine for one precise moment before the cracks started to form. It’s not so much a fond memory as it is for wishful thinking, but it’s his favorite. Though, if you ask him, he’d probably tell you the story of how he snuck out one night as a teenager, rolled Rhea’s car out of the driveway and down the street so he could drive a little ways out of town and into the countryside to look at the constellations with a nameless person that he claims he can’t remember.

Place: The planetarium, most likely. However, whenever he IS in Germany, he goes off the grid once a week to visit the library that he often went to when he was a child. It was here that he learned of Gods and Titans, mythos from beyond the Greeks, constellations that lined the night sky, it is here that he feels the most at home.

Vice: Can I just go with the obvious and say sex? Richie hardly smokes cigarettes, he feels as though they’re unclean; drinks plenty but knows how to hold his alcohol and knows not to get belligerent; and doesn’t participate in hard drugs as he knows it can affect his thinking and his reflexes. Underneath it all, he’s very much someone who seeks validation and adoration, even if he doesn’t quite believe in love. (Or so he thinks).

HAVE THEY EVER…

Been in love?: No, not even once, not even close. He thinks far too much to allow it to happen, especially if it gets in the way of what he truly wants.

Done drugs?: He’s tried something or other at some point, but he refrains from doing them now, he’s not really gluttonous in that sort of way.

Killed someone?: In all honesty, Richie has some unresolved aggression and anger issues that sprout through occasionally when he participates in interrogations. It’s not usually pretty or painless either. But yes, of course.

Betrayed someone’s trust?: He hates doing this, it makes him look like a complete hypocrite and he doesn’t trust many people to begin with, but I’m sure he has one time or another when he was much younger. He wants to do anything he can to prevent it now, though.

Had their heart broken?: In terms of it being romantic? No. Familial and friends, however? Yes.

Lost someone?: I mean... Yeah.

DO THEY…

Have any pets?: Hyas is likely his best friend and lifelong companion, who Richie rescued from an abusive family as a puppy during his time at university. Subjectively, he knows that Hyas only has a certain amount of time left and he also knows he has to get another companion soon, (who’s going to gift Atlas a dog, please do the thing) but he can’t bring himself to just yet.

Have a family they still talk to?: ... This is embarrassing, but I’m pretty sure they talk to Rhea almost every single day unless they both have busy schedules.

Have a best friend?: See above.

Want to get married and/or have kids?: No to both, he’s seen how relationships can get complicated over time, especially in his line of work. He’s also been very much monogamous for the majority of his life, so he’s not even quite sure what a functional romantic relationship should even be like. Though, a small part of him does sort of want to have kids and he might even have some running around that he doesn’t know about, but he’d never ACTUALLY admit that.

Want to leave?: No, New York is his. Though, he’s not sure if he wants to move his operations here once he’s demolished the Olympus or keep them in Germany.

THIS OR THAT?

Phone call or text? Oddly, Richie prefers phone calls. They seem much more personal and it’s easier to tell if someone is lying to him by their voice, rather than a message.

Wealth or loyalty? Loyalty, 100%. He could literally have nothing in terms of wealth as long as he has the loyalty of his people.

Love or lust? Lust, love doesn’t really and shouldn’t exist for people like him.

5 Friends or 100 Acquaintances? 5 friends, so long as they’re real with him and loyal.

Summer or winter? Summer. Though the sun is out longer, he can hardly see the stars through the clouds during winter... Plus, it’s not much fun to lay out in the snow.

OTHERS:

Wanted plots/connections: coming soon.

[fruitcoops]

Wisdom With Age

Follow-up to Leo getting his wisdom teeth out: it’s Loops’ turn! Hope you enjoy :) Coops credit goes to @lumosinlove!

TW for dental work, wisdom teeth removal, anesthesia, and surgery (mentioned)

Sirius carefully, but firmly, set his hand on Remus’ knee to stop it from bouncing. “Sorry,” Remus muttered, then immediately began worrying at the hem of his old t-shirt.

“Okay,” Sirius said under his breath, turning in his seat and taking both of Remus’ hands in his own. “Sweetheart, look at me.”

“I don’t like this,” Remus muttered as his eyes flickered up to Sirius’ face. “Honey, I really don’t like this.”

“I know, but you have to do it.”

“Why? They’re my teeth, it’s my mouth, and is it such a bad thing if I don’t want people poking around in it?” The leg started bouncing again. “I mean, humans survived for thousands of years with their wisdom teeth, and—and teeth serve a lot of very important purposes besides chewing. This could fuck up my ears, and my hearing—”

“Remus.”

He swallowed hard and clenched his jaw.

Sirius began tracing slow circles over his knuckles. “You know better than anyone why this is important, and it’s dangerous to keep them in any longer than you already have. I totally respect that you’re freaked out right now, but you’ve got to calm down. These guys do this all the time.”

“There are always exceptions.”

Yes, I know, I’ve been thinking about all those scenarios for the past two weeks. “And you won’t be one of them. How long did you spend finding this place, again?” There was a beat of silence. “Re.”

“Four hours,” he muttered.

“Exactly. You did your research.” Remus’ eyes wandered up to the clock and his grip tightened when he saw how little time was left until their appointment. Distraction, distraction—“Tell me why you chose this place.”

That got his attention. “What?”

“You spent four hours sifting through dentists’ offices online, right? Tell me why this one stood out to you.”

“Um. Well, I guess it was just a combination of things. They have really good ratings and this is where Leo got his out, which went well. He was on his feet within a week, which was impressive. The equipment is good quality and—”

“Remus Lupin?”

“Oh, fuck me.” The nurse raised her eyebrows at him, and he flushed deep red as Sirius hid a smile in his shoulder. “Sorry, sorry. Hi, that’s me. Remus Lupin. I’m…a little nervous.”

Her face softened as she walked over. “That’s perfectly normal. We have a little bit of paperwork for you to look over and then we’ll get started. Is this the person who will be driving you home?”

“That’s me. How long will it take?”

“Oh, an hour or so. Not long.” She handed Remus a pen before turning back to Sirius. “We do these procedures all the time, so there’s nothing to worry about. The surgery is quick and easy.”

Remus’ hand skidded across the page on the word ‘surgery’ and Sirius squeezed his thigh gently as he took a trembling breath. “Thank you for doing this on such short notice,” Sirius said with a smile while Remus read. “We really appreciate it.”

“Why does this have to be so important?” Remus mumbled as he signed the last page.

The nurse shrugged. “Human bodies are funny things.”

He snorted. “Tell me about it.”

“Are you a doctor?”

“I was a physical therapist for six years,” he said, handing the clipboard back to her. “Unfortunately, that means I know exactly why putting this off for so long was a bad idea.”

“I don’t know about a bad idea.” The nurse tilted her head to the side. “You still came in to do it before there were any problems, right? That seems pretty smart to me, and very brave.”

“She’s right,” Sirius said quietly, knocking their shoulders together. “You’ve got this, mon loup.”

The nurse waited patiently while he took a few deep breaths before standing up and hugging Sirius tight around the chest. “You’ll be here, right?”

“I’m not going anywhere.” He gave him a gentle kiss on the lips and the inside of his wrist. “Go get ‘em, tiger.”

The tension returned to Remus’ shoulders as he followed the nurse out of the lobby; Sirius sat down and grabbed a magazine to distract himself for the next hour.

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

Twenty minutes later, the nurse came back out. Sirius stood up immediately as fear bolted through his chest. “Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine,” she soothed, taking the seat next to his with a sigh. “There was a bit of trouble getting him to fall asleep, though.”

“Oh?” Sirius tried to keep his voice neutral as he sat down, but even he could tell it didn’t work that well.

She gave him an amused look. “Your boy is stubborn. We get nervous people all the time, but he seemed to have a personal vendetta against our anesthesiologist. The countdown usually lasts three seconds, maximum, but I made it all the way down to five before he was out.”

“But he’s okay?”

“He’s just fine.” She patted his hand.

“He’s been avoiding this for about four years now.”

“Really?”

“Yep. Hates hospitals and dentists, but still got a medical degree.” Sirius huffed. “His mom threatened to drive here from Wisconsin and drag him in by the ear if he didn’t schedule it soon.”

The nurse smiled. “You’d be surprised by how many young folks we get in here shaking in their boots. It’s really not that bad of a procedure, but all you hear about are the times it went wrong.”

Sirius hummed in agreement. “Is it normal to be nervous for him?”

“Yes.”

“That’s good.”

“Lots of people cry while they’re waiting, though I haven’t quite figured out why. Feel free to do some wailing if you think it’ll help.”

“I’ll pass, but thank you for the offer,” Sirius laughed. There were a few heartbeats of comfortable silence before he spoke again. “I don’t like the idea of him being in there all alone.”

“Oh, honey, nobody does.” She gave his hand a quick squeeze. “We always want to be there for the ones we love. Boyfriend?”

“Fiancé.”

“When’s the wedding?”

“This summer.” He smiled to himself. “I’m really excited.”

“How long have you been together?”

“We’ve known each other for six years or so, but we’ve only been dating for one.”

They chatted back and forth, and Sirius felt his nerves melt away as the conversation turned to Harry, then Regulus and Jules, until a tall man in a white coat poked his head into the lobby. “Do we have a companion for Remus Lupin in here?”

Sirius raised his hand. “That’s me.”

“Come on back, he just woke up.”

The dentist’s office smelled different than a hospital, which Sirius was grateful for. Remus wouldn’t like waking up with the scent of rubbing alcohol all around him. The walls were painted a cheerful yellow with various murals for the younger patients—each room had its own name tag with stickers.

“Remus?” The doctor knocked on the door as he opened it. “We’ve got someone here for you.”

“Hmm?” Remus blinked sleepily at them from the table; his face was puffy from anesthesia and gauze.

“Hey, Re,” Sirius said, taking his hand and rubbing it between his own. “Are you ready to go home?”

Remus squinted at him for a long moment. “Did it hurt?” he asked.

“Did what hurt?”

A smile twitched at the edges of his mouth. “When you fell from heaven. Hiya, handsome, I’m Remus.”

“Oh my fucking god.” Sirius looked back at the doctor, who was hiding his laughter in his hand.

“Here’s your aftercare sheet,” he said, pushing the wheelchair a little closer and handing Sirius a piece of paper. “Can you get him outside by yourself?”

Sirius nodded. “It might take some manhandling, but I’ll be fine.”

“Damn right, you’re fine,” Remus snorted.

“Merde,” Sirius muttered. “Alright, you shameless flirt, can you sit up by yourself?”

Remus winked at him, though it was more like a slow blink. “Might take some manhandling. What’s your name, angel?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

He shrugged as Sirius helped him clamber into the wheelchair. “I need something to yell.”

“Holy shit, Re!” Sirius spluttered, nearly steering him straight into the cupboards in surprise. “You can’t just say that in the middle of a dentist’s office!”

Remus frowned and glanced around the room. “Is that where I am?”

“Yes!”

“I don’t like dentists. Or hospitals. Super fuckin’ creepy.”

“Yes, I know.” The hall was mostly empty, thank god. “You’ve told me.”

“Have we met before?” Remus stared up at him and nearly went crosseyed. “You’re being so nice to me.”

“We’ve known each other for six years.”

“Huh. I really hope we’re dating, because there’s no way I’m passing up a chance to tap that.”

“You know, Leo was incredibly sweet when his wisdom teeth got taken out,” Sirius sighed as they went down the next corridor. “He called Finn ‘pretty’ and then only wanted cuddles for a few days. You, on the other hand, were apparently so stubborn that they had to spend twenty minutes putting you to sleep, and now you’re hitting on me like a drunk frat boy.”

“I can call you pretty if you want.” Sirius stopped walking as Remus reached up to trail a surprisingly steady hand down his cheek; some of the flirty mischief was replaced by awe. “You really are beautiful. What’s your name? For real this time, I want to know.”

“Sirius.”

“Like the star.” The corners of Remus’ eyes crinkled. “Brightest one in the sky. It fits.”

“Just for that, I’m going to let you in on a secret,” Sirius said as they neared the exit.

“Oh?”

“We’re engaged.”

“What?”

[fruitcoops]

Omg can you write about coops going live on instagram and answering TONS of fans questions? And just being domestic and cute together in general

I can, yes! This is partially the 450 celebration--to the lovely person who suggested writing a sequel to one of my favorites, please know that I love and appreciate you! Coop credit goes to @lumosinlove

Check out Part 1 here

“Is it working? I think it’s working.” An explosion of hearts covered the screen and Remus’ eyebrows rose. “Yep, definitely working. Hello, Instagram! I’m Remus Lupin, winger for the Lions.”

“And I’m Sirius Black, center and team captain.” Sirius waved at the phone. “We had a great time answering your questions last month and we figured we’d come back to do it again, since there were so many people we couldn’t get around to in those few minutes.”

“I can already see a bunch coming in. Should we start?” Remus asked, turning to him with a small smile.

“You go first.”

“Alright, first question….” He squinted at the screen. “How long have we been together? We’ve been dating for just over a year now, but we’ve known each other for three-ish.”

Sirius snorted when he read the next question. “What do we do in our free time? It’s cute that you think we have free time. Um, we read a lot. Sometimes I’ll play video games with the guys.”

“If we have a free weekend, we’ll go hiking or take a short road trip. Practice takes up four or five hours a day, so we’re very low-key, which I think surprises people.” Remus scrolled down a bit. “What are our favorite foods?”

“Don’t say it.” Sirius said immediately. “Don’t you dare.”

“Fine, fine.” Just as Sirius began to answer, he coughed, “pineapple pizza.”

“No!” Sirius smacked Remus on the arm with a pillow as he laughed. “Menace. My favorite food is pasta, because it’s versatile and I’m not a heathen. All of you who are agreeing with him, stop it right now. I’m very disappointed in your tastebuds. Next question…do either of us cook? We do, yeah.”

Remus gave him a look. “Do you, though?”

“That’s a funny thing to hear coming from the man who said he’d die for one of my grilled cheeses yesterday,” Sirius countered.

“Fair point. Yes, we both cook, but I generally do it more often because I enjoy it.”

Sirius looked back at the camera with sad eyes. “He kicked me out of the kitchen last week.”

“You kept stealing bites of soup!” Remus laughed. “It wasn’t even done, you could have gotten salmonella!”

“You can’t get salmonella from soup,” Sirius scoffed. The comment section went wild. “…apparently you can. Huh.”

“Next question, before we get too off-track. Who is the more dramatic one?” Remus folded his hands and rested his chin on top. “I’m giving you three guesses and the first two don’t count.”

Sirius rolled his eyes. “You’re plenty dramatic.”

“Uh-huh, sure.”

“Moving on! Oooo, this one is for me specifically.” He shifted closer, wrapping an arm around Remus’ waist as he read. “Sirius: does Regulus—you spelled that wrong by the way, there’s only one ‘g’—does Regulus still live with you? If yes, how does that work?”

“I’m telling him someone spelled his name wrong,” Remus said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. “He’ll get a kick out of it.”

“He’ll be so pissed,” Sirius agreed. “Nope, Reg moved out a few months ago and now lives with Pascal Dumais, but it was really neat to have him around. He’s still got a room here and it was nice spending so much time with him after we didn’t talk for a while. He’s awful about vacuuming, though.”

“Aw, people think that’s cute.” Remus smiled as he read the responses. “Ohoho, people are getting nosy. What do we argue about the most?”

“I’m not sure, actually. Maybe chores?”

“I was going to say practice time. We’ve gotten into a couple tiffs about watching tape or running drills after we get home.”

“That’s true.” Sirius frowned at the screen. “For those of you who apparently think that’s all one-sided: it’s really not.”

“He came downstairs to get me at ten or eleven at night the other day. We’re both hockey nerds, so it happens from time to time.”

“Are we going to keep doing tiktoks? Oh, for sure, they’re a ton of fun.”

“Absolutely. Where else am I going to get the inspiration to glue things shut just to irritate him?”

Sirius shook his head with a smile. “Diablotin.”

“Nothing like being called a gremlin by your fiancé,” Remus laughed, tapping the screen. “Okay…who’s the best in bed?”

“I’d say we both sleep really well,” Sirius said. “You talk sometimes, which is really funny.”

Remus glanced over. “Do I really?”

“Yep. I think you were grocery shopping the other night. You kept saying orange juice very adamantly.”

“Interesting. I agree, though, we both value sleep.”

“There are too many questions!” Sirius scooted forward and sifted through them. “To jay-mac 2001, we both love kids and might have some in a few years. No, mermaid queen, we don’t really have friends outside of hockey because we don’t have lives outside of hockey—” Remus leaned his forehead on Sirius’ shoulder as he laughed. “—but I’m sure that will change someday. Oh, here’s a fun one: what are our love languages?”

“Our what?”

“Love languages. Like the Buzzfeed quiz Pots made us take last week.” The screen lit up and Sirius looked offended. “Of course we know what Buzzfeed is! We’re 25, you fuckers!”

“I think mine was quality time.”

Sirius pulled Remus’ arm further around his shoulders and leaned into his side with a smile. “It’s physical affection,” he singsonged, making him laugh. “Your turn.”

“Have you finally found your song?” Remus read aloud. “I think so! We did an interview a while back and there was a question about our ‘couple song’, which we didn’t have at the time.”

“That didn’t answer the question, sweetheart.”

“Oh! Shit, sorry. It’s La Vie En Rose by Edith Piaf.”

Sirius read the next question and snorted. “This is convenient. Who swears more?”

Remus looked away. “It’s, uh, a tie.”

“That’s such a lie.”

He sighed. “It’s probably me.”

“You taught a literal baby to swear.” Sirius turned back to the camera with a wicked grin. “Harry’s first word was ‘Loops’, but his second was ‘shit’ and there’s an eighty percent chance he learned it from Re.”

“Changing the subject!” Remus cleared his throat, then smiled. “Aw, I like this one. What’s the compliment you get most often from your partner?”

“Does it have to be verbal?”

“Sirius.”

Sirius’ eyes went wide. “Not like that! Oh, fuck, I did not mean that! You always touch my hair, so I figured that was a compliment. Merde.”

Remus shook his head. “We need a supervisor again. Anyways, you talk about my freckles all the time and it’s adorable.”

“You’re adorable.”

“Sap.”

“Yeah.” Sirius kissed his cheek. “What’s the best date I’ve ever been on? We went ice skating at the local rink a few weeks ago and it was so much fun. I had never done that before.”

Remus’ eyebrows rose. “I thought for sure you would say the aquarium.”

“The aqu—oh, right! With the jellyfish arch!”

“Yeah!”

“Now it’s a tie, I can’t decide.”

“That’s fair. From spaceman93: who tops? We actually don’t have a bunk bed, though that would be cool as hell! Do you think Ikea sells them?”

“We should check.”

The screen exploded into activity again and Remus did a double-take. “Yes, we do buy our furniture from Ikea, there’s no need to sound so shocked. This person—I can’t read your username, sorry—wants to know which of us is more cuddly.”

“Definitely me,” Sirius said.

“For sure. I like cuddling people, but only a select few. I mean, I’m assuming you guys saw the Cap cuddles slideshow at our last game.” He laughed when Sirius turned pink. “Why are you embarrassed? It was cute!”

“There’s a hashtag now!” Sirius complained. “I have a reputation.” Remus rolled his eyes fondly as Sirius looked for the next question. “Ha! Do we ever get jealous?”

“Yes, but not for the reasons people might think.”

Sirius laughed quietly. “We went out to a bar for Kasey’s birthday a month or so ago—”

“Oh, please no.”

“—and a young lady was hitting on me, not taking the hint—”

“Jesus.”

“—so Re comes out of nowhere and kisses me full on the mouth in front of everyone.” He snickered and Remus hid his face in his hands. “It was kinda hot, not gonna lie. Really funny looking back, though. Your turn, sweetheart.”

“Who is clumsier? Ooh, we’re both disasters off the ice. I tripped over the carpet about twenty minutes ago.”

“I’ve run into every doorframe in this house at least twice.” Sirius grimaced. “If I could just tape my skates to my feet and always be on ice, that would be much safer.”

Remus cocked his head to the side. “I dunno, it would be hard to sleep in them.”

“I do that all that time.”

“That’s true, you take a nap in the hall at least once a week in full gear.”

“Reverse Edward Scissorhands.” They had to take a moment to stop laughing before Sirius turned back to the phone. “Mon dieu. Alright, what do we have next…when did you know I was ‘the one’? When did you know, mon amour?”

“Breaking out the nicknames, very snazzy,” Remus teased as he rested his chin on his hand. “I think it was just an accumulation of things, and then one day I went ‘oh shit’ and just knew. Sometime around New Year’s, maybe?”

“You only made it two months?” Sirius teased, nudging him lightly.

“Shush, you.” Remus nudged him back. “I knew I wanted to propose when I came home from hanging out with Leo and you were napping with the dog. You had done the dishes and left Avatar on so we could watch it together, and I opened the door and knew that I wanted that moment forever.”

Sirius smile was unbearably soft, and he kissed Remus on the cheek as hearts filled the comments section. “I’ve never seen so many keysmashes in my life,” he laughed when he looked back to it. “Hey, someone addressed one to you specifically.”

“Really?” He leaned forward eagerly. “To Remus, do you feel like part of the team yet? I do, a hundred percent! It helped that I was close with a lot of the guys from being the PT, so those friendships carried over really well. Being a player on the roster has only made that better and it’s the best job in the world.”

“Who has the better smile? We’re going to say each other, so I think we’ll leave that one to the comments—fuck, that was a bad idea, it’s moving too fast for me to read!” Sirius tapped the screen desperately, then gave up and waited for the scrolling to slow down. “Ask each other one question you’ve always wanted to know the answer to.”

“Do you actually want to get your ears pierced?” Remus asked. “You talked about it a while ago but I wasn’t sure if you were kidding.”

Sirius thought for a minute, biting his lip. “Y’know, I might. It was one of those things where it started as a joke and then I kept thinking about it. I’m not sure, hockey’s not the best sport to have things that can catch and tear.” They both winced at the idea. “My turn. What is it about pineapple pizza that you actually enjoy?”

“It annoys you.” Remus laughed as Sirius rolled his eyes. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding! I honestly don’t know why I like it so much. There’s something about the sweetness that goes so well with the regular pizza taste. Okay, last question for me: how many freckles do I have? Not many right now.”

“So many in the summer,” Sirius said dreamily. “That’s the best part of summertime and the only reason I like Florida. They might have bouncy ice, but it’s worth it to see the freckles pop.”

“Whew, Florida’s getting mad in the comments!” Remus grinned. “Get some real ice, then come talk to us.”

“Final question, then we really have to go. What does your partner look best in?” Sirius drummed his fingers on his knees. “His jersey. Or my jersey. He does own a pair of skinny jeans, though, and that was the closest thing to a religious experience I’ve ever had.”

“They’re comfortable.” Remus shrugged, but he looked rather self-satisfied. “That’s all we have time for, folks, but thanks for joining us!”

“Go Lions!”